When the Militech and Biotechnica soldiers looked up, all they saw were their own bullets raining back down on them like a torrential storm.
In an instant, micro-missiles overturned the APCs the soldiers were using as their last cover. Only three remaining Behemoths barely sheltered the last dozen or so soldiers.
The backdoor of one of the Behemoths swung open, and two burly men in Militech Centaur armor raised handheld heavy machine guns at Mercer, who was bearing down on them from the air. The caliber of these machine guns was astonishingly large, the kind typically mounted on infantry fighting vehicles.
But with the aid of the Militech Centaur armor, they stood their ground firmly, aimed at Mercer in the sky, and began to fire continuously.
Mercer didn't press forward eagerly, nor did he reactivate his gravitational field generator. Instead, he used high-speed maneuvers to dodge the bullets in mid-air.
He was waiting for an opportunity.
The soldiers on the ground finally had a chance to breathe. They shouted as they organized a counterattack. Among them, a senior agent equipped with a Sandevistan also raised his weapon and began firing at Mercer with precision.
Mercer was forced to activate his gravitational field generator again to slow the bullets, but the soldiers below started firing frantically, causing his power levels to plummet.
If he didn't have to worry about the equipment being transported in the vehicle, Mercer could have just dived straight down and ended the fight with a few brutal gravity cannon blasts from his hands.
Aside from enemies equipped with a Sandevistan, no one could dodge such a wide-area heavy blow.
[Mercer: If you don't make a move soon, I'm gonna get turned into Swiss cheese.]
[V: Hold on, hold on! I'm aiming... Here it comes!]
Suddenly, the explosive crack of a pistol shot echoed from the ground.
The senior agent with the Sandevistan only had time to turn his head before he saw a high-velocity bullet speeding toward his chest. He tried his best to dodge, but was still hit in the right side of his chest.
In the blink of an eye, a bowl-sized crater of blood was blasted open. V, laughing, raised her smoking pistol and charged in from Militech's completely unexpected rear.
At the same time, Maine, Dorio, and Rebecca also opened fire from their disguised private cars, unleashing a barrage of firepower that left the group of soldiers with nowhere to run.
V waited patiently for the gunfire to subside before suddenly rushing toward the Behemoths. The two soldiers in Centaur armor were now pinned down by the sudden pincer attack from the flank, unable to even stand up straight. The weakness of the Centaur was laid bare at this moment.
As a strength-assisting exoskeleton, even with the option of upper-body armor plating, the soldier's upper body was still fundamentally under-protected.
One of the soldiers tried to fight back through the hail of bullets. His thick Subdermal Armor, helmet, and ballistic vest withstood multiple heavy machine gun rounds. But withstanding the bullets didn't mean negating the impact force. He was knocked around so violently that he couldn't aim at all.
Then, a bullet tore through his armor, and like a falling domino, countless bloody holes appeared on his body in an instant, until the heavy machine gun fire shredded his upper torso to pieces.
As for Mercer, he seized the opportunity to dive.
Just as V was trying to get in close to take out a soldier in Centaur armor, he yelled, "Get out of the way!" V's reaction was incredibly fast. She weaved through the hail of bullets with ease, even able to see the projectiles in mid-air and use her Mantis Blades to slice apart any barrages she couldn't dodge.
Ordinary soldiers couldn't even dream of stopping her, let alone hitting her. And when Mercer descended like a meteorite from the sky, the brutal ambush officially came to an end.
Mercer spread his palm, and a blue light surged from its center. The gravitational field generator sent out a circular gravitational wave. The soldier equipped with the Centaur didn't even have time to scream before he was crushed by the gravity.
A circular, cracked crater appeared in the ground. The soldier's exterior looked relatively intact, but in reality, all his internal organs had been pulverized. Only his tough body armor and exoskeleton kept him from turning into a pile of mush.
Then, Mercer spread his arms, rose into the air, and landed on the front of a Behemoth. He aimed at the vehicle, which was now trying to ram him and escape, and activated the gravity again.
Under his precise control, the gravitational field only hit the cockpit, yet it was still enough to smash the Behemoth's entire front end into the ground, causing the whole vehicle to tilt.
Mercer quickly stopped. "V, it's all yours!"
Precision instruments could easily malfunction with the slightest bump, and he couldn't get original parts to fix them.
V immediately began to check the Behemoths one by one, clearing out the soldiers who were hiding inside, too afraid to come out.
