"Shadowrun Duels: Datafile [ V ]"

A Shadowrun Novella in Five Parts

Find out how the characters of Shadowrun Duels met and what they got up to on their first run into the shadows...

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You can find the first part of the story here, the second part here, the third part here and the fourth part here on Orcs in the Webbe.

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What is Shadowrun?

"It is the latter half of the 21st century. Magic has returned to the world, awakening powerful creatures of myth and legend. Technology merges with flesh and consciousness. Elves, trolls, orks and dwarves walk among us, while ruthless corporations bleed the world dry. You are a shadowrunner – a mercenary living on the fringes of society, in the shadows of massive corporate arcologies, surviving day-by-day on skill and instinct alone. When the powerful or the desperate need a job done, you get it done... by any means necessary."

Shadowrun is a science fantasy setting based in a near-future universe in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. Thematically it combines the genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspiracy, horror and detective fiction.

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What is Shadowrun Duels?

Shadowrun Duels was a collectible miniatures game produced by WizKids back in 2003, set in the world of Shadowrun.

Unusually the Shadowrun Duels 'miniatures' are big 1:12 scale action figures each with a separate base that has three Clix dials. This twist on their single dial Heroclix range allows the figures to take damage in one of three areas (Head, Weapon, or Body) as they fight during the game.

A clever multi coloured dice based mechanic also allows for a level of roleplaying to be easily included in scenarios along with multiple options for different equipment and weaponry that can be chosen from before each game.

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//Begin Datafile 5.1//

> The safehouse had turned out to be anything but, and the place was a wreck. Max and Liada were down, with luck only unconscious. Kyushi and Karkhov appeared to have sustained only minor wounds. My shoulder was bleeding, but I ignored it. I motioned for the samurai and Yakuza agent to check on our downed teammates as I slumped down, too tired to even know what to think.

"They're okay, G," Karkhov's voice said from beside me. "They're both out cold, though the chica is more than a little banged up. Fraggin’ magic. Only thing that would make an elf think she had a chance against a fraggin’ troll.”

"It seemed to have served her, though not as well as it could," I replied, remembering that Draven and his crew had to drag the half-ton of troll out of here. "Seems she gave as good as she got. Look, Karkhov . . . thanks for coming back."

"I spotted that spook in a sneak suit skulking around the roof on my way out. Unfortunately, she saw me, too.” The samurai paused as though he were looking for a way to explain himself. “I still don’t think this is what we were hired for, but just because we don’t agree it doesn’t mean I gotta leave you open for a backstab. It ain’t frosty to do that to anybody, but especially not to teammates, neh?”

"Well, whatever. I appreciate it anyway," I told him. "They’ve got the disk now, so we're in the clear, and we have this place for the night. See if you guys can't wake them up. Max has a decent medkit in his van, if you need to patch anyone up. Just be careful with Liada."

"She probably needs the medical attention the most, omae.” Then he paused. “What do you mean, be careful?"

"She's a mage. Drugs and medicine mess that up."

Karkhov muttered something under his breath that sounded like "the best thing for her," and then headed out to the van. I took off my vest and shirt and looked at my shoulder. The cut was deep, but had missed most of the tendons and muscles. Just a simple flesh wound; it would barely slow me down. I cleaned the wound and popped a couple of painkillers when Karkhov brought the medkit in, then sat back in my chair. I watched them work to revive the others, and as the pain subsided I closed my eyes wearily and drifted off to sleep.

A vibration at my wrist jolted me out of my slumber as my wrist phone buzzed, indicating a call. I looked up to see everyone awake and sitting around the table, watching me. Except Kyushi, I noticed. I rubbed my eyes and looked down at my phone, the chronometer indicating I'd been out for about an hour.

Flipping the small screen up and turning on the phone on revealed a sweating Lothan staring back at me, a worried expression on his face. I could see in the background of the screen that he was standing in his circle room, a place where he went to do his magic rituals.

"Lothan," I said simply, a little coldly. I respected the troll, and greatly appreciated everything he'd done for me in the past. I also knew that biz was biz, and you did what you had to do sometimes, but that didn't mean I was going to let his earlier-attempted hosing slide so easily.

"G-Dogg, I'm glad I was able to contact you," Lothan replied wearily. "You lost the disk, didn't you?"

"Yeah, a couple hours ago. Wolf, Draven, and some of the others jumped us. I cut a deal with them."

"I figured as much. Is your team still around?" he asked, eyes narrowing. I knew that look: Something was up.

