V and Panam ran down the stairs from the office, catching up with Mitch at the bottom. Mitch pointed his weapon towards the sound moving closer to them. A bit further along the assembly line, V was able to see the shapes convening on their positions more clearly and in greater detail. Panam appeared equally concerned as the lights flickered and popped, although the filter mask blocked the full extent of her glare due to the flickering and popping.
''Whatever the fuck this thing is,'' Mitch squared his stance with his weapon in hand. "It wouldn't do well to end up like this on our first excursion since leaving NC."
V agreed, knowing that whatever Arasaka dug their hands into here was worth the squeeze to him or his family. Plus, he doubted he would find anything close to what he needed to help his condition. The last thing he wanted to do was spend any more time down here than what was required.
''We should make for the exit, guys!'' V called out, seeing the shapes on his heads-up display spread out and go over their heads. A series of loud clangs sounded before a sickening crunch of metal and a thud sounded on the ground behind V. Turning around, the merc found himself face-to-face with a hulkish, almost animalistic figure, covered modestly in a combination of cybernetics, dust, oil, along with a combination of needles and tubes protruding from their mouth. ''After we deal with this!'' V spied what looked to be older model Gorilla Arms and a modified Projectile launcher on attached to the shoulder area.
SMASH! CLANG! CLANG!
''Occupied all the same over here too!'' Mitch hollered back, his gun pointed at a female cyberpyscho, kitted up with an assortment of whip-like carbon fiber wires on her arms and comprised of her her hair that sparked at the ends with electricity. A guttural hiss from her throat made the vet cringe.
''What the fuck is this, now?'' Panam switched to her shotgun, cocking a round after seeing her opponent in her field of view. Though a clear and cut face was unable to be seen through the concave mask and black skinsuit, she could only faintly pick up the red glow of two irises. Out of the pair, Panam's enemy looked to be the least physically intimidating, and that alone gave her cause to wonder just what other tricks would have yet to be seen. ''One thing is for sure, we can't be pulling any stupid moves down here, or else the entire thing could collapse under us!''
''Eh, I don't think they would agree, Pan,'' Mitch called back, each of them spacing away from the other slowly, knowing more than likely, the trio would try and rush them at the smallest slip-up. Slowly, V uncovered a smoke grenade from his belt, carefully and slowly fox-walking to a position he felt was the best. It would only last for a good minute or so, which would be more than enough to help cover their retreat. A faint hissing sounded in the back of his mind, followed by the ever so-unpleasant message displaying on his hud that someone was attempting to hack into his systems at a rather quick rate.
''. . .Find me. . .'' V heard a voice whisper directly into his brain, the tone panicked, though somber. V could question it later. ''Before they kill you. . .''
''Scatter!'' V yelled out, firing a shot dead center that only served to enrage the crazed psycho who leaped forward blindly, throwing his arms down toward the ground as smoke filled the air. The one thing V failed to account for was the sheer power that the implants his adversary was afforded, pieces of rusted metal flying in all directions, even as a few struck the merc in the back as he made a diagonal beeline away over an assembly line track. ''Shit!''
''V! You okay?'' Panam called to her partner, preferring to keep an eye on the freakshow in front of her for as long as she could before having to bolt for cover as she caught a glimpse of V being with bits of metal from the floor and Mitch narrowly avoid getting shocked. Leveling her shotgun, and waiting with bated breath, Panam took her time stepping back to find some form or fashion of cover; but there would be no such hope as their method of concealment vanished, being sucked up by the psycho with the mask. Looking at her, it tilted its head, almost in a mocking way pissed Panam off. ''Die, fucker!'' a flurry of pellets rocketed towards Panam's target, sending dust about and them reeling and over a fallen assembly arm. Almost as quick as he landed on the ground, he shot back up, raising up as if nothing phased him, the pellets that would have done him in bouncing off and onto the ground like rubber. ''Uh-oh.''
Without missing a beat, Panam was launched off her feet, spit flying inside of her mask and shotgun slipping from her grasp as two hands wrapped around her throat. Panam would have called herself crazy at seeing a weapon, a shotgun in this case, failing to do its job, but the few moments where it never did never seemed to lessen her surprise. Her feet dangled in the air, as her hands desperately fought to save herself, she began to fill her quickened heartbeat in her chest as black dots began to fill her vision.
