I sat in my van in an empty parking lot in the middle of Westwind Estate. On the other side of the road was an old abandoned warehouse, the type of place that was a dime a dozen in Pacifica. Well, they were mostly deserted. A few Scav-looking people were hanging around the area, which isn't unusual since Scavs sometimes make abandoned buildings their temporary base. Except these Scavs were different.

Most people wouldn't get close enough to tell the difference, you know, on the whole account of Scavs being known for ripping chrome and organs out of people, but if one were to stake the area out, they would notice some unusual behavior. Things as mundane as the music they listen to, the brands of cigarettes they smoke that they don't drink alcohol. But more obvious details as well, like how none of them speak Russian or any other Slavic language.

They do occasionally bring people into the warehouse, like an undercover Danger Gal detective, for example. But they never leave or have anyone come to them to sell their ill-gotten gains. Sometimes, cars would stop in, but never to pick anything up and only to drop off crates, presumably with supplies. All of this was documented in the dossier Michiko gave me on the warehouse. It was impressive data gathering, making me wish I could afford to have an organization like Danger Gals on my payroll.

Checking the time, we still had a bit until our scheduled time to start the operation. My gear was all good to go. My revolver was in it's holster, my katana in its scabbard, and a new toy in a sheath on the small of my back. Looking behind me, I saw Panam screwing a suppressor onto her sniper rifle. On the passenger seat up front was Yumi, who had a pair of binoculars out and was scanning the warehouse. The engine and all the lights in the car were off. The only thing turned on was the radio tuned to 107.3 Morro Rock.

It was two days after receiving the update. I had just finished doing a gig earlier this morning to get used to some of the new perks I picked up when I got a call from Michiko. There were orders to clean house from the top of Militech. Something was happening, and Militech wanted their covert ops out of Pacifica and all the loose ends tied up. We have yet to determine why, but that's not important. What was important was that Violet was now running out of time.

I had a plan already, but I was hoping for another day or two to get an extra pair of trustworthy hands on board. V and Takemura would have been perfect for the job, but the two left early for Japan to get things started on the Steel Dragons front. Panam and Saul offered to lend out some talent from the Clan, but I was uncomfortable tying the Aldecaldos to anything we were about to do. Hell, I would have preferred it if Panam stayed put, but she demanded to be a part of this once she heard that Michiko was pushing the date up.

Panam and I were a dynamite duo if there ever was one, but from Michiko's intel, we definitely need at least one more person. And here lies one of the main issues with mercs and solos. When the incentives were right, soldiers of fortune had a tendency to sell people out. This might not be a problem for usual gigs, but Militech was one of those few parties that could always make an offer too good to refuse.

And that's why Yumi was here. Long story short, I needed one more person I knew I could trust, and who better than the chick whose life I saved and with whom I have a loose agreement to help get revenge? Admittedly, I was partially to blame for her getting thwacked in the head, but hey, if she's not going to hold on to that, I won't, too. I already knew she could handle herself in a fight. I mean, those bat swings when I first met her were brutal. When I asked her, she jumped at the opportunity before I could explain the entire situation. Honestly? It was kinda concerning.

Other than disturbing me slightly, Yumi's inclusion also meant a peeved Panam. She still believed that Yumi was secretly in love with me, and while I might disagree with her, there was definitely something off with how ready she was to go on a dangerous mission when I asked for her help. Maybe I'm looking too deep into it. She could just be unhinged, which isn't that rare in NC.

"Lend me your ears, Night City. This is Maximum Mike, and I'm telling you the big story."

As Summer of 2069 by Blood and Ice faded into the background, the Morro Rock Radio host, Maximum Mike, took over the broadcast.

"Kurt Hansen, the self-appointed dictator of Dog Town, has declared Pacifica's combat zone to be on indefinite lockdown."

Dog Town? What the hell is Dog Town?

