Date: 17th of June, 2075
Location: Russia - ? - ? - ?
POV: Omniscient
"Imagine standing there battered and bruised - Dried to the last bone of all your will and you slash forward only to realise that all your efforts were for nothing? All those days of training in the rain meant nothing in the face of ultimate power! That is who you are up against. That is who Empire is! And that is who I dare follow! Shoot me down and I will come forward stronger than before! Do it! Strike me now and face a thousand deaths!" A soldier screamed, a shovel by his hand as he awaited the NUSA soldiers to kill him. Staring confident he never felt more alive than now. The adrenaline boosted his will to survive. Seeing them aim he only smiled, his laughter sinister to all the enemy soldiers around. Even when backed to the wall his will never wavered, his heart content that he would survive his escape.
"Take your best-shot scum!"
Yet when they attempted to shoot, their ammunition exploded from the inside a mystical figure appeared behind the soldier shielding him from the blast. A large artillery strike then bolted through the armoured units, their bodies imploding from the inside. The snow almost enhancing the man's presence to that of an angel. Wearing ushanka atop his head and a cigar by his mouth he patted the man's shoulder, comforting him of the cold.
"This is Empire, the point has been secured. Excellent job, comrade. May they fear our wrath," Empire spoke, his words causing the soldier to only smile and lift his fist upwards. The action a salute to the Commander. The wounded soldier was then carried away by medics, his arm never leaving his salute.
"Hello, Allfather this is Empire, the shipment has been dispatched to the soviets. All has been well…" Empire informed before pausing at the newly sent document in front of him. Exhaling the frost from his breath, it alarmed the others.
"I did not believe I had a daughter…" Empire muttered, his words almost too quiet to be a whisper.
"And neither did I Mikhailov. When your efforts in Russia are complete I will arrange a meeting," The Allfather spoke, his transmission cut off. Left with his own thoughts of his past he decided it was best to ponder on them later. The cold would keep him sharp, his heart could not compromise the mission.
"Is something of concern commander?" A soldier asked concerned at their leaders' pause. The man's stoic face was then replaced by a raised brow, a smile emerging from it as he walked forward.
"Let us move," He indicated, their attack choppers moving upwards. The large army all transversing south.
"Onwards Comrades!" He charged, his men moving towards a Miletich convey. An apparent cache of equipment being moved towards the Russian loyalist party.
Back in the sands of Mexico, Alicia was struggling to retrieve the package. Her eventual actions leading her to inquire a fixer for help, her name Dakota Smith. Reaching the outskirts of Night city with Raven Squad she halted their advances so as to not get too close to the city. Her orders to remain incognito.
"This is where we split ways, I appreciate the assist Raven squad but I'm going to need to go undercover," Alicia explained, her attire changing from highly armoured to agility. With all her bodily systems enhanced only a few could overwhelm her.
"No problems Blook Hawk, Vulcan sends his regards," Davo voiced before lifting off alongside O'Brien.
"I'll keep in touch," he voiced. Alicia nodded walking away. Wearing clothing that matched a solo she walked towards Dakota Smiths' office or to be precise hone as the place was dry to the bone. Grass bare in abundance with a number of nomadic vehicles stationed in front, her own hands fixing one of them up. Seeing the beat-up few upfront Alicia understood that the nomadic fixer was a mechanic as well as a tuner. The rides a mixture of small to large.
"You know I never thought I'd deal with Legion members, especially helping them. What brings you to the badlands?" Dakota inquired her eyes ever so fixated on her car. Her hands tweaking the combustion engine, tuning it to her desires.
"I require assistance, I've given you the data and payment. Now, The information." Alicia ordered. Her words were left empty to Dakota who seemed to continue on with her work. Tapping her feet she awaited a response. While one would understand the disrespect, she understood that she on a casual whim could flatten Dakota town alongside her. So why bother?
"Give me a second," She responded, before chucking a chip to Alicia who caught it.
"It ain't easy tracking a package on such little notice. A special someone has taken it…"
"And who would that be?" Alicia asked confused. It was one thing to be called someone, add special and that meant something else.
"They call him… Murk man."
Date: 17th of June, 2075
Location: North America - Night city - Watson - Office
POV: Omniscient
"Keep your trigger steady and your heart cold." A cold whisper emanated, a chilling air wrapping around the young boy who only smiled back.
