Never Fade Away (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners/Mass Effect) (Inspired Inventor)

[Acolyte]

also the geth have so much more processing power, like a semi built dyson swarm could out compute the entire galalxy.

 

[Ideas-Guy]

"Got some confirmation darlin's. The NUSA is heading to Europe to kill the bird's nestin' there, and I've heard tell they're gonna be striking out at Japan - hopefully they're plannin' on backing up the Steel Dragons and not taking them out too.

They ain't lackin' for targets after all - the Japanese government isn't hiding its allegiance anymore. Turians are running around Japan and using it a giant F.O.B. from which to launch reinforcements into China, Korea, Russia, and until recently the West Coast almost entirely unmolested, except of course for the Steel Dragons, who have been bombin' and sabotaging as much as they can. But try as they might, they ain't strong enough as yet to do much more than inconvenience the birds, especially with the government backing 'em. But plenty of folk there ain't happy to be branded traitors to humanity thanks to a few shitty old people and are joining up. Sadly, just as many if not more don't think they have a choice but to back the birds - either because they don't think we can win, because they don't think we'll let 'em live after, or because Arasaka's had such a long time to beat them into doing what they're told. One way or the other though, the NUSA is gonna shake things up over there…

To be honest with you darlin's, I'm more worried about what we humans are gonna be doing in the land of the rising sun than I am about the birds. We have L, so those gooses are cooked already, they just don't know it yet. But I don't rightly know what he'll do if things get nasty in Japan, or even if he'll do anything.

People are pissed. And history shows that when people get so fired up, they don't much discriminate on who exactly gets burned.

On that cheerful thought… here's Ring Of Fire by Johnny Cash."



~

"L… take them out," Kaiden said as soon as I delivered the news that I had a bead on Arasaka's location. "We have everything locked down on Earth. Smasher was only a problem because we didn't know about him- about them. David's in for repairs and we'll start picking them off when he's done. You handle Arasaka and make sure they can't throw more our way."

It was strange to get ordered around, but in this case, Kaiden and I were in agreement. "Are you planning another offensive?" I asked, finding myself torn. I didn't like the idea of not being there when there was a fight happening.

"The NUSA is planning one. They want to 'liberate' Europe and strike at Japan while they're at it," Kaiden confirmed and I could practically hear the air quotes. It was too early to tell if Myers was making good on her promises, but I saw the ambition in her actions. It was a lot harder to remove an army after it landed on your shores and liberated the lands from a foreign invader.

I doubted that the NUSA had what it took to conquer Europe, but I knew Myers wanted a return to the days where Europe was second in power to the USA. Especially when the countries of Europe were as weak as they had ever been.

"There's an offer on the table to join, and I think I'm going to take it. Can't speak for anyone else, but I don't want the Turians finding friends in our backyard when their reinforcements show up," Kaiden continued. "So, do what you do best, L. Kill them all, and kill them for good."

I closed my eyes, feeling a strong breeze wash over where I was standing on top of Arasaka Tower. The Swordfish was floating behind me, and I gazed off in the direction that all the others had traveled in. Then I let out a breath, "Don't get yourself killed," I told him.

Kaiden laughed, "I'm not the one I'm worried about." With that, he ended the call and I continued to gaze out in the direction he was in.

Then I turned away to find Becca leaning against the Swordfish, her arms crossed with her weapons of choice strapped to her. She offered a lopsided grin, "We doing this?"

"Yeah, we are. Saburo Arasaka dies today," I decided, determined to will the desire into being. I strode to the Swordfish, jumping inside with Becca getting in alongside me. She wouldn't let me run this mission solo, and I knew she was itching for some action. I felt a thrill of excitement run through me as the cockpit closed and the Swordfish hummed to life. Running through a quick systems check, the GN Drive fired to life, spewing orange particles that lifted the ship up.

Setting a course for Jupiter, my ship shot off into the sky. The Grav Drive wasn't required for in-system travel, though it would probably be faster. Still, at full throttle in a straight uninterrupted path, it wouldn't take more than an hour to reach Jupiter. The delay suited me perfectly as I brought up the map that Yorinobu had left behind. Over my shoulder, Becca peered at it.

"The eye of the storm, huh?" Becca noted as that was where the final point indicated. Either Yorinobu hadn't moved beyond that point, or the signal was interrupted by the storm on Jupiter.

"The Great Red Spot," I agreed. As far as rat holes to hide in, I had to admit, it wasn't a bad one. I didn't think Arasaka would be able to survive there -- the temperature was on average over two thousand degrees fahrenheit, the storm itself that had lasted centuries by this point and would last for centuries more, was beset by winds rushing at over five hundred miles an hour. Not to mention that the Red Spot was three times larger than Earth. It was a real needle in the haystack.

I wasn't entirely sure how they managed to survive in the perpetual storm. Just entering the storm should have been an insurmountable challenge for them, much less establishing themselves inside of it.

"Can we reach them?" Becca questioned and I nodded.

"It'll be a rough ride, but we can," I confirmed as the Swordfish left Earth's atmosphere and started to pick up speed. The thing that unsettled me the most was that Arasaka apparently had the same capability. Unless they had been majorly holding out on the world in terms of tech… their ability to survive in such extreme environments was a recent development.

My grip tightened on the controls as I grit my teeth. "We need to be cautious. I'm sure Arasaka has something up their sleeves to surprise us," I said, uncertain what that could be. V said that Arasaka had a functioning prototype of my ability but no control over what it got. But V wasn't exactly a reliable source of information, and I was forced to wonder if the project was a little further along than she had said. Or was aware of.

Becca thumped me on the shoulder, "L, we'll handle it. No matter what," she reassured me and my grip lessened on the controls as we steadily made our way to Jupiter. There was no Turian fleet to worry about, and there wouldn't be for some time, which left us free to make our approach. We sailed away from Earth, closing in on Mars, and before long we were beyond the red dusty planet.

I caught glimpses of the civilization on Mars as we went by -- the lights that managed to shine despite the distance. There were a handful of cites on Mars, and to my knowledge, all of them were owned by the super rich. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened to them since the invasion began… and I honestly didn't care to find out. Especially now, when I was so close to putting Saburo Arasaka down for good.

It was as we passed by Mars that we got a ping -- a signal bouncing off our systems. And, to my immense surprise, I recognized it.

"What's that beepin'?" Becca asked as I hesitated.

"An IFF," I answered, a friend tugging at my lips. "From V," I added, leaning back into my seat. I recognized the signal and I knew it belonged to her. We were still following her path past Mars, so she must have left it behind. The IFF came with security clearance and an encoded note.

'Dock 3. Stealth engaged.'

"That's a good thing right? You trust her?" Becca asked, content to leave it in my hands even as I heard Johnny snort in the back of my mind, making his opinion clear.

I couldn't help but snort myself. "Not a chance," I answered without a shred of hesitation. "V looks out for number one and number one alone. So… whether or not she's legit depends on whether she feels like I'm going to win. The IFF… it could slip us into the base."

"Or be a trap. Especially since she knows we're following her trail. Fucking corpos," Becca sighed and I found myself agreeing with her whole heartedly.

"Fucking corpos," I nodded. I was a little torn. V hadn't stolen one of my GN Drives, though I knew she had the opportunity to. She'd helped cover my tracks, and the tracks of the others. And she had made her stance pretty known back in the Afterlife -- that she was going to be on the winning side. She had helped me, but I couldn't bring myself to actually trust her to any meaningful degree.

But, I could trust her own self interest. By now, after everything, killing me wasn't a sure thing, even with the advantage of a trap. V was at a crossroads where she had to pick the side she thought was going to win.

Arasaka and the Council…

Or me.

"We'll give her an inch and see if she tries to take a mile," I decided, copying the code from the IFF to mimic its frequency. With that, I engaged stealth mode, my ship becoming invisible except for the orange particles in our wake.

We passed through the asteroid field, following along with the path that V had made, just in case she left anything else behind. She hadn't, and it felt like entirely too long and all too quickly that the Swordfish began to descend straight toward the Red Spot. I took in a slow breath, reducing our speed, as we were rapidly pulled into Jupiter's gravity well. The GN Particles established our own gravity, but the winds began to pick up even in the upper atmosphere.

