Chapter 10: Y
As soon as Jericho had set foot onto the cargo door, Scotch put the throttle down and sped off away from the Corporate Plaza. The Nuclear Nomad didn't even flinch and just kept walking up the loading ramp into the AV, the door closing behind him.
"Guys! Militech Drones! They're on us!", Asher screamed.
"Get to the guns! And open the rear hatch again, I'll take care of them...", Jericho noted.
"Didn't we have a Veil? Why the hell have they seen us?", V asked to nobody in particular.
"It's the radiation! It causes electronic interference! Don't blame me for this V, this is all on Jericho and it's been a constant problem!", Asher added, pointing a finger at the group's leader. Jericho just shrugged.
V went to jump into the other gunner seat, he attached his personal link and took control over the bottom two cannons. Hildegarde had control over the top ones. "Just shoot them down, V!"
V just aimed and let loose with a hail of gunfire from the 30mm cannons, a loud braaaap emanating from each gun. The AV dipped for a moment as the recoil launched them forwards at an odd angle.
"Ach! I knew those'd be a problem! Take it easy, I'm flying here!", Scotch noted.
"Concentrate your fire along with mine, V!", Hildegarde chided.
V and Hildegarde concentrated their fire simultaneously, this time launching a barrage of gunfire that took down a few of the drones, still more drones launched their own attacked towards them. V fired again, without Hildegarde, but his gun just clicked. Out of ammo.
"How much ammunition did we have?", V shouted.
"Not enough, V. We only had so much time to get any!", Hildegarde shouted back.
"Well? What now?"
"We die. We die horribly in a ball of fire as we crash into Night City."
"Wait, really!?"
"No, not really you insufferable pillock! Jericho's got this!" Hildegarde's vicious mockery had returned. V just sighed and braced for impact both from the ground when they crashed and from Hildegarde's fists.
The rear hatch had opened, causing a sudden suction to pull at V and Hildegarde. Jericho simply stood near the rear. He removed a small disc from his chest and inserted it into his left forearm, his arm itself splitting open length-wise as his left hand folded backwards. A large cannon of some kind revealing itself. He aimed, taking note of the Militech Drones' positions and let off a large blast that caused a shockwave to reverberate through the AV. The blast shot in an arc, hitting all of the drones and crippling them. The Nuclear Nomad simply pulled the lever near the door and closed the hatch.
"Take us north! Head towards Alaska. We'll make a pit stop in Blackwell, Oregon.", Jericho commanded.
Scotch didn't respond, he just angled the AV upwards and away from Night City, the derelict oil fields briefly coming into view as the AV soared on. Now that there was a little downtime, V got up and walked around the AV, taking a seat on the couch near the small metal table in the center of the crew's quarters.
"That was intense.", he noted.
"That was child's play. We got the gonk, too. Now... What to do with him?", Hildegarde mused, taking a sudden interest in the hostage that was bound by his hands in one of the rear jump-seats.
"He's worthless. Doesn't know a thing. Get rid of him how you see fit.", Jericho noted coldly, taking a set in the other couch across from V.
"Oh, Aaasherrrr? Open the rear hatch, would you?", Hildegarde cooed.
Asher just opened the rear door before donning a fake accent. "Arrr. Walk the plank ye scury dog!"
Anders Hellman looked panicked. He peed himself as he was hoisted up from the seat and forced towards the now open hatch. The AV was several thousand feet above the ground at the moment with California's landscape passing by fast down below. V looked out of the door and took notice of the maze-like traffic grid of San Francisco far down below.
"Wait! Don't kill him. He's done nothing wrong.", V argued.
"V? What's this now? Do you have feelings for this man?", Hildegarde hissed.
"Please, convince them! I have a family... children!", Anders Hellman pleaded.
"Just let him go in San Francisco. He won't do anything, how could he?", V argued.
"V, V, V... Oh how naive you are. I hate loose ends. Just be glad I let your little Nomad friends live.", Hildegarde hissed as she kicked Anders Hellman out of the AV, the man screaming as he fell out. "He'll be fine. I heard he was going to repaint a sidewalk in San Franciso. Some nice street artwork..."
"Y- You didn't have to do that...", V sighed.
