Chapter 185: External Center-of-Gravity Cyberware
“Damn it, how do I deal with this?” Arthur shouted to Jackie, glaring at the spinning crimson exclamation mark hanging in front of him.
He wasn’t clueless about netrunner tricks, but back in the day he’d always had his own netrunner in his head. System breaches had never been his concern.
“Shoot the cameras! Those rats can track us through ’em!”
Jackie didn’t just say it—he raised his gun and blasted a camera overhead, sparks raining down.
In an instant, the warning mark before Arthur vanished.
Their guns spat fire, mowing down the rushing enemies with ease.
“I don’t get it... Scum like this hijacking a Militech convoy? Maybe we ought to start asking if those so-called corpo elites are just kennel dogs barking from their cages.”
Arthur slid his pistol back into his holster. The barrel wasn’t even warm.
“Ha! Told you—you can’t trust those corpo dogs!” Jackie roared with laughter, still carrying the box with Flathead inside. “All they’re good for is leaning on poor folks who can’t pay for insurance.”
Arthur might have only kept corporations at arm’s length, but Jackie outright hated them.
“But... their toys are damn useful,” Jackie admitted with a crooked grin, glancing at the crate in his grip.
...
The small factory finally opened up into a larger space. The Maelstrom’s numbers had clearly thinned after the last fight; only once they reached the outer edge of the factory did resistance show itself again.
They entered what looked like a warehouse. Towering shelves loomed overhead, and the stench of flesh, faint before, grew thick again.
Amid the scattered grunts patrolling the area, one towering figure stood out...
It looked like an exoskeleton, but Arthur saw the truth: a man was grafted inside it, thick, filthy cables burrowed into his body, flesh bulging outward where the wires forced their way in.
The bastard... had installed some kind of heavy Cyberware.
“That’s one big beast,” Jackie muttered, voice low as he eyed the hulking figure. “This’ll take some work. These Maelstrom psychos... really don’t see themselves as human.”
“Instead of admiring them, figure out how to stop it,” Arthur replied evenly. He wasn’t wrong—call these lunatics inhuman, and they’d take it as a compliment.
Arthur gripped his gun, squinting for a firing angle, but from here he couldn’t put a bullet straight into the thing’s body.
To move positions meant giving themselves away.
Jackie realized the same. He set the crate down safely, then drew both pistols from his belt.
“No choice—we go loud.” The big man’s voice dropped low as he hunched forward, his massive frame oddly comical in its attempt at stealth.
Arthur tugged him toward the warehouse’s concrete support columns. Those would make decent cover.
One glance was all it took. Jackie nodded. A rough plan formed instantly between them.
“Bang!”
The sudden shot echoed through the warehouse.
Before the sound faded, a Maelstrom lookout dropped from the rafters, landing with a sickening thud.
At the same time, Jackie lunged forward, his bulky frame moving with startling speed—far faster than anyone would expect from a man his size.
The guards at the perimeter, clearly the Maelstrom’s tougher muscle, didn’t waste time staring at their fallen comrade. They snapped their guns up and fired at Jackie.
Fortunately, he was already behind cover. The massive support pillar swallowed him whole.
Bullets hammered the concrete, chunks breaking loose and showering down on Jackie’s face, forcing him to pull back.
The situation was turning bad...
The hulking cybered-up brute finally stirred. With a metallic grind, the device on its right arm slowly rose, aiming straight at Jackie’s cover.
A rectangular frame lit up—iron-black one moment, blazing crimson the next—radiating heat and light.
“Boom.”
Jackie’s hiding place shook with a thunderous impact. The weapon didn’t explode—it slammed down like a colossal hammer, smashing the support column thick enough for four men to wrap their arms around.
Dust billowed from a partial collapse. When it cleared, the pillar that had shrugged off bullets now had steel rebar jutting out, half-shattered.
Behind it, Jackie coughed hard, pressing himself low to the ground.
“Damn it.”
Waving away the smoke, he caught a glimpse outside—another crimson glow was already building.
“This old relic still hits like a truck.”
He ducked his head again just as—
...
“BOOM!!”
...
The surrounding Maelstrom gang closed in on the pillar. Dozens closed in, crimson cybereyes flickering like scanners sweeping for survivors.
...
“BOOM!”
...
The pillar was nearly gone. Even flat against the ground, Jackie knew the next strike would blow straight through.
Maelstrom gunners advanced cautiously from both sides, weapons raised, step by step closing in.
Jackie gripped his pistols tight.
The cover was crumbling around him, but his hands stayed steady. Both guns ready.
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