Gasolina
'Change of plans. I'll meet you for drinks. You know where. Same rules as agreed.'
That was all the message out of the blue had said, when the day of the sit down had come. It had come at six in the morning, and since the sender had been marked as a priority contact, it had interrupted sleep to assure delivery.
V groaned as he shook himself awake from the mattress that had been thrown on the floor for his use, peeling off the thin sheet on top of him before rolling off and standing up. The only sound was the air conditioning and from a little way away, on a real bed at the corner of the house overlooking the city, Judy snored gently on her side, clutching three pillows.
All quiet. Yet his mind wouldn't be quiet. The change of the meet had unsettled him.
"No getting back to sleep now..." V grumbled quietly to himself, before realising he was talking to himself again. A bad habit he had picked up on account of having someone else to talk to in his head.
Without dressing, he grabbed his meds from a wheeled luggage case laying open beside the mattress, and padded away, making for the kitchen/bar area. His head was swimming still, and he needed coffee to put everything in order. There was a moment's distraction as the sunrise glinted off the top of skyscrapers of Night City, while the house remained in darkness from the hills to the east. It all seemed so serene.
But then his head pounded again and he rushed to the saviour that was the coffee machine. He put it on a cycle for a latte and leaned against the counter facing it, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. It was brand new, and Kerry had spent big on it; it made very little noise from boiling the water or warming and foaming the milk. You could even adjust other ingredients like sugar or honey, and save preferred personal recipes.
As the coffee machine completed its task, V quickly took the mug and drank deeply, slightly burning his tongue in the process but saving his life besides.
"Smells good..." came Judy's voice from behind. V turned to see her come shambling over, eyes half closed under the hood of a huge zipped-up hoodie, probably Drausin's, that she had thrown on over her underwear, still clutching a pillow with both arms.
"I'll make you some," V said, putting a fresh mug under the machine and tapping it to make the latte recipe again. Judy mumbled some thanks, before wandering over and giving V a brief hug as thanks.
"What are you doing up?" she asked with a yawn, "It's too early."
"Got a message from Orta," V sighed, "He's moved the meet to the Coyo."
Judy's eyes widened, as she woke up a little more. "Is that good or bad?" she asked, her tone of voice dropping a register with concern.
He hesitated, not wanting to make her worry... but Judy knew when he was lying by now.
"No clue," V admitted, handing her the coffee, "Could be good in that familiar territory means there won't be any chest-beating bullshit about who is making the decisions. Could be bad in that he'll try to let me down easy rather than straight up telling me I'm insane."
Judy smirked as she sipped her own coffee. "You are someone he would want to let down easy," she agreed, "You're not someone to cross, V, even I know that. At the Coyo, you're a whole lot less likely to start killing Valentinos for pissing you off, anyway. On account of Jackie."
"Jesus, never mind Jackie," V replied, "Mama Welles would have me whipped in the street for starting shit. Now that's someone not to cross. She has barely forgiven me for running off into the desert."
He paused, feeling stuffy. "Cmon, let's head outside," he said.
Judy shrugged, and together, they made their way down the stairs and out into the morning air. The wind was blowing towards the landfills, so the smell was that of the plants on the hill and the desert beyond. Familiar and refreshing. He felt better immediately.
V led them both to the loungers by the pond, and they both lay down. Popping a pill, he took another deep drink from his mug, the meds for his condition only tolerable in taste with added coffee and sugar.
"So what are you going to do?" Judy asked, "If they say no."
"Move on," V replied, "The Valentinos are the biggest gang in the city. There's a reason I always went non-lethal when dealing with them, and it goes beyond knowin' Jackie was a brother to them. We could do this with just the Valentinos if they went all in... but they won't, even if Orta Senior and Orta Junior both give the nod."
Gang that big, it wasn't like an army you could just order around and there was a huge territory to protect, the whole of south central NC. So many affiliates meant more people to cajole into agreeing to war, and the culture wasn't as top-down as 6th Street or Maelstrom
"If they say no, does that ruin your plan?" Judy asked.
"It won't help," V sighed, "But it won't stop me."
Judy nodded, before staring at the pool and drinking. V looked on, starting to regret that she was dragged into this. And feeling a hot pang of anger at Goro for doing so.
