Chapter Eleven
July 15th, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Badlands, Jackson Plains
The human race was no stranger to War. No stranger to bloodshed.
In the beginning, when battle commenced, it was to the sound of beating war drums. As humanity advance in technology, so did the means of warfare and sound. Drums turned to trumpets, trumpets turned to whistles, and whistles turned into the crack of gunpowder rifles.
So, it was no surprise when the Headhunter's own conflict in Jackson Plains began with an ear-splitting explosion. The Kang Tao transports were scattered all across the desert, forcing Cyrus to maneuver through rugged terrain to reach the nearest landing zone. The sun was rising, and there was not a cloud in sight, making stealth inadvisable and limiting his engagement options.
This would be a straight-up fight, something Cyrus was not used to even giving his adversaries. Shrubs of grass and jagged rocks littered the landscape providing the Headhunter decent concealment and cover. Chamber went to work searching local radio waves for the Kang Tao communications network.
While she did her job, Cyrus committed to his. The Headhunter reached the first Kang Tao transport minutes after shooting down the struggling AV. His motion tracker detected fifteen contacts on the other side of a cluster of rocks.
The mercenaries took to standard military tactics when it came to 'unplanned' landings. The survivors were already pushing towards the other crash sites at a quickened pace. He wasn't interested in the standard Mercs. He needed to find out where the Nightstalkers were moving.
"Chamber," The Headhunter called out. "Need their comms and location."
"Just a moment," Chamber replied. "Done."
His audio receptors came to life as Mercenary voices began filtering into his helmet. Cyrus trailed after the Kang Tao Mercs as they pushed North to a second crash site. Chamber sent Panam and V a data feed, giving them the Kang Tao communication network and troop displacement.
"Viking, this is Hazel Three. We are pushing for Rally Point Omega now. Pilots and Mechs are KIA. Over."
"Hazel Three, this is Viking. Solid copy, Hazel One and Hazel Two is already at Rally Point Omega. Double time it to the RV point. Over."
"Viking, this is Hazel 3. Solid copy, give us five mikes. Out." Cyrus noted the callsigns in the field, Hazel was the Infantry squads, and Viking was the Nightstalker callsign. No designation or mention of Hellman as of yet.
"Cyrus." The Headhunter was moving parallel to Hazel Three when Chamber caught his attention. "V's on comms."
"What is it, Vargas?" The Mercenary's tone was frantic.
"Cyrus, you need to get to the Rally Point now!"
"I'm trailing a Merc squad to the location. What's the rush?" Cyrus ducked beneath a piece of foliage.
"The Aldecaldos are walking straight into the Kang Tao crash site. They need back up now!" Cyrus cursed under his breath.
"Understood." Cyrus broke off from the mercenary squad, running at his highest speed to reach the Rally Point.
"Viking, this is Hazel Two. We have contacts approaching from the South. Please advise. Over."
"Hazel Two, this is Viking. Eliminate the contacts, leave no witnesses. Over." Cyrus was running out of time. Vaulting over a boulder, the Headhunter was too far for his liking.
"Viking, this is Hazel Two. Solid copy engaging now. Out." An orchestra of gunfire echoed through the desert. The Headhunter's legs found new life thanks to the sound of chattering firearms. A map of the region popped up to his HUD's right, mapping out the Kang Tao and Aldecaldo approximate locations.
"Vargas, what's your location?" V got back to him in seconds.
"Four minutes out!" V replied. "How far are you?"
"Two minutes," The Spartan answered. "Do you have the Aldecaldo radio channel?"
"Yeah, Panam's synced in, but we can't reach them. Signal's bouncing all over the valley." Cyrus switched his attention to Chamber, running past a field of cactus.
"Chamber boost Panam's radio signal!"
"On it!" A moment later, Chamber got back to him. "Got it, they should be receiving now!"
"Vargas, can you reach them now?" V's voice sputtered over the comm channel.
"Yeah, we're receiving, how did you-." Cyrus interrupted her question.
"No time. I'm approaching from the South; make sure they don't shoot at me." The Headhunter vaulted over a pack of coyotes. The mother howled at the Spartan as he came inches from crushing her babies.
It was a race against the clock, the Aldecaldos may not be his friends, but they were not his enemies either. For Cyrus, that was enough reason to assist them. He just hoped he would get there in time.
Mitch couldn't understand how this day went so wrong so fast. He'd been having a good week so far, completed some gigs for the family, he got to see Panam again, Scorpion wasn't a pain in the ass.
So how the hell did he end up in a firefight with Kang Tao Mercenaries. The Aldecaldo supposed it was because of his curiosity, he and his fellow nomads witnessed an AV get shot out of the sky, and they went to investigate. Either to help survivors or scavenge the crashed AV's. Scorpion took four nomads on ahead to investigate, and it only took a minute to find out why.
The gunfire was a dead giveaway; Mitch and the rest of the nomads raced into the gunfire. They joined Scorpion and his crew in a pitched and intense firefight with clearly agitated Kang Tao Mercs.
"Get down!"
