"Die! Die, you fucking chrome-plated bastards!" Rebecca shrieked, her voice a serrated blade. She was hunkered down behind a rusted dumpster, laying down a wall of suppression fire. The NCPD were swarming the zone like ants on a corpse. "Get the fuck out of my way, you piles of scrap!"
"Rebecca, stand down!" Dorio roared from behind a slab of concrete. She was slumped against the wall, leaking fluid from a jagged wound in her side. Maine was right there with her, laying down cover fire with a heavy iron, his cybernetics hissing with heat.
"It’s a lost cause, Becca!" Maine barked, his voice straining with effort. "The Skeleton's gone and the heat is closing in. We’re pulling out!"
"Like hell!" Rebecca snapped, her finger twitching on the trigger. "They’re still back there! I’m not leaving until they finish their part!"
Suddenly, a violent rush of air whipped past her ear. Before she could even blink, the NCPD’s guns were ripped from their hands, torn right out of their holsters by invisible force. Nova was suddenly there, crouched right beside her, steady as a rock.
"We got Lucy. Ivan’s a grease stain on the floor. It’s time to ghost," Nova said, his voice eerily calm.
Rebecca glanced at him, and her breath hitched. His jacket was a ruin—riddled with holes, saturated in dark, thick blood that stained the concrete beneath him. He was a walking casualty, yet he hadn't even broken stride. She didn't say a word; the look in his eyes told her everything.
"We’ve got one window to vanish," Nova said. "Be ready for the signal."
"Signal? What the hell kind of signal—"
BOOM!
A massive shockwave ripped through the street as the NCPD cruisers detonated in a synchronized fireball. The cops scattered like roaches, blinded and panicked. Maine didn't need a map; he grabbed Dorio, hauling her toward the back alley. Nova snatched Rebecca by the vest, yanking her into the shadows while David and Lucy sprinted past, hauling an unconscious Rina between them.
"You leaving me behind, you bunch of gonks!?" Pilar yelled, sprinting to catch up to the pack.
Maine didn't waste a second. He found a transport, jammed his hands into the ignition, and cracked the locks in a heartbeat. They scrambled inside, piling in like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Maine hammered the throttle, tearing through the grid with a precision that bordered on psychotic, weaving through the traffic until the sirens faded into the dead air of the outskirts.
The silence in the van was suffocating, broken only by the hum of the engine and the sound of ragged breathing.
"Seriously!?" Rebecca wheezed, crushed against the cold glass of the window, barely able to breathe. "You couldn't find a smaller ride, Maine!? There’s eight of us in here, you absolute fuck! I’m being turned into a goddamn pancake!"
"Ease up, Becca. We didn't have the luxury of shopping for a luxury cruiser. We’re alive, that’s all that matters," Lucy murmured, leaning into David’s chest. But there was a shadow behind her eyes—a haunting, hollow look.
David felt her shift, his grip tightening. "Lucy? You okay? You’re ghosting out on me again."
"Uh… yeah. Just… nothing," she whispered, though her gaze stayed fixed on the grime-streaked window.
Nova watched her, his own reflection flickering in the glass. He didn't need a neural-scan to know why she was spiraling. They might’ve broken out of that hole, but Arasaka didn't just 'lose' assets. David was a one-in-a-million freak of nature—a kid who could slot chrome like he was born to it—and the Corps were going to hunt him until the end of time. Nova felt the phantom ache in his own back, the holes in his jacket crusting over with drying blood. His organic Sandevistan wasn't a gift; it was a countdown. They were all just walking targets, ticking down toward the inevitable.
"Nova! You deaf or just choosing to ignore me, you prick!?" Rebecca barked, breaking his trance.
Nova didn't flinch. "No point screaming, Becca. We’re clearing out of Night City. We aren't going back for that monster, and we aren't waiting for the Corps to corner us. We need to patch up. Dorio's bleeding out—we need a ripper, fast."
