Blood Calls Blood


Chapter 1

	Ian Francis Steele Jr. stepped into Club Penumbra, removing his shades and
slipping them into a pocket on the inside of his long duster before nodding
slightly to the pair of orks bookending the door.  Returning the nod, the larger
of the two brothers, Harry, motioned slightly towards the back, speaking just
loud enough to be heard over the pulsing bass of the latest techno hit.

"Hey Steele, `da J you're lookin' for is in `da back, room seven."

	The handsome norm shifted his hands to pull back the lapels of his long coat,
showing the absence of his trademark pistols to Harry's brother Karl.  A faint
smile ghosting over his lips, he raised his voice over the racing beat, "Thanks
Harry... Trisha working tonight?"

	Karl chuckled at the man's words, settling back on his stool as his brother
answered the other man, "Yeah, but `dose flowa's ya' sent 'er didn' help much
Steele.  She still wants `ta know who `dat Sandy slitch is."

	Ian gave a melodramatic sigh, which cued chuckles from both of the ork
brothers, and moved past them into the club proper.  His dark blue eyes scanned
the writhing crowd, squinting slightly against the strobing lights before he
picked out Trisha, one of the attractive women behind the bar, serving up drinks
for those in the crowd not so interested in the dance floor.  When he was sure
he had caught the eye of the raven-haired woman, he winked broadly and flashed
her his trademark grin.  He blinked at the haughty head-toss he received in
return, and sighed again as he ran his fingers through his wavy black hair.  I
really have to do something about her... she's great and all, but she's way too
paranoid of threats to her "claim," something I don't know that I'm ready to be. 
He pushed Trisha out of his mind with some effort, slipping easily around the
dance-floor towards the back of the club, and moving past a bulky norm whose
lumpy skin told of dermal plating.  With a cautious nod, he made his way down
the hall to room seven.  He took a moment to straighten his collar, and rapped
once on the door.

	The voice from within was male, and simply commanded, "Enter."

	Ian took a deep breath, and opened the door, stepping in and closing the door
behind him as he glanced around.  Four men: a troll, a dwarf, and a pair of
norms, stood before a spartan desk, behind which a blocky man sat.  A pair of
equally well-built norm men stood behind him, Ares Alpha Combat Guns casually
cradled in their arms.  Ignoring the Johnson's apparent bullyboys, he studied
the others in the room as they returned the favor.  The troll looked to be of
Amerind descent, wearing what seemed to be a real leather jacket with eagle
feathers on the shoulders like paltrons.  His skin wasn't as rough as that of
many other trolls, and his tusks were somewhat less prominent, although still
easily visible.  While the troll's duties on this team were not necessarily
obvious at first glance, those of the dwarf were: the stocky man had a pair of
datajacks at his right temple and a deck slung from his shoulder, proclaiming
him a decker as surely as the datajack behind the ear of the thinner norm named
him the team's rigger.  The other norm was apparently the public relations for
the group, and perhaps the leader as well, his finely-tailored suit placing him
a cut above his team-mates, at least as far as attire was concerned.

	The Johnson was an interesting study in and of himself.  His heavy build showed
he wasn't a common wage-slave, while his clothing and manner almost shouted
corp.  Maybe he's corp-sec, thought Ian, it might fit. Frag... quit being so
paranoid, maybe the suit just likes to work out. His thoughts were interrupted
as Mr. J spoke again, his words slightly clipped, reinforcing Ian's guess at his
occupation.

"Welcome, Steele.  I am Mr. Johnson.  Thank you for your prompt arrival, Tower
said you would come through."  Josh Tower was one of Ian's friends, a well-known
fixer in the `plex, who had set him up with this job.  Without waiting for Ian
to answer, the Johnson continued, "These are the Hunters," he motioned to the
group before the desk, then to Ian himself, "and this is Steele.  He will be
your supplemental firepower for this job."  The Hunters all turned their eyes to
the newcomer for a moment, then back to the Johnson as Ian stepped up beside the
decker, Badman.  Albright, the well-dressed leader of the Hunters, and their
hermetic mage, nodded once before speaking.

"Very well, Mr. Johnson.  Now that everyone is here, would you mind laying out
the job you are offering us?"  Badman, Tire-iron (the rigger), and Wind's Cry
(the troll Eagle shaman) had been members of the Hunters long enough to know
they were usually better off if they kept quiet, and let the mage speak for the
group.

	The Johnson nodded once, leaning back in his chair as he started to outline the
basis of the run.  It was a basic data-steal from a stand-alone computer in a
compound within Seattle, with a bonus for retrieval of an "asset" from within
the installation as well.  Collateral damage to the facility was to be kept to a
minimum, but the method of entry was up to the runners.  Payment was generous,
edging on too-generous, a fact which caused a faint frown to flicker over
Tire-iron's face, evident worry at the reliability of the Johnson.  Ian watched
his new teammates as much as he did the Johnson, gauging their reactions
carefully.  After short negotiations, the Hunters apparently came to a decision. 
They didn't step back and discuss the run, a tribute to their professionalism,
but instead Albright simply said:

"We're in, providing our gunman friend here, or another of similar skills is
willing to accompany us."  At this both the mage and the Johnson turned their
gazes to Ian, who didn't say anything, but nodded his assent to the deal.

	The Johnson rubbed his hands together and nodded somewhat abruptly. 
"Excellent."  He held out one hand behind him, and one of the gunsels behind him
dug into his pocket, pulling out an optical chip and handing it to the J.  As
Mr. Johnson handed the chip to Badman, he spoke again, "This chip has
information on security at the site: mundane, mechanical, and magical.  It also
has information about the data you are to retrieve, and the extraction subject. 
Are there any questions?"  There were none, at least not before the Johnson
stood up, saying, "You have a drop where you can reach me, Albright, if you have
anything you need clarified.  There is a time limit on this operation however. 
I need the data within three days.  You may leave a message at the drop if you
accomplish the objective before that time."  The man waited a moment in case one
of the runners was simply being shy, then motioned to the two men behind him,
departing the room and leaving the Hunters and Steele still standing there.

