Blood in the Willows

November 12th, 2058  0400 hours (Seattle Local Time)

Edgy Ed, Gitti, Suzy B, and I were fighting for our lives.  We were trying to break contact from a mob of ghouls as we tried to escape the Willows neighborhood in Redmond. A dozen ghouls lay bleeding on the plascrete, but another thirty or more were bounding in toward our position.  I heard the staccato bursts of weapon fire from each of the street samurai, and feared it wouldn't be enough.

T-bone was already down fifteen meters away.  The huge troll had been brought to the ground by a  riot of ghouls who ripped his guts open and started eating him alive.  Suzy B put a three round burst into the top of his brain pan, and put an end to his screams.  (Sometimes, I still have nightmares where I hear him screaming for help).

Edgy Ed called out "reloading" as he swapped out a magazine on his AK-97.  He took a step back as he slapped the mag home and the action cycled.  Gitti, called out "me too" and took a step back as well.  Ghouls were screaming, howling, and wading through the gunfire; getting closer with every second.

"I'm out" Suzy screamed. Her Ingram clattered on the pavement, scattering brass as dikote(tm) coated spurs snapped out from her forearms.

I was sweating bullets as I fended off a barrage of spells that were targeting our minds.  I was tiring, and knew that if any of the mindfrag sorcery got through we would be eaten and killed, in that order.  I dispersed a sickening miasma of tainted mana trying to foment a spell all about us, then stepped up next to Suzy B.  I screamed out over the hammering sound of gunfire "TAKE MINE!" and handed her my Ares Viper sliver gun.

Suzy took the slender weapon without a moment's pause and began snapping off shots, one at a time, into the onrushing horde.  We were back peddling into an alley, the other end of which was engulfed in flames as a pair of fire elementals were busy incinerating another mob of ghouls who were trying to get to us from behind. The spirits were having a hard time of it, as there were to many ghouls.

I was still trying to find the sorcerer when another spell came down on us.  My defenses held but the force of the spell made me weak in the knees.  I looked up, and saw the ghoul standing on the roof five stories up.  There was no where to go get out of his line of sight.

Edgy Ed used to swear that I started smiling like an idiot as we backed into the alley.  I don't remember if I did or didn't, but I remember the dark satisfaction of seeing my earth elemental manifest on the roof and engulf that scabby fragger.  That certainly broke his line of sight!

One ghoul sorcerer down, uncounted dozens of ghouls to go.

"Running low," Ed called out.

"Same here" Gitti grimly shouted.

"Save one for yourself," Suzy B laughed.

"Frag that!" I yelled.  "IGNIS MAGICAE!" I pointed my finger to a spot in space above and behind the oncoming ghouls.  A white ball of fire manifested in the area for just a tick, then exploded in fiery brilliance.  The spell flash cooked all the ghouls who were caught in its wake, leaving the two closest to us unscathed.  Those outside the blast screamed in surprise as the brilliant light washed over all of us. Latin... for the win.

I turned to my companions, and screamed "We are LEAVING!"

Suzy B, shot one of the oncoming ghouls, blowing the top of the monster's head open and sending his brains spraying across the charred remains of the horde behind him.  Ed and Gitti stitched fire up the torso of the other ghoul.

Behind me I heard the roar of rushing flames.  I turned and saw that the back of the alley was immolated.  Garbage was burning, the plascrete was bubbling, and ghouls were turning to run away.  I had no interest in letting them escape, "Kill them" I commanded to the fire spirits.

The remaining ghouls were scattering but we were stranded on an island surrounded by molten, bubbling plascrete. I was wearing my rescue boots with the kevlar II lining and the ballistic toe caps, but stepping in molten plascrete would burn the hell out of my feet if I tried to run through it.

Suzy B emptied my Viper at the fleeing ghouls, downing a dozen or more.  I sent out a mental call to the astral and felt the air spirit I had bound respond.  A moment later I was carried up to the top of the building and landed on the roof near the spot I had last seen the ghoul sorcerer.  I shouldn't have bothered.  All that was left of it was a broken mess of smashed limbs and a puddle of blood and stinking fluids.  I tasted bile in the back of my throat but fought down the urge to vomit.

*****

We left the kill zone before any curious police contractors showed up.  Fortunately, none of us had been scratched or bitten, though Edgy Ed had been grazed by a bullet from T-Bone's smg that went wide as the big troll got dragged down. We were holed up in an old burned out library taking stock of our situation and counting to make certain we still had all of our fingers.

