All Eyez on Me
May 23 2076.
As Kiwi went through another diving session in the next room, Ernesto waited with Maine and David sitting on a couch while he was on a single chair, smoking a cigarette. The other two were discussing possible upgrades for David, who seemed set on becoming a power-type like Maine.
"Say there, Cap," the boss asked in curiosity. "Your lil brother here seems different today."
"In what way, dawg?" Ernesto nonchalantly asked.
Maine approached his face to stare ad David with squinting eyes.
"You usually mope around...kill the vibe. Our resident buzzkill."
"Ain't no different from yesterday." David replied, unable to hide a stingy tone.
"Nah, something is." Maine said and assumed a knowing smirk, pushing a bit his head against David's. "You got laid, didn't ya?"
David averted gazed but also groaned in frustration for being read so easily.
"You did." Maine insisted, making even Ernesto smirk at the scene. "Gotta work on that poker face, dawg." the man added before they heard the tent to the computer room being moved open.
They turned just to see Kiwi completely naked, except for her face mask, smoking a cigarette and holding her datapad.
"'Sup Kiwi." Maine said unfazed. "Gimme some good news."
Ernesto observed with a little amusement his brother being clearly uncomfortable with Kiwi standing like that. Even more when she went to sit next to him.
"Got zilch." said the netrunner while tapping her pad. "Tanaka's beefed up security after our last fuck-up. Tried poking holes but got no-go after no-go."
Maine lightly groaned bored. "Like I said, our weels be spinnin' until Faraday give us some traction."
"Still, did you find anything?" Ernesto calmly asked, puffing another one. "You never know what turns out to be useful."
Kiwi yawned before answering. "Mostly lotta noise and lotta trash."
"Noise like?" asked Main.
"XBDs in his viewing log."
Maine chuckled. "Yo, hold up. That's good leverage as I see it."
"Kinkster no doubt, but more into gore than porn. Some cyberpsycho virtues, too."
David almost gasped in learning that there were people like that. Maine scoffed. "Suits always thirst for the creepy shit."
Kiwi's mask was still inhaling her cigarette, but since it was a separated mechanism from her vocal synthesizer, she kept speaking. "Lot of BDs tuned by someone named JK."
"JK?!" David exclaimed, gaining the attention of the adults.
"Ring a ding-ding?"
"Yeah, Jimmy Kurosaki. Braindance editor. He's got a cult following." the kid said with sudden enthusiasm. Ernesto then remembered that he had spotted some of those BDs in their apartment, despite David doing his best to hide them. "Gets his hands on a snuff and he churns out a virtue in 24 hours. Piping hot, fresh off the street. Whatever JK tunes, he turns to gold. Just don't get edits like his anywhere else. It's no wonder his fans keep coming back for more."
"Well, I'll be damned, kid. Didn't peg you for a superfreak." Maine commented. He was surprised, but not judging him in any way.
Still, David stuttered as he tried to correct the shot. "No, I...just helped a choom move his stock, is all."
"This is NC, Dave." Ernesto intervened nonchalantly. "You certainly don't have to feel dirty because of that. Rather, you know anything tha might actually help us?"
David's face suddenly became serious, pensive. After a few seconds, he spoke up again. "Mostly he does custom-made."
"What's that?" Kiwi asked curious.
"The big spenders expect exclusive, so JK tailors the dances special. You know, removing pain limiters and stuff." David said, clearly being up to something that grabbed the attention of the others.
"And we care why?" Maine asked.
"For a custom edit, Tanaka's gotta be there. Physically present...and probably alone."
"Alone? How do you figure?" Kiwi asked.
"Would you bring your bodyguard to a fetish XBD tuning?" David said in return with a calm tone.
That left the others amazed at the young Martinez's shrewdness. Ernesto instead felt incredibly proud and couldn't hold back a small smile.
"Got a point." Kiwi acquiesced.
"Getting pretty sharp, dawg." Maine said in a jovial tone. "No surprise, now that you a man!" he added, then clapping his left chrome hand on David's head. The kid grunted for the small amount of pain.
"A man? What'd I miss?" Kiwi asked.
"Nothing…" David groaned.
