Chapter Five
Having Faith
Mauss Chemicals Condoplex
Bellevue, Seattle
April 3, 2059
9:50 pm
Michelle McVey nearly jumped out of her skin when her door was slammed open. Her heart felt like it would hop right out her throat and hide under the bed. Three figures moved into the room with clockwork precision. One was a grotesque ork that made Michelle's stomach churn. Fear overcame her when she saw that the ork was carrying an assault rifle. He was sweeping the room with the barrel, pointing it at herself and Lestor. A man worked in tandem with the ork. He had reddish-brown hair. He also stood around average height. Human, Michelle would guess. A tall, lithe figure was behind the first two. Michelle thought that this one was female, but could not make out much else because of the lack of light.
"Oh my god!" Michelle blurted before scrambling to the floor.
"Who are they?!" Lestor blurted as he hopped of her small seat and moved to a access telecom that was built into the wall. The little man's mind was working well enough to know that these people didn't belong here. Years of corporate loyalty had told him what to do.
"Watch him." The man with the reddish-brown hair warned as he pulled a very odd looking weapon out of a holster on his thigh. Lestor had just reached the telecom when the man triggered the device. Small darts implanted themselves just behind Lestor's shoulder. An electric current ran through a connecting wire, giving him a good jolt. Lestor started shaking violently, his eyes going back into his head on the verge of passing out. As he dropped, his hand fell onto the red button on the corner of the telecom.
The telecom started blaring a loud warning. It's screen lite up with red colors and bright flashes.
"He set off the alarm." The woman said.
"Double time people." The man said, putting the shocking device away and stepping in Michelle's direction.
Michelle stumbled back behind her couch, trying to get away from the man. Yet her legs didn't want to obey her mind.
The man came up to her and held out his hand. "Come with me if you want to get out." He said simply.
It took Michelle a second to realize what he meant. These were the people that Kie Sekcuro had arranged? Impossible, they were......metas?
9:53 pm
Lenny nabbed Michelle's hand as soon as she stuck it out. That pudgy man had managed to trigger the panicbutton before the taser rendered him unconscious. The team had no time to waste.
"Check her." Lenny said to Shard as he past Michelle over to her, trying not to be too hard. "Gideon, cover the apartment."
Michelle looked like she was suffering from shock. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open. For a moment, Lenny was sure that she was about to pass out.
Shard took out a small scanner and slid Michelle's thumb into the open end. The device beeped once, little up a small green light. It had compared Michelle's thumb print to the one that was on its internal file. It was a match.
"It's her." Shard confirmed.
Lenny stepped directly behind Michelle, forcing her eyes to make contact with his. He wanted her undivided attention, determined to get it no matter what he had to do. "Ms. McVey, we've been hired to extract you from this facility. We will not harm you." He pointed a finger to Lestor who was lying on the floor. "Your friend is not hurt, but only stunned. He will be fine."
Michelle didn't say anything. She wanted to, but she felt that pandering this man would only get her in trouble. She was amazed enough that they had rendered Lestor incapacitated.
"Stay with us, do exactly as we say, and we'll get you out of here."
"Let's buzz, Lenny." Gideon grunted.
"Gid, you got the mark." He moved Michelle over to the ork. She seemed to resist a little, but she feel into line. She didn't have much choice in the matter.
Gideon took Michelle's hand by the wrist and pulled her behind his bulk. "Stick with me." He said to her.
Michelle cringed at the thought of having to rub up next to the ork. The presence of the assault rifle and other heavy weapons quickly changed her mind. She resolved to have a serious discussion on her situation later, though.
"Everybody out." Lenny commanded as her stormed out of the apartment and into the hallway where Nightsky and Smiley were. Both of them were on opposite sides of the hall covering a different direction. Nightsky was pointed at the stairs while Smiley was aimed at the elevator doors.
"About time." Smiley scorned. "I was getting cold out here."
Lenny triggered his commlink. "Riggs, plan A is flopped." That meant that they would not be sneaking in and out without anyone knowing. "Go to plan B pronto."
"Okay, but I think they're waiting for it." Riggs came over the link.
