> Level 5 Branch
> Name: Medic Bag 3
> Description: You can deploy a medic bag. It has three charges, meaning it can be used three times. After a medic bag is deployed, it cannot be moved. When a gang member uses a medic bag, it restores 100% of their Health.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Note: You cannot learn Medic Bag 3 if you do not have Medic Bag 2 unlocked.
> Name: Painkiller 2
> Description: After being revived, you take 40% less damage for 90 seconds.
> Cost: 1 skill points
> Note: You cannot learn Painkiller 2 if you do not have Painkiller 1 unlocked.
> Name: Health Regeneration 3
> Description: Your Health regenerates over time at the rate of 20% per minute.
> Cost: 1 skill point
> Note: You cannot learn Health Regeneration 3 if you do not have Health Regeneration 2 unlocked.
> Name: Headshot
> Description: Headshots deal 5% more damage to the players wearing helmets.
> Cost: 2 skill points
> Name: Silent Step 1
> Description: Your footsteps produce 25% less noise, enabling you to sneak up on a hostile.
> Cost: 1 skill point
I learned Dodge 3 and then checked out my current stats.
> Statistics:
> Health: 100/100
> Stamina: 100/100
> Speed: 3 m/s
> Skills learned:
> Medic bag: 3 charges, 50% Health Restoration (Medic Bag 1)
> Health Regeneration: 45% per minute (Health Regeneration 1 + Health Regeneration 2 + Health Regeneration 3)
> Dodge: 15% (Dodge 1 + Dodge 2)
This done, I studied the available heists on my cell phone. In this game, one could replay a mission if some other players weren’t playing it at the moment. So when I saw that the Small Bank contract was available, I suggested we play it again.
“We failed to complete it in stealth last time,” I said, “so let’s do it properly this time.”
“Stealth again?” Allison moaned. “I’m sick and tired of playing in stealth already.”
“What do you mean by ‘stealth again’, huh?” Flynn asked glaring at her. “Thanks to you, the last two heists were anything but stealth.”
“Quit blaming me for it already,” the girl said. “I’ve told you so many times that I ain’t good at stealth. I prefer action.”
“Which is why you shot down the camera in the bank and broke the window in the nightclub, right?” Flynn said. “You got bored and decided to blow stealth so we could play in ‘loud’?”
Allison looked sincerely shocked. “Of course, I did not! I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Well, I think you did it intentionally.”
Allison clearly resented the fact that Flynn didn’t believe her. “Oh my gosh, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m just not very good at stealth?”
Flynn was absolutely sure that the girl had botched stealth both times deliberately. However, she seemed sincere to me.
“Look,” I said, “we really want to complete this heist in stealth. If you prefer action, why are you so resolute in playing with us? You can find a team that likes to play in ‘loud’ like you.”
“I’d like to play with you because you guys are awesome,” she said beaming at us. “You are really good players. I’ve played with randoms and more often than not they totally sucked.”
Flynn huffed. “Yeah, playing with randoms sucks.”
“But if you’re so eager to play in stealth all the time,” she continued on, “then I think I should heed your advice and find other players to play with.”
“You’re wrong,” Flynn said. “We aren’t going to play in stealth all the time. There’re some heists that can be done only in stealth or only in ‘loud’. Moreover, some heists are very difficult to do in stealth, so if something goes wrong, we have to be prepared to deal with cops. In this case, it is very useful to have a Punisher on the team.”
“So it is your call, Allison,” I said. “If you want to play only in ‘loud’, then you probably should find another team to join. But if you agree to play in stealth every now and then, then stay with us.”
“Okay, guys, congratulations,” she said, a small ironic smile on her pink lips. “You’ve managed to persuade me to stay with you. Although you can sometimes be pretty cranky, especially you, Flynn, I think I can put up with you and your stupid stealth.”
“I hope I won’t regret it,” Flynn muttered.
We then purchased some additional assets in the preparation menu and drove for the bank. Once we reached our destination, we pulled over and walked toward the one-story bank building.
Just like the last time, Flynn and Allison started for the back door while I entered the bank through the main door. I quickly looked around the lobby. Nothing seemed to have changed here. NPCs wandered around idly as if the place hadn’t been robbed a few hours earlier.
After making sure no security guard paid me attention at the moment, I pushed a door and entered the corridor that ran for ten feet forward and then made a left-angle turn. There was a surveillance camera in the corner. The last time I had been here, it had been facing the door leading to this corridor. This time, however, the camera was trained to the right.
I strode up the corridor and stopped under the camera. It was trained on the teller room and the side entrance. What struck me as surprising was that the door to the security room was gone now. Moreover, I realized that the camera operator would probably be able to spot me if I tried to get to the side door that led to the outside.
“Guys, we got a problem,” I said. “There’s no security room.”
“Don’t worry, Striker,” Flynn said, his voice coming through the earpiece in my ear. “We’ve found it. It’s on the other side of the bank this time. Come over here, we’re gonna need your help soon.”