Mitch dove to his right, face smacking the desert floor-filling his mouth with grains of sand. An explosion threw up grains of sand and dirt into the sky, covering the Aldecaldo in a sheet of dust. The Nomad who called out the warning was rewarded with a bullet through his right shoulder. The Nomads that hit the ground found their feet and opened fire on the Mercs who tossed the grenade.
Bolts of tracer rounds flashed above his head, saturating the air with the sound of hot lead. Mitch drew his Ajax and fired off a burst of rounds at a Kang Tao gunner, blasting the Merc's face in a shower of blood. Scorpion slid next to the Aldecaldo, bullets kicking up sand all around him.
"So, we're fucked." Mitch gave his friend a scathing look. Even if the asshole was right, it didn't mean Mitch wanted to hear it out of him.
"We wouldn't be here if you hadn't run off!" Mitch watched a Nomad shoot down a Kang Tao Merc with a blast from his Nekomata. "Rick! Rick! Fall back to the rear, see if you can pick these guys off!"
Rick, the group's sniper, beat feet to the rear of the Nomad's staggered formation. He was passing a trio of his companions, providing accurate covering fire in return. The Aldecaldo's only numbered ten now, they used to have fourteen, but the Kang Tao Mercs we're responsible for the reduction in numbers.
"Hey! I did not know they were Mercs, ok." Scorpion popped from cover, pinning down a group of Mercs taking cover behind a cluster of rocks.
"Tell that to Jacob and Yurik!" The Aldecaldo Veteran scolded. "Now shut up and keep firing!"
Mitch shuffled to his left, settling his lower body in a kneeling position. Shouldering his Ajax, the Veteran fired off another burst of lead, piercing the armor of a Battle Mech. The Mech's central processor malfunctioned, causing it to fall backward while still firing its rifle. The Mech's rifle cracked the skull of a Merc before the magazine on its Copperhead ran empty.
The firefight grew in intensity as both sides traded blows. An Aldecaldo Nomad had their head taken clean off by the M-91 Sentry Gun deployed from the AV-16 a hundred Meters from the Nomad's position. When Mitch deployed his men to assist Scorpion and his group, he inadvertently put them in a precarious position.
The jagged rocks served as cover for protection but also barriers that made disengagement back to their vehicles impossible. The AV-16s turret kept them all pinned in the rocks forcing the Nomad's to engage in a brutal slog with the Kang Tao Mercs. During the gun battle, Mercenary's pushed their position, separating them from their vehicles.
Mitch saw Nightstalkers among their number, but they hadn't committed to the engagement and instead hijacked their vehicles and pushed to the North. The Veteran was confident that they were escorting a Corpo suit, but he had other problems to worry about.
"Mitch, do you copy?!" The Aldecaldo's comm feed lit up, and Mitch let out a sigh of relief.
"Panam!" Mitch exclaimed. "Damn, it's good to hear your voice, girl. I could really use some back up right about now.
"Don't worry, we're almost there," Panam replied. "We'll be coming in from the west, but we also have backup coming in from the South. Do not shoot him!"
"What does he look like?" The Veteran inquired. "Would be a shame to shoot him on accident." Mitch heard Panam chuckle at his inquiry.
"Don't worry, Mitch. You'll know when you see him."
An incredulous look crossed his face, even as he relayed the information to the rest of the Nomads. Scorpion was grinning ear to ear, having heard Mitch's conversation with his favorite sister.
"Panam's on her way!" Mitch shouted towards the remaining Aldecaldos. "Until then, keep firing and check your fire. Apparently, there's someone else out in this desert coming to help us."
Mitch and Scorpion both popped out of cover, exchanging hot lead with the Kang Tao Mercenaries. Both men were determined to see the light of day once again and were willing to kill to see that light. Mitch noticed activity among the Kang Tao Mercs as gunfire and screams broke out away from their rear.
Something was tearing through the Mercs from the South. The Veteran could only hope it wouldn't kill them too.
The Headhunter fell upon the Kang Tao Mercs with a shower of high powered projectiles from his SOR-22. The precision rifle was the Spartan's best firearm in his possession, accelerating bullets like a gauss rifle at exceedingly high speeds.
The bullets tore through three Kang Tao Mercs', leaving fist-sized holes in their bodies and blasting apart their composite armor. The Mercenary's quickly responded by dispatching a fireteam to engage the Spartan.
"Viking to all callsigns. Viking is moving the Asset out of the Hot zone! Hazel One follow in our wake, Hazel Two and Three hold the rally point. Over."
"Viking, this is Hazel Two. We have been engaged from the South. Unknown classification. Over."
"Hazel Two, this is Viking. Hazel Three will reinforce your position in five mikes. Hold them off as long as you can. Out."
Hellman was being evacuated to a different location, and if Cyrus wanted to catch him, the Headhunter would need to wipe these Mercs off the map. The only positive outcome to Hellman's departure was the removal of Nightstalkers from the immediate vicinity. They were allowing Cyrus to engage the Mercs and mechs without looking over his shoulder too much.
For now, at least.
