TEXT: A SHADOWRUN WAR SOURCEBOOK
  ®
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  ©2011 The Topps Company, Inc. All rights reserved. War! and Shadowrun are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc., in the United States 
  and/or other countries. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC. Printed in the USA.
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  ALL HELL!
  The diplomats have failed. The tensions have only grown worse. Each 
  side has pushed the other too far, so there’s nothing left to do but fight. 
  At the border of Aztlan and Amazonia, war has broken out. The streets 
  of Bogotá are being pummeled, mercenaries are being hired and killed in 
  approximately equal numbers, and blood is being spilled in dark rooms to 
  give strength to mages on the battlefield. Most importantly, runners are 
  being hired by the score.
  War! puts Shadowrun players into the world of open combat. From 
  sabotage missions behind enemy lines to intelligence operations to  
  small-squad mercenary tactics, War! provides the background information, 
  gear, and rules players need to plunge into the chaos of battle.
  War! is for use with Shadowrun, Twentieth Anniversary Edition.
  
  WAR!
  WAR!
  WAR!
  
  War!
  2
  FACTS AT YOUR 
   FINGERTIPS 
  5
   A Visitor’s Guide for
    Visitors Worth Guiding 
  5
   
   
  T e Weather 
  5
   
   
  Getting In 
  6
   
   
  Public Transit 
  6
   
   
  Communications
   
   
   
  and Entertainment 
  6
   
   
  Law(Less) 
  10
   
   
  T e Patchwork Network 
  10
   
   
  Bullets, Bombs, And Bigotry 
  11
   
   
  T e Legal Market 
  11
   
   
  T e Black Market 
  12
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY 
  13
   Recent Developments 
  28
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE 
  32
   False Promises:
    Amazonia and Aztlan 
  33
   Hidden Ambitions:
   The Catholic Church 
  34
   Political Fervor: The Colombian 
    Liberation Movement 
  36
   
   
  T e Corporate Interest 
  40
   The Wildcards 
  42
   Key Figures in Bogotá
    and in the War 
  44
   
   
  Marcela Ruiz 
  44
   
   
  Cauan Silveira 
  45
   
   
  Raul Chavez 
  45
   
   
  Juanita Madina 
  46
   
   
  Carla Prieto 
  48
   
   
  Peter Hunt 
  49
   
   
  “Agent” 
  49
   
   
  Jaime Salazar 
  49
   
   
  Maelstrom and Oblivion 
  49
   The Big Guns 
  51
   
   
  Black Star 
  51
  MERCENARIES 
  51
   
   
  MET2000 
  53
   
   
  Tsunami 
  54
   
   
  10,000 Daggers 
  55
   
   
  Combat, Inc. 
  56
   Local Hitters 
  57
   
   
  T e Delmeta Tribe 
  57
   
   
  Aztlan War Party:
   
   
   
  La Estelar Guarda 
  59
   
   
  Amazonian War Party:
   
   
   
  Los Matan Gigantes 
  60
   
   
  Rival Runners: Anohi’s Operation 61
   
   
  Pregen Cell: Victor’s People
   
   
   
  and the Ch’ujutat Tribes 
  63
   Bogota In 2073 
  65
  THE WAR 
  65
   Motivations 
  66
   
   
  Aztlan 
  66
   
   
  Amazonia 
  67
   
   
  Other Corporate Interests 
  68
   
   
  T e Tribals 
  69
   
   
  Wageslaves in War 
  70
   Rumors  
  70
   Small Unit Tactics 
  72
   
   
  Supply Shortages 
  72
   
   
  Technology 
  73
   
   
  Magic 
  74
   
   
  Medicine And Disease 
  76
   
   
  Guerrilla Tactics: 101 
  76
   
   
  Amazonia 
  77
   
   
  Aztechnology 
  77
   
   
  T e Tribals 
  78
   The Troops 
  78
   
   
  Amazonia 
  78
   Aztlan 
  80
   The Tribals 
  81
   Cartels 
  82
   Battlegrounds 
  84
   
   
  T e Barrios  
  84
   
   
  T e Streets  
  84
   
   
  Into T e Jungle  
  85
   
   
  T e Real Urban Jungle 
  87
   
   
  Corporate Of  ce Warfare  
  87
   
   
  Blocked In  
  88
   
   
  Undercity  
  88
   
   
  Commercial Zones 
  89
   Bogotá Today 
  90
   
   
  54:30—T e Desperate Edge 
  90
   
   
  On Your Honor 
  90
   
   
  La Magica Is T e Tribe’s Alone 
  91
   
   
  Sacred Life, Sacred Death 
  91
   
   
  Living On 1¥ A Day 
  92
   
   
  Health Care 
  93
   
   
  Rich and Filthy 
  94
   
   
  Cof eehouse Revolutionaries 
  94
   
   
  T e Church in the Neighborhoods 94
   
   
  Precolombian Faiths 
  95
   
   
  Obeah 
  95
  BOGOTÁ
   NEIGHBORHOODS 
  96
   Hot Zones and Hotter Zones 
  97
   
   
  Zona Norte 
  97
   
   
  Zona Oeste 
  102
   
   
  Zona Centrico 
  107
   
   
  Zona Sur 
  111
  GLOBAL HOTSPOTS 
  115
   Marienbad Council 
  117
   
   
  Overview 
  117
   
   
  Covert Operations 
  118
   
   
  For Love Not Sori 
  118
   
   
  Chaos as a Catalyst 
  118
   
   
  T e Romani Job 
  118
   The Free Republic of Poland 119
   
   
  Overview 
  119
  . . . TABLE OF CONTENTS . . .
  
  3
  War!
  TABLE OF CONTENTS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
   
   
  You Say You Want a Revolution? 119
   
   
  Holy Mother Church 
  120
   
   
  White Line Fever 
  120
   
   
  Work Brings Freedom 
  120
   
   
  T e Fleshf nder 
  120
   Somalia 
  121
   
   
  Overview 
  121
   
   
  Buckling Swash 
  121
   
   
  What did Ifrit Services Want? 
  122
   
   
  Rebuilding 
  122
   
   
  A Need for Fertility 
  122
   Nepal  
  122
   
   
  Overview 
  123
   
   
  Making Dangerous Enemies 
  123
   
   
  Running Diplomacy 
  123
   
   
  Yeti Concerns 
  123
   
   
  Smuggling Entertainment 
  124
   Albuquerque  
  124
   
   
  Overview 
  125
   
   
  Chess For Keeps 
  125
   
   
  T e Reverse Contract 
  126
   
   
  T e Prototype 
  126
   
   
  Edgecrusher Experimental
   
   
   
  Combat Bike 
  126
  GAME INFORMATION 127
   Warfare and the Shadows 
  129
   
   
  Camo-Collar Jobs 
  129
   Running a Military
    or Merc Campaign 
  132
   
   
  Reporting for Duty 
  132
   
   
  T e Life of a Soldier 
  133
   
   
  Other Military Campaigns 
  134
   
   
  Military Objectives 
  134
   Battleﬁ eld Skills 
  136
   
   
  Composure 
  136
   
   
  Post-Traumatic Stress 
  136
   
   
  Leadership 
  137
   Rules of Engagement 
  138
   
   
  Large Dice Pools 
  138
   
   
  Flight Time 
  138
   
   
  Suppressive Fire 
  138
   
   
  Grenades 
  139
   
   
  Land Mines 
  140
   
   
  Strategic Combat 
  141
   
   
  Aerial Vehicle Combat 
  142
   
   
  Miltech in Cyberspace 
  144
   
   
  Availability in a War Zone 
  144
   People in a War Zone and
    How to Work With Them 
  145
   
   
  Morale 
  145
   
   
  Warfare 101 
  145
   
   
  New Grunts 
  147
   
   
  New Contacts 
  150
   New Gear 
  153
   
   
  Melee Weapons 
  153
   
   
  Firearms 
  153
   
   
  Firearm Accessories 
  155
   
   
  Weapon Modif cations 
  156
   
   
  Ammunition 
  156
   
   
  Explosives 
  156
   
   
  Satellite-Based Weapons 
  159
   
   
  Clothing and Armor 
  160
   
   
  Armor Modif cations 
  161
   
   
  Electronics & Accessories 
  161
   
   
  Sof ware 
  161
   
   
  Vision Enhancement 
  162
   
   
  Sensors 
  163
   
   
  Chemtech 
  163
   
   
  Survival Gear 
  163
   
   
  Bioware 
  164
   
   
  Nanotech 
  164
   
   
  Military Drones 
  165
   
   
  Biodrones 
  166
   
   
  Military Vehicles 
  168
   
   
  Naval Vessels 
  171
   
   
  Vehicle Weapons 
  173
   
   
  Vehicle Weapon Ammunition 
  174
   
   
  Vehicle Upgrades 
  175
   Military Grimoire 
  177
   
   
  Military Spells 
  177
   
   
  Adept Powers 
  178
   Technomancy 
  179
   
   
  Echoes 
  179
   
   
   
  Advanced Echoes 
  179
   Compiled Tables 
  180
  CREDITS: WAR!
  Writing: David Hill, Aaron Pavao, Michael Wich, Filamena Young
  Editing: Jason M. Hardy
  Development: John Dunn, Jason M. Hardy
  Art Direction: Brent Evans
  Interior Layout: Matt Heerdt
  Cover Art: Echo Chernik
  Cover Layout: Matt Heerdt
  Illustration: Andreas “AAS” Schroth, Alayna Lemmer, Alessandra 
  Pisano, Anna Christenson, Arndt Drechsler, Chad Sergesketter, 
  Chris Lewis, Christopher Wilhelm, Dean Spencer, Ed Cox, 
  Eric Williams, Ian King, Jason Banditt Adams, Jason Juta, Jef  
  Laubenstein, John A. Schmidt, John Stanko, Mark Molnar, Mark 
  Winters, Peter Tikos, Robert Tritthardt, Veronica V. Jones, Victor 
  Perez Corbella
  Playtesters: Joe Monfre, Mac Mayf eld, Greg Graf , Terry Fox, 
  Jode Torske, Jason Waugaman, Michael Wich, Rob Oliver, Siin 
  Crawford, Michael Hoover, Jean-Marc Comeau, Jason Keats, Luc 
  Villeneuve, Marc Dagenais, Dominique Dufour, Grant Robinson, 
  Bryan Pow, Richard Riessen, Kendall Jung, Jason Freese, Leland 
  Zavadil, TJ Howell, Rich “Bruno” Ingram, Chris Hayes, Ilya 
  Medvedev, Dan Dunchack
  Copyright© 2011 T e Topps Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 
  Shadowrun, War! and Matrix are registered trademarks and/or 
  trademarks of T e Topps Company, Inc., in the United States and/
  or other countries. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored 
  in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, 
  without the prior permission in writing of the Copyright Owner, 
  nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it 
  is published. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo 
  are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC.
  First Printing by Catalyst Game Labs, an imprint of InMediaRes 
  Productions, LLC • PMB 202 • 303 - 91st Ave. NE, E502 • Lake 
  Stevens, WA 98258.
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  “Crimes, like virtues, are their own rewards.”
  Welcome back to JackPoint, omae; 
  your last connection was severed: 22 
  hours, 10 minutes, 43 seconds ago
  Today’s Heads Up
  * There’s a lot of stuff going on in 
  the world. You’d best know how to 
  be able to ﬁ nd it. Read this before 
  getting on a plane. [Tag: Sixth World 
  Almanac]
  * There’s life in some of those older drone mod-
  els out there. Make do, wear it out, etc. etc. [Tag: This Old Drone]
  Incoming
  * If you’re going to wade into a war zone, better know just what you might be up against. Or, even 
  better, what new toys you might be able to put to use. [Tag: MilSpecTech]
  * Some of us ﬁ ght war with bullets, some of us ﬁ ght war with information. Both kinds of ﬁ ghting are 
  starting to get heavy, so be armed and be ready. [Tag: Spy Games]
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  things we do with it—while always being ready to make some cash on the side. [Tag: Attitude]
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  * The CAS has expelled two Aztlan diplomats, claiming the ofﬁ cials were engaging in acts of espio-
  nage within CAS borders. Aztlan has issued a pro forma denial that sounds to many observers like 
  an admission of guilt. International observers are wondering if CAS will use this incident to wring 
  concessions out of Aztlan, or if this is a prelude to them taking more overt hostile action against 
  their neighbor to the south. Link
  * Draco Foundation ofﬁ cials deny reports of signiﬁ cant resources being sent to the Antarctic coast. 
  They maintain that any of their assets in the area are simply on routine shipping runs, moving south 
  around South America to avoid the problems with the Nicaragua Canal. Link
  * Demonstrations by metahumans in Seattle petitioning for the Ork Underground to become an of-
  ﬁ cial city district are growing larger. Knight Errant spokespeople are saying they have no concerns 
  about the demonstrations turning violent, but observers have seen security presence at these 
  events increase at rates surpassing the growth in the number of attendees. Link
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  War!
  5
  there’s no government to speak to enforce what little pollution 
  regulations there are.
  That said, sometimes there’s intervention. I said before 
  that the weather’s not that bad, but that’s only true when it’s lef  
  alone. Sometimes, there are get magical strikes from what I can 
  only imagine is the Amazonians. So a caveat: Bogotá gets snow. It 
  shouldn’t. T ey get it during the summer sometimes. It’s not the 
  climate’s fault though—just the fault of those living in it.
  > Weather in Bogota’s hard. Because of the conﬂ ict and all the magic 
  ﬂ ying from one side to the other, things aren’t very predictable. 
  Want to go to the park? Expect rain. You don’t like the weather? 
  Wait ﬁ ve minutes. It has its pros and cons. 
  > Marcos
  Posted by Hard Exit
  Here’s the skinny, all in a clean little package. I make it quick, 
  I made it simple, and I kept it to the things you might want to 
  know. Want to know how alkaline the mud puddles in Zona 
  Norte are? Tough shit. Want to know where to get a burger in the 
  same place where you can drink the water? I’m your woman. Sure, 
  there’s some of the obligatory statistical bull, but if you can’t use 
  that to your advantage, you should reconsider your line of work. 
  I might not be a local, but I’ve been “vacationing” here profes-
  sionally for a little while. I know it as well as I know anywhere. So, 
  welcome to Bogotá.
  Bogotá’s a big place. More importantly, it’s crowded. Not 
  like Neo-Tokyo, where everyone’s crammed in tight, convenient 
  little sardine-can apartments. In Bogotá, everyone is piled on top 
  of everyone else. T ere’s no organization. T ere’s no planning. In 
  most of the world, you’d be surprised to f nd a dead body buried 
  in the walls of your basement. In Bogotá, you’d be hard-pressed to 
  f nd a house not built on a pile of corpses.
  The funny thing about war is, it’s rarely as official as the 
  history books make it out. A real war doesn’t have a beginning 
  or an end. T ey fade into existence and sometimes they fade out 
  of existence. War isn’t an event, it’s a state of mind. It’s hard to 
  say when Bogotá passed from “global hotspot” to “war zone,” but 
  that’s clearly what it has become.
  A VISITOR’S GUIDE FOR
  VISITORS WORTH GUIDING
  THE WEATHER
  In short: T e weather rocks almost all year around. It’s never 
  too hot, it’s never too cold. It’s always humid, but not overbearing. 
  Sometimes, there’s a little change because of El Niño, but it’s still 
  not that bad. T ey have rain, but it’s not Noah’s Ark shit. T ey’ve 
  never had snow—at least, not natural snow. Honestly, if it weren’t 
  for the drug cartels, the bombs, the corruption in politics and the 
  overbearing poverty, Bogotá would be a great place to live. 
  T e air’s not too nice, though I’ve seen worse. It’s not as 
  industrial here as some places, but the pollution piles up because 
  . . . FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS . . . 
  Urgent Message...
  there’s no government to speak to enforce what little pollution 
  BOGOTÁ AT A GLANCE 
  Population: 12,500,000
  Human: 68%
  Elf: 11%
  Dwarf: 4%
  Ork: 12%
  Troll: 5%
  Other: <1%
  In this case, “other” refers to things otherwise 
  unidentifiable as standard metahumans. This 
  includes vampires, naga, and embodied spirits. 
  Rumors persist of an entire community of ghouls 
  in the bombed out Zona Centrico district. They’re 
  exceedingly rare, since Aztechnology’s policy is 
  “shoot on sight” for any nontraditional breeds. 
  Aztechnology’s numbers claim the population of 
  other breeds is negligible. Of course, it’s in their cor-
  porate interest to claim that their pogroms are more 
  successful than they are. Some estimates put as 
  many as 100,000 nonstandard residents.
  
  6
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  PUBLIC TRANSIT
  To say that Bogotá is overcrowded is an understatement. 
  Thankfully, TransMilenio is there to keep the streets only 
  somewhat f lled with private transportation. TransMilenio (the 
  transportation system, not the failed city division; more on 
  that later) is one of the most successful projects in Columbian 
  history, it’s somehow lasted the test of time for almost a century. 
  TransMilenio is huge. It’s overcrowded, but what do you expect? 
  It breaks down to twelve major subway lines, six light rail termi-
  nals and hundreds of magnetic trolleys. Anywhere in Bogotá 
  that isn’t a bombed-out shell, you can get within two blocks of it. 
  While that doesn’t say a lot, since a lot of the city is bombed out, 
  it’s still impressive.
  Sure, there’s a lot of crime at the terminals, but Bogotá isn’t 
  exactly the center for world stability now, is it? You’re just as likely 
  to be mugged at a light-rail station as you are on the streets. Maybe 
  even a little less, since TransMilenio is one of the few government 
  resources lef  that hires dedicated security forces. I know a few 
  derelicts that swear by TransMilenio stations for a peaceful night’s 
  sleep, saying that at least it’s better than the alternatives.
  T e layout for the system is solid as well. With the exception 
  of breeches due to attacks, you can get most anywhere af er only 
  a single transfer. For the runner not interested in dealing with the 
  ins and outs of vehicle thef , TransMilenio is a great option. It 
  runs 24/7, and no matter what kind of murdering asshole you are, 
  there’s someone on the rail systems worse than you.
  > I popped my cherry on the TransMilenio while on vacation with my 
  family. True fact.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > It’s a good place for it. I bet no fewer than a couple thousand 
  Aztlanians have. And I don’t think they mind. It adds to the ambi-
  ance. It’s not like it’s Lone Star territory, where you’re liable to get 
  jail time for screwing in public.
  > Hard Exit
  COMMUNICATIONS AND ENTERTAINMENT
  T e beauty of Bogotá is that it’s like a little media island, or at 
  least the closest thing you can get to a media island in a city in this 
  wireless world. While you can technically get entertainment from 
  the outside, it’s hit or miss and dif  cult at best. Most everyone 
  just relies on local buzz. Which is great, because at least they’re in 
  touch. You get the voices of people on the streets. Sure, there are 
  plenty of corporate interests in the way. But when it comes down 
  to it, they don’t micromanage as much as conspiracy theorists 
  would like to think.
  Trideo
  Due to the war, standard trideo networks are all but nonex-
  istent. NABS has a pretty strong foothold, and you can connect 
  with them more of en than not. You’d be surprised to f nd out how 
  much anarchist-lef  information gets out there in the trids. Before 
  you ask, I’m not just talking about Amazonian eco-terrorism 
  propaganda mumbo jumbo. Lately I’ve been getting in to a show 
  called Kill the Planet, Stop the War. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, 
  but the point of the program is that as long as cash is king, the 
  f ght for the Amazon’s not going to end until it’s dead and gone. 
  > Sure, it’s harsh. But at least it has a good baseline. Hell, once the 
  war’s over (ha, ha) I might consider moving down there and working 
  on my tan. 
  > Hard Exit
  GETTING IN
  If you asked us a year ago, we’d have told you that f ying into 
  Bogotá without Aztechnology’s permission was a suicide run. 
  Permission isn’t that dif  cult to get anymore, but now, it’s more 
  that even if you have permission, you’re at risk. Not too long ago, 
  a buddy of mine was f ying in all on-record and legit. He comes 
  in, just about to land, and wham! Hailstorm. It brought the plane 
  down straight into the landing strip, killing everyone instantly. 
  You can f nd three sketchy videos of planes being struck down by 
  lightning with a little searching. Long story short: Amazonia has 
  a lot of ways to f ght this war, and they’re using them. T is isn’t 
  just about f ring guns and artillery, but unleashing the forces both 
  sides have been working on for years. If you’re going in, you need 
  to be aware of the full range of powers that might be unleashed on 
  you. So, unless you can harness the power of giant fucking birds, 
  stay out of the sky.
  Driving in isn’t so risky. T at’s not saying much. T at’s like 
  saying that it’s less dangerous to chop a toe of  than it is to chop 
  your foot of . Neither are desirable, but academically, one is better 
  than the other. If you have any say in the matter, approach from 
  the northwest. Repeat af er me: Driving through the Amazon is 
  idiotic. T at’s one of the best lessons you’ll ever learn. Don’t learn 
  it through experience. Take my word for it. 
  T eoretically, Highway 50 goes through the Amazon. And I 
  guess technically it does, but that doesn’t mean your vehicle can 
  survive the trip, even if you’re not attacked by some nasty, undocu-
  mented rainforest critter.
  T at said, this is the Bogotá Travel Bible: 
  1:1 Take a guide. T ey’re cheap, they’re generally reliable, 
  and they know the material better than you. It’s also a lot better to 
  see something rend the guide than rend you.
  1:2 Grease palms. Customs, bandits, guides and even policia 
  will back of  with a nominal contribution towards their shitty lives. 
  1:3 Don’t talk back. Nobody cares about your reputation 
  elsewhere. T ey’re more concerned about avoiding saturation 
  bombings and carniverous trees.
  1:4 Don’t kill authority f gures. Sure, the policia don’t have 
  any real power. But the tribals have a tenuous hold on the people. 
  T ey don’t like threats to their little bits of stability.  
  1:5 T at having been said, tribal law is no joke. Learn 
  about it. If you’re in a new area, and you don’t know the tribal law, 
  lay low and don’t do anything stupid.
  > You’re neglecting the one most important option: Go on some 
  company’s dime. Sure, you can get shot down. But you can get shot 
  down no matter how you make it in. Especially if you’re represent-
  ing an interest that’s not Aztlan, you have a degree of protection. 
  Nobody wants to draw third parties into this already jumbled 
  clusterfuck of a war.
  > Marcos
  
  7
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  T ere’s something of a traditional music movement as well. 
  Traditional Columbian music is really an animal all of its own, a 
  conglomeration of African, Spanish, Caribbean, American and 
  native sounds. Everything has a hint of that hot, “forbidden fruit” 
  Catholic vibe going on, while not actually being constrained 
  by any law or anything. T ere’s even a catchy dance style called 
  Pasillo that has a strong following with the hipper young kids. 
  While you pass by store windows, you hear top 40, and every-
  where you look you can f nd “revival music.” I think it’s a good 
  thing—Bogotá needs to keep its identity so that it isn’t consumed 
  by the same Japanese or North American trends as every place 
  else. While everything popular in Columbia comes from a mix 
  of other places, the important thing is that they’re mixes of things 
  that aren’t the same boring popular stuf , and that it’s unique to 
  the region.
  T e one thing that Bogotá will always keep with pride as a 
  local symbol is the escopetarra, which is a musical instrument 
  (namely a guitar,) fashioned out of a modif ed weapon. Not only 
  do they look hot, they’re a great symbols of peace. T ere’s nothing 
  Bogotá needs more right now than symbols of peace. Except, well, 
  actual peace.
  T at leads me to the other big thing with music: Protest. 
  Music’s always been a peaceful method of protest for as long as 
  time could tell. In Bogotá, it’s turned up to eleven. Protest music 
  is loud, brash, and almost as violent as the war itself. Guitars grind, 
  drums explode, and synthesizers scream. When protest bands play, 
  you of en can’t tell what they’re saying. But you can sure as hell feel 
  it. T e words don’t matter, the rage pulses and tears through the 
  neighborhoods. Sound ordinances became obsolete right around 
  the time of the f rst bombs. T e whole mentality is, the music 
  should be louder than the bombs. Of en times, it is. Some bands 
  eschew normal musical instruments, instead hammering away 
  on the instruments of their own destruction. I’ve seen one band, 
  Pollo Maligno, made up of percussion instruments fashioned out 
  of bombs, mines, and military vehicles. In Bogotá, there’s no such 
  thing as half-way protest.
  > So, there’s a word for it? Escopetarra? I’m going to have to get one 
  of those. They’re hot as hell.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > Yeah, but don’t think about ﬁ tting it as a weapon. Everyone knows, 
  these days. It’s neither effective nor ironic anymore, it’s just sad. But 
  don’t let me deter you: You get one, I want pictures. 
  > Marcos
  > While I’m talking here, I should give a shout-out to Esmé Calderon. 
  She’s talented, she’s pissed, and she’s plugged in to the resistance. 
  Good, ﬁ ery music.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > I’ve heard of Calderon. She’s good, but some people think she’s 
  being used. Rumor is that Bogotá Libre! coordinates her appear-
  ances, putting her in neighborhoods where they’re looking to get 
  the locals to their side. Calderon plays one day, uprising happens 
  the next, full of people all ﬁ red up by her music. At least, that’s 
  the theory.
  > Marcos
  T ey specialize in subversive messages, trying to undermine the 
  Amazonian side of the conflict. Their argument is, there’s no 
  changing the Amazon situation. Even if Amazonia killed every 
  member of Aztechnology and wiped every trace of their power 
  from the map, there’d be another megacorp ready to step in and 
  f ll the gap. If there’s a resource, somebody will exploit it so long as 
  it appears to be potentially prof table. It’s the nature of capitalism. 
  T e Amazon will always look prof table to capitalists.
  > You make it sound very romantic. It has the feel of the late 1970s’ 
  punk rock movement around Manchester. This makes me wish I had 
  a time machine.
  > Winterhawk
  > No offense, but there’s a difference between Brits whining about 
  their middle-class lives and their inabilities to get laid, and people 
  regularly targeted by missile strikes. Lil’ bit.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > Whatever. Spirit’s spirit. You’ve either got it or you don’t. Who 
  really cares what it’s directed at, so long as it’s directed? It could 
  come from The Sex Pistols as much as Dostoevsky as much as a 
  pirate station.
  > Picador
  >Point.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  Simsense
  T e simsense industry has a similarly indie vibe to it. T e big 
  dif erence is, with indie, you have to make bigger waves with a 
  smaller audience. T is means shock, which means there are a lot 
  of street hustlers out there promising you that you’ll see things 
  you’ve never seen, experience things you’ve never felt, if you just 
  try out their wares.
  Some of these guys are legitimate street salesman (weird 
  phrase, I know), but a lot of them are actually on the Aztechnology 
  payroll, distributing Aztechnology product. People in a war zone 
  look for escape, and the Big A knows it can fund part of their war 
  ef ort by selling that escape. With a lot of people out of work and 
  willing to be recorded doing just about anything, sim actors are 
  one of the few professions in the city seeing signif cant growth. 
  Besides the military, of course.
  > And when she says “doing just about anything,” she means it. 
  There’s stuff in Bogotá simsense recordings that kind of freaks me 
  out, so all of you who aren’t me better be extra careful.
  > Kane
  Music
  Bogotá’s got the same shit the rest of the world has. T at is 
  to say a whole lot of shit. We have the same pop star crap f ltered 
  in, your Teiko Ikemoto and other similar fads. We also have 
  local celebrity, Spanish-speaking musicians. T ing is, they’re no 
  dif erent. T ey sing the same stuf . It’s all 4/4, 90 or 120 bpm mass-
  market trash. Indie music has its place, but most of it doesn’t really 
  exist outside the bars it’s played in. Hell, live music is a rarity, with 
  all the danger of being in a bar with expensive instruments.
  
  8
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Sports
  Soccer, or fútbol as we’d have it, is the most popular sport by 
  far. How does it dif er from the rest of the world? Well, they allow 
  magic. Because of the Amazonian inf uence, and to a lesser extent 
  Aztechnology’s stranglehold on the culture, soccer is full of adepts 
  that hurt, maim, and sometimes kill each other. It’s always been 
  something of a violent sport; we didn’t change that for the better. 
  Soccer trid coverage includes automatic slow motion, since most 
  humans can’t even see a lot of the plays that go through. Ironically, 
  while soccer is friendly to adepts, it’s not friendly to metahumans. 
  T e rules as written disallow their participation on grounds of 
  fairness and safety. T ey say nothing about a hyper fast, magically 
  buf ed leg kicking straight through a player’s abdomen. Funny 
  how racism works, right? What we do is, we put the metahumans 
  in their own sports. I’ll talk about that later.
  Bogotá loves soccer. T ey love a number of other sports, too. 
  But unfortunately, the war ef orts have brought most of them to 
  a halt. Cycling used to be a big deal. Now, it’s impossible. Boxing 
  is still popular, but it remains a niche event. Baseball has lost a 
  lot of popularity since it doesn’t have the corporate sponsorship 
  soccer does.
  Now, the important one: ulama. Ulama is the oldest sport 
  known to man, at least the oldest still in regular practice. T e 
  Aztecs played it thousands of years ago, and the pre-Columbians 
  had a version of it. It’s probably Amazonia’s biggest contribution to 
  Bogotá’s entertainment industry because it’s open to metahumans. 
  T e point is to keep the ball (a solid, vulcanized rubber ball, to be 
  specif c) in bounds while not touching it with your hands. Purists 
  only allow touching it with the hip. Players wear nothing but a 
  loincloth and a hip guard, which gives them very little protection 
  from the ball, which is hard as hell and breaks ribs in the right 
  hands. Some groups play with sticks, but of  cially, you kick, head-
  butt and otherwise slam the ball around in ways that are painful 
  just to watch. While trolls have a distinct advantage, elf players are 
  known for being able to keep the ball from opponents, so we’ve 
  yet to see an all-troll team. T e game has a lot of death symbolism, 
  but as far as I can tell, it’s popularity comes from something a little 
  more direct—players risking death every few seconds on the f eld.
  > Ulama? We need to get that up in Seattle. I’d join a league in a 
  heartbeat. Sounds like it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not, 
  like most sports. Do they stick to outdated, sexist rhetoric?
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  >No. I’m not speaking from full authority, but the two games I saw 
  were pretty heavy on females, maybe ﬁ fty-ﬁ fty. There was a clear 
  bias towards metahumans though. Maybe a tenth of the players 
  weren’t. 
  > Hard Exit
  >I’m not afraid.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  
  9
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  going to manufacturers of small batches of handmade clothing. 
  On the middle edge of the middle class are workers can’t really 
  af ord the expensive stuf , so they do the next best thing. We call 
  those people Irregulars, since they buy the throwaway irregular 
  clothing from manufacturers at discount. If you’re classy in Bogotá, 
  the one thing you always look for is the guy with a missing button. 
  He’s the pretender acting above his station.
  > Sombreros. That is all. 
  > The Smiling Bandit
  > While I must applaud your insight, I don’t think they actually wear 
  sombreros. 
  > Hard Exit
  Discoteca
  Dancing is a blast. Almost as much as sex (speaking of which, 
  have you had sex in a war zone before? You should. It’s a rush. 
  Nothing like seeing your lover’s body lit up be the f ash of artillery 
  blasts). Dancing is something the Catholics tried to restrict a while 
  ago, but just like sex, it overpowered them in their old age. Dancing 
  is an important part of Latin culture, and it’s also an important part 
  of the Amazonian culture. So nights in Bogotá are loud as fuck (see 
  what I did there?). A block without a discoteca is suspicious. In fact, 
  if you see a block without somewhere where there’s no dancing 
  going on, you should probably turn tail and run. A Columbian that 
  doesn’t like dancing is a Columbian that probably has an unhealthy 
  obsession with killing, or some other antisocial behavior. 
  > A guy that doesn’t like to dance is a murderer? I ﬁ nd that a little 
  hard to grok. 
  > Kia
  > It is what it is. You don’t believe me, come around Bogotá some 
  time. I’ll show you a neighborhood that doesn’t dance. You won’t 
  want to come back. 
  > Hard Exit
  > Speaking of dancing and antisocial behavior, check out War Temple 
  in Nuevo Suba neighborhood. Loud dancing, ﬁ ghts every evening, 
  dead bodies most mornings. It’s wild, even for me.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  BTL
  BTL is here to stay, just like in the rest of the world. It carries 
  with it the same risks, the same stigmas, and the same restrictions. 
  Dif erence is, Bogotá’s a war zone. If you wander out in the streets 
  on a BTL rush, people are going to see you in one of two ways: 
  as a BTL junkie or a drug user. Both of those prof les say, “I’m a 
  person with money that won’t be able to f ght back.” Good luck 
  surviving it. My advice: Stay away from BTL while in Bogotá. If 
  you’re going to do it, do it in the privacy of your own f at, and lock 
  the doors as well as you can.
  > I’m going to call bullshit. You think sex in a war zone is good? It’s 
  nothing compared to war zone BTL. The whole point of BTL is being 
  able to do the things you want to, but you don’t want to take the 
  risk for. Programmers in Bogotá know that tension ﬁ rst-hand. You 
  Old-School Radio
  With moves towards more modern technology, radio (and 
  its red-headed cousin, television,) has been left alone by the 
  powers that be. T is means that if you want to get a completely 
  uncensored message out, you do it over the airwaves. Guerrilla 
  radio and television are important parts of Bogotá culture. You 
  pass by a bodega, you’ll hear someone editorializing on an old 
  rabbit-ear set. Fortunately for would-be revolutionaries, broad-
  casting technology is cheap. If you scrounge around in the right 
  junkyards, it might even be free. T is is extra convenient, since 
  rogue stations sometimes “happen” to fall victim to violence—
  violence of en perpetrated by people on Aztechnology’s payroll. 
  So if you have an old set with a broken station knob, you’re shit 
  out of luck. Most stations stay in business for a few months at 
  most. T e most popular, [R]evolution, changes its call numbers 
  and broadcasting of  ces on a weekly basis, donating all its old 
  materials to smaller broadcasters. 
  > Have you ever considered that when someone gets on a major 
  network, that it’s because they were vetted? While the philosophy 
  behind pirate radio is worthy of applause, in practice there’s a huge 
  signal to noise problem. 
  > Dr. Spin
  > That’s easy to say when you get a steady paycheck from Horizon. 
  Clearly, you have no bias.
  > Aufheben
  > How many audition tapes have you had to watch? Until you’ve seen 
  a thousand untalented hacks trying to prove their value to you, and 
  you’ve had to bank on one to save your career, you have no room 
  talking. 
  > Dr. Spin 
  > We’re not talking about talent, here. We’re talking about informa-
  tion. Talent entertains. Information informs. These are people in 
  small communities, strangled by corporate interests. Most of what 
  happens to them happens in the shadows. Pirate radio casts a light 
  in those shadows. But don’t take my word for it. Some material 
  from these broadcasts has made its way to the Matrix, a pretty easy 
  ﬁ nd for anyone who knows how to search. Track it down and listen 
  for yourself.
  > Aufheben
  Fashion
  Fashion in Bogotá is an exercise in extremes. Our middle 
  class has its own upper, middle, and lower classes that vary more 
  than those in most places. A lot of Bogotá looks like twentieth-
  century Columbian farmers. T at isn’t because it’s fashionable; 
  it’s because they live at about the same standard of living as a 
  twentieth-century Columbian farmer did. You cross by the man 
  in coveralls, unable to read, and he’s likely to own a farm full of 
  coca. T at coca sees use in so much novacoke, and he sees cents 
  on the dollar. He uses his income to lease farming equipment and 
  maintain his land with almost no surplus, but according to the raw 
  numbers, he’s middle class.
  T e current fashion trend among the more well-to-do classes 
  is to dress in clothing inspired by traditional garb, with big nuyen 
  
  10
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  on the list, of course. T ey’re not tracking that information out of 
  the goodness of their hearts).
  Don’t Alert La Policia
  T is actually sounds a lot worse than it really is. In almost all 
  instances of tribal law, it’s a logical rule when you see it in practice. 
  T e tribes thrive on a manageable level of chaos, but they really 
  need stability to maintain power. It’s their goal to keep the peace. 
  So there are two real reasons for wanting to keep the authorities 
  out. First, the authorities tend to muck things up. T ey get in 
  everyone’s business and end up arresting all the wrong people. 
  Second, the gangs are just better at the job. T ey don’t have red 
  tape getting in the way of justice. Really, the gangs are ref ections 
  of their neighborhoods. If you call the authorities, you’re telling 
  your neighborhood that it isn’t good enough to handle its own 
  problems. 
  Magic Is A Tool Of The Tribe
  This one is rare. But when it exists, it’s typically main-
  tained with an iron f st. In these communities, residents must 
  keep magical abilities hush-hush, or resort to putting them on 
  permanent loan to the gang. Magic can be frightening, and more 
  importantly it can be powerful, so that means the gangs have a 
  strong interest in keeping track of who can wield it. T ey do this 
  by using their favorite tool—fear, making anyone terrif ed that if 
  they use magic outside of the tribe, they will have the wrath of the 
  tribe beating on their head in very short order. T is practice takes 
  power out of the hands of the common people, but it also makes 
  them feel safer because they believe that the more power their 
  neighborhood tribe gets, the better able they will be to protect 
  the local residents. It might seem fascist, and maybe it is. But when 
  you’ve seen trees grow violently out of the ground, killing your 
  neighbors, sometimes you need a little fascism to curb the edge. 
  Killing Is Not Acceptable
  T e unwritten end of this law is, “unless we do it.” Killing 
  shakes up the neighborhood. It’s just about the biggest sign that a 
  gang can’t control its locals. T at’s unacceptable. Killing mobilizes 
  gang members faster than anything, with maybe the exception of 
  rape. Killing leaves a trail, dropping baggage in the form of friends, 
  associates, families and all the people owed by that person. Killing 
  is never an isolated act. Nobody is truly alone in the world. 
  You get the gist, right? 
  > Be careful, you’re almost making these groups sound reasonable. 
  > Dr. Spin
  > Funny how that works. Small groups of people, working together, 
  living together, not needing outside corporate governance. And 
  it kind of works, the people prefer it to corpocracy. Who’d have 
  thought it possible? 
  > Aufheben
  THE PATCHWORK NETWORK
  Inconvenient for those interested in homogeneity, conve-
  nient for those looking for a bit of privacy, Bogotá’s full of 
  small-area networks. Some of the stronger tribes act as patrons for 
  local networks, allowing the residents in their turf limited access 
  read stories by people that have lived through hell, why not go the 
  whole nine yards? 
  > Turbo Bunny
  > If I were going to risk my sanity, I think I’d do it from the safety of 
  my high-rise condo, away from missiles and napalm and unspeak-
  able jungle horrors.
  > Hard Exit
  > Your loss.
  > Turbo Bunny
  LAW(LESS)
  On paper, Bogotá has a ton of laws. In practice, it has a 
  ton of laws, but they’re not the same as the ones that are written 
  down. Ever since Aztechnology came down with a heavy hand 
  on the ghost cartels and ef ectively eliminated any authority the 
  Columbian government was holding on to, tribal gangs have been 
  all too happy to step in and take control of the place. Every neigh-
  borhood has someone looking over it. Each of those someones has 
  their own rules and methods of enforcement.
  What this means for you is that a three-block walk might 
  have you under three dif erent sets of laws, three dif erent groups 
  of enforcers, and three dif erent calibers of bullets f ying at you if 
  you break those rules. When you’re on the streets, the single most 
  dangerous mistake you can make is to wander around without 
  knowing your shit. Don’t do it. Or at least, if you’re going to do it, 
  lean on a guide. Here’s a few examples of some of the key laws you 
  should know about, in no particular order:
  Don’t Touch Our Shit
  T is is a common one, almost universal. It comes down to a 
  writ of sovereignty for the gangs. If you mess with their things, or 
  their members (who are, in the end, an extension of their things,) 
  you are met with ire. Sometimes this means death. Sometimes it 
  means a lifetime of abusive treatment. Sometimes it just means 
  paying a small penance in cash, pain or apology, then not doing 
  it again. On a more gang-related level, this means don’t move in 
  on their territory. If you rob a bodega, you’d better hope the local 
  gang doesn’t catch wind of it. It’s their bodega, which means they 
  have the right to rob it.
  Your Life Is Only As Valuable As Your Word
  T is is another broad category, and a common one. If you 
  make a promise, you must keep it. Yes, this means repaying f nan-
  cial debts. Mostly, this is what it means outside of the gang proper. 
  In most of these gang cultures, f nancial debts are the closest things 
  to stability members have, so they take them very seriously. If you 
  owe somebody money, and you don’t pay them on your agreed 
  terms, your life is theirs. In some gangs, this becomes more literal 
  than in others. In almost all, there’s room for abuse. Since we’re 
  just talking about your word against someone else’s, it’s not out of 
  the question for random passers-by to be grabbed of  the street by 
  gang members, claiming that they entered into a f nancial relation-
  ship gone awry. Some of the gangs even establish and maintain 
  records of financial debts in their neighborhoods, including 
  ones they have no part in. T is helps prevent unwarranted street 
  snatchings (the gangs, of course, get a f ve percent cut of any deal 
  
  11
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  So you get it. I don’t need to harp on it. You walk down 
  the street, there’s racism. T ere’s sexism. T ere’s classism. T ere’s 
  all that bullshit. But look at it this way: It’s a metaphor for the 
  physical state of af airs. In Bogotá, you walk down the street, you’d 
  better watch yourself. Sure, you might have the rep to not get shot, 
  but no rep in the world will protect you from a landmine or errant 
  car bomb. It’s Hamburger Hill out here. Your average bystander 
  has probably lost a family member or two in the struggle. T ere’s 
  a damned good chance it wasn’t even a targeted kill, just some 
  bad luck—wrong place, wrong time, etc. Say, for example, that 
  my brother lost his leg to a random pineapple grenade. I have the 
  kind of money to get it replaced, but he’s stuck. Money’s not the 
  issue, supply and demand is. So if my brother wants a new leg, he’s 
  going to be paying upwards of ten times its value on the market, 
  since there’s some rich snob willing to pay more for the limited 
  resource cyberwear. 
  > It’s really a sad state of affairs. People under oppression resort to 
  oppression because it’s the only thing they know. 
  > Goat Foot
  > You’re not giving them much credit. There are plenty of educated 
  people in Bogotá, who are just as racist as the huddled masses. 
  They’re very aware of their racism. They like it—it’s some of the only 
  elitism they’ve got. Everyone’s got their elitisms.
  > Marcos
  THE LEGAL MARKET
  As far as I’m concerned, you should avoid legal sellers 
  at all costs. In a war zone, legitimate business is slave to the 
  ebbs and f ows of local occupation. Whoever is in charge on 
  one particular day gets to make all the calls that day. Business 
  owners can’t keep up with the day-to-day changes, because it’s a 
  logistical and commercial nightmare. Prices are high, selection 
  is low, meaning it’s not a good market for people wanting to buy 
  on the up and up.
  Sounds pretty dystopian, doesn’t it? It’s not really that bad. 
  I’m just picky. If you want food, you can get food. If you want 
  corned beef in a can, you might be shit out of luck. If you want 
  bedsheets, you can f nd them. If you want a red and gold Egyptian 
  knit sheet set, you might have to wait a while. If you need candles, 
  they’re just candles, you can f nd them anywhere. If you want a 
  candle blackened with pitch and scented of tobacco in honor of 
  Votan, you should pay close attention to where you’re trying to 
  buy it, the local tribals might not be too fond of Mayan faith. You 
  want a commlink? Get yourself a commlink. (Want a MilSpec 
  commlink? Then see the section on the Black Market, below, 
  because you sure as hell won’t f nd a legit one.)
  T e stores are the same as anywhere else. You can walk into 
  a Marvin’s, just as easily as you could in Seattle. It’s just a little 
  dif erent environment. Even the biggest chains can’t f ght the local 
  tensions.—they’re too impersonal and detached to be able to do 
  anything about the city’s overall climate.
  So, to wrap that up: If you want to buy legit, over-the-counter 
  goods, don’t be picky. Expect to make compromise. And expect 
  to pay extra.
  to the outside world. Of course, the nature of the wireless Matrix 
  means that most of those residents can still access the Matrix at 
  large, but the default limitations work well on the vast majority 
  of the people. Of en, the perception of a fence is just as strong as a 
  fence. T is means that sometimes, it’s not so easy to make moves in 
  the Matrix against the people in the tribal neighborhoods.
  What does this mean for a runner? Well, it means that you 
  might have a rough time in those neighborhoods, if you’re used 
  to a completely open Matrix. However, it means that if you take 
  the ef ort necessary to get in, you don’t have to worry as much 
  about outsiders bumbling around near you. It’s a challenge, but 
  it has its payof s. If you get used to it, it’s refreshing. You’ll feel 
  alienated when you go back to the great big, public world. It’s a 
  strange thing, privacy. You never really know how great it is until 
  you don’t have it anymore. You also don’t know how annoying it 
  is until you can’t get rid of it.
  > Let me be a little more direct here: Bogota’s Matrix fucking sucks. 
  We’ve moved so far towards free information and universal access 
  that little pockets of information kept from the outside world are 
  about as backwards as it gets. 
  > Clockwork
  > Oh? I don’t seem to have any problem accessing their pocket net-
  works. It must be a user failure on your end. 
  > Netcat
  BULLETS, BOMBS, AND BIGOTRY
  Given enough time, a war zone becomes permeated with the 
  tools of destruction, both literal and f gurative. When a war starts, 
  you run the risk of catching a stray bullet every time you hit up 
  the grocery store. Af er the war’s been going on for a while, there’s 
  more collateral risk. At the start, you might be subject to a pogrom 
  of whatever minority group you may belong to. Later on, it’s more 
  a thing of latent bigotry preventing you from living the life you 
  should otherwise be able to. 
  Bogotá’s not a forgiving place. No matter who you are, it’s full 
  of people that don’t like you. If you’re poor, the corps hate you. If 
  you’re rich, the tribals hate you. If you’re a metahuman, you bet 
  you can f nd a tribe or ten that hate you. T e thing about war is, it 
  never makes peace. It brings standstills, surrenders, and conquests. 
  It makes hate. Bogotá’s no exception. Don’t get me wrong, it was 
  never paradise. But now it’s a cesspool. If you point in any direc-
  tion, you’re pointing at somebody that hates somebody he doesn’t 
  know. Metahumans have it rough. While they’re technically no 
  more hated than any other group, they can’t exactly hide the thing 
  that gets them hated. A poor person can get one nice set of digs. A 
  rich person can slum it. A magician can keep his shit under wraps. 
  A troll, well, not so much. While they get some inherent advan-
  tages, the only place in the culture that’s really been carved out 
  for them is ulama. It’s like in the twentieth century, with African 
  Americans and sports. T ey dominate the f eld, so it’s one of few 
  places where they’re on the level. And I’ll be damned if those 
  popular orks don’t turn their backs on their old neighborhoods 
  the moment they sign a contract, more of en than not. Would 
  you blame them? 
  
  12
  War!
  FACTS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  merchant asks for four times what you’d pay elsewhere, you take 
  the of er, smile, and nod. You just got of  like a bandit. Five to six 
  times market value is the standard here.
  Now, the war zone thing means good things for some parts of 
  the market. Mass-produced weapons tend to be cheap (especially 
  that new nanofax-produced AK-147). T ings that can be taken 
  from dead soldiers, are, surprise, surprise, easy to f nd. Landmines 
  and grenades are right up with candy in their levels of availability. 
  Maybe a little more available: sugar isn’t very easy to come by.
  > How is the drug scene? 
  > Glasswalker
  >Surprisingly tame. Aztechnology has guaranteed that nobody that’d 
  want to do drugs has the money to buy ‘em. So most drugs are on 
  a pure export basis. All the coca comes from down here, but it’s not 
  reﬁ ned locally. It’s too dangerous. Besides, none of the tribals want 
  to put that kind of target on their backs. If you’re into novacoke or 
  anything like that, you have to get it imported back, which costs an 
  arm and a leg.
  > Hard Exit
  THE BLACK MARKET
  T e legal market in Bogotá may be overpriced and generally 
  lame, but, the black market rocks. You can get what you need, 
  when you need it, and if you’re willing to barter a bit, you can 
  get it for the price you want. So long as it’s not a limited resource, 
  you can get it. Now, if you want one of those limited resources, 
  you’re shit out of luck (unless you have armloads of cash at your 
  disposal), but anything else is keen. I found a perfect construct 
  virtual replica of Teiko Ikemoto recently for a steal. Literally, the 
  guy had me steal some shit from the meat market, and he gave 
  me the code. Now, I’m living large with the next best thing to an 
  Ikemoto BTL, without the brain damage and addiction.
  Now, let’s get this out of the way immediately: Medical 
  service in Bogotá sucks. Unless you’re willing to grease palms 
  hardcore, you can expect very long wait times, even in emergency 
  situations. Doc Wagon does exist, but I wouldn’t say it’s usually 
  worth the trouble. You don’t know how many runners I’ve seen 
  bite the bullet while waiting for the Wagon to arrive. Additionally, 
  medical supplies are at a premium. It’s a war zone, what do you 
  expect? If you’re trying to buy some chemical goodness, and the 
  
  War!
  13
  . . . BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . .
  all in a condition that she could work with for enchanting foci. So far, this 
  new contact was paying off. The next items were two carcasses of embracers. 
  Lyran laid her hands on the bright red skin of the primate, looking over the 
  two carcasses. Again, the hides were in excellent shape, and Lyran had no 
  objection to the goods. 
  Just a couple of more items, and we can be out of here…
  The next items were laid out in two briefcases, which the talismonger 
  brought and opened for Lyran. The ﬁ rst contained eight vials of sap from 
  Sangre Del Drago trees. Lyran took her time to carefully assense the vials, 
  making certain the sap was authentic. After a few minutes, Lyran conﬁ rmed 
  the potency and the validity of the samples. She then turned her attention 
  to the last briefcase, the item that could cause the most trouble for this meet.
  The first thing to give the Olaya talismonger away was a nervous 
  twitch—a quick check of the time on his commlink and an uncomfortable 
  glance over to Lyran’s body guards. It was quick, and she might have missed 
  it if she hadn’t been carefully watching for it. But she saw it, so now, without 
  even examining the contents, she already knew she had to be on the lookout 
  for something suspicious. And knowing that, she quickly found what was 
  wrong with the three vials. 
  “Now, Hector, it looks like we have a deal breaker here.”
  “What do you mean? That is authentic and perfectly good—”
  “Do not insult me by ﬁ nishing that sentence,” Lyran snapped. “I have 
  used Drago sap before. I know what to look for. The texture is off on these 
  samples, plus the astral signature seems to have been imprinted on this liquid, 
  whatever the hell it is. Do you or the Olaya cartel believe me to be such an easy 
  mark? Because I’m not. And it’s going to cost you. I’m certain that either the 
  Andes or the David cartels can meet my needs without cheating me.”
  “Now, what a minute! Although there could be a problem with the Drago 
  sap, and I’m not saying that there is, that doesn’t mean we can’t conduct 
  business with the other goods here. I could give you a ten percent discount 
  for your troubles.”
  “And what, risk that you’ve done something to these hides to make them 
  look more appealing? And risk fucking up my enchanting? No thank you. 
  We’re done here, you second-rate hack.”
  Lyran stormed off, without responding to the talismonger’s pleas, which 
  predictably turned into indignant rage about the costs that had been incurred 
  to the cartel for retrieving the items, and demanding that she must pay up 
  for the goods she ordered. Just as she reached the doorway, she saw her body-
  guards raise their weapons, as gunﬁ re began rang out in the small garage. 
  Why do these things always happen to me?
  Like many early evenings in Bogotá, it was pouring rain down over the 
  war-torn city as three bullet-ridden armored vehicles, including one built for 
  transporting cargo, drove rapidly down the cracked and pot-holed street to 
  pull up next to a seemingly abandoned garage in Zona Norte. Stepping out 
  of the vehicle in the deluge, a female dwarf and six local runners that she 
  had hired to be her protection detail for this meet cautiously circled her, and 
  escorted her to the metal door of the garage. Immediately, the runners began 
  sending warnings to her commlink; they were being watched by the locals. 
  They noted that if things went south with, they could encounter an immediate 
  threat from the cartel’s local sympathizers. The runners went so far as to 
  assess the local’s capabilities; ﬁ ve conﬁ rmed assault riﬂ es, two sub-machine 
  guns and at least one grenade launcher. Based on the way they were armed, 
  the locals seemed to be in good with the cartel.
  “Let’s get this over with,” Lyran said, as she walked up to the heavily 
  grafﬁ tied security door, covered in anti-Aztlan slurs. Knocking loudly on the 
  garage, Lyran waited for the Olaya cartel representative to answer. She waited 
  patiently as a security camera pointing down at her from near the top of the 
  roof switched on and inspected the individuals waiting outside.
  “Buenos Dias, Senora. I am glad you were able to make it. Now, you and 
  only two of your guards will be allowed in. The rest of your entourage will have 
  to wait outside sitting in the rain, or there will be no deal.”
  With a nod to the team leader, Lyran directed most of her runner team to 
  hang back and guard the vehicles, taking only the leader and one of his more 
  cybered team members with her as the locks on the metal security door quickly 
  unlatched and the security door slowly pulled back, revealing an interior that 
  had been transformed from servicing vehicles and drones to serving as an 
  underground talismonger shop. Lyran made note of the fact that there were 
  two cartel thugs inside the garage with the talismonger.
   “Let’s see what you have for me,” Lyran said. Even before the middle-
  aged cartel representative could ask to see the payment, Lyran sent over 
  account information from her commlink, revealing an account with the agreed 
  upon payment of three hundred thousand nuyen, ready for transfer at the 
  successful conclusion of the meet.
  The older gentleman, with prison tattoos and scars all over his body that 
  told the story of a very difﬁ cult life, directed Lyran to the back ofﬁ ce that had 
  been converted into a walk-in refrigerator. “Your order is in that corner there.”
  Lyran quickly inspected the goods. Four mature wyverns, with mostly 
  intact hides. Their eyes were all intact, as were their teeth and their poisonous 
  stingers. The wyverns did not appear to have been dead for longer than a week. 
  Good. She then inspected the next set of items; six naga pelts. Again, they were 
  
  War!
  14
  
  15
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  back-room agreements and quickly absorbed by Aztechnology 
  into its business complex. During that time, there were also an 
  increasing number of local businesses that were either adapting 
  themselves to servicing Aztlan’s infrastructure or were becoming 
  subsidiaries of Aztechnology. Aztlan pesos were becoming as 
  common on the streets of Bogotá as nuyen. As the economic 
  infrastructure became more Aztlan-friendly, Bogotá saw a dramatic 
  increase in the number of residents who were becoming either 
  Aztlan or Aztechnology citizens, allowing them to take advantage 
  of the new economic opportunities that Aztlan was of ering to 
  them (i.e., your standard Faustian deal). It was becoming apparent 
  to most locals in Bogotá that if lef  unopposed, Aztlan would 
  completely assimilate the entire city of Bogotá and establish it as 
  one of its conquered cities within only a few more years’ time, in a 
  sort of peaceful coup d’état.
  > I wouldn’t say that what Aztlan and Aztechnology were doing 
  during that time was all that peaceful. From what I have heard, 
  many inﬂ uential people who had the cajones to spit in Aztlan’s 
  and Aztechnology’s faces and turned down their lucrative offers 
  were rumored to have been personally walked into the rainforest 
  by the Azzies and never seen again. And most of those suspicious 
  disappearances ended up being publicly blamed on the cartels, 
  meaning the murders were ofﬁ cially (and conveniently) labeled as 
  “drug-related.” Those that weren’t lucky enough to disappear in the 
  rainforest probably either ended up being used as blood sacriﬁ ces or 
  are still serving life sentences in one of Aztlan’s maximum security 
  prisons—good luck ﬁ nding them! There’s really no way of knowing 
  who is currently incarcerated in Aztlan’s prisons or how long they’ve 
  been there, as accurate record keeping inside those gulags has never 
  been one of Aztlan’s priorities.
  > Dr. Spin
  > I also wouldn’t believe any of the so-called police reports from that 
  era as well. If the majority of the city’s police force wasn’t already 
  bought and paid for by the cartels, the rest of it would have been 
  bought off by Aztlan and Aztechnology to carry out their dirty work. 
  Many of the police reports during that time contained more ﬁ ction 
  than you’d normally ﬁ nd in an Aztechnology and Aztlan “cultural 
  festival.”
  > Clockwork
  > Although it’s almost impossible to ﬁ nd accurate documents from 
  that time, ﬁ rsthand stories from the locals point to a handful of 
  people believed responsible for Aztlan’s great expansion into 
  Bogotá. The stories identify two corrupt Principal Mayors, ﬁ ve 
  former members of the District Council, and at least sixteen former 
  magistrates. Many of those who haven’t already been hunted 
  down by the Colombian Liberation Movement and executed are still 
  listed as missing. A few of the member groups from the Colombian 
  Liberation Movement still have active bounties on those people’s 
  heads, despite the passing of almost two decades. A few of them 
  are worth quite a bit of nuyen and may be worth pursuing.
  > Glasswalker
  > Bounties spanning two decades? I guess that goes to show just 
  how passionate these people in Bogotá can be.
  > Black Mamba 
    Posted by Snopes
  It amazes me how so many of these so-called news nets 
  have oversimplif ed (or in some cases, intentionally distorted) 
  the actual causes of this bloody war between Amazonia and 
  Aztlan for the sake of their under-educated viewer audiences 
  (who have the attention span of an Awakened goldf sh and who 
  generally lack the capability of thinking for themselves). If their 
  rudimentary understanding of this region and this war were to 
  be believed (and not laughed at), Amazonia was the aggressor 
  that initiated an unprovoked attack against Aztlan in the city 
  of Bogotá on November 13, 2072. T at single action, according 
  to those news nets, led Aztlan to declare full-out war against 
  Amazonia, citing its need to protect its national interests from 
  those types of aggressive acts (as if that single attack was any 
  dif erent from all the other atrocities and bloodshed that have 
  occurred between those two nations over the past two decades). 
  Then, in a tremendous coincidence, just a few days after the 
  of  cial declaration of war, Aztlan mounted a well-coordinated 
  and effective ground invasion deep into Amazonia territory 
  (almost as if that “unprovoked attack” was, I don’t know, already 
  a part of Aztlan’s timetable for this war). T e consequences of 
  that invasion continue into the present day.
  T at scenario, ladies and gentlemen, is outright bullshit. If 
  you believe that garbage, you probably also believed that f imsy 
  PR-line about Aztechnology “accidentally” bombing the capitol 
  building for Bogotá’s government in 2071 during its “noble” ef ort 
  to rid us all of the dangerous tempo (never mind the fact that the 
  aerial strike also conveniently eliminated a majority of Aztlan’s 
  most inf uential political enemies inside of Bogotá in one big 
  boom, leaving the city vulnerable to a hostile take over by Aztlan). 
  Well, here is the real pay data about what’s been going on with this 
  war and how it all started, data that isn’t littered by lazy reporting 
  and careless fact-checking or compromised by glaring omissions 
  or propaganda—that is if you are still interested in the particular 
  novelty that I like to call “the truth.”
  T e Amazonia-Aztlan hostilities have been brewing ever since 
  the late 2040s, when the two nations moved into and conquered 
  their respective shares of Venezuela and Colombia. When their 
  expanded borders f nally met around the city of Caracas, it triggered 
  intense f ghting throughout the disputed territory that lasted for 
  several months. Eventually, af er both sides had grown tired of 
  slugging it out with each other without gaining any signif cant 
  benefit or advantage from the bloodshed, the two nations 
  reluctantly agreed to a cessation of hostilities, with each nation 
  grudgingly agreeing to recognize their new borders (although a 
  few hundred dead soldiers each year from border skirmishes seems 
  to stretch the def nitions of “cease f re” and “non-aggression”). 
  T is agreement also of  cially established Caracas as a free city and 
  established a buf er zone between the two nations in the form of 
  Bogotá and its surrounding territory, which stretched into the 
  Amazon Rain Forest for several hundred kilometers. At that time, 
  Bogotá maintained at least some semblance of independence from 
  both Amazonia and Aztlan with its own functional (if corrupt) 
  government. But with Aztechnology maintaining a stranglehold 
  over Bogotá in the form of the Aztechnology Business Complex, it 
  was not surprising that as time passed af er 2050, more of Bogotá 
  fell under Aztlan’s and Aztechnology’s political inf uence. Large 
  swatches of land and property were procured through shady 
  
  16
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  opposition groups could not retake any of the sectors of Bogotá 
  that they had already acquired (read: stolen) until such time they 
  could stabilize the Yucatan Peninsula. Once that objective could 
  be accomplished, Aztlan of  cials anticipated that they could then 
  reassign additional military assets to Bogotá, which would f nally 
  allow them the resources necessary to overcome their enemies in 
  the South American city and fend of  any retaliatory strikes that 
  Amazonia would almost certainly level against them. And if they 
  could do that, they f gured that they could eventually secure the 
  entire city for themselves, along with the vast rainforest resources 
  that surrounded it. At least, that was the suspected thinking of 
  Aztlan’s of  cials at the time. 
  > So, what exactly did Aztlan do about their enemies? Aztlan isn’t 
  exactly a “wait and see and hope for the best” type of nation.
  > Elijah
  > Not everyone in Amazonia believes in the dragons or in their cause 
  to restore the rainforest to its natural state. Many metahumans 
  deeply resent the fact that they have been forced out of the forest 
  to live in very crowded conditions, in very speciﬁ c cities that have 
  been designated for metahuman inhabitation. Many of the laws 
  that Hualpa has established to protect the rainforest have cost 
  many metahumans their livelihoods and have ruined their qualities 
  of life, without any type of compensation. The harsh laws restricting 
  metahuman life in Amazonia have all but made many metahumans 
  feel as though they are second-class citizens to the rainforest itself. 
  Aztlan played off that sentiment, setting up paramilitary 
  groups to agitate and spread anti-Amazonia rhetoric. Although 
  at the beginning most of those paramilitary groups were made 
  up mostly of Aztlan spies and warriors and any mercenaries and 
  shadowrunners that they could hire, many of those cells went on to 
  win widespread popular support from various disillusioned factions 
  within Amazonia itself who desired to help Aztlan win in Bogotá out 
  of spite for Amazonia.
  > Kay St. Irregular  
  > As their numbers grew, Aztlan helped to arm and equip these 
  new paramilitary groups with advanced weaponry and surveillance 
  equipment. These new paramilitary groups became highly skilled 
  in providing vital intelligence back to Aztechnology on Amazonian 
  operations in and around Bogotá, allowing Aztechnology to 
  sabotage and end many of those insurgent operations that had 
  threatened to destabilize their grip on Bogotá.
  To stall their enemies even further, Aztlan also conducted a 
  series of assassinations of key members of the opposition groups 
  and tried to blame them on Amazonia. Although the smear cam-
  paigns ultimately failed to fool anybody as to who really was to 
  blame, those operations proved to be a successful delay tactic for 
  Aztlan, as the opposition groups were forced to reorganize their 
  operations, change their communications strategies, and engage 
  in various rebuilding efforts to recover from the losses of their key 
  personnel, buying Aztlan valuable time to fortify their interests in 
  the city.
  > Black Mamba 
  However, even as Aztlan waited for more favorable 
  conditions to develop in the Yucatan, yet another crisis developed 
  > Some of the wealthier families who lost family members during 
  Aztlan’s expansion into Bogotá continue to have considerable 
  standing rewards out for the return of the remains of their missing 
  family members. If you don’t want to get blood on your hands by 
  working with either of these two nations, you could get involved 
  in this fairly respectable work of tracking down remains. The only 
  downside is you would be spending long stretches of time in the 
  rainforest, shifting through possibly thousands of remains, and 
  enduring all the paranormal and mundane dangers that this 
  Awakened rainforest has to offer.
  > Glasswalker
  By 2055, local political organizations, religious groups, the 
  cartels, and paramilitary groups with the means and the will to 
  oppose Aztlan, including the Andes and the Olaya cartels, the 
  local Bogotá government, Bogotá Libre!, the True Brazilians, and 
  the Catholic Church, all began to lash out vehemently against 
  Aztlan’s covert activities. Tentative land and business acquisitions 
  that were being brokered behind closed doors were suddenly 
  exposed to public scrutiny via the state-run media, the Matrix or 
  other shadowy avenues, of en leading to massive political rallies 
  in the streets of Bogotá (we’re talking about over half a million 
  patriotic citizens in attendance at each street rally). Of en, those 
  demonstrations turned into violent riots against Aztlan forces 
  that eventually resulted in an immediate termination to those 
  negotiations. Death threats, sabotage, assassinations, and terrorists 
  acts were also directed toward any local businesses or individuals 
  who were looking to establish a new business relationship with 
  Aztlan or Aztechnology. For every single opportunity that Aztlan 
  seized upon to gain a stronger foothold inside of Bogotá, there 
  were five other opportunities that were sabotaged by these 
  increasingly organized factions, slowing Aztlan’s long-term 
  designs for the region to a tortoise-like crawl.
  Both the Aztlan government of  cials and the Aztechnology 
  Board of Directors were rapidly becoming frustrated over the 
  deteriorating situation in Bogotá. T ey knew the local opposition 
  groups would not relent in their resistance to their agenda, nor 
  would their idealism simply be bought of  like many of Bogotá’s 
  of  cials. Aztlan also realized these particular groups could not 
  be touched militarily without provoking a violent reaction from 
  Amazonia (Aztlan was already aware that Amazonia was actively 
  providing aid and supplies to the opposition groups, as well as 
  helping them to organize and wage a proxy war in Amazonia’s 
  name inside of the city). To compound an already precarious 
  situation, Aztlan was in the middle of expending vast amounts of 
  military resources f ghting the Yucatan rebels in the north, spurred 
  on by the massacre at Campeche in 2050 (yet another conf ict, 
  which, if chatter on the Matrix is to be believed, Amazonia was 
  meddling in). It was because of that political reality that Aztlan 
  felt compelled to avoid opening up a war on two fronts at any 
  cost (because, as you may very well know, both Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology have a long list of enemies around the world who 
  would have loved nothing more than to have taken advantage of 
  that particular situation). 
  So from 2058 to 2061, despite wanting to strike decisively 
  at their political enemies in Bogotá, all Aztlan was willing to 
  do of  cially in the region was to fortify its holdings, put down 
  any violent uprisings that occurred and made sure that those 
  
  17
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  the Colombian city. After a series of high-level, emergency 
  meetings in Tenochtitlan between the Aztlan government and 
  the Aztechnology Board of Directors, an urgent communiqué 
  went out to their personnel stationed in Bogotá on July 8, 2062, 
  directing them to scramble all available resources to developing 
  methods of fortifying Aztlan’s position within Bogotá against 
  superior invading forces “by whatever means necessary.” Toward 
  the end of 2062, the military and intelligence operatives in the city 
  did just that; they found a solution to their problem that took the 
  form of the Sangre Del Diablo tree in a project called “Operation 
  Pared Verde,” or Operation Green Wall.
  > Although most people don’t want to believe or admit that 
  Amazonia is inherently aggressive, I am here to tell you that there 
  is real truth to the rumors that Amazonia was in fact preparing 
  military strikes against Aztlan during the Year of the Comet, 
  including invading Bogotá. I personally knew a few Amazonians 
  that were going to be involved in the initial invasion wave. There 
  were even several border towns and villages inside Aztlan’s border 
  that were actually seized by Amazonia during that time, to gauge 
  Aztlan’s reactions. Given that Amazonia eventually pulled back from 
  Aztlan’s territory, it seems as though whatever Aztlan did around 
  Bogotá convinced them that a direct confrontation wasn’t an option 
  for them at that time.
  > Glasswalker 
  > Hey Glasswalker, is there any truth to the rumors that say that 
  while occupying those towns and villages, Amazonia carried out its 
  own form of ethnic cleansing? And that Amazonia has a lot more 
  blood on its hands than what we all suspect or know about? I know 
  a couple of people that would be very interested in conﬁ rming those 
  rumors, and would help them make up their mind as to who they will 
  support through this war, if anyone.
  > Pistons 
  > Given who I know, what went on, and the people that I might 
  endanger if I talk about what I know, that is not something I would 
  like to discuss openly here. Let’s talk about it ofﬂ ine.
  > Glasswalker
  In Operation Pared Verde, the Azzies discovered that the 
  Sangre Del Diablo tree possessed many unique properties that 
  would suit their needs well. T ey discovered that it was a tree 
  that was carnivorous in nature (yes, you read that right—tree, 
  carniverous), that would magically induce an unfortunate 
  individual to approach its base, where it would use its limbs and 
  branches to ensnare the passerby, and would engulf that would-be 
  victim in a corrosive sap. That sap would begin liquefying 
  the metahuman f esh on contact, and prepare it for the tree’s 
  consumption.
  In addition to the danger the trees posed to ground troops (to 
  both metahumans and paranormal critters—the trees do not seem 
  to discriminate in what they would eat), the Sangre Del Diablo 
  trees proved to be extremely durable, resistant to both magical and 
  physical damage. With enough of those trees entrenched around 
  Bogotá, along with deploying more conventional deterrents such 
  as landmines and drones, Aztlan and Aztechnology felt conf dent 
  that neither large numbers of Amazonian ground forces nor large, 
  for the nation up in the north, during the Year of the Comet. At 
  the end of 2061, Ghostwalker crossed through the Dunkelzhan 
  rif  in DeeCee. In the weeks that followed, Ghostwalker assumed 
  control over Denver as its “benef cent guardian,” and then kicked 
  Aztlan out of Front Range Free Zone with the assistance of the 
  Confederate American States (CAS). Any thoughts or plans that 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology may have had of using their military 
  to eliminate the opposition groups in Bogotá were scrapped, as 
  they were forced to scramble a hef y portion of their active and 
  reserve military units to key locations in the north to prepare 
  for a potential counter-of ensive in Denver to try and retake its 
  territory (a military operation that never materialized), as well as 
  positioned military assets near the Pueblo and CAS borders as a 
  deterrent to discourage the two enemy nations from potentially 
  taking advantage of Aztlan’s losses in Denver, and moving into 
  Aztlan territory to try and reclaim territory they had lost so many 
  years ago.
  As hostilities threatened to erupt along Aztlan’s northern 
  border, an escalating number of violent confrontations with 
  Amazonian guerilla cells and inhabitants along its southern 
  borders forced Aztlan to keep their attention and their resources 
  divided, preventing them from accomplishing anything of real 
  signif cance during that time frame. Between 2061 and 2062, 
  SURGE exploded throughout a vast majority of the native 
  populations on both sides of the borders. T is led many residents 
  on both sides of the border who were already highly paranoid of 
  their enemy to assume that the radical, physical changes caused by 
  SURGE originated from some unknown biological or chemical 
  agent that the other side had launched against them in some sort 
  of preemptive strike. Because of those fears, the hostilities between 
  both Aztlan and Amazonia ignited once more and expanded 
  throughout the area, reaching their highest levels within the buf er 
  zone around Bogotá since the two nations f rst fought over the 
  disputed territory between 2049 and 2050. Hundreds of people 
  were lef  maimed and injured, while thousands of others went 
  missing in the rain forest and were assumed killed during the 
  unof  cial f ghting between the two sides. 
  From the intelligence reports and the communiqués that I 
  have acquired and pieced together from that time frame, those 
  hostilities, suspicious troop movements, and provocative military 
  exercises that were being carried about by Amazonia during that 
  time had led several high-ranking Aztlan of  cials to fear that 
  even as they prepared to deal with Ghostwalker, Amazonia was 
  preparing itself and its forces to invade Bogotá and take full 
  advantage of Aztlan’s weakened presence in the city (a tactic 
  that Aztlan knows all too well). To complicate the situation for 
  Aztlan, a signif cant number of natural disasters, ranging from 
  massive earthquakes and tidal waves to frequent nature spirit 
  attacks, began to plague Aztlan in the Yucatan Peninsula starting 
  on March 15, 2062. As a result, both Aztlan and Aztechnology 
  were forced to deploy even more of their troops to deal with 
  the devastation and to contain the damage already done to its 
  infrastructure from the natural disasters.
  It soon became obvious to both Aztlan and Aztechnology 
  that their military assets were spread too thin throughout 
  their own country to successfully repel a full-scale invasion 
  of Bogotá from a nation with as many ground troops and raw 
  resources as Amazonia had at its disposal to bring to bear on 
  
  18
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  have the Diablos in the rain forest, in all of their overabundant glory. 
  If they thought their livelihoods were being threatened by a dragon 
  and his policies, what do they think the Diablo trees are doing to 
  those same livelihoods? And to ﬁ nd out that the nation that they 
  had fought for and shed blood for based on convincing lies turned 
  out to be the ones responsible for the spread of those deadly trees? 
  To me, that’s quite a betrayal from Aztlan.
  > Marcos
  > Assuming any of those groups are still around, I would agree with 
  you. If they were based in the rainforest near Bogotá when those 
  trees started to take root, chances are those trees completely wiped 
  out their numbers so that even if some of them still survived, they’re 
  probably in no condition to be a viable threat to Aztlan. I would guess 
  that any survivors have already been absorbed into other opposition 
  groups, such as the Colombian Liberation Movement.
  > Hard Exit 
  Although developing the Sangre Del Diablo trees into a 
  natural barrier proved to be a successful (and insidious) tactic 
  for Aztlan, it was a plan not without its share of consequences. 
  For one thing, the program itself turned out to be just a little 
  too successful in some ways. T e aggressive trees f ourished in 
  the Awakened rainforest and spread like an out-of-control wild 
  f re, going far beyond the boundaries of Bogotá and extending 
  much deeper into the rainforest than projected. There have 
  been repeated instances over the years where Aztlan troops were 
  patrolling through areas of the rainforest they had thought were 
  clear of the Diablos (and they probably were … months earlier), 
  only to wind up being eaten by the of spring of those same trees 
  that they themselves were responsible for planting (talk about 
  reaping what you sow!). Many roads, villages and patrol routes in 
  the vicinity of Bogotá have since become abandoned due to the 
  region being simply overrun by dozens, if not hundreds, of the 
  carnivorous trees, including the once vital Highway 50 that was 
  one of Bogotá’s main arteries.
  And since the implementation of this operation, the 
  trees have found their way into parts of Bogotá itself. Several 
  neighborhoods (including a few that, ironically enough, were 
  once occupied by Aztlan) have been made uninhabitable to most 
  of the indigenous people. T e few groups that have remained 
  in those infested neighborhoods, from smugglers, opposition 
  groups to the cartels, have had to adapt to the presence of 
  the Diablos by utilizing certain safety precautions, such as 
  the use of chemsuits and heavily armored vehicles designed 
  to limit visibility and exposure to the deadly trees and their 
  sap. All the occupied buildings have also been shuttered up 
  to prevent any accidental visual contact with the trees that 
  line the streets outside. But, in a war-torn city, even the most 
  diligent precautions aren’t always ef ective when vehicles are 
  attacked and are destroyed by drones and roadside bombs, 
  when chemsuits are ripped apart by gun f re and are rendered 
  vulnerable to the tree’s sap, when buildings are constantly being 
  bombed and when the local unban warfare tactics include 
  driving your enemies into those dangerous parts of town, and 
  into the clutches of the Diablo trees. In the end, if you are able 
  to avoid Bogotá neighborhoods that have been overrun by the 
  Diablos, it would be advisable for you to do so.
  armored units such as tanks and armored vehicles could easily be 
  moved into the city from the surrounding rain forest. And if they 
  tried, they could be assured that the losses Amazonia would take 
  in moving their troops through those death f elds would weaken 
  their forces enough to make a confrontation with Amazonia 
  winnable.
  > So what’s the big deal with these trees? I mean, can’t you just 
  carpet-bomb the hell out of the area from the air, and be done with 
  them? I’m sure against a few Thor shots, those weeds wouldn’t fare 
  up so well. 
  >Orbital DK
  >Given that Hualpa has devoted much of his time and energies 
  into protecting and restoring the rainforest, do you really think he 
  would sanction something like that? Even in the face of such rabid 
  trees? Besides, from what I hear, the cartels have already tried a 
  slash and burn offensive against the trees, particularly since their 
  cash crops, the coca ﬁ elds, are constantly being threatened by them. 
  And they have found something disturbing about them during their 
  efforts to eradicate them; that the seed pods of the Diablos are not 
  only heat resistant, but they become active when exposed to high 
  temperatures. By using any type of ﬁ re to kill Diablos, you’re only 
  helping them to spread. A majority of the time, you’ll end up with 
  an even worse infestation that what you originally started with. It’s 
  not a happy ecological situation in that part of the world right now. 
  > Hard Exit
  And so, throughout the rest of 2062 and into 2063, Aztlan 
  systematically germinated the rain forest with seeds from the 
  Sangre Del Diablo trees, under Operation: Pared Verde. Due 
  to the extraordinary growth fueled by the Awakened rainforest, 
  the seedlings of the Sangre Del Diablo trees developed rapidly 
  and within three months of being germinated were at an age 
  that they were able to start killing metahumans and paranormal 
  critters. At the very start of 2062, the Sangre Del Diablo trees 
  found in and around Bogotá were estimated to number as few 
  as twenty specimens. But by the start of 2063, however, there 
  were as many as a few thousand carnivorous trees that bordered 
  the city. And unfortunately, no one really knows how many of 
  those infernal trees there are in the region now, a decade later. 
  But through the planting of those trees as well as through the use 
  of other conventional military deterrents, there ended up being 
  no invasion of Bogotá during the Year of the Comet, or in the 
  immediate years that followed.
  > Leave it to Aztlan to take something that was meant to be a rare 
  occurrence in the wild, and cause it to become unnaturally abundant, 
  to the detriment of everything else around it. Altering a natural 
  ecosystem in this fashion, in an Awakened rainforest no less, is a 
  perversion and a heinous crime against nature herself. Aztlan needs 
  to be brought to justice.
  > Ecotope 
  > I’m sure those groups that sided with Aztlan before the Year of 
  the Comet feel like idiots now. They fought vehemently against 
  Amazonia because they weren’t allowed to work in or use the 
  rainforest as they had previously. But now, thanks to Aztlan, they 
  
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  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  > As Marcos suggested with what happened in Bogotá, there is a 
  likely chance that the spread of the Diablo trees in Amazonia was 
  no accident either. Many of the hot spots of the Diablos in Amazonia 
  occurred in 2063, around their mana power sites, as well as around 
  the various dens and lairs of their dracoforms and dracomorphs 
  that were strong allies of Hualpa. Very speciﬁ c growths of particular 
  trees in the wild are rarely that targeted without some sort of help.
  > Lyran  
  > That may be, Lyran, but I’ve only been able to conﬁ rm the existence 
  of this one project that dealt with the establishment of this barrier 
  around Bogotá. There were no other references made to any other 
  uses of the Diablo trees by Aztlan. It could be that the documenta-
  tion of any other such projects that the Aztlan and Aztechnology 
  military ran during that time using the Diablos has already been 
  destroyed. But it is an interesting notion and something worth 
  investigating. Just like trying to ﬁ gure out if Aztlan has any other 
  plans for the Diablo tree in the future.
  > Snopes 
  > One thing I would love to know is whether Aztlan has ever tried to 
  weaponize the sap of those devil trees. It seems to me that type of 
  biological weapon that liqueﬁ es ﬂ esh would work well on either a 
  small-scale delivery system, such as capsule rounds, or on a large-
  scale delivery system, similar to napalm. And on the plus side, that 
  sap could be considered environmentally friendly. 
  > Beaker
  > I don’t think all of the incidents of the trees coming into the city 
  were merely accidental. Even though Aztlan did lose a few of their 
  own neighborhoods to the trees, the opposition groups lost a hell of 
  a lot more ground than the Azzies did, more so than what could have 
  possibly been mere coincidence. And once some of these groups 
  were eventually driven from their safe houses by the trees, Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology were all too happy to hunt them down while they 
  were on the move through the city, and eliminate them.
  > Marcos  
  The other major consequence for the region was how the 
  aggressive Diablo tree turned out to be a highly invasive species. 
  The Diablo trees have displayed a remarkable ability to kill off 
  the other indigenous trees, fauna, and wildlife, taking over the 
  surrounding ecosystem and using the power of the Awakened 
  rainforest to fuel its own propagation. From the empirical 
  data that I have seen since 2063, nearly fifteen species of plant 
  and animal life which previously inhabited the rain forest 
  surrounding Bogotá, are now very close to extinction due to the 
  over abundance of these carnivorous trees and their insatiable 
  hunger. And reports on the spread of the tree show that the 
  problem is only getting worse, as significant numbers of Diablo 
  trees have also appeared across the border in Amazonia. This 
  only exacerbates the problem from Amazonia’s perspective, as 
  the ecological balance they are trying to preserve is threatened.
  
  20
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  point to overtly attack the central portions of Aztlan without 
  drawing the scrutiny and condemnation from the international 
  community and the UN (even as inef ective and worthless as that 
  may be). Once hostilities in the Yucatan had of  cially ended and 
  stability was f nally restored to many of the central parts of Aztlan, 
  many of these so-called news nets then predicted Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology would immediately carry out their decade’s-long 
  desire to bring its military might down to Bogotá to f nally claim 
  the Colombian city and rid itself once and for all of a problem 
  that had been a thorn in its side since at least 2050. Projections 
  from these same sources said that once in position, the additional 
  forces would agitate the already tense atmosphere between the 
  two nations and would lead to the proxy war that had been waged 
  on the streets for years to f nally change into a full-out hot war 
  between Aztlan and Amazonia within six months. However, 
  proving the news nets and critics wrong (yet another reason why 
  I don’t rely on them), Aztlan chose to move their assets back to 
  Tenochtitlan and instead, chose to send a diplomatic envoy to 
  Manaus, trying to end the support Amazonia was providing to 
  the Bogotá opposition groups diplomatically instead of militarily.
  T ere are lots of interesting theories on the Matrix relating 
  to Aztlan’s motivations for the peace talks. Some theories suggest 
  Aztlan was so pissed of  over losing its territory in Denver, that it 
  was willing to make peace with Amazonia in the short term to 
  allow it to focus everything they had on dealing with the ongoing 
  “Ghostwalker problem.” Even a decade later, Aztlan still has not lost 
  its drive to see retribution done for Ghostwalker’s “crimes.” Other 
  theories suggested that Aztlan was looking for a little good PR 
  to try to improve its global image. Some suggested that although 
  it was a PR ploy, the ultimate goal of the maneuver was to allow 
  Aztlan to do a little posturing and allow them to proclaim it was 
  Amazonia that refused to talk, and to paint Amazonia as the bad 
  guy in the news nets. Others suggested that the damage inf icted 
  on Aztlan’s infrastructure from the recent natural disasters and 
  spirit attacks that began in 2062 in the Yucatan Peninsula was far 
  worse than what any outsiders could have possibly realized, which 
  may have taken a serious toll on Aztlan’s ability to wage war. In 
  essence, those theories suggested Aztlan was looking to buy itself 
  desperately needed time to conceal its weaknesses from outsiders 
  (Amazonia in particular) and to recover from the crippling 
  disasters in order to rebuild its military strength for a fresh round 
  of hostilities in the far-distant future (which is always possible—
  the Big A always seems to have elaborate schemes, deceptions, and 
  plots that would put both Proteus AG and Horizon to shame).
  > Snopes failed to mention that another possibility for Aztlan’s 
  decision to pursue diplomatic talks in Manaus may have had 
  something to do with the fact that both Aztlan and Aztechnology 
  experienced a major political shake-up during 2064, when Juan 
  Atzcapotzalco was assassinated during the signing of the Yucatan 
  peace talks. The Aztlan president at the time, Flavia de la Rosa, was 
  quickly promoted to become the new CEO of Aztechnology, while a 
  popular Senator in the Aztlan Government at the time, Enrico Silva, 
  was elected in a special election to replace de la Rosa. From what 
  I hear, the way Silva and de la Rosa have chosen to handle things 
  have sometimes come into conﬂ ict with each other, and it took 
  some time to resolve those issues. One (de la Rosa) favors a more 
  heavy-handed approach to things in the form of sanctioning the use 
  > Beaker, please don’t give the Azzies any new ideas. 
  > Hard Exit
  When Amazonia discovered the overabundance of the 
  Sangre Del Diablo trees in the area, they were not happy at all with 
  the def lement of their rainforest. Sabotage and terrorist attacks 
  inside Zona Oeste, the Aztechnology Business Complex, and at 
  the El Dorado airport increased by over two hundred percent. 
  Car bombs and suicide bombings became regular occurrences. 
  Masked gunmen repeatedly snuck into the high rises in the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex and opened fire in sensitive 
  areas for Aztechnology, killing several high-prof le executives, 
  researchers, soldiers, Aztlan priests, biochemists, and engineers. 
  Disappearances of Aztlan and Aztechnology personnel reached 
  record levels, and many of the abductees were believed to have 
  been deliberately fed to the Diablo trees as payback. Two military 
  transports carrying three hundred Aztechnology soldiers collided 
  over Bogotá in February 2064. It was discovered later that the 
  planes’ navigational systems had been sabotaged. In retaliation 
  for the collision, Aztlan and Aztechnology sent in signif cant 
  numbers of ground forces (without the Bogotá government’s 
  consent) into the sections of Bogotá that were strongholds for 
  the various opposition groups (Zona Centrico and Zona Sur), 
  and captured ten metahumans that the Azzies claimed were 
  Amazonian intelligence agents who were responsible for the 
  terrorist attack. They were immediately given a show trial in 
  Tenochtitlan, and were publicly executed in the Aztlan capital. 
  (I should say ten were executed and close to two hundred and 
  f f y were massacred during Aztlan’s raid in Bogotá. I should also 
  mention that from the records I uncovered, only three of the ten 
  were actually Amazonian spies, and were actually guilty of the 
  crime. But hey, as they say, truth is always the f rst casualty of war).
   Bogotá officials at the time condemned the raid, and 
  vehemently demanded the Aztlan and the Aztechnology of  cials 
  who sanctioned the bloody raid to be tried for murder charges 
  inside of the local courts. But af er several long months had passed 
  without any cooperation on the part of Aztlan or Aztechnology to 
  meet the government’s demands, the only thing that the Bogotá 
  government’s complaints accomplished was to show to the citizens 
  just how impotent they were in dealing with the foreign powers. 
  And so, as the street clashes and the terrorist attacks increased in 
  frequency and drew in tremendous numbers of the population 
  that strained the Bogotá police force’s resources and threatened 
  the city with wide-scale riots, the rallying cries of the political 
  groups like Bogotá Libre!, who demanded a new government with 
  the backbone to stand up to Aztlan, grew much louder, and with 
  much more intensity. As expected, the Colombian Liberation 
  Movement saw its greatest gains in its recruitment ef orts during 
  and af er 2064, as the people’s faith in their government began 
  to falter.
  To f nally curtail the ongoing violence that was occurring in 
  its central sections, Aztlan quickly signed peace accords with the 
  Yucatan rebels and their feathered serpent leader, Pobre, on June 
  5, 2064. For Aztlan and its leaders, this was viewed as a positive 
  outcome. Though they lost the peninsula and allowed a new 
  nation to be formed from the remnants of the rebel groups that 
  were once violently opposed to it, the peace treaty was seen as a 
  way to prevent Amazonia from using this new nation as a staging 
  
  21
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  > The thing to keep in mind about Enrico Silva is: In his actual, 
  classified biography, and not the state-written, glossed-over 
  edition of a bio, he’s not only a highly decorated, retired Jaguar, 
  but he used to command the whole Battalion of Jaguar Guards 
  for Aztechnology. And he did so for close to twelve years, while 
  surviving several assassination attempts on his life in the process, 
  of biological and chemical weapons (such as in the Yucatan), while 
  Silva, a military combat veteran, prefers a more subtle approach to 
  foreign threats, such as the heavy use of special forces. The warrior 
  classes began to see a lot more action in the region when Silva took 
  over, especially the Otontin warriors.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  Urgent Message...
  BOGOTÁ TIMELINE
  2045-2048—Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, 
  and Nicaragua become states of Aztlan.
  2049—Amazionia moved into Venezuela and Colombia. 
  Responding to alleged calls for assistance, Aztlan moved 
  into what was left of free Colombia and made a stand. 
  2049-2050—Amazonia and Aztlan clash in violent 
  battles in Colombia and Venezuela. The two nations 
  come to terms in 2050, recognizing the new borders of 
  each nation, and a cease-ﬁ re is enacted. That cease-ﬁ re 
  also established Caracas as a free city, and Bogotá and its 
  surrounding region as a buffer zone between Aztlan and 
  Amazonia.
  2050-2055—Aztlan and Aztechnology begin to 
  methodically acquire land in Bogotá, expanding the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex. Aztechnology encour-
  ages local businesses to adopt Aztlan business practices, 
  acquires several as subsidiaries. Dramatic increases occur 
  in the numbers of Bogotá citizens who apply for either 
  Aztlan or Aztechnology citizenship to take advantage of 
  the new economic opportunities.
  2051—Rebellion in the Yucatan Peninsula turns into 
  open warfare. Aztlan develops large numbers of military 
  assets to deal with the situation.
  2055—Opposition to Aztlan’s and Aztechnology’s sys-
  tematic acquisitions of Bogotá become organized, groups 
  such as the cartels, the Catholic Church, Bogotá Libre!, True 
  Brazilians, and other members of the Colombian Liberation 
  Movement began to emerge as leaders of this opposition 
  movement. Many of these groups are secretly supported 
  by the Amazonian government, fighting a proxy war 
  against Aztlan.
  2061-2062—The Year of the Comet and its fallout. 
  Ghostwalker reappears in North America and conquers 
  Denver. One of his ﬁ rst acts is to force Aztlan out of the 
  Front Range Free Zone. Aztlan responds by deploying 
  military assets along the northern borders as a preventive 
  measure against the PCC and the CAS. Aztlan build-up was 
  also meant for a potential incursion back into Denver to 
  reclaim its territory, which never happened. Surge explodes 
  through Bogotá and the surrounding area, causing an 
  escalation in violence along the borders. Aztlan was faced 
  with ﬁ ghting multiple enemies on multiple fronts.
  2062-2063—Aztlan began Operation: Pared Verde to 
  germinate the surrounding rain forest with Sangre Del 
  Diablo seeds. Sangre Del Diablo trees react to the power 
  of the awakened rain forest and develop at an unnatural 
  rate. Within three months, the trees are capable of killing 
  metahumans and other paranormal creatures, offering 
  some protection to the city from a potential invasion.
  2063-2064—Violence continues to escalate when 
  Amazonia realizes the nightmare Aztlan unleashed on 
  the rainforest. Violence culminates in a collision of two 
  military transport planes carrying three hundred soldiers 
  over Bogotá. In retaliation, Aztlan sends troops into 
  Zona Centrico and Zona Sur to capture the Amazonian 
  agents responsible for the attack. Aztlan ships ten 
  accused prisoners to Tenochtitlan for trial, and they are 
  quickly executed.
  2064—Aztlan signs the peace agreement with the 
  Yucatan rebels and their leader, Pobre on June 5, 2064. 
  During the signing ceremony, a bomb detonates, killing 
  Aztechnology CEO Juan Atzcapotzalco.
  2064—Aztlan executes Dzitbalchén, accusing 
  him of being responsible for the bombing that killed 
  Aztechnology CEO Juan Atzcapotzalco. Rosa de la Rosa is 
  named as Atzcapotzalco’s replacement as Aztechnology’s 
  CEO, Enrique Silva installed as the new Aztlan President. 
  2064—Crash 2.0. Both Aztlan and Amazonia had to 
  scramble resources away from the Bogotá region to deal 
  with Winternight’s attempt at detonating EM pulse 
  weapons inside their most populated cities, as well as 
  deal with the aftermath of the Matrix Crash, including the 
  release of the weapon of mass destruction known as Ymir. 
  2065-2066—Aztlan and Amazonia meet in Manaus to 
  discuss negotiating an end to hostilities in Bogotá. 
  2071—Aztechnology, under Corporate Court and Interpol 
  authority, bombs Bogotá to strike at the tempo facilities. 
  Aztechnology would later go off target and began striking 
  at political enemies in the opposition movement, including 
  the Bogotá government. The National Capitol building is 
  destroyed, and the Bogotá government falls. 
  2072—Aztlan and Aztechnology attempt to divide the 
  city of Bogotá into two sections, the northeast and the 
  southwest with the “Transmilenio Line.” The plan ulti-
  mately fails.
  November 13, 2072—Amazonia sends in a black ops cell 
  to conﬁ rm rumors about a new Aztlan weapons program. 
  The black ops cell is caught inside the facility. Aztlan 
  declares war on Amazonia, and initiates a ground invasion 
  of Amazonia territory a few days later.
  
  22
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  had reached a new peace settlement that would help reduce the 
  violence in not only Bogotá, but throughout the region. And 
  I can tell you that almost everyone who knew and understood 
  the history of this region (myself included) was shocked by this 
  announcement. To tell you the truth, I still can’t f nd the actual 
  reasons why Hualpa and the Amazonian government actually 
  agreed to the new peace accords with Aztlan (pretty much 
  everything I saw in their agreement was bullshit; it seemed to me 
  that nothing in it gave a single, genuine reason why Amazonia 
  would overlook the animosity and the of enses Aztlan committed 
  against it over the years for the hostilities to suddenly end). Were 
  there concessions made by Aztlan that weren’t in the official 
  agreement? Was it an extraordinary amount of nuyen paid to 
  Amazonia from Aztlan? Were the nations still battered from 
  Crash 2.0, and was this a way to save face for both sides? Could 
  the agreement have been motivated by some covert prisoner 
  release? Could it be Amazonia’s way of countering Aztlan’s public 
  posturing, by signing an agreement that Aztlan did not expect 
  them to do? Could it have something to do with the alleged falling 
  out between Sirrurg and Hualpa? Or could it have something 
  to do with the rumors that Saeder Krupp and Lofwyr had been 
  secretly poaching enchanting materials from the rain forest, in 
  Hualpa’s own back yard? And perhaps Lofwyr became the priority 
  to Hualpa over Aztlan at that time? I just don’t know. And believe 
  me that realization doesn’t freak anyone out more than me. People 
  depend on me to f nd these things out. And I would like to think 
  I’m one of the best at it. But this time, I came up with nothing. If 
  anyone has any reliable pay data on this issue, I would be willing 
  to pay you for what you know. 
  > Being able to hide information in ofﬁ cial government documents 
  isn’t a new practice for Aztlan. This is from the nation that has 
  redacted several sections of its own constitution, for the sake of 
  “national security.” Even today, a vast majority of Aztlaners still do 
  not know what is all is in their constitution. 
  > Mr. Bonds
  Just as everyone could not believe that the two agreed to 
  peace, those same people (again, myself included) believed that 
  peace for the region was an unobtainable goal for such aggressive 
  nations that have shared a long history of bloodshed between 
  them, and that the peace would surely be very short-lived (long 
  live cynicism and jaded thinking!). And of course, that assumption 
  would ultimately prove correct. But surprisingly, this time around, 
  it was Amazonia’s fault (albeit somewhat indirectly) for the failure 
  of peace in the region.
  Amazonia is known for having one of the largest 
  unconventional militaries in the world (their military is broken 
  down into guerilla cells, not divisions and battalions like 
  Aztlan’s. T ese cells also lack a distinct chain of command, and 
  are typically kept independent and isolated in fear of Aztlan 
  compromising their positions or operations. Many of the cells 
  were also composed of individuals who think more along the 
  lines of predator and prey, and don’t take well to non-aggression 
  treaties). As such, when Aztlan and Amazonia announced their 
  peace deal, there were more than a few guerilla cells that simply 
  disregarded the agreement. T e members of those rogue sells 
  continued to provide material support for the opposition and 
  before being elected to the Aztlan Senate. Talk about someone who 
  knows how to work in a very hostile environment and thrive (or at 
  least survive) under pressure. Whatever he may have done during 
  that time, I doubt we will truly know the full extent of his and his 
  warriors’ actions while everyone was preoccupied with the unlikely 
  peace talks in Manaus.
  > Glasswalker
  > When Silva was elected as the new Aztlan president, everyone 
  should have known that war was coming. He immediately began 
  pushing Aztechnology to upgrade and retroﬁ t Aztlan’s naval ﬂ eet 
  as well as retroﬁ t their army and air force with state-of-the-art 
  gear and weaponry. From what I’ve heard, he’s got state-of-the-art 
  aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines being built in San 
  Diego. Since being in ofﬁ ce, he has been dramatically expanding 
  the various Aztlan warrior classes (the Ocelomeh, Cuacuahtin, 
  Otontin, and Cuachicqueh) by at least ﬁ fteen percent, and he has 
  been pushing to make the uniforms of both the Aztlan military and 
  Aztechnology much more similar, so that it is hard to tell from a 
  distance whether they are Aztlaner or Aztechnology (to perhaps 
  avoid another Operation: Reciprocity). To me, the only reason you 
  install someone with that type of background as your new national 
  president is if war is on your agenda.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  > If I were Pobre, I would watch my back. Not all those aircraft carriers 
  and submarines are meant for Amazonia.
  > Marcos 
  T ere are also the theories that suggest Aztlan genuinely 
  wanted stability in the region. T e instability was clearly making 
  Aztlan’s and Aztechnology’s presence in Colombia extremely 
  unprofitable and untenable. For as long as they have had a 
  presence in Colombia, Aztlan and Aztechnology have been 
  fighting a proxy war with a very capable adversarial nation, a 
  political idealism rooted in a fervent nationalism, and a powerful, 
  global religion that was diametrically opposed to its own religion 
  and politics. Undoubtedly, all the battles Aztlan has fought on all 
  those fronts have cost Aztlan and Aztechnology billions of nuyen 
  over the years. In my research, I have found conf icting evidence 
  that could be used to support more than one of these theories, so 
  it is really anyone’s guess of what Aztlan’s real motivations were 
  for this diplomatic envoy. But the diplomatic talks would soon be 
  disrupted by another global calamity—Crash 2.0. Both Aztlan 
  and Amazonia were forced to scramble a signif cant amount of 
  military resources back to their respective capitals, Tenochtitlan 
  and Manaus, to hunt down Winternight and its agents. Both 
  capitals were faced with destructive EM Pulse bombs, as well as 
  the release of Surtr nanites and the Ymir biotoxin that had killed 
  thousands of people and had incited mass panic. By the end of 
  2064, neither Aztlan’s nor Amazonia’s immediate priorities 
  included Bogotá, and the city saw some reprieve in the violence 
  that was playing out on the streets, as the resources that were being 
  spent to f ame the violence were temporarily being used elsewhere.
  Aztlan and Amazonia resumed diplomatic discussions six 
  months af er their nations had recovered from the Crash, and 
  they spent the next fourteen months negotiating behind closed 
  doors. In the middle of 2066, both nations announced that they 
  
  23
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Aztlan soon realized that it had an unprecedented 
  opportunity to finally lead a devastating strike against the 
  resistance groups and their Amazonian allies under the cover of 
  eliminating a major international drug operation (and thereby 
  preventing themselves from being targeted by another Operation: 
  Reciprocity from the Corporate Court or similar measures from 
  the UN). All Aztlan and Aztechnology had to do was to show 
  the Corporate Court and Interpol its research and intelligence 
  findings and convince both international organizations of its 
  helpful intentions. In the summer of 2071, Interpol and the 
  Corporate Court gave their blessings to aerial strikes that would 
  be designed as surgical strikes to eliminate the capabilities of 
  the cartels to mass produce tempo (I still want to know who 
  the Aztlan representatives bribed or who they slept with to get 
  both the Corporate Court and Interpol to go along with this 
  plot. Seriously, in hindsight, a joint government and corporate 
  task force, not including either Aztlan or Aztechnology, would 
  have been ideal for this type of operation and would have given 
  it validity).
  Immediately, Aztlan and Aztechnology used the approval 
  given to it by the two global organizations to build up their 
  military forces in the area, nearly tripling their military capabilities 
  in the region. It is, of course, of no surprise that Amazonia quickly 
  followed suit in what was tantamount to an arms race, and the f rst 
  stage of this new war.
  At f rst, the Azzie strikes were carried out on target, destroying 
  tens of thousands of acres of gameleira torcida fig trees and 
  Brugmansia fields, the vegetation used as key components of 
  tempo. Because the Corporate Court and Interpol both sanctioned 
  the operations, Amazonia could not do much about it (of  cially) 
  but watch from the sidelines. Weeks later, af er Interpol and the 
  Corporate Courts became complacent with Aztechnology and 
  they had lowered their level of supervision over the air strikes, 
  Aztechnology and Aztlan began to “inadvertently” strike at other 
  targets that weren’t a part of the original mission. T ey f rst took 
  out the Capitolio Nacional while Congress was in session, which 
  immediately created mass chaos and panic on the streets as the local 
  government had all but collapsed in the wake of the destruction 
  of its headquarters, and the deaths of almost all of their elected 
  of  cials. Aztlan proceeded to target specif c compounds for the 
  cartels within Bogotá that had nothing to do with tempo and 
  everything to do with their gun-running operations and their 
  explosive manufacturing plants for the resistance groups. T ey then 
  targeted known churches and cathedrals that the Catholic Church 
  was secretly using to provide logistical support to the various 
  paramilitary groups that had been attacking the Aztlan teocallis 
  and military infrastructure. Aztechnology targeted street clinics 
  and hospitals that were known for treating wounded resistance 
  members, as well as safe houses that Amazonian agents, spies, and 
  sympathizers were using for operations bases. Aztlan then bombed 
  the hell out of the Guaymaral Airport to ensure that it couldn’t ever 
  be used by either Amazonia or by the cartels, ensuring that its own 
  El Dorado airport would be the sole functioning airport for the 
  region. In doing so, Aztlan guaranteed that it alone maintained air 
  superiority over Bogotá and the neighboring territories.
  > There is still illegal air trafﬁ c going in and out of the disputed area 
  around Bogotá via smugglers. Smugglers will scout out clearings that 
  paramilitary groups operating inside Bogotá, as well as openly 
  attacking Aztlan whenever there was a target of opportunity. I 
  personally did my own fact checking on this, and I could not f nd 
  any creditable evidence to suggest that these cells were any way 
  provoked or tricked by Aztlan into continuing the f ghting (well, 
  provoked beyond the traditional antagonistic history these two 
  nations share), nor could I conf rm that these rogue cells were 
  secretly carrying out any black-ops missions for Manaus. From 
  what I have pieced together, those maverick cells were indeed 
  unsanctioned when they began their attacks against Aztlan, and 
  Amazonia simply allowed their people to have a freehand to cause 
  mayhem for Aztlan.
  Although Aztlan protested these attacks on numerous 
  occasions, Amazonia simply failed to ef ectively police its own 
  guerilla cells. Of course, it did hand over a few violators every 
  so of en to keep up appearances of cooperation for the sake of 
  the agreement, but it was obvious that they were merely handing 
  over individuals (all metahumans, by the way) who had little 
  consequence in the unsanctioned f ghting. T e leaders of the 
  major rogue cells were still lef  to roam free and to cause even more 
  damage. Even when Aztlan protested the activities to the United 
  Nations, the UN Security Council stalled on taking any action and 
  ultimately failed to act on the matter. By 2068, Aztlan gave up on 
  trying to convince the UN to intervene on their behalf, and once 
  again began looking for its own solutions to the ongoing violence; 
  violence that was also becoming exasperated by political extremist 
  groups such as Bogotá Libre!, which stepped up its opposition to 
  Aztlan by executing any alleged Aztlan sympathizers inside the 
  Bogotá government.
  Aztlan’s response to both the rogue opposition groups and 
  Amazonia came in the form of tempo. At the start of 2071, the 
  ghost cartels began peddling the new Bioengineered Awakened 
  Drug (BAD). The drug was pushed as the new, trend-setting 
  party drug for the club scene, a drug that promised to open up 
  new markets and expand profits exponentially for the cartels. 
  However, unbeknownst to them at that time, a serious side ef ect 
  of the drug included forcing the user to form an unwilling dream 
  pact with shadow spirits once they had a certain level of drug 
  within their system. Aztechnology and Aztlan began to unravel 
  the secrets of tempo in 2071, and they came to the conclusion the 
  dangerous trend needed to end as quickly as possible (or at least 
  that was the public response to it. T ere are many street f xers and 
  drug suppliers in the region that still claim that the David cartel 
  is still dealing tempo on the black market, and that Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology are ignoring it because it is their ally that is dealing 
  the drug and bringing in the nuyen).
  Because the Olaya and Andres cartels were cultivating tempo 
  in and around Bogotá, and due to the fact that local government 
  of  cials were turning a blind eye to the problem (af er all, the 
  Olaya and the Andres cartels were a major force in keeping Aztlan 
  out of the rest of Bogotá and keeping them in power), it was clear 
  that no local action would be taken to put an end to the tempo 
  production. Aztechnology intelligence reports (which I have 
  obtained and are available here) also indicated that Amazonia 
  was aware of the properties of tempo, and like the Bogotá of  cials, 
  they did not want to offend their allies in Bogotá, nor upset 
  their share of the prof ts they were receiving from the sale of the 
  Awakened drug.
  
