8th floor
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding.
The elevator chimed as it climbed floor by floor, each evolution taking at least 15 seconds as the heavy elevator grew closer to its target...
Ding. Ding. Ding.
The sound was just loud enough to be heard over the heavy breathing and kicking of spent brass. One such piece of brass shuffled out of the way rolled past Flannery to stop right before her. A muffled scrape of a boot signified her quarry had come close enough to test her bravado. The first part of her assailant to show itself was a dark armored boot, Painted almost invisible in the NPF blue and black in the dark that if it handn't been contrasted to the white tile floor it might have gone unnoticed.
Without hesitation flannerys shot struck him in his calf, Tearing a hole through the soft armor where it met the knee and starting the man forward in a fall with a muffled scream. Unfortunately for flannery it was one of suprise and not fear as he fell forward only to stomp the leg. The boot thumped down hard enough to crack tile, A sure sign of either a protein rich diet or cybernetic enhancement as he aimed in flannerys direction, But overcompensated to where her head should have been had she not been mid thrust.
The burst of fire was close and bright enough to send a drumming pain through her eardrums and ruin her nightvision with the muzzle flash but ultimately missed and caught the intruders hand as he reached out to attempt a block. Unlike his leg, His hand was organic and natural and the tip of the knife punctured into the armored mesh just enough to drive the first quarter inch into his hand and push it away with the momentum. He cursed and released his rifle to grab at the officers wrist in an attempt to stop her from driving the point any deeper or pulling it free to drive it anywhere else.
Ding.
The elevator chimed for the 8th time and opened with almost dramatic slowness, The bright interior lights of the lift illuminating the final figure just mere meters behind the last, Rifle aimed at officer flannerys head, But otherwise distracted as the light blinded him in his night vision.
With a quick turn he pulled up his goggles and drew a bead at the elevator to throw off what would have been an impressive snapshot to put any spook in the IPG to shame but hesitated.
"You gotta be shitting me!" He cursed and pivoted to dive to the side but was too late as the Na-J3 Courier drone took a single stomp out of the elevator and fired the riot control grenade launchers on its side at the traitor officer. Heavy canister of high impact rubber bullets hit him hard enough not to damage him but close enough and with enough force to send him flying and skidding on the tile floor to impact heavily against the far wall.
The drone stomped forward with a slow methodical gait as the belt fed modified M2 assault rifles clicked only once before unloading two barrels of automatic death at the downed man. Any jury in a court of law even under those circumstances might have sentenced Andrej to a lengthy sentence for such a display of unnecessary force had the man not actually lived, Scrambling away at the last moment and behind a cubicle, Right into the gunhund mid lunge into taking down the man. Her jaws locking onto his hand as she shook left and right, Teeth applying damaging pressure through the ballistic mesh of his gloves before a shrill whistle called her off. The Couriers operator stepping out of the elevator and leveling a police issued zen armnaments revolving grenade launcher directly at his face. His HRRT suit looking rather imposing in its sleekness compared to the thick and currently unwieldy golem armor.
"Sorry i am the lates!" the kuz lieutenant grinned at flannery and the other officers before giving a raised eyebrow barely noticeable under the balaclava at flannery and the final intruder who managed to wrench away from flannery and was mid draw on his sidearm when the courier drew down on him. Assault rifles and grenade launchers leveled to fire.
"Ricky!" Andrej cooed over the screams of the thrashing man under lily and the weeping one at the entrance downed earlier.
"Andrej." He answered back, Letting his hand off the holster and taking a careful stride towards the lieutenant. A careful glance at flannery, easton and the others to make sure none of them where going to shoot him in the back.
"Did you burn down my precinct last time too, Ricky?" The kuz lowered the grenade launcher and matched his stride towards the center of the room.
"I helped." the intruder admitted bringing one fist into a cupped hand to crack the knuckles under his gloves, In preperation for a final showdown. "Wasnt supposed to go down that way but it did. Nothing personal, Ye know."
Andrej nodded and stopped meer paces away and rolled his shoulders in preperation as well while ricky squared up, Looking as imposing as a full SOL in his golem armor.
And then the Kuz DTR leader drew the grenade launcher in a fluid motion and fired a single canister into the mans armored chest. It would have knocked him over if the restriction grenades foam hadnt encompassed him and hardened around him in its smothering embrace, Sealing him in a barely breatheable coffin.
