An Engineer In Night City - ch 10.1 (Patreon)

Race to Arasaka Tower (1)

On top of an anonymous skyscraper in Night City, a silhouette stands still overlooking the busy street life on the ground. Eventually, the person receives a call from an anonymous number.

Nervous, Faraday suppresses his emotion with his hard-won discipline and checks the caller. “Moshi Moshi, this is Faraday.”

The contact is an executive from Arasaka, one of the high-ranking members of the Kiji, green pheasant, Faction within the Japanese company. They are traditionalists who want to keep the current policies set by Saburo Arasaka with Hanako as their figurehead, and this faction is fiercely opposed by the Taka, hawk, faction, led by Yorinobu. They observed Saburo’s growing favor with Yorinobu’s Taka Faction in recent months quietly, however, they are now taking active steps to curtain the opposition’s rise to power and influence.

The tone on the other side of the call is calm and measured, going directly to the point. “Did you change your mind about joining us, Faraday? You have been silent for some time, and you have yet to deliver results on your promise about acquiring Tanaka’s secret to me.”

The Pacifica Fixer gulps dryly, taking a handkerchief from his pocket to clean his sweat. “Don’t worry about that issue, it is being taken care of. It should be completed at the same time as my current assignment.”

The voice on the other side hums for a moment, turning light at the mention of the present situation. “Ah yes, that issue. I assume this one is proceeding smoothly?”

Faraday bows despite himself. “Yes sir, everything is going according to plan.”

“Good. I am not certain if you can, succeed but if you do then Araaka will acquiesce to your wishes and allow you to join us in a junior position, but likely in a higher standing than what you currently enjoy at Militech”

Elated, the Pacafica Fixer responds to his contact. “Thank you, sir. Militech still believes that I am loyal to their cause, they want me to kidnap the young David Martinez for their research team, as they believe he has a similar access level to the Engineer for Wube Inc.’s strange technology.”

“And if you manage to complete your assignment then you will have earned your reward and position at Arasaka. Who will bring the package to us?”

The Fixer smirks, picking up a glass of champagne from a nearby table. “Don’t worry, I have acquired the services of a crew of elite mercenaries that is more than capable of completing these tasks, while still being disposable in case of any complications..”

The breathing on the other side of the call became agitated when complications were mentioned. “Hopefully those complications won’t interfere with the success of the mission, Faraday-san.”

Taking the reprimand, Faraday curbs his overconfident tone and reassures his contact and future superior. “No sir, it won’t. I have contingency plans set up to succeed in this mission at all costs.”

The other side's breath regains its composure. “Very well. So long as David Martinez is either delivered to our faction, or we have confirmation of his demise, you will be rewarded handsomely. Otherwise, our relations might cool off.”

Hearing the warning, the Pacifica Fixer's demeanor gains a somber posture. “Understood, I will personally make sure that the boy is delivered to the top of Arasaka Tower when the time comes.”

The Arasaka representative cuts off the connection without answering back. Leaving Faraday alone with his thoughts.

...

A minute later, the room fills with maniacal laughter from its only occupant.

Pleased, Farada can’t contain his emotion, believing that everything is going according to his design.

The original plan is for the mercenary crew to kidnap David Martinez and send him to Arasaka Tower, where multiple objectives can be accomplished. On one hand, Militech Spec Ops can extract Martinez successfully, accomplishing the main mission set by the NUSA megacorporation. On the other hand, the Kiji member will be waiting for David Martinez on the tower’s rooftop to bring the teenager into custody, bringing with the possible involvement of Adam Smasher in the transaction. The boy will either be successfully transferred to Arasaka’s hands or will perish when the Butcher kills him under some pretext.

Happy with his genius, Faraday takes another sip from his Champagne. “Regardless of where the coin lands, I will win, and that stupid, arrogant Engineer will see what happens when he crosses me.”

The potential death of Martinez will drive a wedge in the relationship between Arasaka and Wube Inc. another favorable outcome to the Fixer’s plans. If the timing is perfect, Militech might not fault Faraday for failing to deliver David to them, under the extenuating clause of “being caught by surprise by Adam Smasher.”

Observing the plan designed by Faraday from an unbiased, third-party perspective, there are various flaws in it, however, some allowances might be granted to the Fixer due to how sudden the opportunity appeared in front of the man.

Faraday allowed his anger toward those he considered beneath him to cloud his vision, while his envy towards his superiors made him act recklessly by accepting this mission, finally, his pride made him perform this three-way gamble to gain even more glory and prestige for himself.

However, what made his blood boil without fail was the complete disregard that the Engineer had towards him, and how little he accomplished after months of careful spying and the wealth of information that his inside woman Kiwi gave to him.

Angry at the memory, Faraday’s fist slams on the nearby pilar. “It doesn’t make any sense! It’s like he’s always two to three steps ahead of everyone!”

Taking a deep breath, Faraday slowly regains his composure. “It doesn’t matter, once I complete this assignment, I will be the one laughing.” 

Looking at the empty bottle of bubbly wine, the Fixer sighs, “It’s too bad that I had to sacrifice Kiwi for this. She was one of my most reliable sources in a while. Oh well, that’s the nature of business.”

