The concrete sidewalk crunched underfoot as loose pebbles and small rocks were scraped against the ground, my gait steady as I strode toward the Whitman workshop. While I could send everything I had to Valentine at any time and get the raid all set up and ready to go, I wanted to know exactly what we were getting into. I hated going into a mission blind, and simply knowing there were exo-suit guards inside wasn’t enough.

Night had fallen five minutes earlier and I’d stowed my clothes in a secondary duffle bag that I’d hidden at the very bottom of a dumpster, taped to the metal so that even if it was emptied I wouldn’t lose my clothes. The jammer sat comfortably in the new chest pocket I’d sewn on, broadcasting its signal to any and all nearby cameras as I passed underneath a streetlamp mere meters away from the perimeter of the fence.

Once I left the light I went to work, walking the perimeter of the fence and pulling out the thermal scanner, an almost inaudible whine of electricity emanating outward as the device powered up while I powered the jammer down. As I scanned the area I picked pebbles and loose stones out of the bottom of my boots, my footsteps becoming far more silent than they had been a minute ago.

At a glance I could see five guards wandering around out front with three more patrolling the side area, flashlights on and sweeping the area with bright light. Next came the silencer for my Recycler Pistol. It screwed into the barrel nicely, before secondary clamps folded out to wrap around the barrel's framework.

It didn’t take long to walk the entire perimeter, finding no easy entrances available. The best one I’d found took me through the fence which I could only assume was electrified, and right behind a forklift that had been left outside near some shipping crates. What made it even better was that the area this led into was the front. Five people occasionally all wandering about and sweeping their flashlights back and forth attached to rifles made me all kinds of uneasy, the infiltration job looking less and less feasible.

Then again, I’d already pulled off insane stunts several times harder than this. The cutting torch came out and I prayed that it wouldn’t attract any attention. I waited until they all met back up before beginning to cut. The light was far brighter than I wanted it to be, and I had to repeatedly backtrack whenever someone came to check it out.

Thankfully the AI guards had about as much sense as a sack of bricks, since any that did come to check the area out didn’t bother reporting it. This went on until I had cut a hole just big enough for me to fit through without triggering anything. the chain link fence falling apart like paper in front of scissors, electricity faintly sparking between bits of metal.

I crawled through on my hands and knees, slipping behind the forklift just as the guards split off to sweep the area again. Without a moment to waste I peeked around the side of the metal frame, trailing the closest guard to me with my silenced Recycler Pistol. He was turned away from me, his armor rustling against his clothes as he passed a power box, half of his body obscured by the obstacle. It gave me more than enough of an opportunity to line up the first shot.

I wasn’t sure what I expected, but a noiseless streak of bluish-white energy wasn’t it. Regardless, it slammed into the guard’s back, sending him stumbling forward. I pulled the trigger again, and then twice more in rapid succession. The shots hit him one after another, the last one finally punching through his armor. I didn’t stop firing until he finally shattered into light, his equipment disappearing along with him. I whipped my head around to scan for anyone who might’ve seen or heard the exchange. The other four guards were still wandering on their own patrols, and since I hadn’t been shot by a sniper I assumed I was still in the clear. I took the opportunity to duck behind the forklift again.

When they finally met up again, they did a headcount which completely threw a monkey wrench into my plans that involved slowly taking them out one by one as they held a conversation with an ever shrinking group of people. I was only slightly miffed as they spread out immediately afterward, my thermal scanner picking up one of the snipers peering over the edge and sweeping his rifle over the area, the barrel giving off a dull gleam in the faint starlight.

I’d like to say that things went off without a hitch after that, but instead they got far more difficult, obviously. I ended up having to pay very close attention to the patrol patterns of each guard, and account for the sniper that was gazing over every inch of the front of the workshop’s exterior. In the end the only solution I could think of was to walk up behind one of the patrolling guards by the power box, and unload several point blank shots into him before he could scream. Not a difficult feat if I didn’t mind a hole in my head. Doing it while the sniper wasn’t paying attention was the real issue. He was so slow about scanning the area I only knew he was still moving because he would shift slightly every now and then.

After waiting for several minutes, I gave up and reprioritized the sniper as my target. It had the chance of alerting the whole compound, but I was done waiting for the easy targets. I took my time aiming down the sights, ensuring I wasn’t aiming too high or too low. I only had my eyes to determine whether or not I’d manage to shoot him in the face, and a thin hope that I wasn't completely screwing myself over. I didn’t like my odds, if I’m being honest.

I pulled the trigger three times as I heard the sounds of the four guards meeting back up, three silent bursts of light spewing up toward the sniper. One of them missed entirely, the second shot impacting right through one of the sniper’s eyes while the third glanced off his helmet and sailed off into the night. He slumped over the railing slightly, his gun falling back to the roof. I moved quickly from there, dispatching another guard shortly after they split up and snagging a flash drive that he dropped, the base of it wrapped with a blue band, a tiny light glowing at the very end of it.

