"In place," the ork said.

"Ready," the street samurai replied in his laconic drawl.

The remainder of the three minutes seemed to crawl past. Kellan did her best to not wonder if she was doing the right thing. They'd gone over the plan multiple times, and they had the advantage of already having pulled off the run once before. How many shadowrunners got a test run for their jobs? Kellan had a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach, wishing that they'd had more time, but in her heart she knew that no amount of planning could eliminate the uncertainty that came with running the shadows. Sooner or later, it was time to shut up and do the job.

"Here they come," Silver Max said curtly, and Kellan tensed. From the side of the road she could see the headlights of the trucks in the distance. There was a lead escort vehicle and the bigger cargo hauler following behind, exactly like before, the only difference being that this time the cargo truck was carrying a shipment of weapons and ammo, not cheap electronics. At least Kellan hoped it was the only difference.

The two trucks drew closer, headlights bright in comparison to the dimly lit stretch of highway. Two dull thumps sounded from the side of the road and the front tires of the escort truck blew out, sending the truck into a sidelong skid. The driver slammed on the brakes, red lights flashing as the truck skidded to a halt, and the cargo hauler's brakes squealed as it tried to avoid hitting the escort.

"Liada, now!" Kellan said over the comm.

On the other side of the road, not far from where the Street Deacon crouched with the sniper rifle he had used to take out one of the truck's tires, Liada stood up just enough to get a clear view of the two trucks and the road. She raised her hands over her head and spoke the words of a spell. Ghostly light shimmered around her hands, and shaped itself into a dimly glowing sphere. Liada hurled the sphere of light at the two trucks as men spilled out of the escort vehicle's doors.

The sphere streaked into their midst and burst in a soundless explosion, a ripple spreading outward from the center to encompass both trucks. Kellan expected to see the guards collapse under the effects of Liada's stun spell. Instead, the faint shimmer of light seemed to reach its limit and rebound, snapping back into the center and winking out, like an ember blown out in the wind.

"They're protected!" Liada said over the comm. "Somebody blocked my spell! They've definitely got a magician with them."

"Fraggit," Kellan said. They'd considered the possibility, since Ares gave the last shipment they hijacked magical protection, but hoped Liada could end things with a single spell, and they could just move in and take the swag. Now they were going to have to do things the hard way.

"Let's move!" Kellan said, and the shadowrunners leapt into action. G-Dogg and the Street Deacon opened fire on the security personnel in the truck from their positions on either side of the highway. The guards scattered, one of them dropping to the pavement as a bullet got him in the head. Quickly, however, the Ares personnel recovered and began to return fire, looking for the source of the snipers attacking them.

One of Silver Max's drones, which had been keeping pace with the convoy, swooped down from behind the two trucks. Flying low, its engine whining, the drone skimmed over the top of the cargo truck and opened fire on the escort vehicle from the rear. The blast of machine-gun fire took out the two guards near the back of the truck, and half the remaining guards turned their attention to the new threat behind them.

Maybe this won't be so hard after all. Between Max's drone and G-Dogg and the Street Deacon, they could make short work of the guards. As if summoned by Kellan's thought, a shimmer appeared in the air above the cargo truck. A dull red glow sprang into being, growing brighter and brighter until a sphere of flame ignited, a crackling fire surrounding a shadowy shape. It lunged at Silver Max's hovering drone like a striking snake.

"Fire elemental!" Liada shouted. The elemental engulfed the lower part of the rotodrone in flames.

There was a hissing noise, and Max's voice, sounding labored, came over the link.

"Get this fraggin' thing off of me!"

Liada stood up again, pointing one hand at the fire elemental. She began to chant in a singsong voice, with a forceful, commanding tone. The fire spirit seemed to pause and Kellan got a better look at it; a sinuous reptilian form with dull red scales surrounded by a glowing aura of yellow-white fire.

The engine of Max's drone revved and it pulled away from the elemental, which hovered where it was, its attention fixed on Liada. She continued to chant. The commlink conveyed the strain in her voice.

The drone canted left before righting itself, smoke trailing from the armor plating on its lower hull.

"I've got some damage to the main gun," Max said. "It's jammed. I'm gonna have to pull back the drone."

"We need to speed things up, folks," Jackie Ozone urged. "Communications are scrambled, but the clock is ticking."

"Move on the cargo truck," the Street Deacon said to the others. "G-Dogg and I will cover you."

"All right," Kellan said, glancing at Orion, who nodded in response. "Let's do it."

As they moved forward, there was a howl of wind, and a thick mist began to form in the air, coalescing near Max's drone. Kellan thought she saw a hint of a humanoid shape in the mist, with faintly glowing points of light for eyes.

"Fraggit," Silver Max said. "We've got another elemental! They're coming out of the fraggin' woodwork!"

As if responding to the dwarf's words, the road trembled. Something rose up out of the embankment in a shower of fragments of broken concrete and asphalt. It was a hulking figure the size of a troll, made up entirely of loose earth mixed with gravel, bits of concrete and glints of broken glass. It lumbered forward with ponderous steps that shook the ground.

"Keep going!" Orion said, giving Kellan a push toward the truck. "I'll keep it busy!" Then he advanced on the earth elemental, sword drawn.

Kellan kept going, staying low and heading for the rear of the cargo truck. Liada and the fire spirit were locked in magical combat, each stock-still and focused intently on the other. Silver Max's drone dodged and weaved as the air elemental buffeted it mercilessly with fierce gusts of wind, threatening to send it careening into the ground.

Orion rushed at the earth elemental, and it swung a massive fist. The elf ducked underneath it, replying with a slash of his sword. The blade cut deep into the elemental's body of rock and soil, leaving a long, ragged gash across its torso. The spirit howled a low, hollow sound, and raised its other fist to try to smash the small, dancing figure that had hurt it.

Ahead of the cargo hauler, the security guards hunkered down behind the escort vehicle, where G-Dogg and the Street Deacon tried to keep them pinned with cover fire from the sides of the road. The guards returned ineffectual fire-but it wasn't the two street samurai who were in danger. Kellan was worried that the guards would figure out that Liada and Orion were vulnerable, easy targets.

Things are coming apart. If we don't get out of here soon, we're fragged. She knew Jackie Ozone was handling things in the Matrix, jamming communications and rerouting emergency messages, but even she wasn't going to be able to cover their activities forever. The longer it took for them to subdue the guards and take off with the truck, the more likely it was the Ares personnel would get reinforcements or Lone Star would be there to take action.

The one good thing about the massive melee was that it provided an excellent distraction for Kellan. She approached the back of the truck as quickly as possible, staying low to the ground. Flattened against the back corner of the truck, pistol in hand, she listened for some indication of what was going on inside, but there was too much noise around her to be certain.