The music for this one will be "Pathogen" from the Killing Floor 1 soundtrack and "What the Fuck is Wrong with You" by Combichrist.
Pathogen: watch?v=dE9b8AUojG8&index=64&list=PLYWSsSED4tGVecs6ediXWaP76Tj_bHzoi
What the Fuck is Wrong with You: watch?v=NiHHj9qFhz4&list=PLYWSsSED4tGVecs6ediXWaP76Tj_bHzoi&index=130
This one has something I've been excited to add for close to two years now. :3
"I asked about that?" Jaune dug through his memory, and after several seconds he remembered when Bain created an alias for Jacket then requested him to do research. "I kinda forgot that I asked." He kicked a rock to entertain himself during the call.
"Yeah, I know it's been a while. Anyways, here's the info." Bain's left hand reached for the top of a notepad on the other side of his desk. The chicken feet scribbles were sprawled out over every bit of available space of the paper.
Jaune looked over his shoulder to see Harson pass out some snacks to the crew. Jacket took a soda bottle, opened it and chugged it down. While that happened, Houston started the process to take the gun apart, never leave home without the cleaning kit. Well, a miniature cleaning kit that is.
"I got time." Jaune walked away from the entrance.
"Yeah, let me tell you. There was very little to work with when I started. So that you know, here is a theory I've composited. You know about the Dragon Continent?" Bain looked at his wall to see his map of Remnant.
"I'm aware of the Northwest. What you got?"
"Since that place does not have functioning borders, it makes life there rather harsh. However, due to the inhabitable zone, abundant dust reserves ripe for mining. The Kingdoms got interested when they can get through the Grimm that is." Bain flipped to page two of his notes. "About twelve years ago, there was a Vale and Atlas sanctioned Inter-Kingdom task force that was sent in to build a base of operations hopefully. With the Huntsmen and Huntresses, they got a base going after the first two weeks, and it was considered operational in two months. The soldiers there were under orders to help establish a link with the local human nomads and settlements."
"Wasn't that on the news?" Jaune recalled some faint memories.
"It was with the typical BS. Several mining companies were eager to get some of their heavy equipment to start operations. There were discussions of wall placement with the locals were sought out for the workforce. The walls also brought greater problems than what the documents drafted for." Bain tilted his notepad. "The tribes didn't like that the Kingdoms were squaring in on their turf and possibly creating a puppet government. Some of the locals wanted to have some sort of border control going on which all agreed to, but worried over what it meant for the area when it was owed to someone else."
Jaune kept his scroll close to his face as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and walked in circles. He made sure to still pay attention to what Bain had learned. Jaune turned around to look at the moon.
"So a Civil dispute became a Civil war. Grimm rekindled on the madness and eventually, the Kingdoms had to choose a side. The dispute created the Loyalists for Independence against the New Wall Confederacy. Most of the tribes united on both sides until the effort to just maintain the region was far too much for the Kingdoms to handle. Sure, some of their investors wanted to keep the operation going but it soon fell apart. The Kingdom's forces pulled out and left a broken continent."
"Thanks for the history lesson." Jaune yawned as he recalled the lectures from middle school of the expansions that succeeded and failed in Remnant.
"I haven't even got to the interesting part yet."
Jaune's lip twitched at the comeback. "Come again?"
"There was more than those killed and broken families. In the face of bringing troops, some Huntsmen and Huntresses there maintained a makeshift Combat School for kids in training. Under declassified documents, these were 'training' exercises. In the outcome of it, a class outperformed in their field exams. Soon enough, the kids that were not injured were sent on search and destroy missions. Of which, there was a platoon of seven girls and five boys with the soldiers. Atlas drafted up the documents to have these kids sent to the best Academies in Remnant."
"You're serious?"
"Look, granted the developments were planned and had their base building started. Rumors of dust and experimental programs developed. Some of those kids went on a rampage and obliterated a few settlements. Of course, this event is not in the official documentation. However, journalists were able to get the information out. Officials buried them." Bain twisted a paper around and remembered some underlined details. As Bain read of what to talk about next, he failed to see the arrow on his computer move on its own. Several clicks and the cursor moved back in the same region of the monitor like before.
Bain was none the wiser.
Jaune sighed and rubbed his forehead. The moon above had cloud block its view of Pilsen. His fingers gripped tighter around his scroll.
"After the pull-out, some of those kids were relocated all over Atlas. It just goes dark after that, but there was an occurrence ten years ago." Bain looked over a newspaper article. "Mount Glenn had the latest wall and digital tech at the time, so how did some of the smaller Grimm breakthrough? Upon inspection of the tunnels that it was a series of gas lines that went off and made cracks in the infrastructure. There were rare eyewitness accounts when the repair crews and security teams spotted a young woman, with raven black hair that could summon fire to cause various explosions."
"Oh shit." Jaune looked at the ground.
"Yeah, bro. The real scary thing." Bain reached the end of his notes. "That girl was not alone. During the disaster, it looked like there were others with her that issued commands to the Grimm during the attack." Bain closed his notepad. "Some have attempted to bring this to the attention of the Huntsmen and Huntresses but little evidence did not warrant a full-fledged investigation."