He had been attracted to her from the start, the tech talk and the determination she had making her so. Still was, but it had all transformed into something else through the shit they had been through with the Claws at Clouds. He knew he wasn't her type in more ways than one, but it didn't matter any more; she was a sister to him. It was a strange but good feeling.
And she deserved better than wandering the country, alone save for her memories of a dead lover and dead friends."Was thinking about that story about you fixing up that firetruck," he said, stretching his arms, "Had an idea."
Judy did not react, except to finish her coffee.
"You gonna come ride with us Aldecaldos when this is all over?" he asked, "Plenty of room, plenty of tech for you to play with, friendly folks. I'm sure Panam and Carol would love to have you on board too." They'd probably be jumping for joy, if anything.
She would bring a whole host of tech niches to the table, skills that would spread through the family like wildfire just as netrunning, tech weapons and sword skills had when he had joined up.
Judy kept staring at the placid water in front of them, considering the offer. "I think I would like that," she said after a moment, "At least for a little while."
"Then it's a done deal," V said, being unable to stop himself smiling, "Though I wonder how Blue Moon will take that news."
A pillow was thrown in his face in response, spilling his the rest of his coffee all over the front of his vintage Samurai shirt.
Twelve hours later.
The Beast had taken them safely across the city without incident, though V had his finger on the trigger of the machinegun on top of it the whole time. No NCPD roadblock materialised, nor an Arasaka hit team. Whatever they were up to, the enemy had decided to let things play out for now.
It set V's teeth on edge that they were not even trying to stop him. Cass said it was proof they weren't onto the plan yet, but paranoia was good for your health when plotting against Arasaka. V knew it firsthand, he used to be the guy discovering the plots.
It helped that the street the Coyo was on had been subtly transformed by the time the Beast cornered onto it. There were far more cars parked up, sporting the icon of Santa Muerte. Pairs of guerreros with pistols and machetes hung around at random intervals and on every corner leading onto it. Sanguinarios hung out on the rooftops in bunches, music filling the air from their radios as they kept a casual but watchful eye from above.
Gustavo Orta wasn't fucking around. Good, V thought, it meant he was deadly serious.
Cass parked a little bit away from the bar, as there were no spots near the doors. They jumped out of the vehicle.
"Jacket still fit after all the chrome you put in yourself?" Cass asked with a smirk.
V had ditched the long coat, his prize from the unconscious body of Placide of the Voodoo Boys, in favour of his Aldecaldo colours... and a black cowboy hat of his own. "I had the chrome when I first got it," he grinned back, "If anything, it fits better with the chrome than without it."
"Fair enough," Cass replied, "Prefer it to the coat is all I'll say."
V did too, but the thing let you at least partially hide longer weapons underneath it... and it wasn't easily identifiable as gang colours. He said nothing more, and the two walked casually towards the Coyo, like they were going for a drink and not a negotiation. Though it was difficult to keep up the pretence.
"Heavy hitters," Cass commented, as a dozen pairs of eyes tracked them on their way.
"Concerned?" V asked back.
"Not about them," the cowboy replied, "But why Orta thinks it's necessary to have them."
"Guess it's the reason it took an extra day to set up the meet," V said, "Well, we'll find out soon enough. Here we go."
They opened the doors to the place that they were almost killed in two days earlier. Inside, the only signs that there had been a life-or-death struggle were the blood stains on the floor. All the other damage had been cleaned up, the stools and tables restored to their rightful place... and the bodies removed. There were no signs of police tape or holo equipment either.
There were three living people, however. V had half expected the place to be full of Valentinos despite Gustavo's promises, but he had kept his word; just him and one other sat on the bar stools. Behind the bar was Mama Welles. Pepe must have been taking the day off to avoid getting tangled up in all this.
The sound of the doors opening drew all their eyes.
V recognised Gustavo's second instantly; she was the woman who had been at Jackie's funeral with him. A memorable lady indeed, even without the gold-plated chrome and jewellery draped over leather covering only about half her body; Martha Frakes, daughter of a 6th Street 'officer' and someone who had been in a coma the last V had heard.
