Sickle, Ash, Six.
Six and Glyph headed down to Nunzio’s safe house, Glyph stayed behind and watched the apartment while Six headed back to Albuquerque to see how Ash was getting on with the repairs to the pickup.
Repairs were completed as quoted and the pair of them headed back to Atlanta.
Nunzio phoned, he told the runners that he had been given a job that he wanted to pass onto the runners. Once they got back to the safe house Carlo would give them the details. The runners met back up with Glyph and not long after Carlo came with beer and a job for them.
Carlo explained that there was a meeting with some significant crime bosses that was held in San Fran a few weeks ago. A guy called the Cowboy assembled the Mafia, the Seven Stars Triad, and some Yardies from New Orleans (the Yaks were also invited to the meet but they declined to attend). and started waving the almighty nuyen around to get these crime syndicates to dance to his tune.
This meeting happened to be the same meeting that the runners had witnessed, and they quickly placed the name Jonny Kickback to the man called Cowboy.
Nunzio wasn’t happy with the deal but the Don wanted to stay in while the other syndicates were in to ensure they weren’t missing out on anything so Nunzio shook hands with the other crime bosses that night.
A couple of weeks passed before the Cowboy made his first request. Find three people. Shift, Kote, and Binary Pulse. Unimpressed with the task Nunzio passed the job onto his little brother, Six, who he knew was kicking his heels and better to keep the free flowing money in the family.
Sunday 16th July 2070
Six and Ash started to do the legwork, Ash called Daisy to see if she could get any info on these people, while Six put a call straight through to their fixer, Snow.
Six was hit with a vision of Snow stood in front of his field of vision, scrabbling for a gun. There was a whine and then a beam of energy punching a neat hole through Snow’s forehead. Snow stared for a moment with a stupefied expression, before collapsing like a broken doll.
Then Snow answered the phone. Caught off guard for a moment all Six could do is warn his friend to get out of town for a while and to trust him. Snow was confused but agreed. Then Six asked about the three names. Snow knew who they were. Runners back in the 50’s, there was a fourth runner called Solace, but they had long since retired.
Six let Ash know what he had gleaned, who then refined the search parameters with Daisy. The decker then came up with some more snippets of information. Kote, had killed himself 13/03/58. Went on a killing spree in Renraku before blowing a new hole in his own head. Shift and Solace went under the radar at about the same time. Binary Pulse was a decker who continued to run until 2065, when she turned herself in to Lone Star for the crimes she had committed. She then seemed to have gone straight, ditching the name Binary Pulse in favour of her real name, April Walker she had opening up a Talismonger shop in Birmingham (Alabama)
Keen to follow up leads quickly Ash and Six headed there.
Sickle received a phone call message from Six warning of possible issues in San Fran, and when Sickle finally picked up the message he called Six, who advised him of the situation. Sickle decided to join the other runners out in the CAS.
Checking out the talismongery called Walk the Path, the runners found that it was locked up. And had clearly been closed for a time. They asked around and Six found a women’s boutique where the store owner claimed to know April. Six left a spurious calling card for April to call him and then headed back to the shop.
Checking over the shop they decided that there was little of value inside except a Fairlight super computer that was broadcasting a heavily encrypted signal to somewhere. This piqued their interest enough for them to have another look.
Daisy advised Ash that she could download the information from the computer but they would need to go inside and tap into the cabling itself. She sent Ash a plug and play transmitter that they could use for this task.
Sickle and the transmitter arrived the following morning. After a long brief the trio headed back to the mall for about 10pm to start their B&E.
Six sat outside not far away in the car, Ash and Sickle went in. Getting inside was easy, getting to the computer was easy, selecting the cable and starting the download of the data was easy. Sickle and Ash detected a faint odour of heating surface oil, and then Sickle saw movement down the stairs.
Sickle called Six and asked him take his drone to go and see what was moving around. Six duly did and saw an eight foot tall machine with weaponry for hands. Six reported in. Sickle and Ash got worried but it seemed to be waiting for them down stairs.
The pair waited quietly while Daisy raped the hard drive of information. Then a large safe in the opposite room finally broke Ash, who whipped out his acetaline torch and began to cut the doors off.
The machine/creature pounded up the stairs as soon as it heard the torch flick into life, and the pair of them readied themselves for a fight. Six sped to the scene also.
They fought for not much more than a minute before a rail gun appeared in a track along the ceiling and opened up on the machine as well. The concentration of fire killed it and it detonated with force to knock over the runners.
In the aftermath Sickle heard a phone ringing. He headed to answer while Ash raided the safe, which housed all manner of magical goods.
The call was from someone claiming to be Binary Pulse. Sickle sort of explained who they were and eventually agreed to meet up with her. Ash filled his pockets with semi-precious stones, and gold powder.
The runners headed back to their hotel in Birmingham. They argued for a while over the benefit of meeting up with Binary Pulse but Sickle stuck to his guns, and duly did the following morning.
Monday 17th July 2070
Binary Pulse was into her forties now, but she still had a subtle attractiveness, Sickle met with her over a coffee while Ash and Six observed from another table. She asked a lot of questions and Sickle answered vaguely, she then left with a warning that shadowrunning was a dangerous business.
Six tailed her with a drone, while Ash hassled Daisy for the information from the computer. Daisy said that she had only decrypted 10% of the mass of files held on the computer, but she did have a forwarding number for Shift. Ash recognised the number instantly as one he recognised. It was Snow’s.
Six phoned Snow but there was no answer. They assume that Snow took Six’s advice and had left town.
Meanwhile Binary Pulse had headed to the train station. Headed out of town before doing a switch back to head back to Atlanta. The runners blazed to catch up arriving in the train station with 10 minutes to spare. Ash and Sickle then watched and failed to spot Binary Pulse leave the train.
The headed onto he train and began searching the cabins and toilets as the train began to move off, on a one stop run to the east coast. Ash asked Daisy if she could check the video feeds for the cabin that Binary Pulse had sat in, sure enough she sat down. Only to get up when the train moved off. She headed into a toilet, and a few minutes later stepped out of the toilet as the Cowboy and settle back down for the rest of the ride to Atlanta.
It was too late now, Ash and Sickle were en route to Charleston on the coast. Six was in his car speeding into Atlanta, and Binary Pulse, or the Cowboy, or whoever had slipped past them.
TBC…
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Six's blog.
By N.Barnes
Call Dir: Shadownet/ShadowlandsBBS/>
Select Region: Region=SanFrancisco>
Call SubDir: SanFrancisco/WeBlogs>
Select Blog: Author=V.Six>
Initializing…>
Entry 20: 12.07.70>
What a difference a day makes. Well, a few days anyway. I’m in dreary Albuquerque now and it has been a few days since I last had the time to settle down and write a Blog entry...
Right at first, we tried to finger Mitchell for the stitch up that had plastered our names and faces all across the media in association with Suki’s kidnap. He played it pretty cool – cool enough to give us doubts and we settled for just sitting tight and waiting to see what the next step in the game would be. Turned out it was a sniper who crept along the cliff top near my position to try and get a bead on the boat. We didn’t rightly know how we were still being tracked but with me covering the road and tracking the sniper via Fly Spy, the poor sap didn’t have much of a hope. Glyph and Ash were able to rain lead down on him with some accuracy thanks to my triangulation and in short order we had dealt with the problem and decided to relocate yet again.
This time I clambered aboard the boat too. We decided we should see what Suki knew about her situation. We had our misgivings about talking to the mark but we needed information and boy was that a worthwhile conversation.
Suki name checked Mitchell as her agent and we began to get the confirmation we needed that Mitchell had been playing us for fools all along – presumably to boost sales of Suki merchandise. Not long after, Mitchell made his final play, telling us it was all getting a little too hot and offering to pay us extra if we’d ice Suki and remove her from the picture permanently. Didn’t take a genius to see Mitchell was after the insurance payoff on Suki and that we’d be fingered in about ten seconds flat if Suki did turn up dead.