  24
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  targeting Aztlan directly with their own members, who were all 
  experienced shadowrunners and mercenaries, but they were also 
  making contacts with the various street gangs and local tribes in 
  the area who were opposed to Aztlan. Up to that point, Aztlan 
  had not considered any of the street gangs or the tribes to be much 
  of a threat. T ey made sure they had enough street gangs bought 
  of  and loyal to them that they could call on them to deal with 
  either the rival street gangs or the local tribes should they become 
  unruly. But once Black Star began to intervene, the street gangs 
  and the local tribes found themselves armed with much more 
  sophisticated weaponry, and they received extensive training from 
  the anarchist group in how to carry out ef ective urban warfare 
  tactics against a superior force. Over the next eight months, 
  sophisticated attacks on Aztlan’s ef orts to build the wall doubled, 
  attacks that their military experts were not expecting from simple 
  street gangs and tribes, nor did they anticipate the sudden increase 
  of sophistication in the attacks. As Aztlan attempted to cope with 
  this new development and an exponential increase in casualties, 
  the opposition groups slowly resolved their issues with each other 
  (for the time being) and once more, started targeting Aztlan as 
  a cohesive force in their f ghting. It is my personal opinion that 
  the opposition groups still owe Black Star a debt of gratitude for 
  arriving when they did and slowing the process Aztlan was making 
  on the wall. T ings might have turned out much dif erently for 
  Bogotá had Aztlan gotten its wish and successfully segregated the 
  two portions of Bogotá. By May 2072, eleven months af er they 
  began the project and six months af er the project was scheduled 
  to be completed, Aztlan f nally gave up on their plans for f nishing 
  the wall, due to relentless attacks that killed dozens of their 
  engineers, workers, and soldiers, and sent the project way beyond 
  the scope of its projected cost (close to eight hundred million 
  nuyen to build one fence). Only approximately sixty percent of 
  the actual wall got built, and today, most of that wall lies in ruins.
  Even as the Corporate Court and Interpol demanded an end 
  to the bombings in 2072, the damage to Bogotá had already been 
  done. T e city’s infrastructure was in tatters, with no functioning 
  government to address the problems. Nearly seventy percent of the 
  city was without electricity or running water. Bogotá’s remaining 
  police force, without a functioning government to pay the salaries 
  its members, was either absorbed into the various mercenary forces 
  that were establishing a presence in the city as the prospects for 
  war (and employment) increased, absorbed into the local tribes 
  that they were af  liated with, or joined the various resistance 
  groups and cartels. Law and order on the streets (such as it was) 
  collapsed. Roads soon crumbled from neglect and the accelerated 
  growth from the Awakened rain forest, or they became cratered by 
  bombings, landmines and improvised explosive devices. Without 
  a functional local government to appease, Amazonia found it 
  easier to escalate their attacks with much more collateral damage, 
  specif cally targeting and assassinating key Aztlan f gures in the 
  region such as Rafa Espinosa, the former commander for Aztlan 
  forces in the region. New groups suddenly started emerging in 
  the city, from GreenWar to merc groups such as Met2000 and 
  Tsunami, and began assisting both sides in the escalating conf icts. 
  With all the violence that had seized the city throughout the years, 
  it was amazing that no of  cial declarations of war had ever been 
  issued by either side ever since the two sides agreed to peace in 
  2050. But that was about to change.
  can be used by aircraft to safely land. Sometimes, these clearings 
  have to be modiﬁ ed to make them work (i.e., killing off Diablos). 
  Often times, these clearings will only be used for a few days before 
  the smugglers abandon them to set up another makeshift landing 
  strip at a different location. This is due to the extraordinary growth 
  of the rainforest, as well as a security measure to prevent them 
  from being caught by either Aztlan and Aztechnology, Amazonian 
  forces, or by the cartels, if they aren’t already working for them or 
  giving them their cut of the action.
  > Aufheben
  > If you want to ﬂ y anywhere near Bogotá, you will want to be sure 
  that your plane is equipped with Improved Takeoff and Landing 
  systems (the one that gives you the Vertical Takeoff and Landing 
  capacity if at all possible), as well as lots of armor and Lock-On 
  Countermeasures. Since the war started, SAMs have been ﬂ ying 
  fast and furious down in this region. Your aircraft will not survive 
  without those modiﬁ cations.
  > Marcos
  As the intense bombing strikes were underway, Aztlan 
  attempted an ambitious second operation to expand its grasp on 
  Bogotá, one that would have constructed a wall along the former 
  Transmilenio Mass Transit System to establish the “Transmilenio 
  Line,” a heavily fortif ed wall that would have ran right through 
  the heart of Bogotá. T is wall would have eventually divided 
  the entire city into two sectors. T ose two sectors would have 
  become known as the northeast sector, where the Aztechnology 
  Business Complex was located and would have included the 
  surrounding sections of the city that contained the largest portion 
  of the Aztlan-leaning population, and the southwest sector, 
  where a majority of the resistance and the paramilitary groups 
  maintained their strongholds that had consistently frustrated 
  Aztlan over the years. T e northeast sector would have become 
  united under Aztlan control, while the southwest sector would 
  have essentially been handed over to the opposition groups. It was 
  Aztlan’s hope that this plan would increase in-f ghting between 
  the groups, who would be seeking to exert their own political 
  inf uence and ambitions over their sector of Bogotá, and they 
  would then become so embroiled in their own petty rivalries that 
  it would destroy whatever cohesion they had. In the long-term, 
  Aztlan hoped that a full civil war between the organizations would 
  have developed that would have eventually weakened each of the 
  organizations to the point that Aztlan could have rolled into their 
  sector several months or years later with their superior military 
  force and conquered the rest of Bogotá. T is plan was thought 
  of by many Aztlan of  cials as the f nal solution to the instability 
  in Bogotá, one that would have f nally taken away Amazonia’s 
  last area where they could ef ectively f ght a proxy war against 
  Aztlan. And at f rst, the plan seemed to be taking hold, as many 
  of the political organizations, many of which held incompatible 
  philosophies and political beliefs, began to turn on each other. 
  But while building the fence that promised to be this “f nal 
  solution,” Aztechnology failed to consider the possibility that 
  other parties might set up shop in Bogotá, groups that would 
  radically alter the scope of this conflict with the opposition 
  groups. An anarchist group called Black Star became active 
  within the city around this time in 2071. Not only was Black Star 
  
  25
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  assets to accomplish. Using either proxies or mercenaries in the 
  operation might be enough for Aztlan to call into question the 
  legitimacy of any evidence recovered from the laboratory, which 
  could raise doubt in the minds of the UN Security Council 
  members as to whether the evidence is strong enough to justify 
  sanctions and embargos. However, Amazonian of  cials knew if 
  they obtained it themselves and were able to document that the 
  evidence had not been tampered with, it could give Amazonia the 
  leverage it needed to get what it wanted from the UN. And so, on 
  November 13, 2072, Amazonia sent in one of its own black-ops 
  cells into the Aztechnology Business Complex with the mission to 
  recover all program-specif c documents on this classif ed weapons 
  program before destroying the laboratory and all living specimens 
  contained within it, to prevent them from ever being released into 
  the rainforest.
  T e operation, however, went bad, and the black ops cell 
  was discovered inside the Aztechnology research facility. A 
  running gun battle soon ensued between the Amazonia cell and 
  the Aztechnology security forces. T is gun battle lasted for close 
  to f f een minutes, and eventually lef  thirty-f ve Aztechnology 
  guards and researchers dead. By the time the cell hacked into the 
  nodes and accessed the data for the facility and discovered it was 
  a ruse, it was too late. T ere was in fact no weapons program at 
  the research facility, as the facility itself was actually researching 
  the healing properties of the Sangre Del Drago trees that had 
  manifested at the same time as the Sangre Del Diablo trees. T e 
  facility’s researchers were developing ways of artif cially replicating 
  the sap and its healing properties from the rare Drago trees, as the 
  Sangre Del Drago trees are far rarer than their carnivorous twins, 
  and a lot less resilient.
  > So, what’s the scoop on these Sangre Del Drago trees? Are they 
  carnivorous like the Sangre Del Diablo trees? And how are these two 
  different, other than their names?
  >Cosmo
  > When the Sangre Del Diablo trees manifested there was a 
  second, SURGEd tree that also emerged, the Sangre Del Drago 
  trees. From the outside, the Sangre Del Drago trees are practically 
  indistinguishable from their cousins. But on the inside of the trees, 
  there is a world of difference. One tree actually destroys with its sap, 
  while the other heals.
  In nature, there are animals and insects that mimic other types 
  of animals in coloration, usually disguising themselves as the more 
  dangerous, predatory, or poisonous varieties of their species. This 
  type of mimicry actively discourages predators from preying on 
  the weaker animal or insect, out of fear of being poisoned or killed 
  themselves. It is a remarkable defense mechanism, and one that the 
  Drago seems to have developed.
  So while the Sangre Del Drago tree is not carnivorous, it tends 
  to grow very close to significant concentrations of Sangre Del 
  Diablo trees. It won’t eat you, but there’s no guarantee that the 
  ten similar-looking trees around it aren’t looking at you as being 
  especially tasty plant fertilizer. And the only reliable way of telling 
  between the two (other than walking up to each tree and ﬁ guring 
  out which ones don’t want to eat you) is their sap. The Sangre Del 
  Diablo’s sap is a dull, crimson red, while the Sangre Del Drago’s veins 
  ﬂ ow with a red sap that glows vibrantly. There is debate in some 
  Toward the middle of 2072, certain documents I have seen 
  demonstrated that Aztlan had arrived at the conclusion that it both 
  wanted and needed full out war with Amazonia. T ese classif ed 
  documents acknowledged that there would be no successful way of 
  defusing the on-going conf icts in Bogotá without directly dealing 
  with the nation that was responsible for pulling the strings for the 
  opposition groups from the shadows. But many Aztlan of  cials 
  saw the prejudice that the UN had against their nation when they 
  chose not to act on the very valid complaints they had against 
  Amazonia. If a war started, both the UN and the Corporate Court 
  would actively look for ways to punish them for the war, no matter 
  the reasons for it. Aztlan feared that from the UN’s perspective, 
  if both sides had blood on their hands and it was Aztlan that 
  was involved, they would rather punish them instead of hitting 
  the politically correct, environment-friendly nation. In order for 
  them to avoid another Operation: Reciprocity, Aztlan knew that 
  it needed another tempo-like event that could be blamed solely on 
  Amazonia. T ey needed to f nd a way to provoke Amazonia into 
  taking direct action against them instead of using their proxies. 
  Using their history as a weapon, Aztlan found its answer.
  Utilizing its considerable intelligence assets, Aztechnology 
  allowed whispers telling of a new weapons program that was 
  allegedly being developed inside the Aztechnology Business 
  Complex to reach the resistance groups. T ese rumors pointed 
  to research being conducted at the Juan Atzcapotzalco Research 
  Facility that would dramatically alter several native species of 
  insects found in the area to give them a much more potent, 
  genetically engineered venom, and would make them carriers 
  of new strains of Aztlan-designed diseases. Without proper 
  treatment for either the venom or the diseases, a bitten or stung 
  victim would die quickly, in an extremely painful manner. T e 
  only ones that would have the anti-venoms and the anti-virals 
  to treat the genetically engineered venoms and diseases would 
  be Aztlan. The rumors also suggested that the new venom in 
  particular would be able to overcome most critters’ immunity to 
  normal pathogens. T e dramatic changes to the ecosystem tied 
  introducing these poisons, combined with the ongoing presence 
  of the Sangre Del Diablo trees, would undoubtedly shift the 
  balance of power in the region even further into Aztlan’s favor. 
  T ose rumors also suggested that Aztlan was only a few months 
  away from releasing these new insects into the ecosystem.
  Amazonia knew that it was on the clock, and its leaders 
  believed they had to strike quickly before this weapons program 
  could be implemented. But the nation also knew that Aztlan had 
  successfully tricked both the Corporate Court and Interpol by 
  using one agenda to hide another, so it wanted to be cautious. It 
  wanted evidence to support the existence of this weapons program 
  to justify its need for a preemptive strike. So it spent weeks reaching 
  out with its intelligence resources and hiring shadowrunners in 
  an ef ort to prove or disprove these rumors. Inevitably (thanks 
  to Aztlan’s counter-intelligence ef orts), a majority of Amazonia’s 
  intelligence assets seemed to validate the disturbing claims about 
  this new weapons program. Af er reaching the conclusion that the 
  program did in fact exist and that it posed an immediate threat 
  to the rain forest, Amazonia sanctioned actions to take out the 
  research laboratory.
  Due to the sensitive nature of the mission, Amazonia 
  realized this was not a mission that it could rely on deniable 
  
  26
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  nuyen per unit all the way up to 10,000 nuyen per unit. And Sangre 
  Del Drago can go as high as 30,000 nuyen per unit. Most of that is 
  because of the dangers inherent in harvesting these materials. I’ve 
  known good talislegging parties that have disappeared completely 
  in the forest surrounding Bogotá. Another interesting fact: although 
  you can continually harvest reagents from the same, living Sangre 
  Del Diablo tree, because of its frail nature, you can only harvest up 
  to three units of bark or sap from any one Sangre Del Drago tree 
  before you actually kill it and render the already harvested reagents 
  worthless. For the reagents to have their magical qualities intact, 
  the trees themselves must remain alive, at least until they are used 
  to enchant an item. Interesting, no? Adding to the difﬁ culty of 
  harvesting the materials from the Drago and the limited quantities 
  enchanters’ circles that there are slight, discernable differences in 
  the auras of the trees on the astral, but at this time I haven’t been 
  able to conﬁ rm that.
  > Lyran
  >So, what kind of value do these trees have on the black market 
  as far as reagents go? Why should shadowrunners be interested in 
  these materials?
  > Ma’Fan
  > Both the bark and the sap from Sangre Del Diablo and Sangre Del 
  Drago trees are considered exotic reagents. And they carry a hefty 
  price. Sangre Del Diablo materials can go anywhere from 5,000 
  SANGRE DEL DIABLO TREES 
  B A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W 
  M Ess Init IP
  16 4 
  2 
  12 
  5 
  3 
  3 
  6 
  5 
  6 
  5 
  2 
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 16
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 8/8
  Skills: Unarmed Combat 3, Perception 4, Intimidation 3, 
  Exotic Ranged Weapon (Sap) 4 
  Powers: Hardened Armor, Compulsion, Corrosive 
  Secretions, Engulf (Water), Immunity (Fire), Magical 
  Guard
  Notes: Engulf should follow all the rules for a normal 
  Water Engulf, but the sap also acts as an acid, attempt-
  ing to liquefy the target so the tree can digest the 
  victim. For as long as the individual is engulfed, he 
  needs to resist an additional 6P. The materials from 
  the Sangre Del Diablo tree (sap, bark) count as exotic 
  reagents. When used in enchanting a power or spell 
  focus, add +1DV to any combat spell that does physi-
  cal damage to a target that the focus is aiding (for 
  example, treat a manabolt spell cast at Force 6 as if it 
  had been cast as Force 7). This increase does not apply 
  to any combat spell that does stun damage. Sangre Del 
  Diablo trees are particularly durable. A talismonger can 
  harvest up to 15 units of reagents from a single tree 
  before the tree dies. If the talismonger takes less than 
  that from the tree, the tree will heal the parts of itself 
  that were taken, and replenish 1 unit of regents per 
  week. A talislegger can come back to that same tree 
  after the tree has healed itself up, and harvest up to 
  another ﬁ fteen units of reagents.
  SANGRE DEL DRAGO TREES 
  B A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W 
  M Ess Init IP
  10 3 
  2 
  5 
  6 
  3 
  3 
  6 
  5 
  6 
  5 
  2
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 13
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 4/4
  Skills: Unarmed Combat 3, Perception 4, Intimidation 3, 
  Exotic Ranged Weapon (Sap) 4 
  Powers: Armor, Immunity (Fire), Magical Guard, Mimicry 
  (special)
  Notes: The only defense the Sangre Del Drago tree has 
  against talisleggers or talismongers from tapping into 
  it for its extremely valuable materials is its ability to 
  convince them that it is a Sangre Del Diablo tree. These 
  trees are far more rare than the Sangre Del Diablo trees 
  and are known to live in dense groves of Sangre Del 
  Diablo trees, seemingly for their protection. A Sangre 
  Del Drago’s sap or bark can be used in two different 
  ways. The sap and bark are known to have extraordinary 
  healing properties. Applying the sap or bark to a physical 
  wound will aid in the healing of that wound (roll 12 dice, 
  each hit heals one point of damage from the wound). 
  The sap or bark can also be used to eliminate toxins or 
  cure diseases. Once applied, however, the material is 
  used up. When used in enchanting, any focus treated 
  with the Drago materials that are used in a way (such as 
  a spell) that causes drain on a body reduces the amount 
  of the Drain the character has to soak by a –1.
  Unlike their twins, Sangre Del Drago trees are par-
  ticularly frail. A talislegger or talismonger can only ever 
  harvest up to ﬁ ve units of reagents from a single tree 
  before the tree dies. The Sangre Del Drago tree lacks the 
  ability to replenish the materials that are taken from 
  it, no matter how long ago those materials were taken 
  from it. 
  MIMICRY (SPECIAL)
  Type: P Action: Auto Range: LOS 
  Duration: Sustained
  Similar to the Mimicry paranormal critter power, but 
  instead of producing sounds that mimic hunting calls and 
  speech, the Sangre Del Drago’s tree convinces a passerby 
  (visually) that it is actually its much more dangerous (and 
  far more common) twin, the Sangre Del Diablo tree. A 
  character would need to make a Perception Test against 
  the tree’s Charisma + Magic. Failure to meet or exceed the 
  successes on the tree’s test means that the character is 
  convinced that the tree is just another Sangre Del Diablo 
  tree, one that should be avoided.
  
  27
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  balance the scales between them. Yes, it is true that Amazonia 
  has four or ﬁ ve times as many paranormal critters such as dragons 
  working for them. But at the same time, Amazonia employs far 
  fewer metahumans in its guerrilla cells, due to their ideological 
  imperative that large numbers of metahumans are to be banned 
  from the heart of the rain forest. And many of the paranormal 
  critters that are ﬁ ghting on the front lines cannot take advantage 
  of state-of-the art (or even merely modern) military technology 
  such as tanks, LAVs, body armor or guns (which Amazonia also 
  bans from being used in their rainforest, which has all but depleted 
  their options for establishing a modern military). Technology can 
  be a great neutralizer when it comes to magic and numbers. So any 
  type of direct conﬂ ict between these two nations should be seen as 
  a gamble, because there is no guarantee for either side that they will 
  come out of it as the victor.
  > Glasswalker 
  > So where is Gaia in all this? Why bother kicking Aztlan’s ass in the 
  Yucatan, and then sit idly by as Aztlan threatens the rain forest? 
  That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Does anyone have 
  any answers as to why Mother Nature isn’t helping Amazonia out 
  this time around?
  > Ecotope
  > I have to be careful what I reveal about this, as I have contacts 
  actively working in the Bogotá region for the Catholic Church. 
  From what they told me, when the declaration of war was ﬁ nally 
  made by Aztlan prior to the invasion, nearly all of the major 
  teocallis throughout Aztlan were activated simultaneously. Many 
  in the church assumed that they were calling upon the much 
  rumored blood mage gestalt to level a major, magic attack against 
  Amazonia as a ﬁ rst strike. And perhaps those rumored high-level, 
  blood-mage initiates were involved in whatever great ritual those 
  temples invoked. But since those temples went active, there hadn’t 
  been any Amazonian locations that we know of that have gotten 
  nailed by blood magic. Coincidentally, at the exact time those 
  teocallis became active, that remarkable, accelerated growth of 
  the rainforest suddenly plummeted. Could whatever rituals those 
  temples are involved in be related to the suppressed growth of the 
  rain forest? And could they also be responsible for the noticeable 
  decline of nature spirits in the rain forest? Who can say for certain? 
  But it could deﬁ nitely be a sign that Aztlan is taking precautions 
  this time around to prevent Mother Nature from intervening in this 
  conﬂ ict as strongly as it did in the Yucatan.
  > Fianchetto  
  > The teocallis appear to have only been used to suppress the growth 
  of the rain forest and the nature spirits for only a short time to give 
  Aztlan an unexpected advantage at the beginning of the invasion. 
  The growth of the forest is returning to normal now, as is the 
  population of the nature spirits. But the damage from Aztlan’s rapid 
  advance into Amazonia territory has already been done. Amazonia’s 
  front lines have been broken in several places. It will be interesting 
  to see if Amazonia, now aided by the full magical power of the 
  rainforest, can reverse their fortunes in this war, or if Aztlan can 
  continue its push to Manaus.
  > Winterhawk 
  of the sap and bark is the tree’s rarity. Out of any ten trees in a 
  Diablo-infested area of Bogotá, you can expect that six of them 
  are likely to be Sangre Del Diablo trees. Three of them are likely to 
  be your average, run of the mill tree that has found some way to 
  survive amongst the Diablos. And then there’s the tenth tree. One 
  out of every ﬁ ve thousand times or so, you may be lucky enough to 
  ﬁ nd a Drago tree.
  > Lyran
  > So, what’s so impressive about the Drago’s sap? Is it even worth 
  pursuing if they are so rare and surrounded by those dangerous 
  Diablos? 
  > Elijah
  > I would say so. The sap can be used in two different ways. It can 
  be directly applied to a person, and do some powerful healing 
  on a particular wound. It doesn’t matter if the person has been 
  poisoned by Ringu, bitten by a Naga, or has suffered burns over 
  ninety percent of their body, the sap seems to counter it. Another 
  use the sap or the bark has is in enchanting. When foci are fused 
  with the exotic regent, any action taken using that particular 
  focus that is taxing on a person in the form of drain, the sap 
  from Drago tree helps reduces that burden on the body. It is quite 
  impressive. I personally am keeping an eye on Aztechnology. If 
  that research is genuine, and not simply a cover story, that would 
  be some serious pay data there in that lab that I wouldn’t mind 
  acquiring for myself. 
  > Lyran  
   
  When this raid became public knowledge, Aztlan used the 
  public backlash against Amazonia over the bloodshed in the 
  “unprovoked attack” to declare war on its enemy. Many accused 
  Aztlan of being the one responsible for spreading the rumors 
  that provoked the attack, but no one could prove that accusation. 
  Both the United Nations and the Corporate Court conducted 
  an investigation into the matter, but both concluded that there 
  appeared to be no conclusive evidence of wrongdoing on Aztlan’s 
  or Aztechnology’s parts. As such, both entities decided to take a 
  hands-of  approach to the conf ict, unless circumstances arose that 
  would force their hand for intervention. And that’s where we are 
  at now, ladies and gentlemen: war.
  > I have recently read several posts that expressed fear that Aztlan 
  might actually win this war with Amazonia. What kind of bullshit 
  is that? The rebels in the Yucatan Peninsula consistently fought 
  Aztlan to a stalemate for years, until the peace accords were ﬁ nally 
  signed. And during all that time, the Yucatan rebels had so many 
  fewer warriors and much less magical talent backing them up than 
  Amazonia has at its current disposal. In my opinion, Amazonia 
  should have just shown some balls, stopped playing puppet master, 
  and stormed Bogotá years ago. If they had, we wouldn’t be talking 
  about this now.
  > Danger Sensei
  > It isn’t that simple. In the grand scheme of things, Amazonia 
  and Aztlan are pretty evenly matched. They each have their own 
  advantages and disadvantages in different areas that essentially 
  
  28
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
  Now that you have been properly educated in the blood-
  soaked history between these two powerful nations, you may be 
  wondering how the war itself is proceeding. If the abridged news 
  reports about the region are so distorted, than what is the real 
  story about the war? 
  When Aztlan f rst invaded the rain forest, there were a couple 
  of things that took Amazonia by surprise. T e f rst was discovering 
  that the Awakened rainforest’s extraordinary growth seemed to 
  have diminished almost overnight with no explanation. T en, the 
  sheer number of nature spirits in the region seemed to diminish 
  as well, in exact proportion to the decreasing growth of the rain 
  forest. Before the f rst battalions of Aztlan’s military rolled into 
  the rain forest, Aztlan sent in a large wave of blood spirits to lead 
  the spearhead of ensive. With the disappearance of so many of 
  the wild nature spirits that the guerrilla cells were counting on for 
  support, the guerilla cells outside of Bogotá were caught of  guard, 
  routed, and driven by the blood spirits into groves of Sangre Del 
  Diablo trees. T e Amazonian guerilla cell members faced a terrible 
  fate—they were either drained by the blood spirits or consumed 
  by the Diablo trees in the initial invasion that numbered in the 
  several thousand. A true massacre. T e cells that weren’t caught 
  in the onslaught of the blood spirits were ambushed by what 
  appeared to be other Amazonian guerrilla cells. T eories abound 
  that these cells were in fact Aztlan intelligence agents who 
  managed to assume deep cover assignments in the rainforest. 
  > Those fake Amazonian cells were likely Aztlan sleeper cells. If they 
  were planted a while ago, say in ’65, while Aztlan sent its diplomats 
  to Manaus to “talk” and have gone undetected up to this point, the 
  damage they could have inﬂ icted on the Amazonian military could 
  be incalculable. They would have gained intimate knowledge of cell 
  locations, supply lines, infrastructure, and means of communication, 
  including encryption and codes. Scary shit.
  > Hard Exit 
  >That doesn’t scare me as much as make me wonder about how 
  many of those blood spirits in the opening offensive have gone free 
  in the wild and have become new predators in the area, thanks to 
  Aztlan’s recklessness in using them in a military campaign. Those 
  wild blood spirits can impact the landscape of the rain forest just as 
  much as the Diablos.
  > Man-Of-Many-Names
  Once the initial guerilla cells were thrown into chaos, Aztlan 
  mobilized and sent its aerial squadrons and heavy armored 
  battalions into the rainforest, sending the remaining battered 
  Amazonian guerrilla cells into full retreat. During the initial phases 
  of the invasion, Aztlan seized upon the opportunity to take several 
  thousand Amazonian warriors captive for intelligence-gathering 
  purposes, even as it succeeded in cutting communication between 
  the various cells that wreaked even more havoc on the front lines. 
  Many of the Amazonian prisoners of war have been sent to several 
  undisclosed Aztlan POW camps that are believed to be operating 
  inside of Colombia. 
  HEROES (OR VILLAINS) OF THE WAR
  Posted by Dr. Spin
  In every war, there are individuals who distinguish 
  themselves in their services to their nations. These 
  individuals are seen as heroes to their own nation, and 
  villains by the enemy. These are the soldiers that (in a 
  conventional army) wear the most medals and deco-
  rations on their chests, and have the most conﬁ rmed 
  kills. And these are the people most often targeted for 
  extractions or assassinations by mercenaries or shad-
  owrunners in pursuit of the large bounties placed on 
  their heads by the enemy. 
  AMAZONIA
  M’Boi. An elusive ﬁ gure in Amazonian intelligence, 
  M’Boi is believed to be an Elder Lindworm of consider-
  able power. Captured Aztlan intelligence reports on 
  M’Boi suggests that during the war, he has served in 
  the role of envoy (and occasionally enforcer) between 
  Hualpa and the various dracoforms and dracomorphs 
  scattered throughout Amazonia. Dracoforms, like 
  metahumans, have their own agendas and their own 
  desires. Living in Amazonia does not guarantee that all 
  dracoforms in the rainforest will choose to ﬁ ght in the 
  war, choose to continue ﬁ ghting, or choose to ally them-
  selves with Hualpa. M’Boi, according to Aztlan, is known 
  for making sure the dracoforms are either currently 
  active in the war, remain motivated to ﬁ ght on the front 
  lines, or will soon become active in the war. There were 
  a couple of instances were the dracoforms conducted 
  raids on Aztlan interests, but in doing so they inﬂ icted 
  tremendous collateral damage on the rainforest itself. 
  A few days later, bodies of those same dracoforms 
  involved in those raids were found dead, killed by other 
  dracoforms. The same fate fell upon another dracoform 
  found to be leaking secrets to Aztlan. M’Boi may have 
  played a pivotal role in learning about Sirrurg’s plans for 
  Cali before the attack was launched, and he also worked 
  to marshal the Amazonian forces around Cali, so that 
  once the attack occurred, Amazonia could force their 
  way into the city with superior forces and take it.
  Alejandro Tepevolloti. Aztlan has particularly 
  good reason to hate Tepevolloti. For years, Alejandro 
  Tepevolloti, a jaguar shapeshifter, served as one of 
  their elite Otontin warriors before defecting to the Deep 
  Green terrorist group known as Primeira Vaga in 2063. 
  Alejandro Tepevolloti has since been active in Bogotá, 
  causing trouble for Aztlan, both in the city and in the 
  rain forest. Tepevolloti typically acts in the service of 
  Primeira Vaga, but often, when the group’s agenda and 
  goals mesh with Amazonia’s, Tepevolloti will actively 
  aid Amazonia. Several of Aztlan’s military campaigns 
  in the rainforest were believed to have been lost due 
  to Tepevolloti providing intimate knowledge of Aztlan 
  military procedures to Amazonia forces and training the 
  troops on how to counter them. 
  continued page 28
  
  29
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  the canal currently remains closed due to relentless sabotage 
  from mercenaries and shadowrunners that have repeatedly killed 
  the engineers and the construction workers that were in the 
  process of rebuilding the locks. T is attacks are believed to have 
  cost Aztlan and Aztechnology billions of nuyen in lost revenue, 
  and has also potentially scared away dozens clients from using 
  the Nicaragua Canal while the war continues, leading to some 
  preliminary to re-open the Panama Canal as an alternative. It 
  will be interesting to see how this attack af ects the overall war, 
  But before you lose all hope if you are a supporter of 
  Amazonia, you should remember that although Aztlan’s ability 
  to route Amazonian ground forces has proven to be disturbingly 
  ef ective, Amazonia is also managing to inf ict serious damage 
  of its own inside Aztlan itself. On December 28th, mercenaries 
  working for Amazonia set of  sympathetic explosions throughout 
  the Nicaragua Canal. Damage to the canal was catastrophic and 
  forced the canal to be shut down. Although Aztlan had originally 
  pledged to get the canal up and running again within two weeks, 
  In addition, Tepevolloti has uncovered several of 
  Aztlan’s deep cover spies, leading them to being executed 
  by Amazonian forces. Alejandro Tepevolloti is actively 
  wanted by Aztlan for treason. He is the only Otontin 
  warrior ever to defect from the ranks and turn traitor.
  [Unknown individual(s) impacting minds]. No 
  matter how armored the soldier is, or the high tech gear 
  he carries, the solider is still vulnerable when it comes 
  to his mind. Even in 2073, soldiers still experience what 
  is still commonly referred to as Post Traumatic Stress 
  Disorder. This mental condition, triggered by exposure to 
  the brutal and inhumane consequences of war, can render 
  even the most battle-hardened soldier unﬁ t for combat. 
  And there is still no method to accurately predict which 
  soldiers would become prone to this condition, as onset 
  of this condition does not generally impact every soldier, 
  or even occurs at the same time. However, approximately 
  a month ago, classiﬁ ed Aztlan documents have reported 
  that whole platoons of Aztlan soldiers have become 
  inflicted with this mental condition, almost simulta-
  neously. The onset of the mental condition has been 
  severe in all cases. Many of the soldiers inﬂ icted by this 
  condition while in the rainforest have failed to return to 
  base, as they were incapable of dealing with the horrors 
  found in the deep jungle. Those that did ﬁ nd their way 
  back to Aztlan lines were shipped back to Tenochtitlian 
  for examination and treatment. The general consensus 
  of the medical teams treating the soldiers found that 
  the condition was artiﬁ cally introduced into the soldiers, 
  almost as if someone had shredded their minds with 
  magic, and severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was the 
  consequence of the attack. So far, no known treatment, 
  either mundane or magical, has successfully allowed the 
  surviving victims to return to the front lines. Many of the 
  soldiers have been so traumatized that rational conversa-
  tion with them has been practically impossible. However, 
  Aztlan currently has assigned specialized, magical units 
  to patrol those areas, and to hunt for the cause of the 
  artiﬁ cial mental condition. It is assumed that whoever or 
  whatever is behind the attacks or working in Amazonia’s 
  interests, as no such incidents have been reported in 
  Amazonia’s lines. 
  AZTLAN
  Celeste Vargas. As the Vicar General for the Path of 
  the Sun, Celeste Vargas has always maintained a seat of 
  power within the Aztlan religion (as well as being an inﬂ u-
  ential ﬁ gure with the Aztlan government). Now that Aztlan 
  President Silva has tried to distance himself from the state 
  religious leaders, Vargas has become even more powerful. 
  Vargas has been responsible for overseeing the training 
  of the Awakened in the military and ensuring that they 
  became nahualli. It has been Vargas’ responsibility to keep 
  an eye on the magical practices of Amazonia, using the 
  Path of the Sun religion to counter the use of those magics. 
  It is believed by some that Vargas was the one responsible 
  for designing the ritual used to suppress the rainforest’s 
  regenerative abilities and its nature spirit population. She 
  has regularly passed on intelligence to the Jaguars and to 
  the Leopards. It is rumored that the Vicar General is a blood 
  mage with close ties to a particular unit on the front lines 
  called the Blood Daggers. She is believed to be working to 
  discover locations of power sites and identities of high level 
  initiates in the Amazonian military.
  Rafael Guzman. Major Rafael Guzman is the com-
  manding ofﬁ cer of the Blood Daggers, a highly specialized 
  and covert unit in the Aztechnology military (many mili-
  tary documents don’t even acknowledge its existence). 
  It is believed that this unit is composed of nothing but 
  Awakened individuals, and more speciﬁ cally, blood mages, 
  and that it contains at least thirty members. Although the 
  Blood Daggers generally carry out any Special Ops mis-
  sions that Tenochtitlan asks of it, Major Guzman and the 
  Blood Dagger’s primary mission is rumored to be hunting 
  high-level Amazonian initiates on the frontlines.
  Araceli Perea. Major Araceli Perea is unique amongst 
  the Leopard Guards. Whereas most Leopard Guards are 
  heavily cybered or adepts, Major Perea is a high initiate 
  mage. She commands a detachment of Leopard Guards 
  in Bogotá. It is rumored that her detachment makes trips 
  into the metaplanes, hunting spirits that are strong allies 
  for Amazonia. They’re tasked with learning their true 
  names or obtaining their spirit formulas and destroying 
  those spirits in their native plane so that they cannot 
  be reappear in a month’s time to aid their enemy. Major 
  Perea’s detachment is commonly viewed as one of the 
  most hard-core detachments in the Leopard Guard corps. 
  It is believed that Perea and her detachment have perma-
  nently destroyed close to sixty spirits.
  
  30
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  in honoring those demands made by the international (read: 
  metahuman) community. And predictably, in 2073, Sirrurg 
  once again resurfaced. T e f rst appearance he had made in years 
  was in an attack on the Aztlan military base in Cali in January. 
  And he wasn’t alone. Trid recordings of the incident showed 
  him leading a large-scale attack, composed of a half dozen other 
  feathered serpents, a dozen or so wyverns, and a large horde of 
  drakes, spirits, lindworms as well as various well-known (some say, 
  infamous) members of GreenWar and mercenaries for hire. T e 
  overwhelming surprise attack on the military base turned into an 
  Aztlaner bloodbath.
  T e locals reported that the attack lasted for three straight 
  hours. Tens of thousands of rounds were f red during that time, 
  and many were f red randomly at the airborne attackers, which 
  ended up doing more damage to the city than the actual attackers. 
  Tanks were heard f ring their salvos at the dragons. Hundreds of 
  mortars were f red. T e thousands of Aztlan soldiers who were 
  stationed at the base sought in vain for some type of sanctuary 
  from the rage and the destruction that bore down upon them, but 
  found none as they were torn into pieces by the raging dracoforms. 
  Some of the security footage, hacked from the base’s nodes and 
  released on the Matrix, showed that several dozen Aztlan soldiers, 
  af er it had become apparent that they were f ghting a hopeless 
  battle, tried to surrender to the feathered serpent’s forces. In the 
  trid footage, the surrendering soldiers were massacred at Sirrurg’s 
  whim, and the big lizard indicated no interest in showing mercy to 
  the metahumans. All the buildings on the base were ripped apart 
  and lef  in shambles. Pieces of metahuman bodies were lef  to rot. 
  and whether it will drive Aztlan to try to end the hostilities in 
  an expedited fashion.
  > Has anyone considered that it might not have been Amazonia 
  behind those attacks, but perhaps another interested party? I’d 
  check to see who’s pushing the Panama Canal recovery effort—
  someone thinks there’s money to be made there.
  > Picador
  > Maybe some Corporate Court members are maneuvering to get 
  Panama re-opened, but on the whole they’d much rather see the 
  Nicaragua Canal return to full functionality. It’s more modern, 
  can handle bigger ships, and in general the corps had become 
  accustomed to using it. This attack has long-term economic 
  ramiﬁ cations for many on the Corporate Court, and I wouldn’t be 
  surprised if those corporations will start pushing harder for peace 
  negotiations in the region the longer the Nicaragua Canal is down.
  > Cosmo
  T en there is the matter of Sirrurg, the extremist dragon 
  (or “the Destroyer” if you prefer). When he was not out earning 
  his nickname, most notably with the destruction of EuroAir 
  Flight 329 in 2041, he was associating himself with the likes of 
  eco-terrorist groups such as GreenWar and Primeira Vaga. For 
  years, Sirrurg has been hiding from public scrutiny. Many in the 
  international community wanted him to be held accountable for 
  various terrorist activities that he personally engaged in. Neither 
  the Great Dragons nor Amazonia, however, have been interested 
  
  31
  War!
  BOGOTÁ HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  situation with Sirrurg, to try to dif use the situation. If my sources 
  are accurate, she might be planning on publically condemning 
  Sirrurg’s actions, and giving her blessing to the UN to indict 
  Sirrurg on war crimes and crimes against metahumanity. If those 
  sources are reliable, those actions by Hestaby will be huge.
  >Huge is a gross understatement. Try more along the lines of seismic. 
  One of the things we’ve noticed about Great Dragons is that they 
  will not speak ill about their kind in public. Not at all. And they would 
  never force one of their kind to be held accountable to metahuman 
  laws. Especially not after what Aztlan did to Dzitbalchén. If Hestaby 
  goes to the UN, it will be unprecedented. It could also create a deep 
  division amongst the Great Dragons, between those that lean pro-
  metahuman and those that are staunchly anti-metahuman. Who 
  knows what the consequences of that would be.
  > Frosty
  > What about Hualpa? What is his take on things with Sirrurg?
  > Cosmo
  >It would appear the great feathered serpent is still toeing the party 
  line with his draconic code of silence. That is sad, because if he did 
  speak up against Sirrurg, it could have been enough to rein him in. 
  As it is, we have a rogue dragon willing to do anything in a very 
  unstable environment to achieve his objectives. I don’t have to be 
  Awakened to foresee that this explosive combination could lead to 
  disaster for all of us.
  >Dr. Spin
  >Forget about Hualpa. As far as I know, Hualpa isn’t a follower of 
  the toxic path. Pobre, on the other hand, is a different story. From 
  things I have heard about his erratic behavior in the Yucatan during 
  their rebellion against Aztlan, there is a good chance that dragon 
  has gone toxic. I want to know who’s keeping tabs on him, whether 
  an alliance between him and Sirrurg actually happened, and whether 
  it is still in existence.
  >Marcos  
  With all the attacks Amazonia has been leading against Aztlan 
  in other parts of its country, it is not surprising to learn that Aztlan 
  is organizing its own special forces units and are preparing to 
  expand the scope of the conf ict into the many cities of Amazonia. 
  Although nothing is for certain, contacts of mine have indicated that 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology are gearing up to begin manufacturing 
  large quantities of Ringu or acquire it on the black market. It is 
  still unclear to me whether or not the Ringu would be used in 
  one massive attack, or used in simultaneous attacks throughout 
  Amazonia. Apparently, the UN has also learned of this plan and has 
  urged Aztlan to show restraint, pledging “devastating consequences” 
  to the nation if any weapons of mass destruction are used. T is is 
  just my opinion and my observation of the situation, but if use of 
  the chemical weapon of mass destruction were to be authorized by 
  Aztlan, it would be in Manaus, the national capital of Amazonia, 
  which also happens to be where Hualpa, Arleesh, and Sirrurg have 
  lairs. It would make sense for Aztlan to release the Ringu within that 
  population, to give the dragons a huge gesture that screams “fuck 
  you!” Such an act could prolong this war for years, and perhaps 
  result in a war that won’t end until one nation is utterly wiped out.
  By the time reinforcements reached the base, Aztlan had lost up 
  to f ve thousand troops and tens of millions of nuyen worth of 
  military equipment.
  Unfortunately the casualties would not be limited to the 
  Aztlan base, as Sirrurg chose to cast one f nal spell before leaving 
  Cali. Drone and security cameras, at 12:58 pm on January 18, 
  2073, caught a brilliant f ash of blue light that enveloped a great 
  portion of the business districts of the city. When exposed to the 
  blast, people in the blast radius simply dropped dead. It didn’t 
  matter what metatype they were or even how old they were; they 
  just dropped. None of the structures or any of the plant life in the 
  area seemed af ected. It took weeks just to f gure out how many 
  people died, but the f nal tally said that in those few seconds, close 
  to another ten thousand people died from the magical assault. 
  > From what I have learned, I can speculate that the magic Sirrurg used 
  was either fueled by or was tied directly into his inherent ability to alter 
  fate. I have acquired many of the autopsy ﬁ les of the people that died 
  in that attack (including a couple of close friends), and it seems as 
  though each person died of a speciﬁ c condition that they would have 
  eventually died from based on their genetic proﬁ les. We’re talking 
  about the sudden onset of heart attacks in people who were otherwise 
  currently healthy, aneurysms that previously there were no signs of 
  a weakness in those arteries, respiratory disorders, cancers, genetic 
  disorders; conditions and diseases that were not an immediate problem 
  for the person but could have become a problem in the future had those 
  genetic conditions not been treated. This magic abruptly triggered and 
  accelerated all these conditions in all those people. Simultaneously. And 
  no one was immune from those effects, not even newborn children that 
  had just barely begun their lives.
  >Frosty
  > The loss of life in that attack is staggering but some good did come 
  out of it. In all the chaos, Amazonia forces crossed the border and 
  entered Cali a few days after this devastating attack. Aztlan had 
  not had the time to completely recover from the loss and was easily 
  forced out. Cali has become the ﬁ rst major city in this war to fall to 
  Amazonia. And Amazonia is digging in.
  > Hard Exit
  Sirrurg wasn’t still wasn’t done. Two months later, Sirrurg 
  and his forces reemerged in Managua, and they tore into a 
  significant portion of the industrial infrastructure. Factories, 
  farms and ranches, ore-smelting plants, strip mines, and drone 
  factories were simply obliterated. Because Monterrey is not 
  considered a prime military target, the standing security and 
  military forces in the city to resist the attack were inadequate. 
  Sirrurg didn’t stop at destroying the facilities, but also butchered 
  the (innocent?) workers who labored in those facilities. Hundreds 
  died in Sirrurg’s attack, hundreds of lives lost that most nations 
  around the world condemned as not being valid targets under the 
  United Nations’ rules of engagement during wartime. Because of 
  Sirrurg’s actions, anti-dragon sentiment has been rising across the 
  globe, being fueled by groups like Humanis. Rumors are f ying fast 
  and furious right now that suggest Hestaby, one of the most well 
  known advocates for establishing pro-metahuman relationships 
  and championing metahuman causes amongst the known Great 
  Dragons, is considering speaking to the United Nations about the 
  
  War!
  32
  Aztlan. It is clear that the church’s goals are not served by support-
  ing them. And your newfound relationship with them is troubling. 
  We want to make sure that our supplies do not make it to them.”
  The young man snarled. “Padre, you need to realize that the 
  Saviors for Bogotá do not share their philosophies. If we did, we 
  wouldn’t be sharing this pleasant conversation. But practical con-
  cerns have made an alliance with them absolutely necessary. They 
  have access to shamans that can provide magical healing.”
  “So do we.”
  “However, your resources are made available to us every couple 
  of months, if we’re lucky. We can call upon them when we need it. 
  Plus, not counting yourself, the church’s ranks are fairly thin when 
  it comes to metahumans, speciﬁ cally trolls and orks. We sometimes 
  need that type of muscle for our missions.”
  “You are provided a stipend to help in those affairs. There are 
  countless mercs and shadowrunners in town looking for nuyen. You 
  should not need to go to the Colombian Guard for those services, 
  when those mercs are available to perform the same services.”
  Hobre Caiman shook his head. “Padre, you do not understand 
  the practical aspects of the street. Since we are locals, the Colombian 
  Guard charges us much less for their services than would any out-
  side outﬁ t. Sometimes, we can get things done simply by bartering 
  with them. That’s called patriotism. And by using them, we can use 
  your stipend for more supplies—more guns, more ammo and more 
  medical supplies. It’s called maximizing our resources.”
   “I understand where you’re coming from, but I cannot allow 
  goods that are meant to ﬁ ght Aztlan to wind up in Colombian 
  Guard’s hands so that they can be used against us. No, until your 
  organization severs its ties with the Colombian Guard, you shall 
  receive no more aid from us. I would suggest ﬁ nding another local 
  group to do business with.”
  With a nod from Hombre Caiman, two guards in the 
  room drew their weapons and pointed them at Father Veritas. 
  “Unfortunately, Padre, with that being the case, we have a problem. 
  I need those supplies, and you will authorize them to be released to 
  me. If you don’t, things will get … unpleasant.”  
  Father Michael Veritas was led through the safe house’s corri-
  dors by the guards for the Saviors for Bogotá political group, some of 
  whom Vertias noticed were barely teenagers carrying assault riﬂ es. 
  Unlike the previous safe house, this one was obviously not built for 
  trolls, as Veritas bumped his head repeatedly on the ceiling, and he 
  had trouble squeezing through the tight doorways. When he arrived 
  at the study, which had been hastily transformed into a makeshift 
  command center and armory, Veritas did not ﬁ nd the individual he 
  was hoping for. Rather, he found a young man who used to be an 
  underling to the man he once knew as the group’s leader, identiﬁ ed 
  only as Hombre Caiman. This will complicate things.
  “Padre, I’m glad you are here,” Hombre Caiman said. “I’m 
  sorry about our present accommodations. Aztlan raided our last 
  headquarters two weeks ago, and we’ve been forced to make other 
  arrangements for our group.”
  “I see. I take it Sombreron didn’t make it out after the raid?” 
  Veritas asked.
  “I’m afraid not. Neither did four of our more senior leaders. I’m 
  the new leader for my people, it would seem.”
  “My condolences for your losses. And I suppose congratulations 
  are in order for your abrupt promotion.”
  “Thank you.” After a brief moment, Hombre Caiman continued, 
  “My men mentioned that you did not arrive with any supplies. They 
  are overdue. May I ask when my group may be receiving them?”
  Veritas hesitated. He hated breaking bad news to people, espe-
  cially those that have recently suffered a loss. “Hombre Caiman, it 
  has come to our attention that your group has recently begun as-
  sociating itself with another local group calling itself, the Colombian 
  Guard. We are … concerned.”
  “Why is that any of your business?” Hombre Caiman spat, re-
  vealing a resentment that Veritas had never seen in his former leader.
  “The Colombian Guard is well known for its anti-foreigner 
  views. In the last three months, three of our missions have been 
  vandalized with anti-church grafﬁ ti. Two of our inﬂ uential parish-
  ioners have been beaten and robbed by individuals claiming to be 
  from this group. The Colombian Guard lumps us in with the likes of 
  . . . BOGOTÁ CULTURE . . .
  
  33
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  > I love it when people here get all sincere. Reminds me of when I 
  used to care about stuff.
  > Kane
  FALSE PROMISES:
  AMAZONIA AND AZTLAN
  If it sounds like I am in despair over Bogotá’s future, it is 
  because I am. I have known many good people who continue 
  to live in Bogotá (some who have died); and who continue to 
  have their daily lives upset by the hostilities between Aztlan 
  and Amazonia. T ey, and their neighbors, simply don’t want a 
  foreign inf uence obliterating their culture, and dictating to them 
  what is best for their city. T ey are tired of the empty and hollow 
  promises coming from both sides. T ey are tired of hearing lines 
  like “We promise security for your city to rebuild. We promise 
  new economic opportunities to fuel the local economy,” only to 
  see the people that said those lines leading a bombing raid, or 
  stealing land from the locals, or raping the rainforest by exploiting 
  the Diablo trees for their self sh purposes. I’ve seen families torn 
  apart by family members disappearing, people who are believed 
  to have been eaten by those damned Diablo trees that Aztlan 
  inf icted on the area. Or worse, disappearing and forced to f ght 
  on the front lines for those foreign powers.
  Aztlan has been by far the worst of the occupiers. In 
  the sections they control, they have proclaimed that they are 
  beginning the rebuilding process. T ey claim they are opening 
  schools, rebuilding some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, 
  providing af ordable housing, reopening museums and libraries, 
  and reestablishing a law enforcement presence. In truth, the 
  “schools” that Aztlan has opened teach Aztlan propaganda to 
  the next generation for indoctrination purposes (to create a 
  generation willing to accept Aztlan’s presence in the city, and 
  hopefully lead to amore stable city and stronger control over the 
  Amazonian border). In order for children to attend these schools, 
  both the parents and the children must have either Aztlan or 
  Aztechnology SINs. T e castillos (Aztechnology arcologies) and 
  other structures that are being built are of Aztlan architecture, 
  and with the addition of each new one, Bogotá’s skyline becomes 
  that much more foreign. Buildings of historical signif cance 
  are regularly demolished to allow for “Aztlan progress.” T e 
  reopened museums and libraries share the same names as their 
  formerly Bogotá-run counterparts, but now have different, 
  more insidious purposes. T ese museums and libraries have not 
  been reopened with artifacts from Bogotá’s culture, but from 
  Aztlan’s, emphasizing what a great culture Aztlan has, telling 
  people why they should feel privileged to be an Aztlan citizen. 
  And as everyone should already know, Aztlan prisons serve 
  Aztlan, not the concept of justice. Everything Aztlan does for 
  the “betterment” of Bogotá is for the sole purpose of making 
  Bogotá a mirror image of Tenochtitlan.
  Aztlan would love nothing more than to be able to take 
  control of Zona Centrico, where many of Bogotá’s most 
  historically significant sites are located, including the former 
  Capitolio National building, which is currently being used as 
  the headquarters for Bogotá Libre! It would be a very signif cant 
  Posted by Marcos
  For centuries, Bogotá was a thriving city of millions, with a 
  vibrant culture of academics, literature, performing arts and music 
  that rivaled any of the other great cities and civilizations of the 
  world. Founded under Spanish rule in 1538, the South American 
  city would eventually f ght for and win its independence from 
  Spain in 1819, under the leadership of Colombia’s most celebrated 
  hero, Simon Bolivar. In 2073, Bogotá f nds itself once again in 
  need of a great leader like Bolivar, as Bogotá remains caught up 
  in a bloody, international conf ict between Aztlan and Amazonia, 
  whose war is being waged on Bogotá’s streets and is taking the 
  lives of many of its citizens on a daily basis. Bogotá, without a 
  functioning government, military or police force, f nds itself at the 
  mercy of the whims and fortunes of others (namely Aztlan’s and 
  Amazonia’s forces, but also many other unwelcome groups that 
  have started to emerge in the city to further their own agendas 
  at Bogotá’s expense). When it is not these two feuding nations 
  disrupting life in Bogotá, it is the cartels and their in-f ghting with 
  one another, spilling even more native blood in their quest for 
  domination of the crime trade, both inside of Bogotá and around 
  the world.
  > Some posters here believe that an anarchist way of life is the 
  preferable one, ﬁ lled with noble intentions and true freedom. Well, I 
  would wager that Bogotá is the closest thing to what neo-anarchists 
  desire, free of any type of authority—and guess what, it’s a hell hole. 
  I would hope this would teach some people to be careful what you 
  wish for.
  > Sticks
  With so much division and no single unifying force, the 
  future of Bogotá is very much clouded in doubt and will remain 
  uncertain until an obvious victor rises from the chaos that has 
  gripped Bogotá and begins to put the city back together. Perhaps 
  the most tragic part of the war and its consequences is the fact 
  that there are so many foreign interests competing with the 
  locals to control Bogotá (national, corporate, religious) that I 
  fear that if one of those foreign powers were to seize political 
  control over the entire city, it will mean a completely new 
  and dif erent Bogotá, one that has been cut of  from its proud 
  cultural heritage, a city that will eventually lose its identity to 
  some foreign power (comparable to what General Saito tried 
  to do in San Francisco). And should a foreign power succeed in 
  unifying the city under its f ag (or corporate logo), it may not 
  be long before even more turmoil and violence descends upon 
  the city again, except this time, the new wave of violence could 
  come from the fanatic groups and citizens turning on each other 
  in a civil war. So far, the city has been fortunate that this has not 
  occurred. Yet.
  So which powers are trying to become Bogotá’s next 
  government? Which ones will do some good for the city? And 
  which ones will do the most harm? For those that don’t live in 
  Bogotá and who don’t understand the complicated relationships 
  that exist in this city, this data is meant for you. Should you 
  become involved in this part of this region, I would hope that you 
  would make the right choice in supporting the groups that would 
  be the most supportive for the survival and preservation of the 
  rich Bogotá culture.
  
  34
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  with a lot of people. But probably not for those who actually live in 
  Bogotá.
  > Slamm-0!
  > And that is one incident. If that is happening throughout Bogotá, 
  you could be talking about dozens of innocent citizens dying on a 
  weekly basis.
  > Aufheben
  > Not to sound heartless, but in times of war, civilians have always 
  paid the price for war being fought in close proximity to them. 
  No matter how hard you try, you’re always going to have civilian 
  casualties. It comes with the territory.
  > Hard Exit
  > I think the point of Slamm-0’s! comments is that Amazonia isn’t 
  even trying to restrain their fury. Aztlan may have the same problem 
  with collateral damage, but they seem much better at covering it 
  up. Such callous recklessness from Amazonia will not ingratiate it 
  to the metahuman people of Bogotá, and will only hurt its cause for 
  helping Bogotá to be free of Aztlan.
  > Glasswalker 
  HIDDEN AMBITIONS:
  THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
  Since the founding of Bogotá by the Spanish Empire, the 
  Catholic Church has been interwoven with the city’s religious 
  beliefs. Even in 2073, a large segment of Bogotá citizens still 
  identify themselves as Catholics (practicing or not). And because 
  the Catholic Church shares that cultural history with Bogotá 
  (and the Church has wisely chosen to foster that cultural heritage 
  within its schools and universities), most groups are accepting (or 
  at least tolerant) of the Catholic Church’s presence in Bogotá and 
  are willing to accept assistance from them in order to f ght Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology in the streets. Now whether or not that cozy 
  arrangement will last af er the war is over is another story, and 
  perhaps is dependent on which political groups rise to power (if 
  it isn’t Aztlan or Aztechnology).
  In the war zone that Bogotá has become, the Catholic 
  Church seems to have its hands in almost everything that goes 
  on in the city. When Aztlan began its bombings of Bogotá, the 
  Catholic Church was the primary organization to try to protect 
  Bogotá’s history from obliteration. When Bogotá’s vast number 
  of libraries and museums were damaged from the “errant” 
  bombings or were simply lef  abandoned af er the government 
  fell, the Catholic Church rushed in with its followers (as well as 
  shadowrunners and mercenaries) to protect rare print materials, 
  paintings, and metal workings from either being destroyed or 
  sold on the black market and disappearing into private collections 
  around the world. Despite the Church’s efforts, according to 
  their internal records, between f ve thousand and ten thousand 
  pieces of art, literature, and sculpture pieces have been sold on the 
  black market (thanks mostly to the cartels). T e most prominent 
  of the art and sculpture raiders are the Apep Consortium, the 
  Nightingale Syndicate, and even Aztechnology. T e Church has 
  assumed the role of protecting Bogotá’s cultural heritage from 
  victory for Aztlan to gain control of the location where 
  Bogotá’s former government used to reside and to build its 
  own governmental buildings over those sites. T e Colombian 
  Liberation Movement, as well as other groups, have realized the 
  signif cance of Aztlan capturing that part of the city, and so far has 
  put up a f erce resistance that has succeeded in keeping Aztlan out 
  of those portions of Zona Centrico.
  > Revolting. They call this a “clash of cultures?” Hardly. Feels more 
  like an eradication of a culture to me. This is far worse than any 
  alleged atrocities Amazonia may have committed ﬁ ghting this war. 
  And frankly, given the crap Aztlan is trying to pull in Bogotá, you can 
  hardly fault Amazonia for ﬁ ghting so hard against Aztlan’s tyranny. 
  > Hard Exit
  > If you’re looking for anything interesting to acquire from the Aztlan 
  “museums,” you can forget about the public displays. All objects on 
  public display are replicas. Seems as though they don’t trust the 
  Bogotá people with the real stuff that is safely locked away in other 
  parts of Aztlan.
  > Picador
  > The public displays are indeed fake, but what is happening in the 
  back is far more interesting. These Aztlan-run museums have been 
  hiring mercs and shadowrunners to visit ruins and other archeo-
  logical sites in the Amazon rain forest. Seems as though Aztlan 
  is interested in uncovering pre-Colombian artifacts for research 
  purposes.
  > Glasswalker
  > Or they are interested in them simply to acquire them ﬁ rst to 
  destroy them and prevent them from reawakening the people’s 
  sense of patriotism. In any case, those back rooms in the museums 
  hold promise for some proﬁ table runs.
  > Hard Exit
  And then on the other hand, you have Amazonia, the other 
  evil in this war, so hell-bent on destroying its enemy that it will do 
  anything to wipe out that foe, even going to the same lengths that 
  Aztlan went to keep its hold on city. T ey arm locals with high-
  tech weapons and such, and promise to give them their city back, 
  but then they use them as cannon fodder in the most violent of 
  campaigns that also end up destroying Bogotá in the process. T e 
  campaigns they wage in Bogotá are devastating, leaving hundreds 
  of innocent families homeless and wide swatches of Bogotá 
  uninhabitable. It is clear from the way Amazonia carries out its 
  campaigns that metahumans tend to only be an af erthought to 
  their forces. T e locals might as well be suicide bombers when it 
  comes to working with Amazonia.
  > Ain’t that the damn truth. A few days ago, an Amazonian war party 
  entered the city to attack an Aztlan military post in the Nuevo Suba 
  neighborhood. The war party was pretty successful in trashing 
  the Aztlan post, but their attacks also destroyed a neighboring 
  hacienda. Three adults and four children were conﬁ rmed killed in 
  the aftermath. But did anyone ofﬁ cial from Amazonia address those 
  deaths? Not likely. And if they did, no one noticed. I guess being the 
  eco-friendly nation absolves Amazonia of a lot of crimes in this war 
  
  35
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  various factions, from the cartels and the street gangs, to the 
  paramilitary groups. Would these groups have become as united 
  and worked as effectively against Aztlan as they have without the 
  Church acting as a (relatively) neutral third party? Not likely. From 
  what I have heard, the Church has helped the groups to stay focused 
  over the years and has helped to diffuse several situations that 
  could have easily devolved into a full-out civil war.
  > Fianchetto
  T ere are three religious orders in the Catholic Church that 
  are the most active in Bogotá and are making the most impact 
  on the war. The first is the Order of St. Sylvester (a.k.a. the 
  Sylvestrines). T eir order is made up primarily of Awakened priests 
  and clergy. T ey are the best known as the exorcists of the Catholic 
  Church, and have been active in addressing various magical threats 
  for the good of the faith. In Bogotá, they also help f nd residents 
  of Bogotá who are magically gif ed and teach them how to use 
  their gif s in accordance with what the Catholic faith teaches. T is 
  order is most of en found in the hospitals, helping to heal and treat 
  the sick, and in the schools, helping to train the gif ed. T e current 
  Archbishop for the Bogotá region, Archbishop Diego Rodriguez, 
  is of  cially listed as being a member of the Order of St. Sylvester.
  > Though Bogotá has many shamans who can heal, the Catholic 
  Church’s are perhaps the best trained, best equipped with magical 
  gear, and the most educated. Many have medical degrees, and 
  can perform at least ﬁ eld surgery if magical healing isn’t enough. 
  And generally, if you are active in ﬁ ghting Aztlan, chances are they 
  will offer their services at a reduced rate. With their reputation for 
  quality care, these are the people you should go to ﬁ rst for your 
  medical needs.
  > Fianchetto
  > Their services also happen to be in high demand by all those 
  political groups that the church is aiding in this war. So those prized 
  services won’t always be available to you when you need them. 
  In an emergency, you may need to settle for going to one of the 
  paramilitary groups that have mages on staff for healing instead, 
  or even bite the bullet and reach out to the cartels (as expensive 
  as they are).
  > Black Mamba
  > The Order of St. Sylvester keeps track of Awakened members of 
  the community; those that they have accepted to teach and those 
  that they have rejected. Both the Colombian Liberation Movement 
  and Aztlan would love to get their hands on that information so they 
  can try to extract the individuals that are currently working with the 
  Church, and ﬁ nd those that the Church turned down for training. 
  Generally, the Church turns down the true psychopaths, those that 
  want to use their gifts for destruction without a sense of conscience 
  or restraint, and who have no interest in learning how to heal. Many 
  other groups, however, see those qualities as merits and would pay 
  handsomely to have the opportunity to recruit them into their ranks.
  > Picador 
  T ere is a very secretive order that is active within Bogotá 
  that has historically disguised themselves as Sylvestrines. In certain 
  circles they are referred to as the Order of the Temple, more 
  destruction, in the same way that it preserved Western culture 
  during the dark ages. T is has won over a lot of supporters for 
  the Catholic Church in Bogotá and has made their recruitment 
  ef orts for enlisting help of local citizens a lot easier.
  In addition to protecting Bogotá’s culture, the Church runs 
  various local churches, schools, universities, hospitals, and street 
  clinics for the residents of the city (many of these institutions 
  obviously cater to the needs of the opposition groups). T e schools 
  and universities that the Church runs in Bogotá are practically 
  the only alternative the locals have to the Aztlan-run education 
  system (read: conditioning system) inside of the business complex. 
  T e Catholic Church, in unison with Horizon’s Social Sciences 
  Auxiliary Corps, helps to run two refugee camps that are a few 
  kilometers outside of Bogotá. T ese refugee camps were set up for 
  the various inhabitants of the rainforest (both metahuman and 
  sapient paranormal critters) who’ve lost their natural habitats due 
  to the active f ghting around Bogotá and have f ed from the forest 
  for safe refuge. T ere are close to ten thousand refugees in the 
  camps, unwilling to be enlisted in either side. With the refugee 
  camps, the hospitals, street clinics, and the universities under its 
  inf uence, the Catholic Church has been able to establish its own 
  underground communications network with the resistance groups 
  and paramilitary groups that it supports, and which support the 
  Catholic Church in return.
  > Therein lies the rub. The Catholic Church is committed to the defeat 
  of Aztlan at all costs. And that fact has never been in doubt. The 
  way Aztlan has suppressed Catholicism in its own country for years 
  when a majority of its citizens practice it in secret, and fervently 
  persecutes those citizens that are caught is definitely a good 
  motivation for its animosity toward Aztlan. But I don’t like how 
  the Church is trying to use the situation to play politics. Providing 
  unlimited support to groups that claim to be faithful Catholics 
  and loyal to the pope? While placing limits on or outright denying 
  support to those opposition groups that reject the authority of the 
  Vatican, and who would like nothing more to kick the church out 
  of Bogotá along with Aztlan? It is clear by the way the opposition 
  groups are either growing in strength or disappearing that the 
  Catholic Church is trying to shape the future political landscape of 
  Bogotá when Aztlan is ﬁ nally driven out the city. And sometimes, it 
  isn’t Aztlan or the street gangs that take out those smaller groups 
  that are in opposition to the Church; sometimes the Church takes 
  them out themselves to advance their agenda.
  > Clockwork
  >Ironically, that is the same shit that Aztlan tried to pull off that so 
  pissed off the locals in the ﬁ rst place. Someone needs to remind 
  the church that a Holy Roman Empire didn’t work over in Europe 
  during the Middle Ages, and it certainly will not work here now in 
  South America. 
  >Jimmy No
  > Everyone has their own agendas and a price attached to them. Why 
  should the Church be any different?
  > Picador
  > Whether or not you agree with their methods, the Catholic Church 
  has provided invaluable leadership and coordination between the 
  
  36
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  went on to issue an ofﬁ cial decree saying that anyone using magic 
  were essentially blasphemers and corrupt. Many archconservatives 
  in the Church applauded the decree, but the more moderate clergy 
  and congregation rallied against it. That divide in the Church 
  remains, passed down through generations of families. Some 
  archconservative members of the Church might be having a difﬁ cult 
  time assisting Amazonia to defeat Aztlan, despite Aztlan’s hard-
  line stance against Catholicism in its own nation. In fact, many of 
  the Catholics may see the war as an ethical dilemma as they try to 
  decide which of the lesser evils to side with. I wouldn’t be surprised 
  that there aren’t at least some Catholics in Bogotá who are actively 
  defying the wishes of the current metahuman and Awakened-
  friendly Vatican and providing intel and assistance to Aztlan, if only 
  out of spite for the “devils and the demons” they see inhabiting the 
  rainforest.
  > Goat Foot
  > It’s possible, but not very likely. Any of those “Judases” might be 
  rewarded with their own thirty pieces of silver for as long as the 
  war wages on, but should it end with Aztlan as the victor, they 
  will still ﬁ nd themselves on the wrong side of an Aztlan prison for 
  supporting an outlawed religion.
  > Fianchetto
   
  POLITICAL FERVOR:
  THE COLOMBIAN
  LIBERATION MOVEMENT
  When people refer to the Colombian Liberation Movement, 
  it is important to know that it is not just Bogotá Libre! and the 
  True Brazilians who make up this political movement. T ere are 
  actually dozens of individual political groups that fall under the 
  general classif cation of the “Colombian Liberation Movement” 
  that have expressed a divergent array of political and religious 
  ideologies toward the current state of the former Colombian 
  nation and have expressed their unique desires to reshape the 
  region. Amongst all of these diverse groups, Bogotá Libre! and 
  the True Brazilians groups are just two of the larger and more 
  inf uential organizations. Other prominent groups in the area 
  include Many Worlds, One Bogotá, New Destiny, For the Angels, 
  and Justice for Mother Earth. It is important to know who these 
  groups are, because a few of these groups go beyond fanaticism, 
  and are threats that should never wield political power. Ever. 
  Bogotá Libre! has become infamous for organizing extremely 
  large and violent street rallies against Aztlan. If you have ever seen 
  a violent demonstration in Bogotá make it onto the international 
  news, chances are it was a demonstration organized by Bogotá 
  Libre! Whereas other groups attempted, at f rst, to hold peaceful 
  demonstrations, Bogotá Libre! deliberately armed their crowds 
  and made sure they would be able to initiate violence against 
  Aztlan forces. They also became publicly known for being 
  the f rst known group to start executing Bogotá of  cials that 
  were suspected of being Aztlan collaborators and claiming 
  responsibility for those deaths.
  Bogotá Libre! is filled with passionate and charismatic 
  citizens. Their ranks have been swelling as of late, which is 
  commonly known as the New Knights Templar. T ese clergy are 
  fanatical in nature, and their main goal is to bring the world and its 
  various governments under the political inf uence of the Vatican. 
  Like many fanatical groups, they tend to employ any means, no 
  matter how extreme, that they think will bring them closer to 
  their goal. T e clergy from this order are of en the ones tampering 
  with the relations between the various groups to produce results 
  desired by the Vatican. These militant priests have also been 
  known to take the most gif ed members of the community whom 
  the Sylvestrines have indentif ed and militarize them. T e New 
  Knights Templar are the clergy members who are most likely to 
  have a direct confrontation with Aztechnology security forces 
  or the Aztlan military. In the internal makeup of the Church, 
  most orders object to the methods of the New Knights Templar, 
  considering them far too extreme and contradictory to Church 
  teaching. T e preferred targets for the Templars are the teocallis 
  and any business or institution that supports the Aztlan religion in 
  any way, shape or form. A lot of people, myself included, compare 
  the Order of the Temple to the likes of Sirrurg and his extremist 
  factions in their ways of thinking and their methodology.
  > No matter if you agree with the Order of the Temple’s methods 
  or not, they have a few things going for them that make them 
  invaluable in this ﬁ ght for the opposition groups. If rumors are to be 
  believed, the Order of the Temple has been on the ground throughout 
  Aztlan, helping support Catholic interests since 2041, when the 
  Catholic Church was ﬁ rst banned by the Aztlan government. If that 
  is the case, the Order of Temple may have acquired a hell of a lot of 
  intel on Aztlan’s operations, personnel, and tactics over the years. 
  Second, their order carries a lot of magical ﬁ re power. Eyewitness 
  accounts of New Templars in action suggest these clergy are able to 
  summon spirits that have the appearance of archangels. If you were 
  a resistance ﬁ ghter in Bogotá, you would be crazy to turn down help 
  from the New Templars should they offer it to you.
  > Fianchetto
  Finally, there are the New Jesuits. T e New Jesuits are found 
  mostly in the churches and the universities. T eir main duties 
  are to protect the churches and their congregations from Aztlan 
  hostilities, even though Aztlan’s harassment of the Church has 
  lessened due to the start of the war. T ey are also the teachers and 
  the professors in the universities. When called upon, most Jesuits 
  are well trained and can handle themselves in a combat situation. 
  However, I have found the New Jesuits to be much less extreme 
  than the Order of the Temple and much more tolerable and 
  agreeable to f nding a peaceful solution to the Bogotá problem. 
  Currently, the public operations of the Church in Bogotá are 
  under the supervision of Archbishop Diego Rodriguez, who 
  operates out of the Archbishopric Cathedral of Bogotá on the 
  eastern side of Bolivar Square. It is unknown if the covert activities 
  are run out of the same cathedral.
  > Along with the disagreements between the various orders that 
  Marcos alluded to, there is disagreement within the Church itself. 
  Even in the present day, the Church is still suffering the effects 
  of the schism that occurred early this century. On January 1, 2012, 
  the pope at the time, John Paul IV, denounced the newly expressed 
  metahumans as “abominations in the eyes of God.” The Church then 
  
  37
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  > There are a couple of things that make the sewer systems so 
  vulnerable to inﬁ ltration (and so valuable to the True Brazilians). 
  From all the bombings, both aerial and roadside, the broken sewer 
  system throughout Bogotá has an untold number of access points. 
  Aztlan tried to seal them off, but ﬁ ghting and resistance activity 
  continues to poke new holes in the sewer system on a daily basis. 
  And then there are the dangers inside the sewer system itself. Over 
  the years, there have been an untold number of illegal chemical 
  dumps (failed pharmaceutical trials, toxic drug by-products, etc.) 
  by both the cartels and Aztechnology into the sewer system. This 
  has left a dangerous chemical sludge in the sewer system. As 
  one would expect, this has caused an increase in the number of 
  mutated and toxic critters that live inside the sewer system, not to 
  mention drawing in toxic spirits. Those that use the sewer systems 
  are deﬁ nitely committed members of the True Brazilians, because 
  exposing yourself to that type of environment will, without a doubt, 
  shorten your life span considerably.
  > Picador
  > Toxic spirits and toxic shamblers? Now that’s a scary thought.
  > Mika
  Recently, Aztlan raided the True Brazilians’ headquarters in 
  the Zona Oeste and assassinated the leader for the True Brazilians, 
  Francisco Montoya. T e True Brazilians have reestablished a new 
  headquarters in a dif erent part of Bogotá, and many believe the 
  organization is now under the control of a Sasquatch; however, 
  his or her name is not known outside of the political group at 
  the moment. T e True Brazilians are believed to have close to ten 
  thousand active members within Bogotá itself, but it does in fact 
  have other chapters and members spread throughout Amazonia, 
  which are also funneling support to its movement in Bogotá.
  Another active paramilitary group hasn’t been around for 
  as long as Bogotá Libre! or the True Brazilians is Many Worlds, 
  One Bogotá. Many Worlds, One Bogotá was founded around 
  2065 by a female changeling named Debra “Firestorm” Herrera. 
  Since that time, the charismatic leader has drawn thousands of 
  idealistic citizens to her cause. She is promising an independent 
  Bogotá, has of ered amnesty for Bogotá citizens for any crimes 
  committed during the war (even by the cartels) in exchange for 
  their assistance in rebuilding Bogotá, and has promised to open 
  up talks with the other groups about building consensus on a 
  wide variety of political issues and priorities for establishing the 
  next Bogotá and Colombian government. From all the speeches 
  Herrera has given, her group appears to be the least radical and 
  the most practical when it comes to their politics. Many Worlds, 
  One Bogotá has refused to participate in violent street rallies and 
  have condemned the use of violence against other Bogotá citizens. 
  Herrera’s group has seeing consistent growth in their membership 
  in the eight years that it has been around. All best estimates of the 
  number of people who belong to Many Worlds, One Bogotá show 
  the group to be around ten thousand active members.
  > It would be nice if such a genuine political group existed, one that 
  wasn’t about carrying out reprisals and the political power grabbing. 
  I am sorry to say Many Worlds, One Bogotá is not the genuine thing. 
  Many of the street gangs I work with have indentiﬁ ed several 
  individuals inside of Herrera’s inner circle that have been actively 
  indicative of how well Aztlan appears to be doing in the war. T e 
  more it looks like Aztlan will win, the more recruits join Bogotá 
  Libre’s! ranks. Bogotá Libre’s! tactics have included smuggling 
  explosives and guns into the Aztechnology Business Complex for 
  terrorist attacks, f ring rocket-propelled grenades at the various 
  high rises, and attempting to blow up planes as they try to either 
  land or take of  at the El Dorado airport. T e current leader of 
  the group is a woman named Carla Prieto, the widow of Andres 
  Prieto, the slain movement leader who publicly boasted about 
  hanging Aztlan sympathizers and collaborators inside the Bogotá 
  government. He was quickly silenced for his public boasts. Bogotá 
  Libre! wishes to see all foreign inf uences removed from Bogotá 
  and wants a city government built by the local citizens that puts 
  the city, its culture, and its people f rst. If Bogotá Libre’s! boasts 
  are to be believed, their membership numbers in the hundreds of 
  thousands. However, not counting one-time members, members 
  who only give f nancial support to the organization, or those that 
  are otherwise “moral supporters” of the cause (people whose only 
  connection to the organization may be that they attended one of 
  their street rallies), the active members of Bogotá Libre! are closer 
  to f f een or twenty thousand strong.
  > If their numbers keep growing, Aztlan’s going to take more direct 
  action against Bogotá Libre!, and then you’ll see the membership 
  drop like a stone down a deep, dark well. People who sign up for 
  protest often don’t want anything to do with actual combat. And I 
  can’t say I blame them.
  >
  T e True Brazilians group is actually not a native, political 
  group. True Brazilians is based out of Metropole, and is publicly 
  backed by the New Jesuit order. T eir main political goal for 
  Bogotá is to arrange for the city and the surrounding area to 
  become absorbed into Amazonia. Bogotá by itself, in this group’s 
  philosophy, is not strong enough to protect itself from outside 
  aggressors or even from the conf icting interests from within, but 
  with the aid of Amazonia, the city will f nally have the stability 
  to rebuild from being a feral city and once again f ourish under 
  Amazonia’s guidance and support. Colombia will finally find 
  liberation through a partnership with Amazonia. And as another 
  benef t from having a relationship with Amazonia, the strong 
  Catholic population within the city will be able to practice their 
  religion freely (which has been the primary goal of the New 
  Jesuits). With a fairly high sapient critter population in Bogotá, 
  there is considerable backing for the True Brazilians, since they 
  support Amazonia’s protections of the rainforest.
  T e True Brazilians also welcome the infected as members, 
  and the organization boasts of the largest gathering of the infected 
  amongst the rest of the political groups in the Colombian 
  Liberation Movement. The True Brazilians prefer to use the 
  obsolete (and quite hazardous) sewer system to gain access to the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex. Because of this unorthodox 
  means of entrance, the True Brazilians have become particularly 
  skilled at extraction. When the True Brazilians extract a target 
  from the Business Complex, the Aztlan and Aztechnology forces 
  will generally not follow if they f ee into the sewer system (for 
  obvious safety reasons).
  
  38
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  practicing the Path of the Sun religion (and who have been seen 
  attending Aztlan religious ceremonies in Zona Oeste). In addition, 
  their members always seem a little too interested in the activities of 
  the other members of the Colombian Liberation Movement. I would 
  wager that this is a front for Aztlan spies. If Hererra was ever to 
  convince the leaders of the other political groups to meet openly, 
  I’m betting the location and time of the meet would conveniently 
  fall into Aztlan’s hands, and then there would be a bloodbath in the 
  streets in Bogotá. So my advice: don’t trust this group. If it seems 
  too good to be true, it is.
  > Aufheben 
  > The Catholic Church seems to be in agreement with you, Aufheben. 
  From what I have heard, Many Words, One Bogotá is one of the 
  opposition groups that the Church refuses to provide its support 
  to. Which, up to this point, has always seemed odd to me, because 
  their philosophies, at least publicly, have never conﬂ icted with the 
  Church’s.
  > Fianchetto 
  Another political group that is drawing a lot of attention 
  (and controversy) is New Destiny. The membership of New 
  Destiny covers a wide berth of political views, from those that 
  outright hate the Awakened and non-humans (Humanis) to 
  those who simply hate Amazonia for the harsh restrictions it 
  places on metahumans. One of their most unifying core views of 
  this group is that New Destiny will f ght at all costs to prevent 
  Bogotá from falling victim to dragons who would seek to exert 
  control over their lives. T is group likes to play trid recordings of 
  what Ghostwalker did to Denver back in 2061 and 2062. T ey 
  preach about how Ghostwalker, Hualpa, Arleesh, and Sirrurg are 
  practically enslaving metahumans to their wills. T ey preach about 
  Lofwyr, and how he is trying to extend his presence into Bogotá 
  at the cost of the locals’ lives. T e incident with Sirrurg in Cali has 
  help drive these passions and has improved the recruitment ef orts 
  for New Destiny. New Destiny, as a collective group, f nds liberty 
  for Colombia in anything that doesn’t involve dragons, including 
  allowing Aztlan to take control over Bogotá. Understandably, 
  New Destiny f nds itself at odds with most of the Colombian 
  Liberation Movement groups; and when they do show up at 
  street rallies and protests, there is usually violence between this 
  group and the others that oppose Aztlan. New Destiny is of en 
  engaged in operations that sabotage the True Brazilians while 
  advancing the agendas of Aztlan and Aztechnology. T e size of 
  New Destiny is relatively small and could be impacted by the fact 
  that the Catholic Church does not support them. New Destiny’s 
  membership is estimated to be approximately five thousand 
  members.
  > Although the Church doesn’t officially endorse New Destiny, 
  there are several individual arch-conservative members (and a 
  few missions) that have been openly disobeying the Archbishop’s 
  decrees and providing aid to this group. More than a few shipments 
  of supplies and weapons that were meant for other opposition 
  groups have ended up being redirected and turned over to New 
  Destiny.
  > Picador
  
  39
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  power to assault Bogotá’s already dismal infrastructure, making 
  sure that the situation in Bogotá becomes so dire that the city 
  itself is uninhabitable to metahumans and becomes suitable for 
  reclamation by the rainforest. T ere have been incidents where 
  Justice for Mother Earth has set off sympathetic explosions 
  inside the city’s sewer lines in multiple sections of Bogotá. T ey 
  constantly attack the electrical infrastructure and even target 
  the highway infrastructure, making easy and safe access through 
  the various sectors virtually impossible. T ere was an incident in 
  July 2073 where lethal quantities of arsenic were added to the 
  water supplies for many of the poor neighborhoods in Zona Sur. 
  Without any other recourse, the native population drank the 
  tainted water, and hundreds of people died from arsenic poisoning. 
  Although no one claimed responsibility for the terrorist act, pretty 
  much everyone in Bogotá knows that Justice for Mother Earth 
  was behind it. On top of the other attacks against the city’s failing 
  infrastructure, Justice for Mother Earth is also doing its best to foil 
  the other organizations’ attempts at controlling the Sangre Del 
  Diablo tree population inside of Bogotá. Although their numbers 
  are small, many sources estimate that this group has less then four 
  thousand members, the group is still able to cause a lot of mayhem 
  do to the lack of an ef ective police force in the city.
  > I actually feel sorry for those who live in Bogotá. Should they ever 
  get their wish and be liberated from Aztlan, there is no way the 
  city can avoid a civil war. The population is just too fractured due 
  to groups pushing so many radical and incompatible agendas on 
  it. Once the unifying “let’s destroy Aztlan” motivation is gone, the 
  political situation in Bogotá will deteriorate to the point of survival 
  of the ﬁ ttest. Should Amazonia succeed in taking Bogotá from 
  Aztlan, they will have to leave a massive military presence inside 
  Bogotá to maintain the peace. And who is to say that these same 
  opposition groups who have been helping Amazonia ﬁ ght a proxy 
  war against Aztlan won’t turn on Amazonia next? 
  > Glasswalker
  > Aztlan and Aztechnology have proven to be a strong focal point 
  for the violence of many of these anti-Aztlan groups. If one group 
  needs something, such as demolitions, for a particular mission, and 
  another group has demolitions experts and yet another has a surplus 
  supply of explosives, many times these anti-Aztlan member groups 
  of the Colombian Liberation Movement will not hesitate to bring 
  their resources together to harm Aztlan in a joint mission. Most of 
  these groups aren’t even thinking about what happens next until 
  after Aztlan is actually out of Bogotá (which will be a monumental 
  challenge for the opposition groups). And as Glasswalker suggests, 
  if and when Aztlan and Aztechnology are booted from Bogotá, all 
  bets will be off with these groups.
  > Marcos  
  > The only time these groups aren’t too friendly with each other is 
  when they are trying to recruit new people into their ranks from 
  the local residents. It then turns into every organization for itself, 
  and every dirty trick in the book is on the table to try to convince a 
  member of the population to choose their group. As time goes on, 
  the undecided populace from which these groups can recruit from 
  will grow even smaller.
  > Picador
  > The only redeeming thing about this group of assholes is that they 
  have also set their sights on GreenWar, due to their associations 
  with Sirrurg. Perhaps if they keep GreenWar and Sirrurg busy, then 
  nothing like Cali will happen again. Attacks like Cali will only serve to 
  fuel these types of extremist groups, making the political situation 
  that much worse for this fractured city.
  > 2XL
  > If that’s the case, are your sure that New Destiny is actively trying 
  to foil GreenWar? If their cause is furthered by these devastating 
  attacks so that their recruiting efforts can swell, couldn’t they 
  actually be providing assistance to them from the shadows for more 
  of those attacks? I for one wouldn’t place any type of trust in this 
  group—they seem capable of doing almost anything.
  > Black Mamba
  In the Colombian Liberation Movement, there are also the 
  groups motivated by religious fervor. For the Angels is perhaps 
  the perfect example of this type of member group. Believing in 
  establishing a government for Bogotá that would be loyal to the 
  Catholic Church, the group has been doing everything asked of 
  it by the Catholic Church (and allegedly by its representatives, 
  the Order of the Temple). Generally, For the Angels have been 
  busy working covertly within Zona Oeste, Aztlan’s stronghold, 
  supporting the underground Catholics who live in that part of 
  Bogotá to practice their religion, even in fear of imprisonment or 
  worse. In addition to helping the Catholics practice their religion, 
  For the Angels helps those willing to organize resistance cells, gather 
  intelligence, and cause disruptive acts inside Zona Oeste. Aztlan 
  religious ceremonies have been disrupted. T e hydro-electric and 
  geothermal power plants that have been providing electricity to 
  Zona Oeste have been sabotaged on several occasions. For the 
  Angels has also carried out street demonstrations inside Zona Oeste, 
  despite the fact that they know they will either be imprisoned inside 
  Aztlan’s maximum security prisons or be sacrif ced in the teocallis. 
  To the members of this group, suf ering such fates is similar to the 
  situation of the early Christians in Rome as they faced the lion’s 
  den and the gladiators in the Roman coliseum, and many believe 
  they are sharing the fate of these martyrs. Despite the arrests (or 
  because of them), For the Angels continues to see steady increases 
  in their recruitment ef orts. Estimates have their membership at 
  nearly six thousand members.
  Perhaps one of the most dangerous paramilitary groups 
  inside of Bogotá at the moment (not counting GreenWar itself ) 
  is the Justice for Mother Earth organization. Although most 
  paramilitary organizations interpret the name “Colombian 
  Liberation Movement” in a political sense, this organization 
  interprets the name very literally. And its not that they want to 
  liberate Colombia (starting with Bogotá) from any particular 
  national or corporate power, they want to liberate Bogotá “for 
  the sake of the rainforest.” To them, their ultimate goal is to 
  force metahumanity out of Bogotá and allow the extraordinary 
  growth of the Amazon rainforest to reclaim the land that the 
  metahuman population has tainted. Obviously, this paramilitary 
  organization has close allegiances to GreenWar and Primeira 
  Vaga, furnishing them additional soldiers for their endeavors. In 
  addition to attacking other members of the Colombian Liberation 
  Movement, Justice for Mother Earth is doing everything in its 
  
  40
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  megacorporate holdings inside the city would have then been 
  forced to conduct business under Aztlan law (which is, of course, 
  far more favorable to Aztechnology than any other corp). And so, 
  during the years leading up to the start of the war, any corporate 
  activity (other than Aztlan’s) was kept to a low prof le so as to limit 
  any megacorporation’s potential losses in case a war broke out.
  Before the war (when the government was still functional), 
  Horizon held several contracts in Bogotá for establishing wireless 
  networks throughout the non-Aztlan controlled sections of 
  Bogotá. T ey also held the contracts to service and maintain three 
  local trid media outlets that were, at the time, state-run. When the 
  government fell, Horizon stepped in, rebuilt those trid stations 
  (which are now Horizon properties), and began broadcasting 
  the news and entertainment programs that Horizon desires 
  without government interference. Understandably, Aztechnology 
  and Aztlan are not happy with this development or with 
  Horizon’s “slanted” broadcasts, and they are actively recruiting 
  shadowrunners and mercenaries to sabotage Horizon’s assets in 
  the Bogotá area. Horizon, on the other hand, is hiring runners and 
  mercs to counter Aztlan’s operations against it, as well as running 
  counter-ops with their Dawkins Group agents.
  > It is not unheard of, especially when it comes to recruits that are 
  Awakened, for groups to try and extract those recruits from one 
  another and then ﬁ nd ways of encouraging them to become loyal 
  members of their organization. Usually it involves threatening 
  families and/or livelihoods.
  > Marcos
  THE CORPORATE INTEREST
  I would be remiss in providing you with information about 
  the culture of Bogotá if I did not include more information about 
  the megacorporations and their current roles in the city and the 
  impact they may have on the city in the future. For over twenty 
  years, life in Bogotá has been pretty much monopolized by the 
  presence of Aztechnology and Aztlan and by their ongoing blood 
  feud with Amazonia. T e other megacorporations took note of 
  the wildly f uctuating hostilities and the likelihood of a massive, 
  all-consuming war between the two superpowers and decided 
  that the risks involved in establishing signif cant holdings inside 
  the former Colombian capital were too high. T ere was always a 
  real possibility of Aztlan gaining full political control over Bogotá, 
  which, in that eventuality, would have meant that any other 
  IMPORTANT CULTURAL FESTIVALS IN BOGOTÁ 
  • Carnaval de Bogotá is celebrated annually by the people of Bogotá in honor of the city’s founding. The 
  celebration takes place on August 5th and 6th in what used to be known as El Parque Metropolitano Simón 
  Bolivar. In the 2050s, the Colombian Liberation Movement began to emphasize the sense of nationalism 
  and patriotism at the annual celebrations, using folk songs, stories, plays, and dances to reawaken the 
  people’s sense of national pride, and conviction to do something about the foreign invaders. Since that 
  time, Aztlan and Aztechnology has done everything it could to disrupt this carnival, from hiring street 
  gangs to harass the crowds and to start violence at the carnival, to sending in tanks and troops, resulting 
  in large numbers of casualties on both sides. To be able to win Bogotá, Aztlan knows it needs to win the 
  culture war. As such, when the bombings of 2071 took place, Aztlan made sure to bomb the park where 
  these festivals took place. Despite the damage inﬂ icted to the park, and despite the destruction to the 
  areas surrounding the park, hundreds of thousands of residents still brave the violence and make it a point 
  to come out every year to celebrate the founding of their city.
  • Before the war, the Iberoameican Theater Festival was the largest festival honoring live theatrical perfor-
  mances from around the world, held in many of Bogotá s world famous theaters. This festival, held every 
  two years, was meant to encourage harmony and tolerance between all the nations of the world. Under that 
  guise, Aztlan and Aztechnology are allowed to perform their plays in the theaters that are relatively still 
  intact from the bombings. Typically, Aztlan and Aztechnology translate and perform plays that normally 
  would play on Broadway in Manhattan. Horizon is also allowed to enter performers in this festival, giving 
  Aztechnology and Horizon a chance to engage in a rivalry that was ﬁ rst established in Manhattan. Many 
  of the Aztlan plays are not without their controversy—some of them are designed speciﬁ cally to deliver 
  the message of “Aztlan isn’t so bad, and cooperation with Aztlan and Aztechnology can only make our 
  lives better.” The stagings of these plays aren’t without their share of violence, including attacks from the 
  political groups of the Colombian Liberation Movement looking to prevent that message from being spread. 
  Bombings and murders of the actors are far too common.
  • Rock Al Parque is a music festival held annually (in May) by the youth of Bogotá. The purpose of the festival 
  is to highlight many of the local performers. Over the years, Horizon has signed several bands to become 
  the next South American stars. This festival draws in hundreds of thousands each year. Although there 
  isn’t too much disruption from Aztlan or Aztechnology at these concerts (as Aztlan and Aztechnology try to 
  counter the festival with their own, in other parts of Bogotá), Aztlan and Aztechnology typically monitor the 
  festival, looking for overt activities of the Colombian Liberation Movement, as well as distinct anti-Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology activities.  
  
  41
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  quite possibly for laws and policies that will be advantageous to 
  Saeder-Krupp in the future and ensure that Lofwyr’s company 
  has a f rm presence in the South American city. I am personally 
  interested in seeing how that plays out in the years to come.
  > Lofwyr is taking a big gamble here. Even with all the problems it 
  has already experienced in Bogotá, Aztlan is still poised to assume 
  total political control over the city. And as a whole, the war seems 
  to be going in Aztlan’s favor at the moment. If Aztlan is successful 
  in winning Bogotá, Saeder-Krupp would be expected to abide by 
  Aztlan rules, and it could eventually lose its entire investment in 
  Bogotá to Aztlan and Aztechnology.
  > Sticks 
  > Megacorporations, and Saeder-Krupp in particular, love to take big 
  risks. They can be the most damaging to a corporation if they don’t 
  pan out, or the most proﬁ table if they do. Lofwyr may be tipping his 
  hand and letting people know that he thinks that Aztlan will lose 
  this war, or at the very least, will lose Bogotá. How can you argue 
  with a dragon who successfully protected his corporation during 
  Aztlan is also trying to seize control of the sections of Zona 
  Centrico where the trid outlets are located. If Aztlan succeeds 
  in gaining control of those neighborhoods, Horizon would be 
  forced to either abide by Aztlan’s laws for doing business inside 
  its territory or leave. According to my sources, Horizon is using 
  its corp security to aid the opposition groups in putting up a 
  signif cant resistance against Aztlan’s encroachment into those 
  neighborhoods (and once again, the Dawkins Group is suspected 
  to be an important part of that resistance).
  Ares, the megacorporation of war and death, has been 
  very busy in this area before and af er the war of  cially started. 
  Demand for Ares weapons has always been high here, and it only 
  increased when the shooting started. Ares has been happy to take 
  advantage of the street violence by setting up various smugglers 
  and arms dealers in the area who peddle Ares goods, ensuring that 
  all interested parties in the region were properly equipped with 
  Ares’ f nest gear. Ares’ underground presence has proven to be 
  most disruptive for the cartels, as direct Ares’ arms deals with the 
  opposition groups have cut deeply into their own gun running 
  operations and prof ts. Expect new conf icts (and new work for 
  the mercenaries in the f eld) to begin developing between the 
  cartels and Ares as Ares tries to expand its weapons sales in the 
  area, while the cartels seek to keep Ares locked out.
  Since the war began, Ares is also rumored to be in 
  negotiations with the local tribes to provide weapons to them 
  at a signif cant discount. T is could signal Ares’ desire to work 
  with the tribes to secure a base of operations in Bogotá, where 
  they could f nally establish more of an of  cial presence inside 
  Bogotá (such as building plants to begin building their weapons 
  locally, instead of having them shipped in). Without a functioning 
  government to say no to an Ares presence in the city, and with 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology distracted by the war, it seems likely that 
  Ares will be able to successfully establish itself inside Bogotá.
  And then there is Saeder-Krupp. For years, it has been 
  speculated that Lofwyr and his corp have had a low-profile 
  presence in Bogotá, mostly as a mobile talislegging operation, to 
  obtain exotic reagents, artifacts, and other valuable magical goods 
  from the region. If true (and my sources close to the Amazonian 
  government seem to conf rm this), this is a major slight to Hualpa, 
  one he is most def nitely not happy about. And like Ares, Saeder-
  Krupp seems to be taking advantage of the situation in Bogotá by 
  establishing several subsidiaries inside the city that deal with heavy 
  construction projects. From what my sources on the ground have 
  told me, Saeder-Krupp is not waiting for a new government to 
  establish itself, but rather has already taken the initiative to start 
  rebuilding Bogotá, starting with the electrical plants, electrical 
  infrastructure, the water treatment facilities, and the sewage 
  treatment plants. T e corp plans on working in sectors of Bogotá 
  that have been lacking these services for months, if not years. 
  Obviously, without a government in place to pay for the repairs, 
  Saeder-Krupp isn’t being paid (yet) for the repairs it is doing (it is 
  however, seizing the unclaimed facilities that are not currently in 
  Aztlan territory and claiming them as corporate territory). I have 
  no doubt in my mind, however, that once a local government is 
  formed, Saeder-Krupp will be calling upon them to collect. Given 
  that the cost of rebuilding Bogotá will be in the tens of billions of 
  nuyen, I have no doubt that Lofwyr will be looking to use the cost 
  of the reconstruction to hold over the new government as leverage; 
  quite possibly for laws and policies that will be advantageous to 
  The Veracruz Settlement and the laws governing 
  international companies in Aztlan territory
  In 2044, Aztlan and Aztechnology took a pro-
  vocative measure to nationalize all foreign-owned 
  corporate interests and holdings that were operat-
  ing inside Aztlan territory. This act essentially stole 
  hundreds of millions, if not billions, of nuyen worth 
  of assets that belonged to the megacorporations. 
  In response, in 2048 the Corporate Court issued an 
  Omega Order against Aztechnology. The other mega-
  corporations proceeded to join forces, and in one 
  massive, cooperative mission (Operation: Reciprocity), 
  the corporate forces attacked Aztechnology’s military 
  base at Ensenada. Although the military base was 
  only moderately damaged, the attack conveyed the 
  message to Aztlan and Aztechnology that subsequent 
  attacks could be much worse. Within seventy-two 
  hours, Aztechnology capitulated and signed the 
  Veracruz Settlement. This settlement, along with 
  other legal agreements such as reparations, estab-
  lished the following rules for international companies 
  wishing to conduct business in Aztlan territory. These 
  rules included:
  • Megacorporations could conduct business within 
  Aztlan ONLY by establishing local subsidiaries.
  • These local subsidiaries were required to have a 
  majority of their shares owned by Aztlan citizens 
  or by majority-owned Aztlan corporations.
  • To prevent a corporation from using shell and 
  dummy corporations to own multiple shares of 
  the subsidiary, and thereby group those shares 
  together for a majority, an “arms-length” rule 
  was enacted to prevent that business practice. 
  Violating this rule would result in the subsidiary 
  losing its charter to do business in Aztlan and 
  could allow Aztlan to buy up the remaining shares.
  
  42
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  THE WILDCARDS
  As in any war, you have your soldiers of fortune, those 
  individuals that will work for money for either side. T ose will 
  be detailed in a separate article. Right now, I am concerned with 
  the f ip side of soldiers of fortune, the individuals and groups who 
  work for neither side, but instead work for their own agendas, 
  no matter how those interests align with the goals of the major 
  players in the war. Sirrurg, GreenWar, and Primeira Vaga are the 
  perfect examples of this type of wild card. What Sirrurg and his 
  eco-terrorist groups have been doing up to this point has been 
  mostly favorable to Amazonia, but their ultimate goals are distinct 
  from Amazonia’s goals, and you cannot trust Sirrurg to always do 
  things that are in line with Amazonia’s best interests. Take the use 
  of the entropy magic in Cali, for example. T ere is no way in hell 
  Hualpa or the Amazonian government would have sanctioned 
  such an act that slaughtered thousands of innocents. In fact, I 
  have heard whispers of splinter cells developing in GreenWar 
  and Primeira Vaga who see Amazonia as being just as culpable 
  as Aztlan for the mounting damage that is being wrought on 
  the rainforest from this war. As such, they have taken it upon 
  themselves to start attacking Amazonian interests as well.
  > What the fuck? Why would they do something like that? Don’t they 
  realize that Amazonia is attempting to preserve the environment 
  and the rainforest from exploitation from Aztlan, and that it would 
  be in their best interests if Amazonia won this conﬂ ict? What is 
  wrong with them? Can’t they even tell the difference between 
  Aztlan and Amazonia any more?
  > Aufheben
  > There is a reason they are called “extremists.” My suggestion for 
  them: they all should go out and hug a tree; a Sangre Del Diablo tree.
  > Black Mamba
  In addition to the eco-terrorist groups that have been drawn 
  into this region, there have been a growing number of toxic 
  shamans and spirits that have become active around Bogotá near 
  the beginning of the war. One could only speculate at what their 
  agendas could be. Some are obviously in Bogotá to have their 
  chance at poisoning the pristine rainforest that Amazonia has so 
  zealously protected in the past. Obviously, some of their goals will 
  coincide with seeing Aztlan being successful in keeping Amazonia 
  preoccupied, and perhaps even defeating Amazonia altogether. A 
  few toxics might target the metahuman population responsible for 
  the environmental damage that has been sustained to the rainforest. 
  In that case, they would probably side with GreenWar and Justice 
  for Mother Earth. I have also received information from a few of 
  my contacts on the ground in Bogotá that there are at least two 
  very powerful toxics have recently arrived in the area who would 
  like nothing more for neither side to win in order for their vision of 
  utopia to take hold in the region. One of them seems to be calling 
  herself “Absolute Equilibrium,” while the other calls himself “Final 
  Judgment.” Understandably, Aztlan, Amazonia, and most political 
  groups who are aware of them have put sizable bounties out for the 
  extermination of these sterilists. It is perhaps the f rst thing that both 
  Aztlan and Amazonia have actually agreed upon in years.
  Crash 2.0 by staying one step ahead of everyone else? And I hate to 
  say this about any dragon, but if it helps Aztlan lose this war, I say 
  more power to the scaly one.
  > Hard Exit 
  > But do we really want Lofwyr having yet another foothold in South 
  America and pissing off another dragon? Lofwyr already has the ire 
  of Ghostwalker in Denver. How bad will things get between Hualpa 
  and Lofwyr should he set up shop full time in Bogotá? And how 
  would Sirrurg ﬁ gure into all this? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
  > Frosty 
  > So far, it seems Aztlan and Aztechnology are giving Saeder-Krupp a 
  wide berth. They have not sent as many shadowrunners and mercs 
  after S-K’s operations as they have with Horizon. Perhaps they are 
  not as threatened by power plants as they are by the media and 
  free expression.
  > Snopes 
  > Or perhaps they know who is allegedly running S-K’s security down 
  here: Scale. Rumor has it he and a detachment of the elite S-K guard 
  are making sure no one derails Saeder-Krupp’s operations down 
  here. So if offered a job against S-K, be aware that you may run 
  into that guy down here. He’s been known to take runners alive and 
  then track down their Mr. Johnson for appropriate reward—or ransom, 
  however you want to look at it.
  > Black Mamba
  > Aztlan and Aztechnology may be making a big gamble of their own. 
  It is likely they don’t want to divert major resources from the war 
  effort to deal directly with Saeder-Krupp. They probably ﬁ gure they 
  would rather spend their resources capturing the city, and then have 
  their laws put Saeder-Krupp in its proper place after the war is over.
  > Picador
  Wuxing, like Saeder-Krupp, has found the enchanting 
  materials of ered by the Amazonian rain forest too tempting to 
  ignore, and the corp has started up its own mobile talislegging 
  operations in Bogotá. Wuxing regularly hires the Olaya and the 
  Andes cartels to smuggle out the reagents they have harvested. It 
  is believed Wuxing’s operations in and around Bogotá are bringing 
  in tens of millions of nuyen each year for the cartels.
  > Although I expected many residents to be openly hostile to the 
  idea of the other megacorporations ﬁ nding ways of worming their 
  way into their communities, I have been surprised to ﬁ nd that most, 
  especially in the lower income class, are open to it. Unemployment 
  in Bogotá sits at nearly thirty-ﬁ ve percent of the entire population. 
  Undoubtedly, this was impacted by both the war and by the growing 
  threat of the Sangre Del Diablo trees. The agricultural economy 
  of Bogotá was simply devastated by the overabundance of the 
  dangerous trees, which have preyed on livestock and farm hands 
  while killing off crops. Ares, Saeder-Krupp, and Wuxing are actively 
  hiring the unemployed local residents of Bogotá and winning over 
  support for their presence in the city. And as a “bonus,” most of 
  the corporations are allowing them to retain their Colombian 
  citizenship—for now.
  > Hard Exit 
  
  43
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  agenda is for Bogotá, but everyone seems concerned about their 
  growing numbers in Zona Norte and Zona Centrico. I, for one, will 
  be keeping a close eye on this phenomenon (as will Aztechnology, 
  Horizon, and Saeder-Krupp. From what I hear, they have active 
  bounties for the successful capture of these shadow spirits for 
  interrogation and examination).
  > So does anyone know whether these particular shadow spirits are 
  related to the shadow spirits that are rumored to have been working 
  with Primeira Vaga over the last few years?
  > Lyran
  > From what little is known about the shadow spirits of Primeira 
  Vaga, their tactics are completely different from those that are 
  currently haunting the region. The shadow spirits in and around 
  Bogotá are actively feeding off the population and are growing 
  their numbers rapidly, and they’re not afraid of being noticed. Just 
  what the shadow spirits associated with Primeira Vaga want is a 
  mystery, with those spirits still not revealing themselves to anyone 
  outside Primeira Vaga. I have no idea whether these two groups of 
  shadow spirits will look at each other as potential allies or enemies. 
  If they view each other as enemies, who knows what they’ll do to 
  each other, or what that will mean to Bogotá. I would deﬁ nitely say, 
  though, a spirit war would make things a lot more complicated for 
  those living in the area.
  > Sticks 
  > Can anyone conﬁ rm whether these spirit sightings have anything 
  to do with the reports of the unusual number of Aztlan soldiers 
  coming out of the rainforest with severe forms of post-traumatic 
  stress disorder? Does anyone know if these attacks are being carried 
  out by these “independent” shadow spirits, by the Primeira Vaga 
  spirits, or is that a separate threat all together?
  > Butch
  > Don’t know. What I do know, from listening to soldiers on both 
  sides, is that there are two names that are often bandied about for 
  the leaders of the wraiths and the shades: Maelstrom and Oblivion. I 
  don’t know if those are actually what the spirits call themselves, or if 
  those are names the soldiers have given them. And there’s the one 
  fact everyone agrees on: They’re really powerful. How powerful isn’t 
  clear, but there are stories that, if they’re true, would put them on 
  a level just below Zebulon, the free spirit of Denver. If those rumors 
  are true, that’s a very scary thought. A shadow spirit as powerful as 
  Zebulon could take on a great dragon—and win. Maybe. And if there’s 
  two of them, and if they are as organized and are working together 
  as some soldiers have suggested, that could be a problem. I doubt 
  this age has seen shadow spirits with powers of that magnitude, 
  and I don’t know if we are ready for that yet. 
  > Frosty
  > I’m wondering if one of those shadow spirits could have been 
  originally located in Denver, perhaps at the Lakeside Amusement 
  Park. Reports said whatever evil was lurking there was “cleared 
  out,” not that it was actually destroyed. Perhaps whatever it was 
  that Ghostwalker let loose from the amusement park found its way 
  down to Bogotá. Just some wild speculation on my part.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  > These guys are creepy. The sooner someone eliminates these 
  particular toxic shamans, the better. There is a neighborhood in 
  Zona Sur, Francisco Pizarro, I believe, that has been touched by these 
  shamans’ madness. The mana in the neighborhood is completely 
  untouchable now by anyone not a sterilist shaman. Mana is still 
  present in the area so it’s technically not a void, but it has become 
  so warped the mana is absolutely unbendable. It’s as unﬂ exible as 
  plascrete and it feels as frozen as ice. It is inaccessible even to high 
  level initiates. And the people that live in Francisco Pizarro, I swear, 
  they have been manipulated some how. A large percentage of them 
  have lost any type of passion in their lives. They neglect their children, 
  they neglect their physical needs, they neglect their responsibilities 
  to go to work or to do anything other than rebuild the neighborhood 
  and spout out a speciﬁ c philosophy about “efﬁ cient population 
  controls and mental and spiritual discipline.” And in the process of 
  rebuilding, the buildings themselves are taking on almost an alien 
  construct, even more so than Aztlan’s buildings. It’s just … wrong.
  > Frosty
  > Because of whatever the toxic shamans have done, the locals are 
  avoiding the Francisco Pizarro neighborhood (whether intentionally 
  or subconsciously). Without the trafﬁ c (or the passion), it has 
  become an eerily tranquil section in the war-torn city. It also doesn’t 
  hurt that after a certain amount of time, these affected people drop 
  dead from neglecting their own physical needs such as eating and 
  sleeping. Trash is piling up in the neighborhood right along with the 
  corpses. That neighborhood will have order in it all right; no one will 
  be alive to disturb it.
  > Picador
  > The creepy feel of that neighborhood has also driven out any feral 
  critters living on the streets, from demon rats and ghouls to gabriel 
  hounds. The warped mana ﬁ eld has even affected the Diablo trees 
  in that neighborhood. Most of them have died because the mana 
  ﬁ eld has become so alien to them. I know the Diablos have proven 
  to be a very difﬁ cult problem for Bogotá, but I don’t think these toxic 
  shamans’ solution is advisable.
  > Glasswalker 
  And if you thought the chaos brought about the dif erent 
  f avors of toxic shamans in the area was bad, it gets worse (doesn’t 
  it always?). Since the war started, there have been reports from the 
  front lines of shadow spirits moving amongst the soldiers. Many local 
  shamans believe these spirits to have been feeding of  the soldiers’ 
  emotions, from the rage and fury of the soldiers engaged in the heat 
  of battle to their despair and misery while on patrol or stationed in 
  god-forsaken parts of the rainforest for extended periods of time. I 
  have acquired Aztlan reports that conf rm this, and they show that 
  there has been a very steep spike in the numbers of suicides in the 
  army’s ranks since the war began. It would also seem that many of 
  the battles taking place in the rain forest have become a lot more 
  vicious, as if the soldiers were delighting in the cruel deaths of their 
  enemies. It is hard to tell if the same phenomenon is occurring with 
  Amazonia forces, as Amazonia doesn’t seem to bother with such 
  minutiae. What seems to be even more frightening is that there is a 
  great increase in the numbers of shadow spirits being sighted inside 
  Bogotá itself, and any time a sighting is made, those sightings have 
  turned deadly. No one seems to know (or understand) what their 
  
  44
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  to negotiate business and governmental contracts that pertain 
  specif cally to the war. She also has been given the authority to 
  oversee Amazonia’s interests inside the Bogotá region. When 
  Aztechnology began its bombings, Ruiz reacted in a knee-jerk 
  fashion and gave shadowrunners and mercs permission to use 
  whatever means necessary to get their missions accomplished, 
  resulting in much higher collateral damage done to Bogotá 
  infrastructure as well as generating a sharp increase in the 
  number of causalities amongst Bogotá citizens. Understandably, 
  Ruiz is not a popular woman inside Bogotá, and she has caused 
  Amazonia to be isolated from some of the political groups within 
  the Colombian Liberation Movement. In fact, some of the 
  Colombian Liberation Movement groups have placed a bounty 
  on her head from her alleged war crimes. It is also speculated that 
  Ruiz has approached Horizon and the Dawkins Group about the 
  problems Amazonia has been having in the war and has sought 
  their assistance.
  KEY FIGURES IN BOGOTÁ
  AND IN THE WAR
  T e individuals listed below may not be currently in Bogotá, 
  or even in the region, but these people are exerting inf uence over 
  the daily lives of the people who reside in Bogotá , and they will 
  be the ones to determine the type of culture that will exist for 
  the region af er the war is over. T ese are also the players that 
  shadowrunners and mercenaries will need to target to signif cantly 
  impact the direction that the war is taking, as well as the division 
  of political power in Bogotá.
  MARCELA RUIZ
  Marcela Ruiz is a metahuman shaman (believed to follow 
  T underbird) who is also a senior diplomat of the Amazonian 
  government. She is believed to have authority from Hualpa 
  HELPFUL TIPS FOR WORKING
  IN THE RAINFOREST
  • Keep in mind that you may encounter Diablo trees 
  almost any where in the rainforest. Generally 
  speaking, you will not encounter only a couple of 
  trees at once—you may encounter an entire grove 
  of trees (a half dozen trees or more). Each of these 
  trees are capable of inﬂ uencing you to go to your 
  death. It is advisable to bring with you at least 
  one chemsuit if you are working in the rainforest. 
  A chemsuit can protect you temporarily from the 
  corrosive sap. However, the sap has been known to 
  eat through the protective seals of a chemsuit, so 
  long-term protection from the sap is not assured. 
  If exposed to the sap, move to a safe location 
  and then proceed to remove the chemsuit. If pos-
  sible, acquire temperature-controlled chemsuits. 
  Chemsuits can get hot even in ideal conditions. In 
  a tropical climate, heat exhaustion from a normal 
  chemsuit is a signiﬁ cant danger.
  • Astral Recon can help your team spot large groves 
  of Diablo tress and help you avoid unneeded 
  trouble.
  • One of the ﬁ rst rules of being a shadowrunner is to 
  conserve ammo. There should be another rule: bring 
  sufﬁ cient ammo with you. You should bring along 
  enough ammo to last your entire team a couple of 
  days longer than your job. You do not want to run 
  out of ammo in this jungle, and ﬁ nding corpses or 
  patrols to scavenge from is highly unreliable.
  • If at all possible, try and avoid scavenging Aztlan 
  vehicles and/or bodies. Aztlan tends to booby trap 
  equipment left behind to deter and or kill those 
  who are scavenging, whether that is the cartels or 
  Amazonian forces—or you. You will ﬁ nd the dangers 
  associated with scavenging Aztlan equipment to far 
  outweigh any ﬁ nancial beneﬁ ts you stand to gain.
  • Make sure you bring with you plenty of water 
  puriﬁ cation tablets and antivirals. There are lots 
  of sources of fresh water in the Amazon rainfor-
  est. Along with those sources of fresh water are 
  parasites. Becoming infected with an rainforest 
  parasite could mean death. There are parasites in 
  the rain forest that have not been identiﬁ ed by 
  modern science, and they may not have a known 
  treatment. In cases of water shortages, try to rig 
  up a system to collect rainwater.
  • Bring plenty of antivenins with you. There are 
  lots of poisonous creatures in the rainforest. You 
  do not want to be stuck in the rainforest having 
  been stung or bit by one of these creatures and 
  not have a suitable treatment. Remember that, 
  as is the case with the parasites that inhabit the 
  waters of the rainforest, there are insects and crit-
  ters still yet to be identiﬁ ed by modern science. It 
  would be best to avoid being bitten or stung by 
  the wildlife as much as possible.
  • When employing ground vehicles to travel into 
  the rainforest, it is best to take more than one 
  vehicle. It is all too easy for a vehicle to become 
  disabled from either attack or to become stuck 
  in the difficult terrain. Having more than one 
  vehicle limits your team’s chances of getting 
  stranded.
  • Whenever possible, travel with other runner teams 
  or make arrangements with the merc outﬁ ts. If 
  you get in trouble, you have others than can assist 
  you (more muscle, more guns), even if that means 
  you have to tag along for their missions. It’s better 
  to be safe and survive in the jungle than to fall 
  short in manpower and die alone.
  • Everyone inside the rain forest is trigger happy. 
  You may be working for Hualpa himself, or Enrico 
  Silva, but the ground forces do not know that. 
  Assume that whoever you come across will try 
  and kill you. Stealth and magical concealment are 
  your best choices when working in the rainforest, 
  especially near the front lines or near Bogotá.
  
