Shadowrun: Wages of Sin

[Imperial Overlord]

A while back I ran a Shadowrun game at Librium. The game crashed and burned just when the players were getting close to the real meat at the center of the game, leaving the mystery unsolved and my totally excellent plot unappreciated. So I'm going to write a story based on it.

The characters are somewhat based on the characters played by the players, subject to some modification and streamlining by yours truly. They are not the ones the players chose, although there are some deliberate similarities.


New York, New York

The side doors of both vans opened and the kill teams poured out. It was darkest night, but the night vision built into their helmets allowed them to see almost as well as if it was day. The attackers wore heavy security armour, which made them appear much like the power armour wearing troops in popular science fiction movies. They were, however, horribly real.

The first two men out of each van were armed with assault rifles with double drum magazines. They emptied their weapons into the run down former garage in front of them. The armour piercing rounds tore through doors and walls easily, turning the building into swiss cheese in a few seconds. Other men advanced during the hail of fire, putting a pair of grenades into the building by firing them from their under barrel launchers. Others opened up with suppressing fire as the drum magazine gunners ditched their empty magazines and reloaded with standard ammunition clips. The team closed into to breach the building and finish the survivors with precision of a well oiled machine.

A brilliant gold flash marked the spell strike from their support mage. The steel security shutter was torn apart like wet paper. Two men filled the interior with bullets while two others threw in grenades. They waited a moment for them to detonate and then stormed in.

A human and troll were dying on the floor, their bodies torn by bullets and shrapnel. The leading edge of the attack pressed forward, leaving it for the men just behind them to finish them off. There were two quick bursts of gun fire and both of the men in the lead fell bonelessly to the floor, blood pouring from multiple wounds. Rifle fire ripped through the wall of the next room.

Hammer ducked low to try and avoid getting hit. The street samurai wore armour over and beneath his flesh, but not enough to stop direct hits by armour piercing assault rifle rounds. Did stop the ricochets pretty good though. The rest of his team was dead or dying. Either they had fucked up and the target had gotten a hold of them or the Johnson had decided to take out the mercenaries he had hired.

Moving faster than possible for an unaugmented human the street samurai rolled out the back door as he slammed another clip into his Japanese SMG. He was truly fucked he knew. A large caliber round tore up the pavement a meter from him. A sniper of course. Hard to hit a superhumanly fast target running erratically in the dark with a sniper rifle, but it could be done. It only needed to happen once. Hammer was running. While he did so, he dialed his phone implant.

"Felix, pick up," he said as he ran. Bullets whizzed around him. The killers were well equipped and augmented, but their augmentations were standard grade and paid for with by an eye that closely watched the bottom line. His were beta grade and custom grown biologicals that outperformed their enhancements to the same degree that they outperformed normal humans.

"Felix here. What is is Hammer?"

"We're dead, as good as. The revenge fund is coming your way-" the shadowrunner fell. The sound of gunshot reached him, but he was way past caring.

The commander of the kill teams received acknowledgement of the kill. "Thermite the place and lets roll," he ordered. His dead were already being dragged back into the vans which would be disposed of when this was done. He neither wanted nor needed to know why this was done. Not his job. Executing his superiors' orders were.

Seattle Metroplex

"Honey, I'm home."

"I"m in the workshop," Gil shouted back. He carefully put the circuit board he was working on down next to his tools. He got up and entered the living room of their apartment. "How did it go?"

"Well enough," said Claire with a false smile on her face as she put her bags down. She was a small, but fierce woman with a little grey beginning to show in her auburn hair.

"What happened?" Gil asked.

"They were out of penicillin. Again."

"I'm sorry honey. Look, there's some people I used to know, maybe they might come through with some."

"If we pay them enough," she said.

"Yeah, well, I'm almost finished with the 'deck I'm working on. That'll be a nice injection of cash. We have enough stretch in the budget for it."

"This time," she said. "If nothing else comes up." She sat down on their battered love seat. "Sometimes I wish I could find my younger self and beat some sense into her. What was I thinking trying to do this?"

"You were trying to do the right thing by a lot of kids," said Gil. He sat down beside her and squeezed her knee. "We knew it would be rough going in. We've just had a bad run recently. That's all."

He looked in to her eyes and willed her to believe the lie. She pretended to. He kept smiling to reassure her while thinking, what the fuck do we do now?

[Imperial Overlord]

Seattle Metroplex

Gil handed the shoulder bag to the young man. "Everything to your specifications," he said. "As promised. Go ahead and give it a spin."

"No need," said the kid smiling. "I know your rep. Besides I know where you live." He made a playful gun and shooting motion with his right hand.

"Kid," said Gil, "do yourself a favor and don't joke about that. Sometimes it really comes down to that and its not pretty."

"Okay," he said, a little downcast. "Catch you in the Shadowlands?"

"Bet your ass Darter." Handed over a cred stick and made that weird hand sign that indicated things were cool. Gil made it back. They parted.

He headed across the empty lot towards the building where Claire conducted her school/daycare/free clinic/food bank. It was mostly for kids, but it was the best this neighborhood had. The Redmond Barrens were a shit hole with minimal government services of any kind and too many people without any real legal status.

Gil helped run it and helped fund it because so many people couldn't afford more than a token payment. It ate money and time like a teenager in a growth spurt, which they had more than a few of here. He hoped he was buying back pieces of his soul. Some days he didn't miss his old life. Sometimes he would kill to go back to it.

He activated his headware phone. "Scamper, its Freefall. I need to get some meds, antibacterials mostly. In quantity."

"Freefall," purred the voice on the other end of the line. "It's been what, three months?"

"Something like that. Can you do something for me?"

"I can my friend, but it will cost. I'm sorry about that, but prices are high now."

"I understand."

"How badly do you miss the game?" Gil was silent. "Pretty bad then. I'm not going to tell you the love of a good woman and walking the path of the righteous is something you should give up, but not every job is at odds with that."

Gil was quiet for a moment. "What do you have?"

"Look, I can get you the drugs, but if your interested in improving your cash flow I have some work. The pay is good, not great, but good. It will go better with a solid man handling it."

"What kind of job?" Gil asked. His mouth was suddenly dry.

"Payback. Some runners got betrayed and murdered. They had a contingency fund set up to get revenge. Their are the fashion the last couple of years. Makes the nastier Johnson's think twice about zeroing them after the job."

Gil paused. He didn't have a problem zeroing a murderer, but what would Claire think? He realized he already knew that answer. She knew he wasn't done with the game, not really. "Alright. Put the meat together."

---------------------------------------------------

Thomas Stoddard looked up from his desk as Hooker entered his office. A cigarette hung from the fingers of his left hand. He took a drag from it, keeping Hooker waiting. He exhaled. "Well?" he said.

"It's taken care of. Clean sweep. No traces leading back to us and no indicator of anything floating in the Matrix."

"Good," said Stoddard. "That's all I needed to know. Thank you."

"Yes sir. Do you need anything else from my team?"

"Not at the moment. Job well done." Hooker nodded and left. Stoddard watched him go. The data from the 'run had been unbelievable. Possibly revolutionary tech with so many potential applications. The stakes were the highest. Getting the data was only the first step, now that he knew what they had.