Mitchell thought he’d got the perfect set up but he reckoned without a little Shadowrunner ingenuity. We recorded the conversation and once Suki had confirmed that the Mitchell ordering the wet work was her agent we knew we had the upper hand. It was now in our best interests to keep Suki alive and make sure she could finger Mitchell rather than us for the crime. Better still, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Suki was willing to pay us 30k for the evidence against her agent and safe passage to her father’s San Fran estates.
We told Mitchell he could poke his extra cash. We expected trouble and sure enough, as we got set to move off, two speedboats sped out of the darkness and opened up. All but useless without a vehicle or a drone and lacking boating skills of any description, I stayed below decks to protect Suki should we be boarded and administer first aid to keep her alive should a stray shot hit her. Boy was that a possibility! Sniper rounds were tearing through the carcass of the ship and I could hear the distinctive chatter of machine gun fire. Glyph and Ash were doing the team proud beating back the assault but I could hear them taking fire. I think Glyph must have copped a little too much lead – Ash yelled for help and up on deck I found him administering first aid while still under fire. One boat was quite a way back and seemed to be out of commission but the other was moving up towards us. I knew my pistol didn’t have the range or the punch and headed back below decks for a flare pistol I’d seen. Waiting in the darkness of the hatchway, I counted off the distance under my breath before coming up and bringing the flare pistol to bear. Man that shot was sweet, straight and true and right down the gullet of some scumbag on the pursuing speedboat.
Take it from me Dog, the phosphorescence in those flares burns like a bitch and with the engine going up in flames, our assailants were soon cast adrift like some sort of Viking funeral pyre.
Continues: 1/2>
|| >
Thinking hard, Ash finally twigged that Glyph had bought her yacht from a commercial dealer and as such was fitted with a standard RFID tag that we’d neglected to burn. With that done we could make landfall safely and remoted the cars to the dock before pulling a stunt switch to confuse any observers.
Glyph and Ash headed off to draw any assailants away from Suki who I chauffeured up to her father’s estate reasoning that with vehicle mounted weaponry I was a better bet for protecting Suki should it come to a car chase.
Dropping her off, we pretty much figured we could settle down and relax for a few days but I had an unexpected visit from my brother Nunzio. Now I know Nunz was a Mafioso Made Man and I know he’s been playing dead man’s shoes to work his way up the hierarchy. I dunno how far he’s managed to get but when he tells me the team has been upsetting the wrong sort of people and we need to get our heads down for a few days, I pay attention.
I suspect it is the local Triads who object to our presence in San Fran this weekend. I also suspect Nunzio wants me out of town because he has his finger in the Big Deal Pie that the Triads are serving up from Club Province. To make sure I look the other way, he throws me a bone. A simple courier job between San Fran and Atlanta with a little pay packet and the use of a safe house thrown in for a few days. I know there’s more to this than meets the eye but I don’t particularly want to come to blows with Nunzio so I agree to do the deed.
It starts out simple. Tracking a courier by an active PAN he’s transporting cross country. We have to catch him, switch the PAN he’s got for a standard factory spec duplicate and then carry the PAN on to Atlanta and hand off to one of Nunzio’s contacts. Though it starts out simple, it soon gets complex – Ash, Glyph and I all start having the same sort of visions we last experienced when we prevented Allisom from using Cross to get a foothold in San Fran. We see a biker chasing our quarry and using a car bomb to wipe him out. We resolve to intervene.
Pedal to the metal across country, we soon catch up with our courier and the biker we think is out to get him. Ash and Glyph orchestrate an RTA – driving head on into the biker to put paid to his plans before he can interfere with our Run. Ash’ truck is a pitiful wreck but he gets the job done and there after it was a simple trail and switch. Ash has some nifty knock out gas so our man has no idea we’ve even been near his cargo.
We limped on to Albuquerque where Ash has put his ride into a garage for some meaningful repair work. Glyph and I took the PAN on into Atlanta, passed it on to Nunzio’s goon and picked up the keys for the safe house but we’ve not yet stopped by there to check it out. Instead, we’ve come back to Albuquerque so I can help fix up Ash’ sled. I figure being in Albuquerque is far enough away from San Fran to be paying heed to Nunzio’s warning. We’ll head back to Atlanta to the safe house when we’re good and ready. Nunzio said his Atlanta contacts might want to put a bit of work our way but they can wait on us – we need a second roadworthy vehicle if we’re going to make an effective team on this side of the country. I just wish I knew how long we were supposed to hang out over here. I also wonder if any of the others got my message warning them to get out of the Bay Area. I guess we’ll know if anyone turns up here over the next day or so…
Mood: Edgy.
Ends: 2/2>
||
Call Dir: Shadownet/ShadowlandsBBS/>
Select Region: Region=SanFrancisco>
Call SubDir: SanFrancisco/WeBlogs>
Select Blog: Author=V.Six>
Initializing…>
Entry 20: 12.07.70>
What a difference a day makes. Well, a few days anyway. I’m in dreary Albuquerque now and it has been a few days since I last had the time to settle down and write a Blog entry...
Right at first, we tried to finger Mitchell for the stitch up that had plastered our names and faces all across the media in association with Suki’s kidnap. He played it pretty cool – cool enough to give us doubts and we settled for just sitting tight and waiting to see what the next step in the game would be. Turned out it was a sniper who crept along the cliff top near my position to try and get a bead on the boat. We didn’t rightly know how we were still being tracked but with me covering the road and tracking the sniper via Fly Spy, the poor sap didn’t have much of a hope. Glyph and Ash were able to rain lead down on him with some accuracy thanks to my triangulation and in short order we had dealt with the problem and decided to relocate yet again.
This time I clambered aboard the boat too. We decided we should see what Suki knew about her situation. We had our misgivings about talking to the mark but we needed information and boy was that a worthwhile conversation.
Suki name checked Mitchell as her agent and we began to get the confirmation we needed that Mitchell had been playing us for fools all along – presumably to boost sales of Suki merchandise. Not long after, Mitchell made his final play, telling us it was all getting a little too hot and offering to pay us extra if we’d ice Suki and remove her from the picture permanently. Didn’t take a genius to see Mitchell was after the insurance payoff on Suki and that we’d be fingered in about ten seconds flat if Suki did turn up dead.
Mitchell thought he’d got the perfect set up but he reckoned without a little Shadowrunner ingenuity. We recorded the conversation and once Suki had confirmed that the Mitchell ordering the wet work was her agent we knew we had the upper hand. It was now in our best interests to keep Suki alive and make sure she could finger Mitchell rather than us for the crime. Better still, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Suki was willing to pay us 30k for the evidence against her agent and safe passage to her father’s San Fran estates.
We told Mitchell he could poke his extra cash. We expected trouble and sure enough, as we got set to move off, two speedboats sped out of the darkness and opened up. All but useless without a vehicle or a drone and lacking boating skills of any description, I stayed below decks to protect Suki should we be boarded and administer first aid to keep her alive should a stray shot hit her. Boy was that a possibility! Sniper rounds were tearing through the carcass of the ship and I could hear the distinctive chatter of machine gun fire. Glyph and Ash were doing the team proud beating back the assault but I could hear them taking fire. I think Glyph must have copped a little too much lead – Ash yelled for help and up on deck I found him administering first aid while still under fire. One boat was quite a way back and seemed to be out of commission but the other was moving up towards us. I knew my pistol didn’t have the range or the punch and headed back below decks for a flare pistol I’d seen. Waiting in the darkness of the hatchway, I counted off the distance under my breath before coming up and bringing the flare pistol to bear. Man that shot was sweet, straight and true and right down the gullet of some scumbag on the pursuing speedboat.
Take it from me Dog, the phosphorescence in those flares burns like a bitch and with the engine going up in flames, our assailants were soon cast adrift like some sort of Viking funeral pyre.
