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From:	Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject:	Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Thu, 12 Dec 1996 17:10:16 +0000

Message no. 1 ***** PRIVATE: Marathon
>>>>>[ You are right, I am not in Seattle. We are still in Chicago, to
cover
some friends.

Do you happen to know someone in this area who could sell us ammo and
equipment? Or maybe you know people around here who would go with us on a
head-on attack on one of their bases? Mind, that will be dangerous, and not
really payed, so pure merc contacts don't help us... ]<<<<<
-- Orion <17:02:19/12-12-57>

***** PRIVATE: Invasion_Force.1
>>>>>[ Hey, chummers.

Can someone point me to someone in the Chi-Town area who trades in weapons,
armour and equipment? Our stuff is quite used up or lost, and we need
replacement _urgently_.

I think we will try to gather some infos real soon now...

May Wolf be with you. ]<<<<<
-- Canis <17:06:23/12-12-57>

From:	Marathon <Marathon@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Thu, 12 Dec 1996 17:53:39 +0000

Message no. 2 *****PRIVATE: Orion
>>>>>[I can't help you, Chicago is not my favourite operating
environment, mainly I work Seattle, Vancouver and CFS areas. I really
don't know anyone that operates out of Chitown. We fought the bugs here
on my home turf, that was more than enough, I had no wish to go visit
the home site of these creatures. About the only people you will be
able to get work with you are mercs, most of the runners in these
neighbourhoods are profit oriented, unless you can convince them that
it's _really_ important. If they believe you, and believe your cause,
they will follow you and fight, but in between times, you're pretty much
on your own.

You need some solid proof, something you can wave at the shadows and
say, unless you help, your environment will never be safe again, without
your assistance in destroying this threat, you can kiss goodbye to your
existence.

Making them swallow this, well, that's another problem, many have never
met the bugs, and joined the Shadows after it all blew over, they will
be pretty useless to you, as they won't have the knowledge and skill to
oppose a hive successfully. Those who were around during the early
days, well, some are retired, others are suffering from delusions of
grandeur, yet others are heavily occupied in their own little fantasy
realms of greatness. They won't be cheap, that's for sure.

Yet others will just treat you as a looney, a bit like that Bull fella
who seems to think home movies cut the grade, and posts them publicly,
instead of trying to drum up support quietly, nobody's going to
associate with a walking corpse willingly. And then there's the Dark
Dodo, he stirred up the loons, and made it all a bit of a sham, so
convincing people is going to be a tough job for you.

Maybe if you could get some media coverage of a hive outside the CZ,
someone like Channel 54, NBC, NBS, OTQ, or ABS or maybe one of the other
large channels.

I can't help you much beyond that, I don't have a way out of this city
that will get me in the direction of Chicago, and the concept of
travelling without papers through several hundred miles of hostile
Indian country doesn't appeal to me much, nor does wandering without
papers through the Tir nation, they're about as bad as the Indians.
Flying is not an option. I wish you luck Orion. You're going to find
it about as difficult drumming up help as it is killing bugs.

If you need an assist here in Seattle, I may be able to help, but I'm
not going to make an asshole out of myself, by following a mad delusion.
If it's for real, I'll come, as will my chummers. Find the hives, get
some hard evidence, not a cybercam image that has been retouched to hide
faces, that's too passe and can be done by anyone with a cam and some
home editing gear, with access to a decker and digitising software.
It's got to be _hard_ evidence. Provided by the media, something the
sceptics in the Shadows can't ignore and crap on, though some may try.
But believe me when I tell you, the hardest people to convince, are the
most important, the old runners of the shadows, the ones who have fought
and lost friends and relatives to the bugs, even those who suffered
injuries at the bugs hands, they are your best allies, but most of them
think it's all over. The Government shut down the UB, they destroyed
many of the hives, but so many were empty. The bugs had gone
underground, they retreated to new homes, places we've not discovered
yet, and who knows what they've infiltrated now. But they are quiet,
they have learned their lesson, and are plotting their schemes quietly,
away from the limelight, but they _are_ still there, I believe that, and
if I find proof, I will make sure it is supplied by a source that cannot
be denied.

