I'm new to the Shadowrun world, and writing too. Well, at least sharing it. I've been using games/runs as writing exercises for a bit now, so this is based off of a group that started playing at the beginning of summer. A friend suggested I share it here, but writing for fun and actually sharing it is a totally different, nerve wracking experience for me so it took a while. Any criticism is totally appreciated though, especially since the setting is as robust as the ruleset
Gotta Walk Before You Can Run
Dec 27th 2074
5:13 PM
“The holidays are so fragged,” an ork slurred over his beer. He swayed on his stool, and Finn wondered if he should help him get home.
Forget it, home’s probably worse than here. Instead he raised his glass and drank.
It’d been a few months since he had tried to get into the running game, and all he had to show for it were a couple of two bit hack jobs. And if nothing came through soon, he’d be moving in right next to his new chummer full time.
He took another drink when his comm lit up. It was Harry.
“This better be good,” he answered.
“Is that any way greet an old friend?” He asked, feigning hurt.
“Get to the point, I’m busy.” He said, signaling the bartender for another.
“Fine. You still looking for work? Because I’ve been looking out for you, and think I’ve got something.” He thought about the last job Harry had sent him on, then looked at the ork slumped on the bar and decided he was fragged either way.
“What you got?”
“Friend of a friend sort of deal, but don’t hang up! This is good, you’ll want to at least hear them out.”
“Alright, give them my comm info.” He turned on the bar, and walked out into the cool evening air. The sun had already set, leaving the neon lights to bathe the streets with their garish colors. Before he even got to his bike, the display on his Erika was lighting up again.
“Yeah?”
“Hoi, who’s this?” The voice on the other end came through loud and clear.
“Dunno, you called me.” There was a pause, and Finn started losing his patience. Another bust, he thought.
“Well, you’re the spellslinger, yeah? Are you still interested in working?”
“Yeah.” An address popped up on screen.
“Then let’s meet. You’ll find an old lot, and we can see if it’s a good fit.”
He disconnected, and pulled himself onto his Yamaha Growler, creaking in protest. The troll felt ridiculous on it, the dirt bike having seen better days, but it was reliable. He kicked it into life, the engine revving like a chainsaw, before he took off.
The city was a blur as he weaved through the streets, passing cars and trucks stuck in the rush hour traffic. They lay on their horns as they were cut off or stuck behind a bus. Pedestrians scurried around them, through them, trying to go home or to the bar. A hum filled the air, whether it was the neon lights, the sound of engines, or the buzz of hundreds of voices all at once. It was home.
When Finn finally found the lot, he was cold and stiff. Except for a couple of cars and vans, the lot was dark and empty. He slowly pulled in to a spot on his bike, stamping his feet and rubbing his arms as he continued on foot to the first van and peered into its darkened windows. Wouldn’t be the first time I was stood up.
He heard a van door slide open behind him, and turned to see a dwarf and a human coming towards him.
“Are you the caster?” The human asked, eyebrows raising. Not the first time for that either.
“Yeah, you have a problem with that breeder?”
“No, no!” He said back pedaling. “Not as long as you can do what you say.” Finn clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to show him.
“Are you who I talked to earlier?” he asked instead.
“No, he’s back in the van. What do we call you?” The dwarf asked.
“Benzine.”
“I’m Cobalt Blue, and this is Sneezy. The one still in the van is Tinker.”
“Fine, great. What’s the job?” An elf, peering through the windshield, slinked out once he saw the coast was clear.
“Have you heard of the Halloweeners?” Tinker asked. “We were contracted to recover our Johnson’s bike when we found a pair of their Mitsuzuki Bakushins. She has a contact, and offered us some good money for them. Problem is, she thinks we were made, and that the job’s fragged. We think she’s overreacting. Either way she wanted someone else brought in if things went forward. That way if things go sideways, we’ll have the firepower to get them.”
“So I’m an insurance policy. What’s the pay?”
“Split evenly four ways. If we can get the two extra bikes, she has a contact that can take them for 50k. We’ve already done the legwork. We just need to go in and get them.”
Frag me, guess I owe Harry an apology, Finn thought, trying to look passive. “I’m in.”
“Great, let’s get moving.”