"Here we go," I said, taking us lower into the Red Spot and instantly my sensors started going crazy. The temp gauge began to rise rapidly, the ship shuddering in the face of hundred mile winds that increased in speed the lower we went. Buthe Swordfish was holding itself together because of the extreme defenses that I had installed.

My vision went red across the board, the noxious red gas blinding my sensors and cameras. Becca reached up to squeeze my shoulder as I maintained the descent pattern that V had made. Even with all the Swordfish's defenses, I started getting hit with alerts due to the temperature as it tried to melt my ship's armor. It wouldn't manage it, but I had a suspicion that I would need to install a cooling system when I replaced the outermost layer.

Maintaining the descent path-

My eyes narrowed when I caught a glimpse of something through the racing harsh winds filled with molten slag that bounced off my shields and armor. Shifting ever so slightly, I didn't risk a full scan out of fear of alerting whatever it was… but I slowly crept forward and the shape of it began to clear.

Behind me, Becca let out a whistle as we looked upon Arasaka's secret base. It was a massive complex that appeared to be wreathed in fire, supported by four satellite buildings that seemed to keep it aloft. In terms of sheer size, it was the size of two megabuildings back in Night City, just laid out rather than up. I didn't see much in the way of structural weaknesses, beyond perhaps the satellite buildings that were arranged in a square formation, connected from beneath. I did, however, spy the docks -- massive bulkhead doors with the numbers between 1 and 13 etched into them.

"Just blow it the fuck up, L," I heard Johnny say as I pivoted to Dock 3. A ping hit my system, the IFF pinging back as friendly. I assumed. Either way, the large bulkhead doors began to creep open as the flickering fiery shield parted. A gravity well caught my ship, bringing me in and I allowed it, scoping out the interior as I considered simply pulling the trigger and blowing a hole in the base.

However, I held off when I saw that the docking bay was empty except for a single person. V.

I watched her as the doors closed behind us and I noticed that there was some kind of barrier that kept out the winds and slag until they did. The Swordfish touched down and I took a breath before popping open the cockpit. Instantly, my gaze went to V, who stood with her arms crossed -- my optics didn't detect anyone else in the room, but that was hardly proof that this wasn't a trap.

"You decided to trust me," V spoke up as Becca and I got out of the Swordfish, the spaceship becoming invisible once we were out.

"Was that a mistake?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow as I took off my aviators.

"No. Just surprised," V admitted with a small shrug as I came to a stop in front of her.

I pursed my lips, "You killed Yorinobu." It wasn't a question and V didn't deny it.

She nodded, "He asked me to. Orders were to bring him back dead if I couldn't manage it alive… and he had no intentions of coming back alive. I figured he had a bug on him or something, and he knew I would know and lead you to Arasaka's home away from home." V explained, and my lips thinned. I didn't like it.

V reached into her suit jacket and handed me a case. Flipping it open, I saw a face mask. "Put that on, and grab a uniform. They'll let you move through the base and, this," she said, flicking me a data packet, "Is security clearance. Highest level." I gave the packet a quick inspection and found nothing to hint that it was bugged in some way. That being said, it was entirely possible that using it would trip a security flag.

"Don't trust her, L. This shit has trap written all over it," Johnny voiced.

V looked to Becca, "I figured you were going to do this solo, so I didn't prepare an extra disguise. But… this works. I'm guessing you want to get the kids out before you blow this place to hell?" V questioned and my gaze snapped up from the vaguely translucent face mask to her.

The kids. The kids that Arasaka stole to create another me. Children that they killed by the thousands in the name of progress. "They're here?" I questioned, and that changed things. I assumed that Saburo would have spread things out in case I came looking, but if everything was here… his position had to be a lot less secure than I had anticipated.

V nodded, "There's a thousand left in total. They're deeper in the facility, but… with the right timing, we can probably get them out."

I looked to Becca to find that she was already nodding, "I can handle some brats. You go kill your arch-nemesis and Smasher again while you're at it," she said, reaching up to my sleeve, pulling me down to kiss me on the cheek. It was a small thing, but I felt the tension ease out of me ever so slightly as V blinked, faintly surprised by the display of affection.

I started to get undressed, and V spoke up when I grabbed the offered uniform. "L, something you need to know about Saburo… he's the kind of bastard that'll flip the board if he can't win. So, if he's not trying to… then you haven't." It was a vague warning but I nodded anyway, accepting it.

I got dressed in a rather uncomfortable suit that felt far too restrictive for my taste. However, when I put on the face mask, syncing it with my OS, my appearance changed entirely. The lightly tanned, vaguely ill looking face I had gotten used to seeing was replaced with a fair skinned red head that looked nothing like me. Actually, I vaguely looked like V.

"It's one of my spares for field work," V answered. "Militech is behind the curve, but their special ops has some goodies worth taking. Now, go kill my boss," V instructed and I glanced at Becca one last time to see her nodding in agreement.

"Fuck it. Let's kill him." Even Johnny agreed as I left the dock to find sterile hallways that reminded me entirely too much of the Orphanage. It was tempting to reach out to the systems of the base, just to see if I could hack into them to give myself a little assurance, but I didn't dare to. My Skeleton Key and Lock had improved, but I had no interest in testing them against the AIs that I knew lurked in the systems.

Which left me following a marked out path that V had provided me. There, I would either find a trap or Saburo. I was still in contact with Becca, so if she was attacked, I would know. She and V, provided that this wasn't a trap, would rescue the kids that were stolen from their homes and experimented on. Slaughtered for a prototype.

I clenched my jaw as I stalked through the halls, doors opening and closing for me as they seemed to ping off my access code. There were others in the halls, on occasions -- men and women walking with purpose. If it was a trap, then the rank and file didn't seem to be in on it. They didn't even give me a glance as I walked deeper into the facility.

It wasn't really set up like a military base, I noticed. There were security measures, sure, but nothing particularly heavy. Either they were confident in their hiding place, or they had something up their sleeves. Or both, I suppose.

The path led me to a final bulkhead door and when it opened, I was struck by a very different sight than the sterile walls -- dead center of the fortress was a park of some sort. In neat rows, cherry blossom trees grew along a path leading to a zen garden. The ceiling was an artificial sky, showing some slow drifting clouds and I heard the irritating tweeting of birds. Off to one side, near the zen garden, was a small pond that had fish in it. In short, it was a small sliver of paradise in hell.

I continued on, undaunted, my gaze landing on an old man sitting on a stone bench, gazing at the garden, looking…

Tired.

He leaned on a cane, gazing at the swirls drawn into the soft sand before him, seemingly unaware of my presence as I approached. At least until he spoke, "I see," Saburo uttered, more to himself than to me. "My son's death was more than a final act of spite. He led you to me… hm." It was a strange thing, but Saburo almost sounded proud.

I came to a stop, taking off the translucent mask and revealing my face. Saburo looked up at me with steady dark eyes, his expression blank. "Despite everything you did, you managed to turn your son into a great man."

"He was a fool, blind to the future. One that betrayed my trust more than once… but I was wrong about him. I thought he had no spine, and he used his death to deliver me mine," Saburo said, and… he accepted that too easily. V's warning was fresh in my mind. "Perhaps there was some of me in him after all."

My prosthetic hand shifted into a gun, leveling it at Saburo, who didn't balk. "You could have been great, Shepard-san," he said, a biting undercurrent to his words. "You alone had the power to shape humanity's future, yet you do nothing with it. You only destroy when you could create. That power… it should have belonged to me. I alone have the vision to raise humanity to its rightful place in the galaxy."

I clenched my jaw, "Spare me the melodram-" I said, getting ready to put him down then and there, but he continued.

"Earth does not have the capacity to stand against the Citadel. It would have taken a few centuries, but we would have escaped the Turian's grip. We could have infiltrated their alien society, catapulted ourselves to the level of their Council… instead, humanity shall forever live under the boot of the Council," he uttered darkly, an accusation in his voice.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. His eyes narrowed, his lips twisting into a frown because he didn't get it, so I told him. "You're full of shit and you're lying to yourself. You don't want to uplift humanity or anything like that -- you just want to be the boot rather than the Council," I told him bluntly. "It's about power. It's always been about power. If it's any consolation, the Council will be seeing you in hell soon enough."

