Shadowrun 4E: Ghost Cartels, Chapter 1: A Stranger in our House

[lonewolf1210]

//upload newsclip item :: user Sunshine :: 04/30/71//
Street Vibe: Drug Haze or Magic Boost?
Posted by: The Gemeni Twins

We here at SM bringin´ you the Vibe each week - or whenever we can find the time - have always maintained a fondness for substance use. We know some of you think that this has damaged our ability to bring you accurate reporting, and at least one of you has messaged us to let us know you find us incoherent. (We´ll send you a reply, DerangedAngel, as soon as we give a damn.) Au contraire! You can blame our editor for that. [Editors note: The Twins should be thankful. The corps are strangely touchy about stolen research disseminated on advertising boards in major metropolitan areas.]

There´s an interesting and fun new substance on the scene called flipside or tempo. Now, we´ve played with deepweed before, and that was quite a trip. (Especially when your brother the adept leaves his shoes behind for the first time and finally sees why your ally spirit scares a lot of fellow magicians.) Flipside, however, makes deepweed look like a bag of herbs in comparison. Here´re our favorite reasons why:

• Pretty pictures: It´s got a nice mild hallucinogenic effect. Lights twinkle and sparkle, rainbow tracers, an added depth to everything, all that noise. You´re not as likely to have a bad trip. We still recommend not leaving your PAN open for spam arrows, however, while you´re on it. That new Aztechnology sponsored cooking show advertisement is scary and may kill your desire for soyburgers forever after.
• Between you and me: Who knew that empathy could be so much fun? Slap a patch of this on, and soon you´ll know for sure if that hot babe really is into you, or is scoping out your less-talented brother as he keeps claiming. ANd if she´s flipping too, the fun doubles. Hubba Hubba.
• Pretty Pictures, part 2: Hey another walk on the wild side! This is what gives flipside its name; like deepweed, now anyone can peek into the astral. Boy, they´ll let anyone in these days. We´re not worried about this, because we always have Bob to keep the riffraff at bay. [Editors note: Bob is such an undignified name for a spirit, especially one that delights in picking its teeth with piasma bones.]
• Skraa! : Well, you should shout something in Or´zet, anyway, after the rush hits you. It´s like being hit between the eyeballs with a pre-orgasmic shot of endorphins and that sensation you get when BASE jumping from the ACHE, at the same time. We can think of a few magical uses for that, our favorite idea involving calling over to the Sisters of Ariadne next week to propose a little skyclad ritual.

If any of you miscreants think up new and creative uses for flipside, drop us a line and let us know! We´re always looking for new ways to entertain ourselves in between trips visiting Uncle Corp to correct credflow issues. Until next time, our little unjnort friends, remember this: Christmas trees make great lightning rods, never forget where you put your shoes, and always hold your end of a spirit bargain, because those bastards can be really inconvenient when you are indelicately disposed.
//end attachment//


So no one knows what´s in this tempo **** or how it does what it does?
#Snopes

Isn´t that the case with most drugs? What does your average addict know or care about the composition of NovaCoke?
#Red Anya

Yeah but they have no idea what the downside is here
#Snopes

Downside? Just like most drugs, a lot of the lures are drawbacks. Besides the whole addiction thing, tempo seems pretty soft on the face of it: you zone out on a mellow high, get all touchy-feely and synced to other people, even get a fleeting glimpse of the magical otherworld and all those pretty lights. On the other hand, it can go from simply distracting to downright suicidal if you happen to be in an emo-club. It´s too early to tell what other drawbacks might pop up, cause the dealers certainly aren´t advertising (assuming they know). Might be you slowly go insane, or damage your aura as you flip back and forth from the astral to the physical like an epeleptic having a fit.
#Sticks

I´m waiting on some results. The tempo you get on the street is highly processed. No markers or DNA remnants I can backtrack. Nothing so far. There are a couple of substances out there that could be the baselines for the hallucinogenics and the astral flashes, but I´m not sure what´s behind the empathic boost. My gut feeling is the primer might be plant based, but it´s just conjecture at this point. For all I know this might even be something like the Royal Jelly coming out of Chicago.
#Nephrine

