The Zephyr bodyguards were decked out in kevlar, each of them holding a different style of rifle. The way two of them split off to cover the outside while the other two flanked the Zephyr guild representative was obviously both for show, and an added layer of security. If one delved deeper, it could even be said that they didn’t think we posed much of a threat, but I decided not to go that far. We had grenades, a lookout, a sniper, decent cover, and my hypervigilant self.

“Well, this is quite a spot you chose. I’m impressed.” He stopped a few meters from me, his polished shoes making one of the only sounds as they made contact with the tiles. I had a bad feeling with the way the sun was going down. The lights in the mall turned on, most of them surprisingly still working. My instincts started buzzing in the back of my mind.

“Let’s make this quick. You’re here for these.” I gestured to the Sentinels. “Not sure what quality the other guilds have for those snipers you told me about, but these are green quality weapons. Won’t find them everywhere. I’ve thrown in twenty P850 handguns and sixteen Locust SMGs along with the ammunition needed for each. All of this comes to a nice ten thousand credits as I told you before you arrived.” The man walked closer.

Short grey hair framed his face, a squared jawline and trimmed mustache adding to the way he swaggered about, his golden eyes holding only a cold gaze that swept imperiously over everything. “I know you’ve already seen my alias via the forums, but I’ll introduce myself one more time. Valentine, a pleasure to meet you at last, Keldath.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he gave a small bow.

“Introductions are done now. The Sentinels will do the job you spoke of. I don’t want to know the specifics. I just need to know if you have what I came here for.” I stepped between him and the guns while Jolly stared unblinking at the two bodyguards, his grip white knuckled around the Sten.

“You wouldn’t mind if I inspect the goods now would you? I have to make sure I’m not getting swindled here before I hand over what is no small sum, even to Zephyr.” The way he was acting was completely different to how he had been during our messages. He had seemed a bit nervous, desperate even for a chance at making a deal with me.

His words made sense but the way things were going I could tell that I was rapidly losing the advantage. “The money first. I want to see it.” I spoke as firmly as possible, a bit of my former venom creeping back into my voice.

The smile faded for only a moment. “Of course.” He reached into his menu and pulled out a single diamond credit stick. I made a quick inspection, confirming that it was indeed worth ten thousand. That one credit stick could rent a decent workshop for around two weeks of real life time. “May I inspect the merchandise now?” His formerly courteous and joyful tone had hardened just a little.

I nodded and he put the money away, taking a few steps forward to peer at the weapons, his bodyguards following him. I could only trust that AZTea was at least tracking one of them with the Recycler Rifle.

Valentine knelt down next to one of the Sentinels and held it up slowly, aiming down the sights toward the stairs. He then inspected the magazines. Placing the weapon back down he then began checking the Locust SMGs and their respective components. It took far longer than I wanted to for him to check everything.

“These items will certainly be useful for our guild. Boys, begin packing them up and taking them to the car.” Valentine stood up and walked toward me as he said this, pulling out the diamond credit stick once more and handing it to me. “A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Keldath. Oh, and one more thing. We couldn’t keep ourselves from being followed, so I hope you can deal with Lion’s Mane on your own. I wouldn’t recommend going outside though.” With that, he turned around and began walking toward the exit.

Every cell in my virtual body wanted me to shoot him. I very nearly did. The smug sleazeball had left us for dead. The only thing that stayed my hand was the money I’d just got and the warning.

I turned to Jolly, who was looking at Valentine and then myself with an open mouthed expression, his eyebrows knitting together in barely controlled outrage.

“Leave the truck for now. They can’t steal it from us as far as I know. We need to find a way out of here.” I hopped into the bed of the truck with him and grabbed the duffle bag that held a portion of the grenades we’d brought with us. I grabbed the other Sten from Jolly and pocketed the five magazines, giving him the other P850 I’d brought. It wouldn’t be much, but it would be better than nothing.

It was at that moment that a spotlight shone down through the skylight, and a voice rang out from what I could only assume was a megaphone. “Attention, you are in possession of illegal firearms. Place your weapons on the ground and surrender peacefully! Do not resist law enforcement personnel!”

Stolen novel; please report.

The hits just keep on coming.

Valentine’s people had already started grabbing everything and hauling it into their cars as fast as they could, gunfire lighting up the night from the outside.

