Sunday 3/10/2060, Location:51.50211, -126.14977, Time 00:53

Rad headed back to the church, and the waiting form of Fang standing in the doorway, leaving them once more alone in the hanger which had been cleared of the various ground vehicles owned by the shadowrun teams. Kai and the rest of the team closed the place up as much as they could, worked out their watch schedule and then settled down for the night, reflecting on their mission and the events of the past few weeks. It hadn't been a long time – not in the grand scheme of things – but it HAD been very eventful and challenging, and their journey around the northern half of the Pacific Rim had been eye opening, to say the least.

Marius took first watch, and after checking the time difference made a call back to the ranch, checking in with Nadia. To say she was pleased to hear from him was an understatement, and they chatted for over an hour, he telling her about their travels and adventures in somewhat abstract terms, while she described the goings on at the ranch and how she was gradually taking over the management of the business – while Rusudan was a kind and hard-working man, neither he nor Naena, his wife, apparently had much of a head for business, which probably explained the state of the place when they'd found them. Things were turning around now though, and they were making money, which Nadia was spending almost as quickly as it came in to upgrade the ranch and grounds to make it more attractive to future visitors. Marius told Nadia that hopefully they were going to be paid in the next day or two, after which it was their intention to get home as quickly as they could – which made Nadia much happier.

The rest of the night passed without incident, the team swapping through their watch schedules and listening to the roar of traffic from the nearby highway and the odd comings and goings as various runners left or arrived back at the church, sometimes full of high spirits, sometimes bleeding profusely and seeking out April and her tender ministrations. At dawn, Tads rose as usual to welcome the new day and pay her respects to the world, calling on the spirits to help and protect her and the team during the day,

They rose and exercised, running laps around the car-park and doing some sparring and martial exercises to get a sweat on, before heading into the toilets in the church to get washed at the sinks and changed into fresh clothes before settling down for breakfast. As Kai was about to shovel a last mouthful of oatmeal into his mouth, his phone rang, the call coming from an unknown number. He contemplated for a moment, the spoon hovering in front of his mouth, before slowly descending down into the bowl, the other hand lifting the phone up and keying the answer button, then hitting the speaker icon. A rich, cultured, somewhat familiar voice rang out from the device, the speaker struggling to convey the powerful voice adequately.

"As my most esteemed colleague can tell you, we are both very… excited for how this will play out. But yes, well done. After all…. After all your hard work, I think we can both agree… we won't be forgetting you." The line went dead, the voice of Mr. Shiroi cutting off abruptly. Kai looked down at the phone and spoke.

"Thank you very much. It's been ahh… a pleasure. But we're glad the job is over and you're satisfied." He saw the others looking at him in confusion, then hit the end call button, before flipping the phone over, pulling off the back cover and then pulling the battery out. "What? Just because the phone said the call was over, doesn't mean it actually was! I just wanted to make sure. If he IS a dragon, tell me I'm being too paranoid? Go on!" Nobody cared to argue, when he put it like that. After thirty seconds, he put the phone back together and restarted it, then went back to the last mouthful of oatmeal, finishing his breakfast while he considered the words spoken to him. It seemed to indicate that there were future work opportunities for the dragon – which was potentially a very good thing. On the other hand, it also indicated that there were future work opportunities for the dragon – which was potentially a very bad thing…

Once he'd finished his breakfast and cleaned out the dish and returned it to the storage container, he dialled up the number he'd been given previously. The voice was just as polite and courteous, yet different enough that he could tell it was a different operator to the one he'd spoken to previously.

"Good morning, or at least it is here. Good evening if you're in Japan, or China. It's Kai."

"Ahh, good morning to you, Mr. Kai." He caught the sound of shuffling paper in the background, as someone once more turned over giant pieces of paper or the pages in a very large book. "How may I be of service to you?"

"I spoke to someone from your organisation the other day, and we informed them we would be heading back to Seattle. Well, we've arrived, so I'd like to set up a meeting if we can, to arrange a transfer."

"Of course sir, that will be no problem. I have resource available tomorrow evening, if that would be convenient to you?"

"Yes, tomorrow night is fine. Whereabouts should we arrange this?"

"May I suggest the ornamental garden outside the Space Needle, at dusk tomorrow?"

"Garden outside a space needle – got it."

"Very good sir. Our representative will have a yellow handkerchief, alongside a red flower."

"Yellow and red, no problem."

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that's all, thank you. Thanks – you've been very helpful."

"Then good morning, sir, I hope you have a pleasant day." The voice waited on the line, until Kai disconnected the call.

"Ok team, payment arranged tomorrow evening at dusk, at the Space Needle." Kai announced. Not being familiar with the area, it didn't mean much to anyone, and Hunter did a quick search on his deck, pulling up information from the Seattle metroplex information site.

"Wow… ok, it's kinda old. Built for some fair of some kind back in 1962, though it's been refurbished and reinforced several times. A hundred and sixty metres tall originally, it was designed to withstand windspeeds of over three hundred kilometres per hour. It was redeveloped in 2000, and again in 2048, each time raising the overall height in response to the growing height of nearby towers and offices, and now stands over six hundred metres high and has a footprint over double that of the original structure. There's a restaurant at the top called 'Eye of the Needle' and the menu looks like it only serves real food – nothing comes up that's soy-based. Oh…err… ok, there's no prices listed at all. That's generally an indicator that it's gonna be frakking expensive. It's a tourist destination, though they note that the queues can be lengthy due to security checks and scans, and the restaurant is normally booked up weeks in advance. There's a park around the base though, with plenty of access from the surrounding areas. It's in some area called 'Lower Queen Anne' which looks pretty upmarket. So, there's gonna be a lot of security around the area, and plenty of cops, I'd imagine – looks like a reasonably safe area for a meet, though we'll want to be discreet if we're taking firepower."

