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Snapshots

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Aria

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« Reply #15 on: <04-30-12/1232:21> »
Snapshot 4

[Tuesday June 14th, 2072; Sintec Facility, Downtown Seattle]

Silk spun round as Bale fell and time seemed to dilate.  With calm determination she levelled her Scorpion at the drone that had killed him and fired.  Normally the tiny calibre rounds would have been deflected but in this case they had been replaced by tungsten penetrators that easily found the ammo drum of the machine gun and cooked off what remained of its supply.  Molten shards of weapon went whickering through the overhead ductwork.

Miraculously Bale struggled to his feet and waved a feeble all clear down at them but it was evident that he would now be as much of a hindrance to their escape as the recumbent test subjects around the room.
With precious time slipping away Requiem drew his customised hand cannons, vicious matte black Guardians, and launched himself into the centre of the remaining guards.  The gyros on his wrists stabilised the weapons as they danced a brutal weave of fire through the last defenders.

Silence momentarily fell apart from the pinging of hot metal above them and the breathless panting of the two remaining techs who were scrabbling out from behind the pods they had been cowering behind and were making for an adjoining room.  With a silent snarl Silk leapt, swung off an overhead duct and with a deflection from a wall mounted cylinder, landed between them and the door.  She mentally flipped the ruthenium coating on her armour and she became a figure of darkness, the coating seeming to absorb the light, apart that is from the feral glow of eyes in the faceplate of the helmet she wore.

The techs froze and then began to back away with their arms held clear of their bodies, only to bump into the armoured form of Requiem who had similarly appeared like a spectre behind them.  With undignified whimpers they slipped to the floor with their hands cradled protectively around their heads.

With containment temporarily in hand Silk approached one of the workstations and connecting her link, sent Herne into the system to dredge up all the information on their targets.  A bleak tally was projected into Silk’s mind’s eye as the agent rifled the corp’s hardline system.  It would seem that the test subjects in this room were the only ones here left alive of the original nine who had been taken.

While a meaningless stream of medical data filled the data files Silk gazed sorrowfully into one of the sensory pods at the victim strapped down inside.  The face of the young man was set in a ghastly rictus that was painful to look at.

“We can’t just drag them out, who knows what will happen to them…”  She pushed her gun into the temple of the older tech kneeling in an expanding pool  “Wake them up now, don’t and you die.”  The voice mask made her voice deeper, more threatening, but probably nothing compared to the looming barrel.

“I, I can’t…they are deeply immersed, the shock could kill them…”

“You are already killing them!  We walk out with them now or you never walk out again.”

In hindsight this would probably sound melodramatic and over the top, but then Silk hadn’t brushed up on intimidation techniques and she didn’t have time for a more subtle argument.  The gun was doing most of the talking for the quivering wageslave anyway.  With a little bit of rough assistance from Requiem he made it to his feet and approached a central bank of computer equipment.  What Silk vaguely recognised as brainwave maps slowly changed as he fiddled with the AR controls.  In the pods they began to stir and dimly heard cries of distress filtered into the room.

“And turn the jamming off!”

Another flurry of commands and suddenly the tactical feeds blazed back into being as the severed wifi links re-enabled.  Riptide’s voice immediately came across the comm. 

<<We have company.  Looks like a tactical team arriving at the front.  They haven’t flagged this with KE so I guess they intend to deal with us themselves.  I estimate we have five more minutes before they begin the assault>>
<<Ok.  We knew the chances of making it look like we were never here were slim indeed.  Judging by the feeds they don’t have enough people to sweep the building thoroughly yet so we will try and divert around them and still go with exit plan A.  Get ready with those distractions.  There is still a spider in here with us somewhere, we need to take out his eyes otherwise they will lead them straight to us>>

<<With the jamming off this system is mine!  Attach the wifi bridge to a socket and I’ll flash this virus through it, should give us time while they reboot>>

Silk did as she was bid whilst Requiem and the limping Bale began to help the woozy victims out of their pods.

***
They staggered through the corridor on the floor below the lab, Requiem leading and the other three supporting the five test subjects.  On cue the air was suddenly sucked backwards towards the impromptu hole in the ceiling they had just descended through.  The white phosphorous would be spreading in an incandescent sheet across the lab, the automatic fire suppression systems would only spread the stuff around further.  It would burn out any forensic evidence and hopefully destroy any data the corp had gathered so far.

