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To say the job was a bust would be an understatement. Sure, it started off with the omen of the Flathead malfunctioning and the suspiciously easy start, but now, now it was a full on shitshow. The worst part Jackie got shot and so did the case holding the shard.
“Shit, Jackie you’re hurt!” V says in a panic ripping off her jacket and his to try and bind the wound.
“Nah, I’m alright chica.” He says grunting in pain grabbing at the wound on his side.
She rolls her eyes at his bravado, “Sure Jack.” She replies still ripping the jackets into more usable strips. Making a thicker bundle for both sides of the wound was the easy part, getting them to stay in place was the hard part. “You sure that shard isn’t doing weird things to your brain.” V asks wrapping the jacket strips around his torso.
He taps his head near the shard slot with a cheeky smile, “It’s a steel trap in here, don’t worry V. We just gotta worry about getting out of this deathtrap.” He winces as he stands but rotates his shoulders and cracks his neck. “Let’s get going, the faster we get the hell out of here the better.” V simply nods in agreement as they begin to move through the building as silently as possible. It was a challenge, taking out the guards and cameras without being noticed. There were some close calls, guards turning at the last minute for a panicked knockout, cameras in unexpected places, the works. Luckily, the duo found a first aid kit in a supply closet they ducked into to wait for a troop of guards to pass by.
V's eyes lit up at the sight of the meds, “Get your ass over here Jack, I found some meds.” She quickly ripped open the kit and fished out some gauze, bandages and the Maxdoc. Jackie worked his way over to V, still gripping his injured side. “Let me get that makeshift shit off ya, so we can fix you up.” V worked quickly to strip the wound of the blood cover jacket strips and replaced them with the sterile gauze and bandages. “Now take a hit of this, here’s hoping we can find some more on the way out of the building.”
Jackie takes the Maxdoc and takes a huge whiff, “Ahh that’s the good stuff. But damn V, I don’t know why you’re so worked up. Not like I’m dyin’ or nothing!”
“That ain’t the point Jack! It’s the fact that we are neck deep in the shit and you’re hurt! I’m not gonna be the one telling Misty and Mama Welles that you flatlined on a ‘simple mission’.” V says tightening the bandages maybe a bit too tight in her emotional state.
“Ayy, chill V!” V grimaces a little at her rough handling of the wound, “Sorry, I’m on edge right now. Don’t think I’ll chill till we get back home.” She feels Jackie put a hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll be fine chica, we got each other’s backs, I’ll keep the pressure on this bad boy and keep the meds handy. We’re both making it out of here fine. Got too much to look forward to ta die now!” Jackie says with a big grin. “Now let’s get the hell outta here. I’m sick and tired of these ‘Saka fuckers.”
Suddenly serious, V nods and peeks out the supply closet door looking for guards. She motions to Jackie that the coast is clear, and the pair continue towards to elevator. Making their way to the lobby is even more of a struggle than the path to the supply closet. Arasaka sent nothing but their best to Konpeki and it was clear they were sending more. The guards more armored and armed were on the lower levels, a boon for the mercenaries if they took them out. Several frag grenades, better guns, more meds, but sadly no time to don the body armor, not that it would do much against the massive mech that crashed into the lobby with several security officers.
“Shit…” V hissed out under her breath, “OK, Jackie you stay back and take out the guys. I’ll take the mech. I got some new tech that should disable most of its systems, and these babies can do the rest.” She says holding out the grenades. Jackie simply nods, taking cover to lay down suppressing fire while V made her way closer to the mech to hack into its systems. The mech was easier to breach than she expected, probably didn’t think anyone would be able to get close enough to even attempt to hack it. Frying the things systems knocked it off balance and allowed V to throw three of her grenades at its feet blowing it to bits.
“Damn, mamita! Ain’t that a bit overkill?” Jackie said as he made his way to V and the Parking garage elevator.
“Better to be safe than sorry Jack. I wasn’t risking that big bastard getting back up” Jackie simply laughed, wincing as he did. At V’s concerned look he injected another Bounce Back near his wound to keep it stable and stem the pain and bleeding. “OK, Delamain should be prepped for us in the garage, don’t even mess with any security down there just hoof it for the car. We’ll get him to get us to a ripper ASAP.”
“We gotta meet with Dex V, no time for a ripper.” V glared at Jackie getting him to back down slightly.
“I couldn’t give less of a fuck about Dex, you are more important to me right now. Dex can sit his fat ass down and wait.” V declares stepping out of the elevator planning the best route to Delamain. “Now let’s delta, don’t know how much time you got.” After a three count, the mercs dash for Delamain, both diving into the backseat as the A.I. peels out of the garage at top speed.
“Head to the nearest ripper, Del, Jack needs medical attention stat.” V demands getting settled into her seat and checking on Jackie’s wound.
“My apologies but I cannot deviate from my itinerary.” Delamain responds while plowing through vans and weaving down streets. “It also appears we have aerial pursuers.”
“Shit! Fuck! OK, I’ll handle the drones then we are coming back to this conversation.” V leans out the window taking pot shots at the Arasaka drones through Delamain’s unsteady driving. Aiming out of a moving vehicle is hard enough, aiming out of a moving vehicle going near 120 miles per hour and weaving through cars, near impossible. V finally takes out the drones with a few lucky shots from Yorinobu’s tricked out pistol.
V pulls herself back inside the vehicle gasping for air and trying to calm her adrenaline fueled heart, “OK, Del, you said we have to go meet Dex, but you didn’t say we couldn’t add onto the itinerary.”
“Very true, Ms. V, it would be well within my parameters to bring Mr. Welles to a doctor after meeting with Mr. Deshawn.” V beams at this information.
“Great, OK, Del go to the No-Tell then to the nearest ‘doc. Don’t even stop, just slow down I’ll bail out and go to the meeting, Dex doesn’t need us both there. Hand me the chip Jackie, I’ll bring it to Dex so you can get patched up.” V reaches over to Jackie to take the chip from him.
“See chica, I always told ya your brains were wasted on the Corps.” Jackie removes the chip and places it in V’s hand. “Be safe still V, I don’t think Dex’ll be so happy with how this all went down.”
“Dex can eat a dick, that bastard sent us into a death trap.” V complains and continues under her breath, “Should have listened to Evelyn and cut out the middleman. Then again, we’d probably still be in this mess.” Jackie looks over to her with a confused look, but she just shakes her hear at him with a small smile.
“We are approaching our first destination, Ms. V, I would highly recommend preparation for ejection. Mr. Deshawn will be waiting for you in room two-oh-four.” Delamain interjects. V perks up and begins to stretch as best as she can in the confined space.
“See you later, Jackster. I’ll bring you your cut in the hospital, nothing better than a fat stack of eddies to lift the spirts.” She punches him in the shoulder lightly, prepping for Delamain to open the door as he slows down in front of the No-Tell Motel. As she bails out of the car, she hears Jackie call out to her.
“You better not try to steal some of my cut, I’ll be counting that shit at least three times!” V simply throws a lazy salute as she makes her way into the hotel not knowing the fate that awaits her.