	Badman inserted the chip into his deck and jacked in as soon as the door closed
behind the Johnson.  Tire-iron pulled a device from his pocket and starting to
run over the walls and desk while Steele, Wind's Cry, and Albright looked on.

After a moment Badman jacked out, and announced, "It's clear."

Tire-iron chimed in with, "We're clean too."

	Albright nodded once, then the Hunters turned to Steele, the mage spoke first. 
"I am Albright, the big man is Wind's Cry," he motioned to the troll as if he
hadn't described him well enough already.  His hand then indicated Tire-iron and
Badman, "This is Tire-iron, and our shorter friend is Badman.  I take it from
our employer's words that you are called Steele, correct?"

	Ian smiled faintly, nodding once as he looked over the Hunters again as they
were named, "I assume Badman and Tire-iron here have proclaimed the room and the
chip to be bug-free," he barely waited for the two men's nods to continue, "so
we may speak freely.  Yes, I'm called Steele.  I will also venture a guess that
you are without a firearms specialist at the moment, and most likely not
overjoyed about the addition of an unknown."

	The Hunters' nods spoke volumes, even without Albright's words.  "As imperfect
a situation as we are in, we will indubitably need backup firepower, which I
assume you will provide.  Now, shall we see to the specifics of the task at
hand?"  Badman didn't wait for Steele's assent, but jacked back into the deck,
bringing the information up onto the screen as the other runners formed a circle
about the diminutive decker.

	The compound was going to be a tough nut to crack, especially for a team with a
new and unknown member.  Although the target corp wasn't AAA, the security
suggested that it was most likely a front for a AAA corp, or at least a AA
corporation in its own right.  The installation was in a rather run-down
warehouse district along the Tacoma Docks, evidently trying to hide amongst the
shabby buildings about it.  The fenced-in lot containing the target housed an
impressive hermetic library and shamanic lodge, as well as a security tower, and
enough guards to staff a platoon.  There was also an unusually high level of
magical security, which was explained when the decker displayed the information
on the data packet and "asset."  The facility was a magical testing laboratory,
as the file was research into a new type of ward, and the asset was the chief
research mage.

	After a short discussion Tire-iron swapped pager numbers with Steele, assuring
a method of communication between the groups, while Badman printed out a
hardcopy of the compound plans for Steele.  The Hunters then left to start
gathering information on the target.  Ian folded the papers and slipped them
into an inside pocket of his long coat, and left the room a short while after
the Hunters, moving back into the main room of the Penumbra.

He made his way through the crowd to the bar, settling onto a stool in Trisha's
area.  As the woman went about her business, Ian took the opportunity to let his
eyes drift over her slim form, filled out in pleasing ways, all of which were
emphasized by the short black skirt and body-hugging white top she was wearing. 
Her black hair rolled down over her shoulders, just past her shoulder blades,
worn loose to contrast with her top.  She had brown eyes, fine features, and a
warm smile graced her lips as she worked.  When her eyes fell on Ian however,
the smile faded, not even returning at the man's tentative, "Hi babe...  how-"

	That was as far as he got before her lips tightened into a frown, her hair
drifting about her shoulders as she shook her head, "Not now, Steele.  If you
want to try and explain, you can come back when I'm not working."  With that,
she turned around, striding back down the bar to serve another club-goer.  With
a sigh, Ian stood up from his stool, shaking his head to himself as he moved
back towards the door.  He shrugged dramatically at the bouncer brothers'
questioning looks.  The three men spoke in perfect unison: "Women."

The trio shared a laugh as Steele pulled out his sunglasses, sliding them over
his eyes, and then exited the Penumbra, moving back to his Aurora bike and
deactivating the security before getting on and driving back to his apartment in
Interbay.

Chapter 2

	Ian spent the next day studying the compound's plans, thinking over the layout
of the site, until Badman paged him that evening.  He turned on his cellphone,
and called the number the decker left him.

"Steele, we got some info, gonna have a little pow-wow, ya wanna come down?"

	Ian nodded, although the dwarf couldn't see him, answering immediately, "Of
course.  I'll need directions." Badman supplied him with directions to a
warehouse up in Lynnwood.  Ian paused a moment, calculated times in his head,
and then replied, "Alright.  I'll be there in an hour."  Although it would
likely take him less than half that time to get there, the extra time would make
his own position less apparent.  The dwarf grumbled his assent, and Ian closed
the connection, switching his cellphone off again before gathering his gear.

	He attached paired Lamar quick-draw holsters to his thighs, the webbing at his
chest, and the small of his back, then a single concealable holster under his
left arm, and a short-bladed Cougar Fineblade combat knife at his left hip.  He
checked the clips in his three pairs of Predator pistols, assuring that there
was regular ammo in the first four and EX explosive ammo in the last two before
holstering the pistols.  He screwed a silencer onto the barrel of his seventh
Predator, checking the clip to assure that it was fitted to fire caseless ammo,
then slipped that pistol into his underarm holster.  Five fragmentation grenades
went into a satchel, along with five IR smoke grenades, two packets of C-12, and
four timers slipped into another pocket in the satchel.  Assorted other items
quickly made their way into the grenade-bag, and three minutes after he hung up
the phone, Ian Steele locked the door to his apartment behind him, slipped on
his low-light sunglasses, and flipped up the collar to his long coat as he
started down the stairs to his bike.

	Arriving at the warehouse after driving around the city to burn time, Ian was
slightly surprised to find only Tire-iron present from the Hunters, along with a
Bulldog Step-van.

