Corp. Spotlight: Ares
April 27, 2057

So, it seems the big boys are choosing sides. Damien Knight, head mucky-muck at Ares has publicly thrown his support (and copious wealth) behind the great dragon Dunkelzahn's presidential run.
Now, before you start yammering about skeletons being buried and never dealing with dragons, I thought it might be time to review the "happy family" that is the great UCAS mega. Remember that, for all of his "man in charge" drek, Knight only controls so much of the corp. A fact of which that Aurelius and the other board members have recently started reminding him. Remember, when folks like Aurelius and Knight fight it out, it's scammers and jammers like us that take home cred. Add a powerful, ancient wizwyrm, and a UCAS presidential race into the mix, and someone's going to make a killing. Thus, without further ado, here's the lowdown on the infighting at the corp where they make all the guns.

Rating	AAA
World Headquarters	Detroit, Michigan (UCAS)
President/CEO	Damien Knight
Chairman of the Board	Leonard Aurelius
Corporate Status	Public

Ares Macrotechnology, run by Damien Knight and headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, UCAS, is the seventh largest corporation in the world, the largest in the UCAS, and is the current leader in the defense and aerospace industries. Its five main divisions are AresSpace, Ares Global Entertainment, Ares Arms, Knight Errant Security Services and General Motors.

Ares was founded shortly after the turn of the century by Nicholas Aurelius under the name Ares Industries. Being a major American megacorp, the old United States granted special benefits to Ares. Taking advantage of this and the near-collapse of the country, Aurelius managed to purchase NASA (including all its facilities, vehicles and equipment) from the US in 2016, with the agreement that portions of it would be returned to the country in 2055. Of course, the United States had collapsed by that point.

Around 2030, Leonard Aurelius had control of Ares passed to him by his father.

In 2033, Damien Knight pulled off the Nanosecond Buyout. In about a minute, he managed to acquire 22% of Ares stock. The Board, stunned by the performance, gave him the CEO position.

Ares has a long-standing history of battling Insect Spirits. In 2055, the Ares subsidiary Knight Errant launched multiple attacks on Insect Spirit hives, culminating in the disaster that turned Chicago into Bug City. They were responsible for launching a tactical nuclear weapon at the Cermak Power Plant which wiped out the majority of the bug spirits.

Dramatis Personae

Damien Knight is the President/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Ares Macrotechnology. He is currently the second largest shareholder with about 23.7% of all shares. He has a long-standing rivalry with Leonard Aurelius.

His first public appearance was on the 24 January 2033, as the Nanosecond Buyout made him the biggest shareholder of Ares Macrotechnology. It is rumoured that "Damien Knight" isn't his true name and he has maintained a veil of secrecy about his origins.

He is believed to be (or to have been) a certain Major David Gavilan of the US Air Force.

It is more or less known for sure that he is about sixty-five years old, having undergone through several treatments of Leonization.

A close friend of Dunkelzahn, he recently began supporting the Dragon's candidacy in the UCAS Presidential election.

Leonard Aurelius is the son of Ares Macrotechnology's founder Nicholas Aurelius. He inherited from him a major stake in Ares' capital, and took the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board of the corporation after his father's final retirement in 2030. The board replaced Leonard Aurelius by Damien Knight in 2033, the same year Nicholas Aurelius died. The relations between Leonard Aurelius and Knight were stormy ever since the Knight's takeover. Leonard Aurelius returned to the position of chairman of the board between 2049.

Dragon Related Tir Rumblings?
March 26, 2057

All you elven runners out there probably already know this, and any of you who have more info, we'd all like to hear it (I'm looking at you, Ancients). Seems that something is twisting the nipples of the high and mighty Council of Princes pretty badly, as they have inexplicably decided to postpone this years Rite of Progression.

For those of you not in the know, the people in the Tir aren't citizens, they're subject's. It's an autocracy, remember. They don't have "rights," they have "privileges" which can be modified or revoked at any time. Every Tir subject has an official social rank that affects what privileges you have. It affects access to housing, education, jobs, travel permits, taxes and a whole lot more.
Social ranks start at Gentry for the masses and move up through Chivalry, Nobles, drekcetera, to the Royal rank. Technically, the High Princes are the top rank. Oh, and don't forget the Irenis, or "classless."
Tir subjects inherit their social rank from thier parents, but if you want to advance up the ladder, you have to prove yourself in a Rite of Progression. These rites are a battery of physical and academic tests, plus political lobbying, and only occur every seven years.
So, if you're a Tir elf who wanted to advance up the totem pole, this year was your big chance. Except, oh wait, no Rite. Needless to say, a frakload of elves are NOT happy. The Council of Princes has given no explanation for the postponing of the big shindig, but I'm hearing rumors that Dunkelzahn throwing his dragon-sized hat into the presidential ring is responsible. If you have info, or even conjecture, now's the time to spit it out.

