"V, two above you." He heard Panam's voice through the communicator and hurried his steps towards the stairs. Without slowing down, he leapt towards the wall, where he jumped upwards. Still in the air, he rotates his body and activates his blades. In one swift movement, he drives his blades into both of their necks.
V straightens his posture and turns towards the building's corridor. There was another man approaching, who soon had the side of his head pierced by a heavy caliber bullet from a sniper rifle.
V advanced down the corridor towards the staircase at the end, his footsteps now quieter than ever with the upgrades he had made to his suit.
"One of them coming down the stairs." He increased his speed, and again jumped just as one of the mayor's aide's men appeared in his line of sight, he drove both his blades into his torso. Due to the momentum and impact, V practically impaled the man against the wall, before retracting his blades and pushing the man's corpse aside and running up the stairs.
The moment he climbed the last step, he lunged forward again. One of the men in the corridor fell as a result of Panam's shot. His sudden death startled his partner, who in turn had his back to V, and therefore didn't even notice him approaching. And this vulnerability resulted in V driving one of his blades into the back of his head.
He looked around a few times, and when he made sure the floor was clear, he brandished his arms to remove the excess blood on his blades and retracted them. The man then straightened his posture and cracked the bones in his neck as he walked calmly towards the elevator.
"They're coming down." Panam said, her sights on V. She couldn't exactly see his face, but from his body language, he seemed calm, even relaxed. She didn't know if it was because of his arrogance, or for some other reason, but he had always been like that.
He always treated situations like these lightly. Even if he was hurt, he never seemed to take it seriously.
She shook her head and raised her gun to the floors above. There was some movement on the twenty-fifth floor, where the government personnel were currently removing the equipment and putting everything away.
The netrunner was still there, but it was no longer plugged into anything. And considering the technology inside V's suit, she would remain oblivious to his presence for some time to come.
The elevator doors opened. The four men carrying some boxes stared at V with bored eyes at first, but soon, their gazes widened as one of them was beheaded in one swift movement.
They dropped the boxes and moved their hands to their weapons. The man in the top right corner of the elevator, however, was next, and he only grunted as his stomach was pierced.
His partner next to him tried to react by kicking V in the side of the torso, who just moved his feet and ignored the blow. However, he grabbed the man's leg, not letting him move away.
The latter raised his pistol towards V, who just kicked him in the side of the leg, bringing him to his knees. With his guard broken, the man could only grunt as V kicked his head and pressed it against the wall with the sole of his foot.
Immediately afterwards, he grabbed the leg of the man he was holding with both hands and pulled him towards him, plunging his two blades into his chest soon after.
V straightened his posture and punched the last man in the head, knocking him to the ground. Slowly, he crouched down and placed his hand against the man's back and released his blade, finally killing him.
V brandished his arms to clean up the blood and gathered the bodies in the corner of the elevator before pressing the button for the twenty-fifth floor.
"I'm in the elevator. Going up." V said through the communicator.
"Remember, I won't be able to do anything. From now on you're on your own." Panam replied.
"Understood." He replied simply, stretching slightly as the elevator went up. The silence lasted for some time.
His eyes focused on the floor indicator above the doors he had almost reached.
"... Careful, V." The man smiled beneath his mask. She could be so cute sometimes.
But he wasn't the one who needed to be careful.
The elevator reached the floor, and V released his blades again.
"Going dark." That's all he said as soon as the elevator doors opened, and at the same moment that some of the soldiers inside looked in his direction, the lights on the floor went out.
The soldiers immediately dropped what they were holding and reached for their weapons. The only thing that could be seen in the darkness were the lights of the buildings outside and the two red blades that shone brightly.
V advanced against the first soldier, who fired in his direction. The brief illumination from the gunfire showed only V's silhouette and his red mask approaching in an intimidating way.
The brief flashes of light showed that the bullets hitting V simply didn't penetrate his armor, which made the first soldier's eyes widen and he tried to block the blades' attack with his weapon. However, the blade simply cut the weapon in half and part of his face.
The soldier screamed, but his scream soon became just a choked mumble as V plunged the blade into his chest and pulled him towards him, using him as a human shield from the shots of the other guards as he approached.
Two other soldiers advanced towards him, both with machetes. V dodged the attack of the first guard, who tried a diagonal slashing blow from top to bottom, throwing his torso to the side, and countered with a kick to the side of his torso, which sent him staggering away.
V's eyes soon focused on the other man, who tried to pierce his chest. However, V just stepped to the side and kicked the man hard in the legs, sending him crashing to the ground. Not wanting to give the soldier time to recover, V raised his arm and struck him with a piercing blow. The blade passed through the soldier's skull and sank into the ground.
V grunted slightly as he felt a hail of bullets hit him in the back. But he quickly turned around and tried a low slashing attack on the soldier, who managed to dodge it by jumping backwards.
However, he didn't expect V to simply leap towards him in a rapid advance, his blade piercing the soldier's chest.
V felt a blow to the side of his body and took two steps to the side. The soldier in front of him was brandishing some kind of serrated knife, it looked military.
The soldier attempted a piercing blow to the neck, but V only took one step to the side and deflected the man's arm in the same direction as his movement. He then countered with a kick to the soldier's stomach and moved to finish him off. However, before he could do so, he felt his waist being grabbed and he was pushed a few steps to the side.
V clucked his tongue at the loss of time and raised both arms to drive his blades into the sides of the man who had grabbed him. However, he widened his eyes slightly when the previous soldier ran and jumped towards him, landing a knee to his face.
The former mercenary moved backwards, little affected by the blow as his mask protected him from the impact, but he grunted angrily.
The masked man got up and tried a piercing attack on the soldier in front of him, who dodged to the side and tried to counter with a slashing blow with his knife. However, V ducked and took a step inside the guard while moving his body slightly to the left and drove his blade into the soldier's stomach, followed by a kick to his leg and another to his chest, sending him to the ground.
His eyes moved to his other opponent, who had now raised an assault rifle and fired in his direction. V, despite feeling the impact of the shots slightly, just walked towards the man and thrust his two blades into his neck. In a quick sideways movement and then a backward jerk, he decapitated him.