“Coming.”
I returned to the lobby, strode to the main door, and stepped out of the building. After turning around the corner and walking half the length of the building, I reached the back door. Above it on the wall was mounted a surveillance camera. Flynn and Allison stood beside the door.
After we donned our balaclavas, Flynn nodded at me, brought his suppressed pistol up, and fired at the camera, destroying it. Then we jumped behind a Dumpster that sat nearby and waited. It wasn’t long before the first security guard walked outside to see why the camera wasn’t working.
As soon as he walked out the back door, Flynn stepped from behind the Dumpster and cracked the butt of his pistol across the back of the guard’s head, rendering him unconscious. The NPC dropped to the ground. We quickly cuffed him and dragged the body behind the Dumpster.
Soon another security guard went outside to investigate why the camera wasn’t working. We punched his lights out and dragged his body out of sight as well.
It took us about ten minutes to deal with all the six security guards that were in the bank.
“Okay,” Allison said. “What do we do now?”
“We need to take the tellers hostage because they have alarm buttons under their desks,” Flynn explained. “So one of us is going to enter the teller room and scare the shit out of the tellers before one of them reaches under their desk. I’ll take care of it. Who’s gonna knock out the camera operator?”
“I can do it,” I said.
“Okay,” Flynn replied. “So I’m going to go to the side door. Once the camera operator is taken care of, I’ll enter the building and head for the security room. Allison, you’ll have to take the main entrance to make sure nobody runs out. Striker, you’ll need to deal with the NPCs in the office.”
“Got it.”
“Any questions?”
“When about them?” Allison said gesturing toward the knocked-out security guards lying behind the Dumpster.
“They’re gonna come arou
nd soon,” Flynn said. “So one of us will have to have them enter the building after we tie all the civilians in the bank.”
“Where’s the security room?” I asked.
“Just enter this door and follow the corridor,” Flynn replied.
“Okay.”
“Any more questions?”
After none of us said anything, Flynn nodded and added, “Let’s do this then.”
I entered the building through the back door. In front of me were the stairs that led to the roof. I didn’t need to go to the roof, so I turned to the left and walked along the corridor until I reached two closed doors, one in front of me, the other one to my right. I knew that if I was to open the door in front of me and enter the room behind it, I would find myself in the office with the cubicles in front of me and the vault door to my right.
However, it was too early for me to do enter the office. So I turned and looked at the other door. This one led to the security room. I pushed it open and stepped over the threshold.
The camera operator was seated in front of the bank of computer monitors, his back to me. I struck him on the head with the butt of my pistol. He slumped from the chair to the floor. I leaned over and cuffed his wrists behind him.
“The camera operator is taken care of.”
“Good. Just gimme a second, guys.”
I stepped out of the security room and walked up to the door to the office.
A few seconds later, Flynn’s voice came through again. “I’m just in front of the teller room. Everyone in position?”
“Affirmative,” I said.
“Yes,” Allison said. “I’m in front of the main door, waiting for your signal.”
“Okay, guys, let’s do this. Go go go!”
I pushed the door open and walked into the office. Most of the NPCs in the room didn’t even notice me because they were inside their cubicles. I brought my pistol up and shouted, “It’s a robbery! Everybody come out and get on the floor!”
The scared NPCs started to step from their cubicles with their hands up and lie on the floor. I walked around the cubicles to make sure nobody hid inside one of them. Once everybody got out, I had them walk and lie behind the cubicles so random passers-by couldn’t spot them through the windows.
By the time I finished cuffed them, Allison and Flynn had already taken care of the tellers and the NPCs in the lobby.
I ran out of the building through the back door to check on the security guards lying behind the Dumpster. They had just started to recover consciousness. I pointed my pistol at them and shouted, “Get up and get inside, now!”
I had them walk into the building, constantly looking around the street to make sure there were no passers-by nearby who might notice the suspicious activity near the bank.
After we had all the civilians and the security guards lying behind the cubicles, Allison asked, “Okay, now what?”
“Now we have to deploy the drill,” Flynn replied.
“What if some passer-by hears the noise?” Allison quizzed.
“After we completed the nightclub heist, I learned some useful skills,” Flynn said. “So now the drills we deploy will be much less noisy. Only those nearby the drill will be able to hear it.”
After we deployed the drill and it started working, we all gathered up together again.
“Okay, the hardest part of this is over,” Flynn said.
“What do we do now?” Allison asked.
“One of us has to stay here to keep an eye on the hostages. Another one has to go over to the windows to keep watch for passers-by.”
“What for?” Allison asked.
“The drill can be seen through the windows,” Flynn explained. “The NPCs usually just walk by the bank without paying attention to what’s going on inside. However, one of them may cast a glance through a window and notice the drill. Doesn’t happen very often though, but sometimes it does. And the third one has to go over to the lobby because some civil might waltz in through the main door. Again, NPCs rarely walk into buildings, but, as you well know, shit happens. So one of us has to keep guard in the lobby.”