They were hampered by the general condition, or lack of, of their targets who were weak and disorientated.   Silk, who was barely able to get Emma to stand, looked worriedly at the girl, her condition was deteriorating rapidly and her breathing was coming in ragged gasps.  They had hesitated to subject them to further chemicals but it looked like stims might be their only option.

Opium’s voice sounded in their ears  <<The tac team obviously know about the fire, they are proceeding more cautiously and I would say they don’t yet know where you are.  I am ready to neutralise their command vehicle when you are ready>>

Riptide’s response was decidedly less reserved <<Suckers are using last year’s encryption.  I’ve broken in and I’ll tweak their tacnet to lead them on a wild dance.  Once they split up I might even be able to get them to shoot each other!>>

Things were becoming ridiculously tight but Silk was still confident that they would make it out, the trick would be doing it without further harm coming to the innocents with them.  Breaching the lift shaft ahead they prepared to descend to the parking garage below.  The lifts themselves would have been fried by Riptide’s virus so they provided a handy escape route.  Whilst she anticipated that the onsite spider would be trying to regain control of the system the virus was virulent enough to resist attempts to eradicate it, which, coupled with the fire above should buy them some time.

***
Silk eased herself through the impossibly small gap in the lift doors.  The car park seemed to be deserted for now with no sign of their hunters.  This grace period couldn’t last much longer before they called in significant reinforcements.  Bale was struggling even further after using his power to help stabilise their charges down the precarious climb and Silk was concerned that he was hiding the extent of his injuries from them.

The corp motor pool was as expected, and stashed between them were the two Rovers they had arranged to be delivered this morning.  They responded to the open commands and the runners gratefully bundled in with their charges in tow.

<<We are set, take out the command vehicle now>>
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Aria

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« Reply #16 on: <04-30-12/1233:03> »
I'm trying not to go overboard with this one...if anyone thinks I need a sanity check then let me know :)

More to come soon!
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redwolf

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« Reply #17 on: <05-03-12/0224:12> »
no'p  your good keep it going
« Last Edit: <05-04-12/0230:45> by redwolf »
yes i'm red and it's not blood, and no i'm no comy i'm just red, so are you going for that pis' or going away!!!

Angelone

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« Reply #18 on: <05-05-12/1921:49> »
The links do indeed work now. Good writing and good room clearing tactics as well. I don't check in as often as I should but good work.
REJOICE! For bad things are about to happen.
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Aria

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« Reply #19 on: <05-11-12/0818:32> »
Snapshot 5

[Tuesday June 14th, 2072; Under the Sintec Facility, Downtown Seattle]

Silk watched the tactical feed that indicated one of Opium’s aerial drones circling in towards the corpsec team’s Citymaster.  A blinking light indicated the launch of the stick-on jammer that spiralled down and attached itself to the vehicle’s roof.  Following pre-programmed instructions two micro drones detached themselves from the cradle they had been carried down in and headed for the wheel arches.  The detonations would be barely audible from outside but hopefully the damage to the vehicle axels would prevent that vehicle at least from giving chase.

The Rovers they were in accelerated smoothly towards the exit ramp.  If Riptide’s tinkering had done its work properly the barrier should have retracted, if not this was going to be a very short trip.  Behind them two of the motor pool whirred into life as Riptide overrode their dog brains and programmed in decoy routes that would help to mask the runner’s escape.

Silk silently cursed to herself as they sped up the ramp.  She prided herself and her team on being in and out of run with nobody being any the wiser.  In this case the necessity of rescuing the test subjects meant that was impossible, but they were still leaving too much evidence of their presence behind them.  They had prepped as much as possible to ensure anything they left behind wouldn’t lead directly back to them but there was always the chance of a slip up…and Sintec would be none too pleased with the removal of their prizes.

The Rover’s engines echoed eerily in the concrete confines of the parking garage, coupled with the squeal of the overlarge tyres as they fought for purchase against Requiem’s not so gentle driving style.  As they made the final approach to the exit ramp Silk swore as Emma struck her in the side of the head, that quickly turned to concern as the girl began to writhe

“She’s fitting, damn, this medkit isn’t equipped to deal with the sort of abuse these people have been put through”

The other two captives looked at her in mute appeal.  They still didn’t seem capable of coherent speech but she was fairly certain she understood their meaning.

