God Said to Abraham...

God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son..."

[After dark; twenty-four hours left - Las Palapas Motel, Jackson Plains, Badlands]

As it turned out, getting your clock cleaned by a kid barely out of his teens made for a great reason to not be around when he showed up for another job; all of the crew breathed a little easier knowing Saul Bright was nowhere to be found, and wanted nothing to do with their affairs going forward. 'Outsiders' were Panam's arena, and she was happy to harbor that responsibility as she greeted each of them with a warm embrace. Their escorts had already settled in, the grills sizzling and the bonfire roaring. It was all familiar to them, and they were happy to be welcomed once again to another celebration of life.

It wasn't all warm and fuzzy beneath the surface, as Miz had drawn the truth from Pops earlier that day of what he was facing; but even with heavy hearts and his diminishing time looming over the crew like a rapidly approaching storm, all they could do was cherish the time they had with him, and try and remember what they loved most about the man who turned five wayward souls into a family.

Still, Miz hadn't even looked at Pops since their talk earlier, much less spoke to him. He couldn't blame her, and he wouldn't hold it against her; it was a lot to process. For almost a decade, Pops had been the proverbial Rock of Gibraltar for his adopted daughter. Through everything she experienced from adolescence to adulthood, he was the one constant in her life. It would shake anyone to their core to have that taken away from them, and Pops knew she just needed time work through it all in her own way. He could only praise Billy for being the partner she needed over the last two years. As they had grown closer and stronger together, they had also grown stronger on their own. He knew no matter what happened, they were in good hands with each other.

Ky was breathing the easiest of all of them, no doubt. Pops hated holding him to secrecy for two months; he could see it tearing the kid in half every time they were in the same room together. But now, there was a sigh of relief as there were no more secrets to keep. They could focus on good food and company for the time they had it, then focus on what was to come on the morrow. The only request Pops made, and pretty much the only thing said altogether on the drive out to the motel, was that his predicament be kept between the crew. Even though the 'Caldos wouldn't take it any particular way, he had caused enough sadness in a single day to last a lifetime, and he didn't want to be responsible for any more if he had anything to say about it.

So for now, he sat among friends; new, old, and older. And he enjoyed a round of beers as he reminisced on simpler times with Cass and some of the older nomads. All of them were poking fun at how a little brat with a loud mouth covered in grease and grime was now the second-in-command of the entire Family, Panam only a few feet away throwing up middle fingers as she laughed and tried not to blush too hard. It was a losing battle, so she settled for trying to keep beer from shooting out of her nose; another losing battle.

All in all, spirits were high, the mood was light, and for as much as the crew had been through, tonight was a night to take a load off.

--

Miz was beside herself, mentally and physically; she couldn't get out of her own head, and so she separated herself from everyone else, climbing to the top of the three story motel to look at the stars. Her legs were folded in, arms wrapped around as she shifted back and forth, trying to calm herself. She felt so small out here, like one tiny star in the vast expanse overhead; and she felt lost in all of it. She fought yet another round of tears forming as she sniffed up, the evening chill taking hold as she started to shiver.

Her nose perked up to the smell of a lit cigarette from behind, and she slumped forward, setting her head on her arms as a blanket found its way around her shoulders while Pops spoke softly, "Hmm... still mad...?"

She scoffed as she kept staring straight ahead, "I-I'm not mad... it's... it's just a lot to take in..."

Pops placed a gentle hand on Miz's back as she buried her head in between her legs, her voice muffled between light sobs, "...w-we don't keep secrets... 'member?"

He took his seat on the ledge next to her, wincing from his leg as he wormed his pinky finger around hers, curling it tight as he said with a deep sigh, "You're right, kiddo... I-I'm sorry."

They sat together in silence for a minute before Pops continued, "You've had a lifetime's worth of sadness, more 'an anyone should ever have to endure... I just didn't wan'a be 'nother reason for you to cry..."

Miz shut her eyes as tight as she could as she leaned in, Pops wrapping his arm around her. After another silent spell, she spat through the tears, "I'm going to miss you... so damn much..."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay...", Pops tried to comfort her as he kissed her head, "I ain't dead yet... jus'... take it a day at a time, yeah? We've got time."

She rested her head against him as she curled in further, "I-I love you, Pops..."

He smiled as he rested his head against hers, "I love you too, Em..."

--

[The next morning; sixteen hours left - The Badlands, South California]

Not a wink of sleep was had among the crew; how could they, given the circumstances? Panam was still none-the-wiser, but she could tell something was off. Pops had gracefully asked her, as a personal favor, to keep her focus on her people. She broke the news to him the night before that not only were the 'Caldos escorting them across the border; they were joining in the fight themselves. Pops protested, of course, but it fell on deaf ears. All present company agreed, the group they'd come to know and hate as the 'Reavers' had been a thorn in too many paws for too long. If eradication was the game, they sure as shit weren't going to sit on the sidelines.

One hundred kilometers was nothing to cover in the long run; in the days of civilized society, that was only an hour on the road at cruising speeds. These days, only a gonk stuck to the main highways, and nomads knew better than to drive in a straight line. Thus, what should have been a little over an hour would likely take the better part of four; nobody was complaining. It gave the crew time to discuss the plan with their comrades.

Los Alamos was another ghost town fallen by the wayside after the Red. At some point in the early 2060s, it was decided the town would be revived as a booming industrial center, promising jobs and homes to anyone in the area. Corps from all over swooped in to lay claim to the land for the building of factories and tract housing. And then the Unification War happened; almost overnight, the eddies dried up and the all-but-empty promises fell flat, leaving Los Alamos like hundreds of other proposed revival projects all over the NUSA.

Appropriately enough, the Reavers had holed up in one of the unfinished factory complexes on the outskirts of the town, becoming thoroughly entrenched over the course of several years. From a tactical standpoint, the entire facility was shotgun-style, front to back, with the front entrance being the only way in or out. And of course that's where the bulk of their fire was concentrated, giving them the ability to mount a large-scale defense in a very short time. Either way you paint it, the crew had a rough uphill battle ahead of them; but how was that different than any other day?

After the deafening roar of the road noise had all but faded into the background, the only thing filling the void was the chatter crossing the CB radios between the convoy; jokes, banter, directions, songs, and anything else were all fair game. Miz had to figure without something to pass the time, every nomad would have gone insane a long time ago. She caught Pops looking out the window, a smirk on his face as he listened along. She honestly wondered what it would have been like to see the old man in his element back in the day; just a rugged and young cowboy taking charge and charming his way through it all when a gun wasn't called for.