Threats Post is Live
March 24, 2057

Alright chummers, put on your metallifoil hats and be prepared to have the drek scared out of you (with a healthy dose of salt, of course). The first ever Threats post is up, detailing the ominous conspiracy-tastic death dealers that are simply waiting in the wings to annihilate you and me, and everyone else. I've enlisted anyone in the know to send me these files, and some are a bit more reliable than others. I've deleted anything that smelled deeply of bulldrek, everything left is still suspect, but much better sourced than the rest. Dive in chummers, and find out how you'll be destroyed by:

Alamos 20,000: A terrorist group that focuses on anti-metahuman agendas. Their modus operandi is bankrolling and executing large scale terrorist hate crimes against non-Human metatypes. It appears to be an Illuminati-type organization with several “key members” and personal agendas that split into various cells. Alamos 20,000 has claimed responsibility for hundreds of terrorist attacks. The most famous attack is probably the bombing of the Sears Tower on February 10, 2039, which destroyed several city blocks of Chicago as the Sears Tower collapsed.

Mr. Darke: A powerful initiate or free spirit, Mr. Darke seems to be using spirit powers of ritual magic to create a number of psychotic episodes leading to bloody massacres. The most notable being the Renraku Arcology massacre of November 1, 2056 when a decker friend of mine, named Lensman, went to a fourth floor Arcology Stuffer Shack and emptied his FN-HAR assault rifle into the assorted bystanders. It took forty-seven bullets to take him down. Read Lenny's diary in the post, and track the other sightings of this "Darke" person.

Winternight: An apocalyptic terrorist cult that seems to be using mind altering chips as well as drones and magic to collect a nuclear arsenal in order to bring about Ragnarök, the end of the world. The post has the last recordings of UCAS Brigadier General Lucas Harding who, according to the newsnets, killed his family and bombed the Pentagon a few years back. Read the post and find out how Harding was involved with something far worse than mere murder and treason. Three words to scare you drekless: Nuclear Weapon Foci.

The Vampire Conspiracy: Martin DeVreis, a self styled vampire hunter, gives us the lowdown on bloodsuckers. He's got some interesting evidence that HMVV infected slots aren't just poor diseased wretches, and are in fact working through a known initiate group, the Ordo Maximus, to do some very nasty things. Things not limited to genetic engineering to create breeding vampires, and vampires immune to their very few weaknesses. If DeVreis is right, we'll be looking at stake-proof sunbathing vampires that can have children in the next five years.

Halberstam's Babies: Whoah. Rumors floated around a few years back about this Dr. Halberstam scag. He was taking babies, putting them in tubes and raising them plugged into the matrix to create little god-decker-children that obeyed him and decked on his behalf. Rumor goes that one of the decker kids figured out that he wasn't just a matrix entity, and hired runners through the net to break him out. Since then, if the post is accurate, Halberstam is up to his old tricks again. Only, in order to keep history from repeating itself, he's been removing the brains from infants and keeping them alive in jars. Now there's nothing to escape, and his little god-decker-brains are running around the matrix, collecting whatever the doctor needs for his research.

KSAF: Culled from a Shadowland open conference, check out the data on that lovely third-tier newsnet KSAF. Somehow, this little news provider is at every single event of importance in the Sixth World. They show up where nothing is happening, just in time to see history unfold out of nowhere. Then they sell their footage to the big guys. Word is, their receiving help from someone with major divination abilities. Who would want to help this little Trid-network? Why would someone who sees the future want it televised? Who can see the frakin' future?

The Atlantean Conspiracy: I let Lone Gunman go off on this one, but still, he's got some good intel. Gunman's a quack, but he brings up some interesting points about "elven culture," new magical theory, and the Atlantean Foundation. While on the surface, it's a trid-provider and archaeological endeavor into mankind's magical past, numerous of their "discoveries" have links to Tir magical events, and the writings of Ehran the Scribe. Gunman believes that elves came from Atlantis. I know, I know... But he illuminates some interesting points.

