Chapter 7: Battles, Bonfires, Bigfoot, and Birthrights

July 21st, 2076

Rocky Ridge, Badlands

David: Hello?

Rogue: Martinez. I heard you died.

Not long after Faolan had quietly left the bar, David had gotten a call from the queen of the fixers and walked up to the second floor of the bar. He was now sitting in one of the old BD booths, with Lucy hanging on to his shoulder. Before he responded to the legend, he connected Lucy to the call so she could listen in.

D: That was the plan, was it not?

R: Gotta hand it to ya' kid, plenty of people are already whispering about it here. All I did was tell Claire to have a sad look in her eye and spread the tale I wove.

D: Which is?

R: David Martinez and his crew found out their fixer was going to let Militech get their hands on some crazy 'saka tech, and decided to klep the thing for themselves, to stop the corpos from getting something so powerful. When a Militech force arrived to flatten you, your crew fended them off for a full hour and destroyed a large amount of their forces, all before being destroyed yourselves in a ball of hellfire, along with the prototype chrome.

D: Sounds pretty absurd, doesn't it?

R: More so than a rockerboy setting off a nuke in Arasaka tower?

D: … Point taken. So… now what?

R: Now? Now you lay low. Can't have the recently departed show up all around town, can we?

D: I thought you said you had work for us?

R: I do, but you need to let the heat die down first. Don't want all of this going to waste, right?

David rubbed his hand on Lucy's shoulder.

D: No. No, we don't.

R: In the meantime, you'll need to find a new look for yourselves.

D: Look? You mean get new outfits?

R: You can't fake your death and then come back while wearing the exact same gear. That is unless you want to be found out right away.

D: Alright, I'll see what I can do.

R: Good. I'll be in touch. Oh, and David?

D: Yes?

R: Don't let that 'runner girl out of your sight. If she snuck into 'saka tower and survived, then she's too good for you.

Lucy looked up at her input and smirked.

David: Trust me, I know. Later, Rogue.

Rogue: Mhm.

"Guess I get to take you clothes shopping, babe," Lucy said, poking David in the side as the call ended.

"Looks that way. You know that also means you have to try on clothes for me too, right?" David said.

"Oh trust me, I know ," Lucy purred while rubbing her hand across his chest.

There was a heavy temptation in David's mind to just throw her against the BD booth's couch right then and there, but he refused to allow Faolan the pleasure of making another saucy comment about them.

Another time then. Or as soon as we get home tonight.

Their quiet moment was interrupted by the bar's door being slammed open.

"Raffen Shiv!" Faolan yelled as he ran inside, Kiwi right behind him.

What!?

"What!?" Falco yelled.

David and Lucy jumped out of the BD booth and looked over the railing to the first floor.

"Coming down the road, a whole fuckin' convoy of 'em, probably saw the AV land and want to salvage it," Kiwi said, looking… happier?

There was something different in her eyes, as if she had, well, warmed up. Like her icy heart had melted, if ever just so slightly.

Last time I saw Kiwi she could barely look me in the eyes, and now she's rushing to warn us of danger.

"Alright," David yelled, "let's get all our shit read-"

"No," Faolan commanded.

"Why the fuck not?" Lucy asked, tired of her lover getting interrupted by the armored merc.

"Because you're all supposed to be dead, remember? That whole charade will fall apart real fuckin' quick if the Wraiths report that you're alive and hiding out in the badlands," Faolan said.

Fuck. He's right.

"So what are we going to do?" David asked.

"You all are going to go into the back office of this bar, lock the door shut, and wait for my signal that it's clear," Faolan said.

Their protector's team had already begun to prepare for combat, looking as if they were operating off of pure muscle memory, or synth-muscle memory, in Monarch and Mark's case. Kalina pulled her mask up over her face and checked the Lexington pistol in her thigh holster, securing an XC-10 Alecto suppressor onto the barrel, and Garth was already powering up his suit systems, the internals coming to life with a deep mechanical woom.

David looked to the bottom floor and saw the office Faolan mentioned, a small room in the back corner of the building with a door that was more reinforced than any of the others. He looked to Lucy and nodded, the two of them quickly making their way to the office, with the rest of the crew not far behind. The inside of the office was small but did have enough room for a small couch in front of a large TV screen that likely hadn't been turned on in years, as well as a small desk in the back with a large office chair to boot. Falco was the last to get inside, right after which Faolan walked up to the door and said,

"You have all had a very long, tiring day of fighting. So just sit back, and enjoy the show."

