Gearbound: Cyberpunk 2077

The two young men froze on the spot, their brains short-circuiting.

Boom!

The one holding the beloved SMG sailed backward like a broken kite, crashing into a dumpster. Only after withdrawing his fist did the Animals leader speak:

"You talk too much, and you're in my way."

The speaker's companion finally woke from his daze, trembling all over as he scrambled aside, not even daring to look at them again.

The leader snorted in disdain. "Spineless losers. Go home and have a glass of milk."

The rest of the Animals followed behind their leader. They regarded the unfortunate pair with sneers. Knocking that guy out of the way was no different than booting a stray cat into the gutter.

As soon as the leader reached the black market entrance, he stopped. His cybernetic eyes narrowed, and a heavy look crossed his face. He gazed into the underground garage, which looked perfectly normal, but something felt off. He turned his head to examine the nearby concrete walls and the ceiling. He had been here plenty of times before, but this time a bad feeling gnawed at him.

"Boss?" asked one of the Animals members, confused why they weren't moving.

Without explanation, the leader pointed to a random underling. "You there—go buy the stuff."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You heard me. Move!"

The underling looked surprised and excited, convinced the boss had chosen him for some special reason. He rushed into the underground market, the humid, musty smell of the parking garage enveloping him. In his mind, it felt like a promotion. But the Animals leader simply watched him for a moment, then turned away.

"Boss, aren't we waiting for him?" another gang member asked.

"We'll wait in the van."

…

"What's going on?" Maine and his team exchanged baffled looks at the entrance they'd been guarding. According to Faraday's intel, the Animals boss always did the pickup himself. Yet there he was, sending an underling inside and returning outside with his crew.

Maine slammed a fist into a concrete wall. "Damn it! Faraday's info is off. He was supposed to handle it personally."

Dorio frowned. "Could he have spotted something? Maybe we got made?"

Over the team comms, Leo's voice cut in: "Doesn't matter if we're compromised or not. The question is, what's your move? Continuing or bailing?"

Dorio let out a slow breath. "I vote we stop. Wait for another opportunity."

Maine gave her a disbelieving stare. "You can't be serious, Dorio?"

"Our plan was a surprise attack, not a head-on clash."

Maine refused to back down. "We still have a shot! We can rush them now, and there's a good chance we can mow them down before those beasts can respond."

"Or there's a big chance they'll call reinforcements and pin us down if we fail to wipe them all out in one go," Dorio countered. "And then we're the ones who'll be trapped."

"It's still better than trying to raid their stronghold!"

Realizing neither could persuade the other, Dorio sighed. "Then we do it the American way. We vote."

Maine's team voted quickly—three to one in favor of attacking. But that was only one squad's decision. They were in a joint operation with Leo's group. If Leo, V, and Jackie decided to pull out, then Maine's side would be on their own, missing half their strength.

Maine commed them: "Leo, what about you?"

Leo's reply crackled in their earpieces: "We're already on the move. What do you think?"

He and his friends sprinted from their position near the market's other entrance. "If we can take them out, we will. If not, we'll at least box them in. We'll flank them from outside. We'll sandwich them and wrap this up."

…

"Go!" Maine shouted, charging from cover with his shotgun, Cracker, aimed at the Animals underling who had come inside to buy the goods.

Boom!

Before the poor guy realized what was happening, it felt like a sledgehammer had slammed into him from the side. He flew through the air, crashing into a makeshift stall of secondhand cyberlimbs. Everything toppled in a clatter of steel.

Dorio, Rebecca, and Sasha emerged right behind Maine, raining bullets on the remaining Animals. The boss's eyes narrowed, and he yanked one of his own men in front of him as a shield. The body caught round after round, spraying blood, but the boss himself was unharmed.

With one hand still clutching the corpse, the boss pulled a Sadala tech shotgun off his back. Normally it required two-handed operation, but he gripped it in one giant paw like it was made for him alone.

"Get the van over here!" he barked into a radio. "We're under attack!"

The Animals near him were no amateurs, either. Each had plenty of blood on their hands. After a moment of chaos, they returned fire with practiced precision. Although Maine's team had the advantage of cover, they were still outnumbered, and soon they found themselves on the losing end of a slugfest.

Seeing only a handful of attackers, the Animals boss scowled. He couldn't guess who was coming for him—a rival gang? A corporate suit he'd once tried to kill? Or maybe just some random crew looking to rob him? 

Didn't matter. Right now, the top priority was to get out.

Holding the human shield in front like a meat barricade, the boss eased backward, with the other Animals firing in retreat. Given their larger numbers, it was tough for Maine's smaller squad to break through and finish him off.

"Leo, where the hell are you?" Maine snarled, ducking behind a thick pillar.

"Just about there," Leo's calm voice replied over comms.

Maine growled. "Hurry it up or they'll get away!"

He popped up from behind the concrete column, letting the Cracker shotgun unleash another deafening roar that ripped two Animals soldiers apart. Suddenly, a heavy impact struck the back of Maine's calf—someone had kicked him. He stumbled and fell backwards, narrowly avoiding a volley of bullets that whizzed overhead.