Freezing Shadows, Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Expected

I tried healing Berzerker on the way back to shore, but augmentations screwed with healing magic in a bad way, so I was only able to get a couple points of healing on her. She’d have to heal up the rest of the damage the slow way, which would likely take a day or two of rest. Still, that was better than nothing.

“Ugh, Iceblade, I’m back online, and the ringing in my head has died down. Everyone OK?”

“Good to hear from you, Twilight. Yes, everyone is more or less in one piece. Things got touchy for a bit there, but we got the job done. Send the signal to our contact, letting him know we want the other half of our payment.”

“Sure. So, um, was that an actual dragon? I was reading the game lore, and it said that the really big ones were the ones that could turn human.”

“Yes, that was really a dragon. As for the other bit, yes and no. Great Dragons, and put the capitals on those, are the only ones with the innate ability to turn into some metahuman form. However, just like any magician could take the Shapechange spell to turn into different animals, there’s nothing saying that a dragon couldn’t use a spell to look human.”

“Huh. If you could learn that spell, wouldn’t it make for the ultimate disguise?”

“For disguises, the Mask or Physical Mask spells are better. They’re illusions, after all, so are designed to be customizable. The Shapechange spell can turn you into different animals, but you don’t really get to pick the look of those animals. Same would apply to a spell turning you into different types of metahuman.”

“Got it. And our ‘friend’ has replied. Meeting is in Redmond. Well, on the border of Redmond. Looks like an area was demolished for some Mixsanto corporate facility to be put in, but they never got past breaking ground. Still listed as corporate property, though.”

“Which means it is extra-territorial, since Mixsanto is one of the big boys. Moment we step on that site, we’re no longer in UNAS territory, which means Mixsanto can legally do anything they like to us. Well, that just settles it. They’re going to try and kill us.”

“Plan?”

“Unchanged. Get suited up. We’ll want you somewhere helping Babydoll with overwatch and hacking on the fly to try and backtrack signals or whatever kind of chaos you can manage.” I looked over to Babydoll, and said, “When we get back to shore, and get back to the warehouse, bring in your ride, with all the toys. Can the blimps make it to the site in time?”

“No, they’re too slow. But the rotodrone is small enough I can launch it from the van, so we can still get overwatch done. And I’ll have both my pretties with me.”

“That works, then. Have the blimps do overwatch on the area around the base, then, while we are out. Just in case someone tries to be stupid.”

“Got it.”

Soon enough, we were on our way to the meet. Babydoll and Twilight hung back in Babydoll’s van, while the rest of us were in Berzerker’s poor-man’s APC of a van. Three blocks away, Babydoll found a spot to park, and launched her drones, while Berzerker got into the back of the van to drive remotely, so she could get her guns ready, instead of needing to fit in the driver’s seat.

“Eyes on the site. Looks like they’re using it as a storage site for cargo containers or something. Work lights in a clearing in the containers, big enough for a baseball diamond. One car waiting near the middle.”

“Any sign of our ‘friends’?” I asked, as Berzerker drove through the open gate at the edge of the site. Babydoll’s combat drones followed us in.

“Switching to thermal. No signatures. Probably hiding in the containers, waiting for us to get close. Wait one. I have one hot spot. Probably a person, on a stack of containers well away from the diamond.”

“Well, that sounds like a sniper if I’ve ever heard of one,” I chuckled. “Twilight, see if you can crack into his commlink.”

“On it!” Twilight called back. “Threading a new form to scan. Scanning now, using the drone as the focus point. Found his commlink, in hidden mode.”

There was a slight delay, and she said, “I’m in. Only basic access, but they haven’t spotted me yet. Guy’s got cybereyes, so I can play with him a bit. Wait a second, these guys are running a tac net. Have eleven members in the network. I’m doing basic edits on this guy’s telemetry, to hide the drones, so you’ll have surprise there. But it’ll help if you keep the drones in the van’s shadow, Babydoll.”

