Inside Team - A sudden hollow pop fills the hallway as the air pressure shifts in response to the sudden loss of the spirits of the wind, and the force of the maelstrom filling the small space reduces significantly. The assassin strides forward with a grin, the movement seeming to flow into a series of strikes and blows against Bloodmoon. She responds in kind, twisting and turning to absorb the blows she doesn't block on the armored portions of her body, the two forms twisting rapidly in the flickering light.

Bloodmoon takes several steps back, glancing around as she finally notices the lack of wind in the hallway. She glances backward once, spotting Eric as he sprints down the hallway, and turns, darting down the hallway and into another of the rooms.

Glancing around looking for the stairs down, Eric pours a little bit more into his speed. With luck and a little bit of grace, he'd make it down to the blackout room and get the goods before the assassin and Bloodmoon were done.

"Sebastian...Still with me?"

Words are punctuated by the deep breaths that would keep enough oxygen in his leg muscles to avoid cramping.

The small dragonette glides to draw even up with Eric, turning his head to keep an eye out for possible pursuit.

"The boss lady is coming in to kick some hoop." His grin is full of sharp teeth, a light flares up in his eyes at the thought of the battle.

Inside

Eric

Just ahead is a low railing guarding the unwary from a spiral staircase that looks to run all the way down to the ground.

Blackjack sends out a message on the radio frequency that the team is using to communicate, 'Heads up, guys! They're onto me. I don't know how much longer I can keep the defenses down. I'm going to have to fight if this guy finds me or the program I have keeping them down.

Blackjack watches the man with the stiletto diligently to see if he makes a move toward her or her program.

Outside

The fleeing barghest gives a final, pained yelp as the very earth around it rises up and over it, swallowing it down into the ground.

The guards that had been patrolling the grounds are screaming, and amid the rest of the battlefield confusion, cries for mercy and of surrender are audible.

Matrix

The slim man with the stiletto looks once around the room, and then heads directly towards Blackjack's cowering form.

Joli reaches out to the spirits bound to her will. Forcing her thoughts upon them and dragging them from their task. Enough. Release them.

Blackjack prepares for a fight and stands up at the ready.

Outside

The clatter of rifles hitting the ground echoes across the suddenly still yard as in single instant, all of the elementals cease action and movement. There are a few effects still in place, mainly the smoke still drifting across the battlefield and water from burst mains and pipes, but the yard, although trashed, is still for the moment.

The guards are looking around at each other, except for the half-dozen abruptly on their knees and wretching up water, trying to clear lungs that had been, until a moment ago, filled with water.

Tombstone, watching the scene unfold, hopes that Joli won't regret her mercy - but the guards do seem pretty demoralized at the moment. Which means their job is done, and they can help out the inside team, which seems to have run into some problems. Turning back to the doorway, he enters the building with Joli.

With a quick glance behind him to check that Sebastian had his back, Eric checks in with the team.

"Status Report?"

Joli and Tombstone - The entry hall is grand, the double doors opening up into a wide open space, decorated tastefully in a classic black and white theme.

Beyond the entry hall you're standing in is a wide open space, the ceiling above it dominated by a massive chandolier. The floor looks to be real wood, and the space looks like nothing so much as an old fashioned ballroom. To the right, an door opens into a small space with a collection of comfortable looking chairs and sofas, small tables interspersed between them. To the left, a wide staircase spirals up to the floor above you, a doorway under the stairs opening into a small room filled with coat racks and wardrobes.

In the foyer...

With a lunge, the three meter long body of the dragon curls around to the left, legs propelling it forward as it snakes around the corner and up the rectangular staircase, bringing it face to face with Eric, in equally hasty movement down the stairs.

Tombstone sprints after the dragon, which is surprisingly nimble for its size, only to stumble to a halt as he and Joli come face to face with Eric.

"Eric... has your group seized the objective yet? If not, then we're ready to back you up, since we've neutralized any resistance outside."

Matrix

The slim man darts around the corner of the desk, the glinting knife held low, He slashes at Blackjack's face and midsection, utterly silent as he moves.

Real World

A crash is audible from the second floor, like several panes of glass shattering, almost as if a body was thrown through them.

"We're still searching."

Eric darts down the hall, opening doors and taking quick inventory of each interior.

Blackjack tries her best to block, or at least weaken, the slim man's attacks. Spotting her chance to act, she morphs one hand into a blade and takes a broad swing at the man, following it up with a fireball launched in the man's direction from her other hand.