He sealed the door shut, locking the crew inside.

"Well this fucking sucks," Rebecca said, plopping down on the old couch.

Hmm, I wonder?

"Lucy, Kiwi?" David asked, making the two netrunners perk up. "Can you get the camera feeds from the town's security system displayed on the TV here?"

Lucy got a devilish grin on her face and Kiwi just chuckled, saying, "What is this, movie night?"

"Oooh! That sounds preem as fuck! C'mon you two, hurry up!" Rebecca said, excitedly banging her feet against the edge of the couch.

David got the TV to turn on, luckily, and not long after the screen lit up with multiple different boxes, each showing the feed from a different camera. Most of the town was covered in them, thankfully, so it gave them plenty of angles to view the upcoming battle. The crew gathered around the couch, with David and Lucy sitting next to Rebecca, Falco in the large office chair with his feet propped up, and Kiwi sitting on the desk itself with her back resting against the wall.

The sun had fully set now, the large, full moon being the only light source and basking it in a pale, blue glow. David saw Monarch get back into the AV, but it didn't take off as he had expected.

Maybe they're using it as bait?

Then the Raffen Shiv arrived. They came in cars of all shapes and sizes, each covered in different markings and paint. Raffen Shiv wasn't a single nomad clan, it was the name given to any nomads who were too extreme for any of the actual families to keep, and so were exiled. The most depraved, despicable members of the already ferocious nomad people, all banded together in a society that cared about nothing but power and dominance over others, including those within their own "clan". This specific group of Raffens was known as the Wraiths, and they'd been in control of the badlands just outside NC since David was a kid. The crew had all heard the stories. They mostly traveled at night, preying on the sleeping and unwary, and any they did find would either be taken as slaves, hostages, or used for them for the Wraith's own sick pleasures.

They were, without question, the most despicable of all nomad tribes, if you could even call them one, and David couldn't wait to see them get fucked up tonight.

"You know what," Falco said, "this actually does remind me of a movie my pops made me watch. Ya'll ever hear of The Magnificent Seven?"

"No, the fuck is that? Some old-timer thing?" Rebecca asked.

"If you saw the main actor, you'd go weak in the knees," Falco said, causing 'Becca to flip off the old nomad.

"I've heard of a movie called Seven Samurai, Is that the same one?" Lucy asked.

"Don't think so… point is, it's all about a group of seven gunmen that have to protect a small town from a large band of raiders, out in the old west," Falco explained.

That does sound oddly similar…

Their wonderings were broken when the cars finally stopped rolling into town, mainly surrounding the AV as armed goons poured out of their vehicles.

There's gotta be at least a hundred of them here…. why so many?

David soon learned why when a large, kitted-out truck with a 30mm Gatling Cannon mounted on the back of it pulled into view of the main camera, being adorned with the Wraith's signature spiked skull insignia. The man that stepped out of the back of said truck made Falco nearly fall out of his chair.

"Holy shit is that…" the old man said.

He was a fairly large man, about David's size, with a large beige cloak wrapped around him that masked much of his actual body. He had a dark complexion and old, blistered scars ran all over his weathered face.

"... Dogkiller?"

"I'm sorry, who?" David asked.

Falco looked at the crew with genuine shock on his face and said,

"The fucking leader of the entire Wraith clan. A man so low he has to look up to see hell. That coat he's got on? It's made out of human skin ."

David shuddered in disgust and kept watching as Dogkiller started walking up to the AV.

"Luce', can we get audio on this bitch?" Rebecca asked, to which Lucy's eyes lit up as she linked whatever audio recorders she could to the TV as well. The speakers crackled to life,

"Well, well, boys, what do we have here? Some corpo fuck trying to land in MY turf, trying to be all sneaky?" Dogkiller said.

The other Raffens cheered their leader on as he kept prowling around the aerodyne, which had shut its doors well before the raiders had arrived.

"Wait, look, cam 4!" Rebecca said.