He picked up the phone. "Nguyen, it's Stoddard. I need another bunch of shadowrunners. Expendable, no connection to be traced back to us. A smash mission." He paused. "Yes, I have the budget for it." Not strictly true, but he would after the board realized what they had. "Do it."

[Imperial Overlord]

Seattle Metroplex

Claire looked up from the desk as Gil came in to her makeshift school room. She shot him a wan smile. There was something wrong, she could see it on his face. "Keep on practicing Michael," she said to the child beside her. "Finish the page."

She got up and walked over to Gil. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He lead her out of the room. "I can get the meds."

"But its going to cost, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but there's a solution to that."

"Your going to take a run."

"Yes."

"I never asked you to stop."

"You never needed to."

"Gil, you're a good man. What we've done here the last couple of years would have proved it if I had any doubts. I don't like what that work does to you, but I won't try and stop you."

"I know."

"Come back safe," she said and embraced him.

Chicago, Illinois

Krueger stepped out of the elevator doors and then flattened himself against the side of the wall as the paramedics wheeled the gurney out. The poor bastard on it looked to be in real bad shape. Just what he needed to see before talking to Donovan. He walked down the hall.

Donovan's secretary looked up. She was blonde, early thirties, and pretty. If he had to guess he would say Donovan wasn't fucking her. That would be too human. Her lip was quivering. "Go in," she said hoarsely. "He's expecting you."

Krueger grabbed the brass handles of the oak double doors and opened them. It was dark inside, by his cyber eyes had been cutting edge German tech ten years back. They compensated. The odor hit him like a hammer.

The carpet in front of the door was soaked with blood. Donovan was sitting at his desk, smiling. There was blood on his knuckles and on the gold plated letter opener on his desk. Fuck. "Come in Mister Krueger."

Krueger walked in. Donovan's office was sparsely decorated. The carpet squelched under his feet. "I'm at your disposal sir." Donovan was a scary motherfucker, but he had never heard a hint that he could flip out like that."

"Mister Lane has disappointed me. Seriously disappointed me. I need his errors rectified. Or I will flay those responsible for failing me."

Krueger had no doubt that Donovan meant that literally. "What do you want me to do?"

"There was an egregious security breach at Cloister Facility. Data was stolen, including schematics. There was also a physical intrusion."

Shit. No wonder Donovan was on the war path. The Cloister project was his baby and he had total support on the board on it. Krueger didn't know exactly what was going on there, but he knew it was big. Really big. "How long ago?"

"Forty-eight hours."

"That's bad sir."

Donovan stood up. "I don't need you to tell me what I already know. I need you to hunt down whoever is responsible, take back what is mine, and bring me their fucking skulls. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir. Absolutely." He hesitated. Fuck it. "Sir, I understand the Cloister project is need to know only sir, but I may need to know in order to hunt them down and retrieve it."

Donovan stared at him with the dead eyes of a shark. "I'll consider it. You may go."

Krueger didn't need to be told twice. It was all he could do not to run on his way out.

Shadowlands BBS, The Matrix

Gil touched the keyboard of his tortoise, sifting through the shadowrunner community that hung out in this corner of the Matrix. He was looking for familiar names from this place and from the past when he had run the shadows under the handle Freefall. "Cerebus," he typed. "What's up chummer?"

"Loi old buddy. Same old."

"I'm getting back into the game. Might need a team. Interested?"

"Seriously? lol. Old men like us should get out, not back in. "

"Yeah. Seriously. You in?"

"Running my own crew now. Have to be places for my boys."

"Who?"

"Elf phys ad, human mage."

"Might need them for the job. Is cool if you vouch."

"I do."

"Job?"

"Wet work. Someone paid some runners in lead. Payback."

"Who through?"

"Scamper."

"Good enough. We're in if the nuyen is right."

[Imperial Overlord]

Seattle Metroplex

Cerebus slid out of the beat up car. "Holy shit. Is that Freefall? Because that looks like Freefall, but he's sure as hell not acting like Freefall."

Gil smiled and turned back to the basketball game. "Carry on kids. No rough stuff." He turned back to the street samurai. "Been a long time. Welcome to Redmond."

"Place is still a shit hole," said the street samurai. "But hanging a hoop in a vacant lot does help."

"Cleaning out the debris first is a necessary precursor," said Gil. The two men embraced.

They were close in height, both Caucasians a little over average height. Gil was a little on the wiry side, but Cerebus was built like a line backer. Most of his cyberware was top shelf and the surgeons who had done the implants had known their shit. You had to really look and know what you were looking for to notice the vat grown muscle and implanted muscle. His movements were smooth, maybe just a little too smooth as his reflex enhancements betrayed themselves. "How have you been man?" Cerebus asked.

Unlike the dark haired man, most of Gil's work was more obvious. The data jack on his temple and the roughness of his hands that marked his smartgun induction links were most of them. His reflexes augmentation were switched off, but if need be he could kick them in. "Your team?" he said with a nod of his head.

"Yeah," said Cerebus. "The elf is Wraith, out of the Tir. Physical adept and shooter." The male elf had icy good looks with pale skin, blue eyes, and black hair. He was wearing a dark trench coat. He inclined his head.

"And this is boy is Stormcloud." The human male was young, about average height with short red hair and a round face. He wore a white trench coat and gold rimmed shades. "They're steady."

Cerebus turned back to his crew. "This dirty blonde, worn out old timer used to be one of the hottest combat deckers in the city. Good with a gun, could handle himself with his fists, sneaky, and a wiz with a 'deck. Then he went and retired his ass."

"Too many losers in the business."

"Nice to meet you," said Stormcloud, extending his hand.

"A pleasure," replied Gil, shaking it.

"Let's talk," said Cerebus.

"Got to watch the kids," said Gil

"Okay," said the street samurai. "Why are you getting back into the game at your age? Your gear is old my friend. Yes, I know you're building 'decks and are up on that angle, but other things have changed. New magic is being tossed around and your 'ware is dated. Alpha level stuff is easy to find on the street if you are willing to spend the cash. Beta isn't too much hard to find. Black clinics in Chiba, Vancouver, and Istanbul have been implanting shit that's even better. Delta grade. You've gone a while without upgrade. And you're rusty."

"I can still carry my end," said Gil.

"Yeah, but your end isn't what it used to be."

"Sounds like you're getting cold feet."

"I'm not. But this had better not be trying to recapture the glory days of your misspent youth. It's hard out there."

"Some things change, some things don't. You can count on me to carry my share of the weight. And then some. As always."

"Alright. Let's get this done."

------------------------------------------------------------

The shadowrunners were wearing suits when they entered the restaurant. They were lead by a Japanese woman wearing a kimono to room sealed off by a sliding door of wood and paper. She ushered them inside and they took off their shoes to join their host around the table. Bowls of food were set out.

"Felix," said Gil. "Your reputation proceeds you."

"Thank you," Felix replied. "I arrived early and was quite hungry. I took the liberty of ordering for a group. Please join me." He wasn't a big man, but he somehow conveyed the impression of size. He was white, maybe fifty or so, with dark brown hair growing grey. His suit was Italian and probably cost as much as a car. He was noticeably overweight. "Your reputation also proceeds you, although you haven't been active of late."