6:02 PM
Finn crept around the block, the sputtering of his dirt bike blending in lost in the sound of the traffic around him. He tried to blend in, look natural, as he scouted the site. The fly sized drone hiding between his hair and horns dug against his scalp as it scrambled to stay put, and he struggled not to mess with it. They said it was an extra set of eyes that they could watch from the van, but it was also a way to keep an eye on him.
The plan was simple. He’d go in while the others were parked a few blocks away so they weren’t recognized. When he was finished, they’d meet up, and he’d take a second look from the astral plane.
“Just remember, Cobalt spotted some plainclothes KE guards, and picked up a drone or two.”
“I’ve got eyes on the drone, not seeing much else. Maybe some guards, but no way to confirm,” The place looked normal to him. Lots of cars, some junk, some not. Your typical impound lot. It didn’t look busy, but given the time of day, he wasn’t surprised. “What’d you screw up before?”
“Nothing. Our contact Rev is just a little jumpy. We hacked the system, looped the surveillance feeds, and knocked out the guard to get access to the information we needed. Then keep them from digging futher, we tagged the place to look like the Halloweeners did it.”
“Well, they know someone’s sniffing around. Passing the North entrance, on my way to you.”
“Right, they increased the security,” Sneezy interjected. “But knowing K.E. we have a five minute window to get in and out before the drek really starts to fly. That should be more than enough to run in, grab the bikes, and haul our hoops out of there.”
It only took a few minutes to drive from the tow yard to where the van was parked. Putting the kickstand down, he walked over to the van and slid the door open. The inside was lit with the glow from different screens as the rigger and decker ran their diagnoses and checked their gear. Sneezy sat in the driver’s seat that had been modified for a dwarf. When the door opened, he spun the seat around, pointing a gun at the door.
“It’s just me,” Finn said, before hauling himself in. The drone on Finn’s head finally let go, flying through the open door to the rigger. He reached into the back, and started pushing guns and ammo aside to make room for his bulk.
“Well? Don’t leave us in suspense, did you find anything else?” Cobalt Blue asked. Finn squeezed himself into the far back, occupying the space he made. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was enough.
“No, the perimeter was quiet. Could be that it’s died down since earlier. Or they’re waiting for us inside. Won’t know more ‘til I slip into astral.”
It only took a moment before he felt himself falling through the floor and away from his body. The world went dark around him, with specks of light appearing around him. Some were brighter, some were darker, all depending on the essence of the people in meat space. He willed himself up, normal laws of physics being inapplicable, flying his way back to the yard in a fraction of the time it took to drive. There were definitely guards. A couple dogs, a man in a tower, another in the yard with a void in his head where cyberware was implanted. He did a couple passes over the area make sure he didn’t miss anything, but with the patrols running he couldn’t get the numbers.
He flew back, pulled himself into his body, and sat up. He paused as he readjusted to meat space, before passing on what he found.
“If phase two works, numbers won’t matter,” Cobalt said, grinning through teeth yellowed by nicotine and soykaf. “We’re going to let the Halloweeners do the dirty work for us.”
7:06 PM
“Hold it,” Finn said, and jogged over to Cobalt. “I’ll go with you to make sure there’s no trouble.”
“Thanks, but I doubt there’ll be guards here,” he said over his shoulder.
“It’s not them I’m worried about,” Finn said, and Cobalt stopped to glare.
“Fine. We’ll meet up with you two when I get this uploaded.” Sneezy and Tinker crossed the street leading to the tow yard, while Finn and Cobalt walked into the Heads and Tails. Tinker’s truck, Sneezy’s van, and Finn’s bike were all stashed in the parking lot.
“Scotch,” he told the bartender, who started pouring it out. “Make that two.” Cobalt handed the second to Finn, who grabbed the tiny shot glass in his big hand and took the sip.
“What’s your problem?” Cobalt asked, breaking the silence.
“I have no problem if you don’t make one breeder,” he said looking down at him. “I just don’t trust you to not screw over 3 metas the first chance you get.”
“How would I do that?”
“Make a deal to sell us out? Or maybe cut us out? It wouldn’t be the first time a norm thought he deserved more than his Meta partners. Or maybe you’re some humanis drekhead-”
“Fine,” he said and downed his drink, slipping into VR. “I’ll just have to prove it. So let’s see… Membership page… Cyclops Joe is the dreamiest… where have you seen the Halloweeners… Here we go.” Finn ordered another shot while he waited. Cobalt had a distant look, concentrating on his work in AR.