“Stop the car, we need to get her stable before we head out.  I know it’s a risk but I’m not prepared to leave her here to die.”

Requiem slung the car over to the side of the ramp and, muttering to himself, unlimbered his assault rifle and propped it on the window “Just in case the fraggers come down here…”

Bale’s concerned tones came over the comm from the Rover ahead of them

<<What’s the hold up?>>

<<One of the packages is in distress, administering aid, won’t be long…I hope>>
***

With rudimentary medical aid offered, about the best that could be achieved in the back of a vehicle with a portable medkit, Silk held Emma tight to stop her hurting herself.  She felt tears of frustration in the corners of her eyes and she was glad of the inhuman helmet masking her from her fellow runners and the people they had come here to extract.

The pattern was becoming frayed and Silk felt more and more as if they were losing control of the situation.  This was hardly helped by the sudden proliferation of red AROs across the tactical display

<<They’ve found you. Get out now>> 

Opium’s worried communication was drowned out by Requiem’s more succinct “Shit!”

The delay with helping Emma had clearly given the corp tac team sufficient time to work out that the runners were still in the building. The feed coming in from Opium indicated a squad making its way around the outside of the building towards the garage exit whilst another team leapfrogged out of the service exit from inside.  They were calm and professional, moving with purpose towards the stalled runners.

<<I’m releasing the cats. Engaging in 5. Switch to secondary frequencies>> 

Opium’s terrifying cat drones, the size and ferocity of small tigers, would be bounding towards the corpers outside.  With their ruthenium coatings coupled with the projected howls they hopefully wouldn’t realise what hit them.  That just left the ones inside the garage to deal with…

***

Fire lanced towards the runners from the opposing team sheltering in the parked cars some twenty meters or so into the garage.  The whickering thuds of stray rounds suggested that they were using armour penetrators which didn’t bode well at all for Silk and her crew.  Whilst the Rovers they were in had a modicum of armour they hadn’t been subjected to the rigorous customisation that the team would normally have performed on their vehicles.

Emma’s struggles had subsided but now they had a new difficulty as repeated shots struck the rear wheels, shredding even the runflat tyres that would have withstood more conventional rounds.  In desperation the runners had released thermal smoke grenades to mask their retreat.

“Out, get out now, follow him towards the ramp”  Silk urged the bewildered test subjects as she staggered out with Emma, trying to support Emma as she did so.  Keeping the now riddled Rover between them and their opposition was only possible because of the tactical positioning mapped over her vision.  Ghostly AROs advised on the safest route out based on the current data.

Ahead of them Riptide and Bale were firing blindly over their heads towards the corpers in a vain attempt to provide them some additional cover.  The staccato whisper of silenced fire echoed strangely in the underground space.

Suddenly Emma became a dead weight against Silk’s side and then collapsed forwards. Silk stumbled down beside her only to feel a searing heat across her shoulder and a haze come across her vision.  The shock of the impact didn’t register as pain and looking down she could see where the round her cored cleanly through her upper torso.  This was hopeless, she relied on mobility and hampered by their charges she was a sitting target.  Looking down she could see that Emma’s troubles were over and she felt a pang of regret that she had been unable to save her…the other emotions would come later when the adrenalin wasn’t driving her on.

Bale took charge of the situation, his words overriding the confusion running through the team

<<We can’t do this by running, we have to take the fight back to them before they take out the packages.  They aren’t equipped to deal with this combat and if we try to protect them directly they will get us all killed!>>

<<On it, Cobalt is inbound>>

The smoke swirled as a vaguely glimpsed shape sprang over Silk, it’s rear claws striking sparks from the roof of the stricken Rover as it launched forwards.  The mounted high velocity rifle on its back shrieked in a rising crescendo with the dreadful howl projected from speakers in its maw.  Silk engaged her chameleon suit once more, noting briefly the damage to the sensors and she leapt effortlessly upwards to cling like a gecko to an overhead beam.  She nearly plunged back to the ground as her injured shoulder grated and only her innate sense of her body allowed her to cling to the metal.