"Great, thanks, Hunter. So, we've got some time before then – what are we all doing?"

"I will be working on the aircraft. There is still much to repair and recertify to remove the lingering damage we have sustained."

"That going to cost much?" Kai winced.

"Not a great deal. A lot of it is time, care and attention. Minor parts replacement. But it is still likely to take me two weeks or more to recable and check all of the systems. A small budget would help with that, as I can pay for some assistance from some trustworthy people – the small Japanese girl was most useful, and the Ork was also proficient. Paying them on a daily rate to assist me will result in a faster job, and allow us to get home sooner."

"How much are we talking?"

"A few hundred Nuyen per day, each – depending on how negotiations go."

"Ahh, that shouldn't be a problem. Ok – anyone else?"

"I am going to get together with the Shaman here, the one called Fang. I think with Vadim as well, and see if we can trade some spell information and knowledge. If we're going to be here a few days, then it makes sense to see if we can get use of a lodge and learn something new that could help us out." Tads saw Kai about to speak and anticipating his question, cut him off. "I don't think it would cost much – I'm going to see if I can trade information. But like Marius, if we do have to buy anything I don't think it will be too much."

"Good, no problem. Ok, that's you three busy then. Anyone else?"

"Sorry Kai – not done. I also want to commission some new spells, maybe from Aslick back home, or Popov, that shaman in Sochi. A new spell to let us communicate better. But that is likely to be expensive, I'm not sure how much."

"Well, find a price then if you can, and let us know and we'll discuss. But, Hunter – you were about to speak?"

"I wish to purchase a larger handgun. Something very powerful. I'm hoping something that I can use to be a rational threat to spirits and other weird magic shit." Several of the team winced as he described some of the wonders of the sixth world as "magic shit", but they could understand his point – as a mundane, he was unable to see into the astral realm and really see the impact of man upon nature, or marvel at the unusual and exotic nature of many of the things they encountered – all he generally saw was the hostile nature of some of the creatures and their willingness to try and bite his face off.

"I think we should be able to find something to fit the bill somewhere in Seattle – maybe we can talk to that Rad fellow and get some pointers.

Just as Kai was about to speak again, his phone rang once more, displaying another 'CALLER UNKNOWN' message. He sighed, then accepted the call and put it on the speaker, barely registering a change of expression when he heard the equally cultured tones of Mister Kumo.

"Ahh, there you are. Congratulations are probably in order, after all – you survived and completed your mission!" Mr. Kumo's tone was different to Mr. Shiroi, yet no less powerful and alluring, and equally recognisable. I appreciate the efforts your team has gone to with furthering our aims, and you have piqued my interest. We will be watching you, in the future."

"Well, thank you – that's flattering, and terrifying, all at the same time."

"I'm sure you will do great things when properly motivated, you'll see. For now though, once you have been paid, our business is concluded. We will speak to you again in the future, I have no doubt, and I'm sure we will be just as pleased then. At least, you had better not disappoint me." The voice chilled and suddenly filled with menace, an implied threat powerful enough to Kai nervously licked his lips and his skin paled slightly.

"No, of course we won't."

"Until then, I wish you the best of health, and hope that the renumeration proves satisfactory and that you spend it wisely."

"We will do our best. I'm sure when the time comes, you'll get in touch if you have need of our services again."

"Maybe not personally, but you never know." With that the line went dead, leaving Kai and the rest of the team feeling slightly uncomfortable. Looking around at their concerned faces, Kai held up a finger and then headed over to the corner of the tilt-wing where they kept their food in the small locker opposite the primitive toilet facility. Reaching into the box of supplies he pulled out a small sheet of baking foil and with a few deft folds turned it into a triangular pocket. He sat back down, pulled the pocket open and then place the tin-foil hat over his head and beamed at them all.

"There, that's better. Totally safe now." His antics broke the mood, spreading either smiles or groans around the team. "So – we can talk to Rad about a gun, I'm sure that's no problem. And we probably want to get some replacement armour for the stuff that's been melted or damaged along the way. And maybe get some spares. What else?"

"What is likely to be cheap here? Is there anything we can buy and smuggle home to make some additional money?" Marius asked.

"Dunno – we can do some checking around. I mean, it's a big city, so I'm guessing they got a lot of stuff, but it's also surrounded and isolated, so nearly everything they have is gonna be shipped in, so that's likely to drive up prices. We'll have a look, though."

"Hey Tads – if we're getting new armour and stuff, can you put magic spells on it to make it tougher and stronger"

"I could Hunter, but it's going to be very hard. The more modern and advanced a material is, the harder it is to weave mana through it and use it to contain a spell. So any of the decent armour materials, based on what I've seen, are going to be ridiculously hard to work with. Whereas things like my staff and Shimazu's sword are pretty easy, based on the simple methods of manufacturing and production, or the naturalness of the materials."

"Oh. Right. Arse…"

"Come on, let's go see Rad and get you a gun sorted. And everyone else can either get ready to go chase down this last lead, or can crack on with their maintenance and stuff."

They split up, Kai and Hunter heading inside to explain their requirements to Rad and finding themselves directed to go and find 'Tsung'. Tsung proved to be an Asian man of mixed heritage – they couldn't place him as either Chinese or Japanese, and he didn't look like he was typical for any one nation that they'd visited. He sat in scruffy and dirty clothes in a room that had once been one of the church offices, with makeshift racks and shelves lining the walls, a large collection of guns, knives, bats and machine pistols propped up on all manner of items ranging from empty cigarette packets to tins of soy-beans. Clearly someone had once seen a profession gun display, where each item was neatly clipped onto a grid material and displayed prominently to allow buyers to examine them – but equally clearly someone had no idea or funding on how to execute that and had just 'made do'.