Continues: 1/2>
|| >
Thinking hard, Ash finally twigged that Glyph had bought her yacht from a commercial dealer and as such was fitted with a standard RFID tag that we’d neglected to burn. With that done we could make landfall safely and remoted the cars to the dock before pulling a stunt switch to confuse any observers.
Glyph and Ash headed off to draw any assailants away from Suki who I chauffeured up to her father’s estate reasoning that with vehicle mounted weaponry I was a better bet for protecting Suki should it come to a car chase.
Dropping her off, we pretty much figured we could settle down and relax for a few days but I had an unexpected visit from my brother Nunzio. Now I know Nunz was a Mafioso Made Man and I know he’s been playing dead man’s shoes to work his way up the hierarchy. I dunno how far he’s managed to get but when he tells me the team has been upsetting the wrong sort of people and we need to get our heads down for a few days, I pay attention.
I suspect it is the local Triads who object to our presence in San Fran this weekend. I also suspect Nunzio wants me out of town because he has his finger in the Big Deal Pie that the Triads are serving up from Club Province. To make sure I look the other way, he throws me a bone. A simple courier job between San Fran and Atlanta with a little pay packet and the use of a safe house thrown in for a few days. I know there’s more to this than meets the eye but I don’t particularly want to come to blows with Nunzio so I agree to do the deed.
It starts out simple. Tracking a courier by an active PAN he’s transporting cross country. We have to catch him, switch the PAN he’s got for a standard factory spec duplicate and then carry the PAN on to Atlanta and hand off to one of Nunzio’s contacts. Though it starts out simple, it soon gets complex – Ash, Glyph and I all start having the same sort of visions we last experienced when we prevented Allisom from using Cross to get a foothold in San Fran. We see a biker chasing our quarry and using a car bomb to wipe him out. We resolve to intervene.
Pedal to the metal across country, we soon catch up with our courier and the biker we think is out to get him. Ash and Glyph orchestrate an RTA – driving head on into the biker to put paid to his plans before he can interfere with our Run. Ash’ truck is a pitiful wreck but he gets the job done and there after it was a simple trail and switch. Ash has some nifty knock out gas so our man has no idea we’ve even been near his cargo.
We limped on to Albuquerque where Ash has put his ride into a garage for some meaningful repair work. Glyph and I took the PAN on into Atlanta, passed it on to Nunzio’s goon and picked up the keys for the safe house but we’ve not yet stopped by there to check it out. Instead, we’ve come back to Albuquerque so I can help fix up Ash’ sled. I figure being in Albuquerque is far enough away from San Fran to be paying heed to Nunzio’s warning. We’ll head back to Atlanta to the safe house when we’re good and ready. Nunzio said his Atlanta contacts might want to put a bit of work our way but they can wait on us – we need a second roadworthy vehicle if we’re going to make an effective team on this side of the country. I just wish I knew how long we were supposed to hang out over here. I also wonder if any of the others got my message warning them to get out of the Bay Area. I guess we’ll know if anyone turns up here over the next day or so…
Mood: Edgy.
Ends: 2/2>
||
Friday, October 13, 2006
Sukie Red-Flower pt2. And then a Trip to Atlanta
Sunday 7th July 2070
Six, Ash, Glyph.
Glyph’s new yacht was moored in a sheltered lagoon not far from San Francisco. Glyph watched the unconscious Sukie below deck, while Ash kept watch above. Six sat in his car, about ¾ of a mile inland on the main road, which hugged the coastline.
The runners read the fabricated news report and were sure that their contact, Mitchell was behind it. They couldn’t prove anything but Ash phoned him to see if he could glean any other information. Mitchell brushed off Ash’s concerns and told them to sit tight.
The runners sat tight, and the hours ticked by.
Mid afternoon, Six was reloading the Antioch when he saw a figure dart across the road. Six instantly warned Ash and Glyph, and Ash took up a position to see if he could see their assailant. Six then sent the Flyspy drone after the man to see if he could track him down.
The man was dressed in full combat fatigues and was armed with a sniper rifle. He was watching the boat, but out of the corner of his eye say the Flyspy. He fired but missed. Ash got a bead on the target, based on the muzzle flash and fired blindly through the tree he sat up against.
Ash, glyph and the Sniper traded lead for a few moments before the sniper was shot dead. Ash made his way over and discovered that he was some kind of mercenary. Maybe a hunter, maybe on another job, probably after Sukie/the runners.
They decided to move out at sea away from land, Six got supplies and the three of them took the boat 7 miles out into international waters. They waited some more. Sukie began to regain consciousness, and after untying her, Glyph began to talk to her under the watchful gaze of Six. Ash remained above deck on watch.
It turned out that Mitchell was Sukie’s agent, and that he had set up this whole kidnap affair to boost sales of her flagging back catalogue of sim-flicks. In the meantime Ash received a call from Mitchell. He claimed that negotiations wither her agent had gone badly and he wanted her dead. Ash asked to consult with the team and offered to call him back.
The team were not going to do the wetwork, and when they phoned Mitchell back to tell him, they cajoled him into re-asking for Sukie to be hit, this time they recorded the conversation. Mitchell had anticipated that the runners would turn him down, and had made arrangements for two powerboats to be positioned within striking distance, and once he had given the word they closed in, and began to shoot. They intended for no one to survive. The runners returned fire and eventually beat off the assault. They hot footed out of the area back to land.
The runners had been tracked by the RFID tag on Sukie, and once the skimmer drone had identified the tag on the boat, the runner’s position was compromised. Ash had burned off Sukie’s tags, but had neglected the boat. The runners realised this and rectified the mistake.
Sukie was told everything. And the runners offered their apologies and a recording of Mitchell asking to have Sukie killed. She asked to be taken to her dad’s home, and paid the runners for the recording. It seemed money was so important to them after all. And after this the runners headed home for some sleep and a bit of downtime.
12th July 2070
Six was making his way back to his lockup when he saw a black sedan parked outside. He didn’t recognise the car, but played it cool and walked over. A mafia man stepped out. It was Nunzio, Six’s brother.
They went in, had a coffee, and caught up a little. Nunzio told Six that he and his friends had made some very dangerous enemies. Nunzio had been keeping tabs on his little brother and knew that something was about to happen. Nunzio knew how proud Six was so he offered him a “Job” to get him and the team out of town for a while. It would also get Nunzio a man he could trust in Atlanta for a time.
The job was a cake walk, catch up with a man who was headed to Atlanta, steal a comlink from him without him noticing, and pressing on to Atlanta to hand it over to someone Nunzio had already positioned there.
Six rallied the team; they tooled up and then blazed. Their target was travelling at the speed limit, at the runners pace they would catch up with him on the second day of a four day journey to Atlanta. Border checkpoints were a cinch, and the runners made good time.
Six had noticed a rider at one check point. He eyeballed Six from the back of his BMW bike, and six gave it right back. He was through the checkpoint first and was gone.
The runners stopped at a motel for the night and slept. The runners had been touched by the astral when they defeated Alisom, and they had a similar feeling. The all saw the same things.
Their target eating in a diner.
A man on a bike.
An albino man lying on his back on the floor, dead. A bullet hole in his forehead.
A photograph scene. Some kind of school, or military photo.
The runners puzzled over this as they drove onward the following morning. Slowly, mile by mile catching up with the target.
About 60 miles ahead, and about 100 miles from the border the comlink trail they were following, stopped. The runners were subjected to another waking vision.
A man eating, a briefcase between his legs.
The bike rider securing something under a car.
Their target opening his car door.
An explosion.
Six took the hint and pushed the throttle to the bulkhead, Ash tried to keep up but the crewcab was not as fast. Six arrived at the diner and saw the targets Ford Americar. He pulled up in a parking space opposite and sat, waited and watched. 10 minutes later, a motorbike pulled, the same rider that Six had eyeballed at the border days before. Their eyes met and the rider sped off back in the direction of the oncoming Ash.
