The Nova City Central Distribution Center was unusually quiet.
The work lights that provided workers with visibility were out, and the industrial robots that used to bustle about stood still.
In an ominous maze of containers, the Mephisto gang members picked open the locked containers one by one.
Out of the thick darkness, one of the gang members shouted.
"Nothing in this section! What about yours?"
"It's empty here, too. Fucking corporate assholes... They've gotten really good at hiding stuff."
What they were looking for was a secure container belonging to the Alpine Group.
In fact, their heist wasn't premeditated.
As usual, they were using an intermediary to keep tabs on companies' shipments to see if there was anything worth stealing, and then they hit the jackpot: Alpine Group's new combat implants.
Who is Alpine Group?
Isn't it a huge defense contractor that gets calls from all over the world?
Alpine Group's combat implants are so powerful that they're banned from civilian sale, making them the stuff of dreams for every criminal.
It's enough to make any other cheap implant worthless.
It's the kind of thing that can turn an untrained ghetto thug who doesn't know how to grip a pistol properly into a super soldier in an instant.
If you had a Joker Card like this, would you even notice the other crappy products?
For every gang in the favela, Alpine Group's implants were a kind of cheat key, a fountain of youth.
As such, Alpine Group's products were targeted by many, so it was a natural step for the company to increase the security of its containers.
Not only did they outfit their shipping containers with military-grade security systems, but they also disguised them as low-cost containers used by various logistics companies, making it nearly impossible for their goods to be stolen.
There was no one in Nova City who didn't know that.
Nevertheless, there were always those who were recklessly brave.
That was Mephisto, a new upstart gang emerging from the back alleys.
"Harbor, don't you think we should give up, it's getting to be a little late for the gang?"
"Damn it, we've come all this way and we're going home empty-handed? We've spent so much money for this day!"
Thud-!
"Ugh!"
As one of the gang members timidly voiced his anxiety, the man called Harbor threw his handheld scanner in a fit of rage.
The digital mask of the gang member who was hit in the head by the suddenly flying scanner displayed an emoji of a crying face.
Ignoring the gang member cowering in the corner, Haber shouted at the others in a gruff voice.
"I'm not going back without my Alpine Group stuff! Anyone who thinks they're scared of us for nothing has no business being in the Mephisto Gang! Find him!"
"Whatever, he's an idiot with no intelligence..."
"What, what did you just say?!"
Hearing the insults directed at him, Harbor looked around angrily.
Soon enough, he spotted the cusser.
"It's me, asshole."
"Carmen... you bitch..."
Carmen, a red-haired woman with a sneering emoji on her digital mask, held up her middle finger in defiance.
Harbor growled harshly at Carmen, who was leisurely filing her nails.
"Didn't you hear what I said?! You're sitting here filing your nails when it's almost one o'clock!"
"Because it's late anyway, asshole."
Carmen didn't bat an eye at Harbor's threats, which were quite ferocious.
Her digital mask was now displaying a mocking expression on her face.
"Look at the time now. It's been ten minutes since we broke in. The Nova City cops may be assholes, but they're not as incompetent as you think they are."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"I'm saying that once a call is made, a SWAT team is on the way, and they'll be here any minute."
"That's just going to make things a little more annoying, so if you don't want to waste ammo, just search the containers!"
Carmen shook her head in annoyance at Harbor's unwillingness to listen to her explanation.
"What happened to your actual intelligence, did you get a bad implant or something?"
"What are you talking about?"
Such a man was Mephisto's chief of operations.
Carmen sighed heavily and replied nervously.
"The SWAT team isn't a neighborhood gang. It's one of the most elite units in the police force-"
Boom-!
"?!"
Before Carmen could finish her sentence, the doors to the warehouse were blown off with a loud crash.
At the same time, the warning lights begin to illuminate the darkened interior of the center, revealing the scowling faces of the Mephisto gang members on their masks.
To Harbor, who was taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Carmen whispered dejectedly.
"I told you, it's too late."
.
.
.
.
.
"Breach successful! Everyone, get out of the vehicle!"
"Moving out!!"
"Wahoo!!!"
The armored vehicle blew through the warehouse's thick blast doors, and the crew rushed out, too scared to stop.
