Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

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Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:01 am

The following forum thread will be used to post some information about the Renraku Corporation. It will later be used to toss around ideas for our campaign setting and shared player input. Please do not post until I have finished with the initial setup of Renraku Corp. Thank you!
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:03 am

Renraku Corp
To those in the know, the following words are enough to make your heart feel like a chunk of black slush: “Things have been kind of quiet in Renraku lately.” We know that quiet in Renraku does not mean they've decided to just be content with the profits they rake in hand over fist and adopt a live-and-let live philosophy. Instead, it means they're working on a series of plans that will disrupt the shape of the world as soon as they are unleashed. So get ready.

Some of the plans Renraku is working on have to do with exploiting weaknesses in the other corps. Renraku executives believe that the Ares Excalibur fiasco gives them an opportunity to make a major move in the weapons market, and they believe they have the engineering talent that can help them make a strong move. Peter Trellis is supposed to be one of their rising stars, and he has some designs that Renraku plans to produce through Terracotta Armaments. Renraku PR personnel are already working on ads that will reference the Excalibur as many times as possible.

> One of the moves Ares has tried in the wake of the Excalibur problems is accusing its rivals of sabotaging what they say should have been a perfectly workable design. Renraku is one corporation they have been pointing to, but so far few people are buying into this argument.
> Mr. Bonds
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:11 am

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Renraku Computer Systems
Corporate Slogan: “Today's Solutions to Tomorrow's Problems”
Corporate Court Ranking (2072): #5
Corporate Status: AAA, Public Corporation
World Headquarters: Chiba, Japan
CEO: Inazo Aneki (Honorary)
President: Surin Supachai

Major Divisions and Notable Associated Subsidiaries (as of 2072):
• Renraku America: Adams-Westlake Mediaworks, Architectural Dynamics, Armada Personnel, GloBank, Champion Financial, FactFiles, Festival Foods, Hypersense, Iris Firmware, Najima Securities
• Renraku Asia: Fuchi Corporate Services, Ganbare Aerospace, Shin Chou Kyogo, Terracotta Armaments, Ultimax, Underwater Living, Wakatta Software, Xiao Technologies
• Renraku Australia: Australian Development Corporation, Australian Institute of Magical Research, Baird Communications, Genecraft, Harland & Wolff Nautical Designs, Rees Arcana
• Renraku Europa: Blohm & Voss GmbH, Eurosoft, EuroFact, Ferrarius Medical, Gaz-Niki, Izom Armaments, Securitech International, Tetradyne Matrix Systems

Public Services: Australian Telecom Services (Telstra)
Governing Involvements: Manhattan Consortium Member (New York), Sydney Metropolitan Council (Australia), Cairns Metropolitan Council (Australia), Economic Advisor of the Emperor and Japanese Diet (Japan)
Last edited by Eanwulf on Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:53 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:11 am

The Renraku Doctrine
Posted by: Otaku-Zuku


The first time I understood ubiquity was at a bar in Guayaquil, Ecuador. I'd been hired by a small shipping conglomerate to investigate some anomalies in their network security. They believed it to be an end user problem, so I spent most of my time mixing with the locals, hoping to stumble upon the right connections to find out who was leaking data. The strangest aspect of this city was that in street dives like this, the locals were using Aztech platforms but running Renraku software. Posing as a freelance systems engineer, I shared what I'd noticed with the bartender. He leaned in close and whispered, “You will find that people who have choices tend to make the right ones.”

It was at that moment that I began making my notes for this document. I have always taken Renraku seriously as a corporation. Their words carry weight, and they've always had a lot to say about how the Matrix operates. The AAA rated corp is a founding member of the corporate council and part of the Japanacorp block. However, Renraku has always been just that—a corporation, a job, an opponent, a label. But here at the edge of Amazonia a groundswell of support had blossomed like roses in the desert. Renraku, by accident or aspiration, came to represent a sector of disgruntled Ecuadorians seeking better personal opportunities. To the proletariat, Renraku meant freedom, so Renraku was everywhere.

