Chapter 2

As V Drove Jackie and I to the Parking Garage where our target was, she and Jackie busied themselves with chit-chat. Not me, though. Along the way, I'd called Juan Chavez up at Moto Cielo and let him know what was going down with tonight and to have credits ready for a Rayfield Arondight. The leather-jacketed, baby-faced, Chop-Shop Boss had promised me he would before hanging up.

Eventually, V drove Jackie and I over to an alleyway near the Western Docks and City Center. The elevator entrance to the parking garage where the target was located should be just a few dozen yards away from here. Jackie and I jumped out and V nodded at us both.

"Good Luck, Chooms. Here, I'll be in the area. If you need to Delta in a hurry, you can get hold of me this way." She offered, sending over her contact info wirelessly via Implants.

"We don't need luck. We're just that good." Responded Jackie.

"Ignore him, he wants to be a Legend too bad. We'll call if we need a Bombshell." I sighed.

"Yeah, I'm the one who wants to be a Legend, not the Cabron using Solo Slang." Snorted Jackie with a roll of his eyes.

"Right, well. Like I said, call me if shit goes sideways. Padre's paying me to stick around in case. I wanna earn my chop, you know?" Smirked V.

"We get it, V. Come on, Jackie, let's get this done." I nodded.

"Later Chica, and hey, this pans out and you wanna partner up, here's my dates." Grinned Jackie, sending his own contact info back.

"Thanks." Answered V, a slight frown on her face.

"He does mean for Biz, by the by. He's got a Mainline already so it's not a proposition." I clarified.

"Right, had to be sure. New Girl in Night City and all." Nodded V, frown easing.

"Ay, mierda! I guess I didn't realize how that sounded!" Chuckled Jackie.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Misty." I jested.

"Why not? She'd get a kick out of it." Laughed Jackie.

"Yeah, right after she kicked you." I joked.

"Tick tock, Chooms." Cut-in V, breaking Jackie and I out of the bout of ribbing we were doing.

"Right. Come on, E." Remakred Jackie.

With that, we headed down the alley, past a small, courtyard-type thing where a couple of guys were hanging around, and into another alleyway. Here, a small roll-up doorway hid a loading dock with a couple of vending machines and an elevator door. We entered the elevator and took it up to the garage. That's when Kirk called Jackie to see if he was ready yet. Jackie, to his credit, played it off like we weren't planning to Haze Kirk before he could Haze us and after a brief back and forth, managed to get Kirk to hang up without having a single clue that we were planning to drop the Rayfield Arondight off at Moto Cielo, Padre's Former Chop Shop and one that the Valentinos owned instead of getting it back to him.

As we headed out into the garage, we spotted Kirk's inside man at the counter behind security glass and made our way over to him. He nodded at us and we nodded back. I let Jackie do the talking since he'd been the one to deal with Kirk.

"Hey! Queue paso, you Rick?" Questioned Jackie.

"Yeah, you guys with Kirk?" Queried the Desk Jockey, Rick.

"Yeah." Lied Jackie.

Rick hummed to himself before pressing a button. "All right, I owe Kirk, so the Camera's Blind. You got twenty minutes to get in and delta." He answered.

"Don't worry, it'll be like we were never here." Promised Jackie.

"Come on, let's just get this done." I reminded Jacki, now that we were on the clock.

"Right." Agreed Jackie.

We headed over to the car and I had to admit, the Arondight was a sweet ride. Black and Silver and looking a decent amount like the Goddamned Batmobile from the Eighty-Nine Tim Burton Batman Movie. I produced the Rayfield Key that I'd upped the software of earlier and we managed to get in. I turned it on and the Car rumbled to life, smooth as silk before sliding over and letting Jackie take the wheel, and we pulled out of the spot without incident.

As we headed out of the parking garage I held my breath for the other shoe to drop. In the game, the trace had happened within a minute of V turning on the Arondight, time that'd been wasted by Jackie stalling him via his stupid car-jacking stunt. However, as we passed the minute mark without any Badges or other Lawmen peeling out behind us, I began to breathe again.

"Ay, relax E. We got it done and you're holding your breath like you were expecting this whole thing to go sideways on us." Chuckled Jackie.

"Just used to the unexpected, I guess." I shrugged.

Jackie chuckled at that and we soon made our way through downtown in the City Center. No NCPD Sirens or Corpo AVs appeared as we did so. In fact, we were back in Heywood, cruising through Wellsprings towards Moto Cielo before the other shoe finally dropped. Jackie and I'd been in the middle of an argument over the recent Night City Boxing Champion Tournament. I had to back my girl Rhino over the Odds on Favorite, Razor Hugh, and Jackie was in the middle of telling me why that'd been a dumb move when it finally happened.

