Chapter 2: Preparation Is Everything

It's been a few weeks since they've settled in. On one hand the house has been repaired and is as solid as ever, with decorations and touches that made it feel like home. On the other hand, they were as broke as a high school student, so they had to pick up gigs here and there to make up for the eddies that they needed. With Emma having top of the line net running skills, and Salem and Rios having the boots on the ground experience it wasn't going all too bad for them. A loud slam echoed throughout one of the small rooms of the house as pieces of wood and timber flew everywhere within the room. Emma stood there, her skin colored metallic hands visibly shaking as she let out a frustrated huff, trying to contain her rage Her eyes glowed a slight golden and yellow color as she talked to the individual on the other end of the hollo-call. "Where is our support?! The funding that we needed for this op?!" she asked through the call, her voice a mere whisper, yet was threatening to turn into a shout. "As I have said Miss West, and as I will say once again, we're far too tight on funds right now to be able to send anything your way. So please understand that we're trying our best to get you the things you require." The feminine voice on the other end of the call maintained a professional and calm tone in response. "It shouldn't be too long now."Emma grinded her teeth together out of anger, translating what the voice was saying into, 'Apologies, please continue to wait as we continue to not care. Thank you.' "This is the exact same thing you told me two weeks ago. I have called you twice already with the same answer. Why the fuck won't you just help us?!""And once again Emma, we sincerely apologize, but there's nothing we can do at the moment." The feminine voice paused, letting it sink in before continuing, "On the other hand though, are there any other requests or questions you have?"Her irritation soared through the roof as the other individual was playing the perfect customer service role. "GO FUCK YOURSELF!!" "Have a pleasant day Miss West, and if you have the time please go through our survey to see ho-" ,responded the kind female voice before Emma disconnected the call. In a fit of rage, Emma lifted the table overhead and threw it with all her might out of the window, sending it crashing onto the street. As she struggled to control her breathing, the loud sounds of tires screeching and swear words could be heard from down below. "Motherfucker, who the fuck put a table in the middle of the street?!" shouted a loud Texan accented individual. "The road ain't your fucking garbage bin!"Without missing a second, a loud and ignorant voice chimed in, "Me! Cause I used it to fuck your mum!!""Excuse me!?! The fuck did you just say?!"roared the Texan back. "YOU FUCKING TAKE THAT BACK!""Easy choom, take it easy" ,replied a much deeper voice. "My friend here is just teasing you." "I absolutely was not, and I most definitely fucked your mum on this very table!" the ignorant voice chimed in once again. "I used every angle of this table!" The sounds of the engine revving up could be heard as the Texan individual screamed aloud, "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!?""I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!!""OH THAT'S FUCKING IT!!!""Choom, choom take it easy" ,intervened the deep voice. " Here's some eddies for your troubles, so please just use another road or drive around it."The sound of tires screeching could be heard as the engine roared off into the distance, the sounds of loud swearing fading into the distance. A few moments later, while Emma was still trying to calm her anger down, the door to the room opened, revealing a grinning Salem and a straight faced Rios dressed in bright casual clothes. Bursting out with laughter, Salem clutched the door frame, trying to support himself from laughing too hard. "You should've seen his face Emma, fucker was trying so hard not to lose his composure." "He was just trying to get through" ,retorted Rios with a small smile, finding some small amusement from the event. "I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting a desk or whatever remains of it to land right in front of him." Shaking his head, Rios looked up to the still heaving Emma. "Anyways, what was the issue with management?"Only managing to do a slow nod, Emma fell back into her chair, her expressions crumpling as she let out a deep sigh, suddenly feeling tired. "Same thing guys." She sat up a bit and clasped her hands over her crossed legs. "We're so sorry that you have problems, please tell us when we start caring, thank you bye" , Emma mocked in a high pitched tone, trying to copy the employee she had been talking with.With another sigh, she fell back into the seat, as Rios and Salem both chuckled a bit before taking a seat on the floor. "Guys, we're down to roughly 6,000 eddies, which isn't too bad, considering how well stocked we are." She picked up a can of beer that had fallen on the floor and popped it open before continuing. "We're fine for now, but considering our future operations, this is barely enough to achieve anything." Finishing