"Gemini should take a look," Paladin said as they sat down at the cheap diner a block from Shandalar's Parlor, mostly finished with their scouting run. "If they're giving Mercy trouble, they probably have at least a few spirits. Maybe a mage."
"Those two things tend to go together," Anna mumbled. She did not like the idea of buzzing another mage, not without knowing what the hell was sharing her soul right now.
"Gemini is an astral beacon," Doc said as he dumped creamer into his soykaf with the self-indulgent abandon of a sugar-starved kindergartener. "They'll ping her pretty quick."
"Can't she fly casual or something?" Fuse said, though he seemed more preoccupied with putting his scouting in order.
"I doubt that they are really giving Mercy trouble," Church said thoughtfully, in answer to Paladin's initial statement. "She has the resources to make just about anyone in Redmond or Renton disappear. No, this is something else."
Paladin grimaced. "I like the sound of that even less."
Anna agreed with that statement wholeheartedly, turning a little in her seat to face Church. "What do you think is going on?"
Church seemed completely unperturbed. "From what I know of her? This is a test. I would not be surprised if they are expecting trouble from us."
The street samurai glowered at the prospect. "And you think this because…?"
Church shrugged. "If she wants an accurate assessment of what we are capable of, that would be the best way to accomplish it. You have a reputation, Paladin. I have a reputation. Doc and Fuse have reputations, though less...weighty than ours. Gemini has no reputation at all—she is new to the shadows. The unknown is unpredictable. I expect the test is more for our mage than you or I."
Anna sighed. "I guess we'd better give them a show, then." She sort of regretted the fact that she wasn't a combat mage, though she wouldn't have changed her illusion affinity for the world. She had a few tricks up her sleeve that she'd been too scared to use on the blood-mage's apprentice. The Ancients were catching her on-guard, which meant she would be prepared...as prepared as she could be, anyway.
"So what I'm hearing is guns blazing," Fuse muttered. "Not a lot of camera coverage in Redmond, but they've got a few set up. I can yank the feeds, but that won't help anyone who IDs you in meatspace."
"That would be appreciated," Church said. She didn't smile or say thanks more properly, clearly still mostly lost in thought. She drummed her fingers on the table in a slow beat. Finally, she said, "Do we have a count on the Ancients holed up here?"
"Best guess is probably eight or so," Fuse said, displaying images on electronic paper. "Not sure which one's the mage. They all look pretty tough. A few with cyberware."
"Well, we'll see," Church said, standing up. "Fuse, Doc, stay in the van for this one."
Paladin scowled, but probably more at the idea of Church giving orders than the actual plan itself. "You want to go charging in there with no plan?"
"We're all on the same team," Anna said to smooth things over, though she doubted it would actually work.
It earned her a small nod from Church. "My plan is to draw them out," the contract killer said. "Gemini, how good are you at banishing?"
"Pretty good, actually," Anna said. "I spend most of my practice working on it and counterspelling."
Paladin relaxed ever so slightly. "How are you in a fight?"
"I'd rather not," Anna admitted. She'd been in a few scraps, but nothing a little stunbolt hadn't been able to solve. She'd never killed anyone, because she'd never had to. Death wasn't a stranger in Redmond, but Anna had never dished it out. "That said, I have some tricks."
"We will protect you," Church said in that blunt tone, as if she was passing on the words of a unsmiling god. It made Anna feel better, if only because Church had never let her down.
"This is going to be ugly," Fuse said, wincing a little. "I've got you guys covered."
Church prowled down the street towards Shandalar's, Paladin trudging along behind her and loosening up his shoulders. Both the street sammy and their cleaner never strayed from Anna's proximity, though Church was in the lead to absorb any bullets that might fly in Anna's direction.
Anna stopped to do a little astral peek around the building. "Beast spirit," she said softly. "Powerful too."
"On a scale of one to six?" Paladin asked. In his experience, that was the level of most spirits in the shadows.
Anna did a discreet assensing. "I'd say five."
"Wiz," Paladin muttered sarcastically. He looked over at the Russian. "Bullets don't exactly work on spirits, Church, and I haven't got a weapon focus."
Church turned around, no sign of hesitation or doubt in her expression. "Gemini, can you handle it?" Her tone was calm rather than harsh.
"Only if you geek the mage ASAP," Anna said. "I can't banish a spirit like that and be throwing spells around at the same time."
"I don't like this," Paladin said.
"That's nice," Church said dismissively, returning to her walk towards Shandalar's Parlor.
The street ahead was not empty. As they approached, five figures detached from the shadows. Paladin flexed his cybered arm and then let his chrome hand rest on the hilt of his sword, eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the gang approaching.
Church didn't really react. Her hands were tucked in her pockets still and she strolled forward. Anna suspected that Church wasn't ready to show her tattoos just yet. They had a way of intimidating the people familiar with syndicate markings.
Three more stepped out to flank Paladin, Anna, and Church. It made Anna's stomach knot with fear. "Church, this is fragging bad," she whispered into her mic.
