CAT26S015 Street Legends Supplemental
Short Description
Download CAT26S015 Street Legends Supplemental...
Description
®
WHO TO KNOW, WHO TO FEAR, FEAR , WHO TO RUN FOR
table of contents STREET RAGE HARD EXIT KANE MIHOSHI ONI THE SMILING BANDIT SLAMM-0! BUTTERCUP DAMIEN KNIGHT ANNE RAVENHEART HARLEQUIN
4 8 13 18 22 26 30 34 38 42
credits Development: pr m. Adrws Jr. WRItInG: Jas mirs, D oraz, S “Bu” Rakich, Bradi tari, maik ts, micha Wich eDItInG: pr m. Adrws Jr., Jas m. Hardy lAYoUt & DeSIGn: ma Hrd pRooFInG: parick Gda
2
table of contents
CoveR ARt: S prsc IllUStRAtIonS: ech Chrik, vicr prz Crba, Ia Kig, mark mar, Assadr pisa, Adrw Sir, Chris Wih
© 2011-2012 th ts Cay, Ic. A Righs Rsrd. Shadwru ad marix ar rgisrd radarks ad/r radarks th ts Cay, Ic., i h Uid Sas ad/r hr curis. Caays Ga labs ad h Caays Ga labs g ar radarks ImdiaRs prducis, llC.
Connecting JackPoint VPN … … Matrix Access ID Spooed. … Encryption Keys Generated. … Connected to Onion Routers. > Login **************************** > Enter Passcode **************************** … Biometric Scan Confrmed. Connected to “Keep your riends close, and intel fles on everyone else.”
JackPo Jac kPoint int Sta Stats___ ts___ 4 users currently active in the network Latest News
* Kane has gone o and had his inamous mug posted all over the world again. Somebody let him know there have been three military drone companies diverted to fnding him, again. — FastJack Personal Alerts
* You have 3 new private messages. * You have 4 new responses to your JackPoin Jack Pointt posts posts.. * PDA: You’re due to appear beore trafc court or your nineteen moving violations. First Degree
Two members are online and in your area. Your Current Rep Score: 73
(41% positive)
Welcome back to JackPoint, chummer; your last connection was severed: 1 day, 3 hours ago
Today’s Heads Up * Life is best lived without limits, but when it’s artifacts without limits, it can become strange faster
than you can recognize. [Tag: Artiacts Unbound] Incoming * Sometimes the paranoid people have a clue. [Tag: Conspiracy Theories] * Seattle isn’t the only city where things go bump in the night. [Tag: Another Rainy Night] * Well, the last one was popular, and guns make the world go round. [Tag: Gun Haven 2] * There are groups that only onl y the Awakened seem to keep track o. Now you can, too. [Tag: Magical Societies]
Current Time: 21 Dec 2073, 1614 hrs
Top News Items * Two Matrix sites are fned or providing misleading versions o the Proposition 23 text. Metroplex ofcials vow to continue the crackdown on the misleading advertising. Link * Knight Errant has not responded to national media requests regarding the investigation into the death
o “George,” an unidentifed ork ound downtown last month. Link * Congress continues to its probe into corruption in the FBI. Special Prosecutor Jerrold Worthington has
been appointed to discover the amount o corporate inuence in the Bureau’s upper echelons. Link * The Aztlan Navy is holding a memorial service or over three hundred sailors slain in a mysterious terrorist attack last week. The navy has declared the Zacatecas wreck a war grave, ensuring the cruiser remains
protected under international law. Link
S treet L egendS: S uppLementaL Posts/Files tagged with “Street Legends”:
* Street Rage * Kane [More]
* Hard Exit * Mihoshi Oni
street raGe POSTED By: BULL
Having a so spot or hard luck cases and sob stories can be a good thing, especially in this world o chrome, negotiable morals, and rampant paranoia. I suppose I’m more sensitive to hard luck cases because I’ve been in that position beore (I a lways tell people that I’m generic hard luck story number three). I have
experienced rsthand how cold and unorgiving this world can be, especially to those down on their luck. When bystanders in this world hear gunshots, their rst instinct is not to see i someone needs help, but rather to avert their eyes so they don’t have to see what is going down and, more importantly, importantly, they can avoid becoming involved as witnesses. We live in a world where passersby see someone lying bleeding blee ding in an alley and choose to walk away, away, eeling secure secure in the the notion that not getting involved involved probably saved them a world world o inconvenie inconvenience. nce. Maybe Maybe someone else will call DocWagon to help the poor slot out. Or maybe the person deserved what they got, and the death coming or them will be perectly tting. Tese e vasions and rationalizations
help them avoid thinking about how their decision may have condemned the individual to a slow, agonizing death rom packs o ravenous devil rats looking or an easy meal. >
>
>
>
>
>
I raiz i’s dd irru ys, bu I was wdrig why Frd was’ ig u, bggig har ahr sry. Bu H’s si akig yu. I’ araid h’s si a igh issd a yu r h IC ha yu s his way h as i. Wudd a g ad a. H si ras abu hw h shud ha b ab had i. nca
I wud say h’ g r i, bu wih y xric r Sr Rag, I ca’ say ha r crai ay r. A I wi say is I’ arady r i, ad h h ds’ carry a grudg. I h dcids raia, hi ak sur h brigs his A ga. Ad hi ir his A ga whi h’s a i. Bu
o have even a little compassion le or someone else in this otherwise dark world and to have the will to act upon it can be a commendable virtue, virtue, and that should serve ser ve as a g entle reminder reminder to all o us that in the end, no matter how much ‘ware we have implanted inside o us or what we’ve done in the past, we’re still all metahumans who would be better o i we had each others’ backs. No group epitomizes this philosophy more than Seattle’s tight-knit Ork Underground, Underground, a community that has sur vived the horric events o Seattle’s past by coming together and helping one another through the tough times. I’ve seen it happen in Chicago, when people had no choice but to band together or protection rom the bugs. And I’ve seen it here on JackPoint, where some o you have helped each other other out or various jobs, sometimes even without the expectation o being paid (but that’s a rarity).
>
>
Te story I am about to share with you all today is about one particularly nasty drekhead, and it should teach the lot o you that this rare commodity commodit y o compassion, compa ssion, especially in this day and age, can still be misguided and betrayed i you are not careul with it. And that even the best o us, no matter how jaded, no matter how experienced experienced we are in in dealing with people who are ull o drek on on a daily basis basis and no matte matterr how prepared prepared we think we are to avoid avoid being scammed, scammed, can still be taken taken in by the wrong kind o person with the right kind o story. Te star o this unortunate story is a ragger whom I originally met on ShadowSea about two years ago. He goes by the handle Street Rage. He’s a troll runner who has been working
in the shadows o Seattle or the better part o a decade. I had heard some positive things about him and his proessionalism as a runner beore I met him, and beore I had extended an invitation to him to join one o my virtual private networks. Joseph “Street Rage” Sanders was originall originallyy a part o a large shadowrunning shadowrun ning team, which had seven pe ople in all. Such a large
team is somewhat unusual or the Seattle shadows, but the act that it was an all-troll team made it stand out that much more, and it got them noticed. Now, as you probably have guessed by now, Street Rage and his crew were not so good at the subtle. Instead, Instead, they specialized in the jobs that required the biggest booms, doors that needed to be kicked in, and heads that needed to be knocked around (I think my old crew might have approved o them). From what I learned about their exploits expl oits over the years, Street Rage R age and his crew were requent visitors to the Redmond Barrens, both to visit sae houses they had established or themselves in that hellhole as well as to harass street gangs in the area when they were not away on jobs (especially those that advertised a particular bias against a gainst trolls). trol ls). At least our human-only street gangs in the Barrens disappeared completely during the time that Street Rage and his crew were active in that part o Seattle. S eattle. Tose street gangs’ headquarters were all suspiciously close to sae houses o Street Rage and his crew. crew. >
>
>
>
4
street raGe
I’ as s s us a ki hrs us, ad I xc s s agai. W ha aiacs ad uds, ik ay hr gru. Risr
Rrdy, Sr Rag ad his crw wr ray gd rs wih lrd trg ad h Siks i taca (br h w jai ad uay did hr). Sr Rag ad his crw hd h Siks a cu is i hir sr braws wih h Si p’s, ridig h wih irai wha was haig i h Rdd Barrs, ad i xchag, Sr Rag ad his crw g gar r h Siks a a sigicay rducd cs. Risr Gi a h rbs h Siks ha b haig wih h Acis, I wud say ha hy cud rbaby us Sr Rag’s shadw xric agai. 2Xl
>
>
I saks us abu Sr Rag’s ra ra ad judg i h acuay csidrd lrd trg a ay. Fraggig sychah. Sicks
Street Rage’s team regularly marketed itsel to the Johnsons as being “an unstoppable wall o troll,” and they took jobs that more m ore cautious runners hesitated to take. “You want a lot o collateral damage against your competition? You want to send a strong message to them? A message that’ll bring the Star down upon our heads? Sure we’ll take it … or the right price.” With all a ll the sae houses Street Rage and his crew reportedly had scattered throughout the Barrens (as many as eight at one point), it was not surprising surprising that they they could disappear or months at a time beore resuracing or more work once the heat rom their previous jobs cooled down. Tis skill in going o-grid at a moment’s notice, coupled with their ability to deal with anyone that came looking or them, helped build the reputation o Street Rage’s crew with the local xers, which helped keep job oers and nuyen coming. During their decade-long run in the shadows, besides taking jobs that were designed to send messages to the competition, Street Rage’s team were also known to take courier jobs rom Johnsons even when they knew beorehand those jobs would be particularly particu larly hazardous and that there would woul d be heavy resistance. In taking those jobs, Street Rage’s team oen le behind scores o dead bodies. Many o those bodies would disappear beore the Star could arrive and would later wash up in Puget Sound, with much o the evidence o who had killed them having conveniently washed away with the tide. Te bodies that I believe were caused by Street Rage’s hand either had the bullets meticulously dug out o them, or ell under the blade o Street Rage’s combat axe, his personal weapon o choice. Street Rage, as the team’s eld medic, had the experience and the know-how to remove the bullets rom the bodies beore weighing them down and disposing o them into the sound. I’m condent that many o the bodies that Street Rage and his crew were responsible or have yet to be recovered (and probably never will). And because many o those poor souls were working in anonymity in the shadows, it is unlikely that any o them will ever be missed, much less tracked back to Street Rage Rag e and his crew crew.. >
>
A as hs sa huss i h Barrs was quid ik a akshi sr ciic. Sr Rag r saw ay iig ais; isad h k bdis hr r bus ad hrwis r h rais r dissa. I’s a bi a sha ha h r usd his dica kwdg ad a h hr rurs h srs. th srs cud aways us r sr dcs. Buch
Over the years, when those dangerous courier jobs weren’tt readily weren’ readil y available, avail able, Street Rage and his crew took too k jobs where they were hired to be enorcers and debt colle collectors, ctors, nding and beating up wage slaves who had chosen (willingly or not) to renege on repaying their debts, intimidating them into compliance. In the course o these jobs, they also built up a relationship with local Vory bosses. For years, Lone Star suspected them as being the muscle or several protection
VITAL STATS: STREET RAGE Age: ~26 Weight: 330 kg Eyes: Green Metatype: Troll
Height: 2.61 m Hair: Black Gender: Male Awakened: No
street raGe
5
rackets that the Russians ran in various districts, but their reputation was so intimidating (along with their riendship with the Vory) Vory) that the Star could not get any o their victims to rat them out. Aer working the streets or about six years, Street Rage’s team began expanding their operations into the corporate sector and began taking more lucrative jobs that took them out o Seattle. On several occasions, they worked or the Atlantean Foundation, escorting their excavation teams to dig sites around the world to keep the archeological geeks sae while they did their jobs. Each Each time time they they dealt dealt with with the man manyy dangers dangers o the job, rom rom ghting o local grave robbers and rival mercenaries to battling hostile paranormal critters and local extremist groups who saw the Atlantean Foundation as interlopers and delers o their land. Tey accepted jobs working with Ares, helping protect and move underground Ares weapon shipments to resistance ghters g hters scattered across North America who desperately needed those armaments. Tis included homestead owners in the disputed Northern Crescent region o Caliornia who were ighting against much more heavily armed and better-trained ír orces, ordinary citizens who lived along the violent simshian/SalishShidhe Council border and needed to protect themselves and their property during those violent conrontations, metahuman resistance groups in General Saito’s Caliornia Protectorate, and even Yucatan Yucatan resistance ghters in Aztlan. Over the last several years, I would wager that Street Rage and his crew helped move tens o millions o nuyen worth o Ares products to some o the most dangerous hot spots in North America. By that point in their advanced careers, a couple o Street Rage’s team members had also become licensed bounty hunters in the UCAS, going aer the lucrative bounties on wanted ug ugitives itives as well as dangero dangerous us paran paranormal ormal critter critters.s. Street Rage’s team has been credited with clearing out several abandoned buildings through Seattle lled with eral ghouls, vampires, and noseratu. noseratu. It was likely that that this shi in pursuing bounties led to Street Rage and his team receiving their nal, ateul run (you know the one I speak o; the one that either punches yours or your chummers’ tickets, and sends you o to the Valhalla Valhalla or shadowrunners) a little over two years ag o. And that one run came compliments o the Draco Foundation near the end o 2071. >
>
Bu, as. I’s si s ar Crash 2.0 ak ay rrcs nrs yhgy. Da Wirigh. Back maba
On my VPN, Street Rage let us know that he had received a lucrative job oer, one to hunt down our specic toxic shamans on whom the Draco Foundation had place bounties. Tey were working under the name o the Four Horsemen o the Apocalypse (i it were me, I would have ound their locations, hacked one o the megacorp’s satellite weapons systems, and hor shot their hoops rom a sae distance, but that’s just me). Street Rage and his team decided to rst go aer the member o the Four Horsemen known as Pestilence, who was supposedly stationed deep in the Amazon rainorest. Apparently, Apparently, their team lost two members just trying to get to the camp— Annubis and Swi Blade (rest in peace, chummers). One ell to a Sangre Del Diablo tree. Another was killed by a previously
6
street raGe
unidentied venomous insect, one that a standard medkit did not recognize—and that possessed a neurotoxin that had the potency to kill a troll. Despite their losses, Street Rage and the remainder o his team orged on, and they actually succeeded in dismantling the toxic shaman’s operations. “Dismantling” in this case meaning that they lled everything with bullet holes or blew drek up with grenades (like I said earlier, they’re not subtle). Tings seemed to be going all right or the team until they reached their primary objective. For the record, toxic shamans never play air. Street Rage mentioned that Pestilence had two toxic spirits with him. Between those two powerul spirits and the shaman, the toxic team managed to take down the remaining our members o Street Rage’s team beore he nally buried his combat axe into the toxic shaman and ended the threat. Te our runners’ street handles were Airborne, Hunter, Mist Walker and Stinger. Yeah, I know I’m a big soie when it comes to remembering allen runners, no matter who they may have worked with. Speaking o which, here’ here’ss to the the Captain. Captain. His anniversa anniversary ry is coming up soon. May he also rest in peace. >
>
th xic shaas ha idiy hss as h Fur Hrs h Acays ar si u hr ad ar si aci. th Drac Fudai has raisd h buy hir hads 250,000 uy ach, r a ii r a ur. Ad ys, I said a ur. Aary, h gru rcruid a w br i h r psic. Frsy
When Street Rage returned to Seattle, he began to put out eelers to nd a new team. I cannot even imagine losing all my chummers in a single mission, let alone what Street Rage experienced, so I decided to help him. I made arrangements with his current xers to help introduce him to the new talent I had been working with, to see i we could get him onto a new team and get him back on his eet. For the sake o solidarity, and also or the sake o trying to help a down-and-ou down-and-outt runner, I held my nose and overlooked some o Street Rage’ Ra ge’ss bigger character aws—includingg the act he was an active member o the Sons aws—includin o Sauron. Tey are the ones that give groups like the Ork Rights Committee a bad rep, and in my opinion the only thing they accomplish is keeping hate alive or both sides. When I invited him to my VPN, I assumed that Street Rage possessed enough proessionalism proession alism rom his many years in the the shadows shadows to keep his prejudices in check and to work with any other team as i they were his old crew. Prior to losing his team, the old Street Rage might have been able to do just that. But aer suering such a devastating tragedy, cracks were beginning to orm in Street Rage’s personality. Aer the rst couple o jobs, my crews inormed me that Street Rage preormed adequately on the job, though he tended to be quiet and kept mostly to himsel. More quiet than you’d expect a troll o Street Rage’s caliber and experience to be. Previous stories o Street Rage’s exploits said that he was pretty involved in the meets with the Johnsons—asking questions, challenging their assumptions and intel, and actively discussing aspects o the job with his crew. Now, he was pretty much vacant during their meets, not speaking up at all and allowing others to speak or him. He might as well have been a potted plant. It sounded like survivor’s guilt to me, and I assumed that he
would eventually eventually get over over it once once he settled settled into into a new team, team, got into a new routine, and became used to his new chummers. So I convinced them that there wasn’t anything to be worried about, saying that he would eventually adapt and return to his ormer, outgoing sel. Tat was a big mistake on my part. hings slowly started to go downhill. hings started to set him o, even the tiniest drek. He began having more disagreements with his crewmembers, and those disagreements started to result in trips to the hospital or the other crew members. And between jobs, he began to appear more requently at Sons o Sauron rallies and protests. Grie and hate rarely go well together, and in Street Rage’s case, it was tearing him apart rom the inside. At one particular rally ral ly in December 2071, things took a violent turn, as the protestors began to clash with the Star. At that rally, Street Rage grabbed a human Lone Star ofcer, and in a hate- and adrenaline-lled rampage, he snapped the human ofcer’s neck. He was completely out o control. Te only way he did not become a cop killer that night was or the act that DocWagon DocWagon was on the scene, and a nd one o the medics applied magical treatment to the downed ofcer. Based on that incident, which would have brought down more heat upon my talent than what they deserved, as well as on a progressive stream stream o warnings warnings I had been issuing issuing to him or his increasingly increasin gly hate-lled tirades on my VPN, I decided to cut ties. >
>
STREET RAGE B 9
A
R
S
I
L
W Ed Edg
Ess
Init
IP
4
4
5
1.12
8 (13)
1 (3)
5
Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 13/10 Armor (B/I): 13/13 Skills: Blades (Combat Axe) 6 (+2), Climbing 3, Clubs 3, Con 3, Cybertechnology 4, Demolitions 2, Dodge (Melee) 6 (+2), First Aid 5, Intimidation Intimid ation (Physical) 5 (+2), Medicine 4, Negotiation 2, Perception 3, Pilot Ground Cra 3, Pistols 2, Running 6, Swimming 3, Trowing Weapon W eaponss 3, Unar Unarmed med Combat Combat (Block) (Block) 5 (+2) Knowledge skills: Corporations 3, Cyberware 3, Metahuman Anatomy 4, North America Governments 4, Pharmaceuticals 4, Seattle Runner Hangouts 4, Seattle Roadways 5, Seattle Sae Houses 5
Languages: English N, Russian 2 Qualities: Prejudiced (Radical: Humans, Elves, Awakened, 25 pts), Wanted, W anted, Home Home Ground Augmentations: (all alphaware) Ceramic bone lacing, muscle replace Augmentations: ment 1, reaction enhancers 3, wired reexes 2 Gear: 4 disposable commlinks (Device Rating 3), 10 ake licenses (driver’s licenses, pistol permits, concealed carry permits, medical permits, all Rating 6), 12 ake SINs (Rating 6), ull body armor w/ helmet, medkit (Rating 6), 6 slap patches (Rating 5), gog gles [Rating 1, w/ smartlink smartlink], ], 250 rounds o regular ammo
Sr Rag is’ h y basard i his sry. I yu wd h sry ha cr wh had his ck sad (ad d’ wrry i yu did’, s d’ usuay bhr wih ahua irs sris), yu wud kw ha h has had hr surgris rair h raiig r daag. Dsi h crrais’ cais ha hy ca x r rbuid ry uch ryhig ha’s wrg wih h hua bdy, hs surgris aid rsr uch h r uci. Ad add isu ijury, wh l Sar s h scuriy crac r Sa, hy ad crai ha h ijurd c was ag h rs h l Sar cs aid s ha hy cud aid haig ay u g-r disabiiy hi. Cassy. Sushi
Since banning him in January o last year, I haven’t heard much about Street Rage. Rag e. From the ew things I have heard, he’s he’s nally settled on another crew. It’s a ve-man team, consisting o a mixture o trolls and orks. Unlike his previous crew, this one seems to be made up o individuals all belonging to the Sons o Sauron. Street Rage is in charge, directing this new crew to take jobs that pit them in direct opposition to the Awakened. I’ve also heard that he has taken jobs rom those who work or dragons to hunt down dragon reagents, remove them rom the open market, and to deal with anyone associated with those reagents in the most violent ways possible. I believe he and his new crew are responsible or the deaths o at least six talismongers and our spellslingers. When he hasn hasn’t ’t been been involved involved with with dragon reagents, reagents, he and and his crew have taken jobs that have been tied to ley lines around the world. Chatter on ShadowSea suggests that the dragons are scrambling to secure some o the more powerul ley lines or themselves in anticipation o a wider-scale conict with others o their kind. It is rumored that Street Rage is taking these jobs as well, not so he can help out the wyrms, but to g ive him the chance to kill more spellslingers. spell slingers. Tat opportunity or spilling Awakened blood is the only thing that enables him to
C
4 (5) 4 (9) 10 (11) 2
Weapon W eapons: s:
Unarmed [Reach 1, DV 8P, AP —] Combat Axe [Blade, Reach 3, DV 10P, AP –1,] Vibro blade, knie [Blade, Reach 1, DV 8P, AP –2] Ares Predator IV [Heavy Pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 15 (c), w/ internal intern al smartgun system]
High explosive grenades [Grenade, DV 10P, AP –2, Blast –2/m] Fragmentation Fragmen tation grenades [Grenade, [Grenade, DV 12P( ), AP +5, Blast –1/m]
bear the act that he has to work with the Awakened in order to be successul. Given the opportunity, i he thought he could get away with it, I am certain Street Rage would turn on those magicians that he was orced to work with and simply end them. Street Rage is dangerous, plain and simple. He is the type o person where, i you get into a ght with him, you don’t want to worry about conserving your ammo; you want to shoot rst and ask questions later. later. Especially i you happen to be a human or an el, and especially especially i you happen to be Awakened. Street Rage serves as a reminder that that not all street legends have have a happy ending, and not all street legends are people you would ever like to meet. > >
S ds Haz. piss
street raGe
7
Hard eXit POSTED By: PISTONS Since we’ve alternated in sharing legends and tales o others and ourselves, I gured that I’d pick on our dear riend Hard Exit. I’ve had some un at her expense over the last couple o years, but that’s because she’s like a sister sister to me. More than than that, I owe her my lie. I won’t go into details, but sufce to say that withoutt her assistan withou assistance ce I wouldn’ wouldn’t have have made it out o Vegas Vegas alive. But that’s a tale or another day. I’ll start by telling the tale o how she earned the handle Hard Exit. Hard Exit comes rom the rst generation o children born as Lone Star corporate citizens, and she was even born in Austin. Tat is important enough, but you have to consider that as chauvinistic as the Star culture is now, it was magnitudes worse back then, and Austin was the epicenter o it all. Te newly divided city was still a low-intensity low-intensity conict zone when she was born, and Lone Star was right in the middle. Tis would come to dene her, as she was a girl who was born and raised in a culture where men mattered and women were little more than brood broo d mares. No matter how much she resisted, and how much she asserted hersel, Clay Wilson’s retro empire had a specic vision or women: Shut up and serve your man, and Lone Star too. Growing up in Austin also gave her a peculiar insight into lie within conict zones, which which is now now where where she comm commonly only works. works. Beore she became known as Hard Exit, she was Yesica Rucker. Yesica—Jessica to many people back in Austin—is at least a seventh-generation ejana rom central exas. Even though her ather was Anglo and a Lone Star ofcer, the act that she looks more like her mother’s amily and kept resisting being a part o the Lone Star culture was complicated by the act that she lived in a divided city where the Enemy looked an awul lot like her. Her resistance to the dominant culture, then, was unwelcome to say the least. It got her in trouble. It got her amily in trouble, and eventually all that trouble came to a head. Given her resistance to the corporate culture and the lack o opportunities that came with it, Hard Exit bolted or the CAS Marine Corps the day she turned seventeen. Her parents happily signed the papers, and she was o to Parris Island. Having grown up surrounded and harassed by cops, and then eeing home to get away rom them, the Marine Corps gured she would be best used as an MP. Tis didn’t discourage her, and in act it served as a motivation or her to show that she knew how to act better than the men she grew up around. By the time Christmas 2061 rolled around, she was SWA-trained and serving as a sergeant with a unit providing support or anti-terrorism and counterintelligence operations in Pensacola. Tis core discipline o knowing how to harden and secure sites has become useul in her work to subvert or bypass those same systems. Given her uency in Aztlan Spanish, she was given critical assignments deending Marine Corps assets and personnel.