They all looked at said camera to see Kalina sneaking behind the end of the convoy of vehicles, running straight past a few guards who didn't even hear her. She was like a spirit, gliding across the ground and ducking into shadows. When a guard got close to her while she was hiding around a corner, she turned and yanked the guard into the alley in the blink of an eye, putting a hand over his mouth and snapping the goon's neck a second later.

David saw something move in Camera 2, which was aimed at the gas station next door, on top of which was Annie with a… bow?

Didn't know people still used bows for hunting, let alone actual combat. Then again, I guess there aren't many better ways to take someone out silently at a distance.

The archer was hunched down behind an AC unit on the roof, an arrow already notched and drawstring slightly pulled back.

Just then another blur dashed in front of Camera 6, which was looking at the power station, and it was Mark. He had just dashed to hide behind a piece of the power station's perimeter wall. The metal man pulled the bolt back on his Ajax rifle, likely checking to make sure it was loaded, before getting into what can only be described as a 'battle ready' stance.

Where the hell is Garth? Not like the big guy could really hide.

David's question was answered when it all kicked off simultaneously.

Garth came charging out of the lower garage of the gas station, busting straight through the concrete wall and throwing a man into the side of one of the cars so hard that the metal crunched inward. The rest of the goons began to open fire, their rounds bouncing off the powered suit's metal, and some gonks actually rushing the giant with melee weapons. A metal fist came crashing down on one of the attacker's heads, popping it like a balloon, and spraying blood all over the attacker's buddy who had also charged. The exiled nomad tried to wipe the blood off his face, but Garth picked him up before he got the chance, raised him high into the air, and slammed the tiny man down on the ground so hard David was pretty sure every bone in the raider's body broke.

At the same time, Rebecca pointed at Mark on Camera 5 coming out of the power station and dropping three raiders with six well-placed shots. Another tried rushing him, only to get a metal foot to the rib cage that sent the goon flying backward at least ten feet and through the window of a nearby home, the glass severing his spinal cord on impact. Mark had already started advancing again before the goon went limp, dropping another three raiders with his rifle before swapping to his own Lexington pistol and putting two rounds into two other brains.

Damn, might have to ask him if he can teach me how to shoot.

Dogkiller was panicking now, yelling,

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?"

Just as he finished screaming an arrow flew by him and hit the goon closest to him in the neck, blood spurting out onto the leader's face. Then another body fell, and another, until seven Wraiths were dead, each with an arrow lodged in their throat. All of which had happened in about ten seconds.

So that's why Lucy told me Annie is one of the scariest of them all.

A horrified scream came through the speakers then, and the crew watched as Kalina weaved through the raiders like a shadow. She took each out with either a silent shot to the head, a snap of the neck, or a knife to their throat. The last man in her path had noticed her, but it was too late, as she easily threw the larger fighter to the ground and put a knee on his back, twisting the goon's arm backward until a series of loud cracks were heard.

Did she just break his arm? Multiple times, in one move? Alright, I'm actually more scared of her now.

The raider died as a round went through the back of his skull. Kalina quickly reloaded her pistol and continued her silent rampage.

Each member of Faolan's team was operating like clockwork, as if fighting off a hundred psychotic nomads was nothing but target practice for them.

Sort of makes me wonder what kind of missions they normally go on.

The crew cringed when Kalina took another guard down, gasped when Annie put more arrows through windpipes, marveled at Mark's efficiency, and awed when Garth kicked one of the cars so hard that it flattened two of the raiders against a wall, painting it red.

'Teddy bear' my ass, that's just a fucking bear in an armored power suit.

Then David noticed something odd.

"Where's Faolan?" he asked.

The crew did their best to search for him in the cams, but couldn't see anything. Then Kiwi pointed at Cam 8, which looked down the main road, all of them narrowing their eyes to see what she saw.

Lucy, more excitedly than David had expected, said, "Look! There, behind the cars on the right!"

If Kalina was a shadow, then Faolan was the wind itself. He was weaving in between cars and stabbing or slicing anyone in his path, all without making a pebble move. Looking closer, David could see a trail of bodies going from the front of the convoy all the way to the middle where he was now, near the AV. The heads and limbs of most of the corpses had been severed with a single clean cut, and there wasn't a single bullet casing anywhere near them, meaning none of those Wraiths had even gotten to pull a trigger.