"Other endeavours," said Gil.

"Of course," said Felix. "And Cerebus is name familiar to me as well. You haven't done anything major for the last two years. Rumour has it that the reconstructive surgery required was quite extensive."

"It was," said Cerebus. "Not cheap either, but you get what you pay for. That's very impressive. We know you are a big shot East Coast fixer and expediter. What are you doing hiring on the West Coast?"

"Several clients of mine were murdered. They left a contingency fund to see that their killers were taken out in the event of such an eventuality. Such things have become more popular in the last two years due to the less than ethical actions of several corporate employers. Ambitious corporate officers die easier than shadowrunners. If the lesson takes in the industry as a whole it remains to be seen."

"So who do we retire?" asked Gil.

"I don't know," said Felix as he picked up some beef teriyaki with his chop sticks. "The job didn't go through me."

"So you want us to find out who killed them and then retire the responsible parties?"

"Yes," said Felix. "Those are the terms."

"Why not East Coasters?" asked Cerebus as he snagged several pieces of sushi.

"Because I'm well known in the community to have worked with them and there are two reasons to kill a team of runners in your employ: to avoid paying them or to shut them up. I won't be heading back to the East Coast for a while and I do want to avoid compromising the 'runners I regularly work with. I'm moving around a lot over here and meeting a large number of people. Hard to keep track of that, even if they could trace my to this city and put people on me."

Gil sipped tea and said nothing. It was paranoid, but this business bred paranoia.

"How much?" Cerebus asked.

"One hundred fifty thousand after you find the parties responsible. Another three fifty after you retire them. If you decline the retirement job, you keep the one-fifty."

"That's nothing upfront," said Gil. "And some very real expenses you are asking us to assume. And a considerable commitment of time."

"You have a counter offer to make?"

"Thirty up front. One eighty when we deliver the name, three hundred when we finish."

"That's an extra fifty thousand nuyen for the name."

"You can get almost anyone retired for three hundred k. Just need some smarts and patience. Finding out the last job and employer of a good shadowrunner team is hard. Neither party normally wants that found and that's a lot of leg and Matrix work."

"A fair point," said Felix. He sipped some more tea. Wraith wasn't eating at all. Stormcloud was just sipping tea. "Agreed then." He pushed a small suitcase forward. "All the data I have that could help you is in there, along with contact information. This 'run might yield pay data. I will be interested in purchasing it you come across any. At fair market prices, of course."

"We'll keep you in mind," said Gil. Cerebus signaled the waitress and ordered a beer. Gil raised his hand and Cerebus added him to the order.

"Any other concerns about this business?" Felix asked.

"Not at the moment," said Gil. "I can reach you if I do, right?"

"Of course," said Felix. "Now if business is out of the way, let's finish dinner."

[Imperial Overlord]

Seattle Metroplex

The shadowrunners retired to a modest apartment owned by Cerebus after dinner. Gil had spent the car ride reading the file that Felix had provided. Now Wraith and Stormclould had spread the contents over Cerebus's coffee table and were going through it.

"So," said Cerebus, "these guys were New Yorkers who got hit in New York. Sounds like we're going to be traveling east."

"Going by plane would be our best bet," said Gil. "I have a shell PI firm floating in the Matrix. Whipping up fake IDs with the right security permits for your cyberware is doable."

"We'll have to leave our hardware behind," said the street samurai.

"I know a guy in New York," said Wraith. "He can provide. With the right amount of nuyen."

Gil nodded. "Sounds good. Might need a tour guide."

"He can put us in touch with those as well," said Wraith. The elf's eyes wandered over another piece of paper. "These guys were heavy hitters in New York's shadows."

"Yes," said Gil. Cerebus got up and walked to his fridge.

"Anyone want a beer?"

"Here," said Wraith. The street samurai tossed the bottle across the room. The elf plucked it out of mid air and put it down on the table. "Thanks."

"They were working just before they got hit," said Stormcloud. "Probably having a post run meeting from where they were."

"Yep," said Gil. "Probably clipped by their Johnson."

"The police report is a fucking joke," said Wraith. "Somebody unloaded a shitload of ordinance. Thousands of AP rounds, magic, a sniper. At least a dozen guys and two vehicles. And of course no one saw anything."

"Welcome to the Bronx," said Cerebus. "New York really became a complete shit hole after the 'quake. Except for the parts the corporations rebuilt."

"Yeah," said Stormcloud. "They rebuilt the nice parts for their own use and said 'fuck the rest.' We need to find out what they were working on. That means legwork and going east."

------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Stoddard picked up his phone. "Stoddard," said the executive.

"This is Elaine Nguyen. I have a group available that is suitable for your plans."

The executive smiled. "Excellent."

"I'll need the peticulars to finish the negotiations. And make sure that they hit the right target."

"I'm not interested in the jokes of the corporation's junior officers," said Stoddard coldly.

"I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. I'll have the budget and my requirements sent down to your office."

"Thank you sir."

He hung up. It was happening, it was really happening. He was going to get a seat on the board for this, hell they would all but give him the corporation if everything panned out. He would have the world by the balls.

Poor Global Energy. They hadn't been able to hang on to what they had. Now their work was going to be set back years and he would reap the benefits of all their hard labor. It was a tough world out there and he was the meanest shark in it. He smiled. He rather liked the sound of that.

[Raj Ahten]

this is quite interesting so far. Pity your players didn't stay with the game. (but I wouldn't have this fic to read if they did stick with it.)

[Imperial Overlord]

this is quite interesting so far. Pity your players didn't stay with the game. (but I wouldn't have this fic to read if they did stick with it.)

It's all Josh's fault. Fucking game abandoning Texans.

I should try to talk Caz into doing something horrible to him in revenge, like spiking his tequila.

[Imperial Overlord]

Seattle Metroplex

"You're going," said Claire as she watched him pack a shoulder bag. His cyberdeck was a custom job, a white hot piece of equipment that could go up against the worst the Matrix had to offer.

Gil turned suddenly, startled to hear her voice. "Yeah," he said. "Didn't think you were still awake. I was going to let you sleep and tell you in the morning."

"Couldn't sleep," she said. "Besides I knew." She walked up to him and hugged him. "You're a good man and this isn't a good world. Neither of us are saints. Don't do anything you can't live with and come back safe."

He kissed her on the forehead. "I promise. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You never lied to me about who you were and what you do. I half knew that this day might come." She kissed him on the lips. "Now go. I love you."

"Love you too."

New York, New York

Elaine Nguyen watched as the two men approached her booth. The man in the lead was a black man with silver eyes and a datajack in his temple. He was a big man, but moved gracefully. The other was man was a short red haired male wearing a white trench coat over his suit. The black man wore a dark suit. They sat down opposite of the Johnson.

"You have a job," said the black man.

"You're Maison?" she asked.

"Yes. Miss Johnson I presume?"

"Yes. A smash job. No grabbing. Wet work. Are you up for it?"

"If the pay is right."

She passed a chip across the table. "The people on this need to die. All the computers inside need to get smashed and the machine pictured needs to get completely trashed."

