Companero

The bodyguard:

 

"Cybernetics of the Soviet kind are relativly common around here - before the Nunivak incident there was a brisk trade, and smuggling is big business. I suggest that this is something that street contacts would be a more appropriate method of investigation, since you are the only operative we have transferred by non standard methods in the last operation segment. I understand that Smith has given you several contact names already?"

The 'bodyguard' steps forward after Patrizia's question, and speaks with an altogether calmer voice, answering each question.

 

QUOTE

"You mentioned several trials, signore? That means you would happen to know the names and probably whereabouts of those people that police are going to bring to these? It would be most beneficial if we could get some more places to start apart from the fact that their leader is called Snowfox."

QUOTE

Sir I know we are supost to deal with the ANTE with extream predjudice, but what are the limits if any you are restriction us to?" Garth asks." for I do not think that you want me stealing an Alaska National Guard A-10 and useing Mavericks on suspected ANTE hideouts."

QUOTE

les places the case up front, then turns to the suit. "will this be the full extent of any material resources we can attain from you, or will it be possible to arrange some help on your end acquiring some of the... harder to find items on our wish list?"

QUOTE

"And just out of curiosity, what is so wrong with these ANTE people being brought in to stand trial? What is it they know that would be too dangerous to be made public?"

On the general matter of Cargo Subs in general, I agree with Wilphe. According to the RELaCS background, there are a fair number of them operating, having originally been a Russian design from 15 years ago. You can say this with any commercial technology, the more they are being built and used, the less they cost.

 

As for the pen at S. It is more cinematic, and it also has a major advantage of being cheaper than any of the European continental ports... I think there are a fair number of companies who would want to bypass them in exchange for cheaper fuel. The piracy problem doesn't really apply in the Baltic, I don't think (I could be wrong). I'm not sure if it is unrealistic, in at least some ways.

 

Of course, it doesn't have to be a major cargo facility. CINO manufactures a whole bunch of minisubs, it could be a construction facility catering to the navies and customs units in the area.

 

EDIT: In the interests of keeping of not cluttering this thread, I've put up a specific cargo sub thread.

Almost exactly after Lao finishes, you hear the quiet buzz of a vehicle on the other side of the complex, and 25 seconds before the meeting is due to begin a large balck six wheeled limosuine drives into the complex from the entrance on the far side.

 

Its the kind of a car a third world dictator spends his entire medical budget upon. Not exactly stealthy.

 

It drives into the warehouse, and parks about 25 metres away from the entrance, still in the warehouse, facing you, piercing headlights on despite the daylight.

 

Leaving the headlights on, it comes to a halt. A few seconds later an obvious corp solo steps out, dark eyes, slick hair, sharp Eurosuit and a pair of very obvious shoulder holsters. He is carrying a large suit. He steps towards you, shielding a second man stepping out behind him.

 

This man is wearing a stetson and a white suit with a large buckle. The acid rain is really not doing that suit any good, leaving obvious stains as it falls through the crack in the roof. The pair walk towards you slowly, while the corp with the stetson looks the team over. His wide smile becomes a look of gradual distaste.

 

When he gets within speaking distance, he looks very pointedly at Patrizia.

 

"Is this the team? It...isn't what I was expected."

 

Unsuprisingly, he has the kind of accent a Texan gets when he spends several years in Harvard or a similar school.

 

He glances at his suit, and a scowl crosses his face as he sees the stains. He makes next to know attempt to speak in Corp-Speak. Its almost like out of the office he gets his release and can be as corse as wants.

 

"Awful damn weather - so lets get this over with.

 

You all heard about the Barker incident? Course you have. Now, Barker was a friend of mine... These news whore eco bastard showmen, these so called ANTE, are becoming a major problem in the region. They are like some god damn planet which every other seditionist in this region rotates around.

 

Now, my brother was in South Am and I know how this works. You give Terrorists any kind of voice, and they will screw you over. See, the Police are closing the net on the ANTE, and they have Habeas Corpus rammed up their collective asses.

 

I am not wanting to see a single ANTE scumsucker reach a public trial, you hear? You get to them first, you find them first, and you obliterate them, before the police take them. And if the cops get them first - well, make sure they don't get any further than the station.

 

We have provided 20,000 eebee for you to use, to facilitate those illegal doings you will most likely become involved in. Don't think of running with that... Course, you won't, when I tell you that payment is going to be 50K each, upon successful completion - successful completion being dictated by the destruction of the ANTE leadership.

 

Petrochem is particulary interested in a man codenamed "Snowfox" - goddamn hippy name at that. Dunno anything about the guy, other then that he is the leader of this witches cabal.

 

Oh...and by the way...Arcadiex, IMA and Petrochem have all been targeted, SovOil hasn't. Might make a man think...

