Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Stealth is still the superior tactic. I argued and once again Rebecca scoffed.

Some gigs you need to be sneaky, but nothing beats overwhelming firepower! She argued. It turns out that Rebecca didnt have a lot of chrome. Besides the obvious Chem skin and stuff, but she had all of her chrome plotted out. Like how people would plan out every part of their perfect car, or all the pieces to make up their perfect gun.

Funnily enough I already knew most of her desires, having seen her future self.

Firepower is great, I carry my Burya around in case I run into some borg fuck. But there is nothing better than sneaking up on somebody and just flatlining them without them noticing. I argued. And she scoffed.

Optical Camo is mid.

You take that back! I demanded and she just cackled as she was going to nothing of the sort.

We had moved away from Maines crew after a client had shown up, so Becca and I were hanging out at the bar, and to my delight we were getting along much better than we had at the start.

Hey. Listen, Im pissed that Rogue hasnt given me an invite yet, it has nothing to do with you specifically. The fact you were able to get an invite is preem. She admitted suddenly, swirling around her drink and I realized she must have been a bit embarrassed at how she had acted.

Its fine Becca. I have another choom Jackie that gets the same way. I dont take it personally. Its gotta be frustrating.

It is! I go on some of the gigs with Maine, but Fucking Pilar makes sure I cant get involved. Maine brings me in as a distraction or some shit sometimes, but Im never a shooter.

Did you talk to Maine about it? Did he say why?

Apparently Im too fucking short and shit. She grumbled. Yeah that was true. Rebecca was very smole.

You could fix that with chrome or bio.

Tch. I dont I dont hate that Im short. Its fun sometimes. I just want to blow gonks fucking heads off. Im not a kid anymore. Im eighteen!

Ever think about Branching out? I asked and instantly got a look from her

You asking me to join your crew?

Not specifically like that. See I got my core crew, but we dont have every skillset. We got a driver. A Fixer, and a secondary Solo. While I cover the net, and solo duties. But I have my choom Jackie thats a big fuck hes a solo I brought him in once, and I want to do it more, and I want to increase the size of my team, even if its just temp mercs How about it? Want to go on a gig with a different team sometime?

I I dont know. Maine is being a shit, and Pilar is a fucking scumfuck gonkfucker But I owe Maine.

Hey, Im not saying to betray your chooms. Just a job offer. Make some eddies, get more chrome, get some experience.

Let me Ill think about it. Cant say I really want to work with kids though.

Hey! We made hundreds of thousands of eddies on our last gig. Mostly from selling off loot, vehicles and weapons.

Wait. How much!? My Answer shocked Becca and I couldnt help but laugh as I went into some detail on how Section 9 functioned.

Fuck. Maine never loots the place like that Ill have to do that next time. She muttered to herself, hand covering her lips.

It takes time, and you have to have people to haul stuff out. You cant exactly wait around.This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

She scoffed and nodded downing her drink.

Youre not bad Kitten.

Wha Kitten!?

Hehe! You told me about your helmet. She pointed out with a wicked grin and a pointed finger.

Its completely accidental that it looks like cat ears! I already told my chooms that its not cat ears!

Well too late. Just like with Whiskers, youre Kitten now.

Ugh. I denied crossing my arms in an X. I refuse.

Too late!

She cackled as I pouted at her. Rebecca was fun.

We continued to shoot the shit for a while until Maines crew finally got up to leave and Rebecca followed. All of us waving a goodbye.

It was time to get back to work.

--

Are you serious? No! I demanded arms crossed into an X in absolute denial. Hiromi just rolled her eyes at me.

I already talked to the dealer. We got a trader pass to get through the checkpoint.

Hiromi. I am not taking you anywhere near the combat zone! That place is full of Cyberpsychos!

Dogtown is the best place in Night City to get gear Motoko, and you were the one that wanted the ECM system. I found someone selling them, but they are in Dogtown and they arent coming out.

Then we do without, or find a different seller. I argued.

I didnt know much about the Combat zone. At least not the modern version of it. What I did know was that NCPD didnt go in there. That death was everywhere, and it was rumored thats where all the Cyberpsychos were put but the corps. Either as a test, or some sick experiment.

I pulled to the side until Malcolms Caliburn, and then Ichis truck all pulled through the checkpoint, and I followed the guide path Hiromi had set up leading us through the streets towards the massive stadium the place that dominated the skyline, apart from the massive pair of skyscrapers.

The Stadium was apparently where the black market was run out of. The entire place was one big blackmarket according to Hiromi.

