| The Moria Miners Ahh, the dwarves hate it when I draw references to their fantasy counterparts, but in this instance they fit the bill right down to the 5% tip. There is a group of enterprising folks, probably half of them being halfers (bad joke), who purchase or acquire run down buildings at the edge of the FTZ. Then, using a variety of mechanical and magical means, they make a tunnel from the basements of these buildings, under the border, to another building, shed, storm drain or some other place they can conceal the tunnel, long term. The group, known only as Diggerz, is pretty well funded and organized. The tunnels they make generally last for several months, sometimes longer, before the security people of one of the nations gets wind of what's going on. They're pretty small generally, an ork will have trouble getting through, and a troll will have to seek other ways across the border. The tunnels are so small because of the myriad of pipes and tunnels underground, hitting one of these would be very bad for business. Tunnel collapses are pretty rare, but are known to happen depending on what's going on in the tunnel, and sometimes what's going on above ground. Large explosions tend to disturb the tunnels, even at a reasonable distance, and Diggerz does not take responsibility for being buried alive. |
| Tunnel Rats The best way into Pueblo, if you can find it, is the Derek Smith section of the Denver-Colorado Springs subway system. Never heard of it? Think Denver's never had a subway system? You'd be absolutely right, and doing a matrix search on the thing is going to net you next to nothing. However, if you know who to ask... The Smiths are a gang of smugglers and ne'er-do-wells who make the majority of their money supplying black and shadow markets on both sides of the Pueblo-FTZ border. They don't much like outsiders, and it took me a while to find them to speak to one of their higher-ups (and a promise not to write too many details), but what I found out warmed my heart with feelings of admiration for my fellow criminal. The Smiths are a gang who inhabit a section of a subway system that was proposed, way back in the early 1900's. The project was stopped, and the tunnels and access ways closed up, but it seems one of a previously surface-dwelling gang discovered the 800m long, small, circular subway tunnel and the rest is history. Actually, the rest isn't, really. Pueblo's fanatical about its border protection, and the gang knows this. They've got some matrix friends (I'm not sure, but I've heard they have links to one of those weird magic otaku tribe) and who have been slowly, over the years, erasing all reference on the matrix to this section of subway. The Smiths are very paranoid about who uses their tunnel,. though, so its not likely wandering up and dropping my name is going to get you in, or ever get acknowledgement the tunnel is there. The passage of rites for the gang members is pretty grueling...it ensures the made members truly do want to be there, and they're quite loyal. Especially considering Hitop (the man I was speaking to) thinks that their little operation probably nets them around the 7 figure mark annually...they can move some of the bigger things through here without worrying about radar and sniffer dogs. |
| Who Dares Wins One of the last ways I'll be looking into getting across borders here is probably the craziest, but done right it can work quite well. Trying to get through the checkpoints themselves can be quite difficult, and it pays to have a man(or woman) on the border point in question who is under your thumb, or on the take. It may seem cruel, but blackmailing border officials can be effective, if somewhat short term. Making buddies is a little more permanent but it can be a dangerous undertaking as you try to push the boundaries of your said friendship. Getting through without a SIN isn't so hard, but getting illegal stuff through the checkpoints can be quite difficult, depending on the class of item you're trying to bring through. Also, if the heat's on, you're going to find that your friend on the checkpoint isn't going to be as willing to stick his neck out, for a wanted and dangerous criminal. So keep this in mind, and its probably best that if you're using this method often, get a bolt hole on the other side so you don't have to keep carrying your gear back and forth, straining your border official friend's sensibilities. So I hope that gives you enterprising Denver shadow runners some ideas in getting around. You probably already know a few of the ways to move about in Treaty City, and that's all well and good, but a good shadowrunner who plans to wok in Denver and live long'll have more than one escape route planned, and this involves getting dirty, doing some library work and greasing some palms. But the extra effort can be worth it, the place is hopping with employment opportunities...if you don't mind working for the governments, anyway. |
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| Having then chatted to a few parachunter types I know (big shout out to Randall Flagg, here, thanks for the info), these "Mole People" are a gang of Ghouls who have, in time, moved to inhabit the older sewers and are somewhat stationary. They move camps, but rarely venture more than 15 miles from their territory's centre-point. Why do these get a mention? Well, the odd thing about these Ghouls is that, like many in africa, a large percentage of these ghouls have their intelligence mostly intact. The gang numbers (so i'm told) somewhere between 15 and 30 ghouls, and in the dark, stinky recesses of the sewer mazes, they're quite content, popping up to eat a homeless person or perhaps a border jumper every now and then. |
| I've heard rumours that a suprisingly large amount of these Mole People are (or technically, were) originally Aztlan Sector inhabitants. What this says, I'm unsure, but it might be worth checking out the link. |