[Jack_Spade]

Isaint received a little message from his agent: Outside the icons of the attackers had gone dark - not just silent but completely offline.
<<Heads up. The opposition has just switched off their wireless gear. That's good in regard to grenades, since they can't airburst them and we'll have a chance to run away before they explode. But it also indicates that they are in position to attack. Those armors are heavy, so I don't expect them to come through the skylight without heli support, but they might have found the service entrances, so be ready for an attack from the rear while they storm the front.
They have superior numbers and superior armor but lack information. Let's try to keep them from learning anything. If necessary trade space for time. Don't let them corner you and fall back in time. Tell if you need cover fire to change position. If anyone has thermo smoke grenades left, now is the time to ready them.
Al, if you have some of your boom stuff left, could you prepare an emergency exit through a wall? We might have to leave this building in a hurry. Although, in a pinch we can just have Jackhammer do a impression of his street name.>>

#218

[adamu]

Lunchtime, dammit.

<<Roger that>> Al grumbled, before stuffing his mouth so full of BBQ-flavored soy he nearly choked. Without poking his head up, he pictured the place in his mind. If they came in the front - east-ish - and also one of the many back service entrances - west-ish - then they wanted to take off south-ish. He remembered a stretch of wall on the south side between the McHughs and the Nukit Burger where all they had was a row of those overpriced massage chairs. That'd do.

He prepped the cord he'd need and attached the radio detonator before moving, then darted for the spot, keeping his profile below table level. Once he was there his fingers flew across the wall at a frightening speed, fast enough that an untrained observer would have thought it was careless, but he knew it was solid.

Twenty-three seconds later he was back in his spot, chewing on a soyburger without dropping the cigarette out of the corner of his mouth, commlink in his pocket set to trigger the detonation on a voice command.

All he had to do was remember not to say "Nadja Daviar in a red thong" out loud. At least not until he was ready for things to get real loud indeed.

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:45, Motorway Services, M40]

The tension of waiting isn't eased much by the banter, or the occasional gun shot from outside as the crowd fleeing the building come under fire...either the foe want to bottle them up to add to the confusion or they are taking out those with an unfortunate resemblance to the runners.  It all seems just a little too extreme, too callous a disregard for civilian lives...the prize must be great to risk the sanction of their rival corporate peers...

Moments later eTher informed the team that her detail was thirty seconds out and that they wished to share intel with the runners on site...for those that accepted the feed there is a sudden influx of data from the Precision ^TM Tac Feed...

Outside cameras facing the parking area seem to have been largely obliterated by Al's demolition efforts, but there are feeds from the internals and the service yards at the rear...ones that show a number of bodies in the doorways where they have been gunned down...

There are headcam shots from the incoming forces, twenty of them, riding in what looks like the belly of two combat helos which explains how they are able to be here so fast and indicates how seriously this is being taken.  They aren't typical corp types and for those in the know, they bear the tell-tale indicators of the Knights of Rage, Celedyr's personal praetorians... there are also rapidly skimming vid feeds for forward spotter drones which are already on station and relaying events... the troopers have gathered three cars in the front area and look set to breach with them as battering rams.  They have clearly taken those precious few seconds to mine the anti-ram barricades and at best they will be entering just before the Knights can intervene...at worst they could be coming in any moment...

***
_#82

[adamu]

Al glanced at the display on his commlink screen. There were a hell of a lot of feeds - way too much to keep track of in 2D, and he couldn't risk AR after that tasty soyburger.

Step out of the building and get shot by a sniper. Check.

Cars about to come crashing in. Check.

Pretty much all he needed to know.

But not for the first time in the last minute he wondered about the kid. Bodies were piling up here at a service area on a major motorway in broad daylight. No way this was going unnoticed by the powers-that-fooled-the-masses-into-thinking-they-were-safe-enough-to-go-to-work-and-then-buy-things-every-day.

And they were still here...for William?

