xachariahxx
Well-known member
"Don't worry, it's a stealth mission Hiromi. It counts as stealth if there's no survivors to report, right?"
Ghost in the City Cyberpunk Gamer SI
- Thread starter Seras
- Start date
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- Tags
- cyberpunk gamer self-insert
Blasterbot
Well-known member
checks out. how I do every stealth mission at least. get told to scout an area. apply murder until no resistance remains. inform command that the enemy has been scouted and there is no resistance to worry about. Lyran scouting is the best way to scout.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
Motoko really needs some reconnaissance drones.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
Or just buy existing recon drones and modify them to get the job done.
Blasterbot
Well-known member
GASP! imagine not making cute Tachikoma scouts. unacceptable.
Corvus 501
Active member
Well she has to start somewhere, and a good survalience drone is a good start to copy from.
Chapter 139
Seras
Well-known member
*That’s a lot of bad guys.* I spoke into the group call as I overlooked the camp. It was mid afternoon and I had walked for miles, climbed up onto a mountain to overlook the Wraith camp and was now hidden in some brush with my Nekomata pointed down.
*Dakota wasn’t kidding about the numbers.” Hiromi cut in, and all I could do was nod. I was basically sending snapshots of what I was seeing to my chooms as I took note of things. My Kiroshi highlighting things for my chooms in the pictures.
The whole place was just surrounded by vehicles and tents. Obviously the wraiths couldn’t all fit inside, yet, it was obvious like the nomads they were, they were plenty comfortable.
Walking through that wasn’t going to be easy. Just the amount of people would make approaching difficult.
*I’m more interested in that.* Ichi called out, sending back an image into the chat. One of the massive trucks that were holding basically a cargo container on the back.
The truck and container was ancient, but, well.
*Think they stored the loot there?* I asked as I looked back at it. The massive truck reminded me of the ones that Nomads used as their main bases. So I wasn’t surprised to see one, but the container made me want to look inside.
*At least some of it. Or at least they normally would. They don’t usually stick to one place this long, so.”
“Yeah, the fact they are sticking around… Look.* I sent another image, and listened to the chatter about it.
The Wraiths were building a trash wall. Although calling it building wasn't quite right, they were definitely piling up broken vehicles, used tires, and other things all around the exterior towards the road.
*They are planning on staying.* Malcolm added, saying the obvious. Which only made the whole situation more confusing.
What the fuck were the Wraiths doing? There had to be something here that they didn’t want to move away from, but it was just an old electric substation.
*And at least we have confirmation. The Arasaka image is blurry, but look. That’s probably the vehicle that took out the AV.* Ichi pointed out, a Wraith vehicle had a fucking rocket launcher system on the top.
*Yeah, that’s it alright.* I muttered already thinking of how I could disable that. I really didn’t want to end up on the other end of a vehicle modified into a light tank.
I shook it off. *Okay guys. I’m going to move positions, get some other angles.* I told my team as I backed out of the bushes, and then out of sight of the camp. Continuing my scouting mission.
—--
I was eating an XXL burrito in the Quadra, filling my stomach and rehydrating as my team and I continued to chat about what we should do, but I was already pretty confident in what I would have to do.
Sneak in. Kill the Netrunner. Access the network. Start murdering Wraiths until I was revealed and then dump hacks on them as I continued to murder all of them.
That was really the only option.
“You sure we don’t want to do more preparation?” Malcolm asked as he walked over to the Quadra.
We had met up a few miles away from the camp out in the badlands using a side road that should keep us hidden.
My team couldn’t stay out of this entirely, there were too many Wraiths for that.
“I think unless we want to go buy a fuck ton of mines or something, we are as prepared as we are going to get.” I told him, chewing another bite of slop. “I think we can do this.”
“Heh. You mean, you think you can do this.” Malcolm said, but it was only teasing. “We’ll back you up Motoko. Do what you think you need to, and kill them all.”
I glanced up into his eyes and nodded. I would do it, because I had to, and because I wanted to.
“Good. I’ll make sure we make it out in case something goes wrong.” He pointed back towards Ichi’s van, that also had a Wraith Thorton Colby, parked next to it. The pickup at least fit the terrain.
Malcolm had made off from the last gig with his own Wraith vehicle.
I was still surprised he hadn’t grabbed a Quadra, but I guess he liked the Colby more. It certainly gave us more loot hauling room.
And if shit hit the fan, all three of my chooms could get in it and run. Ichi might be the better driver, but his van certainly wouldn’t outrun an angry Wraith attack. The Colby might.
I wasn’t preparing for me failing, I was preparing in case something went out of control.
“Alright choom. Let me finish this, and I’ll head out.” I told him finishing my dinner.
The sun was coming down. Sure most optics could see okay in the night, but it still would give me some advantage.
“Good luck.” Malcolm offered before moving back.
I finished my meal, and stepped out stretching. I was so dusty and dirty, but it was fine. I would take a nice long shower after this was all done.
I headed to the back of the Quadra and popped the trunk. As tempting as it was, I left the Uragan and grabbed my Copperhead. The silencer was already attached, and I double checked to make sure it was secure.
Good.
I was already in my dark armor, so I started grabbing magazines out of the ammo section of the trunk, putting them into the webbing on my armor.
A few grenades tucked in as well, and I was armed and ready.
I took a breath and let it out, letting the cold clarity of Cool and Cold Blood flow over me.
I had an objective, and a path to do it. That was all that mattered.
But first I had a long run in the desert to get close to the Wraith encampment. For some reason they never expected someone to just come out on foot.
*I’m off. I’ll be out of comms until I clear out the netrunner. Good luck.* I told the group and then headed out into the night. Everyone knew what they needed to do. I just needed to do it now.
The run through the desert was easy, I barely broke into a sweat as the desert was starting to cool, and my athletics stat was pretty high. I kept it to a light jog and then into a fast march, just to keep myself from getting too much adrenaline.
Slowly I arced over a hill and saw all the dotted lights of the camp. A quick scan told me not much had changed. The group was too large to really be worried about guards. Who would be stupid enough to attack a Wraith group this large?
I slid down the hill using a path I had picked out while scouting, and then I simply scurried from brush to brush, from ravine to gully. As I crept closer. Copperhead held tight so it wouldn’t jostle.
I reached the first tent and parked against the shadow it cast for a moment to let myself catch my breath. I needed to be ready for the next part.
I slowed my breathing until I was ready and then I moved. Sliding from tent to parked car, slipping through the shadows, my mind already knowing the path. Having scouted out all the security cameras that could see me along the route, I made sure I was always out of sight of their vigilante gaze.
I just needed…
I stopped nearly sliding under a car as a nomad walked just on the other side. The man smoking a cigarette and just sort of chilling. I started from the dirt as his boots wandered around, and rested against the car I was hiding under. He leaned against it as he smoked, and I wanted to growl, because I needed to move right past him to avoid the camera.
So I waited, hiding in the shadows, I did my best to keep from making a single noise against the dirt I was planted against.
Slowly the man finished his smoke. Chuckling a little at nothing as he did, probably reading a shard, or something.
Then finally he moved off, and I slowly rose up and then moved. Slipping past a few final tents and up to the old fence that surrounded the power plant. I was at the perfect spot that none of the cameras could notice as I leapt right up and over, landing without a sound and then running the last feet to hide among some trash along the wall.
I rested again. Watching the camp from my hidden location to make sure no one was watching, before I leapt again. Landing on the roof in two leaps and then crouching down to hide among the shadows there.
My entrance was easy to spot. A door for roof access, as the building kept some of the electrical connections up here. I hurried over and to my irritation the door was locked, but it wasn’t a modern lock.
Old lock and key of all things.
Luckily I did have the know-how. Not sure whether it came from Ninjutsu, or Tech, but I pulled out a few pieces of wire and within thirty seconds had the door opening. Even with the rusty hinges I kept it as silently as I could and slipped inside.
There were only two places a netrunner could be working from. Either the large heavy duty truck the wraiths had, inside the storage container, or from inside the substation connected into an old grid port.
I was assuming the netrunner was in here.
It’s where I would be no one wanted dust and sand in their gear. So I slipped inside, ancient concrete steps didn’t creak, but I could feel them shift at my weight.
Old. This place was really old.
The stairs thankfully didn’t lead to the main room, but were actually sealed off with a door. So I could get down and slowly turn the knob of the door open letting me peek in.
Dusty. Quiet.
There was no one here.
What was going on? Why pick this place, if there was nothing here? I slipped out, checking every corner thoroughly for cameras but not finding anything. There was an ancient camera in a corner, but it was hanging from a wire, and wasn’t powered.
I scanned around, trying to spot something out of the ordinary, but there was nothing. Just old concrete, a small office to the side, and old electric transformers.