Ash spoke to Six briefly and then saw the oncoming rider; he was travelling fast. Ash veered onto the other carriageway to stop him. He stopped.
The bike smashed into the bonnet of the car, the rider thrown through the windscreen.
Glyph and Ash pushed the broken rag-doll body of the rider out of the car and staggered from the wreckage. The crewcab truck had taken serious damage but the bike was nothing more than bent metal. Ash checked the riders ID. He was a nobody. Glyph checked the panniers on the bike and found a small charge of explosive. Enough to blow a car to pieces.
They cleared up and Six arranged for a towtruck to pick them up. Meanwhile the target was moving again. Six took up the tail and followed him to another motel. Six booked a room and set up observations. Ash and Glyph hit the road 4 hours later, with the crewcab patched together and they met up at the motel.
Sneaking into the mans motel room, the runners took the comlink, and switched it for a new one the runners had purchased for the task. They then left.
Easy as that. The runners drove on, and made it to Albuquerque. Ash headed for a garage where he could get the truck repaired properly. Getting a hotel room he would catch Glyph and Six up.
Glyph and Six headed onto the prosperous city of Atlanta, they met up with Nunzio’s contact, who gave Six an address for a safe house as they handed over the stolen comlink. The runners were paid the easiest money they had earned.
Six, Ash, Glyph.
Glyph’s new yacht was moored in a sheltered lagoon not far from San Francisco. Glyph watched the unconscious Sukie below deck, while Ash kept watch above. Six sat in his car, about ¾ of a mile inland on the main road, which hugged the coastline.
The runners read the fabricated news report and were sure that their contact, Mitchell was behind it. They couldn’t prove anything but Ash phoned him to see if he could glean any other information. Mitchell brushed off Ash’s concerns and told them to sit tight.
The runners sat tight, and the hours ticked by.
Mid afternoon, Six was reloading the Antioch when he saw a figure dart across the road. Six instantly warned Ash and Glyph, and Ash took up a position to see if he could see their assailant. Six then sent the Flyspy drone after the man to see if he could track him down.
The man was dressed in full combat fatigues and was armed with a sniper rifle. He was watching the boat, but out of the corner of his eye say the Flyspy. He fired but missed. Ash got a bead on the target, based on the muzzle flash and fired blindly through the tree he sat up against.
Ash, glyph and the Sniper traded lead for a few moments before the sniper was shot dead. Ash made his way over and discovered that he was some kind of mercenary. Maybe a hunter, maybe on another job, probably after Sukie/the runners.
They decided to move out at sea away from land, Six got supplies and the three of them took the boat 7 miles out into international waters. They waited some more. Sukie began to regain consciousness, and after untying her, Glyph began to talk to her under the watchful gaze of Six. Ash remained above deck on watch.
It turned out that Mitchell was Sukie’s agent, and that he had set up this whole kidnap affair to boost sales of her flagging back catalogue of sim-flicks. In the meantime Ash received a call from Mitchell. He claimed that negotiations wither her agent had gone badly and he wanted her dead. Ash asked to consult with the team and offered to call him back.
The team were not going to do the wetwork, and when they phoned Mitchell back to tell him, they cajoled him into re-asking for Sukie to be hit, this time they recorded the conversation. Mitchell had anticipated that the runners would turn him down, and had made arrangements for two powerboats to be positioned within striking distance, and once he had given the word they closed in, and began to shoot. They intended for no one to survive. The runners returned fire and eventually beat off the assault. They hot footed out of the area back to land.
The runners had been tracked by the RFID tag on Sukie, and once the skimmer drone had identified the tag on the boat, the runner’s position was compromised. Ash had burned off Sukie’s tags, but had neglected the boat. The runners realised this and rectified the mistake.
Sukie was told everything. And the runners offered their apologies and a recording of Mitchell asking to have Sukie killed. She asked to be taken to her dad’s home, and paid the runners for the recording. It seemed money was so important to them after all. And after this the runners headed home for some sleep and a bit of downtime.
12th July 2070
Six was making his way back to his lockup when he saw a black sedan parked outside. He didn’t recognise the car, but played it cool and walked over. A mafia man stepped out. It was Nunzio, Six’s brother.
They went in, had a coffee, and caught up a little. Nunzio told Six that he and his friends had made some very dangerous enemies. Nunzio had been keeping tabs on his little brother and knew that something was about to happen. Nunzio knew how proud Six was so he offered him a “Job” to get him and the team out of town for a while. It would also get Nunzio a man he could trust in Atlanta for a time.
The job was a cake walk, catch up with a man who was headed to Atlanta, steal a comlink from him without him noticing, and pressing on to Atlanta to hand it over to someone Nunzio had already positioned there.
Six rallied the team; they tooled up and then blazed. Their target was travelling at the speed limit, at the runners pace they would catch up with him on the second day of a four day journey to Atlanta. Border checkpoints were a cinch, and the runners made good time.
Six had noticed a rider at one check point. He eyeballed Six from the back of his BMW bike, and six gave it right back. He was through the checkpoint first and was gone.
The runners stopped at a motel for the night and slept. The runners had been touched by the astral when they defeated Alisom, and they had a similar feeling. The all saw the same things.
Their target eating in a diner.
A man on a bike.
An albino man lying on his back on the floor, dead. A bullet hole in his forehead.
A photograph scene. Some kind of school, or military photo.
The runners puzzled over this as they drove onward the following morning. Slowly, mile by mile catching up with the target.
About 60 miles ahead, and about 100 miles from the border the comlink trail they were following, stopped. The runners were subjected to another waking vision.
A man eating, a briefcase between his legs.
The bike rider securing something under a car.
Their target opening his car door.
An explosion.
Six took the hint and pushed the throttle to the bulkhead, Ash tried to keep up but the crewcab was not as fast. Six arrived at the diner and saw the targets Ford Americar. He pulled up in a parking space opposite and sat, waited and watched. 10 minutes later, a motorbike pulled, the same rider that Six had eyeballed at the border days before. Their eyes met and the rider sped off back in the direction of the oncoming Ash.
Ash spoke to Six briefly and then saw the oncoming rider; he was travelling fast. Ash veered onto the other carriageway to stop him. He stopped.
The bike smashed into the bonnet of the car, the rider thrown through the windscreen.
Glyph and Ash pushed the broken rag-doll body of the rider out of the car and staggered from the wreckage. The crewcab truck had taken serious damage but the bike was nothing more than bent metal. Ash checked the riders ID. He was a nobody. Glyph checked the panniers on the bike and found a small charge of explosive. Enough to blow a car to pieces.
They cleared up and Six arranged for a towtruck to pick them up. Meanwhile the target was moving again. Six took up the tail and followed him to another motel. Six booked a room and set up observations. Ash and Glyph hit the road 4 hours later, with the crewcab patched together and they met up at the motel.
Sneaking into the mans motel room, the runners took the comlink, and switched it for a new one the runners had purchased for the task. They then left.
Easy as that. The runners drove on, and made it to Albuquerque. Ash headed for a garage where he could get the truck repaired properly. Getting a hotel room he would catch Glyph and Six up.
Glyph and Six headed onto the prosperous city of Atlanta, they met up with Nunzio’s contact, who gave Six an address for a safe house as they handed over the stolen comlink. The runners were paid the easiest money they had earned.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Six's blog. Sukie Red-Flower
Call Dir: Shadownet/ShadowlandsBBS/>
Select Region: Region=SanFrancisco>
Call SubDir: SanFrancisco/WeBlogs>
Select Blog: Author=V.Six>
Initializing…>
Entry 19: 07.07.70>
I’m beginning to wonder why anyone bothers with this Shadowrunning lark.
