"Looks like... we won't be walking out of here gracefully." Arthur narrowed his eyes at the group of security personnel posted in front of the elevator and spoke in a low voice.
V frowned as well, eyeing the heavy figure standing further back. "That thing," she explained curtly, "is one of Arasaka's elite combat units. Its armor rating isn't low.
We deal with the others first... That special armor doesn't have powered assistance, so its mobility is limited."
There was no time to make a proper plan. Even as V spoke, she was already raising her gun quietly, sighting an ordinary security guard in a suit.
Gunfire cracked suddenly, sharp and dense...
In the dim light, the shots burst into sprays of blood.—life spilling away. The alarms blaring around them became cover rather than threat, masking Arthur and V's advance.
While the enemy scrambled in chaos to respond, their guns had already fired countless rounds.
"Over there!"
Someone spotted their position, pointing toward the indoor planter where they crouched.
"Call for backup!"
Shouts and curses rose along with the gunfire. It was clearly Japanese, though Arthur couldn't understand a word. He doubted they were complimenting his marksmanship.
"Damn it... that thing's packing heavy!" Arthur pressed himself tightly against the waist-high stone planter and shouted, raising his voice above the storm.
Behind them, bullets shredded the earth, clumps of dirt raining down on their backs like a filthy storm.
Arthur slammed fresh rounds into the magazine. The pistol wasn't as powerful as his original sidearm, but its rate of fire was blistering. The difference in power only stood out when compared to his own weapon.
Still... as the personal gun of Arasaka's so-called crown prince, it was damn good.
The firefight reached a stalemate... but Arthur and V had no time to waste. Arasaka's dogs would be closing in from all sides soon.
"That brute! Damn it, what now?" V had just reloaded, but the weight of enemy fire forced her to keep her head down.
Arthur didn't answer. Instead, he shifted from angle to angle, peeking out for split seconds—each time dropping an enemy cleanly.
Beside him, V was making progress too, clearing her side with precision.
In this small crew, her aim was second only to Arthur's. Even with only one good arm, her cyberware gave her enough strength to handle the SMG's vicious recoil.
Only one target remained—the armored unit. And against him, their guns weren't doing a thing.
"Stay down!" Arthur barked, crouching low. "I'm moving in!"
V spotted the dagger clenched in his grip, worry creasing her brow. "That thing? Even bullets can't punch through it!"
"Then I'll bring him down!" Arthur snapped, already creeping along the planter's edge. He pressed his head low to avoid the rounds whistling past.
V tore her gaze from him, sucking in a sharp breath. She wasn't about to sit idle while Arthur risked himself.
Raising the SMG one-handed, she didn't even bother to aim, just sent a storm of bullets toward the suppressing fire. Keeping her head down, she advanced too.
The armored soldier wasn't stupid. He noticed their maneuvering and began edging backward...
All he had to do was hold out until reinforcements arrived, and the two intruders would be finished.
His plan was sound, but his attention was drawn to the louder chaos from V's side. His fire shifted toward her.
Immediately, the roar above V's head grew heavier. Fragments of stone and dirt rained down, hammering the ground around her. Under such fire, she couldn't even raise her weapon anymore.
At this range, the angle widened, bullets striking closer and closer.
Before things could collapse further, a massive figure burst from the darkness—Arthur lunging in from the side, straight at the gunner still spraying wild fire.
The soldier's armor gave him extraordinary ballistic protection... but at the cost of vision.
The suit had auxiliary optics, but reality left no time for reaction in such an explosive charge.
As Arthur surged forward, his cyberware flared. A weight not his own pressed down—weight that, in that moment, became pure strength.
The so-called elite combat unit crashed to the ground. His heavy machine gun still roared, its fireline careening wildly as he toppled, shredding everything in its path.
Arthur slipped behind him, locking his arm around the man's throat and pinning down the arm that gripped the weapon.
The dagger stayed unused. It wasn't needed anymore.
V caught the shift instantly. In a blur, she snatched up a fallen Arasaka rifle. Charging forward, she aimed straight at the armored chest.
Her boot slammed down on the machine gun, pinning it as she held the trigger down...
The rifle hammered, every burst a heavy piston slamming into the armor with relentless force.
Inside, the elite coughed blood in great gouts—and went still.
One of V's arms hung limp, but the other clenched the trigger until the weapon clicked empty. Only then did she exhale the breath that had burned in her lungs.
She tossed the rifle aside...
By now the armor was shattered beyond recognition. As for the soldier inside, Arthur had no interest in checking.
"This thing..." Arthur stared at the elevator panel, bathed in red warning lights. He pressed it, then rapped his fist against it. "Looks like it's fried."
Turning back, he found V rifling through the mangled armor, her brow furrowed deep. "What the hell are you doing?"
Noticing his look, V lifted her hand irritably, holding up a palm-sized card.
"Damn it! What do you think I'm looking for?" She strode to the elevator and slapped the card against the panel. "It's a key from a dead man—not some witch's gut string for casting curses."