There were a lot of things she would liked to have seen, and yet now it felt like there wasn't enough time. Her head dropped as she tried to push it all out of her mind. This was neither the time nor place to be stuck in her own thoughts. Billy saw the sadness in her face and placed his hand over hers, squeezing gently as they shared a smile. Even when the walls were closing in, she had him by her side. She turned her hand over as their palms met and fingers intertwined, and she leaned into him and closed her eyes, just for a moment...

--

The convoy slowed to a crawl before lurching to a stop completely. Miz nearly lost her ass before Billy caught her from falling off the seat completely, and she rubbed her eyes as she adjusted to the light pouring in on all sides. They were literally in the middle of nowhere, nothing but desert and dunes visible in all directions. Why stop here?, she thought as she asked the crew, "W-Where are we...?"

Panam turned around from the driver seat with a smile on her face, "We're about two klicks out, it's on foot from here... mornin' sleepyhead!"

Miz laughed quietly, still rubbing her eyes as she stretched with a loud pop across her back and shoulders, "H-How long was I out?"

Billy gently massaged her shoulders, "About an hour..."

Shit, it felt like days in my dream..., Miz thought as she shook herself awake, gripping Billy's hand on her shoulder as she looked at him with a smile. Panam called back, "It's been a quiet drive for the last hour... all of ya were out cold."

Miz looked around the truck, finding Ky and Max situating themselves with a yawn as they checked their equipment one last time. And then the tailgates opened, a flood of desert sun nearly blinding everyone in the car. Pops had a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth as he smirked, "Rise an' shine, kids!"

Everyone groaned as they groggily shifted from their seats and dropped down, the sand crunching under their feet. It was like stepping on a soft pillow, and for the first time ever, Miz was thankful she wore her boots with her pants bloused. Getting sand like this out of her sneakers would be a bitch.

Once the truck was empty of all occupants, Panam lifted a hidden compartment door running the floorboards between the benches, revealing a match pair of heavily modified sniper rifles as she turned to Pops and flashed her teeth, "Hands steady?"

"As ever...", Pops answered, holding his hands up for all to see. To no one's surprise, there wasn't even a twitch or a tremble. For a man who was dying, he was alarmingly at ease and unbothered. Panam, still having no clue what was simmering beneath the surface, stepped back and said, "Take your pick, you're my backup."

Pops leaned in and grabbed one of the rifles, shouldering it familiarly as he rotated the bolt back and checked the chamber; locked and loaded, he slammed the bolt down and shut as he rested the rifle across his collar bone. Nearby, Miz was begrudgingly donning her tac vest before Billy stepped in behind with a laugh and helped strap in her sheaths on the back. Similarly, Max was checking Ky's gear, making sure everything was in order as Panam joked to Pops, "One big happy family, huh?"

He smiled fondly with a low chuckle as she continued, "Right... objective's two klicks due east. Phoenix and I should have full coverage on those two ridges overlooking the factory. We'll take out any heavy firepower to clear the way. Don't move in until I say so..."

Ky laughed, "Hey, I learned my lesson 'bout mouthing off to ya last time, Princess."

Panam flashed him a loud and proud middle finger as everyone shared a laugh. As always, Pops wrangled everyone in, "Comms check."

All the crew and their escorts gave a thumbs up, to which he turned to Panam, "Well... shall we?"

They both turned and started the long walk, just two nomads right at home in the sandy hills of bumfuck nowhere. Despite his limp, he had no problems matching pace with Panam. The rest of the crew departed off in another heading of the same general direction, and before long, the two lone wolves were by themselves. Panam didn't waste any time or pull her punches, "So... ya goin' to tell me what the fuck's going on?"

"Thought I told ya to look after your people...", Pops fired back as he stared straight ahead. Panam wasn't having it, "My people can handle their own. The night watch at the motel said your people didn't get any sleep last night, and they're all moping around like they're headed to a funeral or somethi—"

Pops' eyes dropped as he stopped in his awkward, limping tracks. Panam stumbled over her own words, and nearly her own two feet, as she turned to look back at him in disbelief, "...n-no... y-you're not..."

"Got a few more months... maybe...", Pops confessed as all the cheeky cheer left the younger nomad's face, replaced only by sadness as he started walking again and continued, "And now you have to find a way to push that out of your mind and focus."

Panam caught up to him as she gently grabbed his arm, "P-Phoenix, I'm so sorry... I-I—"

"Ain't nothin' to be sorry for, kid...", Pops retained his calm and cool demeanor, "Just how it all goes... and likely I did this to myself..."

She smirked as she pointed at the cigarette still hanging out of his mouth, "And that's the last middle finger to it all?"

Pops laughed, "Too far gone to make a difference, so this is me enjoying what I got left while I can."

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm going to miss you, old-timer", Panam said with an unusually unaffected tone as they kept walking, starting their ascent up the hill. Pops thought in silence for a moment before asking a loaded question, "You think Saul'd give me a right proper send-off?"

She laughed out loud at the audacity, "Not a chance... but I could run it by him...?"

He spat at the ground, "Ahhh... don't waste your breath. Not on him, and certainly not for me."

There were two distinct paths forking up the hill, and Panam stopped as she turned to Phoenix and hugged him tight, "This is where we split... for now... shit, I'm really gonna miss you... Pops."

Pops smirked and closed his arm around Panam for a brief squeeze before he parroted himself from the night before, "I ain't dead yet, kid... now go on, let's do what we came here to do."

Closer to the main trail, the crew was holding position behind a ridge with a clear line of sight to the front gates. As expected, it was guarded all to hell, and any attempts at a bull-headed break-in would just get a lot of people killed. At first glance, it was hard to make out that this was at one point just an abandoned factory building. There was a twelve-foot chainlink fence surrounding the property that had been modified with concertina wire and what appeared to be human skulls and entrails. There were flies buzzing around the rotting meat baking in the desert sun. The front entrance of the building itself had been adorned in multiple panels of rusted and jagged sheet metal, and there were pikes and spears jutting out and stuck in the sand as far as the eyes could see.

This didn't even closely resemble a factory anymore; instead, it looked like a hardened bastion in some post-apocalyptic wasteland where something vaguely resembling humans had embraced feral madness over intelligent thought. All things considered, it wasn't too far off the mark. Miz's heart skipped a beat at seeing them again... unholy amalgamations of crude chrome and festering flesh, marching circles in the open courtyard and snarling at each other. And these were the ones walking upright on two feet; there were other creatures, chained like rabid dogs and fighting each other in the sand.

If all of this weren't enough to make the shit curdle in your gut, the main gate had two makeshift watchtowers on either side; one sported a mounted flamethrower, the other a heavy machine gun, both manned and intently scanning the horizon.

"That's our first obstacle...", Panam pinged the crew-wide holocall, "Main gate's the second, but if we don't clear those towers, we don't stand a chance at getting through."

