One of Monica’s eyebrows shot up. ”Is that why they call you Lube Job? Interesting.” The slightly singed woman then adjusted her pace to match the gurney’s progress.Slowing down wasn't a bad thing really. The thousand Euro Dolce and Vergucci heels that she was wearing were great for walking across the bodies of fallen opponents that had had the temerity to cross her in the boardroom, not quite so well suited to actual fighting. She'd briefly considered dumping them on the gurney - she certainly wasn't going to dump them completely - but had swiftly discarded the notion as her pants were designed to be worn with heels, were overly long without them, so she'd likely have ended up tripping over herself and face palming the floor.

Her heart was beating faster again, although this time she judged it was more likely to be because of the sounds of violence that had just erupted ahead of them rather than any drug or stimulant that had been pumped into her.

Monica blinked, once, twice, the nano processors inside the artificial eyes that had replaced two perfectly good ones doing what the manufacturer claimed they would and bringing the scene ahead into sharper focus, the pistol pointing in generally the same direction. Her parameters for engaging were to shoot at anyone that was fully clothed that wasn’t one of the Three Musketeers. She hoped she would get a chance to take a shot. Her nerves were jacked to the max but she wanted to get some payback on the bastards that had snatched her.

Monica
Moving forward
Looking for threats (Both Cybereyes Image Enhance)
Handgun raised
Firing on anyone wearing clothes who isn’t Whisper, Lube, or Kentucky (2 x single shot)

Fifty feet under Night City, the firefight continues.

If the Heavy was supposed to have felt the effects of Whisper's pistol shot, no one told him about it.  With silent rage, the figure brings his rifle to bear on Martin a second time and lets off another burst of assault rifle fire as he starts to circle the column, looking for an open angle.  Martin is treated to another shower of reinforced concrete being reduced to powder and bits, but escapes unscathed again except for a few stings and a nagging question of how much more damage the support can take.

As Martin shakes off his dusting, next to him Kenji draws down on the female Listener and kicks off burst with his SMG in an attempt to give the woman something to think about.  Or, preferably, end her thought process once and for all.  The weapon pushes back into his shoulder, the reassuring thumps telling him that everything is going as planned.  In the tradition of mid-level assholes everywhere, his target ratchets her "ally" around to take the brunt of the burst, catching the man square in the back as he stumbles around.  (-10 rounds)

With a reasonably clear shot and a target moving to a more "friendly" angle, Martin draws a bead and snaps off two more shots at the raging psycho with an assault rifle threatening him.  The first shot catches his target center mass causing a slight stutter in his step, but not enough to keep the Heavy from sidestepping the next round incoming. The bullet disappears somewhere around the ramp to the parking level above.  Martin doesn't track the miss except to notice that the Listeners don't have reinforcements coming from that direction as of yet.(-2 rounds)

Directly in front of Kenji, the female Listener continues to push her shield towards the two Edgerunners in a display of callous disregard for any life that isn't hers.  The assault rifle in her right hand comes up, rests on the shoulder of her dazed companion and blasts off a burst in the medic's direction.  Kentucky goes flat, the bullets passing over his head and blasting a few fist size chunks out of the cover he and Whisper are sharing.  Her shield probably won't be "listening" to anything for a while now, between the flash bang and being used as a living bipod for military hardware.

For those exfiltrating downhill, a ridiculous amount of gunfire is erupting behind them, the occasional ricochet bouncing through the concrete space with cracks and pings.  Their luck holds in that no one is hit.  Pandora hits the ramp and hauls Daphne along for the ride into cover.  Unfortunately she can't see where she's going from this point with her light source coming from behind.  Monica, Cruz, and the lights out duo arrive a second or two later.  "Where are we going now?" Pandora asks.  She's got Daphne pushed against the wall, her own flesh as a shield.

Even in the dark Cruz knows where the vent system they used for access is. It's about 50 meters ahead on the right.  Right past the stairwell door for P3.

Rolling back behind what's left of the pulverized stanchion, Kenji spits out a mouthful of fine concrete powder and does some quick mental math. The Listeners have the advantage in numbers and firepower, and the outgunned Edgerunners' cover is disappearing quickly.

