The Highlander plunged downwards with only the occasional feathering of the maneuvering jets to keep it level. Wind howled through the open landing bay doors as the cityscape rushed up to meet them. The Highlander wasn’t an assault ship with proper hatches for this kind of work but she was sturdy enough and had enough power to weight ratio that flying with an open bay wasn’t a huge problem. Sayeed’s expression was hidden behind the opaque visor of her helmet, but her lips were pressed into a disapproving frown, her usual expression when circumstances were beyond her control. It wasn’t exactly that she didn’t trust Taya’s piloting, although she wouldn’t have agreed to it without Neil's pre programing the course and Lonny’s assistance, it was just she would much rather have had Neil at the controls for such a maneuver.  The altimeter on her holographic display spun downwards in a blur. Their exit vector had been computed to look as though they were fleeing the system but suffered some catastrophic failure, a ruse designed to conceal their landing, but simulating a systems failure was a dangerous bussiness.

“Brace for a jolt!” she yelled by instinct and tightened her grip on the bulkhead stanchion. The Highlander’s plasma thrusters kicked on, driving the deck up through her boots as the sudden plummet was arrested. Neil was already moving, the mech stomping down the ramp before jumping the few meters to the ground. On que the ship rose and pivoted in a slow circle. Junebug leaped from the hatch as her HUD threw up her deployment point, she tucked and rolled into place, curling up into a ball as the plasma thrusters swept overhead, the rotation carrying Saxon and Sven to their position on the opposite roof. Rising she ran to the edge of her position overlooking the wrecked alley. There was a low concrete wall that rose to her waist providing good cover for an overwatching sniper. She rested the heavy plasma rifle on the wall, unsnapping a bipod with a flexible rotator mount to give her optimum stability.

Below her, Neil’s mech was already tearing through the crushed concrete and construction girders, digging for the box that was, hopefully, still buried somewhere beneath. A gaggle of people gawked and pointed at the sudden commotion. Sayeeda unslung her rifle though her helmet was yet to identify any prospective targets. If this went well, they would have the aesteimobium and be on their way before anyone could react. As though summoned by the thought a red carrot flashed on her HUD, she swung her weapon to the threat, lifting her weapon till a scarred human filled the holographic sight picture. He was drawing a heavy calibre pistol which he pointed at Neil’s mech. Junebug squeezed the trigger and the man was flung back as a bolt of blue plasma converted his chest to a gaseous explosion, the pistol sailed off to the right still gripped in the man's severed arm. The crowd of spectators surged backwards in a panic.

“Neil if you could hurry this up, it won't be long till Gnorlac or one of his criminal buddies figures out what we are doing here,” she said, sweeping the expanse of cityscape with her weapon, eyes keen for any further sign of trouble.