I ran up to the guard and struck him on the head before he could get a clean shot on me. The sound of the body falling to the floor was followed by the screams of the NPCs who witnessed my brief fight with the guard.
“Everybody shut up,” I shouted brandishing my pistol to keep the NPCs intimidated.
I then started to cuff the hostages. From the office came angry shouts of Flynn and Allison. Seemed like they had already stopped arguing and gotten into the bank through the back door. They were taking hostages now as well.
After I cuffed up all the NPS in the lobby, I rushed into the office. Flynn and Allison had just finished tying the civilians. We then found the remaining guards and took them down without killing them. After we dealt with the camera operator as well, all three of us gathered together.
“So stealth is blown?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Flynn replied. “When someone fires a gun, all the civilians within earshot reach for their cell phones and dial 911. There’s no way to deal with all of them in time.”
“So cops are on the way already?”
“Think so,” Flynn said through his teeth. “Most likely, one of the NPCs have called the police.”
Allison just stood nearby pretending as if she wasn’t here at all.
Flynn stared daggers at the girl and said, “Thanks to that light-headed girl, we have to do it the hard way.”
“Don’t look at me like this,” she said. “It was an accident, all right?”
“Whatever.”
Without giving her another look, Flynn strode across the room, unslung his bag, and dropped his bag next to the vault door.
“It is an auto-deployable drill,” he explained. “So we only need to give the command and it’ll deploy on its own.”
He stared at the bag for a couple of seconds and next to the vault door appeared a boxy device with a long drill protruding from its business end. The device started to bore through the vault door right away, causing quite a noise. On one side of the device was a small monitor screen that showed a countdown: 10m59sec.
“Will it drill the door open before cops show up?” I asked.
Flynn looked at me and replied, “I sincerely doubt it. They’re bound to arrive in two-three minutes. So we need to reinforce this place before they make it here. The outer walls are bulletproof, so there’s no need in reinforcing them. The inner ones, however, can be shot through and even completely destroyed. Which is why we need to deploy the armored panels Allison’s bought.”
“How do we do that?” I asked.
“Only a Punisher can do it.”
“That’s right,” she said beaming at Flynn. “Which ones you want me to reinforce?”
“This one,” Flynn said gesturing toward the wall to the vault’s door left. “Behind this wall, there are stairs leading to the roof and a hallway that runs for ten feet toward the back door. So this wall has to be reinforced.”
“Got it,” Allison said. “Just gimme a moment to put on the armor.”
She unslung her bag, unzipped it, and dropped it to the floor. She then started to take pieces of armor from the bag and put it on.
As I watched her doing so, I thought that she looked very happy. She was so elated and excited it made me wonder if she had shot the camera down without using a sound suppressor on purpose. Considering how eagerly she had advocated the “load” approach, my suspicion wasn’t completely groundless.
Once the girl donned her heavy body armor, she stepped up to the wall to the left of the vault and fixed her eyes on it. A couple of seconds later, an armored plate appeared on the wall.
The girl walked up to us and asked, “Which is next?”
Flynn gestured toward the wall between the office and the lobby. “This one. Also, reinforce the wall in the teller room.”
“What about the barbed wire and the traps?”
Flynn explained to the girl where he wanted the barbed wire and the traps placed.
“Consider it done,” the girl said, talking quickly in her enthusiasm.
I watched the girl reinforce the wall Flynn had indicated. She then walked to the door leading to the lobby. Once she reached it, she stopped, looked down, and fixed her gaze on the empty space in front of her. A moment later, tangled coils of barbed wire appeared on the floor. Allison then walked through the door into the lobby.
After she disappeared from sight, I asked Flynn, “Traps, I get it. But what do we need the barbed wire for? How does it work? Does it slow down enemies or what?”
“Yes, it does slow down the movement speed of a player who wades through it,” Flynn replied. “Which is why one should place it at choke points or where there is no way around it. Like in doorways, which Allison just did, or narrow corridors. Moreover, barbed wire creates rustling sounds when someone walks through it which we can take advantage of.”
“Got it.”
“As to traps she has on her, they’re actually something like bear traps. Such a trap snaps closed when someone steps on it, inflicting damage on the player and gluing them to the spot. They needs to wrench the jaws open to be able to move again.
“Pretty useful stuff.”
“Yeah. However, each trap is designed for single use. Since they can’t be moved after being placed, one better think twice before placing them somewhere.”
Before I could say something, Flynn started to talk again, “Okay, Striker, wait here. Gotta do something.”
“Where are you going?”
“We have plenty of surveillance cameras inside the bank, but we need to place some cams on the outside so we can check our surroundings every now and then.”
“You can do that?”
“Yeah. I’m an Engineer after all. I got the skill that allows me to purchase sticky cameras in the preparation menu. They can be attached to any surface.”
Flynn left. The hostages got bolder over the time. So since I had nothing else to do, I walked around the place, snarling and pointing my pistol at the NPCs to keep them timid and docile.
