It was a Saturday night when I got a call from a certain Ms. Fung. It's a good thing I had already taken Rascal for a walk, because I needed to go meet with her and this Ichiro guy about a job. I don't normally like trekking all the way downtown, but that's where the work was leading me, so I packed up my toolkit, making sure I grabbed my white noise generator, and left to catch the tube.
I dusted myself off a little before walking into the bar. It wasn't super high class, but it didn't feel quite like the "come as you are" kind of place that Moon's is. I thought lots of this shadowrunning business went down at Moon's, but I guess not everybody meets there. If they did, the corp and government types would catch wind of it, and we'd all be had.
Fortunately for me, the bar was a little more laid back than I expected. Unfortunately, the beefy Japanese guy seated across from the woman I figured to be Ms. Fung was anything but laid back. Dressed to the nines and wearing a blank expression, he looked like one of those trid characters, a real "corporate muscle" type.
After the meets and greets, Ichiro and I got right into the business of selecting our team. Much to my surprise, we seemed to agree on most points, and he deferred just a little to my expertise with security systems and such. To hear him talk, I'm glad he's looking after the tactical situation. That way, all I have to worry with is getting past security.
Ichiro warmed up a little, when I let slip my knowledge of Japanese. I'm not too sure about such things, but I get the impression he's either Yakuza or used to be. I could care less, so long as he gives me room to work and make the calls regarding my end of the job.
Well, we finally settled up on who we wanted to call in for the job. Ichiro excused himself to call Ms. Fung back, but stopped short when the breaking news report began blaring over the trid screen in the bar. Just our luck: one of the runners we had planned on calling just got himself geeked, along with a couple of his chummers. From the looks of things, they got a little to rowdy and greedy in that Bison of theirs. Well, I guess I'll be going at the breaking and entering activities alone, now that Haymaker has made himself permanently unavailable. I wonder if those boys will end up on Moon's wall? I wonder if I'll end up there…
Whoa…I gotta avoid that kind of thinking. That's what gets you geeked. Letting your mind wander and starting all that second-guessing drek. You gotta be able to trust your weapon, your tools, and your squad. If you run around questioning everything, you hesitate and lose whatever advantage you may have had. Here's to hoping the folks we are bringing in for the job are just as dependable as my trusty pliers.
After filling Ms. Fung in on our choices, we agree to meet with her and the rest of the team tomorrow night. In the meanwhile, Ichiro and I will prepare what we can, based on the additional information Ms. Fung gave us. I'm a little worried how the two folks we'll be escorting into the facility will handle themselves. As long as they do their job and pull their weight when the drek hits the fan, we should be alright. The one thing that's really motivating me this time around is the sweet payoff. Upwards of 15kY each, if we keep expenses down and get the job done in time, as well as the possibility of bonuses for extra paydata we dig up.
Sunday passed with little happening, as far as I was concerned. I gather up my gear, leaving Rascal and my Savalette at home, since I know this Russian place Ichiro wants the team to meet at doesn't cater to those who carry. I know Rascal is rarely allowed into places, and I figure I can at least leave my stun baton at the door. I'd rather not be caught with nothing more than my toolkit and wits if something should go down.
The team finally congregates around 8 PM. Ichiro and I have arrived early, and I've taken care to cover us with my white noise generator. Ichiro's tried to make a few attempts at small talk, but I was busy fiddling with my pocket secretary and reviewing what sort of gear might be necessary. I get a little involved with tinkering and checking for radio chatter on my headware commlink, so I barely say much to the various team members who arrive. The shogtun assassin Mirage arrives right after Zira the Monkey shamsn. They both come off a little wet behind the ears for the sort of shadow work we've been called for, but I guess I am as well. Boosting a few cars and relieving Fort Lewis and other places of their "forgotten" hardware may keep me and Rascal off the streets, but it can't pay like this shadowrunning work does. Finally, a fairly grizzled dwarf makes his way towards us. The stogie stuck in the corner of his mouth has been chewed past the point of smoking, but I don't think he much cares. From his walk and his bearing, I can tell this is Jax, the former UCAS sergeant. Before I can stop myself, I've snapped to attention and returned his greeting in a crisp military fashion. Old habits die hard, I suppose.
At least I'm paying attention now, since Ichiro wants to get right down to business. We exchange contact information with the crew and share with them what little intel we've gotten so far. One order of business that needed my attention was Mirage's lack of a radio. I was surprised that he didn't have one, when the shaman Zira did, but I at least knew that Kitsune could score me one by tomorrow morning. I called him up before it was too late and told him what I needed. I knew he'd catch flak from his old lady, so I figured I'd sweeten the pot a little with some extra nuyen when I dropped in to pay for the micro-transceiver in the morning.