"I'm guessing not many of you know much about Dog Town. Heh, and no wonder, the only people who want to be in Dog Town are the type that can't afford to be anywhere else. Most of you know the area as the Pacifica Combat Zone. During The Unification War, Militech sent a small covert army into Pacifica to create a staging ground for invading Night City. But when the war became too expensive to keep up, Militech signed the Arvin Accord and ordered their assets in Pacifica to vacate. Colonel Hansen didn't like that, so he and his small army defected from Militech and created their own private paradise right in NC."

You're damn right I don't know much about Dog Town. I didn't even know it existed until now.

"Anyway... If you believe what Barghest is spouting, they're stopping entry and exit because of 'an influx of illegal immigration'. Hmph, I know. I didn't believe it for a second as well. But fret not; my contacts in NC's forgotten lands have educated me on the real reason Colonel Kurt is jumpy."

And here it is, another hot take conspiracy from good 'ol Maximum Mike. The man's known for his 'high connections' in 'high places'. And oftentimes, he claims those connections are giving him the inside scoop of whatever recent event. There's plenty of shady shit going around in The City of Dreams, but I'm not the type of person interested in conspiracy, so I usually change to a different channel when Mike comes up. But this Dog Town thing piqued my interest, and I decided to stay on the same station.

"What the little birdie chirped in my ear is that Kurt Hansen recently got in some heavy equipment. What might the colonel need that he doesn't have from his Militech warehouses, you ask? Why, Soviet-made high-altitude surface-to-air missile systems courtesy of the Cuban Cartel, of course." 

"The SAMs are being set up in covert locations to defend against an unknown threat. But what need is there for aerial defense in Dog Town? It's not like the NCPD will launch an air assault anytime soon. The only people who threaten Kurt and his reign through the skies are Arasaka and Militech, and apparently, the colonel thinks they are posturing enough to invest in some top-of-the-line toys. Chew on that, Night City."

As Mike ended his section, a song called Five Night Fire Fight came on. For once, Maximum Mike just dropped some absolute bombs on me, and I wished he had gone into more detail. Wanting to learn more, I decided to ask Panam to clear a few things up.

"Hey Panam, what do you know about Dog Town? What's going up in there?"

I watched from the rearview mirror as she finished prepping Overwatch, her iconic SPT32 Grad. After ensuring the suppressor was on tight, she folded the bipod and retracted the rear monopod. Checking that the chamber was empty, she pushed the bolt forward and downward before inserting a full magazine. Placing the rifle in a relatively discreet case (it is big enough to hide an anti-material rifle, after all), she closed all the clasps and looked up to meet my eyes in the mirror.

"Almost nothing. The Clan hasn't been in NC long, so we haven't had many run-ins with Barghest. We've done a few deals for them, but not too much business pops up. It's mostly Voodoo Boys and Scavs turf. We've been approached a few more times since the Wraiths are gone, but no insight into the lockdown if that's what you're interested in."

Makes sense. I wanted to know more than just about the lockdown, but I also didn't want to expose that I hadn't known about Dog Town's existence until now. I guess I'll just have to do some digging on my own. Or pay Rogue. I could always just pay Rogue.

Right as I was going to let the subject drop, Yumi surprised me by speaking up.

"The Tygers had some dealings with them too. A healthy amount of the Glitter we made was sold to Dog Town dealers. I've been in once, a while back with my... associate."

Right, Yumi used to be a Tyger. I wonder why she paused before saying associate, though. It probably had something to do with her revenge against the Tygers. Regardless, it's not my place to push. It's not like I've given her much reason to open up to me like that. Other than helping her that once, we haven't interacted much afterward. She'll let me know when she's ready.

"Oh yeah? What's it like in there?"

