While Simon, Uzz and Trog did their thing at the Wiches Circle, Jimmy had been busy trying to get in touch with the Whispering Nights Yakuza. (S)he’s from a Renraku family so he’s familiar to Japanese etiquette and language, which is why he decided to try set up a meet instead of leaving it to their “face� Uzz.

Uzz, Simon and Trog drove Lucinda to Trog’s home among the Vatos, and Jimmy met them there. He checked out Uzz’s recording of his conversation with Lucinda (his cybereyes cameras are always on), and talks to Lucinda as well without really uncovering anything new.

When Jimmy learns they have been in a gunfight, he checks up on Simon first.

Jimmy (to Simon): “Shall I bring the medkit?�
Simon: “I’m not hurt.�
Jimmy: “What?!�

When all the catching up is done, they decide to send Uzz and Jimmy to speak with the Yakuza. AT first they’re not sure how to put it to them, after all they just shot down a lot of Tiger gangers allied with the same Yakuza they’re supposed to speak with.

Trog suggests: “We can claim we are moral people!� At which point everyone looks at him, looks away and resumes the planning.

Although Jimmy had requested a meet, his street cred was limited and it would take many (14) hours until the meet would take place. Therefore, he contacted them again, this time asking specifically for the name Ino Mamoru. This was the name the Tiger adept said wanted to speak with the runners and Lucinda Tangier before they all started fighting. When Jimmy got hold of mr. Ino, he immediately offered to negotiate giving the Yakuza Lucinda.

This was a lot more fruitful of course, and Ino-san agreed to a meet in Loveland, Puyallup in 2 hours. There, outside a shady café, they met their contact – a Yak foot soldier named Tok. He brought them along after exchanging pleasantries in English and Japanese. Jimmy is fluent in the language, and Uzz bought the best linguasoft he could get beforehand.

Now you may recall that Uzz has recently got astral perception, but so far it’s been pretty nice to him, and gotten him accurate information. But when Tok turned his back on Uzz to lead them to the meeting place, Uzz gazed on him. And glitched. Critically… 4 out of 5 dice turned up ones. And with his background and obsession with finding and killing insect spirits, you know what he saw: A big ugly ant.

Saying only “this meeting is over� he turned and left. Tok was as puzzled as Jimmy, but they continued on nonetheless. A few seconds later Uzz sent Jimmy a text message saying that the Yakuza was insect spirits! Jimmy was confused, but continued. He was getting more and more nervous though as he was wondering if he was entering deeper into one of those Hives he had encountered in the past.

At least there was no sign of anything �buggish� as he entered a Japanese-style stone garden and after passing through a point where he was asked to leave his weapons, he met with the Inner circle of the Whispering Nights Yakuza: Ino Mamoru (the man he was to meet ,3rd son of the Oyabun), Ino Hoshiro (the 1st son), Willy Chen (first lieutenant), Robert Ejima (leader of the Tigers) and the big boss himself, Ino Toshihiro.

On the way to the meeting room Jimmy was assensed by Ino Midori, the Oyabun’s blind daughter and a powerful mage, who reported the details on Jimmy’s aura directly into the Oyabun’s head through a spell. Still, nervousness does not equal deception, and Toshihiro thought he only was nervous about meeting a head of a Yakuza clan, while in fact he was wondering if they were all turned into ant spirits! Midori saw that Jimmy was in fact a young woman masquerading as a man (can’t fool your aura (not without Masking)), but she didn’t tell her father about it. Perhaps she felt some kinship about trying to make do in a man’s world (the dominating Yakuza are very sexist and racist), or perhaps she wants something from Jimmy later on.


Meanwhile, Uzz was heading back to Trog and Simon to get reinforcements against the ant spirits. While he’s travelling back to the Barrens on his bike, Uzz confers with Trog on the way. Although I can’t remember all the details now, he basically told Trog that the Yakuza were all insect spirits and that he needed him and Simon to get their gear and go kick ass. Trog was a bit wary though, if he was going to attack a whole Yakuza clan at least he wanted to do so for the right reasons. So Uzz told him he had seen an insect spirit by astral perception (“magic mumbo-jumbo stuff�). So Trog told Simon “Go check if the Yakuza are insect spirits.� Simon: “What? No! That’s dangerous!� Trog: “Don’t worry, if you start bleeding we’ll know you found them.�

Well Trog’s smooth attempt at coercing Simon into checking out the Yakuza didn’t work well, and when Uzz learned that he started pulling some strings. First, he contacted FBI Johnson that hired them against Project Hope back in the day, hoping the feds could go in with T-birds and blow the Yakuza to smithereens. Simon Juarez was skeptical though, and more or less said that even if this was true they couldn’t just bomb them – that would mean war with all the Yakuza in Seattle.

Then he called Koren Thark, the Lone Star officer that hired them for the run. Thark took him seriously when he said insect spirits, thinking this was going to be Chicago all over again. His resources was limited without hard evidence, but Uzz persuaded him to get some buddies over at LS MCSI (Magic Crime Scene Investigation) to look around the area for any sign of bugs in astral space.

Uzz got back to his buddies, and they talked it over some more. They were skeptical as Uzz seemed compulsive about the whole thing and wanted them to act without telling them any details. When Simon learned that Jimmy was still inside, he called him on the commlink.

