Archer rolls frantically to the side as pistol rounds slap the tile where is head had been mere second before. He turns the roll into a shoulder roll and slide forward behind the main collum near the balconies entrance. He then turns and fires two quick booming rounds back down the hallway.



-00:02:52

Jessie dodges to the left, taking cover behind one of the doors there, then takes a shot of her own before returning to the cover.

edit

Ohanzee instinctively uses his crouched position and instantly drops prone, one round grazing his cheek as he his falling.
As Sink throws the grenade Ohanzee gets up again without hesitation and with a few quick strides moves to the wall next to the kitchen door, both guardians raised close to his head. Intensely he listens for any noises and gut feelings that could tell him about any danger from inside the kitchen and then pops up, quickly moving past the kitchen door to get a look at the kitchen and the possible location of the bodyguard. Blood is slowly running down Ohanzee's cheek, dripping onto his coat. where it dries and takes on a the typical dark color which makes it hard to distinguish from the black leather.
Biomonitor readings run through his field of vision telling him that no serious injury has occured so Ohanzee doesn'twaste another thought about his health and is now fully focused on combat again.
As the Bodyguard hides behind the pillar Ohanzee steps slightly out of his cover, with both guardians outstretched, one aimed slightly to the right and one slightly to the left of the column roughly at gut height, not caring for which is aimed to what side. When he sees archer coming out of cover he will fire a round from both guardians simultaneously and vanishes behind the corner of the wall again.

Sink lurches forward, shotgun in hand. He fires a quick blast towards Archer, then ducks down behind the couch.

The shotgun slug blasts away at the faux concrete pillar sending chunks of plaster flying through the air.

[ Arden ]

The quiet hiss of the hydralics from the compartment behind him goes unnoticed by Ardens slack form. The night fades into artificial oblivion as the sensors seek their target, right where he's supposed to be...

"Keep your heads down, this is gonna be loud" comes in over the commnet as a pair of high explosive angels sail towards the balcony.

Ghost Dragon moves around the other side of the room from Ohanzee and takes cover behind the pillar on that side. He watches with his gun aimed in Archer's direction in case the bodyguard desides to move.

A second after Grimshear's warning comes over the radio a massive blast detonates on the balcony. The concussion smashes through the open doors sending glass inward. The faux concrete on the pillar Archer is hiding behind explodes outward. Leaving little cover for the crouching ork.

Warpath's augmented senses can't help but notice the commotion on the other side of the facility, even if he hadn't been monitoring the comm. He keeps up his watch.

Mirage turns and covers the balcony with her Manhunter, in case Archer moves outside.

Ohanze's rapid fire salvo strikes Archer in the shoulder, knocking the big ork out of cover. Going with the momentum he uses it to roll out onto the balcony. Standing on the edge he looks back in the room, and leaps off.

@ Mirage.

The wounded ork slams into the snowy ground landing on his feet and hands. He looks bad. His right arm is covered in blood, as is his neck. Glass and shrapnel from Ardens grenades stick visibly in his exposed skin. He doesn't see you, and his back is to you.

Jessie quickly makes her way through the appartment and tries to locate the target. She doesn't run, trying to be careful of any traps, but does her best to get the search done quickly.

As Jessie starts to move she hears a whimpering noise coming from the door to her right. Inside is Kyle Morgan. Every bit as fat as his picture. He is sitting in a table chair in the middle of the bedroom. Dull silver duct tape has been liberly applied to him, securing him to the chair. Not an inch of his body is uncovered, except for his nose, eyes, and ears.

"Shit. Guys, help me out here! How do we want to handle this? We could just tie a line to the chair and lower him down while he is securely strapped in. Sink, tell me you can carry him..."

From behind his cover Ohanzee uses his hearing augmentations to their full potential to follow the events. As Archer leaves the scene his body slackens. His arms are lowered and he lets out a sigh of relief.
That was close! I can't afford such carelessnes. Lilly needs me. Now more then ever, now that she can actually be healed and get a bit of her life back...
For a few seconds the tall Amerindian just stands there breathing and getting himself under control again.
Once that is accomplished he whipes most of the blood out of his face and tries to stop the bleeding by applying a good bit of preasure to the wound. With his right hand pressed to his cheek he briskly walks over to Jessie in order to take a look at the situation.