Yumi put down her bino as she crossed her arms and raised a finger to her tilted head to think for a second. She was wearing a tank top, so her folded arms showed off her beautiful tattoos and pushed her cleavage together. A former gang member capable of incredible violence doing something so cute and sexy at the same time was the pinnacle of gap moe. I wouldn't mind seeing more of tha-

"Oww"

A painful pinch on my shoulder broke up my thought process. Turning around, I didn't see anything near me, but I did see Panam, who was giving me the stare-down. Cold sweat trickled down my back as my hair stood on end. Did... Did she know? How could she have known? I was just looking! I swear!

I mentally slapped myself and cleared my head of any naughty thoughts before focusing back on Yumi. And this time, I made sure to keep my eyes above the neckline and only on what she was saying.

"NCPD isn't allowed in, so Barghest is the de facto law enforcement, but it would be a stretch to call what they do policing. They're somehow more corrupt and prone to power-tripping than the actual pigs. It's everyone for themselves, like NC, except no one gives a rat's ass if other people see them for the pieces of shit they are."

"Alright. Enough chit-chat. Time to go."

Panam stopped us before I could ask more questions and told us it was time. Checking the clock, I saw that it was 8:30 at night. The poor maintenance of the area meant that most streetlights weren't working, leaving the area almost entirely engulfed in darkness.

I shut down the van and turned off the radio before opening my door and getting out. Yumi, mirroring my actions, also got out of the car. She had a baseball bat slung over her back and a crusher shotgun in front. Panam popped out of the rear with her weapon case in hand before giving us a nod and slithering further into the pitch-black parking lot. Her job was simple: climb up to the roof of one of the nearby apartment buildings to provide overwatch and deal with any lookouts/patrols that might catch Yumi and me while we were sneaking in.

I used a ping quickhack on one of the goons out front, noting how many enemies popped up and marking the ones outside to keep track of their whereabouts. I counted 14 total, six outside and eight inside. Three of the six outside were near the front entrance, one on the roof, acting as a lookout, and the last two slowly walking around the premises. Interestingly, when I scan any 'Scavs' with my Kiroshi's, they don't return as Scavs. There were no cameras outside because this was supposed to be an abandoned warehouse, but quite a few were inside. 

Yumi and I stayed out of the line of sight of the 'goons', making sure to creep around only where the light wouldn't make us out. We sneaked to a part of the wall that we knew had a large chunk missing from long-time disrepair. Ensuring the two on patrol were on the other side of the building, Yumi and I crossed over the wall and approached the fire exit for the second floor and roof.

We needed to get on the fire exit, but the ladder wasn't down. Looking around, I noticed a dumpster about a dozen feet back that could get me to the right height. Walking over, I closed the lid and lept on top. Standing on top of the dumpster brought me to eye level with the bottom-most rungs of the ladder.

I was still more than 12 feet away, which would be a problem if it wasn't for some fun new abilities I got after the update. Taking a few steps back, I got a short running start toward the ladder. Like flexing a muscle, I imagine exerting some force through the air the moment I leaped, and suddenly I felt something propelling me forward.

As I mentioned, I've taken some gigs in the city the last two days to test the new system and see what I wanted to change with my leftover attributes and perk points. After hitting level 40 from 37 after the small gigs I took, I had plenty of points to spare. One of the unique abilities I picked up was Air Dash, which, as the name suggests, allowed me to dash through the air. It wasn't cheap, costing 6 attribute points to get to 15/Phenom level in Reflexes and another three perk points to unlock level 3 of Air Dash to allow me to accomplish feats like flying through the air. If I time it right like I just did, using the ability would look like a chrome-assisted jump instead of something supernatural.

*CLANK*

I managed to catch onto the bottom step of the ladder. I cringed as the metal banged against each other, hoping it wouldn't attract any attention. Looking at my pinged targets, I noticed that the two on patrol had stopped moving. Holding my breath, I waited to see what they would do. I internally cursed when I saw them change course and start heading our way.

Not wasting any time, I lowered the ladder for Yumi, and she climbed up. Once she was with me, I pulled the ladder back up again and ensured nothing seemed out of place. My markers showed that the two making the rounds were getting close, so I signaled to Yumi to follow me and get up as fast as possible.

