Date: August 20th, 2076
Location: Neo-Tokyo
Mr. Johnson: Sacristán
Team: Carbon Copy, Fender, Rex Dart, Steps in Shadows, Woodstock
Run Type: Courier
Overview: The runners arrive in Neo-Tokyo, and need to pick up and deliver 100kg of Flipside for the Yakuza.

The runners arrive in Neo-Tokyo, and is escorted from the Hanada Aerospace Port to a comfortably large house in Toshima. Later, Uribe concludes the deal with the Mita-gumi representatives. The next day, the Olaya delegation is treated to a tour of the city, and wined and dined by the Yakuza. Later that night, Hiro Yamajima (the acting head of the Mita-gumi) stops by and offers the team a job. The Mita-gumi needs a team that can’t be traced back to them to bribe some dirty cops and recover about 100kg of confiscated Tempo for immediate sale to the Bratva, the loval Vory organizatsi.

The team heads to the NTPD Evidence Warehouse and, after some abuse from the dirty cops, load 100kg of Tempo into their van. After the shadowrunners finish loading the van and paying off the cops, the NTPD launches a sting operation. One of the cops is a mole, an honest cop pretending to be crooked to get evidence on the crooked cops—and he has backup. A squad of SWAT officers burst on to the scene, but quick thinking on the team’s part allows them to escape.

The meeting with the Bratva is at the infamous Black Shogun AR bar, which for tonight only is located in a large street-level apartment in Ikebukuro. Th e Bratva chemist cuts open one brick and aft er a few minute’s testing declares it 98% pure. When a price is settled on, the Black Shogun Cashier provides the banking service. Deal done, all the shadowrunners have to do is hand the Bratva reps the keys and leave. When the garage door opens, the glare of police searchlights floods the room. Somewhere behind the obfuscating light someone orders a surrender in clipped English. The NTPD is here for another precision bust, catching the Bratva buying a massive load of tempo.

The situation is obviously a setup. The team bolts…. and almost escapes. 1/2 of the runners are brought down with non-lethal ordinance. They are released in the morning—with no charges. Someone upstairs must like them, or “Uncle Hiro” may have pulled some strings. Either way, they hit the street just in time to see the news reports of last night’s terrific busts on crooked cops and horrible foreign drug dealers.

Rewards: 
4 Karma per person
¥10,000 each (cut from drug sales)

¥50,000 each (Payment for Hong Kong)

//Archive/Newsfeeds /recovered//

MetaLife [Evo]–August 15, 2076

HONK KONG, HKFEZ: Reporter Ryan Doyle was interviewing local orks and trolls in Hong Kong’s poorest district when he was caught in a ? ash-riot that erupted between two of the local gangs, both involved in the drug trade. Caught between both sides, Ryan bravely made a live feed broadcast of the battle, continuing his efforts even after being shot. Ryan Doyle died of blood loss thirty-three minutes into the battle, his eyecameras still streaming trideo footage until their battery back-ups died. That footage represents the only record of the Kowloon Massacre. We at Fomorian Times salute Brother Doyle for his noble effort to bear witness to this tragic loss of metahuman lives. Doyle is survived by his wife and three sons.

// uploaded Newsfeed item :: 10/16/76//
//trash/recovered//

Date: August 15th, 2076
Location: Hong Kong
Mr. Johnson: Sacristán
Team: Carbon Copy, Fender, Rex Dart, Steps in Shadows, Woodstock
Run Type: Bodyguard
Overview: The runners escort Sacristán and Jorge Rhys to a Black Chrysanthemum facility in Kowloon for a tour

A problem has cropped up when an apparently tainted batch of tempo arrives at the Black Chrysanthemums’ distribution center in Kowloon Walled City. The runners are tapped to escort Sacristán and Rhys to the site—they are provided with sashes that identify them as Black Chrysanthemums guests to the locals and warns them away. While the group makes their way through the Kowloon maze, the Smoke Circle Society launches a major assault against the center—they have mobilized a veritable army of junkies, bums, and quatters and promised each a week’s supply of drugs for each Chrysanthemum badge that they bring back.

The runners are escorting Sacristán and Jorge Rhys to that facility for a tour when the assault goes down and are caught in the building during the massacre. To buy breathing space, Hak (the Black Chrysanthemum Lt on site) hands out ampoules of kamikaze to soldiers trapped in the courtyard. The invaders are about to overcome the defenders at the gate, and the team manages to hold them back long enough for stragglers to flee into the building. A low-flying helicopter does a lazy circuit around the rooftops. During its second pass it comes in lower, dropping spiraling streamers of tear gas into the mob. Sacristán has arranged for an emergency evacuation and the team begins an exfiltration to the top of the building.

