Chapter 3: Livin' on the Edge

-Streets of Night City, Vista Del Rey-

V cursed as he swerved his car around through the streets of Vista Del Rey while trying to narrowly avoid crashing as he was nearly sent peeling off the road by a bunch of gang goons who decided to shoot at him.

Poor Jerry Lee unfortunately had to hide in the backseat floorboard to avoid getting shot.

"Why won't these piss ants just fuck off already?!" The Nomad growled as he made a hard right followed by an equally hard left, which got one of the enemy cars to crash.

Skidding to a halt, the man slowly got out, sidearm in hand as he loaded the magazine into Bad Night Rising's Malorian Arms 3516 style chassis–before he slammed the car door closed.

Seconds later, the remaining car stopped and the passenger door opened, revealing a large man carrying a heavy machine gun with a rather odd color scheme. It was a mix of pink and blue.

The man carrying it quickly opened fire on the solo as he dodged, but after a couple bursts, it jammed.

"What is up with this stupid gonk–!" He cursed before…

BANG!

One shot from V's pistol blew his face clean off, his jaw being torn completely off and falling to the street like a slab of steel.

"Should've checked your gun, jackass." He deadpanned before looking at the now discarded HMG. "Hm… Could be worth keeping around after a tune up." He mused, walking up to it and picking it up before removing the drum and putting it in his car's trunk.

Though as he looked the gun over, he saw that it had a name: Passion, engraved in the barrel guard, and a name "Rebecca Smash" on the chamber.

"Rebecca Smash…" The Nomad hummed as he got in his car, petting Jerry Lee as he got in the passenger seat. "That name sounds familiar… where have I heard it before?" He wondered to himself.

Shrugging, he started the engine and drove off from the scene. Maybe he'll ask Jackie or Viv about who Rebecca was when he had a chance.

(Later)

It was later on in the day and V had finally made it home in time for a pizza he'd ordered to be delivered, all while he was putting his new weapon in his home arsenal.

As he went outside to pick up his pizza, Jackie called him right around the same time.

"Hey, mano. Heard about that shootout in Del Rey, you doin' okay after that?" The Brawler asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." V replied as he paid the delivery boy before heading back inside. "The gonk that tried to kill me had this weird HMG that jammed up after a couple o' bursts. It's called Passion, apparently, and it belonged to someone named Rebecca Smash. Ring any bells?" He asked.

"You shitin me, ese?" The Streetkid asked in disbelief. "Sure it does! She was part o' one of the most notorious solo crews in Night City. David Martinez's crew." He continued.

"What happened to 'em? I figured I would've run into some of 'em by now." The Nomad wondered.

"Nobody knows for sure, but something big happened at Arasaka Tower a couple o' years back and the whole team was never seen or heard from since." Jackie explained. "Ya know, I've been meaning to meet up with one of my netrunnin' chooms lately. Maybe she can help you figure it out?"

"You're not gonna come with?" V asked.

"Can't mano, gotta dinner date with Misty today." His Choomba explained.

"Heh, alright. Tell her I said hi. And send me the deets on your netrunning choom when you can." V chuckled.

"Done and done, ese. Ai luego." The bruiser nodded as he hung up and the Nomad got a notification from a new number for someone named T-Bug.

Taking a bite of a slice of pizza, he dialed whoever T-Bug was and waited before her image appeared in his vision. T-Bug was a dark skinned woman, probably African American with a bald head and was wearing a netrunner suit.

"Who are you, and how'd you get my number?" She demanded.

"Name's V, I'm a friend of Jackie's. He's where I got it from." The Nomad replied. "He said you might be able to help me with something." He added.

"Oh he did, did he?" The woman nodded as if not surprised. "Alright, what kind of 'thing' are you doing?" She questioned.

"I need some info on some people. I only have one name right now: Rebecca Smash." V explained.

"A member of David Martinez's crew? What for?" The netrunner wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"Found one of her weapons, trying to see if I can find any more useful gear they might've left behind." The Nomad explained. "Plus, I wasn't here when these guys disappeared, so I'd really like to find out for curiosity's sake alone." He added.

"Alright, fair enough. I'll ask for payment after I'm done." The woman shrugged. "I'll call you back when I find anything." She added before ending the call.