Meanwhile, Jimmy had been doing very well on his etiquette, avoiding the many pitfalls in this situation. Since it would be impolite to rush the business conversation, it took it’s sweet time with idle chat and a tea ceremony. When Jimmy got his call (about 30 minutes after the meet started), he apologized for the interruption but asked permission to take the call. Simon told Jimmy about the insect spirit thingy, not taking it too seriously. Jimmy gave his own update, and ended the call.

Later in the meeting Jimmy sent Simon a message “Send alarm if Uzz does something stupid.�

Simon: “Alarm!� He’d found out that Uzz had been trying to get both the FBI and Lone Star involved. 2 Lone Star magical investigator scoped out the café where the meet took place, and after checking around and even checking the same guy Uzz did (Uzz sent them video of the person from his cybereyes), they came to the conclusion that it was a false alarm. Thark reported back to Uzz about it, and although he would not believe it at first he eventually accepted that he might have seen something wrong.

The meeting with Yakuza actually worked very well even without Uzz though. When they finally got to the business at hand Jimmy was more than willing to share his info without demanding anything in return. He offered to deal about Lucinda and wanted to know what the Yakuza wanted her for, and when he learned they wanted to know about the assassination at the Witches Circle and find the culprits, he offered to give all the video/audio footage about the conversations with Lucinda about the hit. He also told them that the assassin was in fact a human and part of Elven Fire, not the Ancients. To back this up he gave them the Lone Star files about the analysis saying there is only 20% chance that the shooter is actually an elf. Although the Oyabun did not accept this as evidence, he admitted this material caused him to doubt that the Ancients were responsible for the hit – as he was already puzzled at why the Ancients would do something so suicidal as attack the Yakuza when they are already at war with several other major gangs.

Mamoru agreed, as well as Chen, but Hoshiro was skeptical about letting the Ancients get a chance to prepare for their attack. Ejima protested most loudly, wanting to kill both the Ancients and the runners as well that had attacked his gang. The Oyabun had made up his mind though, and agreed to delay aggression against the Ancients by 48 hours in return for getting Lucinda and in light of this information. He even agreed to give her back to the runners when they was finished talking to her.

After the meeting Jimmy called Thark to update (they were supposed to do so every 6 hours). When he learned about Uzz’s behavior (through Jimmy’s eyes), he was surprised. “Uzz? I thought he seemed ah...�

Jimmy: “Yeeees, he’s very good at “seeming…�

Thark told Jimmy about what he’d been doing himself. After the first update he had contacted an authority on metahuman gang politics, and is going to have a meeting with him tomorrow morning. He congratulates them on warding off the Yakuza temporarily, and tells them if they can convince all the gangs of the same thing it might be enough to prevent the Guard rolling out. But they need more evidence, or actually tracking down the assassin/Elven Fire and dealing with them.

About 12 hours after the mission began there is an update on the ‘Guard situation: All leaves are cancelled, and reserves are called in by the Colonel. The Seattle JST is also on standby, in case the Guard gets bogged down. Although the Metroplex Guard has a lot of toys and manpower, the Joint Strike Team has experience from dealing with the Renraku Arcology situation not that long ago.

Next, the team wants to talk to the Ancients themselves. Uzz arranges the contact, and with an exceptional etiquette roll he gets a meeting in just 1 hour. Now Uzz could probably have done this himself or just with one other, but since the player has actually played the module before someone else has to ask the right questions. So they all agreed to go, if nothing else to provide backup.

They met the contact in Downtown Seattle, near lake Union. A lone Ancient biker showed up, and then led the way. As they followed a lot of other Ancients joined in to escort them to the meeting place at the Tacoma docks.

There they met Sting, the leader, as well as Green Lucifer (second in command) and two other members named Viper and Falchion. The Ancients were surprised at the new information about Elven Fire, although they already suspected they were out to get them. After the initial distrust, Sting believed the runners actually wanted to get to the bottom of this and harbored no ill intentions toward her gang. Lucifer was a bit more reserved at first, but told them the same assassin had made an attempt on his life one and a half month ago, where the leader of a Bellevue gang called the Nova Rich was killed.

Before the meeting was over, one of the Ancients that had been guarding the area rode towards them and shouted “Meat Junkies!� The Ancients, and possibly the runners were under attack. The Ancients scattered, some taking cover while drawing weapons, while others readied their motorbikes to intercept attackers. Jimmy and Simon took cover in the rear, while Uzz and Trog took cover by one of the alleys the Meat Junkies was supposed to come.

A few moments later they came: Big orks carrying ballistic shields (actually citymaster doors), with machinegun teams right behind them. Further back other gangers appeared, with shotguns, SMGs and pistols.

Uzz waited at first, but when Trog started shooting grenades at the approaching machinegun/tower shield combo, he fired some with his Ingram X. The grenades were pretty effective in the alley, but landed a bit too far behind to kill the shieldbearer and machinegunner. Thus they were able to lay down some suppressive fire at the runners and Ancients.

Battle commenced at other places too, and another machinegun sounded down the second alley. Far away to both sides of the main street figures started appearing, and when they came closer they revealed themselves to be meat junkies on bikes with Molotov cocktails.