Down on the street, the Smoke Circle Society gangs move forward, pushing through the smoky tear gas. The gates come alive with autofire before their final defenders are overwhelmed. The team boards the helicopter, and escapes as chaos reigns in the streets below.

Rewards: 
5 Karma per person
¥5,000 each “Bonus” from last run

Rep with Black Chrysanthemum +1
Rep with Olya Cartel +1

Date: August 5th, 2076
Location: Hong Kong
Mr. Johnson: Sacristán
Team: Carbon Copy, Fender, Rex Dart, Steps in Shadows, Woodstock
Run Type: Asset Destruction
Overview: Sacristán instructs the team (now on retainer for the Olaya Cartel) that they must find and destroy the Smoke Circle Society’s four-hundred-kilo shipment of Red Orchid before it arrives in Hong Kong..

The runners arrive in Hong Kong, and after a few days of laying low, Sacristán brings them up to date at their temporary lodgings just outside of the city.  The monthly four-hundred-kilo shipment of red orchid from Kalokdam’s Golden Triangle fields is arriving in Hong Kong by boat. It’s in the Olaya’s best interst to prevent the Smoke Circle Society from getting the shipment in order to deplete their stores. The shipment is arriving on a small merchantman to an outlying island on the southern coast of Hong Kong. The players are to go out with a pirate crew, dive over the side during the night, attach the mine, and sink the vessel. Sacristán has hired the Pok Guy, a refitted yacht, operated by Captain Teng. A veteran of the South China seas, the gracious Han smuggler is aware of the nature of the operation.

Once they are at sea, and getting comfortable, the captain subtly wonders why the runners would sink a half a million worth of drugs rather than seize it for themselves. The runners start wondering the same thing. During the course of the second day, the Pok Guy hits a squall and the team is forced below decks. By night the worst is over, but as they approach the merchantman’s coordinates, they find that the target has veered off course and looks to be heading southwest of Hong Kong. Teng lays an intercept course. The team makes their way to the target, and use a hand-held millimeter-wave radar device to scan for a spot on the hull with enough metal to hold the mine. After several passes, they fail to find a good spot… it looks like they need to board the vessel after all.

In the pouring tropical rainfall, the ship is unnaturally quiet. Only the running lights are on; the bridge, crew quarters, and cargo hold are dark. After a few moments on deck, the team is attacked by what appears to be shambling corpses of the crew. The monsters try their best to kill the team—they do not want their new home compromised. A fight ensues with the spirit-possessed zombies in the darkness of claustrophobic corridors or the rain-drenched cargo deck of the ship, but ultimately the runners prevail. A brief argument about whether they should destroy the drugs, or try to salvage them, the team tosses the overboard, and Woodstock commands a water spirit to do the work for them. They escape of the Pok Guy, and return to Hong Kong.

Rewards:
4 Karma per person

//Archive/Newsfeeds /recovered//

New York Post online edition – 08/02/76

NEW YORK, UCAS: Yesterday, William Ferguson, the Big Apple’s most famous artist, was killed in brutal holdup/ murder in his studio in lower Manhattan. According to NYPD Inc., the craving offender shot the painter two times with a gun after Ferguson refused to hand out his supplies of tempo, setting the studio ablaze before security could intervene and destroying the painter’s upcoming work. This incident has refueled the discussion to put more screws on the distributors of tempo (and narcotics in general). According to the NYPD, the police will triple their efforts to put an end to the vending of the drug in NYC as the drug is “a threat not only for chip heads and druggies on the streets but to every upright citizen.”

// uploaded Newsfeed item :: 8/2/76//
//trash/recovered//

After the incident at the Shangri-LA hotel and casino, the team decides to put Los Angeles in their rear view for a while. Kaz has offered to help them leave town and to arrange employment with the Olaya delegation for some travelling on the cartel’s checking account. After some deliberation, the team has accepted. Kaz hasthem wire him their vital stats for the fake SINs and meet him at the Ontario Airport in twelve hours (travel bags and essential gear only).

When they arrive, Kaz directs them to a private VIP lounge where a woman named Sacristán is waiting, accompanied by an unfamiliar member of the Olaya delegation. Kaz pays the group the balance of what he still owes them. After that the stranger hands each member of the group a credstick with a false SIN (Rating 6). When all is agreed, Sacristán briefs them on the terms of their retainers, welcomes the runners to her team, and tells them they will be boarding a suborbital to their next destination, Hong Kong, in a few minutes.