"More like a demon than a ghost…," Kiwi whispered.

The rest of the fight was like watching a group of adults beating on some little kids, the raiders desperately trying to make sense of what the hell was happening. Two of the guards decided to pry open one of the AV doors and use it as cover, only for a 6-foot-tall cyborg with no face to stare them in the eyes, his mask displaying,

[[ :) ]]

Then Monarch smacked the shit out of one of the goons, his head doing a full 360 as his neck snapped. The other Wraith tried to get a shot off with his pistol, but the 'borg just ripped the gun out of the gonk's hands and gripped him by the neck. One quick twitch of his hand and the raider's body went limp. Monarch tossed both of them out of the aircraft before mock wiping his hands off.

[[ :) ]]

Right, might just be a pilot, but he's still a fuckin' cyborg.

After a few more minutes of fighting, there were still a lot of Raffens left, far too many. If the fight kept going like it was, the Raffens would eventually win by pure attrition or a stray round would hit the crew inside.

Faolan had other plans. David watched as the armored merc appeared out of seemingly nowhere in front of Dogkiller. The Wraith boss reacted by pulling out a large Kukri and trying to stab the merc, only for Faolan to literally stand there unmoving as the blade entered his shoulder, not reacting whatsoever. Dogkiller's eyes widened in fear for possibly the first time in his miserable life, his moment of hesitation costing him as the demon grabbed the sick fuck by the throat and pushed him up against the wall of the AV. Faolan spoke in the same deep voice he used back at the Afterlife with the Tyger Claws,

"You are going to leave. And never return. Do you understand?"

Dogkiller tried to resist Faolan's grip, resulting in all the fingers of his left hand being grabbed by the merc and then twisted backward sharply, the knuckles snapping in half as all of his digits were broken. The Raffen leader screamed out in agony.

"Do. You. Understand?"

"What the fuck are you?" Dogkiller asked, out of breath.

"Ones that prey on scum like you. That will hunt your sadistic, evil soul to the deepest pits in hell to ensure that righteous justice is thrust upon you. Our job in this world is to make sure that fucks like you can't get control, can't have a hold over those lowest in society, because you think it gives you some semblance of being strong. You and all of your kind are an infestation, and I will personally ensure that the only thing anyone ever remembers of you is pathetic screams as your flesh becomes ash when fire consumes you."

Dogkiller stammered, his face going pale as Faolan let go of the Wraith leader's throat and growled out one word,

"Run."

The Raffen Shivs panicked as their leader sprinted to his truck and yelled a command of retreat, his goons trying their best to recover their dead and wounded. After a minute or two, the town was clear again, save for the stray broken vehicle and about half a dozen dead bodies.

The crew sat in shocked silence until Kiwi broke the tension,

"You know what, being honest? If he wasn't such a major jackass, I'd find the way he said that sort of hot."

David had never heard the crew laugh so hard.

I think we might have to make 'movie night' a more regular occurrence.


One Hour Later

Holy shit, that is delicious.

Lucy grabbed another one of the small meatballs and popped it into her mouth, savoring the heavenly taste. The group had set up a small bonfire outside of the bar, mainly because Garth had said he was hungry and wanted to cook on a grill. Turns out that Monarch's AV is always loaded with an assortment of incredibly unhealthy food items for the giant man, which he needed in order to match his absurd daily calorie intake. Kalina and Faolan had volunteered earlier to clean up the rest of the Raffens, loading them onto the AV and dumping them out into the desert. Thankfully the smell of the incredible meat Garth had been cooking quickly overtook the smell of death that still lingered, and the taste of those meatballs when he was done? Indescribable.

"Sorry," Garth said, "didn't have any kermaviili with me to make it as good as I can."

The 'teddy bear' had gracefully exited his armor after the fight, much to their appreciation as it was covered in blood and guts. Lucy had assumed that Garth would be at least a little shorter out of the armor, but he was only maybe an inch or two lower to the ground, so still at least two feet over her head. He had dark, rustic hair that conformed to the shape of his head in long threads, and warm eyes that matched in color. His face was soft, At the moment he was wearing a dark blue long-sleeve turtleneck and a pair of jeans, which presumably he had to get custom-made to fit.

