All
The feeds of the tac-net continue to stream past you and you see the panel pull back and slide to the side as a small drone rolls out from the space. It is a crawler with an obvious LMG mounted on it. It opens smaller windows to provide more feeds of information as it runs in the background.

Tactical network running....
ALERT: drone detected with combat ability
ALERT: potential reinforcements now being deployed
ALERT: security is still active
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: cover is recommended to avoid direct fire, small arms fire may prove ineffective against this target, please provide more data to fully assess this threat
ANALYSIS: the chance of significant injury has risen by 30%, please have medical aid standing by, employ heavy munitions if possible (see attached data packet)

Close up of the drone and the weapon mount are fed through the network into the new small windows.

Fat Man
You see the relatively small machine, compared to you at least, turn slightly and its weapon align itself with your center mass and begin to open fire as a speaker plays the following message loudly.

"PLEASE VACATE THIS FACILITY."

Wait, I don't think that's a paracritter.

Fat Man got his ballistic shield up in time to block the first spray of gel rounds, but the second spray caught him in the arm and it started to go numb.

The TacNet screams red as the thunder of the automatic fire rolls down the hall. Ayo rolls abruptly on the ball of his forward foot, swiveling to complete a neat about face and put himself inside the door to the office and out of line-of-sight of both the kitchenette and the hallway.

"In case anyone missed it, that's a machine gun that's peppering our friend with the riot shield." Two metallic clicks are followed by short clatters as the clips from the customized pistols drop to the ground. The distinctive sound of clips being slammed home is audible to those near the office.

Emilio ducks, and goes to the door. He glances out the hall, and sees the downed guard. He duck-walks over, grabs the gun, and looks the guard over.

Looking down at his scrubs and feeling the breeze on his butt, Emilio asks, "Can one of you magic folks give me an Armor spell?"

Emilio
You quickly look over the guard and see a weapon, two extra clips and a commlink. You see the software loaded into this improvised device took a quick assessment of you - you see you have been assigned an icon and fed into the tactical overlay.

Tactical network running....
ALERT: this unit has no armor
ALERT: this unit's firearms are not subscribed for tactical benefits
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: please acquire a PAN and subscribe any and all weapons, don armor or seek a defensive position


Fat Man
You hear a distinct whirring or buzzing sound as a small cloud of mechanical insects disgorges from the same panel the previous drone had exited. They swiftly move as a mass up and pass you rounding the corner. You feel the rush of air as they twist and turn around your body as they seem heedless of any threat you might represent. Seizing the opportunity you step forward to try and smash one of the delicate looking drones between the wall and your riot shield. You step slightly to pivot and bring your considerable mass to bear you feel the gel rounds under your feet - ones that were stopped by the same shield. You feel the sickening lurch as your balance is thrown off and feel the vertigo as you hit the wall and tumble to the ground prone. You hear the snap and break of the straps of the riot shield as it skitters down the hall a few feet from your body.

Tactical network running....
ALERT: this position is ill-advised for the current combat scenario
ALERT: you are now offering significant tactical advantage to melee combatants
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: resume a standing position as soon as possible, attempt to protect any and all vital areas while prone

All
A new icon joins the overlay - you assume Emilio's jury rigged electronics coming online.

Tactical network running....
ALERT: this unit is significantly under geared in comparison to other units subscribed to this tacnet
ALERT: this unit is facing a 200% increased chance of being fatally wounded
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: please upgrade this unit

Almost as soon as you finish reading the streams of data, you see the icon for Fat Man flash yellow in the tactical overlay provided by the software
Tactical network running....
ALERT: this unit is vulnerable to melee attacks
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: send reinforcements immediately

Ayo
You feel the impact of Fat Man hitting the floor and hear his riot shield skid across the floor. The buzzing sound grows louder as you see a group of five ariel drones that strongly resemble dragonflies enter the doorway- they pause for less than a second before altering course to engulf your body as a swarm. You see their jaws have been replaced with large gage needles as they dart forwarding looking for vulnerable spots to inject you with whatever they hold.