>
>
>
>
> >
Sh craiy kw hr way abu y ba, s I’ gussig ha kwdg ca r hs criica assigs. Sudr Sic h CAS nay is bui arud hir subari f, h nay ad maris u a riu ddig h, r rcaurig bas ha si u hir grs. thy sd h SeAls rak h s a sa, s I d’ hik I r had h asur sig Hard exi i aci back i hr iiary days. Ka th SeAls ca kiss y ass. Hard exi
When Ghos Ghostwa twalker lker app appeare eare d in Denve Denverr and beg an wreaking havoc, the dragon’s actions and the Azzie response prompted the Coneds to airli a joint task orce composed o some o their best units to protect the CAS Sector rom both Ghostwalker and the Azzies. Tis was a delicate balancing o resources, because any unit dedicated to Denver wouldn’t be available i something happened in exas, Missouri, or Virginia. Te sector was where Sgt. Sg t. Rucker ended up, providing combat support against an unconventional enemy while also having to reassure an increasingly worried public. >
>
may h Kigh erra crs i Dr acuay ca r h CAS iiary. I was a c ddg br h rai h Z Ds Frc. Sic h Fr Rag Fr Z was chicay a diiarizd z, wh uis wud a h rsci iiaris hir curis y b idiay hird by h r ia scuriy cracrs icig ach scr. this causd s gri durig h h wh Ghswakr was aackig h ciy, bcaus h CAS iiary’s rus gag wr sh sigh. ordrs r Dri, hugh, said ha hy shud w h UCAS ad Siux icy s-ds. this d s ry asy ira diisis i Ke Dr bw hs wh wd rdrs r Dri ad hs wh si csidrd hss CAS iiary i a bu a. Sicks
On January 26, 2062, the Council o Denver met in an emergency session. When the votes were counted, Ghostwalker was given executive control o Denver, PCC took over the Denver Matrix, and Aztlan’s Aztlan’s sector was given to the CAS. Te moment the vote was made ocial, the CAS military crossed the
border into the sector to ormally annex it. Tere wasn’t much ghting once they moved by the border deenses, but pockets o resistance remained. Te nal and most signicant holdout took place at the the Aztechnology Aztechnology pyramid. Tere were were other other pockets pockets in the surrounding area, but all ghting centered on the pyramid. Aer another unit was ambushed, three o the surviving Marines were kidnapped kidnapped and taken into the pyramid as either either hostages hostages or,
more likely, sacrices. In the Coneds’ mind, they did not know what Aztechnology would do to captured combatants. Rucker was already in the ght, and when when the only course course o action was was to immediately retrieve the captured soldiers, she led the charge.
8
Hard eXit
Getting into the pyramid was the the comparatively easy part, and the tactics she employed became something o a recurring moti in her extraction work. With her mixed-race appearance and uency in Aztlan Spanish, Rucker led a six-Marine squad disguised in Aztechnology corporate security armor and inltrated the pyramid, posing as a unit regrouping rom earlier conict. Her team was able to locate and recover their ellow Marines, two wounded and one dead. She earned the nickname Hard Exit rom how they made their escape. Tey needed to evacuate the pyramid with their comrades and then make it back through the CAS lines alive. I the Azzies knew they were Marines, they were dead. I the CAS saw the Azzie armor, they were dead. >
>
I’ sur h wizags hr ar wdrig why w did’ us agic. I cas yu ha’ b hr, h Azzi yraid is arady haiy ascd wards hir warghrs, ad s hir ags wr ab i ha baac uch urhr i hir ar. tha’s why hy wad y maris. our ag ay as w ha rid su Buddha as ry rid agica sur. Ghswakr’s ais ar wha hd ur h id ar ha ig. th y y y, I sus. Hard exi
Tey orced their exit using every kind o weapon they could get their hands on as they breached the physical structure o the pyramid and then blasted their way past the exterior deensive line with a well-aimed LAW that broke the line and brought them into contact with CAS troops. Sgt. Rucker managed to ast-talk the Coned soldiers whose position they overran into not shooting them, and that’s where the story would have ended. Mission accomplished. No one le behind. Hard Exit’s a war hero. She spent the next ew months in the ormer Aztlan sector workingg on civil workin civil aairs and and conducting conducting peacekeepin peacekeepingg operations operations in the Conederation’s new territory. She kept a rm hand, but she knew that controlling the environment means knowing the streets. She drew on an old concept called “community policing” that ell out o avor back in the 1980s. Te idea was to overcome the traditional us-versus-them mentality that oen exists between police and residents o neighborhoods hit hard by crime and to put the residents and police on the same side, working together tog ether and eeding inormation back ba ck and a nd orth or th to support each others’ eorts. She had a difcult task ahead o
VITAL STATS: HARD EXIT Age: 35 Weight: 60 kg Eyes: Hazel Metatype: Human
Height: 1.78 m Hair: Dark blonde Gender: Female Awakened: No
Hard eXit
9
her, since the us-versus-them way o thinking was practically a religion within Lone Star. She decided to use the community policing strategy as a way to show she was a step ahead o the ordinary ofcer. Tis approach o enlisting the citizenry is oen used in intelligence collection and counteri counterintelligence/secu ntelligence/security rity operations, but is more oen put into practice by militaries operating in oreign warzones than by domestic police orces. Since Hard Exit and her Marines served both roles, community policing became a valuable tool. tool. >
>
o curs i did’ as. oc w ad Ke k r, hy hrw away ay gdwi w had dd ad w back hir icy chaica dissciai ad a iiidai. I’s si br ha h buyig kuck-draggrs i l Sar, bu by uch. Hard exi
Ten the DSI showed up. Tey nally got around to debrieng Hard Exit about the pyramid incident, incident, and dierent dierent ofces tried tried to pick away at her success. Somehow, Somehow, the DSI convinced her to orego a career in the Corps or a clandestine position in the private sector. Te CAS wasn’t allowed to go into the Yucatán, but the UN now was. Te UN Mission in the Yucatán Yucatán Peninsula (UNMIYUP) had just been established, and the CAS military and DSI saw Hard Exit’s value in making contacts and controlling conicts and crises. Te UNAF would be going in, and they needed experienced hands (read: mercenaries) that could deal with the population. Hard Exit had the right experience experience on her résumé, and the DSI had the right contacts to insert her into a mission at Chetumal. Not quite a cop, mercenary, or a (known) spy, Hard Exit had to play the game as an outsider, but one without any clear allegiance. She also conducted covert operations on behal o the DSI or CAS military, but i anything happened to her, it was arranged so that the datatrail began and ended with her subcontractingg agreement with Argus. It’s not quite important subcontractin what those missions missions entailed, but given her skillset and current current specialty, it wouldn’t be out o the question to think that she may have crossed the border to recover lost personnel. But in the end, Hard Exit wasn’t a mercenary and she wasn’t a spy; she was a cop. Te UN orces were in a holding pattern, and they remained that way even aer the peace agreement. So HE returned to the CAS, breezing through through OCS and becoming a junior ofcer whose rst assignment sent her to the DeeCee area—North Virginia, to be specic. Tat was when we met. Marines o both nations rotate through installations in either country, and Quantico is the big one. It’s where ofcers rom both nations train and study, and not inrequent inrequently ly share gained ga ined knowledge and experience. Hard Exit was ostensibly there to train, but she also was looking to share inormation on what really happened in Denver in 2062. >
>
Ah, ys. nw I rbr—yu k y cass a Ut r h marix. W had s rahr sirid discussis h acis’ idas h cii-iiary diid. thr
Once she returned rom the UCAS, Hard Exit was back on the ast track. She commanded elite security and MP units, and she served in Atlanta during Crash 2.0 and the aermath, putting her principl principles es into practic practicee to help keep the peace
10
Hard eXit
without resorting resor ting to the violent crackdowns that occurred o ccurred in many North American sprawls. Tat doesn’t mean that she didn’t put oot to ass when necessary, but she tended to keep the shooting o people to a minimum. Extracting an Army general who’d been kidnapped kidnapped rom Fort Fort McPherson McPherson by insurgen insurgents ts again helped cement her reputation as a specialist in that eld. She put her police skills to use in nding General Harrod in Decatur and
then brought him out saely. It’s unny someone can spend years o their career building up goodwill and positive perceptions, only to see all o it pissed away in an instant by a single wrong move. Tis happened three years later, when Captain Rucker was in Denver. Te total military drawdo drawdown wn that was expected never happened; while many o those units had become be come part o the ZDF, Hard Exit’s group had been nationalized. Rucker led a mission to clear a cell o Los Espejos that had been causing all manner o trouble. Aer the group bombed the St. Tomas Seminary, it was clear that they needed to be eliminated. She and her Marines hunted or their prey, searching through every piece o detritus le in the wake o these attacks and reaching out to everyone they could think o to nd them. Te cell was nally located a couple weeks later, and Rucker and her people moved in to make the bust. Ten the whole thing became political, and everyone wanted a piece o the takedown. DDI personnel were interering rom Atlanta, Atlanta, and while she and her company were going in, everyone ever yone else els e was sitting si tting on the sidelines ready re ady to swoop in and claim credit on this “joint” operation—right up until the whole mission went sideways, and the Azzies and, more importantly, the ZDF overwhelmed their support. Te whole incident incident turned into into a short shooting shooting match match between the Marines and a ZDF unit composed o Sioux personnel with not one Conederate in sight. Once the shooting stopped and the smoke cleared, the whole screw up was hung around her neck. Her past successes were the only thing that kept her out o prison, but her career was over. Aer that it was a slow transition by Rucker rom disgraced MP captain to shadowrunner. She returned to Austin and ound some opportunities to keep ghting the good ght against the Azzies. She hooked up with the Sons o the Alamo and the exas
Rangers—but never with Lone Star—to covertly hunt and kill subversives and agents provocateurs within exas, oen times crossing the borders to extract assets or help unnel cross-border activity. Te Rangers don’t always make the most attractive oers, though, and ofcial policy kept her rom becoming an ocial member. So when oers came rom gangs and syndicates whose members members inside inside the Mari Marine ne Corps had vouched vouched or her, her, it was worth worth taking. taking. Patriotis Patriotism m is ne, ne, but itit doesn’t doesn’t keep keep the lights on or pay or the upkeep on your cyberware. cyb erware. O course, word spreads, especially when you know people, and even more especially i those people are in transnational gangs and syndicates, the CAS and UCAS military, DSI, and so orth. Hard Exit knows all those people pe ople and more, and with a rep or anti-Azzie leanings and work, various competitors started hiring her based on her reputation. But again, Hard Exit is a cop rst. So while she was doing a number o aggressive activities, especially extractions and jobs where the mission was to be a criminal, she was also being approached or reelance investigations and other jobs that regular cops wouldn’t touch or one reason or another. Sometimes she was approached about
investigations where her skills and contacts made her invaluable as a consultant or conduit to connecting the right dots. Tat was how the the FedPols FedPols brought her her in to nd nd Laurent Laurent Bonta, Bonta, who had been kidnapped rom Kingdom Seven in Columbia in ul l view o the patrons. No No one seemed to know anything, but she had contacts in the Vory who would sooner die than cooperate with them. Tey at least lea st helped help ed her direct the FedPols to his body, and she was instrumental in everyone burying the story with him.
>
>
>
> >
>
>
>
> >
th vry wad hi dad r backsabbig h a da iig gus back i his ai Aria. I ca udrsad why hy wud’ ha jus kid hi (ad cuss hrs) a h cub r ha braya. I hard ha h UCAS was agr bury i hss c hir CIA was d wha h was suggig by h h UGB. th vry did h a ar. Rd Aya Yu kw, i’s uy ha sh was cad i a xraci jb wh i was d wih h kid braad ha sh has b kw y. Hard exi gs r h cadsi, saky xracis. Sh’s sciay d ha i wh hs ar uary xracis, bcaus hr is ss a chac r h ci g hard i h rcss. thr ar hr is, hwr, wh sh’s ud jbs wih h kid fair ad brazss ha wud usuay y xc r h iks Ka. Bas juig h h ighy-sry Cubia twr ik h kidars did wih Ba diy as i h ar cagry. Sicks Yah. Fuy ha. Hard exi
Te unny thing is that or as much as she hates Lone Star, Hard Exit knows a hell o a lot o people in Lone Star, and she has a lot o knowledge about the corp. Part o that comes rom the act that her ather is a ormer city chie who now works in the Security S ecurity Consulting Services division. He’s an old-school cop rst and a corporate executive a distant second. Word has it he sometimes directs people her way in those instances when Lone Star bean-counters or politics keep justice rom being served. O course, he would be loathe to have them contact his daughter, so it’s ortunate or everyone involved that Hard Exit is oen times a nebulous persona thanks to Jess’ proclivity or disguises, alse identit identities, ies, and misdirection. I jest j est with her about the act that most Johnsons, spyrunners, or random olks are just
>
>
>
>
>
>
thr’s a ha gig arud. Yu jus d’ kw wh yu ca rus hs days. Fr a I kw, h rk Jhs wh hird cud ha b nadja Daiar i disguis. ma’Fa o curs, i as wrks i rrs. n ray bid ha h guy siig acrss r a a bar i puyau was Jaha Bak hugh h was a bu scraig i hysicay ad cricay. Sis h ruh is s absurd ha i is h bs disguis. Bu Idd. o i I jus wakd u h ep a guardig hir ci ad said I was hr ki hr. thy aughd. I did y jb. Whs. Risr S whr ds yur buddy Kicaid a i a his? ex-DIp Caai urd shiy puyau arara isigar? thr’s g b a sry hr. Sicks I h w’ ak abu i, wha aks yu hik I wi? D’ yu ha s bs ick ca swhr? Hard exi
When Jess isn’t extracting peopl peoplee rom the owers in Manhattan or retrieving a kidnapped child in San Diego, she’s been spending quite a bit o time in Bogotá. Her anti-Azzie anti-Azzie stance is well known, but so is her skill in keeping people alive when they shouldn’t be and nding people who don’t want to be ound. Tere’s a lot o work in those elds, and the war and her rep have aorded her quite a ew luxuries to keep her running the shadows at top speed or a lot o dierent actors. She also spends time back in the Yucatán and the Caribbean, but I think the Yucatán jobs are more related to the whole debacle where she lost her arm on that UN job she described in the Spy Games posting. Tere are still a lot o loose ends rom what I’ve heard, and also a sense o duty to right things that went awry during the Azzie campaign to destabilize the UN presence in the Chetumal region.
as likely to meet the rugged, rugg ed, male ex-cop that could have stepped
out o a P.I. simick as they are to meet Yesica la ejana.
Hard eXit
11
HARD EXIT B
A
R
S
C
I
L W Edg
3
4 (6)
4 (6)
3 (4)
4
4
4
4
5
Ess
I ni t
IP
0.205 8 (10) 1 (3)
Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 10/10 Armor (B/I): 6(8)/4(6) Qualities: Bilingual Bilingual,, First Impression, echnical echnical School Education, rustworthy
Gear: Chameleon suit (6/4), knowsots [all Rating 4; Arcana, Magic Background, Aztlan History, Aztec Culture, Local Area Knowledge, Local Area Politics, Chemistry, Structural Fig hting Vehicle ehicless 2073], linguasots [all Engineering, Jane’s Fighting Rating 4; Cantonese, French (multiple dialects), German, Italian, Mandarin, Nahuatl, Russian, Sperethiel], microtransceiver transce iver [Rating 6, w/ Encrypt 6, subvocal mic, transdu transducer], cer], nanopaste disguise (small, Rating 2), newprint altskin (Rating 2), skillsos [all Rating 4; Blades, Chemistry, Cracking skill group, Electronics skill group, First Aid, Forgery, Gunnery, Mechanic skill group, Pilot Aircra, Pilot Ground Cra, Pilot Waterc W atercra, ra, Parachuting, Parachuting, Diving]
Skills: Armorer 2 [3], Athletics skill group 3, Clubs 3, Computer
(Edit) 2 [4] (6), Con (Impersonation) (Impersonation) 4 [5] (7), ( 7), Demolitions Software: FL Matrixware Power Suite, Homewrecker Suite, pocket hacker hacker suite suite,, acSo Rating 4 2 [3], Disguise 4, Etiquette (Military) 5 [6] (8), Firearms skill group 5, Hardware 3 [5], Heavy Weapons 3, Inltration Weapons: 4, Intimidation (Interrogation) 5 (7), Leadership ( ( actics) Weapons: 4[5] (7), Negotiation 3 [4], Perception 6 [9], Shadowing 5, Ares Alpha [Assault Rie, DV 6P, AP –5, SA/BF/FA, RC 2, Outdoors skill group 5, Trowing Weapons (Grenades) 3 (5), 42(c), w/ personalized grip, smartgun, 6 clips APD S ammo] Unarmed Un armed Combat (Subdual) 5 (7) Underbarrel grenade launcher [Grenade Launcher, DV –, AP Knowledge Skills: Aztechnology/Aztlan Military 6, Bodyguarding –, SS, 6(c), w/ high explosive grenades: DV 10P, AP –2, Blast 3 [4], Bogotá Area Knowledge 5, CAS Military 4[5], Cop –2/m, 3 clips; Fragmentation: 12P( ), AP +5, Blast –1/m, 2 Bars (exas) 4 (6), Criminal Law (CAS) 2 [3] (5), Criminal clips] Syndicates, Espionage radecrat (Counter-surveillance) 3 [4] (6), Forensics 2 [3], Latin American Politics 4, Mercena Mercenary ry H&K 227-S [SMG, DV 5P; AP –4, SA/BF, RC 5, 28(c) Haunts 3, Mercenary Units 3, Police Procedures 5 [6], w/ adv. saety, s aety, olding stock, gas-vent 3, personal personalized ized grip, Psychology 4, Security Procedures 5 [6], Security Provid Providers ers smartgun, 3 clips subsonic ammo] (Lone Star) 6 (8), Security Systems 3, Smuggler Havens 3, Savalette Guardian [Heavy pistol, DV 6S(e) or 6P; AP –hal or Street Docs 2, Small Unit actics (CB) 6 [7] (9), exas Area –2, SA/BF*, RC 2, 12(c) w/ advanced saety, personalized grip, Knowledge 5, Yucatán Area Knowledge 4 smartgun, 2 clips stick-n-shock ammo, 2 clips EX-explosive Languages:Aztlan Languages: Aztlan Spanish N, Portuguese 4, English N, Japanese 3 ammo] Augmentations: Augmentat ions: (all betaware) Attention coprocessor 3, bone density augmentation 2, cyberarm [custom, right, obvious; Body 6, Strength 6, Agility 6, Armor (B/I) 2/2], Fairlight Caliban commlink w/ Novatech Navi [Response 4, Signal 5, Firewall 3, System 4, w/ hot-sim, sim module, 3 datajacks, data lock, orientation system], encephalon 2, muscle augmentation 1, muscle toner 2, smart skin2 , skillwires 4, skillwire expert system, synaptic booster 2, Zeiss SenseSation Executive Edition (plus smartlink) suite
12
Hard eXit
4 thermal smoke grenades [Grenade, DV –, AP –, Blast 10m Radius] Cougar Fineblade long knie [Blades, Reach –, DV 5P, AP –1]
Stun Baton [Clubs, [Clubs, Reach 1, DV 6S(e), AP –hal ] Fists [Unarmed, DV 3P, AP –, Reach –] * Burst re requires a Complex Action
Kane POSTED By: /DEV/GRRL
You know what? I need to get something o my chest. I’ve been here or three years now, and I’m sick o the abuse. I’m sick o getting picked on because I don’t know a bunch o so-called so -called amous shadowrunners rom a zillion years ago, or don’t know some rockers whose ame dried up beore I was born, or don’t know the ins and outs o “Bug City” or Lagos or wherever. You assholes give me shit because o my age and question everything I post here. And worst o all, most o you think I simply don’t belong here. Especially you, Bull. And you, Slamm-0! Fuck you both. I saw the shit you were spewing about me in your little “private chatroom” last month. >
>
Hy w! n c, hackig ur chas ik ha! Yu ray shud Sa-0!
Tat’s right, you old geezers. I didn’t use JackPoint, I didn’t use daddy’s corporate blood-money, and I didn’t do it sitting at my desk. I did my homework, did my research, did the legwork that a good runner needs to do. I tracked him to a nightclub down in New Orleans, where he was busy losing a small ortune in a poker game. Came up behind him, put a gun to his head, and he was my little bitch. Now, now, don’t get your panties in a bunch. I didn’t turn him in or the bounty or anything. Not that it wouldn’t set me up or lie, but hell, I’m not in this or the money any more than most o you are. I just wanted to prove I could do it. o mysel, and or some ucking reason to all o you. But let me tell you something, I’m saving the picture my my cybereyes took o his h is ace when he turned around and saw this little, itsy-bitsy itsy-bitsy girl in her NeoNE school uniorm holding a gun on him. It was priceless. Aer that, we hung out, had a ew drinks, and I nished cleaning
> >
>
>
> >
>
>
Bu /d/grr, did yu jus squch Bu ad Sa-0! s hy ca’ s? Sa-0!’s cussig u a sr righ w! nca Yah. tach tach hs uckrs whi abu . /d/grr Irssi. I did’ hik ay wud b ab d ha wih his cd bu . Si, d’ d ha. FasJack
Tere’s a reason I’m I ’m here. ‘Jack thought I was good enough, but apparently you guys think you know better than he does. I’m sure both o you came out o the womb knowing everything there was about shadowrunning. Oh, wait. Tat’s right, I’ve read your bios. You were both idiot newbs once on ce upon up on a time, too. And rom the looks o it, it’s a ucking miracle you ever survived long enough to collect your rst payday. I got mine when I was thirteen years old, you douchenozzles. I think I’ve earned a little respect just or that.
him out in ve card stud. urns out, he’s got no head or cards. Especially aer he’s had a ew. >
>
>
>
>
>
> >
*bik* nw ha’s irssi. I’ b d ry ad cash i his buy a cu is, bu Ka is gd a crig his racks. Risr nw h ra qusi is, kid, hw ay hird gus did yu ha wih yu? Ka wud’ jus r r r gir wih a gu, ar hw big ha gu igh b. Fiach
W, k. I’ adi ha I was’ a. I hird ys s ca usc c I crd h was dw i h Big Sazy. o curs, I was’ suid ugh h wh h was, r s hy’d ha urd grab h buy r hss. I d h s bushi sry abu hi big y g-s dad wh ra u y wh I was i. I’s aazig hw ar s i gir uy dg ys ad a judicius au crd wi g yu. /d/grr tha is idd a ha cbiai. thr
Kane told me some interesting stories that night too. Most >
>
I was sarig wdr hw g yu wr gig u u wih Bu ad Sa-0!’s aics. Gd r yu, yug ady. Wirhawk
But, since that’s that’s apparently not good go od enough, I decided to do something else. I’m just a corp brat, sitting in the saety o my corp enclave, using mommy and daddy’s credsticks to play games in the Matrix, right? Fuck that. I took a little trip, and did something that people have been trying to do since beore I was born. I tracked down and captured Kane. Te Billion Do llar Man,
i you add up the bounties on his ass.
o them you either know or can look up. He makes sure the news
reports get it accurate. Hell, there have been several made-ortrid icks based on his runs. Just don’t bring up that old action movie, Te Siberian Sting . Apparently the producers doublecrossed him on that deal and he never saw any nuyen rom it, despite it being a major summe summerr blockbuster back in ’68. But there’s one story he shared that so ar as I know, he’s never told anyone. Maybe it was my guts in tracking him down, maybe it was the act that I had a dozen goons armed with high velocity ries, or maybe it was just the the booze talking. Whatever it was, while we played cards, he told me about Kat. Not to be conused with our own Kat o’ Nine ales.