He turned around, and the moment he did, he was met with a hail of bullets from a shotgun. V puts his arms in front of his body while jumping backwards to try to minimize the damage.
Just then, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and advances towards the soldier who was trying to get some distance. He jumps on his back and grabs him from behind, using him as a shield from the next shotgun shot.
V threw the soldier's body aside, took a wide step forward while turning his body and threw a knife towards the woman holding the shotgun. The woman grunted loudly in pain as she felt the knife pierce her upper chest.
He leapt towards her and decapitated her in one swift double movement. Great, the netrunner was gone.
V felt a few more shots hit the side of his armor, and then he leapt towards the wall, gaining momentum before advancing towards another of the soldiers.
The soldier tries a horizontal uppercut with his sword, but V lets himself slide to the ground and, in one precise movement, cuts off the soldier's left leg.
The man screams loudly in pain and falls to the ground just as V gets up. He turns around and raises his arm, fending off an attack from another of his opponents. They were like cockroaches, there seemed to be no end.
In one swift movement, V kicks the side of the man's leg and, with his other blade, cuts his arm off. The man screams, but his voice is short because V has positioned his two blades on either side of his neck and ripped his head off.
He immediately turned and ran his eyes around, gasping slightly. No movement, all the targets were incapacitated.
Panam blinked a few times as she watched him. She was worried as she had no way of helping. The glass protecting the floor was simply too strong, to the point where a bullet from her sniper would struggle to penetrate. Not only that, but in such a small place, with so much movement, she could be more of a hindrance than a help.
But, as it turned out, her worries were in vain, he was just as skillful as before... she should have known he could handle himself, but she was a little fearful now. She didn't know if it was for his own safety, or because she was afraid that the moment she blinked, he would be out of her sight.
Something silly she would never tell anyone.
He took a deep breath and straightened his posture.
"Turning the lights on." He raised his hand to his mask, and the lights came on. The room was painted red, the scattered bodies mixed with fallen limbs would make an ordinary person vomit.
V moved to the side and picked up some of the equipment. He reconnected the entire Netrunner system and plugged in his mask. On his visor, his screen began to flash as he stole the data.
"... I've received the data. We're connected." He heard Saul say, and nodded to himself before getting up and walking over to the window.
The building ahead was where Max and the Aldecaldos were at the moment. The building might not be the biggest he had ever seen, but it was large, with a total of thirty-five floors.
Max was currently in a private office, sorting out some problems.
He raised his head and just watched. Just above the building was the Basilisk, camouflaged, invisible to the naked eye and even some types of implants.
As he watched, the screens of the security cameras appeared in his lenses, and that was his cue to get down from there and make his way to the building below.
"Fuck..." He heard Saul mutter through his communicator, and it was only when he reached the elevator that he paid attention to the images.
The cameras on the upper floors were relatively normal. Well, at least that's exactly what one would expect from a guy like Max.
However, the underground cameras showed something macabre. It was like a fucking butcher's shop. There were bodies hanging from meat hooks, others on funeral trays, similar to the ones he'd seen in the car factory.
Rooms and rooms with bodies and chrome... there was even a dumping ground where they cut up and packaged the bodies and dumped them in a truck.
"Oh no, Cassidy..." Panam said in great regret, and in one of the camera images, V saw the older man, hanging upside down in a room with some other bodies.
He sighed in regret and sadness. The old man had survived so much shit... only to die like a pig. V sighed and clenched his hands into fists.
"Fuck... Jazir and Jade too..." These other two he didn't know, but if they were the ones with Cassidy, they were young. Fuck, they didn't have any chrome. Although they were dead, unlike the others, their bodies weren't cut up. They probably hadn't had their organs removed yet.
Sons of bitches...
"Ah, thank God!" Panam said when she finally saw the rest of her people. They were in a small cell, packed not only with members of the Aldecaldos but with other people, on whom V was betting big money that they were civilians... homeless people, discharged army veterans, orphans.
"Okay... they're in some kind of solitary confinement. Three rooms away from where the bodies are hanging." Saul said, and V set up his mask.
"Right. Go to the link I sent you. You'll be able to see everything I see." He said, ignoring the pop-ups on the side of his lenses.
"I didn't know that... good." He shook his head slightly when he heard Panam.
"Right... V, we're in position." Saul said, and V hurried to the window.
"Let's do it." V said, leaning on the window and looking up.
Saul didn't answer, and silence prevailed for a few moments. That was until a strong light began to shine in the sky, and within moments, a blast of electromagnetic energy hit the entire structure of the hotel. The lights probably exploded, the windows cracked, and the entire structure must have shaken with such an impulse.
V smiled to himself as he saw the success of his creation. An electromagnetic beam concentrated on a single target in an off-market vehicle like the Basilisk... the pride he felt was short-lived, as he soon took momentum and leapt over the window.
He let himself free-fall from the ninth floor to the ground. The man grunted slightly as he landed, the concrete beneath his feet cracked and dust kicked up on impact, but he was fine. In fact, he felt frantic.
He immediately ran towards the hotel and jumped over the walls. The whole place went dark, and the security that hadn't been knocked down simply couldn't see the black figure moving around the place.
He made his way to the back, where his gaze focused on two guards guarding the vehicle entrance and exit gate.
He leapt high into the air and grabbed his silenced pistol. Still in the air, he shot the first guard in the head and put the gun back in its holster before landing on the second.
V hit the man with both knees, sending him hard to the ground, and with his blades, he drove them into the center of his upper chest and pulled his arms to opposite sides, literally separating his entire head and neck from the rest of his body.
"Jesus Christ, V..." He made a point of ignoring Saul.
V turned and took the access card from the other guard's chest and entered the building through the door next to the gate.
The place spiraled downwards, and he ran to the bottom of the hotel, taking advantage of the darkness.
In front were two large gates leading to a parking lot for the trucks. Next to it was a metal door, which V promptly walked through. After the door, he climbed a few steps to the monitoring room, where he found two soldiers standing, illuminating the place with the flashlights attached to their weapons while wondering in confusion what had happened to the power. Next to them was an elevator that went up to the hotel reception.