"I'm thinkin' now's a good time to delta," he shouts over the roar of the gangoons' heavy iron.

"I think that's a fine idea," Whisper replies.

"I'll suppress, you find some fresh cover, then we'll switch?"

Whisper nods, coils, ready to spring.

"Go!" Kenji rolls away from the chewed nub of pillar and looses a long burst in the general direction of the bad guy cluster. If he survives the act, Kenji's plan is to get to his feet and sprint after his partner just as fast as his overtuned nervous system will allow.

Kentucky
Heavy sub-gun 31/40
Suppressive fire towards stairwell cluster

-
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

Cruz produced a sound that was something between a chortle and a snort.  "Not exactly," he said with a slight grin.  The tech then took in a deep breath and refocused.

"Yo, fifty meters up, on the right," Cruz said next, as he pushed the gurney and returned the WD-40 to his bag. Adjudicator returned to his right hand.  Alexander gave the P3 stairway door the stink eye, willing it to stay closed as they made their way to the vent system.

"Next part's going to be fun," Cruz said considered the squeeze through that had to be done to get past the fan blade earlier.  He wondered for a moment if a few buckshot rounds at close range might clear one of the blades.  The longer they could use the stretcher, the better.

Moving/Pushing/Extracting
Shooting any hostile targets that show up.
Adjudicator VHP [6/8]

This message was last edited by the player at 14:19, Mon 22 Mar 2021.

When Lube gave naked chick the next waypoint Monica’s eyes drifted in that direction. For a second she wondered if they were going out the staircase, just as quickly discounted it. Too straightforward. No point doing stuff the easy way. No pain, no gain.

”Like I said to your friend, you guys sure know how to throw a party.” Monica murmured as her heels struck the flooring, the sound suddenly drowned out by the rattle of submachine gun fire in a confined space. She flashed him a smile that showed off dazzling dentistry. ”It’s kinda cool really. I mean, violence is hot, yeah?”

"Moving," Martin pants as he kicks off from the crumbling pillar.  He sprints directly away from the Listener shooters for a few meters, then banks off the remnants of a parking stub and alters course toward the next available cover, swapping mags as he goes.

Beretta Consigliere (heavy pistol) [3/8]
moving and reloading
Combat Awareness 5: Spot Weakness 5 (+5 damage to first hit each round)

"Yeah, hot, I guess," Cruz said with a shrug.  "I mean, it's not a sixty-seven Shelby Mustang..." Alex added, "but it's pretty cool."  A-dot said.

Truth was, he wasn't a violence solves the problem, kind of guy.  He'd have joined the Marines or Army if that was the case.  In the Navy, violence was abstracted to blips on screens, at least until Russian Fizik-3 torpedo holed your boat and let the magic gas out, sending you and your shipmates down to a cold, dark grave.

"Oh, if you see a kid with a machete, he's Royce and he's cool," Cruz said, shifting his thoughts from the days of dying in a tin can, to the days of dying here in this shitty garage.

As Martin breaks away, the Heavy gets off another blast with his rifle, ripping the air with ten more pieces of kinetic death.  The bullets hurl through the air, impacting on the general consensus the PCs shouldn't die on their first firefight.  The single bullet that gets through Martin's bobbing, weaving, and narrative armor bounces off of his actual armor, leaving not much more than a bruise on the Solo's backside and a lesson than autofire is fucking ruthless (gm takes notes).  The second concrete pillar beckons, and Whisper is able to reach cover before any more lead gets sent his way.  He doesn't hesitate, immediately setting up to cover his partner.

The same time Martin runs, Kenji leans out and lets loose a burst with his submachine gun in the hopes of putting some heads down.  The rank and file listeners still under the effects of the flashbang don't react.  Caught out in the open with bullets flying everywhere, the female Listener scampers back into the stairwell.  For his part, the pissed off heavy just keeps coming.  The good news is that the tough is out of ammo and will either have to resort to melee attacks or reload on his next action.  (-10 rounds)  As soon as the burst is finished, Kentucky puts down his head and sprints, arriving in cover a few seconds after Whisper does.