A defiant glint entered Saburo's dark eyes, "I-"

I didn't have it in me to stomach any more. The barrels in my wrist flashed, blood red lasers striking him in the chest with physical force. Saburo made a noise of surprise before falling over the bench unceremoniously. Taking a step forward, I fired into him a dozen more times before a reaction happened and his body disintegrated into ash.

Saburo Arasaka was dead. And I felt…

It felt like the world should have changed. Like some great evil had been vanquished.

Instead, the only thing that happened was an alarm went off.

"Self destruct sequence initiated. All Arasaka personnel, please vacate to the nearest evacuation ship in an orderly fashion. Countdown to self destruction -- five minutes."

"Ahh… what a bastard," I muttered, giving the pile of ash and melted cybernetics a glance. My gaze lingered for a moment longer than it should have before I turned away from him.

"That felt a little too easy," Johnny remarked as I grabbed the GBM and primed it to .0001 of its output.

"If Smasher came back with the Relic, I'm sure Saburo has a ghost in a box with his name on it," I said, taking aim at the floor, down in the general direction of Becca. "I'll double tap just to make sure he's gone for good. Maybe make sure that Smasher is too while I'm at it," I said, pulling the trigger and my arm snapped back as the blood red beam tore through the floors like they were barely there. At least, initially.

The armor plating was thick, and with a wide surface, the beam packed a little less punch, but it was still enough to open up a direct path down to Becca and V. I took a step off the edge of the steaming red hole as I spoke, "We'll get the others out first, and double back for Saburo's ghost." I fell down the hole, dropping a good six hundred feet before my hoverboard popped out to catch my fall.

The calm calculated air of the base vanished as people panicked -- either because of the self destruction notice, or because I just shot through a bunch of floors. So, the panic was justified, really. Landing lightly on the ground, I pinged off of Becca's systems to find that she was behind a bulkhead door. Striding towards it, I saw-

My heart seized in my chest as an all too familiar sight greeted me. It was like I stepped foot in the Orphanage once more -- the layout was almost identical, and there was a sea of faces huddled up for safety across from V and Becca, both who seemed increasingly distressed that the kids weren't following them. My heart clenched painfully when I saw that the kids were young. Too young. The oldest looked to be eight.

I was almost glad that Saburo had a ghost to kill. I wanted the pleasure of killing him again.

I wetted my lips, striding forward and Becca only then noticed me. "L, they're scared. And they don't get that this place is about to be blown to hell-"

"Self destruction in T-minus four minutes."

Becca grimaced as the intercom spoke out. Time was ticking. I pursed my lips, my gaze searching the sea of faces and… how many times did I dream for something like this to happen when I was in their place? I was older when I started to dream. Old enough to realize that my friends were going to die. That I was going to die. That it was only a matter of time. So, I would dream of someone rescuing us. Freeing us from that place and whisking us away to a world we scarcely understood.

What would I have wanted that person to say?

I came to a stop before the cowering children, the oldest of them protecting the youngest, and I smiled. "No one is ever going to hurt any of you again. I promise," I swore, my gaze settling on the leader of the children. The eldest. Pale skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes.

His gaze flickered down to my offered hand, his eyes filled with distrust. So, even as the clock ticked down, I continued. "I was in your shoes once. I escaped a place a lot like this one -- doctors experimenting on me. My friends. And how some of them never came back. They stole my family from me. They stole my name too. But I got out and I'm going to make sure you get out-"

"You'll stop them?" The boy whispered, nearly lost in the blaring alarm and the cowering children he placed himself between. "All of them?"

I clenched my jaw and I nodded, "All of them."

"You'll save everyone?" He asked, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I nodded once more, "I'll save everyone."

The boy still hesitated, but his guard was dropping. "What's your name?" To that, I gave a wane smile.

"John. My name is John Shepard," I told him and the boy smiled ever so slightly.

"Zaeed Massani," Zaeed introduced himself with a smile, taking my hand.

"Let's get you all out of here, Zaeed."

...

We are closing in on the end of Never Fade Away -- about six chapters left with a sequel planned.

The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!

 

[feauxen]

Well I had to look up who exactly that was...but I'd say the Turians are now extra-fucked. Sheppard and Zaeed, along with everyone and everything else? They'll be lucky if Pavalen gets off half as easily as Earth did.

 

[Lambeard]

Fuck me, that's retro -- its a laptop," Johnny informed. "Weren't many of them, and implants made them pretty redundant, but they were basically a computer you had to lug around."

Click to shrink...

Just finished binging everything by this morning's update. I have a couple questions.
1. Why would anyone in 2077 need told what a laptop is? They're everywhere.
2. Is there a reason L isn't just heading to the next relay down the chain, GBMing it and getting the hell out, laughing all the way?


I'm enjoying a great deal of this story. Thanks Ideas-Guy . Hoping we get more Becca and Jack soon.

 

[Ideas-Guy]

"The situation in Japan has taken a dark turn, darlin's.

Some basic context first. The Japanese government is centered in Tokyo, specifically in one of its 'special wards' - parts of Tokyo that are basically cities in and of themselves - called Chiyoda. Right smack dab in the heart of the Megacity.

Two hours ago, Chiyoda City became the location of a major protest organized by a group called the… Heiwa no Michi, or 'Path of Peace'. An incredibly popular group who… well, they didn't fight, they were explicitly against that in fact, but they were also against their government siding with the birds, and let them know about it through peaceful protests. Or that was their plan at least.

As y'all can probably guess, things didn't go to plan. Turns out, peaceful protests don't work on monsters and sellouts.

The protesters were slaughtered. Gunned down by cops, soldiers and birds. Almost ten thousand people came to protest the Turians, and it's still unknown how many managed to escape.

And that's because what happened in Chiyoda was just the start. Whoever gave the order, they clearly weren't satisfied bringing the boot down on just the Chiyoda protesters, because almost as soon as the bullets started flying, the Turians, the JSDF, the NPA, and various corporate security forces started enforcing a brutal martial law on the entire damn country.

Thankfully, they ain't doing so uncontested.

The Steel Dragons have redoubled their efforts at bringing them down, waging a full-scale war against the government, the Corpos, and the aliens. Public support for the Steel Dragons is at an all time high, with recruits flooding in from not just the civilians but also from those with the government that still have a conscience. They're also being backed by a few Corpos who hate Arasaka, namely the 'Far Asian Co-prosperity Sphere', who were Arasaka's biggest local rival and political opponent for decades before the aliens came and helped Arasaka take over.

The whole situation is developing rapidly darlin's, but I'll keep you posted as the deets come in.

As for news on the homefront… L is on the move. His ship was seen flying out into space, and while people are offering plenty of theories on why, my gut tells me that he's finally found a lead on Saburo Arasaka, and is going to finish that old bastard and his entire fuckin' Megacorp off.

Hopefully for good this time.

In honor of this, here's a song that… ain't country. It was sent to me by a fella who thought it was on account of its music video having a cowboy in it, but it ain't like no country song I've ever listened to.

But it's fittin' for the mood I'm in.

Here's 'Judgment Day' by Five Finger Death Punch."



~

The tender moment was abruptly cut short with the announcement that the base had three minutes left until it self-destructed. Taking out my GBM, I pointed in the direction of the docking bay, and fired a single shot that carved a long line towards it. It was a dangerous method, but given that we were short on time, I didn't have a lot of options. Microbots began to pour out of my spine, creating platforms for the kids to climb onto with GN Drives giving them lift.

"I know it's sudden, but we have to go, kids," I called out, and even with Zaeed leading the way, which prompted some others, the base would still explode before we got half of them out. Feeling a flash of guilt, I used the GN Particles to start dumping kids onto the platforms, keeping them not quite in zero g, but close to it and sending them up towards the Swordfish. There, they would be shrunken down-

The terrible sound of screeching metal brought my attention to the bulkhead door. It came from something beyond it, but a second screech warned me that something was coming. Or, rather, someone. If you could still consider Adam Smasher a person. "Becca, get the kids out of here," I said, rolling my shoulders as every nerve ending felt a jolt of electricity, firing up in preparation for what I hoped would be my final round with Adam Smasher.