The soldiers turned towards V after hearing the door open violently and raised their weapons to illuminate the front. As they did so, V stepped forward and, with one swift movement, cut off the hand of the soldier closest to him, who cried out in pain.
Still in the momentum of his advance, V plunged his blade into the other man's chest. He then rotated his body and elbowed the first soldier in the head, who fell to the ground. He then began to stomp on his head again and again, until a pool of blood, gray matter and bones formed.
V continued on his way to the front door, which led to a staircase that went down to where the vehicles were parked.
The area there was more open. In front of the vehicles, there was the first room with some surgical stretchers on the sides and some computers in the opposite corner, which formed a long corridor between all the equipment they used to analyze, install or remove the chrome.
As it was a larger area, there were more soldiers, who had heard the previous man's scream.
Flashlight beams rose up and illuminated V. The soldiers shouted and fired, but the low lighting, mixed with the fact that V's suit was black, meant that they missed most of their shots.
V leapt towards his first target, and landed on the soldier with his two blades embedded in his torso. Without wasting any time, he withdrew his blades and advanced on the nearest man, at whom he took a wide step to the side to dodge the shots and cut one of the soldier's forearms off.
The man screamed loudly, but his scream was interrupted when V crouched down, rotated his body and cut off both of his legs with one precise movement. The man fell to the ground in agony, his scream piercing the minds and consciousness of those nearby.
Seeing that bullets weren't working, one of them advanced towards V with a kind of curved axe. He attempted a blow from above, which V simply dodged by taking another wide step to the left and countered with a slash to the side of his hip, followed by a piercing blow to the side of his torso, piercing his chest and finishing by piercing his neck, after which V simply kicked the man's body to the side and advanced against the one closest to him.
The soldier tried to kick V, who just crouched down and took a diagonal step forward while grabbing the back of the man's leg. Straightening his stance, V grabbed his leg tightly with both hands and rotated his body, literally throwing the man's body against the wall.
The moment the soldier fell, V felt himself being grabbed from behind and grunted slightly as he felt a tightening around his neck. In front of him, a burly soldier approached with a huge hammer and moved to attack him.
V snorted out a loud laugh, clearly in mockery, which could be heard by the surrounding soldiers, which only made them angry and somewhat offended.
But he didn't care. He just grabbed the man's arms around his neck and activated his gloves. He made some improvements, and the activation of the installed system not only deactivated all the implants he had, but also short-circuited them, which caused an instantaneous combustion in every place with installed implants.
The soldier started screaming in pain and fell to the ground as his body was consumed by flames. V just ignored him and charged at the burly man with the hammer.
The man brandished the weapon, and V threw himself to the ground, letting himself slide under the attack, while at the same time slashing the side of the soldier's leg. V turns his torso and drives his blade into the back of the man's leg, bringing him to his knees. He then begins to stand up, while leaving several holes all over the soldier's back, until he decapitates him with one swift movement.
V then grunts in surprise as he feels a strong impact on the side of his body, and tries to recover from being practically thrown to the side. His eyes then focused on another soldier approaching with a tactical shotgun.
V shook his head and jumped to the side moments before the soldier fired again, and as he pushed off the wall, he leapt towards the man, landing a few centimeters in front of him. He then plunged his blade into the soldier's upper chest and, in one swift, brutal movement, cut through his entire torso in a diagonal direction. Chest, ribs, everything was visible and his guts came out.
Another soldier fired in his direction while two others tried to flank him. V just picked up a flash grenade and threw it near his feet.
The grenade exploded, disorienting all the remaining soldiers. He grabbed his silenced pistol and dealt with it quickly. He had already wasted too much time.
He reloaded his pistol, just to ensure a full mag, and scanned his surroundings. That part looked clean.
"Holy fuck, V! You're butchering them like animals in a slaughterhouse." He heard Mitch say over the communicator, and just ignored the man as he began to advance through the corridors of the prison.
The soldiers inside the prison must have known there was an intruder in there. Not that it made any difference.
He reached the room where the people were hanging by hooks, and as soon as he passed through the door, he was greeted by a heavy hammer blow to his chest.
V grunted lowly as he was thrown towards the wall, and fell to his knee on one leg. Despite the blow, he just shook his head and recovered quickly. His eyes soon caught sight of the man in front of him, who raised his hammer again.
V stepped to the side and pierced the man's shoulder, who grunted loudly. He moved to finish him off, but had his attack stopped by the blade of another soldier.
V kicked the man with the hammer backwards and moved to the side, piercing the thigh of the man who had blocked his attack. The man knelt on his injured thigh, and V put his arms in an "x" shape around the man's neck, and with one movement, decapitated him.
He turned and narrowed his eyes as he saw the man again attack him with the hammer. But V took a wide step to the right and ducked the attack, and with one swift movement, he slashed the man's stomach, not bothered in the slightest when his guts came out, he just straightened his posture and pushed the man's body to the ground.
Two other soldiers advanced against him, one of whom tried a top-down blow, in which V defended himself with his blade and countered with the other, a piercing attack. However, the soldier dodged by throwing his torso backwards and rotated his body immediately afterwards, kicking V a few steps forward, towards the other soldier.
The former mercenary ducked and dodged a blow from the soldier's axe, and countered by trying to pierce the man's stomach, who in turn dodged by stepping to the left and countered with a punch towards V's head, who was quicker and grabbed the man's fist. Now with him in his grip, V took a wide step forward while crouching and practically slid into the man's back, where he pierced his back with his blade and pushed him forward.
The other soldier leapt towards him with an inverted grip on the machete he was holding. However, V defends the attack with his forearm and hits the man with a strong headbutt, which leaves him disoriented. He then grabs the soldier around the waist, lifts him up and rushes forward. The soldier screamed in pain as V left him hanging from one of the meat hooks.
Unable to resist, the man could only scream as V cut his legs and arms off, and left him hanging there, bleeding to death.
V just watched him get weaker and weaker. He felt no remorse, no pity... that kind of "thing" wasn't human.
The sound of heavy footsteps made him turn quickly, and V grunted angrily as he saw the approaching soldier. This particular one was wearing a centaur exoskeleton. He hated those things!
