With the lights having been burnt out after the emp blast, the only visible lighting came from the sporadic fire coming from the two gunmen's assault rifles. Killeroo's eyes adjusted to the gloom perfectly. The hybrid hefted up the large conference table and slammed the two gunmen with it--knocking one of them out cold. He quickly then stomped on both their necks until they were dead. Burn felt around for his cyberdeck and a wall to lean on. He then lit up a cigarette and just sat for a moment before Killeroo motioned for the netrunner to follow him out. As both runners began moving to exit the conference room, Unlock appeared in the blasted doorway amid a haze of gunsmoke. Framed in the ambient lighting from within Penumbra, both men instantly recalled the images from Barret's drone video footage and realized that the hitman was the figure they saw lead the assault on Jazz and the other runners at Sharkey's. Unlock held his hands up upon seeing the hybrid emerge with the assault rifles of the slain gunmen in his clawed hands. "There's more of these guys up front," he warned. "Your friend's in the common area of the club--I drugged him so he wouldn't screw things up...guess I was a little too late for that." "You killed Jazz and my friends," Killeroo growled. "A job's a job," Unlock said evenly. "You would have done the same. Look, I know something's fucked up about this run and those two Russians. Come with me, we can get out through the back." Killeroo raised one of the assault rifles and peppered the doorway and wall with automatic fire. Unlock managed to get clear of the barrage and began making his way down the hall to the doorway that led to the back of the club. As Roo and Burn stepped into the hallway to pursue the hitman, the second bartender rounded the corner with her autofire pistol drawn and fired at Unlock once more, scoring another hit on the broad side of his shoulder. The bartender then trained the sights on her pistol on the remaining two runners. Her body began to convulse as more automatic fire came from the front of the club. Two more Heidegger soldiers had gained entry into Penumbra and had begun opening fire. * Sitting inside the armored van outside, Edgar began hacking Penumbra's video cameras--watching the action as it unfolded. * Roo took cover and clipped one of the Heideggers, wounding but not killing him. The other took cover as Burn hung back and tinkered with his cyberdeck--checking to see the extent of the damage caused by the emp. When he looked back, Unlock was gone--having left through the back entrance. Other runners in the club began opening fire on both Killeroo and the Heideggers, unsure as to who was who. Burn shouted at one of the runners, a rat hybrid, and told him who he was shooting at. "Hey! This is Killeroo you're shooting at--he's on your side! These other shits are with the Heideggers!" Recognizing just who Killeroo is, the runner gave the two runners a thumbs up from behind cover and proceeded to just concentrate fire on the Heideggers, wounding the other soldier. With both gunmen pinned and flanked behind the cover of turned over tables, Killeroo leapt through the air and held down the triggers on both assault rifles. The barrage of bullets shredded their cover and killed the last remaining Heidegger soldiers. From the hybrid's show of force, the remaining runner's courage expired and he promptly ran out of the club. * Surveying the dead bodies of the Heidegger soldiers and Koskov's unconscious body amidst the chaos, Edgar communicated with Foxwell via his custom helmet and received the green light from his employer to begin placing bounties on all three runners. Almost immediately, the bounties began getting responses from runners who had just left Penumbra and had seen Edgar's posts. The Russian terrorist mentioned in the posts that he preferred the trio of runners to be brought in alive, for now. * Finding BB Wolf unconscious, Roo spent a few moments to try and rouse the hybrid. Rummaging through his gear, he acquired some shape charges and began tinkering with them. Once it was ready, he joined the other two runners behind cover and blew open the side of the wall, creating an opening for escape into the side alley. Grabbing Koskov's body and slinging it over his shoulder, Killeroo motioned for Burn and Wolf to follow him outside. As the trio moved slowly down the alley towards the main street beyond, some of the runners who had seen Edgar's posted bounties began firing at the group--pinning them behind cover. Wolf handed Roo a grenade, which he lobbed out into the street to cause a distraction. The resulting blast overturned a car near where one runner had been taking pot shots with a rifle and turned it into a flaming wreck. The plan worked so well that the trio were able to make it to a manhole cover and into the sewers below. Before descending last into the depths of the sewer system, Killeroo began jury rigging the manhole cover with another of Wolf's grenades. "Well, what now, Jake?" Wolf asked. "We