BANG
The pistol discharged, sending a bullet toward Lei. She casually tilted her head to evade. This was done at flux speed, giving off the image that the bullet phased through her. The woman was immediately spooked. The red glow under the drifter's hood now seemed much scarier.
"Who are you?!" She interrogated.
Lei could tell she was looking for something on the body to hack. Just by the look on her face. Eyes scrambling for a way out. Unfortunately, Drifter's cloak had a built-in frequency scrambler that stopped others from getting a digital lock on her cyberware. She couldn't be hacked when under the cloak.
The main way someone could breach Lei's cyberware was through reversing one of her own attempts and following the signal. Physical contact was another method. Trying the normal way though…good luck.
"Relax. Are you a merc as well?" Lei didn't move, knowing that anything else would spook the girl.
"You're a merc?"
"If it fits the situation, yes."
"What are you here for?"
"Something from the mainframe."
"Hey, me too!" She joked. It was fake enthusiasm.
"I can see that." The drifter commented.
There was a moment of silence. The netrunner didn't continue with her business, too alert against the new intruder. Like this…nothing would get done. They didn't have all day.
"Alright, enough standing around. Let's make a deal. We work together for now then go our separate ways. Preem?" Lei suggested.
"Preem." The woman quickly nodded in agreement. The drifter pulled out two data shards and tossed them over.
"JT-311. Put that on one data shard. Every other medicine including JT-311 on the other shard. Preem?"
"Preem. Can you defend?"
"Sure, Catgirl. We wasted a bit of time. I'm sure your work will take longer with my stuff too."
"It's Sasha." The woman gave her name.
"Drifter." Lei responded.
"I'm going back in. Do you have my back?" Sasha asked one more time to make sure.
"Yes. I assume you're the reason for the jammer, right? It's starting to wear off. Be quick. They'll be on us soon."
"On it."
With those words, Sasha put her full focus into the mainframe. Lei sat on the desk and waited patiently. Time slowly chugged along. Silence flooded the room as the seconds ticked by. About fifteen minutes later, Lei spoke up.
"How's it going over there?"
"Almost done." Sasha answered.
Another five minutes went by. Lei stood up and casually approached the girl. Sasha looked up at her.
"Time's up. Your jammer's going down in 30 seconds. My shards?"
The cat girl tossed the data shards. Lei scanned them quickly, confirming that everything was there. Turning back to Sasha, it didn't seem like she was done.
"We've gotta delta. Ready?"
"Not yet. One more thing."
"10 seconds."
"It's gonna take longer than that."
"How long?"
"10 minutes."
"Too long. I should just leave you here."
"No. Stay and defend me! I'll pay you." Sasha exclaimed.
"Why? What's taking you so long?"
"I found something bad. Sending it straight to all news channels."
"What-"
"It's personal. Please!" Sasha pleaded.
At that moment, the alarms went off. The mainframe had finally sent an alert to security. Armed robots were on the way. Lei pointed to the desk.
"Get under the table. Sigh…Do it there. I'll keep their attention. As soon as you're done, we delta. Got it?"
"Got it!" Sasha immediately hid under the desk. They quickly shared contacts during their haste.
The one-way windows revealed the outside. An armored AV was currently landing at the entrance. More than 30 armed robots were let off the aircraft, who then went on to storm the building. Meanwhile, the AV left to get more reinforcements. Lei watched it all with a blank expression.
VRMM
Her beam saber ignited, staining the room red. Sasha noticed the change in color with surprise. She quietly peeked over the desk, her eyes landing on the glowing blade. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen.
Lei casually walked out of the room, the door sliding shut behind her. The sound of heavy footsteps sounded through the stairwell. There were 8 floors and the robots were running up the 2nd.
The drifter lazily walked down the steps until she was on floor 6. It was likely that both parties would meet on the 5th. It only took a few seconds for Biotechnica's security to reach floor 4. Stepping on the railing, Lei could finally see them below.
'Let's see what you're made of.' Johnny said. He leaned against the wall with crossed arms.
Lei sent a quickhack to the leading robot. Weapon glitch. Due to the nature of her Raven cyberdeck, the hack spread to all of the nearby bots. Just like that…all of their weapons were disabled.
Only then did she drop down 2 floors. Air rushed through her cloak as she dropped. Aiming her landing, two feet slammed on the first bot. It forced the machine to the ground and cushioned her fall.
The crimson saber drilled through the metal chest before quickly retreating. One down…plenty to go. Each of the other security bots were pulling the trigger on their rifles to no avail. Lei could only wonder how long it would take for them to switch to close combat.
A gentle stroke of the beam saber and another bot was cleaved from shoulder to hip. Another swing separated a bot's legs. The space was cramped. It was a stairwell after all. Lei didn't like it…so she made a decision.
Drifter accelerated and disappeared like a ghost…only to appear one floor down. Searing lines appeared on each bot littering the stairway, their bodies falling to pieces. This didn't mean she could rest however. There was no time to waste.
Cutting through a bunch of the railing, she threw it on the stairs. A crude makeshift barricade it was. Running up the stairs now would cause slips and a possible fall to the ground floor. Now the robots would have to stop at the 4th floor and enter the offices and narrow hallways.
This gave the drifter much more room to work with. More heavy footsteps thundered nearby. Looks like the next batch of reinforcements were here. They moved much quicker. Definitely a lightweight squad. Higher end robots.
Upon entering the hallway, Lei was able to get a good look at them. They all wielded vibroblades and had a higher realm of movement. Once they locked onto the intruder, they dashed forward.
Two came head on, while another two bounded off the wall. The drifter was quick to react. She accelerated through the first two and bisected them both with a single swing. The momentum carried her to the wall, allowing her foot to stomp. This sent her flying at an angle toward the airborne bots.