"W-what? L, this place is about to blow!" Becca protested, but I favored her a smile.

"I'll see you soon. Promise," I told her and there was a third sound of rent metal that frightened the children, making them scream and cry out as they didn't understand what was going on, only that it was frightening. I saw a myriad of expressions flicker over Becca's face in that moment -- anger, surprise, uncertainty, but the one that won out was resigned acceptance.

"I'm going to hold you to that, gonk-for-brains. So you better keep that promise!" Becca swore, and before I could reply, the metal bulkhead door was ripped apart as if it were made of tissue paper. The first thing I saw was a blade -- an odachi -- that was sheathed in biotic energy, tearing the metal apart with intense and swirling gravity. My Sandy fired, time slowing to a crawl as I caught a good look at Smasher's new outfit.

It was smaller than the others, I quickly noticed. Only about eight feet tall. It was bipedal, with a single set of arms. Humanoid. More than that, I recognized the style of armor the machine seemed to wear -- a wide finned helmet with a snarling oni mask with fanged teeth, flat plates on its shoulders, and an armored skirt that hung to its knees. It wasn't a one for one, but it was as close to a samurai as one could get without sacrificing efficiency.

My knees bent before I popped a vibroblade out of my prosthetic arm, the GN Drive spiraling to life, pumping out enough particles to swirl around me and my blade to cut through the violent gravity wells, so we could clash in the middle. A high pitched whine filled the room, so high that I wasn't certain that normal hearing could detect it, but it sounded like nails on a chalkboard sped up times a hundred.

Despite the considerable size difference, I managed to stop him cold, though it was only with the help of the GN Particles. My jaw clenched as I gazed into the blood red eyes of the machine, watching out of the corners of my eyes as the room seemed to be crumbling inward towards our two opposing gravity wells. It was different from the ones I faced before, and I couldn't say that I liked it.

"Shepard-san," The machine greeted me, and it took all of my self restraint to not blink in surprise.

"Knew it was too easy," Johnny groused.

"Saburo," I returned, pushing back against the hulking metal beast. Saburo allowed it, falling back towards the hole he ripped through. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that my vibroblade suffered the worst of that exchange, but as time resumed, the kids were quickly restored out of the building towards the Swordfish. Becca and V alongside them. "I figured you were another Smasher."

To that, Saburo chuckled darkly. It was a strange sound coming from the hulking body. Unlike him, almost. No. Not unlike him. Every time we encountered one another, Saburo had been wearing a mask of a kindly but stern old man that was willing to entertain me. That mask had finally dropped and I was getting my first peek at who laid beneath it. "My Oni is here, with me. A sub program to a greater whole," Saburo boasted and…

"So I get to kill the both of you at once? Nice," I said, considering my options. I didn't like how he was using his biotics. It was new. And I was all too aware of the fact that they had a working prototype of me, however briefly. "I don't suppose I'm dealing with the only copies of you. You've been a pain in my ass as it is -- if I have to kill you a dozen times over across the solar system, I'm going to be pissed."

Smasher was an AI. I knew that already. Hearing that he didn't have the reins in the body was surprising, but that didn't mean I could underestimate Saburo. If I had to guess what subprogram Smasher was in particular, I'm guessing it was offensive and defensive operations. Saburo would have all of Smasher's skulls as a fighter, just without handing him the wheel.

"I don't believe that it matters, Shepard-san. For all intents and purposes, you shall die today," Saburo swore, and I heard glee in his voice. The intoxication.

"All intents and purposes?" I echoed, tilting my head, willing to talk to buy enough time to make sure that Becca and the others got out. I got a ping that they were loading up on the Swordfish.

"Your brain is too valuable to dispose of. That, I will keep. Perhaps I will allow you to live on in a Relic, so that you can see the future I shall create. What I can achieve, with this power of innovation!"

"Self-destruction imminent. T-minus two minutes. Please evacuate the premises."

"Want my brain? Come fucking take it," I said, flipping him the bird with a smile that was all teeth. My synapses fired a fraction of a second later as Saburo darted forward and our blades crashed again. This one was different, I quickly realized, when the purple energy began to slide forward in a projected slash. Pivoting, I leaned out of the way as the purple energy sailed forward, pulling the room into itself, and after it as it tore through the walls, going through them like a cannonball through paper.

My hand shifted, the GBM emerging from my wrist, and I dialed up the power. Taking aim at Saburo's chest, I fired a shot. The shoulder plates glowed purple, a barrier emerging that the blood red beam struck against. Saburo was sent flying back, but the biotic shield managed to divert the path of the beam, as much as it deflected him out of the way. Saburo crashed through a ceiling and a wall and I was quick to jump in after him.

A mistake, I realized in hindsight when the GBM struck the outermost layer of the base, exposing the line that the beam had cut through it to the atmosphere of Jupiter. The very first thing I felt was heat. It was a sudden flash of it, going from a temperature controlled seventy degrees to a boiling hot followed with a blast of air that sent me careening into a wall. I landed on my feet, the sweat on my skin evaporating instantly while my prosthetic started to heat up.

Even a quick blast of Jupiter's atmosphere was utterly unbearable. Something that Saburo didn't let slip by him as he went on the attack while I fired off microbots to the hole that I had opened up with a bubbleshield attuned to keep the winds and heat out. Already, the room was sweltering, the metal sweating, and every breath felt like it was scorching my lungs.

I found myself on the defensive as Saburo went on the attack, jabbing at me with lightning quick thrusts as I beat a hasty retreat. In a second, we clashed a dozen times, and in three, we clashed two dozen more. The metallic halls and doors offered little resistance to either of our weapons, and I easily gave up ground to get away from the heat. It was moments like these that I really regretted not putting myself in that metal body. Being ninety-six percent chrome and steel would be pretty convenient right now.

I blocked a blow, finding myself being knocked back down a hallway. Flipping through the air, I landed on my feet, skidding to a halt as Saburo slowly approached, his blade cutting through the ground like butter. Time sped up, but I didn't take my foot off of the brakes. "So much power. So much potential. Yet you waste it. You should have bent the knee. You should have accepted your place. I remade the world without you, and with you, I shall remake the universe!"

"Fuck me. Are you really going to start monologuing?" I asked, finding myself exasperated. Saburo sounded drunk on power and his own hype. A dissonance, I figured, between having a body of steel and one of flesh and blood. The brain regulated emotions with chemicals and hormones.

Saburo hadn't adapted to that. Or, perhaps, the Relic technology had one final flaw in it.

His self control was slipping. I could use that.

"It is not your fault, not truly," Saburo continued, shifting his blade up as I got the message from the Swordfish that it had left the building. Taking a moment, I sent out cluster bombs from it remotely to fill the air with GN Particles. Just in case Saburo was buying time for himself… and based on the momentary flash of hesitation I saw from him, I was right on the mark.

Five minutes was a little excessive for self destruction. You only really needed three to evacuate based on what I saw. Four was for a margin of error. Five minutes? That was because you were doing something that couldn't go any faster. Such as sending data somewhere.

However, he recovered and continued. "It is a failing of your people. Your culture. Had you escaped in Japan, raised amongst our way and our people, you would be more than what you are. You would understand my vision and you would gladly offer yourself to complete it."

I could feel the disgust rolling off of Johnny in waves, but he didn't dare speak as I got ready for another bout. The GN Drive in my arm spun to life, ready to handle the-

Green?

My attention slipped for a fraction of a second as I saw intermittent green particles in the orange that I had learned to expect. There were only a few of them, and they faded fast with no more coming, but it was an alarming change. But Saburo didn't leave me any more time to think, closing in with a wide slash that I had to lean out of the way of, taking a step back before lunging at his wrist, only to catch him where his armor was thick. At the same time, my OS flared to life, doing a systems check on my arm to make sure it wasn't broken.

Saburo was moving slower. Deliberately. Mockingly. And as he did, he spoke. "Megastructures. FTL speeds. Mass fabrication. Limitless energy. The completion of transhumanism. The Japanese Empire shall re-emerge and with it, all of Earth will be crafted in its image. As it should have been." There was a frantic, dangerous edge in his words. A mania that I had never heard from him before.

