A Pirate's Life For Me

## Background

A valuable member of a certain, unnamed corporation was leaving his usual security envelope behind for a covert journey via ship. Agents from a rival corporation got wind of this, planning to abduct him for ransom.

## The Meet

The meeting took place in the Matrix, with the Johnson presenting a stock off-the-shelf Mr. Johnson avatar. He laid out the terms of the job, and explained that the target would be most vulnerable on the ship itself in transit after boarding in Seattle, on the way to San Francisco. The client had already contracted with a smuggler who owned a boat and could provide transport to and from the target ship but would provide no other assistance.

## Legwork

The first thing the runners did was attempt to locate the target, and consider whether it would be easier to simply snatch him prior to boarding entirely. A spirit was deployed to search for him - it took a surprisingly long time to return, reporting that he was ensconced behind a powerful astral ward, in the upper-level suite of an expensive Downtown hotel. This ruled out a pre-emptive snatch, as did trying to grab him through the port's equally extensive security. The window of opportunity and route to grab him between the two was too small and unpredictable, so the team turned to the plan B of boarding the ship at sea.

Now looking into the ship itself via a Matrix specialist contact, the *Kitty Hawk*, they identified it as a small cargo freighter with limited passenger capability, running a trade circle around the Pacific Ocean and along the west coast of North America. Through the holding company's matrix site and searching port records, they pinpointed the ship's intinerary and calculated its most likely route out into the ocean. They also found a number of interesting details of unknown relevance - the ship had recently been purchased and undergone massive refits, stripping it of electronic internal components to be replaced by antique mechanical controls. Its captain was listed by the name of Hawk, indicating either a massive ego or a hilarious coincidence.

## Run

After making contact with their smuggler, he took them out into the bay to loiter near the ship's planned course. At the appropriate time, another air spirit was called up and sent to disrupt the local weather, filling the strait with a fog bank that could conceal their approach. Under cover of fog, they snuck up alongside the much larger freighter, using a combination of magic and grappling guns to ascend the side. On deck, they located and quickly dispatched one of the security guards, and were preparing to go down below when the sound of approaching motors was heard. Another small boat was spotted approaching to intercept, carrying a motley team that were clearly unaffiliated shadowrunners. They began attempting to board, but between Chaos and Ophis's efforts it was fairly easily foiled. The much less experienced runners were forced back to their boat, and chose to abandon the job in the face of unexpected opposition. They were chased away by a squad of mysterious waterbikes that had also appeared, intent on preventing the other runners from boarding as well.

Meanwhile, Dreamer and Tresser were moving below-decks to find the passenger compartments, when Ophis realized something that had been staring them in the face the whole time - the ship they were on had an Astral presence. An extremely powerful spirit was inhabiting the hull as a possession entity, aware of their presence but seemingly unconcerned. It was resolved 'Don't make the boat angry'. No resistance or other crew was met until they reached the passenger compartments, where the rest of the crew was asleep except for the room containing their target. With a little bit of luck and some mental influence magic, they convinced the target and his bodyguard to come with them instead of fighting.

When they attempted to leave, though, it triggered a reaction as hydraulic blast doors closed of their own accord to seal the group inside. They had apparently made the boat angry. Chaos's augmented strength was sufficient to force a door open, just enough to where the others could slip under even as gas began to flow from vents in the walls. Getting the Target out that way would be much more difficult, so Dreamer chose to try another tactic of negotiating with the ship-spirit. After convincing it to stand down temporarily, they discussed the terms of contracts and agreed to meet the spirit's price for allowing them to leave with their captive - one minor memory from each of them.

The spirit of the ship appeased, they departed without further incident, delivering the kidnappee to their client's representatives and stranding his bodyguard back on the Kitty Hawk.

## Aftermath

Dreamer and Ophis both chose to keep in contact with the Kitty Hawk ship-spirit though its figurehead First Officer, having forged the necessary astral bond via payment of a token.

The team of newbie runners who were hired to steal guns and ammo for the Kenran-Kai Yakuza returned in failure, getting nothing but some lingering nightmares for their trouble and setting back the Kenran-Kai's plans for a coup.

## Rewards

* 15,000 Nuyen
* 7 Net Karma
* 2 CDP
* +1 Wild Index
* The opportunity to acquire the free spirit *Kittyhawk* as a contact

## Player After-Action Reports

*In Character* accounts of events, general impressions, or memorable moments