"Everyone but Kyushi. Not sure where she went," I told the troll.

"She vanished right after you passed out," Liada cut in. "Probably decided she'd had enough."

"That's okay, we don't need her anyway,” Lothan replied through the phone. "Get your people together and come meet me if you want a chance to salvage something from this mess you've gotten yourself into. Once again, G-Dogg, you need me to save the day.

"I know where the disk is."

> G-Dogg

//Begin Datafile 5.2//

> None of us bothered to ask Lothan how he knew where the disk was – if you’d have seen what he looked like when his astral jaunt ended, you wouldn’t have either. Nobody even complained when the troll just took over the group. Truth be told, I was tired and sore and just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Having Lothan’s power on our side couldn’t do anything but help.

I could tell from the moment we got to the place that things were going to get bad fast. The astral light show illuminating the top of the high-rise Lothan took us to was visible from the ground, and when you consider how tall the building was, was more than a little scary. Lothan didn’t hesitate, though – he looked grim as he beckoned us forward. We were right behind him.

It wasn’t bad. Bad would have been an improvement over what we saw when we stepped out onto the roof terrace. There was Mr. Johnson, his face flickering in candlelight, his eyes dancing with a strange kind of energy. The disk hung around his neck. He was waving his hands in mystical patterns as if conducting an unseen orchestra. I gasped as things began appearing from the astral plane around him. Terrible things. Abominations. Bright spirits, he’s summoning –

Then I saw Midnight. Her still form lay on the platform, black cat suit and dark hair blending so well with its surface that I’d almost missed her there in the dimness. Her eyes were half-open, and energy danced around her. She had been sliced in several places, and the energy seemed to be centered around –

The blood! “Spirits, Lothan, he’s performing a – ”

“Blood sacrifice.” The old troll’s face was grimmer than ever, his eyes blazing with rage. “Attack!” he boomed. Without waiting to see if anybody had obeyed his order, he waded in, magical power crackling around his staff.

Early on I could see that things weren’t going well for the good guys. G-Dogg, Draven, and Silver Max went down first – their corporeal weapons and tech toys weren’t a match for normal spirits, let alone these astral perversions. Lothan and Natokah were holding their own, but there were so many spirits that even Lothan’s troll strength began to tire eventually; I could see the sweat dripping off his forehead. Karkhov was trying to get to Midnight but Johnson was just laughing at him, doing something with magic to keep the blades from reaching him. Even with the combined forces of the two teams, we were losing.

And what was I doing while all this was going on? You’ll notice that I wasn’t fighting. As soon as things started getting hot, I stepped back into the shadows and did a fade, invoking my invisibility spell. Not too many people know I can do that, and I don’t advertise it. It’s saved my hoop on more than one occasion. Don’t think I was being a coward – after seeing what that disk was letting Johnson do, I know we couldn’t let him keep it. Since it looked like he was dealing too well with frontal assaults, I decided to try a little subterfuge. It is what I’m good at, after all, and the reason we’re all up to our necks in this drek in the first place.

I crept forward, keeping my eyes locked on Johnson and Karkhov. Karkhov was fading now, I could see it. He staggered backward and used his shorter blade to slice the straps holding Midnight down, sagging against the platform in exhaustion. Johnson pounced, a single spell taking Karkhov down. He was still laughing as he turned back to Midnight and started chanting again. The laughter continued even as a surprisingly awake Midnight lunged upward, grabbing Johnson around the neck with both hands.

Laugh it up, suit boy, I muttered to myself. I lunged forward and snatched at the chain around Johnson’s neck, practically beheading him to get at the disk.

“NO!” he screamed. As soon as he lost contact with the disk, all the energy appeared to drain out of him and he dropped bonelessly into Midnight’s grip.

I dropped my spell and shifted back to visibility. Holding up the disk with one hand and swiping damp hair off my brow with the other, I gave my teammates a fierce grin. “What do you say we get the hell out of here?”

> Liada

> When Liada pulled a fade, Lothan and I were left to deal with the fragging nasty spirits the Johnson conjured to defend him while he completed whatever nasty ritual he was planning with the disk. Not only were these things big, but there was also something ugly about their auras – kinda like the J himself, now that I think of it.

