It's mentioned... Somewhere. Vice, I think.

uh, may I ask who?

Haven't picked Vice up yet. Explains why I didn't hear anything.

Mister Overton, I think, will transition from Sinister Secretary to Well-Intentioned Extremist if/when he finds out just who Hackbaby is. I don't really see a problem with Horizon trying to play the long game and planting a TM potentate in the family of one of the most influential households in the Seattle area. One that's very public. One fraught with controversy. One that has Charisma Associates there to engender goodwill, and to convince Brackhaven to make a very public, very ironclad statement that he loves his child no matter what...



Not sure how the flow would look with this. It's one thing I'd like to avoid - packing a chapter with too many characters makes it too busy and difficult to read. Packing a book with same gets you A Song of Ice and Fire (but without as many named characters dying). Perhaps two sample chapters. One being the traditional manner, one being the chatroom style you're suggesting - then we take a look, and offer them up with the outline. If it whets their appetite, it's one step closer.

Yeah. One chapter written in a Chatrooom style, of Slamm-0! calling in the Posse to find Hackbay... When The Exchange walks in as if FastJack didn't even have security on the JackPoint to "explain" the situation, stating that a Shadowrun needs to be done.

The first and most important link being given as a set of GPS Co-Ordinates that direct to... A nondescript, and slowly falling apart supertanker.

"Your reward will be the return of your child, unharmed, and a major increase in said child's karmetic destiny. Follow the chain, break the chain. A simple enough task for people such as yourselves."

And is gone.

Who'd Kane find? What subplot am I missing?

IIRC, Kane's character started out as a CAS Armed Forces type (Don't know which branch) whose op was denied while he and his wingwoman was in Aztlan. She was captured, he wasn't.

As he was now SINless, and had all that "Honor, Duty, Loyalty" that the military gives you basically turned into complete and utter drek, he went from Ice Cold to Pink Mohawk. Funding his search of his Wingwoman in Aztlan with piracy and Shadowruns. This was explained in a 2nd or 3rd Edition book I saw in my FLGS way back when, and stuck in my head.

He finally found her sometime, and IIRC, it was stated he did in Vice, but not when. They mentioned a name, but I don't remember it. It was in the "Time Out" room of ShadowLand for breaking the rules or some such.

Gotcha, I'm missing a lot of the character specific info for earlier than 4, but I've got a fairly firm grasp of major events.

Well, folks are starting to e-mail me a few items. Not exactly sure how I'll be able to use them. Still have to wait to see if Shadowrun Novels even get off the ground again or not...

I think there is something about punching people in the neck if it doesn't start getting forward momentum by GenCon Indy.

Lay them out and we'll see what we can do.

There's the possibility that an outline by chapter could always be done, get a rough idea of how many pages book one is going to be.

So, Where do we go from here?

Incidentally, I love how a little comment from me has now become practically canon in the name of Hackbaby.

Yeah, going to be a major pain thanking everyone for the little contributions.

Where we go from here is probably a start and finish of the first series of stories. At this point, any major planning might end up with us getting a C&D, like the Shadowrun MMO had gotten.

Yeah yeah, I know, CGL/Topps isn't like M$. But IPs are "You protect them, or you lose them" from a legal standpoint. Right now, we're doing fan work, which Topps has granted legally in a disclaimer. Thing is, we're dealing directly with the IP characters, we go too far... Not so good.

Also, with people from CGL on the Dumpshock forums, it would be difficult to say, "Hey, we didn't know!" to a Judge when other proof can be given. So I'm trying to run that razor's edge of "Let's work on a proposal" and "Let's get this done".

In terms of finish, I think there should be a big change. I think we should have a death. Someone important. Maybe someone from a certain VPN run by a certain decker (being subtle so as not to invite C&D's).
And of course, this being a chronicle of the shadows, there will be revenge.

we need an irc channel to talk and work together some on this as well, a ooc and an ic channel, and i have to say i'm mentally seeing the full VR representation of a chatroom as the aforementioned meeting takes place.