The transformers weren’t even active. They had long been turned off, or shut down. I was just starting to wonder if someone was fucking with me, when I noticed it.
The front door had dirt trailing in, and the dust was disturbed. In the dark it was hard to see, but Kiroshi were top tier for a reason. I trailed the many boot prints in the dust to one little office…
Well now.
I followed them in, I hadn’t seen anything when I peaked in, but now that I was following the boot prints I followed them to the corner where the dust ended at a wall. But the footprints didn’t.
Huh. Hidden wall huh? I scanned the area, but didn’t get anything.
Whatever had made this, it wasn’t 1980’s tech.
I couldn’t find any sort of keypad, so I crouched down and looked at the bootprints.
Most of the dust had been disturbed in a direct path between the door and the wall, but there were a few dusty boot prints that led around the room.
Thanks to my Kiroshi I was able to pick them out and highlight them, leading me into following in their footsteps literally as I walked along with them.
It looked like they were searching for something. I followed along until finally the footprints led straight towards the wall.
Then I just reversed my steps until I found the last place the bootprints would have stopped at.
It was a set of cupboards connected to the office desk. The faux wood was covered in dust, but again a bit of scanning found fingerprints in the dust.
I opened the cupboards that had fingerprints until I came to the second one, and stilled.
There in the back of the cupboard was a fake backing. It had been left open, revealing a much more modern number pad.
“Well well.” I muttered as I looked it over. It wasn’t dusty. I couldn’t scan for fingerprints. How did a Wraith know about this?
I shook it off, it didn’t matter. He did, and he had opened it. So I would as well. I pulled my personal link out of my neck and squeezed it into the slot along the bottom of the keypad.
Instantly I winced as the defenses started reacting. ICE. Good stuff fought me off, but I instantly went as stealthy as I could. Throwing up some cloudy data to keep the ICE busy, before it realized someone had connected to it.
Then I tried to breach in. Using all the skills I had.
It fought me. Hard. The walls of ICE were not standard off the shelf shovelware. No, this was definitely a high level military ICE. There was only one reason it hadn’t been able to lock me out, or fry me in turn.
It was old. At least a decade. Possibly Unity War era.
I fought it tooth and nail and finally. Managed to slip inside, the barrier giving way as my rapid fire breach finally pushed through a hole. I shut down any alerts I could. Calmed the system and the keypad chirped as it accepted my fake credentials that I quickly uploaded.
The wall hissed, air escaping and popped out an inch and then slid sideways.
An elevator.
Well now.
I instantly shook my head at that. No way was I taking an elevator down to wherever it led. Too loud. Too obvious.
Instead I walked over and found the maintenance hatch at the top. A few moments of work and I opened it up, and climbed right out of the elevator into the shaft.
Dark.
Even my Kiroshi was struggling with how dark it was. Only a few red hazard lights gave me even the smallest of light to work on.
And here, me without a flashlight.
Walking slowly on top of the elevator, I managed to find the maintenance ladder and slowly climbed my way into the depths.
Deep. At least three or four floors? What the hell? How had whoever built this even done this? The electrical station certainly didn’t look like it had been modified in the last century.
I hit the bottom and with a bit of work managed to find the actual elevator doors.
Thankfully with my chrome fingersI was able to wedge in, and slowly open them up and it didn’t make much noise. Slowly the doors spread and I saw what was beyond.
A room, covered in tech. Computers, and servers and things…
The massive NUSA symbol on the wall right next to the Militech logo confirmed at least some of my suspicions. Was this a NUSA outpost? The many computers that I could spot even from the elevator well were all showing information about Night City. A watch post? To keep an eye on Night City?
I didn’t see anyone through the small gap I had made and so slowly hefted the elevator doors open a bit more. The noise was pretty slight thankfully, as the doors bowed to my will and then I was in. Crouching on the other side, Copperhead raised and ready.
I took a step, and stilled. HMG turrets. I instantly went to breach them to try and shut them down, but stilled.
They were quiet. I didn’t exhale, no instead I nodded. Obviously the Wraith wouldn’t want the defenses to be on. They weren’t Militech either.
I continued. Second step, and then into the room.
There. In the center. Were four people. Three men, and a woman.
One was a netrunner. Plugged into a chair and in the system. The other three were just Wraiths.
Except one of them was Isaac Webb himself. Well that made this easier.
I raised my rifle and took aim.
None of them suspected conflict here. None of them were prepared, even if all of them were armed.
I aimed at my first target, took a breath, and then moved even as I started firing.
Four rounds ripped into the chest and head of the netrunner. The sound startled the rest, but none reacted fast enough as in the air I shifted my aim, went full auto and simply started spraying the group.
Cries of pain echoed out as bullets slammed into the three. I landed and my rifle ran dry, I dropped the mag as I rolled behind the cover of an old metal desk, grabbed a new magazine and rammed it home, pulled the charging handle and then leapt up, far above the desk I was using, giving me vision of where everyone that was still alive had run to hide.
I started firing, and only two shots rang out loudly in the room in return, before I landed atop an old desk and waited. Checking the four with a full scan each just to make sure.
All dead.
*1000 XP Gained.*
*750 XP Gained.*
*750 XP Gained.*
*500 XP Gained.*
I blinked at the numbers. I guess… This would have been the bosses of the Wraiths? Huh. Nice.
“Heh! Heh… Hehehehehe!” I broke into giggles at the fact I had just ripped the leadership of a Wraith warband into puddles. I settled back to calm down as I took in what I had just done.
What even was this place? I quickly rose up and started looking around, and it didn’t take me long after poking at one of the computers to confirm my suspicion
Yep. Night City Listening post for Militech and the NUSA.
With a bit of exploration I even got some dates. This place was put together a year before the unification war, and had been keeping an eye on activity in Night City. Likely in preparation for the war.
And I now knew how they had found the Arasaka AV. This thing was tracking Arasaka. Like a lot.
They had hacked in, and just watched, no need to mess with the system. Just keep quiet, and feed on the free information.
Instantly I realized how bad this was. For one, Arasaka would flip the fuck out if they knew about this. Militech would flatline anyone to keep it quiet too.
Fuck.
Should I tell Arasaka? Should I tell Militech?
Should I shut my fucking mouth and pretend this never happened?
Kinda leaning towards that option. I don’t know anyone at Militech besides that first Militech corpo you meet trying to track their stolen shipment, and while she was certainly a surprise in her more personal meeting later in the game. I didn’t really like her.
Besides, I was way too young for that.
Did I know anyone else? I thought back to the game and came up empty. I knew the Phantom Liberty DLC was supposed to be about Militech or something… Right?
Fuck, no idea. I shrugged. Then I guess I could talk to Hiromi? Oh. I bet her dad will like the information. Might even be able to make use of it…
If I wanted to support Arasaka… Which I don’t.
Well at the least I know Yorinobu was going to try and destroy the company soon. Including killing his father. I could just ignore that whole thing and it would happen…
No, I didn’t need to rush this. I should talk to my chooms and get a plan together when I wasn’t rushing around pre and post battle.
I pulled away from the computer, and moved towards the netrunner.
He would be the central hive for all the security of the Wraiths above. Sure maybe not all of them would connect into the network they had set up, but most of them would.
I pulled out my link and plugged in, wincing again at the nasty ICE that the guy was plugged into. Luckily with him flatlined I had plenty of time to slowly pick it apart, and breach into the network.
Once that was complete, a single ping filled my vision with dozens of lines connecting me to all the Wraiths above.
I grinned as I took them all in. They wouldn’t just track my targets for me, but make excellent shooting lines to hit my targets regardless of being able to see them.
—---
Standing on top of the electrical substation, I looked over the camp. No one had noticed the fight below. No one had any idea their system had been infiltrated. No one had any idea what was coming.
*Alright guys. I’m about to kick things off. Get ready for any runners.* I spoke quietly into the group chat, making sure my chooms had heard me and responded as I raised my Copperhead along the first golden line.
As I aimed I pushed Reboot Optics into the system. My vision filled with dozens of red icons showing it uploading into the Wraiths optics. A little ticking box of death over all of their heads.
I felt my grin go feral as I watched the first person to lose his sight and jerk at the sudden loss. The one I was tracing along the golden light.
I fired.
The light winked out.
Then I moved on. Even as the cries of surprise, the horror, the rage echoed up around me. I fired silenced rounds reaching out into the darkness and cutting out winking golden lights one by one.
It didn’t work on everyone. Some could still see, either because they had no optics and just ganic eyes, or for some other trick. Cars started taking off. Just a few, on the outer edges, most racing towards the road, Hiromi, and the chooms would take care of that.
Others did drive out into the desert.
