Chapter 1: The Army Of Two (More Like Three)

Explosions and gunfire ripped through the tight street as two fully geared men hunkered down behind a car turned onto its side. Civilians had long gone inside or had run away from here. Bullet holes and large craters scattered around the streets as a whole crew of enemy gang men, dressed in all various outfits, and decked out in all sorts of chrome poured let towards the two men's position. "Shit man, I didn't expect us to run into the fucking Triads?!" roared the smaller of the two men. He leaned out from the side of the car and let out a small burst from his rifle, dropping two of the gang men. "I mean really?! In all of fucking China, it had to be here in Shanghai?!""What do you mean you didn't expect? It's China, their home turf", the bigger man grumbled in response. He leaned out from the side of the car letting out a long burst of gunfire from his machine gun. "Salem, I'm running low.""Same here pal", responded Salem. He turned back into cover as a hail of bullets sprayed the place he was just standing in. Readjusting his yellow metallic smiling mask that covered his whole face, except the eyes, he tilted his rifle to the side, checking the ammo counter before clicking his tongue in annoyance. "We're not ganna last for another two minutes with these ass wipes spraying and praying." "Keep them busy. I'll try to get a hold of Emma again", ordered the big man as he called her again his interface, leaning back into cover. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN FUCKING DOING?!" Pissed off to the max, Salem threw his rifle onto the ground and pulled over a large grenade launcher strapped to his back. On its side, painted in yellow were the words, PROTOTYPE, scrawled over the black paint. "OH FUCK THIS, I'M USING THE PROTOTYPE!" The big man turned hearing his friend utter the one line he didn't wish to hear today. "YOU IDIOT DO-"But it was too late. Salem aimed the grenade launcher upwards and screamed out a quote. "SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!" Pulling the trigger, a loud THUMP could be heard, as a small projectile launched high up into the air through the barrel over the car. A small trail of blue smoke followed behind the projectile as it soared through the air.The gang men stopped firing as they watched the projectile fly high up into the air, their eyes and heads tracking it. The big man could only watch from the side of the car as the projectile landed amongst the crowd, and rolled a bit before coming to a complete stop at the feet of one of the gang men. Leaning down, he picked up the small round circular device and watched it out let out a tiny spark before letting small bits of smoke. The crowd let out a laugh as they resumed firing onto their position, clearly humored and amused by the failed attempt to turn the situation. The big man turned to Salem and let out a deep sigh before grabbing Salem by the straps of his armored vest. "What the hell were you thinking?! You could've gotten us both killed!"Salem shrugged pushing his hands off of him. "It hasn't even finished doing its thing you fuck.""What?!" Rios turned in time to hear the sounds of a loud explosion go off, sending shrapnel, debris and smoke everywhere, followed by another loud explosion and another. The two hunkered down behind the car once again as they felt the explosions vibrate through the floor. "Fuck me."Letting out a small laugh, Salem punched Rios in the shoulder. "I fucking told you. It ain't done doing its thing!"As the explosions stopped, Salem and Rios leaned out from the side of the car to see that the crowd was no more, and in its place were scattered corpses, bits and pieces of them at least. Broken pieces of weapons were here and there. It was just a nightmare of a scene to look at. It was at that very moment, Rios's call managed to get through as a feminine voice burst out over the intercom. "I thought I made it very clear to the both of you. To. Not. Use. The. PROTOTYPE?!" Salem scratched the back of his head as he let out a small whistle, replying with a "Slip of the finger Emma.""BULLSHIT IT WAS!" Sounds of heavy breathing could be heard, along with the sounds of glass breaking in the background could be heard. "I'M GOING TO GET CHEWED OUT FOR THIS!""Emma, we had no choice", intervened Rios trying to defend Salem. "We knew the risks i-.""IF YOU KNEW THE RISKS, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP SALEM?!" shouted Emma. Her voice reaching levels of unknown pure frustration. As she continued to chew them out for their dangerous actions, Rios and Salem looked each other and let out