Billy poked his head around for a look, "Right, so... what's the pla—"

A single suppressed shot, loud as it was, rang out from overhead, and in less than a second, the machine gunner's head vaporized into a cloud of pink and red mist. The flamethrower operator began to panic, letting off several wild bellows of flames as he yelled out at nothing in particular. Before long, a second shot rang out from further off, and as quick as the operator's neck exploded in into sinew and bone, the head flew up in the air before a third shot obliterated it into nothing but chunks.

Panam scoffed, "Fuckin' showoff..."

"Aren't those bolt-actions?", Ky asked in disbelief, to which Panam answered, "Oh yeah... the old man's just that fast."

Up on the hill, Pops smirked as he looked away from the scope and down the hill, scouting the landscape before he added his two cents, "That's 'bout as clear as you're goin' ta get. Blow that gate 'fore they get new bodies in those perches."

"Hunker down, kids...", Panam chuckled, "Trouble's on the way..."

The crew looked around, collectively thinking to themselves, What the fu— oh..., as an unmanned vehicle barreled down the valley corridor in a straight line, only gaining speed as it blew by them. From what little Miz could catch, there was a stick of some kind jammed against the steering wheel to keep it straight and true, likely something heavy jamming the gas pedal down. One of the nomads yelled in the holocall to get a move on, and everyone followed, trying in vain to keep up with the roadworthy ramrod.

It was only 100 meters to the front gates; had they been running on their own, they'd have all been picked off before they ever had a chance, but with a vehicular battering ram and two sharpshooters on over-watch, they liked their chances. And they all had to admire Panam's methods. She was direct, but not bullheaded. She knew when and where to keep things simple, and she never left a choom behind. However today shook out, they'd be in good hands with her watching their backs.

With a heavy boom and a crash, the crew watched the entire scene unfold as the nomad car impacted against the front gates, detonating a bomb hidden in the engine bay as it rolled through the breached entrance. A second explosion mushroomed into the air as the full tank of CHOOH2 ignited, sending a rippling shock-wave in the sand that nearly landed the crew on their asses.

A third smaller explosion shook them all the same as the combusted canister attached to the mounted flamethrower consumed the other tower, the belt-fed machine gun popping off its unspent rounds like little firecrackers. Ky couldn't help himself as he watched with a wide smile, "Is it the New Year already?!"

They were far enough away that the rounds wouldn't do much damage, mostly just punching the sand around the gates, but nobody was taking any chances. After almost two minutes of little pops and whistles, there was a relative silence, only the dull roar of flames filling the background. The nomad vehicle had done its job, blowing a hole wide open as the burning husk turned the sand around it to glass in the factory's courtyard. Before long, the crew and their nomads escorts readied themselves in the corridor as Panam and Pops tagged and counted off bodies crawling out from all over the building and scurrying through the sand.

Of all people, Billy had to be the voice of reason as he called out "We just kicked the fuckin' hornets' nest..."

"And now we better kill all the fuckin' hornets...", Miz finished the sentence for him with a smile, "After you, Tiger."

Billy smiled as he looked to Ky, and they nodded to one another before turning to their nomad chooms and calling out orders. It was a simple formation; create a line of fire concentrated on the front gates. Nobody, including feral reavers, were stupid enough to try and climb a fence covered in tripled stacks of razor-wire. The nomads had the plateaus around the factory covered if anyone got brave enough to scale the rock-face and try to flank; that left only the front gates, and what a glorious bottleneck it was. Even if a few did manage to break free of the concentrated fire, they'd only have the crew waiting eagerly to put them on their asses.

Miz especially was all kinds of excited to get some payback for the last time. She gently rubbed her fingers over the scar on her cheek before drawing her Unity. As the encroaching screams and war-cries rang out, Billy didn't waste his chance to ping a quick and private call, "Whatever happens, I love you Em..."

"I love you too, Tiger... now shut up and focus.", Miz fired back with a hip-check. Before long, they once again heard Panam yelling in their ears, "Pops, what the fuck are you doing?!"

"Ain't ever sat a fight out, sure as shit not goin' ta start now...", Pops answered with a rhythmic and pained grunt; he was limping his way down the hill to join his family on the front lines. They could admonish his stubbornness later, but for now they were just concerned about keeping him upright long enough to do what he did best. Of course, that didn't stop him from taking control of the situation as he broke through the line of nomads and his own crew while barking, "Nobody fires a fuckin' shot 'til I do... clear?!"

Panam took her well-intentioned dig while she had the chance, "It's your show, old man. Impress us..."

Pops pulled an airhypo from his vest's many compartments, giving a quick shake as he popped off the cap and jammed it as crudely as he could manage into his thigh with another pained grunt; his grimace quickly turned into a face of almost euphoric relief as he dropped the wasted canister into the sand and took aim with his Ol' Faithful as he muttered to himself, "...out on highway sixty-one..."

The reavers had already formed a sizable pack as they squeezed through the gates before starting their mad rush towards the firing line. The nomads' trigger fingers were getting itchy as they patiently waited for Pops to fire the first shot, and the tension was palpable. It didn't take a mind-reader to figure out they were all asking themselves the same thing, What the fuck is he waiting for?!

As if to grant their wish, a smirk crept in on the old cowboy's face as he aimed down the worn iron sights of his revolver and finally pulled the trigger. Whether frozen in anticipation or something else, it was nearly an entire full second before the hail of fire erupted from the nomads against the approaching swarm. It was only at most thirty bodies running towards them with a suicidal fury, but thirty kamikrazie motherfuckers was enough to easily overwhelm ten nomads and the five crew if they didn't keep their shit tight.

The rapidly encroaching bodies were quickly rendered into little more than ground-up meat as the sand stained red with their blood and claret. They never stood a chance, and yet it was altogether troubling that it was so easy. In less than sixty seconds, thirty bodies ceased to exist. One had to assume the factory was packed full of these feral fuckers fluttering around like cockroaches, but something else was at play; the crew and their escorts were standing in a relatively narrow corridor with only one feasible way in or out, and their backs were exposed. And it was altogether quiet... too quiet.

Pops collected his thoughts as he shifted himself to look to the rear. He knelt down as much as his stiff leg would allow, and placed a hand against the sand. He could feel the rumble, and then he could hear the sounds of red-lined engines screaming toward them with furious vexation. They were trapped; it was a trap, only confirmed by Panam calling out from her over-watch position, "God damnit, of course we have a fucking Raffen war-party inbound!"

A smirk crept on Pops' face as he answered, "They're boxin' us in... not bad for a bunch of wild animals... can you hold 'em off?"

"We'll give you as long as you need...", Panam fired back, "But try and hurry the fuck up. It just became Murderer's Alley down there."

Pops turned to their escorts as he barked orders offline, "Stay down and keep to the walls! There's only one way in or out, so don't get caught in the open... let them come to you!"

