"Not exactly the same this time, Max." Jackie Ozone replied. "This time Kellan doesn't have to play bait."
"That's an improvement from my perspective." Kellan replied. "How's our target?"
"On its way." Max was observing the approaching shipment through the sensors of his drones. "Estimate three minutes."
"All set, guys?" Kellan asked, and G-Dogg and the Street Deacon responded.
"In place." the ork said.
"Ready." the street samurai replied in his laconic drawl.
The remainder of the three minutes seemed to crawl past. Kellan did her best to not wonder if she was doing the right thing. They'd gone over the plan multiple times, and they had the advantage of already having pulled off the run once before. How many shadowrunners got a test run for their jobs? Kellan had a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach, wishing that they'd had more time, but in her heart she knew that no amount of planning could eliminate the uncertainty that came with running the shadows. Sooner or later, it was time to shut up and do the job.
"Here they come." Silver Max said curtly, and Kellan tensed. From the side of the road she could see the headlights of the trucks in the distance. There was a lead escort vehicle and the bigger cargo hauler following behind, exactly like before, the only difference being that this time the cargo truck was carrying a shipment of weapons and ammo, not cheap electronics. At least Kellan hoped it was the only difference.
The two trucks drew closer, headlights bright in comparison to the dimly lit stretch of highway. Two dull thumps sounded from tire side of the road and the front tires of the escort truck blew out, sending the truck into a sidelong skid. The driver slammed on the brakes, red lights flashing as the truck skidded to a halt, and the cargo hauler's brakes squealed as it tried to avoid hitting the escort.
"Liada, now!" Kellan said over the comm.
On the other side of the road, not far from where the Street Deacon crouched with the sniper rifle he had used to take out one of the truck's tires, Liada stood up just enough to get a clear view of the two trucks and the road. She raised her hands over her head and spoke the words of a spell. Ghostly light shimmered around her hands, and shaped itself into a dimly glowing sphere. Liada hurled the sphere of light at the two trucks as men spilled out of the escort vehicle's doors.
The sphere streaked into their midst and burst in a soundless explosion, a ripple spreading outward from the center to encompass both trucks. Kellan expected to see the guards collapse under the effects of Liada's stun spell. Instead, the faint shimmer of light seemed to reach its limit and rebound, snapping back into the center and winking out, like an ember blown out in the wind.
"They're protected!" Liada said over the comm. "Somebody blocked my spell! They've definitely got a magician with them."
"Fraggit." Kellan said. They'd considered the possibility, since Ares gave the last shipment they hijacked magical protection, but hoped Liada could end things with a single spell, and they could just move in and take the swag. Now they were going to have to do things the hard way.
"Let's move!" Kellan said, and the shadowrunners leapt into action. G-Dogg and the Street Deacon opened fire on the security personnel in the truck from their positions on either side of the highway. The guards scattered, one of them dropping to the pavement as a bullet got him in the head. Quickly, however, the Ares personnel recovered and began to return fire, looking for the source of the snipers attacking them.
One of Silver Max's drones, which had been keeping pace with the convoy, swooped down from behind the two trucks. Flying low, its engine whining, the drone skimmed over the top of the cargo truck and opened fire on the escort vehicle from the rear. The blast of machine-gun fire took out the two guards near the back of the truck, and half the remaining guards turned their attention to the new threat behind them.
Maybe this won't be so hard after all. Between Max's drone and G-Dogg and the Street Deacon, they could make short work of the guards. As if summoned by Kellan's thought, a shimmer appeared in the air above the cargo truck. A dull red glow sprang into being, growing brighter and brighter until a sphere of flame ignited, a crackling fire surrounding a shadowy shape. It lunged at Silver Max's hovering drone like a striking snake.
"Fire elemental!" Liada shouted. The elemental engulfed the lower part of the rotodrone in flames.
There was a hissing noise, and Max's voice, sounding labored, came over the link.
"Get this fraggin' thing off of me!"
Liada stood up again, pointing one hand at the fire elemental. She began to chant in a singsong voice, with a forceful, commanding tone. The fire spirit seemed to pause and Kellan got a better look at it; a sinuous reptilian form with dull red scales surrounded by a glowing aura of yellow-white fire.