"Stop being so paranoid and get with the program." Lenny cursed, hating the fact that the dwarf always second guessed him in times like this.
"Elevator?" Shard asked as she came into the hall.
"Right-o." Smiley said as he headed for the doors. There were two elevators on the level. One of the doors was still open. This was the one that the team had used to get on the floor. The grapple lines still hanged from support beams. The other set of doors was still closed.
Ding!
The elevator doors started to open. Lenny didn't have to guess who was riding in it. He immediately instructed his team to take cover, though most already had. With the exception of Nightsky. When the doors started to slide open, he raced up to the grappling line and grabbed in while still running. He swung through the shaft that the team had used to get up to the floor just as the doors on the other elevator opened.
Guards poured out. At least four of them from what Lenny could make out. Each of them wore snappy uniforms with the distinctive blue and gold colors of Mauss Security. Stun batons were slung from their belts and compact sub-machine guns in their hands. They started to file out of the elevator in a rehearsed order.
Lenny glanced at their weapons, marking them as Berretta Model 75s. They were nearly the same as the Model 70, but these lacked the built in sound suppressor and had smaller clips. "Put them down." He ordered, though most of the group was already falling into action as Lenny pulled his Predator from its holster.
Gideon took Michelle and ducked with her behind a potted plant that was about twelve meters from the elevators. The woman let out a hushed scream as the ork manhandled her into position. Lenny didn't care. It was for her own good.
While Gid was getting Michelle out of the way, Smiley brought up his shotgun and started walking towards the guards. The large-bore barrel lite up fire as he blasted away without discretion.
"Yeah!" Smiley gave a wide grin as his shotgun blew the knee out of a guard. "Momma said knock you out!"
Shard made a gesture with her hands, then pulled out a emerald from her coat pocket and held it up. A green light flared from the jewel, flicking a barrier in place between the team and the guards. As the security guards started opening fire on full auto, their bullets stamper the barrier, letting greenish sparks fly. Shard grimaced as the bullets hit the barrier. It wasn't able to stop all of them, but it helped.
Lenny lined up his sights on the guard that Smiley had crippled. The new smartlink hardware kicking into action. He snapped of two rounds expertly aimed at the ball joint of the arm and the shoulder. The bullets shattered the joint, making the guard drop to the floor. It effectively eliminated him as a threat.
Two guards had fallen back into the elevator. They took cover on either side of the doors and blazed away while screaming something into their radios. Gideon cut another man down as he tried to retreat, tearing the guard's armored vest to shreds. Gid did not bother acting humanly. He put down his threat the way a mercenary would; by killing it.
Lenny dropped and rolled to the side as a stream of bullets that had forced their way past Shard's barrier stitched their way up the carper. "Gid, pop-"
"Time to feed to fish!" Smiley screamed insanely as he ran past the edge of Shard's barrier. Lenny almost warned him to get back, but he knew it would be pointless. The psychotic samurai took a burst, but it only tore a few shreds out of his long coat. By now, Smiley was triggering his shotgun with one hand and reloading it with the other. It wasn't long until he turned the doorframe into a twisted wreck of metal.
A flash grenade went off inside the elevator. Lenny had to turn his eyes. The effect had caught him a little off guard and he suffered some of the effects. Gideon wasn't as effected. He was about to rush the door, but he knew that he had Michelle McVey to protect. That was more important.
Screams and shouts came from the elevator. Nightsky, who had caught the grapple line, climbed onto the top of the other elevator. Somehow he pulled off the panel on the ceiling and dropped a flash grenade at the feet of the two guards below. Then he dropped down with monosword in hand. What followed was a one-sided melee. Nightsky gouged the shoulder of one guard, splitting his scapula apart. The second guard got his kidney opened up as he was about to bring his SMG around. Nightsky back-spinned while in between the two of them, effectively gutting one. He completed the spin with a precise hit to the veins on the side of the neck to the guard with the ruined kidney, dropping both guards. This left him in the elevator with one corpse opened and exposing body organs and another squirting blood from a ruined neck.
Michelle nearly screamed.
"Elevator clear." Nightsky said, his voice hinting that he was out of breath. "Let's get out of here before any more show up."