V blinked as things started making a whole lot more sense all of a sudden. He had no idea that it had been her at the funeral. "Hey Mama Welles," he called, taking off his hat, "See that everything is set up." It was wise to ignore her guests in favour of the person who would actually hurt him if he didn't address her first.
"Except the damn stains you and your friends left behind, you mean," Mama Welles complained with a smile, "The policía didn't leave until early this morning, pendejos. I've already prepared your drinks. Gustavo here is ready to talk."
She levelled a glare at the Valentino boss. "Aren't you?" she said, the words in no way a question.
For his part, Gustavo nodded at once to indicate his compliance, while Martha smiled wryly at him. Mama Welles accepted his signal and placed the two glasses on the counter to the side; a Centzon tequila and a La Chouffe Belgian ale; the preferred drinks of V and Cass when they had the choice. Only the very best.
"Follow me," Gustavo said, as they picked up their glasses, "First we pay our respects."
The Valentino leader picked up another tequila that had been waiting, and brought them to the shrine... Jackie's shrine. Everything was untouched, with not a speck of dust on any of it; the photo, the candles, the ceremonial skull tokens... the golden machete, the boxing glove, the copy of Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls.
V felt his insides churn, wishing like all hell that the guy could've been standing there with him. He had avoided the shrine on the last visit, couldn't bring himself to sit there. But there was no avoiding it now. It would've been an insult to the Valentinos and their traditions.
He moved past Gustavo to do what he should have before. "Hey big guy," he said to the photo, "Could really use your help right about now. Would've been nice to have you with us on this next one, but I'm sure you'll do your best from up there."
The photo did not reply... but the candles flickered. After Misty's damn near-prophetic tarot readings and the crazy shit that he had went through, V was willing to believe a lot. Flickering candles was good enough, for now.
"We're counting on you," Gustavo said to Jackie's image, putting his hand on V's shoulder, "What comes next will need the assistance of all the saints and martyrs."
V turned his head to the man. "That mean what I think it means?" he asked.
The Valentino's gaze flickered to Cassidy for a moment. "Let's talk upstairs," Gustavo replied.
A minute later, and they were all sitting down in a booth on the balcony, having stepped over the smear where Blue and Judy had taken out a Tyger Claw borg. V and Cass on one side of the table, Gustavo and Martha.
"First thing I wanna know," Gustavo said, pointing at Cassidy, "Who is this tío?"
V had expected the challenge. All cards had to be on the table. "Cassidy Righter," he said, "Aldecaldo gunman. One of the best."
"Sorta his bodyguard," Cass added with a sigh, "Not that he needs much guarding. He's lethal enough himself."
Gustavo stared and said nothing.
"Trust him with my life," V continued, "He's cool."
Gustavo paused, took a drink, then nodded. "Good," he said, "In case you didn't know, this is Martha. Whole reason I'm back in Night City."
"Pleasure is all mine" Martha smiled at V, "Word is that you saved Gustavo's life while I was out? Not sure I can thank you enough for that. If I had woken and he was gone, I..." She looked away and grabbed her lover's hand. They gave each other a longing look, quickly.
It made V want to call Panam. "Good to meet you again," he replied, "This sit-down and what will follow from it will be all the thanks I need, hopefully."
"Until a few days ago, we wouldn't have considered it," Gustavo said, "We have a truce with 6th Street now. Sat down and drew lines on a map. I don't expect it will last forever, but for now, we're concentrating on making money. Or, we were."
V liked that his sparing of Gustavo had such a domino effect, though he had to ask. "All that because Martha here woke up?" he said, "Spilled the beans on what really happened when you were ambushed?"
Gustavo shook his hand from side-to-side. "Sorta," he said.
"It's one reason," Martha replied, "It was a convenient reason for a ceasefire."
"We've been getting a lot shit from the Tyger Claws coming over from Charter Hill," Gustavo said, "And the Voodoo Boys are coming north from Pacifica now. Both us and 6th Street have territories bordering that have seen fighting."
"As Papa Frakes put it, we didn't want to fight wars on two fronts," Martha added, "So peace was made and the wars split down the middle. 6th Street to fight the Tygers in Charter Hill, Valentinos to keep the Voodoo Boys out of Heywood."
"Voodoo Boys, outside of Pacifica?" V asked, "That doesn't sound like them." He made a mental note to ask Alt about that, the next time they had a chat.
