Chapter Twenty-Four
"Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on."
--Robert Kennedy (1925-1968)
Normandy Park
South Downtown, Seattle
April 22, 2059
1:48 am
"Put your backs into it." The little dwarf, Glitch, whined. He was acting as cheerleader while Gideon and Lens pushed the last crate into the trailer. Glitch had gotten so excited about recovering the transmitter that he had been bouncing up and down for most of the last five minutes. "Come on, people. We're almost finished."
Lenny stood behind Glitch. He was smoking a cigarette while the two orks and Smiley did all the work. An Ares Predator II was held loosely in his hand. "Is that the last crate?" He asked Glitch.
"Huh?" Glitch's excited mind did not register what Lenny said. Not at first, anyway. "Oh, yeah. This is the last one."
"Remember our bargain, Glitch." Lenny said, dropping his cigarette on the floor and stamping it out with his foot. "We get your transmitter, you give us the air time."
"Hey, you've got it, Lenny. You the man." Glitch gave Lenny a thumbs up.
The whine of an electric engine grew in the distance. Glitch and Lenny gave each other a surprised look. Neither of them knew what the sound was coming from. Their curiosity was soon answered as a forklift rounded the corner. The forklift carried four crates in front. The driver seemed to be having a fair share of problems piloting the clumsy contraption. The forklift swerved and groaned as the driver missed gears. At one point Lenny thought that the whole thing would flip over, but it didn't. The grinding piece of machinery came to a stop next to the Bison. Nightsky hopped out of the driver's seat. There was an audible clank as his HK227 bounced against the monosword.
"Nightsky, what the frag is that?" Lenny demanded.
"That?" The adept pointed at the crates. "That is our profit. You should see some of the things that Lone Star keeps in this place. We could be rich in a week."
"You were suppose to sweep the warehouse." Lenny scorned. "Not go Christmas shopping."
"Stay frosty, Lenny." Nightsky said, showing his empty hands. "I swept the place. Found a pooch that didn't like me too much. You know how I feel about dogs, Lenny. I took care of the critter, though."
Lenny looked at him doubtfully.
"The way I see it this is just compensation." Nightsky said. "You said yourself that this job was a hose. When Gabriel checked out he took the payoff with him."
"Cut the chatter, Night." Lenny snapped. It was more of a warning than a suggestion. Nightsky's loose lips were spilling some vital information about the team's previous encounter. Lenny wanted to keep the involvement of Gabriel Frost out of his dealings with Glitch. Lenny did not want Glitch to know the full story about Abigail. The greed that Lenny had witnessed from Katie Florence made him cautious.
"What's going on?" Shard asked as she stepped out of the Bison. Her eyes wondered to the forklift that Nightsky brought up. "What's all this?"
"Nightsky decided to go Christmas shopping." Lenny told her.
"Christmas shopping?" Shard looked over the crates. "What's inside?" She directed the question towards Nightsky.
"Oh, you know." He shrugged. "This and that."
Lenny saw that Gideon and Lens were securing the last crate. They would be ready to leave in a few minutes.
"Come on, Lenny." Nightsky pleaded. "Might as well make the best of it."
"What the frag is all that?" Gideon grumbled as he stepped out of the trailer.
"This is profit, Gideon." Nightsky offered. Lenny might be a by the book man, but Gideon was different. Nightsky played on the fact that the ork wouldn't give up an edge if it was sitting in front of him. "Lone Star impounds more than just transmitters. You just have to know where to look. I got military grade ammunition here." Nightsky patted the top of one of the crates. "Not to mention armor and electronics."
"Where'd you find all that?" Gideon said gruffly.
"I got the inventory list. It was easy to match up the numbers to the crates." Nightsky explained.
"We've got what we came for." Lenny reminded. "We don't need the exposure."
Gideon thumbed his tusk. "Frag exposure." Gideon said.
Nightsky cracked a smile with those words.
"We don't need the exposure, be we could use the gear." Gideon wrapped his massive hands around a crate and carried it inside the Bison.
"Gideon?" Shard questioned.
Lenny was about to say something in response, but Glitch tugged at his coat.
"Hey, you guys settle this." Glitch interrupted before Lenny. "I've got what I need. I don't need none of the drek under this roof." He motioned at the warehouse and the rows upon rows of impounded goods.
Gideon came back to the forklift for another crate. Nightsky was busy dragging a third crate across the floor. It took some work for him to get the crate into the Bison. Moving all of the crates by himself would have been an impossible task. Nightksy was thankful for Gideon's help. In fact, he had counted on it. Lenny was too professional to allow the temptation to interfere with the operation.