Tsung seemed somewhat wary about the new faces, and kept glancing at Rad for reassurance in the first minute of their visit, before starting to point out some of his "finest pieces", lighting up a fresh cigarette and gesturing around the room emphatically. Unfortunately, most of what he said was pure sales drivel and Hunter realised that the vast majority of what he sold was cheap junk, with low performance and very questionable reliability. As he checked over the guns his heart fell slightly – what he was looking for wasn't going to be found here… in fact he'd have to warn the rest of the team not to come into this place, as he didn't consider any of the firearms to be a good purchase, let alone a bargain.

Making their excuses, they left, and Hunter bought up the issue with Rad.

"Sorry mate, but all that stuff is just pure gash. Rusty pistols, lightweight stuff for purses, cheap plastic knock-offs. Who uses that stuff?"

"Oh, plenty of people do. He sometimes gets stuff in especially – claims to have contacts in the Triads or the Yakuza, but I don't think he does. Just likes to talk like he's a big man – unlike those of us that are." Rad beamed a smile at them both with utmost confidence washing over them like a tsunami. "But sometimes you need something cheap and mostly lethal for a job."

"But why? I mean, it's your GUN. You have to be able to rely on it, utterly!" Hunter seemed confused, and somewhat aghast at the idea of going anywhere near a gunfight with any of the pieces he'd seen.

"Maybe it's different for you folk – but most of the work we do is in the city, and that means near people, lots and lots of people. And that means the Star. And they've got all kinds of tricks for tracking down firearms and analysing crime scenes and checking ballistics. Sometimes you just need to put a cap in someone's ass and be able to throw the gun into the nearest drain never to be seen again. And you don't want to do that with your pride and joy, do you? No, course not." Rad didn't wait for the answer to his rhetorical question. "You want something that will work once, just well enough to get the job done, then can be thrown into a barrel of acid, or into a fire, or anything that will get rid of your DNA and sever the link between you and who you just geeked."

"I suppose. Not something we generally have to worry about out in the desert or on the Russian steppes, or halfway up a mountain."

"Didn't think so. But it's ok – I've had a call in with a guy, he should be here any minute, out the front. He might have something you really like." Rad led the way outside, and pointed them towards a dark coloured SUV that was just pulling into the car park. "Here he is now. Give me a minute to go say hello… and just be warned, he can be a bit prickly." Rad wandered over to the car as it parked up, leaving Kai and Hunter to exchange glances. The Dwarf that emerged from the driver's door dropped down to the ground and shot them a glare that appeared to have no good reason for its existence, but made it clear to them that he was quite prepared to kill them as soon as look at them. He just seemed to be a very angry, very rage-filled individual, on the edge of losing patience with anyone and anything around him, his entire body giving off some weird kind of vibe that even Hunter couldn't ignore.

Rad came over first, the dwarf stomping over behind him holding a plastic case roughly half a metre long and half that wide, the case being about ten centimetres thick.

"So, we've got something here for you that might be right for what you want." Rad gestured and the dwarf snarled slightly, but then flipped the catches and opened the lid, revealing a very large pistol. Beyond the fairly typical grip and trigger assembly, the weapon looked immediately odd – and it took a few seconds for even Hunter to work out why. The entire top section was boxy and appeared to be made of a single piece of machined metal, subtle flutings running down the side and otherwise having no ornamentation or features visible. Hunter's mind raced as he tried to work out what he was looking at – with no top slide it clearly wasn't an automatic pistol, or at least not one of a conventional design. Kai looked at it with a neutral expression, not really understanding what he was looking at, just seeing an unusual-looking pistol. A questioning look appeared on Hunter's face and a finger pointed at it, but Rad spoke before the question could be asked.

"Yeah, it's a Gyrojet pistol. FN-AAL, 6mm rockets armed with standard penetrator heads and standard load of propellant should be good for targets out to about a hundred metres. Not super concealable, but not that much bigger than something like a Predator or one of the other workhorses. Ten round clip, semi-auto trigger and it comes with a Smartlink induction pad built in. This one's clean – never been fired, never been out of the box."

"What about the rockets? Can we get ammo with it?" The dwarf snarled and spat on the floor, then looked up at Rad and held up five fingers on his right hand, while the left cradled the box protectively.

"This can come with two magazines and fifty rounds of ammo."

"Hey, is this the- OW?" Kai cut off as Hunter accidently kicked him on the ankle bone firmly.

"Yes, this is a nice pistol, Kai. Hush a minute and don't waste his time. How much?" The dwarf examined him suspiciously and then held up three fingers.

"Three thousand including the ammo and case."

"I'll take it. Kai, if you can sort payment please?" Kai glared at Hunter for a moment then made a show of rubbing his right ankle against his left leg briefly, before pulling out his credstick. The dwarf sealed up the case, then held it over to Hunter to take, before pointing at Rad and snarling something under his breath.

"Right, yes, I'll take payment and forward it on to the vendor. Thanks Kai, yeah, just slot it into the terminal." The dwarf was stomping back towards his vehicle and pulled the door open, then laboriously climbed up into the high cab, legs struggling with the distance. Rad caught his attention and shook his head discreetly, his features moving slightly as he mouthed a 'no' towards him. He checked the credit had been debited from the credstick into his account and then turned and gave the vehicle a thumbs up. A moment later the engine roared into life and it pulled out onto the road jerkily, swerving back and forth as the driver struggled with the 'oversized' controls and to see over the dashboard. "He's touchy, really touchy. Very useful, but has…anger issues, let's say. Don't get me wrong, if he got into a fight with you, he'd lose, I'm sure. But it'd make a hell of a mess along the way, and I'd lose a useful contact."

"You do have some interesting people in your circle of friends, Rad." Kai looked up at Rad who just beamed at him, as if he'd been paid a compliment. "Now – Hunter? What was that kick for?"