"We don't know what their fucking deal is either," Gustavo said, "All we know is they're hungry to get north, and have run straight into us and 6th Street at the Glen. If you had told me we be at war with them last year, I would've laughed and told you we would fucking annihilate any attempt to get a foothold in Heywood... but they have been a lot of trouble. They hit the weak spot, 6th Street in the Glen are on their knees."
"And the Claws?" Cassidy asked, "We saw first hand how much trouble they are. You going to leave them to 6th Street?"
"Not a chance," Martha said, "That's why we're sitting here now."
Gustavo smiled viciously. "We want an alliance," he said, "Three way. Valentinos, 6th Street, Aldecaldos. We all heard the news about your leader making big with the other nomads. You've got an army, we've got an army. We all sit down again soon, divide up the territory beforehand, then wipe the Claws off the fucking map."
V couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this. There's no way it could work, even if it could've fulfilled his own needs. "Ambitious... maybe too ambitious," he said, "Claws have got almost as many members as you do, last I checked. Not sure an alliance between 6th Street and the Valentinos can hold up long enough to pull it off. No offence."
"Any other day, you'd be right," Gustavo said, "But word has gotten around that the Claws attacked both us and you. The Mighty V. When Campo heard that, he knew you would be pissed. Wanted to get you onboard."
"6th Street already want to destroy the Claws, their war is not going well," Martha added, "Gives them the motivation, trust me."
"So what?" V replied, "Peace for a little while is one thing, fighting side-by-side is another. Even if you do pull it off, no one is gonna stick to the agreement on territory anyway. It's doomed."
"We don't need to fight side-by-side, we can hit the Tygers in different districts," Gustavo replied, "As for the peace... We'll both lose people, good people, doing this. Combined with the new territory, we're both going to be spread thin. The peace will mostly hold, at least until we can gather strength again."
V didn't like where this was going. This was not the reason he had come back to Night City.
"You're talking about all-out gang war," V said, "That's not the reason I'm here."
Gustavo leaned back in his seat, exchanging a glance with Martha. "Señora Welles said you wanted to sit down and discuss punishing those who tried to kill you," he said, "Said you couldn't let them get away with it. Are you telling me that is not true?"
Fuck. Mama Welles hadn't given the full details, no doubt guessing that an attack on Arasaka was the reason he was back and seeing that as a fucking stupid idea.
"No, it is true... but it was Arasaka organised the attack, the Claws were working for them," V explained, "Yes, we'll have to deal with the Claws, but Arasaka are the ones who wanted me dead. Bet the Charter Hill fighting is just a front for Militech and Arasaka too."
Martha hmmed to herself. "Militech do sell 6th Street a lot of guns," she said.
"How does that matter?" Gustavo said, irritated, "If this is true, it's even more reason to accept our proposal. The Claws will not stop if there is a corp backing them. You will not be safe until their bosses are dead, because the same bosses' lives will depend on killing you."
Now came the moment of truth.
"It matters because the reason I came back is Arasaka," I said, "I requested this sit-down because I want the Valentinos to join us and whoever else we can get in hitting Arasaka and taking everything we can from them."
"A raid," Cassidy added, "In the classic style."
Rubbing the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb, Gustavo lowered his head and grimaced. Not good.
"You want the Valentinos and 6th Street to attack Arasaka with you?" Martha asked, "Like, all of us? Direct against the Tower?"
V shook his head. "We can't figure how to hit them until we know who is going to sign up," he said, "Most likely it'll be however many people you can spare. Preferably your best. As for 6th Street, they've got those Arasaka factories and warehouses right in the middle of their territory. They'll need to be dealt with..."
"Have you lost your fucking mind?!" Gustavo snapped in Spanish, suddenly getting up and leaning forward on the table, "Arasaka have aircraft carriers! Nuclear weapons! How can we fight that!"
The man was furious, his face red. But it had to be overcome, and not about to be shot down by that objection, V shot up and leaned forward on his palms too.
"You want to punish the people who attacked your territory?!" he shouted back, "The Claws were nothing but fucking puppets! It was Yorinobu Arasaka who waltzed into your turf like he fucking owned the place, not some fucking gangoon from Japantown."