Lofwyr: "Never deal with a dragon." Wise words. Read the post and find out a local runner team had been running against Saeder Krupp facilities for a few years (buried subsidiaries, they probably didn't even know half of it was SK), only to get hired by SK for a datasteal. Turns out, the steal wasn't a steal. The runners were all geeked and they ended up making Lofwyr fat bank on insurance, among other things. The result: The dragon knows who you are, the dragon will kill you. Of course, it could all be manufactured to keep runners away from Saeder Krupp.

Bugs: New information from Chicago claims that the bugs are getting smarter and more powerful. Now they are not only able to look like people, they seem to be able to do everything from mask their auras to control people's minds. I don't even like to think about that possibility. You read the post and decide for yourself.

Blood Mage Gestalt: Post from an ex-Azzie owl shaman about how the Blood Mages are using communal blood catheters (gross!) to perform ritual sacrifice sendings that seem to be able to 1: teleport in the astral plane 2: Link the Aztlan teocalli together through some horrible astral vein network 3: potentially create a massive summoning network, roughly the size of a nation. Worse, they're sacrificing magically active students to make this all work. If you believe it, be scared. You might want to reference more horrible Azzie crap, check out the Aztechnology post as well.

Black Lodge: Immortal human mages from before the awakening, first as the Knights Templar, then as the Freemasons, now as the Black Lodge. They are trying to control the world and have access to magic that most mages will tell you doesn't even make sense (not the least of which is the whole immortality thing). Every time you drive by a masonic temple, just remember, they control your world.

The Human Nation: Global conspiracy of human supremacists, but not as harmless as your neighborhood lynch mob. These guys are major money makers and power players who use their dough and their influence to create "social programs" to "help" metahumans. Programs that give free medical care to ork women, then sterilize them to prevent more ork babies. High level research is also being funded for meta-only viruses and whatnot. Listen up to this one chummers, cause this one is ugly.

Tutor: Mages and Shamans beware. There appears to be a fee spirit out there that is seeking magic users for weird training purposes. This powerful entity teaches people new and amazing spells and metamagic techniques, but in the end, they're somehow killed by their new powers. It's all very strange, but this Tutor has shown up several times in the nets, so be prepared, and be careful what you wish for.

Strain III: Another one for magicians to watch out for. Apparently FAT bacteria, the astrally active bacteria that can be used to block astral travelers, has mutated into some nasty drek that latches on to astral forms and destroys them. This stuff kills dual natured beasties pretty quickly and is absolute hell on magical foci. Consider yourselves warned kids, because this stuff was discovered by corporations. No telling what nasty uses they'll find for the stuff.

Bad Cal-Hots On the Streets: Do Not Die
March 19, 2057

Some roto-cock has smuggled up a bad batch of Cal-Hots. For you non-beetleheads in need of a slang-teacher, Cal-Hots are simsense chips with the sense and emotive tracks spiked juuust into the BTL range. Their addictive and bad for you, but not nearly so much as strait BTLs. They're legal California Free-State, where they're made, but just as taboo as hardcore beetles here in the enlightened UCAS. Smugglers have been running them into the 'plex for years, but recently, folks are just dropping dead.

Consider yourselves warned, shadowtypes. Seems all the geeked chip-heads got their wares from some Yak linked gangs in Redmond, but these things are all over Seattle at this point. If you're going to chip the midrail this weekend, pass up on any Cal-Hots. You might want to check on your street contacts as well.

Shadow Retrospective:
March 15, 2057

I know: holy dreck. The Big D just threw his massive dragon-sized hat into the ring. If the revisited election wasn't enough to make 2057 look to be a crazy year, this definitely kicks the year into gear. Since this is obviously an auspicious occasion, and I'm feeling a little nostalgic, I've decided to post a brief time-line of shadow events over the last twenty years or so. Pick through it and decide for yourselves if the apocalypse is on us.