"If we can manage to get a rope from here to one of the trees beyond the wall we could just lower him down there and get him off the complex this way. We could exit that way as well. Sink, what do you think?"

Archer takes a few steps in the snow, heading around back of the building. He wavers for a second, looses his balance and pitches forward onto his knees. "Frag me!" He mutters before collapsing into the snow.

Ghost Dragon runs over to the balcony to see if he can get a clear shot at Archer and to spy on his activities. He leans to the side slightly as he clutches his pistol in front of himself with both hands and looks down and around, trying to see Archer.

Jessie runs out to the patio and looks around, trying to see if there is something that she could hit with her grapple gun.

Jessie sighs heavily. "Drek, I can see anything through the storm. We're gunna have to just lower him straight down. Get him over here quickly, we don't have much time!"

Jessie starts to tie off her remaining two grapple lines and then reaches into her backpack for her climbing harness.

"I'm not much help getting him down, so I'll go down now and get out of the way so you guys can get to work."

With that, Jessie grabs one of the lines she tied off and connects to it. She then climbs over the railing of the balcony and leans back.

"See ya on the ground."

With that, he pushes off and repells down the side of the building.

At the instant her feet his the ground, she unbuckles herself and looks around for Mirage.

"Team. I am on the ground. Do you want me to stick around to cover you, or should I head about to the van now so we have one less person to worry about getting over the wall?"

Ghost Dragon grits his teeth at being unable to finish Archer off. He frowns and checks his gun's ammo counter. 7.

He isn't through bothering us yet. We should be seeing him in less than ten minutes.

He then holsters his pistol and heads into the room with the fat man in the chair.

Ghost Dragon walks up to Morgan and leans over to his ear. Quietly, he whispers, "Do not scream. We were sent by von Braun to get you out of here. I need you to answer some questions before we move you."

Ghost Dragon carefully removes the tape from Morgan's lips, so that he can speak, by ripping it and then peeling it away.

"Are there any booby traps, such as explosives, wired to this chair? Any tracking signals?"

As Jessie prepares to repel down Sink says "I"ll lower him down. Untie him once he gets to the ground."
He looks at the guy. "Damn he's big." He pulls out two Troll -rated line and finds some place to tie them off. "I think I can handle him though." He sprints over to where Ghost Dragon is talking to the man. "Let's go." He looks at the man and says "I'm going to tie a rope around you and lower you to the ground. We have to leave right now though."

Once GD is through verfying that the man won't explode, he helps untie him and get him to his feet. He leads him over to the edge and ties one of the lines around him, and begins to lower him down to the ground.

"N...no no explosives or traps. He just wanted to make sure that I would slow anyone down." It takes almost a full minute for Smed to secure the rope and prep Morgan for the trip down. The man is obviously scarred witless and incredibly nervous. Smed's huge arms ripple as he loweres the three hundred pound scientist to the ground. It takes another minute to get him down.

00:00:53

As Archer collapses to the ground Mirage moves cautiously over to his body, keeping her Manhunter aimed at him all the way. When she get's there she checks for a pulse.

_______________________________
As Jessie lands behind her Mirage replies over the TacComm, "You head for the van, I'll keep cover. Best get moving, we're not going to get clear before the Tactical team arrive."

His pulse is weak but steady. The drugs in Ohanzee's bullets seem to have done the trick. You figure he will be out for at least an hour.

Jessie runs back into the park and heads to wear she has the line tied to help get over the wall. Once there, she grabs the line and starts to make her way over the wall.

[ Arden ]

Slapping the big mental "off" button in his mind for the active sensors, Arden pulls enough free of the link to reach back into the storage locker behind him and pull free the Alpha from where it sits. Working the action and setting it down next to him, he uses the remaining time to retract the pop-up turret and continue listening in on any comm traffic.

And then he waits for the rest of the team to get their rather portly package over the wall.

Ghost Dragon slides down the rope that was used to lower Morgan down to the ground and begins ripping the tape off by tearing through strips down the side. Once he has ripped through them all, he grabs a big handful and says, "This isn't going to be pleasant."