Cyrus broke from cover, leaping over a pair of boulders and sprinting toward the closest Kang Tao Merc. The intensity of the firefight with the Aldecaldo's slowed the Mercenary's response.
The Headhunter bludgeoned the Mercenary's head with his rifle's stock, cracking the man's skull and making his body go limp. Cyrus grabbed the Merc by the scruff of his neck, turning him towards his compatriots and launching him like a missile at the group of Mercs.
The human projectile smashed against a Kang Tao rifleman, knocking out the soldier of fortune. The rest of the Mercs turned their attention to the Spartan but were quickly gunned down in a burst of accurate gunfire.
Cyrus mounted a nearby boulder and took stock of the situation in front of him. The Kang Tao forces ahead numbered twenty-two in total, a mix of Battle Mech's and Infantry supported by the M-91 Sentry Gun mounted on the AV the Kang Tao forces were surrounding.
The Aldecaldo's were ten in total, and their presence was serving as a distraction for a few of the Kang Tao forces. Those that weren't engaged with the nomads were rushing towards his direction. The Headhunter sighted his SOR-22 firing off two high powered shots that blasted a Merc's torso in half.
Cyrus reacted faster than the Mercenaries could respond. The Headhunter fired at the necks of two riflemen, watching mists of blood populate the desert floor. The Mercs were losing men quickly, and their radio operator was turning frantic.
"Hazel Three, this is Hazel Two. Where's our backup! Over!"
"Hazel Two, we are two minutes out. Over!" Cyrus spotted the Mercenary radioman, sighting his SOR-22 quickly and squeezing off the last round in his magazine.
"Hazel Two, cop-Arghh!" The Kang Tao Mercs head exploded in an orgy of blood mid transmission.
"Hazel Two, do you copy. Hazel Two, are you there…Shit!"
"Contacts are approaching our six Cyrus." The Headhunter's eyes found his motion tracker, his eyes narrowing as he spotted hostile contacts approaching his rear.
The Spartan stood to his full height and slid down the boulder he was mounted on, and drew his Lexington and Kukri. Cyrus rushed towards the two closest Mercenary contacts, falling upon a pair of Kang Tao CQC specialist.
Cyrus snatched the helmet of a Merc carrying a Carnage, crushing the man's head. The Merc's head imploded under the intense pressure; blood and bits of brain matter leaked in between the Spartan's fingers.
"Holy Shit!" His companion dumped a barrage of rounds into the Spartan's ribs. Watching helplessly as his Saratoga did nothing but bounce off MJOLNIR's energy shield.
The Headhunter slashed at the Mercs throat, splattering blood on the rock next to him. Cyrus grasped the headless Kang Tao mercenary by his robotic arms and kicked the body away from him. The flying corpse landed in front of another squad of Kang Tao mercenaries, caking them in crimson red. The squad spread out in a tight formation, surrounding a Mercenary Heavy gunner sporting an M-60 machine gun.
"Take him down! Take him down!"
A hail of gunfire bracketed the Headhunter's position forcing him to relocate behind a cluster of boulders.
"Chamber," The Headhunter said. "That Overheat is it ready?"
"Ready and waiting!" The AI replied.
"Hit the heavy gunner, on my mark." Cyrus peeked from his cover, watching bolts of lead fly above him. "Mark."
Chamber executed a cyber-attack on the Kang Tao Heavy gunner's neural network. Sweeping aside his cyber defenses with ease and attacking his internal processors, a coordinated strike quickly overheated his body to lethal levels.
Cyrus timed his strike with Chamber's attack, watching the Kang Tao gunner explode from within himself. The explosion startled his compatriots and leaving them paralyzed to the Spartan's assault.
The Headhunter broke through the lapse in organization, quickly slashing through the Mercenary Squad Leader's jugular while simultaneously smashing the sternum of another Merc. Morale quickly broke down amongst the remaining rifleman, giving the Spartan little difficulty in ending the skirmish promptly. Red dots that were converging on the Headhunter's position retreated North.
"Fall back, I repeat, all Hazel squads fall back to RP Omega now! Viking, this is Hazel Actual. We are being overrun!"
"Viking copies all, hold your ground. Out!
Cyrus took a deep breath as he removed his Kukri from the left eye of the last remaining Mercenary. "Chamber, how many Mercs are left?"
The AI's avatar popped on his screen, expanding his map to encompass the immediate AO. Twelve blue dots were clustered together, engaging the rest of the surviving Kang Tao soldiers.
"Two squads worth, and they still have the AV-16 operational."
The Merc's were still a sizeable force, numbering close to twenty-five, and they were pushing the Aldecaldo's position hard. Holstering his Kukri, the Headhunter's feet shuffled to the North as he drew his Lexington's in each hand. Cyrus was ready to end this charade of a battle with authority.
The Aldecaldo and Mercenary rolled up to the beleaguered Nomad positions minutes after contacting them. A ricochet hit Panam in the ribs while they were fighting off a trio of Kang Tao sentry drones that were responding to the crash.
Panam's eyes widened in shock as she found Mitch and Scorpion; unfortunately, Scorpion had a gunshot wound in his right thigh. The man was bleeding profusely even as Mitch was applying pressure.
