Chapter Seven
July 5th, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Northside, Second Guard Factoy
Chamber observed her Spartan quietly. His breath was steady, posture firm as steel, and eyes focused with an unwavering determination. Visually speaking, he was in perfect physical shape, and yet she still worried.
Cyrus was pushing himself to the limit.
Of all the Spartans in Beta company, Cyrus was the most reasonable. Never willing to compromise anything or anyone because he was inflexible in his approach or tactics. Of the three Spartans in Reaper Team, Cyrus was the temperamental voice that knew when to be passive and aggressive in the field.
For all of Cyrus's rational and reasonable motivations, even he had his moments of unrelenting tenacity.
The last three days were a prime example.
They were supposed to beat feet back to Parker's camp to restock and plan out their next move, but Cyrus refused to budge an inch. Instead, he unleashed his unyielding anger on the closest Maelstrom station.
It was a bar nestled in the Northern parts of Kabuki. Maelstrom frequently attended the lounge for little more than a drink and idle conversation. It possessed no tactical or strategic importance, acting as little more than a gathering point for Maelstrom. Then again, Chamber knew that's exactly what he wanted.
The second Maelstrom station to be attacked was a second harvesting station. The ripperdoc running the site was also responsible for the harvesting center residing in the abandoned Militech Facility. The Maelstrom ripperdocs begged for his life like the coward he was, but his worries were null and void when his spin was ripped out.
Cyrus's bloodlust was consuming him, and there was nothing she could do to help him appease it. A Spartan's fury could only ever be tamed by time alone. It needed to be appeased slowly and deliberately. There was no positive outcome to snuffing out a Spartan's anger forcibly. You'd only enrage them further.
The Headhunter launched a campaign of escalating and brutal violence against the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom bar and the harvesting station was just one of many affiliated locations that suffered from the Spartan's wrath. Buildings were burned to the ground, gangers were being torn apart limb for limb, and the body count was soaring to unnatural levels. The count was reaching astronomical levels that it would undoubtedly draw the attention of other Night City factions.
Their previous raids on Maelstrom locations were organized and swift. Objectives were achieved, leadership was massacred, and survivors were allowed to flee to sow confusion and fear. Now, all manner of tactical understanding was replaced by brute force and carnal fury.
Before the events of July 3rd, there was a total of 65 Maelstrom strongholds and stations left in Night City. By the end of the night on July 5th, there was only one isolated Stronghold left unmolested. Many of the installations destroyed were done so by Cyrus. A select few had been abandoned.
A gang that had numbered in the thousands at one point in their history was butchered to barely a few hundred souls. Souls that were utterly terrified of what would come next.
Once word passed down that the Maelstrom were being hunted like dogs, the surviving gangers ran for the Second Guard Factory. Maelstrom's leadership was left hamstrung in its ability to respond. They could not instill any direction or organization in their battered forces. All who populated the Second Guard Factory now cowered in fear behind its impregnable walls.
The fortifications did little in providing adequate protection against the capabilities of a Spartan III. The factory's main gate was laid low by the Spartans' inhuman strength. The rabble of Maelstrom thugs that responded were ruthlessly cut down in a storm of lead and superhuman strength. Skulls were crush, hearts were pulverized, and projectiles pierced the bodies of Maelstrom gangers.
Chamber knew that there would be dire repercussions for their actions this night. She could only hope to survive the coming storm.
A Maelstrom ganger vainly attempted to crawl away from the Spartans' assault. Fear and desperation pushed his natural survival instincts. Synthetic blood trailed his crippled form, even as the lower left part of his leg hung from its severed tendons.
Chaos and destruction were all that was left around him. The bodies of his brothers and sisters littered the grounds of their final Stronghold. Royce, the coward, was still hiding away in his fortress. The ganger laughed to himself even as his vision turned black. The defenses would not halt the relentless drive of the monster now ravaging his gang.