"What about you?!", one of the escort called out, to which Pops smiled, "We'll keep the Reavers off your backs, you keep the Raffen off ours."

All the escorts smiled and nodded at the old nomad's calm and cool attitude before breaking their line to opposite sides of the valley. There wasn't much for cover, but the natural formations jutting out were better than nothing. As they left the five crew standing alone, Pops looked to each of his family fondly before he said, "Be careful in there... Max, find somewhere up high and lay low, we'll need you to guide us on the subnet... Miz, look after her. Billy and Ky, with me, we'll tear in from the ground and work our way up... or down... I guess we'll find out."

All the crew chuckled at the casual demeanor as they turned and followed Pops toward the front gates. They were used to his 'calm before the storm' way of handling things, but given the stakes at hand, it was truly awe-inspiring that he'd managed to stay in this good of spirits for this long. They could hear the rumbling growing louder behind them; the wind carried with it cheering voices and stray gunfire. The Raffen were amping themselves up for a good time; and not just any old Raffen, but Pops surmised these were probably Wraiths, which were about one step removed from the Reavers themselves. Even Raffen Shiv avoided the Wraiths. Short of full cyberpsychosis, they were the nastiest and dirtiest motherfuckers roaming the Badlands. They preyed on the weak and vulnerable, and nothing was off limits for them. None of the crew liked leaving their nomad chooms to fight alone, but they all knew this was the only chance they'd have at getting Liv back to her boys, and so they pressed forward.

The space inside the gates was unusually quiet, especially considering there were bits and pieces of thirty bodies littering the ground less then thirty feet away. The shell of the nomad vehicle was still burning, and there were pockmarked glass craters in the sand where the mines had been set off either by the series of explosions or the stray ammunition popping off from the mounted machine gun. Either way, the crew were on edge, eyes attentive to their surroundings, listening for the littlest change. It wasn't likely what was left of the Reavers would run right out and meet their demise. Someone had called the Wraiths for help, so let them do the dirty work; the Reavers could mop up whatever was left over. But if these feral fuckers really were beyond the edge of insanity, who was lucid enough to call the shots? Unless...

Nobody wanted to entertain the notion of a rogue AI with a strong instinct for survival and self-preservation; it was easier to not have to consider the complexities of a machine-learning construct resembling human nature, but from everything they'd heard over the years, be it the rumblings of underworld netrunners or the pseudo-Orwellian NetWatch PSAs, it was hard to remain ignorant of the wonders and horrors of the Old NET. That Max of all people had breached the Blackwall and lived to speak of it was in and of itself nothing short of the stuff of legends. She had succeeded and surpassed where both Brigitte and her own father had failed, hence earning the moniker of "Mad Max" and all that it implied. Still, something was driving these once-human walking corpses, and if they couldn't even string a coherent sentence together between them, it had to be the AI calling the shots... and making the calls.

A daunting and depressing thought suddenly ran through Pops' mind, and he stopped in his tracks as his entire body tensed up. Max read his mind, speaking for him as she rested a hand against his shoulder, "Twy and capture one o' dem alive... 's mo' than likely the AI is controllin' dem. Dey no' mad... dey are slaves..."

She winced as the words left her mouth, but the crew understood, and they all nodded in agreement as Pops smiled, "Thanks, Max... they're still people, far removed from humanity as they may be. Not likely we can do much for 'em now, but still..."

A gut-wrenching feeling washed over the crew as Ky stepped up, "T-That pile of bodies we just cut down..."

Pops nodded, "Ain't pretty... but 's what we do. If it 'elps, think of it as givin' 'em a release they been denied for too long..."

It was the Ghostrunner all over again, and Miz's entire body shuddered at the notion as she tried to shake the feeling and holster her Unity. Her hands were shaking, and any attempts she made at calming herself had little effect as she turned to Max, "C'mon, let's do this before we lose our nerve..."

"Wi bosmang...", Max nodded, and the pair took the first steps forward. Trying to see these beasts as still human, considering they damage they inflicted once already, would be an undertaking in and of itself; it didn't help that as soon as they stepped closer, a rabid goon flew out of a side door crashing wide open, running straight for the boys with a crude pike in his hand as a blood-curdling scream echoed.

BANG!

No sooner did the single reaver find his footing than his head vaporized into a pink mist as the body collapsed into the sand, smoke rising from the barrel of Pops' revolver. He sucked his teeth with a low grumble, "Easier said than done, I s'pose..."

The hand was still wrapped tight around the makeshift pike, a rigged mortar shell affixed to the business end of it. Not one to take a chance, Billy fired a single shot, the shell bursting and sending the pieces of the corpse flying up as sand showered all of them. Ky punched his choom's arm with a scoff and joked, "Was that really necessary?"

"Well, y'know, live ordnance and all...", Billy smirked as everyone rolled their eyes and focused up. He looked to Miz with a smile and a nod, "See you on the other side, babe."

"Yeah... promises...", Miz smiled back before she took a long look at Pops as Max pulled her by the arm. They were under the gun of time, and it was now or never...

--

[Twelve hours left]

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

WHAM!

Miz's chromed fist crashed against the side of a captured and bound reaver's face, rearranging the lower jaw nearly two inches to the right. It was the first moment not filled with piercing and snarling screams, and she released a deep and frustrated sigh before firing several shots out the door to drop two more feral fuckers on the catwalk outside the upstairs office.

Max was hard at work on a terminal, her eyes a flurry of blue as she called out, "Oye, 'im gonya be bwaindead, ya keep dat up..."

"Fuckin' fine by me!", Miz fired back, emptying the rest of her current magazine as another gonk tried to bumrush them. They just wouldn't stop coming, crawling out of every crevice and cranny ready for a fight. She casually dropped her empty mag before slamming another in right behind as she released the slide lock with her thumb. Max broke her staring contest with the terminal display as she looked to Miz and smirked, "Choomba, breathe..."

With the rare moment Miz had to take a breath, she turned to Max, a finger pointing to the scar across her cheek with a raised eyebrow. The message was received, but Max pressed her point, "I need one o' dem alive as a proxy... if I jack in ta de terminal direct, dey no tellin' I don' end up scrambled jus' like 'dem."

Miz relaxed her stance, a smile breaking across her face, "No promises if he starts screamin' again, babe..."

They shared a laugh as Miz went to work, plugging a cord into the incapacitated reaver's neuralink port as Max explained her process, "All o' dem work as a hive-mind... I t'ink... meanin' dey have direct connection ta de big bombad... if I can use da terminal as a go-be'ween, I ca—"

"Max... I trust you", Miz reassured her favorite netrunner with a gentle pat to her back, "Focus on what you have to do, I've got you covered."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the window at the far end of the mezzanine office exploded into shattered pieces as a body crashed through. She wasted no time running to it, her gorilla arm ready to cause some serious damage, but she was too late. The body was already dead, likely before it was airborne. She chanced stepping closer to the window as she caught Billy on the ground level, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk before he mimed a kiss in her direction. Rack 'em up, Tiger, she thought as she gave a wink and a subtle head nod back.