See what you´ve done? Now how am I supposed to get a good night´s sleep?
#Sticks

Well, nothing´s certain at this point. The Triads were pumping credits into fungal-based drugs and I know of at least one Golden Triangle outfit that´s been trying to get genetweaked bees to produce BAD-laced honey.
#Nephrine

[lonewolf1210]

04/30/71
It is one of those rare days in Seattle where a fresh breeze from the ocean makes the air almost clean and the sun has won its battle against the clouds resulting in the warmest day of the year up to now. But in your minds the beautiful weather can only do so much to distract you from your money problems. Rent is due and jobs have been rare lately. So you are glad when a message from Tabby appears on your link at noon:
Hey chummer!
Got another job for you: Miss Johnson is looking for a team to do some delicate work and I assembled a nice group of capable guys and when they said no I turned to you. ;)
The contact numbers for the rest of the team are attatched below. The meet with her is at the Tickler´s Strip Club, downtown at eight.

good luck!

And go

[Atemus]

Hez got on Highway 161, speeding toward Downtown. His interest in this new job was piqued; rarely did he get the chance to work for a woman, and the possibillity of who it could be ran through his mind.
At the back of his mind, the meeting with his new mechanic was still stewing, as both excitement and caution struggled over control.

[Thundercracker]

Jonathan Connor

Sweat dripped from Anderson's face onto the floor of his shabby one-room apartment; the apartment which he would be kicked out of sooner rather than later if he didn't get a job. He winced as he stretched his leg a bit too far. It would have been simple to augment his physical limitations with a spell, but that path led to stagnation and eventually dependency. He'd been undergoing self-imposed physical therapy for months, and was beginning to see some semblance of his old self returning. He gritted his teeth in preparation for the final set, but then he noticed his comlink buzzing. He skimmed through Tabby's message, glanced at the time display, and hammered out a response.


<Interested. I'll be at the meet. Anyone want to grab lunch?
#JC>

[Gray Mage]

Gears was tucked away in his workshop, happily working on his Scorpion, changing the old engine for the one Oni got for him. He turns it on, liking the sound of the new engine. A paint job and it'd be no telling it from a new one. Nothing like a job well done and a new deal to brighten his day.

He was just about to leave to take the chopper for a test drive when Tabby's message flashed in his commlink. Another job, two days in a roll? Good, I should let Oni know I'll be picking some quality parts next time. He thinks.

Replying to Tabby: <Sure thing, I'll be there.
#Gears>

He'd better make some fine tuning on his infiltration droids. But first, a ride and lunch. On his way out, he takes a brief look at the contact numbers, and one of them seems oddly familiar.

[Atemus]

He wizzed by traffick, slowing down as he exited the highway. He quickly found the place, a familiar spot, where he had met with people before.
A smirk ran across his face as he remembered the slimey publisher who originally offered him his first contract. The drek tried to low-ball them, and they turned him down. A week later, they were signed, and a week after that played the first show of their national tour.
"Good times," he muttered to himself.

Hez pulled into the parking lot, getting out of his car and put on his jacket. He closed the door, walking around to the trunk. He opened the hidden compartment and grabbed some equipment, putting his Secura on the small of his back, and his short vibro his arm. The translucent skinsuit glowed as his tatoo passed by, the soft glow of the colors catching his eye for a moment.

He closed his car's trunk, locking it and arming the security system, and headed inside to look for the client.

[lonewolf1210]

(Malfunctioned hasnt been online in a couple of days, so Im moving on)

As you arrive at Ticklers club, you are recieved at the entrance by a raven haired asian women, dressed, if you can call it that, in a see-through lace top with underwear to match. She leads you through the main area into a backroom as if taking you there for a show. She acts towards all of you as cool and distant as enticing.

