"No weapons or other dangerous items allowed inside."
A female voice announced through the Arasaka Tower's first-floor lobby. The alarm was triggered because Rebecca, carrying her beloved Iron Gall kinetic shotgun, had crossed the scanning gate. She had painted the Iron Gall green with a few pink stripes, giving it a somewhat absurd color scheme.
This massive shotgun was already aimed at the security guard in a suit by the entrance. He verbally warned her while reaching for his pistol. The moment his hand touched the pistol, his head was blown off. Rebecca's characteristic mad laughter, surprisingly, gave her teammates a strange sense of security.
Dorio, with her extensive subcutaneous implants, shielded her head with her arm and charged forward, drawing the attention of three Arasaka security guards behind her.
Bullets ricocheted off her body. Because Dorio, acting as a tank, drew the fire, Rebecca, Jackie, and David were able to lay down suppressive fire from behind.
Jackie's two golden 'Mean Lady' pistols fired in a rhythmic, rapid succession. He held one in each hand. Not many people used dual-wielding, mainly due to accuracy issues.
Maine often liked to dual-wield as well, even dual rifles or dual submachine guns. But Maine wasn't truly a dual-wielder; he was essentially just providing suppressive fire without any accuracy requirements.
Jackie, however, was different. His two golden guns had extremely high accuracy; two of the three security guards had already been precisely headshotted by him. The third was locked on by David's smart weapon, the A22B Cyberpistol, also resulting in a headshot.
"David!" Rebecca complained. "You stole my kill again!"
David didn't back down. "Wasn't the first kill yours? Your ridiculous shotgun is only good for close quarters. By the time you get close enough, we might all be hit. Not everyone has implants like Dorio."
"What did you say?" Rebecca snapped back.
The four security guards at the main entrance were killed in a matter of seconds, giving everyone the illusion that Arasaka Tower was nothing special. The atmosphere suddenly relaxed. Inside the lobby, there were two corridors leading further in.
The four divided into two groups and advanced simultaneously. Then, the second large room appeared before them. It had two rows of elevators, with small steps and some vegetation in the middle.
The four were actually prepared. Why were there only four security guards at the main entrance? Who would attack Arasaka Tower head-on? So, it wouldn't normally be heavily guarded. But this didn't mean Arasaka's security system was weak. At this moment, a large number of heavily armored soldiers and mechs had already received the alarm and were rushing to the first floor from upstairs and underground.
Meanwhile, Heather, following Dog Brother's commands, continued deploying weapons in Corpo Plaza. The plaza had a circular structure, with various small shops mostly on the outermost ring.
As the four rushed in, Heather had already activated Communication Short Circuit at the center of the circle. All communicators within a 500-meter radius were rendered useless. All of this was calculated; the four inside Arasaka Tower were precisely outside her effective range.
Why do this? Because Heather and Falco were constantly taking out various weapons from the car and placing them at the locations specified by Dog Brother, which would inevitably cause panic. Naturally, citizens would choose to call the police. With Communication Short Circuit as an "insurance policy," the NCPD wouldn't arrive anytime soon. The most worrying factor was MAX-TAC, those licensed cyberpunks.
Falco's loaded phone was once again broken by Heather, but this was all part of the plan. Falco still needed to be the driver. Corpo Plaza was very large, and walking would definitely not be fast enough. He had to drive and help Heather complete the setup. However, Falco was puzzled by Heather's actions.
"A, what's the point of putting weapons everywhere?" he asked. "I know you need to cover your people and make it easier for them to get out, but it's just the two of us; we can't use that many weapons."
Heather, who had just pulled an Ice Storm sniper rifle from the back seat, gave an awkward smile. "Haha, don't worry, it's useful, it's useful."
At the same time, she complained to Dog Brother in her mind. I'm really fed up. Are you still not going to tell me? If you tell me you have a brilliant plan again, do you believe I'll go on strike right now?
Dog Brother's phantom flickered out, reaching out to stroke Heather's little face, causing Heather's body to shiver. "What the hell? Why can you actually touch me? This isn't real."
"I just simulated your neural signals," he explained. "You'll feel like you've actually been touched. Alright, I won't tease you anymore. The reason for setting up so many weapons is to account for the large number of Arasaka combat personnel who will be chasing Jackie and the others out later, and then I'll give them a firepower party."
Heather hadn't fully recovered from the teasing just now. She had been single for a long time, and her body was a bit sensitive, but how could she show it? Her external emotions remained normal. "You mean, you're not going to reload? Just empty one gun and then switch to another?"
Dog Brother secretly found it amusing. This girl's body hormones had changed the first time she was "touched" by him. What good was looking calm on the outside? As a 'worm' in Heather's brain, he understood her even better than a 'tapeworm in her stomach.' However, at this moment, he really couldn't continue to tease her. "These guns alone aren't enough, so we've also prepared another surprise."
Inside Arasaka Tower, Rebecca and the others were still stuck on the first floor. To be precise, after taking down the four security guards at the entrance who couldn't react in time, they couldn't advance an inch. They couldn't push forward at all. Not to mention the several heavily armored soldiers with heavy machine guns, even those two Arasaka combat mechs were completely impenetrable.
And even the brave Rebecca didn't dare to show her head. The enemy's bullets were like they were free, raining down without stopping. Even though Dorio had extensive subcutaneous implants, she didn't dare to be reckless against such firepower.
To prevent being outflanked, the four split into two groups, hiding behind the corners of the elevator corridor. This way, at least they wouldn't be flanked.
Rebecca shouted, "Damn it! Where's Maine! Maine, hurry up! Get rid of these annoying things!"
"Heh! Finally my turn?" a voice boomed back. "Hey! Little A, you've already used that Short Circuit thing, right? Can I charge into Arasaka Tower now?"
Heather responded through the phone, "Yes, yes! Go all out, Maine, but be mindful of your consciousness. When your consciousness starts to drift, go find Dorio; she has plenty of inhibitors."
"Oh!"
The main entrance of Arasaka Tower was actually a small door. It wasn't like other large buildings, which were designed with grand, opulent entrances. Arasaka Tower's main entrance consisted of several small doors, each with security checks and scanners. Maine, fitted with cyberware, theoretically shouldn't have been able to squeeze through. But would Maine care about that?
Of course, he would just forcibly smash his way in.