When V had time to think about it, being what was essentially a delivery boy was not the worst end of the stick. He could have been in charge of their water and sewage situation, and then he would have an entirely different problem on his hands than boredom. The van he was given had enough space to accommodate all of the supplies he had to give out, and he figured if he worked quickly enough, it could get done before he would have to take his first break. The tires crunched underneath the dry, hot ground, and the sounds of the radio filled V's ears as he hummed along to an oldie by Samurai.
''Even out here, can't escape the bastard,'' V chuckled to himself, viewing a few tumbleweeds blow against the ground, the sight never failed to make the merc laugh in surprise at seeing something he normally saw in cheesy, low-budget movies with his own two eyes. Bell Mountain was a far cry from his last surroundings from outside of Night City, and in a way, the feeling of the city within reach comforted him to a degree. Out here, however, where things were more scarce, and the future seemed more uncertain than in the megacity dystopia, V wasn't too sure how to feel about the change of scenery. Nomad life? He began to understand bit by bit why more and more people wanted to follow the trend but did not embody every single part of the lifestyle.
He wasn't sure if he would be able to.
Navigating his vehicle around a rather steep-looking bump, V spied his second drop on his route; noting the relaxed environment of the small crew who took to overwatch in their small sector, the light of the sun slowly approaching the west. His van stopped on a slight incline. Strolling to the back of the van, V hunched over his shoulder a small rucksack with all the supplies this sector would need. The last trip was rather uneventful, and the weight of the supplies was less than what he thought he would have to carry up.
As he approached the ladder that would take him up to the first level that provided a general view, he noted the metal of the rungs retaining a slight bit of their heat from the sun's light as V climbed up with a purpose, nearly tripping on the final step up as he spied two Aledcaldo brothers perched in their lawn chairs, each holding their own Tsunami Nekomatas, decorated with their trinkets and painted in the clan's colors.
''Hey, fellas, working hard, or hardly working?'' V asked, grinning from ear to ear with his statement, drawing a knee-slapping laugh from one the male closest to him as he put his weapon on safety and chuckled a bit at his words.
''Heya, V, right?'' V looked over to the taller dark-skinned male, his cyberware implants minimal as V did a quick scan of his systems, revealing his upgraded Kiroshi optics and Grounding Plating to resist shocks. The faux gold caps on his braids clinked with the breeze of the wind and his Aldecaldo jacket hung up on his chair. After slinging his rifle across his faded, but still fashionable purple tank top decorated with the image of a dragon, his hand extended for a firm, the nearly airtight handshake that V accepted with haste, the familial bond he heard some much about being more strongly formed by the second. ''Marcus, and over there's my partner, Kim,'' Marcus gestured to the shorter Asian male, his jet black hair slicked back covered with a simple baseball cap, and his jacket tied around his waist as the sleeves were tied in a knot at the bottom of his mesh body shirt. A lone toothpick was seated in his mouth as he surveyed his sector of overwatch and offered a hum of acknowledgment to V.
''Anything out of the ordinary been going on?'' V rhetorically asked, able to see the sheer boredom on Marcus's face as his lips settled in an even line. The vast landscape before slowly was draped in a warm, dim wave of light retreating over the horizon.
''Nah, nothing we ain't seen before; just a few random animals, hot wind, rocks, and even more hot wind; what more could a guy ask for?'' Marcus gave a half-hearted shrug. Much never seemed to happen on their patrols, which was all the better. ''What about you, must kinda suck being the delivery boy; would have figured you'd be joined at the hip with Panam,'' Marcus's tease wasn't lost on V, who gave him a sigh of and half-hearted shrug of defeat. He would love nothing more than to be with his other half, but the fact he had more responsibility, and he would chip in and do his part.
V shook his head, going through his sack and bringing out a few packets of dried meats, fruit, and Oolong Tea, Marcus tearing into a chuck of synthetic jerky. ''Wasn't much to do at camp, so I volunteered, can't be standing around when I'm part of the family.'' V' set his pack down and leaned against a support beam. ''And I intend to get my time back with her, but family first.'' V's eyes wandered over to the open landscape in front of him, the final ebbs of light dying out. Near a small formation of rocks, a small flash in the distance caught his attention; Marcus must not have caught the glimpse as quickly as V did, his cyberdeck coming to life, scanning the object. It took a few tries, but the only thing he could make was the object was moving erratically.