Matrix

The slim man reels as you drive the blade into his shoulder, and the avatar flickers as the fireball slams into him and drives him back, degrading the code that runs the simple program.

"Two running outside."

Eric takes in the immediately obvious contents of the first room before moving on to the second door and peering inside.

Eric - The first room you come across is a coat room, and the second appears to be a small men's room, with a pair of sinks and a rather lavish looking toilet and bidet.

Joli and Sebastian - Tucking your wings tight to your body to move through the somewhat narrow hallways, you check rooms as you move. The first door on both the left and the right side of the hallway reveal linen closets, stacked with sheets, towels, and the like. The second door on the left and right side open into bedrooms, very nicely appointed but empty at the moment.

Reaching through the connection Joli has to Tombstone.

I'll search the 2nd floor....

Mentally responding, Tombstone replies "Gotcha. Keep me posted. I'll keep an eye on Eric in case we run into any trouble, and I'll also watch the hall for any reinforcements."

He remarks to Eric "The dragons are searching the second floor. I'll help you with this one."

Trying to dodge the slim man's counter, Blackjack spots a chance to attack and does so. Reverse-slicing both bladed arms crosswise around the man's neck, she attempts to decapitate him, following it up with a hard stab to the slim man's abdomen.

Eric and Tombstone - A few more seconds inspection and a turn around a corner lead you face to face with the solid black metal door you remember from the pictures Blackjack brought back.

Joli and Sebastian - Moving room to room, you find the remains of a body in one of the rooms. The body is dressed in light security armor, and carries a shotgun. It does, however, correspond with the location of the security mage you dropped earlier.

Blackjack - The icon jams the knife up at your bladed hands, barely managing to turn the decapitating strike into a deep furrow along his shoulder. His wounds spark the occasional bit of raw data, and the resolution of the icon is losing resolution, become blockier and less defined, even as it gives another swing at your with the knife, obviously slowed by it's wounds.

Eric takes a moment to assess the lock.

"Cover me."

Sliding several small tools out from small pockets aspread across his arms and torso, the thief focusses on the lock.

Eric and Tombstone - The door is locked by a series of three locks, each one different. All are electronic, and designed to lock if the power goes out.

"Frag me...This may take a few minutes unless you have some explosive charges at hand."

Eric looks over his shoulder to the large man with him in the hallway. He then turns his attention back to the locks.

Tombstone smiles ruefully. "I'm packing shock lock rounds, which could punch through most normal door locks, but probably not a security door like this one. I'll just have to save my slugs for whatever's behind the door. Do whatever you need to - I'll keep any reinforcements from bothering you."

Tombstone also reaches out with his mental link with Joli, letting her know that they have found the door they were looking for, and where they are.

Hoping for a shortcut to save a little time, Eric pulls out his passkey. Sliding across the face panels of the lower two locks, he prays quickly that they go green.

Eric and Tombstone - The two lower locks pause for a moment as Eric swipes the passkey, then click softly and turn green. The door swings open a few centimeters, a soft rush of air blowing over the two lockpickers.

The look of hopeful disbelief is quickly swallowed and masked over by Eric's best attempt at surety and confidence. Sliding the passkey and tools back into their appropriate pockets, he pulls his shotgun back into hand from where it hung on his sling.

"After you?"

Interfacing with the smartlink, he ensures that the firing mechanism is ready and sets it to semi-automatic mode.

Tombstone nods, then crouches and quickly enters the room with his shotgun out, ready for anything.

Blackjack grunts as her wounds increase after the last attack. In desparation, she charges forward at the slim man, trying to impale him with one bladed hand. She follows up with an overhand stab at the man's head, trying to run his face through.

Eric moves in two steps behind Tombstone. Scanning his eyes right to left he checks the room for dangers and threats.

In the Matrix - The girls desperate lunge impales the icon, its sluggish movement obviously slowing it down enough to make the last strike easy as she drives the bladed length of her hand through the icons face. An eerily human wail rushes out of the body before it abruptly de-rezzes, leaving the girl panting and standing alone in the room.