talk to this shit head," Roo replied, motioning to Koskov's limp body on his shoulders. With that, the three runners delved into the dark underground. * As the dust began to settle above, Edgar accessed the matrix for city plans of the sewer lines, sending out updated information about the escaped bounties and listed possible areas of attack--including Big Bob's Foundry--as a possible hideout. Though he was successfull in acquiring the plans, his actions were noticed by Netwatch. Manifesting in cyberspace as futuristic police officers riding flying motorcycles, Netwatch began assaulting Edgar's avatar with programs that simultaneously locked down his cyberdeck and continuously pinged and tracked his location signal. After trying to escape, the cyberterrorist's deck was locked down and he was forced to jack back out of the matrix. The resulting disruption from the hard boot and the brunt of Netwatch's assaults caused Edgar to blackout for a few seconds due to biofeedback shock. Coming back into consciousness, he climbed into the driver's seat of the van and headed back to the safehouse Koskov had been operating out of. Shortly afterwards, he hooked up his locked out cyberdeck to a cyberterminal and began purging it of Netwatch's program re-writing lockdown protocols. While the cyberdeck was undergoing this process, Edgar used his comm to reach out to Foxwell once again. "They have Koskov and they're out of Penumbra. How should we proceed?" he asked. "Where are they headed?" the millionaire asked. "Probably the hybrid's old man's place, the Foundry." "Leave it to me. I'll take care of them." * The runners who had taken shots at Killeroo and the team gathered around the manhole cover Killeroo disappeared down. One of them holstered his weapon and attempted to pry it open with his cyberarms but was stopped by another who was using her optics to see through the manhole cover. "Don't," she said flatly. "It's booby trapped. Need to find another way, c'mon." Q&A The team exited the sewers close to where Sharkey's place and found a derelict building where squatters typically made their home. Securing an empty room, Roo sat Koskov down into a chair and began interrogating him. After about an hour of the hybrid snapping fingers and stomping on feet Koskov gave up Foxwell's name and their common affiliation with the Heideggers. He also admitted that he and Edgar allowed Foxwell's men to cart MC away at the White Room, not knowing anything about the subsequent torture that would ensue from that. He also revealed that Foxwell had sent the Heideggers and Unlock to kill Jazz and the rest in their search for the AIKO AI. While the interrogation was taking place, Burn took Koskov's fried cyberdeck and began salvaging what parts he could to replace the ones his deck needed in order to function again. Furious with the revelations that Koskov helped to confirm, Roo grasped the bottom half of the Russian merc's mouth with one clawed hand and reached his other hand around to grab the top half. With Koskov's mouth pried open, the hybrid began to pull as hard as he could. There was a subdued snapping sound as Koskov's jaw was dislocated and broken before Wolf could intervene, saying that the team could use Koskov as a bargaining chip if the Heideggers come after them again. Surprisingly, Roo agreed. The hybrid took the copper wiring out of an old mattress and bent it around the outside of the mercenary's head, externally wiring his mouth shut. Burn used his comm to get Gristle on a video call. "What do you want?" the mercenary asked, annoyed after seeing Burn's face on her screen. "The job's gone south, Gris," Burn explained. "Our client's started trying to gun us down. I know we haven't always been on good terms, but I need you to do me a favor; get Swift out of town right away. If they came after us tonight, its only a matter of time before they come after you guys as well. I don't want to drag you and Swift deeper into this mess." Gristle reluctantly agreed to make contact with Swift and to get the professional thief out of the city before dawn. While Burn was making a call, Killeroo similarly made contact with Big Bob and told him that he and the team were in big trouble again. "Here we go again..." Big Bob said, shaking his head. "Dad, we're in lockdown. I need you and Spade to get to a safe place. Get Betty ready for me, we're headed over there now." Bob yelled at him and said "I told you this shit would happen, Jake...come on, hurry the fuck up already!" Last Stand The team hitched a ride from an automated taxi to district seven and, after walking several blocks, began moving stealthily around the area to find several black paneled armored vans and APCs waiting in alleyways and around the side of buildings. "Here's what we're going to do," Killeroo began. "You guys take Koskov and make a run for the entrance. Yell out the password and my dad will let you in. I'll stay out here and make a distraction." "What are you nuts, Jake?" Wolf asked incredulously. "There's gotta