Part 5: Update V - All Marines Are Bastards

Update V - All Marines Are Bastards



Alright, we're back. The voices in Kami's head have made decisions. To start, we're going to sell some extra stuff we're not going to use - Kami can't throw, so grenades are pointless, and Killing Hands also has no use, since we're doing melee attacks. In addition to that, we purchase the following:

- A set of armor that gives us 4 Armor and +5 HP.
- A passive Adept spell that gives us a permanent Light Cover bonus against magic. We also buy a magical melee attack that ignores armor, but we can't use that yet, since Kami doesn't have enough Chi Casting. Still, we have some money to burn, so we might as well, since we'll definitely use it once we can.
- Three Basic Medkits.



Also, we get Hailey to tag along with the run. Now, the thread said we should also get the better SINs, but it turns out that once we get Hailey to make some for us, we can't buy the other ones anymore. Whoops.



Now, let's head out.

(Fake SINs) I'm ready to go.
All right, I'll bring the car around. Meet you outside.



And here we go!





The first person we meet is a security guard - but one that isn't hostile! A non-hostile character we can talk to despite being in combat mode. I think that's something new.



How are things going here with "Pyramid Operations"?
We're doing just f‌ine, and I'll thank you not to insinuate anything about our corporate parentage.

Here's my ID.
Hm.... you are recognized by our system, but I'm afraid you don't have any clearance to enter the building.

Whoops. I guess this is where the cheaper SINs come back to bite us in the ass. We could bullshit ourselves through with a Security or Corporate Etiquette, but alas, we don't have that. Instead, we have this option:

My business is dusting security guards, and business is good. [Attack.]



And, well, between Hailey's drone and Kami's blade, the guy doesn't stand a chance.



Three more guards come in, but they don't really put up much of a fight either. Kami's new armor is really putting in a lot of work here.



Next room up, we find a place for Hailey to jack in to, so that'll be what we'll be checking out next.



We start out going through one room with regular ICE, then make it here. Once we clear this out, we can use that node to upload our SIN data. I have no idea what this does. I guess it might've helped if we talked our way past that first guard.



Over on the other side of the net area, we get to deal with some Black ICE, which does direct damage to Hailey rather than her persona, which really sucks.



However, going through this nets us some paydata, which is useful. Nothing else here, so we jack out with barely any rounds to spare.



With that done, we get to move on to the next area.





The next floor gives us some more security guards, which we cut up with relative ease.



The room after that is very friendly and gives us an advanced medkit, which is always appreciated.



After that, it seems like we have a little glitch, where we can see through the door and see that there are at least two security guards, but they're not seeing us.



There's three in total, and Kami does take some decent damage here, but it's nothing that aforementioned medkit can't fix up.



And that's all for this area. So apparently it would've been possible to not go loud until this point, but from here on, it's definitely time for combat. No problem with me!





Arriving at the top floor, we're greeted by one security guard that doesn't even get to move before getting destroyed.



We also find a jack-in spot in that room.



Our reward for fighting through the ICE is a total of two turret control nodes.



The first one takes out one enemy and deals some damage to others.



The second encounter once again drops some Black ICE on us, which is always not appreciated...



...but the turret once again softens up another room.



The first of the two rooms is cleared of its one remaining enemy with ease...



...and while the second one gets a bit hairier, the two enemies are dispatched and the healing of the last taken damage takes most of the edge off.



And that nets us a keycard!



We get to the big office, where... uh, something is going on.



[Aztechnology's local chief stares in shock at his abdomen, rapidly growing slicker with blood. He stumbles and collapses to the floor.]



The troll proceeds to grab something from the desk, say "Norton lives! Sayonara.", and jump out the fucking window. Uh... I guess we can call this run a success?



At least we get a medkit.



As we exit, our Johnson has already shown up, which I guess saves us some time walking.

A troll assassinated Tooms and took some paydata.
That is highly unusual. You hardly ever see any trolls moving around the city these days. What on earth would one be doing attacking a megacorp building? Did it say anything?
Just "Norton lives. Sayonara."
"Norton lives"... why does that ring a bell?

[Mr. Johnson snaps his f‌ingers.]

That's right. Norton graff‌iti has sprung up in the Mission District lately. I f‌igured it was associated with some new gang. The Mission is one of the few places in the city where humans and metahumans still mix freely, so it could be where your assassin troll is hiding. Well, let's get going. You'll need to hurry if you're going to catch him before he skips town.



I sure hope you don't need new supplies after that run, because we're right into the next part.



And once we arrive, it doesn't take long until we get into a new situation.

Yeah? Who's going to make us? These are our streets! We were born here, raised here, sold our f‌irst rocks here, got laid here! We ain't going anywhere, so slot off!

OK, I guess Voire is here too. Sure, why not.