Perhaps San Francisco is the bullshit capital of the western world? Perhaps Ash is the unluckiest Son of a Bitch to walk God’s green earth? Maybe I have ‘Fuck with me’ stencilled in Braille across the palm of my hand, encouraging everyone I make a deal with to do just that. Whatever the explanation, it’s beginning to feel like every other Run is a set up or a screw job of some description. Don’t these people realise we have guns and we’re not adverse to using them?! I swear, I will shoot the next fool that fucks with me over a contract!
Sooo, where am I and why is rage mode active? I’m sitting in my ride, perched on a cliff top overlooking the Pacific and somewhere down below me bobbing around in the brine on a brand new motor yacht are Glyph, Ash and some second-rate B-movie simsense star called Suki Redflower, whose box office hey day is definitely well behind her. I just got off of the phone with Kitty who has tipped me to the fact that we’ve been stung, which is pretty much why I’m pissed. Mostly I guess, I’m angry with myself for ignoring my gut instinct that something about the job just didn’t add up.
The contact went by the name of Mitchell and claimed to represent an organisation with the best interests of San Fran’s children. In an effort to demonstrate the crime doesn’t pay he wanted us to kidnap Ms Redflower who is best known for film roles glorifying the life of a Shadowrunner. While we held her hostage, he wanted to bring pressure to bear on her agents, encouraging them that Suki should take on a couple of more savoury projects to redress the balance and show kids that wholesome lives led to brighter futures.
The hypocrisy of hiring Shadowrunners for this job wasn’t lost on me. I questioned Mitchell about it but he reasoned that the ends would justify the means. It was about then that I got to feeling funky about the whole gig and my unease was only exacerbated when he asked us to bid for the job and name our own price. About then, I really should have spotted that there was a good chance of us not getting paid. Ash was handling the arrangements though and I didn’t want to slow Mr Contacts roll so I let him negotiate on all our behalf and kept my misgivings to myself.
We weren’t sure whether Suki was a runner herself but she certainly had a runner escort – the team she was supposedly a part of. They were coming into San Fran to do some press junkets and promo’s so we researched their limo company, the airport and then the hotel looking for ways to get close enough to Suki to do the snatch. Despite our best efforts we bummed out at the limo company where a Runner named Deuter picked up two armoured Hummers and at the airport where they deplaned from a commercial jet onto the landing pan like the Pope. We got a good look at the whole team though – hard mothers every one of them and having landed a room at the same hotel as Suki, we resolved to hit them there the next morning.
We waited in the underground car park just after breakfast. I was heavy fire support, Glyph was extraction and Ash was up close and dirty. Suki’s well drilled team came down in two groups. The first group we let pass us by before moving into position. While they were heading for their armoured Hummers, we were pulling the snatch. As the lift doors opened, I popped a precision Flash-bang into the elevator with the Ares Antioch. Backwash from the blast must have pretty much finished the opposition there and then. Ash finished off the two grunts with swift shotgun blasts before bundling Suki into Glyph’s ride.
Continues: 1/2>
|| >
As Glyph roared off, one of the Hummers steamed off in pursuit. I played outrider, using up my Flash-bangs and thermal smoke in an attempt to distract them. Glyph easily outdistanced the Hummer and rather than create a very public and very drawn out scene, I peeled off as well.
We’d long-since decided that taking Suki aboard ship and out into international waters was the best bet of laying low. Glyph and Ash did just that while I hung back to deter any pursuit. As soon as the yacht was clear of the coast though, the team was buzzed by a Rotordrone. A quick scan revealed two tracers on Suki – Ash burned them out but the damage was done.
We resolved to head next to this remote cove and sit tight for a while to see if there was any further sign of pursuit. The beach itself is unreachable by land, unless you fancy a spot of abseiling, so any effective counter attack will have to come by air or by sea, which is why I’m perched here on the cliff top ready to provide covering fire.
Thing is, maybe there won’t be any counter attack and maybe we’ll never hear from Mitchell again. Kitty tells me an article about the kidnap is all over the Matrix. It’s a tissue of lies that offends me deeply. Ono is named as one of the kidnappers for fuck’s sake so their Intel is seriously out of date. Mitchell asked for Ono by name when he first tried to contract us, a coincidence that doesn’t sit well with me. Further proof of the almighty bunkum in this article is provided by a photograph of Ash and I bundling Suki away from the scene of the kidnap. Someone has been a busy little tinker with Photoshop because I haven’t stepped out of the car since 7am. I reckon 50 metres is about the closest I’ve gotten to Suki in this whole operation without having a skin of metal wrapped around me.
So all we have now is a combination of anger and curiosity - anger at being diddled yet again in the course of a job and curiosity about how the other players in this charade will play out their next moves. Someone is trying to dirty my name again though, just after I managed to get it clean. I expect to extract a small measure of retribution for that misdemeanour and right now, Mitchell’s name is top of my list…
Mood: Tense.
Ends: 2/2>
||
Select Region: Region=SanFrancisco>
Call SubDir: SanFrancisco/WeBlogs>
Select Blog: Author=V.Six>
Initializing…>
Entry 19: 07.07.70>
I’m beginning to wonder why anyone bothers with this Shadowrunning lark.
Perhaps San Francisco is the bullshit capital of the western world? Perhaps Ash is the unluckiest Son of a Bitch to walk God’s green earth? Maybe I have ‘Fuck with me’ stencilled in Braille across the palm of my hand, encouraging everyone I make a deal with to do just that. Whatever the explanation, it’s beginning to feel like every other Run is a set up or a screw job of some description. Don’t these people realise we have guns and we’re not adverse to using them?! I swear, I will shoot the next fool that fucks with me over a contract!
Sooo, where am I and why is rage mode active? I’m sitting in my ride, perched on a cliff top overlooking the Pacific and somewhere down below me bobbing around in the brine on a brand new motor yacht are Glyph, Ash and some second-rate B-movie simsense star called Suki Redflower, whose box office hey day is definitely well behind her. I just got off of the phone with Kitty who has tipped me to the fact that we’ve been stung, which is pretty much why I’m pissed. Mostly I guess, I’m angry with myself for ignoring my gut instinct that something about the job just didn’t add up.
The contact went by the name of Mitchell and claimed to represent an organisation with the best interests of San Fran’s children. In an effort to demonstrate the crime doesn’t pay he wanted us to kidnap Ms Redflower who is best known for film roles glorifying the life of a Shadowrunner. While we held her hostage, he wanted to bring pressure to bear on her agents, encouraging them that Suki should take on a couple of more savoury projects to redress the balance and show kids that wholesome lives led to brighter futures.
The hypocrisy of hiring Shadowrunners for this job wasn’t lost on me. I questioned Mitchell about it but he reasoned that the ends would justify the means. It was about then that I got to feeling funky about the whole gig and my unease was only exacerbated when he asked us to bid for the job and name our own price. About then, I really should have spotted that there was a good chance of us not getting paid. Ash was handling the arrangements though and I didn’t want to slow Mr Contacts roll so I let him negotiate on all our behalf and kept my misgivings to myself.
We weren’t sure whether Suki was a runner herself but she certainly had a runner escort – the team she was supposedly a part of. They were coming into San Fran to do some press junkets and promo’s so we researched their limo company, the airport and then the hotel looking for ways to get close enough to Suki to do the snatch. Despite our best efforts we bummed out at the limo company where a Runner named Deuter picked up two armoured Hummers and at the airport where they deplaned from a commercial jet onto the landing pan like the Pope. We got a good look at the whole team though – hard mothers every one of them and having landed a room at the same hotel as Suki, we resolved to hit them there the next morning.
We waited in the underground car park just after breakfast. I was heavy fire support, Glyph was extraction and Ash was up close and dirty. Suki’s well drilled team came down in two groups. The first group we let pass us by before moving into position. While they were heading for their armoured Hummers, we were pulling the snatch. As the lift doors opened, I popped a precision Flash-bang into the elevator with the Ares Antioch. Backwash from the blast must have pretty much finished the opposition there and then. Ash finished off the two grunts with swift shotgun blasts before bundling Suki into Glyph’s ride.