	The thin norm jerked a finger at the back of the van, muttering, "Put the
rice-grinder in the back."  When Ian had pushed the bike up the ramp into the
back of the van, Tire-iron came back from the front with a strip of cloth,
holding it out to the man.  "Now get in front and put this on.  Got no reason
ta' trust ya' yet, so you get to come to the real meeting blind, bucko."  Ian
shrugged slightly, having expected as much, and settled himself into the seat
beside the rigger before taking the blindfold and tying it around his head. 
Tire-iron checked Steele's knot and the edges of the cloth, tugging them about
until he was satisfied that Ian was fully blind.  Then Tire-iron sat back in his
seat, jacked in and closed the doors before driving off.

	After a good twenty minutes of driving, accompanied by enough turns to throw
off anyone without a headware map and internal GPS system, the van stopped, and
Tire-iron muttered, "Arright.  You can pull off the blinder."  Ian reached up
and pulled off the cloth, to reveal the inside of a warehouse, including a plain
Americar and a number of bikes scattered about.  Albright was waiting outside
the van, and spoke as Ian opened the door and stepped out.

"You will, I hope, excuse the paranoia, Steele, but our profession seems to
instill it within all who tread the path."  The norm was attired in more
suitable clothing than he had been wearing at the meet with the J, an armored
vest with a lined coat over it, the armor obvious in both the coat and vest.

	Ian shook his head, "To be expected, Albright.  Badman found something, or one
of the others?"  Tire-iron nodded once at something, looking vaguely satisfied,
before Albright answered.

"The others are in the conference room, and it was indeed our code-warrior who
has discovered our latest information."

	Ian nodded, motioning for the other man to lead the way as he and the two
Hunters moved towards the conference room, "Alright.  Have you found a way in
yet?"  The mage held up one hand to forestall the question.

"I will allow the bad little man himself to explain what he found.  What he has
discovered will very likely have a large effect on whatever plan we put into
action."  The mage opened a door, revealing a room containing a circular table
with five chairs around it.  Wind's Cry and Badman were already seated, and
Albright and Tire-iron took two of the other chairs.  Ian shrugged slightly to
himself, and moved over to the chair, twitching his long-coat slightly as he sat
down, to keep the black ballistic cloth out from under him.  The decker and
shaman nodded to the gunsel as he took his seat.  Then the decker did something
with his deck, his eyes going blank a moment before he looked back to Steele.

"We gotta problem, Steele.  We ain't the first team to hit this place.  Three
days ago a group called Roger's Rangers hit `em.  They were a buncha' bad-ass
lone-operators, but they had just formed the team: two Razors, a physad, a mage,
a drone-junkie by the name'a Roger Wilco, and a drek-hot decker named White
Wizard.  They got smashed all over the map.  Security ripped into `em.  Wilco
and The Wiz just made it out, and they're both lookin' at some serious cyber to
fix themselves up."

	Ian frowned slightly, nodding once as he leaned back in his chair, thinking
aloud, "One spell-worm... they have six in there, at least.  Not very smart. 
Unfortunate for us though, because Security is going to be on their toes now." 
He glanced around the group, "Now.  I'm a gunman.  I have increased reaction
speed and I will hit whatever my Predators are pointed at.  I can also set off
plastique without killing myself.  Knowing your abilities and strengths would be
helpful in planning."

	Albright and the other Hunters glanced at each other, then the mage nodded, "I
am a hermetic mage.  I can cast a number of combat spells, as well as some
healing.  I can also fire a pistol if the need arises, and have a rapier, which
I can use when things become more intimate.  I will be able to assist our
endeavors by way of elementals."  He glanced to his left, to the dwarf, who
spoke up as soon as the norm was done.

"I'm the one who's gonna pull the little packet out while you all are playing
with security, but I also got an HK227S if I need'ta use it.  I'll also be the
one who's gotta get yer hoop through the maglocks."  He in turn looked to
Tire-iron, who started up after the dwarf.

"Rigger.  Got the Bulldog and a coupla drones.  Not really gonna be useful
inside the building.  Sniper too, and gotta mortar I can light off."  The rigger
silenced abruptly, nodding once before Wind's Cry began.

"I'ma shaman who follows Eagle.  I find da guys for you'ta pop, an' I can pop a
few surprises too, like a big fraggin' Flamethrowa'."  He chortled at Ian's
upraised eyebrow, "`da spell, not `da gun."  Ian nodded once, leaning back in
his chair again.

"Alright.  The way I see it, we have to avoid the tower and the barracks.  It
would be helpful if you could knock off guards as they hit the roof of the
barracks, Tire-iron, and maybe hit the security tower with that mortar of yours,
shake up the sentry guns if nothing else."  Albright chuckled loudly, then broke
in.

"A regular Wyatt Earp, it appears.  Go in with guns blazing."  Ian shook his
head once before answering.

"No.  This is for the way out.  Getting in is going to be more difficult.  It
appears that sneaking would be our best way in, despite the Rangers' failure in
that area.  Any disagreements?"  The Hunters all shook their head, Badman going
so far as to chuckle.

"Naw... I don't fancy goin' head to head with a corp compound with only my HK." 
Ian flashed the dwarf a grin, nodding before he continued.

"Exactly.  So that leaves us with how to sneak in.  How about the sewers,
Badman."  The dwarf shook his head.

"No go.  They sealed off the entrances `cept water and waste, and those just go
to the bathrooms."  Ian nodded, glancing from Albright to Wind Cry's.

"I may be able `ta get us in wid' an invisibility spell," offered the troll. 
Albright thought a moment, then shook his head.

"Wouldn't work.  Too many other Awakened in the compound.  We would stand out
like a beacon of larceny to those who could see into the Astral."  Ian nodded
once, then shrugged slightly, offering his own suggestion.

"Just sneak in?  That still doesn't get us into the building, but if we can
count on Badman or myself to get us into the building --preferably Badman, as
I'm sure his way would be a good deal quieter-- and then we block the door
behind us, we only have those actually within the building to deal with until
the extraction."  Albright glanced to the decker, who nodded once, then looked
back to Steele.

