Stay
April 28 2077.
Falco pulled the car into the designated back alley while Lucy and Kiwi started hacking the surveillance of the laboratory.
"Seems closed to business, alright." Lucy said. "But there is still the director and an intern."
"Civilian?" asked Ernesto.
"Affirmative. Damn, her boss must be a dick, forcing her to work this much overtime."
"Well, her boss is still in his office. At least he's giving the example." Kiwi commented.
"Ain't them going to be a stitch in the ass?" Rebecca asked. "They call Saka Sec, we're gonna need a lot of guns."
"That's why we brought the city's preemest runners." David said confidently, referring to Lucy and Kiwi.
"We all know you ain't talking about me." the latter quipped.
"Don't sell yourself so short, Kiwi." Ernesto commented as he stood up to reach the backdoor of the van. "Jam every comm not coming from me and Dave. Becca, stay on guard."
Rebecca groaned and slumped, but had no choice but to wait and hope that maybe things would start to get messy in order to become a little fun. The Martinez brothers, wearing jackets, pants and helmets of riders, left the car and headed for the lab. With Lucy and Kiwi opening a maintenance hatch, passing through the external wall was a piece of cake. They then engaged their personal jammers in order to hide from the cameras and crack open a door that let them inside the building.
The Arasaka laboratory on the 4th District was specialized in electronic safety and worked to satisfy the needs of the mega-corp's counterintelligence. Per Faraday's request, the crew was there to make a copy of a new firewall to protect the cyber-skeleton project. With those projects, Militech would be able to create a virus to infiltrate Arasaka's ICE and find new intel about the project.
Commissioning such an upfront action served only as an indicator of how much Militech was desperate to sabotage Arasaka's progress in any way. And Ernesto was there exactly to ensure that they stayed desperate. Desperate enough to trigger a war.
Ernesto quickly consulted the map of the building.
"This way. Let's keep it quiet." he said inside the neural device to his brother.
"Right behind ya." David replied reassuringly.
The brothers paced quickly but carefully around the structure. Most of the sections of the lab were already dark as the lights were out, but their helmets had night visors in them, so it wasn't a problem. Eventually they spotted the only office that still had the lights on. In the distance they spotted the head of that section: Doctor Alexander Evans. He was sitting behind his desk, working at his computer, while a woman was standing patiently in front of him, though he seemed to notice her all of a sudden a few seconds after they saw the two of them.
The brother couldn't hear, but it was clear that the two were talking, and considering the tired bearing of the assistant and the late hour, it was safe to assume that she was asking permission to finally go home. Evans replied and then she left the office with a certain vigor, sign that she probably earned what she hoped for.
"Nesto, we can't wait until they do their thing." David said.
Ernesto grumbled under his breath. True, they couldn't just wait for those two to leave, but he had wanted to avoid a confrontation.
"Okay, I'm going in. You keep your eyes open for the intern."
David patted a hand on the shoulder of his older brother, who then ran with a light foot toward the office. Using the relative darkness of the hallway, he easily reached the front of the door without Evans taking his eyes out from his computer and easily sneaked behind the scientist.
"Don't try nothing." Ernesto threatened as he pointed his pistol at the back of Evan's neck.
The scientist clearly gasped in fear. He didn't turn around, instead just raised his hand.
"Good boy." Ernesto quipped before grabbing Evan's shoulder and pushing him. The chair had wheels, so it was enough to push him away from the desk. Keeping his gun aimed at the man, Ernesto plugged into the computer a spike that allowed Lucy to start hacking.
"W-who are you?" Evans stuttered, trying to sound angry.
"Don't mind me, pal. I'm just a regular gonk tryna make a livin'." Ernesto said. Using slang was a way to confuse his tracks even more, cause it was very rare to find a punk in Night City able to speak a correct English.
Sweating profusely, but trying to keep his cool, Evans kept asking. "You are with Militech?"
"Hey, a man's gotta eat." Ernesto replied nonchalantly. "Just stay still and nothing will come at ya."
Visibly worried, Evans decided to comply and pray that the thug in front of him was sincere as he sounded.
