Wow! Big game last Friday night. Very much a case of full on combat the entire game. And a very lethal game. Air-On-Fire came close to dying, and then Chang was almost killed (not for the first time either, poor guy)... But before I summarise the last game, let us spend a moment to remember a fallen runner.
Sparks
They say that shadowrunners have a short life expectancy. The job involves taking high risk jobs, running against the megacorporations, terrorists, the government and worse... things. It’s a life with high reward, high excitement and high risk.
Our runners have completed 12 runs in the course of three to four months. Some runs have been quick and easy, some like the Mercurial job and the Denver run, have been near epic. And on their last run, they finally had a casualty, Sparks.
Sparks had only just taken up the biz. An exceptional college student with abilities far beyond that of most seasoned mages, Spark’s had taken to the running life style in order to escape her wild past. The daughter of a high ranking Lone Star official, running was a way for her to rebel against authority, to seek her freedom and independence from the stifling corporate world of her family.
Sparks was sometimes seen as irresponsible, irreverent to the job and its risks... perhaps a tad more ruthless then most. It was only when faced with death did she show a softer side. Mere hours before her last breath, Sparks had decided to dedicate herself to helping the struggling sinless of the Tacoma Orc Underground. And she did, her last selfless act led to the rescue of a family of orcs from corporate captivity and certain horrible deaths of metahuman lab rats.
Alas, this was her final run... rest in peace Sparks.
So, what happened, how did the team lose a runner?
Find out below:
The team had decided to help out the Tacoma Orc Underground by raiding an Aztecnology and freeing any orc prisoners and capturing one of the lead researchers, Dr Carol ‘The Taylor’ Owens.
Black Beard, Tex and Sparks had broken into the complex and made their way through its corridors to the security sub-centre. Along the way, the runners had taken down a number of security forces, generally silently, but towards the end, Aztechnology was certainly aware that trouble was afoot.
Previously, Shadowhawk had played the scenarios in his head and realised that this mission was dangerously beyond his current team’s ability. He had put the call out for backup and received replies from Chang, the mystic Chinese detective, Zero, the infiltration specialist, and Air-On-Fire, the hermetic mage. They had been given a way to trace the team without risking detection by the Aztechnology security forces and had arrived. Zero and Air-On-Fire arrived first and made their way into the complex via the air ducts.
Sparks, not wanting to circle through the corridors again with security alert and innocents to protect, went into one of the holding cells. Summoning her power, she unleashed a metal shard storm of mystic energy at the platisteel wall.
*SKREECHBANG*
A two metre hole was ripped into the wall and the compact dirt behind it, exposing a second plastisteel wall. Dust and debris flooded out of the cell and into the security room.
“What the hell are you doing?” demanded Dr Owens. Tex and Black Beard kept the orcs calm.
“The shortest point between two locations is a straight line” replied Sparks.
“Hold back”, she called through to Zero and Air-On-Fire. “This is about to get messy”
*SKREECHBANG*
Zero and Air-On-Fire duck back as a plastisteel wall exploded and shards of metal flooded a corridor in the complex. Yep, the Azzies would know they were here now.
Zero and Air-On-Fire circled around a side corridor, checking to see if any security forces where incoming. Sure enough, a small team, two security dogs, an azzie guard and one of the elite bodyguards were carefully making their way down a long corridor, using doorways for cover. The two runners quickly dealt with the dogs and began exchanging gunfire with the guards.
Sparks looked at the tunnel she had created with her powers. Two platisteel walls and the packed earth had been blasted away to form a short tunnel. Now they only had to get through the tunnel, run up a short corridor, jump into the air vents and crawl to freedom. She was about to walk through when a fountain of flame. The flame shaped itself and took the form a large feathered humanoid figure with a hawks head. It screeched at Sparks.