It'd been an hour at least since they crashed into the factory building, but for as many reavers as they had already encountered, there wasn't much of a fight to be had. Miz made short work of most of them in simple hand-to-hand exchanges, trying to conserve her ammo, but she hadn't even had to break out her katana yet. And there was no organization to their movements... hivemind, my ass, she thought to herself, briefly flashing back to her first encounter almost two years ago. Those reavers were organized, almost coordinated; their current hosts were just swarming at them like zombies from a shitty B-movie. Something was off, but Miz couldn't make heads or tails of what exactly.

Her attention was drawn back to the present as another reaver slammed into the swinging door of the office, breaking through as he stumbled slightly. Miz charged a dash towards him before his head exploded and painted the wall behind him in blood and brains. Max was still hard at work, typing with one hand as her other hand was held out, smoke rising from the barrel of her tech pistol as she joked, "Na worry, I got 'im..."

She dropped the iron on the desk and resumed her wizardry as Miz laughed, eyes darting back and forth for whatever the fuck was going to happen next.

Down on the ground level, things were a bit more hairy and haywire; Pops' limited mobility kept him mostly in one spot, laying down cover fire. Ky stayed with him to watch his back, the both of them watching over Billy as the younger merc cleared a path, chewing through wave after wave of reavers bearing down on him. Ky was capable with his bare hands when he needed to be, but Billy had more than proven himself over the last two years as the better contender of the group. As calm and collected as he appeared, there was an animalistic energy about him when he was in the zone. Pops always joked he was just glad the pup knew how to flip the switch when it mattered.

As it stood, Billy had little trouble making his way through the front section of the factory building. He had left a trail of bodies in his wake, save for the one he launched through the mezzanine office window; he was sure he'd get a mouthful for that when the job was done. He nearly lost his head in that moment as a wild slash from a cleaver just barely grazed the tips of his hair as he ducked at the last second, unloading three slugs from his Crusher shotgun into the assailant's stomach. Each blast took more of the flesh and guts with it, painting the stacks of shelves and crates in 'ganic and synthetic blood until the body crumpled into a pile of meat. It wasn't over yet, as Billy caught sight of at least four more reavers headed straight for him, and his Crusher was empty... he could have reached for his holstered revolver, but there was no time; they'd be on him too quickly. Instead, he braced his Gorilla Arm as he grabbed hold of a tall shelf running all the way to the end of the room. He mustered every ounce of strength into a yell as he pulled the shelf down, stepping back to watch it crash into the adjacent stacks creating a domino effect of carnage, crushing his would-be attackers. To put a not-so-tidy bow on the whole affair, he haphazardly tossed a grenade into the middle of the pile, ducking for cover as a concussive blast followed by shrapnel shredded anything over three feet tall. Ragged bits of rebar and concrete flew in all directions, Ky pulling Pops to the floor as it all crashed overhead.

After everyone's ears had stopped ringing, there was only echoing silence until a voice yelled from the upstairs office, "What the fuck are you gonks doing down there?! Jesus!!!"

Billy peaked over a short stack of crates, surveying the damage by his own hands as he muttered, "Woah...", before turning to find an agitated Miz staring down at him as he called out, "Hey guys... I think I cleared a path..."

She clenched her jaw to stifle a smile as she jumped down from the freshly blown hole in the office's wall, landing light as a feather on her feet. Pops called to everyone in earshot, "Are we clear?!"

Miz and Billy took a quick look around the now ruined room as they called out in unison, "Clear!"

Pops turned to Ky, still shielding the old cowboy with his body as he said, "Then get the fuck off me, unless you're plannin' to make it worth my while..."

"Fuck you, old man", Ky laughed as he jumped to his feet, extending his hand to help Pops off the ground. Max elect to take the stairs, kicking the dead bodies out of her way with a casual disregard, and all the crew met in the middle of the open space. They hadn't taken the time to really look around since crashing through the doors with a quickness, but they felt as though they were standing in the remains of a slaughterhouse; there were chains and heavy hooks suspended from the rafters, covered in rust, stale blood, and other bodily fluids. It was enough to churn your stomach to even hint at the possibility of what those hooks were used for, but Pops already had an idea as he locked eyes with a cracked door at the far end of the space. He quickly glanced all around, his eyes narrowing as he said to nobody in particular, "This place seem bigger from the outside?"

"Das a wi", Max stepped forward, eyes flashing orange as they all received an incoming transfer; it was a three-dimensional map of the entire facility, and to Pops' point, the room in which they were presently standing was only a small part. As she mentally manipulated the map for them to observe, through the door at the end of the room was a large hallway feeding off to other smaller hallways, not to mention a series of tunnels bored under the plateau nestling either side of the facility, all culminating in a large sanctum. From what they could all gather, the real fight would happen underground, and there was no telling what else they'd encounter as they delved deeper. This was only the tip of the spear.

Pops tried to raise Panam on holocall, but received no answer; he could only surmise they were still in the thick of it with Raffen out front. At least, he hoped that's why she didn't answer. He resolved to push forward regardless as he directed the crew to take point, limping along behind as he covered the rear.

Ky was the first to the door, tossing in a flash-bang as he turned and shielded his eyes, the crew following suit. After blinding flash and a deafening roar that shook the hallway, he charged in, Billy on his heels as they cleared the entryway. As Max stepped up beside them, Ky asked the pertinent question, "You get what you needed from the live one...?"

Max smiled, "Mmm... got enough... de AI rests in da big chamber undergwound. Is powered by by solar panels on da surface."

Billy called back as he pushed further down, "Pretty sophisticated for a bunch of animals like we've been led to believe..."

"If they're really slaves to the machine like Max says", Miz chimed in, stepping up to cover Billy's blind side, "There's no telling what they're capable of if the AI's pulling the strings."

"That doesn't explain the whole cannibalism and rape thing though, does it?", Ky asked as he cleared a smaller hallway to their left. Billy answered, "Maybe the AI only takes over when needed? Rest of the time, they function on pure primal instinct..."

"Anyone else's sphincter just tighten up?", Pops asked with a smirk as he brought up the rear, eliciting a chuckle from all the crew. Max's eyes were still flashing blue in the dark as she spoke once again, "Da subnet still alive, cameras an' all... I go' heat signatures, but dey is nothin' until we pass into de undergwound."