Nightsky was about to tap the lobby button when Lenny rushed up and grabbed his hand.
"Not that way, Sky." Lenny said. He pointed the rest of the group to the shaft with the grapple lines. "Head down four levels and enter the second floor." He ordered.
"What?" Nightsky sounded shocked. He had no idea what Lenny was thinking.
"We're not taking these things." Lenny said, pushing Nightsky out. He tapped the button for the roof. "Instead, we'll have them think we're headed for the roof while we are actually buzzing for the ground."
"That's crazy!" Nightsky blurted as Lenny motioned him towards the grapple lines. "They'll be waiting for us on the ground."
"Maybe, but at least this way they might send a few troopers to the roof just to be sure we don't have a chopper on the way. It'll take some pressure off."
"You're playing this off a guess aren't you?" Nightsky sounded shocked. This wasn't part of the plan and he didn't like that. It was hard for him to accept the fact that Lenny needed to make changes to keep things rolling.
"Let me worry about it." Lenny shoved Nightsky into the shaft. He fell a short distance before his mind kicked in and grabbed the grapple line. "And you worry about not falling."
Nightsky swung a long path, coming into contact with the far wall of the elevator shaft. He brought up his legs and bounced off the wall. This rocketed him downward. He let the cord slide through his grip as he aligned his drop with the open elevator door on level two. The door that Gideon and the others had went through just minutes before. He came through the opening and let go of the line, dropping to his knees and pulling the MP-5 from its harness.
Lenny swung down shortly behind him.
"Nice you fraggers could join us." Smiley scorned. He was holding sentry position next to a potted plant.
"Move, people." Lenny commanded, ushering the group into motion again. At the same time he clicked his micro-transceiver. "Riggs?"
"What?!" The dwarf's voice came back in a slew of static and what sounded like auto fire somewhere in the background.
"We're on the west side of the building, second floor north end." Lenny called off.
"And that means what to me?!"
"Stupid little halfer." Gideon mumbled, but made sure his commlink was off.
"Watch the second floor windows there." Lenny motioned at an apartment door. Nightsky took his cue and slid his maglock passkey over the lock. "We'll be popping out."
"Like I need a clue." Riggs cursed himself. "Whatever you did sure ticked off this chummers out here. They're scratching my paint!"
From the background noise, Lenny could assume that Riggs had barreled the Bison out of the garage and was tearing up the landscaping. The sound of bullets clanking off the heavy armor suggested that the guards weren't too happy with it.
"Just don't be late." He added.
The door that Lenny had pointed to clicked open. Nightsky lead the way inside for change, the laser sight from his gun marking a clear red beam in the darkness of the apartment. Lenny followed in next, making sure that Gideon still had a hold on Michelle. The woman was doing fairly well considering the circumstances.
"Watch for the residents." Lenny said calmly as he traced his way through the apartment's living room. There were a set of large, bay windows next to the trideo.
"How do you plan to get us out of here?" Shard wondered as she closed the door behind her and braced it with a small chair.
"Any way I can, girl." Lenny replied. No sooner had he spoke than a light from the apartment's hallway clicked on. Lenny made a motion to Smiley who nodded.
A older man in his mid forties came wondering down the hall in his boxers and t-shirt. When he came into the living room he scratched his fuzzy hair. Apparently his mind hadn't quite caught up with his eyes because he didn't move to hit the panicbutton.
"What the hell is all this noise?" He grumbled just as Smiley popped up in his face.
The man had a chance to let a look of shock cross his face before Smiley slammed the butt-end of his shotgun into the man's temple. Smiley then came back and planted his fist into the man's face, then a knee to the gut and an uppercut right on the chin. The smooth speed of the samurai's movements left the man tumbling to the floor. He was quite unconscious.
Smiley pulled out his Predator. "Time to pay the piper."
"No!" Lenny scorned. Smiley let his eccentric glare wonder over to Lenny. He looked at him like he didn't have good sense.
"No?" Smiley mouthed.
"No gunfire, Smiley, they'll hear."
Smiley shrugged, he could grasp the idea of that.
"Gideon, got any more grapple line?"