"Scorpion!" Panam rushed to her brother's side. "What happened!"
"Fucking Mech caught him the firefight!" Scorpion screamed in pain as Mitch tried to stem the bleeding. "Damnit! I think his artery got nicked. I can't stop the bleeding!"
Another screech of pain echoed through Mitch's head. "Panam, we gotta get him out of here now!"
"We can't leave until these guys are dead, Mitch!" V slid to Panam's left, kicking up dirt as she fired off a pair of shots at a Kang Tao Mech. The Battle bot felt the first round penetrate its upper cortex shattering its armor, and the second shot landed just behind the first one destroying the Mech in moments.
"Well, then we better get to work," V patted the Aldecaldo on the shoulder, signaling the rest to cover the Mercenary. "Keep me covered, boys."
"V!" The Mercenary popped out of cover, attacking the Kang Tao soldiers in an aggressive charge that caught them by surprise. The action also stunned the Aldecaldo nomad's momentarily muting the exchange in gunfire before it returned with a vengeance.
V kicked out the legs of a Kang Tao rifleman in the midst of clearing his jammed gun. The soldier fell to his left knee before she shoved a Unity into his mouth. She pulled the trigger easily, blasting a hole through the Mercs skull. V utilized her cyberware to activate a Kang Tao specialists frag grenade prematurely.
"Grenade!" The soldiers that were able dove to the ground immediately. However, the Kang Tao specialist could not save himself the frag detonating while still strapped to his vest, killing him and two of his companions.
V fired off six more rounds, killing three Kang Tao mercenaries, before a Kang Tao Berserker engaged her. She dodged three swipes from the Berserker in quick succession, frustrating the Kang Tao man within moments. V batted his assault to the side on a fourth swipe, sweeping his legs and causing the Berserker to lose balance and fall face-first into the ground. V quickly planted around through the Berserker's head, killing him instantly.
V dived to her right, avoiding the lethal gunfire from a host of Kang Tao soldiers.
The soldiers started to rise out of cover in waves throwing down a deadly exchange with V and the Aldecaldos. The firefight had already claimed the lives of many Aldecaldos, shredded by the Kang Tao firearm. Panam finally got involved opening up a barrage of automatic fire on the remaining mercenaries, switching from Mechs and Soldiers based on proximity.
V was throwing grenades to their flanks to confound the Mercs from reorganizing into a more cohesive force. She was about to pop out and return fire, but a familiar sound of Lexington pistols discharging drew her attention. A familiar, damn near helpless feeling followed the gunfire, but all it did was lift her spirits.
V peeked out of her cover and found her assumptions correct, watching Cyrus tear through the Kang Tao rearguard with ruthless aggression. The Headhunter fired off a barrage of deadly and precise bullets, killing ten Kang Tao soldiers within seconds.
"What took you so long, Cyrus?" V bellowed at her Spartan ally.
"Got held up." The simple statement served to make V roll her eyes in exasperation.
V fired from her position once again, but this time her rounds came in bursts of three meant to suppress the Mercenaries. A Kang Tao soldier jerked back from a ricochet shot to his head, the round barely penetrating his helmet but still killing him instantly.
Panam moved around the right flank, backed up by an Aldecaldo equipped with a carnage. Panam found decent cover and immediately opened fire on the closest Mercenary shattering his larynx and skull in a burst of rifle fire. The Kang Tao resistance to the three-sided assault, their numbers were swiftly cut in half as the rest tried to find what little viable cover was near them.
"Panam, check your right!" V yelled. "Merc coming up on you!"
Panam simply reloaded her Copperhead, sending a spent magazine tumbling on the ground. Ducking underneath the Mercenary's gun and closing the distance between them, Panam used the end of her rifle to hit the Merc in the gut. Forcing his chest over before a second assault knocked his teeth out, the rifleman sprawled onto the ground. Panam reloaded her Copperhead and planted two more shots into the man perforating his chest with bullets.
The last Kang Tao squad leader seemed to understand their precarious situation more easily and chose to engage the Spartan head-on. Confident in his abilities to stem the tide and save his men.
V witnessed the man attempt to shatter through the Spartan's armor with a concentrated burst of ammunition, but an odd light reflected off the Headhunter's armor. She could only watch in confusion as the Spartan disregarded the Squad lead as a threat, instead choosing to snap the neck of his compatriot.
The Kang Tao NCO's rifle ran on empty when Cyrus fell upon him, driving his Kukri through the side of his head and wrenching the man's head off with one great heave. V was stunned to see the soldier's head come clean off and even more bewildered when the Spartan removed the head and launched it at another Mercenary.
"Oh my god," V almost threw up in her mouth.
The remaining Aldecaldos watched in stunned silence as the Headhunter tore through their adversary with practiced ease. The M-91 Sentry Gun's targeting system could not keep up with the Spartan's incredible speed, explosive shells falling well behind Cyrus's feet. He closed the distance between himself and the control console within seconds, reaching his right fist back and punching a hole through the console.