Meanwhile, Mercer leisurely cleaned up the battlefield, giving a quick end to anyone he found still breathing.
This ambush was over even faster than their fight against the other merc crew. It had to be said, with the element of surprise, such a scene was far too cruel in modern warfare.
Once he confirmed there were no surviving soldiers, Mercer immediately sent a message to Panam.
[Mercer: Come pick up the goods.]
[Panam: Roger, on my way back. You guys sure made a huge racket!]
Mercer didn't reply to her right away. Instead, he turned to look at Rebecca and Maine. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"
He had seen soldiers firing back at them.
"Nope! I'm totally fine!" Rebecca said with a laugh, raising her gun. Mercer took a closer look. Although her clothes were torn in two places, her skin underneath only had scrapes.
A standard-issue firearm hitting Rebecca, who was equipped with advanced Skinweave and wearing body armor, would indeed have a hard time causing her any serious damage.
Maine, on the other hand, remarked with some emotion, "This thing of yours is just unfair. If Arasaka really managed to mass-produce and deploy it..."
"Don't even think about it. The physical requirements for this thing are probably even higher than for Adam Smasher's rig, and the production cost is absurdly high. This one gravitational field generator alone is enough to arm more than a dozen senior agents equipped with Sandevistans."
As Mercer spoke, he felt a dull ache in his body. The constant acceleration and deceleration, plus the dead weight of the armor and the slow mechanical power delivery, made him feel like his internal organs had been on a drop tower ride several times over.
And to be honest, this equipment was fine against ordinary soldiers and their firepower, but it was still not quite enough against soldiers equipped with a Sandevistan.
Not only could his opponents easily keep up with his acceleration, but he, hampered by the delay of his own gear, would have a hard time landing a hit. If they didn't get close, the enemy could pick them off from a distance, but if they did get close, they weren't as fast. It seemed the only way to deal with the enemy was through wide-area-of-effect firepower, yet this type of high-coverage gravity attack had a delay.
Even more critically, this weapon set only had air-to-ground attacks. To be more precise, it only had top-down gravity attacks.
One could only say that the technology behind the gravitational field generator and the flight armor was incredible, but its practical application was still far too limited.
It was fine for taking out a few living targets, but against opponents like Adam Smasher or V, Mercer estimated that if he dared to land and fight them head-on, he'd be turned into Mercer-paste in no time.
In the distance, the Aldecaldos' vehicles were already racing over. Before they arrived, Mercer gave V a heads-up, then immediately returned to the netrunner van, took off his helmet, and unplugged the connection cable to the exoskeleton.
Lucy frowned and said, "Aren't you going to take off the exoskeleton now?"
"Not yet," Mercer said, sitting cross-legged on the floor and trying to steady his breathing.
Because the exoskeleton's coverage interfered with his cyberware's heat dissipation, he now extended a hand and pointed to a water bottle in the van. Kiwi understood and handed it to him. Mercer took a few sips, then poured the rest over the exoskeleton.
The compression thruster section at the back of the machine hissed, and white steam billowed up.
Mercer paid it no mind. He just moved his body a little, confirming that the exoskeleton hadn't sustained any serious damage from the bullets, then watched as V, Panam, and the others began to quickly clean up the battlefield.
Panam had already led the Aldecaldos in swiftly unloading the equipment from the Behemoth. To save every second, the Aldecaldos had even rented construction exoskeletons.
Only with these could they quickly transfer the heavy cargo by hand to their small trucks.
Once the goods were loaded, the vehicles turned around and drove straight off across the Badlands. They had long since found a route that was just barely passable for off-roading.
They would detour through the city outskirts' junkyard to enter the urban area, then switch to other transport vehicles to secretly get the goods back to the Badlands before transferring them to Dogtown.
This was to prevent Biotechnica and Militech from identifying them through a process of elimination later.
At the same time, Morning Star was also reporting to Mercer.
[Morning Star: Biotechnica and Militech support vehicles are en route. Please delta from the battlefield as soon as possible.]
[Mercer: Understood.]
[Morning Star: I suspect Faraday has already reported the situation to Arasaka. An aerodyne vehicle has been detected deploying from Arasaka Tower. Its objective is likely to confirm your identity and the whereabouts of the exoskeleton.]
The corners of Mercer's mouth lifted into a smirk.
[Mercer: Arasaka, Biotechnica, Militech... hah, Night City is certainly lively today.]
[Morning Star: You should retreat immediately.]
[Mercer: Roger.]
