Neon Cogs: Act 2 Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Act 2 Chapter 1

If somebody told Rebecca 3 months ago that she’d be both the personal executioner and mistress of a big shot in Arasaka, she would have shot them in the head and burned their bodies for good measure for insulting her. It was supposed to be an impossibility, yet life had a funny way of turning people’s expectations upside down. Just a few months ago, she was just another solo from the mean streets of Night City but things took a turn for the better when she met her boyfriend.

She let out a whoop of joy as she sailed through the air. Her hair whipped around her as she passed by some aerodyne before she landed against the side of a building. The gauntlet of her armor clamped down on a ledge before she launched herself to another building. The Gothic structures dominating the city skyline helped her move around as she leapt from one building to another with the grace of a big cat on the prowl without leaving neither mark or crack upon the stone masonry even with the heavy armor she wore.

The experimental power armor she wore was bulky, with large ceramite plates hugging her figure. The large pauldrons and the solid chest plate that might have given her a few more inches in the bust made her look more like a knight of old, or maybe a crusader with the halo behind her head, but it suited her just fine as she’d never felt so powerful in her life. She could feel every little tactile detail as she moved with but a thought. This armor was just as much a part of her now, with it being hooked up to her spine, as her limbs were. The rush of flying through the air was intense, enough that she could almost lose herself in the motion; it was almost perfect.

“Oye chiquita, hurry your fat ass over here. We don’t have all night!” But someone had to ruin her good mood as her old crew’s newest Netrunner made herself known through the coms just as she landed on the rooftop of the building beside her target tonight.

The large blocky building across the street stood in stark contrast to the newer buildings around it. The old dilapidated apartment looked like it had seen better days and could use a whole new coat of paint, but thanks to its proximity to the industrial complex of Santo Domingo and the hell hole that was Pacifica it stood there abandoned and left to rot. The building she was on was only half as tall as the old megablock in front of her, but it suited her just fine as she had a great vantage point to observe the floors before her.

“Yeah, yeah, just got here. Don’t get your panties all in a twist.” She grumbled as she hid in the shadows while she snuck towards the side of the building and peered down on the alley below. There she’d find the car of the crew with a certain young latina and her distinct purple highlights sitting atop, twirling her submachine gun. Noticing her, Sombra looked up and blew raspberries at her. Rebecca rolled her eyes as she flipped the bird at the girl; to think that she saved this bitch.

“So unprofessional. To think your input could have chosen a better mistress,~” The girl scathingly sniped at her which had her gritting her teeth. What’s worse was this girl was interested in her man. Who knew that changing the gender of a Valentino didn’t change how they acted.

“Oh fuck off you bitch,” She growled out warningly. She pulled off the heavy bolter on her back and rested it up against her shoulder as she glared daggers at the teen.

“Knock it off you two, we have a job to do. Becca, easy on the newbie. Sombra, show some respect. Becca’s here cause we need the firepower and I don’t want you mouthing off on her when you damn well know what she’s packing,” Maine scolded them as he reminded them why they were there. As tempting as shooting Sombra was, she was still the groups new Netrunner, and their only netrunner tonight with Kiwi being busy with her boytoy. She shuddered at the thought of all the things Kiwi could be doing; all the hand holding and petting did not fit Adam’s image one bit.

“Sheesh, I’m only joking,” The brat replied petulantly. “You know we can do this on our own. Don’t know why you insist on having her tag along,” She complained which made Rebecca’s eyes twitch.

“Just a gut feeling,” Maine answered laconically. Rebecca turned as her eyes caught the sight of the large man hiding in the alley beside the abandoned complex along with Dorio, Pilar and some of the newer kids that they pulled into the gang while she was away. The building in front of them might have appeared harmless at first glance, but there were dozens of guards peering from the windows and balconies of the building.

“Fine, it’s not like I have the time to argue when our targets are already here,” The girl muttered as Rebecca saw three cars roll up to the entrance of the building. She squinted as her chrome focused on the people that got out of the car. With their old fashioned desert camo and tactical gear, the unmistakable goons of the 6th street were out in force, though it wasn’t their presence that caught her eyes but rather the large coffin like boxes with the marks of Arasaka printed on their surface that they were lugging inside.

