The Flying Yakuza

The runners quickly get to work scanning the alley for clues. Cypher locates a CCTV camera hidden in a niche. The hacker begins jacking into the camera when a rustling from the dumpster below brings the party to high alert. Guns are drawn, and a command to come out slowly is issued. The intruder is a local vagrant named Mistletoe - a veteran of the Old Japantown streets who readily admits to seeing the altercation in the alley. In thanks, Shadow treats the vagrants to the nearby noodle bar. Cypher continues cracking the camera, and Doug gathers a sample of the epoxy from the Yakuza trap using an improvised saw. Mistletoe and crew detail the events of the attack: a reinforced Takeshi Motors sedan was navigating the alley's bend when the car suddenly came the sound of four sharp pops, and the car was immobilized. Four figures descended from the roofs above, one of which jammed a canister into the rear window, flooding the car with a noxious gas. The trapped gangsters within struggled to open the doors, but one of the assassins seemed to be in the vehicle's onboard computer, locking them in. When the passengers became too weak to resist, the package was taken and the occupants left to expire. However, the largest of the doomed Yakuza had just enough fight to force the canister out and struggled for breath until medivacs arrived. The survivor was now likely being treated at Fuji Memorial Hospital. As Mistletoe was concluding his recounting of the assault, a group of local Tygerclaw thugs were passing through the alley. The Tygerclaws were none too happy about the passengers in their alley and demanded a toll. Realizing time was of the essence, Shadow returned to his companions and deployed a smoke bomb, allowing the runners to make a clean escape. Now at Fuji Memorial Hospital, Doug calls in a favor with his former Dr. Allen to get the room number. Dr. Allen hesitantly provides them with the gangster's room number, which is under armed guard. The runners begin bargaining with the doctor to see if they can be given some time alone with Kingfisher. During this conversation Doug slips away from the group and heads up to Kingfisher's room. By the time Doug's companions have noticed he was gone Doug has been arrested by the gangster's police escort. With no backup to detain Doug, the officer leaves the room unguarded to take Doug to a room for holding. The runners wake Kingfisher, and after assuring him they're not there to keep him quiet, he agrees to speak when Shadow uses his Yakuza creds to guarantee his safety. Kingfisher reveals that this was indeed an inside job perpetrated by the Fuagawa clan. The conversation is interrupted by a band of Yakuza toughs who also take advantage of the open-door policy. These goons are here to silence Kingfisher, and they demand the runners step aside or be silenced along with the invalid. A brawl ensues, which ends with Shadow and Balor chucking a handful of the intruders out the window and onto an ambulance below. The officer and Doug return to the room shortly after the scuffle. The runners allow the officer to magnanimously take credit for dispatching the would-be assassins in exchange for pretending they were never there... Now the runners debrief and consider their next moves as they navigate this web of Yakuza treachery...