Chapter 2: To The Moon
The Toward Stars AV flew at an incredibly slow pace through the skies of Night City. It was beginning to get dark as dusk fell upon them. David couldn't stop pacing around the cabin, once he found Faraday he'd feed him his own entrails. Once he'd found Lucy he finally take her to the moon like he'd promised. Once this was all said and done, he'd have to do what Jericho had asked him. His thoughts felt clearer and his intentions lacked the rage that boiled inside him. Whatever had been done to him, it had worked. Rebecca just stared at him in mild annoyance as he began to wear a circle into the floor of the cabin.
"Is there a reason why we're going so slow?", Jericho asked.
"Huh? You didn't tell me this thing is European! All of the controls are metric!", Falco complained. The speedometer was in kilometers and they were currently blistering along at 90kmh.
"The speedometer goes to 280. Go that fast. It can handle it."
"Alright... It's your AV after all...", Falco relented. He just slammed the throttle all the way, the sudden burst in speed sending Rebecca sliding across the floor and into the nearest bulkhead along with Kiwi. David promptly landed on both of them.
"Get your fat ass off of me!", tiny Rebecca cursed. David was heavy.
"Sorry!"
The Toward Stars shot forwards. Its heavy cargo frame not designed for high-speed maneuvering made it handle like a tugboat and Arasaka tower was approaching at a rather high speed. This wasn't going to end well. As much as Jericho had reassured him that the armoring was tough enough to ram their way into the tower, Falco had his doubts. The old AV rattled and shook. They were going to end up plastered against the wall like a wet paper towel.
"Uhh... Got an entry plan?"
"Yes. Ram the door. Keep the engines running. Get out when we have Lucy. I'll handle the opposition.", Jericho noted. As skilled as these Edgerunners were, he had a sneaking suspicion that Arasaka more firepower than they did. He also recalled that they too had a cyborg for security, one Adam Smasher, a deadly and psychotic 'Legendary' Mercenary. Perhaps a worthy opponent after all since David had ambition, but ambition got you nowhere in a fight for your life.
"Okaaay... Here. We. Go!", Falco shouted as he pushed the AV to its limits, the engines screaming as the docking bay door loomed closer and closer. "Brace for impact!"
"Whaaaaat!?", Rebecca screamed from her position on the floor.
It was too late for bracing as the Toward Stars slammed into the docking bay door at maximum speed, the nose of the AV crashing through the door and interrupting a meeting between Arasaka and Faraday. Inside the AV, Rebecca, Kiwi and David were thrown forwards crashing into the front seats and knocking Falco out of his own seat and into the windshield. The older man rubbed his forehead in agony.
"Get the girl! I'll handle Arasaka!", Jericho commanded as he threw the side door open and jumped out, disappearing in a blur.
"Stay here and cover me!", David commanded. Rebecca and Kiwi just stared at him as he left.
Faraday's meeting could've been going better. Arasaka was pissed at him for losing the Cyber-Skeleton and refused to even pay him despite him bringing their lost lamb to them. It promptly got even worse when an AV suddenly crashed through the wall and a tall unknown cyborg got out and began slaughtering all of the Arasaka Elites in the room. Then things turned out even worse when David Martinez showed up next, grabbed Lucy out of his hands and stuffed her into the AV that had just crashed his party. David then returned and delivered an absolutely bone-crushing punch to his face as his little friends began to pepper him with gunfire.
"Faraday!"
"David!?"
Faraday had nothing left to say since he no longer had a mouth to speak from as David caved his skull in with his bare hands. A handful of cybernetic eyeballs rolled across the floor as his body slumped onto the ground. David gave Faraday's corpse a few good kicks just to make sure, even though it was obvious that the Fixer wasn't going to be getting back up any time soon.
David had barely enough time to dodge a massive gun blast as Arasaka's own Legendary Merc made his appearance in the room. Adam Smasher. "You're Adam Smasher? The Legendary merc himself, in the chrome!"
