Chapter 5

It started as we made our way down Willow Street in Japantown, heading back to El Coyote Cojo in the Glen. As we were driving along in V's Yacatecuhtli, a pair of Tyger Claw Gangoons rolled up alongside us on a pair of fancy Rice Rockets. Yaiba Kusanagis, each one sixty-six grand and not an eddy less. I could appreciate an expensive ride, but then one of the pendejos had to just go and pull iron. He leveled his TKI Shingen Submachine Gun at the car and I knew then that we were in for it.

"V!" I shouted.

"I see it, hang on!" Responded V.

Then she slammed on the brakes and her Kombi immediately skidded to a halt, though Jackie damn near vaulted over the seat in the process. The Tyger Claw Gangoons, though didn't brake fast enough to keep pace, shooting forward and overshooting us.

"Ay! Watch where you're driving, Nomada Loca!" Growled Jackie.

Up ahead, the Tyger Claws were looping back around and V pulled her Yacatecuhtli into a three-point turn before gunning it and heading down a side street. A burst of SMG Rounds just barely missed the back of the Yacatecuhtli as we hauled ass down one of the Side Streets into an industrial development.

"Find a place to park, V. I ain't running from these Gonks!" I demanded.

"I think I'm gonna hurl!" Grunted Jackie.

"Not on my seats!" Hissed V.

Behind us, the two Tyger Claw Gangoons had just pulled onto the side street. One of them leveled his Shingen and sprayed a burst of rounds at V's Yacatecuhtli, the armored glass and paneling held up, but V let out a growl as she slammed on the breaks and practically fishtailed out, but managed to keep the wheels to the asphalt. The Kombi turned on a dime and V slammed on the grass, dodging another burst of rounds as she gunned the Yacatecuhtli for an alleyway.

"That's gonna be a tight fit!" I warned.

"We can make it, plus there's a courtyard on the other side!" Insisted V.

"Mierda!" Swore Jackie as the Yacatecuhtli just barely made it into the Alleyway, striking sparks off the walls with a screech.

We came out the other end of the Alleyway into a small courtyard fronted on three sides by industrial buildings, with dumpsters stacked against walls and no people around. V parked and turned to Jackie and I with a nod.

"Everybody out! Let's show these Gonks why we get paid the preem eddies, yeah?" She grinned ferally.

She didn't have to tell me twice, as I was already out of the door and pulling my Lyndwyrm Autopistol. Jackie clamored out of the back seat and spent a moment to suck in some much-needed air before straightening. He reached into his jacket but came up empty.

"Mierda! I forgot my Iron at Misty's!" Spat Jackie.

"You forgot your Iron?" I repeated.

"Hey, I was relaxed after that Massage, no need to bust my cojones about it!" Scowled Jackie.

"Why isn't Jackie ready to Slammit On?" Demanded V.

"He forgot his Iron at Misty's place. He's lucky I brought a spare." I sighed, before shoving the Foehammer Revolver into Jackie's Hands.

"What's this? Some Scop you cobbled together at home?" Demanded Jackie.

"Hey, Jaquito, that is a top-of-the-line revolver. She may not look like it but she's beyond Preem. Besides, I'm not the one who left my Iron at my Mainline's place." I pointed out.

"Right. Sure." Sighed Jackie.

"Leadhead." Snorted V, shaking her head.

"I wonder what those Gonks are waiting for, though? They were right on our six?" Questioned Jackie.

"I can think of one reason those two Gangoons would wait before coming in after us. Pendejos probably called in backup." I scowled.

"You think?" Queried Jackie.

"Why not? We're obviously not going anywhere right now." Shrugged V.

"They do have us boxed in. It'd be the smart play." I pointed out.

"Why'd they attack us, though? I mean, I know we're wearing Valentino Colors, but the Tyger Claws don't have a Zero on Sight Policy for Valentinos that I know of." Asked Jackie.

"I dunno. I think I'm gonna stop wearing my Santa Muerte shirt out in public, though." I grumbled.

"I thought you two got out of the Valentinos anyway. Why wear their colors?" Questioned V.

"We earned the right, why wouldn't we wear them?" I queried.

"Cause scop like this happens when you do?" Retorted V with an arched eyebrow.