If a major character dies my vote is for Kane, he's a figure that you have to have strong feelings about one way or another and it would give the other Jackpointers a chance to look back on him from a differant perspective. That can give a bit more.... nuance to the character, flesh him out posthumously and interject some scenes from the past in to the story to anchor it more completely in the setting than just using the IP characters might. I really do wish I could offer more help on this but I'm up to my eyeballs in my own little projects.

Longtime lurker, chiming in here.

As a suggestion, you could have some stories deal with runs in other sprawls, other countries, perhaps gathering information/invoices for the creation/commission/docking of the Event Horizon? For example, cut to a group of runners in Hong Kong, during their unrelated run, they find invoices by MCT retrofitting an old tanker. Not sure what they have, they grab the invoices, which get sold to a fixer, who knows a guy, who sells/favors them to one of the main protagonists...

The idea we're currently going with (Remember, work in progress, this might turn into "Hello Kitty Island Adventure 3" at any time!) is that the Event Horizon is the only place that has the locations where it's docked, all other records destroyed, if not actively never made in the first place. The rest of the sites would then be assaulted by an international team of different Shadowrunners set up by the JackPoint alumni. Either with them in charge (For the more militant types) or hiring services (For the fixers and like.).

Also, "Death" does not always mean "Change", "Life" can mean it as well. Shadowrun has shown time and again that "Anyone Can Die" (No TVTropes for you! End of the line!). Maybe we can use this as the reason that they're able to find Captain Chaos in all his insanity. Or perhaps a major blow happens to change the opinions of people. Or nothing happens at all except Hackbaby comes home and the team goes on an International Bender in celebration.

This isn't for the purpose of writing the novel itself, but for the creation of a viable proposal for an anthology of Shadowrun fiction novels / a forward change in canon that may have an adverse effect on the remainder of 4E.

CGL folk who post here are a blessing and a curse - they may see what we do and like it, and reccomend the proposal to whichever arm deals with it, or they can lambast us rabid fans for fanning and torpedo the project. I don't think they'd do that, but we may get lucky and they would give a better idea if this kind of proposal would even fly. Since we haven't really seen these guys in a novel setting, I suppose it remains to be seen.

Thus why I'm trying to be careful to keep this at the "Fan Wank" level. They, legally, can't nail us for that. Topps has given a full disclaimer about fan sites and permission to use the universe in that.

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here, let's keep the ideas flowing, but realize that this is going to take a few months at the very least, and we'll have to adopt a "Wait and See" policy on what happens with the novels, and who CGL puts in charge of the novel line.

Yes. Short of actual writing (besides two sample chapters), we can outline the anthology and see if they pick it up.

Stop saying that! I'm easily confused!

Double the post, double the fun.

Damned teenagers, no attention spa... OH SHINY!

OK, outline: Chapter One: The Theft of HackBaby.

Chapter Two: Slamm-0! and NetCat are the worst parents ever!

Chapter Three: In-Character Online Chat between JackPoint members. Everyone is downright slotted off something fierce. The Exchange walks in like it owns the VPN, and tells them the deal. FastJack calms everyone down enough to point out, "It's just another Shadowrun, the Johnson just screwed us first, rather than last."

Chapter Four: (Moral) Event Horizon: Hard Exit comes up with a brilliant, Ice Cold plan for Kane and his crew. Kane goes Pink Mohawk and changes the plan to include pyrotechnics and heavy metal, along with taking the ship instead of just the paydata. Hints to the "Rose Garden" are found onboard, bad enough to make a Somali Pirate yarf.

Sound like a good start?

I'll get back to you on that.

A bit broad for the four chapters. With the exception of Chapter Three (arguably our first sample), the rest of it would cover multiple chapters: Chapter Two could easily be Chapter 1-3, Hackbaby's theft a Chapter 5 flashback with the aftermath handled in chapter 4, IC chat becomes Chapter 8 after the preliminary legwork gets done to track Hackbaby in 6 and 7.

