Technomancer questions (SR4A) Options

[Veggiesama]

Various questions that came to my mind as I read the Combat chapter and newly rewritten Wireless World chapter (which is mucho awesome, thank you). I have a lot of questions so I'll bold the ones I really want answered.

1. I usually hear that combat is over in one or two combat rounds, thanks to all the IP boosts most people get. But don't hackers/technomancers get a little screwed, even though they're supposed to be so fast?

p145, Switching Initiative.

If the number of Initiative Passes available to a character increases,
that character does not gain the extra Initiative Passes for that turn.
So a magician with 1 IP who takes his frst action to astrally project
(+2 IP) does not gain any extra actions that turn, but he will have 3 IP
for the next turn.

So am I correct in assuming that in the first round of combat I have to find a place to hide and go into VR mode, and that's all I get to do? Meanwhile the street sams get 2-4 rounds of actions. And even when round two comes, I have to still trace the connection, or exploit the node, or whatever, before I even get to do anything useful? Aren't the enemies probably dead by then?

2. Just how intelligent are sprites, anyway? They have "dog-brain" Pilot ratings, but can you hold a conversation with them or expect them to behave intelligently while autonomous?

3. Issuing orders. If I'm issuing orders to a drone/sprite/drone-controlled-by-sprite, do I just do them once ("shoot at those guys!"), or do I have to repeat them each time I want the minion to take an action ("Fire a short burst")? Who actually controls the minion's actions: me or the GM? Who determines when my sprite uses a point of Edge?

4. How does a sprite (most likely a machine sprite) actually control a drone? Does it "issue commands", "remote control", "jump in", or something different? Do you use the sprite's Pilot rating or the drone's? What rolls are used to make the sprite-controlled drone, say, shoot a gun? If the drone has an autosoft (like Defense 3) that the sprite lacks, can the sprite make use of it?

5. If a sprite is controlling a drone I own and have subscribed to, is the sprite still in contact with the me? Does this count as a "remote task" and thus I lose all other tasks?

6. While we're on tasks, what exactly is a task? Can I string together orders, like "Command this drone, follow me, and protect me until the end of the mission?" or would each one of those be a separate task? What happens to the drone when the sprite runs out of tasks?

7. What if I roll no net hits on the compiling test? Does the sprite just disappear, since it owes me no tasks? Can I do a "pretty please" routine (Negotiation roll?) on a sprite to make it do things it doesn't have tasks for?

8. I don't see many drawbacks to re-registering a sprite. Are there any limitations, or can I just accumulate 100+ tasks during downtime?

9. The Diagnostics power. Wow. Limitations? Can I use this on a medkit? A vehicle? A gun? My commlink?

10. I'm having a hard time building a Technomancer with BPs. I took the Spoof complex form, but then I realized I would never actually be able to Spoof unless I first had Trace or Scan to acquire the enemy's access ID. I already spent 35 BP on complex forms, but he still feels extremely inadequate because he lacks important complex forms.

11. What type of action is Threading a complex form? Can I drop a sustained thread before I use another complex form, like how a mage can choose to drop a previously sustained spell before he casts a new spell?

12. Do I receive the hot sim bonus (+2 to all Matrix actions) on threading or fading?

13. Can I take Software (Threading +2) as a specialization?