His ears twitch and his golden eyes narrow as the buzzing sounds echo down the corridor ahead of the flying drones. He glances towards the doorway just in time to see the lead drone hesitate, and abruptly shift directions to buzz into the office. The single drone quickly became a swarm, and his tail stiffens behind him as his body tenses in response to the threat. Warnings flash across his vision as the TacNet spools out tactical data and statistics on the vector of attack, likely payloads for the needles, and weak points in Ayo's own armor to watch.

As the syringes swoop towards him, one foot shifts, catching the edge of a discarded clip and flipping it over his toe. A quick jerk flicks the clip across the front of the lead drones sensors, causing just enough disruption to misdirect the attack. He was moving then, sliding sideways to narrow his silhouette as he darted between the drones, the pistols in his hands pinging off the light metal frames, parrying and distracting even as he twisted and turned, coming up just on the other side of the angrily buzzing cloud, pistols snapping up to cover the tiny, darting bodies.

Fat Man started to panic and scramble for the door...then he remembered they had two unarmored former prisoners on-hand. If the guard drones got loose, things could turn into a bloody mess, but maybe he could keep them bottled up. He blasted the machine that had shot him with a bolt of magical power, but the corruption in the clinic's mana made it hard to focus.

Fat Man
You release the spell and ground into the small drone. It rocks slightly and you see scorching along its body as the magic tears into its components. As the effort to bridge the connection between the mana and the machine presses into your body you see another drone exit form the portal. This one has a spinning blade on top of it - like a helicopter and you see a long arm extended out from it with some sort of taser at the end. It pauses for a moment before darting forward to drive it into your body.

All
Tactical network running....
ALERT: drone detected with combat ability
ALERT: reinforcements now being deployed
ALERT: security is still active
ALERT: tasers can cause unconsciousness
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: tasers can disorient and reduce effectiveness so avoid discharge, small arms fire may prove ineffective against this target, please provide more data to fully assess this threat
ANALYSIS: security is employing non-lethal measures, employ heavy munitions if possible (see attached data packet)

Accompying the alert you get an awkward camera angle of the rotodrone flying forward to incapacitate Fat Man. In an weird echo effect of the feed along with the actual sound echoing through the halls of the clinic the new drone broadcasts the following message.

"PLEASE VACATE THIS FACIILITY."

Fat Man clumsily tries to fend the roto-drone off with his staff, but it's hard to block while prone and he still gets tasered. The jolt hurts as it arcs through him, but he's got too much mass for the weapon to drop him in a single hit.

Eklipse spins on his heel and drops to one knee, changing his field of fire from the south corridor to the one leading east.

Dummkopf, drones not paranimals he chastises himself.

His left hand moves to catch the clip as he mentally ejects it from the gun, pocketing it in one of the pouches on his webbing and replacing it with the one marked with the red dot. He snaps the action back clearing the gel round from the barrel and smiles as the smartlink confirms that his gun is now loaded with explosive rounds.

There goes the bonus for minimal damage to the facility.

He defocuses his senses, letting the tacnet data flow over and combine with his own senses.

The main problem with tacnets is information overload he thinks to himself as he begins issuing orders to the tacnet system and his comrades, muttering under his breath as he does so.

Give me a firing solutions for ze drones. Factor in both ranged and close combat options.

"Englander...Breeze, ve have drones incoming. Check ze guard for something other than gel rounds."

<<Ayo, Fat Man pull back to ze doctor's office. I vill cover you. Cypher, some help with ze drones if you please.>>

As the tacnet stream feeds him information, he brings his smartlink target to bear on the sole visible target - the taser equipped rotodrone.

<<@Team [Cypher] Working on it. Find cover.>>

The hacker glances at the tiny timer he'd set for himself when he told the team thirty seconds.

00:28

As long as he wasn't dumpshocked, he should have time. The question was if the rest of the team could hold on that long.

All
The sound of another whirring rotodrone joining the fray as it weaves out of the opening and quickly hugs the ceiling as it exits the room. It enters the hallway and flies with purpose towards Eklipse with another taser out - it crackles with juice as it tries to make contact. Another message blares out of the speaker.

"ALL PATIENTS REMOVE IN YOUR RECOVERY AREAS."

As Eklipse tries to draw a bead on the first rotodrone, a second appears and zooms towards him.