“Remember, our job here is to retrieve the stolen cargo. The 6th street has just stolen another cargo right from under Arasaka’s noses. We don’t know how they managed to acquire the schedule of those trucks, but we’re here to correct that little issue. Let the in-house investigators do their job,” Maine stated, reminding them of why they were here.

“We need eyes inside, Sombra.” Maine then ordered as Rebecca waited for the girl to do her job. As much as her trigger finger itched and the desire to give in to the urge just start shooting the fuckers they were after rose, it was best not to spook them and have them scatter like rats. “We need to kill every last one of these fuckers,” Maine emphasized.

“Just point me at them and I’ll take care of it,” Rebecca replied, grinning as she started settling up her gun. She lifted up the large heavy belt into the feed before resting it on an old air conditioning unit. Using the block as both cover and a platform, she waited for their netrunner to give them a readout.

“Sorry chief, the place is as analog as you can get, but I got them all in my Ping,” Sombra reported as the outline of the guards filled her vision. The Valentina whistled at the amount of warm bodies filling the building. There was one on every floor. They were quite spread out as well; hiding in rooms and around the corners of the building.

“Man, they're not kidding around here,” The girl murmured as the whole gang seemed to be there before she added, “All of them are packing heat though, some of them are armed with low tech stuff… like AK-74’s? Like who the hell still uses those?” The girl asked, confused and incredulous about the choice of weapon those inside had.

“Hey, don’t diss the classics. There's a reason why those are still around,” Pillar piped up through the channel as Rebecca watched him pull out something from his bag. Maine motioned for Dorio before she took off deeper in the alley with some of the fresh meat.

The netrunner scoffed but didn’t argue any further as she continued, “We have some runners on each floor supporting these fuckers. Isn’t this a lovely little hornet nest we happened upon? Something doesn’t feel right though, there’s not enough guards around,” Rebecca nodded at that. The way that they were sparsely spaced out felt fishy as well.

She took in a deep breath as she closed her eyes before she dipped into the immaterium. She felt herself slip off her body as she took a short dip in the sea of souls. She stared into the hazy warp as she watched the entire building lit up like a christmas tree; there they were. Pushing herself back in, she said, “There’s twice as many people there than what the scan showed. Probably some netrunners hiding the signatures of people inside.”

“Shit, they know we’re here,” Sombra cursed out.

“I don’t like the sound of that. This is sounding more like a trap than a weapon’s deal,” Dorio grumbled.

“Should we call it off?” One of the newbies suggested. A failed job is far better than having more holes than they started off but…

“Trap or not, those Bolters I’m seeing here are very real. Besides, I think I can handle it,” Rebecca replied confidently as her enhanced vision saw the outline of the heavy weaponry being pulled out of one of the coffins as the weapon deal was starting in one of the floors above the weapons platform. Thankfully, she could see them inside the room through the window facing her.

She pursed her lips as she watched them inspect the guns from her vantage point. Some weapons were starting to go missing in certain deliveries and it was getting worrying. At least now they know where some of them were heading.

“Rebecca, Pillar, think you two can make a distraction?” Maine asked them, which had Rebecca grinning out like a loon.

“Do you have to ask?” Pilar answered, mirroring her sentiment. Her smile didn’t lessen as she aimed her sights at the weapons platform. There was several feet of cheap concrete and sheet metal between her and her targets. It was plenty enough cover for most guns, but not for her baby right here.

“Just give the signal and I’ll light them up,” She purred out as she caressed the trigger, just waiting for the right time. Her blood sang at the prospect of violence but she stayed her hands for now, not wanting to ruin the trap just yet.

“Pilar, get those krakk grenades ready, we’re going in hot.” Maine ordered. Pilar cackled as he pulled out a bundle of the explosives that was held together with duct tape. It was an ugly thing, yet it was more than enough for what they needed.

