Warning: I don't know nearly as much about Shadowrun as I probably need to. Parts of this story might sound down right rediculous! I would have just about no idea. I relied on The Sixth World Wiki for much of my geography and other SR world info.
(Note: This back story and "adventure" are homework one for the campaign.)
Mae "Lume" Outono was born on August 25th, 2047 in the suburbs of Sao Paulo. The daughter of two university professors, Mae completely failed to take the interest in learning that her parent's had hoped for. Growing up her fondest memories are of watching HKAT movies with her father late at night. Her mother abhorred the films, and often complained about what she saw as the physically ridiculous stunts portrayed in them.
When Mae was only nine she earned both a suspension and her mother's ire when a she broke the arm of a bully who had been threatening her friends at recess. After weeks of begging and a hunger strike Mae finally convinced her parents that such problems could be averted if they would only sent her for proper martial arts training (with an emphasis on the discipline and control). Mae had regular lessons at a number of fighting schools up until she left home. Her father encouraged her interests, while her mother simply put up with them once it was clear that the mere fact that Mae had several black belts would deter further fights at school.
After reaching a second degree black belt in kung fu, Mae shocked both of her parents by eloping at the age of 16 with her 28 year old sensei. When it became abundantly clear that he did not in fact intend to marry her (and had concealed from her a previous marriage), Mae had her revenge. Using one of the nerve strikes he had taught her, she incapacitated him. She arranged for some rather incriminating photos staring her sense and a sheep, and finally left him naked and hog-tied, with the photos spread out around him on his wife's door step.
While she realized that the elopement had been a rather bad mistake, Mae couldn't bring herself to return home and suffer her mother's I told you so's and general scorn. It was at this time that she took the name of Lume and began fighting in a string of underground arenas to support herself. She sent letters to her parents over the years so they knew she was alright, if not doing quite what they would want. During this time she also began to learn how to use firearms and she took to marksmanship with the same furvor she had shown for martial arts as a child.
By the time she was twenty, none of the arenas would let her in, since she could take out their amateur fighters in short enough order to disappoint the crowds. For about a year she lived off her previous savings and tried to figure out what else she could do with her martial prowess. When the money began to run out she spent some time teaching martial arts, though her lack of credentials (abandoned with her name and home) limited her severely. She did a little bit of bodyguard work, but ultimately she couldn't stand the boredom of being a high class deterrent.
At twenty two, Lume decided that maybe her homeland was not going to support her in the way that she wanted. She had always wanted to visit Europe, so she hatched a plot to borrow an identity and enough money to get herself there. She paid a local hacker to find her a suitable "victim", an international flight attendant who looked similar enough to her and regularly flew from Sao Paulo to Madrid, Spain. Armed with the woman's home address, Lume broke in, stole her schedule and ID and copied her house keys.
Two weeks later on a dark Thursday night, she slipped in to the woman's home, drugged her and for all useful purposes became Maria Rodr’guez. She tied up the real Maria and left her locked in the hall closet with food and water. She had arranged for the hacker to contact the police with an anonymous tip on Monday morning so they would set Maria free when she should be safely past customs in Spain.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Lume had the very poor fortune to end up on flight 342 that fateful Friday morning. A group of Terra First! psychos, wielding knives and saps managed to slip into the pressurized part of the plane's hold, and once it was in the air, the took control. Lume figured she could take out at least half of them before they got her, but she didn't want to die if she could possibly help it. When they took the plane the Terra First! crew killed two flight attendants and three other civilians. They demanded that the pilot change course for the north eastern part of the UCAS and he complied, trying desperately to convince his contacts on the ground that everything was fine (lest the plane be shot down).
While crowded in the back of the plane with a group of passengers and crew, Lume took stock of the other people who were trapped with her. She was surprised to discover not only a Amazonian Air-martial but also an Aztechnologies agent (he had no idea she determined his allegiance, but did admit to having a holdout pistol on him). Between the three of them they hatched a plan and carefully maneuvered to take out the five terrorists before more civilians could be killed.
By the time they took down the Terra First! crazies, the plane was veering over the eastern edge of the Yucatan peninsula. The Aztechnologies agent arranged for the plane to land in the Cancun airport and the traumatized crew and passengers looked forward to a peaceful flight back out in a day or two, all of them except Lume.