ALERT: Incoming hostile drone. Take evasive action.

By the time he can react, the drone is almost on him. He surges up towards it, drawing the shadows tight around him. His SMG bangs against his chest as his left arm circles out towards the drone in an attempt to deflect the tazer. He almost succeeds.

The tip of the prod catches him on his right arm and he howls as the charge arcs through him. The air smells of burning fur as he gives a final twitch and slumps to the ground, his body still twitching from the shock.

All
The small tactical map superimposed over your vision flashes with a jarring yellow alert as the icon for Eklipse begins to pulse in time with the alert.

Tactical network running....
ALERT: a unit (see image overlay) has been rendered inoperative
Tactical simulations running....
RECOMMENDATIONS: please render medical as soon as possible

Breeze
You watch as the small drone darts in and is nearly deflected. You can almost taste the electrical discharge on your tongue as it arcs from the taser and dances down the limbs of the runner. You see his body spasm and hit the ground still twitching. You feel the frustration of wanting to help but being unarmed and then suddenly remember the sophisticated medkit strapped to the wall back in the room where you were being held.

Filled with righteous indignation as the tools of man drop those under her protection, Isabela brings her arc about to face propeller-using drone.

"Face me, and witness the fate of all things that oppose His Will!"

All
The lance of holy fire streaks out as the small drone tries to dart to the side - you hear and feel the small rotoblades as they score the wall. Sparks fly and rain down on Eklipse's still twitching form. The flames race along the body of the drone - it's flight wobbly and unsteady as the fire scores and burns its shell. You see the drone careen down the hall before hitting the floor a white hot mass of metal.

Breeze watches as the battle starts again, drones firing and flashes of danger all around, he looks around the area to find anything that could be useful as he sees the crumpled body of the guard on the ground he smiles.

He runs towards the downed guard and uses his momentum to slide in next to the body and stop both pilfering what ever gear they had and using them as a shield for what ever fire that might come in.

Breeze
You feel the rush of air and the slight friction as you slide yourself partially underneath the prone guard. You see a commlink, a few spare clips and some sort of heavy pistol.

Looking over the gear the guard has, Breeze grabs the pistol

Zerone nods, and quickly says, "Stay where I can see you and pray." He laces his fingers together and begins chanting in Latin.

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," he whispers in supplication as he summons upon the natural forces He used to forge the world. Golden-white light laces around Emilio, granting him some level of protection from harm. Just as the words the spell's beneficiary of His Kindness, the verse gives Zerone the strength to shoulder the burden of the spell.

Ephesians 6, Verse 16 are the words that Follower echoes in his mind, but the elf is currently thinking of Matthew 11:30, and the music that an ancient composer had set them to.

Fat Man
From the floor you see another wheeled drone exit from the portal under the counter. It seems almost identical to the one that exited the first time. It pauses and the door reseals behind it then pivots to bring a barrel of a weapon to line up with your body - it releases a short burst at your center mass.

Luckily, Fat Man's center of mass is well-padded. The gel rounds sting, but his armor and his thick layer of fat and muscle stop them from doing any real damage.

Well, at least I drew their fire...

Isabela moves into the fray, the placid expression of her mask belying her determined movements. She spots a more tools of man assaulting her summoners companions. She draws back on her arc once more, and fires a blazing salvo into the rotor-boasting drone...

All
The bolt of flame arcs down the hall and strikes the drone squarely despite its efforts to move out the way. You see smoke pour from the sizable hole the fire has burned into the body of the drone. It wobbles in the air clearly badly damaged but still operational.

Cypher looks around the node, watching the streaming data from the TacNet and biomonitor signals of his team.

Fuck it.

The hacker whips up a batch of viral code, unloading all of the files from the quarantine in his antivirus folder onto the node. He slams every alert panel and shoves digital noise into every port trying to overwhelm the system. Cracks start forming in the crystal lattice and glassy architecture. In his seat, muscles clench waiting for the spike of feedback that is about to slam into his brain.

Cypher
You see pulses and random discharges arc out from the lattice all around you. The ripple along the surface of the sphere spasms and you see rips form all along the interior of the node. You watch as two humanoid shapes pull themselves from points of light along the now unstable sphere - you see light gather and a crystalline shell begin to piece around the light.

