20 Simmering

The targets were now on total defence, unloading their respective weapons towards where Max and Ori were. Only two of their vehicles were still operatable, but they probably assumed they'd be gunned down and destroyed if they tried to access them.

One man throws himself to the ground next to one of his friend's corpses, grabbing a high-tech-looking rifle that visibly glows when he holds it, the front sparking and crackling. "TAKE THIS YOU FUCKS!" he roars, standing and firing up at the sky.

Ori thought the guy had just gone crazy until Max's voice shouted over the comms. [SMART GUN! GET DOWN!]

The bullets fly high in the air before unleashing miniature explosions, their backs opening up to reveal small thrusters that allow them to turn in midair and fire down at Max's position from above. He's forced to ditch his LMG and retreat, but the thug just turns towards Ori and does the same.

Ori throws himself to the side but the bullets twist over the concrete wall and come down on him. Without thinking he brings his arm up, allowing them to strike that instead of his face. Thankfully the bullets traded stopping power for mid-air control, preventing them from going straight through his hastily raised defence and into his head.

"Argh! Fuck!" he exclaims as his arm goes limp, four bullets now lodged in the limb.

[Pain Processes Lowered] the bots report, dulling the intense throbbing sensation.

[Kid, you still alive!?] Max exclaims over the comms.

[Yeah, took some shots though.]

[Well then get to work! Six, go!]

Ori pokes his head over the cover just in time to see Six in action. His body appears seemingly out of nowhere as he plunges a dagger into the neck of a thug, his revolver in his other hand unloading into another.

A thug quickly turns and sprays his machine gun into Six's chest, but he just stands there and takes it on his body armour before dropping the guy with a bullet to the brain. His body then vanishes again, Camouflage Cyberware activating and causing the last three remaining men to all but shit themselves.

They all make a break for it, throwing themselves into one of the cars as Max fires at it. Six reappears in front of it and starts firing through the front windscreen, but is forced to dive out of the way as a man slams his foot on the accelerator.

[KID!]

[On it!] Ori responds, pulling out the grenade with his teeth and throwing it into the car via the shattered windscreen. The men scream and panic, but aren't quick enough to jump out as it explodes, instantly killing all three of them.

The car continues, slamming into a nearby lampost before bursting into flames... He thought that was the end but his eyes widen when the rear door opens and reveals a gruesome sight, a teenage girl that must've been sleeping in the car the entire time flops out of the vehicle and begins crawling towards him.

Her legs were bent at odd angles and most of her body had been burnt, even her pleas for help sounded awful as her vocal cords were also heavily damaged.

Numbly, he raises his gun and fires a couple shots into her head, emotionlessly dropping the empty weapon afterwards...

...

Ori stares at the mess for a moment before shaking his head and recovering his composure, quickly wrapping some bandages around his wounded arm. [That all of them?] he quietly asks.

[Should be, I'll do one last sweep to confirm.] Max responds.

A minute later and it was confirmed, the targets were all dead.

[Returning System Functions]

Ori's cheeks abruptly bloat as everything hits him at once, retching and vomiting all over the floor as the combined pain, nerves, and emotional turmoil return. He'd killed before, but killing multiple people at one time, some in the same manner as his dad? It was too much for him...

"Uuughh..." he grimaces, wiping his mouth and spitting out the last of his breakfast/stomach acid. He makes his way over to the massacred campsite at the centre of the lot, Max already sifting through the remnants for anything good.

"You alright? Look like you've seen a ghost... Blood loss?" he questions as he spots Ori's pale face, turning his attention to the bloody bandages around his left arm.

Ori shakes his head, "No, not used to this sorta thing."

Max shrugs, "I was the same my first time, had no idea what I was doing when I enlisted, fuckin' Corpo war." he loses himself in thought for a moment before looking back at Ori, tossing a submachine gun at him. "Here, newbie-friendly."

Ori almost fumbles as he catches it and twists it in his hand as he looks it over. "What is it?"

"Militech M221 Saratoga, thirty rounds of 9mm, enough stoppin' power to get the job done, outside of them Chrome-Heads. Small enough that the NCPD won't be askin' questions on why you're luggin' it around, like this thing." he gestures to his LMG.

*Click*

He takes out the magazine and puts it back in, to get better hand on the mechanism, nodding to himself at the weight in his hands. "Thanks, hey-" his body automatically moves and forces the suddenly appearing revolver at his stomach to the side, Six's other gun was already resting against his forehead however, leaving him no room to move...

"Six! Put that fuckin' gun down! I get what you're thinkin' but it ain't worth shooting the kid!" Max angrily exclaims.

"Seventy split between two sounds better." Six retorts, pulling the hammer back on the revolver with an audible click.

"It'll be split between one if you do this, 'cuz I ain't leaving you standin' if you pull the trigger." Max growls.

...

Six huffs and retrieves his weapons, "You're going soft."

Max shakes his head, "Nah, you're just going psycho. You woulda' never considered doin' that before, lay off the mods."

...

Ori wets his dry lips as Six begins searching the crashed vehicle for anything of interest, "What was that about!?" he questions Max.

The vet sighs, "You're better not askin' that if you wanna keep your head. Mercs like to Chrome up to give 'emselves an advantage, problem comes when they do too much, or too much at once. That's the reason why most Cyberpsychos are former mercs."

His eyes widen, "He's going Cyberpsycho...?" he asks, knowing just how big a deal that was... Most Cyberpsycho's were chromed outta their minds, making them harder to take down than a tank... Fast, strong, durable, with strange abilities, intelligence with no logic, and no ability to feel pain. It was a nightmare scenario.

"Not yet, but he will if he keeps this shit up!" he shouts loud enough for Six to hear, "That body armour you see? Ain't body armour." he utters forebodingly.