Previously on Shadowrun….
Shadowhawk’s Safe House, Ute Sector Denver, Early Morning
The Walker, Tex and Shadowhawk quickly touched based with Arc and Zero, who had remained behind to act as backup and continue to hunt down leads.
Arc had briefly seen the news about JD’s assassination, but had switched channels before seeing the digitalised impressions of the Indian Elf, Chinese Ork and a fairly good likeness of Walker. The three were listed as potential witnesses wanted for questioning. The news report made it clear that they were not suspects and that their assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Knowing that Karen from Ares Seattle would not be impressed with the results of the night’s action, Walker turned his comlink off.
Shadowhawk, realised that they would need some more ‘muscle’, particularly if magic was involved. He contacted the Padre, an actual priest from the Aurora Warrens. The Padre organised for Kitten to be transported to Shadowhawk’s safe house. Kitten, an ex-pit fighter, whose appearance had been radically altered to make her look like a human tiger, was a wild card. Her reputation for being… unstable meant that she was generally only used in worse case scenarios.
Kitten arrived and the team quickly determined that their next viable lead was Gomez, the undercover operative from the Confederacy. Gomez was undercover as a Fixer and was basing himself out of a hotel/casino in the Aztlan sector. The team suited up, travelling light due to the heavy weapon restrictions and tight security in Aztlan.
Ares Compound, Bellevue, Seattle Metroplex 8:00 AM
Karen King, Division Head Ares Seattle, was going over a daily brief with Mel Cozi, her vice-president Ares Arms Sales Pacific North-west, in her office. A loud commotion was heard in the reception area. “You can’t go in there’, her executive assistance vainly cried out.
The door pushed open and three men marched into the room. Each wore a military style uniform, crisp and clean cut. The lead agent, a veteran that Karen knew well, presented his badge.
“Ms King, Agent-in-Charge Graham McHughes, AAMSD” (Ares Arms Military Systems Division)
“Graham, I know who you are, you report to me. Now what are you doing? What is this about?”
“Ms King, the AAMSD reports to the CEO and the Board. We may liaise with your office and provide assistance as required, but never ever make the mistake that we answer to you”
Karen stood quickly, her mind working at a thousand miles a second. Something was wrong.
“Ms King, I am taking you into custody for questioning on the matter involving the assassination of Janet Douglas, Ares Arms Division Head, Denver”.
Karen was briefly shocked. No one had told her, she had seen nothing on the news. “How?” was all she managed.
“We’ll ask the questions Ms King. Now, I would like you to come with me. Out of respect for your position, your questioning will take place in my office. Your involvement in this issue will be kept quiet. But if you do not co-operate, then I will be forced to treat you like any other malcontent.”
“Damien will not stand for this Graham” King reminded the agent.
“My orders come directly from the Chairman himself and last time I checked, the Board trumped Mr Knight. Now come with me. “
As Karen was lead out of her own office, she spared a glance to Mel Cozi. Mel had been quiet during the whole time and had shown no reaction to the intrusion or the news of the shocking murder of an Ares executive. Catching her eye, Mel gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry Karen; I’ll give the General a call. He’ll sort this out”.
As Karen left, Mel shared a glance with Graham and made a call.
Ares Arms Situational Room, CAS Sector, Denver 8:30 AM
Rex, a Texan Troll and former ‘security advisor’ to the now deceased Janet Douglas, stood in the heart of the Ares Event Situation Room. The platform he stood on was surrounded with monitors, each showing a different scene from around Denver. Dozens of technicians were jacked in around him, analysing the flow of data and keeping him informed of highlights from a massive city wide investigation. All Confederate security cameras were routing their footage through the Situation Room, and access to eye cams from operatives and a number of drones. His men had just finished gaining access to all the cameras on the Denver rail line and were ‘negotiating’ with Lone Stars systems in the UCAS sector. Advanced software was running facial recognition checks against all footage. On the ground, his official forces included almost every detective that Knight Errant could spare and a sizable number of shadow operatives throughout Denver. If Pramed Nebe or his crew made a move, Rex would find them.
*Bzzzt* A call came into Rex’s commlink. Waving his hands, he ordered everyone to clear the room. As the last of the techs left, the two largest monitors flicked on and revealed the callers.