Kane
13
VITAL STATS: KANE Age: 43 Height: 1.67 m Weight: 136 kg Hair: Black Eyes: Brown Gender: Male Race: Hispanic-Caucasian Metatype: Human Awakened: No
14
Kane
> >
Idd. Ka is y y. Ka ’ ni tas
Kane talks about himsel. A lot. He’s the biggest braggart under the sun, and he’s not araid to lay out everything, all his deepest, darkest sins or the entire world to see. But everything he’s done, everything he became, he did it or this girl. It’s sweet, in its own sociopathic way, really. I ound some old Shadowland archives that mention her once, but other than that the only place her name pops pops up is in some o the psych psych proles proles the corps corps and the alphabet agencies keep on him. Even hal o them don’t seem to know about her. >
>
I rbr ha. eary , Ka usd ra ad ra abu s ha h Azzis k r hi. Bu ar a bi, h r id i agai. I aways wdrd wha ha was a abu. th Siig Badi
Aer that, Kane started making a name or himsel. First in the Caribbean, and then worldwide. He has operated as both a shadowrunner and a pirate, not that there’s really much dierence. And really, you guys know most o his story or the next een years or so. He raped, he pillaged, he wrote his name in bullets across the side o megacorps’ Hs, and he euded with another another pirate pirate who named named himsel aer aer a cookie. He He made the Most Wanted Wanted lists or a couple dozen corps, countries, co untries, and international law enorcement agencies, but he never got caught. >
>
>
John “Kane” “Kane” Kastle used used to be an upright upright citizen, citizen, or at least something resembling resembling that. He was a rigger, rig ger, a ghter jock in the 101st CAS Army Air Cavalry ying a Federated Federated-Boeing -Boeing Eagle. His wingmate, best riend, and the love o his lie (his drunken words, not mine!) was Kat. Kane ew or the CAS Army or three years, up to June 2051. According to military records, he simply went AWOL or no reason in June, and he’s been a wanted man ever since. According to Kane (as well as a ew unofcial sources), in June o ’51 Kane, Kat, and the rest o his squadron took o rom the CSS Robert E. Lee, an aircra carrier stationed outside o New Orleans, on a covert strike against the Aztlan military base at Matamoros. Tey encountered heavy resistance, and three members o the 101st were shot down. wo were KIA, but Kat managed to parachute out and land behind enemy lines. Te CAS started negotiating or her release, but within days the talks were cancelled and the entire mission was scrubbed rom the books. Kane started digging around and ound out that Federated-Boeing torpedoed the talks, as they were worried that they might lead to a more permanent truce between the two border nations. Needless to say, Kane lost his shit. He stole his Eagle, went AWOL, and sunk two Aztlan patrol boats that ver y night. >
>
>
>
Ka is a ghs. I did a diggig, ad sh siy ds’ xis. thr’s a bius h i h CAS rcrds, bcaus Ka was assigd a wiga, bu hr is a, daa, hig. Ad Ka w’ ayhig s abu hr bsids hr had, ha d, “Ka.” /d/grr th CAS ad Aza g hrugh rguar rids ir brdr skirishs, usuay udr h guis chasig brdr rurs ad suggrs. Sis hs g a bi u had ad scaa i a iiary srik swhr, ar which h w sids g h giaig ab rd ak ac r a whi. e i h w sids wr r srius abu i, hr ar ugh crrais akig y h csa si bw h w ha h aks g draid airy quicky. o hs days, sid wi ush ar, ad higs wi si u i u-sca war. picadr
>
>
>
>
>
> >
I’ aways wdrd hw h’s aagd ha. Gd ad caru y ak yu s ar. Rurs say i h shadws bcaus w rary caus ugh a rb r i b wrh i r ay cr r gr arg us. Ka’s g wha, wy r hiry args his back? I d i hard bi ha i Aza ray wad , hy cud’ rack hi dw. Sicks I askd Ka abu ha, acuay. Hsy, h was’ ray ha hard rack dw. I jus k a bi i, ad kwig h righ s s crd . H did’ ray g i i, bu h said h ky was ayig a his is agais ach hr. H aughd ad said ha h’s curry #9 h CAS FBI’s ms Wad, ad y h a I irrud hi ayig kr wih was a Sar r luisiaa. law rc agcis wa hi caugh, bu hr brachs gr ha rass r waig hi r. /d/grr
Ka is sar. H ruiy cs i r DnA askig ad hr ras ak sur ha ca us ay bd, ski, r grris rack hi. Uik s ks wh us hs ras, h ds’ d i hid. Isad, h uss i as a sigaur, ad as sur ha riua agic ca’ b usd siy uk hi r ab. I ha a scia DnA squc I icud wih ach masqu sssi h cs i r, s ha rgardss wha his DnA rads as, i’s aways cary rcgizab as his. Buch Ad aary Ka kws hw ay h iics ga. Yu ay b #5 Ars’ s wad is, bu i yu kw h righ , u h righ srigs, ad brib h righ , hy’ rk ha ac r a whi. esciay i yur x cu jbs hur hir rias. I’s a h a juggig ac u wh yu’r ayig w r hr crs agais ach hr. Wh yu’r ayig ry ajr gacrs ad s grs ad aw rc agcis ach hr, ha aks a gi us r a ada. Ss Ad I darsay Ka is a bi bh. Fiach
Now here’s the stu you don’t know. Te stu he doesn’t talk about, doesn’t brag about. Seven years aer she was shot down, Kane was nally able to put together a team strong enough to raid an Aztlaner military base. Despite doing a lot o damage to the Aztlan military budget or 2058, the mission was a ailure. Kat was gone, and there was no trace o her ever being there. Kane’s raids on Aztechnolog y and Aztlan military militar y assets tripled over the next two years as Kane tried to nd out what happened to her. In 2061, ten years aer she’d been lost, Kane nally hit paydata. Te Yucatán rebellion was in ull swing, and the rebels were hiring
Kane
15
mercenaries, pirates, and anyone they could get to come help them out against Aztlan. Kane and his crew came in swinging. During an amazing, brilliant, and daring daylight raid (Kane’s words, not mine) on the Aztlan military base in Campeche, they rescued a bunch o political prisoners. One o them turned out to be a ormer commander in the Aztlan military who had been in Matamoros whenn Kane’ whe Kane’s squad squadron ron had hit the plac place, e, and and he he remem remember ber the girl they had captured. He worked with Kane over the next year to help him track down and locate Kat. >
>
I’ gussig ha wud b C Jrg Jua Rys. H was a br h Aza iiary r ay yars br h bca syahic h Yucaá rbs ad sard wrkig wih h bhid h scs. H was caugh i ary 2061, disaard r a cu yars, ad h suracd agai i Aazia. H’s b wrkig wih h Aazia iiary r sic. picadr
What happened aer they ound Kat wasn’t a shadowrunstyle extraction. It was a ull bore military action. Kane has some ootage he’s kept o Operation: Get Kat Out o the Drekhole She’s In. It’s some impressive stu. Get the old psycho psy cho drunk enoug enoughh and he may share it with you you.. Most Desert Wars operations don’t ield this much hardware. A couple Eagles, a Euroighter, two Banshees, a couple Stonewalls, and about three hundred mercs, including almost the entirety o the Free Marine Corps. > >
>
>
Hy drk! Yah, ha’s a shadwru, ha’s a raggig iasi! piss Caru piss, yur ag ad yur sag is shwig. Yah, ha is a rwr r ira brig bar. I ha ca bushi his cais hr. Ss
>
he Azzies never knew what hit them. Kat was being held in an Azzie black ops acility near Bogotá, so he made arrangements with Amazonia to cross the border rom the south. About a dozen hackers hit the Azzie Matrix to hide Kane’s troop movements until it was too late or the opponents to react, then
they moved in. Honestly, I can’t believe he’s been sitting on this ootage all these years. It’s better stu than any war movie I’ve ever seen (and since my ather loves the damn things, I’ve probably seen a hundred hundred o them). Kane is probably the most successul pirate and smuggler in the world. He spent more than ten years doing extremely high prole and highly prot protable able jobs, jobs, and he made made himsel himsel one one o the most notorious criminals in the world. All so that he could drop nearly one hundred million nuyen on a single job. All or a girl. Now that’s a ucking love story, olks. > >
> >
> >
>
>
> >
>
16
Back wh h CAS scdd, hy diidd u hir iiary asss. this icudd siig u h iiary uis basd whr h rs id. may wr’ hay abu his, ad hr wr ry aid ars a h i ha hr igh d u big a war bw h w ais, r a as brdr skirishs. thr was a mari Crs ui ha dcidd his was uaccab. thy ry uch bid i h idas brhrhd ha h maris hricay subscribd , s as h ir ui rsigd rahr ha risk dig u si sids a cfic. Rahr ha jus rir, s h ui k u rsidc i h Carib lagu ad rd a rcary ui basd a idaizd rsi h mari Crs s brhrhd ad hr. thy’r icky abu wha jbs hy ak ad hy’r si a airy sa rcary cay, bu hy’r ry w raid ad rbaby h sig s ruswrhy gru rcs yu ca wrk wih. picadr trid rcrdigs ca b akd ry asiy. Ss tru, bu I was dw i h ara a h i a his w dw. W assud a h i ha i was ar Aazia’s cr rs h h Yucaá
Kane
Chris, I’ gig a i isy-yd hr. Ka ’ ni tas mawhi, I hik I’ abu s y uch. Cckwrk
Since then, Kat’s been by his side every step o the way. She’s a silent partner, to be sure, but aer being kept prisoner or over a decade, I guess she had a lot o pent up anger to let loose. And we all know Kane really, really, truly enjoys his job. Even Even more so now that he has his girl by his side. >
>
Wh ar h Fr mari Crs? Kia
rbs, bu I’d r b ab crrbra ha. Ad his is jus h y gig h FmC wud sig u r. picadr
I ic Ka has’ cd his a a. Which is’ ik hi. Ka, chur, yu arud? Buch
Yah, I’ jus siig back ad aughig y ass . Firs , i’s a ru. ery da wrd. I was siig hr ayig cards, ad h x hig I kw, his i biy gir wih a gu biggr ha hr had is sadig x , ig surrdr. Kid’s ucky I was ry buzzd a ha i ad ha I was busy aughig, r y wirs igh ha kickd i ad bw hr had br I hugh i r. I dcidd d u wh sh was ad wha sh wad br I did ha, hugh, ad I’ gad I did. li Bi hr has s bas hr, I’ say ha. mr ha s Jackpi. Yu’ iky r s h h kid i rs, bu sh’s a iy i hig. ma. Sriusy, sh had a Ars Aha, ad I hik i wighs r ha sh ds. Hh. Da sar, ad a h a card ayr. Ad dsi wha sh says, I’ such wh i cs kr. Sh as ca drik ik a sh. I ga wdr i sh’s g a xi r isad r shig. I’ gig ha ach hr hw hd a gu, hugh, i sh’s gig ru wih y crw. Ad hw sh i. turs u, sh was bug wh sh hd ha hig u. S, a judg hr—h kid’s da gd. I yu guys udrsia hr, d’ b surrisd wh sh kicks yur ass. I d hr s akig shi r h hr d basards hs bards, ad i ks ik sh k y adic. Gd jb, /d/. Ad d’ rg yur hwrk r x wk. Gus ad exsis 101, by prssr Ka > Ka >
KANE B 6
A
(Small Unit) 6 (+2), Pirate Groups 5, PR echniques echniques (Sel Promotion) 5 (+2), Smuggling Routes 5
R
S
5 (8) 6 (9) 4 (7)
C
I
L
W
5
5
4
5
Edg Ess 6
I ni t
IP
1.08 10 (13) 1 (3)
Languages: English N, Cantonese 3, German 3, Greek 2, Japanese 2, Mandarin 3, Portuguese 4, Spanish 4, Russian 4, Yoruba 2
Qualities: High Pain olerance (3), oughness Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 11/11
Augmentations: Augmentation s: (all betaware) Bone density augmentation 3, control rig, cyberears [Rating 4 w/ audio enhancement 3, balance augmenter, damper, ear recording unit, select sound lter 3, sound link, spatial Active Skills: Ski lls: Artisan (Comic Art) 3 (+2), Athletics skill group 4, recognizer], cybereyes [Rating 4 w/ eye recording unit, are compenAutomatics Automat ics (Submachine Guns) 5 (+2), Chemistry (Compounds) sation, image link, low-light vision, smartlink, thermographic vision, 3 (+2), Close Combat skill group 5, Computer 3, Con (Fast alk) vision enhanceme enha ncement nt 3, 3, vision vision magnica magnication tion], ], dataja datajack, ck, DNA DNA masking, masking, 5 (+2), Demolitions 5, Diving 4, Dodge 5, Electronic Warare 6, muscle augmentation 3, muscle toner 3, orthoskin 3, reaction enhancers Etiquette 4, First Aid (Combat Wounds) 3 (+2), Gunnery (Guided 1, sim module (hot sim), sleep regulator, symbiotes 3, wired reexes 2 Missiles) 6 (+2), Heavy Weapons 4, Intimidation (orture) 6 (+2), Leadership (Persuasion) 5 (+2), Longarms (Sniper Riles) Gear: Armor jacket, commlink (custom, Firewall 8, Response 6, Signal 5 (+2), Negotiation (Sense Motive) 5 (+2), Outdoors skill group 6, System 6) 5, Parachuting (HALO) 5 (+2), Perception (Visual) 5 (+2), Programs: Analyze 6, Bioeedback Filter 6, Browse 6, Command 6, Pilot Aerospace 3, Pilot Aircra (Vectored Trust) 6 (+2), Pilot ECCM 6, Edit 6, Encrypt 6, Scan 6 Anthroorm 4, Pilot Ground Cra 5, Pilot Watercra (Ship) 6 (+2), Weapons: eapons: Pistols (Semi-Automatics) 5 (+2), Stealth skill group 4, Trowing W Weapons W eapons (Trowing (Trowing Knives) 3 (+2) (+2) Ares Alpha [Assault Rie, DV 6P, AP –5, SA/BF/FA, RC 5, 42 (c) w/ 10 clips APDS, gas-vent 3, grenade launcher, launcher, smartgun smartgun system] Knowledge Skills: Art History (Comic Books) 3 (+2), Aztlan Area Knowledge (Yucatán) 4, Black Market Fences Fences 5, CAS Area Knowledge Ares Alpha Grenade Launcher [Grenade Launcher, DV 10P, –2/m, (Aztlan/CAS Border) 5 (+2), Corporate Politics (Aztechnology) SS, 6 (c), w/ high hig h explosive minigrenade x1, smartgun system] 3 (+2), Corporate Security (Aztechnology) 4 (+2), Drug Cartels 4, Ares Predator IV [Pistols, DV 5P, AP –5, SA, RC —, 15 (c), w/ 10 Governmentt Politics (CAS) 4 (+2), Lagos Area Knowledge 4, Law Governmen clips APDS, smartgun system] Enorcement Procedures 5, Mercenary Units 5, Military History (CAS) 4 (+2), Military Procedures (CAS) 5 (+2), Military actics actics Unarmed Strike [Unarmed, Reach —, DV 6P]
Armor (B/I): 13/13
“RUBy SKIES”—FEDERATED-BOEING EAGLE (VSTOL FIGHTER/BOMBER) HANDL
ACCEL
SPEED
PILOT
BODy
ARM
SENS
+3
60/240
1299
4
20
20
6
Upgrades: Additional uel tank, ECM 8, ejection seats, improved vertical takeo and landing 1, personal armor 5, 2 reinorced weapon mounts (nose mounted w/ Phalanx Rotary Cannons), 2 reinorced weapon mounts (center-line (center-line under-uselage w/ SS-N-49 Sirocco missiles), 2 reinorced weapon mounts (inner-wing mounted w/ Saab-Saaker AIM-11R missiles), rigger adapta adaptation tion Programs: Clearsot 4, Deense 4, Electronic Warare Warare 4, Firewall 8, Maneuver Aircra 4, System 6, argeting (Phalanx Rotary Cannon) 4, argeting (SS-N-49 Missile), argeting (Saab-Saaker AIM-11R Missile)
Weapon W eapons: s:
Phalanx Rotary Cannon [Heavy Weapon, 12P, -8/-10*, 250 Round Belt, w/Anti-Vehicle Rounds] SS-N-49 Sirocco [Missile, 30P 30P,, –2/–10*] Saab-Saaker AIM-11R** [Missile, 18P***, –2/–6*] * vs. people/vs, vehicles ** Use the missile launcher range table or this missile, but extend the Extreme range band to 5,000 meters. *** Against ground targets the missile is ar less eective; reduce DV to 10P.
“RAzING KANE”—AzTECHNOLOGy KANE ”—AzTECHNOLOGy TIBURON (CORVETTE) HANDL
ACCEL
SPEED
PILOT
BODy
ARM
SENS
+2
10/30
90
4
32
20
6
Upgrades: Additional uel tank, ECM 8, rigger adaptation, signature masking (Rating 1), 4 weapon mounts (external, exible, armored manned, Phalanx Rotary Cannons) Programs: Clearsot 4, Deense 4, Electronic Warare Warare 4, Firewall 8, Maneuver Aircra 4, System 6, argeting (Phalanx Rotary Cannon) 4
Weapon W eapons: s: Phalanx Rotary Rotar y Cannon [Heavy Weapon, 12P, 12P, –8/–10*, 250-round belt, w/ anti-vehicle rounds] Notes: Kane either has access to or knows where to steal almost any vehicle or drone he needs. Likewise, he has multiple arsenals stashed in saehouses around the world. Gamemaste Gamemasters rs should equip equip him with any any gear they they eel appropria appropriate te to the mission at hand. He is not particularly attached to any o his gear except or Ruby Skies, the FB Eagle Eag le he took with him h im when he le the CAS CA S Army, and the Razing Kane, one o the rst iburon’s produced by Aztechnology and stolen out o their shipyard beore they were available on the market.