With that taken care of, we moved on to the other concerns of the mission. Ichiro kept hammering at the idea of a rigger for support and strategic withdrawal, and the job of obtaining one somehow fell to me. The rest of the team would set about conducting whatever sort of surveillance they preferred, and everyone would rendezvous at lunchtime tomorrow. I decided to go home and pick up Rascal, in case I wanted to scope the place out for myself. Zira was going to scout the place astrally, while Jax stood watch over her meat-bod in some coffin hotel. Ichiro set about to calling his pals in high places, with the intent of meeting up with Mirage and checking the place out from the inside, under the guise of corp types. I wasn't too clear on what Mirage planned to do with his evening, but we'd all find out what happened the next day.
I got back with Rascal and met up with Sgt. Jax at the coffin hotel. Zira was still scouting out the mojo side of things, so Rascal and I sat down to wait. I discussed the plans with Jax, and he agreed to continue the conversation I'd started with Maksim about obtaining a rigger. All Maksim could offer up was another ex-military sort who was intent on his combat chopper. Our mission required a little more discretion, but I didn't have the time to take care of it myself, so Jax would try to cover it before our team met for lunch tomorrow.
I waited around until Zira got back and reported on her Astral recon efforts. After assessing what she had found with Jax, I decided to abandon my recon plans in favor of seeing what tomorrow might bring.
As we came to find out at lunch on Monday, it's a good thing I didn't go snooping, because Mirage did and got caught in the act. According to what Ichiro's source said, Mirage had been apprehended by the security boys at the building and turned over to Lonestar. Given his lack of a SIN, it's no surprise that he had an "unfortunate accident". I wonder a little about who Ichiro might know on the inside that could inform him of such happenings, but I figure it's just best to stay on his good side and not get caught busting into this building on our upcoming run. With my old military SIN, I know exactly where I'd end up, and I really don't think Leavenworth is where I want to be.
The decision was made to call in one of the other prospects we had considered, another assassin sort who was a known ex-Yak soldier. Fortunately for us, this Blaze character had a good fixer contact who hooked us up with a rigger named Frank, who agreed to meet with us that very evening.
With a full team again, everyone set about sharing their intel, so that we were all up to speed. Ms. Fung was called about the change in our roster, and Ichiro arranged for a time and place where we could meet with her and the two packages we'd be escorting. Ichiro and his contacts proved quite valuable, since he had turned up the various Lonestar frequencies for me to monitor, and he had scoped out the target building from the inside. I had failed to gain access through the front door, but with this new intel, I intended to check out the building myself, using a vehicle to gain access through the garage. I was content to let Ichiro delegate duties for the rest of the team, and I cut out to head home and pick up Rascal. I might need someone watching my six during my afternoon recon.
I took a bit of a detour on the way home and boosted a van. Some guy caught me in the act, but didn't seem to care all that much. I doubt he believed the lie I told him about losing my keys, but I haven't caught any heat yet, so I guess I'm in the clear. I went ahead and went home to get Rascal and some gear to set up a couple of minicams in strategic places in the building. With any luck, I'd be able to monitor their feeds and get an idea of the security camera coverage and guard activities in the garage and the lobby. During my afternoon activities within the target building, it occurred to me that I was really out of place in this part of town. Since we plan to make the run tonight, I'll have to deal with any fallout from that later.
The team meets up again at Louie's Shrimpboat restaurant, where we manage to cut a deal with Big Frank the Ork rigger. He'll drive us in and pick us up when we call for 5 kY if all goes well, and we'll cut him in for a full share if he takes any fire. We then move locations again to meet with Ms. Fung and the two packages at some Italian joint. I understand the need for secrecy, but Ichiro is wearing us out by moving the meets all over downtown. At least Firenze's is explicitly not a Mafia front.
The call goes in to Ms. Fung, and the packages arrive a while later. I'm a little thrown off when they question my decision to only have a couple of backup frequencies, but after a little discussion, I realize that they are just new to the game. They've obviously been well-trained, but they may not have had as much experience as some of our crew. Like I said before, if they get their job done without compromising us or becoming a liability, then I'll have no complaints.
We planned on starting the run later that night, so everything is put into motion. Some decent sneaking on the part of Zira and Blaze put them into position to take out the one guard at the garage entrance. Zira slings some whiz mojo; I've never seen a guy just freeze up like that. No time to wonder, since it's my turn to take point. Little did I realize I spend much of the night out in the lead, risking my hoop to take out multiple layers of security systems.
Anyways, a few choice camera spoofs, and I managed to get the team safely into one of the elevator shafts. It's a good thing the whole squad was in shape, because we had 27 floors of climbing ahead of us. A brief stop at the tenth floor to bypass some security measures allowed us access to the higher floors that Ichiro had not been able to see during the day. I encountered some particularly tough maglocks and alarm systems at the access panel for the 25th floor. My attempts to open it set off a silent alram, which caused security to open up the elevator shaft and take a look. Sgt. Jax was covering our six and managed to scramble for good cover just in time. The rest of us were far enough away, and the security team dismissed it as a false alarm. With the potential disaster averted, the rest of our team hussles on through the access panel and I seal it behind us. At this point, we may be taking a roof exit out of here, depending on how much the heat gets turned up on the lower floors.