• Denver Data Haven
  • Emotive simsense. Hello, BTL!
  • Denver Data Haven shows up in the shadows. (Physical location: the old USAF Academy in Colorado Springs).
  • DocWagon founded.
  • Lofwyr announces 63% ownership of Saeder-Krupp, votes himself chairman of the board, president, and CEO.
  • Guerilla warfare in northern California pushes Tir Tairngire back north as far as Yreka. The territory between Redding and Yreka becomes neutral ground, claimed by both sides.
  • Wolves and bears are restored to the Scottish Wild Lands.
  • First North American Urban Brawl championship, "Super Brawl".
• 2039: Night of Rage
  • Feb 7: Thousands of metas, friends & family, and wannabes die in global riots. New York City: 836 dead. Seattle: "Hands of Five" terrorist group firebombs the metahuman detention centier on the Tacoma docks.
  • Feb 10: Alamos 20k destroys the Sears Tower in Chicago.
  • St. Patricks Day: Boston, Knights of the Red Branch bomb an elven restaurant on the parade route, killing 24 and inciting a race riot that claimed hundreds more.
  • Nadja Daviar becomes the Big D's third interpreter.
  • Charleston, SC: Serial killer caught and convicted on evidence obtained from a ghost.
  • Fuchi sponsors the Universal Matrix Specifications (UMS) conference, Tokyo.
  • A massive chemical spill kills 70,000 people in Teeside, England.
• 2040: Azania
  • Southern Africa unites into Azanian Alliance, composed of the Cape Republic, Oranje-Vrystaat, Trans-Swazi Federation, and Zulu Nation.
  • Renraku Arcology in Seattle begins construction.
  • The Universal Brotherhood opens shop (CFS in '42, Seattle in '45).

Corporate Mess (2041-2050)

• 2041: EuroAir Flight 329 from London to Atlanta destroyed by Sirrurg
  • Policlubs appear in Europe.
  • Yamatetsu makes its bid for prime megorporate status, sparking light corporate war.
• 2042: Dunkelzahn begins semi-annual "Wyrm Talk".
  • Akira Watada, oyabun of the Watada-rengo, issues an ultimatum to the Korean oyabuns of Seattle. They must pledge their loyalty to the Watada rengo or suffer the consequences.
  • Liam O'Connor (President of Tir na nOg) disappears from public life.
  • First biannual international Urban Brawl World Cup
  • In the Papal States, Italian Confederation, Pope John XXV declares that women may now be appointed priests in the Catholic Church. (Shadows of Europe)
  • Yamatetsu elbows its way into the Big Seven, becoming the Eighth major megacorp.
• 2043: Seoulpa Rings
  • Jan: Watada-rengo assassins invade Seattle and kill the vast majority of the Seattle Yakuza. Yakuza's Korean leadership. The survivors are forced to pledge loyalty to the Japanese rengo or be executed. New Japanese managers are put in place, and within a few weeks the Japanese Yakuza once again control the
  • Former Korean Yakuza oyabun Park Jai Kyu begins organizing the Seoulpa Rings in Seattle with the help of his remaining contacts and followers. The concept catches fire and begins to spread through the metroplex and the rest of North America.
  • Rhiannon Glendower becomes Countess of Snowdon.
  • Gwynedd elves make major advances in Welsh regional parliament.
  • The Netherlands and Flanders merge and form the United Netherlands.
• 2044: The oyabun
  • Hanzo Shotozumi is appointed the oyabun of the 87th Prefecture in Seattle. He re-institutes and enforces traditional Yakuza ways and values, and begins an aggressive campaign to expand Yakuza operations in the Pacific Northwest.
• 2045: German Alliance founded.
  • Don Patrick Finnigan is failing to hold the line against Yakuza encroachment in the Seattle metroplex, and so the Commissione calls Don James O'Malley out of enforced retirement to resume control of Seattle operations. O'Malley is appointed Don of Seattle specifically to slow Yakuza growth in the metroplex. He, his wife, and his 15-year-old daughter Rowena move to Seattle.
  • The Seoulpa Rings start making a name for themselves in the Seattle underworld as their operations expand; they begin to encroach on the markets of the other syndicates.
  • 2045-2047: Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua are accepted into the Aztlaner republic.
• 2046: the Lost Election
  • A team of rogue deckers erases the results of California's gubernatorial election, allegedly aided by a Los Angeles street gang. The so-called Lost Election prompts the government to declare ware on the "criminal element" in Los Angeles, sending army and corporate mercenary troops to raze El Infierno. After fighting a losing battle, California's central government declares Los Angeles a Free City.
  • Para-VITAS outbreak in Tynesprawl (England) kills 120,000. Believed to be the work of unidentified eco-terrorists.
• 2048: Operation Reciprocity
  • Panama admitted into Aztlan.
  • Aztlan (Aztechnology) nationalizes all foreign businesses. Corporate Court authorizes a joint corporate military strike, "Operation Reciprocity", against Aztechnology.
  • Veracruz Settlement: Aztechnology pays reparations.
  • Panama canal becomes a Pan-Corporate Zone under the Corporate Court.
  • Colbert Group CEO Alan Adams is elected president of the UCAS.
• 2049: Renraku develops first Semi-Autonomous Knowbot (SK).
  • Aztlan and Amazonia squabble over Colombia and Venezuela.
• 2050: Seventh-gen cyberdeck (keyboard size).