"Where?"

"A compound just outside of Chicago."

"A corp research facility? In daylight to catch your targets all there? That's not a small job. Or cheap."

"We know. Thorough is what we need."

"The number of people, the gear, the risk we'll be taking . . . we'll need a million for the job. Not counting two hundred K up front."

"Two hundred thousand up front?" she snorted.

"If you want it done right. And its cheaper and quieter than hiring a mercenary company. We have a rep. Two hundred K isn't worth torching our reputation."

She nodded in agreement. One point two million was a lot of money, but within budget. She had almost been expecting worse. Personally she didn't know why Stoddard was so hot to do this, but she didn't care either. "Then we have an agreement."

"In principle."

"Sooner is better than later," she said. "One hundred K bonus if it is done within the next two weeks."

"We'll keep that in mind," said Maison.

[Imperial Overlord]

Illinois, Outside of Chicago

Maison looked through the trees as the target. "Doesn't look like much. Just another corp compound."

"That's on the physical," said Walker. "That place has the four hundred kilo gorilla of all astral barriers around it."

"That will keep out the bugs," said Maison.

"And just about everything else non-physical."

"Can you bring it down?"

"Yes," said Walker. "They have watcher spirits on the other side of the line."

"Those shouldn't be trouble."

"They have a handler."

"Right," said Maison. "He could be trouble."

"He could also be holding the chain of spirits more dangerous than watchers."

"This piece of biz is going to make us earn our money," said Maison.

"Got that right," replied Walker.

The samurai turned around and began walking. "No sense in staying longer than we have to." The magician matched his pace. "So, can you bring down the wall?"

"Yes, but it won't be easy. Got a plan?"

"Not quite yet, but the beginnings of one. You'll need to bind as many elementals as you can, potent ones. We're going to have to crew up. More guns. Big guns."

"Thought as much. Hit them hard and fast?"

"Yeah, except with these boys and girls we'll have to hit them really hard."

"Wonder what they've got in there?" mused Walker.

"Something worth paying one point two mill to blow up."

"That's good enough for me."

New York, New York

The shadowrunners disembarked from their plane and made their way through the bag check area. Everything they had was carry on luggage, which meant the airline had only limited opportunities to lose their luggage. They headed towards the exit of JFK.

Wraith's phone rang. The physical adept picked it up. "Loi Chase."

"Loi Wraith. I'm here and ready to pick you guys up."

"Good," said the runner. He addressed his companions. "Our chariot awaits."

"Wiz," replied Stormcloud.

The exited the front of the terminal and skirted the crowds waiting for taxis. Wraith lead the way as they approached a black van. The side door slid open automatically. Wraith jumped in. The others followed. The door closed behind them.

A squat man with short, light brown hair and broad shoulders was in the driver's seat. Leads connected the jacks on his hands and temple to the dashboard. "This is Chase," said Wraith. "Freefall, Cerebus, Stormclould. Chase is one of the better riggers on the East Coast."

"Buckle up," said Chase. "Safety first and all that. Except when the shit hits the fan. I'll be your chauffeur for your stay in New York. Where to first?"

"The doss," said Wraith. "Want to gear up before blending in with the natives."

"Alright. First stop is your crash pad and arsenal. Fair warning folks, everything you've heard about New York traffic doesn't do it justice. It's much worse."

[Imperial Overlord]

New York, New York

Chase delivered them to a slightly run down house with a garage. "This is the place."

"Yeah, but we're in Queens," said Wraith.

"What were you expecting, a Park Avenue apartment?" said Chase. He drove up the driveway, the garage door rolling open to admit the van.

"Point," said Cerebus with a smile. The street samurai hopped out. "Got keys for this place?" he asked.

"Here," said Chase and tossed them. The samurai plucked them out of the air and opened the side door of the garage. He stepped into the house, not bothering to flick a light switch. His cyber eyes easily pierced the gloom.

He went from laundry room to the kitchen and then to the living room before circling back. Everyone else had stepped inside. "Not a bad place," he said. "Weapons?"

"Mix and match with ammo in the master bedroom closet. You should find enough for your taste there."

The samurai nodded. "I have a fixer who has contacts on the East Coast," said Wraith. "If we need additional party favors, its an option."

"My needs are rather more . . . esoteric," said Stormcloud.

"He can do that to," said Wraith. "Let's go check the toys."

There were a pair of large cases in the closet of the master bedroom. Cerebus cracked them open and whistled. "Nice." He pulled out an Ares Predator and slipped the big automatic into his hand. "Smartgun linkage. Good."

"You are paying me to deliver," said Chase.

"And you are," said Gil. "Shall we settle in a bit, gear up, catch a bite to eat, and check the crime scene?"

Cerebus nodded. "Better sooner than later."

A quick trip to the store and several packets of noodles later and Gil was whipping up a meal. Onions and peppers were frying merrily away in the frying plan as he pushed them around with a wooden spatula, along with a few strips of lamb.

"Smells good," said Cerebus. "Always a plus to share a doss with a team that includes a cook."

"It isn't an arcane mystery," said Gil. "Good ingredients and little training can make a decent cook out of anyone."

"You said that the last time we worked together," said Cerebus.

"Considering how long ago that was, you should have had enough time to learn," Gil replied.

"Too busy trying to keep up with the bleeding edge. Every year another advance in cyber and bioware technology and age takes dulls my edge just a little bit more. More nuyen for upgrades and more chances to get killed."

"Chasing the retirement fund," said Gil.

"Damn straight," said Cerebus. "And the investment capital to fund it and the medical expenses and weapons and the retirement house and fake identities and the hedges against inflation or collapse . . ."

"And people wonder why most people leave this business feet first," finished Gil.

[Imperial Overlord]

New York, New York

After the meal the shadowrunners availed themselves of Chase's services and he took them across town. "We're not too far from the spot," said the rigger after a while. "The neighborhood does get worse."

"Worse?" asked Wraith.

"Yeah," said Chase.

Cerebus was sitting shotgun. "There's worse in Seattle," said Cerebus. "Of course, there I know the players." He turned his head towards Gil. "Ever been to New York?"

"Not in a long time. Don't know the area and it would have been too long ago anyway."

Cerebus grunted in acknowledgement. "We're here," said Chase. "I'll be staying with the van."

"Best place for rigger," said Cerebus. "Got an hardware in here?"

"Notice the compartment by the side door?" asked Chase.

"Yeah," the street samurai replied.

"Slaved Vindicator Minigun."

Cerebus grinned. "I see we have similar thoughts on the nature of over kill."

"Bet your ass vat job." The van stopped. The shadowrunners hit the street. The burnt out shell of the former runner safe house surrounded by buildings in somewhat better repair. A dozen of humans and orks, mostly black or Hispanic, looked at them from the steps a half block away while they passed a bottom around between them.

"That place is literally riddled with bullets," Wraith. He bent down to examine a shell casing, one of many scattered around the ground. "Assault rifle caliber. Probably a half dozen shooters if they were going for fire surpression."

"No surprise there," said Cerebus. "What do you think about the fire?"

"Could be accidental," said Gil, "but I wouldn't bet on it. Incendiaries or sorcery. You see that those guys have come off the stoop, right?"