With a quick thrust of his arm, Ghost Dragon tears off several pieces of tape near Morgan's arm and tosses them off to the side. Resolutely, he says, "Hurry and get the rest off. I will help you." He continues tearing off tape on Morgan's torso and legs.

Ohanzee quickly follows the team to the ground and once he arrives immediately slips into the role of an coordinator the way he used to a few years back and the way he never really wanted to do it again since his failure, but he's acting on instinct now, fear and stress ruling his thoughts and mind.

Walking over to Ghost Dragon he slaps him on the shoulder: "Quick, you go get over the wall. The troll and I will go last." He then takes a few quick steps towards sink and says to him "You will need to help the target to get over the wall. Push him from the ground and up the wall. I will wait on the top to pull him the rest of the way. We need to hurry. And help that guy get rid of the tape while the rest is leaving..."

Once the rest of the team is over the wall Ohanzee will grab the rope and climb up himself. Once up there he waits for the fat scientist to be pushed in his direction to grab him under the arms and pull him upwards. Grasping the fatty and spongy arms Ohanzee has a hard time finding a secure stance on the wall to support the man's weight.

The man suppresses a scream as Sink rips of the remaining tape. With some encouragement from the troll he finds his way to the wall and looks hopelessly up at hit. Ohanzee spryly scrambles up the rope and balances on top of the domes, snow covered wall. Sink then grabs the scientist and lifts him bodily up and over.

00:00:10

@ Warpath,

the scream of twin jet engines fills the air. The big samurais keen senses can make out the silhouette of an Osprey II descending over the compound. The side door is wide open and two figures clad in black stand ready to descend. A third is mounted behind what looks like a vindicator.

Ghost Dragon looks at Ohanzee and says, "Right."

After Morgan is over the wall, Ghost Dragon pulls himself over and makes his way to the van.

Over the comm, Warpath's transducer generated voice sounds. Two incoming in an Osprey. There's a minigunner on the side, looks like. Things are getting hot, what is your status, team?

He raises the Ares under his cloak, but retains his concealment position, not wanting to risk exposure unless absolutely necessary. He glances toward the escape route, just in case he needs to make use of it in the next few moments.

As soon as Jessie is over the wall, he runs back towards the Van and jumps inside.

"Arden, can you lay down some cover for the team while they make their way back here?"

Sink pulls himself over the wall, and then grabs Morgan, leading, dragging, or carrying him back towards the van.

On my way with thew package Sink replies, keeping an eye out for the inbound threat as he runs.

Mirage waits until everybody has reached the ground below the balcony, then heads for the wall, keeping pace with Sink.

She climbs the wall ahead of Ohanzee and then moves outside the van. Redrawing her Manhunter she covers Ohanzee and Sink as they manhandle Morgan's bloated body over the wall. She prepares to jump into the Roadmaster as soon as Sink has got Morgan inside.

The Osprey begins it's descent and settles just above the roof of the apartment. The snow and wind working with the 'runners for once, the men in the door can't see the street level. Sink bodily throws the man into the waiting arms of the Roadmaster, Ghost Dragon and Jessie quickly push him out of the way, clearing a path for Ohanzee, then Sink, and finally Mirage to climb in. All that is left tis to recover Warpath. Tense moments pass by. The Osprey's pilot fights the wind as two men dressed all in black and carrying assault riffle repel out of the open doorway an on to the balcony. It won't take them long to figure out what happened, and where to look.

Ohanzee pulls with full force, digging his feet into the wall. He can't help but lean far backwards in the process. As the weight of Morgans body shifts over the wall Ohanzee suddenly loses his counterweight, falling flat ob his back - and lets out a sigh of relief as Morgan impacts only a few inches away from him, tangibly shaking the ground.
Ohanzee doesn't need long to gather himself and is standing again as soon as Sink hits the ground next to him. He rushes to the van and jumps in, his heart beating somewhere close to his throat.

Over the comm: "Warpath, are you coming? We need to go!"

Over the comm: Get going, ladies. I'm cover for another two seconds and then I'm out. What is the meet point? Even as he is think/talking it, he backs slowly toward the his route down, not giving up his concealment from the cloak. After making the descent, he ends up a block away from the action and crawls into the Brumby which he left there. He stashes his illegal goods under the bench seat and breaths a sigh of relief before heading off to make a rendevous with the team.

