Chapter 14
"The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions.......but by iron and blood."
--Otto Von Bismark (1815-1898)
Abandoned Factory
Redmond, Seattle
April 4, 2059
10:01 pm
Lenny slammed the last clip into his assault rifle. He could hardly believe how long this firefight had lasted. His shadowrunners were supposed to have broken away long ago. Instead they had become pinned down in the machine shop of the old factory.
Along with Gideon and Smiley, Lenny had managed to lure the their foes into a hastily prepared trap. It would be a simple matter to finish them off once the trap had been sprung by catching their foes in a crossfire. However, these troopers were far better than Lenny gave them credit for. It was not long before the tide of the battle had changed. Now Lenny and his companions had been fought back and were forced into a corner. They had managed to setup some make-shift barricades, but the barricades did not last long. Their cover was being eradicated by the enemy's mage.
Just when it looked like the runners were going to be torn to pieces, the tide changed again. This time in Lenny's favor. Shard had come out of no where to hit the shock troops with just about every spell in her arsenal. She threw up a bullet barrier around Lenny and the others. The spell made incoming fire less lethal.
Lenny called Gideon and Smiley to their feet and they returned fire with a ferocity that hadn't been matched before. They advanced upon their foes positions and overran them. There was no contest as the battle turned into a brief melee. Between Smiley and Gideon the shock troops did not stand a chance.
Things did not last, though. It all took a turn for the worse just as the shadowrunners had the upper hand. The mage on the other side hit Shard with a strong enough spell that put her out for the count. Lenny nearly lost his mind when he saw her fall. He knew that Shard was seriously hurt between the hit she took and the drain of casting all those spells. Lenny was trying to work his way over to her while Smiley and Gideon gave him cover.
"Like that! Like that? Like that!" Smiley kept screaming as he triggered his Predator. He had ran out of shells for his shotgun, swinging the weapon like a club whenever he got close enough. The eccentric samurai was bleeding from a number of wounds, but Smiley pushed on even as fireball erupted to his left.
Gideon reloaded his gun and put a burst to where he thought the burst of fire had come from. He figured that only a mage could have made fire come out of no where.
Suddenly something heavy and hot slammed into Gid's shoulder. A horrible, crunching sound filled Gideon's ears as he hit the ground.
Stale smoke rose from the spell had impacted. The cyberarm fell limply to his side. It was sprouting sparks from half a dozen holes. Servos and hydraulics whined under the punishment magic. Pain receptors in the cyberware sent messages to Gideon's brain, telling him that he had been hit bad.
The ork ducked back down. "I'm hit, Lenny." He reported into his commlink. "Arm's busted."
"Which one?" Lenny cut into his link.
"One made by Ares America." Gideon replied. He had to switch gun hands from his dysfunctional metal one to its flesh and blood counterpart.
Another fireball exploded off Gideon's right were Smiley was dug in. That magician was pounding away at the group, but he was not killing them. Almost like the mage was playing with the runners.
"Gah!" Smiley exclaimed. "I'm on fucking fire!"
Gideon looked to see the Smiley's coat in flames and his hair not far behind.
"Motherfraggers!" Smiley yelled as he leapt out of his position and made a suicide charge. "You fraggers set me on fragging fire!" He shrugged off his burning coat as he ran. He held his empty shotgun in one hand and drew his Predator with the other. "I'm not the only one whose going to burn here!" He cursed as he jumped on top of one of the shock troops.
The man that Smiley leaped on screamed in agony as Smiley decked him with the shotgun.
"God someone held me!" The man screamed.
Smiley, shoving his pistol into his belt, raised his shotgun with both hands and rammed the barrel into the man's mouth. The artificial muscles in Smiley's arm caused the barrel to break teeth and bury itself against the back of the man's throat. He left the shotgun sticking up in the man's face.
"Ta'Sahai!" Someone screamed from off to Smiley's right.
Smiley whirled around to catch a running form, female this time, in his arms and lift her off of her feet. She dropped her assault rifle as he lifted her up.
"Let go!" She screamed.
Smiley leered at her with a demented grin. His hair still burning in steady flames. He head-butted her in the stomach, holding for an instant. The head butt suffocated the flames on Smiley's hair. He dropped her chin on the top of his head. Resulting in a nice cracking sound from her mouth. Spurs popped from their casings and pierced the woman's eyes with expert precision.
