Shadorun: When the masks come off

Severian 'Bear' Daverous, sometimes known as Dimitri Kell, could already feel the tension starting to ease as he opened the rich Synth-Mahogany cabinet that was designated to his supply of Vodka. He pulled out the half empty bottle of top shelf local sythetic stuff, and decided that today was a victory, and so reached behind the front row to where he kept the Real Vodka he brought over from the Motherland.

As he poured himself a modest glass, he noticed the shakes. Today is not for Modesty he thought to himself as he topped of the class and replaced the bottles. Today had been rough. Fragging Gangers the phrase had been like a mantra in his mind these past hours. At first it had been a relief, to find out that His crew had not been so sloppy as to be followed to the drop off, But after what they found on the cameras his concern had grown. He tried to calm himself, But the fight had left him more shook up than he allowed to show. But when the bullets were flying no runner was truly as chill as they all play out to be. But Bear had been lucky and only taken a glancing blow, Nothing serious according to Doc, his armor had taken the brunt.

Bear pulled up the sleeve of his tailored robe and inspected the bruise. It looked more vivid after his shower. I may need to cancel on Anastasiya.. he contemplated. Taking a generous sip from his glass, it burned exquisitely, Bear made his way to the theater room. There he sat on the large lounge a cloth lay over the caff table with his weapons and cleaning kits layed out in exacting order. He called up the next on his list of 5th world cinema, some action movie from the 1980's began to play, and he began to scrub ganger brains out of his Gyrojet.

"Open threads; Crew, Wiggum, Inbox." He said, and various AR screens popped into reality, One to his teams private chat thread, one to his Police contact, And old Familial friend who also happened to be a commissioner,  and one to his various collection of mail and message services. He began to dictate to each thread while the movie played and he cleaned his weapons. The vodka slowly kicked in, and his hands grew more steady...





Bear: Good run today, Enjoy the Rest. Ill keep eyes open for another, But i think this 'McHews' Gang problem should be a priority. Board, See what you can find on when those snaps were shot, and if we can catch a lead on the Comm-link Data on where they might have a server. Ill talk to my people, See what can be found on the walking soyburgers...




Sev: Hello my old friend, sorry to always contact you on business but that's the world we live in alas. I was confronted by a strange crew today. Sending some data thru now.

There was a confrontation an associate, Dimiri witnessed. #File Vid data, Co ordinates @dropoff#
Not sure whats up with the funky clothes, But looked like they hired a real runner in the back there with the rifle. Serious stuff.

Some strange pictures on the Comlinks, strange how the pic data seems to corrupt shortly after being opened....

Id be curious to know anything about that particular gang. Whatever crimes they are up to, beyond the clear crimes of fashion, should be stopped.

It wasn't until 2am that Markus Ligeti had finally made his way back home. Between the run around with the job and collecting his scooter from the warehouse, it was quite a while before he stepped back into his little apartment. It was a cosy little place as one of several hundred in one of the mega apartments in central Seattle. It wasn't great but it was pretty perfect for Markus.

His fingers flew across his cyberdeck as he pulled up his room emails before tossing them in the virtual rubbish bin that he kept by his door. Markus made his way over to his refrigerator and pulled out a soy banana smoothie that he hadn't quite finished yesterday. He tapped through the local news feeds as he made his way to his tiny bedroom and prepared for sleep. It took him a while to realise that he hadn't checked his Runner mail and he tapped along to check while the electric toothbrush hung from his mouth. He hadn't expected to find a message from Bear but he wasn't too surprised. It was about an hour old but he was sure that the suit wouldn't mind a late response as he tapped away.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Crew Chat=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Board: I'll get on that in the morn, Bear man. Shouldn't be too hard. They don't seem to be the smartest gangers considering how much we wrecked them. Might be worth keeping them around a bit longer to build our rep. Anyway, later Elfies.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Markus watched his message fly away like a bird before it was swallowed up by the ads that kept coming into his place. He licked his newly cleaned teeth and lay down in his little bed before disconnecting. He yawned as he snuggled up under the covers of his yellow and green duvet and closed his eyes. One last thought bubbled up to him as he drifted off into his dreams of waves crashing on beautiful island beaches.

I should look at grabbing some gym skillsofts.

Thought to Nork:

As soon as Kisa Mallawn parted from the rest of the gang and got back to the warehouse, she beelined to the bathroom for a much-needed shower. Her skin was still crawling from the encounter with the giant magic rats seriously what the hell, and her forced nap in the dirt during the fight at the drop-off point hadn't helped matters any.