The job was a horrific bust.  We had found a Tamanous operation, of that I was sure, but we weren't able to rescue any survivors. There simply weren't any.  The ghouls had eaten the people they didn't turn.  It was a horror show all the way around, but without the feeling of catharsis from triumphing at the end.  People of all ages had been victimized and it made me feel sick.

I recovered my Viper from Suzy B.  She offered to buy it from me, but I declined.  That pistol and I had been through a lot. It had killed the fragger who took down Pepper.  The gun was empty so I slapped in a fresh magazine, slipping the spent one into a pocket of my armor lined trench coat.

"What now?" Gitti asked.

It was an excellent question.

"Johnson going to pay us for this frag up?  Because I burned a lot of ammo on this cluster of a job." Edgy Ed spat out.  He was trembling, but that was normal.  I suspect that whoever did the installation on his reflex wiring made a mistake or two, because he was always jittery and his hands switched when he was trying to be still.

"I wouldn't", Suzy B, always the pragmatist.

I thought about it, and didn't like our odds of getting paid.  Mr. Johnson had hired us to check out a suspected Tamanous organ legging chop shop and rescue any survivors.  We didn't find anyone living who wasn't infected, and it was all we could do to escape with our lives.  T-Bone was dead, as was the fng (fraggin' new guy) we picked up as our rigger.  When we started our unexpected run for our lives escape, we saw ghouls ripping him apart on the street next to his van.

"I don't see it happening, but its worth a shot." I said.  "If he says 'No' we negotiate, and if that doesn't work we call it loss and never work for the fragger again."

"Maybe shove a gun in his nose to help him find his credstick." Ed was annoyed.

"Not if you want to work for Sheila again," I said.  "We didn't pull off the rescue.  Lets float it by the Johnson and see what's what."

Suzy B shrugged in a non-committal way, Gitti nodded, and Edgy Ed twitched and let out a "ugh" sound I took to be his consent.

*****

Sheila X wasn't taking any chances.  We showed up to a meet in a clinic run by a former CAS navy doctor.  We underwent an astral once over and were tested for HMHVV.  We all came back clean (thankfully), then I destroyed the samples.  Sheila X came into the examination room, Little Rickie in tow right behind her.

Rickie looked annoyed and I felt like I wanted to hide behind something solid, like a tank or a building.  Sheila took a seat on a small stool in the corner. "Well, what happened?" She asked.  No menace, no stress, no anything, it was just a bland question but it weighted the air in the room for a moment.

"A lot of ghouls, no survivors who hadn't been turned into ghouls, and a lot of dead people.  T-Bone is dead, so is the rigger, and we made it out with a lot of noise. From the look of the place, I'd say Mr. Johnson was right about it being a Tamanous chop shop.  It was like being a pig walking into a butcher shop." I kept the stress out of my voice. If I acted like I was getting uppity with Sheila I was pretty sure Rickie would beat me to death or so badly that I would wish I were dead. "We'll confirm with images, but I wouldn't eat before watching the footage."

Suzy B, reached up and pulled a chip from the jack behind her left eye and held it up for Sheila to see.  "Mr. Johnson owes us our money, and we have data he may be interested in. We also killed about fifty ghouls so I think we've earned our pay.  So ka?"

"Not for me to say," Sheila said smoothly.  "If it were me, sure thing, but I've got to get him to the meet.  Be in the Brick Yard, tomorrow night, at nine."  With that Sheila got up and walked out the door.  Little Rickie stooped down to follow her, and closed the door behind him.

*****
November 13th, 2000 Hours (The Brick Yard)

I was an hour early for the meet. Sandy brought my food over with a soft smile, "Let me know if you need anything."  I thanked her and smiled back but she was already turning away.  Its weird, but I missed the big tusky smiles she used to give "me".  Funny how things change when you do.   I ate my meal in silence, scratching the spot behind my right ear before downing half of my lemonade.

The rest of the "team" was seated around the Brick Yard.  Suzy B and Gitti were a table away from a trio of ork hard cases.  Edgy Ed was sitting alone at a booth near the men's room.  With me at the bar we had fair coverage of the place.  I had sent a text to Sheila, letting her know were already here, and had told the team to order food.  Aria had taken Ed's order, poor bastard, and he was having some words about his order when she brought his plate over.  She took it back and I smiled to myself.  No telling what he was going to get after sending a plate back.

I was taking my time with my meal and talking with a troll at the bar.  He was educating me on the urban brawl game that was playing on the trid, and I was asking real questions (as I never understood the game).  Mr. Johnson walked in, alone, at 2050.  I waved Sandy over, had her put the troll's order on my bill and paid for the team's meals.  I put a fifty nuyen tip on top and set to work finishing my meal.  My pocket secretary buzzed at 2100 hours.