The soldier raised the large ballistic shield in front of his body and, with the thermal weapon installed in his right arm, he fired a wave of heat towards V, who jumped back and dodged the shot. The heat wave hit the body of the soldier hanging from the hook, and almost every part of him was disintegrated.
The man fired again in his direction, and V ran across the room. As cruel, perhaps unethical as it was, the hanging bodies served as a good shield. This, combined with his lack of energy and the high speed of his suit, made V a very difficult target to hit.
The former mercenary threw a fragmentation grenade at the exoskeleton's feet. The grenade exploded, preventing the soldier from moving or firing. V advanced towards him and positioned himself on his back, where he placed his hands against the external energy unit near the exoskeleton's spine and activated his gloves.
The sound of something heating up could be heard throughout the room. The exoskeleton began to glow in a worrying way, and gradually, the man began to cry out in pain. The exoskeleton's system was collapsing, the adjustable parts that attached the man's limbs began to tighten and crush his arms and legs, leaving him literally trapped there as he was cooked alive by the heat.
"V, we're in position!" Panam said over the communicator, and he hurried down the corridors.
"Right! Moving! You can go in!" He said as he leapt up and boosted himself against the wall. The man dashed towards the soldier in front of him and landed on him with his blades planted in his chest.
V got up and ran down the corridor. He grabbed his Malorian and fired at all the guards who appeared in front of him. The noise of his gun no longer mattered, especially with the noise of everything going on in the upper floors.
V leapt towards one of the soldiers as he reached a metal walkway and landed a heavy knee on his face. He then fell and rolled on the floor, approaching the second guard and slashing his throat. Finally, he turned around and threw a throwing knife into the chest of the soldier behind him before continuing on his way along the walkway.
He climbed some stairs and arrived in a large, open room. Similar to what he saw in the car factory, there were some bodies in glass tanks on the sides, stretchers scattered in some places, surrounded only by silicone curtains.
There were four men there. All armed and wearing ballistic vests.
As he enters, he is greeted by a punch from a man on his right. However, he simply grabs his attacker's arm and elbows him in the face. Before he could finish off his opponent, another approached with a Brass Knuckles Knife, in which V defended himself by deflecting the man's blow to the side and countered with a kick to his stomach.
He ducks and jumps forward, dodging another axe blow from another of the soldiers. However, he approaches the man furthest away and tries to pierce his stomach with his blade. However, the man took a step to the side and counterattacked with a type of serrated blue dagger.
V just let the attack hit him, his armor blocking all possible damage. He then took advantage of this initial shock to grab the soldier and hit him in the face with a heavy headbutt. The man, despite being disoriented, grabbed V's arm and turned around, throwing him over his shoulder.
However, V recovered while still in the air and rotated his body, landing on his feet on the concrete. With that, he crouches and spins his body, hitting a low kick at the man and knocking him to the ground.
V got up and was forced to defend himself when two of them attacked him at the same time. One of them tried a kick to his stomach, which V dodged by throwing his torso to the side. But before he could counterattack, the other tried a blow with the Knuckles Knife, which V dodged by ducking. He then brandished his blade in a sideways motion, which forced the two men to take a single step back.
With that, V threw a light grenade to the ground and moved to the side. Seeing what he had thrown in their direction, the soldiers tried to move away, but it wasn't long before the grenade exploded in a bright flash.
V advanced on the lone stunned man and let himself slide towards him on the ground, where, as soon as he got close, he cut his leg off. The man screamed loudly and fell to the ground. V straightened his stance and stabbed the fallen soldier in the stomach.
He got up and blocked an attack from the other soldier. V then grabbed his arm firmly and forced his arm down, immobilizing him. Taking advantage of this, he hits him in the stomach with a knee and then kicks him in the lower leg, causing him to fall to the ground. With that, V picks up his Malorian and shoots him in the head.
His eyes focus on the soldier with the axe advancing towards him. The soldier tried a diagonal strike, which V dodged by throwing his torso to the left and countered with a strong kick to the side of his leg, sending him to his knees. With that, he simply raised his gun and shot the man.
The last soldier ran towards him and tried to drive a machete into his stomach. However, V simply tilted his torso slightly to the side and pressed the soldier's arm against the side of his torso, hard enough that he couldn't move away.
The soldier grunted and tried a punch, to which V didn't even move. Instead, he slowly raised his Malorian while staring deep into the soldier's eyes and pulled the trigger. The man's head exploded in blood, and his body fell to the ground with a thud.
V flicked his gun on his finger before putting it back in its holster and then turned around, and walked at a fast pace towards the next room.
He passed through the metal door, his eyes scanning the long corridor. There were six cells in total, all of which seemed full of people.
With a flashlight that he had taken from one of the soldiers' weapons, he walked at a slow pace through the room, illuminating the inside of the cells in search of familiar faces. The people inside cringed as he advanced, and trembled when he shone the flashlight on them. Poor devils, they were terrified. Men, women, children, people of all ages. V muttered lowly when he saw their condition. And as much as he was going to help them, it wasn't comforting to know that this kind of thing happened all over the country.
Until, in one cell, he saw some people wearing the Aldecaldos' jackets. One of them matched the description of Angelo's sister. Good.
V stared at the cell lock and put his hand against the panel next to it. The cell opened with a loud noise, and the people inside cringed.
"You don't need to be afraid. I've come to get you out of here. I'm with the Aldecaldos." He said, and their frightened faces lit up almost immediately.
"Aldecaldos?! They're here?!"
"Holy shit, finally!"
"I knew they'd come!"
"Fuck, I didn't! I thought this was the end!"
He heard several voices talking together, and after seeing that they were getting up, he went to the next cell and unlocked it.
"I'm with them! You can come!" V said as he released the rest of the people. He sighed softly to himself. There were a lot of people, maybe 40, 50... he didn't know if there were many guards outside, if any, but a large number like that would certainly be difficult to protect.
He moved quickly to the door and checked the room. There was no one there, but the noise was getting too loud for him to relax.
"Right! Everyone, pay attention!" He shouted and turned to the prisoners. "There's a team coming now, but we can't stay here! Follow me, keep your heads down and stay together! Those of you who can use a weapon, take it from the soldiers' bodies!"