I shrugged. A shame, but nothing I could do. I kept firing. Rapid fire. The whistling of my rounds in an even tempo, as I just used the lights to guide my shots, ignoring tents, or cover in the way. Sure I didn’t get them all. Some were inside their cars, but once Reboot was fully installed into the camp, I activated Short Circuit, and almost giggled at the squeals as people were suddenly tazed over and over.
The Wraiths knew they were under attack now.
They were trying to respond to mount a defense or an offense.
They were failing.
One got in a vehicle that had weapons, but couldn’t find me, and was just firing randomly as he spun his Shion around. Some were gathering up driving their cars together for defense.
I just kept killing anyone that I could. Fire fire fire fire. Reload. Fire fire.
Suddenly I heard it, the massive noise of HMG’s opening up.
Ichi had stolen the second HMG turret from yesterday's camp. I had reprogrammed it for him during the night, and so now his Van’s rear doors opened up with two HMG turrets.
The sound definitely pushed the Wraiths into action, but a moment later a noise echoed out over the dunes.
A rocket launcher.
God dammit Malcolm! I know that’s you! The distant fire over the ridge was grabbing everyone's attention, and that was finally enough.
The camp stampeded. The few people in vehicles picking a direction not towards the rocket launcher and booked it.
It was less and less as time went on. Short Circuit sending a few drivers spinning in circles to crash into whatever was around.
The numbers diminished for them, but the numbers only went up for me!
A crashing noise pulled me away from sending a barrage of rounds into the windshield of a Quadra that was crashed trying to finish the gonk inside. I turned and instantly dropped down.
“COME ON THEN! I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!” The voice roared out of the speaker of the Arasaka branded Minotaur that just stomped out of the massive truck in the middle of camp.
*Dakota wasn’t kidding about the numbers.” Hiromi cut in, and all I could do was nod. I was basically sending snapshots of what I was seeing to my chooms as I took note of things. My Kiroshi highlighting things for my chooms in the pictures.
The whole place was just surrounded by vehicles and tents. Obviously the wraiths couldn’t all fit inside, yet, it was obvious like the nomads they were, they were plenty comfortable.
Walking through that wasn’t going to be easy. Just the amount of people would make approaching difficult.
*I’m more interested in that.* Ichi called out, sending back an image into the chat. One of the massive trucks that were holding basically a cargo container on the back.
The truck and container was ancient, but, well.
*Think they stored the loot there?* I asked as I looked back at it. The massive truck reminded me of the ones that Nomads used as their main bases. So I wasn’t surprised to see one, but the container made me want to look inside.
*At least some of it. Or at least they normally would. They don’t usually stick to one place this long, so.”
“Yeah, the fact they are sticking around… Look.* I sent another image, and listened to the chatter about it.
The Wraiths were building a trash wall. Although calling it building wasn't quite right, they were definitely piling up broken vehicles, used tires, and other things all around the exterior towards the road.
*They are planning on staying.* Malcolm added, saying the obvious. Which only made the whole situation more confusing.
What the fuck were the Wraiths doing? There had to be something here that they didn’t want to move away from, but it was just an old electric substation.
*And at least we have confirmation. The Arasaka image is blurry, but look. That’s probably the vehicle that took out the AV.* Ichi pointed out, a Wraith vehicle had a fucking rocket launcher system on the top.
*Yeah, that’s it alright.* I muttered already thinking of how I could disable that. I really didn’t want to end up on the other end of a vehicle modified into a light tank.
I shook it off. *Okay guys. I’m going to move positions, get some other angles.* I told my team as I backed out of the bushes, and then out of sight of the camp. Continuing my scouting mission.
—--
I was eating an XXL burrito in the Quadra, filling my stomach and rehydrating as my team and I continued to chat about what we should do, but I was already pretty confident in what I would have to do.
Sneak in. Kill the Netrunner. Access the network. Start murdering Wraiths until I was revealed and then dump hacks on them as I continued to murder all of them.
That was really the only option.
“You sure we don’t want to do more preparation?” Malcolm asked as he walked over to the Quadra.
We had met up a few miles away from the camp out in the badlands using a side road that should keep us hidden.
My team couldn’t stay out of this entirely, there were too many Wraiths for that.
“I think unless we want to go buy a fuck ton of mines or something, we are as prepared as we are going to get.” I told him, chewing another bite of slop. “I think we can do this.”
“Heh. You mean, you think you can do this.” Malcolm said, but it was only teasing. “We’ll back you up Motoko. Do what you think you need to, and kill them all.”
I glanced up into his eyes and nodded. I would do it, because I had to, and because I wanted to.
“Good. I’ll make sure we make it out in case something goes wrong.” He pointed back towards Ichi’s van, that also had a Wraith Thorton Colby, parked next to it. The pickup at least fit the terrain.
Malcolm had made off from the last gig with his own Wraith vehicle.
I was still surprised he hadn’t grabbed a Quadra, but I guess he liked the Colby more. It certainly gave us more loot hauling room.
And if shit hit the fan, all three of my chooms could get in it and run. Ichi might be the better driver, but his van certainly wouldn’t outrun an angry Wraith attack. The Colby might.
I wasn’t preparing for me failing, I was preparing in case something went out of control.
“Alright choom. Let me finish this, and I’ll head out.” I told him finishing my dinner.
The sun was coming down. Sure most optics could see okay in the night, but it still would give me some advantage.
“Good luck.” Malcolm offered before moving back.
I finished my meal, and stepped out stretching. I was so dusty and dirty, but it was fine. I would take a nice long shower after this was all done.
I headed to the back of the Quadra and popped the trunk. As tempting as it was, I left the Uragan and grabbed my Copperhead. The silencer was already attached, and I double checked to make sure it was secure.
Good.
I was already in my dark armor, so I started grabbing magazines out of the ammo section of the trunk, putting them into the webbing on my armor.
A few grenades tucked in as well, and I was armed and ready.
I took a breath and let it out, letting the cold clarity of Cool and Cold Blood flow over me.
I had an objective, and a path to do it. That was all that mattered.
But first I had a long run in the desert to get close to the Wraith encampment. For some reason they never expected someone to just come out on foot.
*I’m off. I’ll be out of comms until I clear out the netrunner. Good luck.* I told the group and then headed out into the night. Everyone knew what they needed to do. I just needed to do it now.
The run through the desert was easy, I barely broke into a sweat as the desert was starting to cool, and my athletics stat was pretty high. I kept it to a light jog and then into a fast march, just to keep myself from getting too much adrenaline.
Slowly I arced over a hill and saw all the dotted lights of the camp. A quick scan told me not much had changed. The group was too large to really be worried about guards. Who would be stupid enough to attack a Wraith group this large?
I slid down the hill using a path I had picked out while scouting, and then I simply scurried from brush to brush, from ravine to gully. As I crept closer. Copperhead held tight so it wouldn’t jostle.
I reached the first tent and parked against the shadow it cast for a moment to let myself catch my breath. I needed to be ready for the next part.
I slowed my breathing until I was ready and then I moved. Sliding from tent to parked car, slipping through the shadows, my mind already knowing the path. Having scouted out all the security cameras that could see me along the route, I made sure I was always out of sight of their vigilante gaze.
I just needed…
I stopped nearly sliding under a car as a nomad walked just on the other side. The man smoking a cigarette and just sort of chilling. I started from the dirt as his boots wandered around, and rested against the car I was hiding under. He leaned against it as he smoked, and I wanted to growl, because I needed to move right past him to avoid the camera.
So I waited, hiding in the shadows, I did my best to keep from making a single noise against the dirt I was planted against.
Slowly the man finished his smoke. Chuckling a little at nothing as he did, probably reading a shard, or something.
Then finally he moved off, and I slowly rose up and then moved. Slipping past a few final tents and up to the old fence that surrounded the power plant. I was at the perfect spot that none of the cameras could notice as I leapt right up and over, landing without a sound and then running the last feet to hide among some trash along the wall.
I rested again. Watching the camp from my hidden location to make sure no one was watching, before I leapt again. Landing on the roof in two leaps and then crouching down to hide among the shadows there.
My entrance was easy to spot. A door for roof access, as the building kept some of the electrical connections up here. I hurried over and to my irritation the door was locked, but it wasn’t a modern lock.
Old lock and key of all things.
Luckily I did have the know-how. Not sure whether it came from Ninjutsu, or Tech, but I pulled out a few pieces of wire and within thirty seconds had the door opening. Even with the rusty hinges I kept it as silently as I could and slipped inside.
There were only two places a netrunner could be working from. Either the large heavy duty truck the wraiths had, inside the storage container, or from inside the substation connected into an old grid port.
I was assuming the netrunner was in here.
It’s where I would be no one wanted dust and sand in their gear. So I slipped inside, ancient concrete steps didn’t creak, but I could feel them shift at my weight.
Old. This place was really old.