You see, on the surface megacorporations represent a simpler, cheaper way to do business. The very idea of a megacorp is to gain control of the distribution chains of multiple products from concept to delivery, thus ensuring the end user receives the lowest price and the highest level of interoperability between devices. This is what compels individuals to support them. Corporations are the friendly automaton delivering news vids and hot soycaf to your door daily for only 25¥ a month. Only corporations are not autonomous machines. They are living, breathing entities commanded by people with agendas. Those corporate agendas represent serious political influence, especially in places like Aztlan or Japan where the emperor has tea with corporate leadership, giving their words as much weight as those of his closest advisors. This is why I am sharing my findings with you. It is important to understand Renraku in order to gauge just what they are whispering in our emperor's ear. From those mutterings spring motivations that every technomancer, every AI, and—most importantly to this audience—every shadowrunner needs to understand.
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:13 am

The 100-Year Plan
Renraku's recent history brings to mind the story of Icarus (the Greek one, not the JackPoint one). Like other Japanacorps from Evo to Yakashima, and even the nation of Japan itself, Renraku has been operating off of a well-developed script meant to position the corporation as the leader in its chosen market. This plan, dubbed the 100-year plan, was based upon the theory that Renraku could continue producing groundbreaking Matrix technologies each and every quarter and use those tech profits to bankroll their expansion into other fields such as biotechnology.

As chronicled in Herkimer's A Corporate History, the plan worked to perfection for two decades. Renraku soared to the top of the corporate world. In 2059 they finally flew too close to the sun, inadvertently triggering the birth of the AI Deus inside their revolutionary Seattle Arcology PLTG. Deus quickly assumed control of the Arcology, forcing a lockdown that led to the deaths of hundreds of people and creating a PR nightmare for the corporation. Renraku, which had been the world technology leader up to that point, stumbled after the Arcology debacle. The Crash made matters quite worse. The corporation lost its number one footing in the tech sector and found that Japan was embracing a “New Way” of thinking that made room for metahumanity and reform. Renraku still had the Emperor's ear, but not to the extent it once did. To make matters worse, hometown rivals Evo and Mitsuhama were quickly gaining control of the Japanacorp block. When the mega slipped to number three in Matrix technology, good old-fashioned Japanese shame set in. At the 2067 third-quarter board meeting, corporate president Harry Nakada committed seppuku. The act was a powerful statement, and soon after it Chairman Watanabe stepped down, handing the seat to longstanding board member Shikei Nakatomi. The old corporate butcher ushered in a devastating round of firings. The only division managers to survive the culling were Karl Stadt of Renraku Europa and Surin Supachai of Renraku Asia, who found himself promoted to president.

> Nakada was named president after the company retired the position of CEO. On the books, Inazo Aneki is still listed as CEO, but it's an honorary title. In fact, Inazo Aneki disappeared into Tibet in 2060 courtesy of a seal he inherited from Dunkehlzahn. He was declared legally dead in '65 and Renraku officially retired his position soon after. The president of the corporation performs many of the day-today duties the CEO would, but the real power rests with the board, and specifically with Nakatomi.
> Mr. Bonds

> Back in '68 I was hired to insert a Renraku mage into a remote village just outside of the Tibetan border. We reached the village in the late afternoon. Everyone was gathered in the center of town watching a group of monks put together a Dul-tson-kyil-khor painting. I swear one of those monks was a dead ringer for Aneki. The mage I was transporting thought so too. He turned sheet-white the moment he saw him. We left before I could find out more. The mage suddenly seemed in all sorts of a hurry to get out of there.
> Ma'fan

> Aneki didn't have children, so when he “died” half of his nine percent stake in the company went to the Buddhist priesthood, as indicated by his will. I'm not one to accuse the priesthood of being politically motivated, but I'm sure that stake is at least partially responsible for their vocal support of Renraku.
> Goat Foot

> Speculation's fun and all, but Aneki's dead. Stone dead. I should know.
> Netcat


Whereas Renraku in the ‘60s was led by a woman and was taking baby steps toward social modernity, the new leadership is cut from Chairman Nakatomi's imperialist mold. All of the new hires have some connection to Japanese fundamentalism. Foremost among them is Kaori Eto, who was hired to lead Renraku Asia. Eto comes with political clout. His family helped establish the anti-meta policies that have plagued Japan over the last fifty years. Eto and his ilk represent a return to historical/traditional Japanese cultural values. That shift is what sparked my conversation in Guayaquil.

