May 2.3, 2080
[X] [Access] Break the ICE. Let Arisu work her Netrunner fight while you cover her in the real world.
"Remain steady at the task before you," You firmly told Arisu and put a hand over your chest, making a vow. "None shall besmirch you so long as I am here."
She nodded, then reached backwards. At a single thought, a few pistol magazines dropped from her schoolbag into her palm and she held it out to you. "Take my spares. You'll need them more than I."
You picked them up gratefully, slightly thankful that Lycoris weaponry usually shared the same ammunition type. Perhaps it was for these such situations, or perhaps it was just a balm to logistics, but you'd take that now as you checked your Towa 14. Then your leg lashed out to kick over a nearby office desk before you crouched behind it, using it as a form of low cover.
Then you waited, making sure you checked your breathing to ensure your reactions were steady. It wouldn't do to jump at the slightest noise or fail to pick up on a hostile approaching. Meanwhile, Arisu cracked her neck, then slumped slightly when her consciousness plunged into the digital electronic world. Normally, for any regular Netrunner, this was where their body began to generate an immense amount of heat when the host's digital consciousness began to call upon vast amounts of processing power normally only found in bulky supercomputers.
But when the heat came, it was only centered in one of the Lycoris Graduate's arms. It was where her Lycoris Cyberdeck was, an exclusively designed piece of cyberware that packed the processing power of these supercomputers into a lesser but portable form. It could even interface and link directly with bigger processing units for seamless Netrunner integration over the web, but as it was, Arisu believed it should be enough to brute force the door's ICE.
In that world only seen through the eyes of such Netrunners, her avatar formed and examined the overlapping code arrays that barred her way. With a snap of her fingers, Arisu summoned a demon in the form of a crow. It cawed and began to dive in, launching probing assaults to try and find a weak spot. The arrays shifted and Arisu gestured with an arm to form a murder of her demons, eyes narrowing with a small excited smile.
She did so enjoy a good puzzle.
(Security Attack: 71)
Meanwhile in the real world, you could hear it. Footsteps, a heavy sort associated only with fighters, gingerly approaching your location. You listened to the rushed breaths, the slightly fiddling of the belt, the shaky click of a handgun. Even without looking, you had a good idea that this was just office security first on the scene to try and figure out what was going on. They did seem to approach rather warily and so it came down to how good you were with your surprise attack. You sucked in a quick breath, triggered your cyberware, then rose from cover with your pistol blazing away in a full-auto burst.
(Surprise Attack: 63 +10 (Mitsu) +10 (Lycoris Surge) = 83)
(Towa 14 (Piercing 0): 49 +15 (Mitsu) +10 (Lycoris Graduate) +10 (Short Range) +20 (Surprise) = 104)
(Office Security (Armor 0): 47 +0 (Office) -0 (Armor) -14 (Hit) = 33)
Mitsu Towa 14 Ammo: 15/16
In a blink of an eye, the bullets left your pistol. In a blink of an eye, you rose, fired, ducked. In a blink of an eye, the guard's body crumpled to the ground, eyes wide, the brain having not yet comprehended it has perished for a brief second before the flow of blood ceased to the neural cortex. You peeked over the top to confirm the kill and slowly lowered back down, mechanically readying yourself for the next ambush.
(Door Probe: 38 +15 (Arisu) +15 (Lycoris Netrunner) +10 (Murderous Eye) = 78)
(Door Security: 51 +0 (Inanimate Security) = 51)
"Let's see, let's see," Arisu half-hummed, half-sang while viewing the ICE through the eyes of her demons. "Well, whoever did this certainly didn't do the cameras, they're actually competent." She idly tested the theory by ordering one of the demons to divebomb the defenses, making sure to partially disconnect herself from it right before executing.
The visualization of her program screeched and complied, launching a light attack that the array immediately snapped up like a set of chomping jaws. The program was swallowed and rapidly decomposed, likely being ingested for a Netrunner to review in a report. That was, if Arisu didn't still have a direct connection via actual cable access. It was a simple manner to idly activate the self-termination to dissolve her demon back into pixels with one hand wave.
