Chapter 17

Immediately, I opened fire, the ten-millimeter Autogun part of my Xipe Totec firing a three-round burst at the Tyger Claw next to Ken even as Ken charged forward with his Katana. The bullets smashed through the subdermal armor chipped in the Tyger Claw's Skull and punched into his brain even as I leaned away from a slash from Ken's humming Katana. The buzzing of energy from the Katana seemed like some sort of electric energy sheath around the blade, which was interesting. I definitely wanted to reverse engineer that Iron. Regardless, I drew a Combat Knife from my Combat Webbing with my off hand, using it to Parry a follow-on slash of Ken's Katana even as I fired more bullets into another Tyger Claw that was moving to attack Jessie Nyan from behind with a blade. Ken's Katana buzzed and took a chunk out of my knife as I parried.

With a frown, I sent a kick into Ken's chest, sending him skidding backward and allowing me breathing room. Looking around, I saw that Jackie had zeroed threr Tyger Claws on his own, and V had zeroed another three. Jessie Nyan and Erica Nightly had each zeroed two. I added my two on top, and that made twelve, which was over a fourth of the Gangoons that the Tyger Claws had brought zeroed. In return, the Claws hadn't zeroed any of us, though Jessie Nyan had a slash across her right thigh from a Tyger Claw Katana and Erica Knightly had a bullet hole in her shoulder. That was nothing a MaxDoc couldn't handle, though. I grinned as it dawned on me that these Gangoons clearly had no clue who they were trying to Slammit On with and were getting zeroed literally in their dozens.

All this I saw in a single moment before I was drawn back into the present by Ken letting out a shout and charging me with his buzzing Katana again. I tossed my damaged Combat Knife at him, but he parried that even as I dashed to the side, firing a pair of rounds from my Xipe Totec at him. With a shout, Ken whirled about almost as fast as I could move, slashing the bullets out of the air with his Katana. That was a neat move, and I realized that he definitely had some Preem Chrome chipped in to be able to do that. If I had to guess, it was some sort of experimental reflex-tuner or something similar. That brought about other questions, such as where he could've gotten something like that, but I didn't have time to wonder about that as he was cutting at my neck.

I ducked the slash and shoulder-checked Ken in the gut, staggering him. I fired another round into his torso at point-blank range that was blunted by his subdermal before he cut out at me again and forced me to parry with a draw cut of my backup Combat Knife. Once again, Ken's blade buzzed and took a chunk out of my Combat Knife. With a shout, Ken smashed the hilt of his Katana into my face, smashing my nose sideways and sending me staggering backward. Logically, this would be the time to strike, and that was why I ducked on instinct. My instincts proved correct as the buzzing blade of Ken's Preem Katana swiped over my head. I fired off another pair of rounds at him, hitting him in the shoulder and side. Both shots were blunted by the subdermal chrome he had chipped in, and firing a third shot only succeeded in having Ken parry the bullet out of the air. I backed away, frowning at that.

"All right, that's some pretty Preem Chrome you've got chipped in. I wonder where you got it?" I questioned.

"Wakako-Sama has seen fit to have me fit with Experimental Wetware. My musculature is more similar to that of a gorilla than a human, while simultaneously being made of a sort of bio-myomer fibers reverse-engineered in a lab. My reflexes take their cues from those of a Spider, thanks to a complex process I don't fully understand. You are good, Ronin, and there is Giri in your continued resistance, but you will not win here." Answered Ken.

I could only frown at that, as it seemed like my introduction to this reality had caused an arms race to happen in terms of Augmentation. Since Aleksander Yurinov and the Celestial Menagerie were on the opposite side, it looked like Saka had decided to go with Wetware instead of Pure Chrome. Wakako clearly had tapped her connections with Saka to get the Corpos to chip the Wetware into Ken instead of one of their Cylons or the City's Badges. From Saka's perspective, this was probably a perfect way to get data about how their new Wetware worked in combat conditions. Ken thought Wakako and Saka figured him as the best Gangoon to chip in with their nova Wetware, but in actuality, he's just a guinea pig to them. I'd laugh if it wasn't so tragic.

"You're a guinea pig! You think the Corpos care about you? That they think you're the best for the job? Wake up! They don't give a shit about some Gangoon!" I spat.

"You misunderstood, Ronin. I suppose I should not be surprised. It is in your nature to only look out for yourself. I know that I am a test subject for their Wetware. It simply does not matter. I am loyal to the Tyger Claws, and if such loyalty demands I be a 'guinea pig,' as you say, then so be it. That is the difference between a Samurai's Giri and that of a Ronin." Intoned Ken.

