#26 Fake News

Last time, on Before the Shadow (not... that other thing):

We're playing as 1nv4d3r, a fool-punching ork shadowrunner.

Previously, 1nv4d3r saved the people and holdings of Antumbra, a Seattle nightclub run by music artist and producer Kali on behalf of megacorp Mitsuhama.

He was later hired by Mitsuhama to investigate the Aztechnology corporation in San Francisco. This led him to the devotees of Emperor Norton IX, a strange man who claimed rulership over California and later become an ally and friend. One devotee was a troll terrorist named Shavarus, who had secretly teamed up with the elves of Tir Tairngire to strike back against the city's oppressive rulers by destroying its water supply. After he fled to execute said plan, we stopped him but spared him so that he could reverse his plot and secure the water.

In the start of this module, our hero got overwhelmed by the publicity and tried to escape it. Instead, he ran into Norton. Sponsored by Kali, we're to gather allies and supplies to protect Northern California from an impending invasion by Tir Tairngire and their megacorp allies.

In our last mission, we returned to base where we got backstory for Amelia and our new recruit Dorbi, and also passed up a chance to star in porn... in order to star in an action trideo. Because if we aren't doing sex, we might as well do violence?

We chose to travel to San Francisco to meet Kali and also reunite with Hailey, and we should arrive there in this update.

We're back at the docks - where we once met Kali, where we once fought Tir and Shavarus. And as the narration implies, we have a familiar face waiting.

The elf stands by a dumpster but more notably, a yellow taxi cab is just about fifteen feet away. We approach cautiously, and -

Hey, man! It's our Johnson from module two! Almost forgot this guy was in this city.

So this is set up as a simple executive meeting but we still haven't seen Hailey yet, and -

- and a bunch of guys jump out from the corner and shoot him.

You killed Mr Johnson! You bastards!

Light 'em up, Dorbi!

Three against four. We might look outnumbered. But fool-punching 1nv4d3r doesn't just punch fools. Oh no.

He kicks them too.

I don't think I really got into it before but we went past basic points in Unarmed Combat before the start of this module. We have both an area-of-effect ability, and an ability that damages enemy armour and can potentially knock them senseless.

So we roundhouse the trio, stun the guy in the corner, and it's over in no time.

At the risk of sounding callous, there goes our ride.

A brief diversion from the road returns us to where we first met Kali in the second module.

Then we return to the road -- and find trouble waiting at the end of it.

Fool status: [X] Punched [ ] Not Punched.

Also, that's Japanese, and we're apparently being accosted by Saito's goons. Typical.

We seem to have a perfect combination of healing, damage absorption and damage output though, and before long, they're the ones on the run.

As before, the road leads us to a maze of shipping containers and the occasional forklift or crate. Someone's waiting for us in the maze.

MY BABY-

We pick the top option, because honestly, we auto-healed through every point of damage.

...thanks. Your concern is truly touching.

Oh my goodness.

I see shadowrunning hasn't changed our girl at her core, even if she's had to... adapt.

...what. That is the exact opposite of what we're doing. Saito, you fool.

So our mission changes from convincing a bunch of corporate suits to convincing Saito first.

I don't remember exactly how this plays out if you killed Shavarus but I assume he either doesn't care or is angry about the water supply.

The game autosaves right then. We turn a corner, and --

We run back around the corner and wait to ambush them. It works.

What does that even mean -

Well, they're gonna die.

The first one is stunned and goes down easily. The second is taken down in a hail of fire, punches and magic and the third gets bombed by Hailey's drone on overwatch. Each of them dies alone and uncoordinated.

We exit the maze, walk out a bit, then this happens.

It's weird seeing Dorbi as the serious one here but - apparently that's the direction we're taking.

Yes actually, that is a little strange.

So she's a workaholic, or -

Oh, it's "go big or go home".

For the want of fuzziness, all technology must be shunned. Hey, it's more logical than most other excuses to be a technophobe.

Take that, Sony!

Uh oh. What are you thinking -

...no one could predict that.

We're free of the maze now, and the end of the zone is just ahead.

But a last, brave band has chosen to stand between us and progress.

Their sacrifice to the fire goddess will be remembered.

"Bring it on!" he yells.

Gladly.

Dorbi gets blasted with a shotgun a couple of times. A mage runs out of the darkness, a fifth person to join our attackers -

Down in one.

The other outlier soon follows suit, with drone help.

1nv4d3r takes the other two down, and the third one runs out to his doom.

Why does this feel like an upgrade to the taxi cab?

Yes, we want to 'escape in van'. Time to go.

We'll pick this up in our next update!