"Of course," said Wraith. "How do you want to play it?"

"Smart," said Gil. "Loi chummers," he said to the approaching game. "You guys interested in doing some business?"

The lead ork, a dark skinned black man Wraith's height but with twice his bulk, cocked his head. He and his boys wore bulky jackets were undoubtedly reinforced with armour plates. "Listening," he said.

"We are looking for information and we will pay for it. Interested?"

"Not if your the law."

Gil smiled. "Do we look like the law? Interested in hard cash or not?"

"Not a snitch."

"I'm not asking you to snitch. Anytime I ask a question, you answer or don't as you choose. Give me an answer, you get cash. Sound good?"

The ork looked over at his boys. There was a general air of agreement. "Doesn't sound bad. 'Course we could just take it."

"The guy standing behind me is chipped to the gills and with a kill list longer than my arm. You don't need a piece of that trouble, not if you're getting paid anyway."

The ork sniffed. "Alright chummer. Lay it out?"

"See what happened to those guys?"

"Yeah. Some corporate hitter types shot the hell out of the place and set it on fire."

"Recognize them?"

"Hell no, but they all the same. Full armour, visors, no patches, heavy firepower."

Gil stripped several bills off a wad and handed them over. "Cops do much investigating?"

The ork shook his head. "Where do you think this is? Muther fuckin' Wall Street? They barely gave this place a second look."

Gil pulled out more bills. "Anything else?"

"One guy made it out." He pointed. "Shot 'im in the back." Gil handed over the bills. "Thanks." He turned and headed back to the rest of his team.

"Got it?"

"Yeah," said Gil. "I'll set things up for data run for tomorrow and then we'll see what we have."

[Imperial Overlord]

Chicago, Illinois


The shadowrunners gathered around a table. "An isolated facility in the boonies," said Merick as he studied the map. The mercenary soldier looked up from the map. "Approaches?"

"Not bad at all," said Maison. "The population in this region crashed with the whole Bug City thing and the astral is tainted, which means its hard to see through. We can leave a country road and move through the woods. With the wild life coming back, especially the paranormals, they'll have plenty of activity on IR and low light scopes. Trees will also give us cover."

"Still puts limits on our approach," said Merick.

"That's fine," said Maison. "That's why we need you and your boys, along with your hardware. At least one sniper and some heavy weapons."

"That will help," said Merick, "but what about this astral wall and their magical support."

"We have that covered," said Maison, "or rather Walker does."

"Assault team?"

"I'll be handling that as well," said Walker.

Merick raised an eyebrow. "I'll be leading the follow up/support team," said Maison, "but Walker will be going in first. Or at least his boys will be."

New York, New York

A man of gold slipped through the data streams of the Matrix. He slipped through data nodes with the correct passwords and collected personal data on his subjects, passing under the evil eye of sentinel programs and passed the armoured knights of blaster IC.

Freefall then disconnected from the Matrix and melted back into Gil. The decker removed the cable from his data jack. "What did we get?" asked Wraith.

"A lot," said Gil. He hit a key on his cyberdeck. The printer it was connected to began to spit out papers. "Activity under their known aliases." It took a couple of minutes.

"We might not have the ones they were using for the last job," said Stormcloud. "We only have the ones Felix gave us."

"That's true," said Gil, "on the other hand . . ." The shadowrunners started reading. It took them a half hour to go through the print outs.

"We have one identity's plastic and another's car getting a ticket in Chicago three days before their death," said Gil.

"Yeah, sounds like the 'run took place in or around Chicago," said Stormcloud. "They met here for the meet and their Johnson paid them in high velocity lead. Must have been something hot. Have you checked Shadowland?"

"Not yet," said Gil.

"If it was big enough to be worth hitting the 'runners, then some of turmoil might have leaked back there," said Stormcloud. "Know the 'run, know who probably ordered it, and we've made our money."

[LadyTevar]

This is why you shouldn't write while sleep-deprived, hon. Here's the typos.

"An solated facility in the boonies,"

"The population in this region crashed with the hole Bug City thing

He decker removed the cable from his data jack.

[Jaevric]

"It isn't an arcane mystery," said Gil. "Good ingredients and little training can make a decent cook out of anyone."

"You said that the last time we worked together," said Gil. "Considering how long ago that was, you should have had enough time to learn."

I assume Cerebus was supposed to have responded to Gil's comment between these two lines. Or one of those lines didn't belong to Gil, but Cerebus having a reply between the two would seem to make more sense.

[Imperial Overlord]

Shiny corrected version posted.

[Imperial Overlord]

Shadowlands, The Matrix

The golden man slid through the data streams of the outlaw site. If Seattle was the physical world capital of shadowrunning, Shadowlands was its electronic equivalent. A host of shadowrunners met here and swapped data, posted public notices, and talked business with their peers.

Freefall's avatar checked his message box. Ahh, a response. And from Argus, no less. The decker checked around. Argus was online. Time to go meet in person.

Argus's avatar was that of a metallic green humanoid robot whose head was a ball composed of a hundred red cameras. "Freefall," he said. "Ready to talk biz?"

"Yeah. You know anything big that happened recently in Bug City? Runner involved."

"Yes I do. It will cost you."

"How much?"

"Ten thousand."

"That's a lot."

"It's very good and very hot. Also, very hush-hush. Prime merchandise."

"Transferring to you account now," said Freefall.

"That's what I like to see," said Argus. "Okay, a research station just outside of Chicago got hit. Belongs to a small megacorp that goes by the name Global Energy. Someone shot their way into a secure lab and left with all sorts of data. Witnesses were all their people, so they've been keeping quiet, but on the inside heads are rolling. Someone high up in their chain is pissed and is cleaning house."

"When did that go down?"

"The thirteenth."

"Of this month?"

"Yeah."

The would put it after the parking ticket, but before they were wiped out in New York. "Thanks chummer. A pleasure doing biz."

"Likewise."

Chicago, Illinois

"Meetings waste time so I'll keep this short," said Kruegar. "In forty-eight hours I have to report to Donovan, in person. If I don't have progress for him, I'm a dead man. So you had better have progress for me in twenty-four or I will start throwing you out of the building. From a twenty story window. Do you get me?"

The room of people facing him was mostly full of pasty faced deckers of varying races and ethnicities. The chorused out a "yes sir!" nice and clear. How seriously they took his threats was another matter.

"Someone hired these sons of bitches to fuck us in the ass. Donovan wants his pound of flesh. We need the name yesterday. That is all. Dismissed." Most of them hurriedly filed out of the small meeting room. One woman, an ork with cafe au lai skin stayed.

"Sir," she began, "I don't know if my people can deliver in that time frame."

Kruegar sneered at her. He didn't like metahumans and in his opinion, orks were lower than most of them. Orks that wore business suits and pretended to be the equals of humans were even worse. "I need a place to look, not hard evidence, by then. Or the last thing I do before I take the elevator to Donovan's office will be to shoot you in the head. Twice."

"Yes sir," she said and hurried out the door like a good little bitch. There was one other move Krueger could make to save his own ass, but it wasn't anything he wanted to be traceable back to him. He stripped the board out of his cell phone and inserted another.