One level down, Pandora drags Daphne along.  The younger girl whimpers under the constant urging of movement the solo inflicts on her.  That, or the bouncer hook Pandora's using driving the thumb of her left hand up into Daphne's right arm pit and lifting just enough that their payday can't stop moving without dealing with some pain.  Not enough to wound, enough to keep her motivated.

Cruz and Del Rey keep pushing.  With the distance to the stair well decreasing, Monica's ears pick up the sounds of bullets bouncing through the vertical space.  She can also hear steps coming down.  Three or four pairs of feet arriving next round.  Cruz doesn't need to be told, he can see the flashes of light from barrel mounted illumination through the narrow  window on the metal door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:26, Wed 24 Mar 2021.

Kenji slides into cover alongside his teammate, pleasantly surprised to have made it there unscathed. At first glance, Whisper appears unhurt.

"You OK?" Kenji gasps, eyes returning downrange, searching for the next target. It occurs to him that he's burning through ammo at a fair clip, but without significantly reducing the number of bad guys. He can't afford to miss again.

Kentucky
Sub-gun 21/40
Peeking out of cover to locate & engage next target


-
This message was last edited by the player at 00:54, Fri 26 Mar 2021.

Martin does a quick blood check with his support hand.  It comes away clean.  "I'll feel it tomorrow," he says, thankful (not for the first time) for modern material science.

Protected from the effects of autofire and tinnitus, his auditory chrome picks up the clatter of a magazine hitting concrete.  "Fucker's reloading," he hisses, and pops out to exploit the opening.

Beretta Consigliere (heavy pistol) [9/8]
two more rounds on the heavy... something has to connect sooner or later
Combat Awareness 5: Spot Weakness 5 (+5 damage to first hit each round)

Cruz moves clear of the stretcher, switches to his shotgun, and goes prone 6 yards from the door.  With that many dancing lights under the door, he'd hoped that he could get more than one in the buckshot blast.  Hell, maybe even penetrate some armor.  It could happen...

870P+
Incendiary Shells [5/8]
Shooting badguys in the doorway at maximum rate.  Can I use luck to increase damage die?  If I can, I'm dumping all 5 points in.  Otherwise Cruz might not be alive in a round to use it later...
This message was last edited by the player at 08:34, Thu 25 Mar 2021.

On P2, Whisper leans around new column to discover that the empty magazine isn't the only thing hitting the floor.  The Heavy's assault rifle sails through the air, forgoing bullets for pure aggression.  And a giant set of Wolvers sprouting from his raised cyberarm.  A snarl sets frozen on his lips as he charges forward.  Martin, however, has something to say about that.  Pistol comes up, sight goes full, and the trigger gets depressed twice in quick succession.  The first round strikes hard, the Heavy losing a step in his stride from the impact, the stride taking on a decided limp.  Perhaps anticipating the continued movement of his target, Martin leads the second round a bit far and fails to score a second hit. (-2 rounds)

Next to him, Kenji flips on the "sit the fuck down and shut the fuck light," and lets rip another burst of fire from his SMG.  This lights the Heavy up, bullets scoring flesh and dropping the guy to the ground.  Presumably permanently, though he is squirming a little bit. (-10 rounds).

Behind their joint target, Whisper and Kentucky can see the telltale spots of weapon mounted flashlights coming down the parking ramp.  With a little effort, the duo will be down to P3 before the current threat arrives.  The female Listener is nowhere to be seen.

Down on P3, the trio that has so far escaped the direct violence gets to take a turn, much to the surprise of the Listeners that come crashing through the stairwell door only to find themselves on the receving end of a death funnel.  On the ground, Lube Job lets loose with his shotgun flashburning more of the concrete walls.  The buck shot catches the lead Listener square in the chest, the flaming bits of magnesium blowing him apart into smoldering chunks of augmented flesh.  Two other Listeners find themselves on fire, only the fourth managing to avoid trouble for now. (-1 incendiary shell)

Standing in front of the stretcher, Monica lines up the newly acquired pistol in her nicely manicured hand and squeezes off a pair of rounds through the doorway at the burning silhouette of a Listener. Both rounds find their way home, slapping into burning flesh. (-2 rounds) Pandora, understanding words like "payday" and "vengence," puts herself in front of Daphne and squeezes off one round from the Adjudicator while still on the move.  The weapon barks, a bass tone that reverberates through the garage.  The bullet punches through the throat of the other burning Listener, flatlining the shithead.