Sparks was shocked. Here, in the real world, was the thing that had near killed her in the Astral only a few hours earlier. She backed away from the living flame as it approached her. Black Beard, sensing that she was in trouble, ran between her and the powerful fire elemental. The large combat troll threw one of his infamous knock-out punches at the living flame… and the creature caught the punch in a clawed hand. Black Beard could feel the heat through his gloves and tried to back away, but the creature engulfed him. Struggling, the large troll began to burn. Sparks attempted to aid him, but the spirit proved too powerful. Tex moved the civilians back, remembering that the troll has a number of high explosive grenades on his belt...
Hearing over the commlink that Sparks and the rescue team was in trouble, Air-On-Fire pulled out a warp grenade. He bounced it down the corridor towards the guards and then grabbed Zero and pulled away from the combat. The tight corridor soon filled with the mind-altering chemicals. Confident that Zero could manage the hallucinating guards, Air-On-Fire circled back towards the tunnel Sparks had created, meeting up with Shadowhawk on the way.
The two mages stepped into the shrapnel filled corridor and saw the troll being consumed by the living flames of the elemental. Air-On-Fire began to unbind the creature from the material plan and force it back to its on reality. The creature roared as it felt its grip on the real world loosen. Turning back towards the two mages, it dropped the still burning troll to the ground.
Screeching, the firebird launched an ankh shaped fireball at Air-On-Fire. The burning white symbol flew by Shadowhawk and solidly impacted the hermetic mage. Air-On-Fire went up in flames, as if he had been torched by napalm. His screams echoed through the complex as he fell to the ground.
Shadowhawk and Sparks finally drove the elemental back to its home plane. Sparks, thinking quickly, grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and sprinted to the burning Air-On-Fire. The mage focused his will, is imminent death helping to clear his mind of the incredible anguish of burning alive. The flames burnt white and blue, so intense was their heat. While Sparks dosed him in chemical foam, Air-On-Fire began to attempt to heal himself of the burns while still on fire. He succeeded, fending off his death through sheer willpower. With the flames finally extinguished, the badly burned mage lay breathing hard on the warm metal floor.
Black Beard eventually put himself out, his burns much less impressive. His beard would take some regrowing...
Meanwhile, Zero had been exchanging gunfire with the drugged guards. He had taken one of them down, but had been given a flesh wound in return. Sparks arrived and knocked out the last guard with a stun blast.
Gathering the escaping prisoners, the team left the facility as they heard more guards blasting out of the blocked elevator.
Meeting Chang in the sewers, the team headed back Wilhem Park, the Tacoma Orc Underground. When they arrived to the buried shopping complex, Dr Owens began to realise that the team was not working for a rival corporation.
Bronston, the orc ‘father’ of Wilhem Park, was less than happy to see his old friend Dr Carol Owens when she was taken to see him in his bookshop home. Broston worked himself into a fury over her betrayal of their shared dreams and ideals. Dr Owens had lost herself to academic pursuit without care of the consequences and his people had paid a terrible price. Dr Owens defended herself, referring to a ‘greater good’, but the horrors of the Alpha Sector darkened her vague notions of a brighter future. Shadowhawk stepped up and pointed out some data which suggested that Dr Owens had been opposed to the experimentation of orc subjects. When Dr Owens begged to be allowed to continue her research, Bronston was less than impressed. At Shadowhawk’s suggestion, Dr Owen was sentenced to community service at Wilhem Park. No longer would her research be separated from the realities of the world, instead she would learn to help and care for people of the community as a real doctor. The lives lost to Aztechnology would be redeemed through lives saved as a medical doctor.
Bronston, true to his word, thanked the runners and gave them a guide to take them to the location that the Alamos 20K terrorist had taken their employer. Medical attention was given to Air-On-Fire, who was mostly recovered from the horrible injuries he had sustained. Prompt first aid and his own magical healing had taken some off the edge of his wounds.
The team had a tough night, with Sparks, Air-On-Fire, Zero and Black Beard all injured. In order to ensure that no pursuit endangered the community, Black Bear and Tex decided to stay behind.