"It might work.  May I suggest we enter the fence beside the main building,
where it will mostly block the view from the tower and the barracks?"  Steele
nodded, glancing about to the others at the table and smiling faintly at their
nods as well.

"Then we're set?  Clip the wire, sneak in, open the door, then play it by ear? 
If the guards have heavy weapons, which the fact that they have separate
armories seems to indicate, we may need to do more than block the door to keep
them off our backs."  Albright grinned broadly at Ian's words, leaning back
smugly in his chair as he spoke.

"I'll take care of them if they do, or Tire-iron can drop a load of high
explosive on them."  Ian frowned slightly, he seems pretty confident of his
team... they look competent, and I suppose they know each other best, but why do
all spellworms have to be so fragging arrogant?  The few remaining details were
quickly worked out, mostly between Badman and Albright, and then the decker
tuned the team's radios to the same frequency, Steele inputting the frequency
into his own micro-transceiver.

Chapter 3

"Albright to Hunters.  Prepped for entry.  On my mark."  Ian chuckled under his
breath.  At least the mage can be short on the comm, which says something for
him and the Hunters.  The team was arrayed outside the compound, the bulk of the
main building between the runners and the security tower and the barracks,
hidden from sight by the black cloak of the city night. Tire-iron had set up a
few blocks away, his mortar and the getaway van at the ready.

"Steele go," the gunsel murmured into his pick-up, starting the round of ready
signals.

"Wind's Cry ready."

"Badman set."

"Tire-iron is go."

"Mark."  The mage's single word crackled out, and Badman snipped the first
string of razor-wire.  The whole group held their collective breath, waiting for
an alarm to sound.  Two seconds later they all started breathing again and
Badman clipped the other strands of wire, opening a hole just big enough for the
bulk of the shaman before shifting aside.  Steele went through the hole first,
ghosting up to place his back against the dark wall of the main building. 
Albright and Badman followed, with Wind's Cry taking up the rear.  The troll
paused just as he was reaching the wall, cocking his huge head slightly as if
testing the stale air.  Ian sniffed silently, his nose wrinkling as he
identified the smell of the ever-present smog, plus a faintly metallic odor,
like rusted iron.

	The shaman's voice came over Steele's earpiece, "Somet'in's wrong.  It's too
fraggin' powerful."

	Albright glanced back to the big man, his voice a whisper over the radio waves,
"I do not- wait, I feel it now.  Powerful and. malignant."  Tire-iron's hushed
response sounded right in Ian's ear, as if he were standing beside the rigger,
rather than blocks away.

"Resched?"

	The mage answered him right away, "Negative.  No time for that."  A shiver ran
down Ian's back, and he reached up, brushing his long coat aside to draw the
twin matte-black Predators from the holsters at his chest.  He let his hands
drop and his duster fall closed again.

"Let us continue."  At Albright's words, Ian nodded once, then started towards
the corner of the big building, moving slowly and cautiously.  The soft rubber
soles of his boots made almost no sound as he slipped alongside the building's
wall.  The other three men followed behind him, just as quiet as he was.  Upon
reaching the corner of the building, Steele held one Predator down at his side,
motioning the others to stop.  He slowly peered around the corner, his shoulders
relaxing slightly as he noted the cleared ground, devoid of any guards.  He
motioned for the others to follow, slipping around the corner and gliding along
the north wall of the main building, something nagging faintly in the back of
his head.  Quashing down the teasing thought, he slowed, nearing the most
dangerous corner, and glanced to the now-visible security tower and barracks,
licking his lips.  Ian turned his head slightly to the side, whispering softly
into his mic.

"Alright Badman, it's all yours."  The dwarf double-clicked his mic, slipping
past the norm, and paused at the corner of the building to glance around.  Ian
noticed a shiver passing through the decker's stout frame as he glanced up at
the tower: a skeletal contraption with only a first and fourth floor.  I-beams
crossed the space between them and providing a framework for the elevator which
ran up to the top floor, where two light machine guns sat motionless, neither of
the two rigged weapons moving... for the moment.  Badman slipped around the
corner, letting his HK hang from its sling as he moved towards the door.  He
pulled out a set of electronics tools, and swiftly removed the case from the
maglock.  He glanced at the inner workings, then dipped his head, murmuring into
the radio.

"We're good.  Get over here.  Won't take me but a minute."  Ian slipped around
the corner, Albright and Wind's Cry following after him, the three black-clad
men silent shadows as they moved up to join the dwarf at the door where he
worked at the lock.  Albright watched the tower worriedly while Ian waited to
step into the door as soon as it opened, re-holstering one of his Predators and
drawing his silenced pistol from under his left arm.  He shifted it slightly in
his hand until his fingers slipped into the grooves made for them, the grip
fitting perfectly in his hand.

"Almost there..." the dwarf's words were abruptly cut out by the sound of the
door sliding open, revealing the security room inside where two guards sat
behind a long desk.  As they noticed the four obvious shadowrunners standing
outside their door, they stood up and reached for their pistols.  There was a
quiet "pop-pop," the two silenced shots almost atop each other causing the
guards to fall.  One grasped at his left shoulder where the bullet had pierced
his armored jacket, letting his gun drop to the ground as the other fell
bonelessly, blood starting to trail from the new hole in his throat, a faint red
mist over the gray wall behind him. Ian stepped into the room, his black coat
swirling about his legs as he moved towards the wounded man, his voice
absolutely empty of any emotion.

"Don't say a word."  Albright and Wind's Cry followed Ian in.  Badman was only
an instant longer, and then the door hissed shut behind him.  The decker fiddled
with the controls on the inside of the door a moment before he spoke.

"Should hold anything short of an assault cannon."  Ian nodded, holstering his
silenced pistol and drawing the second pistol at his chest again, glancing from
one magic user to the other, "Easy so far.  Ready?"