“Mr Aurellius, Mr Knight”
“Rex, give us your status report” Damien Knight requested.
Rex outlined the steps that had been taken since the murder of Janet Douglas last night. “… and we are fairly certain that they took the train out of the Confederate sector less than 20 minutes after the incident. The security footage from the station has been wiped, but the men working the checkpoint have identified them. We believe they made their way to one of the NAN sectors, but the Indians have been less the helpful, so we aren’t certain which sector.”
“Who are they working for Rex? Why kill Janet?”
“Well, Mr Knight, I’m not so sure they did. Our TOMs are fairly sure some sort of ritual magic was used, but they can’t tell us what type. They can only describe it as ‘alien’, neither shamanic nor hermetic. Now maybe Nebe and his team where involve, maybe not. But I admit, it sure looks damn suspicious.”
“I am sure Karen King will tell us who they really work for,” Leonard Aurellius butted in.
“Karen, what’s Karen got to do with this Leo?” Damien demanded
“AAMSD took her into custody this morning. She organised the meeting between this Nebe character and Janet. For all we know, Karen may have turned on us Knight. Your people can’t be trusted.” Aurellius sounded particularly satisfied.
“Leo”, growled Damien, “Karen is still an executive and trusted member of this organisation”
“Oh, she’ll be treated well Knight. Until she cracks and tells us who she’s really working for”, Leonard chimed back.
“Hrrm… “, Rex cleared his throat, “There is the matter of the nuclear device that Nebe was asking about.”
“Why are you leading this investigation”, replied Leonard, ignoring the question. “Knight, surely we have more competent people to take care of these things?”
“Rex spent years running the Denver shadows Leo, before he took Janet’s offer. Leave this in the hands of the local experts” Damien replied.
“Rex, your report said that Janet mentioned Elizabeth’s involvement in the Confederate deal. Is Elizabeth a target?”
“Sir, the Confederate member of the Council of Denver, has not returned my call directly, but her… man.. De Sade assures me that her security has been stepped up. Oh, and he offered a State Funeral for Janet”.
“Hmm… would be good for our image in the Confederacy, but may impact our Indian sales. No, will move the body back here to Detroit and make the remembrance in house, motivate the staff, the whole ‘it’s what Janet would want us to do’ deal” muttered Aurellius as he rubbed his chin in consideration.
“Organise it Rex.”
“Rex, give us an update in three hours” Damien requested.
“And it better show some progress dammit”, threatened Aurellius.
The two screens went black.
Rex took of his 10-galleon hat and rubbed his head. Not only was this proving a difficult investigation, with all the recorded footage going missing, but now it seemed likely that it would be caught between the two egos of Damien Knight and Leonard Aurellius. Neither seemed all that interested in Janet or why she was murdered. They just wanted the matter wrapped up, justice and vengeance to be publicly served, and then to move on. Rex wasn’t keen on that. Oh, he’d get the Nebe, but he would also find the truth. Janet deserved justice, and Rex was going to get it for her.
Aztlan Central Station 9:00 AM
The train station for the Aztlan sector was faux stone blocks. Aztec imagery was engraved in the fake stone walls, giving the station the feeling of being inside an ancient temple. There was none of the normal graffiti, and no Universal Brotherhood followers to hand out pamphlets. It was clean and orderly, just the way Aztechnology liked it.
Zero, a former spy, moved by the Aztlan checkpoint with no issues. As a former corporate citizen, he knew how to blend into the crowd of wage slaves entering the sector. Walker followed a few yards behind and was stopped for a routine more intensive check. Shadowhawk, as a resident, took a slower path, but after the customary intrusive questioning, he was waved through. He noted that Aztlan seemed to have the most intense security of all the sectors.
As Arc used his forged Frequent Traveller Pass, a number of alerts were issued. The system had been upgraded overnight to run a more intensive check against elvan travellers. Watcher security also alerted them to the ‘Cat’ woman. Security was alerted that possible trouble was brewing at the train station.
Walker, Arc and Kitten were lined up against the station wall by four guards while a fifth, an officer, approached. Before any question could begin, Kitten began growling. Her form shimmering in front of them, Kitten was replaced by a large tigress!
