Just Compensation | |
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Attribution | |
Author | Robert Charrette |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Roc Books |
Publication date | 1996 |
ISBN | 0-451-45372-7 |
Language | English |
Just Compensation is a Shadowrun novel by Robert Charrette.
Publisher blurb[]
WASHINGTON IS BURNING!
Andy is happy as a shadowrunner wannabe, but when he accidentally gets involved with real runners, the game of Let's Pretend is over. So is his safe corporate life. Andy's half brother, UCAS Army Major Tom Rocquette, has some doubts about what he's involved with too. Why, for example, is he being ordered to mercilessly massacre the Compensation Army, a group that, like him, only seeks justice?
Andy and Tom, along with runners Markowitz and Kit, are finding out things that could put many lives in danger and point to a sinister web of dirty politicians, dishonorable officers, and misused tech and magic--a conspiracy that could dismantle the UCAS government! Can Andy and Tom find enough evidence to prove it--and stop it--before the nation's capital is buried under a heap of bloody corpses...?
Detailed information[]
Detailed plot summary[]
August 2055
Compensation Army is demonstrating in Washington FDC. The federal government promised relocation assistance to individuals forced from the western UCAS by the Treaty of Denver in 2018. Following the secession of the CAS in 2033, the new UCAS government refused to recognize the claims of United States citizens who had lived south of the 38th parallel, or in the Free State of California. The protesters have occupied a number of public locations in Washington for about a year.
Andy Walker is a young corp employee of Telestrian Industries and a rigger. He gets mixed up in a shadowrun, and decides to fake his own death to protect his family from the consequences. He becomes disillusioned with Telestrian and ends becoming a real shadowrunner as the story progresses, joining the team of experienced runners, Markowitz and Kit.
Tom Rocquette, Andy's half-brother, discovers a plot orchestrated by general Trahn aiming to strengthen the UCAS Army by violently escalating unrest in UCAS capital. CAS agents are trying to take advantage of this, as are the corps. With help of Andy and his runner buddies, he exposes the plot to the president, through the corp involvement, as always, remains hidden.
Characters[]
- Andy Walker (aka C-Cubed, C-Three, Cruncher's Cybernetic Cub): human, rigger
- Tom Rocquette: human, military
- Kit: asian human, shaman
- Marksman (Harry Markowitz): human, runner and private detective (has an office)
- Ciquada?
- SpellMan: human street shaman
- general Trahn
- colonel Rita Furlann (Ice Heart)
- president Thomas Steele
- Comp Army leader
Places and locations[]
- Eskimo Nell's, a famous matrix club (NAGtNA, p.96)
- Nell's Basement, the runners hangout
- UCAS military bases at Fort Schwartzkopf and Fort Belvoir
- museums under corp control: Saeder-Krupp Museum of Air & Space Technology
Notes and analysis[]
- Just Compensation opens on 13 August 2055 and runs through 30 August, which means it coincides with the events of Burning Bright (Tom Dowd, 1994).
- When the old United States of America separated into the United Canadian and American States (UCAS) and Confederated American States (CAS), the old state of Virginia split. Most of old Virginia belongs to the CAS, but the region north of the Rappahannock River belongs to the UCAS as the state of North Virginia. West Virginia remained intact and went with the UCAS.
- UCAS army seems to have (had) serious prejudice against metahumans, as numerous individuals were more or less fine with the sentiment that metahumans should be exterminated
- UCAS army seems to be fine with using deadly force on UCAS citizens, particularly metahumans and SINless. War crimes such as execution of prisoners (of UCAS citizens!), while covered up, don't seem to surprise many.
Translations[]
- German: Gerade noch ein Patt
- French: Juste compensation
- Hungarian: Jogos kárpótlás