> Stadt and Supachai survived thanks to their divisions posting gains during the tough years. Renraku Asia led the way in data-storage collecting contracts throughout Japan and Southeast Asia. Supachai became known as a deal maker. His team got clients where no one else could. That might have been what won him the presidency. Stadt is a biotech trailblazer. His division has made more leaps and bounds over the past half-decade than Renraku has in the field over their entire history.
> Mr. Bonds

> And he did it by stealing top talent from up-and-coming corporations. Usually corps will try to buy out smaller firms to gain access to their talent. Stadt doesn't bother going through the trouble. He steals what he needs and leaves what he doesn't.
> Cosmo

> Stadt's Johnsons use a mix of assets to pull off the jobs. While they have access to the Red Ninja, Renraku Europa prefers to use deniable assets for this type of work. Usually the Vory are first in line for this type of biz, but lately RE has been going away from syndicate assets and giving runners more repeat business.
> Red Anya
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:15 am

Rebooting the Core Business
In the years following the Crash, Shikei Nakatomi established a new doctrine based around the premise that everyone's life would be better if they could turn to Renraku for all of their basic needs. The mega set out to establish a powerbase in every global market that affected the day-to-day lives of its consumers, starting with the basic data that marks each of us as an individual. Bolstered by national management contracts secured throughout Africa and South America, Renraku took a firm grasp of the data management industry, confirming Renraku as the world's largest data repository. At the time of this post, Renraku technology runs the SIN database for no less than 102 independent countries.

> Over the half the countries in the world? That can't be accurate.
> Snopes

> Actually, Snopes, it's a low-ball figure. Otaku-Zuku is working off the public records. He isn't including the ten or fifteen countries that are running Renraku systems they acquired secondhand. Not to mention the number of AA-rated and below corps that use Renraku information management tools.
> Mr. Bonds


Nakatomi's experience paved the way for the company's success. The savvy economist survived the fall of Fuchi. He believed that company fell in part due to the inability to diversify far enough. Diversity is central to the megacorporate economic model, and Nakatomi responded to that by rebranding the corporation, not around the production of any specific service or item, but instead branding the corporation around an idea. By the ‘70s Renraku became known for producing everything from complex financial algorithms to underwear, all of it labeled and branded with imperialist Japanese ideology. Renraku has a subsidiary in virtually every market in the free-market economy. They are still best known, however, for data management, industrial electronics, and, if you can believe it, household appliances.

> Nakatomi also blames Villiers for the fall of Fuchi—something that brought great shame to his family, so you better believe his company is out to get NeoNET no matter what the cost.
> Kia


Renraku had been a company primarily known for information technology. Its subsidiaries were seen as separate entities wholly owned by Renraku and not as part of a larger Renraku family. In Seattle, the Renraku brand had quietly faded into the shadows while its subsidiaries continued to thrive. This changed with Nakatomi. Subsidiaries of Renraku became children of the megacorporation subject to the rules and culture of the father. Surprisingly, this shift in corporate culture sparked recent gains. The key to success? Interoperability. When Renraku sells its services they're not just offering storage space, a superior piece of construction equipment, or even a better toaster. They are providing one-stop shopping networks designed to connect desire to opportunity. Suppose you want to construct an office building. Renraku can provide everything from real estate to construction equipment to financing, all the way to security services to protect what you have built. The same applies to their revolutionary information networks. Renraku SIN services are linked with criminal, historical, and medical data—all gathered through Renraku subsidiaries—to provide a full spectrum image of the individual with the SIN. The services themselves aren't revolutionary, but the way they are put to use is. Each user is provided with their full battery of records as well as data on their historical relevance to the community. In Guayaquil that meant that Lucia could access her records and learn about where her family has been over the last 100 years, her medical likelihood for certain diseases, what politicians best represent her moral and political views, even access a skills and personality assessment that can help place her in the job for which she is best suited. All of these programs come pre-built with elaborate sim tutorials showing how to follow the model of Renraku's corporate culture in using information to help you fulfill your personal destiny. Renraku is teaching its customers to synthesize their historical information to direct their future.

This is the new face of Renraku.