"I sure as frag hope so." Gideon handed Michelle over to Nightsky. Nightsky took the woman by the elbow and moved her behind him, in a corner. He instructed her to stay quiet as Gideon dug through his pack and came up with a nylon rope. It was shorter than the ones he had used in the shaft and there wasn't a grappling hook on the end. "This is it."
Lenny glanced out the window. "It'll be enough, Gid, tie it off to something." The ork tied the end to a heavy looking couch. Lenny traced his eyes at Smiley. "Smiley,"
"Yes, fearless leader?"
Lenny put his gun away. "Give me a hand with this trideo."
Smiley nodded, leaning his shotgun up against a wall and gripping the opposite end of the trid set. Him and Lenny managed to lift the heavy unit. Much of their effort was due to their cybernetic modifications than to any raw strength. They lifted a good two feet off the ground. Lenny lead a few steps back and the two of them took a run and go toward the window. They hurled the set right through and shattered the glass, sprinkling with grass below with sparkling shards. The trideo burst into sparks and mangled metal as it met the ground at thirty-two feet per second.
Lenny took the rope from Gideon's hands. "There's our way out." He said as he tossed the rope out the window. "Shard and Nightsky first." Lenny pulled out his pistol as Smiley recovered his Franchi. "Then Gid with Michelle. Me and Smiley will bring up the rear."
Nightsky snatched the rope up and started lowering himself down. He got just past the second floor when a line of bullets smacked up against the concrete wall. Nightsky stopped his descent and swung off to the right. He trigger the little MP-5 in his hand off toward the front door.
Lenny spat into his commlink. "Riggs, we need some support pronto." Off in the distance he could see the Bison running over the gracefully sculpted landscape as it tore off toward the condoplex.
"I got you chummers on visual." Riggs reported. "Big Bertha and Busy Bee are on the way."
Guards started filing out of the guard station in the center of the complex. Busy Bee, a micoskimmer that Riggs had outfitted with a Model 70 submachine gun buzzed in front of the main door and started sprinkling it with fire. Bodies went everywhere. Most scampered out of the way and a few took rounds and collapsed.
Big Bertha, a heavily armed rotodrone, swooped in above the window that the rest of the team was at. An LMG mounted on the bottom of the craft swept a long arc of fire, tearing up the grass and bushes. Guards scattered out of the way as they tried to get a bead on the runner hanging out of the second floor window and the buzzing drones of death.
Nightsky let himself drop a little lower, but a bullet grazed up against his gloved hand. Fortunately he had always kept a few throwing knives imbedded in the velcro straps of his glove. The bullet seemed to trace it's way along the knife and bounce into the wall. Yet that didn't stop it from grazing his hand and making him lose his grip. He fell the last story to the unforgiving ground below.
"Night's down." Shard called.
"Get down there." Lenny told Shard as she climbed out the window and lowered herself down.
A guard pulled out in Riggs' path in a little golfcart-like security vehicle. The guard inside dropped down behind the cart and lowered a submachine gun in the direction of the Bison's windshield.
Riggs clenched his teeth. "Coming through!" He said to himself as the jagged metal bounced and pinged off the armored glass. One round drilled its way through a weak point in the glass and buried itself in the armrest just above Riggs' head.
Riggs didn't slow down. He brought the Bison's powerplant to roaring heights. The crash bumper on the front of the marauding vehicle tore the little cart into like it was paper, slinging debris in wide circle and the guard tumbling into a ditch.
Shard hit the ground just as a stray round hit her in the leg. The impact made her fall, but her armor stopped it from penetrating.
Nightsky, laying on the ground about a meter from Shard, was holding his wrist next to him while he peppered away with his MP-5 compact. "That was definitely not fun!" He scorned.
Shard noticed that he had switched hands with his gun. Not he was shooting with his left instead of his right. "Are you okay?"
"For the moment!" He replied.
"Stay close, I'm going to throw up a barrier." Shard dug a ruby out of her coat and held it up. She spoke a few quick words and a bullet barrier snapped into place. It covered a circle about four meters in diameter, but only halfway up the wall.
Lenny pointed to Gideon. "Your next with the mark, move."