Meanwhile, Ernesto was getting deep into thoughts, and on a much wider scale than what his brother had just done. Indeed, Faraday still wanted the gang to find intel about the cyber-skeleton (even though only David and Lucy knew about that) and hacking Tanaka's neural implant seemed the only solution left. It was the entire reason why they had worked so hard to study Tanaka's patterns on behalf of the fixer. Maybe this might have been the right chance to finally trigger the war, but he would have to speak with the Director, first.
"So you say that we have to get JK to tell us when he is going to meet Tanaka again, and we finally catch the fat cat." he eventually expressed.
"Yeah, but nobody knows where JK's studio is." David said. "Kiwi, you think you can take a look?"
"I'll see what I can find." the woman replied.
"Okay, should we call Becca and Pilar?"
"To grab a skinny ass and an old corpo? Nah, man. I say the crew and I got this." Maine reassured.
"Sure." said David, then turning toward his brother. "In fact, Ernesto, I think it's better if you stay out of this, if possible."
Everybody was astounded at David's words. Ernesto too, but he quickly regained composure and decided to listen to his brother in a constructive attitude. "What's on your mind?"
"Well…" David replied, but also making sure to point to both Maine and Kiwi with his eyes, signaling that he couldn't say the entire truth. Ernesto understood and simply feigned ignorance about that. "Tanaka is a big fish. If things go sideways and he calls for help, the police will surely come for us, but if you will be with them, you may tell you were not part of it and try to keep 'em off our tails."
Ernesto hummed in thought. Indeed, that made sense. He couldn't risk to be reported and that Arasaka started investigating him. So far, he hadn't done anything that the corp execs deemed worthy of their attention, but kidnapping their top dog could very much list as such.
"Okay, then. I'll leave you to it."
David made a confident smile. "Wouldn't like to ruin your date with the badge girl."
Kiwi and Maine were took by surprise, an amused one.
"Say what, now?!" the big guy said.
"Oh-oh, what's that?" the woman asked.
Ernesto shrugged with a smile. "I got dinner with the Inspector. You all know I am a snitch, anyway."
Maine laughed. "Damn right, you are. The best snitch in Night City."
Ernesto had not wore his old parade uniform since the dismissal ceremony. Surely Petra wasn't expecting this to be something fancy, but he still wanted to keep up some standards for himself, so he simply removed all the patches, pins and made it as similar to a normal suit as possible. The uniform was blue navy, the standard color of the Imperial-Federal Army, with a black tie over the white jacket under the suit.
As the afternoon turned to early evening, it was time to leave. He was at his second apartment, the one he had used for the two years and was paid by MI6 as a safe house for him. The drive toward Petra's house would take around 20 minutes, provided there was no traffic.
Luckily, there wasn't. Right on time, he arrived in front of the apartments and went to ring on the main door. Petra replied at the door phone, saying that she was coming down. Ernesto started honestly to feel nervous. He made a mental check that everything was in order with him and that they were on schedule to get to the restaurant. And just as his mind was drifting off, the door slid open. He took a look inside.
And his mind crashed.
Petra was wearing a long dress, crimson red with a paired shawl around her arms, which left her shoulders visible. The hair was in the usual ponytail but she had left a lock of hair pending on her right side in front of the ear. And since she only had a handful of cyberware, the parts of skin she showed, including the face, arms and hands were pure skin, polished and clean like he had never seen.
And his eyes also fell on her perfectly shaped chest, which just added points to her fit but still feminine figure.
The charm of the mature woman most likely was an important factor in making Ernesto freeze like the dumbest choom.
"Hey, cap?" the amused voice of the Inspector shook him awake.
He decided to play along and brought two fingers to his temple while running his eyes up and down.
"What are you doing?" she asked in a joking tone.
"Just making sure my implants will treasure this picture for the rest of my life. You're stunning, my lady."
She chuckled. "You sweet talking gonk."
"Then I'm the luckiest gonk alive."
With the mushy compliments out of the way, they hopped inside the car and Ernesto drove toward their destination, since there was a few minutes of travel, he opted to talk with Petra.
"How's Stacy doing?
"Quite well. She likes sleeping out of our house. Makes her feel all grown-up." she quipped.
"How old is she again?"
"She'll be eleven in a month."