It's not much of a walk from the bar to the back booth where Sheila X runs her biz. Mr. Johnson was seated and a chip reader was resting on the table in front of him. I sat down across from Sheila X, my face as impassive as I could make it. "Good evening.  Mr. Johnson, its good to see you."  I lay a chip case on the table in front of me. "I think you'll find we accomplished all that was possible."  The Johnson was an elf, with gold hair and pale features.  His eyes were a deep sea green.  He was calm, with just a hint of a frown on his well formed features.

"Let's see then." Johnson said, and held his hand out.

I picked up the chip case and placed it in Johnson's palm.  He opened it and fitted the chip to the reader.  It cycled for a few minutes. "Clean chip. Good start." Johnson said.  He spooled a cable out and plugged it into the chip reader.  I suppose he didn't want the data floating around wireless.  The other end of the cable he plugged into a slick AR goggle unit. Light played around his eyes as he watched. I looked over and saw Sheila X watching Mr. Johnson with calculating eyes.

The chip had precisely fourteen minutes and twenty-three seconds of footage on it.  Having lived through the events recorded on that chip, I can tell you it seemed like hours when you were in the thick of it.  When I looked back at Mr. Johnson his jaw was clenched but he didn't make a sound.  The tips of his elven ears were flush, his breathing was deep and regular.  It was gruesome footage, brutal, real-world violence, against the disfigured forms of the infected.  The footage picked up everything in hi-res full color, the sound track made it sound like you were right there hearing through Suzy B's ears.  It was terrible to watch.

Mr. Johnson was quiet for fifteen minutes.  The light around the goggles faded out, and he pulled them off his head.  "Unfortunate that there were no survivors.  I call it a job well done though."  He surprised me by producing six black credsticks and placing them on the table.  He handed a seventh to SheilaX.  I picked up the credsticks, read the displays, then passed them through a verification reader I brought along (Angel had turned me on to them after a Johnson tried to pay us with a counterfeit credstick once.)  The sticks were clean and legit, so I pocketed them for the team. "Impressive work."  Johnson said.

"Thanks." I replied.  I slid out of the booth, nodded to Sheila, and added. "Nice doing business with you."

"I'm sure." Mr. Johnson replied.  "Until next time."

At that moment, I thought his response was pretty damn strange.

*****

I divided the credsticks up between the surviving four of us.  I split the fng's (I don't remember his name, sorry) credstick between us.  T-Bone's credstick I held onto. I left the three of them at the Brick Yard, pulled an invisibility spell around me and took a long walk to the northeast of what was once Hartman Park.  T-Bone had lived in old bank just a couple blocks from the tangled mess of the old park.  His life partner/wife, was there when I showed up.  I broke the news to her, lying when I said he died quickly and didn't suffer.  I didn't want her to suffer any more than she already was.  I gave his share to her, and left his AK-97 there (I had cleaned his blood off the weapon).

{I wondered how she got out of the plex ~ Angel}

*****

I spent the next few days prowling around in the Willows.  I had Gitti and Suzy B come along to watch my back (best four thousand nuyen I spent that month).  We found a few groups of ghouls, and put them down.  It was bloody work, but someone had to do it.  Lone Star certainly wasn't making any effort, and that first battle in the Willows didn't even make the scream sheets.  Life in the barrens for you I suppose.

I'm not hungry.  Lets go catch the urban brawl game tonight though.  I've picked up a few things about the game lately.  Maybe you can enlighten me further.


OH, and here's a tip for you:  if you are going to shape change into another metatype, you're going to find that it takes getting used to.  I always had some trouble with my ears when I was an elf.  It didn't matter how I changed them, they kept brushing the side of my head and it always irritated me a bit, like a bug flying onto your face. I had a similar problem when I was an ork for a while, where I kept biting my own lip.  So plan accordingly when you take on a new face.



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From the author:   Thanks for checking out my fan fiction.  These stories are derived from game play, and are fictionalized from memory.  If you enjoy them please do share them with other Shadowrun fans.  As I mention above, I do not own Shadowrun.


As of this writing I have a KickStarter campaign going on for my adventure module "Comet over Echo Rock" which is released under the Open Game License for another game mechanic (not Shadowrun, unfortunately, though if they ever do permit something like an open game license release I'll be all over that!).   So please do take a moment to check that out and share it with others (it ends on Saturday, February 10th, 2018).

Thank you!  I hope you enjoyed it!