I do not envy you your task, you face the same problem many metas have,
convincing the populace that they're _not_ bad. You have the problem of
convincing people that you're _not_ insane. Some will listen, but most
will just treat you like your the worst moron under the sun. An
unfortunate situation, but a truth nevertheless. People don't want to
believe that a threat that is several years old, is once again gathering
steam, hell _I_ don't want to believe it, and I know Cath will suffer
hugely if she ever suspects this is true.

Look, I'm rambling a bit here, but I'm just trying to get across to you
that there are a _lot_ of people here who just will not believe that
what you say is possible, they won't _want_ to believe it. It's
something that is a little too horrifying for many. It's old news too
others. They have no tolerance for someone who suddenly turns up and
reminds them that the bugs haven't gone away, and that they pose as
great a threat now as ever before, maybe more because of the disbelief
and intollerance of some. If they are relying on established hosts to
create their environment, previous hosts, new hosts, corp execs,
military personnel, Security operatives, and who knows what else, then
this apathy that is so prevelant may be the one thing that brings the
whole thing crashing down.

I've seen the execs going in through the front doors of the UB chapter
houses, I've seen what sometimes came out of them. But that was a while
back now, and the UB are gone, except for maybe Europe, the Middle East,
Africa and Asia, I don't know what may be happening over there. But
here, people are stupid enough to believe that the CZ is solid, and
nothing can possibly get past the security, yet many of these same
assholes, regularly violate the security, without repurcussion, the
question remains, if they can do it, then surely the bugs can. But tell
them that, and they'll all shout Lunatic, asshole, moron, scaremongerer.
A sad state of affairs, but that's what happens when you're an
invincible hero in your own mind. Anyone else who brings that
superhuman delusion into question, must be a moron.

Why do you think I didn't join in with the _bugs are here, now_
shouting? It's because I know these people won't believe it, they are
too locked in their own superduper fantasies.

"The bugs can't be around anymore, we killed them all..."

"They're only in the CZ, we know, we visit it regularly..."

You know what I mean dude?

The people you might want to consider talking to, are the security
forces around the CZ, some of them are pretty clean, and will at least
investigate your claims. Maybe if they suffer some losses they'll do
something about it. Also there are merc units in Chicago, some of them
may be prepared to help you. Other than that, I don't know.

Best advice I can give. Hard, irrefutable evidence, do your research,
come up with data they can't argue, get some sensible serious media
coverage, that's what did the trick last time. And work on getting the
support of some of the established runners here. You've seen some of
them comment over the past few days. With their help, you may have a
chance, otherwise you better find a deep dark hole in the farthest
reaches of the earth, because if you've attracted the attention of the
bugs, without some major support, you're dead, pure and simple, you
don't have a chance. Maybe you should take a serious look at what
you're doing, and take stock. If you can't gather evidence without
running the risk of dying, it may be worth your while backing off for a
while, keeping watch and taking notes, keeping film and data records,
not sensational stuff, but serious stuff, times, dates, facts and
figures, movements, numbers, etc.

Make people sit up by being serious, deadly serious, and back up your
arguments with facts. Shouting in public about insects rampaging
through the countryside won't help. This is likely to be the only way
it's going to work. Use what contacts you have, to get other contacts,
and build your strength and support. Remember you fight a war of
politics and ignorance now. You have to convince people your message is
the one true word. You won't achieve that while there are possible
hosts on the board to deny and disprove your arguments.

