Hunkering down a bit deeper behind cover into the shadows, Nameless listens to the crackle of the radio and waits for the guards to approach. Watching, and waiting to strike again.

With a thought, Loki darts up even with the deck of the ship, searching around through the astral.

"I've got the astral out here."

Iblis - There's a screech as the future-equivilent of polyurethene wheels grind across the deck, Iblis cutting left and going sharp around the corner, both guns up with almost constant flashes of flame as she fires. Each flash lights up her face in the dim light, and it's obvious from her expression that she's enjoying herself.

The guard is still several dozen meters away when she comes around the corner, and he barely even has time to register the white fur-covered blur before rounds start ringing off the deck around him, and he abandons all pretense of advancing, diving behind the edge of a cargo container instead. One round still impacts squarely in his side as he scrambles for cover.

Jake - You stretch out your will, wrenching the information you desire from the man's aura, your victim blissfully ignorant for the moment of your actions. Sifting through the myriad of colors, it's obvious that the man is Awakened, although obviously not to your level of potential. No cyberware cuts it's holes in his aura, and whatever information is coming over the radio appears to have made him anxious and alarmed. A few seconds later, the spirit you saw briefly outside darts down into the room where you stand. It glances at you with what appears to be a face in the amorphous cloud of mana that represents it's form, and pushes it's way through the veil and into the mundane world.

The general gist of the Russian coming over the radio seem to be of alarm, and something about pirates.

The spirit speaks in Russian as well, but strangely accented. It is incomprehensible for the most part, but the man looks even more alarmed and spins around, eyes frantically searching the room before his form shimmers and appears on the astral, fear flashing through both astral and mundane features as he sees you standing there.

Steel - Guns sweep up as she tracks the guard diving for cover, and there's a scattering of sparks across the metal deck as death snatchs life, leaving the corpse tumbling, lifeless, to the ground.

The second gun rises, almost independent of the first, and sends a line of lead streaming towards the other guard. Chest, shoulder, neck, and face are torn away as the slugs tear flesh, and the SMG in his hands clatters to the deck.

Steel allows herself a small smile.

A smile that is far from the friendly easy-going one that is shared with his teammates pulls across Jake's lips. Knowing that unless the shaman was paranoid enough to order the spirit to protect him physically, this fight was over before it even began. Following through with the killing dance that was begun with the watcher, Jake steps across and begins weaving his sword in tight guarded movements. He waits for the moment to come where he can strike out and sever the lifeforce of this mage.

The ship is obviously waking up, and the shouts of alarm and the crackle of radio's begin's to fill the night.

The Italian Warrior Shaman feels the might of Ares flood into his sword as he lashes out towards the Russian sharing both worlds. Astral steel parts the gossamer threads that bind human thought and form rational beliefs. Jake leans into the attack, knowing that if he does not defeat the mage now, his own defenses may not be up to the task.

The man cries out, falling backwards in his chair and scrabbling away as Jake brings the sword down, moved by pure force of will and leaving a swathe of red through the man's aura as a large portion of his life force is cleaved away.

Iblis and Steel both look at each other, grin errily mirrored as they both hear the sound of the boots of several men clanging up the stairs of the superstructure, heading for the deck. Steel shifts, both guns coming up in synchronized motion as she takes aim on the door the men will be exiting through.

Knowing that Iblis and Steel have the guys coming through the door, Nameless keeps watch, continually scanning the deck and waiting for any targets that might decide to enter his field of fire.

The door to the structure clangs once, and creaks as it swings open, revealing one man pushing, and two more behind him, eyes already scanning the deck as they shout back and forth in Russian. The night isl it up as Steel and Iblis send a stream of lead into the tight space, a spray of blood filling the doorway as the three men literally disinegrate under the hail of gunfire. The sound of screaming and scrambling further down the hallway continues after the gunfire stops, and nobody else appears in the doorway.

Jake - Mana crackles through the astral, the bolt slamming into your astral form and covering you briefly in a crackling aura before disappating. You see the mage's eyes wide just a bit more as he scrambles on hands and knees towards the open doorway.

Iblis and Steel - You both clearly see the slim form of an aerodynamic grenade come out of the red mist still hanging across the open doorway, landing no more then a metre to the right and a few metres in front of you. The grenade rolls a few more inches on the deck, and you're both caught in a wave of concussive force as the grenade explodes.

Purpose filled steps move Jake across the distance that the scrambling mage made. There is no remorse only the simple understanding that this has to be as he brings his sword down again.

May Ares take you and make your death swift and painless.

Painless cannot be verified, but swift the mages death is. The sword slices down, leaving the physical body untouched. The mages astral form screams and parts, halves curling up and away and fading into the surrounding flows of mana.

Jake surveys the room briefly before exerting his will to move up and out of the superstructure. Rising above the ship in the cold night air he looks out over the pitched battle beneath him.