Wind's Cry nodded once, and although Albright's lips twisted into a faint frown,
he nodded as well.  The troll bent down over the wounded guard, slamming his
meaty fist into the side of the man's skull, causing the poor guard's eyes to
roll up in his head.

"Sorry.  Had t'keep `im quiet."  Wind's Cry then pulled a roll of duct tape from
his belt, tying the guard's hands behind his back and placing a strip over his
mouth before relieving him of his gun.  Ian nodded once as Albright picked up
the guard's passkey, the gunman spoke quietly as he set himself in front of the
door, pistols ready.

"Alright.  Control room should be empty.  Go."  The mage slid the card through
the reader, which resulted in a "beep."  The door slid open to reveal the
control room, indeed empty as Steele had guessed it would be.  Three rows of
computer consoles faced an armaglass wall, each row a step up from the one
before it.  The shadowruners stepped into the control room cautiously, ready for
an attack.   They could see through the armaglass into a wide, open room,
without obstruction of any kind.

"That is the testing lab.  Let us continue."  Albright spoke quickly, gesturing
to the door in the middle of the armored plate.  The four men slipped through
that door, into the testing area.  Ian glanced up once to the high ceiling, then
over to the observation windows on the second floor above the canteen.

	Pausing only a moment, the runners moved across the large room, opening the
door without a problem and stepped into the canteen where the mages and the
controllers ate their meals.  They moved around the tables, Steele still
leading, followed by Albright, Badman, and Wind's Cry.  As the group reached the
elevator, Ian cursed under his breath.

"Frag... the thing's got a palmprint reader."  He shifted his back to the wall
beside the elevator, scanning the area as Badman moved up to pull the cover off
the reader and fiddle with its innards.  A moment later there was a mechanical
sound, the three Hunters scattering to both sides of the doors as they opened,
revealing an empty elevator.  All four shadowrunners released a sigh of relief
as they slipped into the elevator.  Ian grimaced as he used the barrel of one
Predator to push the button for the second floor.  We're like fish in a barrel
in here. they have to know it's moving when it's not supposed to be.

Albright spoke into his radio, "We are in the elevator, Tire-iron.  Be ready." 
He was answered by a simple double click, and nodded at the rigger's response.

	The doors slid shut as the mage spoke, the elevator starting upwards smoothly. 
The four shadowrunners split to either side of the doors without a word, Ian and
Albright on the right, and Wind's Cry and Badman to the left.  The elevator
stopped, pausing for an instant as if to draw out the suspense.  Then the doors
slid open with a cheery "bing," revealing an unmanned security desk and a
windowless door with an apparently lock-less handle.  Steele carefully stepped
out of the elevator, his Predators held before him.  His eyes scanned the room
from behind his sleek sunglasses, taking in the second empty desk, soykaf
machine, and soymeal extruder along the outside wall, but not spotting any more
security guards.  A faint frown flashed across his face, and he muttered into
his pickup, "Too easy... this is too easy."  He noticed Badman nodding slightly,
but none of the Hunters vocalized their worries.  Ian moved around the desk,
holding his pistols up on either side of his face, nodding once to Wind's Cry to
open the door.  Badman and Albright stood behind the gunman, ready to cover his
move.

	As the shaman moved towards the door, he suddenly stopped and blinked, his eyes
widening, "Holy fraggin' hell," he whispered fervently, glancing over to
Albright.  "Check `da fraggin' Astral."  The mage's eyes took on a glazed
quality a moment, then widened as they came back into focus.

"I cannot believe I missed it before.  I don't know what it is, certainly not a
toxic area, but the background count here is excessively high, and it has a.
distasteful feel to it as well."  The mage frowned slightly, as if pondering
something as Ian licked his lips faintly, why did it have to be something weird
like this?  Why is it always me?  The gunman glanced back to the magic users,
his voice hushed.

"Abort or press on?"  Albright glanced up at Wind's Cry, and the two men nodded
to each other, the mage unsurprisingly speaking for the pair.

"We press on, my gun-toting companion.  Just be aware that you cannot
necessarily count on us for magical backup, although we will be able to provide
more mundane assistance."  As he spoke, the man pulled a Colt Manhunter out a
holster at his side, and unsheathed what looked like a rapier from his left hip,
eldrich symbols flickering on the swept basket hilt as he shifted the sword in
his hand.  Wind's Cry nodded at Albright's words, pulling a Browning Max-Power
from the holster at his hip, a faint look of distaste on his broad face.  Ian
nodded curtly, sighing under his breath as he leveled his twin pistols at the
still-closed door, his voice a single sharp syllable.

"Go." Wind's Cry pushed open the door, and Steele stalked into the sitting room,
his long coat swirling out from his legs dramatically, his twin Predators
searching for prey.  He shifted quickly to cover the hallway down to the magic
users' quarters, the trio of Hunters spreading out behind him.  He nodded once
more, and started along the hallway, his back sliding along the wall nearest the
elevator.  Albright mirrored him a step back against the other wall, while
Badman and Wind's Cry brought up the rear, all four holding their guns at the
ready.  The gunman shifted his weight slightly to his left, peering around the
corner and sighing softly in relief at the sight of the empty corridor.  Steele
moved quickly along the wall past the doors of a trio of shamans, Albright
passing a pair of mages' rooms.  The others trailed two steps behind as they
moved towards the project leader's quarters at the end of the hall.

As they neared the door, Badman let his HK drop down to the end of its sling
again, drawing a Narcojet pistol from his belt and holding it out before him,
muttering something about, "Since we can't count on any fraggin' sleep spells.." 
The decker took a moment to fiddle with the door controls as Ian watched him. 
He scanned the length of the hallway as well, waiting for Badman to pop the
maglock and get them into the mage's quarters.  The decker muttered a curse or
two, then nodded, stepping back and using his off-hand to brush two wires
together.  He raised the Narcojet as the door whisked open smoothly.  The four
shadowrunners piled in quickly, Wind's Cry watching the door as the others
scanned the room. and found it empty.  There was no sign of the mage, and at
first glance there was no sign of any cyberterminal as described by the
Johnson's chip.

