บท 105: It’s All Over
Lieutenant Morrel had confidence in her abilities—but against maniacs like these, only the four military drones following her gave her any sense of security.
The moment they burst onto the street, the drones' pre-set programs opened fire!
Two Achilles rifles faced off against the Octant, heavy machine guns and railgun rounds firing simultaneously!
Dorio sharply turned the steering wheel, making the entire vehicle drift. The machine gun bullets tore into the car's side panel, punching terrifying holes through the door. Luckily, Jackie, sitting in the passenger seat, took the brunt of the bullets—his subdermal armor absorbing the impact, though it left some frightening cracks.
But the Octant wasn't as agile. This was a heavy drone, designed for firepower suppression, not agility!
Achilles' bullets struck the Octant, leaving black scorch marks on its surface. The drone's flight control system was damaged, causing it to spin out.
V and Jackie fired again!
Bang!
The massive Octant exploded mid-air!
The Pterodactyl, meanwhile, was darting through the air, with smart bullets raining down like a storm.
Leo squeezed the trigger, directly engaging in a shootout with the drone!
Fire, mini-EMP bursts, shrapnel—it was like two knights charging through the smoke, facing off head-to-head.
Lieutenant Morrel gritted her teeth and rammed the Mackinaw at full speed—just stop this vehicle, and it would be a victory!
But then, from the back of the Mackinaw, which was loaded with bodies, the white cloth suddenly lifted—
Grenades flew out like baseballs, followed by a rocket!
Dorio quickly hit the brakes!
Screeeeech—
Boom!
The grenade explosion dented the Mackinaw's doors, forcefully stopping the vehicle, leaving small craters from shrapnel across the surface.
But the Emperor Ragnar didn't fare as well.
Sure, it was a light armored vehicle with a stable chassis and decent armor. But the designers definitely didn't expect it to take a blast from underneath—this vehicle wasn't meant for minefields!
And there was a rocket too!
The rocket exploded directly in front of the Ragnar, while the grenade rolled under the vehicle—
The two opposing forces of the blasts broke the vehicle's suspension, and it collapsed to the ground like a person who had lost all strength, sparking as it hit the pavement.
Leaking fuel ignited, turning the car into a burning wreck.
In the sky, the Pterodactyl's smart bullets were less efficient, their spray only hitting the vehicle's body, and Leo shot down another drone.
Moreover, until the grenades and rocket appeared, the Pterodactyl had assumed this was just a corpse transport vehicle!
V and Jackie popped their heads out, each taking a shot to bring down the drones.
Achilles' railgun had no trouble tearing through the Pterodactyl's light armor.
Lieutenant Morrel didn't die in the inferno—she activated her Sandevistan, barely managing to leap from the vehicle, though the explosion rattled her brain.
She appeared beside the wreckage, staring at the surrounding debris, her body chilled to the bone—
A broken-down Mackinaw with this much firepower?
She had a bad feeling.
The enemy hadn't split up; they were all here.
This was a gamble, a bet based on the outcome of the subway battle.
Militech's victory condition was to annihilate the enemy. However, the enemy had wiped out half their forces and then split up.
From that moment, Militech had been in a tough spot, though still holding the upper hand.
If Militech desired a complete victory, they would likely choose to split their forces, hoping the remaining units could take down each small squad.
But the enemy hadn't split up; they concentrated all their forces in the least likely vehicle—a broken Mackinaw.
As a result, the concentrated firepower in the Mackinaw inevitably gained the upper hand against the divided Militech forces!
But obviously, if Militech also concentrated their forces to pursue the Mackinaw, they would have been completely wiped out.
But what kind of commander would risk everything to chase down a broken Mackinaw in such a gamble? Are they insane?
Yet...they had to do this, to make a mad gamble to win this battle!
Colonel Hardy, naturally, was not that crazy.
Seeing the enemy ceasefire, Rebecca and Pilar popped out, flipping off Morrel—
The grenade had been thrown by Pilar.
Just as Morrel was about to relay the information, the person in the passenger seat lunged at her!
The opponent also had a Sandevistan!
Her body's functions were pushed to the limit by the cyberware. Morrel had no time to process network data as V's Mantis Blades were already upon her!
Lieutenant Morrel ducked to avoid the Mantis Blades, aiming to strike V's abdomen, but V was just as quick, adjusting to slash with the other hand.
This was a close-quarters battle between equals—Morrel used Militech's top-grade Sandevistan, which slowed time by almost 70% for the user!
But Sandevistan was high-load cyberware for ordinary people, and the same was true for Morrel.
But V was different. QianT's stimulation to the nerves was much weaker, and she had a high tolerance.
