As soon as the chaos erupted, the boys in El Coyote Cojo immediately pulled out their weapons. V also flipped out of her seat and jumped into action—but the scene outside made her hesitate for a split second.
There lay Melissa, the hunched old woman, now sprawled in a pool of blood, her eyes wide open in a death stare, unable to find peace.
Crack! A bullet struck V's shoulder, but it was deflected by her thick subdermal armor.
The impact caused V to stagger, barely managing to retreat behind cover as bullets rained down, felling several Valentinos in an instant, turning the scene into utter chaos!
"Focus! Focus up!" Leo yelled in her head. "There are six of them, two are armed with Ajax rifles. I'm marking their positions for you!"
"Got it! Jackie, cover me!"
"On it!"
Jackie, who had been having a heart-to-heart with his mom, bolted out the moment he heard gunfire. Now, he found himself on the flank of the battle.
Both he and V simultaneously spotted the two enemies wielding Ajax assault rifles. Jackie quickly drew his pistol and fired at the marked targets. The loud roar of the Nue gun startled the enemies, bullets chipping away chunks of concrete from the walls, forcing the two marked foes into hiding!
The Ajax was a Militech creation, a reliable weapon commonly used by the 6th Street Gang. As an assault rifle, if it hit V head-on, even her subdermal armor might struggle to fully absorb the kinetic energy!
But beyond that, no other weapon posed a serious threat to V—at least not right now!
V surged forward, the explosive power from her reinforced tendons propelling her like a superhuman. The Kerenzikov implant enhanced her reflexes, allowing her to see the enemies clearly—and lock onto them!
Her Unity pistol fired 14 shots in rapid succession, and by the time she ducked behind new cover, three bodies had already hit the ground with a thud.
"Damn! They've got military-grade cyberware! Throw a grenade! Fire a few rounds and retreat!"
The 6th Street Gang members quickly lost their nerve, realizing that V's combat prowess was beyond that of a mere street brawler!
Behind cover, one of the gang's assault troops pulled a grenade from his pants. Seeing this, Leo immediately marked the grenade—
"V, it's all yours!"
"Leave it to me, pal—"
V aimed and fired. The moment the grenade peeked out from behind cover, her shot hit it dead-on!
Boom! Shrapnel flew everywhere, followed by the anguished cries of the gang members. The 6th Street recruit leading the charge felt cold sweat trickle down his back—
Damn it, this was supposed to be a robbery, but how did we end up against someone this deadly?
"Retreat! Retreat! Get the hell out of here!"
But by now, only he and another guy carrying an Ajax were left—neither of whom had even gotten a good look at the enemy!
In a panic, they both jumped into a car, revved the engine, and sped towards the intersection, completely ignoring the red light!
"We've been waiting for you…"
Blue light flickered in Leo's cybernetic eye—after all, it was 2077, even old pickup trucks were connected to the Net!
At the intersection, a car that had been about to flee suddenly sped forward, ramming hard into the side of the 6th Street Gang's pickup truck!
Chaos ensued, with the car flipping over and the gang members thrown about.
Only now did they realize—they were up against a Netrunner!
"Shit!"
By the time one of them crawled out of the wreckage, the driver had already been crushed to death by the deformed car. He struggled to get out and started running, desperate to get away from the bar—
His eyes locked onto a nearby manhole cover—if he could just reach it, if he could just dive in, the Netrunner wouldn't be able to find him, they wouldn't be able to find him. The sewer would carry him out to the drainage outlet, right towards Santo Domingo… If he could just make it there…
Click—
Suddenly, his cybernetic eye began flashing error messages, and his cybernetic left leg seized up, refusing to move.
His body started heating up, his thoughts growing fuzzy—
And then, his cybernetic eye shut down.
"It's over."
Bam! Another car sped by, hitting him full-on, sending blood and cyberware flying everywhere.
At the edge of the intersection, the three of them stood watching from afar, the sound of Trauma Team's flying ambulance sirens ringing in the air.
The scene was getting intense, but it was necessary—this was Jackie's mom's place, after all.
"Bastards," Jackie spat, still shaken. "Thanks, hermanos, this could've gotten real messy without you guys."
"Don't mention it, just doing what's right," V said as she reloaded her clip. "These 6th Street scumbags are getting bolder by the day. Wonder what Padre plans to do about it."
Neither of them hid their disdain for the 6th Street Gang.
Only Leo, looking at the 6th Street operative abandoned by Trauma Team, felt the first piece of the puzzle fall into place.
Gang wars... They could provide plenty of opportunities to insert network data barrier nodes.