"We didn't need him to know about any of our other shopping and what we might have, which is what you were aiming at, wasn't it?" Hunter saw Kai nod, and was glad that he'd intervened. "Yeah, thought so. Could have pushed the price up a chunk, or he could have wanted to keep it and buy the ammo from us. I just wanted to make sure we stuck to the deal." He saw Rad look at him with a calculating look, but declined to explain further. "I think the gun was pricy enough as it was – but worth if for the lack of hassle and trouble it was to get. So let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

Back in the church, Tads had sought out Fang the shaman, Vadim trailing along behind her and examining everything with interest. They sat down cross-legged on the floor, Fang providing them with some clean water and started negotiations. Vadim listened carefully as the two shamans sounded each other out, carefully working out their ethos and morality with roundabout discussions, anecdotes and tales. Tads discovered that Fang was from the Amazonian jungle, where she'd lived on the edge of the protected lands working under her mentor and trainer, doing forays into the coastal enclaves and protecting the land – until one day he'd informed her that he'd had a vision quest that revealed great danger to Amazonia, danger that had its roots thousands of kilometres distant, in the far-flung city of Seattle. So she'd packed her bag and made her way here, learning much about this strange place and trying to find out what possible scheme or plan could be affecting her homeland. In return Tads described her walk across Asia, down from near the Arctic Circle all the way down to the Trans-Caucus League and her eventual 'capture'.

Vadim listened attentively and the curiosity was evident on his face as she described being locked away in the cell. He knew she was more powerful than he was, that she'd grown hugely in her ability to control the spirits of the land and sky in her last year, in how powerful she was with channelling and controlling mana into her various spells. But even without that recent growth – how could simple guerrillas without magical support have contained her? The answer struck him like a thunderbolt – a sudden realisation of facts so obvious he couldn't understand how he'd not seen them before… she had allowed herself to be captured, and to remain so. She almost certainly could have broken out at any point – but she had believed that this was where her totem had led her, and she had trusted it implicitly. The totem had a plan for her, and she was willing to play her part and follow the path set out for her by Elk, trusting it to protect her, and to support her as she protected others.

Vadim sat back and thought long and hard about this, barely keeping up with negotiations between the other two shaman as they discussed uses of lodges, training in specific spells and quests to the metaplanes to exchange knowledge and strengthen each other to help them walk the paths laid out for them by their respective totems. It was as if a door had been opened in his mind, with a flood of new concepts rushing in to be examined. His magical nature was still new enough that it was a wonderous thing to him, and he knew how much he had to learn and develop, and he wondered why Tads had never tried to explain this to him before, then realised that even if she had, he probably wouldn't have understood – and that this was something he needed to discover and learn for himself.

With a jolt he realised the others had stopped talking and were both looking at him.

"Sorry – I was thinking about my totem…"

"No worries, Vadim. Fang has agreed to help me, and train me in some of her spells – and that means going to her lodge to do a quest to the metaplanes. It's likely we'll be in a trance for some time, maybe as much as a whole day. Would you be willing to come and watch over us?"

"Of course! And I take it that your lodge is your personal space, and you don't want to share it's location with just anyone?" Fang nodded at him. "No problem. Let me grab some supplies and I'll be right back." He rolled to his feet and headed for the door, catching Fang speak quietly as he left the room.

"So where did you pick him up from?" Vadim smiled as he headed down the corridor. Some would have been worried about people talking behind their backs, prying into their details – but he knew that Tads would be truthful and honest, but also discreet and careful with what she said. Enough to be polite and reassure Fang that he was trustworthy with the location of her lodge, but circumspect enough not to betray his confidences with her. He started to make a mental checklist as he headed back to the tilt-wing, working out what he'd need for a twenty four hour guard post… blanket, cushion, water, piss-bag, rations, battery unit, his rifle and some ammo…

Aswon and Shimazu borrowed a vehicle from Rad and headed out, following directions to get them to an outdoors activity store in a huge mall at the southern edge of the Everett district. They left most of their gear in the truck, being careful to set the anti-theft systems to the highest and most paranoid level before heading into the vast edifice to consumerism. Once in the store Aswon zeroed in on the hunting section, and began a careful search for the supplies he was after. Soon enough he'd picked out two large ghillie suits, one for him and one for Hunter that would provide low-tech but effective concealment in a wide variety of rural terrains. After an hour of searching through the huge store he was forced to seek help though, and found an eager young store assistant wearing the bright green uniform for the chain store.

"Hello, miss. I need help sourcing a particular item for a hunting trip. I am Aswon."

"No problem sir! My name's Natalie, and I'm happy to help. What was it you were looking for?"

"I see you have armoured clothing here, some even from the Wild Hunt line, which is my favoured brand. However, I cannot find any in the correct size, and also I would like the additional massaging liner along with some other features."

"Oh, that's no problem. If you'll follow me to the customer service desk, I can help you with that."

She led him over to the desk and logged into the terminal there, bringing up the online catalogue and then showing him the full range of products.

"Now we can get all of these in, but given your height we may have to get something modified for you – I expect that's a common thing you being so tall. But we can absolutely do that for you, for just a small surcharge. And as you see here, all of these have the option for the massaging liners, as requested. Did you say you wanted something else as well though?"

"Yes. Thermal baffles. We are going to a location where the game is very adept at spotting using thermal signatures, so I need some additional concealment and protection to make a clean kill."

"Oh – oh my. That sounds exciting. I'd quite like to do something like that one day. Let me see now…" She tapped away on the keyboard, selecting menus and options and pulling together the packages needed to build the thermal regulators, heat pipes, batteries and gel packs necessary to provide cooling for the suit and mask a person's thermal signature – at least for a while, until the equipment had absorbed so much energy it needed to dissipate that and recharge.

"The beasts also have a tendency to spit, a very acidic and corrosive substance. Is there anything we can do about that?"