She knew that her masquerade was not going to last that long, and besides that, the Aztlan officials were sure to take fingerprints and retinal scans to confirm their identities. She would be found out for who she was. Like most young Amazonians she had been told the horror stories of Aztechnologies' power in Aztlan and she fully expected that she would disappear into a re-education camp, an infernal testing lab, or worse.
Lume knew how to get into the pressurized part of the hold. She had studied the plans for the plane when she started her plan. She took a huge chance and managed to slip away from the other passengers and down into the hold. She waited until the plane landed and then slipped out past the landing gear in new clothing borrowed from other's luggage. Lume got lucky that it was starting to get dark at this point and none of the Aztechnologies security spotted her.
Even with this much luck, she knew it couldn't last for long. She concealed herself in the grass by the edge of the taxiing paths that lead to one of the runways. For what felt like hours she waited and watched the planes leaving until another of the same model drew near. She knew she only had one chance to get inside and she hoped desperately that this plane was headed for some international location. When the plane turned so she would be out of view of the flight crew, she streaked across the runway and scrambled her way up inside through the landing gear. It was a crazy thing to do, and it very nearly got her killed. She only barely managed to get up inside the pressurized part of the hull when the plane began picking up speed.
Lume knew that the flight attendants might be down to check on any animals riding out the trip in the cargo area. She crawled back as far as she could behind the stacked suitcases and tried to conceal herself. Not realizing how battered and stressed she was, she fell asleep after about an hour.
She was awoken with a start by the shaking of a young make flight attendant. The plane was still in the air and she could not afford to be found. She had the young man in a choke hold before he could yelp. But she couldn't afford to kill him, since someone would come looking for him. Over his panting and rolling eyes she offered him a deal: don't let anyone know she's there and when they arrive she'd pay up her last 1000 NY.
Fortunately for Lume, the young man spoke English. He nodded his head as vigorously as he could and she gently released him. Giving her a frightened look he scurried back up to the passenger compartment. Lume figured she was probably doomed. She expected a hoard of air marshals or at the very least a landing and a ring of Aztechnologies security would be the end of her.
Surprisingly the flight attendant was a good as his word (well his silent nod anyway). He did not reveal her to the rest of the crew and when the plane landed he took her credstick and conspicuously distracted the baggage handlers while she made good her escape.
When a tired and battered Lume finally snuck her way out of the Boston airport tarmac, she was disoriented and had no idea where she was, never-mind if it was a good place for her to settle down or not. She was down to her last ten nuyen and after breaking up a scuffle out front (and impressing the owner) she took work as a bouncer in Rust, a rough local punk club. She enjoyed bouncing and for a while it was a nice respite from her harrowing adventure. Eventually, when she was more recovered, she began to find it somewhat boring due to the general wussiness of the patrons (who seemed to think carrying a gun exempted them from behaving like civilized beings). At the very least she was glad it paid for a roof and some food.
She tried to move back into body-guarding, since the money was better, but found that she didn't have the capital to get the papers that she needed. After six months, she moved to work in the Ninth Tier Bar, after Rust burned to the ground. (She doesn't like to talk about how that happened. Rumors suggest the owner got fresh with her and things got messy, but all the evidence went up in smoke, so who's to say....)
She was working in the Tier when she met Ajax and B. She had a vague idea that they were meeting with a Johnson there, and realized when they returned for their second meeting that their Johnson had lain a trap for them. Never a big fan of backstabbing, she tipped them off, and at Ajax's request (and offer of payment) helped them to fight their way out.
Lume wasn't originally sure she wanted to continue working with Ajax and B, but she found that shadow-running was far more interesting and lucrative than her previous pursuits. She also really appreciates that both Ajax and B treat her well. She is glad to finally have comrades she can trust to watch her back.
A few months ago Ajax got them an extraction job pulling a willing kidnapee out of Saeder-Krupp. The doctor, as Lume took to calling her, didn't just want to run; she wanted to run a long way away. Getting her out of the actual medical facility went flawlessly and that's when Ajax and B started freaking out. They were both sure it was some sort of trap that Saeder-Krupp was going to snap shut around the team and the doctor. They arranged for quick tickets out of town and the team took their kidnapee to Seattle.
Fortunately, the doctor turned out to be a really cool woman. She had a sizable trust fund and when she asked to join the team she turned it over as group loot. All of them have been able to set up comfortably in Seattle (rather than scrabbling to make ends meet). Ajax found a new fixer in town and Lume is looking forward to getting regular work again soon.