A corpse was deposited to his right, drawing the ganger's attention. It was his former Captain if the advanced cybernetics and Mantis blades were anything to go by. His jaw was barely hanging off his face, and his mantis blades had been ripped from his forearms and lodged directly into his sternum.
A cruel and torturous end that left the barely alive thug contemplating his demise. What would have become of his life if he had chosen to finish high school and followed the wishes of his long-deceased parents.
Those thoughts were cut short when a large boot flipped him on his back—severing the connection of his already dangling leg from his knee. The excruciating pain was stifled only by the terrifying black helmet of the mechanical beast that laid waste to his gang.
"WAIT!" Arms raised in a trivial attempt at survival. "HAVE MERCY!"
"All out of mercy." A synthesized voice filled with potent lethality answered him before the ganger's vision was filled with the Spartans' foot. A force of a thousand men crushed the cyborg's head, leaving nothing but blood and brain matter.
"Chamber. Have you tapped into their security system yet?" Cyrus wiped the bottom of his foot onto the gravel floor below. Stepping over another Maelstrom ganger's body, the Spartan pushed towards the Second Guard Factory's main entrance.
"Almost. The factory's security system is more advanced than I'm used to dealing with. I'll have it down momentarily."
Cyrus planted a C9 Explosive device to the main gate, setting a quick thirty-second timer before walking away from the blast zone. The Headhunter ejected the spent cartridge inside his Copperhead and inserted a fresh magazine. He hadn't gone on a resupply run in days, forcing the Spartan to scavenge from the often dismembered bodies of Maelstrom thugs.
His rage had yet to subside. It was instead cooled itself into a focused and regularly potent violence. Chamber did a quick count of remaining Maelstrom forces in the area and reached a total number of seventy-five active personnel. Fifty of them were defending the main gate, while the final twenty-five personnel were evenly spread out through the rest of the Maelstrom factory.
Chamber had little doubt that Royce and his personal guard were mixed in somewhere in between. Cyrus had yet to encounter Maelstroms' elite forces. Royce's personal guard never left his side after the All Foods plant disaster. After the incident, the man was so paranoid that he kept his most elite and dangerous unit's mere feet from his location. The Headhunter was eager to put their lethality to the ultimate test.
A single clap of thunder reverberated across the facility as the main gate imploded inwards, revealing the dozens of Maelstrom gangers cowering inside. Several of the Maelstrom guarding the main entrance were thrown from their fortified positions and left exposed to the Spartans' assault.
Ten Maelstrom lives were cut short by the Spartan's vicious assault into the Maelstrom stronghold. When the Headhunter crossed into the entryway, a duo of large-caliber machinegun fire opened upon him from an elevated position. Several explosives tipped rounds blasted his frame, shattering upon his energy shields with lethal intent.
"Two M-60D machine guns. Walkway twelve o'clock." Cyrus rolled to his right, taking cover behind a makeshift barrier that was being pelted with shells. "Shields at sixty percent!"
"Chamber need tactical options now!" The Spartan popped his head out of cover and fired five rapid shots from his Copperhead. Three Maelstrom attempting a bull rush on the Spartan's position were killed in quick succession.
Cyrus let his adrenaline flow, and time itself slowed to a snail's pace. He stood and observed his targets; Fifteen Maelstrom total, six were clumped together in a mass of frightened bodies. The Headhunter raised his Copperhead, and the rifle barked a single high powered round. Catching a Maelstrom ganger in the right cheek before they hit the ground.
Cyrus exhaled, lined up his shots, and pulled the trigger eight times in rapid succession. Eight Maelstrom heads jerked and exploded in a mist of red before they hit the floor. Cyrus was forced back into cover when the M-60's fire intensified.
"Shields at forty percent!" Chamber advised.
Another Maelstrom attempted to sneak behind him, only to be thwarted by a burst of gunfire from Cyrus's Copperhead. The Headhunter turned his attention back to the primary collection of Maelstrom. He was mowing down an overzealous and most likely drugged up group of Berserkers.
"Chamber!"
