“I actually have a question.” Star said after a few moments silence.
“May as well ask it then.” Access shot back. “As if we have anything better to be doing.”
“Say the hideout isn’t viable, what then?”
“Then we shack up with fellow runners.” he said dismissively. “It’s nothing we haven’t done before.”
Sheet Rock nodded as she weaved through the sprawl’s streets. Her eyes stared off into the distance as she drove, and with a sigh she felt resigned to their fate, after all, it was only a matter of time until someone took notice and attempted to remove them as one would with a troublesome element.
“Just as an aside, we, or rather I could ask my father. He’d be willing to take you in, though I haven’t seen him in a while.” Star admitted. “We do speak a lot over the net though.”
“The big question is who he works for, I suppose. Sheet would tell you it’s a stupid idea, but I’m personally willing to take whatever we can get.”
“I didn’t think of that. You’ve probably upset more than a few people in your time.” Star fidgeted in her middle seat. “Okay, I don’t actually know specifically who he works for, but from what I remember, it’s someone pretty powerful.”
“Got any details?”
“I remember something specifically from back when I was a foal. A good hoof-full of troopers were in our home one day, they all wore some kind of weird angular Power Armor, but not the kind your friend wore.”
“Describe it for me.”
“Well like I said, it was angular, dark colored, covered pretty much everything besides their muzzles, and where their cutie marks would be was a small golden crown. They were nice enough to me I suppose though, being the small foal I was.”
“Can you guarantee he wont tun on us?”
“He’s my father, Access, I think I know him well enough that he wouldn’t harm his own daughter.” she remarked, a little offended. “I think if I told him you two have been looking out for me, he’d protect you two as well.”
Sheet Rock narrowed her eyes and turned the steering wheel sharply, sending them down a side street just out of view of the usual hatch that’d lead them underground. Up ahead were a group of heavily armed thugs, hanging about the ruined buildings and the rubble that littered the abandoned streets.
She stared intently from out of the mirrored windscreen at the thugs, who hadn’t noticed, or didn’t care to notice, the van’s approach.
They were too heavily armed to be simple gangers but not heavily armed enough to be corporate security. There was only one reason for them to be here, and they had the entrance pretty well covered with no reasonable chance they’d be able to get through without being spotted.
“At least ten armed thugs, heavily armed, very angry looking.” Sheet Rock said. “Too many for a frontal assault. It’d be a death sentence if we tried.”
“I’m willing to bet there's more in the tunnels.” Access added. “Can we get eyes in there?”
Snowy nodded from the cargo seat. “I managed to get a cellular up-link installed. It’s not fast, but it’ll do the job.”
“Give us our Cyberdecks from the back, Snowy. Me and Sheet should be able to observe what’s going on inside with any luck.” Access said as he lent over. “You and Star should keep an eye out while we work. Just stay out of sight.”
“Who hired you? Better yet, who even are you?” Bulwark demanded.
“A concerned party who wants his employer to pay him. You know, like most ponies in this screwed up world of ours.” Riot responded. “Speaking of which, drop your weapon and hand over our property. I wont ask again.”
A group of thugs enter in through the door who surround Bulwark with their weapons leveled at him. He reluctantly put his weapon on the ground, kicking it over to Riot who then threw it across the room into the pile of smashed electronics.
“You’re wasting your time. Do you think we’re stupid enough to keep sensitive data just laying around for you to just take?”
Riot gave a side glance to a broken pile of plastic and glass. “No I don’t suppose you are. But you’re still going to tell me what I want know, one way or another.”
“Or what? I’m old, gray, and if I’m being honest, really sick of listening to you bucking speak.”
Riot smacked Bulwark across the face with his weapon with a sickening crunch, then followed up with a sharp jab to the gut. Bulwark collapsed into a heap beside Scarlet, reduced to a wheezing, shuddering wreck.
“Sir, if I might interject?” one of the thugs spoke.
“What is it, Gray? I’m busy working my anger out.”
Gray was one of Riot’s most trusted captains, a small framed but muscular Earth Pony as gray as the morning fog, hence his rather on the nose nickname given to him by his squad.
“Well sir, we’ve got an unidentified VTOL heading our way at high speed. We believe they’ve called for reinforcements somehow.” Gray said, his voice monotone. “We should leave, immediately.”
“Great, more distractions.” Riot grumbled. “Bring those two and whats left of their gear with us, they aren’t going anywhere until they give up the goods.”
“Sir.”
Access and Sheet Rock attempted to work their way into the hideout’s internal systems, but they were met with hard timeouts. They tried repeatedly to make some kind of connection with any device they could, but ultimately had to give up.
“Damnit, they must’ve burned everything.” Access growled as he ripped his cables out his neck flung them onto the dashboard.
“I’m sorry, they’ve done what?” Star said as she peered around the corner at the rapidly thinning group of thugs.
Sheet Rock lent out the drivers side window. “Standard procedure for runners, which probably means they’re in trouble or were in trouble. Why risk someone getting evidence from you? So you just smash up your gear to the point that it’s unusable.”
“We’ve got a lot of movement over here too, actually, everyone's clearing out in a real hurry.”
Star watched as a large number of armed thugs came up out the hatch and into their vehicles, none of which were marked or notable in any sense, other than the large amount of damage present on them all.
One of the thugs caught Star’s eye who carried a couple of bodies with his magic into a larger, much and more heavily armored SUV. He looked far better dressed than the rest of them did, and just looking at the orange maned stallion made her shudder.
“Bulwark and Scarlet must’ve been unlucky, they’re dragging bodies away.”
“Are they alive?”
Star shook her head. “Can’t see from here, but I doubt they’d bother with removing dead bodies.”
“Buck me!” Access said as he slammed his hooves into the dashboard, putting a small dent into the cheap plastic. “It’s just one thing after another, isn’t it?”
The convoy of vehicles rapidly sped past the alleyway, and Star quickly hid out of sight in the shadows. It wasn’t obvious were they were headed to, but if he had to venture a guess, it’d be the upper city.
A roar echoed from overhead as a VTOL rocketed past and gently set itself down in the road some distance away from them. It was jet black, angular, and unmarked, save for a small golden crown on the engine exhaust nozzles.
“What in the hell?” Access said as he joined Star by the alleyway’s exit.
Star shushed Access with a sharp glare.
Out of the VTOL a jet-black armor clad stallion stepped out, his armor looked lightweight but sturdy, and it had a harshly angular construction to it. He was covered head to hoof in it and it was hard to tell just where his attention was placed.
He looked around for a moment and then made his way over to the hatch, which he indifferently inspected as the VTOL took off in a hurry.
“Grab your stuff, we’re going in. I don’t know who this pony is, but he doesn’t look friendly.” Star called.
“Four on one? My kinda odds.” Access offered.