be at least three dozen guys in all those vans parked out there. They're fucking waiting for us to show up. We're fish in a barrel out here." "BB, Spade is in there," Roo explained. "Don't worry about me. I need you guys to get in there and make sure nothing happens to him. Keep him safe." Wolf's expression grew firm. He looked at his old friend and nodded with grim determination. Killeroo gave Burn and Wolf the password for safe entry into the Foundry and used the last of Wolf's shape charges to detonate one of the vans, killing everyone inside in the process. Koskov, Burn and Wolf ran ran quickly to the front gate entrance to the Foundry, the hybrid yelling the password. The front doorway opened with a click and a whir. Roo ran out into the street and began firing at the teams of killers that were now pouring out of the vans. The quality of their efficiency told Killeroo that these were not Heidegger fanatics. They were corporate kill teams. "It's Yokono!" Roo yelled. A handful of security operatives fired on the hybrid's location, barely missing him as he hopped from one are of cover to another. Killeroo managed to gun down a few of the security grunts and began to follow the others into the Foundry. As the corp sec teams streamed out of the armored vans a robotic voice was heard over the din of gunfire. "Come and get it, you corp motherfuckers!" Big Bob emerged from atop a heap of scrap metal, firing grenades into a cluster of the cyborg killers. The explosion cleared the entryway long enough for Killeroo to get cover behind a derelict automobile. Moving quickly, Bob rounded the side of the heap and evaded an incoming swarm of tracer fire. Koskov, Burn and Wolf arrived just outside of Bob's home and found it to have been abandoned in a hurry. Burn made his way inside and began to search for Spade's trode headset. Outside, Wolf heard the telltale sounds of whirring blades--the sounds of a corporate helicopter. "We got helo incoming, hit the deck!" As Burn picked up the headset from Spade's cluttered room, a black corporate gunship flew over the hovel and fired hundreds of rounds into it and the surrounding area. The netrunner dived for cover as metal roofing and walls were shredded by machine gun fire. Wolf pushed Koskov into cover as he and Killeroo moved to evade fire from the strafing run. Roo took some shrapnel after the attack reduced some metal scrap cover into rusted metal bits of debris. "This way!" Killeroo yelled over the ruckus at the two runners. "What are we going to do about those helos, boss? Tell me there's a plan here." Wolf said, a noticeably nervous tone evident in his voice. "I'll cover the front end. See what you can do about those birds. Meanwhile, let's get Burn and the Ruskie to the bunker downstairs." "Got it." Moving as fast as they could, they arrived at a mostly burried storage container. Inside, Spade sat up against the rusted walls of the panic room/makeshift bunker. Spade watched with wide eyes as Wolf cold cocked Koskov into unconsciousness without warning. "It's ok, Spade. BB is with me," Killeroo assured the scared teen. "Stay here with Burn. Stay safe, alright?" The hybrid proceeded to crush the Russian mercenary's hands and legs. Spade's eyes bulged at the sounds of breaking bones and crushed metal fingers. "What the fuck are you doing?!" "This is what I do to assholes," Killeroo said warned. "Don't ever be an asshole, Spade." Despite the worried look in his eyes, Spade simply nodded. Hearing the explosions and the rampant gunfire above their hiding position, there was really no time to argue with the old man this time around. Burn, still feeling the pain from the previous wounds he sustained at Penumbra, slumped against the wall and lit up another cigarette next to the unconscious Koskov. Glancing around the dimly lit space, Roo immediately noticed something that caught his eyes. Hefting the large machine gun in the corner, Killeroo lifted Betty and slid in a fresh magazine. He then took his sidearm and tossed it to Spade. The teenager's eyes widened, the pistol hopping in his nervous hands like a hot potato. "Use that on anyone that tries to get in here that's not us or dad." Wolf and Roo left the container as fast as they had entered, ready to take on Yokono's corporate kill teams. "Hey kid," Burn said to the teenager, holding up the matrix interface device. "Care to give me a hand with this?" * With his cyberdeck back up and running, Edgar jacked back into the matrix and began hacking into Big Bob's security system. Gaining access to the cameras around the junkyard, he saw dozens of corporate security team operatives swarming over the area, firing together in unison at Killeroo, Wolf and Big Bob. Realizing now that Foxwell's action to involve a mega corp's kill team might very well mean that Koskov was as much a target as the others, Edgar began looking over his options. Digging through his rucksack, the mercenary pulled out an ornately detailed tanto blade and set it on the cyberterminal's counter. * Killeroo