"Answer my question," Gustavo growled, "Tell me how we fight that or get the fuck out of here."
V was tempted to point out that it wasn't for him to say who got the fuck out of the Coyo... But decided against it.
"We fight that by being fucking smart about it," V replied, "We've already got in touch with Militech. They'll arm us. Arasaka don't have their armies and navy here, just the same shit we've already beaten on our own. We have the local advantage."
He straightened up and crossed his arms.
"We hit them and get out before their cavalry arrives, then disappear back into the fucking crowd," he continued, "Only way they can get us after that is if they start a Corporate War again, and then they'd have to fight the whole fucking NUSA."
"The sharks will be circlin' too," Cassidy added, "Militech, Kang Tao, Tsunami, Lazarus, they'll all be taking their bite."
"So easy to say that," Gustavo said, "Yet why do I sense that I will be dying by a sniper's bullet for even listening to you?"
"Arasaka are already in hot water over the Relic thing," V said, "It'll take just one more push to send them out of North America again. They're going to have far bigger problems than you. If they try and kill anyone, it'll be me, not you. To them, you're just a criminal doing what criminals do; steal things when the opportunity comes a'knockin'."
Gustavo's face returned to its natural shade, and he sat down. Martha once again took his hand and whispered to him, only to receive a kiss on the cheek to reassure her that everything was okay. V followed suit in taking his seat again and waited.
"I suppose there is truth in that," Gustavo said, "But you're forgetting one thing; Arasaka do not need to kill us themselves. They have the Claws to do that for them, as they proved in this very building."
He paused to finish his drink off in a single gulp.
"If we sign up to this, we need the Claws dead," the Valentino continued, "With even more certainty than our previous plan provided."
"You need the Claws dead," V retorted, "I will be in the desert, where the Tyger Claws have no chance in hell of getting to me. And since you already seem to want to go to war with them, I don't see any difference either way." Well, unless he went to Vegas, but one thing at a time.
"No, my friend, we need them dead," Gustavo insisted, "You demand this meet, Campo thinks you are on the warpath against the Claws. Considers you a brother in arms in the struggle against those yakuza putas already. If he finds out that this attack was all about some corpo vendetta and that you aren't going to support us in punishing the Claws, when their attack is your fault... He will be extremely angry with you."
His cyber-eyes met V's own. "You can forget about our support," he said with absolute certainity, "We'll be hunting you ourselves. I will not be able to stop it, Campo will set every sicario to the task."
Because Valentino honour would demand it. Blowing a breath out through his teeth in frustration, V could not help but admit to himself that the man had a great point. "Shit," he said, "You're right." The reality of that sent him to the tequila, the warmth of it spreading down his throat and then to his head, easing the symptoms of being caught out.
Gustavo gestured with his hand in a I told you so way. "So our interests are aligned after all," he said, "But as I said, we need to be absolutely certain the Claws are permanently off the board in Night City."
Which meant one thing. "The Aldecaldos agree to your alliance proposal," V said, "Panam will kill me for involving us, but we've got friends who can pitch in now."
"It is a start," Gustavo replied, "But if we're fighting the Tyger Claws, and maybe 6th Street are fighting Arasaka in Rancho, there is no way we can spare our sicarios to help you... Unless the pressure is taken off."
What the hell did that mean?
"But how?" V asked, "Between 6th Street and you guys, the Claws are heavily outnumbered even so. If you can't use that to your advantage, I can't help you."
"Well, there is one way," Martha said, getting the attention of the entire table, "The Tyger Claws do have another enemy."
V had a sinking feeling about who she was talking about at once. "You bring another gang into this, you'll have to cut them in," he said, "That really something you want to do? Or is that something 6th Street will agree to?"
"We'll handle it," Martha said, "You're the one asking the impossible, not us. If you want our help, we need the Mox against the Tyger Claws. And we'll still need your help against them to begin with."
Exactly what V did not want to hear. The Mox were the last people who would want to be involved in a massive gang war, even if it was going to be short. That wasn't their style any more. He polished off his Tequila, wishing he had more.
"Lucky me," he said, "I have a contact who can get us talking to the Mox. She ain't going to be happy about it, but it at least makes it not completely impossible."
And a pillow was the lightest thing she would throw at him for asking.