And, if the rest of the family really were dead, why had eTher - able to save one of them - opted for the boy?

Still crouched well down behind the counter, his mind raced back over the past few days for anything that hinted at the doc hadn't been the real target, but it didn't add up. The first extraction team had gone for the doc. The boy had had virtually no protection. The druids had wanted the doc.

Everything was wrong.

Even this Knights of Rage had a whole Mito Komon/Popeye's spinach thing going on. He'd always wondered why, canned spinach not exactly a scarce commodity, Popeye generally let himself get kicked around within an inch of his life before downing the leafy greens. Why not just lead with that?

And here eTher's got a damned air cav unit at her beck and call and she shows up for the family with a light detail of lousy second-stringers?

He checked the hand-loaded APDS slugs in his clip and measured the ticking seconds by the burn of the paper of his Lucky Strike.

[Jack_Spade]

One look at who was coming to rescue the drake gave Isaint the distinct impression, that they wouldn't want to stay here once the two corporation forces clashed.
'Never cut a deal with a dragon, that's one of the most basic rules. Why do we keep violating them.'
But for now the weaponized cars were of greater concern to him. They had no capabilities to stop them - short of going on the offense and shooting the cars' engines. Not a prospect he relished - or thought to be very feasible in the amount of time they still had left. 
There was only one option... "Ok, they'll breach with cars. We'll have to force a crash the moment they enter. Concentrate fire on the left tires. Hopefully that forces a swerve and blocks the following cars. We have snipers surrounding us, so we probably won't want to leave before the cavalry arrives. But the very moment the enemy is engaged we should pull back and get the hell away, 'cause I really don't like being that close to the Knights of Rage."

[obidancer]

The Frenchman was listening to ISaint position the team and the various input from the others. Brief glimpses of boards and AROs flashed in his mind. Preparations. Planning. For what?
His mind focused back on what ISaint was saying. And it all made sense. Including Al's and Jack's opinions.

He too had a hard time understanding why the party involved wanted them dead so much, now that they had the Doc burnt to ashes. His only other solution was they also wanted eTher dead... or...

He looked at and called Al. He only pointed to the top of his neck behind his ear where the port to his datalock was. As far as he could remember, only the team and the Doc knew they had downloaded his research into the Frenchman's head. Was it why they were continuing their assault? to kill him too and erase all of the Doc's research?

[adamu]

Frenchie called, Al looked.

Dammit!

He'd totally forgotten they'd backed the Doc's research up in the frog's head.

If these yahoos knew that, which seemed unlikely, then they were after the Frenchman.

If they simply assumed the runners had backed up the data in some way, which seemed more plausible, then they were all marked for death.

One more blasted piece to conuse the puzzle.

He bounced on the balls of his feet, ready to spring up and take out a left front tire the moment they breached.

<<Isaint, you gon' blow yer wad with the cars, or wait fer the follow-ons? Jist wanna know when ta blink, ya know?>>

[Jack_Spade]

<<I'll try to wait, but the chance is high, that they'll be smashed. I'll give you all a signal.>>
Isaint concentrated on the live feed. The sniper up on his old position he could handle, but the second one would probably get him. Oh well, it couldn't hurt to give it a try: <<Knights of Rage from Defending Team Ether. While you are en route could you take out the sniper positions at the marked locations? Thank you very much in advance.>>

#220

[pistolgrip]

Once Jackhammer had secured the kid in the freezer, he took his position behind a counter to help Isaint create his killzone for the incoming squad. Although he was more of a bow hobbyist, right now he suddenly wished he had some of those serious rifles he'd practiced with at the range. Still, he strung up an explosive arrow with a determined scowl and waited for the inevitable entry. Whoever came through that window first was in for an unpleasant welcome.