  45
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  metahumans) arrived at Silveira’s camp. They were pretty worn 
  out and injured from ﬁ ghting Aztlan and were running low on 
  ammunition. And they came to Silveira for aid. Silveira, instead 
  of helping the mercs out, ordered his guerilla cell to eat the 
  metahumans! I heard that Silveira got called to Manaus to explain 
  his actions to the Amazonian government and could have been 
  punished severely for the crimes, but rumors suggest Sirrurg 
  intervened with key ofﬁ cials in the government and got the inquiry 
  killed. It is interesting to see where certain loyalties lie. And it is also 
  interesting to see that even after Cali, Sirrurg still holds political 
  inﬂ uence in Amazonia.
  > Kay St. Irregular 
  > What Kay St. says is the truth. Another merc team that I know 
  recovered the remnants of the metahuman cybereyes that belonged 
  to those mercenaries that were betrayed by the guerilla cell. The 
  recordings contain the entire attack. It was … gruesome. If you want 
  a copy of the recording for yourself, feel free to send me a private 
  message.
  > Picador
  Many in Amazonia (mostly the metahuman population) feel 
  Silveira should be removed from the front lines. What is keeping 
  him in place, however, is his ef ectiveness. He and the guerilla 
  cells that are loyal to him have caused the most Aztlan casualties 
  of the war and have intercepted several important intelligence 
  communiqués going from the Aztechnology Business Complex 
  to Aztlan forces out into the f eld. Few other guerilla cells have 
  been as ef ective as Silveira’s.
  RAUL CHAVEZ
  Raul Chavez is an ambitious, forty-nine-year-old junior 
  executive from Aztechnology whose duty it is to ensure the successful 
  operations of the Aztechnology Business Complex, maintaining the 
  security of those businesses and subsidiaries inside the complex, as 
  well as making sure it accomplishes its objectives outside of the 
  complex. Raul Chavez has been in charge of the complex since 2066, 
  just af er the peace negotiations in Manaus resulted in a (subsequently 
  ignored) peace treaty between Aztlan and Amazonia.
  Many used to consider him to be on the fast track to earning 
  a seat on Aztechnology’s board of directors in the next f ve years, 
  especially after he helped engineer Aztechnology’s successful 
  bombing raids in 2071. His career took a hit, however, from 
  his failure to establish the Transmilenio Line, which cost his 
  corporation nearly eight hundred million nuyen for a wall that 
  wasn’t completed and now lies in ruins. Although Chavez has 
  since redeemed himself to some extent by using Aztechnology 
  intelligence resources to spread the rumors about the f ctitious 
  weapons project that lured Amazonian assets into the trap that 
  started this war, people still remember him for his bold claims that 
  his concept, the Transmilenio Line, would be the “f nal solution” 
  to resolve the ongoing problem with the opposition groups, and 
  would f nally allow Aztechnology and Aztlan the power to f nally 
  conquer Bogotá. People tend to remember empty promises.
  > Now that Aztlan’s forces are committed to the ﬁ ghting in the 
  rainforest, it will be all up to Chavez and his Aztechnology Security 
  Forces to make sure their foothold inside the city is protected. With 
  > I thought it was Hualpa’s translator, Maria Locasin, who made 
  those decisions.
  > Clockwork
  > Interestingly enough, it still might be. Locasin is technically 
  responsible only for magical affairs inside Amazonia. There are 
  other government ofﬁ cials and diplomats responsible for other 
  state affairs (some metahuman, some not). Many of these other 
  government ofﬁ cials are also members of a magic group for high-
  level Amazonian initiates, which is headed by Locasin. From what 
  I hear, Ruiz is one of the initiates in that magic group. It wouldn’t 
  surprise me if Locasin hasn’t tried to micro-manage the situation in 
  Bogotá and put pressure on Ruiz to do things her way.
  > Frosty
  > That doesn’t make much sense. Are you saying that one or both of 
  them aren’t following Hualpa’s orders? 
  > Clockwork
  > Hualpa is a dragon that tends to directly govern things that interest 
  him (like the Awakened rainforest). With other things, like the war, 
  Hualpa tends to give his underlings much more control over how 
  things play out. It is possible that Locasin is trying to usurp Ruiz’s 
  authority in order to direct things in her way.
  > Frosty
  > Given how the war is going for Amazonia, one would think Hualpa 
  might become much more interested in what’s going on.
  > Clockwork
  >Which may also be the reason why I have heard that if things don’t 
  turn around soon for Amazonia, Ruiz will be replaced.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  CAUAN SILVEIRA
  Cauan Silveira is a sapient wyvern and is the leader of one of 
  Amazonia’s largest guerilla cells. As such, he has become the de facto 
  leader of the Amazonian forces surrounding Bogotá. Cauan Silveira 
  is a dangerous military leader, and many believe  he shares extremist 
  views with groups such as GreenWar and Justice for Mother Earth. 
  His guerilla cell consists of nothing but sapient paranormal critters. 
  He has shown hostility to all metahumans, even those f ghting on 
  Amazonia’s side. While f ghting inside Bogotá Cauan Silveira has 
  shown little or no restraint in his attacks, causing more collateral 
  damage and death to innocent civilians than any other guerrilla cell 
  (and that’s saying something). T ere is some belief that Silveira is 
  loyal to Sirrurg and not Hualpa, and that he was one of the wyverns 
  that was present in Cali. It is also believed that a combination of 
  Silveira’s and Ruiz’s heavy-handed actions are beginning to shif  
  Bogotá’s sympathies away from Amazonia, and their actions are 
  leading people to become indifferent in the conflict, or even 
  pushing them to join Aztlan’s side. Silveira does not seem to care 
  about the political fallout from his attacks; what he does care about 
  is protecting and recruiting the sapient paranormal critters who 
  make up a signif cant part of Bogotá’s population.
  > A couple of months ago, a dozen or so mercs who were working 
  for Amazonia at the time (who happened to be made up of all 
  
  46
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  with the opposition groups). In addition to the controversial and 
  dangerous decision to spread the Sangre Del Diablo seeds, Madina 
  is the one believed to have strongly pushed the culture war on 
  Bogotá (including the construction of new arcologies that do not 
  match with existing Bogotá architecture and the Aztlan schools 
  that refuse to teach Bogotá or Colombian culture). She has also 
  gone af er the Catholic Church with a passion and has attempted 
  to inf ltrate its organization. T ere are reports that Aztlan has 
  been caught on numerous occasions trying to do this, but there is 
  no telling how many spies have not been caught.
  > Whatever happened to Madina during her short time as a prisoner 
  to the Colombian Liberation Movement has really hardened her. She 
  has made it a point to make sure as many captured members of the 
  Colombian Liberation Movement and their allies are executed, going 
  so far as to intervene with Aztlan’s magistrates, and making sure 
  there is no leniency shown to any of them (i.e., execution instead 
  of life in prison, though if I was captured by Aztlan, I think I would 
  prefer execution to serving any time in their horriﬁ c prisons). It 
  would appear all the groups did when they took her captive was 
  make her a much worse enemy.
  > Glasswalker
  so many opposition groups pushing back hard against Aztechnology 
  and given his already-blemished reputation with the Transmilenio 
  Line, I am betting that if any signiﬁ cant amount of ground is lost, 
  Chavez can say, “adios” to his tarnished career (and if he really fucks 
  up, his life).
  > Aufheben
  JUANITA MADINA
  While Raul Chavez is the Aztechnology side of the 
  Aztechnology–Aztlan partnership, Juanita Madina is the Aztlan 
  liaison. Juanita Madina has been in Bogotá since 2060, longer 
  than Chavez. Most locals I have talked to identify her as the 
  of  cial who sanctioned the program to germinate the Sangre Del 
  Diablo trees in the rainforest. In the fallout of that scandalous 
  project, Madina has been repeatedly targeted with both extraction 
  and assassination attempts, but has survived both. Madina also 
  weathered the catastrophes and the violence provoked by Crash 
  2.0. T ere are reports that Madina, during the Crash, was taken 
  prisoner by one of the political groups (either Bogotá Libre! or 
  the True Brazilians). Her imprisonment was only short lived, 
  however, and she managed to escape their custody (it makes 
  me wonder if she had help and whether that help is still in place 
  AMAZONIA’S FIVE MOST WANTED 
  • Marc Saavedra, the General of all Aztlan forces 
  inside Bogotá, and responsible for the operations 
  being conducted in and around Bogotá. Saavedra 
  possesses mission imperative intelligence on 
  Aztlan operations and movements within the 
  rainforest. Saavedra is stationed at the military 
  compound inside the Aztechnology Business 
  Complex. Has a full compliment of veteran soldiers 
  (including Jaguar and Leopard Guards) protecting 
  him. Contract is valued at 3,000,000¥. Saavedra 
  must be alive and capable of being interrogated 
  for the contract to be fulﬁ lled. Images of Saavedra 
  are attached. [link]
  • Juanita Madina, Aztlan Envoy to Aztechnology. 
  Juanita Madina is the Aztlan ofﬁ cial with budget-
  ary discretion to shape Aztlan functions inside 
  Bogotá and in the region surrounding the city. 
  Madina also helps Aztlan coordinate its military 
  efforts with Aztechnology Security Forces. Madina 
  is the bureaucrat that oversees the logistical 
  aspects of bringing supplies and weapons into 
  Bogotá, making sure they get to Aztlan forces out 
  in the ﬁ eld. Madina also maintains strong David 
  cartel contacts at the Forbidden Delights strip 
  club. Madina has mission imperative intelligence 
  and is a high priority target for Amazonia. Contract 
  is valued at 1,000,000¥. Madina must be alive and 
  capable of being interrogated for the contract to 
  be fulﬁ lled. Images of Madina are attached. [link]
  • Toxic shamans using aliases “Absolute 
  Equilibrium” and “Final Judgment.” These 
  two toxic shamans are believed to be sterilist 
  shamans operating inside of Bogotá. Three small 
  but passionate member groups of the Colombian 
  Liberation Movement have all but disappeared, 
  replaced by cold automatons, looking to salvage 
  Bogotá through “efﬁ cient” population controls 
  and mental and spiritual discipline. Their phi-
  losophy is beginning to spread throughout the 
  neighborhood of Francisco Pizarro like a cancer. 
  No images are available for these toxic shamans, 
  as they are suspected of using physical masks 
  and invisibility to conceal their identities as well 
  as their movements. They are given away by the 
  unusual spirits that they conjure; these spirits 
  often look more like machines than spirits. 
  Contracts on the shamans are valued at 250,000¥ 
  each. Proof of death is required for each shaman. 
  The spirits were last known active in the Francisco 
  Pizarro neighborhood.
  • There is a contract out for a great anaconda that 
  has identified itself as Fang. This anaconda is 
  believed to have worked with Aztlan agents, 
  and compromised the location of two guerilla 
  cells working ten kilometers outside of Bogotá. 
  Descriptions of this anaconda include black, 
  yellow, and blue markings, and the snake is 
  approximately 12 meters in length No images are 
  available of the anaconda at this time. The con-
  tract on the anaconda is valued at 100,000¥. Proof 
  of death is required.
  • A key member of New Destiny, Luiz Rey and 
  several members of the political organization 
  have made a name for themselves in talislegging 
  and poaching in the rainforest, as well the murder 
  of approximately twenty-ﬁ ve Amazonian soldiers 
  who attempted to stop the illegal acts. Contract is 
  valued at 50,000¥ for Luiz Rey, and it is preferable 
  if target is captured alive.
  
  47
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  AZTLAN’S FIVE MOST WANTED
  Sirrurg. The reasons for this contract are straight-
  forward: to end this feathered serpent’s reign of 
  terror and to bring justice for the terrorist acts at 
  Cali, at Monterrey, as well as for other international 
  terrorist acts such as the EuroAir Flight 329. The con-
  tract is valued at 5,000,00 0¥, plus expenses such as 
  advanced medical care. Signiﬁ cant proof of death is 
  required. There is an additional 10,000¥ reward for 
  the individuals (both metahuman and sapient critter) 
  who were with Sirrurg at the attack on the military 
  base in Cali. Images of the wanted fugitives can be 
  found here … [Link]
  Carla Prieto, leader of the terrorist group, Bogotá 
  Libre! Her late husband, Andres, was guilty of the 
  murders of thousands of innocent Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology citizens, as well as causing signiﬁ cant 
  damage to Aztlan and Aztechnology interests. Since 
  taking over the group in 2071, Carla Prieto has sur-
  passed even her husband’s own butchery. Carla Prieto 
  is preventing Aztlan from stabilizing the region, and 
  it is time for her to be brought to justice. The con-
  tract is valued at 2,500,000¥. The target must be 
  captured alive. Recent images of Carla Prieto can be 
  found here … [Link]
  Archbishop Diego Rodriguez, leader of the 
  Catholic Church in Bogotá. Archbishop Rodriguez is 
  preaching blasphemies and heresies against the Path 
  of the Sun and Aztlan. In addition, he is accused of 
  inciting the population of Bogotá to violence against 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology interests. He is also known 
  to provide logistical support for opposition groups 
  with radical and dangerous agendas, as well as hiding 
  fugitives from Aztlan and Aztechnology justice. He 
  has knowledge of information that would be vital to 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology stabilizing the region. The 
  contract is valued at 1,750,000¥. The target must be 
  captured alive.
  Toxic shamans using aliases “Absolute 
  Equilibrium” and “Final Judgment.” These two 
  toxic shamans are believed to be sterilist shamans 
  operating inside of Bogotá. Their twisted philosophy 
  is beginning to spread throughout the population, 
  poisoning followers of the Path of the Sun and 
  harming Aztlan citizens. No images are available for 
  these toxic shamans, as they are suspected of using 
  masking magic and invisibility to conceal their identi-
  ties as well as their movements. They are given away 
  by their unusual spirits that they conjure, which look 
  more like machines than spirits. Contracts on the 
  shamans are valued at 100,000¥ each. It is believed 
  they have been active in the Francisco Pizarro neigh-
  borhood. Proof of death is required for each shaman.
  
  48
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  CARLA PRIETO
  On June 18, 2071, Carla Prieto lost her husband to an 
  assassination attempt that was linked to Aztlan. T e ork woman 
  quickly rallied the leadership of Bogotá Libre!, quelling internal 
  squabbles and inf ghting over who would become the next leader 
  of the movement. Prieto wasted no time in getting her revenge. 
  Genetique and Dassault facilities were hit hard by the political 
  group. Members of Bogotá Libre! who were suspected of giving up 
  Andres’ location to Aztlan were taken to Bolivar Square and were 
  publicly executed (af er they were horribly beaten and tortured). 
  Carla Prieto made it a priority to hunt down the Aztlan spies that 
  acted as their handlers and them had executed as well (Prieto 
  fed some of them to the Sangre Del Diablo trees). Prieto hired 
  mercenary hackers to transfer close to three million nuyen from 
  Aztechnology’s accounts from within the Complex. Under Carla’s 
  reign, Bogotá Libre’s! rhetoric and tone have grown much more 
  sharp and extreme (assuming such a thing was even possible). 
  Carla ordered the bombing of the Aztlan high school while the 
  school was still in service, something that most people believe 
  Andres would never have sanctioned. Bogotá Libre! could be the 
  logical political organization to spur on a unif cation of Bogotá 
  and a majority of its paramilitary groups, and to start putting 
  together some sort of leadership that will eventually ascend to the 
  political leadership over Bogotá once the war is over and Aztlan is 
  removed from Bogotá . Many fear, however, that Prieto is making 
  the f ght with Aztlan too personal, and that the f ght with Aztlan 
  will not end, even if Aztlan and Aztechnology are removed from 
  the city.
  > Along with the True Brazilians, Bogotá Libre! has seen a tremendous 
  boost in support from supplies and weapons being funneled to 
  them from outside of the region. Although it could be any number of 
  groups or corporations with a grudge against Aztechnology or Aztlan, 
  most groups, especially Aztlan, believe the assistance is coming 
  from Ghostwalker. Many of the supplies seem to be designed for the 
  dracoforms and the dracomorphs that are in Amazonia’s army. And 
  who better to put together the ideal supplies for these paranormal 
  critters than a dragon?
  Even if it is not Ghostwalker, with all the new weapons and 
  explosives that are being bestowed upon them and the large 
  Active members of Black Star. It has come to 
  Aztlan’s attention that the anarchist group Black 
  Star has been responsible for the recent insurgent 
  attacks that have killed dozens of innocent Aztlan 
  and Bogota citizens. They are equipping and training 
  street gangs and local tribes in conducting sophisti-
  cated attacks and is doing great harm to the stability 
  of Bogotá, and they must be stopped. There is a 
  50,000¥ contract on the heads of any known Black 
  Star member operating within Bogotá. These anar-
  chists can be taken dead or alive. A similar 50,000¥ 
  bounty is placed on members of Combat, Inc. who 
  are believed to have been working with the known 
  terrorist and enemy of Aztlan, Ghostwalker.
  
  49
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Aztechnology both believe he has vital information about the 
  opposition groups, as well as on Amazonia and its force strength 
  in the region. 
  > The way the Dawkins Group approaches Black Ops missions and 
  records maintenance is, they establish a ﬁ le number for the Black 
  Ops mission, and then everyone who works for the Dawkins Group 
  and is assigned to that particular mission is assigned that ﬁ le 
  number. So, whenever someone is referred to by, let’s say, deniable 
  assets, they are “Mr. Johnson 1234,” “Agent 1234,” “Operative 1234,” 
  etc. Once the mission’s over, that number is never used again. It is 
  a method to keep accurate records of black ops missions without 
  actually attaching names of personnel to the missions. So if I get 
  lucky (and I mean damn lucky) to ﬁ nd a ﬁ le containing a Dawkins 
  Group black ops mission, I would have no way of linking that mission 
  to an agent or operative. In addition, agents and operatives usually 
  change their physical characteristics after each mission or a series 
  of missions. So it really is difﬁ cult to track down exactly who each 
  agent is (or was), and what their background was. Dawkins Group 
  agents like to take their roles as spooks to the extreme.
  > Doctor Spin 
  JAIME SALAZAR
  As the head of the Olaya cartel, Jaime Salazar and his business 
  operations hold great inf uence over many sectors within Bogotá. 
  Bogotá is used by Salazar as a major distribution and operations 
  center for its drugs, magical goods, explosives, and guns. Salazar 
  runs numerous companies and subsidiaries (mostly in the 
  transportation and shipment sectors) under his AA corporation, 
  KondOrcid. Despite his back being up against the wall in 2071, 
  Salazar survived an Interpol investigation and restored his 
  company to AA status. Extraterritorial status for his company 
  has given him the advantage over his competition in being able 
  to move his product safely and reliably around the world. He has 
  also taken advantage of a high unemployment rate in Bogotá to 
  expand his operations, whether that means acquiring additional 
  laborers for his coca and remaining tempo facilities, or obtaining 
  additional manpower for security for his drug manufacturing 
  plants, brothels, gambling dens, or recruiting people to use as 
  soldiers in raids against the David cartel. Jaime Salazar is a strong 
  supporter of the Colombian Liberation Movement, particularly 
  those organizations that also favor some relations with Amazonia 
  (such as the True Brazilians), as well as those that would be capable 
  of being bought of  in the future.
  Jaime Salazar has recently encountered dif  culties with Ares. 
  Some local tribes that Salazar has been hitting up for “protection 
  services” have hired, or are in the process of hiring, Knight Errant. 
  T ose contracts are cutting into the Olaya cartel’s prof ts, and 
  Ares has also moved its own arms dealers and smugglers including 
  Enrique Marshall and Hector Martinez, into the area to cut the 
  cartel out of the deal and to provide their weapons and gear 
  directly to the consumers in Bogotá. Many times, the arms dealers 
  working for Ares can provide the weapons and gear at a much 
  cheaper rate than does the Cartel, and yet see greater prof ts.
  MAELSTROM AND OBLIVION
  Very little is known about these two shadow spirits. T ey 
  have been seen in the areas where f ghting in the rainforest has 
  numbers of followers in its organization, Bogotá Libre! has become 
  even more dangerous for Aztlan.
  > Haze
  > I hope the True Brazilians are trying to ﬁ nd out for sure who their 
  brand-new best friend is, and what he or she may want from them 
  in the future should they succeed in their ambitions to get rid of 
  Aztlan. Nothing’s ever free, especially if it comes from a dragon.
  > Frosty 
  PETER HUNT
  Peter Hunt is an elusive f gure. From what I could tell, he 
  doesn’t work in Bogotá, but rather is working out of another 
  undisclosed Horizon location somewhere in the Northern 
  Hemisphere. What little I know about him is that he is believed to 
  be with the Dawkins Group in the capacity of a Senior Operations 
  Manager. My informants have told me that he maintains daily, if 
  not hourly, contact with an individual associated with the three 
  trid stations in Bogotá; that man is simply known as “Agent.” Other 
  than conf rming Peter Hunt’s existence, I have no other real data 
  about him. His actual history seems to have been completely 
  erased, and there is no current image of him on record. From the 
  encrypted exchanges that have occurred between him and Agent, 
  it is obvious that Hunt designs operations in the Bogotá region, 
  and Agent carries those missions out in the field. So far, most 
  of the assignments that Hunt has given seems to be helping the 
  opposition groups defend Zona Centrico from Aztlan incursions, 
  as well as helping to gather intelligence on Aztlan movements and 
  operations against Amazonia. Due to an increase in activity around 
  the trid stations (in the form of certain shadow f gures) it is obvious 
  that a major operation is either underway or will be soon. 
  T ere are a few rebels I know from the Yucatan Peninsula 
  who remember working for a Peter Hunt immediately af er the 
  peace treaty was signed in 2064. At the time (if this is the same 
  Peter Hunt and if that is actually his name), he was working with 
  the UCAS CIA, trying to make certain that the rebels had the 
  means to defend themselves in the future should Aztlan choose 
  to renege on their agreement. Again, if he is the same Peter Hunt 
  from that timeframe, he earned a lot of friends and support 
  from the Yucatan rebels for his commitment to improving their 
  situation against Aztlan.
  “AGENT”
  As little of information that I had on Hunt, I have even less 
  on Agent. Agent is a human male, and he seems to have arrived 
  in Bogotá approximately a year before the war began and shortly 
  af er Horizon assumed control over many of the local trid stations. 
  Agent has an alias that he uses at the trid stations (Alexander 
  Williams) and an of  ce (Gregory Metcalfe, but he doesn’t seem 
  to be in the of  ce much, if at all). He is listed as an Assistant 
  General Manager, but it would seem that the title is on paper 
  only. He doesn’t have any real responsibilities at the news nets or 
  the of  ce. Many believe Agent to be one of the Dawkins Group’s 
  elite social adepts. Many have claimed that he changes his physical 
  appearance regularly, as if he has a dif erent face per each black-ops 
  mission. Like Hunt, his entire history appears to have been erased.
  Aztlan and Aztechnology have a contract out on his 
  head; twenty-f ve thousand nuyen if captured alive. Aztlan and 
  
  50
  War!
  BOGOTÁ CULTURE   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  > There have been similar incidents of barbaric violence at the battles 
  of Valencia, Georgetown, and Maracaibo. Each time, both Amazonia 
  and Aztlan suffered so many casualties that the ﬁ ghting ended in a 
  stalemate. If this trend continues, it will most certainly prolong this 
  bloody war. I don’t think this Maelstrom ﬁ gure can be ignored by 
  either side very much longer.
  > Axis Mundi
  > The increased number of suicides hasn’t just been felt on the 
  battlefield. In Zona Norte, residents have been found dead of 
  suicide at an alarming rate. There have been numerous sightings of 
  shades in that part of Bogotá, and many feel spirits have some sort 
  of stronghold in that area. The reports seem to indicate that there 
  are dozens of individual shades that are beginning to appear in that 
  part of Bogota.
  > Marcos
  > Are you sure it’s the shades that are causing those suicides, and 
  not just the squalor and decay that most of Bogotá has fallen into?
  > Black Mamba
  > Given the fact that everyone is so preoccupied by the war, it will 
  probably be left up to us mercs and the local shadowrunners to clean 
  up this mess. We were the unsung heroes of Crash 2.0, and we’ll 
  probably have to assume that role again for Bogotá’s sake.
  > Picador 
  been at the worst. Survivors have reported that these spirits have 
  fed of  of their comrades until they died, and then the shadow 
  spirits disappeared af er inf icting considerable damage on the 
  battlefield. Maelstrom, believed to be a powerful wraith, is 
  reported to have instigated such viciousness and blood lust that 
  permanent background counts have been lef  those battle sites. 
  T ose that managed to survive were scarred by the gruesome 
  battles they witnessed, battles that did not leave whole bodies 
  but rather lef  shredded and savaged pieces of remains. T ere 
  have been reports of soldiers being beheaded and having their 
  heads placed on pikes. Reports abound of soldiers who chose 
  to eviscerate the enemy even when they had assault rif es and 
  pistols to choose from to kill the enemy, and soldiers who were 
  still alive while being dismembered even as their cries rattled 
  the native wild life. T e largest battle that Maelstrom seems to 
  have inf uenced was at the Colombian city of Yopal, where f ve 
  hundred soldiers from both Amazonia and Aztlan slaughtered 
  each other in a gory fashion.
  While reports of savage fighting have garnered the most 
  attention, there is another phenomenon that has been steadily 
  rising along with the hate-induced bloodshed: suicides. Although 
  suicides are to be expected in the military, the suicide rate for 
  Aztlan soldiers along has quadrupled in recent months. Aztlan 
  is trying to remedy the situation, but with Amazonia units so 
  decentralized and so unconventional, it would be interesting to 
  know whether or not Amazonia is paying attention to the suicides 
  amongst its own ranks. And if not, one has to wonder how the 
  suicides will be af ecting the balance of power within the war in 
  the rainforest. T e Aztlaners who have witnessed (and survived) 
  the attacks by this shadow spirit have called it Oblivion.
  
  51
  War!
  MERCENARIES   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Hospitals and street clinics not sanctioned by Aztlan have a 
  dif  cult time obtaining the drugs and the equipment needed 
  to treat the local citizens. And the rates of illiteracy and lack of 
  a proper education in the population is becoming staggering. 
  Something had to be done about the situation, and I am proud 
  to say that we, as a group, are involved in trying to improve the 
  desperate conditions of Bogotá.
  > Aren’t we supposed to be learning about Black Star, not about the 
  conditions in Bogotá? Or are we learning that Black Star is full of 
  people like Aufheben?
  > Dr. Spin
  Our f rst major accomplishment af er setting up shop in 
  Bogotá was stopping the Azzies from building what was called the 
  “Transmilenio Line.” If you are familiar with world history (and I 
  hope you are), the wall would have acted as a boundary between 
  North and South Bogotá, similar to the wall in Berlin af er World 
  War II that separated West and East Berlin. T is wall would have 
  solidif ed Aztlan’s control in the north, and would have created 
  a feeding frenzy amongst the Colombian Liberation Movement 
  members, who are vying for political control of the sector. I 
  personally admired how we did it too. We didn’t just go toe to toe 
  against the Azzies (which we could have, we do have an impressive 
  number of veteran shadowrunners and mercenaries, trained to 
  use a wide variety of weapons, cyberware, and tactics). We made 
  contact with the street gangs and the local tribes, the ones that 
  Aztlan considered to be merely “nuisances.” We taught them how 
  to conduct successful urban warfare and how to engage a superior 
  force. We armed them with much more sophisticated weapons. 
  T e attacks the gangs and the tribes leveled against Aztlan took 
  them by complete surprise, and were simply devastating. Our 
  “Triple A Club” (our magic group) helped teach the magically 
  gif ed members of the gangs and the tribes how to manipulate 
  mana, channel that mana as a weapon, and call spirits. We gave 
  them an alternative between serving Aztlan and listening to the 
  sanctimonious Catholics, who only want to do to Bogotá what 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology are doing to them now: occupying their 
  nation. We helped them build on the momentum that they had 
  THE BIG GUNS
  Posted by Aufheben 
  Up to this point, you have heard about the types of jobs that 
  are available to shadowrunners and mercenaries in Bogotá. But 
  you may also want to know which merc outf ts are operating in 
  the area, and which ones may interest you in joining as soldiers 
  of fortune (or which ones may be the competition that you have 
  to watch out for, or which ones have bounties on their members’ 
  heads). T ere are lots of choices; I’ll of er my (of en biased) take 
  on some of the bigger groups, then Glasswalker will cover some 
  of the local groups. I’ll start with the group I belong to, Black Star.
  BLACK STAR
  I am proud to say that I have been a member of Black Star 
  for close to ten years. I have been working with this operation 
  to oppose corporate and government suppression over various 
  populations around the globe, and to help establish a system of 
  living that is fair and equal to the people, including the laborers 
  and the lower classes. When hostilities started to escalate out 
  of control in Bogotá, our leadership decided it was the perfect 
  opportunity to help the local citizens protect themselves from 
  Aztlan and Aztechnology aggression and tyranny, and to train 
  them on how to strike back. And so in early 2071, we set up base 
  inside Bogotá. And I will say it is truly depressing to see how 
  such a vibrant and rich city has fallen into decay, thanks to the 
  actions of Aztechnology and Aztlan. If anyone has any doubts 
  about the consequences of unchecked corporate and government 
  power on an indigenous people, one should come down and visit 
  Bogotá. People are starving. Food is scarce on the streets. T ere 
  is a high risk of parasites and even dangerous pesticides on the 
  food commodities that are being sold in the local mercados (I 
  blame the cartels, the former Bogotá government, and Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology for denying the tools needed by these local 
  farms to prevent these dangerous conditions from occurring on 
  their produce, and spreading death). Even soy products are going 
  for an exorbitant amount of nuyen. Development of potential 
  new sources of food for the area is being hampered by Aztlan’s 
  and Aztechnology’s interdiction of the air space around Bogotá. 
  . . . MERCENARIES . . .
  
  War!
  MERCENARIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  . . .
  52
  
  53
  War!
  MERCENARIES   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  individual shareholders. With such diverse shareholders, it 
  is amazing that MET2000 has turned out to be such a well-
  organized and functional mercenary outf t, instead of one that is, 
  to put it bluntly, schizophrenic and rife with internal conf ict. Due 
  to the corporate interests to which they are beholden, MET2000 
  is one of the best-outf tted merc groups with the latest weapons 
  and equipment on the market. T at may also be the major reason 
  why they are the largest mercenary groups in the world, attracting 
  those who want and crave the latest and best gear.
  The mercenaries from MET2000 are trained (and the 
  best qualif ed for) conventional warfare. T at specif c skill set 
  actually limits their usefulness in a region such as Bogotá, where 
  many groups (not just Amazonia and Black Star) are relying on 
  unconventional warfare. But with an enemy such as Aztlan that 
  relies heavily on conventional warfare, they make up for their lack 
  of diverse skills out on the battlef eld by being able to stand up to  
  the armored and mechanized units that Aztlan uses. MET2000 
  typically only accepts contracts against Aztlan, although I am lef  
  to wonder, is that by choice, or is Aztlan the only enemy they are 
  capable of understanding and f ghting ef ectively against in this 
  part of the world? Whether by choice or not, I am grateful that 
  they are not providing material support for the side that I’m of en 
  going up against. Most of MET2000 ops are in the rainforest, 
  usually as support for the frontline guerilla cells.  
  It is also important to know that while we have our specialty 
  unit, the Triple A Club, MET2000 has its own special subsidiary 
  called Argus. No matter what you may think about MET2000 
  or Argus’ politics, Argus is a formidable intelligence-agency-for-
  hire unit. T ey accept contracts from governments and small 
  corporations that don’t have such resources, and then go into the 
  f eld to secure the intelligence or complete the job that is desired. 
  Like most intelligence agencies, those jobs could be anything 
  from covert recon and surveillance to counter-intelligence and 
  assassination. They have the trained agents and resources at 
  their disposal to get results and to get the job done. Amazonia 
  is currently one of their major contracts in the region. When it 
  comes down to intelligence, Aztlan beats Amazonia hands down 
  in that category. Argus has been brought in to try and diminish 
  the advantage Aztlan has enjoyed over Amazonia in that regard.
  > I don’t want to say Aufheben is incorrect on Amazonia’s use of 
  Argus, but I have reliable sources that suggest that Amazonia is 
  working with Horizon and its Dawkins Group for its intelligence. 
  In fact, those sources are hinting that Horizon and Amazonia are 
  working on something big, big enough to be used as part of an 
  international operation to shape opinions on the war. And from what 
  I’ve seen, Amazonia needs all the help it can get.
  > Dr. Spin
  > With a war of this scale, I have no doubt that meeting all the needs 
  of Amazonia for accurate intelligence on the frontlines as well as 
  what is happening in Bogotá are beyond the abilities and scope of 
  Argus, despite the rumored ten thousand members that it has in 
  the intelligence community around the world. When you’re talking 
  about resources, you really can’t beat what a AAA like Horizon 
  can bring to bear in South America. However, despite each having 
  their own contracts with Amazonia, I’m certain there is some 
  nasty competition going on in the shadows between the Dawkins 
  accomplished in their f rst series of attacks, and allowed them to 
  obtain even larger and greater victories. Convoys and patrols going 
  into the Amazon rainforest were ambushed, and some were lef  so 
  broken that their missions had to be scrubbed, and the survivors 
  had to crawl back to the Aztechnology Business Complex. We 
  worked with Amazonian forces to extract Rafa Espinosa, the 
  man responsible for the bombing of the Pemex archeology and 
  the deaths of innocent civilians, and we made sure his body was 
  lef  to decay out in the forest. We provided armed back up for 
  the street rallies for Bogotá Libre! that turned into a full blown 
  insurrection inside Zona Oeste, Aztlan’s back yard, where the riots 
  inf icted hundreds of thousands of nuyen on businesses that are 
  Aztlan backers. We have seen a lot of progress inside Bogotá, and 
  we intend to do more to help the local population reclaim its city 
  and its country.
  It was perhaps the best feeling I experienced during my 
  years working for the Black Star, knowing that we were working 
  for a noble cause, and that we were giving the local citizens hope 
  for their eventual independence. It is that sense of purpose and 
  achievement that I feel is lacking from the other mercenary groups, 
  some of whom are only a step or two away from being corporate 
  lackeys themselves. T at is what it means to be Black Star. If you 
  are in Bogotá, and have the desire to make a dif erence, look our 
  group up. Many of the street gangs and the local tribes will know 
  how to get a hold of us.
  > That is all well and good, but as I commented on Snopes’ article, 
  political passion and advanced weapons do no damn good if 
  these same tribes and gangs turn on each other after Aztlan is 
  gone. Civil war is just as a bad of an option for Bogotá as Aztlan 
  oppression. Instead of just focusing on tactics and ﬁ ghting, it might 
  be beneﬁ cial to focus on negotiations and establishing a dialogue 
  between all the gangs and the tribes. Establishing a foundation for 
  cooperation would beneﬁ t Bogotá in the long run, not more violence.
  > Marcos
  MET2000
  Now, I have both worked with and against my share of 
  mercenaries from MET2000 (acronym for Mobile Eingreif ruppe, 
  or Mobile Intervention Force 2000) in various hell holes around 
  the world. Overall, I do not have a problem with the mercenaries 
  that they employ. I have found the vast majority of them to be 
  well trained, highly skilled, and very capable. One of my biggest 
  problems with MET2000 is that they are not just a loose outf t 
  of mercenaries (which I could respect), but they are in fact a 
  functioning corporation with some really big, megacorporate 
  puppet-masters. Honestly, I am really surprised that they don’t go 
  running around wearing t-shirts and armor with their corporate 
  sponsors’ logos plastered all over them.
  In fairness, I feel it is important to let you know just who 
  those shareholders are, if you are considering working for 
  MET2000 (because joining up with MET2000 means working 
  for them as well). As of April 2073, the Allied German States 
  owned approximately thirty-four percent of MET2000 shares, 
  twenty-one percent of the MET2000 shares are owned by the 
  Frankfurt Bank Association, eighteen percent of the shares are 
  owned by Ruhrmetall, seventeen percent of the shares are owned 
  by Ares, while the f nal ten percent of the shares are owned by 
  
  54
  War!
  MERCENARIES   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  escalating violence in Bogotá and the great need for capable 
  mercenaries, it began to move some of its members into that 
  theatre. Tsunami is a major competitor of MET2000 and is 
  always looking for ways to cut MET2000 down. Tsunami is 
  known for its attempts to underbid MET2000, of en poaching 
  contracts away from their main competition. I personally have a 
  problem with an outf t that is much more obsessed in obtaining a 
  worthless title of “largest mercenary company in the world” than 
  it is of having a cause that it genuinely supports out in the f eld. 
  Another problem I have with their group is that Tsunami, unlike 
  MET2000, accepts contracts from Aztlan. I feel it is important to 
  let people know that our members of Black Star are keeping track 
  of those mercenaries that are taking jobs that are helping Aztlan 
  carry out its dirty work. And we are proudly going af er them. All 
  mercenaries should know that helping Aztlan is a bad career move. 
  Consider yourself warned.
  > Aufheben, I would cut out hunting down other mercs. That could 
  be just as bad of a career choice as working for Aztlan. I mean, piss 
  off enough mercs in the city, and you’ll soon be hunted yourself. 
  And somehow, I don’t think you are badass enough to even see 
  some of the people that will be coming into this ﬁ ght. Just some 
  friendly advice.
  > Picador
  Although Tsunami is now made up of a small number 
  exotic members from around the world, including a variety of 
  Group and Argus, as each one is trying to prove themselves more 
  invaluable to Amazonia than its competition. And we all know that 
  when there’s conﬂ ict in the shadows, there’s us.
  > Black Mamba
  > Argus is also busy with the other big contract that it has, with the 
  United Nations. If there’s any information that needs to be given to 
  the United Nations, a useful avenue for that could be Argus. And if you 
  need to send misinformation to the UN, Argus can serve that purpose 
  as well. I for one don’t ﬁ nd Argus as being particularly competent or 
  bright, but that’s good, because it serves my purposes quite well.
  > Picador
  > Not surprisingly, since MET2000 is performing heavy operations on 
  the frontlines, they have been suffering the most casualties of any 
  of the other mercenary groups in Bogotá. If this keeps up, this may 
  affect just how competitive MET2000 will be against Tsunami, and 
  whether MET2000 can maintain its hold on the reputation for being 
  the world’s largest mercenary company. Interesting times ahead for 
  those two outﬁ ts.
  >  Hard Exit
  TSUNAMI
  Another corporate sell-out group that has set itself up in 
  Bogotá is the world’s second largest mercenary group, Tsunami. 
  Normally operating out of (and limiting itself to) the Pacific 
  region, once Tsunami saw MET2000 taking advantage of the 
  
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  outﬁ t that “doesn’t ﬁ t in” to the culture, or doesn’t have “driving 
  goals.”
  > Sunshine
  > Yes, but as Aufheben mentioned, they are also taking contracts 
  from Aztlan. I wonder what kind of successes they are achieving 
  for Aztlan, and how that is setting the opposition groups and 
  Amazonia back. 
  > Black Mamba 
  > A mercenary’s job isn’t to shorten the war, if that’s what you 
  mean. A mercenary’s job is to make money, and to take advantage 
  of all possible opportunities in that environment that can bring 
  employment. It should be the actual participants themselves who 
  decide how long the war lasts. And I kind of object to Black Star 
  taking action against Tsunami for doing what mercs do in their 
  profession. We simply aren’t meant to have scruples in this game.
  > Picador
  > Perhaps, then, Tsunami is actually working for both sides, making 
  sure when one side gains an advantage over the other, they will do 
  something to neutralize that advantage, which would keep the war 
  and the nuyen ﬂ owing. 
  > Snopes
  10,000 DAGGERS
  10,000 Daggers is one of the few mercenary outf ts that I 
  have encountered that I can say is not entirely a corporate sell-out 
  the way MET2000 or Tsunami are, who prostitute themselves 
  on a daily basis for either new ‘ware or new toys. 10,000 Daggers 
  was put together several years ago by military veterans from the 
  Ukraine and Turkey following the Eurowars. Since that time, the 
  group has earned a reputation in the Middle East for its operatives, 
  who are trained specialists in black ops and night missions, and 
  who have become regular competitors at the Desert Wars. 10,000 
  Daggers also employs a wide variety of metahumans in their 
  organization, helping them to be more discreet in the f eld.
  While MET2000 and Tsunami battle it out for the higher-
  paying (if fewer in number) contracts with Amazonia, 10,000 
  Daggers seems content to accept a large number of contracts 
  from the opposition groups. 10,000 Daggers has worked for 
  Bogotá Libre!, True Brazilians, Multiple Worlds One Bogotá, New 
  Destiny (I’ll forgive them for that one), even the Catholic Church. 
  Many of their jobs have usually revolved around working with the 
  local groups to breach the Aztechnology Business Complex. A 
  few of their more well-known operations inside the Complex have 
  included the thef  of three weapons shipments from Tenochtitlian, 
  which happened to be redirected to the opposition groups. An 
  Aztlan Air Force war hero, Andres Felipe Pacheco, a native-born 
  Colombian who was being used to help recruit locals into joining 
  the Aztlan military, was killed by a sniper shot. And about a week 
  af er that, four Aztlan priests were extracted from the teocalli 
  dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and were brought by 10,000 Daggers 
  to Bolivar Square, where Bogotá Libre! hung and burned their 
  bodies during a massive political rally that spurred street riots and 
  clashes with Aztlan forces in Zona Oeste.
  10,000 Daggers have also brought with them ten members of 
  their magic group, the Brotherhood of the Iron Crescent. T ose 
  metahumans, changelings, shapeshif ers, infected, and drakes 
  (thanks to a much more progressive emperor in Japan), there 
  are still pockets of prejudice against non-humans in the various 
  mercenary cells that make up Tsunami, with a majority of their 
  members still remaining human. A large part of that comes from 
  the fact that Tsunami is backed by Japanese megacorps, which in 
  the past, have been guilty of propagating that type of hatred. I, and 
  a few of my omaes, recently got in a bar f ght at T e Abyss with a 
  couple of assholes from Tsunami who thought it was “good sport” 
  to pick on a dandelion eater. Those prejudiced assholes soon 
  learned their lesson the hard way.
  For your information, the main Japanese backers of Tsunami 
  are: Renraku with twenty-six percent of Tsunami’s shares, 
  Shiawaise with twenty-four percent, Yakashima Technologies 
  with sixteen percent, Pacif c Rim Bank and Financial Services 
  with sixteen percent, Sony Corporation with twelve percent, 
  and individual shareholders round out the remaining shares 
  with six percent. Not surprisingly (given the background of their 
  corporate sponsors), Tsunami’s niche in the mercenary market 
  is in utilizing cyberware, bioware, genetech and nanotech. 
  Many consider Tsunami better at what they do than MET2000, 
  simply because their mercenaries are much better equipped and 
  augmented as individual soldiers. With such diversity among 
  their soldiers and their capabilities, they tend to be much more 
  versatile and adaptable to the changing situations of a war zone 
  than MET2000. If I had my preference, which I have already 
  made, I would still go with Black Star. Bioware and cyberware 
  only gets you so far on the battlef eld; it is drive and passion that 
  keeps you going until you achieve your objective, which many of 
  these soldiers of fortune lack.
  Another deficiency for Tsunami mercenaries is the fact 
  that they are so experienced working in a different part of the 
  world that they tend to draw attention to themselves (which 
  benefits us for tracking down those mercenaries that have 
  taken jobs for Aztlan, but doesn’t help the employers). While 
  Black Star takes the time to integrate itself with the indigenous 
  people, learning customs and learning to blend in (to make 
  ourselves much more effective for urban warfare), many of 
  Tsunamis mercs are not nearly as familiar with Bogotá or its 
  culture, nor do they desire to take the time to learn the culture. 
  In a crowd of people, I can pick out those that are outsiders, 
  and often they’re Tsunami or MET2000 mercenaries. And it 
  has nothing to do with ethnicity, it deals with whether they 
  know the proper local dialect, know the proper hand gestures 
  and visual cues that tip off a contact that you are wanting a 
  private meet, and whether they know who the right contacts 
  are to approach in the first place. I have yet to see Tsunami’s 
  mercenaries become that accustomed with their surroundings. 
  Like MET2000, Tsunami acts more like a blunt weapon rather 
  than a precision instrument.
  > Despite Aufheben’s colorful assessment of Tsunami, they are 
  deﬁ nitely making an impact in the war. From what I’ve heard, 
  they have consistently broken Aztlan’s encryptions on their drones, 
  and have caused whole squadrons of aerial drones to crash in the 
  rainforest. They also have managed to cut one of Aztlan’s supply 
  lines to their troops in the rain forest for over two days, and 
  captured a high priority, Aztlan ﬁ eld commander. Not bad for an 
  
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  members have been given a long-term contract with the Catholic 
  Church to help protect the Church from Aztlan saboteurs and 
  spies. From what I have been told, that has not been an easy 
  assignment for them. T e Catholic Church, being a signif cant 
  player in the local politics and with the support of the political 
  groups, draws a lot of f re and attention from Aztlan military and 
  intelligence forces. But it is a credit to them that eight months 
  af er accepting the contract with the Church, they have succeeded 
  in protecting the cathedral, while laos capturing a rumored f f een 
  Aztlan spies who were trying to put an end to the Church’s support 
  for the opposition groups.
  > In addition to working with the opposition groups inside Bogotá, 
  10,000 Daggers have also accepted jobs that have taken them 
  further into Aztlan. A majority of the Nicaragua Canal attacks are 
  believed to have been caused by mercenaries from the 10,000 
  Daggers. In fact, 10,000 Daggers have begun building such a 
  reputation for their special-ops work that Tsunami and MET2000 are 
  beginning to take notice. Both mercenary outﬁ ts are trying to recruit 
  members away from 10,000 Daggers to try to not only improve their 
  own capabilities, but also snag those lucrative contracts that they 
  have established for themselves. When that hasn’t worked, it is 
  believed (though not conﬁ rmed) that Tsunami and MET2000 have 
  sabotaged a few of the contracts that 10,000 Daggers enjoyed, and 
  then came back, stole the contract, and “cleaned up the mess” for 
  the employer. One thing that should be made clear: It is becoming 
  cutthroat between these merc groups, and I wouldn’t be surprised 
  that the longer this conﬂ ict goes on, the more brutal the in-ﬁ ghting 
  between these merc outﬁ ts will become.
  > Hard Exit
  > It’s almost if Bogotá breeds hostility, what with the merc outﬁ ts, 
  the opposition groups, the cartels, the eco-terrorist cells, Aztlan, 
  Amazonia, and the shadow spirits, don’t you think?
  > Arete 
  > I am not sure if Aufheben is aware of these rumors, but some of 
  my contacts inside Bogotá have informed me that 10,000 Daggers 
  is another group that has also accepted jobs for Aztlan within 
  Amazonia. Some are being used to help rebuild and restructure the 
  Amazonian metahuman resistance groups, others are being used 
  to scout out locations of wanted guerilla cells, while still others are 
  believed to be scouting locations in Manaus, possibly for some sort 
  of attack. I’m certain if Aufheben knew of these rumors, his positive 
  outlook of 10,000 Daggers would change.
  > Clockwork
  COMBAT, INC.
  In the mercenary bars and clubs around town, you may also 
  run across members of Combat, Inc. Combat, Inc. is another 
  independent merc outf t that has had its share of clashes with 
  Wuxing (a positive trait, in my opinion) in Hong Kong. Many 
  believe those clashes, spurred originally by the Ornicalcum Rush 
  during the Year of the Comet, led to its headquarters being 
  relocated to Macao (a negative ref ection on their outf t, in my 
  opinion, because if they were made of quality mercenaries and 
  knew what they were doing, they would never have allowed 
  Wuxing to run them out of Hong Kong). Combat, Inc. is a 
  
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  LOCAL HITTERS
  Posted by Glasswalker
  THE DELMETA TRIBE
  T e Delmeta Tribe has been active in Antonio Nariño of 
  Bogotá for at least eighty years and have passed their traditions 
  and positions of leadership down along a family line since they 
  drove another tribe out of the area all those years ago. T e Delmeta 
  run their tribe like a small empire within the area, with a hierarchy 
  that spans the population so that almost anyone living on Delmeta 
  turf feels like they are a part of the tribe by blood or by loyalty. 
  And these days, “by blood” means a lot more than just relations.
  T e tribe took on its current shape when Tichla Delmeta 
  took over tribal leadership from his senile father ten years ago. T e 
  leadership now consists of a tightly knit gang that rules the tribe 
  like any gang would: with terror. Crossing the new leadership, the 
  locals feel, may well grant you a fate worse than death. Af er all, 
  the leaders may, in fact, be gods.
  Delmeta’s insular gang at the top has taken great pains to 
  begin the process of convincing the population that they are either 
  usurpers or reincarnates of ancient Mesoamerican gods. T ey 
  have Tichla, now called Hunab Ku, and an assortment of poorly 
  researched Mayan and Toltic gods they are using to respond to 
  some of the strange goings-on in the city.
  T is combines to give the Delmeta an interesting angle on the 
  time-tested rule-by-terror method, in that they use a combination 
  of theatrics and propaganda to tighten their control on the tribe.
  For now, the gang’s main goal is to hold tribal land as 
  rigorously as possible with a desire for total control of the people 
  as well as their money. It won’t be too much longer, though, before 
  the Delmeta, like the Mayans they think they model themselves 
  af er, seek to expand and claim larger and larger territory.
  They’ve become big enough to gain the notice of other 
  groups of the city, and Tichla has made it clear that he is willing 
  to rent out some of his tribe’s powers. Bogotá Libre! was one of 
  the f rst groups to take Tichla up on this of er, and the Delmeta 
  continue to provide reinforcements during various Bogotá Libre! 
  events. T e money they get for their ef orts is helpful, but Tichla 
  is even more interested in using these mercenary jobs to test the 
  limits of what he sees as his divinity.
  Hunab Ku (Tichla Delmeta) skipped right over any royal 
  titles and currently styles himself as a diety walking among his 
  people. He was born in a home for “troubled women” outside 
  of Bogotá to a girl who had hoped to be a nun before she met 
  Tichla’s father. T e circumstances of his creation were bloody and 
  unwelcome, a thing Tichla’s mother and the Sisters at the home 
  did not hesitate to remind him whenever possible. Raised under 
  such circumstances, Tichla never questioned if there was a God or 
  not. He knew from day one there wasn’t.
  When his father came and reclaimed him at age eight, he was 
  an old man with high hopes of turning his son into a leader of the 
  Delmeta tribe. Tichla took to the prestige and subservience of a 
  close family happily, but he quickly wanted more. By the time his 
  father was sick, Tichla had decided he did not want to be a man 
  leading a tribe, but instead, he wanted to be a god ruling over the 
  life and death of his people. Af er all, he reasoned, it was in human 
  frequent participant in the Desert Wars and is of en at odds with 
  10,000 Daggers.
  Like the other mercenary groups I have referenced 
  throughout this article, Combat, Inc. lacks a sense of right or 
  wrong, instead making decisions based on the best ways to score 
  big-time jobs. They will work for anyone, including Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology. Black Star believes that Combat, Inc. was 
  responsible for the deaths of f f een Amazonian f eld agents, who 
  were working closely with the opposition groups. Black Star is 
  currently putting together a Most Wanted list of those mercs 
  responsible for that job, as well as other Aztlan-assigned jobs. Just 
  as I have warned Tsumani about their consorting with Aztlan, so I 
  am warning Combat, Inc.: Stop taking those jobs. T ose that have 
  already helped Aztlan or Aztechnology will discover that those 
  endeavors will not turn out to be prof table for them.
  Although I am tempted to condemn the merc outf t entirely, 
  Combat, Inc. is also providing valuable support to Amazonia in 
  the form of its operations in Denver. From what I have heard, 
  Ghostwalker has tapped the mercenary group to smuggle weapons, 
  nuyen, and gear to Amazonia, to assist in their f ght against Aztlan. 
  Of the big merc units, Combat, Inc. has perhaps the most extensive 
  network inside North America. Combat, Inc. was a prominent 
  f gure in the f ghting between the now–abolished Tsimshian and 
  the Salish-Shidhe Council, as well as border skirmishes between 
  Pueblo and the former Ute Nation. It is also believed that Combat, 
  Inc. has chosen to gamble on violence breaking out in the north 
  and has stationed some of their mercenaries along the Pueblo and 
  CAS borders. With Sirrurg on the loose, and with Pueblo and 
  CAS on high alert for any potential violence that might f ow over 
  into their countries, Combat, Inc, is trying to position itself as the 
  sole mercenary group in the area that can take advantage of any 
  violence or contracts that result from the tension that currently 
  exists between Aztlan, CAS, and Pueblo. It will take time to see 
  whether or not Combat, Inc.’s gamble pays of  for them—I hope 
  it doesn’t.
  > Combat, Inc. not only helps to smuggle goods to Amazonia, but 
  they also move items up to Denver. At least ten pieces of art and 
  metal work from the Museo Del Oro have gone up for auction on the 
  black market in Denver, and I would bet that Combat, Inc. made that 
  happen in some way.
  > Cosmo
  > In addition to the possible smuggling of artifacts from Colombia, 
  Combat, Inc. also has taken risky contracts in dealing with 
  GreenWar and the Justice for Mother Earth political group. Some 
  of their members have also been identiﬁ ed in the assault in Cali 
  that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Aztlan troops, and the 
  detonation of the dirty bomb. Whether or not Combat, Inc. had 
  anything to do with the bombing of Cali is still up for debate. But 
  Aztlan is deﬁ nitely looking for any members of Combat, Inc. who 
  were involved in that particular contract.
  > Marcos
  
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  reason to hustle, something her pimp didn’t take too kindly to. He 
  cut her up, scarring one side of her face so badly she couldn’t work 
  anymore. Tichla ran into her while she was strangling that pimp 
  from a ledge with a noose the pimp didn’t see coming.
  Since then, Tichla has fed Ixtab’s psychotic hatred and self-
  loathing to the point that she is barely more than a murderous 
  animal. All he needs to do is whisper in her ear that someone 
  called her ugly, and that someone will be swinging from a rope 
  in a matter of days. She’s still got an excellent body and half of a 
  lovely face, so it isn’t hard to lure her targets in until it’s just too 
  late to escape her psychotic assaults. If the Delmetas take on a 
  covert assignment, Ixtab’s likely to be involved, if not leading it.
  > She is stone-cold. Rumor is she walked right into an Aztlan teocalli 
  once, unarmed, and walked out with three rather powerful magic 
  foci. She left behind three members of the priesthood that she 
  apparently killed with her bare hands. 
  > Marcos
  > She’s Awakened. Not sure if she channeled it into mage or adept 
  powers, but that’s the only way most of the stories about her make 
  any sense.
  > Frosty
  Buluc Chabtan, who is in charge of the military side of the 
  Delmeta operations, took his title from the Mayan god of war, 
  violence, and human sacrifice. He is arguably the most hated 
  nature to have faith and to believe in a God or gods. Since he did 
  not, it only stood to reason that he himself must be a god (yes, 
  there are some holes there. Feel free to point them out to Tichla 
  should you get the chance). T is was about when he started to plot. 
  He lightly studied regional mythology, but not deeply enough to 
  know that the Mayan’s likely never reached Colombian soil. He 
  read about their gods, but skipped the parts that bored him, like 
  agriculture and their af ection for writers and scholars. He instead 
  focused on what he knew could inspire the most fear: bloodletting 
  and blood sacrif ce.
  Af er hand-choosing the rest of his crew and re-baptizing 
  them with the names of gods loosely connected to the roles he 
  had in mind for them, he began the systematic conversion of the 
  tribe to his new religion. It’s taking time, as he thought it might, 
  and it’s cost a lot of people their lives and or sanity, but he’s making 
  progress. In the process, he’s come to a point where he actually 
  believes he is Hunab Ku, father of the gods and ruler of the sky, 
  and his maniacal obsession will be a threat to anyone who openly 
  challenges his new reality.
  Ixtab is a woman Tichla often refers to has his “consort,” 
  though the exact nature of their relationship remains unclear. In 
  the terms of Tichla’s new religion, she is the Hanged Woman, and 
  her appearance is a grotesque corruption of the goddess whose 
  identity she is working to assume.
  Before Ixtab got Tichla’s attention and rose through tribal 
  ranks, she was a streetwalker, and a lazy one at that. Because the 
  had a pretty face and an excellent body, she f gured there was no 
  
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  the limits with them. He’s been known to do some freelance 
  work—if you can f nd him and pay his asking price, he might be 
  able to give you a custom-designed drug of the sort that allows 
  the higher-ups of the Delmeta to perform miracles, but the 
  hidden price may well be your lives. Boluntum’s drugs are new 
  and untested, and it’s only a matter of time before he happens on 
  a formula that works great until it starts killing people.
  > The one-two punch of Ahpuch and Boluntum is building the image 
  of the Delmeta tribe, which is bringing them a particular kind of work. 
  Their psychological warfare is respected by a growing body of people, 
  and they’ve been hired to do some jobs that can be accomplished 
  through intimidation rather than gunﬁ re. As you might imagine, 
  they’re particularly effective against some of the tribals, so some 
  Aztlan money has been ﬂ owing their way, which is kind of odd, but 
  you know, war, strange bedfellows, that sort of thing.
  > Sunshine
  Some people have thought that the Delmeta could be 
  removed as a threat, or at least signif cantly reduced as a power, if 
  Tichla was taken out. T is idea only grows stronger when people 
  think about who would take over if Tichla was gone. Tichla’s 
  designated successor is Kukulcan Delmeta—that’s his actual given 
  name. At 19, he’s the youngest of the organization to see action in 
  the f eld. Named for the Mayan answer to Quetzalcoatl, Kukulcan 
  is introspective, thoughtful, and like his “father” in almost no ways.
  He’s terrif ed of the gang, of course, but not so much so that 
  he does not occasionally try to inf uence his father to use their 
  control over the tribe for good. As a result, he’s had to do a lot of 
  despicable, evil things. It’s an unpleasant balance of greater good 
  up against personal evil, but it’s the only way Kukulcan has found 
  to force his father to act for the benef t of the tribe instead of solely 
  focusing on his goals of expansion, terror, and domination. He 
  is the most approachable of the group’s ranking members, of en 
  acting as a face for the tribe in contract negotiations.
  > Kukulcan is conﬂ icted and confused, which means he’s easily 
  manipulated. Find a way to give him a ray of hope about the future, 
  and he’ll snatch on to it like a brook trout going after a ﬂ y.
  > Hard Exit
  > A ﬂ y ﬁ shing reference? I didn’t see that coming.
  > Frosty
  AZTLAN WAR PARTY: LA ESTELAR GUARDA
  The small unit known as La Estelar Guarda is a prefect 
  example of what happens when ranking members of the military-
  industrial complex get bored and mix it up with religious 
  fanaticism. Several years ago, a man known only as Sr. Numero 
  stepped out of work-for-hire corporate magic and into the 
  mercenary businesses. Since then he has just been waiting for 
  things to heat up with Amazonia to mobilize his team.
  La Estelar Guarda work under the supposition that the spread 
  of the jungle slowly over taking parts of Bogotá is entirely related 
  to Amazonia’s movements. On the surface, because Amazonian 
  troops generally employ guerilla tactics, it’s a pragmatic view 
  (though it ignores Aztlan’s role in spreading the jungle by seeding 
  fast-growing Sangre Del Diablo trees in the area). If there is 
  of the tribal leaders, but the closest to Hunab in power and 
  responsibility. Of the high-ranking tribal members, he seems to be 
  the least pre-occupied with the whole religious trappings Tichla 
  has introduced. He has enough to worry about in reality.
  Buluc hates metahumans with unconcealed disgust, and 
  while the people of Mesoamerica once sacrif ced criminals and 
  captives from war to the ancient god to appease him, the only way 
  to appease this usurper is with the blood of metahumans. T e 
  people who hire the Delmeta know this, and of en bring Buluc 
  missions were his blood lust can be sated. T is means he is sought 
  af er for missions against Amazonian outposts in and near Bogotá.
  Buluc brings about a lot of theater to his work, and he’s 
  been known to make a particular example of any metahuman 
  he captures. He’ll usually bring at least one captive home so the 
  victim can be beaten and abused well past the ability to resist or 
  f ght back. Buluc then cuts out their hearts and eats them in a 
  semi-public ceremony.
  > This is not just for show. Any time you have such a public display of 
  bloodletting, you better be on the lookout for blood magic.
  > Haze
  T e man now called Ahpuch found himself in a dif  cult 
  position from the moment he was given a position in Hunab’s 
  gang, as Hunab named him af er the Mayan god of death and 
  punishment. Hunab told him, “Make them afraid of us. Make 
  them more afraid of pissing us of  then they are of death.” When 
  he heard that, Alpuch knew he was in over his head. 
  As an amateur mage as well as a moderate stage magician 
  there was no way he could use real magic alone to give the 
  impression that he was the second coming of some god of death. 
  Instead, he’d need a lot of smoke and mirrors. He’s cunning, a 
  natural-born con artist and terrif ed of Hunab, so he’s developed 
  a whole slue of manipulations to keep people as afraid of him as 
  he is of his boss. For example, he’s convinced no small number 
  of the population that he can rob the souls of the dead from the 
  underworld, force them back into their bodies, and torture them 
  as long as he likes. In reality, all he’s doing in binding spirits into 
  corpses in order to animate them and control them, but the locals 
  didn’t need to see too many zombies of their lost loved ones to 
  be convinced.
  Ahpuch gets some help from the f ne chemicals provided by 
  Dr. Cit Bolontum (real name unknown). Bolontum was once a 
  legitimate doctor before being abandoned in Colombia by his 
  medical research unit as a means to get rid of evidence of a corp’s 
  illegal dealings in the country. To get by he provided medical 
  assistance and made drugs for the high and low end of Bogotá. 
  Somewhere along the way, Hunab ran into him and of ered the 
  doctor a lot of money to take on the mantle of Cit Bolon Tum, a 
  Mayan god of medicine. 
  Now, he spends his days and nights keeping the gang alive 
  and creating for them cocktails of potent amphetamines and 
  performance enhancers to give them the appearance of god-like 
  prowess. Borrowing from the Mayans, Hunab celebrates publicly 
  with bloodletting rituals, where he and his drugged cohorts cut, 
  shoot, and pound one another to prove that they must be immortal. 
  As the gang becomes more addicted to the drug cocktails 
  mixed by the good doctor, Boluntum’s grown addicted to pushing 
  
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  room he can f nd to keep his actions tactically sound. As long as 
  the money keeps rolling in, Cristina will keep using his tactical 
  acumen to plan the assaults though he never goes along physically, 
  preferring to direct operations from a vault deep in ABC territory.
  Diego Lopez is a technical analyst, rigger, and true believer. 
  Addicted to novacoke, he was an easy convert for Sr. Numero. 
  Between his existing preference for technology and his addled 
  psychological state, Lopez bought all of Numero’s theories on 
  faith. Sr. Numero depends heavily on the technological edge 
  Lopez provides over the naturalistic Amazonians. As a result, he 
  keeps Lopez high out of his mind most of the time, only forcing 
  him to sober up before important missions. T e detoxes are of en 
  brutal and cruel, but Lopez is as addicted to the highs and lows 
  of the relationship as he is the drugs himself, and it would take a 
  miracle to pull him out of that dependency. 
  Astrid Andrea, on the other hand, hates La Estelar Guarda, 
  Sr. Numero, and everything to do with both. She was originally an 
  explosives expert working for her tribe. When one of her masterful 
  explosions completely derailed one of La Guarda’s operations in 
  a f ery ball of destruction, Numero decided he had to have her in 
  his outf t. So he did what any corporate man would. He of ered 
  her money, and when she refused, he kidnapped her family and 
  holds them is a state of perpetual ransom. Andrea is desperate to 
  get out, and constantly on the lookout for a means to escape and 
  get her family free.
  Two men named Jhon and Roca provide the heavy f repower 
  of the outf t. Heavily enhanced and even more heavily armed, the 
  duo are walking environmental disasters, Aside from their martial 
  capability, both have been trained to burn, poison, and otherwise 
  destroy jungle and opponents alike via Cristina’s direction and 
  Numero’s obsessions. When they’re mobilized, the locals say, the 
  damage can be seen from space.
  AMAZONIAN WAR PARTY:
  LOS MATAN GIGANTES
  Contrary to what the media would have one believe, the 
  fact is that Bogotá has more than ghost cartels, corps, mercs, and 
  ecoterrorists. Bogotá has a population of civilians just like any 
  other city in the world, which is what makes this a war instead of 
  military masturbation. People—mostly innocent people—who 
  have no real vested interest in things but for the fact that they 
  live in the place where war is happening. T ere are bystanders, but 
  if you know anything about warfare in urban environments, you 
  know that most bystanders won’t stand by forever.
  Los Mantan Gigantes knows this, and knows that Aztlan’s 
  cultural ef orts are helping move public opinion to that side in the 
  war. T ey also know that with time, pressure, and better PR, public 
  opinion can shif  and bystanders can be turned to insurgents. Los 
  Mantan is playing this war on two fronts and is out to win hearts 
  and minds as well as territory. While other Amazonian groups 
  use guerilla strategies to destroy Aztlan holdings and troops, Los 
  Mantan sell t-shirts, buy of  the media, and recruit at schools and 
  hospitals all while generously redistributing Aztlan wealth. T ey 
  may be heroes—or the may just be cultivating an heroic image to 
  distract Bogotá’s citizens while other groups do the dirtier work.
  El Lal is the leader of Los Mantan in about the same way as 
  the f gurehead is the captain of the ship it’s on. He makes a great 
  impression, is full of good ideas, and can murder with his smile, 
  more dense jungle to hide in, Amazonia’s got the advantage. Sr. 
  Numero’s beliefs, however, go beyond this level into something 
  far deeper and more twisted. As a result, his organization regularly 
  operates in areas like Zona Sur where parts of the city are being 
  overtaken by growth. His troops practice a sort of scorched-earth 
  of ensive, burning and destroying anything and everything that 
  might provide cover and protection for the guerillas. T is tends 
  to include local tribespeople, bystanders, and even Aztlan troops 
  that don’t stay out of their way.
  This is not to say that they are an enemy of Aztlan and 
  its multinational master. Quite the opposite, Sr. Numero is 
  considered a loyalist and pointed to as an example of dedication, 
  at least in Colombia. For now, he’s lef  to his own devices. Trouble 
  could quickly rise if Aztlan tries to rein him in, however, trouble 
  that might hit both sides of the conf ict.
  Sr. Número started studying the Aztec traditions while 
  stationed at the ABC merely as a curiosity. He enjoyed the 
  trappings of these traditions—they seemed to make magic in the 
  area easier—but as his studies continued, he became reluctant to 
  admit that part of his soul might be animalistic, and he refused 
  the idea of a spirit totem outright. Instead, he focused on parts of 
  the religion and practice that worked for him, like astrology and 
  some loose suggestions that the Aztec gods may have been from 
  outer space. Alien gods, could af er all, just be from an alien race 
  so advanced that they appeared like gods to the primitive ancient 
  humans. Technology, he believed, was superior to nature, and that 
  belief gave birth to Sr. Numero’s obsession with technological 
  supremacy over weaker natural order.
  > This is the ﬁ rst part of Numero’s craziness—seeing the war as 
  technology vs. non-technology. Amazonia’s got plenty of technology 
  at their disposal, and they’re on the cutting-edge of a lot of tech 
  research. Some hardliners, though, refuse to believe tech is cutting 
  edge if it’s not burning or polluting something.
  > Ecotope
  Numero believes that  Amazonian troops, forever tied to 
  the jungle and its inferior nature, can be defeated with the use of 
  technology, astrology, and destruction of the jungle and animal 
  life that seems to protect them. He’s on a mission, therefore, to 
  destroy the entire Amazon jungle—one step at a time.
  His obsession with astrology and the math behind magic 
  has led him to some bizarre practices as a mercenary leader. He 
  doesn’t move his outf t without f rst consulting bizarre calculus 
  and complicated charts based on ancient traditional star charts. 
  It makes his actions appear random and unpredictable to his 
  enemies, but only until his obsession and the data he uses in his 
  calculus leaks. At that point, this asset might turn into a deadly 
  detriment.
  Leandro Cristina is the actual military mind behind the 
  La Estelar Guarda. He isn’t sure if he buys into Numero’s crazed 
  theories, but he does like being rich and killing, so he goes along. 
  He has to perform a delicate balance, appeasing Numero’s demands 
  for military strikes and operations by the stars while still being 
  ef  cient and tactical. Of en, Numero’s demands are counter to the 
  smartest choice, and sometimes they’d drop the troops right into 
  the mouth of a disaster. Cristina has become gif ed at following 
  the letter of Numero’s orders while working with whatever wiggle 
  
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  and has no father nor mother beside it. She whispers to the f ora 
  as a trusted companion, and her fae connection to the wild is 
  matched only by her Junoesque beauty. Her wild loveliness dons 
  the bedrooms of more than a few men and boys in Bogotá on 
  posters, though few dare approach her in person. T e rumor is 
  she’s as virgin as the deepest jungle and her magic stems from 
  that untouched purity. T at couldn’t be father from the truth, 
  but Ximena makes no ef ort to correct the rumor to save herself 
  a lot of harassment.
  > It will be interesting to see how these guys react to Horizon being 
  brought in do to some big-time propaganda for Amazonia. Will they 
  see them as competitors or collaborators? I’ll tell you this, Horizon 
  could easily make an international sensation out of Ximena if they 
  wanted to.
  > Dr. Spin
  RIVAL RUNNERS: ANOHI’S OPERATION
  In a very real sense, everyone is expendable in Erika Anohi’s 
  Operation but her. After spending the past ten years actively 
  running the shadows, Anohi’s run through about twenty dif erent 
  runner teammates, switching them in and out as she saw f t and 
  letting them go or die when they were no longer useful. She’s 
  always got an eye out for new talent, and anyone wanting to stay 
  hooked up with her for long feels a tremendous pressure to not 
  just achieve, but overachieve.
  Anohi’s Operation works with, for, and sometimes against 
  the ghost cartels, to the point where some mistakenly assume 
  she actually is a part of one. T at’s a mistake no one makes twice, 
  however, as Anohi’s quite clear that she ultimately works only 
  for herself and anyone who works with her works only for her. 
  Double-dealing within the Operation is met with brutality and 
  swif  death (this in part accounts for high turnover rate). Since 
  there are so many young runners eager to make the big money 
  the Operation churns out, there is always someone watching and 
  waiting to turn in a double agent. Rats are more welcome than 
  loyalists any day, so long as they aren’t ratting out Anohi.
  Every runner group needs something to specialize in, and the 
  Operation favors the kind of work that other groups might be 
  squeamish about. T ey have no hesitations about wetwork, since 
  they view themselves as soldiers in a war that has killing going on 
  all around them. 
  Erika Anohi, the leader and founder of the Operation, grew 
  up as the only girl in a house full of boys. Traditional tribal life 
  would have had her making babies and doing housework until she 
  dropped dead from old age or an abusive husband. When the cold 
  war started to heat up, Anohi saw a third option: Die rich, famous, 
  and by being immersed in violence she could have some control 
  over. T ey say she got her f rst job by rounding up a group of local 
  kids and stabbing a cartel member to death to prove to his bosses 
  they needed her help.
  > How come that only works for other people? I’m always cracking 
  this or that security system and then telling people with money that 
  this is proof they need my expertise on their side, and instead of 
  throwing gobs of money at me, they usually call the cops. What 
  the hell?
  > Slamm-0!
  but when it comes to practical day-to-day operations, he’s just not 
  smart enough.
  Back home, El Lal’s father and mother were people of 
  great respect and repute, having claimed fortune for themselves 
  while protecting the Amazon lifestyle. El Lal, named for a 
  mythical giant slayer in Brazilian mythology, fell just short of 
  his mother’s magical gif s and his father’s tactical know-how. 
  It wasn’t exactly that he was a screw up—more that he lacked 
  the capacity to implement the creative plots he dreamt up, and 
  therefore things would screw up on their own. T en he met 
  Silva Larata while in prison in another part of Colombia. She 
  complemented him well, and af er they broke out, she agreed to 
  join him. Since that time, and af er rounding up the rest of their 
  guerilla group, they have been creating nightmares for Aztlan 
  wherever possible.
  Silva Larata married El Lal almost immediately af er they 
  returned to Bogotá. How could she not? He was the most 
  handsome man she’d ever met, charming, and his “creative” plans 
  challenged her daily. Where he lacks raw cunning, she lacks vision, 
  and between the two, they are one complete genius. When El 
  Lal said, “We need to just be more popular than Aztlan to the 
  people of Bogotá,” Silva started developing a propaganda network. 
  When El said, “We need to outlast them and be loved into the next 
  generation,” Silva branded the group, handing out t-shirts, money, 
  and even propaganda-f lled spoken-word mixed media as a means 
  to get between teenagers and the adults who are loyal to the corp. 
  T eir success has so far been small, but they are in the early stages 
  of what they see as a long-term f ght.
  Junior, a native Colombian, wanted to be a hacker and rigger 
  since he could remember. Being a dwarf, a less-than-respected 
  metahuman in racist Bogotá, prevented him from getting the kind 
  of education he would have needed to really go somewhere with 
  technology. T at, and he has just about the worst luck with tech. 
  His raw talent for destroying computer systems started as a bad 
  string of accidents, but in time he realized it was the only thing 
  he was very good at. Los Matan recruited him as an industrial 
  saboteur, and he has since embraced the Amazonian lifestyle and 
  is deeply devoted to driving Aztlan out, and with it the hate and 
  corruption.
  Sergio Paola is not a true believer like Junior, despite being 
  metahuman and magically inclined. Sergio started his career as a 
  corporate image-maker, hired by the fabulously wealthy to create 
  public relations campaigns for themselves, their children, their 
  companies, or anything else that need an image. He’s helped spies 
  with cover IDs and crime victims start whole new lives. T at all 
  changed, though, when his pointed ears and magical abilities 
  ran him afoul of some racist goons in Bogotá. T ey screwed him 
  up badly, and he was nursed back to health by Silva and El Lal. 
  When he heard about their plan, he decided to of er his talents as 
  a means to repay them and screw the bastards who had him beaten 
  nearly to death. Beyond the t-shirts and posters, he’s gotten the 
  team subsidizing hospitals and orphanages with the money they 
  make (or steal) in their mercenary work. His methods and big and 
  f ashy, and he’s starting to enjoy being a hero-maker even more 
  than he enjoyed being a star-maker.
  Ximena, the warrior who is rapidly becoming the public 
  face of Los Matan, is an Amazon in just about every sense of the 
  word. T e stories are that she was born out of the jungle itself 
  
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  MERCENARIES   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Erika’s life was and still is all about a woman trying to survive 
  in a world of machismo. Pride and arrogance are the only things 
  the men in her world respect, and as such, she has no choice but 
  to exhibit both in spades. Slip up, show humility or deference, and 
  they see it as a sign of weakness. If they think you’re weak, you’re as 
  good as dead. Erika is violent, brutal, and well known for holding 
  a grudge. She has been mimicking the stereotypical Hispanic male 
  behaviors for so long that she’s forgotten it started out as just an 
  act. If a person or group crosses her, she will hunt them to the ends 
  of the earth for satisfaction. T at usually means blood for blood, 
  coin for coin, or betrayal for betrayal.
  Yesid Darío has successfully worked with Anohi longer 
  than any other runner in the world. T e key to her success in the 
  operation seems to be two-fold. Darío is a small built woman who 
  poses no threat to Anohi’s false machismo, and she always works 
  by contracts. Every mission she works, every job she performs gets 
  a contract in clear language that outlines exactly what is expected 
  of her, what she’s being paid, and where her loyalties lie during the 
  course of the contract. T ere are never any surprises with Darío, 
  and as a security expert at her level of technical expertise, that’s a 
  very valuable asset. If you can’t put into a contract all parts of the 
  job, Darío just walks away. T at’s the only real reason her employ 
  with the Operation has been spotty. Some jobs call for contractors 
  that are a little more f exible, or at least more gullible.
  Angel Andres is not strikingly beautiful like many elves, nor 
  is Angel uncomfortably beautiful like many gender non-specif c 
  people. Angel has strong wide shoulders and wears women’s-cut 
  suits. Angel has a short and charming man’s haircut above vaguely 
  feminine features. Angel also has a magically enhanced sniper rif e 
  and can hit a target center forehead from three miles away. Anohi 
  welcomed the genderless sniper-mage with open arms from the 
  minute she laid eyes on Angel, but whether Angel sticks around 
  is indeterminable.
  Marco Fernando was a diehard wannabe lif ed to the status 
  of trial-run member af er being at just the right place at just the 
  right time. Marco is a passable rigger and a decent driver, but what 
  will make him very useful is his obsessive alertness for traitorous 
  behavior in the Operation and its client base. He’s underappreciated 
  and of en ignored, so he overhears a lot. He’s dying to catch someone 
  in the act of attempting to screw Anohi so that he can prove himself. 
  Since Anhoi’s acts of revenge are legendary, he’s dying to see her 
  take care of business in person, and he has a number of bloodthirsty 
  fantasies set up around that moment.
  Dezzy Tocanna carries the heavy burden of Judas. He f rst 
  worked with the Operation years ago and lef  on amicable terms 
  with an open invitation to run with them again should he ever 
  return to Bogotá. Af er leaving Bogotá, he got in deep with the 
  David cartel, and he is so beholden to them that if they asked him 
  to murder his mother he’d have to. Recently, and he has no idea 
  why, they ordered him return to Bogotá and join back up with the 
  Operation. He hasn’t been asked to spy, to sabotage, or even keep 
  tabs. Not yet, anyway. All he knows now is that sooner or later 
  he will be asked to do something Anohi isn’t going to like, and 
  as a result he’s going to die terribly. He’s desperate, and the longer 
  he goes without contact from the cartel, the more desperate he’s 
  getting. Possibly desperate enough to tell Anohi what’s going on, 
  which could cause her to point her desire for endless vengeance 
  against the cartel itself.
  
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  took the initiative and had his cousin Bryan makes contact with 
  the surviving elves to strike a deal.
  Since then he’s had a nightmare of a time balancing tribal 
  duties with the runs the gang has been performing in their ef ort 
  to discover who destroyed their territory. At f rst glance, it looked 
  like Aztlan was behind it, but some things they found were of , 
  such as the types of explosives used to the timing of the event. 
  Finding the real culprits is going to take more than either tribe 
  could do on their own—and so will surviving.
  Katty Milena, Victor’s tactical advisor, hates elves. Or rather, 
  she hates the Ch’ujutat. It isn’t actually a racial thing for her, but 
  a problem of history. Katty got adopted by Victor’s People when 
  she was eleven, picked up by their outreach group moments before 
  she could turn her f rst trick. T ey took her in, shot up her pimp, 
  and stole his money, which they used to clothe her and the other 
  girls he was turning out. Not once did anyone demand anything 
  of the girls except that they behave with respect for themselves and 
  others. A pretty sweet deal, until she found out that some stupid 
  comedor de la f or were trying to keep the People from doing more 
  outreach like the one that saved her. She eagerly signed up to f ght 
  the Ch’ujutat. T ings are dif erent now, of course, and everyone 
  on both sides has bled a lot. Her desire to f nd out who killed 
  everyone who has ever been nice to her far outweighs her general 
  dislike of the other tribe, and she’s as loyal to Victor as she was to 
  his father. She’ll follow him to the ends of the earth as long as the 
  promise of re-starting the outreach programs is kept.
  Xoray’ma, like his counter part Victor, got his job as tribal 
  leader less than three months ago when the previous leader fell 
  in battle. Early in the conf ict, Xoray’ma and many of the other 
  children of the Ch’ujutat tribe were recruited to act as spies in 
  order to keep an eye on the People and what they might be up to. 
  Children, the elders reasoned, would be small, fast, and curious 
  enough to observe and be able to get away in the of  chance that 
  they were spotted. Besides, while someone might shoot a spy, one 
  is much less likely to shoot a child. As a result, Xoray’ma and many 
  of the other children of his generation got a f rsthand view of the 
  rival tribe and how they lived. As a result, many of the warriors of 
  this generation have been sympathetic to the People, if not to their 
  methods. Xoray’ma had grown weary of the conf ict early on but 
  was in no position to halt aggressions since the other side seemed 
  unable to respect tribal borders. T at, and much of Ch’ujutat 
  maturation traditions require some form of warfare in order to 
  separate the men from the boys.
  The air strikes have changed things dramatically, and 
  Xoray’ma is glad of it. He likes and even admires Victor, but won’t 
  ever say it out loud. Instead, he focuses on what the other man is 
  doing wrong. T is is another Ch’ujutat tradition, but Victor and 
  the other humans haven’t recognized it as anything more than 
  elven bitterness. Xoray’ma has not realized his opposite numbers 
  think he’s a jerk—communicating across cultural bounds is and 
  will continue to be a problem for both groups for a long time.
  Xiomar’a, Xoray’ma’s chief lieutenant in the tribe, became a 
  man early by destroying a truck full of the People stealing weapons 
  from the Ch’ujutat. T e guns were lost in the explosion, but for 
  Xiomar’a at least, the greater service was performed: another 
  half-dozen human bastards were destroyed. He has, in his head, 
  a running tally of every Ch’ujutat who was killed by humans, and 
  won’t actually be satisf ed until that number equals the number 
  > This group strikes hard and fast. If you’re on the opposite side 
  of a run from them, it’s best to stand back, let them do whatever 
  destructive thing they’ve come to do, then go in after they’ve left 
  and pick up whatever pieces you can.
  > Picador
  > Wimp.
  > Marcos
  PREGEN CELL: VICTOR’S PEOPLE
  AND THE CH’UJUTAT TRIBES
  In the ghettos of Bogotá, resources are scarce and the 
  population is desperate for every scrap. As things have heated up 
  from cold war to hot, it’s only gotten worse for those on the very 
  bottom. So it was for the Victor’s People and the Ch’ujutat tribes 
  of Bosa. 
  T ere have been hostilities between Victor’s People, a tribe 
  named for the great-grandfather of its current leader, and the 
  Ch’ujutat. tribe for a long time. T e dif  culties started innocently 
  enough when Victor’s People began taking in prostitutes and 
  their illegitimate children in a tradition they picked up from the 
  Catholic Church. T ey eventually found that the demand for 
  their services outstripped what they could supply, in part because 
  they’d overestimated their ability to provide shelter and food for 
  the needy. Since they considered this ef ort vital to their “Tribal 
  Soul,” they couldn’t bring themselves to stop just because of a 
  little thing like limited resources. T is triggered a need to expand, 
  and Victor’s People started pushing into Ch’ujutat territory. T e 
  Ch’ujutat, an elven tribe, saw the expansion as an invasion and 
  assumed the actions were out of a general hatred or dismissal of 
  metahumans shared by many humans in Bogotá. It wasn’t true but 
  that’s a dif  cult thing to prove when humans are stealing elven 
  shelter and food.
  Once the conf ict in Bogotá became a war, these two tribes 
  took the open f ghting as an excuse to go af er each other with 
  more ferocity. As Aztlan and Amazonia troops exchanged f re, 
  Ch’ujutat braves and the warriors of Victor’s People struggled 
  openly in the streets. T is was great for war leaders and weapons 
  merchants, but not so good for the civilians of each tribe.
  T en one night during an exchange of gunf re and small 
  grenades, something much bigger happened. An air strike 
  f attened most of the region, killing nearly ninety percent of both 
  tribes. T is didn’t halt hostilities at f rst, but through the work 
  of Victor Alejandra, leader of Victor’s People, and Xoray’ma of 
  the Ch’ujutat, the tribes have stopped f ghting while the newly 
  formed runner gang f gures out who caused the destruction of 
  the territory.
  Victor Alejandra inherited this conf ict, the tribe, and it’s 
  cumbersome traditions without really wanting any of it. Born 
  Christobal Alejandra, he was related to the original Victor and 
  took on the name Victor when his father died in a shootout and 
  passed leadership to him. T e tribe believes that so long as the 
  leader keeps the name, the traditions of the tribe will be preserved, 
  and tradition is important to the tribe—more important, 
  apparently, then sense or reason combined. Victor is not a strong 
  traditionalist per se, but he is duty bound. He’d been tribal leader 
  for about a month when the air strike destroyed both tribes. He 
  
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  of humans he’s killed himself. T e problem is, with the airstrike, 
  he doesn’t know if it was humans, corps, or cartels that killed his 
  people, so he doesn’t yet know who to start killing in retaliation 
  to even the score. T at’s the only reason he volunteered to join 
  the inter-tribal runner operation. He has no loyalty to his fellow 
  runners from Victor’s People, and he would not hesitate to kill his 
  human companions if Xoray’ma let him—which isn’t very likely.
  T e runner team is rounded out by Daiha’na and Brayan 
  Gomez, who are the sort of sad cliché every war has. Love, it seems, 
  doesn’t care if you’re human or elf, at war or at peace, married or 
  single. Brayan Gomez f rst spotted Daiha’na on her wedding day 
  while he and some men where spying on the Ch’ujutat. No one 
  in the history of the world has ever fallen so fast or so hard for 
  a woman on her wedding day, or so Brayan tells it. Daiha’na, a 
  competent warrior in her own right, found herself marrying a 
  man she didn’t love af er losing her freedom to him in a tribal 
  competition. When the impulsive Brayan approached her from 
  the shadows and suggested she run away with him, she very nearly 
  did. He was warm and passionate, quite dif erent from the cold and 
  distant braves she knew. She didn’t run away then and there, but 
  she started to meet with him in secret. T e couple soon realized 
  they would be found out if they continued their af air, so they laid 
  out a plan. Both lovers let it out to some select people that they 
  were in bed with the enemy and of ered to spy on the opposite 
  tribe. T ey planned to plant misinformation designed to bring 
  the f ghting between the two tribes to an end, but before their 
  plans could really get rolling, the air strike destroyed everyone 
  they loved—except each other. Now, with Daiha’na’s husband 
  dead and the conf ict mostly resolved, they are free to love in 
  public. And yet, both feel a strange sense of guilt for celebrating 
  the deaths of so many. It is for that reason they agreed to join with 
  Xoray’ma and Victor to satisfy the dead. T e question is, can their 
  love endure the shadows and will it outlast the excitement of a 
  secret af air af er it is no longer a secret?
  > Glasswalker, you old softy you. What a romantic.
  > Hard Exit
  > Leaving romance aside, the whole tribal runner team thing could 
  get interesting if they ever ﬁ nd out just what happened. I’ve heard 
  it wasn’t Aztlan or Amazonia behind the bombing at all, but a 
  corp—S-K maybe?—looking to clear out land to make room for their 
  own development plans.
  > Sunshine
  
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  Drums, guitars and singing can be heard almost anywhere. It helps 
  to drown out the bombs. Besides, why not play music in a place 
  with an 18 percent unemployment rate? About one in f ve people 
  don’t have jobs, so they’ve got to do something. Conveniently, 
  it helps that music is considered a necessity of day-to-day living. 
  While not rich by anyone’s def nition, musicians are taken care of 
  by their communities.
  > Say what you will about living in a battleground, but it has its 
  perks. I know this might sound like “trains running on time when 
  Hitler was in power” rhetoric, but it’s much more logical than that. 
  Governments don’t have an ear on the streets. They don’t know 
  what happens in any given neighborhood. Everything’s a number, 
  everything’s a statistic, everything’s a quarterly report or press 
  release for them. With tribal law, you often see far less of things like 
  human trafﬁ cking and other egregious exploitation. Sure, some of 
  the tribals run rings, but for the most part, they breed brand loyalty 
  through strict, pseudo-moral regulations.
  You can point to the fact that the drug trade is crazy active. It 
  is. But it’s also a bit safer, at least on the street level. It really comes 
  down to logistics. If you have one hundred million people to watch 
  over, a lot of them are going to fall through the cracks. If you have 
  ﬁ ve hundred, you’re going to keep close tabs on each. Their personal 
  security becomes your personal interest. Every death makes you 
  look incompetent; every one that gets pimped out and murdered 
  gets you that much closer to a mini-revolution. In communities 
  where you can buy bombs for about the same price as a liter of milk, 
  revolution comes fast, hard, and dirty.
  > Marcos
  > Bogotá’s a city of neighborhoods. Wait a second, let me backtrack. 
  Bogotá’s a city of little anarcho-syndicalist communes, governed 
  independently by what amounts to neighborhood-watch groups 
  with uzis. Outside of a few basic rules in any given commune, it’s 
  lawless. Take about a thousand of these communes, pile them on 
  top of one another, and you have the glorious splendor of Bogotá. 
  It’s charming in its anarchy, it’s the place we all talked about as 
  teenagers, except for the part about getting shot if you’re unlucky.
  > Aufheben
  BOGOTÁ IN 2073
  Posted by Hard Exit
  You’ve got to respect a person that walks the streets day in 
  and day out in a war. As far as I’m concerned, every resident of 
  Bogotá walking around without body armor and an assault rif e is 
  deserving of a whole world of admiration. T e ones wearing body 
  armor and assault rif es are just pansies, when it all comes down to 
  it. So you want to know what Bogotá looks like? It’s really quite 
  simple: Watch a shitty old war movie from circa 2020 America, 
  add some neon, and throw a thin patina of dirt over everything. 
  Oh yeah, and make half the people speak Spanish. T e movie 
  comparison goes further. If you watch a war movie, only about 
  a fourth of the movie is usually direct violence. Same goes for 
  Bogotá. If you watch yourself, and you’re not particularly unlucky, 
  you can avoid burning, exploding, or bleeding out.
  T at’s the majority of Bogotá. T ere’s a few neighborhoods 
  untouched by the war, or at least on a visual level. You know 
  everyone’s still talking it behind closed doors. And you know as 
  well as I do that the cleanest neighborhoods in a war zone are the 
  neighborhoods housing the people that plan the war. More than the 
  war has changed the city—the rainforest has invaded some sectors 
  for that you can’t tell the dif erence between Bogotá and Amazonia. 
  In the past year, it’s gotten even worse. T ere are former shopping 
  malls that look like veldts now. My old favorite soccer court is now a 
  lush, gully habitat. T en you have the active war zones. T ese are the 
  places where you’ll see one side facing of  against another in a battle 
  for the death. T ese places change on a day-to-day basis, but take 
  up a good percent or two of the total landmass. If you get caught 
  walking in one of these spots, make no mistake, you will be shot.
  T e one thing I can’t help but to notice though, is that when 
  you’re in a place where there’s so much death, you get groups of 
  people that really celebrate life. We’re talking about a people that 
  celebrate El Dia de los Muertos every November 2nd. When 
  you see a José Guadalupe Posada piece around town, it’s not a 
  celebration of death, it’s a celebration of life. Drinking, dancing, 
  music, sex, boxing, futbol, these are all things that walk the line, 
  that show us how powerful life is. It’s not just November 2nd, 
  though. In Bogotá, nights and days alike are loud. Music is all over. 
  . . . THE WAR . . .
  
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  set to gain from the attack, in terms of either directly hurting any 
  opposition or causing the climate of intimdation that they so love? 
  Take the costs racked up in A, B, C, D, and E, and take them from 
  F. So long as there’s a positive number, well, hope you’re not in 
  that building.
  Now, remember that Aztechnology remain the masters 
  of the PR game. In the shadows, we’ve got a fair idea of their 
  dark side, but in the light of day most people think they’re just 
  f ne—or they think their subsidiaries are f ne, without knowing 
  that they connect back to the Big A. T at sort of brand strength 
  doesn’t happen by accident. Everything Aztechnology does af ects 
  T e Brand™. T e brand is important. In fact, at the end of the 
  day, the brand is the only thing that is truly uncompromisable. 
  Without the brand, all the cheap toothpaste in the world won’t 
  save a company. Everything Aztechnology does might af ect the 
  brand in some way. Bombing orphanages doesn’t really help the 
  brand. I wouldn’t say it’s corporate suicide—I’ve seen all kinds of 
  companies get away with a lot worse. T ere’s plenty of historical 
  precedent. From the British East India Company to Halliburton 
  to Slarks all the way up to Aztechnology, some companies get a 
  pass on genocide. It happens. But the one thing you’ll notice is, 
  as time passes and information becomes more available, these 
  companies walk on eggshells that much more. Without fail, 
  these companies commit their genocides in places where there’s 
  an informational smokescreen between them and the rest of the 
  world. T at’s not a coincidence.
  Enough with the brand. Your average goon on patrol 
  could give two shits about the brand. T e last time he thought 
  about it was on the day he got his employee handbook (yes, all 
  Aztlan soldiers are technically Aztechnology employees, though 
  they don’t of en think of themselves that way). If he’s upwardly 
  mobile, he thought about it when he read a slogan on a poster on 
  his supervisor’s of  ce wall. An Aztlan armed security of  cer has 
  the same priorities as anyone else in a war: she wants to survive. 
  However, most are smart enough to know that the best way to 
  survive is to suppress threats. T is means a little terror every now 
  and again, and striking down hard on those that would attack. 
  T is is conf icted further by superior of  cers, which put artif cial 
  limitations on what soldiers can and cannot do. So there’s a 
  constant conf ict between survival instincts and mandates from 
  above.
  > I know a lot of soldiers think that way—that they just want to 
  survive, but the faceless bureaucrats and commanders above them 
  don’t care about their lives. But they do care, if only because soldiers 
  aren’t easily replaceable. It costs a lot to ﬁ nd and train troops—the 
  average soldier’s recruitment and training costs are about twice his 
  annual salary. Do you think a smart company would just throw that 
  away?
  > Dr. Spin
  > Companies are often blind. While the bottom line might be king, 
  that doesn’t mean the company has an all-seeing eye. It’s an 
  impersonal goliath that can’t hope to see the individual. While they 
  might not want to lose the money, soldiers are just numbers on 
  a report. They can be erased, it’s not the end of the world. When 
  Private Ted dies, it’s not “Private Ted” on the report, it’s -1 assets. 
  > Aufheben
  > Unlucky? Try in the wrong place at any time. While sure, there’s a 
  sense of community, there’s also a sense of xenophobic nutjobbery. 
  Boundaries aren’t as formal as the Utopian philosopher over here 
  would like to think, and that territory is only as sacrosanct as the 
  bullets that enforce it. This means that a lot of people are born, live, 
  and die within a couple mile radius. Sure, the Matrix alleviates a bit 
  of the ignorance that breeds, but it’s not for everyone. Some people 
  would prefer a Corona to information and social intercourse, and 
  that Corona almost guarantees terrible aim when they perceive a 
  threat. That lack of aim translates into collateral damage. 
  > Dr. Spin
  MOTIVATIONS
  Posted by Aufheben
  My favorite part of war is the people in it. Don’t get me 
  wrong, war outside of true revolution is a bunch of idiotic fascist 
  power plays. Bogotá’s no exception. But what we see here is a 
  fascinating and unique blend of people, because of the unique 
  nature of the conf ict. We’ve never seen a conf ict like this one. If 
  you look at the surface, Aztlan and the Amazonians are both very 
  magically inclined people, but their philosophies are far dif erent 
  than you could ever imagine. T e basic split comes down to the 
  fact that Aztlan’s parent corporation, Aztechnology, sees magic as 
  a tool, the Amazonians see it as a way of life. Aztechnology would 
  love to buy, brand, and sell everything they can get their hands on, 
  the Amazonian mindset leaves little room for corporatist mumbo-
  jumbo being mixed with the magic in their blood. It’s important 
  to remember, though, that these mindsets really only apply to 
  the people near the tops of various hierarchies. If you look at the 
  numbers in Bogotá, the people in of  cial positions, including 
  soldiers, are really just a small percentage of the population. So to 
  talk about the people in the war without addressing those others 
  who make up the majority of the city would be negligent.
  AZTLAN
  You cannot talk about Aztlan and what drives them without 
  talking about Aztechnology. Aztlan’s political moves are part 
  of Aztechnology’s global strategy, so to understand one is to 
  understand the other. So let’s look at Aztechnology.
  Put simply, Aztechnology wants to dominate. You may ask, 
  “Dominate what?” Quick answer: What have you got? T ey like 
  big prof ts, big market shares, and they really like power. T ere’s 
  technically nothing wrong with that, so long as you’re down with 
  the whole capitalism thing. And Aztechnology is. T ey look at 
  everything in terms of how it can be capitalized, how it can build 
  prof ts and so on. Aztechnology doesn’t assess people, it doesn’t 
  assess neighborhoods or collateral damage. It looks at cost-prof t 
  analyses. When a missile hits a building, there are a few things that 
  matter: A) Did the building belong to Aztechnology? If so, how 
  much did it cost? B) Did the missile kill Aztechnology employees? 
  If so, how much did those employees contribute to the f nancial 
  prospectus of the company? C) Did the missile kill Aztechnology 
  consumers? T e answer is probably yes. But how many? How 
  much residual income is Aztechnology set to lose from their loss? 
  D) How much did the missile cost? E) What kind of PR hit will 
  the company take from the attack? F) How much is the company 
  
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  Amazonia’s lof y, above-all-else goal is to preserve the ecology 
  of the rainforest, kicking out any threats and allowing the denizens 
  of the jungle to live natural lives. Technically, they’re supposedly 
  also liberating the people of Bogotá proper. I am go out on a limb 
  and say they probably didn’t ask those people of Bogotá if they 
  wanted to be liberated from their homes and things like that. 
  While it’s a noble cause, it’s a f ght, and just like any other f ght, 
  there are a lot of dead people generated by the mess. 
  Amazonia sympathizers are entrenched deep in every part of 
  Bogotá. T e problem is, many of the hardcore supporters see those 
  sympathizers as part of the problem. From the extremist point 
  of view, getting inside information from these collaborators isn’t 
  acceptable, if “inside” means people in any way associated with the 
  corporate and governmental constructs that harm the jungle. Now, 
  there are moderates out there who believe that any info you can 
  use is good info, but given that the extremists are of en prone to 
  making and planting bombs to back up their point of view, they 
  help shape the way people in Bogotá are perceived—and the way 
  they see Amazonia.
  If there’s one problem that’ll cost Amazonia the war, it’s 
  the thing that is also their biggest advantage: the zeal with 
  which they f ght. Aztechnology, while slow, is able to adapt 
  and compromise to meet the needs of the situation. Amazonia’s 
  soldiers, right down to the grunt level, are dedicated to their 
  cause with a passion that Aztlan foot soldiers don’t always 
  share. They see themselves as good fighting evil—and evil 
  must be stamped out. Now that the war has progressed as far 
  as it has, most Amazonian forces would rather die than admit 
  > I’m sorry, but it doesn’t really work that way. Even when removed a 
  few steps, every person in the company realizes that those numbers 
  are people. And more importantly to company interests, those 
  numbers are big cost ﬁ gures. Private Ted might look like -1 on a 
  report, but he stands for a couple hundred grand in overhead costs. 
  No boss in his right mind thinks that’s a reasonable loss.
  > Dr. Spin
  > I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. 
  > Aufheben
  > Fine, but that means you’re disagreeing with facts.
  > Dr. Spin
  AMAZONIA
  If you want a good analogy for the Amazonian forces, look 
  no further than classic religious zealotry. Amazonia’s battle against 
  Aztechnology for the hearts and minds of the people of Aztlan 
  is nothing more than a crusade with dif erent packaging. T ey 
  have this idea: T e Amazon is a living thing, it deserves to not 
  be raped. T at idea permeates every facet of their struggle. Can 
  you blame them, though? T e dif erence between these guys and 
  the crusades is, they can see their divinity. T e rainforest moves, 
  pulses and grows around them in ways we couldn’t have imagined 
  a century ago. It’s strong, as anyone living near it can attest, but it’s 
  also delicate. Tilt an ecological balance this way or that, and you 
  never know just how widespread the damage might be. And that’s 
  been just one part of Aztlan’s of ensive.
  