After the first two rounds Uzz and Trog had dealt with the machinegun, causing a lot of splat damage on the other Meat junkies in the first alley. The primary advance was soon halted, and most of the meat junkies had taken cover as Uzz fired suppressive fire and grenades at them. Uzz were picking off brave ones that tried to get close, all the while both of them dodging an impressive amount of bullets.

In the Sound lay the USS Koontz, an aircraft carrier preparing for the impending civil war and airlifting in supplies and manpower to Fort Lewis not far away.

Once the enemy on the flanks were close enough to target with a spell, Simon cast Control Thoughts on the Molotov-fielding Meat Junkie – and then made him to smash the bottle in the back of the rider’s head! Chaos ensued, and the bike crashed of course. 2 Ancients on bikes rode to meet the remaining 2 Meat junkie bikes, and shot them down.

On the other side the Junkies got the advantage at first, pinning down the Ancients bikers with suppressive fire, but Simon stunballed them all and mopped up the resistance.

If not for the use of accurate gunfire from Uzz, grenades and rifle fire from Trog, and spells from Simon, the battle could have taken rather long (in game), but the Junkies withdrew with heavy casualties, and were pursued by Sting, Green Lucifer and a few other mounted Ancients.

Trog

Attributes:
Body 9
Agility 5 (7)
Reaction 5 (7)
Strength 9 (11)
Charisma 3
Intuition 4
Logic 1 (2)
Willpower 3
Edge 1
Initiative 9 (11)

Pistols 4 (11)
Automatics Spec: assault 5 (12)
Longarms 4 (11)
Blades Spec: cyber 6 (13)
Unarmed Spec: subdue 1 (8)
Climbing Group: athletics 1 (12)
Gymnastics Group: athletics 1 (8)
Running Group: athletics 1 (12(
Swimming Group: athletics 1 (12)
Navigation 1 (5)
Infiltration Spec: urban 1 (8)
Perception Spec: hearing 2 (9)
Con 1 (4)
Negotiation 1 (4)
Etiquette Spec: street 1 (4)
Leadership 1 (4)
Intimidate Spec: physical 1 (4)
Computer Spec: commlink 1 (3)
Pilot ground Spec: bike 1 (8)
Heavy weapons 4 (11)
First aid Spec: Combat wounds 1 (3)


Knowledge skills Value: (not included attributes)
Chinese 3
Spanish 1
English N
Sec. companies (Lone star) 2
Hong kong triads 1
Seattle street gangs 1
Club music 2
Sports (combat biking) 4

Positive qualities:
Toughness

Negative qualities:
Addiction, moderate Alcohol
Bad luck

Contacts:
Mr Sing Fixer 1+3 Barrens stuffer shack owner
Maddoc Street doc 3+3 Scary mofo w/metal head, barrens street clinic.
Gordon Armorer/Fixer 2+1 Yakuza's little gun nut


Lifestyle: Middle


Gear:

Cyberware (all alpha):
Datajack
Olfactory booster 3
Ultrasound Sensor
Dermal plating 2
Internal air tank
Spurs
Nanohive (prob. R4)

Bioware:
Muscle augmentation 2
Muscle toner 2
Platelet factories
Sleep regulator
Cerebral booster 1
Synaptic booster 2

Weapons and ammo:

Ingram smartgun X SMG
Ares Alpha Assault rifle
Airburst link
Gas-Vent 3 system Recoil
APDS for alpha: ~100 (2 mags)
Regular lots and lots...
Gel rounds 0?
ExEx 30 (glemt jeg hadde dem...)
Ruger Super Warhawk
Smoke Grenade 5
Fragmentation Grenade 6 (brukt 4 hittil :)

Armor and vehicles:

Armor jacket
Helmet (customized at great expense with)
Suzuki mirage Bike
Renraku Stormcloud drone
Sensor package camera, lowlight, vision magnification, vision enchancement
3, directional microphone, laser microphone, radio scanner

Commmlink etc:
Erika Elite Commlink
Iris Orb OS Commlink
All legal programs Rating 3
Subvocal microphone Commlink
Skinlink Wireless replacement Commlink
Wall Space Changes the world VR
Virtual Surround Music VR

Glasses:
Low light
Image link
Smartlink
Vision enhancement 3

Earbuds:
Audio enhance 3
Spatial recognizer

Chisel (crowbar)
Glue sprayer (seals doors etc)
Plastic restraints (10)
Lightsticks X 3
Traumapatch (stabilize w/body)
Stimulant patch 6
Docwagon contract Standard
Acid proof poncho
Flashlight
Explosives Foam 2kg,commercial 3 5kg, det.cap (10).
Rope + grapple
Microtransciever 6


Fake SIN 3 (Grot)
Fake SIN 1 (Gort)
Fake SIN 7 (Trogdor Wanunu, bodyguard)(superSIN from FBI, incl licenses)
Fake license (all restricted stuff. R1 for R3 SIN)

Shadow account

Simon

Agility 3
Body 3
Reaction 3
Strength 2
Charisma 3
Intuition 3
Logic 5
Willpower 4
Edge 3
Essence 6
Initiative 6 (8 med improved reflexes spell)
Initiative passes 1 (3 med improved reflexes spell)
Magic 5