I'm warning you! This city is under martial law, and you are in violation of a curfew order. Disperse immediately or I will be forced to open f‌ire!
Curfew? Are you mental? The fragging sun has barely gone down!
Voire? What's going on?
Hai... Hailey? What are you doing here?
Watching my friend commit suicide by cop, from the looks of it.
It isn't like that! We're sick of getting pushed around, Hailey. We need to make a stand! Otherwise, they'll just keep shuff‌ling us along, until one day they sweep us out of the city altogether! You're human. You don't know what it's like to live with this every day.
You're right. I don't know what it's like. But I know what it's like to live, and I want you to keep living, Voire.

OK, we've got a situation. We could bullshit ourselves through with either the Security or Gang Etiquettes, but alas. Let's ask some questions.

Why do they need to leave?
To keep proper citizens like yourself safe! I can't believe how ungrateful you lot are for the protection of Saito-san. If he didn't keep the metahumans in line, Frisco would be another disaster like Seattle.
Geez! You moron, nobody calls it Frisco! You'll never be a part of this city, stop trying to pretend like you own it!

Where do you expect them to go?
The gutter, probably? Or the cemetery?

[The marine wearily rubs his eyes.]

Go back to those awful squats you vermin occupy.

What will happen if they don't disperse?
I am authorized to use any and every force at my disposal to ensure that the streets are safe.
So, you'll shoot us, then?
If you threaten the lives of my men, then yes, I will be forced to shoot you.
For every ork or troll you slay, I'll kill two of your men. For every elf you murder, I'll kill four marines.

So Voire thinks elves are worth double compared to orks or trolls. Good shit, man. Anyway, let's think about this. We can either tell the gangers to stand down or tell the marines to fuck off. The former will just lead to Voire suiciding by cop, which probably won't help our current situation. Besides, there is no way we're not taking the option that tells cops to go fuck themselves. Smash the state!

Go away, marines. They're not moving.
Negative!
This is it, chummers! CHARGE!



And we have ourselves a fight. Since we have five guys on our side on top of the two in our party, the marines are quickly outnumbered nearly 2:1 and go down without much hassle. I mean, the gangers take some damage, but hey, who cares about them, right? I guess the objective is to defend them, but whatever, *they're fine*.



Not a single one of them died!

Of course, they'll be sending every marine they can from the Mission Street substation. That's not good. We've gotta take them down, otherwise they'll start locking up everyone in the district they can get their hands on. You with me?
Have you heard of Norton?
Norton? Yeah... yeah. I know Norton. He's down in Colma. Now, let's get going!



So, the rest of this run is basically going down a linear path, running into groups of marines and fighting them. This fight went a bit pear-shaped as far as getting Hailey into the fight is concerned, because I ran ahead with Kami and when the fight started, Hailey was still like four turns of moving away. Wasn't the smartest move, in retrospect. Still, these marines don't do well either just from the other gangers beating them up.



En route to the next fight, Hailey pipes up.

Did you like him?
Voire? Ew, no! I mean, it's not because he's an elf. I liked Tarne, after all. It's just... well, you know. He was a friend, though. What a waste! Ugh, I hate this stupid city sometimes!

OK, now, what is Kami's opinion on Voire? I mean, he seems like he might be kinda racist, but he seems committed to smashing the oppressive power structure, so that's good. So I guess she would like what he's doing, anyway.

I admire what he's done.

[Hailey arches an eyebrow in amazement.]

Seriously?! Well, you have plenty of company. It feels like half this town is ready to start shooting the other half.



Rounding the corner drops us into the next fight. Only three guys here, and while this one guy gets a good shot off with a grenade (well, Kami and Hailey are fine, so who cares, really), they can't stand up to seven guys shooting at them for long.



Finally, a bit further, we get four more guys to deal with. Again, nothing special. Voire is doing some good work with his spells, which deal some really good damage, but Kami also does some good work forcing people out of cover and forcing them to burn AP running away.



And pretty soon, we're done. And now, we face the greatest obstacle of this run...



...a locked gate! Truly, our most formidable foe. Now, how do we get past? Well, the game drops four quest markers on our compass, so we know there's options. One is for the gate.



The second one is for this rich guy. He has a card for the Stuffer Shack and would give it to us for 200 nuyen or for free if we have the Socialite Etiquette. Alas, all we have is the Socialist Etiquette.



The third one is this guy. He has a card he would give to us for 50 nuyen or for free if we have the Street Etiquette.



And finally, we can circle around to the beginning and just grab one out of the trash. I'd really like this if you didn't have the quest markers. You either have the expensive option close by, the cheaper option further away, and all the way back you have the free option.



Card in hand, we can now unlock the gate. We could also break through if we were a Decker - sadly, no option to just let Hailey do it.



He gives us 200 nuyen, which isn't a lot, but hey, whatever, free cash.

Remember: Norton is in Colma. I wouldn't go there if I were you, though. Norton is surrounded by some very dangerous creatures. I have to run. Goodbye, and thanks again.



And that is officially it for the run! We grab a nearby cab and head back to Eclipse. So that'll be it for this update. Next time, we plan our next steps and start our side project.