"Listen, I really appreciate the amount of effort you put into this. Did you file it?" The clouds above moved out of the way as Jaune bathed in the moonlight.
"Yup. I will send you a copy and my bill." Bain moved back in front of his computer. "I can still help you on other things but this has BIG written all over it. This is as far as I go."
Jaune's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He looked back at the warehouse. "I understand."
"Is there anything else do you need?" Bain inquired as his thumb hovered over the end call button.
"Not at this time, thanks. Take care Bain." Jaune closed his scroll and looked at the stars above. He chuckled then walked to the warehouse. When he got to the doorway, he immediately saw Jacket with a wrench and chase after Wolfe because he stole a bag of donuts. Daniel and Harson laughed their asses off at the scene.
Jaune entered and looked at Daniel. "Can you pass me my drink?"
Several seconds later, a bottle flew through the air and landed in Jaune's palm. He snickered at the crew and used his other hand to twist the cap off. From there, the bottle released its pressure and it nearly blasted soda at him. He barely reacted in time as he twisted the lid back on. The crew chuckled to themselves.
There was a nearby unused plastic hollow crate, so Jaune used it as a temporary chair. Jaune took the time to tell the crew that they will pick up their new gear. Of course, the crew loved the news.
For about an hour everyone took the time to unwind and eventually fell asleep, one by one.
…The Next Day…
Jaune felt his scroll vibrate as he glumly rolled to on his shoulder and reached for the damn thing before it annoyed everyone else. He leaned up, stretched, yawned and he looked around the room. Jacket was on the couch with his arms crossed over his head down as he slept upright in the chair. His slowed breathing had his arms up and down slightly.
'He looks like a rooster.' Jaune giggled and rolled the blankets off himself.
He got to his feet and changed his clothes, brushed his teeth and took a half-eaten bag of chips to act as breakfast. Jaune rubbed his forehead and looked outside of the warehouse; the light blue hue before the morning sun was something that he wished would last longer in during the day.
There was a splashing of water in one of the rooms and Jaune took notice, he walked with caution to see Grinder hover over a bucket with him and wash his hair. Several dabs of shampoo on his head for good measure.
"We are going downtown, so we don't want our smell to be suspicious." Grinder scrubbed his hair and splashed his face. Jaune looked in the corner of the room to see six empty water bottles in the corner.
"Alright. The crew is sleeping, so can we borrow your car so we can get our equipment at the airship port?" Jaune prepped his toothbrush.
"Sure, in fact, I'll join you." Grinder washed his head and dried it off with a towel. From there, Jaune woke up the rest of the crew one by one on the basis with their gear they purchased from Gage would work better off for them.
The crew all had their time to wake up as Jaune entered the passenger side and Grinder on the driver's side of the SUV.
Each woke up at their own pace for the day ahead.
The drive was silent for the most part. Jaune wanted to ask about the plan but didn't. The light rose over the skyscrapers and the blinding glow beamed out and over the walls. It almost made the city appear like a beacon of hope. It winked with the trees the car drove past as Jaune leaned back and rubbed the crust out of his eye.
Grinder was silent for the entire drive. Jaune kept to himself then decided to flick through the radio stations. He eventually found a radio station that played some country. Jaune never had a taste for that genre but it does make something soothing than it needs to be. Half an hour passed and the SUV pulled into the back roads to see a truck there. Of the same baggage, some employees were there as well.
Grinder and Jaune got out. After the formalities, Jaune opened up the weapon bag as the employees didn't have a care in the world. One of them took out a duffle bag.
"We of the Airship Management Bureau at this moment states our apologies for your inconvenience. Here is your luggage and we hope that we can move past this if you so choose to ask for our services again." The employee gave his half-assed but rehearsed speech.
Jaune took the bag and everyone went back on their merry way.
The drive back was the same for the most part. Other than stopping at a fast food joint to get some breakfast burritos. They only got one of each and something else for Jacket. Jaune put the drinks in his lap and put his hands on the rims.
"Hey, so why doesn't your pal talk like everyone else?" Grinder asked as he put a food bag on under his seat. "The one with the Rooster mask."
"Not sure. We just don't ask him about it."
"That is not what normal people do." Grinder extended his fingers out to relieve some tension. "I see him eat, like all the time."
"Well, Daniel has been trying to get Jacket to break the habit." Jaune shrugged as he stared out the buildings they passed. He knew what he meant by it but from the constant need to be outside on the job or upcoming events with Grimm he did not have the time to notice or care much.
"What is keeping you from asking him in the first place?" Grinder flicked the button for the turn signal.
"Jack has his own thing. He'll come around eventually." Jaune retorted with composure.
"I don't know; it's that he has a tapeworm in his system or a problem." Grinder rolled his shoulders back. "What we got today is for us to expose a White Fang training facility."
Jaune looked away from the window.
"In the developing of tribes, they use the displaced to transport drugs or get kids to join their 'revolution.' That gang last night, half of them most likely were brought in through the Grimore and sold into the Silver Claw. The Silver Claw and Grimore are business partners. If we cancel this transaction, we can bring this area to a halt on production since no one will get paid."
"How would you know this?"
"Let's just say the Silver Claw and I don't get along." Grinder cracked his neck then took a long deep breath.