Active Skills
Assensing 3
Banishing 2
Binding 2
Computer 2
Counterspelling 2
Data Search 2
Dodge 2
Etiguette 2
First Aid (Combat wounds) 5 (+6 fra medkit)
Infiltration (Urban) 1
Medicine 2 (+6 fra medkit)
Palming (legerdemain) 2
Perception (vision) 4 (+3 fra optical vision enhancement)
Pistols (semi-automatics) 2 (+2 fra smartlink)
Spellcasting (manipulation) 4
Summoning (fire) 3
Survival 1

Knowledge Skills

Street
Magic 6
Tridstars 2
Security Companies (Knight Errant) 4
Ares Macrotechnology 4
Street Gangs (Merlyns) 4

Academic
Chemistry 2
Biology 2

Gear
Contact lenses
- Image link
- Flare compensation
Shades
- Smartlink
- Low-light vision
- Optical vision enhancement
Medkit, rating 6
Microtransiver, rating 6
Optical binoculars
Flashlight
Ares Predator (50 regular ammo)
Col America
Flechetti Security
Defiance EX Shocker
Knife
Armor Vest
Suzuki Mirage
Renraku Senzei
- Iris orb operating system
- Programs: Analyze, Browse, Command, Edit, Encrypt, Scan, alle på 3
Manipulation sustaining focus, force 3
Health sustaining focus, force 3

Spells
Heal, Manabolt, Armor, Levitate, Influence, Stunball, Control Though,
Increase Reflexes

Bound Spirits
Force 2 fire spirit, 3 services (guards Simon’s apartment)
Force 3 fire spirit, 6 services (guards underground lair)

Ares SIN (Simon Patterson)

Fake SINs
Martin Stein, rating 4 (throwaway)
Peter Anderson, rating 1 (throwaway)
Jason Blue, rating 4 (old legal)
- Licenses to Heavy Pistol, Sustaining Focus, Combat spells
Steve Parson, rating 4 (shadowrun)
Karl Johnson, rating 5 (legal, owner of apartment)
Thomas Pitt, rating 7 (fra FBI, enda ikke brukt)

High Lifestyle, shadowaccount .

VAN
Vanessa Janice Van Creuff (Van, Jimmy “Shades�): Thief, Hacker
ABL: B:3 A:5 R:5[6] S:1 --- C:3 I:5 L:5 W:3 --- Edg:6 Ini:10 Ess:3.055 – Physical/Stun 10/10 --- Karma 76(-2)/5

SKILLS: Stealth4(Disg Infil Palm Shad), Electronics4(Comp DSearch HW SW)
¤Hacking5(Expl), CyberCombat5, Electronic Warfare5, Percep5(Vis), Dodge1(Ranged), Con4(Act), Etiq4, Leader4, Negoti4, Forgery1, PilotGround1, AutoMech1
¤Chemistry4, Echonomics2, UCAS Law1, Geography1, History1, Corp Knowledge Renraku3, Security Procedures3(Inside), Business2, Matrix Games4(GL), Street Drugs1, Music1, Matrix Chat Rooms2
¤English(N), Japanese4
¤ActiveS: Construction2, Cybertech4, Medicine4, Pilot exotic:Drone3, Pilot Anthroform3
¤KnowS:Architecure German Gothic3, Club Music3, Construction3, Macroecconomic5, Security Design6, Street Drugs4, Urban Brawl3

*NEG.QUALITIES: Criminal SIN, Sensitive System, Mild Addiction (BTL), Spirit Bane (Beasts)
*CONTACTS: *Sysop Hacksite 5/3, *Mr Singh 3/1
*IMPLANTS: Datajack(0.2e), Voice Modulator(0.4e), Fiberoptic hair(0.1e), A-Skillwires5(used 1.92e), Expert(0.1e) ***Sleep Regulator(0.075e), Synaptic Boosters1(0.25e)
*LIFESTYLE: Low 2k/m + 250 shadow account +1200 ward6
*FSIN: Allison Carter 4, Michelle Landon 3, Jan Herschel 1

*ALIASES: ○Van(matrix personae), ♂Jimmy “Shades�(shadowrunner), ♀Allison Carter(FSIN4, programmer), ♀Michelle Landon(FSIN3, writer, fixer, Gadget), ♂Jan Herschel(FSIN1, tinkerer), ♀Monica ‘Cherie’ (bimbo) +♀Dove(Hooder), ♂Hawk(Hooder),

MATRIX:
*COMMLINK: (Re6 Si5(4km) FW4 Sy6)Comlink FL Caliban, ‘Morpheus’ OS, Hotsim+2
-Wireless router, Cellphone, PDA, GPS, Chip Reader/player, Wallet/Credstick, Credstick reader, GamingDevice, Music player, micro-trid/holo-projector, Camcorder, Microphone, Image/Text scanner, RFID tag reader, retractable earbuds, Voice-access controls, Biometic Reader, shock- and water-resistant case (+touchscreen display, roll-up Velcro-fastening keyboard).
*PROGS: ¤STD: Analyze5, Browse4, Command3, Edit4, Encrypt5, RFilter3, Scan4
¤HACK: Armor6, Attack6, BFBFilter6, BHam5, Decrypt4, Defuse6, ECCM5, Exploit6, Sniffer5, Spoof5, Stealth6 Track5 + Blackout, Databomb, Medic0
¤MAPSOFT: Seattle6 ¤INFOSOFT: Spells and Magic6, CranialBombs3. Explosives3
¤GAMES: Cimciv**, Grand Larceny, Killing Floor, Miracle Shooter, Shadowrun MMORPG*
¤MISC: VR Music, VR Pet(SM Ork), IC5, Teamalert, Wipe

