The worklight snaps on, washing the wet concrete in harsh white. Above, the drone buzz grows louder, and the tram girders answer with a thin, rattling hum. Milo hunches over the scanner, fingers shaking as he drags a cable across the pulsing case.
Milo
Hold still. If that beacon keeps pinging, we get company fast.
Gary keeps the gun trained while Milo taps through readings. The scanner spits a red lattice across the case, then throws up two ugly tags, one corporate, one Pale Line.
Milo
There. It is not just a tracker. It is broadcasting your location to both sides.
A cold motor whine slides in from the passage edge. The drone shadow skims the far wall, then sweeps back, slower now, like it has caught the scent. Milo swallows and points at the scanner.
Milo
I can clear the tag, but not with that thing active. Cover me, or shut the drone down.
The case pulses once, brighter than before. Somewhere beyond the stacks, boots and another distant rotor answer the signal, closing in on Gary's position.
✓ Quest Accepted
Neutralize the security drone
“I cover him aiming at the drone and preparing to shoot it”
FAILURE (Fair Firearms, rolled -2)
Gary shifts his aim upward, sightline climbing past Milo to the moving shadow overhead. The muzzle steadies for a half second, then the drone jitters in a hard side sweep and the shot goes wide.
The round cracks sparks off a tram brace instead, and the drone snaps its lamp down into the passage. White light washes over Gary, Milo, and the humming case.
Milo
Too late, it has you lit. Give me one clean line, or it starts calling in the rest.
The drone hovers just beyond the beam, adjusting itself, not broken, but suddenly exposed. Its lens is visible now, glinting with a fresh target lock and a maintenance seam along the side.
Milo
That seam is a service latch. If someone can hit it, the casing should drop its relay for a second.
The case pulses again at Gary's feet, and the passage beyond the stacks answers with heavier footsteps, still distant but closer than before.
“I cover him aiming at the drone and preparing to shoot it”
SUCCESS (Fair Firearms, rolled +0)
Gary keeps the gun up and threads the sight onto the drone’s side seam. The service latch fills the reticle, steady and ugly in the glare.
He fires. The shot bites the seam, and the drone jerks hard, its lamp stuttering as the casing splits and a relay shard spits free.
The light drops off the passage in a sudden blink. Milo flinches back from the scanner, staring at the falling fragment as if it might wake up.
Milo
That does it, for a second. Move, before it recovers or calls anyone else.
A bright scrape tears along Gary’s forearm from the recoil and the passing metal edge, warm enough to sting through the damp. The shot’s crack rolls down the stacks.
At the far end, the approaching footsteps break into a faster run, now closer than before, while the drone hangs damaged above them and starts to wobble.
Quest Complete
Neutralize the security drone
Skill Upgrade: Firearms Fair→Good