"Got it! Uploading data now!"
Cyrus watched his HUD light up with a burst of activity. Dozens of tactical options outlined in green filled his environment, each categorized by percentage of survivability. His mind quickly disregarded the options with little chance of success before selecting a dangerous and aggressive maneuver.
"Cyrus, are you serious!"
"Yes." Cyrus ripped the makeshift fortification he was using for cover straight off its hinges in a feat of superhuman strength. Lifting the barrier with both hands, the Headhunter used the concrete object as a battering ram. He was smashing and brutalizing dozens of Maelstrom guards that had the unfortunate luck of being in his way. When he was within fifty feet of the Maelstrom heavy gunners, he threw the barrier in their direction.
The Maelstrom gunners stared in stunned shock, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed even as the barrier smashed through their bodies. In one fell swoop, the Spartan drew his two Lexington pistols firing off ten shots and killing half as many Maelstrom guards.
A trio of Maelstrom drew closer to his position as the gun battle intensified. He focused his fire, but the shields didn't drop fast enough.
Running to his right, the Spartan kicked out his left foot crushing a Maelstrom gunner's torso. The gunner's body went hurtling back into a far wall, barely missing a Maelstrom Lieutenant as he ducked underneath his flying comrade.
The Spartan ducked a slash from a Berserker, narrowly dodging a Mantis Blade aimed at his head before he snapped the man's hand with a brutal downward strike. The strike shattered the berserker's left forearm leaving him open to a Lexington stuck into his mouth. Cyrus pulled the trigger, watching as skull fragments and blood burst out the back of his head. Cybernetic eyes that were bright with life faltered, and the cyborg fell in a heap.
Two shots rang out from Cyrus's Copperhead. Two more Maelstrom thugs had gone down as fast as it happened. Heavy gunfire drew his attention and forced him to find temporary cover.
More Maelstrom advanced on his location, and he fired back with barely a flinch. One Maelstrom had been trying to pull his buddy behind cover in a foolish attempt at saving his fellow ganger's life. His selfless act was rewarded with a bullet shattering his cybernetic eye and the end of his wretched life.
Cyrus pushed the remaining Maelstrom back, forcing them to retreat down a single corridor that leads to the assembly area. His left hand reached behind for his Kukri after holstering one of his Lexington's.
Keeping his weight balanced, he adjusted the grip on his Lexington and aimed down the corridor. He caught a Maelstrom guard in the side as a bullet cut through his back. Cyrus fired two more times, resulting in a duo of Maelstrom hitting the ground dead.
"Thirty contacts remaining," Chamber stated. "I'm in their system. Cyber defenses down, I'm in control of the factory subroutines and cameras. Can't provide too much assistance in combat, but I will keep you updated."
Chamber was irritated that the same tactics they employed at the Militech facility were useless this time around. Her suggestion to use the factory's Battle Mechs against them was null and void when they arrived. The Maelstrom had adapted to their strategy easily by ripping the processors out of their mechs and auto-turrets. Cyrus thankfully didn't say a word.
"Lockdown every exit out of this place," Cyrus spoke with finality. "No one leaves."
"Understood."
Cyrus came upon one of the final barriers to his subjugation of the Maelstrom gang. A thick six-inch steel door protected Royce and what remained of his men in the Factory Assembly area.
The Headhunter cooled his nerves. His body felt like a coiled snake ready to lash at the nearest living thing. Years of training and experience prepared to be let loose upon the Maelstrom with brutal intent. Retrieving his final explosive, Cyrus planted it directly onto the assembly door.
"Chamber." His partner's attention was drawn back to him. "Shut the lights off on my mark. Sync."
"Sync." The AI replied.
"3." Cyrus's grip on his Kukri and Lexington tightened. Adrenaline pumped through his system. Muscles tightened in response to a flow of chemicals and protein. Where his mind would routinely be a blank slate, an image cropped into his head. The desolate remains of violated human bodies harvested for all their worth stuck into the front of his consciousness.
