Chapter 22

It wasn’t unusual to have gunfire going through the city but for it to be close enough that I actually woke up? I was glad I wasn’t injured, so when I startled awake in the middle of the night, I was able to move instantly. Grabbing my Unity from my belt hanging on the desk chair in my room. I snagged an extra magazine as I hurried to the window to peak out from the armored shutters.

There was a war going on outside my apartment.

I could recognize Tyger Claw Kusanagi’s and a Maelstrom truck as the two forces went at each other.

At first I wasn’t sure what to do. Did I even want to get involved in this? I didn’t see Jun, but he could be down there fighting.

Then one of the Strom Borgs fired a damn rocket out of his arm, and it slammed into my apartment building. The building shook and I had a moment looking around wondering if my apartment was about to collapse.

Thankfully it didn’t. But I could hear screams from below! There were people in this building!

I rushed out. Rushing down stairs and while the security gate normally would have stopped me from going to a floor below. It wasn’t like I hadn’t already breached the security of the entire building. It opened for me, and I rushed to the apartment that had just been hit.

I hammered on the door for a moment but I couldn’t hear anything over the gunfire.

So I ‘looked’ at the door a bit harder and it popped open, surely it must be from all the explosions! I would never break into everyone’s security systems! That would be wrong.

So I had broken into her security before, and since Wall Breaking was a great perk, I already had a backdoor.

The door opened into a warzone. The window normally covered in security blinds was destroyed, metal shards and bits of brick laying across the apartment.

More importantly, was the injured older woman laying across the floor covered in rubble. She had probably been doing the same thing I had. Peeping out the window to see what was going on.

I ran forward doing my best to stay low so I wouldn’t be spotted through the hole and landed next to her. She was breathing.

Barely.

I didn’t have my med supplies on me either. Glaring at myself for not grabbing any more of my gear, I ducked as a spray of bullets came through the hole. It wasn’t even at me, just the general mayhem outside. I couldn’t stay here, and neither could she.

Moving someone injured like this was a bad idea, but hell if her spine was broken she could buy a new one. I heaved up her arms and dragged her through the apartment back out into the hallway. Then through the security gate.

The stairwell was the most armored part of the building, she should be safe here. I checked her pulse again and she was breathing, but I wasn’t a doctor. I rushed back upstairs grabbing a Bounce Back out of my supplies. I would have to buy more med supplies soon. I had only gotten so much from the scavs.

Back into the stairwell I could hear people from the building freaking out. I ignored it as I rushed back down the stairs. As I reached her, I popped the lid off the Bounce back and jabbed it into her chest pressing down on the button.

She gasped, and shook a bit, but her breath evened out and sounded fuller.

Bounce Back was awesome like that.

Whatever science magic was inside, would hopefully keep her alive. But I still had some things to take care of. I rushed back into the lady’s apartment, and took a moment to look out the massive hole.

Tyger Claws on bikes and a Maelstrom kill truck. The damn thing was more like an armored carrier than a truck.

I wasn’t sure who had hit who, but considering I could see the mangled wreck of a Kusanagi under the wheels of the truck I could guess.

Fine.

At a glance Parkour told me everything I needed to know.

Three stories up?

No problem. I jumped. Instant coolness washing over me, as I fell.

There were plenty of things to leap down from as I moved, each floor had AC units or just jutting ledges.

It was easy. Three hops and I was in the air falling through the sky.

I landed feet first into the back of one of the borgs. It was the surprise that knocked him off his feet more than anything. No one expects the second floor double drop kick. I had picked this borg specifically out of all of them.

My Unity wouldn’t do shit against them. The Tygers pistols were bouncing rounds already. So I slipped my Unity into the back of my pants making sure it was safe.

Didn’t want to blow my own ass off.

I had picked one of the borgs that had a weapon I could use.

As I slammed into him I reached out grabbing the end of his gun. As he fell he automatically let go. Everyone does. They reach out to halt their fall, it’s instinct, even for a Borg.

Unfortunately that meant I was able to spin his Carnage shotgun into my arms as I literally stood on his back.

He was cursing, climbing up to his knees when he must have felt the shotgun press against the back of his head.

I pulled the trigger and it was only thanks to recoil control that I didn’t get knocked right off him. But I didn’t. Instead his head disappeared, and I was now standing in the middle of a gunfight.

*1000 XP Gained.*

But now the Strom were on the back foot. The Tyger Claws now, no longer completely on defense.

