An Engineer in Night City - ch 12.1

Initial Battles (1)

Trauma Team Emergency Hospital corridors are silent and sterile, carefully maintained to help treat the VIP patients under the premiere healthcare and insurance company in Night City. Despite the tension growing outside the hospital walls, the patients can expect the highest level of security in the city, save for Arasaka Tower, Militech Headquarters, and perhaps MaxTac HQ.

On this island of serenity, a tense Engineer sends an emergency notification to all employees of Wube Inc. in Night City or outside. After confirming the Behemoth protocols are activated, he releases a deep breath to force himself to relax and act with a cool head.

“We have to leave,” Mark calls out to everyone, “David, I need you to sign the release papers of your mother so we can move her to Pacifica.”

Mark's remark catches the young man off guard, “What? Are they going to target even Mom? In the hospital?”

“It’s likely,” Mark turns to the nearby doctor, “How much to prepare a home doctor to take care of her, for at least thirty days, starting right now? Money isn’t an issue.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Henderson," the corporate doctor answers, "your credit score with our organization is excellent, we will move Miss Martinez at once.”

“Talk about efficient work,” Lucy mutters, “what we should do in the meantime?”

“Lucy, use the secure connection to reach out to our people," Mark instructs her, "and secure what assets you can. Also, make sure to stay alert. The moment we leave this place we will likely be attacked by Militech.”

Mark calls Maine and his crew while the rest of the group prepares to move Gloria Martinez, “Maine, I need you to come to the Trauma Team Emergency Hospital and help escort us back to base.”

“On it," the Edgerunner quickly replies, "What happened, Mark? I suddenly received a lot of red alerts on my Wube Inc.'s communication channel.”

Mark replies with an even tone, “NUSA and Mlitech declared war on Wube, and their starting attack was trying to drop an asteroid at Night City.”

“What?" The Engineer winces at the yell, "You’re joking! Please tell me you’re joking! That’s like a second try at the Unification Wars combined with another Corporate War!”

Sadly, Mark wishes he was joking, “That just means they consider us that much of a threat.”

“Alright, give us twenty minutes, no, make it ten," Maine corrects himself, "Give us ten minutes and we will be there.”

“Good, call me if something happens to delay you.” Relieved, Mark sighs when the call ends.

“We’re done!” David comes back with his mother in a stretcher, an accompanying doctor, and a pair of armored escorts, “those two will help defend my mom, but we can’t rely on them to help us shoot down whoever comes after us.”

Nodding, Mark motions for everyone to follow the doctors, “Good enough. Everyone, let’s go!”

Miguel approaches his friend with bad news before the group reaches the elevator, “Mark, my Niece isn’t back in Pacifica yet, she was visiting a friend in Watson! What do we do?”

Cursing, Mark stops before entering the elevator, “How is your combat kit? Are you fully stocked?”

“Always.”

Closing his eyes, Mark opens them with determination, “Then go through the back door and find your niece. You know Night City better than me and can navigate the streets faster.”

The older man's tension leaves his body, “Got it! I will inform you if I see something suspicious from Militech outside.”

Mark raises his fist to the first friend he made on Night City and they fist-pump. “Good luck, don’t die on me, alright?”

Miguel gives a pearly grin before rushing towards his Niece through the backdoor.

As the former Spec Ops leave, Mark and his group face a new challenge outside the hospital.

Mark takes point in case of an ambush by Militech, and his foresight pays off in unexpected ways.

Outside the hospital, several police cars from the NCPD surround the hospital entrance, thwarting the group from leaving. One of the senior officers points her gun at the group, “Surrender yourselves! You are currently harboring a dangerous criminal! Lay down your weapons and you will be granted a fair trial!”

Without wasting time Mark unleashes his construction robots, raising several walls to protect the group from the NCPD. The police don't waste time unloading their weapons, “They shot us! Open fire!”

Mark glanced at his group but nobody was firing at the police, “Did anybody shoo back?”

Before anyone answered, several aircars arrived and hovered atop them. The officers open fire from the vehicle, forcing Mark's group to take cover. David jumps over his mother to shield her from the bullets, cursing at the pigs shooting at an injured person.

Cursing, Mark brings out his submachine gun and returns fire, “Are you alright, David?”

“I will live!” He yells back with a muffled voice, thanks to the Power Armor he hears.

Mark sends his swarm of robots to completely clean up the street of cars and other distractions, turning the area almost empty before a walled-off instant fortress takes place and obstructs the nearby traffic, if the police haven’t already cordoned the nearby area.

More AVs fly over the area, some close enough to allow the NCPD SWAT team, the MaxTac, to drop into the action. They brought shields in preparation to fight against Mark's gun turrets.