"Chume, ar yu fukin' kidin?" Rebecca said, her voice muffled as she chewed, continuing once she swallowed, "These are max nova!"

Garth chuckled, "Appreciate it."

Falco was taking a bit more time in trying his, but was enjoying it enough that he asked,

"Where'd you learn to cook like this anyways?"

"Helsinki, had to do a summer job there as a chef."

"Don't think I've heard of it, where is it?" Lucy asked, desperately wondering if she could go there and learn how to make these herself.

"Finland."

Oh, well shit.

"I thought Scandinavia was flooded?" David asked, laying back in the chair he and Lucy were squished together on.

Garth sighed, "Sadly, most of it is. Most live in domed cities, safe havens. My first job was working as a technician on those domes, which led to my love for mechanical work, and after my mandatory military service was up, I had an idea for a new project." He smirked. "I'm sure you can guess which one."

"Been meaning to ask," Kiwi said, sipping on a smoothie made by Monarch who also needed liquid sustenance, "are all of you veterans? You certainly act like it."

Kalina looked up from poking at the fire with a stick to say, "Sort of."

"How so?" Lucy asked, now also curious.

"Well we're all technically veterans, just not of the same thing," Kalina said, "Mark is obviously trained by the NUSA Marines-

Mark waved from where he sat on top of an old concrete barrier.

"-, although we don't know by who or how. Point is, he's still basically a veteran, if not an active soldier."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Rebecca asked.

She is oddly chill with that robot.

Mark chimed in, "First memory I got is showing up at the figurative doorstep of the others while they were on a mission in Alaska."

Garth huffed, "Showed up? You cleared an entire building full of shooters for us while we were pinned down, and then just strolled on over n' said 'I'd like to join'."

Mark shrugged, "It's what I was made to do, I think. Don't know myself, really, I can't access any of the older files in my system. We've tried to crack the ICE on them a few times, but it's always too thick."

Intriguing, a bot with archived files it can't access itself? Either he was custom-made, or he's some advanced prototype that slipped his leash.

Kalina nodded and said, "Now, moving on, Garth here only had some basic military training. It's mandatory in Finland for males to serve a few years in the armed forces, but most of his combat experience has been with us. Monarch's fought in so many different wars for so many groups that even he doesn't remember, but only as a pilot, not that there's anything wrong with that."

[[ damn groundpounder]]

"Fuckin' flyboy. Anyways, Annie served in the NUSA military for… how long was it again?" Kalina glanced at the sharpshooter who was sharpening some arrows nearby.

"Four years. Army, Tenth Mountain Division," Annie said, not looking up.

"That's it," Kalina continued, "and I served for seven years with JW GROM."

"Which is…?" Rebecca asked.

"Polish special forces."

Wait, Faolan said my mother was Polish.

"Hold up, you're from Poland?" Lucy asked.

"Fully. Grew up in Warsaw, actually. I still say it's better than Paris."

"What's uhm… what's it like?"

Kalina bent her head at an angle in confusion, "Why do you ask?"

"My mom is Polish. Apparently."

"Oh! I wasn't aware." Kalina's eyes lit up as she sent Lucy a folder full of assorted documents.

"What's this you're sending me?" Lucy asked.

"Travel brochures about Poland, as well as some old photos from my time growing up there."

Lucy's heart felt like it was in the clouds, "Oh! Thank you, Kalina, I… don't know what to say."

"Not a problem. Any 'pole is a friend of mine."

"I do have one question though..." Lucy said sheepishly.

"Shoot."

"What does Kurwa mean?"

Kalina laughed hard, with Garth joining in a moment later.

"I think it's best if you look that one up for yourself," the older woman said after regaining her breath.

Lucy shrugged, giving herself a mental note to do just that.

"What about Faolan?" David asked.

The mercenary team all shared the same nervous glance.

"Well?" David prodded.

"None of us know. He refuses to tell us," Garth said.

"So none of his chooms know where he comes from?" Rebecca asked.

The mercs all shook their heads.

"And that's not strange to you?" the goblin continued, picking up another meatball.

"Not really, at least not anymore. We know he was a solo for some time before founding this whole shebang, but-"

"Wait, founded?" Lucy asked, noticing the odd tone Kalina had used.