"Fine. If you don't care, then I guess there's no talking you out of this. You might wanna look around you, though. While we've been doing our little song and dance, my Chooms have been zeroing yours." I smirked.

Ken frowned, looking away from me for the first time in the fight. As he did, he saw that over half of his force had been zeroed, and another eight were wounded to varying degrees. Of the forty-two Tyger Claws he'd brought with him, only six were still fully operational and ready to Slammit On. I also grinned as I realized that neither V nor Jackie had used their new Iron to do this. Both had stuck with their previous Iron, and while I had been using my Xipe Totec, I hadn't used the Plasma Accelerator on the Combi-Weapon yet. That meant that even if Saka wound up with footage from the fight, we'd still have those cards left to play. Honestly, aside from having another peer opponent, this was going swimmingly for us, which meant Preem bonuses would be in the works once the situation had stabilized.

Returning my thoughts back to the situation at hand, I nodded over at Ken, who had a frown on his face as he took in the state of the battlefield. I could tell he didn't like what he was seeing and knew that he was going to order the retreat. Just in case, though, I decided to give him a little push in that direction to encourage him.

"You might wanna see if Wakako can't call in some favors with her Corpo buddies to get that tunnel vision checked. Fourteen Gangoons left, eight of which are wounded? Even if you Zero us all, you don't have enough to zero the Mox now." I smirked.

The sound of a gunshot punctuated my statement, as Jackie fired his foehammer into a Tyger Claw Gangoon, zeroing him. I did the same, stepping up three paces and putting a pair of bullets into two Tyger Claw Gangoons that'd been huddling behind a concrete planter for cover, zeroing them. I looked back at Ken and nodded.

"Eleven now. You still wanna Slammit on?" I queried.

"You may have won this battle, Ronin. We will see who wins the War." Ground out Ken.

"I'm not going anywhere." I agreed.

Then, Ken barked out something in Japanese, and the remaining Tyger Claws fell back to their cars, retreating. Notably, out of the sixteen cars they came in here on, they had to leave twelve behind. Aside from any Iron and Eddies dropped by the zeroed Gangoons, those were the real prizes. As we gathered everything up, I looked over at the rest of the group. Jackie and V were still fully operational, the armored vests I'd made them had tanked the hits pretty damn well, given how they were the equivalent of light carapace. Jackie had taken a cut to his face, but his Sandy and Kerenzikov had let him lean back as it came in, so the cut was a small one to the bridge of his nose and entirely cosmetic. V meanwhile, was spotless, though there was a scuff on her vest from a Gangoon who'd sprung for armor-piercing rounds for his DR-Five Nova Heavy Revolver.

By contrast, Erica Nightly and Jessie Nyan were pretty beat up. Jessie seemed to be limping as one of her legs was pretty badly cut up, and she was holding her right side as if she had a busted rib or two. Erica Nyan had been shot, stabbed, and slashed, with a bullet wound in her shoulder, a puncture wound in her thigh, and a cut across her side. Both were busily inhaling medical nanites from a pair of MaxDocs. We'd let them sit out the gathering up of Iron and Eddies from deas Tyger Claw Gangoons. They could take the dead Claws to a Body Bank later to cash in that way. It was grisly Scopwork, but it paid. Instead, V, Jackie, and I would field strip the dead Gangoons for any loot that we could grab while the two Newbie Solos healed up from what was probably the first real big fight they'd had. I couldn't imagine they'd fought their way through the Biotechnica Lab, after all. They'd have been zeroed if they tried.

In the end, we found around fifteen grand on all the Tyger Claws, thirty-one Combat Knives, twelve Katanas, six Kanabos, twenty DR-Five Nova Heavy Revolvers, two Senkoh LX Submachine Guns, four Shigure Submachine Guns, four TKI-Twenty Shingen Submachine Guns, and a single HJSH-Eighteen Assault Rifle. We also found a number of Datashards, some were personal, with limited utility, some were orders from on-high, which filled in some details about the Tyger Claws' current spate of attacks but wouldn't be too much use to us, and two were more valuable. One had some blackmail material on Mastodon, the Leader of the Animals Pack in Japantown, that could be used to get the Animals to maybe back off the Mox. The other had the specs for some sort of prototype weapon, a Millitech Shigure that charged the rounds fired with static so that they could do electrical Damage. The M-Two-Twenty-One-X Fenrir. Aside from that, we had eight Quadra Turbo-R's and Four Mizutani Shions for the chop shop and thirty-one zeroed Gangoons for the Body Bank. It was a good haul.

