Thanks to Twister, James, Peter, Ed and everyone else who sent me mail for their encouragement ^_^
 
Many thanks to for prereading and much C&C
Chris Plaice
Stargazer
Richard Drysdale
Jussi Nikander (Creative consultant for drunken gaggles of giggling kawaii!)
 
 
 

Inspired by a story by Darren Steffler (Twister)
Bubblegum Crisis and related characters are all (c) Artmic, Inc., & Youmex, Inc
Fenris & Angua created by Me  :)
The 'Real' Angua created by Terry Pratchett, may his pen never get blunt
Lieutenant Go Buranto and Officer Kira Midori on vacation from GRIT with the kind permission of Scott K. Jamison - majks@cyberx.com
Prime Reference (after the OVAs themselves) The Bubblegum Crisis Role Playing Game by Ral Talasorian
Also many thanks to everyone who encouraged me to continue. You know who you are.. ^_^

Reality Engine used : Shadowrun(FASA)/BGC RPG (Ral Talasorian)
(ie, used to define what is and is not possible.. not having any _personal_ experience with automatic weapons, magic or hardsuits.)
 
 
 
 

NOTES:
This story was inspired by Darren Steffler's Twisted Path cycle, and started by looking at tying up a few loose ends and took on a life of it's own. Rather than putting myself in, I've based this story on my Shadowrun character, Fenris, a Wolf totem Shaman and full time Weirdness Magnet.  He is the most experienced character in the campaign, sole survivor of the initial group of characters.  He is an initiate, and has a small amount of cyberwear.

Having an established paradigm for magic, with checks and balances helps provide structure for the story.

 Say hello to the nice people Fenris
 "Hello to the nice people fenris " (Toothy grin)
 Walked right into that one didn't I
 "I'm afraid so"  (Even toothier grin)

Description : Mid 20s, Black hair, long usually in a ponytail.  Height 6', Weight 74kg, Eyes Yellow with funny looking irises that reflect light in the dark, usually concealed with coloured contacts, slightly enlarged canines.  "All the better to bite  you with my dear..."

He has a few 'odd' abilities from origin : Heightened physical senses : night sight, albeit black and white only, very good hearing which extends to ultrasound range, and sense of smell, usually not good enough for tracking, but can recognise people from scent, tell if someone has handled objects recently, get an idea of emotional state etc.  He is very good with animals and can communicate with them, at least on an empathic level. (We have been using something similar to the edges/flaws system that appeared recently in the Shadowrun Companion for several years.) On the down side, in common with other wolf shamans, he has a tendency to go berserk when wounded,  and has no memory of his past before four years ago.

His cyberwear consists of Flare compensation for his eyes, Audio dampers for his ears  (Both make living in a city much more comfortable for him, now if only he could get a nose damper....) electronic magnifiers for vision (basically built in binoculars... and telescopic sight... and he can lipread...), Smartgun II link, an eyes up targeting system  which also allows mental control of properly equipped weapons, a datajack linked to 80 megapulses of headwear memory with a datasoft link, that allows him to load data and a limited range of skillsofts  (mainly languages and knowledge skills) Unfortunately, this is not hardware or software compatible with BGC universe computers, and hand razors, a retractable set of 30mm carbon fibre blades implanted under the fingernails which he then enchanted as weapon foci (Grin).  All the cyberwear is Beta customised for lower essence impact and more difficult detection

Magically he is an initiate, level 4 at the time of this story, with an allied spirit (Angua).  He knows a wide variety of spells (fireball, invisibility, healing, detect truth (The infamous Pinnochio spell) etc), some designed by himself, and  has quickened several different enchantments on himself to increase his speed, reaction time, perception and will, and the Jump spell (He could have done flight, but jump requires less concentration to use, and is lower signature,  besides it's COOL.  Most of his spells require line of sight, either direct, or via a mirror (CCTV need not apply...) which makes the electronic magnifiers pretty handy.

Equipment :
The bike started life as a stock Harley Scorpion and is reinforced and souped up to just below the point where it'd blow up, quietened down so that at moderate speeds most of the noise is tyre squeal (although there is a PA system which mimic's engine noise...)  enough armour to bounce rifle calibre fire front and back,  computer enhanced drive by wire handling and autopilot, and a SIGNIFICANT quantity of electronics, including a 'borrowed' milspec ECM suite, sensors, and an altogether excessive security system.  It also mounts a pop-up vindicator minigun  turret with 1000 rds in the front fairing, a 24 cell IR smoke discharger, 12 cell knock out gas discharger, and a grenade launcher loaded with fragmentation and heavy sniper rifle at the back, boresighted aft.  It is suspected of being a refugee from Car Wars, not particularly practical, but it's FUN!  There are three panniers which are packed with gear of various sorts.

