Opening the door, I threw my coat in the back seat and grabbed onto the steering wheel before pulling myself into the car. Before I could even put the cup in the cup holder, Johnny appeared in the passenger seat. 'So why are we going then?'
Putting my car into gear, I started making my way towards Ebunike, Smasher's current man cave. "Because if we don't, then we'll make it onto NetWatch's most wanted list. I have the UC code engraved on my psyche, but I'm also an unknown agent. Given the slightest reason, I could be labeled as a deserter. And NetWatch doesn't take kindly to deserters. NetWatch agents are privy to so many backdoors, zero days, and hacks that they become both a liability and an asset when they leave NetWatch." Seeing Johnny's confused and curious gaze, I elaborated. "A former NetWatch agent is very valuable to corps like Militech, Arasaka, Kang Tao… in any case, don't worry, Lucas Fleck is a fair and very logical person, he won't just automatically send you both behind the Blackwall."
I still think this is a bad idea…
Smiling, I nodded my head in agreement, because of course this is a bad idea. But not agreeing to his invitation will be worse. Not replying to either of them, I continued driving while thinking about what is to come. To be fair, right now our biggest problem is not Fleck, but stealing the Malorian and liberating the Porsche all from under Smasher's metallic nose.
It wasn't long before we were once again standing in the parking lot. I had already ditched my car a few blocks away from here, because I was going to break out of here in Johnny's Porsche, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving the Thornton so close to the docks.
Taking a throwing knife in my hands, I crouched down and slowly started making my way towards the docked ship, all while hiding behind containers.
Peeking out from behind the container, I could see that there were a few guards who were just leisurely roaming around, keeping watch. I was thinking of the best way to go through them when Johnny appeared right in the middle of an armed patrol, his entire body shaking like an excited kid. 'This is great, we'll take my gun too!'
Activating the knock-off Sandevistan, I sped off towards the two guards, and before they even understood what was happening, I quickly dispatched the two by severing the arteries and servos in one's neck and stabbing the other one in the eye with the same swing. Resuming time, I quickly turned around and threw the knife in my hand towards a guard whose back was turned away from me.
Running towards the dead body, I quickly plucked out the knife from his head and quietly jumped onto the ship's railing before jumping over it and getting onto the deck. "Easy, Johnny. First we need to confirm that the Clanker is not here." Reaching a quiet corner, I quickly popped open a panel there and jacked into the ship's network. "So? Is he here, Haezy?"
Within a second, numerous camera screens went across my vision, so fast that it almost looked like a glitch. I wanna say no, ma'am…
Here it comes. "But?"
But he's in the ship's main bridge.
Hearing that, Johnny let out a frustrated scream and exclaimed, 'FUCK!'
Laughing lightly, I unplugged my personal link from the socket and slowly stood up. "Easy, Johnny boy! We'll get your car and your gun."
'With that bucket of spare parts here?'
"We don't have to go and fuck with Smasher or anything, we just need to deal with Grayson. Let's take him down silently, grab your gun, and ride away in your car. We've done it a thousand times, and we can do it now."
'I mean… if you're sure…'
Looking around, I uploaded a ping into an antenna and saw that Grayson was running some kind of inventory check in the storeroom of the ship, which was just a level above me. "Haezy, keep an eye out for Smasher, notify me if he moves."
I will, but to be honest, he's not even in a combat suit right now, so I doubt that we would have a problem if he were to be alerted. Given that you are able to get the fuck out of here fast.
'Wait… what do you mean by combat suit?'
Carefully prying open the door to the staircase, I mentally shrugged my shoulders and answered him, "When people say that, that tin skin is just a machine, they are not wrong, he's got different types of bodies for all different types of occasions. He can switch his body to suit his needs. Only his brain and pieces of his spine are organic at this point."
'He really is walking, talking industrial equipment, huh?'
Laughing in agreement, I quietly made my way up to the storage room. I could see the silhouette of tagged Grayson just wandering around in the room with a datapad in his hand. With a simple command, the door opened with a soft hiss, but Grayson paid it no mind, thinking it was someone from the crew. Big mistake.
Walking right behind him, I readjusted my grip on the throwing knife in my hand, and in a singsong voice called out, "Hello, Grayson~"
Startled, Grayson jumped around in fright and turned, but before he could even understand what was happening, I accelerated my speed and snatched the datapad out of his hands and smashed it into pieces as hard as I could on his head. Holding a sharp piece of the datapad in my hand, I plunged it into his stomach and clamped his mouth shut to keep him from screaming for help.
Dragging him roughly by his face, I slammed him as hard as I could into a wall, knocking the wind out of him, and then roughly dragged him to the ground and finally released him, and crouched in front of him.
Looking at me fearfully, he stuttered out, "W-who are–?!" Before I could even answer, his eyes lit up in recognition and fright. "You're that borg V!"
Looks like my reputation precedes me. "You lick Smasher's shiny metallic ass clean every day, yet you call me a borg?" I asked with a joking and incredulous look on my face. Seeing as he was still trying to wrap his mind around this situation that he'd found himself in, I slowly grabbed the jagged broken piece of datapad that I'd stabbed him with and roughly pulled it out of him, and watched as his synthetic blood sprayed out from an artery at an alarming rate. Looks like his blood pump is working overtime, at this rate he'll die before I can even savor the interaction.
Throwing the piece away, I stood up and kicked Grayson right beside his heart, cracking and shattering a few ribs in the process, but in the end I did turn off his blood pump.