Nothing except for a sudden putrid stench and a distant wailing they couldn't quite place, but Billy raised his hand nonetheless as they all stopped dead in their tracks. The smell was familiar to Pops, from a long time ago, and his face hardened because of it, his eyes cutting for a split second to Miz. She was right there in front of him, plain as day, but for a brief moment he felt like he was still screaming for her in a dank basement hallway in South Kabuki. As everyone stood still, he stepped forward and took point, forcing himself along as his leg dragged behind and letting his nostrils guide the way. He tried another holocall to Panam, relieved that she answered this time, "Now's really not a good time, cowboy!"

His voice was firm in reply, "We're goin' to need some eyes down here, hands too... bring rebreathers if ya have 'em..."

"Shit... ya found something...", Panam answered with surprise in her voice, "Let me finish up here, I'll let you know we're on the way..."

The call dropped as Miz stepped up next to Pops; she'd only seen that look in his eyes once before. A deep sadness, immeasurable grief, the same look he had when he finally found her almost ten years ago, chained to a wall and screaming. In an instant, she froze up, feeling like the walls were closing in around her, and the world disappeared until she felt a large but gentle hand on her back. To her surprise, she didn't jerk away, but instead looked up to Pops looking back at her. His eyes said it all, and she read his mind as she whispered, "I'm okay..."

He nodded, his eyes darting down a hallway as they passed and he called back, "Ky... mark this corner, please..."

They didn't call him 'boyscout' for nothing; Ky dutifully pulled a small canister from a pouch on his tac vest, shaking it vigorously before spraying an invisible 'X' on the near wall from the direction they came, and an arrow on the opposite inside wall pointing towards the door at the end. His eyes flashed blue for several seconds as he checked his handiwork, smirking as his Kiroshi optics tagged both walls clearly with the symbols glowing. He turned to Pops and nodded, "Done... let's move."

He took point, leading them further down the large hallway, and yet somehow with every step it felt smaller and smaller. While the stench eventually faded into the background, the wailing sounds only grew in volume. Someone, or several someones, were screaming, crying, begging for mercy; but there was no mercy to be had in this dark and distant corner of the world. Not unless the crew could do something about it. Every scream caused Miz's face to contort as she tried to fight back the tears of losing herself in her own past. Though she'd never admit it, she was afraid, almost consumed by a fear she'd managed to push into the far reaches of her mind. Billy could hear it in her uneven breathing, but what could he do about it here and now? What could any of them do except push forward?

And push forward they did, until they reached the end of the hall opening up into a kind of unfinished staging area connecting three large tunnels. The concrete floor broke and crumbled as it meshed with dirt and gravel leading further down. There were barely functioning work lamps on tripods flickering into the darkness, and yet they could see a solid trunk of pipes and cables illuminated in a dull and pulsing red glow traversing the unfinished earthen ceiling overhead. There were spears and sticks jutting up from the ground, doused in blood and decorated with skulls, ribcages, and rotting entrails filling the air. The entire scene haunted them, and yet it was all for naught if they didn't continue.

Pops turned to Max as he relegated any further communication to holocall only, "So... which way we goin'...?"

Max's eyes fluttered blue as she scanned the map before she answered, "Dead ahead is da quickes' way ta de main chambers..."

"Nice choice of words, babe...", Ky quipped, eliciting groans from the crew as Max continued, "Dey is a large concentration o' heat ta de right... not'in' but traps and mines on de left."

As it happened, the right side is where the screams appeared to be coming from. They had to assume that tunnel led to any live captives, and they also didn't have time or resources to save them all by themselves. Panam's crew would have to darken the door.

"So dead ahead we go... Ky, mark the right side", Pops continued as he staggered his way off the ledge, the dirt kicking up from the impact of his boots. Ky nodded and moved to their right as he planted a small probe into the earthen wall and twisted the cap. A dull blue glow emanated as several bits of the probe spread open, and he stepped back over to Pops' side.

Miz's face threading was solid red, her eyes glowing the same color as she scanned around them. Her breathing was more uneven than in the hallway, the entire crew taking notice. Billy cautiously approached her from the side, "...Em... it's okay..."

"It'll be okay when every single one of these fuckers are dead...", Miz fired back with contempt. Billy chanced reaching out with his hand, gently squeezing her shoulder. He could feel the heat and tension radiating off of her; she was trembling, try as she might to control it. He let go before he dropped down next to Pops, turning to offer his hand. She said nothing, but a light smile crept into the corners on her mouth as she accepted and hopped down. She tried to play it off, giving Billy a gentle nudge in the arm as she walked past.

To add to the distant screams echoing in the distance, all ears perked up to encroaching snarls from the main tunnel; exactly where they needed to go. Ky took a chance, stepping across to the other side as he pulled a grenade from his vest and tossed it as far as he could down the left tunnel. The grenade bounced off a wall, its roll echoing until a distant boom sounded, triggering a chain reaction of subsequent booms moving in the other direction... or so he thought as he turned to the crew with a smirk before an explosion at the mouth of the tunnel sent him to the ground as it painted everyone else in dirt. The tunnel collapsed before their eyes, sending dust and debris flying out. Billy ran to Ky's side to check on him, not surprised to find he was a-okay, coughing dust and chuckling to himself as he pushed up. Billy nonetheless helped him to his feet as Pops smirked and said, "Havin' fun...?"

"What?! Pretty lady herself said there's nothin' but trip-mines and nastiness that way...", Ky joked as he stretched his back with a loud pop. Pops asked the pertinent question, "You a'right?"

Ky winked as he picked up his rifle and answered, "Right as rain, hoss... but uh, they probably know we're here now."

"Yeah, thanks for that...", Miz chimed in as she holstered her Unity in favor of bringing her rifle to the ready. Pops set the plan in motion as he barked the play, "Form up here, line of fire on the first wave, then move in."

They all moved into position as the first wave came into view from the darkness. It was least ten reavers, all snarling and barking as they quickly covered ground while the crew took aim. Before anyone could fire, all ten bodies stopped in their tracks as their lifeless eyes lit up bright red and arcs of electricity shot from their crudely implanted cyberware. Before long, they all fizzed and popped as they fell to the ground, smoke rising from their corpses. To add a bit of dramatic flair, one of the bodies actually caught fire, the flesh smoldering into the enclosed space. Though nobody needed to, all eyes turned to Max, a red glow subsiding in her eyes as she uncurled her fists and let her arms fall by her side.

Billy whistled as he turned to look back down the now vacant tunnel and said, "Ky, you're in a world of hu—"

"Yeah... I know...", Ky cut him off as the crew shared an uneasy laugh.

A holocall rang in all their heads from Panam as she called out, "Next time, we take the barge and charge shit, ya hear?!"

Pops laughed, "Everyone okay up there?"

"A few scuffs and scrapes, nothing we can't manage... workin' our way down to you now", she answered. Pops continued, "Could use a few guns down here to watch our backs... Ky marked a few spots that need seein' to..."