"Oh Frag.  We're fragging screwed.  Johnson's here, with a bunch of baddies. 
Mean-lookin', all got SMGs at least, coupla shotguns."  Even Tire-iron's curt
voice managed to sound panicked over the comm.  At the same time Albright
blinked once, then moved to push Ian and Badman back towards the door, calling
out sharply.

"Watcher Spirit.  It appears that our inconsiderate magical antagonist is going
to channel a spell through him."  At the mage's movement Ian moved, more quickly
than any human naturally could.  He leapt back towards the door, tucking his
shoulder under him as fire suddenly roared in the room behind him, the blast
knocking him forward.  His training caused him to roll up into a crouch just
outside the door, pistols tracking down the hall for targets as Albright and
Badman stumbled out of the door behind him.  Both of them looked somewhat
scorched, but none the worse for wear.

	Ian rose to his feet quickly, turning his head back slightly to speak to the
men behind him when he noticed one of the doors start to open.  His pistols
already tracking the new threat, he barked out, "watch ten o'clock."  The first
security guard caught both of Ian's shots directly in the face, his armored
jacket not helping him in the least against the heavy pistol rounds striking him
in the forehead, throwing him backwards into his companion.  The impact delayed
the second guard long enough for Steele's twin Predators to fire again.  The
four shots were almost atop one another, booming in the small hallway as the
second sec-guard went down with a pair of bullets in his throat.  Ian cursed as
the door at the far end of the hall started to open.  Jamming his Narcojet
pistol into its holster and hefting his HK, Badman unloaded two quick bursts
into the still-opening door to his left as the Hunters followed the billowing
coat of the gunman ahead of them.  The shots from the suppressed HK added to the
cacophony in the hallway, the smell of cordite suddenly overwhelming as Ian
started running straight down the hall towards the opening door.  Albright and
Wind's Cry burst into movement, running after the gun-wielding dwarf and norm,
struggling to draw mana about them from the polluted Astral space and search for
targets at the same time.

	The man who burst out of the door at the end of the hall took all of the
shadowrunners back for a moment.  His ceremonial headdress of long green
feathers and his jaguar skin cloak contrasting sharply with the light gray
plascrete walls.  Although the obsidian dagger in his right hand might not have
been as modern as a Cougar Fineblade, the magic-user waved it dangerously as he
exited the door.  His eyes started to glow red as the power to his spell grew. 
The mysterious magic-user's left hand reached into the still-open door and
grasped the bound wrists of a young woman wearing black clothing and what might
have once been a lined coat, although now it hung tattered about her shoulders.

	Steele gritted his teeth as the first mortar explosions sounded from outside,
dull and muted by the walls of the building.  His eyes widened slightly as the
ceremonially attired man brought his obsidian dagger up towards the young
woman's left shoulder.  The mage's eyes locked directly on the gunman leading
the shadowrunners' escape attempt.  Memories flashed through Ian's head, his
headlong rush slowing almost imperceptably as his Predators drooped away from
the magic user.  The image of a beautiful elf woman held in the clutches of a
grimy ork, the ganger's pistol to her head, rose from the murk of memories,
almost causing Ian to miss a step, Monica..  A shot sounded and his reflexes
suddenly kicked in, causing him to dart left as Albright lined up for a second
shot.  Steele's rubber-soled boots provided enough grip for him to take two
steps up the side of the hallway as harsh, Aztlaner Spanish filled the hallway. 
The man dragged his obsidian dagger across the woman's chest, slashing a shallow
trench from one shoulder to the other, her scream joining in the noise and
confusion as an iridescent green flash rippled down the hallway.  Wind's Cry's
bellowing roar joined Steele's pistols barking out two quick shots each.  The
bullets snapped bright blue sparks from the translucent green armor which faded
into view about the blood mage.

	Ian's boots struck the floor again an instant later.  The gunman stepped up to
the Azzie and slammed the butt of his right-hand pistol into the man's temple,
causing the man to crumple to the floor with a groan.   The woman slumped down
to the ground as she was released, apparently unconcious.  Steele didn't pause
in his rush, pivoting around the corner towards the elevator before the Hunters
could reach the turn in the corridor.  Wind's Cry bent down and picked up the
woman, hefting her almost gently over his left shoulder.  Albright and Badman
moved to cover both the corridor where Steele was standing and the corridor
leading to the mages' quarters.

"What the frag was that guy." began Badman, only to be cut off by a loud "bing"
from the security room down the corridor.  "Drek!" Badman yelped, spinning to
cover where the security team would undoubtedly be entering from, but Steele was
already moving.  Jamming his pistols into his waistband quickly, Ian pulled an
offensive grenade out of his satchel.  He pulled the pin and quickly hooked it
into the security room just as the doors of the elevator opened, eliciting
shouts of "Oh Frag!" and "Drek!" from the other room as the security guards
scattered.  Steele snatched up his pistols again just before the explosion
blasted out of the door from the security room.

	Ian didn't give the guards any time to recover.  Spinning around from the
corridor into the doorway, his pistols cracked in twin blasts once, twice, three
times, taking out the few guards who looked to be getting ready to move as
Badman moved up to cover him with his SMG.  Albright paused long enough to kneel
beside the Aztlaner and place his Manhunter to the man's forehead. He pulled the
trigger, splattering the blood mage's brains all over the floor before standing
quickly.  He took rearguard from Wind's Cry as the troll moved after the decker
and gunman, the woman still slung over his left shoulder.  Just as the last pair
of Steele's shots finished echoing through the hallway, Tire-iron burst in over
the shadowrunners' radios.

"Sentry guns out of commission.  Two KIA with the long-gun, winged the J. 
Pulled back, too much heat.  Think I got the AV missiles too."  Albright snapped
a reply into the comm.