9-10 are the legwork to track and hit the Event Horizon, possibly with a "discussion" with O'Malley and the Mob about Yakuza assets going wiggy and buzzing out of town every time some boat comes around, according to a low-level Yak manager that a runner who needed a favor with the Mob brought in under Gamma-S.

11 is a viewpoint from the Event Horizon. 12 is a second IC chat where Hard Exit lays out the plan for Kane and Krew. Kane alters the plan in 13, chapter ending as the crew dives onto the boat, pyrotechnics and heavy metal going full bore. 14 is the fight, 15 is the viewpoint of the doomed captain of the Event Horizon, who may survive long enough to get asked some tough questions by angry runners. Perhaps a mid-chapter cut to look in on Hackbaby, who gets transferred from Lucky Eddie to Angry Johnny, who has a bunch of deliveries to make.

16. A creative interrogation of the captain involving a nautical battery, fuel oil, and nipple clamps.

17 is the third IC chat, the revelation of everything they found onboard the Event Horizon. Exchange comes back in, states that there has been a...complication.

18 is when Hackbaby drops off the Exchange grid. Enter the Black Hats, who have a vested interest in making their mysterious benefactor happy. They see a chance to make some scratch on the side, and they take it.

19 is cleanup. Netcat and Slamm-o! find the remains of Angry Johnny and the van. Trail goes cold. Event Horizon disappears in to the deeps without a trace, Kane happy he got to fuck some shit up. Pledges all over the world to make the Rose Garden disappear, and people start gearing up.

20 is the final IC chat. The Exchange takes its licks. It acknowledges mistakes were made, but the end result is for a good greater than any team of people on the planet, Hackbaby and co. included. It will, however, do everything in its power to ensure that its debts are paid. Everybody pays.

Epilogue: A black sedan drives through a gate and along the road to an opulent house. Mysterious figure with a bundle swaddled in cloth gets out, covered by chauffeur with umbrella. Knocks on door.

Brackhaven answers. There's a smile on his face when he sees the bundle.

End book one.

A lot better, Doc, thanks.

I really need to take writing courses.

Oh My Lord, Please Yes! I'll beg you like I beg my wife for it to be Brackhaven.

Somehow, I feel a bit responsible for this as I asked the question that brought this doom to your (our?) lives.

Please keep going, good people. I am awed by your creativity

I am catching up on these posts, so please forgive me if I am offering info that has already seen the light of day.

I thought in. . . . . 6WA?. . . . . it had some fiction that Netcat and Pistons (IIRC) are already going in search of Puck?

uh. . . I can't get to a book right now, but I don't recall anything. . . In fact I don't recall any fiction in the book.

It may not be 6WA. It was late when I posted and I haven't had time to double check. Hopefully I will have time after work today.

They searched for him. No success.

With enough coffee and a dearth of shiny objects, I could probably write this book.

The trouble with this is, there are far too many shiny objects and not enough coffee on the planet.

We can tweak the chapter quantity, but 20 seems like a fairly good number for right now. Depending on how much story we can pump in, that number could easily increase to 24/36 chapters in all. Plus, it makes writing the book by chapter much easier! Once everything is written, the writer(s) and editor(s) can arrange the chapters to where they make the most sense.

This. So much this.

Also, where was the Puckhunt in 6WA?

I don't remember. I'll have to reread it to find it, but I know Puck disappeared, and Netcat/Pistons did a small, aborted search.

Ah man, we're rocking. CGL hasn't even released any novels yet and here we are working on the skeleton of a duology/trilogy of an anthology.

Hell, we're only hearing rumors that they even have authors right now...

I prefer to get as much done as early as long as my attention span holds.

With you on that OH SHINY!

Seriously, you all awe me with your creativity. I feel priviledged just be allowed into this thread.