Panam's voice shifted to concern, "Right, you mentioned rebreathers... bodies?"

"More 'an likely...", Pops answered, "Got another tunnel down here too, just follow the screams..."

Another shift, this time with a sigh of relief, "...shit... at least they're alive... in a manner of speaking... okay, we'll see you on the other side."

"Well, don't s'pose I need to say it...", Pops spoke out loud with a smirk. There was only one way, and they all knew it. As he limped forward, all the rest formed a circle around him; two in front, two in back, rotating around every few seconds. They had full coverage, and yet they still felt exposed. When the tunnel could descend no deeper and the ground evened out, they were met with a bend, a corner, and they could already sense the trap awaiting them on the other side. Ky once again took point, inching closer to the edge. He could hear them all breathing, waiting patiently, not moving a muscle. He swallowed the knot in his throat as he carefully extended his hand past the edge. Without missing a beat, he pulled it back and turned away as a barrage of fire from two chain guns ripped at the rock and dirt of the walls.

The debris flying off killed what little visibility there was, but the more pressing matter was the risk of a cave-in. The sheer firepower shook the very ground and could cause the walls and ceiling to come crashing on their heads at any point. Miz took the lead as she stepped across Ky, pulling a flash-bang from his vest. She angled her head back, silently telling him to get the fuck out of her way as her eyes narrowed, and she took his place against the wall with her back against. Breath after deep breath, she centered herself, her face threading and eyes flashing bright red before she primed and tossed the grenade. While everyone else hunkered down for cover, Miz stayed standing, extending the scratchers on her left hand as she counted off in her head, Three... two... one... NOW!

Another blinding flash and a concussive bang, and Miz was gone. She broke to the far wall, sprinting as fast as she could while the reavers recovered from the blast. There were two mounted and manned chain guns, and at least half a dozen bodies writhing and snarling on the ground; she didn't have much time, and she broke towards the closest gun first. She jumped against the wall, planting a foot before charging off as she crashed into the reaver standing behind the mounted weapon. Before he could recover, she plunged her scratchers into his throat, ripping clear with a handful of his esophagus and vocal cords as fresh blood splattered the already bloodstained walls.

She locked eyes on the next gunner, breaking into another sprint as he tried, and failed, to swing his gun around in time. Miz dodged clear of the barrel as she swung around, crashing into the reaver's shoulder before recovering. As he staggered back, she pressed into him, grabbing both sides of his head as she wrenched his neck with a sickening crunch. Her attention was drawn to a series of growls behind her, and she turned to face six menacing beasts crawling on all fours, slobbering all over themselves as they licked their chops. In short order, Ky and Billy turned the corner, rifles at the ready as they fired several shots each, the bullets tearing through the reavers' flesh as they screamed and tried to turn in time. The boys made short work of them, doing their diligence as they cleared the rest of the room. Miz scoffed at the whole affair as she flipped her hair out of her face, "Hey, nice of ya to stop by— AGH FUCK!!!"

She dropped to her knees, here eyes shuttering red and blue as she grabbed at her head. She felt like she was on fire from the inside out, and her vision blurred and glitched with red artifacts. She could hear a voice screaming, but it wasn't a reaver; it was in her own head, and she could almost feel the claws clutching and tearing at her. Her flesh was being ripped from her bones, and she was watching it happen as her own screams mixed with those in her head. And then there was nothing, empty black all around as an evil called to her from the darkness, "...SUBMIT... SUCCUMB..."

Pops poked his head around the corner as he watched Ky, Billy, and Miz all writhing on the floor before he saw the tall and gangly figure at the other end of the open area. He was dressed in some kind of tattered robes, his skin pierced with human bones, not his own, and holding his hand out as he chanted and held a staff of some kind decorated with a skull at the top. His eyes were shuddering red, and with every slam of his staff against the ground, the three bodies convulsed. Pops drew his revolver and took aim, letting off a single shot right as the reaver noticed he was there... just in the nick of time. The reaver's head exploded against the wall as the body fell, and within a few seconds, all three of his crew had calmed... well, somewhat...

"What the fuck was that?!", Miz yelled out, the first to pull herself together as she winced and massaged her temples. Max ran to Ky to check on as Pops knelt next to Billy. They were alive, but clearly shaken up, and it took them almost a minute to come-to. As Billy's eyes opened, he groaned weakly and called out, "Did anyone else just see themselves being ripped to fuckin' shreds and a demonic voice laughing?"

"Y-You too, huh?", Miz answered, seemingly out of breath as she struggled to her feet. Pops looked over to the reaver he'd shot as he offered his own thoughts on the matter, "Fella I shot was wavin' around a staff and chantin'..."

"Fuck!", Ky blurted as he sat upright at the waist, "Of course they have fuckin' witch-doctors!"

Miz shared the sentiment as she stumbled toward the rest of the crew, "Motherfucker nearly cooked the chrome in our brains, that's for damn sure... no wonder they're like this."

Pops smirked as he poked fun at all of them, "Guess I ought'a count my blessin's on bein' all 'ganic, then."

Max punched his arm and retorted, "Nah, bosmang... ya go' a link jus' like de res' o' us. Only reason ya did na' get hit... nor me—"

"Is because he didn't know we were there...", Pops finished the sentence for her with a shrug of his eyebrows, "Well, so much for my superiority complex... thanks Max."

She laughed, and they both helped their chooms to their feet. Ky shook the last bits of his little acid trip away as he asked, "What the fuck was that anyway? No quick-hack I've ever seen..."

"Das na' quick-hack...", Max answered, "Seem dey harness de AI into a weapon."

Billy asked a pertinent but loaded question, "Any defense against that?"

Miz shook her head, "We all run the same ICE Max does... and they broke right through us."

"Seems we have to be careful movin' forward", said Pops in his usual fatherly tone.

"Where the fuck is the fun in that?!", Panam called out as she rounded the corner with a smile, prompting Ky to fire back, "You're about as timely as the angel of death, princess..."

Panam laughed, "Yeah yeah yeah, fuck you too fly-boy... good to see you're all still breathing... huh, I thought there'd be more."

"Seems they're lettin' us come to them...", Pops mused as he stared down the only way forward and loaded fresh rounds into the empty chambers of his revolver. Their nomad escort was almost giddy as she tried to press on, "Well, what're we waitin' for?!"

Pops retained his usual calm and stoic demeanor, but a blind man could see his patience was testy at best. He unceremoniously slammed shut the cylinder of his revolver as he asked, "Rooms upstairs get taken care of...?"

Ever the impetuous child that Pops remembered, Panam had a pouty look on her face before she remembered why they were here in the first place, and she resigned as she settled her stance, "Y-Yeah... uh... first room was a fuckin' mess... not just bodies either. Pieces of bodies, and they look like they've been chewed on."