My system check came back and I barely had time to be puzzled by the results. There was a spike in energy output. A thirty percent spike. Nothing in the hardware changed, but…

Ah.

So that's what I was missing.

I threw myself back, letting myself get carried in the gravitational pull of one of his slashes to put some distance between us. The GBM emerged once more, and I took a shot. Saburo raced forward to meet me, his blade aimed for my heart, and it first struck the blood red beam. It spilled outward around the point of the blade, but Saburo was still being pushed back.

"The world isn't yours to shape. It's not yours to rule or conquer. Sure as fuck isn't mine either," I yelled, bracing myself for a load of pain as the GBM punched a hole through the base. Searing hot winds howled as they flowed into the hallway, the gravity to the base flickering. My body felt heavier, denser, and I was really, really, really regretting not going full borg.

Saburo tossed his broken blade away, his armor glowing a white orange from where the GBM made contact. My prosthetic started to spit out a sputtering of green GN Particles, and I watched as the energy output climbed higher and higher. And that was without an optimized rig. With every passing second, more green particles spewed forth and despite the searing hot air, I breathed in deeply.

"Self-destruction imminent. T-minus one minute. Please evacuate the premises."

"How naive. The world has never been for the people by the people. It has always been guided and shaped by men of vision. Men such as me," Saburo replied, his hand going for a wakizashi that emerged from his hip.

"I think the world has had enough of men like you," I said, preparing myself for what came next. The terrain wasn't in my favor. Saburo knew what I could do and had circumvented how I killed Smasher last time. And, with a body of flesh, bone, and blood, he was going to outlast me. The whole place blowing up in less than a minute didn't exactly help things either.

What I needed to do was to create an opening.

Saburo adopted a traditional sword stance -- both hands on the blade, arms up and angled for downward thrust at me. I adopted my own stance, steam wafting over me as the hallway grew increasingly unbearable. He approached slowly, each step measured…

Then he moved in a blur. And I met him in the middle. His blade darted down, and mine met his, with the tip of his striking the weak point in mine. I reacted instantly, positioning my prosthetic in the way to catch the wakizashi at the crossguard with my forearm, sparks dancing as I jerked it out of the way enough to stop it from skewering me anyway.

Saburo heaved up, yanking me into the air, with a triumphant laugh. "Perhaps my Oni had a point. The human body is weak," he said, lifting me up so I was even with his glowing red eyes and snarling mask.

"No. Just you are," I said, planting my feet against his chest and kicking off of him. My arm detached at the elbow, letting me flip back as the microbots from my spine poured out. Saburo lunged for me, only for his hands to strike a bubbleshield as he moved too quickly. "See ya' in hell," I said, flicking him the bird one final time, the microbots curling around me like a protective cocoon.

It was then that Saburo realized his mistake, dropping the prosthetic arm, but by that time it was already far too late. The GN Particles reduced my weight to nothing, and the high speed winds carried me off toward the hole that I had shot out of the base. Just as my discarded arm began to detonate, a singularity pulling the surrounding metal into itself, and Saburo was quickly caught in it. His arm vanished, his leg was being pulled up, light seemed to bend as his torso was as well. It wouldn't destroy him, I was fairly certain.

But, the self-destruction of his base would.

Microbots flowed over my body and a second later, I found myself whisked away outside of the base and flung into the heart of the storm. The fabricator in my spine churned out microbots as the outermost layer of the cocoon melted together. I felt the full brunt of the five-hundred mile-an-hour winds, tossed every which way on the gas giant. The ensuing explosion from the Arasaka base didn't exactly help things and the cocoon rocked dangerously.

"He's dead?" Johnny asked me as I cannibalized whatever store of materials I had on my body to produce more microbots.

"He's dead," I agreed. "Gone with the last scraps of his company," I said, a savage smile appearing on my face as the microbots began to shift and surge around me. A GN Drive. I had to make a GN Drive to get me out of the storm, and back to Becca. I did make a promise, after all.

It was easier said than done, I found as the harsh gravity and extreme weather fractured and damaged the microbots. Just to survive, I had to fill the cocoon with GN Particles, subverting Jupiter's natural gravity that was so intense that my heart wouldn't even be able to pump blood into my brain. My vision became filled with green particles as I worked on reconstructing the GN Drive to harness the power… the…

"L… Do you… feel that?" I heard Johnny ask me as my eyelids fluttered, my brain seemingly pulse and I…

I became aware.

"S- somethings wronghh…" I slurred, feeling myself go light headed. I wasn't sure how to describe it, even if I tried, I don't think I could come up with anything close. It felt like a puzzle piece in my brain had suddenly clicked into place, a piece that I hadn't been aware that I had been missing. Or like a door to a hidden corner of my brain was suddenly unlocked and with it, every synapse in my brain fired off at once.

In the distance, I felt Becca. I felt V. I felt Becca's concern, fear, and anxiety almost as if I were touching them with my hands. I felt V's uncertainty, as if it was a precariously balanced ball on the point of a needle.

I felt more than that. I felt Saburo. I felt his fear, screaming into the void as the storm tore what was left of his body to pieces. I felt his life, if you could call what he had a life, wink out like someone was turning off the lights in a room.

I only realized how harsh my breathing had become, tears springing from my eyes, dripping down my cheek and my control lapsed. I could feel the charges that I kept at bay spilling forth without any control-

Charges have been spent
D̵̨͐̂ẽ̷͕͝s̷͈̈t̶͚̺̒ṛ̸͎́o̵̞̐y̴͇͛ ̴̨͐̐Ā̷̟̝̉l̸̨͍̎̽l̸̤̭̒̐ ̵̛̞͜H̸̠̆̍û̴͎̠m̸͚̖̂̀ä̸͚́̕n̴͖̉͐s̷̫͋:̵͖̱̀͘ ̷̨̪̆C̶̗̾͋ͅļ̵͙͛o̶̠͔͝ň̴̘̗i̷̦̗̐̀n̷̛̜̈g̸̭͐͝ ̸̙̺͂-̷̙̪̏̅-̶̭̃ ̵͍̕͘7̶̙̓

My eyes felt like they were going to roll to the back of my skull as the information slammed into me, filling my brain with pins and needles. Distantly, I heard Johnny screaming for me as hot blood dripped down my nose. The microbots swirling around me. Johnny was making the ship, I realized. He wasn't able to do that before. Where was he- what-

I convulsed, my breathing hitching as my vision became static-

D̸̢̨̧͔̮̩̥̱͔͓̲̞̮͑u̵̩͓̻̗̖̱͕̰̱͊̿͗̾̽̔̑̆͆̊̕͝͝ͅͅṉ̷̨̧̧̨͉̼͚̟̮͉̳̱̩̟̮̓̋͜ḕ̷͉̟̫͚̓͂̂̐̈́̆̿̀͌̄́͋̎̕͝:̴̢̛̛̹̩̥͓̺͖̝̗̟̞̦̙̓̀͗́̄͒̽͂̈́̈́̈͆͜͝ ̶̙̰͎͈̠̰̹͔̩͇̯̤͓̪̻͓̞͛͛̿̊̊̈́͜K̷̰͔͇̍̈̚͝w̸̬̱͕̓̆̔̔̾̅̀ȉ̵̲̖̤̜͙͚͔̯̰̳̙̝̘̮̈́̉̀͊͝ͅs̸̗͇͚̜̣̆̾̆͊̔̏͑̀̊͘̚å̵̢͚̥̟̱̗̭͈̬͉͓̟͍̱̾̈́̀t̶̻̘̎̆͆̈́́̄̇̃̑̋̾̿̿̾̕̚͘͝z̷̡̨̛̛̻͙̩̼̲̻̳̀́̃͆̀̀͌̈́̇̊̌̿͜͠͠ ̸͍̰͇̎͂̔̇͆͠ͅH̴̞̼̦̖̭̼͑̓͊͌͊̊̀̆̄͆̅̂̑̆̚ā̴̙͖̭̯̖̦̲̈́̓̀̓̽̈̉͝ḑ̴̡̭̙̙͛̓̿ȩ̶̢̛̲͎̪̠̩̪̤͕͗̅́͆̍͋͂͑̈̈́͘͘r̸̨̛̓̊̒a̴̛̼̳̬͎͛͋̈́̇̅̈́́̽̅͐͒͑͝c̴̖̝̘͖̒̅͌͆̇̄̓͆̑̈͑̌̏͂̽̂͘͝h̶̢̧̯͇̦̯͖̹̗̗̖̏̊͆̈́ ̴̡̯̻̻̪̘͕̘̙̹͖͈̲̱͍͙̱̤͌-̷̧̧̞̲̠̦̪̟̫̻̬͖̇͋̾͗͑̾͌͂̉̍̈́̾͠-̴͕͓͌̂̂͆́̈̐́̽̈́͘͝͝ ̸̞͇̂͐̈1̶̧̧̧̡̼̭̝̗̳̬̮͙͈͆̑̀̽͑̀͛̄̓͒̌̃͘͠0̴̨͉͉̺̮͚̻̼͎̖̞̑͂̽͐̃̾̆̆̏̀̈̀̅͘͘͜

My vision went black… but that didn't matter.