small chuckles before fist bumping one another. "To fucking with Emma", exclaimed Salem, with which Rios chorused back. "To pissing off Emma.""ARE YOU TWO CHEERY AT A TIME LIKE THIS?! OH SCREW THIS, I NEED A DRINK! I'LL SEE THE BOTH OF YOU BACK AT THE HIDEOUT!" roared Emma before she hung up on them. "I don't think she's too happy with us." Leaning down, Rios picked up Salem's rifle and tossed it back to him before walking towards the other end of the street. "Wow, what made you think that?" queried Rios, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Catching it, Salem checked the condition of his rifle, trailing behind Rios. "Oh well you know. The sound of her voice, her tone, th-." Salem paused as he took a peak under Rio's mask from the side to see him grinning. "Oh you fucking piss stain. Very fucking funny." Salem punched Rios's shoulder again as he walked past him, heading towards their car a few blocks down. "You're just too easy", replied Rios as he let out a chuckle. "Fuck you.""No thank you.""Ugh you're fucking gross man.""Ahahaha."As the two continued to bicker away, the buildings on both sides near the explosion, cracked, before tumbling over, throwing dust and smoke up into the air. A few hours later, Salem and Rios parked their black chunky car, an Archer Hella, into the parking lot of a run down hotel. Its sign flickering, showing its decay. As the two got out of the car, leaving their weapons in the boot and entered into the lobby of the rundown hotel, they walked past, the receptionist who barely gave them a glance, too busy fiddling with his BrainDance. Taking the elevator up and entering a room on the fourth floor, a woman sat on a chair, facing towards the window, revealing the bleak depressing city of Shanghai. Tall sky scrapers that were old and worn down. Smoke covered the air, as it was barely breathable. Tons of vehicles flew about in the air, causing air traffic. It was the epitome of the push for industrialization to its peak. As they closed the door behind them, Salem ripped off his yellow smiling mask, to reveal a young handsome face, that held a scar that came up from the jaw, all the way up to the side of the eye, giving him a gruesome cruel look. His brown moppy hair, deep soft brown eyes, and short beard complimented his overall look, making him attractive and mysterious. Jumping face first onto the bed, not caring for how dirty it could be, he let out a groan, feeling the soft touch of the quilt and pillows. "Four fucking days out on the field. It's like I was in the special forces all over again", he grumbled into the pillow. "Hey Emma." Rio, carefully took off his black and grey striped mask, revealing a completely pale bald head, with rough features, and a small scar on his lip, made him tough, and look constantly angry. He placed it carefully onto the desk that was full of equipment and laptops, making sure not to damage anything. Finding another chair, he pulled it over and sat down in it, leaning back all the way. "Hi Emma", greeted Rios in a deep voice.The woman didn't bother to turn as she continued to sip on her beer can, her straight brown hair and oriental Asian features made her look like a super model, with sharp features, a small face, and piercing grey eyes. Yet it was at the moment, dressed in a grey suit she sat silently, not even acknowledging their presence. "You really pissed her off Salem", grumbled Rios, as continued to enjoy the comfort of your everyday furniture. "Nah, piss off. I bet she's mad over your inability to stop me", countered Salem. "You're just mad I got to use the prototype before you.""You stole it from the R & D department, and didn't even get authorization to use it. There's plenty more reasons for her to be mad at you than at me." Rios grabbed a clip and threw it at Salem, missing him by a bit. "Ha, eat a bag of dicks." "Enough you two", said Emma, her soft velvet voice filled with annoyance. "You, Salem are way too over your head about all of this." She swished the beer around in her can before taking another sip. "You used a prototype that's not ready for field testing. The only one of its kind. And you also didn't fill out the correct weaponry on the sheet."She downed the rest of the beer in a few gulps before crushing the can in her bare metallic hands. "And you, Rios. What did I tell you time and time again. Not to just take it away from him if you had to, but also to keep damage to a minimum. But what the fuck did you both do? You go ahead and collapse two buildings and ruin an entire street." Silence filled the room as Emma stood up, her chest heaving. "You two are going to be the death