If our general 20-chapter outline is good, perhaps a sample is next in order.

We know what one will be - the chatroom. Let's talk about the second.

Ideally, this should be a chapter that cements the reader in our world. Let them see the dichotomy between the haves and the have-nots. Let's show them the shining corporate towers of the AAA, and the slums of Blade Runner.

Ground them in the now with a vision of the future. And then we take Hackbaby from Angry Johnny and leave his fate to the wind.

Any one of Chapter 1-3 would be a good choice. I'd suggest an actual Shadowrun, to cement exactly what these people do for a living, with Slamm-0! and Netcat on a 'Run together with a team, starting with a Short-Con to get Netcat into the Corporate Spires (I'm thinking Dinner Party, where she's be able to pick up paydata from their CommLinks using Sprites), showing how the top half lives, with Slamm-0! hacking the system to keep her off the radar and cameras from the "Borrowed" low-level security room that he is using as a back door (The rest of the team has the guards otherwise occupied, and someone who is able to mimic voices giving regular reports. Probably from a magician who got the spoken codes from a Truth Spell.).

Then have another issue happen. Hostile Extraction during the party, perhaps, causing everyone having to buzz turbo as it's all gone pear shaped. So a quick chase through the city, showing how the city deteriorates as we move away from the Corporate headquarters and eventually into a Safehouse Squat in the Barrens to split up the paydata and themselves physically, "See you at the meet with Mr. Johnson."

Then home, to Slamm-0!s parents to find...

"Fuck, I got spotted."
"Security, 'Cat?"
"Worse. Ex-boyfriend."
"Roger th-Wait, WHAT?!"

Oh, very nice! And we can have him from her Pre-Crash history, too. When she was just a University Student with no cares in the world. Great counter-point of life right there, one event can totally throw your life into disarray!

And meanwhile the team is laughing about it on the tacnet. Yeah, the urge to build a scene is...building.

Not to mention a very jealous Slamm-0! not helping matters.

"How serious was this relationship you had with him?" "Not now, I'm in Indian Country. I need to extract. If he calls me by my real name, I'm blown completely. AND we lose our op." "So you don't want to tell me. Fine, was he better in bed than me?" "My toaster is better in bed than you, you said so yourself, now shush and get me the frag out of here!"

"Fine, say it."
"Say what?"
"You KNOW what."
"Do we really have to do this?
"Yes we do."
"Fine. YOU are my baby daddy."
"Just as long as we have an understanding. Service door. Distraction in three, two, one."

Man, this book writes itself!

It does. It's kind of frightening.

The Exchange approves...........

OK. Chapter One is a great place to start... Give a nice boilerplate to explain the world, magic's come back, cybernetics and biotech allow people to be more human than human at the expense of their souls, so on and so forth...

Give a verbal description of Seattle, looking at it from reality and the "Emerald City" view via AR to give a combination of how the world is seen... Glass and Ferrocrete under polluted rain in reality to digital perfection and beauty in the virtual... Then focus in on the towers/pyramid where the 'Run is going down, explaining who Shadowrunners are and what they do. Let's say Aztechnology for shits, giggles, and kicking the Azies in the crotch. (I love doing that.).

Focus through the parking garage of the Arcology, move through the corridors of the lower-level staff, into a security room to introduce the team there quickly and efficiently, focusing mostly on the drooling, sleeping guy whose head is plugged into the computer console, Slamm-0!, while the actual security team that's supposed to be there are "Tied Up" at the moment. A quick scene with someone using another person's voice to give the pass phrase of the hour, which had been taken using magical means, then to the cameras looking over the party.

Describe the opulence, beauty, and richness in Mesoamerican styling (Mental Note: Research that.), as a counterpoint to the bare bones nature of the lower levels, then focus on Netcat, describing what she's doing and how she's doing it... A creature of the Matrix reborn.

That should take the first ten-twelve pages or so...