Anna accompanied the spirit in the astral, and though she did not have her body with her, she felt really bad. As if her soul was shredded into many little pieces. She knew what needed to be done - but it went against her beliefs. She felt terrible, she did not like to assault the spider - but that had a justification. The girl - she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. She was not involved in any of it. "Please... don't die on me." she prayed silently, though she was not a believer. She forced herself to order Debora "Do the same to her".

There was only surprise, no defense on the girl's part.
The spirit flowed around her, creating a vacuum.
The decompression was so violent, that blood startend to spay in a thin mist from her eyes and mouth.
Unconscious, the girl went down.

Damn! I'll never ever under any circumstances at fucking all will so much as consider working with a fragging chaos wiz again. Darn!
Thoughts leaping and spinning, bnc decides to reboot her deck the very second she sent the other one into Nirvana. She would be able to attack the device before she recovered but she can't allow GOD to interfere just yet. While the deck reboots, bnc swaps to using Ruth's commlink.

<@team "What's happening? Is she out? Anna, are you still frigging astrally projecting? Damn! Flat, are you on? Has she taken her out?">

It takes Flatline three endless seconds to reply:
"Yes, my spirit tells me the girl is unconscious too. It seems... Yes it seems as if her frail nature combined with the rather rapid assault of the air spirit did some physical damage as well. She is not dead or in critical condition. Still, if she was my patient, I'd very much prefer her to be under observation. I'm telling the spirit to clean up Anna's astral signature. This would not look good at all if a police mage took a look."

bnc could hear Schmitt's teeth grinding together but he kept his gaze directed straight ahead, only nodding once: "Make sure to call an ambulance as soon as we are finished with the break in. Gottverdammt."

Anna cleaned up the remained astral signatures and spent a moment. Lingering in silence to make sure that the girl was alive. Then she returned to her body. To discover that she was out perhaps 15 seconds or so. "I am not proud of what I did... but it was the only idea I had at the time." her chheks were red,her eyes were almost wet and her voice seemed to contain a certain sadness rather than its normal cheerful flavor.

"What you did to the girl, was your job. It's not a nice deed, but she'll be fine. You can't expect a heist of this size to happen without someone getting driven over.
What should bother you, is that you didn't stick to our plan and therefore endangered the whole goddamn mission. Girl, you have to be available over teamchannel, not holding hands with your spirit. Will you please focus?"

Despite her words, bnc quickly searched the flat for a medical drone, a movable medkit or anything else to at least guarantee some first aid for the girl.

Slobber went over and tapped Yael on the helmet.

"She ain't lunchmeat. She'll be fine. Your did your best. Stay focused.

"Cheer up. You'll be robbing a blood mage soon."

"If I dont come with her it is a remote service and I cannot keep her afterwards. In this case it would require to summon again for the girl. Then I freaking cleaned up the evidence. So give me a break... and no I cannot read messages when projecting. "
Trying to regained her composure she asked Slobber"you sem to be at peace with that. Isn't it so?"

There was a medkit, but without anyone around to use it, it could just as well have been not there at all.

Schmitt took a deep breath before he said: "What's done is done. We can question ourselves later. Right now we are still on course despite those unforeseen problems.
Time for phase two. Flatline, please call your spirit and use the invisibility spell on Krestov, Anna, Slobbertooth and bnc.
Kite, how are your spy drones doing?"

"Not so great boss. I just got them finally out from the locked office. The corridors are no problem, but the second floor's security doors haven't opened while I was in position.
There is a two man patrol doing their first inspection round."

He nodded. "Can't be helped. We start this thing like we practiced and let them pass the ladies' before Anna plants the grenade."

Meanwhile, Flatline had called a spirit into the world that looked vaguely like an orderly from an old timey hospital. Both where now concentrating and one by one, the four runners vanished. Krestov was the first to get out, and bnc had no trouble seeing his silent running gear move to stand next to the camera with the fish eye lense above the door.
<<Cable plugged in.>> was all he sent.

"Anna, I'm not paranoid about mojo theory except what I can do. I can't tell you if you made a mistake. I just know not to worry about it cause we can't change the past. Wish I could."

He saw that Flatline had begun with the magic and Krestov was out. Slobber dropped the mag made sure the proper ammo was loaded, put it back into his Raiden, racked a round, and disabled the safety.