"2." Clearing his mind of distractions and unwanted reminders. His grip and posture relaxed instantaneously.
"1….Mark!"
The C9 explosive charge countdown reached zero, lighting a fuse of wires that ignited a violent explosion. The corridor lit up in an overwhelming blast of shrapnel and smoke. Gunfire erupted in a storm of hot lead, pinging off the Headhunters shields as he charged in headfirst. A Maelstrom ganger attempted to blast Cyrus with a Carnage, but the Spartan's Kukri was embedded into the top of his skull. Cyrus wretched the blade from the thug's head and sliced the throat of a companion a few feet to the left.
"SON OF A BITCH!" A Maelstrom thug exclaimed as his allies' head exploded next to him.
"KEEP FUCKING FIRING!"
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!"
The remaining Maelstrom guards in the Assembly Area were letting loose a fresh volley of ammunition, when the power to the factory suddenly shut off. Heavy boots impacted the ground, spooking the Maelstrom thugs. They opened fire in all directions missing the Spartan by meters. The flash of gun barrels was the only source of light in the Assembly area.
"WHERE IS HE!"
"I CAN'T SEE HIM!"
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" A Maelstrom Lieutenant attempted to organize the mass of frightened gangers by activating a flashlight attached to his Copperhead. "TURN YOU'RE LIGHTS ON! NOW!"
Torches lit up the Assembly area in an unorganized mass of light. Heavy breathing was heard from each of the guards, and their hearts started to beat in their cybernetic heads. The beats turned to heavy pounding, and their hearts went still when a torch went out and a wet gurgle resonated.
The Maelstrom Lieutenant fell to the ground in a heap, frightening the thugs back into a frenzy. Muzzle flashes and torches were the only illuminations in the darkened corridor. Every time a Maelstrom fired their rifle, Cyrus added a new notch to his ever-growing kill number. One Maelstrom guard was so terrified that he blasted one of his comrades in the back, sowing even more confusion and terror.
"RUN!" A ganger panicked, running in a random direction when two rounds entered the back of his knees. A scream of pain escaped his lips as he began to crawl towards a door. Synthetic blood seeped from his targeted limb as he dragged himself towards what he hoped was salvation. A salvation that was snuffed out when a third bullet impacted the back of his skull.
Cyrus reloaded his Lexington and fired two more shots killing a duo of Maelstrom firing in the wrong direction. The Headhunter engaged five more Maelstrom thugs with a deadly combination of Kukri slashes and Lexington bullets. One ganger dropped to his knees and prayed to the god he abandoned long ago. Cyrus hastened his meeting with the almighty with a shell piercing his drug-addled brain.
Cyrus advanced towards two more Maelstrom gangers that were back to back, firing their weapons wildly.
"WHERE IS HE? I CAN'T SEE HIM!"
"NEITHER CAN I STAY CLOSE!" A loud bang alerted one of the Maelstrom thugs.
"HEY! DID YOU HEAR THAT." Silence.
"CARLOS!" Turning around frantically, the Maelstrom noticed his friend missing, and the only thing around him were the corpses of his comrades.
"WHERE ARE YOU!?" The Spartan practically materialized behind him like a ghost.
"HERE." Cyrus's arm now wrapped around the neck of the Maelstrom thug. With an effortless heave, the Headhunter snapped the man's neck in half. The body dropped without ceremony, and Cyrus cleared the rest of the Assembly area, butchering all in his path.
Soon the number of living occupants in the darkened Assembly Area was down to just him. There was nothing left to slow the Spartan's progress towards Royce and his Elite Guard. They had yet to make an appearance and were more likely taking shelter in his inner sanctum. Content to let the pawns die first before he sent in the rest. Swiftly turning around, Chamber marked out a path to the final room to the Arms Factory. Cyrus pushed down a long, seemingly empty corridor. When His motion tracker picked up movement to his right, he quickly aimed his Lexington at the assailant.