Immediately the Sentry Gun's impressive firepower was cut, as the static emplacement lost all functions. The remaining Mercenaries were dispatched by V and the Aldecaldos moments later.
Cyrus holstered his Lexington's, satisfied the skirmish was over, but his audio receptors were still picking up sounds of combat. The recognizable sound of a rifle stock caving in a cranium arose from the AV's other side.
Tuning the corner, the Headhunter found Panam straddling a dead Kang Tao mercenary. The Aldecaldo was bashing in the Merc's cracked skull long after he had died. Rage seeped out of Panam's body, unleashed from each earth-shattering blow.
"You. Mother. Fucking. Piece. Of. Shit." Every word was emphasized by a brutal assault on the Mercenary's head, and soon the sound of bones crunching echoed through the valley.
The Headhunter noticed the Aldecaldo's break-in composure, finding himself standing a few feet from Panam barely. V joined his side not long after, unsure how to stop the Aldecaldo's violent reprisal.
A hand snatched the stock of her rifle with unbelievable strength. Panam was slung back to her feet and her weapon taken from her hands. The Aldecaldo reared her arm back and tried to take a swing at the perpetrator, but the Spartan's hand stopped her in its tracks.
"Panam," V's voice echoed through her head. "It's over."
No words could express what the Aldecaldo was feeling; years of companionship with Scorpion rushed through her head. Despair and crushing feeling of grief-struck her body like a hammer, as the Aldecaldo felt the fourth stage of grief course through her. Panam ripped her limb away from the Spartan, wrapping her arms around herself in grief.
Cyrus watched V approach the blood-covered woman, and the Mercenary wrapped her arms around Panam carefully. Seconds later, Panam broke down into barely restrained sobs; V whispered softly into her ear, doing her best to calm the grief-stricken woman. The Aldecaldo's were everything to Panam, and when a piece of the family was taken, she took it the hardest of anyone.
Cyrus only chose to quietly observe the women, acting less like the ruthless killer he was and more like a watchful guardian. He knew they could stay for much longer; Hellman was on the move, and he needed his own answers.
"I'll find Hellman." Cyrus whispered to V., "Stay here with her. I can handle this alone."
The Spartan shot off in pursuit of his main target, doing his best to ignore V's gaze trailing his back. Eyes focused, nerves settled, the Headhunter rid his mind of other thoughts. Hellman was all that mattered to him now, even if he knew that was a lie.
July 15th, 2077
Night City, Northern California
Jackson Plains, Arnolds Gas Station
Cyrus followed the Kang Tao Mercs' trail to a fuel station two kilometers west of the crash site. The Kang Tao Nightstalkers ordered the remaining infantry squads to act a rearguard, but they provided little resistance to the Headhunter.
The Spartan was posted up on a ridgeline east of the fuel station, marking targets and performing general reconnaissance. The Kang Tao remaining strength comprised twelve remaining Mercenaries and the four Kang Tao Elites had so far managed to avoid engagement. Cyrus was confident Hellman was being held at this location; the Nightstalkers wouldn't risk his safety.
The Mercenaries were spread out evenly around the station, and two riflemen took a position on the station roof. Four Mercs were protecting the garage area, making a makeshift barricade out of confiscated civilian vehicles. Two Kang Tao snipers armed with Nekomata rifles were placed on the scaffoldings attached to the fuel's stations solar tower. The last four mercenaries were posting security along the perimeter, supported by two security turrets.
The Nightstalkers separated, one supporting the mercs on the roof while the second coordinated the perimeter from inside the station. Cyrus was convinced his Achilles could take down the Elites in one shot, but the moment he fired, they would be all over his position.
Footsteps approached from behind him, most would have been startled, but the Headhunter had the benefit of a motion tracker. Two bodies crawled up on either side of him, and a familiar set of eyes regarded him.
"I told you I could handle this." V gave him a knowing look.
"You did." She admitted. "We chose not to listen to the clearly brain dead advice."
"So, eat a dick." Panam's vulgar language had not subsided. "Now, are you going to tell us how many of these assholes are here? Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"
Cyrus had to remind himself that he was not dealing with a Spartan Fireteam or even UNSC Marines. The few times he interacted with the UNSC rank and file were short and to the point. They never argued with him, either out of fear or a simple desire to remove themselves from his presence.
Panam's crass and increasingly unprofessional attitude was always throwing him for a loop. V was no better always grinning like she knew something he didn't; it was vexing to the Headhunter. Eventually, Cyrus chose the path of least resistance.
"Sixteen contacts insight," Cyrus informed. "Three Mercs on the roof, two in the solar tower, the rest are on the ground watching the perimeter. Our Nightstalkers are split. One is providing support from the roof while the other three are inside guarding Hellman. There are more than likely more Mercs inside."
"So, how do you wanna play this?" The Headhunter tilted his head in thought, observing the main building's structure and the adjacent tower. His head turned to both his allies and their armaments. V was carrying two Unity Pistols and a confiscated Copperhead while Panam toted an Overwatch sniper rifle. Finally, a plan began to form in his head.
"V, you attack from the rear, make sure Hellman doesn't sneak out the back door." The Mercenary nodded in affirmation, sliding down the rockface before peeling south to her position.