I still saw.

...

The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!

 

[Acolyte]

He went full god emperor, you never go full god emperor.

 

[KSn5Ynoh]

Well, looks like L no longer has to worry about his brain tumors with his new tech. At least, once he gets it working. Seems to be pretty bad right now.

 

[Idirexii]

He went full god emperor, you never go full god emperor.

Click to shrink...

He can blind himself and be rid of his unwanted Omniscience.

 

[Mizu]

From memory the GN particles are from Gundam, which has psychics in some continuities. Methinks the green particles make you psychic.

 

[kenmadragon]

He went full god emperor, you never go full god emperor.

Click to shrink...

No, he's still a ways off from that. IIRC, being a Kwisatz Haderach just means that he has unlocked access to the genetic memory of both his male and female ancestors, and that he now possesses a level of prescience that can bridge space-time.

It basically means the person has become equivalent to a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother (someone who has unlocked genetic memory and not gone insane), a Mentat (someone with a mind like a highly-advanced supercomputer that can be turned towards super-genius levels of memory, calculation, deduction, analysis, and conclusion-making), and a Guild Navigator (super-evolved mutants that use the spice-melange to fuel a prescience ability to safely navigate interstellar and galactic space on starships) as a singular individual.

The combination of all those abilities -- complete genetic memory (enhanced by millennia of eugenics, on the part of the Bene Gesserit, in Dune), a superhuman mind capable of rivaling a Thinking Machine from the Butlerian Jihad, and the ability to navigate space-time through prescience without being constantly submerged in a vat of the spice-melange -- is what makes the Kwisatz Haderach so special and powerful. They have near total knowledge of/access to the skills and experiences of every ancestor of theirs (both male and female) combined with a power of clairvoyance on a interstellar-to-galactic scale and the foresight capable of charting a space-folding route through interstellar space are funneled through that super-super-computer of a brain. The genetic memory provides raw historical data for processing by the Mentat-trained mind, which uses Navigator-level clairvoyance to gather data of the present in order to employ foresight to compile an accurate model of the future -- thus, the Kwisatz Haderach can perceive the Golden Path. Essentially a way to Path To Victory humanity towards the most optimal future in the most brutally optimal way possible.

The problem -- L does not have the benefits of several millennia of eugenics designed to optomize a Kwisatz Haderach. He does not possess the training required to actually be a Mentat and take advantage of the calculative abilities he now possesses. Nor does he have space-folding technology (yet) to navigate interstellar and galactic space, much less access to the awareness spectrum narcotic that is the spice-melange to both unlock genetic-memory much less unlock foresight...

 

[Kull_Warrior]

Just to make reading easier.

D̵̨͐̂ẽ̷͕͝s̷͈̈t̶͚̺̒ṛ̸͎́o̵̞̐y̴͇͛ ̴̨͐̐Ā̷̟̝̉l̸̨͍̎̽l̸̤̭̒̐ ̵̛̞͜H̸̠̆̍û̴͎̠m̸͚̖̂̀ä̸͚́̕n̴͖̉͐s̷̫͋:̵͖̱̀͘ ̷̨̪̆C̶̗̾͋ͅļ̵͙͛o̶̠͔͝ň̴̘̗i̷̦̗̐̀n̷̛̜̈g̸̭͐͝ ̸̙̺͂-̷̙̪̏̅-̶̭̃ ̵͍̕͘7̶̙̓

Click to shrink...

Destroy All Humans: Cloning -- 7

D̸̢̨̧͔̮̩̥̱͔͓̲̞̮͑u̵̩͓̻̗̖̱͕̰̱͊̿͗̾̽̔̑̆͆̊̕͝͝ͅͅṉ̷̨̧̧̨͉̼͚̟̮͉̳̱̩̟̮̓̋͜ḕ̷͉̟̫͚̓͂̂̐̈́̆̿̀͌̄́͋̎̕͝:̴̢̛̛̹̩̥͓̺͖̝̗̟̞̦̙̓̀͗́̄͒̽͂̈́̈́̈͆͜͝ ̶̙̰͎͈̠̰̹͔̩͇̯̤͓̪̻͓̞͛͛̿̊̊̈́͜K̷̰͔͇̍̈̚͝w̸̬̱͕̓̆̔̔̾̅̀ȉ̵̲̖̤̜͙͚͔̯̰̳̙̝̘̮̈́̉̀͊͝ͅs̸̗͇͚̜̣̆̾̆͊̔̏͑̀̊͘̚å̵̢͚̥̟̱̗̭͈̬͉͓̟͍̱̾̈́̀t̶̻̘̎̆͆̈́́̄̇̃̑̋̾̿̿̾̕̚͘͝z̷̡̨̛̛̻͙̩̼̲̻̳̀́̃͆̀̀͌̈́̇̊̌̿͜͠͠ ̸͍̰͇̎͂̔̇͆͠ͅH̴̞̼̦̖̭̼͑̓͊͌͊̊̀̆̄͆̅̂̑̆̚ā̴̙͖̭̯̖̦̲̈́̓̀̓̽̈̉͝ḑ̴̡̭̙̙͛̓̿ȩ̶̢̛̲͎̪̠̩̪̤͕͗̅́͆̍͋͂͑̈̈́͘͘r̸̨̛̓̊̒a̴̛̼̳̬͎͛͋̈́̇̅̈́́̽̅͐͒͑͝c̴̖̝̘͖̒̅͌͆̇̄̓͆̑̈͑̌̏͂̽̂͘͝h̶̢̧̯͇̦̯͖̹̗̗̖̏̊͆̈́ ̴̡̯̻̻̪̘͕̘̙̹͖͈̲̱͍͙̱̤͌-̷̧̧̞̲̠̦̪̟̫̻̬͖̇͋̾͗͑̾͌͂̉̍̈́̾͠-̴͕͓͌̂̂͆́̈̐́̽̈́͘͝͝ ̸̞͇̂͐̈1̶̧̧̧̡̼̭̝̗̳̬̮͙͈͆̑̀̽͑̀͛̄̓͒̌̃͘͠0̴̨͉͉̺̮͚̻̼͎̖̞̑͂̽͐̃̾̆̆̏̀̈̀̅͘͘͜

Click to shrink...

Dune: Kwisatz Haderach -- 10

 

[Ltd_Fox]

From memory the GN particles are from Gundam, which has psychics in some continuities. Methinks the green particles make you psychic.

Click to shrink...

Green GN particles are specifically Purified GN particles, catalyzed by exposure to Jupiter, that have the function of expanding human consciousness. To build a GN drive that can create green particles outside of Jupiter, it needs to be constructed inside Jupiter's atmosphere normally. In Gundam terms, L did a Setsuna. He got doused with a massive amount of purified GN particles while nearly dying, resulting him undergoing Human Innovation. Innovators are basically psychic supercomputers in human form, capable of quantizing their consciousness to bridge thought and space. Add to that what he got next...

