บท 227: Playing Chicken

"I knew coming here was a bad fuckin' idea!" Pilar growls, "I'll shove my foot in that Quentin guy's ass!"

"It wasn't 'Quentin' who tried to go back on a deal made!" Falco retorts, shoving extra ammo into a pouch.

"So you think this is Maine's fault? The bitch already had Lucy!"

"No suit like her would be dumb enough to stiff us on the reward and betray us anyway! If we accept then-..." Rebecca blinks, "Lucy might still be in the Netrunner lab!" she exclaims.

"And what you base that off of, 'feminine intuition'!?" Pilar sceptically retorts.

"I base it on that bitch playing chicken, thinking we wouldn't be dumb enough to fuck with her in her own building! We did it anyway because we're retarded apparently!"

"Or Maine's finally losing it." Falco quietly adds.

Ori kicks in the door to the room and catches Six's revolvers Rebecca threw at him, "Come on, the 'Peace Keepers' just landed, we gotta go!"

----------------------

"So you think Lucy's where we left her?" David questions, noting the silence from Aliya.

Ori shrugs, "Rebecca thinks so, hopefully we'll catch Christy there too, blow that bitch's brains out."

A door in the hallway opens, revealing a panicked husband and wife in silk dressing gowns "D-did something happen!? Are we safe here-"

"Get back in your room shit-for-brains, or I'll grab that pretty lady and take off!" Pilar states, pushing them back inside and slamming the door.

"Smooth."

...

"Shit, it's locked!" Ori growls, pulling at the door that leads into the Netrunner lab.

"Then give it a kick, c'mon!" Rebecca says.

"And risk damaging something if Lucy's still linked?"

David pushes Aliya onto Maine, "As if she'd risk giving Lucy access to the net."

"Or she locked her in local space-" Pilar starts but David had already activated his sandy, kicking the door at hypersonic speed and blowing it and the extra locks straight away.

The metal door flies through the room and hits one of the server frames, kicking up sparks and small flames as the system malfunctions. The crew runs in but doesn't find anyone inside, merely a note left on the Runner's chair.

"T-this some kinda joke...?" David grouses and hands it off to Ori.

"I know a crooked bitch when I see one. Contact us later - Christy. PS, you said my SCOP soup was your favourite." he glances at Aliya whose eyes were wide and panicked. "Heh, looks like she's not as stupid as I thought..." he walks over and grabs the woman by her throat, quickly crushing it. "All we gotta do now is leave..."

"Yeah, easy."

*Bang!*

The crew all turn as the sound of rapid steps and radio static sound out from the hallway. They could hear the soldiers tearing open the apartment doors and clearing them, much to the distaste of the current occupants. Judging by the gunshot from earlier, one person must've disagreed and paid for it dearly.

------------------

The squad of Militech soldiers marched through the hallway in a tight line, guns aiming forwards as they approached and lasers dancing around their sightline.

[201, 202, 203, CLEAR! Breaching 20-]

The comm gets cut off short, literally, as the lead soldier's body falls apart in two pieces. The men at the back shout in surprise but end up getting bulldozed as Ori charges them, clotheslining them before methodically stomping their heads into mush.

He spits on a corpse, "Pft, Militech, buncha grunts with guns." he says and spots one fatally injured man reaching for his sidearm, he steps forwards and punts him in the chest, sending two halves of his body flying down the hallway.

"The elevator!" Pilar shouts after the first squadron is dead, ushering the group to it.

"Are you dumb!? It's been locked down!" Rebecca retorts.

Pilar shoves a multi-tool finger into the elevator panel and opens the doors, revealing the empty shaft.

"See? We take the stairs!" Rebecca says, but as she's about to step away Pilar jumps and grabs the cable, sliding straight down to the ground floor, or at least, the roof of the elevator stuck there.

"Who's dumb now, biiiiiiittch."

"Fuck you!" she growls, jumping after him.

------------------------

"Ooooh, crap... We're fish'in a barrel now." Falco breathes as they step out into the lobby and see the huge blockade outside the casino. Shit loads of giant bipedal robots, heavily armoured trucks, soldiers, AVs...

"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP, OR WE WILL USE DEADLY FORCE!"

"You come out, of the closet!" Rebecca shouts back.

"UH..." the soldier falters, glancing around at his comrades, "YOU CAN BE A COMEDIAN IN PRISON, SURRENDER NOW!"

She shrugs and idly pops her lips, "Yeah, I'm outta ideas..."

Ori shakes his head, "Whelp, sewer pipes it is then. We better hope there's a route to the underground or we are seriously fucked."

-----------------

*BANG!*

Porcelain shards and toilet water go everywhere as the explosion goes off, revealing thin piping below...

"Give it another, Maine."

*BAANG!*

"We're not gettin' anywhere with this. And those fuckin' badges'll be here any second." the large man argues.

...

Ori rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck, "We'll get out loud then... Listen, any of you unsure about this stay back and-"

"You shittin' me? Think we'll ditch everyone now!? Shut up and move you gonk half-borg asshole." Pilar says, stepping past him and out of the bathroom, but not before looking over his shoulder at them, "We'll funnel 'em up the stairs, see how they like sticking their dicks in a lead blender!"

Falco shrugs and goes to follow Pilar, "No time like the present, I guess... Maybe I'll get to see some of that gold again if we don't all bite the bullet."