GEAR
¤COMMLINK: FL Cal,Subvocal
¤SHADES: *Maxi(IL,Lo,Fl,En3,Ma+Cyb6,Mad3,Olf6) *Fem(IL,Lo,En3,Ma) *Ultra(IL,U,Sm) *Shooting(IL,Sm,Lo,En3)
¤CHAMSUIT(6b/4i,nonconductive6,frills,fiberoptic)
¤GUN:Yamaha SmartPulsar(CHolster,darts16)
¤Yamaha Growler

¤SHOULDERBAG/BAG/PURSE
¤¤DISGUISE: 2xLatexMask, Chestpiece, wraparound skirt, pumps
¤¤DRONES: ¤SUMMA(Cam,CybScan,Holo) ¤PUFF(Smoke,Cam,Holo,Mad)
¤GIZMOS: Respirator, Biomonitor, HeadPhones(Ench3,SelectSFilter), Printer, Commlink(2-2, 3-3), Earbuds, +Camcord, DirMic, Geig, Motion, Mic, 2xBug3, Bug4
¤¤B&E: WhiteNoise6(300,a7), Autopicker6,Miniwelder,Wireclippers,TagEraser,Flashlight
¤¤MISC: HW Kit, Medkit1, Geckos, Colt America(extra clip,shots:18)
¤¤9xTranq Patch, 2xNarcoject, Plastic restraints(20), Glue Sprayer(150), Tape
¤¤Grenades: 4xFrag,2xSmoke,2Fbang, Tsmoke,CS,Naus, 5TinCans
¤¤PURSE: Make-up, Mirror, FemProducts, Jewellery, 2xPepperP, Food(Chocolate, Instant Coffee etc), TissuePaper

*Credstick(1k+), ShadowAcc(rest), Trog –20k
*Â¥<35.055>

At this point in the story the PCs didn’t have any conclusive leads. Talking to the Yakuza, the Ancients and Lucinda brought them to believe that Elven Fire was an organization bent upon destroying the Ancients, perhaps previously part of them, or maybe a different group. There were even suspicions that Tir Tairngire was involved somehow.

They did have one lead though, that they got from asking about where the Ancients got their weapons. Rumor had it Tir had supported them until know, but that Ancients were buying lots of new guns from Seattle sources. That meant either they had lost the support, or someone else posing as Ancients were making the purchases. Investigating this rumor they found out the Yakuza arms dealer Gordon had been selling to them, but he wanted 15k for the info (comes with a free Panther Assault Cannon).

Since the PCs were running out of leads, Trog managed to convince them to take Gordon’s offer, and even offered to pay half the sum himself (wanting that PAC). Eventually Jimmy and Simon agreed, and off they went. Gordon delivered, and they got footage of some Elven Fire members with Dumont and St. John buying the merchandise, some 30 smgs, and different kinds of ammo (APDS, XX, etc.)

Now that they had a few more faces, they called both Green Lucifer and Ino Mamoru and showed them their footage. Both sides started looking for these people, asking questions. Additionally, Trog hit the streets and started talking to different gangs while Jimmy did the same with the Yakuza people.

After a couple of hours, they got some answers. First of all, 1 of the elves entering Gordon’s shop was called Vandal, and was a member of the Ancients with a criminal SIN from Lone Star. Green Lucifer checked around as well, and found out that Vandal was indeed a previous member that had a falling out with the Leader and left the gang/disappeared. Additionally another of the elves with Dumont and St.John, called Tirade was a wannabe Ancient some months back, but was not accepted for being an annoying prick.

Additionally, these two gangers were had been spotted by other gangers with Dumont in Renton fairly recently, next to the Maple Valley Mall, and another street person had even spotted Dumont entering an abandoned soda pop facility close by.

At this time it was night, and Simon was sleeping (the only one without a sleep regulator). Meanwhile Jimmy and Trog did an exterior check of the place. Jimmy “disguised� himself as a BTL junkie and sat down observing the place while running some nice BTLs just to… you know, be “in character�… yeah, that it. Trog used his Renraku Stormcloud drone to do surveillance.

In the morning when Simon woke up he had gotten messages to call Trog and Jimmy. He did so (while having real eggs for breakfast in his high-lifestyle apartment), and they told him the news.

He did an astral scouting turn on the soda pop factory first, but aside from getting a sense of dread from the place, he found out it was too cramped by machinery, pipes, and a maze of catwalks and paths. Aside from bugs, he found nothing alive. Since they believed the place was empty at the moment, they spent some time staking out, using drones and spirits to patrol the area.

Then, ‘round noon they got a call from Koren Thark: He has spoken with an authority on metahuman gang culture, and gotten new information about Elven Fire. Most importantly, a former member called Half-Ace can be found in a apartment block in Touristville, Redmond Barrens.

The team is now eager, and arrives at the place fairly early. They walk into the apartment block, and finds out it is mostly occupied by squatters and that the elevator isn’t working… geez they have to walk up the stairs all the way to the 17th floor!