Continues: 1/2>
|| >
As Glyph roared off, one of the Hummers steamed off in pursuit. I played outrider, using up my Flash-bangs and thermal smoke in an attempt to distract them. Glyph easily outdistanced the Hummer and rather than create a very public and very drawn out scene, I peeled off as well.
We’d long-since decided that taking Suki aboard ship and out into international waters was the best bet of laying low. Glyph and Ash did just that while I hung back to deter any pursuit. As soon as the yacht was clear of the coast though, the team was buzzed by a Rotordrone. A quick scan revealed two tracers on Suki – Ash burned them out but the damage was done.
We resolved to head next to this remote cove and sit tight for a while to see if there was any further sign of pursuit. The beach itself is unreachable by land, unless you fancy a spot of abseiling, so any effective counter attack will have to come by air or by sea, which is why I’m perched here on the cliff top ready to provide covering fire.
Thing is, maybe there won’t be any counter attack and maybe we’ll never hear from Mitchell again. Kitty tells me an article about the kidnap is all over the Matrix. It’s a tissue of lies that offends me deeply. Ono is named as one of the kidnappers for fuck’s sake so their Intel is seriously out of date. Mitchell asked for Ono by name when he first tried to contract us, a coincidence that doesn’t sit well with me. Further proof of the almighty bunkum in this article is provided by a photograph of Ash and I bundling Suki away from the scene of the kidnap. Someone has been a busy little tinker with Photoshop because I haven’t stepped out of the car since 7am. I reckon 50 metres is about the closest I’ve gotten to Suki in this whole operation without having a skin of metal wrapped around me.
So all we have now is a combination of anger and curiosity - anger at being diddled yet again in the course of a job and curiosity about how the other players in this charade will play out their next moves. Someone is trying to dirty my name again though, just after I managed to get it clean. I expect to extract a small measure of retribution for that misdemeanour and right now, Mitchell’s name is top of my list…
Mood: Tense.
Ends: 2/2>
||
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Sukie Red-Flower Kidnap
Ash is told by Mal that he has a blood infection similar to that of VITAS, but Mal thinks he is able to clear it out of his system. 20k lighter and 12 hours in a filtration tank later Ash is still not dead, but Mal isn’t convinced that the infection has passed. It seems that the strain of VITAS that Cross Applied Technologies had been playing with was a little stubborn.
A week passes.
Thursday 6th July 2070
Six, Ash, Glyph.
A man who calls himself Mitchell contacts Ash. He claims to represent an organisation keen to reduce childhood criminal uptake, and he believes that role models like the nova-star; Sukie Red-Flower should be making films other than Shadowrun flicks. He wanted the runners to kidnap her while she is in San Francisco so that he could then get in touch with her agent to suggest that she could do more savoury things. Ash negotiated a price, and despite Six’s bad gut feeling about the whole job, they went with it.
The runners set about doing some legwork from the table in the stuffer shack, they found out what flight that she was coming in on, and they got a rough itinerary for her visit. They realised that she would need a car and found out the agency that was leasing the armoured cars. Armoured Secure Services.
Heading down to the lease firm Six posed as a driver for Sukie, and dropped in the name of the bodyguard who was due to collect the car. The girl at the desk accepted Six’s fake I.D. but wouldn’t release the vehicle until she had verbal confirmation from the bodyguard. Six played it cool and blagged his way out of the office but didn’t get a sniff of the vehicles.
Not long later, the bodyguard turned up. And collected both vehicles, remote rigging one of them. The team followed from a discrete distance, and once they saw that he was heading into the Regal hotel they phoned ahead booked a room themselves. Heading into the car park the runners were able to get a close look at the armoured cars. Designed for body guarding work, big, armoured, and difficult to stop. The runners headed off to their room to plan the next move.
While they waited the cars moved on to the airfield. They came up with a bit of a plan. Wait at the airfield until the plane lands and find out who is in their entourage, and then try a snatch back here at the hotel.
They staked out the airport and watched Sukie get off the plane with her 3 other bodyguards, and to be joined on the landing pan by the 4th. The runners followed them back to the hotel and got a chance to eyeball their targets. An male Elf called Redial, a large troll called break, two humans, one called Deuter, and the other called Flattop, and of course, the simsense star, Sukie Red-Flower.
The runners planned on, snatch them in the morning, drop a couple of flashbangs into the lift in the carpark and snatch the girl. Six positioned his car outside the lift to deploy the grenades from the mounted launcher. Glyph sat in her car ready to pounce and Ash stood in the stairwell with a shotgun under hit coat ready to finish off any survivors.
Two of the bodyguards headed down in the lift first, and headed to the cars, unaware of the trap that had already been set for their charge. The other two, Redial and Deuter accompanied Sukie. The lift doors opened and Six had a grenade drop neatly into the small space. Redial was quick to react making a jump out of the lift, Deuter dropped and covered Sukie, and the flashbang went off.
Even flash bangs pack a concussive kick, and inside the lift the force was enough to instantly kill Deuter who took the full blast and Sukie suffered severe injuries. With the sound of the grenade still ringing Ash stepped out of the stairwell, ratcheted the shotgun and blew a hole in the back of the prone Elf.
Glyph came screeching round the underground carpark and she and Ash bundled Sukie into the car. Meanwhile Six deployed flashbangs and smoke grenades in an effort to distract the oncoming armoured SUV. Glyph was gone and the SUV couldn’t keep up with the sports car.
The runners drove a winding circuit through the city before heading down to the newly purchased yacht. They loaded Sukie’s unconscious form onto the craft and headed out to sea. Ash burned the RFID tags that were on Sukie, and then headed to a cove that he knew, where they could sit tight and wait. Six parked his car on a road about a mile from the cove working on the basis that he could get to them quickly enough if problems occurred. And then the runners waited.
Sukie’s Kidnap was all over the news, a readily prepared statement and a doctored photo which pictured Six and Ash grabbing Sukie had the runners concerned. This had become more than just a case of putting pressure on Sukie’s Agent.
TBC.
A week passes.
Thursday 6th July 2070
Six, Ash, Glyph.
A man who calls himself Mitchell contacts Ash. He claims to represent an organisation keen to reduce childhood criminal uptake, and he believes that role models like the nova-star; Sukie Red-Flower should be making films other than Shadowrun flicks. He wanted the runners to kidnap her while she is in San Francisco so that he could then get in touch with her agent to suggest that she could do more savoury things. Ash negotiated a price, and despite Six’s bad gut feeling about the whole job, they went with it.
The runners set about doing some legwork from the table in the stuffer shack, they found out what flight that she was coming in on, and they got a rough itinerary for her visit. They realised that she would need a car and found out the agency that was leasing the armoured cars. Armoured Secure Services.
Heading down to the lease firm Six posed as a driver for Sukie, and dropped in the name of the bodyguard who was due to collect the car. The girl at the desk accepted Six’s fake I.D. but wouldn’t release the vehicle until she had verbal confirmation from the bodyguard. Six played it cool and blagged his way out of the office but didn’t get a sniff of the vehicles.
Not long later, the bodyguard turned up. And collected both vehicles, remote rigging one of them. The team followed from a discrete distance, and once they saw that he was heading into the Regal hotel they phoned ahead booked a room themselves. Heading into the car park the runners were able to get a close look at the armoured cars. Designed for body guarding work, big, armoured, and difficult to stop. The runners headed off to their room to plan the next move.
While they waited the cars moved on to the airfield. They came up with a bit of a plan. Wait at the airfield until the plane lands and find out who is in their entourage, and then try a snatch back here at the hotel.