"Yes," he said. "I would like to speak with Miss Tait as soon as possible. Yes, I understand she's busy but its a matter of some urgency. Tell her it's about Donovan."

[Imperial Overlord]

Illinois, Outside of Chicago

The first sign that the Cloister had that it was under attack was the failure of the astral barrier that formed a dome around the facility. A brilliant green flash, visible to the mundane world, lit up the night as the spell failed. Then everything went to hell.

One of the gate guards fell, a bloody hole in his chest. The other fell a moment latter, picked off by the same sniper. A dull roar split the night as an assault cannon was fired. The assault cannon boomed again and again. Explosives shells smacked into the guard station, the first hit blowing apart the armoured glass and the next ones systematically tearing it apart.

Two air elementals, barely visible distortions of air to mundane eyes, rushed into the Cloister's grounds, grappling with invisible spirits and overcoming them with brute force. In astral space, a pair of fire elementals battled others, but such were the power of the elementals Walker had summoned and bound that they quickly overwhelmed the earth elementals and weak watcher spirits that had been bound to defend the Cloister. The battles were over in a handful of seconds.

Meanwhile Maison and his team of two others were moving up, armoured in all black and carrying assault rifles. Big Tom was backing up there advance with his assault cannon, Merick with his sniper rifle, and Walker with his spells and elementals. He scanned the windows facing the advance with his cyber eyes. There was someone at one of them.

Cat-quick he aimed and fired. The person vanished from the window and a huge flare of heat attracted his attention back down to ground level. One of the fire elementals had manifested in the material world, a great salamander shaped mass of fire about the size of a full grown salt water crock and as fast as a chipped antelope on speed.

Walker's voice crackled over the team radio. "Big Tom, make an entrance." The elementals didn't need one, but if the rest of the team did and it was best if the almost totally bullet proof uber-elemental went in first and cleared the way. A green flash tore apart a section of fencing near Maison.

"One entrance coming up," Big Tom growled. "Watch the front doors." The security doors were tough, but not up to the task of withstanding a weapon designed to destroy light armoured vehicles. Two assault cannon blasts latter and the shattered doors were barely attached to the their hinges.

Jade light flashed in a window. "Mine," said Walker over the com. The fire elemental slithered through the broken doors. "One fire, one air inside," said Walker. "Shielding ready

"Moving," said Maison. He burst from cover, running at a speed impossible for unaugmented humans. He knew that Walker was shielding him from sorcery and that his comrades were covering him, but it was still an agonizing five seconds to break cover and run over all that open ground. He looked inside.

One charred body, one smashed pulpy body, no one moving. His team was moving up behind him. The elementals had been busy. He motioned his team forward.

It was far too easy. The elementals had rampaged their way through and left corpses in their wake. It didn't take too long to find the target. "Holy fucking Christ," Maison whispered as he looked down from the catwalk above the main lab.

A tangle of heavy duty cables were connected to a ring of silvery metal that had a radius of about three meters. The ring was about thirty centimeters in diameter and covered in orichalcum runes and circuitry. Surrounding the ring were eight smaller arrays in the form of sinister spike antennas, each one inscribed with orichalcum runes and circuitry as well. All sorts of monitory equipment, most of which Maison couldn't recognize, surrounded the arcane equipment.

"Alright. Let's plant the explosives and blow this joint. This thing gives me the creeps."

[Imperial Overlord]

New York, New York

The pretty blond woman smiled blandly. Someone who didn't know here might think she had been picked for her looks, but that wasn't the case. Her beauty, like so many other things about her, was a product of going repeatedly under the knife. It was important that she be dismissed as an ornament. It irritated her sometimes, but it was part of the job.

The dead eyed fish in front of her was another of her kind. She knew him even if he didn't know her. The product of expensive and extensive training augmented with high quality (but not necessarily the best, that might not be cost-efficient) cybernetics and bioware. A company man, a cybernetically enhanced corporate enforcer. He was the head of a corporate subdivision with a nondescript name , which translated from corporate speak meant that he and his team killed whoever they were pointed at.

She picked up the phone. "Mrs. Tait? Yes, a Mister John Kruegar is here to see you. Yes, I'll send him in immediately." She looked up at him. He looked back, nodded, and headed inside.

Catherine Tait was on the other side of fifty, but looked a well preserved thirty five thanks to the best plastic surgery and medical care money could buy. Her hair was frosty blond and cut short. Her suit was charcoal grey, Italian, and cost as much as a nice car. Her desk was California Redwood and her eyes were those of a shark. "Mister Kruegar, please come in. What is so urgent?"

"It's my duty to report certain recent events to members of the board," he said and placed a chip on her desk. "Donovan has been making extraordinary demands on company wide resources over the last couple of days. Board oversight might be called for."

She smiled at him. "Mister Kruegar, you might think so. I might think so. He won't. And neither will Aztechnology, which owns thirty-one percent of our stock. Donovan will have to be caught betraying this company to Martian invaders before he's going anyway. Do you have evidence that he's sold us out to Martian invaders."

"No ma'am."

"Then nothing will happen."

"Ma'am, his orders are, extreme."

"I'll review your data. But Aztechnology is behind Donovan one hundred percent. Even when he's spending money and resources like water. With an army of lawyers to crush any decisions in court and a free flow of cash to inject into this company. So yes, nothing is going to happen. My advice to you, Mister Kruegar, is to get back to whatever you are supposed to be doing now and forget you ever came here."

--------------------------------------------

"So," said Cerebus, "it looks like we need to go to Bug City." Wraith nodded in agreement. The street samurai looked over at Chase. "Interested in extending our arraingement?"

"Not everyday I work with professionals that have their shit together as well as you do. My schedule is open."

"Transport to Chicago," said Cerebus. "And maybe hang around for a while." Gil nodded.

"Doable," said Chase. "If they fee is right."

"How about twenty kay, transpo and back up, renegotiate if it becomes more?"

"Sounds fair," said Chase. "How fast do you need to be there?"

"Sooner is better," said Gil.

"I have just the thing," said the rigger with a big grin on his face.

[LadyTevar]

From the grin, I'd say the Rigger's been itching to play with this toy for a while.

[Imperial Overlord]

New York, New York

The hanger door retracted. "There she is," said Chase. "Ain't she a beaut?"

The object in question was a matte black helicopter, lean, lethal, and superficially civilian. Cerebus approached. "That pop down minigun turret in the chin?"

"Yep," said Chase. "Nice eh?"

"Very nice," said Cerebus. "And room for passengers I see."

"Transport isn't very good unless it can, you know, transport," said Chase with a grin. "How do you folks feel about a ride to the Windy City?"

Illinois

"So," said Gil, "what now?"

"Well," said Chase, "when the curtain got yanked down and those wannabe Scientologists the Universal Brotherhood got outed as a front for a bunch of insect spirit hives, things got nasty in a lot of places. Chicago was their headquarters and it got completely out of hand. Total warzone. Quarantines, rumours that Knight Errant used a sub-tactical nuke, chaos. Establishment of the Containment Zone. Yadda yadda. Flash forward a couple of years and you have a semi-respectable ghoul enclave, Knight Errant and the UCAS Army running everything, and most of the insect spirits gone.

