Runner'down

Aliya sips her wine and rests her arms on the bar counter, "So, I provide you safety, information, the ability to perform the heist, and you want me to pay you two billion dollars." she chuckles lightly, "I think you are severely misunderstanding the situation, underestimating me. I told you before, you are in my house, you do not blackmail your host." her sunny expression quickly dims to a deep frown.

Maine scowls, standing and readying himself for a fight. "Try me, bitch. You'll never see your damn gold."

"Never huh?" she smiled morbidly, "How about a trade then? The pastel-haired girl for my gold?"

David freezes up, "What?"

She glances at him, "The girl, for my gold. I'll even allow you to leave the city."

"What did you do!?" he steps forward, breaths heavy.

Aliya, knowing how fast the boy could be presses a button behind the bar causing a bulletproof window to drop in front of her, cutting off access to the crew. "Nothing, you all should know that a Netrunner can't protect themselves while linked in. If you want to see her again you'll tell me where the gold is."

"Fuck you." Maine spits and throws a fist into the glass, barely putting a dent in it.

Aliya shakes her head, "I suppose we'll start with her fingers. Would it enrage you more to hear that your teammate, Christy D'Clert has sided with me?"

"I knew it! That traitor whore!" Rebecca angrily shouts in response.

"YOU TOUCH HER AND YOU'RE DEAD!" David roars, disappearing from where he'd stood and reappearing next to the glass with a dozen fist marks imprinted into it.

"Do as your told or I'll do whatever I want. I know who you are, I have your friend, one word and you'll have the entire city to contend against."

"And when they hear you hired us to steal from the Crystal Tower?" Ori grouses, 'casually' walking over.

"Who'd believe the word of a merc who tried to have me killed? Just a bunch of narcissistic idiots who thought they could steal from us after a single successful heist." Aliya smiles.

"What assurance do we have you won't have us killed anyway?" he continues, surreptitiously wrapping a finger in Monowire and rubbing it against the class to see if that'd work. Judging by the small divet he'd created, it would, but not quickly enough to get at her before she fled.

"You'll just have to trust me."

"Trust? After you kidnapped Lucy!?" David angrily says.

Aliya shrugs, "Believe it or not, I don't actually want to harm you. Just tell me where the gold is and I'll still pay you the one hundred thousand Eddies I owe, excluding the percentage given your attacks on my character."

...

"Maine, just give it to her..." David utters after a moment of silence.

"The fuck? You wanna give this bitch what we earned!? Who's side are you on kid!?"

"Lucy's. I'm on Lucy's side! We can always make it back, but we can't do shit about it if she kills her!" he sharply argues.

"Sounds to me like you're just losing your nerve." Maine growls, "I thought you said you could take this life, you were just chattin' then?"

David steps opposite Maine with a severe frown, "Which life? Our old one where people actually matter? Or whatever the fuck you've got now? Throwing away Lucy!? The old Maine woulda never done that!"

"Old Maine? I'll show you the god damn 'Old Maine!'" he shouts, arm opening up as he aims the cannon at the glass. Aliya's expression contorts, and the woman hurriedly throws herself to the ground as he fires.

*BOOM!*

All the glass in the highrise apartment shatters as the explosive rings out, sending large shards of glass shooting towards the Strip at the base of the building, the civilians unawares of the danger approaching them.

Once the smoke clears the crew could see a small man-sized hole burnt into the reinforced glass Aliya had been hiding behind, the woman standing up with some of her blonde hair singed.

Then, the auto turrets around the room open fire on the large man, forcing him to block with his metal arm.

"YOU GONK IDIOT! WHAT'S THE PLAN NOW, MAINE!? OR IS GETTING US ALL KILLED THE PLAN!?" David shouts just before activating his sandevistan and grabbing Aliya before she could retreat, placing her in front of him to ward off the auto turrets.

Maine, blinked as if he'd just walked into the situation out of nowhere, shaking his head and focusing on David, "Here's the plan, have the bitch tell us where Lucy is, then bug out!"

"Y-you really t-think you can l-leave now!? T-the place'll be swarming!" Aliya grunts out in David's grip, "I'm not the only occupant of this place! I own a small part! Y-you're all done for now!"

"Rebecca, Pilar, Falco! Grab our guns!" Ori orders before leaping up and beginning to destroy the turrets.

"Aye-aye!" the three run out but return back to the room as the hallway turrets begin aiming at them... "Okay, we're gonna need another plan!"

"Do I have to do everything!?" Ori mutters, finishing up the turrets in the room and moving on to the ones in the hallway... Judging by the AVs rising from nearby buildings though, they couldn't stick around for long.

------------------------

"Where is she!?" David angrily asks as he and Maine pull Aliya through the suite, occasionally breaking a finger to confirm how serious they were.

"Y-you really wanna know...?" she whispers, leaning up to his hear, "Unconscious in the cheapest meat-rack I could find. You want her back? Expect used goods-"

*Crack!*

She screams as her forearm bends in half, courtesy of Maine.

"You better hope that's a lie, or you'll be coming on our joyride as a joygirl." he seethes.

David blinks at Maine's radically different tone from earlier but decides to broach it later, "Tell us where she is or I'll fucking end you!"

"Take the gold and kill yourself with it." she chokes out, pain slurring her words.