The only other thing, is you will be bringing up bad memories for some,
memories that people would prefer forgotten, and that will also work
against you. Don't make the mistake others have made, and think you'll
win easily, you won't. You have the "super being" old timer arrogance
to get past. A lot of people on the board have fought the bugs, and
believe the threat is gone, they won't like dredging up that nightmare
again.]<<<<<
-- Marathon <17:44:51/12-12-57>

From:	Bull <chaos@*****.COM>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:13:38 -0500

Message no. 3 *****PRIVATE: Canis
>>>>>[Hey there Canis. Ya need some weapons? Talk to my Pal Goober. He
runs near Chicago most of the time, so getting the stuff should be no probs.
Just tell him, when he asks, that the minigun was blown up by the dragon.
And tell him to put it on my account.

He's a little odd, but he's a good guy, and very trustworthy.]<<<<<
-- Bull <09:08:49/12-13-57>

*****PRIVATE: Goober
>>>>>[Hey Goob, what's up? Well, we're almost to Seattle. Finally made it
out of that hell hole.

Anyways, a couple buds in the Chi-Town area are looking for gear. I'd be
much obliged if you can help them out. The names will be Canis and Orion.

+++++ Download Canis.pic
+++++Download Orion.pic

Ask them what happened to my first minigun... (The one that the dragon
nuked before I even got to play with it:)). If they can tell you, then you
know they're legit.

And don't charge them. SAT was able to hook me up with a couple more of
those wish cards you wanted. I got the Orb, and I picked up the
Shatterstorm you needed. I also ot a handful of others that you have, but I
know you'll want 'em anyways. I'll mail 'em to ya in teh usual spot,
Ok?]<<<<<
-- Bull <09:13:03/12-13-57>

*****PRIVATE
>>>>>[You got the orb?!?!?! Great! I really been looking for that! Ok,
you're friends have one hell of a budget to play with. I'll be looking for
them.]<<<<<
-- Goober <12:30:41/12-13-57>

From:	Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Fri, 13 Dec 1996 13:10:03 +0000

Message no. 4 ***** PRIVATE: Marathon
>>>>>[ If I get you right, you just confirmed what I was suspecting: We'll
need help to gather the evidence needed, and we'll need evidence to gain help.
Yeah, pretty much what we found out ourselves.

But thanks to you anyway, watch your back and your neighbours. We had no clue
on hives in Seattle when we left, but hey, we also thought the bugs were just
inside the CZ here in the windy city... until we met some outside...

Well, we'll go and find evidence if I understood... my friend right. ]<<<<<
-- Orion <13:06:19/12-13-57>

From:	Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Fri, 13 Dec 1996 14:34:30 +0000

Message no. 5 ***** PRIVATE: Goober
>>>>>[ Hello, Goober, Bull told me to contact you.

I am to tell you that the minigun was blown up by the dragon (although he
didn't tell me the story behind it - hm) to identify myself.

We have a list of wishes, unfortunately, these are not for chrismas, but for
combat and needed earlier.

Four armored jackets with ballistic inlays, in city camouflage patterns. Sizes
are >>encrypted<<.

An Ares Security Armor Modell "Washington" (size: >>encrypted<<)

Six helmets (sizes >>encrypted<<), two of these need low light systems in the
faceshields.

Ammo: HMG: 2 belts of 200. Explosive ammo prefered, but standard will do.
LMG: 1 belt, 500 normal cartridges
30 APDS cartridges for an SM-3
1,500 to 2,000 shots for assault rifles, plus some clips for AK-97s and
M22s

Grenades: A mixture of ir-smoke, neurostun, and offensive ip-grenades, both
standard versions and mini-grenades. At least 10 grenades per type,
more of the frags if possible.

Two Ares Alpha combat guns, both with 200 shots reg. ammo and 20 frag
grenades, equipped with as good gas vents as you can get.

A steel lynx drone with a spare power pack, advanced sensors and a vindicator
fitted in the turret along with ammo.

I do realize some of the above items will be hard or impossible to gather in
short time. Please do what you can. We could use AK-98's insted of the Alphas,
and nearly any armed ground based drone instead of the Lynx.

Bull told me to charge the equipment on him, but with the amount above, I
don't think that'd be fair. Please tell me the price to pay.