The locals I met in Guayaquil shopped at Festival Foods, they kept their money in GloBank and wore off-the-rack fashions from Renraku clothiers. They weren't interested in Renraku because the products are better. They were interested in the ideology Renraku represented. Call it the legacy of sociologist and honorary CEO Inazo Aneki. Call it the happy by-product of a company whose overarching purpose is to structure a new reality based entirely around Renraku products. For disillusioned Ecuadorians looking to escape from the lies and propaganda that have surrounded their nation's politics since its inception, samurai sensibility and a clear view of their own personal history, as interpreted by Renraku technology, were all that was needed to empower them to make the right choices.

> I heard from a techno once who ran against a Renraku grid in Liberia. A Johnson hired him to switch up some of the assigned value codes to convince voters that his candidate was the one who should be voted into office. The leading candidate was tough on crime, and the powers behind the run figured manipulating the vote was a cheaper solution than overthrowing the government. The only way to change the info was to hit the source, and it took a full team to crash the place. The good news was that Renraku had only sold the management system—they weren't operating it, so there was only local security to worry about. Doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of lead flying around, though.
> Netcat

> Data runs have been en vogue as of late, especially when it comes to Renraku. The company is fond of hiring unsuspecting runners to test their system security. If you pull it off you'll find yourself in line for a long interrogation. Renraku isn't willing to let any security vulnerabilities remain exposed for long.
> Pistons

> Sounds like you speak from experience, Pistons.
> Baka Dabora


The fact is Renraku's unfettered access to their clients' information provides a means to market their products and ideals. Just like Horizon works the corporate message into your local tridcast or NeoNET sculpts your AR grid in a way to further promote themselves, this Japanacorp is providing data solutions with a side of Renraku. So, what exactly was it that the corporation was disseminating to all of those people in Guayaquil? The Bushido code, custom tailored to represent the Ecuadorian people. The company has held fast to the samurai philosophy, representative of the old-style Japanese culture of hard work, honor, and respect, and transmitted these values to a generation of ideologists hungry for something to believe in. Despite all the controversy and setbacks, people still believe in what Renraku stands for. This fact alone makes the organization more dangerous than any standing government.

> There are two types of data that the company works with. Controlled data, like SIN numbers, police records, and the like, are controlled from secured access points. Runners hired to get at that sort of data need to physically break into a location with a host terminal in order to make off with the goods. Uncontrolled data is the truly interesting stuff. This includes tags and other information, which users can attribute to other users. For example, if I don't like the way a restaurant treats its customers I can throw up a review flag in AR outside the restaurant. Renraku servers also store that sort of data, and since it is user manipulated it's easier to get into.
> Clockwork
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:25 am

Samurai Sensibility
Renraku is a zaibatsu that is owned by a cabal of families, none of whom own more than ten percent of the organization. Many of the familiar faces, however, have passed on over the last decade, and a new generation leads the company now. They are a reflection of a world that has moved forward. While their tactics and politics drastically differ from those who came before, this new crop of leaders still strives to represent the purest elements of the samurai code. Honor and respect remain staples of the corporate culture, as is knowing history. This is where Renraku has been able to best connect with consumers. All company marketing points toward an awareness of one's personal history and place in the world. Each sarariman is given a role they can be proud to fulfill. Additionally, faith has become fashionable in Renraku as of late. Where past administrations have refused the inclusion of the Kami and Buddhists, Renraku now sponsors a Budhhist faith tridcast, The Practice of Zen, starring the immensely popular Yoshiharu Horio. By making the connection between the religious and the corporate, Renraku has convinced some consumers that their cause is a higher one, and thus worthy of buying into. These principles, along with dedication, have come to be known as the five tenets of Renraku. Honor, respect, dedication, knowledge, and faith are the areas every prospective employee is quizzed about prior to hiring. If you meet the five criteria you may have a future within the Renraku corporate system.

> So long as you're not a metahuman. There are no metahumans past the rank of junior executive assistant anywhere in the corporation. Meanwhile Evo has an ork and a free spirit running the company. Renraku calls what they are doing “holding on to the old ways.” In plain terms it's racial purity, and it comes from Yakuza principles as opposed to the Bushido code. Ideals like that still have a home, especially in places like Guayaquil where the great metahuman melting pot that is Amazonia is only a short jog away.
> Mihoshi Oni

> I farmed out some work for Renraku a year ago investigating a Hisato-Turner employee. They wanted to be sure that the subject fit into their corporate culture before deciding to extract her. It turns out she didn't meet their standards, but she was too valuable to be allowed to continue at HTB. So I was asked to put together a team that could do the wetwork instead.
> Yankee


The samurai corporate culture filters upwards to the highest levels of the corporation. When Harry Nakada took his own life, the move was met with so much support that his son, Botan, and daughter, Junko, received immediate promotions within their respective divisions. This culture is also held responsible for Renraku's stunning lack of progress in the field of magic. Save for recent acquisitions by the Australasia division and certain elements within the security force, Renraku doesn't have a magical research arm to speak of.