*chomp* The Tiger bit the head of the officer, shocking everyone as blood sprayed everywhere! The crowd of wage slaves began screaming and panicking.
Walker, taking the queue, quickly began running, screaming like a panic office worker.
The guards moved fast, all of them pulling out their automatics. But Tigress moved faster and avoided their shots, taking down two more guards with swipes of her claws. The other two guards panicked and began running to the security station. Arc let loose a bolt of lightning, knocking one of the guards down, while the Tiger landed on the last one and ripped his head off with a large chomp!
The Tiger raced down the ramp to the street as more security began to arrive. Aztechnology security unloaded their rifles at full auto at the sprinting beast.
Rounds flew everywhere, but the creature moved unnaturally fast and only innocent civilians were hit. The creature sprinted into the shadows of the heavily built up city streets.
Arc and the rest of the team gathered across the street from the station. In the chaos caused by Kitten, they were ignored, for now, by the security forces. Arc had in his hands Kitten’s clothes.
Ares Arms Situational Room, CAS Sector, Denver 9:10 AM
“Sir, we are receiving footage from the Aztlan Sector Train Station. There is an incident”
“So, they took the train again?”
The footage showed Nebe and his cohort leaving the train. Each person appeared unrelated, but Rex recognised them. There was the elf that had used powerful magic to control his men. Strange, he seemed familiar, yet they could not match his face anywhere. No sign of the Chinese Orc. A unusual woman, obviously body shaped to look like a tiger, was pulled to the side with Nebe and a Japanese elf.
The room gasped as the cat-women shifted into the form of a large tigress. Rex had heard of shapeshifters, rare para-critters, but to see one in action…
The creature killed the guards at a speed which was far beyond normal. The techs would need to slow the footage down later to catch what actually occurred.
The Japanese elf also used magic, knocking one of the guards down and inadvertently saving his life from the monster.
The screen flickered. “Sir, we’re under attack, someone is trying to wipe the data!”
His techs, skilled deckers one and all, fought in the matrix to stop the attack, but whoever they were, they were quick and stealthy. The data was wiped and the hacker gone before they could stop him.
“Sir, the attack originated from the Aztlan Sector.”
Rex smiled. It didn’t matter. His cybereyes had recorded the entire footage. He would keep the data out of the system, print a few hard copies for reference and safe keeping. These runners, clumsy as they appeared, had some powerful backers in the Matrix. But it wouldn’t be enough, not when Rex had the full resources of the world’s most powerful MegaCorp.
The Aztlan Tower, Aztlan Sector, Denver 9:30 AM
Walker and the team walked to the Aztlan Tower, the hotel and casino that Gomez was staying. Given the hostility between Aztlan and the Confederacy, ever since the Mexicans had annexed half of Texas, no one would suspect that a Texan was hiding out in the heart of his enemy’s territory.
But Jane in the Box, Shadowhawk’s ally, was good, very good and now the team finally had an advantage.
Hotel Security looked tight. The hotel reeked of wealth, gold and glitter everywhere. The artificially beautiful Hispanic women and men behind the counter greeted each guest with impeccable warm, good manners and discretion. Shadowhawk glanced at Arc, “Any eyes watching from the Astral?”
Arc’s eyes glazed over as he peered into the other world. Watcher spirits buzzed everywhere. But no apparent magical security was watching them currently.
Shadowhawk approached a clerk. “Greetings Sir, Welcome to Aztlan Tower. How may I assist you this morning?”
Shadowhawk quickly overwhelmed the mind of the clerk, dominating him completely. Slightly slacked jaw, the clerk checked Shadowhawk into a room on the same floor as Gomez, and then approached his manager and excused himself for the day.
Shadowhawk and the team took the lift up to Gomez’s floor. The team quickly made their way to Gomez’s room. Zero stopped them, spotting a dried blood stain on the carpet floor. Reading their weapons, Zero used his maglock passcard to open Gomez’s room’s door.
The room was a mess, and an awful smell made the team feel sick. They quickly discovered the bodies of two twin Hispanics. They had been tortured brutally, eyes and tongues ripped out, burn marks all over their naked bodies, flesh sliced off, and in some areas they had been flayed. It made for a bloody, bloody mess. The rest of the room was trashed, and large Chinese symbols were written on the wall in the blood of the victims. Arc sensed that powerful magic had been used in the room, but he was unable to identify the source of the magic or trace it back to the caster.