V then sat down and decided to continue enjoying his pizza while he waited for the Netrunner to get back to him, watching the news while he was at it.

This continued for about half an hour, Jerry Lee hopping on the couch with him and laying his head on his owner's lap, when the man's sister called him.

"Hey, Val. What's up?" The man asked as he answered the call.

"Heard from the Afterlife that you're looking into the Martinez gang. Mind telling me what prompted that?" His sister inquired.

"I found Rebecca Smash's HMG, Passion. I got interested when Jackie told me more about them." V replied, not phased about how quickly word spreads through the grapevine.

"Well all I'll say is that you better be careful. Arasaka's still pretty butthurt about what David and his crew did two years ago, and probably don't want people poking around in it." The woman told him.

"Sis, when have I ever given a rat's ass about what the Corpos think?" The merc questioned.

"Oh, well, point taken." Val chuckled in reply. "What are you even hoping to get by looking into them, anyways?" She wondered.

"Anything they left lying around after they vanished." V replied. "Though Passion could use a tune up, since it jammed after a couple o' bursts when someone used it against me today." He added.

"... What?" Val questioned after a beat passed.

"Long story." He added.

(Later)

-Corpo Plaza, Arasaka Tower-

V hummed as he strolled along with his dog right next to him after having lunch, the two decided to go for a walk when the Anatolian Shepherd caught a whiff of a scent and dragged his owner all the way to Corpo Plaza.

Now he was pointing at a clump of bushes, as if he'd found something.

"Hm? What's in there, boy?" He asked as he moved some of the foliage aside… and found a Carnage modeled shotgun with the same colors as Passion sitting there, pink and sea green. "... Oh." He blinked in slight surprise. Grabbing it, he did a scan to see its specs and whistled. "Damn, this thing's a blunderbuss. Maybe this was another one of Rebecca's guns." He mused, slinging it over his shoulder.

As he did this, T-Bug finally called again. "V, got something you might wanna see." The netrunner told him.

"Hey Bug. Fire away. I just found another one of Rebecca's weapons at Arasaka Tower. A shotgun called Guts." The man replied.

"Seriously? Two in a day? That's some preem luck you got there." The netrunner whistled, sounding a little impressed.

"It pays to have a dog." He shrugged.

"Mmm hmm, well, I'm sending you the deets to the previous addresses of a few of the crew members who used to run with Martinez. Could prove to be useful." T-Bug explained.

"Thanks. I'll check 'em out." V nodded. "Oh, and here's your fee." He added, sending some eddies her way.

"Thanks." The woman nodded before hanging up.

"Well, boy, looks like we're going exploring." V said as he looked at Jerry Lee, who barked happily at the thought.

(Later)

-Watson Northside-

The first address they went to apparently belonged to Rebecca and her brother Pilar, but it was long since vacant and hadn't gotten any new people living in it since then.

"Hm…" V hummed as he and Jerry Lee went into the complex to where the apartment was located.

When they arrived, the Nomad hacked the lock and went inside. As expected, the lights were off, but that was fixed with a simple flick of the lightswitch.

"Oh man, this place is dusty. Let's see what we can find…" He hummed as he rummaged around the place to see what he could find.

An hour went by, and V managed to find the rest of Rebecca's guns which consisted of a pistol, a shotgun similar to Guts but with different specs, and an SMG. Jerry Lee, however, was the one to find Pilar's old hands. V decided to hang onto those until he figured out what to do with them.

(Later)

-Watson, Kabuki District-

Not long after getting everything he could at Rebecca and Pilar's pad, V then went to the next address on his list: the apartment of Kiwi. Which just so happened to be the apartment of one of his Fixers.

"Hey, Regina, you happen to know a Netrunner named Kiwi? She apparently used to live at your place." The Nomad said as he talked to his fixer while he drove.

"Really? Fancy that." The Watson fixer mused. "If you're looking for anything useful, feel free to swing by." She told him.

"Nova, I'll do that." The man nodded.

(Later)

The search at Kiwi's spot didn't turn up anything, so V then decided to try out the apartment of Lucy, David Martinez's Output and famous netrunner.

After forcing the door open, he took a look around, his loyal pup trotting along beside him.

"Lucy was a netrunner, so I shouldn't expect any weapons. But maybe I can find some nifty quick hacks or a cyberdeck." V mused as he and Jerry Lee started looking around.