[Morning Star: I have highlighted the high-risk targets on your map. To avoid exposing our access to the NCPD's authority, the block on the emergency lines has now been lifted.]
[Mercer: Understood.]
The group had barely caught their breath when they heard Mercer's voice over the squad comms.
[Mercer: Enemy support is on the move.]
[V: Roger that. Planting bombs on the Behemoth now. If you can't hold out, why don't you delta with Panam and her crew first?]
[Mercer: Ha, it's not often I get to fight alongside you guys head-on. I can't let you have all the fun.]
Mercer turned his head to look at Kiwi and Lucy. The two of them were just sitting quietly in the back of the van, watching him. Pilar, a cigar dangling from his lips, sat in the driver's seat, still fiddling with the captured missile launcher, unable to put it down.
"Pilar, get ready to go."
After he spoke, Pilar gave him a thumbs-up. "No problem!"
Lucy, holding her laptop, checked several camera feeds before reporting, "The safe house is clear. We'll proceed as planned: shake our pursuers, switch vehicles, and then get out of here."
"Then we'd better move fast," Mercer said.
[V: All set. Let's go!]
Mercer patted the driver's seat, and Pilar nodded, starting the vehicle.
The van pulled back onto the highway.
Mercer was well aware that it would be impossible to hide the Kindling Squad's identity on this job. That was precisely why he had gone to the trouble of contacting his Militech insider beforehand.
At this point, the mission was mostly complete. All that was left was to take care of Diana Cuno, and they could ensure Militech's investment went completely down the drain.
He had pissed off Biotechnica and Militech in one fell swoop, and would even be exposed to Arasaka's watchful eyes because of this exoskeleton, but Mercer wasn't worried.
To put it bluntly, in Night City, offending one or two corporations didn't matter. As long as you still had value and could let profits do the talking, everything was negotiable.
"We're just driving straight into the city?" Pilar asked, looking at the route displayed on his cyberoptics with a puzzled expression.
But it was Polaris's voice that came from the driver's console. "Yes. Please do not worry about my route planning."
Just then, V, Maine, and the others pulled up alongside them in the private car they had disguised earlier.
As they drove side-by-side, Rebecca, in the passenger seat, rolled down her window and grinned at Pilar in the driver's seat of the netrunner van. "Not a bad performance today, huh? You asshole brother."
"Ha! You don't have to tell me!" Pilar had a blast today, getting to use both a sniper rifle and a rocket launcher.
Rebecca then asked, "Where's Mercer? Is he hurt?"
"Damn it! I knew it! He doesn't even have a scratch on him!" Pilar said irritably.
Only then did Rebecca wave with a giggle and roll her window back up.
At that moment, the Aldecaldos who had been blocking the road also began to delta, but the road out of the city was still congested. The road into the city, however, was completely clear.
Mercer and the others sat in the van, driving unimpeded toward Night City.
In the sky, an aerodyne vehicle emblazoned with the Militech logo flew past at high speed. Maine, sitting in his own car, clicked his tongue in amazement. "We can just drive away like this?"
"Mercer jammed the cameras and alarm signals. They probably only received a distress call from the transport team," V said from the back seat. "They might think the fight is still going on."
Maine nodded, keeping a vigilant watch on their surroundings. The two vehicles they were using, disguised as private cars, didn't have autopilot.
But before they could even enter the city proper, a hastily assembled NCPD blockade appeared before them.
Several police cars were parked across the inbound route, and a few NCPD officers were hurriedly setting up a perimeter.
Maine's expression changed slightly. "What do we do? They've blocked the road."
V's cyberoptics flashed faintly, and then she received an affirmative reply from Mercer.
"Punch through," V said, simple and direct.
"Punch through?" Maine looked at V in disbelief, but then he saw the netrunner van beside him suddenly start to accelerate.
Seeing the netrunner van charging at them without slowing down at all, a few NCPD officers were scared into scrambling to the sides.
"Dispatch! Dispatch! This is 621, someone's running the checkpoint! Need backup! Repeat! Need backup!"
A few NCPD officers raised their pistols in an attempt to intercept, but what they faced next were various rifles being raised from the windows of several vehicles.
In particular, the sight of Rebecca laughing as she single-handedly raised a heavy machine gun and fired into the air instantly scared them into keeping their heads down.
They only made a few thousand eddies a month; why would they risk their lives for this?
The NCPD chose to cower. The blockade, which hadn't even been properly set up, became a joke. Pilar, driving the netrunner van, unceremoniously rammed straight through two police cars that were blocking the road nose-to-nose.