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  commit. If Aztechnology needs a tenement house leveled with 
  all the innocent people inside, an Ares merc company gets the 
  assignment. T en, when the people of Bogotá complain, there’s 
  a hand-slapping full of red tape, and a nice corporate apology 
  from Aztechnology that dispels any association. You’d be 
  surprised to f nd how many things that Aztechnology “doesn’t 
  condone” are actually paid for by them. Since there’s a step of 
  separation there, they are even less expected to pay restitution 
  to their victims.
  > I don’t think any of us are unfamiliar with the concept of plausible 
  deniability. Works in war just like it works everywhere else.
  > Stone
  > From what I hear, Ares has got a little more going on than just 
  raking in mercenary bucks. They have a few prototypes that they’re 
  shipping out to mercenaries who want a chance to ﬁ eld-test the 
  next big bang from everyone’s favorite gunmaker. I haven’t heard 
  anything about how well those tests are going.
  > Mr. Bonds
  Horizon Group
  Horizon’s also in a great position to benefit, but in a 
  wholly different way. Ares can offer guns. Horizon can offer 
  pharmaceuticals. It’s been mentioned, but bears repeating: In a war 
  zone, medical supplies are in heavy demand. Now, getting them 
  there is tricky, as each side is constantly working to cut of  the 
  other’s supply lines of medical goods. T ere’s also high demand 
  for meds from Bogotá’s citizens, but they’re generally too poor to 
  pay much for them. Still, with the sheer amount of physical pain 
  being felt in the city, people need their meds, and Horizon is busy 
  f nding ways to meet that demand. 
  It’s not all about sales for Horizon—they’re becoming 
  well-known for these humanitarian ef orts. A few million nuyen 
  goes far to show the world how much you care about the kindly, 
  disenfranchised people of wherever. While it doesn’t do much for 
  everyone, the well-to-do elite love to purchase goods by such a 
  company. “Five percent of every sale goes to bandage the wounds 
  of Bogotá” is a marketing giant right now. Horizon’s plastered 
  everything they can with a green ribbon signifying support of the 
  Bogotá people (note the political neutrality of who it is they’re 
  supporting); you can find those ribbons on everything from 
  computers to motorcycles to town halls.
  In a less neutral setting, Horizon is getting a chance to test 
  their PR mettle against the masters of spin. Amazonia has quietly 
  hired Horizon to develop some anti-Aztlan propoganda, and 
  some of the corp’s best minds are working on ways to counter the 
  mighty Aztechnology spin machine. I’m interested to see what 
  they’ll come up with.
  > Horizon’s looking far beyond the hearts and minds of the citizens 
  of Bogotá in their efforts. They know the whole world is watching 
  what’s going on here and looking for an angle, and they plan to take 
  advantage of that. Look for info that does more than present Aztlan 
  as the bad guy—though there will be plenty of that. The real value 
  will come from PR that convinces other parties that it’s in their best 
  interest to actively work against Aztlan, either under cover or openly.
  > Dr. Spin
  even temporary defeat to Aztlan. T is can help them in a lot of 
  battles, but it also can be a problem in the war for the loyalty of 
  Bogotás citizens. T ere are plenty of average people in Bogotá 
  that, if given a good explanation of the goal, would love to hit 
  Aztechnology where it hurts, but they’re not willing to meet the 
  demands of the most extreme Amazonians who want the city 
  turned over to the rainforest. To the most extreme Amazonians, 
  that’s an unacceptable failure of will. Zealotry isn’t the goal for 
  these f ghters; it’s the benchmark for minimal performance.
  > I’m a little surprised—I was half expecting Aufheben to unleash a 
  wholehearted support of “la revolucion!” or something similar. I’m 
  glad to see here that Amazonian forces are recognized for what they 
  are. It could go further though, including info on how the zealots 
  slaughter and torture innocent people, including children, in their 
  campaigns against Aztlan.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  > I fully understand that Amazonia does some fucked up shit. Being 
  that I’m talking on the Matrix, and there are plenty of powerful 
  operatives that’d like to see me dead for saying that (and backing it 
  up), I have no illusions as to their lunacy. I get their anti-corporate 
  sentiment, and I even see the virtue of kicking a major company 
  out of the Amazon. That’s logical. Saving the world and all. But 
  annihilating everyone that doesn’t completely and unabashedly 
  agree with your sentiments? Not so much. 
  > Aufheben
  > We’ll have you a moderate before you know it. 
  > Dr. Spin
  OTHER CORPORATE INTERESTS
  You get two big groups battling it out for a large metropolitan 
  area, and you’re going to get a lot of corporate interests coming in 
  to capitalize. It’s simple logic. First of , there’s all sorts of chaos, 
  and chaos breeds a need for food and basic necessities. It also 
  pushes people to f nd new brands, if they can, as they may want 
  products that aren’t af  liated with those that are destroying their 
  homes. Someone has to provide those things. Second of , those 
  two sides are not islands. T ey cannot exist by themselves. Even 
  Aztechnology, with all its diversif ed might, still supplies its army 
  with guns from other corporations. In a war, resources are chewed 
  up far faster than in a normal situation, and no matter how big 
  you are, you can’t always ramp up production enough to meet the 
  increased demand. Aztechnology needs more guns, more foods, 
  more medical supplies, and more troops than it can necessarily 
  support by itself.
  Ares Macrotechnology
  Ares is in the great position to benef t from the war for 
  Aztlan. T ey build guns, and they’re located in North America. 
  T ey literally have an of  ce dedicated solely to the goods they 
  ship to and from the Aztechnology Bogotá of  ces. It doesn’t 
  end there, though. Aztechnology hires out a number of security 
  of  cers (a nice way of saying mercenaries) from Ares. Ares is 
  glad to do the work, and it serves well for Aztechnology, because 
  they have a layer of deniability between their operations and 
  whatever terrible acts they commission the Ares officers to 
  
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  by Amazonia as a kill-switch if the f ght’s lost. But Shiawase is far 
  too smart and powerful to let that happen. Honestly, I’d say that 
  plant’s your safest spot if you want to avoid being killed in Bogotá.
  > Note that they own the only functioning nuke plant for now—S-K’s 
  working to put their own stamp on the power grid.
  > Mr. Bonds
  > I’ve heard a rumor, and it’s probably unfounded, that Shiawase is 
  helping the Amazonian side because they want to work up some 
  bioengineering facility based in the Amazon. Now, we all know the 
  Amazonian crew probably doesn’t jive with that, but Shiawase’s 
  the kind of group you really don’t say no to, especially when they’re 
  offering to help in your war.
  > Marcos
  >That’d be pretty fucked up. If so, it’s a deeper conﬂ ict than it even 
  appears.
  > Riser
  THE TRIBALS
  I consider “the tribals” to be a misleading term. Tribal 
  usually implies kinship—these groups are closer to gangs for the 
  most part. But it’s common parlance, so I won’t begrudge them 
  that basic aspect of their culture. While there are tribes based on 
  family lines, it’s exceedingly uncommon. Most are just brought 
  together by geographic similarities. If you live in a neighborhood, 
  have the willingness to do some things that others might consider 
  unethical, and want your people safe from the war, you’re probably 
  part of a tribal group.
  If you read the news, the tribals are always and without 
  exception represented as maniacs, drug lords, and sociopaths. 
  While those types do exist within their ranks, it’s far rarer than 
  you’d imagine. Blood leads in the news, that doesn’t change 
  in a war zone. But the blood spilled by the poor is even more 
  prioritized. Remember, Aztechnology controls a lot of the news in 
  Bogotá, and if you ask Aztechnology, they’re heroes and liberators. 
  If you consider some simple logic, it all comes together: Tribal 
  groups cover small populations. T ere might be a tribal group 
  for every two hundred people. An average tribal organization is 
  about ten people. T at means that if every member of a tribe is a 
  murderer, one in twenty people die at their hands. If every tribal is 
  a mass-murderer as the Aztlan media suggests, then more than one 
  in seven people have fell victim to their evil. T e truth is far from 
  that. While some neighborhoods skew the average with entire 
  families killed, most can claim one or two deaths relating directly 
  to tribal inf uence. T e real murder rate in Bogotá’s neighborhoods 
  is something like a one person for every two thousand citizens. 
  T at’s not great, but it’s not terrible—it’s actually an improvement 
  from what it used to be T e tribals are apparently pretty good at 
  preventing murder.
  > Or if you want to look at it through a cynical lens, maybe it’s just 
  hard to be murdered when you’re dead from the war.
  > Haze
  So what do the tribals want? In a word, security. They 
  want stable neighborhoods, as unaf ected by the outside war as 
  > Think they’ll be able to get the CAS involved? The southerners 
  don’t like the even-more-southern neighbors, and I’d think that the 
  chance to pull them into a two-front war would be very tempting.
  > Marcos
  > It’s possible—Austin’s at least worth keeping an eye on—but I tend 
  to think the CAS will use the threat of war more than war itself. 
  They’ve got bigger ﬁ sh to fry than harassing the Big A and maybe, 
  if they’re lucky, taking some land. If they can use this war and the 
  threat of a new front as leverage in the looming Treaty of Denver 
  renegotiations—well, now you’re talking about something they really 
  care about.
  > Kay St. Irregular
  Mitsuhama Computer Technologies
  Mitsuhama has a silent interest in the efforts against 
  Aztechnology. While they won’t vocally support either side, every 
  little strike against Aztechnology is a f nancial gain for Mitsuhama. 
  In a perfect world, MCT would love to see Aztechnology fail, 
  leaving a huge vacuum in the manufacture and sale of magical 
  goods and services. If you’re a runner with strong MCT ties, you 
  might ask them for a nibble. I can’t conf rm anything, but I bet 
  they’re funding some fun monkey-wrenching missions.
  NeoNET
  NeoNET’s had a hard time with Bogotá. While they have 
  a presence, it’s been spotty at best, and the damage from the war 
  hasn’t helped things any. Many of the locals have set up their own, 
  dedicated mini-networks for the various neighborhoods. It’s less 
  like a Matrix, more like a shitty old quilt that happens to carry 
  information. Cyberware and bioware, while in demand, just don’t 
  have carry the allure they could. When very few people have 
  money, and few of the people that do can af ord healing times, 
  it becomes an unrealistic industry. So yes, mods will carry the 
  NeoNET brand name, but they’re rare, and of en af ermarket.
  Saeder-Krupp Heavy Industries
  Do I even need to go into this? I’ll lay it on the table: Saeder-
  Krupp has hands in what’s going on in Aztlan. Now that we’ve 
  gotten the elementary school logic out of the way, let me stress 
  that it’s deep but indirect. With the exception of direct purchase 
  vehicular support (which is really a side note in the big scheme 
  of things,) Lofwyr’s baby doesn’t contribute directly to the war 
  ef ort, or at least not the way Horizon and Ares do. T is is a good 
  thing, because if we get dragons irritating dragons, then Bad 
  T ings Happen. If you were to f nd a direct connection between 
  Saeder-Krupp and the Aztlan conf ict, you’d be on the bad end of 
  some wet contracts.
  Shiawase
  T is is another fairly clear-cut situation. Since Shiawase is 
  nowhere near as entrenched as Ares, mostly due to geographical 
  interests, their ef orts have to be limited. T ey have small hands 
  in the whole af air, but they try not to be too direct. Sure, you 
  can f nd Shiawase equipment on a lot of troops, but most of it 
  was purchased through distributors and smugglers. T ey do have 
  one major interest in Bogotá, though: T ey own and control 
  Bogotá’s only nuclear power plant. T eoretically, it could be used 
  
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  change. But eventually, something comes along fast and hard, 
  knocking him down. 
  What happens when that occurs? More of en than not, it 
  means Joe just died, so not much. But when he doesn’t, or when 
  Billie dies and Joe’s lef  standing, it means Joe is f nally motivated 
  to act. Joe can be the strongest advocate for or against the war, 
  because he’s got more resources than the poor of Bogotá, and he 
  has more knowledge of and access to various social networks. T e 
  pen’s mightier than the sword, and Joe pushes that pen around 
  from nine to f ve every day, so he knows how to work it. He rallies 
  his block. He talks around the water cooler. He writes complaints 
  to local politicians. He pulls his monthly donation from the police. 
  In a couple of cases, Joe will become something of a vigilante. 
  No matter what, what Joe does matters. Ultimately, Joe has the 
  buying power, so Aztechnology has to listen to him. He’s a strong 
  leveraging point for Amazonia. If he could stay focused and work 
  with others like him, Joe would be king. But a lot of the time, he 
  doesn’t, so he isn’t.
  > I know you’re trying to work up a power-to-the-people vibe, but 
  what you’re really talking about is how capitalism works. In 
  capitalism, Joe really is king—kind of. He has all the power in the 
  world, because his strength comes from raw, unbiased cash. He buys 
  what he wants to buy, and his cash—along with cash from all the 
  other Joes—moves or even topples nations.
  > Dr. Spin
  > I’m just pointing out that with his power comes with responsibility.
  > Aufheben
  > It’s not easy to get him to see it that way, because on his own, 
  Joe doesn’t feel very powerful. He looks for small victories, not 
  big gestures. Joe will keep sending a morsel here and there to a 
  nameless child in Africa, and he’ll be happy knowing that he’s 
  fulﬁ lled any responsibility he thinks he might have.
  > Dr. Spin
  RUMORS 
  Moderated by Snopes
  T ere’s a lot of speculation running around—what else is 
  new?—so ‘Jack asked me to take some of your wilder comments 
  and present the more believable ones in one nice package. I’m not 
  saying all these things here are true, but they’re at least tasty. 
  > Bogota Libre! has captured the imagination of a good portion 
  of the city’s population and has them dreaming of making their 
  home a free city. A lot of powerful people are funneling money to 
  the tribals to build loyalty and help disintegrate the Amazonian 
  insurgents and the Aztechnology troops. The philosophy is that if 
  the effort is strong enough to make Bogotá no longer look proﬁ table, 
  Aztechnology will leave. Then, if the people adopt a strong pro-
  environmental stance, Amazonia will pull back their strikes since 
  Aztechnology’s gone. This would mean that Aztlan would take a hit, 
  but since it’s really just a hyped border town, speculation is that in 
  the long run, it wouldn’t matter that much.
  > Cosmo
  possible. Sure, much of the war takes place on their city streets, 
  but the tribals are good at herding their residents and reducing 
  unnecessary casualties. Methodology differs, though. Some 
  tribals hate technology, and blame it for everything that’s going 
  on. Some hate nature zealots. Some hate racism. Some hate the 
  old Mayan god of hangings. It doesn’t matter. T e point is, every 
  tribe hates something. That hate is translated into words and 
  ultimately policies that are enforced on the street. Some consider 
  it propaganda. Some consider it a way of focusing the people, 
  narrowing their minds to a common hate. T e thing about the 
  Amazonian/Aztechnology struggle is, it’s a clusterfuck. It’s 
  everything versus everything versus everything. You can’t pinpoint 
  clear sides and ideologies the way you can with some wars. T is 
  isn’t black versus white. Hate’s a powerful motivator, and when 
  people don’t know what to hate, they don’t know how to act. So if 
  security is the why, hate is the how.
  One challenge the tribals face is keeping their neighborhoods 
  motivated and mobile. Alone, the tribals can’t handle all the 
  administration needed to keep people doing what they need to 
  do. T ey need their people to manage themselves. T ey need 
  them to stand. T at means that of en, organizing motivational 
  speeches, concerts, and jeep tours make up a big part of a tribal’s 
  job. Protest bands sometimes f nd that their strongest sponsors are 
  neighborhood tribals. A few neighborhoods will get together to 
  fund small concerts for their people, reminding them who cares 
  about them. It’s not that hard—Aztechnology’s track record for 
  helping the poor of Bogotá is far from impressive.
  > To be fair, they’ve only recently started caring. For a long time, it’s 
  suited Aztlan and Aztechnology to let the citizens of Bogotá stay 
  poor. Only recently have they seen some advantage in alleviating 
  some of that suffering.
  > Dr. Spin
  > If Horizon’s looking for anti-Aztlan angles, could that be one?
  > Frosty
  > Not likely. The powers of the world have never been great at rallying 
  against the oppression of the poor.
  > Dr. Spin
  WAGESLAVES IN WAR
  T e neighborhoods covered by the tribals comprise about 
  forty percent of rural Bogotá, and about seventy percent of 
  urban Bogotá’s residential zones. This means a whole hell of 
  a lot of people aren’t part of the tribal culture. Many of these 
  people are the upper middle class types, most of which work for 
  Aztechnology or one of the other AAA subsidies. T e war tends to 
  ignore those areas of town, conveniently. You get your occasional 
  act of terrorism at an Aztechnology HQ, but that’s about it.
  So what motivates your average Joe Bowtie on the street? 
  Survival. The war really isn’t his concern. The neighborhood 
  tribals don’t play a part in his life. He watches the same trids as 
  your average American, he buys the same cookie-cutter garbage 
  from the corner store when he gets his bi-weekly paycheck. He 
  loves that life, he wouldn’t give it up for the world. Or at least, he 
  wouldn’t give it up unless it meant standing for something. He’s 
  the unmoving post in the middle of a highway. Sure, he resists 
  
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  success. In the end, they could play a signiﬁ cant role in determining 
  the outcome of this shindig. 
  > DangerSensei
  > If you go to Bogotá as an outsider, don’t have the water at any 
  restaurant with a green triangle in their ad copy. It’s a sign that the 
  restaurant uses local, unﬁ ltered water. This is a little subversive 
  way businesses can hit outsiders. It almost guarantees sickness on 
  Aztechnology contractors. Dysentery is a cruel, cold mistress.
  > Aufheben
  > I saw a viral video not too long ago of a crew of Aztechnology 
  mercs cornering a near-naked insurgent, I can only imagine it was 
  an Amazonian type. It was absolutely disgusting, I had to turn it off. 
  They slammed him into a wall and started kicking him. He begged 
  for them to stop until he was coughing up blood. He fell to the 
  ground, two of them dropped trou and pissed on the kid. He was 
  screaming, I turned it off.
  From what I hear, this isn’t too uncommon. As far as I can tell, it 
  empowers the insurgents. Go ﬁ gure. I know if someone was pissing 
  on my pals, I’d be killing a whole lot of people.
  > Glitch
  > I’m surprised nobody has mentioned the obvious possibility for 
  Aztechnology’s obsession: El Dorado, the city of fucking gold. I mean, 
  Colombia has some nice, cheap labor, right? That’s all well and good, 
  but why ﬁ ght tooth and nail for it? It’s strategically located. Word is, 
  El Dorado is in the north Andes. Bogotá would offer a great supply 
  hub for industrial efforts to develop the legendary city.
  > I heard that maybe Amazonia isn’t really making strikes in Bogotá. 
  Have you ever noticed how the war keeps going on, but you don’t 
  hear about any massive victories, or really big battles, or any of 
  the things you’d typically hear about in a war? People are saying 
  that Aztechnology has a huge budget dedicated to making it look 
  like Amazonia’s got a bunch of ecoterrorists tearing up the city, 
  and that’s just a cover for Aztechnology taking over a ludicrous 
  amount of the natural resources. Once the people get completely 
  fed up, Aztechnology will initiate a military surge, eliminating all 
  the terrorists, saving the day, and ending the war.
  > Plan 9
  > Some people in Amazonia see HMHVV as a naturally occurring 
  punishment for Western indulgence. A few extremists have set 
  up brothels, paying outrageous sums to intelligent ghouls in order 
  to pass the virus. The man pays his bit, he gets his sex, then he 
  ends up a ﬂ esh-eating maniac. He’s turned into a weapon against 
  the locals. I don’t know how often this has happened, but I know 
  there’s a fort in the east city that’s been decimated by ghoul 
  attacks. That can’t be a coincidence. These people aren’t doing 
  their cause any favors. If they can’t see the tragedy in HMHVV, 
  and they can’t see how exploitative this is, they don’t have my 
  sympathy. 
  > Hannibelle
  > The ghost cartels are just waiting for one side to falter before 
  throwing in their hand for an alliance. They don’t serve to beneﬁ t 
  from the war, but they can’t afford to ﬁ ght a full-scale war on three 
  fronts. They’re looking for the strongest ally, and the best chance for 
  
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  What other kinds of things turn up missing in bulk? Guns 
  are key. Amazonia doesn’t have the raw numbers of troops 
  Aztechnology employs. Also, many of them refuse to use guns. 
  T e ones that use guns already have guns; they’d prefer ammo. 
  So a truckload of guns is a blessing for Amazonia, in that guns 
  make better currency than solid gold when dealing with the 
  ghost cartels.
  Water’s another great acquisition. Aztechnology needs it 
  like, well, people need water. For an outsider, drinking Bogotá’s 
  water is a quick path to the emergency room. T e average North 
  American will burst like a volcano within an hour af er drinking 
  the tap water. A hijacking of the supply chain taking water to a 
  peripheral station will all but cripple the station. One particular 
  story had Amazonia using magic to detect all incoming water to 
  an Aztechnology f eld base, which they’d destroy and feed to the 
  forest. All the generals were airlif ed out. T e soldiers were lef  
  to die. Amazonian forces of ered amnesty to said forces, so long 
  as they lef  the country immediately. Six concentrated assaults 
  with no Amazonian casualties eliminated the threat of over three 
  hundred Aztechnology troops, and a strategically located base 
  became overrun by the rainforest.
  Another advantage of resource elimination is it’s of en a 
  great job to give your more squeamish troops. If someone objects 
  to killing, they’re probably more keen on robbery. Nine times 
  out of ten, a well-coordinated hijacking goes through with no 
  killing at all. You get a good crew of hijackers, they’ll start to see 
  themselves as Robin Hoods before too long; they’ll love every 
  minute of the job.
  T at’s all well and good if you’re planning to hijack someone’s 
  shit. What if you’re on the other end of the resource strangulation? 
  One choice is, you could just get into the business of resource 
  hijacking. I’ve heard it’s very prof table. Now, if you’re not so 
  inclined, like if you have more important things to focus on (read: 
  a hail of bullets to avoid), then you have to f nd other ways to 
  replenish your stocks.
  Here’s my trick to prevent it from being needed: Figure out 
  how far you are away from a cultural and shopping center, by foot. 
  Take that number of days, and add two. Make certain you have 
  supplies for exactly that number of days at any given time. If you’re 
  four days from civilization, you should pack six pair underwear, 
  eight pair socks, six days’ water, twelve MREs, a tent, two full cans 
  of waterproof ng f uid, and plenty of lamp fuel. Also, if you’re cut 
  of , don’t be a hero. If someone hijacks your water supply, get the 
  hell out of your base. Don’t assume your superiors will save you, 
  and don’t assume that the hijacking was an isolated incident. Pride 
  won’t feed you, I promise.
  T at’s spot advice, that’ll help if you f nd yourself in one of 
  these situations with little time to prepare. In the end, though, it’s 
  better to prepare. So how do you do it? T e single most valuable 
  method you can use is this: Make friends. I don’t care who employs 
  you, or what side of the f ght you are. You need to get acquainted 
  with the black market, because no matter who you are, it’s more 
  ef  cient than your supply chain. Also, conveniently, when shit 
  gets stolen, it of en ends up on the black market. Terrorists stole 
  your shipment of socks? Well, isn’t that a coincidence—the black 
  market just saw a huge inf ux of socks, and they’d love to trade for 
  a couple of your antitank rockets. Hell, you weren’t going to use 
  those rockets anyway, they just weighed you down.
  Of course you’re saying El Dorado doesn’t exist or we would 
  have found it. Remember, over half of the continent still hasn’t seen 
  human eyes in at least a thousand years. It’s not something we’d 
  have noticed by satellite, since it’s probably buried under quite a bit 
  of jungle and rock. Deep within their leadership, Amazonia knows 
  this, and doesn’t want the land strip-mined of its last true wonder.
  > Plan 9
  SMALL UNIT TACTICS
  Posted by Marcos
  We’ve heard enough about why the war’s going on, and why 
  every kid and his mother’s got an interest in shooting someone 
  or another. For those that are going to be here, let’s talk about 
  what’s going on, who is shooting who, and what they’re shooting 
  with. T is is important. If you’re doing a job in Bogotá, you’re 
  probably not being hired as a mercenary general. If you are, why 
  in the hell are you looking for information here? You’re probably 
  doing groundwork. So getting to know the nitty-gritty of who and 
  what’s going on is going to be a lot more useful to you.
  SUPPLY SHORTAGES
  Picture this: You’re living in a shit part of the world. You 
  hope for a good job for years. Eventually, a megacorp moves in 
  and of ers you some money to drive a truck from point A to point 
  B, then back to point A. You repeat that process twice a week, as 
  it’s a three day trip. You don’t make a lot of money, compared to 
  the take-home in better-developed parts of the world. T en, you 
  f nd out you have to pay to fuel the truck. You also have to pay 
  the bribes at customs. If you bust a tire, it’s your responsibility. 
  Paychecks come when they come, not when they’re supposed to. 
  T en, you’re on your path, and a bunch of people stand in your 
  way along the road. Not only people, they have large cats with 
  swirling black patterns along their back. T ey tell you they’re 
  going to empty your truck, and you’re going to stop showing up 
  to work. T ey say that if you don’t comply, you’re cat food. What 
  do you do? Do you f ght? Of course not.
  Now, let’s assess that scenario from the other end. A handful of 
  Amazonian sympathizers hijack a shipment. T ey don’t know what’s 
  on the shipment, but it’s def nitely Aztechnology supplies. Every 
  widget that’s taken from one of those trucks is a net gain of two 
  widgets in the war ef ort—on one hand, they gain from whatever 
  the object is. On the other, they deprive Aztechnology of resources. 
  In this particular story, they’ve stolen socks. Pay dirt. Socks are key 
  to any war ef ort in a jungle. Have you ever been in a humid place 
  hiking, without a chance to change your socks? It’s a nightmare. 
  Not only is it uncomfortable and smelly, it’s a hotbed of bacteria. 
  You’re liable to get diseases if you don’t change your socks at least 
  once daily. T at’s a key victory for the Amazonian forces. Any excess 
  socks from this shipment get sold at remarkably low prices to the 
  tribals in Bogotá proper. Tribals get socks, Amazonians get a little 
  more loyalty from the city’s truest residents.
  > Socks truly are important in war, which means in a shortage, your 
  high-exalted mage-types may be assigned the glorious duty of 
  casting spells to dry out people’s feet. War is truly glorious.
  > Winterhawk
  
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  to directly access the goings-on of war. T at means public outcry, 
  which means stock prices dropping, which means unhappy CEOs. 
  Unhappy CEOs mean dead troops. So, policy dictates that troops 
  can’t have unlocked commlinks. T ey get dedicated, secure tools 
  that keep out outsiders and limit a grunt’s Matrix activities to the 
  things his CO would approve. Some enterprising troops have 
  modif ed these, and most of those troops have found themselves 
  on the business end of a shadowrun.
  Technology has changed, but that’s mostly a PR stunt. Sure, 
  there are robots and death lasers and shit, but nobody actually 
  sees those in active combat. T at’s the kind of thing that gets used 
  in select, risk-free situations in order to wow the shareholders. 
  Many of the most def nitive combat advancements, things like 
  f echettes, are wonderful on the streets, but they don’t stand up to 
  standard body armor. Monof lament blades are nice, but in a war 
  situation, you’re better of  just shooting. Camouf age armor and 
  chameleon suits are very useful, but don’t hold up well to extreme 
  environments.
  In guerrilla warfare, repurposed holoprojectors are 
  wonderful. One of the most ef ective ways of deterring an attack is 
  to make the enemy think you’re more numerous than you actually 
  are. What better way than holographic troops? Of course, it’s not 
  completely reliable, as any real scrutiny breaks the ef ect. Also, 
  holoprojectors work for great decoys. If you’re f ghting a force that 
  has a sof  spot for civilians (they exist, serious!) then a hologram of 
  a screaming and crying woman in front of your force could mean 
  the dif erence between casualties and f awless victory. I remember 
  a specif c force that used a holoprojector to emulate a force’s leader, 
  who the guerrillas assassinated a few days prior. It shellshocked the 
  troops long enough to set up shots.
  Sims and BTL, while they haven’t revolutionized war, have 
  become integral parts of it. Escapism is important. Remember, in 
  past wars, prostitutes have been hooked up with all manner of 
  traps, beer has been poisoned, any form of entertainment was a 
  weapon against soldiers. Fortunately, BTL and Simsense have 
  done well to eliminate a lot of that. A soldier can rest in his bunk, 
  letting his body recover while his mind wanders. Some soldiers 
  prefer the thrill of the hunt, so they’ll engage in VR gaming when 
  at ease. Particularly smart soldiers have procured VR games from 
  their enemies, where they can play through the same simulations 
  their rivals have, learning their tactics to better understand what 
  they’re up against. 
  While bioware and cyberware are useful, they’re costly. At 
  one point or another, every megacorp has tossed around the idea 
  of universally outf tting its soldiers with one mod or another, but 
  it’s just plain unrealistic. Of en times though, said megacorps will 
  allow their soldiers the option to purchase such mods on loan, 
  even with a discount as part of their employee benef ts packages. 
  But since such modif cations are hardly universal, it’s hard to really 
  gauge their usefulness on the battlef eld. Your mileage may vary. 
  Sense-enhancing sensors probably see the most practical use 
  in the f elds. Imaging is particularly important for Aztechnology, 
  since their enemies are especially good at hiding. Sonar, radar, 
  ultrasound, infrared, these things are all essential when f ghting 
  magical enemies. Usually, a unit will have at least one imaging 
  specialist on-board. 
  Last note: Gecko tape is useless. Do not try it. I’ve heard a 
  few stories of idiots rushing out, trying to use it to set up ambushes 
  Friends are essential, because reputation oils the gears of the 
  black market. If you’re a nobody, you’re not going to get anything. 
  T is means that in any small unit, you need at least one face with 
  a reputation. T is means selling excess supplies and writing them 
  of  as lost. Don’t be a white knight about that. Most organizations 
  have a number of supplies they write of  as damaged, lost, or stolen. 
  T ey know how the real world works, and there’s no reason you 
  shouldn’t take advantage of these policies. Just don’t go overboard, 
  or they’ll catch it.
  Oh, one more thing. T e reason I said you should have “at 
  least” one face? Because, as is so of en the case, it’s good to travel 
  with a spare.
  > Another idea would be to get some friends abroad with strong 
  courier connections. A friend with a helicopter is more useful than 
  a friend in the black market, because the friend with the helicopter 
  can deliver. When you’re in it hot and deep, delivery can make or 
  break a mission. I know a guy that makes his living off airdropping 
  menial shit like your mentioned socks. He drops a freebie here and 
  there for the Amazonians to keep them from knocking down his 
  chopper.
  > Traveler Jones
  TECHNOLOGY
  Technology in a war zone is paradoxical. While it can be very 
  useful, possibly meaning the dif erence between loss and victory, 
  over-reliance on technology almost certainly means loss. Once 
  you get past your basic gadget porn, the logic is written on the 
  wall. You’re trudging through swamps and jungles, falling in water 
  and walking through water so humid you could cut it with a knife. 
  Which of these two things would you want? A machete, or a GPS 
  locator? T e GPS locator sounds sweet, it might f nd you back 
  to civilization. Of course, it doesn’t do you much good if you’re 
  stuck in a vine trap set by heaven knows who, or if the device 
  suddenly stops working because its sensitive parts don’t take well 
  to infusions of mud.
  > From where I sit, this is an argument for having sturdy, waterproof 
  gear, not for going low-tech.
  > Slamm-0!
  In a guerrilla war, simple is the goal. Sure, technology helps. 
  But you want to keep things functional and goal-oriented. A 
  radio is a radio. A gun is a gun. T e moment you start mixing 
  technologies, your gadgets become more fragile, and having fragile 
  gadgetry is just about as good as being without socks. You get your 
  occasional advancement in functional tech, but really, war is about 
  as advanced as dentistry. It’s changed that much in the past two 
  centuries. T ere’s still a needle drilled into your tooth, it’s just 
  diamond tipped. T ere’s still ground troops and guided missiles. 
  Guidance systems get a bit better, guns get a little more deadly, but 
  it’s all the same killing. A friend of mine says we perfected the art 
  of showy and violent slaughter way back in World War II, so why 
  reinvent the wheel?
  What’s changed? That’s sticky. Communications have 
  changed, of course. But in a war, communications aren’t as useful 
  as they might sound. While yes, having a commlink and a PAN is 
  useful in some ways, it’s also distracting, and allows for the public 
  
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  MAGIC
  Magic is all over this war, in lots of dif erent f avors. Both 
  sides are unruly—the blood magic f owing out of Aztlan, and the 
  unruly nature-based magic favored by Amazonia. Both sides can 
  be very ef ective in what they do, and both are still ref ning how 
  they target the other side. Some mages on each side have decided 
  that you beat ‘em by joining ‘em, and so they have started to study 
  the other sides tactics with an eye toward better learning how 
  to counter them. T is could very possibly result in some unholy 
  blood-and-eco magic, and I’m not sure I’m going to want to see 
  that that will look like when it emerges.
  Nature Rituals and Blood Magic
  Ritual spellcasting is a great big part of what makes the 
  Amazonians a force to be reckoned with. Of en times, it acts as a 
  form of terrorism. A spotter goes to a target’s location, the target 
  notices mana gathering around him, and he tells all his buddies. 
  T e buddies f dget around, trying to f gure out what to do. Before 
  too long, they give up on their friend and f ee before the spell is 
  complete, since they don’t know what might happen, and they 
  don’t want chunks of his skull ruining chopping into their f esh. 
  T e spell is either completed or abandoned, the poor sap is killed, 
  and his dispersed friends are taken out while they’re running 
  around like chickens with their heads cut of .
  While I don’t completely understand it, Amazonian shamans 
  use their relationship with the rainforest when they’re casting. 
  and such. T en, when it’s least convenient, the moisture in the air 
  negates its clinging ability and the next thing you know, you’re on 
  your ass being shot.
  > A word of advice for runners in the area would be to try to use things 
  that don’t damage the land around you. That sets off Amazonian 
  red ﬂ ags pretty quickly. Slash-and-burn tactics are completely out 
  of the question, but watch before even using grenades in forested 
  areas. You might think it’s common sense, but you’d be surprised 
  to know how many smart runners have found themselves between 
  a jaguar’s jaws for doing something that normally would be 
  considered common sense.
  > Ecotope
  > I won’t disagree that intricate tech is hurt by the environment out 
  there. But I will say that someone handy with hardware is your best 
  friend. Can you turn a coconut into a radio? You’re invaluable in a 
  guerrilla war. I’ve seen some remarkable DIY tech salvaged from 
  the skeletons of trash soldiers have tossed by the wayside. Nothing 
  beats a homemade EMP, like my momma used to make back home. 
  Not too long go, I saw plans for a grenade that sends out a strong 
  binary pulse, shoving distracting images and sounds into everyone 
  in the blast radius’s PANs. Chummer made it out of an old commlink, 
  a radio transceiver, and a bad remake of Bride of the Monster. It was 
  pure sex.
  > Clockwork
  
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  T ey don’t have to kill anything, but they draw strength from their 
  surroundings, using the mana that is a part of every living thing. 
  Aztlan propaganda has it that the Amazonians are turning the very 
  rainforest against people who are not them, which the Aztlaners 
  use to justify any actions they take against the rainforest. T is 
  isn’t necessarily the case, but the jungles a little scary to outsiders 
  anyway, and this doesn’t make it any less so.
  On the other side is Aztlan with its world famous (or, more 
  accurately, not-really-world-famous-because-Aztechnology-
  propaganda-covers-it-up-so-well) blood magic. T ey’ve got some 
  pretty f erce rituals of their own, but where the blood magic really 
  shines for them is the summoning of blood spirits. T ey love 
  unleashing them in the rainforest, and if you end up wandering 
  in an area with Sangre Del Diablo trees on the right and a thirsty 
  blood spirit on the lef , then you can’t get out of there soon enough.
  > The one thing I must add though is, blood magic isn’t as effective 
  as a scare tactic to keep people in line as most Western minds might 
  think. Remember, pre-Columbians practiced human sacriﬁ ce. The 
  Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs all practiced some form of sacriﬁ ce or 
  another. While most people in Bogotá don’t want to fall victim to 
  that knife, there’s something deep down inside of them that warms 
  when they hear of Aztan’s magic. It’s rooted in their souls, it’s just 
  been pushed back for far too long to be recognizable.
  > Glasswalker
  > True. Amazonia, however, gets some political mileage out of it by 
  portraying their enemy as “savage bogeymen.” Also, it works well to 
  motivate outside interests. Amnesty groups don’t like sacriﬁ ce, and 
  in a struggle, they’re usually more likely to side with the group that, 
  as a policy, doesn’t sacriﬁ ce blood. All of this would work better, of 
  course, if Aztechnology didn’t keep a lid on the whole thing as well 
  as they do.
  > Marcos
  Conjuring
  Conjuring is responsible for lots of the horror stories of the 
  war. Aztlan has their blood spirits, but Amazonia’s no slouch in 
  this department. Conjuring makes a signif cant contribution to 
  their troop count; since a high percent of Amazonian forces are 
  magically active, spirits accompany most Amazonian assaults. If 
  you’ve heard of a jaguar eating a soldier, it was probably as result 
  of a spirit. If you’ve heard of Quetzalcoatl attacking a platoon, 
  that’s definitely a spirit intervention. While the majority of 
  stories follow animal and animistic traditions coming out of the 
  region’s mythology, your classic boas and pumas, some are worse. 
  Some stories bring tell of indescribable horrors, things that wreck 
  minds and leave soldiers as gibbering husks unable to speak for the 
  remainders of their tragically short lives.
  T e spirit strength on each side has led to plenty of astral 
  combat, and some sources say the astral plane in the area is now 
  as battered and scarred as the physical landscape. T ere are free 
  spirits there, or spirits who have broken free of their bond, and 
  a lot of them were summoned for the sole reason that they’re 
  really unpleasant. So be careful if you f nd yourself in the astral 
  equivalent of a dark alley.
  
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  Medicine is a touchy issue in Bogotá proper. Technically, 
  they have the same access to medicine as the rest of the world. But 
  supply chains are of en broken, and more importantly, resource 
  shortages mean that sometimes clinics can’t always stock every 
  perishable pharmaceutical. Healthcare-minded individuals have 
  set up clinic networks to share drugs, but those networks end 
  up being robbed more of en than not. Drugs in transit are drugs 
  that are easy to steal. If you’re a runner looking for freelance work 
  in Bogotá, and you’re cool with small budgets, of er to protect 
  legitimate drug runners. It’ll also set you up with the kind of 
  reputation that guarantees priority treatment from DocWagon.
  Out in the jungle, medicine is scarce. By scarce, I mean you’re 
  just about as likely to have a prayer for health answered as you are 
  to get the right kind of medicine for your ailment. T e Amazon 
  is loaded to the brim with all manner of viruses and bacteria, and 
  science can’t hope to deal with them all. Even if diagnosis were 
  possible, you’d need a medicine cabinet the size of a small oil tanker 
  to cover all your bases. How do you solve this problem? T e short 
  answer is you don’t. T e slightly longer answer is, make sure that at 
  any given time, you have ready access to a nearby mage. Magic is 
  really the only reliable bet for medical attention on no notice.
  > Which allows me to continue my comment above. One inventive 
  way to deal with mages is not to kill them, but to keep them too 
  occupied to ﬁ ght. Get some new diseases out there—or cut water 
  supplies, as was mentioned before, and get everyone on the 
  dystentery train, and all of the sudden mages are so busy healing 
  people that they might not be able to focus on good defenses. 
  Sometimes it’s not about killing them—it’s about distracting them, 
  then killing them.
  > Marcos
  GUERRILLA TACTICS: 101
  If you’re running in Bogotá, you need to be familiar with 
  guerrilla warfare. My guide is only an introduction, I’d suggest 
  you read up on your good old-fashioned Che Guevara and 
  Mao Zedong. Hopefully, this section will at least get your mind 
  working on the right train of thought. You’d be wise to employ 
  some guerrilla tactics if you’re working counter to any one of the 
  larger forces in the conf ict. If not, you should at least be aware of 
  such tactics, because you will see them on the streets of Bogotá on 
  an almost daily basis. 
  What Is It?
  At its simplest, guerrilla war is the art of taking down a very 
  large force with a very small force. T e tricks of the trade are using 
  the local population against the enemy, taking advantage of the 
  mobility of a smaller force, and otherwise utilizing the unique 
  features of a small unit against the enemy. Guerrilla warfare is 
  largely psychological warfare; it presents the smaller force as 
  ef ectively invincible, as it is suf  ciently divided to never truly be 
  eradicated, and because it presents the larger force as an invading 
  enemy, it breeds discontent in the local populace.
  A Means, Not An End
  Guerrilla warfare should never be seen as the solution to a 
  problem. It’s a step towards a solution. T ose thinking of guerrilla 
  war as life are doomed to live short lives. Guerrilla warfare should 
  > If I might add to what you’ve said, Amazonian shamans don’t just 
  see spirits as equals. In many cases, these spirits are like unto gods to 
  these sorcerers, and rightfully so. While in a tactical sense, it doesn’t 
  mean much since the shamans know their gods don’t die when 
  their spirit bodies are destroyed, it does speak to their sensibilities. 
  Understand that these forces are akin to religious zealots that can 
  march right alongside their gods. Remember this when trying to use 
  psychological warfare against them. They’re unshakable. 
  > Glasswalker
  Enchanting
  Enchanting is one area where Aztechnology can really 
  bring their magical might to bear. Every Awakened soldier in 
  an Aztechnology unit is well-equipped with what amounts to 
  sweatshop foci, and any ranking mage has a power focus backing 
  their spells. Spell foci come as trinkets to force their sorceries 
  into larger forms. Worldwide, Aztechnology has a considerable 
  magical army, but they’re spread a bit thin, while Amazonia is 
  focusing almost all of their military magical might on this conf ict. 
  T e bounty of enchanted objects Aztechnology is sending to the 
  front helps of set this advantage.
  On the Amazonian side, enchanting is far more personal. 
  Most shaman have their own foci, which they’ve had through most 
  of their experiences. T ey have bones, blood, and feathers that 
  writhe with the uninhibited magic of the wilds. T ose shaman like 
  it unpredictable, unexpectedness is a powerful weapon in their 
  arsenal. I saw a viral trid not too long ago of a conf ict where a lone 
  shaman charged a platoon of Aztechnology grunts. T ey f red at 
  least forty bullets into him, but he survived long enough to spit his 
  bloody teeth and tongue onto the ground. T e blood grew into a 
  giant, amorphous blob that literally devoured everyone, including 
  the dying shaman. T e Azzies aren’t the only ones who know how 
  to use blood.
  > Everyone knows you’re supposed to geek the mage ﬁ rst, and 
  that principle is going to get a strong workout in Bogotá. All the 
  regulars are getting tired of dealing with magical mojo, and they’re 
  investigating any and all things they can do to get past magic 
  defenses and take spellslingers out fast. Mages—and those who 
  want to kill mages—would be advised to keep up with what’s 
  happening down there.
  > Marcos
  MEDICINE AND DISEASE
  Have you ever had a foot rot of ? Would you like to? If so, a 
  trip to the Amazon is in order. It’s a bit of a cliché, but it’s totally 
  true to say that hippies from all over the world take pilgrimages 
  to the Amazon in order to live with nature and f ght against the 
  things that destroy it. Of those hippies, fewer than half survive the 
  f rst six months. Before they even see their f rst gunshot wound, 
  they’re very likely to keel over dead from diseases we don’t have 
  words for yet. T e cynic in me says, “Hey, at least it’s less hippies 
  in the world.” But in the more balanced, humane view, it’s tragic. 
  Most of these kids are fresh out of college, and don’t know what 
  they’re in for. So if you’re a recent college graduate and you’re 
  reading this, heed my warning: Go to a European hostel instead. 
  You’ll survive, and they have cof ee like you wouldn’t believe. You 
  can save nature better alive than dead.
  
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  their numbers and morale. Make them wonder how many people 
  are hiding behind the trees and in the alleys. Make them question 
  everyone they meet. Sow dissent. You will make their f ghters weak.
  > Guerrilla war is a war of spirit. If you’re ﬁ ghting contrary to a people 
  supported by guerrillas, you can only truly win if you disintegrate 
  the morale of the people. That’s not a quick job. So if you’re not in 
  Aztlan for the long haul, you might consider staying under the radar, 
  or making friends with the locals quickly.
  > Glasswalker
  AMAZONIA
  So you’ve got all this wiz nature magic. You can make the 
  foliage attack your enemies, surprising them, tearing them apart 
  without wasting a bullet. T e problem is, you’ve got no fucking 
  foliage in a city center. While yes, powerful rituals can force trees 
  from nothing, those take time and investment to accomplish, so 
  they’re not always great tactical decisions. In a city environment, 
  your options are really limited if you don’t f ght like city soldiers. 
  T is is where illusion magic comes into play. It does things your 
  equipment and troops can’t. Invisibility is a blessing—it turns 
  smaller numbers into larger threats with little ef ort.
  Along with f ghting Aztlan’s soldiers, Amazonia has also had 
  to counter the Aztehnology PR juggernaut. T ey’re starting to 
  take them on directly with the help of Horizon, but they have 
  some weapons of their own they’re using on the population of 
  Bogotá. Specif cally, I’m talking about terror, diversion, subversion, 
  and subterfuge. Nobody knows how many troops are out in 
  those jungles, waiting. Everyone assumes it’s less than estimated, 
  but nobody wants to bank their life on that. Amazonian troops 
  will disguise themselves and use dif erent tactics, if only to give 
  the impression of a larger army. Attacks on power stations not 
  only cripple communities and eliminate valuable resources (all 
  those great medicines in your refrigeration unit go kaput, not to 
  mention foods in stores,) but they make the population uneasy. 
  A population without power is testy. T en, mix in a demolished 
  water treatment plant, and people no longer have plumbing. Let 
  that simmer a few days throw in a few explosions for f avor, and 
  you’ve got riots. A riot is just about the last thing Aztechnology 
  needs. Riot control forces are expensive and draw resources away 
  from the war ef ort, and a thinned war ef ort means Amazonia can 
  plink of  soldiers by the dozens.
  AZTECHNOLOGY
  If Amazonia represents chaos in the conf ict, Aztechnology 
  has order. If you’re a commander, and you move to another unit, 
  you know that your troops understand what you’re saying. T ere’s 
  no jargon barrier, they have access to the same fundamental 
  tactics, and they know how all the same equipment works. Your 
  requisitioned rif e is the same one you’ll get af er reassignment, so 
  you’ll still be able to assemble it in your sleep. T is is a good thing. 
  Scavenged technology has a learning curve and generally presents 
  language barriers.
  Amazonia might say that tactically, Aztechnology is stagnant. 
  They have standardized techniques and methodologies that 
  don’t adapt well to meet the needs of the circumstance. T is is 
  propaganda at best. Aztechnology’s playbook is huge, and they 
  understand that on the f eld, things must be adapted. T ey have 
  seem like it goes on forever to the invading force, but it should 
  actually take only a relatively small time, in the scope of larger 
  wars. A decade of guerrilla f ghting is about the most a populace 
  can support without guaranteed failure. What this means to the 
  population is, you must set timelines with clear victory conditions. 
  If you tell the locals, “when we’re done at this time next year, you’ll 
  have property free of invasion,” you need to stand by it. You can 
  ask for extensions if you have suf  cient political capital, but always 
  show forward progress.
  Your Priorities
  Guerrilla warfare has slightly different priorities than 
  traditional war. T ey’re sometimes similar enough, though, that 
  they might be mistaken for each other if you don’t look closely. 
  In guerrilla war, you’re not f ghting for land, you’re f ghting for 
  people. You’re not f ghting for the homeland, you’re f ghting for 
  the culture. T is must be understood from the beginning, and it 
  must be communicated to the people. While houses can burn, a 
  people cannot be crushed under tyrannical boots. T e goal of the 
  guerrilla is to provide stability the locals might not otherwise have. 
  If your enemy f rebombs automobiles, you put snipers outside 
  of parking lots. If your enemy kills children, you landmine the 
  daycare center and teach the children how to walk the path safely.
  > This shows the ﬁ ne line guerillas sometimes walk. If the kids stay 
  safe and the center continues operations, you’re a hero. If even one 
  child gets killed by your mines, you’re a monster. The tide of public 
  opinion can turn on a dime.
  > Picador
  Tactics
  1) Hold your ground, move sporadically. T e enemy will 
  move hard and fast against you, with hope of scattering your 
  troops. T is is one of the only ways guerrillas can be defeated. 
  2) Use surprise. Surprise is your best weapon. Don’t focus on 
  thorough victories. Sniping a general and retreating is far more 
  valuable to the guerrilla force than killing the entire unit but losing 
  even one guerrilla in the process. Remember, they outnumber you 
  twenty to one. One of your troops is worth at least ten of theirs.
  3) Use propaganda. Your enemy is vicious, play that up. Your 
  enemy is in the peoples’ home, play that up. Every little thing you 
  can use against them, do. If you can get pictures of one of their 
  troops doing something terrible, get that picture on every wall in 
  the village. Make the people hate the enemy.
  4) Maintain moral authority. If your troops do anything 
  truly unethical, such as raping a local, come down hard. Treat 
  them as you would the enemy. It’s important that the people know 
  you have their best interests in mind at all times, and you won’t 
  tolerate misbehavior.
  5) Covert ops is your friend. Spies are far more valuable than 
  grunts, and intelligence can f nd the right heads to put bullets in 
  for maximum ef  ciency.
  6) Don’t waste resources. Large forces can strangle a 
  community. Even if there’s no blockade, pretend there’s one. 
  Stockpile food and ammo. Don’t use fully automatic weapons. 
  Make every round count. Recover resources from fallen foes.
  7) Harass your opponents. You are the wolf pack, not the 
  tiger. You will never beat them through pure force. Pick away at 
  
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  being tricked, so they’re going to approach every deal as one that’s 
  too good to be true. Any time you present them with something 
  that looks like charity, they’re going to look at you as the white 
  devil (even if you’re not white, mind you). Don’t approach them 
  apologetically; you’ll come off as condescending. Approach them 
  honestly. We’re talking about street-smart people who, in many 
  cases, have only survived as long as they have because they can see 
  right through bullshit. Let them know your basic intentions, present 
  them with an up-front offer and a follow-up offer, and explain in 
  detail what it will mean for them if they successfully help you. Be 
  down to earth. They’re down-to-earth people.
  > Dr. Spin
  > You’ve got some classist sentiments in there, but I can see what 
  you’re saying. What you’re getting at is, don’t be fake. They know 
  you have an agenda. If you present it, if you play your cards on the 
  table, they’ll respect it. Don’t tell them ﬂ owery stories, and don’t 
  make enormous offers that go far beyond what they’ll believe is 
  true. I’ve read a few stories of successful runners that spread their 
  cash around to local churches and even community development 
  groups. A friend of mine said he basically earned a cult by building a 
  nice road through a neighborhood once.
  > Aufheben
  THE TROOPS
  Posted By Marcos
  What do troops look like in Bogota? T ere’s just no standard, 
  you know what I mean? It’s like there’s four dif erent wars going 
  on here and no one can agree on how to f ght it. You’ve got Aztlan 
  using trained warriors just like any other modern corporate army, 
  only this isn’t a totally modern war when you consider who they’re 
  up against. Amazonia has some damn f ne guerillas (and some 
  regular army, of course—they are a nation, af er all), but they don’t 
  have enough jungle to spread around in the city to let them work 
  their magic. T e tribals don’t even know who they’re f ghting so 
  there’s no way to plan for them, and the cartels are the same scabby 
  vultures they are anywhere. So in the end, you ask, what do the 
  troops look like in Bogota? And I say: Hell if I know.
  AMAZONIA
  T e Amazonian military is less organized and has less formal 
  training than their Aztlan counterparts, but that’s no reason to 
  underestimate them. Individual units are generally quite cohesive 
  and know each others strengths and weaknesses quite well, and 
  they are encouraged to develop their own tactics based on what 
  they know about each other. T e end result is, when Amazonians 
  come af er you, you never know what you’re going to get. It could 
  be a mostly magic assault, with manaballs and fear radiating from 
  a group that can disappear into any surroundings, or it could be 
  a full-on barrage of grenades and bullets looking to charge right 
  down your throat. Or it could be both, or any other tactic you 
  can imagine.
  What Amazonia gains in f exibility, they lose in coordination. 
  When Aztlan calls for backup, they know how many troops are 
  coming, what gear they’ll have, and what tactics they’ll employ. 
  With Amazonia, it’s anybody’s guess how that backup will arrive. 
  an advantage in that every soldier knows what every other member 
  of the unit should be doing at a given time. T ere’s no surprises. 
  Not only that, but they have standardized troop allocations. So 
  when they request backup, they have a pretty accurate idea of what 
  they’ll get.
  Sure, red tape sucks, but overwhelming force has its value. 
  While it’s not as ef ective as it could be against guerrilla insurgents, 
  it sure plays the part well. I don’t care how much you love the 
  jungle, when you and f ve guys are staring down two hundred 
  barrels, you don’t think you’re going to win. Aztechnology 
  succeeds through hitting hard, hitting fast, and salting the earth. 
  T ey’ve read the same books I’ve read, they’re not idiots. T ey 
  know that every insurgent is worth ten of their soldiers, and that 
  means that escape is unacceptable. If they see an insurgent, they kill 
  or capture or die trying, without exception. T ey call in backup, 
  they eliminate the threat thoroughly and without pause. A good 
  Amazonian insurgent recognizes this threat, and knows that they 
  will not receive mercy, so f ght as if they’ll die upon failure. 
  Aztechnology isn’t without its own array of psychological 
  warfare techniques. For example, if you want to piss of  a bunch 
  of conservationists f ghting against your troops, have your troops 
  withdraw, then blanket the place with napalm. Survivors will 
  abandon surprise and attack like rabid dogs, and just like rabid 
  dogs, they can be shot down thanks to their lack of tactical 
  strength.
  THE TRIBALS
  Tribal f ghters aren’t unlike Amazonian insurgents in terms 
  of scope. T ey f ght in smaller units than Aztechnology forces, 
  and they have a vested, personal interested in the location. T e 
  big dif erence is, they don’t have the same mobility that Amazonia 
  enjoys. Tribals have to hold their ground, and can’t even move 
  strategically without hurting the morale of their neighborhoods.
  One of the biggest strength of the tribals is their lack of 
  central organization, but it’s also their biggest weakness. A given 
  neighborhood will of en refuse to help another due to personal 
  squabbles, which leaves them with inferior forces to handle larger 
  concerns. If a force moves in and abducts locals and tortures 
  tribal insurgents, it generally won’t motivate the neighbors, and it 
  certainly won’t draw them together into action. T e f rst unwritten 
  rule of tribal culture is to watch your own shit. Everything is 
  somebody else’s problem. While this sounds negative from the 
  outside, it’s actually a remarkable survival trick. With your hands 
  over your ears, you’re less likely to hear things that might make you 
  take actions you otherwise wouldn’t.
  Sparse organization is a great asset, though. T e tribals have 
  their networks for supplies, and those networks are so convoluted 
  and wrapped up in local traditions, mores, and folkways that you 
  couldn’t f gure them out unless you grew up locally. Trying to 
  interrupt supply chains for these people requires massive ef orts, 
  as f nesse just won’t cut it. Inf uencing them through propaganda 
  is dif  cult, because no matter what you do or say, you’ll always be 
  an outsider to them if you have money.
  > I hate to say this, but your best bet when dealing with the tribals 
  and the locals is to appeal to their lacks of education. These are 
  people that are often illiterate, that work from the ripe age of eight 
  or so. They’re people that are used to being used, they’re used to 
  
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  proper. Both, true to form, decided to hit the line and cut the base off. 
  Because they didn’t know anything about the other, and couldn’t even 
  identify the other group as allies, they ended up attacking each other 
  over the line, thinking each other to be Aztlan troops.
  > Glasswalker
  Trained Animals
  So what, you think because you’re nowhere near the 
  overgrowth, and you’re confident that magical assaults won’t 
  do any good, that the rainforest warriors don’t have any nasty 
  surprises for you? T ink again, imbécil, because that’s just the start 
  of their crazy tactics. If you see four men in Amazonian clothes 
  coming at you screaming in their language, there’s a good chance 
  you’ve missed something, because many of their units have trained 
  animals, terrible jungle animals they’ve raised and trained and are 
  happy to have rip you into little itty bitty pieces for fun.
  > It’s true. Many of the Amazonian units travel with a number of 
  hyper-intelligent and highly trained animals. Large jungle cats like 
  puma and jaguar are especially popular, with black jaguars being 
  T ey also don’t engage in full-scale, multi-unit assaults as well as 
  the Aztlanners do.
  Many Amazonian units have been in the rainforest for a 
  while, and they’re quite used to it. T is gives them an advantage 
  in navigating the of en crowded, sometimes dangerous landscape, 
  but there’s a small price to pay. If they’ve been in the jungle, 
  they’ve of en learned how to live of  the bounty of the land, and 
  accustomed to having fresh, naturally occurring food most of 
  the time. Some units even have a permanent hunter/gatherer, 
  someone in charge of collecting food from whatever area they 
  may be in.
  > True story: I had some guns to move and wasn’t able to move 
  them with Aztlan for reasons best not discussed. Anyway, I have 
  these crates full of guns and I get approached by this guy with a 
  unit from the Amazon. So he looks over my crate for a while and 
  then asks me if I have any mangos or birdshot. I ﬁ gure he’s a nut 
  but go along anyway. I’m carrying .50 caliber, building-destroying 
  nightmares in gun form, and this guy’s looking for birdshot and fruit. 
  I ask him why he needs mangoes, he shrugs, says there aren’t any 
  mangoes growing where his people are bedded down and they’ve 
  got a craving, plus he’s out of arrows and ﬁ gured I wouldn’t have 
  any, but he could use his shotgun in a pinch if I had any ammo he 
  could use. I just stare at him like he’s grown a second head. He says 
  he’ll just take his gold elsewhere. No shit. Real gold, like fresh out 
  of the ground.
  Anyway, I found him some arrows and charged him for the 
  trouble, which he was only too happy to pay. I got gold. It was 
  awesome. 
  > Marcos
  Independents
  Many Amazonian freedom f ghters are in Bogotá more or 
  less on their own. T ere’s no hierarchy beyond their immediate 
  commander, who is usually the person who organized the group 
  and led them into battle. In theory there are people back in 
  Amazonia who are calling the shots, but they’re remote enough 
  that they’re totally unable to micromanage. T at, and much of 
  the spirit of these freedom f ghters just doesn’t sync very well with 
  ideas like “taking orders” and “waiting for permission.”
  > They aren’t entirely disorganized; it’s a lot more like a group of 
  cells that don’t have much communication from one to the other 
  through a governing body. They work together okay because they 
  share a common goal, but they work best when they’re left to their 
  own devices.
  > Glasswalker
  > Oh sure, that’s because Aztlan has no damn idea how to handle 
  wild attacks from all fronts. You can say they aren’t disorganized 
  all you want, but I think plenty of outside observers would disagree. 
  They can’t plan assaults, intercept communications, or employ any 
  of the tactics you’d use with any sensible army.
  > Hard Exit
  > I’ll grant that having no larger authority has its downsides. Take a raid 
  that went down last month. Two separate Amazonian units found 
  out about a supply line taking water to a base just outside of the city 
  proper. Both, true to form, decided to hit the line and cut the base off. 
  THE AMAZONIAN TRADITION
  Concept: Amazonian magical practitioners use 
  their connection to the life of the jungle as a focus 
  for their magic. Their styles are brilliant, vibrant and 
  often dangerous, just like the jungle that inspires it.
  Combat: Water
  Detection: Plant
  Health: Plant
  Illusion: Water
  Manipulation: Water
  Drain: Willpower + Charisma
  For the people of the Amazon, nature and the 
  jungle are completely synonymous. Magic comes 
  from life, it is life, and without the jungle there would 
  be no life so it follows that magic must be the jungle 
  and vice versa. While the trappings of ancient gods 
  sometimes sneak into the Amazonian tradition, that 
  isn’t the focus. Their magic is wild and organic.
  They wear the rainforest, breathe it, eat it, and 
  center their magical activities in it. It might be 
  argued that some of them cannot function without 
  it at all. So when an Amazonian must leave their 
  sacred home, they tend to carry a piece of it along 
  with them. Sometimes this means wearing the skins 
  of animals or plant matter. Sometimes that means 
  eating nothing but dried fruit grown in the jungle.
  In more dramatic cases, practitioners are known 
  to test their connection to the benevolent side of the 
  jungle by risking the dangerous side. They’ll drink 
  take toxic levels of the native hallucinogens or drink 
  the venom of the jungle’s most deadly animals. 
  There magic is often as colorful and dangerous as 
  their practices. Some rituals involve self-mutilation 
  and scarring—scars that any Amazonian wears with 
  pride. After all, they believe that if it didn’t kill them, 
  it means the rainforest sees them as sacred.
  
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  the letter of the law when you consider the contracts the soldiers 
  in their hire sign before getting the job. Unlike the Amazonians, 
  Aztlan has little use for independent cells of soldiers. Almost 
  nothing happens without oversight and I’m sure that’s as benef cial 
  as it is limiting.
  > Yeah, except when it isn’t. Of course the troops have a series of 
  ranks and so there’s a chain of command, but in the ﬁ eld those 
  chains of command can break down pretty fast. So yeah, the 
  commanding lieutenant takes a chainsaw to the face and is down. 
  Command might go to the sergeant because that’s the way the 
  higher-ups want it to go, but in this case the sergeant turns out to 
  be a delicate little ﬂ ower fresh out of ofﬁ cer school with no idea how 
  to handle real combat. So instead of taking on the leadership role 
  he’s sitting beside a wall crying hysterically. So, one of the grunts 
  ﬁ nds himself with one hell of a ﬁ eld promotion right to the head of 
  the unit. A fact of the battleﬁ eld.
  > Marcos
  > That’s it exactly. And you know enlisted types are always ready for 
  that. You see any group of soldiers hanging around long enough, as 
  a unit or not, and they naturally establish a pecking order. It tends 
  to follow rank, because rank is usually a reﬂ ection of seniority and 
  experience, but since it isn’t always, the pecking order ﬁ nds another 
  way for alpha dogs to get on top and runts to stay just exactly where 
  they belong. That’s a side effect of having formal troops.
  > Picador
  Too Much Magic
  Forget about the Witches’ Markets or whatever they’re 
  called, man. T ey’re full of inferior product sold by questionable 
  merchants. You want good quality and cheap magical components? 
  You hit up a group of Aztlan troops. No, seriously, they all get 
  requisitioned all kinds of shit they don’t need because their bosses 
  can hand it out cheap. T is is where Aztechnology’s phenomenal 
  skill in gathering reagents comes into play. Right now, the choke 
  point in the foci creation process is getting enough skilled mages 
  to keep up with the supply of reagents the Azzies are delivering, so 
  the military keeps parceling ingredients out to mages in the f eld, 
  hoping they can do a little enchanting in their spare time. T at 
  means that military supply lines have Awakened goods crammed 
  in everywhere. You think I’m kidding? Try it the next time you’re 
  in Bogotá. Pick up a crate of socks or bullets or something and 
  you’ll walk away with a fortune in magical ingredients. Maybe 
  some f nished foci too, if you’re lucky.
  > The bureaucracy for Aztlan troops is a nightmare. For example, 
  uniforms are great because they make troops look organized 
  and therefore more frightening, but body armor is expensive. 
  So sometimes groups who requisitioned body armor to replace 
  destroyed pieces might get an extra crate of shirts and hats instead. 
  “Paperwork error” is the excuse they’ll get from their higher-ups, and 
  if they hold their breath to wait for a correction they’ll turn a lovely 
  shade of blue. Smart ofﬁ cers in that situation know that there are 
  runners out there, like me, who will pay an okay amount for those 
  uniforms, or maybe sell them to some coffee shop revolutionaries 
  that want to cut ‘em up and be edgy. So they let us do our thing, and 
  now they’re got some nuyen to spread around, maybe grease the 
  particularly prized and considered a mark of a very fortunate unit. 
  Beyond that, anacondas are used in carefully laid traps, particularly 
  nasty when they can grow up to 30 feet naturally. I know of a group 
  of Amazonians who have a mage in their unit who can control 
  poison arrowhead frogs, and he uses these highly toxic amphibians 
  to disable enemies from a safe distance before the unit moves in 
  for the kill.
  > Glasswalker
  > I’ve seen some Amazonian troops use animals as cannon fodder, 
  while others treat them as more important than any human or 
  metahumans amongst them. Usually the relationship has a lot to 
  do with the value of the animal in question. A hand full of tree frogs 
  for a trap is one thing, but a viper who has been magically grafted 
  with wings and the smarts of a small child is treated with more care 
  then ten Amazonian warriors. Hell, thinking about it, I gotta get me 
  one of those.
  > DangerSensei
  Magical Support
  Brother, these hombres don’t do it the way normal people do. 
  T ey’ll poison your water and drink it themselves. T eir magic is 
  terrible and cruel and, well, just like the jungle they come out of. I 
  think even the other Amazonians are a little afraid of their magical 
  backup. I know I am.
  AZTLAN
  Posted By Hard Exit
  T ere’s a standard makeup for Aztlan troops, at least in their 
  urban conf ict units: two to three grunts, a sniper and spotter, 
  of en adepts, that work in tandem. T ey might have a demolitions 
  expert to handle creating or destroying escape routes. About one 
  in ten units have magical back up, and most of them work with 
  a hacker or rigger operating remotely. T ey move fast and small 
  because a city just isn’t the place to march three hundred men 
  down main street … at least, not most of the time. T at kind of 
  dramatic show of power is handled by bombing the shit out of 
  the barrios.
  > Aztlan isn’t stupid. They might be the governmental extension 
  a soulless, hateful proﬁ t machine with all the global value of a 
  pandemic, but they aren’t stupid. They’ve got some ﬁ ne military 
  minds in their chain of command, and so there isn’t any one type 
  of troop organization they use. That said, those specialized units 
  are usually brought together for speciﬁ c missions and disbanded 
  immediately after. Military mercenaries are often brought in for 
  that sort of thing because of their experience. Of course, experience 
  means higher pay, and Aztlan doesn’t want to have to pay hundreds 
  of troops at that rate, so they don’t bother with a whole lot of extra 
  training. Mercs come in, get paid, and get out so no one wastes time 
  or money. It’s a sweet deal.
  > Marcos
  Field Organization
  With Aztlan there’s a chain of command. It’s rigorous, 
  complex and held to as the letter of the law. Usually it actually is 
  
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  other tribals had rounded up the leaders of the tribe responsible and 
  handed them over to the cartels.
  > Marcos
  Folk Heroes
  Sometimes you’ll see a group of tribals rally around a single 
  heroic type. Of en, this folk hero will be charismatic and capable, 
  but not quite as heroic as rumor would have it. T ese guys get of  
  on the attention and being larger than life more than protecting 
  their people, but because that’s the end result it’s usually pretty 
  forgivable. A decent folk hero can stir a whole tribe, not just 
  the warrior types, to some impressive feats—tipping a tank over, 
  burning down a corporate center, swarming a platoon of far more 
  experienced troops.
  The most intriguing folk hero I’ve heard about is this 
  neo-Spartacus, Simon Delgado. Viva Delgado! rallies are 
  pretty common on the streets, common enough for Aztlan to 
  take notice and work to stop them. T e best way to stop rallies 
  around a folk hero is, of course, to kill the folk hero. So that’s 
  what Aztlan did—seven times, by the current count. Seven times, 
  they’ve either recovered the remains of someone who looks just 
  like Delgado, or they captured him and executed him themselves. 
  And then, af er each time, Delgado somehow reappears, back 
  on the streets, inciting rallies and rebellion and generally doing 
  his thing. Most people believe the movement started with 
  about a dozen Delgados, people who had gone under the knife 
  or just used some good nanopaste so they could all look alike. 
  So there’s no telling if Aztlan ever caught the real Delgado, or 
  even if there is a real Delgado. It’s possible that as the movement 
  continues, more Delgados are signing up every day. For Aztlan’s 
  part, they’re going to start doing genetic testing on each Delgado 
  they kill, just so they can tell if there’s any connection between 
  them, or see if they can somehow determine when they’ve f nally 
  killed the right one.
  > As the Delgado story shows, the folk hero isn’t always a lone guy. 
  Sometimes you’ll get a band of heroes together in one tribe. It’s 
  both better and worse for the tribe in question. I mean, if you can 
  have one larger than life warrior leading your people, why wouldn’t 
  you want a couple of them? The only problem is, the more heroes 
  the more room for manipulation or betrayal. You got a band of 
  heroes and you can ﬁ nd a weakness to exploit.
  > Aufheben
  Community
  Soldiers, warriors—whatever you want to call the people 
  doing the f ghting among the tribals, they have a problem that the 
  other sides involved in this war generally don’t have to deal with. 
  T ey’ve got family and friends on the battlef eld and that makes 
  things a lot more complicated.
  Sure, Aztlan might have their people in Bogota, but by and 
  large they’re safe and sound in closed communities where f ghting 
  never happens. T at’s not to say threats don’t hit home from time 
  to time, just that their backyards are rarely battlef elds.
  Amazonia believes they’re f ghting for people like them, and 
  that may be true, but that doesn’t mean they have to worry about 
  whether or not gran tia Maria is going to be caught in the crossf re. 
  T ey’re sympathetic, or so they seem to think, but not risking 
  wheels in their supply chain and get the armor they need, or else just 
  buy it themselves. Any number of ground troops have all sorts of 
  sidelines going on to get rid of the shit they don’t need that Aztlan 
  will give them to get the shit they actually need.
  > Marcos
  Being Alien
  History teaches us that invading troops are always personally 
  at a disadvantage when it comes to dealing with locals. The 
  indigenous population of en f ghts harder and longer because they 
  are f ghting for their home and soil. T ey know the land better. 
  T ey want it more. On the converse, invading forces are alien, do 
  not know the land and have no emotional connection to the land. 
  T is is why you sometimes hear stories of huge invading armies 
  held of  by a small local militia. T at’s Aztlan’s problem in Bogotá, 
  and that’s why they’re working so hard on their cultural of ensive. 
  T ey understand the edge that emotions can give in a war. Right 
  now, a lot of their troops are foreign, there for a paycheck and for 
  little else. T ey don’t have the same passion to win that a native has, 
  and they f gure the best way to get that passion is to get the natives 
  on their side. If the natives start to see themselves as Aztlanners, 
  then Aztlan is no longer an invader.
  > The only problem with your theory is that their primary opposition 
  is also technically an invading army, so neither side’s getting that 
  “defending home turf” edge.
  > Dr. Spin
  > Yeah, and Aztlan has a bit of an advantage in the guns ‘n’ ammo 
  department. Don’t forget that part. 
  > Riser
  THE TRIBALS
  Posted By Hard Exit
  T e tribals f ght like they fuck. None of ‘em do it alike, none 
  of them do it for the same reasons, and they just about never do 
  it the same way twice in a row. Varity is just about the only thing 
  the so-called tribal war parties have in common, so what they lack 
  in tactical know-how they make up in f exibility. Still, there are 
  trends.
  For example, most if not all of the tribals need raiding parties 
  eventually. Life’s cheap and supplies are sparse for the poor or 
  disenfranchised in Bogotá. Raids are sometimes the only way to 
  feed all the hungry in the face of all the blockades, destruction, 
  and careless disregard for the needs of the people.
  > Even the tribes that have a method or pattern to their raids tend 
  to switch things up pretty quickly or risk being caught by someone 
  who’s got their numbers crunched. Plus there are other reasons to 
  mix things up when you’re raiding. About a year back, there was a 
  small tribe who’d taken to sending their kids out as a distraction. 
  They’d run up to passing cartel gangs or Aztlan units and beg them 
  for bread or bullets or even just attention. When they men dropped 
  their guard or even just grew a bit distracted, the rest of the raiders 
  would sweep in and pick the troops clean. Well, the cartel put out 
  an order to shoot any street children on sight. Within a week, the 
  
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  dead they’re absolved of guilt. You don’t know pain until you’ve 
  been stabbed repeatedly by a grief-mad farmer completely out of 
  options except killing you.
  > Hard Exit
  CARTELS
  Posted By Hard Exit
  If you don’t think the ghost cartels have a horse in this race, 
  you’re crazy. If you think they cartels aren’t a legitimate side of 
  this clusterfuck, again, you’re completely brain damaged. Hell, 
  they operate more like a military than the tribals in a lot of ways. 
  They’re organized, well-funded, and active. When the dust is 
  settled, they’ll still be deeply entrenched in Bogotá, so you better 
  believe they’re working to shape just what the city will look like 
  once this is all done.
  T e cartels are structured, which is one of the things that 
  separates them from the tribe, including the more criminally 
  minded tribes. T at and their global reach, obviously. So the thing 
  is, there are ranks from the cartel’s boss all the way down to various 
  and sundry made men and wannabes. T e way the ranks work isn’t 
  always consistent from place to place, or from cartel to cartel. It 
  depends on the scope of the cartel’s operations and the people that 
  are available. If they’ve got less happening on the streets in some 
  area, then they can skip a few ranks that normally would play a 
  role in keeping all their street operations humming.
  kith and kin. As a result, tribal tactics have to include what to do 
  with their people when they can’t plan escapes or other types of 
  protection. It also means troops are more likely to, say, ignore an 
  order to hold the line and run of  to protect their wife and child 
  at home.
  But there is an upside. It also means that it’s a lot harder for 
  the opposition to tell who’s actually a combatant and who’s just 
  another hungry peasant. Blending into the background is one of 
  they’re greatest weapons.
  > Along with the weapons that Ares is funneling to them through 
  the black market.
  > Picador
  > Just so we’re clear, the tribals out there aren’t always the equivalent 
  of Robin Hood and the heroes of virtue. Some of the tribes operate 
  just like little tyrannies with the men on top deciding who’s going to 
  ﬁ ght and when whether they want to or not. You get a lot of suicide 
  missions out of this kind of operation, with the tyrant back with the 
  tribe holding a gun to gran tia’s head if you don’t go blow yourself up 
  to further the tribe’s goals.
  And these conscripted guys, the ones forced to ﬁ ght because 
  they have no other choice are always the worst. They’re starving, 
  terriﬁ ed and literally have no reason to live. They will charge trolls 
  with chainsaws because it’s that or go back and worry about what 
  the tyrants back home will do to them an their families. At least 
  
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  The cartels realized that while it’s nice to be able to do 
  business when there aren’t any police around to bother you, 
  it’s even nicer to have a group of people the public recognizes 
  as safety of  cers who actually do a lot of your work and make 
  life easier for you. T e goal is to foster complacency—if people 
  believe it’s the responsibility of the police to deal with criminal 
  matters, then they’ll put such matters out of their head and won’t 
  do anything about them themselves. It’s the police’s job. Since 
  the police aren’t actually doing anything to hinder the cartels, 
  they are able to function with very little interference from 
  anyone.
  Now, this system was working a lot better before the war 
  broke out. T e deterioration in safety, and the unwillingness of 
  the police to do anything about it, made their cravenness and 
  corruption very clear to Bogotá’s citizens, which is one reason 
  they’ve turned to the tribals to enforce the law. But just because 
  the police are largely being ignored doesn’t mean they’ve gone 
  away, and they remain at the cartels’ beck and call when needed.
  > The police also function nicely as security for the homes of various 
  cartel people. And if someone breaks into those homes, that’s a 
  crime the police actually get to investigate!
  > Marcos
  > Yes, the cartels are funding the police (indirectly, of course), but 
  that doesn’t mean that all of la policia are corrupt puppets at their 
  beck and call. Plenty of them are decent, hard working people 
  following a passion to help others, believing the sacred call of the 
  badge is more important than all of the nefarious goings-on in the 
  department. But these guys seem to be a minority, and they’re 
  working in a bureaucracy that’s designed to frustrate them. The fact 
  that they continue to carry on is a sign of either ferocious idealism 
  or congenital insanity.
  > Glasswalker
  Mercs
  As is the case any time there’s money available to pay them, 
  professional mercs show up in any number of cartel operations. 
  Sometimes cartels seek them out because mercs are better 
  trained then anyone the cartels can keep on retainer, but I think 
  sometimes they’re swayed by the name and the fame. A great 
  bogyman with a terrifying reputation can go a long way to 
  prevent a confrontation from happening. A pro that can prevent 
  an attack just by being there is worth thirty grunts who might be 
  able protect you from it.
  > That shit never works on runners. Not the prime ones, anyway. If 
  you ask me, dragging the monster under the bed out to do your 
  heavy lifting only works on scared locals and corporate drones too 
  stupid to think it through. Professional soldiers don’t live long 
  enough to rate the kinds of mythologies that build up around these 
  phonies.
  > Marcos
  > You wanna bet? I’d love to see you go a few rounds with these 
  monsters and show us just how scary they aren’t.
  > Hard Exit
  > The cartels’ ﬁ rst line of defense and the bottom rung of their ladder 
  is the common street thug or criminal—small-time drug dealers, 
  thieves, and pimps who want to work with the big dogs make handy 
  shock troops as well as preliminary eyes and ears on the streets.
  > Marcos
  > No one has better intel then the cartels, and the petty criminals 
  on the bottom of the food chain are the main reason for that. Shit 
  rolls down hill, after all, and if you’re at the bottom of the hill, 
  everything gets ﬁ ltered through you sooner or later. People talk to 
  hookers—prostitution is a great way to get intel from people who 
  otherwise don’t talk. Drug dealers aren’t exactly like bartenders, but 
  they can tell when things are happening based on shifts in their 
  sales patterns, and data on who’s buying what from whom is always 
  handy to have.
  >
  While the cartels may be more organized than the tribals, 
  they share at least one connection—family bonds play a strong 
  role in their organizations. This has its ups and downs—it 
  certainly inspires f erce loyalty in an organization, but it also puts 
  the people closest to you at risk, since they’re the ones out there 
  doing your dirty work. T is is why corp bigwigs keep their loved 
  ones locked up in secure towers—they know that if their family 
  is out there, in the line of f re, they’ll become targets, and when 
  someone close to you is vulnerable, you’re vulnerable too. T at’s a 
  risk that the cartels take every day.
  > Pride plays a role in their willingness to put their families out 
  there. After all, if you’re sure you’re bulletproof, why wouldn’t your 
  children be? 
  > Glasswalker
  >Don’t forget about genetics. If I’m this super-capable crime lord 
  who controls a nice percentage of Bogotá’s wealth, I have to ﬁ gure 
  the best business partners for me would be family, because they’re 
  bound to be as smart as I am, as dedicated as I am, and they have 
  to be loyal to me, because they’re family.
  > Marcos
  > Who’s safer, the kid you’ve got locked away somewhere growing to 
  hate you from a distance, or the kid raised in the “family business” 
  close at hand, loving what you love? Keep them on your side, and 
  you’ve got an heir as well as a companion and a capable right hand.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > Are we forgetting the ample precedents in history for heirs turning 
  on their sires?
  > Kay St. Irregular
  Cops
  When people look at who the cartels use, and what kinds 
  of troops they have at their disposal, everyone forgets about the 
  cops. I can understand why that would be the case—in a city 
  with no real functional government, who would think there 
  would still be police officers on the streets? But the Bogotá 
  police remain in business, thanks primarily to the generous 
  funding of the ghost cartels.
  
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  it’s just your bad luck. Keep that in mind when you’re clearing out 
  a barrio. Or at least, keep it in mind when you’re reporting on 
  operations in the barrio.
  > I don’t like los barrios. I don’t. They are spread and wild, and the 
  population in disorganized pockets are impossible to track. In the 
  poor barrios, they just keep having children—like they want us to kill 
  the children, and who wants to do that? In the well-to-do barrios, 
  people have enough money to not be counted unless they want to 
  be. How am I supposed to keep up with the math if I can’t count 
  on the population? No, that’s no good. To much chaos when you’re 
  ﬁ ghting where people live.
  > Glitch
  > Barrio cerrado present its own challenges, as Amazonia has been 
  trying to make ground here in Bogotá. While what’s left of the 
  local neighborhoods can be places of insurgent assaults and chaos, 
  you would almost think that the wealthy families in these closed 
  neighborhoods don’t even know there’s a war going on. That’s the 
  privilege of the rich everywhere, I think. Whether they’re run by the 
  cartels or protected by Aztlan, the upper-middle to upper class of 
  an urban conﬂ ict usually ﬁ nd themselves protected by troops, local 
  law enforcement, and private security. In Bogotá, the cartels protect 
  their own while storing their weapons and drugs in the basements 
  of beautiful and lavish homes. Aztlan has better facilities for their 
  weapons and drugs, of course, so what they store in these closed 
  neighborhoods is perhaps more important. Aztlan stores their 
  favored minds, their decision makers and executives. When waging 
  war in Bogotá, if you want to hit Aztlan hard, you’ve got to hit it 
  where its brains live.
  > Marcos
  > Fun facts for hitting the barrio: Stone blows up nicely if you hit it 
  with the right explosives. Wood splinters great under the similar 
  circumstances. That is to say, a house, no matter if it’s a tribal hut 
  or a moderate stone estate, can be stuffed with explosives and used 
  like a giant fragmentation grenade.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > I’ve got one for you: human cover. No really, when mercs from 
  Aztlan or the cartels chase tribals down, it’s best if they do it way 
  outside the tribal’s territory. If not, and the tribal in question gets 
  back to his term, that chico is gone. The thing is, it’s pretty easy for a 
  tribal to blend into a crowd of other tribals, and so a smart gilipollas 
  can hide in plain sight among his people. I know some of the tribes 
  have taken to designing camouﬂ age and makeshift uniforms in 
  bright confusing colors to make it harder to tell one tribal from 
  another. It isn’t very sophisticated yet, but it will be.
  > Glasswalker 
  THE STREETS 
  The key to fighting in city streets is spatial awareness. 
  Knowing where you are, where they are, and how to get from 
  where you are to where you want to be. You can never forget that 
  you’re f ghting in three dimensions—enemies may be above you, 
  and they may be sneaking around underneath. T ey also may 
  make a concealed approach from just about any direction, so you 
  don’t see them until they’re on top of you. In urban f ghting, you 
  BATTLEGROUNDS
  Posted by Marcos 
  T e bottom line is, I don’t care if you’re expertly trained 
  military, a corp black ops team, or the best runners in the known 
  world; if you’re the aggressor on the urban battlef eld, you don’t 
  have the edge. In urban warfare, the edge always goes to the 
  defender. Why? Because they’re entrenched, that’s why! T ey 
  know the space like you can’t. T ey know what to burn and what 
  to blowup. T ey know what to protect. You can try to starve them 
  out, bomb them out or f ush them out, but unless you can get 
  them out you’re the chump.
  Cities are especially intriguing because they’re not one 
  big battlef eld—they’re several little ones, each with their own 
  nuances and quirks. Sometimes, a shif  from one neighborhood 
  to another can turn the tide of battle, because the new 
  neighborhood has characteristics that favor one particular side 
  that the old one didn’t. Sometimes that happens in a shif  from 
  one block to another, or even from one building to another. 
  T ere are more quirks to cities than there are to any other terrain, 
  so there are more things you need to know about to make the 
  terrain work for you. I wish I could give you all that knowledge 
  here, but I don’t have the time to put together a building-by-
  building breakdown of the city.
  > More quirks in the city than any other terrain? Have you been to 
  the rainforest lately?
  > Riser
  > When you’re slugging it out in a city, trenches, mouse-holes, and 
  other features may put you off balance from day one, but don’t 
  think that the guerillas who live in the city have all the advantages, 
  because there are a lot of things they don’t think about. City plans, 
  for instance, and building blueprints. Everything’s got a skeleton 
  written down in detail somewhere if it’s built in a city (except for 
  shacks in the barrios, but who needs a map to their insides?), and 
  luckily for people like me, your average tree-hugging hijo de puta 
  can’t read, let alone implement a blueprint to their best advantage 
  in a ﬁ ght. That’s why people like me keep making the nuyen.
  > Hard Exit 
  THE BARRIOS 
  Any region where you can expect civilian population, you 
  can also expect resistance. No matter how benevolent your ef ort 
  might be (my ef orts generally aren’t, but you might be nicer than 
  me), you’ll always have some boludo who thinks f ghting you is 
  the only way to keep their huevos intact. Shortest, fastest route 
  through these neighbrohoods? Burn the place, starve it out, or 
  otherwise remove the civilians so you don’t have to waste your 
  time digging out the dissidents.
  Do you know about the number thirty? Look at the news 
  some time. You ever notice whenever the media reports the killing 
  of civilians it’s almost always thirty? T at’s a military tradition 
  that goes back hundreds of years. T ey had to pick a number that 
  would ref ect a tragic incident, and what number constituted 
  the sad causalities of war. If thirty-one people are killed, it’s an 
  international incident and Interpol gets involved. If thirty die, and 
  
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  tells you there’s a road ﬁ ve kilometers miles ahead, for instance, but 
  if that ﬁ ve kilometers includes one of the poorer barrios, the street 
  could be gone because of air strikes, blockades put up a few minutes 
  earlier, or even just the local tribes moving things around.
  > Glasswalker 
  > And don’t forget the snipers. You don’t need to be traveling past 
  clock towers to get your men taken out by a couple of amateur 
  guerilla snipers. I know the tribals love to gather along sidewalks 
  with kids and dogs watching military movement like it’s a parade 
  with a few snipers hidden in the mix in case they decide the caravan 
  has too much worth stealing to let it just go. Hell, if you count those 
  fucking air raids, Aztlan has snipers in the fucking sky.
  > Hard Exit 
  > A well-armed, well-equipped, and vigilant unit can be on alert for 
  and protected from sniper ﬁ re. Good surveillance should get you 
  past hiccups in the layout of the roads.
  > Picador 
  > In Bogotá? Have you ever been there? I don’t mean to doubt 
  thousands of years of military history or anything, but I think 
  standard military operations work in Bogotá about as well as 
  submarine warfare works in the desert. I watched a trid the other 
  day of a transport moving through Ciudad Bolívar on their way to 
  hook up with an Amazonian urban unit. I don’t know if it was the 
  cartels or not, but out of nowhere a bunch of shape charges went 
  off in a building overlooking the street, and that whole structure 
  toppled over into the street. By the time the dust settled, the 
  insurgents or mercs or whoever they were had murdered the men, 
  stripped the transport, and vanished back into the twisting alley 
  ways of the area with no trace left behind.
  > Glasswalker 
  INTO THE JUNGLE 
  They say the jungle is wild, dangerous, and full of magic. 
  T ey’re right. Before you head out there into the wilds, I want 
  you to understand that they aren’t kidding around when they say 
  there’s pretty much no more dangerous environment in the world. 
  Seriously, the way the desert would kill you, or even the bottom of 
  the fucking ocean, that’s nothing compared to the jungle.
  First thing to know: Everything out there is poisonous. 
  Everything. Seriously. See a cute little froggy? Poisonous. See a 
  pretty f ower? Poisonous. T at elf girl wearing some leaves and 
  a come-hither smile? Yeah, fuck-all is she poisonous and she’ll 
  eat your skin and wear your nuts for earrings. And don’t get me 
  started on the diseases out there.
  So, f rst rule of thumb, keep your skin covered and your anti-
  venoms close. Next thing is, don’t trust your eyes. Normal vision 
  isn’t really helpful for seeing people out there. Use thermographic, 
  use assensing, use something that will help you pick out a platoon 
  in camo from the lush green foliage all around them. Trees, for 
  the most part, are a good 16˚C cooler than metahumans, so 
  people will stick out if you’re seeing with something other than 
  the normal light spectrum.
  One of the great surprises of rainforest combat is the 
  occasional lack of communications. We’re all so accustomed to 
  being able to contact whoever we want to at will, that it of en stuns 
  have to know all the dif erent places enemy f re can come from, 
  then not open yourself up to it.
  One adage of urban combat is the same as it is in any other 
  terrain—get to and hold the high ground. T is is complicated by 
  the fact that modern sprawls have so much high ground, but you 
  really only need to worry about the high ground near you, the 
  buildings that of er a line of f re to where you are or where you 
  want to be. Urban high ground can have some advantages over 
  its natural counterpart—the sheer vertical wall leading up to it, 
  and the other buildings around, can make it very dif  cult to lof  
  artillery shells up on roof ops, while it’s always possible to drop 
  bullets on the people down below.
  Another thing to remember is that you can lose a street f ght 
  before it even starts by not having the right equipment. You want 
  ammo and explosives that are fast, accurate, and deadly at short 
  range—unless you’re on the roof ops, of course. And you want the 
  protective gear that will shield you from that same stuf .
  Once you’re in the f ght, keep moving. Stationary targets 
  are easier to hit. Remember than the human mind tends to think 
  that movement out of sight continues in the same direction 
  it was traveling when visual contact was lost. Any time you get 
  out of sight of the enemy, use that to confuse them. Keep them 
  guessing (which means sometimes, you should actually move in 
  that straight line—that’ll fox ‘em!). Conversely, when the enemy 
  is out of your sight, be ready for them to do the unexpected.
  Remember that you’re not looking to seize and hold 
  ground—you’re trying to take out the enemy. You’re never going 
  to hold the entire city, so if you take part of it and try to settle 
  in with insuf  cient numbers, you’ll just be setting yourself up for 
  defeat when the enemy f gures out the best way to come at you. 
  Get in, take out as many of them as you can, then get the hell out.
  > Look, in the end there is no “best way” to ﬁ ght in city streets 
  because ﬁ ghting in the streets sucks. You might as well go back 
  to the days when idiots in tights stood in a line and walked toward 
  each other ﬁ ring muskets or something. Actually, that was probably 
  better because walking in a straight line with your enemy walking in 
  a straight line means no snipers.
  > Hard Exit 
  > Street ﬁ ghting isn’t fun, but that doesn’t mean you can, or even 
  should, avoid it. The bottom line is, you have to move troops, and 
  you have to move vehicles and weapons. If you want to move 
  anything worth moving in the numbers that make the movement 
  valuable, you’re going to need the city streets. Capture those, and 
  you’ve captured the veins and capillaries that make a city live.
  > Picador 
  > Except city streets aren’t build to handle military vehicles usually, 
  especially the crappy narrow streets in the barrios. Try moving 
  through those, and you’re just going to be a big glob of cholesterol in 
  the city’s arteries, and then me and some of my friends are going to 
  sneak through some back ways and blow up your slow-moving ass.
  > Hard Exit 
  > Hard Exit’s got a point. Strolling through the streets of a city like 
  Bogotá with any reasonable size regiment is begging for trouble. 
  Mobility is always going to be an issue. I know your satellite tech 
  
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  had a half dozen expert mercs running with me through a choking 
  section of natural “beauty.” These were alert, trained men. Not a one 
  of us saw the arboreal before it sprang. She—or it, whatever—moved 
  like lightening and had the vines at her beck and call. They lashed 
  around three of the men right out of the gate, I heard necks snap 
  and the vines seemed to shutter with pleasure when the mecs blood 
  dripped down to the plants roots. I didn’t see what she did to the 
  other two, razor claws and cut the sixth guy into enough pieces that 
  his innards fell out. Vines snapped and I saw him still twitching, still 
  alive, when the vines strung him up, hanging by his neck with his 
  own entrails. I don’t go into the jungle without napalm, not anymore. 
  > Hard Exit 
  > I asked one of the Amazonians how they ﬁ ght so well in the jungle. 
  He said it was because they were the jungle. I know that sounds 
  like a lot of hokey bullshit, but there had to be something to it. He 
  showed me their techniques. Camouﬂ age, using the local animals 
  to detect coming troops, traps and local poisons, it was all standard 
  jungle guerilla warfare. The thing was, his techniques worked too 
  well. This guy would stop, as if to listen to the birds or bugs to detect 
  human movement, but when I couldn’t hear anything he heard 
  something, and that something told him exactly how many men 
  were out there, what they were carrying, and what their intent was. 
  It might have been magic, but if so, it seems like every Amazonian 
  warrior has some of it, because they’re all a little too good, all a little 
  too lucky as long as they’re in the rainforest.
  > Glasswalker 
  us when we, or someone we’re trying to talk to, goes of  the grid. 
  Well, the jungle don’t got Matrix infrastructure, and even satellite 
  coverage is spotty. T ere are units out there relying on radio—
  radio!—for communication. It’s crazy. But it’s also unnerving 
  for units who are used to being able to call up tactical displays of 
  real-time positions of all other units in the vicinity. Amazonian 
  units are more accustomed to operating in this isolation, and they 
  know how to take advantage of it.
  T e basic goals of combat hold true—you want to envelop 
  your enemy so you can eliminate them or convince them to 
  surrender. T e way you’ll envelop them of en involves surprise, 
  since there’s plenty of useable cover around. Victory of en favors 
  the quietest, the sneakiest, or the one with the best illusion spells.
  > The jungle is alive, maybe the source of all life. If you enter it with 
  respect and understanding, it will embrace you. The jungle is a 
  mother and her milk and blood are the same thing; magic. She is 
  so full of magic it overﬂ ows and ﬁ lls her children a potency that 
  even we don’t yet understand. Drink her milk, respect her anger, and 
  know her desires and there is no safer place in the world. Your own 
  mother’s arms weren’t safer.
  > Glasswalker 
  > If you venture into the jungle—and I’d advise against it—you need 
  to understand that when you follow these eco-nuts to their grounds, 
  you’ve got a lot more than them to contend with. The jungle is ripe 
  with magic, and not at all coincidentally, monsters. I remember we 
  
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  their safety and security. Of course, not all the tribals see the jungles 
  as directly threatening or dangerous and have adapted to living half 
  in the wild and half in a city (as long as they don’t have and Sangre 
  Del Diablo trees growing near them). This is becoming a key part of 
  the conﬂ icts between tribes—the group who can better utilize an 
  area tends to take it over. I’ve heard stories of tribals leading more 
  superstitious enemies into the overgrowth to let fear do their dirty 
  work for them.
  > Glasswalker 
  > The jungle brings with it the same wild animals and monsters you’d 
  ﬁ nd much deeper in the Amazon. Many of these creatures don’t 
  have any natural fear of men. When in doubt, beat down the bushes, 
  drive out the beasts, and watch as the city sissies run screaming 
  from monsters they can’t identify.
  > Marcos
  CORPORATE OFFICE WARFARE 
  I don’t know what’s the most common way to secure a 
  corporate building when you’ve only got a few man team. I’ll tell 
  you how you do it if you’ve got troops. Scare, sweep, and secure 
  my friend; scare, sweep and secure. You start at the front entrance; 
  don’t worry about internal security because your men are going 
  to move in there so fast they won’t have time to communicate a 
  defense. Blitz the front door and dispatch as much of the early 
  security in as dramatic a display as possible. From there, f ash 
  bangs and sonic noise producers keep the non-coms from getting 
  uppity. A tazer or two for anyone feeling heroic and you don’t 
  have to waste the bullets on shooting the corpses. You leave men 
  on each f oor patrolling and guarding hostages as you move up. In 
  no time, the building is yours—though don’t plan on camping out 
  there for too long.
  > Well, sure, that’s all well and good in your average city, but this is 
  Bogotá. Even the corpses could be insurgents, and some of these 
  corporate types train their people well. I remember having a group of 
  scientist holed up rather nicely in a secure room in a small research 
  facility. My brieﬁ ng didn’t tell me that a few of the techs were 
  homegrown and had been raised during the cold war down here. We 
  turned our back for less than twenty minutes, and when we came 
  back to round ‘em up, they had made a mouse hole from our room 
  to a lab next door and alerted security. Eight trolls later, we were out 
  three men and our hostages were long gone.
  > DangerSensei 
  > I don’t know, it seems like these corporate types are so strung out 
  on coffee or other traditional drugs that they function just enough 
  to do their jobs, but not enough to put up much of a ﬁ ght if you have 
  to move into an inhabited building.
  > Marcos
  > You’re kidding yourself. Do you have any idea how hard it is to deal 
  with something as unpredictable as a group of sim addicts? I mean, 
  maybe the guys in charge have their addictions under control, but 
  the drones you have to slog through ... Not me. I’ll hit at night when 
  they’re off having night sweats in the safety of their own cubical 
  homes.
  > DangerSensi 
  THE REAL URBAN JUNGLE
  One of the interesting facets of the war so far is how the 
  rainforest has been used. T e Amazonians are taking advantage of 
  the jungle’s creep into Bogotá to shape terrain that’s more friendly 
  to their style of f ghting, while Aztlan’s spread of the Sangre Del 
  Diablo trees has made the jungle, and even parts of the city that 
  the trees have spread to, dangerous for people on both sides of 
  the conf ict. T e terrain on which a war is fought can shape the 
  outcome of that war, so it’s no surprise that both sides are trying 
  to shape that terrain. Now that the f ghting has heated up, some of 
  those terrain-shaping ef orts are becoming pretty hot, too.
  Fire spreads real nice in the city, but not all that well in 
  the jungle because it’s too wet. Once the jungle comes to the 
  city, though, things change. The vegetation is less dense, and 
  interrupted by man-made things, some of which are f ammable. 
  T ese parts of the rainforest burn, and lately Aztlan hasn’t been 
  too hesitant about setting them alight.
  > So you’re ﬁ ghting Aztlan in the an overgrown section of the barrio 
  or market and I can promise you the ﬁ rst thing they’re going to do 
  is break out the ﬂ ame throwers or ﬁ reballs. Sometimes that even 
  works; at least it works enough times that they keep doing it. That’s 
  why you come with water magic, or barring that, whatever you got to 
  ﬁ ght ﬁ re. Prep an area with ﬂ ame retardant spray and watch them 
  scramble and scratch their heads while their plans fail and the jungle 
  doesn’t burn. That’s when you have your buddy with the scoped riﬂ e 
  in a building nearby pick ‘em off. It’s sort of the best of both worlds.
  > Marcos 
  > You can hide a bomb behind leaves a lot better than you can on the 
  street, and the Amazonians know that real well. They also know that 
  Aztlan knows it just as well. I’ve heard of the Amazonians taking 
  full advantage of that by setting up decoys, somewhat obvious and 
  easily detectible booby traps just under the cover of the newly grown 
  foliage. That way, when enemy combatants come poking around 
  to deactivate the obvious bomb, the pressure plate under his feet 
  goes unnoticed.
  > Glasswalker 
  > The almost unnatural spread of jungle plants through the city 
  of Bogotá presents another interesting complication for combat 
  to soldiers not prepared for it. When plant grown, unchecked, 
  overtakes an area of man-made infrastructure it tends to 
  undermine its structural integrity at alarming speeds. That is to 
  say, when these plants grow up over the underside of a bridge, for 
  example, they have sent roots and the like into the concrete itself 
  and therefore have begun to wear in down. A concrete or masonry 
  building compromised in this way may fall or collapse prematurely. 
  Not surprisingly, many a merc has fallen in battle because a vine-
  covered building collapses on top of him, or a ﬂ oor destroyed by 
  roots falls out from under him. The Amazonians know how to ﬁ nd 
  and exploit opportunities for just such collapses.
  > Hard Exit 
  > Many of the tribespeople in Bogotá have their own mixes of 
  superstitions and rules about jungle near their territory. Being 
  territorial by design, many of them take the spread of the wild into 
  their area and the Amazonians that come along with it as a threat to 
  
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  a certain part of town, the other circumvents the blockade and puts 
  one of their own down in a different area of town, and the world goes 
  round. The technology to get the Matrix anywhere and everywhere 
  is all well and good in a city with strong infrastructure, but much of 
  that infrastructure has been destroyed in the air raids in Bogotá. As 
  a result, it isn’t all that difﬁ cult for either side to completely cut off 
  a whole barrio with some inexpensive signal blockers hidden at a few 
  strategic places. Most of the civilians there don’t have the education 
  to know anything is wrong and certainly don’t have the resources to 
  investigate it further, so the block sometimes remains in place for a 
  while before one side or the other notices it, ﬁ nds the blockers, and 
  eliminates them. One result of these outages is that the human 
  rights violations that are happening every day during this conﬂ ict 
  continue to go unnoticed. With no Matrix, many of these people 
  don’t even realize who’s responsible for what’s happening to them, 
  and so they continue to put their faith in their corporate abusers 
  rather than joining the ﬁ ght. On whatever side they might choose.
  > Glasswalker 
  > Yeah, bad human rights violations and stuff, plus it’s really hard 
  to update my jackpoint from the cafe when I’ve got a job in Bogotá.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  UNDERCITY 
  Remember that part where we talked about city combat 
  taking place in three dimensions, and how you needed to think 
  about people coming at you from both above and below? Well, 
  let’s talk about the “below” for a minute. Not only does Bogotá 
  have an extensive sewer system, but its become as populous as some 
  neighborhoods. You think I’m kidding? Not even a little. T e 
  subway tunnels and large sewers have had people living in them 
  for as long as anyone can remember, but the issue became a full-
  blown problem when all the low-income families started losing 
  their homes in the air raids. Now there are parts of the subway 
  tunnels so crowded that there are turf wars over rat-infested 
  corners. I know of at least two tribes who exist entirely in the 
  tunnels now, some of whom have never seen the light of day, and 
  it isn’t going to get any better so long as the war keeps on topside. 
  T e good news is that this discourages Aztlan and Amazonia from 
  using the underground passages too much, because the increased 
  population is making them harder to navigate. T e bad news is 
  that some members of this new population are insurgents, and you 
  never know when they’re going to emerge from the underground 
  to do some damage.
  > Scariest part about the tunnels under Bogotá? The jungle is starting 
  to invade down there, too. God only knows what those plants are 
  living off of, because it sure as shit isn’t sunlight. You should see 
  some of those mushrooms, man. I can only imagine the high you’d 
  get off of one of those things—right before you dropped dead.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > So okay, this is good. The subways and shit under Bogotá smell 
  bad. Worse now since there isn’t a whole lot of money ﬂ owing into 
  maintenance services anymore. So people smell all that stank and it 
  isn’t hard to convince people the smell is mostly methane gas. You 
  know and I know that those tunnels are pretty well ventilated, at 
  least well enough to keep too much gas from concentrating down 
  > In my experience, every time I’d have to deal with corporate security 
  in Bogotá it was because the battle had blown that way, not because 
  that’s where we planned to be. Depending on who you’re ﬁ ghting, 
  however, that can work to your advantage. I’ve found it pretty 
  convenient to push a gang of tribals across company boundaries 
  and let the well-armed, well-funded security people handle the 
  rest. You should see those local boys freeze with fear when they 
  hear corporate security demand they leave company property 
  immediately, and they knew we’ve got ‘em pinned on the other side.
  > Riser
  > Sometimes you’ve got men. Sometimes you don’t. With all-out 
  war though, you don’t always need an army. You just need ‘em 
  to think you got an army. When you’re talking about a corporate 
  building or complex you’ve got an edge. They rely on sophisticated 
  surveillance to tell them just exactly what they have to watch out for. 
  That’s usually a good thing, and usually the ﬁ rst thing they expect 
  runners to do is cut that off. You really want an edge, you use that 
  network of ears and eyes to trick the corps into thinking you’re a 
  hundred strong. Hack the system, sure, because the system is the 
  real battleﬁ eld in corporate warfare, but hack it to tell them what 
  you want them to think, not just to tell them nothing.
  > Netcat
  BLOCKED IN 
  As long as there have been cities to f ght in, people have used 
  blockade in one form or another to stop trade, troops and control 
  civilians. If there is a dif erence in Bogotá it is that blockades have 
  been a part of city life since far before the war of  cially began. 
  Cartels have long controlled much the policia for decades, and 
  they have long made use of barricades. A typical tactic for them 
  includes setting up a barricade along a lone trade route or street 
  where traf  c must go, but out of the way enough that traf  c isn’t 
  bad. At the blockade they may charge a “road tax,” use the spot as 
  surveillance to see what other criminal operations are traf  cking, 
  or else have the barricade stand as a front for robbing of murdering 
  lone transport drivers. T ey can look of  cial, having uniformed 
  officers standing at the front. The key difference between a 
  blockade set up by the police on their own discretion and one 
  ordered by the cartel is that the ones the cartel orders always 
  include better weapons.
  > You gotta love the way the tribals use blockades. Devastated 
  buildings, rubble, blown up cars and other detritus of war are the 
  raw materials for some fun tactics, and those things are everywhere. 
  So you’re walking through a barrio or some other part of town run 
  by tribals, you think maybe the closed-off scenery is just because 
  they place got bombed out, and the spot actually did get bombed 
  out, so it’s easy to make the mistake. That’s when you start seeing 
  movement, eyes and maybe the hints of guns trained on you from 
  the rubble. You’re lost because all the destroyed buildings look the 
  same and you’re in the blockade before you realize that’s just what 
  it is, and you’ve been cornered by their clever maze. I lost a whole 
  shipment of PB-120s that way, and I’ve been way more careful since.
  > Marcos 
  > It isn’t all physical, either. Aztlan and Amazonia are conducting an 
  ongoing hacker war, where one side blocks Matrix communications in 
  
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  there. But that doesn’t mean your average drooling troglodyte of 
  a merc knows that. If you can stop him when he pulls his gun on 
  you, convince him that muzzle ﬂ are + methane build up = big boom, 
  they usually drop their guns and run like bitches. That shit gets me 
  every time.
  > Hard Exit 
  > Well-mapped subway tunnels with free blueprints available for 
  everyone on the Matrix are all well and good, but not all of the 
  underground is that easy to navigate. For one, GPS navigation is 
  tricky when there are parts of Bogotá off the Matrix thanks to the 
  war waging above. Second, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t 
  spend most of my life navigating by map in dark, underground 
  caverns. It sounds easy—until you’re down there doing it. Third, 
  while the place used to have good signage, but that was before the 
  Matrix, and in the intervening years the underground tribes have 
  moved many signs, defaced them, or manipulated them so they 
  don’t say what they should. A badly placed sign can lead you to an 
  electriﬁ ed death trap quickly down there. Don’t trust them.
  > Glasswalker 
  > Which reminds me, that thing about the third rail? Completely true.
  > Hard Exit 
  > Don’t forget about the digging. See, some of the tribals have been 
  down there so long that instead of trying to go up anymore, they’re 
  started looking for more territory by going down. They’ve started 
  digging out their own turf, and I’ve heard stories. Scary stories about 
  the things they’ve found after digging too deep. I haven’t seen any 
  sewer monsters or anything, yet, but I ﬁ gure it’s only a matter of time.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  COMMERCIAL ZONES
  While the entertainment/shopping centers corp-run and 
  -owned are still perfectly safe under corporate security, a lot of 
  Bogotá’s traditional open-air markets or enclosed malls have been 
  destroyed or abandoned. T ese days, blockades keep the farmers 
  out, and roving merc groups make any kind of formal shopping all 
  but impossible for the lower-middle class and below. T at makes 
  many former spots for trade ideal spots for open combat despite 
  the fact that the areas are very hard to hold on to.
  Another aspect of traveling through commercial areas that 
  shouldn’t be overlooked is the chance to stock up on supplies. 
  Don’t underestimate the advantage you can get from having a 
  good scrounger among your troops. Picking through the remains 
  of shattered and looted shops might seem like a waste of time, but 
  for an expert, everything the looters missed can be an asset. Any 
  time I have men and a few free moments, we scour shops. It seems 
  like we f nd new goods—things to use or things to sell—every 
  time.
  > Seriously, what’s not to love about staging an assault in an 
  abandoned parking garage? You ﬁ ght me within a kilometer of a 
  parking garage and I will ﬁ nd a way to end the ﬁ ghting there.
  > Marcos
  
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  54:30—THE DESPERATE EDGE
  54:30 is a street gang, or at least they used to be when they 
  lived topside. When the air raids started up, the gang and the 
  people in their barrio were the f rst hit, and they were hit hard. 
  Everything they had, knew, and loved was gone. Because of their 
  nearness to a major storm drain, about two-thirds of the area’s 
  population made it underground before the bombing got too 
  severe. Still, with a third of their community dead, everyone in this 
  tight-knit community lost someone. With their neighborhood 
  gone—structures were either complete rubble or rendered 
  structurally unsound by the explosions—the people decided to 
  make a new home underground rather than try to rebuild in the 
  violence above them.
  With limited resources and a great amount of fear, the 
  survivors turned to the only people they knew who had any 
  knowledge of violence and survival in a dangerous environment. 
  54:30, a gang of maybe twenty boys and young men, became the 
  new tribe’s de facto leaders, which suited them just f ne. T ey had 
  the guns, af er all.
  Don’t take this to mean that the gang just turned into 
  angels and agreed to take good care of the rest of their tribe. Sure, 
  they protect the rest of the tribe from the other scavengers and 
  gangsters forced to live underground, but that protection comes 
  at one hell of a price. 54:30 takes the whole idea of “what’s mine 
  is mine,” to a crazy level. Everything they can get their hands on 
  belongs to the tribe, but not all tribe members are equals and so 
  the lion’s share of everything seems to belong to maybe ten men 
  out of a few hundred people. T ere’s a f erce pecking order that 
  defines who has rights to what food, water, and even women. 
  Everything belongs to you if you’re in the tribe, sure, but you better 
  not put your hands on the wrong part of everything if you want 
  to live long
  > It isn’t as bad as you make it out to be. Yes, they’re cutthroat and 
  territorial. You have to be or you’ll be chewed up and spit out down 
  there. Parts of those tunnels are wall-to-wall squatters, and if 54:30 
  looked like anything short of vicious dogs, what do you think the 
  next tribe over would do to them?
  > Marcos
  ON YOUR HONOR
  Soba is a neighborhood on the edges of Bogotá, in Zona 
  Sur. It’s notable as one of the places you’re most likely to f nd a 
  Witches’ Market, though that has not brought much prosperity 
  to the struggling area. T ere are two kinds of poor people in Soba: 
  people who have absolutely nothing and are happy and people 
  who have absolutely nothing, are full of hate, and tend to spread 
  out and help make other parts of Bogotá as miserable as they are. 
  As a result, the surviving community is one that lives so far below 
  the poverty level that they barely even register on any political 
  radar. T is is where the Cooperativa Agrícola resides, trying to 
  live of  the land. T ey don’t have a lot of cash, and their farms 
  don’t grow nearly as much as the corporate farmers, but they 
  have food, which, of course, is always in demand. T e individual 
  farmers bring what they have to the Cooperativa and barter with 
  each other to see if they can f gure out how to turn what they have 
  grown into enough food for the year.
  > I’m with you on this one. Couple of C4 charges on remote, 
  abandoned (or not so abandoned) cars with the alarm still installed—
  there are so many possibilities. I see trunks in terms of prisoner 
  capacity these days, and every concrete barrier or support pillar is a 
  potential spot to pick off my enemies or to grab some cover if things 
  get a little hot. It’s like a playground for killing! 
  > Hard Exit 
  > I always used to hate having to hang around in a mall all day when 
  I was a teenager just because that’s what my friends were doing. 
  I loved the old apocalyptic movies where people had to ﬁ ght off 
  monsters in a destroyed mall. Now, I can fulﬁ ll that fantasy—I can 
  even shoot at walking corpses! Viva La Bogotá!
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > When you’re doing actual shopping, as opposed to ﬁ ghting and 
  scrounging, don’t forget about the Witches’ Markets just outside 
  the city proper. You can ﬁ nd some magical goods there at prices 
  lower than buying from Aztechnology.
  > Glasswalker
  > It may be cheap, but that place is dangerous, man. The bruja who 
  come down from the Andes from Bolivia with donkey packs full of 
  magical ingredients? I heard of a dude who went out to one to pick 
  up a few cheap components. He hit some old lady on his motorcycle 
  and killed her. Before she died she put the mother of all curses on 
  him, and now he has eyeballs on his testicles.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > That sounds more like an urban legend to me than truth—and an 
  urban legend that plays on cultural stereotypes to boot. In truth, 
  Witches’ Markets are great places to shop if you can ﬁ nd one. I just 
  wouldn’t want to have a ﬁ ght there, that’s all.
  > Glasswalker 
  > Yeah, you enjoy that, and enjoy rubbing the crust out of your eyes 
  and scratching your balls at the same time.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  BOGOTÁ TODAY
  Posted By Glasswalker
  We’ve covered the tribals and the common citizens a little 
  already, but there are some other aspects of Bogotá’s culture that 
  are worth covering. Some of this will be useful when you’re in 
  a f ght, some of it help in those brief moments when you’re not 
  trying to kill anyone an no one is trying to kill you.
  With tribal law settling in across the city, Bogotá has gone 
  beyond being a city of neighborhoods—it’s now starting to 
  resemble a series of small, interconnected nations with very 
  vague, shif ing boundaries. I can’t give provide an exhaustive 
  guide to all these territories, because I don’t know all of them, 
  and new ones are appearing, old ones disappearing all the time. 
  But here’s some info on some people, places, facts, and groups 
  to be aware of.
  
