Chapter Three - Robbery!
Auto turrets.
What a joke!
Cash grinned widely. With Coin around, they wouldn't have to worry about those. He could hack those with his eyes closed. Entering the compound was going to be a breeze.
The twins spent the rest of the day going through their plans. Ever since the day their father got murdered, they had promised to themselves to get their revenge, one way or another, no matter who they had to go through.
The Woodlands were not the culprits, no. They were the resources. Resources for the twins to rebuild their father's company. Resources to rebuild Cash Corporate. In this game of vengeance, they were collateral damage. And the twins couldn't care less about their opinions on the matter. In short, the twins intended on robbing them.
Time in this post apocalyptic world was determined by the fog. The fog of corruption was the single most disastrous entity you could ever encounter. It could corrupt normal sane humans into creatures of abomination once they came into contact with it. It was the very reason why all terminals had the corruption meter
The moment a corruption meter passed 50%, the terminal would alert the owner as well as file a motion to the protectors of the sanctuary, alerting them of a possible threat.
So, in light of the dangers of the fog, humans found a way to adapt to it using its cycle. At certain hours, the fog receded completely, that was the clearphase. Then, after several hours, the fog would slowly spread out once again. This was the shroudphase. This meant everyone had to return to the sanctuary since it repelled the fog. Faint traces still filtered through so shroudphase was generally accepted as non-operational hours.
So businesses closed and normal operations ceases at shroudphase. Only protectors with fog filters were allowed to roam and patrol.
So, when the fog started seeping in, signaling the dawn of the shroudphase, the twins started prepping. Cash donned a sleek black tactical stealth suit previously owned by their father.
Behind him sat Coin, he had monitors all around displaying real time surveillance footage of the woodland. Coin sat behind them, setting up tiny drones. In this mission, only Cash alone was entering the field. He was the only one qualified to do this.
"These drones will follow you around, monitoring your immediate vicinity", Coin walked up to cash, pointing at the now operational tiny hovering drones. "I have drones stationed all along your route to the mansion as well. I'll be providing assistance the entire time through the ear piece in your ear."
Cash turned to find Coin staring at him intently, causing him to chuckle merrily.
He knew what Coin was worried about, but he had no words of comfort or assurance. It had been a while since he had allowed the other guy in. Even he didn't know what to expect.
Coin sighed softly and begun inserting weapons into the holsters of Cash's suit.
As he did, he spoke, " Two high rate semi-compact Kap 40s". He inserted two pistols into their holsters. "Both possessed suppressed barrels, plus 50% extended barrels and lightweight triggers."
Cash listened on quietly.
"The koshka fast-handling bolt sniper," Coin slung a sniper rifle over Cash's back. "Lightweight and suppressed"
He then picked up a black card and handed it to Cash. "This is where their credits go. Swipe it over CTR machine in the safe."
Then, he slowly picked up a military knife and walked up to Cash who slowly stretched out his hand.
Coin's blue eyes lingered on the knife for a second, before he handed it to Cash.
Cash grinned.
"See you on the other side"
And then he blacked out.
12 years ago….
"Hahahaha…."
The boisterous Ray Bob laughed merrily as he entered the one storey headquarters of Cash Corporate, clutching his tablet merrily.
His sturdy physique radiated immense happiness. "We got it boys, we got it", his gruff voice thundered.
A small crowd of men gathered around him, sharing his excitement. "The Four Blade Company granted us a haul contract for their battle area in the green zone"
The men around him yelled in excitement. They had gotten a lucrative easy haul this time, with an elite company as well.
"Let's roll out boys." Ray thundered.
For a small hauling company like Ray Bob's, contracts to haul carcasses from a green zone almost never came their way.
For context, hunting companies were business enterprises formed to clear out abominations outside the sanctuaries. A zone completely devoid of abominations was a green zone. Once hunting companies were done with a haunt, they needed to move the carcasses back to the sanctuary to trade to processing companies.
This was where hauling companies like Ray Bob's came into play. Hauling companies were contracted to transport the massive bodies of these abominations to the sanctuary for a fee. Hauling wasn't a risk free job, as haulers could be attacked by stray abominations close to the battle zone or scavenging abominations drawn by the blood of the dead abominations.
This was why a contract in the green zone excited Ray. It was basically a risk free haul so they could get a higher cut after taxes since they wouldn't need to allocate any funding to maintenance and repairs.
Excitedly, he and his men boarded their three prized reclaimers and merrily drove out of the sanctuary, after paying their toll at the entrance.
The Hulk Reclaimer, a vehicle by the Forza Transport Company (FTC). This hulking behemoth of a truck was across between a tow-truck and a mobile fortress. It moved on twin caterpillar belts made from interlocking steel links with replaceable rubber pads.
The truck had a telescoping crane arm stowed on its right flank, with hydraulic pistons, braided steel tendons and a modular grappler that snapped on and off.
The rear cargo bay was a sealed module with ribbed doors and a single amored ramp. The whole truck was heavily armored with twin turrets on the cabin and two more on each side of the cargo bay.
The reclaimers were Ray's pride. They were his confidence in venturing into the wastelands.