At last they get up to the right floor, which is not particularly different from the others. They pass a smiling elven child on their way, but his mother quickly pulls him into her apartment and locks the door, fearful of the PCs. The door to apartment 17 is half ajar, and Trog opens the door. On a small bed sits an elven figure wrapped in a blanket. He says: “So you’re looking for Elven Fire? You’ve found it!� The submachine gun under his blanket speaks volumes.

The SMG guy starts the fight, firing at Trog, and since he’s packing APDS he actually hurts him! Another elf in ancients color exits through a door behind Simon and Jimmy, and starts spraying. Trog walks up to “half-ace� and starts to squeeze him. A mage and 2 spirits appear in astral space, and the latter 2 start materializing, while the mage tries to dispel Simon’s Improved Reflexes spell! He barely fails though, so Simon hits the mage as well as the spirits with a force 10 Stunball in astral space! Since the spirits are dual natured they are affected as well, and boom there goes most of the opposition!

Still, Trog’s neural boosters aren’t active yet, and the group of thugs starts doing damage on Simon and Jimmy. Simon also calls 2 of his standby spirits, and has them dealing with the Elven Fire thugs. They are armed with SMGs (with EX-EX) and flechette-firing shotguns, so they do a lot of damage when they hit. Simon’s spirits are almost immune to their weapons, but even the shotguns damage them quite a bit, as well as just glancing off harmlessly at times. Trog hides in the room while putting the squeeze on the first elf (literally), Jimmy enters and taser him, causing him to drop. Simon also enters the room for cover, and tries to fire his Ares Predator around the corner using his smartlink and guncam. Player: “Hmm 4 dice that could do the trick…. And it’s a critical glitch!� Poor Simon not only misses his target, but the awkward angle breaks his wrist and causes him to drop the gun.

Instead he uses Control Thoughts on the second SMG elf in the corridor outside, and forces him to blow his brains out. The fight goes the team’s way, particularly because of Simon’s Imp. Reflexes spell and Spirits. Additionally, Trog goes out into the Hallway and hoses the remaining Thugs with Gel rounds, knocking them out.

After the dust settles in the poor Barrens apartment block the team is damaged especially Simon from overcasting his Stunball. The attacking mage is unconscious somewhere, all but one of the attackers are knocked out, although one is dying from damage from Simon’s Fire Elemental. As the team goes through the enemy’s stuff, they can hear Sirens wailing – Lone Star!

They threaten the witnesses to keep quiet about what happened, and starts transporting the bodies as well as the now conscious but secured “half-ace� – who is actually the spitting image of Vandal, the one Elven Fire member buying guns with Dumont and co. The “suicide� victim was also recognizable as Tirade from the same video footage. They had time to transport all the bodies to an empty apartment 2 floors below, as well as remove the astral signature of Simon’s spells. The Lone Star had to go up 17 floors just as they did, and they weren’t too keen on getting involved in a possible gang war. So they just surrounded the place and secured it gradually. Only once they were sure the shooting was over did they even enter the premises.

Meanwhile Jimmy called Thark and told him about what had happened. He was already on his way there since dealing with gang crime is his job, and once there he could ensure the ‘Star didn’t find any good evidence against them. The people in the apartments had been sufficiently intimidated and of course couldn’t identify the attackers. So the only thing LS found was evidence of heavy gunfire and the splattered remains of an obvious suicide victim.

Trog, Simon and Jimmy started interrogating Vandal. Simon started talking about having to use his mind-numbing spirit-crushing powers, while Trog and Jimmy helped in on the “bad-cop even-worse-cop� routine. In the end Vandal got the closed options of either being delivered to the Yakuza, The Ancients or Lone Star depending on the level of his cooperation.

Needless to say, he spilled his guts. He admitted to being a member of Elven Fire, a group created to destroy the Ancients and replace them with a new organization. Half-Ace had been dead for a long time, and their leader called “Rook� planned this ambush and knew the team was going there. All his confessions were “taped� of course, and he even agreed to testify in full to Lone Star about the scheme to bring down the Ancients.

Next thing, Koren Thark contacted them. He told them about the guy who gave him the info about this called Shim Bright, and after checking with the prisoners they found out it was the same as “Rook.� The problem about getting him arrested was that Mr. Bright was an upstanding member of the high class community, and rich. They needed good evidence against him, and the testimony of an elven ganger was not enough.

Meanwhile, the Elven Fire mage finally woke up from the Stunball. After quickly checking out the battlefield with a watcher spirit, he called Rook aka Shim Bright and reported that the combat had gone terribly wrong and that the attacking team was gone, taken somewhere away except for Tirade.

Bright acted quickly, and called Vandal’s commlink. Jimmy answered, using his voice modulator to sound exactly like Vandal. Bright was surprised anyone answered, but believed he was captured and forced to lie as “Vandal� told him the combat was won and the PCs were dead. It was a good try, but Shim Bright didn’t fall for it, being used to deception and a master of it himself. So he told Jimmy to meet him at the abandoned bottle factory in Renton in 2 hours. Jimmy agreed, and that was that.

After Lone Star and Thark left the block, the team stole away. Thark “found� the prisoners in the apartment and they were detained by Lone Star.