 

We have provided two vehicles, a covert ops van and a similary equipped car, in a warehouse two blocks away. Keys in the car. In addition, there are keys to a safehouse in Clarke. It ain't much, but in this city all room rentals are automatically charged per night, straight to the account, stop people skipping a motel without paying, suppose, but these accounts are very, very, very tracable. From what i've been told about this burg, its full of stooges just willing to give that kinda information away. Keys and address in the case."

 

The bodyguard throws the case to Patricia.

 

"Look at me, all talk...

 

You got any questions?"

 

 

Аркология Брезнев

Kaliningrad Autonomous Zone

 

A trip through the rusting urban nightmares of New Jersey will introduce the casual tourist to one of the great failures of modern urban planning – the Arcology. But this isn’t a purely American experiment. The Russians tried too, and the results were similar. It isn’t that the idea is flawed. Several successful Arco’s exist in Europe and Japan. What happened in New Jersey is that the builders ran out of money. In Neo-Sov they never had any in the first place.

 

The Brezhnev Arcology (located on the coast just south of Kaliningrad) was constructed along with the Andropov in Murmansk and the Alexander in Leningrad/St Petersburg by United Ural Steel, a formerly state run corporation based in the Ural mountain region. Inspired by the ‘Worker’s Paradise’ scheme that was at the time embraced by the Gorborev government, UUS set about construction in the late 1990s. Then came the Nights of Fire, when SovOil and its allied corporations broke from the state in several days of bloody fighting across the Union. The UUS board took advantage of the chaos and broke from state control.

 

Which put it into direct competition with some of the world’s largest corporations, without any state support. Several Eurocorps made an immediate attempt to take control of the company. The Soviet government was unwilling for this to happen, and supported SovOil’s hostile takeover attempt. UUS fought back using mafia resources, causing a few days of terrorist strikes and edgerunner attacks, all of which were covered up by the government.

 

When UUS collapsed and was taken over by SovOil, it tore the company apart, taking what it wanted and abandoning the rest. The Brezhnev and Andropov arcologies were among what SovOil abandoned. It was 80% complete, with over 500 permanent residents, and space for over 6000 more. It had no food supply, but a functioning integral nuclear power plant.

 

The Arcology residents rapidly elected a governing proletariat (old habits die hard) who set about a plan of action. The arcology was opened up to the city and surrounding region, which had been battered by the internal troubles that had swept the nation around the Night of Fire. In a few months the arcology had a large residential base, an internal police force, and an impromptu network of half completed greenhouses. The proletariat set up a simple set of rules and regulations, and set about trying to make the building as self sufficient as possible, whereby vital services were paid for in food rather than currency, something that suited most of the population fine, rubles being as they were. The internal economy functioned along a simple barter system. A simple (admittedly harsh) code of laws was introduced, enforced by a small volunteer ‘security force’, a grand name for a group who would find most comparisons with Nomad Dog Soldiers. The empty industrial complexes were filled with planting baskets under impromptu light rigs. The recycling plants were completed and some of the factories were opened up. In addition the proletariat managed to acquire some CADaM machines for basic construction, and discovered that many of the unused construction materials had been left behind, giving a ready source of raw material.

 

By 2012, a decade after the Nights of Fire, the Brezhnev had become almost completely self sufficient, with a nuclear generator that would last for years to come and enough food to feed itself. The combination of available power and food was rather more than the surrounding city could provide… Daubed in bright colours and radiating light from its myriad windows it stood out on the southern shoreline, by far the tallest building in the region at almost seventy stories tall, it was home to seven thousand people, most of whom never left, didn’t contribute to the local economy, pay tax or rent...The local government was never going to let the situation last.

 

In 2013 SovOil suddenly declared that as a former UUS holding, it legally owned the Brezhnev and was owed 10 years of rent. The proletariat responded with a series of untranslatable curses of the kind only the Russian language is capable of. Five days later 5000 SovOil and government troops arrived outside the arcology, and threatened to storm the building if the proletariat refused to pay for the rent and electricity. After five hours of no response the local commander ordered an attack.

 

A brief battle ensued as residents fought of the initial attack, using their knowledge of the lower levels of the building to repulse the SovOil troops with heavy casualties. The SovOil commander responded by ordering a full-scale assault, calling in air and artillery support.

 

It was at this point that the Proletariat threatened to sabotage the nuclear generator, irradiating the entire region. While the SovOil troops entered NBC gear the local commander called for instructions. The local mayor was unwilling to lose the entire city over a rent bill, and ordered the troops to back down. There was a tense moment when the SovOil troops refused to move, until it was pointed out to their commander just how much devastation to SovOil assets in the eastern Baltic would be harmed by another Chernobyl.

 

The local forces picketed the building, and in true Soviet style, built a large-scale wall around it in order to prevent anyone getting out of (or, more to the point in to) the Brezhnev. The residents don’t honestly care – they aren’t exactly missing the Soviet government. More to the point, people do still enter, through a system of service tunnels and from the sea. The tower has become an edgerunner tourist attraction of sorts, especially since the residents managed to set up several breweries and distilleries.

