Escape
by Lan the Orc
We fled down the hallway. The lifeless white light shining down on the blue and gray corridor that extended in front of us. We turned right, then left, then right again, waltzing through the maze that was the Renraku tower. Red dots appeared on the corner of my vision, the map of the building in the corner of my vision becoming clearer as my eye focused on it. We stopped in the middle of the hallway, a swift swipe from our Decker, a thirty something dwarf name Sparks, enlarged the AR that showed the security response live. The dots were gathering near the exits, most likely setting an ambush to delay us long enough for the HTR team to arrive. 
Tri cursed softly under her breath, the dark skinned elf clenching her rifle close to her body as the last of our exits was blocked. This was not going to be an easy escape. 

Tri and Sparks started discussing our exit strategy, our street samurai was set on using her new Ares grenades to burst through the west, while Sparks was set on making a distraction and escaping through the east. Their discussions quickly escalated, but I paid it no mind, for in the map in front of me, a series of dots shined brightly for a moment. There was no time to lose.

A quick and terse order was enough to bring them both in line, and with another I had them following me north. The map showed there were at least four targets ahead and only 3 minutes left before the HTR got here. With a quick mental command I activated my magic, the flow of mana feeding my body , making it faster and deadlier. We turned another corner, and at the end of the corridor, we could see 4 armed corps, clad in the red and black of Renraku, with their weapons trained on us.

The SMG-wielding ork was the first to spot us, alerting her friends of our presence with the sounds of her bullets. Tri jumped to the sight seconds before I carried Sparks to cover. The other secs quickly added their own bullets to the fray, with several hitting the edge of the walls we used as cover. I shared a look with Tri as I took my burner commlink out, and took a quick picture of the hall and send it to Sparks, Tri prepared her rifle, her cybernetic eyes shining a cyan blue just before she took a shoot barely out of cover, and left the other secs speechless when her bullets brought down their human leader, with a barrage of bullets that took his eye. Sparks signal came next in the form of an evil looking fox appearing at the age of my screen. I took a deep breath, then ran down the hallway, covering the 5 meter distance before us before the rest of the security time could get their bearings, I jumped over their barricade, slidded over the plasteel box and in a fluid move, punched the ork in the face, her body being pushed back from the impact and a dazed look hanging in her eyes. Next to me, the other humans screamed, pointing their guns at me but unwilling to fire as I took cover behind their companion. Tri thanked them with another serving of bullets, their armor the only thing that saved them from certain death. 

The ork recovered, dropping her Ares Hunter, she put up her arms in a defensive stance similar to that of boxing, showing she wasn’t about to give up. We glared at each other for a second, seeking a weakness. She let out a cry of outrage as she came at me,going for a right hook, feinting and then going for a straight punch to my face. My arms moved faster though, redirecting her attack to hit me in the chest, my executive suit dissipating the force with it, the wonders of Kevlar lacing. Bullets were exchange between Tri and the secs once more, the loud sounds distracting slightly the old ork. I took my chances, one hand taking a firm hold of a wrist, pulling her towards me with all my strength, my elbow flying towards her face while a quick side step, put her own body between me and her free hand. There was a resounding crack as my elbow connected with her nose, blood ran down her face and a bit of yellowish white bone could be seen protuding from her nose. She clutched at her nose, cursing loudly as she tried to back away from me. The other two secs, shot me horrified looks, their shaking hands barely able to hold their own rifles. I bared my fangs at them  as I grabbed the ork’s short hair with one hand, and with a well-placed chop, had her collapse. 

Seeing her companion collapse, the remaining officers dropped their rifles, reluctantly coming out of cover with their hands raised. Sparks didn’t lose any time then, his taser hitting the officer closest to him, the officer barely had time to show surprise, the current coursing through his body sending him into unconsciousness in less than a second. The last officer, a human that could not be older than twenty five, looked at me with wide eyes, his eyes shooting quick glances at his fallen companions. He broke, and cried loudly as he tried to run pass me. My fist sunk into his stomach, his body reflexively bending over my arm. His ragged breath trying to feed his empty lungs. The next hit though, would make sure he didn’t wake out for a few hours.

Sparks took out the captain’s communicator and SIN, passing them to me along with a voice sample of the late captain. There was a slight buzz of static as I tuned the comm, I took a deep breath, shaping the magic into my throat, a nice buzzing sensation soon taking hold. 

"This is corridor 18, I repeat, this is corridor 18, we’re under heavy fire!" I screamed into the comm, my voice a perfect copy of the captain’s. Tri shot me a disapproving look, her hands busy reloading her rifle. "There are five intruders pinning us down behind the barricade. Two trolls, both male, armed with shotguns. An elf, looks like a mage, she’s bleeding badly, and two humans, both using SMG. I repeat, there are- AAAARGRRRGHHH"

I cut the transmission right then, as Spark finished hacking into the elevator at the end of the hallway. Tri muttered a faint "orks are all showoffs"   before she entered in the metal cage, Sparks joined her next. I took a last look around the place, the red dots in the AR were moving fast towards the south, their comms channels a mess.

"just another day in the shadows"  I told my two companions as the elevator took us down, freedom and money waiting for us.