Kay hits the alley slick with rain and sewer runoff, but the escape route is dead. A black transport skids sideways, nose to the curb, boxing him in under the skyscraper’s shadow.
NeuroSync operatives spill out in tactical gear, visors glowing faint blue. Rifles rise in a clean line, and the alley fills with the click of safeties and rain on armor.
The Stranger
They followed the route. Go, now.
The Stranger yanks open a side service hatch behind a stack of rusted crates, exposing a narrow maintenance access cut into the building wall. The hidden path is barely wide enough for one person at a time.
Taled squares up in the alley mouth, putting his body between Kay and the guns. Ocram glances from the transport to the hatch, reading the split second before the net closes.
Ocram
That hatch goes up into the tower grid. If we move, we move now.
The first muzzle flashes spark white in the rain. Kay has a way out, but only if he reaches the tower before NeuroSync seals the alley and cuts him off from the team.
Kay leaves Narrow alley behind Los Muertos skyscraper behind and arrives at The Vulture (flying transport).
“Yma contacts Ocram via mobile phone. Ocram arrives on the scene in the "Vulture," an old armored flying transport ship.”
SUCCESS (Great Agility, rolled +1)
The Vulture hangs low in the rain, old armor hissing as it settles beside the wall. Neon smears across its hull, and the alley wind shudders under its rotors.
Kay hits the side step and gets a hand on the frame. The hatch yawns open, warm light spilling over wet concrete and his boots.
Ocram
Move, Kay. I have the engine hot and the lane dirty.
Taled
I hold them here. Get inside.
The Stranger keeps back from the opening, one hand still on the hatch, eyes fixed on the rifle line beyond the rain.
The Stranger
They are already pushing the alley. You get one clean takeoff, maybe less.
Behind Taled, muzzle flashes stitch the darkness. The Vulture’s ramp drops a little farther, and the open cabin waits for Kay like a moving target.
Quest Complete
Escape the vertical sewer shaft
Attribute Upgrade: Agility Great→Superb
“Taled lifts the stranger and hurls him at the corporate guards before jumping into the Vulture.”
SUCCESS (Great Strength, rolled -2)
Kay catches the Stranger by the coat and heaves. The body slams into the approaching guards, breaking their line just long enough for the alley to stutter open.
The Stranger hits hard and skids through rain and glass grit, breath knocked out, one hand thrown up to shield their face as the guards stumble around them.
The Stranger
Bad angle. They saw me.
Taled takes the opening without hesitation now, vaulting backward toward the Vulture with his shoulders hunched against the gunfire.
Kay jumps in after him as rounds snap past the hatch, and the open cabin swallows him in warm light and engine roar.
Ocram
Seal up. I am lifting us now.
The side hatch starts to close under Ocram's hand, but a stray shot chews a bright line across the frame and sparks spit into the cabin.
✓ Quest Accepted
Break through the blockade
“Yma activates her jetpack and flies up to the roof, while the Vulture takes to the air.”
SUCCESS (Superb Agility, rolled -2)