Personal equipment
Guns Guns Guns : light pistol, heavy pistol, gel gun loaded with knock-out drugs, a submachine gun,  assault rifle with grenade launcher, and a Wather 2000 sniper rifle (not a 50cal, it wouldn't fit).

The SMG and assault rifle are fitted with a gadget he calls a smart surpressor : can open vents to give some recoil compensation, or close them to act as a surpressor,  along with knives, gloves with macroplast knuckles, forearm guards etc... not all at once however, he'd clank when he walked and probably fall over..

Given some of the paranormal creatures Fenris knows of that are only permanently hurt by silver or magic, his custom ammo usually has a silver component.

He usually wears a skinsuit reinforced with many small ceramic laminate plates that will fit under most clothes unobtrusively which gives moderate ballistic and impact protection .  This is supplemented when 'working' with an armoured jacket, styled as a motorcycle jacket with lots of pockets, and sometimes a helmet, which also incorporates a comm link, gas mask, heads up display and voice mask.   He doesn't like it much, stuffs up peripheral vision, hearing and smell.  Street ware is usually a lined coat (Kevlar lined...)

His 'working clothes' are a set of BDU's, UCAS commando issue, with a thermal damping layer that can bleed through enough heat to match ambient, and dump the rest to a port at the small of the back, usually fitted with a chemical chill can. (approx 2 hrs life dependant on ambient temp and level of activity)  He has thermal sleeves for rifles and SMGs that serve the same purpose.

He has a wide variety of equipment stashed in pockets, pouches and on his 'bat belt', either blued metal, or plastic coated to reduce noise and glint.

The sword is a powerful weapon focus, and has a number of enchantments, including a variant TK spell which causes it to come when called, the ability to morph down to the size of a small knife usually a Sykes-Fairburn, and a flame effect, highly focused at the edge rather than all over the place, calling attention to itself.  He calls it Fang.

Skills :
While not as good as the average street samurai,  he usually hits what he aims at with a gun, and when he gets time to aim and use his magnifiers he is capable of pinpoint accuracy.   He is highly skilled in hand to hand combat, armed or unarmed  although his technique is a bit rough, his speed and strength make up for it.  His enhanced speed  means he acts and reacts 3 to 4 times faster than human normal.

He is very good at quick and dirty battle magic, and adequate at conjuring and banishing spirits.   He knows how to work the streets, spot a tail or cop and find connections.  If he didn't he'd be dead or in prison by now.  He is a surprisingly good singer, useful for ritual magic and centering himself for particularly difficult spells.  He is good at sneaking around, camouflage and survival skills, has enough technical skill to maintain his equipment and bypass security systems and knows a little about computing, picked up from his Decker comrade Soldier-of-Fortran.

From the Shadowrun II rules, page 122

Wolf totem Shamans
"Characteristics: Wolf is the hunter and warrior.  He is brother to all his pack, and fiercely loyal to his mate and cubs.  As the ancient saying goes, Wolf wins every fight but the last, and in that one, he dies."

"Disadvantages : A wolf shaman is loyal to his friends and family until death.  Nothing can make him betray those bonds.  Nor will he ever show cowardice.  When a wolf shaman extends his protection to another or otherwise accepts a responsibility, nothing can make him betray that bond.  Wolf can, however, go berserk as a Bear does."

Not showing _cowardice_ does not mean he's into 'Charge of the Light Brigade' heroics.  He's quite willing to withdraw, regroup and have another go later if necessary.  He'd only go to the wire for close friends or kin.

"To be a shaman, one must have a totem.  To the shaman, the totem is an ideal to be emulated.  Coyote has his way, as does Bear.   Both are animal images representing an outlook and a way of life"...."The life of the shaman evokes the totem.  Unlike a hermetic mage, a shaman cannot even temporarily cast aside the accoutrements of the chosen way without risking the totem's anger.  The totem is the way of life. Life is the way of the totem. "  SR II P119

Overall :
While he has significantly less raw power than, say Darlene Stephanson, what he has he knows how to use well.  He has a flexible repertoire of spells, a lot of combat experience, knows how to operate in a city's black economy and make his own contacts and has a variety of equipment.