Unfortunately for them, Mark’s new equipment automatically assessed the threat, deploying the Defender and the Distractor Capsule drones through the Automatic Ordinance Dispenser, an originally coded Module that will automatically deploy drones or throw grenades during combat from a shoulder-attached gun. 

“Thank you, Doom Eternal”, Mark mutters while the drones proceed to perform their deadly purpose. The Defender Capsules saturate the area with armor-piercing rounds, and the Distractor Capsules fire a light show of lasers that catches the MaxTac officers off guard.

Switching to his rocket launcher, Mark shoots down the AVs before they arrive at the scene, yet despite this show of force more and more teams arrive.

Amidst the chaos as the crew fights back against the police and MaxTac, Mark takes his agent and calls for the Mayor. “I know you are listening you fat fuck, get in the line, now!”

When the Mayor appears on the other side of the screen, he is sweating profusely. “Ah, Mr. Henderson, what can Night City Mayor's office do for you tonight?”

His patience reaches the tipping point, and Mark isn't willing to deal with corporate spake anymore, “Don’t give me that bullshit, Rhyne! I can accept the NCPD trying to apprehend us, but are you throwing the entire MaxTac force at my ass right after NUSA declares war on Wube? Is that how you plan to run this?”

The Mayor and veteran of the hardships of the Time of Red remains calm under the Engineer's anger, “I suppose it looks like I am supporting NUSA’s takeover, right? I assure you, Mr. Henderson, that Night City is a Free City that fought tooth and nail to remain independent, and it isn’t going to be now that we will bow to the yoke of those fascists!”

“How the fuck do you explain this, then?” Mark says while his shield flares as it absorbs the MaxTac officers' return fire before the Engineer throws back a grenade at them.

Lucius explains with a career politician's patience, “While Night City isn’t the lapdog of NUSA, we must take all accusations of cyberpsycho rampages seriously, thus we are sending our teams towards the suspected incident area. However,” Lucius Rhyne's tone lowers as it gains a dangerous undertone, “Night City police department and their elite aren’t the corporations' lapdogs, but if certain Special Interest Groups wish to volunteer themselves as the vanguards of this travesty against our freedoms and rights as 'citizens of NUSA', then who am I to deny them the opportunity?”

Mark blinks as he realizes the Mayor's game, “You cheeky little shit! I would vote for you if my electoral college were in Night City.”

The remark earns a rare smile from the Mayor, “I will take that as a glowing endorsement, Mr. Henderson. Now, if there isn’t anything else I won’t take any more of your time.”

Mark returns fire from his cover before answering Lucius, “Yeah, stay safe. I doubt Militech forgot what you did during the Time of Red.”

“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Henderson, but this isn’t my first dance,” the overweight man smirks before closing the channel.

After receiving tacit approval from the Mayor, Mark goes on the offensive. He places an array of gun turrets in the perimeter set to target any AVs near their airspace, MaxTac officers, and NCPD officers lingering nearby, creating a bloody exclusion zone.

The Distractor Capsules, while relatively weak compared with other weapons, deal enough damage to officers chipped with Sandvistans and other Speedware they can’t get close to the group, and the gun turrets act as an adequate point defense system against the enemy explosive ordinance.

“Maine, where are you? Are you close to the hospital?”

“Five more minutes!”

“Understood,” turning to the crew, Mark yells, “Our escort will arrive in five minutes, everyone, come closer!”

Without hesitation, Mark places a new Tank on the street, one of his vehicles, instead of the automated Tanks. “Load Gloria on the back while the rest sit on the turret controls!”

The group enters the deceptively spacious tank, with Gloria, the Doctor, and the two Trauma Team escorts sitting on the cargo bay while Lucy, Kiwi, and David each sit on the weapons control seat.

Mark watches on his Map View Maine and his Crew speed through the streets to arrive at his position in two minutes. Slowly, he reclaims all the defenses, starting with the gun turrets and the protective walls.

“The tank is tough and has energy shields, but shoot down anything that looks at us funny!”

“Did you say energy shields?” Lucy asks incredulously.

“That’s how my mom survived the assassination attempt,” David idly answers, focusing his anger and frustration on the enemies ahead of him, shooting them down with the tank auto-turrets.

As soon as David shoots down another AV, Maine’s crew arrives at the hospital.

“Need an escort service?” Maine yells at the group.

Giving the Edgerunner a thumbs up, Mark follows his escort back to Pacifica. 

…

Mark carefully drives the tank, trusting his copilots to shoot down any enemy or vehicle coming closer, though he keeps his robo port open in case something unexpected happens. With a shield rating of nearly fifteen hundred and the Tank's innate resistance, the group is safe from any ground-based vehicle, and the combination of their speed and various skyscrapers acting as cover prevents powerful aircraft from attacking them unless NUSA or Militech wishes to destroy the city in the process.