"Bang!"
"Not bad kiddo," Victor smiled, watching the boys aim his pistol. The bullet just managing to hit the dolls' head. The image of it slowly self-repairing
"Bssh- you ain't see nothin'. I could do this with my eyes closed," David jested, his gun slanted to the side like a stereotypical gangster.
"Interesting choice of stance but I find it inefficient. Keep your shoulders tight with both hands on the pistol." Victor informed a sudden smell of sweet tobacco, wood and spices being lifted into the air. A slight cinnamon undertone waffling about, a sweet memory of childhood flicking into David's mind and nose.
"What's that?" David questioned looking around only to be brought back to reality. Victors head turned to the side as he looked over to his monitors.
"A cigar?"
"Impeccable observation child, you'd make a good detective." Victor humoured. With his head turned away from the child, David could only ponder on his mentor's face.
"Why the mask?" David asked intrigued.
"To obscure my face of course."
"Of course, but why?" David sighed rolling his eyes. The sarcastic comments of Victor always managing to egg him.
"That's for me to know and for you to ponder." Victor continued, the monitors blank to David who couldn't seem to decipher the shards of information being transferred around.
"What the hell is that?" David asked, his eyes only catching a few slashes of data that he understood - the rest blank to his mind.
"Network sequencing, an old trick that Netrunners use to use before hopping into the net. I've perfected it to the point that only a genius could interpret but a string of information from it." Victor explained, flicking through, the speed to which he blinded David.
"Cool, can you teach me?"
"Depends, do you know what this says?" Victor asked pausing at a data sequence.
[01000100 01100001 01110110 01101001 01100100 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01101011 01110011 00100000 000010100]
"Isn't that just binary, wait a minute…" David muttered, the realisation dawning at what the code stated.
"That simply isn't true." David huffed.
"If your breath is anything to go off of I might as well be correct," Victor teased.
"Whatever you probably haven't showered in weeks, you probably reek under that armour of yours!" David countered.
"Simply false, I don't require such barbaric methods of cleaning any longer. My scent is that of dandelions and lavender." Victor swaggered, his hands pretending to wipe imaginary dust over his shoulders.
"Leave the kid alone choom, he's got a lot to learn," Jackie joined in.
"Which you would be right. But the world does not care for ignorance it only cares about results." Victor quickly jabbed.
"Which is why he's here and not outside," Jackie smiled before handing the kid a cheeseburger meal.
"I thought you'd be hungry after all your training. I'm surprised you can keep up with the doc. I haven't seen him sleep in the last five days." Jackie continued, the level of technology and knowledge his boss processed on the level of corpo's.
"You on synth-coke or something?" David questioned munching on his meal.
"Don't mistake my perfection for substance abuse. Such filth would never enter my system." Victor quickly denied.
"Whatever you say druggie," David teased.
"You're lucky I'm feeling generous today," Victor chuckled, before welcoming a "patient". The individual in question stumbling in. David whose mind was wondering quickly went alert and jumped to lift the man up.
"Shit he's been shot!" David shouted.
"Once again detective your analysis amazes me," Victor commented, his movement never once moving to save him.
"Come on we can't just leave him like this we gotta save him!" David urged.
"No need to defecate your pants, put him on the table." Victor motioned, a doctor's coat swiftly being brought to his shoulders.
"Now, now let's see… Four shots, one to shoulder, one to the liver and the rest… right next to your heart… total cost for damages hmm… David," Victor called out.
"Ah, yeah?"
"How much do you think I should charge him?"
"Umm, 700 eddies?" David answered.
"Are you sure?" Victor asked once more.
"I'm sure," He affirmed. Victor accepting his answer quickly healed the other person. The wounded tissue healing from the inside out, the bullets quickly ejected out. With it the body left scarring around. A compound injected into their body to make up for the lack of nutrients.
"From now on, that is how much I'll be charging our customers," Victor explained, the action shocking Jackie.
"Is that a lot?" David asked Jackie. His trips to the doctor's office were never exactly proper with most visits only costing about 300.