The other hand reached for her chin in thought. "Mmh. The type that eats up assaults huh?" She smiled and began to channel her processing power in booting up a proper attack program. "Let's see if we can't overload you."
(Security Attack: 92 +5 (Time Passage) = 97)
Meanwhile, you were on the verge of being overloaded yourself when the next attacker showed up. They still were office security, but they had apparently grabbed an submachine gun from some emergency armory and were approaching at a steady pace. There was quick pause at the sight of the fallen office security guard on the floor, then the footsteps picked up into a rapid advance. It looked like you couldn't use surprise for this one.
It would come down to who had the better draw of the gun. You sharply inhaled and activated your cyberware, then moved the moment you felt your body accelerate into a blur too fast for human eyes.
(Mitsu Initiative: 37 +15 (Mitsu) +10 (Lycoris Surge) = 62)
(Security Initiative: 94 -5 (Unexpected) = 89)
(SMG (Piercing 0): 30 +0 (Office Security) +20 (Short Range) = 50)
Perhaps though they had their own speedware, or they just fired on reflexive instant the minute a blur presented themselves. But their aim flinched for the briefest moment and threw them off, the bullets just barely grazing your body. You remained locked onto them with your eyes and fired, the fear of being shot at long since drilled out of you the moment you became a Lycoris.
(Towa 14 (Piercing 0): 17 +15 (Mitsu) +10 (Lycoris Graduate) +10 (Short Range) = 52)
(Office Security (Armor 0): 45 +0 (Office) -0 (Armor) -7 (Hit) = 38)
Mitsu Towa 14 Ammo: 14/16
Your shots, despite being under fire, were pinpoint accurate and marks appeared on the enemy's arms, chest, and head. They dropped to the floor and you stoically aimed down to put a few more rounds in the body to make sure. Then your aim snapped back up to check the area with intense focus, the time for ambushes totally over now. Now, it really was who could draw a bead first if somebody were to step through in the next few minutes.
In the digital world, Arisu finished form her demon and beheld the result with a laugh. It was a purely garbage program meant to spam nothing but repeated gibberish and took the demon form of a babbling parrot. She swung her arm out and the demon took flight for a scant few moments, cawing obscenity and curses as it soared through the air. Then it fell, right into the maws of the ICE array and was gobbled up without second thought.
(Door Breach: 3 +15 (Arisu) +15 (Lycoris Netrunner) +10 (Echoed Packets) +10 (Probe) = 53)
(Door Security: 36 +0 (Inanimate Security) -10 (EW Attack) = 26)
It belched and began to bulge, the normally clear array beginning to cloud. It was working! Arisu quickly began to form another program instance, making sure to cycle the process to make sure she didn't burn out all of the sudden. Though she had a feeling that even if she pushed herself a little bit more and lost control rather sloppily, Mitsu would be there to immediately pull her out. She could hear the distant gunshots but felt no worry, still seeing her current partner as unharmed based on the biometic link.
(Security Attack: 29 +10 (Time Passage) = 39)
You tensed up, waiting for the next attack, but there was nothing. Either they were delayed, retreating, or worst, readying up for a more serious attempt. You decided to make the most out of this brief window of opportunity and hoped out of cover to drag the bodies to the side, somewhat out of the way as best you could. It wasn't perfect, but perhaps it'd give you an ambush opportunity when the next enemy showed up.
(Door Breach: 82 +15 (Arisu) +15 (Lycoris Netrunner) +10 (Echoed Packets) = 122)
(Door Security: 59 +0 (Inanimate Security) -10 (EW Attack) -10 (Engorged) = 39)
"Polly wants a very dirty nut!" The demon shrieked right before the ICE jaws snapped around it. Then the already bulging cheeks expanded and grew, rapidly collecting useless report information and errors. Pixels began to form and collect around Arisu's hand in response, taking the form of a glowing pistol not unlike her service weapon. She grinned and pointed it at the overfilled array, pulling the trigger on the breach program.
"Bang. ICE, breached!"