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  around like they were water, and they kept throwing them until 
  the jungle came and absorbed every last one of them. I asked the 
  girls if they saw that happen, and they say “No, but the green man 
  told us what happened.”
  I asked the girls if I could meet the green man and talk to 
  him about magic because I wanted to do it the right way. They 
  took the bait, but said they’d have to ask the man’s wife first. 
  They take me to this shack in the edge of the barrio, butted 
  right up against the jungle. There’s this three hundred pound 
  eighty year old woman in a wedding dress sitting on lawn 
  furniture. She reeks of magic and tequila. I ask her if I can 
  speak to her husband, she spits out tobacco and points to a 
  curtain. I open it up and there’s this five-foot-tall rock covered 
  in moss. No carvings, just moss. It felt a little bit like magic, 
  but nothing significant. One of the girls tells me that when the 
  jungle came, the green man just appeared on the edge of town 
  and started telling one select woman the safe way to do magic. 
  She’s the only one who can hear it and so she teaches magic to 
  the rest of the barrio. They call her the green man’s wife. He’s 
  apparently on his second wife now.
  I got the hell out of there as fast as possible.
  SACRED LIFE, SACRED DEATH
  Posted by Marcos
  If we’re telling weird stories, I should tell you about the 
  Comunidad. T at is one nasty group of bloodthirsty criminals.
  I had some money to throw around, doing some undercover 
  work in Bogotá just as the war really hit. I f nd a home for rent in 
  an upper-middle-class closed community (they call them barrio 
  cerrados). Big bright sign reads, “Comunidad Asoleada de las 
  Colinas,” and I think this is exactly what I’m looking for. T e 
  residents are bright and smiling. Real clean-cut, walking dogs 
  and going to church. T e sign outside the church talks about how 
  the murders going on outside their gates are a crime against God. 
  People are actually having conversations about the sanctity of life. 
  A poster in the center of the barrio outside a police station talks 
  about taking in children because life is precious and no mother 
  should end a child’s life early. 
  Anyway, in the Commuidad, life and community are 
  sacrosanct, or so I’m told. Apparently, without community, there 
  would be nothing to protect these people from the war waging 
  outside their gates. I get a rulebook. No shit, a book full of things 
  I can and can’t do. Like having music up too loud af er six. Or 
  mowing your lawn at the wrong time of day, or planting the wrong 
  kinds of flowers. This thing talks about “harsh penalties” for 
  putting up a basketball net. T at sort of thing. T ings are starting 
  to look a little squirrely to me, and I had to take some time to 
  establish cover before I could go on with my other mission.
  So I start poking around to see what sorts of harsh penalties 
  this community had in mind. I f gure they kick you out and take 
  your house or something. Boy was I wrong.
  There was another renter next door who had some 
  questionable taste in vehicles. He had a souped-up motorcycle 
  that made way too much noise that he liked to jet around on at 
  all hours. Did I mention public intoxication was also “strictly 
  forbidden?” Well, this guy liked the bars. So one night, he’s out 
  on his front lawn enjoying a drink or eight in his boxers. I broke 
  out some stealth gear to watch and wait.
  It’s this acceptance of and skill with bartering that have made 
  Soba so attractive to the Witches’ Market. Essentially, the area 
  came with a pre-trained staf  of people who were willing to work 
  and who were practiced in art of getting as much as they could in 
  a trade. But they’re also people who have only survived by pulling 
  together, which means you can sometimes swing a good bargain 
  with them, whether for food or magic trinkets, by pitching them 
  the right sob story.
  To understand the currency of Soba bartering, you have to 
  understand what they don’t have. T ey have less than no money, 
  and pay local of  cials in fresh vegetables and chickens instead of 
  land taxes. T ey trade goods and the like, but what really matters 
  among them, the real currency of the area is their oaths of honor. If 
  a man tells another man among in the Cooperativa that he’s going 
  to give him a suckling pig next season, come hell or high water, he 
  hands over suckling pig when spring comes around.
  > Yeah, I think I know the area you’re talking about. Isn’t the leading 
  cause of death there suicide?
  > Hard Exit
  > Well, yeah, heads of household will kill themselves over oaths they 
  can’t fulﬁ ll, which include things like the amount of food a wife and 
  children can expect at each meal. But it isn’t all the time, because 
  these people really help one another.
  > Glasswalker
  > Except when they’re pissed at you, and they get their enchanter 
  friends to sling out curses at the people they think have crossed 
  them.
  > Hard Exit
  > What you call “curses” are just a manifestation of the tribe’s deep 
  connection to honor. They’re only used when someone breaks their 
  part of the bargain or violates some basic premises of normal 
  unspoken social contracts. 
  > Glasswalker
  > Oh my God! I know what you’re talking about! That’s totally the 
  place my friend got eyeballs on his testicles! True story! Does running 
  old ladies over break a social contract? I’m so bad at keeping track.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  LA MAGICA IS THE TRIBE’S ALONE
  Posted by Kat o’ Nine Tales
  Back when Hard Exit was laying down some of the basics of 
  Bogotá, she mentioned one of the critical rules that a lot of the 
  tribes stick to—that magic should be used by the tribe or not at 
  all. Well, I had a story about this that shows a little bit about how 
  they think about magic, and Glasswalker asked me to tell it, so 
  here goes.
  So I’m coming out of the jungle and making my way down 
  along a city street and use a little trick to light up my cigarette 
  when a couple of girls start shouting at me like I’ve just bitten their 
  brother on the face. I ask them to calm down and tell me what’s 
  wrong. T ey tell me “You have to be careful with magic, because 
  the jungle comes closer if you’re careless with your spells.” T ey go 
  on to tell me that the tribe who used to live next door threw spells 
  
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  sum, maybe f ve nuyen a day, you can change the life of a child 
  somewhere. Maybe you’ve given, or maybe you haven’t, but either 
  way maybe you thought “Can that small bit of money really make 
  a dif erence in someone’s life?” Answer: Yes it can, which should 
  tell you two things about poverty in Bogotá. First, that if a few 
  hundred a year can make your life dif erent, and a lot of people 
  don’t have even that, then the poor down there are really, really 
  poor. And if all it would take to lif  them out of poverty is a few 
  hundred, and many, many people can’t even scrape that together, 
  then that tells you just how few resources are f owing out to them.
  If you’re going to survive without money, you’re not going to 
  be able to buy or rent shelter, so if you want it, you’re going to have 
  to make it or squat in it. Squatting is very popular, because war 
  zones leave so many abandoned properties, but very dangerous, 
  because so many of these properties are on the verge of collapse.
  > Or actually collapsed—some squatters dig cave-like dwellings out 
  of piles of rubble.
  > Hard Exit
  If you’re building a shelter for yourself, you take whatever is 
  available. One benef t of a war zone if that there are broken things 
  all over, especially broken vehicles, which means there are large, 
  f at pieces of metal people can use for walls and roofs. T ere are 
  also plenty of bricks and stones for people to pile up. Travel to any 
  slum, and you’ll see dozens of dozens of makeshif  dwellings, all 
  too crowded, all looking like they’ll fall over in the next strong 
  wind. Or the next ground-shaking explosion, which is never very 
  It didn’t take long before some of the bigger guys in town 
  show up with potato sacks over their heads carrying torches. Really. 
  Sticks on fire. They surround the guy and suddenly everyone 
  in the neighborhood is out on their front lawns watching the 
  display. T ey lead this poor drunk out into the middle of the 
  street chanting, “Para la comunidad!” over and over. Someone 
  had a knife and they started sticking the guy, making him bleed 
  out onto the pavement. When he was done bleeding, they set him 
  on f re like it wasn’t nothing. Next morning someone came by and 
  scrubbed the street, and when they were done you could walk by 
  and never know anything happened there.
  > You split, right?
  > DangerSensei
  > Why? I put down a security deposit. Look, the guy had to know 
  what kind of people he was among, and he had to be an idiot for 
  ﬂ aunting their rules. I don’t want to say he deserved what he got, 
  but … well, I don’t know how to ﬁ nish that sentence.
  > Marcos
  LIVING ON 1¥ A DAY
  T e fact that Bogotá is poor has come up a number of times 
  in this whole collection of words, but we haven’t gotten to the 
  nitty-gritty of being poor. So let’s take a moment to look at just 
  want it means to be poor down here.
  Maybe you’ve seen the ads, the AR spam, the pleas that pop 
  up from place to place and tell you that if you donate some measly 
  
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  Bogotá. Hospitals and clinics are somehow the f rst buildings 
  struck by the warring forces, and the casualties are the people who 
  can least af ord to lose aid. Dirty water, dangerous environments, 
  magical and technological injuries that are secondary ef ects of the 
  over arching war. T e poor of Bogotá actually need more medical 
  care because of their environment, and yet their access to good 
  care is limited by the same things that are making them sicker and 
  more injured. I’ve heard it said that war is a means of population 
  control. In Bogotá, it seems to be population control, but only if 
  you’re under the poverty line. 
  > At least there’s magic. No really, if you think about it, magic is the 
  great equalizer. It runs wild, it can’t be controlled, and it happens 
  naturally in people no matter how much money they have. Can’t get 
  to a doctor? Well, there might just be a shaman in the shack next 
  door who can heal you, or bleed out your poisons. It could be worse.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > Magic is rare. People who know how to use it well are more rare. So 
  often, it is worse.
  > Glasswalker
  > Don’t forget about more traditional forms of medicine. It blurs 
  the lines with magic, of course, but the people of Colombia had 
  their own medical traditions clearly as long as there have been 
  people in Colombia. The jungle has always provided medicines 
  that never reached more European traditions, secrets the 
  locals never let out or else were dismissed by white conquerors. 
  Maybe the locals are better off, safer delivering their babies 
  with a traditional midwife then being butchered by Euro-based 
  technomedical hospitals and doctors.
  > Glasswalker
  > Yeah, also there are some killer hallucinogens. Shit that makes the 
  BTLs seem like checkers.
  > Kat O Nine Tails
  While we’re on the subject of drugs, one important thing 
  about them—the prices suck. Given that there’s so much poverty, 
  you’d think prices would be low—supply and demand, right?—
  but that’s not how it works right now. Demand is so low, that 
  anyone who produces anything, including drugs, knows that 
  it’s not worth their while to sell anything in town. So almost 
  everything they produce is sent out of town, where there are 
  people who can buy them. A few materials are kept in town and 
  sold to corporate bigwigs and other high rollers, and their prices 
  ref ect their intended market. So unless you’re willing to pay for 
  your drugs what Flavia de la Rosa pays for his, then don’t plan on 
  buying any recreational pharmaceuticals in town.
  > Some of the issue is that the economy is completely unregulated 
  thanks to the lack of any real government and the ongoing war due 
  to vast political corruption or war. This means there’s really no one 
  to limit the rich from doing whatever they can to be richer. The gap 
  widens between the rich and the middle class since the rich own 
  everything they can sell it high and buy low and hold on to as much 
  of the proﬁ t as possible.
  > Glasswalker
  far of , and in point of fact these dwellings do of en all over, but the 
  poor just set about re-building them. T is may seem depressingly 
  Sisyphean, but at least it gives them something to do.
  At this economic level, sharing becomes not just a nice thing, 
  but a matter of life and death. If you can’t f gure out how to share 
  in your group of poor people, most of you will die. You share food 
  and water because f ghting over them would be asinine and bloody.
  > I heard they share more than water. There’s a pretty successful 
  hacker working out of Barrios Unidos. This guy is tight, works 
  without tiring out for days to land a job. We all thought he must be 
  a stim addict or mentally unstable in some other way, and everyone 
  kept waiting for him to snap. So when I was down there on a run, I 
  decided to check the guy out. Turns out, it isn’t one guy. I rolled up on 
  this dusty shithole with about 15 people living in a house with about 
  ten houses still standing. One of the houses apparently belongs 
  to the “hacker.” Or in this case, ten hackers sharing one computer, 
  one handle, and one shitty connection to the Matrix they have to 
  constantly battle. These guy are amazing, and bad news for Aztlan.
  > Glitch
  T e poor of Bogotá have a drastically dif erent view of the 
  war than just about anyone else in or outside of Bogotá. Everyone 
  wants stability, obviously, but the poor need stability far more 
  dramatically and tend to get screwed the hardest by that need. We 
  get water, bathroom, that sort of thing pretty easily in this day and 
  age. We take for granted power and access to the Matrix. If you’re 
  poor, living in the poorest sections of a war-torn city, you will be 
  the f rst to lose access to all of those things and because you’re poor, 
  you can’t just hire someone to f x it. 
  So maybe you ask why supposedly decent people join up with 
  the cartels, or questionable tribals. You ask why they don’t seem 
  to realize they don’t realize that Aztlan is screwing them, and why 
  they don’t join the Amazonian side en masse? It’s because they don’t 
  know, they’re kept it the dark, but also because if you’re hungry and 
  dirty you’ll side with whoever can get you food and water the fastest. 
  Yeah, the cartels mean drugs f ood your streets, but they’ve got the 
  guns to keep you safe. Yeah, the tribals are strange and always come 
  with strings attached, but at least they understand you and your 
  plight and are just like you. Yeah, Aztlan has soiled the water, abused 
  the people and bombed you to the Stone Age, but they’re willing to 
  help now, sort of, and that’s better than nothing. 
  > It’s true that there are a lot of things these people don’t know, but 
  don’t assume these people don’t know how to defend themselves. 
  Sometimes it’s a matter of looking the other way while the guys with 
  guns and criminal leanings set up shop in the barrio. Sometimes it’s 
  because they’ve got their own guns, mines, and magic. They don’t 
  have much to lose, and that’s how they act.
  > Hard Exit
  HEALTH CARE
  I pretty much can’t think of any place in the world I’d rather 
  bleed out less than in the barrios of Bogotá. If you’re in the barrio, 
  Doc Wagon isn’t coming, mainly because no one anywhere near 
  there has an account. If you want help, it won’t come from there.
  It also most likely won’t come from anywhere else. Major 
  medical treatment is all but unknown to the tragically poor in 
  
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  revolution—whatever revolution might be handy. When they do, 
  they may bring signif cant resources with them.
  There has been plenty of speculation that barrio folk 
  hero Simon Delgado is funded by some of these coffeehouse 
  revolutionaries. Creating the stream of Delgado clones can’t be 
  cheap, and many believe the ef ort could not have been supported 
  solely by the barrios. If there is money behind the Delgado 
  movement, it will be interesting to see where it goes next. 
  > I have trouble taking these kids seriously. If you’re wearing a 300-
  nuyen t-shirt, you aren’t a legitimate revolutionary. They sit around 
  in the safety of their parents’ security quoting Che and talking 
  about how they’re really going to make a difference. If these little 
  shitheads wanted to really change things they already would have. 
  They have their parents’ information, they have the ins and the 
  resources. But usually, they’re all talk.
  > Marcos
  > Except when they aren’t. I can’t name names, but I know I’ve been 
  hired for some nasty work by a pair of siblings who are privileged 
  even by privileged standards. I’m not saying the job they sent me 
  out on could destroy Aztlan, but whatever they do next could really 
  change the playing ﬁ eld.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  > It’s actually happening at all levels. Lower-upper-class folks are 
  getting involved because they’re quickly realizing there won’t be 
  much money left for them when they’re older, and the middle-class 
  kids can see the active efforts to make them lower class. Bogotá 
  is the Mecca of universities in Colombia, and the place is full of 
  enthusiastic students and idealists. There are regular protests, 
  strikes, and every kind of demonstration from that paciﬁ st stuff 
  that gets in the news but doesn’t really accomplish much to the 
  secretive violent stuff that would make everyone look really bad if 
  it came to the surface.
  > Glasswalker
  > Plus, disenfranchised youth are like a sort of submarket if you’re 
  a blackmailer or con artist. Set up a phony revolutionary group that 
  can talk the talk and you get their interest. You’re cleaner than the 
  natives and the tribals, so these kids feel safer approaching you. You 
  can funnel their money, sure, but that’s thinking small. Me, I tell 
  them there’s an enemy of the people in that bank right over there. 
  You want to make a change, go in there and get all the money out 
  and bring it to me. Don’t worry, I’ll re-distribute the wealth.
  > Hard Exit
  THE CHURCH IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS
  We’ve talked about the Church’s relationship to the people; 
  let’s talk for a minute about people’s relationship to the Church. 
  Despite the old saying about the lack of atheists in foxholes, 
  sometimes war hurts religion—you can see how people in a war 
  zone may have trouble in believing that a kind and benevolent 
  power is in charge of the universe. So the Church has a bit of a 
  dif  cult row to hoe there, and it doesn’t help that the inf uence of 
  the Catholics had been waning before war broke out. People had 
  been losing faith in any institution’s ability to do anything useful 
  for them, and while many found solace in the Church (or other 
  RICH AND FILTHY
  Since we were talking about the rich—we were, right up 
  there, a paragraph earlier! I swear—it’s worth sharing some of the 
  info buzzing around the corporate sector. T ey have concerns of 
  their own; here, let me share a conversation I recently overheard 
  that demonstrates the many, many pressing concerns on their 
  minds:
  “Like I told you, if he wants to get into a good school he’s 
  going to toughen up and get used to politics. I mean, if the dean’s 
  inner circle are all going to be wearing the same shoes, then this 
  snot-nosed brat better suck it up and give up his own shoes … Wait, 
  hold on. No, no, nothing is wrong. T ere’s just a slowdown on 
  the road. Hey! I have places to go! No, no, some of those big of  
  road vehicles. I don’t know, maybe military. Yeah, I think they’re 
  bombing out one of the shitty little shantytowns down the street. 
  Oh, no, I couldn’t care less but I’m going to be late to have my 
  hair done.”
  > This is why I don’t have a problem killing the rich. 
  > Hard Exit
  > You don’t have a problem killing anyone.
  > Marcos
  Okay, it’s true that not all of Bogotá’s wealthy citizens are 
  jetting around getting their nails done. Some of them are very 
  active in waging the war, and that’s serious business. Others 
  are looking for ways to help some corporation or another take 
  advantage of the chaos and come out of the war in a position of 
  strength. T at’s a lot of work, it’s stressful, and it plays a role in 
  getting us paid. But still, it’s always nice to know where your next 
  meal is coming from.
  Like anyone else, the wealthy want to have a safe place where 
  they can live, eat, and sleep without getting blown up. T e main 
  dif erence is, they have the means to make that happen—sort 
  of. We all know that if a group of people have enough bombs, 
  explosives, or both, they can bring chaos wherever they want it. 
  So no one is really safe.
  If you want to get under rich people’s skin, then, that’s where 
  you attack—at the illusion of safety. Once they stop believing in 
  that, they get desperate, and we all know how fun it is to channel 
  desperation. Just be careful that when they f nally lash out—and 
  they will, of course they will—they don’t lash out at you.
  > They do lash out—make no mistake about that—but it is often less 
  random, less chaotic than the lashing out that the people in the 
  slums do. They select a target, develop a rationale, follow that up 
  with a plan, then carry that plan out. They might have a selected 
  the wrong target, their rationale may be based in misinformation 
  an errors, but they’ll still follow the process. You can decide if that’s 
  better or worse than random lashing out.
  > Picador
  COFFEEHOUSE REVOLUTIONARIES
  Just about any place you have well-to-do people, you have 
  children of the well-to-do who are dissatisf ed with everything the 
  older generation represents. Of en this disgust conf nes itself to 
  talk, but there are a few who turn talk into action and join the 
  
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  > Of course you haven’t. Why the hell would they advertise that sort 
  of thing? That’s crazy. Everyone knows human sacriﬁ ce is widely 
  frowned on in polite society, so if that’s what you’re doing to get 
  your kicks or appease your god or why ever you do it, you probably 
  aren’t going to tell a lot of people. 
  > Picador
  > It won’t get out on the Matrix because the barrios are cut off, but 
  human sacriﬁ ce is happening. But like the cultures the modern 
  cultists are copying, we aren’t talking about babies and the elderly. 
  They’re putting prisoners of war to death. Just like any country or 
  private interest does when they’re at war. You go and try to start 
  trouble in a barrio when they do things the old ways, they’ll capture 
  you and ﬂ ay you alive to feed their god. You know what else it does 
  when you cut out the still beating heart of you enemy? It makes 
  other enemies think twice about messing with you. It’s happening, 
  but it doesn’t strike me as particularly strange within the continuum 
  of warfare.
  > Kat o’ Nine Tales
  OBEAH
  Posted By: DangerSensei
  So okay, I was near Soba, on a tail I had been following for 
  about a week and a half. It was late, late, but I could smell f re and 
  hear people about a block down from my location. I was starting 
  to wonder if I was invading tribal territory, so I went full on stealth 
  and crept around to see if I could get a better look.
  I saw, around a f re, about twenty people dressed in white. 
  A man speaking in a language that clearly wasn’t Spanish stood 
  near the center, his face made up to look like a skull waved a cane 
  around as he spoke. People started drumming, beautiful and 
  intricate rhythms followed by chanting in the same language the 
  leader had been speaking in. Others started dancing, strangely, so I 
  f gured this was something religious or a party. T en shit got weird.
  Someone started dancing in and through the f re. Someone 
  else was sort of writhing on the ground. I saw a guy bite the head 
  of  a chicken and a woman put a knife through her hand without 
  bleeding. By the end of the night, her hand was almost completely 
  healed. It was like they were all in a kind of trance. It was crazy. I 
  lost my tail, but I almost didn’t care. A little poking around later 
  revealed that I’d seen an Obeah ritual.
  It seems that a lot of adepts are being drawn to Obeah, 
  an Afro-Caribbean or Brazilian faith that moved north to 
  Colombia over the last hundred years or so. It’s sort of a hybrid 
  of Catholicism and some really ancient African faiths. T e gods 
  are more like spirits that can and do directly interact with their 
  worshipers by possessing them. During the possessions the 
  worshipers are said to be able to do some extraordinary feats. 
  Without better education of what they are, many adepts are 
  drawn that way as an explanation for why they can do things 
  normal people can’t. Adepts that are even more knowledgeable 
  come to the practice because the combination of magic and the 
  mundane is so accepted in the faith; it is a natural f t for that sort 
  of magical practitioner.
  faiths—we’ll get to that in a moment), others just abandoned 
  organized religion altogether.
  T e Church’s work to get food and medicine to the barrios 
  has won them some support, and when they’re attacked for doing 
  this, they get to wear the martyr guise that historically has suited 
  them really well. So people are seeing them in a good light, but 
  they’ve been suffering for a long time, and that breeds a fair 
  amount of cynicism. A lot of the people who have f ocked to the 
  Church are waiting for the dark side of what they are doing, the 
  secret agenda they’re sure must exist, to be revealed.
  > I don’t know about a speciﬁ c agenda, but I know that the Church 
  in Bogotá has a lot of money to spend. Money is something Aztlan 
  loves a lot. The Aztlanners put in some efforts to co-opt the Church, 
  they didn’t work, so now they’re looking to take that wealth through 
  force. What I would pay attention to is different ways the Church 
  might be trying to preserve their wealth, or ship it out of town so 
  Aztlan doesn’t get it.
  > DangerSensei
  > This conﬂ ict is a lot older than this war and maybe, just maybe, 
  that older conﬂ ict has something to do with the current war. The 
  churches are ﬁ lling, their coffers overﬂ owing as people try to buy 
  protection from divinity so that the next bomb won’t land on their 
  rooftop. Then you have Aztlan, which has never liked the Church and 
  is trying to build a culture in Bogotá that does not include Catholic 
  inﬂ uences. The Church has long been rumored to be supporting anti-
  Aztlan operations, and now it’s time for the anti-Aztlan operations—
  whether they’re in Bogotá or overseas—to return the favor.
  > Picador
  PRECOLOMBIAN FAITHS
  The Catholics aren’t the only ones getting a surge in 
  population since this conf ict got hot. Cults following versions of 
  pre-Columbian gods are springing up all over. Aztlan aggression 
  clearly had a lot to do with it, but it isn’t just their gods showing 
  up in pockets in and around Bogota. Mayan and Incan cults 
  have popped up in both the towers of the corporations and the 
  undercity subway territories. I’ve heard of instances of Toltec and 
  even some an instance of Chilean witchcraf  working in resistance 
  to the surge in Judeo-Christian practices.
  Now, before you think this revival is all hemp dresses 
  and happy natives, it isn’t. T is isn’t that someone read about 
  Quitzicotle and decided to start wearing more feathers and read 
  a lot of books. T e people of Colombia wouldn’t be that dull. 
  No, some of these cults are complete Mayan, Incan or whatever 
  microcosms. We’re talking slavery, glorif ed suicide and human 
  sacrif ce. T ese people are taking these religions quite seriously.
  > I’ve heard no accounts of actual human sacriﬁ ce in or around 
  Bogotá as part of the worship of any pre-Columbian folk worship. 
  > Glasswalker
  
  War!
  96
  showing signs of difﬁ culty breathing. “Now, you see what your 
  disrespect has done? I counted at least four more broken ribs, 
  and a couple of them have been broken in more than one place. 
  I am also conﬁ dent that your right lung has been punctured. 
  Pretty soon, no regeneration in the world is going to be able to 
  help you. Give me the information. You will not like what I will 
  be forced to do next.”
  “Bring it.”
  “Very well. Keep in mind you could have avoided this … un-
  pleasantness.” Tapping an AR button on his commlink, the elf 
  activated the room’s intercom. “Sergeant, please bring in inter-
  rogation kit number eight.”
  “Yes, Sir. By the way, Captain Brandt would like a word 
  with you, at your earliest convenience.”
  “Get the equipment set up, Sergeant. This will only take 
  a moment.” The elf stood up, narrowly avoiding being spat 
  on by the prisoner. Using his calm demeanor to let the pris-
  oner know that he was still in control of the situation, the 
  elf stepped out into the hallway. An older human dressed in 
  a Saeder-Krupp Prime’s guard uniform immediately walked 
  up to greet the elf.
  “Scale, Sir, we have broken two of the subjects. They gave us 
  a name of Fernando Garcia. He often frequents a local club in 
  Zona Norte called the Den of Iniquity.”
  “How many other cells is he working with? How much more 
  resistance do we expect Hualpa to be sending our way this time?”
  “They didn’t know, sir.”
  “Very well. Round up some mercs, and put him under sur-
  veillance. Have him followed back to his base of operations, and 
  have him, and any of his other associates eliminated. Clear?”
  “Yes Sir. What should we do with the rest of the prisoners?”
  “They are of no use to us anymore,” the drake said, as he 
  headed to the elevator. “Get rid of them.”
  The captured jaguar shapeshifter shouted obscenities, his 
  voice cracking from the agony that was being inﬂ icted on him 
  by his captor. The man clawed feverishly at his restraints on his 
  arms, legs, and neck, restraints made out of pure silver that held 
  him chained securely to the wall. By this point, the silver had 
  left second and third degree burns on the ﬂ esh it had touched. 
  Visible bruises and cuts that normally would have regenerated 
  remained unhealed on the shapeshifter. He struggled yet again 
  against the restraints, but they held fast.
  The elf sitting across from him merely shook his 
  head.”You’ve been trying to break your restraints for the last 
  hour, and it has done nothing but inﬂ ict more harm on you. I 
  can make your death quick. Tell me what I need to know. Who 
  is your handler inside the Amazonia military? Who gave you 
  the order to attack us?”
  “F-fuck you. Your magic has failed to rip the information 
  from my mind; what makes you think I would I give up that 
  information willingly, even to lessen this torture? You’ll have to 
  kill me.”
  “Stop trying to play the hero,” the elf countered. “Please. 
  Hualpa is not here to witness it. Your countrymen aren’t here 
  to witness it. Your team has been caught. They are being inter-
  rogated by my very best-trained men even as we speak. Your 
  resistance is only causing you needless pain. Either you or them 
  will break. My team and I have a perfect record of extracting 
  information from our prisoners. It is merely a matter of time.”
  Enraged, the shapeshifter tried to lash out at his interro-
  gator, but again the chains restrained him. With a surprising 
  speed and grace, the elf rose to his feet, crossed the interroga-
  tion room in under a second or two, and worked over the jaguar 
  shapeshifter again, landing vicious blow after blow on the 
  shapeshifter’s bare chest, each one resulting in the sound of 
  a broken rib. The shapeshifter ﬁ nally collapsed, wheezing and 
  . . . BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS . . .
  showing signs of difﬁ culty breathing. “Now, you see what your 
  disrespect has done? I counted at least four more broken ribs, 
  and a couple of them have been broken in more than one place. 
  I am also conﬁ dent that your right lung has been punctured. 
  Pretty soon, no regeneration in the world is going to be able to 
  help you. Give me the information. You will not like what I will 
  be forced to do next.”
  “Bring it.”
  “Bring it.”
  “Very well. Keep in mind you could have avoided this … un-
  pleasantness.” Tapping an AR button on his commlink, the elf 
  activated the room’s intercom. “Sergeant, please bring in inter-
  rogation kit number eight.”
  “Yes, Sir. By the way, Captain Brandt would like a word 
  with you, at your earliest convenience.”
  “Get the equipment set up, Sergeant. This will only take 
  a moment.” The elf stood up, narrowly avoiding being spat 
  on by the prisoner. Using his calm demeanor to let the pris-
  oner know that he was still in control of the situation, the 
  elf stepped out into the hallway. An older human dressed in 
  a Saeder-Krupp Prime’s guard uniform immediately walked 
  up to greet the elf.
  “Scale, Sir, we have broken two of the subjects. They gave us 
  a name of Fernando Garcia. He often frequents a local club in 
  Zona Norte called the Den of Iniquity.”
  “How many other cells is he working with? How much more 
  resistance do we expect Hualpa to be sending our way this time?”
  “They didn’t know, sir.”
  “Very well. Round up some mercs, and put him under sur-
  veillance. Have him followed back to his base of operations, and 
  have him, and any of his other associates eliminated. Clear?”
  “Yes Sir. What should we do with the rest of the prisoners?”
  “They are of no use to us anymore,” the drake said, as he 
  The captured jaguar shapeshifter shouted obscenities, his 
  voice cracking from the agony that was being inﬂ icted on him 
  by his captor. The man clawed feverishly at his restraints on his 
  arms, legs, and neck, restraints made out of pure silver that held 
  him chained securely to the wall. By this point, the silver had 
  left second and third degree burns on the ﬂ esh it had touched. 
  Visible bruises and cuts that normally would have regenerated 
  remained unhealed on the shapeshifter. He struggled yet again 
  remained unhealed on the shapeshifter. He struggled yet again 
  The elf sitting across from him merely shook his 
  head.”You’ve been trying to break your restraints for the last 
  hour, and it has done nothing but inﬂ ict more harm on you. I 
  can make your death quick. Tell me what I need to know. Who 
  is your handler inside the Amazonia military? Who gave you 
  “F-fuck you. Your magic has failed to rip the information 
  from my mind; what makes you think I would I give up that 
  information willingly, even to lessen this torture? You’ll have to 
  “Stop trying to play the hero,” the elf countered. “Please. 
  Hualpa is not here to witness it. Your countrymen aren’t here 
  to witness it. Your team has been caught. They are being inter-
  rogated by my very best-trained men even as we speak. Your 
  resistance is only causing you needless pain. Either you or them 
  will break. My team and I have a perfect record of extracting 
  information from our prisoners. It is merely a matter of time.”
  Enraged, the shapeshifter tried to lash out at his interro-
  gator, but again the chains restrained him. With a surprising 
  speed and grace, the elf rose to his feet, crossed the interroga-
  tion room in under a second or two, and worked over the jaguar 
  
  97
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  manufacturing, explosive manufacturing, BTL programming 
  facilities, and safe houses for the cartels’ leadership.
  In Zona Norte, there are frequent turf wars between the 
  Olaya and Andes cartels and their street gangs. Attacks on each 
  others’ business interests continue on a regular basis, even as 
  Bogotá is plunged further into war. It is important to note that 
  shadow spirit attacks have spiked sharply in the zone since the 
  war began. Descriptions of the spirits from the locals who live 
  in this zone f t with common descriptions for shades. From the 
  frequent attacks by these shadow spirits, it is a safe assumption 
  that the misery and dire conditions inside Zona Norte is drawing 
  these spirits. Some have even speculated that it is becoming a 
  stronghold for the shades.
  >Please take this warning to heart. I was working with my team in 
  Bogotá, and we were on the run from the Azzies when we decided 
  to hide out in Zona Norte for about a week. A few days in, we were 
  paid a visit by a few of those infamous shades. And let me tell you 
  those spirits were extremely powerful and very malignant, and there 
  were moments when we didn’t think we would get out of there 
  alive. Two of my omaes didn’t make it—during the ﬁ ght, they were 
  compelled to fucking shoot themselves. And you would think that 
  one of them would have been the least susceptible to their powers: 
  our mage. Our fairly high-level, intiate mage. I’ll keep working here, 
  but from now on I will not be visiting Zona Norte unless it’s abso-
  lutely necessary. I would suggest, if you’re working in Bogotá, that 
  you do the same.
  > Black Mamba 
  > They were extremely powerful because they’ve not only been 
  feeding off the misery felt by the people who live there, but they’ve 
  also been feeding off of the misery and the despair from the soldiers 
  who keep passing through. Bogotá has proven to be a gluttonous 
  feast for these spirits. Penty of people are worried about the political 
  or corporate outcomes of this war; I worry about what’s becoming of 
  these shadows that are becoming more powerful than they should 
  have ever been allowed to become.
  > Man-of-Many-Names
   
  T e Olaya cartel spends considerable amount of capital keeping 
  the pestilence out of their sector, but despite their best ef orts, several 
  of the neighborhoods have been taken over by the carnivorous trees 
  and are currently inhabitable (neighborhoods that include Bella Suiza, 
  El Nogal, Santa Ana, and San Patridcio). Most criminal organizations 
  and street gangs will avoid those neighborhoods at all cost, and as 
  outsiders, you would be wise to do the same.
  Villa Hermosa Condoplex
  The Villa Hermosa Condoplex is by far the most well 
  known condoplex in the Zona Norte. Villa Hermosa has served 
  as a stronghold for the Olaya Cartel for years. With its strongest 
  soldiers, backed up by the wizgang Alegra Oculta, the Villa 
  Hermosa has repelled repeated attempts by Aztlan to take it 
  out, even surviving a direct missile strike from one of Aztlan’s jet 
  f ghters at the start of the war. T e condoplex boasts of an elite 
  shadow clinic, which has been able to patch up and treat many 
  soldiers for the Olaya cartel. It is believed that the clinic inside 
  the Villa Hermosa Condoplex provided medical aid to Jaime 
  HOT ZONES AND HOTTER ZONES
  Posted by Glasswalker
  For those of you outsiders who are interested in work in 
  Bogotá, there are things that you must know about the various 
  (and potentially very dangerous) locations inside of Bogotá of you 
  want to survive in this war-torn city.
  Bogotá is divided up into four distinct sectors called Zonas 
  (zones). Some of the zones are perhaps familiar to most of you 
  from the brief article that I posted a while back in the Feral Cities 
  document—namely, Zonas Norte, Oeste, and Centrico. T ere 
  is another Zonas of note in Bogotá (Zona Sur). I hope this 
  document will help you stay alive in the former Colombian capital, 
  and perhaps even allow you to make a prof t while you are here. 
  But don’t expect any stay here to be a pleasant one. T is town is 
  one f lled with work, but unfortunately, unless you are working for 
  Aztechnology as an executive, or as a politician for Aztlan, it has 
  long since been anything else than a hell hole.
  ZONA NORTE
  Neighborhoods: 
  Bella Suiza, Cantón Norte, Cedritos, El Chico, Chapinero 
  Atlo, Chapinero Central, El Nogal, Francisco Miranda, La 
  Carolina, Las Margaritas, Lijacá, Santa Ana, San Antonio, Santa 
  Barbara, San Gabriel Norte, San Patricio, Servitá, El Largo, El 
  Virrey, Pardo Rubio, Marly, Rosales, Verbenal, Toberín
  In my 2070 article on Zona Norte, I mentioned that this zone 
  used to belong to the upper-middle class of Bogotá. Nice homes, 
  walled-of  communities, extensive shopping centers and mercados, 
  both public and private schools, and dozens of futbol f elds for the 
  children of these well-to-do families who once held dreams that 
  their sons and daughters would eventually become good enough 
  in the sport to play in the World Cup one day. T e population of 
  this zone used to hover around three hundred and f f y thousand 
  residents, and the quality of life in the neighborhood was above 
  average in comparison to the rest of Bogotá. Using Lone Star’s 
  standards, I’d say that the zone held a single-A security rating. But 
  now, with both the Aztechnology bombings of 2071 and the war 
  with Amazonia in full swing, things have changed drastically.
  Most of the individual houses, apartments, and condoplexes 
  that survived the bombings have been abandoned by their original 
  owners. Squatters, as well as the local street gangs (most of whom 
  have ties to the Olaya cartel), have taken over the residences. Many 
  of the smaller apartment and condoplexes have been turned into 
  slum properties by the local gangs, who collect exorbitant rent 
  from the tenants (of en in excess of f f een hundred nuyen for a 
  one-bedroom apartments) as well as protection fees for the cartels. 
  Although most slum properties lack reliable electricity (or have 
  no electricity at all), most have cold running water for showers, 
  giving them an advantage over large portions of Bogotá (though 
  the water is still not safe to drink). T ese complexes are of en slum 
  communities now, and many complexes have been transformed 
  into gang hangouts, gambling dens, and brothels, catering to the 
  vices of what’s lef  of the community. T e larger apartment and 
  condoplexes are usually made into compounds for the cartels 
  and their men. These compounds are usually used for drug 
  
  98
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Salazar himself af er KondOrchid’s of  ces in Bogotá were raided 
  by Aztlan. T e Villa Hermosa Condoplex also maintains one 
  of the few operational wireless networks in the city that is not 
  associated with Aztlan or Aztechnology. T e person who runs the 
  day-to-day operations for the Villa Hermosa Condoplex is a man 
  named Celino Abarca.
  Although all the locals knows where Villa Hermosa is, no 
  one outside of the cartel (except for trusted members of Alegra 
  Oculta) are allowed inside the compound itself. Outsiders that 
  are allowed into the compound usually don’t come out alive. T e 
  Villa Hermosa Condoplex have contacts spread out throughout 
  Bogotá, that can put you into contact with someone higher up in 
  the leadership hierarchy of the Olaya cartel for a price. T e Olaya 
  contact for Zona Norte is a troll named Tito Sanchez. He likes 
  cigars and armor-piercing ammunition, in case you’re looking for 
  a suitable introductory bribe.
  > As one might expect, Villa Hermosa has a problem with a signiﬁ cant 
  background count. Locals have claimed that the Olaya cartel and its 
  complex are “bathed in a sea of blood.” If the locals are believed, 
  hundreds of enemies of the Olaya cartel have been brought to 
  the complex over the years to be interrogated and butchered. It is 
  believed that the cartel uses its ongoing talislegging operations as a 
  cover for moving and dumping the bodies of its enemies far out into 
  the rainforest, so that just in case there should ever be a functioning 
  government again, there will be no evidence at Villa Hermosa that 
  would suggest those killings ever took place there.
  > Picador
  > Such dumping grounds will undoubtedly make it that much harder 
  for any operations in the rainforest to recover remains of speciﬁ c 
  people that have been lost there over the years.
  > Lyran 
  > Those dumping grounds will most certainly draw in gnawers, the 
  infected in Amazonia that feed off metahuman bones. There have 
  been reports of huge gatherings of gnawers at battle sites that had 
  lots of remains of fallen soldiers. I’m sure any dumping grounds 
  will have the same affect. So, if you want to ﬁ nd someone who 
  has recently become deceased and is believed to have been dumped 
  in the rain forest, you better do it quick before the self-cleaning 
  rainforest eliminates any trace of the person.
  > Slamm-0! 
  > Speaking of those dumping grounds in the rainforest, I wonder 
  how widespread those dumping grounds are, not just for the Olaya 
  cartel, but for all the cartels? Are we talking about thousands, tens 
  of thousands, or even worse?
  > Ectotope
  > Given that the cartels have been butchering their enemies and 
  discarding them in the rainforest for generations, along with all the 
  other ﬁ ghting between Aztlan and Amazonia and the opposition 
  groups, I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t a few million remains 
  out there now, ready to be found. Provided the rainforest hasn’t 
  completely consumed the oldest of the remains by now, or that wild 
  paranormal critters haven’t scattered the bones all over the place.
  > Black Mamba 
  
  99
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  > Of course, if you’re looking to escape the harsh realities of Bogotá 
  instead of confronting it, they have all the drugs to meet those 
  needs as well. From what I hear, there is a huge demand for those 
  types of drugs in Bogotá nowadays.
  > Sticks 
   
  The Den of Iniquity
  The Den of Iniquity is one of several gambling and 
  prostitution rings that the Olaya cartel has established in Zona 
  Norte. It recently was moved when a reliable informant told the 
  cartel that Aztlan planned to bomb their previous location. T e 
  Den of Iniquity boasts a secure, wireless network that can handle 
  most AR gambling programs as well as electronic funds transfers, 
  a satellite uplink which can get broadcasts from sports events from 
  around the world, as well as maintains over f f y men and women 
  as employees who are available cater to the carnal wishes of its 
  visitors. T e Den of Iniquity currently resides in a four-building, 
  gated apartment complex, with nearly sixty former apartments 
  having been converted for use in gambling or prostitution 
  activities. T e Den also employs a signif cant number of guards to 
  protect the establishment from rival street gangs and local tribes. 
  Along with the gambling and prostitution, the Den of Iniquity can 
  provide a wide range of street drugs for customers’ consumption. 
  T e Den of Iniquity is currently run by an ork woman by the name 
  of Erica Medina. T ere is no special hoops a visitor needs to go 
  through to enjoy the hospitality of the Den of Iniquity, though 
  f rst-time customers will always be treated with a higher level of 
  scrutiny. Weapons are forbidden and are held by the cartel until a 
  customer’s visit is over.
  > Aztlan actually knows where the Den of Iniquity is, but the Olaya 
  cartel has paid off enough of the Aztechnology soldiers that they 
  turn a blind eye to its operation. In fact, on any given day, you might 
  be able to ﬁ nd three or four high-ranking ofﬁ cers being catered to 
  by the Den of Iniquity. It’s a perfect opportunity to hack a commlink, 
  grab some paydata, or plant a listening device.
  > Marcos
  > Or even blackmail. I’m sure their superiors would not be happy 
  learning their ofﬁ cers are visiting a location run by the Olaya cartel. 
  And the David cartel wouldn’t be so happy to learn that either.
  > Picador
  Olaya Cartel Drug Labs
  The Olaya cartel has numerous drug labs scattered 
  throughout Zona Norte, as well as other parts of Bogotá. Many 
  of these labs are small- to medium-sized operations, making use 
  of vacant houses in the zone for small-scale drug manufacturing 
  for sales within the local neighborhoods. T ere are at least eight 
  known, large-scale drug manufacturing labs inside Zona Norte 
  which operate out of various warehouses in the area. T ese labs 
  had to be relocated and rebuilt following the aerial strikes in Zona 
  Norte in 2071. T ese large operations can employ anywhere from 
  f f y to two hundred people, not counting the soldiers needed to 
  guard the buildings and the operations. Af er the tempo f asco, the 
  Olaya cartel has returned (mostly) to producing traditional drugs 
  such as novacoke, betameth, and bliss. T e Olaya cartel drug labs 
  (specif cally, the large-scale operations) also produce traditional 
  > Local shamans in the area are often recruited into the Olaya cartel 
  and are taught to clean up mana as they go in order to keep the 
  background count in check for their magically active soldiers around 
  Villa Hermosa. Without the metamagic, many say the background 
  count would be almost as bad as that found around Aztlan’s 
  teocallis.
  > Clockwork
  The KondOrchid Regional Shopping Center
  Once a thriving modern shopping mall in El Chico 
  capable of holding up to one hundred and seventy-f ve stores 
  and restaurants, this three-story shopping center now only has 
  about thirty small clothing and electronic retail stores and f ve 
  restaurants that have managed to weather the war. In 2069, Jamie 
  Salazar expanded his reach into the commercial sector by having 
  his AA company, KondOrchid, purchase this shopping center in 
  Zona Norte. Although business is not too good for the shopping 
  center at the moment, the most important business transactions 
  do not occur with the retail stores themselves, as they are merely 
  a public front for the Olaya cartel, but rather, the black market 
  transactions are taking place in the closed-of  sections of the mall 
  (the back of  ces, the third f oor, etc.), where sales of weapons, 
  drugs, BTLs, stolen goods, illicit magical goods, talislegging shops, 
  and explosives take place on a daily basis. T e cartel’s black market 
  also sells hard-to-get items in the area, such as insect repellent, 
  water purif cation tablets, and food rations. T e Olaya cartel sells 
  to almost all members of the opposition groups, as well as the 
  resistance cells in Amazonia.
  In order to be allowed to visit the black market section that 
  the Olaya cartel runs, you must have been invited by someone of 
  high standing within the cartel, and you must have established 
  a very good reputation with them. T e cartel defends its black 
  market operations fervently against Aztlan spies and the rival 
  cartels. Recently, with Ares’ increased presence in Bogotá, the 
  Olaya Cartel’s prof ts from their weapons sales on the black market 
  have taken a hit, of  more than f f een percent (or thereabouts—
  accounting in the black market is imprecise). Ares, working 
  through their smugglers and arms dealers in the area, promises 
  their customers brand-new, modern weapons and armor, reliable 
  gear that is based on Ares’ reputation, and gear and weapons 
  that are very hard to acquire in the region, even for the cartels. 
  As such the Olaya Cartel has 50,000¥ bounties out on four Ares 
  smugglers/arms dealers that have been cutting into their prof ts. 
  T ose individuals are Hector Martinez, Enrique Marshall, Julian 
  Olgin, and Victor Flores. Popular weapons for the opposition 
  groups are portable missile launchers and surface-to-air missiles, 
  which they acquire in an ef ort to take Aztlan down a peg or two 
  in the air superiority department.
  > If you are in need of a large supply of combat or Awakened drugs 
  for your team and are in a hurry, or are in need of weapons and 
  ammo, this is the place to start looking. I’ve heard they have regular 
  supplies of Kamikaze, Long Haul, Jazz, Overdrive, Trance, and even a 
  few supplies of Animal Tongue, Little Smoke and Rock Lizard Blood. 
  They may have the Blood of Kali and Immortal Flower on hand, but 
  it is rare. And if they do, expect to pay a small fortune for them.
  > Mr. Bonds
  
  100
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  The Sodom and Gomorrah Motel
  The Sodom and Gomorrah Motel is a run-down dive 
  of a motel. It has unreliable electricity coming from portable 
  generators, and cold, running water to clean yourselves of  with 
  (though I cannot stress the importance of not drinking the water, 
  as I’m fairly certain that medical science has not yet identif ed 
  all the microbes and parasites present in that water). T e sewer 
  lines in the area have fallen into disarray, and the rooms now have 
  buckets to use to dispose of the waste. T e motel has no security 
  for vehicles and it has a sign that says “Park at Your Own Risk.” 
  T e motel has twelve operational cof  n motel “rooms,” as well 
  as fourteen operational standard rooms. All the other rooms 
  in this motel have been destroyed from errant aerial strikes and 
  street clashes between the local gangs. T e manger of the motel 
  likes to ask his guests, “Roof or no roof?” Many of the rooms are 
  peppered with bullet holes from the violence that has broken out 
  in the streets. But at least most of the broken windows have insect 
  nets hanging over them, keeping out the annoying bugs that will 
  eat you (almost literally) alive. T e outdoor hotel pool no longer 
  contains any water; its chipped concrete has become coated in 
  mold and mildew. Even with all these def ciencies, the rooms 
  themselves have fans (when the portable generators are working) 
  and beds (although it doesn’t appear that the sheets have been 
  changed in weeks, and the mattresses themselves are worn out). 
  But when you have been out in the rainforest for weeks, even the 
  Sodom and Gomorrah Motel’s beds look welcoming. T e name 
  of the establishment also serves as a pretty obvious hint that local 
  prostitution rings frequently use the motel for their operations.
  Awakened drugs such as Overdrive, Pixie Dust, and Trance. 
  Hundreds of kilos of the street drugs are produced on a daily basis 
  for distribution around the world. Aztlan, Aztechnology, and the 
  rival cartels (namely David, Andes) regularly hire mercenaries and 
  shadowrunners to try and disrupt operations at these drub labs as 
  well as intercept and tamper with the drug shipments. Perhaps as 
  many as a half-dozen of the local street gangs in the area are hired 
  by the Olaya cartel to provide security for their larger drug labs 
  and their drug shipments. T e tribe responsible for Zona Norte 
  has also been paid of  by the cartel to render aid at any of the drug 
  labs should a problem arise.
  Explosive Manufacturing Plants
  Another profitable enterprise for the Olaya cartel is the 
  mass manufacturing of homemade explosives for improvised 
  explosive devices and booby traps, intended to be used in the war 
  against Aztlan and Aztechnology. T ese plants are established 
  in old, colonial-style haciendas and are equipped with highly 
  sophisticated tools, allowing the Olaya cartel to produce 
  explosives ranging from liquid explosives to commercial explosives, 
  and to modify them using sophisticated detonators and explosive 
  accessories, along with giving the explosives directionality and 
  shape. T e cartel sells the explosive devices to any opposition 
  groups willing to use the devices against Aztlan. From everything 
  I have heard, there are no more than f ve explosive manufacturing 
  plants inside Zona Norte at the present time, though the cartel 
  may be looking to relocate their plants for security reasons, as well 
  as to add a few more due to overwhelming demand for the devices.
  
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  amongst the target students that they would like to turn into 
  good Aztlan and Aztechnology citizens, the Catholic Church 
  embraces teaching its students Colombian culture. Due to this 
  fact, the Catholic Church has avoided drawing street rallies and 
  attacks from political groups that see it as a foreign inf uence (for 
  now). Most groups will also not attack the Catholic Church or 
  its universities because of their dependence on the nuyen and the 
  supplies that the Catholic Church continually brings into the 
  region to support the opposition movement. Aztlan is well aware 
  of the competition the Catholic universities and schools present, 
  and they will do almost anything to shut these schools down 
  permanently. As such, Aztlan hires mercs and shadowrunners to 
  target these schools, just as fervently as the paramilitary groups 
  target their own. Many Catholic professors and administrators of 
  these schools have mysteriously disappeared over the years, and 
  the threat of Aztlan’s reprisals against them continue to hang over 
  anyone who works to keep these schools and universities open.
  > Aztlan has good reason to fear these schools. There are close to 
  seventy-ﬁ ve thousand students enrolled in the Catholic schools, 
  students who are not being groomed to become mindless and 
  obedient Aztlan citizens, and who probably will never accept 
  being conquered by Aztlan. In addition to helping stop the Aztlan 
  propaganda, the Church is using these schools to fuel the opposition 
  movement with new, highly educated recruits. If Aztlan thinks the 
  violence against them will end with the next generation, they’re 
  wrong.
  > Hard Exit
  > There is a lot of business coming from the Church for mercs and 
  shadowrunners to randomly check the backgrounds of the members 
  of these student bodies and to weed out Aztlan spies. Sometimes, 
  the Church knows who the spies are and will ask us to simply resolve 
  the situation for them, so they don’t have to get any more blood 
  on their hands. Over the past few years, close to one thousand 
  spies have been uncovered in the universities and have been dealt 
  with. Aztlan would love nothing more than to compromise the 
  suspected underground communications network that exists on 
  these campuses for exchanging military intel with the resistance 
  groups. All the attention Aztlan has paid to these universities is 
  proof of that.
  > Black Mamba 
  > If anyone is looking for examples of local heroes, it should be 
  at these universities. There is a local professor at the Potiﬁ cal 
  Xavierian University named Victoria Dominguez who has been 
  teaching Anthropology since the mid 2050s. During that time, there 
  have been lots of threats against the elf’s life. But has she given 
  up? Moved away? No. Not only does she carry a fucking Panther 
  Assault Cannon with her and drive a heavily armored vehicle to 
  work each and every day, but she makes avoiding death part of her 
  work. She has brought devices passed to her into the classroom and 
  taught her students about whatever device it was used in the failed 
  assassination attempt and also helped to train them on how to 
  indentify who may have been responsible for the device. She has so 
  far brought into her classroom close to half a dozen devices, whose 
  work ranges in sophistication from simple pipe bombs to very scary 
  car bombs. When not teaching, Dominguez keeps a close eye on 
  > If you choose to park your armored vehicle at the hotel for any 
  length of time, make sure you have more than one member of your 
  team guarding it. The tribes and the street gangs in Bogotá are so 
  brazen, that they won’t hesitate to slit your friend’s throat if he 
  doesn’t have any kind of back-up. And don’t underestimate these 
  street gangs; they’re not like the gangers that you would ﬁ nd on 
  Seattle’s streets. Many of these gangers are as well armed as your 
  typical shadowrunner, and they can be just as vicious as the cartels 
  if you’re standing in the way of what they want.
  > Picador
  Guaymaral Airport
  At one time, Guaymaral Airport used to be Bogotá’s second 
  major airport. During the Year of the Comet, several commercial 
  airliners crashed over the airport, with the f ying wreckage from 
  the simultaneous crashes severely damaging the runway, the main 
  terminal, and the control tower. With the chaos that ensued 
  from Crash 2.0, the damaged Guaymaral Airport was soon shut 
  down and abandoned. T e corridors of the terminal soon became 
  home to desperate squatters and dangerous paranormal animals. 
  Ef orts by the Bogotá government were made a few years later to 
  try to resurrect the airport, but since Aztlan and Aztechnology 
  did not wish the airport reopened (to provide competition for its 
  own El Dorado airport), they did everything they could to make 
  sure that wouldn’t happen. Aztlan’s allies on the district council 
  of en f libustered the vote to rehabilitate the airport, and when 
  a local construction company came close to winning the bid in 
  early 2067, Aztlan and Aztechnology immediately sabotaged the 
  company and forced it out of business. Amazonian sympathizers 
  and opposition groups would later capture the airport in 2068 
  following waves of street violence that kept Aztlan and the Bogotá 
  police force occupied. The Olaya cartel entered negotiations 
  with the groups starting in 2069 to refurbish and reopen the 
  dilapidated airport. In 2070, f ve years af er the Matrix crash that 
  had rendered the airport inoperative, the Olaya cartel began to 
  make much-needed renovations to the Amazonia-controlled 
  airport. T e cartel came close to reopening the airport in 2071, 
  but then Aztlan and Aztechnology began its bombing attacks in 
  the area. T e airport soon became a casualty of those bombings. 
  T e Guaymaral airport is once again in a non-working condition, 
  as Aztlan uses its air superiority to make sure that the airport is 
  routinely bombed and prevented from ever reopening. A few of 
  the opposition groups have established their bases of operation 
  within the remnants of the main terminal.
  Pontiﬁ cal Xavierian University
  In the northern part of the city, the New Jesuits run one of 
  the more prestigious universities for the local populace, called 
  the Pontif cal Xavierian University. T e university, along with 
  other Catholic-run schools throughout Zona Norte and Zona 
  Centrico (including Saint Thomas Aquinas University and 
  Our Lady of the Rosary University), provides an alternative to 
  the Aztlan-run schools and universities inside Zona Oeste. T e 
  signif cance of this school, and the others like it, is evident to 
  many of the residents in Bogotá. T e locals (and Aztlan) see the 
  city’s schools as part of a cultural war being waged between Aztlan 
  and the Church. Unlike Aztlan, which refuses to teach Bogotá 
  or Colombian history in fear of igniting a wave of nationalism 
  
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  importance to Aztlan or Aztechnology and are deserving of special 
  protection. A few of the business of  ces, arcologies, and high rises 
  inside Zona Oeste show outward signs of having been repeatedly 
  attacked by rocket-propelled grenades or by some other type of 
  assault and are currently in the process of being repaired. However, 
  most buildings in Zona Oeste are generally in good condition 
  compared to the other districts, and by most appearances, the war 
  has had little impact on life in the zone. Heavily armed Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology patrols are common here. Facial recognition 
  programs are run constantly by the patrols on their commlinks to 
  keep an eye out for wanted terrorists. T e Aztechnology Business 
  Complex enforces military-style checkpoints at each entry point 
  into the complex. T ese checkpoints scan faces as well as SINs. 
  Aztlan or Aztechnology SINs are required for legal access to the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex.
  The skyline in Zona Oeste is highlighted by (and many 
  would say, marred by) the outlines of two Aztlan teocallis, which 
  are used in their state-run religion, the Path of the Sun. Another 
  major teocalli is in the process of being built and will soon add its 
  presence to the overall impression that Bogotá is slowly becoming 
  an unwilling conquest of Aztlan. T e teocallis are perhaps the 
  most striking high-rises in Zona Oeste and are the buildings 
  most of en used by opposition forces as symbols of Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology occupation.
  Outside of the Aztechnology Business Complex in 
  Zona Oeste, there are many class-A corporations that have 
  set themselves up for dealings with Aztlan or Aztechnology, 
  including agreeing to abide by Aztlan business regulations as if 
  they were already a part of Aztlan. Although they may not be 
  of  cial subsidiaries of Aztechnology, they are on favorable terms 
  with the megacorporation and its nation, and they assist the 
  megacorporation in overseeing the day-to-day administrative 
  operations for Zona Oeste, from mass transit and construction 
  to running the schools and the prison system. Many of the local 
  population resent and distrust those who live and work inside 
  Zona Oeste, considering them to be traitors. T ose who also 
  work in Zona Oeste are ostracized for being potential Aztlan 
  spies, which is a very valid fear. T e rest of Bogotá chooses to 
  have very little, if any, relations with the businesses and the 
  people of this zone.
  One of the perks that the residents enjoy from living in 
  and working in Zona Oeste is the fact that it is maintained by 
  Aztlan, and it presents the residents with a quality of life similar 
  to that found in either Metropôle or Seattle. This sector has 
  fully functional utilities, paved roads, shopping malls (with the 
  obligatory Stuffer Shacks), a wireless network, access to state-
  of-the-art medical facilities, and even their own rival street 
  gangs, who clash just as much with themselves as street gangs 
  from other zonas. The only difference is that the street gangs in 
  Zona Oeste belong to Aztlan, and they will not only go out of 
  their way not harm the assets of either Aztlan or Aztechnology, 
  but they will also feed them vital intelligence about street-level 
  activities in Bogotá. If you are a shadowrunner, you do not 
  want to trust any of the street gangs who operate out of Zona 
  Oeste.
  Another important feature of Zona Oeste is the El Dorado 
  Airport, where Aztlan maintains its air force for the region, as well 
  as its immense air superiority over Bogotá.
  her fellow colleagues and makes sure they are safe as well. With 
  black belts in a couple of martial arts, those that have tried to kill 
  her often refer to her as the “tough as nails bitch who refuses to 
  die.” From what I have seen, I can believe that. She has transformed 
  the faculty at Potiﬁ cal Xavierian University into a very tight-knit 
  community.
  > Glasswalker. 
  San Juan Maria Vianney Catholic Church
  The San Juan Maria Vianney Church in the Francisco 
  Miranda neighborhood is one of a handful of churches inside 
  Bogotá that the Primary Cathedral of the city has assigned to 
  perform two functions, as both a church and a safe house for 
  opposition group members who are being hunted by Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology and who need a safe place to hide until they can 
  reach either their own group or make arrangements to stay at a 
  dif erent safe house. Usually, a typical stay is no longer than forty-
  eight hours. Not all Catholic Churches perform this function, 
  and with a limited number of these safe houses scattered 
  throughout Bogotá, it makes Aztlan’s and Aztechnology’s job 
  of hunting down these fugitives very dif  cult. Of en, in an ef ort 
  to defeat Aztlan spies who may be keeping all the Catholic 
  Churches in Bogotá under surveillance, the churches regularly 
  close down certain safe houses and assign dif erent churches to 
  be used. T e information about the locations of the new safe 
  houses is regularly passed on to trusted contacts within the 
  various opposition groups that the Church has given its support 
  to. In addition to being a safe house, churches like San Juan 
  of en turn their facilities into street clinics to provide medical 
  services for the neighborhoods. Many times, local street gangs 
  will volunteer to help protect the church from possible break-ins 
  in exchange for medial services. Some churches are also used to 
  deliver goods, such as food, clean water, fuel, power generators, 
  insect repellent, and water purif cation tablets to the opposition 
  groups and Amazonian guerilla cells. Aztlan intelligence is 
  constantly on the look out for churches that are being used in 
  this way so that they can raid the churches and grab whoever is 
  being sheltered in the building, as well as any supplies that are 
  meant for the opposition groups and Amazonian guerilla cells.
  ZONA OESTE
  Neighborhoods: 
  Castilla, Ciudad Roma, Ciudad Kennedy, Timiza, Patio 
  Bonito, Alquería, Britalia, Tintal, El Rubi, Mandalay, La Fragua, 
  Villa Alsacia, El Carmelo, Casablanca, Villa Andrea, Alfonzo 
  Lopez, Villas de Kennedy, El Gran Colombiano, Techo, El 
  Socorro, Tintalito, La Campiña, Pinares, Tuna Baja, La Pradera, 
  Nuevo Suba, La Gaitana, Lisboa, Costa Azul, El Rosal de Suba
  Zona Oeste is in a very dif erent socio-economic situation 
  than Zona Norte. Zona Oeste is dominated by the presence 
  of Aztlan and Aztechnology, in the form of the Aztechnology 
  Business Complex. Zona Oeste has a population of close to three 
  million people, and many in these neighborhoods are citizens 
  of either Aztlan or Aztechnology, or are supporters of these 
  two entities. T e Aztechnology Business Complex is a secured, 
  walled-off enclave of Zona Oeste with a population of close 
  to seven hundred thousand, many of whom are of signif cant 
  
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  days, and many have to f ght other prisoners just to keep what 
  little rations they get. Many in this prison will eventually either 
  starve to death or die of dehydration, and then they’ll be fed to 
  the devil and demon rats in the area. Some of the more hardcore 
  prisoners who are believed to be guilty of multiple crimes against 
  Aztlan are used as human sacrif ces in the teocallis. Once you are 
  in the prison, Aztlan does not care who you are, or how long you 
  are supposed to stay. Many are lef  forgotten and rotting in their 
  cells for years. It is safe to assume that if you are ever sent to this 
  miserable prison, you should expect a life sentence (for as short of 
  time as that might be).
  T e Aztlan Maximum Security Prison is actually run by a 
  local corporation that won the contract from Aztechnology. 
  T e name of the local company is Reginald Enterprises, and the 
  warden is a tough-as-nails bitch named Elisa Rodriguez. T is 
  facility is believed to be the only functional prison in Bogotá.
  Aztlan School System
  The Aztlan School System (also called the Aztlan 
  Propaganda System by the locals) currently has twenty-f ve 
  schools spread throughout Zona Oeste, with approximately 
  sixty thousand school children enrolled, ranging in age from 
  kindergarten all the way through to college. T e schools are 
  public, and any child who has been issued an Aztlan SIN 
  can attend the schools. Mandatory classes include Aztlan 
  History, Corporate History, and Path of the Sun theology 
  (indoctrination). When it comes to the Aztlan religion, the 
  curriculum falls under the direct authority of the Vicar General 
  of the Path of the Sun, who is rumored to be the f f h-highest 
  ranked priest in the Aztlan religion. Other than that, the school 
  system itself is run by another local f rm called the Silver Apple 
  Partnership, Inc. T e superintendent of these schools is a man 
  named Miguel Santiago, who reports directly to Aztechnology 
  on the success of the school system. Gifted children in the 
  school are of en transferred to schools in Tenochtitlan, or if 
  Awakened, are of en considered to become priests and nahualli 
  in the Aztlan religion. The most prized university in the 
  region under Aztechnology’s control is the historical Ciudad 
  Universitaria de Bogotá, which currently has a student body 
  of twenty thousand. In addition, Aztlan also runs the former 
  Colegio Militar Mariscal Sucre, a boot camp to train local 
  citizens to become Aztlan soldiers. 
  Since many locals see this school system as a conditioning and 
  brainwashing operation, many opposition groups are not afraid 
  of hiring mercs and shadowrunners to sabotage these schools. 
  Depending on the voracity of the group’s political idealism, these 
  jobs could range from simple vandalism all the way up to planting 
  explosives inside the school and doing as much damage to the 
  school’s buildings as possible. Most of the time, these incidents 
  of vandalism or explosions occur while the school is unoccupied, 
  but there was one incident recently when a bomb was detonated 
  while school was in session at a prominent high school. T at event 
  killed close to three hundred teenagers and teachers. Bogotá Libre! 
  claimed responsibility for that particular attack.
   
  Aztlan Hospitals
  T ere are three fully stocked Aztlan-run hospitals in Bogotá, 
  two of which are found in the neighborhoods of Aztlan-friendly 
  Aztechnology Castillos
  To address the needs of the local population for better 
  housing conditions in Zona Oeste, Aztechnology has recently 
  begun demolishing the run-down, low-income housing projects 
  inside Zona Oeste and has begun building modern arcologies, 
  called castillos by the Aztlaners. T ese arcologies are no where near 
  as big as the Renraku behemoth in Seattle, but each one is close 
  to eighty stories tall and is able to provide stable (and safe) living 
  arrangements for up to twenty thousand people. Aztechnology 
  has recently completed construction on its second arcology, with 
  plans to build a third.
  Many residents of Bogotá have complained, in addition 
  to the fact that the castillos are Aztechnology-owned, that the 
  modern architecture for the castillos obviously conf icts with 
  the Spanish colonial architectural style of many of the surviving 
  older buildings throughout Zona Oeste and the rest Bogotá. T e 
  architecture of the arcologies is even portrayed by many political 
  opposition groups as Aztlan’s callous disregard for Bogotá’s culture. 
  In Bogotá, even a project as non-controversial as building a castillo 
  can end up turning into a rallying cry for the opposition groups of 
  the Colombian Liberation Movement.
  > Aztlan hopes that, by addressing this important need, it will draw 
  in those residents who have been displaced by the war and win over 
  some support from those who may have previously hated them. Will 
  it be enough to change sentiments of the people on a large scale? 
  It’s hard to tell. But it’s also hard to argue for hating someone when 
  they are offering you sanctuary from the violence, a warm bed, and 
  working utilities such as water and electricity, while the other side 
  offers no such solutions other than “join the war and help us ﬁ ght 
  to retake your country, or die trying.” It becomes a balancing act 
  between ideological and pragmatic needs.
  > Glasswalker
  > I’ve heard that Aztlan has invested a hell of a lot of nuyen in making 
  sure these castillos have adequate security personnel and security 
  measures to be able to repel a signiﬁ cant incursion from the outside 
  by opposition forces, and to make sure the tragedy of the Pemex 
  Arcology does not happen again. There are rumors that some of the 
  upgraded security measures in the new castillos are even based on 
  some of Deus’ creations that were able to keep the UCAS military 
  out of the arcology for years. But no one I’ve spoken to has been able 
  (or has been willing) to conﬁ rm that rumor.
  > Picador
  Aztlan Maximum Security Prison
  Aztlan has established a maximum security prison in Zona 
  Oeste in 2058 to begin dealing with many of the opposition 
  groups’ terrorists and their followers who are caught attacking 
  its interests. A majority of these prisoners will never even be 
  given a show trial like the so-called Amazonian agents who were 
  executed in Tenochtitlan. Instead, if you are caught by Aztlan or 
  Aztechnology and you are suspected of committing crimes against 
  them, you will simply be thrown into this prison, where “gulag” 
  doesn’t even begin to describe the horrible conditions.
  T e jail itself was built to hold up to ten thousand prisoners, 
  but its current population is close to thirty thousand. Prisoners 
  are rarely fed anything more than basic rations every couple of 
  
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  for your troubles. And do not assume the bouncers will be of any 
  help; they will just carry your corpses out to the back alley with 
  the rest of the trash.
  The décor features depictions of rage and war, including 
  warring Aztec Warriors dressed in the ceremonial dress. T ere are 
  also images of some of Aztlan’s most recent and famous battles 
  and the heroes of those battles, along with detailed AR images of 
  paranormal critters battling it out for survival of the f ttest. It is 
  common knowledge that all the cartels have their street dealers 
  working the popular rave, making the location even more volatile 
  with angry, narcotic-enhanced teenagers, as well as rival cartel 
  members. Drug use at the War Temple is pervasive, and the cartels 
  stand to make large sums of nuyen from pushing their product on 
  the club goers.
  > It is well known to the locals that the David cartel runs a sizable 
  drug lab out of War Temple. Ironically, they converted a few of the 
  former holding cells into that drug lab, which keeps the novacoke 
  and betameth ﬂ owing to the visiting masses, as well as to the 
  surrounding neighborhoods.
  > Clockwork
  > From what I hear, the David cartel didn’t need to convert those 
  holding cells—there was already a sophisticated drug lab set up in 
  there, having been run by the police there for many years before 
  the cartel ever moved in. All they had to do was modernize what 
  already existed.
  > Black Mamba
  > Besides the drug lab, there are a couple of other things that make 
  War Temple very important for the David cartel. One is that the 
  remaining holding areas and back-ofﬁ ce space makes for a good 
  stronghold for holding kidnapped victims while waiting for the 
  ransom to be delivered. Another is the rumored existence of a 
  whole network of tunnels underneath the former police station, 
  tunnels that are used to move the drugs discreetly into other parts 
  of Bogotá. These tunnels can also be used to move hostages out 
  of the prison quickly, should anyone dare to make a brazen rescue 
  attempt to free the kidnapped victims being held there.
  > Picador 
  > I have a question: in a city that has a bad shadow spirit infestation, 
  does having something called “War Temple” that ampliﬁ es feelings 
  of rage sound like a good idea to you? It sounds to me like a 
  massacre waiting to happen.
  > Slamm-0!
  Forbidden Delights
  A David cartel-owned strip club in Zona Oeste, this 
  establishment is a popular hangout for mercenaries looking for 
  work from Aztlan (as well as a little rest and relaxation during 
  their down times). If you’re in need of work and have no qualms 
  (or shame) about working for Aztlan, this would be a good place 
  to go to make a connection with Aztlan’s handlers. In addition 
  to operating f ve stages and eight private VIP rooms, Forbidden 
  Delights owns a small, three-story hotel next door for clientele 
  looking for something more than just exotic dancers. Forbidden 
  Delights also has an arrangement in place with the of  cials in 
  Zona Oeste, with the third one is located inside the walls of the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex. T ese hospitals provide Zona 
  Oeste with the latest modern medical care, ranging from genetic 
  treatments to magical healing. Each of the hospitals has beds for 
  up to three thousand patients. T ese hospitals are of en targeted 
  by the opposition groups and the cartels for the wide array of 
  pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and medical equipment that 
  are in high demand on the streets. Sometimes, when the Catholic 
  hospitals run low on supplies, they will hire shadowrunners and 
  mercenaries to acquire the necessary supplies from their Aztlan 
  neighbors. These hospitals—named The Hands of the Gods 
  Medical Center, New Life Hospital, and Regenerative Solutions 
  Trauma Center—are run directly by Aztechnology’s subsidiary, 
  Medicarro. Only residents with Aztlan SINs can take advantage of 
  the medical care provided by these hospitals. All others are turned 
  away, to be treated by the less sophisticated (and less sanitary) 
  street clinics. 
  >Another thing about the hospitals that makes them enticing 
  targets for shadowrunners and mercs is that these hospitals often 
  treat Aztlan wounded from the battleﬁ elds near Bogotá, especially 
  when the medical facility at the Aztlan Military Complex becomes 
  overwhelmed with casualties, which has been happening more 
  frequently. If you are looking for timely intel about recent Aztlan 
  movements and operations, you can bet someone being treated at 
  these hospitals might have that information. Or you could get lucky, 
  and there could be a high-ranking ofﬁ cer being treated at one of the 
  medical centers, who could be extracted and made to share their 
  intelligence, including current codes and encryptions that are being 
  used out in the ﬁ eld. Chances are, there could even be bounties on 
  their heads that you could collect on from the opposition groups.
  > Hard Exit
  War Temple
  War Temple is a popular rave in the Nuevo Suba 
  neighborhood that allows local teenagers to express their raw 
  emotions, which are generally fueled by rage. Located in what 
  used to be a former Bogotá police station, War Temple features 
  trog rock, punk, death metal, and grunge music from various 
  local bands, among many other angry styles of music. War 
  Temple holds its raves on a nightly basis in what used to be the 
  motor pool garage of the former police station. T e rave attracts 
  hundreds of teenagers from all across the city, even those from 
  the warring tribes and gangs. Due to the convergence of so many 
  rival gangs and tribes at one location, there are frequent, and of en 
  brutal, f ghts that take place inside the club from patrons looking 
  to carry out reprisals with each other. T ese clashes typically leave 
  a handful of people dead each night.
  War Temple certainly lives up to its name, as many of the 
  locals seem to revel at the altar of violence by continuing to 
  come back each night for even more violence. Placing bets on 
  participants involved in the brawling and their odds of survival 
  is a popular, if gruesome, past time. If you visit War Temple, keep 
  in mind that any promises made of security inside that place 
  are about as empty and as hollow as the promises Aztlan and 
  Amazonia have made over the years to the people of Bogotá. If 
  you f nd yourself inside War Temple, assume that you have to 
  watch your own backs at all times, lest you get stabbed in the back 
  
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  The Teocallis
  T ere are currently two major teocallis in the Aztechnology 
  Business Complex (with a third one in the process of being built). 
  T ese prominent, stepped pyramids act as temples for the Aztlan 
  religion and can be seen throughout most of Bogotá. T e oldest 
  teocalli in the complex is dedicated to Tezcatlipoca, the god of 
  fate and confessions, of spring and renewals, and of learning. T is 
  particular teocalli, ironically, also serves as the armory for Aztlan’s 
  military ground forces inside the Complex. T e other functioning 
  major teocalli for Bogotá is dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the 
  god of war, whose aspect represents the sun. Up to this point, 
  many of the most important festivals and ceremonies for the 
  Aztlan religion have been conducted in the teocalli dedicated to 
  Huitzilopochtli. When the third teocalli is built, a temple that 
  will be dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, and it will take over many 
  ceremonial functions.
  The teocallis are known (and feared) for the common 
  practice of human sacrif ces to the gods in blood magic rituals. T e 
  teocallis are beacons of raw, warped mana on the astral. T e many 
  rituals and ceremonies that have been practiced in the teocallis 
  over the years have af ected the mana f ow in the area, turning it 
  into a major, aspected domain for Aztec religion practices. 
  Just before the start of the war, both the major teocallis in the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex were activated by some form of 
  blood ritual, a ritual that extended throughout Aztlan. T ere is 
  no information about the specif c type of blood rituals that were 
  invoked, but at the peak of the teocallis’ rituals, the growth in 
  the rainforest noticeably diminished, and the population of free 
  nature spirits in the area likewise decreased for a time. T ere are 
  many parties, including the Draco Foundation, the Dunkelzhan 
  Institute of Magical Research, and the Atlantean Foundation, 
  interested in any information pertaining to these unique rituals. 
  Due to the risks involved, jobs gathering that info are expected 
  to pay very well.
  My contacts inside the Aztechnology Business Complex tell 
  me that at any given time, there are close to four hundred priests 
  of the Path of the Sun stationed in Bogotá. Out of those four 
  hundred, only about f f een of them are suspected to be nahualli 
  (Aztec magicians). T e high priest who is believed to be in charge 
  of the teocallis for Bogotá is a man named Hector Torres.
  > Don’t expect Torres to be around for long. He may be good with 
  the (blood) magic, but he isn’t so good with the politics. Torres 
  used to be a high priest in Tenochtitlan, in good standing with the 
  government. Then, when Silva was elected, he was caught making 
  disparaging remarks about the new Aztlan president, about how 
  he was mistreating the religious class and maligning its integrity 
  and nobility by keeping himself at a distance from the religious 
  class that he was supposed to be the head of as the “Honored 
  Speaker.” Torres probably would have been arrested on the spot for 
  inciting insurrection, but it seems as though he made a generous 
  contribution to Silva’s “re-election fund” (i.e., his private slush fund) 
  at the last minute, and he was promptly transferred to Bogotá. If 
  you know anything about the Aztlan religion, you know that the 
  transfer was the equivalent of being given a corporate position in 
  Siberia or outer Mongolia. He no longer has any of the inﬂ uence he 
  once held in Tenochtitlan. And to make matters worse, he’s once 
  again shooting his mouth off again, and this time, with the Vicar 
  charge of the Aztechnology Business Complex to supply various 
  joy girls and boys to executives and various visiting dignitaries 
  inside the Complex. If anyone is looking for a discreet means to 
  enter the complex, making contacts with someone at Forbidden 
  Delights might be an option.
  >I’ve heard stories that Juanita Madina has visited Forbidden 
  Delights on a few occasions. All jokes aside about her having a 
  second job, Madina appears to be attending high-level meetings 
  with the leadership of the David cartel. Those meetings undoubtedly 
  contain valuable paydata that would be of interest not only to the 
  other cartels, but also to many of the opposition groups. And if you 
  can swing extracting Madina, you can set yourself up for a major 
  payday from any number of the opposition groups. Keep in mind 
  though, that Madina usually travels with a full compliment of Jaguar 
  and Leopard Special Forces troops, so accomplishing that task won’t 
  be easy.
  > Picador 
  Aztechnology Business Complex
  The Aztechnology Business Complex is made up mainly 
  of Aztechnology business offices and Aztlan governmental 
  agencies, as well as Aztechnology subsidiaries such as MediCarro, 
  Optical Dreams, Dassault, and Genetique. As noted previously, 
  it also has two major teocallis for the Aztlaners’ Path of the Sun 
  religion, while a third is in the process of being built. T ere are 
  countless smaller teocallis in the complex that are generally used 
  for personal worship, prayer, and meditation by their citizens. T e 
  business complex also has its share of luxury hotels, restaurants, 
  and shopping centers. Near the teocalli of Tezcatlipoca is an 
  Aztlan military base that houses military forces for Bogotá and 
  the surrounding region. It has also become common knowledge 
  within the shadows that Aztechnology has established a delta 
  clinic inside the Aztechnology Business Complex to help support 
  the war ef orts of Aztlan. T e only question about the delta clinic 
  is precisely where it’s located inside the ABC, as that information 
  is a tightly controlled secret. T ose that believed the delta clinic 
  to be inside Genetique were recently shown to be wrong; a 
  shadowrunner team recently inf ltrated the subsidiary’s of  ce 
  building and saw nothing there that would resemble a delta clinic.
  T e operations of the Aztechnology Business Complex are 
  overseen by a forty-nine year old man named Raul Chavez, one of 
  Aztechnology’s mid-level executives with ambitions of making it 
  onto the Aztechnology board of directors. Many Aztlan insiders 
  see the success or failure of Aztechnology’s presence in Bogotá 
  as a referendum on Chavez’s leadership abilities, and as such, his 
  career is directly tied to Aztechnology’s success in the region. 
  Chavez has already had a couple of missteps in his career, namely, 
  claiming that his plan to build the “Transmilenio Line” was the 
  f nal, end-game solution to the problems with the opposition 
  groups. Having encountered recent setbacks in his career, Chavez 
  is even more desperate to make up for his mistakes and redeem his 
  reputation with the corporation. Chavez’s ambition makes many 
  in Bogotá nervous, as they wonder how far he will he go to put his 
  career back on the fast track. Chavez is working in tandem with 
  Juanita Madina, a special envoy from the President of Aztlan, who 
  is overseeing Aztlan’s political interests and national operations in 
  the region.
  
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  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  attack on Aztlan and Aztechnology interests inside the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex that was the spark igniting war 
  between these two nations. As far as anyone knows, there was 
  no weapons project being carried out at the facility in regards 
  to genetically altering various native insects. However, there are 
  many conspiracy theories out there on the Matrix insisting that 
  the weapons program does in fact exist, and that as each day 
  passes, Aztlan comes that much closer to permanently altering the 
  rainforest again for its benef t (the rumors could conceivably be 
  true—af er all, it is Aztlan we are talking about here. T e research 
  itself may simply not be carried out in Bogotá, but rather, it could 
  be carried out any where in Aztlan, including Tenochtitlan). 
  Many outsiders are interested in this particular facility. 
  People have heard that the Juan Atzcapotzalco Research Facility 
  may be actively researching the sap of the Sangre Del Drago trees 
  and may have large quantities of Drago sap in storage. What is 
  of even more interest is the belief that Aztlan may be making a 
  breakthrough with its Drago sap research. Other rumors persist 
  that the much talked about delta clinic may be somewhere in this 
  research facility. And still other rumors suggest that the research 
  facility is working in concert with the teocallis in the area to 
  research new blood rituals for its hermetic mages in order to 
  counteract any negative reactions that may be directed toward 
  Aztlan from the rainforest.
  T e Juan Atzcapotzalco Research Facility is named af er the 
  late Aztechnology CEO, who was assassinated during the Yucatan 
  peace talk bombings in 2064.
  > What people may not realize is that the Juan Atzcapotzalco 
  Research Facility does a lot of work with nanites, and it currently has 
  an agreement with the Aztlan military to program etcher nanites for 
  its military personnel. These nanites leave markings on a soldier’s 
  bones that identify the base they are assigned to, along with their 
  unit, rank, and security clearance. If people need to get their hands 
  on etcher nanites for the purpose of inﬁ ltrating Aztlan’s military, 
  this is where you would go to start looking.
  > Beaker
  El Hotel del Eldorado
  El Hotel del Eldorado is a luxury hotel in the heart of the 
  Aztechnology Business Complex. Spanning f f y f oors and close 
  to five hundred and fifty rooms, this hotel caters to Aztlan’s 
  wealthy socialites and important government dignitaries. Many 
  visiting priests of the Path of the Sun also choose to stay at the 
  Hotel of Eldorado for its proximity to a major teocalli in Bogotá, 
  the temple of Tezcatlipoca, which is approximately two kilometers 
  away from the hotel. El Hotel del Eldorado was built in 2067, and 
  it boasts of the latest state-of-the-art amenities, such as dedicated 
  nodes for VR conference meetings, VR lounges, and extensive 
  work-out rooms. El Hotel del Eldorado’s exterior architecture is 
  based of  of Torre Colpatria, a high rise in Zona Centrico that 
  was at one time the second-largest high rise in South America, 
  but then it was hit by Aztechnology bombs in 2071, reducing its 
  height right back down to ground level.
  New Visions
  New Visions is a franchise of Aztlan nightclubs that have 
  been around since the late 2050s. New Visions has clubs in 
  General. The opposition groups may not need to take this asshole 
  out; Aztlan may do it for them. 
  > Snopes
  El Dorado Airport
  The El Dorado Airport is the only functioning (official) 
  airport for Bogotá and the surrounding area. Smugglers operating 
  in Bogotá (usually transporting Olaya cartel drugs or Ares 
  weapons) who do not wish to use the Aztlan-controlled air f eld 
  are forced to rely on open f elds in the rainforest for any type of 
  air transport into and out of the region. Due to the tremendous 
  growth of the rainforest, the open f elds are usually overgrown by 
  vegetation within a few weeks at most, forcing smugglers to search 
  for new f elds to use.
  Prior to the war, Aztlan permitted military and civilian 
  f ights into the El Dorado Airport. Now that the war has begun, all 
  f ights into the airport are restricted to Aztlan military. Although 
  exact numbers are classif ed, it is estimated that close to 10,000 
  personnel and nearly 350 aircraf  of varying types are stationed 
  at the El Dorado Airport. Both Aztlan and Aztechnology use a 
  wide array of f ghter jets, attack helicopters, aerial drones, LAVs, 
  and UAVs to maintain their air superiority over the region, an air 
  superiority that is capable of striking deep inside of Amazonia.
  The El Dorado Airport is frequently attacked by the 
  opposition groups, as well as by mercs and shadowrunners who 
  are working for Amazonia to try to damage Aztlan’s suf ocating 
  hold over Bogotá’s air space. In addition, aircraf  in the vicinity 
  of the El Dorado Airport and Bogotá are frequently targeted by 
  surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), with several aircraf  having been 
  successfully shot down into the rainforest. Many of the pilots 
  and passengers who survive the crash, are never heard from again, 
  of en thanks to Aztechnology’s Sangre Del Diablo trees.
  Military forces at the El Dorado Airport are currently under 
  the command of Colonel Jacob Ortiz, who reached his rank more 
  because he’s better at playing available angles than because he’s an 
  exceptionally skilled soldier.
  Aztlan Military Compound
  In the Aztechnology Compound, Aztlan maintains an 
  extensive military compound adjacent to the Tezcatlipoca teocalli 
  for its ground forces in Bogotá. During 2071, when Interpol and 
  the Corporate Court authorized Aztechnology to dramatically 
  increase its air units in the area for air strikes, Aztlan took the 
  opportunity to increase its ground forces as well, bringing up their 
  numbers from three thousand to nine thousand troops. Tanks, 
  armored vehicles, ground combat drones, and transport vehicles 
  are stationed at the compound, in addition to the personnel.
  Ground forces at the Aztlan Military Compound are under 
  the command of Colonel Isabel Martinez. T e commander for 
  all Aztlan forces throughout the region used to be Rafa Espinosa 
  until he was assassinated in 2072. T e general who is now serving 
  in that capacity is General Marc Saavedra, a soldier with over 
  thirty years of experience who played a pivotal role in stopping 
  the detonations of EM pulse weapons in Tenochtitlan in 2064.
  The Juan Atzcapotzalco Research Facility
  T e eight-story building known as the Juan Atzcapotzalco 
  Research Facility is the famous (or infamous) site of Amazonia’s 
  
  107
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  necessary to take the zone by all-out force while also staying on 
  the of ensive against Amazonia. So Aztlan is forced to be content 
  with leading various raids and incursions into the sector (many 
  of which are carried out by mercenaries and shadowrunners), 
  working to weaken its opposition over time.
  Including the opposition forces that have set up strongholds 
  and safe houses throughout the sector, there are approximately 
  four million metahumans and sapient paranormal critters who call 
  Zona Centrico home on a permanent basis, all in a sector of the 
  city intended to support many millions more. Due to the relatively 
  scarce population of metahumans to watch over the sector, Sangre 
  Del Diablo trees are beginning to make an appearance inside 
  Zona Centrico. T is seems to be both a blessing and a curse for 
  the opposition groups—although the trees are hampering the 
  groups’ movements in certain neighborhoods and are killing of  
  small numbers of their members, they are also keeping in check 
  the growth of other dangerous paranormal critters in the area, 
  including devil and demon rats and gabriel hounds. If they were 
  not held in check, the paranormal critters might overrun this 
  dilapidated part of town. 
  There are two locations that the opposition groups are 
  unable to acces:; the former Palace of Justice and the wreckage 
  of the Pemex Arcology, which I will go into detail under their 
  own sections. Both of these landmarks have seen increased 
  sightings of spirits, specif cally shadow spirits, and there have 
  been high incidents of attacks on metahumans who have gotten 
  too close to either of these locations. Locals who have managed 
  to survive their encounters with the shadow spirits have reported 
  feeling an overwhelming sense of rage and hostility near those 
  two sites, From what I have pieced together from the witnesses’ 
  descriptions, the shadow spirits near these sites are not shades like 
  those found in Zona Norte, but are wraiths. Given their reported 
  concentration in these two sites, I would be worried.
  > Aztlan has started to show more concern over these shadow spirits 
  in recent months, especially around these particular structures. On 
  the façades of both the Palace of Justice and Pemex Arcology, a 
  particular banner has been appearing frequently, etched into the 
  masonry and tied into the warding, a banner with an image that 
  mirrors that of the Inca Empire.
  > Man-of-Many-Names
  > I wonder why. The Inca Empire never stretched that far into 
  Colombia. Could this be some kind of hoax? Perhaps a neo-anarchist 
  vandalism spree that has run amok?
  > Ecotope
  > All the banners that have appeared are laced with orichalcum and 
  are plainly visible on the astral, almost like an astral ARO. If it is a 
  hoax, it’s a very expensive one.
  > Lyran
  > Perhaps these spirits are originally from the time of the Inca Empire 
  who now look for a new expansion of that empire. Or perhaps with all 
  the warfare, the bloodshed, and the foreign blood magic, whatever 
  they used to be is now twisted and perverted. They have no blood of 
  their own, so they may be anxious for the blood of others.
  > Axis Mundi 
  Tenochtitlan, Monterrey, and the San Diego/Tijuana Metroplex. 
  Each of the clubs are linked via augmented reality, allowing 
  club goers to interact with people from each of the locales 
  simultaneously. What makes New Visions in Bogotá dif erent 
  from the other clubs is that it intentionally blends the best of 
  Aztlan music, drinks, and cuisine with the best of Bogotá music, 
  drinks, and cuisine. T e goal of club owner Enrique Velasquez 
  is to show Bogotá that a blending of Aztlan and Bogotá culture 
  is both possible and could be mutually benef cial. New Visions 
  currently is the place to go, the trendsetter of the clubs inside 
  the Aztechnology Business Complex, as well as in Zona Oeste. 
  On a daily basis, the four-story club boasts live performances by 
  local performers as well as a state-of-the-art light and laser show 
  and five separate stages and dance floors. Nearly a thousand 
  metahumans a night visit the high-end club, and it’s a popular 
  spot for most Aztlan and Aztechnology soldiers and personnel. If 
  you were a shadowrunner looking for info into various operations 
  going on in inside the complex, this would be a good place to 
  start looking.
  ZONA CENTRICO
  Neighborhoods: 
  Las Cruces, Los Laches, La Perseverancia, La Concordia, 
  Santa Ines, Santa Bárbara, San Bernardo, La Merced, Egipto, 
  Germania, Las Aguas, La Paz, La Peña, Liévano, Las Nieves, El 
  Consuelo, Belén, Egipto Alto, Central, El Rocío, Tisqueesuza, La 
  Marcarena, El Bosque Izquierdo, El Sol, Tibana, Puente Aranda, 
  Primavera, Jorge Gaitan Cortes, Galen, San Rafael, Veraguas, 
  Veraguas Central, Colon, Santa Isabel  
  Zona Centrico is perhaps the most contested sector inside 
  of Bogotá, even as the war between Aztlan and Amazonia rages 
  on in the rainforest. The neighborhoods aren’t exactly prime 
  reality any more due to the extensive damage sustained to many 
  of the buildings from the 2071 bombings, as well as damage from 
  the ongoing urban warfare. Despite the damage, it is a zone (the 
  downtown area and the heart of Bogotá itself ) that is f lled with 
  history and symbolism that cries out to the patriotism of Bogotá 
  citizens, helping keep many of the opposition groups replenished 
  with eager new recruits, and keeping the opposition groups 
  motivated in f ghting against Aztlan.
  Zona Centrico is the site of Bolivar Square, the charred ruins 
  of the Capitolio National building, the severely damaged Palace 
  of Justice, as well as the ruins of dozens of libraries, theatres, and 
  museums that were once the cradle of Bogotá’s cultural heritage, 
  which as one person put it, made Bogotá “the Athens of South 
  America.” Aztlan is f ghting to gain control over Zona Centrico 
  in order to erect its own governmental buildings on the top of 
  the ruins of the buildings of the past to help symbolically erase 
  Colombia’s and Bogotá’s previous identities and convince the 
  local citizens to accept Aztlan as their new, legitimate ruler for the 
  future. Dozens of political groups like Bogotá Libre!, the Catholic 
  Church, and even Black Star have set aside their dif erences and 
  have formed a tenuous alliance against their common enemy and 
  have made one hell of a stand against them inside Zona Centrico. 
  For years, Aztlan has attempted to seize control of the sector, and 
  each time they have been successfully repelled by these groups. 
  Due to the war, Aztlan cannot commit the military resources 
  
  108
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  signif cant damage. Close to four hundred and f f y governmental 
  of  cials and aides were killed during the explosion that threw all of 
  Bogotá into chaos. Since that time, Bogotá Libre! has used drones 
  and spirits to help stabilize portions of the building and build 
  bunkers where they can, turning the building into their main 
  headquarters in the city. Bogotá Libre! staunchly defends this 
  building and continues to use the imagery of their headquarters 
  built on the location of the old Bogotá government Capitol 
  Building to energize their supporters and to convince them 
  that the f ghting with Aztlan will be ultimately worth it for the 
  liberation of Bogotá.
  The Palace of Justice
  T e domain near the Palace of Justice (and Bolivar Square 
  for that matter) is just as damaged as the burnt-out of  ces and 
  collapsed corridors inside the war-torn building. T e area was 
  bathed in emotions of homicidal rage and hate from riots that 
  have led to unfathomable bloodshed even before magic had 
  returned to the earth, and it continues to be damaged by those 
  same emotions even today.
  In 1948, a popular politician was gunned down in the street. 
  A riot (later called El Bogotázo) ensued that led to the accused 
  assassin being killed through “street justice” and his body being 
  publicly displayed on Bolivar Square. The riot that began on 
  Bolivar Square would eventually burn and destroy the f rst Palace 
  of Justice and would result in the deaths of at least two hundred 
  thousand people over the course of a decade (if you are interested, 
  this particular period of time was called La Violencia). A second 
  Palace of Justice was built in the same location, and it also was 
  destroyed in 1985 by a guerilla movement called M-19. And again, 
  the Bogotá government rebuilt the Palace of Justice at the same 
  location. Now that the Palace of Justice has been damaged from 
  the bombings and lef  abandoned, many locals fear the location 
  is cursed.
  Prior to the start of the war, opposition groups have looked 
  into the possibility of opening up another stronghold inside the 
  Palace of Justice. I have heard from many reliable sources that 
  many groups sent parties into the shattered palace, and those 
  groups never returned. Af er the war began, mysterious warding 
  appeared around the damaged Palace of Justice. Suspecting the 
  warding and the increased violence in the area to be a result of 
  shadow spirits, the Catholic Church sent in members of the 
  Order of St. Sylvester (the order that is not only known for its 
  healing talents but also for its ability to deal with exorcisms and 
  magical threats) to investigate the phenomenon. To put this into 
  perspective, the Vatican sending in the Order of St. Sylvester to 
  deal with a magical threat from shadow spirits is like Ares sending 
  in its f rewatch teams into Chicago. T e only dif erence: a least a 
  few of the Ares Firewatch teams made it out of hives before the 
  tactical nuke was detonated. None of the priests that were sent 
  into the Palace of Justice had ever come out. Obviously, no one 
  else has bothered going into the Palace of Justice since the Order 
  of St. Sylvester.
  The Pemex Arcology
  Built in the mid-2050s af er a shrewd land deal awarded 
  Aztechnology two thousand square meters of prime real estate 
  inside Zona Centrico, this Aztechnology-subsidized asset stood 
  Bolivar Square
  At the moment, this plaza is the most valuable piece of real 
  estate in Zona Centrico for its historical signif cance. Over the 
  years, the Bogotá government, and then the opposition groups 
  themselves, have repeatedly rebuilt the statue honoring Bogotá’s 
  f rst liberator, Simon Bolivar, and have stubbornly refused to 
  allow the statue with such important symbolism to be destroyed 
  by Aztlan saboteurs. The statue and the plaza itself represent 
  the fact that Bogotá was liberated from oppression before, and 
  it can certainly be liberated once more from Aztlan occupation. 
  T e square itself is surrounded by the former National Capitol 
  building, the former Palace of Justice, and the Primary Cathedral 
  of Bogotá. 
  Groups like Bogotá Libre! still hold massive rallies at Bolivar 
  Square against Aztlan, as well as hold festivals ton the plaza that 
  hold signif cant cultural meaning for the city. Despite the dangerous 
  and unsafe conditions of Zona Centrico, groups like Bogotá Libre! 
  have the contacts, the networking, and the resources throughout 
  the city to be able to draw a crowd of hundreds of thousands of 
  patriotic citizens into the zone to participate in their rallies. In the 
  past, Bogotá Libre! has of en executed government of  cials who had 
  been bought of  by Aztlan. Now the political group has resorted to 
  executing fellow citizens they have either had extracted from Zona 
  Oeste or the Aztechnology Business Complex and accused them 
  of collaborating with Aztlan or who had been found out as being 
  active Aztlan spies. With the war in full swing, groups like Bogotá 
  Libre! are increasing the number of executions that they carry out on 
  Bolivar Square, using them to help keep their members motivated. 
  Undoubtedly, many innocent citizens are being rounded up and 
  executed for the sake of the cause, with little more than rumor, 
  speculation, and perhaps even lies from people wishing to have their 
  enemies conveniently taken out.
  > Even with the war in full swing, groups like Bogotá Libre! have no 
  problem getting people to rally at Bolivar Square. Their leadership 
  has lists of thousands of commlink codes of people who will send AR 
  notices out to their membership to notify them about an upcoming 
  rally. Those people have their own lists that they will forward the 
  message out. In less than half an hour, you can have a mob of 
  thousands at Bolivar square. And in an hour, tens of thousands. 
  And a half hour after that, hundreds of thousands. The threats of 
  being arrested by the Azzies have done little to keep these people 
  away. These people want their city back, and they don’t care what 
  the Azzies may do to them; they just want their voices to be heard.
  > Glasswalker
  > If anyone cares, Aztlan offers pretty decent rewards for those 
  commlink lists, which they could use to identify and track down 
  these so-called rabble-rousers and arrest them, or worse. I’m really 
  not sure who, if any, has taken on that particular job. But if you do, 
  and you’re found out, you can be assured that you will be making a 
  whole hell of lot of enemies with the opposition groups.
  > Black Mamba
  Capitolio National
  T e Capitolio National building is not safe, and large portions of 
  it do not exist. Aztechnology’s bombing of the Capitol Building 
  proved quite ef ective, and it, along with subsequent f res, did 
  
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  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  During the bombings in 2071, the Cardinal who was 
  originally stationed at the Primary Cathedral of Bogotá was killed. 
  He was quickly replaced by Archbishop Diego Rodriquez, who 
  had been previously stationed at the Vatican for close to ten years. 
  Of  cially, he is known to be of the Order of St. Sylvester, but many 
  in Bogotá (including Aztlan) suspect him of being from the Order 
  of the Temple. No matter if that rumor is true or not, the Primary 
  Cathedral of Bogotá got a serious boost in its magical security 
  upon the arrival of Rodriguez. Powerful spirits began to appear, 
  taking upon the likeness of angels that the church identities as 
  the Seraphim. T ose who know how tightly the Catholic Church 
  controls summoning by its clergy knows that summoning spirits 
  that resemble angels is only permitted af er special dispensation 
  from the Vatican. And when great form spirits appeared in the 
  area to help defend the cathedral, great form spirits that resembled 
  the Church ‘s four archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and 
  Uriel), it doesn’t take much to f gure out that authorization had 
  to come from the papacy in Vatican City itself. In addition to the 
  spirits, the cathedral has seen a dramatic increase in the physical 
  security surrounding it as the clergy recruit and train locals to help 
  protect the building from attack.
  Reports from the area have told how the spirits have 
  successfully repelled at least six major attacks on the cathedral 
  since the war began, made on it by both blood spirits and shadow 
  spirits.
  T e Archbishop of the cathedral is responsible for overseeing 
  and coordinating all of the Catholic Church’s activities in Bogotá, 
  from the dozens of churches that are still in operation throughout 
  Bogotá to its work in the refugee camps in the rainforest to the 
  hospitals, street clinics, schools, and universities the Church 
  operates. He is also the one with the knowledge of the location or 
  locations where they are helping to preserve a large collection of 
  Bogotá’s cultural artifacts from looters and art thieves. In addition 
  to this knowledge, the Archbishop is also the one to sanction the 
  more covert operations; those operations that provide logistical 
  and material support to the opposition groups that the Catholic 
  Church is backing in their f ght against Aztlan and Aztechnology. 
  T is invaluable information has made Archbishop Rodriquez a 
  high priority for Aztlan and Aztechnology.
  Another aspect of the cathedral’s historical signif cance for 
  Bogotá is the fact that it holds the remains of Gonzálo Jiménez 
  de Quesada, the founder of Bogotá. Many political groups have 
  a tradition of visiting the remains of Quesada, as well as Bolivar 
  Square, before a major operation to rally their soldiers’ morale.
  Museo del Oro
  T e Museo del Oro (also known as Banco de la República) 
  was the museum responsible for the largest collection of 
  pre-Colombian artifacts in the world (over 30,000 pieces). 
  Many of the pieces were craf ed from gold. In addition to the 
  valuable metal, many of the artifacts were designed with religious 
  connotations and are considered to be telesma from a previous 
  age. When Aztlan and Amazonia agreed to their f rst cessation 
  of hostilities, it was evident to museum curators that the political 
  situation in Bogotá was precarious at best. And so, in order to 
  prevent a loss of signif cant numbers of artifacts should widespread 
  rioting and looting take place, the Museo del Oro decided to 
  reduce the number of artifacts they had on public display by half. 
  over thirty stories tall and was designated as a residential space 
  for the Aztlan laborers who worked at the various farms, ranches, 
  factories, and plants scattered throughout Bogotá for Pemex as 
  well as for the other Aztechnology subsidiaries. T is arcology 
  promised inexpensive and secure living quarters for the Pemex 
  workers and their families to protect them from potential hostile 
  actions taken against them by the local opposition and paramilitary 
  groups. Families began to move into the arcology in 2056, and 
  things seemed to going all right for the arcology for the next two 
  years, with only a few major, but manageable, confrontations 
  with the locals. But on March 21, 2058, a street riot organized 
  by Bogotá Libre! and the True Brazillians got out of control, and 
  hundreds of local citizens stormed the archeology, doing whatever 
  they could to destroy an Aztechnology property and send a strong 
  message to Aztlan. Too far for Aztlan reinforcements to reach the 
  arcology in time, hundreds of innocent families became collateral 
  damage for the angry mobs. Af er a building inspection estimated 
  that too much internal damage had been sustained to the arcology, 
  Aztechnology simply abandoned the building entirely, leaving it 
  to the various squatters in the area (keep in mind that the Pemex 
  arcology was still technically an Aztechnology property).
  When the bombings of 2071 happened, Aztechnology 
  showed that it was not above petty revenge. Its intelligence 
  sources informed them that the arcology was approximately 
  sixty percent f lled with city squatters. And in a cold-hearted 
  move, Aztechnology gave the okay for the building to be 
  bombed. Many locals will never forgive Aztlan or Aztechnology 
  for that heinous act that killed hundreds of citizens that weren’t 
  involved in the f ghting, and they will always use that incident to 
  keep the violence going against the foreign power and its lackey 
  corporation. Many complained to the Corporate Court, asking 
  them to look into the matter, but because it was still corporate 
  property and Aztechnology had the right to do with the property 
  as it saw f t (including acting against trespassers), the Corporate 
  Court could do little to address the locals’ grievances. Eventually, 
  everyone forgot the matter—except for the locals.
  From 2071 up to the present day, many locals have 
  experienced a creepy feeling from approaching the remnants of 
  the arcology. Many people in Bogotá suspect that the feelings of 
  being watched are coming from the specters and the ghosts of all 
  those hundreds of people who had died in both ’58 and again in 
  ’71. But since that time, warding, similar to that of the Palace of 
  Justice, has gone up over the remains of the building, once again 
  worrying many of the local shamans.
  Primary Cathedral of Bogotá
  Also known as the Archbishopric Cathedral of Bogotá, 
  this cathedral has been around and survived the violence of the 
  city since the early 1800s when it was f rst built. It is also the 
  residence of Archibishop Diego Rodgriuez, the current leader of 
  the church in Bogotá. T e cathedral, one of the largest in South 
  America, was rebuilt following the Aztechnology bombings in 
  2072. Despite the violence, bloodshed, and dark emotions that 
  have tainted the rest of Zona Centrico’s mana f eld, the faith that 
  has been practiced in the cathedral for nearly two hundred and 
  f f y years has allowed the cathedral to maintain a strong aspected 
  domain for Catholic practitioners of the magical (or from their 
  perspective, the miraculous) arts.
  
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  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Bogotá NewsNets
  Before 2071, Bogotá had three local, state-run newsnet 
  outlets operating out of Zona Centrico (Modern Bogotá 
  Living Network (MBLN), New Frontier News Net (NFNN), 
  and Pulsar Vision News Net (PVNN)). Although the Bogotá 
  government determined the content of the newsnets and what 
  they were allowed to broadcast, Horizon held contracts to 
  service and maintain the equipment for those networks. When 
  the government collapsed following the bombings, Horizon 
  took it upon itself to rebuild the formerly government-run 
  newsnet stations (with the rationale that most of the equipment 
  was Horizon property to begin with) and moved in their own 
  employees to begin to air independent news reports about the 
  region (and later, the war). To prevent Aztlan or Aztechnology 
  from complaining to the Corporate Court about Horizon 
  unfairly interfering and influencing the local politics of the 
  region, Horizon promised an objective perspective in its news 
  reports (“objective” in this instance meaning that it has less 
  propaganda that was being fed to Bogotá from either Amazonia 
  or Aztlan). Although the news reports were still seventy percent 
  favorable to Amazonia, Horizon did in fact begin reporting 
  accurately on the victories that Aztlan and Aztechnology were 
  having in the rainforest as they drove Amazonia forces back. 
  T ese reports included everything from an Amazonia weapons 
  depot that Aztlan forces managed to destroy to the thousands 
  of Amazonian guerilla cell f ghters that were taken as prisoners. 
  Although discouraging, those reports also seemed to be helpful 
  for resistance groups and guerilla cells operating in and around 
  Bogotá to figure out exactly where Aztlan operations were 
  taking place, and to mobilize additional cells to those locations. 
  Although it could not be proven that Horizon was using these 
  reports to aid Amazonia or the resistance groups, Aztlan and 
  Aztechnology believed that to be the case, and they have begun 
  hiring mercenaries and shadowrunners to target these facilities 
  and to shut the broadcasts down.
  > Most people in the area know that these newsnets also serve as 
  fronts for the Dawkins Group. They feed story tips to the newsnets, 
  along with very speciﬁ c instructions on how to properly frame the 
  news items in question. There is one operative in the Dawkins Group 
  that seems to be calling all the shots for the Dawkins Group in the 
  Bogotá area, and he seems to have no actual name. Everyone calls 
  him “Agent,” followed by a series of numbers. From what I hear, his 
  face even changes on a regular basis. Finding out who he is, and 
  what he is involved in, could be particularly valuable, especially to 
  Argus.
  > Hard Exit
  The Abyss
  Established in 2049, a few months after the Veracruz 
  Settlement, T e Abyss was originally named “T e Enlightened,” 
  as a way of celebrating Bogotá’s rich history and culture. Faded 
  murals on the walls inside the two-story club revel in Bogotá’s 
  cultural heritage, from bullf ghting and fútbol, to art, theatre, 
  literature, and religion. At one time, before Aztlan turned Bogotá 
  into a bombing range, The Enlightened was one of the city’s 
  most popular nightclubs, boasting state-of-the-art lights and 
  sound systems. Nowadays, the bar’s owner considers it a blessing 
  T e other half were stored in an undisclosed location, still within 
  Colombia. Many groups, from the Atlantean Foundation to the 
  Apep Consortium, are still looking for that secondary location, 
  where the curators set the artifacts away to be protected. Currently 
  there is a signif cant bounty in the shadows for the location and 
  retrieval of any items for that collection.
  When the Aztechnology bombings occurred in 2071, 
  widespread looting broke out in Zona Centrico, just as the 
  curators had feared. Although the Museo del Oro’s building was 
  heavily damaged and was in danger of collapsing, it did not stop 
  looters from trying to get to the valuable artifacts. Many of the 
  artifacts on the f rst few levels were indeed lost to looting and 
  sold on the black market, and if the rumors are believed, several 
  fell into Aztlan’s possession. On top of the bounties from groups 
  such as the Apep Consortium who desire to f nd and raid the 
  remaining hidden collection, there are now bounties from such 
  groups as Bogotá Libre!, True Brazillians, and even the Catholic 
  Church, who are looking for the safe return of the stolen artifacts. 
  If you are a shadowrunner, there is a lot of business to be found in 
  the lost antiquities market in Bogotá, especially since most of the 
  libraries, museums, and theatres in the area also suf ered the same 
  type of looting af er the government fell. In addition to Museo 
  del Oro, the Luis Angel Arango Library, the Colombian National 
  Museum, and the National Library of Colombia were all looted 
  following Aztlan’s extensive bombing of the area.
  >Many of the artifacts looted from the museums have included 
  shamanic masks and feathered crowns from the times of the 
  chieftains and priests of the pre-Colombian civilizations. Also 
  popular targets: funeral masks, funerary urns, gold pendants, nose-
  rings, and earrings. In fact, any objects used in various ceremonies 
  or rituals during that era are highly prized by private collectors and 
  powerful organizations such as the Atlantean Foundation and the 
  Draco Foundation. Anything that promises access to untapped 
  magical or mystical powers, or is made from gold, is bound to draw 
  attention from someone.
  > Traveler Jones
  > It’s not just the museums or libraries that are drawing the attention 
  of the grave robbers. There are many legends and stories of 
  chieftains and priests dumping large amounts of gold and precious 
  gems into various Colombian lakes as sacriﬁ ces to the gods. There 
  have been many interested parties sending out runner teams lately 
  trying to recover some of those goods used as sacriﬁ ces.
  > Mr. Bonds
  > I have to ask: is it wise to be hunting for sacriﬁ ces that were meant 
  for the “heathen gods?” I mean, aren’t those items supposed to be 
  cursed or something?
  > Slamm-0!
  > There have been isolated reports in the rainforest of someone 
  collecting the skulls of fallen warriors from both sides. There was 
  a custom in pre-Columbian cultures that said that collecting a skull 
  of the enemy showed the ﬁ erceness of the warrior. Could someone 
  be carrying out this old custom? And if so, who? And why are they 
  attacking both sides?
  > Rigger X
  
  111
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  if they can keep the bar’s lights working and keep it from being 
  shot up, bombed, or otherwise trashed by the various street 
  gangs and warring tribes. T e name of the bar was changed the 
  day that Aztlan bombed the capital building and caused the local 
  government to collapse. In the view of the bar’s owner, the only 
  thing Bogotá can look forward to now is being assimilated either 
  by Aztlan or Amazonia as spoils of war. T e owner, Claudio Tenar, 
  has sympathies for the Colombian Liberation Movement.
  The Santa Maria Bullring
  Originally built in 1931, the Santa Maria Bullring was 
  demolished and rebuilt on the same site in 2053. Many of the 
  f nancial backers of the project had ties with the Olaya cartel. In 
  2073, the bullring is fully run by the Olaya cartel as one of its 
  legitimate business holdings. The bullring continues to host 
  traditional bullfights, as well as bull fights were the bull and 
  the matador have been cybernetically enchanced. Even in the 
  deplorable state of Zona Centrico, the Santa Maria Bullring is 
  still able to draw a crowd, typically around twenty-f ve thousand 
  on-lookers per bullf ght.
  ZONA SUR
  Neighborhoods
  La Estrella, El Paraíso, Lucero Alto, San Joaquín, Sierra 
  Morena, San Francisco, Perdomo, Madelena, La Isla, Alto De 
  La Cruz, Minuto De Maria, Francisco Pizarro, Yomasa, El Uval, 
  Monte Blanco, Santa Librada, San Andres de los Altos, La Aurora, 
  Santa Marta, Chuniza, La Picota, Molinos, Fidel Suarez, Las 
  Lomas, Olaya, Santa Lucia 
  T is southern region of Bogotá contains a large proportion 
  of Bogotá’s industrial parks and facilities and also contains 
  neighborhoods that house the poorer population of Bogotá, 
  consisting in large part of the laborers that work in those factories 
  and plants. Zona Sur also contains farms and ranches that make 
  up the agricultural economy for Bogotá. Even when there was 
  an of  cial government for Bogotá, this area was the most feral. 
  Violence in the area wasn’t directed toward any one group in 
  particular, but tended to be more random, striking at targets 
  of opportunity. The residential areas of Zona Sur are densely 
  populated, making it an easy spot to disappear into if you are being 
  pursued and are capable of blending in with your environment. 
  Violent street gangs, tribes, and paramilitary groups congregate 
  in this area. Due to the intensity of the violence in Zona Sur, it is 
  not unsurprising to f nd bullet-ridden bodies littering the streets 
  in the neighborhoods, or to f nd the rivers contaminated from 
  bodies that have been dropped into them. Zona Sur is a part of 
  Bogotá that is best avoided if one could help it. 
  In the mountainous (and difficult to access terrain), 
  several eco-terrorist groups, including GreenWar and Primeira 
  Vaga, are believed to be hiding out (despite the overabundance 
  of Sangre Del Diablo trees that have made Santa Lucia, Molinos, 
  Santa Marta, La Aurora, and La Cruz neighborhoods very 
  difficult to operate in). Ironically, in the same vicinity, toxic 
  shamans have been seen operating inside Zona Sur. It is likely 
  that the environmental damage wrought from the automobile 
  and drone factories, chemical laboratories, quarries, smelting 
  plants, and strip mines have attracted the toxic shamans. It is 
  
  112
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  critters are common sighs; most common are mutated variations 
  of devil and demon rats, but there are also packs of barghests and 
  hell hounds that roam the neighborhoods surrounding the landf ll. 
  While most political groups have not bothered to do anything 
  about the plight, GreenWar and Primeira Vaga have tried to step 
  in to deal with the problem, meeting with mixed results. Although 
  there are fewer mutant and toxic creatures roaming the streets of 
  those neighborhoods, the toxic shamans have managed to f ght 
  the eco-terrorist groups to a stalemate. With the on-going war, 
  and with their concentration being on Aztlan (and sometimes on 
  Amazonia too, from their fanatic splinter cells), these eco-terrorist 
  groups do not seem to have the manpower to be able to deal with 
  the problem. Although these eco-terrorist groups have contracts 
  out for mercenaries and shadowrunners to deal with the toxic 
  shamans, most of the contracts don’t have enough nuyen attached 
  to make the dangers inherent with taking on the toxics in their 
  domain worth it. Most of their resources are directed at Aztlan. 
  So, unless there are shadowrunners out there willing to take care 
  of the threat out of the kindness of their hearts, this disease will 
  go untreated.
  La Picota Prison
  Historically, this infamous prison (once known as the most 
  infamous prison of Colombia until Aztlan opened up its own 
  penitentiary in Zona Oeste which won over the title) has been run 
  by corrupt and inept of  cials and has been bathed in violence and 
  blood since the time that it was established. Corrections of  cials 
  were charged with imprisoning gang members and members of 
  paramilitary groups that had the extensive f nancial resources and 
  the connections to simply buy them of . T e various gangs and 
  paramilitary groups were able to establish control over specif c 
  areas of the prison, and many of the leaders of those groups were 
  still able to conduct their criminal operations from their cells 
  (including drug traf  cking, kidnapping, and extortion schemes). 
  T ere has been a history of many violent clashes between the rival 
  gangs and cartels in the prison common areas (more so than any 
  other modern prison), leading to countless murders of the inmates. 
  Many prisoners, thanks to the bought-of  loyalties of the guards, 
  often had access to automatic weapons, leading to numerous 
  violent prison riots and hostage situations. In addition, there 
  was at one time a common practice of allowing visitors to take 
  the place of certain prisoners inside the jail, which allowed some 
  hardened criminals to go free.
  Ef orts were made to reduce the corruption of the prison 
  guards and provide better living conditions for the prisoners (at 
  some points, there were as many as twenty prisoners who were 
  forced into cells meant for four prisoners), but all those ef orts 
  failed. When the government of Bogotá collapsed in 2071, 
  opportunistic guards and gang members took advantage of the 
  situation, and carried out political reprisals and hits against 
  rival gangs, cartel members, and other associates of Bogotá’s 
  paramilitary groups. When the prison was f nally abandoned, 
  close to five hundred prisoners (out of a population of six 
  thousand) were killed. Some of the less important prisoners were 
  lef  in their cells to starve to death. La Picota is a site of high 
  phantom, apparition, and specter activity.
  Despite the dark history of this prison, GreenWar has 
  chosen to take advantage of the fortif ed location (and the high 
  not uncommon to see members of GreenWar fighting it out 
  with those who are believed to be working for or who are 
  actually toxic shamans. At one time, certain sections of Zona 
  Sur were dedicated as parks and other urban refuges for the 
  rainforest and its wildlife. Though they are far more rare in 
  2073, there are still pristine sections inside Zona Sur that 
  appeal to those who are looking to preserve the environment 
  at all cost. The mountainous portions of Zona Sur also provide 
  covert access (keep in mind I didn’t say easy access) to the city 
  for Amazonian spies and guerilla cells.
  Zona Sur once contained hundreds of the tempo facilities 
  that the ghost cartels allegedly used to generate and supply the 
  world with the drug. Now, many of those facilities designated 
  for tempo production have been obliterated by Aztlan bombs 
  and have been lef  abandoned. Many are being overgrown by the 
  Awakened rainforest. Unfortunately, a lot of that growth is from 
  those damned devil trees, which are killing of  small farms and 
  ranches that don’t have the manpower to ef ectively f ght them 
  of . But despite the bombings, the ghost cartels still maintain 
  large f elds that produce crucial ingredients for their other street 
  and Awakened drugs. T ere is of en intense violence between the 
  farms that are controlled between the Olaya, the Andes and the 
  David cartels in the area, each one trying to put their competitors 
  out of business.
  T e farms that are still in operation and are not being used 
  to fuel the growth of street drugs for the cartels are being used 
  to supply Bogotá and other parts of the world with cotton, 
  sugarcane, cof ee, cut f owers, tobacco, rice, beans, barley, and 
  corn, among other crops. Some of these commodities are 
  processed to create alternative fuels used around the world. Some 
  of the commodities from the farms end up in the local mercados, 
  though due to the high demand and limited quantities, a vast 
  majority of the commodities are purchased (or stolen) for resell 
  by the cartels on the black market (with a signif cant markup). 
  Sadly, the commodities being sold on the black market should be 
  considered risky at best. Many of the small, independent farms 
  lack the capability to prevent dangerous parasites from growing 
  on their produce (and keep in mind, many of those parasites are 
  Awakened and are resistant to many forms of treatment). Others 
  use dangerously outdated (and often banned) pesticides to 
  keep insects away from destroying their crops. And many of the 
  pesticides are carcinogenic. You may be tempted to purchase some 
  of the fruits or vegetables that are rarely seen in such metroplexes 
  as Seattle, but there could be serious consequences for that choice 
  later on.
  Don Juan Landﬁ ll
  T e Don Juan Landf ll in Zona Sur is an ecological disaster, 
  even worse than the threat the Sangre Del Diablo trees pose in 
  the rainforest. T e damage the landf ll has wrought is so great 
  that all vegetation in the area dies when it approaches the area 
  surrounding the landf ll. T e Don Juan Landf ll has been gathering 
  refuse for decades beyond its intended lifespan, and it’s now f lled 
  with more garbage (much of it from illegal dumping of chemical 
  and biological waste from Aztlan and Aztechnology) than what 
  even Manhattan Island in the UCAS could ever produce. T ere 
  are conf rmed sightings of toxic shamans who have made the Don 
  Juan Landf ll a toxic domain to fuel their magic. Toxic and mutated 
  
  113
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Bogotá Natural Gas Power Plant
  In the neighborhood of Morena, the city of Bogotá is seeing 
  the beginnings of reconstruction of its infrastructure, starting 
  with the Bogotá Natural Gas Power Plant. T e power plant was 
  damaged during the street clashes between Aztlan forces and 
  opposition groups in early 2072. T e large investment of nuyen 
  and the specif c equipment needed to get the power plant back 
  online meant that no groups were willing or able to accomplish 
  this task on their own. Since there is no government in place 
  to make the necessary repairs, and since it was obvious that no 
  paramilitary groups were going to invest into the plant, Saeder-
  Krupp has chosen to enter the fray and has started to rebuild the 
  power plant. In addition to this one power plant, Saeder-Krupp 
  has its construction groups beginning to rebuild two hydroelectric 
  power plants in other parts of the city. It is believed that once these 
  three power plants are rebuilt, power will be restored to nearly a 
  quarter of the city’s population. Of course, that percentage would 
  be much higher if the electrical grid wasn’t in such disarray from 
  all the Aztechnology bombings and the reckless Amazonia attacks. 
  I have no doubt that once the power plants are back in working 
  order (and under Saeder-Krupp control) that Saeder-Krupp will 
  begin work on the electrical grid itself.
  > Great. That’s all this city needs. Another dragon sticking its snout 
  into Bogotá’s affairs. People aren’t going to stand for having to 
  be in debt to a great dragon halfway across the world, when three 
  more are bearing down on them from the rainforest. They saw what 
  background count), and has set up headquarters in this part of 
  Zona Sur. T e compound is believed to have close to f ve hundred 
  members stationed inside of it. GreenWar does not rely on local 
  gang members or tribes for security of this stronghold, but rather 
  employs only experienced mercs and shadowrunners. It is widely 
  believed that GreenWar has something of immense value to its 
  organization in this fortif ed location that requires the heightened 
  security measures. 
  > My guess would be that the prison holds one or two of GreenWar’s 
  dirty bombs. Back in the 2060s, they were believed to have gathered 
  enough radioactive material to make a handful of dirty bombs. Even 
  if they don’t have their entire arsenal located here in Bogotá (which 
  would be tactically unsound and would make themselves an even 
  bigger target for the cartels), I wouldn’t be surprised if GreenWar has 
  at least a couple of those bombs on hand inside the prison complex 
  now, just waiting to be used.
  > Hard Exit
  > I’ve heard (and some locals that I trust have told me they have 
  witnessed this ﬁ rsthand) that Sirrurg has frequented this location 
  several times recently. I’m no expert, but perhaps this may indicate 
  something big happening with GreenWar, perhaps on the same level 
  as the attack on Cali. It might be worth a recon mission just to ﬁ nd 
  out what that this could be, if only out of self-preservation from 
  these extremists.
  > Picador
  
  114
  War!
  BOGOTÁ NEIGHBORHOODS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  are unable to get to a hospital run by a neutral party (such as 
  the Catholic Church) will pay the high cost of getting care here. 
  Residents can get a signif cant discount if they are recruited into 
  the cartel, while established cartel members are treated at no 
  cost. T e street clinic is of en targeted by the other cartels, as 
  well as local gangs for the limited pharmaceuticals that the street 
  clinic has on hand. Local gang gang members help protect the 
  clinic from break-ins.
  T e clinic is capable of providing most of the typical street 
  clinic services. Surgeries performed here are particularly risky due 
  to the less-than-sanitary environment, not to mention the fact 
  certain infectious diseases seem to thrive in the vicinity of the 
  Awakened rainforest. In addition to medical services, the Native 
  Lands Street Clinic also has the David cartel’s regular menu of 
  street drugs available for purchase and consumption. Native Lands 
  is run by a veteran David cartel member named Isaac Sanchez, a 
  heavily cybered troll and street doc.
  The Liquid Python Occult Shop
  T e Liquid Python Occult Shop is located in the Monte 
  Blanco neighborhood and is another David cartel enterprise. T is 
  occult/talislegging shop sells reagents and exotic reagents taken 
  from the rainforest, as well as enchanting materials from other 
  parts of the world (materials that include sap and bark from Sangre 
  Del Diablo and Sangre Del Drago trees, naga emeralds, pelts and 
  enchanting materials taken from drakes, wyverns, lindworms and 
  great anacondas, and pelts of various Amazonian shapeshif ers, 
  including the common jaguar and eagle shapeshif ers and the rare 
  crocodile and snake shapeshif ers). T e Liquid Python is regularly 
  attacked by Amazonian forces attempting to stop poaching of 
  the rainforest, the Andes and the Olaya cartels, as well as by the 
  eco-terrorist groups of GreenWar and Primeira Vaga. T e Liquid 
  Python Occult Shop is protected by soldiers from the David 
  cartel and is also keep under watch by Aztechnology forces who 
  are looking to capture and interrogate members of GreenWar and 
  Primeira Vaga.
  Ghostwalker did to Denver, and what Hualpa and his cohorts did to 
  the metahuman population of Amazonia (and what Sirrurg and his 
  radicalism did to Cali), and a lot of them don’t want to have anything 
  to do with them.
  > Marcos
  > Saeder-Krupp has made sure that when they rebuild these plants, 
  they don’t become easy targets. They have moved in considerable 
  security forces to help protect their investments. While Aztlan 
  and Aztechnology haven’t been engaging Saeder-Krupp as much 
  as Horizon, Amazonia’s pulled some assets off their front lines to 
  harass and attack Saeder-Krupp directly. And Hualpa and the other 
  Great Dragons of Amazonia are not being very discreet about it; they 
  want Lofwyr to know in no uncertain terms that his presence is not 
  welcome in Bogotá. So far, Saeder-Krupp has been able to fend off 
  Amazonia’s attacks.
  > Black Mamba
  > I would keep an eye on the Saeder-Krupp situation; that scenario 
  has the potential for escalating out of control. Especially since my 
  sources tell me that the reconstruction on the power plants is a front 
  for Saeder-Krupp’s talislegging operations in the rainforest. Those 
  talislegging operations were nothing more than a rumor a few years 
  ago, but it would now seem that Lofwyr is bent on expanding them, 
  even at the risk making the existence of this operation known to 
  more people. If we knew metahumans raping the rainforest was 
  enough to piss Hualpa off, I wonder what the knowledge of another 
  great dragon doing the exact same thing is doing to him.
  > Picador
  Native Lands Street Clinic
  T e Native Lands Street Clinic, run by the David cartel, 
  is a former Catholic church, and it charges at least double 
  the amount of nuyen that it would normally cost to perform 
  a procedure for a local citizen. With scarce medical facilities 
  throughout Bogotá, most locals who have medical needs and 
  Lands Street Clinic also has the David cartel’s regular menu of 
  street drugs available for purchase and consumption. Native Lands 
  is run by a veteran David cartel member named Isaac Sanchez, a 
  heavily cybered troll and street doc.
  The Liquid Python Occult Shop
  T e Liquid Python Occult Shop is located in the Monte 
  Blanco neighborhood and is another David cartel enterprise. T is 
  occult/talislegging shop sells reagents and exotic reagents taken 
  from the rainforest, as well as enchanting materials from other 
  parts of the world (materials that include sap and bark from Sangre 
  Del Diablo and Sangre Del Drago trees, naga emeralds, pelts and 
  enchanting materials taken from drakes, wyverns, lindworms and 
  great anacondas, and pelts of various Amazonian shapeshif ers, 
  including the common jaguar and eagle shapeshif ers and the rare 
  including the common jaguar and eagle shapeshif ers and the rare 
  crocodile and snake shapeshif ers). T e Liquid Python is regularly 
  attacked by Amazonian forces attempting to stop poaching of 
  the rainforest, the Andes and the Olaya cartels, as well as by the 
  eco-terrorist groups of GreenWar and Primeira Vaga. T e Liquid 
  Python Occult Shop is protected by soldiers from the David 
  cartel and is also keep under watch by Aztechnology forces who 
  are looking to capture and interrogate members of GreenWar and 
  Primeira Vaga.
   I would keep an eye on the Saeder-Krupp situation; that scenario 
  has the potential for escalating out of control. Especially since my 
  sources tell me that the reconstruction on the power plants is a front 
  for Saeder-Krupp’s talislegging operations in the rainforest. Those 
  talislegging operations were nothing more than a rumor a few years 
  ago, but it would now seem that Lofwyr is bent on expanding them, 
  even at the risk making the existence of this operation known to 
  more people. If we knew metahumans raping the rainforest was 
  enough to piss Hualpa off, I wonder what the knowledge of another 
  great dragon doing the exact same thing is doing to him.
  great dragon doing the exact same thing is doing to him.
  T e Native Lands Street Clinic, run by the David cartel, 
  is a former Catholic church, and it charges at least double 
  the amount of nuyen that it would normally cost to perform 
  a procedure for a local citizen. With scarce medical facilities 
  throughout Bogotá, most locals who have medical needs and 
  
  War!
  115
  . . . GLOBAL HOTSPOTS . . .
  For the ﬁ rst time, the ork looked down at the dwarf. “This 
  is a black spot, Dylan. It was in the debrieﬁ ng. We triggered the 
  escalation here, but the war itself is going to take place miles 
  from here. We aren’t here working with the militia. We’re here 
  destroying the infrastructure. Able-bodied refugees turn into 
  extremists, which is exactly what Baez wants for phase two of 
  the operation.”
  The dwarf sulked, but more at having been corrected. The 
  ork snorted and hit the button. Before anyone could even cover 
  their ears, the quiet morning erupted into explosions and the 
  sound of metal rent by its own weight. The tower went down, 
  and with it, the water supply for the whole village and most of 
  the farming communities nearby.
  Gunfire answered the explosion and the company was 
  quickly under ﬁ re. Locals seeing suspicious foreigners around 
  the water supply hadn’t gone unnoticed.
  “You know where to go. Scatter!” the ork growled. The rest 
  of the mercs started to move under ﬁ re, spaying back suppres-
  sive ﬁ re. The human and the dwarf made it no more than four 
  meters before the new guy looked back and shouted, “Seeger’s 
  down!”
  “Ringo” started to turn back, but Dylan grabbed him by 
  the arm, wrenching him forward and away from the war zone. 
  “Leave him. He’s a write-off now.”
  “But he’s the leader.”
  “No he isn’t.”
  The ground unit converged outside a water tower just be-
  fore dawn. It was quiet, possibly for the ﬁ rst time in days, as 
  the shelling hadn’t stopped since a suicide bomber interrupted 
  a local holiday. That had been the catalyst this time. It was 
  one of Baez’s favorite moves since it left no one to answer to 
  military tribunals later. It meant fewer payoffs, because nothing 
  undercuts proﬁ ts like payoffs. Baez was never on the ground 
  with the mercs; she just called shots through an aging ork the 
  company called Seeger.
  They stood is silence. They didn’t even look at one another. 
  It wasn’t a tense silence; it was a utilitarian one.
  A moment or two passed before a tragically good-looking 
  male elf hurried out of some brush near to the water tower. He 
  grinned to himself. “Waterworks, check.” He tossed a black box 
  with a blinking red button to the ork who caught it. 
  “New kid’s called Ringo for now; maybe it’ll stick if he makes 
  it out. I’ll tell you if you need to know anything about him.” the 
  ork nodded in the direction of a young man, but no one looked. 
  “What do we have?” he thumbed back to the water tower.
  “City’s only water supply.” said the dwarf from a computer 
  read-out. “We could set up some of the local militia; they’d be 
  able to hold it. If they’ve got the water, one or two afternoons in 
  this heat and the state soldiers will lay down arms.”
  “We’ll blow it,” said the ork, holding up the black box.
  “Wait!” the dwarf moved forward, holding a hand up. “If we 
  blow it, the community will be dry in days. What’s the point?”
  