He warned and didn't wait for an answer, just turned and moved across the room while reloading his gun.
The moment he reached the walkway, his eyes focused on two soldiers approaching. He raised his pistol and fired at them, hitting the nearest one in the shoulder and chest. The other took a few steps back and fired back with his submachine gun. However, the shots had little effect on V, who advanced towards the man and drove his blade into his upper back.
He let the man's body fall to the ground and turned to the prisoners. Some civilians were taking the lead, but the Aldecaldos weren't that far behind. He saw that girl, Ayla, appear to help another man with an injured leg.
He waited for them to approach while he checked the area ahead.
"... I hope you don't have a weak stomach." He said just before heading off.
After a short while of walking, they arrived in the room with the bodies hanging from meat hooks. V walked steadily ahead, hardly bothered by the sight. However, he could hear low gasps and incredulous, frightened murmurs. The former mercenary leaned on the wall near the entrance to the room and waited for them while keeping an eye on the corridor.
The sight of that massacre, together with the smell of death, made some of them vomit in the corner. The few children who were there began to breathe heavily, and those who could stand it just tried to help as best they could, or tried not to look too closely.
They made their way through the corridors, the bodies of the soldiers strewn about giving them a sense of anxiety and dread.
Passing through another corridor, V is surprised by a soldier who grabs him and presses him against the wall. Behind him, two others approached and fired at him.
V grunted angrily and landed a knee on the man's stomach, completely ignoring the shots that hit him. He punched the side of the man's torso, and his grip loosened, and realizing this, V forced him to his feet and used him as a human shield as he advanced.
When the soldier's body fell to the ground, he picked up his Malorian again and shot the two other soldiers, walking past their dead bodies shortly afterwards.
After some time, they finally reached the area where the vehicles were parked. But as well as the trucks that were used to take kidnapped people away, there were also the Aldecaldos' vans and cars, parked just before the huge gates.
V waved to some familiar faces, and his eyes focused on Taco and Angelo, who were both approaching with shotguns in hand.
"Angelo!" The woman from before, Ayla, shouted her brother's name and approached at a fast pace. The two of them hugged while V just walked towards Taco, who had been put in charge of the group taking the prisoners out.
"Fuck, V... are you all right?" V sighed heavily at the question.
"... No." Taco snorted a dismissive smile.
"I imagine not." He said, and the brief conversation they were both having was interrupted by the sound of an explosion above, along with intense gunfire.
"Okay, we have to go." Taco said. "We're with the prisoners! Let's go!" He said into his communicator, immediately running towards his car.
The Aldecaldos in charge of transportation helped people into the vehicles, and made a point of offering aid to those who were injured.
"Right, let's go! Thanks, V!" Angelo thanked him and waved in his direction before running towards his car.
"Okay! V, Max is trapped in the building! Ninth floor! You've only got a few minutes before they can call for backup! He's all yours!" Saul said through the communicator, and V advanced towards the monitoring room and forced the doors open.
He entered the disabled elevator and climbed up through the skylight in the corner. He watched the climb, and after a few moments, he took momentum and jumped upwards. Then he boosted himself up the wall and jumped once more until he reached the closed double doors.
Supporting himself carefully, he forced the doors open and advanced towards the stairs that led to the reception area. In front of him, a metal door also closed.
He didn't slow down. Quite the opposite, he just ran faster and threw himself against the door, which gave way due to the force and fell to the ground with a loud thud.
The reception was destroyed. The front doors had been blown off by the Aldecaldos' guns, which were outside preventing them from leaving the place.
There weren't many people there, and those who were there were worried about the Aldecaldos, and were taken completely by surprise by his sudden appearance.
V just wiped them out quickly with his Malorian and ran towards the spiral staircase. He climbed quickly, jumping from floor to floor, either over the railing or by propelling himself up the wall.
"V! We need to go!" Saul said into his communicator, and he hurried up.
When he reached the ninth floor, he came across some heavily-armed men guarding the corridor and shooting out the windows. In all honesty, he was fed up with the whole thing, so he just took two fragmentation grenades in each hand and threw them towards the men.
The loud explosion practically shook the entire floor, and a cloud of smoke spread through the corridor that was now in danger of collapsing onto the floor below.
V advanced quickly, using his blades to kill those who were still alive. There weren't many, and in a matter of moments, he was in front of the door to the room Max was supposed to be in.
He kicked the door open and was met by gunfire in his direction. The former mercenary simply advanced into the room and leapt towards the soldier firing in his direction. He plunged his blade into the man's neck and rotated his body, decapitating him with a spinning attack.
His gaze turned to the soldier next to him and he advanced towards him. V pierced the man's chest with his left blade, impaling him and preventing him from moving away. With his other blade, he stabbed him repeatedly in the stomach, until he lifted him into the air with both arms and threw him violently to the ground.
He heard footsteps approaching behind him, and turned quickly while ducking. He cut off the legs of his attacker, who only groaned loudly in pain as he fell to his knees, and with an "X" motion, V decapitated him.
His gaze finally stopped on Max, and a disgusted grunt left his throat. The man seemed to be getting on in age, but he looked good. His hair was platinum, as was his beard, he wore gold earrings and had fair skin.
He wore an expensive white suit and a ballistic vest. In his hands were two platinum pistols.
V picked up his Malorian and fired at the last remaining soldier, and with heavy, rapid strides, he advanced towards Max, shooting him in both legs.
The sack of shit screamed and fell to the ground, his hands released the pistols he was holding, and he gasped sharply as he felt V turn him towards him. V raised his hand and took the "personal link" from his mask, plugging it behind the man's ear.
Information began to appear on his lenses, and V did more than that. He accessed his bank account, his personal system and private files.
Everything he had achieved would fall away in one night. All his little secrets and sins exposed. He wouldn't touch that dirty money, but he wouldn't leave it with that fucking government either.
He had plans for that...
After he finally got what he wanted, V simply cut off his arms and legs and opened his stomach, and left him there, bleeding and screaming in agony.
"I got what I wanted! Get out of here! I'm going the other way!" V said as he ran down the corridor. The floor cracked under his weight and he jumped just before the ground collapsed.