After a few minutes of looking, they did find some serious quick hacks, all legendary grade, and a legendary Monowire implant as well.

"This'll pair well with my Mantis Blades." The Nomad mused with a smirk on his face.

(Later)

After fueling at the Turbo Stop that was across from the apartment and a quick drive, V and Jerry Lee were in front of an old chopshop in Santo Domingo. Apparently David's crew used it as an HQ of sorts. It was pretty inconspicuous at first glance, so it kinda worked.

When they arrived, however, that's when things went to shit for V's current car. The cheap piece of junk's engine broke down and now it refused to start up and smoke was coming out of the hood. When V opened it up, it was pretty clear what the verdict was: This car was dead, and it hadn't even been a year yet.

"It must've been from the shoot out…" The Nomad said as he looked at the engine, and found it riddled with holes. He was lucky it got him to the chopshop at all.

Shrugging it off, he and his good boi doggo got out of the car and the man started forcing open the old garage doors to see what could be found. The first three had nothing of interest, but the fourth…

"Well hello there." The man grinned as he looked at the hotrod in front of him.

The car in question was a black Quadra Turbo V-Tech. If this was here, then it's likely that this was one of the Martinez gang's rides. Looking through the windows, he could see some leopard style print on the seats and a dog bobblehead on the dashboard.

Looking around, the Nomad found the card key for the car and effectively claimed ownership of it. As the man and his dog got in the car, they took a moment to feel the seats a bit, and the leather felt pretty good.

"Okay, let's see if the engine is still working…" V mused as he slotted the key into the ignition, and grinned when the engine roared to life. "Oh fuck yeah!" He cheered before he stepped on the gas and sped out. Jerry Lee barked in excitement, obviously loving the speed they were going.

(Later)

-Santo Domingo, Megablock 04 Apartment complex-

V slowly screeched to a halt in his new car, hopping out with his pup as they came up to a Megablock apartment building.

This place was where David's apartment was located, and it was listed on the twentieth floor. Good thing elevators exist.

After heading inside and going to said floor, the Nomad then tricked the door into thinking he was the last tenant and slipped on in, allowing him to see what it looked like.

Design wise, it didn't even look that different from V's own apartment. Then again, the Megablock buildings were fabricated on a shared design, so no surprise there. When he looked around, however, he spotted a WW1 era trench knife on the table, it had an engraving.

Juan Esteban Martinez, Marines, 1917. Simpli Fi, Hu ra.

Deciding to keep the knife, V put it in his second sheath, and left the building.

However as he came around the corner of the building, he saw a symbol that seemed to be spray painted on the wall of an alley that was littered with empty Buck-A-Slice pizza boxes. He couldn't find any words to describe it, but it was green in color.

"Weird…" He murmured as he walked up to it, his Anatolian pal looking curious.

Upon closer inspection, it looked to be like the stylized ER of the Edgerunner logo, the name for Solos like him and Jackie.

And right under this symbol of solo pride was a drum, and on this drum was a BD reef. V, not seeing any reason to look a gift lead in the mouth, decided to try it on.

When it activated, however, he was treated to a BD but it was far from normal. It was from the perspective of a Cyberpsycho.

V watched as this Cyberpsycho, whoever he was, went on a rampage on some hapless NCPD officers in what looked like Corpo Plaza, shooting at anyone in sight and slicing anyone dumb enough to get close with mantis blades in his legs, of all places.

Gorilla Arms, arm cannons, mantis arms, all manner of weapons, chromed up skin and a crazy powerful Sandevistan–this psycho was a true force of nature.

Watching him slaughter everything around him was almost… Beautiful, in a morbid and crazy kinda way.

Though as he was killed by MaxTac, a message appeared as the BD started to wind down…

[A Cautionary Tale]

[One David Martinez Ignored]

[Will You?]

After the message disappeared, V woke up with a groan and saw Jerry Lee whining in worry.

"Don't worry buddy. I'll live." He told his pal as he rubbed his head to ease his dog's worries. "What in the fuck was that…?" He groaned before he decided to make another move.

Dialing a number, he quickly reached his Vista Del Rey Fixer: Mumar "El Captain" Reyes.