Once everyone has settled, the woman turns to you and introduces herself.
"I am your Mrs. Johnson for this job." She retrieves a palm-sized commlink from a darkened corner of the room and sends copies of a file to everyone. "The file includes images of 2 gang lieutenants of the First Nations gang, Alec Littletree and Xa Firebird, as well as safe houses belonging to the First nations gang. Your job is observation and information gathering on those 2 individuals. You should find out what they are up to, what assets they have, how each target is earning his money, who their contacts are, and if they´re connected to any other crime outfits. Observation should be in place for at least one week for each of them. If you find anything major earlier let me know, that way I might allow the work to end earlier. I will leave it up to you to decide if you want to do both at the same time or one after the other, but I expect the same quality of results in both cases.
Payment is 5000 nuyen for each of you, half of it upfront."

(I rolled a couple of applicable Knowledge skill checks for you):
You all know that the first Nations is an Amerindian gang which until a couple of months ago was working together with the Shotozumi-rengo(Yakuza), but after a falling out they seem to be independent. They are at the moment clearly the main source for Tempo in Seattle, which had hit the market about a month ago.

[Gray Mage]

Gears arrives punctually at 20:00 in his chopper, and is directed to the meeting room, where he'll find a confy place to sit down. When he sees Hez, he nods to the orc and flashes an awkward little smile.

Having heard of the mission summary, his mind immediately goes to the two little drones he's currently carrying. They'd do just nicely, good thing that he did some fine tunning before coming here. At least this'll be a fun job.

Turning to Zethraya, Gears' says, with a smile on his face: "Agreed, I too, can hardly wait to begin. Are we going after both at the same time, or one first then the other? Personally, I'm fine with either."

[Thundercracker]

Chris Anderson

Flashing his Connor ID, Anderson makes his way into the club. He is dangerously thin, but doesn't appear sickly. An armored jacket hangs loosely off his emaciated frame. A pair of dark sunglasses adorn his face, obscuring his eyes, but other than that, his clothing is loose and casual.

Heading into the back room with the others, he listens intently to the deal, and waits to hear if anyone attempts to negotiate for a higher wage. If not, he will accept the offer as is.

[Atemus]

Hez accepted the lady's offer following her back into the room. He makes note of her face, as well as the rest of the employees at the club.

He took a seat next to Gears, acknowledging the rest of the group with a nod as his tattoo ran down his arm. "Good Evening, Gentlemen." He said curtly, waiting to continue with the dealing.

After she finishes he inquires, "What qualifies as major?"

[lonewolf1210]

Responding to Hez question, Mrs Johnson replies:
"I guess its like pornography: You know it when you see it.
But when you´re in doubt, send me an update."


As you start to discuss how to go about with the job, she smiles

"I take it you accept the job, correct?
Excellent."

She retrieves a certified credstick from the same corner, containing the first half of your payment and hands it to you.

"Do you have any more questions to me?"

If not she will leave the room and lets you plan your further steps.

[Karthas077]

As the feedback from the sprite she tried to compile hits her, Nova jacks out of VR gasping for air.

The room around her begins to spin, and she suddenly feels nauseous.

Onyx, currently in the form of black Cat lolls about by the foot of her bed, concern etched on both it's holographic and AR features.

<You should be taking it easier... You haven't even gotten your first mission yet and you're already trying to get yourself killed.>

Nova sits up to glare at the sprite, currently in the middle of stretching, before collapsing back onto her bed in pain. Everything she did hurt. Making sure to set an alarm on her commlink, she eventually allowed the darkness to overtake her.

An hour later, though still in miserable condition, Nova was at least mobile.

Though she doubted she'd have time before she had to be at the club, she decided it would be a smart idea to know now where she could find a good doctor.

Maybe she wouldn't end up needing one; she might get better on her own, or there might be a shaman of some kind in her new team capable of healing her.

Regardless,she wasn't about to be doing anything else for the next three hours, so she relaxed, plugged in a Trideo, and began a background search for both a hospital as well as for any relevant info on the rest of the team.

(Later at the Club)

Nova does her best to try to appear strong, hoping to make a good first impression on her team. However, as she enters the back room, Onyx a black python coiling around her shoulders, she realizes how much so everyone else in the room appears to be in their element...

For a moment she feels out of place, before determination sets in, and she strolls over to a seat and drops into it, putting her feet up on another chair or a bar, her boots making a dull thunking sound.