Faraday remembers the day that he approached the Netrunner with a business proposal.

In the Past, Kiwi was a Netrunner working freelance for small gangs and the occasional mercenary in Night City, earning herself a fair amount of eurodollars. Until one day, she was caught by the corrupt Night City police. She didn’t react strongly to the threats and “light” slaps done to her, but later the woman revealed under persuasion that she was terrified at the time.

With the aid of Faraday, all evidence of her misdemeanor disappeared, the prosecutor forgot about her case, and even the paperwork of her passage in the police disappeared.

After being humiliated by Mark Henderson, Faraday contacted the Netrunner to spy on the Factory, as the Engineer had, in the Fixer’s opinion, arrogantly decided to open a new company in Pacifica.

Another action taken by the Engineer was the poaching of Maine’s crew under Faraday’s thumb.

This action mystified Faraday, as he couldn’t comprehend the value of that group of mercenaries. In the Fixer’s opinion, choosing a better group from the start would be more cost-effective than trying to rise what, by all appearances, was an average band of mercenaries.

Walking to his fridge for a new bottle of wine, Faraday drunkenly mutters under his breath. “The crew that I will handpick will be much better than those traitorous failures. Maybe I will even pick a group to match them, just to drive the point home how disposable and ordinary their existence is. They’re nothing without me, nothing.”

With a new drink in hand, a new display shows the dossier of several potential new hires under Militech employ, or recommended by the Megacorp.

The petty man’s displeasure briefly shifts to both Arasaka and Militech, for leading him on for so long, but now, it is his time to shine. He won’t die like a nobody, and he won’t be made irrelevant again.

Never again.

…

Later, when the alcohol had the time to cycle through Faraday’s system due to his cybernetics, the Night City Landfill started to see action.

Several booster gangs arrive at the Landfill, cautiously walking around the newly erected perimeter to find the rumored ‘weak point’ in the construction. They can see above the walls the construction robots flying around, carrying the various massive equipment used by Wube Inc. despite being small drones. The construction bos are flying around randomly, reinstalling the precious infrastructure back into place to resume the mining and reclamation process of the discarded junk from Night City. Finally, on their destiny, the gangs flow inside exploiting the temporary weakness in the infamous gun turrets of the Engineer factories.

Some of the gangsters are armed with heavier armaments such as grenade launchers or rocket launchers, but they refrain from shooting and wait for the best opportunity. The more disciplined gangs manage to reach the center of the landfill where the large Electric Pole sits and one gangster cuts the power line feeding energy to the remaining defenses of the facility.

What was supposed to be a moment of triumph for the gangsters turns into a trap, as Miguel patiently observes the various booster gangs enter the landfill, waiting for the best moment to catch them off guard.

The gangsters didn’t account for the various accumulators placed within the facility and the sirens signaling the lack of external energy sources with a loud sinuous horn.

Several flashlights illuminate the area where the gangsters came, revealing the silhouette of Wube Inc.’s security force aiming their guns at the intruders.

Miguel angrily roards his orders. “Take them down, now!”

The security force fires at the gangsters, taking no quarter. The criminals have nowhere to run or hide, failing to the bullets in waves. The few that try to realize the path outside have landmines recently installed by the construction robots. A handful of the gangsters who attempted to raid the landfill were allowed to leave to remind Night City what happens when you try to invade Wube Inc.’s holdings.

“That’s what happens to you for forcing me to stay away from my precious family time, you bunch of useless gonks!” Miguel grumbles as he directs the other security forces to stack up the carcasses on the recycles for reclamation and evidence disposal.

One of the security guards, Jackie Welles, works in silence on his tenebrous duty.

Miguel approaches the rookie, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Are you still not used to it yet?”

Jackie shakes his head, “I was a former Valentino before becoming a mercenary under DeShawn, so I saw plenty of people being flatlined, and you quickly develop a stronger stomach after raiding a Scav meat shop, but…” He trails off, looking around the carnage.

Sighing with frustration, Miguel grimly nods. “Yeah, the Engineer weapons are scarily good, and they become better the more time passes. I am just surprised at how consistently those gonks throw their lives away for no return.”

Jackie nods and resumes his work. Thanks to the training in the advanced simulators provided by Wube Inc. this level of carnage is nothing to them.

Looking around once again at the various bodies on the ground, and the various cadavers being stacked on top of the conveyor belts, Jackie ponders on the reason why the gangsters are so eager to throw their lives away.

The only conclusion that the former gangster can come up with, is that someone or something is throwing an amount of money that those gonks can’t ignore.

...

Meanwhile, somewhere far away from the Night City Landfill, Maine and his crew are stalking Tanaka Sr. outside his house when they receive a call from Mark.

“Maine, drop what you’re doing and go follow those coordinates. Faraday took the bait and kidnapped David while he sent disposable canon fodder to the Landfill.”

Maine grins. “Fucking finally! Hey gang, let's meet with Faraday and give him our two weeks' notice!”

The crew cheers at their leader’s words, startling a young Katsuo Tanaka returning to his residence when they zip past him at high speeds on the Wube Inc.’s Buggy, following the tracker on David.