Leaving slightly before dawn, the rest of the team travelled to the edge of the Puyallup Barrens. The surrounding area was ruined buildings and abandoned lots. Before them were a series of adjoining one level flats, obviously originally for low income earners, now, people who aspire to clerk at a Stuffer Shack.
The building had no windows, just a front door and a rear patio area. It looked unoccupied, but the runners suspected otherwise. Lying down in the street, both Chang and Air-On-Fire flickered into the astral plan. Flying through the walls of the building, the ghost-like runners examined the auras of the people inside the building. Three figures in the main area included an unconscious man, an excited figure and one filled with calm and confidence. In the two side rooms of the small unit, the astral mages found six more figures, all eager and ready for action.
Returning to their bodies, the team discussed the mages’ discoveries. They guessed that the unconscious figure was their Mr Johnson, that the calm figure was the leader of the terrorist cell and that the men in the other rooms were the grunts.
Chang summoned his ancestral spirit, a humble spirit of man. The ancient Chinese warrior bought with him a bag of healing herbs (Healing Spell) and an iron staff (Stun Bolt). Shadowhawk summoned a powerful fierier dragon spirit, while Air-On-Fire attempt to bring forth a Water Elemental. However, the spirit refused to come, perhaps put off by the smell of fire around Air-On-Fire. Instead, focusing on his heat of his burns, Air-On-Fire bought forth a heat wave elemental. The Team was ready.
Zero, in his chameleon suit, climbed over the building and made his way to the rear door. He quickly unlocked the door and prepared to enter if he needed to.
Sparks walked upto the door and knocked. A voice inside invited her in. Entering, she found herself facing a business man, the driver from the meet with Mr Johnson, and she saw the white suited Mr Johnson himself tied to a chair. Sparks was invited to sit at the table, with the nervous driver standing in a corner to give her a chair to sit on.
The man introduced himself as Martin Honniker, a local business man who wished to make a bargain with the runners. He apologised for any misunderstandings at the docks and tried to bargain a deal. Shadowhawk, sensing an opportunity, masked himself as a ‘generic human’ (because to the elf, all humans seemed the same...) and entered the house. Shadowhawk pushed the Mr Johnson of his chair and onto the ground, taking the seat. Shadowhawk tried to appear even more racist that he felt the terrorist were, but found Martin Honniker to be nonplussed by his strategy. Meanwhile, Sparks offered a toast for a potential alliance, finding some old plastic cups and taking some rusty brown water from the old sink in the kitchen area. She secretly used her magic to spike the drink.
Sparks offered a drink to Martin, but he refused, too busy mentioning the charities that he supported. Instead she gave it to the treacherous driver. Drinking it, the intense alcohol of the drink knocked him out immediately. Martin began to react; the Shadowhawk and Sparks took him out quickly. Working fast, they cuffed the driver and Martin. Chang and Air-On-Fire made it to the front door, with the hermetic mage summoning a mystical wall between the main living area and the corridor leading to the terrorist grunts. He also gifted control of his fire elemental to Zero.
The grunts exploded from the side rooms, only to come face to face with Air-On-Fire’s mystical barrier. One of the grunts unleashed a stream of bullets from his machine pistol at the barrier. Despite its strength, the bullets shattered the barrier and Air-On-Fire and Chang needed to dodge back out the front door to avoid being hit. Zero sent the shimmering heat wave elemental into the corridor, forcing the grunts to dodge backwards from its intense heat. Shadowhawk sent his dragon made of living fire to the opposite side of the corridor. Trapped between the two fire elementals, the terrorist began to die painful burning deaths.
Outside, on the streets of the slum, two black sedans swung around the corner, mounted the curb and braked hard in front of the tenement. At the same time, a huge powerful fire elemental appeared in front of Chang and Air-On-Fire.