"Hey, this is the first time we've had this kinda problem." Shrugged Jackie.

"Hang on, do you two hear that?" I asked.

It sounded like an engine had just pulled up and then shut off. The telltale sounds of opening car doors followed, then after that the sound of slamming car doors. Another four pairs of footsteps hitting the pavement sounded out afterward. That made six Gangoons in total. V and Jackie strained their ears for a second before nodding at me.

"Sounds like the Tyger Claws got their backup." Nodded Jackie.

"Get ready, Chooms." I intoned.

"I've been ready." Huffed V.

Then, as if on cue, six Tyger Claw Gangoons made their way into the alleyway, rushing up two at a time and moving fluidly enough that I was pretty sure they all had Reflex Boosters active. I activated my Sandy and my Kerenzikov and time slowed down for me even as I sighted down on the lead Tyger Claws with my Lyndwyrm. One of them pulled a grenade from a pocket and primed it, and I instinctively used my ability to Run the Numbers, bolstered by my new chrome, to plot a firing solution. Time sped up briefly as the Tyger Claw Gangoon let fly with his grenade and I squeezed the Trigger of my Lyndwyrm.

The Bullet, propelled by an advanced electro-thermal reaction, launched out of a barrel made of advanced materials that imparted extra spin and velocity and aimed by my brain, enhanced by both my powers and chrome, flew true right at the grenade. Moments after leaving the Tyger Claw's hand, the bullet punched into the Grenade and detonated it prematurely, sending fragmentation shrapnel showering into the front two ranks of Tyger Claws.

The first two Tyger Claw Gangoons were effectively rendered hamburger meat by the attack, they didn't have the right kind of chrome chipped in to avoid dying from a grenade blowing up in their faces. Pain editors and reflex boosters won't stop a rain of shrapnel from turning your head, neck, and shoulders into chunky salsa. The two behind them, however, managed to avoid the worst of it, reflex boosters and cyber legs letting them jump back far enough to only get hit with a single bit of shrapnel or so. That did, however, cause the congestion I'd been aiming for as their retreat meant the last pair of Gangoons couldn't move forward.

I rushed forth, Sandy and Kerenzikov working overtime as I janked to the side to avoid a three-round burst of Submachine Gun rounds from a Shigure Submachine Gun. I came back in with another bullet, this one punching through the Kiroshi Cybereye of one of the Tyger Claws that was trying to get a bead on me with his Shingen Submachine Gun. He fell dead to the pavement even as I kicked off the alley wall to gain height on the others. A heavy round from Jackie's Foehammer punched into the chest of one of the other Gangoons and broke through the Subdermal Armor she had on her, even blasting her back into one of the last pair of Gangoons, knocking them both down. Even as they went down, I flipped around mid-air and squeezed off another pair of rounds, taking both fallen Gangoons through the face and zeroing them both. V's submachine gun took the last of them with a three-round burst to the face just before I landed.

"Hot Damn, E! I think I'm in love with this new Iron! Don't tell Misty I said that, though." Exclaimed Jackie.

"I won't, don't worry." I chuckled.

"I don't suppose you've got anything in your bag of tricks for me?" Questioned V.

"Maybe. I'll see what I can tinker up, Choom." I nodded.

"Come on, let's see what these Gonks have on 'em." Grinned Jackie.

"I'll need their weapons to cobble together more Iron for us, by the way." I warned.

"Sure, no problemo. Just so long as we split the eddies fair. No more of this sixty-forty mierda." Agreed Jackie.

"We can't do that anymore anyway. Not with V here." I pointed out.

"Right. Come on." Nodded V.

All told we came up with three Shingen Submachine Guns, three Shigure Submachine Guns, two Knives, one Chain Knife, one Tanto, one White Hornet Tanto, one Mono-Wakizashi, three Kenshin Pistols, and three Yukimura Pistols, all manufactured by Saka, go figure. In addition, we also obtained around six grand in eddies, and not only the two Yaiba Kusanagi Motorcycles but also a Mizutani Shion worth fifty-seven-thousand Eddies. In the trunk of that Mizutani Shion was the big find, however, an M-Twenty-Sixty-Seven Light Machine Gun and a Type-Eighteen-S Grenade Launcher.