The only door I could enter through other than the loading docks was guarded by one of the original five guards, the other two being the only others left out front. I turned off the thermal vision and powered the scanner down, having to forcibly stop myself from sprinting out and punching a dozen holes through the door guard with my pistol, opting to instead walk along the side of the building with the jammer powered on. The device did its work well enough that not a single alarm went off even when I passed by one of the cameras directly, the machine simply scanning right past me.

I put three holes in the side of the guard’s head before checking the door. It was solid metal, with a hole meant for a flash drive. I looked at the one I snagged and the locking mechanism, before huffing and slotting it in. Two tense moments of waiting later and I heard a small thunk as the door unlocked, opening easily.

This feels too easy. Where’s the-

I was broken from my thoughts as I moved through the door and into an entryway, seeing three NPCs playing cards around a table, two of them wearing full gear while the third had his upper armor resting off to the side. All of them looked up and stared at me for a moment as I stared back at them, all of us frozen in place. I croaked out a few words, my mind having gone blank. “Hey fellas.”

I pulled the trigger several times while barely bothering to aim in their general direction as I charged forward. The unarmored NPC took two rounds in the side and neck, shattering almost instantly as the other two kicked the table forward and ducked behind it, beginning to bring their guns around. I didn’t give them the chance, kicking the top edge of the now leaning table as hard as I could, pushing it back with enough force to make them fumble with their rifles. I leaned forward and fired another dozen times, each shot carrying just enough power to knock them down before I finally managed to land the killing blows. I strained my ears as everything fell silent within the room, noises from exo-suits and heavy machinery audible from further inside, blocked off by walls and another door, this one made of wood.

When a minute passed without anything happening, I took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ve made it inside. Now I just have to get a list of the items, avoid heavily armed guards that I can’t possibly take on, and get a solid location for where the weapons are being kept. Please let the loading dock be the actual target here.” I took a photo of the entryway with my recording software, and moved to the door, the sounds of grinding and drilling coming from the other side.

Opening the door just enough that I could see through the gap, my thermal scanner picked up multiple heat signatures from the left side of the building, where five large shapes patrolled back and forth, though nobody had seen me just yet. I turned off the scanner and looked up at the lights. They were reinforced with thick glass resting just underneath, light pouring down into the workshop.

Welp, there goes that idea. Just had to be as hypervigilant and paranoid as me, didn’t you?

The heavy stomping brought me back to the patrolling NPCs, the bulky frames of their exo-suits like sledgehammers with each step they took, armored hydraulic systems aiding them in their movement, armor plating screwed into place around the torsos and vital areas around the body. It wasn’t the armor that worried me though. It was the weapons on either arm, held in place by thick locking mechanisms, dual chain guns on each exo-suit with their ammo belts feeding back into the massive packs strapped to the back of the frames.

How Zephyr was going to deal with those, I didn’t know, but I snapped a photo regardless. I watched for a little while longer, until finally I opened the door when I thought they were all looking anywhere other than at me. I sprinted out from behind the door and to the right where I’d seen the loading docks, hoping my footsteps would remain at least somewhat masked by the sounds of grinding machinery.

Lucky for me the whole place was just one giant room that ran along the length of the building, aside from the entryway. Crates half filled with weapons and armor littered the stretch of solid concrete that went from the workshop area to where I was now, two indents into the area large enough for trucks to drive into sitting side by side. Shelves of presumably full crates had been stacked on shelving near the back of the area, guarded by two heavily armored NPCs who just so happened to turn toward me, and stop what they’d doing for a moment. These two were a step down from the exo-suits, but a step up from the guards outside, armored faceplates ensuring that I wouldn’t even be able to shoot them in the face, thick black armor plating running along their entire bodies, heavy shotguns already in their hands.

I didn’t even bother with a quip, snapping a quick photo of the area before whirling around and running like a frightened dog. Two loud gunshots cracked out in the enclosed space, holes the size of golf balls appearing in the crates around me. Miraculously nothing exploded, though I did get an idea of what they were using just from the amount of damage caused.

Cool, double-aught buckshot. I’m absolutely fucked.

My point was made as three pellets the size of airsoft bb’s ripped off my left arm at the shoulder, a bleed effect immediately taking hold and dropping my health rapidly with every second that passed, my new phantom limb feeling very uncomfortable. I fired a few potshots behind me as I tore back through the entryway, shooting both remaining guards from the outside just as they came in, guns raised. They were merely knocked to the ground or against a crate as I barreled past them, firing another few shots behind me as I made it outside, then several more at the rooftop just as I made it back to the hole I’d cut in the fence. A stream of bullets ricocheted off the sidewalk as I struggled through the hole.

My health hit zero just as I’d ducked into the nearest alleyway and behind the first available dumpster I could find.

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