[ Arden ]

Gunning the engine as the others climbing aboard, Arden makes as speedy an escape as possible, heading away from the Osprey's current facing.

As he guides the van through the snow-blown streets, he keeps a mental "eye" on the plane, ready to slap up all the countermeasures at his disposal should the bird look like it's going to come his way.

The Roadmaster rolls out after Warpaths notification comes over the net. The big tires plow through the snow like mud. Only occasionally does the vehicle lurch as the tires lose group.

On the electronic battlefield Arden can see the Osprey as a bright beacon of glowing energy. The VTOL makes no effort to hide it's presence. Pulses of electronic emmisions emanate from it, painting everything within a thousand meters. Everything but the expertly driven Roadmaster. It takes five minutes for the rigger to cover enough distance to be sure. The Osprey is well behind.

@ Warpath,

The Roadmaster rolls out underneath you. The Osprey continues to hover as a third individual, much more unsteady on his feet, is lowered down. The first two men hang out on the balcony talking, their weapons slung in a comfortable position. Intrigued you stay to watch. After ten minutes of hovering all three are raised back up into the belly of the vtol. It banks, swivels it's engines, and blast back to the south.

Warpath stays to watch for a bit before trying to pull his Brumby back onto the road. He taps his comm, and tries to get a return signal, from the team, if they are still in range. If it becomes apparent that they aren't, he fumbles for his cellphone with chilled fingers and makes a call to Jessie's cell phone.

The Brumby slides a good deal as he tries to drive, though he thinks he can manage if he goes very slowly.

Jessie sees the incoming and opens the line after running her encryption over it. "Speak to me."

All the while, she had reached into her backpack and pulled out a bug scanner. She carefully runs it over Kyle's body, making sure he is clean.

Over the phone, Warpath's voice comes, "Yeah, honey, that cake I was baking for the Johnsons went south. Three things came out of it and about ten minutes later, it just went south on me. This snow is killing me so I might be a little late for our appointment. Send me the address again through my pager, I think my pocket secretary ate it. I'll talk to you later. Be careful out there."

He hangs up the phone and hopes that his message came through, despite the doublespeak. The number of cellphones active in the area was likely to be nearly nill and he didn't want the message giving anything away.

Jessie sighs as she disconnects the line.

"Warpath just gave me the all clear. He'll be meeting up with us later. I'm gunna call the Johnson and get a meeting setup for us. Anyone have any spots they prefer to have the dropoff at?"

Once Jessie verifies that Kyle is bug-free, she dials up the Johnson.

[ Arden ]

As his slack form lays cradled in the front seat, Ardens slightly tinny voice comes out of a small speaker set into the rear wall.

"So long as it's warm, I don't care. I don't think I can fraggin' feel my toes anymore..." The last bit is said as a twitch of a smile tugs at the slack mouth in the front of the van.

"Excellent," comes the reply from the German elf, "well done Frauline. There is an abandoned building on 23rd street south. It is in the shadow of the Arcology, triple AAA sec rating, I feel we would all be safe there. I will meet you there in 2 hours to arrange transfer of the asset. Again, well done." The line goes dead leaving you wondering about the un-characteristically cheery Elf.

Jessie relays the address to Arden.

"Lets head there now so we can make sure the place is clear and we can setup some escape routes. I'll give Warpath a call and let him know to meet us there."

Jessie puts a call through to Warpath.

The drive to the building was slow going in the snow. The main roads were a battle ground of vehicles and snow plows. They were losing. Now that the sun was starting to dip into the ocean the conditions only worsened.

Downtown was a frozen wreck. Cars were pushed to the side by monstrous plowing machines. Chemicals and rocks poured out of the back of large trucks in a vain attempt to fight back the encroaching cold.

The building itself was scheduled for demolition. It looked to be thirty years old. It was oblong shaped and squatted between two much larger office buildings. A sign from the city warned of the impending destruction.

Ghost Dragon remains silent through the conversation. He releases his spell back into the ether and settles down into the seat with his eyes closed. In an attempt to keep Kyle Morgan at ease, he strikes up a loose conversation.

"Tell me about that place, Kyle. It looked more like a prison than a residential complex."