“That’s one hell of a first job, boss.” A new voice sounds on the vehicle wheel.

“Consider this your admission test, mister former pilot. Or do you think you can’t handle it?”

“Ha! I will follow after those bastards if my name isn’t Falco!”

Pressing the gas, the buggy accelerates at unprecedented speed due to its new rocket fuel. With a light swerve on the wheel, the buggy zips and zaps through the streets of Night City, burning through the speed limit and other traffic laws.

Rebecca excitedly jump from her seat, trying to look at the window ahead. “Nova! Your skills are so preen Falco! Let’s rescue David from the big bad corpos!”

The new member of the crew smirks, pressing his foot on the pedal and increasing the speed once more, forcing Rebecca and the other crew members back into their seats.

Worried, Maine turns to his crew members. “Maybe this was a mistake.”

“Did you say ‘faster?’ Of course!”

“Ahhhh!”

The buggy reaches its maximum speed, leaving behind the few police cars attempting to chase them, until they finally come close enough to spot the unmarked van that captured David.

Maine confirms with his internal agent that David is in front of them. “That’s the one! Rebecca, on the gunner, blows up their tires to stop them. Precision shots only.”

“On it boss!”

The solo reaches the machine gun controls and carefully aims the vehicle-mounted weapon, before briefly activating her Sandevistan to align her aim.

The world slows down, and carefully she aligns the crosshairs of her machine gun and carefully pulls the trigger, firing a single shot into the tire of the speeding van.

The bullet hits the aimed tired, the air chamber exploding from the impact, however, instead of the vehicle hitting the ground and grinding on the asphalt, a new tire emerges to replace the lost piece almost instantly, with an armored cover following behind.

Frustrated, Rebecca tries to shoot again in vain.

The vehicle ahead turned into a tank and started to once again gain speed against their boosted buggy.

Spotting the flares coming from the exhaust of the van, Falco recognizes what’s going on, “They’re using a nitro booster to stay ahead of us, it’s temporary but if we want to keep up with them things will get bumpy for a while!”

Understanding, Maine gives his orders. “Do what you have to do!” 

Pushing the car speed to the max, Falco chases after the enhanced van, using all the tricks he learned as a race pilot, coming close to the rear of the armored car several times until their target did a sudden turn and entered a construction area renovating a few city blocks.

The professional driver follows his quarry, watching them ramp over to a nearby building rooftop. He doesn’t hesitate to press his foot on the petal following the kidnappers, flying his car and the crew onto the building rooftop.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness passes over the crew before they land violently on the ground once more. 

Dorio winces from the sudden impact. “Thank God we’re wearing seat belts.”

Falco couldn’t help but dig in on his current employer's previous oversight. “I can’t tell how you guys survived this long without doing that. Did you only ever take the bus to your jobs?”

Pillar didn’t let the opportunity pass. “Nah, it’s just that the driver was practically a g-”

Dorio softly warns the crew’s Techie. “Finish that sentence and you will need cloned parts to substitute your lower half.”

“... yes, ma’am.”

Frustration keeps building up in Maine, seeing how far their quarry will go to continue the chase. “Why there are so many buildings connected by temporary bridges?”

Falco shrugs, “who knows? Maybe they were always here and people simply didn’t look.”

…

A car speeds through the badlands like a race car, going at incredible speeds further boosted by rocket fuel to reach Night City as soon as possible.

Mark hears the message notification and opens the chat while driving.

“Do you think the plan will work? Those gonks look competent compared with the others sent before. They won’t just fold over easily, and they have some preen chrome on them.”

“Don’t worry about it, Maine’s crew recently got an upgrade and their training made them sharper than ever, they got this in the bag. Keep me updated and I will relay any messages to the crew to help keep you safe.”

After a brief lull in the messages, David sends a reply. “Got it, and I want another raise, the crazy gonks are going to jump!”

Mark's eyes widen and he calls Maine immediately.

…

“They are going to jump!”

Mark's voice cuts through the screams and the motor noise, putting the crew into action.

The van ahead ramps into the air, but instead of trying to land in another building, there is nothing except the ground and the road. The armored vehicle lands on the ground like a stone, crashing and destroying several vehicles before exploding in the middle of an intersection.

Falco calls his team. “Are you guys ready?”

“Yeah!”

The driver swerves the car and drifts into a one hundred eighty degrees turn. Through Wube Inc.’s unknown technology, everyone except the driver is ejected from the car allowing momentum to send them away.

From a distance, Maine can see the mercenaries riding the wind when their clothes transform into wingsuits.

Thinking quickly, Maine orders his crew. “Activating Jump Packs!”

The Jump Pack is similar equipment to the jet pack, except it's more compact for the Power Armor and uses minimal power stored in the batteries if used for their intended purpose, which is to slow down the user’s fall.

Thanks to their new equipment, Maine’s crew continues to keep pace with Faraday’s new crew, as the chase resumes on foot as they weave, run, and sneak through the hidden alleys and crowed buildings of Night City.

Post Chapter Notes

Another chapter later today. This chapter ended up being fatter than usual, and I am quite happy with it. Please leave a comment and give me your opinion if you liked it!