Cyrus turned to his other compatriot. "Palmer, stay here and provide support with your Overwatch. Aim for the Nightstalker on the roof first. I'll hit them from the front, draw as much attention as I can."
Satisfied with his battle plan, Cyrus unlatched his SOR placing it to the right of Panam. The Aldecaldo gave him a quizzical look in response. "You run out of ammo, use this, and keep firing."
Panam nodded in his direction, shouldering her Overwatch and bracing its bipod in a stable position. The Headhunter was sliding down the rockface when the Aldecaldo called after him. Turning to regard the woman, the Spartans tacpad lit up, a request for connection originating from Panam's comms device.
"Just in case you need to talk to me, and V." Panam's head was still focused on the fuel station. Chamber accepted the connection for Cyrus without hesitation. "And good luck."
"Won't need it." The Aldecaldo felt a ghost of a smile reach her face.
"Asshole."
Panam's Overwatch set off the next hostile encounter with the Kang Tao Mercenary's. A high caliber round slammed into the designated Nightstalker's sternum, sending a pink cloud of mist into the air and startling the remaining Mercenary's.
The Aldecaldo quickly racked the next round, sending a second devastating shell through the skull of a Kang Tao Mercenary on the roof. Cyrus launched his own assault in sync with Panam's gunfire.
The Headhunter drew the immediate attention of the Kang Tao Mercenaries. Two Mercs outfitted with Ajax rifles unleashed all the firepower they could muster on Cyrus. The Spartan weaved in between each wave of ammunition, shoulder slamming into the closest Merc, shattering his collarbone and hammering him to the ground.
"Die fucker!" The Merc's partner discharged his rifle into the Spartan's back. Cyrus retaliated with a burst of ballistic shells into the Merc's upper face, shattering the man's cranium. The station's auto turret began targeting Cyrus, dumping heavy-caliber rounds into his energy shields.
"Shields at seventy percent!" The AI exclaimed. Cyrus rolled behind a civilian vehicle parked in the street.
The Spartan signaled his AI partner too. "Chamber acquire those Sentry Guns."
"All over it." The AI brute force program penetrated the Stations defense network shattering the primitive cyber program. Within milliseconds Chamber had control of the guns, scrambling their IFF identification tags.
The Sentry Guns seized up for a moment before readjusting their targeting programs and engaging their former owners. A Kang Tao Mercenary was braced against a civilian Thorton when a Sentry Gun confronted him. A burst of 7.62 shattered his left forearm, forcing the Merc down to a knee. A second burst of gunfire took the top of his head off, a mist of red mixed with bone fragments showered those next to him.
Panam steadied her breathing, hands properly gripped the powerful material rifle and fired a shell through the head of a Kang Tao Sniper in the Solar Tower.
As an Aldecaldo, the woman had spent years learning the ins and outs of all kinds of firearms. This Overwatch belonged to Scorpion, and he used to take her out hunting when the Aldecaldos made camp. Panam had to spend years building up the correct amount of strength to take the material rifle's recoil, but she still felt the kick against her shoulder.
The Mercs armor did little to negate the impact, cracking his helmet with sheer kinetic force alone. Punching a hole through the man's visor, his body went limp as it registered the death-dealing round before falling onto their back.
Panam immediately shifted her fire on the other Merc posted in the tower. The sniper discharged a retaliating round, missing Panam by inches and skipping off the rock to her right. She fired off her own retribution, watching the material round tear through his sternum and explode out the back. Eventually, the final Merc on the station roof fired off a burst of projectiles in her direction, forcing Panam to slide down the rockface for safety.
"I'm displacing," Panam called over the comm net. "No Sniper support for thirty seconds."
"Understood," Cyrus replied. "V, what's your location?"
"Breaching the rear now."
The Mercenary kicked down the back door to the fuel station, Copperhead raised and waiting. A doorway to the right led to a side room occupied by some old weapons vendor. She bought an Overture from the older man when she came to Night City.
V ignored the side room and pushed into the station's main compartment. Two Mercs were laying down fire toward the front of the station, engaging Cyrus's hulking form. V opened fire right as several more Mercs emerged from the station's garage. The two Mercs didn't know what hit them until it was too late, bullets perforating their backs and leaving them nothing more than bleeding corpses. Their fellow Mercs immediately set their sights on V once they emerged from the garage.
The Mercenary rolled to take cover behind the station countertop. One Kang Tao soldier attempted to flan her from the Buck a slice compartment to her front. But he sorely underestimated V's reflexes, receiving a burst of 7.62 from V's Copperhead. The Mercs traded gunfire with her for a time, but soon they started peeling back towards the garage one by one. Soon V was the only occupant in the station's main compartment, the mercs locking the door behind them, separating V from the garage where Hellman resided.
V communicated to the Headhunter quickly. "Cyrus there falling back to the garage. Hellman might be inside."
"Gain access to their security cameras." The Spartan replied. "I'm breaching the garage now."
Unperturbed by the Kang Tao's tactics, the Mercenary followed the Spartan's instructions. V hacked into the station's security network, taking control of the security cameras within seconds.