The problem -- L does not have the benefits of several millennia of eugenics designed to optomize a Kwisatz Haderach. He does not possess the training required to actually be a Mentat and take advantage of the calculative abilities he now possesses. Nor does he have space-folding technology (yet) to navigate interstellar and galactic space, much less access to the awareness spectrum narcotic that is the spice-melange to both unlock genetic-memory much less unlock foresight...

Click to shrink...

I can't begin to guess how Dune-type supercomputer-human psychic farseer will interact with Gundam-type quantum superpsychic posthuman.
GN Innovators can do, among other things, quantum teleportation including interstellar distances, with proper tech support.

 

[feauxen]

How interesting. I'm not overly familiar with those franchises...but even without the speculation and clarification from those who are that ending looks juicy. Psychic powers in high-tech settings (particularly a setting like Mass Effect where there's other psychics out there to notice that shit) are always fun.

also, minor edit:

Saburo would have all of Smasher's skulls as a fighter, just without handing him the wheel.

Click to shrink...

*skills

 

[Ideas-Guy]

"Damn was I not lyin' when I said things were developing fast in Japan.

Barely been a day since the Chiyoda City Massacre and the start of the Steel Dragon Rebellion, but the way things are going it ain't likely to last another.

The Steel Dragons have been going at the PM and his bird friends hammer and tongs, and they… are… winning.

And the NUSA hasn't even made landfall yet!

The Puppet Minister and his goons are bleeding support like a freshly stuck pig, with more and more soldiers and cops turning against them. A couple enterprising Corpos seem to be switching sides too, but I doubt it's because they developed a conscience. Y'all probably know that saying about rats and sinking ships…

But the most damning thing for Saburo's hand warmer and his regime, is the Tenno.

The Empress of Japan herself, Jinkyoku Tenno, has come out in support of the Steel Dragons!

Now, some of the less cultured among y'all might be thinking she's Saburo's wife or daughter or something - nah. That hardfisted pricks no Emperor, he just calls himself that. The Tenno is the true-blue-blood Empress, with an Imperial pedigree stretching back a hundred generations.

Of course, the Tenno has lost a lot of power compared to ye olden times, but she ain't powerless, and her word holds weight. The Chrysanthemum Throne is damn near sacred to the Japanese people, and she's still considered Japan's head of state.

Meaning that with her backing, the Steel Dragons have been legitimized. This ain't a rebellion anymore folks, it's a proper civil war!

Though the 'Steel Dragons Civil War' don't exactly have the same ring to it, huh?

Now… I'm feelin' a little conflicted about this, but that last song was so damn popular, people have been askin' me to play more rock songs. Sorry darlin's, but I'm a country girl, and this is a country station.

Though I might make exceptions for songs featuring cowboys even if they ain't necessarily country music. Like this next one.

Here's 'Bury Me With My Guns' by Bobaflex."



~

"Fuck. Fuck. Fucking… fuck," Becca breathed, her heart feeling like it was being twisted like a dish rag as she watched the Red Dot, hammering down on the sensors on repeat, looking for L. But they struggled to penetrate such an extreme storm and Becca was left only with her fears and a promise. She had no idea how long two minutes could feel until she found herself counting down the seconds.

L was a survivor. It didn't matter what insane, whacky, or impossible bullshit tried to put him down, L always managed to eek out a win. This shouldn't be any different. Yet, with every passing second, her concern grew. This hadn't been a trap in so many words, but after getting their asses kicked off of Earth, Arasaka had to be prepared for the eventuality that L would find them. They knew he wasn't the kind of merc that would leave a job half finished. So, they would have prepared for him to kick their door down and finish the job-

Becca almost flinched when there was a small puff of light in the heart of the storm. An explosion. Two minutes had passed. "Fuck it, I'm going in," she half snarled, grabbing hold of the controls. V reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't- we need to look out for a lifeboat," V said, her gripping chrome "He's not dead. He wouldn't die at the finish line," she offered reassurance, but it did little to help. Her guts were twisting themselves into knots, wanting to believe the same thing, but this felt different. It felt like if L was ever going to be killed, it would be right now.

"I'm not-" Becca started to snap, only to cut herself off when the sensors detected something. Video feeds flickered across her vision of an ugly scorched brick rising up from the Red Dot, spewing green particles in its wake. Her breath hitched in her throat, not quite relieved just yet, but it felt like a massive weight was suddenly lifted from her shoulders.

"He's hard to kill. If nothing else, he's hard to kill," V offered, letting go of her shoulder. Taking a steadying breath, Becca drifted down to the ship that continued to rise. For a moment, they were on a collusion course and that…

"Somethings wrong," Becca breathed, knowing it in her gut. L wasn't responding to their calls, the brick wasn't making any maneuvers beyond flying up to escape Jupiter's gravity. The only response that Becca got from the ship was when Becca circled it and it lurched. The surface rippled as the microbots started to form a bridge and Becca realized that L was trying to get inside the Swordfish.

She waited with baited breath as the bridge was established and pressurized, letting Becca open the cockpit-

She had to move fast to catch L when he unceremoniously dropped down nearly on top of her. Her heart hammered in her chest, jumping up from her throat. "L? L! Wake up!" She said, and with V's help they half dragged him over to the bed behind the cockpit. L fell on it bonelessly, his eyes swimming behind his eyelids. She had a flash of a memory of walking into his workshop that produced miracles and finding him on the ground with a river of blood coming out of his nose.

This wasn't that, Becca told herself. L said he found a cure, and she believed him. So this… what was this?

"I'm… an Innovator…" L muttered like he had just read her mind.

"What?" She blurted, uncertain what that even meant. Was he talking about his tech? V hooked L up into the auto doc. He was feverish. His skin had suffered a flash burn. His lungs were showing some sign of chemical damage. But, all the symptoms were being abated when the auto-doc lowered a syringe filled with gray goo and injected them into L.

"No… that's… that's what it will be called…" L muttered, sounding delirious. Becca traded a glance with V, trying to see if she could make sense of what he was muttering about. V looked down at L, her eyebrows drawn together in concern before she activated a brain scan. The entire process was quick.

'Abnormal brain activity'

"What does that even mean? Is it calibrated for his brain? It's plenty abnormal," V said, but she sounded distant to Becca's ears as she gaped at the scan of his brain. A cold shiver raced down her spine and she took in a sharp breath of recycled air.

She had seen pictures of L's brain before. Of that little golf ball mass that let him produce tech so great and futuristic that it might as well be magic. Shrink rays, limitless energy, unbreakable shields, and so on. Only that mass wasn't the size of a golf ball anymore. Something sprouted from it like it had been a seed, a tree that stretched up and spread its branches and roots until no corner of his brain was left untouched.

There weren't any tumors, Becca realized. The tree had absorbed them all.

Was that a good thing? A bad thing? She had no idea and the only person that could was on the bed, half unconscious-

"It's stronger now. My power," L said and now Becca was disquited. That sounded a little too much like a reply to what she had been thinking. "The GN Particles. When they're green… they did something to my brain and… my power… it adapted to it? I think. No… no, that's what happened…" L said distractedly.

Becca didn't even know what to say. "L, are you okay?" She tried, looking down at him and already, he seemed to look better. His breathing was more even. His complexion was better.

And, of course, that was when the gonk decided that he was going to fall asleep. She just stared at him for a long minute, vaguely want to throttle him and let him rest at the same time. Her hands went out, gripping his flesh and blood one. His hand had gotten rough -- he had gunmans' calluses. More noticeably were the pronounced scars on his hands, both the palm and on the back, both of which snaked up his arm and continued on across his body. Layers of scar tissue that were a constant reminder of how many times L had been taken apart and put back together.

"He's okay," V decided. "He won. And I'm out of a job," she added, almost wistful. "Either way, we should head back to Earth."

Becca glanced her way, "Arasaka is done for?" She asked, looking up at V.

"Saburo is dead. For good. He maintained a one Relic policy because… well, he didn't trust himself. There's a decoy base in the asteroid belt for the Turians, but beyond that…" she trailed off and Becca held her gaze, gently squeezing L's hand.

"Hanako?" Becca questioned, and V didn't react in the slightest.