"Of course property values fell through the floor and people started bailing. Even Detroit wasn't looking that bad. But after things settled, there hasn't been as big a call for Army or Knight Errant in the area. And not everyone who wanted to leave could sell. So a few years later and there's a lot of abandoned property in the region. Including one place which makes a nice hanger and base."

"Uh Chase, we want to actually be in the city," said Gil.

"Relax. This is just to be bolt hole in case things get harry. You guys are going to get yourselves into trouble right?"

Wraith smiled. "Yes," said Cerebus.

"Right," said Chase. "And it would be nice to check the bolt hole before you need it. Just being fucking professional." The helicopter descended towards a copse of trees. Below them was a clearing full of long grass with the shells of three buildings. A dirt road lead away from it.

"I forget if this was military or corporate," said Chase, "but it was temporary and no longer in use." He put them down by the largest building. Cerebus and Wraith jumped out.

"We'll take a look around," said Cerebus. He pointed Wraith towards one building and headed towards another. Cerebus had Japanese SMG resting in his hand. Wraith had settled for an American assault rifle. The elf nodded and jogged toward the other building.

Cerebus approached the closest building. He kicked the door open, covering the interior with his SMG. It was dark inside, but that wasn't a problem for his eyes. "Clear," he yelled.

Wraith approached the other building, keeping out of line of sight of the doorway. He eased his way along the side of the building. He could hear something bipedal moving on the inside. "We aren't here to hurt you," he said.

A creature lunged out of the door. It had four limbs and was covered in a dark red exoskeleton. It had long, rending claws and compound eyes. A pair of mandibles twitched around its mouth. It was inhumanely fast.

So was Wraith. Magic augmented the elf's already impressive reflexes and responses. He fired a long burst into the creature's torso at point blank range. The creature writhed and fell back under the hail of bullets, yellow goo spewing from its wounds.

Another ant spirit jumped out, its claws flashing. It tore off the end of Wraith's rifle. "Shit," he swore and tossed the ruined gun at the warrior spirit. The spirit batted the rifle away, but in doing so it gave Wraith an opening.

There are ancient stories of warriors who could tear monsters apart with their bare hands and kill with their naked fists. Stories of supernaturally powerful warriors are found in the legends of all cultures, a legacy dating back to the previous age of magic. Some of the practitioners in this age of magic possessed similar techniques.

Mana flooded through Wraith's body as he struck. His fist struck the insect spirit between the eyes and shattered its carapace. Ichor spewed from the insect spirit's wound as it went limp. He could hear more feet moving just inside. "Insect Spirits!" he shouted as he ran.

[Imperial Overlord]

Illinois, Outside of Chicago

Cerebus turned to see Wraith running full out back towards the chopper, literally going fast enough to run the one hundred meter dash in six seconds easy. The next ant spirit to exit the building gave him a good reason for it. The insect spirit bolted in pursuit. It was fast, maybe fast enough to catch the magically enhanced elf.

Cerebus's augmentations projected the trajectory of his bullets across his vision as he brought his SMG to bear. Glowing cross hairs marked the projected points of impact. He emptied the clip into the ant spirit.

Most of the rounds hit, tearing through its unnaturally tough carapace to puncture organs that only vaguely resembled their human analogs. Yellow fluids and chunks of flesh spewed from the wounds as the warrior spirit pushed itself forward into the deadly hail of fire. Then it staggered and fell. Three others were rushing towards them in its wake.

Cerebus ejected the spent clip and slammed a new one into place. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Stormcloud had exited the chopper. A line of azure power connected the mage to the lead ant spirit as mana bled back into the physical world in the form of light. The ant's spirit shriveled up and collapsed as the mage's spell tore about the spirt's astral body. Smoke rose from the corpse, stark evidence of potentially deadly connection between astral forms and the flesh.

"Get in the chopper!" Cerebus yelled as he blasted the next. He burned the entire clip on it, damn near tearing it into shreds, before it deigned to fall. Fuck this shit, the street samurai thought to himself. Need a fucking SAW to deal with these suckers. Or maybe a Kingslayer Assault Cannon from five hundred meters.

Wraith slipped in the wet grass and went sprawling. The physical adept spun, drawing his Ares Predator as he did so. The big automatic was a damn near a hand cannon, but the recoil was manageable and it did have the necessary kick to punch through light weight body armour. He turned on his back and began firing.

His first shot took the insect spirit about where the navel would be on the original body before the poor bastard had been transformed into the physical host of an ant warrior spirit. He walked the shots up. The Predator put big holes in the bastard, but it kept coming. It reached down for him with its claws.

The wounds had slowed it down some and that was more than enough to give Wraith the edge. Magic flowing through his limbs, he rolled out of the way and kicked the insect spirit in the knee. It staggered, keening in anger and pain. A corona of azure light flashed around it and its limbs contracted. Smoke pouring from its carapace it collapsed.

Gil had drawn his gun, a Colt 9mm automatic and looked out the Insect spirits were bad business. Chase restarted the rotors and they would be back in the air very shortly, which could mean that they might get out of this cluster fuck alive. Then the air shimmered in front of him and an ant spirit appeared right in front of him.

Chase was wired into the vehicles sensor systems, including its cameras and saw the insect spirit materialize. The rigger reacted instantly, sending the helicopter into the air and away from that thing that might crawl in here and eat his brains.

Gil leapt back as the helicopter lurched into the air. The ant spirit grabbed the sides of the door and pulled itself inside, its mandibles clacking menacingly. Gil responded by shooting it in the face. At less than two meters away, it was hard to miss.

Fluid burst from the shattered compound eyes and the corpse of the ant spirit fell out of the helicopter. Gil rushed to the door and grabbed a rung with his left hand. There was another azure flash and another insect spirit died. The copter dipped a little and headed down. Gil holstered his gun and leaned out the door, his arm extended. Stormcloud caught it and he yanked the mage inside.

Wraith was running full tilt toward them and leapt. The elf cleared three meters vertical distance and nearly eight horizontal, clutching the sides of the doorway for a moment and then yanking himself inside. The helicopter turned and then Cerebus made his jump.

The street samurai missed but Gil didn't, his finger closing on the Cerebus's wrist. The weight of the cybernetically enhanced warrior felt like it was going to tear his arm off. Gil grunted and then Cerebus's left hand got a grip on the doorway and the street samurai started doing most of the work. Gil collapsed inward with Cerebus on top of him as the helicopter continued to rise into the sky.

"So much for that plan," said Wraith.

"Fucking bugs," said Chase. "They scratched my baby."

[Imperial Overlord]

Chicago, Illinois


Kruegar stopped at the secretary's desk. "Go right on in," she said. "He's expecting you."

Kruegar opened the double doors and stepped inside Donovan's office. The lights were off, as usual. Donovan was sitting in a chair behind his desk and a cadaverous, dark skinned elf was sitting in the corner. "I hope you have good news."

"Sir, I believe we have located the responsible party."

"Good. Continue."

"The number of rival corporations in our field is limited. Our data miners found a lot of activity at Consolidated Systems at the right time. A lot of this heat involves an executive by the name of Thomas Stoddard. We think he's the one who ordered the run."

