262: Grandmaster of Mars

ENTRY 262: Grandmaster of Mars

“I will not fight a fair fight. I will not meet you on your ground. You will come to meet me. You will be weakened, your every advantage taken away. You will be beaten before I deliver the killing blow, before you ever know I have entered the arena, before you are aware that you have stepped into the arena...and this is the way of the ninja.”
- Koga Jun, Grandmaster of Mars (dramatic recreation)

“If I defeat my opponent with a tactical nuclear strike, then my opponent is defeated. That is the way and the goal of ninjutsu. Mastery of Martian Ninjutsu is the realization of your goal with efficiency as well as efficacy, to kill or disable with minimal effort. Stun weapons, for example, are legal, effective, and widely available in many habitats; once your opponent is helpless it is a simple matter to destroy them.”

- Koga Jun, An Introduction to Martian Ninjutsu

Among the Rusters, Koga Jun is a legend, the self-proclaimed Immortal Grandmaster of Mars, one of the new breed of ninja, who has successfully defended that claim in hundreds of battles, many of which are available for viewing on the Mesh. The Grandmaster runs a chain of dojos in the Martian habitats, teaching the basics of self-defense, offensive martial arts, and Mars-based survival skills, along with a brutal and practical philosophy. These are two carefully constructed images, the legendary master and the crass commercialist, both serve Koga Jun’s purpose of hiding in plain sight—the gullible believe he is a peerless warrior, while the cynical and trained think he is simply a businessman using that aura to extort cred and favors from his disciples.

In truth, Koga Jun is one of the deadliest assassins in the Solar system. In addition to his “prime” morph, Koga Jun possesses at least thirty nearly-identical clones which he can loads forks of his ego. This is his technological equivalent of the classic “conservation of ninjutsu” principle by sending out the clone-ninjas as a group after targets—if any of his clones die or are disabled, their egos automatically merge with the remaining clones, transferring what they have learned of their opponents, including any wounds or weaknesses; the surviving clone-ninjas then adjust their skillware sets and tactical considerations accordingly. Sometimes, this even gives Jun sufficient forewarning to prepare special implanted weapons before engaging his foes.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
18	22	20	30	20	28	26	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
10	3	52	8	104	65	13	75

Morph: Fury

Skills: Academics: Anthropology (Martial Arts) 35, Academics: Anatomy (Stress Points) 30, Art: Body Arrangement 25, Beam Weapons 25, Blades 26, Climbing 66, Clubs 26, Deception 25, Demolitions (Smoke Bombs) 25, Fray 40, Free Fall 36, Gunnery 24, Impersonation 25, Infiltration 26, Infosec 35,  Interests: Martial Arts Associations 46, Interests: Military Organizations 45, Interests: Paramilitary Groups 43, Interests: Security Organizations 45, Interfacing 23, Kinetic Weapons 25, Language: Native Japanese 80, Language: English 75, Language: Cantonese 56, Language: Mandarin 60, Negotiation 35, Networking: Autonomists 20, Networking: Criminals 35, Perception: 30, Profession: Assassin 40, Psychosurgery (Merging) 80, Unarmed Combat (Subdual) 30

Implants: Adrenal Boost, Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Bioweave (Light), Circadian Regulation, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Mass Ego Bridge*, Eidetic Memory, Emotional Dampers*, Endocrine Control*, Enhanced Hearing**, Enhanced Smell**, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, Mnemonic Augmentation, Multiple Personalities, Neurachem (Level 2), Skillware, Toxin Filters

Traits: Ambidextrous, Edited Memories***, Pain Tolerance (Level 2), Tough (Level 3)****

* Variant of the Ego Bridge augmentation; when one of the Grandmaster morphs dies or is disabled, the ego in the cortical stack automatically begins to merge with the forks in the surviving Grandmaster morphs, starting with the secondary ego from the Multiple Personalities augmentation

** These implants are only present in the “prime” Grandmaster of Mars morph

*** This trait is only present on non-“prime” Grandmaster of Mars morphs

**** This trait is only present on the “prime” Grandmaster of Mars morph

Using the Grandmaster of Mars

Koga Jun is a nice end boss for an adventure that probably begins with someone in black pajamas trying to kill the PCs (or a nearby NPC). While a competent-if-not-awe-inspiring NPC in a straight-up fight, the Grandmaster of Mars never intends to engage in a fight he doesn’t think he can win, and never engages head-on. If the PCs try to take him on unarmed, he’s likely to shoot them in the kneecap from cover and then dig out a white phosphorous grenade. When his own skills won’t cut it, he’ll retreat along a known (and trap-strewn) path to re-arm and to change his skillware to deal with the threat; he uses his clone-ninjas to wear the PCs down and figure out where their weaknesses are.