"Brace yourself, she's approaching the rebellious phase." he joked.
Petra sighed a false sense of tiredness. "Don't make me think about it."
Just a few minutes later they arrived at destination: Fusion, one of the best Asian restaurants in Mid Town. Petra seemed pleasantly surprised, but of course Ernesto knew her tastes and was quite sure she couldn't say no to a good tempura.
They were accompanied to their reservation and after ordering some drinks they resumed talking.
"And what is David up to? Left him with the gang?"
Ernesto couldn't tell her what was about to happen, at least not in that place, and talking about a kidnapping would hardly set the mood, so he decided to play it safe. "Sure. Plus, they got a job to do soon, and I want David to go without me. They'll have time to discuss the details without me."
"He really has grown a lot in these few months." she said admired.
"My lil bro has a raw talent for this. I hope he will consider putting it to good use."
"With you tutoring him, I'm sure he'll turn out fine."
"Of course. I can't always be around to cover his ass." he joked.
The rest of the evening went on. Ernesto hadn't felt so much at peace with himself in ages. They ate, they laughed, they discussed what was going to happen after Night City was going to be finally freed from the grasp of the mega-corps.
"I'm sure you'll become Chief of the Force for your service." Ernesto told her.
"Meh, for now I feel content with being Inspector. And you? What are you going to do?" she asked, not trying to hide a veiled discomfort.
But doubt set into Ernesto's mind. What was he going to do?
"I don't know, actually. When I came back to Night City, I told Luna I wanted to work in colonial development. Train the militias and, maybe one day, set off to a colony myself."
"And...now?"
Ernesto hesitated before replying. "I've been chasing vengeance for three years. I didn't give much of a thought to the after. But now I have to make sure David will have a decent life and...well...maybe I'll find a reason to stick around." he said with a meaningful gaze at her and slowly tangling his fingers with hers on the table.
Petra seemed to drop any hesitation as she smiled openly and warmly.
Yeah, why not? After having his chance at happiness brutally taken away, Ernesto felt like the universe owed one to him, especially after all the work he had done and was going to do in order to ensure that Night City may become a place where good endings could be possible.
The dinner eventually wrapped up. The food had tasted much better in the last part. Now it was time to get back. They went back on the car and Ernesto drove back to Petra's apartment.
"Here we are." he said, almost bored at the idea that it was already over.
But then Petra gave him a sideways look. "Come on, Captain. You won't tell me you're leaving the mission at half?"
The atmosphere changed quite a lot. She leaned her body toward him in a way that was way too loose from her usual behavior.
Ernesto just registered the fact, but this was exactly where he hoped to end up.
"Am I being pulled over, officer?" he whispered.
"Indeed. I'll have to bring you in for questioning." she replied in kind.
May 24 2076.
Ernesto started to open his eyes. The HUD signaled 7:32AM. He was facing the ceiling and he was tired, but very much relaxed. He turned his head toward his right. Petra was still sleeping with her head partially using his arm as part of the pillow.
For how much he enjoyed the scene, it was time to wake up. He still had a few runs to do that late morning and Petra would have to go get her daughter. He made the arm gently slip off, but evidently the woman was already half-wake. She groaned a bit, stretched out (which allowed Ernesto to take another good look at her assets) and opened her eyes at him.
"Good morning." he said with a smile.
She made a wider one. "Morning. Off to hunt some punks?"
"Not necessarily." he commented lightly as he gathered his clothes. "But some recruits from the Circle have a small quest today, I want to see how they do."
Petra hummed positively then threw her legs over the edge the bed, starting to get dressed as well.
"Speaking of which, any news on the possible war between corpos?"
Ernesto's mind raced to the whole thing about Tanaka that the gang was trying to pull out. And remembered that he still needed to report this to Pétran. He decided that this should be his priority for the day, right after he asked David for updates over what the crew had decided while he was away.
"Maybe it will not work as intended, but Maine and David got a mission from a fixer that will hit Tanaka directly."
Petra was stunned. "You mean the Tanaka? But he will be heavily guarded."
"Usually, sure, but in reality David has found out a way to draw him in the open and alone."
"He did?"
"Yeah. My lil bro is learning the ropes quickly." he said with a proud smirk.