“This’ll blow them sky high!” Pilar laughed as he pulled the pin of the bundle he made. With a mighty throw, he had it arc across the air before it landed atop one of the cars. It landed with a loud clang as it dented the top of the car before it rolled off to the side.

“Fuck, take co-” One of the men guarding the entrance shouted before he was drowned out by a resounding boom. The three cars were quickly reduced to burning wrecks as Maine and Pilar rushed out of their cover and headed for the entrance guns blazing. Even Sombra was in on the fun as she rushed out and sent debilitating quick hacks at the disoriented guards on the balconies.

“Go go go!” Maine shouted as he bodied the door open and started firing at the people inside.

Rebecca laughed as she laid down suppressing fire. Her gun barked loudly as the 1.00 caliber rounds came roaring out of the barrel of her gun and punched through the building. Old concrete and cheap steel were shredded as the bullets exploded in a shower of fragments. The red mist that came with each shot had her giggling as she cleared as much of the opposition as she could.

She might have been a bit mean as she focused on the people that Sombra was crippling, “Oy! Quit kill stealing!” The girl shouted as Rebecca rained hell on the enemies ahead of the girl.

“Well sorry, It’s not my fault that you’re way too slow,” She snickered out as she helped Maine and the others the best that she could. Their enemies were starting to wise up as they headed as far away from the windows as they could, but it only delayed the inevitable. Eventually, however, she’d run out of rounds and that’s just when she saw an aerodyne heading towards them. It wasn’t a police vehicle nor Arasaka backup. She cursed as they landed out of her sight. With the crates being hauled up stairs, she had to think quickly.

“They’re going to escape! Heading inside,” Rebecca shouted as she set her weapon down. She stood up and backed away from the ledge as she prepared herself, psyching herself up and checking all her chrome before she pulled out two bolters. Systems were green and ready for action and her guns were locked and loaded.

“You got this Bee, we’ll keep them tied up here!” Shouted Dorio amidst the sound of gun fire.

She could feel the power plant attached to her back whir to life as she knelt down to a runner’s start. The roof beneath her cracked as she started sprinting, dashing across the rooftop as fast as she could. The gap between her vantage point and the building was vast, as far as a 4 lane highway, yet she pressed on, grinning as the edge quickly came into view once more.

She bent her legs low, letting the motors of her armor push her off the roof with an explosion of concrete. Rebecca jumped and sailed through the air. Shielding her eyes, she crashed into the glass window before she rolled to a stop. Surrounded by heavily armed goons with surprise painted across their face, she grinned as she whipped out her Bolters and aimed.

“Surprise~!” She laughed out as she squeezed the trigger and fired indiscriminately, the deep heavy booms of her gun echoing through the room before it was joined by cries of pain and the sound of splattering gore across the walls. With no one left alive she rushed for the door.

She kicked the heavy metal door off its hinges, squishing a goon dead, before a grenade rolled up to her, but her armor was quick enough to kick it away back to the sender. She savored their look of horror as she aimed her gun at the grenade before firing, sending up a dust cloud and obscuring her vision.

“Is that all you got!?” She shouted with a feral grin stretched across her face before she was answered by a staccato of high caliber gunfire. Light flashed in front of her as the Halo she had on her back lit up with a crackle of electric arcs. She walked through the dust cloud as her armor took all the gun fire heading her way. The system shrugged off both gun and cannon fire, allowing her to reload without worry.

“Should have brought something bigger!” Rebecca shouted as she continued her carnage. She dashed along the corridor, firing rounds after round at the people ahead of her. One shot was more than enough even for the toughest of goons. She only paused when Maine cried out in pain.

“Maine! Fucking hell, why the hell are they packing Microwave guns! This isn’t MaxTac!” Pilar shouted while the crack of lasguns filled the background.The pained cries of their lead distracted her long enough that a goon rushed up to her with his rifle butt heading straight for her face.

She grit her teeth as she sidestepped before jamming the barrel of her gun against his face and firing, “Fuck, you need back up!?” She shouted as she glanced over to the stairwell up ahead.