The van, which looked like an ordinary minivan on the outside, had in fact been modified with an upgraded engine and thick armor, making it effortless to crash through two sedan-style police cars.
The private car carrying Maine and the others quickly entered the city through the safe passage Pilar had created.
Once they were on the city roads, traffic was still unexpectedly clear. Morning Star had long since controlled the flow of traffic via the traffic lights, providing Mercer with a high-speed corridor.
[Morning Star: The NCPD notified Militech. Their aerodyne vehicle has turned around and is coming back.]
[Mercer: Understood.]
Sitting in the netrunner van, he turned his head to look at Lucy. "Any drones left?"
"Only one recon drone," Lucy said after a quick inventory check.
A corner of Mercer's mouth lifted. "Then let's use this drone to give Militech a little scare, keep them from getting here too fast."
Lucy understood immediately. After opening the van door and releasing the drone, she plugged the neural link cable into her laptop. Her cyberoptics glowed as she connected to the drone.
The recon drone flew high into the air, heading back down the road they had come from.
In the distant Militech aerodyne vehicle, a senior agent with an ashen face was making one call after another.
"I know! I'm leading the agents to apprehend the suspect... I understand, yes, we will definitely catch them..."
"There's a drone! I'm activating the EMP!" the co-pilot of the aerodyne vehicle suddenly shouted.
"Shoot it down with the vehicle-mounted machine gun!"
"Can't get a lock! Dammit, I have to use the EMP! Prepare for an emergency landing!"
The inside of the vehicle instantly descended into chaos.
As the aerodyne vehicle's built-in EMP device activated, the drone in the air sparked with electricity and crashed, falling to the ground and bursting into flames.
The pilot froze for a moment, but instead of feeling relieved, he said warily, "The enemy used a recon drone to confirm our situation! Where's the ground support?"
"Stuck in traffic! Dammit, Night City is cursed today, it's all red lights and traffic jams everywhere!" the co-pilot cursed.
The agent sitting in his seat slammed his fist down in frustration. "What the fuck is the NCPD doing? Where are the traffic controllers?"
"The NCPD is refusing to cooperate... feels like someone told them to stand down. Look at those guys on the ground setting up the roadblock, they don't even have a single APC!" the pilot said with a grim expression.
Then, the others in the vehicle looked at each other and collectively sucked in a sharp breath. "Is it that fucking idiot Arasaka again?"
—--
"Fucking Arasaka! Fucking Kindling Squad, fucking A, fucking K, fuck! Fuck! A whole goddamn group of morons!" Faraday furiously flung the coffee cup in his hand. It smashed against the floor, shattering into pieces.
At that moment, the relevant news had already begun to play on the television. The media outlets had received word of a large-scale shootout outside Night City early on and had started rushing en masse toward the highway outside the city.
Some had even gotten a tip from the NCPD, learning that a group of audacious bastards had zeroed a Militech and Biotechnica transport convoy and were now brazenly driving into the city.
After obtaining the vehicle information from the NCPD, reporters all over the city were trying to find any trace of those vehicles and the identities of this group.
For a time, the host on the screen spoke with a grave expression, relaying the news from frontline reporters and sensationalizing the event as if a war was about to break out at any moment.
A call notification was still flashing incessantly in Faraday's cyberoptics. He took a deep breath, forcibly reined in his emotions, and answered the call.
Chris's voice was cold. "Faraday, I recall we agreed to settle the fight outside the city. Do you have any idea how many civilians witnessed an 'Iron Warrior' in the sky wiping out Militech and Biotechnica's transport team?"
"But the mission was still completed," Faraday said, putting on an act as if everything was under control. His tone was relaxed. "Biotechnica and Militech's convoy has been dealt with by us."
"And I'm supposed to praise you for that?"
Chris sneered, then suddenly raised his voice. "Your bunch of idiot mercs are running wild in the city right now! And they most likely still have our equipment! If they get caught by Militech or Biotechnica, or if a reporter gets a picture of the exoskeleton, oh, you'll be in deep shit! Faraday!"
Faraday was like a mute man forced to swallow bitter herbs. He had a bellyful of grievances he couldn't voice. He wished Mercer and his crew were dead right now.
Faraday said calmly, "They have their own extraction route. We just need to clean up their mess and then recover the exoskeleton."
"You'd better know what you're doing! I've already spoken with the NCPD chief. The NCPD will only put on a show of getting in Militech's way today, but you must guarantee that the exoskeleton will be recovered afterward!"
