In a desolate outpost town, abandoned and blending into the desert like it was part of the wasteland itself—
Blood and fire.
Sandstorms and smoke.
Gunfire, explosions, the roar of engines.
Concrete debris scattered in all directions, along with twisted vehicle armor, heavily modified wasteland transports—and shattered bodies…
Under the charge of five fearsome shadows, crimson alert scanning lines flashed before the gravity fields deployed from their five wheels.
In an instant—earth-shaking tremors. Deep, compressed craters formed ring after ring.
Walls exploded. More than a dozen enemy combatants hidden inside buildings were caught in the blast, vaporized in a haze of blood mist. Several wasteland-modified cars speeding across the field were thrown into the air, parts raining down in flames across a battlefield that spanned nearly a mile—completely torn apart.
...
Before anyone realized it, the ghostly howling wind of the wasteland filled the audio channels once again.
The furious roars of the five cybernetic behemoths gradually faded.
The black-clad, black-armored Arasaka heavy soldiers began taking over the battlefield.
"What a fine show."
Retracting her gaze, Vela picked up a bone china teacup filled with black tea, took a sip, and murmured softly. Then, stepping onto the black marble floor inlaid with an intricately engraved Arasaka clover logo, she rose to her feet in high heels.
"Tanaka. Smasher is quite satisfied with your 'Cyber Kong.' Well done."
She turned to Shinichi Tanaka, who stood respectfully by her side.
"It is my honor, Director—" The stern-faced, stocky Tanaka lit up at the words, bowing deeply at a ninety-degree angle in gratitude.
The 109th floor of Arasaka Tower—this was a height that someone of his mid-level research rank would likely never reach in a lifetime. Today, it was only due to Vela's summons that he had the chance to be here.
"But."
Vela's sudden change in tone left Tanaka momentarily stunned.
"You still haven't delivered on the original goal of the 'Kong' project. The threshold is too high. It's not scalable or viable for mass deployment. So, for now, it can only be custom gear for specialists like Adam Smasher."
"I deeply apologize!" Tanaka bowed again.
"Relax. This isn't a denunciation meeting."
Vela smiled warmly and slowly turned around. "The 'Tyrant' was the patch I added for your slip-up. At the very least, you finished the Cyber Kong. Adam Smasher accepted your design."
"You're in the clear, Tanaka."
"Thank you, thank you very much." Tanaka remained deeply bowed.
"The ongoing improvements and iterative upgrades for the 'Cyber Kong 2.0' project—you're still in charge. I'll have Jimmy assist you. Get the new proposal to me as soon as possible."
"Understood," Tanaka replied promptly, again and again.
Pointing to the holographic screen, Vela began pointing out the flaws and issues exposed during live combat tests of the current 'Cyber Kong 1.2 Modified' version.
For example, feedback from frontline operatives during coordinated missions indicated that the tactical chain visuals of the Cyber Kong's gravity field activation needed refinement…
In addition, Vela kept raising new requirements—such as modularizing the Cyber Kong with Picatinny rail integration: standardizing accessory mounting platforms for armor, drone vector engines, gravity field manipulators, magnetic generators, and heavy firepower modules.
And miniaturization.
Depending on the breakdown of technical specs, she proposed scaled-down versions with reduced performance, miniaturized versions without performance loss, versions with moderate performance trade-offs, and even high-load, high-performance, high-difficulty variants… In any case, the list of requirements was long and detailed.
Tanaka, as both the subordinate and the project lead, dutifully pulled out his PDA tablet and noted down the extensive list.
Finally, when Vela casually dropped the sugar-coated reward of "your performance rating this year will increase by at least one level"—along with a not-so-subtle hint at a promotion and pay raise—Tanaka's expression was a mix of excitement and resignation. He bit the bullet and accepted this urgent, high-pressure assignment, bowed, and took his leave.
Clunk.
The war room fell quiet once more.
Vela continued watching the show... no, the live footage from the field op.
There wasn't much left to see, really.
All that remained were sporadic gunshots, the thunderous, crushing footsteps of the behemoths as they trampled rubble, the clack clack of wind passing through boarded windows, the rustle of tumbleweeds rolling across dry sand, the crackle of fireworks consuming scrap materials, the booming collapse of buildings, and the low moans and whimpers of the wounded…
Boom!