Regardless, I copied the data on the Fenrir Chip over for later study and reset my nose with a crack, blowing out through it to clear any blood before we headed inside with the looted Iron and Eddies. Suzie Q was waiting for us, cocking an eyebrow as we brought in the spoils. Even Punchin' Judy looked impressed, and she was normally cynical about everything. The haul even made Rita Wheeler, jaded veteran that she was, let out an impressed whistle.

"This isn't even everything. We've still got twelve cars for the chop shop and thirty-one zeroed Gangoons for the Body Bank." I grinned.

"You work fast." Mused Suzie Q.

"Yeah, and aren't you glad we're on your side? Told you we were worth it." Chuckled Jackie.

"Thirty-one? Against five? And you won?" Asked Judy.

"This wasn't even half as bad as the Stop-N-Leave.' Shrugged V.

"Speak for yourself, Choom. I didn't get cut during that Biz, and E didn't get his nose broken." Pointed out Jackie.

"I set my nose back just fine, Jaquito. Besides, that scar's gonna be cosmetic only." I retorted.

"Yeah, Choom. Plus, some women like scars." Added V.

"Misty doesn't. She worries, you know." Muttered Jackie.

"Anyway. What's the sitch outside? Are Erica and Jessie all right?" Questioned Rita Wheeler, changing the subject.

"They're taking a breather. This seems like the first time they've had to Slammit On against so many Gonks at once. They got pretty banged up, but nothing some time with a MaxDoc can't deal with." I answered.

"Right, so to sum up, thirty-one dead Tyger Claws, a bunch of loot, and two wounded but healing Solos?" Queried Suzie Q.

"Also this." Nodded V, tossing the shard with the Mastodon Blackmail onto the bar counter.

"What's that?" Asked Suzie Q.

"A way to get the Animals off your Cojones." Grinned Jackie.

"It's a bunch of blackmail on Mastodon. We found it on a dead Gangoon. He must've been gathering it when he got the call to Slammit On." I clarified.

"Really? Is it on the level?" Questioned Rita Wheeler.

"If it isn't, I can find out." Insisted Judy.

"Do it. This could get Mastodon to look elsewhere to make up for lost territory." Ordered Suzie Q.

"Or force him to help you strike back at the Tyger Claws." Suggested V.

"Though we might have an issue there." I admitted.

"What issue?" Queried Suzie Q.

"The leader of this attack. He's Tyger Claw Middle Management. A guy named Takeda Ken." I answered.

"I've heard of him. He runs gambling and street racing over by Jig-Jig Street." Nodded Rita Wheeler.

"Yeah, well, he's been turned into a guinea pig to test Saka's new Wetware. His reflexes and muscles have been jacked up to the level of a full borg, and they've given him heavy enough subdermal to tank shots, plus who knows what else. He's gonna be an issue if we aren't careful, and he's not the only one." I informed.

"Yeah. Aleksander Yurinov is working for the Organiskaya. That's one Cold Gato." Added Jackie.

"Fortunately, you have us to help you out. We can handle those guys. On their own, at least. Together, though it could go either way." I intoned.

"All right, I think I get the picture. Let's talk turkey. There's a lot of Iron and Eddies here for the taking, plus you defended Lizzies and got the blackmail on Mastodon. I'm gonna assume you're gonna want a Bonus for this?" Asked Suzie Q.

"You assume right." I nodded.

"Let's see. With this much Iron, that's at least another fifteen grand, plus the cars, plus the body bank payout, we're looking at around half a million Eddies. What would you three say to a bonus of a hundred-twenty grand split between you?" Questioned Suzie Q.

"That's what, forty-grand for each of us?" Queried Jackie.

"Yup. Not a bad haul for day one." Affirmed V.

"I think that's fine." I agreed.

"Excellent. Unless you wanna claim something from the pile as right of first refusal, I think that settles accounts." Opined Suzie Q.

"I think we're good." Smirked V.

"Yeah, our Iron is way more nova than this stuff. It's not Scop, but we already have Preem Iron." Agreed Jackie.

"What's our next move?" I asked.

"Stay here for a bit to ensure they don't come back. In the meantime, Punchin' Judy here needs to verify that Blackmail's on the level. Rita needs to get the looted Iron and Cars to a Chop Shop and the Black Market, while Jessie and Erica handle the Body Bank. Once we've got all our ducks in a row there, you'll get your Eddies and be free to head home for the day. Just remember, you're on call." Insisted Suzie Q.

"Right." I confirmed.