"Good, Thats all i needed to hear. Get all of that, Turi?" The lights flickered on, temporarily blinding most in the room and exposing the carnage of five corpses. Two loyal to the precinct and three laying motionless in their blue and black golem armor. "sorry im late!" Andrej grinned to his team as the elevator closed and started down to pick up another batch of officers...
Later.
The final gunshots had ceased minutes before as officers trailed the courtyard, Kicking guns out of reach from subdued gangers and laying the wounded in neat roes in the precinct interior where first responders only just arriving had begun an ad-hoc triage.
The news caster who had somehow survived to sweep up her partners camera had gotten most of the chaotic battle on film for when visibility was clear enough. And despite efforts to seize the footage in a subpoena it had gone on air with rather heavy editing to show three officers ganging up on an innocent SOL not even trying to fight back.
Other footage included an officer with a heavy Kuznyetski accent in the thick of melee, Bringing down a truncheon on fleeing and somwhat armed civilians who didnt stand a chance against the mob of officers with him going mercilessly as the footage showed a man reaching up to shield himself from the lieutenants blow that finally connected with his jaw before the officer pivoted to take on another.
The final clip before the brodcast was remotely terminated by town officials was one of rows and rows of onlookers outside the station in the aftermath. The entire precinct had gathered outside its gates in the aftermath. Some had come forward with injuries and carrying friends in makeshift stretchers towards the paramedics. But most stood silently as rumors where exchanged in hushed whispers. a few people stood out before drifting into the shadows in the form of a towering full SOL and a smaller half SOL. And while she couldnt be seen through the crowd a towering, spiked mohawk jutted out above them until that too turned and disapeared into a nearby alleyway.
*8th Floor
Officers had long ago dragged away the wounded. Both traitors and loyal corpses where now covered with sheets as the room entered a brief moment of silence with many of the defending officers retreating with wounded or being wounded themselves. The DTR team, And lily. All sat in some collected office chairs watching the show as an officer slowly chipped away at the hardened foam that encased Ricky. Andrej had offered ciggarettes to any of the officers that needed them and was sprawled lazily on the chair as if he had done the most work.
Ricky had begun rambling ever since his face had been exposed enough to be heard.
"we're the fucking good guys, Andrej!" he had said at least ten times. "you where there after the war, you saw what the old man did to those that wouldnt fall in line! Hes a tyrant and he'll see half of nepleslia burn before he finally kicked the bucket or someone kicks it for him!"
Andrej nodded, half paying attention and half looking over his shoulder at one of the tech trying to get the mystery crate opened. "yes, yes yes. You've said this before. why the burngings of my precinct though?"
Ricky was silent for a long moment and looked like he was about to speak, Starting with "the people i work for..." when the munitions crate made a loud beep and its alarm started that signaled it had been forced into, Drawing the teams attention away. They gathered around as the officercracking the case ripped out a battery to cut the alarm and then cursed when he opened the crate, Making a quick dash for the elevator to get help when he saw the contents.
Inside the crate was a form forced so tightly into the fetal position to fit inside the crate as to be extremely uncomfortable. She if the person was only just recognizeable as such was bruised and beaten and sported gashes across the surface of her skin. She had been left in her underwear and the smell of sweat implied she had been stuck in the crate for hours if not days. A dataslate forced between her knees and her chest against her face.
Turi would later identify it as a closed circuit network device only hooked up to the precincts net and was used to crack security on several doors and systems remotely and had downloaded and uploaded several terabytes of data to another device not accounted for.
The girl winced at the light of the room and flinched. Burying her head into her knees and began sobbing when Andrejs careful hands lifted her out of the munitions crate. On closer inspection she was less of a girl and more of a woman. Youth was recognizable on what non bruised or blackened parts of her face could be seen and even through the weeping and hysterical rambling her tone when clear sounded mature enough to be well out of puberty and possibly in her early twenties.
Before any questions could be asked the elevator had retrieved one of the clearing teams from the floor below and a paramedic and they had swarmed the room to secure the girl and give first aid.
Ricky would give no answers to the girls identity as when the elvator opened and the attention was drawn in his dirrection and the elvator the officer working on him had disappeared. His neck guard and chest armor had been carefully removed and a sleek NPF issued field knife had been forced up through his rib cage and into his heart leaving the mystery to continue for another time...