“There. Should be front and center for every member logging on. Pictures of the bikes, their RFIDs, even the surveillance feed with ‘every day is Halloween’ scrolling on the ticker in the office to make them think they’re the butt of some joke. Now they know it’s there, they just think the bikes are on the other side of the yard. How’s that for a start?”
“Let’s make sure it works first,” Finn let Cobalt lead the way out, falling in behind him as they went to the meeting point. They crossed the street, cutting through the lot across from the tow yard. Already they could hear bikes in the distance. Seconds later there was the crack of gunfire from above, followed by a second, with two drones tumbling out of the sky.
“Looks like Tinker took care of their eyes,” Cobalt said. Seconds later they found the other two, hiding in the brush between two shipping containers. Finn crouched behind them. Cobalt still had that faraway look, seeing things they couldn’t, and tripped.
“Get your head down!” Sneezy said, pulling him to the ground. “We don’t want them catching us before they can take the bait.” As if on cue, the sound of bikes roared louder, followed by shouting and more gunfire.
“Those’re probably just the ones sitting around the clubhouse.” Sneezy said, drawing his gun. “Let’s hope it’s enough.”
“Hold on, this drek is giving me all sorts of problems,” CB mumbled. “I haven’t been able to blow the compressor… frag me. I’ve got company.”
“We only have 5 minutes before this place is crawling with pawns,” Sneezy said, as if they needed the reminder.
“The compressor will have to wait. I need to deal with their spider.”
“Then we need to roll. Benzine, you said you can get us through that gate?”
“Yeah, right through it,” Finn said.
The runners broke from cover, their feet pounding the pavement as they crossed to the northern gate. Looking through the chain link fence, he could see two dogs and a man. The first dog was way ahead, charging over to the Halloweeners that had ridden in already, but the second was hanging back behind the man. Benzine reached into his pocket and grabbed hold of an engraved lighter. He concentrated, activating the focus. He held out his other hand, muttered some phrases, and acid sprayed all over the first row of fence. Fumes from the dissolving metal drifted into the air. The dog closest to them smelled it and stopped, looking back curiously.
Sneezy took aim as Finn started on the second layer, repeating the same process. The metal dripped and ran, opening a hole in the links.
“We got an alarm. This is going sideways fast!” Cobalt said from behind them.
“We still got time,” Sneezy said, firing his first shot, then his second. Tinker was through the fence, the dog had flopped over unconscious, and the guard didn’t notice.
Finn ducked through after the elf when a small turret mounted on a small tower opened up. “Cobalt, we’ve got turrets!” Tinker yelled.
“I’m doing what I can!” He snapped back through the fence.
Finn launched another wave of acid at the base of the tower, the substance eating away at the metal until gravity pulled it to the ground. Another shot rang out, this time from the tower itself, and Tinker had to dance around the bullets raining from above, until he could dive for cover behind a car. Switching targets, Finn was shot, and he staggered. He shook his head, clearing it from the effects of the stun, and looked up to see the human reloading.
Sneering, he muttered another incantation and sent burning water arcing up through the smashed window, the ball of liquid fire exploding as it slammed into the guard’s chest. Flaming droplets fell from the opening of the tower as he disappeared from view, screaming. All they could see were shadows dancing around the room as fire engulfed the man.
“Frag me. You can counter, right? I don’t want to deal with drek like that.” Cobalt said through the comms.
“Don’t worry about what I can do, just take care of your end of the job!”
“This is our job! We gotta earn it, you think nuyen is free?”
“I don’t know, do you?!” He shouted back as he joined Tinker. He was already on one of the Bakushins, trying to start it.
“Come on! Start!” The sound of gunfire was right next to them as Sneezy fired his pistol at some guards trying to flank them.
“What’s happening? Start the damn bike!” Finn shouted, diving for cover.
“It’s fragged! RCC is toast, the comm isn’t responding, it’s not on the matrix! I’m going to try Rev, cover me!”
Finn stood, water and fire coalescing around his hand until there was a roiling combination of liquid flames. He swung his arm up and over his head, lobbing up the spell over the cars splashing on the ground between the two guards. Flames blossomed, splashing on impact and burning everything it touched. One of them was scorched, and the other was thrown through the air from the force.
Finn turned, and with another shout and a rending motion from his claw-like hand, blocked the road from the southern part of the yard with a wall of napalm. The combined elements churned, splashing flames onto anything nearby, including the watch tower.