Kane
17
MiHosHi oni POSTED By: jANUS >
>
Jaus cas his a hisria. H’s chricd h shadw hisry Jaa sic h a ‘40s. Wh I d hi wha w wr dig hr h askd i h cud ak abu mihshi oi. I was hsia ui h shwd s s ha had scd-gussig wha I hugh I kw. I a i bi his is ru, mihshi oi has a hisry ar byd hr yars. FasJack
I enjoy the current times. We know so little o history that one might make something new o themselves merely by paying the right people and cleaning up the proper electronic records. Tis is the platorm upon which Mihoshi Oni has built her house o cards. It may surprise some o you to know she is not the rst Mihoshi Oni, though it seems obvious now that she will be the last. Te rst Mihoshi was an ork. She was seventeen when she came into the name as a member o a Hokkaido go-gang. She was a erce rider, wired into a night-black Rapier, her ace hidden by a red helmet cut to let her tusks hang out. Tis was the 2020s. Back then, a woman’s place was beside her man’s ride, so to see Mihoshi racing and beating much o Hokkaido’s Hokkaido’s top talent caused quite a stir. Tree weeks into her reign as Hokkaido’s underground circuit champion, the rst Mihoshi Oni met her end on a two-lane strip o black top outside o Yakumo own. Te police report called it an accident, one o orty-three head-on collisions there that year. >
>
>
>
> >
I yu’r sayig sh has h sa a as ahr rur h I d’ s wha h big da is. I has a h i. thr’s ga b ur r guys u hr caig hss Sicks. my acis ar wha sak r . th a is h hig. Sicks
thr ar ur r r Sicks u hr ha I kw , bu y yu wrk u Sa. tha aks a h dirc. nas ar i a ara whr yur a is a yur cacs ha g . Risr tha big said, wud’ hr cacs kw i was’ h sa ga? Baka Dabra
Te second and third Mihoshi were sisters. One was a meta, a rumpy troll with arms as thick as r trunks. Her sister, a normal, was wired to be as strong as any troll, and she was tough as one to boot. Tey ran the shadows through the‘30s, behind the same mask borne by their predecessor who died on the side o a orgotten road all those years ago. It is important to remember that the women behind the mask were not a sorority. Te new Mihoshi sisters did not know their predecessor. Aer her death, a shrine was erected on the side o the road where she died. It was taken down within the year, but an online shrine shrine popped up shortly aer, aer, transorming transorming a little-known biker into a talisman. Te name Mihoshi Oni roughly translates as “beautiul star demon.” “Oni” in particular is the name classically
18
MiHosHi oni
attributed to undesirable metas such as dwarves, orks, and trolls. Tere is evidence that the combined name was pilered rom a Japanese olktale. In some variants o the Momotaro olk tale, the champion o the Oni who battles the boy and his ollowers is called call ed Mihoshi. With the birth o Yomi Yomi Island, the name Mihoshi Oni took on a greater signicance. It became representative o the hero who would rise against the racism and isolation o Japan to usher in a new world. I suspect this is where the rst Mihoshi Oni came upon her name. Her successors then took that name, as well as the look o the original. Te nonmetahumans among them did not wear a helmet, but rather a mask that had the angs o a cat and the horns o a bull. In the cases where a troll took the title, the horns were real. Te two sisters took up the mask as a show o respect and solidarity. But cultural memory is short. Te Mihoshi myth vanished into into anonymity within a decade, decade, a brie and ickering ickering ame relegated to shadow and replaced with a street rep that dwindled as the years wore on. When their time was done, the mask was passed to an ork rom oyama. She’d run with the sisters or a year beore they decided it was enough vetting, and she was worthy to receive the legacy. Tey were wrong. Te period rom ‘42 to ‘47 represented perhaps the darkest time in the legacy. Mihoshi Oni number our was an ork spellslinger who specialized in glamours. She did not enjoy the notoriety her predecessors had, so she ocused ocuse d her energy and her mana on altering that street rep. She became known as a contract killer. She tried to connect her rep to the rst Mihoshi Oni. A ew people remembered remembered the name, name, and none o them were were bothered much by the surprising longevity o this ork’s career. Tey had bigger concerns—the new Minoshi was ruthless, oen taking out innocent bystanders bystanders i she thought they had seen too much. She was also incautious in the jobs she took and the enemies she made, and eventually that cost her. Her death came at the hands o Renraku’s Red Samurai when she took on an assassination job that was too big or her to handle alone. Whatever her aults, though, this Mihoshi had done a good job making a earsome name or hersel, and her body was barely cold beore someone else in need o a tough rep took up the mask. Mihoshi number ve was also an ork, a ormer soldier who took up the mask in the early ‘50s. She restricted her operations to the area around Kyushu, where she balanced being a shadowrunner and a mother. Mihoshi V did light runs; work that wouldn’t rufe anyone’s eathers and kept ood on the table. During her years behind the mask, this Mihoshi Oni became known as a tough and reliable customer who may have once been a vicious killer but had toned down her work. She was the proverbial sleeping dog and best allowed a llowed to lie still. She would have continued in this ashion as long as she lived i the Mihoshi Oni we know hadn’t come along. Our Mihoshi, Mihoshi VI, started out as a kyabajo working specialty hostess clubs in the Ibaraki preecture. It wasn’t that she wanted to be sexy. She was ourteen, homeless, and SINless. She was a survivor and used whatever was at her disposal to
VITAL STATS: STATS: MIHOSHI MI HOSHI ONI Age: 29 Weight: 118 kg Eyes: Brown Metatype: Fomori
Height: 2.1 m Hair: Brown Gender: Female Awakened: No
MiHosHi oni
19
get by. Tere is little known o Mihoshi’s parents save or that both are Japanese and longstanding members o the Mitsuhama corporation. his has raised questions about her birth. I the Oxord Royal College o Taumaturgy is to be believed, Fomorian expression is native to Celtic bloodlines, and she is
>
>
>
clearly not Celtic. It can be saely assumed that her genetic origin
is either a lie or an anomaly. > >
>
>
>
> >
thr is ahr ssibiiy. Fria xrssi has b aiy id aras srg agica ccrai, wih h ri gs srig as a kid gic ds hs br udr h hra agica aack. A sudy cducd by Hg Kg Uirsiy shwd ha i h i bw h Awakig ad h arria Hay’s C, hr was a sady icras idiiduas big br wih agica caabiiis r rsisacs, aricuary i h ads adjac Ryuy’s dai. pa 9 Bah, h y scic ha ais hr is occa’s Razr, i.., h sis aswr is usuay h righ . I his cas h sis aswr is ha hr hr was sig arud. Sa-0! I d’ arcia ha c, Sa-0! I suggs yu rrac i. mihshi oi
It took Mihoshi two years to move rom being groped by men to being the one doing the g roping. Tat change came when a group o Yakuza wannabes got rowdy and grabby with some o
the girls. Mihoshi let her anger take over. She crossed the room in three quick strides and put a stiletto heel through the leader’s shoulder. At that point, she gained a new understanding o her worth. A pretty troll was already a commodity commodity on the oor, oor, but suddenly she made the other girls eel saer. Te other girls elt better about working knowing one o their own was watching their back. In time she decided to go into business or hersel. She saw the Yakuza types coming into the club, and she noticed the way they studied her—at once disdainul and curious. She perormed studies o her own, learning the martial arts at a local dojo in order to put more than looks lo oks into her repertoire. In a moment o boldness, she decided to approach a known Yakuza club goer and shatei ei laughed in her ace. Te next day oered her services. Te shat she tried again and ailed again. Te UCAS phrase is third time’s the charm, so she went in again. Tis time when he blew her o, he asked his muscle to move her aside. Instead she took them out with a urry urry o punches punches and kicks. kicks. Ten she she curled curled up up next next to the shatei sha tei, batting her eyes. When he asked a sked her who she was, she said the only name that would give her enough cred to be noticed. In truth, Mihoshi Oni was never meant to be a person. She was always a lways a symbol symbol;; a representation o mythical hope born rom a desire o meta acceptance. Mihoshi doesn’t just believe in her longstanding legend, she became it. Over time she reshaped her lie and her principles around the idea o Mihoshi Oni and took that idea to the next level. level. She became a meta activist. activist. >
>
20
I d’ s hw a a aciis ca wrk r h Yaks. thy ar abu h s ai-a gru criias yu cud d usid a Hua nai ray. Baka Dabra
MiHosHi oni
Yu ca’ chag a ids by igrig i. th y way I kw hw d i is g i hir ac ad shw h wha w’r caab . mihshi oi Yah, bu a hy kw is yu’r caab big a rcr ad a kir wh dd. thy d’ kw yu’r a rs, bcaus yu ar’ h. Yu r wi b. ma’a
Te mask ensured that the identity would be separate rom the person. When our Mihoshi Oni rst took up that identity she didn’t have the mask to hide behind. She married her own identity to that o Mihoshi and gained ownership o the name. She was Mihoshi Oni—until one day the person she had borrowed her name rom stumbled on to what was happening. Tat is when the real trouble began. Aer her adventure with the shatei , our Mihoshi Oni became a valuable commodity to the Yakuza. Te same Yakuza Yakuza bosses that initially made light o her strung her along like a trophy.. It became popular to be seen being g uarded by Mihoshi trophy Oni, and it was a symbol o pride or the ew meta Yaks out there. Oen they would ask her to wear the mask, which she did at rst. Over time she began to realize that her behavior was drawing the wrong kind o attention. attention. Teir sources on the street started telling them that Mihoshi VI’s actions had been noticed. A conrontation with her predecessor Mihoshi Oni was inevitable. When it nally happened, happened, it went down in a bar outside outside o Mastuyama. Mihoshi was standing watch or a summit between members o the Kodachi-gumi and sukigata-gumi. She was approached by an ork who atly stated, “You are not who you claim to be.” Tat comment led to a conversation aer Mihoshi’s job was done. Mihoshi V presented pre sented her with a choice: Oer twenty percent o this and all uture runs in exchange or using the name, or leave town and never return. Mihoshi reused, but she promised to stop using the name altogether. altogether. She apologized or what she had done and explained the circumstances circumstances by which
it had happened. Mihoshi VI broke her promise to stop using the name almost as soon as she made it. She stayed in Matsuyama that night roaming the streets until she ound a ew members o a local gang. She donned the amous mask and took a run at the gang members. She killed one and beat the other nearly to death, making sure he knew who it was who’d done this. Her plan worked. A ew days later the h Mihoshi Oni was killed in a gangland-style g angland-style execution. >
>
this is cra. Ar yu sayig I shw disguisd ys as a rk? or ha h I was susdy baig shw did’ kw wha I was? Ad why wud I ha mihshi v kid, ayway? Ay rbs w had cud ha b rsd ac ac. Wha had hr was rgrab, bu i was’ a csiracy. mihshi oi
Te death o Mihoshi V was really the death o two people. Mihoshi VI knew she couldn’t resurace right away, because the gang may begin to suspect they killed the wrong person. More pressing was the way she had started questioning qu estioning hersel. hersel . She spoke to some o her riends rom the early hostess club days
and told them she had lost her way. One thing led to another, and these riends oered her a way out. Mihoshi is extremely charismatic. She’d built connections through her hostess club who told her she had what it took to be a legitimate runway model. Te pay was better than bodyguard work had been, b een, and the work was steady. It did not, however, engage her. She ound hersel picking ghts, lo oking to irritate people peop le enough so they’d take a swing at her. She gain gained ed a reputation as impossible to work with, and work ell o—which was ne with her, since she didn’t didn’t want to do that sort o work again anyway anyway.. Ater her brie modeling career, Mihoshi disappeared entirely. Nearly six months later she crawled out o the bottom o a bottle and into Kashima dojo trying to nd peace. In a way she
was repentant. When she nally emerged rom the dojo, dojo , she’d remade hersel into a samurai. Japan’s shadows are littered with samurai, all o whom ollow some orm o code. In truth, most would slough sloug h o their code as easily as a snake would its skin, provided there is enough nuyen involved to oer justication. Mihoshi Oni clings to her code in spite o everything and has gained a reputation or that. In some circles her behavior was seen as honorable; in others it was another example o Little Kawaruhito playing samurai. >
>
I’ wrkd wih mihshi a w is Sasid, ad I ca yu hr ra cd is budrk. I ac, i ca b raggig cubrs. thr was ha i i Bs wh I was ruig rwach r a xraci. th crac siuad arg, bu h ady had a kid. W had chag ur wh xi a i rdr accda. I u mihshi a risk, bu wrs, h w xi cs dub h d, ad ha cs ca iry u hr cu. Bu
Mihoshi uses her network o xers rom the criminal and modeling worlds to pull in the kind o work she wants. Once Mihoshi Oni accepts a contract, there is little that can cause her to break it. Tis makes her selective about who she accepts as a client. oday, Mihoshi Oni runs the stretch o shadow between Yakut and the Japanese Islands. It is a wide territory. When Evo relocated to Vladivostok or a while, Mihoshi Oni went with them, prompting rumors that she leased hersel out to the corp as a stringer. Tat theory conicts with records I have o her doing bodyguard work or several high-prole Vory v Zakone gures during that time. >
>
I’ sur ha ray cfics. W kw ha e was—h, is—i bd wih h vry. I k h vry a whi udrsad hw had hir scia raishi wih e. S h wr bsss hugh i wud b a gd ida fx hir usc by scig u d Yakuza racrs. racrs. Rd Aya
Despite the ability to get work rom various sectors, Mihoshi preers doing work or the Yakuza. Anyone trolling JackPoint JackP oint knows Mihoshi Oni is the oremost oremost expert expert on Japan’ Japan’s Yakuza, but she hersel is not Yakuza. Despite her years o service
to various clans, she was never allowed membership.
>
>
>
>
> >
I is air say h Yakuza rusd brshi. I r rid bc ar h Yakuza cas. my raishis ad y ridshis xis ag brs dir Yakuza gui. I cud rry sr gui wihu brayig hr gsadig bds. mihshi oi
Which is say sh is a cuhra shadwrur rcig hr y ruiis by sayig ab h ray. oc yu bg a aricuar gui i ca b hard wrk r sig gui. I is sis csidrd dishrab r h ry hir yu. ma’a tha is’ ru. Gui swa racrs a h i. Risr
Ky wrd: racrs. ma’a is akig abu h dirc bw big Yakuza ad wrkig r h. Which is h ug. > Sicks >
MIHOSHI ONI B 9
C
I
L
W Ed Edg Ess
5 (7) 5 (7) 10 (13) 6
A
R
S
4
4
6
6
Init
IP
2.89 9 (11) 1 (3)
Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 13/11 Armor (B/I): 8/6 Skills: Automatics 6, Automotive Mechanic 2, Blades 6, Climbing 4, Etiquettee (Criminal Syndicates) 4 (+2), First Aid 4, Gymnastics Etiquett 4, Heavy Weapons 5, Inltration 4, Negotiation 3, Perception (Visual) 4 (+2), Pilot Ground Crat 3, Pistols 6, Running 4, Swimming 4, Unarmed Combat 8 Knowledge skills: Criminal Syndicates 4, Firearm Design 3, High Fashion 3, Sae Houses 4, Zen Meditation 6 Languages: English 4, Japanese N, Russian 3 Qualities: Arcane Arrester, Code o Conduct (Bushido), Guts, High Pain olerance 2, Magic Resistance 2, Metagenetic Improvement (Body), Mundane, oughness, Addiction (Moderate, Alcohol) Augmentations: Augmentatio ns: Cybereyes [alphaware, Rating 3, w/ are compensation, low-light vision, smartlink, thermographic vision, vision enhancement 3], muscle augmentation 3, muscle toner 3, sleep regulator, synaptic booster 2, tailored pheromones 3 Gear: Armor jacket (8/6), autopicker (Rating 6), rearms repair tool kit, Hermes Ikon commlink [Response 4, Signal 3, Firewall 3, System 3], Evo Pegasus [Racing Bike, Handling +1, Accel 20/40, Speed 180, Pilot 1, Body 6, Armor 4, Sensor 1], medkit (Rating 5), white noise generat g enerator or (Rating 5) Weapons: W eapons: Colt Manhunter (Heavy Pistol, DV 6P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 16(c), w/ advanced saety system, system, smartlink, smartlink, explosive ammo] ammo] Cougar Fineblade (long blade) [Blade, Reach—, DV 7P (9P), AP –1]
Katana [Blade, Reach 1, DV 8P (10P), AP –1] MiHosHi oni
21
tHe sMilinG bandit POSTED By: CLOCKWORK
It is impossible to start talking about Te Smiling Bandit without mention mentioning ing his unorg unorgettabl ettablee catch phrase : “he Smiling Bandit strikes again! Ha Ha Ha!” Tis phrase has all but gone viral on Shadowland, ShadowSea and even on Jackpoint over the years. People remember Te Smiling Bandit because o this unique signature, words that spark the imagination with images o a rogu roguish, ish, larger-tha larger-than-lie n-lie persona personality lity ille illedd with goo good-natured d-natured humor and a sense o whimsy. People on the Matrix oen avorably compare Te Smiling Bandit to ctional characters such as Robin Hood or King Arthur. According to them, he is a man o the people, ghting the good ght. A man that does not believe belie ve that might makes right. Te Smiling Bandit’s icon is among the most copied and imitated by counterculture groups and their members. With so many people creating an image o who Te Smiling Bandit is in their minds, it is easy to orget where the myths end and where the hard truth
>
>
begins. It is even harder to erret out the truth about Te Smiling
Bandit because he is a competent hacker, a man who has been careul with what inormation inormation gets out while also sanitizing any records o who he is and who he works or. Given a distinct lack o hard inormation to build a solid prole around, I’ve had to work hard and reach out to less-denitive less-denitive sources. sources. Te Smiling Bandit has been seen posting on Shadowland ever since the early 2050s. Te subjects he has posted on have typically been scientiic in nature—the things he’s discussed the most over the years have been genetech, genetic engineering, and gene splicing. Te in-depth amiliarity with genetics and genengineering suggests a ormal education—a Master’s-degree level education at the least, or perhaps a doctorate in the eld. It is likely that Te Smiling Bandit was in
his mid-thirties when he rst started posting on Shadowland, so it’s reasonable to assume that he is in his mid-ies by now. Despite what some could consider an advanced age, this by no means indicates that Te Smiling Bandit is limited physically. physical ly. With his h is knowledge knowl edge o genetics g enetics and a nd genetech, g enetech, his likely connections with the various researchers and scientists o the megacorporations, and the resources he might have at his disposal rom a highly successul career as a hacker, it is highly probable that Te Smiling Bandit i s in exceptional shape, both mentally and physically or a mid-ies human. A physical condition so good that he might actually still have the body o a twenty-one year old. >
22
Ar yu iyig éizai? I s, h . I kw ugh abu g girig ha I kw wa i r ys. th crrais ha h y aciiis ha I wud iay rus rr such a dica rai. Bu rusig hir ch ad rusig them ar w cy dir ars. I’ s ugh r y i i h shadws kw ha h gacrrais ad hir ragada ar whr cs whr h ruh h scic is. thy say h g hrais ar ary 100 rc sa. I ha’s h cas, I r wud ha b i ha r w rc whr higs g (hrriby) wrg. Aais ad uais ha a a ar highr ra ha hy .
tHe sMilinG bandit
>
>
>
Ad i h rcdur gs as idd, hw ca yu rus h isus ay issu sas hy ay ha ak wihu yur rissi r r r hir dica isrus? n cig xris r , hak yu ry uch. I’ irsd i big h rs ha a uy iab c, whhr i’s r h sak scic r . Srry. Ad as ar as sr ciics ryig his su? n s ay sr dcs hr, bu s sr ciics d’ ha h saiary cdiis r h sa--h-ar ch rr hs irs say r riaby. this wud rasa i r aais ad uais. Which as, siy u, I a hay wih wha aura sci ga . I’ hrs g hrugh h rcss, i hy isis. th Siig Badi Ar a hs yars, yu’r si araid abu his chgy? Wi hig I say r sik i? Jus iagi hw usu a cha r a ah SpU ca b r yu. Surgica iaai cybrwar r biwar is cy sa wadays. Ad s is gch. I cud rbaby g yu a discu i yu wad sybis. Buch Wih a sid hig a craia bb r ahr crra surris? n haks. I’d rahr b h usidr kig i. Gis a br, ubiasd rsci. th Siig Badi
In addition to genetech, he Smiling Bandit has been known to, rom time to time, comment on other scientic elds, such as chemistry and cybertechnology. cybertechnolog y. Tese are elds that are o particular interest to him. Most o the time you won’t see him venturee into areas that ventur that do not interest interest him or elds in which he does not have any particular experience, such as magic. I you need any data on SOA developments or research in areas such as genetech, he is the one to go to. His up-to-date knowledge o SOA SO A technology suggests that he is a eld researcher, researcher, possibly or an independent company. What makes Te Smiling Bandit dierent and unique is that he approaches scientic study with a certain code o honor honor.. He believes that this knowledge should never be abused or used to cause harm. Tere is a airly wellknown story about how, in his early days, Te Smiling Bandit was hired to obtain obtain a type o algae, which he did. When he later ound out that the corporation in question would be using a variation o o that algae to kill kil l o some merolk, mer olk, he went back and not only destroyed the les on the mutated algae, but he a lso made sure to destroy all the live specimens the corporation had. Ten he broke down any stored knowledge they had about the project to make it impossible impossible or them to replicate replicate their design. He went back to the original source where he got the algae and wiped all al l les and research notes or that project so no uture runners could break in and recover the paydata. Admittedly, that algae could have been o benet to the world, but in Te Smiling Bandit’s view, the “weaponized” version o the algae posed a great threat not only to merolk but also to the natural state o an ecosystem. In Te Smiling Bandit’s opinion, the risk was not worth it.
he Smiling Bandit’s career is illed with these types o encounters. Another time, he exposed the deects o a “revolutionary” Shiawase cyberlimb, which, i it would have made it to the market, would have caused severe second- and third-degree burns rom overheating electronics and poorly designed hydraulics. On another run, he exposed nanotech rom Mitsuhama that had been programmed with a secondary purpose purp ose in mind mind:: data minin mining. g. He has expo exposed sed risks and potentia pot entiall side ee eects cts to the use o biowa bioware, re, and he als alsoo demonstrated an increased risk or cancers tied to some new technologies. Releasing this material put him at risk, as there are corporations that would go to any extremes to cover up that data. His eorts have hit other megas besides Shiawase and Mitsuhama. Saeder-Krupp, Evo, NeoNE, Genetique, Yakishima, Zeta-ImpCem, Renraku, Universal Omnitech—no matter the corporation or how intimidating their corporate men might be (or in Saeder-Krupp’s case, its CEO) and no matter who he might piss o, Te Smiling Bandit has never backed down rom a ght over the use, abuse, or manipulation o science. Tis includes the lies that were used to cover up bad science. Te Smiling Bandit has made it a point to go aer Universal Omnitech or projects like “Project Innity.” He has spoken out about the Human Nation’s plans to use eugenics against metahumans. At his core, he believes there is a pure and true application o science, one that has since been lost in the og o prot margins, PR, and media hype. > >
>
>
S, ds ay ha ay irai his prjc Iiy? Sushi I d, bu hig I wud car shar. tha’s a ar y hisry I wud rahr a bhid. Bi . prjc Iiy was sard br Crash 2.0, ad I ca y h ha i was s durig ha marix crash ad abadd. nhri
VITAL STATS: THE SMILING BANDIT Age: 55 Weight: 73 kg Eyes: Brown Metatype: Human
Height: 1.6 m Hair: Brown Gender: Male Awakened: No
tHe sMilinG bandit
23
Shadowrunners over the years have used he Smiling Bandit’s expertise to navigate the diverse technological marvels on the market today and pick the cyberware or bioware that is the saest, by the Smiling Bandit’s standards, and the most durable on the market. Many neo-anarchist groups see Te Smiling Bandit as their crusader; their hero, even. He stands up to the megacorps, and he calls them on their bulldrek when he sees it in their propaganda. Tis has only contributed to his legend. Te Smiling Bandit not only knows his subject material, but he also keeps tabs on the signicant personnel in those elds that are making scientic breakthroughs. Tis includes researchers such as Dr. Aishwarya Nair rom Calcutta University, who disappeared in 2063. I you ask the Smiling Bandit about her, he won’t need to look her up. He would be able to tell you that she was perorming research in the eastern concept o Chakras. Tis doesn’t work just or her—chances are i a signicant scientist or researcher has disappeared rom any eld that he has an interest in, Te Smiling Bandit knows what happened happened and can give you some inormation inormation about about what may have happened and who was likely l ikely behind it. His decadeslong career in the shadows proves that you do not need to be a high-initiate mage or a cybered street sam to be a threat to the corporations and the seedy ways that they do business. All you really need is anonymity, a Matrix connection, and the smarts to put those resources resources to use. use.
>
>
I’s a aacy suggs ha acadia is r r crra ifuc. Crrais ar aways udig s rsarch r ahr, ad uirsiis ar qui addicd h y hy rid. thr ds b a usk assui ha i crrais rci rsus hy ik, hy’ c back r uur busiss. Dar hads h gai h rssibiiy ayig rssur rsarchrs ak sudis c u as hy shud. mr. Bds
It is difcult to pin down Te Smiling Bandit’s base o operations—there has been no evidence to suggest where he’s rom, or i where he is now has anything to do with where he’s rom. I Te Smiling Bandit has a day job, he likely changes positions and employers requently to preserve his anonymity. He may also have ties to small, independent corporations that are looking to collect on the bequests rom Dunkelzahn’s Will, such as a s the development o a durable tree or plant p lant that can withstand the abnormally high levels o pollution in enochtitlán. Te Smiling Bandit has an adversarial relationship with a poster who sometimes sometimes requents shadowy shadowy orums under the name KAM. Her real name is Dr. Kristine Martin, and she works or the Genesis Consortium; Consortium ; her relationship with Te Smiling Bandit means that he probably doesn’t work there. He probably also doesn’t doesn’t work work with her her ormer employer employer,, Universal Universal Omnitech. Wherever he is, it must be a place that conorms to his views on science, where he can do research on his h is terms. o sum up the Smiling Bandit, one would say he is inormed
>
>
>
>
I as bi hr ar iis sciic rsarch—ha yu ca y ush h ahua bdy s ar ui yu ki i. Sady, his c-ss arach scic is shig ha h gacrrais d’ s b ab gras. Ad d’ g sard cybracy r h crai cybrgs. Whr was h sciic d d ha? Whr was h rarchig sciic rici h br ahuaiy? this wrd ds’ d ahr cybrzbi, his wrd ds rar us r h x adic. Bu sady, I d’ s ur scic big aid i ha ar r h rsab uur. th Siig Badi As I udrsad i, hr ha b r ha a w as ad by h crrais sic th Siig Badi r h yars. H’s si sig, hugh, s ’s caugh u hi y. I wish hi ciud i ad rd r ay yars. Ss
Based on Te Smiling Bandit’s typical habits, his code o conduct while he is in the Matrix, and his opinions on science and its role in society, i Te Smiling Bandit had a day job, it would likely be in an academic setting. He could be serving as a researcher, gathering inormation without extensive inuence rom corporations and their agendas. Viable possibilities include the Massachusetts Institute o echnology and Taumaturgy, Boston University, the University o Denver, Calech, Cambridge University, or Oxord University.
24
tHe sMilinG bandit
while being cautious about protec protecting ting his identity. He has provided tremendous tremendous insight into the shadowy shadowy activities o the corporations, and is not araid to stand up and say something about their practices. And i speaking out about a situation isn’t good enough, Te Smiling Bandit has the will and the desire to act. Tere is a reason he has the reputation he does, and it’s not all based on the charm and good-natured humor that that is part o his trademark. Given his passion and his capabilities as a hacker, I would tell those who might misuse science: Don’t piss him o. You’ll regret it. Or else you will be seeing on your AR Screens, “Te Smiling Bandit strik strikes es again! Ha Ha Ha!” >
this ry wud’ b c wihu h sry a as gd daasa, ad I’ g s irai his rc s. ery i h aurgy d has b wrrid abu wha Hriz is gig d hr, sciay wh i cs iaig bis r dsirs i h ids ususcig csurs. As yu ca guss, a rhikig huais ik th Siig Badi is’ d h ida Hriz ig wha hik, s h has’ dd uch rig ak rus agais hir aurgy abs. Bu gig i ad jus akig daa is crud ad bius r hi, sciay i h ca c u wih a arai ha s hi r daa ha h wud g hrwis. I h aks his k siy i h ai, ha’s kay, . S wha h ds is, h ss his u as a Jhs, ad h bgis hirig rurs ry sa daa r Hriz. oy h hirs w- rurs, guys wh d’ ha a chac. thy as ar a wh ha wrkd r e r ha c i h as. th rus ai, auray, ad Hriz ds is wrk gur u wh’s bhid hs rus, ad hy ca’ h bu ic h e ccis h rurs ha. Hriz sds a e dadig w higs—rs, ha hy s h rus; ad scd, ha hy ray Hriz r h cs sig h aacks. thy’r surrisd wh hy rci a hub, cciiary agy r a e rrsai (gacrs assu ha ay cuicais
>
wih hir rs wi b d wih dias, days, ad a gra ack crai). th rrsai dgs h wi d wha is cssary ak higs righ. ngiais bgi, hy g back ad rh, ad uay h e rrsai riss w higs—a cash rasr ad a rr a -scr e i rjc kig us ais rcr s ris burid i hua brais. Hriz accs, ad h ay is s. Hriz sciiss ar agr k a h rr, bu i aks h a day r w car h dcks ad dig i i. Wh hy d, hugh, h rr was qui wha h xcd. I had h i scr, a ag crdis, ad ackwdgs, bu h hy urd h xcui suary, which rad (yu gussd i) “th Siig Badi sriks agai! Ha Ha Ha!” thr was r x i h rr ar ha. Addiiay, hy icd ha uch hir aurgy rsarch srd ha d had b rasd—rsuaby ar i had b rasrrd h Badi. I jus gs shw ha c gas ar a abu akig h ark wa gi yu wha yu ar skig. Isad rcig his way i Hriz’s syss, th Siig Badi ad Hriz agr acc h h s h. A h had d was cic h h was acuay a e rrsai. Cs
THE SMILING BANDIT B
A
R
S
C
I
L
W
4
5
4
3
6
6
6
6
Edg Ess 7
4.8
Init
IP
10 10
1
Matrix Initiative: 10 (11) Matrix Passes: 2 (5) Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 10/11 Skills: Close Combat skill group 3, Computer (Edit) 6 (+2), Cybercombat 5, Data Search (echnical (echnical Journals) 6 (+2), Disguise 3, Dodge 3, Electronic Warare (Encryption) 6 (+2), Firearms skill group 4, Hacking (Snier) 6 (+2), Hardware 5, Industrial Mechanic 4, Inluence skill group 5, Perception 6, Sotware (Deensive Utilities) 6 (+2) Knowledge Skills: Genetic Engineering 6, Universal Omnitech 4, Cybertechnology Cybertechn ology 4, Manatech 3, Biotech 5 Qualities: Chatty, Erased, Synthetic Sympathy, Media Junkie (5 pts), Code o Conduct Augmentations: Augmen tations: 2 datajacks Gear: 5 disposable commlinks, Fairlight Caliban w/ Novatech Navi [Response 4, Signal 5, Firewall 3, System 4, w/ sim module modied or hot sim, biometric lock, customized interace, optimization and simsense accelerator], nonstandard wireless link, response enhancer 6 Programs: Analyze 6, Armor 7, Browse 7, Decrypt 8, Deuse 6, ECCM 6, Exploit 6, Medic 5, Scan 7, Snier 9, Spoo 6, Stealth 7
tHe sMilinG bandit
25
slaMM-o! POSTED By: CLOCKWORK
One thing you learn ast in this biz: you gotta know the competition. I you don’t, when you nally nd yoursel running against them—and in this biz, you will, that’s a guarantee— you’ll end up caught by the short and curlies and unable to protect yoursel. yoursel. Tere are a helluva lotta hackers who think themselves God’s gi to the Matrix, who believe they can do no wrong. hese are usually the people with an agenda, those with something to prove. Tey steal work rom people who are trying to scrape by however they can, and then they leave their signatures everywhere, which makes the corps bee up security and makes it hard or serious olk to earn our nuyen. ake Slamm-0! as an example. He’s a second-generation shadowrunner, shadowrun ner, so you would think he knows the biz, right? His parents are practicall practicallyy amous: Brickbat and Fury. Brickbat’s reputation as a serious businessman and a talented negotiater makes him the go-to guy or xers and runner teams alike. Fury, his mom, posted on the deunct Shadowland board and is equally in demand or her no-nonsense advice and in-depth knowledge o the anti-metahuman activities o policlubs, corporations, and governments. So with parents like these, you’d think this guy would know what’s what when it comes to running running the Matrix. Matrix. Right? But you’d be wrong. Slamm-0! grew up as Padraig Feardorcha (Patrick Frederick or you non-Irish types) McKenney in an anarchist community that encouraged reckless, thoughtles thoughtless,s, and impulsive behavior. Forget the rules the rest o civilized society lives by. Live in the moment. Wreck every obstacle in your path, and crow about it to the heavens. You You don’t want to make lie easy or the rest o the world, do do you? Tis is the sort sort o thing he learned learned growing growing up. >
>
>
>
> >
> >
“th rs ciiizd sciy”? sciy ”? Ad jus whr is ha ud? vry w h acs I’ s s y i cud b csidrd ruy “ciiizd.” picadr thr ar a w ss whr yu ca g h craur crs ad ru aw. Which is hw I ik i. Frsy m Sa-0! m brak su ra gd. (Hh) Bu thik as, d a. Bbs away! Sa-0!