"Nope, not in a long mile choom… The average visit from a professional Doc is anywhere between 4000 and onwards… 700 would only best get you an examination minimum… You could go to any dodgy ripper but i wouldn't recommend it." Jackie detailed.
"Thanks for the save, *Cough* ," A disgruntled voice thanked.
"The names River, River ward," He voiced, handing a bundle of dollars over. The total going over 1200 eddies. While quite a lot of a police officer he knew from just the room he was safe. Only proper rippers ever had clean bed sheets like the one he was on. It was better to appease a ripper than to anger them.
"Can i take it all?" David asked seeing the amount.
"It depends, are you a man of your word or will be uncivil and break it?" Victor questioned handing River his cigar. David hearing his words shuffled the difference back.
"How'd ya know I smoke?" River smiled, his vision slowly returning to full capacity. The re-calibration and sight of his left eye returning.
"I'm an apostle sent by god or perhaps it may have been the pack that you dropped when you fumbled in," Victor explained handing him another.
"Thanks once again but I gotta head out. Here's my address I'll pay you back in full then. Sorry, I can't pay you upfront, shits rough," River muttered struggling up.
"Give it a rest officer, You've already paid in full, you'll be fine in a few minutes let the medicine do its job," Victor stated. David saddened by his ignorance handed River the difference back.
"Damn…. Only 700? Shit, I might have to visit you more Doc… You give me some dorphs? Never felt this light since I ripped my first dart…" River groaned smiling.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
"OI FUCKFACE OPEN UP!"
"WHAT THE FU-,!"
Hearing profanities the crew could only remain silent as the profanities soon turned into silence. A grotesque sound of flesh and spilt water filled the silence. A tiny robot tank drove into the room trailing a stream of blood.
"Your company I presume?" Victor questioned River - The man was speechless at the sight of the bodies. David looking away kept himself busy while talking to Jackie, the scene quite the jump from what'd he seen on BD's.
"I ain't ever seen someone's upper body explode so fast and silently…" River murmured. His opinion of the doc quickly from a helpful doctor to a surgeon of death. It was one thing to save a life and another to take one.
"I givith and I taketh." Victor replied before ordering a cleaning bot to the scene.
"You know as a police officer I'd try and arrest you for owning something like that… But I'm just gonna forget about that… Thanks for the save doc I owe ya one. Say I never got your name." River stated, gesturing his hand for a shake.
"Doctor Doom, I'm quite new here." Victor introduced his hand shaking the man.
"Know that the 22nd Precinct welcomes you anytime. Until next time Doc," River smiled, Victor, bugging the man via internal systems and physical means.
"He's kinda nice for a pig." Jackie leaned.
"That's cause we save him," David quipped.
"Trust me choom, I've saved a few pigs in my lifetime too. I got arrested by one after I helped him back to his office. What thank you that was." Jackie shook.
"We'll see just how nice your officers are," Victor mused.
"Is texas any different?" David asked.
"Extremely strict yet fair, we had a system in place called the judges. In a sense, they were both judges, juries and executioners. It took too long for so-called officers to actually apprehend criminals only for them to escape a few years later. This method allowed for instant karma." Victor explained.
"Sounds kinda scary… what were the punishments and wouldn't such a program be extremely corrupt?" Jackie asked concerned.
"Officers were screened by the Allfather himself before being allowed in. Its requirements are extremely strict oftentimes or not with a patch of 10000 only ever allowing for a few hundred to pass." Victor explained, the scene of binding thousands of Judges into his legion resurfacing.
"Okay, so these Judges… How many are there? If requirements are so hard would it be fair to say that they'd be armed to the extreme like are they similar to Maxtac?" David inquired, the scene of a judge, jury and executioner almost foreign to him.
"Indeed, but I find your Maxtac quite lacking to be quite honest while they are indeed efficient compared to your local NYPD they simply arn't efficient compared to our Judges." Victor continued.
"What do you mean by that? I've seen BD's where MaxTac took down a Veteran gone Cyber-Psycho. They're an elite squad, the best of the best! There is no way!" David exclaimed, a scene of MaxTac easily taking down a cyber-psycho emerging into his head, it was something that'd he never forget as it happened right in front of him.