"Hang on, I'm getting a call." Jackie interrupted.

"V, que paso Chica? Why're you calling?" Asked Jackie, answering the call.

"What? When? Where?" He demanded moments later.

"De Mierda! All right, can you make it to Moto Cielo? Good! We're already on our way over! We'll meet you there!" Bit out Jackie before hanging up.

"What happened? It was like listening to half a conversation?" I demanded.

"V picked up a Sixth Street Tail coming outta the City Center. They're chasing her through Vista Del Rey. She's gonna lead them toward Moto Cielo, then we help her take care of those Pendejos!" Growled out Jackie.

"Pinche! You see how shit goes down? I knew this was gonna happen, Jackie. This is why you gotta be prepared for this shit!" I swore.

"Yeah, yeah! Tell me you told me so later, E! Hang on!" Warned Jackie.

Then he punched the accelerator and we practically zoomed through the rest of Wellsprings, heading through the Glen for Moto Cielo. We made it there in less than five minutes thanks to Jackie treating the speed limit like Guidelines more than rules. Fortunately, the Lawmen seemed to be asleep, all having just gotten off a double shift from the lockdown, so we didn't pull any heat from any Badges for it.

Moto Cielo had been a Chop Shop and Biker Hangout back in the old days, it used to belong to the Iron Sights but after that Gang was crushed in the aftermath of the Fourth Corporate War it changed hands a bunch of times during the Time of the Red. Eventually, it wound up in the hands of the Red Chrome Legion, the Nazi Posergang that wound up gaining steam during the Time of the Red. The Nazis had it for almost twenty-five years, only to eventually get kicked out by the Dragula Racers, who'd had it up until five or so years ago when Padre had taken the place over for the Valentinos in a giant fight that wound up with the Dragula Racers getting forced to flee into the Combat Zone to avoid getting destroyed completely.

The Moto Cielo Bloodbath, as that fight wound up being called was the stuff of legends in the Valentinos. It'd earned Padre his spot as a bigshot, though he'd only had it for a few years before he decided to become a full-time fixer instead, letting Juan Chavez, an up-and-comer in the Gang, take the Chop Shop instead. Now it looked like it'd host a Second Bloodbath.

We brought the Arondight into Moto Cielo. Juan and his number two, Chela Aguilar, a no-nonsense woman who habitually wore Leather Pants and a Crop Top, even when being shot at, were already tooled up. They'd grabbed shotguns, both of which were Sawn-off Militech Bulldogs, and had been loading them up when we arrived. Those were Preem weapons, but I didn't have time to mention it. Chela shrugged on her aramid-weave-reinforced leather jacket, while Juan handed over a Chop with the money. I barely had time to check the Eddies on the Chop, there were sixty-six grand on here, just a bit more than I'd been expecting likely thanks to Tia Padre, when the sounds of engines revving echoed from outside.

I shoved the Credit Chip in my pants pocket and headed outside, Jackie, Juan, and Chela following. Sure enough, there was V's beat-up Ortiz Yacatecuhtli, now with a few more bullet holes scratching the paint than when she'd dropped us off, driving toward us at speed. She was being chased by a pair of camouflage-painted, Thornton Wayne Pickup Trucks full of Sixth Street guys. The leader in the first truck shouting orders was a guy I recognized. Big E and he'd had a few encounters back before I'd taken over.

Danny 'DJ' Johnson was a former NUSAF Corporal, one whose record of borderline insubordination and bad attitude meant that he'd been discharged two years after the Unification War Ended when he'd finally crossed the line too many times with a Commanding Officer willing to write his ass up. With a dishonorable discharge, none of the Corps would touch him, so he'd turned to Sixth Street. The Guy had a bad attitude and liked to use intimidation, helped out by the fact he had two Gorilla Cyberarms Arms chipped in that let him literally punch above his weight. Last I'd checked, he'd been leading one of the Groups currently trying to take Vista del Rey from the Valentinos.

Big E and he had a tussle before the lockdown. Both had shot the other in the fight, but no sooner had they gotten their bullet wounds fixed up and ready for round two than David Martinez and his Group had gone through their attack on Arisaka Tower and the Lockdown had shut down inter-district and inter-sub-district travel. It looked like round two was about to start with me in the driver's seat. That was fine, I had no qualms about Zeroing this Gonk. Honestly, Night City'd be improved without him.