Below her Requiem’s cloaked form charged back down the ramp with his Guardians blazing in a weird double flamed image, the muzzle flashes reflected in his suit.  A round appeared from nowhere through the smoke and struck his leg and his biomonitor feed in Silk’s vision spiked an alarming amount.  Despite that his wires drove him on, ignoring the injury…
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Aria

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« Reply #20 on: <05-22-12/0752:24> »
Snapshot 6

[Tuesday June 14th, 2072; Under the Sintec Facility, Downtown Seattle]


The quiet was shattered by a sudden grinding and then crash as a rent wing mirror finally gave up its fight against gravity and crashed down on the still form of one of the corpsec team.  Cobalt’s high velocity rifle spun slowly to a stop, the barrels glowing a dim red against the darkness of the chameleon cloaked form. 

Bale’s voice came weakly across the comm

<<Sound off, who’s still here?>>

<<Still alive, barely>> Requiem

<<Yes, I’m still here>> Silk replied

<<Now let’s get the frag out>> Riptide

<<Amen!  Sounds like they’ve finally realised we’re too much to handle.  A call went out to Knight Errant and they are inbound.  We do not want to tangle with them!  I’m recalling my drones and bugging out, see you at the rendezvous>>

Silk struggled out from behind the crumbling car that had been sheltering her, favouring her shoulder and inwardly wincing at the sticky feeling of blood that was restricting her movements.  Her mind instinctively catalogued her surroundings, the ruined bodies and the traces of the fight in the smells of cordite and the streaks left in concrete and vehicles from stray rounds.  Her chrono and senses told her that the fight had lasted a brutal twenty seconds, no more, it was the strange effect of ‘combat time’ that made it feel so much longer.

<<Are our charges ok?  We lost Emma, did the others make it?>>

<<For now.  Sam is injured but he’ll live.  You take the decoy Rover.  We’ll jam your signal through the link and we can scrub the vehicle for tags once we are a distance away, or just ditch it>>

So they had rescued four of the nine, and the cost was higher still considering the damage these bastards did to the tribe when they came hunting.  The loss of a research lab would barely dent Sintec’s bottom line but hopefully liberating these people would slow whatever their foul research hoped to achieve.  There was even a chance that they had their data backed up on site, the fire above them might eat through their servers and cause significant harm.

***

About a mile from the rendezvous Silk and Requiem pulled over.  As far as they could tell they had avoided pursuit for now but given they were using one of Sintec’s motor pool it seemed prudent to change vehicles now rather than spend the time trying to clean it for digital tags.  It wouldn’t take long for Knight Errant to track their route through the gridguide cams if they wanted to, it depended on how much Sintec wanted to involve them, so this underpass offered them a momentary haven.

Levering herself gingerly out of the passenger seat Silk climbed down.  She lifted the helmet away from her head, wiping the sweaty strands of hair off her face and drying any traces of tears.  Requiem was limping badly and the people they had liberated weren’t in much better shape.

Peeling back the blood soaked armour it took all of Silk’s willpower to stop herself crying out.  Even then a whimper escaped her as the medpatch was stuck on just over the reddened flesh around the exit wound.  At least the round had gone through cleanly and she still seemed to have some use of her arm. She had been shot a couple of times before and it wasn’t something that she particularly wanted to repeat.  Usually the work that they did was more successful and everyone walked away unscathed.

While first aid was applied to all their wounds a signal was sent out to their backup vehicle; a basic Americar that had been tasked with circling the run site on a random route waiting for their call.  The thrum of its ethanol engine was very welcome and the four of them climbed in onto the plastic sheets thoughtfully spread across the interior to catch any rogue forensic evidence.

***

As they pulled up beside Opium’s Hermes van Silk took particular note of the feed from the invisible gasbag drone hovering above them.  It provided a reassuring degree of aerial surveillance for a significant distance around them, and barring milspec grade sensors, should be more or less undetectable.  She had been taught not to rely on it, but it felt good to have the tactical grid up again.  Tonight’s activities were proof enough that it sometimes was unavailable and there was always the risk of it being compromised as Riptide had done to their opponents.   

The team’s Roadmaster was also there and this would make a more convenient meeting place for the team and the people they had rescued.  Opium would join them via AR feed as usual; the illusive hacker could be the other side of the world for all that Silk knew. She did know that her skills and the drones she manipulated with them had saved their collective arses tonight.

Wearily the runners gathered in the back of the truck, gratefully slumping into the comfortable seats installed for just that purpose. 