Once we were at the door to the second floor, I tried to open it just to find it was locked. Letting out a swear under my breath, I pulled Yumi close and ducked into the slight concavity in the wall where the door was as the two on patrol turned the corner.

"Panam, you see the gonks walking toward us from the outside."

"Hold on, give me a sec... Yeah, got 'em."

"They might be on to us. If they spot us, I need you to take out the one of the right. I'll handle the other one."

"Got it."

I slowly drew my silenced revolver from its holster and pointed it at the one closest to the building. The two guards have their guns drawn, scanning the area for anything peculiar. I felt Yumi stick to my side, pressing into me as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

I waited for the guards to look up and spot us, but before that could happen, a gust of wind blew by and pushed over a garbage can. The two snapped their attention to the noise, only to see an empty garbage can roll around. When they saw no threats around, both of the guards relaxed.

"Fuck, I told you it was nothing. Just the wind blowing shit over."

"Yeah, well, better to be safe than sorry. I'll be damned if I'm the one telling Chuck that someone broke in unnoticed because we didn't investigate some sound. Come on, let's go back to check the North area."

As the two left the area, I let out a sigh of relief and lowered my pistol. Poking my head out and checking that we were in the clear, Yumi and I made our way past the second floor and near the roof. The lookout was still pinged, but I knew the timer would run out soon.

The guy was leaning against the roof access, smoking a cigarette, and doing a piss poor job at being a lookout.

"Panam. See the guy on the roof? Need him gone. Do you have a shot?"

"Yup. Just let me know when."

"Whenever. Just make it count."

Not a moment after I gave Panam the go-ahead, I saw the glint of her scope for a split second before a bullet whizzed through the air and smacked the guard right between the eyes. Bits of brain matter and skull chunks splattered against the wall as the guy's body crumpled to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. One of the benefits of having someone like Michiko back you up was that we could get access to fancy equipment, like specialty subsonic bullets for the Grad. At this range, the bullets sounded no louder than a wasp, and no one was the wiser of what just happened.

Yumi and I made our way onto the roof, making a beeline for the access door to the warehouse's interior. Gently testing the handle on the door to see if it was unlocked, I was happy to find that this one wasn't secured like the fire escape exit for the second floor.

"We're heading inside now, Panam. Keep an eye out on the outside and let us know if anything is happening."

"Roge. Stay safe, Basil, and don't do anything stupid."

There was a slight creaking as I pushed the door open. Keeping it slow and steady kept the noise relatively quiet. Peaking through the slit, I noticed that there wasn't anyone on the other side. When the gap was large enough to pass through, I let Yumi in first before following after her. Once on the other side, I gently closed the door before taking in my situation.

The building blueprints Michiko provided us were very in-depth, so I had a good idea of what it would be like inside before getting here. That being said, looking at a two-dimensional picture and being in the real thing was very different. It took me a second to recognize the various features and get my orientation.

After descending the stairs, we found ourselves on a mezzanine-type deal. We were on a catwalk with covered railings that wrapped around the interior and overlooked the inside of the warehouse. In the middle of the catwalk was an office building. The actual warehouse space was more or less empty, mainly comprised of shipping crates and smaller boxes and cases.

Our plan was simple. Step one was to sneak inside. Check. Step two was to find the camera operators and neutralize them. Step three was using the cameras to identify where Violet was being kept before shutting the security system off. The last step was getting to her and delta the fuck out.

Spotting a camera on the other wall, I gave it a quick ping to see what we were dealing with. Only 13 enemies popped up this time, and I marked the eight inside. Two were in the office building next to me, which I assume is the security room. Four were on the ground storage floor, doing various activities. And the final two were in the basement. There were only three cameras. One overlooks the main floor, another pointed at the vehicle bay, and the last is in the basement. First things first, the camera people. 