"Clearly he had great mentors." Petra commented happy for him.
Indeed. Maine and the others certainly gave a huge contribution to David's recent upbringing, but Ernesto still believed that most of it was his merit, and with that in mind he said goodbye to her and left the house after being offered his morning coffee.
He drove back at the apartment, but found that David wasn't there, so he called him and found that he was still a Lucy's place, so he reached that place instead.
"Here comes the cop simp." the younger brother taunted with a giggle.
"You little gonk…" Ernesto grinned and dashed to grab his head, nagging him in the hair as they both laughed. "Need teach ya some manners."
"I thought you were supposed to be the responsible adult." the voice of Lucy came from the couch to mock them. She was sitting with her legs on an ottoman, wearing only her black catsuit that left much of the body revealed.
"You are in no position to make that remark." Ernesto quipped back as he reached for the couch beneath the window.
"So, tell us!" David said as he sat next to Lucy and in front of his brother. "Was it cheesy, or you saw the gonkness and went straight at it?"
"It was incredible, thank you very much for intruding. But right now there are more urgent matters. Like, have you discussed the plan to get Tanaka?"
David leaned back and replied. "Maine said he would ask Faraday for any hint about Tanaka going off to JK's workshop. But we ain't gonna do much until he comes through."
"Other than that, the plan is pretty straight-forward." said Lucy. "Once we find out how Tanaka moves around alone, we grab JK and force him to call in his dear customer. Once Tanaka's alone, Maine and the guys will get him while me and Kiwi jam all comms."
"And I stay with the cops so I can warn you if they're coming." Ernesto concluded.
"Pretty much." David replied.
His enthusiastic expression, however, was not a good sign to Ernesto. In fact, he was looking at him with a serious face to the point where his brother had to ask. "Something on ya mind?"
"David." Ernesto started with a calm tone, assuming a straight posture. "Do you understand entirely what we are going to do?"
The younger of the Martinez was caught by surprise. He stuttered a bit before replying. "I mean...we are just hacking Tanaka's mind, right?"
"Yes, we are doing that, Dave. But I need you to understand that this plan implies also killing Tanaka when everything's done."
David froze in place for the shock. Lucy clearly had already figured that from a while so she reached David's hand to try and comfort him.
"K...kill him?" mumbled the boy.
"If you let him go, Maine and the crew will get on top of Arasaka's list. Not to mention, Tanaka already knows you and wants you as a possible candidate for the cyber-skeleton. If we have to hack his cyberware, then we simply can't allow him to walk off. So, do you understand?" Ernesto explained with the stern attitude that he drew out anytime he needed to put his brother in front of a tough choice.
Eventually, even if sweating, David gulped down and replied. "I do."
The captain understood that his brother was sincere. Of course, the prospect of murdering a person in cold blood, rather than killing him during a firefight, was completely different. The latter was for a matter of necessity, the former was a ruthless calculation. It was completely normal that David got a bit of cold feet when told that this was the way.
"Good. But don't worry, I'm sure Maine and Dorio will take care of that matter. You just do how they say and everything will turn nova, got it?"
"Got it." David replied, a bit reassured.
Ernesto made a light nod, then checked the clock and saw that it was starting to get late. He needed to head first to his own apartment and communicate with Pétran, then head out to the Circle to pick up the new squad for the assignment.
Therefore he bid goodbye to David and Lucy, asking them to update him when the time for Tanaka's kidnapping would come, and he headed out. He reached his apartment, closed door and windows and sent the request for a call with the Director.
After a couple minutes in wait, the face of Pétran appeared on the top left corner of the HUD. Ernesto proceeded to give him the report about the new plan that the crew put up to kidnap Tanaka on Faraday's behalf.
"What do you say, sir? If Arasaka knows that Militech orchestrated the kidnapping of one of his top executives…" he suspended.
"It would certainly sour their relations, however I doubt it will be enough to bring them to an open confrontation." the Director said with an analytical tone.
"You serious? I mean, I don't say they have to start shooting at each other in the streets, but there ought to be an escalation of some kind."
"Things have changed, Captain. Just three days ago, Arasaka representatives have made a visit at the Ministry of Defense in Rome. They were very positive that the cyber-skeleton will be ready before the end of next year."