The team went to Renton to set up an ambush. Jimmy contacted the Yakuza and enlisted their aid in catching the killer who shot the Whispering Nights members at the Witches Circle. They sent a squad of Kamikaze goons and 3 Adept Ninjas with Monowhips (thanks again Maxhunter). The plan was that the Goons wait a block away as backup, while the more stealthy Ninjas aid the team directly. Jimmy, Simon and Trog were going to enter the place and ambush from within.

Things didn’t work out that way though. While Jimmy was checking the place he triggered a booby-trap that he barely managed to dodge/soak. Not disheartened, the other two entered the maze of a factory as well, and not until long walked into a similar trap. Trog was almost unscathed, but Simon with his previous drain fell down and overflowed his damage. Trog used a trauma patch and stabilized Simon, but then Dumont popped up and surprised them, damaging Trog heavily with his XX long burst from an Ares Alpha. Jimmy was keeping track of everyone, having subscribed to everyone’s commlinks, even the Yakuza. This way he prevented Dumont from causing total confusion and friendly fire. As soon as Trog spotted Dumont, the Ninja’s also knew where he was, and came at him with great speed through the claustrophobic maze.

Trog, being a lot slower than the insanely (and insane) fast Dumont, couldn’t get in a good shot right away and so the chase was on. For several rounds Dumont evaded Trog, getting in a few bursts while Trog couldn’t. This caused Trog, who was now heavily damaged for the first time in this campaign, to slow back. The Ninjas came at full speed though, and now that they were 3 they could outmaneuver Dumont. Trog got a few bursts at him, and although he dodged most of the attacks the Ninjas followed up with their Monowhip attacks. Dumont’s extreme defenses were soon worn down (he had Move by Wire 3 and Reflex Enhancers 3!). Trog landed a good long burst almost killing Dumont, and then one of the Ninjas lopped his head off with the shiny red string, Johnny Mnemonic style.

When the combat ended the team was half-dead. The Ninja’s got the head and delivered it to their Oyabun, who called off the war against the Ancients. The team got the body, but the betaware is personalized so they can’t use the cyberware in Dumonts body. Still, the Yakuza’s actions convinced the other major gangs to end the Feud against the Ancients. The violence trickled down to previous levels, and the Metroplex Guards didn’t have to go in after all. A Lone Star squad sent to detain Shim Bright for questioning came too late, as he had already left in his private plane for an unknown destination. Thus the rumors of Tir involvement could not be verified. Still, Koren Thark held his word and the runners got their remaining 88k, as well as treatment for their wounds at LS hospitals under fake names arranged by Thark.

A fun module with some really tense combats especially since Uzz was away for the climactic ones. A bit sad for me that Dumont escaped, as I had wanted him to confront Uzz at some time as a nice counter, but Trog and the Ninja’s did him in fair and square and I’m not going to fudge that. And the Yaks taking his head means no HoG

So far we’re early in the Emergence campaign, and none of the major events have happened. This means the character doesn’t know anything about Technomancers, not even the name, although the players do. The PCs have read some news about AIPS (Artificially Induced Psychotropic Syndrome), as well as some news reports about NeoNET, MCT and Renraku competing over the wireless technology market and NeoNET about to make a breakthrough.

For once Jimmy was contacted for a job offer. It was his contact called “SysOp� that called him, asking for the possibility of Jimmy doing a run. Now, Jimmy was actually quite keen on nurturing his contacts, and has previously sent SysOp nude pictures of Euphoria etc.

So calling 4 in the morning SysOp wanted Jimmy and his pals to do a job for an acquaintance of him, hereafter referred to as Miss Johnson. He hinted that the reward might not be up to Jimmy and his associates’’ standard, and would consider doing the job a personal favor to him. He said the job was urgent and hoped they could meet Ms. J in just half an hour if possible.

So they meet Ms. J in a hacker bar in Touristville called the Cathode Glow. Jimmy had been here before (during on the run), but the other PCs had to adapt to the etiquette of the place (such as not going hidden mode). They found her in a corner – in her 30s, wearing a blue jacket and short skirt- She’s in active mode like everyone else (but not calling herself Ms. Johnson of course!). She looks nervous – and astral perception confirms that she is nervous as well as very sad. The job is to retrieve a corpse that has been stolen from a DocWagon ambulance. The deceased is a hacker named Arthur Bowman, better known as BigMac.

BM was flat lined, probably by a Black IC while attempting to hack a corporate hospital in Renton owned by MCT. He was found by DocWagon in a sleazy coffin hotel in Touristville last night (about 1am), but was abducted by some unknown assailants that also killed everyone in the ambulance. Ms. J got his info from snooping around DocWagon databases herself. So the job was to retrieve BM’s body as well as find out why he was taken in the first place.

After asking some questions, the runners agreed to take the job for as little as 10k each.

Then it was legwork time. People searched the matrix for information regarding bowman, DocWagon, Mitsuhama etc. They learned that his mission was to retrieve medical records of about a dozen people suffering from AIPS (Artificially Induced Psychotropic Schizophrenic Syndrome) from the MCT hospital mainframe. They didn’t find out who was his fixer right away, but got a list of 3 potential fixers he had worked with in the past. They checked out the area where the DocWagon ambulance had been ambushed, and noticed about a dozen people living in the few squats nearby. Most of these were BTL and drug junkies and had little or no information. They did find astral residues of health spells being cast nearby, but it seemed no magic had been used in the ambush itself.