"WAIT PLEASE, I'M JUST A-." A single shot from the Spartans Lexington silenced his useless groveling.
"Eight Contacts remaining," Chamber stated quietly. "Royce is just past those doors."
Cyrus walked the path like a shadow. His thoughts eventually went back to the harvesting center. A thought that plagued him constantly since leaving the processing center. After several moments of peace, he stepped up to the door; as he approached, the doors slid open. Eyes finally rested on the hulking frame of the Maelstrom leader Royce.
He was a mountain of a man standing just a foot or two short of the Spartan's height. Surrounding him were his most capable men and women. Cybernetic implants littered their bodies, and almost all of them carried Tech weapons.
"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU CAME FROM, BUT YOU WILL DIE TONIGHT." The mechanical voice of the Maelstrom Leader said. "I AM GOING TO MAKE YOUR LAST MOMENTS MEMORABLE TO THAT ROBOTIC HEAD OF YOURS."
Cyrus narrowed his eyes dangerously. He tuned out the cyborg's threats and stepped towards the last members of the Maelstrom gang. Royce sneered at the Spartan with an expression of genuine hate.
"KILL THE FUCKER!" Royce's Elite guard launched themselves at the Headhunter. Cyrus readjusted the grip on his Kukri. He was going to enjoy this.
A Maelstrom Bloodhound sneered at the Spartan in unrestrained disgust before sprinting along the side of an overhead walkway. The women hurled two sets of electrified tantos intending to pierce the Spartans head, but he narrowly ducked underneath the projectiles.
She sidestepped five shots from Cyrus's Lexington, swinging her Mantis Blades with the force of ten men. Cyrus fired three more shots, but the woman dodged it, aiming her Mantis to slice through his armed limb. Cyrus let go of his Lexington and blocked a secondary stab at his chest.
An ill-advised third stab attempt allowed the Spartan to grasp one of the Mantis blades firmly. Lethal electrical currents traveled through the Spartans body, even as she attempted to wrestle her Mantis back. The Bloodhound was only saved momentarily by another teammate bearing modified Gorilla arms. The Maelstrom threw a strike at the Spartans ribcage, but he was batted away with a punch that crushed his sternum before Cyrus Kukri found a resting spot in the man's head.
The Female Bloodhound used her free blade to swipe at the Spartans right arm, sparking MJOLNIR's energy shield. Cyrus let go of the Mantis blade and kicked off the Maelstrom Elite, sending her body into the Far wall. A loud crunch reverberated from the Maelstroms impact with the wall, and blood pooled from her mouth.
"Shields sixty percent and falling!" Gunfire smashed against the Headhunters shields as the remaining elite guards fired on him. Cyrus sprinted forward, jumping over a Male Bloodhound and parrying a Mantis Blade strike in the process.
Three Bloodhounds bombarded the Headhunter in a well-coordinated storm of Mantis Blades and Gorilla arms. Cyrus dodged and parried most of the strikes, allowing a minimal few to impact his shiels. However, he was unable to launch a proper counterattack. The Bloodhounds were able to keep him off balance and on the defensive. Every strike was followed immediately by another assault.
A Maelstrom Bloodhound took a knee while his fellows engaged the Spartan. Moments later, Chamber felt something prod at the suit's firmware. This was the first time she had to combat a cyberattack on MJOLNIR when she hadn't needed to before. The AI quickly realized that the technician was using the suit's connection to their servers as a bridge to the MJOLNIR armor.
"Oh no, you don't." Chamber used the connection to fight off the Maelstroms cyber-attack and retaliate with her own cyber assault. Mere seconds later, the Maelstroms cyberware overheated, eyes burning out of his sockets and screams echoing through the corridor.
A Bloodhound launched a spin kick. Cyrus leaned away from the snap-kick, throwing a haymaker in retaliation. The Bloodhound dodged the strike and countered with a kick to the shoulder that bounced off the Spartan harmlessly. Cyrus threw a feint followed by an elbow strike to the Bloodhounds face crushing her visor and forcing her back with a scream.
