Loralei found herself standing on the outskirts of a large market. Located on a distant catwalk, she leaned over the railing and took in the view. It was an extremely busy pathway. Shoppers littered the area making most vendors hard to see.
Only the signs above the stalls made it easier. Guns, drinks, clothing, cyberware, netrunner gear. Some of the things they were selling were…wait…was this a black market? Lei's empty eyes narrowed.
Hard to come by black market tech was everywhere. And these vendors were selling it openly! Were the Barghest that lax when it came to commerce? She was extremely tempted to browse through and see if she wanted anything.
'It's a good market. Lots of bang for your buck. You can always come back later, but I need you right now. The plane is nearing Dogtown. Landing soon.' Songbird's hologram commented.
'Where to?' Drifter responded.
'Northeast. Behind that antique vendor.'
Lei followed the woman's directions and merged with the throngs of moving customers. Doing her best to lower her presence, it wasn't hard for someone to overlook her. The antique vendor soon came into view.
A glint of silver caught her eye, leading her to stop in front. A jaded man stood in front of the items. He noticed her interest and spoke up.
"It's a celtic string ribbon. Very old. Dating back to the past era of the internet. Even older. Couple thousands of years." The man said.
"How much?" Her distorted voice sounded through the breather.
"5k."
"You're joking. It's just a string. Bring it down."
"3.5 thousand."
"I'll buy it right now for 1 thousand credits."
"That's too low."
"You're still making a profit. How long have you been standing here waiting for a customer?"
"Tch. Fine. 1K."
Lei transferred the money over before lowering her hood. Her silky black hair was revealed alongside the upper half of her face. Ignoring the man's raised eyebrows, she put her hair up into a messy ponytail. Securing it with the silver string, the lengthy ends of it swayed in the wind. Two strands of hair framed the sides of her face.
Adding to all of the slim silver armor pieces, it looked quite nice. Black and silver all around. Lei nodded at the man before making her way past. Behind the vendor was a pathway covered by string beads. Not really a door but a similar function. Loralei casually stepped through, and continued her trek.
It didn't take much longer. She traveled up some creaking stairs, leaped over a few crumbled barricades, shimmied through a tight path, and finally got into an old elevator.
'Ugh. This old ass technology. Fucking sucks.' Songbird complained.
'Be gentle or you'll break it.' Lei commented.
Eventually, the rickety contraption brought her to a dilapidated roof. The drifter had to kick the elevator door open since it had gotten stuck. As she balanced herself on a thin steel beam, Songbird appeared on the roof ahead.
'You made it.' She said.
'What's the situation?' Lei asked.
'The president is calm but prepared. You see us? Right there.' The Korean woman pointed into the sky. Lei could see what looked like a private jet.
'Looks expensive.'
'It's Space Force One. Of course it is. Do you see our trajectory? Should be landing…oh…oh no.'
A missile zoomed past Lei's body and entered the open air. The target…Songbird and the president's aircraft. Flares shot out of the jet which allowed it to evade the missile…but there was more than one. A second missile followed not far from the first and exploded into the thruster.
Songbird's expression grew panicked as her hologram jolted around. She then turned to Lei. Once more she begged.
'The president! Forget about me, I'll be fine. Please! Get the president!'
'Where am I taking her?'
'Elizabeth Kress! You can lie low there.'
'I'll be finding you right after.' Lei made sure the Songbird understood. She wouldn't be getting away.
'That's fine! Just-'
The hologram disappeared as another missile slammed into the jet. Its trajectory was knocked off course, the aircraft now pointing directly at Lei. The masked girl cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders.
"Really? Wow. Okay." She muttered to herself.
The now flaming private jet grew closer and closer. Right before crashing into the roof she was on, Lei accelerated. A red streak went up a vertical steel beam and leapt off.
Lei's feet landed on top of the jet. Perfect landing. She then immediately crouched down and held on for dear life. Time resumed to normal and the aircraft's falling speed almost threw her off.
"Ugh!"
The G force rattled her insides a bit. They'd long since passed the market and had almost covered the whole district. At the edge of Dogtown was a skyscraper…and Space Force One was headed straight for it.
Oh yeah. It would definitely crash through the side of the building. No doubt about it. As soon as the aircraft made contact with the building, Lei accelerated once more.
Explosions went off as Lei jumped onto the side of the structure. She dashed across the slowly rippling flames and explosions until she reached the end. Only then did she leap off and land on a much lower building. After a smooth roll, she glanced back up to the jet. Time resumed.
BOOOM
The left wing cut right through the building and explosions went off. Luckily, the skyscraper seemed to be built with a good foundation. It didn't collapse. The aircraft spun out, crashed into the ground, then slid for another few miles.
'Let's hope they survived.' Lei thought.
Looking in the opposite direction, the sky was filled with military AVs and remote controlled drones. Large drones. Almost like mini gunships. Not to mention the soldiers on ground. Armored vehicles were speeding toward the crash site.
"Looks like the Barghest were ready. Who the hell is Kurt…" She wondered.
Right before she leapt off the building, Lei noticed someone stumbling out of the shattered aircraft. The drifter crouched down on the edge of the roof and waited. Once the body came into view, she smirked.
"Hmph." Loralei hummed with interest.
Songbird was leaving the area as if escaping. Trying her best to get distance from the site. She also looked…different. More machine-like. More cyberware. Different from the hologram.
The drifter accelerated across the rooftop and got a bit closer to the site. Now directly above the Korean woman, she sat on the edge. Legs dangling in the air. After resting her chin in her hand, she spoke.
"Going somewhere?"
Songbird immediately jumped up in shock. Her eyes quickly went up to the figure sitting above. Realizing that it was Lei, her expression turned from shocked to worried. Such a quick arrival didn't seem to be part of the plan.
"What…How did you get here already?"
"...I hitched a ride. The ride being your private jet."
"The fuck?" Songbird muttered under her breath.
"Where are you going? Trying to sneak away?" Lei questioned.
"Focus on the mission. Save the president, Drifter." Songbird commented.
"Did you make a deal with this Kurt guy? He planned this, I'm assuming."
"It'll take too much time to explain. Please don't mention this to Myers. Our deal is between me and you. It's about us, Drifter. Forget everything else."
"You can't hide things from me…I always find out. Whether I want to or not." Lei stated in an eerie manner.
"........................" Songbird remained silent.
"Go ahead and run away. Once Myers is secured, I'll find you. Then we'll have a nice chat."
"I won't screw you over. You'll see. I know you don't trust me…but I'll prove it to you."
With those words, Songbird ran away. She eventually disappeared into the scrawling mass of buildings and alleyways. Now it was just Lei, the jet, and the army of Barghest soldiers about 2 minutes away.