 

The system of laws is entirely concerned with what happens inside the tower. For that reason, many criminals try and flee to the tower, hoping for sanctuary. This they get, although anyone committing a crime against another resident can be very harshly punished (the bodies sometimes wash up on the nearby beaches). This only applies to crimes against tower residents though…and the arcology has a large satellite connecting it to the net…

 

It is believed that that the Bakunin Cabal, some of the most proficient hackers in Europe, makes their home in the tower. Certainly, the finances that the tower has occasionally used to acquire raw materials (and the CADaM machines) had to come from somewhere. In addition, on the day that SovOil tried to storm the tower, their local datafortresses were hit by a series of devastating attacks that left their system in tatters for several weeks. However, the Bakunin Cabal is mainly famous for programming, and several of the most effective intrusion systems on the net are their responsibility.

 

 

(This picture is of the Murmansk Arcology, hence the ice... The Kaliningrad arcology is currently covered in anarchic graffiti, and is at the edge of an urban industrial zone on one side with the sea on the other, surrounded by a free fire zone and wall.)

Les: You have a choice between ARock.110 - currently playing a Samurai retrospective including tracks from the subsequent solo careers of Johnny Silverhand and Kerry Eurodyne,

AJazz.111 - 1940s day

SeeJesusAlaska.109 - Seven signs of evil countdown,

RadioAnchorage.113 - Lives and deaths of the congressmen, describing the sudden and dramatic death of an Alabama congressman of a heart attack in a Las Vegas brothel in 2016,

F**koil.116 - Virulent anti petrochem pirate rant, interspersed with a lot of heavy rock,

Aclassic.117 - Wagner and Gerswhin compete in this playoff.

Acountry.118 - Dolly Parton memorial.

Asport.120 - Combat Soccer.

 

Patrizia: You don't like what that acid rain might do to your umbrella.

 

Garth/Aubrey: The whole warehouse district seems to be completely quiet around you, apart from the distant movement of cars. Inside the warehouse itself you can see the grill above you, and just next to the entrance, hidden around the side, is a large metal crate, about 10 foot high, with a large toxic symbol on the side. There are a few oil drums covered in a groundsheet up on the balcony across the otherside.

 

And just across the road from where you have parked, on the roof of another warehouse, Aubrey thinks he sees a flash of *something*, a shimmer of near invisible movement...

QUOTE

8. The Ecological situation Link is dated at 1991.

QUOTE

Pollution from various Soviet military installations in and around Świnoujście. For example: oil and petrol leakages from defective containers in the port, thoughtless disposal of harmful waste and so on. Ballast and bilge water is not changed at all? SHIP - SERVICE cannot enter the area without special permission from Warsaw and Moscow;

<<<Notes - 1. These are basically my ideas without any input from Mike, who I hope will add an addendum to bring it closer to his vision. 2. Apologies for my attempts at Polish...once someone reads this who understands the language I will correct any of the inevitable mistakes >>>

 

Szczecin – Swinoujscie Port Complex

 

(According to the Invest Szczecin this is the largest port on the Baltic. How true this is debatable)

 

By 2020 Szczecin – Swinoujscie has grown into one of the largest ports in the central Europe, with a vast volume of traffic entering the region – much of it in an effort to avoid German shipping tax and customs. Irresponsible building practices have led to its expansion all the way up the Odra, and it has become one of the largest corporate centres in Poland, with CINO and IHAG both having large complexes.

 

The presence of IHAG (or more precisely IHAG and a large number of Polish subsidiaries) is one of the major sources of paranoia in the region. The military feel that the German corporation (responsible for expanding the port) is part of a grand overarching Teutonic plan to take ‘Stettin’ and the rest of the Wojewodztwo Zachodniopomorskie and reincorporate it into a greater Germany.

 

(Note – in the year 2000 RL the seaway was expanded by World Bank loans. In the Cp canon 2000 is effectively the height of the collapse, and so this couldn’t have happened. Instead I have assumed that IHAG was responsible for this project, and continued expansion of the site, for reasons that will become clear.)

 

THE BASICS: (courtesy of the Port Authority Website)

 

“Port Szczecin is one of three principal sea ports of Poland. It is situated at the estuary of the Odra river into the Szczecin Firth, 65 km away from the open sea. The fairway Swinoujscie-Szczecin consist of several dragged channel sections with a depth of not less than 9,15 m. (fresh water) along the centerline and maximum width of 100 m. The sections are Kanal Mielenski, Kanal Piastowski, Wielki Zalew, Roztoka Odrzanska, and the Odra River.

 

There are several quays in Swinoujscie that handle general cargo, especially to/from the vessels of the size enabling entrance to the port of Szczecin or the completion of cargo on vessel loading first at Szczecin up to the limited draught. Szczecin Port is one of three principal seaports of Poland. It is situated at the estuary of the Odra River into the Szczecin Firth, 65 km away from the open sea. The fairway Swinoujscie-Szczecin consist of several dragged channel sections with a depth of not less than 9,15 m. (fresh water) along the centreline and maximum width of 100 m. The sections are Kanal Mielenski, Kanal Piastowski, Wielki Zalew, Roztoka Odrzanska, and the Odra River.