> Renraku has never fully embraced the Awakening. Some even believe that magical aptitude is linked to goblinization, and if you have magical abilities your children have a higher likelihood of sprouting tusks. Others feel that magic is a passing fad with little long-term benefits. They cite Ehran's cycle of worlds theory to suggest that magic will fade in time while technology will endure.
> Goat Foot

> All this philosophy means crap when it comes to security. Renraku knows the bad guys use magic, so they make sure they're well equipped to deal with it. They have a great deal of manatech supplied by Rees Arcana. Still, you're bound to see a mage or more likely a shaman on a top flight Red Samurai squad. That Awakened soldier, however, will never be the one in charge.
> Winterhawk
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:48 am

Corporate Divisions
Renraku is split geographically, with divisions spread across the continents. Each of the division directors sits on the board of directors alongside the chief operating officer, the company president, chief financial officer, chief compliance officer, and chief security officer. These regions operate based on the directions of Shikei Nakatomi. However, the day-to-day operations are very different across the board. I pulled some information from the TransUnion Intercorp archives and posted it here to give us a starting point for our discussion. I hope local operators will chime in and tell us what's really happening on the ground.
Director: Orito Sasaki
Headquarters: Manhattan, New York (UCAS)

Renraku America governs the company's operations in North and South America. Though notorious for the troubles in its former Seattle HQ, Renraku America is best known in the business world for its FactFiles operation, which handles common apps such as GridGuide, as well as regional search engines SeaSource, QuickSearch, and, Factfinder. This division was hardest hit by the Crash, and their staggering losses prompted other companies to make a run on several subsidiaries. Most notable is the recent failed hostile takeover of Adams-Westlake Mediaworks by media giant Horizon Corp.

The division is managed by MIT&T Business School Graduate Orito Sasaki. A relative unknown in the business world, Sasaki relies on a corps of advisors pulled from the highest ranks of local subsidiaries. Sasaki is a data-driven director who rarely makes a decision without gathering as much research as possible. That “educated answer” attitude has helped him gain allies in the Manhattan Consortium.

The division's workload is split evenly towards advanced research projects and consumer industries such as foods, banking and investments, real estate, construction, software, cyberware, data engines, as well as personal and network security. Regarding research, Renraku America is focused on data management, software and robotics advancements. Though former Director Huang has been arrested (and possibly is deceased), his team of scientists—commonly held to be responsible for the Arcology Shutdown—is rumored to be working on more emergent technologies similar to what was witnessed at the Renraku Arcology in Seattle. This time it is believed they are working on tech that can capture, transfer, and store biological memories.

> Downloading into human brains is how Deus escaped in the first place. It was only a matter of time before Renraku seized upon how the AI did it and patented the process.
> FastJack

> Over the last few months I've been pulling a steady income pulling kidnap jobs for a Johnson. The guy had a list of names—everyday wageslaves—of people he wanted me to snatch off the streets and deliver. Don't ask questions, right? So, I get near the end of the list and I start to recognize some of the names, and then I start to ask questions. It turns out that all of them were involved in Arcology Shutdown. They were all trapped inside when the doors closed. I decided right then that it was time to stop asking questions.
> Hard Exit
Director: Kaori Eto
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan

Renraku's spotlight division is also the heart of its data research and data management operations. Where Renraku America holds title to the glamorous search engines, Asia has once again become the home of Renraku's largest research initiatives. RA has research facilities throughout greater Asia. The research arm mainly focuses on data stream management, data structures, and algorithms. Wakatta Software has long been the spotlight subsidiary in terms of research, though Ganbare Aerospace has been gaining notoriety with its involvement in Renraku's space program as well as developing advanced satellite circuitry. Corporations such as Ganbare and Underwater Living have been working closely with researchers to develop harsh environment habitats that also serve as automated data repositories accessible through the Matrix.

