Ronin in the Shadows

Ronin in the Shadows
Date 2082-11-11 GM Synonym Location Seattle and Neo-Tokyo Status Threat Level: Deadly
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Jacqueline Grant Informer Hamamoto Aki	MCT
Black Samurai	The Negotiator The Gunner The Vampire
Casualties and losses
	The Gunner The Vampire

Summary

As the Light the Shadows campaign is starting to change the shadows, Sam finds himself on and odd job that puts him in the uncomfortable position of looking after the daughter of another runner.

Background

Light the Shadows is a concerted effort by the District Attorney Mark Donaghy and others in law enforcement to hit runners at their bottom line. Arrests are made when possible, but bank accounts, safe houses, the power to areas that harbor runners and all manner of tactics are on the table to make the lives of runners very difficult. The runner Pepe and his crew have been swallowed up by the tumult, leaving his daughter at home and unprotected.

The Call

Jacqueline Grant calls Sam out of the blue on a Thursday evening as he sits in his local sake bar enjoying a sweet potato roll. She's obviously a bit out of her element calling him like this, but she has a favor to ask. Relaying information from Pepe, she asks Sam to head to an apartment complex just a bit north of SEA-TAC. The job is to hang out and let her know if things are ok and she offers 5k ¥ for what seems like a pretty simple job.

Of course she's keeping some information back, mostly because Sam doesn't ask. But in that apartment complex Aki, otherwise known as the kid. Her father, the runner Pepe, called Jacqueline to ask if she could send someone to keep an eye on the place as his group is surrounded by police.

The Apartment

Sam quickly finishes his roll and heads out. Disguise as Katashi Jin he gathers his gear and rides his Nodachi north from Loveland. When he arrives, he finds a four building complex. The buildings are decently maintained and perhaps most importantly, in a good school district. A few gangers peddle drugs, but for the most part it seems like a decent place to live. Over the next couple of hours he keeps an eye on the place, moving from the second level of a motel, to a street corner and then toward a clothing store.

As he crosses the street, he sees a black americar pull up. Two orks and a troll get out, leaving a human driver inside. Sam easily makes the group as disassemblers. He briefly contacts Jacqueline about the gang, but she tells him they aren't heading into the building she's concerned about. That doesn't sit quite right with him, but he's also not getting paid to deal with these gangers. So he asks the clerk at the convenience store to call the cops, getting a reassuring 'yeah right,' in response.

Satisfied with doing the right thing, he continues toward the clothing store. From there, he's lucky enough to have the perfect position to get an early glimpse of KE beat officers pulling up to start clearing people from the street. The disassemblers aren't harassed as they leave, so it's easy to see that this probably has nothing to do with them.

Sam again contacts Jacqueline and gets the room number. Learning that the cops are there she asks him to go to room 303 and take the person there somewhere safe. He moves quickly across the street by passing the cops who are about a block away asking people to get off the street. Moving behind the building he guesses at where room 303 is and parkours up the balconies. As he does so a SWAT vehicle pulls up to the south.

The Kid

Aki is inside holding a gun her father taught her to use. As Sam knocks on the sliding door, he can see her shadow move, but she's against the wall out of view. When the lights to all the buildings go out, he decides it's time to go. Breaking the glass he steps inside to find the gun pointed at his chest. After some tense back and forth, he carries her down the way he came up, and asks his bike to meet them out of sight of her building. As he sneaks away, he sees several SWAT operators on the south side of the building preparing to wrap around and enter.

The pair mount his bike and he drives away casual, evading suspicion from the beat cops. As they drive away, the verbally spar some more. He gets a few points by allowing her to pick some clothing since it now seems they are temporarily stuck with one another. Sam also asks Masuyama Kijuro to put Frank in his car. He then has the car meet at the delivery locker where the purchased clothes are waiting.

Cabin in the Woods

After picking up the clothes, the pair get in Sam's Shiny-Hung and head south. On the way, they go back and forth some more, with Sam rightly pointing out that she shouldn't let a stranger come into her house, take her gun and her commlink, and drive her away. This puts her on the defensive and she consoles herself by petting the dog.

When they arrive at the Cabin she is most disappointed. It is not the kind of place a teenager wants to end up for an indeterminate amount of time. But the pair do agree to start over and be more civil to one another.

Sam gets himself and her some MRE and the two see to their sustenance separately. He lets her sleep inside, taking a sleeping bag for himself and Frank. As the air gets colder, he lets Frank inside and the small dog quickly finds a place to sleep next to Aki. In the night, he contacts Jacqueline on a burner 'link. There is no news and so he gets a little bit of sleep.