"REGROUP!"
The rest of the Bloodhounds regrouped quickly, firing off a barrage of projectiles from their Tech weapons and giving time for the Maelstrom with a cracked visor to draw a Thermal Katana.
The Headhunter dodged and weaved between the bullets with inhuman agility, falling upon the Bloodhound he engaged earlier. She swiped her blade at the Spartans torso, each time missing him by mere inches. On the final assault, another Maelstrom Elite vaulted over her and delivered a barrage of gunfire straight into the Headhunter's face.
Cyrus tanked the damage and stepped forward, delivering a soul crunching strike to the Bloodhounds torso. Smashing through his armor and shattering his sternum. The Maelstrom Elite flew through the air like a missile, landing inches from Royce, who sneered at his dead subordinate.
"GODDAMNIT!" Drawing his weapon, the Maelstrom Leader let loose a hail of machine gunfire. Cyrus reacted quickly, disarming the Katana wielding Bloodhound and using her body to block the heavy caliber rounds. His human shield was withered with bullets and died within moments. Tossing the corpse to the side, Cyrus dodged to the left, throwing a flash grenade in the process.
The grenade fell at the feet of Royce, and the Maelstrom leader quickly turned his eyes away. Two of his Bloodhounds were not so lucky, and a white screen clouded their vision.
Cyrus drew his secondary Lexington and lined the sight up quickly, firing four times into the chest of a Female Bloodhound. The Bloodhound tried to find her feet as she stumbled back with a furious sneer. The Headhunter fired a fifth shot that went through her right eye socket and blasting synthetic blood out the back of her head.
Cyrus switched to his next target, who tried to retaliate with a round from his Achilles. The Maelstrom was shaking in fear as he looked at all his comrades around, eyes clenched before firing off two shells that impacted the Spartans shields. Cyrus ignored the ballistic projectiles and squeezed the trigger.
The Maelstroms left knee was blasted into pieces, and as the Bloodhound fell in pain, the Spartan burst forward with incredible speed. The Headhunters right hand wrapped around the skull of the Maelstrom, lifting the Bloodhound off his feet. Keeping his momentum ahead, the Headhunter slammed the Maelstroms head into the concrete floor. The skull fractured and imploded from the sheer kinetic energy, splattering the floor in Synthetic blood.
Within minutes the corridor that once contained nine lives was cut down to two.
Silence reigned as Royce stared in furious disbelief. His entire life, he had worked his ass off to become the leader of the Maelstrom, and in mere weeks it had all come crashing down. Simon Randall's red eyes took in the Spartan's form. Fury did not come close to what the Maelstrom leader was feeling.
"WHAT ARE YOU!?"
The Headhunter said nothing, instead choosing to fire the last remaining shot of his Lexington in the air before dropping the Lexington. Royce stared in wonderment at the Spartan's actions, hands still grasping the machine gun in his hands.
Kneeling deliberately, the Spartan removed his Kukri and Copperhead before laying both weapons gently on the floor. By now, Royce began to understand the Mech's actions. He means to kill him with his bare hands.
"OK TOUGH GUY. YOU WANNA PLAY? LET'S PLAY!" Royce let loose a barrage of hot lead.
Cyrus charged straight towards the hulking cyborg, paying little attention to his shields or Chambers warnings. The Headhunter reached Royce within moments, and the Maelstrom Leader retaliated with an overhead strike with his machinegun. Cyrus dodged the strike with practiced ease and snatched the weapon from the Maelstrom Leaders' hands.
Breaking the machine gun over his knees, the Spartan advanced on Royce. He was unleashing a storm of kicks and punches, each impacting against the Maelstroms body with bone-crunching strength. Royce attempted to enact his own assault, but the pure speed of the Headhunter left him bewildered and off-balance. A single strike to his abdomen shattered the Cyborgs ribs, while a snap-kick to his shoulder separated an arm from its socket.
