The two pirates brandished their weapons as they stepped onto yard 5. Marcus carried his shotgun with both hands, the new grenade launcher attachment now doubling the weapon’s size. Damien held his black and yellow Volt Blade tightly as he scanned his surroundings. They were officially in Royal territory now, and they had to stay on high alert.

The dockyard looked exactly like what Damien had expected. Smaller boats had already been docked all along a series of wharfs near the entrance, while the larger cargo vessels sailed in and out of the far end of the port. Large machines lifted and moved the shipping containers that were sprawled out all over the yard. From an outsider’s perspective, it looked like legitimate port work, and Damien would never guess that the kind of smuggling he’d heard about was going on here.

If the Royals soldiers were unloading some of these containers, their battle would be out in the open, and there wouldn’t be much of a chance to pick them off one at a time. Damien thought back to his combat armor regretfully. If it hadn’t been damaged in his fight with the Ex-M at the research facility, he could’ve made use of it out here. Though he’d searched for a way to repair it, battle armor like that was hard to come by for regular people, and neither Kat nor Marcus knew of anyone who could work on gear like that. For now, his Parry skill and the sub-dermal armor under his skin would have to suffice.

With no Royals in sight, they continued along the concrete pavement toward the three-story building at the center of the yard. They made no attempt to conceal their presence as they approached the building, and they caught the attention of a gruff-looking man having a smoke just a few feet away from the door they intended to enter. The orange vest he wore told them that he was just a regular worker.

The man gestured to them then let out a cloud of smoke from his lips. “Place is off limits, fellas. You guys aren’t with the Royals, are you?”

“Fuck no,” Marcus said.

“Then you should probably get lost then,” the man said with a raised eyebrow. “For your own good.”

“Fuck no,” Marcus repeated. “This place is about to come under new management. Lay low and everything will be fine.”

The worker eyed the two pirates then gave an indifferent shrug. “If you insist. I didn’t see nothing.”

“Smart man,” Marcus said, before brushing past him. “Come on, Dame.”

Damien followed his ally through the door and into the main office. “It’s that easy, huh?”

“They have no dog in this fight,” Marcus said. “Like I said, they’re just civilians, so it won’t matter too much to them who controls this port. Long as they get their pay, that is.” Marcus pointed to the wall-mounted cameras which stared at them from above. “Don’t worry about those, either. Our friends will get rid of the evidence once it’s all over. Come this way.”

Marcus led them down a series of corridors past a door which had a sign labeling it as the console room. Inside, another orange-vested worker sat on a chair behind a wall of monitors, each one displaying a feed from the security cameras all around the dock. This worker, however, was completely preoccupied with the papers on his desk.

As they approached, the chair finally swiveled around, revealing a much younger man—one who looked like he was still in his teens. He instantly froze in place, a look of pure fear etched into his face. “S-s-sorry,” he whimpered as he slowly put his hands up. “I d-don’t want any t-trouble.”

Marcus let his shotgun relax at his side. “Relax, kid. We’re not gonna hurt you. We just want a quick peak at those monitors and we’ll be on our way.”

The young worker nodded then rolled his chair out of the way, his body beginning to tremble as he kept his arms in the air.

While Marcus examined each of the security feeds, counting the number of Royals under his breath, Damien reassured the youngster once again that he wouldn’t be hurt and that he could lower his arms. A black ring covered the youngsters eye, but Damien decided not to pursue the matter. Instead, he spotted what appeared to be a gun on the counter, though the barrel looked slightly odd. An optical scan revealed what it was.

AX Grappling Hook

Condition: Damaged

He picked it up and inspected it closely, noting that it didn’t appear damaged on the outside. It had a handle and trigger similar to a typical hand gun, but the end had a square knob that protruded just past the barrel.

“O-one of those Royals found it in one of their shipments earlier,” the boy said as he kept his gaze down to the ground. “They said it was b-broken, and that I’d better have it fixed for them by the time they get back.”

Marcus let out a disgusted grunt as he kept his gaze on the monitors. “Typical scum. They give you that black eye, too?” Damien was impressed that his crew mate had picked up on it earlier.

The worker nodded sheepishly. “T-they do whatever they want around here. I told them I have no idea how to fix it so one of them punched me. S-said it better be fixed when they get back or they’re gonna be real angry.”

Damien’s empathy grew for the youngster, who looked a bit like a wounded and scared animal. “Is this how they treat everyone who works here?”

“N-no, just some of us young guys… mostly me. But I need this job so I just gotta take it.” He seemed to relax just a little.

Damien put a compassionate hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Once we’re through with them, they won’t be around to bother you.”

The teen’s eyes hesitantly lit up. “R-really?”

“As for this grappling hook, you don’t mind if we take it off their hands, do you?” Damien said with a smile. “Seems like a fun toy. I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“S-sure.”

“Alright, counted them all,” Marcus said. “Time to clear them out.”

“Should be easy enough,” Damien said casually, hoping to set the youngster more at ease. He pointed the grappling hook to the ceiling and pulled the trigger but nothing happened. He inspected it on all sides. “Guess it really is broken. Want it, big guy?”

Marcus snorted. “Like something like that could hold my weight. It’s all yours. Might wanna keep it if we can get it fixed later.” He turned to the worker. “Like my partner here said, you can forget about the Royals now. We’ll take care of them. In the meantime, you should go probably go on break. You don’t need to get involved or see whats gonna happen.”

The teen took a deep breath and thanked them before leaving the room.

“Poor kid,” Damien said, watching the door close.

“It’s just like them to pick on the smallest and weakest. All the more reason to show no mercy to our enemies.”

Damien nodded in agreement. “So how many are there?”

“I counted a total of 18 soldiers unloading from different parts of the yard. They’re separated into four groups, so things might get messy. Normally I’d like to announce myself, but I’ll let you try and sneak in a few kills by picking off one of the small groups on the side. In the meantime I’ll position myself on the main yard. I’ll start firing once they know something’s wrong.”

Damien hovered his hand over his new pack of shuriken at his side. “Got it. Guess I’m up first.”