The stairs thankfully didn’t lead to the main room, but were actually sealed off with a door. So I could get down and slowly turn the knob of the door open letting me peek in.
Dusty. Quiet.
There was no one here.
What was going on? Why pick this place, if there was nothing here? I slipped out, checking every corner thoroughly for cameras but not finding anything. There was an ancient camera in a corner, but it was hanging from a wire, and wasn’t powered.
I scanned around, trying to spot something out of the ordinary, but there was nothing. Just old concrete, a small office to the side, and old electric transformers.
The transformers weren’t even active. They had long been turned off, or shut down. I was just starting to wonder if someone was fucking with me, when I noticed it.
The front door had dirt trailing in, and the dust was disturbed. In the dark it was hard to see, but Kiroshi were top tier for a reason. I trailed the many boot prints in the dust to one little office…
Well now.
I followed them in, I hadn’t seen anything when I peaked in, but now that I was following the boot prints I followed them to the corner where the dust ended at a wall. But the footprints didn’t.
Huh. Hidden wall huh? I scanned the area, but didn’t get anything.
Whatever had made this, it wasn’t 1980’s tech.
I couldn’t find any sort of keypad, so I crouched down and looked at the bootprints.
Most of the dust had been disturbed in a direct path between the door and the wall, but there were a few dusty boot prints that led around the room.
Thanks to my Kiroshi I was able to pick them out and highlight them, leading me into following in their footsteps literally as I walked along with them.
It looked like they were searching for something. I followed along until finally the footprints led straight towards the wall.
Then I just reversed my steps until I found the last place the bootprints would have stopped at.
It was a set of cupboards connected to the office desk. The faux wood was covered in dust, but again a bit of scanning found fingerprints in the dust.
I opened the cupboards that had fingerprints until I came to the second one, and stilled.
There in the back of the cupboard was a fake backing. It had been left open, revealing a much more modern number pad.
“Well well.” I muttered as I looked it over. It wasn’t dusty. I couldn’t scan for fingerprints. How did a Wraith know about this?
I shook it off, it didn’t matter. He did, and he had opened it. So I would as well. I pulled my personal link out of my neck and squeezed it into the slot along the bottom of the keypad.
Instantly I winced as the defenses started reacting. ICE. Good stuff fought me off, but I instantly went as stealthy as I could. Throwing up some cloudy data to keep the ICE busy, before it realized someone had connected to it.
Then I tried to breach in. Using all the skills I had.
It fought me. Hard. The walls of ICE were not standard off the shelf shovelware. No, this was definitely a high level military ICE. There was only one reason it hadn’t been able to lock me out, or fry me in turn.
It was old. At least a decade. Possibly Unity War era.
I fought it tooth and nail and finally. Managed to slip inside, the barrier giving way as my rapid fire breach finally pushed through a hole. I shut down any alerts I could. Calmed the system and the keypad chirped as it accepted my fake credentials that I quickly uploaded.
The wall hissed, air escaping and popped out an inch and then slid sideways.
An elevator.
Well now.
I instantly shook my head at that. No way was I taking an elevator down to wherever it led. Too loud. Too obvious.
Instead I walked over and found the maintenance hatch at the top. A few moments of work and I opened it up, and climbed right out of the elevator into the shaft.
Dark.
Even my Kiroshi was struggling with how dark it was. Only a few red hazard lights gave me even the smallest of light to work on.
And here, me without a flashlight.
Walking slowly on top of the elevator, I managed to find the maintenance ladder and slowly climbed my way into the depths.
Deep. At least three or four floors? What the hell? How had whoever built this even done this? The electrical station certainly didn’t look like it had been modified in the last century.
I hit the bottom and with a bit of work managed to find the actual elevator doors.
Thankfully with my chrome fingersI was able to wedge in, and slowly open them up and it didn’t make much noise. Slowly the doors spread and I saw what was beyond.
A room, covered in tech. Computers, and servers and things…
The massive NUSA symbol on the wall right next to the Militech logo confirmed at least some of my suspicions. Was this a NUSA outpost? The many computers that I could spot even from the elevator well were all showing information about Night City. A watch post? To keep an eye on Night City?
I didn’t see anyone through the small gap I had made and so slowly hefted the elevator doors open a bit more. The noise was pretty slight thankfully, as the doors bowed to my will and then I was in. Crouching on the other side, Copperhead raised and ready.
I took a step, and stilled. HMG turrets. I instantly went to breach them to try and shut them down, but stilled.
They were quiet. I didn’t exhale, no instead I nodded. Obviously the Wraith wouldn’t want the defenses to be on. They weren’t Militech either.
I continued. Second step, and then into the room.
There. In the center. Were four people. Three men, and a woman.
One was a netrunner. Plugged into a chair and in the system. The other three were just Wraiths.
Except one of them was Isaac Webb himself. Well that made this easier.
I raised my rifle and took aim.
None of them suspected conflict here. None of them were prepared, even if all of them were armed.
I aimed at my first target, took a breath, and then moved even as I started firing.
Four rounds ripped into the chest and head of the netrunner. The sound startled the rest, but none reacted fast enough as in the air I shifted my aim, went full auto and simply started spraying the group.
Cries of pain echoed out as bullets slammed into the three. I landed and my rifle ran dry, I dropped the mag as I rolled behind the cover of an old metal desk, grabbed a new magazine and rammed it home, pulled the charging handle and then leapt up, far above the desk I was using, giving me vision of where everyone that was still alive had run to hide.
I started firing, and only two shots rang out loudly in the room in return, before I landed atop an old desk and waited. Checking the four with a full scan each just to make sure.
All dead.
*1000 XP Gained.*
*750 XP Gained.*
*750 XP Gained.*
*500 XP Gained.*
I blinked at the numbers. I guess… This would have been the bosses of the Wraiths? Huh. Nice.
“Heh! Heh… Hehehehehe!” I broke into giggles at the fact I had just ripped the leadership of a Wraith warband into puddles. I settled back to calm down as I took in what I had just done.
What even was this place? I quickly rose up and started looking around, and it didn’t take me long after poking at one of the computers to confirm my suspicion
Yep. Night City Listening post for Militech and the NUSA.
With a bit of exploration I even got some dates. This place was put together a year before the unification war, and had been keeping an eye on activity in Night City. Likely in preparation for the war.
And I now knew how they had found the Arasaka AV. This thing was tracking Arasaka. Like a lot.
They had hacked in, and just watched, no need to mess with the system. Just keep quiet, and feed on the free information.
Instantly I realized how bad this was. For one, Arasaka would flip the fuck out if they knew about this. Militech would flatline anyone to keep it quiet too.
Fuck.
Should I tell Arasaka? Should I tell Militech?
Should I shut my fucking mouth and pretend this never happened?
Kinda leaning towards that option. I don’t know anyone at Militech besides that first Militech corpo you meet trying to track their stolen shipment, and while she was certainly a surprise in her more personal meeting later in the game. I didn’t really like her.
Besides, I was way too young for that.
Did I know anyone else? I thought back to the game and came up empty. I knew the Phantom Liberty DLC was supposed to be about Militech or something… Right?
Fuck, no idea. I shrugged. Then I guess I could talk to Hiromi? Oh. I bet her dad will like the information. Might even be able to make use of it…
If I wanted to support Arasaka… Which I don’t.
Well at the least I know Yorinobu was going to try and destroy the company soon. Including killing his father. I could just ignore that whole thing and it would happen…
No, I didn’t need to rush this. I should talk to my chooms and get a plan together when I wasn’t rushing around pre and post battle.
I pulled away from the computer, and moved towards the netrunner.
He would be the central hive for all the security of the Wraiths above. Sure maybe not all of them would connect into the network they had set up, but most of them would.
I pulled out my link and plugged in, wincing again at the nasty ICE that the guy was plugged into. Luckily with him flatlined I had plenty of time to slowly pick it apart, and breach into the network.
Once that was complete, a single ping filled my vision with dozens of lines connecting me to all the Wraiths above.
I grinned as I took them all in. They wouldn’t just track my targets for me, but make excellent shooting lines to hit my targets regardless of being able to see them.
—---
Standing on top of the electrical substation, I looked over the camp. No one had noticed the fight below. No one had any idea their system had been infiltrated. No one had any idea what was coming.
*Alright guys. I’m about to kick things off. Get ready for any runners.* I spoke quietly into the group chat, making sure my chooms had heard me and responded as I raised my Copperhead along the first golden line.
As I aimed I pushed Reboot Optics into the system. My vision filled with dozens of red icons showing it uploading into the Wraiths optics. A little ticking box of death over all of their heads.
I felt my grin go feral as I watched the first person to lose his sight and jerk at the sudden loss. The one I was tracing along the golden light.
I fired.
The light winked out.