Chris's voice was grim. "We're not afraid of Militech finding out who did it, but this exoskeleton absolutely cannot fall into Militech's hands. Do you understand?"
"Understood. I'll recover the equipment immediately afterward," Faraday said, his eyes narrowing.
After hanging up, Faraday was surprisingly no longer in such a hurry. He paced back and forth, lost in thought, and finally made a call to Mercer.
Thank God, the guy finally picked up.
[A: Busy. Make it quick.]
[Faraday: Your exoskeleton has been exposed. Arasaka and Militech are after you now. Get out of danger, then give me the exoskeleton. I'll take care of your pursuers.]
[A: We'll wait until we've escaped first.]
[Faraday: No, come now. Give me the gear. I have a way to help you disappear.]
[A: We still have to delta safely first.]
Faraday keenly sensed that the other party might have other plans.
Something's wrong. He's too calm. This guy is acting way too calm!
[Faraday: You think hiding in Dogtown means Arasaka and Militech can't get to you!? You're carrying Arasaka's experimental equipment!]
[Faraday: Arasaka doesn't even have to lift a finger. Militech will have Hansen skin you alive in Dogtown! Come to me now, I can help you!]
[Faraday: Where are you planning to delta to? Is it secure?]
[A: It's definitely secure. I'll contact you when I'm done.]
As soon as he finished speaking, Mercer hung up the agent.
Faraday kicked out again in anger. He had a feeling he'd been played.
Contact him when he's done? By then, he'd either be making an exorbitant demand or have vanished off the face of the earth!
No, he absolutely could not wait for them to be ready before going after them. By then, he probably wouldn't be able to catch them at all!
They could take the gear and sell it to Kang Tao, or even Militech, but what about him? He was the one who had to bear Arasaka's wrath!
Faraday immediately started contacting the mercs he knew, shouting as he posted a gig.
"Capture the Kindling Squad! Recover a suit of exoskeleton armor! The reward is three million eurodollars! Whoever gets them gets the fucking money!"
After posting the gig, Faraday, still seething, immediately sent messages to several of his familiar fixers with a single objective: get Mercer and the gear he had back!
He no longer expected to have a civil conversation with Mercer. No matter what the other party was thinking, he had to seize the initiative now!
His face dark, Faraday also used his own channels to issue a bounty to the various gangs.
And so, it wasn't just all sorts of mercs; in just a few short minutes, even the various gangs had received the bounty for the Kindling Squad.
Maelstrom, the Animals, the Voodoo Boys...
For a moment, all of Night City suddenly burst into a flurry of activity.
Three million eurodollars!
This sum might be a casual mention for Mercer, but for those gang members and mercs, it was a fortune!
Just for capturing a small squad of mercs and recovering a piece of equipment, they could get three million?
They had never seen such an easy score!
Information about the Kindling Squad spread throughout the city in the blink of an eye.
But after taking care of all this, Faraday immediately began preparing an aerodyne vehicle and an escape route.
He had to get ready to run.
If he could successfully recover the exoskeleton, it would be fine; he might still be able to negotiate with Arasaka. But if he couldn't... then he could only let Chris take the fall alone.
He knew all too well how these corpos operated. Now that he had spread the news so publicly, Arasaka would definitely know the situation was out of control. At this moment, he was in just as much danger as the members of the Kindling Squad.
Faraday had to ensure his own survival first.
Daring to rip off a corporation was practically a death wish!
—--
At that moment, inside the Arasaka Corporation, Agent Chris was even more dumbfounded.
He looked at the report from his subordinate and immediately called Faraday, but the outcome was obvious. Faraday just gave him a perfunctory assurance that he would recover the equipment as soon as possible.
But Chris, who had already learned from his subordinate that Faraday had issued a "city-wide manhunt," knew all too well that the situation had spiraled out of control.
That idiot Faraday had hired a bunch of unreliable people. Although they had completed the job, the exoskeleton was now unrecoverable!
"Dammit! Notify the agents, we have to bring back Faraday and that whole crew!"
Chris shot to his feet, unable to remain seated in his office. "Go, go apply for backup!"
Before Chris could even leave, his superior, Arthur Jenkins, called.
"If that hardware falls into Militech's hands, you're finished, Chris."
Arthur's voice was cold. "You know the corporation's procedures perfectly well."
"Boss, you have to help me," Chris pleaded humbly. "We still have a chance, as long as we can catch that group of mercs in time!"
