Free Flight. Part 2

After last night's drinking, where we drank not by the bottle but by the crates, I was still shaking. Maine, the son of a bitch, had a good set of chrome, and a lot of life experience that allowed him to drink in huge quantities. That didn't help him when the Demidov brothers stepped in. I don't know how, but medics, even in the 2070s, can consume alcohol in unlimited quantities. What can I say, they didn't tarnish the glorious title of medics and they got us all wasted.

Now, we're all standing in front of the Biotechnica office, thinking of a plan on how to steal data. Out of all of us only three do not look like the risen dead, it is Sasha, who was not with us yesterday and medic brothers, who are smiling nastily, watching our suffering from a hangover . Bastards, they were the biggest drinkers yesterday, but look fresh and cheerful in the morning as if all they drank was non-alcoholic beer. So back to planning, just need to stop my hands from shaking, or I won't even be able to draw a straight line.

Plan A is simple enough. We turn on the jammer, and while the security system goes to reset, Sasha steals the necessary data directly from the office, leaving a bag of explosives. But I can already see a couple of potential issues right now. First, the jammer may not work properly and part of the security system will be able to function. Or worse, the jammer might not work or just malfunction at the most important moment. The second question is, what if someone from the staff is in the office, or even worse, a security guard makes a round and catches Sasha. Then there would definitely be some bloodshed, Sasha wouldn't have time to disable the health monitoring system and deal with the guard simultaneously. It would be possible to find an additional netrunner and another jammer, but we do not have time for that, the contract has a clear deadline for the execution, and the deadline is tonight.

So we have to work with a safety net just in case. And this safety net will be me and my team. Actually, I did not want to involve my boys, but they decided to help me out of a sense of loyalty and friendship. A rare quality these days, but I was glad to have found such companions.

In case things don't go according to plan, we have to step in and help Sasha escape. Rico will be our sniper backup and will cover us from the roof of the adjacent building. The rest of us, including me, will wait for the signal with special harpoons. If Sasha needs an evacuation, we shoot harpoons with the ropes. With Rico's backup, we fly into the office, and from there, using the cords, we abruptly descend to the street. Maine will be waiting for us there with the minivan which will get us out of here.

Seems I need to find myself a netrunner after all, because even now my team is leaning towards a brute force approach only, and with Kowalski we get more flexible in our methods. Ugh, I'll definitely have to place flyers or search through prisons.

As I waited for the operation to begin, I sat down next to Maine and smoked a cigarette.

"Why did you agree to help me Marcus, after all?"

"Does the fact that I can mess with you for the rest of my life seem insignificant to you?"

"Not really. You've changed a lot since that brainwashing story and the training course. You've become like a person who doesn't do things for nothing."

"Eh, don't you just believe in human gratitude?"

"In Night City? I'd sooner believe in Moxs becoming obedient nuns."

"'Actually, that's what it is. Remember Maine how you helped me back then?"

"And? You paid me and I did as I was asked. I don't see what the big deal is."

"Only you could have quietly turned me in or run away, leaving me empty-handed. But you decided to do everything what I requested. Most people would have quietly taken the money and not bothered about the contract especially when most likely I'd be dead by nightfall."

"That's all?"

"Not only that. You've proved that you have some concept of honor. Moreover, you cherish your team. You care about them, and that's pretty rare among solos. So I want to help a decent man, and in the future if I need help I want to get it from trusted men, not from corrupt and backstabbing scum.

"Heh, it's nice to hear that you see me as a man of honor. But I believe more about the trusted people you can count on. That's not bad either, though. Especially from a corporat."

"Suit yourself. Especially since Sasha is nice to me as a friend and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her. "

"Is she a friend to you or something more?"

"Friend. I don't hope for anything more, and I don't think I'm ready. Besides, love for a corporat, or at least a good relationship, is a luxury that I cannot afford just yet."

"Why not?"

"Loving someone can easily become a weakness. Emotions and feelings won't let you think straight, and in the case of a corpo it can be a fatal thing. Another problem is that you may fall in love with someone but in reality it turns out to be a scheme. That's where you'll end up being someone's puppet. Well, in the worst case, the person you love can get abducted and then force you to do something awful. So without the power to protect yourself and the people you love, it's best not to love at all."

"That sucks. Seems like there are some perks of being solo that aren't available to the corpo."

"Yeah. There are."

After that, we just stayed quiet, thinking about our own things. Finally the alarm clock beeped, letting us know it was fifteen minutes to go.

"Okay, time to get to work. Get to your posts, everyone. Activate anonymous mode." - I gave the command and put on a special helmet that would hide our identities. No need to expose our identities.

