[You got to be kidding me...]
Dante watched with wide-eyed disbelief as the guards took one suitcase after the other out of the red car's trunk. Ricardo had meant it as a joke when he said it earlier, but there they were-four identical suitcases, one real, three decoys.
A change of plans was needed.
[Maria, get the corpo]
Just as Gaspard said those words, Mattia twisted the ignition key and started the car. Dante grabbed the handle on his side and braced himself. The wheels squealed as Mattia slammed the gas pedal and they took off. A loud bang echoed in their ears at that moment. More followed a second later.
Inside the rundown warehouse, seeing the head of their superior explode, the guards froze for a second. But only for a second. The ones carrying the suitcases took off toward the trucks while the others moved to cover for them. They had no trouble figuring out the bullet's trajectory, but reacting to it was an entirely different story.
Two more heads popped like water balloons. A third followed then a fourth. Three of the suitcases fell to the ground along with the guards carrying them, and the instant the others tried to pick them up more bullets came flying.
Jerome jumped into his car and was already on his way out. He did activate the Magic Mirror function of his car, but with the blood splattered on its back, he couldn't go completely invisible. Not that it mattered. He wasn't one of the targets.
Five of the guards dropped dead right away, two were injured and the rest were able to get into the trucks safely. They still managed to get all four suitcases, but unlike before, two ended up in the same truck.
[I'm tagging them.] Ricardo said. [Go for the one carrying two first.]
Without minding the corpses littering the ground, the trucks began to move. The sniper shots kept coming at set intervals, each hitting the windshield and windows, leaving small cracks without breaking the glass. Two trucks rushed out of the warehouse, but just as the third followed a violent impact sent it off course.
Mattia arrived at the last instant and with a grimace twisting his face he rammed the last truck with his car. The guard driving the second car watched it happen on the side mirror, that's when a loud thud made him look up. Just when he wondered what could've fallen on the roof above him, he looked aside and saw a gun barrel pointed at his head.
There was no need to worry; the truck's windows were bulletproof so even if someone were to shoot at them at point-blank range, the driver would still be safe. However, that would be the case only if the windows were closed.
Light flashed twelve times and the interior of the windshield was instantly painted red. Both guards sitting at the front were down and the truck crashed a second later. Before that happened, Dante leaped out of the way.
He didn't give it much thought when he decided to jump from Mattia's car and onto the corpo's truck. Ricardo was way ahead of him. Having sneaked one of his drones inside the truck during the chaos, he forced the window open and made things much easier for Dante.
Dante grabbed a mag from his belt and loaded it in place of the one he dropped to the ground. His gun was a little on the heavy side with a bulky frame painted dark red. It packed quite a punch, and at a close range, it had no trouble piercing through the armor implanted under the guard's skin.
Another crash shook the silence of the abandoned district. Gunfire echoed for the next few seconds, followed by the booms from several grenades. Though Gaspard had arrived just in time to stop the last car from escaping, he didn't get the chance to finish off the guards which led to a shoot-out.
Ignoring the noise, Dante made his way to the truck he crashed. The suitcase was right there, its exterior painted with blood and brains. Without a care, he reached inside and grabbed it. That's when a hand shot up and grabbed his wrist. One of the guards was alive, somehow, and still had enough willpower to point his rifle and pull the trigger.
Bullets rained, but they didn't come out of the guard's rifle. Dante was truly startled. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to lose a quick draw match against someone who already had half of his brain blown out.
After pulling the suitcase out, Dante fired a few more bullets just to be sure. He was just about to turn in the direction Mattia's car went in when another shootout started. With their truck trapped in the rubble of the abandoned building they crashed into, the guards were forced to come out. There were three of them, and against Mattia alone, they appeared to have the advantage.
The three were careful not to step out into the open where the snipers could get them. They held their ground, hiding behind their truck and firing their guns. It was clear that they had to be smoked out. Dante was going to fill the tole when he saw a small drone flying into the building. A second later the interior erupted in flames.
Three figures rushed out of the flames, one leaning against the second while the third carried the suitcases. Mattia held back and allowed them to approach the street. No sooner had they done so than their heads burst into bits one by one.
[Five.] Marcel's smile could be felt through the com channel.
[Tsk...] His sister, having fallen behind in their sniping game, could only click her tongue.
Mattia stepped out of his hiding spot and faced the burning building.
"Ricardo..." He was already fearful of the state his car was in after ramming it into an armored truck, but now it was covered in flames that wouldn't die out any time soon. "I'm definitely cutting that mohawk."
[Haha.] Ricardo laughed nervously. [Sorry pal, we gotta finish this quick.]
Burning his car didn't just anger Mattia, it also left him and Dante with no escape vehicle. Either way, they already had three suitcases in their possession. Only the fourth remained, and seeing that the shooting had stopped, it appeared that the mission was almost over.