"That's your problem." Arthur, however, remained extremely detached. "I'll grant you operational clearance, but that's all. I told you not to cooperate with that bunch from the project R&D team. A pity you didn't listen to me."
"If something goes wrong..." Chris didn't get to finish.
Arthur cut him off harshly. "Then you can go communicate with the project lead. I only approved you to sabotage the Militech and Biotechnica collaboration. The specific operational plan was your responsibility as the senior agent team leader."
With those words, Chris knew he had been abandoned.
His face turned deathly pale as he hung up. Then, he clenched his jaw and immediately called the head of the Cyberskeleton project team.
"Something's gone wrong! The mercs Faraday hired are unreliable. They took the exoskeleton and ran. We can't directly recover the equipment now..."
Chris waited meekly as the person on the other end of the line cursed furiously for a few moments before he continued, "Yes, we have to move out and catch them now. Don't worry, I'll be as quick as possible... Right, it's all Faraday's fault..."
After finally hanging up, Chris let out a long, heavy sigh, then cursed under his breath and immediately sprang into action to hunt them down.
If he couldn't catch that guy today, he was finished!
—--
[Morning Star: Congratulations! Our Kindling Squad is finally famous!]
[Mercer: What's the bounty?]
[Morning Star: Three million eurodollars.]
[Mercer: Only three million? Faraday is really pathetic.]
Mercer scoffed.
[Morning Star: Your and your team's information has been exposed. You need to be more careful from now on. Also, I must remind you, Arasaka has dispatched two more aerodyne vehicles.]
[Mercer: It's nothing. Once Faraday skips town, this bounty will be a joke. If Arasaka agents want to find this exoskeleton, then let them work for it.]
[Morning Star: You should worry about your own situation first. Your vehicle information has been exposed. You're on the news now.]
At this very moment, the Kindling Squad's car had entered the expressway and was speeding toward their pre-arranged delta point in Santo Domingo.
The main reason for setting the location so far away was to use Mercer and his group as bait, providing cover for the Aldecaldos to transport the goods away quietly.
Otherwise, if those people truly began a grid search, not even the Aldecaldos, who had fled from the Badlands, could possibly escape their notice.
If he had truly wanted to conceal his identity, Mercer would have delta'd from the Badlands with V and the others long ago. Why would he have forcibly broken through the checkpoint and headed for the city?
He was deliberately acting as bait, drawing the entire city's attention to ensure the Aldecaldos could secretly get the goods away.
By the time the people from Militech and Biotechnica discovered that the equipment wasn't completely destroyed but that a part of it had been carried off, the Aldecaldos would have long since vanished without a trace.
"Whoa! Mercer! A helicopter! Holy shit... How many years has it been since I've seen one of these things!" Pilar suddenly exclaimed.
Lucy moved uneasily from the back of the vehicle to the front passenger seat and looked out the window. "It's an N54 News helicopter!"
"We're on TV," Mercer laughed, picking up a laptop and playing the N54 News broadcast.
At that moment, the image on the screen was none other than Mercer's two vehicles, driving one after the other on the city expressway.
The female reporter in the broadcast was still shouting, "Right now, what you're seeing in the shot is the robbers' vehicle. The NCPD is currently doing everything they can to intercept them, but due to traffic conditions, they are temporarily unable to restrict their movement! Judging by their direction of travel, they are most likely heading toward the east side of the city!"
But the N54 News helicopter had only been filming for a few minutes when an Arasaka aerodyne vehicle suddenly flew over. The helicopter pilot swerved violently to avoid it, nearly throwing the reporter and cameraman, who were filming from the open cabin door, out of the aircraft.
"Dammit! What do you think you're doing!" the reporter demanded in a panicked shout.
But the aerodyne vehicle just relentlessly blocked their path.
How could Arasaka possibly allow a news station to broadcast Mercer's crew with impunity?
What if Mercer flew out wearing the exoskeleton?
That thing probably still had the Arasaka logo printed on it!
If N54 News captured footage of an 'Arasaka Super-Mech Sweeping Through Night City,' it wouldn't be long before Militech would justifiably move the Basilisk into Night City!
Arasaka didn't want the situation to escalate any further right now, nor did they want Militech to get their hands on irrefutable proof of "Arasaka's involvement in this matter."
The best course of action was to catch Mercer and his crew before any of that happened, recover the armor, and hold a press conference in advance to explain that Mercer's group had "stolen" Arasaka's equipment to commit robbery, distancing Arasaka from the incident as much as possible.