“I can do that, sure.”

I took a breath, and said, “Twilight, when this lights off, I want you to brick the sniper’s eyes.”

“No problem,” she said, as we were driving up to the clearing. Berzerker parked the van with the sliding door facing the car parked in the middle of the clearing, but kept a good five meters away. We were just about to get out, when Twilight screamed, “DON’T OPEN THE DOOR!”

Blast Damage: 30P, -2 per meter (20P)

Berzerker’s Van’s Damage Resistance: 36d6 = 14 Hits, 8 Miss (6P Damage)

Van: 6/16 Damage Monitor

The warning came just in time, as the next instant, there was an almighty roar that actually shook the van. “FUCK!” I heard Berzerker yell. “That thing fucked up my ride! Can still drive, but definitely going to need some time in the shop.”

“Then let’s return the favor!” I said, opening the door so we could pile out of the van. Outside, there was a burning wreck where the car had been. It was obvious what had happened. The team waiting for us decided to start with a car bomb, and then bring people in to take out whoever survived. We all dove for whatever cover we could get, as the drones pulled out from behind the van, and container doors dropped open.

Initiative

Iceblade: 9d6 = 4 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 13, 3 passes)

Berzerker’s Initiative: 9d6 = 2 Hits, 3 Miss (Init 11, 3 Passes)

Sexkitten’s Initiative: 9d6 = 1 Hits, 0 Miss (Init 10, 3 Passes)

Babydoll’s Initiative: 7d6 = 3 Hits, 1 Miss (Init 10, 3 Passes)

Shadowgirl’s Initiative: 9d6 = 2 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 11, 3 Passes)

Twilight’s Matrix Initiative: 7d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 10, 3 Passes)

Kill Team 1’s Initiative: 8d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 11, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 2’s Initiative: 8d6 = 5 Hits, 1 Miss (Init 13, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 3’s Initiative: 8d6 = 2 Hits, 1 Miss (Init 10, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 4’s Initiative: 8d6 = 3 Hits, 1 Miss (Init 11, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 5’s Initiative: 8d6 = 1 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 9, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 6’s Initiative: 8d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 11, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 7’s Initiative: 8d6 = 4 Hits, 0 Miss (Init 12, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 8’s Initiative: 8d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (Init 11, 2 Passes)

Kill Team 9’s Initiative: 8d6 = 2 Hits, 3 Miss (Init 10, 2 Passes)

Sniper’s Initiative: 8d6 = 5 Hits, 0 Miss (Init 13, 2 Passes)

Lieutenant’s Initiative: 8d6 = 4 Hits, 1 Miss (Init 12, 2 Passes)

Iceblade Casts Deflection (Force 5)

Iceblade’s Spellcasting test: 10d6 = 3 Hits, 3 Miss

Deflection: +3 to defend against ranged physical attacks

Resist Drain (3S): 13d6 = 3 Hits, 5 Miss (No Damage)

Sniper’s Attack Roll (Iceblade): 11d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss

Iceblade’s modified Reaction: 9d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (No Net Hits)

Sniper’s Attack Roll (Iceblade): 11d6 = 4 Hits, 0 Miss

Iceblade’s modified Reaction: 9d6 = 4 Hits, 2 Miss (No Net Hits)

Kill Team 2’s Attack Roll (Iceblade): 11d6 = 2 Hits, 1 Miss

Iceblade’s modified Reaction: 9d6 = 2 Hits, 1 Miss (No Net Hits)

Making my way to cover was a good plan. Improving my defenses was a better one. Sword in hand, I cast the deflection spell. Eating a -2 penalty to my attacks and other such things was worth it if it kept me from eating a bullet to the face.

And it was just in time, too. The sniper moved faster than Twilight, obviously. Two shots lashed out at me, both missing by the thinnest of margins. As in, one actually got close enough that I could feel it passing.

