Drones started to come to life around me. Not good. All alone on the first floor.
I hustled to the back, looking for another way out. There was an emergency door but it was welded shut. "This is not up to code!" I yelled in sarcastic frustration.
The other two came back down the stairs. Blitz was in a bit of haze, though I wasn't sure why. We headed for the tower, which was how to access the subterranean tunnel to the building we were seeking.
The tunnel's motion lights kicked on as we entered, showing a five-meter wide hallway that extended for a ways. There were all kinds of parts and equipment strewn all over, including hardware that included vehicle-grade weapons. We raced down the tunnel toward our destination. Halfway there the tunnel bent toward the other building. But just beyond the bend were targeting barriers. I strained to move them out of the way of my two companions with the intent of pushing them back into place to dissuade pursuit. Far ahead of us we saw two red lights come on and the sound of electronic pinging. Seemed like two entities. "You have anything for this?" I asked Blitz. He sneaked toward the lights, using some wrecked targets as cover, cutting the distance. We were about 35 meters from the red lights, whatever they were. Blitz moved up about half way; threw out a hand and the sound of metal smashing echoed from where the red lights sat. The other one whirred and moved to track Blitz. There was a muzzle flash and the sound of gunfire from the other threatening light source. Hard to tell but it seemed like a pair of sentry auto-guns. Blitz got hit but the plates in his armor seemed to absorb most of it, staggering him.
I ran up to Blitz and tried to shoot the red eye. I only winged it. I was close enough to see it at that point, a sort of tripod. It returned fire and a bullet ripped through my hip and some of the plates in my armor.
Spark stitched up the other gun emplacement and it went quiet. She came over to me while taking out a medkit. "It's not bad enough to waste time on that," I told her.
We went past more equipment and came to another set of double doors. Spark took over point since I was not in top form anymore, hobbled by the wound. The area was strewn with junk - shipping crates, boxes, parts - almost a small landfill. Up the stairs we went stealthily. Spark moved a crate but misjudged its weight and basically threw it out of the way with a crash. "Sorry," she whispered sheepishly. She moved up to the first floor door. She paused with the door open and leaned back to tell us someone was in the room. "That's you," I said to Blitz, waving him up. He went through the door tumbling as he went. All I could hear was gunfire but I couldn't see what was going on. In I rushed to see someone running up on Blitz, but the person's back was to me. He turned as I entered, then I hit him with the taser zap and it seemed to disorient him. Spark hit him with a Narcojet pistol shot and he went down in a heap.
While Spark broke out the medkit for Blitz I headed past them into the building to find Kurtis, our goal. I headed for a door leading to a service corridor, ignoring the mess hall. I passed a stairwell and the hall opened to a lobby, which seemed unkempt as evidenced by the cobwebs. The double doors are open at the front of the building and there were two men just inside. They were talking to each other so I used their distracted state to make my move across the large lobby. I got to another stairwell and headed up. This area - a barracks, by the look of it - looked more lived in. I heard far off movement and approached quietly. As I got to the door I saw an orderly with his back to me at the door. I pushed him into the room, closing the door as I followed him in, my gun out. "Follow my instructions and you live," I said deadpan.
"Whatever you want to do," he yammered. "What do you need?"
"Throw your common the ground and tell me where Kurtis is," I replied.
"Kurtis? Kurtis isn't here. They moved him. I don't know where they moved him. That's above my pay grade. Just leave me alone." I spied his tablet on the table. I grabbed it and his comm, then I tased him unconscious.
Leaving the room I could see my teammates below me in the stairwell. Blitz motioned me to a room where Spark and I can set up an ambush on a foe I don't see yet. Spark brought the comm they also stole. She began linking them by another secure channel.
The trap was sprung. One guy went into Blitz's room. Another straggler came in later, and Spark moved out to attack him with the Narcojet. The capsule hit him but a wave of energy rippled and the capsule seemed to fall away without effect. The man turned to Spark and make a finger gun, seeming to cast a spell. I leapt out, tasing him. He turned his attention to me, splitting his two fingers to send two tendrils of energy - one at each of us. At the last second, Spark threw out an arm and literally grabbed at the energy lancing toward me, snatching it and absorbing some of it instead of me taking the full power of the attack. She shot him again and this one hit him right in the chest. He jerked back violently, stumbled and fell. Spark ran up and checked him for weapons. She motioned me toward Blitz.
"You called?" I yelled to Blitz as I walked toward the guy holding him at gunpoint. The guy turned to face me and I fired the taser at him. Seeing he was surrounded he surrendered.
"Otto's stepping up their game and not just in scrap metal anymore, eh?" he said, pointing to my cap.
I handed the tablet to Spark. "Maybe this well help us find the asset."
Spark said it showed a transfer to a safe house....in Hamburg. The asset was awaiting the Russians, a team led by a Maxim Sidorov. Spark blanched at the name but said nothing.
We headed for the door, double time. I led our exit out to the wood line while successfully evading security.
Eventually, back in Hamburg, I contacted Mr. H to give him the update. He paid us 80% of the fee and said he expected us to complete the job.
"Unfortunate but out of your control," Mr. H said. "We're knee deep in this so complete the mission and contact me then."
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