"Faolan's the first member of our organization and its founder. Been here longer than any of us," Annie said.

"And what 'organization' is that?" Falco asked with narrowed eyes.

Kalina glanced at Mark, "You want to say it? Don't think you've gotten the chance yet, newbie."

"Yes ma'am," Mark said, turning to face the crew, "it's called the Nemesis Brigade. A band of mercs working for one goal: to help the common man. We don't do jobs for corporations, big or small, don't do hits for mafia or gang leaders, never talk to Fixers, and most of all, work directly with our clients. No middlemen."

"Nemesis?" David asked.

"Greek goddess of retribution and justice, or somethin' along those lines," Annie explained.

Goddess of Retribution? Why the hell would Faolan name it after that?

"Sounds like a pretty charitable group," Kiwi said.

"We don't do pro bono work if that's what you're asking." Kalina went back to poking the fire. "Well, none of us except for our jackass boss anyways."

Lucy shook her head, "Wait, Faolan works for free?"

Kalina nodded, "Sometimes. Like you, for instance."

Wait, what? Then why has he been caring so much about my safety? I had assumed it was because he was getting a shitload of eddies.

"Why?"

The female veteran shrugged, "Fuck if I know, not our contract anyways."

"I thought you were his team?" David asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, but he's had your contract far longer than most of us have been part of the Brigade. Longest member here is Annie, actually, and she only joined eight years ago."

"How long has this 'Nemesis Brigade' been around?" Lucy asked, having a hunch.

"About nineteen years, why?"

Faolan founded their group to find 'saka's mountain facility for my father, didn't he?

Did… did my family fund this entire organization's startup, just to find me?

Is that why Faolan cares so much about my safety? Or is there more to it?

"Where is he anyways?" David asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Right here," Faolan said, suddenly standing right behind the lovers' chair.

"How long have you been standing there?" Lucy asked.

"About twelve seconds. Now c'mon you two, need to talk. Privately."

Faolan led her and David away from the rest of the group, stopping at the abandoned bus station on the edge of town and gesturing for the two of them to sit down. They did, and Faolan leaned up against the support pillar of the station's roof, retracting his helmet.

"Got some good and bad news for you, but first, I have a couple of questions. David, by any chance did you remember to bring your meds with you?"

Ah, fuck. It's almost been twenty-four hours since Dee's last immunosuppressant dose, hasn't it?

"Fuck." David put his head into his hands.

"That's the answer I expected. Don't worry, Bigfoot's coming with your meds and your box."

"Bigfoot?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You'll see," the pale merc said, smirking.

"Ok… but why are you having 'Bigfoot' bring the box?" Lucy asked.

The two of them hadn't really had any chance to truly discuss the ornate red-and-gold box that Faolan had left for them the other night, but the emblem on its top had been stuck in Lucy's head all day. Something within her yearned to know what was inside, but another half was terrified of what the letter inside might say.

"That leads me to my second question, have you made a decision yet, Lucy?"

"No. I didn't even open it that night."

Faolan nodded, "Ok, well that brings me to the bad news. I have to leave for a while."

"What?" the two edgerunners asked together.

"You remember how I said I left Brazil before coming here, David?"

Don't think Dee told me about that.

David nodded.

"Right, well our Brigade's other squads are having a lot of problems with our mission down there."

" Other squads?" Lucy asked.

"You didn't think we called it a 'Brigade' and had only seven members, did you?"

She squinted, "So which squad is yours?"

"Alpha, where only the best get to play. Most other squads are full of grunts and other solos doing their best to work their way up the ranks. Or people who just don't want to do the crazier shit Alpha gets to. Right now, that's not the point." Faolan sighed and looked at the night sky. "Job was supposed to be simple, but they've hit a huge snag and need some help. I'm going back down south to assist until that contract's done, otherwise more of my men will keep dying."

"And what about me and David while you're gone?"

"Now there is the good news. Alpha, my team, is going to stay here. They need a break after the last few months, and they need more experience in major urban centers. No better place to learn about fighting within a metropolis than Night City. However, they aren't contracted to protect you like I am, so they aren't necessarily going to be there all the time."

"We can handle ourselves," David said.

"I know you can, but just to be extra safe, Bigfoot's gonna be your bodyguard until I get back."