 

Several quays in Swinoujscie handle general cargo, especially to/from the vessels of the size enabling entrance to the port of Szczecin or the completion of cargo on vessel loading first at Szczecin up to the limited draught.”

 

The Port Authority (Portowa Władza)

 

By 2020 the S/S Port Authority is one of the most corrupt organisations in Poland, especially at the higher levels, and finds itself in continual conflict with the government. Put simply, IHAG bribery controls the authority, and IHAG’s plans conflict with those of the local government. It is the port authority that looked the other way in the wake of wide spread dumping from the “Police” Chemical factory, and the Port Authority who chose to sabotage the investigation into the SS Murmansk Viking Incident (See report later).

 

In addition the Port Authority has not made any real attempt to clean up the old Soviet facilities, most of which are criminally inefficient, and has resulted in a serious pollution problem. In some ways IHAG may indeed get their little Hamburg, but not the aspects they wish for.

 

The Port Authority is also one of the few corporations in Poland to maintain an armed security force. Compared to equivalents in the US and Europe, this is rather light, but it still a factor that operations in the region must consider. The Port Authority are mainly armed with Sternmeyer weapons and Polish made jeeps, constructed in a factory just outside of Szczecin.

 

The ongoing political situation is causing significant problems for the Authority. The main attraction of the S/S port was as a cheap offloading zone for goods going into Germany, but the conflict is causing problems. The alliance with IHAG is another source of conflict.

 

Kazimierz Rymut

 

Current governor of the Port Authority with seven children, two ex-wives, and a large and demanding extended family. Did I also mention that he is working from a government salary?

 

Last year he went took his family on a skiing holiday with his good friend Dieter Kuhn.

 

The Army

 

The military maintains a massive presence in the region, and it is only becoming larger with the ongoing tensions with Germany. The presence of this force is both a blessing and a curse for the town. On the one hand the military brings in money, but at the same time it is a major ecological and logistical burden, and in addition the paranoia in the region is not helping business, a factor that may give Gdansk an advantage in the competition to bring in goods. The navy maintains a base in Swinoujscie.

 

The army has clashed with the Port Authority over a whole number of issues in recent times. One of the main points of contention is the major German corporate presence, which the military feels could become a major threat to security. Their most paranoid assumption involves IHAG scuttling cargo ships in front of the naval base, or even seizing control of the entire port and then opening it to German troopships aiming to cross the river. Both IHAG and the Authority maintain that IHAG, as per Polish regulation, does not maintain any real armed force in the port. But who knows what they have in those pens? In addition the SS Murmansk Viking Incident has scared the army (see later report).

 

Ironically IHAG is one of the major presences that might prevent a war. As of 2020 IHAG has a major voice in the German government, and do not wish to see their investment turned into a war zone, knowing full well that the Odra would become the major frontline in any conflict.

 

IHAG (Internationale Handelsmarine AG)

 

IHAG built this port, and are determined to keep a stake in it. They have constructed a series of factories, container ports and research facilities. The “Dirtside Orbital Air” has turned villages into corporate towns, raised land where there was none, and dredged new sea-lanes. The shipyard is a major construction site for their freighters. In addition, the lack of (enforced) regulations mean that S/S is a major port for the major biological and live cargo that IHAG handles.

 

IHAG maintains a major construction site here, a 50 storey main office (taller than that of the Port Authority), a security force and three major corporate living centres, one of which is almost entirely populated by German employees. This is one of many sources of tension in the region, as many Polish residents feel IHAG is part of a German re-colonization attempt. The German residents hardly ever leave the CLC now, fearing racial violence.

 

While IHAG is one of the most overt foreign corporations operating in Poland, much of their presence is masked behind a veil of Polish subsidiaries and false pretences. The full extent of IHAG dominance of the region is greater than even the Port Authority knows or suspects.

 

As of 2020 IHAG has entered directed competition with Ocean Technology and Energy Corporation (OTEC) in an attempt to break their cyropropalan monopoly. Because of the comparative safety of Poland as a research base (see earlier entries) IHAG has some of its primary research labs here.

 

Dieter Kuhn

 

Local IHAG manager, with big plans for the city he has come to love and the vision he has come to cherish. Enjoys fine wine and giving expensive gifts to Authority officials.

 

The SS Murmansk Viking Incident, May 14th 2020.