Ernesto widened his eyes a bit. "What? How did they make one so fast?"
"They do are very determined. Our sources inside Arasaka suggest, however, that they are still lacking valid candidates for testing the product, so I'd say they're actually lagging behind on their schedule."
A really bad realization hit Ernesto and he grunted. "Shit. Tanaka has David on his list of candidates."
"Oui, we discussed that. The point now is different, though: whatever happens, Captain, you must not involve yourself with Tanaka. We can't risk Arasaka noticing you and potentially uncover our network in Night City."
"I already have an agreement with the crew that I'll keep the police off their backs if things go south."
"Well, you better eat back your promise, then. Under no circumstances you are to take part in the kidnapping of Tanaka. Evenif your brother is at risk. We can't compromise the entire operation now that we know it will last for another year at least."
"Made that clear, sir."
"Good. Carry on your assigned duties, I'll contact you in case of updates."
The call was closed, leaving Ernesto to prepare for the mission and leaving him with the uncomfortable feeling that things were starting to rail off.
Falco pulled the van into the back alley and Ernesto put the magazine inside the pistol. The sound of weapons cocked in the back of the vehicle came at the same time. Josh, Trina and Choro were checking all their gear, including the protective suits and the helmets they would need to wear on this mission. Gear that resembled very closely to that of Arasaka, but not too much, so that only a slight connection could be suspected by those who were about to receive their visit.
"Wait twenty minutes, then move to the EP, alright?"
"Got ya, man." the man casually said as he already started rolling his cigar. But despite his laid-back attitude, Ernesto knew that Falco was one of the few reliable wheel-men in the city.
Instead, the captain put the pistol in its holster and walked inside the back, drawing the attention of the recruits.
"All right, team. Time to demonstrate I didn't waste my time on your training. Remember the objective?"
"We make our way to the central lab and either steal or destroy the target." Josh said.
"Codename 'Sound Teller' Trina added.
"We expect security mechs to get in the way. Those we blast, we avoid killing civilians." Choro concluded.
"Nice. Let's get moving." the Captain concluded as he put on the helmet and pushed the door open. The others soon followed, with Josh closing again when they were done.
Their target was into the palace of Dross-Net, a subsidiary of Militech that was contributing to the latter's project for the cyber-skeleton. The goal of this sort of false-flag operation was to have Militech believe that Arasaka was sending mercenaries to raid its facilities and slow their progress down on the most important project of the century.
Taking a careful approach, the team managed to slip in the backyard of the facility and reach the garage. After Choro hacked the controls, they passed the security door and entered the elevator to the labs where the target was supposedly located.
"Check your scramblers." Ernesto instructed one last time, he too making sure that the voice distortion of the helmet was on. Security footage would certainly pick up their voices during the fight, so this was an important countermeasure.
The devices worked, so Ernesto took position in front as the bell of the elevator chimed and signaled that they had reached the labs. The doors slid open. Nobody in the hallways yet. The Captain moved forward, weapon pointed in front of him and ready to fire. The three recruits, who until a month before were civilians struggling to live in this city, remembered the stern training they had been put through by the Loyalists and assumed a correct column formation, checking the sides and the rear.
And as they turned the first corner, Ernesto found himself in front of two scientists taking a coffee break. One of them immediately spotted them and startled, letting his cardboard cup fall on the floor.
"W-what…?" he asked terrified. The other woman also cowered.
Since he had the scrambler on, Ernesto pointed them vigorously down toward the hallway he had just arrived from and the workers complied immediately, running past the squad. With that done, they proceeded toward their destination, but while most of the scientists were still in their labs, focused on other things, the squad eventually ran into a security mech on patrol and bullets had to start flying.
This meant that the laboratories went on lockdown. Ernesto was a bit relieved, cause at least the workers would be out of the hallways where the fight would surely develop, and he had already brought the equipment to force the shutters.
"Captain, mechs are on their way, we got two minutes." Choro said, cause he had already infiltrated the internal network of the building.
"Then get to it." Ernesto said as they finished their run in front of the lab they were looking for: Number 9.
Choro immediately started his equipment while the others formed a perimeter around him. Just as the netrunner managed to override the electronic locks and the shutter opened, the clanking of the security mechs started to come from the east side of the building.