The terms: The team is hired on retainer, and will act under the direct supervision of Sacristán as part of a delegation from the Olaya Cartel. They can expect not only a healthy payout every three weeks of their travel and travails but also accommodations, travel expenses, and a daily cost-of-living stipend. Any (false) documentation needed will be also be provided.

This delegation will be stopping in several locations over the next two months and in these locations Sacristán will have need of their talents. Sacristán is second in command of this delegation… they will have little or no direct contact with the leader of this ‘tour’, Henry “The Diplomat” Uribe—and that is intentional. The Diplomat has his own loyal security detail and will not be bothered dealing with the “hired help.”

//Archive/Newsfeeds /recovered//

Los Angeles Unified School District PTA Newsletter [Horizon]–07/30/76

LOS ANGELES, PCC: After consultation with representatives from Edgewalker Pharmaceuticals and the Pueblo Corporate Council Security Force’s Narcotics Division, the PTA has unanimously voted to ban the sale or ownership at schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District of the “blue rose” temporary tattoos. These tattoos have been found to contain a possible narcotic substance which has not been approved by the Pharmacological and Substance Regulation Authority. Ownership or use by students, faculty, or staff is to be met with a suspension from school for up to seven days (without pay, in case of staff); sale will be met with expulsion or termination of employment.

// uploaded Newsfeed item :: 8/2/76//
//trash/recovered//

Date: July 25th, 2076
Location: Los Angeles, Downtown
Mr. Johnson: Dae
Team: Fender, Rex Dart, Steps in Shadows, Woodstock
Run Type: Kidnapping / Wetwork
Overview: The team is hired to assassinate the shan chu of the Red Dragon triad, and the oyabun of the Kenran-kai during their scheduled poker game with Caeser Ciarniello at the Shangri-LA Casino, and he wants the runners to frame the Mafia Milano family.

The team gets a call from Kaz, who’s been laying low, and says that he has ‘one more job’ that he needs to talk to them about. The team meets him in a trailer, in the shanty-town at Han Free Market. Kaz is worse for the wear, and a bit paranoid, but he’s still very happy to see his favorite runners. He tells them about a plan that will set the Mob and the Triads at each other’s throats, send an unequivocal message to the Kenra-Kai, and ensure Gray-Wolf will have no choice but to follow Kaz’s lead, all in one blow. He offers the group ¥250,000 for some high profile wetwork.

He wants the Red Dragon Triad’s Shan Chu, Hanzo Shotu, and the oyabun of the Kenran-kai, Shigenobu Nagamori, assassinated during their weekly poker game with Caesar Ciarniello at the Shangri-LA Casino, and he wants the runners to frame the Milano family. The team has five days to plan and execute the hit.

The plan calls for the runners to slip into the sewers under the parking lot used by the VIPs and plant explosives before the game starts. Once they are on site, all the runners have to do is trigger the bombs. The fall guy chosen is Harry “Fingers” Barducci,  a long-time button man for the Milanos. The team researches the location, the sewers, and their patsy.  They find that the sewers are blocked off from the main system, but that some older storm sewers can still be accessed from the bay not too far away. Some scuba diving proves them right.

Carbon Copy knows a guy who can plant the explosives, and they begin some excavation so that they can access the private parking garage. They manage to get the explosives in place with a few hours to spare. The team also tails ‘Fingers’ for a few days, and on ‘game day’ they manage to catch him with his pants down… literally. After a short altercation, they subdue him.

On game day everything goes off without a hitch…even though one of the targets is late. They wait out their quarry, and detonate the explosives in time to take out both men. ‘Fingers’ body is dropped not too far away, with enough evidence to indicate that he was the trigger man.

Rewards:
15 Karma per person
¥50,000 each
Free flight to Hong Kong

+1 Loyalty with Kaz Yakamura (Max Loyalty 5)
Rep with Red Dragon Triad -1
Rep with Sapphire Crane Society -1
Rep with Kenran-kai -1
Rep with The Milano Family -1

Date: July 11th, 2076
Location: Los Angeles Harbor
Mr. Johnson: Piper
Team: Fender, Rex Dart, Steps in Shadows, Woodstock
Run Type: Snatch / Grab
Overview: The runners are hired to steal a package from a Horizon shipping facility. When they try to deliver the goods, it turns out that the whole job was just a setup.

After the meeting with Gray-Wolf, Kaz advises the team to lay low for a while. There’s all but open warfare between the gangs, the syndicates, and the families on the streets, and their names are pretty hot right now. After a week of keeping their heads down, the boredom must be getting to them, because Fender accepts the first job that gets thrown at them… an unknown Johnson contacts them via Reno and requests a meet that night.