My team began to climb to the roof of the building next to the Biotechnica office. We were lucky in that it turned out to be an apartment building with a poor security system. So, using the access codes we had obtained in advance, we went up to the roof. From there we could see the office we needed, we set up the harpoons and made the necessary measurements so that we would get right into the office rather than crashing into a wall or into the next room. Rico positioned himself next to us and got everything ready to provide us with fire support.

Time went by too slowly. I was too used to the adrenaline roller coaster when we flew to an emergency call. But here at last came the expected command - Go!

The jammer worked perfectly, 100 %. The security system went to reboot, and Sasha had already started making her way to the required office . A couple of minutes later she was already there.

"Sasha you have a few minutes. While you're hacking and stealing data Rico will have cover you just in case. Take only necessary data. Don't waste time looking for anything extra. Leave the explosives and run once you got the data." - I repeated our plan to her.

"I know. Don't worry about me. After all, I'm only hacking into one server, not into an entire Arasaka's or Militech's database."

"Okay. Not going to get in the way of a professional. Good luck."

I received a feline emoji in response. I couldn't hold back a smile. After all, she knows how to cheer people up.

Minutes passed and then Sasha sent us the files and the confirmation that she had downloaded everything we wanted. Only at the last moment she stopped and proceeded on hacking into the system. What the hell is she doing?! I had, after all, told her just a few minutes ago not to waste her time with additional data searches.

"Sasha! Get out now! Jammer's going to stop working any minute now! - I started yelling at her over the comms."

"I'm sorry Marcus. But I can't." - She replied and sent a sad smiley face.

"No! Sasha, you have time! Go now!"

But all I heard in response was silence and a notification that the connection had been cut. Holy shit, what the hell happened out there. Urgently I get Maine on the line, but he, too, says he can't reach her. And right that moment jammer stopped working and security system got back online. Damn, seems we'll have to break in with a loud bang.

We fired our harpoons and started getting ready for a quick descent. Halfway down, Rico alerted us that there were robots and guards approaching.

"Start shooting at them. Don't let them flank us and surround us." - I give him the order, while a picture of Sasha preparing to fight a bunch of robots appears in front of my eyes. She's already dealt with a few, but there are more coming in. She jumps back and is ready to fly out the window.

I activate my implants and reach for her as fast as I can. Come on! Come on! Just a little more! And my hand manages to catch her by the collar of her jacket at the last moment. A sharp turn and I cover her with my body while the assault rifle in my other hand shoots at the robots. I manage to get a few shots off, and then I fly into the office.

I throw her under the desk and start firing at the closest robots. A couple of bullets hit my body armor and push me back by few steps. But I managed to win enough time and the rest of the team rushes into the office. Together we somehow managed to destroy all the robots. But in the corridor we can see more guards and robots approaching us.

"Guys.....Marcus. You need to leave. I've already activated the explosive." - whispers Sasha while I turn around and get ready to yell at her to stop the countdown and not call out any real names. But the wound and the small pool of blood under her makes me shut up. The worst part is that she starts to lose consciousness.

One of the brothers hears the last part and starts examining the bag and then sprays some kind of chemical spray inside of it. The timer countdown stops at nine seconds.

"Commander, we need to get out of here! The spray won't stop the countdown for long!" - I nod to him and order Private to hold the line. Brothers provide aid with preparing ropes and cords for a quick descent. We manage to prepare 4 ropes in 10 seconds, I fasten Sasha to me with special carabiners at the same time sticking a special hemostatic bandage. This should have been done right away, but the enemies and the explosives didn't give us time for it.

" Retreat! Rico keep us covered, and withdraw immediately once we're on the ground!" - I give the order and get ready for a high-speed descent. With one hand I hold Sasha and with the other I fire off the magazine to the last round trying to cover Private and Manfredi and Johnson, because Rico's sniper rifle alone might not be enough to hold off the enemies rushing towards us. Finally we begin our descent, but at the last moment I notice the countdown, albeit slow, has begun. I jump down, holding Sasha tightly to me.

When there was less than eight to six meters to the ground, there was an explosion and the ropes we had used to descend were torn apart by the blast. Hell, the others were not more than a couple of meters high and it was not dangerous for them, but because I was worried about Sasha, I went down a little slower. I see a car driving underneath me and turn my back on it, hoping to compensate for Sasha's fall with my body. I try to relax my body and prepare mentally for the impact. But the height and speed are too high and I hear my bones crunch as I hit the car. And then darkness slowly comes to me. Before I fall completely into darkness, I can see on the helmet screen that Sasha is alive and her vitals, though bad, are not fatal. I was able to get her out, after all, so I can get some well deserved sleep. The last thing I remember was the screeching of the tires and the smack of someone's fist and swearing about the badass leader.