Gideon had just finished wrapping a safety harness around Michelle. She had resisted a little, but for the most part she was staying quite. Apparently the fact of having an ork slide the harness on her legs didn't turn her on. Gid clipped the safety line in place and ran it to his belt.
"Don't you let go." Gideon told her as he made Michelle grab onto his neck. Gid used his chrome arm to lower them down. Bullets traced against the barrier, but the fire stopped as soon as the guards saw that Michelle was in the line of fire.
"It's some kind of magic!" Shard heard one of the guards scream. "It's deflecting the bullets."
Shortly after that, she heard another female voice called out. "They've got someone, move in!"
Shard didn't like the sound of that. "Nightsky?"
"What?!" Nightsky blurted. He had crawled up behind a small brick wall that separated the landscaping from the road.
"They're moving in!"
Nightsky slapped a fresh clip into his gun and yanked the monosword from his back. "Then let's make sure they don't get far!"
The two runners lined up back to back. Nightsky held the MP-5 in one hand and the monosword in the other. His injured hand held the gun. Shard's face was clenched up. A testament to the stress she was being put under while maintaining the barrier. The security guards rushed up. Three from one direction and two from the opposite. Apparently they had been staying just at the edge of the runner's view, but afraid to leave their safe cover.
Nightsky took one look at the numbers approaching him. "Not good." His whispered. Not knowing wether or not he could shoot through Shard's barrier, he rushed up to the guards. He tried to get up close before they passed through the barrier where their guns would be more dangerous.
"Take cover." One guard that was heading for Michael yelled.
"No, there's a barrier, go in!" Another ordered.
Mistake both ways. Nightsky shoved the end of the SMG to where he thought the barrier ended. It was a lucky guess. He triggered a burst into one of the charging security officers, stapling rounds into his shoulder. He coughed and gagged.
"I'm hit!" The wretched scream called. "Oh, god, I'm hit!"
"He shot Kenny!" Another guard said as he stepped up to Michael and attempted to knocked the SMG from his hand with a sap.
Nightsky felt a burst of pain as the sap came down on his already injured hand. The sharp pain was enough to push him into action. He let the gun fall to the ground, but he side stepped the guard's lunge and buried the monosword right through the guard's chest.
The officer made a sick, gagging sound as the blade punctured a lung. Nightsky let his right hand feel around on the guard's belt and pull a Max-Power from the holster. He leveled the pistol as best as he could at the remaining guard and started to empty the clip. Bullets pinged of the armored jacket of his target and dug into the dirt. Finally one shattered his hand and grazed his neck. This caused a stream of blood to shoot out. He dropped to the ground holding his neck.
The guard Nightsky had stabbed started coughing up blood. The adept pulled the sword out and made a quick backspin, planting the butt of the pistol against what felt like the guard's cheek. The impact brought a numbing sensation to Michael's wrist. He let the gun fly out of his hand as he dropped to a crouch. His hand felt like someone had just set fire to it. There was no doubt in his mind that he had probably broken something with that move.
Gideon dropped to the ground as Shard was startled by two security guards hopping the small brick wall and pulling stun batons on her. She reached into her coat pocket and fling a sparkling powder at them. She whispered words of power that told the spell to take effect. Unfortunately it hurt one worse than the other. One dropped to his knees and collapsed, snoring softly. The other only shook off the spell, but he looked sleepy.
Shard was about to come up with another spell when Gideon pulled his M-23 from its sling and cut the guard in half. She looked back at him with shocked eyes. The ork only motioned in the direction of the garage.
"Where the frag is Riggs?" He grunted as he let Michelle down. He held her close to him, trying to shield her body with his.
Smiley grabbed the rope and prepared to lower himself down. Just as he got out the window someone started banging on the apartment door.
The eccentric samurai grinned devilishly. "Guess who's coming to dinner?"
Lenny pulled a concussion grenade from he belt. "They can take a number." He remarked as he tossed the grenade at the door. The explosion blew the door off it's hinges and slammed two men up against the hallway wall with the door on top of them.
"I never liked that door anyway." Smiley said as he quickly lowered himself to the ground.