V took stock of the Kang Tao layout. Four riflemen were taking cover in the service area, mounting their rifles in the undercarriage lever. Two more Kang Tao machine gunners were posted on the stairwell to the manager's office, fixing their MG's against the railing.
The Mercenary spotted the Nightstalkers who were posted directly in front of the garage shutters. It took her far too long to realize they had planted a bomb directly on the shutter.
The same shutter, Cyrus was breaching.
"Cyrus, wait!"
Cyrus had killed the rest of the Kang Tao soldiers protecting the station's perimeter. A gun battle erupted inside during his engagement, signaling Cyrus that V had breached the station's back door. He was just about to breach the garage door when she called out a warning to him.
The Headhunter's attention was drawn to V's warning, but an implosion from the garage doors took priority. Metallic shrapnel ripped through the air covering the Spartan's armor in scorching fragments.
Cyrus had little time to recover because a shimmering katana flashed across his visor. Forcing the Spartan to roll backward away from the lethal blow, within seconds, that attack was followed by more hasty strikes from another pair of Katanas.
Cyrus flipped over a civilian Thorton, kicking it on his way down with such force the automobile launched like a missile towards his attackers. The projectile gave him the necessary room to observe his adversaries. Three Kang Tao Nightstalkers decked in top of the composite armor. Two Stalkers were armed with thermal Katana's while the third, the leader, was sporting a pair of electrified Mantis Blades.
"Cyrus, you need backup?" V inquired with a tone of concern.
"Negative breach the garage and acquire Hellman. Panam and I will deal with the Nightstalkers."
"Damn right," Panam interjected. "Get your boy V; me and Cy will handle these clowns."
"Are you sure you're ready, Panam?" Cyrus asked.
"Don't doubt me, CY, just get me a clear shot. Drag off to the street. I'll get eyes that way."
The Headhunter returned his attention to the trio of Nightstalkers stalking towards him. Feet backtracked slowly as he moved towards the highway behind him, Cyrus spotted V sneaking in behind the Stalkers and engaging the Mercenary's still inside the garage. The gunfire and screams did not draw the Kang Tao Elites' attention; instead, they were focused entirely on Cyrus.
"Panam?" Cyrus intoned under his breath.
"Just a little more CY." Panam's rifle was able to discern the Nightstalkers feet but still had no kill shot.
"There's a price on your head, butcher." The metallic tone from the lead Nightstalker caught his attention. "We intend to cash in on that price."
"You're going to have to earn it, Merc." At that moment, Panam's Overwatch howled, unleashing a devastating anti-material round into one of the unsuspecting Mercs. The Nightstalker to the leader's left never felt the round's impact, her cranium exploding like a watermelon splattering the surrounding pavement in crimson red.
"KILL HIM!" The Nightstalker Leader exploded into action, her comrade's death kicking off her aggressive assault.
With marginal effort, Cyrus parried a pair of swings from the Kang Tao Elites Mantis Blade. The Blades chipped away at his forearms, slamming into his energy shields with impressive strength.
"Shields at sixty percent!" Chamber informed hastily.
"DIE!" The Nightstalker screamed in fury as her blades scratched along Spartan's cheek sparking off his energy shields once again. Her companion swiped at the Spartan's forearm, forcing Cyrus to divide his attention between the two combatants and parry a storm of attacks. The two Kang Tao Elites were well trained and moved with enough speed to cover the other when an opening presented itself.
Panam broke the stalemate by firing at the closest one, forcing the Nightstalker leader's survival instinct to kick in. Panam's round missed by inches, but it did the appropriate job of separating the two Kang Tao Elites.
Cyrus caught the left wrist of the isolated Nightstalker and kicked in her sternum, planting the woman straight into the pavement. With a heave, Cyrus pulled on her arm, tearing it free of the woman's body. The Stalker screeched in unbearable pain before the Spartan silenced it with his boot.
"NO!" A metallic screech came out from the final Nightstalker as she unleashed a storm of uncoordinated strikes.
Cyrus watched as the Elite took hold of her blades, scraping them against the pavement. Sparks flew as the blades traveled into a low sweeping strike. Cyrus raised his left leg avoiding the swipe rotating with his momentum, and launching a round kick straight into the woman's back knee. Her limb caved in shattering upon impact, bones cracked, and her knee went sideways.
The Headhunters Kukri embedded itself into the woman's throat piercing out the back. Cyrus planted his foot onto her chest, kicking her off his blade and leaving the Kang Tao elite to choke on her blood.
"Jesus CY," Panam commented. "You really know how to treat a woman."
The Spartan chose not to speak on Panam's words, instead wiping the Nightstalker's blood off his Kukri. The sporadic gunfire from inside the station slowly gave away until the wind was the only audible noise in the valley.
"Vargas, is the target secure?" V's voice called back a moment later.
"Yeah," V replied. "Coming out now."
Cyrus exhaled deeply; nerves and adrenaline began to settle with each passing breath. Panam joined him on the ground not much later, tossing him his SOR with a shit-eating grin gracing her alluring face.