I shouted to the driver, Billy, who slammed on the brakes and immediately began operating the unmanned turret.
"I need fire support, Billy!"
"Don't worry, who am I, Billy of Firepower!"
"Yeah, I'm fucking backed up!"
I gave Billy, who was excited to use the turret for the first time in a while, a moderate shout back and opened the passenger door.
I could already see the troopers forming a tight formation around the armored vehicle.
[Alpha Team, moving in].
At the same time, I could see the Alpha Team members breaking through the ventilation window in the ceiling.
"Here they come...! Fucking cops are here...!"
The suspects hiding in various places could be heard shouting.
Hopefully, the suspects would surrender without force.
In fact, it was not an impossible story, as there were many cases where some suspects lost their will and surrendered when confronted by the police...
"Kill them all!"
"Motherfuckers!"
Tut-tut-tut-!
Unfortunately, this time, the outnumbered suspects, the Mephisto Gang, had no intention of backing down.
Flashes and gunfire fill the warehouse as the suspects' rifles begin spewing fire from all sides.
Some of the suspects perched on the working deck on the upper floors opened fire on us waiting on the ground floor, but only for a moment.
Brrrrrt-!
[Yippee!!!]
The chain guns on the turret mounted on top of the armored vehicle began to project fire.
With a roar of laughter from Billy, the turret scrapes across the work deck, and the suspects holding the high ground fall like dominoes.
Some sprawl on the deck, while others are knocked off balance by the impact of the bullets and plummet to the ground floor.
"That's a good one."
I muttered to myself as I watched the one-sided carnage.
You might wonder why the police would hesitate to use a chain gun from an armored vehicle's unmanned turret to gut suspects.
But in Nova City, it's a legitimate riot control procedure, no matter how it might be in other cities.
Right now, a suspect with an implanted grenade launcher is firing 40mm high explosive grenades at officers at point-blank range.
There's nothing wrong with a cop using a machine gun.
"All right, Billy, keep up the suppressive fire, and the rest of you move forward in formation!"
"Team Leader, here's your shield!"
"Thanks, Max."
I thanked Max, who had already retrieved my own shield from the equipment locker, and mounted it on my arm.
Click!
With the now familiar click of the shield retention mechanism, I pulled my pistol from its holster and disengaged the safety.
As always, Lestrade's blond hair caught my eye as I moved to the front of the line.
"Lestrade, you stay right behind Max. Don't move off on your own."
"Understood."
Lestrade nodded at my words and returned to his position.
The others looked at each other and chuckled, wondering what was so funny.
"Now we're going in for real. Keep your wits about you."
He held his shield out in front of him in a defensive stance, the muzzle of his pistol poking over the edge of the shield.
"This is Bravo-1, Bravo Team will begin clearing the first floor."
[Copy that, Bravo-1, Alpha will take the upper floors!]
I glanced up at the work deck, where a fierce firefight was raging, at the familiar voice of Lieutenant Ellis.
The newly recruited members of Alpha Team were taking out the suspects with speed and precision.
The worry of being ambushed from above was gone.
Now all that remained was to eliminate the suspects hiding among the containers and secure the containers of the Alpine group they were targeting.
I took a light, deep breath and called out in a voice full of strength.
"Forward!"
Max's hand came up on my shoulder and I moved my legs.
I quickly darted between the towering containers, followed by my teammates.
The layout of the ground floor, with its stacked containers, is quite complex.
This meant there were a lot of potential hiding places for the suspects to hide and ambush.
Before I knew it, I was scared to take more than a few steps, and there were aisles to the left, right, and ahead.
"Watch the corners. Max takes the left, I take the right. Lestrade... No, Eva, keep your eyes straight ahead."
"Okay."
I calmly instructed, then waited for the men to get ready.
"Ready."
Soon, Max tapped me on the shoulder, signaling that he was ready.
"Good. On the count of three, we're in."
I nodded and began a rapid countdown.
"Three, two, one, in."
Lunging forward, I quickly spun my shield to the right and aimed my pistol.
A man in a white hoodie aimed a shotgun at me.
"Holy shit-"
Baaang-!
With a blinding flash, a white phosphorus round exploded in front of me.