The Fury of a Severed Arm

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Drip.

The holo-call connected.

"Did the device enter Dogtown's network? What's the situation?"

A man's low, rough voice came through the line.

Under the night sky, a woman leaned beside a vehicle in a flawless suit. Her polished corporate heels had not picked up a speck of dust. Pale gold components in her hand cyberware caught the light and gleamed.

"Done. Barghest seems busy down there. As for Hansen, he's still giving his little speech. Foul-mouthed bastard."

She waved a hand, shooing away the flies gathering around a corpse the Scavs had already hollowed out.

A moment later, her superior sent over the first results from inside Dogtown's network.

"We've confirmed it. Someone from Night City headquarters is involved in this treasonous mess."

Blue light bloomed in the woman's eyes as the files transferred in.

"Abernathy has been too visible lately. That bitch has been wagging her tail in front of senior management and trying to steal my momentum. We still have several regional-client orders pending. This Dogtown matter has to be handled cleanly. Counterintelligence's manpower review is coming, and your name is on the promotion list."

"Is that so? Good to hear."

The corporate woman's voice was pleasant, with a slight nasal softness and a pace that never rushed.

Her superior continued.

"Hansen wants to cost us business. This shipment was routed from Europe, and on paper it was external-sales inventory."

"But you know our position. We do not finance warlords. If Dogtown refuses to let us put a hand inside, Hansen does not get to use our merchandise."

"The European executive who diverted the arms has already been handled by our people. As for whoever in Night City helped make it happen, you investigate that yourself. Frankfurt is important, and I need to oversee it personally. Project Cloudsea is entering a critical stage."

"Dogtown is yours. When I return, I expect a report."

The woman understood. "And Militech?"

"Ignore them. They're scared we are in bed with Hansen. Let those dogs run in circles."

The call cut off. The woman folded her arms and watched the firefight down the slope.

A ghost inside Night City headquarters was Counterintelligence's worst kind of problem. Whenever messes like this needed cleaning, they landed on CI's desk. Layoffs were the best possible outcome. On a bad day, your employee ID got revoked and a few corporate agents came to escort you away.

Then they disposed of you so thoroughly not even residue remained.

Right now, one person down in that firefight had appeared on the list her superior had sent.

After a moment of thought, the woman turned, opened the car door, and prepared to leave. In the darkness farther out, several Scavs slowly closed around her.

"Kidney cutters. Cute."

She watched them with mild interest, an unreadable smile on her thin, refined face. Her optics slowly shifted red.

Electric arcs burst inside the Scavs' skulls. Bloodied butcher knives and bats clattered to the ground. Their cyberware detonated one piece at a time, their optics flickering between light and dark.

The car door shut. Tires burned smoke. One Scav, still twitching, bent forward and tried to claw his way out of the seizure.

Bang.

The car clipped him hard enough to throw him into the air. Its red taillights vanished down the Dogtown road.

...

The entire construction zone of the unfinished building was crawling with Barghest. Holding them back were an edgerunner crew and a sniper firing from farther out.

Barghest's encirclement had forced two different forces into the same fight.

Everyone was exhausted.

Cade sent the last round from the big rifle through the head of an unlucky bastard hiding behind a concrete barrier. After that, the Nekomata went quiet.

There was no time to think. He drew the kinetic rifle slung across his back and kept resisting.

Barghest was a gang army grown out of Militech muscle. Its soldiers had strong tactical discipline and knew plenty about dirty urban warfare.

The only blessing was the terrain. If Barghest managed to push armed vehicles into this mess, the situation would flip instantly.

Cade and the others had no heavy weapons.

"Watch it!"

Pilar's arm was slick with blood. He had just run his magazine dry and ducked to reload when a gun barrel slid in from the side, almost touching his forehead.

Rebecca kicked her brother out of the way and blew the Barghest soldier's head apart.

"Maine!"

