[Centaur cha Suiting Up.]
[Neural current exceeding safety threshold. Please check ch potential a103, c6.]
[Recalibrating power distribution.]
[Error Code: 0x220032]
A flood of alerts flashed across Brick's cybernetic display as the 3D model of the Centaur cha materialized on his HUD—only to imdiately collapse as Sandevistan activated!
Integrating Sandevistan into the Centaur cha was an incredibly difficult process—
Even for the Maelstrom Gang, who treated installing Sandevistan like eating and drinking, it was still an extrely dangerous operation!
Thanks to Brick's highly cybernetic body, his adaptability was exceptionally high. The process of adding connection cables went smoothly, not even requiring additional surgery to install new ports.
But for the sa reason, his system was riddled with bootleg software and homade cyberware, making the integration process a nightmare.
It wasn't until Leo fully connected that he realized—every ti Brick moved, his cyberware system threw an error!
This guy was a walking, glitch-ridden cyber freak!
Boom!
Outside the armored transport, a rocket slamd into the factory wall, triggering an explosion.
The impact sent flaming debris crashing onto a stack of cargo crates, igniting a second wave of detonations.
Yet the Behemoth armored vehicle didn't slow down. Several machine-gun-mounted pickups roared behind it, speeding through the streets!
"Can't hit her! No way in hell I can hit her—shit!"
Their target—a silent, deadly woman—moved like a goddamn horror movie monster.
With bladed legs tapping effortlessly along the sides of buildings, she ran on the walls as if gravity didn't exist!
Her form flickered like a phantom. Every ti Sandevistan activated, the gunn's nerves were shredded—they had no idea where she'd appear next.
Machine guns and rocket fire rained down blindly, but nothing touched her.
At a street corner, the panicked Maelstrom thug barely caught sight of her as she leapt from a wall—her calves released a highly compressed burst of gas, launching her sideways mid-air—
A full-on aerial charge!
The gleaming blade of her leg reflected the neon lights, cutting straight toward the roof of the vehicle!
Bang!
The mantis blade plunged through the armored roof, glowing red-hot as it carved open a massive gash—cleaving straight through the driver's seat.
From skull to throat, the Maelstrom gangster was split cleanly in two.
Hanging off the side of the Behemoth transport, Brick's closest brother, Carter, hoisted a rocket launcher with one hand and pulled the trigger—
BOOM!
The rocket struck the vehicle dead-on!
The explosion sent the car flying, flipping through the air before slamming onto the pavent, tal screeching against asphalt.
But Carter could clearly see—Zaria had completely evaded the blast. She had already vaulted onto a nearby streetlamp—
Perched like a predator, ready to strike again.
Bang! Bang!
Carter tossed aside the rocket launcher, slamming his fist on the transport. "Brick! You done screwing around yet?! That psycho's gonna kill us all!"
Inside, Brick's senses were beginning to distort.
Sandevistan's continuous activation warped ti—everything sped up, slowed down, sounds twisted, and light bent unnaturally.
His cybernetic spine overloaded every nerve in his body, triggering a series of physiological enhancents—boosting his reflexes and speed. But now, all that energy was being funneled into the enormous Centaur cha.
The machine required imnse electrical power. Normally, a cybernetic modulator would regulate these currents, acting as an interdiary between his nervous system and the cha. But now—his nervous system was directly linked to the machine.
The usual reflex pathway of nervous system → cyber modulator → Centaur cha had been reduced to just nervous system → Centaur cha.
Brick felt his body dissolving—being completely consud—
A new body was taking shape.
Exactly as his HUD displayed.
"Brick!"
Carter barely had ti to yell before his cybernetic eye flared red—
That phantom figure was hurtling straight at him!
One hand gripped the vehicle. The other clawed for the gun strapped to his chest—
Too late.
BANG—BANG!
Zaria dodged the bullets with ease, her mantis blade flashing down—
Clang!
The blade struck a massive shield!
Brick had activated the Centaur cha!
The ch erupted in a storm of arcing electricity. The supposedly cumberso machine moved with impossible speed, sweeping its shield horizontally like a cleaver, forcing Zaria back—
And in its other hand—
A fully charged plasma cannon!
The cannon fired!