"Ey, V! What's up?" The man asked.

"I found an XBD on the street. Next to the Megablock 04 building. Showed a Cyberpsycho getting zeroed by MaxTac under the Holofish." The Nomad explained. "Mentioned something about a guy I'm looking for, David Martinez. Ring any bells?" He asked.

"Do you go around firin' up every XBD you find out there? I'm not judgin' since curiosity is one helluva thing, but still… That's mighty brave on your part." The Fixer chuckled. "But yeah. Cy-Psycho attack sounds familiar but I never dug too deep. All I know was that it was big." He continued. "As for Martinez… The fuck kinda question is that?! Of course I know the name!" He added further, sounding pretty incredulous at the question.

"Really? Huh. Preem. So what can you tell me about the guy?" The man questioned as he scratched his pup behind the ear. "Because every lead I've followed so far has been nothing but dead ends." He added.

"He was a Santo kid like me. He sprung up outta nowhere and didn't look back. He was sippin' drinks at the Afterlife in no time." El Captain told him. "Every punk pup with a dream wanted to be in his crew. 'Till a year ago, at least, when he kicked the hornet's nest." He added. "Why you askin'? Lookin' to join his fanclub or get his autograph on a new implant?" He asked.

"It all started with a shootout in Vista yesterday. Some gonks decided to try and flatline me and my dog, so I zeroed them–trashing my ride in the process." V began. "One of the guys had a HMG called Passion that belonged to one of David's crew, Rebecca. And I've been following their trails since then." He continued. "Curiosity's probably getting the better of me again but–if this choom's such a legend, where's all the chatter about him? Where's his crew now?" He added.

"Tough to say. I'll do some digging around and get back to you. Later." The Fixer replied before ending the call.

After this, the Nomad soon heard a familiar grumbling noise coming from the canine companion beside him, then from himself.

"... Come on, bud. Let's get some chow." He told his pet, getting an enthusiastic bark in reply.

(Later)

It was later that night and V was having a dinner of instant beef bone broth cup Ramen, topped with nori, a boiled egg, leaks, shiitake mushrooms, and slices of dehydrated beef slices, and a can of NiCola classic.

Jerry Lee, meanwhile, was having canned dog food. As they ate, the TV was on, and there was a Militech press conference on the news that night.

The woman who was doing the conference was named Meredith Stout, and V had to admit that she looked kinda hot. For a Corpo chick, at least.

That was all he was gonna say, though. Corpo chicks were too high maintenance for him.

(Later)

As V was eating breakfast, he got a call from someone named Falco.

"Something you need?" He asked upon answering the call. The image showed a black haired man with caucasian skin, a black mustache and brown eyes. From what V could see from his clothes, they looked like they were a Nomad brand.

"Heard you were looking into David's crew. Name's Falco, and I was the driver for that team." The man told him.

"V." The Nomad replied as he sat up, starting to get dressed after taking a shower.

"Well, V, what is it you're wanting to know?" Falco asked.

"Been finding a bunch of your old crew's stuff all over the place lately. And I'm really getting intrigued by what I'm learning." V explained. "The trail I was following ended with an XBD that mentioned Martinez, and I was wanting to hear more." He added.

"Is that so?" Falco hummed, stroking his mustache a bit. "Well, to tell ya the truth, V. We're outta the biz, outta the spotlight. Went dark as scrapboard coffee." He continued. "Ever since David… Disappeared, our crew hasn't been the same." He sighed.

"Disappeared? Is he dead?" V asked as he left his apartment with Jerry Lee.

"That's what we thought, least till I heard some buzzing from Arasaka that implied otherwise…" The Nomad replied before sighing. "But that's besides the point. Whatever you've heard, the past is the past. Not one we aim to dig up." He continued.

"Kinda hard to stick with that if it comes roaring back on its own." V pointed out.

"Touche, V. Touche." Falco conceded. "Listen, I'm sending you a set o' coordinates. Meet me there, and I'll give you something that you might like." He added as the coordinates were received.

"Got 'em. See you there." V said before the call ended. After he finished his breakfast, he whistled for his canine companion. "Let's go boy. We got somewhere to go." He told him.

(Later)

About half an hour later, V had arrived at an old train yard in Heywood and was waiting for Falco to arrive.