Then I moved on. Even as the cries of surprise, the horror, the rage echoed up around me. I fired silenced rounds reaching out into the darkness and cutting out winking golden lights one by one.
It didn’t work on everyone. Some could still see, either because they had no optics and just ganic eyes, or for some other trick. Cars started taking off. Just a few, on the outer edges, most racing towards the road, Hiromi, and the chooms would take care of that.
Others did drive out into the desert.
I shrugged. A shame, but nothing I could do. I kept firing. Rapid fire. The whistling of my rounds in an even tempo, as I just used the lights to guide my shots, ignoring tents, or cover in the way. Sure I didn’t get them all. Some were inside their cars, but once Reboot was fully installed into the camp, I activated Short Circuit, and almost giggled at the squeals as people were suddenly tazed over and over.
The Wraiths knew they were under attack now.
They were trying to respond to mount a defense or an offense.
They were failing.
One got in a vehicle that had weapons, but couldn’t find me, and was just firing randomly as he spun his Shion around. Some were gathering up driving their cars together for defense.
I just kept killing anyone that I could. Fire fire fire fire. Reload. Fire fire.
Suddenly I heard it, the massive noise of HMG’s opening up.
Ichi had stolen the second HMG turret from yesterday's camp. I had reprogrammed it for him during the night, and so now his Van’s rear doors opened up with two HMG turrets.
The sound definitely pushed the Wraiths into action, but a moment later a noise echoed out over the dunes.
A rocket launcher.
God dammit Malcolm! I know that’s you! The distant fire over the ridge was grabbing everyone's attention, and that was finally enough.
The camp stampeded. The few people in vehicles picking a direction not towards the rocket launcher and booked it.
It was less and less as time went on. Short Circuit sending a few drivers spinning in circles to crash into whatever was around.
The numbers diminished for them, but the numbers only went up for me!
A crashing noise pulled me away from sending a barrage of rounds into the windshield of a Quadra that was crashed trying to finish the gonk inside. I turned and instantly dropped down.
“COME ON THEN! I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!” The voice roared out of the speaker of the Arasaka branded Minotaur that just stomped out of the massive truck in the middle of camp.
Vetrom
war
Lila 1 reports the Wraith camp has been scouted but there are stragglers.
xachariahxx
Well-known member
Huh, funny enough one of the few times it wasn't corpo games.
Militech wouldn't just hand over a listening post to Wraiths, especially one they seem to still have operational. Because Wraiths are using it to pick targets of opportunity, but eventually Arasaka would put things together and either take out the outpost or blind whatever eyes and ears are feeding it data, ruining the substantial investment.
It looks like Wraiths just pulled another Edgerunners. Somebody stumbled on a golden ticket. They spent 8 months getting fat off of it, but they don't know how to stop. Eventually their reach grew large enough that retribution came down. It's a cyberpunk story through and through.
Militech wouldn't just hand over a listening post to Wraiths, especially one they seem to still have operational. Because Wraiths are using it to pick targets of opportunity, but eventually Arasaka would put things together and either take out the outpost or blind whatever eyes and ears are feeding it data, ruining the substantial investment.
It looks like Wraiths just pulled another Edgerunners. Somebody stumbled on a golden ticket. They spent 8 months getting fat off of it, but they don't know how to stop. Eventually their reach grew large enough that retribution came down. It's a cyberpunk story through and through.
Seras
Well-known member
Exactly. Militech would never hand over something like this to the Wraiths. If they wanted to use them, they would have just given them the data they needed not handed over the entire listening post. This was the Wraiths finding something juicy and deciding to use it.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
How long has Motoko been in the Cyberpunk world now? I was wondering if we are starting to near some cannon events yet, Sasha is still alive so I guess its 2075ish?
Seras
Well-known member
We are about 8-9 months. Sasha's Biotechnica job is coming up pretty soon.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
Puppy!
Let's adopt it!
Snatching Nibbles away has to be at the top of the list. I would say the same for Mr. Brightman but that cat seems to be Misty's pet.
Chapter 140
Seras
Well-known member
The bipedal remote controlled robot smashed into the dirt as it stepped off the large container truck and started spooling it’s HMG’s up looking for whoever was attacking.
Yeah no.
Fuck that.
I instinctively tried to slip a weapon glitch in, but the Minotaur had amazingly good ICE that fought me off.
Worse it alerted the driver to my location. He turned towards me, and I ran. Leaping off the other edge of the building as dual HMG’s roared into the night, absolutely shattering the old concrete as it sprayed the roof.
“YOU CAN’T HIDE! THIS IS TOP OF THE LINE!” The man who was driving the damn thing roared out and I just scoffed.
I couldn’t attack the Minotaur, but the pilot was literally right there.
I considered drawing my Burya and just punching a few rounds into the container where his light was pointing, but…
I kinda wanted it.
The Minotaur. I wanted it. Stompy bot! I must have it!
I slipped into the building and slid through the shadows reaching the other side and peaking through an old window to see what was going on.
Ah. The Driver wasn’t a total gonk. He was wandering around in front of the container. Probably not caring if he gave away his own location as getting past a Minotaur wasn’t going to be easy.
I checked my webbing but I only had frag grenades. An EMP grenade would be a nice addition for the future.
I moved my hand away from the explodey bits though. I didn’t want to destroy the thing. It wasn’t on the short list of what needed to be returned to Arasaka after all.
I jerked as it started firing. But to my amusement, he was shooting at one of the Wraiths trying to drive away. The Smart HMG round pelted the fleeing vehicle until it gave in and just rolled off into the brush.
Kill steal!
I looked towards the light leading to the pilot and shrugged. His Minotaur might be protected, but was he? So I assaulted him again with a Short Circuit, wondering if it would work. Then I started running.
Instantly the building was filled with buzzing bee-like rockets that went wild as they entered the building without a direct lock, and I slipped back out the other side again. Putting a whole building between us.
I glared as I watched my upload be blocked.
Yeah the driving system of the Minotaur must have some good Arasaka ICE as well.
I ignored the continued yells from the pilot as I looked around for something.
Then I spotted it.
Isaac’s Mizutani Shion was parked right there. The one with the Rocket Launcher on top.
I definitely heard the pounding of my heart in my ears, and felt some drool slipping down, but shook it off. No! I wanted my stompy bot!
But… It could be a good distraction.
I had klepped the guys' shards downstairs. I searched my pockets until I found his key and slotted it. Annoyed that my Neural Link was getting a bit full. Gonna need an upgrade soon.
Then I ran over to the car and slipped into the driver's seat.
I still didn’t want to blow shit up… But a distraction… Could I do that? I considered it, and then shrugged. It should be possible. I slipped into the car's navigation computer, and quickly set out a few GPS coordinates that it should drive to going max speed, removing the limiter that kept the autopilot from refusing to go too fast. Then I jumped out, and booked it.
The Shion’s wheels ripped up dirt as it took off into the night. I raced to the building, jumping from ground to trash pile to the roof and then raced across. I was trying to outrun a car, and I made it just in time. The Shion raced pretty close to the Minotaur, causing the bot to jerk over and spool up its weapons before it simply didn’t fire.
Yeah shooting at your boss? Quick way to get flatlined. I leapt. Arcing into the night while the bot was distracted and landing on top of it, then leaping again. Sending me careening right into the storage unit on the truck. I grunted as I hit crates of junk, but I didn’t let the pain slow me.
I could hear the roar of the bot as the driver realized what had happened, and I jumped again, sending me over the crates, and into a small cubby section that a gangly fuck was fully distracted by the headset he was wearing.
I didn’t shoot, instead reaching out and ripping the headset off, causing him to scream and as he lost his control.
The knife sunk deep into his neck as he desperately tried to fend me off.
“Nice try choom. You gave me the most trouble out of all your people.” I offered him. A weak platitude as he slumped bleeding out from his torn apart neck.
“Robo getto!” I proclaimed grabbing the headset and then sighing as I put it back down.
I didn’t have time to figure this out. I walked back out. To hunt down the last few gonks that were still alive in the camp.
—--
I was sitting up on top of the building waiting for my chooms to arrive as I looked over my system alerts.
So many alerts!
I felt my smile spread across my face, stretching from ear to ear.
I hadn’t just gained one level.
I had actually gained two.
*Level up achieved!*
*One Stat Point Gained.*
*One Skill Point Gained.*
*Level up achieved!*
*One Stat Point Gained.*
*One Skill Point Gained.*
That gave me three stat points to play around with, and seven skill points.
Although a large part of me wanted to keep them either for future chrome, or to put them into Adaptation now. I think…
I think it was time to go beyond.
Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.
That was what my stats currently looked like with Intelligence.
Three stat points…
I shook it off, seeing the van and my Quadra driving down the road. I would do it. Soon, but not right now. Who knows what going beyond 10 would do to me.
