Fatalities

A massive couch was the first thing she saw. Three Scavs were sitting down. One had a BD set on his head, mind far away from the present. The other two were smoking some type of hallucinogen…getting high and relaxing. 

To the right was the nearby hole in the wall. It led to another room where another group of Scavs were watching TV. Commenting on sports. 

To the left was a hallway filled with Scavs. Each of them were armed and coming in and out of classrooms. Some would enter with one firearm just to leave with another. Most definitely a weapons cache in there. 

Lei approached the couch first. Roughly grabbing the hair of the smoking man, she swiped her blade across his neck. The crimson light went on to sever both smokers' heads. She then turned to the unconscious man who was watching the BD. 

Raising her beam saber, she stabbed down from the top of his scalp. The blade drilled through his brain with searing heat, traveling through the neck and reaching his chest. Bye bye.

She then stomped over to the hole in the wall. Her entrance didn't go unnoticed. Due to the positioning of the TV, they were able to catch her in their peripheral. The focus of their gaze immediately went to her beam saber…then to the severed head in her other hand.

"Morg is dead! We're being attacked!" One of them screamed. 

The sound barely went over the blaring music…but some of those in the hallway turned to the commotion. What they saw made them raise their weapons. 

Lei was brutalizing those in the room. Her weapon cleaved through the screaming man's hip, separating him in two. By this point, the others in the room had scrambled to raise their weapons. 

A bullet shot out toward the drifter, but it was deflected. The crimson saber cut off the shooter's arm. Just to be followed with a slash across the stomach. Innards fell out. Soon to be dead.

BANG BANG

All hell broke loose. Those in the hallway shot into the room, not caring about their gang mates. Several Scavs immediately died to friendly fire. All for nothing. Lei had casually leaned away from the hole. Waiting for the gunfire to die down. 

If they were smart, they would've staggered their reload times. Too bad they were idiots. Gonks. Target practice. 

As they reloaded, the drifter casually walked out of the room. She approached them slowly. Not even bothering to run. Her demeanor left them spooked. Hurry and reload…hurry and reload! As soon as they finished reloading, they lit up the room with gunfire. 

RATATATATA

Lei's silhouette vanished and appeared from left to right as she grew closer. Suddenly, the sound of guns stilled. The click of their triggers resounded across the hall. What the hell?

Quickhack. Weapon glitch. They were now like sitting ducks. The beam saber pierced through an enemy's mouth, going through the back of his throat. 

"Fuck! Weapons down!" Someone screamed.

All of them charged at her with fists clenched. Twirling around a downward blow, she cleaved up through the man diagonally from hip to shoulder. The sequence of movement allowed her to add weight to her blade. 

Her knees buckled as she crouched down into another spin. A pair of legs were cut off at the knee. Screams resounded across the floor. Lei was like a terminator, killing them one by one in gruesome ways. Quick and efficient kills? Not today.

She eventually found herself in the student restroom, slamming a man's face against the corner of the sink. His teeth shattered, his head slowly turning to mush…but she didn't stop. Over and over and over and over and-

'FOCUS, Loralei. Pay attention!' Johnny growled in her ear. 

A single Scav was all that was left on this floor. A woman. She was shaking in fear, watching from the entrance how Lei was brutalizing the man. As soon as the drifter turned to the stupid bitch, she bolted. Most likely heading to the first floor. 

Lei dropped the corpse and stepped out of the restroom. The woman's back was in the distance, flying down the hall. Was she an Olympic runner? Quite fast.

The beam saber's hilt extended into a spear. Swordstaff mode activated. The drifter's body accelerated, and she threw the crimson saber like a trident. The weapon beamed across the hallway like a hypersonic missile. 

Bullseye. The weapon pierced through her back, the momentum slamming her into the wall and pinning her there. Right next to the staircase. 

'You can be real fucking scary sometimes.' Johnny commented. Lei ignored him. 

