So my team and I have to get the hell out of Seattle for a little while. Mr. Johnson offered us a plane ride down to the L.A. area (Moreno Valley/Riverside area). While I was more than happy to to take the flight, but everyone else decided to (metagame and figure GM would crash our asses in the Mojave) drive down to L.A. Now we're all (GM Included) wondering the best way to get there. Our G.M. and myself have Shadows of North America, but so much has changed with little detail in regards to Cal-Free and the Tir, that we're really not sure the best route that wouldn't get us killed outright just for rolling into town.

Travel with our group has always been an adventure in and of itself so we don't want to hand-wave us getting there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

remind me, is that bullet train not an option?

You can roll through TT and Salish turf right down into California, actually. There was a large section in the old TT book about how that's an option due to walls around the I-5 as it runs through TT - I don't think that's changed other than the TT border generally being considered 'open'. Since the UCAS and CalFree are both on okay terms with the Salish-Sidhe Council and each other, I see no reason why it would be any more difficult than driving from say, Italy to the Netherlands.

This is supposing, of course, that your team can actually travel through borders without being flagged as criminals.

not to mention getting all the teams equipment down there. I'd hire a smuggler/coyote. preferably one with a stealth blimp or t-bird.

T-Bird jocks would be the way to go. Not only are they in possession of current knowledge of all the borders and patrols and such, but there's a cool factor to skimming the earth and blastoff speeds. That, and well played interaction could win you contact with a pipeline of otherwise pain in the ass to get goodies.

Don't forget you can travel there by water. Besides boats, you can take the economy version of a t-bird, a hovercraft, down the coast and virtually anywhere in LA. I'd consider arranging for a rigger that has one of the Lamprey underwater sleds to smuggle the illegal cargo past whatever coast guard may exist (LA is completely out of my realm of knowledge).

If you've got cash, the GMC hovercraft from the main book is a fairly inexpensive piece of hardware and it's probably got at least as much interior room as a Bulldog. It takes mods wonderfully well. I've got suncell, an extra battery pack, valkyrie module, four drone racks, and a few other toys in mine. Depending on how you read the Suncell rules, it and the extra battery means spring-fall you can get 30+ hours of operation.

I still stand by my idea. Burn down the 5 past portland, cut west on the 99, and take the 101 down the coast - it keeps you out of most of the nasty shit in the No Man's Land that the 5 drives by, and you get a very pretty drive as well. What's more, once you hit California you're in pretty virgin territory in terms of paracritters, telesma hunting, etc. Could pick up some cash on the side.

Now, how to get past the border patrols? Simple. You drive through the border checkpoint, you present your fake SINs, and they let you through. Supposing they don't decide to strip search you - which is totally not normal in TT, these days, especially not for 'through' traffic - a little bribe money will grease the wheels and off you go. Same deal with the Calfree folks.

Never forget: bribery should always be your first answer if an obsticle can't easily be avoided or circumvented. People in Shadowrun are desparate, and the Tir Tairngire's economy is - to put it lightly - in the toilet.

Thanks for the idea. I'm sure my team rigger would thank you for the hint about bypassing the no mans land and keeping his van in nice condition.

I'm mainly curious about the anti-meta sentiment that seemed to plague most of Cal-Free. I remember Human Nation thugs and hoards of roaming anti-meta biker gangs were all over the place. I wasn't sure how much that situation has changed since SoNA.

I don't personally remember the bullet train, but our rigger was the brains behind us not taking the flight. He doesn't want to go without his precious little van, so the train is out.

hmm, could said van fit in a cargo container? or was that train "passengers only"?

ugh, i just checked around, and from what i recall the train stopped at san fran. as thats not a place covered in any of the books, i fear its unlikely that there is any recent info about the trains operational status...

IIRC, It wasn't anti-meta hate in North-Cal, it was Anti-elf hate.

The Anti-meta stuff was mostly backed by Saito, and with him being gone, they've faded back into the woodwork.

It was one of the cities in the NEO Anarchists guide to north america. But yeah, that info is woefully out of date. I think it is still runnig though. Too many Jap corpers needed it at the time. Not so much so now that Saito's gone.

Going by land isn't hard as long as you can handle...what is it 3 border crossings, which isn't hard if you have some professional help. Going by sea is most likely easier though, no dealing with SS and TT, and your less likely to be tracked(but there is less you can do if you get tracked).