After the job has been explained, she thinks for a moment, considering the time and how tired and injured she is, before deciding that whatever it is she's going to do, she'd be best equipped to do so from her house. Especially until she's feeling 100%.

Spoiler

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Buying hits on both my threading test (3 hits to hit a rating of 6)
Buying hits on my Fade Resistance test (3 hits, to resist 3P damage)

(6 Browse + 4 Data Search + 2 Hot Sim - 2 Wounds)
Data Search Healer (Minute 1) - (10d6)[3][3][3][3][2][6][4][2][2][3](31)
Data Search Healer (Minute 2) - (9d6)[2][1][5][1][3][4][2][5][4](27)
Data Search Healer (Minute 3) - (8d6)[5][5][1][5][6][2][3][5](32)
Data Search Healer (Minute 4) - (7d6)[1][3][4][2][1][1][5](17)
Data Search Healer (Minute 5) - (6d6)[5][6][6][1][1][2](21)
Data Search Healer (Minute 6) - (5d6)[4][2][4][5][6](21)
Data Search Healer (Minute 7) - (4d6)[3][4][6][6](19)
16 hits total. As Nova has a Legal SIN, that'd be what she uses to visit the Hospital, so she's looking for a healer who is capable of handling awakened/emerged patients.

[Thundercracker]

Chris Anderson (Sparks)

The frail looking human's gaze follows Mrs. Johnson out of the room, eyes unreadable behind his dark shades. When the door closes, he glances around at the others.

"Anyone here worked together before?" he asks.

"Might be a good idea to lay our strengths out," he says.
"I can cover magic support, but I'd really like to avoid getting into any fist fights. If the job calls for it, well, I'm hoping one of you can bail me out. Best not take me on any ninja infiltrations either," he adds.

As he speaks he rolls up one sleeve to reveal a skeletal looking arm, pale skin clinging to clearly defined bones.

"I can mentally search for the targets if we get close enough, eliminate DNA traces, augment your abilities," he says, rolling his sleeve back down, "help protect someone from bullets or all of us from spells, plant ideas in other people's heads, and of course, fix us up if we get shot.... not all at the same time though," he says with a wry smile.

"Anyone else Awakened?" he asks.

[lonewolf1210]

data search results:

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Nova finds a multitude of different Hospitals in the area, and can basically make a quality of care vs cost decision. Anything from a Street clinic(100 nuyen, First aid only) over Private Hospital(500nuyen, First Aid and medical care for one night, physicians specialised in care of magical patients available) to corporate hospitals(1000 nuyen, as above + magical healing). (skill-level of doctors also improves the more money you spend)

In her search about the team, Nova finds mostly information about Luthers Rockband, including more than one dedicated fan-community. He also finds some information about Gears mechanic background, but nothing about the rest without digging deeper.

[Gray Mage]

Too absorbed thinking about which drone would be best for the job, he is brought back to reality by Spark's question.

"Sorry, what? Worked together? No, I don't think so, but Mr. Hez here" - he says, gesturing to the orc - " contacted me previously to act as his mechanic."

"I'm Gears. I can build, fix, tamper, modify, control and manipulate most tech. If it's a vehicle, I can ride it well too. I've done some sneaking around and shooting, but I'm not so hot at it. Thankfully, I can use these little guys to do it for me, and use them well."

He takes out his microdrone out of his pocket and puts it in his palm to show it to the others, right before it runs up his arm and is perched on his shoulder, looking around the room.

"I have two others, one is a little bigger, but can fly and follow the targets around quicker and the other is more suited for battle. I think they'll suit our purpose just fine. And, uhm, if we have to sneak around, I don't know about anything about hacking, but I can physically disable some security, or bypass eletronic or magnetic locks."

[Atemus]

"I do believe we accept the offer. It seems fair enough." He turns to the rest of the group, listening intently as Sparks introduces himself. "Good to know that we have some kind of magic. I'm not much for it myself. My area of expertise is people. I can get us in places; help us get to people, as well as get us ears where our magic and machines can't reach."

He nodded listening to each as they explained their individual skills, abilities, and resources before continuing with discussion of the task at hand.

