Cyberpunk 2026: The Hatch Bounty

A new contract hits the board: a corporate finance executive embezzled from the wrong accounts, got flagged, and ran. The issuing firm lacks the reach for a covert recovery, so they’ve posted a straight bounty: locate, apprehend, and return the target alive. A job like this, crossing into the Nevada Free Zone to recover a fugitive under armed protection, pays in the $18,000–$30,000 range, contingent on delivering the target alive and intact, consistent with upper-mid-tier bounty contracts. Clean execution with minimal collateral may earn a modest bonus. Split across a four-person crew and factoring expenses, it’s solid but not transformative money; enough to justify the risk, with the real value coming from reputation and future access to higher-tier work.

"What do we know of Lovelock NV?" 

It is a small "town" along I-80, consisting of a few businesses related to I-80 for travelers - an inn, a bar, a truckstop, and a few such places, all along the 2000' strip of Main St. between the highway and the county courthouse, which is now fortified and used as the seat of local government. The rest of the town is old ruins, abandoned for almost a century. There is an odd farm here or there, scattered around - there's no infrastructure, little water or electricity, but there's plenty of space. From a population of 2000 or so, there are now "a couple hundred, I guess." 

The place is run by the "mayor", chosen by the "public safety committee", a pretty common arrangement. The highway patrol doesn't bother much with Lovelock unless requested, since it is a minor stopping point avoided by anyone with better options, like pressing on to Elko, NV. Everyone is welcome to spend money at the businesses along Main, though no one is made to feel welcome. Except at the inn. Or the bordello. "Grind" will be seen as a "local from down the road" rather than an outsider, as he is a Nevadan nomad for real. That could be an advantage. There are no notable nomad clans, since it is right on the highway. Plenty of small (12-25 people typically) road gangs pop in and out, and it is safe to assume there are a handful of them lurking about; camps and bases in the hills, mines, and smaller ruins within a few miles of Lovelock. The locals will know.

The Run (April, 2143): The PC's arrived in Lovelock, NV in the early afternoon, meeting the local business owners on "Main Street" (the only street), eventually running into a dangerous-looking bounty hunter calling himself "Reno Steve". They also discovered that the bounty was hiding with a small road gang at a place outside of Lovelock. The roadgang encampment was at an abandoned vineyard called "The Vines".

The PC's scouted the place out around sunset, then returned to Lovelock for dinner and prep. Azrael and Reno Steve worked out an arrangement where, for $4k, Reno Steve would see himself out of the hunt, and allow the PC's to attempt to capture Marcus Hatch. They returned to "The Vines" later that night, sneaking into the compound before engaging in a short, sharp fight. Grind was badly wounded by a close-range shotgun blast, but stayed in the fight. The battle ended with several dead roadgangers, and their leader was badly wounded. 

The confused roadgangers, rattled by the casualties and the intense attack with NVG's and automatic weapons, agreed to terms. A loud argument erupted inside the warehouse, but eventually, Marcus Hatch was shoved out the front door. The PC's snatched him up and quickly exfiltrated back to their vehicles. The long drive back down the Eighty to civilization was spent on edge, as the PC's waited for either betrayal by Reno Steve or revenge by the roadgang. But when the sun rose, they found themselves back in NorCal, crossing the Donner Pass in safety.

The bounty paid $20,000 upon the return of Marcus Hatch to Turner Plaza in downtown Southowilson.