"Remember the job I mentioned? We're going to take some chunks out of the 6th Street Gang."
The 6th Street Gang was a major player, one of the top forces in Night City when it came to high-end combat.
The reason for this was that the gang was initially formed by a group of old-school American patriots, most of whom had fought in the Fourth Corporate War.
In other words, in a city where street battles were the norm, the founders of the 6th Street Gang were actual soldiers.
Originally, the gang's mission was to protect the residents of the Glen, to replace the incompetent NCPD, but over time, their purpose had changed.
Their well-rounded military training and highly organized operations made it impossible for the NCPD to make headway in the area.
They did, however, manage to effectively take over the NCPD's role to some extent. The corporations even passed laws recognizing the 6th Street Gang's legal authority in the Glen—as long as they didn't overstep their bounds. But later on, the 6th Street Gang overstepped, expanding their control into the nearby Santo Domingo.
And there was a significant issue with the law—it granted the 6th Street Gang autonomy in the Glen, which was actually under Valentino control.
Because the corporations legitimized the 6th Street Gang's autonomy, the Glen became Night City's Middle East, with the Valentinos and the 6th Street Gang at each other's throats every day.
If we hit the 6th Street Gang, Padre would definitely approve.
In fact, Padre showed up just ten minutes later, there to collect the bodies of a few Valentinos who had been drinking at the bar.
"Thank you for dealing with these bastards for me. If the Valentinos' reinforcements had arrived, this would have been a disaster."
Jackie had once been a Valentino, even a high-ranking one, and the gang valued blood ties and connections.
That's why El Coyote Cojo could thrive in Heywood—protection was mutual, and that was a unique Valentino code, even if Jackie was no longer part of the gang.
Jackie just waved it off: "No need for apologies, Padre. This wasn't your fault, but the 6th Street Gang is getting bolder and bolder. Can't we strike back?"
Padre simply shook his head gently: "Let's not talk about that. Leo, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, Padre, we need to move some merchandise—and a car."
"Oh? What kind of goods? Weapons, drugs, cyberware, or something else?"
"Weapons—and very tricky smart weapons at that. You know, we just got back from Atlanta."
In the bar, Leo and Padre sat face to face.
After hearing Leo's words, Padre gently rubbed his ring.
"That is indeed tricky. It might take a few weeks to get rid of them."
Leo didn't spell it out, and Padre didn't press him.
But just mentioning Atlanta carried a lot of weight—
First, there had been a firefight between Kang Tao and Militech near Atlanta, a significant event.
A firefight of that scale would be big even in Night City, let alone in the Rust Belt around Atlanta.
And while the public in Night City didn't know, the fixers did: Militech and Arasaka had been involved in large-scale operations at the wall, with the situation unclear, but it was significant enough for them to deploy Basilisk.
Padre had seen the battered car Leo wanted to offload—it was clearly from a Nomad family.
If Leo and V had driven it back across the border, that would be sensitive.
With these clues coming together, plus Leo's use of the word "tricky," Padre had a good guess.
Leo added, "That's too long, Padre. I need money urgently—I can sell it myself."
"You?" Padre's usually stoic face showed a rare expression of surprise.
"Yes—Padre, I can use the 6th Street Gang's channels. Of course, not the kind of 'borrowing' that involves sitting down and talking."
Padre hesitated again.
Behind Leo, V and Jackie exchanged subtle glances, each seeing the surprise in the other's eyes.
In their memory, Padre was always a calm and collected authority figure.
But now, his surprise and hesitation were palpable, and there was... something else, too.
Padre's pause wasn't for dramatic effect; he was genuinely thinking.
Going after the 6th Street Gang? That he would gladly see happen. But Leo taking control of those resources was a different story.
Who's to say Leo wouldn't become another unfriendly neighbor? Rivals are enemies; if Leo stopped being a merc, would Padre still have a reason to help him?
Padre asked, "This might sound intrusive, but why are you in such a hurry to sell the goods? Are they too hot to handle?"
Faced with this question, Leo suddenly revealed his urgency, placing both hands on the table.
"I'm dying, Padre—I'm dying. Remember that MoorE Technologies hover vehicle that showed up a few days ago? That was delivering to me.
A matching lung and heart, costing me 300,000. I'm out of money and nearly out of time."
Padre's eyes flickered, subtly glancing at Jackie and V—both of whom looked equally surprised, but only surprised.
It seemed they were more shocked that Leo would reveal this now.
Since it's life or death... Padre stopped fiddling with his ring and said: "The 6th Street Gang does have those kinds of channels. I can give you some intel, free of charge."