In the morning Sam wakes at 6 a.m. He goes about his normal exercise routine and sees to a breakfast of canned meat and eggs. Aki joins him, asking after any news. With nothing to offer, Sam starts to question what she wants to do, asking after any relatives she might know, or know about. It seems that Aki doesn't have much in the way of local family. Her mother is gone, but she does mention her grandmother in Japan (Echiketto no sensei), and her uncle Matsuda. She also heard of her mother's cousin who lives in the PCC.

At this point, Sam realizes that they are likely to need to get out of town. Doubtless he was seen on camera near the apartments and if someone wants to find the kid, they'll have a BOLO out for him and she has no family in Seattle. So he starts putting plans together. First he calls Alias to inquire about getting some high quality fake SINs. These are going to take at least two weeks, which is not so convenient.

Next Sam calls Tee & Vee to see if they might be able to smuggle them on to a rich person flight to Japan. After looking at the options the pair reply with a potential flight in 5 days for 4k a piece. And they will have to pose as a member of the hospitality team on the flight. Sam agrees to this.

Sam then summons Informer who after some time appears with their usual black and white effect and noir monologue. He asks the spirit if they would be able to locate her relatives in Japan, offering pictures to help. For the price of a chip, Informer agrees to visit Japan and see what can be found.

The Second Call

After Sam has put all of this together, he gets another call from Jacqueline Grant. She informs him that she's heard from Pepe and that he's asked the pair of them to meet at a safehouse. Sam is immediately suspicious. He asks for the commcode to call Pepe and he does so. Aki isn't able to tell for sure if it's her father, but Sam puts together a little test using some information he gleaned by assensing Aki. The person on the other end fails.

At this point, Sam is certain they are being setup. But he asks Aki if she wants to go to the meet just to be sure. And she does.

It's a Trap

Begrudgingly, Sam gets geared up. This is a bad idea, but she said she wants to go, so go they will. The safehouse is a buried tractor trailer near lake Harts Lake. It's easy enough to find with the pin from Jacqueline and Sam's navigation skill and ware.

He tells Aki to wait, opens the trapdoor entrance and climbs down the ladder inside. Waiting inside is a trid projection of a negotiator and the very physical vampire and gunner. Sam is offered money for the kid, but he refuses and combat ensues. The pair of MCT operatives have Sam in a corner, but it's a complicated space to fight in. Despite their obvious skill and copious bullets Sam comes out victorious leaving two bodies in the safehouse and with only and acidy handprint on his sleeping tiger to show for it (he did take some damage, but nothing a pain editor couldn't force him to ignore).

Curious about the assailants, Sam takes their commlinks. With a call to Jacqueline, he gets permission to use the SIN scanner at the bar, and learns that the SINs on the commlinks are MCT issue. He then disposes of the commlinks and the pair head back to the cabin.

Waiting for Offers

For the next couple of days they lay low. Trust built between them is enough to keep Aki from running away and Sam is focused enough to not let her starve. So that's good.

As they while away the time waiting for their flight to Neo-Tokyo, Warboss calls. He has some interesting photos that could be Sam and some hopes that maybe they could make some money off the situation. Sam stonewalls the inquiry playing dumb and the fixer relents. The obvious lesson is that MCT is actively looking for them. Fortunately they haven't seen Sam's face and they don't havea any physical samples.

Sleepless in Neo-Tokyo

On Tuesday, they travel to SEATAC and board a flight where they are to act as part of the crew. Sam has sent along a crate with his belongings, but they will have to wait on new ID's once they arrive. Taking advantage of the private carrier Sam is able to sneak Aki off the flight in his trunk and he takes a cab to a hotel with an angry hidden teenager. He books a hotel and they travel through the city in an automated cab.

Time spent waiting for her fake SIN is spent in the hotel room. Sam teaches her how to defend herself with a sword. When he is off looking for Japanese noir trids, she practices with some unfortunate results. At least for the drapes and pillow.

During this time, Sam calls Informer again. The spirit has been busy speaking with kami and has a decent amount of information about Aki's grandmother and Uncle. Due to political outlook, Sam decides her uncle is probably the best bet. When the ID arrives the make a trip to Matsuda to talk to him.

Better Parents

Sam and Aki are able to make contact with her uncle at the farm stand that is open from Noon to 4 on weekdays. The runner tests the waters, trying to make sure the pair won't find the dwarf objectionable. When he's convinced, Sam breaks the news. Seeing his niece, her uncle Hitoshi is immediately willing to take her in.

Aftermath

Hamamoto Aki stays in Matsuda working on her Uncle's farm and finishing High school.

Black Samurai is in Neo-Tokyo as Light the Shadows tears at the criminal underworld in Seattle.

Game Quotes

You know you're not supposed to let a stranger come in to your house and take your gun, right?