Two nights later, we were ready.

  For my part, I pre-cast my Increase Reflexes spell, sustaining it through my focus. That would let me move at speeds comparable to a chromed-out street samurai. Then, I decided to up the ante, since we were going with guns instead of blades on this one. A Deflection spell would help protect me from gunshots, allowing Berzerker and I to be a bit more offensively-minded. Holding the spell would give me a penalty on my attacks and other such things, of course, but the trade was worth it.

  As planned, Babydoll drove through the area a couple hours early, dropping off Shadowgirl so she could get in position, before finding a convenient parking lot to keep her van in, temporarily. Twilight was in the van with her, slipping into the external network, just as planned. The hacked account she’d given herself still hadn’t been noticed, so we were golden on that account. The rest of us were in Berzerker’s van, ready for our part in things.

  Shadowgirl: In position.

  Twilight: Ready. I can override the security systems as soon as the attack begins.

  Babydoll: Drone on overwatch doesn’t see any problems.

  Iceblade: Got it. Calling in the distraction now.

  I switched from the team chat to make the call. The Reality Hackers were ready and waiting. A bit of digital mayhem, and whatever they could steal from the site? Maybe a chance to crack a spider’s head? Always good times, in their books. I switched back to the team chat.

  Iceblade: Made the call.

  Twilight: I see them. Dozen personas just jumped into the node. Haven’t seen me. Spider is moving to intercept, with some low-level IC.

  Iceblade: We good to go?

  Twilight: Yes. Sensors are down throughout the building. Most of the door locks have fused shut, thanks to a power surge. Four guards caught in trap. Two in break room, two in lower levels, remaining six in motion, two near entrance, others moving that way. Both spiders isolated to their security room. All teams go.

  Berzerker didn’t need to be told twice. She touched the gas, and the van, which had been parked a couple blocks from the building, started forward, moving at normal speeds until she was close to the gate, when she floored it. Fortunately, at this time of night there wasn’t much traffic. No one managed to get in our way, so the first bit of resistance we found was the gate.

  As expected, the van crashed through with ease, even though we were barely going 48 kph, or a sedate 30 mph, that was still more than enough to break through the chain link fence and the lock holding it together. Couldn’t even feel it inside the van, and probably didn’t even scratch the paint. Building it like a tank was always a good call.

  There was no guard outside the building. Why would there be, on a quiet night like this? Made it easy for us, though. The three of us piled out of the van in front of the door, weapons at the ready. Berzerker in the lead, with me right after, Sexkitten trailing behind. I saw the lights flicker as we burst through the door, evidence of the fun and games going on in the virtual landscape.

  The entrance to the building had a reception desk, but no receptionist at this time, obviously. Two hallways leading to the right and left. I knew from studying the blueprints that we needed the left-hand hallway, which would take us to the Accounting office, and away from the stairs to the second floor, which Shadowgirl would be using.

  “Hey, you! Stop right there!” “Intruders at front door!”

  Naturally, the guards were not going to let us just waltz into the facility. One of the two in the entrance room called out, no doubt following some corporate security handbook on how to de-escalate a situation, while the other spoke into their commlink. Both started to raise their SMGs, but Sexkitten responded with a pair of focused bursts from her battle rifle, dropping both of them as the electric shocks from the bullets overwhelmed them.

  “Man, these Stick-n-Shock rounds are pretty good!” Sexkitten said, as she looked at the two crumpled forms.

  Berzerker moved to the hallway to the right, and called out, “Two more this way!” A quick burst down the hallway, and I heard the guard start cursing, as the current knocked him down to the ground. Not out, from the sound of it, but definitely hurting. Couldn’t get lucky all the time, I guess.

  Moving to the left, I saw two more guards who had just turned the corner, and were heading this way. A quick burst from my pistol had one of the guards on the ground, but not out. Light pistols weren’t known for doing terribly great damage, but one trick of the SnS ammo was that it did the same damage, no matter what kind of gun it came out of. And since the Sakura Fubuki was able to do burst fire while still being light and concealable, it was my favorite pistol for a mage character.

  And then things got hairy. The guards opened fire, obviously, those who had been put to the ground, but not taken out, rising to a kneeling firing position. Berzerker cursed as one of them managed to punch through her armor, if only a bit. I, however, got my world rocked thanks to the surprise magic assault wrecking my guts and throwing me to the ground. Only benefit was that it made the other guard miss me. “Mage!” I called out, letting others know about the danger.

  “I got this side handled, go help deal with the mage!” Berzerker called out as she placed two tight groups into the guard still standing in the right hallway. He went down, hard, and wasn’t saying anything, making me think that he was down for the count.

  Then, Sexkitten was by my side, her battle rifle barking as she put three rounds in the mage’s chest. Unfortunately for the mage, while the burst wasn’t enough to put him out completely, the current made him pull the trigger of the pistol in his hand, shooting himself in his very much unarmored foot as he fell to the ground. Sucked to be him.

  I coughed up a bit of blood as I moved to a kneeling position. Fuck, I’d forgotten how much getting hit by attacks hurt. MetaTech were going for realism, which meant all the sensations felt real. Getting your insides rearranged by a damaging spell hurt like hell, but at least it wasn’t as bad as the time I’d gotten half my face melted off with an acid attack in the Beta. Still, I put another round into the mage, just to make sure he wasn’t getting back up.

  I heard Berzerker pump out another three rounds, before she called out, “Clear!” Obviously, the last guard on her side of the hall had been put to sleep. Well, hopefully. We were trying not to kill anyone, of course, but it was entirely possible to overload someone with Stun damage to the point that they died.

  And then Sexkitten slammed another three rounds into the last guard still conscious. As he fell to the ground, clearly out for the count this time, she let out a long, slow breath. “Clear.” Then, her eyes turned to me. “You ok?”

  I grunted as I made my way to my feet. I let go of the Deflection spell I had been sustaining, so I could focus better through the pain. “Always hurts more when the bastards can fight back. Which is why I try not to give them the opportunity. But that’s for the after action. Let’s move.”

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