fired at the team that was infiltrating the Foundry from the front entryway, hitting and wounding some while killing only a few. The hybrid had fought corporate security teams before, but these enhanced soldiers were on another level entirely. Wolf scrambled up the side of a scrap heap and fired controlled bursts at the helo that was performing strafing runs on the Foundry. After a few volleys, Wolf's timed shots managed to puncture one of the drone chopper's VTOL engines. This caused the vehicle to temporarily lose control. The vehicle's remote operator and sought a clear area the bird down, fire and smoke trailing behind it. Big Bob slid out from a hiding spot as soon as another of the helos moved in for a close shot at the runners. Using an old LAW, the shot scored a direct hit on the helo's cockpit, cracking it wide open in a fiery blast. The missile tore through the fuselage, instantly severing its connection with its operator, adding the hulking thing to the Foundry's metallic graveyard. "Fuck yeah, I still got it! Look Jake, I sacked a 'skeeter!" The old war droid cried as he scurried down another heap and disappeared around its bend. "Little busy right now, dad!" Killeroo yelled back, pinned down by yet another team in the front entryway. He returned fire on the group that was pouring into the Foundry but only managed to drive some of them into cover. Running out of places to hide himself, Roo resorted to standard hit-and-run guerilla tactics. "We got problems, Jake!" Wolf reported from nearby. "They just breached the back and are starting to come inside. I'm taking fire...!" The hybrid's eyes saw shadows moving in the distance, his ears heard the muffled footfalls of booted feet crunching gravel, his nose picking up the scent of well oiled cybernetic servos. More of Yokono's kill teams were approaching from both ends of the Foundry. "Shit," Roo breathed, sweating. * Back in the bunker, Spade helped Burn take apart the interface helmet, stripping it of parts and merging it with the netrunner's makeshift cyberdeck. "I think the trodes go into THIS port here...yeah, like that." The teenager looked at the custom make of Burn's deck and asked "What are you going to do with this thing?" "Well," Burn began. "IF this works, I'm going to see about scrambling their comms. If it doesn't, then I'm going to use it to look for help. Judging by the sounds up there, we're probably going to need all the help we can get." After hooking up the necessary parts together, Burn breathed a sigh of relief after a blue light came on his deck. Jacking in, the netrunner was launched into the matrix. Highways of information and colorful, three dimensional avatars spanned the view for as far as he could see. Spade watched, transfixed, as Burn's hands and fingers flashed over the keys of his cyberdeck. Burn first accessed the runner message boards and removed as many bounty posts as he could. As he did so, he saw one recent bounty had been placed for Killeroo's ex-wife, Catelyn, who was still hospitalized in the north side of the Sprawl. The netrunner then turned his attention to the immediate area surrounding the Foundry. Finding a series of nodes nearby, Burn saw right away that he was looking at a protected circuit of communication between Yokono's sec teams. His avatar began to initiate a series of programs designed to probe and break through the commline's encryption. Despite Koskov's military grade ice breakers, Burn found the encryption was difficult to break. He recognized the pushback he was received as belonging to another netrunner. He finally was able to monitor the line by cleverly utilizing a sleaze program that allowed him to slip through a backdoor protocol in the line's coding. The netrunner didn't understand a lot of the Japanese chatter that he was hearing on the channel. When he heard the name "AIKO", however, Burn imagined that Yokono thought Killeroo was the person who still had a copy of the much sought after AI. He looked at the scene for a moment from cyberspace, moving blue lights indicating the various movements of linked systems belonging to Yokono's cybernetic killers. Obviously outmanned and outgunned, Burn saw that this would be a good time to ask for help. In a desperate move, Burn sent out a message. Specifically, he sent out a digital distress signal. "Glitch, we need you here. Please help." For many long moments, there was nothing. Seeing more lights moving into the area, Burn thought that this could be the moment when everything came crashing down in a hail of gunfire. Then a small digital butterfly, perfect and colorful in its rendering, fluttered its wings and floated before his eyes. Burn's avatar reached out to touch the delicate and impossible thing. Unfolding like origami, the butterfly transformed itself into a tiny scroll with text flowing and appearing on the parchment. It's message was simple but effective: "This is Glitch. We're on our way." * In the corner close to the two of them, Koskov groaned and opened his sole operating eye.