Jolly and I bolted from the bed of the truck toward the stairs, AZTea firing a shot down past us at an unseen enemy. The bolt of energy crackled through the air and I heard a cry of pain. “Come on, move it!” She yelled at us even as we took the stairs two or three at a time. The skylight above us rained down with a loud crash, bullets impacting the ground with enough force to crack straight through the flooring instead of ricocheting off.

A hail of returning fire sprayed up toward the now rappelling Bastion guards from Hugh, who I saw ducking down behind the railing as both Jolly and I reached the top of the stairs. “Holy hell, my bullets aren’t even doing anything to them!” He reloaded the Sten, dropping the now empty magazine to the ground with a clatter.

“Just move! We don’t want to tangle with Bastion right now!” A fist sized gap appeared in the railing as a bullet tore through it and the upper floor. I didn’t stop to find out what kind of weapons they were bringing into this nightmare, instead grabbing AZTea and hauling her back before she could take a bullet in the stomach. “We make for any exit we can find, then go from there!”

We all ran through the now well lit mall, the NPC gang that was squatting here nowhere to be seen. What we did see were Lion’s Mane guild members trickling in here and there, immediately getting ripped apart by the storm of lead and compressed energy that was our small group of four.

Behind us boots thumped against the ground, the occasional shot ringing out. Jolly took a bullet in the shoulder and we had to hide in a makeup kiosk while AZTea fixed him up, Hugh and I taking potshots at the Bastion guards while their own rounds went through our cover like wet tissue paper, splinters flying everywhere.

“Weren’t they less tough at the docks?” Hugh yelled just as a hole appeared inches from his head, the bullet sailing past everyone else.

“I think that was just for show! These guys are the real deal!” I blindly fired over the top of the kiosk, spraying the area with suppressive fire. AZTea slapped both of us on the shoulder. “We’re good to go! Run!” We needed no encouragement, leaping out while spraying the rest of our magazines backward to cover our retreat.

Holes appeared in the flooring and mall fixtures all around us, gunshots now echoing throughout the entire mall as everything devolved into mayhem. Lion’s Mane members were facing off against Bastion guards who tore into and through them like the players were nothing.

We veered left at an intersection, two Bastion guards beating down some of the NPC gang members we hadn’t seen the whole time. Ahead of us were three more, all of whom were armed with stun batons that crackled with electricity, and pistols firing the same rounds that we’d seen from Bastion’s rifles. “We need a solution here!” None of us stopped moving through the hail of gunfire and various calls for us to halt and stop resisting.

I ripped both grenades from my belt, tearing the pins out and throwing them straight at the Bastion guards. The pins hit the ground at the same time as the explosives. “Get behind something!” I dove into an alcove just wide enough that I wouldn’t get hit by shrapnel. AZTea simply dove to the ground and covered her head while Hugh slid behind a thin advertisement board. Jolly wasn’t so lucky, the grenades detonating before he could get behind something. I saw three separate shards of metal slam into his chest, tearing through his armor. He hit the ground with a sound like shattering glass, already dead and off to the respawn point. I could only hope that he’d be able to get out of there without too much trouble.

I came back around the corner to see all three guards had been knocked off their feet, though not a single one of them was very seriously wounded. “We’ve got an opening! Run!” I shouted to AZTea and Hugh, neither of them needing any more than that before we all sprinted past the NPCs who were already beginning to get back to their feet. One of their stun batons had been ripped from their hands, lying several meters away. I took only a second to grab it, the rubber wrapped handle feeling a bit cold to the touch, the metal rod sparking and crackling menacingly.

This had gone from a bad situation to absolute chaos, as Lion’s Mane players and gang NPCs did battle with the seemingly indestructible Bastion guards. I saw a player get thrown into a wall so hard that it cracked upon impact, the player disappearing before they could even hit the ground. A gang member was ripped to shreds by several of the overpowered bullets the Bastion guards were using.

“Police brutality, much?” AZTea muttered as we sprinted on by, Hugh tossing his only grenade to earn us a little bit more time.

“Where are we even going? They’ve probably sealed off all the exits already!” Hugh fired off a burst from his Sten a moment too late as a Lion’s Mane player rounded a corner, putting a bullet into Hugh’s chest before taking three in the leg, stomach, and neck. He grunted with the effort it took not to slow down, waving us off as he reached into his pocket for some bandages.

“If we’re lucky there’ll be sewer access nearby! We get inside and hope for the best!” My heart was pounding and my breathing was labored, though I was keeping myself under control for the moment. If things got any worse though, I doubted I’d be able to hold it together long enough to think my way out of this insanity.

We just had to get to a point where we could catch our breath.