Your head snapped around when her body suddenly sucked in a deep breath, eyes fluttering when she returned to the real world. This coincided with the server door sliding open with a neat hiss and your temporary partner grinned, pulling herself out. "All done. Let me grab the data, then we can delta!"
You signaled your agreement with a nod of the head and then focused on the possible avenues of assault.
(Security Attack: 15 +15 (Time Passage) +10 (Preparations) = 40)
There was still no attack and a hand drifted to your katana. At this point, you were sure- they were done sending in office security whose most exciting task was escorting fired corporate workers out of the building. They had to be gearing up with proper corporate security now in the next attack, maybe EGO Security itself. Either way, you made sure your blade of justice was ready to cut down the honorless bandits.
Arisu quickly got to business in the meantime, quickly ejecting the datashard from her neck and plugging it into the system. It cycled for a moment before recognizing the credentials, authorizing database access into EGO Security members. She didn't even need to plug herself in, instead just using the touch screen to quickly flick through confidential personnel files to try and find what they were after.
(Data Search: 23 +15 (Arisu) +10 (Database Authoriziation) = 48)
"Not in active members?" She murmured with a frown, confused for a moment. Then she blinked and began to go through the other files, an idea on her lips.
(Security Attack: 58 +20 (Time Passage) +20 (Preparations) = 98)
You had guessed right when you listened in to the coordinated shouts that echoed through the nearly empty office now. They had brought in the real professionals now, and they were sweeping the place methodically. The moment there were gunshots, they'd almost certainly converge on your location, so you had to make this one as quiet as possible.
Your service pistol was tucked into your schoolbag holster and a hand gripped the hilt of your other weapon. Somebody drew close, their breaths quickening at the sight of the open server room, and they focused on that. It meant that you had the chance to surprise them and you took the opportunity when it presented itself, rising and drawing your crimson blade in one smooth action that coincided with your cyberware activation.
(Surprise Attack: 71 +10 (Mitsu) +10 (Lycoris Surge) = 91)
(Arasaka Katana (Piercing 2): 83 +15 (Mitsu) +10 (Lycoris Ronin) +20 (Surprise) = 128)
(EGO Security (Armor 0): 88 +0 (EGO) -20 (Armor) -20 (Hit) = 48)
The red steel swung horizontally and dug into the protective neck gear, meant to catch perhaps the errant stray rock thrown its way. Meaning that it offered no resistance and was sliced through with ease, the Arasaka-forged steel then meeting skin, flesh, blood, bone. The EGO operative didn't even have the breath to shout in alarm, on account of their entire head being suddenly devoid of lungs to scream as they fell in two pieces onto the floor.
You quickly swung your blade again to try to shake off as much blood as you could, but kept it out, eyes narrowed and ready to strike again if need be. A hand reached back to draw your service pistol and you held both gun and blade prepared for battle if need be. Hopefully, your partner was nearing the end of her search.
(Data Search 2: 66 +15 (Arisu) +10 (Database Authoriziation) +10 (Files Scanned) = 101)
"Aha," Arisu whispered and quickly dragged the file over to the side. The datashard plugged in flashed, then she pulled it out and tucked in a neckslot. Then she winced and lashed out with a foot at the sensitive electronic equipment, making sure to smash circuit and chipboard alike. She made sure no traces of what she had access were left behind before rushing out with a quiet whisper.. "I've got it. Let's get out of here."
"Excellent," You finally said, your tongue finally uncurling from the tenseness of combat. "Let us not entertain them with another moment of our tine."
"Well put." A pause. "What's our exit plan?"
You frowned, mentally listed what options you had, then made a decision.
[ ] [Exit] Out the front door. Guns blazing, eliminate any in your way!
[ ] [Exit] Out the rooftop. Try to slip away by leaping to the next building from the roof, fading into the streets of Hayato Strip.
[ ] [Exit] Out the window. Smash through the window and get a running start to reach the street, where your motorcycle was to make a hasty escape.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Mitsu really did go full samurai mode now, holy cow. Arisu did well also, but I think your partner really took the spotlight here.Four hour moratorium to come up with a mode of
egress.
Last edited: