"Good to go," Shadow responds almost involuntarily.

"On the way."

Grendel accelerates away from Ayo's safehouse location, enroute to the hull down position from which he observed the Ares facility earlier. Once the Bison's pilot was locked on course, he shifted his attention to bringing all of his systems onto full combat footing. The Bison changed its identity according to its onboard transponder, the engine growl deepening in response to the additional power drain as the network marshalled its transmission energy. A series of mechanical clicks rang through the vehicle as the safety interlocks on the Bison's weapons disengaged. Lastly, the elf reached over and unlatched the lock that kept his Ares Alpha muzzle down next to the command couch.

Grendel's rig rumbles south, making its way into the barren cityscape of Tarislar. As the team approaches the Magitech site, everyone prepairs to roll out.

The image of the Magitech Site rotates at a degree per second on the main display screen of the Bison. A composite from surveillance stills garnered by the Condor, already in position on the southern side of the building, the picture is overlaid with BattleTac symbology. The Bison itself idled, hull down behind a particularly scenic pile of rubble, to the northeast of the facility.

"Keep comms down to the minimum necessary to maintain situational awareness. Cover your sector, cover your teammates. Support firepower will be available upon request. Stay frosty, stay quiet. Let's move like we've got a purpose. Good luck, team."

Ayo slides through the open door, scanning through the area with Leopard's eyes, stretching his senses out for discrepancies in the flows of mana around him.

Onna steps from the van behind Ayo with Yuki following in astral form.

:: On the way to run the few pick up errands before the mission begins, Silk takes a moment to activate her increased reflexes spell and ancors it into her sustaining focus. After a moment of consideration, she chooses to leave her armor spell until they are safely out of view in the sewers. ::

:: Once at the target, she slips out of the van behind the other two party members and takes a slow deep breath as she prepares herself for the action that will begin shortly. ::

A glance into the Astral shows what you expect. A big powerful ward around the entire site. But even with the ward up, the area is oozing a slight background count. There are no signs of life that you can detect.

Father grips his deck in one hand and stabalizes his Ingram under the other. He steps out of the van, but hangs back, letting the "field agents" do their thing. For the moment, he's just along for the ride.

Onna fumbles with the internal mic in the samurai style helmet, inwardly relieved that Father had already did what was needed to the machine. "Please wait." She kneels and places her hands upon the ground. She begins a soft chant as the mana flows from her into the earth below her. Yuki's aura pulses in time with her mistress. The flows weave together forming a intricate cirlce before her. With a snap the mana flares and a small gate opens and a metallic dragon is called forth.

Onna rises and bows deeply. Thank you for hearing my call and I am honored the kami of this place consider me friend. The dragon coils about her form. I humbly ask two favors of you this night. The car behind us must not be seen by our enemies if we are to succeed. The spirit flows from her and encircles the van in which the team arrived. The warrior within remains here to protect us and places himself in grave danger. I ask that you assist him should our enemies attack. Please do these two things and I shall make offerings to the kami of this place in the days ahead. She bows again deeply, holding the bow and awaiting the dragon's answer.

It shall be as you ask Little One. I will protect this one and fight at his side should the need arise. You have my word on this till the Great Eye rises in the East.

She straightens and speaks ackwardly into the mic. "I have a spirit here to help you. Do you need one for your little machine up high?"

"Negative, with the drone in direct LOS of the compound a spirit concealing it would only arouse suspicions were it to be viewed from astral. I expect any astral activity would attract the attention of the guard animals."

True to his name sake, Shadow glides out of the van. Instinctively he sticks to the deepest blackness he can find. His out fit consists of non reflective flat black layers of armor and clothes. His hair is pulled tight and covered with a ski mask. In fact, the only portion of skin showing is his face, everything else is covered in some way.

"Okay, Warpath, get the manhole big guy, I'll go in first and scout it out, check for alarms and stuff."

Shadow moves to the manhole and inspects it carefully before motioning for the big Samurai to open it up.

Shadow slips his extendable mirror through the small finger hole in the manhole. Rotating it around, he spots a single blinking light.

Onna carefully manipulates the machine on the waist of her armor set. With a slight hum her armor takes on the color and texture of the area around her. She suppresses the slight shudder at its workings. She slips quietly from the van to the area near the entry point, anxious to be out of sight so she can turn off the devices on her body.