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:48, Motorway Services, M40]

<<Knights of Rage from Defending Team Ether. While you are en route could you take out the sniper positions at the marked locations? Thank you very much in advance.>>

<<Confirmed ground team, spotters are on site and will neutralise>> and sure enough, just as hell breaks loose in front of the team, they are greeted with the welcome sight of a drone gun sight aligned on the sniper positions and then a puff off gore as the long range high velocity rounds eliminate that particular group of threats...

But that is all seriously secondary to the fireball that removes the ram barriers and the three purloined SUVs that come crashing through what is left of the front of the services building.  They've chosen well and for a brief moment the cars resist the group's return fire but in truth they never stood a great chance of shrugging off the combined explosives and armour penetrators.  What they do is provide some measure of cover for the foe advancing behind who would otherwise been at the complete mercy of that same whithering cross fire...

Before the runners can retarget on the corp soldiers they are on the receiving end of their own incoming barrage... the grenadiers on the outer edges of the wedge sling mini grenades in the general direction of Isaint and Al out on the wings whilst their tag team buddy streams hot lead at about waist height in that same general area to limit the runner's chances of retaliation.  The ones behind the central car split their fire in wide arcs across the centre of the open hall whilst more precise shots home in on Jackhammer, the Frenchman so far having escaped notice...

***
_#83

[Jack_Spade]

Isaint was ready for the grenades - that had been the main reason he had taken position behind the hotdog cart instead of a more sturdy bar. With an almost Olympic grade dive roll he found another cover behind the row of massage chairs. 'Time to return the favor'
<<Avert your eyes, Flash Bang >> and with a mental command he detonated the package of three concussion grenades behind the intruders.
It gave only a moment respite, but that was enough for him to bring his rifle back into play. Pray, call out his mantra, shoot, pray, call out his mantra shoot, while he gave his best to avoid being hit by the suppressive fire. All the while he knew that they acted on borrowed time. The chemicals in his blood made him alert kept the pain down to a dull ache and prevented him from feeling anything else.
'You know that you can't keep this up?'
'Shit not you again. You are a hallucination.'
'Maybe. But maybe I'm also a real ghost. You are carrying quite a lot of those with you since the hospital in Prague.'
'I really don't have time for this. Can't you see that I'm in the middle of a firefight?'
'And yet you can spare thoughts to answer me. Say, why is it that whenever you are working with a group they keep dying or getting left behind?'
'The run was finished, we delivered the family whole and safe.'
'That's not what I'm asking. You let them down underground, you couldn't keep a civil tongue in your head and lost the support of two powerful mages. That directly led to the Flowers attacking you and you loosing your last mage and hacker. You had to visit the hospital, delaying the transaction. And now you are in a  service station near Oxford, seeing the rest of your team killed - and you will survive. Again.'
'Not if you keep distracting me. Besides, the knights are on their way. At any time now we can just open the wall and get out. The snipers are down.'
'But why are you keeping them here if you can do that?'
'Because we won't abandon the kid.'
"BECAUSE THE MONSTERS WON'T GET HIM! YOU HEAR ME? YOU WON'T GET HIM"

Unconsciously he had risen from his cover and sent burst after burst against the armored targets. He felt a bullet graze his hip, making him miss his shot, but he kept firing. A red ring began to form around his vision. It got increasingly harder to steady the rifle. Another grenade exploded close to him. He felt the shockwave, felt the shrapnel bouncing of his helmet.
'Still alive?'

[adamu]

Al had forgotten more firefights than he remembered. Which was a lot of firefights for a simple day-laborer.

Hell, he figured he might have been in even more firefights than women's beds, which would be saying a lot.

But this was not a firefight - it was a damned small-scale blitzkrieg.

They stopped the SUV charge, then the grenades had started flying even as a torrent - a freaking wall - of suppressive fire had started literally disassembling the top half of the Cap'n Beef counter he was hiding behind.

A clatter in front and a grenade tore a hole in the counter, spraying his face with vicious wood splinters even as Isaint gave the warning and the whole place lit up like they were standing in the sun.