Upstairs - The body contains several items of note. The mage appeared to be wearing light security armor and carrying a pair of Scorpion machine pistols, and a microtransceiver. Strapped around one wrist is a silver bracer engraved with a series of concentric and tangent hexagons and pentagrams. Under the armor and strapped across his upper arm is a small silver circle, the size of an old-fashioned silver dollar. The medal is etched with a series of stylized flames. Tucked into the belt of the armor, where most would keep spare clips or other assundries, there are 6 small wooden cylinders, each carved, apparently by hand, like small native american totems. Three of them have 3 heads stacked, 2 have 6 heads, and 1 has eight intricately carved faces.

In the Vault - A mechanical clicking and whirring is heard as two multi-barrel guns on articulated turrets drop from the ceiling and begin to spray rounds at high velocity at the two intruders.

Well, well....what have we here?

Leaning closer, Joli begins to concentrate on the items, peeling back layers of mana and meaning.

The Vault - Both figures coming diving back out of the door as the sound of something beyond fully automatic gunfire echos through the house.

"Can you target that?"

Eric shouts over the sound of the automatic gunfire. The clock was running on how soon Lonestar would get here. It would be time for more drastic measures if they showed up.

Scanning the hallway for signs of a dataport or slave system, the thief wonders how BlackJack is doing with the automated systems outside. It may be time to turn them back on, after a few modifications to the friend and foe control system...

Tombstone darts out the door, closely following Eric, and mentally berating himself for not expecting automated security, rather than the more fragile flesh and blood kind. Lucky it wasn't a flamethrower, or seven-seven nerve gas.

He looks grim, but thoughtful, at Eric's question. "I might be able to knock those guns out with slugs, but it would be pretty iffy - a last resort solution. Is there anything that you or the decker could try first, tech-wise?"

Vault

Silence descends on the hallway as the whine of motor driven barrels taper off.

The maglocks on the wall next to the vault door blink an inviting shade of green.

Hearing the sound of heavy gunfire, Joli turns to crane her head through the door as she reaches out to Tombstone.

What's going on down there?

Sebastian quickly shifts from the astral and with a toothy grin begins to strip the body of it's magical trinkets.

"I'll see what I can do."

Eric strips off his armored coat and twists the tightly bound pack to the front. Pulling a dataline tap out, he connects it to the primary signal cable in the maglock and flips on the video display link. Once he gets the tap secured, the thief sits down. Nodding once to his bodyguard, he goes virtual.

Once more the green knight walks the land...

In the Matrix 2

The house falls away from you and is replaced with a small, narrow room, filled with dust and small debris. Bits of broken code that look like furniture or half finished paintings clutter the space. It looks like you're between the walls in the iconography in the house, probably some sort of hidden node.

Moving quickly down the corrider, you find the slaves, a pair of sensor systems attached to microtransceivers looking for Friend or Foe tags. The slaves look like dobermans, with a cyber forelimb and one obvious cybereye. They growl as you get close, but you toss a blanket over their heads, blocking the sensory feeds, and wait for Tombstone to do his thing.

"Move quickly"

Eric calls out across the comm unit.

Tombstone replies over his mental link with Joli: "Eric is disabling some decidedly unfriendly security measures... I'm going in. Hopefully this is where we will find our objective."

Mentally steeling himself, he rushes back into the room, moving with wired speed, but still visually scanning the room with a cold, deliberate precision.

Vault

The guns twitch as you enter the room, but sit silent and still for the moment. Arrayed along the wall opposite the door are a series of assault rifles and suits of armor of various makes and models. Stacked on a shelf is a pile of credsticks and corp script. Next to the money on the shelf is a case like the one described in your mission briefing so long ago.

Moving quickly, Tombstone grabs the case and gingerly puts it in his still-unzipped duffel bag. With a mental shrug, he quickly shovels the small pile of cash and credsticks in as well, before darting out of the room again and giving Eric a quick thumbs-up.

"Got it, and some loot. Now, let's see how fast we can get the hell out of Dodge."

Eric backs away from the run-down building hurriedly, and whistles for his horse. Riding away from the ramshackle residence, phantom steeds blur his tracks and send out false trails to cover the rest.

Jerking back into his body, the thief smiles.

"That went better than I though it would..."

Calling out over comms, "Jester, the big bad wolf is in the bag. Red Riding Hood and the gang are ready to leave the woods."

Joli moves down the hall to rejoin the rest of the team, pausing only a moment to grab Sebastianby the tail to drag him along in her wake. His reply a startled hiss and he was beginning to strip the body of jewelry and anything esle that looked shiny and interesting.