Now I may not flaunt my beliefs like Liada and some of the other rabidly back-to-nature magical types do. I know when I see an affront to Nature, and I know how to deal with it . . . or at least, I know how I usually deal with it. In the shape I was in, though, usual methods weren’t going to work. I had taken enough of a beating dropping Max that I wasn’t up to my usual tricks. But we had to try. We were obviously out of a payday, but blood sacrifice is always nasty business, and I wasn’t about to let Mr. Johnson go through with it.

I commanded my Ally spirit to aid me, and threw myself into a desperate struggle against the foul spirits summoned by our erstwhile employer. I knew that G-Dogg, Draven, and Max were going to be next to useless in banishing the spirits – without magic it’s just near impossible to fight spirits. They gave it a go despite the futility, which said something about their guts, but the speed with which the three of them went down just meant that the spirits could then concentrate on me and Lothan. Lothan was bellowing something in what sounded like Latin, and unleashing blast after blast of magical energy. The troll’s a braggart, that’s for sure, but he can certainly sling mojo. I don’t know about him, but my head was pounding with the effort. We banished one of the spirits, and I took a moment to glance around to check out the depth of our drek. It was deep. My head felt like it was going to split in half, and there was a trickle of blood running out of my nose. We had banished only one of the spirits, and there were four more circling around Lothan and me, waiting for one of us to falter. I glanced at the big troll, and he laughed loudly, beckoning the vile spirits forward like the fool he often is. They unfortunately obliged him, and we both threw our mystical strength against them, straining to overcome their force. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lothan wipe a giant forearm across his forehead, and saw the sweat immediately bead back up between his horns. He was struggling as hard as I was, but the spirits were slowly forcing us back. We were losing.

> Natokah

>As soon as Lothan called me, I knew this was going to turn into his show. That was fine by me; I'd made a fraggin' mess of things so far, and despite the arrogance that annoyed most everyone else, I knew Lothan was a competent team leader. Plus this was magic, and what I knew about magic wouldn't have fit in a shot glass. I willingly stepped back and let the troll, along with Liada and Natokah, lead the way. My job was simply to cause a diversion.

When we reached the roof of the building Lothan led us to, it looked like something out of a sim chip. Midnight was trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey on an altar, Mr. Johnson is wearing black robes with the orichalcum disk dangling from a chain around his neck, and spirits were spinning around the rooftop with an unearthly howl. It was some seriously creepy drek, and had I not been so tired and so pissed off I probably would have been scared. As it was, I charged into the mass of spirits, hoping to draw some away so that the mages could do their thing.

It was no use, though. My shotgun was useless. I saw Max drop, then something hit me from behind – hard. I dropped to my knees as another spirit dropped in front of me, its horrific face gibbering at me. Past it, I could see Draven swinging his axe trying desperately to keep the spirits at bay, but one dove at him from above, engulfing him in a red mist. Then the spirit in front of me struck, and everything went dark.

> G-Dogg

> This was not a case of SNAFU.

This was so far past SNAFU it was FUBAR.

We’re on the roof of this high rise because the troll windbag says the disk is there. Now, if I was smart I’d be asking myself why the hell I’m still chasing the dingus since I put in my walking papers a while ago, but nobody ever said I was smart. So here I am. On the roof. With magic drek whizzing around. You know, spirits and spells to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Lothan and the Indian are doing their gesturing-with-limbs, bathed-in-blue-energy shtick, Liada’s pulled a fade, Dogg and Max are shooting like its free ammo day at the stuffer shack, and the nut job dwarf is swinging his axe like it’s actually going to make any difference.

Then I spotted the frag who put us in this jackpot and decided to get some of my own for a couple of reasons. First, because he held back part of the data on the job. Second, because he probably put the bounty on us after we did his job. Third, because he probably tipped off Ares when Dogg called him. And fourth, because instead of paying us he was tossing mana at us. On top of all of that my ribs were killing me from where The Deacon used me for a football, and I definitely wanted to share that pain with somebody.

As I drew my blades, I saw that Johnson’s got a biff in a sneak suit tied to some kind of makeshift altar. Is this clown out of a graphic novel or what? The disk that our stupid elf stole is around his neck, and it’s like flashing as the magic crap spills out of it. I’ve had enough.

I tried a yukichigai (misdirection) cut but instead of neatly bisecting Johnson’s head, I hit nothing and clowny gives me the horse laugh. Now, if I’d actually missed the fragger at that range, I’d have deserved the giggle. The thing is, I didn’t miss. I just didn’t hit him.

I saw the blade hit right where I aimed. I just didn’t feel any resistance. Instead of splitting him open, the sword did no damage. This realization made laughing boy roar louder, which turned me into a veg-o-matic.