  War!
  GLOBAL HOTSPOTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  . . .
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  kind of racism, where people don’t like someone whose skin is a 
  few shades different from their own. From a societal point of view, 
  that fear can be destructive. From the working-to-promote-violence 
  point of view, it’s gold. See, there’s still a lot of old beliefs about 
  who the Romani are or aren’t, and it isn’t hard to get a grudgingly 
  acceptant population to remember their old hatreds. So on one 
  mission, we go in there and start spreading rumors. We suggest 
  that a sickness that’s going around and making a lot of Czechs 
  miserable is coming out of the Romani camps. Then we hint that 
  the Romani are deliberately weakening their fellow countrymen so 
  they can move in on the magical ore under the ground and steal 
  away the only chance the locals have for fame and fortune. We point 
  out when there are attacks on livestock—attacks that probably came 
  from wolves, but we tell them it looks suspicious. We don’t have to 
  be right, we just have to be believable.
  So we do this work, and make it so people don’t like the 
  Romani, but that’s nothing really new. If we want real tension, we 
  need to make both sides angry. Luckily for us, the Romani are insular 
  and kind of secretive. I realized I could stage some attacks inside 
  the camps, and easily make them think its coming from the Czechs, 
  and they won’t go complaining about it. No, they’ll just stage their 
  own silent retaliations.
  And just like that, the “villains” have thrown the ﬁ rst punch. 
  The Romani might have been silent about their small attack, but 
  we make sure everyone knows who did what. And resentments con-
  tinue to pile up to the point where more people are likely to get hurt. 
  Throw in the recent AGS immigrants and their growing suspicion 
  that they’re not wanted, and you have a lot of ways to turn people 
  against each other—or to encourage people already set against each 
  other to act on their hatred.
  One little hitch in the whole thing is that the people in the area 
  have been interbreeding for years, so there isn’t really as clear a 
  delineation between Rom and Czech as they’d like. But we can use 
  that to our advantage. Spread some rumors, staged some rallies to 
  stoke nationalism or ethnic pride, and soon no one knows who to 
  ﬁ ght anymore and everyone is taking pot shots at everyone else. 
  Suspicions start to grow, and people start to think that maybe they 
  need to worry about protecting themselves from their neighbors 
  instead of banding together and taking advantage of the wealth 
  buried under the ground. They focus less on mining operations, 
  more on military build-up.
  Which is exactly how my employers wanted it.
  OVERVIEW
  Ethnic and racial tensions, combined with a thriving 
  smuggling trade and rumors of unexploited orichalcum deposits, 
  combine to keep tensions in Marienbad at a constant simmer, 
  even when there seems little chance that it will actually boil over. 
  Ostensibly an autonomous region, the province benef ts (or suf ers 
  from) the intervening hand of the great dragon Schwartzkopf. 
  His hef  helped get the Council on its feet to begin with, and 
  his interest in the well-being of the Romani helps prevent more 
  overt aggression against them by their neighbors. In return, the 
  residents of Marienbad fatten the dragon’s cof ers with their taxes.
  In Marienbad, there are several ways for people to not like 
  each other. Along with the existing tensions between the Romani 
  and other ethnic groups, the area is experiencing stress from 
  immigrants who f ooded into the region from the Allied German 
  War is a lot of things. You’ve probably heard some of the 
  clichés. T is chapter focuses on, when it is, not what it is. War 
  can be coming, war can be here, or war can be gone. While the 
  immediacy of a current war is certainly powerful, pending wars 
  arguably bear more tension, and past wars directly impact lives 
  more thoroughly. T is section summarizes a handful of locations 
  that are on the brink of war, that are at war, or that are still feeling 
  the af ershocks of a recent war. Instead of going into details about 
  the locations, of ering a bunch of facts, this section of ers hooks 
  and anecdotes. Af er all, aren’t wars just very large collections of 
  anecdotes when you look at the big picture? Each section includes 
  at least three ideas to toss characters directly into the action, 
  showing the role of shadowrunners before, during, and af er wars.
  MARIENBAD COUNCIL
  • Are you paying attention Ringo, I mean close attention? You better, 
  because when you have this all written down and published, it’s 
  going to make us both a lot of money. Frag Che Guevara. Frag Sun 
  Tzu. Those guys were amateurs adding a lot of poetry and crap to 
  what is, at the end of the day a really simple process. All war, and I 
  mean all war, starts exactly the same way. It can be a long process, 
  years in the making, but the same seeds are always present.
  Someone decides that the only way they are going to get what 
  they want is if someone is ﬁ ghting someone else. Maybe there’s 
  someone, or a whole group of someones, that they don’t like, and 
  that they believe they can’t reason with, and that they thus must 
  vanquish through shooting at them repeatedly. Maybe these people 
  have something—land, especially land with resources—that the ﬁ rst 
  group wants. Maybe there’s an outside agitator, a corporation with 
  an arms line that isn’t selling as well as it could be. Or maybe it’s 
  all these things, all these factors, coming together to make a place 
  that seems relatively peaceful now ready to be violent in the future.
  The trick in these places is the same as the trick in old Westerns 
  from the former United States—if you want to continue being the 
  guy in the white hat, you’d better make sure the other guy draws 
  ﬁ rst. So in places like this, there is a lot of effort—propaganda, runs 
  designed to make people annoyed and suspicious, frame-ups, and 
  the occasional mysterious assassination—aimed at goading one side 
  into lashing out ﬁ rst so that the other can appear as the aggrieved 
  victim. And then really lower the hammer.
  Take Marienbad, for instance. My outﬁ t is being paid top nuyen 
  to get involved in that little backwater. Now, don’t get me wrong—
  the place isn’t about to break out into open war. Schwarzkopf has 
  got his eye watching over it, and no one likes to make a dragon 
  mad. But just because there’s not open war doesn’t mean people 
  won’t be dying, and it doesn’t mean there won’t be war-like mis-
  sions for people like us to perform. There’s plenty of stuff going 
  on here—border tensions, ethnic tensions, smuggling, and rumors 
  about orichalcum in the ground that might make these few hundred 
  acres of cold mud actually worth something.
  If you want to know what kind of work might be available in 
  Marienbad, you need to start with two native powers—the Romani 
  and the warlords. You also need to remember that if you’re looking 
  to set people against each other, one of the easiest ways to do it is 
  to stoke the ever-smoldering ﬁ re of racial resentment. It’s not only 
  about not liking elves or orks—there’s plenty of the old-fashioned 
  
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  GLOBAL HOTSPOTS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  men stepped in at exactly the wrong time, taking her prisoner. 
  Dmitri could have probably saved her by stepping in and 
  confessing his machinations—they might have killed him, but 
  he’d have saved his would-be bride. He didn’t, and now he’s feeling 
  regret. Mainly, regret at the loss of plenty of potential income.
  Dmitri wasn’t aware, though, that Sori wasn’t a prisoner for 
  long. When Yuri explained to her how she was sold out by one of 
  her people, she turned on them. Sori was a survivor and a f ghter. 
  And she needed money. She was the perfect addition to Yuri’s little 
  group of commandos. 
  When the runners f nd Sori, they realize she’s no longer 
  prisoner. In fact, if they explain their motivations, she’ll 
  one-up Dmitri’s of er. She’ll pay them to take him out, since he 
  abandoned her.
  CHAOS AS A CATALYST
  Everything’s been at a standstill for quite some time, 
  which some people take as a nice sign of peace, and others 
  see as a sign that tensions must be just about at the breaking 
  point. It’s at this point that the universe steps in to influence 
  things. During a particularly terrible summer day, the air bursts 
  into a mana storm. Of course, the storm is blamed on every 
  possible source. A Czech soldier blames the immigrants. The 
  immigrants blame the Romani tribes. The Romani blame the 
  warlords. The warlords blame the Russians. The Russians 
  blame anyone besides themselves. Technically, they’re all 
  equally right, in the sense of being completely wrong about 
  the cause of the storm. Regardless, the storm pushes groups 
  into action against each other. 
  T is scenario assumes the runners were present for another 
  job when this happened. T eir job ends as a skirmish breaks out 
  between Romani guerillas, an immigrant militia, and a warlord’s 
  troops, and instead of working for hire, they need to f ght their 
  way out. T e mana storm is no joke, but the troops closing in on 
  them aren’t, either. T ey need to f gure out if they can make some 
  quick battlef eld allies—or if they can just shoot their way out and 
  get away clean. 
  THE ROMANI JOB
  T e Romani tribes of Marienbad have a vested interest in 
  keeping the peace. Peace means prosperity for locals. Prosperity 
  for locals means more opportunities for them, both legitimate 
  and illegitimate. Besides, f ghting leads to unwanted bystander 
  casualties, and in this case, the Romani would be the bystanders. 
  In this scenario, the Romani hire the runners to keep the peace 
  through brief, pointed violence against three high-prof le targets. 
  T e f rst target is Radek Vaclav from the above scenario. He’s 
  the simplest target. His men are disorganized and he’s chaotic. So 
  long as there’s no warning, the runners should be able to take him 
  out quickly. T is should get the runners invested in their mission 
  and make them less likely to pull out. T e Romani people want this.
  T e next target is Martha Washington—at least, that’s her 
  code name. She’s known to be American, thought to be a smuggler, 
  but nobody knows if she’s connected to a larger organization or 
  just working on her own with her small group of mercenaries. 
  She’s trying to get in and make deals, ideally to set up an arms 
  trade with one side. Her group is organized, well funded, and well 
  equipped. Its only weak point is its size. A good surprise could 
  States in the wake of Crash 2.0. T ey’ve been welcomed—to a 
  degree. All these immigrants are supposed to become citizens by 
  January 1, 2075, or risk deportation. Some are doing their best to 
  meet this requirement, while others feel the order was not made 
  in good faith—that the government never had the intention 
  of granting all of them citizenship, and that the deadline was 
  only given to allow the government enough time to prepare for 
  mass deportations. T ese groups plan on resisting forcefully if 
  necessary when the time comes, and some of the old warlords have 
  reared their heads, re-building the militias that ran wild before 
  Schwartzkopf’s intervention.
  Smuggling causes some tension in the region if only because 
  it’s a signif cant source of income, and where there’s money, there 
  are people willing to fight for it. More conservative elements 
  in Marienbad suggest that tight border controls would have a 
  positive impact on both the immigration and smuggling problem, 
  and some of them are willing to grab their guns and secure the 
  borders themselves if they need to.
  The last ingredient in Marienbad’s stew is the continued 
  rumors that there is undiscovered orichalcum resting beneath the 
  area’s surface. No one knows where the deposit is, or how far down 
  it’s buried, but most residents of Marienbad are convinced it exists 
  and are planning some way to access the eventual riches that will 
  f ow in when it is excavated.
  COVERT OPERATIONS
  In an area where people are becoming increasingly suspicious 
  of each other, staying silent and discreet is of en a good idea. A Mr. 
  Johnson gives over a docket to a group trusted to move quickly 
  and without inf aming local tensions. T eir job is simple; they 
  must deliver a care package, a small electronic box, to one Radek 
  Vaclav. Before leaving, they must collect payment upon delivery. 
  Vaclav is a would-be local warlord, ready to charge take on more 
  powerful warlords near him or to challenge the Romani as a way of 
  making a name for himself. He’s mean and hot-tempered, which 
  gives the runners good reason to be in and out before he even 
  opens the package. T e group isn’t made aware of the package’s 
  contents, and maybe it’s for the better. The box contains the 
  dismembered head of Vaclav’s father.
  Upon checking his package, Vaclav takes drastic action, 
  calling for the assassination of one of his rivals. Needless to say, 
  that action could start an endless series of reprisals and revenge-
  motivated violence. Runners can get out before they get more 
  involved in the shooting—or find a way to profit from the 
  increasing tensions.
  FOR LOVE NOT SORI
  Dmitri loves Sori, or so he says to the runners. He doesn’t 
  have a lot to of er as payment, but she was abducted and he wants 
  her back. You see, they were childhood friends; he was preparing 
  to propose to her when Yuri Stanislav’s men took her. T e two 
  were all but destined to be together.
  T is is the story he tells the crew. 
  T e truth is that he’s a con artist. Sure, he was supposed to 
  marry Sori, but hardly out of love. Her father was a rather wealthy 
  smuggler, and Dmitri would have inherited the family’s wealth. 
  T ings went wrong, though, on one of Dmitri’s little con jobs, 
  when he happened to be using Sori as bait. Unfortunately, Yuri’s 
  
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  GLOBAL HOTSPOTS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  political strife ends, but corporate strife begins, and we’ve got the 
  makings of a whole new conﬂ ict here. It won’t be as destructive as 
  the civil war, because for the most part corps conduct their conﬂ icts 
  with a little more subtlety than nations. But don’t let that fool you 
  into thinking the struggle won’t be vicious. It’ll just be vicious with 
  a veneer of civility, like the supervillain in a spy trid. 
  The biggest shift when you move from a clash of nations to 
  a clash of corporations is you have to leave ideology behind. The 
  philosophies and political arguments that held sway when the civil 
  war was raging have been left by the wayside. Now there’s only one 
  idea—maximizing proﬁ t. But there are two sides (at least) trying to 
  do it. Saeder-Krupp has the upper hand right now, as they bought a 
  lot of loyalty with their intervention in the civil war. But Evo’s been 
  going against S-K for a long time, and they’re not going to start 
  conceding territory to them now. 
  Free Poland is still taking shape, and so is this corporate con-
  ﬂ ict. It’s unclear just how open the violence is going to be, but Evo 
  knows that all the Saeder-Krupp money in the world can’t make 
  the divisions of the civil war disappear, and if they can ﬁ nd a way 
  to take advantage of those divisions in the corporate ﬁ ght, you bet 
  your ass they’ll do it.
  OVERVIEW
  Saeder-Krupp’s intervention brought an end to the Polish 
  civil war, but it gave birth to a new conf ict—one that is not as 
  openly destructive as the war, but one that has high stakes and 
  involves at least two big, powerful players. T e end of the war 
  brought new popularity to S-K within Poland’s borders, which 
  naturally did not sit well with Evo. Poland is now ideally situated 
  to be the proxy site where Saeder-Krupp and Evo can work out 
  any conf icts they have.
  T e two megas are not the only players in this particular 
  struggle, though—Maersk and ESUS are also competing heavily 
  for market share, and while for the most part they’ve kept to 
  conventional espionage and shadow ops, the f ghting between the 
  two megas could provide an excuse for them to get a little more 
  aggressive, or to look to grab some market share from the megas 
  while they’re overly focused on each other.
  In the middle of all this corporate intrigue is the Polish 
  government, which understandably feels it owes a debt to Saeder-
  Krupp. T ey don’t feel they can cut any ties to S-K yet (and many 
  administrators have no desire to perform such an action), but the 
  more they feel that they are a pawn in corporate maneuvers, the 
  more they will push back against Saeder-Krupp’s wishes. T ey also 
  have to remember that while the civil war is over, the opposition 
  is still out there, looking for an opportunity to pounce on any 
  perceived weakness in the new government.
  YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION?
  Free Poland has achieved its autonomy, but that does not 
  mean opposition groups have given up. There are still local 
  militia groups supported by Russian organizations (many of 
  which are covertly funded by Evo) that have not given up on the 
  f ght for Poland.
  Mr. Johnson offers a hefty contract to runners to assist 
  one of these opposition groups. Travel is covered. Expenses 
  are covered. It sounds almost too good to be true. It’s not. T e 
  thing is, Mr. Johnson could care less about the opposition itself; 
  deliver a punch that would stop this group before it has the chance 
  to become a threat.
  T e last target is Yuri Stanislav. Yuri is a free agent working 
  for the Russians, looking to sow chaos while also making allies 
  that might help him gain access to the ore in the ground if 
  mining ever starts. Yuri runs a private militia that is versatile and 
  knowledgeable in the terrain and tactics of the region. T ey’re 
  f ercely loyal, at least to Yuri’s rather lucrative pay. T eoretically, 
  runners could buy that loyalty by outspending Yuri. A frontal 
  assault is entirely unrealistic—the unit’s not huge, but it’s certainly 
  bigger than the typical runner team. Assassination is a chore and a 
  huge risk. It’ll take a world of creativity to remove Yuri from power.
  T e best bet may be for the runners to play Washington and 
  Yuri against one another. It’s not dif  cult for an enterprising group. 
  Marienbad is full of suspicions and shif ing alliances—the runners 
  will just have to f gure out how to get these two on each other’s 
  bad side.
  THE FREE REPUBLIC OF POLAND
  • Well no, the proﬁ t in war isn’t always about starting them. I think 
  that occasionally we run across one of these situations I had nothing 
  to do with. No, really, as they used to say in the bad old days, I was 
  in Argentina during that war. But even if it isn’t my work, an outﬁ t 
  like mine knows how to make money in any situation, because there 
  are simply too many ways to proﬁ t when men are killing each other. 
  Take Poland, for instance. It must have been a good seven years 
  ago when I was just a proﬁ teer. Hell, the money we made there was 
  what really gave me the liquidity to start into full-scale war-making. 
  That was real political tension, I mean, I’m sure they had some 
  great propagandists pulling strings, but I can’t point to the corps 
  being behind it all. We came in just before the Russians backed the 
  Republic, which was handy since the Russians seemed to bring their 
  own collection of proﬁ teers—they might have been state sanctioned, 
  for all I know. So we had the Free Poles and the Republic spoiling to 
  murder one another to win the opportunity to say who was in charge. 
  Typical revolution to be squashed by a powerful regime. 
  The only problem was, the revolutionaries had real devotion 
  and passion. It isn’t a good thing, per se, when you’re a soldier’s 
  mother, since it means these kids will ﬁ ght to the very last boy, but 
  for the Free Poles, it meant they could stand up against both the 
  Republic an the Russians.
  All they really needed were guns and ammo.
  Luckily for the Free Poles, there we were with a seemingly 
  endless supply of bigger and better guns. That’s the trick, you 
  see, escalation. You give them a riﬂ e that can hit a man a half a 
  kilometer away, the other side shows up with riﬂ es that can hit a 
  man a kilometer away. That’s when you sell them a riﬂ e that can hit 
  a man 1,500 meters away. Of course, we were supplying the Republic 
  with guns too, so I had a great estimation of just how to time the 
  escalation for maximum return of funds. Yeah, it’s disgusting, but 
  we are talking about war, not tea parties. 
  So the key to playing both sides is all a matter of trust. Now, 
  the picture is different these days. The political unrest has died 
  down, thanks to Saeder-Krupp jumping in and ensuring Poland’s 
  autonomy. But if life teaches us anything, it’s that peace is just a 
  brief void waiting to by ﬁ lled by someone who wants something. So 
  
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  GLOBAL HOTSPOTS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  against them, and then negotiate an appropriate reward for 
  exposing them—and, with luck, a reduction in convoy attacks.
  WORK BRINGS FREEDOM
  Oświęcim was under a spiritual barrier for a number of years. 
  Oświęcim was home to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most well known 
  of the Nazi party’s concentration camps. During the Holocaust, 
  1.1 million people died within its walls. T is led it to become one 
  of the most haunted places on the planet. Ghosts of all shapes and 
  sizes dwelled within, frightening out or murdering all residents of 
  Oświęcim. Because of the sheer magnitude of the haunting, a great 
  number of other things found home there.
  For the inclined occult investigator, Auschwitz-Birkenau is a 
  treasure trove. It’s also a remarkably dangerous trap. Earlier this year, 
  an entrepreneur named Tetsuo Shuumatsu hired a cabal of sorcerers, 
  charging them with the removal of the barrier. He’s an arms dealer, 
  one who specializes in the weapons necessary to take down ghosts. 
  With such an infestation of ghosts, only a silly buyer would hesitate 
  to pay top dollar for his wares. His greed opened this treasure trove 
  to the public, allowing those without a sense of self-preservation 
  to have a unique opportunity to drudge for necromantic artifacts. 
  The town proper is effectively still a town, albeit a town 
  inhabited by the angry and hungry dead. T ey don’t take kindly 
  to the living, but aren’t necessarily hostile unless provoked. Many 
  are simply living out echoes of their past existences as harmless 
  villagers. T e real problem comes from the concentration camps 
  proper. The three main campuses are surrounded by about 
  fifty smaller camps. Each of the smaller camps is a hotbed of 
  supernatural activity, but nothing compared to the magnitude of 
  the central collective.
  In particular, Auschwitz II is remarkable. It was the source 
  of the vast majority of deaths—it’s what most people think of 
  when referencing Auschwitz. It’s nightmare made f esh, almost a 
  living organism unto itself. T e halls audibly scream and cry, the 
  ghosts beg for release so much that most people couldn’t even hear 
  themselves speak. For your average runner, Auschwitz II is suicide. 
  Only the most enterprising groups will survive the trip. But such a 
  trip can result in great rewards (see T e Fleshf nder, below). 
  THE FLESHFINDER
  Deep within the bowels of Auschwitz II during WWII, 
  Dr. Eduard Wirths conducted and supervised thousands of 
  odd experiments on the human body. He tested mustard gas on 
  innocents. He mutilated twins. He held people in tanks of ice 
  water for hours or until dead. He exposed prisoners to malaria. He 
  forced them to drink seawater. One particular implement from his 
  experiments, a rusted old scalpel, was lef  in the labs. Over many 
  years, it was energized by the various ghosts passing by it, feeding 
  of  their death energies. At this point, it’s taken on a life of its own. 
  T e rusty old scalpel craves death. It only f nds itself at home 
  when f ush with warm blood. Although this makes it a remarkably 
  ef ective weapon, anyone holding it is subject to the sounds of its 
  past victims. As a function of this, when the weapon is in hand, 
  the character is considered distracted and suf ers a –4 dice pool 
  modif er to all Perception Tests. If she attempts to Observe in 
  Detail as a Simple Action, she only suf ers a –2 dice pool modif er.
  Reach: 0, Damage: (Str/2+4)P, AP: –2, Availability: N/A 
  (unique item), Market Value: 10,000¥
  he actually wants to strengthen the national government (and, 
  indirectly, Saeder-Krupp). His employers are conf dent they can 
  defend themselves against whatever attacks the runners and their 
  opposition group allies devise, and that such an attack will present 
  the perfect excuse to crackdown on all manner of opposition 
  groups. Of course, this also means that if the runners train and 
  lead the group, they might be casualties of the operation. Oh 
  well—at least casualties don’t need to be paid.
  HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
  Czestochowa is the Roman Catholic Church’s base in 
  Poland. Holy Mother Church wants an much-increased presence 
  in Warsaw. Holy Mother Church couldn’t be seen associating with 
  the unsavory shadowrunners, could she? She might be willing to 
  entrust this expansion plan to a solid crew. What she needs is 
  really quite simple: She needs the University of Warsaw to back 
  of  with its atheist and heathen rhetoric. Simple, right? 
  What they really need is some controlled chaos, some 
  low-grade terrorism and maybe extortion for good measure. T e 
  only caveat is that the Church can’t know what happened. In fact, 
  they don’t want names or even faces for operatives. T e Johnson 
  involved isn’t a member of the Church, but he makes it clear to the 
  group that they cannot be tied to whatever said chaos happens to be. 
  When the shit hits the fan, the Church comes to the rescue. 
  Church agents bust in, ready and willing to protect and help 
  its atheist comrades. So the runners were framed. T ey end up 
  looking like problems, while the Church looks like a band of 
  superheroes. Clearly, the university will allow for the expansion at 
  this point. And if the runners try turning the tables, the Church 
  operatives have no idea what’s going on. It’ll take a lot more than 
  a few pointed f ngers to reveal this lie.
  WHITE LINE FEVER
  Maersk’s situation in Poland is of en quite dif  cult, since one 
  way that corporations like to go af er each other is by interrupting 
  each other’s shipments, and of en the shipments they disrupt have 
  megacorp goods being hauled in Maersk vehicles. T e damage 
  from these raids is getting to be a bit high, and Maersk would like 
  to reduce the frequency of these raids while gaining some leverage 
  on Saeder-Krupp and Evo.
  Runners are hired to provide security on Maersk convoys 
  in Poland, but they are told that stopping the attacks on these 
  convoys is only their secondary goal. T eir principal focus should 
  be on gathering evidence about who is behind the attacks, with 
  particular ef ort being paid to implicate Saeder-Krupp and Evo 
  in the attacks. Maersk might even be willing to work with forged 
  data that provides the information they want.
  One way to use the gathered evidence would be to confront 
  each megacorp with it and demand that they stop, but given 
  that megacorps generally have little to no shame, confronting 
  them with evidence of their misdeeds is generally not going to 
  cause much of a reaction. Instead, Maersk enlists the runners in 
  a more complicated game. T ey are to take the evidence of S-K’s 
  involvement in the attack to Evo (and vice versa) and present 
  themselves as an aggrieved party willing to forge an alliance to 
  strike back at the corp that wronged them. From there (the best 
  corporate intrigue is never simple) they’ll go back to their original 
  attacker, present evidence that their enemy corp is conspiring 
  
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  many bystanders died. The incident was tragic, messy, and almost 
  entirely staged. By the time it was over, though, the media had 
  moved on to the next big story. They turned the missionaries into 
  heroes and martyrs, and left Somalia alone to continue stumbling 
  to lawlessness. No one won that war. No one every really wins war. 
  The pay cleared my accounts, that’s what’s important.
  OVERVIEW
  Part of the Ethiomalian Territories, Somalia continues in 
  the tumult that has engulfed much of Africa for decades, or even 
  centuries. Various individuals or groups occasionally attempt to act 
  as a central government, but since communication throughout the 
  territories isn’t good, and since power there is dif  cult to maintain, 
  their ef orts seldom endure. Currently, there is a sort-of government 
  that manages to cling to a small degree of power mainly because 
  people believe they’re trying to be helpful. Since those that hold 
  the real power, such as the growing corporation Bosaso Enterprises, 
  are not interested in sharing power with do-gooders, the power and 
  reach of the current government is limited.
  T e closest thing to a nationwide organization used to be 
  Ifrit Services, the Abu Dhabi-based organization that recently 
  came to view the territories as exploitable territory. Due to 
  Ifrit’s decentralized nature, though, the corporation was not 
  very effective as a governing body, but they were at least a 
  recognizable presence in Somalia for a time, and they needed 
  some coordination and organization in order to strip the land of 
  resources as thoroughly as they did. But in the end it turned out 
  that that there wasn’t a whole lot to exploit in the area, so af er 
  running roughshod over the Ethiomalian Territories for a few 
  years, Ifrit pulled back, leaving a void where exploitive industry 
  had been. T ere are still traces of Ifrit in Somalia, most notably 
  a few offices near the east coast that are the center of various 
  smuggling operations.
  BUCKLING SWASH
  Mitsuhama Computer Technologies wants Somalia. It wants 
  the cheap workers. It wants the vast expanses of unused land. It 
  wants to be away from the geographical attention of the other 
  megacorps, a place to call home, a place to set up an industrial 
  base. T eir issue comes down to pirates. No matter what they 
  move in, if it’s even remotely valuable, pirates take it. T is is where 
  the runners come in.
  Mitsuhama offers a contract, carte blanche in nature. 
  Mitsuhama isn’t hiring for work conducted; they’re hiring for 
  results. T ey are paying to obtain a guarantee that pirates will 
  not attack their planned settlements. T is actions used to create 
  this guarantee could include assassination, diplomacy, terrorism, 
  or any number of methods. T e problem is, the pirates are not 
  particularly organized. T ey assemble in dozens of gangs. Some of 
  these gangs are very informal; some could be better described as 
  cults. Some believe they’re on a holy mission against their enemies.
  Enterprising runners could come out of this job with higher 
  prof ts than expected, since the pirates aren’t exactly poor and are 
  of en easily manipulated. Many will follow whatever leadership 
  presets itself, so long as that leadership isn’t af  liated with the 
  corporations that have destroyed their homes and families.
  On the other hand, if the runners’ motives are discovered, 
  the pirates’ lack of organization becomes less important as fervor 
  SOMALIA
  • I already told you I don’t want to talk about our work in Somalia, but 
  you’re going to make me anyway, aren’t you? Fine, frag it, pass me 
  another shot and I’ll tell you about Somalia.
  That place has a long, bad history. If you know war, or African 
  politics, Somalia brings about a certain sentiment of violence and 
  lawlessness. Also pirates. I knew all that when Ifrit Services con-
  tacted me asking for a Hail Mary pass. They were running low on 
  resources. Between the factions they were ﬁ ghting off, they were 
  losing badly.
  So I read some history and came up with a plan. Simply put, 
  we’d do something nasty, blame it on the local faction, and wait 
  for international politics to get involved and save Ifrit a lot of time 
  money and effort.
  It seemed easy enough; I went back to the books to come up 
  with just the right bit of nastiness. It would require two things, inno-
  cent bystanders and non-Somali targets to make sure the issue was 
  nice and international. As has been the case for a long time, most 
  pirates took their orders from a village elder or patriarch. Ultimately, 
  a politician is a politician though, and it didn’t take much to buy one 
  out. He put together a crew of young able-bodied pirates, though 
  they couldn’t have been much more then teenagers. 
  Frag. Pass me another shot and I’ll go on. I just need a minute is all.
  So we start spreading rumors locally and internationally that 
  there’s a group of insurgents backing some of the local village elders, 
  though leave out the why and let it run wild for a while. After it’s hit 
  some big media sources, we put the kids into action. They’re just 
  going to do what they’ve always done, I’m just telling them where 
  to go and when. I ﬁ nd out that there’s a passenger ship that’s being 
  forced through Somali waters. Better yet, it’s full of missionaries 
  from places farther east. The kids don’t have much trouble taking 
  the ship, especially with the new ﬁ repower we gave them. The mis-
  sionaries are afraid, praying instead of ﬁ ghting, and they didn’t bring 
  security like a big oil rig would.
  That’s when we have a third party start posting ransom 
  demands. Unreasonable demands for money and resources far 
  exceeding anything the missionaries’ families can pay. A day or two, 
  and more and more of the media’s unblinking eye has focused on 
  the little patch of water holding our pirates and their victims. Kids 
  holding kids hostage so a corporation can bleed native people dry 
  while no one is watching.
  When a few international navies show up, trying to negotiate 
  with the pirates, they’re in for the fun of ﬁ nding kidnappers who don’t 
  have demands and don’t know anything about the larger plan they’re 
  a part of. They’re just terriﬁ ed they’re going to be shot and killed, and 
  they take no action out of fear of choosing the wrong option.
  Meanwhile, we’ve faked claims from the Muslim group as well 
  as the insurgents that they’re the ones behind the hostage situation. 
  The media eats it up and everyone wants to know which type of evil, 
  desperate Somali decided to kidnap sweet innocent missionaries.
  By a week or two, Ifrit had withdrawn entirely and was no 
  longer interested in paying us. I guess I was really supposed to be 
  creating a smoke screen for their exit. I can at least call it a good 
  play on their part.
  We withdrew as well; the pirates panicked and started shoot-
  ing the hostages, but they were taken out by snipers before too 
  SOMALIA
  • I already told you I don’t want to talk about our work in Somalia, but 
  you’re going to make me anyway, aren’t you? Fine, frag it, pass me 
  another shot and I’ll tell you about Somalia.
  That place has a long, bad history. If you know war, or African 
  politics, Somalia brings about a certain sentiment of violence and 
  lawlessness. Also pirates. I knew all that when Ifrit Services con-
  tacted me asking for a Hail Mary pass. They were running low on 
  
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  to come from the air. T e Ethiomalian government puts a bounty 
  on water, ten nuyen per gallon in fact. Sounds like the easiest job 
  ever, right?
  Wrong. 
  Water is heavy. T at alone is complicated. Moving water 
  by boat is inef  cient. Moving it across the African continent is 
  dangerous. Moving it from the north is risky, and the deserts aren’t 
  welcoming to travelers. Any direction you take the water, you have 
  to contest with people just as interested as you are in collecting 
  that bounty, of en times more so—many of them believe this water 
  is the ticket to a better life. Pirates, gangs, organized criminals and 
  even average people will put their lives on the line for that water. 
  T ey refuse to see what the water means, outside of the immediate 
  improvement in lifestyle.
  Sadly, the Ethiomalian government is having cash flow 
  problems at the moment and is having dif  culty paying its debts. 
  T e runners may get the water where its supposed to be only to 
  f nd out the payment they expected isn’t available. So what now? 
  T ey could refuse the delivery at that point, but what are the 
  runners going to do with tankers full of water? T ere are people 
  who need that water—are the runners really going to deny them 
  their chance for survival? T is scenario allows you to play with 
  the players’ expectations, to toy with the characters’ personal 
  morality and accountability. If they’re willing to let the culture die, 
  make sure to hit them back for it. T e people will revolt. Leaving 
  Somalia won’t be a pleasant experience; the government will turn 
  around and put up some fake money for bounties on the team. 
  NEPAL
  • There are advantages and disadvantages to working in a hot spot 
  the rest of the world doesn’t see. On the one hand, you don’t have to 
  worry about unwanted eyes paying too much attention to your work. 
  On the other hand, if one of the participants has an overwhelming 
  force and you’re not on that side, you’re either going to be amazingly 
  resourceful and lucky, or you’re going to be fragged. What it comes 
  down to is, if you’re dealing with smaller-scale wars, you have to 
  think differently. You have to think fewer resources, fewer outs, and 
  more visibility in smaller circles. So Ringo, listen close. We’re going 
  to talk about my time in Nepal.
  Nepal’s at a standstill right now. The old guard, the original 
  monarchy, is technically in charge. A while back, Saeder-Krupp had 
  an alliance with Regulus and was trying to move in on the monarchy. 
  Thing is, Nepal’s a nation full of mountains, it’s not the best for 
  wars. Diplomacy won’t work against traditional regimes like that, 
  at least diplomacy where you’re trying to take over. So, the ﬁ ghts 
  have been constant and fruitless. The people in Nepal have fought 
  off everyone sent at them, but their defenses are wearing down. 
  Saeder-Krupp has been preparing an offensive for a handful of years. 
  Why are they bothering? Lofwyr doesn’t like being shown up, but 
  that’s exactly what Nepal is doing and might continue to do. Lofwyr 
  won’t like it—losing is not his style. On top of that, the mines they 
  originally moved in for are dry. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s no 
  proﬁ t to be had in all of Nepal, just a vendetta only a dragon can 
  keep alive.
  That’s where we came in. Our job was entirely related to the 
  morale of the people. We were engaged in the early stages of 
  motivates them to f erce action. Many of these pirates have come 
  into possession of military weaponry from their various excursions, 
  and some of their shaman are quite formidable. T e pirates are 
  almost completely disconnected from the Matrix, so they’ll pose a 
  particular challenge for teams that rely primarily on hacking.
  WHAT DID IFRIT SERVICES WANT?
  Ifrit Services moved in on Somalia years ago, and af er a 
  long campaign took everything it wanted, leaving a raped land 
  and people behind. Public record doesn’t say what Ifrit Services’ 
  motivation was for causing all this chaos. Ifrit Services is up-and-
  coming as far as the megacorps are concerned, and they want to 
  know what was so important in Somalia. A representative of the 
  Corporate Court hands down a contract. It’s not the best paying 
  the team has had, but currying the Court’s favor has its advantages.
  Ifrit Services isn’t a traditional corporation. It’s run more 
  like a gang of robber barons than your average corp. T ere are no 
  central of  ces, records are sparse, and even the leadership of en 
  has no idea what the actual goals of the group are. In fact, only few 
  of the baron council know who is truly in charge of the company. 
  There are rumors of a powerful spirit that demands certain 
  amounts of chaos and destruction, more rumors still of a djinn 
  set to destroy the world, leaving only those dutiful and loyal safe 
  to rule over the survivors of the scarred land. T e rumors aren’t 
  entirely untrue, and this is why very little information has gotten 
  out. T e djinn in question personally protects the corporation, 
  and will confront anyone taking action directly against his project. 
  He might not be able to bring forth the end of the world, but he’s 
  hardly a pushover.
  REBUILDING
  Bosaso Enterprises is an up-and-coming A corp, with dreams 
  of becoming a AA soon, and maybe even a AAA someday. One 
  thing it needs is a stronger foundation for its operations, and its 
  home in Somalia could very well be that foundation. In order to 
  make Somalia what Bosaso needs it to be, stronger government 
  and better police work are needed, and they’re building up this 
  infrastructure through all means at their disposal, including 
  shadow work. A contract with Bosaso could be one of the most 
  lucrative long-term contracts a runner will ever f nd, and certainly 
  one of the most versatile. All manner of lawlessness exists within 
  Somalia, and Bosaso needs the majority of it removed.
  A strong team could f nd work in any f eld, from muscle to 
  hacking to magery—anything can assist in their reorganization. 
  Also, due to the otherwise lawless nature of Somalia, the runners 
  have free rein in their duties. T e biggest challenge comes from 
  walking the line between enacting totalitarian behavior and 
  keeping the citizens from revolting in reaction.
  There are other potential jobs here as well—the strong 
  Bosaso gets, the more likely it is that others corps will notice, and 
  of er work that will bring them back down to earth.
  A NEED FOR FERTILITY
  In order to rebuild, in order to survive, Somalia needs food. 
  T e problem is, Ifrit Services lef  it with very little water. It used to 
  be a strong agricultural center, and could very well be in the future. 
  T e problem is, the wells need to be primed. If a lot of wells need 
  primed, a lot of water needs to be procured. T is water isn’t going 
  
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  people, Nepal shouldn’t change—the nation has some decided 
  good points. It’s a cheap place to live, and Katmandu is beautiful 
  year-round and would be a great retirement spot. T ere are no 
  riggers to deal with, decidedly few corporate assassins, and all the 
  fresh fruit you can eat. For some, it’s paradise.
  But Saeder-Krupp isn’t giving up on their ef orts, and they’re 
  not going to cease operations in Nepal until something drastic 
  happens. And “something drastic” is exactly what the monarchy is 
  paying for. T ey want a show of such force that Saeder-Krupp has 
  no reasonable option but to retreat. Lofwyr isn’t happy with the 
  Nepalese situation; it’d take a huge loss before he’d even consider 
  withdrawal. Not only that, but if Saeder-Krupp can pinpoint 
  specif c obstacles hindering their ef orts in Nepal, it would come 
  af er them with overwhelming force. If the runners were targeted, 
  perhaps the only safe place for them would be—well, deep in the 
  mountains of Nepal.
  RUNNING DIPLOMACY
  Saeder-Krupp’s campaign against Nepal is a draining its 
  resources, causing weaknesses in other areas. Other megacorps 
  would love to know about these weaknesses, and they would 
  love to f nd a way to take advantage of them. T e current battle is 
  primarily between Nepal’s monarchy and the Saeder-Krupp, but 
  nothing’s to say that a third force can’t be brought in. In fact, the 
  monarchy could greatly benef t from an alliance with another 
  megacorp. T e runners are told this, and of ered an in. T ey have 
  to convince the headstrong Nepalese to accept an ally, and they 
  have to convince another corp of the value of siding with Nepal 
  against Saeder-Krupp. T e ability to hurt S-K is valuable, but the 
  ability to ally with an otherwise untouched nation might be even 
  more valuable still.
  T is ends up being a job of favors. T e corp and the monarchy 
  both need things done before they’ll open up diplomatic relations. 
  T is could be the basis of an entire campaign, trying to show both 
  sides that the team is working in their best interests.
  T e corporation needs a f nancial foothold. In a nation that 
  doesn’t use nuyen as a standard, this can be dif  cult. T ey need a 
  niche and some way to develop a cash f ow from the country. T is 
  works counter to the monarchy’s desires to avoid change, so the 
  government must be convinced that whatever changes are being 
  made will be limited and benef cial. T e corp needs verif able 
  records showing how they will prof t from the deal.
  The monarchy also needs to establish the trustworthy 
  nature of the corporation in question. Some corps are better for 
  this than others, but none are bastions of honesty. Good liars 
  might be able to do this easily; poor liars are f ghting an uphill 
  battle on multiple fronts.
  In the end, if successful the Nepalese will ally with said 
  corporation, forging a very powerful alliance that can push back 
  the Saeder-Krupp campaign. Of course, this makes the diplomats 
  inherent enemies to Saeder-Krupp.
  YETI CONCERNS
  Yetis have been a matter of course for the Nepalese for quite 
  some time now. Recently though, they’ve become more than a 
  small nuisance. Alone, yeti aren’t a huge concern. T ey’re savage, 
  they’re tough, but they’re easy to outsmart. T e real problem 
  comes from yeti attacking in tribes. A mortar shell only serves 
  starting revolution: We were sowing the seeds of dissent. We would 
  kill public ﬁ gures silently, we would march into villages and drop 
  rumors at beer halls, anything it took. This is my favorite type of 
  work. It’s very risky, but not in the bullet to the face way.
  Our trip to Nepal was very successful, at least insofar as the 
  terms of our contract were concerned. We moved out a number of 
  residents, we even talked some onto the Saeder-Krupp payroll. We 
  swept through and fragged a few mayors. Now, to an outsider, it 
  wouldn’t have looked like much in the way of change, but insiders 
  could tell. Everyone was on a short fuse. They didn’t want revolution 
  yet, though—they wanted protection. Their monarchy was capable 
  of ﬁ ghting off a corporate army, but  it wasn’t capable of ﬁ ght-
  ing of guerillas, assassins, and foreigners tearing down national 
  conﬁ dence. 
  Worst of all for the locals was the forced introduction of technol-
  ogy and luxury. Nepal was backwoods as it gets just a few years before 
  the occupation. Now, they’re playing the same trids as the rest of the 
  developed world. They’re getting addicted to the same BTLs. Thing 
  is, they’re working ﬁ ve to ten times as many man-hours to earn the 
  same worthless shit. They aren’t ignorant of that fact, either. A single 
  ﬂ ick your average wage slave could watch with an hour’s pay could 
  take up to two days’ hard labor for a Nepalese to afford.
  Saeder-Krupp hasn’t made its move yet. I don’t know if it ever 
  will. Things have gotten to a point where I wouldn’t be surprised if 
  Lofwyr’s just waiting while the nation decays and collapses in upon 
  itself. Then he can swoop in, looking like a hero. It’s hard to tell with 
  dragons. It’s been eight years; they’ve not done much more than 
  watch patiently. I just hope that when they decide to make their 
  move, we’ll be on the top of their prospect list.
  OVERVIEW
  Nepal’s undermanned, underfunded monarchy has been 
  portrayed as the David against Saeder-Krupp’s Goliath, but since 
  the f ght’s not over yet, Goliath still has a chance to win. T e 
  f ght is about the resources buried in Nepal’s mountains. there’s 
  orichalcum in them hills, along with iron, lead, zinc, copper, and 
  the metal that fuels Nepal’s government—gold.
  If it wasn’t for the mountains, and the ore buried beneath 
  it, Nepal might have been lef  alone to continue down its mostly 
  agricultural path. Of course, if it wasn’t for the mountains, Nepal 
  would not have been able to present such a persistence defense 
  against corporate invaders. But while Saeder-Krupp is not 
  necessarily winning this f ght, they are having an ef ect on the 
  opposition. Where S-K goes, high tech comes along for the ride, 
  and the residents of Nepal are getting exposure to devices and 
  lifestyles that most of them had never contemplated. T e worry of 
  the government is that the more the people become modernized, 
  the less they’ll see S-K as outsiders, which could weaken the 
  resistance they’ve put up for so long.
  MAKING DANGEROUS ENEMIES
  Nepal’s monarchy isn’t poor, they just don’t have much cash. 
  So they pay in gold. If the team isn’t concerned about dealing in 
  heavy metals, the Nepalese government could use some able hands. 
  T at is, if those hands don’t mind smacking Saeder-Krupp.
  So far, Saeder-Krupp has been making inroads at a much 
  slower pace than they would prefer, and the Nepalese government 
  isn’t going to change to accommodate them. In the view of many 
  
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  to slow these creatures down once they’re on the attack. For 
  those runners who have dealt with sasquatches, yetis might 
  come as something of a surprise. T ey’re not entirely as smart as 
  sasquatches, but they have more of a penchant for shamanistic 
  magic. In fact, their tribes are organized with “witch doctors” as 
  makeshif  war leaders. T ey’re prof cient with aiding their more 
  gun-heavy allies.
  T e monarchy, as mentioned above, has no end of tasks it’ll 
  pay for. Yeti elimination is one of the more esoteric jobs, and one 
  of the best paying. 
  Saeder-Krupp has a decided interest in helping the yeti 
  cause, and in some locations, they’ve assisted the yeti in arming 
  themselves. It’s not out of the question to find a yeti warrior 
  sporting full body armor and a monof lament chainsaw. T ey are 
  truly a force to be reckoned with and are an almost unstoppable 
  opponent in frontal combat, particularly with back-line support 
  from their shaman kin. T ey’re also f ercely loyal, and Saeder-
  Krupp has provided them with both toys and massive amounts of 
  food. If there ends up being a war on Nepal, the yeti will be on the 
  front lines against the monarchy.
  SMUGGLING ENTERTAINMENT
  T e Nepalese don’t want to be backwards. T ey don’t want 
  to be behind the rest of the world. T ey want to be jacked in and 
  over-stimulated like everyone else. T ey want neon. T ey want 
  drugs. T ey just plain want.
  A team of smart and savvy runners can capitalize on that 
  want like there’s no tomorrow. Nepal doesn’t care if its goods are 
  stolen or bootlegged—beggars can’t be choosers. An overturned 
  truck full of commlinks could mean millions in the hands of the 
  right runners. A team already in the region for another job could 
  benef t greatly from knock-of  tech, selling to the highest bidders 
  (though the money cash-poor Nepalese of er would be lower than 
  what gear might sell for in other parts of the world). 
  T e government has generally decided to turn a blind eye to 
  the ongoing smuggling. T ey can’t provide what the people need, 
  so any infusion of new toys actually ref ects well on the leaders, as 
  far as they’re concerned.
  T e Nepalese people are even starting to develop their own 
  tech; through backwards engineering, they’ve made a number of 
  knock-of s of popular communications devices. Such devices are 
  illegal in other, better-networked parts of the world, but they can 
  serve the distinct advantage of being almost impossible to access 
  by non-compatible technology.
  ALBUQUERQUE 
  • The deal is, things are easy to steal. I mean, you can lock it up, you 
  can hide it, you can guard it, you can put on any combination of secu-
  rity gizmos, but at the end of the day, if a good enough professional 
  wants to gets his hands on whatever you’ve got, he’s going to get it.
  People are an entirely different matter. Even if your target is 
  perfectly willing to be stolen, stealing a person is a damn nightmare. 
  Just take Albuquerque. So my outﬁ t got hired for a pick up from 
  Aztechnology. I got a huge chunk of nuyen up front, just for the 
  consultation. That always sends up my red ﬂ ags, but on a whim, I 
  met with Mr. Johnson anyway. He didn’t say whom he represented, 
  
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  plenty of talented engineers around; and second, there are plenty 
  of people who think it would be great if they had a few more 
  talented engineers at their disposal. Corporate espionage and 
  talent extractions are common occurrences, common enough 
  that any executive who has been in the city for more than a few 
  years has a long list of grudges based on perceived misdeeds that 
  other corps have committed. T is gives the city an atmosphere of 
  high-stakes tension, and makes any gathering of executives from 
  more than one corp a decidedly edgy af air. T e fact that so many 
  executives are looking for retribution means that retaliatory acts, 
  when they occur, are of en more dramatic and more violent than 
  might otherwise be expected.
  While Albuquerque usually attempts to keep its distance 
  from the political machinations that happen in Santa Fe, recent 
  events have made politics unavoidable. T e denizens might be able 
  to ignore the looming no-conf dence vote in the Pueblo Corporate 
  Council board, but the war between Aztlan and Amazonia, along 
  with the talk of renegotiating the Treaty of Denver, has forced the 
  city to take notice. Bogotá needs war materiel, and Denver needs 
  espionage equipment, and the corps of Albuquerque are willing 
  to keep any side who is willing to pay on the leading edge of new 
  tech. Even if they have to steal, kidnap, and occasionally shoot to 
  get that tech for themselves f rst.
  CHESS FOR KEEPS
  T e war for Albuquerque isn’t a front-line war. It’s not even 
  a war fought by formal troops. T e real power players are not 
  corporations, they’re people. T e people f ghting this war f ght 
  and I didn’t ask. I am handed a portfolio and the account information 
  for a dragon’s ransom worth of nuyen. Johnson left without getting 
  my answer. Pretty unprofessional, but some of these corpses have 
  no idea that not everyone can be bought.
  The pickup was a top engineer from Aztechnology held by con-
  tract, (and apparently against his will,) on pain of death. Job security, 
  right? While I was looking over the ﬁ le, I got another contact. Ares, 
  or rather a representative thereof, calling to ask about the same 
  engineer. The poor sap tells me everyone is after this engineer, but 
  Ares is who he really wants to go to. Says I can look over the contract 
  and see that it’s the most fair option he’s going to get.
  I don’t think I’ve got what most people call a “soul” anymore, 
  but sometimes the memories of having one shake to the surface 
  and I decided to be a nice guy. I wiped out the ﬁ rst account, getting 
  my computer gal to lose the money somewhere in Korea.
  Then I sent a team in. The real problem with stealing a person, 
  of course, is that they have free will. They’ll do things on their own, 
  and since they’re rarely experienced runners, it’s only a matter of 
  time before that stupid free will lets them panic and screw up the 
  job. That’s why I sent along my mage. He had a handy little spell 
  to temporarily turn our target into a zombie, following orders but 
  taking no initiative.
  My team lead decided on a sneak in, blast out routine since your 
  average guard expects all attacks from the front. Tossing around 
  some invisibility and distracting the computer systems with a huge 
  multi-hacker assault from an unrelated source, the outﬁ t got in 
  unnoticed.
  The report got a little spotty somewhere on their way out. 
  Apparently, the spell on our engineer wore off early and he behaved 
  predictably. Just because a dozen well-armed troll security guards 
  have an order to kill you doesn’t mean they’re going to be able to, 
  and yet we couldn’t convince him of that fact. As soon as bullets 
  started ﬂ ying, he ran, tail between his legs, and my outﬁ t had to 
  spend ten valuable minutes tracking him down.
  When he couldn’t be convinced that he’d be safe so long as he 
  followed the orders the pros gave him, my ground leader shot him 
  in the thigh, picked him up, and carried him out of the facility. He 
  took two or three more shots on the way out, mostly in the ass, but 
  nothing fatal or even dangerous.
  Sufﬁ ce to say, Ares wasn’t thrilled when we delivered their 
  engineer plus a few bullets, and it hurt a bit in the pocket, but we’d 
  already been paid one other time for the job and I could live with 
  that. News is, there’s a hit out for the engineer from a few sources, 
  but that’s Ares’ problem, not mine. The hit out on me, well, that’s 
  pretty much standard cost of doing business. Any assassins good 
  enough to get to me can be bought off, and those not good enough 
  are just practice for my security people. I hope that engineer can 
  afford the same kind of security I’ve got.
  OVERVIEW
  T e conf icts in Albuquerque have a more genteel character 
  than the f ghting in some place like Somalia. Open terrorism 
  is not what this city is about—instead, operations are precisely 
  aimed and calibrated so that they do more than succeed at some 
  objective. T ey also deliver a message to the higher ups that dwell 
  in this corporate town about who is capable of what.
  Albuquerque has long had a reputation as town full of 
  bleeding-edge tech, which means two things: First, there are 
  plenty of talented engineers around; and second, there are plenty 
  CORPORATE SHADOWS
  Most Shadowrun games assume the characters 
  are just runners, trying to earn their keep through 
  illicit activities. What about once they’ve amassed 
  small fortunes? Albuquerque is a good place to play 
  at the next levels, vying for corporate power to rival 
  some of the members of the megacorps. With the 
  money and connections they’ve amassed, why not?
  Old habits, though, die hard, which can be a good 
  thing. The skills the runners have learned after years 
  of work are still useful, even in a corporate environ-
  ment. Inﬁ ltration and spying can uncover information 
  that can damn even the highest-paid members of an 
  organization. That kind of information leaves holes 
  in leadership, holes the runners can maneuver them-
  selves (or their hand-picked lackey) into ﬁ lling. Since 
  runners work in teams, their skills are probably more 
  versatile than any single executive. A face makes a 
  good replacement executive, while the rest of the 
  team can act as a built-in security force. If the team 
  needs something particularly dark accomplished, 
  there are plenty of runner teams out there that 
  they’ve probably worked with or against in the past, 
  and there are always teams looking for work. They 
  should know this as much as anyone. 
  For more information on joining a corporation 
  and using that to structure runs, see the Game 
  Information chapter in Corporate Guide (p. 227).
  
  126
  War!
  GLOBAL HOTSPOTS   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  sell for is largely disproportionate to their practical value, if only 
  because other engineers would love to step on toes and pretend 
  to be innovators. Some governments would pay massive amounts 
  for a single item from inside the Aztechnology R&D of  ces in 
  Albuquerque. Of course, these of  ces are home to some of the 
  best military technologists out there, so security is far from a joke. 
  Runners will be going up against security like they’ve never seen, 
  but rewards are proportionate to the risk.
  Also, note that many of these items, although in prototype 
  stage, are still weapons. Engineers will sometimes turn these 
  weapons on enemies before losing their patents. T e Edgecrusher 
  Experimental Combat Bike is one example of the technology that 
  can be found within.
  EDGECRUSHER EXPERIMENTAL COMBAT BIKE
  T e Edgecrusher looks heavy. It’s armored, it’s solid, and 
  it’s made to protect anyone riding inside. It also has a built-in 
  autocannon specif cally designed to take the burden of killing 
  miscreants out of the hands of the pilot. It has a low center of 
  gravity—it’s called the Edgecrusher for a reason. T e Edgecrusher 
  turns like nothing else on the market, and at breakneck speeds. 
  It accomplishes this through revolutionary design, including 
  creative use of magnetic forces.
  T e f aw with the Edgecrusher comes in the form of a rather 
  weak structure. T e armor is wonderful, but once penetrated the 
  insides are rather fragile.
  Handling: +4, Accel: 20/40, Speed: 160, Pilot: 1, Body: 3, 
  Armor: 8, Sensor: 1, Avail: 22F, Cost: 28,000¥
  The autocannon is operated by the pilot, but due to the 
  targeting assistance system and the enhanced bike controls there 
  is only a –1 penalty to Gunnery tests made when the vehicle is in 
  motion instead of the normal –3 penalty (see Attacker in a Moving 
  Vehicle, p. 150, SR4A). It only f res in full-auto mode, working of  
  a massive ammo belt for extended usage. 
  Damage: 6P, AP: –2, Mode: FA, RC: (6), Ammo: 100 (belt)
  from the leisure of their hot tubs, playing chess with the lives and 
  well-beings of blue- and white-collar workers.
  T is is bad news for human rights. T is is good news for 
  runners wanting tons of nuyen. T ese chairpersons, playboys, and 
  dilettantes pay well. In fact, they of en brag about paying more 
  than their rivals. T is also means that they arguably demand the 
  most loyalty, as far as potential employers go. Also, when f nancial 
  stakes are raised, all other stakes go up as well. T is might demand 
  that a runner compromise whatever ethics he might have lef .
  In this particular scenario, the name of the game is sabotage. 
  The employer wants the team to sabotage door locks and fire 
  extinguishers in his rival’s corporate of  ces. His goal is to trap a 
  number of high-prof le workers in a conference room, then release 
  toxic f re-f ghting chemicals into the room. T e end result is a dent 
  in prof t margins and a dozen dead executives. T e pay for this 
  work could set the team up in luxury condos for over a year.
  Does the team go through with the plan? If they don’t, what 
  do they do when a team of runners of ered twice their pay comes 
  af er them? Do they sell the information to the rival? Just how 
  much can they coax from this mission?
  THE REVERSE CONTRACT
  Extraction and “motivated recruitment” is one of the most 
  common situations you’ll run into with a shadow war between 
  corporate powerhouses. T e important thing is that the people 
  being recruited are rarely poor themselves and often want 
  information about their would-be or former employers. Many times, 
  they even need protection from previous employers. A good team 
  should see such targets as a sort of gif  that keeps on giving.
  Aztechnology isn’t a fun company to inf ltrate, but nobody 
  gets paid for fun. One solid mission would be to have the team 
  break back in to an of  ce from which they recently extracted 
  a recruit for Ares. T en, once inside, they have to destroy their 
  target’s personnel f les and browbeat anyone who would argue 
  against his new career choices. Of course, by the time the 
  assignment is given, Aztechnology has already increased security, 
  changed locks, and hired a few undercover operatives prepared 
  for such a break-in. And so the break-in ends up being a shoot-out.
  THE PROTOTYPE
  T e executives pulling strings are really a side concern when 
  it comes to Albuquerque. T e real power is in the hands of the 
  engineers who are pushing technology to new heights, making 
  devices for both war and peace. T ef  of one of these devices could 
  be a great contract, or ideal independent work if the runners 
  have contacts with the right fences. T e amount these objects 
  
  War!
  127
  Sometimes quartermasters forgot that lethal ordnance was 
  not allowed within the battle zone, usually around the time that 
  one unit was doing too well for too long. Smart soldiers smuggled 
  some in, just in case: of the two sidearms she carried everywhere 
  she went, only one was loaded with gel rounds.
  “Sixth rule: don’t be stupid. Some of you are going to die. If 
  that’s you, it will be because you did something stupid. Your 
  brain goes on the moment we muster for an engagement.”
  Sadly, it wasn’t always the stupid ones who died. 
  Mitchell and al-Muqtaub were two of the brightest soldiers 
  with whom she had ever served. Sometimes it was just dumb, 
  kite-ﬂ ying luck that did you in. But judging by the blank 
  stares looking at her, she ﬁ gured that she was looking at one 
  dead mercenary, at least.
  “Some of you are going to wash out. You won’t have what 
  it takes to be a soldier. If that’s you, check your equipment with 
  logistics, pick up your last payment, and be on your way.”
  She forgave people who couldn’t hack it in the military, but 
  she did not tolerate them in her unit. She guessed that about 
  half of the three-dozen troops assembled before her would fail. 
  Of those, maybe a third would be injured ﬁ rst.
  “This is your war. Don’t let the marketing fool you. This 
  battleﬁ eld does not belong to the corps. It does not belong to the 
  media. It does not belong to nations.”
  Not strictly true, any of it. But she was responsible for 
  the battle readiness of Combat Inc.’s Recruiting Battalion, First 
  Company, Second Platoon, and part of that was troop morale.
  “This battleﬁ eld belongs to you. Fight for your buddy and 
  your bonus.”
  It wouldn’t take more than one battle to beat these cheer-
  ing men and women into shape. Once they knew what they were 
  doing, she could concentrate on doing what she did best.
  “Dismissed!”
  “All right you newbies, listen up. I’m in command of this 
  platoon for this season, so here are the rules. First rule: I’ve got 
  a reputation to protect, which means you have a reputation to 
  protect.”
  She preferred her current assignment to crawling through 
  South American jungle mud looking for booby traps, or ﬁ ghting 
  hilltop-to-hilltop in Western China, or the grueling mountain 
  campaigns of Eastern Europe. Still, it meant she had to teach 
  wannabe soldiers, hopeless screw-ups, and corporate trainees 
  instead of doing what she did best: shooting people. That was a 
  calling she truly enjoyed.
  “Second rule: follow your damn orders. You’re not here to 
  think, you’re here to win. You do that by following orders.”
  She had no patience for disorder. There was enough of that 
  on the battleﬁ eld, where the noise and the smoke and the AR 
  tactical clutter was enough to confuse computers, never mind 
  metahuman beings.
  “Third rule: you call me Sergeant-Major. Not ‘ma’am.’ Not 
  anything else.”
  Only her fans were allowed to call her Ms. Malicious. She 
  never made a big deal about it in public, but secretly she loved 
  the name the media had given her. It was perfectly descriptive 
  of her ﬁ ghting style, and far better than the nickname her ﬁ rst 
  unit gave her, Munchkin.
  “Fourth rule: this is the big league. Leave your Mojave Wars 
  dramatic crap back in Pueblo. There are no confessional cameras 
  and nobody gets voted out of the unit. Keep your language civil 
  in front of a camera, or answer to me.”
  She was famous because she got results, not because she 
  was discussed on gossip blogs. She even got fan mail. Her favor-
  ites were the young girls, eager to grow up tough. Stay strong, 
  she would write back, and stay away from stupid melodrama.
  “Fifth rule: no heroics. Just because it says non-lethal on 
  the box doesn’t mean you can’t get killed out there.”
  . . . GAME INFORMATION . . .
  
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  . . .
  128
  
  129
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  dangerous and garner very little in the way of recognition; most 
  military jobs are classif ed, and even when they are not, word of a 
  team’s good work rarely hits the streets. Still, it is fair work for fair 
  pay, and most runners can’t ask for more than that.
  Here are a few starter scenarios with military ties, organized 
  according to the adventure frameworks on p. 16, Contacts and 
  Adventures. The gamemaster should base the pay for each job 
  according to the level of compensation expected in her game and 
  the dif  culty of the mission.
  Assassination
  1. The resistance in New Guinea is starting to become 
  troublesome for Australian national police force, AISE, and the 
  occupying ANZAC forces. The resistance’s most prominent 
  leader, known only as Bethari, has been located in a remote part 
  of the island’s Central Range, along with her elite personal guard. 
  The ANZAC military wants her out of the way, but they fear 
  that attacking her directly will only enf ame the insurgency. An 
  anonymous representative hires the shadowrunner team to deal 
  with her during ANZAC Day commemorations, when all ANZAC 
  special forces units will be accounted for during the ceremonies, 
  giving the military and the government plausible deniability.
  T e team might have trouble getting to Bethari. She is deep in 
  the New Guinea Highlands, a mish-mash of valleys and mountain 
  ranges covered by a thick carpet of tropical rainforest. T e runners 
  may encounter gomatias, drop bears, or other paranormal critters 
  found in Running Wild in the wilderness, in addition to New 
  Guinea resistance patrols. Once they do f nd the camp, they must 
  f nd a way to take her and her elite guard down.
  2. Corporal Tenney Garcia will not die. He is a war hero of a 
  number of battles, celebrated at home and in the press. What the 
  public does not know is that he is also a gunrunner for organized 
  crime back home, selling weapons to the cartels and drugs to 
  his fellow soldiers, and making an obscene prof t. T e chain of 
  command needs him to die a hero’s death to stop the traf  cking 
  and avoid the scandal of a court marshal. His superiors keep 
  sending him into combat, and he keeps returning with another 
  daring rescue, fantastic sortie, or glorious adventure, all captured 
  in full simsense for the folks back home.
  When the team goes after him, they find that they have 
  trouble harming him as well. T eir bullets are def ected, their 
  spells are dampened, and he passes through explosions almost 
  completely unscathed. A bit of legwork and reconnaissance 
  reveals that he has a friend from the cartels, Yadira Tabajara, a 
  powerful magician who protects him during combat. T e runners 
  may f nd that their target has switched: by taking out the magician, 
  they can ensure that Garcia meets a heroic but tragic end.
  Blackmail
  1. Ross Blickenstaff is an up-and-coming politician with 
  big ambitions. His boss, an appointed official in the UCAS 
  Department of Defense, is planning a run on the Senate seat that 
  Blickenstaf  wants. His plan is to get his boss to authorize a secret 
  incursion into sovereign territory and then blackmail her with 
  evidence of the deed. He has persuaded her to sign of  on the raid, 
  but he needs people to actually document the attack and give him 
  the resulting evidence. T is is where the runners come in.
  WARFARE AND THE SHADOWS
  Shadowrunning is about committing quasi-legal and illegal 
  acts for money as a deniable asset. Warfare is a very dif erent beast, 
  with open and visible forces (mostly) following international 
  laws and rules of engagement in an activity that is prosecuted for 
  political as much as economic gain.
  Shadowrunners may meet the military on a run in a number 
  of forms: the armed forces of governments, the paramilitary 
  forces of megacorps, the irregular military of guerilla forces, 
  or mercenaries. T ey could be armies, air forces, or naval and 
  marine forces. The encounter could take place anywhere 
  metahumanity can be found, whether in jungles, plains, in cities, 
  at sea, or even in space.
  Shadowrunners should rarely be required to meet military 
  forces in direct combat. While shadowrunners tend to be the 
  biggest and baddest in their bailiwick, military forces usually to 
  have an advantage in training, equipment, and numbers. Military 
  men and women are taught to defeat enemies by overwhelming 
  them, and they have not the slightest compunction about calling 
  in reinforcements.
  Military personnel also have something of an advantage 
  over shadowrunners psychologically. While runners tend to 
  work for fame, to prove themselves, or to earn the almighty 
  nuyen, the military mind works for their country, corp, or cause, 
  and even more powerfully, for their buddy. Military units, with 
  their common cause and esprit de corps, tend to be closer-knit 
  than the average team of shadowrunners and their individualized 
  motivation.
  T is is not to say that shadowrunners have no advantage over 
  the military. Even the most cohesive unit is made up of people, 
  and people are flawed. Most runs against military targets are 
  accomplished by stealth rather than force. A team’s face (if it has 
  one) might be the lead man in a run involving the military, and if 
  the fecal material hits the air-directing rotating blades, success (or 
  survival) will probably be more about running than hiding.
  The military is also a great source for contacts for 
  shadowrunners. T e military is practically everywhere, and a lot of 
  information goes through of  cial and unof  cial channels within it. 
  A military contact, especially one higher up in the hierarchy, can 
  of er intelligence, advice, and even operational support for a run. 
  Of course, it goes without saying that military equipment is highly 
  sought-af er and valuable to a shadowrunner, but the military is 
  seldom comfortable with releasing its materiel to civilians, and 
  even more so about releasing it to SINless criminals.
  CAMO-COLLAR JOBS
  Even with all the men, materiel, and resources at its disposal, 
  the military is not above hiring shadowrunners for a bit of 
  surreptitious work. Runners are hired as specialists, or as deniable 
  assets, or simply as support when the military f nds itself short of 
  meeting its objectives by its own means.
  Shadowrunners of en have mixed feelings about working for 
  the military. On the whole, this sort of work of ers fair pay, the 
  military rarely screws runners out of their due, and sometimes 
  it’s a great way for a shadowrunner to get her hands on milspec 
  equipment. On the other hand, military jobs tend to be more 
  WARFARE AND THE SHADOWS
  Shadowrunning is about committing quasi-legal and illegal 
  acts for money as a deniable asset. Warfare is a very dif erent beast, 
  with open and visible forces (mostly) following international 
  laws and rules of engagement in an activity that is prosecuted for 
  political as much as economic gain.
  Shadowrunners may meet the military on a run in a number 
  of forms: the armed forces of governments, the paramilitary 
  forces of megacorps, the irregular military of guerilla forces, 
  
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  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  forces. T e generator is protected by a bunker that has thus far 
  withstood artillery attacks. T e Amazonians don’t have the assets 
  in place to strike with a raid by special forces, but if the power 
  were to go out in the town of Chipaque, they could overwhelm 
  the defenses with conventional forces.
  What Ms. Johnson does not know is that the garrison has a 
  backup generator located in a garage about two blocks away from 
  the main generator. If the team does not f nd out about the backup 
  when they destroy the main generator, they will have to think fast 
  as the lights f icker but remain working.
  2. T e team is approached by a representative of Pike Ranger 
  Services, a private military cooperative that recently filed for 
  bankruptcy. T e client is the last surviving member of the company, 
  and he explains that his unit was mercilessly wiped out by the 
  Fourth Wing of the Northern Division of the Japanese Imperial 
  Air Force. He has no particular beef against the Japanese Imperial 
  State, but he has enough of a craving for revenge that he’s looking 
  to use some of the last of the company’s funds to hire the runners to 
  destroy the Fourth Wing’s assets, and possibly its reputation.
  Doing so will not be easy, of course. The Fourth Wing’s 
  aircraf  and support buildings are at Misawa Air Base, which is 
  on the Pacif c coast and f ve clicks from any real civilization. To 
  complicate matters further, the base also hosts a state-sponsored 
  orphanage, and the client does not want any innocents to suf er in 
  the course of the Fourth’s punishment.
  Distraction
  1. T e team is approached by one Ms. Johnson, who admits 
  that she is a soldier at a nearby army base and that the money she 
  is using to hire the team was collected from some of the personnel 
  stationed there. She explains that the T ird Platoon (one of three 
  stationed at the base) is f lled with ostentatious show-of s who 
  need to be taken down a peg. She wants the runners to sneak onto 
  the base and play a prank on the T ird Platoon, preferably one 
  that will cause both embarrassment and extra work for the targets. 
  If the team has trouble coming up with something, she suggests 
  replacing the f ag on the pole outside the platoon’s barracks with 
  a jolly roger, and then cutting the lanyard and greasing the pole to 
  make it harder to f x. A little harmless fun and a bit of prof t on 
  the side—what could be easier?
  Aside from the usual dif  culties associated with inf ltrating 
  and causing mischief on a military base, the situation is 
  complicated by the fact that Ms. Johnson is in reality an enemy spy. 
  She is setting up the team to distract the base with some sort of 
  antics to give her forces a chance to raid and destroy the base and 
  its occupants. Unless the team leaves the base in short order when 
  the prank is discovered, they will be caught in the attack, which 
  will catch the base’s soldiers completely of  their guard.
  2. T e team is hired by Mr. Johnson, who keeps his identity as 
  secret as possible, but is an aide for a member of Aaron Franklin’s 
  cabinet in the administration of the Confederation of American 
  States. He asks the team to seize the Tampa, an Abdullah-class 
  CAS submarine, for a period of exactly 103 hours. T e boat is 
  returning to active duty af er a scheduled overhaul and is about 
  to sail on a short proving voyage in the Gulf of Mexico with a 
  skeleton crew. T e seizure of the submarine will keep CAS naval 
  Blickenstaf  hires the team to follow a UCAS Marine Corps 
  Special Forces unit into the Pueblo Corporate Council. T e unit’s 
  target is an alleged chemical weapons stockpile on a base between 
  Denver and the city of Pueblo. In truth, the place is a military base 
  that houses the families of career military and stores volatile fuels 
  such as petroleum, natural gas, hydrogen, and jet fuel.
  T e Marines hit the base hard. If the runners do not interfere, 
  the unit destroys the place and fades back into the wilderness, 
  leaving everyone living on the base dead or injured. If the Marines 
  spot the team recording the carnage, they will attempt to take out 
  the runners with extreme prejudice; they are under orders that the 
  strike remain secret.
  If the team returns with the data, Blickenstaf  will have what 
  he needs to prevent his boss from running for the Senate seat. If 
  the team does a particularly good job, he will of er the team a 
  retainer and the promise of more shady work in the future.
  Bodyguard
  1. T e team is hired to be the opposing force in a training 
  exercise. T e job: to play the part of terrorists with VIP hostages. 
  Ms. Johnson, the commanding of  cer for the training exercise, 
  asks that the team use non-lethal force, and assures the runners 
  that her unit will be doing the same. T e pay is not as good as usual 
  for this type of job, but the risk is much lower.
  T e team will be allowed to take up positions anywhere on 
  the unit’s training base they like. T e base is about 1,500 square 
  kilometers in size and houses a number of barracks, some athletic 
  facilities, a small town of abandoned buildings, a thick forest, 
  and an open area used for cavalry maneuvers. Once the team has 
  selected its starting position, it is given a twelve-hour head start, 
  along with two of  cers who will play the part of the hostages. 
  Once the head start expires, the entire training company will start 
  looking for the team, trying to rescue the hostages. T e rules of 
  the simulation indicate that a target hit by non-lethal ordinance 
  is considered dead.
  If the team still has the hostages at the end of 48 hours, they 
  will earn a bonus. If anyone is hurt during the simulation, it will 
  be called of . If anyone is killed during the simulation, the team 
  will be blamed for the death (even if it was not their fault) and a 
  real manhunt will start.
  Destruction
  1. Certain corporate interests (from Horizon, if the runners 
  pry) approach the team with a job along the front lines of the 
  Aztlan-Amazonian War. T e risk is great, but so is the pay: twice 
  the fee the team usually commands, plus free transportation out 
  of the war zone with whatever materiel the runners can scavenge 
  on the job.
  Ms. Johnson tells the team that she would like to give 
  the Amazonian forces a foothold near Bogotá, in the town of 
  Chipaque, some f ve kilometers south of the outskirts of Bogotá’s 
  suburbs. T e town is guarded by an Aztlan company that is dug 
  into its position: It has electrif ed fences, automated defenses, and 
  air cover provided by the main army occupying the city. T ese 
  defenses are dependent on a single point: the power generator 
  situated in the park in the center of town.
  T e Amazonian forces have tried to bombard the defenses 
  from the air but have not been able to overcome the Aztlan air 
  
  131
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  NeoNET equipment, including the UCAS Pentagon and the 
  CAS Bureau of Defense. NeoNET created this passcode, split it 
  into thirteen parts, and scattered the keepers all over the globe as 
  insurance against it falling into the wrong hands or being used 
  improperly. If the runners discover Walther’s secret, they may have 
  to decide between the successful completion of the job and their 
  payof  and the security of the world’s infrastructure.
  Walther’s hometown is now a bombed-out city, with street-
  to-street f ghting and intermittent shelling. When the team arrives 
  at Walther’s home, they f nd that he has been captured by one 
  of the occupying forces. He is to be interrogated, and should the 
  military discover the secret of the passcode, the commander on 
  the ground is likely to execute him “to keep the world safe.” 
  Investigation
  1. T e team is hired by the private military contractor, MET 
  2000. Ms. Johnson is concerned about an internal conspiracy to 
  take down the mercenary corporation, and does not know whom 
  to trust. T e team is to pose as recruits posted to the suspected 
  unit and try to ferret out the truth.
  In fact, there is a conspiracy in the company to which the 
  team is assigned, but it is not against MET 2000 particularly. T e 
  captain and her staf  are planning on jumping their contracts and 
  heading to the Mojave Wars as a unit sponsored by Horizon. A 
  few of them already have MeFeeds and hidden cameras ready to 
  capture the drama of the unit leaving the mercenary organization 
  and heading for Pueblo.
  and air forces on high alert, searching for their own submarine, 
  while the team itself will be safe from discovery under the sea. If 
  the team cannot f nd a way aboard themselves, Mr. Johnson of ers 
  false identif cation as sailors stationed on the boat.
  Even if the runners manage to subdue and hold harmless the 
  three-dozen of  cers and crew aboard the ship, they will encounter 
  trouble. T e entire CAS Atlantic Fleet will be looking for them, 
  using military and civilian assets. As an additional wrinkle, the 
  gamemaster may include attempts by the crew to regain control of 
  the ship, system failures, a hull breach, or even an attack by a large 
  paracritter like a kraken or a leviathan.
  Af er the mission, the team will f nd reports of it in the media, 
  with the most popular theory being that the Tampa was stolen by 
  Aztlan agents.
  Extraction (Kidnapping)
  1. A representative from NeoNET approaches the team on 
  a matter of some urgency. It seems that a person of interest is 
  trapped in a war zone and needs to be extracted. Mr. Johnson is 
  willing to pay a high price for such a dangerous run, and of ers the 
  support of some of the corporation’s military assets. Other than 
  a name, Lucio Walther, no information is forthcoming about the 
  target except that he is to be kept alive at all costs.
  As it happens, Mr. Walther carries one part of a secret 
  passcode in his memory. If he and the twelve other carriers should 
  come together and use their passcode, they would have access to 
  several highly classif ed databanks that happen to be powered by 
  
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  disbanded three years ago, and the equipment he of ers is all the 
  civilian versions, rather than the military issue versions. Still, if 
  the team destroys the base, he pays them full price, even if the 
  evidence pointing to Aztlan is later debunked in the media.
  RUNNING A MILITARY
  OR MERC CAMPAIGN
  T e military is an organized group of people, all pointed the 
  same direction both in motivation and goal. Career military women 
  and men have a home in their unit and do not have to live betwixt 
  and between like shadowrunners do. Whether sponsored by a 
  government, a megacorp, a private military corporation, or even 
  operating independently, a soldier lives and f ghts for a higher ideal, 
  even if that ideal is something as simple as the lives of his buddies.
  T is section contains guidelines and suggestions for running 
  a military Shadowrun game, where the player characters are either 
  soldiers in a regular army, in an irregular outf t, or a mercenary unit.
  REPORTING FOR DUTY
  Some of the missions a typical shadowrun team undertakes 
  are in many ways similar to those executed by military units, 
  especially special forces. T e unit is given certain objectives that 
  they are trusted to accomplish. T e execution of the plan of en 
  requires research, reconnoitering, and planning. T e unit of en 
  f nds itself against formidable opponents and employs violence 
  and intimidation as much as a shadowrunning team does. It hits 
  where the enemy is weakest and avoids the enemy’s strengths.
  That said, there are a few differences between a 
  shadowrunner’s job and a soldier’s. T e f rst dif erence is that of 
  choice. Shadowrunners are of ered jobs from (ostensibly) paying 
  customers. Soldiers are assigned their tasks by one or more 
  superiors within the unit’s chain of command. No negotiation is 
  expected, and refusal (which amounts to dereliction of duty or 
  outright desertion) always brings repercussions.
  Another dif erence is in trust and the information of ered. 
  T e unit can trust that its superiors are generally not sending 
  them into a trap, and that it will be supported in its endeavor 
  with enough intelligence and materiel. Standard operating 
  procedure is that each soldier knows the intent of the commander 
  two levels up (e.g., a private knows what his platoon commander 
  is planning, and that private’s squad leader knows what the 
  company commander has in mind). Where a shadowrunning 
  team needs to research their employer as much as their target, 
  a military unit is given as much information as it needs and its 
  higher-ups can of er.
  The third difference is variety. Shadowrunners are 
  approached by a myriad assortment of employers with a wide 
  range of objectives and jobs. Military units have interests that are 
  more particular to the government, corp, or cause they serve. Add 
  to this the fact that most soldiers are trained for a specif c duty, 
  and units are usually composed of personnel with similar duty 
  specializations. T is is not to say that military units are one-trick 
  ponies. In a world where the armed forces are much smaller than 
  they are in our current world, the military cannot af ord to limit 
  its soldiers to single-duty tasks; this is especially true for small 
  mercenary outf ts and irregular guerilla forces.
  When the team reports this, Ms. Johnson of ers the team half 
  again as much to either stop the unit from leaving or to gather 
  enough hard evidence of the move for MET 2000 to take legal 
  action against the company before it gets away.
  Retrieval
  1. Yamatetsu Naval Technologies is putting the f nishing 
  touches on a new military amphibious assault craf . If testing is 
  successful, it will be the world’s f rst true hover tank, combining 
  speed, f repower, agility, and the ability to traverse land and sea in 
  a single assault vehicle.
  Mr. Johnson, an employee of the Canton Confederation 
  military, hires the team to get into the YNT research shipyard in 
  which the prototype is housed and steal it. T e opposition comes 
  in the form of the Wuxing Security Force. T e corporate army 
  has reinforced positions, watchtowers, and a wall surrounding the 
  shipyard in the water and on land. T e hover tank is put though 
  its paces every day on a course within the wall, and returned to its 
  own enclosed bay for work and testing each evening.
  War
  1. The military rarely needs help waging war, since 
  that’s what a military does best. Sometimes, though, a unit 
  might f nd itself overextended and cut of  from conventional 
  reinforcements. T is is the case when a soldier contacts of one of 
  the player characters (or a buddy of one of the player characters’ 
  contacts), looking for help in a nearby engagement. T e soldier 
  and her squad are holed up in an abandoned chemical plant out 
  in the boonies. It turns out the facility was not as abandoned 
  as was believed, and the squad needs back up. T e operation is 
  classif ed, so she cannot call for reinforcements without breaking 
  the government’s plausible deniability.
  She asks the team to come in and help destroy the opposition. 
  T e chemical plant takes up about a square kilometer, and is a 
  maze of girders, buildings, and huge tanks holding spirits-know-
  what. Getting to the location is not dif  cult, but the Alamos 
  20,000 group surrounding the area is aware of the presence of the 
  client’s squad and are hunting them systematically. T e team has 
  about two hours before the enemy force f nds and overwhelms the 
  squad. Once the team arrives, the scene becomes a stand-up f ght, 
  with the soldiers and the team on one side and a band of terrorists 
  on the other.
  2. T e team is approached by someone who calls himself 
  Colonel Johnson, who has a job to of er. He would very much like 
  the Confederate American States to enter the Aztlan/Amazonia 
  War on the side of Amazonians. Tensions are already high, and he 
  thinks an all-out attack on a CAS f eld post would help increase 
  those tensions.
  T e post is just inside of CAS territory, northwest of San 
  Antonio. It is currently staf ed with reservists and commanded by 
  an ROTC training cadre. T e team is to destroy the post, making 
  it look like an Aztlan raid. Col. Johnson provides Aztlan uniforms 
  and equipment.
  If the team takes Col. Johnson’s job, they will f nd that his 
  intel is good. T ere is only a platoon of part-time soldiers on-site, 
  with about a dozen “third lieutenant” cadets. Unfortunately, the 
  Aztlan uniforms he provides have the insignia of a unit that was 
  
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  a salary than be paid by the job like shadowrunners are. The 
  objectives given to them by their commanding of  cers are duties 
  to the unit rather than income opportunities. T is means that 
  while the character misses out on the opportunity to negotiate 
  payment for each job, he has a steady income. 
  T is is not to say that soldiers will never be rewarded for a job 
  that is particularly well done. T ese rewards tend to come in the 
  form of honors and awards, which in turn increase the character’s 
  Street Cred. Characters can also be promoted as a reward for a 
  job well done. Some commanding of  cers and other higher-ups 
  might favor a soldier with favors (p. 288, SR4A) or simply become 
  contacts for the character. Other rewards might include special 
  training opportunities, plumb assignments, or leave time, but 
  rarely anything that might show undue favoritism or hurt the 
  decorum or reputation of the unit.
  Contacts
  The soldier’s contacts tend to be somewhat less diverse 
  than those of the shadowrunner. Some types of contacts are not 
  appropriate for soldiers to have. Contacts in the underworld 
  or hostile forces, for example, would be less inclined to help 
  a character with military ties than they would if that character 
  was an unaf  liated shadowrunner. T ere is also the ef ect of the 
  character’s relationship with his contacts on his relationship with 
  his unit. An inappropriate or controversial contact outside the 
  military could draw the displeasure of the character’s superiors.
  One advantage of the military life is that the character always 
  has his superior officer. Treat the character’s superior officer 
  as a free contact with a Loyalty rating of 3 and an appropriate 
  Connection rating chosen by the gamemaster based on rank and 
  THE LIFE OF A SOLDIER
  There are a few differences between a soldier and a 
  shadowrunner. T ese dif erences need to be considered when 
  making a character for a military-based campaign.
  Identity
  T e soldier does not need the cloak of anonymity that is 
  part of the shadowrunner’s daily life. In fact, except for smaller 
  mercenary units and guerilla f ghters, most militaries require their 
  soldiers to be SINners, with national and corporate forces being 
  no exception. T is allows a solder to make purchases and enter 
  certain higher-security areas (like downtown Seattle or a high-
  class restaurant) freely, something that a shadowrunner must rely 
  on forgery and contacts to accomplish.
  Chain of Command
  T e soldier is a member of an organization with a power 
  structure and a chain of command. He is always answerable to 
  a commanding officer. Duties and objectives, and therefore 
  adventure hooks, typically come through the chain of command, 
  rather than from Mr. Johnson or any other anonymous or semi-
  anonymous source. T is also means that the character not only 
  knows his commanding of  cer, but also has a working relationship 
  with her. T is opens some role-playing and plotline opportunities 
  for both the gamemaster and the player. When a soldier does 
  poorly or well, he can expect to hear about it.
  Rewards
  T e military, like all large organizations, like their cash to 
  f ow as smoothly as possible. Soldiers are far more likely to have 
  SOLDIER SALARIES
  The table below contains salaries of soldiers of varying rank. Treat these numbers as a guideline; salaries 
  in different militaries vary. For example, megacorps tend to pay a bit less to enlisted men and more for ofﬁ -
  cers. Very small mercenary units might split the proﬁ ts from each mission, while freedom-ﬁ ghting forces very 
  rarely pay any kind of salary, and most standing armies and navies offer higher pay for more years of service. 
  Additionally, soldiers may get bonus pay for hazardous duty (such as working with parachute jumping, rescues, 
  or demolitions) or combat pay; hazard pay is usually a ten percent bonus, and combat duty usually earns a 
  soldier an extra ﬁ fteen percent.
  The table below is based on UCAS Army ranks.
  Rank
  Monthly Salary
  UCAS average
  Private
  1,200-1,500
  1,400¥
  Private First Class
  1,600-1,900
  1,750¥
  Corporal
  2,000-2,300
  2,250¥
  Sergeant
  2,400-2,600
  2,400¥
  Sergeant-Major
  2,700-3,000
  2,800¥
  Second Lieutenant
  3,200-3,600
  3,500¥
  First Lieutenant
  3,800-4,500
  4,400¥
  Captain
  4,750-5,750
  5,500¥
  Major
  5,800-7,250
  7,100¥
  Lieutenant Colonel
  7,300-8,250
  8,000¥
  Colonel
  8,300-9,000
  8,800¥
  General
  9,500+
  10,000¥+
  
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  enlisted men and women. T ey receive orders directly from the 
  higher-level of  cers and seldom work with regular military units.
   Special forces also tend to have mixed but complementary 
  capabilities. Each member of a special forces squad meshes 
  with the others. T ey plan and execute their missions together, 
  supporting one another. Af er a mission, they take downtime 
  together, helping one another improve their skills or their gear.
  In other words, special forces units are like shadowrunners 
  who work for a government or corp. Running a campaign 
  where the player characters are special forces requires very little 
  adjustment by the gamemaster for the payof  of of ering a dif erent 
  spin on the Sixth World.
  OTHER MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
  Mercenary and independent units are much like regular 
  military or paramilitary units. T ey have a chain of command, 
  support, logistics, and a sense of pride and decorum, even if the 
  unit’s culture is less upstanding and shadier. In a suf  ciently large 
  force, from full-on army all the way down to the platoon level, 
  a campaign can be run in exactly the same manner as a normal 
  military campaign described in the f rst part of this chapter.
  If the unit is mostly or entirely composed of the player 
  characters, the rules change a bit. T e unit does not have to adhere 
  to the discipline and conduct of larger military organizations. A 
  soldier does not have to do scut-work, answer to a large number 
  of superiors, or keep to any sense of good manners. T ey have far 
  fewer rules to inhibit them.
  On the other hand, operations can be a lot harder. T e unit 
  has no real support, no true hierarchy, and no backup. T ere are no 
  honors, no chain of command, no regular salary, and no equipment 
  issued. T e unit is on their own to either pick their own objectives 
  or f nd someone willing to hire them to accomplish objectives. In 
  short, they are pretty much shadowrunners, which means that a 
  campaign where the player characters are a private military company 
  or independent paramilitary unit is ideal for Shadowrun.
  MILITARY OBJECTIVES
  Customarily, a team of shadowrunners only has peripheral 
  contact with the military, with the military usually acting as either 
  employers or targets. Military units themselves put their own spin 
  on the usual shadowrun job. T e following is a list of the standard 
  adventure frameworks in Shadowrun in the context of military 
  operations. T is is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather a 
  starting point for gamemasters.
  Assassination
  Assassination is completely and unmitigatedly illegal 
  according to nearly every treaty and accord on the planet. So while 
  it’s done all the time by military units, the laws mean it needs to be 
  done very quietly. Sometimes an assassination assignment is too 
  sensitive even for a shadowrun team to be hired, so the military is 
  called upon to deal with the target.
  Assassination missions usually fall to special forces units, but 
  occasionally a regular unit will be assigned and kept in the dark 
  about their true objective. In any case, the mission is kept secret, 
  usually to the point of paranoia.
  Targets of military assassinations tend to be enemy 
  commanders (who are in a bit of a gray area when it comes to the 
  personal inf uence; if a player character’s commanding of  cer is 
  another player character, use either the of  cer two levels up (his 
  superior’s superior) or take a dif erent free contact assigned by 
  the gamemaster. T e Loyalty rating of this contact may instead 
  be purchased at a higher Loyalty during character generation 
  with the player paying only for the extra desired Loyalty and 
  Connection ratings.
  Notoriety
  A military character’s Street Cred (which is still called 
  “Street Cred” for rules purposes, but is more about a character’s 
  reputation among other soldiers and civilians af ected by his unit 
  than the word on the street) and Public Awareness are calculated 
  normally, but his Notoriety rating is handled somewhat dif erently 
  than that of his shadowrunning counterpart. Most of the standard 
  criteria for Notoriety (p. 265, SR4A) still apply, but additional 
  criteria based on the nature of the military also apply. Acts that 
  will add to a soldier’s Notoriety include:
  • Refusing to obey a superior of  cer.
  • Dereliction of duty.
  • Dishonest, unfair, or unjust behavior.
  • Brutality toward civilians.
  • Acts of cowardice.
  • Cruelty.
  • Leaving a fellow soldier behind.
  • Failing to help a member of the same unit.
  • Indecent or criminal acts.
  Gear
  A military character may purchase gear normally during 
  character creation. Additionally, the character will be issued 
  equipment by her unit, usually a weapon, a sidearm, armor, 
  clothing, survival gear, and food and other necessities. Many 
  militaries have limits on personal gear allowed in an area of 
  operations; those that do allow it will not offer support (i.e., 
  ammunition, upkeep, repair, etc.) for that equipment, so it is up 
  to the character to service her personal equipment.
  Most national and corporate militaries have an augmentation 
  loan program of some sort, where a soldier may purchase an 
  augmentation at the unit’s expense and pay the unit back over a 
  period of time, usually one or two years. If the character’s unit has 
  this program, she may use it at character generation, taking the In 
  Debt quality (p. 105, Runner’s Companion) for the appropriate 
  amount, up to the maximum 30,000¥, with the following 
  modif cations to the quality. T e military does not charge interest, 
  so the character only has to pay back the money borrowed. T e 
  character must pay back at least f ve percent of the value of the 
  original loan per month. If he fails to pay the required amount, or 
  leaves the unit, the military will actively seek him out to be paid in 
  full or to repossess the augmentation, either sending an operative 
  or team, giving him the Enemy negative quality, (p. 104, Runner’s 
  Companion) or issuing an arrest warrant or bounty, giving him the 
  Wanted quality (p. 110, Runner’s Companion).
  Special Forces
  Special forces units are highly versatile elite units within 
  a military body. T ey are usually organized in small groups of 
  
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  manufactured with a proper diversion. A unit may be ordered to 
  get the enemy to concentrate on a certain location and keep it 
  there, while the main force strikes elsewhere. Of en, this type of 
  mission is simple to execute, but tricky to survive, as the drawback 
  to having your enemy’s undivided attention is that you have your 
  enemy’s undivided attention.
  Encryption/Decryption
  While encryption and decryption is a constant of modern 
  warfare, troops are rarely called upon to stop and do the job 
  themselves. In 2072, one hacker with a military-grade commlink 
  can in a single minute break encryption that would have taken 
  a thousand mathematicians a thousand hours each to crack 
  during World War II. Some encryption, however, requires the 
  use of physical objects like passkeys, or certain secret information. 
  Getting these objects or bits of information into the right hands 
  requires skilled, trustworthy soldiers.
  Enforcement
  Typically, this job is reserved for military police when the 
  perpetrators are within the military. T at said, there is plenty of 
  action in f nding and capturing military criminals. T is kind of job 
  can also refer to those outside the military who need to be taught 
  some form of lesson. While simple vengeance is beneath the 
  military sense of decorum and honor, most military units have no 
  hesitation when it comes to meting out punishment to those the 
  soldiers deem deserving of their vigilantism. Of course, unof  cial 
  missions involving an egregious amount of inappropriate violence 
  tend to result in a visit from the military police.
  Extraction
  Military soldiers and officers are trained to deal with 
  civilians. Sometimes those civilians are in the wrong place at the 
  wrong time, and it falls to a military unit (such as the player 
  characters) to rescue and protect them. A unit might be ordered 
  to escort a family, VIP, or other civilians out of a war zone to 
  safety. Sometimes the target is not merely behind enemy lines, 
  but in enemy hands, and the team must get in, save the principals, 
  and get out. One popular variation is pilot recovery, where a 
  pilot shot down behind enemy lines must be rescued before the 
  foreign forces f nd her.
  Hoax/Counterfeit
  Warfare is about intelligence as much as it is about f repower. 
  A special forces team might be sent into an area to deceive the 
  enemy. It might try to give the appearance of a large-scale attack, 
  an indigenous uprising, or another distraction to either offer 
  commanders information about enemy responses or to divert their 
  attention from a real of ensive.
  Investigation
  Investigations tend to be under the purview of the military’s 
  internal justice system, and regular troops or special forces are 
  rarely called in to assist. Still, a criminal investigation in the f eld 
  might require the aid of trustworthy troops, in this case the player 
  characters. On the other hand, most reconnaissance missions 
  would be considered investigations, especially in cases where the 
  pre-mission intelligence is sketchy or misleading.
  def nition of assassination), revolutionaries, terrorist leaders, or 
  civilians in positions of authority. T ere is rarely any overt reward 
  for accomplishing the mission with distinction, but one can be 
  assured that af er the deed is done, somebody owes the unit big time. 
  Blackmail
  Blackmail is typically too subtle for most military units, 
  which favor more direct action. Still, it is not unheard of for 
  military units to gather information or plant damning evidence 
  on behalf of allied intelligence agencies. Missions of this sort tend 
  to be against targets in the unit’s area of operations, making them 
  valuable assets in accomplishing the objective.
  Bodyguard
  Part of the military’s duty is to protect allied VIPs. This 
  sort of mission is normally handled by specialized government 
  agencies, but the military is usually called in to protect of  cials 
  and dignitaries in or near a war zone.
  Units are often called upon to protect civilians as well. 
  Typically, the threat is in the form of either enemy forces or local 
  insurgents. Missions can be def ned as either certain time frames 
  (protect this family until the rest of the company arrives tomorrow) 
  or as a journey (bring the mayor and his council to the headquarters 
  as soon as possible). In a military context, this adventure framework 
  of en overlaps with the extraction framework.
  Courier/Smuggling
  Most soldiers are assigned to a specif c area, and moves are 
  done on a large scale, rather than by individual sub-units. T e 
  logistical services without which a military force would perish 
  usually handle the movement of materials, from physical letters 
  to mobile HQs, from place to place. However, sometimes a secure 
  delivery is needed, and for that the armed forces issue special 
  orders. Alternatively, a regular-forces unit out on the front could 
  stumble upon an important piece of equipment, evidence, or 
  other object (such as a magical artifact) and be ordered to bring it 
  to the main operating headquarters.
  Datasteal
  Intelligence is everything on the battlefield. That said, 
  Matrix-based datasteals are rare for regular troops. A special forces 
  unit might be sent behind enemy lines to gather information and 
  steal information on troop dispositions, war plans, security codes, 
  and other potentially war-winning data.
  Destruction
  For most shadowrunners, the destruction of a target can 
  be tricky, especially in the middle of a bustling metropolis. For a 
  soldier, it usually is a simple matter of the application of suf  cient 
  f repower. Still, things are rarely simple in war. A unit could be 
  ordered to destroy an objective, and the mission be complicated 
  by air cover, patrols, or even an enemy of ensive. Time may also be 
  an enemy; for example, a bridge may need to be destroyed by the 
  time the friendly armor company’s push arrives.
  Distraction
  One of the tenets of war is to strike the enemy where he is 
  weakest. If the enemy is not showing any weaknesses, one can be 
  
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  BATTLEFIELD SKILLS
  Characters in Shadowrun already have plenty of things to 
  worry about when entering live combat. Many of the situations, 
  skills, and attributes a person might have in a dangerous encounter 
  are described in this section.
  COMPOSURE
  Combat is terrifying, even to heroes. When a person 
  encounters a traumatic event, whether it be a threatening 
  attack, the use of the Fear power, the sight of gore, the fear of 
  impending danger, a terror-inducing spell, or any other stressor, 
  the gamemaster should call for a Composure Test (p. 138, SR4A).
  Generally speaking, Composure Tests should have a threshold 
  of 3. T is can be reduced by experience—if a soldier is in a situation 
  much like one she has encountered before, the threshold generally 
  should be reduced to 2, though variations in specif c situations 
  may of set this reduction. Further experience may help reduce the 
  threshold even further at the gamemaster’s discretion.
  If a character fails a Composure Test, she panics. The 
  gamemaster may choose the specif c reaction to inf ict on the 
  character. As a guideline, nausea (p. 254, SR4A), panicked f eeing, 
  freezing, or collapsing and sobbing are all good reactions. If a 
  state of panic is ongoing, require a Charisma + Willpower (6, 1 
  Combat Turn) Extended Test to snap out of it.
  Should a glitch result from a Composure test, the character 
  experiences the stimulus as a traumatic event. This imposes a 
  temporary post-traumatic stress ef ect of the gamemaster’s choice. 
  If the character making a Composure test gets a critical glitch or a 
  second glitch while still suf ering from a temporary post-traumatic 
  stress ef ect, he gains the ef ect as a quality instead, and is of en 
  diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
  POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS
  A traumatic event is any stressor that can cause lasting 
  psychological shock. Usually, the psychological response to such 
  an event is temporary, as the character’s brain works through the 
  experience. Sometimes, it is more lasting, simulated in Shadowrun 
  by a glitch or a critical glitch on a Composure test.
   
  Post-Traumatic Stress Effects
  When a psychological trauma causes lasting effects, the 
  gamemaster chooses one of the ef ects from the Post-Traumatic 
  Stress Effects table. Each effect is identical to a quality; page 
  references are included for convenience. T e gamemaster should 
  choose an effect (and specifics, as appropriate) that fits the 
  character or the traumatic event.
  When a character has a post-traumatic stress ef ect, treat it 
  as if she had the associated quality. If the ef ect is temporary, the 
  character will work through the traumatic experience with an 
  Extended Charisma + Willpower (16, 1 week) Test; for every 
  full point of Essence the character has lost, impose a –1 dice pool 
  penalty to this test. A psychologist can help with this test, using 
  Psychology Knowledge Skill + Logic as a teamwork test (p. 65, 
  SR4A). Once the Extended Test is passed, the ef ect ends.
  If the ef ect becomes permanent, either by getting a glitch 
  while under the effect of post-traumatic stress or by rolling a 
  Plant
  Regular troops are not usually called upon to sneak into a 
  target area and plant information or evidence, but special forces 
  might as well have a merit badge for it. A player character group 
  that plays a special forces unit could be called upon to deliver and 
  plant evidence to put pressure on a government or corporation 
  in order to further the goals of their government’s foreign policy.
  Retrieval
  The military do not often have literal objects as their 
  objectives. When they do, it is usually something of great import 
  that must be secured quickly and safely. Nuclear warheads, plans, 
  and magical artifacts of en fall under this category of missions. 
  Usually, the item in question has military protection itself, and 
  small skirmishes are fought over the spoils.
  Security
  “Clear and secure” means to attack an enemy position, set a 
  perimeter, and hold it until the powers that be decide to advance 
  or withdraw from the position. Security is a constant concern 
  both at home and in the f eld; a military that cannot secure its 
  own bases cannot be taken seriously. From the smallest operating 
  base to the largest airf eld, military security is by reputation and 
  in practice some of the strongest in the world. A military unit of 
  player characters will f nd any number of dif erent places to guard, 
  and an equal number of hazards, pitfalls, and challenges in doing 
  so in the Sixth World.
  Tailchaser
  Similar to hoax missions, a tailchaser mission is a popular and 
  ef ective tactic, and much easier to employ. Regular forces can be 
  used in a diversionary troop movement or attack, with the goal of 
  provoking a response from the enemy. T e player characters could 
  be ordered into such an operation. Unfortunately, a diversionary 
  attack is usually underpowered, or at least has less strength than 
  the enemy believes it to have, and if something should go wrong 
  with a diversionary operation, the player characters could f nd 
  themselves in an interesting amount of trouble.
  War
  While this one might seem obvious (soldiers f ght wars, af er 
  all), warfare is more subtle and varied than simply one side shooting 
  at the other. There are feints, screening actions, and flanking 
  maneuvers. T ere are many types of terrain on which battles are 
  fought. There are also many types of engagements: ambushes, 
  convoys, reconnaissance in force, harrying attacks, and of course 
  direct assaults. In all of it, the player characters are given their own 
  objectives; for dramatic ef ect, it is possible to have entire battles 
  hinge on the accomplishment of the player characters’ targets.
  Wild Things
  T e military is rarely called in to deal with paracritters, but 
  when they are it indicates something truly frightening. Rampaging 
  juggernauts, merrow on the warpath, wooly mammoth stampedes, 
  and even the odd dragon run amok can be the targets of a military 
  excursion, as might the threat that brings in the military the most 
  quickly: insect spirit hives. T ese are threats that make even the 
  most jovial soldier grim.
  