Getting out onto the 26th floor is no small task. Fortunately, the stillness and silence that greets us when the elevator shaft doors are opened prompts me to check for some serious security measures. I pat a little dust off of my coverall, and it reveals the lasers that crisscross the room.I manage to wriggle under the lowest one and start disabling the sensors. I spend almost half an hour scooting around on the floor, taking out sensors. The rest of the team, who I've left hanging in the elevator shaft start getting antsy. I manage to get them to lay off until I'm done, since the radio chatter is making my job really difficult. Once the team can safely step out in front of the elevator, I let them know. When Jax arrives and takes a look around with his dwarf eyes, he clues us all in to the presence of security drones in the corners.
At this point, my nerves are almost fried, but I have to take out at least four more sensors to get us to the nearest stairwell access. My dusty coveralls trick isn't working anymore, and nobody seems to have anything other than smoke grenades to show me where the lasers are. After some prodding, the female tech we're escorting comes up with the powder from her makeup kit. Armed with cosmetics, I get right back to work, trying my darnedest to avoid tripping the sensors and hoping that Jax and Ichiro can handle the drones if I fail.
After sweating my way through disabling those four sensors, I have to jimmy the lock on the stairwell door, which opens onto a stair filled with IR light. Jax takes a peek and confirms the presence of two cameras that cover the route we need to take. There's no way I'm sneaking past these things without help. I was sure we were out of options when Zira came up with a wild plan. She offered to transform me into some sort of small critter using her Monkey mojo. If she could, I knew my signature would be less, and I'd stand a good chance of scooting under the camera's field of view. After a couple of tries, I suddenly found myself naked and in the shape of a large snake. Zira had promised me it would wear off, so I grabbed my toolkit in my mouth and slithered up the stairs. When Jax confirmed my position under the camera, Zira called off her spell.
So, there I stood, butt naked under a security camera. I shrugged and got to work. At this point, I'm probably too damn frazzled to care if anyone sees me in my birthday suit. Once that camera is spoofed, Zira works her mojo again, and off I slither up the next run of stairs. After spoofing that camera, I feel confident we can get onto the 27th floor without being seen, so I hussle back down the stairs and back into my clothes and armored coverall. I definitely don't want to be caught with my pants down when the drek hits the fan on the other side of that door.
By the looks of things, the rest of the group is a little stunned by my nudity, but I've got a job to do. As soon as I'm ready, we head up the stairs and make our way into a fairly empty room that occupies much of the 27th floor. There's a big round enclosure in the center, and what seems to be three other stairwell accesses in the other corners. I check the door on the round room and can't find any security measures.
Much as I suspected, the drek hits the fan when I open that door. Before I even know what's happening, a series of flashpaks has blindsided most of us. Then, I get torn up by some kind of demon wolf thing. It's only much later that I find out what happened in that room, because I was overcome by the worst fear I could possibly imagine. Blaze and I were both sent running by the wolves, and we made it back down to the elevator shaft before the effect wore off.
By the sound of things after the fact, Jax and Ichiro held their own and took out two wolves while Zira forced the other two critters to tear each other to death. In that short time, our packages have buttoned up and secured their package, some kind of weird green orb that's probably magic.
We decide to make our getaway and head back to the elevator shaft. It's a good thing that the item the techs are hauling seems to weigh little, because we have agreed that an escape to a nearby rooftop is our best choice. Even after Zira finds a magic door to the roof in the top of the elevator shaft, I agree with Jax's idea to grapple over to one of the neighboring buildings, where the security is much lower.
I manage to bypass the security on one of the shuttered windows on the 25th floor and shoot a grapple across to a rooftop lower than our current position. The rest of the team hussles down the line as I get started on spoofing the security between us and the garage under this building. At least these elevators go all the way down. Ichiro makes the call to Frank and confirms our rendezvous. A few more spoofed cameras in the garage and another whiz spell from Zira, and we're piling into Frank's van. We make a quick pass back by the target building to pick up Rascal, who I had left skulking in the garage to provide me some eyes and ears in case something started going down.
The call goes into Ms. Fung and Zira works a little healing mojo for Mirage. The cyberware the rest of us are sporting keeps her from healing us as effectively, and we are soon out of time, as Frank is dropping us off to make the handoff. We leave the packages in the care of Ms. Fung and take our leave. Most of us are a little worse for the wear and need some time at home for R&R. Before we part ways, it occurs to me to share something with the team that I noticed while we were sneaking through the high-security floors. I thought I had recognized the logos, and a quick refrence on my pocket secretary confirmed it: the facility was Saeder-Krupp owned, but, by the looks of the security, it wasn't a real high profile project. I guess they figured nobody would bother looking there.
I don't know much about corp politics, but I'd rather not have the biggest megacorp of all on my tail. I really hope there's no fallout from this run, but right now my nerves are too shot and I'm too torn up from demon wolves to care. I'm just glad I can heal up at home without worrying about the hospital.
In the end, the pay is good. Rascal and I take home 17.4 kY. Not bad for a couple of mutts.