Thanx in advance. ]<<<<<
-- Canis <14:19:33/12-13-57>

From:	Marathon <Marathon@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Fri, 13 Dec 1996 15:33:05 +0000

Message no. 6 *****PRIVATE: Orion
>>>>>[That just about sums it up I'm afraid. A nasty little Catch 22
situation. Your major problem is going to be the fact that people will
attempt to crush your information under a claim of ludicrous. So you
must be firm in your evidence.

Consider carefully how you wish to get information across to the
Shadows, there are people here who will assist you, and also in Chicago,
and many other cities. But you must be convincing, and killing yourself
to gain information won't achieve anything, except to write your
obituary. Planning, tactics, irrefutable proof. _They_ are your
weapons. Guns and curses achieve nothing, except death. I wish you
luck in your quest, and will keep my ears and eyes open here. We do not
need the bugs to return to Seattle in force.]<<<<<
-- Marathon <12:31:32/12-13-57>

From:	Bull <chaos@*****.COM>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Fri, 13 Dec 1996 23:12:24 -0500

Message no. 7 *****PRIVATE: Canis
>>>>>[Hey there Canis. You check out ok, so hello. It's good to meet you.

So Bull's got you mixed up in that bug hunt of his, eh? Well, good luck
with that. And Bull's found a few items that I'm really eager to get ahold
of, and are more than worth a few guns, so don't ya be worrying about payment.

As for the minigun story, let's just say that Bull and Johnny were never
very good about not breaking the rules of shadowrunning. Unless he's done
something recently, he's broken the "Never deal with a dragon" rule no less
than three times. Of course, he has yet to kill one, either, so...:)

Anyways, let's look over your shopping list here.

The jackets aren't going to be a problem. However, one small problem with
the helmets. The only ones I have in stock have the lowlight AND the thermo
built in. But if it makes ya feel better, you can switch off the thermo.
<grin>

The ammo's no problem either, and it looks like you want the standard
variety pack of grenades. How about 12 of each, and 24 frags?

The Ares sec armor and Alpha's will be a little more difficult, but I gotta
friend who works for a subsidiery of Ares Weapons division, so if you can
wait until the day after tomorrow, I can get you those as well.

I need to talk to a friend of mind about the Lynx, but as that's a fairly
standard combat drone, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. And Josie's a
great mechanic and rigger, so you can bet the thing'll be top notch. And
there's a

Can you meet me tomorrow (or, now that I look at the clock, later today) at
>>encrypted<< at >>encrypted<< to talk about picking up the gear,
and I can
let you know for sure about teh drone and teh Ares stuff.]<<<<<
-- Goober <05:04:30/12-14-57>

*****PRIVATE: Josie
>>>>>[Hey Josie, wassup?

Did ya know Bull's out of the zone now? Good deal. i knew a few insects
couldn't keep the big, dumb ork down for too long.

Anyways, a few friends of his are looking for something special. Need a
Lynx. Ya got any lying around, by chance? Don't worry about armament, I
got that covered. they're looking for a vindicator, and that's a bit larger
of a scale than you usually work on.

Anyhow, they're in a rush, so let me know, ok?]<<<<<
-- Goober <05:10:42/12-14-57>

*****PRIVATE: Goober
>>>>>[Hey Goob, howzit hangin'?

Yeah, got da Lynx. Norm price? give ya it t'morrow at six, if'n ya wants
it.]<<<<<
-- Josie <08:19:39/12-14-57>

From:	Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Sat, 14 Dec 1996 07:19:28 +0000

Message no. 8 ***** PRIVATE: Goober
>>>>>[ Oh, wow, you are better then I would have dared to expect. Yeah, we
will be there. Oh - as I said, _we_. Some will insisist of securing the area,
so if you see some heavlily armed people around - they are there for backup,
but woun't do a thing as long as they see a chance for their equipment...