However, while Arasaka wanted to get ahead, Militech was not about to take this loss lying down.
The female reporter's cyberoptics flashed slightly as she received a message from her superiors. Gritting her teeth, she turned to the camera and said, "We can see an Arasaka aerodyne vehicle has suddenly blocked our path. This can't help but make one wonder if these robbers have some kind of secret, unspeakable relationship with Arasaka."
Meanwhile, the helicopter pilot could only bite the bullet and fly side-by-side with the Arasaka aerodyne vehicle.
As the news continued to spread, the pressure on the NCPD gradually mounted. Although they couldn't pursue with full force due to Arasaka's prior arrangements, they couldn't just have zero screen time now that N54 News was shamelessly using a helicopter to follow and film Mercer's car.
Even if they couldn't truly protect the city and its citizens, the NCPD had to make the citizens feel "protected." If the NCPD was still slacking off in the face of such brazen robbers, they would become a complete joke!
And so, on the minimap Morning Star provided to Mercer, the red dots representing the NCPD, which had been moving at a snail's pace, all began to accelerate, attempting to surround and intercept them from the front.
[Morning Star: 6th Street members detected gathering in the Santo Domingo district. I speculate they likely want both the three-million-eurodollars bounty and revenge for the job you did for Padre.]
Mercer grunted in acknowledgment and glanced at the map's coordinates. "We're here. Prepare to delta."
At that moment, Pilar suddenly yanked the steering wheel, and the car veered off the city expressway. The aerodyne vehicle and helicopter had no choice but to turn and follow them into the building complex.
But when the car suddenly swerved and sped toward the underground parking garage of a building, the cameras could no longer track them.
Without a second thought, the Arasaka agent ordered the aerodyne vehicle to land and charge in. But before the aerodyne could get close to the garage entrance, a burst of fiery light erupted.
The pilot had no time to react as the rocket slammed head-on into the aerodyne's cockpit.
With a deafening explosion, the aerodyne vehicle plummeted to the ground. Although its thick armor kept the cabin's structure intact, the pilot wasn't so lucky. A large hole was blown through the cockpit, which was now engulfed in flames.
By the time the dust-covered Arasaka agents crawled out of the aerodyne's wreckage, they saw the helicopter far away suddenly gaining altitude. The reporter shouted, "They came out from the other side of the underground parking garage!"
In the sky, Militech's aerodyne vehicles sped past at full throttle. The Arasaka agents looked at each other, each one realizing the situation had taken a turn for the worse.
They couldn't let Militech get to them first!
So, they immediately contacted their ground units and other aerodyne vehicles to rush over and compete with Militech for the targets.
"Boss, they suddenly ducked into the parking garage. They might be using the opportunity to switch cars," an agent said, clutching his broken arm. "The car's wrecked anyway. Let's go in and check."
"Alright," the Arasaka agent nodded. Clinging to this last hope, he organized them into a small squad formation and, guns raised, began to enter the underground parking garage.
Unfortunately, they didn't find the vehicle they had been chasing, nor were there any signs of people.
Still unwilling to give up, the agents activated their cyberoptics and searched several more times. They even went to the building's security room to check the underground surveillance footage, but ultimately came up empty-handed.
All the camera footage showed was Mercer's group briefly stopping at the entrance, firing a rocket launcher at their pursuers, and then ducking back into the car before driving straight out of the garage's other exit.
The Arasaka agents had no choice but to give up. After reporting the situation, they continued the chase after the two cars now running wild all over the city.
It wasn't until long after they had left that an elevator door suddenly opened, and Mercer and the others walked out one by one.
Mercer had taken control of the elevators here long ago with Morning Star. They had hidden in the elevator shaft, thus evading the Arasaka agents' search.
As for the surveillance footage, that was even easier to handle. With some editing techniques combined with AI-assisted rotoscoping, no one would be able to spot the slightest anomaly.
Even if Arasaka discovered something was off later and found traces of AI modification, Mercer would have long since delta'd by then.
"Holy shit, we really tricked them?" Pilar could feel his hands shaking. The thrilling scene sent his adrenaline soaring to a point where it wouldn't stop.
Mercer, on the other hand, said with some reluctance, "Sigh, what a waste of the equipment in my netrunner van."
He was still wearing the exoskeleton, and his steps made clanging metallic sounds on the ground as he walked.