"Did I? And what would've happened if he'd talked? Talked about us? They would send their forces for us. And now we have enough problems now that Starhawk knows that Sefirot is back.", Hildegarde noted, leaning closer to V's face.
"Who the fuck is Starhawk and why is he such a problem for you? Are you scared?", V quipped back, leaning almost nose-to-nose with the outlaw.
"Hahaha... V... You sweet summer child... Starhawk is the one who was hired to kill us. The first time. Over the Mediterranean sea.", Hildegarde laughed, pulling back from V's face.
"He's a mercenary like us. With a team just like ours. We fight for different reasons. He nearly killed Hildegarde the last time.", Jericho noted, now at this computer in the corner. "I actually think he's only after you, Hildegarde. He let the rest of us go when you'd been... 'killed'."
"Still, you wouldn't let me go... So Starhawk is still a problem.", Hildegarde noted, throwing her hands in the air and turning her attention to Jericho.
"Let you go? Go and sacrifice yourself for a pointless cause? They would come for us regardless. Better to have you alive, given your skills.", Jericho added.
"The new kid doesn't need to know this! That sodding Starhawk will get what's coming to him!", Hildegarde argued, V stepped back a bit. Something had happened 3 years ago. Something else.
"Indeed. Undoubtedly he knows we're back. Best keep on guard.", Jericho concluded turning away and focusing on his computer. V looked over towards the screen and recognized the language on the computer as Hangul, Korean. He was curious, but decided to stay out of Jericho's personal business for right now.
"Is that what I can expect from now on? Hostages don't get to live?", V asked once again to nobody in particular.
'V, did you think this was going to be goody gumdrops, rainbows and lollipops? We're mercenaries, V. We have a goal. This is how we do business.", Hildegarde noted.
"Hey, so can I get my icecream cones now?", Asher added, taking notice of the conversation behind her.
"Yes, Asher. Blackwell has a nice icecream parlor. In fact, Blackwell is the last 'old-fashioned town' in the NUSA.", Jericho sighed.
"Awesome! I'm gonna eat so much I pass out in a food coma!"
"You'd be doing us a favor, Asher...", Hildegarde added.
"Aye. I heard they like to party in that town. I'll go find some beer- I mean supplies!", Scotch also added.
V sat back on the couch. These people were crazy. He'd met cyberpsychos more sane than this group. Hildegarde hated him and wanted to kill him. Jericho was cryptic and strange. Asher was just weird, Scotch was a raging alcoholic who was also their driver. Maybe he'd get some sleep on the trip? He needed it. He also felt the need to call Panam and give her an update, but decided against it, she'd just yell at him some more and wonder when he was coming back. He honestly didn't know when he'd be back at this point, not that it mattered. He had promised Jericho and he wouldn't back out now.
"Hey, V... You might wanna look at this.", Johnny noted from within V's head. The Rockerboy had pulled up a newsline from the N54 News. The video played in V's skull.
"...And do you think this was the work of those rival mercenaries?", A newscaster asked to a red-haired man.
"Of course. This is what they always do- always have done. It's textbook at this point. Sefirot is back. The CCTV doesn't lie.", the red-haired man noted, staring directly at the camera.
"Really? And what does the news of Hildegarde's survival do for you? Are you better prepared than the last time you fought her?", the newscaster added.
"Look, we knew she wasn't dead to begin with. No body was ever recovered and a fusion-explosion leaves no trace of a body. We'll just make sure we aim for the head this time...", The red-haired man continued.
Johnny shut off the transmission. He sat across from V with his arms crossed. "This is bad, V. You see that guy? Covered in scars and built like a brick shit-house. Might actually give Hilde a run for her money..."
"That's Hildegarde, Johnny. Do not shorten my name or I'll have Jericho replace you with a cartoon llama.", Hildegarde chided, taking notice of the AI projection again.
"What the hell happened back there? Why does this guy hate you so much?", V asked.
"A long story, V. Let's just say that if they'd aimed a bit higher, I wouldn't be around to mock you relentlessly. I... I had a killswitch, one that Jericho freed me of. I kept it and used it on some poor gonk who matched my description. I 'died' that day. We split up and laid low... Until now, of course...", Hildegarde mused, looking at the ceiling of the AV, seemingly remembering something painful. "I had a plan. A way to get my reputation to die, permanently. But Jericho wouldn't have it..."