Lenny finally got to Shard. He picked her up in his arms, cradling her behind an overturned utility saw. Her eyes were closed. There was also blood seeping from her ears and running from her nose.
"It's okay, girl, I'm here."
By the time he arrived his clip was only half full. Lenny could only see one good thing in his situation. He had spotted only three surviving shock troops on his way to Shard. It was comforting to know where his foes were, but Lenny knew his team was still in trouble.
Shard made a little sound like a faint moan. Her eyes fluttered for a moment and her breathing looked like it had picked up.
"Don't worry, Shard." Lenny ran a hand over her forehead. "We're going to get out of this. I promise you."
Shard was trying to say something, but she could not get the words out. When she tried to speak she found that she didn't have the strength.
Lenny clutched his eyes, holding her close. He pulled out a patch from his coat.
"I know how you feel about these things." Lenny said as he ripped the adhesive cover off the trauma patch. "But I'm not losing you like this."
He grabbed a fistful of her collar. The ballistic cloth was hard to tear, but Lenny managed. He placed the trauma patch where he thought Shard's heart was.
"I'm not letting you die!" He cursed, pulling her closer in an attempt to shield her body with his.
Gideon cut in on his commlink. "Lenny, Smiley's down. He collapsed 'bout ten meters on my eleven o'clock."
Lenny shut his eyes. They were dying. His team was dying around him and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Hang tight, Gid." Lenny screamed into the link. "Hang tight!"
"I'm empty." Gideon reported. "Not much left to hold tight with. I think they know it too."
"What's it look like?"
Gideon took a peak towards the troopers positions. "They're advancing. One to cover, two moving up."
Lenny glanced at his rifle and the half empty clip in it. He grabbed it with one hand and braced the weapon against a chunk of plasticrete. His smartlink came online while his eyes kicked in the thermographic band. He saw half a dozen cooling bodies scattered about, but spotted two in motion. He squeezed the trigger.
One of the people shuddered under the impact as the burst tore through his arm. Sparks flew as bullets his the assault rifle that the man was carrying. He fell to the ground screaming. The other opened fire at Lenny. Bullets bounced around while Lenny returned fire. He managed a lucky shot that snapped the last troopers head back. The other man was still screaming as he suffered from various wounds.
Lenny frowned. It's almost over, he said to himself as the wounded man crawled back to his surviving companion. Lenny looked at his gun. The last clip had just been spent. He swung the empty weapon over his shoulder. Maybe one of those guys out there had a clip he could use.
"Shadowrunners!" A voice boomed over the now silent battleground. "You stand on the verge of defeat. Even as I speak more loyal forces are arriving. We have been reinforced while you stand broken and bloodied."
Lenny pulled his Predator free. He edged a peak towards the open grounds. In the middle of it all was a man. He was floating in the air and had ethereal energies flowing around him. Lenny figured that it had to be some kind of magical barrier. The man was a mage.
"Turn over Michelle McVey and no harm will come to you." The man commanded. "Your lives will be spared and your wounded cared for."
Lenny looked at Shard in his arms. She was not moving and her breathing was very shallow. He managed a glance towards Gideon who had pulled his Black Scorpion.
"My magical power protects me from the lead you throw and I have already disabled your mage." The man continued. "You have fought bravely to be so clearly outmatched."
Gideon stuck his machine pistol up and cut loose a few rounds. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the mage's barrier. It was of a much stronger force than any Shard could have cast.
"So you do not believe me?" The man sighed, focusing his glare on Gideon. "I see there can be no peaceful end to this."
Gideon ducked back down. He knew that the mage was about to do something that would not make him feel any better. This was really going to hurt. If he ran the other soldier would cut him down. He shut his eyes in preparation for the fireball that would surely engulf him. At the same time, he thought that his altered ears heard a faint whining. The sound was faint, but so familier.
The enemy mage raised his hands and the mana came together. A whole new world of pain was about to be set loose. Glowing waves of power swept past each other as they were formed into the spell. The end was near, the mage's eyes glowed with power.
Then the a shadow shot out of the darkness like a rabid dog. The whining became louder as rotary blades were pushed beyond their limits.