Bale stood as they clambered on board and helped them in one by one.  He gruffly indicated that Silk should peel the remainder of her armour off, and sitting in her underwear she withstood the numb stares of the people they had liberated.  Requiem received similar treatment, gingerly removing his armour and the body glove under it.  Silk watched once more in amazement as Bale worked his magic, the wounds in Requiem’s leg visibly scarring over under the gentle blue light that emanated from Bale’s palms.

By the time he was finished he was staggering from exhaustion but the worst of their injuries where nothing more than painful memories.  That wasn’t to say they weren’t hurting, if another significant threat came after them now they would probably just stare at it as it ripped through them.

***

After the brief rest that was all Bale would allow them he addressed their charges

“Sam, Casie, John, David…” the bewildered quartet just nodded mutely  “We’re going to take you back to Prospero now.  The tribe had to move on after the attack and they’ve relocated to the south so don’t worry if you don’t recognise where you’re going.  You’re safe now with us.  I’m Bale, this is Silk, Requiem and Riptide in the front.  Opium’s out there somewhere” he gestured vaguely “keeping an eye on us all.  There will be time for questions later, just take it easy now and we’ll get you home.  If there’s anything you need let one of us know…”
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Aria

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« Reply #21 on: <05-22-12/0754:06> »
Another installment...things are winding down, or are they?!?

For those of you taking the time to read this would you be interested in some of the other runner's perspectives?

I'm also considering putting up some prequel stuff that explains a bit more about Balefire's history if that might be of interest?

Lemme know!
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Raventrickster

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« Reply #22 on: <05-22-12/1757:14> »
Honestly it's been really interesting writing so far and while I've been enjoying Silk's perspective, I really just want to read more of your work.  The team seems like a good group of pros and it's interesting to see them work.

Aria

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« Reply #23 on: <05-22-12/1802:26> »
Thanks :)

I'm much more mirrorshades than mohawks and my characters have always leant towards the 'pro' angle...not many former gangers...quite a few come from an 'ordinary' background because i've always liked that aspect
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Aria

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« Reply #24 on: <08-01-12/0800:06> »
Snapshot 7