It was quiet. The streets werent full of gunshots, and nothing really happened. I pulled into a parking garage just off the arena, and we all parked in a corner off to the side, Ichis truck parked in just the right way to have his turrets be usable in case of any trouble.

See! I told you there was nothing to worry about! Hiromi called out as she ran over and nudged me with her shoulder. I just glowered a bit at her, but that only made her smile wider.

Alright, Hermanita, little boss. You ready to go? Jackie asked and Hiromi smiled brightly at being called boss.

Yes. Ichi and Malcolm will guard the vehicles. Motoko and Mr. Welles please follow me. Hiromi said with a big smirk on her face as she sauntered forward.

I didnt grumble, instead quickly taking up position on her right. Armed and armored although just in my Kang Tao equipment, and not the Arasaka stuff. It wasnt ready yet, even if it would be better armor.

Jackie easily took her left, and the big man did a lot to make sure our path was clear as we crossed the street, and then walked up the many steps into the old stadium.

Barghest checkpoints dotted around, but they ignored us. Simply standing around in armor to keep the peace I guess.

Hiromi guided us in. Her face casual as she walked through the small crowds that littered the entrance of the arena. We walked past a few food stalls that surprised me. Then into a lobby, and Hiromi took only a moment to pick a direction leading us to the left and then into a long hallway that was full of more than just food stalls.

Weapons, equipment Everything. I was thankful for my tech gogs as it hid my rapidly scanning eyes as I took in all the equipment laying around. We walked into a space that was absolutely loaded with weapons. HIgh end stuff too. HMGs and rifles. Militech surplus, and more.

Hiromi walked right up to the woman that was behind a counter.

Here for a pick up, under Mitsunashi. She offered and the woman scanned her, before nodding. A nodded head to one of the toughs that seemed to be her guards and he went into the back area, coming out with a crate that he dropped on the ground in front of us.

Motoko check it.

I nodded without a word, and popped the latches. Inside was exactly what we expected.

Multiple Militech ECM systems. I quickly checked them all, and while not in perfect condition, they were all functional, and repairable.

I gave Hiromi a nod, and that was that. Her eyes went blue, and some eddies were passed over, and then Jackie did the gentlemanly thing and picked up the crate.

We headed back out the way we came.

Honestly my surprise only grew when we met back up with Ichi and Malcolm.

Things are quiet. Not even some of the druggies over there came to bother us. Ichi told me as we were loading the crate up into his truck.

Thats so weird. I expected Something.

Barghest doesn't want people messing with the black market. Thats where they make a lot of their eddies. Hiromi cut in, once more reminding me, that my understanding of this entire section of the city was off. Cmon lets get out of here. Unless you want to go back in to look around.

I instantly shook my head. I cant say I wasnt interested in looking around, but not with Hiromi and my chooms hanging around.

No, let's get out of here And you were right. Sorry. I told Hiromi who blew into a massive smile at my admittance.

Of course! You should know by now that Im always right! She cheered herself bursting into full on ojou laughter after which it took me a moment to realize she was doing specifically to fuck with us.

I just rolled my eyes and nudged her, sending her almost sprawling. Alright get loaded up then Ms. always right. I want to get out of here.

Hehe! She offered as she ran to jump into Malcolms Caliburn.

Thanks Jack. For backing us up.

Eh, not a bad gig. Youre little choomba boss pays good. The large man admitted rubbing a thumb over his nose.

Good. I trust you. So I hope you come join us for gigs in the future too.

Heh! I just might Hermanita. Just gotta get used to working with kids.

I shrugged. I get it. Jackie was almost thirty. Still stuck doing shit gigs. He never made it to the Major Leagues in his own words until the end.

Hopefully I could drag him along, because he actually was a solid solo.

Cmon lets get out of here before my nightmares of wild Cyberpsychos come true.

--

Jackie was paid, the chooms split off and I had a crate of Militech ECM units to adapt to our armor.

I spent an hour going over the first ECM unit. Checking first the hardware making sure everything would work, while performing some minor maintenance mostly just cleaning out the things, as it was obvious they had been in storage for a while.

Then I pulled open the program that ran the ECM and narrowed my eyes as I looked through it. I had my suspicions that Militech would have some way to get around this. Either an outright backdoor. Or more likely, a master code that would make the ECM useless against their own smart rounds.

It wouldnt be easy to find though. It would be hidden deep into the code.

Which

Well fortunately for me, I was just getting an idea on how the program worked, and then I grabbed my laptop, plugged my personal link into it, and started writing a new program from scratch.

If I couldnt trust the program, then I would just make my own.