The night of the run. Amazingly Sam felt rather calm considering the circumstances, his mind completely focused on the run. Razor's familiar form stood beside him as the crew did a final check while Omega started working on eliminating power to the building. Sam unloaded the clip in his pistol, checking if it was full before pushing it back in and sliding a round into the chamber. Razor looked as ready as could be, flexing his cyber arm and causing a metal blade to reveal itself from the top of his wrist. His own gun seemed an afterthought compared to the multitude of blades upon his form, including the sword as his side.

Both Gash and Gregor were sporting cheap AK's, the dwarf muttering a few words under his breath. Prayers to his totem perhaps? Sam was not schooled in the arts of Shamanism so he couldn't say for certain. He only hoped whatever strange magic at his disposal would be of assistance in the run. The young street samurai felt an arm on his shoulder and noted Razor was regarding him with an odd glint to his elven eyes.

"How did Scorched Earth treat you? Your head here?" He asked.

Sam smirked. "One hundred percent."

"Good! Alight, Omega you ready yet?" Razor said, turning to the Decker sitting on the back bumper of the van.

The woman looked up from her deck and nodded wordlessly, holding up five fingers that slowly began subtracting. Once she reached one a swift motion activated the code their employer had supplied them with and supposedly would cut the power to the facility below. The device hooked up to her deck, a little yellow box, hummed loudly for a moment before going silent once more. With this done everyone bolted for the maintenance elevator.

Gash slammed the button that indicated the seventh base floor and the elevator hummed to life, the gate closing with a metallic clatter. Sam took a couple of deep breaths as the elevator travelled further and further beneath the earth. Security on the seventh floor would be isolated but that did not mean defenseless. The young street samurai held his weapon at the ready and noted his tension was shared by everyone but Razor. If anything the elf looked more relaxed as he rolled his shoulders.

"Omega, watch our asses. Sam, you've got the middle. Greg and Gash, you're on my left and right. Let's go get a pay day shall we?" The elf commanded, earning nods all around.

The doors opened and the runners spilled out, Razor drawing his sword and directing the group to the left. Sam expected he'd memorized the layout; he was the leader after all. From the maintenance room the group exited into hallways that screamed research lab. Sterile white walls were as clean as could be and the air smelled and tasted clean. There were no lights on and the two security cameras in the hall hung dull and lifeless, indicating that the employer had certainly held up their end of the bargain. No security had bounded across their path so everything was going smooth so far.

Sam's eyes wandered through certain glass windows into the actual labs, the rooms vacant given the late hours. Shift changes were typically the best time to hit places like this as there were few actual employees. Most runners were not overly fond of shooting civilians, it also tended to help in avoiding raised alarms. As such there was no resistance as the group of runners made their way through the research facility.

The group entered into a staff lounge area, as clean and sterile as the rest of the facility. Every plate was neatly stacked and every surface was completely spotless. It truly looked so artificial to Sam, an illusion no one could truly feel comfortable with. Well, at least he didn't feel comfortable with the cold artificial rooms in this place. It just screamed corporate controlled and that was something most runners were eager to avoid finding themselves under.

The group froze as footfalls sounded from up ahead, a pair of them in imperfect rhythm. Razor gestured for Gash to take the other side of the doorway they would enter the lounge from and for everyone else to get out of sight. Sam took cover behind one of the counters and waited, controlling his breathing. His heart was pounding and once more his adrenaline was flowing though this time it felt different. Still good but more in a manner that kept his senses sharp.

"...Another drill probably. I swear, fucking corporate likes to keep us on our toes." Came a voice from beyond the doorway.

"Eh, a pay check is a pay check. Stop whining. Let's just check the maintenance area and head back." Retorted another.

The door slid open and judging from the succession of loud thunking noises and grunts the guards had been knocked out. The following clatter on the ground confirmed this so Sam stood, noting two guards dressed in para-military armor. Not really surprising considering how wealthy Yamatetsu was. Razor and Gash were already securing their wrists with zip ties and fastening gags around their mouths. If a run could be finished without a shot being fired it was a damn good run.

After stuffing both behind a couch the group started moving down another hall, Razor glancing back to Omega briefly. "12 minutes left until lights on." She said.

The elf nodded and set off down the next corridor, the group arriving at a secured door. Omega moved to the security lock and hooked in her deck, vanishing into the Matrix. It appeared the outage did not include independent circuits. While she was in all everyone else could do was wait. Sam kept his gaze down the hall, training his weapon sight at the far wall. The operation was moving as well as had been expected so far and part of his mind was actually disappointed by the lack of action. Of course he knew he should just count his blessings but so far he wasn't seeing much of an upgrade from the milk runs.

That was until the door slid open and the lights flickered back on. Then he knew that something had gone wrong.

Omega returned from her journey into the Matrix and faced a very red in the face Razor, who gripped her arms and gestured to the ceiling lights. "I thought you said we had twelve minutes!" He yelled.

Her expression was one of naked alarm. "I-I, they must have fixed whatever issue the device caused faster than anticipated!"

"Fuck! Let's get the data and make a beeline out of here. Watch the halls and get behind some corners gentlemen, let's give her the time she needs!" Razor ordered.

The hallways were open and barren things which left very little cover to be found. However the corridor they just came from had a corner to use if anyone came down the far hall. Gash took position there and Sam covered his own angle in case the inevitable security teams came from the direction they just came from. Gregor started muttering under his breath while Razor stood just outside of the door to the data vault. Sam swallowed hard and tightened his grip around his pistol; looked like things were just getting exciting.