A final brutal uppercut ended the one-sided battle. Shattering his jaw and leaving the Maelstrom leader broken and helpless. Cyrus, satisfied with his inflicted damage, turned his back on the Maelstrom leader and retrieved his Lexington. In a final desperate act of salvation, Royce pulled a Unity pistol from his side and fired relentlessly at the Headhunter.
The unity's bullets did insignificant damage to the Spartan's shields. They were bouncing off with all the penetrating capability of wet paper. Eventually, the ammo was spent, and Royce was left with nothing but the audible click of an empty weapon.
Cyrus loaded a fresh magazine into the Lexington before firing off a single round that embedded itself in his right shoulder. Even with a broken jaw, the Maelstrom leader was still able to scream in pain. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I'LL RIP YOU'RE BATTERIES OUT!"
The Headhunter pulled the trigger again, this time hitting the opposite shoulder leaving the Maelstrom leader with gaping holes in both limbs. Cyrus stalked around Royce, torturing the Maelstrom Leader with hot lead piercing his cybernetic body. Pain became indescribable, and eyes widened in terror. As the Maelstrom Leader came to terms with his own mortality, the ganger leader doubled down, refusing to back down.
"YOU THINK YOU ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING. WORSE GUYS THAN ME RUN THIS CITY. WRAITHS, TYGER CLAWS, VOODOO BOYS, VALENTINOS! YOU AINT SHIT TO THEM!" The Headhunter responded by snatching Royce by the top of his head, lifting him onto his knees. Cyrus's hands entered the Maelstrom Leaders mouth, subtly ripping them apart farther than the human mouth could open in one brutal act of aggression.
"Don't worry," Cyrus replied with a frigid tone. "They're next."
"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! I CAN-!"
With a great heave of tenacious cruelty, the Spartan ripped Royce's cybernetic jaw clean off his head. Red and synthetic blood poured like a fountain out of the Maelstrom leader's mouth. Taking the cybernetic jaw in his right hand, Cyrus used it as a hammer, slamming it into the top of Royce's head and piercing the Maelstrom leader's skull with a sickening crunch.
Satisfied with his damage, the Spartan stepped to the side, allowing the deceased Maelstrom Leaders corpse to fall on its face, body flopping on the ground like a dead fish.
The Headhunter's crusade against the Maelstrom was over, but there was one final objective to complete. His vengeance was not yet finished. There was one last location that required his attention.
But first, a message had to be sent.
July 6th, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Kabuki, Kabuki Favela
With the subjugation of the Maelstrom gang at hand, Cyrus had one final objective to complete.
Fifty Kilometers south of the Maelstrom gangs burning remains was a scavenger gang. It was cloaked in the shadows and alleyways of Night City's largest and most dangerous favela. There were at least forty different murders that took place in this sprawling shantytown a week. People went missing in the favela every day, taken by thugs looking to have a good time or worse, scavengers interested in all their body parts.
This particular scavenger gang was called the Red Sons. Kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, and mutilation were the Red Son's usual Modus Operandi. Their victims, or "donors" as Scavs call them, are often never found again. Their bodies were either torn bit by bit or sold to interested parties.
Much like any other scavenger gang, the Red Sons harvested cyberware and organs to be sold on the sprawling Night City Black Market. It was nearly impossible to find leftovers or evidence outside of their hideouts. They were either dumped, burned or left to fodder for the rats in the Night City sewers.
Cyrus was hunting them for one singular purpose, and the Red Sons were the Scavengers who abducted the child he found in the harvesting Station. Her name was Annabeth Prescott, the daughter of a teacher and a police officer. Her parents had reported her missing for a week before he had found her.
Chamber gave him the address to Annabeth's home, and when he arrived at the grieving couple's door, he deposited a simple object at its base. A pendant with Annabeth's name and picture inside of it, Cyrus had found it clutched into her hand. Words alone would not heal their sorrow, so the Spartan chose to satisfy it the only way he knew how.
Vengeance. The Red Sons would meet the same brutal fate as the Maelstrom.