I stood up and waved at my chooms as they turned and drove through the destroyed camp to park not far from the building.
I leapt as soon as they were parked, landing with a quiet puff of dirt as I rushed forward grabbing Ichi in a big hug.
“We did it!” I cried out delighted, spinning him around like he was a doll, before attacking Hiromi who was next closest.
Her eep of surprise was very cute as I twirled her around a whole bunch before setting her back on her unsteady feet and then leapt over the van to assault Malcolm, who tried to fend me off, but his reflex was far too low to stop me!
I laughed in delight as he groaned at my affection.
“Motoko! Look at this!” Ichi finally responded, looking around the camp at the massacre.
“Yeah it’s great! We got almost all of them! Fuck Wraiths!” I called out happily, arms shooting up in the air, and Hiromi as always was right there with me, thrusting her arm into the sky as well.
Of course that is when I turned and grabbed Malcolm in a bear hug.
“What’s with you shooting my Uragan huh!?” I demanded squeezing tightly far tighter than he could have expected, as his breath left him in a rush.
“Oh… That was me.” Hiromi called in from behind me and I eased up on Malcolm to look at Hiromi who was looking a little bashful. “I just thought it would be a good addition. It certainly stopped them from wanting to eeeee!” She squealed as I scooped her up and squeezed, pushing the air right out of her with my bear hug.
“Punishment hug!” I proclaimed as Hiromi’s legs kicked and her face went red from lack of air.
“Alright Motoko, leave Hiromi alone. She’ll die if you keep that up.” Ichi called out as he was looking over a dead Wraith kicking the corpse a little to make sure it was dead.
I let go of Hiromi listening to her whoop for more air as I walked over.
“Don’t worry. I double checked, everyone that didn’t run is dead.”
“Preem.” He said a little blankly, so I nudged his shoulder.
“These are bad guys, and think of all the eddies. We need to start gathering everything. Car shards. Eddies. Weapons. We can bring it all back to Night City and sell it off.
“That's… A good… Idea!” Hiromi called out still gasping for breath.
“Oh! And we got the big truck we can use!” I called out pointing at the massive semi that was pulling the cargo container.
“Oh nova. A Militech Behemoth.” Ichi said, looking at it for a minute. “Only one problem. I don’t know how to drive that thing.”
I blinked looking at my chooms. Hiromi and Malcolm both gave me negative looks at my questioning glance.
“I… Might be able to?” I whispered, thinking about it. I was pretty sure I knew how. My Driving skill was pretty comprehensive after all.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, confidence growing. “I can do it. Well we should start looting. Everyone take a section!” I called out as I walked towards the first corpse. A few moments of rummaging I found the Unity the guy had, as well as his car's key shard. Then I moved onto the next body, and the next. When my arms were full of loot I ran over to the storage container and dumped the guns into a pile.
Of course then I noticed the Minotaur that had slumped over, standing still… I was gonna have to get that thing back in the container too…
I sighed. I would mess with it later, just like I was still ignoring the listening post below us. So much work to do.
—--
The dust cloud of approaching vehicles had caused all of us to prepare for the worst, but thankfully as the vehicles topped the little rise and then came down into the area we all relaxed.
Nomad Markings, not Wraith.
Well I only half relaxed. Wearing nomad colors as a Wraith would be perfect camouflage to get close.
But at the first big truck pulled to a stop, Dakota stepped out and I did finally relax.
The older woman was looking around the camp with a sharp eye taking in the sights of slaughtered Raffen.
The guards she had with her, were looking a bit nervous, each of them holding rifles ready to shoot.
I ignored that though. My amazingness did make some people nervous after all!
I giggled to myself at the joke as I approached Hiromi joining me, as Malcolm and Ichi both got back to work looting.
“Dakota, we weren’t expecting you.” I called out, and the woman took a moment to grab her oxygen mask, taking a deep breath of it, before speaking.
“I wouldn’t have come. Not my usual, but I had an usual guest show up at my door, begging for help. An old friend who fell into working with the Wraiths. Told me the camp he was at was attacked by an army if you can believe it.” He said, looking around at the devastation.
I just laughed at the idea. “Well I’ve never been called an army before!”
“Hmm.” The woman replied without saying anything further. “Tell me. Did you kill Isaac?”
“Yep. He got a bit explody with a Rocket though. Saw him die myself.” I said lying outright. While he was dead, it hadn’t been a rocket, but I wasn’t telling Dakota about the listening post.
She nodded at accepting that. “Well girl, you did more than I expected. Maybe too much. The Wraith will be stirred up after this.”
“Maybe, unless you let the truth leak out. That after Isaac hit an Arasaka AV, Arasaka decided to take him out to retrieve some of their stuff.” I offered and the woman looked at me for a while before nodding.
“Might work. I’ll leak the information.”
“Preem. We are still looting the place, but since you are here. Interested in some new vehicles? Most of them don’t even have bullet holes in them… At least they don’t have fresh bullet holes.”
“Now that is something we can discuss.” She nodded her head at her men, and they broke off to look at the cars. Of course I quickly fled the ensuing haggling between Hiromi and Dakota.
—--
We were all exhausted by the time we got everything loaded up. I discovered piloting the Minotaur wasn’t as easy as I expected, but with some effort I got it on board the truck.
Then we piled into separate vehicles, me driving the big truck and Malcolm proving his car obsession was getting out of hand, as he had found a Mizutani Shion that he decided to drive back.
It was slow going at first. Even with my Driving skill, the truck was a bit of a lumbering thing, especially with how loaded down it was, with an entire Arasaka AV full of stuff and everything we could stuff inside.
But as rough as the roads were, the roads were still roads, and the Behemoth was practically made for this sort of thing. I eventually got to a good pace and just cruised through the desert, my chooms all driving around me.
Like a badlands convoy.
I was actually surprised that we made it all the way to Dakota’s garage without any issue. I had totally expected a Wraith attack on the way or something.
Regardless once the Behemoth was parked up. Hiromi had the package we needed to deliver to her dad, an Arasaka computer that had important files I guess?
I didn’t know, nor was I going to poke my nose into it.
But first we had something even more important to do.
There was a reason I hadn’t made a certain very important call while we were by the electrical substation.
The listening post wasn’t just monitoring traffic, but some communication logs as well. NUSA listening to phone calls? That doesn’t sound like any American government I ever heard of…
Anyway I couldn’t make a call near it, as I simply wasn’t sure if the data was being sent somewhere, and if Militech might roll in while we were loading up.
Now that we had some distance, I sent a text to V.
*Motoko: Hey V, I need you to meet up with me. Super important, not a personal matter. something Big A is going to want to know about. Can’t discuss it over a line. Just answer y/n if you can meet. Cords attached, come in casual wear. Please. Trust me.*
I sent the text off as we were settling in, and didn’t get a prompt response. I just shook it off. I would show V now, or later, even if I had to drag her out here.
Regardless, while we had done some prep for this gig ahead of time, we were certainly loaded up with more equipment than we ever could have expected. Which is why Hiromi was on the phone calling storage places, and potential buyers for some of the loot. While Ichi and Malcolm fucked around with all the stuff that had been left behind after the first raid.
Ichi’s van had been emptied out to fit the HMG’s after all. And so now we had an extra load of junk we needed to pack up again.
Since I wasn’t getting a response from V, I mostly just hung out with Ichi and Malcolm helping them move and arrange stuff.
“Did you see the armor we picked up?” Malcolm asked as he hefted a box full of something back into the van adjusting it to Ichi’s whims.
“Not yet! I was too focused on the Minotaur pilot the first time I went into the container, and I’ve mostly just been dropping stuff off in there. Are they cool?
“Well it’s the good stuff! Full sets. I think they were used though. That AV that got taken down… You think it was like a black op group? Coming back from some secret mission.”
“Well it’s Arasaka so I think all of their missions tend to be secret, but probably something like that.” I answered as I hefted a stack of guns in my arms as I waited for Ichi who was glaring at his van as he tried to figure out the best way to order things.
Ichi was very particular about his van.
“Yeah but like… Arasaka black ops! We could be using their equipment! How huge is that!?”
Considering what I knew about Arasaka Black Ops. They didn’t tend to wear armor. More suits and massive amounts of cyberware. But I wasn’t going to mess with Malcolm by saying that.
Besides, I was excited for the new equipment as well!
Ten minutes later, I finally got a late response.
*V: y*
I smiled.
—--
Considering I was waiting for V to show up, and that could take hours as we were pretty far out of the city. We had a lot of time on our hands, and of course after we sorted everything into the van and then ended up idling…
Well it was sorta inevitable wasn’t it?
“WOOoo!” The voice came out of the Minotaur as it stumbled around drunkenly. Hiromi, Ichi, and I were watching as Malcolm took his turn trying to drive the Minotaur and it was going as well as Hiromi’s had.