"Are you aware of what has happened to the Cloister in the last twenty-four hours?"

"Yes sir. Sir, if I might?"

"By all means."

"Sir, the Cloister isn't my area of responsibility."

"I'm aware of that. That's why you will be walking out of my office alive. Your job is to confirm the identity of those responsible for the attacks on the Cloister. You will then assist Mister Hand in executing my will?"

"Hand sir?"

"That would be me," the elf whispered.

"Yes sir."


Seattle Metroplex


Thomas Stoddard looked through the images of what was left of the Cloister. The building was a gutted shell, the shadowrunners having obviously employed enough magic or high explosive to bring the whole thing down.

That was good. Most of the data would be recoverable, of course, but the labs and personnel were not as easily replaced. Global Energy had been close, so very close, to being able to open a gate to the astral plane using purely technological means. Not only would that open up a whole new branch of technology that would allow mundanes to manipulate magic, it would also allow mana to be used as a source of power.

That was all in the future, of course. But since he had claimed all the data for Consolidated Systems and had set back Global Energy's research, an appropriately large promotion was going to be coming his way. He leaned back in his chair and considered how he would celebrate. Tonight, he decided, was definitely a three hooker night.

[Imperial Overlord]

Chicago, Illinois


Cerebus hunched his shoulders slightly and checked both ways. No cars were coming. He darted across the street. The Windy City had once been one of the metropolitan hearts of America and teeming with people, but the eruption of all out war on the city streets and the abandonment of whole sections of the city to the hives had taken its toll. In the aftermath the population had plummeted, much of the city was battered by the conflict, and the local economy was gutted. Most of the city's famous sky scrapers were empty real estate.

The street samurai walked to the door of the small shop. Chimes rang as he opened the door and scent of incense hit his nostrils. Carvings and statuettes of gods, spirits, and demons from a hundred cultures looked down upon him from battered wooden shelves. Chimes hung from the ceiling and wands and amulets were displayed in glass cases. At the counter a black ork with a short beard and dreadlocks looked up from a copy of the Sun-Times. He wore a red and white striped robe. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes," said Cerebus as he walked to the counter. "I'm Cerebus. I worked with Silver Shadow out of Phily. He said to tell Big Charles that the moon also rises."

"Is that so?" said the ork. "What can I do for you?"

"A big 'run went down a couple of weeks ago. I need to know about it."

"I see," said Big Charles. "Well, things being what they are, I think I can help you pretty easily. Your 'runners local boys?"

"No."

"Thought not. Probably thinking of the Cloister raid?"

"Cloister?"

"Out of town facility. Global Energy. Low profile. Research of some kind. Anyway, it popped up on the radar when someone hit it two weeks ago and the Global Energy's security boys went crazy. Two days ago someone came back and finished the job. Leveled the place. Word on the street says neither group of shadowrunners was local. There happens to be some supporting data for that"

"Really?"

"Really."

"You've saved me some work. How much?"

"Say a thousand."

Cerebus reached into his pocket and pulled out a credstick. "Or do you want cash?"

"Either will do." The street samurai plugged the metal cylinder into the till and hit the keys. He pulled the blank credstick back into his pocket.

"Anything else you need?" asked Big Charles.

"Not at the moment chummer." The ork nodded and Cerebus headed back out the door. A car in the black and red colours of Knight Errant cruised down the street. The military/paramilitary arm of Ares Macrotechnology had played a key role in fighting the bugs and now remained behind as the police force and virtual masters of Chicago as the city rebuilt itself.

Cerebus crossed the street. Ares was buying up a lot of prime Chicago real estate at fire sale prices, part of their deal with cash strapped city. Chicago would live again one day and on that day Ares Macrotechnology would make a killing. Those on top always found a way to make a buck. Some things never changed.

--------------------------------------------------------

Donovan sat in the darkness, feeling the pain and suffering of the wounded city wash over him. It was invigorating. It did not sooth the wounds he had suffered. His phone range. His eyes opened and he activated the speaker.

"Yes?" he asked.

His secretary was on the other end. Her voice trembled. Good. So sweet. "It's Juan Cordero from-"

"I know where he's from. Put him through."

A smooth, masculine voice came through. "We have heard that there were setbacks."

"Setbacks is an understatement. We will be delayed for years."

"My master will not be pleased."

Anger leaked into Donovan's voice. "I am not pleased. You are not my equal, made thing. Do not allow yourself to believe that because your army of slaves is larger than mine that you can trifle with me."

"I understand great one. My master's only concern is for the project."

"Mortal greed has interfered. They do not know what they have. We have lost a few years, but we are still ahead."

"I will continue to ensure that Aztechnology's resources are yours to use. Do you need some of the company's slaves to rectify this matter?"

"No," said Donovan. "Money and my own slaves will be enough. Rebuilding will commence and the information will be retrieved." And those responsible would suffer the torments of hell, but that didn't need to be said. "Aztechnology becoming more involved in this matter will only draw unwanted attention."

"As you wish." Donovan hung up. Kruegar should have results for him shortly. If he did not, well then Hand would serve Kruegar up on a plate.

[Imperial Overlord]

Seattle Metroplex


The Kruegar stepped over the ork's bleeding body, careful to avoid the rapidly pooling blood. Hand hand gone through the Fixer's muscle like a whirlwind on crank, tearing them up and throwing them about with his bare hands, moving far faster than the unaugmented eye could see. The two razor boys that Kruegar had with him hadn't had to raise a finger.

The slender elf had the leather faced human pinned to his leather reclining chair. The human was cradling a broken right hand in his lap. Kruegar looked around. A typically shitty back office that one wouldn't be surprised to find at the back of an appliance repair store.

"You're a fixer, name of Lorry on the street. A hit was paid for and our people found tracers to you. We want everyone involved with it."

"Fuck you man," said Lorry. Hand grabbed his broken hand and squeezed. Lorry screamed.

"This isn't a negotiation," said Kruegar. "We will have what we want."

"Fuck you."

"Your choice to do it the hard way."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chicago, Illinois


Gil paced the crappy apartment that served as their safe house. "So we know what they were involved in that got them killed."

"Yeah," said Cerebus. "Had to be this Cloister thingy."

"Still don't know who pulled the trigger, boss or victim," said Stormcloud.

"True," said Gil, "but now we know where to look."

"Which is?"

"Everyone in the energy business, everyone with a beef with Global Energy, and any of those who rolled out vans in the night in question in New York."

"You're going to dive into the Matrix," said Stormcloud.

"Yes. There will be some security cameras looking at the exits from all the major corp compounds in New York. I just have to peruse the data." He attached the data leads to his temple datajack and activated his cyberdeck.

"Sounds like a lot of work," said Cerebus.

"Not after I eliminate those who don't have a major presence in New York," said Gil. "That should cut it down to . . . well one contender. That was easy. Now to use the back door into the traffic camera system and check the intersection camera shots . . . and we have a winner. Consolidated Systems. They wiped out their own 'runners."

"Frakkers," muttered Cerebus. "Payback's a bitch and you're going to get to know her personally."

[LadyTevar]

Holy shit... this one lives?