Man, you are really good at what you do if you can get all our wishes in that
short a timespan... I am really impressed!]<<<<<
-- Canis <07:18:25/12-14-57>

From:	Bull <chaos@*****.COM>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Sat, 14 Dec 1996 13:33:43 -0500

Message no. 9 *****PRIVATE: Canis
>>>>>[Awww, shucks.... <blush>

Thanks... But I been doin' this biz for close to twenty years now. And not
all my customers get the price breaks that Bull and his friends do. So if I
wasn't good, I'd a been seeling Trid's over at Sears a long ime ago, rather
than doing this slightly illegal, but much more fun and profitable business
that I'm doing now...

Anyhow, no probs with the mercs. I figured you would be bringing back-up.
I know what kind of frag-ups Bull and Johnny can get into, so seeing lots of
heavily armed guards is no big surprise. The bar we're using belongs to a
friend of mine, and he's used to all teh fun Shadowy side of biz too, so no
biggy.

And don't let the big-ass trolls near the door bothe ya. That's Shark and
Spill, and they're a couple of buds of mine. they're clean. no one else
should be in the place except Vinnie, the owner.

I talked to Josie, and she said she could have the drone prepped for you
tonite, and I'll install teh weaponry tomorrow, so I should have the Ares
stuff, as well as the Lynx by then. My contact at Ares Weapons says it
should be no probs getting the stuff, so no probs there. But just in case,
I threw a half dozen of the AK's into the load, set up like you specified as
your alternative weapons of choice.

Well, see you and your boys tonite, Canis.]<<<<<
-- Goober <13:12:56/12-14-57>

From:	Sascha Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Sun, 15 Dec 1996 17:05:17 +0000

Message no. 10 ***** PRIVATE: Bull
>>>>>[ Hey, Bull ...

Your contact is among the best I've ever dealt with. Many thanks to you, now
we might stand a chance again. On the downside, now Canis is even more
determined to attack the bugs... well, now we might have a chance.

What did you promise G.? We even received more then we asked for, and of much
better quality then we dared to hope for. You should have seen Fohdytoo's
mercs... one of them actually /danced/ when he examined the weapons!

Well, I have to break some IC now, we will need some more floorplans I
think...

Read 'ya, Freund! ]<<<<<
-- Orion <17:04:21/12-15-57>

From:	Bull <chaos@*****.COM>
Subject:	Re: Sleepless in ... Chicago
Date:	Mon, 16 Dec 1996 01:45:13 -0500

Message no. 11 *****PRIVATE: Orion
>>>>>[I'm glad Goob was able to help you guys out...

And yeah, he's damned good at his job. Of course, I think he's been running
guns to the Shadows for twenty some years now, so he's got some major
contacts.

Goober usually stays in the background a bit more, but he knows the score
right now, and he owed me one for saving his ass when the bugs hit Chicago.
If it weren't for me and Johnny, he'd have been trapped behind teh CZ too.
Of course, we had to go back for our family, so we got stuck.

Anyways, believe it or not, I gave him cards for that gear. He completely
freaks over old cards, especially cards from various Trading Card Games from
the last century. Plus, thse cards are worth a hefty chunk of change. Over
the years I've built up a nice network to get these cards for Goober. That
way, I've gotten a lot of gear pretty cheap over the years...

Well, I'll be posting to all of IF soon, but we finally made it out of the
damn Tir and into Seattle.]<<<<<
-- Bull <07:43:02/12-16-57>

At 05:05 PM 12/15/96 +0000, you wrote:
>***** PRIVATE: Bull
>>>>>>[ Hey, Bull ...
>
>Your contact is among the best I've ever dealt with. Many thanks to you, now
>we might stand a chance again. On the downside, now Canis is even more
>determined to attack the bugs... well, now we might have a chance.
>
>What did you promise G.? We even received more then we asked for, and of much
>better quality then we dared to hope for. You should have seen Fohdytoo's
>mercs... one of them actually /danced/ when he examined the weapons!
>
>Well, I have to break some IC now, we will need some more floorplans I
>think...
>
>Read 'ya, Freund! ]<<<<<
> -- Orion <17:04:21/12-15-57>
>
>

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