her words she took a big swig of the beer, feeling the freshness wash down her throat. "Well we did get contacted by a fixer in the city" ,stated Salem, his eyes turning to Rios. "Think her name was Regna? Regguna? Regana?""Regina" ,corrected Rios. "Regina Jones.""YEAH THAT GIRL!""Oh?" Finishing her swig, Emma leaned forwards readjusting her hoodie after finally having dealt with her frustration. "Tell me more."With a nod, Rios replied, "The gig she gave us was to eliminate a group of Animals as the client wanted revenge." With a nod of his head, he sent the details to Emma to have a read through with his internal agent. "She says that the pay is 30k eddies, as its a large group." Receiving the information, Emma opened the file and scrolled through it grasping every little detail of the layout, people, and the equipment they held. "Interesting, is there a catch?""Not really. Just that she wants us to keep the leader of the group alive if we can" ,replied Salem with a grin. "Client wants to beat the shit outa the leader themselves." As she finished up reading the file she gave a couple of nods before turning her attention towards the two. "Good, this is some nova gig you guys got out of the blue." Taking another big swig she let out a satisfied sigh. "And how goes the searching of where the package went? Any luck?"At the question, Rios and Salem both shook their heads. "We've been trying to get some leads from some Kang Tao employees, but they've all turned up short." Rios stated, a clear annoyance on his face. "Every time we get anywhere close to getting a lead of any sort, employee just dies right in front of us."Salem mimicked a gun with his hand and pointed it to his head, pretending that it had been fired. "Someone planted a daemon or something within their systems that just fried their brains to mush. Can't get any info out of them. Even just asking gets them killed.""Shit." Emma took another big swig of her beer finishing it off before chucking the empty can to the side. "It means that they know we're here and they're watching." Grabbing a large tough book off the ground, she dusted the casing and opened it. "We'll need to lay off searching for a couple of days, before we resume. Too hasty and they'll just move it."Salem and Rios nodded, acknowledging the orders their handler had given them. With a thought, Emma sent both Salem and Rios two thousand eddies each surprising the two. "You both need to head to Little China and restock an ammunition and grenades. And please for the love of god, get checked over with Vik. A little bit of maintenance before the gig wouldn't hurt the two of you.""Awwww Emma cares for us Rios" ,exclaimed Salem, his hand hand on his heart as he acted. "I feel the warmth blossoming inside my heart." Within a split second Salem scrambled to his feet and dashed out of the room before Emma could retaliate, clear irritation written all over her face as her lip twitched. Putting on a weary smile, Rios slowly got up and stretched before giving Emma a glance of concern. "Ems, you need to try and relax a little. One day that anger of yours is going to bite you back."Giving Rios a tired smile, Emma gave a small nod of assurance. "I'll try once you guys come back. Can't guarantee anything though."With a nod, Rios went downstairs and shortly after, took off with Salem in the Black Archer, not forgetting to stow their gear in the boot. As they drove along, Salem turned up the radio and kicked back, enjoying the view of the towering neon skyscrapers that blocked the evening sun. "I'm never going to get tired of seeing this kinda view.""I hope you don't. We'll be here for a while" ,replied Rios as he sharply turned the wheel, narrowly avoiding a reckless driver who was in the wrong lane.As they arrived at Little China, Rios found a nice parking spot, with the parking meter having already been smashed to pieces. "Would you look at that, it even comes with free parking choom!!" Salem let out a cheery laugh. "I'm just loving Night City more and more."Getting out of the car, they were greeted with the life of Night City. The sounds of cars passing by, pedestrians and random pass byers chatting, swearing, being drunk, the whole arrangement of people just living out their lives. Crossing the street quickly, the two entered into Misty's Esoterica and were greeted by a messy blonde haired girl touched up with goth make up leaning behind the counter. Her blue sweater, which had holes here and there, long jeans and black boots, completed her goth look, added to the mystical feeling of the store that she was trying to attain. "Oh it's you two." Misty looked up from her cards giving the two a friendly smile. "Here to see Vik?"Salem let out a beaming smile giving a thumbs up to Misty. "You betcha Misty, he in?""He's just finished up with a client, so perfect timing" ,replied Misty as she gestured towards the backdoor. "Do be careful though, there's a stray cat who hangs around the back so watch your step.""No worries, I'm a big fan of felines!" Salem strolled past Misty, his hands tucked into the pockets of his black jeans as he whistled, nodding to some old song with his aviators threatening to fly