I sliced and diced like there was no tomorrow. I’m slashing and thrusting, stabbing and cutting, and nothing is happening. I’m getting really pissed when I hear the laugh change. It sounds like “play time is over,” and I figure I’m about to get blasted by this fragger.

Thinking fast, I cut through the ropes of the elf on the altar. Maybe laughing boy will be distracted and I can find some way to insert a few inches of steel into his torso. The elf doesn’t move and the Johnson launches some spell at me that turns out the lights.

> Karkhov

> I’d actually come to a bit before. I was surprised I wasn’t dead, truth be told. I was groggy as hell and my chest hurt like a bastard where I’d been hit. The best I could figure, it must have been a tranq dart or something. I could still feel the effects of it, and part of me just wanted to drift back to sleep. Still, finding out that I couldn’t raise my hands to my head was more than enough reason to not go back to sleep.

I saw Johnson, of course, as soon as I woke up. Creepy bastard, with that damn disk around his neck and bad mojo buzzing around like those goddamn flying monkeys in that old sim. I kept my eyes mostly closed so that he wouldn’t know I was awake, just in case it mattered. There was some sort of scuffle I couldn’t completely see, and then I saw Karkhov wailing on the guy but having absolutely no luck. A minute later, he’s cutting the straps off me. Before I could help, though, he was down.

To be fair, I was not in the best of conditions. I knew I’d only get one shot at this. If I blew it, I was evidently spirit food. I was grateful to Karkhov, but being stupid would only get us killed faster. Instead, I chose to bide my time and wait for the perfect moment. It came sooner than I expected.

After Karkhov went down, Mr. Johnson decided that the party was going to have to end. He moved in closer, with some wacky sacrificial knife in his hands. He leaned in to chant some sort of mumbo jumbo, and that’s when I let him have it. I knew if he got the knife raised up again, my hoop was grass.

Doing my best to catch him off guard, I opened my eyes and raised my hands at the same time, catching them around his throat. My arms were blocking any attempt to raise the knife, and he had to let go in order to deal with me. Unfortunately for him, his ritual seemed pretty far along at this point. My strength wasn’t all the way back, but he was in a tough spot; the spirits were looking pretty expectant, and I don’t think they cared whether they snacked on him or me.

So I’m trying to choke him, but having no luck. My strength was fueled by sheer adrenaline, but it was like nothing could hurt him. I could see the marks I was leaving in the guy’s neck, and yet nothing. Then out of nowhere, the disk jerks away from his body as if an invisible hand had grabbed it.

Johnson looked utterly shocked and scared, all at once, and his resistance to what I was doing fell away like tissue paper. He started turning red, then blue, then his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp. I just let him fall.

Liada phased into view, holding the disk. She held it up high with this triumphant grin on her face. Scary, lemme tell you.

> Midnight

//Begin Datafile 5.3//

> Well, as I was saying, I managed to finish off Mr. “Backstabbing Ares Bastard” Johnson. I eased off the makeshift altar/ledge he’d laid me out on, trying to ignore the pain in my chest, arms, and hands and just breathe the cool night air. The nasty spirits had gone away, something for which I was excessively grateful. I hadn’t been all that impressed with Liada on this run, but she certainly came through in the end.

Of course, now we had another problem, as Liada didn’t exactly look like she wanted to give up the disk. If there was no one left to complain, that normally wouldn’t be a problem. Seeing what I had just seen, though, I didn’t really want anyone to get it – but I wasn’t sure I was in a position to complain about it after all that. Looking around at Karkhov, G-Dogg, Silver Max, and the rest of them, I wasn’t sure they were, either.

Anyway, the door out onto the rooftop opened revealing a suit, a black shadow against the bright lights of the stairwell. He partially stepped out from the shadows, his shoes crunching on the gravel as he came toward me. He stopped before he was all the way clear, though, leaving his upper torso and face mostly in shadow. His suit was top dollar; it made Mr. Dead-Johnson’s look like bargain-basement rags. He smelled of really expensive cologne – just a hint, not anything too flashy. Everything about him screamed “corp,” followed immediately by “power.” Even a few feet away, I still couldn’t make out his face. I didn’t want to, either. Some things you’re better off not knowing.