 

On the morning of May 14th an IHAG tanker en route from the New York (registered in Sierra Leone, with a Russian captain) was hit by a man portable thermobaric missile fired from the roof of a warehouse, killing the crew and causing a much larger explosion when the CHOOH2 tanks erupted. The military immediately made the assumption that this was a German attempt to provoke a war by destroying one of their own tankers and blaming the Polish navy, and their response was astoundingly quick. A brief firefight with the perpetrators left 6 soldiers and one of the perpetrators dead. The other was captured. His name was Clark Michelson, born and resident Los Angeles, an ex US special-forces ‘edgerunner’, who under the influence of truth drugs and other ‘incentives’ claimed to be working for an corporation, which wished the team to eliminate the vessel and everyone on board.

In an effort to put on a show of cooperation Interpol and the Polish Police launched a major investigation. Then reports came to light reporting an extraction of an OTEC research scientist in Boston four weeks before, and the pieces began to fall into place. Realistically, however, there was nothing the government could do to either OTEC or IHAG, and in addition the Port Authority actively hindered the investigation by declaring an ecological emergency and launching a clean up of the site before the investigator could finish their investigation.

 

CINO (Corporation Internationale Nauticale et Oceanique)

 

CINO maintains a large construction facility in Swinoujscie. As the worlds leading manufacturer of shipping, and the inventor of the viable ReLACs Cargo Submarine it requires plenty of shipyards, and this is one of them. They maintain a major submarine pen, a vast concrete bastion of singular ugliness on one of the outer islands of the port. CINO Poland mainly hires Polish workers and funds a technical college and several schools within the city, making it a popular neighbour. It has constructed several workers estates on the outskirts of Swinoujscie, some of the nicest homes in the region. Unlike the IHAG facilities these are not overtly guarded with fences and fire fields, but rather an unobtrusive corporate police presence. In addition CINO has a 30-storey tower and several container pickup points. CINO has also bought out the Maritime University in Szczecin.

 

Arasaka

 

Arasaka has a small presence in the region, twenty corporate security guards that support the CINO guards on their facilities. Barracks and offices are located in a closed section of the CINO tower.

 

Połączona Miejska Bezpieczność

 

This local security firm is owned by a holding company in Warsaw, which in turn is owned by Pierre Lafayette in Paris, who happens to be a major executive in a French Insurance company owned by Sternmeyer Security. Incidentally neither the Port Authority nor the Polish government know any of this.

 

Połączona Miejska Bezpieczność is a security firm, mainly armed with Russian auto pistols and driving Czech jeeps. Both IHAG and the Port Authority delegate large parts of the port to them.

 

Polferries

 

This Polish company has been around for years, predating the IHAG intervention. It carries out several services to cities in Scandinavia and Russia. In the past it developed a reputation as a simple way for European ‘runners to escape Europe (and Interpol), but the presence of so many troops on the border put paid to this.

 

The service is cheap and as comfortable as can be expected. However, the company has a habit of sailing any ship capable of running, so journeys can take longer than expected. The service covers most ports in the Eastern Baltic, and as long as the package isn’t vibrating or something, they are fairly casual about checking baggage.

 

In the past there used to be fast ferries to the UK, but the MLA finished this.

 

Euro-Odra

 

This joint Polish Norwegian company has moved over to fish farming, once the natural reserves died. Ironically the farms are now on land since the sea is too polluted to use.

 

Polish Steamship Company (PZM)

 

This company reached its peak during the collapse when its tramp fleet was suddenly in great demand. Recently however several of its ships have sunk under mysterious circumstances and a ‘gas pipe’ exploded under its main office, forcing it to sell most of its stock to IHAG and CINO, both of which then dismantled it. What’s left of the once proud company may collapse into bankruptcy soon. Its extensive foreign assets may well soon form new companies based in their respective locations.

 

Szczecin Zielona Wolność Front

 

These ‘bojownicy’ have been active in the region in recent year, attacking the chemical plants and port authority at various times. The military presence has halted their attacks for now. They are actually rather nationalistic – wanting to force out the Germanic menace, which has corrupted their water etc, etc. Their modus operandi involves car bombs and roadside mines positioned under security vans.

 

Ecological Situation Link:

 

http://www.zb.eco.pl/gb/4/swinoujs.htm

 

Bandar Abbes Import/Export

 

This import export firm is rather small, with a single small office. It mainly imports carpets.

 

<<< This is the main HQ of German intelligence in the region >>>

 

Lisa Adamczsk

 

This British expatriate of pre WW2 Polish decent fled back here to her relatives once the MLA came to power. Since then she has supported royalist rebels back home, shifting weapons through the web of small import export businesses in the city and onto British bound shipping.

 

SZCZECIN PORT AND THE 4th CORPORATE WAR

 

When IHAG collapsed, Szczecin Port faced an uncertain future. At first it looked like the Polish corporate system of subsidiaries might save the city from the worse of any collapse, as CINO moved in very quickly to buy the IHAG construction firms. In addition the outbreak of the shadow war caused over two thirds of German troops at the border to fall back to protect their people from the collateral, lessening the pressure.

