The mission was ready. Everyone was where they needed to be.
“Rebecca, Pilar — I’ll wait for your signal,” Dorio said, hidden in the shadows, nodding at Nova that it still wasn’t time.
Pilar’s titanium jaw caught the light; he grinned. “Let this shit begin.”
He powered the antenna up to knock out cameras and trip sensors. Rebecca slipped through the perimeter looking for an entry. When she found one she radioed in, breathless.
“I found an access point but I can’t reach it!” she shouted as she vaulted, trying to clear the gap.
“Find a way, you damn gremlin!” Pilar urged, pushing her.
“Shut half your mouth, idiot — the guards are closing in. I can’t pop out without getting seen.” Pilar barked.
On the other side of the warehouse, Nova waited for the cue to open the way for Dorio. The moment he heard the comms he ripped into motion, Sandevistan burning. The antenna would be useless if they found and smashed it, so he moved to help Rebecca. Nova grabbed Rebecca by the jacket collar and shoved her toward the vent. She tumbled headfirst into the tight duct, cursing.
“I’m gonna kill you, you idiot!” she screamed.
She shoved the antenna deep into her pack and stashed it. Pilar got the signal and started the code to ping the NCPD. On that cue Nova and Dorio slipped into the warehouse and hunted for the perfect place to hide the package. They found a stack of containers and decided the top one was best. With a crane they hauled it up, popped it open fast — easy, quick. They tossed Tanaka into it like a trash bag and left.
Before leaving, Nova ducked into the office and pushed a packet into the warehouse’s DB: records about Tanaka’s kidnapping and the implants Nova believed Ivan was building — breadcrumbs to send investigators in the right direction.
“Nova! Move!” Dorio hissed, holding the metal gate open. Nova finished fast, hands working like a machine, and came out with Dorio at his heels.
Meanwhile, Rebecca had crawled out the ducts and gone full berserk — throwing grenades and spraying rounds like a lunatic, dropping soldiers left and right.
“What’s wrong? Why are you hiding?!” she laughed maniacally as she sprayed.
Someone slipped in behind her trying to pop a shot. Just as his finger squeezed the trigger, his head detonated.
“You can thank me later over dinner,” Pilar said, Glock still smoking in his hand.
“I’ll give you some shit, asshole — let’s go,” Rebecca snapped.
Pilar prepped the vehicle and they scrambled out. They swept up Dorio and Nova and bolted. NCPD was rolling in, but Pilar’s reflexes were insane — he spun the car into a side alley, rammed through some barrels and buried the ride under a heap of trash. The cops cruised past and ignored it.
“Just like I planned,” Pilar crowed, chest puffed.
“You planned jack, liar,” Rebecca smacked him on the head.
After a while they made it back to Nova’s apartment, warm with victory. Nova slid credits across — ten thousand eddies to each of them.
“Take it. Accept it,” he said.
Dorio stared, stunned. “W-where’d you pull that from? What the hell do you do?”
“Oh — I supply Regina with implants and weapons. I do repairs, too. Though I’ve been slipping on the repairs lately, ha.” Nova shrugged.
“You work for Regina!?” Pilar’s eyes went wide — a stable gig in Night City is rare.
“And you still risk your ass for us?” Rebecca said, a grin softening her face. “Hell, I’ll take that. Now I can finally get those gorilla arms.”
“If you want, I’ll do them. Custom job. You in?” Nova offered.
“For real? Sweet. Hell yeah.” Pilar was buzzing.
They celebrated. Nova watched everyone laugh and felt something like belonging. Kiwi and Maine were still missing, but things looked good — no one dead, Faraday’s info en route, Millitech off their backs. Still, Nova worried: how to cut the crew off Faraday’s gigs? Everyone needed work — in Night City you don’t live, you survive. They’d have to find another way to keep the lights on.
Incoming call: David.
“Dorio! They kidnapped Lucy!” he blurted, no context, panic raw.
The room went cold. Dorio’s face snapped tight; everyone crowded the line.
“And Kiwi? Did you get the data?” Dorio barked.
“No.” David’s answer was blunt — but that was nothing compared to the fact Lucy was gone. He couldn’t stand the idea she’d been taken.
Dorio’s expression crumpled — deals with Faraday were strict; missed payment might be the least of their problems.
Up in a corporate tower, a figure sat with four cybernetic eyes glued to a flickering console.
“You realize how late we are?” the voice hissed. “Hiding out does us no good. Where’s what you promised?”
“The team hit a snag, but they said the data’s coming. Should be any second. Buying you a seat at the top isn’t cheap,” another voice answered.
“How much actual value can you deliver to justify the investment? I better see returns. You have Millitech data? I doubt it. I won’t give you a damn thing if we don’t stick to the deal. Try to steal it or kill me and you lose your only play to the top,” Faraday said, voice heavy with control.
“We hope so,” they answered, skeptical.
Call cut. Faraday sat, confident despite the delay — still believing the cards were in his hand. Then an unknown call came through.
“Hello, Faraday,” a voice said. “Sure you want the Millitech keys and the sande files? Too bad — you’re not getting them.”
“Who the hell is this?” he barked.
“I have a proposition…” the voice said.