[Tuesday June 14th, 2072; Meridian Ave E - Heading South, Seattle]
Requiem watched Bale as he healed the group, marvelling again at the ease with which the magic sorted their ills.  Of course magic had been known to cause them too and whilst he wasn’t one of those who wished it had never come back, he was a bloody elf after all, he could have done without it.
He looked briefly over at Silk and resisted the impulse to comfort her.  The sight of blood on her lithe body made him feel uncomfortable and he regretted again that their relationship had changed the dynamic between them.  He was old enough to be her father, he certainly felt old enough right now, but outwardly his heritage meant that she hadn’t seen him that way and he had been grateful for the attention.
He pushed the thoughts aside.  He was a professional and he would not let things cloud his judgement.  Time to focus on the present and the completion of this run.  The diagnostics floating across his vision told him that his ‘ware was in working order, guns were reloaded and ready to go, all in all things were smoother than might be expected given the opposition they had faced.
***
Riptide finished his sweep of the dense web of signals surrounding them and was satisfied that there was nothing out of the ordinary out there.  The grid was thinning out as they approached the barrens and the affluent downtown areas were left behind.  Leaving an agent monitoring signal traffic he mentally waved off the AR images and rubbed his tired eyes.
There was no denying the fact that they had been lucky this evening.  The system had detected his meddling far faster than he might have expected and there were clearly bigger backers to Sintec than their initial research had suggested.  There had always been that risk in the back of his mind, it would have been unusual for such a relatively small enterprise to have the balls to snatch technos of the street; that was usually the hallmark of the megas. 
But luck only got you so far and their training had enabled them to get out moderately unscathed.  As a test of their abilities as a team this had pushed them and they would be stronger for it.
***
Bale looked over his charges with a proprietary air.  They had been lucky to get through this one intact and he was glad of the training they had put in beforehand that had enabled them to work like a well-oiled team.  There were still areas open to improvement, and there always would be, but he was satisfied that no major flaws were evident.
He felt Sirene’s satisfied approval in the back of his mind and not for the first time wondered at her influence over him and, by extension, his team.  He didn’t regret the pact that he had made with the spirit as it gave them one more edge over the opposition.  Given the stakes that they would be playing for, any edge could make the difference.  She had been right about getting Balefire back together, it offered them the best chance of flushing out his brother’s killer and he’d be damned if he would let that one rest.
He winced as Silk tightened the last of the bandages across his abdomen.  Whilst normally he might have been expected to comment on everyone’s state of relative undress he was just too damn tired.  He had given up on the magical healing for now; he needed a long rest if he wasn’t going to pass out from drain.
He assessed the reactions of the people they had liberated but they seemed to be almost catatonic.  Whatever those bastards at Sintec had been doing it would take more than their rescue to put things right.  But he was no psychologist and he would be just as glad to get them off his hands and back to their tribe.  Pro bono work would be good for their rep but after this little fracas they would need to lay low for a while and that would put a pinch on their resources.
Opium’s normally bouncy voice came across the comm
<<Time to change rides if we are heading into the barrens.  I’ve got you lined up with a couple of bone shakers but they will be less conspicuous than the Roadmaster.>>
<<Thanks O. We’re ready to move out when you are.  I’ll be glad to be shot of this run.>>
Swinging himself out of the bucket seat he grabbed the stirrup hanging from the ceiling and addressed the others in his best ‘calm in the face of adversity’ voice.
“Ok, we’re ready to switch vehicles and then it’s a short hop to where the tribe have set themselves up.  You’ll be safe once you are back with them, they won’t let those corporate bastards close again.  We’ve taken all the precautions we can to move undetected but the last stretch will be underground I’m afraid which might be a bit rough going.  It’s the best way to shake any last aerial surveillance they might have managed to slip past our sensor watch.”
***
Opium watched through her sensors as the runners piled out of the Roadmaster and made their way over to the two old-model land rovers parked on the forecourt of an abandoned garage.  Her diminutive form wilted back against the smart padding of her cocoon and she finally began to allow herself to think this might just end well.
They had thrown considerable resources at this run and it had only just been enough.  Her family would have scoffed at her for her materialism but this was about more than that, this was about the opportunity to do something.  She briefly missed the physical camaraderie of the clan but recognised that she wasn’t quite ready to reveal herself to Silk and the others just yet.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them, just it was something that would only complicate things and she preferred them to see her skill with her drones rather than her size and the lurking Disney image that seemed to be associated with her kind.
The internal sensors showed the previously flagging runners gather themselves and prepare for the last stage of this endeavour.  They should be able to get the technos back to their tribe safely, subject to the vagaries of travel in the barrens, and she didn’t anticipate any further entanglements with Sintec.  The combination of the virulent programs that Riptide had seeded through their system and her efforts at blocking external surveillance should put them in the clear.
***
Silk sat in the back of the bumping vehicle and let the back wash of air ruffle her hair and blow the last vestiges of sweat and fear away.  She cradled the smartgun in her lap and ranged her vision across their back trail looking for any sign of pursuit.  Her augmented senses absorbed the patterns in the ash filled air, in the derelict buildings and the withered trees.  There was an ethereal beauty to the Puyallup barrens that wasn’t visible in the desperation of the Redmond equivalent.
About a mile from their final target they pulled over and Silk helped Casie down from the truck, gently supporting her arm as she wobbled.  “Nearly there” she whispered, as much to herself as to the shocked girl she was guiding.
Leading the way into an abandoned mall building she followed the AR map projected in front of her.  This place had once been a bustling hub of rampant commerce until the ash flows had swept it all away.  Inside there was the usual array of gang graffiti but little else that might indicate the place was occupied.  Once into the basement area she led them to the storm drain that would eventually take them to the tribe that eagerly awaited them.
***
Silk smiled as they were all swept up in the rapturous greeting.  She let the energy of the tribe wash over her, enjoying the feel of peace that came with it.  She recognised the tinge of sadness too, these people had suffered recently and nothing more than time would make that okay.
Briefly she considered that their escape might have been too easy but she also knew that the precautions they had taken were by some of the best that she had ever worked with, perhaps even better than the original Balefire team.  There was nothing they could do about it now, either Sintec would come after them for the damage they had dealt or they wouldn’t.  They would just have to deal with it as it came.  For now it was time to rest and lie low and this seemed as good a place as any.
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Aria

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« Reply #25 on: <08-01-12/0801:54> »
And so that rounds off snapshots for now...I will try to get a full version up on Google docs and link it at the top for anyone who wants to read it complete.

I've also renamed it 'Freedom' and it will be one section of fiction about the Balefire team.  A prequel is in the works and I have more ideas lined up.

Hope you've enjoyed it so far!
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