The killer's voice was strangely reassuring in her earpiece, replying, "Just be ready to get down. Paladin and I can take the beating. This is not so impossible."
Anna took a deep breath. "Sure thing, omae," she whispered.
The Ancients leader, probably a lieutenant of some bigger boss, strolled right up. He was a tall, powerfully-built elf with Tir Tairngire's symbol tattooed on the side of his neck. Anna assensed him quickly and did not like what she discovered. He was an adept, and a powerful one. She was willing to bet a fortune that he was a phys-ad. That meant Church was walking into a fight with a monster. Paladin's attention was elsewhere, turning to focus on the ones behind.
"Seems like you jokers picked the wrong part of town to start static in," the elf said, looking the group up and down. "Though I guess that's not a surprise coming from Redmond's own little lost heater. Now what poor sods did you sweet-talk into your suicide mission?"
Paladin laughed. "Oh, one of us is going to die here, keeb. Just not me."
Anna almost winced. Throwing that particular derogatory term at an Ancients member was the kind of thing only the intensely suicidal would do. Still, the adept in front of them didn't really react. His goons, however, moved forward far more aggressively.
"Tough talk, Paladin," the adept said, studying Church and Anna. He smiled a little. "I think you girls need a better boyfriend. You're wasted on some preachy bake-brain like him. How about you hang with me?"
Anna moved so Church was between her and the adept. She focused on the beast spirit as it approached, one of the biggest of its kind that she'd actually seen. This was about to get rough, particularly when she realized that it was pinging her as a bigger threat than Church.
"Ladon, geek the pretty one now!" one of the other Ancients shouted, outing himself as their mage.
Church punched out, hitting the adept in solar plexus. He spun to soften the blow, swinging around his elbow with all that momentum, but Church had followed him, grabbing the front of his jacket as she did. She brought her palm up to slam into his chin, which might have been shrugged off...if she hadn't deployed the spur. There was a nasty, wet sound and his body twitched before going limp.
Anna had to trust that Church and Paladin could handle it. She dropped to the ground so gunfire would have a harder time targeting her and went astral for a minute. She found the link between the beast spirit and its summoner. The beast spirit sensed what she was doing and resisted with a growl, but its struggle was brief and in vain. In a second, she removed the favors that were keeping it bound and the spirit vanished. Anna popped back to her body and turned her head to look at Church.
The Russian batted a blade away and then drove her spur through the offending assailant's ribs. Anna heard a gunshot and saw Church flinch. "Church, Paladin, get down!" Anna shouted. Without waiting for an answer, she started to weave a spell, each movement of her fingers forming a sigil in the air. She whispered incantations and then let the mana flow. She was sinking an immense amount of power into it, but she was pretty sure that she could take it without knocking herself unconscious.
Granted, she'd been wrong before.
There was no boom or visual effect, but the result was immediate. For everyone in the vicinity besides Anna, the world exploded into a flashing cacophony. The mage was hit with a horrible migraine, enough that she saw stars and felt herself start to blackout, but that was pretty good for the massive illusion she was now sustaining. Chaotic World was a hell of a spell.
Church and Paladin both grabbed Anna, but kept their heads down. There was gunfire, but it was mostly friendly-fire between the Ancients. Together, the street sammy and the killer got their mage the hell out of the way.
"Next time, closer to an alley!" Paladin boomed, trying to shout over the sound of the deafening clamor in his ears. Once they made it to the edge of the spell's effect, he lowered his voice, "That was damn impressive."
Church shook the blood off her spur before retracting it. Then she drew her sleek pistol from its concealment holster, checking it for a moment before leaning out of cover and shooting two of the Ancients who were struggling in the grips of the illusions. When she wasn't being slowed by the illusion, she was moving at inhuman speed. Anna hadn't realized just how much of the Russian was bioware. Then again, the mage had never bothered to assense Church.
"We're not out of this yet," Anna managed, cupping a hand over her nose as it streamed blood. "That mage…"
A sizable manabolt hit Paladin as if on cue, earning a growl from the cybered man. He pushed Anna back against the wall so she was out of direct line of sight. The enemy mage would have a harder time targeting her there. Then Paladin drew his sword and looked in the direction of the mage.
The Ancients mage was at the far edge of the illusion, grinning. He was behind a car enough that Church hadn't seen him and clearly ready to seek cover if he was shot at. The moment he saw Paladin unsling his shotgun, the mage took cover behind the car.
"Drop the spell," Paladin said.
"Church isn't finished," Anna said. It was taking most of her mental energy to maintain the spell, but she didn't want to let it go quite yet.
He fired a shot at the closest ganger, his shotgun even more lethal than Church's pistol. Pretty soon, the mage would be the only one left. "Church, hurry up!"
Anna saw Church's jaw tighten, but the killer didn't look away from what she was doing to glare at him.
The moment the last one in the open was struck by a shot, Anna dropped the spell. Paladin roared as he bolted across the street, taking another manabolt for his trouble. The street-samurai dove across the car the mage was hiding behind. He rolled, catching the man's head as he did. There was a horrible crack from the mage's neck under the torque generated by the twist of Paladin's body.