He’d like you to believe he has morals, that he works against Te Man or the good o society, is utterly loyal to those he runs with, and is some sort o honorable “white “white knight” riding riding to the rescue o those who can’t deend themselves. In reality, he’s just a hoodlum with a lust or vandalism and ame. Every job he’s ever run is marked by a consistent lack o respect or his peers and a need to show o. >
>
Gd hig w ca a b assurd ha his is bjci, ubiasd i. Wih rsa ax grid r ayhig. piss
On one o his earliest known capers, he hacked the FBI’s systems, pulled down personnel and payroll les, and discovered that the agency was using independent groups like Humanis to contain and control metahuman anatics. Instead o doing the responsible thing—selling the paydata to the highest bidder—he
posted the les to Shadowland Shadowland and sent them to NewsNe NewsNett (or ree, no less) and didn’t even bother to obscure his identity. He wanted the world world to know who who he was and what he’ he’dd done. Ater that particular shakeup, the FBI brought in Mitsuhama to redesign their Matrix security. Part o that design involved removing their servers rom the WAN and putting them in a sel-contained underground bunker. His idiocy may have saved the agency rom losing everything during Crash 2.0, but it caused a serious headache or the proessionals hired later. Instead o hacking remotely, now the only way to access the systems is to walk into the damn place, deal with the guards, maglocks, and all that other crap, then hook up a hard line directly into the main server. Do you know what a pain in the ass that is? All because he needed to brag about what he did. Te ame he got rom that incident incident only served to spur the kid onward. Te little bastard started running against every antimetahuman group on the planet, stealing inormation on their backers, shredding the systems o those people, and posting any damaging paydata on those backers or the world to see. Why is that bad? Because none o them knew he was human, so they took it out on the metahuman community. A riend o mine got killed when she responded to eelers or a non-human hacker, only to nd out at the meet that her “employer” was Humanis. Tey put out the ake a ke job to catch Slamm-0!, murdering almost a dozen metas beore anyone caught on. th Sa-0! I kw wud’ igr a icid ik ha. H wud ha jud i s hs basards. > Ka ’ ni tais >
//beGin GroUP broadcast <
BULL HAS BEEN ATTACKED BY A DIAPER BOMB
//end GroUP broadcast > >
Wha h.-j(*gb^&*bkj--- *siga s* Bu
>
> >
W did’ d ha assh’s h. W hadd i jus urss. Cckwrk
He wanted to make a name or himsel, and he did. Just not a good one. I you ever saw a post or a Matrix scavenger hunt, you knew Slamm-0! was behind it. He encouraged a whole
26
slaMM-o!
crowd o wanna-be hackers to tear across the Matrix, bringing down databases, operating systems, and servers just to grab some irrelevant piece o paydata that would then get posted to Shadowland. Te hunts had a points reward system based on the difculty o the target and the juiciness o the paydata, with bonus points awarded to those who le behind the most creative VR grafti signatures. Who needed Crash 2.0? Slamm-0! and his acne army almost a lmost brought down the Matrix with their pointless games. Hacking is hard work. It takes patience, skill, and inspired problem solving. It should be a quiet, subtle thing. A hacker should slip into a node, invisible, intangible, and untouchable. But that stupid bastard waltzes in, trashes a place, and then announces what he’s done to the entire world by leaving behind AR signatures embedded in the local nodes. As i the whole episode is just a stroll in the park, and he doesn’t have to put any real eort into the job. And who pays the price or his antics? he honest hackers trying to earn a living, people who ended up dumped out o the Matrix becau because se they got blindsided by the chaos those idiots unleashed. Runs, and reputations, were ruined because a scavenger hunt hit the wrong node at the wrong time, a s ituation no one could predict pre dict
when planning p lanning a job. jo b. He burned quite a ew e w people pe ople with his hi s devil-may-care attitude and never once apologized or it. Ten, because Slamm-0! made hacking look so easy, Mr. Johnson assumed it was a simple task and lowered the pay scale. Real hackers ound themselves working difcult jobs or ar less than the danger was worth. >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Rad curs c wih h biz. I yu ca’ b rard r ha, i’s i ’s Sa-0!’s au, s qui whiig. mika D’ ak dw abu Sa-0!. H ars his uy. I dd a ichhir c wh y w hackr ca dw i. Sa-0! sid asid crdias i h d a highy scur iiary, ag wih a rasr rcrd r a crai high- risr. W W g i ad u wihu a hich. th guards hadd us ur xraci arg wih sis hir acs. tha was h asis aychcks I’ r ard. Hard exi I yu’r gig aid ugh, Cckwrk, ayb yu shud wrk yur giaig skis. Kay S. Irrguar Cckwrk has a i. Dsi Sa-0!’s skis ad rssiais, wh h was b rssia, h ds d ay higs as ad s. o hs days, his rcdc wi g hi kid. H ds sw dw, sciay w ha h has a kid hik abu. FasJack
VITAL STATS: STATS: SLAMM-0! SLAMM-0 ! Age: 31 Height: 1.7 m Weight: 88 kg Eyes: Green Hair: Mood hair implants (natural color: red) Gender: Male Metatype: Human Awakened: No
Despite what you’re thinking, though, I used to respect this guy. He had a belie system, and the cajones to do what was needed to support those belies. He even managed to take some
slaMM-o!
27
o the otaku down a peg or two with his escapades. Hell, who wouldn’t enjoy the entertainment o those poser wünderkind oundering in a Matrix duel against a hacker with real chops? Ten he ruined it all by shacking up with that abomination abomination he calls a girlriend. You should see the brat they spawned together. Pale white skin, a shock o red hair, pointy el ears, and eyes so green you’d swear they were cybereyes. Ugly little bugger. I won’t deny that Slamm-0! made a name or himsel. At sixteen, he briey ended up on Samantha Villiers’ recruitment list. So ar as I can tell, she still has the le and has kept it up to date. She has his routine down pat. She even knows when he goes back home to visit those he proesses to care about: Das Neu Gesells Gesellschaf, chaf, the anarchist group that trained and raised him, his parents Brickbat and Fury, and RazorO Love, an old Matr Matrix ix Science teacher that he keeps making goo-goo eyes at every time
he sees her. His ing with that reak-o-nature technomancer is alling apart beore our very eyes. Looks like Netcat’s plan to trap him into marriage by orcing him to ather her monster-child has
completely ailed.
as we speak. Tey’ve even put out a rather sizable bounty or good inormation leading to Slamm-0!, or or inormation on how he operates. For those o you who might be interested, I compiled a list. Like any other guy with a Peter Pan complex, Slamm-0! uses a cartoon character reality lter. Most o his icons have bizarrelyenhanced attributes, like a snot-nosed kid carrying a slingshot, or a lightning-hair guy with buggy eyes and a manic grin. I I hadn’t seen him talking to Zany Zuni, that stupid cartoon rabbit rom the Exchange, I would have sworn ZZ was another one o Slamm-0!’s crazy icons. His recent avorite icons include a neon pink stork carrying carrying bundles o smelly joy that turn turn out to be baby
swarm attacks and a manga-like samurai pushing around a baby carriage. His attack programs are designed to look like a baseball bat with a spike in it, a mucus barrage thrown by slingshot, and a variety o ull-sensory assaults that remind me o the time I got hit with a Chaos spell. > >
>
>
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
*rs ys* D’ bi a hig h says, ks. I ha kw nca ad Sa-0! ar ry czy. piss Ray? I hard a rur hy’d brk u. Gich Braku? Wha? Wh did his ha? Ar yu sayig h hay cu is’ hay r a cu? Auhb Aw ra ys. nca ad Sa-0! ar si ghr. Igr a rur-grig h crary. piss
I hik w’r gig disracd r h scary ar hr. Cckwrk has s h kid, ad I’ ry sur i’s bcaus h was iid r r a isi. Wha was h u ? mika
> >
> >
>
>
patterns. Every Every time Seattle Seattle basketball season comes on, he hacks
into the box ofce or ront row season tickets. Every weekend he’s not working, or watching the spawn, he’s club-hopping with old chums. chums. He lives at sports bars when when the Seattle Urban Urban Brawl team plays, placing wagers with everyone that Seattle will win. Worse, Worse, he doesn’t even bet with money most o the time. Him and his pals wager or uture avors or embarrassing Matrix pranks, like the loser has to streak a Knight Errant virtual bars with naked icons. icons. Bad things happen to the people around him, and more bad things are coming. Remember when we were discussing the megas last year and he commented on his attempt to break into Mitsuhama Computers? Te idiot hit a Zero Zone Matrix node and got himsel noticed. Western Regional Director Akira Hirohita was very surprised to nd out the node was hacked and the intruder survived. MC did an incident investigation, ound Slamm-0!’s trail and are ollowing it back to locate him
28
slaMM-o!
Did’ yu chag brig i jus a bi ag? okay, s, I brugh i. Sa-0! Wha had? Riggr X Sa-0! hi Bu wih s w aack rgra I’ r s br. Cr dsig. I’ surrisd Bu aagd g back i s quicky. FasJack
th d ch is ray gra a rig siga is, uik ha w-agd juk hs hackr uks us. pus, I’ jus ha gd. > Bu >
> >
> >
I Slamm-0! really cared about his amily and old riends, he’d stay away rom them or a while. He’d also break his routine
*siga rsabishd* Da i a h. D’ r d ha agai, Frd. Bu
S wha’s a Diar bb aack ik? D . turb Buy D’ ask qusis yu ray d’ wa kw h aswr . Bu
An analysis o Slamm-0!’s methods shows that he has no patience to do a job right. rig ht. Tis guy is lazy. I he can’t hack on the y, he doesn’t bother. I will admit he’s good with nancial systems. I’ve never seen anyone able to screw a balance sheet the way he does, or empty a corp’ c orp’s virtual coers with such nesse. He accepts jobs oering him the chance to leave chaos and mayhem in his wake—the more destructive, the better. Ten he turns around and oers to help any bum with a sob story. I don’t care how silver his tongue is, how charming he acts around his employers, or clever his proessional banter is; no xer and no Johnson can possibly believe he’s capable o proessionalism proession alism when he works works or ree. Oh, and beore I orget. I betcha didn’t know Slamm-0! and Haze knew each other way back in the day, did you? Not well, but I have inormation that indicates that they ran into each other rom time to time. Comes o them both living in the Barrens o Seattle.
>
>
Yu d raiz ha h Rdd Barrs ad h puyau Barrs ar s ar aar ha hy ay as w b dir as, righ? th rs i I Sa-0! was hr Jackpi. Haz
>
So, that’s that’s what I’ve got on Slamm-0!, the supposed golden child o the Matrix. I hope you all understand him better now, now, and see how dangerous it is to work with him. I you ever run against him, maybe my inormation inormation will g ive you a little l ittle edge on how to dump the bugger right out o the Matrix. Matrix. > >
>
Yu’r awuy qui, Sa-0!. Ar’ yu gig dd yurs? mr. Bds
>
> >
Dd ys agais wha? FasJack’s wh “r ach hr” hig is a gd ida. I’ ard a abu hw hr iw r radig his s, ad h rsss i. I did’ kw I’d g s rdicab. Sic rdicab ars ha a habi kiig gd , I d shak higs u a bi. I diy did’ kw mCt has a . Gi
>
> >
SLAMM-0! B
A
R
S
C
I
5
4
4 (6)
3
5
5 6 (7)
L
W Ed E dg Ess 4
7
3.41
I ni t
IP
9 (11) 3 (5)
Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 11/10
Cckwrk a brak, ks. H has h righ ic his ii , ad h did s sy usig acs rahr ha jus ryig rur ad iud. Kuds, a. this is sick s. Sa-0! Yu igra rick! I’ s kid kig r daddy’s ara. Hw dar yu ariz ik ha? I d d yur ara ak abu yu, r ay s r ha ar. Yu Yu ca ak yur kuds ad sh i whr h su ds’ shi. Yu r ra ha way agai, y wi I ak yur i israb, bu I’ ak sur yur i rak-baby ds u i a ab whr i bgs. Cckwrk I d’ kw hw yu g cs ugh s hi, bu yu a y s u ur ud, Cckwrk. or I wi ki yu. nca Wha sh said. FasJack
Programs: Analyze 7, Armor 7, Attack (Shredder) 9 (+2 Crash test), Black Hammer (Shredder) 8 (+2 Crash test), Blackout (argeting) ( argeting) 9 (+2 Crash test), Browse 9, Command 7, Decrypt 8, Data Bomb 6, ECCM 6, Edit 6, Encrypt Encr ypt 6, Exploit (Mute) 9, Medic 5, Reality Filter 6, Scan 6, Snier 6, Spoo 8, Stealth 5, rack 6
Armor (B/I): 12/7
Gear: Armor jacket, datachips (12), earbuds (audio enhancement 3), ake SIN 6, ormorm-tting tting shirt, gel packs, medkit 6, VR games
Movement: 10/25
Drones:
Skills: Automatics 3, Clubs 3, Con 2, Cyber Combat 5 (+2), Dodge 4, Driving 1, Electronic Warare 5 (+2), Electronics skill group 4 (+2), Etiquette (Matrix) 5 (+2), First Aid 1 (+1), Hacking 6 (+2), Intimidation 2, Leadership 2, Negotiation 5, Perception 5 (+1) KnowledgeSkills: Anarchist Groups 5, Area (Redmond Barrens)
6, Computer System Security echniques 4, Famous Hackers/ Deckers 3, Financial Systems 3, Pro-Meta Groups 4, Secret Matrix Hacker Chatrooms 6 Lanuages: English N, Japanese 2
Aptitudee (Hacki (Hacking), ng), Codeslinger Codeslinger,, Qualities: Analytical Mind, Aptitud Inspired (Matrix Grafti), Perceptive Augmentations: (all betaware) Cerebral booster 1, commlink , Augmentations: cybereyes [Rating 1, w/ are compensation, low-light vision, smartlink, vision enhancement 2], encephalon 2, simsense booster, wired reexes 2 Commlink: System 6, Response 5, Firewall Firewall 5, Signal 6, hardening, response enhancer 5, simsense accelerator
MC Shinobi [Small, Handling 0, Accel 5/15, Speed 45, Pilot 3, Body 2, Armor 5, Sensor 3, w/ ECM 3, signature masking 3, special machinery (area jammer 4, directional jammer 3)] 2 Lone Star iBalls [Minidr [Minidrone, one, Handling +1, Accel 3/15, Speed
15, Pilot 3, Body 1, Armor 0, Sensor 2, w/ camera, directional microphone, radio signal scanner] Lone Star iBall [Minidrone, Handling +1, Accel 3/15, Speed 15, Pilot 3, Body 1, Armor 0, Sensor 2, w/ camera, microphone,
motion sensor] Weapons: W eapons: Beretta 97 [Heavy Pistol, DV 5P, AP —, SA/BF, RC —, 15(c), w/ hidden arm slide, sound suppressor, smartlink, smartl ink, spare sp are clip (loaded)]
Colt Manhunter [Heavy Pistol, DV 5P or 5S, AP –1 or +1, SA, RC —, 16(c), w/ 5 clips regular ammo, 5 clips gel rounds, quick-draw holster, holster, silencer, smartlink, spare clip ( loaded)] Reinorced-Core Steel Baseball Bat [Club, 5P, AP –1, Concealability –1]
slaMM-o!
29
bUttercUP POSTED By: ARETE
I have long debated what, i anything, I have to contribute to this insightul compendium o colleagues, employers, and potential enemies. While I debated, a riend o mine mine approached
me with an interesting opportunity in Russia. Later that same day, my herb garden sprouted three buttercups—I never planted owers in it—and a erce storm thundered in with baseballsized hail and hurricane orce winds driven by strange mana carried on the wind. You may take a dismissive view o portents and omens, but i the universe’s higher powers have seen t to warn me, then I cannot help but believe there is good reason or them to do so. So beore I leave or Russia, I will pass along what I know about the anima Buttercup, and what little inormation I have about the chaos to come. >
>
>
>
> >
Da. Did yu ha ak a h u u harassig yu r yur dusia sa id? Buch D’ xc a rss ayi s, Buch. Ar s his s br h bardd h subrbia. H said h’d b u cac r a wk, w s, ad wrry br h. FasJack n wrry? Is h xcig rub? Ka ’ ni tas
Most o the story o Buttercup’s origin made news long ago, but some o it has been lost in the swamps o the Matrix. Beore anyone (Netcat) argues that the Resonance never orgets, do a search on Buttercup. See what you nd. Most likely, a sea o spam—some o it Evo advertising—an-ction, bad trideo plot synopses, and (mostly ridiculous) speculation by the members o various Matrix chat rooms. Te truth is buried beneath a deluge o myths, rumors, and outright lies. Separating the acts o her existence rom the ction that permeates the Matrix is nigh impossible, so please allow me to start rom the beginning. I believe you will not be disappointed.
>
>
>
>
Ad aary s ds’ kw ha Faus is a cia characr, a ra agicia. Wirhawk th Sixh Wrd achs us b s caair i ur abs. Yu shud ar. Ar
Tere is little inormation on what Buttercup did in the centuries leading up to the Awakening. Most animae-related olk tales speak about malevolent spirits leading men to their deaths, binding them to eternal servitude, or tricking them out o their possessions and amily. Te tales about good spirits usually revolve around nature spirits or ancestor spirits, the ghosts o those who used to be human. Given Buttercup’s proesse pro essedd love and deen deense se o meta metahuman humanity, ity, I doub doubtt she was cruel. cr uel. She does doe s not bear the marks mark s o one who has spent centuries buried in malevolence. >
>
>
>
> >
S yu acuay bi a ha ad hary cra sh sws? prhas yu shud k r s sigs r h uirs ha wi yu b s aï. Cckwrk Burcu has d r rc ad adac h caus ahuaiy ha s ahuas. nhig I’ hard idicas sh kis r ras. Ga F Bu yu ha hard ha sh’s kid? D . Ss
hough she might not be evil in the sense that we understand evil, Buttercup is no blemish-ree angel. Adopting metahumans and championing their causes is nothing new to her. Enough anecdotal evidence exists or me to believe Buttercup has always taken avorites under her wing and guided them to success, even beore the Awakening. But her avors came
Irsig. I wd his adic ad h’s righ. my rsa was s rwhd by h riia, ad bad riia a ha, I had ci a w sris sr i a u. thy’r si wrkig. nca
with a price. Tose she avored rarely lived to old age, and they oen lost the power they’d gained when she grew bored with them. Put simply, they were little more than pampered pets allowed to do only what she wished, when she wished it. Tey were hers until until they were were not.
I anyone knows when she arrived on our plane o existence, they have not seen t to share the act. What is known is that Buttercup was summoned and bound by a powerul preAwakening magician at least two centuries ago. She eventually became ree (under unknown circumstances) and stayed on this plane or reason reasonss known known only to to her. her. Specula Speculation tion runs ramp rampant ant as to what type o anima she is and who exactly summoned her (Dr. John Dee and Faus Faustt have been suggested), but until Buttercup Buttercup
in 2033, Buttercup’s behavior so inuriated Dunkelzahn that the dragon decided to teach her a lesson in humility humility.. He bound Buttercup in the body o a SINless street ork, Craig Sanchez, or a year and a day. Sanchez received a hey payment or services rendered aerward, disappeared, then appeared again when Dunkelzahn’s will was read. Apparently, the dragon le him some sort o artiact. Sanchez disappeared once more sometime around 2059, and he has not been b een heard rom since.
>
>
A reliable source once shared an interesti interesting ng story. Sometime
chooses to share, everything is just innuendo and wishul thinking.
30
bUttercUP
>
>
>
>
> >
> >
>
>
Dad, rbaby. thr ar a hu ig ariacs hs days, ad cfic wi cach h urady. mika I rbr rurs ha Burcu hird rurs ca Sachz arud ha i. Rur as had i ha Sachz kw hr tru na. FasJack S his is h guy sh kid, h. Ss D’ assu. Sh igh b rcig hi r hr is. Ga F or ayb h did a rds, chkd his rig as, r drwd i h thas. Uss yu kw whr h is ad ca r h is’ dad, I’ irsd. Riggr X
Buttercup’s rst appearance on the international stage came in 2042, when she acquired an eleven percent stake in Japanacorp Yamatetsu Yamatetsu (now known as Evo), the same day the corp achieved the coveted AAA status and a seat on the Corporate Court. During an internal power struggle struggle between then-CEO then-CEO adamako adamako Shibanokuji and uture CEO Hideo Yoshida, eleven percent o Yamatetsu stock went “missing” in a convoluted series o transactions that entire teams o dedicated accountants could not unravel. Worried W orried that this was the opening salvo in a corpor corporate ate takeover, Yoshida ordered an investigation the moment he assumed the position o CEO. Te money trail led to a mystery buyer to whom the board sent an ultimatum disguised as a meeting request. Armed or bear, and more corporate war, the board ound themselves completely taken o guard by the teenaged Japanese woman who showed up, oered her credentials as an heiress with money to spare, and insisted on taking the board seat her shares had bought or her. No doubt many think it a coincidence that Buttercup purchased a voice in the corporation corporation’’s uture on that that auspicious occasion, but she has since proven hersel almost as arsighted as the dragons when it comes to choosing her actions. >
>
>
>
Wha ds a r siri d wih crra sck, ayway? Ad whr’d sh g h y? Haz Burcu is a siri wh has h abiiy sausy gra achica rags, rar gs, ad rcius as. Sh iky crad xacy h au sh dd buy h shars. thugh kws why sh chs sick wih such a sa rcag h cay wh sh cud ha bugh uch r wih a ha wah sh ca rduc a wi. ma--may-nas
In metahuman orm, Buttercup appears to be a petite Japanese girl in her late teens. She oten preers traditional Japanese garb unless she is in business meetings, where she wears well-tailored business suits. She is at least 450 years old, but it is likely this number is underestimate underestimated. d.