By that point in the drive, the sun rose fully and lit up the city below. "There is a compound on the outskirts of town. In a metal Scrapyard, where they got some recruits of the Silver Claw there. Used as a training facility for the group there. I got a small boat with scuba gear for us to at least get out of the city alive." Grinder got the SUV to the highway.
"What will be waiting for us at the compound?" Jaune carefully watched Grinder's face.
"It means we are going to come across some killers. There is no way the corrupt cops will let the area be investigated but so we have the force the legit ones to show up. Once they get the droids rolling .in to take control, we pull out." Grinder watched the car in front of them since it slowed down.
"What about the corrupt cops?" Jaune shot back.
"The Grimore and Fallen only have beat cops. As much as that Captain nearly kicked our asses last night, he's too much of a boy scout to be bought. Trust me." Grinder noticed the sign of their turn off.
"Fine. Let's get this over with then." The Payday Gang were here to screw over Pilsen's underground. If he was honest, Jaune did like the sound of that.
The two returned to the warehouse and walked back with their gear in tow. The bag zipped down and revealed the sexy hardware below. Jaune took out his Clarion Assault Rifle, Jacket's MP7 submachine gun, Wolfe's AK-94 and Daniel's FN-FAL. Each of them took out their weapons and inspected them.
As good as the day they purchased them.
Grinder walked into the crowd and saw the IMI Negev he smiled and lifted it out. Jacket looked over his shoulder then did not react confidently. Sure, Grinder didn't ask for the weapon, but he's risking his skin as much as the crew. So Jacket lets this one time slide.
By now it was close to nine in the morning, the deal downtown will happen at two in the afternoon. Before any of the crew would get too excited about the weapons, Grinder called the everyone to the backroom for a debriefing.
"The mission will go in this order. Get to the Scrapyard, start a scene, stay there so legitimate cops show up, use the riverbank just outside the Scrapyard and use the river speedboat to get to the sewers. Navigate the waterways to get to below the skyscraper where the deal will go down, get the money data, use the riverboat and out into the main lake. There is a water bag in about three hundred yards from the shore with prepped scuba gear, use an explosive on the riverboat and swim underwater to avoid the police airships. Then get to the next town and take the next airship out of Mistral."
Grinder made it clear that if they could use an airship in the city, they would, but most pilots are on Grimore and Fallen payrolls. So leaving with their money with such pilots could make the situation worse to be chase by the crime syndicates.
The Payday Gang went over the plan over several times for the job. The with the Scrapyard that Grinder referred to with a map of the place. Of what he could assume what the area looked like from above. The Scrapyard was in had a single house in the center of the place with several nearby warehouses across the street. Outside the Scrapyard, there is a building that offered a decent overlook of a section of the yard. Among them, Daniel was elected to be over-watch for the beginning and scout the place out.
"So are there any more questions?" Grinder looked up from the papers.
"These Silver Claw guys." Wolfe looked up. "We have a dozen or so magazines of electro-dust rounds in case we have to stun them."
With that, Jacket in the back scoffed in silence. Being on the opposite side of the room, it was dim which masked the glance Grinder gave Jacket. Jacket still stared at the plan as the rest of his crew were in front of him.
"Harson will drop us off and he will prep the boat on a small river that is outside the Scrapyard. The cops would not think about a boat chase if something like that happened so that we can slip out during the chaos." Grinder traced his finger through the map. "I already tested the plan and memorized the turns we will make to get into downtown. The building we will enter has the rock to keep it from closing shut. I put one there several days ago. If not, we got to pick the lock."
Each one of them was overall satisfied by the plan; get this part done and they will be two million lien richer and kneecap a Silver Claw operation as well. Win-win situation. Of course in the back, Wolfe stared at everything and glanced at Jaune. He may not like the amount of trust given to Grinder. However, they are already here. Might as well carry it out entirely through.
Jacket nodded to it all and took a bite out of his burrito. Sure, he could've purchased a tape recorder last night on the way back, but he has to wait it out since it could be a bit suspicious to do so. Better off to just order one through the scroll net. Which he did, an express delivery of a new Walkman should arrive in the mail in two days back in Vale.
Once that was over, they spent an hour finishing their hygiene routines and breakfast. About an hour and a half later the crew prepped themselves. In the center of the group, Daniel brought the large ammunition bag to a plastic box and unzipped the top half. He revealed at the beautiful black magazines and bright brass casings. Wolfe took out the Clarion magazines then arranged the rest by weapon type. Jaune strapped on his kevlar with duck-tape to piece the section that was torn off. Of course, the team harassed him, but they knew that this was not going to be a cakewalk.
Jaune patted the armor as he slid into the pouches of the ammunition then looked to his right while the rest of the crew prepped. Grinder checked to see if the Negev would bolt correctly on its ammunition. Satisfied by how smooth it worked, he set the weapon down on top of a box. Around his feet was several 150-round fabric containers which will be belt fed into the Negev. He walked to his backroom then returned with a box in hand. Jaune tapped Daniel's shoulder, and the two paid focus to their contractor.