"Well sir, all of our clothing here comes with a basic acid resistance doping layer added – it is Seattle after all. But that can be applied in more concentrated form as well, so that's not a problem." She tapped away some more, adding the deluxe chemical sealant option to the suit and then her face went somewhat blank. "Oh, I didn't realise that it got… well sir, I have a price for all that." She seemed to brace, and Aswon and Shimazu tensed themselves. Taking a deep breath, Aswon made a motion for her to continue and braced himself for the worst. "Well sir, it's almost six thousand Nuyen!"

Aswon blinked at her for a moment, wondering what the problem was, then mentally kicked himself. She was probably only just past eighteen, and that was likely to be a good chunk of her yearly salary – and she'd possibly also never been hunted or shot at, and lacked the same appreciation for spending money on gear designed to keep you alive.

"That's fine. I can put a deposit down if required."

"Oh, ok then. Oh – and I'm sorry – I should have mentioned as well that there's a delay on this. It's going to take AGES to come in as well, as it's a custom job!" Aswon let out his breath as a sigh – here it was.

"And how long will that take?"

"Well, it says here it won't be available until tomorrow lunchtime!" Aswon blinked at her fearful expression, and once more had to adjust his worldview. After assuring her that this was acceptable, he handed over his SIN for her to register the order and complete the process, as well as take the deposit.

"Ok, that's gone through, Mr. Asika." A frown crossed her face. "It says here Mr. Obi Asika? Not Aswon?" She looked confused for the moment, clearly not understanding what was going on. Shimazu coughed politely, attracting her attention.

"It's a tribal custom. Think of it like a title – it's like say he's Doctor Smith. Doctor isn't his name, but it's a position of honour." Shimazu moved forward slightly and gently pushed Aswon to one side before he felt the need to correct him and ruin his explanation. "Don't worry, we get it all the time – nobody seems to understand when we book a taxi or a table at a restaurant. But it's an easy mistake to make. Very different customs over in Europe, you see." The sales assistant nodded, accepting the lie that Shimazu trotted out, and being so ignorant about foreign countries that she didn't even wonder what part of Europe it was that Africa was in…

With the order placed, they headed out of the outdoors shop and found trade counter for a construction company, and from there picked up a set of helmets for each of the team, along with fitted respirators designed for working in confined spaces such as painting booths or sewer tunnels. These were stock items, and easily obtained – and relatively cheap to purchase legitimately. They took a trip back to the vehicle to stash the purchases so far, then headed back in and found themselves in 'Weapons World', a gun store that had a vast catalogue of small arms, accessories and ammunition available. They spent a little while just window-shopping, amazed at the variety of hardware on offer, before Shimazu tried to purchase some ammunition for his own pistol and ran into issues. It appeared that very specific permits were required to purchase the tungsten-coated armour-piercing rounds he was after, and no matter how many times he described the heavily armoured juggernaut critters that they were going hunting, the answer remained a resolute no. Until he could provide the permit, he couldn't even order any ammunition in, let alone make the purchase. Even his attempts to indicate that 'bonus pay' might be on offer were firmly rebuffed, and he backed out before the matter was escalated to the authorities.

They headed back to the church, marvelling again at just how long it took to get anywhere in Seattle, where despite having highways six lanes wide on either side of the barrier, they were often reduced to a crawl or even a standstill for extended periods of time. It gave them time to examine the city around them though, spotting Lone Star drones and patrol units chasing gangs and the occasional bit of highway violence as motorbikes weaved through traffic chasing one another, much to the alarm of regular commuters.

Returning back to the church, they found Nim, the young Japanese girl, once more working with Marius, her arms deeply embedded into consoles as she delicately reconnected jumpers and made sure chips were firmly inserted while Marius ran through test routines and calibration.

As they settled down for their evening meal, Aswon looked around and couldn't spot Tads or Vadim anywhere. When he queried the rest of the team, nobody recalled seeing them for several hours, though Marius noted that they had gone in to see the shaman at the church. Aswon inserted his ear-bud and made sure the throat microphone was properly sited, then enabled his commlink.

"Tads, Vadim – can you hear me? Are you ok?"

"Aswon, it's Vadim. Tads is on a quest to see her totem, using a lodge she has arranged access to. She's not responsive at the moment, though she is fine. Is it urgent? She taught me how to pinch her and try to get her back?"

"No no no! Don't do that – I was just concerned where you both are?"

"Ah, no problems. We have food, water, blankets and other supplies, and I have my weapon and ammo. We also have spirits on guard."

"Are you close by? Do you need help?"

"I would prefer not to say, as it's not our lodge and I think the person it belongs to would prefer people not know about it. But we're fine. We're likely to be here tonight and well into tomorrow – she's been out of her body now for most of the day, but I've been checking her body for damage and distress, and she appears absolutely normal."

"Ok, well… assuming you're in the city, call on the normal phone rather than the radio if you need us, as we'll likely not have comms range if we're travelling about, but we should all be in cell-signal range."

"Da."

Reassured, Aswon took the radio off and stowed it away carefully, then settled down to dinner. While they were eating, Kai checked with Hunter on his medical situation, making sure he still had an adequate supply of anti-coagulants on hand.

"I've got a reasonable supply, but we don't exactly have the best storage in here. The little fridge thing is ok, but it's not consistent, or that cold. So if you've happy, we should get some more in – perhaps we could go and talk to April to see if she has a source?"

"I disagree." Aswon dropped his fork back into his bowl and looked around the group. "Not about getting you supplies – but about doing a job for April. Or at least doing a job for April at this time. We still don't know the city well, or the politics of this place. We're not used to operating in this environment and we really could do with some downtime after the last few weeks. The last thing I want us doing is trying a break in to some corporate facility that we don't have time to scope out, getting some high value goods that calls down a massive pile of shit on us."

"You have a point – so what do we do instead?" Kai asked.