"Even I find that hard to believe that choom," Jackie joined in. A MaxTac's prowess was engrained into his brain as even After-life mercs wandered away from such soldiers. MaxTac was quite literally the best of the best. With equipment that constantly kept evolving, they were trained for perfection. How could a "Judge" ever amount to that strength?
"With just a glance I can tell just how much of a failure they are alongside this city. You simply can't defeat degeneracy with degeneracy." Victor revealed.
"What do you mean by that?" David asked.
"Your so-called elite squad is filled with cyber-psychos, with 3rd-grade equipment you could find at any store in Texas. Their basic arms while "Experimental" is quite literally imitations of Texas's current weaponry meant for Texans. The Judges carry "reliable" weaponry with their use rare. The Judges are more so symbols of peace than a means of enforcement." Victor replied as a hologram showed video footage of a heavily armoured officer armed to the teeth. Wearing triple-padded armour he seemed like he was wearing a slim bomb suit than an actual police uniform. Alongside his armour was a visor, the whole aesthetic and colour that of a futuristic crimson gothic knight. The ebony, crimson and gold aesthetic reflective of a golden future.
"If such the place is so good why is there a need for such armour and program? Surely simple officers would work, choom?" Jackie ask.
"This is a recent video, here's what it was like during the great Ragnarok," Victor explained before showing a surveillance video of a Judge. The Judge in question a hulking figure to the people in front of him. Standing at 6'8ft (203cm) he looked more like a giant than an actual human. The persons' presence intimidating to the criminals before him. With such fear they fired opon him, their weaponry ineffective. The bullets bouncing off of him only lead to the man clicking his tongue, the latter then aiming back. The large revolver-like weapon buzzing with electricity, its bright light enveloping into a beam, the steam evaporating the criminals instantly. Almost feeling the heat emitting from the holographic screen David and Jackie clenched. A slightly cold sweat flooding David back as he imagined himself facing a situation.
'Could I even run away?'
"What the fuck..." David swore, the scene shocking Jackie even. For it was the first time he had even seen death so... Fast. Most times there was gore, blood, screams... Here it seemed almost mythical, mystical as if god himself decided the man was dead. Without a trace left of him, it made him realize his own mortality. Sometimes the monsters of the upper leagues weren't worth messing with. If such strength came from a single unit imagine the thousands that lingered about.
'No wonder Texas managed to survive and even thrive against NUSA... but surely if this was equivalent of a Judge, what made them stay passive? Was there more to the NUSA war? Could it be possible that NUSA had something worse or even equal to that of the judges?'
"Who was that? Surely not every Judge is like him? Just what was he using to do that?" Jackie questioned, amazed and dazed, the scene almost theatrical. With such blinding light not even the person's body was left. In such an instant the person was simply gone like that.
"That would be the first Judge. Judge Vulcan and the All-fathers right-hand man, not much is known about him but I hear he's crushed a man's head with his bare hands. His weapon though? That would be the Exectuinor MKI, a prototype at the time from what I hear which had a compact nuclear reactor fueling its shots. Every current Judge holds a weaker version of this prototype as it was found to be too cumbersome, wasteful and overkill for general use. The current Executioner MKVII holds 1/10th of its original counterpart with the ability to now control how much energy input is required" Victor detailed.
"Even still having 1/10th of that would be just overkill in itself… Surely criminals aren't that bad there?" Jackie questioned once more.
"That's because they weren't just combating criminals they were combating NUSA as well," Victor explained, the next scene showing assaults and suicide bombings of NUSA soldiers. Children getting caught in the cross-fire.
"You know… How do you know so much about the Judges? I thought you were just a doctor turned mercenary," David asked.
"You'll find out one day, kiddo," Victor smiled. The two figures now wondered just who their masked employer was. For such a diverse range of information surely he wasn't simple?
'Was he perhaps a judge himself?' David thought it'd explain everything about him. The weapons, armour, equipment and the odd sense of hatred for Night city and NUSA.
"Well, that sure is a lot of information to take… I never thought Texas was such a warzone…" Jackie thought.
"It was, but I believe it's much better now." Victor continued, before leaning on his chair. New information entering his inbox.
[11ABP: Alicia Bloodhaven - Alias. Blood Hawk]
[The package is currently held by an individual named Murk man. Current information is limited to only his gender and limited sighting. His threat level, motives and capabilities are unknown. The last known sighting is Chinatown in heavily fortified Tyga claw territory.]
