Lena drove back toward Heywood in a distinctly sour mood.
Her attempt to locate a hidden Sandevistan had been a complete waste of time.
Valerie, however, seemed far more amused than disappointed.
Instead of returning directly to El Coyote Cojo, she insisted they spend some of their newly earned money on clothes.
“We finally have a steady income,” Valerie said from the passenger seat.
“We can’t keep dressing like we crawled out of the Badlands.”
“We’re mercenaries.
Aren’t we supposed to look rough?”
“That was before.
Now we’re a proper crew.
We should at least look like one.”
They stopped along a commercial street in Wellsprings, one of Heywood’s busiest neighborhoods.
Clothing stores stood between bars, gun shops, and ripperdoc clinics, their neon signs competing for attention.
The store Valerie selected was nothing like an ordinary boutique.
Netrunner suits hung along one wall, while reinforced jackets, tactical vests, and ballistic equipment filled the display cases.
Another section offered customized clothing modeled after the styles of Night City’s major gangs.
The owner’s eyes brightened when Lena and Valerie entered.
Neither woman had visible facial implants or exposed mechanical ports, giving them a relatively natural appearance rarely seen among experienced Night City mercenaries.
“Looking for new gear?”
“We’ll look around,” Valerie answered before pulling Lena toward the tactical section.
She quickly selected a black combat outfit.
“This one suits you.”
The fitted ballistic vest followed Lena’s figure without restricting movement.
Its waist contained several ammunition pouches, while a reinforced holster rested against her thigh.
Grenades, magazines, and tools could be attached to the accompanying tactical belt.
Valerie added a pair of heavy black boots and pushed the entire outfit into Lena’s hands.
“Try it.”
A few minutes later, Lena emerged from the changing room and examined herself in the mirror.
She looked entirely different from the woman who had first arrived in Night City.
The dark tactical equipment made her appear controlled and dangerous—a mercenary who was prepared to enter a firefight at any moment.
The owner nodded appreciatively.
“The two of you could be on the cover of a mercenary magazine.”
Valerie hooked an arm through Lena’s and grinned at their reflections.
“Well?”
Lena studied herself for several seconds.
“Not bad.”
“That’s all I get?”
“It’s practical.”
Valerie rolled her eyes and dragged her toward the casual clothing.
After rejecting several increasingly bold suggestions, Lena finally surrendered and returned to the fitting room.
When she emerged again, she wore a short black skirt, a fitted cropped jacket, and platform boots.
The outfit was stylish without becoming excessively decorative.
Standing beside Valerie, the two presented a striking contrast—Lena calm and severe, Valerie confident and energetic.
The shop owner stared for a moment before smiling.
“You two certainly know how to draw attention.”
Valerie looked satisfied.
Lena looked as though she was already considering changing back.
In the end, they purchased two tactical outfits and two sets of casual clothes for fifteen hundred eurodollars.
Lena immediately changed back into her tactical gear and reorganized her ammunition and equipment.
It was far more familiar.
Once they returned to the Galena, Lena was about to start the engine when a notification appeared on her mercenary channel.
The NCPD regularly outsourced work to independent contractors.
Night City’s police force lacked the personnel to deal with every gang dispute, kidnapping, illegal cyberware operation, and armed robbery.
Serious incidents received official attention; smaller but still dangerous cases were often posted as bounties for registered mercenaries.
One nearby alert caught Lena’s attention.
“Valerie.”
“What?”
“We have a job.”
The contract concerned an area near Megabuilding H2.
The location felt familiar, and the details caused a smile to appear on Lena’s face.
“Perfect.
We can test our new equipment.”
Valerie reviewed the information.
“So your idea of finishing a shopping trip is starting a gunfight?”
Lena started the Galena.
“This is Night City.
We bought clothes, and now we’re going to earn the money back.”
Megabuilding H2 towered above the district, disappearing into the polluted haze.
Enormous advertisements covered the surrounding buildings, their light reflecting from wet pavement and passing vehicles.
Prosperity and violence existed only a street apart in Night City.
According to the NCPD report, a section of the commercial district had recently been occupied by the Animals.
They had converted several abandoned shops into makeshift gyms, extorted nearby businesses, and assaulted civilians who refused to cooperate.
The total bounty was ten thousand eurodollars.
Lena parked at the entrance to the affected street.
She stepped out wearing the tactical outfit Valerie had chosen, her boots landing heavily against the pavement.
Valerie emerged from the other side and adjusted her holster.
“I have to admit, that outfit suits you.”
Lena inspected the ammunition pouches around her waist.
“I feel like a different person.”
“That was the point.”
They advanced toward H2’s underground shopping area.
The streets grew increasingly neglected as they moved away from the main road.
Animals graffiti covered the walls, abandoned vehicles obstructed the sidewalks, and heavily modified figures gathered beneath the lights.
Members of the Animals valued direct physical power above everything else.
They weren’t known for subtlety or complex tactics.
They enlarged their muscles, reinforced their bones, and transformed their bodies into weapons.
Several gang members noticed the approaching women.
“Lost, ladies?” one called.
“This isn’t a shopping district anymore.”
A group emerged from the underground entrance.
Their exposed arms were covered with reinforced synthetic muscles, injection ports, and metal braces.
The man at their head was nearly two meters tall, with shoulders wide enough to fill the doorway behind him.
Both his arms had been replaced with military-grade Gorilla Arms.
Heavy armor enclosed the mechanisms, and every movement produced a hydraulic growl.
Lena’s optics scanned him.