"Cyrus." Chamber's voice startled him. "We need to head back."
The Headhunter understood his AI's desires. She wanted him to head back to camp and relax, and he'd been strung up on a tight rope for the last few days. The Headhunter had not been taking care of his body ever since his escape from Arasaka Tower. Running on the bare necessities and getting a minimal amount of sleep. Chamber knew his limits and knew him better than anyone.
"We will," Cyrus replied. "But we have one more place to visit."
Standing on his feet, Cyrus asked his Partner one final question. "Are you with me?"
"Always."
Cyrus fell upon the Red Sons like a shadow, tearing into the poor slobs who were selected to stand guard outside their hideout that night.
By the time he breached the compound, six Red Son scavengers had laid dead at their entrance, bodies broken by the Spartan's brutal assault. The hideout's entryway was a long corridor fifty meters long, with rooms spread evenly on either side. The rooms served the Red Sons as barracks, where they slept in blissful ignorance.
Swift slashes of his Kukri pierced the necks of eight more Red Sons sleeping in their bunks. A Scavenger attempted to flee down a corridor to the kitchen when he stumbled upon one of his dead comrades. His screams alerted the rest of the Red Sons of the Spartan's presence after his right foot was mutilated from the rest of his body.
"What the fuck's going on!"
Four Red Son's burst out of their barracks with all the grace of drunken fools. Each received a greeting in the form of hot lead. A mist of blood erupted from each scavenger's cybernetic head resulting in a pileup of bodies in the main hallway Cyrus had to stepover.
As the rest of the Red Son's armed themselves for battle, the hallway played host to a bloody confrontation between Spartan and Scavengers. Needless to say, the Red Sons were hopelessly outclassed by the UNSC Super Soldier.
The Red Sons put up even less of a fight than the Maelstrom. Once a decent chunk of them hit the floor, bleeding out of their mortal wounds, the rest scattered like cockroaches. They had nowhere to run, and before the Spartan knew it, the Red Son's had joined the Maelstrom as a footnote in history.
The Spartan was surveying a holding area, eerily similar to the harvesting center that the Maelstrom possessed at the Processing Facility. The difference here was they kept their captives on ice, some of which were alive. Most victims, however, were dead, and the cold water saved their organs from failing and rendering them obsolete for profit. He was clearing out a makeshift control room with access to the hideout's cameras and data files. Chamber was fragging and obtaining data while Cyrus pulled security when movement was detected outside.
"Vehicle approaching," Chamber spoke a moment later. "Two contacts exiting the vehicle."
"Identify."
"Analyzing." Cyrus paused for a moment weighing his options on how to deal with this new dilemma. "Judy Alvarez, twenty-five years of age. Mox Technician wanted for participation in an Illegal Protest and resisting arrest."
"And the second one?" Cyrus turned his attention to the vacant hallway to regard the security cameras.
"Valerie Vargas, twenty-seven years of age, Mercenary. Well connected, wanted by Arasaka Security Forces. Reason unknown." Chamber replied. "I'm picking up an odd reading off her. I can't describe it to you, but there is something wrong with Miss Vargas. I can tell you that much."
"Are they a problem?"
"Not for us." Chamber chuckled. "I recommend we observe but do not admire. If there hear to find a friend well, I say we cut them some slack. If there hear to sell to the Red Sons, I'll let you decide."
Cyrus agreed with Chamber's assessment, retrieving her data chip and inserting her back into his MJOLNIR. The Spartan's frame melted back into the comfortable and familiar shadows. Unaware that this would be one of many interactions with one of the most infamous Night City Mercenaries in history.
Honestly not my favorite chapter of the bunch, but I am happy that I was able to finish this Maelstrom Arc. V's involvement will start in the next chapter and her interactions with Cyrus will be interesting to see.
Reviews:
no169: Pairings are a possibility, but I have not decided any yet.
ptl: No covenant unfortunately, I have no desire of bringing in more halo elements.