As the team searched the room for any evidence, Shadowhawk slapped a buzzing insect. *ouch* the small bug was in fact a small insect shaped drone. Zero also found a poorly concealed camera in a fake plant.
A dark, damp alley way in the Aztlan Sector, Denver 9:50 AM
Kitten collapsed into a pile of wet garbage. The scent burned at her sensitive nose. She hissed in irritation and tried to work out where she was. Her head ache slightly and her mouth tasted of blood. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. Blood and gore covered her hand. Cleaning herself up as best she could, using the alleyway scraps, she tried to get a sense of her surroundings and her location. She remembered she was in the hated Aztlan sector and the memories of the pit fights threatened to make her lose control again.
Picking up a familiar scent, she made her way through the back alleys of the Aztlan sector, avoiding the frequent drone patrols which were searching for her.
She made her way to an alley way near a large hotel. Crouching, she waited, amusing herself by observing a strange acting desk clerk standing in the middle of the street. After awhile, the confused hotel staff member wandered back into the hotel.
The Aztlan Tower, Aztlan Sector, Denver 9:55 AM
Shadowhawk and the team arrived in the lobby of the hotel just as the confused desk clerk returned. Thanking the clerk, the team quickly left the hotel.
Kitten soon attracted their attention and Arc gave the somewhat agitated shifter her clothes back. Still, they would need to keep off the streets to avoid the massive manhunt going on for her. Aztlan, with its Jaguar Guards, were no strangers to shifters and they were out in force.
Shadowhawk tried to call Pete again, but the T-bird smuggler still didn’t take the call. It was starting to become a worry.
The team instead decided to take an aircab, a helicopter intracity transport. Travelling to a nearby cab rack, the team began to negotiate with the pilot, a rough looking Hispanic known as ‘Jesus’. Sensing an opportunity, he offered to fly them out of Aztlan anonymously for a hefty 5,000 nuyen each. Shadowhawk, using his powers to dominate this weak minded fool, quickly pushed the negotiations down to just 1,000 nuyen, the regular ticketed price. The pilot called in the trip, claiming he was going for pick up in the Ute sector. The team breathed a sigh of relief to be out of Aztlan.
Aztec Teocalli, Aztlan Sector, Denver 10:00 AM
The stone floor of the room felt cool against his feet. Turning, he faced the warrior who had entered the sacred room. “Juarez, you have news?”
“Vicar, I am sorry to bother you, but we are sure that the tiger shapeshifter has left our land.”
“Hmm... pity. Did our people deal with the threat of exposure?”
“Yes Vicar, the Ares lapdogs have lost what few clues they may have had”
“Still, they will remember. I will seek guidance in this matter. But first, have you called upon the guerreros? The Eagle, the Jaguar, the Otontin and the
Quachic?”
“Yes Vicar, and the Shorn One has a message for you”
“Hmmm?”
“The hunt has begun”
Shadowhawk’s dose, Ute Sector Denver 10:40 AM
The team reconvened back at Shadowhawk’s safe house and decided what to do. They quickly determined that the next step was to visit the Unity policlub and determine their involvement. The Unity Policlub was a white supremacy organisation, it masqueraded as a political movement, but appeared to little more than a group of racists thugs… a large, well organised group of racist thugs.
They were lead by a mysterious Glennis Shard, a beautiful black haired woman who, according to Shadowhawks Matrix searches, was a timid librarian until a few years ago. Since then, Glennis had established Unity, violently incorporated the local Humanis Policlub chapter, and begun a campaign against the Chinese in Chinatown in the Confederate Sector. The matrix information gave Shadowhawk the ominous feeling that Unity was running the UCAS sector for all intents and purposes. Promoting themselves as the last protectors of the old USA ‘American Values’, the remaining Anglos in the UCAS sector, feeling isolated and surrounded by NAN nations, abandoned by the federal government, had turned to Unity.
Quickly gathering all the equipment they could, the team got into Jesus' aircab, paid another 5,000 nuyen and flew into the USAC sector.