Dorio, badly injured, crouched behind cover. Her face looked grim.

More and more Barghest soldiers poured in, and the battlefield began to tilt fast. Cade's eyes met Maine's across the fire.

For the moment, in one miserable sense, they were on the same side.

"Fuck!"

Cade was furious. "I told you to delta! Split up. If we stay here, we die here."

Maine took the scolding without much argument. From what he could see now, Cade really had not intended to kill them.

The big man lifted his head, checked the terrain ahead, and immediately directed his crew toward the side.

"Idiot, you still planning to run alone? This way!"

Cade had no desire to follow that crew anywhere. Then, as the gunfire grew so thick no one could raise their head, a new mechanical grinding reached them.

Barghest mechs had entered the site.

The machines were former Militech units covered in Barghest graffiti. White spray-painted skulls marked their front plates. Each arm carried large-caliber machine guns and missiles, and their legged frames could march straight across the broken ground.

Cade's eyes swept the area, hunting for any answer at all. No matter what, he could not die here today.

The mech turned into the construction zone. Barghest soldiers hid behind cover, waiting for it to flatten the positions Cade and Maine's crew were using.

[Petrochem]

Cade spotted the rust-stained letters on a huge tank through torn metal beside the mech.

CHOOH2?

The stuff burned like fuel. Cade had an idea.

Barghest had concentrated its heavy firepower right there.

"Give me something that can hit!"

Rebecca, dual pistols in hand, immediately threw him her shotgun.

Cade caught the heavy piece. It was not Guts, but it would do.

He moved fast, angling toward the tank. The mech noticed him at once.

Whirr.

The machine gun locked on. A dense line of rounds spat sparks across the ground behind Cade.

His soul nearly left his body, but he had no choice. He clenched his teeth and kept pushing closer to the steel tank.

"Look at me, you piece of shit!"

Veins stood out at Rebecca's temple as she emptied another gun into the mech's shell, instinctively drawing cover for Cade.

The armored machine recognized the challenge. It turned and began firing at Rebecca and the others as they moved opposite Cade.

Because there was a dead angle between the mech and Cade, the Barghest leader cursed the stupid machine and redirected fire toward the moving edgerunners.

"Here!"

Cade flashed out in front of the Petrochem tank. The recoil on Rebecca's weapon was no joke. One shell hammered the mech's outer shell, sparks jumping through a mechanical arm and dents punching across its plating.

The instant the mech turned, Cade dodged.

Its heavy rounds ripped into the tank behind him.

Cade threw every scrap of potential in his body into running. He leapt high. A huge force exploded behind him.

It felt as if something massive had kicked him clean through the air. His back went numb, and the mech disappeared inside a lake of fire.

Everyone, Barghest included, was stunned by the blast.

Wreckage. Screams. The wet hiss of burning material.

Maine shook debris off his head, wild with excitement. "Preem as hell!"

Rebecca dropped her gun and sprinted toward Cade as he tried to climb up.

Cade's mind was mush. He could not hear anything. In the distance, Rebecca's mouth moved as if she were saying something.

Clang. Clang.

A warped steel plate, still on fire, rolled toward him.

Sound slammed back into his ears. By the time Cade reacted, it was too late.

The razor edge rolled across his cybernetic arm.

The severed limb, flashing with electric arcs, flew up into the air.

When pain finally poured into his skull, Cade almost vomited. Blood surged into his mouth and dripped onto Rebecca's gun.

He pushed the weapon back into Rebecca's arms and shoved her away.

"Take your crew... and get the fuck out."

All around the burning construction zone, injured Barghest soldiers were dragging themselves up. Dorio grabbed the stunned Rebecca and hauled her away. The crew vanished into endless rubble on the other side.

Cade forced himself to stand too. One leg dragging, he fled toward Dogtown's wasteland.

Rewards flooded across his panel.

He did not care.

Cade wanted the person who had sold him.

Nothing else.

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