Below is a summary/recap of the first session of Dreamchipper:
Quick recap of our last game:
Players:
Tex, a Orc Gun-Fu Adept with a love of cowboy movies
Walker, the face, ex-corp, loves his guns
Chang, wujen
Zero, inflitration expert
Shadowhawk (on call, away on business) (Decker)
Time:
Two weeks after the events of Gone but not Forgotten
Downtime Actions:
- Walker fixed his car in just two days (18 hours) of hard work) (cost 9% of car value)
- Walker heard back from his contact about the guns. Apparently the Vory have been selling Ares weapons, particularly to the Cascade Orc smugglers.
- Tex spent time with Papa Broston in the Tacoma Orc Underground
- Frakker still recuperating from his injuries, Dr Heidi debating on whether to find and install a
- If Air-On-Fire wants a new Knowledge Skill - Spirit Possession, he can purchase 2 levels of this for 4 karma.
- The team had no further Lone Star DPI detectives... for now.
The Mission
Scene 1 -
Location - Reno nightclub, downtown Seattle (reputation as a recruitment location for shadowrunners)
Time - 9pm Saturday Night
Walker met with a Ms Johnson who offered a job in recovering stolen goods and wanted someone who was discrete. Walker showed interest, so she arrange for a second meet later that night at The Banshee. She then left, followed by a street sam bodyguard and then a low level spy type. Tex and Zero, who had been keeping to the shadows of the club, left and followed the spy. Walker met with Chang and they left for the meet at the Banshee.
Scene 2 - The foot chase
Zero tailed carefully, but Tex was made and the spy went for a dash. He proved a capable runner and Zero was left behind while Tex maintained her pace. Annoyed at the foot race, Tex tasered the spy on the streets of downtown.. but managed to avoid any Lone Star patrols spotting the action. Zero pulled up with the car and they bundled the skinny, dirty spy into the back seat. After a few minutes of failing to intimidate him, they put Walker on the phone. Walker offered a 1000 nuyen and the snitch, aka Ferret, spilled his guts (eck) and told them he had been hired over the phone to tail Ms Johnson and report in to his Mr Johnson. The team got a phone number and sent it to Shadowhawk to trace. Hawk found that he would need to hack Renraku (who provided the LTG for Seattle) and thus the phone number for now gave no further leads. Dumping Ferret back on the streets, without pay, Tex and Zero headed to the Banshee to play backup.
On the way...
As the runners hurried towards their meeting, three go-gangers in Blood Rumbler colours roar by on their
bikes. The runner's noted that they must be brave or fools because it was in the heart of Crimson Crush
territory.
Scene 3- The Banshee part I
Location - The Banshee, Touristville, Redmond Barrens (classified as E security level by Lone Star)
Time - 1am Sunday morning
The Banshee, a hole in the wall bar with aggressive security (iron door, choke point, weapon inspection), and actually a out-of-the-way meet location.
Walker and Chang went in, while Tex and Zero watched the outside. Walker and Chang went through the outer bar, the inner bar and finally the back room where they met Ms Johnson again (aka Roxanne Wunter) and the real Mr Johnson, Urian Manes.
The Job-
Global Technologies, a small simsense and skillchip outfit out of Bellevue, was broken into Friday night. The small enemy shadowrun team used an inside man, Tee Hee, to steal three prototype chips. GT was the heroes to recover the chips by 9am Friday and return them to Roxanne at the Banshee.
Reward - 120,000 per a chip recovered intact, possible a much smaller reward if recovered unusable.
The information available from Mr Johnson:
- Tee Hee was the lead programmer. Apparently he is the absentminded type who was kicked out of his own apartment recently due to forgetting to pay rent.
- Tee Hee wiped the system before he left, so the company doesn't have any info on the Prototypes anymore.
- Urain describes Tee Hee 'like a son' and seemed at least slightly emotionally attached to the boy genius.
Scene 4 - The Banshee Interrupted
Zero and Tex see an eurocar westwood pull up and three orcs in expensive suites get out. The middle orc is especially large and extra ugly, even by Orc standards. They enter the club and the two runners follow behind but stay in the outer bar.
The large Orc, Junior, entered the meet and interrupts Urain. Moments are tense between the two, and Junior eyeballs the team (and Ms Wunter...) before leaving. On the way out Tex tries to shoulder barge him. He proved a bit stronger and goes for a grope on Tex with his left hand. Tex edges a block of the grope and the two eyeball each other for a moment before Junior spits his toothpick at Tex and leaves. Tex bags the toothpick.
Urian soon leaves and Roxanne gives the team a box of Tee Hee's personal effects, her personal phone number (to Walker...) and promises a video tape of the attack. Roxanne also explained that Junior is the son of the founder of Global Technologies, but that his father gave the company to his partner (Urian) and not his son, causing the obvious tension between the two. Roxanne soon left and the team as a whole went through Tee Hee's stuff.
Junior's background
Junior grew up with everything a boy could want. He was popular with his classmates, and he looked forward to fulfilling his father's dreams for him. Unfortunately, junior goblinized at the age of 13. His horrified parents coped with their new son as best they could, but it soon became obvious that junior would
never be the same.
