The Copperhead assault rifle, capable of firing up to 640 rounds per minute, was wielded with deadly precision in Kai's hands. Every bullet that spewed from its muzzle found its intended target.
One shot to the head, one to the heart—each of the seven Maelstrom gang members received two bullets. Within two seconds, not a single one of them remained standing before Kai and his two companions.
"Damn, mano (bro), your aim is insane!"
Jackie, completely unfazed by his still-bleeding gunshot wound, was already trying to stand up and check if any of the Maelstrom members needed a finishing shot.
"Jackie, you should rest first."
Oliver grabbed Jackie and checked his wound. Seeing that the bullets hadn't hit any vital organs, he let out a sigh of relief. "You're reckless, Jackie. You're going to run out of lives at this rate."
"It's fine."
Jackie grinned. "Besides, it all worked out in the end. You were the one hyping up Kai's shooting skills the whole way here. I just put my faith in you guys."
"That's some real dumbass logic."
Kai had never seen someone take two bullets and still laugh like this. "If their aim had been just a little better, you'd be dead, Jackie."
"Relax, KK, I knew what I was doing. The first thing I did when diving was protect my head, and I was wearing body armor. If I wasn't confident, I wouldn't have risked my life like that."
"I think once we finish this job, we should all pitch in and get you some subdermal armor."
Oliver sighed, feeling a bit guilty that he hadn't been much help earlier. "I should get some cyberware, too. I need to pull my weight. If I just stand around watching you guys do all the work, I won't feel right taking a cut."
"Your shooting isn't bad, Oliver. You could get a sniper rifle and some support implants to cover us from a distance."
"But I'm not as good a shot as you, KK."
"That's why you should use a sniper rifle."
Kai shook the Copperhead in his hands. "I'm better suited for close-range eliminations."
"I actually think Oliver should be our medic."
Jackie glanced at his own wound—Oliver had bandaged him up while casually chatting with Kai. That level of skill wasn't common.
"My sister's a ripperdoc, so I picked up a few things."
Oliver didn't think it was a big deal. As he scanned the area, his gaze landed on a surveillance camera. "We need to move. This place is covered in cameras. If the other Maelstrom members in the factory notice, they'll be on us in no time."
"We'll change locations, take out a few more, and leave one alive to interrogate."
Kai walked over to the Maelstrom corpses and grabbed a few grenades. "I should really learn some hacking or find us a netrunner. If we had one, we wouldn't even need to keep someone alive—just disable the cameras and fight our way to the target's stash, toss a grenade in, and snap a proof photo. Easy."
"So you want to learn hacking just to make fights easier?"
Oliver felt like he was the only half-sane person in this crew. Supporting Jackie, he raised his pistol and shot out a camera.
But at the end of the day, these two were his teammates now. Might as well roll with it.
By the time the Maelstrom boss arrived at the scene she had watched on the security feed, all that remained were seven corpses—nothing else.
"Useless. You couldn't even hold them off for a few minutes?"
She felt like putting another round in each of their skulls out of frustration.
"Boss, there's blood here."
One of the Maelstrom members noticed a trail of blood leading away from the bodies.
"This way!"
The trail continued every few steps. The Maelstrom gangers readied their weapons and looked to their leader for orders.
"At least they managed something."
Fueled by hatred, the boss didn't hesitate. She led her crew in pursuit of the blood trail.
A few seconds later, as they rounded a corner in the factory—
Boom!
A grenade exploded. The Maelstrom thug at the front was engulfed in flames, while those slightly further back were flung into the air by the shockwave. Limbs torn off, they landed at their boss's feet.
"Shit, it's a trap!"
"They set us up!"
Hearing the explosion behind them, Kai immediately turned, gripping his Lexington pistol—perfect for the tight corridors. He advanced cautiously.
Jackie's wound had been properly bandaged by Oliver earlier, so he wasn't leaving a blood trail anymore. The blood leading the Maelstrom crew into the trap had come from their own fallen comrades—Kai had torn off a piece of cloth, soaked it in their blood, and squeezed it every few steps to create a trail.
Oliver had set up the grenade trap. As an ex-6th Street member, he knew a thing or two about military-grade improvised explosives.
"Oliver, keep Jackie safe. I'll check on the Maelstrom crew."
Kai hadn't expected to wipe them out—just slow them down. But when he rounded the corner, he realized there weren't many left.
The Maelstrom boss was just a mid-tier leader with about twenty men. Some were out partying or raiding, seven had died in the first fight, and a few more got shredded by the grenade trap. Now, including the boss herself, only four remained.
Kai's gun was quick. Before he even realized he should leave one alive for questioning, he had already killed three.
The last one wasn't spared because Kai missed—his bullet hit her head with a loud clang, bouncing off instead of penetrating.
"Shit, just like that guy from yesterday—the one with metal-plated eyes and a reinforced skull."
Kai figured she'd be tough to take alive, so he immediately fired another shot, aiming for the junction between the metal plates.
Clang!
Another ricochet.
The Maelstrom boss snapped to attention. Her eyes, glowing red, locked onto Kai.
At that moment, Kai recalled something Jackie had said:
"Lexington? That thing can't even punch through the weakest subdermal armor head-on."