Chapter 1: Let You Down

14 March 2076.

Still nothing. Ernesto puffed another from the cigarette while his eyes were still glued to the news. It was early morning, the sun peeking into his apartment from between the skyline of the city.

"...a military-grade implant was found missing from the body of Lt. Col. James Norris shot dead by MaxTac last night…"

There. After a camera shot showing the massacre occurred outside of the NCPD headquarters, another shot pictured Gloria and her co-workers loading a body bag into an ambulance.

The 'accident' of the Cyberpsycho was nothing but a cover for her to recover the 'missing implant', all orchestrated by MI6 even though Arasaka thought it was their own doing. But the image of the dead cops left an impression on Ernesto. Theoretically, none of his contacts was in service last night, but even with that, most of the street cops were overall normal people, who did their duty to a community that most likely didn't deserve their sacrifice.

After two years undercover, he thought he had grown accustomed to making horrible deeds or taking part in them, but he was wrong. Too many times there were innocent people being at the wrong place, wrong time.

A few minutes later, the call arrived.

"Mamacita." He greeted tenderly.

"Mijo. I got it." Gloria said.

"Anyone noticed?"

"Don't worry, it's not the first time I steal from an intervention."

"Good...how's David?"

"He just left for school. You know...he misses you a lot. And so do I."

"You know I can't come back, mama."

"I understand, but I don't like it. Knowing that you're out there, dodging bullets and that every time you call might be the last…" she said with an increasingly worried tone.

"I can't turn back, mama. Not anymore. I just want for you and David to stay safe."

Gloria sighed. "Where do I drop the device?"

"I have a job to do, today. I'll call back this evening and we'll come up with the details. For now, get this."

The credits were sent. Full price for the Sandevistan.

"Mijo, that's a lot! Where do you even get all of this creds?"

"I'll let you imagine that. We'll see each other soon, mama, I promise."

"Be careful, Nesto."

"I'll do my best." and closed the call.

He puffed the cigarette one last time, leaving only the filter, and threw it away as he headed toward the door. He stepped outside and, to his surprise, he found his netrunner friend waiting at the handrail of the floor.

"Lucy. You up early today." he commented in a tired tone as he walked toward her.

The young woman threw down her own cigarette and stomped on it. "Just wanted to get started." she replied in kind. "So, what's the job?"

"First I have to go the NCPD. Make sure my contacts are all still kicking. Then they will give us the coordinates to the goons' hive."

"You don't really expect me to walk in the cops' house, do you?"

"Don't worry, you can wait outside, it won't take long."

"Why do you take up this job, anyway? The pay is usually terrible."

"Cops in this city are those who weren't assholes enough to join the corpos' security. When Saka and Tech will crumble, somebody will have to keep the city from descending into complete anarchy."

"Right, because that would make so much difference from now." she said sarcastically.

"Look at the bright side. Can't get any worse. But I seek to make this place better, without shedding more blood than necessary."

They finally reached the bottom of the building and left the block.

"I know. That's why I accepted to help you." Lucy said feigning to be uninterested. "Maine's work would have been more remunerative, you know?"

Lucy wasn't like the other edgerunners. Ernesto had met her last year, wondering the city with no goal. He didn't know why, but when she understood that he was working to take down the corporations, she didn't hesitate to become one of his agents. Still, to keep her cover, Ernesto had introduced Lucy to Maine's gang, which was still his main group of allies whenever he had a mission he could easily mask as a gig, and money was something he didn't miss while working for MI6.

She seemed to like going on missions with Ernesto. He suspected that was because they were both the quiet type. For sure, he also appreciated her talking only when it was about work. With her, it was like having just another tool for the job.

The city was just beginning to come to life, especially in the center. An NCAR passed over their heads as Ernesto pulled over in a parking slot next to the Department. The scene of the massacre was still closed with warnings, cops patrolling and huge stains of blood on the floors. To access the Department, Ernesto had to walk up the stairs to the next level and enter from there, while Lucy leaned against the rail and took out another cigarette to kill some time. He instead went in and headed for the only counter dedicated to mercs and bounty hunters.

"Yo, Martinez." a young cop said when he saw him.

"'Sup, Jim. Not the best wake up, today, uh?" Ernesto said, referring to the big news of the day.

"Yeah," the cop said with discomfort. "Connolly and Basoso were there. I still can't believe it."

"I feel that, man. Sorry to interrupt, but is the Inspector available?"

"Ah, yeah, just a sec."

The eyes of the cop lightened up, signaling he was making the call. Just ten seconds later, he opened the door and allowed Ernesto to walk through, so he could head toward the office of Inspector Petra Kennedy.

"Ah, right on cue." she said, dropping a few pinned papers on the desk.

"Missed me much?" he joked.

"News on the gang just came in. They are receiving a cargo this afternoon at 4PM."

"Drugs or guns?"

"Guns and cyberware, apparently. And if my source is reliable, they got it from Militech."

Ernesto got suspicious. "Militech, uh? Well, the chooms are not getting away with that, this time."