Another thunderous explosion—flames rose, dust billowed.
Through the visual feed transmitted from the Cyber Tyrant, Vela could see flames and smoke rising miserably from the small outer town-turned-battlefield.
From beneath a shabby, three-story building—its exterior no different from any other wasteland ruin—she could see spiderweb-like cracks in extended stair structures and elevator shafts, as well as sparking cables that had dropped from half-shattered subterranean walls.
Judging by the flames spewing from built-in machine gun turrets and rocket pods unleashing waves of molten metal—
Underground.
And not just any basement—a rather large one, well-equipped.
Although the smugglers and scavengers living in this abandoned town were clad in mismatched outfits and had no unified gear or vehicles—a typical Badlands aesthetic—this level of standardized equipment, and even superior military-grade cyberware, was clearly beyond them.
As frontline operatives of the Arasaka Security Division exchanged fire with them, the sense of familiarity became undeniable. Damn—if they weren't Militech or NUSA CIA, then they had to be Lazarus Group. At worst, they had received training or contact with either one.
In Adam Smasher's words: "Miss me, baby?"
No doubt about it—he was very, very familiar with Militech and the Agency.
As for Lazarus Group—its HQ was in Washington. That alone told you enough about its affiliations.
Both sides knew each other too well. Like one glance at your posture and I know what you're about to do.
This didn't surprise Vela at all.
It would be strange if Militech and Washington weren't stirring up trouble.
Although this particular intelligence relay outpost, hidden in the Badlands' 'Death Zone', had been discovered by chance.
The Badlands were vast, lawless, and chaotic. Generally speaking, the farther from a city, the weaker a corporation's control.
City governments, the NCPD, and the major corps—their power tended to radiate outward along interstate highways, railways, and checkpoint zones. Some presence extended to military camps or garrisons deep in the Badlands.
Running missions in such a godforsaken, expansive wilderness made identification and screening extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.
It wasn't impossible—but the cost-to-reward ratio was terrible.
Just like how corporations usually ignored what the Nomads did in the Badlands—unless it was necessary or profitable.
Otherwise, if a corp launched a large-scale operation to go after Badlands factions, they'd likely spend more on the campaign than they'd make from it.
Vela knew Militech had forward bases in the Badlands, just as Washington knew Arasaka would inevitably establish hidden posts all along the West Coast—reviving and activating the leftover underground weapon labs and covert operatives' societies from the last Corporate War.
The covert skirmishes waged over these outposts and hidden sites were far too many to count.
As for this particular find—it actually stemmed from the 'crackdown and rectification' campaign in Vista del Rey, overseen by Vela.
After she leaked some CIA agent leads to Kurt Hansen and triggered a purge within Dogtown, quite a few NUSA agents—whose tracks hadn't been properly erased—were sniffed out and killed by Barghest.
Some escaped Dogtown.
One of them fled from the Pacifica continent to Santo Domingo. Whether due to a mission or poor judgment, he didn't head directly to the Badlands.
Instead, he went to Heywood—convinced that "the most dangerous place is the safest"—and deliberately ran into Vista del Rey, a district patrolled by Arasaka sheriffs.
Truth be told, he had already half-succeeded.
Unfortunately, the signal he sent out happened to be from aboard an aerial maglev train.
Because of her new position on the Executive Oversight Council, during the banquet at Konpeki Plaza, Vela had idly glanced through Arasaka's administrative briefings from every department in Night City.
One entry in particular caught her eye: reports of rampant pickpocketing on the Heywood–Santo Domingo train line. Many company employees had their comm chips and detachable chip units stolen—including a report involving an Arasaka Academy student. That made her pause.
Coincidentally, Vela had just decided to crack down on Vista del Rey and turn it into a "model zone." So, she casually passed along a directive.
A "Pickpocket Surge Report," tossed directly to the Night City Arasaka Security Division.
The security officers took the directive very seriously. They immediately pulled members of the Special Assault Unit's public safety squad—who were out patrolling and doing PR for Arasaka's "community presence"—and deployed them along the train line.
And then…
Well, you know how it goes.
The Militech agent boarded the train smoothly, evading Barghest's surveillance and passing through Arasaka Sheriff inspections at the station. Once he crossed the river into Heywood, he relaxed for a moment. That lapse in caution, aboard a moving train, was all it took—he transmitted an encrypted signal using a pre-set code.
