Breaking in and Breaking Down

“Have I told you that this is stupid?”
Akima sighed in exasperation, glaring ahead of her as she continued her climb.
“No, why don't you tell me?”
“You're really going through with this,” Skyler grumbled across the line.
“No Sky,” Akima growled back at him. “I'm climbing up a damned vent shaft for my health!”
“It's not that shaft that I'm worried about Aki,” her handler said sullenly. “It's what's at the top.”
“You got something?” Akima asked tersely.
There was a pause as Skyler checked and then he came back, sounding as surly as ever.
“No.”
“Then shut up and let me work!”
There was no reply, leaving Akima alone in her own thoughts. She understood Skyler's concerns, this was arguably suicidal. Climbing up a ventilation shaft into a coporate tower was a fast track to life in prison with death sitting happily in a front row seat. She didn't have a death wish by any means, but she couldn't not do this...there was too much at stake. Her big brother for instance. The stubborn jackass had gotten himself way in over his head this time.
Not that he'd meant to, no, Akima's big brother Hoshi had a nice honest life as an honest cop, rare enough these days that people noticed. Noticed enough that they'd arranged for him to take the wrap for something he couldn't possibly have done. Killing his partner. There was no way in Akima's mind that something like that could have happened and so she was here, climbing up a vent shaft into heaven knew what to try and find something that might not even exist but had to. Sky was probably right, this was stupid.
“You're nearing the top.” Skyler's voice said quietly over her suit's comm.
“Still nothing?”
“Yeah, nothing...Akima listen, if this goes south I—“
“Keep it to yourself.” Akima said, cutting him off. “I don't need to hear it.”
Skyler sounded hurt as he replied.
“Right, no distractions...good luck.”
Akima reached the top of the shaft, using the powersuit's potent strength to shove the lid of the shaft off and clamber up into the tower's interior.
“Don't move!” boomed an electronically enhanced voice.
Akima froze, her suit's sensors taking in the scene before her. There were ten secuirty walkers with their weapons trained on her.
“Oh hell,” she whispered to herself.
Skyler's voice was shaky. “Hey Akima?”
“Yeah,” she ground out as the targeting lasers fell over her.
“Can I say 'I told you so'?”
She swallowed. “At the funeral, sure.”
“Shut down your systems and disengage your suit. You will not be harmed.”
“Oh like hell,” Akima murmured as she readied herself.
“Akima, there are ten sec bots trained on you, you can't take that.”
Akima flexed her suit's systems, letting her mind integrate with the digital interface.
“Watch me.”
“This is your last warning, power down your suit and—!”
Akima put her powered suit into motion, powerful artificial muscles surging into action as she put on a burst of speed and accelerated forwards. The walkers weren't slow to react, their weapons opening fire and filling the darkened chamber with a hail of bullets, the reports of their muzzle flashes giving light in the darkness as tracking lasers followed Akima's movements. The trail of fire swept in Akima's wake as she bolted into cover and hunkered down for a moment.
“Sky I need hacks now.”
“Oh, you expect me to hack through corper security now?” he asked caustically. “How many more crimes are you going to need before this is over?”
“You want to get a new agent?”
She could hear the exasperation in his voice.
“I'm not promising anything, this is tough shit.”
“Got it,” she examined her suit's sensors and swore. They were going to outflank her if she stayed here. “I'm going, it's been fun.”
“Aki, don't die.”
She smiled grimly. “No promises, if I don't make it—“
“—I'll be at the funeral.”
She gave a tight laugh. “I was going to say help my brother, he didn't do it.”
“Yeah, a freelance hacker helping a good cop, smart.”
Bullets spattered off of her cover and she looked up at the ceiling above her. Time to be a hero. Turning she jumped up, her suit's hands and feet digging into the side of the cooling stack as she scrambled up its height and over the top. Letting out a shout amplified by her suit's audio systems she leapt over the stack and came plummeting downwards as she slammed her conjoined fists into one of the security bots, crushing its housing and bringing it down amidst its brethren. She didn't take the time to ensure that the mech was well and truly disabled, leaping onto the back of another of the walkers to keep its body between her and the others.
Apparently friendly fire wasn't much of a concern for these things though because no sooner had she clung to the back of their companion than the others opened fire, their machine guns peppering their kin mercilessly.
