| From: | Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: State of emergency |
| Date: | Wed, 5 Mar 1997 19:05:13 -0800 |
> Can Schultz call out the guard in Seattle? That's the main reason.
Now it's important to remember the UCAS isn't the USA and that there
really is no precedent for something like the city-states of Seattle and
Denver. It would seem that there is probably something like the Seattle
National Guard that can be called up in case Tir Tairgire or the NAN makes
a move on it without having to get federal approval. It would only seem
prudent.
> I mean more of a military emergency... some heavy corp conflict between two
> of the megas.
Okay, now you set off my bells and whistles. Any time the Big 8 want to
duke it out big enough to need to call out the guard is cause for major
world-view changes and is probably getting into the realm of too hot to
handle for this list. On the guard issue, there is a such thing that the
creators of Shadowrun wrote into their worldview called corporate
extraterritoriality meaning: if Fuchi and Aztech want to conduct carpet
bombing on each other's arcologies, as long as they obey the law in
Seattle (file legitimate flight plans, etc.), Seattle has no right to
intervene. Another thing to consider: conducting open warfare in the
streets is un-economical, not to mention _very_ bad for business. ("When
you think of dead, innocent civilians, think Saeder-Krupp!") That's why
shadowrunning was invented in the first place: so they can stick it to
each other in a safe, disposable, deniable, and cost-effective way. When
they want to shoot at each other they take it to Desert Wars (although
since I have never heard differently, I have always been under the
assumption that Desert Wars used non-lethal ammo, since blowing up
equipment gets rather expensive in short order).
Also, I happen to have characters involved in or around one of the megas.
If you plan on leaving their place of business a smoking crater with or
without them in it, I would like to have some say. I also figure there
would be others who would be, shall we say, disgruntled if you suddenly
had their favorite section of town leveled.
Since this matter is a lot more relevant to a discussion on plotd than
whether or not Shultz can call out the guard, tell us what your idea is.
If it seems to be too grandiose, I am sure we can all figure out a way to
prune it back such that you get to tell the story you want to tell, and
the rest of us don't get our toes stomped on.
--My two yen
Jeff