“Let’s hope that NUSA and Militech aren’t as crazy as they sound!”

Driving at over a hundred kilometers per hour, or sixty-two miles per hour, the tank doesn’t stop for anyone or anything, taking the correct street lane as a compromise to the vehicle's power and the urgency of the group.

“Chopper!” Maine yells from the messenger.

“David,” Mark asks the young man who switches positions with Kiwi, turning the turret towards the enemy aircraft.

Mark's chest swells with pride as he sees the young man carefully aim and hit the cannon shell straight into the attack helicopter, downing it with ease.

“Nova! I want one of these for Christmas!” Rebecca squeals on the channel, drawing a chuckle from the sullen young man. 

After the latest display of power, only a few gonks tried their hand at harassing the Tank and its escort, being either ignored or gunned down by Kiwi with the machine guns. Meanwhile, Lucy burned down barricades set up by the police to prevent them from returning to Pacifica.

Despite all those distractions, the group safely returns to their headquarters.

…

Once inside the safe zone, David gives the Trauma Team doctor and escort a guest keycard and shows them the infirmary where they can care for his mother.

Mark accompanies the crew because of his worry. He watches Gloria Martinez transfer into the bed while the medical monitoring equipment beeps despite being in a hurry.

Eventually, the doctor turns to the group, “She’s safe for now. As you already know, the famous Wube Inc. Medical Kit ensured her physical body was in peak condition. However, coma is a different matter. Despite the various medicinal advances, we still can’t reliably bring back someone from this state with certainty.”

Mark reaches for David, squeezing his shoulder. “But you can tell if she’s stable, right?”

“Certainly,” the doctor answers with professional pride, “Rest assured, David Martinez, while the subscription lasts, we will do everything in our power to bring your mother to the peak health condition.”

Sighing, Mark turns to the group, “Everyone, you all know what to do. I will be in the Factory checking the stock of supplies while you complete your tasks. David, you will protect the workers and support them.” 

Mark turns to the two women, “Lucy, Kiwi, please help coordinate the personnel and secure whatever assets you can, but prioritize your safety first. If retrieving an asset becomes risky, leave it there and get to the next target. Once you finish, ask David for the next objective. Got it?”

“Wait, why are you giving so many responsibilities to David during this emergency?” Lucy asks, and Mark notices the worry in the two women’s expressions, though Kiwi appears to realize it faster than the younger Netrunner.

“David is your second in command, isn’t he?” The older Netrunner points out with a higher tone than usual, “Are the rumors about David true?”

“I did hire David as my assistant, and I took him as my apprentice," the Engineer confirms Kiwi's suspicions in a roundabout way, "He has met and exceeded all my expectations,” Mark praises the young man with pride before he recomposes himself, “but David isn't there yet. Maybe after this incident, he will reach his potential, maybe not. Right now, he’s on the same level as Miguel.”

Mark can see the cogs turning on everyone's mind since Miguel is a deadly fighter with years of experience. He is the metaphorical “Spartan-I” as he receives every upgraded chrome, PA, and armor module produced by Mark, followed by Maine and his crew.

Narrowing his eyes, Mark places his hand on the young man's shoulders, “David, can I trust you to help while Miguel is away?”

He smirks, “No need to repeat yourself, choom, let’s show those assholes what it means to pick up a fight with us!”

Grinning, Mark extends his fist towards David, receiving a strong pump from the young man. Without exchanging further words, Mark goes to the Factory to check the stock.

Two thousand and forty-eight stacks of Uranium rounds magazines and five thousand and twenty stacks of Piercing rounds magazines in reserve, and each security officer already carries three stacks of ammo at all times. “Considering the enemy forces, we have enough ammo for a short-term campaign. Unfortunately, our manpower is still anemic compared with Militech, let alone the NUSA forces.”

Militech has an estimated six hundred thousand employees. Out of them, one hundred thousand are corporate troops. Typically, they only hire up to fifty percent of that number, with a maximum of eighty percent of that total.

“I should expect eighty-to-one odds at minimum, huh?" Mark grimaces at the challenge ahead, "Thankfully, everyone went through the Reach program because the sheer numbers would overwhelm us regardless of technological advantage.”

Locking his exoskeleton in place, Mark sinks his consciousness deep into the Map view, carefully analyzing the situation elsewhere, making sure that everyone carries code Behemoth correctly. If they did, they have a chance to survive this incident.

Post Chapter Notes

Sorry everyone, this chapter kicked my ass and I couldn't update yesterday. I found too late my outlines were over, and had to hurry to get them on time. The Nier: Revengeance chapter will be delayed to Wednesday.

While it's not a good excuse for staying behind schedule, please tell me if you liked today's chapter. I believe I found the sweet spot between wordcount, quality, and process for the individual chapter.