<< WHAT THE HELL!? ARE YOU MENTAL?! >>

The first figure turns sharply catching sight of you and you watch as one arm begins to restructure into a long and serrated looking blade of light and glass.

<< oh shit this is going to hurt >>

The second figure seems focused on the collapsing node - you see a flow of light and small fragments of crystal as it tries to stop the crash but its clear its too far gone to do anything about.

The reality around begins to fragment and distort as the simsense signal degrades and then abruptly is cut off. You feel the backlash travel through your persona and feel the echoed pain slam into your meat body. Your brain screams as it tastes sound and feels color - your body struggles to adapt to the rapid return of your physical senses. You think you feel something warm running down your neck and face - you suspect blood from your eyes and ears.

All
You see the drones all around suddenly go inert. You hear the sound of the aerial drones striking the floor and hear the motors powering them cycle down.

Ayo
You see Cypher's body through the glass desk begin to spasm and seize. Blood begins to pour freely from his ear, nose and eyes. The angry swarm of drones around you abruptly stop and fall to the ground around you.

Fat Man
You feel the sudden and unexpected thud of a drone landing on you and rolling off to the floor beside you. You hear more than see the crawler drones weapon mounts hitting the floor. Risking a look you see the guns now lifeless in their mountings and no sign of movement from the drones.

"She's the world's greatest action decker in the world!" The words are slurred and off key as Cypher giddily sings to himself in a high pitched voice.

Stumbling and careening off walls, he begins moving through the hallways. Scooping up a gun and clip off fallen guards, the hacker looks across them for grenades as he continues to weave drunkenly down the hall toward the drone delivery door.

[TacNet [@Emilio] Hey My name is Cypher and the skywalkers...we're here to rescue you. Aideen Kenobi said we should help you out.]

"Medic!! There are people bleeding in the hallway, and I might be one of them."

As the drones crash to the ground Breeze pops up from his prone position and aims the pistol at the now powered down drones, he holds still for a moment till he hears someone singing incoherentlyg down the hallways and he looks over to the rest of the team of strangers and says...

"Wha in the blazes is going on?"

"I crashed the server. You've got thirty seconds to kill the two people that were inside. Then the robots start killing stuff again."

Cypher wipes the blood off his face, and shoves himself off the wall. The bloody print glistens in the lighting. He trips over one of the fallen bodies, rights himself, and keeps moving toward the hatch.

With the sudden sound of metallic thuds ricocheting through the hallway, Zerone cautiously looks outside. He glances over the scene, his face twisting into an expression of shock and concern at the sight of Eklipse and Fatman fallen on the ground.

"Oh dear," murmurs the elf in his native tongue.

"I have a medkit with me, it should help get them back to their feet. I...um...I can't really use it right now, as I am maintaining two spells right now...one on myself and one on Mr. Emilio... Does someone else know how to use it?"

Breeze, still holding the gun at the downed drones, looks over to the elf...

"Sorry mate, I don't really know anything about medicine or first aid"

"Do you really need one these days? I thought those things ran themselves, as long as you don't have tendency to crash electronics when you touch them."

Ayo seems a bit distracted as he speaks, bringing his foot methodically down on top of the small drones with vicious, precise little stomps.

"I have seen some combat medicine, let me have that medkit, I"ll see what I can do"

Fat Man stood up a bit unsteadily, his vision refocusing as the bruises and burns healed - aside from the damage caused by his own spell's drain.

"I don't know anything about your fancy modern medical things, but I do know about healing magic. Let me help with that."

Fat Man could see Eklipse's aura clearly, indicating the other runner was still alive and just unconscious. Fat Man tucked Eklipse under one arm and carried him to the medical center.

Cypher, can you tell where the magicians controlling the machine spirits are? They don't seem to be in this building, but our shen might be able to go after them if you can give directions they can understand."

Breeze helps bringing the downed Eklipse into the recovery room and opens up one of the medkits look around, obviously not sure of what he is doing and muttering to himself in a British accent.

"Yup, I've seen o'l Matty use these before, that bastard, always hurts at first but then makes the pain lessen"

Once the equipment from the medkit are out on the table he picks them up reads a few of the labels then begins administrating what first aid he can.