Zaria barely managed to dodge, but the projectile didn't detonate on impact—it crashed through the walls of a nearby chemical plant, drilling deep into the structure—
Straight into a massive storage of volatile chemicals.
The sheer heat of the plasma charge ignited the compounds before the explosion even fully triggered—
BOOOOM!
The shockwave flipped every vehicle in the street. A fireball engulfed the entire block!
A blinding explosion ripped through the night sky.
The chemical fire burned in unnatural hues, forcing onlookers to shield their eyes—
Those without military-grade cyber-optics were instantly blinded by the light.
Carter was thrown through the air, his body completely out of control.
Thud.
He dragged himself out of the rubble, his cybernetic vision flooded with distortion and static.
Flaming wreckage littered the area. His gang was in pieces—literally. Severed limbs twitched on the ground, still firing off residual neural impulses.
His legs gave out. He collapsed onto the debris.
"Shit."
The Behemoth armored vehicle lay overturned, its fra warped.
Through the haze, Brick stood in the center of the street, lowering his shield.
And Zaria—finally shaken by the explosion—bore visible bruises from the impact.
Clearly, both had sustained heavy damage. Brick from overclocking the ch, Zaria from the sheer force of the blast.
They stared at each other—predators assessing their prey.
Their exoskeletons and cybernetic bodies humd with self-repairs, like two killing machines recalibrating for the next strike.
Clang.
A shattered electronic billboard crashed to the ground in front of Carter, the half-destroyed text reading: Health & Safe—
"Fuck. We really stepped in it this ti." Carter groaned, his cyber-eye barely registering the rapidly approaching aerial vehicles.
He knew exactly who was coming.
The MaxTac Task Force.
And not just one or two squads.
[Sender: Hero Stranger]
[Mysterious Hero: The MaxTac Task Force is inbound.]
[Ellis Carter: No shit, genius.]
[Mysterious Hero: If you wanna live, get in the damn ch.]
[Ellis Carter: You've been stirring this shit up the whole ti, haven't you?]
[Mysterious Hero: You're the ones fighting. I just gave you the tools.]
[Ellis Carter: …Fair enough.]
Carter coughed up a mouthful of synthetic fluid, spitting it onto the ground.
Ignoring the pain, he reached into a hidden compartnt in his side—a small, detachable patch of skin concealing a secure pouch.
Inside, his last stash of Black Lace.
"Fuck it. I just wanted to listen to so music at Totentanz."
He inhaled deeply—
"Ohhh, fuck yeah!!!"
The drug flooded his system, pain vanished, and Carter dove into the armored transport—
There was only one thing on his mind now:
Suit up in that goddamn military-grade exoskeleton.
[Ellis Carter: Take down the MaxTac Task Force, and I'll get you a helt as a trophy!]
The three cyberpsychos turned their attention to the aerial convoy—
Every instinct scread at them—
That was the real threat.
The Scorpion Tail hovercrafts closed in fast. Brick raised his shield—
The storm of gunfire began.
The 12.7mm high-explosive armor-piercing rounds slamd into buildings and concrete blocks, their explosions advancing slowly like a rolling carpet—
No cover, whether steel or concrete, could withstand such terrifying firepower. They crumbled like tofu, unable to last even a second!
The shooting continued for a full 30 seconds. Each machine gun fired 1,500 rounds of high-explosive armor-piercing ammunition. The scene was left in complete ruin—only wreckage remained.
Shattered walls and steel plates crashed down with sharp, grating sounds!
Aboard the hovercraft, the riot suppression squad mbers who had just finished their barrage began switching shifts. After confirming there were no survivors, they moved to the next location.
This was the true riot suppression scene of the MaxTac mobile unit—no dramatic close-quarter combat, just relentless tal torrents obliterating all insurgents.
Almost no one could survive this kind of onslaught.
The hovercraft cruised above Watson's North District, stopping and going—like Death himself on a stroll.
But... they weren't truly Death.
On the other side, another machine gun sprayed bullets wildly across the streets, but the speed of the Centaur ch was far beyond their expectations—
Brick moved swiftly between the ruins of collapsed walls. His massive shield was already glowing red-hot from the relentless fire, yet it was just barely holding!
Pinned down, Brick couldn't lift his head—just one more hovercraft joining the attack, and his defenses would surely collapse!