“Crap, these guys aren't screwing around!” Skyler snapped. “Those things are expensive!”
“Guess they don't want me here,” Akima replied.
“Can't imagine why.” Skyler retorted angrily as he swore. “I can't get through these barriers!”
“Come on Mister Wizard,” Akima snarled as she jumped off of the dying mech to the next one, snapping its leg off before continuing her assault amidst a hail of gunfire. “This isn't Kansas and I want to go home!”
“Hey Jack, you climbed up the beanstalk, don't blame me for getting in over your head!”
Akima didn't say anything as she again founder herself using another of the walkers for cover. Once more the others peppered the unfortunate bot with fire and she began to wonder if they were really this frivolous with their security units or if said units had been programmed by an imbecile. It hardly mattered though and she had other things to worry about as her current mobile cover was brought down and she didn't move fast enough. The powersuit was tough and built to take a beating but concentrated gunfire was not exactly healthy for it.
She staggered as she scrambled for cover once more behind a cooling stack.
“SKY!” she shouted.
“I KNOW!” he snapped back. “This isn't as easy as flipping a stinking switch, can you get me a direct link?”
“What, you want to ride piggyback? That means I need to stay on the thing and hope its buddies don't shoot it or me first!”
“Hey I just need a second, can you get it?”
Akima looked at her suit's readouts and swore, she wasn't in good shape, that barrage she'd just taken had done a number on her and there were still seven of the walking tin cans on the other side of the cooling stack.
“Alright, you're only going to get one shot at this Sky.”
“My servos are going to give out if I take another hit like that last one Sky, seriously, don't screw this up.”
“Hey no pressure,” he replied cheerily.
“I swear I am going to haunt you if this doesn't work.” she grumbled.
“Yeah yeah,” the tech said with force levity. “And while you're at it you can bring the Easter Bunny...alright, ready on my end.”
Akima swallowed, sweating despite the suit's cooling systems. This was going to be close. She turned and ran from cover, leaping at the first mech she found even as it opened fire on her. She landed on its 'face' and expanded her finger's jacks to interface with it. The mech twisted and turned towards its allies, giving them a clear shot at her.
“Sky,” Akima murmured as she was turned to be fully exposed to her foes. “Now's the time.”
The other mechs opened fire, and Akima screamed as machine gunfire spattered on the suit and she dropped from her postion on the face of the walker to lie beneath it. She watched as it stepped forwards, seemingly intent on crushing her with its foot. Akima clenched her eyes shut tightly against the coming crushing force against her chest. The mech's foot slammed down besides her suit, and Akima heard a barrage of gunfire.
“I'm in!” Skyler shouted excitedly. “I've got control, now to get the others!”
Akima opened her eyes and watched as first the mech standing over her and then the others gathered around her began shooting one another. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and while the walkers slugged it out with one another she checked her systems. The suit was shot to pieces, she was lucky that the armor had held against that last barrage but it wasn't going to be moving again anytime soon. She was going to take a back seat from here on out she realized.
“Sky, I'm down, suit isn't going to be going anywhere.”
“Copy, once these tin cans are done killing one another I'll give you a lift.” Skyler said cheerily.
Akima watched as the last of the boxy security bots dropped, the surviving unit turning towards her and coming over to crouch down by her crippled suit. She rolled, using her own strength to force the suit onto its face as she activated the release and the back of the suit opened to allow her egress. Climbing out of the suit proved challenging but once she had extracted herself she clambered up onto the carriage on the back of the bot designed to carry riders.
“Alright,” she said across her personal link. “Let's get going before more show up.”
“Yeah, that shouldn't be too long. I'm sure they've noticed that they're toys are all broken.”
The bot stood up and began moving inwards towards the tower's interior in great leaping strides as Skyler directed its motions. Akima hung onto the carriage, hunkered down behind the mech's back. If they came across another force of bots like this last one she was going to be in a lot of trouble. Her exosuit wasn't going to shield her from their machineguns and wouldn't be much better against armed guards. Though it would let her get in close and beat the crap out of them.
She took a deep breath, murmuring to herself.
“Don't worry Hoshi, I'll prove you didn't do it.”