His hands were visible, though, and they weren’t holding anything resembling a weapon. That was the important thing. Not one of us was really up to fighting any more, and knowing that he wasn’t planning on pushing anything just made it all a lot easier. He was either there peacefully or he had a whole corp’s worth of security hanging out just out of sight. Either way, since there wasn’t a hell of a lot we could do about it, not having to worry was a relief.

He looked down at the man I’d just killed, then back at me. “Thank you. I wondered who the traitor in my organization was.” He kicked at the body with one of his designer leather shoes. It was already halfway on the ledge, and it didn’t take much to push it the rest of the way over. “Unfortunately, his great depression caused him to leap to his death. If only our doctors would have seen the warning signs sooner.” His voice had just the right touch of regret to it, too, already perfect for that next press statement. Holy drek.

Then he steps toward Liada and holds out his hand for the disk. My stomach just about dropped to the ground floor then, because I could see Liada contemplating not giving it to him. She had this sort of glow in her eyes, and I could tell she wanted the damn thing enough to send all of us to hell for it. She was just holding it there in the air, and our lives along with it. I could barely bring myself to breathe for being so scared.

All of a sudden, a shot rings out and the disk shatters. We all hit the deck, of course, but nothing follows it up. By the time we’re standing up again, the corp guy is just laughing and walking away. He’s got the door open and is about to walk through when he tosses something back. “Here’s your pay,” he said, and then walked out the door.

I looked at the thing, half-expecting it to just blow up and have done. It was a black credstick, though. I walked over and picked it up, as Karkhov started looking for the source of the shot. He cursed a bit under his breath when he found her. It was Kyushi, a couple of buildings away. I guess it figures the Yak would play spoiler on this one.

Of course, I was utterly distracted as soon as I looked back at the credstick. I whistled with surprise when I saw the amount. It was . . . substantial, and my share was even more than I’d been promised originally. “Not bad for a night’s work,” I said, and Liada laughed. Finally, something had gone right.

> Midnight

> For the second time that night, I woke up with my head ringing and someone helping me to my feet. This time it was Lothan. I stumbled up with the troll's help and spat a gob of blood out of my mouth. Whatever that spirit had done, it left me aching in places I didn't know could ache and feeling weak as a newborn elf.

"Ugh. What happened, Loth’?" I grunted as I fumbled in my pockets for a stim patch. I managed to find one and slapped it on my arm, feeling the drugs kick in almost immediately. A cocktail of painkillers and stimulants, it would help ease the pain and give me an energy boost for a while, but it wouldn't heal anything and chances were I’d crash pretty hard when it wore off. Looking around and seeing Mr. Johnson lying lifeless on the edge of the roof, I figured that I would finally get the chance to sleep after this was over.

Liada was holding up the disk, her eyes studying it. I could see the others staring at her as well, and I stepped forward to say something, but I stopped. I didn't know what to say, I realized. I didn't know what to do with the disk now, and didn't know if Liada controlling it would be safe or a disaster. Who knew what the disk could do, and who knew how it affected those who used it? For all I knew, it drove every mage who handled it insane.

Suddenly the door to the roof opened, and a man stepped out. I couldn't make out his face, as he stayed back in the shadow, but I'd seen his shoes in a catalog I'd been drooling over a couple weeks earlier. Those shoes cost more than most wage-slaves made in three months. The rest of his suit appeared to be of similar worth. I whistled under my breath, knowing that the suit who stood before us was major money.

He looked at Liada and the disk she was holding as he told us that Mr. Johnson had been a traitor to his organization. He kicked the body off the edge of the roof, and I for one wasn't sorry to see him meet such an ignoble fate. Then he held out his hand for the disk.

Liada just stood there for a moment, looking at the disk. I knew the lure of power was strong, but she was smart enough to know that if this shadowy suit was as wealthy as his clothing suggested, we didn't stand a chance against him. He would take the disk off our dead bodies if he needed, and I didn't doubt that there were any number of security guards just waiting for him to signal them in.

Finally Liada sighed and began to give the disk over, when a shot rang out. I dropped prone immediately, assuming the suit had decided to take us all out. But then I heard the suit laugh, and when I looked up I saw Liada shaking her hand and shattered pieces of orichalcum scattered before her. Then he dropped a credstick to the ground, spun on his heel, and walked back through the doorway.

I sighed and rolled over on my back, looking up at the night sky. I knew the run was finally over.