Sam suddenly felt a rush of vigor flow through his body, almost like he had been sleeping all this time and now his senses were sent into overdrive. Gregor grunted and took his position, apparently his magic being more effective than Sam ever gave it credit for. He could feel each and every groove in his gun's grip more clearly than ever before, he could hear Omega's heavy breathing as she worked, and he could see each individual bead of sweat perspiring on Gash's face. The world existed in perfect clarity and he assumed it was such for every member of the group.

Suddenly Razor took off into a full sprint down the hall, the younger man just managing to hear the sound of approaching footfalls. Apparently his senses were still not as in tune as the elf's. The security guards just managed to round to corner before being confronted with a cybernetically enhanced elf. In these next few moments Sam was reminded why the elf was someone he looked up to.

His body moved seemingly as if it possessed a mind of its own. With a twitch of his cyberarm his hidden blade presented itself and was thrust right into the gut of the first of the trio of guards. His sword was swung in a wide arc at his comrades, slicing clean through their weapons. His armblade was withdrawn from its fleshy sheath and with a long stride was thrust up into the skull of one of the guards. The other one drew his side arm and fired off a round at Razor's leg, the bullet meeting solid metal.

Razor ended his assault with a swipe of his sword, beheading the man cleanly. His movements were graceful and almost like those of a dancer, his cybernetics seeming to not even detract from his elven grace. In fact they added to it in a way. Lyria had amazed Sam in ways he'd never before seen but watching Razor at work was always breathtaking. The man was a macabre artist in the ways of combat.

Sam's admiration was cut short as guards started arriving from the way they had come, Gash switching positions to avoid getting shot. A fully automatic weapon was shot at the corner where Sam was positioned, the man jumping slightly at the sound. With a few deep breaths the man peeked out around the corner, firing off a few shots while the guards reloaded. There were no calls for surrender; shadowrunners tended to avoid surrender.

"I've got the data! Do we have a clear exit?" Omega said, coming to a halt against wall next to Sam.

Almost in response the clink of metal upon the ground sounded and Sam's eyes noted two canisters had just been tossed this way. As a low hiss came from both of them it did not take a genius to guess what was within them. "This way! We'll have to find a way to circle around to the elevator! Come on!" Razor called.

Gash and Gregor were the first to make it through the slowly growing cloud, followed by Omega and finally Sam. The tear gas stung at his eyes even more so with his temporarily enhanced senses, drawing a hiss as he rubbed his free arms over them. They burned at his lungs when he accidently inhaled them; however he did not stop moving forward lest he be shot. The young human squinted and followed the blurry shapes of his comrades through the hall, Razor shouting ahead about something.

More gunshots sounded up ahead and he heard a scream in the din. He managed to blink away the blurriness and noted that the forms of Gash and Gregor were upon the ground, bleeding from several bullet wounds. Sam quickly took cover at the corner next to Razor, who nursed a wounded shoulder. Omega seemed mostly fine, but was clearly shaken but the sudden deaths of her comrades. Sam himself stared at the bodies longer than necessary, his veins running extremely cold. They were dead. They were actually fucking dead. He'd seen death before and delivered it, but this was just... too sudden.

"Sam, Omega! Argh! Listen, past those guards is another hallway we can use to circle back to the lounge from earlier! I'm going to lob a grenade down there, the second it goes up you run as fast as you both can. Don't think, just run." He said, fumbling at his belt for a grenade.

"What about Gash and Greg?" Omega asked, her wide eyes flicking over their prone forms.

"They're dead. Nothing we can do about that." Razor said, his eyes hard.

Omega hesitated before her jaw set and she nodded to Razor. The elf turned his attention to Sam who gave a much less steady nod, his breathing heavy. With Gregor's death the power flowing through his body had evaporated, leaving him feeling hollower on the inside. He felt sick, his eyes unable to stop straying from their bodies. One moment they had been fine and now they were dead. He barely knew them and now he'd never get the chance to. His eyes returned to Razor, who had just pulled the pin from the grenade.

Without further preamble the elf toss the grenade down the corridor, resulting in a series of shouts. When the explosion occurred, Sam did not think before running and set of in a full sprint. Omega was not far behind and just behind her was Razor. He ran faster and harder than he had ever before, Razor still managing to overtake him. The human felt sheer animalistic fear. This was not the little game he had played with Lyria, this was real life or death.

His mentor led them down a sharp turn down the next hall, turning again down another before arriving at his destination. Sam had managed to catch up by this point, however when the door slid open he noted Razor jerked back slightly just as shot was fired from within. Another series of shots saw the elf jerk and spasm until he fell back right on top of Sam, riddled with led. Omega stepped over the fallen pair, only to find herself in the firing line. The young street samurai let out a cry as he heard a hail of bullets before a thunk and then all went quiet.

He strained against the weight of Razor; desperate to escape until he found himself staring down the barrel of a guard's rife. Sam froze, stuck beneath the weight of his now dead mentor and with a gun pointed at his head. He swallowed thickly, the fear inside of him as real as it could possibly be. He felt light headed and like he might vomit but all he managed was to remain frozen as he stared at the weapon, a deer in the headlights.

"Captain, we got a survivor here. Should we take him to interrogation?" The man holding the gun asked.

Hesitation, a few distant words exchanged with one here and the other over a radio. "Nah, whoever hired em' will deny responsibility even if he knows. The doc says she could use some fresh subjects down at the lab though." Came the response.

Sam didn't have a moment to ponder what that meant before the man above him switched his grip on his weapon and slammed it down against his head, the world slipping through his fingers as he fell into darkness.