"I think perhaps we should take a less direct approach. Do any of you know where to score some Tempo?"

[Karthas077]

As everyone talks, Nova does her best to pay attention, but her mind is already in the net. So she doesn't miss out on anything important, she pulls up an audio-video window of the room.

As Gears shows off his microdrone, Onyx abruptly shifts into a dragonfly and takes off, fluttering around near Gears before disappearing inside it.

Less than three seconds later, it pops back out, commenting <Little guy doesn't take to kindly to strangers does he? Still. Nice bit of tech.>

As he emerges, Nova smacks his avatar in VR and says, "Knock it off. Would you kindly relay to the others that I am in fact a hacker. Emphasis on the HACKER part. We don't know if we can actually trust them. I'm going to see if Mr. Magic support can do anything about fixing up the damage from that feedback earlier."

Firing off the relevant request to his commlink, she considers what the Rockstar says, and drops back into meatspace to reply.

"I don't, but I can find out easily enough. It'll just be easier for me from my home so if we have no other pressing matters to attend to in person here, I'd rather be off."

As she speaks, she forgets for a moment that she's not in VR anymore, and gestures at the end of her words to send off the commlink message. A slight blush creeps up her face before she can stop it.

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Buying 1 hit on Simrig threading
Buying 1 hit on Fading resist.

Message to Sparks: <If you have a moment, when we leave, I was hoping you could help me save myself some time and money by taking a look at some nerve trouble I've been having.>

[Thundercracker]

Chris Anderson (Spark)

Sparks pulls out what looks like a 7 year old comlink and punches a few buttons on it.

message to Nova:

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<not a problem, now or do you want to go somewhere more private? #Spark>

[a_humble_lich]

While everyone is talking, a rather short Asian elf with bright red hair and a pair of brass goggles on her forehead appears. She looks rather flustered, like she had been running to get here. "Hi guys, sorry I'm late. Luckily, I ran into Ms. Johnson on my way in and she laid it all out. So do we have a plan?"

"Oh, my name is Yumiko, sorceress extraordinaire. And you were asking if we knew where to score some tempo? I know this Haitian who might know where to get some; he is like way into the club scene."

[Atemus]

He turned his attention to the elf speaking with a low growl.

"It's about time our final party member arrived. You have a club source? Find out who he gets it from, if you can. In my experience the closer you get to the source the better the product gets. Contact them, tell them you have a friend looking for the highest quality stuff they can find. You'd appreciate it if they could hook you up to their source. See where that gets you and report back to us."

He turned to the other girl, asking "Your name is Nova, correct? I'd like it if you could work on finding a source who's actually in the First Nation. Earn their trust, if you can. They should have at least a few matrix Junkies in their group. Assuming you can keep your real identity hidden, you could probably get some information out of them. Don't take any unnecessary risks, though. The best way to gather information about an asset if to earn their trust. Think you can handle it? I have a feeling you'd be more help to us online than in the field. Which good, since I'm utterly useless online."

[Gray Mage]

"And then after we find where they deal we can observe them right? Seems straightfoward enough. Until then, what do we do?"

[Atemus]

"We can find out where they deal, who track the dealers to find the higher ups, hopefully finding our way to the marks. From there we can try to befriend them, or if time is too short gather more info on them. I've heard of ways that mages make themselves invisible," He turns to sparks, "Is there anyway we could get that on a drone?"

[Thundercracker]

Chris Anderson (sparks]

The human shakes his head.

"Difficult with drones; magic doesn't play well with technology. Not that it's impossible, but it would be tough," he says.

"Problem is, invisible doesn't mean silent, so anyone could hear it moving around, plus it'd still show up on the matrix... another thought is to enhance and hide one of us let him do the tailing," he continues, "but that's got its own risks, of course."

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Pending ruling on detect individual, Sparks will tell the others if he can get within a few hundred meters of the targets, he should be able to sense them, barring any magical protection they might have.

