....and for the first half of it (by my estimation) I was barely paying attention due to lack of sleep for two days prior. Lets recap the runners and I'll try my best to recollect the finer points of the criminal activities in the elven nation.
Jess - Aki (female elf physical adept/ ronin samurai / has family issues)
Brian - Grey (human shaman/party band aid (healer) / no fan of the elves)
Evil Brian - Sanzo (male elf ranged adept/gun slinger/ shoots stuff)
Jack - Jumpstart (orc rigger/wheel man / master of being uncouth)
Thya - Dot (ogre brawler/fashion diva / cybered out troll chick)
Me - 8-Bit (human technomancer/squatter with no I.D. in the system / can hack a cyber-zombie)
Matt - GM (guy behind the screen making our lives difficult/alpha Shadowrun weenie/ wings the adventures old school style)
So I had only gotten a grand total of 5 hours of sleep in a two day span and was practically dead to the world while the game was going on. We played last sunday and I wanted to go especially after attending a wedding for one of my wife's co-workers and having almost no fun at all. Not because I was anti-social but because I knew three people there (including Jess) and was bored to tears. Shadowrun was the 'fun' I needed to salvage the weekend.
Anyhow I wasn't paying attention for about the first half of the game. I got the impression we were going to liberate (read: kidnap) a target out of Tir Tairngire (the elvish nation in the pacific northwest....used to be Portland, Oregon). I knew I was playing a tourist. I knew Grey doesn't care for elves. I also knew Aki has family there.
And then I played Angry Birds on my phone for the next hour. Not to the fault of Matt who does run an interesting game but because sleep deprivation turns my attention span into that of a goldfish. I just couldn't pay attention to the other players role-playing. I had nothing to add on the subjects at hand so I zoned out sending green piglets to their demise.
Next thing I remember was the players asking 'So 8-Bit, any ideas on how to get the mark away from this corp?'.
Huh? What? Not able to brain today.....come back later. I think I rattled off something lame and not worthwhile while I struggled to get caught up on the situation and tried to focus. 8-Bit would have the plan. Phil the player had shit. So we kind of winged it.
It started with recon of the corp building our mark was working in. I hacked into the system and got all the floor plans, staff, etc. After that Aki asked me to check into something else linked to this corp. I checked into the family name and its link (with an extended test....took two hours....rolled 9 hits hour one & 7 hour two...my target was 16....I got all sorts of info...and my dice betrayed me for the rest of the evening after two awesome rolls).
I report back to Aki in private with my findings and I have my suspicions I just located her father and also was looking for info about her brother's disappearance. She would not confirm that but said she owed me a huge favor and I could name my price. Let's see: hot elf female with tattoos saying I could name my own price for this favor....well....
Giggidy Giggidy Giggidy...
No not really. In fact I have no idea what 8-Bit will ask for in return but its not 'teh secks'. Probably I'm going to need protection or need to have someone killed. I'll know when I need it.
Well we started to set into motion a newer plan. One revolving around picking up our mark from her hotel an hour early than usual with us in the corporate security vehicle (read: van). Using my admin clearance in the corp computer system I authorized Jumpstart to pick up a van for 'general maintence' so we got that free and clear. I also emailed the mark through the corp mail service that our meeting start begins at 8am instead of 9am so we'll be there to pick you up at 7am. She said good to go & I then deleted all records of that conversation from the system so nobody else could see it.
I'm also becoming more focused and active in the game by this point. Caffeine kicked in finally.
While this was going on Aki ran into her father and exchanged 'pleasantries' and ended on a hug good bye. The rest of the gang what checking out the hotel. Through astral perception they noticed a void of mana on the upper floors of the building across the street. An investigation turned up nothing but they were looking out for this anomaly if it showed again.
The next morning the plan goes into effect. We show up, Sanzo goes up to fetch the mark....and all hell breaks loose. The anomaly returns and it turns out to be a Aki's brother who is the leader of the security detail to protect the mark.
Also he's a cyber-zombie. A being augmented to the point of death with cybernetics that after death they graft the soul back into the body with magic. Its a model T-800 for all intensive purposes. And its coming after us. Frack. And he has back-up as well. Double frack.
And combat ensues. Jumpstart runs over two security personnel with the van. Aki jumps out to start slicing and dicing but is promptly stunned by a stun bolt from a corp mage. Grey goes after the mage with stunning spells of his own. Dot stays in the van to help give cover to Sanzo and our mark when they come out.
I should also mention that the mark arranged this 'kidnapping' to reset the time limit on a corporate merger/take-over. So she was compliant with coming with us.
Now 8-Bit (me) was in the matrix searching for a wireless signal for all the cyberware on this guy coming for us. I find it, jump into its matrix nodes, realize its all machine and no man, and try to disable it from the inside. While I'm doing that he's currently trying to bust into the van that Sanzo, our mark, and the rest of us are in. Dot grabbed Aki and pulled her inside before Arnold got to us. We sped off and he was still gripping the back doors and pulling himself in. I locate his shut-down mode (sleep mode) and put him in it. Night night. He lets go and we speed off to the trainstation to GTFO of Tir.
We board a bullet train for Denver and go thinking we're safe. Naturally we are not. We find this out when Aki called her dad from the phone and she hears a phone ring in the seats behind her. He followed us. How? Well he tagged Aki with an RF I.D. tag when he hugged her. He was the head of that corp security and his son (The Terminator) was his prized piece of work. He had his men in the car and brought Aki's cyber-zombie brother along as insurance.
Well he marched Aki into the next car where Sanzo and Dot were (Jumpstart, our mark named Mercedes and I were two cars up from that and didn't see this part), Aki then plainly in japanese stated to kill everyone behind her to Sanzo. Fortunately her father and other security personnel didn't speak japanese...or pick up on the fact their lives were fucked.
She let the security guards make the first move. They shoved her forward. She then responded by, in one motion, drawing her blade and lopping off her father's head (he was right behind her). Jess rolled so many hits on the attack that when added to the damage rating of her sword and minus his armor she filled all of his physical wound boxes killing him outright. Total Kill Bill style decapatition. And the poor guards were doubly fucked as Sanzo unloaded his hollow points into their skulls and Dot started beating the hell out of the others.
The gunfire alerted Jumpstart and Mercedes to trouble. I was in the matrix at the time and didn't go into the cars to see what the hell was happening. I found out through message that her brother was on the train. I frantically searched for his signal to jump into his cyberwear to shut him down again but couldn't find it. So I went into the trains controls to slow then stop the train (trying to keep collateral damage to a minimum).
Now Aki, Sanzo, Dot and Grey are fending off the cyber zombie. And after more massive combat he finally falls. Aki scoring the killing blow. It was her brother after all. It was an honor thing.
Our mark, Mercedes, had her corp fly out a T-Bird for us on get on and GTFO. And now we're on our way to Denver. 8-Bit isn't happy. *His* family is in Denver. And that was it for the night.
I just wished I was more alert so I could have been a bigger help with the planning stage. I kind of feel I let the group down a bit but I just wasn't able to fall asleep at all. I promise next time I'll be well rested and the Shadowrun journal will be better written and with more detail.
