shadowheat

"By the numbers people," Kylie called across the comm.

"One, ready," came Bruno’s reply.

"Two, ready," came Falco’s.

"Three, ready," came Tomboy’s.

"Alright. Eagle, this is Lead. Are you good?" Kylie asked.

"Good to go up here, chief," replied Brooder. "On your mark."

Kylie took one last look around the square. Nobody in sight. The warehouse in front of her was on minimal lighting. Falco was good to his word. Power was down across the block.

"Okay team. Time to get paid. Go!"

Kylie jumped out of the back of the team’s van. From the corner of her eye, she could see Bruno and Tomboy step out of the doorway of the buildings on either side of the warehouse. She couldn’t see Brooder or Falco, but she new that Falco had the Matrix covered as well as monitoring their vitals. Brooder has well had them covered, but with a RAI sniper rifle from a roof nearby.

Bruno reached the door first. He pulled his lock pick kit from his jacket. Tomboy and Kylie covered him while he worked the primitive lock system. After a few minutes of ineffective tinkering, he threw the picks on the ground.

"Fraggin’ bastards done played a fooly on us," he said, disgustedly. "This lock is a fake. This sucker is using a key with passcode info on it. I can’t get it."

Tomboy looked at Kylie. She gave him a slight nod. He placed his heavy pistol back in it’s holster and motioned Bruno out of the way. Bruno moved to cover position while Tomboy closed his eyes and began to chant. After a moment of Native chanting, he moved to the door. He drew back his arms and with a flash of energy, smashed the door in. Kylie checked the street quickly to make sure no one paid attention to the noise. Still no one on the streets.

"Alarm going of boss," came Falco’s voice over the comm. The must have had it on a separate power. Alert directly to Lone Star. I’d say you have five minutes tops."

"Thanks," Kylie replied. Bruno, point. Move to floor two. You know where the objective is. Tomboy, are you ok?"

Tomboy wobbled a bit but managed a thumbs up as he drew his Predator again.

"Fine boss. Just put more into it. I’ll be ok."

Tomboy moved into the building. Kylie brought up the rear. Before she could enter the building however, she heard a noise behind her.

"Freeze! Security!" came a voice from behind her.

Kylie slowly turned, after motioning Tomboy and Bruno to move on. She let the Alpha hang at her side from the strap as she turned to face the guard. She almost laughed when she saw his face. He looked no older than 18. This had to be his first job. This was punctuated by the Glock 19 that he was pointing at her. Great for unarmed petty thieves. Bad for experienced runners.

"Listen," Kylie said to the guard. "We’re here for a reason. No one is going to get hurt. We just want one chip and we’re gone."

The boy was visibly shaking as she talked.

"Shut up," he yelled. "You just stand there until Lone Star gets here. They’ll deal with scum like you. I don’t want to have to shoot you or anything."

"I don’t want you to either. You’d never make it past the first shot." Kylie prayed Brooder was watching this.

"Just stay still and we’ll all be fine," the guard said.

Kylie moved a step toward him. She didn’t have time to be playing with this kid. She had to get on with the mission.

"Listen," she said softly. "Just put the gun down. I’m not going to hurt –"

BLAM!

The guard looked at Kylie doubled over on the ground. He even smiled as he thought about what would happen when the other rookies heard he bagged a robber by himself. Then he heard a groan. His smiled faded as Kylie began to stand up.

"Frag you then," she said through clenched teeth.

The boy’s head exploded. His body dropped to the ground with a soft thud, blood spilling over the sidewalk.

"You ok, chief?" Brooder said over the comm.

"I’m fine," Kylie replied. "The little bastard just hit my vest. Another inch to the left and he'd've hit my arm."

"Well, he’s out now," Brooder said. "I’ve got you. Move baaaaahhhhh!"

"Brooder!" Kylie shouted into the comm. "Brooder, reply! Drek! Bruno, we may have lost Brooder. What’s your situation?"

"Light op in the second story hallway. A couple of guards were stationed at the objective. Tomboy’s mad. He got blood on his new tomahawk."

"Did you get the chip?" Kylie asked.

"Got it and on our way down," came the reply.

"Good. I’m covering the exit."

Suddenly, Kylie heard a muffled cry from the roof of the building. She looked up in time to see a small spray of blood and a shadow disappear from the edge of the building.

"Drek! That! Hurts!" Brooder shouted over the comm.

"Brooder!" Kylie called out.

"I’m here chief," Brooder replied.

"What happened?"

"Fragging mage on the roof. Must have hit me with a spell. Send me for a good spin."

"Are you ok. Can you cover?"

"For a bit. But I’m going to need to see Carlin when this is over. My left arm is out of place. Of course, the mage is missing an arm for his trouble."

"Alright," Kylie said. "Bruno and Tomboy are on their way down. We’ll pick you up at the drop off point."

"Arctic," Brooder replied.

In the distance, Kylie could hear the sounds of sirens. Lone Star always filled it’s contracts.

"Falco, how much time?"

"ETA is less than 1 minute boss," Falco replied. "Get out of there now."

At that moment, Bruno and Tomboy came through the front door. The trio of runners ran for their van. Bruno jumped into the driver’s seat while Tomboy and Kylie climbed in back. Bruno plugged in and the van shot off only seconds before the first Lone Star patrol car pulled in front of the warehouse. The first thing they noticed was the headless body. No one was in a rush to actually enter the building.

Two blocks away, Brooder was being hauled into the van by Tomboy, his precious rifle in tow. The van made a beeline for Carlin’s place. Brooder’s arm was definitely going to need magical attention.

The next day, the team was sitting opposite the Johnson in the back room of O’Shea’s Bar and Grill. The Johnson was relieved to get his chip back. He promptly paid the runners their nuyen and headed out of the bar.

"Pretty easy," Bruno said.

"Riiiight," Brooder returned, sarcasm shining on his face. "All you got a was bullet in that blasted thick hide of yours. I actually got hurt."

"Hey, don’t forget boss lady got shot as well," Tomboy stated.

"My bruises will heal," Kylie said. "Falco, did you look at the chip before we returned it?"

"Sure did boss," Falco said. He popped the copy he had made for insurance into his deck. On his vidscreen a rather raunchy display of Mr. Johnson and his daughter’s babysitter came on.

"Looks like he was going to be blackmailed," Brooder said. "What do you plan to do with it chief?"

"Johnson failed to mention the mage when he told us of the security setup," Kylie responded. "I knew he was hiding something. He probably figured a runner or two less would keep his secret hidden. It backfired."

"You’re not going to do what I think you are?" Tomboy asked.

"Sure am," Kylie said. "Falco?"

"I already emailed his wife a copy, boss," Falco replied, grinning wickedly.

"If you can’t take the heat," Kylie said.

"Get the frag outta the shadows," the rest of the team replied, raising their beers.

Author's note:

This is my first piece of Shadowrun fiction. I would really love feedback on it, good or bad. ( brooder13@yahoo.com ) I've been trying to right a complete story for months now but never seem to get into it. I wrote this in about an hour spread over two shifts at work. If enough people like it, I may keep the team going.

I'd like to thank people, but everyone does that. You all should know who you are, 'Rat and shapcano.

A little character background. Bruno is an orc rigger. Tomboy is a norm phys ad. He is a also Native American. Kylie is a norm female. Falco is an elf decker. Brooder is a norm male. Brooder is also the main character I am using to actually play shadowrun. So anymore of my fiction should involve him. Hopefully the whole team.

Again, please let me know what you think. brooder13@yahoo.com is where you can reach me.