“I’ll do it,” Allison said rather enthusiastically.
I was wondering why she was so eager to do this chore. Sure, she was a lively and cheerful girl, but stealth always bored her to death.
“Good,” Flynn said looking at her. “If someone comes in, grab them and walk them over here.”
“Will do.”
She whirled around and started to walk away. After a few steps, she slowed her pace and glanced at us over her shoulder. “You know, stealth is starting to grow on me. Doing heists quietly without attracting attention is kinda exciting.”
“Yeah,” Flynn said. “Don’t let your guard down, though. We’re almost done here, so it’ll be a shame if something goes wrong now.”
“I’ll do my best,” she replied and walked away.
“I’ll go over to the windows then,” I said.
“Okay.”
A few minutes passed without anything happening. I crouched by one window, peering outside. NPCs walked past the bank, but like Flynn had said, they barely paid any attention to the building. They strolled by without so much as cast a glance toward the windows.
Also, thanks to the skill Flynn had recently learned, the drill was working real quietly, so no passer-by heard the noise when they passed the bank.
Unsurprisingly, with nothing happening at all, Allison got bored very quickly and her mood started to change, and not for the better. She asked how much longer we had to wait every thirty seconds. Every time she asked the question, she sounded more irked than before. She was losing her patience very quickly.
“How much time is left?” Her voice came through for the hundredth time.
“A little less than two minutes,” Flynn said after glancing at the drill’s small monitor screen. “So it’s almost over. Be patient.”
“I’m starting to lose my interest in stealth,” she mumbled annoyingly.
“Ain’t no news to me,” Flynn said.
“My mom always says that I got a short attention span, okay? So how much time is left? Is it done already?”
“You just have to wait a minute and a half longer.”
“Aargh, I’m so bored!” She almost screamed.
“Please, be quiet,” I said.
“Maybe I should start firing my gun to attract cops,” Allison said half-jokingly.
“Don’t,” Flynn shouted in panic.
“You two, shut up, dammit,” I said. “There are cops outside!”
They both instantly clammed up. I was peering around the frame of the window, trying to keep as much of my body out of sight as possible.
After a few seconds passed, Flynn whispered, “What are they doing right now, Striker?”
“Don’t know. There’s a police car slowly driving down the street.”
“Have they spotted us yet?”
“Don’t think so. There’s only one player in the car. He doesn’t seem to be looking in the direction of the bank, but I can’t make out what he’s doing.”
“Maybe one of the hostages called the police while you were busy shouting at me, Flynn,” Allison mocked him.
“No way,” he replied. “I watched them all the time even when I had to answer your stupid questions about the remaining time.”
“The car’s stopped,” I said. “It is on the other side of the street now.”
“Okay, guys, I think we were made,” Allison said cheerfully. “Let’s roll! I’m gonna go outside and make that cop eat my bullets.”
I heard the distinct click-clack of her squad automatic weapon’s charging handle being pulled back and the first round being chambered.
“Sit tight, dammit,” Flynn snarled at the girl.
“What for? Cops are gonna assault us any minute now. So why wait? Let’s take them off guard by attacking them first!”
“Allison, wait,” I
said. “There’s a single cop in the car. I don’t see any other cars except for his. I think this player has no idea what’s going on in here.”
“Then why has he stopped on the other side of the street?” Allison said. “I think he’s waiting for the other two cops to arrive before attacking us. So if we kill him before the other two show up, we’ll gain an advantage over them.”
“No, Allison,” I said. “We’ll just wait and see how things are gonna play out.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment or two. I even thought that she was going to disobey my direct order. But it wasn’t the case.
“Fine,” Allison said grating her teeth. “But when the other two cops show up and they attack us, don’t tell me that I didn’t warn you.”
We waited for a minute or so. Nothing happened. No more cops arrived. Everything was peaceful and quiet. Then the police car suddenly pulled from the curb, lurched forward, and raced down the street. In just a few seconds, it disappeared in the distance.
“The cop’s gone,” I said.
“He just drove away?” Allison asked suspiciously.
“Yep.”
“I can’t believe it. Why didn’t he go after us?”
“Like I said, he probably wasn’t even aware of what was going down in the bank.”
“If he wasn’t after us, why the heck he parked his car on the other side of the street?” Allison said. “Why was he just sitting on his ass, doing nothing? I don’t get it!”
“He wasn’t doing nothing,” Flynn said. “Quite the opposite, in fact.”
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“We, heisters, access crime.com to pick contracts, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“So do cops. They also visit crime.com to pick a mission to play. When a cop visits the website, they sees the city’s map and icons of ongoing heists. But we’re doing the robbery in stealth, remember? We made sure no NPC called the police, so this bank hasn’t popped up on the map. So short of walking right in here and spotting us, cops can’t learn that the bank is being robbed right now.”
Heist Online Page 12