He grew up rough and mean. By his 18th birthday, he was spending weeks away from home, usually In the Ork underground. His father was quite surprised when, at the age of 19, Junior announced he had been accepted to the University of Washington (at the same time as Tee Hee...). Junior studied business, but he was expelled three weeks before graduation for mauling one of his teachers. The man eventually recovered, but Junior's career chances were ruined. He was not allowed to finish his degree. His father took pity, however, and hired him to work for the new simsense company. Junior used every trick in the book to rise up the ladder, eventually heading the company. When Martelli Entertainment was put under the Global umbrella, he was livid.
Scene 5 - The Banshee Clue Discussion
The team looked at Tee Hee's gear and found the following Clues
- Tool Kit - inscribed with "Future Good Luck, Flair"
- Holocube - Photo of a Dr Hendrix aka Flair
- Herbal Tea - Orion's Special Blend, Orion's Organic Grocery, Seattle.
- Lighter - "Breadboard Quaff and Stuff"
Scene 6 - The Betrayal
Walker called Karen King but she was still under house arrest. He then called Mel Cosi. Mel had heard of Global Tech, they made the skillsoft for the Colt L36-Mark VII. They had, several months ago, also presented a new personality based skillsoft, but the prototype didn't work very well and Ares didn't invest. Mel did hear that the UCAS military had instead invested in the project. Mel and Walker made a deal for 100,000 nuyen to examine he chips in a special facilityy, providing that the chips were handed back so that Walker and team could collect their nuyen from Global Tech.
On the way...
Rounding the corner, Zero pull up sharply as he saw a member of the Blood Rumblers spraypainting
"Blood Rules" over the Brain Eater gang symbol that normally adorns the wall of a building. Zero kept driving to keep up with Junior...
Scene 7 - Junior's Pad (2am Sunday Morning)
Zero followed Junior from Banshee, and while Junior drove like a madman, he proved poor at spotting a tail. Junior and his boys went back to his luxury pad in Queen Anne hills in downtown Seattle. Zero broke into the luxury apartment building, found the vidphone terminal and juryrigged a bug to monitor Junior's calls. The team also asked Shadowhawk to hack Junior's personal computer, which contained substantial orc porn, but also a deleted email to HSE (Hollywood Simsense Entertainment). The team also quickly realised that Junior was the one who hired Ferret. Walker mentioned that Junior should have hired them...
Flair (the team also investigated Flair)
Dr. Hendrix is a former professor at the University of Washington. A pioneer in the field of Matrix geometry, he is considered one of the great minds in his field. Norris was one of the most popular, and most difficult, professors at UW. A man of both style and knowledge, his classes were filled to capacity with the brightest minds of the university. Norris was instrumental in developing many of the theories now
commonly used in the Matrix. Norris also had a wilder side, however (Is every professor at UW secretly a shadowrunner?). One of the original shadowrunners, Norris operated under the name of Flair, making
and breaking some of the best ICE available at the time. The professor ran out of luck, or skill, however, and suffered massive neural feedback while working on an independent project against an up and coming Aztechnology. The accident left him In a coma, which lasted a little over two years. When he awoke,
he found technology had left him in the dust. Though still a capable decker, he lost his edge and was released by the university after his first year back. Bitter at life and the University of Washington, he was forced into accepting shadowruns as his only means of support. He apparently spends most his time at a decker hangout called 'The Breadboard' in the Redmond Barrens. Rumour has it he has taken a White Hat role with HSE (Hollywood Simsense Entertainment) and has been celebrating. He has got himself a classy joygirl for a big HSE celebrity party later this week.
Tee Hee (The team investigated Tee Hee) Mad Monk, Walker's contact had this to say:
Tee Hee was the brightest and most highly sought decker in the graduating class of '48 at the University of Washington. Since his employment at Global, he has, almost single-handily, turned the company into a market leader. Not that he would know it, however. When not in the Matrix or talking about computers, he's about as useful as fused circuit board.
Despite a brilliant mind and outstanding credentials at the University of Washington,Tee Hee was not well liked by either teachers or fellow students. Somewhat of an intellectual snob, he had few friends. His decision to work for Global came as quite a shock to those who knew him, especially in the face of an
outstanding offer from Aztechnology.
Since he has been at Global, the company has undergone a complete Change. Now considered a fast riser in the local skillsoft market, the company has Tee Hee to thank.
I haven't seen him much since the old days at UW. , think he keeps in touch with an old prof that used to
teach classes In Matrix geometry. Hendrix was his name, but he liked to be called Flair.
Walker also check around to see if anyone recruited a Shadowrun team recently...
Marcus Cooperman, aka the Face, recruited a team recently..
Yeah, he's a hard one to grab nowadays. Heard he's working on something big. Heard from a friend
he even called in a few markers and scored Griffin, a corporate razor from downtown. Must be heavy to
need that guy.