The team meets a Johnson, who’s a little young and awkward, at the docks. The job’s simple: Recover a package from a Horizon facility, and deliver it to an as-yet-to-be-determined location. The team is a little suspicious… Johnson is obviously inexperienced, and his bodyguards seem a bit ‘low rent’ for the pay that he’s offering. Nevertheless, they accept the job. After roping Cygnet in, the team literally drives to a loading dock and loads the crate with no issues. They contact Johnson for the drop coordinates, and proceed to the meet. They pull into an off-line storage compound of some sort, and meet two of Johnson’s toughs, ready to load the package. Instead of payment, they’re handed a voice recorder. Mr. Johnson’s voice emanates from it:

“Hoi, ‘chummers’. I was almost surprised that you didn’t recognize me, but I’m glad you didn’t… Long story short, boys… you killed my friends, you left me for dead, and now you’re fucked. Don’t mess with the ShitKickers or you’ll get your shit kicked!”

The team jumps into action, and quickly realizes that the situation’s gone from weird to worse. Johnson’s goons aren’t the only ones here. A dozen gangers in Ragers colors leap from cover, and explosions can be heard on the other side of the compound. It seems that Johnson (Piper, from the ShitKickers) called anyone and everyone that had beef with the team! The ShitKickers, the Ragers, The Red Dragon, the Kenra-kai, and Horizon all arrive on the scene. The team takes a beating, but manages to escape with their lives (although worse for the wear).

Rewards:
5 Karma per person

Date: June 29th, 2076
Location: Malibu
Mr. Johnson: Kaz
Team: Carbon Copy, Fender, Rex Dart, Steps in Shadows, Woodstock
Run Type: Bodyguard / Extraction
Overview: The runners act as bodyguard for Dae, while she is on a ‘date’ with a Mafia Lt. then track down and eliminate a group of assassins hired to kill Kaz..

The runners wake in the morning to find a surprisingly chipper Kaz making breakfast.  Over the mean, he informs the runners that he has been summoned to a private meeting later that afternoon with ‘Gray-Wolf’. The runners are to escort Dae to a different meeting.

Dae accompanies Mob boss Caesar Ciarniello to be his “date” at a poker game and sit-down with several other mob and corporate big-wigs, including with Toju Shotu, a real estate investor from Hong Kong (who the runners soon discover has ties to the Red Dragon Triad). Bringing a Korean beauty into a card game is a slap in the face to Toju and certain to distract him from his cards. The runners keep an eye on Dae (and the game) for a few hours before they are interrupted by two things: Brother 9 arrives and brings an urgent message to Toju, and Fender receives a call from Kaz informing him that there was an attempt on his life. Kaz tells Fender that the entire meeting was a setup; instead of meeting Gray-Wolf, Kaz found himself surrounded by assassins. He wants the team to track down the killers and bring him their leader.

The team heads to the location of the meeting (a warehouse complex that Fender’s seen before), and searches for clues. They find Kaz’s guards bodies as well as the bodies of two Yakuza assassins. Carbon Copy tracks the assassins to a nearby hotel, and the pursue the Yakuza onto the freeway. After a brief but bloody fight they capture the assassin’s captain and return him to Kaz.

The day after, Kaz asks that the runners accompany him to a meet. There they find several Komun’go strongmen, and Grey-Wolf waiting for them. Beneath an obvious sheet of tension, Kaz and Grey-Wolf engage in small talk about sports for the first few innings. Kaz then casually opens a briefcase and shows Gray-Wolf a patch of tattooed skin that he shaved off the assassin captain’s corpse. He asks calmly if Gray-Wolf sold him out. Gray-Wolf admits that it was necessary evil and expects that If the roles were reversed he would expect Kaz to do the same. He argues that flipside is bad for Komun’go business and he wants to cut his losses—. After some heated back and forth, Kaz tells the Komun’go leader he won’t denounce Gray-Wolf’s treachery to the Ring and risk a schism, but warns that if he has anything to do with it, the Komun’go will be dealing tempo for a long time to come.

Rewards:
9 Karma per person
¥10,000 per person
+1 Notoriety
-1 Street Cred

+1 Loyalty with Kaz Yakamura (Loyalty 5)
-1 Loyalty with Brother 9
Rep with Komun’go -1
Rep with Red Dragon Triad -1
Rep with Sapphire Crane Society -1
Rep with Kenran-kai -2
Rep with The Milano Family -1
Rep with The Ricca Family -1