[Longshot23]

The fiction piece in Street Legends is, so far, the only place where Soaring-Owl's falling out with Ares is given any air-time (so to speak). It's unclear - all right, probably deliberately - how much actual info is loose in the shadows, intel agencies, what-have-you.

This is probably a stupid question, but is there going to be follow-ups of some kind?  Adventures, further setting exposure (Damien Knight summoned to the Corporate Court to 'please explain'), multiple encounters of Ares personnel with the insect-based augmentations?

This has been implied to be a Big Thing, yet releases since Street Legends have done little more than re-hash the fact of Soaring-Owl's exit from Ares.

[Black]

I guess, so far at least, its only rumours that Ares... Unless its now official?

I vaguely remember reading something which had an attack of Soaring-Owl in Denver by Ant Spirits, but I cant quiet place it...  A recent book...

[Mirikon]

Well, Street Legends is the only place they've given it direct air time, but it was hinted at before then. Even back in some of the 3rd edition books, there were posts on Shadowland that Ares had at least one Queen supposedly under control, and was using it to make 'augmented' guard dogs and the like.

Since Street Legends, while Soaring Owl doesn't make a direct appearance himself, the "Ares is a Hive" situation has been discussed several times. Spy Games and Conspiracy Theories, in particular address this.

I would say that this is one of those things that there's going to be hints and foreshadowing, until all at once something breaks loose, like Bug City.

[Nath]

The chapter on Ares experiments on bugs in Threats 2 means the first informations leaked on Shadowland as early as July 2062. At that time, there are no evidence of anything else than the use of inhabited dogs for security. Obviously, there are people who guess Ares will jump to human testing and that they'll loose control eventually, if not already.

However, maybe Ares was savvy enough to pause or scale down the operation for a few years. Rumors come and go.

[Sengir]

This is probably a stupid question, but is there going to be follow-ups of some kind?  Adventures, further setting exposure (Damien Knight summoned to the Corporate Court to 'please explain'), multiple encounters of Ares personnel with the insect-based augmentations?

From the upcoming releases:

Sacrificial Limb: Boardroom Backstabs 2 (Adventure)
 In 2072, Roger Soaring Owl, CEO of Knight Errant, resigned.

In 2073, Roger Soaring Owl was attacked on the streets of Denver. Witnesses were not clear on just what attacked him, but most say it was meaner, stronger, and faster than any metahuman.

Now it’s 2074. It’s time to find out what Roger Soaring Owl learned.

Corporate machinations don’t get any meaner than this. Rivals of the megacorporation are certain it’s hiding some dark secrets, and they’re willing to spend significant nuyen to uncover this information. Runners are going to have to infiltrate an Ares subsidiary and gain the corporation’s trust if they want to discover the secret—and if they do, they will have to find a way to survive with what they have learned.

Sacrificial Limb is the second in the Boardroom Backstabs series of adventures for Shadowrun. It has plot information, NPC details, player handouts, and everything needed to throw players into the depths of corporate espionage, digging for the paydata the megacorps want to keep hidden.

There also have been several small hints over the course of time...for example Augmentation casually lists a certain Theresa Montgomery as the new boss of Ares' MedTech division, which has since made some breakthroughs in cybermancy.

[Wakshaani]

Soaring Owl is part of the Sioux military right now, but I don't think his official position/rank have been detailed. Probably not TOO high, since people are afraid of being "Lenier'd" by Knight, like Fuchi was by Villers.

[Mirikon]

There also have been several small hints over the course of time...for example Augmentation casually lists a certain Theresa Montgomery as the new boss of Ares' MedTech division, which has since made some breakthroughs in cybermancy.

Oh drek. I never made that connection until now.

For those of you that don't know, Theresa Montgomery was Dirk Montgomery's sister. She went to the Universal Brotherhood and is a confirmed bug. Don't know what kind, but definite bug.

[Sengir]

When they first tried to get her it was a wasp hive, fair to assume that the second (successful) attempt was made by the same spirit. The same kind which the "Ares Bugs" probably are.

And if you think about it, Cybermancy is a lot like possession magic: The subject's "spirit" is made to inhabit his own body...

[Black]

Would be a good cover as well.  People would expect that subjects to exhibt the tell tell signs of spirit possession... As long as it was a flesh form, it would be hard to tell the difference.  Also, all that cyberware combined with the benefits of a possessing spirit... hmmm... TPK.

That is a nice hint of things to come, so carefully placed in one of the first books released for 4th ed.  Makes me think that this storyline has been in the pipes for sometime (well, I guess since Threats 2 at least) and hopefully when it comes to a head.. its going to be epic!

Ares Bugs are probably behind the theft of the Corporate Council football, and who knows what else.  Oh, and a Bug killed Hestiby's number two in order to start the Dragon conflict, And what if followers of blood magic and the insect spirits teamed up?  Its the Bugs I tell you!  The BUGS!

Oh... would Mr Knight ever actually choose to work as an ally with the bugs if it would give him the edge he needs in an awakened world?  That's the biggest twist to come...

[Wolfboy]

i would say he would, but he has to be convinced that he's the one in control or he'll pull the plug on the whole prodject and flush it down the tubes i promise you.

[Black]

If the Bugs are getting serious power within the Ares corporate structure (getting their people in positions of power and authority and someone had to hire Theresa Montgomery), the one o fthe following is occuring:
1)Damien Knight is aware and is supporting the moves
2) DK is aware and loosing some serious sleep about it... but then why would he not act.
3) DK is unaware of the extent of the inflitration... but I feel that this is unlikely.  Damien has been playing the corporate internal war game for decades with Leonard A, and then Vogel.  Its unlikely he wouldn't notice a new player infiltrating the corporate structure.  And his one person who never underestimates the awakened world.

Roger was close the Damien.  Roger new about the experiements.  He would have raised this with Damien.  and most likely was rebuffed, thus he quit (and most likely is still involved somehow...).  Did Roger know the spirits were taking key positions in Ares?  Most likely, and he knew that he couldn't trust the senior management in KE or Ares...  So how far has the infiltration gone?  How quickly could the bugs have taken power?  Who isn't a bug in Ares?

[CanRay]

For those of you that don't know, Theresa Montgomery was Dirk Montgomery's sister. She went to the Universal Brotherhood and is a confirmed bug. Don't know what kind, but definite bug.

Mantis.

[Black]

Ahhh.. the 'good' type of alien body snatcher.

[Patrick Goodman]

That is entirely open to interpretation....

[Wakshaani]

Well, we can agree that they're generally the sexiest.

(Of course, then there's the whole "Bite off your head and feed your corpse to the babies thing, but hey!")