"Are you sure? V..." He heard Panam's voice, and as he descended to the seventh floor, he simply ran towards the window and jumped out.
The man let himself free-fall. The impact of his body causing the concrete to crack beneath his feet.
He righted himself and looked around. The Aldecaldos had already started to leave, some even honking at him before hurrying away down the street. However, his eyes focused on a figure approaching at a rapid pace.
"Reinforcement has just been notified, we can't stay in the city any longer." Panam said as she approached, her gaze somewhat anxious as her hands clutched a case against her chest.
"I found the location of my car. It's too close to the center, I don't think you'll be able to come with me." He said. The woman stared at his mask with a complicated expression.
"Are you sure? We can help you." She argued. And the moment she said it, they heard the loud sirens echoing in the background. The response time, when a big shot like Max was in trouble, was incredibly fast.
"Your priority now is your family, Pan. And we both got what we wanted." She seemed to be internally conflicted, until a sigh of regret escaped her lips, and she held out the case towards him.
Flashing lights appeared around the corner, and the sirens got even louder.
"We'll take the B-09. South..." V took the case and looked at her face with a certain doubt in his eyes. "... Open it when you can. You said you had no plans for after you got what you wanted... well, when you're done... if you want, come with us." She offered, and V stared at her for a while in silence, digesting the offer.
But he didn't have time to really give an answer. The sirens were now on their tail, and both he and Panam knew it was past time to get out of there.
The woman just waved at him before turning and running to her car. V stared at her back for a few moments. He admitted that he wasn't exactly expecting an offer like this.
Being invited to be part of the family... it was a big deal, nomads didn't make that offer to just anyone.
He would think about it later. Right now, he had to get out of there.
Cabrio warehouse... privately owned by Max. It was located west of the city center. The street in question wasn't very busy, but the neighborhood itself was very crowded on weekdays.
The place was silent. The only noise that could be heard was the distant hum of machinery echoing from the building at the back, not far from the warehouse.
V ran towards the wall and leapt high into the air. The darkness covered him well, and his eyes soon focused on two guards up ahead, near some parked vehicles. He unleashed his blades and advanced quickly, not caring if he made much noise or not.
A quick blow to the first guard sent him crashing to the ground. V threw a throwing knife at the other and killed the one on the ground by thrusting his blade into his throat. The second guard grunted in pain, but he soon gritted his teeth as he removed the throwing knife from his shoulder, and turned just in time to see a red glow from V's blades before darkness enveloped him too.
The former mercenary brandished his arms to wipe the excess blood from his blades and then ran towards the warehouse ahead. The guards were far away, concentrating more on the main building than on the warehouse itself.
As he ran, V grabbed his silenced pistol and fired at the two soldiers in front of the warehouse.
Without slowing down, he advanced to the side door and entered the building. A corridor led to a room ahead, and then to the open area inside the warehouse.
He ran towards the room, where the guards responsible for monitoring the place opened their eyes wide and reached for their weapons.
V cut the first man's neck and advanced on the second, who grunted loudly in despair and threw himself backwards while raising his pistol. However, the moment he pulled the trigger, his eyes widened as he saw that his gun had jammed. The surprise he felt only served to kill him, as V soon pierced his chest and threw him violently to the ground.
He finally reached the center of the warehouse, and his eyes ran over all the merchandise. The shelves were packed with boxes of valuable items and weapons. The cars that Max liked to show off were all parked, each in an aisle among different shelves, covered by some kind of cloth.
He walked around the place until he finally found what he was looking for. Even covered by the cloth, he would recognize that silhouette anywhere.
V approached the vehicle and pulled off the cloth. His eyes looked at the Porsche with relief, it seemed to be the same. The vehicle looked well maintained, Max probably paid someone to keep it clean and functional quite often.
The gray seemed to shine even in the low light, the windows looked brand new... gee, how he missed that beauty. The car was stunning.
He ran his hand along the side of the car and nodded to himself. The man then returned to the room he had been in before and, as well as opening the gates, took out the car key.
The roar of the engine echoed through the room, and V sighed in relief and pleasure as he leaned back in his seat.
Now this is a real car...
He smiled to himself. He hadn't driven that car much on the streets of Night City. It attracted too much attention, surely some son of a bitch would try to steal it. Not to mention that the chances of someone damaging that little beauty were too high, he didn't like taking that risk.
But now... oh, he regretted not driving it more.
V opened his eyes when he heard a noise coming from outside, and with a cocky grin, he simply sped out of the warehouse.
The interior of the car looked the same, with a few changes here and there. Given how old the vehicle was, Max had probably done some upgrades to the car's systems. Well, he wasn't too happy to see that, but considering that Max should be dead by now, he wouldn't pick on it too much.
The hours passed somewhat slowly, but certainly much more pleasantly than in recent days. The sun rose timidly over the horizon, and the sea of cars sped along the deserted road.
The Aldecaldos were already many kilometers away from the city, and they couldn't have been more relieved.
They had suffered losses, of course, a considerable number of family members had unfortunately perished at the hands of those bastards. But they had managed to rescue the others who had been kidnapped, they had managed to prevent any more deaths from occurring, so they would focus their attention only on that for the time being. They would leave the mourning for a future time.
Not only that, but they didn't just have to worry about their own wounded. Now, they also had to worry about the people they had saved. Some had a life in the city, a job, a home and a family, so they let them go before they hit the road.
But there were many there who had nothing. Homeless people, orphans... they couldn't just stay in the city. In fact, they didn't even want to. In other words, they might have lost some family members, but they ended up gaining others.
"I'm telling you, we have enough room for what we already have, but no more than that." Panam sighed as she listened to Jeff on the communicator. Like her, the others were not yet ready to mourn, and decided to focus their attention on the current situation.
"We'll have to get more tents. And maybe a few more vans, there are a lot of new people." Bob said.
Panam massaged her neck as she drove, and another sigh escaped her lips. Her mind inevitably went back to the images she had seen hours ago.
Cassidy hanging upside down, his body dead and exposed like a fucking animal. Others hanging from meat hooks and chopped up and gutted for their chrome. She was pretty sure that, if she ever got to sleep, it would give her nightmares.