I was extra lucky, it seemed, because another of the kill team burst out of the container roughly in front of me, and unleashed a long burst of six rounds at me. Luckily, the wreck of the car ate most of them, because I heard the distinctive crack of Ex-Ex ammo, and I did not want to try tanking those hits.

Kill Team 7’s attack roll (Iceblade): 11d6 = 3 Hits, 3 Miss

Iceblade’s modified Reaction: 11d6 4 Hits, 2 Miss (No Net Hits)

Lieutenant’s attack roll (Iceblade): 11d6 = 4 Hits, 1 Miss

Iceblade’s modified Reaction: 9d6 = 3 Hits, 3 Miss (1 Net Hit)

Short, Narrow Burst: 12P, -2 AP

Iceblade’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (9P Damage) (Knocked down)

Iceblade: 9/10 Physical Condition Monitor

Two more of the kill team opened up, and by this point I knew that they were targeting me, directly. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe they’d been told I was a magician, and figured me for the priority target. Either way, I was feeling the hate. The one from the right had most of the car blocking his attack, as he unleashed a six-shot burst at me, eating into the wreck, but the one I figured to be in charge, given that he had slightly better looking gear, and a different weapon than the others, caught me center mass with a three-round burst, and my whole world was pain as I crumpled to the ground. The only good thing about that was that I was out of the line of fire.

Berzerker’s Attack Roll (Area): 11d6 = 7 Hits, 0 Miss

Scatter: 3d6 – 14 (2 x Net hits) = 0 meters

Scatter Direction: 1d6 = 3

Base Damage: 8P(fire), -1/meter, -half AP

Kill Team 2’s Damage Resistance (7P Fire): 10d6 = 3 Hits, 0 Miss (4P Fire) (On fire) (Knocked down)

Kill Team 3’s Damage Resistance (6P Fire): 10d6 = 4 Hits, 2 Miss (2P Fire) (On fire)

Kill Team 4’s Damage Resistance (8P Fire): 10d6 = 2 Hits, 2 Miss (6P Fire) (On fire) (Knocked down)

Kill Team 5’s Damage Resistance (7P Fire): 10d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (4P Fire) (On fire) (Knocked down)

Berzerker’s Attack Roll (Area): 11d6 = 5 Hits, 1 Miss

Airburst Grenade Scatter: 2d6 – 10 (2 x Net hits) = 0 meters

Base Damage: 8P(fire), -1/meter, -half AP

Lieutenant’s Damage Resistance (8P Fire): 10d6 = 4 Hits, 0 Miss (4P Fire) (On fire) (Knocked down)

Kill Team 1’s Damage Resistance (8P Fire): 10d6 = 4 Hits, 1 Miss (4P Fire) (On fire) (Knocked down)

Shadowgirl’s attack roll (Kill Team 6): 12d6 = 7 Hits, 2 Miss

Kill Team 6’s Modified Reaction: 7d6 = 1 Hit, 1 Miss (6 Net Hits)

Semi-Auto: 11P, -5 AP

Kill Team 6’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 2 Hits, 3 Miss (9P Damage) (Knocked Down)

Shadowgirl’s attack roll (Kill Team 6): 12d6 = 6 Hits, 2 Miss

Kill Team 6’s Modified Reaction: 7d6 = 4 Hit, 0 Miss (2 Net Hits)

Semi-Auto: 7P, -5 AP

Kill Team 6’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 2 Hits, 1 Miss (5P Damage)

Kill Team 6: 14/10P (Dead)

Kill Team 1 gets up.

Kill Team 4 gets up.

Kill Team 8’s attack roll (Shadowgirl): 11d6 = 3 Hits, 1 Miss

Shadowgirl’s Reaction: 8d6 = 4 Hits, 0 Miss (No Net Hits)

Dimly, I heard a pair of thunks as Berzerker fired her weapon. For the first time, I realized that she had decided not to go with the machine gun on the hip arm, or the cannon slung over her back but instead a grenade launcher. Looking over to the side, I saw explosions of fire and smoke. Apparently, she’d decided that white phosphorus was the party favor of the hour, and from the way the kill team members were screaming, the party favors weren’t exactly to their liking. Sucked to be them.

