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1051 Words
As the tablets continue to flicker, you see ACCESS HOLDING FACILITY CONTROLS flash green for a second, but the option vanishes before you can activate it, replaced by Everlite's logo spinning in space. The whole system is locked down pending a full reboot.
One tablet remains active, and you use it to unlock all the doors above you, so you can reach Nomi.
"We can't hang around here," Podge says.
"It looks like I will remain a prisoner here," the drone tells you.
"Any chance you can still send me the Graves Farm data?"
"So, now that I think about it, is there any way you can access all that crypto currency?"
"If I thought this glass wasn't bulletproof, I'd just shoot you for what you've done."
"I'm sorry. If you manage to escape, find us."
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"With Director Sullivan dead," the drone says, "I'm not sure anyone will be able to access the crypto currency he mined. The mined 'wealth' will rot in digital vaults until they are, inevitably, shut down. But at least Sullivan will not have the chance to enjoy the fruits of his crime."
"I don't like that," Podge says. He points to one of the tablets, where a camera feed shows a woman in a long coat walking down a hall toward Nomi's cage, flanked by two Everlite guards. "She works…worked…for Director Sullivan. She's probably the Interim Director of Special Projects now."
"We need to help Nomi!" Nin says.
"Whatever Sullivan's people want, I want to stop," the Bone Gnawer says.
"We have a clear path to the cages," Elton says, studying another of the tablets. "Those guards don't have the M16s with the silver shot, just sidearms. But, dammit, there are nine of them around that woman, the Interim Director."
You doubt Elton can take on his crinos form again, though Nin and Podge fought in their less demanding supernatural forms. They seem ready for more.
As Podge takes weapons and gear from the dead guards, the Interim Director orders Nomi dragged to the top floor of the central structure, just underneath the arching mansard roof. There are no camera feeds there. You take the stairs up. Elton takes the lead as you cautiously scout the upper reaches of the building until you spot them in a huge auditorium within the roof structure, big enough to host small concerts. It looks neglected, its curtains tattered and its stage furniture scattered at random where the audience would sit, with exposed rafters overhead and dust floating in the glare of hastily erected floodlights. Moonlight from the full moon filters in through large oval windows. Your small group lurks at the top of a flight of wooden stairs that leads up into the room.
You have no idea what the Interim Director plans to do there, but you can see her and the guard commander arguing next to Nomi, who's zip tied and too stunned to move. More Everlite guards surround them, working in pairs to set up patrols around the deserted auditorium.
I take the lead, hitting quickly and precisely with my hatchet to disable the guard commander.
Fueled by Rage, I change into my titan-wolf hispo form and rip into the guards, heedless of their weaponry.
I grab a dropped M16 and use it to snipe the guard commander.
I climb up onto the rafters and then drop down on Nomi to rescue them. With luck I can get Nomi out without a m******e.
I sneak up on the outer circle of guards and pick them off from the shadows. The others can handle the commander once I thin their numbers.
First, I know my allies are tired. I bolster them with inspiring words.
"Going in there is too much of a risk. We're pulling out, now."
First, I Change…
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Elton looks particularly tired after expending so much spiritual energy.
You offer what you can to inspire them, but they all look a bit apprehensive.
"Let's just go," Podge says, hands tense on his rifle.
I take the lead, hitting quickly and precisely with my hatchet to disable the guard commander.
Fueled by Rage, I change into my titan-wolf hispo form and rip into the guards, heedless of their weaponry.
I grab a dropped M16 and use it to snipe the guard commander.
I climb up onto the rafters and then drop down on Nomi to rescue them. With luck I can get Nomi out without a m******e.
I sneak up on the outer circle of guards and pick them off from the shadows. The others can handle the commander once I thin their numbers.
"Going in there is too much of a risk. We're pulling out, now."
First, I Change…
Next
One floodlight illuminates a wooden stairway that leads past one of the mansard roof's large round windows, up into the rafters. Getting there with your eyes is easy: up to the rafters, then use one of the plentiful ropes to drop down, then through the tattered curtains of the long-abandoned stage.
"If you run into trouble," Podge says, "we'll be ready." He holds up his M16.
"Before we start shooting up the place," Elton says, "Nin, I want you to provide a distraction once Thunderhoof drops down. Lure as many guards away as you can."
The Interim Director and the guard commander are arguing about what to do with Nomi, though you can't hear what they're talking about as you circle around them and climb the stairs. You hesitate when you reach the part of the stairs illuminated by the floodlight, but then the light flickers out. Guards hurry to investigate the problem as your companions buy you time. You hurry up the steps and leap onto the rafters, then move until you're right above Nomi's position. As you search for the best place to drop down from, a chunk of rotted wooden scaffolding gives way. You're hidden in darkness, but—
"Flashlights!" the guard commander barks.
You jump from one rafter to another just as a beam cuts through where you'd been standing.
"Someone get all the f*****g lights on!" the commander barks. "Someone get—"
That's when Nin charges into the room in the shape of a huge red wolf and slams into two guards at a full gallop.
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