Aftermath, Chapter Nine: Racing the clock

"What?" Angel asked.

"I'm going home. They need me." I grabbed my commlink and rose to my feet.  I powered it up and tried to put thoughts into something that resembled rational. 

"Tommy, what do you mean 'they need you'?" Angel prodded.  "I thought you were sleeping.  Were you out in the astral?"

"Maybe." I hit the call button and shuffled my restless feet as I waited for an answer. 

Sheila answered on the second ring. "Verification."

"Your coffee is drek." I replied.

"Tommy, what's going on?" Sheila asked.

"Move the family, they're compromised.  I'm not sure how yet but hurt is coming."  I looked up at the inquiring faces of Angel, Crank and Ratchet.  "Get as much muscle and magic there as you can. I'll reach out to the girls and be there soon."

Sheila's face took on a look I had last seen when a mob boss had kidnapped Aria.  "Get your ass in gear then Tommy. I'll send everyone I can." 

The connection broke and I faced my three chummers. 

"One hundred thousand nuyen each.  We go get Aria and the girls and take us all to the Willows. If anything gets in our way, it dies hard."  I grabbed my satchel and retrieved my menpo-styled ballistic mask. "Grab your gear if you're going."

Ratchet opened his mouth as if to speak, but clamped his lips closed and hurried to his dinged up roadmaster. "Drones are loaded and ready to fly.  Crank help me with the ammo belts."

"Will do." Crank replied.  He looked at me and clamped his massive hand on my shoulder.  It hurt. "Don't worry omae, we'll get them out safe and sound."

Angel stared at me.  "What, exactly, do you expect me to do?"

"Same as always, electronic overwatch. Keep your eyes open for movement in the area of operation and all that." I looked at my friend and felt my eyes threaten to tear up. "Please, Angel.  I need your help."

She hugged me.

"Let's go get your family." She whispered.

I brushed the budding tears from my eyes and reached out to the astral plane. "Rose. Lily. Enemies are coming. Where are you girls?"

Five minutes later Ratchet's roadmaster was roaring down the streets.  Traffic signals cycled to green as we approached.  Traffic cameras went dark as we sped past, heading north as fast as we could. 

"Traffic systems think we're an ambulance." Angel's synthesized voice came over my earpiece.  "We're clear all the way to Everette on the I-5."

We hit the ramp up onto the potholed old interstate at more than one hundred KPH.  "Where the 'ell is all the traffic?" Ratchet asked.

"Traffic systems are diverting everyone around.  I've flagged a maintenance lane closure, so even automated patrols won't be on." Angel's reply spoke volumes toward the amount of work she had accomplished in remarkably little time.  "Don't spare the horsepower, Ratchet. You're all clear."

I lurched in my seat as the roadmaster suddenly accelerated. "OH, YEAH BABY!" Ratchet howled over the comms.  "I COULD GET USED TO THIS!"

Crank chambered a round in his pink light machine gun.  "We'll get there soon Tommy.  Don't worry, this is a good gun.  If anyone raises a hand to them, I'll blow it off."

"Patching in Sheila." Angel announced.

"Put her through." I replied. "We're en route.  ETA is... Ratchet?"

"Thirty minutes, tops."

"ETA is thirty minutes by land.  Rose and Lily report no contacts." I offered.

"You're sure this is necessary?" Sheila asked.

"I am."

"That's good enough for me. We're catching up but you're ahead of us a good bit." Sheila left the connection open.

We hurtled down the I-5, with Ratchet screaming like a berserker as he assaulted the pavement. For fifteen minutes we careened over wrecked pavement, blurred past highway signs and brought me ever closer to Aria and the girls.  "We're coming up on 128th, hang on!"

I bounced off the seat in front of me as Ratchet braked hard.  The roadmaster swerved violently to the right and down the off-ramp at more than three times the recommended speed before spinning hard to the left and bouncing me off the passenger side door.  Crank and Angel kept their seats by the four-point harnesses they had belted into.

"Angel, talk to me.  How are we looking?" Ratchet asked.

"We're clear all the way to 112th.  Traffic cams are out at the intersection, can't see anything so stay alert.  I've got multiple contacts coming up behind us though, looks like the 'Fivers." Angel's electronically generated voice didn't betray any concern.  Crank glanced back at the armored doors and I heard a squeak as his grip tightened on his weapon.

"How many of them, Angel?" I asked.

"I think, maybe all of them." She replied.  "Pulling drone feed now."

I opened the AR window that blinked read for me and saw dozens of hard faced elves on sleek looking motorcycles racing our way.  "Thanks, Angel.  Everyone get your game face on."  I pulled off my AR goggles and pulled my ballistic mask down over my face.  My fingers found the tracery over the mask and I pushed a touch of mana into the pattern. Shade's formula had been incredibly difficult to enchant but as we sped toward Aria and the girls I felt the mask's well of power come alive. 

"They're closing fast." Angel said. "At this rate they'll be able to reach out and touch us in two minutes."

"Ratchet, float the rotor-drones.  Maybe we can spook them away." I replied.

The roadmaster's back door swung up and the first roto-drone came to life.  The dual rotors lifted it smoothly from its launch rack and carried it out into the night.  "Launching.  Stay clear of the rotors everyone."

I was staring out toward the horde of oncoming elves when I felt Rose's touch on my mind. "Father! We have enemies here!" 

"Ratchet!  How long until we're there?" I yelled out over the wind and rotor noise.

"Ten minutes, maybe more depending on those gangers." He called back.

The second rotor-drone took off into the night.  Ten minutes was far too long. "Proceed on target. If these assholes start anything, put them down.  I'm going ahead."  The air elemental appeared at the open door.  I jumped into its swirling winds as the pavement blurred beneath me. The spirit lifted me above the roaring armored behemoth and we streaked through the night.

I opened myself to Rose's senses.  I saw a bullet riddled door, heard the staccato of automatic weapon fire and smelled pizza.  Behind her, Lilly was carrying Jasmine and Violet into a panic room hidden behind a flight of stairs.  Aria came in behind her, a shotgun cradled in her arms.  The door closed seamlessly behind them, leaving no evidence of its existence. 

Lily materialized into view her body shifting its form from that of a small elf girl to that of an avenging angel.  Wings sprouted into view as Rose's form shifted as well. 

"We will do violence!" Rose and Lily's voices rang out in my mind. I shifted my perception back to my own body and saw the telltale ribbon flashes of weapon fire on the street ahead and below me.  Dozens of armed assailants were firing into the house that held my family.

My earpiece was filled with chatter as Angel, Crank, Ratchet and Sheila were speaking in hurried voices.  I ignored them, my anger deafening whatever they were saying as I picked a point in the middle of the strangely crowded street, tapped the mana of my power focus mask and cast my hands forward with a scream I imagined them hearing from a hundred meters away.

"MORTUORUM EGO CREO! IGNIS MAGICAE!!" 

Flames exploded fifteen meters into the sky in a column thirty meters wide.  Flames washed over the ruined buildings and splashed along the walls of the house where my family hid. Dozens of gunmen died in an instant. The plascrete melted and exploded in a fury of fire of death.

I had announced my arrival, given away my location and fell right into the trap that had been laid for me

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Thank you for reading my fan fiction.  I hope you are enjoying Aftermath.

I do apologize that this chapter has been so long in coming out.  I had a successfully funded KickStarter campaign wrap up and tasks that needed attending to in that regard.  I hope you'll join me next time as we continue Aftermath.

*Reminder*  I do not own Shadowrun.  This fan fiction is for entertainment purposes, so I hope you've enjoyed it.

As always, your comments are most welcome.