Gasping and groaning in pain, he held onto his chest and slowly fell onto his right side on the floor. After a few seconds of groaning and whimpering, he finally looked up at me. "Wh-what do you want with me?"
Again crouching down next to him, I looked at him with amusement. "You have something that belongs to me."
Slowly, his pained expression morphed into one of confusion and in a shaky voice he asked, "Huh? I-I don't have anythi—"
Slowly reaching forward, I grabbed onto his holster and unhooked it from his belt, and took out Johnny's Malorian. "This belongs to me."
Looking at the gun in my hand, his eyes again lit up with excitement. "Th-that's Silverhand's… you a Silverhand fan? Because I have something else too! Just let me go and you can have it!"
"You mean his Porsche?" I asked with a smug smirk on my face, and watched a dumbfounded expression on his face. Laughing, I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture and said, "Don't worry, I'll get it too."
Finally understanding his situation, his face slowly morphed into one of anger and resignation and he did the only thing he could: scream, threaten, and beg. "You'll never find it! Not without my help!"
"Are you sure?" I asked with a hint of amusement, before once again reaching into his pocket and getting an access card out of it. Smiling mockingly at him, I stood up and slowly pulled out the monowire. "Oh, and another thing, that distress signal that you're trying to send? Yeah, I already intercepted it." Informing him of that, I gently started wrapping the wire around his neck and slowly began to tighten it and watched as the thermal wire started to burn and dig its way down his throat.
Gasping and whimpering in pain, he once again tried to beg, "N-now I'm sure that we can come to some sort of a—" but unfortunately his vocal cords were severed before he could finish his plea. With a blank expression, I continued on and watched as his eyes started to unfocus and blood started to flow and squirt out of the deepening gash on his neck, and soon his head was rolling beside his body, while I was cleaning the monowire and walking out of the storage room, as I'd already got what I came to him for. "There, now that he's been dealt with…"
Walking on the deck once more, I leaned on the railing and looked up at the suspended container which held Johnny's car, and slowly murmured to myself, "Now, we just need to get that car down." Before I could even turn in the direction of the control panel of the ship, the container lurched and started coming down on its own. Now, I would've thought that something or someone on the ship was responsible for this, but unfortunately the glitch in my vision told me that the culprit was very close. Practically inside me. "Haezy? What was that?"
I'm getting the car down… that's what you wanted, right?
"...God damn it, Haezy!"
What? What did I do wrong this time?
Running my hands over my face in frustration, I just shook my head and asked, "How did you even do that? Didn't you need the access card?"
I already scanned that shard, I just needed the codes on it.
Sighing deeply in frustration, I shook my head and started walking away from the control panel and making my way to the walkway to the docks. "Hmm, now you wanna know what you did wrong?" I quietly asked Haezy in a clipped tone as I slowly walked toward the ramp. "The guards are now buzzing around that container, trying to see either what is wrong with it, or what is in it." Just as I pointed out, a few guards were now thoroughly checking the container and the surrounding area for any sort of problem. "In short, you just made our job five times harder."
I–... oh.
The poor girl couldn't even muster up an answer. I couldn't stay mad at her. She's still young. She'll learn soon. "Don't worry, we'll just improvise a bit."
Before I could even walk down the ramp, I targeted a guy in the middle of the group and hit him with a Contagion, and watched as it slowly started spreading to everyone around him. Stepping onto the docks, I watched as everyone in front of me was coughing and hacking their lungs out. The few who were just bottom-level grunts were already on their hands and knees, probably wheezing and groaning with their last breath. And the few who were still standing were hit with an Overheat hack, and in just a second, all of them started blowing up, turning into a mist of red and green. It's really astonishing how broken netrunning can be sometimes. Looks like I was exaggerating about the difficulty a bit…
Happily walking all over the gory mess of bodies and body parts, I reached over to the container and grabbed onto its handle, and I was just about to pull it open when something in the corner of my vision caught my eye. "There he is…" I murmured softly as I saw a big burly humanoid robot staring at me from the window of the bridge of the ship. Just as Haezy said, he was not in his usual combat body, this was still a solid one, but it was also quite smaller compared to the other one, and doesn't look nearly as weaponised.
I was right in the middle of a staring competition with the clanker when Johnny appeared in front of me, blocking the view, and with flailing hands screamed, 'Fuck him! Just open the fucking container!' Scoffing lightly, I opened the container and saw the tarp-covered Porsche parked in it. 'There she is! Damn, I really missed her,' Johnny exclaimed, looking at the car with stars in his eyes, or at least that's what I imagined, obviously I couldn't see shit because of those glasses that were always glued to his face.
Pulling the tarp off the car, I saw the gleaming and almost brand-new vehicle under it, just begging to be taken. "Alright, you can make out with its exhaust pipe later, we need to leave now!"
'Wait, what?'
Hotwiring the car, I slammed on the accelerator and shot out of the container into the open air. "That bitch saw us back there," I muttered softly as I drove away from the docks. There's no escaping the fact that Smasher is going to be coming after me pretty hot. Not that it scares me too much, I'm confident enough in myself that I can handle that clanker.
Before I could even think about or say anything else, Haezy finally spoke up again, Okay, can you please tone down the racism a bit? I know I'm not in the same category as Smasher, but those words do still apply to me.
Smasher really brings out the worst in me.
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Alright guys! thanks for reading! If you like this chapter then please comment, and review this fan fic. now I'm going to do a extremely cliché shit here, if i receive 15 comments or 2 reviews, then I'll drop another chapter!