While the team waits for Shadow to work on the alarm, hackles rise. Out of a near-by alley a pair of elf thugs emerge from the shadows, one with a lead pipe slung over his sholder, the other with an uzi that has seen better days. Their hungery, blood-shot eyes focus on Father and they smile in unison.

Uzi-boy points his gun at the old japanese decker and threatens, "Ey there ol' timer. Thats a nice package you got under yer arm. Why don't you let me take a look at dat, eh?"

As he mentions the package, he motions his gun towards the cyberdeck Father is carrying. They don't seem to have any clue anyone but Father is on 'their' street.

:: As Silk stands silently against the wall, her eyes narrow as the street scum accost Father. As she narrows her eyes, she focuses on the one that spoke and a faint murky green mist seems to appear around his head. ::

The poor thug has to do one of the hardest things it is to do in life. Pee while running full speed. He darts back down the alley he came from, leaving the other elf behind, looking very confused and wondering if he should follow.

Father curses slightly under his breath and shifts his hand to grip the handle of his SMG. He doesn't draw it yet, hoping that the others might be able to get a drop on the punks before he has to defend himself. He'd rather not get into a firefight while his deck is held in his other hand! He backs away from the punks hoping to give his team a clear light of fire should it be necessary.

The remaining ganger hefts his bat, like he is about to charge at Father, but then turns and runs after his friend, saying over his shoulder, "Yer lucky we got better thangs ta do tanight!"

Shadow hardly notices the distraction while he concentrates. Slim fingers manipulate the unseen alarm system. Eyes closed, mind visualizing the wire, he works with his right hand to seperate the correct optics, and his left holds the bypas unit.

"I think I got it, Warpath, just one more second," the elf whispers into the night.

Shadow's agile hands slips the by-pass into place, rerouting the alarms laser away from the ladder so the team can get through the manhole without a problem.

With a nod from Shadow, Warpath hefts the manhole cover all the way back and motions for the team to climb down.

Shadow grabs the rungs of the ladder, he places his feet on either side and slides down the distance. He is off the ladder in a instant and off to the side. SCK Model 100 in his hands and pointed down range.

His twenty thousand nuyen cyber eyes adjust to the low levels of light, allowing him to see as clear as daylight.

"Team, One, looks all clear."

The dank musty smell assults your senses as your feet sink into the sewer's goo. Rats scurry about, fighting over scraps of food. Their constant squeeks and squeals echo through the chamber. You think you see several sets of red eyes glow in the distance, but as soon as you notice them, they are gone.

:: Silk moves forward and touches Father's arm gently. ::

"Why don't you go down next."

:: Once he has decended the ladder, she quickly follows, her rhytheniums blurring slightly for a moment as she drops into the hole and steps to the side. With a quick subtle movement, she drops a pair of high tech goggles over her eyes and she keys into her new dank surroundings. ::

Onna silently slips down the ladder after Silk, opening her senses to the space around her. She feels Yuki begin to focus and slip into the locket around her neck, assuming the shape of a small coin.

Father nods at Silk's suggestion. He sets the deck down next to the manhole and climbs down the ladder. Looking up, Silk hands him the deck, and he checks the waterproof bag around it to be sure that it's closed tightly and secured. Slipping it back under his arm, he waits for a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the meager light. Taking a deep breath, he shudders a bit when he realizes it's only going to get darker ..... and smellier.

Warpath climbs down, pausing for a moment to close the manhole above the group. As he does so, the sewer plunges into darkness. Those with thermoptics can see Warpath climb the rest of the way down and ready his assult rifle.

Onna steps to the side. "The rats are very close. There is more than 12. They are in our way." She slowly slides Hito Shiboru from its sheath. "What are we going to do about them?" Her halting English comes over the comms.

"Well, Path and I have silenced weapons." With a click the low light flashlight on the end of Shadows smg activates. It illuminates the area in front of the group with a feeble light. At least to those with un aided vision. To eyes with low light the illuminations is like a moon filled night.

"Lets move out."

Father takes one last look up at the manhole cover as Warpath slides it home. With a sigh he thinks to himself, What did I get myself into..... He shrugs, and brightens a bit when Shadow provides a certain amount of illumination and prepares to follow the group, staying toward the middle of the pack.