Iblis and Steel - Catching sight of the grenade at almost the same moment, you both dive in opposite directions, turning just enough to let the brunt of the force smack into the protective armor. Unharmed, you glance towards the doorway, still propped open by the corpse of the last unlucky crewmen to come that way, but empty of live forms.

Never one to hang back when charging in is more appropriate, Steel steps carefully over the corpse, trying not to slip on the bloody floor and peers into the next room. She moves forward slowly, guns up and ready to fire.

As Steel steps around the corner, there's a rattle of fully automatic gun fire riccochets up the stairwell, sparks ringing off the metal bulkhead. 2 men crouched down at the bottom of the stairwell desperately unload their weapons at the doorway, already peering around the edge of the hallway and looking as if they wished they had more cover.

Dropping down the silver cord to his body, like a Red Samurai on a zipline, Jake tumbles back into flesh and meat. Reality takes a sharper edge even as his mind reels as it begins to once more process information with all of its senses. The shaman gasps for air as his lungs resume breathing at full capacity.

Upon hearing Jake's loud gasp for breath diesel turns to him and says "Nice to see that your back. Whats the plan now?"

Moe - Havoc is breaking loose below decks as you slip down the stairs. Around the corner to your left, you can hear the rattle of fully automatic assault rifle fire, but luckily, the spot you're looking for is in the other direction. Slipping down the hallway, you ghost past frantic crewmembers, unarmed and unarmored, rushing deeper into the ship, a steady flow of emphatic Russian filling the corridor. You see three more men in armor and lugging AK-98's go trotting down the corridor towards the entrance to the deck. A few metres ahead should be the entrance to the air systems you're looking for.

Steel and Iblis - Rolling back out of direct line of the doorway, Steel grimaces as two of the random spray find their targets, the brushed velvet and lace clothing sporting two more holes, one in the shoulder, and the other a deep gash along her outer thigh.

The alert on her system goes off, each person tied into it recieves an alert that Steel has been injured. With a quick thought, the rack descends from her back pack and she slams the pistols into place, reloading with something with a little more kick. She sends a call out over comms.

We may need healing up here. She calmly walks to the tops of the stairs and through the doorway. "Avon calling!" With that she unloads a short burst from her guns into each man crouched at the bottom of the stairs. Her arms in a wide V like a scarecrow from an insane action flick.

"Two more are on their way ta ya. Im abou' 'alfway to da target spo'."

:: Moe is momentarily grateful for the headware making the report to her companions silent as she slips through the cooridors, for a moment, thankful for her size which makes it much easier to avoid the traffic moving around or near her. ::

Ilbis - The guard with the misfortune of leaning a little too far around the corner after Steel dropped out of the doorway slams into the wall behind him, holes stitched in the armored vest he's wearing. The other cries out and falls back, AK clattering to the floor as his mangled shoulder and arm leave a pool of blood on the deck.

Loki - Murmuring a quick chant to Rat, the shaman fades back into the shadows along the rail, disappearing from view and darting towards the open hatchway that Iblis is happily filling the interior of the ship with lead.

Nameless - Perched across the deck, you can hear the full auto fire coming from Steel and Iblis' location, but the report from Moe has two more heading your door, about to come out of the door you're covering.

Nameless - Nothing appears to be moving for the moment, but you hear shouts of alarm coming from above you, higher up in the superstructure. You know for a fact that's where the bridge is, and the most obvious reason they might be shouting is that Iblis had wired the doors to lock when the team entered the overide code.

Moe - Reaching the target door, you tap in the security code and watch as the door slides open. Several green lights blink in succession on the keypad, and further towards the interior of the ship you can hearing someone start banging on a hatch or a wall with something hard. Stepping into the room, you're greated by a pair of huge pumps, each nearly three meters tall and generating enough noise that the technician standing in front of the control panel with his back to you is wearing a very large headset that looks designed to block out most any environmental noise.

Loki - Darting forward, even his straight flying is filled with nervous energies, slight twitches and darts in his flight path as he swings up next to Steel and lays a hand on her. He gives Steel a grin, and her wounds ease, muscle knitting itself back together, bleeding halting. Not perfect, but definitely better then before.

:: Moe reaches inside her jacket and pulls out a very large gun. The Colt Manhunter, while huge especially in comparison to Moe's small frame, is held with familiariaty and gives Moe a slight feeling of superiority in the upcoming dangerous situation. Carefully setting down the pack of equipment, she pulls out a pair of plastisteel restraints before stepping forward and tapping the Technician on the shoulder with the tip of her gun. As he turns, he's greeted with barrel of her gun just outside easy reach. Once she has his attention, she tosses the restraints to his feet. ::

"Aye mate. Let's be nice and easy."

:: Assuming he has no clue to the meaning behind her words, she gestures with the pistol to the restraints as she puts her unoccupied hand behind her back in demonstration. ::

Moe - The guard turns, already in mid-shout about something, and stops short as he looks down the barrel of the gun.

Still holding his position, Nameless whispers into the mike, "Boss, status report. Steel and Iblis are penetrating the ship a bit, and Moe's working on the gas. Loki's up here with us. I'm still covering the deck, what's next for you and the Diesel? If you guys want to come up, now would be a good time, since I'm still covering up here."

Scanning the area, he continues to keep a sharp eye on the rapidly evolving situation.

Steel mutters a few choice words, looking rather pale. The drift of her mutterings seems to be annoyance on having ruined yet another outfit. She eases around the corner after Ibs, guns first.

The struggles of the heavily wounded man still at the base of the stairs are quickly silenced by the tender mercies provided by the SMG's.

The hallway appears to be empty, although the sounds of movement from further towards the interior of the ship are unmistakable.

Iblis mutteres under her breath. "Slitches." With a quick thought she retracts the skates and takes a spot by the door to cover the stairs.

Silence rings out over the deck of the ocean freighter for a brief moment as everyone pauses, some perched with waiting guns, others looking anxiously at bodies slowly waking up.

Jake glances down at his forearm display screen and quickly familiarizes himself with everyone's position and relative health.

"Diesel let's go meet the in-laws." Lifting himself up from the deck, he glances up at the rope proceeding into darkness.

Check in, I need an ETA until the crew goes quiet and let's hear everyone's voice

Whatever you say boss.

The troll glances up at the rope, slinging his weapon behind him as he reaches up, already several metres off the deck by the time he's got both arms on the rope and his feet in the air.

Steel gives a nod of thanks to Loki and hefts her guns. She eases slowly down the steps, listening for sounds of approaching baddies and counting on Ibs to cover her.

Waiting for Jake and Diesel to climb up the ladder, Nameless continues to hold his position, covering his teammates as they prepare to join the others on the ship.

Moe smiles and waggles the pistol at the crewmember, who seems to rethink his position and drops down to this knees, quickly tugging the restraints tight around his wrist.

Moe steps around him, a tool kit appearing from nowhere and the vent cover on the pumps springing free almost as easily.

Iblis takes a moment to make sure the area was empty of men and their silly guns. Patching into the comm system, she shoots a message to Lotus.

You may want to come back up chica, Mee-Moe is getting ready to gas the lower levels.

The slim mage swings up to the rope behind the troll, little more then a dim shape in the darkness following a larger shape moving quickly up the rope.

:: As Moe's small nimble fingers go to work with the gas setup, she's careful to keep an eye on the crew member trussed up in the corner. ::

"Settin' up da gas now...shou'n't be more dan a few more secon's...."

Iblis's voice reaches out over the teams communications network, and Steel gives a wry grin as she turns and darts back up to the upper deck.

A few seconds later Moe darts up the stairwell on the opposite side, ducking down behind some cover next to Nameless. A few seconds later, she flicks a thumbs up to Nameless with a smile.

"'dat's dat."

Silence descends over the ship, still except for the constant thrumming of the basic systems of the ship, pumping the knockout gas throughout the ship's ventilation system.

"Thanks to Iblis, I can still see everyone moving. Loki you're on spirit detail, I want an astral bunkmate, a cloud-walker, and a half dozen extra sets of hands to pass through the ship and make sure everyone is unconscious. Once the gas has cleared out, have them start moving the bodies to the forward hold. I need the three chicas to take the bridge and get this boat headed in the right direction.

The powerfully built shaman pulls himself over the railing a few seconds behind Diesel.

"Nameless cover the decks and walk the perimeter to make sure no one got out before they fell to the gas. Big guy, you're with me. We need to head down to the engine room and clear out anyone left. Loki you and your girl start at the front end of the ship and move to the back until you find the crates we're here to collect."

Iblis reloads and reholsters while the commands go out. She stretches and looks around, a smug smile on her face.

"Okay ladies, let's leave the manly men to do all the heavy lifting and toting while we apply our tender grace to taking the bridge. I've always wanted to be a pirate."

She waits for Moe and Lotus to group up before heading for the bridge.

Steel nods as she receives the message even though no-one can see her. She moves back up out of gas range. I'm in the clear, thanks for the heads-up.

Figures move briefly behind the windows in the lighted bridge several stories up, and a chair comes crashing out of the window, falling for several long seconds to the deck amid a shower of broken glass. A lone figure flops over the edge of the window and abruptly goes limp.

"I read you boss." Leaving his position once he sees their fearless leader hauling himself up onto the deck, Nameless blends into the shadows of the boat as best he can and stalks the deck, alert for any signs that their opposition may have proved more resilient than the team expected.

Jake pulls up the schematics of the ship on the mini-comp that Iblis crafted for him. Glancing down at his forearm display occasionally to orient himself on the map, the shaman gestures for Diesel to follow him. They move quietly across the deck to the door that will give them the most direct route to the engine room.

They wait in silence except for their breathing as the digital timer counts down on the activity of the Neurostun. Sixty seconds after it should have been completely inert, the one time model signals his large companion to cover the door and then leans in to turn the handle and pull the hatch outwards, staying behind the door as cover.