"Get out of my way, boy. My fight is with the cyborg.", Adam chided ignoring David completely and focusing on the Black-Project Cyborg that was still carving through Arasaka Elites.
"Hey! I'm talkin' to you! You got any brains left in that chromed-out dome of yours!?"
Adam Smasher didn't respond and instead just raised his fist to crush David's skull. He really didn't need any distractions right now since a worthy opponent had suddenly appeared on his doorstep.
"Get out.", Jericho interrupted, having teleported between Smasher and David. He simply lifted David by the throat and hurled him backwards towards the AV where his crewmates were covering him.
"We got him! Good luck, Jericho!", Falco shouted as he dragged David on board. The AV was stuck in the doorway, though and this wasn't going to end well if they couldn't actually leave. Smasher just raised his rocket launcher towards them.
"Let them go. You wanted me, didn't you?", Jericho interjected, punching Adam Smasher in the side, the blow denting his armored body.
"Distractions... Who the fuck are you?"
"Jericho. Hello, Adam Smasher."
"Jericho? Never heard of you. You've got so much chrome I'm surprised you can even get more than two words out."
"You could say I'm special."
"Hrrm."
Radiation spiked as Jericho dodged backwards away from Adam Smasher. The larger cyborg had some speed enhancements, but they were nothing compared to the Black-Project chrome Jericho was entirely comprised of. Smasher couldn't even get a lock on him with his Smart Guns or rocket launcher, the smaller cyborg running circles around him.
"And they call you 'Legendary'. I expected more."
"Fuck you!"
Twin nano-ceramic blades extended instantly as Jericho dodged downwards and swung his blades outwards against Smasher's kneecaps. The quick blows severing both of the massive cyborg's legs and dumping the 'Legendary' Merc onto the floor. As the larger man fell, Jericho retracted his blades and aimed a simple punch into his shoulder at nearly supersonic speeds, Smasher's massive mechanical arm breaking off and flying into the farthest wall.
"Impossible! What are you!?"
"I am a fully cybernetic humanoid war-machine. My name is Jericho. My cybernetics are one of a kind and made of an alloy of proprietary design. I am sorry that you have been made with off-the-shelf scrap metal."
"Go fuck yourself!"
Jericho just bent down to the semi-prone Adam Smasher. "Now then, let's see what you're hiding inside." With a single nuclear-powered grip, Jericho just tore Adam Smasher's chest plate off and threw it across the room revealing the fusion core that powered the massive cyborg.
"Oh. What a shame. And here I expected something unique. Let's see what that head has inside it...", Jericho noted as he inserted his probes into Adam Smasher's neural interface. Adam just convulsed as his mind was raped, his memories pulled out and scanned, his past revealed to the horror-monster in front of him. "Nothing of use. Not yet, at least... Perhaps in the future..."
"Fuck... This... Fucking kill me already!", Smasher groaned.
"No. No, I want you to live with this failure. You have never felt defeat like this before and killing you would deprive you of the suffering that living with it would cause. I want you to suffer, Adam. I want to watch you break down in agony. I want to hear your screams for mercy when your end comes. You are human. I am not. Not anymore. I am something far greater.", Jericho concluded as he kicked Adam onto his back.
The larger cyborg just began to drag himself away from the eldritch monster in front of him with one arm, his leg stumps dragging as he did. For once, Adam Smasher felt fear, the fear of something completely unknown and deadly in Night City. He would remember this and he would tell his superiors of the cyborg known as Jericho.
Jericho just watched as Adam crawled away. So much for a worthy opponent. This had simply proved that whoever had given him his fully-cybernetic body knew what they were doing and that for some reason, the project had been abandoned once their only prototype had been created. Perhaps too dangerous for the rest of the world? He had more questions than answers, but had gotten a fair share of information from Smasher's brain. He now knew of Izanagi, a Net uplink at the base of the tower and a funny little biochip called the Relic. Now it was time to go. Noticing the AV still stuck in the doorway, Jericho just body-slammed into its nose, dislodging the AV and sending it spiraling out of Arasaka Tower. Falco used his innate piloting skills and quickly brought the AV around and took off into Night City. There were a few things to discuss.