"We have Aztlaner blood mages up here.  Can you attain a position where you can
pick us up quickly without getting the van destroyed?"  As Albright was querying
Tire-iron, Ian holstered his pistols quickly, pulling an IR smoke grenade from
his satchel and handing it to Badman.

"Stick it in the elevator, hit floor one then recall it after it's left.  Should
send it down, gush some smoke, then come back up minus sec goons."  Badman
didn't argue.  He snatched the grenade from Steele's hand and pulled the pin,
dropping it into the elevator.  Ian moved towards the outside wall to the
sitting room, digging further into his bag and pulling out his two bricks of
C-12 as well as a timer.

	The elevator doors closed, and Badman waited a moment, then hit the call button
again before backing up.  He and Albright covered the doors while Wind's Cry set
the woman down, struggling to Heal her through the background count.  He managed
to get the wound across her chest to close up with some difficulty.  As the
troll swayed from the drain of the spell and cut the woman's binders, Ian
separated the plastique into chunks.  He settled it against the wall so that the
energy was focused outwards, while making sure it still covered enough area to
allow the shadowrunners to escape.  He linked the charges together, and set a
timer into the center one just as the elevator came back up. It was billowing
smoke, but carried no new guards.  Ian backed away from the wall, speaking over
his shoulder.  "I'm going to blow us a hole out of here... everyone back around
the corner."  The Hunters obeyed his order, and he followed suit, setting the
timer for six seconds.

	Steele calmly counted to six, his back pressed against the wall behind him. 
Wind's Cry flinched slightly as there was a tremendous explosion at "six."  A
few chunks of debris pattering against the walls as Ian resettled his lowlight
sunglasses on his face casually.  When his ears stopped ringing, Steele drew his
Predators again, and went around the corner, his lips curling up into a tight
grin as he noticed the three-and-a-half foot wide hole he had blown in the wall
of the building.  Glancing down once, he slipped out easily, dropping the ten
feet to the ground and glanced around quickly.

As Albright dropped out of the hole after him, Ian called Tire-iron over the
radio.  "We're ready for extraction.  Same as entry."  Wind's Cry passed the
woman down to Albright, then crawled out himself, lowering himself to the ground
easily and taking the woman back from the mage.  As Tire-iron's Bulldog pulled
up outside the wire, Badman dropped out of the hole.  He tossed a grenade back
into the building, causing a small explosion as the group trotted towards their
entry point.  Ian stopped beside the hole in the wire and let the others pass
through and climb into the van.  Steele took a quick pair of shots at the
security guard coming around the corner of the main building, dropping the man
with a shot to his shoulder before he hopped into the Bulldog.  Tire-iron
immediately shut the door and took off, just as the first sirens sounded,
showing Lone Star closing in on the compound as the first flames started to lick
up from Badman's incendiary grenade.

Chapter 4

	Once inside the Bulldog, the gunman ejected his half-used clips and replaced
them with new ones from pockets on the inside of his long coat, slipping the
partially full clips back into the pockets.  This done, he re-holstered the
Predators and looked to their newest, and still unconscious, companion.  Badman
was appraising the woman at the same time, and glanced up to Ian with a faint
grin.

"Chica ain't bad lookin', eh Steele."  It was more of a statement than a
question.  "Would be real fraggin' pretty if she weren't so pale."  Ian merely
nodded to the dwarf before looking back to the woman, one hand grasping a seat
to steady himself as the rigger tore through the streets of Tacoma in an effort
to shake any pursuit.

Badman was quite accurate in his statement, Ian decided.  Of course, she's not
as pretty as Monica... the gunman's lips twisted into a faint frown, but then
again, no one really is.  Doesn't matter though, I couldn't save her, no matter
how pretty she was.  The woman looked to be about twenty, and wore the typical
shadowrunner's uniform, lined coat with black clothes under it.  She was built
slim, and had high cheekbones and a delicate bone structure which might be
mistaken for that of an elf, until one noticed the rounded ears hiding in her
wavy blonde hair.  She was pale under a light tan, either from shock or loss of
blood.  Abruptly Steele smiled faintly, cocking his head to one side slightly. I
just saw a slit of brown between her eyelids. I think Sleeping Beauty is awake,
lets see how she handles it.

	After a moment the woman relaxed slightly and opened her light brown eyes.
"Where am I?" she mumbled.  Her gaze flicked about the Bulldog, frowning
slightly at the trio of Hunters in the back before her eyes fell on Ian and she
spoke again, "You I remember.  You were the one running up the wall."  There was
another pause as she glanced down slightly, then back up, "Thank you."

Ian chuckled softly, reaching down to steady the woman with a hand on her
shoulder as the van screeched around a corner, glancing up towards the cab, then
back to the mystery woman, "We're in a van, driving away from the compound where
you were being held.  Or rather we would be driving away if the driver would
just go straight rather than weaving all over the place."  He blinked slightly
as the muscles on her shoulder tensed at the mention of the compound.  Then he
let his smile fade back onto his face, "And although being remembered for
running on walls is one way of sticking in someone's memory, a name is usually
better.  I'm Steele, and the others who affected your rescue are Wind's Cry,
Albright, Badman, and Tire-iron up front."

At the mention of rescue the woman's eyes lit up slightly, and she sat up,
grasping out for a seat immediately as Tire-iron threw the van into yet another
exceedingly sharp turn, "Rescue... you mean Wilco and White Wizard made it?"

Albright blinked, and Badman and Ian shared a confused glance, then Wind's Cry
spoke up, "I `tink she's a chica from Roger's Rangers... an' from her aura,
she's `da spellworm."  He glanced to Albright, who nodded, then looked down to
the female magician to answer her question.