"Alright, we need to delta, and fast," V said, also feeling a sense of post-disaster relief. Although there had been no firefight along the way, being chased by a helicopter and an aerodyne vehicle was as exhilarating as something out of a movie.
In the parking lot, two inconspicuous vans had been waiting for a long time. Mercer, Kiwi, Lucy, and V got into one, while Maine, Dorio, Pilar, and Rebecca got into the other.
The group split up into the vehicles, which then sped off toward the highway leading out of the city's east side.
Mercer wasn't heading to the Badlands. Instead, he planned to go to Bruce's safe house, a place he had visited once before, to regroup for a while.
Although he hadn't given any notice. Ever since they parted ways last time, Bruce hadn't contacted him once. Mercer had tried to send him messages but received no reply.
Well, he'd just have to use it first and deal with the consequences later.
After Mercer drove the group from the Badlands into a hidden mountain tunnel and ditched the cars deep inside, everyone doubled back. They used a shipping container to open Bruce's safe house, which was concealed within a rock cavern.
The interior was covered in a layer of dust. It seemed Bruce hadn't been back since they last saw each other.
The crew let out a sigh of relief in the cramped safe house. They could finally sit down, rest for a bit, and watch some TV.
But Mercer still hadn't let his guard down. He immediately began connecting to Morning Star to check on the situation in Night City.
Because the mission wasn't completely over.
There was still one person who needed to be dealt with: Diana Cuno.
—--
At that moment, on the top floor of the Biotechnica hotel tower, a nervous Diana was watching the television.
On the program, an N54 News helicopter was broadcasting a live feed of a spectacle rarely seen in Night City.
Two cars, with their accelerators floored, were recklessly overtaking, speeding, and drifting through the streets. They raced from Santo Domingo to Watson, then tore into Kabuki.
In short, they were on a mad dash.
Gunfire echoed continuously along the way. Besides the NCPD, there were corporate agents and even a group of money-hungry gang members and mercs in pursuit.
But what was astonishing was that, relying solely on its horsepower and armor, one of the cars had managed to tear through the city for over half an hour with only a single mounted machine gun firing back.
However, that was as far as it would go.
Once Arasaka and Militech both received the message "Permission to use heavy machine guns and explosives, disregard the impact," the high-speed chase came to an end.
Unexpectedly, the first to score a hit was a Maelstrom member on a motorcycle. Laughing maniacally, he tossed a bomb at the car's tires, completely unconcerned that he was now on camera for the news.
The car was blown over onto its side.
Then, an Arasaka gunner in the air finally blew out the other car's tires. The vehicle swerved and drifted, struggling for a few more feet before being completely destroyed by other weapons.
But before the Maelstrom member could excitedly open the car door to check if the person inside was his walking three-million-eurodollar prize, bullets from the Arasaka chopper rained down, killing him on the spot.
Just as the Arasaka agents landed, the Militech personnel raised their guns, unwilling to be outdone. "What are you doing here! These people robbed and attacked a Militech transport convoy. What business do you have here!"
"These terrorists stole important Arasaka equipment. We must recover our property!"
Arasaka didn't yield an inch. With things having escalated this far, they had to at least ensure they got their hands on the goods.
The two teams of agents stood in a standoff around the cars, neither willing to back down.
But Diana Cuno let out a sigh of relief.
She curled her lips, sat on the sofa, and raised her wine glass. "Heh... insatiably greedy."
Diana took it for granted that this group of mercs was finished.
Even if a few slipped through the net, they wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble.
To be targeted by both Arasaka and Militech at once... these guys had really gotten themselves into some serious trouble. How audacious. Did they really think a director from Biotechnica was such an easy target?
Besides, the equipment had been destroyed, giving her more excuses to delay the development progress. To hell with the Super Soldier Program. She was just playing along. In a few years, she could just find another project and declare this one a failure.
In any case, she had already secured the investment, hadn't she?
Diana Cuno watched the scene on the television with a smile, right up until an Arasaka agent forcefully pried open the car door, only to find it empty.
Then, Diana's expression gradually stiffened.
Tentatively, she sent a message to the mysterious Mr. ?.
[Diana: I saw the news. Are you guys okay?]
[?: (smiley_face.jpg)]
The instant reply with the smiley face plunged Diana into an icy abyss, and she collapsed onto the floor of her room.
At that moment, the agents from Militech and Arasaka were also staring at each other in utter disbelief.
Where were they?!
[Polaris: Phew~ That car chase was a real thrill!]