"Nesto, Lucy got through ICE. Copying the data now." Kiwi's voice came through the communicator.
"Understood." said the Captain with his own thought.
Just a few seconds later, the sound of a woman whimpering started to arrive inside the office and it didn't take long for David to appear, taking the intern inside.
"Director…" the woman cried in fear.
"I told ya, we ain't gonna do anything if you stay quiet." David said.
"Do as they say, Kyoko." Evans tried to reassure his worker.
David then approached his brother. "How much still?"
Ernesto glimpsed at the computer, just in time to see a green light appear on the spike, signaling that Lucy had done it. After the light turned off, he recovered the spike and nodded his head for David to leave the room. Then he reached the small control key at the door.
"The doors will open in ten. Thank you kindly for the help." he said to the two scientists inside the room, who were still worried but perhaps slightly more convinced that they were going to live.
After the door was shut, the brothers rushed back outside and jumped back inside the car.
"Got the data?" Ernesto asked.
"Of course." Lucy replied confidently. "And made sure to leave too many tracks to follow."
"Perfect. Let's tail out of here."
"Man, oh man that gig was a snore." Rebecca yawned while the truck sped away.
May 8 2077.
Things were proceeding just as Ernesto was expecting: even if Arasaka could not find out what he and David had stolen, they understood that Militech was behind the robbery. Faraday had been recently ambushed by a street gang hired by Arasaka to force him into selling intel to them about who was taking out the many runners they had hired to restore Tanaka's erased data, and the fixer had already contacted Kiwi for help. Little he knew that Kiwi was double-crossing him and Ernesto was already coming up with the final act that would push the mega-corps over the edge.
Once armed fighting erupted through the city, the mayor of Night City, who had been promised to keep his term and immunity in exchange for cooperating with the takeover, would formally ask the intervention of the Imperial Federation.
The North American Territorial Army, one of the biggest and most advanced of Earth, was amassing forces at Twin Falls, Idaho and in Sacramento, California, ready to launch a two-pronged attack against the Corporate Territory. The Legion had already deployed two cohorts to act as vanguards for the two offensives.
There was no doubt that Arasaka and Militech were preparing for open war. Sources inside the Asian mega-corp confirmed that even Adam Smasher was on stand-by.
Ernesto was lingering with his eyes over the report with this last intel.
Smasher. Finally, that monster would pay for what he did to Luna and God knew how many innocents that just happened to stand on his way. But it wasn't going to be easy: Smasher wasn't a legend for nothing, and his heavy arsenal, combined with his unparalleled fighting experience, might prove incredibly painful to take down without serious losses.
Maybe a psionic or a biotic might use their powers against him, but humanity still had only a limited number of both and they still were feared by the common people. It was unlikely that they were going to be used in this operation unless the situation became desperate.
Not to mention, Ernesto felt the unusual urge to kill that guy himself.
"Nesto."
The Captain raised his head from the datapad and saw Stacy waiting with her hands behind her back.
He put away the pad and replied. "Hey, little one. What's the matter?" he asked kindly.
She pulled out her own datapad. "Can you review my homework?" she asked timidly.
"Sure." he replied with a smile and took the datapad.
He scrolled it to take a look. They were all math problems meant for the following week. Exercises of logic that he had no problem understanding. And it seemed like Stacy had no problem with them either, considering almost all of them were correct.
"Great job, Stacey. You just missed something in the third problem." he said in a gentle tone.
"What? Where?" she asked surprised before jumping sit next to him, trying to peek into the pad.
Ernesto smirked at her sudden change of attitude. When things came down to her duties, Stacy was a strict perfectionist, even if most of the time she seemed tame and introverted. He then proceeded to explain where the error was. Not much in the calculations, but in the fact that she had made an error in the approach, using the wrong formula.
"But what if I made this instead?" she asked, proceeding to input the new procedure.
Surprisingly, it worked, in full respect of the laws of arithmetic.
"Nice done. See? Now the result makes sense."
Stacy hummed in thought. "But it's not the method we are supposed to use."