The box's top flicked off as Grinder used both hands to reach inside. Out the end of it, was a grey metal contraption then it rolled over to reveal a rotary saw. Grinder pulled it open to show that it could be wielded on the forearm then clamped shut. It activated to show that the saw could extend by a foot and roared for a second.
The box contained a belt that held two spare saws to switch out later. "I always love to leave an impression." The mechanism pulled back to reveal Grinder's eyes.
The crew spent several minutes preparing themselves and it was close to Eleven-thirty. They loaded into the SUV and which felt borderline uncomfortable, in that the crew was decked out for war. Harson took the empty roads to the Scrapyard.
The radio was on the popular stations as they stared out the windows.
About forty minutes later, they got close to the operation site. The thing is several blocks before reaching the Scrapyard Silver Claw lookouts posed as citizens of Mistral. The SUV stopped as Harson looked into the back seats. About two minutes beforehand, they dropped Houston off as he used a fire escape to get to the top of his over-watch point.
"Remember, the Northside. There will be a boat waiting for you outside the chain linked fence. Don't be late." Harson looked onward. "Now get out there and cause some chaos."
Jaune looked to the crew with a shrug as he pulled his mask down. Crescent nodded to the rest. The doors opened and slammed shut as they walked alongside the sidewalk and back alleys. Best to get as close as possible to catch the Silver Claw off guard.
At the over-watch point
Houston sighed as he took aim with his FN-FAL and slid the magazine in and then bolted the first bullet in place. The sun bared down from his back as he carefully placed each footstep since the top of the building had gravel. Not sure what else to expect, he brought his Nagant along as well. Each of the Payday Gang members except Grinder brought their Freedom era weapons just in case.
Once he got in position, Houston tapped his mask for comms. "I'm in position."
"Alright Houston, we are about two blocks away from the Scrapyard," Crescent responded as he looked over his shoulder and glad to see that no one has spotted them yet. A good and a bad sign.
"I got you, and I got you." Houston aimed and looked below while he was close to a large roof air conditioner. He looked over the yard and could see the various mounts of metal two garages close to the chain linked fences. The same with the house in the center horribly designed to be as cramped as possible. There were bits of metal that were angled to have bits of sunlight stare directly at him. It irritated him to no end though.
Eventually, a duo of Silver Claw members walked into the open. They sure dressed like the Vanguard. Faunus horns and other assorted animal traits with the Grimm masks. The odd thing was of the curved claw on their bags with a clear outline and grey color. Some of them were armed and others that were in the middle of target practice prep. A thin piece of metal was used to create outlines of Templiers and Humanoid figures. At a window, there was a severed helmet of a Templier.
Then the front door of the house in the middle opened up. There were several individuals. A Faunus man with no mask in conversation with a young woman entirely dressed in black. Houston realized that he could be in their line of sight then ducked down and even held his breath.
"One block out, Houston," Wolfe stated.
"Roger," Houston whispered back and looked back down. Luckily for him, the two walking with them were too busy talking among themselves. Unfortunately, he was also far away to hear them. The Faunus man smiled with his hand extending over the Scrapyard then toward several recruits that walked by.
The woman nodded then turned around. She noticed a black figure at the head on the rooftop but could not see any identifiable features. She looked her height level and then continued her conversation. She assumed Houston to be a Silver Claw guard.
'Holy shit.' Houston felt his heart skip several beats.
She was dressed entirely in black long sleeve shirt with a charcoal grey vest over with black jeans. Her eyelids had a black overtone with a sabre on her left hip. Houston lowered his FAL. "Oh fuck."
The Crew
"So, we gonna steal whatever they have laying around the place?" Wolfe tiptoed from behind Jacket so Crescent and Grinder could hear him in the front.
"You're asking this now?" Crescent still focused his attention onward when it was something he realized could be a thing as well. So, there's that.
Grinder halted the crew then nodded to his right as they were about twenty feet away from the Scrapyard. Safeties switched off as they stopped and looked over the place.
"How we gonna do this? Head around the side with one of us getting ready to support then Jacket and Crescent-" Wolfe suggested while Grinder raised his Negev upward.
Start Pathogen
BANG BANG!
The crew collectively looked at Grinder. "Loud and proud boys. Loud aanndd proud."
Wolfe facepalmed while Jacket and Crescent fist bumped in front of him. "Let's roll!" Crescent said eagerly while raising his Clarion while Grinder had his back and the two jogged along the perimeter of the gate. Jacket and Wolfe were on the opposite side and saw a pair of SC guards.
Wolfe raised his AN-94 then let the two shot burst as one them were shot down and Crescent dropped the other.
At the over-watch, Houston noticed the woman beside the Faunus man turning their heads toward the noise. The woman giggled then walked back inside the house as the Faunus man angrily waved his arms at a group of recruits. He shouted that there would not be any live fire exercises not for several hours.
"We're starting!" Wolfe warned Houston.
"Right." The FAL leveled downward as four SC walked from the other side of the Scrapyard. One was pegged in the shoulder then dropped to the ground. Eventually, the rest figured out they were under attack.
"We got Murkies!" One of them shouted as the rest of the Scrapyard erupted into loud shouts.
'Murkies?' Houston tilted his head slightly as he noticed in the nearby warehouse, a dozen of armed SC come out in force. Eager for a fight, they fired their guns. Houston heard several bullets whiz past him and some hit the building below which forced him to duck down again, not before he marked them with his outlines.