''What do you see?'' Marcus asked, moving over towards the ladder as Kim pointed his rifle, using his multi-imaging scope. His shaking head told V enough that someone or thing was out there. ''Shit, can't see too good from here, keep an eye on that, Kim; I'll need to radio Saul and Panam to let them know we might have a possible threat.'' Marcus fished his phone out of his pocket, scrolling through his contacts until he found what he was looking for.
V cocked his head to the side, surveying the situation; if he went to investigate he would have cover, and it would be a better service than sitting around when his family could be in danger. ''I can go and try and draw them out, while you guys cover me.''
Kim's voice sounded, his words plain, and his Vietnamese accent lwas thick, though V could understand. ''You sure? We don't know for sure what that is.'' V nodded as Kim reached into the mesh cup holder, throwing the merc a small strip of lum tape, advising him to stick the strip on the back of his jacket at the back of his collar. ''So my scope can see you in low light, not trying to shoot you by accident.''
Drawing his pistol from his holster and ensuring he held a full mag, V started his descent, noting Marcus had walked over to the other side of the platform. ''I trust you, choom.'' V slid down on the rungs, his eyes focused on the area in front of him, seeing the flash again, only to be more constant the longer he looked upon the unknown object. Flipping off his safety and moving quickly, V's feet dashed across the ground, his breathing minimal as he moved, Kim's voice coming into his ears on the holo to reassure him that he had his back. As V drew closer to the assortment of large rocks, he worriedly began to notice something; the placement. Two large, roughly symmetrical slabs were arranged in a way where one sat under the other as a third, more roughly shaped one sat at the rear. ''This looks-''
The ground near the formation uprooted, sending V into the air, the sudden shock causing him to fire a round prematurely. A following sound echoed from Kim's sniper rifle, over the top of V's head, the round striking one of the rocks. Scrambling to his feet, the cloud of dirt obstructed his vision, V aimed his pistol and kept his head on a swivel. ''Kim! What are we looking at?'' V slowly began to creep backward, another shot from his rifle sounding to his right, impressed at the aim that he managed to graze whatever moved at the speed that it did.
Another quick succession of suppressing fire sounded off as Marcus's voice came into the call. ''Can't tell for sure, choom, just try and come back towards us! Whatever it is, we should be able to keep it off your back!'' Marcus's rifle discharged another shot, the ringing in V's ears unable to be heard over the sound of his heart beating throughout his entire body. A flash of a deep red and a high-pitched whine sounded, the adrenaline in V's body deepening his tunnel vision on his target as he barely managed to activate his Kerenzikov implant as he leaped forward and twisted in mid-air past the assailant that moved past him at what looked to be the same speed, catching a better look at who or what leaped after him like a maniac; shaped more of a person.
SLASH! "Augh!'' V felt a stinging pain in his right side as the force pushed him instantly to the ground, Kim and Marcus keeping their barrage ongoing. The rough ground, rocks, and dirt scrapped against his head and jacket, sliding him over the rock formation. ''COUGH! COUGH! Fucker!'' V's Dying Night was thrown out of his hand in the chaos, scrambling to pull out his backup Overture revolver while his other hand fished for the emergency Stim he kept on the opposite side, injecting it straight into the wound and releasing the medicine into his system. BANG! BANG! ''If Panam hears about this, she'll never let me live this down,'' V quickly complained, scooting against the rock to climb back up without giving his attacker any more of an edge than it already had.
''Gonna guess it's a bad time to tell you that I called Panam and Saul to let them know what's going on?'' Marcus asked over the holo, his tone was a tad cheeky as he reloaded his rifle. He fired off again, and his next shot landed true, allowing the three of them to actually 'see' what was causing them the grief. A still sparking optical camo implant fell to the ground, revealing a woman decked out in a combination of mitch-matched cybernetic implants, V's mind soaring at the sight of her foaming at the mouth, eyes red with anger and her forearms shifting to reveal a pair of Mantis Blades. Her head rotated full circle before another inhuman shriek filled the air. But what really captured V's attention was the familiar symbol emblazoned on her chest in bright red; though a bit scratched up, it was the same nonetheless; Arasaka.
''Out here? Did they actually manage to follow us?'' V asked, his head beginning to ring as he groaned.
''We actually may need them to come through, after all. We got a cyber psycho!'' Marcus said, taking a running start off of the platform, landing on the ground roughly, in a roll, and rushing headfirst towards his brother.
After controlling his small coughing fit, V, aimed down his sights. In a way, he welcomed a bit of trouble, but this was more than he thought.
Panam wouldn't let him hear the end of this.