The Edgerunners are still under heavy threat, but starting to claw back some momentum.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:00, Fri 26 Mar 2021.

"Time to go," Martin observes.  "Fuck," he adds a moment later, as the sound of Lube's shotgun comes from the next level down and visions of a blown mission flit through his head.  As soon as Kentucky acknowledges the need to vacate P2, he gives the Heavy a final assessment (and an insurance round if it looks like he's about to get up again), then bolts for the sounds of renewed gunfights.

Beretta Consigliere (heavy pistol) [7/8]
insurance shot on the Heavy if needed, then running to the next fight, ready to put rounds on the next Listener
Combat Awareness 5: Spot Weakness 5 (+5 damage to first hit each round)

"Sounds like we got 'em surrounded from the inside," Kenji quips, the sound of gunfire echoing up from P3 indicating that the odds have just swung back in favor of the opposition. There's no doubt he and Whisper are outnumbered by the Listeners descending on them from P1 and the P2 stairwell; maybe the reunited team of Edgerunners will have a localized numbers advantage on the level below. "Vamanos," he accedes, rising and advancing at speed to the rear, preparing to reinforce Lube Job's traveling circus.

Kentucky
Sub-gun (11/40)
Autofire burst v any live Listener he encounters at optimal range
-
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Fri 26 Mar 2021.

There was no time to celebrate turning one of these assholes into salsa orgánica, gruesa y gruesa.  Alexander rolled, pumped the shotgun, then fired off another round into the closets of the two remaining Listeners.

870P+
Incendiary Shells [4/8]
Shooting closest bad guy.  If I can roll right or left get both in the pattern, then cool.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 10:21, Fri 26 Mar 2021.

”Fuck you fucking mother fuckers.” There’s a distinct note of satisfaction in Monica’s voice even if the curse if slightly repetitive. She didn’t know who these pricks were but they’d grabbed her, doubtless had intended for her to end up the same as the dudes sharing the gurney. Which was really freaking her out. The thought of being hooked up to something, not dead but not alive either. That was very definitely not chilled. So flatlining one of them made her feel a whole lot better about the situation.

The pistol moves in her hand as she seeks out a fresh target. Her adrenaline is still buzzing. It’s more effective stress therapy than a day at a hydro spa. Cheaper as well.

MDR
Heavy Pistol (?/?) *
Firing 2 shots at first target ID’d

* Not sure if Monica would know how many rounds she has as. the pistol was a hand me down

Cruz executes a barrel roll to his left, crossing three feet of abandoned parking garage floor before lining up his shotgun with the two Listeners who remain standing.  The first gives into the panic of being burnt alive inside his body armor and begins frantically trying to put himself out, turning a blind eye to the other threats around him.  Behind the cut-rate Human Torch, the last Listener in the stairwell is trying to bring his own Adjudicator to bear on Cruz.  Cruz disagrees with this course of action and pulls the trigger on his flamethrower.  Magnesium flashes out again, washing over the already lit Listener and igniting his companion.  (-1 incendiary round).

At the bottom of the parking ramp, Kentucky finds himself in the optimal situation of having two self lit targets dancing in the dark.  After trotting forward a few more meters he brings up his can-opener and tries to facilitate the arrival of another Listener to whatever he is listening to.  The weapon coughs out another steady stream of bullets that connect with the panicked cyber-nutjob and immediately cease all efforts of self-extinguishment by the unfortunate asshole.  A smoldering corpse hits the ground. (-10 rounds)

The range for Martin isn't optimal, but the solo has the same target profile that Kentucky had available, except for one target that is giving up the ghost (though still providing illumination).  The second Listener is just outside the stairwell door, and Martin elects to add some pressure to the gangers decision matrix.  He snaps off 2 quick rounds, the first connecting, the second going wide.  The bullet impact twists the Listener on his feet, but he doesn't go down.  (-2 rounds)

Near the fan blades, Pandora turns her attention away from the gunfight and starts navigating Daphne through the obstacle course.  A scowl crosses her face when she sees the small platform she'll be dragging Daphne across, but she doesn't hesitate, just tightens her grip on the moaning girl and starts cajoling in between curses and threats to the voices in her head.