Crescent and Jacket jogged through the front gate and to their immediate left jumped a Raccoon tailed Faunus. She shouted at them with the ferocity of a screaming raccoon, who had a machete, to only then have her face was slammed directly into Grinder's saw. She landed her back on Jacket giving her abdomen a good kick and the kid groaned loudly in pain. Wolfe put an electro round in her as they walked past her, just in case.
With that, the hornet's nest was firmly kicked. Several SC forces broke open a window from the house to take shots at the Payday Gang below. Before the barrel of a gun could expose itself, Houston shut them down. The SC inside got the idea and were pinned down.
"Murkies at the front gate!" The Faunus man overheard one of the recruits shout out. He groaned to himself and turned around to walk to a nearby garage. He shoved a recruit out of his way.
"Take care of this!" He said as he walked to the furthest side of the Scrapyard. From there, he looked back to the yard and sneered at it.
An SC soldier was in an opposite warehouse on the other side of the Scrapyard. He unclasped a weapon stock and had a single bolt action rifle with a scope. He loudly sighed before he looked through the scope.
The house soon blocked the view of the Payday Gang below but that didn't stop the sniper from seeing Houston. He fired then raised his head from his scope to make room to bolt out the spent bullet. When he looked back, several bullets whizzed at his location as Houston's single fire made it easier to retaliate in kind.
"We got a Sniper! North side!" Houston figured that he better take that guy out. So he jogged to his left and noticed that the buildings were of similar height, so why not jump over every ledge? He saw when the sniper would peak his head out and Houston will put that tick back in his hidey hole.
Below, Jacket noticed a metal pipe sticking out of a car window and he eventually jogged over to grab it. Two SC soldiers charged him while Jacket blocked a downward haymaker then shoved the guy off as the pipe hit him cleanly in the cheek. He dropped to the ground as the other guy roared his canine teeth at Jacket. By no accident, Jacket flung the pipe towards as it hit the SC closest to him in the sternum, with him grunting in pain. In that brief moment, Jacket closed the distance between them and jumped with his left knee out to bring the guy to the ground.
Jacket then grabbed the SC's collar to lift him up the ground and brought his other fist to have the SC hit the ground with his head. Jacket got off of him then looked to his right and spotted another SC squad come at the crew.
Crescent had covered Jacket's back while he fired ten or so bullets to have several of them fall from the electro rounds. In the house above, a window broke as an SC member jumped out and landed on his feet just inches from Crescent. The two stared dumbly at each other for a moment as the SC member completely decked Crescent in the forehead then wrapped his arms around to keep him from countering. With Crescent in his grip, the SC member jumped up and body slammed Crescent to the ground.
With the kevlar on, it made the landing double the pain. Crescent shook his head then used his head to hit the member in the face. While at the same time, slightly raised his left knee up then flipped over, so Crescent was the one above. The Clarion has twisted around with the butt of the stock coming down on the member's throat with enough force to stun him. As Crescent got back on his feet, he then fired two rounds into the ankle of the SC member. He sighed loudly before turning around.
Wolfe was on the other side of the house with Grinder as an SC member revealed herself with an assault rifle in hand. From there, he put her down as she wanted to shout something at them. Grinder walked around him with the Negev to lay down some suppressing fire to have an SC squad forced to stay in cover or hide.
"These guys aren't Murkies! I think it's the Payday Gang!" The Silver Claw recruits were in a collective state of worry. The ones that were stupid enough to look out had electric dust rounds shoot at them, forcing those shot to begin twitching wildly.
"Ya-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta ya-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta do-de-da-va-da-da-dada! Kaboom-Kaboom!" Grinder said with glee as the brass of the Negev rained to the ground, letting dozens bounced off the floor, hitting with a small ding.
Houston above jumped over another ledge and was a building away from sniper. The enemy sniper was too wary to fire back but the Payday Gang were getting into the open on his side of the Scrapyard. He laid down on his stomach and bolted the round into the chapter, then looked out to the yard. Crescent walked away from a beaten SC member.
Rocks crunched from behind and this was all or nothing; the sniper aimed and leveled it over the one in the red and white mask. He waved his arms out as the recruits below started to question their life choices. The scope leveled and with a bead of sweat going down his left brow then exhaled.
"Drop it," Houston ordered in clear tone. Well on what the mask could modulate, the sniper sighed then turned around. He turned around to see the cyan blue suit and clown mask.
"I'm sorry." The sniper uttered.
"Go home and leave this place," Houston spoke clearly as he also looked to the Scrapyard. Nothing was out of the ordinary as the Payday Gang below stunned an SC squad that came the way they did.
"I can't." The sniper raised his sniper rifle up but Houston already stunned him before he could fire. With his left foot, Houston lowered his twos underneath the gun then kicked it off the roof.
"Wrong answer buddy." Houston looked back down to the Scrapyard. The back door to the house was kicked open by the young woman he saw earlier. She raised a single barrel grenade launcher to the sky and fired.
A trail of black smoke followed the grenade shell as it puffed out then became thicker. The Payday Gang noticed the light of the area had the light of the sun blocked out as the woman walked on the back porch as she stared at Houston on the rooftop.