"Choro, Trina, find the Teller. Josh, take position." Ernesto ordered as he and the young volunteer aimed their guns taking cover behind the two sides of the open door.
The first mechs appeared and with their robotic voice, one of them said "Drop your weapons."
Ernesto replied by firing his SMG with disruptor ammo that quickly put some holes and fried the circuits of the machine. The remaining ones promptly shot back as they kept advancing. Ernesto Ducked back while Josh fired too and easily took down another mech.
"Watch it!" Ernesto prompted and Josh ducked back in time to avoid a more precise burst from the mechs.
The young man already was panting from the tension. "Shit. Oh shit!"
"Not much like training, uh?" Ernesto calmly said in the microphone.
Josh giggled despite the heavy breathing. "Hell no."
"Cap, we got it!" Trina said suddenly as she and Choro ran back to them with the metal tube containing the project, actually a new type of microprocessor.
"Then let's hightail out of there." Ernesto said and took out an EMP grenade, activated it and nimbly threw it in the middle of the mechs, causing them to short-circuit and deactivate for a minute.
"We'll use the emergency stairs. Double time, people!" he ordered, knowing that the elevator had been blocked when the emergency lockdown had been initiated. They ran past the deactivated mechs, only to find another squad barricading their path to the stairs.
"Fucking tin cans!" Trina grunted as she stayed well behind cover.
"Choro?" Josh asked.
"I'm working on it." the netrunner said while struggling as he was focusing on his implants.
The other three returned fire, but they only had a handful before the mechs they left behind reactivated. Luckily, Choro had understood that and was not trying to override the mechs, but to find another way out of the building.
"There is a work in progress on the north-west section. We might rail down from there."
"Good enough. Run for your lives, gonks!" Ernesto said in a haste before sending another burst at the mechs as he dashed through the opposite end of the hallway. Luckily, there weren't other mechs, as this company could only afford a couple platoons, now chasing the squad.
They ran without stopping for anything until they reached the wing of the building undergoing some minor enlargement, but where the windows still hadn't been placed and they were just on the third floor, enough for their rappels to bring them down.
"Find a hook and let's get out of here."
Everybody reached for their belts and took out the gear. But they only found one safe metal ring where they could hang. They would have to go one at a time, and the mechs were catching up.
"Trina, you go first with the package." Ernesto ordered.
The young woman obeyed and in the span of a minute she had reached the ground.
"Choro, you next!"
The netrunner did the same, but as he was rappelling down, the mechs finally caught up to them and started spreading inside the yard, firing at the remaining humans.
There was a small cover made of bricks and a metal slab that Ernesto and Josh used to repair themselves, but it was close enough to the iron ring.
"Go, Josh." Ernesto ordered.
"I'm not leaving you alone, captain!" the boy replied.
"Don't play hero on me, kid! Go!" he sternly ordered.
With a slight hesitance, Josh complied, keeping his head down while Ernesto drew the attention of the mechs. He fired wildly, taking down three mechs in the span of a few seconds, then he spotted one of them aiming a small rocket toward him. Ernesto didn't have the time to turn the tin can to scrap, so when the explosive was propelling toward him, he ducked behind the cover again.
Only to see the rocket smash and explode against the pillar that Josh was using as a support. A cold shiver ran through his spine as he heard Josh scream in the comms.
"Josh! Josh, do you hear me?" he asked, trying to hold his cool.
"Josh is down!" Trina's voice replied. "I think his back is cracked!"
"Get to the vehicle immediately, I'll find a way out." Ernesto ordered, and this time nobody objected, after all they couldn't help from where they were and the priority was still to take away the package.
The mechs were firing at his cover, forcing him to stay down while they approached. Ernesto took a quick look at his surroundings, trying to come up with a solution. And it came when he saw the hooks of a crane pending on the opposite end. They were limp, meaning that they probably didn't have some material beneath it that he could use as a stopgap to slow his fall, but it was still better than nothing.