Badly!
“That still looks super fun.” Ichi offered and I nodded. Even if I hadn’t gotten a chance to play with it, I had still gotten to try it.
“I’m so happy I killed the operator and not the Minotaur. I’ve always wanted a kill bot.” I told him, and he scoffed out a laugh.
“You would say that!”
“I’m going to be the only Arasaka Academy Student with a Minotaur.” Hiromi sighed, not paying attention to the two of us, fully in her dreamworld, she had fallen into after her turn.
Apparently it would look good on her resume.
Haha, that’s silly though Hiromi, because that baby is MINE.
“So, Motoko… You want to explain what’s going on? I mean, you refuse to let us head back to the city despite the fact we are all packed up.” Ichi asked suddenly and I stilled before nodding my head.
“Yeah… Yeah I guess we are good now. Malcolm! Pull out choom, we need to chat.” I called over.
“Awww, C’mon Hiromi had like so much longer with it!”
“It’s not going anywhere, and you need to be part of this conversation too.” I responded rolling my eyes.
I mean, I get it. I too dreamed of being a one ton kill bot of steel and chrome. I mean, who didn’t?
Man the only issue with the Minotaur was no hands. Who designed a kill bot without grippy hands?
How were you supposed to pet kitties? Pick up your chooms and carry them around? Rip a full borgs head off his over reinforced frame and use his biopod as a cudgel?
The important stuff!
Maybe I would do an upgrade on the minotaur? I mean. I now had a lot of equipment I could tinker with. Truckloads of it.
Yeah! It was time to grind some tech once we got home! I settled back as Malcolm disengaged from the Minotaur. A dangerous conversation was going to happen, but honestly? Today… Today had been a good day.
Yeah no.
Fuck that.
I instinctively tried to slip a weapon glitch in, but the Minotaur had amazingly good ICE that fought me off.
Worse it alerted the driver to my location. He turned towards me, and I ran. Leaping off the other edge of the building as dual HMG’s roared into the night, absolutely shattering the old concrete as it sprayed the roof.
“YOU CAN’T HIDE! THIS IS TOP OF THE LINE!” The man who was driving the damn thing roared out and I just scoffed.
I couldn’t attack the Minotaur, but the pilot was literally right there.
I considered drawing my Burya and just punching a few rounds into the container where his light was pointing, but…
I kinda wanted it.
The Minotaur. I wanted it. Stompy bot! I must have it!
I slipped into the building and slid through the shadows reaching the other side and peaking through an old window to see what was going on.
Ah. The Driver wasn’t a total gonk. He was wandering around in front of the container. Probably not caring if he gave away his own location as getting past a Minotaur wasn’t going to be easy.
I checked my webbing but I only had frag grenades. An EMP grenade would be a nice addition for the future.
I moved my hand away from the explodey bits though. I didn’t want to destroy the thing. It wasn’t on the short list of what needed to be returned to Arasaka after all.
I jerked as it started firing. But to my amusement, he was shooting at one of the Wraiths trying to drive away. The Smart HMG round pelted the fleeing vehicle until it gave in and just rolled off into the brush.
Kill steal!
I looked towards the light leading to the pilot and shrugged. His Minotaur might be protected, but was he? So I assaulted him again with a Short Circuit, wondering if it would work. Then I started running.
Instantly the building was filled with buzzing bee-like rockets that went wild as they entered the building without a direct lock, and I slipped back out the other side again. Putting a whole building between us.
I glared as I watched my upload be blocked.
Yeah the driving system of the Minotaur must have some good Arasaka ICE as well.
I ignored the continued yells from the pilot as I looked around for something.
Then I spotted it.
Isaac’s Mizutani Shion was parked right there. The one with the Rocket Launcher on top.
I definitely heard the pounding of my heart in my ears, and felt some drool slipping down, but shook it off. No! I wanted my stompy bot!
But… It could be a good distraction.
I had klepped the guys' shards downstairs. I searched my pockets until I found his key and slotted it. Annoyed that my Neural Link was getting a bit full. Gonna need an upgrade soon.
Then I ran over to the car and slipped into the driver's seat.
I still didn’t want to blow shit up… But a distraction… Could I do that? I considered it, and then shrugged. It should be possible. I slipped into the car's navigation computer, and quickly set out a few GPS coordinates that it should drive to going max speed, removing the limiter that kept the autopilot from refusing to go too fast. Then I jumped out, and booked it.
The Shion’s wheels ripped up dirt as it took off into the night. I raced to the building, jumping from ground to trash pile to the roof and then raced across. I was trying to outrun a car, and I made it just in time. The Shion raced pretty close to the Minotaur, causing the bot to jerk over and spool up its weapons before it simply didn’t fire.
Yeah shooting at your boss? Quick way to get flatlined. I leapt. Arcing into the night while the bot was distracted and landing on top of it, then leaping again. Sending me careening right into the storage unit on the truck. I grunted as I hit crates of junk, but I didn’t let the pain slow me.
I could hear the roar of the bot as the driver realized what had happened, and I jumped again, sending me over the crates, and into a small cubby section that a gangly fuck was fully distracted by the headset he was wearing.
I didn’t shoot, instead reaching out and ripping the headset off, causing him to scream and as he lost his control.
The knife sunk deep into his neck as he desperately tried to fend me off.
“Nice try choom. You gave me the most trouble out of all your people.” I offered him. A weak platitude as he slumped bleeding out from his torn apart neck.
“Robo getto!” I proclaimed grabbing the headset and then sighing as I put it back down.
I didn’t have time to figure this out. I walked back out. To hunt down the last few gonks that were still alive in the camp.
—--
I was sitting up on top of the building waiting for my chooms to arrive as I looked over my system alerts.
So many alerts!
I felt my smile spread across my face, stretching from ear to ear.
I hadn’t just gained one level.
I had actually gained two.
*Level up achieved!*
*One Stat Point Gained.*
*One Skill Point Gained.*
*Level up achieved!*
*One Stat Point Gained.*
*One Skill Point Gained.*
That gave me three stat points to play around with, and seven skill points.
Although a large part of me wanted to keep them either for future chrome, or to put them into Adaptation now. I think…
I think it was time to go beyond.
Intelligence 10 (14) Due to Cyberization, Maximum value has increased by 4.
That was what my stats currently looked like with Intelligence.
Three stat points…
I shook it off, seeing the van and my Quadra driving down the road. I would do it. Soon, but not right now. Who knows what going beyond 10 would do to me.
I stood up and waved at my chooms as they turned and drove through the destroyed camp to park not far from the building.
I leapt as soon as they were parked, landing with a quiet puff of dirt as I rushed forward grabbing Ichi in a big hug.
“We did it!” I cried out delighted, spinning him around like he was a doll, before attacking Hiromi who was next closest.
Her eep of surprise was very cute as I twirled her around a whole bunch before setting her back on her unsteady feet and then leapt over the van to assault Malcolm, who tried to fend me off, but his reflex was far too low to stop me!
I laughed in delight as he groaned at my affection.
“Motoko! Look at this!” Ichi finally responded, looking around the camp at the massacre.
“Yeah it’s great! We got almost all of them! Fuck Wraiths!” I called out happily, arms shooting up in the air, and Hiromi as always was right there with me, thrusting her arm into the sky as well.
Of course that is when I turned and grabbed Malcolm in a bear hug.
“What’s with you shooting my Uragan huh!?” I demanded squeezing tightly far tighter than he could have expected, as his breath left him in a rush.
“Oh… That was me.” Hiromi called in from behind me and I eased up on Malcolm to look at Hiromi who was looking a little bashful. “I just thought it would be a good addition. It certainly stopped them from wanting to eeeee!” She squealed as I scooped her up and squeezed, pushing the air right out of her with my bear hug.
“Punishment hug!” I proclaimed as Hiromi’s legs kicked and her face went red from lack of air.
“Alright Motoko, leave Hiromi alone. She’ll die if you keep that up.” Ichi called out as he was looking over a dead Wraith kicking the corpse a little to make sure it was dead.
I let go of Hiromi listening to her whoop for more air as I walked over.
“Don’t worry. I double checked, everyone that didn’t run is dead.”
“Preem.” He said a little blankly, so I nudged his shoulder.
“These are bad guys, and think of all the eddies. We need to start gathering everything. Car shards. Eddies. Weapons. We can bring it all back to Night City and sell it off.
“That's… A good… Idea!” Hiromi called out still gasping for breath.
“Oh! And we got the big truck we can use!” I called out pointing at the massive semi that was pulling the cargo container.
“Oh nova. A Militech Behemoth.” Ichi said, looking at it for a minute. “Only one problem. I don’t know how to drive that thing.”