 

However, local companies that had relied on IHAG began to collapse, precipitating a series of strikes. In one-place workers tried to take control of one of the construction sites and the TD moved in with CINO backing to take back control of their property. TD troops supporting a corporation against the people caused a series of disturbances in the city, but it soon became clear that local companies were relying on CINO to keep the port functioning and they began to intimate that the jobs of protestors might be at risk if they continued, quieting the disturbance.

 

Szczecin suffered two strikes, one an explosion in the one locally owned OTEC franchise, and a much larger one when a combined Militech- OTEC force raided the submarine pen, causing major damage. Almost immediately after the army declared martial law.

 

The Arasaka office in the CINO building had been abandoned by the time the hot war begun, and by this time the CINO/OTEC scuffle had ended, to be replaced by a much larger Militech/Arasaka conflict. CINO had gained complete control of the former IHAG assets in the port (due to the use of subsidiary companies, nothing really changed company wise, apart from a few brief weeks of job uncertainty).

 

The main effects on the port were caused by the net glitches that wreaked havoc on the outdated local net. These damages were comparatively light, and for a city that had the potential to be at the heart of the war, it got of rather lightly. The lack of any significant Arasaka or Militech presence prevented real any fighting once the hot war begun. In addition, the retreat of IHAG meant the German presence in the port was reduced and local tensions relaxed a touch.

 

 

The weather remains trapped in a light drizzle falling from rapidly moving clouds.

 

Those of you making an active effort to scope out the warehouse and surrounding region, take an awareness check.

 

Ooc: (i'm using a randomised dice table for this, just so you know)

The journey across town is fairly uneventful up until the northern end of the corpzone into Clarke.

 

You understand the Alaska is not renowned as a dangerous state. Compared to Night City or Detroit, the combat zones of Anchorage and Philogaia are like familly orientated adventure theme parks.

 

Which is why it is rather perturbing to see Chromer gang members brandishing AKR-20 assault rifles openly on streets less than a kilometre from the Corpzone. In deference to the daylight they don't hassle you, but even so, the presence of milspec firepower in a region more used to polymer one-shots is rather disturbing, especially being carried openly in mid-afternoon. You haven't seen a police car since the Militech armoured van at the edge of the corpzone.

 

Into the warehouse district things become quiet. The weather has changed yet again, falling as a very light drizzle.

 

The address turns out to be an abandoned lot, containing a large concrete parking lot and what looks like an old hanger, a wide entrance that you fit maybe a light aircraft through, 150metres long to another entrance. It looks like the roof was originally covered in corrugated iron, but now it's just a steel frame. The warehouse is empty, with a walkway 4 metres of the ground, an stairway at one end. At the corner of the other entrance is a small enclosed office, windows smashed and any furniture removed. It looks like the lot is accesible from either end. The entire complex is surrounded by a chain link fence with razorwire lining the top. There used to be barriers at the gate, but they have gone. A sign stands next to the complex entrance you came into - "DuPont Chemicals".

 

You have 10 minutes until the meeting, no one else in sight.

Ethan looks around at the other members of the team. "I think it is time and see how much of our requested equipment has actually been provided...I am sure we can review the floorplan and plan our action en route, no?"

 

He considers for a second.

 

"Hopefully the weather will be less inclement where we are going..."

 

(He is a tall man, currently caucasian features, no obvious biosculpt job. Smart clothes, black shirt, no label.)

The meeting is scheduled for an address in the warehouse district. The easiest way to get there theoretically should be straight through the middle of the corpzone and up, 20 minutes with no traffic, altough it is apparently moderate. The condo is over in New Salinas district, which will take you off your route. If you want to arrive to the meeting on time, it would probably be best to go straight there.

 

There are two police men outside, carrying Ronin Assault Rifles and wearing clear plastic ponchos over their uniforms. They look wet and irritable, best not to make a traffic violation on the way out of here.

Some Additional Notes on the Czech Republic, gleaned from my very rapid flying visit.

 

QUOTE

f I'd have to characterise Czechs and thair country, there's an analogy as simple as with Kaliningrad. If Kal is easern-European hong Kong, then Czech Republic is Shire, and it's denizens hobbits. They do not like big words, and even less big events.

QUOTE

* - According to my timeline, Czechoslovajkia has split peacefully into two independent countries, Czech Republic and Slovakia, in 1992, finalising the split on 1.01.1993 (just as it was in reality). The official timeline of Cyberpunk, however, doesn't mention it.

QUOTE

Well, this is probable, although I can't see Spetsnaz as mercs - sure, there are loads of ex-Spetsnaz mercs in the area, and there are troops loyal to Moscow (although they operate rather from St. Petersburg than Kaliningrad, but this is not the rule). The problem is that it's hard to say where the russian goverment stops and maffia begins, and who is on whose take. Yes, this can work both ways...

"We tend to arrange demos and direct action via phone just a couple of hours of the event...we definatly have some big plans, but we don't publish them until we need to, y'know - plenty of stool pigeons in this city.

