Honestly, in that exchange just now, it looked like the Mackinaw took a solid hit—
but if you really broke it down, Susan had actually lost that round.
First, she had the initiative.
She chose the timing of the strike—right when the armored pickup had lost control. In theory, that should've delivered maximum damage.
Militech had been observing that mystery-built, unknown-origin armored pickup all night.
They couldn't fully reverse-engineer the electromagnetic locking system's force-dispersion method, but they could estimate its limits.
After the active defense charges were depleted, the vehicle's resistance to Anvil anti-tank missiles should've dropped significantly.
And that was exactly what happened.
At the start of the Metal Race, that truck had tanked an Anvil head-on, and the armor barely even darkened.
Now?
The armor modules were visibly deformed, and the seams had widened.
But Susan had absurd dynamic perception and decades of combat experience.
Just by watching the truck's motion at the instant of collision, she realized—
the armored pickup had performed a...
a force-dispersal maneuver?
What the hell?
Did they slot some kind of Eastern kung-fu skill chip into a car?
A perfectly timed ambush, full advantage, clean hit—
and still underperforming.
No question—
Susan lost that exchange.
But doubt didn't slow her hands.
Because she knew her primary objective:
Do not let these lunatics catch up to Mayor Rhyne's vehicle.
NCPD had somehow gotten completely disoriented, even dragging MaxTac in the wrong direction.
But once this fight escalated, they'd realize something was off soon enough.
Night City was big—
but AVs were fast.
Once MaxTac arrived, there was no way these edgerunners would walk away intact.
So—
Susan smoothly pulled out a second anti-tank launcher.
At the same time, she used her personal link to control the AV one-handed while aiming down at the speeding pickup below.
[Target locking...]
[Switching to manual aim. Tracking module disabled.]
Through the scope, she was about to pull the trigger—
when the Mackinaw suddenly popped open its rear armor.
A massive guy in powered armor had stripped it down to just the exoskeleton, stacking armor plates along his arm like a discus thrower preparing his throw—
What the hell was he doing?
And that look—
did this guy have some personal beef with her?
The question didn't stop Susan.
If anything, the enemy opening their armor made this a better shot.
Trigger pulled.
Missile launched.
And at almost the exact same moment—
Jackie hurled the Chronium-Titanium armor plates in his hand with full force!
In auto mode, anti-tank missiles followed preset trajectories.
In manual mode—
they flew straight.
Predictable path.
But at over 300 meters per second, no human eye could track them.
Susan fired on instinct.
Jackie threw on instinct.
Two warriors with extreme perception, armed with cutting-edge weapons—
fighting in the most primitive, instinctive way possible.
At a straight-line distance of nearly 300 meters, the missile would hit in one second.
Jackie's thrown plates were fast too—fast enough to tear a person in half on impact.
But against a missile—
only one plate connected.
And even then, it was just a graze.
The plate's velocity was around 60 meters per second, so the interception happened close to the truck.
Jackie's eyes went wide—
He hit it!
The plate struck the missile's side, altering its momentum and destabilizing it, sending it veering off wildly—
straight into a nearby building!
Boom!
Inside the enclosed structure, the explosion lit up an entire floor!
Whoosh—
Bang!
Two more plates shot out of the smoke—
Susan barely managed to dodge with an evasive maneuver. If she hadn't, those things would've smashed straight into the Cascade at high speed!
Even from Susan's perspective—
that was insane.
After a full night of combat, that exoskeleton could still output that kind of power?!
Up ahead, the Jefferson 388 being chased nearly got scared out of its frame—
Manually intercepting anti-tank missiles?!
The driver floored it, the car shooting into the destination parking structure and smashing through the gate!
On the surface, it looked like a large industrial warehouse belonging to the Animals—
but beneath it, there was something else entirely.
The Animals moved fast. Huge muscle-bound brutes pumped full of boosters, they immediately pulled Rhyne out of the car and rushed inside with the driver—
But even though they moved sharp and efficient—
inside, they were panicking like hell.
The Animals were a well-known gang in the city center, preaching that a trained body could rival soulless cyberware.
But after watching Jackie casually swat away anti-tank missiles—
they were shook.
Watching on TV was one thing. It was hype. It was fun. "These three are badass."
But when those same people showed up at your door?
That fear hit different.
Bench 400 kilos, deadlift 500—
that was gym talk.
Sure, maybe you could one-punch a normal person.
But against these heavy hitters?
That powered armor could probably shatter every bone in their bodies with a single punch.
The Animals were special.
Their training meant something for people who couldn't afford high-end chrome.
But against fully armed monsters like this?
Didn't mean shit.
"Close the gate! Close it!!"
The sub-leader Natalia was practically pissing herself, screaming at the guards—
but the guy just threw up his hands.
"Boss! The gears are jammed!!"
Furious, Natalia stormed to the drive shaft, grabbed a steel rod, and jammed it in, straining with everything she had, face turning red like a balloon—
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
Crack!
She crushed the shaft outright!
The blast door slammed down from above.
Natalia staggered back and collapsed onto the ground.
She looked up through the gap—
just in time to see the Cascade fire another anti-tank missile.
She prayed the earlier interception had just been luck—
But reality didn't care.
The missile was struck again midair by a flying armor plate, deflected completely, slamming into the road behind the Mackinaw!
The explosion's shockwave actually boosted the Mackinaw forward!
Even Susan had no answer for that—
she could only watch as the Mackinaw charged straight toward the warehouse complex!
Breaking through the smoke, Jackie gave Susan a cold grin—
Up front, V flipped her the middle finger.
Susan raised an eyebrow.
Got attitude.
But then what?
Rhyne was already inside the facility.
Even if they smashed through the gate and went underground—
what were they going to gain?
Rhyne could die at any moment.
From the very start, this sudden turn-back by the trio had been completely irrational.
All this—
for a mayor they barely even knew?
Boom!
The blast door got smashed open by the Mackinaw with zero resistance.
All the vehicle's kinetic energy was dumped into the collision. Smoking, it tore through the warehouse's rolling shutter and got lodged in it.
Susan tossed aside the launcher again, preparing to fire once they exited—
This time, she was going to launch two missiles simultaneously.
The Cascade slowed, stabilizing.
A stable firing platform meant better accuracy—
but it also made her an easier target.
Susan locked her eyes on the legendary Mackinaw.
She knew the risk.
But street combat was always like this—
full of unknowns.
Full of danger.
Especially against enemies running completely unknown tech.
The black smoke suddenly split—
pierced by a projectile, leaving behind a faint blue arc—
Railgun.
Susan's pupils shrank.
Even her top-tier optics—basically ultra-high-speed cameras—could barely track the projectile.
By the time she reacted—
all she could do was pull the trigger.
The Cascade AV took the hit and began to crash—
At the exact same moment, two anti-tank missiles slammed straight into the Mackinaw!
Boom!