Then, Shadowgirl was at my side, aiming her pistol over the hood of the wrecked car I was leaning against. Two shots fired, and I heard a cry in the distance. “How bad are you hit, boss?”

I was about to answer, before a six-shot burst from the left tore across space, but they managed to miss Shadowgirl. Looking up at her, I grinned, weakly, “Well, I’m not dead yet, but I don’t think I’ll be much good in this fight.”

Sexkitten’s Attack roll (Kill Team 9): 14d6 = 5 Hits, 1 Miss

Kill Team 9’s modified Reaction: 7d6 = 0 Hits, 3 Miss (5 Net Hits)

Short, Narrow Burst: 12P, -5 AP

Kill Team 9’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 2 Hits, 2 Miss (10P Damage)

Kill Team 9: 10/10 Physical Monitor (Dying)

Sexkitten’s Attack roll (Kill Team 8): 14d6 = 5 Hits, 3 Miss

Kill Team 8’s modified Reaction: 7d6 = 3 Hits, 2 Miss (2 Net Hits)

Short, Narrow Burst: 9P, -5 AP

Kill Team 8’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 6 Hits, 0 Miss (3P Damage)

Kill Team 8: 3/10 Physical Monitor

Babydoll’s Drone Attack Roll (Kill Team 8): 8d6 = 2 Hits, 4 Miss

Kill Team 8’s modified reaction: -1d6 (No Defense) (2 Net Hits)

Full, Wide Burst: -9 Defense, 9P, -2 AP

Kill Team 8’s Damage Resistance: 14d6 = 5 Hits, 6 Miss (4P Damage) (Knocked Down)

Kill Team 8: 7/10 Physical Monitor

Babydoll’s Attack roll (Sniper): 9d6 = 5 Hits, 0 Miss

Sniper’s modified Reaction: 7d6 = 0 Hits, 1 Miss (5 Net Hits)

Semi-Auto: 15P, -5 AP

Sniper’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 4 Hits, 2 Miss (11P damage)

Sniper: 11/10 Physical Monitor (Dying)

Babydoll’s Attack roll (Kill Team 7): 9d6 = 4 Hits, 1 Miss

Kill Team 7’s modified Reaction: 7d6 = 1 Hits, 2 Miss (4 Net Hits)

Semi-Auto: 14P, -5 AP

Kill Team 7’s Damage Resistance: 11d6 = 2 Hits, 3 Miss (12P damage)

Kill Team 7: 12/10 Physical Monitor (Dying)

Kill Team 3’s Attack Roll (Berzerker): 11d6 = 3 Hits, 3 Miss

Berzerker’s Reaction: 10d6 = 5 Hits, 1 Miss (No Net Hits)

Sexkitten’s weapon barked out two quick bursts. “Got one, other’s still up! Focus on taking down the ones who aren’t on fire first!” I didn’t see it, but she must have dropped one of the shooters.

One of Babydoll’s drones, the one loaded with a machine gun, turned to the shooter Sexkitten hadn’t dropped, and sent ten rounds their way in a wide arc. Not quite the spray and pray of suppressing fire, but wide bursts were a good way to ensure slippery types got tagged with something, at the very least. And when you weren’t dealing with spirits or dragons, it could be a good call.

The second drone unleashed two roars that were just this side of doing hearing damage. That was the one that was loaded with a freaking cannon. Which meant that someone was having a very bad day. “Sniper down. One of the gunmen down. One gunman down, but not out.”

Of course, the other side wasn’t going to stop just because a few of their guys had been reduced to a red paste. One of the men charged out of the smoke to the right, and turned his gun on Berzerker. But, once more, my pet showed just how hard she was to take down in a fight, as the bullets flew past her.