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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM>
Subject: Re: eXTRACTIONS
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 01:47:44 EST
In a message dated 98-03-21 00:50:58 EST, you write:

> Gang:
> If you were a vetran runner, and a newbie you though was worth your time to
> advise asked you for advise on extrations, what would you say?
>
> Also, how exactly would you define extraction?
>
Hey Kristling ... get some sleep friend .... you are sending things all over
the place ...

This wound up on TK....(giggle, point...)....

-K
Message no. 2
From: Kristling Ravenwing <kristling@*******.CROSSWINDS.NET>
Subject: Re: eXTRACTIONS
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 04:23:30 -0500
> From: Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM>
> In a message dated 98-03-21 00:50:58 EST, you write:
>
> > Gang:
> > If you were a vetran runner, and a newbie you though was worth your time
to
> > advise asked you for advise on extrations, what would you say?
> >
> > Also, how exactly would you define extraction?
> >
> Hey Kristling ... get some sleep friend .... you are sending things all
over
> the place ...
>
> This wound up on TK....(giggle, point...)....
>
> -K
Geez.
Mr Jameson, Mr Adams:
Fire at will.
(drops a cow from space on himself)
Message no. 3
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: eXTRACTIONS
Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 01:42:38 -0800
On Sat, 21 Mar 1998, Kristling Ravenwing wrote:

> Gang:
> If you were a vetran runner, and a newbie you though was worth your time to
> advise asked you for advise on extrations, what would you say?
>
> Also, how exactly would you define extraction?

It seems like a good enough topic for plotd, so I am responding here.
The orbital cow cannon was sufficient punishment.

First things first. By extraction, I assume you were talking about
extracting a person rather than a thing. The term is typically used to
describe that as opposed to the euphamism "snatch & grab" when one is
talking about an item(s). Also, extraction has the connotation that said
person is pretty well protected (to keep you out or keep him in is a
different question) as opposed to a more simple kidnapping.

Hmmm, what if I were a veteran runner...I'm not, but I would like to think
I could properly write for one. Well for starters, irregardless of job,
being a veteran means that you have survived some time in the shadows. By
the kind of selection only Darwin would enjoy, this basically means you
use your head more than your gear, or else you wouldn't have even gotten
this far. Now this is not so say that some veterans might have some nice
things or are more skilled than your average "newbie," but those that
survive the initial culling are usually the ones that are wisest rather
than the people with the hottest toys.

Now wisdom does not imply intelligence. I know lots of smart people who
do stupid things. Real wisdom is something you get through experience (no
stupid AD&D jokes, please). But in general, you have to learn to expect
your opponent is more competant than you are and plan for it. This mostly
involves learning as much as you possibly can about your opponent, and
then planning for the contingencies you _don't_ know about but _might_ be
there.

So, you want to pull an extraction. Who? Is the target willing, or not.
How much is Mr. Johnson willing to accept the target being manhandled?
(Do you have tranq the aggrivating SoB gently, or can you taser them into
submission first?) Who is holding them, and how? Where? What are the
security arangements? If you do get them out, what else can the
opposition bring to bear to get the target back? These are all things
that you have to deal with, and questions that must be answered before
even the most novice of runners should want to attempt an extraction.

Mr. J mentions before he leaves the meet, "Oh, yeah, Ms. X also has an
embedded cranial tracking device." That means you have to Faraday cage
the poor girl ASAP. (Interjection from Mr. Science: if you surround a
source of E-M radiation with a metalic "cage" whose hole are significantly
smaller than the wavelength of E-M radiation, then the E-M radiation can't
pass out of it, aka Ms. X goes in a wire mesh bag or a Faraday sealed van
as soon as you can.) To use the saying I saw on a Mortal Kombat game
once: "There is no knowledge that is not power."

You basically want to make as little noise as possible, but that is true
of 99% of all runs, but the possibility of an uncooperative target means
that you probably have to keep the kid gloves (non-leathal weapons) on
until you have them in your grasp, and if not after, to possibly encourage
your opposition that since they have taken the time and trouble to keep
your target secure, it would probably be very dumb to accidently kill them
now. The more dastardly, or practical of runners would probably use this
to their advantage, though.

--My two yen

Jeff
Message no. 4
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: eXTRACTIONS
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 09:30:53 +1100
>Gang:
>If you were a vetran runner, and a newbie you though was worth your time to
>advise asked you for advise on extrations, what would you say?

"Bitch of a job, assassinations are much easier. Don't take it."

>Also, how exactly would you define extraction?

Taking someone out of a secure area, the subject remaining alive at all costs.

PLAYTHING OF A CRUEL GOD
JAIMIE NICHOLSON
Message no. 5
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: eXTRACTIONS
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 14:41:41 -0500
At 04:23 AM 3/21/98 -0500, you wrote:
>> From: Ereskanti <Ereskanti@***.COM>
>> In a message dated 98-03-21 00:50:58 EST, you write:
>>
>> > Gang:
>> > If you were a veteran runner, and a newbie you though was worth your
time
>to
>> > advise asked you for advise on extractions, what would you say?
>> >
>> > Also, how exactly would you define extraction?
>> -K

>Geez.
>Mr Jameson, Mr Adams:
>Fire at will.
>(drops a cow from space on himself)
>
Ouch. I feel sorry for that cow, I mean, think of the re-entry factors...;-)

Okay, the question.

It depends. Most veterans would likely give out some sort of advice (like
the Dark Stranger lecturing Prophet about using skills, not tech toys).
But aside from lecturing from atop the mount, that would likely be it (and
some greenies telling the oldsters to "Frag off your dinosaurs!").

If you are asking about mentoring and direct teaching and that sort of
thing, I don't see that as highly likely. It's hard enough in the shadows
to protect ya neck (Wu-Tang!), but to protect someone else *and* teach them
lessons along the way is just too damn hard.

About the only idea of have of mentoring would be the grizzled old runner,
long since retired and living off the interest in his off-shore bank
accounts (and barely doing that in all likely hood), taking a shine to some
young runner that is "just like me when I was getting started" and teaching
the young buck what they know.

An extraction is the removal of a person or persons from an unwilling
target organization for the benefit of the hiring organization, which will
now employ these individuals. These person(s) may be unwilling targets
themselves. Extractions usually occur if less expensive but legal means
have failed, but this is not always the case.

Extractions are generally considered to be some of the toughest shadowruns
to be had, for a number of reasons. First is the fact that a person can be
a lot more difficult to smuggle than a datachip. Second is that it is hard
enough to keep yourself alive, let alone your living meal ticket.
Especially since some corps, Azzies in particular, employ a scorched earth
policy; if we can't have <insert target's name here>, then no one can, and
they try to kill the target. And of course, there are all sorts of
problems that arise in unwilling extractions; while doping them is often
seen as the easiest way, that suddenly creates a lot of baggage that the
big muscle needs to carry, when they would rather be free to fight.

This is different than a "Snatch & Grab," in that sort of shadowrun usually
involves the retrieval of objects other than people, such as data,
datachips, prototypes, magical items, etc.

This should be enough...

Erik J.


"Oh, the silent helicopters and the men in black fatigues? They're just my
car pool to work."

Further Reading

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Thwap!