However, she also remembered the way V fought. She hadn't known he could be so... brutal. As far as she could remember, when he threw himself into the middle of chaos, his aim was to eliminate his enemies, simple. No matter how or with what. But what she saw was him literally ripping off heads, gutting and cutting up his enemies like pigs.
She wasn't really bothered by this, especially as he did it to the very people who had done the same to her people. However, as much as he himself might not realize it, she did. He was pretty pissed.
He had dealt with Raffens before, but he had never taken the atrocities they did as a personal attack, unlike that day.
And as much as she was affected, she could find a certain comfort in knowing that the Raffens had tasted the same medicine.
"Panam, are you listening?" The woman was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts, and she shook her head to clear it.
"Yes, what is it?"
"What do you think? Do we stop at the front? Or do we keep going?" Mitch asked.
"Another five hours or so before we stop. The further we go, the better." She said.
"Right, well, you can tell that to our visitor."
She arched an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Look in the rearview mirror, woman." She did, and her eyes focused on a vehicle that was rapidly approaching from the opposite direction.
The vehicle had a rather unique appearance, it was small but very fast. There was a certain exotic style to it. The car glowed gray and red and shot across the road like a rocket.
She slowed down a little and opened the window as the vehicle approached, and it was then that her eyes focused on V. He was wearing dark wine-colored aviator glasses, and his lips sported an arrogant, confident smile.
Panam snorted a smile. She leaned her left arm on the window and kept the other on the steering wheel. With a sideways glance, she waved for him to park on the side, and slowed down a little.
"I'm going to make a short stop. You can go ahead if you like." Panam said through the communicator.
"You got it. Try to be back by ten, okay?" Mitch joked.
"Fuck off." She said amused and ended the communication.
She parked her car and watched V do the same up ahead. The woman sighed slightly and remained in her vehicle for a few more moments. She looked at the back of V's car, at the large letters "Samurai".
She had seen a Porsche before, a long time ago, but only in pictures. She never thought she'd see one right in front of her. The vehicle didn't look like it was armored, much less did it have any kind of weapon installed, but it must be quite a piece of work if V was so attached to it.
The Aldecaldos passing by honked at them, as well as letting out a few shouts.
"Welcome back, dye pack!"
"You're a fucking cockroach, V!"
"Imma take your car, watch out!"
"Try not to die, bucket boy!"
"Who the hell told you to come?! Ain't nobody want your ass here!" That last one was Bob, for sure.
She shook her head and watched as V got out of the car and walked calmly towards her. The woman snorted a laugh and ran her tongue across her teeth when she saw what he was wearing.
The Aldecaldos' jacket... the one they had planned to give him two years ago, before he disappeared. She did her best not to grin from ear to ear at the sight of him wearing it... it looked good on him.
"I think they like me." It was the first thing he said as he approached, his arrogant smile still on his face as he leaned on the window.
"You're like a celebrity now, I guess." He snorted.
"Really? Somehow, that scares me." Panam smiled.
"Be careful not to wake up in the middle of the night and find someone watching you sleep." He arched an eyebrow, a funny comment on the tip of his tongue, but he held back.
"So... were you planning to give me a jacket, or did you decide that recently?" Panam looked away with a silly smile. Fuck, she felt like a fucking teenager.
"We planned to give it to you before we left Night City." He whistled and arched both eyebrows.
"And you've kept it all this time?" She let her hands fall to her thighs, and just shrugged at the question.
"It's a good jacket... I was sorry to throw it away. Besides, it would be good for the next guy who joins us." She said, but the look he gave her not only made her sigh, but it was clear that he knew it was baloney.
"Yeah... so why didn't Angelo have her?" She arched an eyebrow.
"Angelo?"
"I heard he tried something with you." She rolled her eyes.
"Oh, yes, a while ago... but for both our sakes it was better if he didn't try. I wasn't into anything, not to mention he's too young for my taste." She said, and he lowered his glasses.
"Really?" He asked suggestively.
"Yeah... well. There are a few exceptions." She said with a mischievous smile.
"I'm glad you decided to come." She said after a few moments.
"Did you think I wouldn't?" She stared at the steering wheel.
"Actually, I didn't know if you would." She admitted. "Things aren't exactly... clear, I guess."
"What do you mean?" The woman sighed at the question, a hand running down her neck.
"I don't know... I thought things would be awkward between us." V continued with an arched eyebrow.
"Awkward how?" She didn't answer for a while, looking thoughtful.
"I don't know... like, we kind of have a history, you know? And I kind of got used to it after a while, only now, with you here, I don't really know what would be the best way to act... you can't just throw it around all the time and-"
"Panaam... we both know that's not your style. Remember what I said in that tower, before we stole the Basilisk?" Panam squeezed the steering wheel slightly, avoiding looking him in the eye.
"Try following the impulse next time." She said, and V smiled slightly.
"Try followin' the impulse." He said, and his hand moved gently towards her neck. Panam blinked a few times, her eyes meeting his in initial surprise, but she didn't recoil from the touch. In fact, she was more indecisive than really surprised.
His hand went up to her face, and he approached slowly, his eyes alternating between hers and her lips, as if in silent question. The woman just swallowed a bit of saliva, but deciding to stop being so indecisive, she also moved closer, and they both pressed their lips together in a shy kiss.
Panam raised her hand and lightly caressed V's cheek, and the insecurities and uncertainties were gone. No matter how much time had passed, it seemed that not everything had changed. She smiled slightly in the middle of the kiss. She had missed him more than she had the courage to admit, and perhaps starting again didn't seem so bad.
V, for his part, might have seemed impassive and confident on the outside, but inside he was fucking euphoric. He spent the whole way there thinking about it. He had no idea how she would react. He wouldn't mind if he was rejected, no... he would understand. He was afraid that she would reject him and things would get even weirder than they already were, that maybe she would think twice and not want him to go with them anymore.
Fuck, good thing he decided to take a chance.
They parted after a while, slowly, as if they didn't really want to. One held the other's face and they looked at each other complicitly.
