1 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:16,180 Hello Amaze. So it's finally happened. The Hard Knocks sorority podcast has had their 2 00:01:16,180 --> 00:01:23,400 first audio foobar. Episode 17, Locked Doors, ends where the audio file for session number 3 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,520 8 ended, but unfortunately that is not where the game session ended. In fact, I didn't 4 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,800 even realize this until I was editing session 9 and started searching in vain for the audio 5 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:38,640 we were missing. To make matters worse, the audio we are missing is pretty critical. It 6 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,520 could have been Technomancers. It could have been Cecile covering the team's tracks. I 7 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:48,040 don't know. In any case, I wanted to reach out to you and apologize for our long absence 8 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,560 and assure you that we are now back on track and will continue to release episodes at our 9 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,200 usual rate of about one a week. Thank you for continuing to share your time with us. 10 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,960 So in order to get this episode back on track, I'm going to do a bit of narration. Please 11 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,320 bear with us as we work to overcome these technical difficulties. 12 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,640 Grace looked at her friend Boxer with white eyes. 13 00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:12,840 I can't open this with magic, she said. 14 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,160 Dammit, Boxer swore. 15 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,720 Over her comm link she called the girl, Cecile. 16 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:22,720 Hey college girl, we have a problem up here. I think we need your help. 17 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:27,760 Yeah, okay, what is it? Cecile responded from the van. 18 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,960 Maglock, we need you to hack it, Boxer answered. 19 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:37,880 What makes you think I can hack a maglock? I'm not a criminal, came back the retort. 20 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:38,880 Boxer looked pained. 21 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:44,720 Ugh, fine, I'll take care of it myself. 22 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,120 Then she spun and kicked in the office door. 23 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,040 Grace took a surprise step back and looked from the door to Boxer. 24 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:58,920 Yeah, yeah, I know. Hopefully no one heard that. You cover the door and watch my back. 25 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:03,120 Cecile, we are on the clock. 26 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,880 What does that even mean? Cecile shot back. 27 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:11,880 Never mind, Boxer answered as she quickly surveyed the room with a practiced eye. 28 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:18,720 There wasn't much furniture, a desk and a bookshelf. It smelled musty and unused. The 29 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:24,720 floor to ceiling windows overlooking the car park were perfect for her purposes though. 30 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:29,400 Boxer muscled the desk in place. Then she went and extracted a small device from her 31 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:34,800 harness and attached it to the glass. There was a quick hiss and the device cut a perfectly 32 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,920 round hole in the glass. Boxer removed the device and dropped the circle of glass onto 33 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:46,880 the floor. Her bag was on the desk. She quickly unpacked and assembled the Walther MA1200. 34 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:54,280 Fit the silencer and deployed the bipod. Resting the bipod on the desk, she sighted through 35 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:59,680 the optics and let the smart gun link kick in. The reticle imposed over her vision showed 36 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:05,360 her the car park and Grace's van and Deandra's bike. Deandra and Ice were standing at the 37 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:11,040 back of the van waiting. Presumably the college girl was in the van. Perfect. 38 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:17,000 I'm in position, she said over her comm link. Behind her she heard the pony moving to cover 39 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:25,360 the door. A few minutes later Deandra called in. He'll be here in two minutes. From her 40 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:31,400 position Boxer watched another big motorcycle pull into the car lot. Through the scope and 41 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:38,440 her image enhancing cyber eyes she recognized the night air officer Jim Ansell or she supposed 42 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:43,200 she should think of him as George Van Halzen. According to Procop and Ice that was his real 43 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,680 name and he was a former Lone Star captain and vigilante. It didn't matter, she thought 44 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:55,360 to herself. A target's a target. Through the scope, Jim, George, whatever, the target appeared 45 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,560 remarkably nonchalant for someone making deals with Shadowrunners. But then again she supposed 46 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:06,000 the man was arrogant and didn't really have any reason to expect trouble. From his perspective 47 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:12,160 he wasn't the actual goal of the crew. They were about to disabuse him of that notion. 48 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:17,960 Arrogance leads to miscalculations. He'd made one hell of a miscalculation tonight. George 49 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:23,360 Van Halzen was a big man with short military style blonde hair. He carried himself with 50 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:29,120 the natural swagger and ease of the self-righteous. As he pulled up the big Harley behind the 51 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:36,120 van he grinned inwardly. The van was so stereotypical of these criminal types. Perfect for carrying 52 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:43,280 not a crew and their loot, but short on speed and handling. The back doors were open and 53 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:48,760 flanked by the oddly green elven woman and the older human male who he had met at Greasy 54 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:54,280 Bends. They had made the smart choice when confronted and agreed to give up their Johnson 55 00:05:54,280 --> 00:06:00,800 in exchange for being allowed to collect whatever meager payout the dreck bag had offered them. 56 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,280 George Van Halzen had been dealing with Shadow Scum for all of his professional life and 57 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:10,360 that was saying something. Whoever their Johnson was had it in for one of the recruits he was 58 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:17,360 training for whom he was responsible and that wasn't something he could let slide. The young 59 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:22,280 men and women under his command were his responsibility and he was going to make damn sure that they 60 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:27,040 completed their training and went on to become the best god damn officers on the force. If 61 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,720 that meant taking some scumbags back behind the proverbial woodshed, whatever that meant, 62 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:37,480 and giving them a good thrashing, it wouldn't be the first time. The Shadow Riders might 63 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:43,280 be gone, but that didn't mean he had to tolerate these gutter punks. He grinned insolently 64 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:48,280 at the two Shadow Runners as he pulled up and stopped the big bike. Always let them 65 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:53,560 know he was in charge, he thought. The older human male looked like he was well past his 66 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:59,280 prime, but he carried himself in a way that Van Halzen recognized. The blue spiral tattoos 67 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:05,200 on his face were faded like his pale blue eyes that watched him impassively. If it came 68 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:10,840 to it he would be the first one Van Halzen took down. The Elven woman was different. 