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Chapter 6 C
🕑 Added 2025-01-31 17:00:44 +0000 UTCChapter 6 C
Jack’s body crashed to the ground.
He rolled onto his side just as another sniper round punched into the spot where he had been lying. Quickly, he kicked the door shut and dragged a nearby wardrobe down to block it.
Bang, bang, bang!
Bullets ripped through the walls, but Jack felt oddly calm. The enemy sniper no longer had direct line of sight; these shots were blind fire.
Unless luck turned catastrophically bad, they probably wouldn’t hit him ...hopefully.
Steadying himself, Jack took a look around. His gaze fell on the spot under Charey’s desk. Shoving the desk aside, he stomped on the floor. Sure enough, the sound there was different from the rest. Pulling back the rug, he revealed a trapdoor, secured with a padlock.
McCoy never mentioned a lock.
He had no time to search for a key. Raising the bastard sword, he hacked the lock off, flung the cover open, and jumped in.
This camp had once been a Biotech factory. After it was abandoned, the Bakker family took over. During Serita Bakker’s tenure, they dug a tunnel leading out, just in case.
…..
..
.
Emerging from the tunnel, Jack found himself well outside the camp. Gunfire still raged behind him, though clearly not as fierce as before.
He glanced out at the open desert, then back at the camp. He chose not to leave immediately, instead setting off toward the spot where the sniper had been firing.
That same position housed an automated turret as backup.
Such an auto-engagement turret, as its name implied, could attack enemies on its own. It was equipped with a Militech Mk.31 heavy machine gun—absurdly powerful, yet too massive to carry without major body augmentations. In actual combat, reloading it alone was difficult, so it was typically good for only one sustained barrage. The design was meant for emplacement-level firepower, often mounted at static posts or on vehicles.
A sniper guarded by an auto-turret could repulse an entire squad. Most people would have had no answer for that. However, McCoy had explained how to deal with turrets.
Its “eyes” were infrared sensors.
While active, the turret’s barrel swiveled back and forth like a fan in a roadside stall. Whenever its gun was pointed in a particular direction, it “couldn’t see” elsewhere.
Jack’s move was straightforward. He crept up until he was just outside the turret’s range. The moment the barrel swung away, he sprang forward at top speed.
Hearing movement, the prone sniper reacted quickly, wheeling around with his rifle.
Bang!
Jack sidestepped the instant he saw the sniper aim. The large-caliber round whizzed by where he’d stood a moment before. Missing once, the sniper didn’t hesitate seeing Jack get so close. He dropped the rifle, drew a combat knife in one hand and a tech pistol in the other.
Jack stomped on the sniper’s left hand, crushing the pistol grip. His bastard sword slashed down, shearing off the right hand that held the knife. As the sniper screamed, Jack shifted his foot, yanked the man upright, and used him as a shield.
Right then, the turret’s barrel swung back around. But with the sniper shrieking in front of Jack, the turret’s friend-or-foe system identified him as an ally and wouldn’t open fire.
Jack picked up the tech pistol and pressed it to the sniper’s head, pulling the trigger. After the final wail was cut short, he threw the corpse against the turret and lunged in, jamming a breacher into its access port.
Among nomads, dealing with corporate convoys was part of the job, yet few were true netrunners. A breacher was the perfect workaround. Corporate armored SUVs or auto-turrets could be hacked—provided one could physically slot in a device. Remote hacks were beyond most drifters.
Jack glanced at the breacher’s screen. Its progress bar was advancing steadily. The turret had shut down, and once the hack finished, he could reset it.
Satisfied, he set the breacher aside and retrieved the sniper rifle the man had dropped. A flow of data swam into Jack’s view.
*Name:* SPT32 Ice Storm
*Type:* Kinetic Sniper Rifle
*Damage:* 1705–2084
*Rate of Fire:* 0.28 shots/second
*Durability:* 70/100
*Manufacturer:* Gaoke Military
*Notes:*
Around the turn of the 21st century, the arms industry faced harsh challenges. Many popular sniper rifles proved inadequate against targets heavily implanted with cybernetics. What once guaranteed a fatal shot often barely left a dent. A new generation of sniper rifles was inevitable.
The SPT32 Ice Storm, produced by the Russian Federation, marked the first wave of this revolution. Many believe it to be the most powerful sniper rifle on the market. Though it lacks certain refinements found in Arasaka or Militech competitors, a well-trained marksman who doesn’t need wind-assist can unleash its fearsome potential.
No wall can stop its bullets.
————
Jack lined up the rifle, aiming back toward the embattled camp.
Bang!
One enemy in a shootout with the nomads had his head blown open.
Bang!
Another foe crouching behind a tent collapsed, chest a shredded mess.
Bang!
A third, shot from behind, dropped with his neck torn apart.
The assaulting force quickly realized something was wrong.
“Sniper fire!”
“It’s coming from behind us!”
“Damn it, that’s where our sniper was!”
“He’s been taken out!”
Someone tried the old hat-on-a-rifle trick, lifting it above cover. Jack obliged. The .50-caliber round punched through the cover and tore through the wielder’s thigh. Blood spurted as he howled like a gutted pig.
Against the Ice Storm, things like crates or steel drums offered laughable protection.
“This is impossible. We’re sitting ducks!”
“Leave a team to hold the camp down; the rest of us split up and flank him. Wipe out that sniper!”
…
Their sudden pivot caught the surviving nomads’ attention.
“Is that McCoy’s crew?”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“What are they planning? Retreat?”
“Doesn’t matter. Don’t let them leave!”
The nomads tried to press the attackers, but the group left behind kept them pinned with overwhelming firepower. Forced back behind cover, the defenders dared not lift their heads. They had no choice but to blind-fire in the enemy’s direction.
…
“They’re trying to flank me.”
From his vantage point, Jack saw groups of enemies peel away from the camp, splitting into two squads to charge in from both sides. The plan was obvious.
He had known revealing his position by firing would draw them in. That was exactly what he wanted.
Glancing at the breacher, Jack saw the progress bar had just finished. The turret was now shut off and ready for reconfiguration.
He quickly reset it, then turned the Ice Storm on the team coming from the left, unleashing a hail of sniper fire.