They pulled into a dingy, light-starved clinic in the guts of the city. It was a butcher’s shop, but it was enough. The air smelled of ozone and cheap anesthetic. They weren't broken, but they were definitely leaking, and the adrenaline was finally starting to turn sour in their veins.
Suddenly, Nova’s internal comms chimed. A cold, steady signal.
Incoming call: Padre Ibarra.
"Nova," the fixer’s voice crackled through, smooth as polished glass. "I got the status report. Ivan’s stopped breathing, which clears my turf. A bit loud for my tastes—you punks have a habit of turning a surgical strike into a war zone—but the job’s done. I’ll send a little extra scratch for the… collateral. Consider it a tip."
Nova sat on a rusted chair, his leg crossed, gripped by his arms. He stared at a single spot on the blood-stained floor while his HUD pinged with the transaction.
"Padre just sent us a pittance," Nova said, his voice dripping with a bitter, jagged sarcasm. "Buying our silence with pocket change. Don't worry—I'm transferring the credits. Buy yourself something nice. Maybe a tombstone."
"It’s… actually a decent payday, considering the gear Padre handed us. Guess Ivan really got under his skin," Maine grunted, testing the movement in his reinforced shoulder.
Lucy shifted her gaze toward the corner of the clinic, where Rina sat bound in dampening cuffs. "What are you going to do with her, Nova?"
"Ivan’s rotting, but she’s still a prisoner in her own skull," Nova replied, his voice low. "I need to dig into whatever twisted shit they did to her neural-link and patch it. Life… wasn’t exactly kind to her."
"Like it’s been a fucking picnic for any of us," Rebecca muttered, her voice brittle as glass.
"Yeah… I know," Nova said, his eyes unfocused, drifting to the flickering neon light outside. "But we’re still breathing. We keep moving."
He turned his gaze to Lucy, his expression sharpening. "You know what’s coming, Lucy. None of us are going to have a quiet night ever again."
"I know," she whispered. "I’ll find a way."
David leaned in, his brows furrowing. "Find a way for what? What are you talking about?"
Nova locked eyes with Lucy, forcing the moment. "You need to tell him, Lucy. Eventually. You can't keep him in the dark while the walls are closing in."
Lucy looked like she was being torn apart from the inside. She knew David—he was a hurricane of devotion. He’d burn the whole world down, tear out his own chrome, or walk into a fire if he thought it would buy her an extra hour of peace. She didn't want him to pay that price.
Meanwhile, on the desolate asphalt skirting the edge of Night City, the roar of an engine cut through the silence. A motorcycle tore down the highway, tires screaming against the cracked, oil-stained road.
Incoming call: Faraday.
Kiwi skidded to a halt, the bike fishtailing before coming to a stop. Her eyes narrowed as she accepted the link. "What do you want? I thought we had a deal, Faraday."
"We do, we do. Don't take it the wrong way," Faraday’s voice purred, smooth as oil. "Something just crossed my desk that caught my eye. Tell me… how much do you know about this ‘Nova’?"
Kiwi’s breath hitched, but her face remained a mask of practiced indifference. "What are you talking about?"
"My unit just recovered a… little toy. And the reports keep mentioning this Nova. Seems like he’s not exactly ‘factory standard.’ Ring a bell?"
"No idea, not a single piece of info" Kiwi said, her voice cold. "I don’t know him, just a brat that appear out of nowhere, and I don't give a shit. I’m sticking to the deal—I’m getting out of this shithole city. Leave me be."
"Oh, come now," Faraday chuckled. "I just thought perhaps a… larger payout might pique your interest. Enough to live out your days in the sun without looking over your shoulder. You only have to do one thing for me."
Kiwi sat on her bike, the wind whipping her hair. She could walk away right now. She could be free, living a quiet, humble life in the middle of nowhere. But... the credits, the safety that those eddies could bring... it tugged at her.
She exhaled, the greed winning out over the caution. "What do you want?"
"Dig into Nova, and the whereabouts of Martienz. Easy right?