Unfortunately, that exact moment of encrypted communication was intercepted by an Arasaka netrunner from the security team—positioned just a few cars away.
Too close.
No need for decryption. The train's video and comm traffic were easily identifiable. When a hyper-encrypted data packet suddenly appeared on a moving train, any security operative with half a brain and a mission to crack down would investigate.
Encryption of that level? Either a corporate type or someone filthy rich. Could it be a cyberpunk? A rogue netrunner? The officers weren't sure.
When Arasaka heavy soldiers suddenly burst in through the train's inter-carriage connector, the Militech agent misread their intentions. He assumed he'd been exposed. If he had stayed still, nothing might've happened. But when he moved, he was immediately locked down.
The seasoned Arasaka operatives smelled something off—immediately.
What followed was a chaotic series of attempts to detain and capture.
Once the Militech agent's adaptive nanomesh disguise cloak was torn and damaged, his cover as a covert operative was blown.
Beaten to a pulp and dragged away.
Vela didn't need to know what Arasaka's interrogation officers would do next. Whether they extracted his brain to make black braindance chips didn't matter—she got the intel she wanted.
Where he entered Night City from, his travel route, the intel relays he used…
He'd entered through the old industrial zone in northern Watson, transited to Dogtown, and passed through an abandoned badlands town located in the "Death Zone" of the northern badlands.
There were thousands of abandoned towns around the badlands near Night City. But one in the northern sector, precisely in the "Death Zone"? That narrowed it down considerably.
Just in time. Adam Smasher had just been equipped with the new Cyber Kong, and several of the Tyrant models were fully calibrated. With a "let's see what these babies can do" attitude, Vela issued the combat order.
Looking back—very effective.
BOOM—!
A particularly fierce explosion rocked the feed. A mini-incendiary rocket arced through the air, blowing open a gaping hole in the basement. A wrecked autocannon turret now dangled upside down in a grotesque position.
The underground space was a chaotic mess—flames filled the air, black smoke thick with scorched circuitry and sparking components.
"You're just meat I've fucked into mush."
Amidst Adam Smasher's manic laughter—vrrrrm—!
A final barrage of gunfire and detonations. Under the crushing pressure of the gravity fields, the last few resisting cyber-enhanced soldiers were ground into paste.
Blood bloomed. Muscle, skin, top-tier military-grade cyberware—everything from scalp to skull, from eyeballs to teeth—collapsed like a crumbling stack of blocks, pressed flat into the earth.
Vela calmly watched the gore splatter across the holographic display.
The battle was over.
"Smasher, pull back. Extermination mission complete."
A flicker of orange light danced in her eyes as she spoke.
"Heh, it's over already?" On the vid channel, Adam Smasher's corpse-pale face twisted into a feral grin. "Satisfying. That was real satisfying. Director Russell, if another sweet gig like this comes up, you'd better call me."
"There'll be chances."
Vela rubbed her chin, her smile growing more ambiguous.
"Withdraw the Tyrant unit back to Arasaka Waterfront. The faster the better. Make it look a little clumsy—show signs of instability. There are still plenty of issues with Cyber Kong 1.2 that need fixing."
"Oh? Misdirection, deception... got it, Director."
Bleep.
At that moment, the battle analyst monitoring the situation reported to Vela: "Director, we can now confirm—the abandoned town was one of the largest underground intel relay stations for Militech and the NUSA Intelligence Agency in the Night City region."
"Excellent. Compile the data. Send me the analysis report the moment it's ready."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Taking a sip of black tea, Vela picked up her PDA. Displayed on it: the progress report for the new Arasaka Research Center construction zone. She skimmed it briefly.
"Badlands mine-clearing, huh… Labor-intensive, dangerous grunt work—outsourcing it to the Nomads really is the most time- and cost-efficient option. The new border wall project will definitely need their help. But it'll require strict oversight."
Pondering that, she raised her head and looked at the holographic screen in front of her. Her gaze flashed red. The image of the abandoned badlands town slid aside, shrinking to one corner, replaced by overlapping windows of text and image data.
One read: Night City Arasaka Academy, Class of 2076 Graduates.
"Graduates… Tanaka's son. Oh, and that David guy. Interns. Let's start by assigning them as 'foremen.'"