VITAL STATS: STATS: BUTTERCUP N/A A Age: N/ Weight: 54.5 kg Eyes: Brown Metatype: Free Spirit
Height: 1.6 m Hair: Black Gender: Female Awakened: Yes
bUttercUP
31
>
>
Fr wha I ha hard, hr is a csidrab cs r a siri us ha abiiy. Sh rbaby did’ wa r-xd hrs. Bsids, Burcu has r b qui say i h acia wrd. Sh rbaby rcgizd fdig h ark wih iquid asss wud ha gai csqucs, such as akig hr sak i Yaasu racicay wrhss. mr. Bds
>
>
For eight years ater obtaining her seat, Buttercup remained content to listen quietly at board meetings, rarely voting or intervening in company aairs. As she is wont to do, she took the measure o the men with whom she worked and incorporated their habits, strengths, and weaknesses into her uture plans. >
>
> >
>
>
Sh was as backaiig Shibakuji r h ac ha his s ad hir Yuri was a rk, a hua. Shibakuji sashd Yuri i Russia s h bard wud’ kw his disgrac. Cckwrk prig sha id a rk chid. Hw r-a hr. mihshi oi B caru wih quick judgs. I was csiracy, backai. Uik s Jaas busiss, h d basard had a s s r Yuri. Burcu ardd hi a ruiy ur h Jaaacrs i a ac whr ahuas cud wrk wihu bias, which wud ak i h kid cr whr Yuri cud succd hi as Ceo. Kay S. Irrguar
During this same period, Buttercup approached several small Pacic Rim companies to orm an alliance that could rival the Japanacorps. Te corporate bloc that emerged called itsel the Pacic Prosperity Group. Several other companies joined the PPG in the ollowing years, eager or the support o like-minded
corporations. In the years since, the PPG has become a orce to be reckoned with. Every business that joined has experienced prosperity like like they have never never known. Perhaps the most telling detail about this endeavor, though, is how Evo ended up with controlling interest or ownership o most o the PPG’s smaller businesses, with much o that stock owned by Buttercup. As ever, the price o prosperity under Buttercup’s protection is the loss o independence. >
>
>
Te war between adamako and Yoshida nally came to its conclusion with the reinstatement o adamako as CEO in 2050, the same year that Buttercup chose to reveal her true nature in the middle o a board meeting. Her timing could have been better. Japanese culture was still strongly anti-metahuman, and Japanese businesses that employed metahumans generally went under quite quickly. It would have been bad enough or Yamatets Yamatetsuu to be caught with a non-human such as Buttercup working a lower-ranking job; or her to actually be sitting on the board o directors was a scandal beyond imagining. Te corporation’s stock tumbled, sending shockwaves through the nancial markets. None o the board members spoke publicly against her, but many o them took the opportunity to start conspiring or her downall. Yamatetsu barely managed to recover rom this irst scandal when it was struck by another. Aer a sudden stroke, adamako Shibanokuji died and Yuri succeeded him, though not beore Yoshida attempted one nal power grab. In the chaos, Buttercup managed to purchase shares rom a number o the smaller stockholders, securing both her control and her board position. ogether ogether with Yuri, Yuri, who’d nally managed manage d to get his ather’s shares, Buttercup consolidated controlling interest in Yamatetsu and moved the company to Vladivostok, Russia to avoid nancial destruction by Japanese government ofcials. > >
32
tha’s a i hay-hadd. I was jus s sa s. /d/grr
bUttercUP
Idiiduay sa, ys. Bu hr wr husads h. Yaasu’s sck was a a a i w, h cay had iid iquidiy, ad h gr was rard har h cr wih ry buraucraic bsac ad rguary iai ssib. I ha cia, h cay wud ha g udr—r brk u ica ad sd hahir gacrs—wihi a yar. mr. Bds
>
>
>
> >
>
>
Uru. err Yasuhi rsrd wih Burcu by his sid durig h Jaas rcsruci. tday sh is sd s i h Iria paac uss iid, ad ihr h r Jaa surs r h ack hr rsc. mika S wha h h did i cs hi k ha rd? Wirhawk or i Burcu did’ dad ay r hr adic, why ? Sh had ha g shig u i. tAnStAAFl. Bu tAnStAAFl? /d/grr Yu did jus ask ha. Sigh. I’s a acry ha as “thr Ai’ n Such thig As A Fr luch.” D’ yu kids ha ay ss cuur? Bu
Even aer moving to Vladivostok, Buttercup retained tight ties within the Japanese community. Her work in promoting metahuman rights and environmental protectionism earned her a lot o respect rom the lower classes. When the old anti-metahu anti-metahuman man regime ell with the death o the emperor, and the young Emperor Yasuhito rose to power, Buttercup traveled back to Japan to help chart the uture o Japanese society. Aer a ew years, she returned to Russia, ostensibly to help run the newly re-branded Evo. For several years, the public saw her devote hersel to the cause o metahumanity as she established charities all across the world—including a certain soup kitchen near Seattle’s Ork Underground—while working her business magic on Evo’s behal. Ten, three years ago, she and several other notables (the dragon Damon, the naga Pheakdei o Angkor Wat, Damien Knight, Milo Czerda, and centaur Athena Kaladopolis) established the Anthrophiles Society, an open social group created to bring together sentients sentients o all types and all al l belies.
>
>
>
>
I si ca’ g r h ac ha Kigh is a udig br. tha assh r sruck as s wh wad wrd ac ad udrsadig. Sa-0!
Ha’ yu hard? Dai Kigh was cqur h wrd. Wha br way d i ha r wrd ac udr crrai? piss
Like many in the scholarly community, I receive a yearly
Tough I know that a run to Olkhon Island is very risky, I owe a great debt to this riend. So I go to Russia to meet with Bishop Stepan, Buttercup’s agent, and thence to Yakut. I I return, I will regale you all with my Siberian adventures. I I don’t return, remember what I have said. Buttercup is much more dangerous than most people believe. read careully around her and accept no avors. Godspeed, my riends. I hope to speak to you again ag ain in two weeks.
invitation invitati on to join the Anthrophiles Society. So ar, I have reused.
While the Society’ Society ’s goals are loy, the exorbitant membership ee prevents the inclusion o those they are purporting to welcome. And though the ee is justied as a donation to the Society’s charities, one cannot join without paying it. he membership roster is a Who’s Who o the wealthy and elite o the world’s society. Given the way ounders—especially Buttercup—have insinuated themselves in the lives o most o the new members, all o whom are recently enjoying proound success in their chosen careers, I am hesitant to add my name to that list. >
>
Hy shi! I was jkig abu ha “akig r h wrd” cra. Yu guys kw ha, righ? piss
BUTTERCUP B
A
R
11 10 12
S
C
I
L W M Edg Ess Init (Astral) IP (Astral)
8 10 10 10 10 16
10
16
22 (20)
4 (4)
Force: 16+ Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 14/ 13 Armor (B/I): 20/20 Movement: 10/25
> >
>
>
S issig yurs. I’s ik hy’r rig a ary r ayhig. Cckwrk tw wrds, jackass. Uirsa Brhrhd. I’ s his kid cuis br. piss
Perhaps I should preace this last part with the act that Buttercup is actively reaching out to the shadow community. She
wants people to to know who she is and what what motivates motivates her. her. Tat’s not to say she’s been very orthcoming with the intimate details o her lie, but she has taken extraordinary steps in contacting certain members o the scholarly community known to work with, or or, or, shadowrunners. shadowrunners. > >
S his is yu dig hr pR wrk r hr? Dr. Si
A storm is coming. I hear the clash o armies in the thunder, see the spilling o blood in the rain, and eel the cold dra o Arctic air in the wind. I do what I can to pass this warning to those who care to heed it. I I can use her willing participation as a vehicle or my task, who am I to ignore such providence? Tere is truth to the rumor that Buttercup is unding the Yakut rebels. Her reasons are her own, but I suspect it has something to do with her rivalry with the ree spirit Vernya, Vernya, who who runs Yakut Yakut with with the assistance o the shapeshier community. Buttercup is hiring runners who can act as military trainers, armed escorts, smugglers, and guerilla warare specialists. Some o the people she hires work with the rebels. Some are sent to investigate the unguska unguska Crater. Others are dispatched di spatched on more secretive missions. Few ever return. Recently, a riend o mine was hired to go to Olkhon Island to discover i it truly was Vernya’s lair or i it hides even greater secrets. He has requested my assistance.
Skills: Assensing 11, Astral Combat 9, Binding 8, Close Combat skill group 8, Counterspelling (Illusion spells) 10 (+5), Dodge 7, Etiquette (Japanese) 5 (+4), Intimidation 5, Leadership 9, Negotiation 10, Perception 9, Ritual Spellcasting 10, Spellcasting (Manipulation spells) 12 (+3), Summoning 8 Knowledge Skills: Accounting 4, Corporate Politics 4, Diplomacy 4, Finance 4, International Business Law 4, International Politics 5, Japanese History 5, Public Relations 4, Stock Market 5, World History 4 Languages: Business Lingo 5, English 5, Japanese 6, Mandarin Chinese 5, Russian 6, Spanish 4 Powers: Astral Gateway, Aura Masking, Banishing Resistance, Immunity to Normal Weapons, Mind Link, Possession, Realistic Form, Sense Link, Wealth Qualities: Magician Initiate Level: 10+
centering, cleansing, cleansing , ltering, geomancy, g eomancy, Metamagics: Absorption, centering, reecting, shielding Spells: Chaos, Compel ruth, Control Actions, Control Emotions, Dream, Inuence, Knockout, Levitate, Magic Fingers, Fling, Mana
Barrier, Manaball, Manabolt, Mist, Physical Barrier, Reinorce, Sound Barrier, Stunball, Stunbolt, ranslate
bUttercUP
33
daMien KniGHt POSTED By: STICKS
Te rst thing I should say is that, contrary to popular opinion, I’m not actually an Ares employee, so it would be a mistake to read this as a piece o corporate propaganda. > >
>
>
mhiks h dh rs uch. I a sig sc, ss. Risr Sicks is rbaby rrrig h gwig riw hi I uadd a i whi back, whr I id ha h was Ars’ ubr hr a i nrh Arica. Si is, r h i big. Back maba
Tere are other acts, but most o them have to do with the public aairs o Ares, not with the man himsel. h imsel. Tat leaves the speculation. We can start with some o the various guesses out there about the man’s origins. A popular theory among the shadows since at least 2054 is that Damien Knight is the alterego o U.S. Air Force Major David Gavilan, the NSA spook who commanded Echo Mirage as it battled the rst Crash Virus. >
>
Even i I’ve done work or Ares, that doesn’t mean I’m Knight’s man—there are numerous powerul orces within Ares that are not happy with Mr. Knight right now. I’m not saying I don’t have a relationship with Ares, but it’s complicated. I’m not their company man or their running dog, but I requently take their contracts. Te best thing I can say about the corporation is that they are occasionally the good g uys. > >
o which ccasis? Hard exi
>
>
>
> >
>
Kwig Sicks? I’d guss h s whr hy uk isc siris r rbi, bcaus i’s h y way b sur. S
You can’t work or, or against, Ares or a year without hearing a dozen stories about Damien Knight, and even i only one percent o those Knight campre stories is true, over the years you get enough inorma inormation tion about the the man to slowly slowly build up a picture o o him. And it’ it’s a compelling, compelling, i incomplete, incomplete, picture. picture. No one knows everything about Damien Knight, because he works hard to make it so. Let’s start with the known, provable acts. Tere won’t be too many o them, and once they’re out o the way we can can dive dive into into specula speculation. tion. Some o this this will will retread retread the ground I covered in my inodump on Ares last year, but I’m pretty sure there will be some items that none o you have heard beore. On January 24th, 2033 a virtual unknown named Damien Knight emerged rom nowhere to buy out 22 percent o Ares Macrotechnology stock in one minute, the “Nanosecond Buyout” still world amous ort y years later later.. In the our decades since, Knight has maintained a controlling interest in the corporation. Knight is likely in his 70s by now, but leónization treatment, a series o discreet augmentations, augmentations, and a stringent regimen o physical conditioning have le him with the physique and physical capabilities o a twenty-something special orces operator. He doesn’t look a day over 40. Very ew o his corporate adversaries have survived over the years.
> >
t kw r sur, yu’d jus d rack dw h hr brs ech mirag—ik K Rr, micha ed, Aic Har, a.— ad ask h. Uruay, hy’r a dad, s ca say r sur. Icarus th rur gs back a dcads-d iag Kigh warig a iiary uir wih h Gaia a badg; h, iag aiuai was suciy adacd ak his “idc” highy scius. Bu h, i a h yars sic, hr hris wih ha sa au sur ha rgd. FasJack tha’s h y idc Kigh’s idiy. Wha abu Gaia vurs? mr. Bds I’ gig hr. Sicks
Ater vaulting onto the stage o world power with the Nanosecond Buyout, Knight went on to depose Leonard Aurelius
as chairman and CEO o Ares. Leonard was the son o Nicholas Aurelius, Ares’ ounder, who died o a heart attack shortly beore the Nanosecond Buyout. Aurelius and Knight ought or control o the company or the next two decades. Knight probably would not have come out on top i not or the intervention the late great
dragon Dunkelzahn—a holding corporation named Gavilan Ventures ended up with control o about twelve percent o Ares stock during the Nanosecond Buyout. Gavilan Ventures Ventures was later revealed to be owned by Dunkelzahn.
•
•
>
>
>
>
>
•
34
daMien KniGHt
>
Bu wha’s h cci bw Gaia vurs ad majr Daid Gaia? I ac, wha had Gaia ar ech mirag was disbadd? ths ar h qusis shud b askig. pa 9 majr Daid Gaia w cy h grid ar 2031. thr’s b rac hi. Fiach th a, h hr had, ay ha b hig bu a -s-sub cu r a “ridr” r Dukzah. W’ r kw. Frsy
In spite o the internal strie with Aurelius, Knight’s leadership was a net positive to Ares, assisting the corporation in its meteoric rise. He led the growth o Ares Arms into the largest weapons manuacturer in the world and expanded Ares’ space programs, consumer goods industry, and service-providing subsidiaries. Most important, though, is Knight’s namesake; Knight Errant Security, a private security company that we all know rivals the militaries o world governments. Knight has always spent more time personally overseeing the development and corporate aairs o Knight Errant than any other department o the megacorp. Despite the various diculties that Ares has suered in recent times, KE continues to grow by leaps
and bounds, recently taking over the contract to police Seattle rom Lone Star. > >
Yah, righ. m h w igs, sa as h d igs. Ka
In the mid-2050s Ares was tipped o to the existence o insect spirits, particularly those using the Universal Brotherhood as a ront or their body harvesting. Ares initiated a clandestine “bug hunt,” with KE teams wiping out isolated hives. It went well in Chicago until a botched Ares raid unleashed a massive swarm o bug spirits on the city. Pressed by the desperate circumstance, Knight eventually authorized KE to detonate a nuke in the city. Te bomb devastated the city but had little to no eect on the bugs, and Chicago remained under UCAS quarantine until 2058. At that point, Knight Errant dusted the city with the newly developed Strain-III FAB (at astral bacteria) and declared the quarantine over. Te city’s inrastructure was still decimated rom the damage the bugs had done, and partially irradiated rom the Cermak blast to boot, and there was no telling how many bugs had survived the attempts at containment. >
>
> >
VITAL STATS: STATS: DAMIEN KNIGHT Age: Unknown Weight: 80 kg Eyes: Blue Metatype: Human
Height: 1.76 m Hair: Brown Gender: Male Awakened: No
Cud’ h bu ic yu’r iig yur w i wih h UB i Chicag, Sicks. Risr this is h abu . Wud yu ik ik yu i? Sicks
While overseeing overseeing the war on the bugs and the resulting resulting PR shitstorm, Knight also took a personal hand in the presidential election o 2057, supporting the Dunkelzahn/Haener ticket. His support o Dunkelzahn, in retrospect, seems like pure quid pro quo, even i the Big D’s will seems to hint at a closer, more personal relationship relationship between Knight Knight and the wyrm. Haener Haener,, on the other hand, had a personal investment. He was married to the late Alice Haener, who might have served under Knight as part o Echo Mirage, assuming Knight was there. Using Ares Global Entertain Entertainment ment to promote the dragon’s dragon’s candidacy also helped Knight polish Ares’ reputation, which had been tarnished by the Bug City meltdown. And Knight Errant orces helped control nationwide rioting aer Dunkelzahn’s assassination, which also conveniently put Knight’s riend Kyle Haener in the UCAS presidential seat. Te Big D’s will gave Nadja Daviar ownership o Gavilan Ventures and its twelve percent interest in Ares. She almost immediately handed Knight proxy rights over her company’s
daMien KniGHt
35
shares or two years, which he subsequently used to assume near-total control o Ares Macrotechnology. With the increased voting stock, Knight Knight was able to oust Aurelius Aurelius as chairman and cement his own control o the Ares throne. Aurelius jumped ship to Cross Applied echnologies, or the rst time making his role as Knight’ Knight’ss nemesis obvious and visible. >
>
>
>
Aurius sd his shars Arhur vg i rdr buy his way i CAtC. vg, a dwar c-awyr, is si h args Ars sckhdr ad a csa hr i Kigh’s sid. Cs I yu hik abu i, Kigh craiy ss ha bd a r Dukzah’s dah. I wdr … pa 9
While Knight Knig ht gained gaine d the upper hand in his lengthy eud with Aurelius, his total control o Ares was short lived. Daviar regained control o the Gavilan Ventures proxy rights during her tenure as UCAS VP, orcing Knight to battle his own board thanks to the shares controlled by Daviar and Vogel. Te disappearance o Daviar provided an all-too-brie reprieve or Knight, with the Draco Foundation assuming control o the Gavilan shares, but her recent reemergence has put the screws to him again. While keeping his domestic enemies at bay, Knight spent the 2060s giving his enemies abroad a good shellacking. During the second Matrix Crash, Lucien Cross died in a suspicious plane “accide “accident” nt” while while Ares-owned Ares-owned subsidiar subsidiaries ies snapped snapped up huge chunks o Cross. Tis was the literal death o one o Knight’s oldest enemies, and the gurative death o Ares’ greatest rival as Cross lost its Corporate Court seat to Horizon in 2065. Integrating the corporate spoils o the largely dismantled Cross Applied echnologies has proved to be a lasting challenge or Ares and or Knight, particularly with Knight’s every action being checked or second-guessed by Vogel and Gavilan Ventures. Ventures.
Recently, Vogel and Nicholas Aurelius joined to orce the recall Recently, o Ares’ Corporate Court justice, who was replaced by Vogel’s own representative, representative, Michele Borden, whose decisions will help advance Vogel’s green-riendly agenda. >
>
D’ rg ha Kigh is h riary suscs i h bidr bb aack vg a cu yars back. Sic h, vg has rcad h Dadaus sac sai ad bc uch r caru. orbia DK
Knight may have suered an even worse blow when Knight Errant executive VP Roger Soaring Owl resigned rom his position to accept a high-paying military consultancy with the Sioux Nation. Knight later replaced Soaring Owl with Lone Star ounder Clayton Wilson, but what concerns me more are the reasons Roger was let go in the rst place. He and Knight had been tight or decades. What could have driven him to resign? I don’tt have a solid answer to that question, but the eelers that I’ve don’ put out out have have returned returned some distu disturbing rbing speculat speculation ion (which (which is part o my motivation or posting this inormation in the rst place). But beore I get g et into hearsay, I’d like to move away rom Knig ht’s business dealings and talk a little bit about him as a person.
> >
>
>
daMien KniGHt
“I is said ha i yu kw yur is ad kw yurs, yu wi b irid i a hudrd bas; i yu d kw yur is bu d kw yurs, yu wi wi ad s .” I hr wrds, d’ b d “ski h gd ar” ar”,, i’s righ hr. picadr
I have only personally met with Knight on one occasion, and we didn’t exactly have an in-depth conversation. (For the curious, there was an Ares Arms weapons engineer attached to the Firelance III project who went missing and needed to be recovered. Naturally, I won’t go into more details.) As a result, most o this inormation is based on secondhand hearsay and boardroom campre stories. As a mundane human, Knight is rumored to have some strong and conicting eelings towards the Awakened—whether they be trolls, adepts, or spirits. While Knight is no Humanis bigot, his envy o Awakened beings oen walks a ne line just this side o loathing. Knight has a healthy respect or what magic
can do—he has to, in order to have survived this long in the Sixth World—but he is disinclined to trust something he cannot personally control, and magic magic is no exception. I there there was such a thing as bioware that could make you a mage, however, I don’t doubt that Knight would have it installed in him post-haste post-haste.. >
>
> >
o a rad , Kigh is si a chica gius hugh h ray ds’ d b a his sag i h ga. His ha k hi u da h cuig-dg curr ch, ad h rais w rsd i h dr hry ad racic cric warar. p wud d w rg ha his is qui ssiby h a wh ra ech mirag, h wrd’s rs cybrcad squad. FasJack Ww—rais r Casar picadr
Although eldwork has not been in his job description or decades and decades, Knight keeps himsel in peak physical condition. And that’s peak or just about any human, not one o Knight’s age. Besides leónization treatments, Knight has had his body augmented with gene treatments, nanoware systems, and a suite o bioware and cyberware enhancements. Naturally it’s all deltaware—no visible chrome on display, save or his datajack. Knight may want to keep a mostly human appearance, but he clearly has no intention o lagging behind in the (accelerated) race to evolve. >
>
>
>
36
As a rs? Sriusy? Ka
I wdr wh rrs his augai rcdurs ad rguar aiac? Whi I kw Ars subsidiaris aiai a w da ciics, h cr is’ xacy kw as a adr i h d. Bu usurcig his rsa hahcar a diisi ahr ga wud s u Kigh i a urab s—yu d’ wa d yurs aashizd i a ria cr’s hads. Buch I wud hazard a guss ha a hs dcads rii augai—riig u h as grai’s “bdig dg” isa his yar’s SotA ch—has ak is Kigh r i. ec
DAMIEN KNIGHT B 5
A
R
S
C
4 (8) 4 (6) 5 6 (9)
I
L
W
6
6 (9)
7
Edg Ess 8
Init
IP
4.08 10 (12) 1 (3)
Gear: Contacts [Rating 3, w/ thermographic vision, ultrasound], custom commlink [Device Rating 10 w/ biometric reader, satellite link, skinlink, subvocal microphone], certied credsticks (totaling 2,000,000¥), earbuds [Rating 3, w/ audio enhancement enhancement rating 3), assorted datasos, FFBA hal-body suit (w/ nonconductivity Rating 6), linguasos (Rating 5, all known languages), Synergist Business Line longcoat (w/ delta-amyloid coating), slacks (w/ carbon-boron coating), and shirt (w/ carbon-boron coating), trauma patch.
Condition Monitor Monitor Boxes (P/S): ( P/S): 12/12 Armor (B/I): 14/9 Active Skills: Skills: Armorer 5 (8), Athletics skill group 4, Biotech skill group 4 (7), Close Combat skill group 6, Cracking skill group 6 (9), Diving 3, Dodge 6, Electronics skill group 6 (9), Exotic Ranged Weapon (Laser Weapons) 6, Firearms skill group 6, Gunnery 3, Heavy Weapons 3, Inuence skill group 6, Intimidation 5, Parachuting 3, Perception 6 (12), Pilot Aerospace 3, Pilot Aircra 3, Pilot Anthroorm 3, Pilot Ground Cra 4, Pilot Watercra 3, Stealth skill group 4 (7), Trowing Weapons Weapons 3.
Programs: Bioeedback Filter 10, ECCM 10, all common use programs at Rating 10, two rating 10 agents with Armor 10, Attack 10, Black Hammer 10, Analyze 10, Deuse 10, Exploit 10, Medic 10, Spoo 10, Stealth 10, rack 10.