That said, the “Immortal Grandmaster of Mars” isn’t perfect, and the PCs can certainly beat him at his own game, if they’re a) just that damn good/pretty, b) willing to think outside the box, and/or c) willing to play dirtier than he is. When all is said and done, killing or defeating Koga Jun should be difficult but far from impossible (especially if you block his escape tunnel)…but can the PCs ever be sure that this is the real Koga Jun, and not just another clone?

146: Innata Jayne

ENTRY 146: Innata Jayne

“The problem with anarchy is that it works. Most communities are unconscious things, the agreements and structures and people that hold it up are invisible, unseen; people move about their lives with no awareness of the structure of things, who they depend on, who depends on them. But anarchist communities are conscious. There is no taken for granted, there is no invisible framework. What people want and need, they need to interact with other people to get it. Make arrangements, treaties, fuck, say please, whatever it takes. Saying please is very important. Some people forget that.”

- Innata, Course Notes to Anarchy for the Masses 201

Just because there are no rules does not mean that there are no consequences. Anarchist communities thrive on the dynamic between self-reliance and interdependence; if no one worked together then the lifecycle of an anarchist habitat would be measured in repair cycles. For a lot of anarchists, this means that they become invested in the community, checking on the air filters and making small unscheduled repairs and making sure maintenance is done correctly because if they don’t do it, there is no saying whether anyone else will. Rep systems help considerably, providing both immediate and quantifiable results to the rest of the community about what an individual is doing. Some of the anarchists with the highest reps aren’t the founder-philosophers or artists, but the plumbers, the hydroponics farmers, and the technicians that keep things running—not because they were told to do it, or scheduled to do it, but because they know how to do it and want to make sure it gets done, for their benefit as much as anyone else’s.

Then there’s the other end of the rep spectrum: loafers, thieves, welchers, double-dealers usually, murderers and rapists at worst. They’re the takers of the system, economic parasites who don’t contribute to anarchist society. Old-fashioned societies would remove them from circulation, have the police put them in prison or the court system, make them somebody else’s problem. Anarchists don’t have police, but they also tend to frown on mob justice. Instead, they tend to rely on specialist mediators like Innata—one part social worker, one part bounty hunter, a massive bear of a woman with a preference for thick, hand-knit sweaters.

Innata doesn’t work for free or out of the goodness of her heart, but she does perform a valuable community service by keeping tabs and making relationships with the lowest-rep members of anarchist communities. Sometimes she lectures, sometimes she mothers, sometimes she breaks their teeth. Any that present a clear and present danger to others she kills. This she does without backup, without authority; if she bites off more than she can handle, there is no one to save her from a beatdown or worse. Anarchists tend to be ambivalent about her at best; the more enlightened recognize her function, but most see her as a self-elected cop on a power trip, but that doesn’t stop them from hiring her when they get ripped off or beaten up, or some asshole decides to defecate in the air filters.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
15	20	14	23	20	26	21	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
7	2	42	8	84	65	13	75

Morph: Fury

Skills: Academics: Anthropology 55, Academics: Philosophy (Anarchist) 70, Art: Knitting 50, Beam Weapons 75, Blades 66, Clubs 66, Deception 55, Demolitions 25, Fray 66, Free Fall 60, Gunnery 44, Impersonation 55, Infiltration 66, Infosec 55,  Interests: Anarchist Politics 66, Interfacing 40, Kinetic Weapons 50, Language: Native Persian 80, Language: English 75, Language: French 44, Language: Russian 60, Negotiation 65, Networking: Autonomists 80, Networking: Criminals 55, Perception: 70, Profession: Social Worker 77, Profession: Enforcer 66, Spray Weapons 55, Unarmed Combat (Subdual)70

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Bioweave (Light), Circadian Regulation, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Eidetic Memory, Enhanced Vision, Medichines, Neurachem (Level 1), Toxin Filters

Traits: Addiction (Painkillers, Minor), Brave, Danger Sense, Neural Damage (neuropathy), Pain Tolerance (Level 2), Tough (Level 3)

Using Innata

Innata is not a cop, she’s a social worker with an attitude and a set of sap gloves. The difference is important: there are no rules and regulations for her to follow, no default script to refer to. Still, Innata understands that most non-anarchists don’t get the subtleties of what she does, and if it helps them out she’ll play the lone marshal or the bounty hunter or the concerned public servant to make their lives easier. Her prime concern are the seedier parts of anarchist habitats, and that’s where the PCs are likely to find her if they need to. As a contact or an ally, Innata is happy to exchange favors for favors—she can always use backup when forcing a dangerous “client” into rehab or delivering a beating and lecture. Innata will only be the character’s enemy if they get a bad rep with an anarchist faction; and even then she’ll probably try to talk to them into making reparations before resorting to violence.