"Hey?" Glitch squeaked, looking around with nervous eyes. "Did you see that?" He was addressing Lenny. Glitch didn't deal with the other shadowrunners as much as he had with Lenny. Glitch assumed Lenny to be the unconditional leader of the group. So he took up his business with him.
"See what?" Lenny said with a hint of frustration.
"I thought I saw something move over there." Glitch pointed as the maze of crates that surrounded the loading dock.
Lenny's cybereyes switched to low-light. His new vision pulled shapes out of the formless shadows. "I don't see anything."
Glitch shook his head. "I could've sworn I saw something. Like someone running, you know?"
"Hey, boss." Riggs came over the commlink. "I thought I saw something too. The sensors caught a blimp a minute ago, but it's clear now."
Great, Lenny thought to himself, two paranoid dwarfs. He shook his head slightly, resting his hand on his temple.
"Freeze!" A voice suddenly demanded from the shadows. "This is Lone Star, you are trespassing on restricted property! Put you weapons down, hands on your head, and on your knees. Now!"
"Lone Star!" Riggs whined from the Bison. "Not them! Not now!"
Lenny whirled around. His eyes, still running in low-light mode, made out a handful of figures surrounding the loading dock. They were deployed in a fashion normally associated with a Lone Star High Threat Response teams. Lenny had no idea how the group had managed to sneak up on the runners. All he knew was that those officers represented a very dangerous threat. Lone Star HTR teams was typically made up of five officers. One of which was magically active. That prospect had the capability of making this encounter much more dangerous than Lenny wanted.
Glitch stood dumbfounded as a pair of flashlights locked in on him. Lenny took a big risk by reaching out and grabbing Glitch's arm. With a sharp jerk he yanked the dwarf behind the forklift.
"This is your last warning!" The voice boomed. "You are surrounded. Throw down your weapons now!"
Gideon dropped the crate in his hands and yanked the Crusader machine pistol from its shoulder harness. Immediately the weapon's smartlink came online. The ork's eyes were naturally adapted to low light conditions.
Gideon's action drew gunfire before the crate hit the ground. Near a crate at the far end of the loading dark a orange light flickered. It was the report of the officer's weapon going off. The heavy thumping of an automatic machine gun filled the air. Bullets bounced off the Bison's armored hide just inches from Gideon's head. A few hit the ork's armored jacket, but the impacts were absorbed.
The ork shrugged it off.. Getting hit by flying lead was becoming second nature to Gideon. He had almost gotten use to the sudden force that bullets lent to his armor. He wasn't dumb enough to stay and let the cops shoot at him. Getting shot may be getting old, but it wasn't any fun either. Gideon ducked, rolling beneath the Bison and out the other side. Now he had the van's bulk to protect him.
"How did they get here?!" Nightsky demanded as he dropped to one knee. He was using the Bison's side door as cover. The presence of the officers made him forget all about the crates he wanted so badly to take with him.
"Shard get down!" Lenny screamed.
Shard rolled, hitting her shoulder against the rear tire of Glitch's tractor trailer. Hot traces of lead chewed away at the ground she had only recently occupied.
"They're going to kill us!" Glitch whined. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Pipe down, Glitch. We're not dead yet." Lenny replied, taking a few shots with his Predator II. "We're going to get out of here-......FRAG!" Lenny winced as a bullet smacked into his shoulder, spinning him around. For a moment he thought that the bullet had punched through his armor. He afford a brief sigh of relief when he discovered that it hadn't.
"I don't feel like holding a meaningful conversation with officer O'Malley right now!" Smiley leered, firing both his Predators at what he thought was an officer crouching. Smiley was at a loss for words when a spread of bullets passed right through the officer with no effect. Both bullets shattered a soft drink machine behind the phantom officer. "What the frag?"
Nightsky dropped an empty clip out of his HK227. "Somebody give me a target here." He cursed, slamming in a new clip.
"I shot him! Maybe I didn't shoot him enough." Smiley emptied half a clip into the phantom with no effect.
A burst of auto-fire clipped Smiley. The samurai hit the ground. A few rounds made it past his armor and into his flesh. Reinforced bones kept the bullets from puncturing any vital organs.
Lenny held his fire. One of his shots had just passed right through an officer with no effect. The occurrence left him at a loss for words. "What?" Then he thought of a possibility. "Shard!" He called out openly and through his commlink. "Does this group have a mage?"