"Oh?" She snickered as the one other non-Silver Claw guy walked out beside her. Houston kept his aim down at the house until the black cloud above got so thick there was a grey hue to everything.
Start What The Fuck Is Wrong With You
The woman faded from view as he felt the air in his ear. "I remember you." The woman whispered to Houston elbowed empty air.
"Let's have some fun!" The woman showed her pearly teeth as Houston fired his guns several times as she drew her sabre. Of the four bullets, they just went right through her. He outlined and made sure to avoid every slash she made at him.
The man below on the porch rolled his neck around to crack some bones as he walked around the corner in front of Grinder and Wolfe. He obnoxiously chewed his gum as he pulled out a long rifle from his back. His arms covered in tattoos with phrases. The guy looked out from the corner and pointed a gun at Grinder. The thing had seven barrels and was not a machine gun.
Ka-POOOOOWWWWW!
"Aaaahhhh!" Grinder's entire body launched back then landed on his back.
"Who da fuck!?" Wolfe returned fire as the attacker disappeared from the corner. Wolfe sprinted to check on Grinder. The downed member rolled to his side and felt some blood gurgle in the back of his through. In combat, Grinder never lets up with his iron semblance, so some of the metallic balls rolled off his chest, leaving some holes in his chest.
"I need a minute." Grinder groaned in pain as Wolfe walked while supported him. They walked to their left and noticed a small stairway that leads to a basement. Wolfe shot at the doorknob and kicked it open. As the door shoved out of the way, Wolfe thought out loud. "Was that a fucking Volley gun?"
Grinder swallowed his blood and shook his head to distract himself from the pain. "We got company!"
Wolfe left Grinder go as the light in the basement revealed something strange. There were a dozen ATMs stolen from all over the city. Grinder chuckled but regretted doing so as he used his aura to make himself straighten his posture. "Well, at least we can take some spending money."
Wolfe shook his head. "Make it quick." With that Wolfe walked out of the basement to get back in the fight.
Glass from a nearby warehouse blew out and the shards scattered to the asphalt. There were two individuals and not Silver Claw. These guys had no Grimm masks but had weapons in their hands.
A young man and woman appeared before them.
The woman had a blank expression her face as she open unclasped a weapon at her right side. From weapon history class from combat school, Jaune remembered it being called a Haladie. There were two double-edged blades connected to the ends of the handle. The blades were slightly curved forward on opposite sides of each other. In her other hand, was a Scorpion submachine gun.
The man beside her rolled his eyes as he raised his left hand. To show off a Webley Revolver, but with a modified under-barrel? It was not large at all, but still, something to never doubt. Both jumped down and stared at Crescent and Jacket.
"Are they what was spoken about on the news?" The woman asked.
"Nah, they didn't say anything about the clown faces and their pet cock." The guy shrugged.
"Hmm." The two sprinted forward as both opened fire at the Crescent and Jacket. The two took cover behind a car as they clanged off the metal. Jacket had his back to the door while Crescent was at the trunk. Bullets went off all around the vehicle while Jacket cracked his knuckles. Eventually, the woman jumped over the car as her weapon ran out of ammo, then swiped the air for the blade to clash against the car door.
Jacket used his strength to pull the car door out from its hinges and held it like a shield. The woman scoffed then twisted her weapon around. The blade thrust forward and Jacket wrenched the car door in time to parry the attack and walked backs from the assault.
Crescent saw the guy with the revolver sprint in and fire several bullets around him with a smirk. In response, Crescent tapped his left thigh to draw his sickle blade as the guy aimed with one arm, and his finger slid a bit lower for the second trigger. The under-barrel was a single shotgun shell port as Crescent was far enough away to feel the pelts in his body armor. The revolver cracked back to reveal the spent casings then twisted it upside down then dumped the brass out.
Crescent used his other arm to raise his Clarion while the revolver guy ducked down and used a junk pile for cover then used a speed loader to his revolver. The upper half snapped back then he jumped out to continue his duel with Crescent. Once that finished, the shotgun under-barrel had a black shell with a slug slid into the port. He kept his back to the junk then popped out when Crescent took cover.
Above, the fight between Houston and the shadow woman reached a standstill.
Houston had his FAL at his back while he held the Nagant like a staff at the curved grip and mid-section of the barrel. The shadow woman appeared about three feet from the ground as she would come down to strike while Houston had parried the attack. Of course, by the time he threw a punch, she would fade out.
Houston grumbled to himself as he twisted the Nagant in time to get some distance from him and the woman. She appeared in front of him with a bow. She kept her posture straight then the Nagant spun around as she walked into its range than had it smack her with complete surprise.
"What!?" She looked up to see that her dust cloud was letting some cracks of sunlight through.
"Hey, a little help here!" She shouted past Houston.
He did not turn around while his guard was focused solely on the woman.
What happened behind him was the guy with the Volley rifle waved at the shadow woman with little sense of urgency. He snickered as he raised his rifle to the sky when he loaded black pellets then fired it again. The puff of guns smoke had the dust musket balls shatter mid-flight then released the same cloud as before. As that happened, Wolfe showed him then fired his gun several times.
