| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <paul@********.demon.co.uk> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Killing in Shadowrun... |
| Date: | Thu, 23 May 1996 14:07:21 +0100 |
<topcat@******.net> writes
>
>>You have snipers outside Takuri's? Boy, that's going to make you
>>popular. "No, no, we're Fuchi Security. No, I can't show you any ID, I'm
>>here to execute a shadowrunner - erm, carry out a training exercise. Uh,
>>I left the permit for the rifle at home. No, Officer, they aren't cop-
>>killer bullets. Well, they are, but they're not for cops..."
>
>It's not like the snipers will be carrying a Fuchi banner around with them
>or use corp logo bullets. After about oh say, a day, the authorities will
>know that the bodies had no legal identities and were thought to be criminal
>elements responsible for several terrorist acts. Another vigilante act:
>justice or criminal in itself?
Firstly, you're assuming a corporation can set up a team of shooters
where it wants in a city? In a AAA area? I really, really think you need
to do some reality checking. You have Lone Star, local rentacops, and
the personal security of the assorted great-and-good who dine at this
place, all ignoring a group of riflemen? It ain't just the runners who
are there, that's the whole point of using a good place to meet: all
that security protects you, too.
Plus, everyone is now a little more tense. Who were those snipers there
to kill? Nobody is going to wait for the bullets to start hitting before
they act.
2057 is a paranoid time to live. Exploit other people's paranoia and
shelter behind their protection.
>
>>There's a reason to hold meets at a quality place.
>
>Sure and who is going to have mroe influece at such places? A runner team
>or a corp?
Sure, sure, Mr Ares Representative, you can gun down four of our
patrons, we know you'll do it with taste and decency and none of our
other diners will mind...
You don't get into these places by advertising you're a shadowrunner
team. You're a rock group meeting your new agent. An author and his
publisher enjoying a meal. A group of businesspeople relaxing.
And you still forget all those other diners and their own personal
security arrangements, who may object vigorously to your plans.
>>Also, who sets up this run? There's a fixer who is not going to be
>>happy. That fixer now has a rep of setting runners up to be killed. That
>>fixer may spread the word not to accept jobs from your corporation,
>>because fixers with repuations like that don't last long.
>
>Sorry the fixer got killed in revenge by the little brother of one of the
>runners. And who's to say he even really knows exactly who set them up?
>Corps can fake that kind of stuff really easily. Easier than runners can.
You suggested I didn't make corporations very smart. I'd reply that you
underestimate (a) the effect of dozens of different factions - other
corporations, other countries, powerful private individuals, even that
greasy little creep who wants your office - and (b) the wit of the
people being set up for this.
You also don't seem to realise how hard it is to penetrate a closed
culture. Hell, where I live we had the "6:57 Crew" of football
hooligans, who only disbanded when they got too old to enjoy it. The
police were never able to infiltrate them or even do much worthwhile
undercover surveillance, because they lived on one estate and the police
were very much the enemy.
Now, extend that to 2057. Yes, you can buy locals. They were seen
talking to strangers and now they're a lot richer. Not a good situation:
they sold out and didn't share. Corporations would have real trouble
gathering worthwhile information at Barrens level.
>>What's one of the biggest problems trying to crack organisations like
>>the Mafia? Omerta. The old code of honour, "nobody talks". Having a code
>>of honour can help you a lot. Doing good deeds helps you a lot: those
>>squatters you buy food for make handy scouts. "Hey, Jase, these two
>>suits were scoping for you."
>
>Organizations like the Mafia (in unrealistic worlds) have things like
>Omerta. Realistically speaking that's a romanticized idea that never really
>existed. The Yakuza and Triads are a different story, it's a part of a
>culture that dates back thousands of years. And we know that neither of
>those have corporate ties, right?
Try dealing with the 6:57 Crew. Even at levels like that, it holds. Try
persuading people on the Falls Road that it's in their best interest to
say who has an AK-47 and some Semtex hidden away "for our brave boys".
This is a fact of life of most organisations: cell structure and a
desire to keep quiet.
We have a Triad problem in Portsmouth of some scale, though they're
careful to keep it from breaking the surface. Basically, it's damn near
impenetrable. As a soldier, the Provisional IRA is one of my concerns,
and they work on the same system. There are plenty of examples where it
works. When it fails, the system comes apart.
>Having a code of honor is a nice thing, but it's hardly followed by all and
>rarely followed except by a few. Even today the Mafia gets nailed by
>informants. They've been getting nailed like this for @*** years now. It
>is nice to think that Omerta really means something to some people but it
>doesn't mean much to others (especially when they're facing jail).
Part of it is support and help. Do your time and come out to friends and
a job, knowing your family are being looked after. Talk, and put that
same family at risk, quite apart from your own life.
For every IRA informer, there are ten people sitting in prison with
their mouths sealed shut.
>>Ruthlessness is not always the best policy, especially long-term: if you
>>screw over everyone as hard as you can, they'll screw back: and there
>>are more of them than there are of you.
>
>Not even close. Shadowrunners are hideously outnumbered by corporate
>personnel of all types. One team isn't going to unite all the others under
>the banner of "they're going to kill us, would you die with us?". Most
>likely they'll find themselves alone and waiting for everything to go dark.
>Know how many top-level runners there are in Seattle? Guess. Fifty. Now,
>how many mercenaries and Desert Wars personnel and security personnel of the
>same class can a corp round up on short notice? Guess. I'll be generous to
>the runners and say around 200. Four to one odds aren't acceptable to
>anyone when you're outclassed all around. Especially since most of those 50
>won't join up because they don't want to lose their favorite cash cows and
>they know that once the fluff of the shadows is gone, they'll get more work
>at higher prices.
You're forgetting that there are eight major corps and thousands of
lesser ones. If you weaken yourself, they'll be on you in an instant.
Runners are deniable, this runner is on an Aztechnology deathlist, let's
offer him some very covert assistance to keep some of their assets busy
- maybe destroy some, too. While they're distracted chasing him...
The runner couldn't get C-13, but the corp has some it 'acquired' from
Fuchi, still in the original wrappers. Would you like some? Choose a
worthwhile target...
It is not "the corp" and "the runners", and that is what you seem to
forget. It is how the runners interact with *all* the corporations, with
the government, with the forces on the street in their neighbourhood.
Corporations watch each other constantly for opportunities to exploit.
>If you're a fixer would you rather cut off a runner team or a corp contact?
>Runner team in a heartbeat, there'll always be new talent out there but
>there won't always be the money to buy it.
Plenty of fixers around, too. Who would you want to run for, someone who
kept 'losing' talent? And both sides can kill you pretty easily. Fixers
want to live to spend the money.
"There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable and
praiseworthy."
Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
Paul J. Adam paul@********.demon.co.uk