"Talk to Rad, or the bloke who runs the church maybe – he seems to arrange jobs. I'm sure he can point us in the right direction to get some on the black market or through back channels somewhere. But we should keep a low profile if we can, and actually try and rest a little and work on our supplies and situation. Speaking of which – Tads and Vadim are off doing magical research and won't be back until tomorrow. But I want to get everyone else… maybe not you, Marius, we can just take your measurements, but get all the rest of us and go find a corporate tailor somewhere and get us some new armoured clothing that we can use when we're under our cover IDs. Something matching, and a bit more upmarket than the stuff we got in Batumi."

"Sounds ok. Might help sell the cover stories a little better, or get us into things like parties and fund-raising gigs. Ok, let's do that tomorrow morning, then move down to this bar and find our next decker. Hopefully by tomorrow night Tads and Vadim will be done with their magical stuff, and Marius will have fixed the bird so we're good to go, and then we can work out what we're doing."

They finished their dinner, chatting and joking and telling stories of what they'd seen and done that day, then tidied themselves up. After they'd relaxed for a bit, they headed south from the church to the large industrial unit that lay on the river side of the road, looking for the owner- a fellow that went by the name of 'Eyes'. Eyes turned out to be a human of average height and weight with a pronounced French accent, packing a rigger deck powerful enough to make Marius tingle as soon as they entered the building. Accompanying him was a Native American female, lithe and wiry and with light grey eyes, carrying an electronics toolkit on one hip and a pair of throwing tomahawks on the other.

The warehouse had been converted heavily – instead on a massive open space for handling goods, it had been divided up into a patchwork maze of rooms, corridors, open spaces overlooked by catwalks and small crawlspaces, with huge numbers of doors, ladders, cables, security systems, lockable doors, pressure pads and sensors scattered throughout. Everything was second hand, possibly third, and no two items matched through the warehouse. But, Eyes must have been an ingenious fellow, as everything was wired up with a custom program that allowed him to simulate a variety of environments, and allow a team of people to practice a whole range of nefarious talents – sneaking across a courtyard and avoiding the rotating security camera, climbing the utility cables to reach a first floor balcony and then defeating the electronic lock on a sliding door to gain access to a room, then performing a search to locate a floor safe and pick the lock to recover the contents in one area, working to get past some automated robot sentries and then use low powered rounds to take out a static dummy simulating a VIP in another. Shimazu reported that many of the walls were warded at one level or another, and some of the walls even had some guardian vines growing on them, providing a workout for any astral intruders.

Eyes and Maisie, the native American, apparently ran the place as a training academy for Shadowrunners, covered as a combination escape-room or team building activity centre for corporate functions according to the city business registry. They even saw several of the runners from the church working out in a gym area with large padded blades and practicing weird moves like forward rolls through a window opening while their SMG was held tightly into their body, rising up into a crouch with the weapon ready to shoot after they had landed.

Rad had called ahead and booked them a slot, still apparently pleased with his new underground lair, and had organised a training session for them, and the team spent the next four hours running up against an increasingly tougher set of challenges and obstacles that taxed their teamwork and skills considerably. By the end of the night when the team returned to the hanger to check on the tilt-wing and get some rest, they were all shattered. Tads and Vadim were still elsewhere, so they settled down to get a good nights sleep, ready for another day of meetings and shopping on the Monday.

The shamen were still not back by the morning, and after a quick check in with a very sleepy-sounding Vadim, they breakfasted, exercised, cleaned up, and got ready to head out. Their first port of call was a corporate outfitters on the northern edge of the Downtown district called Randolph's. Dropped off by the large SUV taxi on the main strip, they found their target located down a narrow alleyway between a jewellery store and an upmarket hair salon, advertised only by a small brass plaque screwed to the wall. As the team entered an elderly gentleman stood from behind the counter and came to great them, apparently unphased as Kai, Aswon, Hunter and Shimazu filed into the store from the outer alleyway.

"Good morning, gentlemen. May one be of service?"

"Good morning. My name is Dr. Arban Erdene, and I'm with Médecins Sans Frontières. We're in Seattle for a short visit, and will be attending a fund-raising gala, a private event. Unfortunately, we're missing part of our luggage – a mix up at the airport it seems - and that means our formal wear is missing. Maybe in London. Maybe in New York. Wherever it is, we're unlikely to get it back in time. So, we're hoping to get some replacements, something conservative, but stylish. And asking around some of our corporate sponsors, you come highly recommended."

"Ahh, most excellent. Please, come this way." He led them further into the shop, pulling aside a heavy red curtain to reveal another room with a large central dais, racks of clothing and a few fitting rooms. "Harvey! Tea for five, and two ee-pee chairs." A concealed door in the rear wall opened, and a younger version of their host appeared, neatly dressed in his suit and with a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles that must have had only cosmetic value perched on the end of his nose. "Now then, let us see. Something conservative. Hmm." He ran his hand down a fabric swatch book then flipped it open. "How about some Royal Docks triple worsted? A fairly timeless classic, breathable and sturdy, and available with a variety of ballistic weave liners. Goes very nicely with our Ivy League range of shirts…."

'Harvey' appeared through the doorway, pushing in two large chairs on rollers. Each was sturdy and large enough to seat a troll, and one was delivered to Hunter, and the other to Shimazu, ensuring that they could sit comfortably while they waited. Kai – or "Dr. Erdene" outlined the fictional details of the gala they were attending, and also included Tads and Marius in his descriptions, claiming that they were checking out the venue and the surrounding area along with the on-site security. By the time he'd finished spinning this line of golden-bullshit, Harvey had returned with a small trolley containing a tea-set and a small silver plate of biscuits.

"Where are my manners, do forgive me? I'm Maurice Randolph, and this is my son, Harvey. We sometimes forget that not everyone is a regular customer, though we hope of course that we'll see you again. We pride ourselves on our repeat clients, you see. Now, if perhaps I can work through some basic details, and we can commence."