"Come on, let's grab a drink to celebrate another win for the good guys." Chuckled Jackie.

"Sure, but go easy. We could still be attacked." Cautioned V.

As we bellied up to the bar, we found a trio of Calavera Feliz Beers already waiting for us. I cocked an eyebrow at the bartender, a quiet Filipino Man, who just shrugged in return and gestured at the trio of beers.

"On the house, compliments of saving our asses." He remarked.

"I'm not gonna turn down free Cerveza." Grinned Jackie.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it, but I could get used to working with the Mox." Shrugged V.

"Fair enough." I nodded.

After all, why would Suzie Q try to drug or poison us now? We were already working for her, plus she had to know it wasn't likely to bring us down. Trying to pull that sort of haze wasn't just stupid, it made no sense at all. I raised my bottle in a toast and drank. As I figured, nothing happened. My implants didn't sound the alarm about foreign toxins, I didn't taste anything funny, it was just a beer. So that was how we spent the next couple of hours as we waited for the detes of our bonus to be sorted out, nursing our way through a couple cervezas. Fortunately, it seemed the Tyger Claws were content to lick their wounds and didn't come back. By the time two hours was up, we'd had our bonus flicked to us by Suzie Q. An hour after that, Punchin' Judy had managed to confirm the Blackmail as genuine. We were sent home for the night while Suzie Q made some calls to exploit the blackmail and try and get Mastodon to back off.

In the meantime, I had some crafting to do, looking into the Fenrir Schematics to see what I could and could not integrate into my Xipe Totec. It turns out the Modification of the design that charged the regular rounds with electricity could be enhanced a bit with my knowledge of Star Wars Hardware and Tau Technology, using my Omnidisciplinary Capabilities to weld the three designs together. The Result was the Xipe Totec Hurrican Variant. I had to integrate a separate Ion Cell into the design to charge the bullets, but I could now fire electrically charged ten-millimeter rounds from the Autogun Part of the Combi-Weapon with the flick of a toggle. I set my Autofactory to recycling my Xipe Totec and building a new Hurrican Variant while I checked up on my messages.

There wasn't a lot, mind you. Some stuff from Tio Padre keeping me up to date with how things were going with the Valentinos, a few scam messages trying to sell me stuff, and a couple messages from my materials suppliers. I'd long since expanded from the one alternate identity to a few, all in the hopes of getting more materials for tinkering. It seemed that my Chemical Supplier had to reschedule the weekly delivery to next week, but my plastics and metals suppliers had confirmed their own weekly deliveries, staggered, of course, and delivered by drone to avoid drawing suspicion to my apartment. By the time I was done reading my messages, my Autofactory had produced a Hurrican Variant Xipe Totec for me. I set it to producing similar variants of V and Jackie's Sharpshooter Rifle and Foehammer, respectively, before adding in a pair of vests for Erica Nightly and Jessie Nyan as well, since they'd need them.

With my autofactory humming along, I headed out once more, hoping to grab a bite to eat at someplace that wasn't the wall-mounted Burrito Synthesizer in my apartment that I'd hacked, or Buck-A-Slice. However, around three blocks away from my apartment, as I was heading to El Coyote Cojo for some of Mama Welles' Cooking, a black Militech SUV pulled up alongside me, and I looked over at it with a frown. As I did that, the Window rolled down to reveal a familiar blonde.

"You're Ernesto Manfreidi? I've been looking for you. Get in." Demanded Meredith Stout.

Her tone said that wasn't the request it sounded like. With a sigh, I realized that I couldn't take on both Saka and Militech at once and figured that if I refused, Militech wouldn't be as nice about this the next time they wanted to talk. I had no doubts in my mind that there would be a next time, too. Militech wasn't known for taking no for an answer. No Corp was, when you got down to it. Opening the door to the SUV, I got inside, and the driver drove off as Meredith Stout nodded.

Hopefully, this wasn't a huge mistake. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see the next chapter. Takeda Ken has received experimental Wetware Implants to make him as capable in combat as Big E is without having to go Full Borg. Ken's loyalty to the Tyger Claws is misplaced, though. Wakako has pretty much couped the leadership right now, and she is fairly tied up with Arasaka. Arasaka sees Ken as a way to test their new Wetware in Combat Conditions and nothing more, though. You can expect Arasaka to dissect the fight in great detail. At the same time, Meredith Stout and Millitech have put together just who was responsible for Sixth Street's practical demise. Now, they want to talk to Big E.

That talk is coming up in the next chapter. There will also be Character Sheet updates before then.

Stay tuned. . .