"So what? If you can make a job well your way, why shouldn't you do that?"
"But the teacher says we should follow procedures."
"Follow procedures blindly is what the bosses at the mega-corps expect from their employees, Stacy. If you get tangible results with your own method, then do it." Ernesto said sternly but with a sincere care. Stacy was a very smart girl, and he couldn't stand seeing her dragged down by those who still wanted the masses to be sterile-minded. "So if your teacher dares to say anything, just defend your opinion. Got it?"
Stacy nodded twice with vigor, then she was returned her pad, which she put down on the small table of the living room.
"All right, then I'm done."
"Nice. So how do we celebrate?" Ernesto quipped.
The girl turned her head toward him and asked a bit timidly. "Can we go to the store? There is this new v-game I want to buy."
"Sure. Did your mom left you some money?"
"Yes. She said you would take me, if I finished in time."
"Then let's go."
They headed out, entered Ernesto's car and he drove toward the nearest software vendor. Apparently, Stacy wasn't the only one waiting for the game, because there were at least ten people in front of them. Also, it was Saturday, meaning that they were meant to find somebody anyway.
Still, while they were halfway through the queue, Ernesto saw a bulky man with an unmistakable appearance go past him and head for the counter. The Legionnaire glimpsed back and saw other two punks already waiting at the sides of the door. Before the guy even reached the counter, it was clear to the soldier that this was a robbery and things might get ugly quickly.
And in those two seconds that he needed to assess the situation, he didn't notice that Stacy had stepped out of the queue.
"Hey, you! Wait for your turn!" the girl said severely to the punk, very much ignoring the situation.
The punk halted and turned around with a grunt.
"Why, whatchu gonna do, missy?" he said with a mischievous grin, then turned around and pulled out a gun.
Everyone in the room gasped while Ernesto simply started sweating cold while he kept a relatively composed face.
Stacy, too, was clearly terrified as the punk approached her with the gun then grabbed her hand.
"Ya know, maybe we'll get ya too, see if you get us some more money." he said as Stacy squirmed to get out of the grasp, without success.
The punk turned toward Ernesto, who was keeping his hands high. "Your daddy here seems jacked with creds, ain't that right?"
The Legionnaire didn't reply, he was waiting just for the right opportunity.
Which came right the next moment. The punk turned around to order the store clerk to prepare the credits, but in doing so he had lifted his gun toward the roof, and he was still very close to Ernesto. With a lightning fast attack, the Legionnaire grabbed the wrist holding the gun while punching that same arm around the elbow. With a loud crack, the bone and part of the chrome the punk had in that limb popped open on the opposite side, breaking the arm.
Ernesto used that chance to steal the gun while the criminal yelled in pain, then the Legionnaire immediately grabbed him and twirled around to use him as a shield.
"Everyone on the ground!" he prompted with a yell and most of the bystanders immediately obeyed, standing on the ground and leaving the other two punks in sight.
Everything had happened so fast that the two were taken totally by surprise. One of them received a bullet between the eyes before he could raise his own gun, the other had barely the time to take aim before Ernesto shot him three times.
Then he finally knocked the first punk out so he could be handed over to the police, which he immediately called.
The cars arrived three minutes later, and not surprisingly, Petra was in there and rushed to get her daughter.
"Mom!" Stacy said in tears.
"I'm here, Stacey." Petra said with a giant relief as the two hugged.
Ernesto helped the other cops to seize the punk for good and put him into one of the cars before getting to the girls.
"Nesto, sorry." the little girl said once he returned.
"Sorry for what?" he asked calmly.
"I should've hold my tongue. I put you in danger."
"Hey, those punks were going to rob everybody anyway." Ernesto replied, taking a knee to talk face-to-face with her. "You took the courage to stand up and try to correct what you saw as an injustice, no matter how small it seemed. That's what it counts, Stacy. You showed great maturity and bravery, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about."
Stacy eventually seemed to absorb those words to heart, especially with her mother showing approval. Certainly this day would be something she would never forget.
May 22 2077.