The Volley user ducked his head down and sprinted into the junkyard. "Come on man, let's be reasonable!" He shouted as Wolfe felt his AN click empty. He played it cool as he attempted to follow.
Above, Houston took the chance to turn away and sprint to his side and then noticed a fire escape to get down to ground level. The clouds were several seconds from blocking out the sun again, so he needed to be quick. On the third floor down, Houston looked out to see the shadow woman jump from the roof with her sabre backward in her left hand with her right hand applying pressure above.
Houston saw that he was one story from the ground. Might as well make a play, he got on the edge of the railing and jumped down. The shadow woman was right above him as he turned around with the FAL and forced the woman to make herself into a shadow by the time he landed in a garbage pile.
She appeared above him outside the pile and before she could stab him, Houston used his left leg to trip up the woman and when she fell to the ground, she turned into a shadow to prevent pain of the fall. Houston rolled to his side then sprinted onward to the junkyard. She appeared above him again and before she could drop, Wolfe from the junkyard noticed her then opened fire.
The shadow woman noticed the bullets that whizzed past her body as she could not make herself solid again with risk. She whistled as the Volley user waved her off as he climbed several crushed cars then aimed at Wolfe. Although Houston ran away, he marked the Volley user which Wolfe noticed then lowered his head.
Houston caught up as the two went back to back as the Volley user and Shadow woman sent on opposite sides of the duo.
"Any ideas?" Houston never lets up at staring at the shadow woman.
"Working on it." Wolfe placed a bayonet on his Gewehr.
Biiiooooooogggffff! The metal of the car door scraped on every strike as Jacket use the window for him to return fire with his submachine gun. However, without both hands, he would sooner tire out his arms for her to capitalize. That and his SMG needed a desperate reload.
Out of frustration, Jacket bared his teeth and then tossed the car door to have the woman dodge it easily while he took hold of a fence metal post that had a jagged tip. Jacket sprinted forward then brought it down like a sledgehammer. Of course, the woman brushed the post on the ground then kicked up dirt. When that happened, a right haymaker got the woman in her temple then back stepped.
He seized the moment as the post lifted out the ground some but kept it low and came close had it come around to his other hand and with one good pull, the woman toppled over. As she fell the magazine of her scorpion ejected out and before Jacket could knock her out, she leaned up then completely opened fire at Jacket who sprinted off to the side into the junk.
The woman frowned as she flipped up then prepped the next magazine to enter its chamber.
Twenty feet away, the revolver user and Crescent sprinted in parallel with each other while in a collision course of death. Crescent was forced to aim at the hip to keep himself mobile with self-imposed burst fire set on. The guy flicked his coat as empty speed loaders rolled out with a shotgun shell belt at his hip. The two sprinted into an abandoned garage.
The revolver user extended his arm with the revolver going off to which grinded off of Crescent's left cheek. The mask misaligned itself two block his view. With that, the revolver user came at him with a left hook, and then with the grip of the revolver, he brought it down on Crescent's left collarbone. This didn't fracture it as giving the revolver user a reason to have his shotgun under-barrel at close range and Crescent's neck.
Crescent felt the pain as he dropped his sickle blade in his right arm and slammed his palm in the revolver user's forearm and the thing blasted a hole into the garage wall.
Crescent and the Revolver user resorted to hand to hand, by which the user responded by using his grip and hammer it down into the forehead of the mask. It made it difficult to see out of eye slits and Crescent retorted with his rifle shot to his user's feet. He stumbled for a moment and with that, Crescent brought it stock around and decked the guy in the face. The two split apart and Crescent fixed his mask.
The revolver guy had no chance and collapsed with a twitch, blinked several times and stared at the roof.
Crescent backed off and sighed loudly as he noticed the fights were still going on in the Scrapyard.
He jogged off to assist Wolfe.
A set of legs passed by the shadow of the basement window as Grinder revved up his saw as sixth ATM had about two hundred thousand lien inside each one. He smiled as he guessimated the amount of cash to be over two million. Two bags filled and a third stuffed with those magnificent purple money bills. He ripped the free metal back to reveal four steel hinges and with love taps from his saw, and the money containers gushed into Grinder's gloved hands.
Outside was a different story.
The sky above was on the verge to clear up from what the Volley user shot. Of course, he would prep another payload, but he had his hands preoccupied.
Wolfe had his AN-94 at his back with two empty magazines in both hands to act as clubs. He swiped his arm left and then his right down. The Volley user scoffed then spun his Volley rifle around and tossed it into the air. He shook his head back and forth with a smile then took two steps forward then two back as he stood outside the range of Wolfe.
The Volley gun landed in his arms and he twisted the handle of the weapon. Five barrels of the Volley rifle extended out the remaining two barrels extended out which gave the user a staff.
Wolfe looked to his right and left as the user made a sweeping motion and slammed Wolfe's left shoulder and sent him to the wall of the house. "Upf!" Wolfe grunted as the staff came back and struck Wolfe's throat.
This pushed his adam's apple back which had Wolfe suffocated for several seconds as he regained his breathing as he dropped to one knee. The user shrugged then brought his staff down onto Wolfe's back, forcing him to the ground. Before he could do a push up to his feet, the Volley user twisted the handle back in place and chuckled with his foot to keep Wolfe down.
