I followed the guy just a little bit further and the voices inside the room became audible.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, Joe?! You think you're some big shit now, is that it?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about you calling us incompetent trash behind our backs you motherfucker!"

"How did you kno-- I mean… That's nonsense!"

Oh wow, he actually called them that? I literally pulled that out of my ass. At least I can say that I wasn't a complete liar now.

I say complete liar because I obviously wasn't here to help them hack open the crate of course. Teehee.

"Don't lie to us you motherfucker! We already know from the woman you hired!"

"Woman I hired? What the fuck are you talking about?"

The thug then pointed in my direction and Joe turned just in time to see me wrap my arm around the second thug's neck and pointing my pistol at him.

I pulled the trigger and the bullet shot through Joe's head, the supposed boss of this operation falling back in his chair.

I moved my hand and shot the first thug in the head as well, both of them hitting the floor at roughly the same time.

A few of the thugs downstairs looked up at the unexpected sound, only to see me move my gun to the side of the thug I was holding and fired two times into him.

They watched with open mouthed shock as I shoved the guy off the railing while switching to my shotgun before he even hit the ground.

First target was the group of three men at the table.

I took aim at the one that was seated closest to the guns and fired, which ended up killing the thug to his left as well when the pellets penetrated both of their heads.

I shifted the gun slightly up to point at the third guy but he reacted fast enough to flip over the table and the shotgun pellets were hindered by his impromptu shield.

I redirected my aim to the thug leaning against the wall and fired my third shot, nailing the thug in the chest even before he could comprehend what was going on.

The last two thugs split up with one taking cover behind the military crate and the other one running underneath the rafters, presumably to hide from me.

I saw the guy behind the table reach out to grab his rifle, prompting me to dive into the room just in time to avoid the hail of bullets that pierced through the space that I had been seconds ago.

Then, as suddenly as the firefight had started, everything went silent.

There were no windows in this room so I had no safe way of peeking out aside from relying on my shield. But I would like to keep the fact that I have a shield secret for now in case I need to surprise them with it.

I picked up one of the thugs that I killed and dragged him towards the door, positioning him in such a way that I could push him out and make it look like someone was peeking from the corner of the door.

Once he was in position, I slowly edged him out until his head was visible outside the door.

That was when a gunshot rang through the warehouse and the body jerked back, a new wound appearing on his forehead.

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"Got that bitch!" Someone shouted from below. "Hurry up and go check!"

Someone started running up the stairs and I switched my first shell to a buckshot while the second and third shells were slug rounds.

Just as they reached the top of the stairs, the thug turned around to see me crouching on a knee and aiming down the sights straight at him.

He only had time to open his mouth before I shot him in the chest, the force of the blow enough to send him flying back and flipping over the railing to fall to the floor below.

I leapt out through the door and immediately pointed it at the guy hiding behind the overturned table, who had ducked back into cover the moment he saw me.

I aimed directly at the table and fired the slug round, watching with great satisfaction as the table was split into two and the slug round pierced through both wood and his skull easily.

I then switched my sights to the thug who had been hiding behind the military crate, only to see that there was no one there.

"Fuck this shit, I'm out!!" A voice came from below, followed by hurried footsteps.

I watched as the last thug ran for the back door, trying to escape the warehouse and abandoning his dead comrades.

I wasn't that worried and walked towards the stairs casually while holding my shotgun with both hands.

As I descended the stairs, the sounds of someone banging against a door could be heard and I found the guy desperately trying to push against the back door, only to find that it would not budge.

He had just decided to let go of the door and turned, freezing when he saw me standing a short distance away and pointing the gun at him.

I originally thought about saying some sick one liner before shooting him but… Fuck it.

I pulled the trigger, sending the slug round straight through his chest and blowing a literal hole in it.

The rest of him got blown back as well and he crashed into the wall behind him, splattering it with his blood.

Oof.

Well… That was easy.

I went back to the centre of the room where the military crate was and inspected it.

Aside from a few scratches on its surface where I assumed the thugs had tried to pry it open, it was relatively unscathed.

Whatever this box contained, it must be pretty important to be contained in something like this.

There was a digital lock with a numpad on one side which I assumed was the locking mechanism of the box.

Looking around the rest of the room, everything had gone quiet since I was the only one left.

Guess that means I completed the hustle huh? Pretty easy for a Gold ranked job.

I tapped on my Codex and searched for the contact I was supposed to call upon job completion. It took two rings before the other person picked up, my screen showing someone wearing a military uniform on the other side.

He nodded at me, "Merc. I assume the package is secured?"

I angled my Codex to show the box on the screen, "Right here. How do you want me to deal with it?"

"We'll be sending some people to pick it up. They will be dressed as normal workers and you need to challenge them with a password. Ask them if they are here to collect the food samples and they will answer with 'I hope there's bananas in there'."

"Seems overly complicated but fine. Although I'm wondering why couldn't you guys just storm in here by yourselves? They stole your stuff right? You should have just cause to hit them for it."

"That might spark off an all out war within the station between the two gangs as one side or the other might think the military was throwing in their weight in this small conflict of theirs."

I mean… At this point, I could say the two sides are already at war but what do I know? I'm just an ordinary, soon to be Gold ranked Merc.

Then again, couldn't they just dress their soldiers up in mufti and have them attack this place using that disguise?

Meh, whatever, this just means more Credits for me for an easy job so I'm not going to complain.

I shrugged, "As long as I get paid for this. I guess you need me to wait here for your guys to show up and watch over the box in the meantime?"

"That would be preferred. They are already on their way, ETA five minutes out."

"Sure, I'll wait for them. Don't suppose you'll tell me what's actually inside the box?"

"No."

He didn't even wait for my response before he shut off the call.

Hmph, fine. I didn't need to know anyway.

Well, now I have five minutes to spare before those soldiers get here… And you know what that means.

It's looting time!

Let's see what do these guys have?

Simple weapons… Some Credit Chips… More weapons stored in the office… Oh? What's this?

I found another chip on the boss guy that didn't look like a Credit Chip.

No, it wasn't a memory card but a data chip instead, something that my Codex could read.

I inserted the chip into my Codex and I realised it was some sort of journal or something.

'Material P-105-N1C is scheduled for a stop at Cietai System before being transferred to [REDACTED]. Ensure maximum security during the transfer and the container must be kept at [REDACTED] at all times. In the event of package being compromised with no hope of recovery, engage [REDACTED] protocols."

…

This is referring to the box right? Just what the hell is in it?