Once she felt suitably clean again, she took some time to examine the impressive, mottled bruising along one side of her ribs. Fortunately the bullet (or bullets, she wasn't sure) seemed to have ricocheted off the ground first instead of hitting her directly, but the impact had still been enough of a system shock to knock her clean out. It was embarrassing, and she once again cursed herself for forgetting her armoured jacket. Not a mistake she'd make twice, that was for sure. At least there didn't seem to be anything worse than the bruises - they'd be tender for a few days, but wouldn't hinder her too much.

She donned the faded, oversized t-shirt she used as pyjamas and made her way to her room, dumping the rest of the gear beside her bed. Her head was still pounding from the amount of magic she'd channelled; she wasn't accustomed to using as much force as she'd needed today. There was no doubt that the power was a magnificent rush, but it usually came with a price, and she was paying it now.

Kisa sat down on the edge of her bed, mindful of her bruises, then paused as she realised she probably should check her messages before passing out. She groaned as she reached down and fished her comm-link out of her pile of gear, then settled back onto her bed in a comfortable recline before opening her mail.

There were already two new posts on the crew chat - one from Bear about an hour earlier, and one from Board only a few minutes ago. Kisa skimmed them quickly, then added her own reply.

Kat: Roger that, Bear. Keep us updated - you too, Board. I'd love to know why those clowns had our pics. Think I'll go for a haircut and colour in the next day or two, I feel like a change.

Oh hey, anyone remembered to contact Rhino about this? Might wanna give him a heads-up. For now though I'm having a nap - my head is killing me. Later, chummers.


Reply sent, she dropped her comm-link over the edge of her bed and back onto her pile of gear, then slid down the mattress beneath her sheets and curled up on her uninjured side with a jaw-splitting yawn. Her aching head made it difficult to get to sleep though, so she occupied her mind with thoughts on how to acquire or make a spell foci, until sleep finally claimed her.

In the aftermath of a fight scene the protagonist quipped with the antagonist over a radio, all the while the cloth Severian put down resembled a street docs apron more than a tablecloth, the movies protagonist goaded his adversary while preparing for the inevitable fight, Severian stared at a slowly drying chunk of grey matter inside the barrel housing wondering how it could possibly have gotten that far in, as an elevator reached his floor the protagonists conversation came to a close with the line "Yippee Ki Yay Mother **!!@!."

Grinning at the clasical American bravado Severian resumed cleaning his pistol and an almost dreadful thought came to mind, the sleeve of his stealth suit must be soaked, but then that's why the rent is so high here, discreet laundry services.

An incoming call chimed and floating in the open space by his coffee table was the caricature of a red-furred Russian bear, the secure call icon his family friend "Wiggum" used. Waiving at the Answer Call ARO (Augmented Reality Object) a high resolution trideo projection of Vasily Gorelov, known locally as Frank Wiggum, coalesced into an imposing figure wearing a warm smile "Preevyet Severian, Za Zdaróvye" raising a glass of what could only be vodka and pausing for a moment to allow Severian to raise his.

Taking only the moment to pause the movie Severian replied, Shareind a Toast with his old Comrade "Preevyet Chief Gorelov, How goes Sandra and the children?" he said in Russian.

Wiggum told Bear of his wife's tribulations in her work training Cadets, and of the latest troubles stirred up by his two boys. The two talked amiably for some time, working their way thru another few classes of Vodka, resorting to the Syth stuff for such casual conversation, at least while not actually in person to share the good stuff.

Eventually a few moments of silence followed the laughter of an old storie, and Bear was forced to finally prompt "And how is business my old friend? I assume you have perused the data I sent? I do hope some of it can be of use to your people?"

"Unfortunately my friend there isn't much to go on here, the photos appear old and there really isn't much to go on; Seattle, a few years ago maybe, no one that we have on record." He said with a smile "The video was interesting, tell Dimitri he's lucky he wasn't on the recieving end of that ball of lightning, that was something, good thing the signature will have faded by the time it gets investigated. The crew isn't anything we're aware of, odd look, but then there are a lot of small gangs in those neighbourhoods; the guy in back looks professional, could be a runner, could be a merc, could be passing through; once again nothing we know of, I'm sure Dimitri knows how to look out for people like that."

Finishing his drink the Chief stood "In any case Severian it is late and I should go, take care."


Dreams of island beaches were blissfully uninterupted, as the passive Firewall of Markus' carefully crafted and maintained CyberDeck repelled the occasional spam and junk mail. In the sleepy recesses of his mind Markus was glad Severian took the light hearted name in the spirit of jest, but tried to remember not to call other elves "Elfies", and something else crept in his memory but he couldn't place it, something about McHugh's, it would have to wait until morning.