:: Silk takes a moment to adjust to the light coming through the high tech goggles and begins to wonder if simply astrally percieving would be easier. With a look to Father, her mind is made up and she pulls the goggles off and hands them over to him, placing them in his palm so he's sure to see them. ::

:: Next, she pauses a moment to collect the mana around her and mentally focuses it into a shield of tingly blue archs of light around her body. The added light is enough to increase the illumination up a bit. ::

"Ready."

Ayo drops into the sewer just ahead of Warpath, eyes reflecting yellow in the dim light before the manhole cover slips shut. He glances around, pistols flowing into his hands as he pauses near the front of the group, waiting for everyone to get collected and ready to move forward.

Onna's free hand moves through a series of shapes as the mana wraps about her, settling into a tight and faint greeen glow of an armor spell. She briefly touches a small pin tucked into a fold of her armor, tranferring it to the focus. "I am ready."

Father bows in thanks toward Silk.

Ayo moves forward in the darkness, leading the team for the moment. He continually scans ahead, checking for sensors or rats a little larger then normal.

Shadow steps lightly beside Ayo, scanning the tunnel for alarms or other traps.

Three rats rise up out of the garbage and attack Ayo and Shadow. With lightening reflexes, Ayo whips his pistols up into the ready possition and fires off two rounds, each taking a rat center mass and leaving behind a bloody pulp. Shadow grimises as he feels something dig into his leg, but between his nice layer of armor and tough body, it doesn't leave a scratch. He hefts his own firepower and sends a burst into the pest, creating a smear of gore.

Nine other heads come up quickly, too quick for their camoflauge to conceal them, just in front of the three frontline warriors, red eyes glowing in the darkness.

Warpath takes quick aim with his Ares Alpha and fires off two rounds, each ending with a small explosion that sends entrails flying.

Placing a hand on the hilt of her wakizashi, Onna reaches out and fills each sword with her will and focus. She is rewarded with a flow of power and awareness. She steps forward and places herself squarely between the beasts and Father. "Allow me to deal with these worthless creatures, Honored Elder." She nods at Father as she speaks in Japanese, her voice firm and polite.

With a weak smile and a gracious nod, Father takes a step back, trying to put his body between the rats and his deck -- odd priorities for anyone but a decker. His sub-machine gun is ready in his hand, but anyone looking closely would see a slight tremble to it as he watches the battle before him. He is stone-faced, however, as he watches the action unfold, trusting the others to do their job just as he knows they trust him to do his.

The first rat died in a hail of automatic gunfire that sounded like pop bottles breaking against concrete. Blood and gore splattered the far wall. Unfortunately the second burst merely blasted the concrete walls.

Moving with swift precision, Ayuda pivots, snapping the single pistol around and firing two more single shots, the sound an odd counterpoint to the rattle of automatic fire preceeding it.

Ayu splats two more rats and the next instant Silk knocks one out with a well aimed spell. The next instant the rats begin to scatter, running into small pipes and down cracks in the wall.

Wiping a bit of blood off of his cheek, Father grins and comments: "You all do good work."

:: Silk smiles at Father before turning to the rest of the group. ::

"If you'll wait just a bit, I'd like to summon up some assistance."

:: Lacking a clean place to kneel, she simply bows her head and begins mumbling in Latin as the Mana begins to gather before and around her. A breeze seems to move through the air stirring unpleasant scents that had thankfully settled on the putrid ground before but after a few moments, two enormous spirits seem to manifest before her, their bodies a mangled mess of filth, trash and discarded belongings. ::

"Return to Astral my friends, I shall call upon you shortly. Take this gift of mana to protect yourselves against our enemies."

:: Pushing her will upon the beings, she shapes the mana about them in a form of light armor. ::

The two spirits nod their heads in unison and fall down into the floor of sludge, disappearing.

Ayo watches quietly, reloading both pistols and moving on through the darkness.

"Okay, everyone stay behind me, moving out."

The dark elf moved silently down the hallway. Only a whisper as he cleared the area for traps and security devices.

Only a few meters ahead is the branch where the group needs to go north. Peeking around the corner it is hard to see, due to a lack of light, but it is a smaller tunnel with pipes running overhead. You'll only be able to go two wide at the most.

"Alright," Shadow whispers over the comm. "It's going to get a little tight. I'll take the lead, Warpath I want you right behind me, then Silk, Ayo, Father, and Onna. Let's move out."True to his word Shadow takes the lead. Sharp elven eyes scanning for alarms or traps.