Chapter 53: Loading The Goods

The squad leader kicked the rookie out of the truck just in time, but the shrapnel and shockwave still left him dazed and disoriented. "Form a defensive formation!" He quickly got up in a tactical roll and took cover behind the overturned truck, glancing back at his men, only to find that every vehicle had flipped over! That piece of junk really did pop out a Shingen submachine gun, blew out their tires, and shoved a grenade into the rookie's mouth! Fortunately, the ones responsible for this transport were mostly seasoned veterans, at least newly trained soldiers, not just some random thugs— They quickly jumped out of the trucks and found cover. However, that junky Rattler didn't show any signs of stopping, circling around the convoy and tossing grenades like they were going out of style! Boom! Boom! Boom! The squad leader was stunned. The enemy was throwing grenades like there was no tomorrow! Boom! The explosions left his head spinning, feeling like he was being bombarded! Only after the deafening roar in his ears faded did he dare to peek out. Bang! A large-caliber bullet pierced through his skull. Before he completely lost consciousness, he saw three figures step out of that junk car, their silhouettes illuminated by the flames, looking like demons... These three demons casually strolled through the wreckage of the ambush site, occasionally firing shots to finish off survivors. Finally, after 30 minutes, the battle was over. None of the 6th Street Gang members were left standing. The fight was hardly a challenge. Leo hadn't even fired a shot after initially blowing out the tires. This skirmish didn't even give him a chance to test the other special effects of his Yinglong submachine gun, so he'd have to try it out another time. The three of them slowly walked over to the last rookie soldier, who lay on the ground with a piece of shrapnel stuck in his gut and bullets lodged in both shoulders. Blood covered his eyes, blurring his vision, so he couldn't clearly see the faces of the three figures. Through the blood, he could barely make out a slender figure crouching beside him, while the other two busied themselves elsewhere. "Who... who are you? Please let me go, I'm just a driver..." Leo tore off the Sixth Street Gang patch from the rookie's shoulder, "Enough of that. You chose this line of work, so it is what it is. Do you even know what you were transporting?" "I don't know... We just drive. They said it was something to take down Valentino... I really don't know. Please, let me go. I still have family. I have to do this to make money for them to buy vaccines..." "Well, you're in luck. I don't intend to kill you—when your boss shows up, tell him this transport route is shut down." Just as he finished speaking, Jackie and V walked over, each carrying a crate, and dropped them on the ground with a thud. The rookie, trembling, asked, "But... who are you?" Leo glanced at the two of them, "Come up with a name." "Uh... King Squad?" V suggested hesitantly. Jackie chimed in, "I prefer 'Big Deal Crew.'" "That's dumb. Sounds like the kind of nightclub where rich idiots get scammed—Leo, your turn." "Me? I use the name Burgerking, and you want me to come up with a name?" "Fair point... Eh? Did the kid pass out?" Their debate over a name didn't lead to anything, but the poor rookie had already passed out. They exchanged puzzled looks—not sure what he had heard before blacking out. "Whatever... Let's see what we've got here." Jackie, excited, said, "We've hit the jackpot! It's full of weapons, ammo, grenades, bulletproof vests, and this... It looks valuable. Should we open it?" Leo nodded. Inside was a gleaming Rostovic DB-2 Satara, a tech shotgun, one of the few reliable Serbian-made weapons. This electromagnetic shotgun could fire slugs that could punch through walls, but on the flip side, its downside was its massive size and weight, plus the insane recoil that made it hard to control without significant cybernetic augmentation. "Whoa... a Satara!" The hefty Satara fit perfectly in Jackie's hands. As he activated it for the first time, the electromagnetic accelerators on the shotgun barrel hummed to life. He cracked open the barrel, revealing two shells already loaded. "It's good... but I wouldn't recommend using it just yet," Leo said after scanning the gun with his enhanced vision, noticing some discrepancies from the standard Satara. "What do you mean? You don't