off. As Rios walked past Misty, he paused and gave her a soft smile. "Thank you for accommodating us.""Anytime."Walking out to the back he was greeted with the sight of Salem darting around the place, eagerly searching for the mentioned feline. "Here kitty kitty kitty. I just wanna pet you. WHERE ART THOU!?"A tired sigh escaped his lips as Rios grabbed the back of Salem's white shirt and dragged him down the steps towards Vik's clinic much to Salem's protest. Entering inside they were greeted with a man wearing a blue colored and collared shirt with rolled up sleeves, black pants and dark colored shoes. His dark hair gelled back, with a nice pair of snazzy glasses placed on his nose. A stethoscope dangled from around his neck as he stared at the computer screen in front of him."You watching another fight Vik?" queried Rios, his eyes shifting to the screen to see a boxing match going down. "Who's winning?"Vik looked up from the screen to see Salem and Rios leaning in to also watch the fight. Scratching the back of his head he let out an awkward smile. "It's my seventh time watching this fight to be honest.""You serious choom? Seventh?" Salem gave Vik a curious glance. Vik could only give an embarrassed chuckle before giving the two men his full attention. "So just the usual check ups?"Rios give a curt nod, finding a seat off to the side, while Salem broke out into a grin getting himself comfortable in the char. "You know it choom. We'll chuck you the eddies now.""I don't need the eddies from you two." Vik shook his head as he grabbed his gear to inspect Salem's chrome. "You guys have already done enough for me.""Aw come on doc, let us appreciate you some more somehow." Salem wriggled slightly under Viks intense inspection. "You're like a hidden gem doc, waiting to be revealed to the world."Vik let out a little chuckle as he ran a few software updates for Salem. "If that were the case, I wouldn't be here would I?"As the two chatted amongst themselves amidst the check up, Rios received a call from Emma through his hollo. "Ems?" "Rios there's been a slight update in terms of equipment they're packing."  A slight worry in Emma's voice as she continued. "Update says that they recently purchased some heavy Militech weaponry and intend to stay in the area for a longtime. Client wants the place to be completely wiped of Animals. Best be on your A game you two.""Yes Ma'am" ,replied Rios, seriousness in his voice as Emma ended the call. Looking up to Salem he gave a quick rundown. "Ems says that they've just upgraded their gear. Top of the line Militech gear. Client also wants us to clear the place out. Spotless style.""Oh we're about to turn into the boogey men for the these gonks." A slightly sinister grin emerged on Salem's face as Vik finished the check up. "God I love this job.""Your turn Rios." Salem hopped out of the chair giving Vik a pat on the back as he walked upstairs to look for the cat. A small spring to his steps as he eagerly anticipated it. Vik looked over Rios's chrome seeing no issues so far as he tinkered and started to run a software check up and possible update. "So I'm guessing you two are about to do another gig nearby?""Yeah, it's meant to keep us afloat for a while, while we sort out things." Vik nodded in response as the updater stated that everything was working fine and up to date. Getting up and out of the chair, Rios gave Vik a pat on the back, transferring a thousand eddies directly into Vik's account. "I don't want to hear you decline it. Just take the eddies."Vik could only manage a weak laugh as he gave up trying to decline the two of them. "Fine fine. If it gets you off my backs about it at least."As Rios walked to the door, he stopped and turned to Vik who was cleaning up his tools. "Vik, have you thought our offer through?"There was a slight pause to Viks movement as he momentarily stopped cleaning his tools, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I still don't know Rios. It's an enticing offer but I'm still on the fence about it.""At least you haven't declined it." Rios spoke, a small grin on his face as he turned around to walk up the steps. "Give me a call when you feel you might be ready, or if you decline."Vik waved in response as he turned his attention back to cleaning up his equipment, listening to the fading footsteps of Rios. Up top, Salem stood in the miniscule area, between Misty's shop, and Vik's shop, scratching his head in confusion. "Misty said that its name Is Mr Brightman. Been calling out its name for so long, yet I can't find it.""I bet it smelled your cologne and ran away from you", joked Rios, giving a cheeky smile before heading into Misty's store . "Ha fuckity ha, I'll have you know that this cologne costs 700 eddies!" A hurtful face appeared on Salem as he fake wiped a tear from his eyes. "That really hurt my feelings choom."Rios rolled his eyes as he stepped through Misty's shop giving her a wave. "Thank you Misty.""Not a problem." Misty gave a curt nod. "Misty, I once again could not find the so called Mr Brightman. Is he a figment of your imagination perchance?" inquired Salem, a confused look displayed across his face. Giving a small