"But why does he hunt you?"
"You could say that's because I took from him everything that mattered. He wanted to be a legend, a Solo like Morgan Blackhand... But I never let that happen..."
"So, you ruined his life and he holds a grudge?"
"Yep. Hates me with all of his being. Wants me dead."
"Shit... This isn't good."
"No shit, V. He already got 'paid' for my demise. They'd pulled the poor gonk's remains out of the sea and forensics couldn't tell the difference. For a while, I was dead, retired, no longer a problem. But now, I'm back and he isn't happy about that. He's quite cross..."
So that's Starhawk... What about the others?"
"Starhawk doesn't care about the rest of them. He wants me. I told Jericho about this problem. But he will never let me go. I'll die of old age before Starhawk kills me at this point and Jericho will be there, embellishing every story to our grandchildren." Hildegarde sighed, no longer mocking V for everything he said. She seemed a bit melancholy for once. "Look, when you're fated to die, you die. But Jericho isn't going to let that happen."
"So you're stuck in this too?"
"Stuck? No, V, this is the life I chose. Gunshots in the dark with one eye closed. I've never feared death or dying, not until now. My destiny is in my own hands. Trust Jericho. That's all I have to add."
V sat back again. Hildegarde seemed worried. She'd beat death, and V had done the same. Everyone had their own stories and they all seemed to mesh up. He wondered what Asher's story was and Scotch's. The mission was to find Jericho's memories, everyone knew that. But his ultimate solution was a revolution. A Human Revolution. Hildegarde got up from the couch and leaned closer to Jericho, she seemed to be whispering to him at the moment and V decided to ask Asher what her reason was.
"Asher? Why hasn't Hildegarde strangled you yet?"
"Oh! Hah! That's because I'm the best NetRunner in the world!", Asher noted.
"No really, why are you with these gonks? You could do great things without them."
"Veee! Don't say that... Jericho helped me. He saw my potential. I was a Crystal-Jock before, an old-school Runner. Believe me, peeps love the classics, but... He saved me." Asher noted, looking upwards and away from V in reminiscense. "He wanted me to live... Saw my potential in this new age of Cybernetics... I was just a stupid kid before, but he gave me a life."
"What was it like before?"
"A struggle? I was a street-kid trying to survive off of stale bread every day. I had nothing, I was going to die and become another casualty; just another rat, dead in the streets... Like all the others...", Asher noted, reminiscing about old times. "Russia hasn't been exactly a nice place. Embargoes, restrictions, the Ruble and its non-existent value... I would've died in just a few days... It was harder than you think. Russia likes to talk up it's power, but realistically, it was hell, no food, no water, no tech... No life..."
"Shit, that's rough..."
"But then Jericho found me. He said I had a special skill. I knew the 'old ways'. He brought me onboard and gave me... the Chipset. A gift. I was actually worth something to someone! He changed my life, V. You should trust him. He really does know what he's doing, even though he's overly cryptic at times..."
Asher looked back at her Cyberdeck, turning away from V. She was busy re-establishing their Veil as it seemed. An important task considering what he'd just heard from the two he'd talked to. Scotch was the only one left that he'd had questions for.
"What about you, Robbie- I mean Scotch?", V asked. Their pilot didn't turn around, he was too focused with the task of flying the AV towards its destination.
"Aye? I was a soldier, V. A tanker, a Panzerboy. I had me skills and they be worth something to Jericho."
"Are you like the rest of them? A better life than what you could've had?"
"A life? Whadda ye think of me? A half-pished bairn? Jericho's gift gave me purpose. I weren't a homeless veteran with a crippling alcohol addiction anymore. I was a man with a special skill. This is na the war, na what I fought in, but it's a life. Better'n what coulda happened, better'n dyin' alone and cold in the gutter.", Scotch mused. "Need ta know anythin' else?"
"Nope, I think I understand...", V concluded. Everyone was in this together. They were a family, brought together by their similarities and skills. V and Johnny would be the Rockerboy to the group of misfits. In this time of respite, V pulled out one of the cots from the wall and laid down, shutting his eyes. He'd sleep for a bit. It wouldn't be too long before they'd arrived in Blackwell, a town that V had never even heard of.
Chapter End.