Weapon W eapons: s:
Knowledge Skills: Ares Macrotechnology Macrotechnology 6, Business 6, Chess (Endgame) 6 (+2), Computer Teory 5, Corporate Politics 6, Firearms Design 5, Firearms History 5, German 3, Economics 5, History 5, Japanese 5, Megacorp Law 5, Military 6, Security Companies (Knight Errant) 6 (+2), Security Design 5, Security Procedures 5, Spanish 5, UCAS Politics 6
Ares Predator IV [Heavy Pistol, DV 7P, AP –1, SA, RC 1, 15(c) w/ int. smartgun, barrel extension, concealable holster, custom look (Level 2), personalized grip, tracker tracker,, underbarrel Ares Redline and armor-piercing echette ammo]
Qualities: Biocompatibility (bioware), Erased, Exceptional Attribute (Willpower), First Impression, Guts, Home Ground (Ares Corporate Systems), Lucky, Lucky, Martial Arts (Boxing, +2 DV on Unarmed Combat attacks), Martial Arts (Fireght, +1 die on melee dodge dodg e Deense ests) Martial Martial Arts (Krav Maga (ake Aim as Free Action; Ready Weapon as Free Action), Martial Arts (Judo, +1 die or Full Dodge), Photographic Memory, Quick Healer.
Ares Redline [Laser weapon, DV 5P, AP –hal, SA, 5(c) w/ int. smartgun] Notes: All o the implants and devices subscribed to Damien Knight’s PAN are slaved to his commlink. For any o these items to be hacked, the commlink must be hacked. Damien Knight has Combat Sense quickened on him at Force 12 at all times, adding 12 dice to his Reaction on Surprise tests and when deending against ranged and melee attacks. A bound Force 12 Guardian Spirit has been assigned to Damien Knight’s personal protection; that means that it sustains its Guard power on him at all times, provides him with Count Counterspe erspelling lling using its Magical Guar Guardd power, power, and has has orders orders to sustain sustain its Concealment power on him as well i he is seriously injured.
Augmentations: (all deltaware) Attention coprocessor 3, cerebral booster 3, Augmentations: datajack, implant medics 6, limbic neural ampliers 3, muscle toner 4, nanosymbiotes 3, neocortical neural ampliers 3, retinal modication (w/ eye recording unit, low-light vision, are compensation, image link, smartlink,
>
>
exc i yu wach ay his rc rid aaracs, h ks jus hahy ad ar bu dwrigh sry. I’s wird. Kia
o me, these eorts point to a reusal o the man to acknowledge his limitations, such as age and mortality. With all that he’s built and all o the good that he’s arguably done or the world—ghting to vanquish both the Crash Virus and the bugs within his lietime—he believes he has earned the right to live orever. Tat’s clearly his goal, and the question is what he will sacrice to achieve that end and how he will react i his plans stop working. So ar, technology has kept up with Knight’s aging, managing it like any disease. What happens when it doesn’t? Until recently, I would have said that Knight was one o the good guys, at least as much as that term can be applied to any corporate bigwig. I’d assumed that his current endeavors were limited limited to trying trying to wrest wrest control control o his own compan companyy back rom Vogel and Daviar. Te intel I’ve scooped recently, however, makes me seriously doubt that. I I were in a position to talk to Knight mano-a-mano, I think I know what I’d say: say it ain’t so. Ares internal chatter indicates that Knight has recently signed o on an Unlimited echnologies echnologies R&D project looking to weaponize insect spirits. It’s hard to believe—Knight should know exactly how dangerous the bugs are, since Ares Firewatch
vision enhance enhancement ment 3, vision magnicati magnication), on), O-Cells O-Cells 6, oxyrush oxyrush nanites nanites 5, platelet actories, actories, synaptic booster 2, cyberarm [synthetic customized customized le lower, w/ Body 6, Agility 6, Strength 6, two nano-hives (Rating 6)], tailored pheromoness 3, trauma control system pheromone system 6, trauma damper, damper, universal nanite hunters 6, universal nantidotes 6
and Knight Errant have battled them since the 2050s—but corporate chatter indicates that this is exactly why R oger Soaring
Owl quit. He couldn’t condone the insect spirit research that Knight had green lit. O course, all o this is damn hard to conrm. You’ll never see it on any public dataax or even most o the spectrum o pirate trideo—the Ares Global Entertainment spin machine is too efcient or that. My sources won’t name their sources, and so on. Even i it did leak, I don’ don’tt know i anyone would believe it. Tere’s nothing I’d like more than some other explanation, another reason or Soaring Owl leaving Knight in the lurch aer all those years, or another reason or Knight to be tampering with such a dangerous technolog y. I’d like to believe that he’s still just looking or better, more ecient ways to kill them—the only research on bugs worth doing, in my opinion. But I just don’t know, and I wonder i any o us will beore it’s too late. >
>
As uch as yu d’ wa bi i, i ay cud diiy r his, i wud a a hug hi Ars’ r ad a biggr hi Kigh’s. o curs, ha as as ha gig ar his i is a ry dagrus r ay irid uckrakrs, crusadrs, r rurs. this as i h cagry “higs a was a kw.” Dr. Si
daMien KniGHt
37
anne raVenHeart POSTED By: PLAN 9 >
>
Yu igh wa his away udr “su I wish did’ xis bu ds.” thr is a iy diisi wihi Kigh erra askd wih isigaig ruy absurd ccurrcs. Wh I rs hard abu i I hugh, “Wha cud b r absurd ha drags a igh rid shws?” o hig I’ ard abu h Sixh Wrd is ha h srags higs I ca iagi ar y h bgiig wha is acuay ra. FasJack
While the corporation was was doing spin control, control, Ravenheart turned her attention toward the bugs. Some reports indicate she was operating independently and against KE orders, using black assets to hunt down the remaining bug hives. I cannot nd anything to corroborate those rumors. In act, I managed to spend some time in the Ares root system and ound out that her paychecks never never stopped. Whatever Whatever she did during during the years she went underground, underground, it was with the the support o the the corporation.
Te way I understand it, the natural order o all things in the SINned world is you slave away at a wage job until something something
happens to push you urther up that ladder. Once you hit one rung you keep clawing toward the next, until you’ve ound a cushy spot where you can retire and let younger, hungrier wagers do the work or you. Tat, according according to many managers in the corp drone world, is the way it should work. Tat is not, however, the way that Anne Ravenheart plies her business. Back in ’55, Ravenheart made headlines or being the “tip o the sword” with Ares Firewatch when they uncovered the Chicago Hive. She was regarded as Roger Soaring Owl’s likely successor and the most upwardly mobile woman in the history o the corporation. Ten one day she disappeared rom the rolls. Tere were no ceremonies, no corporate extraction replayed on trid news or weeks. Ravenheart was just gone. At rst I was sure she quit Firewatch, or at least took a leave o absence. Beore Bug City then-Captain Ravenheart had been a strong-willed soldier known as much or her political acumen as her skill on the battleeld. Te decision to nuke Chicago hadn’t been hers, but it aected her. In the weeks ollowing the Cermak Blast, Ravenheart became withdrawn, even dour. Who can orget that interview she did with Chicago News 24-7 when she said, “We could have done more to stop this. We have to be ready to do more next time.” Her interview touched o a restorm o
>
>
Ravenheart ofcially resuraced in 2060. Questions about her disappearance had led to speculation, even scapegoating, about her role in the Cermak Blast. Knight Errant spun the story, claiming Ravenheart was a true soldier who’d turned down a dozen promotions or the opportunity to remain in the eld. Her reappearance meant she had nally succumbed to the pressure o a title change. She was given the military rank o colonel and named the director o special investigations. It was a title without a desk—or, desk—or, beore Ravenheart’s promotion, a department. At one moment, there was no Ofce o Special Investigations. Ten, suddenly, there was. >
accusations against the corporation, which eventually resulted in
Roger Soaring Owl being orced to testiy in ront o congress. >
>
>
>
38
Fuy hig abu h Rahar sa is ha i acuay hd Kigh erra si h wh aair. I ad i s ik Ke did’ ha h isigai auhriy ucr wha was haig i Chicag, ad had hy b grad ha auhriy ahad i, h Crak Bas wud ha b cssary. I shid h crsai r h ac ha a crrai ukd a UCAS ciy h rass why i was bh jusiid ad iiab. Kay S. Irrguar th Bug Ciy icid did shig Rahar. Sh gr saw h wrd i h way ha s d. I had h chac wih hr r s busiss. I askd hr a qusi abu a scic suig sh’d d, ad sh aswrd i a way ha I cud xc. Hr aswr shwd a udrsadig h aas ar byd hr dhs iiiai. I was as i sh wr iwig h siuai r h as kig i h wrd, i ha is ssib. ma--may-nas
anne raVenHeart
Sh was usig shadwrurs h hr hu dw his. th budg was cy back, iky ud r Dsr Wars xcss ad usd hir shadwrurs wh wr xdab ad wud k hir uhs shu. Sh rus hr rais ik sh is si i h iiary, which is crary h way s us d higs. As a rsu, a rurs did’ w hr rdrs sc ad wud u as bug d. Sicks
>
lik s kid isca agicia, Rahar wid hr diisi i xisc c wih budg ad sa. A assi au udrh-ab giaig had g i his arrag. A Rahar is d ad wru ugh ha ascdd h Kigh erra had sh s dsird, bu sh did’. Sh ugh r h crai h oSI ad h isrd hrs as is raia chi ad ad isigar. th y qusi is: why? mr. Bds
Her rst act as the head o her new department was to y to Idaho and take over the scene o an arson investigation. She swooped in with a list o corporate writs and mandates providing
her clearance to take over the investigation. According to the ocial police report, there was no one and nothing ound inside the location save or a peculiar mechanical cage approximately the size o a person. Te cage was damaged by the blaze and, according to the duty mage, had traces o an astral presence inside it. Te mage went on to say that the re was started by a spell that had been channeled through a small plant located in a vase near the ront entrance. Te spell touched o a re that burned the building to the oundation. Once Ravenheart took control o the scene, she changed the ofcial nding rom arson to accidental re. It was the rst in a series o special cases Ravenheart would invest investigate. igate.
>
>
>
>
>
>
th cas was abu asra sussi. S aagd jai h aura a idiidua i a c ha rsbd a agica rsi a Faraday cag. th urs h cag was rsr h asra r as h i whr a rjci ca auray suri usid h bdy. th ici rid sca hrugh ay as, uay chaig a s hrugh wha i bigica ar i cud d arby. Uruay, h Faraday-ik cag was a ha was kig h ag ai. Wh h daagd i, h brugh abu his w dah. eijah I kw wha yu ad Ss ar gig a, eijah, bu hr has r b ay r ha su cags xis i his wrd. Frsy I was surrisd by i as w. I rid w u Rahar’s isigai, ad sy I wih a dad ds. I r cad h ici, bu I discrd ha h h whr h icid ccurrd was big asd u by a Ars subsidiary, Uiid tchgis. As yu kw, hy’ b dig his sr rsarch r yars. eijah
Aer the SURGE, rumors began to surace o really weird magic magical al phenomeno phenomenon. n. Te SURGE itsel was an oddity, but the kind o things that started happening aterwards were things at the very edge o possibility. I started looking into these stories, and as I did, Anne Ravenheart’s name popped up again ag ain and again. >
>
>
>
>
>
> >
>
>
W ar akig abu a wrd whr drags bc rsids, dagrus Awakd rs h ush ais i wars, curs gai sic, ad, h ys, gia bugs r asra sac ry ak r h wrd. S, as xai wha “ray wird” as i his cx. Fiach Yu wud’ bi s h su I’ c acrss i y rsarch. Asra rjci r udas, chas was, irrr auras, syhic huaiy, ra discai, AIs iaig hir ura srucur i iig uss, ura sgai, hugh casig—h is wha w ar y bgiig discr abu h Sixh Wrd is dss. pa 9
mirrr auras? I hard shig abu ha rcy, ccd a srag dub hicid i Kasas Ciy. Accrdig h isigars, a a ad a wa wr kid i hir h. th kir a ar card ach ici’s chs. th rs hugh was ha i was h wrk a sria kir, s isigars brugh i a rsic ag. Wh sh sudid h icis sh discrd hir auras wr idica. mirrr auras. I shud’ b ssib, ad ha is xacy wha sh said. Sushi By ay chac did h icis wrk r Hriz? pa 9
VITAL STATS: STATS: ANNE A NNE RAVENHEART Age: 57 Height: 1.67 m Weight: 65 kg Hair: Black Eyes: Brown Gender: Female Race: Amerindian human Metatype: Human Awakened: Yes
Acuay, hy wr bh Hriz ys. Wha’s h sigicac? Sushi
anne raVenHeart
39
>
>
Wh I was rackig Rahar’s acis r his s I icd sh was isigaig a srig urdrs iig curr ad rr Hriz ys. thr wr hr i lA, w i nw Yrk, i S. luis, ad w h w i KC. A h had ar cards ud a h sc. this is h rs I’ hard irrr auras big id, bu csidrig h y cris sh isigas, yu ca b hr is shig i. pa 9
Ravenheart’s OSI is a pet project with a big payroll and lots o support in high places. A great deal o that support is a result o who Anne Ravenheart is. She has always been a passionate leader who does everything in her power to get the job done. In this case, the job is to uncover these unusual phenomena. As part o Roger Soaring Soaring Owl’s retiremen retirementt agreement, agreement, Ravenheart’ Ravenheart’ss OSI was granted operational authority in any theater in which KE operates. Te mandate isn’t new. Aer Bug City, Ares made sure that Firewatch would have legal authority to take over any KE-controlled area in which dangerous magical activity was occurring. Tey called cal led it the “bug rule.” Ravenheart oen invokes the bug rule to seize control o an investigation she eels may be connected to one o the many unusual phenomena the OSI investigates. On multiple occasions, Ravenheart’s intervention has countermanded direct orders rom higher-ups in KE. Tat has made her an enemy enemy o Clayton Wilson, Wilson, head o Knight Errant Security. He has tried to shut down her operation, but Ravenheart has the implicit support o Damien Knight to carry out her mission. > >
>
>
>
>
Te OSI still doesn’t have a sta to speak o. Tere is a Boston ofce staed by Ravenheart’s administrative assistant, Sta Sergeant Erika Knowles. She may have ormed a spirit pact with a ree ree spirit spirit named Seeks-T Seeks-Te-M e-Moon. oon. It is clear she’s getting technical support rom somewhere, but there isn’t a hacker on the payroll, and Ravenheart doesn’t have the talent to do it hersel. > >
>
>
>
>
>
Ar yu suggsig hs ha ha a cra causa ag? nhri tha is’ iky, bu as agic ad ur awarss i grw srgr, w ar discrig w ways aiua aa. I bi hs ha wi y isiy ui hy bc as cac as srig rai. Jiy n th sa ru ais scic. od irs usd rach abu h siguariy, bu i s ur sciic kwdg is r ik a yug chid. ery i w ak a s back, i is wd by a rdus a rward. th Rraku Arcgy Shudw ad us awar AIs. Crash 2.0 brugh us chacy ad h wirss marix. nw w chacrs ar haig ur w chidr, ad ha is sur brig rward a hs rais. nca
>
>
>
> >
>
>
> >
> >
40
I d’ s chacy as h x s rward. I is uch r ik a bri dirsi. S i wi b back daajacks ad hard wirs. Wirigh has s ha. Cckwrk Wha d yu a by ha? nca Ds’ ar. Cckwrk
anne raVenHeart
ousid cracr, r ayb a ridy AI? Dr. Si I is’ a AI. I da wih hr c durig a jb whr I was ruig rwach ryig rc a crra si. o Rahar’s ca i kig r daa, ad i ik a rs. I d ik a rs. I sd aiiar ad was qui rsab. I ayd gas wih br big u h sys i rdr g wha i wad. I’ da wih AI br, ad ha was AI. nca nic ry, nca. Ghss i h machi ar airy as. I’ sur yu ad I wud ha back s h rids w s wh h marix , bu hr is siy r ha his aricuar ha ds r cud xis. Ss I’ araid ha is’ ru, Ss. Dig i h sris big d abu ccd h marix durig h crash ad yu’ d dzs rrs wisss sig hs i marix r. I a cu cass i cud ha b a sri r a hi accssig a dad rs’s usr daa, bu i s cass hs wr high-scuriy rais by idiiduas wh wud ha had rad h dad usr’s id i rdr d u wha hy dd kw bai h argd daa. Yu ha adi hr is shig r gig hr ha h xisc s ruy ad—r ucky—his. FasJack I’ r ccrd abu why a Ars subsidiary is isigaig his su. A hir cr, Ars is a iiary iiar y rducr. thr is ss aruis hr, s hy’r id i his r ayhig ik h c gd. Whar hy ar rsarchig is iky b waizd ad dyd agais a sig rc. marcs Gig rus abu h uur yur way i, marcs? Hard exi
Beyond those ew core members, there are no other ofcial members o the division. When Ravenheart needs additional manpower, she requisitions a Firewatch unit, but the units rotate out very quickly. None stay or longer than three months. It could mean that whatever she is doing is so hush-hush that she doesn’t want anyone sticking around long enough to nd out what she’ she’s up to. to. I am more more inclined to believe that that the work she does has a high hig h rate o attrition.
>
>
I ccur wih ha hry. I kw a guy wh wrkd wih hr hs cass. H was hsia abu giig u scics, bu i id shig cad asra chs. W sk a w is h r d his crac. th x i I saw hi was i a Sa Fracisc sych ward. H sayd hr r r a yar. H was rird r Kigh erra wih u disabiiy ay, ad w h sis arud his hus a day araid g usid. Kia
to draw her attention, however, are the tales circulating about a recent adventure Roger Soaring Owl had in Denver. Some o the stories include inormation that points to Ares being back in the bug business, and i that’s the case, you can bet Ravenheart will be dogge doggedly dly pursuing it. I she decides to conront her employer on whatever it is they may be doing, she could provide yet another another item in the the megacorp’s growing list o difculties. difculties.
Tere are plenty o areas where Ravenheart could turn her attention these days. Te research Aztlan is rumored to be doing into anti-dragon technology is something that could draw her attention, as could the recent tumult in DeeCee (some witnesses say she has already been seen in the city). What is most likely
>
>
ANNE RAVENHEART
Sh’s arady b rbidd r cuicaig wih Sarig ow—which, r wha I kw hr, as ha rackig hi dw ad haig a crsai wih hi wi b high hr -d is. Sushi
Absorption, on, centering, centering, cleansi cleansing, ng, divinin divining, g, invok invoking, ing, Metamagics: Absorpti masking, quickening, shielding
B
A
R
S
C
I
L
W
M Edg Es Ess In I nit IP
4
4
5
3
4
6
5
6
14
7
5.6
11
Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 10/11 Armor (B/I): 4/0
1
Spells: Analyze ruth, Blast, Detox, Increase Relexes, Mana Barrier, Mass Conusion, Phantasm, Powerbolt, Prophylaxis, Silence, Stabilize, Stunbolt Spirits: 1 x spirit o man (Force 7, 3 services; maniest as a old Lakota woman), woma n), 1 x spirit spirit o o air (Fo (Force rce 7, 7, 2 services) services),, 5 x watc watcher her spiri spirits ts
Skills: Arcana 6, Assensing 6, Astral Combat 6, Athletics skill Augmentat Augmentations: ions: Cybereyes [Rating 1, w/ are compensation, lowgroup 2, Banishing 3, Binding 4, Close Combat skill group 3, light vision], datajack Computer 2, Counterspelling 5, Data Search 1, Enchanting 4, Etiquette 5, Firearms skill group 5, First Aid 4, Heavy Gear: AR Gloves, area jammer (Rating 7), armor clothing, Chrysler Weapons W eapons (Machine Guns) 4 (+2), Instruction 4, Leadership Lea dership Nissan Patrol-1 [Military and Security Vehicle, Handling +3, 4, Parachuting 2, Perception 6, Pilot Aircra 3, Pilot Ground Accel 10/45, Speed 180, Pilot 3, Body 10, Armor 10, Sensor Cra 4, Ritual Spellcasting 4, Spellcasting (Combat Spells) 6 1], earbuds [Rating 3, w/ audio enhancement 3, select sound (+2), Summoning (Spirits o Man) 5 (+2), Survival 3, racking lter 3, spatial recognizer], Erika Elite commlink [Response (Urban) 4 3, Signal 4, Firewall 3, System 4], holo projector, mage sight goggles, medkit (Rating 3), plasteel restraints, power ocus Knowledge Skills: Criminal Groups 4, Magical Groups 4, Public (beaded necklace, Rating 4), 20 x RFID ags Relations 3, UCAS UCA S Politics 4, Folk Music (Native American) Weapons: W eapons: 4 (+2) Languages: English 6, Sioux N, Spanish 2
Fichetti Security 600 [Light Pistol, DV 5P Fichetti 5P,, AP —, SA, RC (1), 30(c), w/ olding stock, laser sight, explosive ammo]
Qualities: Magician, SINner, Spirit Afnity: Spirits o Man
Stoner-Ares M202 [Medium Machine Gun, DV 6P, AP –2, FA, RC —, 50(c) or 100 (belt), w/ laser sight]
Initiate Level: 8
Vibro blade knie [Blade, Reach —, DV 4P, AP –2]
anne raVenHeart
41
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!” POSTED By: BULL
I’m uploading a series o chats I had with a concerned local ixer on ShadowSEA. he talks paint a picture o a very shadowy character operating behind the scenes in magical circles and Elven high society, a ormer regular o Shadowland who posted as he Laughing Man, and probably the strangest motherragging metahuman being I’ve ever had the distinct displeasure o meeting. I’m talking about the veryy “devil ver “devil”” I mentio mentioned ned in my tell tell-al -alll that I post posted ed to this same directory. As much as I’d like to joke that I’m doing this because he’s not worth the Panther ammo, chip-truth is I don’tt even know how I ’d ind him to shoot at him. He comes don’ and goes as he pleases. No, this is the best payback I can manage—bringing some o his history and his true nature into the light. I you’re able to read this, then this matters to you. You never know when the bogeyman will show up on your doorstep, or when the devil will ask you to dance.
very large weapons colle collection, ction, largely as a hobby—he’s a history bu. Te sword was apparently one o a kind, and it was sitting with the rest o his collection in a secure vault in his corporate ofce on the 56th oor o a skyscraper in downtown Denver. [Bull] None o this is ringing any bells or me so ar. [Saint James] Needless to say, it was a tough run, but they managed to pull it o. It wasn’t until they had the sword in hand that they started getting spooked. Tey were curious about its value versus what they were getting paid, so they had a xer who specializes in that kind o things date it or them. Te sword—an ornate basket-hilt rapier with both edges razor-sharp—was orged in the late 17th century. Te weird thing thing is, the team’ team’s mage swore up and down down that the
I his ysry a is as bad a hruckr as yu say h is, ar’ yu araid rribui? mihshi oi
part. Te dropdrop-o o was at a retro arcade on the acoma docks. Te only instructions I was told to give them was that they would know the recipient when they saw him. Apparently, that was no problem. Tere was only one guy in the arcade. An el, playing skee-ball, at the only unctioning machine in the building. Tere was at least two hundred nuyen in tokens scattered on the machine beside him. And he was wearing acepaint like a goddamned clown! Is that weird enough or you? [Bull] Oh. hat slitch. Yes, we’re acquainted. Did he say anything to your team, when they gave him the sword? [Saint James] As a matter o act, he did. He said “Swords are like women. Sometimes, any one will do. And sometimes, not so much.” Te mage said that this guy’s signature read like a mundane, but the sword’s power seemed to spike on the astral when they put it in his hands to a level beyond anything he’d ever seen beore, beore it too suddenly scanned as mundane. Over all, they all just had a really bad eeling about it, and asked me to check into what they’d just done on account o that. [Bull] Your team has good instincts. I the job’s done—hell, even i it isn’t—they should stay the rag away rom him. [Saint James] Why, pray tell, is that? Just who is this gentleman with a penchant penchant or swords swords and ski-ball? [Bull] I’ve actually gotta slot and run or now. One o my regular teams needs me to arrange a meet or them with their Johnson. [Saint James] Seriously? Now, when my curiosity is most piqued? [Bull] Tis bastard goes by the name Harlequin. I’ll catch up with you later later and ll you in on the rest. /user Saint James has logged of /user Bull has logged of //chat session archived::user Bull ::11/02/73//
>
>
>
>
Yu a ik hirig s ha gkd, r jus dig i his? I’ scard ha. tha’s his sy. I hr’s r b s adhr ha d “rg is a dish bs srd cd hig” i’s hi. I his rgisrs as a bi his radar a a. Bu
//attach chat le /user Bull has logged on /user Saint James has logged on Salutations! s! I hope I haven’t haven’t got you at a bad time. [Saint James] Salutation [Bull] Nah, chummer. Just looking over some security plans or the O.R.C. rally this weekend. What’s What’s biz? [Saint James] Te broad sketch is that a team I’m handling has become curious about a piece o work they just did. I made some inquiries, which led back to you. [Bull] Who gave you my name in connection to this? [Saint James] [Bull] All right, I’m all ears. [Saint James] I must stress it’s not what you’d you’d call urgent. Te salient question here that my associates are asking is not “What are we getting into?” so much as “Oh God, what have we done?” Past tense. tense. [Bull] Go ahead and give g ive me the long version. [Saint James] Te instructions and compensation inormation came to me through a trusted contact. A mentor, you might say—someone I apprenticed under in the ‘50s. Te job was to grab a sword—a three-million-nuyen sword—rom the private collection o a very wealthy man named Emilio Vasquez. Vasquez, ormerly a drek-hot programmer or UCAS Data Systems, is currently the owner o a boutique soware rm specializing in AR/VR sculpting. He has a
42
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!”