"Again, who the fuck is Bigfo-"

A heavy thud was heard on the roof above them, and then a… well, a giant robot cat landed on the street in front of them.

" That is Bigfoot." Faolan walked up to the lion-sized mechanical beast and rubbed it between the ears like a housecat. The machine purred.

It was painted in solid chunks of black, gray, and silver, with tiny orange highlights painted around the eyes and a black-white striped pattern imprinted on the thing's 'tail'. It wasn't really a cat, it resembled more of a mountain lion or a panther than anything, not that the two edgerunners had ever seen either of those animals in person before.

"What… what the fuck is it?" Lucy asked, bewildered.

"Heavily modified Panther drone from… I think Militech? I don't know, they only ever made a couple, and we managed to snag one a couple of years back. Garth and a few others rewired its circuits to make it more… well, like a housecat. It's not an AI, don't worry, just a replica of a feline's behavioral patterns."

"But in a highly durable mechanical body with a gun on top of it?" she commented, noticing the short triple-barreled weapon mounted along the robot cat's spine.

"Precisely."

Along the sides of ' Bigfoot ' were two medium-sized satchel packs, which Faolan opened to reveal David's immunosuppressant canister. The merc tossed it to the chrome-jock, who quickly took another dose of the substance, visibly relaxing immediately. The other pack contained the box from Lucy's father, fully intact, which Faolan then carefully handed to her.

"So… this thing's going to be our 'protector' while you're in Brazil?" Lucy asked, looking at the robotic feline closer. It was sitting on its haunches and pretending to lick its paw clean.

Alright, that is sort of cute.

"Yep."

"Guessing we don't have any say in the matter?" David asked, setting the medical canister on the bench.

"Nope."

"Fuck. Fine, as long as it doesn't trash our apartment," Lucy said.

Rebecca's going to go wild over this thing, I bet.

Faolan nodded and said, "He responds to voice commands as well as ones you send him via text, as well as having some basic automated features on board. I'm sure you'll learn them in time. Bigfoot!" The robot kitty looked up expectantly at its boss. "Your new objective is to perform action: bodyguard on targets David Martinez and Lucyna Kushinada."

Its robotic head nodded before it walked over and laid down next to Lucy, shutting its 'eyes'.

This is going to take some getting used to.

"Bigfoot?" David asked. The robo-kitten perked up.

"Go find Rebecca and lay directly on top of her."

The 'bot got up and started running off toward the rest of the group, a loud, familiar shout of confusion ringing out in the distance.

"You catch on quick too, I see," Faolan said, looking at David, who had a perfect shit-eating grin on his face.

"Well," the armored merc said, "I'm going to leave you two alone. You don't have to open that thing tonight if you don't want to, but by the time I return, I do expect some sort of answer. I'd prefer to not have to be your bodyguard for the rest of my life, no offense."

"Faolan, I'm pretty sure we would both rather avoid that too," Lucy joked.

The three chuckled briefly.

"Alright lovebirds, do your emotional thing. I'll be over by the fire." Their bodyguard walked off toward the rest of the group, leaving the two of them alone.

Lucy's mind was drawn back to the small box, running her hand along the golden trim.

David saw her interest and asked, "I know you said you wanted to wait, but…"

"No," she said, turning to him, "I just didn't want to read it and get our hopes up before anything bad happened today."

"So…?"

"So I think it's time we open it."

He nodded, but put his hand over hers and stopped her from opening it, "Hang on, think I saw a better spot for this when we were walking over."

David got up, holding her hand as she followed him out a small distance from the town, maybe a few dozen yards, onto a rock outcropping that looked directly east. By now the moon was high and full, illuminating the rust-colored rock as they sat down on it, their legs hanging over the edge. After setting the box down on the ground, Lucy looked straight up at the moon for a long moment. She glanced back down when David started chuckling.

"What is it now?" Lucy asked.

"Just funny. The way this rock's set up, it's exactly like that ledge we sat on during that Moon BD forever ago."

He still remembers that…

Lucy grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight, putting her head on his shoulder. They both started up at the moon this time.

"Yeah," Lucy said, "but I think I prefer just being next to you here than on the moon."

"Really? I thought going up there was your dream?"

"Dreams are dreams for a reason, Dee. I do want to one day, but… when we're ready."