They learned which DocWagon employee had written the report about the ambush that Ms. J had found, and Uzz called him (John Bear) with an offer to work for them and find out the responsible. Uzz said his middle name was Honest, and Trog’s player mentioned that would make his full name “U. Ærlig� (means DisHonest in Norwegian)

Mr. Bear was not at liberty to disclose shit though, and referred him to his boss. Mr. Brown listened to Uzz’s proposal, but it lacked his usual finesse and flair (and he only got 2 hits on the negotiation roll), so he refused to hire Shadowrunners and said he had to go to the proper channels if he was to seek employment by DocWagon. And he was neither confirming nor denying anything Uzz said about the case.

When they knocked on the door of a resident the other junkies said was “weird�, they were surprised to see a materialized beast spirit of considerable force (6) open the door while the ork Shaman answered behind it. Unfortunately the Beast saw Jimmy, and went into rage. Without being commanded to it wailed horribly and made the entire party flee in terror! (Fear power). Uzz and Trog were the first to snap out of it (after fleeing for 1 turn), and neither had a problem facing the Beast again. Uzz calmly walked back to knock on the door again, but Trog was pissed off as this is the first time he’s ever fled from anything. He stormed back and kicked the door down. Not surprisingly combat ensued. The Beast struck first, made a nasty wound on Trog with its sharp teeth and claws and delivering poison. Uzz ran back in and started APDSing the spirit. It was tough, and managed to damage Trog further but the combined might of APDS and Trog’s mighty spurs disrupted the spirit (despite the fact the Shaman cast improved reflexes on it). With his spirit so easily dispatched, the Shaman quickly surrendered when Uzz pointed his Predator on him, and was willing to give information as well as healing Trog who was now almost heavily damaged. The Shaman heard the noise of gunfire last night and saw a black van and a group of 5-7 soldiers in black combat armor shooting the DocWagon guys. He later saw the same Van driving southwards on the road to Renton and Puyallup.

Jimmy figured that this information didn’t help much, so they went to the coffin hotel. It was all automated meaning few or no witnesses, but a little hacking confirmed that DocWagon had been there to retrieve the corpse from one of the coffins. They called Koren Thark, LS detective, Gang division, but he didn’t answer right away, as he slept to 12 AM. Jimmy also hacked a few cameras on the way confirming the van was going southwards, but when he tried to hack a LS checkpoint from Redmond into Renton he failed and jacked out rather than being attacked by LS IC. He eventually got hold of one of the Fixers though, a man called Stahl (named after a member on Dumpshock). He was suspicious about Jimmy calling him, but he recognized his name and was willing to talk, even though he never admitted to have anything to do with BigMac. They met him a few hours later in a cinema in Redmond taken over by squatters. After Jimmy admitted about knowing about the failed hack, he offered to take on the job himself. Stahl agreed, and after Negotiating with Uzz they got 50k upfront and 200k more if they got the complete information.

Later Uzz and Trog went back to the DovWagon ambush site and found out from one other junkie that the black ops team had taken BM and that he probably was alive as they handled him carefully and had a machine saying "bing" every now and then connected to him.




At about noon Thark called back to Jimmy, who told him about the attack at DocWagon without giving any background information. Since this wasn’t his field, and no one had reported any crime, he didn’t care much.

Now they started checking security at the MCT hospital as well as trying to find about more regarding AIPS and whatever project MCT might be working on. They found out the official project manager for the AIPS outreach project was called Tracy Goertzen, and learned there was going to be a conference in a week at the Victoria conference center in Downtown Seattle. The team now focused on getting to her and the information she might have. Their approach was to find the manager of the Victoria conference center and use mind control spells to get information from him and lure in Goertzen. Miss Goertzen didn’t have a listed commcode, so Jimmy tracked the manager Karl Bilt (don’t laugh I’m bad at inventing names on the fly) through his commcode and triangulated the signal.

They found out he wasn’t on the job though but rather in a fancy mall in Downtown. He went there alone and found) together with a young girl (not what you think). Before casting spells Simon checked the astral and found out there were several spirits flying around… Mall Spirits! He realized he would be caught if he tried so he just followed them until they left. Unfortunately they left to the garage, and instead of following them there Simon went out the main exit and walked around to the garage exit area. Jimmy still had a trace on Mr. Bilt though and had him triangulated. But of course the vehicle Mr. Bilt was probably in was a small limousine with dark windows so Simon couldn’t cast a spell on him.

They followed the car to his Bellevue home (not far from Simon’s). It drove into the garage here as well in the fancy apartment block, and Simon couldn’t get in. The garage gate wasn’t on the Matrix, so Jimmy had to come down there as well. He spoofed the gate so Simon could get in and hide, and then started sending error messages spoofed to be from his car to Mr. Bilt’s commlink. He called a mechanic/computer fixer and went down to meet him. Simon cast an Influence spell telling him it would be a good idea to call Tracy Goertzen and tell her she should meet him in the conference center asap to check out the place for the conference.

He did, but Goertzen didn’t think she should have to come, but Bilt was very convinced of this and she agreed to come in 3 days – too late for the runners purpose. Not knowing that they planned to abduct her at the center the same day, and waited there a long time. After realizing she wouldn’t come they gave it up and instead planned to mindbend some doctors at the hospital and get access to the data there.