“Finish the job, I have Maine covered!” Dorio shouted over the coms.

With the sound of the aerodyne firing up, she had no time to lose. Bursting into the rooftop, she found herself pelted by heavy machine gun fire. The loud roar of the gun mixed in with the flashes obscured her vision making it hard to aim. She roared out as she headed straight for the car. The panicked cries were drowned out as fire enveloped her form.

Without a second of hesitation, she flung herself at the airborne car. There was a loud explosion before her ride came crashing down. Tearing through the side of the car, she laughed before bracing herself. They landed with a loud bang and screech as the car dragged along the street; aside from her fellow occupants everything inside was all in one piece by the time the vehicle stopped rolling and destroying itself on the pavement, which thankfully included the package. She might have gone a bit overboard, but the job was finished.

“Package secured,” She sighed out in relief as the warning alarms of a Trauma Team came blaring outside.

“Alright, keep the package secure while we load Maine in the ambulance,” Dorio ordered as Rebecca pulled herself out of the wreckage and watched the modified Arasaka Arvus Lighter land on the ground. She shook her head as she watched Maine get carried off to the armed transport ship before he was flown off. She had to talk to Hiro about this.

-x-x-x-

“How the hell did netrunners bypass our system? Isn’t it supposed to be impenetrable?!” Shouted one executive as the room descended into anarchy. Rebecca could only grimace as she stood in the shadows behind Hiro while she observed two warring factions at each other's throat. Kiriko wasn’t taking it well as she grimaced at how much shouting was happening inside the dimly lit room.

There were accusations and name calling as the matter of how some of Araska’s most prized weapons were getting in the hands of the gang they were trying to stamp out. Hiro was silent but the way he tapped on the table had her worried.

Sitting beside him was his close cousin, Michiko, who was trying her best to pacify the two factions, “Is this boardroom a place of reason or some schoolyard play area?” The woman admonished them, making even the more vocal ones back down.

“For clarification, it was just the work of one lone netrunner and be reassured that the fault in the system has been fixed. Hanako-senpie patched the issue herself,” An executive sitting opposite to the first one gritted out with a plastic smile.

Sitting beside him was the brooding figure of Hiro’s aunt, Hanako Arasaka. The woman was your typical japanese beauty, long black hair and a demure look yet hiding beneath that facade was the sharpened steel. The woman might have looked serene, but she was anything but with the way she was glaring at Hiro.

There was another Arasaka in the room but he sat by Hanako’s side. The head of security himself and Hiro’s father, Yorinobu Arasaka, were there as well. Rebecca couldn’t help but glare at the man whenever her gaze landed on him as he just sat there, watching and not saying even a single word.

“Just a lone netrunner? Is this the best the Kiji can offer for the company?” Scoffed another causing those from Hanako’s side to bluster.

“Typical of the Hato to shift attention when they have their own shortcomings. How’s the audit for our budget going? Has more been siphoned over to the young master’s black projects?” One particular executive hissed out as the room returned to anarchy. Michiko could only pinch the bridge of her nose as more shouting ensued.

Further accusations of failing on both sides with Hanako’s side claiming mishandling of funds, sabotages in PR performed by those of the Kiji, to name just a few while Hiro’s side shouted accusations of failure to protect R&D members from attacks, more data breaches and even more failings. It seemed like everything bad that could happen was happening and Arasaka was just boiling beneath the surface.

Thankfully for everyone's sake, the meeting had to be cut short as they were getting nowhere and people were getting louder. Finally; she, Hiro, and Kiriko could rest. She plopped down on Hiro’s thigh as he stroked her hair while listening to her complaints while Kiriko brewed some drinks for all of them, “Hiro, something weird is going on,” She muttered as Hiro paused with his petting. She pouted and Hiro snorted as he went back to petting her.

“Weird is an understatement,” Hiro replied as he frowned. They were currently huddled in the breakroom of the Mechanicus’s workshop. The spacious area had more than enough room for them to have their own little corner while the others gave them space to talk in private. With the large window overlooking the city behind them, it was a place to de-stress and relax.