[Gray Mage]

Gears looks at Sparks, confusion on his face, as if he didn't even see the issue with his drones. "Hearing or seeing it won't be a problem, when I control it directly, my moves are very precise, plus, just by the size it's hard to find. Matrix detection is trickier. It'd be good to have some help if one of us is versed in the less tangible matrix operations, but if that is not possible, there's a program that'd do the trick. Money had been short lately, but that is no longer an issue. I could use some help finding it, since that is not in my usual shopping list."

(Edit: OOC: Changed text a bit because I don't think Nova said she's a hacker yet.)

[a_humble_lich]

"Sparks is right, it would be possible, but not easy. Also, not only would it still make noise, but it would also make the drone light up astrally. From what I hear, this tempo stuff is like deepweed; it makes the user not just hallucinate but see into the astral. But first, let me call Michel to see where we can score some."

Message to Michel

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<Bonjour Michel, long time. Did you manage to get home after that night at Club 43 :-) Hey I have a question, I keep hearing about this tempo stuff, would you know where to score some?> #Kitaru

[Karthas077]

"You just sit back and let me handle the node infiltrating. I'll leave all the lurching about in meatspace to you lot. Speaking of which, if I'm gonna get anything useful done I should be heading out."

As she speaks, her right hand is typing away on an AR display, and as she walks out of the room, she shoots a response to Sparks' commlink
<Private would be better... Don't really feel like broadcasting to everyone that I'm not at the top of my game. I'll be in another of the club's private rooms. Come find me when you're done.>

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We have a lot of purple like colors, so I'm switching Nova to Magenta and Onyx to DarkSlateGray.

If it wouldn't be possible for Nova to use another of the club's private rooms, any location other than her loft is a valid place for this to take place. I'd like to minimize travel time though and am not feeling very creative so I just went with this for now.

And as Thundercracker already rolled for it, I'm going to go ahead and take off 5 hits of physical damage if that's okay?

Nova is however far from done for the evening, so as soon as she's back at her house, and I am given the okay, I'll start all my hacking stuff (and there will be QUITE a lot of it)

Also, Onyx, my little snake turning into a dragonfly buddy should have told everyone I was a hacker while I was in VR. If he didn't then I blame him for being lazy

[Thundercracker]

Chris Anderson (sparks)

Sparks nods.

"That's right," he says, "if this stuff really does let non-awakened see into the astral, and any of these guys are sampling their own product, anything with a spell on it is going to show up like a Lone Star squad car with lights and sirens."

[Atemus]

Hez grins,"Hey now Sparks, lets not use such foul language. Lone Star." He lets out a low growl, "Then I suppose drones are out of the question for now, with the exception of tailing details. How about we let the drones and Gears handle our own security, as well as covering any assets in the field? From what I'm hearing putting them in close quarters with anyone is a bad idea."

"Here's what I got. I have a few shows in the next week. We try to make contact with the gang, doing our best to reach someone in power, preferably our marks. That's step one. Step two: I will personally offer to let them use my shows to deal in small amounts. I'll make it look self interested; either a cut of the take or a cut of the merchandise as a fee. If this works out we should be able to establish a good relationship with them which is key for proper intelligence gathering. At the least it will give us a chance to find one of their LANs, or one that belongs to a ganger. How does that sound?"

[lonewolf1210]

Reply from Michel:

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< hey chummer! Well, I did get into a home, just not MY home if you catch my drift. ;)
Yeah, that Tempo stuff is just HOT. You should really try it! And its all over now in most Downtown and Everett Clubs you can find a guy. And they´re selling in on campus too whenever there´s a party somewhere. Just look for someone in First Nation Colors and you should be golden. Let me know if you wanna party, I might join you.> #Michel

[lonewolf1210]

Hez Laésa contact doesnt know the two targets personally, but promises to ask around and get back to him. He can however provide additional background information about the First Nation and what they are into recently. While they are clearly the main source of Tempo within Seattle, conventional wisdom says that they are much too small to pull of an operation like this without backing of someone bigger who is supplying the drugs to them. But it is a real mystery at the moment who that might be.
Also the success of Tempo has some negative effects on the sale of other drugs by the larger crime syndicates and some of them are a bit irritated. But most likely they wont do anything before they know who the supplier is.