The team met again in the Underground, taking turns changing into their new combat-weave under-armour in the apparently non-functional restrooms, Justin was informed that the plumbing needed as much work as the rest of the building. Having played a machine for what was effectively a few weeks, it hadn’t even occurred to him to check.

Given Division’s comment the previous night, Justin had put together five sets of under-armour for him. He knew the duplicator had Kevlar vests, but they weren’t full body, and he had also seen how much the guy liked sneaking copies around in disguises.

North Wind and Shift seemed a little jittery, this was probably going to be their first real brawl in or out of the game, and Justin had to admit he was a little shaky himself, it was easier to hide nerves when you didn't have a body to betray you though.

Division, in comparison, was serious, professional, but seemed lighter, perhaps happier than he had at the previous night's meeting, smiling with the others and calming them down with a solid, experienced presence. Whether his improved mood was because he'd enjoyed planning tonight's excursion, an intentional choice to reassure the team, or because he just liked being part of a group, Justin wasn't sure. No reason it can't be all three, Justin decided.

Revenant seemed blissfully unaware of the tense atmosphere, unsurprisingly tranquil about the coming conflict. He’d heaped antiquated praise onto Justin's gifts, before quickly changing into his new scale armour, and was now busy breaking rubble in the front room, testing the resilience and impact of his new staff.

Shade’s mood was a mystery as usual, thanking Justin politely for the armour before summoning a cloud of shadow to change in.

Once they were all ready, Division called everyone to attention for the mission briefing.

“Here’s our operational objectives,” he began. “First, keep as many people safe as possible, and that includes us. Second, stop the Hua and Los Demonios before they can rampage across half of Detroit. Third, minimise collateral damage.”

He shifted the map, open on the table. “From the intel acquired by Artisan, it appears they’re planning to meet downtown before riding the I-94, taking out the east side gangs in Ravendale all the way up to Burbank,” his finger traced the route, tapping the named territories as he passed them. “Before taking the seven-mile back to Westwood Park and Brightmoor.”

He glanced around the table to make sure everyone was paying attention. “We need to intercept them before they hit the residentials, but the city center and interstate would put even more people at risk, as well as attract a lot more attention. That means we have a relatively small target zone of the Conner Street off-ramp. Luckily there are high earthen berms there which will provide good cover for an ambush, as well as limiting the spread of any weapons fire. Fallback will be to the north or south, where we’ve got the parkway and the community college.”

Shift lifted his hand, frowning, “Err, the community college?”

“Don’t worry, the campus will be clear by then,” Division answered. “And if we’re forced back, we might need the buildings for cover.” He waited for Shift to nod, accepting his reassurance.

“Shade has given me a rundown of expected transport,” he continued, nodding to the shadowy figure. “We’re expecting both SUVs and a number of bikes. Artisan is going to attempt to stall out the vehicles with a radio pulse, but I also want spike strips laid to isolate the convoy in case any are resistant. Shift, you’ll be responsible for getting the rear strips deployed, as well as erecting road work and diversion signs behind them. I’ll be throwing out the forward strips.”

He glanced around the table once more to see if anyone had questions. “Once we’re engaged, here are your roles. Shift and Shade, you’re our skirmishers, I want you picking off runners and generally keeping the enemy boxed in. Artisan and I are crowd control, we’re going to be concentrating on thinning out the main gang force. North Wind and Revenant, you’re on priority target acquisition, I want you taking down any powered or heavy weapons that come into play.”

He glanced at Shade again, “Are your friends in place?”

“I wouldn’t call them friends, they just owe me a favour.” Shade answered, for some reason seeming to find the idea humorous. “They’ve been tracking Hua and Los Demonios agents and provocateurs all day. They’ll be ready to make them and any forward scouts… desaparecer, before they can cause any trouble.”

“As long as they don’t disappear permanently,” Division answered with an unexpected amount of humour. Justin wondered if Shade had let Division in on his ‘associates’ identities since he’d been strangely cagey about it whenever Justin asked. He wasn’t jealous. He didn’t need to know everything, he just… liked to. It was important for good planning. Shut up.

The Phantom drone hovered 30 meters above the off-ramp. It was high enough to give him an overview of the interstate and the area they'd designated for the ambush. He could make out most of his team lying in wait with his heat-sensors, but North Wind was strangely absent. She must have been summoning ambient cold, ready to shape in the coming battle.

Traffic was light at this time of night, so it was easy to pick out the convoy of at least a dozen SUVs, gang members clinging to the outside running boards and side rails. Around them swarms of bikes moved back and forth, jockeying for position. The noise, even from Artisan’s height, was shocking as it ripped apart the silence of the formerly quiet night.

Successful Skill Use +14 xp to Awareness - Beginner Level 5 [72%].

He turned off notifications, not wanting to be distracted during the coming fight.

As the gang vehicles moved into the target area, Artisan cut the rotors, dropping the Phantom into range before releasing a high powered radio pulse. It was strong enough, and at the right frequency to send the vehicle’s computers haywire, causing all but a few of the older bikes to stall-out. The drop in noise was as shocking as its arrival had been. He could make out shouts of confusion and demands for answers as his battle drones dropped their first payload of flashbangs into the midst of the gangs.

Outside the confusion he could already see his team taking down gang members from the peripheries as they attempted to either find their attackers or escape the trap. Others spilled from the vehicles, disoriented from the sudden burst of light and sound, but already drawing weapons and taking cover behind the SUVs.

He heard the roar as a number of bikes got their engines re-started and headed en masse for one of the banks, before the explosion of tyres caught on spike strips sent them into a tumbling heap of wreckage.

He looked for promising clumps, before releasing tazer grenades to explode in their midst. The two-stage grenades first released a cloud of metallic mono-filament before dumping the entire load of the over-powered capacitor in their centre. The filament was burned off, delivering a few hundred thousand volts, and 4.5 milliamps across its length, dropping gangbangers and even lighting a few of them on fire. Artisan mentally shrugged before moving on to look for more promising targets.

A quick count confirmed the gangs were already down over half their number. Unfortunately one of the gang members, recovering before the others, spotted the drones dropping grenades and opened fire into the air, his friends followed his example, clipping the Battle Drones and smashing the Phantom in a hail of gunfire. Artisan groaned internally. No more Mr Nice Guy! He thought, kicking his remaining drones into defensive swoops, dropping grenades indiscriminately among the remaining gang members.

He seethed as the view from a Battle Drone showed his baby hitting the ground in a shower of plastic pieces, broken glass, and burnt electronics. The next Phantom was definitely going to have armour!