Along with regaining their footing as a world leader in information technology, Renraku researchers have been breaking new ground in social research. Through subsidiaries such as Shin Chou Kyogo, Renraku historians have been transcribing ancient texts from villages all over Asia in an effort to create a compete record of human history in what they are calling “The Learning Project.” While the corporation's efforts have been seen by some as a gimmick to generate a larger consumer base, Renraku has been supplying these underdeveloped, and sometimes feral, towns free access to their virtual academies in exchange for their historical records. Presently the project is limited to Asia and South America, but negotiations are underway in several African nations as well as in Australia and parts of the UCAS.

> Renraku's Network Academy software is a sore point for Horizon, which launched its own virtual academy only to see their product outshined by Renraku's release a month later. Since then the two have been squaring off in a PR battle that's sure to spill into the shadows.
> Sunshine

> A runner I know asked me along on a surveillance gig in Middle of Nowhere, Yakut. The terrain was so harsh that it took us two weeks to get to the site by snowmobile. After the first week my hands and feet were nearly frostbitten. Worse than that, network signals were hard to find. There was no civilization—no Matrix access—for days on end. We finally stumbled upon the facility, and the signal from that place lit up our commlinks like it was New Year's Day. They even had a dedicated satellite uplink to connect them to the rest of the world. There wasn't much we could find in their system without being detected, but two things were clear: This was a Renraku facility, and the satlink was feeding a massive amount of data into a server running a very complex search query using algorithms I can't crack. It's obvious they're looking for something, but what is anyone's guess.
> Red Anya


The division's director of research, Tadahiro Mori, was acquired from Yokugawa in late 2070. While he adjusted to his new surroundings, the division relied heavily on Botan Nakada of Renraku China and Zaini Ong of Renraku Malaysia to hold research operations together. Nakada and Ong are considered stars of the corporation. Ong was considered to be a front-runner for the Directorship before the Eto appointment. Most experts agree that Ong lost out because the conservative board was unwilling to put a female in charge of their crown jewel division.

> Director of Research Tadahiro Mori was a contemporary of Dr. Sherman Huang, though of the two Mori is considered the conservative. Mori was actually allowed to defect to Yokugawa nearly two decades ago because he wouldn't push the boundaries of the science. When Huang became public enemy number one, Mori's more conservative approach started to look attractive. That's led to some speculation that Mori was a Renraku plant all along.
> Clockwork

> Mori's extraction back to Renraku was messy. Red Ninja managed to save his three children, but his wife and grandmother were killed. Mori was devastated by the loss, and has since vowed revenge on the Yokugawa Corporation.
> Mika

> There's plenty of stories going around about Renraku botching extractions. It's a strategy based on old Yakuza protection tactics. A family member gets killed and the extractee realizes that he can't go back. Even better, they hold their former employer responsible for the death and work that much harder for their new employer.
> Mihoshi Oni


RA is also home to some of the last remnants of the Fuchi Corporation. Fuchi Corporate Services, known as FCS Investments today, is a top-tier financial company that lists private citizens and governments among its investors. FCS is considered a pet project of company chairman Shikei Nakatomi, whose grandfather helped to form Fuchi corp.

> Less known is the massive weapons operations scattered throughout the region. Terracotta Armaments is the largest weapons supplier in Asia, both through legal means and on the black market. Anything TA makes that isn't sold before a newer model hits the shelves winds up in the hands of black marketeers like Kahmtay Phomvihane, the butcher of Laos. General Phomvihane and others like him turn around and sell those weapons to syndicates and gangs throughout the region.
> Black Mamba

> Not surprisingly, Terracotta weapons have been trickling in to the UCAS, smuggled by pirates to Japanese-controlled ports in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York, Houston, and Quebec. These guns, rockets, and missiles are coming in through different ports, but once they hit American soil they're loaded into transports by Dogmen and quietly shipped out to the same place—the NAN territories. So far I've only heard about a handful of weapons actually sold on the street or placed in the hands of syndicate groups like Haida terrorists. I'm starting to get the feeling that someone is stockpiling weapons.
> Rigger X
Director: Noriko Sakai
Headquarters: Sydney, Australia

The legendary Lucy Don is known for being an upstart, but nothing surprised the corporate world more than when she announced her retirement and practically forced the corporation to accept Noriko Sakai as her replacement. Sakai, like Don, is a powerful female voice in a male-dominated corporation. She has a long history of doing the job her way, which played a role in her being passed over for the Renraku Asia directorship by her father-in-law, Shikei Nakatomi when Surin Supachai was given the position years ago.