think my body can handle it?" Jackie replied. V added, "If Jackie can't use it, who's this gun made for?" Leo leaned in to inspect the firearm closely, finding some suspicious modifications. "First off, as a tech double-barrel shotgun, the electromagnetic rails should accelerate the shells from both barrels simultaneously, so it needs a safety feature to fire one at a time. But this gun doesn't have that, so each shot requires a longer charge time, resulting in greater recoil. You might handle a regular Satara, but not this one—the modder even added an extra set of acceleration coils. And..." Leo took the gun from Jackie and ejected the shells. "These are custom-made. Judging by the weight, they're heavier than regular Satara rounds—no human could control this gun. Remember Captain Knott in Atlanta? You'd need to be a cyber monster like him to wield this thing." "Whoa..." V patted Jackie, "The Sixth Street Gang must have some real psychos if they've got this kind of gear." Jackie shook his head, "If they did, I would've heard about it—too bad, we'll have to scrap it." "Says who?" Leo handed the gun back to Jackie, "I told you, you need to learn how to use heavy firepower. Once we make enough money, get yourself a Gorilla Arm. It'd be a waste not to." "Alright, let's get to work—strip the good wheels off these trucks, get three running vehicles, and we'll each drive one back with the goods. I need to see who owns this cargo." The haul was huge, especially the various ammo and gear. Individually, they weren't worth much, but there was a lot of it. Aside from the modified Satara, there were other decent finds—dozens of Ajax assault rifles and Saratoga submachine guns. All Militech weapons. It seemed the Sixth Street Gang had some solid connections at Militech, keeping a steady supply coming. As Leo lifted one of the crates, he felt something was off. An empty crate shouldn't be this heavy. Leo activated his enhanced vision and, sure enough, noticed a gap in the bottom of the crate. A hidden compartment? Leo picked up a piece of metal from the ground and pried open the false bottom. Inside was some kind of liquid medicine, stored in a rectangular thermal container. "Medicine? Interesting... It seems the Sixth Street Gang was being extra cautious." Leo walked back over to the rookie, connecting his personal link to transmit a backdoor into his communications. "Transport Route: First stop, Dry Creek Town. The Biotechnica rep will be waiting. Load the goods discreetly; the items are stored in the hidden compartments of the weapon crates." "When crossing the border, show the Militech ID. They'll let us through, no questions asked." "Second stop: Red Ocher Family. They've been waiting for a while, so make it quick—they say most of their people are dying. You can raise the price, and the extra will be your bonus." "Third stop: Arroyo Headquarters." Leo found a shard in the truck labeled: Transport Route. V pointed to the liquid they had found in the crates, "So, what do we have here?" "My guess... it could be vaccines or something similar, provided by Biotechnica. This is getting more interesting—looks like they got a shipment from Militech and then smuggled Biotechnica's stuff behind their backs." Jackie started to get a familiar feeling—this was starting to sound like a familiar tactic... Leo rubbed his chin, realizing this situation was getting more complicated. He remembered what that rookie had mentioned about vaccines earlier—it seemed like Santo Domingo might be dealing with an outbreak. Something this big, and yet Night City hadn't even raised an eyebrow—though, that was to be expected. Information on the net is somewhat controlled; unless you have your own forum circles with the right gossip, you wouldn't know about this. And profitable info like this definitely wouldn't reach the public first. Of course, it could all turn out to be not as complicated as it seemed. Jackie's expression was conflicted, "Medicine? This score might be bigger than we thought—hotter too, and I don't mean just in terms of danger, but also morally." "It's too soon to say. Tell Padre we've snagged a load of Sixth Street Gang's weapons and ammo, and offer to sell it to him at a friendly price." "What?" V was taken aback, "I thought we weren't supposed to involve him?" "Corporations are one thing, gangs are another. He'll be more than happy to take this haul off our hands. As for these meds... we'll track down their buyers."