Click, Click, Click, Click, Click, BANG

behemoth01 43

Meet Leela Patel: Trained Pragmatist.

Leela doesn't like wasting time. But she's got a problem: today's corporations like wasting time for her.

What's a runner to do when she's just trying to earn a (dis)honest buck from megacorporations following philosophies like Replicating Perfection, or locking their agendas in regions like Heinlein?

Leela's heard the talk: "oh, just make sure you've got a super-efficient run so you don't need to waste time all that often!"

She's seen the underworld sellers hawking Faerie and Cerberus "Cuj.0" H3 as "all you need to get the job done"; and she's seen enough runners locked out, permanently, to know that's a lie. And that's not counting the dearly departed souls who decided that they didn't need to break that last Neural Katana…

No. Leela's plan is simple: they take time? She makes time.

She picked up a couple of Autoscripters on the cheap; bought some Cache to make some cash; and lined up Aesop's Pawnshop as a supplier for the back end.

(Sometimes Aesop's a bit slow to act, but then she reminds him about the Hostage. She never said she was a saint.)

She's heard of runners who are afraid of running three-piece rigs, but it's not like any of those goods aren't pretty bloody useful on their own, either. She's a pragmatist, y'know?

But that doesn't mean she's not got a sense of humour. She runs Savoir-faire, after all.

No, wait, where are you going? Hear me out.

With Savoir-faire, Cache lets Leela run a five-click turn provided she has three credits on the board when she starts. And at the start of next turn? She sells her empty Cache to Aesop's Pawnshop, who, I don't know, breaks it down for parts? The less asked about that guy, the better.

And yeah, sometimes Savoir-faire isn't all that useful. Except, of course, for the fact that when she's got an Autoscripter out, she can install it for free – click and cash free – and then get three credits from Aesop at the start of the next turn.

All of which nets her a nice little cushion of cash from which to build her empire. In this respect, her rig is pretty similar to others you may have heard of her using. Security Testing and Desperado net her three credits per click per turn until the corp ices up everything; her connection with Kati Jones gets her more cash still (and she's not afraid to take Hostages to get Kati's attention); and she'll make her Sure Gambles, air her Dirty Laundry and Account Siphon some… accounts.

That cash hoard – plus her innate ability to bounce ice back into hand – lets her run the breakers she's most comfortable with. Peacock, Ninja, and a nice hint of anarch with Corroder. They're not cool, but they'll get her where she needs to go. And they'll let her do it more than once. Have you ever seen a runner with a Faerie staring down a Yagura? It's not pretty.

So yeah. Waste Leela's time. She'll just make more.

3 comments
24 Apr 2015 umchoyka

Great write up :). I was a bit disappointed when I looked at the deck name and didn't see Unregistered S&W '35 in the list, though ;)

24 Apr 2015 tonybluehose

I was waiting to see that too! Unregistered S&W '35 will one day find a place in decks that want to blow holes in things.

24 Apr 2015 behemoth01

Somehow I feel that if Leela installed Unregistered S&W '35, the only time it would ever see use is when she sold it to Aesop for a 2-credit profit at the beginning of the next turn. I may be wrong!