"Are you alright, Mitch?" Panam rushed to help Mitch, who was barely able to stand.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch," Mitch said, sitting down on a nearby rock with a weary sigh. "But Scorpion... Scorpion and the others are gone."
"Dead?!" Panam's voice trembled in disbelief. "How?!"
"As soon as we arrived, those corpo bastards ambushed us. Didn't give us a second to speak. Several of our people were killed instantly. Scorpion… he was leading the charge. He didn't make it. I'm sorry, Panam…"
"No… I should be the one apologizing, Mitch." Her voice cracked, eyes full of regret. "It was our AV that got shot down. We should've warned you earlier."
"Why did you shoot it down in the first place?"
"Because of me," V stepped forward. "I needed to extract an employee they were transporting."
"If you're talking about the guy in the suit, he was escorted west in one of our vehicles. Probably trying to regroup or call in backup."
"We tried to warn you, but a pulse knocked out our comms," Panam said, her voice low.
"It's not your fault, Panam," Mitch reassured her. He stood up and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "Only those corpo bastards are to blame."
"Those beasts! I swear I'll make them pay!" Panam growled, her voice laced with fury. "If they took our vehicle, there'll be tracks. I'll hunt them down and tear them apart."
"I'm with you." V loaded her weapon. "For Scorpion. For everyone we lost today."
"Thanks, V." Panam's eyes softened. "I owe you."
"No. I'm responsible too."
"If you're really going after them, stay sharp," Mitch warned. "After Scorpion was hit, we tried to counterattack, but we were shut down fast… by just one guy."
Mitch was no rookie — a former merc with top-tier cyberware. For him to say he was powerless meant the enemy was dangerous beyond words.
"Then I'll kill him too," Panam muttered, undeterred.
"I'll call the family to come clean up the scene. Then I'll catch up." Mitch knew Panam couldn't be swayed. He turned to V. "Take care of her."
V nodded solemnly.
They split up.
Panam and V followed the tire tracks deep into the Gobi Desert, eventually reaching an abandoned gas station nestled between broken ridgelines.
"This place has been deserted for ages," Panam whispered, scanning the area. "But if we're lucky, the old comms gear inside might still work."
"I only see one sniper," V said, zooming in through her optics.
Just as Panam described, most of the equipment was rusted junk, but some of it had clearly been patched up — probably by Kang Tao personnel.
"The longer we wait, the worse it'll get," Panam muttered. "I'll draw the sniper's fire. You get inside and find the target."
"Watch yourself," V said, her tone serious.
Compared to Panam, V — enhanced with combat-grade cyberware — was more suited for infiltration.
---
On a hill near the station, Leon Black, the sniper, spotted movement and tapped his earpiece.
"Contact. Movement along the ridge."
"Shuya here. Got it." Inside the gas station, Lena Fox finished dressing Anders' leg wound and looked to Ethan Cross. "We've got company."
"Of course we do. You killed Adocado nomads. They're bound to retaliate," Ethan said without a hint of concern, eyes still fixed on his phone.
If Anders hadn't been bleeding so badly, they wouldn't have even stopped to rest.
"We contacted HQ. Backup's ten minutes out," Lena said, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. "I'll scout it out. You okay holding the fort?"
Ethan smiled lazily. "Relax. I'm not dying yet."
Having seen Ethan in action, Lena didn't argue. She left with her weapon ready.
Inside, Ethan slid his chair next to Anders and smirked.
"So, Mr. Anders. Looks like it's just us now. Mind handing over a copy of those confidential files in your head?"
"What do you want it for?" Anders growled, scowling. "You think a street thug like you understands biotech? What could you possibly gain?"
"To learn," Ethan replied with a shrug. "Those biochips are impressive tech."
Anders froze.
"How… how do you know that?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Did Yorinobu from Arasaka send you?!"
"Yorinobu?" Ethan laughed. "He's not in my league."
"So this is a business negotiation?" Anders relaxed slightly. "That's simple, then. Just outbid Kang Tao, and I'll hand it over."
"Sorry, Mr. Anders. I'm taking it. Not buying it." Ethan's eyes gleamed.
"Or should I crack open your skull and fish it out myself?"
He was half-joking, but Anders instinctively gulped.
"Fine. I'll give you a copy. But know this — Kang Tao paid a very high price for this data. If they find out you got it too… you're dead."
"That's not your concern," Ethan said, leaning back with a lazy smile.
Anders sighed and complied, transferring the chip from his internal memory to a physical drive.
Ethan copied the files immediately. Decrypting everything could take time, but with the source right in front of him, it was only a matter of effort.
Just as he finished copying, a massive explosion rocked the building.
CRASH!
A figure came flying through a shattered window.
It was Lily Cross, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, her combat suit torn and shredded. She landed hard against the broken control panel, letting out a pained cry as she staggered to her feet.
"They've got reinforcements! The captain… the captain's dead!"
Her once-innocent eyes now burned with rage and grief.
She was the last survivor of her team.
Ethan casually walked to the broken window and peered outside.
A ragtag group of nomads and mercs stood in the sand, surrounding the building. V and Panam were at the front.
"Oh?" Ethan tilted his head with amusement. "A familiar face."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried easily across the quiet desert wind.
"Shit! It's him!" V stiffened. Leon Black, the ex-Arasaka operative turned Kang Tao dog. What the hell was he doing here?
"Hand over Anders and that woman, and I might let you live!" Panam shouted, temper flaring.
Panam, Ethan mused. Yeah, that's her name. One of the protagonist's love interests, right? She looks even better in real life.
Strangely, Ethan began stroking his chin and smiling at her.
No one could understand why he looked like a smitten idiot.
Some of the nomads definitely didn't like it.
A younger member, flushed with anger, raised his rifle and fired — ignoring V's frantic warning.
Bang!
Before anyone could blink, the shooter was split in half — vertically. Sliced cleanly by a sheet of high-speed glass.
No one even saw the projectile.
The surrounding nomads froze in horror. One of their own was dead in an instant.
Several raised their weapons, trembling with rage.
"Wait! Hold fire! Hold fire!" V shouted. "We can talk this out!"
"Talk?! He killed our people! I want his head!" Panam snapped, lifting her gun — but Mitch grabbed her wrist and held her back.
"Mitch?! Let go!"
"Panam, stop! Listen to Saul!"
The crowd fell silent as Saul, the grizzled leader of the Adocado clan, stepped forward. His presence was commanding, his physique reminiscent of a nomadic Aquaman.
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