Using my hands, I signaled to Yumi the office and raised two fingers. She seemed to understand what I was trying to convey, and the two of us crept toward the room, careful to stay tucked behind the railing cover so no one could see us. Once at the door, I looked through the window in the door to confirm that there wasn't anyone inside that didn't get pinged.

The room had a bunch of filing cabinets and two desks, one with a computer screen while the other had just a laptop and a bunch of paperwork. There was one guard at each desk. The one at the desk with monitors was leaning back, one hand behind his head while the other was browsing his phone. For a bunch of supposed Militech covert operatives, they are complacent. I wonder if this is a byproduct of stomping on the little guy and not getting a legitimate challenge for so long.

The door was locked behind a digital lock. Scanning it showed that I couldn't hack into it. Since I don't know what the password is or have the biometrics to get past it, it's time to try one of the oldest tricks in the book.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

So I knocked.

A few seconds passed, and nothing happened. Then I heard the sound of a chair being pushed back and footsteps getting louder and louder. I reached behind me into a sheath and pulled out a hand axe. It was a simple tool, a little over a foot in length, one continuous piece from the head to the end of the tang. One side of the head was the standard axe head, while the other was a narrow tapered ice pick-like protrusion.

Fighting Caesar taught me that my close-up fighting style needed a weapon capable of cutting through armor. The broad head of an axe was perfect for chopping in closer confrontations where I can't use my katana or get a good draw with my pistol, while the ice pick end gives me the ability to puncture through even the toughest of subdermal plates.

I heard a few beeps before the *kerchunk* sound as a lock disengaged itself. The door then began sliding open.

"The fuck do you want? How many times do I have to tell you that if you want to talk to the camera room, you have to go throu-"

The guy stopped mid-sentence when he saw Yumi, and I crouched outside. Before he could sound a warning, however, I dashed forward and swung my axe at his neck, gouging out his vocal cords and spraying blood all over the doorway. The man's eyes widened in fear, and his hands reached up in a doomed attempt to keep the blood in.

*GRHHHHK*

Quickly flipping my axe around, I brought it into an overhead grip and slammed the ice pick through the top of his cranium. His eyes instantly rolled into the back of his head, and his corpse froze.

"What the hell is goin-"

The other guard finally noticed something fishy was up and turned around. Credit where credit is due, this guy seemed more diligent and instantly went for his gun lying on the side of his desk. I used my leverage on the first guard to pull him out of the doorway. As soon as the guy was out of the way, I saw a blitz of movement as Yumi ran into the room like a bolt of lightning with a bat in hand. 

She was so fast that it almost seemed like after-images were being created. Yumi's build was similar to mine, minus the stealth. From what I knew, she had a Kerenzikov to make herself faster and muscle fiber augmentations to make herself supernaturally strong.

This was part of why I wanted another person with me. Before the update, I could just activate Sandi/Optical camo and quickly remove both guards. But after the update, my Sandevistan's recharge rate was well over a minute, and my optical camo lasted for only four seconds and had a minute cool down as well. Having another person just made taking down multiple targets stealthily much easier.

Yumi pirouettes before taking a small leap, turning mid-air with her bat rotating alongside. The slugger connected right with the guard's head, sending him stumbling forward away from his gun. The man lay on the ground, briefly discombobulated, before trying to get back up. However, it wasn't fast enough as Yumi wasted no time raising her bat and swinging downward like a sedge hammer.

*CRUNCH*

A nasty crunching noise signaled the cracking of the man's skull. The back of the head was slightly caved in with blood leaking out, while the same red liquid could be seen dripping from Yumi's bat. Did I feel somewhat bad for the guards? Yeah, but you don't get to working covert ops for Militech, where you abduct people by being good eggs, so I didn't dwell on it for long.

I looked out the main window to see if anyone had noticed what had occurred. Seeing nothing change from the ordinary, I quickly approached the monitors. The monitors were for the cameras, as suspected, and hunched over to get a better look.