"Huh. They probably should've used those against us." Mused Jackie.

"Understatement of the Century, Choom." Snorted V.

"Their loss is our gain, Jackie. Problem is, there's only three of us so if we want to get our eddies' worth out of this, then we're gonna need to bring in a fourth to drive one of these. Unless V feels like leaving the Yacatecuhtli here in the Sharp End?" I queried.

"Fuck off with that. Nobody's laying a finger on my baby." Scowled V.

"Which means we're back to square one." Grumbled Jackie.

"Not exactly. I could call up Tio Padre and have him send someone over." I suggested.

"Into the heart of Tyger Claw Country? I don't think so, Choom." Frowned V.

"Yeah, not even the Padre's that Loco." Added Jackie.

"Then I think, since it's worth the least, we leave the car. Jackie and I will take the pair of Kusanagis, V driver her Yacatecuhtli, we meet up at Moto Cielo. But first, help me load up the Yacatecuhtli with all this Iron." I intoned.

V and Jackie moved to help me do just that, and soon afterward we were headed back out, making our way south through the rest of Japantown and dodging a group of Tyger Claws heading toward the scene of the shootout via the simple expedient of turning onto a side-street before they spotted us. It worked, and soon enough we were cruising through Vista Del Rey instead of being caught in the middle of Tiger Claw Territory after having just zeroed a bunch of Tyger Claws.

When we arrived back at Moto Cielo, Juan and Chela took one look at V's Yacatecuhtli and our stolen Yaiba Kusanagi Motorcycles and immediately went into biz mode. They offered us Sixty-Six Grand for both Kusanagis and offered to throw in repairs for V's Yacatecuhtli on top. That was a decent deal, and I didn't really feel all that much like haggling so we took it.

A few hours later, we were back at El Coyote Cojo, with each of us twenty-four-thousand Eddies richer than we had been this morning. We had a few drinks to celebrate, but I decided to call it early. V did me the courtesy of driving me back to the Megabuilding my apartment was in and helping me haul the pilfered iron and the chrome I'd gotten from Vik back up to my place. Once the stuff was inside, however, I told her I'd have her Submachine Gun by tomorrow and shooed her out of my place.

I had tinkering to get to, after all, and it was best not to be distracted. . .

XXXX

Wakako Okada sat in her office in the Pachinko Parlor on Jig-Jig Street. She'd already heard that her men had found the Woman that Aleksander Yurinov had been looking for, the Nomad V. She'd also already heard that her men had called for backup shortly before going dark and that she had not heard from them since. She had, of course, sent Obata and Miyigawa to clean up whatever had happened there, along with a few of the grunts. They'd reported the site of a massacre.

Wakako had remained calm, ordering Obata and Miyigawa to take any of the dead Tyger Claws whose heads were reasonably intact back to Doc Sanada near the Cherry Blossom Market and have her pull the Datachips out of the Operating System. Provided the head was reasonably intact, they should be able to view the recordings from the Optics, as all of Wakako's Men had Optics and Datachips that allowed for data recording and storage just in case there was information they saw that Wakako could turn a profit from.

Now, Wakako was just waiting for Obata and Miyigawa to return with the recordings. Of course, no sooner had she thought about that, than the pair made their way into her office. Wakako folded her hands in front of her as her two lieutenants stood waiting for her to allow them to sit. Discipline, it made Wakako grin to see it. On the inside, at least.

"Sit." Intoned Wakako.

Her two lieutenants did so, taking a seat across from her in the chairs provided. Obata reached for his jacket pocket and when he removed his hand, he had a datachip in it. He placed the chip on the desk and slid it across to Wakako. Wakako looked at the chip and recognized that it wasn't any of the ones that her men had implanted.

"This is a factory fresh Chip." She opined.

"Doc Sanada said the Chip in Junichiro's head was barely functional. She was able to pull the logs from the combat but had to burn them into a blank chip before the original gave out." Informed Obata.

"You weren't very descriptive about the scene of the battle." Pressed Wakako.

"It wasn't much of a battle. Whoever this V is, she's got a pretty strong crew with her." Sighed Miyigawa.

"Well, now I have to see this." Mused Wakako, taking the chip and slotting it into her desk terminal.

