BAY OF GIBRALTAR, by Xpat
Let me be honest. I don’t much want you to come to Gibraltar. It’s a small place, and there’s only so much room in the shadows. But at the same time I’ve gotten real fond of this place, and I’d like a few more people to know about it.
The first thing you’ll see when you step off the plane is the Rock. One of the pillars of Hercules, so they say. You’ll be wowed. It’ll be much bigger and more imposing in real life than it seemed in the pictures and mapsofts. But you’ll get used to it. You’ll have to, because it’ll tower over you everywhere you go. As will its new megacorp owner, NeoNET.
A short history lesson is needed here. Gibraltar, on a peninsula near the southern tip of Spain, was Britain’s prize for helping out the First German Empire against the French in the War of Spanish Succession back at the beginning of the 18th century. The Brits then turned this tiny ‘overseas territory’ into a major port and naval base.
Because of its strategic importance, guarding the straits between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, the Spanish have spent most of the subsequent years trying to get Gibraltar back, one way or another. I’m happy to say that they have yet to succeed, and Gibraltar has developed and retained its own unique atmosphere, culture, and tax status.
Then, back in 20XX, the Great Dragon Celedyr did a little deal with the ailing UK government to buy up the old naval base and the Rock itself (along with all those marvellous tunnels inside it) as an extraterritorial domain for his pocket corporation Transys-Neuronet (which already owned Gibtelecom, as it happens).
The takeover was skilfully handled. There were assurances that the rest of the territory would retain its own government and identity (and it did). Transys-Neuronet also shamelessly played up its ‘Britishness’ to please the locals, who have for some time enjoyed the idea that they are more British than Britain (even the many Gibraltans of Spanish or Moroccan descent).
Needless to say, other megacorps weren’t too thrilled to see T-N gain such influence over a major shipping route and port, so after various deals with the Spanish government, other sections of the (already heavily industrialized) coast around the Bay of Gibraltar were sold off lock stock and fuel barrel.
On the north side of the bay, only three miles away from Gibraltar’s land border, Saeder-Krupp built up an absolutely huge and incredibly dirty refinery and industrial yard. On the west side of the bay, large sections of Algeciras were ceded to other corps, in particular Ares, Yamatetsu, Renraku and Novatech. And you thought there wouldn’t be any work for shadowrunners!
Anyway that was then and this is now. As we all know, the United Kingdom has been through hell and back; upheavals that Gibraltar has been somewhat insulated from. Meanwhile Novatech, Transys-Neuronet and Erika have merged to form NeoNET, which inherited the Rock and those mysterious research facilities inside it, as well as Novatech’s Algeciras land.
The locals are a little less pleased by this recent turn of events, because the distinctly global NeoNET isn’t trying quite so hard to flatter their self-image, and because NeoNET has been a lot more visible than T-N was. Happily Celedyr still seems disproportionately fond of his Mediterranean retreat (he has a sort of ‘holiday lair’ in the southern end of the Rock), and over the years has become regarded as a sort of unofficial figurehead of Gibraltar (and I gather this irks the official head of state, King George VIII, no end).
Having said this, it might amuse you to hear that there is a resistance movement, of sorts, in Gibraltar. I won’t name names, even though it is something of a joke. Suffice it to say that a handful of monarchist Gibraltan intelligentsia meet up every now and then, in the upstairs room of a certain local pub, to discuss ways that they can stick it to the increasingly authoritarian NeoNET. They treat it as a light-hearted game, on the whole, but the ‘Gibraltan Round Table’ have been known, on occasion, to give a warm welcome and some hearty advice to teams intending to breach NeoNET facilities.
So on that note, what does it mean to be a shadowrunner in a rather pleasant city with a population of only 50,000 or so? Well it’s miles better than poisonous Seattle, I can tell you. Infinitely more civilized, but also a good deal more complicated.
The fact is that there is only a small pool of shadowrunners in the Gibraltar area. Most of us know each other by reputation, and we work hard to keep our identities and homes a secret (from each other and from everybody else). We are, after all, competing for a limited number of operations. A lot of us have day jobs, to tide us over, and as cover for our less legal activities. If you want to break in to the shadow scene here (and believe me there is money enough to make it worthwhile trying) then you're going to have to worry about your competitors as much as your employers and your targets.
And you can’t expect to just fade into the background either. There are no SINless hoards to hide amongst. There’s barely enough population to hide amongst! If you’re caught running shadow operations in the Gibraltar area, and you survive the tender cares of whichever corp you pissed off, then you will probably have two realistic options. Either leave and don’t come back. Or, if your target was sufficiently impressed with your work, accept the offer to turn coat and work for them against your former employer. I’ve heard it can happen. But be aware that you will be diving into one horrendous pit of intrigue and treachery. |