While he did have his own personal workshops, the company’s R&D division had one for large scale work and upscaling. Currently, some of the engineers were fiddling with her armor. The place was packed with people testing all sorts of designs. From household appliances to strange wonderful things like that large electric bubble in the distance. Hooked up to the glowing green core at the center of it all, the bubble hovered there as people threw stuff at it. Rebecca still couldn’t understand how Hiro made something to transfer stuff from the real world to the sea of souls.

“There’s just way too many problems cropping up this month,”  Hiro sighed out in frustration. Rebecca looked up to him in concern. Things had been piling up on his end and he could only do so much.

“Way too convenient I tell you, feels like someone’s trying to stir shit but who? Could it be your evil aunt Hanako?” She ranted, wondering if anything about this could be linked to his aunt. Still, there were a lot of things they didn't know and she’d rather not say that out loud where anyone could hear.

“No, or so I think. This is far too hamfisted for her. As much as she loves usings cat’s paws to do her bidding, she values control a lot. The actors in play don't look like they’re dancing to her tune,” Hiro muttered as Kiriko brought them a cup of tea and coffee respectively. Sitting up, she thanked the other girl as all three of them enjoyed their hot drinks. “Hopefully, things on your end aren’t getting weird?” He then asked.

“I wish. Maine got clipped by a microwave gun. Got him pretty bad,” Rebecca replied, shaking her head at that incident. Those things were no joke.

“Huh, never heard a gang packing them. They’re mostly MaxTech’s weaponry,” Hiro remarked. Microwaves were quite the rare tech weapon to find. She didn’t even own one!

“That’s the thing. It’s as if they were expecting him. No one carries those around unless they’re gunning for someone in particular, someone packing quite a lot of chrome,” Rebecca mused. There is Smasher but the guy’s hardened against such weapons… he’s hardened to almost all weapons come to think of it. The goons were also packing some heavy firepower themselves, but that could just be the 6th Street being cautious with Arasaka personnel. “Far too many coincidences. Think this could be related to your situation in the company?” She added as he looked over to him. It was bugging the hell out of her.

“We’ll have to look at this matter more closely…” Hiro hummed out as he took a sip from his cup.

“I do have to warn you both that correlation does not imply causation,” Kiriko then reminded them and Rebecca nodded at that. It could all just be coincidences in the end but she needed some damn answers.

“Still, something is bugging me here,” She answered before she then asked Hiro, “Hey Hiro, I’m going to do some snooping around the other side. It should get my mind off the weirdness of my last job. I also have a gut feeling that whatever is causing all these problems in Arasaka is connected to the Kiji.”

“You know I don’t have the clearance to do any investigations. My father’s the one handling that and while my faction is getting audited and investigated, I can’t say the same of the other factions with him dragging his feet,” Her boyfriend frowned as he was reminded of having to deal with his father.

Rebecca grinned as she replied, “Oh no, I’m not doing a formal investigation. I’m thinking of going to the street, asking around and seeing what’s up. Plus, I do know of a good place to start asking around.~”

“Oh?” Hiro raised an eyebrow as he looked at her inquisitively.

Rebecca smirked as she let them in on a piece of news she had from one of her friends, “Word from my old friends is that Lizzie’s bar is getting quite popular among Arasaka’s middle management and their wives all thanks to that one red carpet walk,” While she didn’t name dropped her friend, all those journo’s snooping around linked the dress she wore back to Lizzie’s bar.

“Maybe I should drop by to give my gal pal some hugs. It’s been a while since I last visited them,” She stated as she looked over to the city behind her. The advertisements of Lizzie’s bar flashing across one of the holographic displays filled her with a sense of pride. If there were any group of people she can turn to to ask for information then it would be Lizzie’s. After all, who else knew more about the city’s secret aside from its sex workers.