Lenny pulled another concussion grenade and tossed it at the hallway opening. The distinctive boom that followed as accompanied by a few screams. Lenny didn't bother to check on the result. He was too busy grabbing the rope and nearly dropping himself to the ground.
"Where in the name of Dunkelzhan's scaley ass is Riggs?" Gideon cursed.
"I can't hold it!" Shard said under extreme pressure. The bullet barrier that she was maintaining winked out of existence with a red flash.
As if on cue, Riggs slammed on the brakes and came to a skidding hold just meters from the small wall. He slide the side door open just as his microskimmer caught a fatal burst from a sub-machine gun. Riggs felt the tiny drone topple out of control and paste itself on the side of the guard station.
"Busy Bee is down!" He called.
Gunfire racked the remaining foliage of a bushy tree.
"Riggs, some cover would be nice."
"Coming up!" The rigger yelled as the back of the Bison opened up. A pop-up turret slid into place. The distinctive whine of multi-barrels speeding up sent guards seeking cover. Lenny gave the order to move out when the gun turret clicked into place. Nightsky went first with Shard close behind. At the same time the two of them stepped into the van, the Vindicator on the turret started going through its explosive belt. It rained chaos over the guard's positions and tore up another one of those carts.
"Gideon!" Lenny called.
The ork grabbed Michelle and carried her under his arm right into the Bison. The van visibly lurched as the Gid climbed in.
Gunfire erupted from the overhead window. A burst slammed into Smiley's shoulder and knocked his face into a puddle of mud.
"Son of a slitch!" Smiley cursed.
"Riggs, the window." Lenny instructed as he hauled Smiley to his feet and half pushed, half carried him into the opened door on the Bison.
The minigun swung a quick arc and tore the second floor window to shreds.
"Permission to initiate get the hell out of here maneuver?" Riggs said as the side door slammed shut.
"Granted." Lenny replied as Smiley regained his senses, or what little he had.
The Bison pushed violently into gear and tore off down the street, making a beeline to the VIP exit. The force of the acceleration sent unprepared runners tumbling. Nightsky rolled up against a mass of parts in the rear of the van while Shard managed to grab onto the back of a seat. Lenny nearly lost his footing as he crawled into the passenger seat while Smiley was thrown butt-first into a bucket seat. Gideon balanced himself perfectly, managing to secure Michelle McVey into a seat behind Riggs.
"We got a problem." Riggs called just as Nightsky and Shard were picking themselves up.
Lenny snapped on his seatbelt. "What is it?"
"They've got the gate blocked."
"Frag." Lenny said quietly to himself. "What about Big Bertha."
He was referring to the missile mounts on the rotodrone. "Maybe the wall, but not the gate." Riggs replied.
Shard made a stiff grunt as she hauled her way to the front. She took one look at the front gate and could see the reason for Riggs' concern. Guards had collected around all the gates. They had even moved those little carts into place as barrier. There were also a few cars that belonged to residents in the way. Fortunately they didn't have enough time to find anything heavier. All the guards were armed and pointed guns in the van's direction.
"Frag this is going to be messy. This is the big blow out for sure." Riggs cursed. "Better get those heads down!"
Shard looked over the scene again. "I'll take care of the gate."
"What?!" Riggs said, not sure that he heard her right.
"Head for the gate, Riggs, don't slow down."
"Okay, bossman, okay!" The Bison picked up speed. Riggs didn't know what he was doing and he knew that the Bison couldn't blow through all that and come out in one piece.
Shard looked amazingly relaxed about the whole situation. She sat cross-legged on the floor just behind the front seats. Michelle looked at her oddly as Shard started speaking in a catatonic voice.
"Oh, great mother of the earth......"
Bullets pinged off the armored shell of the van. Lenny raised his window down and returned fire with his Predator II.
".....with thou loving kindness and nourishment........" Shard continued to chant.
The minigun flared to life, peppering the carts. One exploded one a small fireball, blowing the little vehicle up in the air and slamming it back down with equal force.
"...we respect your fields and give thanks for your streams......."
Big Bertha roared past the Bison, it' rotoblades whining under the strain. The drone started firing uncontrollably at the scattering guards.
".......grant us this gift, oh mother earth........"