The engine of Max's drone revved and it pulled away from the elemental, which hovered where it was, its attention fixed on Liada. She continued to chant. The commlink conveyed the strain in her voice.
The drone canted left before righting itself, smoke trailing from the armor plating on its lower hull.
"I've got some damage to the main gun." Max said. "It's jammed. I'm gonna have to pull back the drone."
"We need to speed things up, folks." Jackie Ozone urged. "Communications are scrambled, but the clock is ticking."
"Move on the cargo truck." the Street Deacon said to the others. "G-Dogg and I will cover you."
"All right." Kellan said, glancing at Orion, who nodded in response. "Let's do it."
As they moved forward, there was a howl of wind, and a thick mist began to form in the air, coalescing near Max's drone. Kellan thought she saw a hint of a humanoid shape in the mist, with faintly glowing points of light for eyes.
"Fraggit." Silver Max said. "We've got another elemental! They're coming out of the fraggin' woodwork!"
As if responding to the dwarf's words, the road trembled. Something rose up out of the embankment in a shower of fragments of broken concrete and asphalt. It was a hulking figure the size of a troll, made up entirely of loose earth mixed with gravel, bits of concrete and glints of broken glass. It lumbered forward with ponderous steps that shook the ground.
"Keep going!" Orion said, giving Kellan a push toward the truck. "I'll keep it busy!" Then he advanced on the earth elemental, sword drawn.
Kellan kept going, staying low and heading for the rear of the cargo truck. Liada and the fire spirit were locked in magical combat, each stock-still and focused intently on the other. Silver Max's drone dodged and weaved as the air elemental buffeted it mercilessly with fierce gusts of wind, threatening to send it careening into the ground.
Orion rushed at the earth elemental, and it swung a massive fist. The elf ducked underneath it, replying with a slash of his sword. The blade cut deep into the elemental's body of rock and soil, leaving a long, ragged gash across its torso. The spirit howled a low, hollow sound, and raised its other fist to try to smash the small, dancing figure that had hurt it.
Ahead of the cargo hauler, the security guards hunkered down behind the escort vehicle, where G-Dogg and the Street Deacon tried to keep them pinned with cover fire from the sides of the road. The guards returned ineffectual fire—but it wasn't the two street samurai who were in danger. Kellan was worried that the guards would figure out that Liada and Orion were vulnerable, easy targets.
Things are coming apart. If we don't get out of here soon, we're fragged. She knew Jackie Ozone was handling things in the Matrix, jamming communications and rerouting emergency messages, but even she wasn't going to be able to cover their activities forever. The longer it took for them to subdue the guards and take off with the truck, the more likely it was the Ares personnel would get reinforcements or Lone Star would be there to take action.
The one good thing about the massive melee was that it provided an excellent distraction for Kellan. She approached the back of the truck as quickly as possible, staying low to the ground. Flattened against the back corner of the truck, pistol in hand, she listened for some indication of
what was going on inside, but there was too much noise around her to be certain.
Bracing one foot against the rear bumper, she grabbed a tie-down strap with her free hand and hauled herself up, then she swung into the back of the truck, landing in a crouch and immediately covering the interior with her gun.
A human guard wearing an Ares uniform spun in her direction, looking startled. He'd probably been watching Orion fight the earth elemental through the slats of the truck, looking for a good opportunity to get a shot at the elven warrior. Kellan had the drop on him. She fired one shot at close range and took him out, his weapon clattering to the floor.
The noise attracted the attention of a hulking figure in the shadows at the front of the truck. Kellan knew this must be the mage commanding the elementals outside. He turned toward the sound of the shot and the guard falling. He wore a long, heavy overcoat covered with mystic symbols. He raised one hand, the other holding an ornately carved and decorated staff. He stopped just as suddenly as Kellan when the flickering light from the fire elemental hovering overhead illuminated the truck's interior.
"Lothan?" Kellan said.
"Why, Kellan, my dear, fancy meeting you here." the troll mage replied.