V pulled into the parking lot, grabbed her Submachine Gun, and crouched down behind the engine of her Ortiz Yacatecuhtli. The Sixth Street Wayne Pickups pulled in behind her and about eight Sixth Street Gangoons piled out with varying types of weapons on them, DJ alongside them.

"Manfredi, why am I not surprised to see your ass here? I thought you'd been told to fuck off outta Vista Del Ray earlier?" Demanded DJ.

"I live here, DJ. No wannabe General's gonna scare me away." I pointed out.

"You know what? I'm actually glad you're here. We've got unfinished business you and me." Grinned DJ.

"It's you and I, Pendejo, not you and me." I taunted.

"You gonna lecture me on English now? That's fine, what's Spanish for 'Help, I just got my dick shot off for being a smartass?'" Scowled DJ.

"Cute. Not very funny, but cute." I scoffed.

"You know what? Nevermind. I guess we'll find out soon enough! Light 'em up!" Spat DJ, drawing a Constitutional Arms Liberty and pointing it at me.

I didn't wait for him to squeeze the trigger. I was already diving for cover behind V's Ortiz Yacatecuhtli as he drew. Thanks to my ability to Run the Numbers, I knew I'd make it into cover ahead of the bullets, which flew through the space I'd occupied moments ago, just barely missing my foot as I dove, tucking myself into a shoulder roll to come to a stop behind V's truck. DJ's Bullets ripped into the concrete walls of Moto Cielo harmlessly, letting chips of concrete and rock dust fly, but no blood. His men didn't hesitate before following suit. Thankfully, Jackie had the presence of mind to drop to the ground and roll himself behind a parked metal rack of tools. Chela and Juan fired back with their shotguns, dropping two of the Sixth Street Gangoons as they did.

As soon as the fire slacked off thanks to that, I immediately drew my Lexington and popped back out of cover. As I did so, time slowed down for me as my brain, aided by my Mechanicus Implants, Ran the Numbers, giving me firing angles and probabilities. It charted a path to success that had a seventy percent chance of taking out four of the remaining Sixth Street Gangoons and that gave me only a thirty percent chance of getting killed. As time sped up, I took it.

I vaulted over the hood of V's Ortiz Yacatecuhtli, firing two shots as I did so. One punched through the 'Ganic left eye of one of the Sixth Street Gangoons who was swinging a pair of DR-Five Nova Revolvers toward me, dropping him instantly. The Second shot forced the opening I needed to continue as the Sixth Street Gangoon with the Igla Shotgun was forced to take cover behind one of the trucks or get his liver perforated. As I landed from my vault, I tucked into a shoulder roll that carried me forward, dodging a shot from a Sixth Street Gangoon with a Malorian Overture that sliced into the pavement where I'd hit the ground previously.

My shoulder roll carried me right next to that Overture-wielding Gangoon and I fired two shots into him, dropping him and snatching up his revolver as he fell before plugging another two shots, one from each gun, into the side of a Sixth Street Gangoon with a Pulsar Submachine Gun. He fell just as I fired the last shots of my rampage at the Guy with the Igla, my path of destruction carrying me into position to snap off two shots that bypassed his cover and lanced into him.

Unfortunately, that was when I found myself being punched in the ribs by a right hook from DJ's Gorilla Arms. Fortunately, between Big E's general state of fitness and the Mechanicus Implants stimulating hormone production, I was just beefy enough to take it with just some cracked ribs. I wasn't gonna be able to take another of those without going down, though. It might even kill me to take a second hit like that. I stumbled backward as DJ charged forward, Snarling at me. Thankfully, I dropped to my ass in time to avoid the Haymaker that would've taken my head off and instead fired five rounds right into DJ's torso. His Subdermal Armor was good, he took the rounds with just a stumble backward a few steps instead of dying, but that stumble allowed me to empty my magazines into him, killing him.

As he dropped, I stood with a wince and noticed everyone staring at me like I had just sprouted two heads. I made my way over, past the group of corpses clutching my cracked ribs as I did so. Jackie was the first to break the Silence.

"I guess that's why they call you Big E! Eres tu Chingon!" He grinned.

"Yeah. We got lucky. DJ's Gonks aren't exactly the best that Sixth Street's got, they lean too hard on intimidation. That never would've worked on Corpos or Gangoons with more Chrome. For some reason, only DJ had decent Subdermal. He must've been leading recruits tonight." I grunted.

"Still. That was really something, thanks." Nodded V.

"You can thank me by grabbing me a MaxDoc." I huffed.