"Be careful. There are heavy weapons. Some fresh from the labs. They are unleashing them on the city to test the effect in a street fight, the slimy bastards. Unfortunately, Militech is pushing hard on us to drop the case, so you better act fast if you want the bounty."

"Just hang on until this evening. It will be all over by then."

"Keep that and perhaps I'll consider your offer for a dinner." she quipped with a frowning smile.

"Now that gets me all pumped up." he retorted. He quickly downloaded the intel and left the building, finding Lucy staring out toward the city, though when he approached, she heard and turned her head.

"So, where are we going?"

"Change of plans. The punks have a meeting with Militech at 4PM, we'll strike at that hour. However, this gives us an opportunity."

"How so?"

Ernesto nodded her to follow and they got back to the car, so he could make the call without anyone disturbing.

"Yo, dawg. Got something?"

"Maine, my friend. I was wondering if you and the crew would be interested in acquiring some new chrome."

"Maybe. What's the plan?"

Ernesto briefly explained the situation before commenting. "I was thinking, I'm about to get my upgrade for the next gigs. But I thought this might be an opportunity for you guys to see if you can get something better for free."

Maine giggled. "Guess it can't hurt. If anything, we can get the junk off on the market."

"I'm sure someone might be interested in the latest Militech gear. Mind if I come to your place, so we define the strat?"

"Sure thing, choom. I'll get the crew." and closed the call.

"So it's a day-out with the boys?" Lucy asked.

"The more, the merrier." Ernesto quipped.


4PM. Maine, Dorio Kiwi and Pilar were waiting in the van while Rebecca and Lucy were waiting with Ernesto in his car. The hideout of the punk gang they had to storm was in the suburbs, in a residential area, so they had to be quick and avoid explosions as much as they could in order to avoid civilian casualties.

"Any sign of the corpos?" he asked on the open channel.

"Not yet." Kiwi answered. "Weird. They are the kind of people who love being on schedule."

"Ya, I'm getting bore 'ere." Rebecca lamented.

"Hold up." Lucy suddenly intervened and pointed 23 o'clock.

A reinforced SUV with no logos, but definitely out of environment there pulled over right in front of the stairs that brought to the underground gallery of the street gang. A group of men in black suits came down, accompanied by a bodyguard and carrying a few small crates.

"Look at them carrying." Maine said. "Looks like your badge girlfriend was on point."

"Man, I hope we find some new hands in all that loot." Pilar added.

"All right, I'm going in." Ernesto said once the corpos had disappeared underground, leaving only a guard with a shotgun in front of the entrance.

"Just take out that poor bastard and we'll take care of the rest, dawg."

"Remember: no explosives. This building is holding up by sheer divine will."

After a general consensus around that statement, the Legionnaire approached the guard casually, as if he was just walking around. He couldn't approach him too much without raising his suspicions, so he called up his own divine intervention.

"Lucy…"

Two seconds later, the cortex of the goon fizzled, making him convulse and groan in pain. Ernesto suddenly dashed toward him, letting his coat fall, and unsheathed the short sword hanging from his back. With a swift swing, he cut the goon diagonally from the left shoulder to the right hip. Blood dripped a bit before the upper half of the body fell down.

Ernesto quickly cleaned the blade on his chromed hand, part of the very few implants he had chipped in since that fateful day. Nothing too big, cause he didn't need heavy gear: his enhanced biology was a good enough weapon for him, but he needed to blend in, and some additional protection could always be useful.

"All right, people. Let's get this show rolling." he concluded on the comm channel.

The runners quickly dashed out and ran for the stairs. In accordance with the plan, Ernesto preceded them, heading straight for the corpos while Maine and the gang stormed the place. Meanwhile Kiwi and Lucy were jamming the net to prevent the Militech guys from calling backup.

The street goons were caught completely by surprise. Ernesto crossed three of them and quickly planted a bullet of his SMG into each of their heads. Keeping his center low, he darted through the corridors, shooting down anybody who got his way. Lucy was transmitting a map and synchronizing the few cameras of the gallery with his motion sensor, so he could easily anticipate any enemy popping out. Most importantly, though, thanks to that he knew where the corpos were.

He could hear the shots fired by Maine's group behind him and the screams of the poor devils who tried to fight them, but he didn't care. He focused exclusively on his target, and indeed he reached it quite fast.

The group of four corporate men were still trying to understand what was interrupting their trade, and so was the boss of the gang and his guards. There were in total 7 evidently armed targets.

First person to charge at him was the Militech guard, a towering figure who drew out a sword and attacked with a yell. All Ernesto had to do was to lean on the opposite side, let the blade stuck in the wall and unload a burst of twelve into the man's chest and head. He immediately grabbed it with the left hand and advanced, using the body as a meat shield as the goons opened fire. With his right hand, Ernesto put away the weapon and instead threw an EMP that fried the visors of the goons for a few seconds, just what he needed to gun them down easily with a rush of adrenaline making everything move slower than ever.

Of the four corporatives, three of them took out small arms either in their cyberware or handguns. They even fired, but only a bullet scratched Ernesto's chrome on the left shoulders. He gunned them down, as well. The fourth guy had hesitated to draw out, which Ernesto used to kneecap him.