A few minutes later, a car slowly slid into the train yard. The car was an Alvarado Delegate with long horn horns on the hood.

Falco then stepped out of the car, with a case in hand. "V?" He asked as he walked up to the mercenary and dog.

"Yep." V nodded back in reply. "What's that?" He asked.

"Take a look." The man said as he opened the case, revealing that there was a bright yellow Night City EMT jacket with the Edgerunner logo on the back.

"Let me guess: David's?" The Nomad asked.

"Yep." Falco nodded. "Though it was his mother's, and when she died, he wore it in an attempt to keep her close." He added. "Our friend Lucy's had it since then, but decided to let it go."

V was silent for a moment before he took the jacket and put it on.

"The crew have any niches I can visit? I'd like to pay my respects." The Nomad asked.

"Go to the cemetery. You'll see them." The man nodded. "Oh, and if you're going there, in that case, take this." Falco told him, handing him a Lexington pistol that had a gold crucifix necklace wrapped around it. "These were David's. It'd mean a lot to us if you could lay them to rest." He added.

"You got it." V nodded as he took them. "... Do you know? Who killed the rest of the crew, I mean." He asked.

"It's a mess but… Gloria died in a car crash. Pilar died after a Cyberpsycho blew his brains out. Maine was killed by MaxTac after he went psycho. Dorian was killed by Maine when he went psycho. Kiwi betrayed us but helped us when it counted, she left NC soon after. Rebecca was killed by Adam Smasher… As was David." Falco explained. "But David's body was never recovered, so we're not sure if he's dead for sure." He continued.

"And Lucy?" V asked.

"Me and her managed to get out alive, and after that, we went into hiding." The man replied. "Lucy actually went to the Lunar colony so… Haven't done anything in the open since." He added.

"I see." V nodded as he slipped David's jacket on. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that David's memory doesn't die with him." He added.

"Thank you, V." Falco nodded as he turned to leave. "Ya know, that gun ya got. Reminds me of a gun that belonged to an old friend of mine." He noted.

"Really? Who?" V asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Johnny Silverhand." The former Edgerunner driver replied, much to V's surprise.

"You knew Silverhand?" The man questioned.

"Served in the same corps together. Saw his career go up and down pretty quickly." Falco nodded. "Word of advice? Don't get in the same messes they did. It's not worth it." He added as he got in his car and drove away, leaving V alone with his dog.

"Come on, Jerry. Let's go home." The man said as the two got in his car and drove away.

(The next day)

-Memorial Wall, the Glen-

V was silent as he and Jackie walked into the monument to the departed, as was Jerry Lee. After a moment, they found the spot where Gloria and David's niches were.

They were appropriately next to each other.

"En numere El Padre, El tijo, El Spiritu Santu, amen." The Streetkid prayed as he made the sign of the cross in respect of the souls before them.

V did the same as he read the two holographic memorials.

[David Martinez. You didn't take me to the moon, but you were there with me.]

[Gloria Mrtinez. You were right. David Reached the top of Arasaka Tower.]

"Requiescat in Pace, David, Gloria." The Nomad nodded as he and his companions turned around, ready to head home.

It was a hard life, Livin' on the Edge.

Dragon Emperor0: And that's the first of the Edgerunner chapters done. Now that only leaves about two more or so, and then we pick back up with the half a year time skip and The Rescue. Next chapter, V's going to find a little gift that Falco left him in the case where David's jacket was: A card with a map to a stash that he made to store the last of David's things, and the number for who has the key.

ThermalsniperN7: And all this started with the chance acquisition of Passion. Man, I miss that little gremlin girl; She was awesome.

Dragon Emperor0: So do we all. I can't even count how many people have gone John Wick on Adam Smasher after they watched the anime. And honestly? Can't blame 'em.

ThermalsniperN7: Personally, I used an HMG to mow down that witchcraft experiment the last time I fought him. Why do I call him that? Because Smasher should've gone Cyberpsycho decades ago, and he never fucking did! What the hell?! That's my reason for calling "witchcraft" on him!

Dragon Emperor0: He's a full borg, my dude. There's nothing left to go psycho with. Anyway, my Chooms, tune in next time for part 2 of this 3 part arc: "Runnin' From My Heart".

ThermsalsniperN7: See you then, choombas!