Leafa double-checked all her equipment settings before they headed out, reminding herself of her skill and gear setup and trying to remember the unique handling of her weapons. Between real life responsibilities and playing other games with other friends, it had been a while since she had logged into Gun Gale, but it was probably exactly the tone shift she needed and her subscription fees would just go to waste if she didn't shoot some guns every now and then.

Besides, this was Sinon's favourite game despite everything. Alfheim was Leafa's preferred playground, but the excitement she could hear in Sinon's voice over chat every time she agreed to play with her here instead never failed to make her smile.

It was just the two of them today. A new update had rolled out only recently, so they had decided that exploring the new content together was a good opportunity to get back into the swing of things.

"The new area is PvE only for another week or," Sinon explained, micro-managing her own setup for exploration rather than intense combat. "So no player ambushes yet. I'll stick to your pace, so don't feel like you have to push on quickly. Get used to things again, first."

"Thanks, but I got this. I'll just need a skirmish or two and I'll be back in shape." Leafa closed her menu and stepped up next to Sinon so they could cross the teleport platform together.

---

A lot of GGO areas were similar on the surface, many of them were industrial structures and abandoned ruins of metal and concrete. This new expansion content mixed things up only by making the visual design more distinct and giving it a less abandoned feel. They entered a maze of hallways and industrial halls, but a lot of the machinery was still active or on standby and the same sinister series corporate logos was plastered everywhere.

Rather than exploring bunkers and other cold structures, their push forward felt like a genuine infiltration, getting into short firefights with patrolling androids before going back to moving quietly and checking every corner. After just a few encounters, the feel of the rifle in Leafa's hands was familiar again and she was smiling to herself every time her shots landed exactly where she wanted them to.

"Looks like both of these pathways lead into the hall up ahead." Sinon was standing at a terminal, looking over the regional map, while Leafa had her back to her, keeping her eyes on the doors. "We could do a pincer manoeuvre. I'll head up to the catwalks and give you sniper support while you head through to the main floor and draw their attention."

"Sounds good. I'm counting on you." They briefly nodded at each other before they headed in opposite directions, Leafa down the stairs and Sinon up a service ladder.

After a few seconds, Sinon's voice came in over radio. "I have some loot on my end. I'll p--ket it f-- -ow but we c-- ------"

Leafa slowed down and tapped the in-ear headset. "Sinon? Can you repeat that?" She waited for a moment, but all that came back was low static. She hesitated, looking back to the stairs, but she quickly pushed on again. If this wasn't a bug, they may be entering a no-comms area and it was always best to just stick to the plan in that case.

Her heart was beating a little faster, now that she was by herself, but the smile didn't vanish from her lips. This was exactly the kind of excitement she came to this game for.

She pressed herself to the wall next to the doors leading into the hall and carefully pushed it open while taking a glance inside. It was a tall room, containers stacked on one side and an assembly line working away on the other. She couldn't see any androids here yet, but she also didn't have a good view on everything from this position.

Leafa headed in quickly, moving to a nearby container as her next cover. She looked up and saw the catwalks that Sinon was presumably headed to, but no movement there yet. She tried the radio again, but still only got static.

Just as she considered her next move, a low whirring caught her attention. She whirled around just in time to see a hovering drone, no bigger than her own shoulder width. It's single optic trained on her and switched from green to red. She raised her rifle and quickly fired a single shot, penetrating the optic lens and causing it to fall straight to the floor.

"Intruder in Packaging Hall. Issuing lockdown," a voice sounded over the PA system and Leafa clicked her tongue. So much for stealth. She peeked around the container to try and see how much she was dealing with. Still no androids, but several of the same drones now gathered on the main floor, their optics systematically searching the corners and crevices.

"Well, here goes nothing." She switched the firing mode on her rifle and quickly rushed around the corner, opening fire in small bursts. When her aim was spot-on, the drones dropped easily, but stray hits that didn't penetrate the lens seemed to do a lot less. She was crouched to give less surface area for counter attacks and watched for bullet lines to appear, but the drones just advanced as soon as they had her location.