I blinked looking at my chooms. Hiromi and Malcolm both gave me negative looks at my questioning glance.
“I… Might be able to?” I whispered, thinking about it. I was pretty sure I knew how. My Driving skill was pretty comprehensive after all.
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, confidence growing. “I can do it. Well we should start looting. Everyone take a section!” I called out as I walked towards the first corpse. A few moments of rummaging I found the Unity the guy had, as well as his car's key shard. Then I moved onto the next body, and the next. When my arms were full of loot I ran over to the storage container and dumped the guns into a pile.
Of course then I noticed the Minotaur that had slumped over, standing still… I was gonna have to get that thing back in the container too…
I sighed. I would mess with it later, just like I was still ignoring the listening post below us. So much work to do.
—--
The dust cloud of approaching vehicles had caused all of us to prepare for the worst, but thankfully as the vehicles topped the little rise and then came down into the area we all relaxed.
Nomad Markings, not Wraith.
Well I only half relaxed. Wearing nomad colors as a Wraith would be perfect camouflage to get close.
But at the first big truck pulled to a stop, Dakota stepped out and I did finally relax.
The older woman was looking around the camp with a sharp eye taking in the sights of slaughtered Raffen.
The guards she had with her, were looking a bit nervous, each of them holding rifles ready to shoot.
I ignored that though. My amazingness did make some people nervous after all!
I giggled to myself at the joke as I approached Hiromi joining me, as Malcolm and Ichi both got back to work looting.
“Dakota, we weren’t expecting you.” I called out, and the woman took a moment to grab her oxygen mask, taking a deep breath of it, before speaking.
“I wouldn’t have come. Not my usual, but I had an usual guest show up at my door, begging for help. An old friend who fell into working with the Wraiths. Told me the camp he was at was attacked by an army if you can believe it.” He said, looking around at the devastation.
I just laughed at the idea. “Well I’ve never been called an army before!”
“Hmm.” The woman replied without saying anything further. “Tell me. Did you kill Isaac?”
“Yep. He got a bit explody with a Rocket though. Saw him die myself.” I said lying outright. While he was dead, it hadn’t been a rocket, but I wasn’t telling Dakota about the listening post.
She nodded at accepting that. “Well girl, you did more than I expected. Maybe too much. The Wraith will be stirred up after this.”
“Maybe, unless you let the truth leak out. That after Isaac hit an Arasaka AV, Arasaka decided to take him out to retrieve some of their stuff.” I offered and the woman looked at me for a while before nodding.
“Might work. I’ll leak the information.”
“Preem. We are still looting the place, but since you are here. Interested in some new vehicles? Most of them don’t even have bullet holes in them… At least they don’t have fresh bullet holes.”
“Now that is something we can discuss.” She nodded her head at her men, and they broke off to look at the cars. Of course I quickly fled the ensuing haggling between Hiromi and Dakota.
—--
We were all exhausted by the time we got everything loaded up. I discovered piloting the Minotaur wasn’t as easy as I expected, but with some effort I got it on board the truck.
Then we piled into separate vehicles, me driving the big truck and Malcolm proving his car obsession was getting out of hand, as he had found a Mizutani Shion that he decided to drive back.
It was slow going at first. Even with my Driving skill, the truck was a bit of a lumbering thing, especially with how loaded down it was, with an entire Arasaka AV full of stuff and everything we could stuff inside.
But as rough as the roads were, the roads were still roads, and the Behemoth was practically made for this sort of thing. I eventually got to a good pace and just cruised through the desert, my chooms all driving around me.
Like a badlands convoy.
I was actually surprised that we made it all the way to Dakota’s garage without any issue. I had totally expected a Wraith attack on the way or something.
Regardless once the Behemoth was parked up. Hiromi had the package we needed to deliver to her dad, an Arasaka computer that had important files I guess?
I didn’t know, nor was I going to poke my nose into it.
But first we had something even more important to do.
There was a reason I hadn’t made a certain very important call while we were by the electrical substation.
The listening post wasn’t just monitoring traffic, but some communication logs as well. NUSA listening to phone calls? That doesn’t sound like any American government I ever heard of…
Anyway I couldn’t make a call near it, as I simply wasn’t sure if the data was being sent somewhere, and if Militech might roll in while we were loading up.
Now that we had some distance, I sent a text to V.
*Motoko: Hey V, I need you to meet up with me. Super important, not a personal matter. something Big A is going to want to know about. Can’t discuss it over a line. Just answer y/n if you can meet. Cords attached, come in casual wear. Please. Trust me.*
I sent the text off as we were settling in, and didn’t get a prompt response. I just shook it off. I would show V now, or later, even if I had to drag her out here.
Regardless, while we had done some prep for this gig ahead of time, we were certainly loaded up with more equipment than we ever could have expected. Which is why Hiromi was on the phone calling storage places, and potential buyers for some of the loot. While Ichi and Malcolm fucked around with all the stuff that had been left behind after the first raid.
Ichi’s van had been emptied out to fit the HMG’s after all. And so now we had an extra load of junk we needed to pack up again.
Since I wasn’t getting a response from V, I mostly just hung out with Ichi and Malcolm helping them move and arrange stuff.
“Did you see the armor we picked up?” Malcolm asked as he hefted a box full of something back into the van adjusting it to Ichi’s whims.
“Not yet! I was too focused on the Minotaur pilot the first time I went into the container, and I’ve mostly just been dropping stuff off in there. Are they cool?
“Well it’s the good stuff! Full sets. I think they were used though. That AV that got taken down… You think it was like a black op group? Coming back from some secret mission.”
“Well it’s Arasaka so I think all of their missions tend to be secret, but probably something like that.” I answered as I hefted a stack of guns in my arms as I waited for Ichi who was glaring at his van as he tried to figure out the best way to order things.
Ichi was very particular about his van.
“Yeah but like… Arasaka black ops! We could be using their equipment! How huge is that!?”
Considering what I knew about Arasaka Black Ops. They didn’t tend to wear armor. More suits and massive amounts of cyberware. But I wasn’t going to mess with Malcolm by saying that.
Besides, I was excited for the new equipment as well!
Ten minutes later, I finally got a late response.
*V: y*
I smiled.
—--
Considering I was waiting for V to show up, and that could take hours as we were pretty far out of the city. We had a lot of time on our hands, and of course after we sorted everything into the van and then ended up idling…
Well it was sorta inevitable wasn’t it?
“WOOoo!” The voice came out of the Minotaur as it stumbled around drunkenly. Hiromi, Ichi, and I were watching as Malcolm took his turn trying to drive the Minotaur and it was going as well as Hiromi’s had.
Badly!
“That still looks super fun.” Ichi offered and I nodded. Even if I hadn’t gotten a chance to play with it, I had still gotten to try it.
“I’m so happy I killed the operator and not the Minotaur. I’ve always wanted a kill bot.” I told him, and he scoffed out a laugh.
“You would say that!”
“I’m going to be the only Arasaka Academy Student with a Minotaur.” Hiromi sighed, not paying attention to the two of us, fully in her dreamworld, she had fallen into after her turn.
Apparently it would look good on her resume.
Haha, that’s silly though Hiromi, because that baby is MINE.
“So, Motoko… You want to explain what’s going on? I mean, you refuse to let us head back to the city despite the fact we are all packed up.” Ichi asked suddenly and I stilled before nodding my head.
“Yeah… Yeah I guess we are good now. Malcolm! Pull out choom, we need to chat.” I called over.
“Awww, C’mon Hiromi had like so much longer with it!”
“It’s not going anywhere, and you need to be part of this conversation too.” I responded rolling my eyes.
I mean, I get it. I too dreamed of being a one ton kill bot of steel and chrome. I mean, who didn’t?
Man the only issue with the Minotaur was no hands. Who designed a kill bot without grippy hands?
How were you supposed to pet kitties? Pick up your chooms and carry them around? Rip a full borgs head off his over reinforced frame and use his biopod as a cudgel?
The important stuff!
Maybe I would do an upgrade on the minotaur? I mean. I now had a lot of equipment I could tinker with. Truckloads of it.
Yeah! It was time to grind some tech once we got home! I settled back as Malcolm disengaged from the Minotaur. A dangerous conversation was going to happen, but honestly? Today… Today had been a good day.
"Mostly because I decided to go for the EX+ rank completion but still..."
Puppy acquired!
How come every time I want the story to go in a particularly cool direction you keep obliging me without me even needing to say anything most of the time
No, bad Motoko. Your best friend is using a rocket launcher, you do not get to criticize that vital and deeply personal character development moment.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
They totally do have armor!
Seras
Well-known member
Oh that looks so cool. Dang. I wish I knew that. I just gave Motoko normal Arasaka soldier armor. Oh well. That's a future find I guess.They totally do have armor!