CYBERPUNK: Travel to 2075

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Exoskeleton and Nekomata..

"What happened?"

The gunfire from downstairs naturally alerted the attackers on the fifth floor. They could distinguish the sounds of the shots coming from below.

"Is someone coming up?"

"How is that possible? The mines and sensors from the first to the third floors haven't been triggered!"

"No. 3 has lost vital signs. Someone's downstairs!"

"Go to the stairs!"

There were three attackers left upstairs. Alongside the spent rocket launcher next to them, they were all armed with Shingen smart submachine guns. They had been firing at the mercenaries below, who were scrambling for cover, but they hadn't expected anyone to sneak up on them.

"Stop attacking the mercenaries! Take care of whoever's coming up first!"

Just as the attackers were preparing to act, the floor beneath their feet suddenly bulged, and an explosion sent a shockwave upward.

The attackers took a second to pinpoint the source of the gunfire and another second to confirm No. 3's death on the fourth floor. Two more seconds passed as they decided to head for the stairs and handle the newcomers. But those four seconds were enough for Karl to make his move.

For example, using a monofilament wire to slice open a lampshade, pulling the pin on a grenade, and tossing it into the light fixture above their heads.

An eye for an eye, right? You shoot rockets at me; I return the favor with a grenade. Karl thought he was being rather kind.

The explosion and fire that tore through the fifth floor killed two of the attackers on the spot, something Karl hadn't expected as he rushed to the fifth floor.

"They were standing too close together. Instant death."

Karl looked at the last attacker, lying there, still breathing. His right hand was blown off, and his Shingen pistol was nowhere to be seen. To make sure the attacker didn't have enough strength left for a final strike, Karl lifted the Shingen he had just picked up.

"Only three of them? Less than I thought."

The gunfire rang out, and the last attacker on the floor joined the others in death.

"Oliver, they're all down," Karl reported, keeping his team updated as he dealt with the enemies. He immediately shared the good news with Oliver and Jack.

"We're pinned down using vehicles and buildings as cover. Karl, there's a sniper on the third floor of the building across from you. He's already blown off three heads with a Nekomata. Can you handle him?"

"A Nekomata sniper rifle?"

[Tsunami Nekomata]: A precise tech sniper rifle. Though it requires frequent maintenance, the tungsten-core rounds it fires are capable of piercing the thickest armor, even walls, and smashing through titanium bones. Its power makes it a highly regulated weapon, typically only accessible to corporate or government forces. It's nearly impossible for an ordinary mercenary to get their hands on one.

In other words, anyone wielding a Nekomata is probably corporate or government-backed.

Karl thought about the Shingen smart weapons and rocket bombardment. This group of attackers really wasn't pulling any punches.

With this kind of firepower, they could've bypassed the mercenaries entirely and gone straight for professional security personnel. Or maybe, someone else was handling security while this group was assigned to take care of them.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Karl moved toward the balcony of the apartment, which had been blown open. He looked across to the third floor of the building opposite. Sure enough, there was a sniper, holding a Nekomata, wearing a cloak. His artificial eyes glowed red as he locked onto the mercenaries below.

'Don't snipers usually relocate after firing a shot? Why isn't this guy moving?'

Karl wondered, just as one of the mercenaries below fired at the sniper. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly off the sniper's body.

'Something's not right. That thing is...'

Through the holes in the cloak, Karl saw what lay beneath. The reflective, pitted surface revealed a metallic exoskeleton combat suit.

Karl had seen exoskeleton clothing in high-end stores in Watson District before, but those were expensive, had poor defense, and required additional prosthetics to function. This sniper's exoskeleton was something entirely different.

'Military-grade, no doubt.'

Karl cursed internally. Even knowing this mission would be a deadly one, he hadn't expected it to be this deadly.

As he considered whether to throw a grenade, another mercenary below had the same idea. He pulled a grenade from his belt, rushed out from behind cover, and lobbed it at the sniper's position. His bravery earned him instant death. The moment the grenade left his hand, the sniper reduced him to a headless corpse.

The grenade, once full of hope for the mercenary, was scanned mid-air by the sniper's artificial eye. With a swift movement, the sniper raised his rifle and shot it down in mid-air.

As the sniper raised his gun, his scope also moved, and a red light flashed—he had spotted Karl.

"Damn it!"

Without hesitation, Karl rolled backward. A moment later, the balcony he had been standing on was obliterated by the sniper's shot. The two-meter-long, one-meter-wide stone balcony shattered like glass, leaving only rubble falling to the ground.

The bullet didn't just shatter the balcony; it pierced the ceiling of the fifth floor. As Karl looked up from his roll, he could see the brightly lit, polluted sky of Night City through the gaping hole in the ceiling.

"Oliver, that sniper has an exoskeleton! A military-grade exoskeleton!"

"What? Military-grade? I knew this mission would be the death of us."

Oliver sounded like he was still exchanging fire. After some cursing, Jack's voice came through the comms: "Karl, if it's military-grade, prioritize your safety. Mann, Oliver, and I are heading towards the apartment. We'll handle the sniper when we get there. Just help us from upstairs."

"There are mines and sensors on the stairs, it won't be easy to get up here... And that sniper rifle, Jack, your subdermal armor won't stand a chance against it."

Karl tucked the Shingen into his belt and pulled out his Kenshin pistol.

"Let me try something first. He fired at me before I could even shoot. I'm not letting that slide."

"What are you planning, Karl?"

Jack sensed something reckless in Karl's tone.

"I'm going for a Western standoff."

'If you get hit, you're dead. So just don't get hit.'

No big deal, just no injuries.

Karl jumped down from the broken floor, landing on the third. Listening closely to the gunfire, he waited until the Nekomata fired again. Then he made his move.

He did something daring.

He raised his Kenshin and fired at the third-floor balcony, shattering the obstacles in his way, then sprinted forward.

With debris flying in all directions, Karl ran along the edge of the balcony, then leaped.

"Hello," Karl muttered in mid-air, raising his gun just a split second faster than the sniper could raise his Nekomata.

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