Maurice took a sip of tea, then smiled with genuine appreciation and gave Harvey a gracious nod.

"Excellent char, Harvey. Excellent. Now – Dr. Erdene, one presumes that you are the principal speaker and titular head of the expedition. As such, we should perhaps add just a touch of extra to your suit."

"May I suggest the diamond-line stitching?" Harvey suggested. "Just a touch of sparkle to the button holes and the seams, so subtle it's almost unseen, but adds a touch of mystery?"

"Yes, a most excellent suggestion. Now, the two members who cannot be present, one assumes we have their measurements?" Hunter held up a pad and nodded. "And one is to assume that we have your chauffeur and magical specialist? Hmm?" Hunter grinned broadly and Aswon had to struggle not to smile. "Then are we wishing to have a robe for your magical practitioner, or to go with a level of unity and remain with a traditional suit?"

"I think a suit would be best. A unified image I think presents a certain style, and I'm sure will look all the more impressive in clothing of a quality such as you produce." Kai laid it on thick, and then took a nibble of his biscuit, washing it down with a sip of the milky tea he'd been served.

Maurice worked around the team, enquiring into their roles and confirming that the two larger members were indeed 'executive protection' officers as each stepped up onto the dais in turn to be measured or have their measurements confirmed. They were measured up quickly and efficiently, without ever feeling rushed, and Kai watched with interest as they moved and manipulated the team around without touching them, but with absolute surety and confidence. It was interesting, and he saw many of the same subtle tells and movements he used to direct a conversation to his will, and he wondered if they'd been formally trained or had just acquired the skills over the years.

Even when Hunter enquired rather bluntly about somewhere to store his sword, they didn't bat an eyelid. In fact, it was Hunter that was surprised when they just pulled open a drawer and drew out two different styles of scabbards – one that hung at an angle and was reminiscent of a medieval knight's cross-draw sheath, whilst the second hung the blade much more vertically, reminiscent of a cavalry officer's dress sabre. Shimazu, who had been shaking his head at Hunter for making what he'd thought was an request likely to cause issues suddenly found himself refocussed, and moved over to examine the scabbards more opened the flood-gates for further questions, and soon the two 'protection officers' had their suits upgraded with pockets suitable to hide easy-activate flash packs, a scabbard in each style and a more generous fit to conceal a heavier pistol on the under-arm integrated holster.

That, of course, added some further customisation charges, and as the suits already started at two and a half thousand Nuyen each, pushed the bill up considerably. But, Kai was happy to put down a deposit on the suits, knowing that appearing smartly dressed like this was going to open many doors further down the line.

When their fitting was complete, Kai asked if they could possibly arrange for a taxi down towards the Sea-Tac airport, claiming that they needed to at least go and lodge a formal complaint about their missing luggage, and Maurice helpfully ordered them in a taxi down to the Tacoma area. Soon enough they were on their way south through the city, able to relax in the up-market cab and gawk like any other tourists at the downtown area, listening to the automated tour information as they went. As they closed on the International airport, Kai requested a destination change, supplying the address for Grungi's bar, a little way further south towards the docks.

They arrived just after one in the afternoon, the cab depositing them in a run-down and dirty industrial area with a constant roar of traffic from the nearby elevated section of the I5. They could smell the docks, along with pollutants and chemicals from the surrounding industries, which Hunter helpfully catalogued for them. Grungi's bar was a three-storey building, the bar having a residential unit stacked on top of it by appearances. They exterior was grimy and run-down, the polarised glass scratched and discoloured to the point that it would have been surprising if anyone could see through it from either side. The name 'Grungi's' was displayed over the door in neon letters, and at some point a badly printed sign had been added saying 'No drifters'.

Pushing open the door and heading inside, their eyes took a moment to adjust, even those with enhanced vision, it was so dark and dingy. A bar ran down the east wall, a few booths were on the back wall, flanking the door to the toilets, and a few games lined the west wall. Otherwise, there was room only for a tiny stage that might have fitted two people if they were very close, and some room for bar stools and serious drinkers. There were only four people in the bar – two drinking at the bar and looking the worse for wear already, a barman wearing a stained and grubby tank top, and an ork sitting in one of the booths towards the back of the room. They headed over to the bar, and Kai asked for four beers, watching as some glasses that looked mostly clean were filled from the taps with frothing amber liquid.

"What are those?" Kai asked, pointing at some pink packets hanging from a strip behind the bar.

"Soy-oinks," the barman muttered, grabbing a pack as Kai gestured for him to add one to their order. Kai studied the pack with fascination, especially the marketing slogan which claimed the product would 'make your tail go curly'. "That's twenty-two fifty." Kai pulled out his credstick and watched the barman debit the total, then flinched slightly as the man belched loudly at him as it was returned, one hand thrusting down the crotch of his trousers to have a good scratch. "Hey – did you get their number?" He seemed to be looking at Hunter now, rather than Kai, and the ork stopped his suspicious sniffing of the 'beer' and turned to look at the barman.

"What?"

"The number. Did you get it?"

"What number? I don't know what you mean?"

"The number of the truck that smashed your face." The barman grinned, revealing a row of green and rotting teeth and as he roared with laughter at his 'joke' Hunter quickly shut down his olfactory booster, finding it completely unnecessary to determine a case of very bad breath.

"I take it you're Grungi?" Kai asked, glad that Hunter, as usual, seemed completely uncaring about insults to his looks.

"Yeah, it's my place. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"We're looking for work – we were told this was a place we could meet someone."

"Oh, you're some of them. Figures." He sniffed, then pointed towards the back of the room and the ork. "You wanna go see Trophy." Kai looked down at him and spotted the mostly empty beer, then grabbed his untouched glass and headed down that way. Grungi called out after him – "Hey! Don't make a mess in my bar!"