Walker asked around for more info on Cooperman
Most of the shadier members of Seattle's society have heard of Marcus Cooperman, the Historian. He has an uncanny ability to find out what is going on in the city. No one knows much about his past. He just sprang up in the Barrens, larger than life. He loves history, especially medieval history. Any gift related to the subject is sure to get you on his good side. He is known to be a primary fixer for the Blood Rumblers go-gang.
Cooperman moves through Seattle's high society as well as through its underground. He seems to have no friends, but everybody knows him. Justifiably paranoid, he is never seen without his bodyguards. If you need to get in touch with him, leave a message at any Seattle hot spot, and he'll find you.
For the last few weeks, Cooperman has been hard to find. He isn't returning calls, which is highly unusual for a man of his profession. Rumor has it that he's onto something heavy, but nobody can get a handle on just what it is. He has recently been seen in the company of some Blood Rumbler toughs.
Sleeeeeeeeeeppppppppp (yes, the team does that sometimes...)
Global Technologies - 11am Sunday Morning
After some solid sleep, the team rocked up to Global Technologies to watch the video and look for evidence.
Global Technlogies
GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Home OffIce: Seattle, Washington
President/CEO: Urian Manes
PrIncipal Divisions:
Division Name: Back Door Technologies
Division Head: Roxanne Wunter
Chief Product/Services: Military, commercial, and private skillsofts and memory modules
Division Name: Martelli Entertainment
Division Head: Thomas Martelli
Chief Product/Services: Entertainment simsense modules
Business Profile:
Global Technologies is a rather grandiose name and not at all the truth. Since its inception in 2036, the company has managed to make only modest advances in the highly competitive field of skillsofts. Its only office is located in Seattle's Bellevue district, where 127 employees, mostly deckers, have turned out a series of mostly lack luster products.
Recently, however, the addition of several new employees just graduated from the University of Washington has changed the morale, product quality, and focus of the company. Its latest product, the Colt L36-Mark VI/, is the premier hand-gun skillsoft in Seattle today.
The Entertainment division was recently brought under the corporate umbrella. Once a separate company, it almost went bankrupt from fierce competition by Hollywood Simsense Entertainment before Global bought it up. Urian Manes hopes to revitalise the division with an influx of Global nuyen.
Security Forces:
Global Technologies maintains no military assets. The numerous guards who work for the company are all hired from Knight Errant Security, a division of Ares Macrotechnology, as needed. Global typically hires security deckers and mages, as well as standard muscle
Available Info:
Global Technology has been around for 15 years but has never done anything really impressive until recently.
Two years ago, the new CEO, Urian Manes, stole a hotshot College decker right out from under the nose of Aztechnology. The new guy, Tee Hee, was immediately sent to work in the company's new think tank. Two years later, Back Door, the chipware division, is sitting on the hottest firearms skillchip in the city, the Colt L36-Mark VII. The company is poised to become a major player in the field, if it can follow the Mark VII
with another success.
Three years ago, Global reacquired one of its independent companies, Martelli Entertainment. The president of Martelli, son of Global"s founder, was livid. junior found his authority and prestige severely diminished by the move and has been bitter ever since.
Global is rumoured to be working on something big for the UCAS military, although the exact nature of the product is unknown. Global has not declared a dividend in four quarters, highly unusual for a company riding the wave of a best-selling product. The think tank, consisting mostly of the company's new college graduates, is believed to be on the edge of another breakthrough. If allowed the chance to grow, Global could live up to its name.
This Friday is the company's annual board of directors meeting. At the meeting, policy will be set for the coming fiscal year. It Is also the time most upper level personnel changes take place. Despite being one of the founders, Urian could be replaced if the directors think he has mismanaged their investment.
The footage showed three runners and Tee Hee. One runner was clearly a female mage with long blond hair, the other a very chrome street sam, the third appeared slightly unfit and not particularly... impressive. The mage was clearly hit during a shoot out with security and was the last to leave the building.
Looking for blood, the team found a caked over fresh puddle, which Chang used to ritually track the mage. Chang took almost five hours to track the injured mage down... but about five minutes into the ritual, Walker had used speed dial to find the same information:
Freya Goldenhair, elven mage for hire
Freya is an Elven mage, contracted by Cooperman as extra muscle for the Global shadowrun.
Freya spends little time in Seattle. Her skills are highly sought, and she can usually get the price she demands. Only those with lots of juice can acquire her services. When not on a run, she stays in Sinsearach, although only the fixers with the best connections know how to reach her.
Freya has run several high-profile jobs in Seattle, mostly for Hollywood Simsense. She has always come out of these snatch and-dash missions unscathed.
''Yeah, she's got the rep. Got a pretty good temper, too. Remember the light show over at Hollywood
last December. Way I heard it, Freya decided some sap named Pengrave needed a payback. But I heard she almost took a fall on her last run. Sounded like her sponsor tried to cut some corners on the pickup. Glad I'm not in his shoes."
"I ain't sayin, you understand? I'm just sayin I heard a skirt matching her general description crashed into Dr. Bob's Quickstitch over on Fourth. She was leakin' pretty bad. 'Course it's hard to tell with a meta, might have been justa flesh wound."
After waiting for Chang to reawaken for his trance, the team headed to Dr Bob's Quickstitch.