Obviously, all of the gunfire and combat must have alerted those on the first floor. No way it wouldn't. One would have to be deaf. Lei reached the staircase and pulled the swordstaff out of the wall.

The pinned woman fell to the ground on her back. She twitched in pain, but her lungs were fried. She couldn't breathe. Tears went down her face as she looked up at the drifter. 

"Don't cry. You chose this life. Scavs? Really? Of all the gangs." Lei's feminine voice washed over the dying girl. 

"Hughk…Hyighk…" Her chest convulsed due to lack of air.

"I think I'm gonna let you die slowly. Take your time." 

The drifter ignored her and headed down the stairs. Convulsions constantly rippled through the girl behind Lei. Her brain was slowly shutting down. 

'Are you the bad guy, or is it the Scavs?' Johnny pondered. 

'There are no good guys. Of course, I've always been the villain.' 

'I'm joking. Fuck these people. Keep it up, Lei.'

'Fuck off, gonk.' She cursed the legendary merc.

As soon as she reached the first floor, her position was riddled with bullets. Luckily she'd already taken a step back. Hmmm. Looks like they were all aiming at the bottom of the stairs. 

Lei stretched for a moment before hopping up and down. Then she accelerated. The Scavs were unable to even react to her entrance. One moment they were aiming at the stairs, and the next…they were being cut down. 

The first floor was spacious. This gave the drifter ample room to work with. More space meant easier kills. She circled around a row of lockers and cut through two Scavs at once. They toppled to the ground in pieces. 

When in swordstaff mode, killing more than one person per swing was a simple thing. Something shifted at that moment. The sound of something heavy was cocked back. 

KABLAM

Flechette rounds were fired. Lei was forced to accelerate around an entire wall of bullets. A shotgun? There was a large Borg carrying the weapon. Was that the leader? No way it wasn't. Massive arms. Gorilla arms.

"Drak, right?"

"The fuck are you, Bitch?! Die!" He roared. Then his gun clicked. 

"Dumbass. You really think I'd let you shoot that again?"

"Damnit. A netrunner."

"Damn right."

Lei continued to clean up the grunts around the floor. She ignored the big man for the time being, since he couldn't keep up with her speed. About 15 seconds later, it was just them. 

"Saving the best for last, eh?" He questioned with a bit of fear. While frightened, he wasn't backing down. Brave.

"Correct. Can you last longer than a second? Let's find out."

The drifter accelerated toward him and pierced at his face. Right at the last second, he leaned out of the way and stumbled back. The timing was uncanny. Lei raised an eyebrow.

He didn't move the way one would with a Sandevistan. He must have a Kerenzikov. Not bad. Could he use it efficiently was the question. Most likely not. He was a Scav after all. 

"I'm not impressed." She commented. 

"I didn't ask." He countered. 

"Hmph."

She accelerated again. This time she stepped off a bench and onto a locker. Her body leapt into the air and she flipped, gaining heavy momentum. Then she launched the swordstaff down at the Borg. 

Drak didn't even notice the blade until it was inches from his face. His body quickly turned to the side. It wasn't fast enough to avoid injury though. The beam saber cut through the surface layer of his chest and stomach before drilling into the ground. 

Lei had followed right behind the weapon, her Burya handcannon now an inch from below his chin. She pulled the trigger…but his head already leaned back before the gun even went off. A large hole appeared in the ceiling. 

After grabbing her beam saber, she spun into another slash. Drak tried to leap back but his body was too big. The blade went right through his waist. Top and bottom were separated. Game.

Time sped up to normal. Lei held her swordstaff in one hand, the blade pointed down at the ground. This short battle was over. 

"You lasted 3 seconds. Not bad."

"Damn…" He gasped. The light slowly left his eyes. 

"A Keren is great for quick reactions, but if you don't counter attack…it's useless."

Lei took a deep breath and allowed herself to leave the battle trance she was in. The adrenaline slowed down and the ever present ache of the heart returned. Now…let's get Parzik out of this dump.