"Well, that was fun," The Aldecaldo glanced at the dead Nightstalker. "For most of us at least. You ever try MMA, a guy your size and your skill would make a killing in that sport."
Cyrus did nothing but stare at Panam. Where most people would back away in fear at such a stare, she only doubled down, a smile growing wider. Her expression dimmed a little as she stared off into the distance, neither of them unable to break the awkward tension.
The Headhunter turned toward the garage when a hand grabbed his forearm. It took every ounce of strength to prevent his instincts from snapping the offending limb. Cyrus turned his attention back to the Aldecaldo, who was pointedly not looking him in the eye.
"Look," Panam began slowly. "I'm not the best when it comes to saying thank you, but. Thank you for saving Mitch and the rest. You didn't have to, but you did, and that means a lot to me. So, thank you, Cyrus, I mean that."
The Spartan's silence made Panam cringe on the inside. She wasn't the best when it came to expressing gratitude to anyone, including family. However, this was one of those times it was absolutely needed.
"Your welcome," The Spartan replied carefully. "I'm sorry about Scorpion."
Panam only nodded in thanks, letting her hand drop tentatively when V's teasing voice echoed through the station. "Are you guys bonding without me?"
"Yes, actually," Panam shot back. "Then it was ruined by a red-haired hag."
The Mercenary only smirked in response as she adjusted the body of Anders Hellman hanging off her shoulder. Cyrus's focus fell away from V and immediately on the good doctor. Preliminary scans from Chamber indicated he was still conscious.
"Well, all's well that ends well." Chambers chipper voice startled the Spartan. "Now, do we get first dibs, or does V?"
The familiar sound of roaring engines slowly encroached on their location. Cyrus palmed his precision rifle when V's hand caught his arm.
"Don't worry," V assured. "I know those engine sounds well. There Aldecaldo vehicles."
Cyrus relaxed his body, but V did not release her grip on his arm. Instead, it slowly trailed along his outer arm with subtle squeezes as the Mercenary explored the Spartans physique. The Headhunter, unable to truly comprehend what was happening, chose to focus on the incoming Aldecaldos.
"V!" Panam's indignant voice joined the roaring engines. "You fucking whore, quit feeling him up!"
V's smirk only grew in size. "What you can cop a feel, but I can't. Where's the justice in that."
Both women fell into a useless argument that soon devolved into insults to one another's bodily features. Neither truly putting any weight into their words. Cyrus knew a tension breaker when he saw one; both of them were distracting themselves from the day's events even if it was entirely childish in his opinion.
Chamber's voice drew his attention. "I suddenly dislike them both very much right now."
"What." His AI ignored his words; instead, her perception focused on the offending hands of Panam and V.
"No one touches my boy without my permission." If Chamber possessed a living body, he imagined she would be beating both Panam and V bloody.
Cyrus observed the Aldecaldo and Mercenary closely. He wouldn't have pegged becoming friends with either of the women considering their personalities. But conflict and bloodshed had a strange way of bringing people together. Cyrus snorted at such a remark, and it was exactly how his team came together. The Headhunter strode past the arguing pair, halting their bickering in their tracks.
"Hey," V called out. "Where you going!"
"Don't like crowds; call me when you're done with the nomads and not before." The pair could only watch the Spartan disappear into the desert.
Both with somewhat puzzled looks on their faces, and yet neither was surprised by his departure. The irony was not lost on either Panam or V, a merciless death-dealing super-soldier who dropped bodies like nothing. Was afraid of too many living bodies in one space.
You could not make that shit up.
"So," V teased quietly. "Cy, huh?" Panam rolled her eyes at the obvious attempt at teasing, choosing to double down instead.
"What you think you're the only person that can get a nickname around here? The world doesn't revolve around you, Merc. I thought you figured that out when Cyrus saved your ass in Rocky Ridge."
"Last time I checked, you were there too. Pissing your pants and crying for mommy." V shot back.
"Oh, up yours, V!" The argument reached a new intensity in immaturity and viciousness. Cyrus was correct in separating himself from the duo for the rest of the day.
The Spartan's already precarious sanity could only take so much nonsense.
Second largest chapter of the bunch, but that pales in comparison to how many people are interested in this story. As I write this message, there have been over two hundred followers and well over 150 favorites. Didn't think it would get that high, but it has so THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT.
As always reviews and criticism are welcome and very much encouraged.
I have two songs that kind of get my brain moving while writing this fic.
One is a song that is played in Peaky Blinders and I think it epitomizes a Headhunter's demise.
The other is all about crossing a human boundary that cannot be conquered by a single individual such as a raging river.
You get a cookie if you can name them both first try.
Hope you all enjoy and have a great rest of the month.
Reviews:
no169: Chamber has only been in commission for two years, one of those was spent with Cyrus. As for the rest of his team, One has its own destiny with fate on Reach, the other is a possibility.
liuhong2001: No covenant or and other Halo elements outside of Cyrus and his team will make an appearance.
tamagat: He could but it's not a priority at the moment, his resources at his disposal are enough for him.