I moved leaping off the borg as I pumped the shotgun, the noise monstrously loud to my ears as I ducked and rolled under the Maelstroms truck. Disappearing just in time as suddenly one of the Borgs opened up with a machine gun where I had been standing tearing up the asphalt.

Mostly concealed, I brought the shotgun up and fired. Shooting another Borg in the leg.

Although it didn’t do what I wanted and blow his leg off, he still fell to the ground screaming, as I pumped the shotgun again.

From the weight of the gun I knew I only had one more round. Gun nut once again helping me out.

I continued rolling moving out from under the truck, but now on the opposite side.

They had lost sight of me.

That would cost them. Especially since the door to their truck was still open. I slipped in, unseen by both groups as they continued to fire on eachother. The inside of the truck stunk of drugs, and blood.

Charming.

I slipped over to the driver’s side, easily taking over the truck.

The morons had hit the Claws jumped out and started gunning them down.

But now I had their wheels.

I floored it. Turning the wheel as I did so I smashed into the surprised face of a Maelstrom borg, the truck rocking as I hit him and kept going.

We stared at each other. My purplish eyes meeting his red glowing optics as he hung onto the front of the truck as I continued to floor it.

I could see him gathering his wits, pulling out a pistol.

He must have been confused though, as he watched me reach behind me and even as I accelerated I threw the seatbelt over my chest.

A moment after we slammed into a brick wall.

Everything was chaos for a moment as I was jerked around and smashed against the drivers seat.

But I had a seatbelt on.

The car quieted a few moments later and I glanced up, ignoring the feeling of blood rolling down the side of my head after I had bashed my head against the door. I looked into the glowing red eyes of the borg.

“Still alive huh?” I asked my voice sounding a little distant. Probably a concussion.

“B-biiitch.” He gasped out in a staticy pained voice.

I reached over and grabbed the Shotgun.

“W-wa-it.”

I did not wait.

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I pointed and fired.

*1000 XP Gained.*

“No.” I answered only after I was sure he wasn’t a threat. Seriously, only idiots stopped to talk and monologue during a gun fight. Shoot first, then say the witty one liner.

Wasn’t like you were saying the one liner for them anyways.

I pulled the seatbelt off with a groan my body was not happy with me. As I pushed the drivers door.

No give. I ended up having to crawl out through the broken windshield hissing a bit at the cuts on my hands and feet.

“Should have put on my boots.” I grumbled as I stepped out of the truck. I turned to look at the firefight, but it was wrapping up. Maelstrom had more people at first, and they got the drop on the Claws, but we were in Claw territory.

Where at first there had only been five Claws fighting against about that number in Borgs, now there was three times the amount of claws pulling up on their bikes and firing into the three borgs that now had no way to escape.

The gun fire stopped not long after. When a borged out Tyger Claw pulled out a set of Mantis blades and went in.

Bloody work.

I started walking up and I winced.

There hadn’t been just five Claws at first. Looks like seven. A pair of bodies were being looked over. But with just a flash scan I could tell they weren’t breathing.

That’s a shame.

I walked into the group of claws that were all talking and shouting amongst themselves ignoring them entirely as I walked to the Borg I had killed.

He should have some more ammo for this thing, and I was growing kind of fond of the Carnage. I totally get why Rebecca liked it now. Sure it was ugly, and a little smashed together, but it shot good.

I liked it.

As I knelt down and started searching through his dirty coat, I was unfortunately noticed.

“The fuck is this?” A loud voice called out and then a blur of japanese that I only recognized as a lot of cursing. But the Bosozoku brat was also pointing a katana at me.

Was I gonna have to flatline this kid?

Oh! This borg had a shotgun shell bandolier!? Okay I have to admit, that’s pretty fuckin preem. I quickly unlatch it and with a bit of effort I yanked it off him and whipped it up and over my shoulder.

Mine now.

Always wanted one of these.

“Who the hell are you!?”

“Nobody important.” I offered as I rose up the guys Katana was drawing a little too close for my comfort.

“Chill out Higa. This girl is crazy, came in and flatlined that Strom literally dropped on him from above.” A girl said as she hurried over. “Put your Katana away, the Maelstrom are already dead.”

As he looked away I idly swiped a shell from the bandolier and slipped it into the shotgun.

Just in case. Then since he was just that distracted despite standing close to me, I went ahead and loaded a few more.