Welcome To Our World (2051-2060)

• 2052: Technology curve
  • 2XS, BTL with a kick.
  • Bioware hits the public market.
  • Seattle-Tir Tairngire trade agreement, by which Seattle becomes Tir Tairngire's major port.
  • UCAS Pres Adams died after re-election, VP Thomas Steele takes the Big Chair.
• 2053: A new Great Dragon.
  • Hestaby takes possession of Shasta Dam and surrounding territory in Northern California, repelling a Tir Tairngire attack.
  • Publication of Anchoring theorems.
  • Proteus corp completes two arkoblocks (offshore Arcologies) in Japan.
• 2054: Atlantis
  • tentative discovery of Atlantis (Thera) 150 miles off Crete.
  • Tir Tairngire locks down Crater Lake.
• 2055: The UB (Universal Brotherhood)
  • Acting on 'tips' from Ares, the UCAS FBI discovers that insect spirits control the UBUB is completely shut down by '56. Ares assists in destructive raids against local hives, which are reported as widespread incidents of "unmotivated terrorist violence" against the Universal Brotherhood. and shut it down, but without making the reasons public. Cover story of financial corruption. Other nations take similar steps, and the
  • Aug 22: A Knight Errant Firewatch team attack what may be the largest insect hive in North America. It does not have the anticipated effect. A swarm of bug spirits spills out of the hive to infest the city of Chicago.
  • Aug 23: The UCAS government sets up the Chicago Containment Zone, isolating most of the population of Chicago behind UCAS Army barricades. Those trapped include the Chicago Mafia, as well as the Chicago branches of the other major syndicates. The Mafia loses contact with the Don of Chicago and the Commissione believes him dead. It transfers control of Chicago operations to Don Leo McCaskill of Milwaukee, a former lieutenant of James O'Malley.
  • Chicago Containment Zone is explained to the public as securing against a virulent outbreak of VITAS.
  • Early October: The remains of the Knight Errant Firewatch team inside the Chicago Containment Zone detonate a subtactical thermonuclear warhead inside the new core hive. The blast and radiation effects are much lower than expected, but knock virtually all the insect spirits in Chicago into torpor.
• 2056: Year of the Bug (Bug City)
  • Late December 2055-January 2056: The truth about the Chicago Containment Zone is disseminated to the public at large via Shadowland, the Denver Data Haven, etc. via the Bug City download. The UCAS government can no longer sustain its coverup of the Zone, and the world knows that insect spirits and totems are, indeed, real.
  • The UCAS Congress formally recognizes the great dragon Dunkelzahn as a legal citizen of the UCAS. Famous "handshake" between Dunkelzahn and President Thomas Steele sends the Technocrat ticket to the top of the polls.
  • Nov: President Thomas Steele and Vice Pres James Booth overwhelmingly re- elected to office in "the dullest election of the 21st century".
  • Dec-Jan: UCAS Election results of 2056 are found to be rigged; House Speaker Betty Jo Pritchard declares the election null and void and announces new elections. Congress approves short campaign season of under eight months, with Election Day re-scheduled to Tuesday, 7 Aug 2057.
• 2057: Year of the Dragon
  • Mar 15: Dunkelzahn announces his intention to run for President on a historic broadcast of "Wyrm Talk!"