Kisa drifted through realms of sleep bordering on the edges of the Astral and the Real, the ache in her side a distant echo of a body not forgotten but not present. She flew through surreal fields in a technicolour dreamscape, imagining the array of colours her hair could take; yet never straying too far and never worrying, the familiar pulse of her lodge with it's promises of security keeping her anchored.

Severian spent the remainder of the flick in deep contemplation, his hands working idly away at the components to his Retrofitted Drogoanov. This gang was an unforeseen complication, something the Elf prided himself on avoiding. Where did this gang come from? What is the connection? Why only the images of My team.

It was apparent by the movies end that answers were not just going to present themselves. Severian got up, and started planning what leads to follow, who to seek out and where based on what little information they had. He replaced his weapons in his dual cabinet, the Pistol and Rifle on proud display in the front, and the hand held torpedo launcher, now brain-free, in the secured back compartment. He tossed his stealth suit into a labled laundry bag and sent it down the shute. The rag and sheet he had used to clean the weapons he wrapped up and tossed into the Incinerator chute.

Severian had hoped after the fraggup in California he had hoped they had got away clean, new starts, fresh names to be earned. Apparently Seattle had a long memory. Severian sent a call for a driver. It was time he visited he re-signed his Contract with the Hotel...


Severian had nearly forgotten what the hotel was like... After that he could use a chearing up. He checked the time, it was close to midnight, and Decided he was going to catch Anastasiya After all. She would still be at the club, and With any luck he would be in time to swoop in and save her from some sleazy would-be suitor or another.

Severian quickly read thru the message Lucy had sent. It looked like good money, and good rep if they could actually break the system. He looked at the tab he had open on car mod's. soon he thought, before opening the crew chat.

Ursine: Good morning Chummers. Look's like we got a gig. Check Lucies last message, who's in?

Kisa returned to herself after her daily stroll in the astral, feeling relaxed and refreshed. She stretched and sprawled bonelessly on the floor of her lodge, then checked her comm-link as she noticed it flashing its little 'unread message' light at her. A minute or two later, and she began typing a reply, still lying loosely on the floor.

Kat: Morning, critterpack. Yeah, I just read Luci's message, sounds like a pretty sweet gig. Count me in. D'you need any of us around for the negotiations with the Johnson, Bear, or you good to handle that solo?

Ursine: Best have all hands. You know how these things can get...

Markus was cruising through one of the Matrix cafes that he liked to frequent after going through a rather lengthy contract. It wasn't a big contract, a few weeks at most, and the work wasn't too bad but he always liked to relax after working for one of the corps. He wasn't sure which one it was but they didn't seem that big. Sure, he could have told them that their network setup was highly vulnerable and that he could fly in through their virtual window in a couple of minutes, max, but they didn't pay him enough to offer suggestions. Grunt work but it was easy. Markus certainly wouldn't mind something a bit more interesting for his next job.

Speaking of which, a very red balloon floated into his field of view and he tapped it to get a message from his runner chummers that he had been hanging with. He also only just noticed the little imp that had perched on his shoulder and he grabbed it to get the update from his fixer. The new job sounded pretty chill. It'd be nice to get back into things after those crazy rats that chased him last time.


Board: Sounds good to me. Once Lucie gives us the deets I'll hang ten my way over to the warehouse for a pick up. You still shacking there Kat or is the joint empty?

Kat: Roger that, Bear. Just let us know where and when.

Yup, I'm still hanging at the warehouse, Board. It's convenient, and its way too much effort to find another place and pack up the lodge again just yet.

Ursine: Meet up at the warehouse. We will scoot on in from there. Alas and woe it looks like the new cars in the shop for a few weeks yet, so we shall have to take the truck

In a relatively quiet neighbourhood on the edge of what might have been considered industrial complexes if they didn't spend more time vacated than occupied, sat the small and unobtusive warehouse. Within, parked discreetly in a corner was the Shadowrunnners equivalent of a "Soccer-Mom" van; functional, unassuming, and depending on the neighbourhood: discreet. Besides, you could always park a block or two away.

The meet called for the runners, or a representative (specifics were absent) to meet at the 'Thai-Tan' Inn, a poor attempt at combining a Japanese Ganguro themed spa with a Thai restaurant, located near a Corp shopping district; what the venue lacked in class it made up for with a great menu. The time of meet was to be arranged via Lucy, but the recommended times were all in the next few days and all between midday and one.

Board: Looks like someone's a fan of the lunch menu. So, what's the plan? Scope the place today and go tomorrow for the meet?

Whenever's chill by me. Just let me know and I'll swing by Kat's shack before we grab some lunch.