Now, Run [The Dream is Over | 1st Place @ Danish Nationals]

Now, Run | Hania Rani

[Not affiliated with NSG Lore, this is pure fanfic]

There was a murderer on the boat.

Nyusha cursed her fate under her breath, air evaporating in the arctic cold. It was supposed to be an easy mark, a job like any other. Her nominal scouting had suggested nothing otherwise, classic exfiltration of assets somewhere beyond the liminal space of public and private. In truth, the simple task proved infinitely more complex than anticipated, the corporate secrets more securely protected than the single-layer encryption had suggested. It was a gunshot that alerted her to the precariousness of her situation, followed by a red treacle that diffused into the dark waters in the shape of what had until a few moments ago been a man.

There’s no time for this, she thought to herself. Indeed, no time at all. Her stealth suite was compromised by the corporations antimalware system, which, to add insult to injury, also continuously rebooted the company’s defenses, requiring a complete re-adaption of her cybernetic implants to match suit.

Any moment now, the window opened by the shift change would close. She imagined a similarly grim fate would meet her briskly should she be discovered…2 minutes, at best. The seconds ran down as she held her breath - she’d found something she could pass to her employer, sure, but would it be enough? There’s no time - her optic implant alerted her to the imminent arrival of someone, past her peripheral vision.

[an aural noise - a crash, an explosion]

The boat shook. The figure turned in hectic hurry. Her access succeeded - albeit sparser than hoped for, it would assuage any would be corporate rival - it would simply have to suffice. She looked down into the depths - once again, not the cleanest solution, but her custom-made suit would insulate somewhat against the bonechilling cold. One more breath, and then - darkness enveloped her.

As she swam to the shore, she looked back once more. The massive transport freighter was set ablaze, the air filled with smoke, sirens blaring, it was in the process of keeling over. Then, as if a million hands grabbed it from underneath, some nocturnal force dragged it under, to the bottom of the sea.

She shook off the terror, and swam to the safety of the shore.

Been a while, but playing other’s lists I didn’t get to do a proper Worlds Writeup, so I figured I might as well begin writing. I took this list to Danish Nationals, along with an AGInfusion list I hope to post shortly, I had a pretty good nationals run this season, winning 5 in a row is nice, but more than that was all the lovely people I got to meet across my travels, and this event was no exception.

On the day of arrival @Bridgeman lost his keys, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it meant we spent time with his adorable extended family in Malmö. There’s something about being in Sweden that makes me irrationally happy, maybe it’s nostalgic memories of my time in the Auroric north and my falling in love with Hot Chocolate…it’s hard to say.

Performance wise I wanted to play something I loved, rather than liked, and while I’ve always been a mercenary runner-side there’s something about playing Crim that deeply appeals to me in our game of netrunner, particularly the dynamics of Criminal and Jinteki, Honor and Profit, the acquisition of information as a resource pitted against the masters of deception. As rivalist @JackMade pointed out, you don’t get to play this without taking risk, and true mastery is achived when those risks are well calculated. To be honest, I didn’t really expect to make the cut after he swept me in the final round of swiss, but a swingy overall last round meant that I had somehow made it in, and while I contemplated dropping from the cut, I figured my decks were busted (especially my corp), and thus, why not, I may as well play and see what happens.

We know now Sable is pretty good, but at the time this was still quite contested - it was also one of the last opportunities to play DreamNet in Sable. Alas, the Dream is now over, but I am glad that it happened.

Thank you to everyone I met. You make me very happy to be part of this amazing, blossoming community. Special thanks to Erin aka @Chouxflower for inspiring me to believe in Sable after she soundly defeated my AGInfusion list with her in the run-up to the event.

Yours,

Jinsei

Blue Eyes Forever | Charlotte OC