I finally arrived at Krohn's weapon shop—a hidden arsenal tucked beneath an unassuming ramen joint, the scent of broth and grilled pork masking the faint chemical tang of oil and gunmetal below. A reinforced steel door marked the entrance, reached by a creaking stairwell that spiraled into the depths like a descent into another world.
I pushed it open, and a familiar haze of cigar smoke greeted me.
"Well, well, if it ain't the legendary Jane," Krohn drawled from behind his cluttered counter, his bulk framed by walls lined with weapons gleaming under harsh fluorescent light. "Sexy and deadly as ever. Word is you blew up a damn Goliath. Heh—still wondering how the hell one of those monsters wandered outside military territory." He exhaled a lazy plume of smoke, eyes twinkling.
"Hello, Krohn. Looking healthy, I presume," I replied, smirking. "Though smoking that cigar suggests you're tempting fate."
"Hah! Don't you dare tell my wife," Krohn barked with a laugh.
His grin softened into a businesslike stare. "So, Jane… what do you want this time?"
"Do you have an EMP gun?" I asked, sliding my hand into my jacket pocket casually.
"You mean an EMP sniper rifle?" Krohn corrected, tapping ash into a tray shaped like a skull. "Fires EMP rounds with precision."
"They don't make a smaller version? Something handheld?"
He shook his head. "Nope. The gun version was discontinued—too unstable. Nearly cooked the shooters instead of the targets."
"Figures."
"I do have one EMP sniper in stock," he said, leaning back with a sly grin. "But it ain't cheap."
"How much?"
"Seventy thousand credits. Comes with two boxes of EMP rounds."
I tilted my head and gave him a teasing smile, running a finger along the counter. "How about sixty-five? Give me a discount, just for me."
Krohn snorted, unimpressed. "Heh, that seductive act don't work on me, Jane. I know exactly who you are." He paused, then chuckled. "Alright, fine—sixty-eight thousand. But that's as low as I'll go, for old time's sake."
"Deal." I smirked. "I'll transfer the money."
The credits zipped from my account to his in seconds. Krohn carefully packed the EMP sniper rifle into a specialized matte-black case, sliding in the two boxes of shimmering EMP rounds. The weight of the case felt solid, reassuring, deadly. I picked it up with one hand, then grabbed a few extra mags of ammunition for my existing weapons while I was there.
Just before I turned to leave, I lowered my voice. "Say, Krohn… you heard anything about stealth camo tech floating around?"
He paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "Nope," he said flatly. But even as he spoke, his thick fingers scribbled something on a scrap of paper. He folded it once and slid it across the counter.
I opened it. A single word stared back at me in sharp strokes: Spectre.
I folded the note and slipped it into my handbag. "Thanks for the rifle, Krohn."
"Sure thing. Don't get yourself killed, Jane," he said, puffing his cigar.
"Can't make any promises."
With Harry padding silently at my heels, I left the bunker-like shop and emerged into the neon-soaked night. The city hummed above us as we drove home, preparations already running through my mind.
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"Are you sure you want me to handle this EMP sniper rifle?" Kathy asked, her voice low but steady.
"Yeah. You're the only one I know who can handle a sniper rifle like it's an extension of your own body. Why do you ask?" I replied, raising an eyebrow.
She adjusted the weapon, her gloved fingers gliding over the polished matte-black barrel. "I can handle it just fine. It's just… this thing costs a fortune. One wrong move and—"
"Don't worry about the price tag," I cut her off. "Just focus on the mission."
Kathy gave a short nod. "Alright."
We lay prone on the rooftop of a decaying skyscraper, overlooking the skeletal remains of an abandoned heavy-industrial mecha hangar. Rusted girders jutted skyward like the bones of some dead titan, its interior glowing faintly from the flicker of neon signs scavenged by the Kaiko group. That hangar was their nest—the stronghold of Mosta Pasi and his criminals.
From this distance, we were safe from detection, yet close enough for the EMP sniper rifle to do its work. Perfect positioning.
Kathy wasn't officially part of my crew; I had privately hired her for this hunt with the promise of forty percent of the bounty reward. A hefty cut, but worth every credit. She was my long-range shadow, my precision blade in the dark.
For the past twelve hours, we had mapped the area meticulously, every alley, doorway, and guard patrol marked out thanks to Harry's tireless recon drone. The Kaiko group's network of androids, cyborgs and modders was formidable—but at least they didn't have any functioning industrial mecha tucked away inside that rusting hangar.
If they had… well, then we'd be staring down another towering metal monster. And I wasn't in the mood to bring down another Goliath.
I attach a suppressor onto the barrel of my APBR—an assault rifle specialized for armor-piercing rounds—then locked a high-precision scope into place. With a flick of my thumb, I set the weapon to single-shot mode.
"I'm going in," I said.
"Roger. I've got your back," Kathy replied, her voice calm, steady, a sniper's confidence.
I descended the building's rusted fire escape and moved through the shadows toward the industrial mecha hangar. The structure loomed ahead like a slumbering beast, its metal frame scarred with rust and old blast marks. I hugged the walls, every step deliberate, every breath measured, until I found the least-guarded access point: a small, rust-eaten gate door.
Switching to my inner digital voice, I linked to Kathy over our encrypted channel.
'Kathy, I'm at the gate.'
'I see you. Stand back.'
A muffled crack echoed in the distance. Kathy's first round blew out the locking mechanism. A second shot dropped the surveillance camera above, sparks fizzing against the metal frame. The third bullet neatly severed the motion sensor's power supply.
'All clear.'
'Nice shooting.'
I slipped inside, my rifle ready, body pressed close to the shadows.
'Two hostiles—one cyborg, one android—coming your way,' Kathy's voice buzzed through my head.
'Got them on my AR,' I replied.
Harry's drone hovered high above the compound, unseen, mapping the battlefield for me. Through my augmented vision, crimson silhouettes glowed faintly behind the hangar walls—targets waiting to be erased.
'You take the android. I'll handle the cyborg.'
'The cyborg's on your left,' Kathy confirmed.
'Roger. On three. Three… two… one.'
I stepped out of the shadows, lining the cyborg's skull in my scope. One clean trigger pull—the head snapped back in a spray of sparks and blood. Almost simultaneously, Kathy's shot lanced across the compound, punching through the android's chest. It collapsed in a heap of twisted alloy.
We repeated the tactic with machine-like precision. One by one, the Kaiko guards fell. Cameras died with silenced flashes, alarms went dark, and bodies dropped without so much as a warning cry. The outer perimeter of the hangar was ours.
'I'm going inside,' I whispered.
'Copy. I'll cover you from here, but you'll be on your own for a while. Be careful, Jane.'
'Thanks. I'll manage.'
A dead guard's stolen keycard slid smoothly through the scanner. With a faint click, the steel door unlocked. I pushed it open, rifle raised, and stepped into the belly of the beast—the Kaiko stronghold.
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