David had commanded Falco to land at his penthouse apartment next to the old Megabuilding he'd lived in. They would be safe here for now. He had a heaping assload of questions for Jericho as well. He'd heard of Adam Smasher and he'd heard of the Legend's reputation, yet there he was and there he went, beaten seven ways to Sunday by a cyborg much smaller than he was. It was mind boggling.
"David? I want you to know... There's a Revolution coming. I want you by my side when that time comes. For now, I implore you to travel with me and help me with my quest.", Jericho noted.
"Yeah... About that... Can't do it."
"You can't?"
"Not right now... I made a promise to Lucy. Maybe someday later..."
"Well then. That was not what I anticipated, yet I will hold you to that. When the time comes, I will call upon you and you will serve me. There is no room for negotiation on this. I have given you something incredible and I expect to be repaid when the time comes. If you refuse... I will treat that as a betrayal. And there will be nothing left but ashes."
"No! No, I- I just mean I can't do it right now right this second. Give me some more time to figure shit out on my own. I'll be there for you, I promise."
"Hey David, you'd better not get us all killed. We barely got out of that one alive. Can you even imagine what Smasher would've done to us if Jericho wasn't there? We'd all be crushed to paste under his giant metal feet or something!", Rebecca noted.
"Take the hint, kid. This Jericho guy can pay us better than any fixer, I guarantee you.", Falco noted.
"I'd like to work with you.", Kiwi added.
"Whaaat!? Kiwi, you're just gonna leave us?", Rebecca complained.
"There's no reason for you to have two NetRunners. Besides, Lucy can handle this. I know it."
"Well then. The same offer applies to you. Considering that I know you. And know what you've done, you'll be on a tighter leash. If and when you decide to pull an 11th hour betrayal, well you'll have the rest of your life to think it over. Even though your life will be measured in seconds at that point."
"Yep. No problem!"
"Good."
David and the rest of his crew just stared at Kiwi for a moment. She'd done something, something horrible probably, but that was just how life was. David idly wondered what it was, but it probably wasn't important. Kiwi had been incredibly helpful during the times they'd been together and he couldn't imagine her selling them out.
"Sooo... What are you two doing then?", Rebecca asked.
"Me and Lucy, we're going to the Moon. Maybe buy an apartment in Tycho, see the sights, take some lunar jobs, who knows?", David mused.
"Sounds like fun. Just don't forget about us back planetside.", Falco noted.
"Fun? What the hell are we going to do if they're up in space!?", Rebecca added.
"Dunno yet, maybe move some cargo? Wakako still needs someone to do her dirty laundry... Why don't you come along with me? I could always use a gunner."
"Hell yeah! Let's go shoot some fucking guns!"
"Well, it looks like you've got it all figured out. I'll be taking my leave now. Don't forget about our agreement.", Jericho noted. He tapped Kiwi on the shoulder and left the apartment in his AV. Kiwi waved to them and quickly joined Jericho. Onward to destiny.
As the Toward Stars disappeared over the horizon, David was left with a sense of calm. No more cyberpsychosis and he had enough money to buy a ticket to the moon. He and Lucy would finally get to see the dusty rock with their own eyes and perhaps, even settle down in a nice little lunar abode. This had ended well for him, better than expected. But, there was still the threat of Jericho. He was still an unknown benefactor to them and was deadly. He'd never seen someone fight like that or move as fast as that. The force behind his punches that tore Adam Smasher apart, It was terrifying and he knew that he had no chance if the cyborg came looking and he wasn't available. Only time would tell, and for right now, only Lucy mattered to him.
Chapter End.
A/N: A slightly happier ending. Epilogue is next. Enjoy.
EDIT: I lied. It continues