Runners
Thankyou aka Eckhard Roberts
Ro Tain
Ortega
and introducing: Aemon Burst
with a special guest appearance by: Sutun, The Pillar of Ankara

Arriving back in Hamburg, the team gets the lowdown on the latest Jackpoint job from Sem-par and Barnaby “Wombat” Rudd, who have been investigating Ted McNicholson, looking for a weakpoint in his routines and schedule. They give the team his next week of meetings, as well as floorplan to his office and overhead views of his house and estate, and details on his security convoy. The team decides to hire some additional muscle, expecting this to be a combat run, and hire a gunslinger and close combat expert who come recommended by Serge “Castiron” Merkel.

Tobias Cheney also pays them for the GeMiTo job, and tells them that the 3 survivors are now membes in good standing of the Exchange. As a starting gift, he warns them that they have warrants out in the UCAS, seemingly originating in military intelligence, but now widespread to law enforcement agencies around the country. They figure this is fallout from the Istanbul snafu. JP arranges for transports in and out of LA via a plane and a submersible.

They decide to hit TM while he’s convoying home for the night, and set up an ambush. They call Sonora and hire some Ancients to steal them the 3 vehicles they need. It takes a few nights for timing/location/etc to work out, and they end up putting his guards on alert, but they manage to pull it off on their fourth attempt. They ram the lead car with a dumptruck (rigged by TY), destroying both. Sutun leaps from the back, and smashes the window out, soaking the gunfire from inside, and ko-ing 2 of the 3 ork bodyguards (the other retreats). Blanket jamming suddenly shuts down their comms.

Meanwhile, a van that TY is driving gets in range of the tail car (after Aemon confirms via assensing that TM is in the center car), and Ortega and Ro each drop a missile from a stinger onto the center car, also destroying it. The 3rd car pulls up, 2 trolls get out, and TM is loaded in by 2 more trolls, along with his primary bodyguard, who seems to have taken only minor damage. Sutun intercepts this car as it tries to speed away, and gets in a hand-to-hand fight on the hood with the human adept guard. The remaining ork and the 2 trolls on the ground exchange fire with the van team.

Sutun gets seriously injured by the adept, but the adept is killed by focussed bursts from Aemon and Ortega. Ro and Ortega grenade the remaining car, preventing it from reaching the gated community in which TM lives. They then grenade TM and the trolls as they try to haul him free, shredding TM, and ko’ing Sutun. They exchange further fire with the ork and trolls as they tactically retreat, hauling what looks to be TM’s headware with them (apparently realizing that anything more was hopeless). Aemon shoots guns out of 2 of their hands, demoralizing them. The team’s van is fucked, so TY has the switch car drive up to meet them (not ideal, as police drones are en route if not on-site already), and they flee, retrieving the ko’d Sutun.

Due to some skillful driving by TY, they evade pursuit, and reach the smuggler’s sub in the appointed window and make good their escape (for now). They have no idea how Horizon will respond- apparently TM was brought in from Mars after running their shadow ops division there, to head a “special projects” divison dedicated to runner outreach. Apparently there is some dissension in the corp about his methods, as he did not always use the official Horizon consensus models to make some of his decisions. A controversial but powerful figure, so the team awaits news on how the mega will respond to his assassination, hoping that leaving most of his guards alive (though often grievously injured) will send the right message.

They get paid decently, healed up, and Ortega and Ro gain provisional access to Jackpoint. They hear of work in Lagos, Seattle, and Portland/Tir Taingire, and have to decide where to go next- rent is due again in a week.