“Why did I even try to be non-lethal?” Sneezy asked the spell slinger when he ducked back down. Tinker, meanwhile, had replaced Sneezy at the bike.
“Look, the brakes aren’t locked. I’ll jump in and get my truck over here, and we can load it up. How you doing there Cobalt?”
“Just need… one… more… There! Security down. No more spider, no more cameras.”
The gunfire was getting louder from the south, the shouts coming closer. “Come on Cobalt, we need these bikes working!” Sneezy unslung his Enfield and fired a few rounds, forcing a pair of gangers to hit the dirt.
“Hold on, I haven’t had the time.”
“You’ve had more than enough!” Finn shouted back. The truck smashed through the gates now withered from the acid, skidding to a stop next to the bike. Finn ran over and picked up the front end, heaving it onto the back of the truck. Sneezy laid down some more suppression fire, pegging the pair a couple times before running over to help. Between the two of them they lifted it in, and slammed the tailgate closed. Then, like clockwork, the other Bakushin’s roared to life.
“Come on!” Tinker yelled, grabbing his Lockheed from the air, and sticking it in the back next to the motorcycle. The troll and dwarf hopped onto the pair of bikes. Immediately they had the opposite problems. Sneezy struggled to get his feet down, while Finn’s bike sagged drastically beneath him. He pulled the throttle, kicking up dirt and stones, before hauling out of the yard behind the truck and bottoming out on the curb. He saw Sneezy stop to pick up Cobalt, the pair catching up quickly before tearing past him.
“If we get split up, you have the coords,” Tinker said over the comm, weaving through traffic and pulling onto the highway. Finn followed, cutting onto the highway. The bike skid, making a car swerve to avoid him, and making way too much of a scene. The driver he almost ran off the road screamed at him and gave him the finger. He ignored him, paying attention to the KE guard that caught up to him instead.
“I’ve got company,” Finn said.
“Leave it to me,” Cobalt’s voice came through into his ear. “Come on, lights, come on… Got it!” The roads cleared before them, leaving the on ramps empty. As soon as he passed, cars were pouring from onramps again. It wasn’t long before the K.E. car was lost, and CB was gloating over his comm.
“So how about it, Benzine? Enough proof yet?”
7:59 PM
By the time Finn pulled into the condemned parking garage, the others were already there.
“Finally! Rev should be here any time now!” Cobalt grinned. “Payday, here we come.”
Soon after a black truck pulled up, an elven woman behind the wheel. “Well, well. Didn’t think you’d get it done, but look at that,” she said as she stepped out.
“Bad news. Your boss’s bike didn’t start,” Tinker said.
“What do you mean, didn’t start?”
“Just what I said. We went to start it up, and nothing happened.”
“Things got messy and we had to light the place up. Burned down a building, some turrets, even fragged some guards. I think that definitely warrants some hazard pay,” Cobalt said
“You say we, but I’m the one who did it,” Finn grumbled to himself. You can burn buildings, targets, but not your team he heard Harry saying in his head.
“Well, I don’t like renegotiating. I have no nuyen, just some bikes. But, fair being fair, let me see what I can do for you.” She walked to the bikes, lowering her voice as she switched to her comm. With a can of black spray paint she started covering up the ganger’s colors. Then, while the paint dried, she hooked up some diagnostics to the bricked motorcycle.
They stood quietly, fidgeting while they waited for whatever was next. Finally she stood up and shook her head. “Well, I thought you might’ve used the wrong code, but looks like you were right.” She said rejoining them. “I don’t know what happened, but my boss is real glad you got it back. So glad he threw in an extra 4k nuyen for you. Know that The Ancients appreciate all you’ve done tonight.”
“Look at that, helping one go gang against another,” Sneezy said. Cobalt let out a low whistle.
“I know where I’ve seen this bike then, on the news-“
“Let me stop you before you go and ruin a good thing. You haven’t seen this bike. In fact, you haven’t seen any bike.” Rev handed CB a credstick and turned away again. “Been a pleasure doing business with you.”
They piled into Tinker’s truck, and he started driving. “Look at that easy money boys!” Cobalt Blue cheered. “We should celebrate. Gotta split this cred, and you can’t pick up your rides ‘til it cools down.”
“I know a place,” Finn said. Hell, maybe that ork’s still there. He could probably use some holiday cheer, or at least another drink.