They staked out the airport and watched Sukie get off the plane with her 3 other bodyguards, and to be joined on the landing pan by the 4th. The runners followed them back to the hotel and got a chance to eyeball their targets. An male Elf called Redial, a large troll called break, two humans, one called Deuter, and the other called Flattop, and of course, the simsense star, Sukie Red-Flower.
The runners planned on, snatch them in the morning, drop a couple of flashbangs into the lift in the carpark and snatch the girl. Six positioned his car outside the lift to deploy the grenades from the mounted launcher. Glyph sat in her car ready to pounce and Ash stood in the stairwell with a shotgun under hit coat ready to finish off any survivors.
Two of the bodyguards headed down in the lift first, and headed to the cars, unaware of the trap that had already been set for their charge. The other two, Redial and Deuter accompanied Sukie. The lift doors opened and Six had a grenade drop neatly into the small space. Redial was quick to react making a jump out of the lift, Deuter dropped and covered Sukie, and the flashbang went off.
Even flash bangs pack a concussive kick, and inside the lift the force was enough to instantly kill Deuter who took the full blast and Sukie suffered severe injuries. With the sound of the grenade still ringing Ash stepped out of the stairwell, ratcheted the shotgun and blew a hole in the back of the prone Elf.
Glyph came screeching round the underground carpark and she and Ash bundled Sukie into the car. Meanwhile Six deployed flashbangs and smoke grenades in an effort to distract the oncoming armoured SUV. Glyph was gone and the SUV couldn’t keep up with the sports car.
The runners drove a winding circuit through the city before heading down to the newly purchased yacht. They loaded Sukie’s unconscious form onto the craft and headed out to sea. Ash burned the RFID tags that were on Sukie, and then headed to a cove that he knew, where they could sit tight and wait. Six parked his car on a road about a mile from the cove working on the basis that he could get to them quickly enough if problems occurred. And then the runners waited.
Sukie’s Kidnap was all over the news, a readily prepared statement and a doctored photo which pictured Six and Ash grabbing Sukie had the runners concerned. This had become more than just a case of putting pressure on Sukie’s Agent.
TBC.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Six's Blog. CORe
Call Dir: Shadownet/ShadowlandsBBS/>
Select Region: Region=SanFrancisco>
Call SubDir: SanFrancisco/WeBlogs>
Select Blog: Author=V.Six>
Initializing…>
Entry 18: 02.07.70>
So yesterday I gets a call from a Johnson and with some trepidation I take the team down to Silicon Valley for a quick meet. Ash and I are particularly cautious. Johnson + Silicon Valley = Corporate and that combination hasn’t exactly left us smelling of roses up to now.
Nothing ventured and nothing gained though right? After some debate an offer is on the table of 75k and the job gives Ash and I a chance to thumb our noses at Cross one last time but also tickles Glyph’s fancy because it will stymie Ares for a nanosecond or two. Cross are in freefall, their business shut down and their resources in liquidation. I like to think we played a part in that. One of their departments goes by the name of Fleche Armaments and Johnson says they were working out of a small facility in Silicon Valley, researching a way of tapping off energy from the body to use as power. I’m imaging it’ll mean cybernetics and internal PANs and what have you can be installed without the need for a bulky power pack because as long as you’re alive you’re charging your gear. It’s kinda neat if you think about it. Well it seems the facility, like all Cross resources, has been sealed up by the courts and the rights to the contents have been bought by Ares. Johnson wants us to slip inside and lift the prototype before Ares get their grubby mitts on it. It’s called CORE and it’s a small marble-sized and shaped piece of kit so easily transportable. Secondary objective is to destroy any hard copy records – just the hard copy because Johnson has a team of specialised Deckers taking care of the virtual paperwork.
Now we’re not dumb. We’ve gotten street savvy the hard way but we do have a little smarts these days. We know it isn’t going to be as easy as Johnson makes out but we quiz him pretty good and satisfy ourselves that at the very least he will pay up if we perform. I use the Fly Spy to check out the facility while Ash liaises with Daisy to see what she can clean from the Matrix. Glyph starts scouring forums and message boards for disgruntled employees made redundant and bitter by CAT’s crash who’ll spill the beans for a little green.
It’s now that we find out Knight Errant are on the job and making sure that no one violates the lockdown on Cross resources until the new owners move in. We also learn that the facility is sealed up pretty tight – by design, it seems the front door is the only way in or out. Glyph hits paydirt though and a Wage Slave with a grudge sings like a canary. He tells us there are three floors above ground, six below and lets us know what’s where. File store is on floor -4 or -5 with the high security research lab way down on -6. He’s never heard of CORE but reckons -6 is the Emerald City and common sense means we concur.
Now the size of the building’s footprint is giving us cause for concern.
Presuming the worst, that Knight Errant will be on our tail, it’s fairly clear we won’t have time to search a file store that occupies an entire floor to find the hardcopy CORE files. Glyph has a little expertise with plastique though so makes up some detonation charges. We’ll search for the files if time permits but carry enough charges to level a couple of floors in case a quick exit becomes necessary. Boy, did that decision prove to be a saving grace!
I’m ramped. Snow has delivered my Ares Antioch so I’m tricked out with a grenade launcher on my ride. I figure I’ve now got sufficient firepower to hold off Knight Errant for at least a little while so we tool up and swing down – that was maybe 2am this morning and Glyph’s going to play stranded woman driver to allay Knight Errant suspicions until we can jump them…
Continues: 1/2>
|| >
Now that’s just about where it starts to go wrong. Our theatrics are wasted – Knight Errant haven’t left anyone watching the street so we move on the main entrance while Glyph leaves a little booby trap for any trooper returning to the car. The grenade and the patrol car blow up almost instantly and we only just get out of the way. A second or two earlier and we’d have been pate…
Now there’s a nice burning beacon on the Fleche lawn to let everyone for miles around know we’re hitting the joint. Clock’s ticking. Time to move fast. We’re through the door and systematically quartering, checking and clearing the rooms in short order. As we head down we begin to hear gunfire and figuring maybe someone else has had the same idea we double time it only to come face to face with a group of Knight Errant pouring shot after shot into one corner of a cube farm. We join the fight and Glyph’s grenade curse keeps its end of the excitement up. As she tosses a High Explosive into the room we all see it bounce back towards us. I take cover behind a wall and still feel the concussive force as bits of plaster and ceiling ran down on me. The fight is short and brutal, Glyph and Ash heading into the cube farm like some sort of strutting Wild West heroes. Best believe that gets them shot up some for their arrogance! Glyph discovers Knight Errant have been drilling a young girl. She’s still alive but as Glyph goes in to administer first aid the little bitch comes around and goes for Glyph’s throat. I scrabble for my Stick Shock rounds but Ash is faster and puts her down. We tie her up before she can come around again and we’re stunned to see her healing in front of our eyes. She’s got a mouthful of fangs and a silver circlet with a marble shaped and sized depression in it that starts to make us think there might have been more to Cross’ research here than meets the eye.
A few floors below we get our confirmation. As we raid the file store for the CORE paperwork we’re jumped by another couple of these Vamps and have to put bullets through their spinal cords to make sure they quit. One floor down from there we find a lab with three huge freezers holding countless complete prototypes of the CORE marble. That’s about where we get grateful for the charges, Glyph made. After giving Johnson some feedback and getting clarification from him on acceptable mission parameters, we set a charge in each freezer to make sure that once we leave, the CORE marble we give to Johnson is the only one left.
We’ve got the CORE prototype and the paperwork but there are unexplored floors and we just can’t walk away and run the risk of leaving the job half done. I check my Fly Spy and car-cams to check we’ve still got time to proceed and head down to the Restricted Access lab on -6. Five empty Medical Bays tell us that we’re missing two Vamps and as we explore, the Granddaddy of the whole stinking cabal puts in an appearance. He’s toting a CORE marble, neatly slotted into the depression in the palm of his hand and uses it to fill the air with bolts of bio-electricity. None of us fancy being electrocuted so we fight fire with fire, well lightning with lead at least and with us all keeping up a barrage of shots in his direction we soon put him down and make sure he stays down. Glyph leaves one of the ready made charges in his lap to destroy him and the CORE marble he’s tooled up with and we vamos.