  137
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Command (Strategy specialization): You organize and 
  direct your subordinates to gain a strategic advantage. Make a 
  Leadership + Logic Success Test with a threshold equal to half 
  the number of subordinates you are leading (round up). If you 
  succeed, your subordinates get a +2 bonus to Initiative for the 
  following Combat Turn.
  Direct Fire (Tactics specialization): You issue tactical 
  commands and concentrate your subordinates’ f re on a target. 
  Choose a target and make a Leadership + Intuition Success Test 
  with a threshold equal to half of the number of subordinates under 
  your command (round up). If you succeed, your subordinates get a 
  +1 dice pool bonus to attacks against that target for the remainder 
  of this Combat Turn.
  Inspire (Morale specialization): You motivate the troops, 
  rousing their spirits and protecting them against fear. Make a 
  Leadership + Charisma Success Test; the ef ect of success depends 
  on whether your subordinates are NPCs or player characters. For 
  NPCs, if you succeed, the Professional rating of your subordinates 
  increases to 2 higher than normal until the end of the current (or 
  next) combat. Success for player characters grants them a +2 dice 
  pool bonus to Composure tests for the same period of time; this 
  bonus, once granted, cannot be given to the same player character 
  again until it is lost.
  Note that this application of the Leadership skill is an elaboration 
  on the use of Leadership by lieutenant NPCs (p. 281, SR4A)
  Rally the Troops (Gut Check specialization): You call to 
  your troops to recover their wits and regain their composure. Make 
  a Leadership + Charisma (2) Success Test. If you succeed, your 
  NPC subordinates that have failed a Morale test (p. 145) may 
  immediately make another Morale test and use the new result. T is 
  use of Leadership can also help player characters who have failed a 
  Composure test by allowing them to make a new Composure test; 
  this new test does not, however, negate the ef ects of glitches or 
  critical glitches on the original Composure test.
  critical glitch, the character gains the quality on which the ef ect 
  was based. The character then must use the normal rules for 
  buying of  a negative quality (p. 271, SR4A).
  Qualities or the effects of qualities gained through post-
  traumatic stress are imposed rather than “bought.” While they do 
  not of er any BP or Karma when they are gained, a player may use 
  a traumatic event as a back-story for a quality selected at character 
  creation.
  LEADERSHIP
  T e Leadership skill ref ects how well a character commands 
  her subordinates. She can inspire, convince, cajole, coax, threaten 
  and challenge others to act individually or as a group toward a 
  common goal. T ese rules expand the role of the Leadership skill 
  in Shadowrun
  In order to use Leadership, you need one or more 
  subordinates. These are people who have, consciously or 
  unconsciously, acknowledged you as the person in charge, if only 
  for the moment. You can convince an unwilling target to become 
  a subordinate, if only for a short time, with a successful Opposed 
  Leadership (Persuasion specialization) + Charisma Test.
  A character can only follow one leader at a time. If his leader 
  should change, or if he chooses to stop following his current 
  leader, he loses any bonus that may have been granted by the (now 
  former) leader.
  You can of er your subordinates assistance in various ways; 
  these ef ects only work on subordinates. You use the Leadership 
  skill with the Use Skill Complex Action (p. 148, SR4A). T e use 
  of Leadership adheres to the rules for the use of Charisma-linked 
  skills (p. 130, SR4A), including the need for your subordinates 
  having the ability to understand you, along with the dice pool 
  adjustments on the Social Modif ers Table (p. 131, SR4A). T e 
  threshold of the skill test depends on the ef ect you want, and each 
  ef ect uses a dif erent specialization of the Leadership skill.
  POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS EFFECTS
  Quality
  Source
  Addiction
  p. 93, SR4A
  AIPS (Matrix-related stressors only)
  p. 37, Unwired
  Amnesia
  p. 102, Runner’s Companion
  Big Regret
  p. 102, Runner’s Companion
  Codeblock
  p. 94, SR4A
  Combat Paralysis
  p. 94, SR4A
  Cyberpsychosis (low-Essence characters only)
  p. 21, Augmentation
  Flashbacks
  p. 105, Runner’s Companion
  Geas (magically active characters only)
  p. 27, Street Magic
  Oblivious
  p. 107, Runner’s Companion
  Paranoia
  p. 107, Runner’s Companion
  Prejudiced
  p. 108, Runner’s Companion
  Scorched
  p. 95, SR4A
  Sensory Overload Syndrome (Matrix-related stressors only)
  p. 109, Runner’s Companion
  Vendetta
  p. 109, Runner’s Companion
  Virtual Personality (non-Matrix stressors only)
  p. 38, Unwired
  
  138
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  She rolls 15 dice in a Large Pool Test, getting a result of 6, 
  5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, and 1. She counts all of 
  the numbers that are 3 or higher for a total of 8 hits. T e 
  helicopter takes two boxes of damage.
  Really Large Dice Pools
  If even the Large Pool Test rules are not enough to bring your 
  dice rolls to a sane level, just roll (pool size / 10)D6 and total the 
  numerical results to determine the number of hits (round down). 
  T is method is not compatible with glitches or Edge use, and is 
  not recommended for dice pools smaller than f f y dice.
  For example, a Celebrian Striker with a full armor 
  modification has a dice pool of 70 dice when resisting 
  23P damage f om an explosion. Rather than rolling 70 
  dice (Standard Test) or 23 dice (Large Pool Test), the 
  gamemaster simply rolls 7D6, adds up the numbers on 
  all seven dice, and gets 22. T e result is 22 hits, reducing 
  the damage to one box.
  FLIGHT TIME
  T e return of magic and the dawn of the Sixth World did 
  not change the laws of physics. Objects still need to travel from 
  point A to point B, and bullets, grenades, mortars, and tank shells 
  are no exception. Add to this the fact that indirect f re tends to 
  travel along a high arc to its target, and you’ve got a delay between 
  “bang” and “boom.”
  Whenever you have a weapon that f res a round that travels 
  in an arc, including mortars, grenades, rockets, and vehicle main 
  guns (not including lasers), use the following rules. If the round 
  must travel farther than 1000 meters, then it hits its target at the 
  beginning of the following Combat Turn. For every additional 
  interval of 1000 meters, add another Combat Turn between 
  f ring and impact. T ese are, of course, abstract values; if your 
  gamemaster wishes, she may calculate the ballistics for the specif cs 
  of the situation and narrative ef ect.
  If the target moves af er the round is f red and before the round 
  arrives, the round hits the place the target was when the attack was 
  made. If the round is guided, as with a guided shell, the f rer may 
  apply any scatter reduction (p. 155, SR4A) lef  over from the attack 
  test to redirect the round to (or toward) the relocated target.
  SUPPRESSIVE FIRE
  Suppressive f re (p. 154, SR4A) is an important part of the 
  tactical toolbox. Most military engagements are won or lost on 
  mobility as much as f repower, and suppressive f re is one of the 
  T is application of the Leadership skill can also be used in a 
  teamwork test for subordinates who are resisting mental magical 
  ef ects, provided the leader has spent a Complex Action doing 
  so earlier in the Combat Turn of or immediately prior to the 
  resistance test.
  RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
  T e following rules are for use in your Shadowrun game. While 
  they are oriented toward military life and combat engagements, 
  most of them are also useful when simulating the street f ghts and 
  shadowy undertakings of the professional deniable asset.
  LARGE DICE POOLS
  Some applications of military technology result in very high 
  dice pools (a standard Ares Dragon helicopter rolls thirty dice 
  to resist damage!). Rather than roll every die on the table, the 
  gamemaster may call for a Large Pool Test instead.
  A Large Pool Test uses a dice pool that is one-half the size of 
  the normal dice pool to be rolled (round down). Edge dice should 
  be divided in half, as with all other dice, but their number is 
  rounded up. Roll the dice and count 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s, as successes; 
  1s are used for glitches as normal.
  For example, the gamemaster needs to roll 30 dice for 
  an Ares Dragon to reduce damage f om a 10P explosion. 
  LEADERSHIP EFFECTS TABLE
  Effect
  Threshold
  Specialization
  Command
  (# of subordinates) / 2
  Strategy
  Direct Fire
  (# of subordinates) / 2
  Tactics
  Inspire
  1
  Morale
  Rally the Troops
  2
  Gut Check
  LEADERSHIP AND TACNET
  The use of networked tacsofts can combine with 
  the leadership skill to have a synergistic effect—good 
  tactics boost a unit’s perception of their leader’s 
  abilities, while good leadership means that unit 
  members are predisposed to have a positive view 
  of that leader’s tactics. A commander whose unit 
  employs tacnet gains +1 die to all of the effects listed 
  here as long as the unit is in a situation that could 
  benefit from the use of the tacnet. The bonuses 
  based on the number of unit members employing 
  tacnet (see p. 126, Unwired) do not apply, as this is a 
  bonus based on the unit’s faith in the leader and her 
  tactics, not on their skill in working together.
  
  139
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  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  the machine guns but behind cover f om them, so while 
  he does not risk harm f om them, he still suf ers a –2 dice 
  pool penalty (–1 per suppressive f re attack) to dodge the 
  attacks of the newcomers.
  Overlapping Suppressive Fire Zones
  If a target f nds itself in more than one suppressive f re zone 
  at the same time, he makes only one Reaction + Edge Test for the 
  entire Action Phase, with a –1 dice pool modif er per zone beyond 
  the f rst, comparing the hits against each attacker’s hits separately. 
  T is penalty does not apply when the attacker f rst creates the zone. 
  Note that the penalty from defending against multiple attacks 
  (p. 159, SR4A) does not apply in this case, because resisting a 
  suppressive f re zone is not a defense test.
  For example, three corporate goons open up with 
  their HK-227X’s on Basher using suppressive f re. Basher 
  makes a single Reaction + Edge Tests for each attack with 
  no modif er. If he doesn’t hit the dirt or f nd some cover on 
  his next Action Phase, he will have to make his test with 
  a –2 dice pool modif er (–1 for each zone beyond the f rst).
  Non-Automatic Weapons
  Semi-automatic and burst-fire weapons can be used for 
  suppressive f re, although not as ef ectively as a fully automatic 
  weapon. Use the standard rules for creating the suppressive f re 
  zone, for making the attack test, and for avoiding damage in that 
  zone, with the following modif cations: the area of the zone is 
  only f ve meters wide at its end, and the Damage Value is half the 
  base damage for the weapon, rounded up; add +2 DV to the base 
  weapon damage if using burst f re.
  Suppressive f re with non-automatic weapons is a Complex 
  Action. Semi-automatic weapons use f ve rounds, and burst-f re 
  weapons use 12 rounds. If the attacker is using two f rearms for 
  suppressive f re, he makes two Agility + weapon skill Success Tests 
  (splitting his dice pool per second f rearm rules, p. 150, SR4A) and 
  creates two overlapping suppressive f re zones.
  Single-shot weapons cannot be used for suppressive f re. T e 
  use of long bursts is part of normal suppressive f re; if your weapon 
  can f re long bursts, it can do normal suppression f re.
  Example: Ms. Malicious is covering the movements 
  of her team. Her assault rif e is out of ammo, so she resorts 
  to her twin Ares Predators. She splits her dice pool, f ring 
  at and around the doorway her enemies have hidden 
  behind. If one of them were to pop out to f re back, he 
  would be facing two suppressive f re zones that each have 
  a DV of 3P (–1 AP).
  GRENADES
  T ese rules augment those found on p. 145 and p. 155, SR4A.
  Grenade Timing
  T e standard grenade timing rules (p. 145, SR4A) assume 
  a wireless-enabled unsubscribed grenade that electronically 
  tracks when it leaves proximity of its user, detonating during 
  the Initiative Pass following the one in which it was thrown. 
  If the user is subscribed to the grenade’s wireless node, he can 
  best ways to turn f repower into a denial of the enemy’s mobility. 
  Using suppressive f re to deny access to a part of the battlef eld 
  to an enemy reduces their mobility and effectiveness. If the 
  suppressive f re can pin the enemy in place, it allows other friendly 
  elements to outf ank and overwhelm the enemy.
  Suppressive f re is a common tactic in modern warfare. T ese 
  rules expand the role of suppressive f re in Shadowrun.
  The Suppressive Fire Zone
  A suppressive fire zone is an area into which suppressive 
  fire is directed. A suppressive fire zone is most commonly a 
  flattened cone reaching from the weapon being fired to an 
  ending “wall” ten meters across and two meters tall, which is 
  true when the zone is created by a fully automatic firearm. 
  Other weapons capable of creating suppressive f re zones, such 
  as cluster munitions (p. 158), [Element] Cloud (p. 178), or the 
  Storm power (p. 102, Street Magic or p. 215, Running Wild), can 
  create zones of a dif erent shape, usually spherical. T ese are all 
  suppressive f re zones, even if the harmful element in the zone is 
  not normally considered “f re” (as in the case of a Water Cloud 
  spell, for example).
  Regardless of the source, all suppressive f re zones behave the 
  same way, using the rules on p. 154, SR4A and those found in 
  this section.
  Cover and Suppressive Fire
  T e rules for suppressive f re state that if a target drops 
  prone or takes cover from an attacker while in a suppressive f re 
  zone, she is safe from the ef ects of the zone. T ere are, however, 
  some circumstances and certain forms of suppressive f re for 
  which this does not apply. For example, dropping prone against 
  machine gun f re is inef ective when the attack is coming from 
  above, and it is dif  cult to take cover when the suppressive f re 
  zone is coming from all directions at once, as is the case with 
  a cluster bomb or a Fire Cloud spell. T e gamemaster has the 
  f nal say over what constitutes protection from damage in a 
  suppressive f re zone.
  Defending Against Multiple Attacks
  Suppressive fire counts as one attack for the purposes of 
  calculating modif ers to defense tests (p. 159, SR4A). During a 
  target’s turn, the attack comes at the start of the Action Phase. A 
  suppressive f re zone also counts as an attack on a target that is still 
  in the zone, even if prone or behind cover by less than a meter; the 
  target is safe from damage, but is still hindered by the f ying lead. 
  If the target is in the zone, but behind full cover by more than a 
  meter, he can safely ignore the attack, and the dice pool penalty 
  does not apply.
  Example: Sticks and Stone are ambushed as they 
  leave their car, with two machine gunners spraying their 
  area down with lead. Sticks ducks behind a nearby garage 
  and starts working his way around to f ank the emplace-
  ment. Stone drops behind the car and draws his SMG. 
  When the ambushers close the trap and attack f om behind, 
  Sticks has no penalty to dodge the f rst attack, because he is 
  far enough behind cover (the garage) to ignore the suppres-
  sive f re zones. Stone is too close to the hail of bullets f om 
  
  140
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Throwing Minigrenades
  Minigrenades are intended for use in a grenade launcher, but 
  it is possible to deploy them by hand. To do so, the minigrenade 
  must first be primed, the equivalent of pulling the pin and 
  releasing the lever on a hand grenade. A minigrenade with wireless 
  capability can be primed with a Change Linked Device Mode 
  action (p. 288, SR4A). Minigrenades without wireless capability 
  must be primed by hand, which is an Armorer + Logic (4, 
  Complex Action) Extended Test.
  Once primed, the minigrenade acts like a normal 
  (non-aerodynamic) grenade, and follows those rules. Priming a 
  minigrenade “starts the clock” on its detonation (see Grenade Timing, 
  p. 139), and so shadowrunners interested in self-preservation are 
  urged to throw the grenade as soon as possible af er priming.
  LAND MINES
  A land mine is an explosive device that is set into the ground 
  and is triggered remotely or by the target. Mines have been part 
  of warfare since their f rst use in Imperial China. Most mines are 
  buried a dozen or so centimeters under the surface of the ground, 
  but they can also be deployed under f ooring, wooden decks, on 
  walls, or even lef  in the open.
  Setting and Detonating Mines
  Deploying a mine is easier than setting explosives and 
  about as dangerous as using a hand grenade. Every mine includes 
  a tripwire, which can be deployed and set with an Extended 
  Demolitions + Agility (6, Complex Action) Test. Mines are by 
  default wireless-enabled (and in Hidden mode, Device Rating 4), 
  and can be subscribed and detonated remotely with the Change 
  Linked Device Mode action (p. 228, SR4A). Mines can also 
  employ sensors.
  When setting a mine, it is assumed that some minor ef ort 
  is put into concealing it. If you want to take extra care in hiding 
  a mine, make a Success Test using Demolitions + Intuition; 
  this becomes the threshold for f nding the mine, instead of the 
  standard threshold (except in the case of Hidden node searches, 
  which can only be hindered with ECM or jamming).
  Clearing Mines
  Clearing a mine f rst requires knowledge of its location. T is 
  is usually accomplished with a mine detector (p. 161) or mine 
  detector nanobots (p. 165), but can also be done with another 
  type of sensor (such as an olfactory sensor or a MAD scanner), or 
  even by scanning for Hidden nodes (p. 230, SR4A) if the mine is 
  wireless-enabled. A search with a device is a Simple Demolitions + 
  Perception+ Intuition (4) Test. A search without a device requires 
  a Perception + Intuition (4) Test; hiding the mine in dif  cult-to-
  search landscape such as jungle or grassland raises this threshold to 
  5, while a minef eld on pavement or gravel is easier to detect and 
  lowers the threshold to 3. A Matrix search for Hidden nodes has 
  the standard threshold of 4.
  Once a mine is found, the danger can be dealt with by a 
  number of means. First, it can be avoided, and many soldiers 
  on the move simply mark the location of the mine in their AR 
  display and share the information with their unit. T e mine can 
  also be deliberately detonated, either by triggering it from a safe 
  location, by direct weapons f re, or by sympathetic detonation (p. 
  command the grenade to detonate at any time as a Free Action 
  (using the Change Linked Device Mode action, p. 228, SR4A). 
  Note that mini-grenades loaded into a launcher cannot be 
  wirelessly detonated before launch unless the safety feature is 
  disabled with an Armore + Logic (3, 5 minutes) Extended Test 
  (p. 324, SR4A).
  A grenade without wireless capability uses a standard three-
  second timer, and detonates during the Combat Turn following 
  its deployment at the beginning of the same Initiative Pass it was 
  thrown (or dropped, or simply activated). If the gamemaster 
  desires to simulate less predictable timed grenades (grenade fuses 
  are notoriously imprecise), she should secretly roll an Initiative 
  Score for the grenade explosion, using a dice pool of 6 dice plus 
  the Edge rating of whoever threw the grenade.
  Overlapping Grenade Blasts
  Occasionally, a gamemaster will have more than one grenade 
  or other explosive simultaneously af ecting a single target. In these 
  cases, treat the damage as a single blast with a Damage Values equal 
  to the sum of the highest Damage Value of one explosion plus half 
  the DV of the other explosions. Each explosion’s DV should be 
  modif ed for the distance of each explosion, as if the target was 
  af ected by the Blast in a Conf ned Space rules (p. 156, SR4A). 
  T e combination of overlapping blasts and conf ned quarters is 
  known as the “puréed salsa ef ect.”
  The rules for overlapping blast weapons that involve 
  chemicals with inhalant vectors are slightly different. Rather 
  than adding together the blasts’ Damage Values, add together 
  the amount of time the chemical remains in the air. T is does 
  not apply to chemicals with a contact vector, which have no 
  appreciable additional ef ect when their blasts overlap.
  Grenade Launchers and Targeting
  Minigrenades can be set to explode when they hit their target 
  (or whatever they hit instead of the target). T is allows a grenade 
  launcher to be used more like direct-f re weapons. A wireless-
  capable minigrenade (the default manufacturing mode) can be 
  set to contact detonation with a Change Linked Device Mode (p. 
  288, SR4A) at any point up to the time it is f red, even while it is in 
  the grenade launcher. A minigrenade without wireless capability 
  must be set manually with an Armorer + Logic (8, Complex 
  Action) Extended Test.
  When using a grenade launcher with contact-triggered 
  minigrenades, you can f re directly at a target. You must declare 
  that your character is doing so before the attack. Make a Heavy 
  Weapons + Agility Opposed Test against the target, using the 
  normal rules for ranged combat (p. 150, SR4A), using net hits to 
  add to the base Damage Value of the grenade for only the target 
  that was attacked. T e grenade also damages those within its blast 
  radius normally, using its base Damage Value and ignoring the net 
  hits from the attack. If the attack misses, roll for scatter (with a 
  reduction for net hits) to determine where the grenade detonates, 
  resolving the blast as normal.
  T e ability to increase damage with net hits only works for 
  exploding grenades; grenades that af ect a target indirectly (e.g., 
  gas or splash grenades) have their normal ef ect. Note that grenade 
  launchers are heavy weapons, and as such any dice pool penalty 
  due to uncompensated recoil is doubled.
  
  141
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  90, Arsenal); in the latter case, treat mines as Rating 10 explosives 
  with Impact Armor 2.
  You can attempt to disarm the mine manually with an 
  Extended Demolitions + Agility (12, Complex Action) Test. A 
  glitch on this roll usually indicates a loss of accumulated successes 
  (determined by the gamemaster), but a critical glitch always 
  triggers the mine. Similarly, you can try to disarm a wireless-
  enabled mine via the Matrix, but most such mines have physical 
  triggering components and cannot be digitally disarmed once the 
  mine has been armed.
  STRATEGIC COMBAT
  Shadowrun is a game that tells stories about people, specif cally 
  the player characters. T is means that the focus of the combat rules 
  is predominantly on f ghts between people. However, people do use 
  vehicles, and so there are rules for combat in vehicles.
  T e main rulebook details vehicle combat in two situations. 
  Tactical combat (p. 168, SR4A) is used when vehicles are involved, 
  but the main focus of the battle is still on the people in the vehicles. 
  A f ght between shadowrunners in a hovercraf  and the security 
  forces on a moving train, for example, would use tactical combat. 
  Chase combat (p. 169, SR4A) is used when one side is trying to 
  get away and the other trying to catch or kill their opponents, or 
  for f ghts that are simply traveling along a relatively linear path as 
  they progress—for example, an engagement between a low-f ying 
  dragon and the runners chasing it on motorcycles.
  Strategic combat is described in this section of the rules. 
  Strategic combat is used when the main combatants are in vehicles 
  and all of the drivers, pilots, or riggers of those vehicles are there to 
  f ght, not f ee. T e combat occurs within a set area, and the terrain 
  can dictate the pace of the battle.
  Vehicles and Pedestrians
  Strategic combat is usually used for vehicle combat, but it 
  can also include pedestrian combatants. Spirits, anti-tank infantry 
  squads, and paranormal critters all can be participants in strategic 
  combat. T ese rules use the term “vehicle” to denote a combatant, 
  but the rules for strategic combat apply equally to those outside 
  of vehicles.
  Strategic Combat Turn
  The strategic combat turn sequence is identical to that 
  of tactical combat, with Initiative resolved normally. Time is 
  measured by Strategic Turns, each of which lasts f f een seconds 
  (5 Combat Turns). During this time, vehicles are maneuvering, 
  combatants on foot are getting their bearings, and so on. Strategic 
  Turns are divided into Initiative Passes and Action Phases, as with 
  normal combat.
  Unlike chase combat, there is no Opposed Vehicle Test to 
  determine positioning at the start of each Strategic Turn.
  Center of Action
  Each strategic combat is waged around a center of action, the 
  middle of the f ght. T e center of action can move from Strategic 
  Turn to Strategic Turn at the gamemaster’s discretion based on the 
  development of the battle or on dramatic ef ect. T e farthest the 
  center of action may move in a Strategic Turn is equal to half the 
  Speed rating of the fastest vehicle.
  
  142
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  per vehicle may be attempted each Strategic Turn. When any 
  pilot or driver makes a Vehicle Test for a stunt during strategic 
  combat, one tenth (rounded up) of the Running part of the 
  vehicle’s Acceleration rating is added to the dice pool as a dice 
  pool modif er. T is modif er only applies to stunts, not tests made 
  for crashes or other reasons.
  Disengage: You try to disengage from the enemy and 
  withdraw (or f ee). T is stunt may only be attempted when the 
  vehicle’s relative range is Extreme. Make a Vehicle Test. If you 
  succeed, you escape the battle, although you may be chased.
  Give Chase: You try to chase a f eeing opponent. It may be 
  attempted at any relative range, but the closer you are to the center 
  of action, the harder it will be to succeed. Choose a vehicle that has 
  disengaged from the battle during the current Strategic Turn or 
  the one immediately prior. Make an Opposed Vehicle Test against 
  the target vehicle, taking a –2 dice pool penalty for each relative 
  range category you would have to move to get to Extreme (i.e., –2 
  for being at Long relative range, –4 for being at Medium, and –6 
  for Short). If you succeed, you disengage from the battle and are 
  now in chase combat with the target vehicle. Other vehicles may 
  attempt use this stunt against you or your target and join the chase 
  combat as well.
  Maneuver: You change your relative range. Make a Vehicle 
  Test; if you succeed, your vehicle’s relative range changes by one step.
  Ram: You ram another vehicle with yours. You may only 
  attempt this stunt if you have succeeded in Giving Chase to your 
  target in the previous round and are at the same relative range 
  as your target. Use the rules for ramming attacks, p. 169, SR4A, 
  using half your vehicle’s full Speed rating as the speed of the crash 
  if you succeed.
  Take Cover: If your vehicle can take advantage of cover 
  provided by the battlef eld (in the form of trees, buildings, hills, 
  boulders, etc.), you can attempt this stunt. Make a Vehicle Test; 
  if you succeed, you gain a +3 dice pool modif er to Defense Tests 
  and a –2 dice pool modif er to attacks made from your vehicle. 
  Pedestrians may always use cover (and generally do when there 
  are vehicles involved) using the normal rules for taking cover and 
  f ring from cover.
  Close Air Support
  When vehicles and aircraf  are in the same strategic combat 
  engagement, it makes little sense to restrict fast-moving aircraf  
  to the same relative ranges as vehicles on the ground or in the 
  water. When this occurs, use two separate sets of relative ranges, 
  one for surface craf  and one for aircraf . T e entire ground or 
  water battle is considered to be within the Short relative range of 
  the air battle. Vehicles on the surface may f re on aircraf  that are 
  in the Short or Medium categories of the air battle, treating the 
  target as though it were at Long or Extreme range, respectively; 
  small arms add an additional range category, as normal. Air 
  vehicles use the normal strategic combat rules for the ranges of 
  their own attacks.
  AERIAL VEHICLE COMBAT
  One of the most important factors of modern warfare is 
  air superiority. Whoever controls the air, controls the ground. 
  Whenever aircraf  engage in combat, the speed and the three-
  dimensional space can make tactical combat difficult to play. 
  T e center of action does not need to be a specif c vehicle 
  or object; it is simply a location chosen by the gamemaster to 
  represent the middle point of the current conf ict.
  Relative Range
  T e position of each vehicle in the combat is based on the 
  unit’s distance from the center of action. Relative ranges are 
  expressed using the Shadowrun range categories: Short, Medium, 
  Long, and Extreme. T ese categories are relative positions based 
  on the vehicle’s level of engagement and distance from the center 
  of action; relative range should be used for the narrative and to 
  determine how spread out a battle might be, not to assess the 
  precise tactical situation.
  Vehicles may change their relative range during strategic 
  combat using the Maneuver stunt, listed in the next section. 
  Pedestrians may change their relative range as a Free Action by 
  succeeding in a Running + Strength (2) Test, but only once per 
  Strategic Turn.
  When making attacks, a vehicle uses its own relative range or 
  that of its target, whichever is farther from the center of action, to 
  determine the range for that attack. Small arms including pistols, 
  automatics, shotguns, and projectile and thrown weapons (but 
  not sniper rif es, battle rif es, or heavy weapons) are treated as 
  being one range category farther when making attacks.
  Pistons and Banshee are making trouble in a Pushka 
  Okne tank. T ey are at Short relative range, f ring on an 
  armored car that is at Medium relative range. Banshee, 
  f ring the main gun, uses Medium range, but Pistons, who 
  is f ring her assault rif e f om the tank’s gun port, is at 
  Long range for her shot.
  Weapon Mounts and Attacks
  In the chaos of vehicle combat, the ability to bring weapons 
  to bear has a lot of impact. Fixed weapons are harder to line up on 
  a moving target, while turrets have the range of motion necessary 
  to f re independent of the vehicle’s facing. Weapons in a f xed 
  mount may only be f red once per Strategic Turn, regardless of 
  the number of Initiative Passes the f rer has. By the same token, 
  weapons in a f exible mount may be f red up to twice per Strategic 
  Turn, while those in a turret are not limited in the number of times 
  they can be f red (except by ammunition, number of initiative 
  passes, or special rules).
  T ese limitations apply only to weapons mounted on vehicles, 
  not carried by pedestrians.
  Driver Complex Actions and Strategic Stunts
  During each Strategic Turn, each vehicle must have a driver 
  or pilot spend one Complex Action controlling the vehicle. If 
  the driver or pilot fails to do so, it becomes uncontrolled. An 
  uncontrolled vehicle imposes a –2 dice pool penalty to all actions 
  performed in or on the vehicle, and a driver or pilot must succeed 
  in a Vehicle Test during the Strategic Turn in which the vehicle is 
  uncontrolled or the vehicle crashes at a speed equal to half its full 
  Speed rating.
  Drivers and pilots may attempt one of the following Strategic 
  Stunts as part of the Complex Action used to control a vehicle. 
  T ese stunts involve Vehicle Tests (p. 168, SR4A). Only one stunt 
  
  143
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Tactical Combat
  Tactical combat with aircraf  is just like tactical combat with 
  vehicles. Aside from the Vehicle Test thresholds for aircraf , there 
  are no modif cations to the rules on p. 168, SR4A.
  Strategic and Chase Combat
  In addition to the normal strategic combat (p. 141) or chase 
  combat rules (p. 169, SR4A), the following rules apply to aircraf  
  engagements.
  Positioning: Engagement range is important in any vehicle 
  combat, but the relative positions of each aircraf  is critical in a 
  dogf ght. Even with advanced targeting technology, air-to-air 
  missiles, and information warfare, all of the tech in the world 
  cannot substitute for good combat maneuvering when a close 
  battle is joined.
  In chase combat, af er the Opposed Vehicle Test that starts 
  each Chase Turn, the pilot of each aircraf  may declare that he 
  is tailing another aircraf . In order to tail an aircraf , the pilot 
  must have garnered more hits on the Opposed Vehicle Test than 
  the pilot of the aircraf  being tailed. Declarations are made in 
  ascending order of hits on the Opposed Vehicle Test (skipping 
  the lowest, of course, since he could not tail any other aircraf ), 
  with ties resolved the same way ties for Initiative Score are broken 
  (p. 144, SR4A). Tailing can only occur in chase combat when the 
  engagement range is Short or Medium.
  In strategic combat, tailing is accomplished by using the 
  Initiate a Tail aerial stunt.
  T ese rules should help when you f nd yourself in a dogf ght, and 
  they add to the standard vehicle combat rules (p. 167, SR4A).
  Aerial vehicle combat can be run as tactical combat or chase 
  combat per SR4A, or using the strategic combat rules in this book. 
  Vehicle Tests
  T e Vehicle Test T reshold table (p. 168, SR4A) is useful 
  for Vehicle Tests involving the ground, but does not translate 
  well to the skies. In the air, maneuvering is easy, with no obstacles 
  and little fear of collisions. Speed, on the other hand, makes 
  even simple maneuvers more dif  cult, as the added air velocity 
  over aircraf ’s control surfaces alter their behavior. T e Aircraf  
  Vehicle Test T reshold table gives thresholds based on speed. T e 
  threshold modif ers on the Terrain Test table (p. 169, SR4A) also 
  apply to these thresholds, as appropriate.
  AIRCRAFT VEHICLE TEST THRESHOLD
  Current Speed
  Threshold
  up to 500
  1
  501-750
  2
  751-1,000
  3
  1,001-1,250
  4
  1,251-1,500
  5
  1,501+
  6
  
  144
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  MILTECH IN CYBERSPACE
  By 2072, even the Matrix has become militarized. The 
  following rules supplement the Matrix rules starting on p. 216, 
  SR4A, and in Unwired.
  Milspec Program Ratings
  Programs that adhere to military-grade specif cations have 
  ratings that range from 7 to 10, representing the bleeding edge of 
  Matrix technology and innovation. Systems and sof ware at such 
  a high level of sophistication tend to be quickly subsumed by the 
  push for even newer and more advanced exploits, programming 
  techniques, and algorithms. As a result, programs that have ratings 
  higher than 6 suf er from degradation at the same rate as pirated 
  sof ware—1 point every two months (p. 109, Unwired). Milspec 
  programs cannot be patched to “f x” the degradation, but such a 
  program stops degrading once it reaches Rating 6, at which point 
  it becomes a “normal” program.
  Milspec Agents, IC, and Pilots
  While there have been many advances in Matrix technology, 
  even the most advanced military research projects have been 
  unable to push the capabilities of algorithmic reasoning and 
  cognitive searching much further than it currently stands. Agents, 
  IC, and pilot programs are limited to Rating 6, and autosof s are 
  limited to Rating 4.
  AVAILABILITY IN A WAR ZONE
  One thing about war is that it generates a lot of materiel. 
  Guns, ammunition, vehicles, armor, and military equipment can 
  be found in abundance during or af er a war. Additionally, some 
  parts of the world are simply more conducive to arms dealers and 
  gun running.
  T e gamemaster may choose to adjust the Availability and 
  price of military gear based on the situation in which it is sought 
  and purchased. Note that all of the adjustments described below 
  refer to the Availability of gear to typical shadowrunners; others, 
  such as members of a military receiving supplies through proper 
  channels, would have dif erent experiences with Availability. A 
  demilitarized zone is an area where no national or corporate 
  enforcement holds sway, and includes neutral zones. A feral city 
  is an urban area where there is little to no government to speak of, 
  and is described in more detail in Feral Cities.
  War zones are by definition transitory. In an active war 
  zone, it is easier to f nd military gear, but it tends to be more 
  expensive because it is in high demand and is being tracked by 
  A tailed aircraf  may not attack an aircraf  tailing it, unless it 
  has some sort of turret or rear-mounted weapon. A tailing aircraf  
  receives a +2 dice pool bonus to attacks against the aircraf  it is 
  tailing. An air vehicle may only have one tailing aircraf  at a time.
  Formation: By f ying in formation, aircraf  can concentrate 
  their f repower and defend one another. A formation is achieved 
  by simply tailing a friendly aircraft; you may tail a friendly 
  aircraft even if it has more hits on the Opposed Vehicle Test 
  at the beginning of the Combat Turn than you. In addition to 
  preventing the lead aircraf  from being tailed itself, a trail aircraf  
  in formation gets a +1 dice pool bonus to attacks on a target that 
  the lead aircraf  is tailing.
  Aerial Chase and Strategic Stunts
  Aerial vehicle combat is like any other vehicle combat in that 
  the pilot of each vehicle must spend at least one Complex Action 
  per turn controlling her vehicle, and may attempt a stunt during 
  this Complex Action (Driver Complex Action and Chase Stunts, 
  p. 170, SR4A). In addition to the vehicle stunts available on p. 142 
  (for strategic combat) or p. 170, SR4A (for chase combat), these 
  chase stunts are available to pilots of aircraf .
  Bait: You play easy-to-get when you are being tailed, making 
  it easier for your allies to attack the aircraf  tailing you. Make 
  a Vehicle Test; if you succeed, the aircraft tailing you gets an 
  additional +1 dice pool bonus when attacking you, but suf ers 
  a –2 dice pool penalty to Defense Tests when being attacked by 
  other aircraf .
  Initiate a Tail: You start tailing another aircraf . You can use 
  this to join formation with another friendly aircraf , or to start 
  tailing an enemy. To trail an enemy, make an Opposed Vehicle 
  Test; to trail an friendly aircraf , make a Vehicle (2) Test. In chase 
  combat, this stunt may only be used when the engagement range 
  is Short or Medium. In strategic combat, it may only be used when 
  the target aircraf  is at the same relative range as you.
  Shake a Tail: You weave, climb, dive, and perform aerial 
  stunts to get another aircraf  of  your six. By succeeding in an 
  Opposed Vehicle Test against a tailing pilot, you can shake of  a 
  tailing vehicle, removing your tailed status.
  Anti-Aircraft Fire
  Anti-aircraf  f re from the ground must have suf  cient range 
  to reach the altitude at which the target is f ying; standard range 
  penalties apply. Additionally, the target gets a dice pool bonus to 
  its Defense Test equal to half (rounded down) the Vehicle Test 
  threshold based on its current speed.
  MILITARY EQUIPMENT ADJUSTMENTS
  Condition
  Availability
  Cost
  Demilitarized zone
  +4
  x0.9
  In a feral city
  +0
  x2 or barter (p. 128, Feral Cities)
  In a war zone, after an armistice
  –8
  x0.75
  In an active war zone
  –4
  x1.5
  
  145
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  something happens to an NPC that would require a Composure 
  test of a player character, the NPC makes a Morale test instead, with 
  a threshold of 2. T e consequences of such a test are the same as 
  for Composure (p. 136), although NPC grunts tend to simply f ee.
  WARFARE 101
  One of the problems with acting as the gamemaster in any 
  role-playing game is that you are expected to be a polymath. Your 
  players may ask at any time in a game session whether Denver 
  has a subway system, or how many orks are in Xianning, or how 
  much explosive is required to sink a cargo ship, or the depth of the 
  water table in Prussia, or how many kilometers a centaur can hike 
  in a day. Most of the time, the narrative, the players, the World 
  Wide Web, or even the rules can help make up for any gaps in this 
  knowledge, but if you do not know how to prosecute a modern 
  battle, combat between the player characters and the military of 
  the Sixth World might be a bit of a tangle.
  T is section is for the gamemaster who has little experience 
  (or interest) in military tactics, but wants to of er her players the 
  experience of an engagement against professional soldiers. T is is 
  only an overview, and hardly enough to help you graduate from an 
  of  cer school or even win a war game tournament, but it should 
  be enough to give combat scenes in your game a military f avor. 
  T is information is also useful in encounters with police tactical 
  or SWAT teams, hit squads from organized crime syndicates, and 
  paramilitary organizations.
  Communication
  One of best weapons in the arsenal of the modern military 
  is communication. T e ability to coordinate f re and direct forces 
  in real time can allow small forces to overcome and defeat larger 
  opponents. Any military unit that shadowrunners are likely to 
  encounter will be in communication with the rest of their squad, 
  if not their entire platoon. A modern unit will almost always have 
  commlinks, a tactical network, and even sim rigs for each and 
  every soldier.
  T is level of communication allows a unit to coordinate as if 
  it were a single foe. Every individual in the unit can be assumed 
  to know everything that every other individual in the unit knows. 
  T e instant one solider spots an enemy target, that target’s location 
  is disseminated to the rest of the unit and is even available for 
  other units in the command structure. Even an incapacitated or 
  dead soldier can contribute to his comrades if his equipment is 
  still working and broadcasting.
  Mobility
  T e modern military is about mobility as much as it is about 
  strength. Historically, battles in which a larger force was defeated 
  by a smaller attacking force had that result because the victor had 
  an advantage in the ability to move forces where they were most 
  ef ective. Modern military leaders seek to keep their forces mobile 
  while denying movement to their enemy.
  The range of modern weapons makes moving around a 
  battlef eld dangerous. To overcome this challenge, the military 
  screens its movement. T is can be done a number of ways. Smoke 
  conceals the movement of troops and vehicles; this is often 
  thermal smoke given the availability of thermal vision. A number 
  of illusion and manipulation spells can also mask movement, 
  quartermasters assigned to make sure an army’s materiel is used 
  well. An armistice, on the other hand, when peace is breaking 
  out, attracts arms dealers, f xers, and shadowrunners like f ies 
  to honey; surplus weapons, armor, and other materiel becomes 
  readily available and cheap, but only while supplies last.
  The gamemaster may also make certain weapons more 
  available (lower Availability) or less expensive based on the area 
  in which they are purchased. T e best place to f nd out which 
  weapons may be more available in what parts of the world is the 
  information given for each weapon in Shadowrun books. For 
  example, the Ceska vz/120 might have Availability 3R or even 
  2R rather than 4R when purchased in Eastern Europe because, 
  according to the entry on p. 21, Arsenal, that model light pistol is 
  very popular among security and paramilitary forces there.
  PEOPLE IN A WAR ZONE,
  AND HOW TO WORK WITH THEM
  Most likely, a shadowrunning team will encounter the 
  military as opposition, rather than as clientele. T is section of ers 
  military grunts and lieutenants, rules for running the military as 
  opposition, and new contacts for runners with ties to the military.
  MORALE
  Morale is a large factor when it comes to combat. In 
  Shadowrun, the player characters’ morale is largely determined 
  by the players, but the morale of NPCs is controlled by their 
  Professional rating and the gamemaster. While some gamemasters 
  have no problem “eyeballing” the reactions of large numbers of 
  troops in the middle of a f ght, others may prefer a more systematic 
  approach. T ese rules of er a more concrete system for handling 
  the morale of NPCs.
  The Morale Test Table has a list of situations in which a 
  Morale test is appropriate, along with the thresholds required to 
  succeed in a Morale test. A Morale test is a Professional rating 
  + (the greater of Charisma or Willpower) Success Test with a 
  threshold based on the situation. To test the morale of a group, 
  make a single test and add a +1 dice pool bonus for every two 
  NPCs in the group.
  For example, when a gang of four Triads (CHA 
  3, WIL 4, Professional rating 4, p. 284, SR4A) makes a 
  Morale test, they use their Professional rating of 4 plus their 
  Willpower (which is higher than their Charisma) for a dice 
  pool of 8. To this the gamemaster adds a +2 dice pool bonus, 
  since there are four of them, for a total of 10 dice.
   
  Failing a Morale test means that the NPC(s) have lost their 
  composure. Normally, they will break of  from an engagement and 
  retreat, or simply surrender or hide; in any case they are no longer 
  interested in f ghting (or at least winning). A glitch on a Morale 
  test could indicate a panicked rout or even an unfocused berserker 
  f urry of violence inspired by terror.
  Morale and Composure
  NPCs are people too, and they are just as susceptible 
  to freaking out as shadowrunners. Generally speaking, when 
  
  146
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  such as astral envelopment, where spirits are sent through astral 
  space to f ank opponents.
  In a typical engagement, a military unit will attempt to limit 
  the mobility of the enemy. It will cut of  avenues of movement with 
  suppressive f re or direct force. It will use cover and concealment 
  to attack from a position of superiority and mask the advance of 
  its f anking force. Once the enemy is enveloped, the commander 
  can decide whether to allow the enemy to surrender or to press the 
  attack; most professionals prefer the former over the latter, but do 
  not hesitate to use lethal force when necessary.
  Reserves and Reinforcements
  As of en as possible, a military leader holds part of her force 
  back as a reserve. A reserve can be used to bolster defense in places 
  where they are needed, or act as a f anking force once the enemy is 
  pinned. Typically, the reserve force is called upon once the enemy 
  has committed to a plan of attack. T e reserves are then used to 
  counter the enemy’s strategy. If a unit is lucky, reserves arrive within 
  minutes; it’s always possible, though, that everyone else is far away 
  or pinned down, and it will be hours or even days before help arrives.
  Professional military forces are not shy about calling for 
  reinforcements. Most standard operating procedures involve 
  calling in air strikes, artillery, magical support, or other 
  additional forces immediately on contact with a hostile force. 
  Once reinforcements are on their way, a military unit will dig 
  in, try to neutralize the target or its mobility, and work on 
  enveloping the enemy. If it encounters a superior foe, the unit 
  will either f ght a holding action until reinforcements arrive or 
  try to retreat or withdraw.
  including Chaotic World, Mist, most Element Clouds, Shadow, 
  and even Invisibility. Summoned spirits can use Concealment to 
  mask movement. If the enemy is relying on sensors to track a unit’s 
  position, hackers, technomancers, and simple ECM can keep the 
  enemy in the proverbial dark.
  A map is a very basic tool of military planning. Most units in 
  the f eld will have maps available on their commlinks. A tactical 
  software program can offer help in choosing both routes and 
  timing, designating terrain as “slow-go,” “no-go,” and clear, and 
  assisting any Inf ltration tests a unit might need to make to mask 
  its movement.
  Envelopment
  T e basic tactic of the military unit is called envelopment. 
  T e idea is that part of the friendly force outmaneuvers the enemy, 
  creating a pocket where the enemy force is being attacked from 
  multiple sides. Typically, a unit will have some of its forces pin the 
  enemy in place, usually with heavy f re or simply by denying it the 
  ability to move. T e rest of the unit or its reserve force then moves 
  around the side of the enemy. Once the pocket is formed and the 
  enemy is stuck within it, the friendly unit has the upper hand and 
  can destroy the unit or simply wait for it to surrender.
  T is tactic is so prevalent in military science that dif erent 
  versions of it have their own names. T e act of moving a force 
  around one side is called f anking. A move against both sides at 
  the same time is called a pincer movement or double envelopment. 
  A vertical envelopment is where the flanking force uses air 
  superiority to land or drop troops behind the enemy position. T e 
  Sixth World is also beginning to see other forms of envelopment, 
  MORALE TEST TABLE
  Situation
  Threshold
  Attacked on a ﬂ ank
  1
  Combat casualties:
   
  25%
   
  50%
   
  75%
  2
  3
  4
  Event requiring a Composure test
  2
  Faced with an obviously superior force
  1
  Given an opportunity to surrender to an obviously superior force
  1
  Threatened with violence
  1
  Situation
  Dice Pool Modiﬁ er
  Allies still in the ﬁ ght
  +1 per 2 allies
  Faced with a threat or situation never encountered before
  –2
  Friends or family incapacitated in the ﬁ ght
  +1
  Leader has been taken out
  –2
  No reason to ﬁ ght
  –2
  Nowhere to run
  +4
  Prejudice or hatred against foes
  +2
  Reinforcements are on their way
  +1
  Surrounded
  –2
  Target of successful use of Intimidation skill
  –net hits
  
  147
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Expeditionary Lieutenant: T e expeditionary lieutenant 
  is far more likely to be a non-commissioned of  cer, such as a 
  sergeant or petty of  cer, than an actual lieutenant-ranked of  cer. 
  Still, the expeditionary lieutenant is an accomplished f ghter, as 
  well as being an accomplished leader of men and women. She has 
  also been around for a while, and has learned much as a veteran of 
  a number of engagements.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess M Init IP
   5 
  4 4(6) 3 
  3 
  4 
  3 
  4 
  6 
  4 
  10 3(4)
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 11
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 14/12
  Skills: Athletics Skill group 3, Close Combat Skill group 4, 
  Demolitions 1, Dodge 4, Etiquette (Military) 3, Firearms Skill 
  group 4, First Aid 3, Gunnery 1, Heavy Weapons 3, Inf ltration 
  2, Instruction 1, Intimidation 2, Leadership 3, Parachuting 2, 
  Perception 2, Survival 3, T rowing Weapons 2
  Adept Powers: Critical Strike 3, Improved Ref exes 2, Rush
  Gear: Light military armor, military helmet, Singularity Battle 
  Buddy, Tacsof  2, medkit (Rating 6), 
  Weapons:
  Auto-Assault 16 [Shotgun, DV 7P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC 2, 
  32(d)]
  Flick bayonet [Blade, Reach 2, DV (STR/2+1)P, AP —]
  Colt Manhunter [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 
  16(c)]
  Fragmentation grenade [Grenade, DV 12P(f ), AP +5, Blast 
  –1/m]
  HE grenade [Grenade, DV 10P, AP –2, Blast –2/m]
  Guerilla (Professional Rating 2)
  Rebels, insurgents, and even paramilitary terrorists fall 
  into the category of guerilla f ghters. T ese soldiers have little 
  training, almost no support, and are usually greatly outgunned 
  and outnumbered. Even so, they f ght with the strength of their 
  convictions, whether they be political, religious, or personal.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init 
  I
   4 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  4 
  6 
  6 
  1
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 8/6
  Skills: Automatics 3, Blades 2, Climbing 2, Clubs 2, Dodge 
  2, Gunnery 1, Heavy Weapons 1, Infiltration 3, Intimidation 
  NEW GRUNTS
  T e grunts listed in this section are based on the human 
  metatype. For other metatypes, do not forget to adjust their 
  attribute ratings according to the Metatype Adjustment table. 
  If an adjustment would reduce an attribute rating below 1, the 
  adjusted attribute rating is 1. For adjustments for other species, use 
  the appropriate modif ers based on information for that species 
  type. Runner’s Companion includes information on a number of 
  non-metahuman species, as will future Shadowrun supplements.
  T ese new grunts use the rules for grunts and lieutenants on 
  p. 280, SR4A, as well as the morale rules on p. 145.
  Expeditionary Soldier (Professional Rating 5)
  Whether you call them assault troops, marines, or shock 
  troops, the expeditionary soldier is the f rst pair of boots on the 
  ground in a developing combat zone. T eir mission is to push 
  back opposition to make room for regular units to come in and 
  hold the territory that the expeditionary force wins. While there 
  is usually some (hopefully) good-natured cajoling and rivalry 
  between expeditionary and regular forces, military personnel of 
  all stripes agree that the expeditionary soldier is the best person to 
  have next to you and the worst to have across from you.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   5 
  4 4(5) 3 
  3 
  4 
  2 
  3 4.32 
  9 
  2
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 11
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 14/12
  Skills: Athletics Skill group 3, Close Combat Skill group 3, 
  Dodge 3, Etiquette (Military) 2 (+2), Firearms Skill group 4, First 
  Aid 2, Gunnery 1, Heavy Weapons 3, Inf ltration 2, Intimidation 
  1, Parachuting 2, Perception 1, Survival 2, T rowing Weapons 2
  Augmentations: Smartlink (alphaware), Wired Reflexes 1 
  (alphaware)
  Gear: Light military armor, military helmet, Singularity Battle 
  Buddy Basic, Tacsof  2, medkit (Rating 6)
  Weapons:
  Ares Alpha [Assault rif e, DV 6P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC 2, 38 
  (c); grenade launcher [AP —, SS, RC —, 6(c)]]
  Blade Bayonet [Blade, Reach 2, DV (STR/2+2)P, AP –1]
  Ares Predator IV [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 
  15(c)]
  Fragmentation grenade [DV 12P(f), AP +5, Blast –1/m]
  HE grenade [DV 10P, AP –2, Blast –2/m]
  METATYPE ADJUSTMENT TABLE
  Metatype
  BOD
  AGI
  REA
  STR
  CHA
  INT
  LOG
  WIL
  EDG
  INI
  Dwarf
  +1
  —
  –1
  +2
  —
  —
  —
  +1
  –1
  –1
  Elf
  —
  +1
  —
  —
  +2
  —
  —
  —
  –1
  —
  Ork
  +3
  —
  —
  +2
  –1
  —
  –1
  —
  –1
  —
  Troll
  +4
  –1
  —
  +4
  –2
  –1
  –1
  —
  –1
  —
  
  148
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Smoke grenade [Grenade, DV —, AP –, Blast 10m radius]
  Knife [Blade, Reach —, DV (STR/2+1)P, AP —]
  Infantry Lieutenant: Like the expeditionary lieutenant, this 
  NPC grunt is more likely to be a non-commissioned of  cer like 
  a sergeant. He leads his soldiers over hills, over dales, along dusty 
  trails, and into battle.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   4 
  3 3(5) 3 
  3 
  4 
  2 
  4 
  2.9 
  9 
  3
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 16/14
  Skills: Athletics Skill group 3, Close Combat Skill group 4, 
  Demolitions 1, Dodge 4, Etiquette (Military) 2 (+2), First Aid 3, 
  Firearms Skill group 4, Gunnery 1, Heavy Weapons 2, Instruction 
  2, Intimidation 2, Leadership 4, Parachuting 1, Perception 3, 
  Survival 2, T rowing Weapons 2
  Augmentations: Orthoskin 2, Trauma Damper, Wired Ref exes 
  2 (alpha)
  Gear: Light military armor, military helmet, Singularity Battle 
  Buddy, Tacsof  3, medkit (Rating 6)
  Weapons:
  HK G13A2w [Battle rif e, DV 7P, AP –1, SA/BF, RC 2, 20(c)]
  Ares Predator IV [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 
  15(c)]
  Fragmentation grenade [Grenade, DV 12P(f), AP +5, Blast –1/m]
  Smoke grenade [Grenade, DV —, AP –, Blast 10m radius]
  Knife [Blade, Reach —, DV (STR/2+1)P, AP —]
  Military Police (Professional Rating 4)
  Military police are charged with law enforcement and 
  internal security within armed forces. An MP (or master-at-arms 
  as she would be called in a naval unit) is usually distinguished 
  by a prominent armband, helmet, or augmented reality object, 
  depending on the force she is patrolling.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   4 
  4 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  3 
  4 
  6 
  7 
  1
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 10/8
  Skills: Automatics 2, Athletics Skill group 2, Close Combat Skill 
  group 3, Con 2, Dodge 2, Etiquette (Military) 3 (+2), First Aid 1, 
  Pistols 3, Perception 3
  Gear: Armor jacket, military helmet, Singularity Battle Buddy 
  Basic, Tacsof  2, medkit (Rating 6)
  Weapons:
  HK 229-X [SMG, DV 7P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC (1), 28(c)]
  Colt Manhunter [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 
  16(c)]
  AZ-150 stun baton [Club, Reach 1, DV 7S(e), AP –half]
  Military Police Lieutenant: Unlike the enlisted grunts, 
  the military police lieutenant is likely a junior of  cer, probably a 
  lieutenant or a captain. He is a magician of any tradition who has 
  been deemed by his superiors to be suited to this task, whether he 
  likes the job or not. 
  1, Longarms 2, Perception 1, Pilot Ground Craft 1, Pistols 2, 
  Survival 2, T rowing Weapons 1, Unarmed Combat 2
  Gear: Armor jacket, commlink (Device Rating 3), Tacsoft 1, 
  medkit (Rating 6), 
  Weapons:
  AK-97 [Assault rif e, DV 6P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC —, 38(c)]
  Blade Bayonet [Blade, Reach 2, DV (STR/2+2)P, AP –1]
  Fragmentation grenade [Grenade, DV 12P(f ), AP +5, Blast 
  –1/m]
  Guerilla Lieutenant: Guerilla f ghters have enough trouble, 
  but the lieutenant has the added responsibility of the soldiers 
  under her command. She is used to spending long periods of 
  time out of contact with the chain of command and the rest of 
  her allies, and so knows how to act autonomously in a dangerous 
  situation.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   5 
  4 4(5) 3 
  4 
  4 
  3 
  4 
  1.8 
  9 
  2
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 11
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 12/10
  Skills: Automatics 4, Blades 2, Climbing 2, Clubs 2, Dodge 3, 
  Gunnery 2, Heavy Weapons 2, Infiltration 4, Intimidation 1, 
  Leadership 3, Longarms 2, Perception 3, Pilot Ground Craf  2, 
  Pistols 2, Survival 3, T rowing Weapons 2, Unarmed Combat 3
  Augmentations: (all second-hand) Dermal Plating 2, Wired 
  Ref exes 1
  Gear: Armor jacket, helmet, commlink (Device Rating 5), Tacsof  
  2, medkit (Rating 6)
  Weapons:
  AK-98 [Assault rif e, DV 6P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC –, 38 (c); 
  grenade launcher [AP —, SS, RC —, 6(m)]]
  Blade Bayonet [Blade, Reach 2, DV (STR/2+2)P, AP –1]
  Smoke grenade [Grenade, DV —, AP –, Blast 10m radius]
  Infantryman (Professional Rating 4)
  T is soldier is the backbone of every military. He is the one 
  who marches, peels, cleans, covers, repairs, waits, and f ghts for his 
  country, corporation, or private contractor.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   4 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  6 
  6 
  1
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 14/12
  Skills: Armorer 1, Athletics Skill group 3, Close Combat Skill 
  group 2, Dodge 2, Etiquette (Military) 2 (+2), Firearms Skill 
  group 3, First Aid 1, Gunnery 1, Heavy Weapons 3, Parachuting 
  1, Perception 2, Survival 1, T rowing Weapons 2
  Gear: Light military armor, military helmet, Singularity Battle 
  Buddy Basic, Tacsof  2, medkit (Rating 6)
  Weapons:
  HK G12A4m [Assault rif e, DV 8P, AP –2, SA/BF/FA, RC 
  2(3), 32(c)]
  Ares Predator IV [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 
  15(c)]
  Fragmentation grenade [Grenade, DV 12P(f), AP +5, Blast –1/m]
  
  149
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Gear: Armor vest, Singularity Battle Buddy, medkit (Rating 6), 
  OXSYS artif cial gill
  Weapons:
  HK 229-X [SMG, DV 7P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC (1), 28(c)]
  Special Forces (Professional Rating 6)
  In the Sixth World, special forces come in all shapes and sizes, 
  metatypes and species, talents and abilities. In fact, most special 
  forces units are distinguishable from shadowrunner teams only in 
  that they have a regular paycheck. If you do not have any time as 
  gamemaster to create a unique special forces team, this entry for 
  special forces grunts should do the trick.
   B A R 
  S C 
  I L W Ess M Init IP Arm CM
   6 5 5(7) 4 4 
  5 3 4 
  6 
  5 
  12 
  3 16/14 11
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 11
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 16/14
  Skills: Armorer 2, Athletics Skill group 4, Close Combat Skill 
  group 4, Computer 2, Demolitions 3, Electronic Warfare 1, 
  Firearms Skill group 5, First Aid 3, Gunnery 3, Heavy Weapons 3, 
  Instruction 1, Intimidation 3, Outdoors Skill group 4, Parachuting 
  3, Perception (Visual) 4 (+2), Pilot Ground Craf  2, Stealth Skill 
  group 4, T rowing Weapons 3
  Initiate Grade: 1
  Metamagics: Attunement (Assault Rif e)
  Adept Powers: Combat Sense 2, Improved Ability (Automatics) 
  3, Improved Ref exes 2
  Gear: Medium military armor (w/ ruthenium polymer coating), 
  military helmet (w/ ruthenium polymer coating), MCT Tactical 
  commlink, Tacsof  3
  Weapons:
  Ares Alpha [Assault rif e, DV 6P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC 2, 38 
  (c); grenade launcher [AP —, SS, RC —, 6(c)]]
  2 smoke grenades [Grenade, DV —, AP –, Blast 10m radius]
  Victorinox memory blade [Blade, Reach 1, DV (STR/2+2)P, 
  AP–1]
  Special Forces Lieutenant: If a member of a special forces 
  unit is a force to be reckoned with, the men and women who lead 
  them are beyond frightening. T e special forces lieutenant is the 
  ghost in the jungle, the whisper in the city, the invisible scorpion 
  in the desert. And when she has the rest of her unit at her back, she 
  gets in, gets the job done, and gets out before anyone is the wiser.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C I L W Ess Init IP Arm CM
   6(11) 5(10) 5(9) 4(5) 4 5 3 4 1.875 14 
  4 21/19 11
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 14
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 21/19
  Skills: Athletics Skill Group 4, Close Combat Skill Group 
  5, Firearms Skill Group 5, Outdoors Skill Group 4, Stealth 
  Skill Group 5, Armorer 3, Computer 2, Con 2, Demolitions 3, 
  Electronic Warfare 1, First Aid 3, Gunnery 4, Heavy Weapons 
  4, Instruction 3, Intimidation 3, Leadership 4, Parachuting 3, 
  Perception 5, Pilot Ground Craf  2, T rowing Weapons 4
  Augmentations: Bone Density 4 (betaware), Cybereyes 
  1 (betaware, w/ flare compensation, smartlink) Damage 
   
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess M Init IP
   4 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  4 
  4 
  4 
  6 
  3 
  7 
  1
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 10/8
  Skills: Automatics 2, Athletics Skill group 3, Close Combat Skill 
  group 3, Con 2, Conjuring group 2, Dodge 2, Etiquette (Military) 
  3 (+2), First Aid 2, Leadership 3, Pistols 3, Perception 4, Sorcery 
  group 3
  Spells: Analyze Truth (limited), Detox, Heal, Mob Mood, 
  T ought Recognition (limited), Sound Cloud, Stunbolt
  Gear: Armor jacket, military helmet, Singularity Battle Buddy, 
  Tacsof  2, medkit (Rating 6), fetish (detection spells)
  Weapons:
  HK 229-X [SMG, DV 7P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC (1), 28(c)]
  Colt Manhunter [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP –1, SA, RC —, 
  16(c)]
  AZ-150 stun baton [Club, Reach 1, DV 7S(e), AP –half]
  Sailor (Professional Rating 4)
  T e soldiers of the seas, sailors are just as prepared as any 
  other military personnel. Whether found at sea or ashore, the 
  sailor can ruin a shadowrunner’s day as easily as his landlubber 
  counterparts. Sailors are of en found near (although rarely in the 
  company of) marines.
   B A R 
  S 
  C I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP Arm CM
   3 
  4 
  3 
  3 
  2 3 
  2 
  3 
  6 
  6 
  1 
  6/4 10
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 6/4
  Skills: Automatics 1, Clubs 1, Diving 2, Dodge 2, First Aid 2, 
  Gunnery 3, Heavy Weapons 2, Language 1, Nautical Mechanic 
  (Naval Damage Control) 1 (+2), Navigation 1, Perception 2, Pilot 
  Watercraf  1, Pistols 2, Swimming 3, Unarmed Combat 2
  Gear: Armor vest, Singularity Battle Buddy Basic, medkit (Rating 
  6), OXSYS artif cial gill
  Weapons:
  Nitama NeMax [Heavy pistol, DV 5P, AP–1, SA, RC —, 
  10(c)]
  Sailor Lieutenant: The lieutenant sailor might be an 
  of  cer or a non-commissioned of  cer. He is responsible for the 
  sailors under her command, and he is ready to take charge in an 
  engagement, whether in the heat of a naval battle or a bar f ght in 
  a seedy port town.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   3 
  4 
  4 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  6 
  7 
  1
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 10
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 6/4
  Skills: Automatics 3, Clubs 1, Diving 2, Dodge 2, First Aid 
  3, Gunnery 3, Heavy Weapons 2, Intimidation 2, Language 2, 
  Leadership 3, Nautical Mechanic (Naval Damage Control) 2 
  (+2), Navigation 2, Perception 3, Pilot Watercraf  3, Pistols 2, 
  Swimming 3, Unarmed Combat 3
  
  150
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  War!
  War!
  people) 2 (+2), First Aid 2, Infiltration 4, Intimidation 3, 
  Leadership 4, Longarms 1, Outdoors Skill group 4, Perception 4, 
  Pistols 2, Shadowing 3, T rowing Weapons 3
  Gear: Padded leather, Sony Emperor (w/ Vector Xim)
  Weapons:
  Sword [Blade, Reach 1, DV (STR/2+3)P, AP —] or Spear 
  [Blade, Reach 2, DV (STR/2+2)P, AP —]
  Knife [Blade, Reach —, DV (STR/2+1)P, AP —]
  Bow (STR 5) [Bow, DV 7P, AP —]
  NEW CONTACTS
  In the shadows, the power you can borrow is often as 
  important as the power you can muster on your own. T e military 
  of ers a powerful, if specialized, pool of talent that runners can 
  friend on the favorite Matrix social sites. T ey have access to a 
  specialized, hard-to-access kind of knowledge, but it comes at a 
  cost—they will of en (though not always) be more loyal to their 
  unit and their f ag than they are to any shadowrunner.
  The contacts in this section follow the normal rules 
  for contacts (p. 285, SR4A) as well as the rules for advanced 
  contacts (p. 124, Runner’s Companion). Gamemasters are 
  strongly encouraged to modify the attributes, skills, metatype, 
  augmentations, etc. of these basic contacts to f t their campaigns.
  Army Captain
  Metatype: Human
  Uses: Military intelligence, reports “on the ground,” rumor mill 
  Places to Meet: Bars near bases, in the f eld
  Similar Contacts: Of  cers of other ranks and military branches, 
  PMC of  cer, SWAT of  cer
  T e military is like any other large organization: it needs 
  its middle management. Of  cers like the army captain must be 
  adept at both understanding the strategic picture and formulating 
  a tactical plan that fits the strategy. He can make good snap 
  decisions and pass them along to the platoons of his company in 
  a manner that is easy to understand and easy to obey. He is not 
  opposed to bending the rules here and there, as long as it is for the 
  good of the soldiers in his command.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   4 
  4 4(5) 3 
  5 
  4 
  3 
  4 
  3.7 
  9 
  2
  Active Skills: Armorer 1, Athletics Skill group 3, Blades 
  1, Computer 1, Data Search 2, Demolitions 1, Etiquette 
  (Military) 2 (+2), Firearms Skill group 3, First Aid 3, Gunnery 
  2, Heavy Weapons 2, Instruction 1, Intimidation 2, Leadership 
  4, Navigation 1, Negotiation 2, Parachuting 2, Perception 3, Pilot 
  Ground Craft 2, Survival 2, Throwing Weapons 2, Unarmed 
  Combat 2
  Knowledge Skills: Military Tactics 3, Logistics 4, Military 
  Procedures 3, Psychology 1, Military History (His Own Unit) 
  1(+2), 
  Basic Augmentations: Commlink (Device Rating 8), smartlink, 
  Wired Ref exes 1
  Compenator 8 (betaware), Muscle Toner 4 (betaware), Orthoskin 
  3 (betaware), Platelet Factories (alphaware), Reflex Recorder 
  (Firearms Skill Group, betaware), Suprethyroid Gland (betaware) 
  Synaptic Booster 3 (deltaware), Trauma Damper (betaware)
  Gear: Heavy military armor, military helmet, MCT Tactical 
  commlink, Tacsof  3, 3 doses of guts
  Weapons:
  Ares Alpha [Assault rif e, DV 6P, AP –1, SA/BF/FA, RC 2, 38 
  (c), w/ smartlink; grenade launcher [AP —, SS, RC —, 6(c)]
  2 smoke grenades [Grenade, DV —, AP –, Blast 10m radius]
  Victorinox memory blade [Blade, Reach 1, DV (STR/2+2)P, 
  AP–1]
  Warrior (Professional Rating 3)
  The warrior is just that: a soldier who eschews modern 
  conveniences, customs, and equipment for the ancient traditions 
  of his home. He is a traditionalist, of en by choice. He could be 
  from a tribe with a long and honored history like the Zulu or 
  Maori, a reconstructed traditionalist society like the Bo or the 
  Yazoo, or one of many peoples who have banded together without 
  modern comforts by choice or necessity, such as the Khn or the 
  Children of Seattle.
  Of course, the warrior is not a primitive. He knows how to 
  use a commlink and a gun, he simply chooses simpler, some would 
  say more pure, weapons of the spear and the sword. He is not to be 
  underestimated: he makes short work of the foe who mistakes low 
  tech for low training. T e skills used to hunt prey for food can just 
  as easily be used to hunt enemies.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   5 
  4 
  4 
  4 
  3 
  4 
  2 
  4 
  6.0 
  8 
  1
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 11
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 2/5
  Skills: Archery 3, Armorer 2, Athletics Skill group 4, Close 
  Combat Skill group 4, Etiquette (specialize according to tribe/
  people) 1 (+2), First Aid 2, Inf ltration 3, Intimidation 1, Longarms 
  1, Outdoors Skill group 4, Perception 3, Pistols 1, Shadowing 3, 
  T rowing Weapons 3
  Gear: Padded leather, Meta Link (w/ Vector Xim),
  Weapons:
  Sword [Blade, Reach 1, DV (STR/2+3)P, AP —] or Spear 
  [Blade, Reach 2, DV (STR/2+2)P, AP —]
  Knife [Blade, Reach —, DV (STR/2+1)P, AP —]
  Bow (STR 4) [Bow, DV 6P, AP —]
  Warrior Lieutenant: T e warrior lieutenant is a war chief or 
  hunt leader. She has not merely earned the right to lead, she has 
  taken it with a combination of daring and prowess. She leads from 
  the front, and her followers are inspired by her deeds.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L W Ess Init IP Arm CM
   6 
  5 
  5 
  5 
  5 
  4 
  3 
  5 
  6.0 
  9 
  1 
  2/5 11
  Condition Monitor Boxes: 11
  Armor (Ballistic/Impact): 2/5
  Skills: Archery 4, Armorer 2, Athletics Skill group 4, Close 
  Combat Skill group 5, Etiquette (specialize according to tribe/
  
  151
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Insurgent
  Metatype: Elf
  Uses: Black-market arms, local hiding places, smuggling routes, 
  paramilitary back-up
  Places to Meet: Occupied or besieged cities, hidden encampments, 
  encoded messages
  Similar Contacts: Rebel, guerilla fighter, freedom fighter, 
  paramilitary or militia soldier
  T e insurgent has taken up arms for a goal, usually a political 
  or ideological one. He is used to eating rations out of plastic bags, 
  sleeping in the cold, and hiding from government troops. He 
  participates in sabotage, laying traps, and in hit-and-run attacks 
  against targets, f ghting the power and trying to win the hearts 
  and minds of the people. He has become adept at guerilla tactics 
  and knows where to f nd, scrounge, or buy just about anything he 
  might need. He can move invisibly among ordinary citizens and 
  has sympathetic allies everywhere.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   4 
  5 
  4 
  3 
  6 
  4 
  3 
  5 
  6.0 
  8 
  1
  Active Skills: Armorer 2, Automatics 4, Automotive Mechanic 
  1, Blades 2, Chemistry 3, Climbing 2, Con 2, Demolitions 
  3, Disguise 3, Dodge 3, Electronic Warfare 1, Escape Artist 2, 
  Etiquette 4, First Aid 3, Forgery 2, Heavy Weapons 2, Inf ltration 
  3, Intimidation 2, Language 2, Leadership 3, Longarms 2, 
  Navigation 2, Negotiation 3, Perception 3, Pilot Ground Craf  
  2, Pistols 2, Running 2, Shadowing 2, Survival 4, Swimming 2, 
  T rowing Weapons 2, Unarmed Combat 2
  Knowledge Skills: Smuggling Routes 3, Black Market Arms 4, 
  Gunrunners 3, Ideological Rhetoric 3, Guerilla Tactics 3, Safe 
  Houses 3, Underground Network 2
  Mercenary
  Metatype: Ork
  Uses: Military materiel, international military rumors, intelligence 
  reports, military support
  Places to Meet: Disreputable bars, random airports, third-world 
  marketplaces, in the f eld 
  Similar Contacts: Soldier, mercenary, f ghter pilot, SWAT team 
  member
  T e mercenary is tough as nails and good at her job. It’s not 
  that she likes shooting people ... actually, yes it is. As a mercenary, 
  she can shoot people right in the face for money and still be a 
  relatively acceptable part of metahuman society, complete with 
  SIN, pension, and health and dental insurance. She does not see 
  herself as cynical, but rather realistic: she’s seen a lot and done a 
  lot, and been all around this crazy world. She knows people she 
  probably shouldn’t, and has contacts on every continent. She even 
  has a few friends in the military, although not close ones, since she 
  may shoot them sometime soon.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   8 
  4 4(5) 7 
  3 
  4 
  3 
  4 4.32 9 
  2
  Active Skills: Armorer 1, Automatics 4, Blades 2, Climbing 3, 
  Clubs 2, Con 2, Data Search 2, Demolitions 2, Diving 2, Dodge 
  4, Electronic Warfare 1, Etiquette 3, First Aid 2, Gunnery 3, 
  CASH Hermetic Doctor
  Metatype: Human
  Uses: Medical services, pharmaceuticals, news from the front
  Places to Meet: Country club, military base, in the f eld
  Similar Contacts: Military doctor, FST nurse, DocWagon 
  surgeon
  It takes an exceptional mind to be a doctor, an exceptional 
  heart to operate near the forward lines of battle, and an exceptional 
  soul to be a good magician. A hermetic doctor in a Combat Area 
  Surgical Hospital is all three. He is busy in wartime and during 
  peacetime, whether it be operating on wounded soldiers, sick 
  locals, or victims of one of the nearly annual disasters that plague 
  the Sixth World. His knowledge overlaps the magical and the 
  medical, allowing him to use thaumaturgical surgical techniques 
  to heal the inf rm. He is light of heart and has a love of people that 
  def es his surroundings, and he’s always willing to help a friend.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess M Init IP
   3 
  4 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  4 
  5 
  5 
  6.0 
  5 
  7 
  1
  Active Skills: Arcana 2, Assensing 3, Astral Combat 2, Athletics 
  Skill group 2, Automatics 2, Banishing 2, Binding 3, Biotech Skill 
  group 5, Chemistry 1, Etiquette (Military) 2 (+2), Intimidation 
  1, Language 2, Leadership 2, Perception 4, Pistols 2, Sorcery Skill 
  group 4, Summoning 3, Survival 2, Unarmed Combat 1
  Knowledge Skills: Combat Trauma 5, Bedside Manner 3, 
  Military Procedures 2, Pharmacology 3, Jazz Bass 2
  CYBERCOM Ofﬁ cer
  Metatype: Dwarf
  Uses: Milspec electronics, military rumor mill, cutting-edge 
  Matrix developments 
  Places to Meet: Matrix dives, in the f eld
  Similar Contacts: Military hacker, electronic intelligence of  cer, 
  law enforcement hacker
  Technomancers are rare enough, but technomancers 
  with a desire to serve in the military are rare enough to make 
  any commander slaver. Matrix work is much less subtle on the 
  battlef eld than in the shadows, and the Cyber Command Of  cer 
  regularly takes a beating protecting her unit’s communications and 
  electronics, and she dishes it out even better. Her sprites are better 
  than agents for Matrix sentry duty and immersive recon, and she’s 
  always ready to show her hardware-based buddies what it means 
  to rock the dataf ow alone.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
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  W Ess Res Init IP
   6 
  3 
  4 
  4 
  4 
  5 
  2 
  5 
  6.0 
  5 
  9 
  1
  Active Skills: Athletics Skill group 2, Automatics 3, Close Combat 
  Skill group 1, Compiling 4, Computer 4, Con 1, Cybercombat 4, 
  Data Search 3, Decompiling 2, Electronic Warfare 3, Etiquette 
  (Military) 3(+2), First Aid 2, Hacking 4, Hardware 2, Inf ltration 
  1, Leadership 2, Longarms 2, Outdoors Skill group 1, Perception 
  2, Pilot Aircraf  2, Pilot Ground Craf  2, Pistols 2, Registering 3, 
  Sof ware 2
  Knowledge Skills: Ad Hoc Networking 4, Matrix Trends 2, 
  Military Hardware 5, Matrix Tactics 3, CYBERCOM Unit 
  Recognition 2, Drones 3.
  
  152
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Heavy Weapons 3, Infiltration 2, Intimidation 3, Language 
  3, Leadership 2, Longarms 3, Navigation 1, Negotiation 3, 
  Parachuting 2, Perception 3, Pilot Aircraf  2, Pilot Ground Craf  
  2, Pilot Watercraf  2, Pistols 2, Running 3, Survival 2, Swimming 
  2, T rowing Weapons 3, Unarmed Combat 3
  Knowledge Skills: World Conflicts 2, Arms Dealers 4, 
  Disreputable Establishments of the World 3, Military Unit 
  Recognition 2, Small Unit Tactics 2
  Basic Augmentations: Smartlink (alphaware), Wired Ref exes 1 
  (alphaware)
  Petty Ofﬁ cer
  Metatype: Troll
  Uses: Naval equipment, shipping and piracy information, 
  smuggling routes
  Places to Meet: Dockside bars, naval ports, warehouses
  Similar Contacts: Non-commissioned of  cer of other military 
  branches
  The petty officer is an enlisted officer, with sailors under 
  his command and duties aboard his ship or at his naval base. He 
  might be in charge of a section aboard an aircraf  carrier, or in 
  command of his own small vessel, like an amphibious assault craf  
  or even a ship-based helicopter. He is trusted by enlisted sailor and 
  commissioned of  cer alike, and has his ear to the ground in both 
  social circles. He is a man of the world, who has sailed every sea 
  and visited port worth seeing. He knows the rules and where they 
  can safely be bent ... and for what price.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   8 
  3 
  4 
  7 
  2 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  6.0 
  7 
  1
  Active Skills: Armorer 2, Automatics 2, Climbing 1, Clubs 1, 
  Computer 3, Con 2, Data Search 2, Diving 2, Dodge 2, Electronic 
  Warfare 1, Etiquette (Military) 3 (+2), First Aid 2, Gunnery 
  2, Instruction 1, Intimidation 4, Language 2, Leadership 2, 
  Longarms 1, Nautical Mechanic 2, Navigation 2, Negotiation 3, 
  Perception 2, Pilot Watercraf  3, Pistols 2, Survival 2, Swimming 
  3, T rowing Weapons 1, Unarmed Combat 2
  Knowledge Skills: Naval Operations 4, Shipboard Procedures 
  4, Chain of Command 3, Shipboard Hiding Places 3, Port 
  Cities 3, Naval Traditions 2, Smuggling Routes 2, Black Market 
  Pricing 2
  Staff Ofﬁ cer
  Metatype: Human
  Uses: Military support or equipment, military intelligence, 
  military permits or documents
  Places to Meet: Military bases, of -base bars and restaurants, in 
  the f eld
  Similar Contacts: Colonel, general, intelligence of  cer
  Not every officer has masses of men and materiel under 
  his command. T e staf  of  cer supports her unit from behind 
  the lines. Her battlef eld is command and control protocols, her 
  weapons are reports and plans. She gives her commanding of  cer 
  the intelligence and analysis needed to make battle plans with the 
  highest chance of success. She is shrewd and calculating, and can 
  of en guess your plans from the questions and favors you ask of 
  her, but she’s too professional to call you on it. She is just as likely 
  152
  152
  152
  152
  152
  152
  152
  152
  152
  152
  War!
  War!
  Heavy Weapons 3, Infiltration 2, Intimidation 3, Language 
  3, Leadership 2, Longarms 3, Navigation 1, Negotiation 3, 
  Parachuting 2, Perception 3, Pilot Aircraf  2, Pilot Ground Craf  
  2, Pilot Watercraf  2, Pistols 2, Running 3, Survival 2, Swimming 
  2, T rowing Weapons 3, Unarmed Combat 3
  Knowledge Skills:
  Disreputable Establishments of the World 3, Military Unit 
  Recognition 2, Small Unit Tactics 2
  Basic Augmentations:
  (alphaware)
  Petty Ofﬁ cer
  Metatype: Troll
  Uses: Naval equipment, shipping and piracy information, 
  smuggling routes
  Places to Meet:
  Similar Contacts:
  branches
  The petty officer is an enlisted officer, with sailors under 
  his command and duties aboard his ship or at his naval base. He 
  might be in charge of a section aboard an aircraf  carrier, or in 
  command of his own small vessel, like an amphibious assault craf  
  or even a ship-based helicopter. He is trusted by enlisted sailor and 
  commissioned of  cer alike, and has his ear to the ground in both 
  social circles. He is a man of the world, who has sailed every sea 
  and visited port worth seeing. He knows the rules and where they 
  can safely be bent ... and for what price.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   8 
  3 
  4 
  7 
  2 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  6.0 
  7 
  1
  Active Skills:
  Computer 3, Con 2, Data Search 2, Diving 2, Dodge 2, Electronic 
  Warfare 1, Etiquette (Military) 3 (+2), First Aid 2, Gunnery 
  2, Instruction 1, Intimidation 4, Language 2, Leadership 2, 
  Longarms 1, Nautical Mechanic 2, Navigation 2, Negotiation 3, 
  Perception 2, Pilot Watercraf  3, Pistols 2, Survival 2, Swimming 
  3, T rowing Weapons 1, Unarmed Combat 2
  Knowledge Skills:
  4, Chain of Command 3, Shipboard Hiding Places 3, Port 
  Cities 3, Naval Traditions 2, Smuggling Routes 2, Black Market 
  Pricing 2
  Staff Ofﬁ cer
  Metatype: Human
  Uses: Military support or equipment, military intelligence, 
  military permits or documents
  Places to Meet:
  the f eld
  Similar Contacts:
  Not every officer has masses of men and materiel under 
  his command. T e staf  of  cer supports her unit from behind 
  the lines. Her battlef eld is command and control protocols, her 
  weapons are reports and plans. She gives her commanding of  cer 
  the intelligence and analysis needed to make battle plans with the 
  highest chance of success. She is shrewd and calculating, and can 
  of en guess your plans from the questions and favors you ask of 
  her, but she’s too professional to call you on it. She is just as likely 
  
  153
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  to try to get their hands on as much of this equipment as their 
  gamemaster will allow.
  Note that much of the gear used by militaries in the 2070s 
  has already been described in detail in other Shadowrun books. 
  T is book of ers new items, but should not be taken to be the 
  of  cial and exhaustive list of military equipment.
  MELEE WEAPONS
  Even on modern battlef elds, f ghting can come to very close 
  quarters. T ese melee weapons follow the normal rules for melee 
  combat (p. 156, SR4A).
  Blade Bayonet: T is large-bladed bayonet is described in 
  more detail on p. 155.
  Flick Bayonet: T is smart bayonet is described in detail on p. 
  156. T e f ick bayonet has Reach 2 on most weapons, but Reach 1 
  on weapons SMG-sized or smaller.
  Victorinox SmartStaf : T is ultimate advancement in personal 
  weapons uses smart metals, high-tech electronics, and myomeric f ber 
  components. T e SmartStaf  is the f rst melee weapon to not only use 
  wireless capability but to need it. It is capable of changing its own form, 
  of ering the user a wide variety of options in close combat and earning 
  it the moniker, “Swiss army weapon.”
  As a Simple Action (or a Free Action if the weapon is 
  subscribed to the wielder’s PAN), the user of the SmartStaf  can 
  conf gure it into one of a number of forms. Each form has an 
  associated weapon skill. It can take the form of a short blade or 
  sword (using the Blades skill), or of a pick, baton, or staf  (using 
  the Clubs skill). It also has a low-prof le “closed” form about the 
  size of a pencil box that reduces its concealability to -1.
  FIREARMS
  Shadowrun is nothing if not a cornucopia of f rearms. T e 
  weapons used by most militaries and paramilitaries in the Sixth 
  World have already been covered in SR4A and Arsenal. T ose 
  lists—and the lists in this book—are not exhaustive, as there are 
  many more guns in the Sixth World than these lists contain.
  Nearly every weapon issued by national or corporate armed 
  forces includes the advanced safety modif cation (p. 148, Arsenal) 
  to discourage theft or looting, and to help prevent accidents. 
  Many also have the high-power chambering modif cation (p. 156).
  to ask for favors in return, however, and no favor asked by a good 
  staf  of  cer is ever dull.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W Ess Init IP
   3 
  3 3(4) 2 
  4 
  4 
  5 
  4 
  5.0 7(8) 2
  Active Skills: Automatics 2, Blades 1, Computer 3, Con 3, Data 
  Search 3, Dodge 2, Electronic Warfare 2, Etiquette (Military) 4 
  (+2), First Aid 2, Forgery 2, Hacking 2, Intimidation 3, Leadership 
  3, Longarms 2, Negotiation 4, Perception 2, Pistols 2, Running 1, 
  Survival 1, Swimming 1, T rowing Weapons 1, Unarmed Combat 1
  Knowledge Skills: Logistics 5, Global Politics 3, Military Top 
  Brass 4, Battle Planning 3, Military Procedures 4, Military Law 2
  Basic Augmentations: Commlink (Renraku Suterusu), 
  Reception Enhancer 2, Synaptic Booster 1
  Armed Forces as Group Contacts
  While the militaries of the Sixth World are smaller than 
  militaries in modern times, they are still fairly large operations. 
  Unless a character is a former member of a military unit, it is 
  rare to have a large force as a group contact (p. 124, Runner’s 
  Companion). On the other hand, it is a simple manner to 
  befriend a squad, or even a platoon, given the right circumstances. 
  T e gamemaster has the f nal say about what is and is not an 
  appropriate group contact.
  NEW GEAR
  Whether you are a warmonger, a pacif st, or somewhere in 
  between, you probably agree that the military has a lot of very cool 
  toys. Professional shadowrunners drool, f guratively or literally 
  based on temperament and metatype, over the thought of getting 
  their hands on serious miltech. Veterans and prime runners 
  of en have a piece or two in their collection, dusting them of  for 
  “special occasions.”
  Some of the gear in this book is out of reach of the typical 
  shadowrunner’s contact list and credit rating. T is is not to say 
  that they will never encounter the hardware herein. Gamemasters 
  are encouraged to use the resources in this section as appropriate 
  to the player characters’ opposition. Players are encouraged 
  Melee Weapons
  Reach
  Damage
  AP
  Availability
  Cost
  Blade Bayonet
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  –1
  5
  60¥
  Flick Bayonet (on weapon)
  2 or 1
  (STR/2+1)P
  —
  15R
  1,500¥
  Victorinox SmartStaff
  18R
  3,150¥
    Baton
  1
  (STR/2+1)P
  —
    Mace
  1
  (STR/2+3)P
  —
    Pick
  1
  (STR/2+2)P
  –2
    Polearm
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  –2
    Short Blade
  —
  (STR/2+2)P
  —
    Spear
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  –1
    Staff
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  —
    Sword
  1
  (STR/2+3)P
  –1
  
  154
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  loaded with non-lethal rounds. It features melee hardening, 
  an underbarrel stun baton, integral smartgun, and the Alpha’s 
  chambering design.
  Heckler & Koch G12A4m: T is weapon is standard issue 
  to most regular troops in the Northern Hemisphere. T e simple 
  design includes a telescoping stock for stability, high-power 
  chambering (which means it can only f re high-power rounds), a 
  gas vent 2 system on the barrel, and a top-mounted laser sight.
  Battle Riﬂ es
  A battle rif e is an up-powered version of an assault rif e. It 
  f res heavier-caliber rounds than an assault rif e and of ers better 
  accuracy at longer ranges. It is heavier than an assault rif e, which 
  helps compensate for the added recoil of the larger round. A battle 
  rif e’s role lies between that of an assault rif e and a sniper rif e. 
  Battle rif es use sporting rif e ranges, and can take any modif cation 
  or accessory available to assault rif es.
  AM-884 Mondragón: Manufactured by Armamentos 
  Murreta, the Mondragón is one of the f rst of the latest generation 
  of battle rif es to see extensive service in the Americas. It features 
  a long barrel and a side-loading clip magazine assembly that ejects 
  the previous clip with the same action that loads the new one.
  Submachine Guns
  AK-147 Carbine: T is is the carbine version of the AK-147, 
  produced by a nanofax machine (p. 164). As a result, several 
  high-end military outf ts issue it extensively. It is a stable weapon 
  thanks to the manufacturing technique that built it. It also has a 
  detachable folding stock.
  Heckler & Koch 229-X: This weapon was designed for 
  paramilitaries around the world. This SMG has an integral 
  smartgun system and a collapsing stock. It also has high-power 
  chambering, which means it can only f re high-power rounds.
  Assault Riﬂ es
  AK-147: The AK-147 is the first widely issued firearm 
  created by nanomachines (p. 164). It is designed with a touch of 
  recoil compensation built into the stock.
  Ares Bravo: Based on their Alpha assault rif e, Ares designed 
  a weapon intended for close-quarters battle in urban areas that was 
  also very well suited to jungle warfare. T eir response is a melee-
  hardened assault rif e with an underbarrel vibrosword, along with 
  the same integral smartgun and chamber design as the Alpha.
  Ares Sierra: This is a refinement of the Ares Bravo 
  designed for law enforcement and crowd control, usually 
  Submachine Guns
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  AK-147 Carbine
  5P
  —
  SA/BF/FA
  1(2)
  30(c)
  5R
  550¥
  HK 229-X
  7P*
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  (1)
  28(c)
  16F
  1,500¥
  *includes extra damage from high-powered rounds.
  Assault Riﬂ es
  Reach
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  AK-147
  —
  6P
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  1
  38(c)
  5R
  650¥
  Ares Bravo
  —
  6P
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  2
  42(c)
  13F
  2,500¥
   
  Vibrosword
  1
  (STR/2 + 3)P
  –2
  —
  —
  2 hours
  Ares Sierra
  —
  6P
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  2
  42(c)
  13F
  1,900 ¥
   
  Stun Baton
  1
  5S(e) 
  –half
  —
  —
  10
  HK G12A4m
  —
  8P*
  –2
  SA/BF/FA
  2(3)
  32(c)
  18F
  3,000¥
  *includes extra damage from high-powered rounds.
  Battle Riﬂ es
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  AM-884
  7P
  –2
  SA
  —
  12(c)
  6R
  3,000¥
  Ares HVBR
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  4
  48(c)
  12F
  3,600¥
  AVC-7.62
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  1
  30(c)
  4R
  2,800¥
  FN SCAR-H3
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  2
  30(c) or 60(c)
  10R
  3,500¥
   
  Grenade launcher
  grenade
  grenade
  SS
  —
  6(m)
  HK G13A2w
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  2
  20(c)
  9R
  3,200¥
  
  155
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Exotic Ranged Weapons
  Ares Shockbeam: One of the major problems with laser 
  weapons is the “blooming” ef ect: the laser’s energy heats the air 
  into plasma, which causes the beam to defocus and scatter. T e 
  Ares Shockbeam deliberately induces blooming to create a highly 
  conductive plasma channel from the weapon to the target. T is 
  plasma channel is used to deliver an electrical shock. Variables 
  in the air can still make the channels it creates inaccurate—the 
  weapon is the size of a large assault rif e, but it uses shotgun ranges. 
  T e Shockbeam is f red with the Exotic Ranged Weapon (Laser 
  Weapons) skill. T e Shockbeam uses peak-discharge battery packs 
  (p. 36, Arsenal), and uses 2 power points for each shot.
  Knight Errant believe the Shockbeam will allow them to 
  collect the brick or orichalcum that Dunkelzahn’s will promises 
  for the development of an accurate, non-lethal crowd control 
  weapon. Whether the Shockbeam is accurate or safe enough to 
  meet Dunkelzahn’s criteria is, as yet, an unresolved question.
  FIREARM ACCESSORIES
  Firearm accessories attach to the weapon for which they are 
  purchased. More detail about f rearm accessories can be found on 
  p. 322, SR4A and p. 32, Arsenal.
  Blade Bayonet: T is bayonet has a heavy, cleaver-like blade 
  designed to turn a rifle into something like a combat axe. It 
  attaches to the barrel of any f rearm that is roughly the size and 
  shape of a rif e. It also f ts into a bayonet mount (p. 150, Arsenal).
  Device Mount: T e device mount allows the weapon to 
  mount any device that might f t onto it. Popular choices include 
  sensor packages, melee weapons, electronics, medkits, minidrones, 
  or even drink dispensers. T e mounted device is linked to the 
  weapon, so a connection via smartgun would also apply to a 
  mounted directional jammer, for example. Each mount is specif c 
  to the device purchased, and has an Availability equal to the device 
  it is designed to mount. Mounted devices that are more than half 
  the size of the weapon may impose a –2 dice pool penalty on tests 
  made using the weapon for its intended purpose of delivering 
  harm (at the gamemaster’s discretion).
  Ares HVBR: Af ectionately called the “Hee-Vee Bar” by 
  troops in the CAS and the UCAS, this battle rifle uses high-
  velocity ammunition (p. 26, Arsenal). Like its younger cousin, 
  the HVAR, it has a smartgun system integrated into its recoil-
  reducing design. It also sports a shock pad on its stock and cannot 
  mount accessories on or under its barrel.
  AVC-7.62: Made in Russia with love, the AVC-7.62 is the 
  lightest of the battle rif es. Its unique design gives it 1 point of 
  recoil compensation, but many soldiers f nd its construction not 
  rugged enough and too prone to jamming for it to be very popular.
  Fabrique Nationale SCAR-H3: T e FN SCAR is popular 
  in Europe and (where available) Central Asia. It comes equipped 
  with an integral laser sight, gas-vent 2, and an under-barrel 
  FN40GL2H grenade launcher.
  Heckler & Koch G13A2w: T is battle rif e is a version of 
  the HK G12A3z that chambers the 7.62x51mm round favored 
  by European militaries. It comes equipped with a top-mounted 
  imaging scope and a gas-vent 2 system in the barrel.
  Grenade and Mortar Launchers
  T ese weapons are used with the Heavy Weapons skill.
  ArmTech MGL-18: T is is a bulkier version of the MGL-12, 
  designed for infantry support. It comes equipped with an integral 
  shock pad and MRSI sof ware (p. 162) pre-installed; it has burst-
  f re capabilities so that operators can use its MRSI capabilities to 
  the fullest.
  Esprit MPML-3: This mortar launcher is designed to 
  be carried into combat and shoulder-fired. It is eschewed by 
  most militaries for its bulk and inef  ciency, even though it is 
  lightweight and highly reliable. Manufacture of the weapon was 
  slated to be terminated until orders started rolling in from media 
  outf ts like the Desert Wars: Gobi and Mojave Wars, along with 
  some less overt demand from organized crime and street gangs.
  Imperial Tech Services Gonryu: This terrifying fully 
  automatic grenade launcher is an infantryman’s nightmare. 
  Capable of mowing down entire formations or turning light 
  vehicles into scrap metal, the Gonryu is a favorite at garrisons, 
  checkpoints, and in lawless areas of the world.
  Grenade and Mortar Launchers
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  ArmTech MGL-18
  grenade
  grenade
  BF
  —
  18(c)
  20F
  12,000¥
  Esprit MPML-3
  mortar
  mortar
  SS
  —
  3(m)
  18F
  2,500¥
  ITS Gonryu
  grenade
  grenade
  SA/FA
  —
  50(belt)
  20F
  3,000¥
  Weapon
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  Ares Shockbeam
  8S(e)
  –half
  SA
  5(c) or external 
  source
  16F
  14,000¥
  Weapon Accessory
  Mount
  Availability
  Cost
  Blade Bayonet
  Barrel
  5
  60¥
  Device Mount
  Top/Under
  per device
  60¥
  Flick Bayonet
  Barrel
  15R
  1,500¥
  
  156
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Armor-Piercing Flechette: T ese rounds f re thin tungsten 
  darts designed to pierce armored targets. T e slight scatter and 
  shape of the darts in the round reduces the ef ective range of 
  the weapon f ring these rounds by 20 percent. Armor-piercing 
  f echette rounds are resisted with Impact armor.
  High-Power Rounds: High-power rounds use a more 
  powerful (and more expensive) propellant than normal rounds. 
  T ese rounds require a specially chambered modif cation to the 
  f rearm (see High-Power Chambering, above). High-power rounds 
  inf ict a –2 dice pool penalty when f red due to excess recoil.
  RFID Rounds: Military power is at its core a political, 
  and it can be important to know who is throwing around that 
  power. The RFID round is simply a modification to another 
  type of round that adds a built-in RFID tag with a unique 
  identifier. This identifier can be used to trace the round to a 
  specific military unit, company, and even the individual soldier 
  to which it was issued.
  Sensor Rounds: Sensor rounds contain an ef  ciently packed 
  sensor package (p. 333, SR4A) into the body of the round. When 
  subscribed to a PAN and f red, it collects data during f ight and 
  sends a burst transmission back to the firer by way of a small 
  directional antenna. Sensor rounds for f rearms are the equivalent 
  of an RFID sensor package, except for shotguns and assault 
  cannons, which are micro-sensors. T e sensors to be loaded into 
  the round must be purchased separately; sensors to be loaded 
  cannot have a rating higher than 4.
  Suppression Rounds: T ese so-called “scary rounds” are 
  designed to be loud and intimidating. T ey make a harsh buzzing 
  sound through the air and a loud bang when they strike targets. 
  Targets downrange take a –2 dice pool penalty to Composure 
  Tests, and Perception Tests receive a +2 dice pool bonus to hear 
  suppression rounds. T e energy used to make all this noise takes 
  away from the rounds’ impact on a target.
  EXPLOSIVES
  T is category includes grenades, mines, mortars, rockets, and 
  other things that go boom.
  Grenades
  T e standard rules for grenades are on p. 324, SR4A. T e 
  rules for using them are on p. 155, SR4A.
  Flick Bayonet: T is compact bayonet f ts on the barrel of 
  any f rearm and uses a ref nement of the technology found in the 
  memory blade (p. 16, Arsenal). In its normal state, it wraps around 
  the barrel of the weapon while keeping clear of any moving parts. 
  When deployed with a Simple Action (or a Free Action using a 
  smartlink), the f ick bayonet becomes a sharp blade at the end of 
  the barrel. Flick bayonets are available for any size f rearm, even 
  hold-outs.
  WEAPON MODIFICATIONS
  T ese items actually change the weapon, either by building 
  into it or altering its design. Weapon modif cation is covered in 
  detail on p. 148, Arsenal.
  High-Power Chambering: This modification alters the 
  chamber of a f rearm, allowing it to use larger high-power rounds 
  (see High-Power Rounds, below). A weapon with this modif cation 
  can only fire high-power rounds. High-power chambering is 
  incompatible with the high velocity modif cation (p. 152, Arsenal).
  Redundant Process Manufacturing: This modification 
  is similar to the vehicle upgrade of the same name. It refers to a 
  manufacturing or refurbishing technique that heavily processes a 
  weapon’s components. As a result, the weapon’s Object Resistance 
  threshold (p. 183, SR4A) is increased by its rating.
  AMMUNITION
  According to both the Geneva Conventions and the Nairobi 
  Accords as of 2072, regular military units are forbidden from 
  using non-standard ammunition in small arms. T is rarely stops 
  special forces, independent military contractors, and sometimes 
  even regular infantry from loading dif erent ammunition types in 
  their weapons (not to mention forces belonging to corporations 
  that haven’t signed on to either agreement). In a large battle, one 
  can of en f nd at least one f rearm loaded with nearly any of the 
  rounds found in other Shadowrun books (including p. 323, SR4A 
  and p. 34, Arsenal).
  Anti-Tank Rounds: While not very effective in small 
  calibers, the anti-tank round is manufactured with a tungsten core 
  that is designed to pierce through vehicle armor. It is also quite 
  ef ective against personal armor, of en punching through both 
  sides. Anti-Tank Rounds can only be used in large-bore weapons 
  (i.e., sniper rif es, assault cannons, and HMGs).
  Weapon Modiﬁ cation
  Slots
  Threshold
  Tools
  Cost
  Availability
  Special Skill
  High-Power Chambering
  2
  20
  Shop
  weapon cost
  7R
  —
  Redundant Process 
  Manufacturing (Rating 1-2)
  2
  Body x 3
  Facility
  weapon cost x rating
  14R
  Industrial 
  Mechanic
  Ammunition, per 10 shots
  Damage Mod
  AP Mod
  Armor Used
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Tank Rounds
  —
  –6
  B
  22F
  170¥
  Armor-Piercing Flechette
  +2
  —
  I
  18F
  160¥
  High-Power Rounds
  +2
  –1
  B
  20F
  80¥
  RFID Rounds
  —
  —
  —
  +2
  +20¥
  Sensor Rounds
  –half
  +6
  I
  5R
  30¥
  Suppression Rounds
  —
  +1
  B
  4R
  20¥
  
  157
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  deploys B-114 Anti-Personnel mines where it hits. To determine 
  the exact location of each mine, use the rules for scatter (p. 155, 
  SR4A) for each mine, with a scatter distance determined by the 
  Blast value of the round and no chance to reduce the scatter.
  Sensor: A sensor rocket or missile has a medium-drone 
  sensor (p. 333, SR4A) mounted as a warhead. It collects data 
  during f ight and sends it to the f rer via directional antenna. It 
  can also be used to damage targets, although to minimal ef ect as 
  its only damage is kinetic. T e specif c sensors to be loaded into 
  the warhead must be purchased separately.
  Mines
  Mines come with physical switches that detonate the mine 
  when it is physically touched or displaced (many mines can also 
  be detonated wirelessly). Damage from mines is resisted with 
  Impact armor.
  Sensors can be installed in mines for use as a triggering 
  device. A mine has Capacity 3 and Signal 3. Sensor packages must 
  be purchased separately, and can be installed in the f eld with an 
  Extended Armorer + Logic (12, 5 minutes) Test.
  Ares Fireblossom: When triggered, this mine launches a 
  canister into the air, a meter or two above the ground. T e canister 
  then detonates in a f ery explosion of fuel and air. 
  B-114 Anti-Personnel: T e B-114 is a standard blast anti-
  personnel land mine common to war zones around the world. It 
  is packed with high explosives that detonate when the mine is 
  triggered. Its robust construction makes it ideal for deployment 
  by hand, aircraf , or artillery.
  B-116 Chemical Mine: T is mine releases a chemical, either in 
  a cloud or as a splash, in a ten-meter radius when triggered. It is of en 
  used indoors and in areas where explosions would not be preferred.
  CI Dragon Box Mine: T is large anti-vehicle mine is not 
  an explosive, but rather a housing for six dormant Dragonf y anti-
  vehicle drones (p. 117, Arsenal). When it is triggered remotely, or 
  its integral MAD sensor detects a vehicle, it activates the drones 
  it carries and releases them onto the target. Because it carries no 
  explosives, the use of Dragon Box mines is not limited by any 
  treaties or conventions of war.
  Cluster Grenade: T is grenade is slightly larger than most 
  grenades, and there is no mini version that can be used in grenade 
  launchers. It contains a number of sub-munitions, which explode 
  at random intervals within 10 meters of the grenade’s initial 
  detonation. Treat this area as a suppressive fire zone (p. 154, 
  SR4A) with a Reaction + Edge threshold of 3. T is zone lasts until 
  the same Initiative Pass of the Combat Turn following the one the 
  cluster grenade exploded.
  Gecko Grenade: This is not an individual grenade, but 
  a type of housing available for grenades of any type. Af er the 
  grenade is  primed, the thrower can wirelessly activate the gecko 
  function, making the grenade’s surface sprout microscopic tendrils 
  that stick to any solid surface it contacts. T is reduces scatter by 
  one additional meter per hit, and makes it impossible to kick or 
  toss without a successful Body + Strength (2) Test.
  Monofilament Grenade: This grenade is similar to a 
  fragmentation grenade. Rather that a fragmenting shell, however, 
  it is built with hundreds of meters of monofilament wound 
  around the exploding core, lashing out in several pieces and all 
  directions on detonation. Damage from a monof lament grenade 
  is resisted with Impact armor.
  Rockets and Missiles
  Information on rockets and missiles are on p. 325, SR4A, and 
  the rules for using them are on p. 155, SR4A. T e Availability listed 
  for each entry is for rockets; missiles have +5 Availability and have 
  an additional cost of 500¥ times the missile’s Sensor rating.
  Anti-Aircraft: This rocket is designed to explode in a 
  large radius, catching fast-moving f ying targets. T e shrapnel is 
  designed to use the speed of the target against itself: add +4 to 
  the Damage Value if the target is moving more than 200 meters 
  per Combat Turn.
  Anti-Tank: Anti-tank rockets and missiles are designed 
  much the same as their anti-vehicle cousins, but with far more 
  punch. T eir shaped-charge warhead gives it Armor Piercing –10 
  against a target it hits directly, but less collateral damage.
  Mine: Mines can be deployed by rockets, but the guidance 
  capability of missiles is where this type of warhead really shines. It 
  Grenades
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Cluster Grenade
  8P
  —
  10m radius
  12F
  40¥
  Gecko Grenade
  as grenade type
  as grenade type
  as grenade type
  +2
  +50¥
  Monoﬁ lament Grenade
  8P
  –4
  –3/m
  16F
  150¥
  Rockets
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  16P/20P*
  –3
  -1/m
  28F
  2,200¥
  Anti-Tank
  22P
  —/–10**
  -6/m
  28F
  2,000¥
  Mine
  6 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  28F
  1,600¥
  Sensor
  8P
  —
  —
  18F
  600¥
  Missiles
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  as rocket
  as rocket
  as rocket
  as rocket
  +5
  +Sensor Rtg x 500¥
  *Anti-aircraft rockets and missiles have DV 20P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 16P against others.
  **Anti-tank rockets and missiles have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets. 
  
  158
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  reinforced body, directing the blast forward and giving it Armor 
  Piercing –10 against any target hit directly by the mortar.
  Cluster: T ese mortar shells are f lled with sub-munitions that 
  spread and detonate randomly af er impact. T is creates a suppressive 
  f re zone (p. 154, SR4A) with a Reaction + Edge threshold of 4. T is 
  zone lasts until the same Initiative Pass of the Combat Turn following 
  the one in which the cluster mortar exploded.
  Drone: A drone round is not an of ensive round, but rather 
  one designed to deliver a drone of a certain size to a target area, 
  usually behind enemy lines. As long as the round lands on safe 
  ground (e.g., on sand or a roof op rather than a lava f ow or a tar 
  pit), the drone is deployed at the end of the Combat Turn it was 
  f red. T e drone to be inserted into the round must be purchased 
  separately.
  ECM: T is round acts as an area jammer (p. 329, SR4A) in the 
  place it lands. Once f red, its on-board batteries last for up to an hour.
  Guided: T is is a modif cation to another type of mortar 
  round. This adds guidance surfaces and sensors to the round, 
  allowing it to become information-guided (p. 162, Arsenal).
  Mine: This round deploys a number of B-114 Anti-
  Personnel mines where it hits. To determine the exact location of 
  each mine, use the rules for scatter (p. 155, SR4A) for each mine, 
  with a scatter distance determined by the Blast value of the round 
  and no chance to reduce the scatter.
  Rocket-Assist: T is is not a round in and of itself, but a 
  modif cation to other mortar rounds. T is round is modif ed to 
  use a solid propellant to increase the range of the shell. Multiply 
  E-121 Electrical Mine: When this mine is triggered, it f res 
  a small explosive charge, extending sharp metal needles onto (or 
  into) the target. Wires connect these needles to the mine’s battery, 
  which then discharges, sending a powerful but usually non-fatal 
  shock to the victim.
  RWE Gang Feng: Red Wheel Engineering’s military 
  division produces this “Bouncing Betty” mine. When triggered, it 
  launches a fragmentary explosive into the air, which itself explodes 
  at about two meters of  of the ground.
  NA Anti-Tank: T is mine from Nemesis Arms is designed to 
  penetrate vehicle armor, but it does quite a number on personnel 
  that get in its way. T e NAAT comes with a MAD scanner (p. 334, 
  SR4A) installed.
  KM-18 Zweihänder: T e Krupp Munitions Zweihänder is 
  a directional mine. When it detonates, most of the explosive force 
  is conf ned to a 60-degree arc in front of the mine, f lling the arc 
  with deadly shrapnel.
  Mortar Rounds
  T ese mortar rounds are in addition to the standard mortar 
  rounds (p. 37, Arsenal).
  Anti-Aircraf : T is round explodes in mid-air, hopefully 
  catching fast-moving f ying targets in the explosion. T ese rounds 
  add +4 DV against targets moving faster than 200 meters per 
  Combat Turn.
  Anti-Tank: T is round is a more powerful version of the 
  anti-vehicle rounds. T e shell contains a shaped charge and a 
  
  159
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  the range categories for the round by 1.5, but double the scatter. 
  T e rocket motor displaces some of the payload, reducing the 
  Damage Value of the round by 2.
  Sensor: Sensor shells contain a highly condensed sensor 
  suite (p. 333, SR4A). When subscribed to a PAN and f red, it 
  collects data during f ight and sends a burst transmission back to 
  the f rer by way of a small directional antenna. T e sensor mortar 
  round holds a large-drone sensor; the specif c sensor packages for 
  the round must be purchased separately.
  SATELLITE-BASED WEAPONS
  Af er the expansion of power into orbit and beyond, the 
  militarization of space was inevitable. While the SALT IV, SALT 
  V treaties, and the Nairobi Accords prohibit nuclear, biological, 
  and chemical weapons in space, conventional weapons are 
  becoming increasingly common. Most of the weapons in space are 
  kinetic in nature, either self-propelled or f red by gauss weapons, 
  but laser weapons, unfettered by the limitations of an atmosphere, 
  are proliferating in Earth’s orbit.
  Orbital weapons are, for the most part, defensive, designed 
  to prevent attackers from damaging or boarding a satellite or 
  spacecraf . Some armed satellites have a more terrestrial focus, 
  acting as strategic or tactical weapons for land- or sea-based 
  warfare. T is latter type of orbital weapon is detailed here; space-
  to-space weapons are not covered in this book.
  Aesir Satellite System
  The Aesir Satellite System was developed by Ares 
  Macrotechnology as a flexible, multi-role support platform 
  Mines
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Ares Fireblossom
  10P(f)
  –half
  –1/m
  18F
  95¥
  B-114 Anti-Personnel
  12P
  —
  –2/m
  16F
  85¥
  B-116 Chemical Mine
  as chemical
  as chemical
  10m radius
  4F + chemical
  40¥ + chemical
  CI Dragon Box Mine
  —
  —
  —
  14F
  16,500¥
  E-121 Electrical Mine
  12(e)
  –half
  —
  17F
  90¥
  RWE Gang Feng
  14P(f)
  +5
  –1/m
  19F
  80¥
  NA Anti-Tank
  18P
  –10
  –9/m
  22F
  125¥
  KM-18 Zweihänder
  14P(f)
  +5
  –1/m*
  18F
  85¥
  *Blast conﬁ ned to a 60-degree arc in front of the mine.
  Mortar Rounds
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  16P/20P*
  –3
  –1/m
  20F
  220¥
  Anti-Tank
  22P
  —/–10**
  –6/m
  20F
  200¥
  Cluster
  12P
  —
  15m radius
  12F
  140¥
  Drone
  mini-drone
  —
  —
  8F
  85¥
  ECM (Rating 1-10)
  —
  —
  per jammer
  10F
  Rating x 50¥
  Guided
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +2
  +500¥
  Mine
  2 mines
  —
  2D6 meters
  16F
  210¥
  Rocket Assist
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +4
  +260¥
  Sensor
  —
  —
  —
  10F
  400¥
  *Anti-aircraft mortar rounds have DV 20P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 16P against others.
  **Anti-tank mortar rounds have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets. 
  NUCLEAR WEAPONS
  Nuclear weapons still exist in the Sixth World, 
  even if their dependability has been questionable 
  since the Awakening. Some postulate that the 
  Earth’s manaﬁ eld effects rapid nuclear reactions, 
  while others believe that Gaia has some sort of 
  cosmic veto power over nukes, but the fact remains: 
  nuclear weapons have become unreliable. The game-
  master is encouraged to decide for herself when and 
  where nuclear weapons detonate as designed, with 
  the general guideline that the smaller the nuke, the 
  more reliable it is—and a reminder than even a small 
  nuclear explosion can dramatically alter the land-
  scape of a city or even a nation, so they should be 
  used cautiously.
  In the case of a nuclear detonation, the forces 
  unleashed in a full-scale nuclear blast are beyond 
  the scope of the rules of a role-playing game. Small 
  “suitcase nukes” are more conceivable; in game 
  terms, the Damage Code for the smallest feasible 
  nuclear device would be over 130P, –6/m. Generally, 
  though, a nuclear device is mainly a plot device; 
  simply choose the area devastated (a minimum of 
  a 20m radius).
  Use the following guidelines to determine the 
  radiation effects of a nuclear blast. The area devas-
  tated will be an area of deadly radiation poisoning, 
  with a concentric circle of equal radius beyond that 
  is a severe radiation zone, another radius will have 
  moderate radiation, and the radius beyond that will 
  be an area of mild radiation poisoning (see Radiation, 
  p. 167, Arsenal).
  