Behind her, Monica punctuates two more trigger pulls with obscene invectives directed at the poor Listener who had the bad luck to cross pissed of Edgerunners who all react faster than he does.  Enhanced ears pick up the sound of the first round richoeting off her target, but the second finds a home, punching a hole in the armored coat that is failing to provide adequate protection to its owner. (-2 rounds)

For his own part, the sole surviving Listener manages to reflexively squeeze the trigger on his pistol as he succumbs to the flames consuming him.  He'll never know it, but the bullet almost manages to catch Cruz.  Almost.  The tech pulls a second barrel roll and get out of the way just in time to get hit with bullet fragments and concrete bit that don't do much more than add some character to his armorjack.

The garage goes quiet except for a slight ringing in everyone's ears.

And the sounds of booted feet rushing across P2 somewhere above and behind Whisper and Kentucky.

"Let's go!" Kenji hisses, reloading his sub-gun and positioning himself to act as rearguard. He doesn't mention the vent in case the pursuing Listeners have augmented hearing. When the others start rolling out, the combat medic backpedals smoothly, covering the team's six as they move to and through the opening into the adjacent underground parking structure. If the bad guys show themselves, he'll try to scatter them with a burst, buy a few more seconds.

Kentucky
Reloading 1/40 -> 41/40
Rear guard
-
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Sat 27 Mar 2021.

With the last target down hard, Cruz popped up to his feet, then slung his shotgun.  He was glad that the incendiary ammo had better results than it did earlier.  Being a tinkerer, Alex couldn't wait to get back to the shop and try some new loads and maybe mod the gun a bit, based on his experiences with these 'listners'.  Now however, was the time to vamos.

At a trot, he moved to grab another Adjudicator.  He skipped the mags and ammo this time, cognizant of the need for speed.  He double checked the safety, the slid it into his techbag (which looked a lot like a leather man-purse).  He moved with purpose to the fans, with the goal of getting everyone through as quickly as possible.

”So what’s the plan?” Monica asked Lube as she extracted one of the spare magazines from her pocket, swapped it out for the partly expended one. May as well do it now, while she had the chance. Just in case.

”I mean, I’m guessing you didn’t get in here the same way that I did.” Unconscious and in a bag. Her free hand was on the gurney again, the pistol still held in her other, the sounds of shooting replaced by the click of her heels on the garage floor as she followed Lube.

In reply to Monica Del Rey (msg # 212):

"We came in through the back door.  It's a tight squeeze though.  You gotta take it slow, you know what I'm sayin'?" Cruz replied in answer to Del Rey's question.  He cleared his throat, then pointed at the fan duct ahead.

"Gotta drag these dudes through.  If you can haul Crazy Rich Asian, I'll have one of los vaqueros take mi hermano through.  I'll dump some magnesium ammo in this choke point in case we get followed.  Blast some fools if they try to trail us."

With that, Lube Job pulled out some incendiary buckshot shells and loaded his Remberg 870P+ to the max.  With the remaining loads, he started loosening the plastic shell closure, slinging his shotgun so he could focus on not dumping the contents out... at least not yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:23, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

At the fans, Pandora pushes Daphne through the second set of blades before setting her down against the wall.  "Stay," she hisses to the payday belonging to Cruz, Whisper, and Kentucky before turning back to the fans to receive the bodies.  Monica slides through the first fan, grabs Ji-Hoon underneath his arms pits and pulls him across the narrow walkway before handing him off to Pandora.  The human chain continues with Cruz dragging their Aldecaldo acquisition through and passing him through to the collection of XX chromosomes on the far side of the rusted blades.  While Whisper goes through, Cruz sets about dumping tiny balls of magnesium buckshot to prep a nasty surprise for the Listener pursuit.

Outside the fans, Kenji kneels, submachine gun pulled tight to his shoulder, eyes sweeping the space.  The light on the end of his SMG casts a small ball of light through the dark garage, enough to stab out at a target and more than enough to tell someone else where he is.  At the far end of the garage he can see multiple lights coming down the ramp though they haven't turned yet to face him.  If he had to guess, it's a group of four or five Listeners moving quickly.