chuckle, Misty smiled at Salem's antiques. "He'll be there next time. Just wait for him.""That's what you said last time" ,grumbled Salem."Sorry for the pain my friend here is Misty." Interrupted Rios as he grabbed the back of Salem's shirt and pulled him to the car in a huff. "Thank you for all the help!"Misty waved the good bye as they trudged back to the car and got inside. A confused Rios sat in the drivers seat, while a sulky Salem sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window. "What's up choom? You good?"Driving off, they felt the warm sun brush across their faces, painting a lovely orange over the chaotic Night City. Salem readjusted his seat a little, a slight discomfort in his face as he decided to tell his partner. "I used to own a cat myself." A sad expression passed Salem's face for a brief moment. "He was a good fella.""Promise you choom, we'll get another cat sometime soon, and bring it back to HQ of course with us", comforted Rios as they drove. Finally making it to the destination, they noted that the red colored compound was several floors tall, decked out with security from top to bottom. Metal shutters lined every window, and security cameras covered every angle of the compound. Tall metal grated fences surrounded the perimeter with plenty of gang members lounging about, chatting, patrolling, or guarding various areas. It was practically a small military fortress. One that needed to be overcome to complete the gig. Parked in a dark alleyway, not too far from the area, Rios and Salem waited inside the car, trying to distract themselves. Rios focusing on going over the schematics of the compound. Learning and understanding the layout and adopting different methods that could be used to go through it. Trying to plan out a viable strategy, while Salem. Well . . . . . he was just sleeping. As the time ticked by, and evening sun decided to fade away, revealing the bright white moon and the inevitable time of darkness. As the time ticked to midnight on the dot, Rios gave Salem a quick nudge to wake him up. "Gear up."Getting out of the car, Rios opened the trunk to reveal a whole assortment of black duffel bags. Grabbing one, he threw it towards the emerging Salem who struggled to catch it, still in the process of waking up. Opening one of the bags, Rios pulled out large black heavy military equipment to which he strapped on himself, covering every vital part of his body. It practically made him into a walking tank. As he kitted himself out in heavy gear, Salem opted for more of a stream lined approach, opting to put less armor on himself, which would allow him to be much more agile and fast, but still able to tank and take a lot of shots if needed. Pulling out a few knives from the duffel bag, Salem slipped them into various sheathes dotted around in hidden spots all over his body. As they finished gearing up, they both gave each other one final look, grabbing their bulletproof masks and donning them. One an iconic smiling yellow mask that held a white toothed grin that stretched from one side of the mask to the other, while the other, an iconic black and grey strapped mask. The two masks only had two eye holes to be seen out of, allowing the two PMC's to become blank soldiers at that moment. Reaching inside another duffel bag, Rios pulled out a modified MK.31 HMG, allowing it to shoot at a much faster rate than its counter part, and having much better heat cooling systems, meaning it could fire for much longer. Strapped around his back, was a rocket launcher, along with a large sniper rifle, the likes that hadn't been seen before. While Rios opted for more firepower, Salem focused on assault rifles, pistols and shotguns, holding a completely greyed Ajax assault rifle, decked out with a customized barrel that gave it extra distance, and a sight that allowed him to zoom in and out at will. Strapped on his back was the heavy shotgun carnage, a shotgun to be much reckoned with. On his waist, where the grenades' sat he had a Lexington, modified to be lethal with headshots, even to those wearing armor. Finished gearing up, they gave each other a nod and connected with each other over a hollo-call. "I'll never get tired of you gearing up choom. You just look so sick with the get up" , complimented Salem, a slight look of awe on his face as he watched the tank close the boot. "Not this again Salem." Rios physically rolled his eyes as he did one final check of his gear. "All green over here. Salem?""All in the green choom."As they took a quick look around the streets, they used the shadows to travel through the streets, hoping not to scare the pedestrians too much. Although that unfortunately failed as some managed to see the gear and weapons they were carrying and tried to get as far away from them as possible. Approaching the entrance of the compound, they could see the various Animal gang members drinking, holding some small celebration as small bonfires were burning around the place. Stacking up on both sides of the large entry way, Salem and Rios looked at each other, a murderous look in their eyes as they both nodded, and turned the corner, raising their weapons."Let's crash this party."