Escape to New York

Chapter One — 2071: Out of Hong Kong

Eight months have passed since the disastrous end of the runners’ confrontation with Evo Corporation. Their apparent surrender to the megacorporation was actually an elaborate escape plan, culminating in the hijacking of their transport aircraft, the assassination of Evo operative Vladimir Prelovac, and a spectacular crash near Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport.

The surviving runners scatter across Asia, using false identities, misdirection, and electronic deception to remain ahead of their pursuers. Kiril and Bu Hao disappear into Central Asia, eventually finding refuge among the nomadic vehicles of the Karavan. Hammer and Aron remain in Macau before returning to Hong Kong, where they discover that their former contacts have vanished and their faces are plastered across the shadow networks. Meanwhile, the city’s Triads have descended into open warfare, making the already dangerous Hong Kong shadows almost impossible to navigate.

By March 2071, circumstances begin drawing the scattered companions back together. Joined by several newcomers, including the chaos mage E and the dwarven magician Nagrad Firebeard, the runners resume their careers with an assignment from the Watanabe-rengo to intercept a shipment of a new street drug being transported by the Red Dragon Triad.

Their next adventure is more personal. Determined to rescue their former companion Lone Eagle, Hammer finances and organizes a break-in at Pak Sha Wan Prison. The operation coincides with a violent prison riot and the controversial transfer of Hong Kong’s policing responsibilities to Knight Errant.

With Hong Kong increasingly hostile to their presence, the team accepts an assignment from their old contact Brother 9, who sends them to New York City to retrieve an asset. The job introduces them to several useful local contacts, including Peace and Eddie Stevens.

After months spent hiding from Evo and navigating Hong Kong’s increasingly dangerous underworld, the runners have found a new city in which to ply their trade.

Unfortunately, New York has problems of its own.

Chapter Two — 2071: A New York State of Mind

In April 2071, the team begins establishing itself in the New York shadows, where the privatized NYPD, Inc., powerful corporations, and competing criminal organizations maintain a precarious balance of power.

Their first major New York assignment comes from Gary Deltona, a Horizon executive who hires the runners to steal a valuable piece of transgenic artwork from the Museum of Modern Art. The theft succeeds, but the job takes an unexpected turn when Deltona’s superior, Ieto Hong, hires the team to steal the artwork back and return it to the museum—apparently to teach his subordinate a lesson. The runners collect a substantial payday and gain a valuable corporate contact in the process.

Their next employer, a local operator known as Peace Man, has a considerably less subtle assignment: destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.

The demolition succeeds, generating a wave of public outrage and a security crackdown throughout Manhattan. News reports describe the arrest of ten NYPD, Inc., officers accused of involvement in the incident, while city authorities impose temporary restrictions on travel and public gatherings.

Meanwhile, an increasingly dangerous street drug called tempo is spreading through New York’s criminal underworld. Rival gangs and syndicates compete to control its distribution, and the authorities struggle to contain a rapidly escalating wave of violence. An intercepted NYPD intelligence report suggests that the drug is arriving through an organized distribution network, attracting attention from major corporations and criminal organizations alike.

Against this backdrop, the runners accept several smaller assignments that draw them deeper into the city’s underworld. One job requires them to attend a meeting at a local nightclub and quietly observe the proceedings. Another has them shadowing a smuggler on behalf of a Triad contact, gathering intelligence about his activities and associates.

New York proves every bit as dangerous and politically complicated as Hong Kong, but the runners are beginning to build the contacts and reputation necessary to survive.

Chapter Three — 2071: Business as Usual

By May 2071, the team has settled into the familiar rhythm of professional shadowrunning: meet a Johnson, negotiate payment, complete the assignment, and try not to attract too much attention.

Their next significant job comes from Mara Blaine, who hires the runners to locate a missing girl on Long Island. Their investigation leads them to a construction company suspected of involvement in her disappearance. The assignment proves lucrative, earning the runners a substantial reward and an additional payment to ensure their silence about the affair.

In June, Peace approaches the team with another dangerous assignment. A valuable package is traveling aboard a train between New York and Boston, and the runners are hired to intercept it while the train is in motion. The resulting robbery becomes a major news story, with reports describing armed attackers, injured passengers, and significant disruption to regional rail traffic.

The team’s growing reputation also attracts renewed corporate interest. Ieto Hong of Horizon arranges an unusual job interview, challenging the runners to infiltrate a corporate office on extremely short notice and retrieve both a data file and a piece of equipment. The assignment tests their ability to work together without extensive planning, and the team completes the operation for another generous payday.

Throughout these adventures, the roster continues to change. New companions such as Crash, Keiara, and Stoli join familiar faces from Hong Kong, while others make occasional appearances as circumstances permit.

The team has become a loose collection of experienced operatives rather than the small group of fugitives who fled Evo. With a growing network of employers and contacts, they’re finally beginning to establish themselves in the New York shadows.

Naturally, that means taking on jobs that are increasingly likely to get them killed.

Chapter Four — 2071: Lights Out

On July 4, 2071, the runners accept an assignment from an anonymous employer to infiltrate a local electrical substation and insert a data file into its computer systems. The operation appears straightforward enough, and the team completes the job without immediately understanding its larger implications.

The following evening, much of the northeastern UCAS suffers a catastrophic power failure.

A cascading series of electrical faults brings down power grids from New York to the Great Lakes, leaving hundreds of millions without electricity. Transportation systems grind to a halt, Matrix hosts collapse, and widespread looting and civil unrest follow. Investigators eventually trace the disaster to a series of programming failures at several Gaeatronics substations, although the full circumstances surrounding the blackout remain unclear.

With the city struggling to recover, the runners continue accepting assignments. Monty Boudreaux hires them to venture deep into gang-controlled territory and recover a package, while another anonymous employer contracts the team to conduct a series of simulated data thefts against multiple targets, testing the effectiveness of a local business’s security systems.

Their final recorded adventure takes them away from New York entirely.

In August 2071, E, Hammer, and Kiril travel to New Orleans, where a Johnson named Toshi Akumura hires them to extract a corporate scientist while she is on vacation. The assignment offers an extraordinary payment of ¥200,000, making it one of the most lucrative contracts of their New York careers.