"This time, Panam, you won't get rid of me." He said, his cheerful smile widening as she placed her hand over his.
"I'll hold you to that, Vincent." She said, this time taking the initiative and pulling him in for another kiss. This time a little deeper, more necessary, more intense. She grabbed the high collar of his jacket and pulled him in tight, while he raised his hand and gripped the back of her neck tightly with his fingers until they both pulled away so as not to risk it getting too intense.
They didn't say a word after that. V turned around when he heard the sound of approaching engines, and his eyes followed Delamain as he drove down the road, guiding his other vehicles.
"Well... I think we'd better go. I promised Mitch I'd have you back by ten." He teased, giving the woman one more kiss before turning around and approaching his car.
V felt himself in the driver's seat, and the moment he closed the door, he saw Panam speeding off down the road.
The man smiled to himself and settled into the seat. It was official, he now had everything he wanted. Not only that, but he also had what he didn't even know he needed.
I'll tell you, loyalty like that is hard to find.
He looked away. He didn't know if there was some kind of after-effect in his brain beyond what was already known, or if he was creating it himself, but whatever it was, he was grateful to hear from his rocker friend.
Well, you yourself told me to get on my horse and go after her.
He snorted a smile.
Let's go, I want to hear the engine of this little beauty roaring at full blast.
V started the car and hit the gas, speeding down the road that now had a goal in sight.
Twenty-second day
The end
Two weeks later...
"Hi, mi Hijo. You have no idea how good it feels to know that you're okay, and that, apparently, you're not alone anymore. I just hope you take care out there, I don't know much about nomads, but what I hear isn't very good. But as long as you're happy, I'm happy too." Mama Welles smiled to herself, her eyes staring at the TV in front of her.
"I miss you, hijo. But Night City is still the same place, and I don't want you coming back here any time soon. Anyway... things between Pepe and his wife aren't so good at the moment. It's no big deal, a couple's fight, normal stuff. I've been in charge of looking after the children for a while. I can't talk too much. A kiss to you, and don't forget to call next week." She said, and the message ended.
Two months later...
"Hey, V, ahm... it's been a while. I didn't really expect you to accept FIB's offer, I... didn't call you for that. In fact, after you left for Night City, I kind of thought we'd never see each other again... but, oh, well..." Reed sighed and leaned his arms on the table."I don't know exactly what happened to you after you left, but considering your profile picture, I'd say you're doing okay. I don't know who is this woman with you, but you look good."
He bowed his head slightly, looking rather troubled.
"I look back at what happened sometimes. I think about you, about Songbird... we did the right thing, that I know. But why do I keep asking myself if I could have done things differently? You saw what she was capable of, I had to stop her. And maybe, maybe punish me, is that it?" He asked, more to himself than to V.
"It fucking hurts... but it should, shouldn't it?" He asked, and with that, the message ended.
Four months later...
"V... it's been a while. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I was busy with some things related to moving." Goro said, getting comfortable on the sofa he was sitting on. "It's good to hear that things are going well for you, I told you that you would find the peace you were looking for. And I can tell you, maybe I've found mine."
He ran his eyes over the house he was in... a nice change from the one he had in Japantown.
"Canada is... an icy wasteland. The towns are small, but it's almost peaceful enough here. The few thieves I've encountered were no problem at all, and I think I've settled into a good place. Again, none of this would have been possible without your help. I hope we can drink together again." He leaned forward slightly and rested his arms on his legs.
"I've been thinking recently... and I've bought a way to go to Japan. It's still scheduled for a month from now, but... I don't know, at the same time as feeling anxious, I feel so afraid to go back. I got a contact there... the truth is that I have some private business that I have to sort out there. I was afraid that Arasaka would find me, and I'm still afraid that the moment I set foot there, I'll be hunted down. And that's why I'm going somewhere else first." Goro sighed slightly.
"When I get back here, it would be good to meet up. Tell me where you are, it would be a pleasure to meet this woman you've been talking about so much... anyway, we'll talk, V."
Eight months later...
"Hey, V. How are things?" Vik asked with a smile. "Look, I'll tell you, remember that champion I mentioned before? Forget it, apparently he was rigging all the fights. Seriously, what a disappointment." He sighed.
"Anyway, relax, buddy, couple fights are just like that. Do something she likes, get some wine, go somewhere quiet with a romantic dinner and she'll forgive you in no time. Trust me. I called to tell you the big surprise... Viktor Vektor is only a month away from getting married." He laughed to himself, sounding proud, anxious, but above all excited.
"It's no big deal, you know? We don't have many friends here, so the celebration is going to be quite, ahm, 'private', so to speak. But look, I invited Misty, and she agreed to come. What do you know? I thought she'd be the first to say no. A pleasant surprise. Now all that's left is for you, you're officially invited amigo, I'll send you the information later. If you need it, I'll even pay for your ticket. Anyway, V, let me know your answer later, I'll start sorting things out haha. I'll talk to you, pal."
Vik nodded to himself, and with a broad smile on his face, he ended the call.
And here we are, officially at the end of the story. It's been a great journey, I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you've had as much fun reading it as I have.
Again, this ending (the tower ending), is the most realistic for me, and it's the one that leaves the most room for V to do things like that, you know? Instead of just sitting around all day, he studies and fights to try and avoid being as weak as he is. My only problem was with the Aldecaldos and the " don't call" that Mitch leaves at the end. It pissed me off and made me very frustrated.
It still pisses me off just to think about it, seriously, they ruined one of the best characters in the game!
Fuck, they could have let Panam say she'd moved on, at least that, but nothing, just a "fuck you, bye".
I created this story just for that reason, and as I said, it wasn't going to be a long story. I had planned to leave a bit of a bitter ending for Panam, like, they wouldn't hate each other anymore, but they wouldn't be together, that sort of thing, but I decided against it. The game is bitter enough.
Thanks to everyone who's read this far. These last few chapters have all exceeded ten thousand words, and considering my average, that's more than double what I usually write, xd.
I still love this game, Panam is still the best partner (change my mind, I dare you!), but I needed to get this frustration off my chest.
See you in the future, maybe, in another story, who knows... cyberpunk has a lot of cool ideas to use!
See you later!