Chapter 61: James Norries

"Lieutenant Norris, you should have joined the 6th Street Gang sooner. We're all American soldiers after all." James Norris, with the rank of lieutenant, was a force to be reckoned with, easily outclassing their boss. However, while some people excel at fighting, others excel at building an organization. James belonged to the former, while the 6th Street Gang's boss, the Sergeant, belonged to the latter. As a New American soldier, this guy had killed countless people, retiring only after the Unification War ended. Rumor had it he was involved in the Pacifica before that. No one knows why this guy remained so obscure, and no one had heard of his name before things went south in Pacifica. The one showing him around was Nolan Frakes, a mid-level leader in the 6th Street Gang, who had been busy trying to wipe out their rivals, the Valentinos. While talking, he felt a bit nervous—this giant was a complete cyber-monster. He had brought this guy to the cyberware doctor's place twice before and had seen what was installed on this guy's body. Bones, muscles, organs, skin, eyes... almost every part of him was outfitted with military-grade combat cyberware. James was nearly two meters tall, with blond hair, wearing a worn-out tactical jacket, and carrying an Arasaka assault rifle on his back—a sign of a seasoned warrior. His silent demeanor made him even more frightening, making people fear that he might snap at any moment. James suddenly stopped, his cold tactical cyber-eyes locking onto a car parked by the roadside. Nolan looked over as well and immediately noticed a rookie from their gang sitting inside—but the car looked like it belonged to a nomad. He frowned and signaled for two of his men to check it out. Archi was inside the car, talking to his mom on the phone. "Mom—I'll be back soon. Things are a bit busy with the gang, you know how it is." "...Alright, alright, I know. Just take care of yourself. A friend told me that this illness can heal on its own, but you need to rest. Don't go out in the sun—don't even touch water or look at it! Don't ask, he's a doctor. If you want to die, go sunbathe on the balcony." Archi had expected this barrage of words and had muted the call beforehand. Five seconds later, he said: "If you're thirsty, there's some glucose on the table." Ding dong— "Uh, Mom, the boss is calling me. I gotta go." "How's it going? Are you ready—" Before Archi could finish his sentence, Leo's urgent voice cut him off: "Start the car, now! Get ready to move!" Bang, bang! Someone banged on the window. Archi looked up to see one of the 6th Street veterans standing by the car. "Hey! Which squad are you with? Open the door!" Archi's blood ran cold. He didn't recognize James, but he saw the man in the distance—Nolan Frakes! A real boss in the gang! The kind who wears a suit and owns a whole suite in a high-rise downtown! He was wearing a full set of 6th Street military gear, which meant this was official business. The patrol grunts might slack off, but not Nolan! "Start the car! Archi, do you hear me?" Leo's voice snapped Archi out of his thoughts. "I..." Leo could hear the hesitation in Archi's voice. He immediately changed tactics, speaking quickly: "Archi—listen, run, run as fast as you can, go home, then take your mom to the Vista Del Rey and find the Valentinos' Padre. Otherwise, you're dead. You and your mom are both dead, understand? Now start the car, floor it, and get out of there!" Archi's mind went blank, but a surge of adrenaline powered his legs— Run for your life! Vroom! The car roared to life at the last second, the wheels spinning wildly, and then a massive explosion erupted behind it! It was James! This monster's cyber-eyes had detected Archi's spike in adrenaline, and he had immediately fired a projectile from his arm! The blast's shockwave pushed the beat-up car forward, and almost simultaneously, gunfire erupted inside the clinic! "Damn it, those Valentino bastards!" Nolan yelled, diving behind a car, but the first round of gunfire had already taken down several of his men! James merely turned his gaze away, his tactical cyber-eyes scanning the clinic, undeterred by the hail of bullets, moving through the smoke and debris to locate his enemies. V shouted, "Damn it, that guy's got military-grade heavy armor! Leo, fry his systems!" "He's got military-grade ICE too—damn it, watch out, he's got Sandevistan!" The three of them were taking cover behind the clinic's walls, shooting back when suddenly, they saw the mountain-like figure of James appear right in front of them— V's Kerenzikov activated in an instant! A deep memory resurfaced in V's mind, reminding her of the time she had faced off against Knott in Atlanta—these two were on the same level! Swish! V swung her arm, and her Mantis Blade shot out from her left arm! But James's right hand also unleashed a similar cyberware, the two blades clashing and sparking—this was the scene Jackie and Leo saw! Both of them had drawn their Mantis Blades at the same time and also raised their guns simultaneously— And Jackie, he wasn't lying—he was really quick on the draw! His weapon had somehow switched to the Satara, and the gun's energy was charging! As the steel nails in the ammo sped out of the electromagnetic rail, V immediately saw through James's attempt to dodge and quickly locked his cyberware with her Mantis Blade! She fired her gun, and James could only respond by shooting as well! Bang! The sharp sound of clashing blades, the crisp tone of the Arasaka rifle, and the thunderous roar of the Satara exploded simultaneously! Nolan only saw James suddenly appear in the midst of the gunfire, then the clinic's front door collapsed! The 6th Street gang members were stunned, their firepower faltered for a moment, and then they saw the situation clearly. The clinic's doors and windows had been shredded, the doorframe was barely hanging on, cut by some sharp tool, and a blackened hole had been blasted into the wall. James stood at the entrance of the clinic, calmly reloading his weapon. Even the powerful Satara had only dented and deformed the chest armor—maybe one more shot would have punched through, but it might have taken two, or maybe three. In any case, it wasn't the shot Jackie fired—despite the fact that a single shot from the Satara could turn an ordinary person's chest into a bloody mist. "Holy crap." Nolan swallowed hard. Yes, he was a high-ranking member of 6th Street, but he was a manager. That meant he wasn't going to turn himself into a fully military-grade cyber monster like James. He could easily take out a few broke thugs or low-level gang members, but this kind of fight was best left to the professionals. He looked at James and silently thought: killing machine. Rumble— But soon, he didn't have time to think about that, as a growing sound of vehicles reached him, like a convoy approaching! Was the Valentinos attacking? A dozen Columbus cargo trucks and G240s suddenly surged in from all directions, mingled with the screams of drivers and pedestrians. What's going on here? Inside the clinic's ruins, Leo and the others suddenly dashed out, taking advantage of the chaotic traffic to run towards the car Leo had prepared— James's tactical cyber-eyes gleamed with lethal red light as he locked onto the hacker in the group— The hacker was holding a modified tactical submachine gun—slightly different from the version in his database. But it didn't matter; none of them were powerful enough to penetrate his subdermal armor. A driverless G240 barreled towards him with the gas pedal floored! In the next moment, James disappeared from where he was, and the car roof caved in with a huge dent! James, like a ghost, kept jumping from one car roof to the next, closing in on the trio, one hand controlling his rifle, the other completely transforming into a cannon-like cyberware, aiming at their getaway vehicle. Think you can escape? Boom! --- Forgot to talk about these details --- ICE: Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics. The most advanced security measures in the cyber world, equivalent to a firewall, widely used in various electronic devices. Military-grade ICE can counteract intrusions, and breaching military-grade ICE is a completely different level from breaching civilian ICE, as military-grade ICE usually comes with high-performance computers, or even supercomputers as a hardware foundation. Corporate data is stored in data fortresses, protected by corporate hackers, and on the outermost perimeter of these fortresses and hackers is the ICE for defense. When an intruder touches military-grade ICE, it triggers a counterattack, burning out the intruder's equipment. If the intruder lacks equivalent protective measures, their equipment—and potentially their own nervous system—will be fried.