> I heard that Don was forced out. Shikei Nakatomi has long questioned her friendship with Samantha Villiers of NeoNET. Nakatomi holds the Villiers family personally responsible for the destruction of his grandfather's corporation. Over the years he has been weeding out anyone associated with that bit of history.
> Mihoshi Oni

> Nakatomi got word that Don was going to sell off her stake in the company to the highest bidder. So, he did what any good chairman would do. He put out a kill order. Her security was ordered to stand down while Red Ninja were dispatched to carry out the work. When they arrived at her compound they were met and repelled by a squad of —I shit you not— ves dressed in blue samurai armor. The next day Lucy Don held a virtual conference with the board and read her list of demands.
> Riser

> Lucy Don put on quite a show for the board. In the years before her retirement Don quietly gobbled up a seven percent stake in the corporation. She explained that she was planning to sell her shares outright to Samantha Villiers unless the company accepted her recommendation to name Noriko Sakai as her successor. Don closed the deal by agreeing to keep a four percent stake in the company and selling the rest to Noriko Sakai, giving her successor a six percent stake in the corp.
> Mr. Bonds

> Lucy Don dumped her earnings into a research startup fund out of Malaysia called Asli Biotech, which is working on advanced medicines with the supposed help of Awakened naga.
> Ecotope


As a result of the influences of these two dynamic women, Renraku Australasia is at times only loosely connected with the rest of Renraku. Australasia is the only division with a focus on magical research. The company recently purchased Rees Arcana and is the primary financier for the publicly run Australian Institute of Magical Research. The research tends to focus on agricultural improvements, for which Renraku Australasia is known. The division is also designing manatech applications for personal and paramilitary uses.

> There's some pretty spooky stuff coming out of there. I heard about something called mage-flak, which explodes over a battlefield and rains down a biological agent designed to disrupt a mage's line of sight. If the mage gets too close, the agent sticks to him, causing all sorts of problems.
> Winterhawk


Surprisingly, Renraku Australasia has been working with Telestrian Industries on a joint research project in the Australian Outback. The project, dubbed FarSight, is designed to create advanced technological applications to simulate the effects of magic and vice versa. The partnership was born out of a meeting between Noriko Sakai and a Telestrian VP named Orin Butterfield. Despite the massive amount of nuyen dumped into the project, nothing marketable has been produced thus far.

> People are asking questions about FarSight, starting with why are these two companies who historically despise each other working together? Moreover, why is it taking place so far off in the Outback? What exactly is Telestrian's role? What relationship does this have with the dreamwalk? No answers have been forthcoming.
> Snopes

> I wonder if the Tír relationship has anything to do with those blue samurai Riser was talking about.
> Baka Dabora

> I'd say they make strange bedfellows, but I could see where they would get along. Renraku, in fact Japanese culture in general, has always been fascinated with the Tír. There are parallels between how the elves and the Japanese behave culturally. Both believe in a hard-working, dedicated society built around social and religious idealism. Both believe in purity, though neither believes the other to be a pure race. On a political note, both Telestrian and Renraku share corporate enemies. According to Sun Tzu, that's as good a reason as any to make nice.
> Traveler Jones


Renraku has always been seen as relatively weak in terms of magical understanding/prowess. Since taking over as head of Australasia, however, Noriko Sakai has held several meetings with the great dragon Ryumyo. The content of these sessions remains a secret, but there are indications that Sakai is trying to purchase some items or information from the dragon.
Director: Karl Stadt
Headquarters: Munich, Bavarian Free State

Renraku Europa resembles a mashup of the larger Asia and America divisions. Caught between the two geographically, RE attempts to cover some of the same operations as both, but does so for a very sophisticated European audience. Notably, the subsidiaries most referenced by RE are Securitech International, purveyors of fine security garments, and Blohm & Voss GmbH, a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old corporation widely associated with the finest moments in German history.