''This. . .is not how I intend to. . .go out.~'' Panam breathed out, her voice cracking and wheezing, her brain scrambling, and making her see flashes of her life; the good, the bad, and the worse. The growing, pulling pain from her head from her body being supported by it nearly brought Panam to tears. ''V-V.~'' Panam croaked, her flashing to her boyfriend, her partner, and her family when she was unsure that she had one. V was so much more than that and Panam's heart sank knowing that she would probably be unable to fully tell him the true extent of his value to her and The Aldecaldos.
It wouldn't, it couldn't end; not like this, not when she had her own mission to see through; to help V live, and live his life properly with her alongside him. Rarely, did she show emotion, often finding the concept itself and the range of emotion a tough uphill battle to fight alone. V managed to show her a different way; to help teach and guide her through the ups and downs, and not judge her for anything that came between, and all in the name and principle of love. Even now, Panam still had trouble understanding how V managed to shine as bright as he did in the times when one would be expected to have no light to fight with at all.
Panam needed V, in every sense of the word; she was scared to the bones; again. Each time, it felt more and more foreign to her, but she also managed to let herself feel that in response to an event that mattered. Mattered for herself. If one were to meet the nomad down on her luck a few months ago where she had little to her name, and even less to stand for in the face of Night City, she would laugh in the face of anybody who suggested emotions. For the first time in what felt like forever, Panam opened her heart. Pulling willpower from depths she didn't know was possible, even at the brink of what looked to be the end, Panam managed to open a channel to V, mentally thanking herself the communicator to be able to function. She only had enough breath for a sentence, and with a million different things that she could think of, she managed to settle on five words she would say with every fiber of her being. ''I-I. . .love y-you! s-so. . .much. . .~'' another second passed, and everything blanked out for the chieftess.
''Panam!'' V shouted, his teeth gritted as he was locked into a grappling match with the burlier cyberpyscho, one knee bent to the ground as the other flexed, barely managing to stay locked in place due to sheer placement. Out of the corner of his eye, he
managed to see Panam, cast up by her neck by that mask-covered freak, seeing her body become limp after relaying the message that made his heart stop mid-beat. At first, there was a dull thrum in his head, the urge to look over and see Mitch entangled in the mess of wires before getting shocked in the neck, his body immediately clenching up and falling over on the ground.
''Mitch. . .'' V echoed, his arms trembling. Anger rose to the surface, and it was only matched by his need to find out for himself if the both of them were okay, if he was going to have to carry on alone, or if the choice was even his to make on account on there being three of them vs just him. As quickly as the entire ordeal played out, V made his mind up; Mantis Blades. ''If I gotta go down, fuckers, you're going first!'' V yelled out, noting the other two making their way slowly toward him.
Or, that would have been V's plan if not for that voice again, in his ear.
''Here, I can buy a few seconds to escape; and don't worry, they're not dead, just unconscious. But you can't hope to beat them like this, we need to meet.'' V would have laughed if he wasn't still fighting the uphill battle and being on the brink of passing out. A few moments later, his opponents began to be pressed down by an invisible force of some sort, each of the trio's eyes flashing an intense red before V was freed, given little time to react to the control arm that grabbed him around his arms and waist, lifting him up and taking him across the facility. Every nerve in his body shouted for release from the metal shackle, and to be with Panam.
''What the fuck are you talking about?! Take me back! I won't leave them behind!'' V shouted, not entirely sure if the voice could hear him and his struggles to be free, his Mantis Blades unable to retract from the compression being put on them. The further away V was dragged away from Panam and Mitch, the further his anger was filled at the apparent lack of understanding of who exactly was talking to him, and who he was. To simply ask him to abandon his family? What kind of fucked up shit was that? ''Panam!'' V managed to yell out his beloved's name one last time before a quick hack caused him to slowly drift out of consciousness, hearing the last few words reassure him.
''They're safe, for now, at least. But we won't have much time.'' the voice sounded again, in V's mind, only it fell on V's deaf ears as he was more concerned with freeing himself. ''If we do this right, then maybe it can be beneficial for both of us or at least one of us. . .''