-x-x-x-

The sound of gunfire filled the air as David weaved through the street. His chromed up limbs and spine allowing him to move with almost unnatural grace as his bolter barked. Scores of men, hardened Militech agents, died as he and his mentor cleared out a cell that was just recently found.

He gritted his teeth as he hid behind cover and forced his lung to take in large gulps of air. “Fucking hell man! Can’t we just use the training drones in the lab?!” David shouted as he peeked out of his cover and blasted away.

“No. It's best to develop on the battlefield. Anywhere else would lead to you developing bad habits,” The man coldly replied as he passed by him. The scream of the the poor fuckers ahead mixed in with the roar of the borg's chainsaw... He tried his best to drown out the screams before he made his move.

David jumped out of cover as soon as he could, not wanting to be chewed out by his mentor only to freeze up as the gun of a turret came pointing his way. He screamed inside his head as he forced his body to move before the turrets seized up and went slack. He breathed out a sigh of relief as he rushed to where the sound of the fighting was at its loudest.

“You’re doing fine kid, don’t sweat it but be a little more aware,” Adam’s pet netrunner, Kiwi, scolded him.

A little annoyed with how she babied him and told him how cute he was, much to his chagrin especially when Adam glared at him, “Y-yeah, I’ll keep that in-!” He tried to reply only for him to trip on a wire. He screamed in terror as the bomb flashed brightly before his vision turned white and ringing filled his ears.

He was in a daze as he found himself rolling on the floor. He blinked as he noticed his pulped body just a few feet away before he rolled to a stop by his mentor's head. He gulped as Adam picked him up and growled out, “Just when I was having fun. You and I might be built differently but we are not invincible. Don’t worry boy, they can still put you back together.”

He panicked as his vision slowly faded away, darkness clawing at his vision. He reached out for the light, refusing to go down and he screamed. He jolted up right from the chair he was on and patted his body, feeling his chromed up but still very much intact body beneath his neck.

“Martinez! Martinez!” Screamed out a voice as he found himself back in reality with Tanaka shaking him in worry.

“Mr. Martinez, are you alright? Your heart rate suddenly shot up in the middle of the meditation period before this outburst,” The calming voice of his electronic teacher asked him as his classmates looked at him in confusion and concern.

“I-it’s fine, I just had a dream about my internship,” He waved their concern off as he chuckled nervously. He could still feel his heart against his throat but his chrome helped him ease up, rolling back the dial cranking out the adrenaline. He took deep calming breaths just like the program taught him and his heart soon settled down.

“Good, unfortunately the meditation is going to be cut short as it is lunch time. Please gather your things and head for the cafeteria. I heard that they are serving chamomile tea today,” The program announced as class was dismissed. David sighed as he ran his hands across the scar over his scalp, a habit he found himself doing more and more these days as he headed for the door. Some of his usual hanger-ons tried to get him to sit with them but today he wasn’t really feeling like it. Besides, he had some lessons from Tanaka.

“God damn it Martinez, you knew damn well what that internship of yours would entail,” The boy chastised him, criticizing him for his choice of actually taking in Adam fucking Smasher’s offer.

“It’s ok, really. Besides, my grade’s haven't slipped and I’m still alive,” David replied with a reassuring grin as both of them walked down the hallway.

“And here you said I was a masochist. You’re really going for the complete package, huh?” Tanaka asked with a wry grin as the boy slipped his hands on his pockets.

“Best shot I have to the very top,” David answered with a shrug. He was just being a bit realistic here. The road to the top could be very bloody and he’d rather do the dirty deeds than have someone else do it. As dumb as it sounded, he’d rather have things be personal than cold and detached.

“Only you, Martinez, would choose torture training. Only you.” Tanaka scoffed to which David only replied with a grin. As tortuous as it was, he could take it. Besides, just like what his trainer said, he was built different.
A/N:

I'm really sorry about the delay. All the travelling I had to do, setting up replacement laptop and how this chapter fought me every step of the way (had to rewrite this 3 times just to get it write) had been a pain. I'm really sorry. Hopefully, I can make up for it with the next story update.