Heywood.
Loki arrived at El Coyote Cojo, located in The Glen.
El Coyote Cojo was run by Jackie’s mother, Mama Welles.
Jackie had grown up here; it was practically his second home.
Inside, the bar was bustling.
Some came to drown their troubles in booze, others gathered in small groups to shoot the breeze, and of course, fixers and mercenaries sat around negotiating business.
Cutting through the main room, Loki approached the counter.
Pepe, the bearded bartender running the front, stepped up to him.
“Hey, L.
Long time no see.
What can I get you?”
“The usual.
I’m here to see Jackie.”
“Head on up, then.
I’ll have someone bring your drink up in a bit.”
“Thanks.”
Familiar with the place, Loki headed up to the second-floor private booth they had agreed on.
Pushing the door open, he saw Jackie sitting with his legs kicked up on the table, nursing a drink.
He wore a black leather jacket over his muscular frame, his short black hair tied back in a small topknot.
With several shiny gold chains around his neck and gold earrings, nobody could mistake his ties to the Valentinos.
“Jackie.”
“L, you made it.
Take a seat.” Jackie motioned for him to sit and handed over a shard.
“Here’s the gig info.
Have a look.”
Loki took the shard and slotted it into his personal cyberware slot.
The contents popped up in his vision.
“Vista Del Rey?
A small Scavenger haunt?”
“Yeah.
The Valentinos got into a spat with 6th Street a while back, and a bunch of gang members died.
The Scavengers snatched the body of one member who was packing high-value cyberware.
Our job is to retrieve what belongs to the Valentinos.”
Loki nodded.
The data on the shard indicated a small group of Scavengers—four or five at most.
Low threat level.
“Just the two of us?”
“Nah, Padre hooked us up with a netrunner for support.
Temporary hire named Haelos.
Supposed to be a rookie, but honestly, having a netrunner on hand makes things a lot easier.”
“When do we move?”
“As soon as we finish this drink.”
The server delivered the drinks right on cue.
Loki took his glass and clinked it against Jackie’s.
Finishing their drinks, they left the bar and rode their motorcycles out to Vista Del Rey.
Below an apartment building…
Loki and Jackie parked their bikes.
Just then, their remote netrunner connected to their network.
“Their hideout is on the sixth floor, Room 607.
I’ve marked the exact location on your map,” came the slightly green voice of the netrunner over the comms channel.
“Copy that.”
Checking the marker on his map, Loki pulled a pistol from his waistband, dropping into work mode.
Taking the elevator up, they stopped right outside the door to the Scavenger den.
“Hold on a sec, I’m trying to hack their local network.”
Routing through Loki and Jackie’s subnet extension, the netrunner could provide remote hacking assistance.
“No cameras inside, so I can’t see the interior directly.
But I connected to their network through their routers.
There are four Scavengers in total.
Be careful—opening the door leads right into an operating room that’s currently in use.
Three Scavs are in there.
The last one is in an inner room.
I’ve highlighted their positions on your map.
Get ready to breach.”
After a brief pause, the netrunner finally gave the green light.
Looking at the layout schematic and the highlighted enemy locations in his vision, Jackie couldn’t help but compliment him.
“Nice work, bro.
You’ve got skills.
Having you on this gig makes it a breeze.”
Over the line, Haelos sounded a bit bashful at Jackie’s praise.
“Just standard stuff, honestly.
I’m still kind of unpracticed.”
“It shows,” Loki said flatly.
“L, go easy on the rookie.
Don’t worry about it, Haelos, everybody starts somewhere.
Have some confidence in yourself—you’re doing a great job here.
We’ve got your back, right, L?”
Jackie nudged Loki gently as he spoke, signaling for him to chime in.
Jackie was always friendly toward newcomers, especially since Haelos was recommended by Padre and was a Heywood local.
Loki, on the other hand, lacked that kind of patience.
He didn’t care much for strangers and just wanted to wrap the gig up fast.
Motioning for Jackie to get ready, Loki flanked one side of the door while Jackie took the other.
“Do it.”
A few seconds later, after Haelos uploaded a quickhack into the apartment door’s system, the door slid open.
The two barged in, guns raised.
Inside, two Scavengers were actively carving up a body on an operating table, while a third lay asleep on a nearby couch.
The instant the door popped open, the two standing Scavs reacted, stopping their work to reach for their weapons.
But their guns were sitting a meter away, and the lookout who was supposed to be guarding was off in dreamland.
Amateur hour.
For a small-time Scav den, their sloppy setup sealed their fate from the moment the breach began.
Loki and Jackie split targets seamlessly, pouring lead directly into the two Scavengers’ heads.
The heavy kinetic impact tore straight through their skulls.
The gunfire jolted the sleeping Scavenger awake, but the moment his eyes cracked open, all he saw was Loki’s fist.
The cold iron fist expanded in his vision, knocking him out cold before his groggy brain could even register what was happening.
Having floored him in one hit, Loki was just raising his gun to put a double-tap into his head…
…when an inner door suddenly slammed open.
A burly brute burst out, wielding a heavy machine gun, and opened fire with wild abandon.
The sudden turn of events was too fast.
Loki and Jackie scrambled for cover as a storm of bullets rained down on them.
Fortunately, Loki was alert enough to react in time, ducking behind cover before the brunt of the salvo caught him.
Still, a bullet grazed his right shoulder.
Though the damage was minor, the sharp sting flared his temper.
“Son of a bitch!
Scavs packing heavy heat?!” Jackie yelled from behind his cover.
“L, you good?”
The heavy fire kept suppressing them, pinning Loki and Jackie behind cover with zero room to maneuver.
“I’m good.”
“Haelos!
Find a way to keep him occupied!” Jackie barked into the comms.
“Uploading Reboot Optics quickhack!
Almost done!”
Receiving the order, Haelos didn’t dare waste a second, immediately initiating a net-intrusion against the Scavenger.