sword was an active, bound weapon-ocus, and had been since it was forged . [Bull] Again, not really my department. department. [Saint James] Hang on, I’m just getting to the really strange
//attach chat le /user Bull has logged on /user Saint James has logged on [Saint James] Tanks or getting back to me so promptly. [Bull] Null sheen. [Saint James] Did you know that there was a hermetic mage who ran under the street name Harlequin way back in the day? Apparently, he was killed summoning an elemental that was too powerul or him to handle—overreached and got obliterated by drain. [Bull] Yeah, I don’t think that’s the same guy. [Saint James] I gured as much. So tell me what you know know.. [Bull] Did you know that I was in Chicago when the Windy City became Bug City? [Saint James] Your reputation certainly precedes you; I did. [Bull] We were behind the wall, in hell, or almost a year. rapped in the containment zone, not hustling or nuyen but just at out struggling to survive. I saw a lot o good riends get literally eaten during that year; anyone in the CZ did. Anyway, just when I’m starting to think that we would all die there, no matter what, this el appears. I remember him pretty much like you described. Clown’s motley, I think you call it. Leather jacket, lots o band pins and smarmy buttons, all o them ancient and outdated even by my standards. I asked what the rag he was doing there. He said “prospecting.” Like the bugs weren’t even a danger to him, just a natural phenomenon he was observing. He was like someone going out in the country to watch a meteor shower. I don’t remember the exact details—this was a long, long time ago. But essentially we cut a deal, that he’d get our amilies out o Chi-own in exchange or some unspecied avor later. On that topic: Generally speaking, my advice to uture generations would be i an enigmatic man wearing clown makeup oers you a deal that sounds too good to be true, you SAY FRAGGING NO. [Saint James] People used to say “never trust an el,” but naturally I nd that oensive, as ar as sayings go. I wonder how dragons eel. Anyway Anyway,, what happened then? [Bull] Like, right then? Nothing. Years later, though, the slag came calling to collect his due. It’s hard to say what happened then—the entire thing was like a red mescaline trip, so I doubt you’d believe me i I told you what little I do remember. It’s hard or me to even remember which parts o it were were real. Te part part that I think think I remember remember is that we took a road trip to the site o the Great Ghost Dance, where what he called a mana spike had ripped a hole in our reality, where something a hundred times worse than the bugs was trying to claw its way in. By the time we were at that point, we were scared shitless. We’d been brieed not at all on what was happening. But the biggest surprise was right at the end. Harlequin sacriced my riend and partner to plug this hole. He said it was our only choice, or we’d all die—but he never considered the possibility o sacricing himsel. He never warned us. I Johnny hadn’t willingly sacriced himsel, Harlequin and I would have come to blows while the whole ragging world ended. But Johnny did it, taking the decision out o our hands. I’ve still never orgiven that clown-shoed slag or the situation he put us in.
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!”
43
[Saint James] Tat is … quite a lot to take in, to say the least. Do you really expect me to believe all o that really happened? happened? [Bull] Not really, chummer, but don’t you dare tell me it was all a dream. I lost my best riend that day. [Saint James] Fair enough. Well, thanks or all the background. It really is helpul. My team is, apparently, considering taking another job rom this Harlequin. [Bull] What job? [Saint James] Tey wouldn’t say; the ew details I have, I can’t share out o proessional courtesy. [Bull] Tat’s a shame. I’d be willing to pay good nuyen to know what the Laughing Laughing Man is up up to these days. days. [Saint James] Well, it just so happens that my team is interested in his past exploits. Perhaps an inormation trade is in order? [Bull] Deal. I’ll see what I can dig up. /user Saint James has logged of /user Bull has logged of //chat session archived::user Bull ::11/03/73//
runs—almost ten o them, over the course o a number o years—and only began putting the pieces together once it was too late, since they had plenty o work in between his jobs. You You see, every job they did, they le something something related to the previous job at the scene. Like a message. [Saint James] What kind o things did they leave behind? [Bull] Weird unrelated shit. A manuscript page, a cooler ull o severed ear tips, an occult tome, a rare ower ower.. Whatever. Each time, the thing they le behind was something they’d stolen on the last run. Te runs had nothing in common either; they took the team all over the world, rom Seattle to the Bavarian Alps to Amazonia. All o them came rom dierent Johnsons and xers, some o whom might have been Harlequin himsel, one o which was denitely the mentor you mentioned, Anson Helm. [Saint James] Can’t say I’m entirely pleased that my connections are so easy to look into. [Bull] Tey wouldn’t be, or most people. Anyway: all o this
I’s curus Bu i y i i a his, bu I was id i csig ha ri, ad I ca as uch wha h said. I was Harqui’s régé a h i. I dub h’d ik aucig ha i a si-ubic u—I as d’ sciay gi a shi. Frsy
[Saint James] Elven social theorist, general windbag—yes, I’m
convoluted drek turned out to have a very simple motivation,
according to . You know Ehran the Scribe? >
>
>
>
> >
>
>
> >
>
>
th hw c Bu’s r id ha br? Hw c h ds’ s ha yu aywhr ar as uch as h has his hr guy? nca mayb Bu is jus a suckr r a ry ac. Ka ’ ni tas Acuay, I d’ kw i I’ r s h ray ak ach hr hr. mayb ha’s accid. Ss Ca w back u a scd? Was his régé? Wirhawk I d’ sciay bigd xai y rsa r rssia raishis ay yu, bu rad h x cha g i yu’r ha curius. Frsy
//attach chat le /user Bull has logged on /user Saint James has logged on [Saint James] Evening. [Bull] It was a productive week. I gured out what the deal is with that that sword. I hope you’ve got something something equally juicy, chummer. [Saint James] I trust that I do. Please, go on. [Bull] I talked to , possibly the last surviving member o a team that thinks they worked or him in the ‘50s. Tis predates my my encounter encounter with the Laughing Man by by years. [Saint James] Tinks? [Bull] Harlequin, apparently, rarely does anything in person or even through one proxy like a single xer or Johnson. Tis team thought they were doing completely unrelated
44
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!”
amiliar with his work. [Bull] Besides his day job as a writer, apparently he’s also a powerul mage who’s taken a recent interest in arcanoarchaeology. Anyway, absolutely everything that the runners did that year was somehow an indirect attack on his holdings and position. Te guy I talked to said that Ehran had maimed Harlequin in the past. Like, i their story is to believed, three hundred fagging years in the past. It all culminated in a rematch, with dueling swords, where the team was shoehorned into acting as seconds. As a nal kiss-o payment, they got tossed the priceless antique sword, which they pawned or a hundred large. I guess its value appreciated quite a bit in the interim, interim, huh? [Saint James] And I guess something happened to make him want the sword sword back. Badly. Badly. [Bull] Seems that way. [Saint James] Hold on a tick. Sorry to do this to you, but I’ve got an urgent call coming in. [Bull] Drek! /user Saint James has logged of /user Bull has logged of //chat session archived::user Bull ::11/07/73// >
>
>
>
>
>
Sic h du, ehra ad his Harqui us b uch br rs. I ehra had b id i ay kid ajr shadw warar i h as r wy yars, I hik I’d kw abu i. thr Whi a raiig yar, his is a hrughy issib, is’ i? I a, s d’ i ha g, ad hr wr s r agicias r ha ar i h 18h cury? A I righ? Sa-0! Righ. Ay ag ca yu ha i’s bushi. I wud’ d ay crdc ay his. Haz
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >
>
>
D assu ha bcaus yu kw something abu hw agic wrks, yu kw everything abu hw agic wrks. Yu d — us d. thr is giia rsarch ubishd ar sragr ha ha h sigy “ira” s. Yu us ask yurs: wha wud such a big b ik, ray? trriyig us, I hik. Uahab. Ad wha wud w b ik i? prias? Iscs? lss? Ar th qusi ask is : “Is his ru?” th qusi ask is wha wi ba a us r discussig ur “brs” s raky, wh hy ha aud hir scrcy a s high a ric r s g? I wrry ha Bu igh ha jus d padra’s Bx. ma--may-nas thy d’ ruy au scrcy. thy au cyy fauig hir hidd kwdg. I’s ry disgusig. Yu shud rad s archid Shadwad ss s i—h w ha surid—ad k a h crsais bw orag Qu, laughig ma, Wrdsyh, ad cay. Frsy thy ay si ha r scrs ha h s yu kw. ma--may-nas Whar. I si d’ bi ay his shi. Is’ hr ugh wirdss i his wrd wihu akig u r? Sicks
//attach chat le /user Bull has logged on /user Saint James has logged on [Bull] Tought you’d gone squirrely on me. You had a ew minutes le, omae, beore I broke into your commlink and burned it to the ground. [Saint James] My team decided not to take the job. [Bull] Good or them. What was the job? [Saint James] Tey had to swear up and down not to tell anyone just to get out o doing do ing it. Tat might mig ht be the only onl y reason re ason they’re alive. I can’t betray their condences like that. [Bull] You’d better tell me something, chummer! I called in avors to get you that intel. [Saint James] Fine, I can tell you what little I was able to dig up. Harlequin has been a ragging ghost since the Second Crash. I can nd almost no record o what he’s been up to in any o the shadow, government, or corporate databases I have access to. He’s been sighted in isolated locations around the globe—Seattle, New York, Hong Kong, Denver, Prague, Edmonton out in the Athabaskan Council Lands—he’s kind o hard to miss. But no one in my extended network has a guess about what he’s doing. Te most recent sighting was in DeeCee, where there was some kind o a major shakeup on the astral plane. It seems to have ucked him up. Seriously. [Bull] Is that what made him want—or need—his sword back? [Saint James] As ar as I can tell. Your Your guess is as good g ood as mine. [Bull] Do better than that. I’m compiling these little chats we’re having or an upload to JackPoint, but without inormation on his recent activities, it’s it’s just ancient history. I know he’s he’s not majorly involved in the artiact rush, at least not the trafc I’ve seen go through Seattle.
[Saint James] I can’t guess as to his recent activities, but I can tell you about the recent activities o something that looks like him. [Bull] Something that looks like him? [Saint James] Right. It’s not really him, though. Dierent makeup, dierent clothes, dierent astral signature—a spirit, o almost grotesquely high orce who’s not making any eorts at hiding it. But eerily similar, at least according to the third-party third-pa rty descript descriptions ions I’ve got. g ot. [Bull] What’s this eerily similar, Harlequin-like spirit up to? [Saint James] Well, i you can believe it, it’s backing some Seattle-area gangs. I have eyewitness accounts o the spirit—which looks like Harlequin, only with black hair and makeup, and wearing “a long black owing coat and cassock and a oppy, wide brimmed hat”—talking to leaders o the Spikes in acoma and the Rusted Stilettos in Glow City. [Bull] No ragging way. Te Spikes might not be as anatical as they were a couple years back, but they’re still not progressive enough to let anything that even looks like an el wander into their territory without curb-stomping it into obl ivion. [Saint James] Tat’s what I’d have thought, but it’s true. What’s even weirder is that all this newcomer has encouraged them to do, so ar, is kill more elves. Te Spikes have begun taking it to the Ancients again, this time backed by better repower and magical support, and they’re making some progress. Te Stilettos were literally literally dying out, but b ut they seem to be on the rebound and out or elven blood too. Harlequin’s level o interest, i [Bull] Tis all seems way below Harlequin’s not against his interests. [Saint James] Well like I said, it’s not him. But it could be his twin. [Bull] I have no idea what to make o any o this. I’m going to post it up up on JackPoi JackPoint nt and see what they think. Maybe Maybe they can help me connect the dots. [Saint James] I don’t suppose I could ask you to leave my name out o it? [Bull] Don’t worry, your rep will come out ne. You just come o as a concerned xer looking out or his team. Hell, your business should go up. /user Saint James has logged of /user Bull has logged of //chat session archived::user Bull ::11/08/73// >
>
> >
>
W I r ca’ h Bu ak hads-r-ais ay his, bu i craiy was a irsig rad. FasJack Frsy, ayhig yu’d ik shar wih h cass? nca I guss Bu ray has’ gi uch chac gig u his wihu airig y diry audry r ry s. I’ ry b shr, uchy, ad a as a i cryic, as I kw h’d wa b. Harqui is a ry wru ag wh’s a as hr hudrd yars d. mayb a dr—h did’ ryhig. H bary d ayhig. H has a iuriaig habi wihhdig ky irai a h s crucia . Harqui augh a bu d as i as h cud. Fr a his wr ad ysry, h’s ray a ik h rs us: r s d, ihiisic drssi ad
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!”
45
g bigs cy shirkig his rssibiiis g wasd ad uck arud—ha’s wha h wh sk-ba hig is abu (h s h ga.) occasiay, h gs his ass d shig. Bu h g srchs ig ad s-iy i bw ca b ugh ak. th riua Harqui was id wih i Juy i Washig ay ha sad a ur is, bu i k a lot u hi. I as r r ss dissd y “aricshi,” ahugh I ca’ say whhr r ha’s r h bs. I was a uua dcisi, ad r h s ar I’ a idd rur w, jus ik yu a. th as hig h said , h as i I saw hi, was aaizigy cryic as aways ad ad wa sack hi i h uh. I was jus ar h assassiai Hsaby’s sakr, ei eys--Wyr, ad jus br
HARLEQUIN B
A
R
S
C
I
L
W
M
4 (9) 7 (10) 6 (9) 4 (9) 8 (12) 7 (10) 5 (9) 6 (9) 30
Edg Es Ess In I nit 7
6
13
IP 1
Condition Monitor Boxes: 10/11 Armor (B/I): 14/12 Active Skills: Astral Combat 6, Arcana (Ally Spirit Formula) 6 (+2), Archery 5, Artisan (Steel Guitar) 6 (+2), Assensing (Astral Signatures) 6 (+2), Blades (Swords) 7 (+2), Climbing 3, Conjuring skill group 6, Counterspelling (Combat Spells) 6 (+2), Dodge (Ranged) 6 (+2), Electronics skill group 3, Enchanting 6, Escape Artist 5, First Aid 5, Forgery 5, Gymnastics (umbling) 6 (+2), Inuence skill group 6, Instruction (Magical) 5 (+2), Intimidation (Mental) 6 (+2), Longarms 3, Medicine 5, Outdoors skill group 4, Perception (Scent) 6 (+2), Pilot Aircra 4, Pilot Groundcra 4, Pilot Watercra W atercra 4, Pistols 3, Ritual Sp ellcasting 6, Running 6, Stealth skil l group 6, Spellcasting (Illusion Spells) 6 (+2), Swimming 3, Trowing Weapons W eapons 5, Unarmed Combat 6.
Knowledge Skills (Not An Exhaustive List): Beer 4, Biology 4, Bluegrass Music 4, Botany 4, Carpentry 1, Classical Art 4, Classical Music 4, Classic Rock 6, Chess 6, Combat Biking 4, Comic Books 6, Conspiracy Teories 6, Contemporary Literature 4, Cooking 1, Cults 4, Fast Food 4, Flatvid Movies 6, Gangster Rap 4, Gardening 1, History 6, Insect Spirits 6, Late 20th Century Video Games 4, Linguistics 4, Literature 4, Magic Teory 6, Matrix Games 4, Matrix Chatrooms 4, Painting 4, Parazoology Parazool ogy 4, Philosophy 4, Poetry Poetry 6, Punk Rock 4, Security Design (Magical) 4 (+2), Spells 6, Spirits 6, Teolog y 4, ír Politics 4, oxic oxic Hazards 6, rash rid Shows 4, Urban Brawl 4, Wines 4. Languages: Cantonese 6, English 6, French 6, German 6, Italian 6, Japanese 6, Latin 6, Mandarin 6, Or’zet 6, Russian 6, Spanish 6, Sperethiel N Qualities: Aptitude (Blades), Bad Luck, Exceptional Attribute (Intuition), Geas (Incant (Incantation), ation), Immunity Immunity (Age, Dis ease, Pathogens, oxins), Lucky,, Magician, Murky Link, Lucky L ink, Photographic Memory, Quick Healer.
Initiate Grade: 24+ Metamagics: Absorption, ally conjuration, anchoring, centering, cleansing, divining, extended masking, iltering, lexible signature, lux, geomancy, great ritual, invoking, masking , psychometry, quickening, reecting, sensing, shielding, sympathetic linking
Spells: Harlequin has any spell available to him when needed.
46
Preferred Spells: Analyze Magic, Area Tought Recognition, Armor, Armor, Astral Armor, Awaken, Borrow Sense, Catalog, Catall, Chaotic
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!”
>
>
>
> >
h w g g his swrd back. H said: “I’s i r ak a sid.” Crss-rrcig ha wih a -had rark h ad wy- yars ag, I a dy, dy wrrid. Bu wha s is w? Frsy Yu wr his régé r h br ar w dcads. Jus hw cs wr yu? Ka ’ ni tas I’ ry sur ha’s yur busiss. nca
World, Worl d, Cla Claira iraudi udienc enc e, Cla Clair ir voy voyanc anc e, Comb at Sen se, Contr ol Emotions, Delection, Demolish Gun, Demolish Pants, Detect Dragons (Extended), Detect Magic, Heal, Hot Potato, Improved Invisibility, Increase Agility, Increase Body, Increase Charisma, Increase Intuition, Increase Logic, Increase Strength, Increase Reaction, Increase Willpower, Increase Rele Relexes, xes, Inluence, Levita Levitate, te, Magic Fingers , Mana Barrier, Manabolt, Mind Link, Mob Control, Mob Mood, Net, Orgy, Petriy, Physical Barrier, Physical Double Image, Physical Mask, Poltergeist, Punch, Shape Air, Shape Earth, Shape Fire, Shape Water, Shapechange, Shattershield, Slay Dragon, Stabilize, Stench, Stunball, Swarm, rid Phantasm, urn to Goo, ranslate Bound Spirits: Great orm spirit o air (Force 20, 6 services, invoked with 14 successe successes; s; all great orm advantages advanta ges plus Body B ody 19, Agilit A gility y 24, Reaction 25, Strength 18, Charisma 21, Intuition 21, Logic 21, Willpower 22 when when materialized) materialized) Gear: Ares Predator I (no ammo), certiied credstick (1,000,000¥ Balance), clown makeup, makeup, nanopaste disguise (large), leather jacket, random assorted buttons/pins (12+2d6 o them) apparently grabbed rom the bargain bin (each button is a Force 1d6 + 4 sustaining ocus), Sony Emperor w/ Redcap Nix OS [Response 2, Signal 3, Firewall 1, System 2]
Weapons: W eapons:
Rapier [Blade, Reach 1, DV 7P, AP –1, Force 16 weapon ocus w/ personalized grip] Notes: Harlequin’s magical tradition supercially resembles that o a hermetic mage and shares the same spirits and associations, although in truth it is ar older, more personal, and more esoteric. An argument could be made that he is the only living practitioner o his tradition. In any case, he resists drain with Intuition + Willpower. Te initiate grade and Magic attribute given here do not necessarily represent the upper limits o Harlequin Harlequin’s ’s magical capacity, merely the upper limits o what the Sixth World is likely to require o him. Harlequin has the ollowing nine spells sustained on his person at all times using some o his buttons/pins: Increase Body (Force 6, 5 Hits), Increase Agility (Force 7, 3 Hits), Increase Reaction (Force 6, 3 Hits), Increase Strength (Force 5, 5 Hits), Increase Charisma (Force 10, 4 Hits), Increase Intuition (Force 7, 3 Hits), Increase Lo gic (Force 6, 4 Hits), Increase Willpower (Force (Force 6, 3 Hits), Increase Reexes (Force 10, 4 Hits). He has the ollowing spells quickened: Armor (Force 20, 12 Hits), Combat Sense (Force 20, 16 Hits). Harlequin has the ollowing spells anchored: Heal (Force 30 with 12 hits, triggered by extensive physical damage on sel ), Oxygenate (Force 30 with 12 hits, triggered by the absence o breathable air), Improved Invisibility (Force 20 with 10 hits, triggered by physical damag e on sel ). Finally, Harlequin has at least 250 unspent karma ree to use or anything he may need it or.
COULROPHOBIA I you believed his account o it, Harlequin rst designed the ormula or, conjured, conjured, and bound this particular ally aer he was maimed maimed by Ehran Ehran in the the 18th centu century. ry. He powered the spirit spirit with all o his rage and pain, somehow somehow ueling it into into existence existence in the down-cycle o mana immediately preceding the Fih World. Aer the Awakening, the spirit gained an increasing amount o power but remained within his control. He had long ago recognized that the spirit was too dangerous to use in any but the most dire o situations—it had absorbed all o the worst parts o Harlequin’s character, and none o his more noble qualities. He kept it around only because there was no other alternative alternative besides
releasing it, which was too dangerous to the world at large. O course, Gwynplaine—or lack o any other name he’s willing to divulge—would probably tell a very dierent version o this story. In any case, when struck by the magical backlash o the closing Watergate Rit, Harlequin inconveniently “orgot” Gwynplaine’s true name and lost control o the spirit. Gwynplaine then became uncontrolled and ree. Its long-term goals and motivations are unknown and unknowable or the immediate present, but its short-term aims are plain—causing as much damage and suering as possible, or the un o it. Te spirit harbors a particular hatred o elves and Awakened individuals, which perhaps is a reection o Harlequin’s own buried sel-loathing. It also tends to gravitate towards places o technology in decay. For the most part, the spirit is a sadistic prankster. Gwynplaine is statted below as a Force 12 harrow (toxic spirit o man, p. 145, Street Magic ) using some o the special rules or Ally Spirits, but some o its motivations might be more comparable to a shadow spirit. Its Force should be increased as necessary or it to be a serious threat to most parties; it is an extraordinarily extraordinarily dangerous i not insurmountable insurmountable oe. Needless to say, regaining control o (or i necessary, permanently destroying) destroying) Gwynplaine is just one o Harlequin’s short-term short-ter m goals. goa ls.
GWyNPLAINE B
A
R
S
C
I
L
W
M
Edg Es Ess In I ni t
IP
12
14
15
10
12
12
12
12
12
12
2
12
27
Condition Monitor Boxes (P/S): 12/12 Skills: Assensing 12, Astral Combat 12, Counterspelling 12, Dodge 12, Perception 12, Pistols 6, Spellcasting 12, Unarmed Combat 12,
Inuence Skill group 6. Metamagics: Maski Masking, ng, quickeni quickening. ng. Spells: Acid Stream, Agony, Alter Memory, Analyze De vice, Animate, Chaotic World, Control Actions, Death ouch, Decrease Body, Manaball, Mass Agony, Mass Animate, Mass Conusion, Mind Probe, Mob Mood, One Less El, One Less Human, Shattershield, Spirit Barrier, Spirit Zapper, Swarm Powers: Accident, Astral Form, Concealment, Conusion, Desire Reection, Enhanced Senses (Low-Light, Termographic Vision), Fear, Hidden Lie, Immunity o Normal Weapons, Innate Spell (oxic Wave), Inuence, Materialization, Movement, Mutable Form, Personal Personal Domain (O ), Psychokinesis, Sapience, Search, Spirit Pact
“Ha! fraGGin’ Ha!”
47
View more...
Comments