A few more dropped, but soon the whirring noise started to surround her and she had to move to not get pincered. She dashed past the drones ahead of her to reposition, get all her targets on one side of her, but a sudden jolt from one of the hovering enemies struck her back, an electric strike instead of a bullet, but still sending a dulled pain signal through her body and making her fingers briefly go numb.

"Apprehending intruder," a computer-generated voice said flatly behind her. She could see her next cover, but before she could reach it, something clamped around her upper left arm, pulling her from the confident dash into a stumble. The clamp released, but another grabbed her left wrist instead, pulling back, her grip loosening. Yet another seized her right wrist, pulling her arms apart. Another jolt, slightly more intense, rushed through both clamps into her arms, making her grunt in not-quite-pain and drop her weapon.

"Ah, dammit!" She tried to pull free from the clamps, but the cables they were attached to retreated suddenly, pulling arms back behind her. At this angle, she was forced to lean her torso forward a little, her arms pulled not just backwards but slightly upwards. And as she still struggled, she could hear a more high-pitched whirr and something touching her arms, first her forearms, then her upper arms, before they were suddenly forced together.

Whatever the drones had wrapped around her arms had been loose at first, but quickly contracted, forcing her elbows together behind her back. The clamps released her wrists and she stumbled forward, moving her arms in the sudden restraints.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Whose idea was this?" she  complained, quickly trying to run for cover again, but the drones had all caught up with her by now. One of them hovered low and crossed in front of her, briefly bumping into her to attach one end of a long, brown strip to her shoulder, like packaging tape. It quickly circled her, the tape-like band wrapping around her shoulders, then around her arms and torso just under her chest, before snapping off, quickly contracting to cling to her tightly, not sticking to her skin but immovable regardless.

"Sinon, I really hope comms work, because I really need your help ri--" There was a bump to the side of her head and a whirring in her ears and before she knew it, packaging band pressed over her lips and tightened around her head. She screamed into the makeshift gag in frustration, but there was no way out of this situation anymore. Another drone whirred around her thighs, the brown band tightening around them as well, leaving her mostly wrapped-up and struggling.

"Intruder apprehended. Moving to storage." One of the drones released a clamp again, but it closed around her neck instead of her wrist, tightening like a collar. It began to hover towards the containers, the cable going taut and pulling Leafa along.

"Mmpfh, mh!" She shouted and shook her head, trying to lean back and push her heels nto the floor, but with her thighs bound she couldn't take a broad stance and had no choice but to stumble along if she didn't want to fall flat on her face.

She glanced about, trying to look up at the catwalk, or along the floor, for anything she could use, anywhere to hold on to. And when she looked ahead again, she could see an open container, one the drone was moving her towards. It was dark inside, none of the lights flooding the hall illuminating more than the entrance, but she could barely make out hooks and chains on the inside walls and hanging from the ceiling.

Leafa shook her head more violently and tried to yell despite the gag sealing her lips. And just as the drone was about to enter the container, a shot rang out, echoing throughout the hall. The drone dropped, sparks flying from the hole in its carapace. The cable became limp and Leafa stumbled to a halt. Several more shots were fired, the sounds of drones shattering and hitting the concrete floor, until the whirring had completely stopped.

Leafa sighed a breath of relief through her nose and looked up to see Sinon looking back at her from the catwalk.

...but not giving her the sight she had hoped to see.

Sinon was indeed standing up on the catwalk, but not triumphantly pointing her rifle like expected. Instead, her arms were pinned to her sides, her thighs pressed together, all wrapped up in brown packaging band, pressed over her mouth as well, wrapped around her head multiple times, tussling her already messy hair and not quite covering the humiliated blush on her cheeks. A torn cable was attached to her neck by a clamp.

Holding the other end of the cable in one hand, and a heavy pistol in the other was a tall woman, wearing high-level gear from her skin-tight combat suit to her visor-like sunglasses, her two-tone hair spilling over one shoulder.

"You know, I hated these new mobs at first, but look what pretty gifts they wrapped for me! You cuties wanna come back to my place? We can discuss my... finders fee." She smirked down at the wrapped-up blonde, leaning casually on the railing.

Leafa groaned and rolled her eyes. Why did every game they played have to end up like this eventually?