Into The Frying Pan

The runners are vast asleep after a long day, when their commlinks start incessantly ringing. Then their other devices. Then their doorbells. And then the angry neighbours begin pounding on walls in frustration. When they pick up the call, they are faced by a glitching default avatar which somehow manages to look both apologetic and panicky.
The person apologises for disturbing their sleep and explains they're desperate. They're called Nullpointer and are a pirate Decker. They're part of the Draeckwakers, a neo-anarchist group turned pirate in opposition of corporate oppression, yadi-yadi-ya. Long story short, other pirates robbed the Draeckwakers base while only Nullpointer was present, and they stole a corpslave that was being held for ransom. Now the corpslave needs to be stolen back before the intended trade takes place.

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Name of the Johnson

Metatype

Unknown

Gender

Unknown

Birth Year

Unknown

Awakened/Ware

Unknown

Type

Decker

Personality

Playful

The Draeckwakers used to be a group of neo-anarchists in opposition of pollution by Megacorps. Rather than spiral into typical eco-terrorist warfare, they ended up deciding to make money for the cause instead. So now they're heisting the high seas, stealing from corps and using the profits to sponsor other groups. Several of which are, of course, actual eco-terrorists.
A significant part of the income comes from hostages, ransomed off back to their corp. Most are from Regulus JI and actually are a way for Regulus to covertly sponsor eco-terrorism against their competition. However, now another group of pirates came after the base while only Nullpointer was present, and incredibly distracted by a VR game tournament. Now they need the hostage retrieved before their fellow pirates and Regulus find out.

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The Run

Popular Will has been trying to find new ways to earn money, and a splinter group has turned towards robbing criminals. They managed to find a weak target and are now holing up somewhere in the Toxic Wastelands with their ill-gotten ill-gotten gains. The runners will have to find them and get the hostage back, before they decide to randomly off him to slight Regulus JI.
Fortunately (and unfortunately) for the runners, the inhabitants of the Toxic Wastelands have opinions about outsiders. It shouldn't be hard for them to find people who know where to look, but it will require some effort to convince them to share said info. Once broadcasts are made about the intent to execute a Regulus employee, however, they become more forthcoming.

Johnson

Nullpointer

Job Type

Extraction(?)

Opposition

Pirates

Base Rewards

¥8,000
6 Karma

Word on the street

"I'm so, so, so sorry but I really need your help! I've fucked up and I need you to get me out of this drek! I swear it will be worth your while."

"Yeah, so, I was on a kill streak and uh, missed the alarms. Next thing I know, I go grab a snack and find out the prisoner is gone!"

"Now looky here, outsider, normally I'd tell you to frag yerself, but I be hearing that you're after those popiejopie folks and I dun like 'em one spit, ya hear?"

"Oh thank god you kidnapped me. Those guys were nuts! They were discussing how best to dismember me! Please get me back to the pirates, that's much safer than here."

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The Complications

Popular Will is known in the shadows for their anti-magic, which still functions despite the whole 'Magic stopped to exist for a bit and now it's acting wonky' thingy. They use that to hold back the toxic paracritters around their base. It also is well-fortified and full of boobytraps, on account of them having stolen the place from a group of preppers.
And of course the clock is ticking. If the runners don't get to the hostage fast, the terrorists might end up executing him on account of hating his corp. And the mere broadcasted threat already has drawn the attention of Regulus hitsquads, so the runners must get him out fast, before he dies when Regulus botches an extraction.

The Aftermath

Assuming the runners got their target out in time, all is well in the world. Regulus is pissed at Popular Will, so puts some extra jobs out against them. Meanwhile, the Draeckwakers get their money, which helps put out some runs against Proteus, targeting the supply chain of their Arcoblocks. As for Nullpointer, they get berated by their coworkers, but forgiveness is just a proper apology away.
As for the runners, maybe they feel weird for the role they played, but even the 'rescued' employee thanked them for it. Piracy ransoms are just the cost of doing business, so he was perfectly happy with returning into a secure situation. And shortly after, Regulus asks them as security on yet another 'prisoner' trade.