69 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,080 Her green patterned skin and strange eyes were a bit unnerving, but between her old 70 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,920 fashioned clothes and insisting on carrying an obsolete weapon like a rapier left him 71 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,840 confident she didn't ultimately pose much of a threat. There was also the younger human 72 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:30,720 female in the back of the van. He couldn't quite place her in the team. She didn't have 73 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:37,600 the attitude to be an effective face, and she seemed both uncomfortable and out of her 74 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:43,000 depth. So she was probably the group's decker. Nothing to worry about. He didn't see the 75 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,400 changeling or the dog. One less thing to worry about. 76 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:53,040 "'You have the recording?' Deandra asked the racist piece of drek. He was the kind 77 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:59,880 of human and the kind of law enforcement officer she despised. Arrogant, racist, and self-righteous. 78 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:03,200 He reached into his armored jacket and pulled out a data stick. 79 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:09,560 "'Sure do,' Van Halzen answered. Up in the abandoned office Boxer saw the data stick 80 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:16,000 in the man's hand. That's all the signal I need,' she thought. Boxer smiled grimly. 81 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,880 The SmartLink reticle rested center mass on the target's chest, and she trusted the work 82 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:27,080 she had put into zeroing the optics and calibrating them to her cyber eyes. 83 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:32,760 The rifle was loaded with gel rounds. The point was to take the target alive. She exhaled 84 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:37,960 gently and her SmartLink triggered the rifle. The shock pads absorbed the recoil and between 85 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:43,360 the silencer and the audio dampers in her cyber ears, the shot registered only as a 86 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:48,880 slight pop. The impact of the gel round on Van Halzen's armored jacket staggered the 87 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:54,880 man, but he was fast. A look of anger and outrage flashed onto his face as he drew an 88 00:08:54,880 --> 00:09:00,680 Ingram smart gun from under his jacket and triggered a burst at Deandra Nice. Staggered 89 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:05,560 as he was from the impact of the high-velocity round and off balance on the heavy motorcycle, 90 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:11,240 the burst went wide. Then Boxer SmartLink triggered her second shot, and the gel round 91 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:16,480 slammed into Van Halzen, sending him and his motorcycle to the ground. The Ingram clattered 92 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:21,840 on the pavement. Ice bent over and scooped up the unconscious man and deposited him in 93 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,640 the back of the van. Deandra brought out a set of Plasteel cuffs and secured him while 94 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:33,000 making sure he was still alive. Then she searched the motorcycle and picked up the data stick. 95 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:38,840 Plasteel in the van gritted her teeth and searched the downed cop for RFID tags. He 96 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:39,840 seemed clean. 97 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:46,960 We need to get out of here, she yelled. Ice scrambled into the back of the van and Deandra 98 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:54,480 was starting her own bike. Up in the office, Boxer swiftly dismantled and stowed her rifle. 99 00:09:54,480 --> 00:10:00,160 Now to get back to the van as quickly as possible, Nightingale, she said. That elevator wasn't 100 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,960 quick, Nightingale thought. Why wouldn't we just go straight back to my van? Humans could 101 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:09,320 be so confusing. But then she realized her friend Boxer was mundane and hadn't thought 102 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:15,080 the situation through from the perspective of magic. She cast a spell and magically gripping 103 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,560 the desk propelled it through the window. The glass, already leaking from having a hole 104 00:10:20,560 --> 00:10:25,360 cut in it, shattered. Nightingale released the desk and it plummeted out of sight along 105 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:27,400 with the fragments of the window pane. 106 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:32,880 Trek, Nightingale. We aren't trying to attract attention, Boxer yelled. 107 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:36,600 I know a quicker way, Nightingale yelled back. 108 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,240 Hold on. 109 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:42,720 Before Boxer could react, Nightingale grabbed her with telekinesis and holding on to her 110 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:47,960 friend took a flying leap out of the window. As her hose left the softness of the carpet, 111 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:54,560 she cast again. Boxer clutching her gear bag, mouth opened in surprise and the pony glided 112 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:57,800 quickly and gracefully down to the waiting van. 113 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:03,200 Safely back on the ground, Boxer said. Don't ever do that again, as she threw her bag into 114 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:29,640 the back of the van and clambered in next to ice. At least not without warning me. 115 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:36,000 The Tops Company Inc. has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, 116 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,440 sounds, audio, video and or any proprietary material used in connection with the game 117 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:47,080 Shadowrun. The Tops Company Inc. has granted permission to the Hard Knocks sorority podcast 118 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:52,720 to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and or any proprietary materials for promotional 119 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:57,440 and informational purposes on its website, but does not endorse and is not affiliated 120 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:02,120 with the Hard Knocks sorority podcast in any official capacity whatsoever. 121 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:07,120 The music for the Hard Knocks sorority podcast was written and performed by Trace Mineral. 122 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:12,360 The Hard Knocks sorority podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons license 4.0, meaning 123 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:29,040 you are welcome to use the material as long as you give us credit.