"Oh this thing, I remember this thing"

Breeze looks up at Fat Man holding up a path with some medicine on it..."This thing is a trip, when your not hurt, it will take you on a ride" the Brit grins.

He continues his work and though it is obvious he has no personal experience with it, it was obvious he has seen combat medicine in action before, perhaps administered on him more often than he cared to admit. Regardless, he was able to patch up Eklipse.

"Next patient!"

[@FatMan [Cypher] They should be in the building, everything was locked down from wifi outside. Just kill everyone who isn't us...if they aren't the ones who tried to kill you, they are Yakuza and will try to kill you.]

Breeze continues to treat Fat Man with the same side comments he makes about the various medical drugs and what they would do to you if you were using them for entertainment instead of their "intended purposes"

The Brit actually stops what he is doing and uses his finguers to do air quotes when saying "intended purposes"

After Fat Man is patched up he looks over to the staggering hacker...

"Looks like you are my next patient!"

Eklipse's eyes snap open and he tries to sit up. He quickly realises it is not a good idea and allows Breeze to ease him back down on the bed.

He half-closes his eyes and focuses his senses on his injuries. His whole body hurts, especially his arm and he can smell burnt fur and skin.

Just burnt, not broken, he thinks as he carefully moves it, grimacing against the pain.

He opens his eyes and watches as Breeze treats Fat Man. He clears his throat and tests his voice.

"Is the facility secure?"

He pulls up the tacnet in his AR and reviews the data from the time he went unconscious.

Isabela spends the next few moments firing lances of golden white fire into the lifeless drones, turning the devices that sought to harm her allies into heaps of ruined slag. When she is finished, she touches the mind of her summoner.

The swords of your foes have been shattered, young one. I shall stay at the ready, just in case another threat should dare to raise its head.

All
The sudden quiet fills the space with the occasional sound of movement or action echoing out. The small explosion from the kitchen area is startling one as the grenade tossed in goes off. The team continues its triage and Ayo following the shen called by Fat Man finds the remaining members of the security team. He mercilessly shoots each in the head as they try to get their bearings - apparently suffering the same aftereffects of dumpshock as Cypher. The last occupant appears to be a patient - still out from a recent procedure.

Breeze & Emilio
You quickly find your gear stored in the clinic with a few choices pieces being used by the security staff.

As his mind slowly begins to make sense of his surroundings again, and the edge of pain is taken away by pharmaceuticals, Cypher sorts through the list of data that he needed for each of the bounties. He tasks his agents with scanning through the data he downloaded to identify what parts he had and what was missing.


<<--Text Message-->>
//To: Prodigal Daughter
//From: Wayward Sheep
//Pasture gates are closed. Eagerly await the shepherd.
<<--End Message-->>


The hacker then moves to the office, closing the outside door and locking it. He hauls the doctor to one of the surgical theaters. Finding a biowaste bag and a bone saw, Cypher looks down on the remains of the woman who had experimented on him. She had shoved needles in his arm, taken samples, and tried to find out how far he could be pushed before dying. Humming to himself, the same incessant song that she had hummed while working, Cypher closed the door to the room.

A few moments later, he came out, dark red plastic bag in hand. The lab coat he wore, hung limply over the body. In the hallway, he calls out to the rest of the team--his voice a happy, resonating baritone.

"Node should be back online. Widget knows we're done here. We should stay to keep the squatters out until the next crew arrives or orders to the contrary."

Cypher then goes to collect the commlinks from the hacker and rigger. As he walked, he checked with the agents about their progress and scrolls a quick message to Aideen.


<<--Text Message-->>
//To: Aideen
//From: Cypher
//We found him, safe and sound. Return him home soon.
<<--End Message-->>

Fat Man
"Cypher, Eklipse, we should leave the clinic for a moment. The flow of chi in this area is impaired, and I can't properly heal you inside."

After the three of them left the clinic, Fat Man calls upon the shen of the city to heal their wounds. Luckily, neither are seriously injured and so the spells work easily.

"By the way, Cypher, can you find out anything about Breeze or the unconscious patient? I would like to free them from this place, but I would like to know who we are letting out."