"Why, would you notice?" Hunter asked as he wandered past, leaving the angry barman behind him as he followed Kai down towards the booth. Kai had stopped a pace or two short of the table, waiting for Trophy to look up and then offered him the beer.

"Toilets are through the door, unless you're looking for something else?"

"Afternoon. Name's Kai – I hear you're a good person to talk to about work of a certain kind."

"Maybe. Siddown." Trophy gestured to the other side of the booth and watched as Kai slid in, followed by Aswon. He quickly glanced up and checked over Shimazu and Hunter, as they settled in place behind the other seat, then turned back to face Kai.

"You come recommended. A friend of ours, an elf that goes by the name 'Rad' sent us down to see you. Said you might be able to help."

"Tall gangly fella, green mohawk? Rides with the Ancients?" Trophy paused and watched Kai nod in confirmation. "'kay, yeah, I know him. So – what are you after?" Kai leaned back and looked up at Hunter, making a small gesture to him. Hunter in turn performed his speech again, delivering the same pitch as he had to Rad and the pair of Twins at the bar with the strange puppet. Trophy listened carefully, then slowly drew out his phone from his inside pocket and hit speed dial number four. While it was ringing, he looked back at Kai.

"Sounds simple enough. One thou intro fee." Kai nodded, hoping that it was going to be worth it. As he slid a credstick over for Trophy to debit the funds, Trophy pushed the phone over to Kai, just in time for Kai to hear a voice at the other end.

"Hello, my name is Kai. I'm here with Trophy, and he's recommended you for a job. Who am I speaking to?"

"You can call me CAD. Wassup chummer?" The voice sounded cocking and a little arrogant, similar to Rad in many ways, but lower and with more rumble.

"Let me pass you onto my decker, who can explain things much better…" Hunter rolled his eyes, but reached down to take the phone from Kai, and once more repeated his pitch. At least this time he could get technical about the job, adding in what he thought it would involve from the decker's point of view.

While Hunter was talking, Shimazu spotted Trophy going ever so slightly glassy-eyed, and realised he'd dropped into astral. A moment later he felt the faint 'tickle' as someone tried to read his aura, subtly probing at him. Shimazu dropped into astral himself and stared back at Trophy, making sure he had been spotted, and then deliberately dropped his masking, revealing the strength of his magical aura. He saw Trophy stiffen in surprise, the subtle probing stopping immediately. Aswon caught the flash of power from the corner of his eye, and turned to glance at Shimazu, and then Trophy. He smiled broadly, lips pulling back to reveal the massive lion fangs implanted into his smile, then he, too, dropped his masking for a moment, letting the ork see the power of his aura, too. While Trophy was distracted by Aswon, Shimazu got a good read on him, assessing him as a physical adept with some knowledge, and perhaps a very low level of magical initiation. He might have some surprises, but Shimazu was pretty certain he could take him out in one hit if need be…

Hunter finished speaking and passed the phone back to Kai.

"So Mr. CAD – does this sound like an opportunity you can assist us with?" Kai asked, spotting the change in demeanour of the fixer, but not spotting the change from Aswon and Shimazu.

"Could do. So what's your cut – and is the Johnson paying or are you?"

"There's no cut for us. We're not charging for this, or getting involved financially."

"What the frak? What do you mean there's no cut? I don't understand?"

"It's not always about the money. Sometimes favours, influence, reputation – they can all be worth more."

"You say so, chummer. Me – I like Nuyen, and lots of it. Ok, we can work something I 'spose."

"Good, Mr. CAD. Very good. Now, we'll need to meet you to discuss the final terms."

"Meet? Like… really meet? Face to face? In meat space? Are you MENTAL? Like… close enough to touch?"

"Yes, substantively, that's what we need. We have been instructed that the agents of the people we are arranging this for have some concerns about their communications security. So they will need to meet with you to hand over the data or requests. Once communications are established, I'm sure you'll be able to come to some other arrangements."

"I don't like it. Not at all. But… you're with Trophy, right now? TROPHY? WHAT'S THIS?"

"It's ok, CAD. They've been vouched for." Trophy called out, just loudly enough for the microphone to pickup his voice and relay to CAD.

"Alright. I suppose. One hour's time – Tacoma Mall. Fourth floor, outside the McRonalds. Get me a large chocolate shake with sprinkles."

"Very well, we'll see you there." Kai hit the disconnect button and handed the phone back to Trophy, who still had a slightly surprised look on his face for some reason. "Are you ok there, Trophy?"

"Yeah, yeah. Ok, I caught that, you're off to meet him – null sweat. But listen – if you guys are up for some work, I might have something for you. Should be a walk in the park.

"Oh? What kind of work?"

"I normally deal with critters and para-critters. Got a job for a retrieval on something rare and a bit dangerous, if you're interested."

"We may be, but we'll have to attend this meeting first and make sure that gets resolved."

"And we can't take a mission outside of the city at the moment" Shimazu added, frowning down at the top of Kai's head as he sat in the seat in front of him. After a moment he sighed – it really shouldn't have come as a surprise that Kai was contemplating another 'little mission' for someone they'd only just met.

"No, that's not a prob. Just be a trip down to the barrens. Easy."

"Well, we'll consider it, when we return. Now – can you tell me where this Tacoma Mall is?"

"You serious?"

"Yes Mr Trophy – we're new here. No idea what it is or where, though I'm guessing we're at least in the right district. "

"Yeah, yeah you are. It's about eight klicks north of here. Just head up I5 and look for the signs – you can't miss it."

"Oh – right. If we're heading up the freeway, I guess we'd better get going then, based on how traffic has been so far. Come on team, let's go get a chocolate milkshake."

"Don't forget the sprinkles!" Hunter added, as they nodded to Trophy and turned to leave the bar, ignoring the barman who stared at them as they filed past.