 

We do have a BBS, www.fsaalaska@juneaunet.us. Come online sometime! This is where we publish forthcoming events, direct action plans, you know."

And thats...

 

500!

 

Nothing really...

LES: There are six protestors, 3 to either side of the exit to the parking lot. A girl in her late teens/early twenties who calls herself Faith, gives Les a leaflet printed on bright yellow kelp-pulp (see Data Terminal).

 

"Its terrible what these Corporations try to get away with up here, y'know? I mean why do they need Ortillery over Alaska? Bet you any money, as soon as the Russians heard about this they put up some of their own. Its bad enough that the goverment and the Neo Sovs keep provoking each other without adding WMDs to the mess.

 

And you know what? Maybe i'm just being paranoid, but maybe this is some kind of southern plot. Petrochem are going to try and launch a takeover, I tell you now. They have the cooperation of President Kress, I bet you. They are going to try to reincorporate us into the Union, or worse, turn us into some kind of Petrochem owned corp state!"

 

At the end of this breathless rant she smiles again.

 

"Make sure you boycott Petrochem products!"

QUOTE

Nomads. There are no true nomads in Poland (as in the whole Europe). The country is too small, and too densely populated. So no Nomads. Exept, maybe, a few of the more traditional Gypsy clans. On the other hand, if you see nomads not as a mobile culture, but a culture closely bound by blood and fmily relations, then all the country is that. Of course, "true" Nomads wouldn't recognise Poles as a similar to them, as they are static...

Time is 14:10. The meeting with Petrochem is scheduled for 15:30, at the warehouse address. This means crossing the city in just over an hour, hopefully not to hard.

 

The spot of good weather that welcomed you to the city has passed by now, a little drizzle spattering on the covering. A group of rather drenched and cold looking hare krishna's prance past on their way to an Anchorage flight.

 

On the way out towards the car park a small bunch of protesters are handing out leaflets, one carrying a big sign saying "KEEP SPACE FREE OF CORPORATE FIREPOWER", another proclaiming "PETROCHEM ORTILLERY POINTING AT YOU". The flyers are bright yellow.

"This certainly an odd grouping we have here" the man with LED eyes laughs, not the nicest sound in the world. "It seems that there is no soda in the fridge, only beer. Czech, which is a blessing. American beer is, well, not-so-good, no offense".

 

The osprey passes low over a motorway, a convoy of big peterbilt tank transporters moving north, Lazarus Markings. At least 40 of them, APCs, MBTs and folded down attack helicopters all tied to the back of the big flatbeds.

 

And then Philogaia is on the horizon, rising out of the corn fields behind a wall of haze. The clouds have cleared up for the most part, at least to the south of the city. The corp zone itself is clearly visible, as well as the shell of the Westfield tower, still under construction to the 2km east of the corp zone.

 

The Osprey comes in over the new airport, consisting of the shell of a new terminal and another prefab one built out of empty containers and canvas, next to an equaly prefab urban rail station. The Osprey lands near the other side of the terminal.

 

"You ever head the joke about the pretend ninja girl, the eurochick and the dude with red eyes?" the pilot asks. "I haven't either, to be honest"...

 

And then it is out of the plane with the baggage and maybe one of the complimentary cans, to find this man named Holt.

 

The man with LED eyes nodded, gives a polite farewell, and strides of across the concrete interior of the prefab terminal toward the signs saying U Train. The rest of the terminal is comprised of mobile baggage scanners, barriers, and beyond that a few coffee and soyburger stands. Rather an uninspiring entrance.

 

 

The aircraft is passing low over an Arcadiex bulk freighter, a massive CHOOH2 tanker festooned with pipes, gantries and small weapons emplacements.

 

The man with LED eyes looks around and speaks in a voice which you can't quite trace, altough Patricia might recognise an Eastern European (as opposed to Russian) accent.

 

"Time delayed explosives? Chloraform? Frontal Assault? This all sounds most covert..."

The guard, who notably perks up at the arrival of Patrizia, lets the rest of the team without any problems, except Lao, who he regards extremely suspiciously, then eventually shrugs and lets her through. Afterall, its an independant flight, no-one cares what goes on there... When Garth eventually gets to the gate, he is let through with a minimum of fuss.

 

The man with LED eyes regards each new visitor with what appears to be indifference, altough it is impossible to tell...

 

The Volksbus, on big bubble tires, provides a smooth ride through what proves to be a very bleak day. Once you have disgorged into the pouring rain, the passenger hatch opens and someone who might well be the pilot ushers you into the distinctly spartan passenger tube, a few orange net seats at the side arranged paratroop style, with a lot of crates towards the back, piled and tied up against the back wall.

 

The Pilot appears to be one of those older men who in midlife attempts to relive their childhood by carrying out reckless activities in large, dangerous machines.

 

He has a pair of goggles hung around his neck.