Big Bertha took a burst on its carriage, shorting out the missile firing system. Riggs sprouted a mouthful of curses, but sped on.
"..........but help not out glee......."
Michelle looked around the windshield and noticed the speed at which they were approaching the barrier. Her eyes widened and she let out a desperate scream. Smiley, also getting a view at what they were approaching, gave a wide grin. He pulled out a pair of shades and put them on, leaning back in his chair like nothing was about to happen. Riggs, on the other hand, screamed like a girl.
".....instead we ask that you would give us your strength.........."
Riggs shut his mind off from his jacks, or tried too. He didn't want to feel the van bursting into a thousand pieces of metal when they hit. They were barreling towards the blocked gate at over a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour. At less than a hundred feet from the blocked gate, he let out a high pitched scream, yelling for his mommy.
"...........to make us free!"
With those words the ground rose up between the Bison and the gate. The earth lifted itself straight into the air nearly twenty meters off the ground. The Bison hit the raised ground like a ramp. It sailed over the gate like it had grown wings. Then hit the ground with enough force to knock the jacks out of Riggs' head. Everybody not strapped down was given a hefty jolt.
"Holy drekking mother of concrete!" Riggs yelled as he made sure his jacks were still in place. He glanced in his rear display and saw the ramp of earth start to crumble, landing huge chunks of ferrocrete on the gate. The impact cost him the port sensor input and probably blew the his shocks out, but they made it. "We made it?! I can't fragging believe it!"
Shard relaxed a little. Her breathing was more shallow than it was before, but she looked okay. "Thank you, great mother of the earth, thank you." Though no one else could see, Shard knew what had happened. On a plane that was deaf to the others, the rocky form of the Earth Elemental disappeared into the farthest reaches of astral space. It's service performed, the team saved.
Riggs yanked the van into a sharp turn and tore off down the street. "Wahoo!" He celebrated.
"Oh my god!" Michelle blurted. It was the first time she had spoke during the entire extraction. "Crazy?" She whispered to herself. "Are you all crazy?"
Lenny looked at her for a second. Then he undid his seatbelt and motioned for Gideon to take the shotgun position. In return Lenny crouched next to Michelle as Nightsky was digging himself from underneath the various parts in the back of the van.
"Michelle McVey?" Lenny asked.
Michelle gave a very slight nod. Her mouth was hanging open and her fingernails had dug into the armrests on the chair.
"My name is Lenny. We were hired to extract you from Mauss Chemicals." Lenny explained. "No harm will come to you. Do you understand?"
"Y-" She stopped, glancing at the ork, then at Smiley who seemed to be in his own world. "Yes."
"Do as we say for the next few hours and you'll be fine."
"Okay." She said. She didn't want to be in the position that she was in. However, she could see no way out of it. It was best just to do as she was told for the rest of the ride. Then she would have some choice words about the extraction.
Lenny stood up, there was just enough room for him in the Bison. "Injuries?" He called, noticing that Nightsky was holding his wrist.
"Clean, but Busy Bee is gone." Riggs replied.
"Clean." Gideon reported.
Shard uncrossed her legs and pulled out a small packet from her coat.
Lenny moved back to where Nightsky was. He took a look at the adept's hand after telling him to remove the glove. When Michael took it off, a few throwing knifes clattered to the floor. One was obviously bent and misshaped. His hand had a deep gash running from his wrist up between his index and pinky finger. It was also heavily bruised around the wrist and was starting to swell.
Nightsky grimaced when Lenny touched his hand. "Probably broke it."
Lenny nodded. "Shard?" He asked expectantly.
She came up behind him with the packet of herbs. Lenny left her to her work, making his way back to the front. He tried to make sure that Michelle didn't see any more violence than she needed. He was thankful that Shard went in the back to heal Michael. As he came up to Smiley's seat, he noticed blood dripping from the samurai's hand.
He glanced at the going stain on the floor, then at Smiley's unconcerned eyes. "Smiley?"
The eccentric samurai looked lazily at Lenny.
"Where too, bossman?" Riggs interrupted.
Before Lenny could answer, his pager started buzzing again. He took it off his belt and glanced at the number.
7911.
Oh, drek.
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