"Just trust yourself, Anna. It's showtime"

Slobber waited for Anna to exit before heading following behind her.

"Hand it over, then, big un'. I'm staying in the van.
team, are you ready for me to open the doors?"
bnc brings into position her armed drone, then makes herself comfortable in the seat.



EDIT:
As soon as she feels the cable in her hand, bnc plugs herself in and enters the real of virtual reality. First, she enters the security host and alters her persona in a fashion that makes her blend into the universe inside.
Before she unleashes the agent system, which she has - grudgingly - learnt to trust, she looks for the cameras herself and checks for possible data bombs or other unwelcome surprises. Once she estimates the agent can do the job, she presses the virtual launch button and waits for the agent to report back it's finished.

"Clear. Slobbertooth, your turn to check on the guards. Anna, get ready."

The security host was a typically bland, designed by committee, no-nonsense affair:
Sterile looking, chrome surfaces showed only utilitarian interfaces. bnc had no trouble detecting the spider - or rather his persona icon - unmoving standing on a kind of dais, looking down on rows upon rows of work stations. A patrol IC, looking just like a smooth, chrome mirrored cube with the label: "Patrol" stenciled upon it made his way steadily through the environment. But with the spider present, it took a low priority on the resources of the host and moved quite slowly from point to point.

No data bombs were affixed to the cameras' dump files. The files were not even encrypted which made this whole affair a lot easier.

The agent system made it's own way into the host. True to his word, Mike had upgraded the agent to a military model with more capacity. Supported by four lower level agents, it cracked the direct connected camera without troubles, gaining access to the host through the slave-master MARK.

As it was pre-programmed to do, it began to hack the other cameras with a fork program, before leaving the host again.



bnc got the "all clear" message for the ground floor. Kite's drone feed showed that the two guards making their round where now just in the process of checking the ladies' before turning towards the front of the bank to check the offices there.

bnc leans back, satisfied. "Almost good to go, dolly."
bnc inhales, bites her lower lip. She checks - again - all the configurations are ready for her one big part in the heist.

Once bnc, provides the okay that her matrix mojo was done, and Flatline does his invisibility magic. Anna covers up with the RP cape and activates it. Making sure it covers as much as possible of her body. With a light step she sneaks towards the back door and opens it with the SOK, carefully piping outside and then quietly enters, and evaluate her position. >> I am in she reports.

The fake SOK worked without a hitch and the door swung open. Just as Anna stepped through, she felt the invisibility spell wash away as Flatline did not try to push it through the strong ward. Cold and hot sensations washed over her as the extremely powerful mana barrier scratched against her astral soul. Still, the spirit's concealment did not falter and neither did the technological means to keep her concealed in the half darkness of the bank corridor with only the emergency lights providing illumination.
It was an eerie feeling to enter the real bank: The simulation had provided so much detail that it felt utterly familiar and yet the sounds and smells where completely different. The disconnect was so strong that for a moment she felt almost nauseous. From the front of the bank the steps of the watchmen were clearly audible as they made their round, checking the offices. There was a faint mutter as one of the guards seemed to utter something along the lines of "vermine problem".

Still, the path to the loo was clear, the cameras along it's way under control and the guards somewhere else. The gas grenade weighed comfortingly in Anna's pocket.

Outside in the van, Kite kept an eye on the corridors with her bug spies. The thermal image showed the two guards examining the desk where her Kanmushi drones had escaped:
<<Better get a move on, they found the gnawed through envelope.>>

Schmitt interjected: <<Slobbertooth, Krestov get in position outside the door. We can't risk them catching Anna. Use your suppressed weapons if necessary.>>

Excited by the capability of being in the bank and cautious in her light step, she made her way to the women's restroom. Walking fast - but not running to not make too much sound. Once there she levitates herself and plants the grande in the ventilation system just like she practiced. Once the grenade is placed she texts >> Placed item, in position.

The grenade is placed in seconds within the vent and even the vent flap closes up again without a hitch.
Kite piped up: <<There are two more guards coming down. Seems like the patrol didn't like the chewed open envelope.
On the plus side, I managed to get a drone in the operation room. There's only one guy manning the cameras in AR. Four are down on patrol. Two are likely resting in the room next door, but there is no sign of Leggio. He is either on the can or in the Armory.>>

Hearing the last text, Anna acted quickly. The ward was too powerful for Debora to pass, so she had to summon a new spirit. Air spirit with its nonlethal attack seemed like the preferred bodyguard, so she continued with the winning formula. With a sigh, she said goodbye to Debora and summoned Abby. Why Abby, she had no idea but that specter woman just felt like an 'Abby'. The summoning went without a hitch and with it, she hid behind the sink, enjoying the partial cover and hoping to surprise whoever entered the room.

She texted the team >> Shall we check where Leggio is? I can send Abby the spirit.

"Wait for the signal. I've got to do some prep before"

Once, Renate awoke again from her slumber, bnc freakishly begins to attack her virtual keyboards and AROs, finding loopholes in the defenses of her targets.
"prep done. Wait for my signal. Stay prepared. I'll try to pin down Leggio's location before I attack."

That said, she briefly double-checks the position of the remaining guards. No more than 5 heartbeats should have passed since her first attack, so there should still be time left. If so, she attempts to trace Leggio before launching her one big attack.

Leggio, as it turned out, was one of the two guards coming down the stairs towards the position of the two patrolling guards from the armory. bnc was lucky to identify his link, because he was wearing a gas mask, as was his partner.
Slightly muffled through the mask the drones could make out the words he was saying to the other man:
"Standard protocol if we find an eaten through container: Check for bio hazards like small pox or airborn nanites. You take the radio signal scanner, I'll set up the chem-sensor."
Louder and more clearly he called two the two guards on patrol: "Stay where you are, don't touch anything. It's probably nothing, but just in case, stay where you are until we can get you scanned. No need to raise a false alarm, just stay calm."

The Kanmuchis recorded them moving quickly down the stairs, covered in their full face helmets with integrated gasmasks, but thankfully only with their standard side arms.

bnc passes on the information. "Slob: Wait till they are done or follow protocol as soon as they are within reach of your arms? I'm ready to take out the guards any time."

Anna texts >> Let's form an ambush with me and Abby the spirit as well. Less chance of a mess.. She would position herself and the spirit as Slob sees fit, seeing him perhaps stereotypically as the expert on violence.

The two guards reached the bottom of the stairs and came within the radius of Slobber's motion sense. Only a few seconds and they would be with their backs to the now unlocked back door.

bnc noticed that the utility host had received a command to stop pushing air around the building, likely on command of Leggio. So far their was no alert or lockdown, something that could happen at any second, though.

The two guards who had found the gnawed open envelope were back at the desk, looking worried.

Slobber's foot was tapping nervously and he tightly gripped his weapon as he thought about what to do.

"If we go now, an alarm is almost certainly set off, and we'll be to slow to the vault, and we're fragged. There weren't airborne nanites or chemical weapons in that envelope; their search will turn up nothing.

"bnc, you see any sign of an alarm, signal us, kill the lights, and we go in hard. Otherwise we wait and don't slag this run over nothing."

Slobber's obviously controlled breathing showed he was struggling to follow his own advice.

As it turned out, Slobber was right:
The two guards moved forward and found their colleagues. Using their hand scanners they examined the envelope. After a tense minute that the team spent watching through the feeds, they saw the guards visibly relax:
"No biological contaminants. Benny, what about nanites?"
Benny turned around with his scanner and said: "No nanite signatures, at least no wireless ones. I'm picking up some irregularities, though. There is definitely something around."
The other two guards, bnc recognized them as Robt and Shanita looked around at those words:
"Could it be those janitor drones again? You know, they always cause interference if the vacuum turns on?"
Leggio and Benny took of their helmets to take a closer look at the radio scanner display:
"Mhm, no I don't think so. Could be drone signals, but I don't think it looks like our own. Should we call that in, Leggio?"
The leader scratched his head while looking around:
"Hm. Not yet. Let's first try to isolate one of the signals and triangulate it's position. I'll be damned if I wake up the boss because there's a drone stuck in a tree outside."

Anna approved and kept her position, excited her heart pounded heavily and she yearned for something to happen. She felt with professionals and did not want to mess up. "Fake it until you make it..." she thought.