> Blohm & Voss blossomed during WWII when it first formed business dealings with the Japanese. There isn't any evidence to suggest that the corporation had Nazi backing, but you'd be a fool to assume otherwise. Renraku acquired the corporation in '29 and made it the cornerstone of their European division. Karl Stadt started as a line manager at Blohm & Voss and worked his way up the chain.
> Mr. Bonds


RE operates in that long shadow cast by Saeder-Krupp, a fact that Renraku has grown to accept, but division director Karl Stadt has not. Instead of battling the industry giant head-on, RE has downplayed the products and services that overlap with S-K, instead focusing on areas of strength. The corporation has madea name for itself in Renraku's trademark data management sector. RE is also known throughout the region as a major biotechnology provider. Renraku—as well as their startup, Ferrarius Medical, which is gaining notoriety throughout Spain and Italy—manages many of the four- and five-star private clinics.

> Biotech is definitely the new battleground in the longstanding war between Stadt and S-K. Stadt has always believed himself to be the dragon's equal in corporate savvy. Every time S-K establishes dominance in a European market, Stadt switches gears and makes a breakthrough in some other market. In time, S-K reestablishes itself in the market where Renraku is starting to shine. On and on the cat-and-mouse game goes.
> M-Sider


RE is also home to Renraku Africa, a largely altruistic offshoot of the corporation that operates under the paradigm of a non-profit. Renraku Africa provides network and data services throughout Africa and parts of the volatile Middle East at cost. Only a select few African nations have responded to the offer thus far.

> Altruism isn't in the corporate lexicon. The nations receiving these services are required to sign a lengthy and private contract, which no one I know has been able to get a hold of. You can bet that Renraku is getting more out of this than good PR.
> Mr. Bonds

> I just found out that Renraku's subsidiary Gaz-Niki has been doing a lot of digging around those cities they're supposed to be helping out with a data connection. Could be they're looking for natural resources.
> Traveler Jones

> Nothing makes more money than war. With so much volatility in the region, we're getting more and more calls to do “peacekeeping” missions all over Africa. Everywhere we're deployed I've noticed the increased presence of Izom Armaments. That subsidiary has been making a lot of money in Africa ever since Renraku went altruistic in the Third World.
> Picador
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Eanwulf
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:50 am

Five Things You Need to Know about Renraku
To take a page from Renraku's corporate mantra, knowledge is power. Renraku is a big corporation, and it has its hands in so much dirt that it was impossible for me to sort it all out alone. I called in some friends to help me build a list of the top five information items that are crucial to know if you plan on dealing with Renraku. These are ranked based on what I found to be most important.
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Re: Shadowrun 4E: House of the Rising Son

Post by Eanwulf » Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:51 am

5. Mr. Satou is Mr. Johnson
Posted by: Janus

A lot of shadowrunners I know have taken to referring to Renraku Johnsons as Mr. Satou. The joke comes from the fact that the surname is easily the most popular one in Japan, and when it comes to getting jobs in Japan, it's usually Renraku doing the hiring. But there's another level to that moniker. It is important to know who the Renraku Johnsons are, because your so-called shadowrun might actually be a job interview. Renraku prefers to have its top runners on exclusive retainer. This way they know you will be available when needed, and it helps the corporation know how to find you if you pull a job against them. These “digger” runs, as they're known, are usually real operations against Renraku facilities that do not know you are coming. It is an opportunity to make a name in the corporation. It is also a chance for Renraku to test its own security elements. After several test runs, you will be assigned an operations attaché. This new person is usually someone other than the Mr. Satou who recruited you.

> Not every Renraku run is a job interview of course, but Janus' point of being aware is well stated. Be aware of this too, just because Renraku puts you on retainer and tells you not to pull any action for anybody else, it doesn't mean you're a member of the corporation. Should you get caught on a mission, or even if another corporation realizes you've gone exclusive, Renraku will cut you loose like a kite in the wind.
> Kia

> There are perks to being on retainer with a corporation. Renraku runners have access to top-flight black clinics, experimental weapons, nova-hot software, cutting-edge nanotech—everything the modern runner wants. If the job calls for special equipment, the corp outfits you with it, and you can consider the tech your payment if you survive.
> Black Mamba
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