Fixin' the Shadows: Simple boost job

You'll have to forgive my voice being scratchy. I think the constant rain in the sprawl is finally wearing me down. Even when the acid rain doesn't directly hit you, just breathing in this cursed city breaks your body down, and I'm not as young as I used to be. Runnin' the shadows took its toll on me. That time I almost got killed in the Ares run especially took something from me permanently. Maybe some time I'll let you buy me a soykaf or something stronger and I'll tell you about it.

I know in general my gig as a fixer means I shouldn't talk about the runners that I hire, but I feel like this group is special. I'm not sure how they're going to change the sixth world, but I've got a feeling in my gut that I either need to cut my losses and hang them out to dry for when they inevitably bring heat down on everyone they know, or I need to cozy up and build a codependent relationship for when they make it big time. They're equal parts measured sanity, explosive insanity, and a touch of theatrical flair. Parts of that make them dangerous for me to work with. Parts make them more likely to get a trid show made about them. Think Neil the Orc Barbarian after one too many bumps of novacoke.

Anyway, I was at my local McHugh's hammering a Kriller Deluxe and a strawberry Soyshake. McHugh's strawberry flavor is the closest thing I've found to an actual strawberry. I'll never forget the time I had the real thing at a shack next to the highway out near Dallas smuggling a load of second gen Bust-a-Move drones back to Seattle.

Anyway, I was about halfway through my 'Luxe when my commlink rang. Not my regular one, but the other one. It was a guy I kinda knew through another team I work with. We'll call him "Juan" for the story. Obviously that's not his real name. Not really sure how I feel about him, but I had a new crew that I wanted to try out. They're the chummers we're talking about now. I had recently met Turner through another acquaintance, and he said he had a team looking for some work. This new guy Juan wanted a team to boost a shipment of Aztechnology 'ware. Seemed pretty straight forward, so I told him I'd get a team on it.

I called up Turner and gave him the information I had. The truck would be leaving the Azzie's pyramid at 10PM and moving south to their research facilities in Tacoma. Turner negotiated pretty hard, and I agreed to pay them 1,750¥ each as a retainer plus another 4,200¥ when they deliver the cargo. That left me with a nice little bonus if this new Johnson Juan paid like he was supposed to.

A little before midnight the team showed up at the Body+Tech body shop in Auburn Center that we agreed to meet at. This was my first time meeting the rest of the crew. There were four of them, all human. Turner was obviously their face, and as such did almost all of the talking. Ash as a skinny, shifty guy with some chrome. He seemed to have missed his calling as an actor. Pink Salmon was an alchemist. He had a pocket full of marbles wrapped in tissue paper. I can only imagine the arcane power those marbles held. As someone without the gift of magic, that stuff always gives me the creeps. Rounding out the crew was Raptor. I feel like I've seen trid of him fighting somewhere. I'll have to do a matrix search on this guy.

Anyway, they roll up in the Azzie's nondescript grey van. The van's guards were nowhere to be found, though there was a splash of blood across the van. The cargo was also a bit blood spattered and seemed to have also taken some fire damage, but otherwise seemed just fine for resale. Nothing really fancy, just a bunch of spare parts for cyberlimbs. I think our Johnson "Juan" would be pretty happy with the results. I'd been monitoring the feeds for the local Lone Star precinct and all was quiet, so I think the run went off without a hitch.

I paid the team their cut, and based on the discretion knew they'd be a good fit for another run I need a team for. I'll have to tell you about it later.

This is something new I'm trying. Every couple of weeks a few friends and I get together virtually to play a game of Shadowrun 5th Edition. Some of you that have been playing for a long time might recognize some of what's going on above, please don't ruin the surprise for the players! This blog is an in-character account from the perspective of one of the player character's fixers.