"Max," Lothan said over the link, "we need a distraction out in front of the main truck."

"Roger," the dwarf rigger replied. There was a high-pitched whine of rotors and Kellan saw a drone swoop out of the darkness toward the cargo hauler. It looked like a small flying garbage can and was about the right size, except with a collar of rotor blades around the uppermost edge and a chin-mounted machine gun below. Its cylindrical surface was covered in heavy armor plates.

The drone opened up with its machine gun, tracing a chattering arc of fire along the pavement just in front of the cab of the cargo hauler, sending up sparks and ricochets from the road where the high-caliber rounds struck. The security guards scrambled for cover. Then the drone swiveled its gun up toward the hovering storm spirit and ripped off another burst directly into it. Tongues of flame shot from the barrel of the gun, but if the spirit was affected by the gunfire in the slightest, it didn't show it.

It was the distraction Lothan asked for, and Kellan was going to take full advantage of it. Staying low to the ground, she hustled along the side of the road toward the cargo hauler, making her way around to the back of it. Silver Max's drone veered off as the Ares guards opened fire on it. She heard some rounds ricochet off the drone's armor, but it simply withdrew a short distance away, hovering off to the side of the road, the guards still well within the range of its machine gun, but where they would have a difficult time returning fire. Another sustained burst of machine-gun fire roared in the dark, forcing the guards to keep their heads down, though Kellan noticed Max wasn't shooting directly at them. That might disable the truck, which would pretty much frag their whole run.

Kellan reached the back of the truck and crouched there, listening. She could hear a low droning chant coming from the back of the truck, a kind of singsong in a language she didn't recognize, and she felt a tingle along her skin, the hairs on the back of her neck bristling. Magic. She was sure of it.

She glanced up at the side rigging of the truck's cargo area, then grabbed one of the cargo straps and pulled herself up, trying to move silently. Then she dropped the strap from one hand and grabbed her pistol with the other as she swung around into the back of the truck, bringing her gun up to cover the interior.

Nestled among the heavy plastic packing crates in the back of the truck was a thin figure wearing a long, dark coat. Her hair was long and braided, and it looked like she had at least some Native blood. She turned as Kellan landed and raised one hand, a faint shimmer forming around it. Kellan squeezed the trigger twice, snapping off a couple shots. The first one went wide, blowing a hole in a crate with a scattering of packing material. The second hit the shaman in her shoulder, spinning her to the side into one of the crates and breaking her concentration. The spell, whatever it had been, didn't go off.

Kellan moved closer, gun held extended in both hands, leveled at the shaman as she struggled to her feet. It looked like her coat was lined with enough armor that it stopped the bullet, although Kellan knew from experience that it still felt like being hit with a baseball bat wielded by a troll. The shaman had suffered some blunt trauma to be sure, maybe worse. She was clutching at her shoulder as she regained her feet.

"Try that again," Kellan said flatly, "and the next one goes between your eyes."

The shaman glared at her, but didn't say anything, slowly lowering her hands to her sides, but keeping them where Kellan could see them.

"You're controlling the spirit out there," Kellan said, and the shaman nodded.

"Get rid of it," Kellan told her, raising her gun slightly for emphasis. "And don't try pulling anything, understand?"

The shaman paused for a moment, eyes locked on Kellan's, and Kellan wondered if she was using magic to try to figure out if she was bluffing. She didn't feel anything, but it was hard to tell. Then the shaman slowly raised her hands and began to chant like she had before. Kellan could feel the magic in the air, could almost see it coalescing around the other woman.

The spell lashed out at Kellan, hitting her like a physical blow. She reflexively pushed against it, gritting her teeth and holding her ground. It felt like icy claws were tearing at her very soul, but she thought about the crystalline egg Lothan had taught her to visualize, and the claws seemed to scrape against it without really hurting her. At the same time, her finger squeezed the trigger.

The shaman just looked at Kellan, shocked that her spell had failed, then she doubled over when the shot hit her in the gut and crumpled to the deck of the truck. The effects of the spell faded with her, and Kellan gasped as time seemed to snap back to normal. She felt a bit drained, but her adrenaline was pumping and her heart was pounding. Kellan stared at the fallen shaman for a moment, but she didn't move. Kellan keyed her commlink.

"This is K," she said. "I'm in the back of the truck. Their shaman is down."

"Good work," Lothan replied. "That's definitely taken the fight out of the storm spirit as well as their magical defenses. Let's wrap this up, shall we?" the troll mage said to no one in particular.

Kellan felt another surge of magic, like a rippling in the air, and the gunfire ahead of the truck suddenly fell silent. She heard a clang of metal and a cry of pain from the right side of the truck cab, then suddenly Liada and Orion swung into the back of the truck from opposite sides. The Street Deacon and Lothan followed close behind.

The other shadowrunners quickly searched the back of the truck for any other Ares personnel, then Lothan spoke into his commlink.

"Max, we're clear," he said.

"Roger," the dwarf rigger replied. "I'm on my way."

"Jackie, status," the troll said.

"We've got a window," the decker said in a businesslike tone, her previous playfulness absent. "A call went out to Lone Star when things started going down, but I'm scrambling some messages from the dispatch that should keep them busy for a little while. You've got five, maybe ten minutes at the outside."

"All right, let's go," Lothan told the rest of the team.

Liada hunkered down beside the fallen shaman, looking her over. There was blood on the flatbed.

"Is she:?" Kellan asked and Liada shook her head.

"Not yet," she said.

"Dump her," Lothan told the Street Deacon. The street samurai holstered his weapon to scoop up the unconscious shaman. He tossed her off the end of the truck onto the street. Kellan started to say something, but a glance from Liada made her reconsider it. The elf mage shook her head slightly.

Orion hopped down from the back of the truck, sheathing his sword. He disappeared around the corner as Silver Max and G-Dogg climbed into the cab of the cargo hauler. The engine roared to life again and Lothan grabbed hold of one of the straps holding the crates in place.

"Let's ride!" G-Dogg called from the cab. Silver Max threw the truck into gear and it lurched forward, forcing the shadowrunners in back to grab for handholds. Max plowed past the escort truck and the electric three-wheeler, and Kellan could see security guards lying scattered across the road. Some lay in dark puddles of blood, while others appeared completely unmarked. There was no one to watch as the truck, its cargo and the shadowrunners rumbled away down the highway and into the night.