Big Bertha, Riggs' roto-drone, was flying at an acute angle. The blades were in line with the mages throat. Lenny saw the drone pass through the mage's barrier. The spinning blade tore into the man's throat. His eyes went wide as Big Bertha faltered out of control. The magical energies that had been focused together were suddenly released. Fire and pain ravaged the area where the mage had been. People screamed in agony as the massive fireball spread out to engulf everyone present.
Lenny ducked as the concussion hit him. He sent a ringing in his ears and tossed chunks of debris around like they were paper weights.
A wall collapsed as a volley of air-timed grenades blew it down. The Bison tore through the opening with its mini-gun warmed up and ready for action. Big Bertha regained its flight control. The fat drone swung into a orbit and started peppering what was left of the enemy with its belly-mounted machine gun.
The side of the Bison opened up. Nightsky stepped out, holding a Ares Viper in one hand.
"Gideon!" Lenny screamed into his commlink. "We're getting out of here."
"About time."
"Can you see Smiley?"
Gideon struggled out of his position and made a bee-line towards the downed samurai. "Yeah, I'll pick him up."
"Good, make tracks for the Bison and let's get the frag out of here!"
Nightsky's pistol started spitting fire. The back-up that the mage was referring to had been toasted when the spell went hay-wire. Between Nightsky, the Bison, and Big Bertha the remaining soldiers weren't in any condition to pose much of a threat to the escape.
Lenny lifted Shard in his arms and ran for the Bison. Gideon grabbed Smiley and slung him over his shoulder. Then he covered his own retreat using his Scorpion. The air was in utter chaos as it was filled with explosive and flechette rounds. No one could hear a thing under the whine of gunfire.
"Call a taxi, boss?" Riggs said through the commlink.
Lenny's foot touched down inside the Bison a second before Gideon's did. Nightsky came in behind them and closed the door.
"Get us out of here, Riggs!" Nightsky screamed as he locked the door.
"Don't need to tell this dwarf twice." Riggs threw the Bison into reverse and bounded out onto the street. Big Bertha hovered a second before the big van tore down the street and away from the scene.
Inside Lenny reclined one of the bucket seats. He nearly banged Michelle on the head in the process.
"Careful!" Michelle scorned. She was still handcuffed to her seat. "You stupid twit."
Lenny ignored her. He gently lay Shad on her back and put on her seatbelt. "How's Smiley?"
Gideon had dropped Smiley in the space between seats. "Looks like he had a bad encounter with a meat grinder." Gideon remarked. "'Sky, get me the medkit."
"Get a patch on him!" Tart exclaimed. It was hard for her to picture Smiley like he was now. The samurai had always seemed insane and unstoppable. Now he was covered with blood coming from several wounds. His hair was torched away and he smelled horrible with heavy burns on his exposed skin.
Nightsky opened up a medkit next to Smiley, but did not know how to work it. Gideon fumbled around in the kit and pulled out a trauma patch. He placed it over Smiley's heart and went back to the kit for an IV.
Lenny watched with his heart aching. He didn't have a clue about first aid. Gideon knew a little because of his training in the desert wars, but that was all.
"Where too, bossman?" Riggs asked. Overhead Big Bertha was settling onto the drone rack.
Lenny did not where to go. The team was in shambles as it was. Shard and Smiley were both out of commission. Gideon wasn't much better off since his cyberarm had been damaged. Nightsky looked a little worse for well too. His crumbling team left Lenny's mind empty. All he wanted to do was hold Shard's hand and pray that she would be alright.
"Bossman?"
Lenny closed his eye for a second, then opened them again. It was then that he caught the gleam off of Shard's bracelet. It looked at the little thing closer to recognize the DocWagon logo on it.
DocWagon? Lenny clutched her hand. Was that what she was trying to tell me? He glanced at Smiley and noted the serious condition he was in.
"Nearest DocWagon facility, Riggs, and step on it."
"DocWagon?!" The dwarf exclaimed. "They only see paying clients."
"They're the only ones who have the facilities, Riggs.."
"But they won't see us."
"They might see Shard, that'll get us in the door. Throw enough money in anyone's face and we can get them to help Smiley too. Hell, I'll buy him a contract if I have to!"
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