The corporate screamed like a little bitch and fell on the ground. He tried to take his handgun back, but the Legionnaire kicked it away, then that same foot smashed on the wound.

"Gaaaaahhhh!"

"You guys have been supplying multiple gangs, recently. What's the catch?" Ernesto coldly asked.

Whimpering and grunting, the corporate man replied in fear. "All I know is that the company and Arasaka are putting gangs against each other. I don't know the details!"

Those words only made Ernesto even more furious. So they were artificially increasing the crime rate and putting at risk innocents for their dirty affairs.

"Thanks." he said, removing his foot. Then turned his gun toward the man's head. "This is for the boys at Boot Hill."

"Wait…"

Ernesto shot the last bullet in the magazine at point blank, blowing the dude's head.

Boot Hill referred to another gunfight last week, where this gang not only assaulted an Arasaka convoy in the middle of the city, they also fired on the police that intervened. Ernesto had answered the call and immediately drove to help his contacts, but twelve cops died that day and the punks managed to escape. In that occasion, they were already using Militech gear.

The Legionnaire clipped out the magazine and put another in before putting the gun away. With the neural implant he made a few picture and a video proving that Militech was selling guns to the street gangs, then he heard Pilar's voice.

"Shit, dude. You really went to town on the gonks." he giggled.

Ernesto turned around. Shortly after, the rest of the crew also reached the room.

"Remind me never to piss you off." Dorio commented.

"Dat the gear?" Maine asked, pointing at the crates.

"Yup." Ernesto said. He tapped his wrist-pad, activating the basic violation software so that a few seconds later, the locks were off.


As the recording of the shootout finished, Petra seemed a little disturbed.

"Listen, I know that you hate the corpos with all your gut...but was that really necessary?" she asked, referring to the man Ernesto shot in cold blood.

"Whatevs." he murmured, annoyed that she tried to poke his conscience. His head propped up his right hand.

Truth be told, his gears were still grinding about that episode: it wasn't like him to kill unarmed people, no matter how much he thought they deserved to die.

Petra gave him a mix of a compassionate and suspicious look, then sighed in resignation. "Well, a pity some scavengers found the crates before us."

"You know full well that Militech would have paid your superiors to get them back, had you confiscated them. Trust me, they're probably in better hands, now."

"I sure hope so. Anyway…"

Her eyes lit up and the feed on Ernesto showed that the bounty had been deposited in his bank account.

"A pleasure doing biz with you, milady."

Petra peeked at the clock, then stood up.

"Come on, at least let me get you a coffee for taking this shit out of my hands."

"Don't mind if I do."

The sun was setting. Just outside the district there was a classy bar for the cops, Petra offered Ernesto the coffee and they sat at a corner of the room, where they could discuss the delicate topic on the Inspector's mind.

"What do you intend to do with all the footage of the Militech gear?"

"Leak it to the press. If things go public, Arasaka will demand compensation for the damage suffered from Militech and its goons. Will fan the fires of hatred between them." Ernesto calmly explained.

"You thing it might be enough to set them on the path of mutual destruction?"

"No. But it's just another twig on the pile. When the moment comes, we'll light the pyre. I'll just have to be sure that my mum and brother will be well beyond the blast zone when it happens."

"You sure you don't want me to put them under protection?"

"I appreciate it, Petra, but that would most likely draw unwanted attention on them. No, their best chance of surviving in this city is to lay low."

"You could at least visit them from time to time. You know, I'm pretty sure your brother is suffering from your sudden ghosting."

"David can't be involved in this. Not a chance." he said in an irritated tone. The simple thought of putting his brother on his own path causing him itches.

"Are you doing this for him? Or for yourself?"

He didn't answer. He didn't feel like it. Just sighed and gulped down what was left of his cup. "Thanks for the caf." he concluded before standing up. He heard Petra grunt softly, but she didn't try to press the issue.

He left the bar and walked until he reached the car. Meanwhile, he tried to call Gloria, but she didn't pick up. Ernesto assumed that she was probably putting some extra hours at work. Instead, he received a message from Maine, inviting him to the victory round at Minjung's, a tradition even Ernesto had grown accustomed to.

The engine of the car roared, the radio was transmitting 'Who's ready for tomorrow', a song the Legionnaire always felt some degree of feeling. Vibing as he drove through the short path toward the open kiosks, Ernesto still couldn't help but think about Petra's words.

David had always looked up to him. He had never met their father, who left them when David was only 2. By all accounts, Ernesto was the male figure David needed as reference, and now he had been denied that, too. Was he really doing his brother a favor?

Those thoughts subsided when he found the crew at the party. They welcomed him fondly and showed him some of the loot from the heist: Pilar found some new cyber-hands and was using them to play juggler with bottles and trays. Rebecca found some latest automatic shotguns and even Maine found some chrome he intended to add as soon as possible. Lucy and Kiwi were each on their own, observing the party from a distance.

Wishing to forget everything for an hour, Ernesto joined the party, getting to drink and dance a little.