In Sophie’s experience, a basic skill from the system put her on the same level as an experienced street kid. Obviously the skills she received were far more broad, covering multiple facets of a skill but the highest level still only reached a level anyone with time and dedication could reach.
An intermediate skill went a step further. From a street kid, the skill jumped to the skill level of a high ranking ganger or a lower level corporate soldier. Her knowledge was still far more complete, and it remained that way even into the advanced levels.
The advanced levels of skills, a height Sophie had only just reached, put her at the same level as a soldier entering the special forces. Sadly, the Barghest unit she was currently facing all sat comfortably at the higher levels of an advanced skill. If she had to estimate, pretty much every soldier she saw would have a variety of level 7 advanced skills. Even worse, they were equipped with some of the best cyberware and gear in the world.
Ghost may remove all visual traces of her presence from technology but it didn’t hide her smell or her sounds. Even with her stealthy movements, some sound was still generated and the Barghest combat unit had a number of individuals that specialised in tracking.
Hence, Sophie was being put through the wringer, unable to stay in one spot for more than an hour. She had already tried to break out of the area but Hansen’s forces had locked down the entirety of the area. Some of the locals still fought back but there was simply no stopping the highly trained soldiers.
She had returned to roaming the area after her failure to escape. However, it had already been two days since Barghest arrived and she was exhausted. Even worse was that communications had been jammed, meaning she wasn’t able to get a signal out to her Raven. For now, her last hope remained in the abandoned EBM Petrochem Station. Sophie had to believe there was a way out through it, one that wasn’t controlled by Hansen’s men even though it was now crawling with Barghest soldiers.
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Sophie slipped into a defunct elevator at the base of the stadium. Its doors had been jammed open and she used it to her advantage. Pulling a classic spy movie move, she opened the maintenance hatch at the top of the elevator with some difficulty. She was short after all. Once it was open, she clambered up into the maintenance shaft. Hauling herself up the thick metal cable was a struggle. The strain it put on her shoulders and back made Sophie decide she needed to replace parts of her skeleton. Her organic body was simply too weak.
She reached the top of the elevator shaft, finding the elevator doors at the top closed. In her current position, dangling off the cable by her legs, she simply couldn’t get enough leverage to force the doors open. Punching them was also a bad idea. The noise would more than likely alert a patrol who would turn her into a sieve as soon as she got the door open. On the brink of despair, she spotted what might be her salvation.
A ventilation shaft sat against the opposite wall to the elevator doors. Sophie reached out with one of her cybernetic limbs, grabbing the cool metal grate. With a tug, it distorted, screws twisting out of their sockets. Another pull and it tore out of the wall with a horrible screech. The girl tossed it down the elevator shaft, inwardly cringing at how noisy she had been. Still, she had a possible path to escape now.
Twisting her body into the right position to enter the ventilation shaft took a few moments but eventually she got her upper body in. Thank god I’m so small! Sophie may have had complaints about her size but it was these moments that made her love it. She dragged the rest of her body in, now firmly positioned in the small metal shaft.
She began to move but stopped quickly. Her bare cyberarms were clanging against the inside of the shaft. It wasn’t a problem yet but if any patrols were nearby they would certainly find her. From her inventory she retrieved a few spare clothes and coiled them around her arms. Moving forward with her arms wrapped successfully muffled the sound, meaning she could continue her search for an escape route.
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Sophie was lost. Hopelessly lost. She’d been crawling around the ventilation system for hours and felt no closer to finding a way out than when she began. She’d even had a nap, taking advantage of the situation to catch up on some much needed sleep. When she awoke however, a different biological need arose. She was hungry and she had no food left. Her inventory didn’t magically freeze time inside, though it was an available upgrade. The food she kept in there were things like packaged nutrient bars, enough for a day or two without restocking. She hadn’t imagined she would get stuck and be unable to restock. So, she had to get out of the vents. She had passed by many possible exits but had ignored them as they weren’t particularly safe options.
Backtracking to the closest exit, Sophie peered out of the grate. It was a hallway, filled with piles of junk and trolleys that carried building materials. There was also a small patrol of Barghest soldiers. One at each end and one in the middle, coincidentally right below Sophie’s current position.
How the fuck am I meant to get out with this fucker standing there!? Unable to proceed, she hunkered down to wait. After an hour of observation, she had a plan.
From the inside of the vent, she pulled apart the bolts keeping the grate attached, catching it before it could fall. Then she waited.
The two guards at either end of the hallway turned, switching sides and checking for anything that may have been missed. They passed the guard directly under Sophie and took up their new positions. The girl made her move.
She slipped out of the vent towards the ground, drawing and firing one of her Talons. The bullet cut through the man’s throat, a small splash of blood hitting the floor. As he fell, Sophie dove and caught the body, making sure there was as little sound as possible. She hid the corpse under a nearby tarp, then made her way to one end of the corridor.
She repeated a similar manoeuvre two more times, hiding both corpses. She slipped out into a new area, confronted by an occupied room. Newly installed cameras were perched atop the wall and two guards were busy moving heavy boxes of a trolley and into piles.
She crept through the room, making sure there was always something between the guards and herself. Sophie slipped into another hallway, although there were no guards this time. The process repeated itself multiple times but Sophie was able to get closer to the ground floor as she travelled.
Once she got down to the second floor of the stadium, everything started to change. There were significantly more patrols and she spotted multiple soldiers strapped into a Centaur exo-skeleton standing at key positions.
The more she saw of the stadium’s second floor, the more trouble she realised she was in. Hansen’s soldiers were rebuilding and modifying parts of the building. Exits were being sealed and new security measures were being installed.
From her hiding spot she could see into a large, open room. Turrets were being installed around the area and she nearly had a heart attack when a pair of Minotaurs stomped past. She even spotted Kurt Hansen as he walked further into the stadium with an assistant.
Moving across the room was painfully slow. If she made too much noise, one of the roaming soldiers would hear her. Even with Ghost active, she didn’t want to risk being found. These guys could probably fire on her position as long as they had coordinates, even if they weren’t able to actually see her.
She watched one of the doors in the room open, a man in very different gear entering. She wasn’t too sure who he was until he turned around. On his back was an antenna and Sophie’s blood ran cold. At the same time, the man froze. He turned and started scanning the area, stopping on the girl's position. Fuck! Netrunners can find me through Cyberspace!
“Enemy contact!” The shout was enough for the entire room to pause. A second later, all of the soldiers were up in arms. Sophie bolted, heading for a staircase that would take her further downstairs. As she ran, the girl looked for the netrunner. She spotted him and summoned her Talons, attempting to take him out. Sadly, he had already ducked behind cover. In the meantime, the man had organised the troops in the area and was directing them to fire on her. Clearly he had figured out nobody could find her except himself. Fuck fuck fuck! I was so close!
Sophie reached the stairs, only to feel an impact throughout her body as she began descending. An electric shock ran through her system, courtesy of the netrunner. The discharge caused all of her muscles to seize up, prompting her to collapse down the staircase. She tumbled, bouncing off each stair like a cartoon character.
She hit the bottom and tried to move. Her body screamed in protest, muscles still spasming from the residual electricity. Gritting her teeth, she managed to move despite the pain. She managed to stagger to her feet just before a wave of bullets blanketed her back. Pain blossomed across her body, made worse when a wave of heat erupted from within. Fucking net nerd!
Sophie grit her teeth and activated Chronos. The world ground to a halt as the time energy contained in her implant was released.