The suppression paused briefly and Al knew that was the moment to change position but he just crouched there. He tried to gulp air but remembered he'd switched to internal in case they used gas. Screw it - he opened up his esophagus and sucked for air, but it was superheated from yet another nearby grenade and he screamed in pain. He couldn't hear it though, because his dampers had kicked into overload-mode, just sealing off his hearing completely in the face of concussion after concussion.

And then the moment was lost, the suppression was almost immediately back online, and then a third grenade bounced down next to his knee behind the counter with a dull clunk. To stand would be to be riddled with enemy fire, to stay would be a quicker death by immolation. He was half concussed and half hopped up on stims and the thought of just being done was almost tempting.

But that wasn't how he'd been brought up.

And it wouldn't do William a damned bit of good.

He kicked the metal sphere hard, sending it bouncing behind a large soymixer, then crawled faster than he ever had around to the other side of the big fridge they displayed the drinks in.

The blast tore through the kitchen. It nearly disintegrated three quarters of the fridge, which was a good thing since what was left fell over onto Al.

But there it was - three seconds - an eternity to Al's hyped up reflexes - three seconds - one for each emotion - shock - terror - and now anger. He brought himself out from under the shattered appliance and took up a new firing position, looking for someone to kill.

[pistolgrip]

After the satisfying success of his first arrow combined with the fire from his teammates, Jackhammer barely had time to reach his grenade before the next vehicle was in and bullets were flying by. He ducked behind the counter as armor-piercing rounds perforated the plasti-board around him and shattered the menu projectors suspended above, creating a shower of plastic and circuitry. All things considered, holding his bow in one hand and a can-shaped explosive in the other, he didn't feel entirely safe against the shower of hot lead.

He could hear the sound of explosions near Al and Isaint's position, but couldn't tell if there were any other sounds from that direction, like returning fire. He'd seen these guys survive a lot so far, so he wasn't sure what it would even take to kill one of them. But he was pretty sure multiple grenade rounds were more serious than malevolent spirits or broken bottles and homemade gas grenades. He knew that once that side of the food court was powdered they'd turn all their guns on this side, and he wouldn't have a chance. He reflexively starting looking for an exit, a way out of certain death, when he saw the freezer he'd just stuffed a kid into a moment earlier. He knew that these guys were after that kid, and they were playing for keeps--that missile that incinerated the rest of the family, it was surely meant for all of them. And the fact that they pressed the attack even after that, well, they sure weren't going to just turn around and clock out now.

Jackhammer looked back down at his bow and his grenade. Two simple weapons against military-level warfare. He shook his head, realizing what had to be done. "Time for a hot meal, fraggers." The can went sailing through the air.

composure 2 [7d6t5=4, 1, 5, 2, 5, 3, 3]

[Aria]

[Thursday June 18th, 2076, ~13:48, Motorway Services, M40]
 
Despite the small sun opening up in their midst the volume of incoming fire only dims for a moment while the central group recover their wits.  There is barely a let up as one lays down a horizontal curtain of fire while another reloads…keeping their heads low and returning fire when they can the runners are holding them at bay – they clearly aren’t insane enough to break from significant cover – or are they?  With sickening clarity Al realises that the fire coming their way is only incidentally targeting them, that is merely a bonus, but instead is laying great chunks out of the structural columns supporting the very large clear span above their heads…they are trying to bring down the fragging building!
 
***
_#84
 
 
 
 

[Jack_Spade]

'Time to get the others out.'
<<Team from Isaint: Time to open our emergency exit. Al, blow the wall away. The knights have taken care of the snipers. The jacked car is waiting around the corner. I'll try to distract them with a flash-pak, find the frequency code attached for your flashcomp>>
Dropping the rifle in its sling he fished out the modified flash-pak that he had commissioned especially with additional power in the UV spectrum - most useful against vampires, but in a pinch also of good use to dazzle the enemy long enough to enable an escape.



#222