Ernesto used his second and last EMP to open himself a path and madly dash toward the ropes while the mechs still fired at him. He put away his weapon and then jumped toward his escape. He managed to hang on the cable and started to slip down. He shifted his body weight to swing and stomp against the walls of the building, then quickly spotted a protruding metal bar. Swinging and bouncing, Ernesto still had to make a free fall from the first floor, but his improved muscles could take that, and as he touched down he immediately rolled on the ground to distribute the impact, like he had done a number of times.
Just at that moment, Falco pulled the van in front of him and Ernesto jumped on. As Falco sped away from the scene Ernesto saw Trina and Choro trying to rescue Josh, who was laying on the ground. They had removed his helmet and he was already gurgling for lack of proper oxygenation and dripping blood.
"Put him on the side." Ernesto instructed. "Falco, get us to the medical post."
"Aye aye." the driver said, setting course for the hidden medical site of the Loyalists.
"Come on, Josh, you'll make it." Trina said.
Ernesto also knelt down, tried to remove Josh's gear in that cramped space.
"Hey, cap…" the wounded said, straining.
"Don't talk, boy. Save your breath." Ernesto said calmly, but it was clear to him that the situation was grim.
"Was I...good?...Have I...done right?"
Ernesto froze in place but neither changes his expression or managed to look at him in the eyes at first. Then he turned his gaze and replied softly. "You did good, Josh. You did the right thing."
A tenuous smile appeared on the young man's lips before he passed out.
Ernesto and the others still tried to rescue him as best as they could, but when they arrived at the outpost, it became clear that Josh had already perished.
Josh Olson Logan
11 September 2058 – 24 May 2076
So recited the somber plaque that Ernesto placed on the memorial, ensuring it with a light fist where he channeled a bit of his frustration.
Behind him, members of the Circle, including Trina, Choro and Falco were waiting in respectful silence for Ernesto to deliver a speech, like he had always done so far.
He hated these moments. As commander of this operation, he felt like every single name on that memorial was a failure for him to shoulder. But he had to do it: every death was also a hit on the morale of the movement, and the others had to be reassured that they were fighting for the right cause.
Ernesto made a silent breather and turned around, putting his hands behind his back and standing tall as a leader was expected to be.
"When Josh came knocking on our door, I wasn't sure if I wanted to take him on. Eventually I realized something important: most of us are here because of a personal grudge against the mega-corps, but Josh...Josh had a dream. A dream that Night City would finally be a place for everyone to prosper, not for the strong to use the weak. Where people would help each other instead of turning to the other side. Of all the people who joined the Circle, I honestly can't think of anyone with so simple, yet marvelous intentions. Josh Logan reminded us what we should really strive for, in this community. He reminded us what humanity should aim to be. And sure as hell, today humanity lost one of its best. As we keep up our fight, let us never forget whom we should take our example from. He ennobled us by choosing to fight with us, and we shall never forget him."
Then he clacked his heels and made the salute, the only way he knew how to express admiration.
Some former soldiers in the crowd did it as well. Others lowered their heads and probably recited some prayers, but most of them simply stood in respectful silence for a few seconds before ending the ceremony.
When everyone was left, except for Falco, Ernesto took the only chair in the room and sat on it, sighing in exhaustion.
"It wasn't your fault, Nesto." Falco said. "You did your best."
"And yet it wasn't enough. And now another kid died for what? For my attempt to start a war?" Ernesto replied, unable to hide the fact that he had a boiling anger ready to explode.
"You said it yourself. Josh wished a better future for this city. That's what you're working at, he just wanted to help."
Ernesto leaned his head back and huffed. He knew it damn well. He knew from the beginning that blood would be spilled. Hell, he had seen war zones during his service. Then again, he thought, back then he was a rank-and-file trooper, taking orders and carrying on as people died around him.
Now, he realized, he was the one sending people to die. Die for a project that may or may not succeed. If the latter happened, how was he going to justify those in front of the dead?
"Thanks, Falco. Just need a moment to wrap my head around it."
Falco understood. "If you need anything, just come talk with anyone." he recommended before leaving the room.
Ernesto looked again at the memorial. Josh was now the 13th person to die in this operation. And how horrible it was to see that 10 of them weren't even 25.
As if wanting to hurt himself more, Ernesto browsed the net until he found a very old song that somehow he thought fit the moment. So on the notes of 'In Flanders Fields', the young Captain stayed there with his thoughts.