While flipping her body for a good swing, she slashed right through them. It wasn't over after she landed. Her modified Burya made its appearance, blowing through the heads of bots entering the room.
The handcannon roared like the beast it was. Any material the bullet made contact with was obliterated. Even the walls behind her targets took considerable damage.
It only took a few seconds, but the next batch of security bots had been eliminated. This gave her some breathing room. Lei immediately called Sasha.
"How much longer?" Her voice was flat.
"2 minutes."
"Don't take longer than that. If you do, we'll have to deal with gunships and more."
"1 minute 50 seconds and counting."
"Preem."
Sasha was surprised at how calm the woman seemed. The sound of battle barely reached the netrunner's ears…though they seemed to end too quickly. Regardless, she focused on her work. Almost done.
Another batch was heading up the stairs. Lei quickly made another makeshift barricade and went down a floor. Continuing on the same floor wasn't wise. The dead bots made it hard to maneuver. This new floor was a massive open room full of cubicles. That was when the next set of enemies arrived.
'What?' Lei thought.
The next set of bots were a mix. Some were melee and some used rifles. Their ICE was a lot stronger and harder to get through. It would take more time to hack them than to just kill them. Even their rifles had changed from low quality trash to military grade.
'They're adapting. Either an operator or an AI is watching through the bots and adjusting to you.' Johnny assumed.
'Looks like it.' She agreed.
Bullets started to fly and the drifter started running. When speed was your main strength, stopping meant death. A few spurts of automatic fire were perfectly deflected by her beam saber as she approached.
Then she was upon them. Dodging a swipe by a melee bot, she spun and cut through the gunner. This spin brought her into a crouch. Her blade then rose up and cut through the melee bot's groin, stopping at the chest.
Lei made sure to lower the beam's intensity, which allowed her to throw the bot off her blade and at another gunner. This gave an opening. Another speed acceleration and all the bots were dispatched in a second.
"Sasha, we need to delta. NOW. Next batch will be their best weapons."
"All done. Coming down."
"Hurry. Meet me on the 3rd floor."
A few minutes later and Lei could hear the girl's huffing and puffing. She was jumping down the steps in a hurry. Covered in sweat by the time they met up. The drifter's beam saber deactivated.
"Do you have an escape plan?" Lei asked. Sasha nodded.
"I'm part of a crew. The leader is waiting in a getaway car."
"Let's go." As they ran down the flights of stairs, Johnny spoke up.
'Looks like you might actually be able to take down Arasaka…If we plan correctly.'
'I'm going to feel horrible once I get home.'
'Yup. I can see your vitals. The stress is moving shit around. Bad shit.' He said.
'I know.'
It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance. Another AV had arrived, this one much bigger. It lowered to the ground and opened up. Both Sasha and Lei frowned. A minotaur.
That wasn't all. The sound of propellers was far in the distance. A gunship was coming. There were high end bots alongside the minotaur as well. As the mech stepped out of the AV, the drifter spoke.
"Get back inside. I'll deal with this."
"That's insane!"
"Go."
"Fuck! Good luck…and thank you. I definitely owe you a drink."
'Making friends amongst danger. Ah…the life of a merc. The good life.' Johnny spoke in a reminiscent tone. Most likely remembering his past.
As Sasha ran back inside, 20k credits appeared on Lei's display. A nice bonus. Can't complain about that. Lei twirled the unactivated beam saber around her fingers. When it stopped, the hilt extended to become more like a spear and the blade ignited. It was a swordstaff.
It was at this moment that the mech was fully off the AV. Not even letting it lock onto her, the drifter accelerated. The swordstaff swung in an undercut and cleaved through a leg. Like a knife through butter.
With no form of balance, it toppled over to the side. This allowed her to spin into another cut right down the autonomous control center. One more follow up slash after to make sure it stayed dead. Only crackling electricity was left of the scrap due to severed cables and wires.
'That would've been much harder if you didn't have that…laser sword.' Johnny commented.
It almost sounded like he was disappointed. Probably too one-sided of a fight for the merc legend's taste. That was understandable. A bigger and slower mech just meant an easier target for Lei.. Her beam saber was literally designed to cut mechanical creations. This enemy posed no difficulty.
'...Yes.' Lei was no fool. She knew how powerful her weapon was in the right hands.
Now it was time for the bots. She'd been using the destroyed minotaur as cover to avoid gunfire. Nobody even knew when the drifter had stepped out of its shadow. Only when the bots were dying did they start looking around…but it was too late by then. They were eliminated after a few elegant flips and twirls.
All that left was the gunship. It hadn't arrived yet, so she crept into an alley on the other side of the street. Almost 30 seconds passed before the aircraft hovered over the building. It noticed the wreckage on the street, but all seemed silent.
Powerful lights washed over the entire Biotechnica HQ, going right through the one way glass. The aircraft slowly descended while checking each floor. Once it reached the fourth floor in height level, a red streak accelerated out of the alley.
The sheer speed allowed her to sprint directly up the building. Once the drifter was at the perfect height, she leapt off and sailed toward the gunship. The swordstaff cleaved down and separated the cockpit from the rest of the ship. A clean cut.
Without anything to steer the propellers, they veered forward into the building. Glass shattered immediately. The rotating blades cut right through the 3rd and 4th floors before exploding. Violently.
BOOOOM
..
..
…
"Get going." Lei's voice reached Sasha.
When the catgirl stepped out the exit to look, Lei had already disappeared. All traces of her were gone. Sasha was in awe. Even as she got in the passenger seat of Maine's car…even as the Biotechnica building grew further and further away…she knew she wouldn't forget this gig. Or the merc she briefly met.
"Drifter, huh." She muttered.