"Arasaka Retrieval Units approaching from three o'clock!"
"Good—let them taste Militech firepower!"
The two convoys collided.
Engines roared, steel slammed, bullets rained, cannons thundered.
"Hahahahaha!"
Meredith Stout laughed wildly.
"FUCKING GLORIOUS!"
"Intercept squad ahead, two kilometers!"
"Send in the Basilisk—blow their asses open!"
The Militech convoy shifted formation, splitting left and right.
A heavily armed maglev armored carrier rumbled to the front.
It was old—ten-year tech, a relic by today's standards—
but as a true military-grade vehicle, its firepower made private security look like toys.
Even if that security happened to be Arasaka.
Corpo vs corpo.
Army vs army.
Anything less was just meat for the grinder.
"Whoooosh!"
Twenty-six ground-to-ground missiles streaked out—
Arasaka's intercept unit was erased in seconds.
Militech crushed burning wrecks as they tore westward—
a pack of steel demons bursting straight from hell.
They slaughtered their way from the Badlands to Heywood's Vista del Rey,
through Santo Domingo's Arroyo,
past Coronado Farms,
across Charter Hill in Westbrook—
one step more, and they'd reach Corporate Plaza.
Reach Arasaka Tower.
Night City descended into chaos.
Civilians hid shaking in their homes.
Gangs looted and burned everything in sight.
Fixers panicked, thinking Militech had declared war on Arasaka—
that the Fifth Corporate War had begun.
News AVs swarmed the sky.
WNS.
54 News.
Everyone wanted a piece.
"Ma'am, should we shoot them down?"
Before Meredith could answer, V spoke.
"No. They want the truth?
Then let them have the truth."
V's eyes flashed blue.
Every news network in Night City crashed—
replaced by the full disclosure of Abernathy's crimes.
Every file airtight.
Including her deals with Anthony.
Including the still-burning "Memorial Park Massacre."
Only now did the public learn the truth:
the massacre was nothing but a side effect of a failed assassination.
V's face appeared on every holo-screen in Night City.
She removed her mask.
Her real face filled the city.
And she spoke.
**"I am V, Deputy Director of Arasaka Counterintelligence.
Abernathy tried to kill me.
I lived.
So I started this war.
This is personal vengeance.
I'm not calling myself righteous—
I'm just returning what she gave me.
If she comes to kill me,
I'll go to kill her.
Anyone who supports me—back off. I won't harm you.
Anyone who opposes me—come.
I'll tear you apart screaming.
If gangs block me, I'll wipe gangs out.
If a corporation blocks me, I'll crush a corporation.
If the whole city blocks me—
then I'll burn this city to ash."**
She leaned closer, eyes cold as winter steel.
"Abernathy.
You're fucking dead.
Wash your neck and wait for me."
Night City exploded.
People had seen arrogance before—
but never arrogance like this.
Dislike?
No—
worship.
This was Night City.
If someone screws you—
you screw them back twice as hard.
V just made it spectacular.
Ordinary citizens finally breathed.
They watched anxiously, quietly cheering V on.
Gangsters and mercs were ecstatic—
this was their creed:
pay blood with blood.
V's declaration hit their G-spot so precisely
they grabbed weapons, jumped in their rides,
and rode out to support her—
voluntarily, exuberantly.
News AVs caught everything:
Militech rushing toward Corporate Plaza—
while countless lights gathered behind them like fireflies forming a tsunami.
Impossible.
Unreal.
Magnificent.
Maelstrom.
Scavs.
Tyger Claws.
The Mox.
Valentinos.
Afterlife mercs.
Badlands mercs.
Famous.
Unknown.
All of them came.
Good?
Evil?
Doesn't matter.
As V said—
pure revenge.
Against Abernathy.
Against Arasaka.
Personal grudges blurred—
class conflict came roaring to the surface.
Hearts suppressed too long—
like corpses compressed into oil beneath the earth.
V struck a spark—
and Night City ignited.
"Deputy V! The news feeds are going nuclear—HOLY SHIT!"
"Forward, Deputy V! We'll handle the rear!"
"Deputy V! Tear the city apart if you have to!"
Gangs and mercs charged Arasaka's Retrieval Units.
They would die fast—
but more and more kept coming,
like a raging tide.
"Everyone's gone fucking insane!"
Even hardened Meredith Stout trembled—
not in fear,
but awe.
This was a new kind of power—
raw, explosive, unprecedented.
V was making a new page in history.
Then—
V made a call.
"What are you doing?" Meredith demanded.
"Calling reinforcements."
"More?!"
"This is nothing," V said firmly.
"Abernathy won't just sit and wait.
To beat a corporation, this isn't nearly enough."
At Arasaka Tower, 66th floor, Abernathy's face was black as tar.
"V… you little bitch…"
Her subordinates reported nonstop:
"Militech convoy approaching full speed!"
"Retrieval Unit Squad One wiped out—Squad Two heavily damaged!"
"Counterintel Division has defected to V's side, along with Administration, Logistics, and Business—they control floors 1–22!"
"R&D and Finance and sixteen other departments declared neutrality—claiming to avoid internal losses."
Abernathy snapped:
"The Security Division?!"
"Director is deceased.
Deputy Director hasn't declared a stance—seems to be withdrawing his forces."
"All departments have abandoned us," her aide whispered.
"We're… isolated."
"Cowardly BACKSTABBERS!"
She had devoured departments ruthlessly for years—
now the backlash came.
Grinding her teeth, she made a flurry of calls—
offering wealth and power—
and finally got reinforcements.
"V! You think your street rats can defeat me?
I'll show you what elites look like!"
Militech advanced.
Arasaka hung back—neither firing nor pursuing—
making their stance clear.
Meredith understood.
They weren't going to risk themselves for Abernathy.