[NCPD Bounty: €$3,000]
[Gorilla Arms Detected]
[Dense Marrow Detected]
[Subdermal Armor Detected]
He was a close-range fighter designed to overwhelm opponents through brute force.
Dangerous, certainly, but not impossible to handle.
The Animals leader stared back at Lena.
His cyberoptics scanned her in return, and his mocking smile gradually disappeared.
General Augmentation.
Cellular Adapter.
Subdermal Armor.
Reinforced Tendons.
Kerenzikov.
The scan continued until it identified ten separate pieces of combat cyberware.
Ordinary people used implants to make their jobs easier.
Drivers installed neural links, workers replaced damaged limbs, and netrunners relied on interface ports.
Combat cyberware was different.
Every implant increased the pressure placed upon the nervous system.
Someone carrying as much combat chrome as Lena should have been approaching the edge of cyberpsychosis.
Yet she stood before him perfectly calm.
The gang leader raised one of his massive hands, signalling his people to remain back.
“Listen, I don’t know how we offended you, but we don’t want trouble.
You’re not going to risk your life for a few thousand eddies.”
“You’re right,” Lena replied.
“I don’t care much about the bounty.”
The man’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
Then Lena looked directly at the data port behind his neck.
“I’m more interested in what you’re carrying.”
His expression changed.
The system had already completed its scan.
[Special Data Detected]
[Kang Tao: Yinglong Crafting Specification]
The schematic should never have been in the possession of a minor Animals boss.
Yet Night City’s corporations often allowed experimental technology to leak into the underworld.
It gave them valuable combat data without forcing them to risk their own personnel.
Gang members, mercenaries, and criminals fought to obtain the leaked equipment, willingly becoming test subjects in exchange for greater power.
If the prototype succeeded, the corporation gained information.
If the user died, nothing of value was lost.
The Animals leader understood immediately that negotiation was over.
The armor surrounding his Gorilla Arms shifted as their hydraulic systems activated.
“Kill them!” he roared.
“They’re not letting us leave!”
The ground shook beneath his weight.
Micro-actuators inside the Gorilla Arms accelerated his punch far beyond what such heavy equipment should have allowed.
His fist hurtled toward Lena’s head.
She didn’t dodge.
Instead, she planted her feet and clenched her right hand.
Her General Augmentation optimized her muscle output, the Cellular Adapter maintained stability throughout her body, and the Reinforced Tendons anchored her legs against the pavement.
Lena twisted at the waist and punched.
Their fists collided head-on.
The impact exploded through the street.
The Animals leader’s eyes widened.
He had expected to crush her arm, but Lena held her ground.
The force transmitted through her fist left her muscles numb, and even her Titanium Bones strained beneath the pressure.
Military-grade Gorilla Arms possessed terrifying power.
A moment later, her Cellular Adapter compensated for the shock and restored stability.
Before either fighter could strike again, the surrounding Animals raised their guns.
“Drop them!”
Gunfire erupted.
Valerie dove behind an overturned kiosk and returned fire with her DR5 Nova.
Her first shot struck one gang member between the eyes.
The second tore through another man’s chest as he attempted to charge.
The Animals leader swung his mechanical arm horizontally.
Lena activated her Kerenzikov.
The world slowed.
She leaned away as the armored fist passed inches from her body.
Its momentum smashed into a metal display rack, bending the frame almost in half.
Rather than retreating, Lena stepped inside his reach.
The RT-46 Burya appeared in her hand, and blue electricity gathered throughout the tech revolver’s barrel.
She fired into the side of his head.
The round slammed against his reinforced cranial plating.
Sparks erupted, and his cyberoptics filled with static, but his armor prevented a lethal penetration.
Lena fired again.
The second round struck the same damaged section.
His head armor cracked, exposing flickering electronics beneath the surface.
He grunted and crossed both Gorilla Arms in front of his face.
Lena’s third shot struck the mechanical armor and scattered sparks across the street.
The reinforced arms absorbed the impact, allowing the Animals leader to retreat toward a concrete wall.
Lena narrowed her eyes.
Between the Gorilla Arms, Dense Marrow, and Subdermal Armor, he could withstand an absurd amount of punishment.
Killing him quickly would require either dismantling his defense or attacking from an unexpected angle.
Across the street, Valerie killed the last Animal attempting to approach her.
She reloaded, assessed Lena’s fight, and removed a grenade from her tactical pouch.
“Lena, move!”
She pulled the pin and threw.
The grenade struck the pavement and rolled beneath the gang leader’s feet.
His eyes dropped toward it.
“Shit!”
The grenade detonated beneath him.
Flames and shrapnel swallowed his massive frame.
Dense Marrow and Subdermal Armor kept him alive, but the shockwave disrupted his balance and forced his defensive arms apart.
Lena activated the Kerenzikov again.
The explosion slowed around her.
Fragments drifted through the smoke as she charged directly into the blast cloud.
The Animals leader attempted to raise his Gorilla Arms, but Lena was already standing in front of him.
She pressed the RT-46 Burya’s barrel against the damaged armor on his head.
His eyes widened.
“Wait—”
“It’s over.”
Lena pulled the trigger.
At point-blank range, the charged tech round pierced the fractured plating.
Blood and sparks burst from the back of his skull.
The enormous man remained upright for a fraction of a second.
Then the light faded from his cyberoptics, his Gorilla Arms dropped lifelessly to his sides, and his body crashed onto the pavement.
Silence returned to the street.
Lena lowered the smoking Burya and looked at the data port behind his neck.
The NCPD bounty had been useful.
But the Yinglong crafting specification was the real prize.
]”
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