A large, heavily armoured figure leant out a door of the first sedan, he was holding a large auto cannon. Firing, the shell punched a football-sized hole in the wall an inch away from Air-On-Fire’s head. A second attacker, dressed in full combat armour fired his large Predator handgun at Chang. The large round knocked the Chinese mage backwards into the wall of the building. A dreadlocked thug got out of the car got out of the first car and pointed his fingers at Chang, as if he was shooting him.
“BANG!”, dreadlock shouted. Chang gasped in pain as the mana bolt pieced his counter spells and filled his lungs with blood. Crying for aid, Chang’s ancestor spirit rushed to his side and began to administer healing.
The team realised they were in some serious trouble.
Dodging the raging enemy fire elemental, Air-On-Fire took out the dreadlock mage. However, enemy elemental was banished, suggesting that the second car contained the mage controlling the spirit.
Zero raced across the roof of the building and fired a long burst into auto cannon wielding enemy.
Sparks, sensing an opportunity, grabbed the second car in a telekinetic grip and rose in into the air before slamming it down into first car. This devastator assault scattered the attackers. The second car lay upside down on the crushed first car. Three armoured troopers rolled out of the second car, but the fourth passenger remained trapped inside the wreckage.
The display of mystic power had not gone unnoticed, and the incredibly powerful enemy fire elemental ripped through the front door and confronted Sparks. Gripping her head in is large hand, its heat flowed into the young girl and reduced her body to a burnt shell in flash of light. Arc, standing nearby when the girl died, roared in anger and grabbed the second car. There was only one way to defeat this primal force, and that was to kill its summoner.
Throwing his hand in the air in a dramatic sweep, the car spun more than sixty meters straight up. The car disappeared into the cloudy night sky.
The mage inside managed to centre himself despite the spinning of the car. Throwing a powerbolt, he blew one of the doors of the car. Leaping out, his foot caught on something in the car and he was unable to escape. He called his fire elemental to aid him in his escape, and the raging inferno flew into the sky.
Meanwhile, Shadowhawk took mental control of the grunts outside the house. The two senior officers resisted his mental compulsion, but the other grunts, included the wounded warrior with the auto cannon succumbed to his dark influence. The auto cannon wielding soldier suddenly swung his weapon at his Captain and fired almost point blank into his chest. The Captain flew back several meters as the shell crushed his chest. The other soldiers fired their submachine guns at the lieutenant who also fell to the sudden intense fire at close range
Air-On-Fire, his control on the car still complete, let the vehicle drop towards the ground. Having watched Sparks die, Shadowhawk commanded his fire dragon to unleash the same fate on enemy mage. Even as the car plummeted to the ground, the enemy’s spirit desperately trying to free its master, Shadowhawks own fire dragon entered the vehicle and exploded into a ball of fire. The mage screamed in agony even as the falling car impacted with other already crushed vehicle.
*BOOOOOOOOOOM*
The explosion caused by the falling car hitting the other vehicle was immense. The remaining mind controlled attackers were killed in the explosion which shook the nearby house. Inside, the last terrorist died, burnt by the elemental under Zero’s control. The house stank of charred flesh, the corridor was lit up with still-burning bodies.
The Mr Johnson, now awake thanks the Chang’s ancestor spirits’ healing, thanked the runners for his rescue and requested that they hand over the virus sample and the data. Shadowhawk starred at him for a few seconds and then began to walk away. He had no intention of giving this weapon to another corporation, not after what he and the team had to go through tonight. Angry, the Johnson told them to leave, but to at least give him the traitor driver. As the runners left the house, tired and drained from their losses, they heard the short rattle of gunfire. The traitor, at least, would not escape punishment.
The runners did take Martin, the terrorist leader, with them. Perhaps, Shadowhawk thought, they could salvage something from the night.
Rewards:
- Bronston as a contact. Connection 3, Loyalty 4.
- 60,000 nuyen (but you did lose a van, and all the ammo expended...)
- Bracelet (Force 3 Power Focus)
- Ruby Ring (Force 2 Combat Spellcasting Focus)
- 1 notoriety (let down the Johnson)