"Yo Kentucky," Cruz calls out softly, "this place is gonna burn like the clap.  Not that I have it," he tacks on quickly, looking back over his shoulder.  "Let's go."

Kentucky ducks through, picks his way carefully across the now ball-bearing equipped metal platform, and finds himself back with the group.  Daphne's leaning hard on Pandora, Whisper's got Emil draped over a shoulder in a fireman's carry, Monica doing the same with the smaller Kim Ji-Hoon.

"Quieter on this side," Pandora grits out, aiming her blank eyes at Whisper.  "In my head."

"I like where your head's at, Lube," Kenji says, as he steps carefully over and around the scattered incendiary buckshot. Once safely on the other side, he scans the motley assemblage, tries to bring a little order to the chaos.

"We're gonna need some more wheels," he muses out loud. There's no way they'll be able to fit eight people, including two stretcher cases, inside the stank-ass rental sedan. But that's putting the cart before the horse. They all need to reach daylight, first.

Presumably, Cruz Control has a plan to ignite the pyro, so he'll need to bring up the rear. And he shouldn't be alone. Kenji would volunteer for the job, but he's been neglecting his patients and should probably have another look at Daphne, at the least.

"Whisper, help Lube light up the Listeners, then delta. I'll take everybody else to the surface. Hopefully, we'll have a ride waiting when you get there."

Assuming there are no major objections or alterations to his plan, Kenji starts leading the others to the surface, hoping that the Listeners haven't figured out how the intruders got into their lair yet, and are sending a force to cut them off at street level.

Assuming the motley crew makes it to P1...

Reaching the P1 switchback, Kenji announces, "Let's take a break." Hoping his agent has service here, just below street level, he thumbs speed-dial for Black Jasper, waits for someone to pick up (or voice mail),

"Kentucky here. We're gonna need curbside pickup ASAP. Got four bonus packages and the neighbors are a bit rowdy."

Kenji takes a knee and opens his medpack, extracts a Mylar space blanket. Noticing the bedraggled corporat with the really big gun [Monica], he introduces himself, "I'm Kentucky." The MedTech opens the blanket, quickly cuts a slit in the middle and hands it to Pandora. "Poncho."

Moving to gig's main objective, he asks, "Daphne, how're you doin'?"

-
This message was last edited by the player at 01:21, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

General consensus is reached with Kenji's plan.  Especially since nothing better is on the table.  There's a short spasm of activity, Whisper hands Emil off to Kenji. The small Nomad doesn't take much to support, he's more of a block to effective weapon handling than a cause of exertion.  He moans a bit at the transfer, but still can't manage much more than a drool.  The reconfigured caravan shuffles out, headed for the surface leaving behind two Edgerunners with devilish imaginations to slow or end Listener pursuit.

Lube waits, squatting on top of a rotting car that won't stop much more than a screwdriver shoved by a toddler with his shotgun cradled in his arms.  He's up high, has to be to get the angle. Behind the tech, Whisper checks his ammo, slows his breathing and slips into the Zen trance that precedes violence.  The Listeners aren't shy about arriving at the fan blades.  A crash signifies the gurney hitting the floor.  There's a wrench of tearing metal as the first fan is removed from its housing that gets a few raised eyebrows from the ambushers.  Then footsteps.  A crack as someone loses their footing on magnesium marbles.

"Yeah, fuck it.  Vaya al infierno," Lube Job quips before firing off his ignition round.  Below his hip, Whisper throws a couple rounds downrange for good measure.  Then they're moving because nothing announces your position and attracts incoming fire quite like a flamethrower.  The hood of the car buckles as Lube hops down, his boot driving through rust before halting on a 4-cylinder piece of imported shit with a thud.  Whisper grabs his partner, pulls him off the car and starts hustling across the water stained, mold filled parking structure.