"Well... ya did say once upon a time they were cannibals...", Pops wasn't giving an inch as he kept checking and rechecking his revolver, "How's 'bout the other room?"

"Rooms, actually...", Panam said with her hands on her hips, "There were fifteen people still alive... the screams were a few dragged off into side rooms. Guess the feral fuckers got frisky."

Again, Pops gave no reaction, and Panam was visibly pissed as she took a step towards him, "Phoenix... w-what the fuck are you waiting for?!"

He twirled the revolver on his trigger finger before catching it in his hand as he aimed down sights at the floor and said, "Panam... I just watched three of my people writhe around on the floor like they's possessed because these assholes have figured out how to weaponize that high-tech shit we're here to retrieve. You tell me you've found a room full o' rotted half-eaten corpses, and another room full o' folk that'll likely never have a normal life again, much less sleep with the lights off."

Panam turned away, admonishing herself as Pops continued, his voice booming as it raised, "And need I remind you, the whole reason we're in this fucked up place is 'cause some corpo-rat sum'bitch has my partner at the business end of a gun... now, how the FUCK do you suggest I conduct my affairs?!"

Her eyes shut tight, tears forming at the edges as she weakly whispered, "I-I'm sorry..."

Pops vented his frustration with a deep sigh, stepping forward as he wrapped his arm around Panam and pulled her close. She brought her arm up as she buried her face in his chest and held on tight. After a few seconds like this, he tail-ended it all, "There's so much pain already in all of this. And I will not put my crew... or yours... at risk as long as my lungs still draw breath, d'ya understand?"

Lungs... he made no mention of the fact that he was dying, and that made it hurt all the worse as Panam grabbed at her old choom's vest and nodded into his shoulder with a light sob. Amid everything having gone sideways in what little time he had left, he still put others first. Who could blame him for taking an extra second to catch the few remaining breaths allotted to him? He gently rubbed Panam's back as he whispered comfort to her, and before long, she pulled away and tried to pull herself together, "Okay... s-so what's the plan?"

"Your people lay the corpses to rest, and get the survivors out of here", Pops answered diligently, "Get four of your best down here to move with us."

She nodded with a sniffle, turn away to make the arrangements as Pops looked to Max, "You know how to shut this thing down?"

"Dey no shuttin' down", Max shook her head, "The core is self-contained... bes' we can do is wrap in a Faraday cage. Not'in' in, not'in' out..."

Ky shook his head in disbelief, "Y-You're telling us that a fuckin' baba yaga rogue AI is susceptible to a little EM interference?!"

"I mean, unless you plug into it directly...", Billy shrugged as he showed a surprising amount of insight, "It's still using wavelengths to broadcast otherwise. It is still a computer and it's still bound by the same hardware rules."

"Hey, how come he gets to be cute and smart?!", Ky fired back with a smirk, lightening the mood ever so slightly before Pops reined them back in, "Either way, step carefully. Can't risk this shit happenin' again."

All the crew nodded in agreement as Panam's four chooms rounded the corner, weapons at the ready. She smiled as she looked at all of them together and borrowed Pops' words, "Well... shall we...?"

--

[Ten hours left - Still underground in the middle of nowhere...]

The only thing Panam hated more than other people being right was walking into an ambush, and sure as shit that's what they were doing by delving deeper; Pops had called it right. The reavers were digging in, letting the crew come to them. There were a few one-off skirmishes along the way, but all that did is wear out the crew and waste ammo. Nobody could fault the tactic really; keep chipping away and let them drain themselves before the final showdown.

At least that would have been the play if Miz didn't have such a bone to pick. She'd taken point at every encounter, working her hand-to-hand magic with a fierceness that even had Pops staring in awe. Nobody had seen her fight like this since before the Waterfront gig, but also nobody could blame her; she was carrying a lot of pain and anger, and there were no shortage of assholes on which she could vent her frustrations, but even she had a breaking point.

They didn't know what they were up against, or how many. Max couldn't nail down a specific number, just that there was a large heat signature in the main chamber. Of course they didn't want to just waltz right in, but they didn't have many options. They'd cleared any smaller tunnels shooting off from the main path, all dead ends. So right in the front door it was, like a bunch of gonks for all to see. With ten hardened combatants, they honestly liked their chances.

After far too long, the tunnel finally opened up to the main chamber, causing all of them to stare with wide eyes at the sight before them... it was literally empty of any movement or life. In its place, there were stacks upon stacks of fresh unmarked cargo containers. A single large server tower sat in the middle, thick cables running to it from power inverters and generators dotting the wide-open space as it flashed holographic panels and screens around it; while that would account for the heat ploom Max was seeing on the map, nothing accounted for the fact that as far as they could tell, there was nothing alive down here, human or otherwise.

"Well, that doesn't make any kind of sense..." Pops mused as he chanced taking a few more steps into the expansive room. As far below ground as they felt they were, the top of this room was high enough that they could just barely make out light filtering in from the surface through ventilation holes in the ceiling. Miz didn't waste the opportunity as she lit a smoke, inhaling deep with a sigh of relief as she relaxed. There were other holes bored into the rock as well; conduits from which heavy trunks of cables were running down to the various pieces of machinery and equipment feeding the proverbial obelisk.

The entire room had the air of a temple, and the crew almost felt as if they should hold some reverence for standing on hallowed ground; that was, until Panam marched over to a stack of crates and kicked them over, "What the fuck is this?!"

The crew followed Panam's lead, albeit more gracefully as they checked the various crates and anything else of note. Pops followed Miz's example, as did Billy, both lighting fresh cigarettes while they had the moment to take a load off. The crates contained nothing of any significance; some were full of rations and water, others full of uniforms and various clothing. And what's even stranger is several of the crates had nothing but cinder blocks or bricks to simulate actual weight. Something was off, but nobody could figure out what.

Nobody but Max, that is; as everyone looked around for a logical explanation, Max's eyes were locked on the Tower, her jaw clenched as she realized they were completely offline. Something was jamming their signals, meaning no calls in or out to the surface. And with every step the crew took, the Tower seemed to respond in the frequency and pitch of its hums. It was oscillating, alive, and aware of their presence. So why hadn't it attacked? Did it not see them as a threat? Either way, Max figured it best to not stick around as she called out, "Oye... na' should be here... i' knows..."

Miz turned with a confused look, "T-Then why hasn't it attacked ye—"

Famous last words, as a red pulse shot outward from the Tower with a demonic scream and ten hardened mercenaries all grabbed their heads before crumpling to the ground and writhing like fish out of water. Just as before with Ky, Billy, and Miz, except now all of them were out cold and unprotected... almost like it was planned right from the start.

--