"I don't know." Shard replied.
"Something's wrong." Lenny said. "We're shooting at phantoms here. What's the deal?"
"It could be an illusion." Shard replied. "Some kind of area effect spell that's twisting reality. Try thermographic vision, the phantoms shouldn't have body heat. It's just a trick with light."
"Can you make it stop?"
"I can try."
Shard shoved herself beneath the trailer where she could offer herself more protect. Then she focused her thoughts inward. She opened her eyes to the astral plane. A searing mix of violent emotions flooded over her. Hate and rage along with fear and desperation filled the air. Shard saw her companions in their astral representations. Lenny and Glitch were huddled behind the forklift. They gave off very different vibes. Lenny was calm and cool while Glitch remained a sack of barely controlled panic. Nightsky had the brilliant aura of an adept, one in the way of magic, but his emotional state showed that he was anxious to get out of the warehouse. Smiley's astral aura was a black mass punctuated by hatred and rage. A sight that always unnerved Shard.
Through it all there was the Lone Star HTR team. Five of them were clearly visible. Their numbers were fewer than Lenny had suspected. The presence of their auras did not lie. There was another thing on the astral plane that did not belong. A beam of mana was focused onto one of the auras. The aura was bright and lively. The owner was obviously with the ways of the awakened world. A magically active officer who had been trained for these kinds of encounters. The beam of mana was a spell. A spell that was creating the illusions on the physical plane. A spell that Shard intended to break.
Shard gritted her teeth, calling forth the power around her. The mana, the power of magic, leapt at her command. The energy filled her body like a rush of water. She forced the power into her hands. Only when the mana was concentrated enough did she reach out to the beam, bury her hands within it, and tear it apart.
Back in the physical world the phantoms disappeared. This left Smiley with a completely confused look on his face, but he had an overwhelming appetite to hurt someone.
"So you just had to shoot the fraggers more, huh?" Smiley reloaded his pistols. "Well I can put holes into things all day." He stood up. His weapons now tracking real targets. "So who's next!"
"Lens!" Glitch called at his partner. The female ork was hunkered behind the trailor. "Get into the rig, get her out of here!"
"I've got it taken care of!" Lens replied.
"Wait!" Lenny warned. "Shard's under the rig. Don't move it until I say so."
Lens nodded in response.
"What? You crazy or something?" Glitch blabbered.
"I'm not leaving her under there, Glitch." Lenny keyed his commlink. "Riggs, bring out the heavy artillery. Give me cover fire for one-hundred and eight degrees."
"Okay, bossman, but what if I end up shooting phantoms?" Riggs crackled over the commlink.
"That'll be fine too, now do it!" Lenny replied.
The pop-up turret locked itself into position on the back of the Bison. The multiple barrels of the vindicator minigun spun to life. They created a hum that was unmistakable. Those barrels produced a rate of fire that could carve any metahuman in half along with whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the way.
"Hit them!" Lenny ordered.
The minigun roared to life. Crates and boxes alike where cut to ribbons as high-velocity rounds ransacked the warehouse. Screams could be easily heard as the minigun swept the loading dock free of vermin. Blood and body parts splattered onto the walls as the minigun scored a direct hit. The opposing gunfire was silenced. It was replaced by the menacing rasp of empty shells clambering on the warehouse floor.
Lenny took the break and dived for Shard. Glitch hustled out from behind the forklift. The dwarf headed straight for the rig's cab where Lens was waiting. Lenny managed to reach Shard just as Glitch was starting up the rig's engine. As he rolled her into his arms she seemed to come too. He could tell from the expression on her face that she was only partly aware of what was going own around her. The rest of her mind was focused one something else.
"Gideon, Smiley." Lenny called to his teammates. "We're pulling out."
"I'm not done making my mark." Smiley replied.
"Pull back." Lenny repeated.
Smiley gave a frustrated look. "Yes, fearless leader."
The ground beneath Lenny's feet began to shake. It started with a low rumble, but grew into a bone shattering wail. The concrete in the center of the loading dock buckled, then tore apart all together. A hideous form rose out of the hole. It was a creature unlike any seen before. It's head was a large boulder with shadowy depressions for eyes. The rest of its body was made of dirt and mud. It looked barely solid, but it was stronger than it appeared. The minigun's bursts were easily absorbed by the pulsating mass. Pseudopods formed out of the rolling earth and engulfed the Vindicator.