  160
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  each missile home in on the radiation reflected from the target. 
  The laser must be used at least thirty seconds (10 Combat 
  Turns) before the missile impacts and must be held on the 
  target until at least eighteen seconds (6 Combat Turns) before 
  impact. It uses sniper rifle ranges and is fired with the Exotic 
  Ranged Weapon (Lasers) skill. The firer’s hits are added to the 
  aiming test if the laser designates the target for the required 
  amount of time.
  Aesir Guidance Beacon: T is device is about the size of a lunch 
  box. It doubles the accuracy of satellite-based gravity weapons, 
  making each net hit on the aiming test worth –100m rather than 
  –50m. Given that it brings a missile to its location, the beacon is 
  destroyed in the attack.
  Similar Systems: Aztechnology Xolotl, S-K Himmelhammer 
  (experimental)
  CLOTHING AND ARMOR
  Most military units issue military armor in combat zones, 
  and armor jackets in other areas (can’t be too careful nowadays). 
  Many military security consulting f rms, insurgent bands, and 
  smaller militaries can’t af ord military armor, and so it is rare to 
  f nd it among these forces. T e following armor is also available to 
  soldiers and shadowrunners alike.
  Ballistic Mask: T is armor is worn on the face and held 
  by comfortable straps, like an old-fashioned hockey mask. It is 
  most of en worn by combat participants in the Desert Wars for a 
  number of reasons: they are cooler in the desert heat than helmets 
  while of ering comparable protection, they look great on camera, 
  and they help protect the face, which is the most marketable 
  part of a successful soldier’s anatomy. T ey come in a variety of 
  custom moldings and paint jobs. Ballistic masks can take vision 
  enhancements as well as any modif cation a helmet can take, and 
  like other helmets, their armor bonus stacks with the rating of 
  other worn armor.
  YNT Sof Weave Armor: Sof Weave is a method of extruding 
  armor f bers and weaving them together in a way that is easier 
  to wear than plates and reinforced panels. It was developed by 
  Yamatetsu Naval Technologies for sapients and the less common 
  metavarients, but it works for average-sized folks, too.
  for military operations on the ground. It stores and launches 
  spear-shaped tungsten missiles designed to reenter the Earth’s 
  atmosphere and, using ballistic calculations and guidance control 
  f ns, strike targets on the ground with the force of a meteor. T e 
  system carries dif erent types of missiles: a full load is four T or 
  missiles, f f een Freya missiles, and twenty-four Loki canisters. 
  T ese weapons take anywhere from six to twenty minutes to travel 
  to the target, depending on the position of the satellite relative to 
  the battlef eld, so a certain amount of planning is necessary.
  Satellite-based weapons are aimed using Logic + Exotic 
  Ranged Weapon (Satellite-Based). T ese weapons have a scatter 
  value of 6D6 x 20m, –50m per net hit.
  T or Missile: T e T or missile is a non-nuclear strategic weapon. 
  It is a tungsten pole twelve meters long and about half a meter in 
  diameter, with f ns on one end and a point at the other. It strikes 
  with the force of a one-kiloton f ssion bomb, without the ensuing 
  radiation. When it strikes, anything within 200 meters of the strike 
  is destroyed, blasted to powder by the energy of the blast. Anything 
  outside of this range suf ers blast damage of 30P, –5 per 100 meters 
  from the center of the blast (so the most a character could take 
  without turning to a thin red mist is 20P at 201 to 299 meters).
  Freya Missile: T e Freya missile is a tactical version of the T or 
  missile about half the size of the strategic weapon. An attack with 
  a Freya missile is identical to that of a T or, except that its kill 
  radius is only 20 meters, and its blast damage is 30P, –5 per 10 
  meters from the strike.
  Loki Canister: Loki missiles are similar to T or missiles, but 
  about a meter in length. When the canister launches, it ejects a 
  number of Loki missiles, which travel together to the strike zone. 
  When they hit the ground, they do so in a circular pattern with a 
  10m radius. Small targets (metahumans, large drones, and smaller) 
  in the target area must succeed in an Agility + Edge (2) Test or 
  be struck; larger targets are automatically hit. T e missiles do not 
  impact with enough force to cause a blast.
  Aesir Guidance Laser: This laser designator is housed in a 
  rifle-shaped case. It is specifically designed to “light up” targets 
  for satellite-based gravity weapons; the guidance systems in 
  Satellite-Based Weapons
  Availability
  Cost
  Aesir Satellite
  144F
  1,200,000,000¥
  Satellite Weapons
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Freya Missile
  30P + special
  —
  –5/10m
  45F
  150,000¥
  Loki Missile
  30P
  –20
  —
  45F
  20,000¥
  Thor Missile
  30P + special
  —
  –5/100m
  45F
  1,200,000¥
  Satellite Accessories
  Availability
  Cost
  Aesir Guidance Beacon
  12F
  650¥
  Aesir Guidance Maser
  12F
  1,800¥
  
  161
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  dice pool bonus to cast line-of-sight Indirect Combat spells if the 
  caster has a cybereye with smartlink.
  Military commlinks do not come with stock operating 
  systems. Instead, the Firewall and System f rmware is purchased 
  separately. Each military-grade commlink has a biometric lock, as 
  well as hardening and armor with a base rating of 5 (see Commlink 
  Modif cations, p. 196, Unwired).
  Milspec Commlink: Military hardware is typically the 
  best equipment a government can buy, and commlinks are no 
  exception. T e military grade commlink is a highly sought-af er 
  prize in the shadows, especially among hackers and riggers, from 
  the lowly Battle Buddy Basic assigned to the common infantryman 
  to the frighteningly versatile Cybernaut of company-level spiders.
  Milspec Device Upgrades: Hackers like to tinker with their 
  tools. Military hackers love it. A hacker with access to military 
  suppliers is in the butter zone. T ese upgrades follow the standard 
  rules for upgrading devices (p. 222, SR4A).
  Milspec Nexus: Known as “heavy metal” by hackers and 
  technomancers on both sides of the shadows, the military-grade 
  nexus is the foundation of operational communications and 
  Matrix overwatch and support. T e cost for a Signal rating for a 
  milspec nexus is the same as it is for a milspec commlink.
  Mine Detector: This is a combination neutron scanner, 
  MAD scanner, and olfactory sensor, housed in a handheld package 
  about the size of a paperback novel and backed by specialized 
  f rmware. In addition to acting like a normal sensor, this device 
  has a +2 dice pool bonus to detect mines.
  SOFTWARE
  Rules for programs and how to use them can be found on 
  p. 232, SR4A.
  Anti-Aircraft Assist: “Triple-A” software helps the user 
  target aircraf , which are of en f ying fast enough to throw of  most 
  direct-f re systems, from the ground. If this program is running 
  on a system that is responsible for targeting and/or f ring a direct-
  f re, unguided weapon (usually the node of the weapon or one 
  subscribed to a smartgun system), it cancels the dice pool bonus 
  All armor types are available as SoftWeave armor, which 
  modif es the cost and Availability of the base armor. For purposes 
  of armor allowance (see Armor and Encumbrance, p. 161, SR4A), 
  reduce the highest armor rating of worn armor by the wearer’s 
  Strength (so, for example, an armor vest would encumber someone 
  with Body 2, if the armor vest was Sof Weave and that person had 
  a Strength of at least 2, he could wear it without penalty due to 
  armor encumberance). Sof Weave is also available for military-
  grade armor (p. 50, Arsenal).
  ARMOR MODIFICATIONS
  T e rules for armor modif cations are listed on p. 50, Arsenal.
  Redundant Process Manufacturing: T is modif cation 
  uses the same manufacturing or refurbishing technique as the 
  vehicle upgrade of the same name, in which the armor is subject 
  to more processing than necessary. As a result, the armor’s 
  Object Resistance threshold (p. 183, SR4A) is increased by its 
  rating.
  Responsive Interface Gear: T e extremely compact RIG 
  adds trodes, body sensors, and other non-invasive neural interfaces 
  to armor. It acts as a combination trode net, sim module, sim rig, 
  and skinlink that connects to the wearer’s PAN. It allows records 
  of each soldier’s actions and situations to be passed up the chain 
  of command, as well as accessing the user’s natural senses for use 
  as sensor channels in a tactical network (p. 125, Unwired). T is 
  system takes up Capacity 2 in the armor and Capacity 1 in the 
  helmet; a RIG must be installed in both armor and helmet to 
  work, and only operates while the helmet is worn.
  ELECTRONICS & ACCESSORIES
  A detailed look at Matrix attributes can be found on p. 221, 
  SR4A.
  Microtrónica Azteca Spellslinger: The Spellslinger is 
  a glove that assists spellcasters in the aiming of their spells. It 
  contains customized smartgun hardware that works with a 
  smartlink. T e system takes into account as many variables as it 
  can to assist the caster in the aiming of her spell. It of ers a +1 
  Armor
  B/I
  Availability
  Cost
  Ballistic Mask
  +2/+1
  7
  130¥
  YNT SoftWeave Armor
  —
  +3
  x1.1
  Weapon Modiﬁ cation
  Capacity
  Cost
  Availability
  Redundant Process Manufacturing (Rating 1-2)
  [2]
  armor cost x rating
  14R
  Responsive Interface Gear
  [2]+[1]
  2,400¥
  8
  Milspec Commlinks
  Response
  Signal
  Availability
  Cost
  Singularity Battle Buddy Basic
  5
  5
  8R
  10,000¥
  Singularity Battle Buddy
  7
  6
  24F
  17,000¥
  MCT Tactical
  7
  7
  32F
  18,500¥
  Renraku Suterusu
  8
  7
  40F
  32,750¥
  Transys Cybernaut
  9
  8
  48F
  65,000¥
  
  162
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  for both shots. Both rounds (or whatever is f red) strike within 
  centimeters of one another at the same time when the second 
  attack strikes. Add the Damage Values of both rounds together 
  to determine the total damage taken in the single MRSI attack; 
  the Armor Penetration and blast radius do not change. T e MRSI 
  program is Rating 5 and stops working if its rating is reduced.
  Tactical Satellite Mapping: T is sof ware creates a map 
  in real-time based on information from a tactical network. 
  Additionally, if run on a device that networked with and receiving 
  data from a device performing aerial reconnaissance or an orbital 
  observation platform of some kind, either of which is tracking the 
  area in which the user is operating, it counts as a sensor channel 
  for the tactical network (p. 125, Unwired). T e Tactical Satellite 
  Mapping program is Rating 4 and does not function if its rating 
  is reduced.
  VISION ENHANCEMENT
  T ese enhancements are compatible with visual sensors and 
  imaging devices. T e Availability and Cost of each ref ects the 
  modif cation in Availability and Cost of the sensor or device. Each 
  enhancement costs 1 Capacity.
  Mark 74 Smartlink: T e Mark 74 Smartlink is an enhanced 
  smartgun system for tactical networks. It acts like a normal 
  smartlink vision enhancement, (p. 333, SR4A), but with advanced 
  friend-or-foe-identif cation integration. A weapon with the Mark 
  to the target’s Defense Test gained from its speed. Anti-Aircraf  
  Assist sof ware is a Rating 3 program and gives no benef t if its 
  rating is reduced. 
  Milspec Sof ware: Even the cockiest hacker gliding through 
  the Matrix gets a little worried about going against military-grade 
  programs. T ese programs function like standard programs but 
  are more ef ective and have higher ratings. Likewise, higher-rating 
  operating system sof ware is also more ef ective and equally feared. 
  Military-grade sof ware follows all of the rules for programs in 
  SR4A and Unwired. Fortunately for many soldiers, autosofts 
  cannot be more advanced than Rating 4.
  MRSI Sof ware: MRSI (pronounced “mercy”) stands for 
  Multiple-Round-Simultaneous-Impact. It is designed for indirect-
  f re explosive weapons like mortars and other artillery, but it can 
  also be used with grenade launchers and even bows and other 
  slow-moving projectile weapons. It works by calculating the high 
  and low trajectories to a target within a weapon’s medium or long 
  ranges, and f ring along them in that order so the rounds arrive at 
  the target at the same time.
  T is system only works if the program on a node subscribed 
  to a smartgun-enabled indirect-f re or projectile weapon that 
  either f res twice in the same Combat Turn or f res with a f ight 
  time (p. 138). Make only one test for both shots and only one 
  roll for scatter (if applicable). If the target is entitled to a defense 
  test, he makes only one test against the second shot, which applies 
  MILSPEC HARDWARE UPGRADES
  Module Rating
  Availability
  Response Cost
  Signal Cost
  7
  20F
  24,000¥
  6,500¥
  8
  26F
  48,000¥
  8,750¥
  9
  32F
  96,000¥
  12,250¥
  10
  40F
  192,000¥
  17,250¥
  Nexus Hardware/Software*
   Availability
  Cost
  Response (Rating 7-10)
  (rating x 4)F 
  Rating x processor limit x 500¥
  System (Rating 7-10)
  (persona limit ÷ 2)F
  Rating x persona limit x 300¥
  Firewall (Rating 7-10) 
  (processor limit** ÷ 5)F
  Rating x processor limit x 250¥
  *Signal rating cost is the same as that of a commlink    **The processor limit minimum is 10, maximum is 50
  Electronics
  Availability
  Cost
  Microtrónica Azteca Spellslinger
  14F
  10,000¥
  Mine Detector
  10R
  4,000¥
  Software
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft Assist (Rating 3)
  12R
  1,200¥
  Common Use Program (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 3)F
  Rating x Rating x 100¥
  Hacking Program (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 4)F
  Rating x Rating x 1,000¥
  Firewall (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 4)F
  Rating x Rating x 500¥
  MRSI Software (Rating 5)
  14F
  10,000¥
  System (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 4)F
  Rating x Rating x 500¥
  Tactical Satellite Mapping Software (Rating 4)
  10R
  4,000¥
  
  163
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  MCT Gun Pit: The Gun Pit™ is standard issue among 
  ANZAC forces, and abandoned rings of barrier foam created 
  by the Pit can still be found scattered all over New Guinea. 
  T e device f res a charge into the air, which then spins rapidly, 
  deploying a ring of barrier foam around the activation site. T e 
  ring is four meters across, one meter thick, and one meter high, 
  leaving a two-meter wide “donut hole” in the middle for a soldier 
  to take cover in her own instant foxhole. Once used, the launcher 
  is discarded. It is available in hand-held and shoulder-mounted 
  varieties, and can be triggered manually or via wireless connection.
  SURVIVAL GEAR
  Military operational and survival gear includes the following.
  Auto-Rappel: This harness attaches to a rope. The 
  mechanism allows the user to drop in free-fall, slowing near the 
  ground. T e ef ect is very similar to a parachute drop with a very 
  low-opening chute release, so players should use the Parachuting 
  or Athletics skill when employing this bit of gear. T e harness can 
  be released manually with a Simple Action, released via PAN with 
  a Free Action, or programmed to drop of  by itself on landing. T e 
  harness is capable of traveling back up the rope by itself, but not 
  with a load.
  Camouf age Netting: T is netting is covered with patterns 
  designed to break up the silhouette of whatever it is covering and 
  blend in with the surroundings. Each net is intended for a specif c 
  terrain: forest, desert, various types of urban environments, etc. 
  T e netting imposes a –2 dice pool modif er to Perception tests 
  trying to spot a covered object in an environment appropriate to 
  the type of netting used. If the netting pattern does not match the 
  terrain, it of ers a +2 dice pool bonus to Perception tests instead.
  Chameleon Netting: T e same kind of ruthenium polymers 
  and sensor suites used in the chameleon suit make up this netting, 
  used to disguise vehicles, temporary structures, and small 
  buildings. It imposes a –4 dice pool penalty to Perception tests 
  made by observers.
  Emergency Field Dressing: In the field, it’s often not 
  enough to stop the bleeding—wounded soldiers need to be 
  stabilized so they can be moved, sometimes over a signif cant 
  distance. Even better, they need to be kept in the f ght if at all 
  possible. T e emergency f eld dressing acts as a medkit 3 while also 
  temporarily conveying the High Pain Tolerance 2 quality to the 
  subject. T e subject should roll Body + Willpower and multiply 
  the net successes by 10; the High Pain Tolerance ef ect lasts for 
  74 Smartlink will never f re at another member of the tactical 
  network to which its user is subscribed. T e system is accurate 
  to within a hairsbreadth, and so a machine gunner with the Mark 
  74 could deliver suppressive fire into a swirling melee and be 
  conf dent that his allies would generally not be af ected, though 
  glitches happen and can result in unexpected results.
  SENSORS
  T ese sensors follow the rules on p. 333, SR4A.
  Neutron Scanner: This sensor emits neutrons from its 
  scanning aperture, reading the backscatter and any resulting 
  gamma radiation. T is allows it to detect explosive compounds, 
  such as found in mines, grenades, and the like, even through solid 
  materials, within a range of about a meter. 
  CHEMTECH 
  T ese chemicals can be found in militaries around the Sixth 
  World.
  Armor Debonder: T is chemical concoction reacts to the 
  materials in modern ballistic armor, turning them brittle. When 
  armor debonder comes into contact with armor with a Ballistic 
  rating, make a Success Test using the debonder’s rating as the dice 
  pool, and reduce the Ballistic rating of the armor by 1 for each hit, 
  ignoring glitches and critical glitches.
  Barrier Foam: T is hand-held canister comes with a built-in 
  spray applicator. T e chemical inside it is a foam that expands 
  on contact with air, then dries and hardens in seconds, creating 
  a protective cover that can support heavy weapon mounts. One 
  can contains enough foam to create a f at grey barrier one meter 
  tall, one meter thick, and ten meters long; it does not build up 
  well, but careful application of a new layer on top of a hardened 
  layer will create a taller, if not structurally sound, wall. Barriers can 
  be shaped, to a degree with the careful use of entrenching tools. 
  Soldiers will of en use tubes or boxes to create gun ports in the 
  foam while it is being applied.
  When applied, barrier foam is soft until the end of the 
  Combat Turn in which it was deployed, at which point it hardens 
  into a rigid form with Armor Rating 14 and Structure Rating 8. 
  If used in a chemical grenade, one application of barrier foam is 
  enough to create a sphere just over 2.5 meters in diameter, or if 
  triggered on the ground, a f at dome one meter tall and f ve meters 
  across. Targets caught in liquid barrier foam have until it hardens 
  to escape or risk ensnarement and/or suf ocation.
  Vision Enhancement
  Availability
  Cost
  Mark 74 Smartlink
  +8F
  +1,200¥
  Sensors
  Capacity
  Availability
  Cost
  Neutron Scanner (Rating 1-6)
  [2]
  8R
  Rating x 900¥
  Chemtech
  Availability
  Cost (per application)
  Armor Debonder (rating 4-12)
  16
  40¥ per rating point
  Barrier Foam
  7
  30¥
  MCT Gun Pit
  9R
  100¥
  
  164
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  alter the ef ects of a glitch or critical glitch during a Composure 
  test (p. 136).
  Cultured Bioware
  MPC Bridge: T is network of cultured neurons bridges 
  the medial prefrontal cortex and the hypothalamus to give these 
  parts of the brain more control over the amygdala. T is grants 
  the user a +1 dice pool bonus when resisting Intimidation and 
  other emotional manipulation. Additionally, the user may ignore 
  normal glitches when making Composure tests and may treat 
  critical glitches as normal glitches.
  NANOTECH
  Most militaries have the ability to create and deploy all types 
  of nanobots. Weaponized nanotech (p. 115, Augmentation) is 
  illegal to use in warfare, but that rarely stops anybody in a war 
  zone. T e following nanotech can be found in use among armed 
  forces around the world.
  AK-147 Nanofax: This nanofax creates AK-147 assault 
  rif es and AK174 carbines, as well as spare clip magazines and 
  ammunition. An infantry battalion with an AK-147 nanofax 
  can keep its soldiers in new, fully functional weapons, magazines, 
  and ammunition. Feedstock is needed in order to manufacture a 
  gun, and keeping supply lines open to obtain necessary levels of 
  feedstock is a regular problem, but some militaries feel it is worth 
  the tradeof  of being able to manufacture brand-new weapons in 
  the f eld. Militaries that use these devices supply them with “clean” 
  feedstock so they can avoid the hassle of a host of RFID tags 
  being built in to their weapons. T is nanofax can create a weapon 
  with two spare clip magazines and a full complement of regular 
  ammunition in just under f ve minutes.
  Hedgehog: A hedgehog is an anti-tank barrier that has 
  six arms at right angles to one another (two each in the three 
  dimensions of length, breadth, and depth), making it look like 
  a six-pointed, three-dimensional star. Hedgehog nanobots are 
  used as portable hedgehog makers. One application of hedgehog 
  nanobots creates a single hedgehog, anchored to whatever surface 
  on which the nanobots were applied. T is hedgehog is made of 
  metal, carbon f bers, and ceramics, and has an Armor Rating of 
  28 and a Structure Rating of 12.
  that many minutes. T e ef ect of the dressing stacks with the 
  existing High Pain Tolerance quality.
  Insulated Netting: T is is camouf age netting upgraded 
  with materials that block heat and electromagnetic radiation. It 
  acts as standard camouf age netting that af ects thermographic, 
  radar, and radiation scanners, and reduces Signal ratings passing 
  through the netting by 2.
  MOSLTOV: The Modular Smart Lightweight Tactical 
  Outer Vest, or “mazel tov” as it is known to the troops that wear it, 
  is a harness designed to carry packs, pouches, ammunition, water, 
  charges, and anything else a soldier might need to carry into battle. 
  It uses a series of standardized fasteners to hold equipment and 
  even full rucksacks securely; anything a metahuman can grip, the 
  MOSLTOV can hold. 
  Wingsuit: A wingsuit is a jumpsuit with fabric between 
  the arms and torso, as well as between the legs. When the wearer 
  spreads his legs and arms while falling, the suit slows its descent and 
  generates forward thrust, with a glide ratio of three meters forward 
  for every meter fallen (at a Speed of about 100 meters per Combat 
  Turn). T e wingsuit is f own with the Parachuting skill (which 
  has its own Wingsuit specialization), and has a built-in standard 
  parachute (p. 59, Arsenal) in a low-prof le, form-f tting pack.
  Wingsuit Jetpack: This pack fits under and around the 
  wingsuit parachute. It consists of two kerosene rockets and an 
  electronic f ring mechanism. When activated it of ers the wingsuit 
  user horizontal f ight at a speed of 200 meters per Combat Turn 
  for a total of up to three minutes (60 Combat Turns). It can only 
  be used once, and must then be discarded.
  BIOWARE
  T e following bioware is specialized for military use, and 
  adds to the lists of bioware found on p. 345, SR4A, and p. 63, 
  Augmentation.
  Adrenal Regulator: These modified adrenal medullae 
  modify the hormones produced during panic situations. As a 
  result, the augmented character is less subject to the physiological 
  ef ects of stress and panic. T is ef ect translates into a reduction 
  of the threshold of all Composure tests by 2.
  While the adrenal regulator reduces the panic a person might 
  have, it does nothing for the shock of the experience. It does not 
  Survival Gear
  Availability
  Cost
  Auto-Rappel
  6
  1,000¥
  Camouﬂ age Netting
  4
  5¥/m2
  Chameleon Netting
  10R
  35¥/m2
  Insulated Netting
  6
  10¥/m2
  MOSLTOV
  8
  750¥
  Wingsuit
  7
  600¥
  Wingsuit Jetpack
  10R
  1,200¥
  Bioware
  Essence
  Availability
  Cost
  Adrenal Regulator
  0.1
  8
  9,000¥
  MPC Bridge
  0.1
  10
  14,000¥
  
  165
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  T e aeronautics NDS system creates an Aeronautics shop 
  and a short runway (500 meters). T e automotive and industrial 
  NDS structures contain a facility of the appropriate type (p. 332, 
  SR4A). A barracks NDS can house a full infantry battalion and 
  has an Armorer shop. T e bunker can house an infantry platoon. 
  T e combat area support hospital (CASH) has a medical facility 
  that is the equivalent of a private hospital (p. 122, Augmentation) 
  and has twenty cots for patients. T e NDS command building has 
  a satellite dish and can hold an extra-large sized sensor array (p. 
  138, Arsenal), and a nexus with Device Rating 8 (array and nexus 
  not included in the NDS).
  MILITARY DRONES
  Drones see widespread use in Sixth World militaries 
  around the world. Even the smallest guerilla rebellions have a fair 
  contingent of drones in both support and combat roles. Many of 
  the drones employed by military and paramilitary units can be 
  found in existing Shadowrun books, along with a few new drones 
  listed here.
  Ares Coyote (Medium Combat Drone): T is tracked drone 
  is designed to accompany infantry in combat, although it is not 
  unknown to have entire squads or even platoons exclusively made 
  up of Coyotes. Controlled by the platoon hacker or a dedicated 
  rigger, the Coyote is capable of travelling in almost any terrain a 
  soldier can handle, the exception being some urban environments 
  that can give the drone trouble. Some decommissioned Coyote 
  drones are used as sentry drones in areas where the terrain gives 
  a C-D Dalmatian trouble. T e Coyote comes with Defense 4, 
  Targeting 4, and Tacsof  4 sof ware.
  Similar Models: MCT-Nissan ArmorBug, LoneStar SideArm.
  Standard Upgrades: Weapon mount (normal, turret), ammo box.
  Lockheed Arachne (Small Walker Sentry Drone): But for 
  its sophisticated electronics, sensors, and actuators, the Arachne 
  would be more of a weapon add-on than a drone. Most weapons 
  that f t onto this drone’s turret are larger than it is. T e gecko 
  tips on the feet of the drone’s eight legs allow it to cling to any 
  surface, even if thrown there by a soldier. T e Arachne comes with 
  Clearsight 4 and Targeting 4 installed.
  Similar Models: Ares Sentinel “G” Series, CI Angry Cockroach.
  Mine Detectors: T ese sof  nanobots are sprayed in an area, 
  where they settle into the ground. When they get near a mine 
  or other explosive, they start a chemical reaction that releases a 
  high amount of heat, making the mines obvious to anyone with 
  thermographic vision at ground depths of up to two meters (well 
  below ef ective mine range).
  Mine Concealers: For every military action, there’s a 
  military reaction. T e concealers coat mines in a way that can 
  disguise them from mine detectors. When mine concealers are 
  applied, 1d6 percent of the mines in a given minef eld are not 
  found by mine detectors.
  Mine Disposal Nanobots: T ese hard nanobots must be 
  applied directly to a mine. T ey then disassemble the mine at the 
  molecular level, turning it into carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and a 
  dusting of solid, but inert, compounds. T e process takes about 
  half an hour. Each “dose” destroys one mine.
  Nanobot-Deployed Structure (NDS): This nanotech 
  system f ts into a box about the size of a rif e case. When deployed, 
  the integral nanohive releases a swarm of hard nanobots that 
  build a structure out of the required feedstock. Feedstock is not 
  included in the case, and is usually shipped in solid blocks that 
  are about three meters on each side and weigh approximately 275 
  kilos. T e cost of the blocks is included in the structure’s cost. 
  Most structures require two blocks; the Aeronautics and CASH 
  structures require three, while the Barracks requires f ve.
  T e construction can be guided manually or by an expert 
  system in the case, which takes into account local terrain in the 
  architecture of the structure. While soldiers might be able to put 
  together a structure cheaper, they generally cannot match the 
  speed of an NDS—and when the NDS is in operation, soldiers 
  can spend time doing something besides construction. After 
  eighteen hours of work, the NDS is exhausted and the new 
  building is ready for use (their quick work in raising a building 
  has led some soldiers to nickname the system “nanoAmish”). All 
  nanobot-deployed structures are single-story buildings.
  NDS systems are specialized to a certain type of building. 
  T e Armor and Structure ratings of most NDS buildings are 14 
  and 12, respectively. T e Bunker has higher ratings—its Armor 
  Rating is 20, and its Structure Rating is 16.
  Nanotech
  Type
  Availability
  Cost
  AK-147 Nanofax
  —
  21F
  600,000¥
  Mine Detectors (per 100m2)
  Soft
  12
  400¥
  Mine Concealers (per 10 mines) Soft
  12
  300¥
  Mine Disposal
  Hard
  15
  5,000¥
  NDS Aeronautics
  Hard
  22R
  1,125,000¥
  NDS Automotive
  Hard
  22R
  1,100,000¥
  NDS Barracks
  Hard
  20R
  950,000¥
  NDS Bunker
  Hard
  26R
  1,000,000¥
  NDS CASH
  Hard
  26R
  1,200,000¥
  NDS Command
  Hard
  24R
  980,000¥
  NDS Industrial
  Hard
  24R
  1,150,000¥
  
  166
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  and Tacsof  4 sof ware.
  Similar Models: Hawker-Siddeley Transformer, MCT ADAC.
  Standard Upgrades: Hovercraft upgrade (add-on), weapon 
  mount (reinforced, turret).
  YNT Cuttlefish (Large Submersible Drone): The 
  Cuttlef sh is a submarine, the largest and bulkiest drone available 
  on the market. It sees use patrolling around capital ships or in areas 
  that in less advanced times would have been mined. To make up 
  for the near-impossibility of wireless rigging underwater, the 
  onboard pilot sof ware is highly sophisticated. T e Cuttlef sh 
  comes equipped with Targeting (Torpedo Launcher) 4 sof ware.
  Similar Models: CI Manta, Aztechnology Michconetl.
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, large torpedo launcher.
  BIODRONES
  Although biodrones, warforms, and chimera are generally 
  seen only in media spectacles like Desert Wars and its spin-
  offs and knock-offs, their effectiveness in those venues has 
  encouraged the armed forces of the corporations and nations of 
  the world to consider them for battlef eld duty. As they see more 
  active duty, experimental and far more radical biodrones are 
  becoming more prevalent, including those based on paranormal 
  and even resonant animals.
  Esiban Inﬁ ltrator
  T e Algonquian-Manitou Council claims that the Esiban 
  Inf ltrator is the f rst paranormal biodrone, but many discount this 
  claim as the bandit (a raccoon-like critter) on which it is based is 
  Standard Upgrades: Gecko tips, walker mode, weapon mount 
  (normal, turret)
  Mitsuhama Chinpira (Large Walker Combat Drone): 
  Powered body armor has a reputation as a dead-end research 
  project. Suits with metahuman operators tend to be either 
  powerful but too slow or so quick that the suit injures the pilot. 
  Mitsuhama North America changed the direction of one such 
  research project, turning the combat power armor into a walking 
  combat drone about the size and shape of a troll.
  The Chinpira has four limbs. It can move on two legs 
  or, for more stability, four. Its weapon mounts are on its head 
  and shoulders, with its control and sensor systems in its better-
  armored torso. It can handle terrain that any bipedal or quadruped 
  organic creature can, even climbing clif s or (very large) trees. 
  T e Chinpira comes equipped with Defense 4, Targeting 4, and 
  Tacsof  3 sof ware.
  Similar Models: Esprit Cuirassier, Fleche Armaments Black 
  Knight.
  Standard Upgrades: Body Stabilizer 3, two flexible normal 
  weapon mounts (with ammo boxes), one turret reinforced 
  weapon mount.
  Wuxing Hussar (Large Combat Drone): Originally 
  intended to support manned vehicles in the f eld, the Hussar has 
  been used in a number of dif erent roles from infantry support 
  and sentry duty to reconnaissance and assault. T e Hussar has two 
  modes of locomotion: tracked for steep or broken terrain (Speed 
  60), and air cushion for fast travel over land and water (Speed 
  180). T e Hussar comes equipped with Defense 4, Targeting 4, 
  MILITARY DRONES IN OTHER SHADOWRUN BOOKS
  This is a list of drones found in other Shadowrun books that are used by military units. Each is standard-issue some-
  where in the world, although any drone can be modiﬁ ed to be used in reconnaissance, combat, or even as mobile improvised 
  explosive devices.
  Drone
  Role
  Source
  Ares Auxilla Mk3
  Support
  p. 121, Arsenal
  Ares Heimdall
  Combat
  p. 117, Arsenal
  Aztechnology Armadillo
  Electronic Warfare
  p. 118, Arsenal
  Aztechnology Crawler
  Recon
  p. 350, SR4A
  Cyberspace Designs Dalmatian
  Recon
  p. 350, SR4A
  Lockheed Optic-X
  Recon
  p. 350, SR4A
  Lockheed Vulcan
  Support
  p. 121, Arsenal
  Lone Star iBall
  Recon/Close Quarters/Urban
  p. 350, SR4A
  McDonnell-Douglas Nimrod
  Air Combat/Close Air Support
  p. 121, Arsenal
  MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone
  Recon/Sentry
  p. 350, SR4A
  Mitsuhama Tomino
  Combat
  p. 122, Arsenal
  Repeater Drone
  Communications
  p. 198, Unwired
  Roving Hub
  Communications
  p. 198, Unwired
  Saeder-Krupp Mk-17D Neptune
  Recon
  p. 122, Arsenal
  Sikorsky-Bell Microskimmer
  Recon
  p. 350, SR4A
  Steel Lynx Combat Drone
  Combat
  p. 350, SR4A
  Wuxing Crimson Samurai
  Sentry
  p. 122, Arsenal
  
  167
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
   B A 
  R 
  S 
  C I L W EDG Ess 
  Init 
  IP
   9 4(6) 8(10) 9(11) 3 3 2 3(5) 
  0 
  0.44 11(13) 3
  Movement: 15/45
  Skills: Climbing 2, Intimidation 2, Perception 3, Running 3, 
  Tracking 3, Unarmed Combat 5
  Powers: Enhanced Senses (Smell), Natural Weapon (Claws/Bite: 
  DV 6P, AP 0)
  Augmentations: (all alpha grade) Stirrup Interface 2, 
  TRACES, Adrenal Pump 2, Damage Compensators 10, 
  platelet factories
  Cost: 290,000¥ (+15,000¥ for combat gear)
  YNT Ikadai
  T e Ikadai is a combat patrol biodrone, built from domestic 
  giant squids nearly 14 meters in overall length. Due to the 
  limitations of wireless communication underwater, the biodrone 
  cannot be controlled remotely, and instead is guided by an 
  on-board agent (which is ref ected in the stats below). T e waters 
  around Evo’s Sadka colony is said to be teeming with Ikadai 
  biodrones, although no hard evidence has yet been of ered, and 
  Evo isn’t talking.
  not a magically active animal. Used to work behind enemy lines, 
  the Esiban can manipulate machines, locks, doors, and other 
  enclosures, and it can be sent into hostile territory with equipment 
  to be used by a remote biodrone rigger.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W EDG Ess Init IP
   2 
  4 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  5 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  6 
  8 
  1
  Movement: 3/20
  Skills: Dodge 4, Infiltration 4, Locksmith 2, Perception 4, 
  Unarmed Combat 2
  Powers: Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Smell)
  Augmentations: Commlink (Device Rating 8), Stirrup Interface 1
  Cost: 97,000¥
  Makwa Miskozi
  This deadly combat platform is found in most North 
  American Nations. Based on a grizzly bear, the Makwa Miskozi is 
  a deadly f ghter in close combat. It is even deadlier when deployed 
  with its custom set of red armor and claw sheaths, which makes 
  its natural weapon Damage Value 7P, AP -1, and gives it Ballistic/
  Impact Armor 10/10, at an additional cost of 15,000¥.
  Drones
  Handling
  Accel
  Speed
  Pilot
  Body
  Armor
  Sensor
  Avail
  Cost
  Ares Coyote
  +2
  10/35
  45
  3
  3
  10
  4
  28F
  4,500¥
  Lockheed Arachne
  +4
  2/5
  5
  4
  2
  6
  4
  26F
  1,900¥
  Mitsuhama Chinpira
  +1/+3
  5/15
  25
  5
  4
  14
  4
  30F
  630,000¥
  Wuxing Hussar
  +2
  10/35
  60/180
  4
  4
  18
  4
  32F
  7,500¥
  YNT Cuttleﬁ sh
  0
  5/15
  45
  5
  4
  16
  4
  27F
  8,600¥
  MILITARY BIODRONES IN OTHER SHADOWRUN BOOKS
  This is a list of biodrones found in other Shadowrun books that are used by military units. Biodrones are still rare on 
  the battleﬁ eld, but a belligerent faction will use every means at its disposal to defeat a foe, and biodrones can be useful 
  weapons to those who know how to deploy and use them to their greatest effect. Biodrones are also not yet universal; each 
  type of biodrone is usually found only with its manufacturer.
  Biodrone
  Role
  Deployed by
  Source
  Hive (Swarm)
  Chemical Warfare
  Alamos 20k, Aztechnology
  p. 30, Running Wild
  Hunter Seeker
  Security
  Algonquin-Manitou, Athabaskan, Sioux Nation p. 30, Running Wild
  Patroller
  Combat
  Mitsuhama, multiple nations
  p. 30, Running Wild
  Port Authority (Mischief)
  Sentry
  multiple corporations
  p. 31, Running Wild
  Razorhound
  Combat
  Mitsuhama, multiple nations
  p. 31, Running Wild
  ReCondor
  Recon
  multiple corporations
  p. 32, Running Wild
  Stalker
  Combat
  Algonquin-Manitou, Athabaskan, Pueblo, 
  Salish-Shidhe, Sioux Nation
  p. 32, Running Wild
  SkySpy
  Recon
  Mitsuhama, multiple nations
  p. 154, Augmentation
  Cybertooth Tiger
  Combat
  Shiawase, multiple nations
  p. 154, Augmentation
  
  168
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  tank, the Ocelot is deployed on six continents and is prized for its 
  agility and versatility. It was designed with the safety of the crew 
  in mind, with protective lining in the crew compartment and a 
  hatch in the back.
  Similar Models: AV Koshenya, Ruhrmetall KM Keller A5
  Standard Upgrades: Armor (smart), extra entry/exit point, 
  gyro link, multifuel engine, personal armor (Rating 4), rigger 
  adaptation, smoke projector, tracked vehicle, weapon mount 
  (heavy turret[front]), weapon mount (normal, turret[rear])
  Aztechnology Cuanmitztli Main Battle Tank: The 
  Cuanmitztli is the ultimate f ghting machine. T is main battle 
  tank boasts a main gun, commander’s turret, and two side gun 
  mounts. It is also resistant to missile attacks, thanks to its anti-
  missile system and state-of-the-art sensor suite. T is, combined 
  with dikote mesh plating, keeps its crew of f ve safe and deadly.
  Similar Models: Ruhrmetall Leopard IV, Saeder-Krupp Sigurd III
  Standard Upgrades: Armor (smart), 3 ammo bins (for standard 
  weapon mounts), improved sensor array, life support (Level 1), 
  missile defense system, rigger adaptation, tracked vehicle, weapon 
  mount (heavy turret [front]), weapon mount (normal, turret 
  [rear]), 2 weapon mounts (reinforced, f exible).
  CI-131 Mobile Headquarters: This large truck from 
  Central Industrial is dedicated to the most potent battlefield 
  weapon: communications. From this mobile command post, a 
  crew can carry out command and control functions for troops, 
  drones, and Matrix overwatch, all while maintaining the other 
  potent battlef eld weapon, mobility.
  Similar Models: Ruhrmetal Semaphore, YNT General
  Standard Upgrades: Chameleon coating, ECM, 6 gun ports, 
  improved sensor array, lock-on countermeasures, personal armor 
  (Rating 6), rigger adaptation, satellite communication, 2 weapon 
  mounts (normal, turret [front, rear])
  KM-3103 Kreutzritter Mobile Support Gun: Krupp 
  Munitions’ mobile artillery gun is the standard for delivering 
  support f re to a f exible front. Its onboard system comes equipped 
  with MRSI sof ware (p. 162), allowing it to perform time-on-
  target f re by itself; it goes without saying that the ef ect of an 
  entire platoon of these vehicles is devastating. T e Kreutzritter is 
  outf tted with a light machine gun and a laser anti-missile system 
  for defending against light assault or long-range attack, but it is 
  not suited to heavy combat. 
  Similar Models: CI-144 Long Tom, Terracotta Warrior 
  Standard Upgrades: Ammo box (howitzer), ECM 6, improved 
  sensor array, missile defense system (laser), rigger adaptation, 
  tracked vehicle, weapon mount (reinforced, fixed, howitzer 
  [front]), weapon mount (normal, f exible [rear])
  Mitsuhama Okami Infantry Fighting Vehicle: T is armored 
  personnel carrier brings infantry into combat and then supports 
  them directly. It is a very common sight in the Desert Wars; thirty 
  percent of the casualties in that exercise are due to engagements 
  involving the Okami. T e passenger compartment is separated 
  from the crew compartment by an armored hatch and seats up to 
  ten soldiers. T e passenger door is in the rear of the vehicle and is 
  recessed, of ering a modicum of cover to those disembarking.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C I L W EDG Ess Init IP Arm
   5(6) 3(7) 3(6) 8(12) 2 3 4 3 
  2 
  1.1 
  9 
  3 
  3/3
  Movement: 15/25 (swimming)
  Skills: Dodge 2, Escape Artist 3, Perception 3, Swimming 4, 
  Unarmed Combat 5
  Powers: Gills, Substance Extrusion (Ink), Natural Weapon 
  (Arms/Tentacles: Reach +3, DV 7P, AP 0)
  Augmentations: CAST, Muscle Augmentation 3, Muscle Toner 3, 
  Orthoskin 3, Suprathyroid Gland, Synaptic Booster 2, TRACES
  Cost: 400,000¥
  Aztechnology Jagwire
  T is biodrone is an augmented jaguar that is not intended for 
  direct combat; rather, it’s job is to strategically boost the Matrix 
  connectivity of Aztlan units in the wireless-signal-eating jungles 
  of Central America. T e Aztlan army has had great success using 
  Jagwires along the front with Amazonia east and north of Bogotá.
   B 
  A 
  R 
  S 
  C 
  I 
  L 
  W EDG Ess Init IP
   6 
  5 
  4 
  5 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  4 4.55 7 
  2
  Movement: 10/60
  Skills: Climbing 4, Dodge 2, Inf ltration 4, Perception 2, Tracking 
  3, Unarmed Combat 6
  Powers: Natural Weapon (Claws/Bite: DV 5P, AP 0)
  Augmentations: CAST, SEIES, commlink (Rating 6, Signal 8, 
  satellite uplink) 
  Cost: 90,000¥
  Cygoyle
  T e cygoyle is a Parashield experiment to combine biodrone 
  technology with Awakened creatures, in this case the gargoyle. 
  T e results have been surprisingly ef ective, if erratic. T e project 
  is not of  cially in deployment, but rumors of sightings have been 
  pouring into shadow Matrix sites and corporate watchdog groups.
   B A 
  R 
  S C I L W EDG Ess 
  M Init 
  IP
   10 4 5(6) 10 1 4 2 4 
  1 
  3.375 
  3 9(10) 2(3)
  Movement: 10/50 (f ight)
  Skills: Dodge 2, Inf ltration 4, Flight 3, Perception 3, Shadowing 
  4, Unarmed Combat 5
  Powers: Concealment (Self ), Enhanced Senses (Low-Light 
  Vision), Hardened Armor (6), Natural Weapon (Claws/Bite: DV 
  9P, AP –1), Noxious Breath
  Augmentations: (betaware) TRACES, Wired Ref exes 1
  Cost: 354,000¥
  MILITARY VEHICLES
  T e following military vehicles are the most common in the 
  2070s. T e list prices do not include weapons, which must be 
  purchased separately.
  Groundcraft 
  Ares Ocelot Assault Tank: T e Ocelot is one of the fastest 
  front-line armored f ghting vehicles in service. Technically a light 
  
  169
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  like it are a budget, “no-frills” heavy armored f ghting vehicles 
  marketed to smaller powers and private military contractors. It 
  has plenty of bang for the buck, and this tank has been responsible 
  for the destruction of tanks that cost ten times its market price. 
  Similar Models: Ares Scorpion, GMC Colloton
  Standard Upgrades: 2 gun ports, rigger adaptation, tracked 
  vehicle, weapon mount (heavy turret [front])
  Aircraft
  CI-89 Vicious Fighter-Bomber: Central Industrial’s 
  f rst foray into military aeronautics, the Vicious utilizes f exible 
  materials to create an aircraf  that is one single control surface. 
  T is technology requires a lot of computing power to keep the 
  aircraf  under control, but such a feat is trivial when your parent 
  company is NeoNET.
  Similar Models: Ares Merlin, MCT Suzume
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 8, ejection seat, lock-on 
  countermeasures, rigger adaptation, rigger cocoon (enhanced), 
  signature masking (Rating 4), 11 weapon mounts (reinforced, 
  f xed, remote)
  GMC Thunderhawk Ground Assault T-Bird: While the 
  Banshee was designed for recon, the new T underhawk is GMC’s 
  close-ground-support craft. This heavily armed aircraft has seen 
  combat in eleven different engagement and has exceeded every 
  expectation, bringing praise from air commanders and infantry alike.
  Similar Models: MCT Harrier VII, Renraku Jigoku
  Similar Models: Ares APC-52, Ruhrmetall Wolf III
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 3, 6 gun ports, gyro link, personal 
  armor (Rating 4), rigger adaptation, signature masking (Rating 
  2), smoke projector, tracked vehicle, weapon mount (heavy turret 
  [front]), 3 weapon mounts (normal, f exible [lef , right, rear]).
  Shiawase Hephaestus A-2 Fast Attack Vehicle: The 
  Hephaestus is a descendant of the army jeep of World War II, 
  fulf lling multiple roles. T e A-2 variant is a light assault vehicle 
  that excels in supporting infantry assaults and f anking maneuvers. 
  It is the heaviest of the Hephaestus variants; others include the 
  A-1 multi-purpose vehicle (Speed 140, Armor 8) and the A-7 
  ambulance (Speed 130, Armor 10).
  Similar Models: Ares MWV, Shiawase Kogeki
  Standard Upgrades: Ammo bins, gyro link, rigger adaptation, 
  Valkyrie module (A-7 only), weapon mount (reinforced turret, 
  A-2 only [front]), weapon mount (normal turret, A-1 only [front])
  Wuxing Ferret Heavy Mortar Carrier: T e Ferret is a light 
  mobile-support platform. It is deployed alongside armor and 
  mechanized infantry alike.
  Similar Models: BAe Agincourt, Yamatetsu Sisyphus
  Standard Upgrades: Ammo box (heavy mortar), ECM 4, rigger 
  adaptation, weapon mount (heavy turret, heavy mortar [front]), 
  weapon
  YNT Pushka Okne Tank: The Pushka Okne and tanks 
  
  170
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  an ef ective deterrent even on the move. Some crew members have 
  complained about the Vogelhund’s high center of mass or lack of 
  maneuverability in sof  terrain, but most units would rather have 
  them on their side than not.
  Similar Models: CI-118 Firecracker, Shiawase Brummel
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 6, gyro link, improved sensor array, 
  missile defense system, rigger adaptation, signature masking 
  (Rating 4), weapon mount (heavy turret), 2 weapon mounts 
  (reinforced, f xed, vertical)
  Walker Aerial Refueling Plane: With a refueling 
  plane on station in the air, an air mission can be extended 
  to anywhere on the face of the Earth. The WARP is one of 
  the best in the air, capable of both refueling and re-arming 
  an airborne client. The boom that extends from the back of 
  the refueling plane comes equipped with ten small armatures 
  equipped with gecko tips that crawl along the client aircraft to 
  the appropriate receptacles to deliver fuel and munitions. This 
  process takes about ten minutes for refueling or re-arming, and 
  about thirty minutes for both.
  Similar Models: Hawker-Siddeley Skytanker, MCT Pelican
  Standard Upgrades: Rigger adaptation, special machinery 
  (refueling and rearming)
  Yamatetsu Tenshi Assault Personnel Carrier: T e Tenshi 
  is a helicopter designed with both turboshaft and turbojet 
  engines, giving it extra speed despite its bulk. T e eight self-
  contained personnel carriers along either side of its length give 
  it the popular nickname “Egg Carton.” Its mission is to pick up 
  and deploy troops in rapidly shif ing war zones, which it can 
  accomplish in any terrain.
  Similar Models: Aztechnology Kukulkan, MCT Iguru
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 4, lock-on countermeasures, 
  rigger adaptation, rigger cocoon, 8 self-contained personnel 
  compartments (w/ auto-rappel), signature masking (Rating 3), 
  smoke projector, weapon mount (reinforced, turret)
  YNT Kanyuk Interceptor: T e deadliest thing in the sky, 
  the Kanyuk is an eighth-generation f ghter jet. Its high speed 
  and maneuverability combine with its low all-aspect signature 
  to create the world’s leading air-superiority craf . It excels in its 
  primary role in air-to-air combat, but it is quite capable of locking 
  on and destroying targets on the ground if necessary.
  Similar Models: Hawker-Siddeley Feathered Viper, S-K 
  Dunkelzahn
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 5, ejection seats, improved take-
  off and landing (Level 1), life support (Level 1), lock-on 
  countermeasures, rigger adaptation, rigger cocoon, signature 
  masking (Rating 5), 8 weapon mounts (reinforced, f xed, remote) 
  Watercraft
  Esprit Foque Amphibious Assault Craf : T is hovercraf  
  uses small jet turbines for motive force and steering, making it far 
  more maneuverable than its armored bulk would suggest. With a 
  crew of three, its armored personnel compartment carries up to 
  eight troops, each in his own self-contained personnel compartment 
  (p. 175), four along each side, mounted behind the crew cab.
  Similar Models: Aztechnology Caecilian, YNT BMP-9
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 7, ejection seats, improved take-
  off and landing (Level 2), lock-on countermeasures, rigger 
  adaptation, rigger cocoon (enhanced), signature masking (Rating 
  5), 6 weapon mounts (reinforced, f xed, remote), 1 weapon mount 
  (turret, remote)
  Hawker-Siddeley Brennus Transport Aircraf : In keeping 
  with most current military cargo planes, the Brennus is capable 
  of landing on just about any surface wider than its wingspan, 
  land or sea. This makes it an invaluable tool for keeping the 
  all-important supply chain running smoothly. It can also adapt 
  to dif erent missions with a half-hour’s worth of work and some 
  on-board hardware. Depending on its conf guration, it is capable 
  of hauling eight metric tons of cargo, or one hundred passengers, 
  or seventy-two paratroopers, or a fully-staf ed f eld hospital with 
  eighty beds, or twenty-four KM-33 Jetwings and pilots, or four 
  fast-attack vehicles, or two heavier vehicles.
  Similar Models: Horizon Skybarge, MCT Albatross
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 4, f otation, interior cameras, life 
  support (Level 2), lock-on countermeasures, personal armor 
  (Rating 6), rigger adaptation
  Izom Fantôme Attack Helicopter: Close air support is 
  vital to any ground operation, and the Fantôme is on the front 
  line of any engagement. Its narrow silhouette and backswept 
  stub wings make this gunship terrifying to behold and even less 
  comfortable to face.
  Similar Models: Eurocopter Panther, Messerschmitt-Kawasaki 
  Habicht 
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 5, gyro link, lock-on countermeasures, 
  rigger adaptation, rigger cocoon (enhanced), signature masking 
  (Rating 6), weapon mount (reinforced, turret, remote), 6 weapon 
  mounts (reinforced, f xed, remote)
  KM-33 Jetwing: T e Jetwing is a single-person jet aircraf  
  used for rapid assault and occasionally close-air support. It has 
  a delta wing form with a wingspan of 2.8 meters. T e pilot is 
  attached by a harness to the underside of the craf , making the 
  Jetwing technically a jet pack. Due to this configuration, the 
  Jetwing cannot take of  or land without landing on the pilot. She 
  must drop of  of the aircraf  before it can land (pilots usually wear 
  parachutes or wingsuits, and the Jetwing’s design accommodates 
  this); once the pilot has separated, the Jetwing can cover her 
  landing as a drone, execute a separate mission, return to base, or 
  land. Taking of  can be accomplished by jumping from an aircraf  
  or some high place, such as a clif  or skyscraper, with at least 300 
  meters of clearance to the ground.
  T e Jetwing can carry any single pilot with a Body rating less 
  than its own Body rating; there is a troll-sized version with Body 
  10 that costs an additional 300,000¥.
  Similar Models: Ares Windsplitter, Arianespace Angelique
  Standard Upgrades: ECM 3, removed manual controls, rigger 
  adaptation, signature masking (Rating 4), 2 weapon mounts 
  (normal, f xed)
  Ruhrmetall Vogelhund Air Defense Vehicle: This 
  surprisingly fast six-wheeled truck acts as mobile anti-air support. 
  Its advanced sensors and AirLock guidance system allows it to be 
  
  171
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Attacks may also be made against individual characters or 
  equipment on the ship. Use the standard rules for attacks against 
  these targets if the attacker chooses to f re for targets on the vessel 
  instead of the vessel itself.
  Hull Breaches and Sinking
  A naval vessel with a breached hull will sink if that breach 
  is at or near the water line. T e amount of time it takes to sink is 
  based on the percentage of the hull that has been destroyed, given 
  in the Sinking Naval Vessels table. Calculate this percentage by 
  f nding the total width of the holes in the hull and express it as 
  a percentage of the total length of the ship (the shape of the hull 
  and the fact that it has two sides is already factored into the table).
  Once you know the percentage of the length of the ship 
  that has been breached, the gamemaster f nds the time the vessel 
  has before sinking completely by making the roll listed on the 
  table. If a time has been set and further hull damage brings the 
  percentage into a higher category, or repairs bring the vessel to 
  a lower category, reroll the sinking time. T e time it has already 
  spent sinking will count against it, so that if the new roll indicates 
  an amount of time smaller than the time the ship has already spent 
  sinking, it immediately capsizes and sinks. Repairs completed in a 
  timely manner will prevent the ship from sinking.
  Repairing Hull Damage
  There are two kinds of hull repairs: the quick and dirty 
  variety to keep a ship from sinking, and full, permanent repair. 
  Standard Upgrades: Chameleon coating, hovercraft, rigger 
  adaptation, eight self-contained personnel compartments, smoke 
  projector, weapon mount (heavy turret [front]), weapon mount 
  (reinforced turret [rear])
  NAVAL VESSELS
  In an age of relatively cheap air power where cargo vessels can 
  carry their own aerial drones for defense, large navies have a smaller 
  and smaller role in global military strategies. Still, many militaries 
  f nd a mobile f oating base of operations far too useful to give up on 
  naval power altogether. Most major nations still have one or more 
  naval carrier groups centered on an aircraf  carrier, with cargo ships, 
  corvettes, and destroyers making up the bulk of the group.
  Naval Vessel Combat
  Most naval vessels are far too large for the standard vehicle 
  combat rules to be useful. Instead treat each naval vessel as you 
  would a building or other structure, just one that f oats. Rather 
  than Body Rating, naval vessels have a Structure Rating. Attacks 
  against naval vessels use the rules for shooting through or 
  destroying barriers (p. 166, SR4A). Assume that the thickness of 
  a naval vessel’s hull is 20 cm, and its bulkheads (walls) and decks 
  are 10cm thick. Unless the attacker specif es otherwise, assume 
  all attacks against a naval vessel are made with the intent of doing 
  damage at or near the waterline. Damage caused at or near the 
  waterline carries with it the risk (or reward, as the case may be) of 
  sinking the target vessel.
  
  172
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, 6 large landing drone 
  racks, Life Support 2, lock-on countermeasures, rigger 
  adaptation, satellite communication (surface use only), 4 
  large torpedo launchers, 14 standard vertical launch systems, 
  workshop (nautical)
  Central Industries Tortuga-Class Cruiser: T e Tortuga 
  line of cruisers features all-purpose warships. T ey are designed 
  to cover a number of duties, including patrol, escort, blockade, 
  and anti-submarine warfare. Tortuga-class cruisers are most of en 
  seen escorting vessels carrying sensitive cargo and defending ports 
  from (or for) pirates.
  Similar Models: KM Panzerschif -Class, RWE Chaoyong-Class
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, 2 large landing drone racks, 
  ECM 6, extra-large sensor array, missile defense system, rigger 
  adaptation, satellite communication, 10 heavy turrets, 8 standard 
  Unless all of the damage to a ship was done in a single location, 
  multiple engineers can work on the ship individually, rather than 
  as a team; if the damage is in one location, use the teamwork rules 
  (p. 65, SR4A).
  Quick and dirty repairs can be accomplished if the ship has 
  a Nautical Mechanic shop on board (most vessels have them as 
  a standard option). T e test for such a repair job is an Extended 
  Nautical Mechanic (20, Complex Action) Test for each meter 
  of length repaired in combat. Outside of combat conditions, 
  make an Extended Nautical Mechanic test with an interval of 
  one minute and the number of hits each interval indicating the 
  number of meters repaired. A quick repair will prevent the ship 
  from sinking, but it will reduce the ship’s Structure and Armor 
  ratings by the same percentage it repairs (to a minimum of 6 for 
  each rating). 
  Full repair requires a Nautical facility. It is an Extended 
  Nautical Mechanic test with a threshold equal to the number of 
  meters to be repaired and an interval of six hours.
  Naval Vessels
  T e following are examples of naval vessels in the Sixth World.
  Ares Abdullah-Class Submarine: The Abdullah-class 
  submarine from Ares is the world standard in modern submarine 
  warfare. Its complement of 121 personnel turns this nuclear-
  powered sub into a weapon lethal to shipping lanes and blockades. 
  In addition to its array of missiles and weapons, the Abdullah has 
  space for both aerial and underwater drones, along with an airlock 
  for special forces insertions.
  Similar Models: Aztechnology Atlacamani-Class, RDB 
  Shchuka-Class
  Military Vehicles
  Handling
  Accel
  Speed
  Pilot
  Body
  Armor
  Sensor
  Avail
  Cost
  Ares Ocelot
  +3
  10/20
  80
  2
  18
  19
  4
  33F
  1,000,000¥
  Aztechnology Cuanmitztli
  +3
  5/10
  50
  3
  36
  30
  4
  37F
  1,400,000¥
  CI-131 Mobile Headquarters
  -2
  15/25
  90
  5
  24
  17
  4
  26R
  760,000¥
  KM-3103 Kreutzritter
  +1
  5/10
  50
  2
  18
  14
  4
  30F
  1,900,000¥
  Mitsuhama Okami
  0
  10/20
  60
  2
  16
  22
  3
  27F
  1,550,000¥
  Shiawase Hephaestus A-2
  0
  15/30
  100
  3
  15
  16
  3
  28F
  140,000¥
  Wuxing Ferret
  +2
  5/15
  60
  2
  20
  16
  4
  32F
  1,500,000¥
  YNT Pushka Okne
  +1
  5/10
  40
  1
  20
  22
  2
  24F
  125,000¥
  CI-89 Vicious
  +5
  70/350
  1,500
  3
  17
  15
  5
  36F
  1,360,000¥
  GMC Thunderhawk
  +1
  50/240
  1,000
  3
  21
  20
  4
  28F
  2,950,000¥
  Hawker-Siddeley Brennus
  -2
  30/120
  650
  2
  36
  14
  2
  18R
  1,600,000¥
  Izom Fantôme
  +3
  10/30
  260
  3
  17
  20
  4
  32F
  2,100,000¥
  KM-33 Jetwing
  +3
  40/90
  450
  3
  8
  12
  2
  22F
  950,000¥
  Ruhrmetall Vogelhund
  -1
  20/40
  120
  3
  14
  10
  4
  26F
  135,000¥
  Walker Aerial Refueling Plane
  -2
  50/100
  800
  3
  30
  10
  3
  28R
  10,000,000¥
  Yamatetsu Tenshi
  +1
  10/50
  320
  3
  20
  18
  3
  36F
  800,000¥
  YNT Kanyuk
  +4
  90/500
  1,700
  2
  16
  14
  5
  38F
  3,000,000¥
  Esprit Foque
  +1
  10/20
  100
  2
  16
  20
  3
  21F
  340,000¥
  SINKING NAVAL VESSELS
  Percentage of Length Breached
  Time to Sink
  1 percent to 10 percent
  2D6 x 12 hours
  11 percent to 25 percent
  2D6 hours
  26 percent to 50 percent
  2D6 minutes
  51 percent to 75 percent
  2D6 Combat Turns
  more than 75 percent
  2D6 seconds
  
  173
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Similar Models: Aztechnology Meztli, Krupp Wasserträger
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, Life Support 2, rigger 
  adaptation, satellite communication (surface use only), special 
  machinery (retractable cargo crane), workshop (nautical)
  Shiawase Hikigaeru-Class Amphibious Assault Carrier: 
  This large cruiser’s primary mission is to deliver troops and 
  materiel to landing zones and to support ground-based operations 
  ashore. T e Hikigaeru-class carrier can carry up to forty vehicles 
  roughly the size of an attack helicopter, usually a mix of VTOL 
  aircraf , landing craf , and t-birds. T ese vehicles can launch from 
  its f ight deck (four at a time for VTOL, one at a time for short 
  takeof  aircraf ), or from its af  well deck, which can drop below 
  the waterline. T e Hikigaeru-class’s f ight deck is too short to 
  allow for landing aircraf  that are not drones or VTOL-capable.
  Similar Models: Ares Perseus-Class, YNT Hosho-Class
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, ECM 6, extra-large sensor array, 
  missile defense system, rigger adaptation, satellite communication, 8 
  heavy turrets, workshop (aeronautics and nautical)
  YNT Shibanokuji-Class Aircraf  Carrier: T is massive ship 
  dwarfs even the largest cargo vessel. T is f oating city has a ship’s 
  complement of over four thousand and can carry, service, launch, 
  and recover eighty aircraf . While the ship’s aircraf  catapults can 
  launch any aircraf  from its f ight deck, only aircraf  with VTOL 
  capabilities or an arresting hook (or “tailhook”) can land on it. 
  Yamatetsu Naval Technologies has sold its f agship to over a dozen 
  nations, nearly every megacorp, and a few private contractors.
  Similar Models: Ares Camelot-Class, KM Europa-Class 
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, ECM 6, extra-large 
  sensor array, missile defense system, rigger adaptation, satellite 
  communication, special equipment (2 launch catapults, 3 aircraf  
  elevators, arresting gear), 12 heavy turrets, 4 automatic vertical 
  launch systems, 6 large torpedo launchers, workshop (aeronautics 
  and nautical)
  VEHICLE WEAPONS
  T ese weapons add to the list of heavy weapons on p. 123, 
  Arsenal. Vehicle weapons may only be mounted on vehicles with 
  Body 14 or higher.
  Main Guns
  Esprit RMM-6: T e RMM-6 is a large magazine that holds 
  six missiles (p. 325, SR4A). T e missiles can be f red individually, 
  or in groups of three, or in a full barrage, either at separate targets 
  (designated either by dif erent gunners or by a single gunner who 
  splits his pool) or all at the same target (using a single Gunnery 
  Test). T e RMM-6 requires f ve minutes to reload and can be 
  mounted on a turret or installed for vertical launch.
  Fleche Armaments XM-407: T is grenade launcher f res 
  mini-grenades using assault cannon ranges. It is excels in the role 
  of personnel suppression and does well in destroying rotorcraf  
  and light ground vehicles.
  Heavy Mortar: The term “heavy mortar” encompasses 
  large mortar weapons, small artillery guns, and light howitzers. 
  For all intents and purposes, the heavy mortar is a larger version 
  of the mortar launcher (p. 31, Arsenal), and fires the same 
  types of shells, but with dif erent ratings listed on the Heavy 
  Mortar Rounds table. A heavy mortar can only be f red once per 
  Combat Turn.
  vertical launch systems, 6 large torpedo launchers, workshop 
  (nautical)
  Harland & Wolf  Blackjack-Class Destroyer: Fast and 
  deadly, ships of the Blackjack class account for the majority of 
  watercraf  involved in maritime engagements in the last ten years. 
  T e main structure of the ship is heavily armed and armored, 
  and its triple-hull design allows it to use lightweight materials 
  for extra speed.
  Similar Models: Ares Knightsblood-Class, Shiawase 
  Isokaze-Class
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, ECM 6, extra-large 
  sensor array, missile defense system, rigger adaptation, satellite 
  communication, 8 heavy turrets, 2 large torpedo launchers, 
  workshop (nautical)
  KM Jagdpferd-Class Missile Boat: Krupp Munitions’ most 
  popular entry into the naval military market is this small, agile 
  missile boat. Its low silhouette above the waterline belies the 
  strategic power it packs with its array of vertically launched cruise 
  missiles. It was the intervention of the MET2000 ship Wilhelm 
  Tell, a Jagdpferd-class missile boat, that ended the plans of Sichuan 
  warlord Dong Yu Erik and his army.
  Similar Models: CI Haig-Class, YNT Nasu-Class
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, ECM 6, extra-large 
  sensor array, missile defense system, rigger adaptation, satellite 
  communication, 2 heavy turrets, 20 standard vertical launch 
  systems, 6 automated vertical launch systems, workshop 
  (nautical)
  Kvaerner-Maersk Haukhekker-Class Drone Carrier: 
  T is ship looks like a short, narrow aircraf  carrier. Its crew of 378 
  sailors can launch, control, and recover its standard complement 
  of 40 large drones, 50 medium drones, and two rotorcraf . Its 
  flight deck is large enough to accommodate landing drones 
  without a net or arresting gear.
  Similar Models: H-W Manticore-Class, KM Glucke-Class
  Standard Upgrades: Amenities (Middle), ECM 4, extra-large 
  sensor array, missile defense system, rigger adaptation, satellite 
  communication, 6 heavy turrets, workshop (aeronautics and 
  nautical)
  MosTrans Colombo-Class Cargo Ship: T is cargo vessel 
  is the largest of its type in the world. Capable of hauling 120,000 
  metric tons from any port to any port, the Colombo-class ship is 
  a common sight along modern shipping lanes. Its three-story tall 
  hybrid engine is augmented at sea with a giant parasail the size 
  of an athletic stadium, which saves fuel and increases the ship’s 
  already extraordinary range.
  Similar Models: Aztechnology Camello-Class, H&W 
  Spirit-Class
  Standard Upgrades: Ballast Tanks 2, extra-large sensor array, 
  rigger adaptation, satellite communication, special machinery (2 
  cargo cranes), workshop (nautical)
  Red Wheel Engineering Shayu-Class Cargo Submarine: 
  T e Shayu-class cargo submarine was used exclusively by Wuxing 
  and its subsidiaries until early last year. With piracy on the rise and 
  current military clashes spilling into shipping lanes, the ability to 
  move cargo quietly is in high demand. T is large submarine can 
  dive to depths of nearly 500 meters, far from the reach of threats 
  on the surface. Since its release, the Shayu-class cargo sub has 
  garnered many fans, and more than one imitator.
  
  174
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Aztechnology Sextillo: T is cruise missile is loaded with six 
  independently targetable vehicle launch weapons (p. 124, Arsenal). 
  T e cruise missile’s pilot has specially designed sub-systems that 
  f re all six missiles simultaneously, either at the same target or 
  dif erent targets, at no penalty using its Targeting sof ware. Each 
  of the missiles to be loaded into the Sextillo must be selected and 
  purchased separately. T e Sextillo has a range of 25,000 km.
  Lockheed Bullpup: T e Bullpup delivers a series of timed 
  cluster munitions that feature a mix of high explosive, fragmentary, 
  and shaped-charge bomblets to its target. The effect of this 
  payload is a suppressive zone that lasts the rest of the Combat 
  Turn in which it hits and two full subsequent Combat Turns. T e 
  Bullpup has a range of 27,000 km.
  McDonnell-Douglas Mambele: T e Mambele, referred 
  to more technically as the BGM-421, is the standard for cruise 
  missile technologies around the globe. It is a versatile, all-weather 
  missile capable of delivering its payload to targets within 35,000 
  km of its launch site.
  Mitsubishi-GM Renegade: While the SALT treaties and 
  the Nairobi Accords forbid the use of nuclear weapons, most 
  megacorporations and governments like to hedge their bets. 
  T e Mitsubishi-GM Renegade is a cruise missile with a range of 
  32,000 km. Its warhead contains a selective nuclear device capable 
  of delivering a blast that devastates an area of between one and 
  four kilometers in radium (see Nuclear Weapons, p. 159).
  VEHICLE WEAPON AMMUNITION
  Heavy Mortar and Howitzer Rounds
  Heavy mortars and howitzers f re rounds that are identical to 
  regular mortar rounds, only larger and more powerful, as shown 
  on the Heavy Mortar Rounds table and the Howitzer Rounds 
  table. T e types of available mortar rounds and howitzer rounds 
  can be found on p. 37, Arsenal, and p. 158 in this book.
  Howitzer: A howitzer is an artillery cannon that fires 
  shells even farther than the heavy mortar. With the exception 
  of air power and certain missiles, it has the longest reach of any 
  conventional weapon deployed on the battlef elds of 2072. It can 
  only be mounted as a main gun on a vehicle, as part of a structure 
  or naval vessel, or on a dedicated (and large) trailer. Like the 
  heavy mortar, it f res shells similar to a mortar launcher, with the 
  dif erences listed on the Howitzer Rounds table. A howitzer can 
  only be f red once per Combat Turn.
  The heavy mortar is breech-loaded, fed by an automatic 
  mechanism from a magazine stored in the vehicle (less commonly, 
  the heavy mortar can be loaded by hand, which is a Complex Action).
  Cruise Missiles
  A cruise missile is a large missile capable of traveling 
  thousands of kilometers semi-autonomously to a target, 
  delivering a very large warhead. It requires a vertical launch 
  system (p. 177) to be deployed, which uses Exotic Ranged 
  Weapons (Cruise Missile) + Logic. Once launched, a cruise 
  missile is for all intents and purposes a drone that f ies to its 
  target (the Cruise Missile Drone table has the appropriate drone 
  ratings). When it reaches its destination, it can “f re” itself at the 
  target or be “f red” by a remote controller or a rigger jumped-
  into missile. Cruise missiles can use their own sensors for active 
  sensor targeting (p. 171, SR4A) or information-guided indirect 
  fire (p. 162, Arsenal). They can also make use of designator-
  guided indirect f re (p. 162, Arsenal).
  All cruise missiles are equipped with Clearsight 4 and 
  Targeting (Cruise Missile) 4.
  Ares Penetrator: T e warhead of this cruise missile contains 
  a shaped charge, a penetrating round, and a large amount of high-
  explosive material. It is intended to breach the armor of heavy 
  installations, fortif cations, and naval vessels. It has a range of 
  28,000 km.
  Naval Vessels
  Length (m)
  Accel
  Speed
  Pilot
  Structure
  Armor
  Sensor
  Avail
  Cost
  Ares Abdullah
  160
  2/5
  50
  4
  17
  18
  5
  46F
  200,000,000¥
  CI Tortuga
  170
  2/5
  50
  3
  16
  22
  6
  28F
  100,000,000¥
  H-W Blackjack
  120
  2/5
  60
  4
  16
  20
  6
  21F
  110,000,000¥
  KM Jagdpferd
  60
  5/10
  75
  3
  15
  17
  6
  32F
  100,500,000¥
  K-M Haukhekker
  165
  2/5
  40
  4
  16
  18
  6
  24F
  75,000,000¥
  MosTrans Colombo
  290
  1/2
  35
  2
  14
  10
  6
  14
  5,500,000¥
  RWE Shayu
  175
  2/5
  40
  2
  15
  12
  6
  18
  8,500,000¥
  Shiawase Hikigaeru
  250
  1/2
  40
  3
  15
  16
  6
  27F
  82,500,000¥
  YNT Shibanokuji
  330
  1/2
  45
  3
  18
  20
  6
  54F
  800,000,000¥
  Vehicle Weapons
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  Esprit RMM-6
  as missile
  as missile
  SS/BF*/FA
  6
  34F
  21,000¥
  FA XM-407
  grenade
  grenade
  SA/FA
  100
  24F
  9,000¥
  Heavy Mortar
  as round
  as round
  SS**
  40
  28F
  18,000¥
  Howitzer
  as round
  as round
  SS**
  30
  32F
  30,000¥
  *Can only be ﬁ red once per Action Phase     **Can only be ﬁ red once per Combat Turn
  
  175
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  percent to 10 percent, and the system entirely mitigates the threat 
  of sinking when the damage is 10 percent or less.
  Mine Plough (Standard, Groundcraft only): This 
  defensive upgrade looks like giant claws mounted to the front of 
  the vehicle. When the vehicle moves forward, the blades of the 
  plough dig up the earth around the mines, theoretically turning it 
  on its side or upside-down, rendering it harmless. For each mine 
  in the path of an active mine plough, roll 1D6: on a 1 the plough 
  misses the mine, on a 2-6 the mine is turned and will not detonate 
  as intended.
  Mine Roller (Standard, Groundcraf  only): T is anti-mine 
  device is a large “rolling pin” that is pushed ahead of a vehicle to 
  trigger any mines in its path. T e mine roller is a barrier with 
  Structure Rating 16 and Armor Rating 24. The mine roller 
  becomes useless af er it has taken four square meters worth of 
  “holes” (see Destroying Barriers, p. 166, SR4A).
  Redundant Process Manufacturing (All): Redundant 
  process manufacturing is an industrial technique where the 
  vehicle’s components are exposed to more refining, toxic 
  chemicals, and soulless mechanized fabrication processes than 
  necessary. T is practice is less ef  cient, but it scrubs any hint of the 
  components’ connection to its natural state and, more practically, 
  the manasphere. As a result, this upgrade increases the vehicle’s 
  Object Resistance threshold (p. 183, SR4A) by its rating.
  Self-Contained Personnel Compartment (Standard): 
  “T e Box,” as it is called by soldiers forced to spend time in one, 
  is an armored modular container roughly cube-shaped, a bit less 
  than two meters on a side, attached to the exterior of the vehicle. 
  T e compartment has a large door that can spring open in under 
  a second to disgorge the soldier inside. It is used to transport a 
  VEHICLE UPGRADES
  Bridge Layer (Standard, Groundcraf  only): T is heavy 
  equipment includes a folding bridge made of rigid ceramic 
  structural elements with memory steel. T e bridge is 10 meters 
  long by 5 meters wide by 4 meters high when folded, and unfolds 
  into a 10-meter by 80-meter bridge. T e equipment that mounts 
  on the vehicle can deploy the bridge in 1 minute (20 Combat 
  Turns), and retrieve it in 5 minutes.
  Brush Cutter (Standard, Groundcraf  only): A brush 
  cutter is a large piece of equipment mounted in the front of a 
  vehicle, shaped like a giant powered hedge clipper, but really a 
  series of V-shaped vibroblades. When activated, it cuts through 
  heavy vegetation, brush, and even small trees. T e vehicle can 
  move at a speed of 15 kph through dense brush and light forest 
  when using a brush cutter, and leaves a swath for other vehicles 
  to follow. When a vehicle with an active brush cutter rams a 
  target that is not another vehicle, drone, or barrier, increase the 
  Damage Value of the ram (p. 166, SR4A) by +9. If the brush 
  cutter is involved in a ram at a total speed greater than 30, it is 
  destroyed.
  T e laser version of this upgrade uses a short-focused laser 
  instead of blades. It allows movement at a speed of 25 kph through 
  dense brush and light forest. In every other way, it is identical to 
  the standard brush cutter.
  Emergency Pumping System (Standard, naval vessels 
  only): T is system engages when a ship starts taking on water. 
  When it does, treat the hull damage to the ship as if it was one 
  step less on the Sinking Naval Vessels table (p. 172); for example, 
  11 percent to 25 percent damage is treated as though it was only 1 
  VEHICLE WEAPON RANGES
  Ranges (in Meters)
  Short (–0)
  Medium (–1)
  Long (–3)
  Extreme (–6)
  Heavy Mortar
  250-600
  601-1,000
  1,001-8,000
  8,001-12,000
  Howitzer
  0-1,500
  1,501-8,500
  8,501-18,000
  18,001-30,000
  VEHICLE WEAPON SCATTER
  Weapon
  Scatter
  Cruise Missile
  3D6 x 10 meters – 15 per net hit
  Heavy Mortar
  3D6 x 5 meters – 4 per net hit
  Howitzer
  4D6 x 10 meters – 8 per net hit
  CRUISE MISSILE DRONE
  Cruise Missile
  Handling
  Accel
  Speed
  Pilot
  Body
  Armor
  Sensor
  All cruise missiles
  +5
  100/400
  750
  4
  8
  8
  6
  Cruise Missiles
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Ares Penetrator
  64P
  –20
  –5/m
  48F
  2,100,000¥
  Aztechnology Sextillo
  missile
  missile
  missile
  40F
  650,000¥
  Lockheed Bullpup
  24P
  —
  60m radius
  42F
  980,000¥
  McDonnell-Douglas Mambele
  32P
  –4
  –2/m
  41F
  1,000,000¥
  Mitsubishi-GM Renegade
  special
  special
  special
  98F
  8,750,000¥
  
  176
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  Heavy Mortar Rounds
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  26P/30P*
  -4
  –1/m
  29F
  450¥
  Anti-Tank
  36P
  —/–10**
  –8/m
  29F
  400¥
  Anti-Vehicle
  23P
  –2/–6***
  –4/m
  23F
  450¥
  Cluster
  17P
  —
  20m radius
  17F
  280¥
  Drone
  small drone
  —
  —
  11F
  175¥
  ECM (Rating 1-10)
  —
  —
  per jammer
  14F
  Rating x 100¥
  Fragmentation
  26P(f)
  +5
  –1/m
  22F
  220¥
  Gas/Splash
  chemical
  —
  20m radius
  8F + chemical
  120¥ + chemical
  Guided
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +3
  +500¥
  High Explosive
  22P
  –2
  –2/m
  17F
  270¥
  Incendiary
  —
  —
  20m radius
  17F
  300¥
  Mine
  4 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  23F
  450¥
  Rocket Assist
  —
  —
  —
  +5
  +400¥
  Seeker
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +3
  +500¥
  Sensor
  —
  —
  —
  14F
  800¥
  Smoke
  —
  —
  20m radius
  11F
  175¥
  Solar
  —
  —
  50m radius
  11F
  225¥
  Thermal Smoke
  —
  —
  20m radius
  14F
  210¥
  White Phosphorus
  17P/8P
  –half
  –1/m
  29F
  700¥
  *Anti-aircraft rounds have DV 30P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 26P against others.
  **Anti-tank rounds have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets; it does not apply to targets in the round’s blast radius.
  ***Anti-vehicle rounds have –6 AP against vehicles, –2 AP against other targets.
  Howitzer Rounds
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  38P/42P*
  –5
  –1/m
  43F
  900¥
  Anti-Tank
  52P
  —/-10**
  –13/m
  43F
  800¥
  Anti-Vehicle
  33P
  –2/–6***
  –4/m
  34F
  900¥
  Cluster
  24P
  —
  30m radius
  25F
  550¥
  Drone
  medium drone
  —
  —
  16F
  350¥
  ECM (Rating 1-10)
  —
  —
  per jammer
  20F
  Rating x 150¥
  Fragmentation
  38P(f)
  +5
  –1/m
  32F
  450¥
  Gas/Splash
  chemical
  —
  30m radius
  11F + chemical
  250¥ + chemical
  Guided
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +4
  +750¥
  High Explosive
  32P
  –2
  –2/m
  25F
  550¥
  Incendiary
  —
  —
  30m radius
  25F
  600¥
  Mine
  10 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  34F
  1,000¥
  Rocket Assist
  —
  —
  —
  +6
  +800¥
  Seeker
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +4
  +750¥
  Sensor
  —
  —
  —
  20F
  1,600¥
  Smoke
  —
  —
  30m radius
  16F
  350¥
  Solar
  —
  —
  75m radius
  16F
  450¥
  Thermal Smoke
  —
  —
  30m radius
  20F
  425¥
  White Phosphorus
  24P/11P
  –half
  –1/m
  43F
  1,400¥
  *Anti-aircraft rounds have DV 42P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 38P against others.
  **Anti-tank rounds have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets.
  ***Anti-vehicle rounds have –6 AP against vehicles, –2 AP against other targets.
  
  177
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  spell formulae for military spells have twice the normal cost and 
  Availability for each category and have a forbidden (F) legality.
  Combat Spells
  Combat spell rules are on p. 203, SR4A.
  [Element] Grenade (Indirect, Elemental)
  Type: P • Range: Touch • Damage: P • Duration I • DV: (F ÷ 
  2) + 4
  T is spell is actually a number of spells, each with a specif ed 
  elemental ef ect: acid, cold, electricity, f re (p. 163, SR4A), blast, 
  ice, light, metal, sand, smoke, sound, or water (p. 164, Street 
  Magic). T e spell creates a tangible ball of energy about the size of 
  a ripe cantaloupe in the caster’s hands. T e spell then launches the 
  ball as a grenade launcher (using the same rules and ranges with 
  no minimum range), at which point it is af ected by mundane 
  physics, falling to the ground or bouncing of  of surfaces. T e ball 
  is harmless until it explodes with a radius of a normal area spell. 
  T e ball is a physical object, and would be af ected by anything 
  that af ects physical objects.
  T e energy ball scatters as a grenade launcher, 3D6 meters –2 
  meters per net hit on the Spellcasting Test. It explodes when the 
  caster takes a Simple Action to detonate it or the Combat Turn 
  ends, whichever comes f rst. Until it explodes, the spell must be 
  sustained by the caster. T e DV is equal to the spell’s Force plus 
  the net hits on the Spellcasting Test. T e rules for blasts against 
  barriers (p. 156, SR4A) apply to this spell’s ef ect.
  Detection Spells
  T e rules for detection spells can be found on p. 205, SR4A.
  Sending (Active, Area, Psychic)
  Type: M • Range: Touch • Duration S • DV: (F ÷ 2) + 1
  Broadcast (Active, Psychic, Extended Area)
  soldier into a battle zone and to deploy her quickly when the 
  vehicle to which it is attached arrives. T e Box can be ejected from 
  a damaged vehicle by means of explosive bolts.
  Treat the compartment as a separate but attached vehicle 
  with Body 7, Armor 9, and no Handling, Acceleration, Speed, 
  Pilot, or Sensor ratings, and a –3 signature modifier (p. 171, 
  SR4A). It comes equipped with the gun port and passenger 
  protection (Rating 4) vehicle upgrades. It can also take the 
  following vehicle upgrades (p. 131, Arsenal): Amenities, Ammo 
  Bins, Armor, Chameleon Coating, ECM, Interior Cameras, 
  Life Support, Metahuman Adjustment, Passenger Protection 
  (higher rating), Personal Armor, Ref ective Hull, Retrans Unit, 
  Redundant Process Manufacturing, Rigger Cocoon, Satellite 
  Communication, Signature Masking, Special Armor Mod, 
  Termination System, Valkyrie Module, Weapon Mount. It can 
  also take an auto-rappel system (p. 163).
  Vertical Launch System (Standard, naval vessels only): A 
  VLS is a launch system for cruise missiles. T ere are two types 
  of VLS: a standard VLS is loaded before firing using special 
  equipment, while an automated VLS has a magazine that can 
  hold up to f ve additional cruise missiles. A standard VLS can be 
  f red once, and then must be reloaded with a new cruise missile (a 
  process that takes about an hour to do safely). An automated VLS 
  can be f red once per minute (20 Combat Turns) and takes about 
  two hours to reload. 
  MILITARY GRIMOIRE
  MILITARY SPELLS
  Many of the spells found in SR4A or Street Magic can be 
  found in the grimoires and collections of military magicians, 
  but some spells have been developed for military use specif cally. 
  Military spells are available in most corporate or national military 
  academies. Since they have not yet been released to the public, the 
  Vehicle Upgrade
  Slots
  Threshold
  Tools
  Cost
  Avail.
  Special Skill
  Bridge Layer
  14
  26
  Facility
  90,000¥
  14R
  —
  Brush Cutter
  8
  18
  Shop
  11,000¥
  10R
  —
  Brush Cutter, Laser
  9
  20
  Shop
  23,000¥
  19F
  Industrial 
  Mechanic
  Emergency Pumping System
  —
  26
  Facility
  110,000¥
  8
  Nautical 
  Mechanic
  Mine Plough
  8
  16
  Shop
  7,000¥
  10R
  —
  Mine Roller
  10
  16
  Shop
  8,000¥
  9R
  —
  Redundant Process Manufacturing (Rating 1-2)
  2
  Body x 3
  Facility
  vehicle cost x rating
  14R
  Industrial 
  Mechanic
  Self-Contained Personnel Compartment
  3
  28
  Shop
  60,000¥
  12R
  —
  Vertical Launch System
   
  standard
  —
  40
  Facility
  $2,100,000
  48F
  Nautical 
  Mechanic
   
  automated
  —
  62
  Facility
  $15,300,000
  76F
  Nautical 
  Mechanic
  
  178
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  of effect who are looking in the direction of the spell’s effect 
  and are within twice the spell’s radius from center of the spell 
  (so a Flash spell with a six-meter radius would affect those in 
  the radius plus onlookers within twelve meters). The penalty 
  for those affected in this manner is half the penalty for those 
  inside the spell’s area of direct effect, though the duration is 
  the same. Flicker, the mana version of this spell, is not affected 
  by flare-compensation.
  Manipulation Spells
  T e rules for manipulation spells are on p. 210, SR4A.
  [Element] Cloud (Environmental, Area)
  Type: P • Range: LOS (A) • Duration S • DV: (F ÷ 2) + 5
  When this spell is cast, it creates a roiling sphere of energy 
  with a diameter equal to the spell’s Force, which remains for as 
  long as the spell is sustained. T e area af ected by this spell is a 
  suppressive f re zone (p. 154, SR4A), with a Damage Value equal 
  to the Force of the spell, plus the elemental ef ect.
  T is spell represents a number of dif erent spells, each with 
  a dif erent specif c elemental ef ect: either acid, cold, electricity, 
  f re (p. 163, SR4A), blast, ice, light, metal, sand, smoke, sound, or 
  water (p. 164, Street Magic).
  Recharge (Physical)
  Type: P • Range: Touch • Duration P • DV: (F ÷ 2) + 1
  T is spell recharges electronic devices. T e magician must 
  overcome the device’s Object Resistance rating with the hits from 
  her Spellcasting Test for this spell to work. If this threshold is met, 
  the device is fully charged when the spell has been sustained long 
  enough to become permanent.
  Slow (Physical)
  Type: P • Range: LOS (A) • Duration S • DV: (F ÷ 2) + 3
  T is spell saps the kinetic energy of moving objects (relative 
  to the manasphere, which in most cases is the Earth) in its area of 
  ef ect. Movement in the area is limited to one meter per second, 
  enough to mitigate damage from bullets, explosions, or falls. 
  T e spell ends when the caster stops sustaining it or the amount 
  of mass moving in the area of ef ect exceeds 200 kg per hit on 
  the Spellcasting Test. T is spell does not change forces (such as 
  gravity), just speed.
  T is spell is of en used by special forces for HALO insertions 
  without a parachute.
  ADEPT POWERS
  The following are new adept powers that expand the 
  f exibility of adepts. T ese are in addition to the power on p. 195, 
  SR4A, and p. 174, Street Magic.
  Mind Over Matter
  Cost: 1.5 (may only be taken once)
  T e adept is truly a master of mind over matter and may use 
  one Mental attribute in place of one Physical attribute for any tests. 
  T e attributes used must correspond per the Astral Attributes 
  table (p. 192, SR4A); for example, only Charisma may be used in 
  place of Strength, only Logic for Agility, etc. Once the attribute 
  substitution is chosen for this power, it cannot be changed.
  Type: M • Range: Touch • Duration S • DV: (F ÷ 2) + 3
  T ese spells are much like Mindlink or Mindnet, where the 
  subject may communicate with all sentient beings within range. 
  T is spell is one-way only: the subject may send information, 
  emotions, and images to targets in the area of effect, but 
  does not receive any response. Everyone within the area of 
  ef ect will receive the message, though targets can attempt to 
  resist the ef ect of the spell through the normal Willpower (+ 
  Counterspelling) Test.
  Health Spells
  Health spell rules are on p. 207, SR4A.
  Calm Mind 
  Type: M • Range: Touch • Duration S • DV: (F ÷ 2) - 2
  There is no magical cure for mental illness, magical or 
  otherwise, but it can be treated. T is spell alleviates penalties due 
  to psychological causes, including fear, psychosis, phobias, and 
  even cyberpsychosis. For each hit on the Spellcasting test, reduce 
  the dice pool penalty of a psychologically based af  iction by 1; 
  hits may be distributed over multiple causes when the spell is cast, 
  but may not be “moved around” without recasting the spell. T is 
  spell may be used to temporarily counteract negative qualities, but 
  not penalties imposed by a mentor spirit or a paragon. Spellcasters 
  with the quickening metamagic ability can attempt to make this 
  ef ect permanent—at least, until the spell is dispelled.
  Illusion Spells
  More information on illusion spells can be found on p. 208, 
  SR4A.
  Designate (Realistic, Single-Sense)
  Type: P • Range: LOS • Duration S • DV: (F ÷ 2) – 1
  T is spell mimics the ef ects of a target designator (p. 34, 
  Arsenal). Once the target is designated by this spell, the caster does 
  not need to maintain line of sight but does need to sustain the 
  spell to keep the target “lit.” T e hits from the Spellcasting test are 
  used as the net hits added to the indirect f re test when weapons 
  are f red at the target.
  This spell can only create a part of the spectrum that is 
  integrally accessible to the caster. By default, this means it can only 
  mimic a laser designator in the visible light spectrum. If the caster 
  has thermographic vision (either natural or implanted, but not via 
  imaging device), the spell may also act as an infrared designator. If 
  the caster has an implanted radar sensor, the spell may mimic radar 
  and microwave (maser) designators.
  Flash (Realistic, Single-Sense)
  Type: P • Range: LOS(A) • Duration I • DV: (F ÷ 2)
  Flicker (Realistic, Single-Sense)
  Type: M • Range: LOS(A) • Duration I • DV: (F ÷ 2) – 1
  T is spell causes a bright f ash in the vision of the target. For 
  each net hit from the Spellcasting Test, the target suf ers a –1 dice 
  pool penalty to tests involving vision. T is penalty is reduced in 
  magnitude by 1 for two Combat Turns, and then it is gone.
  Flash, the physical version of this spell, has its penalty 
  reduced by half if the target has any form of flare compensation. 
  Additionally, Flash also affects targets outside the spell’s area 
  
  179
  War!
  GAME INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
  TECHNOMANCY
  Militaries use any resource they find useful, and 
  technomancers are a resource no modern military would pass 
  up without a good look. Military technomancers have learned 
  to develop their own techniques, but as with most emergent 
  knowledge, this information is spreading quickly into the general 
  technomancer population.
  ECHOES
  The following are new echoes for technomancers. They 
  follow the rules for echoes given on p. 243, SR4A and p. 145, 
  Unwired.
  Connectivity
  T e technomancer is more attuned to the mundane Matrix. 
  Her subscription limit is increased by her Submersion rating.
  Feral Resonance
  T e technomancer can attune himself to a proto-sentient 
  (feral) AI that he might f nd in the Matrix. T e technomancer 
  f rst befriends the AI, which is treated as an Extended Intuition 
  + Charisma (AI Rating x 2, 1 week) Test. Glitching on this test 
  means that the feral AI turns on the technomancer and attacks. 
  At the end of this “getting to know you” time, the technomancer 
  spends Karma equal to the feral AI’s rating at the end of the Test.
  Once this is accomplished, the AI is linked to the 
  technomancer. The AI shares the technomancer’s access ID 
  and will generally act in the technomancer’s best interests. T e 
  technomancer and the attuned AI can communicate through 
  the Matrix, although the cognitive ability of a feral AI is fairly 
  limited. A technomancer may attune multiple feral AIs, up to his 
  Submersion rating.
  ADVANCED ECHOES
  T ese echoes expand the standard advanced echoes (p. 147, 
  Unwired).
  Bio-Radar
  Prerequisite: Living ECM
  T e technomancer uses her control of radio waves to create 
  a crude sort of radar. T is radar acts as the radar sensor headware 
  (p. 36, Augmentation) with a Signal rating equal to half the 
  technomancer’s Signal rating, rounded up.
  Rush
  Cost: 0.5
  With a focused burst of mana, the adept plows adrenaline 
  and magic through her veins, pushing her body past its limits. At 
  the beginning of the adept’s f rst Initiative Pass in a Combat Turn, 
  she may choose to activate this power (as a Free Action). T e adept 
  gets +1 Initiative Pass for the Combat Turn.
  T is boost does not come without a price. At the end of 
  the Combat Turn this power was activated, the adept must resist 
  Physical drain equal to twice the number of Initiative Passes the 
  adept had that Combat Turn (adepts resist drain with Willpower 
  + Body).
  For example, Trigger has two Initiative Passes 
  normally, but she’s in a spot of trouble. She uses Rush to 
  get a third IP for the Combat Turn. She f nishes of  her 
  opponents, but at the end of the Combat Turn she must 
  resist 6P drain.
  
  Melee Weapons
  Reach
  Damage
  AP
  Availability
  Cost
  Blade Bayonet
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  –1
  5
  60¥
  Flick Bayonet (on weapon)
  2 or 1
  (STR/2+1)P
  —
  15R
  1,500¥
  Victorinox SmartStaff
  18R
  3,150¥
    Baton
  1
  (STR/2+1)P
  —
    Mace
  1
  (STR/2+3)P
  —
    Pick
  1
  (STR/2+2)P
  –2
    Polearm
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  –2
    Short Blade
  —
  (STR/2+2)P
  —
    Spear
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  –1
    Staff
  2
  (STR/2+2)P
  —
    Sword
  1
  (STR/2+3)P
  –1
  Submachine Guns
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  AK-147 Carbine
  5P
  —
  SA/BF/FA
  1(2)
  30(c)
  5R
  550¥
  HK 229-X
  7P*
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  (1)
  28(c)
  16F
  1,500¥
  *includes extra damage from high-powered rounds.
  Assault Riﬂ es
  Reach
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  AK-147
  —
  6P
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  1
  38(c)
  5R
  650¥
  Ares Bravo
  —
  6P
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  2
  42(c)
  13F
  2,500¥
   
  Vibrosword
  1
  (STR/2 + 3)P
  –2
  —
  —
  2 hours
  Ares Sierra
  —
  6P
  –1
  SA/BF/FA
  2
  42(c)
  13F
  1,900 ¥
   
  Stun Baton
  1
  5S(e) 
  –half
  —
  —
  10
  HK G12A4m
  —
  8P*
  –2
  SA/BF/FA
  2(3)
  32(c)
  18F
  3,000¥
  *includes extra damage from high-powered rounds.
  Grenades
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Cluster Grenade
  8P
  —
  10m radius
  12F
  40¥
  Gecko Grenade
  as grenade type
  as grenade type
  as grenade type
  +2
  +50¥
  Monoﬁ lament Grenade
  8P
  –4
  –3/m
  16F
  150¥
  Rockets
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  16P/20P*
  –3
  -1/m
  28F
  2,200¥
  Anti-Tank
  22P
  —/–10**
  -6/m
  28F
  2,000¥
  Mine
  6 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  28F
  1,600¥
  Sensor
  8P
  —
  —
  18F
  600¥
  Missiles
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  as rocket
  as rocket
  as rocket
  as rocket
  +5
  +Sensor Rtg x 500¥
  *Anti-aircraft rockets and missiles have DV 20P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 16P against others.
  **Anti-tank rockets and missiles have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets. 
  
  Grenade and Mortar Launchers
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  ArmTech MGL-18
  grenade
  grenade
  BF
  —
  18(c)
  20F
  12,000¥
  Esprit MPML-3
  mortar
  mortar
  SS
  —
  3(m)
  18F
  2,500¥
  ITS Gonryu
  grenade
  grenade
  SA/FA
  —
  50(belt)
  20F
  3,000¥
  Weapon
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  Ares Shockbeam
  8S(e)
  –half
  SA
  5(c) or external 
  source
  16F
  14,000¥
  Weapon Accessory
  Mount
  Availability
  Cost
  Blade Bayonet
  Barrel
  5
  60¥
  Device Mount
  Top/Under
  per device
  60¥
  Flick Bayonet
  Barrel
  15R
  1,500¥
  Battle Riﬂ es
  Damage
  AP
  Mode
  RC
  Ammo
  Availability
  Cost
  AM-884
  7P
  –2
  SA
  —
  12(c)
  6R
  3,000¥
  Ares HVBR
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  4
  48(c)
  12F
  3,600¥
  AVC-7.62
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  1
  30(c)
  4R
  2,800¥
  FN SCAR-H3
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  2
  30(c) or 60(c)
  10R
  3,500¥
   
  Grenade launcher
  grenade
  grenade
  SS
  —
  6(m)
  HK G13A2w
  7P
  –1
  SA/BF
  2
  20(c)
  9R
  3,200¥
  Weapon Modiﬁ cation
  Slots
  Threshold
  Tools
  Cost
  Availability
  Special Skill
  High-Power Chambering
  2
  20
  Shop
  weapon cost
  7R
  —
  Redundant Process 
  Manufacturing (Rating 1-2)
  2
  Body x 3
  Facility
  weapon cost x rating
  14R
  Industrial 
  Mechanic
  Ammunition, per 10 shots
  Damage Mod
  AP Mod
  Armor Used
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Tank Rounds
  —
  –6
  B
  22F
  170¥
  Armor-Piercing Flechette
  +2
  —
  I
  18F
  160¥
  High-Power Rounds
  +2
  –1
  B
  20F
  80¥
  RFID Rounds
  —
  —
  —
  +2
  +20¥
  Sensor Rounds
  –half
  +6
  I
  5R
  30¥
  Suppression Rounds
  —
  +1
  B
  4R
  20¥
  Nanotech
  Type
  Availability
  Cost
  AK-147 Nanofax
  —
  21F
  600,000¥
  Mine Detectors (per 100m2)
  Soft
  12
  400¥
  Mine Concealers (per 10 mines) Soft
  12
  300¥
  Mine Disposal
  Hard
  15
  5,000¥
  NDS Aeronautics
  Hard
  22R
  1,125,000¥
  NDS Automotive
  Hard
  22R
  1,100,000¥
  NDS Barracks
  Hard
  20R
  950,000¥
  NDS Bunker
  Hard
  26R
  1,000,000¥
  NDS CASH
  Hard
  26R
  1,200,000¥
  NDS Command
  Hard
  24R
  980,000¥
  NDS Industrial
  Hard
  24R
  1,150,000¥
  
  Grenades
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Cluster Grenade
  8P
  —
  10m radius
  12F
  40¥
  Gecko Grenade
  as grenade type
  as grenade type
  as grenade type
  +2
  +50¥
  Monoﬁ lament Grenade
  8P
  –4
  –3/m
  16F
  150¥
  Rockets
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  16P/20P*
  –3
  -1/m
  28F
  2,200¥
  Anti-Tank
  22P
  —/–10**
  -6/m
  28F
  2,000¥
  Mine
  6 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  28F
  1,600¥
  Sensor
  8P
  —
  —
  18F
  600¥
  Missiles
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  as rocket
  as rocket
  as rocket
  as rocket
  +5
  +Sensor Rtg x 500¥
  *Anti-aircraft rockets and missiles have DV 20P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 16P against others.
  **Anti-tank rockets and missiles have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets. 
  Mines
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Ares Fireblossom
  10P(f)
  –half
  –1/m
  18F
  95¥
  B-114 Anti-Personnel
  12P
  —
  –2/m
  16F
  85¥
  B-116 Chemical Mine
  as chemical
  as chemical
  10m radius
  4F + chemical
  40¥ + chemical
  CI Dragon Box Mine
  —
  —
  —
  14F
  16,500¥
  E-121 Electrical Mine
  12(e)
  –half
  —
  17F
  90¥
  RWE Gang Feng
  14P(f)
  +5
  –1/m
  19F
  80¥
  NA Anti-Tank
  18P
  –10
  –9/m
  22F
  125¥
  KM-18 Zweihänder
  14P(f)
  +5
  –1/m*
  18F
  85¥
  *Blast conﬁ ned to a 60-degree arc in front of the mine.
  Mortar Rounds
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  16P/20P*
  –3
  –1/m
  20F
  220¥
  Anti-Tank
  22P
  —/–10**
  –6/m
  20F
  200¥
  Cluster
  12P
  —
  15m radius
  12F
  140¥
  Drone
  mini-drone
  —
  —
  8F
  85¥
  ECM (Rating 1-10)
  —
  —
  per jammer
  10F
  Rating x 50¥
  Guided
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +2
  +500¥
  Mine
  2 mines
  —
  2D6 meters
  16F
  210¥
  Rocket Assist
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +4
  +260¥
  Sensor
  —
  —
  —
  10F
  400¥
  *Anti-aircraft mortar rounds have DV 20P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 16P against others.
  **Anti-tank mortar rounds have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets. 
  Satellite-Based Weapons
  Availability
  Cost
  Aesir Satellite
  144F
  1,200,000,000¥
  Satellite Weapons
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Freya Missile
  30P + special
  —
  –5/10m
  45F
  150,000¥
  Loki Missile
  30P
  –20
  —
  45F
  20,000¥
  Thor Missile
  30P + special
  —
  –5/100m
  45F
  1,200,000¥
  Satellite Accessories
  Availability
  Cost
  Aesir Guidance Beacon
  12F
  650¥
  Aesir Guidance Maser
  12F
  1,800¥
  
  Survival Gear
  Availability
  Cost
  Auto-Rappel
  6
  1,000¥
  Camouﬂ age Netting
  4
  5¥/m2
  Chameleon Netting
  10R
  35¥/m2
  Insulated Netting
  6
  10¥/m2
  MOSLTOV
  8
  750¥
  Wingsuit
  7
  600¥
  Wingsuit Jetpack
  10R
  1,200¥
  Bioware
  Essence
  Availability
  Cost
  Adrenal Regulator
  0.1
  8
  9,000¥
  MPC Bridge
  0.1
  10
  14,000¥
  Armor
  B/I
  Availability
  Cost
  Ballistic Mask
  +2/+1
  7
  130¥
  YNT SoftWeave Armor
  —
  +3
  x1.1
  Weapon Modiﬁ cation
  Capacity
  Cost
  Availability
  Redundant Process Manufacturing (Rating 1-2)
  [2]
  armor cost x rating
  14R
  Responsive Interface Gear
  [2]+[1]
  2,400¥
  8
  Milspec Commlinks
  Response
  Signal
  Availability
  Cost
  Singularity Battle Buddy Basic
  5
  5
  8R
  10,000¥
  Singularity Battle Buddy
  7
  6
  24F
  17,000¥
  MCT Tactical
  7
  7
  32F
  18,500¥
  Renraku Suterusu
  8
  7
  40F
  32,750¥
  Transys Cybernaut
  9
  8
  48F
  65,000¥
  MILSPEC HARDWARE UPGRADES
  Module Rating
  Availability
  Response Cost
  Signal Cost
  7
  20F
  24,000¥
  6,500¥
  8
  26F
  48,000¥
  8,750¥
  9
  32F
  96,000¥
  12,250¥
  10
  40F
  192,000¥
  17,250¥
  Nexus Hardware/Software*
   Availability
  Cost
  Response (Rating 7-10)
  (rating x 4)F 
  Rating x processor limit x 500¥
  System (Rating 7-10)
  (persona limit ÷ 2)F
  Rating x persona limit x 300¥
  Firewall (Rating 7-10) 
  (processor limit** ÷ 5)F
  Rating x processor limit x 250¥
  *Signal rating cost is the same as that of a commlink    **The processor limit minimum is 10, maximum is 50
  Electronics
  Availability
  Cost
  Microtrónica Azteca Spellslinger
  14F
  10,000¥
  Mine Detector
  10R
  4,000¥
  Software
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft Assist (Rating 3)
  12R
  1,200¥
  Common Use Program (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 3)F
  Rating x Rating x 100¥
  Hacking Program (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 4)F
  Rating x Rating x 1,000¥
  Firewall (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 4)F
  Rating x Rating x 500¥
  MRSI Software (Rating 5)
  14F
  10,000¥
  System (Rating 7-10)
  (Rating x 4)F
  Rating x Rating x 500¥
  Tactical Satellite Mapping Software (Rating 4)
  10R
  4,000¥
  
  Heavy Mortar Rounds
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  26P/30P*
  -4
  –1/m
  29F
  450¥
  Anti-Tank
  36P
  —/–10**
  –8/m
  29F
  400¥
  Anti-Vehicle
  23P
  –2/–6***
  –4/m
  23F
  450¥
  Cluster
  17P
  —
  20m radius
  17F
  280¥
  Drone
  small drone
  —
  —
  11F
  175¥
  ECM (Rating 1-10)
  —
  —
  per jammer
  14F
  Rating x 100¥
  Fragmentation
  26P(f)
  +5
  –1/m
  22F
  220¥
  Gas/Splash
  chemical
  —
  20m radius
  8F + chemical
  120¥ + chemical
  Guided
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +3
  +500¥
  High Explosive
  22P
  –2
  –2/m
  17F
  270¥
  Incendiary
  —
  —
  20m radius
  17F
  300¥
  Mine
  4 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  23F
  450¥
  Rocket Assist
  —
  —
  —
  +5
  +400¥
  Seeker
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +3
  +500¥
  Sensor
  —
  —
  —
  14F
  800¥
  Smoke
  —
  —
  20m radius
  11F
  175¥
  Solar
  —
  —
  50m radius
  11F
  225¥
  Thermal Smoke
  —
  —
  20m radius
  14F
  210¥
  White Phosphorus
  17P/8P
  –half
  –1/m
  29F
  700¥
  *Anti-aircraft rounds have DV 30P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 26P against others.
  **Anti-tank rounds have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets; it does not apply to targets in the round’s blast radius.
  ***Anti-vehicle rounds have –6 AP against vehicles, –2 AP against other targets.
  Howitzer Rounds
  Damage
  AP
  Blast
  Availability
  Cost
  Anti-Aircraft
  38P/42P*
  –5
  –1/m
  43F
  900¥
  Anti-Tank
  52P
  —/-10**
  –13/m
  43F
  800¥
  Anti-Vehicle
  33P
  –2/–6***
  –4/m
  34F
  900¥
  Cluster
  24P
  —
  30m radius
  25F
  550¥
  Drone
  medium drone
  —
  —
  16F
  350¥
  ECM (Rating 1-10)
  —
  —
  per jammer
  20F
  Rating x 150¥
  Fragmentation
  38P(f)
  +5
  –1/m
  32F
  450¥
  Gas/Splash
  chemical
  —
  30m radius
  11F + chemical
  250¥ + chemical
  Guided
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +4
  +750¥
  High Explosive
  32P
  –2
  –2/m
  25F
  550¥
  Incendiary
  —
  —
  30m radius
  25F
  600¥
  Mine
  10 mines
  —
  3D6 meters
  34F
  1,000¥
  Rocket Assist
  —
  —
  —
  +6
  +800¥
  Seeker
  as round
  as round
  as round
  +4
  +750¥
  Sensor
  —
  —
  —
  20F
  1,600¥
  Smoke
  —
  —
  30m radius
  16F
  350¥
  Solar
  —
  —
  75m radius
  16F
  450¥
  Thermal Smoke
  —
  —
  30m radius
  20F
  425¥
  White Phosphorus
  24P/11P
  –half
  –1/m
  43F
  1,400¥
  *Anti-aircraft rounds have DV 42P against targets moving faster than 200m/Combat Turn, 38P against others.
  **Anti-tank rounds have –10 AP vs. directly hit targets.
  ***Anti-vehicle rounds have –6 AP against vehicles, –2 AP against other targets.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadowrun [multi]/Shadowrun 4th Edition/Supplements/Shadowrun 4E - War!.pdf