"Are you alright?" Church asked Anna, helping the mage up.
"Did we just win?" she said hopefully.
The Russian shrugged, returning her pistol to its holster. She looked down at herself, examining the blood spattered across the front of her shirt. "I need to change when we are finished."
Anna shook her head a little. "Did not have you figured for the fashion-conscious, Church," she said with a smile.
"Blood prompts questions," Church said, holding out a dark handkerchief.
Anna took it gratefully, staunching the flow of blood from her nose. "I guess so." She looked down at herself. Her shirt was bloody too, though hers was all self-inflicted. "Twins?"
Church laughed.
Paladin was searching the bodies of the Ancients, at least in a cursory sense. He retrieved a few credsticks and left everything else alone, including their weapons.
Fuse's voice crackled to life on their comms. "Holy drek, that was awesome!"
The Russian grabbed Anna's arm and pulled her back towards the van. Paladin brought up the rear, looking around. "Fuse, did any signal leave?"
The door to the van opened, revealing a grinning Fuse. Doc was still in the driver's seat. "Nope, thanks to yours truly. 'Cause guess who's awesome? This guy. Never seen gangers get reconfig'ed so elegantly before, Ms. Clean. I knew Paladin can handle his stuff, but damn."
"Gemini's spell kept us from dying," Church said, letting Anna get in the van before stepping in herself. "We would have been very unhappy in the crossfire." She took off her jacket once the vehicle was in motion, revealing a large stain of blood on her side.
"Woah, that looks bad," Fuse said. "Hey Doc, Church got tagged."
"I've had worse," Church said dismissively. "Most of the blood isn't mine."
"Gemini, how does it look?" Doc called over his shoulder. "Church said you've got a little medic in you."
Anna reached out, untucking Church's shirt and pulling it up so she could take a look. "Deep graze," the mage reported. She was feeling a bit drained to heal, but she knew she could. As soon as she started to chant, Church grabbed her wrist and shook her head.
"Save your strength," the Russian said. "We still have to deal with Mercy."
"Right," Anna said before looking around to find a medkit. Fortunately, Doc had brought his. She opened it up and bandaged Church up inexpertly. Magical healing was more her area, but she knew enough to do a basic trauma bandage.
"You're a woman of many talents," Paladin observed. "What was that spell?"
"An illusion, designed for sensory overload. Makes it real hard for the people affected to do anything," Anna explained as she worked. "Sorry I hit you guys with it."
"Don't be," Church said. "It worked."
They stopped at the safehouse long enough for Church and Anna to change clothes, then headed back to Banshee. Instead of having to flag down staff and request an audience with Mercy, the vampire was waiting for them at the bar.
"Impressive," Mercy said when they approached her, hungry eyes settling on Anna again. "I do believe we can call things square."
"Don't much appreciate your games," Paladin said gruffly.
"No autopsy, no foul," Anna said. She tried not to show fear in front of the vampire, even though she was feeling rather a lot like a walking, talking meal. "You could've said it was a test."
Mercy smiled. "I find tests are most effective when unexpected. Now, I'd like to offer you a little tidbit for free, Gemini."
"Free?" Anna asked suspiciously.
"Our interests are in alignment at the moment. You want Kier gone, I want Kier gone. So in the interest of making that happen, I'll point you in the direction of her apprentice, who I believe you know from the Squatter's Mall." Mercy gave her a full grin now, exposing fangs to a terrifying effect.
"That sounds like a trap," Fuse said nervously.
"For him, most certainly," the vampire said. "There's an abandoned house in Redmond, at the north end of Chiphead Row. The Halloweeners were using it as a BTL-burning joint, but they cleared out real fast after Tlaloc nuked their boss."
Anna grit her teeth. She wasn't feeling up to going toe-to-toe with a combat mage. "I assume he's not alone."
Mercy tapped the surface of the bar, activating an AR display. Anna activated her contacts so she could peer into the virtual world. Full simsense made her sick, but this she could do. Waiting for her was an image of a familiar-looking mage flanked by two big orks in armored jackets. "He's got some former cylons with him."
"You sure they were corporate security?" Paladin said grimly. "They look like gangbangers to me."
"Much like me, Paladin, these gentlemen are more than they appear on the surface," the vampire said. "Honestly, I am almost offended that you don't appreciate the accuracy of my intel."
"Forces estimate?" Church said, cocking her head slightly as she studied the image.
"Sadly, my charity is at an end." Mercy stood up and flicked the image, sending a copy straight to Fuse. "Enjoy the club."
"You can't just—" Paladin started to growl.
"Be careful, Paladin," the vampire said almost innocently. "You've barely got any essence left. It'd be a shame to lose it over this."
"Thank you, Mercy," Anna said, well aware that some smoothing-over needed to happen. She wanted to be on good terms with Banshee's owner, and not just because she was afraid of dying. Mercy was a powerful adept with a lot of connections in Redmond. She would be a useful contact. "We'll do what we can about Kier."
The phys-ad smiled. "I look forward to our next meeting, Gemini. Do try not to get dead. It'd be such a waste."