> G-Dogg

> The others covered the new suit pretty well, so I left off him. What I was really worried about was what Liada was going to do about his demand for the disk. Even though the fragging nasty spirits that had been hammering Lothan and I had disappeared, fading back into whatever drekhole of a metaplane they came from, neither of us was exactly fresh as a daisy. If my head hadn’t felt like a troll thrash band had held rehearsal in it, I would have taken a peek at this new corp skag to see if he could use the disk himself or just wanted it for the corp, but as it was I was going to need to save what remained of my strength for whoever ended up with the disk.

I started to draw mana around me, sure that I was going to have to strike down either the suit or Liada, and equally sure I wasn’t going to like whatever happened after my first strike. Whatever happened, neither the suit nor Liada was going to get off this roof with the disk, not after I had seen what it could do.

A single shot rang out, and the disk shattered. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether it was the suit cacking Liada or vice versa, so I hit the dirt, but when I looked up the disk was gone, and tiny motes of orichalcum were drifting down to the roof. From what Karkhov muttered, I got the impression that the little Yak assassin had blown the disk away rather than let the corp have it. Not the end I would have envisioned for such a powerful, if dangerous, magical item, but the generous cred the suit left was almost enough to assuage my disgust at the waste.

> Natokah

> It’s over.

Looking back now, I’m still not quite clear on what happened after Johnson went down, but I’ll give it my best shot. I’m sure the others will chime in with the details.

So here I am standing there with the disk, and everybody’s looking at me. They’re giving me the eye like they’re not sure what I’m going to do next – after all, I did boost the thing in the first place, and now they’d all seen what kind of major mojo somebody could command with it.

I didn’t get to think too hard about what to do before the door to the stairwell opened to reveal a guy I didn’t recognize. “Thank you. I wondered who the traitor in my organization was,” he said, right before pitching Johnson’s carcass right over the edge of the building. If he wasn’t dead to start with, he was now. The new guy was going on with something about Johnson’s “major depression” and how it was a pity it hadn’t been diagnosed sooner. Yeah, right. Another fraggin’ corp suit. They’re all alike – no compassion, even for their own people.

Of course, now that Johnson was out of the picture, I was the Elf of the Hour because I had the thing everybody was interested in. He turned to me and held out his hand for it. Just like that, like he thought I’d just hand it over. Like I want to see that kind of power in the hands of some slimy corper.

I’m sure all my teammates thought my hesitation was me contemplating keeping the disk. It wasn’t. After what I’d seen of its power, however, I wanted nothing to do with it. What I was really doing was contemplating tossing it over the edge after Johnson or maybe trying to break it. Anything to keep it out of corp hands. They’re corrupt enough already without help.
I held it up and stared at it for a moment longer, realizing I didn’t have much choice and hating the realization. I’d have to –
The sharp crack of a gunshot shattered the air and the disk splintered into a thousand pieces in my grip. I jerked my hand back, stung but uninjured. Around me, everybody else was hitting the deck.

All except for the guy. He was just standing there laughing, grinning like he thought the whole thing was a great joke. I glared at him as he dropped something and turned to leave. “Here’s your pay,” he said, and disappeared into the shadows of the doorway. I thought about plugging him with a spell, but what good would that do? It was tempting, though.

Behind me, the rest of the team was getting up. I heard Karkhov say something about Kyushi – something about “if the Yakuza couldn’t have it, nobody could.” Hmm . . . maybe there’s more to her than I thought. She had the courage to do what I couldn’t. Maybe I’ll get the chance to work with her again someday under better circumstances.

Right now, though, I’m just glad to be home, and what passes for home right now is pretty good thanks to my cut of the payment. A warm bed, a nice cup of herb tea, a little cred to spread around to the right causes, and my hoop in one piece – that’s all I really ask from a job. So all things considered, I guess I can call this one a success.

> Liada

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Webmaster’s Notes

I found this fantastic Shadowrun Duels story tucked away on he old Shadowrun Duels Yahoo Group. It was seemingly written way back in 2003 and I have included it in the Advent Calendars without permission from the author as I failed to track them down. Part V was first published on Orcs in the Webbe as the fifteenth entry in the 2023 Advent Calendar.

Shadowrun Duels is now out of print but the figures can be found every now and again on eBay, alternatively you can use any number of near future or sci fi miniatures to represent Runners in your games of Shadowrun.

The Shadowrun Duels rules including Jeremy Schwennen's expanded Shadowrun Duels Reloaded can be found in PDF format here on OITW.

For anyone not familiar with Shadowrun there are a variety of places on the internet you can learn more, one of which is the game's Wikipedia page here.

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