Soon Allison and Flynn returned and we gathered together near the vault door.
I noticed that Allison had not only set the traps, the coils of barbed wire, and reinforced some walls, but she had also put panels over all the windows in the office. Flynn explained that unlike the armored panels over the walls, the panels that the girl had placed over the windows were made out of wood and could be easily shot through and completely destroyed. They barely offered any protection. But the window panels would make it impossible for cops to look into the room without destroying them. If they started firing at one of the window panels, they would compromise their position.
“Okay,” Flynn said. “Now that we have the security room under control, we can watch the feed from the bank’s cameras on our cell phones thanks to one of the skills I learned yesterday.”
“Yeah, I know,” Allison impatiently. “This ain’t my first rodeo, y’know. I’ve already played in “loud” with other Engineers, so I know how this works.”
“I’m extremely glad that you’re such an educated player,” Flynn replied grating his teeth. “Now shut up and let me explain this to Striker, will ya?”
“Fine.” Allison shrugged her shoulders and started to walk away.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Flynn called after her.
“I’m going to climb on the roof,” Allison stated.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?” Allison asked as she turned around and looked at Flynn perplexingly.
“It’s a team-based game, so we should play as a team.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Allison said before Flynn could finish. “Which is why I’m going upstairs so I can gain the high ground and provide covering fire while you’re doing whatever you’re going to do here.”
“Shut up and listen,” Flynn snapped at her. “Striker is the leader of the gang. You’ve already had it explained to you. So you have to have his permi
ssion before you can do something.”
“Really?” Allison exclaimed. “Do I really have to ask for permission every time I want to do something?”
“Yes, because it is a team-based game. To win, we all have to stay together, coordinate our actions, and play as a team. There’s a leader on the team for a reason. All the gang members have to follow his or her instructions. Otherwise, what’s the point of having a leader on the team? If everyone starts to do whatever they want, our chances of winning will be extremely slim.”
Allison just huffed.
“I don’t think we need such strict rules,” I said. “If she wants to do something, she can do it without having to ask for permission every time.”
Flynn gave me a disapproving look.
“Okay, tell me something, Allison,” Flynn said as he looked at the girl again. “How many times have you played in ‘loud’ so far?”
“Like ten times,” Allison answered frowning.
“And how many times have you won?”
“One.”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about.”
The sound of squealing tires came from the street.
“Dammit,” Flynn said. “Cops have arrived.”
I looked at Allison and said, “Go.”
She nodded, whirled around, and jogged away.
“You think it’s a good idea to let her go alone?” Flynn asked after the girl disappeared through the door to the back of the bank.
“She seems very self-assured,” I replied. “Probably she knows what she’s doing.”
“Hope so,” Flynn said. “Okay, since we don’t have much time now that the cops have arrived, here’s a crash course for you. There’s an app called I See You on your cell phone. Use it to watch the feed from the cameras, both mine and bank’s.”
“Don’t remember having such an app on my cell phone.”
“That app appears only when you play with an Engineer who has the I See You skill learned.”
“Fair enough.”
“By the way, cops can use something similar,” Flynn said. “They got small twin-wheeled robots called drones. So if you see a small suspicious object driving around, shoot it because it is a drone controlled by one of the cops.”
“Can a drone hurt me or something?”
Flynn shook his head left to right. “Nah, they can’t. Drones are purely used to gather intel such as the whereabouts of heisters or traps.”
“Good to know.”
“At least it was the case during the beta test period. However, high-level cops can use more dangerous drones, though. But I doubt the cops who are just arrived have them.”
I checked the monitor screen on the drill. It read 6min39sec.
“So now we have to kill all the three cops, right?”
“We can’t completely eliminate them if that what you mean,” Flynn replied. “When a player’s Health depletes, they collapses to the ground and can’t get up on their own. If the player gets finished off before one of his teammates helps them out, they finds themselves in a Spectator mode. After some time, the player will revive and join his teammates again.”
“But what will happen if we deal with all the cops?”
“The same. Each of them will revive nonetheless. So what we need to do is get what we came here for: get in the vault and take the money. Then we have to kill the cops outside the current playable zone, that is to say, the bank and its immediate surroundings. Alternatively, we can just grab the money and try to escape from the cops. If we manage to put enough distance between us and them, the mission will be accomplished. After that, as you already know, we’ll need to wait for the van to arrive.”
Suddenly, the roar of heavy gunfire came from above.
“Seems like our girl’s engaged the cops,” Flynn observed.
I brought my M4A1 up and started to walk away from the vault door and the drill.
“Where are you going?” Flynn.
“I’m gonna take up a position somewhere in this room.”
“Okay. I’ll stay here,” Flynn replied before sliding into a recess in the wall not far from the vault door. From his position, he could clearly see the door to the back of the bank. So if anyone entered the office from this door, he would have a clean shot on them.