"The cyber-skeleton is ready. Arasaka says they lack a candidate to test the product, but otherwise they say the first prototype is complete." Pétran reported.
"I'll give them the candidate, sir." Ernesto calmly said. "Does Militech know this?"
"Yes. It seems they will try to stop the delivery when the convoy will reach the desert."
"And when that happens, there is no turning back."
"Precisely. Our military forces are ready to intervene to pacify the city when the situation escalates out of control, but the final word is yours, Captain. When do we start?"
"If everything goes as I intend, in four days." Ernesto calmly said.
The Director nodded in acknowledgment. "I will inform the Emperor. He has expressed the wish to participate in the takeover."
"He won't be disappointed. Now, with your permission, I need to make the last preparations."
"Of course. And...Ernesto. I want you to know that you're one of the best agents I have ever had the honor to command." Pétran said in a tone that clearly defined that they were at the end of the road, where the stakes would be higher than ever. All they had worked for in the last years would be decided in the next week.
Ernesto knew that and made a thankful nod. "Thank you, sir, but I wouldn't have made it this far without your guidance and the help of everyone else."
"Then let's make sure every sacrifice made until now is repaid."
"Yes, sir. Martinez, out."
The transmission was closed and Ernesto drew a sigh to get out some of the huge tension that was crawling over his heart.
For the first phase of the plan, he called Lucy and Kiwi.
"Ladies, it's time." he said when they picked up.
"I already found their bait." Lucy reported. "Kiwi, you in position?"
"Faraday is waiting for you in the other room. I hope you're ready to go through some pain, though, he is not risking you getting loose."
"That's the plan, right?" Lucy said confidently.
"Lucy." Ernesto intervened with a calm tone. "I appreciate you getting on board with this."
"No need to, Nesto. This is what I signed up for, after all."
"Good. Then proceed. Kiwi, see that they don't hurt her too much."
"I'll do my best."
May 23 2077.
Lucy had been kidnapped, with only Kiwi, Ernesto and David knowing this as part of the plan, and Faraday had already contacted the younger Martinez to commission the heist against Arasaka's convoy.
The brothers thus called Becca, Pilar, Falco and Kiwi to the Circle to discuss the gig and say the truth to those who were still unaware about the incoming revolution. Sure, the crew was very surprised to find out about the Loyalists, but after everything they had gone through with Ernesto, they were more than willing to help him.
"All right, then listen up." Ernesto eventually said, going on the small platform in the main bar to rouse everyone. "The plan is this. Me and my brother's crew will ambush Saka's convoy that will be delivering their new products. We know already that Militech will try to seize it with a full battalion, and while Arasaka expects either me or David to jack in the cyber-skeleton to get out, we'll just give them the middle finger. Once they see their asset in danger, Arasaka will surely send out its own forces to recover the truck and the war between them will be officially started.
"While they are wrapped up in their squabble, it will be your moment. You will take over the police centrals, the train stations, the spaceport and all major infrastructures, including the broadcasts. The mayor will ask the intervention of the Federation to establish order, but we have to expect the corps to not go down without a fight."
He looked around. Everyone was in the right mixture of afraid and completely pumped up. They only needed the final push to give everything they had.
"My friends, tomorrow we reclaim our future. A future where we will all be equal in standing and opportunity. So let's do this!" he rose a fist with the half-rose arm in front of his face. "With everything we got. With everyone who gave up their lives along the path to freedom!"
A loud 'UWAH!' resonated in the room. There was no doubt that everyone was committed and then Ernesto stepped down to reach his family and friends.
"So here we are." Petra said with a grave tone.
"Ah, cheer up, badge lady." Pilar encouraged. "When this over, your job will be much more of a cake."
"We got the preemest choom in NC to lead us. We can't lose." David added, bumping his fist on Ernesto's shoulder.
The Legionnaire smirked and chuckled with them, yet his mind wasn't that much at ease. After all, he had seen war before. What the other saw in the violent life of Night City was still nothing compared to the horrors that were going to be unleashed soon.
And if he wanted to make sure that his friends walked out of the storm alive, he knew that he couldn't go for half-hearted measures.