The 20% time-slow effect was far lower than Lieutenant Morrel's cyberware, but when the blades came close, V's Kerenzikov would activate, speeding up her movements.
In this back-and-forth, Morrel gained no advantage. The constant near-misses frustrated her, making her increasingly anxious.
1 second passed, four rounds exchanged, neither gaining the upper hand, and Morrel considered retreating to relay information to the other units.
2 seconds passed, retreating was a mistake, Morrel could only engage in close combat. Creating distance favored V with her Mantis Blades.
3 seconds passed, Morrel adjusted her strategy to stay close, still unable to process network data.
4 seconds passed, V began controlling the distance, making it harder for Morrel to threaten her. The Mantis Blades left Morrel scrambling.
5 seconds passed, Morrel's bio-monitor began to issue warnings—Sandevistan's operation at maximum power was entering a high-risk zone.
6 seconds passed, Morrel's nervous system entered a hyperactive state. She landed a punch on V's stomach, but hesitated for a moment afterward.
7 seconds passed, the Mantis Blades pierced Morrel's shoulder, sending sharp pain through her nerves, and causing hallucinations in her cyber eyes.
8 seconds passed, the high-load cyberware operation caused her blood pressure to spike, accelerating her blood loss.
The rapid blood loss triggered a series of adverse effects, and V's Mantis Blades repeatedly struck Morrel's body.
9 seconds passed, both Mantis Blades simultaneously pierced Morrel's abdomen, lifting her high.
In everyone's eyes, the two had switched places countless times within nine seconds, moving so fast they were almost invisible. But at the ninth second, everything stopped.
Morrel's arms dropped as she knelt on the ground.
She felt numb—the pain editor had already surpassed its safety threshold. She felt no pain, but her body wouldn't allow her to move anymore.
The Mantis Blades swung down—sending her head flying high.
V wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, retracting the Mantis Blades, putting an end to the chase.
...
Colonel Hardy slumped onto the sofa.
Just now, Lieutenant Morrel was killed in action.
Two Behemoth armored vehicles were recovered.
But they were empty; the enemy had faked the signals. Judging by the reaction from NCPD, even the subway train was a decoy.
The enemy bet on him lacking the guts to focus all his forces on that broken Mackinaw.
But then again, no matter what he did, losing a platoon meant he was no longer in control but had to fight desperately to make up for his losses.
He just didn't expect to lose this badly.
Tactically, the enemy had completely outmaneuvered him.
Who would have thought that the Mackinaw, which fled so pathetically yesterday, would dare to return before the lockdown was fully in place?
Incoming Call: Mark Carroll.
Beep—
Mark Carroll: "Is it done? From what I'm hearing, it doesn't sound good…"
Colonel Hardy: "It's all over."
Mark Carroll: "?"
Mark Carroll: "What do you mean?"
Colonel Hardy: "A whole platoon dead, one sergeant, one lieutenant, a total of 34 soldiers."
Colonel Hardy: "You told me they wouldn't come back, but damn it, they came back in that damn broken Mackinaw!"
Colonel Hardy: "All they did was repaint it, and they just came back!!!"
After his furious outburst, there was a deafening silence.
Colonel Hardy: "So what's the deal? It's time to come clean."
Mark Carroll: "…The Biotechnica district director made a mess. The company won't help her fix her mistake, so she came to me. I handle business with her."
Mark Carroll: "Send me the battle report, and I'll go to the higher-ups."
Mark Carroll: "You're right. It's all over."
...
"Woohoo!"
In the car, V cheered like a little girl—
She never thought she'd have such a legendary day in her life!
Jackie couldn't hide his grin either, patting V on the shoulder, the two exchanging a classic fist bump—
"Awesome, bro!"
But Leo said, "We haven't escaped yet—NCPD is still guarding the City Center's perimeter."
Jackie pulled Leo in close, "Hey~ We trust you, brother. So, what's the next move?"
Leo pointed helplessly to a nearby sign—
They had been running towards the southeast.
Because the headquarters of a completely neutral logistics company was here—Delamain Enterprises.
If they were going to escape, the Mackinaw wouldn't cut it—sooner or later, NCPD would start checking every Mackinaw leaving the City Center.
Everyone in Night City knew that NCPD was perpetually understaffed, so if they wanted to exploit that gap in the lockdown, Delamain was the best option.
"Find a place to park the car, and then we'll prepare to split up."
Leo said this while looking at the traffic equipment on the road.
They still needed to tamper with the traffic network—people can see a Mackinaw going in and out twice, but they cannot let them catch a glimpse of who's inside.
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