The first one was for the main floor, and I couldn't find anything interesting other than an already-marked enemy seemingly doing inventory on shipping containers. Flipping to the second one, I saw a large entrance for vehicles that was currently closed. There was a small box truck in the bay, and one guy was in the car loading the back while two more were handing them boxes. Not finding anything worthwhile, I flipped to the last camera.

"Bingo."

A small dark cell was on the screen for the camera in the basement. Inside the cell were two people. One was a more petite figure sitting on the floor against a wall, while the other was a large man in a military tank top. The man was standing over the female, saying something. 

When the prisoner didn't respond, the man slapped the woman, sending her crashing to the ground. The man then yanked her up by her hair before hitting her again. That had to be Violet, and by the looks of it, she was being interrogated.

Getting the intel we came here for, I shut down the security system before getting off the computer. Looking over at Yumi, I filled her in on the detes.

"Violet's locked up in the basement right now. I counted four guys up top, counting the two we took care of in here, that means there should only be two guards in the basement. The stair down is next to the crates opposite the loading bay. We should be able to sneak past without taking anyone out."

Yumi simply nodded.

"Ok. I'll just follow you and do whatever you tell me."

Nodding at her, we made our way out of the office and back onto the catwalk. Without worrying about the cameras, we could go down the stairs and onto the ground floor much faster. Once there, Yumi and I weaved through all the crates and boxes. When I passed the shipping container with the guy doing inventory, I debated whether I should take him out right now.

Eventually, I decided against it. Sure, he was isolated and an easy target, but I figured it wasn't worth taking the extra risk when we could easily sneak past him. While I didn't kill the guy, I did use another ping on him to refresh my marks that were about to disappear. Ignoring the guard, Yumi and I took only a short time to get to the basement stairs.

Once there, we made the short trek down until we found ourselves at the basement level. The basement was split into two sections, one where there were a bunch of shelves that stored smaller items that didn't need dedicated space upstairs and another further down that served as the jail cells. 

While I could still hear one goon interrogating Violet, the Ping marks informed me that the other guarded the entrance from the storage area to the second room. He was positioned so that he would see anyone who walked down the stairs, making it difficult for someone to try to sneak by. Time to use another cool new trick I learned.

Letting Yumi know to stay here, I crouched before sprinting down the stairs and into the hallway. I dashed right into the guard's sight line and the shelves. Instead of being spotted, all the guard saw was a slight blur in the background before everything went back to normal.

The reason why the guard couldn't spot me was because of a little perk called vanishing act. The perk automatically activated my optical camo when I am crouch sprinting. It still used optical camo charge, but it could be deactivated by simply no longer crouch sprinting. That little maneuver I did only used up around a quarter of my full optical camo charge, which meant I only needed to wait 15 seconds to recharge instead of the full minute. I could also activate the optical camo by sprinting while crouched instead of waiting for it to refill.

It was a handy perk for sneaking around, but it cost most of my remaining perk and attribute points. First, I had to spend six attribute points to get to Phenom in Cool, then three perk points to unlock Ninjutsu level 3 to be able to sprint while crouched, followed by another two to get Creeping Feath and Vanishing Act. I also spent another point picking up Serpentine, which gave me another +30% mitigation while crouch sprinting, making it harder to spot me. Still, it was worth it.

Snaking around the shelves out of sight of the guard, I stopped when I was right around the corner from the man.

If the camera were still working, all the operator would have seen was the guard's head snap back, and an axe appears out of nowhere in the guy's forehead. He would then fall forward before getting dragged into the shelves by an invisible force. His feet poking out into the hallway would jerk a few times before his body lost strength and went limp. It would have been a clear indication of foul play, but we've already taken care of that aspect.

"You can come over, Yumi."

Using our secured comms, I called out to Yumi. Stepping over the corpse and into the open, my partner in crime soon joined me, and we ventured further into the underground level.