 

He gives you a rough guide of the tube, pointing out his speakers bolted to the cabin sides, the crate that you absoultely must not touch under any circumstances, or indeed breath near ("otherwise the everyone in thirty miles will hear the bang, except us") and his latest invention - "you know those rockets that get fired from the Rostovic Wrist Rakate? Well, I took this here tube, added a trigger mechanism, and voila...if you see a Russkie plane come up behind, make sure everyone is holding onto something, open the hatch and fire this baby out the back". Finally he points to the fridge, encourages you to take a complimetary can of something cheap and Czech, and make sure you leave one for him.

 

The man with LED eyes sits next to the open door to the cabin, saying nothing for the moment.

 

The rotors begin to spin.

AUBREY:

 

The armed security guard on the door, who looked about to arrest you when you walked towards the gate, takes a look at the card, at you, at the card again, puts it through a scanner, looks at you again, frowns, and gives it back to you, letting you through and ignoring the very obvious wail from the security scanner as it picks up the contents of the case.

 

"Of all the companies in the world likely to have their own aircraft, you would think Orbital Air would be one of them...The plane is on a landing platform half a kilometre out. There is a minibus waiting to take you in 10 minutes."

 

The gate itself is basically a small room, 10 metal chairs, television at each corner each playing a different channel with the sound turned up, with glass automatic doors at the end, beyond which is a distinct lack of plane and a small electric volksbus.

 

One chair is occupied by a heavily built dark haired man, two obvious and rather disconcerting soviet made (?) cybereyes, little red LED pupils. He is wearing a heavy great coat, with two leather cases set down to either side. He regards you with those LED eyes and nods.

 

EVERYONE ELSE: The 13:05 from Vancouver is in the process of disembarking and there are suddenly a lot of suits in the terminal.

SMITH'S TICKET:

 

QUOTE

RAE/MONTROE  INDEPENDANT FLIGHT AND HAULAGE GATE 30: 13:30 (Check in after 13:00) Tickets Paid

Juneau Airport, it must be said, is not the most prepossessing place on the planet. The central terminal is an ugly concrete clam shell, internal support pillars like stalagmites, covered in television screens. Cheap coffee shops and even cheaper vending machines line every wall. But you aren't going to be here for long.

 

Its been a long couple of days, getting here, meeting Smith, making any final arrangements. Smith was a jovial man, well known to the Night City crowd as a man with giri and his own style of business - based on a sense of honesty rather rare among fixers. He turned up to the individual meetings in a white tuxedo flashing black and white images of Laurel and Hardy making various pratfalls, making various pratfalls and giving what sparse information he knew - Petrochem want operators for a deniable operation, pay that might extend into five figures, the need for haste that had been emphasised by his petrochem contact.

 

Then he moved into smaller, but just as important details. 4 operators, all hired in Juneau, a fifth whom Smith calls Holt meeting the team in Philogaia itself, having left Juneau just a couple of days before. An address for the meeting with Petrochem, 44B Michelson Street, apparently an abandoned lot in the warehouse district according to the dataterm.

 

"And if you need any firepower that isn't of the legal kind, there are a couple of people you can talk to. A few months ago I would have advised you to find a man called Jackson - we used to call him the Militech special envoy, so you can guess what he sold - but he ain't been in contact with anybody recently - in fact if you have a chance to have a look into what the hell happened to him I can compensate you for the effort - so he isn't such a good choice. That leaves a Limey rat called Leeson, who has the most arcane suppliers I have ever seen. He operates out of the Leeson/Marcusi Import Export Business in Clarke. He mainly stocks Darra Polytechnic, Fabrica des Armes and CCMMC (Christ knows where he gets that from, I thought they were strictly Chinese continental), all at inflated prices. Anything else and he has new suppliers I don't know about, which will piss me off intensly. Be careful dealing with him, right?"

 

"One last thing - There is a reliable, if cryptic info broker, operates out of the corp zone, the Better Latte than Never Coffee House on FreightRunners Inc Avenue. We call him the Jew because he, well, looks like he's an orthodox Jew, you know, a skull cap, the beard... For all I know he could be something else completely, but since I don't know anything about the guy, I dunno. He sits in that coffee house all day, drinking coffee and reading his paper. He also seems to have a rather strange knowledge of everything going on in the city, for a price..."

 

After that there is just the matter of transport. Smith has apparently arranged a "freelance special transport operator" to take you up north - an Osprey pilot calls himself Jimmy Rae. Any protests that one could fly the plane better are met with the blunt response of "if you can afford to buy an aircraft, go for it". The aircraft will be landing at gate 30, 13:30, for half an hour. He suggests that you meet with the others at the SoyBurger Platz in the central terminal, at 13:00, since it's obvious and easy to find. Payment is arranged already, courtesy of Petrochem.

 

So, here you are, in a clam shell airport, outside a German franchise burger outlet at the centre of the terminal, about 13:00, surveying the rather motley crowd assembled, and already feeling the cold.