of me." She stormed over to where Salem was laying and punched him in his shoulder, causing him to yelp in pain. "This is what you get for fucking with my paper work." She turned and stormed up to Rios, as he raised his large hands up as a sign of surrender. Ignoring it, she give him a solid punch to the shoulder making him grunt. "And this is for watching and not stopping Salem." Emma turned and sat back down on her chair with a humph, still pissed off at the two. "Now that I've got that out of my system, we've at least managed to track the location of the package and where its headed after your failure of not being able to even secure the package.""Hey, hey, hey. It wasn't my fault that Rios opened fire and alerted the entire compound", complained Salem into the pillow. "Mhm, sure. I just saved you from being flatlined, and this is the thanks I get", Rios replied. "Let's just forget about how you were inches from dying too.""I. Said. Enough," Emma glared at the both of them as she leaned forwards in her chair, her hands gripping the arm rests so tightly they cracked underneath the pressure. Salem and Rios quieted down immediately, making Emma nod her head, before leaning back in her seat. "We'll be following the package all the way. We have one final shot at this before Kang Tao move it and we lose it forever.""What is this package though?" asked Salem as he sat up on the bed, listening in on the briefing. "We've been at this job for four months. At least let us know what we're trying to secure."Rios didn't say a word, yet he stared at Emma, eager to also hear what it exactly was they were chasing for the past four months. Letting out a deep sigh she shook her head. "That's classified. The both of you don't have high enough pay grades for it." "OOH, COME ON." Salem fell back onto the bed, his mood taking a nosedive, while Rios only let out a deep sigh, clearly unimpressed with the answer given."Just know though that we'll be following the package to Night City", Emma stated, trying to elevate the room.The two paused as they digested what Emma had just said. "The Night City? Like the of Dreams Night City?" asked Salem the corner of his mouth raised as he could barely contain his happiness."What other city is named Night City, you gonk", replied Rios as he smiled, his mind finally gaining some small form of happiness. "We have a time frame of five months, before the package is on the move once against, so we'll need to prep, scout, arm ourselves, and hit them hard. Any questions?" Emma crossed her arms, leaning back into her seat. "OH ME!" Salem raised his arm up in the air like child, eager to have the teacher acknowledge them. "Yes Salem?" "Where are we staying?!" Salem asked excitedly. "I bet you got us a huge mansion, decked out in security, luxury, food. I can just taste the richness." He fist pumped the air, starting to dream of finally being able to enjoy some high class lifestyle. Rios let a small chuckle escape from his lips as Emma scoffed, letting out a devious smile. "I have a place so much better than that."A few days later, Rios, Salem and Emma, dressed in dark casual clothes found themselves standing in front of a run down house that was barely holding itself together. The two story house had clearly been involved in a shoot out, with gun shot holes dotting the walls. Windows had been entirely smashed out, letting all manners of all god knows what to reside in there. The paint had been peeling off, leaving only small spots of white here and there. Let's just say, the house had seen much better days, but today, it just wasn't its day.Straight away, Salem picked up his luggage placed at his sides and immediately turned around, power walking back to the car parked on the side of the road, like an Olympian. "Guys, I think we got the wrong house. Let's start heading up towards the Westbrook area. I'm sure Emma has a house for us there." He didn't even make it halfway to the car before Rios grabbed the back of his jacket, yanking him back to stand next to him to look at the house. Next to them, Emma took a big breath in and let out a happy exhale as she cheerfully raised her hands in the air like a magician showing a trick. "Welcome to Night City babes!!"As if on queue, the blue colored door to the entrance of the house fell down onto the floor, kicking up a bit of dust into the air. Resigned to his fate, Salem let out a deep sigh, his spirit and body deflating. "Why do we always get the shit houses. Even my real house is shit. Can't we have something nice for once."Rios let out another chuckle before slapping Salem's back. "Cheer up choom. Welcome to Night City."