Pushing past the plastic dividers, we were in a pretty bare environment. One side was a standard dreary concrete room. The other side, separated by more semi-transparent plastic dividers, was filled with tiles that once were white but were now beginning to decompose and yellow.

I could see the silhouette of the people inside. The Militech muscle was still beating Violet. Not wasting any time, I pushed past the dividers and walked into the detention area. Hearing the footsteps, the goon started turning around, berating who he thought was one of his underlings.

"I thought I made it clear that I was NOT to be disturbed."

"Sorry, but change of plans."

My revolver was already pointed at the man's head, leaving him only enough time to open his mouth before I blasted a new hole in his face. I've been reluctant to use my revolver so far because even the quietest gunshot was still louder than the cold steel of an axe. But since we were in the basement and separated by several layers of plastic, I went with the quickest approach.

Pushing the body to one side, I crouched beside our target and checked her condition. There were cuts and bruises all over Violet's body. One of her eyes was almost swollen shut, while one of the cat ears had a good chunk of the tip cut off.

"Violet. You in there. We're here to get you out. Can you walk by yourself?"

"I- I've already tol- told you. I don't know what you're talking about. I just thought I might be able to klep something I can sell on th- on the market."

"Damn. They must have done a number on her. Yumi, can you hand me that irritant?"

I reached out with my hands, and Yumi plopped a small cylinder into it. Michiko was worried that this might happen, so she gave us something that, and I quote, 'will make a dead horse when the Grand National'.

Twisting the cap off the cylinder, I pushed the small package under Violet's nose and watched as she jolted and sat up ramrod straight. The pupil in her good eye dilated almost twice its size, and her ears started turning back and forth like an animal trying to track something by sound. Her eyes darted around, taking in her environment. She looked over herself, then at the dead body on the ground, and finally at me and Yumi.

"You're not with Militech."

"No. Michiko sent us to dig you out of this shit hole. Told us to show you this."

I reached into my pocket before fishing out a small ornate lapel pin. It was the picture of the Danger Gal logo.

When Violet touched it, the color changed from shades of purple and pink to red and orange. The word 'Danger' also was replaced by the form of a stalking puma.

"Fuck. Getting saved by hired help. This is embarrassing."

The pin seemed enough to confirm our identities, and Violet tried to get up. When I saw that she was having trouble, I offered her my hand, which she took. Pulling her up to her feet, Violet stumbled around a bit when I let her go. When I approached to ensure she didn't fall, she waved me off and stabilized herself by leaning against the wall, a hand on her head as she nursed what was probably a killer headache.

"What's the sitrep."

"Five tangos outside and four inside. We were overlooked coming in, and if we're quick, we should be able to stay unnoticed going out. You good to move on your own two legs?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can manage. Not in any shape to fight, though, so if shit hits the fan, you two are doing all the heavy lifting."

"No problem. Let's go."

The three of us left the cell, Me taking point while Yumi helped Violet behind me. I was optimistically allowing myself to feel good about the situation. We were 90% of the way there. No one noticed us coming in, all the cameras were shut down, and all that was separating us from a job well was walking out of the damn place. But of course, the second I began thinking I was in the clear was when that flag was raised from potential fuck up to immediate fuck up.

"Sir. We finished packing the truck and I'm done inventorying everything we're not moving immediately. Everything is good to go including the Cent-"

Literally, right as we turned the corner from the detention area to the storage area we came face to face with a Militech goon. We stared at each other for a split second before the goon picked up his radio, and Yumi surged forward with her bat drawn.

"Intruders in the basement! I REPEAT. INTRUDERS IN TH- Oooof."

Yumi's bat connected square in the side of the gonk head, instantly knocking the fucker out. Sadly, while Yumi's reaction was fast, it wasn't fast enough. Chatter immediately came from the fallen guard's radio.

"Area has been breached! Everyone enter protocol epsilon. Send an alert to the QRF."

God. Fucking. Damnit.