Chapter 18
Kellan hesitated for a moment, at the sight of her teacher standing in the back of the truck, but Lothan didn't. Moving with surprising speed, the troll mage stepped forward and casually batted the gun out of Kellan's hand. It hit the side of one of the crates, clattering to the floor. Lothan seized Kellan by the neck, slamming her up against the side of a crate with enough force to knock the wind out of her.
"Sorry, kid," he said, with a note of true regret in his voice, "but hesitation in the shadows can be fatal." He raised the Staff of Candor-Brie, the crystal on top of it shimmering with an azure glow. Kellan squeezed her eyes shut and pictured the glowing, egg-shaped aura of protection around her. She felt a crackle of magical power tingle across her skin and opened her eyes to a look of shock and surprise on Lothan's face, quickly turning to annoyance.
"That cursed amulet. . . the troll muttered.
Then Kellan lashed out with her foot and kicked Lothan in the groin. Hard.
The troll mage gargled a noise a couple of octaves higher than Kellan would have thought possible and doubled over, loosening his grip on her neck. Kellan squirmed from Lothan's grasp and scrambled to scoop up her gun before turning back to where the troll lay gasping on the floor. She leveled the pistol at the back of Lothan's head and cocked it, confident he could hear it, before she spoke.
"If you even think of trying anything. . ." she began.
"I wouldn't . . . dream of it." Lothan gasped out, recovering his composure. The fact that he'd already tried something made it a dubious statement at best, but Kellan was more willing to trust Lothan with a gun trained on him than not.
"What the frag are you doing here?"
"Business, my dear," he replied, "just business."
"You knew." Kellan accused him. "You knew about this all along."
"Of course I knew! I'd arranged things well beforehand. I don't feel compelled to share every aspect of my business." the troll said condescendingly. "And neither, apparently, do you."
"Don't turn around." Kellan said, her voice cold, as Lothan began to do so. The troll froze. "I may not be a 'master of the arts arcane./' but I do know enough to keep out of your line of sight."
"Well, you have an excellent teacher." Lothan said wryly.
"The elementals." Kellan replied curtly. "Get rid of them."
"Or...?"
"Or I shoot you in the back of the fraggin' head! I'm not playing games here!"
Lothan paused for a moment and Kellan wondered if he was going to call her bluff. She wondered if she really was bluffing. If Lothan didn't do it, if he tried something, would she shoot him? The troll mage had certainly shown he couldn't be trusted. She knew he would take any opportunity and use it to his advantage. If Kellan wanted to survive, wanted to make it in the shadows, she was going to have to do the same. Her grip on the pistol tightened.
"No, I suppose you're not." Lothan said with a sigh. "Very well."
He slowly raised a hand, and Kellan kept a watchful eye on him the whole time, ready to react if he had some trick up his sleeve. Lothan called out words in a language Kellan didn't recognize, then turned his palm toward the ground and slowly lowered his hand, as if pressing something invisible toward the earth.
"They're gone." he said. "May I turn around now?"
Before Kellan could answer, Liada's voice sounded over the commlink.
"The spirits are gone!" she said. "We're clear to move in."
Kellan keyed her link. "Liada, can you use that stun spell to take out the rest of the guards?" she asked. "I'm sure we won't have any problems with it this time." She pitched her response so Lothan could hear it.
"Will do." the elf mage replied.
"Liada, eh?" Lothan said quietly. "I thought that spell seemed familiar. A pity she wasn't able to overcome my defenses." Kellan could hear the smug satisfaction in his voice.
"We've got to move things along, chummers." Silver Max said in Kellan's ear. "We're going to have company. The Ancients are on their way."
"Fraggit!" Kellan said. "How did they find us so fast?"
"They must have gotten tired of waiting for their pigeon to show up," the dwarf said, “and backtracked along the route to see what happened."
"How long?" Kellan asked.
"A few minutes."
"Sounds like you could use a little extra help."
Lothan said, still facing away from Kellan. She ignored him for the moment.
"Okay, Max, take the wheel. G-Dogg, are we secure?”
"All clear." the ork said. "Liada's spell finished things off. The Ares guys are sleeping like babies."