The inhaler was pressed into my hands by a nodding V and I immediately raised it to my lips and took a big breath. As the one-use medical nanomachines surged into my body, repairing the damage from DJ's Gorilla-Arm-powered punch to the ribs, I realized that if I could claim the weapons and any gear from the guys I'd downed, I could actually begin tinkering a bit. I'd need to, as it was, I could Sherlock Holmes my way through Combat as well as Robert Downey Junior, but I couldn't take a hit to save my life, literally. I was a damn glass cannon right now, and if I went up against guys who had good Subdermal, like any of the Corpos or the Maelstrom, I'd be fucked.

"The stuff on the Gangoons I zeroed is mine." I insisted.

"Yeah, sure thing." Nodded Jackie.

"Juan and I will take our cut from the two Gonks we Zeroed. What do you wanna do with the Sixth Street Trucks?" Questioned Chela.

"You want 'em?" I queried.

"Sixth Street stuff's gonna be difficult to flip, now that it looks like the War's Back on properly. Gotta go through a buncha the special ICE that I wouldn't normally have to go through and do a thorough wipe, just to prevent any Techies Sixth Street can get hold of from tracing folks through the chips in the trucks." Frowned Juan.

"Like you wouldn't do that anyway." I pointed out.

"Depends on who we're selling 'em to." Admitted Juan.

"How much are you willing to pay for both?" I asked.

"Hmm. The Blue Book on these is twenty-five-thousand eddies a pop. I'll give you twenty-six grand for both of 'em." Offered Juan.

"I need to replace the armor panels on my truck." Chimed in V.

"If I take twenty grand, will you throw in work on V's Truck?" I questioned.

"To replace the armor panels? Sure thing. We'll even paint it and throw in some puncture-proof tires too." Agreed Juan.

"Then it sounds like we've got a deal." I nodded.

An alert from my optics revealed Juan had just sent me twenty thousand Eddies wirelessly. I then began scooping up the various shards, chops, and gear from the dead Sixth Street Gangoons. Between them, they had another ten grand in Eddies on various chops, and enough weapons to start tinkering with. No real armor or anything and I wasn't a damn Scav who'd harvest DJ's chrome. By the time everything had been squared away, we were waiting two hours for V's car to be finished, and then she dropped us off at El Coyote Cojo around one in the morning. From there, it took about fifteen minutes to load the various physical Chops into my account, now that I had time to do that and send out payment. I sent twenty grand to V as a thank you, sent Tia Padre his cut wirelessly, and split the remaining eddies with Jackie fifty-fifty. Jackie and I were now thirty-thousand-four-hundred-fifty eddies richer.

"By the by, V. If you do feel like partnering up again, here's my detes." I said, sending her my contact info via my Implants.

"Thanks, I think I'll give you and Jackie over there a call in a week or so if we're gonna do this. Take it easy, Chooms." Nodded V.

"Later Chica!" Grinned Jackie.

"All right, I think I'm gonna call it." I remarked.

"No, stay for Cerveza at least! We gotta celebrate!" Insisted Jackie.

"You didn't take a Gorilla Arm Punch to the ribs. The MaxDoc needs me to sleep to finish working right." I pointed out.

"Fine, but call me when you're up and about so we can do this right! Buenas Noches, Choom!" Offered Jackie.

"Yeah, Hasta Manana, Choom." I nodded.

Then, with a Jaunty wave, I was out the door and headed back home. As I made my way over to my apartment, I spotted a bunch of Valentinos out in force patrolling. V must have not been the only one Sixth Street went after earlier. I wasn't gonna worry about that just yet. Instead, I was gonna spend the night resting, the day tinkering, and return to El Coyote Cojo tomorrow night to see what was up. By the time I did that, I would find out that the reason the Valentinos were out in force was that one of the Sixth Street Bigshots had tried to take a crack at Mi Tia.

The war would officially be on then. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we get the next chapter. I told you that there was gonna be trouble with Sixth Street in this chapter. Even though the group stole the Rayfield Arondight with no issues, there's still a Gang War on now. Fortunately, it's gonna make Jackie, V, and Big E closer as it heats up properly, which will give Big E a chance to be a part of the team for when the plot of the Video Game kicks off, in turn netting him a shitload of points for the Divine Contest.

As for how Run the Numbers looks, I'm picturing something like how Sherlock Holmes fights in those RDJ Sherlock Holmes Movies. If you haven't seen it, it's actually pretty cool, shit slows down and he does the whole Combat by Analysis thing. Picture something like that whenever it happens.

At any rate, the next chapter will finally get some tinkering. I'll also have other sheet changes and more images up shortly. This chapter was over three-and-a-half-thousand words, so that's another perk so keep an eye on the sheet.

Stay tuned. . .