"Yes, both Wilco and White Wizard made it out, but they didn't hire us.  At the
moment, they are likely being stuffed to the figurative gills with cyber to keep
them alive and functioning."  The mage frowned slightly, then cocked his head to
one side, "My dear lady, if you might be willing to furnish us a name, it would
go a long ways towards improving communication as we cannot exactly simply call
you `Hey You,' even though that would doubtlessly be appreciated by our height
and brain-deficient companion here."  Badman raised an eyebrow at Albright's
teasing, but then sat back in his seat, just shaking his head.

The woman sighed faintly, glancing to each of the Hunters and then Ian in turn,
then slumped forward slightly.  "Yes... I'm the mage from Roger's Rangers.
although it doesn't sound like there is a Roger's Rangers anymore.  My name is
Artemis."  Letting her voice trail out towards the end of her speech, Artemis
curled her arms around her knees, seeming to withdraw into herself, letting her
eyes close and rocking with the now more-or-less straight path of the van.

	The Hunters in the back immediately moved up towards the front seats of the
van, speaking quietly to each other and glancing over to Artemis occasionally. 
Ian glanced up to the three men once, and hazarded releasing the seat he was
hanging on to in order to keep his balance, leaning forward to set his hands
gently on Artemis' shoulders.  She jumped slightly at the touch, looking up at
him somewhat flatly before dropping her head again.  Undeterred, Steele
continued to rest his hands on Artemis' shoulders.  The Hunters glanced back at
him, Albright going so far as to frown at the gunslinger, before crossing his
arms over his chest and concentrate pointedly on the streets going by.  For
once, Ian barely noticed the actions of the other men, relaxing a little himself
when Artemis finally leaned back against his knees.  Still seated on the floor
of the van, she turned slightly and smiled falteringly up at the blue-eyed man
before looking down again.  Ian didn't say anything.  He simply smiled faintly
in return, and sat there with the mysterious young mage leaning back against his
knees, his hands on her shoulders, until the van pulled into the Hunters'
warehouse some hour and a half later, after Tire-iron had driven around the
`plex to lose any tails.

	The five men and Artemis slowly climbed out of the van, and Steele led her over
towards the conference room as he turned to look over his shoulder to the
Hunters.  "We need to have a debriefing.  I don't know what was going on in that
building, but I would like to."  The Hunters nodded to the gunsel, Tire-iron
leaning over to Albright, his whisper barely audible.

"Who's the sl-chica. and h'come Steele nabbed her before you did Albright?"  The
mage frowned at his rigger companion, and hissed something testily to the man as
the group moved through the warehouse to the conference room.  Everyone was
silent as Wind's Cry hauled in another chair for Artemis to sit at.  The troll
was the one to start the discussion when all of the runners were seated.

"Arright.  We know `dat `dere was a blood mage at `da compound, an' `dat `dey
had some heavy duty mojo flyin' `round.  What's anyone else know?"  Albright
frowned slightly.

"Well, besides the obvious blood mage, the entry did seem rather simple, at
least for a competent team, and with Mr. Johnson being outside with the security
forces who were rather busy attempting to incarcerate us, it seems to have all
the makings of a setup.  The only reason I'm curious is why would a corp target
us?"  When he spoke, Ian's voice was quiet, barely carrying around the small
table, his left hand still resting gently on Artemis' shoulder.

"Out of curiosity, which of you four has annoyed Aztechnology, or were they just
testing their security at the expense of a few disposable assets.  Roger's
Rangers could have been a test for their responses to an infiltration, while we
were a test of their reaction time."  He glanced over to the blonde mage, "I'm
also interested in hearing what happened to the Rangers when they came in."

	Artemis sighed softly and glanced towards the tabletop, not even responding to
the gentle squeeze Ian gave her shoulder.  A minute or so later she looked up
again, squeezing her eyes closed a moment as if holding back tears, then opened
her eyes and glanced around at the group.  Her voice was tight as she spoke, "It
was rather obviously a setup once we got onsite.  We snuck in through the wire,
and White Wizard was supposed to jack in to the control room and get control of
the Matrix-run doors, cameras, and alarms.  But the guard patrols seemed to know
exactly where we were coming in, they got Storm, our physad, with one of their
Sentry guns, and guards got Ronin and Barghest, our sams.  They didn't even
really have a chance, they were shot out of nowhere.  I was hit with an
amazingly strong Sleep spell, and as I faded I saw Wilco and White Wizard taking
hits."  She looked down again, "That's all I remember until I was dragged out of
that room by the blood mage, and saw Steele walking up the wall."  She glanced
to her right, smiling faintly towards the gunman, who returned the grin just as
faintly before speaking to the assembled runners.

"Assuming that the Azzies aren't after any of you, then we've got a Security
commander who either wanted to improve his efficiency ratings, or wanted to test
his troops."  He looked from man to man, finally stopping with his deep blue
eyes meeting Artemis' light brown squarely, "I think we should give Mr. J a real
test.  One his troops aren't ready for.  I'd like to see just why he set us up,
and make sure that he pays for it."  Badman held up a hand, as if to motion for
Ian to stop before speaking.

"I don't know about you, Steele, but I'm dead tired.  I don't think I could beat
a devil rat right now, let alone a corp-sec guard chief, and I don't think you
want to try either.  We'll talk later about him."  Albright looked from Artemis
to Steele, opening his mouth to speak just as Artemis looked over to Steele,
speaking quietly.

"I. I don't want to go back to my apartment yet, I don't know how much the
Azzies found out from me."  Ian nodded once, standing up and slipping his hand
down to take one of Artemis'.  "Come on.  I'll give you a ride back to my place. 
I'll sleep on the couch tonight."

Artemis nodded once, "Thank you." She followed Ian out of the room, as Steele
called over his shoulder to Badman.

"I'll give you a buzz tomorrow or the next day, see if we can't track down the
bastard who set us up, get him back for it."  The dwarf nodded, and Ian handed
Artemis his helmet as he got onto his bike.  The two rode the Aurora out of the
warehouse, the mage holding onto Ian's waist as he guided the bike through the
city, into the rising sun.