Behind the duo, the void space erupts into a bright fireball that casts the shadows of the fleeing Edgerunners forward for several seconds before burning itself out and returning the area to subterranean darkness.  There aren't any screams, but there is a heavy splash that carries across the space.  Someone has a found a gravity assisted shortcut to P4.  Maybe they'll drown, Whisper hopes silently, moving his attention to breathing and not slipping on the decades of yuck his boots are pounding across.

Up ahead, Kenji sets up a quick rendezvous point on the dry ground of P1 stairwell landing.  He's got to get organized, get this whole shit show figured out before they have more company.  The last thing anyone needs is the Scavs in the mall to come looking at all the noise and decide that there's some easy pickings available.  Pandora shoots the medic an inscrutable glance when he offers her the Mylar blanket, but she accepts it without complaint.  The silver reflective eyes make it damn hard to figure out what anyone is feeling unless they are a: unconscious  (Emil and Ji-Hoon) or b: sobbing (like Daphne).  Pandora shifts away in a crinkle of shiny fabric to cover their six down the stairs while Monica watches for surprises from above.

"Kentucky," Black Jasper chuckles, "Sorry to hear about the neighbors.  Two rental SUVs are on the way to your car's last.  Can you vector me in from there?"

"Half a block due south," Kenji reports succinctly. "Pedestrian entrance to the parking garage of the mall."

"Got ya."

The sound of gunfire begins echoing through the dark concrete caverns again.  Perhaps the Listeners are expecting more nasty surprises or maybe they're just pissed off.  In either case, Parking Level P3 is a death trap of ricochets and tracer fire.  It's a spot Cruz and Lowell are happy to leave behind.  The duo dashes into the stairwell and starts climbing, lungs burning and boots thumping hard on the concrete.

"Go! Vamanos!"  Cruz shouts up the stairs.

Kenji doesn't need to be told twice.  Neither does any one else.  Trying to be as gentle as possible, the medic pulls the crying Daphne to her feet and starts to hustle her up the stairs.  Their new corporate addition, Monica, blasts up the steps, stalking out into daylight like someone on the other side of the door owes her a great deal of money, weapon up and bad attitude brandished.  Kenji with Daphne in tow and Emil over a shoulder clears the stairs next, squinting against the bright California sun for a moment and trying to make sense of the situation at hand.  The rubble is still there, Scavs no where to be seen.  Two black SUVs are screaming down the street, possessed by some operating code that has sent them to his location in a hurry.  Pandora pushes Kentucky aside, Ji-Hoon over her shoulder, mirror blanket sending a disco ball effect against the walls of the nearby buildings.

Inside the stairs, Whisper and Lube hit the first level landing before they hear the door open on P3 below them.  Without exchanging a word, both men pause, aim their weapons down the shaft, and rain more violence down on their pursuers.  It's a continues trigger pull twenty feet below ground, the sonic assault punishing even with internally surprised weapons.  A concrete tube can only take so many breaches of the sound barrier before everybody badly wants to be somewhere else.

"Let's go!" Pandora yells down from above.  "Get the fuck gone!"

The rear security element emerges to find Lube pushing Daphne into an SUV, body between her and any emerging threats.  Up front, Monica slides into the passenger seat clutching her own weapon.  The rear hatch shuts slowly, the naked form of Emil disappearing from view. Another SUV sits nearby, rear hatch closing to seal Ji-Hoon in.  Pandora, draped in mylar poncho stands near the open front passenger door, pistol gripped tightly and aimed at the door behind Whisper and Lube.  The rear passenger door is open, waiting.  They don't need to be told where to go.

Lube's boot hits the running bar and he vaults into the vehicle sliding all the way across the back seat.  It doesn't hurt much, not until Whisper lands basically on top of him, shoving his head against the side door.  There's several bangs: two gun shots, two car doors, and a sudden sense of acceleration.

As the vehicles speed away, Whisper raises his head and sweeps the area for any remaining threats.  For a split second he catches a glimpse of Royce huddled down between a few bits of concrete and watching the whole show unfold, face plastered with a lopsided grin.

I'm the one natural one, make it easy
We can take it inside
I can have it cause I act like I love it
It's a matter of pride

Yeah, we can take it
Good excuse for an endless spree
Good because we made it
Your world is falling down, you may as well crash with me

-Folk Implosion, Natural One