"What the drek is that?" Riggs cried over the commlink. "That thing is jamming the servos, I can't direct the gun."
The minigun's servos whined under the pressure, trying to overcome the creature's immense strength. It was a losing battle. Something snapped and the minigun swung wildly out of control. An uncontrolled burst tore up the ground in random directions. Rounds slapped at Gideon who thought he was going to be dead for sure. The rounds punched deep craters into the unarmored trailor.
"Shut the gun down, Riggs." Lenny ordered.
The minigun went silent, but the creature did not let the turret go. The thick barrels on the minigun swung loosely on its mount like a broken toy.
"What is that thing?" Nightsky trigger his HK227 into the mass of dirt. He was rewarded when a ball of rocks, dirt, and mud smashed into him and the side of the Bison.
"It's an elemental." Shard informed, becoming immediately awake in Lenny's arms. She pushed against Lenny who promptly let her go.
The elemental drew itself up before flooding the floor with a thick, soupy mix of mud and grit. Gideon lost his footing and fell. As soon as he hit the ground the mud enveloped him. He would suffocate if he didn't escape.
Shard focused her power into a physical form. Blue-hot mana forged itself around her arm. She felt the power boil up inside her. It threatened to consume her soul if she pushed the magic too far. But far was what she needed to defeat this beast. With every once of her will she forced the magic into a bolt and sent it sailing into the mass of spirit that the elemental had become.
And nothing happened. The elemental absorbed the blast of mana and kept coming. A mass of earth shot out from the center of its being. Lenny pushed Shard away just in time. He saved her from being hit, but the mass of earth slammed into him with all the force of a freight train. The elemental wrapped Lenny in boils of cold mud. The mud became as solid as concrete, impossible for Lenny to break out of.
Two police officers raced out from behind the crates. They had weapons leveled at Lenny and Shard. Lenny tried to get his gun up, but the elemental had his hand pinned against his chest. The elemental's strength was uncanny. He couldn't get a shot off.
The officers drew sights on Lenny. Then the officer's head exploded out of his helmet. As the officer crumpled Lenny could see Smiley standing behind him. An insane grin marked the samurai's features. He was on the razors edge and loving it every step of the way. A second pistol appeared in Smiley's hand. He used it to cut the second officer to pieces, firing no less than half a dozen times. The first few shots were blocked by the officer's armor, but Smiley's explosive ammunition eventually found it's mark.
Nightsky discarded the HK227 and drew his monosword. He jumped onto the mass of dirt that held Lenny in place. Then he carved into the dirt like a hot knife through butter. The personal force that Nightsky granted to his weapon was a direct link with the spirit's astral form. The blow as true, the mass of earth holding Lenny down became lifeless. As did the rest of the mass that Nightsky was perched on. The dead earth fell to the ground like so many grains of sand.
"In the name of the wind of the sea and over the earth, I banish thee!" Shard cursed against the elemental, holding her hand up high to the elemental's stone features. "Begone to mother earth from where ye came! Return to feed life and not to destroy it! Be the mother of old and bring life to the land as has been done since the beginning time!"
The elemental swirled in a muddy frenzy.
"Begone!" Shard chanted.
The elemental resisted. It's form solidified into hard stones. It released the stones at blinding speed. One of which impact Shard with enough force to daze her body, but not her mind. She focused her will against the elmental.
"Begone and return to the land!"
Her chants once again fell on deaf ears. Mud tethers wrapped around Shard's feet and pulled her to her knees. She fought to keep her head up and her will strong. The elemental was winning, Shard felt it. Her power was weakening. Shard's legs felt weak beneath her. The elemental was trying to pull her down. Lenny's hand came out of now where. He latched onto her arm and held her up while taking aim with his pistol. Unfortunately his bullets had minimal effect on the elemental.
"Need a hand!?" Nightsky dove past Lenny and Shard. His monosword stretched out before him. The tip of the blade shank into the mass of the elemental. The spirit released a sound that could be described as a grimace of pain. The monosword buried itself into the earth right to the hilt.
"Begone spirit!" Shard screamed with all the strength left in her. "Begone from this place! Return to the earth!"
The elemental grinded at Shard's words. A boulder formed out of no where and flew towards Shard, but Lenny was there to pull her out of the way. Meanwhile Nightsky tore at the magical construct with all the skill he had to draw on. The elemental sounded like a saw cutting through stone as it howled in pain.