He kissed her on the forehead, "As long as you're happy."

Soooo sappy. I'm so glad I met this gonk.

"As long as you're here," Lucy said while smirking up at David, "how could I not be?"

David embraced her tightly, surprising her for a second, but then quickly melting into his arms. Lucy felt her input reach behind her and grab the box, disentangling them from their hug and putting it between them on the ground.

"David…" Lucy said, starting to feel nervous again.

He held her hand tight, "Do you want to open it together?"

Her heart fluttered, and she pecked him on the lips before nodding. They both placed their hands on either side of the wooden container's lid, and as their eyes met, opened the box.

The only item inside was a scroll made out of genuine paper.

Despite being so basic, this somehow feels more valuable than anything else in NC.

Lucy reached in and delicately removed the ancient technology from the box. David put his hand on the other side of the letter, and without needing to say a word, they both slowly unfurled the scroll to its full length. The words on it were written in Japanese out of traditional black ink, looking hand-painted quite carefully. Their optics automatically translated the text.


Beloved Daughter,

If you are reading this, then I was correct. From the moment you were taken away from your mother and I, there was not a doubt in my mind that you would survive whatever horrible things that Arasaka did to you. The fire I saw within you burnt too bright to be snuffed out.

However, it has been many years since that horrendous day, and you do not know me. I am the twelfth head of the Kushinada family and your father. You likely do not see me as such, however, and how could you? You have lived your entire life on your own or under the tight noose of Arasaka.

I do not fault you for these things. I fault the sinful masters that pull the strings of Japan, who tried to use children as tools. I digress. You are your own person, and if you do wish to throw this letter into the sea and never think of it again, then my love for you would remain unchanged. I only ask that you read my words in full before doing so.

The Kushinada family is an old and stubborn bloodline, dating back to the rise of the Edo shogunate in the 16th century. For brevity's sake, it is best if I simply say that there are groups that have been in power within Japan for far longer than Arasaka has been around. This grants me the ability to provide you with two possible paths in life that, I hope, will make up for the failure I made by allowing you to be taken.

The first road you may choose is the path to freedom. The only ones who are still aware of your existence, outside of our family and those you hold dear, exist only within Japan. If you so wish, I can make it so they no longer have evidence you were ever born. A clean slate. Free to choose the life you want and not be burdened with fickle things such as debt or past dues.

The other path is the one of family. I can make it so you have a safe voyage to Japan, and return to us in Kyushu, where you may reunite with us. I wish to show you all that I know, all that I have learned over my many chaotic years, and prepare you for the life ahead. Perhaps even reconnect with the babe I held in my arms all those years ago.

I understand how difficult this choice must be for you, so do not feel rushed or pressured in any way to make your decision. My only goal is to see you happy, and if you are happy wherever you are right now, then I am at peace.

When those corporate hunters took my sight on that fateful day, the last image I saw was your pale, blue eyes. The same eyes I had seen staring up into the night sky, fixated on the warm glow of the moon as I showed you every constellation I knew of. Your mother said you didn't understand a word of what I was teaching, but I knew better. Even back then, I knew you would change the world for the better. I knew it from the moment you pointed at the moon and smiled, your eyes full of confidence. Confidence that no matter who or what got in your way, you would surpass all obstacles and reach the life you desire.

Lucyna, you are the flame that brightens my perpetually dark world and are the most important person in the world to me. As such, I have one final gift for you.

As I said before, our family is old, but we have also amassed quite an influential standing in that time. However, I am growing old as well. Old, and weary. Our family has functioned as a matriarchy ever since its founding, and as such inheritance usually goes to the eldest daughter of the family. You do have an older sister, yet she is not of blood. Your mother and I rescued her from the slums of Tokyo as a baby, and due to the chaos that is our country's legal system, cannot be the heiress of our family.

This leaves only you. When I eventually pass, all of our family estate's possessions will go to you. Regardless of what path you choose. When my life is finally extinguished, I will go knowing that you will use those gifts to brighten this dark world for so many, just as you have done for me. I am certain of it.

You are eternally cherished, my beautiful little moon.

May your days be many.

- Chimon Kushinada. -


A dark stain formed on the letter when a droplet of water fell from a pale, blue eye.