Job Opportunities in the Wonderful World of Politics!
March 11, 2057
Hoi Chummers, just a quick update on the political situation as the 2057 campaigning starts. With all of the parties having chosen candidates, things are about to get very busy in the shadow community. Campaigning starts on the East Coast, and word is that Boston has already seen some nasty political runs. The Federal District of Columbia, word has it, is ready to explode with shadow ops, mostly in and around Georgetown (gotta love ol' Roz Hernandez and her magocracy files). Of course, with Seattle being home of both Kenneth Brackhaven, the Archcon magnate, as well as the home of Hawkshorne Chemical, the first major victim of Dem candidate Arthur "Green Machine" Vogel, things are likely to get nasty here very soon.
Get ready for some serious dirt searching, photo-surveillance, adviser extractions, campaign plan datasteals, and let us not forget, political wetwork. I understand that elements in both Tir Tairngire and the SSC are more than a little worried about General Yeats and his "Reunification" agenda, so any Amerind or elven Johnsons you meet in the coming weeks should be giving you interesting work.
As always, keep your meat safe and always double-check your information.

-CC out

New heat in the simmering mob fight.

(Note: Cap is a little busy tonight, but I figured this info was important enough to get out. He'll add anything he feels important or correct any discrepancies I missed, so check back later. -Jammer)

As if the confusion about what went down at the Lucky 7 wasn't enough, now it seems that there was some VIP blood spilled over at the Pussycat Club. One of Don O'Malley's high-up go-guys, Daniel "Fancy Dan" Grizetti, got himself cut up, shot, and thrown out the window. Yeah, someone didn't like the guy much, I guess. Anyway, seems like Fancy Dan got messed up so bad that he had to use one of his DocWagon free resucitations. Word is he was straight up flatlined when the HTR team got there.

Anyway, no one really knows yet who did the dirty deed. There are some rumblings that whoever it was has some ties to the yaks. If this is the case, expect that simmer of tension between the two syndicates to be turned up to a boil.

Heads up Sons of Sauron!

Word is in from Washington FDC, the Archconservative Party has officially nominated Seattle business magnate Kenneth Brackhaven for UCAS president. Kenneth is the son of Charles Brackhaven, the founder of Brackhaven Investments, a local Seattle investment and brokerage firm, and after daddy died, little Kenny took over. He's got a first class education, more money than God and Ghost combined and he's got the Republicans in a tizzy because they think he'll swipe a ton of the vote from them. It's also a well known fact that his uncle Karl Brackhaven is the chairman of, and public voice of, the Seattle branch of the Humanis Policlub. Now, there's no evidence that Brackhaven shares the same views, but the Archcons don't exactly lean towards a metahuman rights platform if you follow me. My guess is we're going to see a lot of policlub, action group, and downright terrorist activity here in Rain-City. I mean the fragger lives here, in the city where the Night of Rage started. I'm sure there's work in it for a lot of you, but if you get hired to blow up any buildings, make sure I'm not in them first.

Keep your heads down streetside chummers, we might have a mob war brewing.

Tensions are flaring again in Seattle's underworld. Looks like six young yak soldiers, got fairly toxxed at a yak bar downtown, and headed up to Casino Corner in Everett, which is of course one of Don James O'Malley's best little money makers and a hot target for rival syndicates. The kobun started throwing their weight around, knocking employees and customers about at the Lucky 7, and generally acting like they owned the place. As you can imagine, that didn't sit well with the local familia. About a dozen soldati escorted them outside when three black sedans pulled up, and hosed the mafiosi down with automatic weapons fire. Then things really went Yucatan. Somebody, probably a mafioso, started throwing grenades and the whole place turned into a war zone for about ten minutes before the authorities got involved. Just about the time the Star showed up, a DocWagon HTR team was rotoring in, seems some sindicate boys had coverage. Some wendigo-humping slot opened fire on their whirrly-girly and it crashed head on into the Lucky 7, the resulting fuel explosion set most everyone on fire. The final body count? Sources say ten dead family men, our six drunk yaks, fifteen to twenty civilians and the DocWagon HTR team. Plus the Finnigan family is going to have to spin some pretty fine PR to get the folks back up Casino Corner for a while, not to mention rebuilding half of the Lucky 7. All the rattle that Shadowland is getting puts the players at the following scores:

The Finnigan Family:
Don James "The Hammer" O'Malley: Is doing things quiet, which is, frighteningly, not his usual style. Considering how the Commissione pulled him from forced retirement and inserted him as capo of the Finnigan Family fourteen years ago purely to take Seattle back from the Yaks, and that they forced him to retire in the first place (he was Capo of Milwaukee until '31) was because he badly neglected business in order to make war on the yaks for killing his brother (Brian O'Malley, you will recall, was Capo of Seattle from '26-'30), everyone expects the Hammer to start another war. His standing policy over turf wars with the Yakuza is summed up as "every inch of territory costs a gallon of yak blood". He transformed Seattle's mob from a Yakuza victim to violent and bitter rival. They may be behind the yak as far as biz is concerned, (hell, they have been since the teens) but the Japanese know they can't expand anywhere without paying a horrible price in blood and profits. Since the running mob war of '43, there's been a nice comfortable stalemate between the two syndicates, with the Shotozumi Gumi on top, and the Finnigans snarling at their heels.

The Shotozumi Gumi:
Hanzo Shotozumi, Oyabun of the most powerful Seattle Gumi, is also keeping quiet regarding the mess at Casino Corner. Hanzo is an old-school yak who came in from Chiba and cleaned up after the Schism of '43 that ousted the Koreans and birthed the Seoulpa Rings. The word "inscrutable" may well have been coined to describe this man. He never gives anything away that he doesn't want to. Of course it's a well known fact that gambling and prostitution, two of Casino Corner's main attractions, are the most contested spheres of business between the Yaks and the Mob, and that Hanzo would love to get his hands on that little piece of land. However, reports to Shadowland say that the toxxed kobun who started the whole thing were neophytes fromt he Shigeda Gumi, which owes alliegience to Shotozumi. Whether Hanzo authorized this attack, or Takeo Shigeda is trying to push things into a full blown war is yet to be seen. The Yaks might be cleaning house, or gearing for war in the near future.

The Seoulpa Rings:
Nobody wants trouble for the yak as badly as the remnants of the former Korean lead Gumi that got wiped away in the Schism. These fanatics will do just about anything to cause harm to Shotozumi's operation, and since all of the yak neophytes died in the gun battle, a lot of people are wondering just who was driving those black sedans.

There is definitely something up at Fuchi Seattle. Word is that the explosion at the Trine Matrixware (a Fuchi subsidiary) building downtown might have been an inside job. Regional Director Samantha Villiers (and of course high flying Richard's ex-wife), was apparently whisked away to a panic room inside the Fuchi Industrial Electronics Compound, as her personal security feared for her life. From what I'm getting, either the Trine explosion was meant for her, or it was a distraction while someone (or something) went after Samantha herself. I'm getting all kinds of rumors about this, from the Yamanas and the Nakatomis gearing up for a hostile takeover of Fuchi Americas, to Samantha Villiers accidently fragging of a local dragon somehow. Either way, word is that Miles Lanier himself is flying in on the next semi-ballistic, so if you have any runs against Fuchi in the near future, beware. Fuchi's head of security is a dangerous man.

If any of you shadowfolk were in on the hit, sorry you fragged up, and I hope you have a nice quiet spot in the NAN to hole up in for the next couple of decades.

Things are getting crazy out in DeeCee. With the impeachment proceedings complete and the new election scheduled, looks like all the psychos are climbing out of the woodwork. So far the Republicans are the only major party to officially reveal their candidate, but a whole score of minor parties and policlubs are pushing their own people for the UCAS' top spot.

The scorecard so far:
The Big Three Corporate Stooges:
Republican: General Franklin "One Nation Under God" Yeats.
Democrat: Running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Technocrat: Insider info says they're actually thinking of running VP James Booth on the "I had no idea" platform.

The Crazy People:
Archconservative: So far they've hinted at nominating Seattle's own Kenneth Brackhaven of Brackhaven investments.
Libertarian: As usual, still arguing and threatening to kill each other.
The O.R.C.: has declared that it would back Senator Peter Miller (D-Mass) if he'll accept the nomination.
The New Century Party: A bunch of Technocrats that jumped ship after the impeachment proceedings has hooked up with a bunch of university hermetics to form this group of loonies. They're talking about nominating Dr. Rosalyn Hernandez from Georgetown University.

Anyway, I'll open it up to the forums. If anyone knows of any shadowbiz running around, feel free to post it.

CC out.

Testing, testing...

Shadowland Seattle is back online for 2057. You know the rules, boys and girls. Keep to the topic at hand, keep it civil, and keep it accurate.