We eliminate the Vamp we left tied up but realise that leaves us minus one critter. The upper floors are all sealed so it’s hard to imagine he’s up there. We play it safe and rig up a tight network of charges to blow the top floors. We make sure all the documentary evidence is going to go up in that blast too.
Back in the cars, Glyph hits the detonation and we listen to the satisfying crump of the explosions. That will have taken out the upper floors, the paperwork, the CORE prototypes and the Vamps bodies. It feels professional – a job well done but conscious Vamp 5 might have left the building before us, we don’t hang around. We head straight to a meet with Johnson, hand off the goods and collect our pay. It feels like the first time a Corporate job has gone right for us from start to finish and that feels good.
Mood: Fulfilled. Job Done.
Ends: 2/2>
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Select Region: Region=SanFrancisco>
Call SubDir: SanFrancisco/WeBlogs>
Select Blog: Author=V.Six>
Initializing…>
Entry 18: 02.07.70>
So yesterday I gets a call from a Johnson and with some trepidation I take the team down to Silicon Valley for a quick meet. Ash and I are particularly cautious. Johnson + Silicon Valley = Corporate and that combination hasn’t exactly left us smelling of roses up to now.
Nothing ventured and nothing gained though right? After some debate an offer is on the table of 75k and the job gives Ash and I a chance to thumb our noses at Cross one last time but also tickles Glyph’s fancy because it will stymie Ares for a nanosecond or two. Cross are in freefall, their business shut down and their resources in liquidation. I like to think we played a part in that. One of their departments goes by the name of Fleche Armaments and Johnson says they were working out of a small facility in Silicon Valley, researching a way of tapping off energy from the body to use as power. I’m imaging it’ll mean cybernetics and internal PANs and what have you can be installed without the need for a bulky power pack because as long as you’re alive you’re charging your gear. It’s kinda neat if you think about it. Well it seems the facility, like all Cross resources, has been sealed up by the courts and the rights to the contents have been bought by Ares. Johnson wants us to slip inside and lift the prototype before Ares get their grubby mitts on it. It’s called CORE and it’s a small marble-sized and shaped piece of kit so easily transportable. Secondary objective is to destroy any hard copy records – just the hard copy because Johnson has a team of specialised Deckers taking care of the virtual paperwork.
Now we’re not dumb. We’ve gotten street savvy the hard way but we do have a little smarts these days. We know it isn’t going to be as easy as Johnson makes out but we quiz him pretty good and satisfy ourselves that at the very least he will pay up if we perform. I use the Fly Spy to check out the facility while Ash liaises with Daisy to see what she can clean from the Matrix. Glyph starts scouring forums and message boards for disgruntled employees made redundant and bitter by CAT’s crash who’ll spill the beans for a little green.
It’s now that we find out Knight Errant are on the job and making sure that no one violates the lockdown on Cross resources until the new owners move in. We also learn that the facility is sealed up pretty tight – by design, it seems the front door is the only way in or out. Glyph hits paydirt though and a Wage Slave with a grudge sings like a canary. He tells us there are three floors above ground, six below and lets us know what’s where. File store is on floor -4 or -5 with the high security research lab way down on -6. He’s never heard of CORE but reckons -6 is the Emerald City and common sense means we concur.
Now the size of the building’s footprint is giving us cause for concern.
Presuming the worst, that Knight Errant will be on our tail, it’s fairly clear we won’t have time to search a file store that occupies an entire floor to find the hardcopy CORE files. Glyph has a little expertise with plastique though so makes up some detonation charges. We’ll search for the files if time permits but carry enough charges to level a couple of floors in case a quick exit becomes necessary. Boy, did that decision prove to be a saving grace!
I’m ramped. Snow has delivered my Ares Antioch so I’m tricked out with a grenade launcher on my ride. I figure I’ve now got sufficient firepower to hold off Knight Errant for at least a little while so we tool up and swing down – that was maybe 2am this morning and Glyph’s going to play stranded woman driver to allay Knight Errant suspicions until we can jump them…
Continues: 1/2>
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Now that’s just about where it starts to go wrong. Our theatrics are wasted – Knight Errant haven’t left anyone watching the street so we move on the main entrance while Glyph leaves a little booby trap for any trooper returning to the car. The grenade and the patrol car blow up almost instantly and we only just get out of the way. A second or two earlier and we’d have been pate…
Now there’s a nice burning beacon on the Fleche lawn to let everyone for miles around know we’re hitting the joint. Clock’s ticking. Time to move fast. We’re through the door and systematically quartering, checking and clearing the rooms in short order. As we head down we begin to hear gunfire and figuring maybe someone else has had the same idea we double time it only to come face to face with a group of Knight Errant pouring shot after shot into one corner of a cube farm. We join the fight and Glyph’s grenade curse keeps its end of the excitement up. As she tosses a High Explosive into the room we all see it bounce back towards us. I take cover behind a wall and still feel the concussive force as bits of plaster and ceiling ran down on me. The fight is short and brutal, Glyph and Ash heading into the cube farm like some sort of strutting Wild West heroes. Best believe that gets them shot up some for their arrogance! Glyph discovers Knight Errant have been drilling a young girl. She’s still alive but as Glyph goes in to administer first aid the little bitch comes around and goes for Glyph’s throat. I scrabble for my Stick Shock rounds but Ash is faster and puts her down. We tie her up before she can come around again and we’re stunned to see her healing in front of our eyes. She’s got a mouthful of fangs and a silver circlet with a marble shaped and sized depression in it that starts to make us think there might have been more to Cross’ research here than meets the eye.
A few floors below we get our confirmation. As we raid the file store for the CORE paperwork we’re jumped by another couple of these Vamps and have to put bullets through their spinal cords to make sure they quit. One floor down from there we find a lab with three huge freezers holding countless complete prototypes of the CORE marble. That’s about where we get grateful for the charges, Glyph made. After giving Johnson some feedback and getting clarification from him on acceptable mission parameters, we set a charge in each freezer to make sure that once we leave, the CORE marble we give to Johnson is the only one left.
We’ve got the CORE prototype and the paperwork but there are unexplored floors and we just can’t walk away and run the risk of leaving the job half done. I check my Fly Spy and car-cams to check we’ve still got time to proceed and head down to the Restricted Access lab on -6. Five empty Medical Bays tell us that we’re missing two Vamps and as we explore, the Granddaddy of the whole stinking cabal puts in an appearance. He’s toting a CORE marble, neatly slotted into the depression in the palm of his hand and uses it to fill the air with bolts of bio-electricity. None of us fancy being electrocuted so we fight fire with fire, well lightning with lead at least and with us all keeping up a barrage of shots in his direction we soon put him down and make sure he stays down. Glyph leaves one of the ready made charges in his lap to destroy him and the CORE marble he’s tooled up with and we vamos.
We eliminate the Vamp we left tied up but realise that leaves us minus one critter. The upper floors are all sealed so it’s hard to imagine he’s up there. We play it safe and rig up a tight network of charges to blow the top floors. We make sure all the documentary evidence is going to go up in that blast too.
Back in the cars, Glyph hits the detonation and we listen to the satisfying crump of the explosions. That will have taken out the upper floors, the paperwork, the CORE prototypes and the Vamps bodies. It feels professional – a job well done but conscious Vamp 5 might have left the building before us, we don’t hang around. We head straight to a meet with Johnson, hand off the goods and collect our pay. It feels like the first time a Corporate job has gone right for us from start to finish and that feels good.
Mood: Fulfilled. Job Done.
Ends: 2/2>
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