As Breeze walks around the clinic a bit, he eventually locates his gear, he looks up to the heavens and crosses himself quickly (christian cross)

"Oh thank all tha almighty that they didn't hurt Thelma and Louise"

He picks up two modified pistols and kisses them

"Daddy won't let you go again, no he won't!"

He starts strapping on his concealed holster and his hidden arm slide so he can then put his "Babies" in there.

Cypher
You almost immediately get a message back.

<<--Text Message-->>
//To: Wayward Sheep
//From: Prodigal Daughter
//On my way.
<<--End Message-->>

You see the small windows in AR representing your agents - they are making quick work of the database and its contents. You open a new field and quickly feed in the commlinks from the rigger and spider and see the streams add in. Pick a few key words you isolate data on the two patients. The one calling himself Breeze was a test subject - it seems your replacement with your recent escape from the portable lab. The other patient, labeled PT2304, was brought in for bone lacing. A female ork whose balance was paid in full. The notation says she should be in recovery for about two more days before she is scheduled to be moved to an off-site street doctor's care. You get an alert another message has arrived for you to read.

<<--Text Message-->>
//To: Cypher
//From: Aideen
//Please let everyone know I owe them a solid. Thanks.
<<--End Message-->>

After Fat Man has healed their injuries, Eklipse takes Cypher aside for a moment.

"Can you do a favor for me, Herr Cypher? I am looking for a young woman. Her name is Heidi Klein. She is a german national and an employee of S-K. She vas investigating yakuza activity here in Seattle and went missing. If you could check ze database of ze clinic to see if zere is any mention of her, I vould be most grateful."

He pauses for a moment to send Heidi's HR file to the hacker.

"Here is her HR file from S-K. Don't ask how I got hold of it. Just use it to find her."

Nodding to Eklipse, Cypher takes the data packet. The agents immediately begin scanning it for data bombs and viral code that S-K could use to track the files.

"The less I know about accidental data finds the better. I'll see what I can find."

<TACNET @Team [Cypher] Boss lady one is en route to secure the site. Boss lady two congratulates you on recovering Emilio and owes you a solid. The Brit appears to be a test subject, in a condition similar to how you found me. If he needs a place, I'll see what can be done. The other is a criminal type brought in for new bones. She's set to be transferred off-site in 48 hours.>

While the rest of the team moved around the facility, Cypher began spooling up more searches. He grabs keywords from the file, along with biometric data and sets the agents loose on the database to see if they could find Heidi. With that running, the hacker began to look around for the hardware running the node.

Fat Man scratched his beard.

<@Team [Fat Man]: So, what do we do with that other patient? Breeze, I think we should perhaps introduce to Aideen; maybe he'd be interested in helping get back at the people who locked him up, and he seems useful, but that ork sounds like she's part of the Yakuza.>

"I thought we were all pretty well agreed. Yak's get a bullet. What's the holdup? Breeze, Emilio, can you two move under your own power? As soon as the Boss's Rep arrives, we're clearing out. Right?" he asks with a questioning glance at Eklipse for confirmation.

The Brit finishes putting his guns and gear away, he seemed to be carrying quite a bit of equipment but it all fit into little pockets either on his vest or pockets in his pants, he takes one look at the table then seems to be checking all his gear again...

"Yup I think I got everything"

He turns to go out the room where he sees the rest of the team

"Gents, it's been real, thank you for favor, if you ever need my services here is how you can get a hold of me, I owe you all one"

He smiles a bit and turns to leave

<<--Text Message-->>
//To: Team Members in site
//From: Breeze
//<Breeze's email and phone number>
<<--End Message-->>

Eklipse hesitates for a moment before replying.

If she's yak, she deserves a bullet to the head. But what if she's not? What if she is just another victim like Breeze or my Heidi?

"Check her out Ayo. If she's obviously yak muscle - asian racial type, tattoos - zen deal with her. But if you are not certain, leave her for our employer to deal with. I don't vant to kill someone who is just another of zere victims."

He turns to Breeze and gives him a small nod.

"Auf weidersehen, herr Breeze. Perhaps ve shall meet again one day."