She then queued up the footage and hit play. What she saw almost made her wish she hadn't. V was clearly the Driver of her group, just from the way that she managed to give Junichiro and Juri the slip so many times in that sorry excuse for a vehicle. Junichiro and Juri had managed to chase her into a dead-end courtyard near the Modern Labor Market and had called in for support from some of Imai's men. Four of them had arrived shortly afterward in a Shion and made their way into the courtyard.

One of Imai's Men had taken a grenade out and was about to throw it when all Hell broke loose. One of the two Valentinos that were with V sighted down on the Grenade and deliberately shot it with an odd, custom-looking, pistol. The Grenade exploded mere moments after leaving Imai's Man's hand, slaughtering him and his partner. The other two managed to get out of the way using their Cyberlegs and Reflex Boosters, but the assault group was now bunched up. The same Valentino then pushed forward at an unheard-of speed, even managing to dodge a burst of bullets fired from would should have been the optimal range for a submachine gun. That was something that normally took a Full Borg Conversion to do.

What happened next was a massacre. A heavy round from a customized revolver from the other Valentino punched through the heavy-duty subdermal armor of one of Imai's Jonin, knocking her back into Junichiro and sending them sprawling even as the First Valentino managed to perform acrobatic stunts that boggled the mind, flipping upside down near vertically to fire rounds into Imai's Jonin's and Junichiro's faces even as V took down Juri with a burst of well-placed Submachine Gun Fire. Moments later, the First Valentino Landed, and then the recording cut out into static.

"What am I looking at exactly? That first man moved as if he were a Full Borg, yet he clearly is not one. Those guns were similarly far more powerful than anything I've seen before." Blinked Wakako.

"That's not all. We were able to confirm with Imai that his men had some fairly heavy-duty weaponry. Including a Tsunami Arms Type-Eighteen-S Grenade Launcher and a Constitutional Arms M-Twenty-Sixty-Seven Light Machine Gun in the trunk of their Shion." Informed Obata.

"That Launcher and Light Machine Gun, along with all the weaponry and both Junichiro and Juri's Yaiba Kusanagi Motorcycles were missing when we arrived." Added Miyigawa.

"But not the Shion?" Queried Wakako.

"No. Best guess is that with only three people, they didn't want to leave their beat-up Kombi behind." Answered Obata.

"Very well. You may leave me for now. I have a call to make." Dismissed Wakako.

Obata and Miyigawa stood, bowed, and then turned around and headed out of Wakako's Office. For her part, Wakako had a lot to think about. Not only was there apparently a person who could move and fight like that working for the Valentinos alongside this V Woman, but he now also possibly had one of the finest grenade launchers ever manufactured on top of that.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Aleksander? What have you gotten me into?" Asked Wakako.

The empty office didn't answer her. She did, however, know who could. Aleksander Yurinov had best have answers to her questions if he wanted his precious information. She immediately set to sending him a message telling him she wanted a meeting with him as soon as possible. After a few more moments of thinking, she also copied the footage and sent a message to her contacts at Arasaka.

If Aleksander wouldn't tell her what she'd seen, then perhaps Arasaka could figure it out. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see the combat in Japantown between Big E, Jackie, and V on one side, and the Tyger Claws on the other. It wasn't even close, they blew through the Tyger Claws like they were nothing. This was largely due to, as Wakako Said, Big E's beyond-bleeding edge custom Cyberware allowing him the reaction times, reflexes, and movement speed of a Full Borg Conversion. That plus their Imperium-style Weaponry means that the Tyger Claws never had a chance.

Now though, not only is the real threat in Aleksander Yurinov going to be aware of Big E, but so is Arasaka. While one might not strike until he's ready, Arasaka isn't likely to just let someone with that kind of tech run around free in Night City. Especially not if Saburo hears about it. After all, Saburo is a control freak who believes that he is the only one who should have that kind of tech. Plus, with their resources, Arasaka is likely to think they can just send a team of Ninjas in to capture Big E and he won't be able to fight back. We'll see how that works out for them in the future.

At any rate, the next chapter will have some tinkering but also involve the start of the attack on the Sixth Street Safehouse. I will update the character sheet before then too.

Stay tuned. . .