"Good effort." The Volley user opened his jacket to reveal a series of paper cartridges then loaded every individual barrel of the Volley rifle. He chuckled as he looked up to see a Clarion aim right at him. Some electro rounds got him center mass and he dropped to one knee as Wolfe rolled to his hip then shoved the guy off of him.
"Took your sweet time." Wolfe reached out as Crescent helped him to his feet.
"You're welcome." The two looked to their right to see the fight between Houston and the shadow woman came to a standstill. The heisters jogged past him as Houston gave a thumbs up as they passed. He's got this.
WeeeeeeRooooooooWeeeeeeeeeeRooooooooOO!
The two went to the front end of the house then to the basement. Inside, one bag filled to the brim with cash while there was another one that was about half full. Grinder's saw stopped rotating as the last ATM was broken in. Crescent walked to the corner of the room to take a bag then tossed it for Wolfe as Grinder and Crescent took the other bags. They walk up the steps and can hear the sirens louder than before.
They circled back to the same side of Houston as he stared at the junk pile of the shadow woman. With that, the crew jogged passed to get to the rally point. Of course, the sound forced the shadow woman to keep her back on the opposite side of her cover.
She shook her head then glanced to her right to see her knocked out ally then stood up. She jogged over and lift him off the ground then cut around the house to see the Revolver user sit with his back against a wall like he woke up from a bad headache. He stood up and jogged to her.
"Do you think the boss will be upset?" The revolver holstered as he took the other arm of their unconscious comrade.
"No, in fact, boss was selling these Faunus morons short on the weapons they needed. This gives us reason to withhold the next shipment." The shadow woman said before she put two fingers in her mouth.
In the distance, Jacket and the blade woman were in a junk pile. The woman huffed and puffed as she sneered at her opponent as Jacket took several deep breaths then exhaled through his nose. There were several tears at his letterman jacket and what could have been a busted lip of the woman as the two stared at each other.
WHoooooRRRoooooooT!
The woman refused to look back as she shook her head, then back peddled to the ground. She took four steps back. "This isn't over." The woman said as she jogged off.
Jacket relieved his tension as he sighed with the comms going off in his mask. "Hey Jacket, we're done here. Let's go."
Jacket turned away as he jogged off to the rally point. The area had several police cars park several blocks away. As the woman made her way back, she picked up her weapon then went for the same alleyway as her team.
Jacket jogged to the end of the Scrapyard to see that the crew already cut through the gate. He lowered his head and then saw the small riverboat with Harson in the back as well as three bags full of cash. The crew was good to go as Jacket had small drop and landed in his seat.
"We came, we laughed, we cried and I think I died a little inside." Wolfe fist pumped the air.
The engine started up as the riverboat drove out of the corner and along the city seawall as there was a closed entrance to the sewers. There was an entrance chained off as Grinder took care of that. Of which, they had to take the riverboat apart then reassemble it back into the sewer water. It was not pleasant, as Wolfe made that very clear.
Once the boat was in place, the crew got ready as Harson followed the map to follow through downtown. For the most part, each member was in silence from slight exhaustion. At least they made it out before the Templiers revealed their ugly helmets.
It took twenty minutes as the crew was below the sewer manhole of the alley of the building they were going to invade.
The money was left in the boat as Harson anchored the riverboat and crawled out then hid behind a dumpster. The smell, he could not stand it any longer. The crew walked out with masks on Wolfe flicked the switch to an ECM jammer as the side entrance doors opened because of the rock put in the way. The camera was in a loop and security did not see any issues on their end.
It was a bit funny, how the side entrance with a metal and glass door. From there, the crew walked through the hall and pressed an elevator button. They went up twenty floors as they found opened up to a vacant level with members of a boardroom with their backs to the elevator.
With a second ECM, the crew walked into the boardroom with guns drawn. Each of the board members was in complete shock as Grinder went directly across the room. There was a lone laptop with an external hard drive attached to a cable. Without any question, Grinder grabbed both the laptop and hard drive as the crew shot the board members with the electro rounds.
Once that was over, they walked back to the same elevator and pressed the button to get back down to the ground floor. They were more than ready to get out of this city.
The door was opened to show Harson ready to get on the move. Grinder passed the stuff to him as they stayed in place while Wolfe reset the ECM to get past the camera. Each member had their weapons hang off their straps as the Pilsen nightmare was over.
"Alright, I'll take the data and you go erase the security footage," Harson said as he looked outside of back entrance.
Confused, Crescent walked in front of the crew. "No, that wasn't the plan, don't change things up, man."
Harson stared at the crew as he walked into the path of the camera. The crew stared at him while Grinder was perplexed by his companion. With that, Harson drew a pistol and fired a handgun at the ceiling in full view of the camera. He pointed it at the Payday Gang. "There slick, now I call the shots!"
"What are you doing Matt!?" Grinder placed his back to the wall as the rest of the crew drew their weapons.
Harson opened the door and a dumpster blocked the way. The Payday gang rushed to the door to see Harson walking away with a middle finger as he entered a van.
Grinder beat his fist into the glass. "Mathew!"