Shard pulled herself to her feet, using Lenny's shoulder as a prop. Once again she reached for the magic inside her. Blue mana formed around her hand. She focused the power into a ball. "Begone from this plane, nevermore!" She screamed, hurling the ball of mana at the elemental.
The powerbolt struck the very center of the elemental's mass, effectively gutting the creature. The elemental howled like an enraged animal. Massive chunks of rocks and mud splattered onto the floor. The shape of the elemental started to deteriorate. The boulder, which had served as a head for the elemental, stretched completely out of proportion. It looked like someone had pulled a mask over a man's head, then cut the man's fingers off. The man looked like he was screaming beneath the mask, only the sound that was released sounded like no man at all.
The waves of mud receded, allowing Gideon to stumble to his feet. The ork was gasping for air, but he looked okay.
"What?" Nightsky pulled himself up. His monosword was soaked with mud and grim. "It's gone?"
"The elemental has been beaten." Shard sounded very weak. Blood was running from her nose and ears. She had put everything she had into the powerbolt. There wasn't anything left to give.
"Take cover!" Lenny warned as a burst of fire appeared form a corner of the loading dock.
The firebolt sailed right for Lenny and Shard. Shard's eyes went wide as she registered the threat. There was no time to cast a suitable spell to defend against the attack. The struggle with the elemental had left her severely drained. She focused her magic into a shield around her and Lenny. Shard could only pray that it would be enough.
The spell struck her makeshift defense with fiery heat. Shard felt her defense buckle as flames licked at her skin. Lenny's coat caught fire as the spell washed over him. Immediately he shucked the jacket off, throwing it as far away as he possible could. An instant later the ammunition in the coat went off, showering the area with deadly shrapnel.
"No more mojo!" Gideon cursed as he opened fire in the direction of the firebolt.
Smiley followed Gideon's lead. It wasn't long before the corner was marked with bullet holes and scorch marks from explosive ammunition. The massive amount of fire drove the Lone Star mage out of hiding. He sprinted for a new place to hide and recover his wits enough for another spell.
He didn't make it ten feet before Gideon's bullets caught up with him.
The rig's engine roared to live and shifted into gear. Glitch held his pudgy little face out the passenger window.
"We're getting out of here. You can stick around if you want, but this is just too much party for me." The dwarf cried. "Let's move, Lens."
"We're right behind you." Lenny huffed, keying his commink. "Everybody to the Bison." Lenny through Shard's arm over his shoulder. She had gone limp from exhaustion. "We are leaving now!"
"Don't have to tell me twice." Nightsky hopped aboard and helped Lenny as he tried to get Shard inside.
No sooner did Gideon and Smiley get in than Riggs slammed the door shut. In fact, Riggs shut the door so quickly that he nearly caught Smiley's foot.
The rig pulled out only seconds before the Bison did. The two of riggers headed for the main gate, but they never made it that far. The gate had been blocked by Lone Star cruisers.
"Frag, our exit's blocked." Riggs cursed.
Lens leaned out the window of the rig. "What do we do?" She asked with concern. She could see no other way out.
Lenny looked at the perimeter of the warehouse. It was surrounded by a chainlink fence with razor wire on the top. Lenny would bet his right eye that the fence was electrified and reinforced in some way.
"Shard?" Lenny shook the elf's shoulder.
Shard moaned in response.
"Have you got enough for one more blast of mojo in you."
"I think so." Shard said vaguely. "What do you need."
Lenny pointed at a section of fence. "I need that fence down."
Shard hauled herself up. She took one look at the fence, then at Lenny. "I can do it." She said with determination.
Lenny smiled. "You heard her, Riggs."
"Right-o." Riggs said before yelling at Lens. "Follow us!" The female ork nodded at the dwarf and dropped the big rig into gear.
Riggs hit the gas and sent the Bison barreling for the fence.
Shard sat up in her seat. She set her mind to the fence, focusing herself on its shape and workings. The on the will of mana that surrounded the non-living thing. The mana grew within her, straight and true. The spell she caste was weaker than what she had caste before. Nevertheless it sapped nearly all of he strength. The impact of the spell weakened the fence. It shuddered under the force of will.
The force of the Bison was enough to bring the Fence crashing down. The Bison and Free Air's rig made it out onto the street. Lone Star gave chase, but they did not have the skills to hold out long against two seasoned riggers of the shadows.
Like this chapter? Then go on to the NEXT CHAPTER. Had enough of this story? Try going back to the Fiction Index and find something else. Thoughts, rants, comments? Email me and tell what you thought about it.