Or perhaps… considering the massive bursts of fire each ti the ch moved, even a single hovercraft could wear him down completely.
The MaxTac squad aboard the hovercraft noticed Brick's predicant. They wanted a swift end to this fight.
[Falcon: Target is highly mobile. Requesting additional firepower coverage.]
A second hovercraft, having just finished clearing a stronghold, headed toward them.
But at that mont—
Falcon's pilot suddenly detected a rapidly rising thermal signature on the sensors. It stood out sharply amidst the bombed-out ruins—
Just like the military-grade plasma cannon in Brick's right hand!
[Falcon: Jump out now!]
The Scorpiontail attempted an evasive maneuver at the last mont, but it was too late!
A shell that could pierce high-level protective buildings at Kendachi Pharmaceuticals could just as easily rip through this ard hovercraft!
The unexpected plasma shell streaked toward Scorpiontail like a bolt of lightning. Its armor shattered like thin ice, the projectile tearing straight through the hull and striking the fuel tank!
Boom!
The hovercraft's wreckage was hurled by the massive explosion, its debris scattering across the surrounding streets and buildings!
As plasma embers still flickered in the air, the second approaching hovercraft realized the severity of the situation and prepared to ascend—but Brick, now with a free hand, pulled the trigger again!
This ti, their evasive maneuver worked!
Scorpiontail veered sharply to the side, dropping dozens of ters in altitude in an instant, skimming toward the factory rooftop—almost crashing!
Whoosh!
The powerful jet blast blackened the building's surface, barely managing to stabilize the craft.
But the attack was far from over.
Zaria, who had been lying in wait on a nearby wall, seized the opportunity. The enhanced tendons in her legs and the sudden burst of expanding gas propelled her straight toward Scorpiontail!
The Maxtac squad mbers saw a lightning-fast woman swinging a heated mantis blade at them!
Slash!
The machine gun was cleaved in half in an instant!
Zaria's mantis blade didn't land on the squad mbers, but her spinning body twisted midair like a deadly dance—her leg blades slashing clean through a trooper's helt!
In the tight space, the remaining squad mbers activated their Sandevistans, trying to restrain this cyberpsycho—
But they never got the chance!
On the ground, Brick and Carter pulled the triggers on their plasma cannons at the sa ti!
Boom!
Within five minutes, two Scorpiontail hovercrafts had been shot down!
The firelight illuminated the twisted, ecstatic faces of the Maelstrom brothers—
This was the essence of the Maelstrom gang!
Any tech, they dared to take and use; any tech, they could push beyond its limits—
Night City's oldest and most notorious cyber-psychotic gang!
The explosion from the two downed hovercrafts was so bright that it was probably visible from the corporate plaza.
Outside the All Foods factory, both warring Maelstrom factions montarily stopped their infighting—even Royce himself.
He was speechless.
Cold sweat poured down his back.
How the hell did that coward Brick get his hands on firepower of this level?!
Even the other gang mbers inside the factory were staring blankly—so in shock, so in excitent.
After all, this was exactly what the Maelstrom did best!
As for Royce, the fat bastard didn't seem fit to be the boss anymore…
"The hell are you looking at?!" Royce barked, trying to mask his fear as he turned and stord deeper into the factory.
No point in fighting anymore.
[To: Brick]
[Royce: I surrender! You're the boss now!]
But by the ti this ssage reached Brick, it had already been intercepted and altered by Leo—
[Royce: You old bastard! I'll be waiting for you at All Foods!]
Thus, the ssage Royce received in return was—
[Brick: Dumbass, prepare to die!]
Royce's legs went weak. He grunted in frustration and hurried toward the garage.
If he didn't run now, when would he?
Yet, the more he thought about it, the more lost he felt—
All he ever wanted was to take over.
He originally thought Brick, that old fool, would get wiped out by Militech, leaving the position open for him. Simple, right?
But now things had turned into this.
The Maelstrom gang barely had 2,000 mbers left—by the end of tonight, who knew if even 200 would survive…
Running was the only option.
No sha in running—hell, even after the Tyger Claws got their asses kicked, plenty of their guys ca crawling to Maelstrom for protection.
Maybe he should ask that big guy for so tips—
After all, he was an expert at running. Royce was just a beginner.
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