Seeing the message he would ponder on how to proceed… 'An unknown individual is capable of stealing from Alicia without being seen or known. How troublesome. For such an individual to reign in Night city there had to be some sort of information tied to him.' While Alica seemed incompetent she was still Vulcan's protege. She was a lethal weapon and a great soldier. She only lacked the appropriate foresight and leadership capabilities required for commanders. To escape he sight was no simple thing. A person either had to either be using a cloaking device but also a Themeral-regulator which blended with the environment and that was only required for pure masking, not movement. Movement with such camouflaging abilities required more, with such items being both expensive but also difficult to obtain. She was called Blood Hawk for a reason.
Seeing an influx of emails and texts enter one of his inboxes he started his job as Fixer. Information and gigs now being handled by himself. The jobs were restricted purely to miscellaneous individuals that required certain fixes. The corporation-related gigs on the other hand were ignored and archived. Though viewing all the available gigs he started to wonder just how degenerative night city was that one gig involved having a chat in the park for an hour. The contractee requested a chat for 500 eddies. Surely something wasn't so simple was there?
Seeing the ease though he decided to fulfil the person's request. As some gigs weren't all orientated around crime and combat most were simply requests for odd jobs. Seeing the variety Victor decided to filter crime and non-crime-related gigs. The non-crime gigs were given to Maine and his crew. With the pay going as 10/90, the 10% being his cut, some could say ineligible, though the 10% was more so a reminder than a need. Money was of no concern to Victor. A mere deal with the soviets awarded him much. With connections in high places deals, his own net worth could rival Arasaka's.
Seeing three gigs that could be easily completed he decided to head out to complete them.
GIG NAME: NEURO-SURGEON DOCTOR IN-NEED
TYPE: MISC
REWARDS:
§1'500'000
REQUIREMENTS:
Doctrine neurological sciences
10+ years experience
GIG NAME: BD recording
TYPE: MISC
REWARDS:
§200
REQUIREMENTS:
17/06/2075, 14:00
Bouquet dance
GIG NAME: A CHAT IN THE PARK
TYPE: MISC
REWARDS:
§500
REQUIREMENTS:
17/06/2075, 21:00
With each gig unique, Victor understood why Rogue had forwarded the gigs to him. The time to pay off was quite low compared to what it offered. The first required knowledge of neurological sciences. Most often or not such a job would require out-sourcing as 9/10 times the person couldn't afford it or were corporate in nature. The latter required arms comparative to their intelligence. While heavily corporate in nature it wasn't illegal and didn't leave any dirty laundry for the corporations to expose. Besides a corporate rat owing him a favour would do well to serve him.
The second gig seemed downright boring. No gun-ho or mercenary from the afterlife would waste their time dancing when completing a gig involving violence ensured a sizable pay. The pride that came along with doing such jobs was also important. For a reputable fixer, one had to get shit done and to be seen walking a dog for 200 eddies would be seen as a joke. There was a lot of pride in the game and many knew that being seen or doing such things would leave them vulnerable. It was a dog-eat-dog world where those who seemed to know how to bark would scare the ones who didn't. The third was exactly the same as the second no competent merc would ever want to complete such an odd job. While some would, Rogue saw this as more of a waste of time. Processing such a job seemed less valuable to her when she could offer gigs ranging from 10000+ with ease. So with such a thought why bother with the little man?
'She's a fool and one good example as to why Night city is failing.' Victor thought standing up. The world stage was like a domino, a single act could lead to a conundrum of effects. In a world full of nobodies, helping one could lead them to become someone.
"I'm gonna head out, protect the place while im out and David complete your lessons before I get back." Victor voiced putting on an armoured Khaki bomber jacket. His entire fit altered into a tan-like aesthetic. His visor changed to a golden and neon aesthetic.
"Fancy," Jackie muttered before widening his eyes when saw the vehicle in which he entered.
Sleek and agile it was foreign to whatever he had seen before especially for a supercar as whatever Victor had hopped in was anything but normal (LAMBO V12 VISION GRAN TURISMO). With neon blue headlights and an electric gold finish the car was a sight to see. Roaring its engine he zoomed through the streets, with swagger and pristine.