"Get them to the side of the road and let's get the hell out of here." Kellan said.
"Roger that."
"Jackie?" she inquired.
"Things are under control on this end." the decker said. "If you get going now, there shouldn't be any trouble from Lone Star. I don't think Ares security or Knight Errant will be responding just yet, either, but it's possible that the Ancients may have alerted them when the truck didn't turn up as planned."
"Keep an eye out." Kellan said.
Orion rounded the back of the truck, sword in one hand and pistol in the other. He jumped onto the back of the cargo hauler with a single graceful leap, taking in the sight of Kellan standing there and Lothan getting to his feet. Kellan lowered her pistol when Orion arrived.
"What's he doing here?" Orion asked, nodding his head in the troll's direction, his brow furrowed with suspicion. Before Kellan could answer, Liada and the Street Deacon skidded to a halt at the back of the truck, just a few paces behind Orion, and the same question was written in Liada's expression. The Street Deacon's face remained as impassive and unreadable as ever.
"I thought that you might need some assistance." Lothan said before Kellan could speak up. He began dusting off his robe with one hand. "And a good thing, too, since I helped get rid of those deuced elementals."
Orion gave Liada a hand up into the back of the truck. "All of them at once, by yourself?" she asked, her tone incredulous. "However did you manage it?"
"Skill, my dear, pure skill." Lothan replied, completely unfazed. "Perhaps I'll explain it to you sometime."
"Max is up front." the Deacon said, ignoring the exchange as he pulled himself up onto the truck. "G-Dogg is riding shotgun."
"Okay." Kellan said. Only Orion had actually seen her pointing a gun at Lothan, and the elf seemed willing to follow her lead. If Lothan wanted to maintain the fiction that he was along to help out, Kellan was willing to let him. The troll mage might still know something helpful to them, and they weren't in the clear yet.
"Let's roll!" she said into the commlink and Silver Max fired up the engine of the cargo truck.
"Hang on back there." Max said, then he hit the g
as and the truck lurched forward and began to pick up speed.
"Um, Max?" Kellan asked. "Aren't we headed in the direction the Ancients are coming from?"
"That's why I said to hold on, kiddo." the dwarf rigger said with a laugh. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride." It was the most animated Kellan had ever heard Max, even more so than when he'd had a few at Dante's Inferno. It was clear that when he was driving, when his cyberware merged him with the machine, was when the dwarf really came alive.
They blasted past the escort truck. Kellan and the others held on to the straps and heavy metal D-rings holding down the cargo as the truck barreled along the lonely stretch of highway.
"How long to our exit, Max?" Kellan asked.
"Gonna be a few minutes."
"Will we get there before—?"
"No chance." the dwarf replied.
"Here they come." G-Dogg said, and Kellan could hear the roar of motorcycles approaching ahead of them.
"All right," whooped Silver Max, "who wants to play chicken?" He floored the gas and the truck picked up speed, rushing and rattling along the highway.
Kellan saw the motorcycles whiz past in the other lane. They were already slowing down. Clearly they'd seen their quarry, behind schedule but headed in the right direction. The elven bikers skidded to a halt and pulled U-turns in the middle of the highway. Kellan did a quick count; there were more than a dozen bikes, some of them with a couple elves mounted on them, but most with a single rider. Their engines roared again as they set off in pursuit of the truck.
"Liada, my dear," Lothan said, "since it is the Ancients we're dealing with, I think we should take precautions, don't you?" The elven mage nodded. Holding on to the cargo strap with on hand, she closed her eyes for a moment and waved a hand through the air. Lothan did much the same, standing closer to the end of the truck, and the stone at the end of his staff glowed faintly as he did so. Kellan felt a familiar tingle of magic in the air.
It was well timed, too, for no sooner was the spell cast than a crackling bolt of lightning erupted from the back of one of the bikes, lancing out at the truck. Kellan flinched and braced for the blast, but it never came. Instead, the lightning bolt seemed to strike an invisible wall scarcely a meter from the truck, splashing against it in a shower of blue-white sparks and dissipating with a crack of thunder, but doing no harm to the truck or its passengers.
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