She ordered ceasefire.
The path seemed clear—
Then radar screamed.
"Oncoming missile barrage—Kang Tao! It's—"
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Explosions ripped through the convoy's right flank—
like a monster had bitten a chunk out of their formation.
"FUCK!" Meredith stared at the orange-ranked mechanized army approaching.
Kang Tao.
Perfect formation.
Perfect timing.
Perfect mechanization.
A true nationalized megacorp.
The only "country-backed" corporation left in the world.
To anger Kang Tao…
was to anger the nation behind it.
Not the hollow modern states—
but the old ones.
Ancient. Unified.
Unbreakable.
Meredith admired them—
and feared them.
"Abernathy called them?" V asked.
"Almost certainly—she's got a Kang Tao boyfriend."
"Hah—her pussy must be gold-plated," Meredith spat.
V chuckled.
"I doubt that."
Meredith glared.
"You're still laughing?!
I'm telling you now—I'm not fighting Kang Tao head-on.
If we lose more than 20%, I'm out."
"Don't be so negative."
V pointed west.
"We have reinforcements too."
"Wh—?"
"Remember the call I made?
Here they come."
Another force arrived—from nine o'clock.
Vehicles marked with leaf insignias.
Biotechnica.
Compared to Kang Tao, they were messy—
but their soldiers were giants, muscles carved and enhanced.
Biotechnica—the masters of gene-editing, synthetic food lines, and the creator of Ethanol-2 fuel that killed fossil energy.
Their gene-mod super-soldiers had never lost a battle with equal numbers.
Not once.
Joanne Koch appeared on comms.
"Sorry, slowpoke scientists needed forty minutes for approval.
V, you're not mad, right?"
"Of course not."
V smiled.
"I'm glad you came. I owe you."
"Please, no need for that between us.
V—Kang Tao is mine. You keep moving."
"Then I leave it to you."
Militech pressed forward.
Kang Tao and Biotechnica faced off—north vs south,
a razor-thin line between war and restraint.
Kang Tao looked ready to fire—
until Joanne scoffed and switched to global comms:
"Really? All this for your girlfriend?
We're both just here to poke the fire for our bosses—collect favors with zero risk.
Arasaka's burning; everyone hates them.
But if you let the fire jump onto yourself—
your boss will skin you alive.
Think carefully before you embarrass your command."
Kang Tao answered with silence—
then quietly shifted into full defense.
Joanne smirked.
"That's better."
Abernathy then called ZetaTech—
her husband's company.
Meredith didn't wait.
She charged them instantly.
"I've got this. You go."
She jumped into another vehicle.
Then, looking back—
"Don't you dare die."
"I won't."
V took the wheel.
In the cargo bed behind her, David was fully armored—Gorilla Arms locked, Sandevistan primed, nerves steady.
They passed the last corner—
and the world opened.
Enormous holographic koi swam through the plaza air.
Corporate Plaza.
Arasaka Tower.
From here it started—
and here it would end.
Poetic.
Police sirens blared.
NCPD cruisers formed a blockade.
Overhead, an AV swooped in—
armed to the teeth.
Only one branch of NC police had AV authorization:
MAX-TAC.
Psycho Squad.
"Masked Lady—
I mean, Deputy V," David asked.
"Do you need me to fight?"
"Not yet," V replied.
"Save your strength."
She stepped out of the vehicle.
NCPD officers pointed guns, shaking.
"DROP YOUR WEAPON! You're under arrest for endangering public safety!"
"I said—this is personal between me and Abernathy."
V saw the fear in their eyes.
These were salarymen making five hundred eddies a month.
"Leave.
You're not paid enough for a corpo war."
The lead officer hesitated,
looked at his squad,
and they silently agreed to withdraw—
But the MAX-TAC AV slammed down.
Five operatives jumped out:
An Assault specialist.
A Heavy Gunner.
A Sniper.
A Mantis Blade operative.
And a Netwatch-tier Netrunner.
"You're the bitch causing trouble?"
The Heavy Gunner stomped forward.
"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"
V smiled.
It did not reach her eyes.
FZZT.
A spark burst from his skull.
"She's hacking our systems!" the Netrunner warned—
launching counterintrusion.
But his defenses shattered instantly—
as if made of wet paper—
under V's monstrous processing power.
The Assault specialist raised his Militech VST-37 Lexington—
BOOM—
the gun exploded in his hand.
[Weapon Glitch]
The Sniper aimed his Tsunami Nekomata—
and his vision went black.
He fired into the sky.
[Reboot Optics]
The Mantis operative deployed her blades—
ZZZZT—
sparks erupted from all limbs.
Blades retracted.
Legs failed.
She faceplanted.
[Cyberware Malfunction] + [Movement Lock]
V's glowing eyes fell upon the MAX-TAC netrunner.
He lasted one second before collapsing, spasming violently.
[System Collapse]
"You—YOU FUCKING—"
The Heavy Gunner staggered up—
V looked at him.
Just looked.
He froze—
as his body moved without his consent.
He stood at attention.
Reached for a grenade.
Pulled the pin.
Shoved it into his own mouth.
"Mmm—mmMM—!!"
BOOM.
His head ceased to exist.
[Forced Suicide] + [Detonate Grenade]
"You… you killed a MAX-TAC operator…" a trembling NCPD officer whispered.
"I said—
anyone who blocks my revenge dies.
Tell Night Corp if they interfere again,
I'll dig up Richard Night's ashes
and piss on them."
V wiped blood from her cheek.
"Now.
Do you finally understand who the fuck I am?"
MAX-TAC and NCPD retreated immediately—
leaving one headless corpse behind.
"David," V called.
"Let's go.
Time for real work."
"Yes."
Together—
they entered Arasaka Tower.