"Now's the moment. They are aware something's amiss. If they hear their sergeant now calling to stay armed and wait, they will. I take out Leggio, release the gas, the spirit takes out Leggio unlethally, we clear the station. Ready?"

>> Roger - just say exactly when I'll make sure it is all clear. P.S: Give me their last location or something so that there is no confusion with the spirit.

As soon as bnc gives the order, Anna would order the spirit to take out Leggio and the other guard next to him, she'll make sure that Abby understands where they are and if needed would ask bnc for some description/visual.

"Their positions, as far as I can derive them from the drones, is indicated in the map ARO, as usual.
Slob, can you Sense their positions? If so, update the position in the map, if necessary. Ready when you are."

Slobber used his motion sense to check positions as bnc requested

"bnc, if you release the gas now, it won't go through the vents. We need the AC to turn back on."

“I am in control of the whole ventilation system."

The drone feeds showed the four guards looking around in the main entrance room of the bank. There were no other guards on the corridors and the one drone in the security room on the first floor showed three people: One at a desk, likely checking AR feeds of the cameras and two who had resumed playing some kind of card game after it was clear that there was no bio-hazard around. The eight' guard was likely napping in the adjacent ready room. As far as the team could see, no-one was wearing protective gear against airborne toxins.

>> Go get them sweetie... she texted, feeling the tingle of anticipation in her body. She felt alive as if the world had a new kind of intensity to it. "I am actually robbing a bank..." she thought, heart pounding.

"At zero!"
An ARO pops up, visible to all of them. It's a countdown, starting from four.

3:08.
A message arrives all soldiers, as well as the team. The commanding officer's voice rings through their heads: "Attention! Intruders alert! Everyone stay at their position and await orders. Any action is to be coordinated with me first. Get your weapons ready now"

2:44.
bnc's icon disappears. A small cube indicates she has entered the utility host.

2:12.
A soft beep, audible only to bnc, confirms her command. With a soft roar, the ventilation turns on again.

1:51.
The grenade detonates, its content being spread over the entire floor.

1:21.
bnc's non-descript grey shape appears behind Leggio.

0:33.
Leggio's commlink explodes with a hiss and a rain of sparkles. It's glowing white-hot for a second, then nothing but a chunk of black scorched metal remains.

0:00.

"Now Abby - go and disable Leggio..." she whispered at zero, allowing the spirit to finally perform the service she prepared her for.

As the gas was blasted through every vent in the building, the spirit began to materialize out of sight. The commlinks of all guards beeped and broadcasted it's emergency message.
Through the drone feeds, the team could see as they instinctively went for their Berettas.
Leggio had his commlink in hand when it suddenly started to spark. With a course he let it drop to the floor. Suddenly Benny cried out: "Look, the bio sensor: Gas!"
Leggio reacted at once and put his helmet back on, while Benny struggled to get his own back on.

Suddenly the spirit appeared on screen, darting for Leggio.



The leader of the guards noticed the spirit coming and dodged aside. Without missing a beat, Leggio raised his fist into the form of a claw and raked for the spirit, missing the spirit by a hair.
The other guards had managed to raise their weapons and started wildly firing at the spirit - without success.
Yet the distraction was enough for Leggio, who had evaded another attack attempt to land a solid hit on the spirit: His hand raked across the spirit's form, ripping a solid chunk of whatever the hard air of the spirit's form was composed of.
In the background the other guards had found their composure and gave measured shots at the spirit's core, only to miss entirely.
Then the gas finally hit them: Their eyes rolled back in their sockets and they crumpled to the floor.
Only Leggio remained on his feet, but he two wobbled.

The fight between the adept and the spirit continued, with the spirit unable to land a hit on his opponent - until the guard finally managed to land another blow, disrupting the spirit, before crumpling to the floor himself, the gas finally having gotten to him.
Throughout the whole bank building, the drones showed people lying unconscious on the floor with only the bio-hazard sensor beeping steadily, warning of the surrounding doom.
A quick check with the agents showed that no alarm had been triggered.

Slobber was quick and short with instructions

"Krestov, lead. Upstairs.

"Anna, Kite. On Krestov.

"The rest. On me. Vault.

"Shoot what moves."

Slobbertooth took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused. His entire body tensed up as he readied himself and then slapped Krestov on the shoulder.

"Go."