I entered one of the cubicles and squatted on my haunches so that I was out of sight. I then leaned my assault rifle against the cubicle’s wall and reached for my cell phone. After tapping on the I See You app, I saw the feed from one of the cameras inside the bank.
Suddenly, my ears picked up a strange rustling sound coming from somewhere nearby. I put the cell phone away, grabbed my assault rifle, and got to my feet. I looked warily over the edge of the cubicle’s wall and saw a cylindrical object the size of a fist rolling across the floor toward the vault door. Had to be one of the drones Flynn had told me about.
I raised my assault rifle to shoulder level and tracked the drone with the muzzle. The small robot kept busily rolling across the floor. Then it stopped halfway to the bank’s vault and turned sideways so its small camera was aimed directly at me.
I stroked the trigger. A short burst from the M4A1 caused the drone to literally explode into nothingness.
“Got one of the cops’ drones,” I said.
“Good,” Flynn replied.
Suddenly, the muffled sound of heavy fire reached my ears from above. Allison fired a short burst and ceased shooting. I wondered if she had hit what she had aimed at.
As if in response to my thought, I heard Flynn’s voice coming through the earpiece in my ear.
“Damn, I hate to admit it, but that girl is good,” he said. “I’m watching her through one of my cams outside the bank. She may be a pain in the ass, but she’s a crack shot, for sure.”
“I downed one,” Allison said calmly. “Wanted to finish him, but he managed to crawl behind one of the police cars. I can finish him off before someone revives him. But to do that, I need to descend to the street.”
She went silent for a second, then asked, “Can I descend?”
“Negative,” I said. “It’s too dangerous. There are two more of them. So stay on the roof.”
She didn’t answer for a second or two. I started to wonder if she was going to argue. Yet Flynn’s drill seemed to be working as Allison replied, “Okay, I stay on the roof.”
All of a sudden, someone opened fire on one of the barricaded windows. The full metal jacket rounds ripped through the wood, shattering the panel into thousands of chips. The bullets pervaded the air in the room. Some of them zipped past me, missing my head by inches.
“Dammit,” I said under my breath as I dropped to the floor.
“You okay, Striker?” I heard Flynn’s concerned voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered raising to my knees.
“He’s next to the window,” Flynn informed me.
“Okay.”
I got to my feet and trained the M4A1 on the broken window, my aim steady. The moment the cop eased his head around the frame of the window to peek inside I pulled the trigger. The player’s head disappeared from sight in an explosion of red mist as one of the bullets hit him precisely between the eyes.
“Got him,” I said.
“Yeah, I saw it,” Flynn replied. “But he’s not dead but downed.”
“Okay, I’ll finish him.”
Before I could get out of the cubicle, Flynn spoke again. “Striker, wait. I see another cop approaching.”
The clatter of Allison’s squad automatic weapon being fired came from above. The sound was followed by someone’s scream, which ceased as abruptly as it had started.
“I put the player you downed out of his misery, Striker,” Allison said.
Then the roar of two assault rifles firing came from the street. The noise of fire was followed by Allison’s scream.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m hit,” she said. “They got
me. I’m down to about fifty percent of Health.”
“Striker, come over here,” Flynn said. “The drill’s almost done.”
“Coming.”
I stepped out of the cubicle and hurried to the vault door. The drill’s screen read 2min27sec.
“Do you have the Medic Bag skill learned?” Flynn asked.
“Yeah.”
“Good,” Flynn said and gestured toward a small table next to the vault door. “Put the medic bag there.”
I walked to the table, fixed my gaze on it, and thought of that skill. A moment later, a message popped up in my HUD.
> (Do you want to place a medic bag here: Yes/No)
I deployed the medic bag. It appeared on the table. When I looked at it, its stats emerged in my HUD.
> Name: Medic Bag
> Level: 1
> Charges: 3
> Type: Consumable
> Level Requirement: None
> Description: Restores 50 HP and also negates all debuffs affecting your character.
I heard another outburst of fire coming from the street.
“Dang it,” Allison said. “They won’t even let me peek over the edge!”
“Allison, come back down here,” Flynn said. “There’s a medic bag next to the vault.”
Bursts of machine-gun fire continued to erupt from the street. The two remaining cops were eager to finish the girl off.
“Be careful,” I said.
Half a minute later, the door to the left of the vault swung open.
“Don’t shoot, it’s me,” Allison said before stepping into the room.
She looked around, spotted the medic bag, and walked to it. After healing herself, she turned around and checked the drill’s monitor screen.
“Less than two minutes remaining,” she said.
The clatter of machine-gun fire came from the left. One of the cops must have entered the building through the back door. He was now shooting at the wall separating the back of the bank and the office. However, since Allison had reinforced that door, the bullets failed to penetrate it.
“He’s right behind that wall,” Allison said. “I’ll take care of him.”
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