"I have absolutely no idea," V replied and she didn't need to be a 'saka ninja to know that was a lie. But, at the moment, it felt entirely unimportant. L came back. He was alive. And now it was time to go back to Earth to finish the ground war.

It was time for Earth to go on the offensive.

…

Earth was in a religious fervor when they got back. About two days had passed since L defeated the Turian fleet, and in that time, word had spread. Night City most of all, Becca thought as she overlooked what had been Arasaka Plaza not even a year ago. The city was half destroyed, but that didn't stop them from building a monument.

She had gotten a peek at the plans for it -- it was going to be a statue of L in all of his glory. It was inspired by a still from when they attacked Arasaka tower to rescue David. L with his middle finger up and a nasty smile on his face that was reserved for his enemies. They had even added his surgery scars that were concealed underneath a holographic outfit -- David's old jacket, aviators, cargo shorts, and a pair of flip-flops.

"You'd think he's their god," Becca muttered, watching the construction happen. The statue was going to be a hundred feet tall at the very heart of the city.

Kaiden answered, leaning on the railing next to her. "People know the truth -- movies liked to say humanity would band together and win against an alien invasion. But that didn't happen. It wasn't humanity that drove off the Turians. It was L. It was his tech and his boot that kicked their asses out of the system."

Becca watched as they lifted up a girder and set it into place, feeling uncertain. "Have you talked to him?" Becca questioned, glancing Kaiden's way. He seemed tired, she noted. And dusty.

"Haven't had the chance," Kaiden admitted. "I've been busy tying off loose ends." By that, he meant the Smashers and the Turian armies that were still kicking around in Europe. The fighting was hardly done, but David had been making a name for himself as Smasher's silver bullet. The rest of the ground armies were slugging it out with the Turians, but without their ability to blow up anything on command, they were getting mauled.

They weren't surrendering, though. They only did when they were so thoroughly beaten that they might as well be dead. Becca gave it a good two months before Earth was free of any alien armies.

"Are you seriously going to join the army?" Becca asked, cocking an eyebrow at Kaiden, picturing him in camo.

He shrugged, "I like the discipline of it," he admitted easily. "I suppose it depends on what comes of the Alliance talks."

Becca snorted, "A whole lot of fuck all." Corpos were going to corpo. The talks of forming a united Earth government, pooling all of Earth's resources into a single unified force sounded a lot like an idea they got from a movie. She didn't have any high hopes for it. The NUSA, Europe, Africa, and Asia were always going to be fighting it out to see who was the captain of the ship and who was swabbing the decks. The division lines might change a bit, but Earth would never be unified like it was in the movies.

Kaiden shrugged, glancing at her. "What's going on with L?" He asked, knowing that she was half avoiding the subject. "Is he…"

"He's acting fucking weird," Becca answered a brief moment of thought, summarizing the past few hours that L had been awake for. He was out like a light on their trip back, passed out for a full day. Then he just woke up and since then… "I don't even know how to describe it."

"Show me," Kaiden replied and Becca blew out a breath.

Nodding, she dropped from the ledge she had been leaning on and turned away from the statue. Her car was parked at the edge of the restored roundabout around the plaza and sliding into it, she took a moment to look at the city as she started to drive through it. Night City had been absolutely hammered, first by Smasher and then by the Turians.

It would be years before Night City was fully restored, if it ever was. And that depended on your definition of restored, because it wasn't like Night City had been particularly great before. She did see a lot of Night Corp logos on construction vehicles, marking it as one of the last corporations standing in Night City. Time would tell if they were another Arasaka or not.

They were heading towards the ocean, down near Pacifica. Riding along the water, Becca saw that the Turian ship was still jutting up from the waves. She also saw something else as they neared L's position at the beach.

It was a Rollercoaster. Green particles spewed out of it, leaving a trail of them as a long trail of carts filled the kids were doing flips and corkscrews and high drops to cheering joy. Microbots constantly formed new rails ahead of the cart in a flow, the microbots at the back surging to the front when the final cart left the track behind. As they pulled up, the kids were enjoying a long spiral down to the ocean, close enough that they could reach out and touch the water before they were then led up a steep incline.

L sat with his back towards them, his legs dangling off a sea wall that overlooked the beach. His jacket- David's jacket, was folded up next to him as he watched the kids, creating more tracks for them to ride on.

Kaiden looked at his friend- his brother's back, and Becca could see his confusion. "He's… relaxing?"

"It's weird, right?" Oh, she would love it if L would learn how to kick his feet up and rest. Maybe do a little cuddling as they watched brain rot TV. But that wasn't him. L didn't rest. He didn't relax. Ever since she first met him, L had had a goal and he followed it relentlessly. First, it was getting everyone out of the Orphanages. Then it was taking out Arasaka. Then it was the Turians. When he wasn't working, he was sleeping, and when he wasn't sleeping or working, he was gearing up for more work.

That's just who he was.

And now L was kicking his feet up at the beach, watching his kids play in the sand or ride a rollercoaster.

"... is he still dying?" Kaiden asked, and Becca laughed so she wouldn't shiver at the thought. It said a great deal about L that was the reaction people had when they saw him taking some time off. Her gaze flickered to his back, idly realizing that his dark hair had gotten long enough to reach his shoulders. His dark steel prosthetic had been replaced, and he was leaning back on his arms as he watched the kids twist and turn and probably to the point they were going to get sick.

She laughed, but the idea still terrified her. "I don't know," Becca answered in a small whisper. He said he was getting better, but…

Kaiden didn't respond as something caught his attention. V appeared around a corner, heading to L. Becca tensed when she saw that V was carrying a gun -- the handle was a dark red while the rest was a dark silver. L seemed to sense that she was there, however, and turned to look out at her. Then he glanced over his shoulder to look at them, cocking an eyebrow. Busted.

Becca got out of the car, her gaze meeting L's and… it was like he was looking through her. Like she wasn't quite there in his eyes. Or, worse, he wasn't quite there.

"The corpse was where you said it'd be. Wasn't much left of it, though. How did you know it'd be there?" V asked, making a quick glance at Becca and Kaiden as they stood near the car.

L smiled like he heard a joke only he could understand, his gaze still different. Distracted. He held out his prosthetic hand, swinging his legs around on the other side of the sea wall so he could face the three of them. He opened and closed his hand in the universal sign for 'gimmie' and V rolled her eyes before handing him the gun and then a case. Small and thin, like a travel case for a toothbrush.

He spun the gun in his hand like he had done it a thousand times before. "Thanks, V." L offered, sliding the gun into a holster under his meat arm. He didn't answer her question before he turned to them. "What brings you two here?" He asked and Becca fought off a frown at how he asked. It was different. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but there was just something… different.

"Checking in on you. Becca told me about Jupiter. What was that like?" Kaiden asked and L offered a far off smile.

"I don't recommend Jupiter as a travel spot," he said and Becca noticed that Kaiden's gaze was drawn to the rollercoaster. There was a weird expression on his face. "There was one in Pacifica this entire time. I had no clue. I didn't care enough to look. I… it was R's dream, and I didn't look." There was a tension in L's voice. Guilt. He glanced over his shoulder, looking back at the kids on their insane ride and Becca saw shame in his expression.

That was something else that was weird about L now. He seemed more aware. He had been oblivious to how people felt before, outside of some special moments. Like with Jack. But, now, people didn't even need to talk and he would reply to what they were feeling.

Kaiden took a breath and let it out slowly. "You made up for it. You're gearing up for the stars… and I doubt the history books will be forgetting you any time soon," he said and Becca felt like she was missing some context behind that statement. "You said you'd like to make it to eighteen. How's that coming?"

Becca tensed, fearing the answer, but L chuckled. "I'm going to be immortal," he said and that… that lifted a weight off of Becca's shoulders. "My power is different. It's stronger. I have more control over it now and the tumors aren't tumors anymore." He said, sliding off the ledge. "So, I just have to take out the other thing that's killing me outta my head and I won't have any worries."

It was everything that Becca wanted to hear but how he said it scared the shit out of her. She couldn't even find her voice to speak, to call him out on it. She just felt… nervous.

"And V just gave me what I need," L continued. "Let's go," he decided, and the next thing Becca knew, she found herself swept up in the microbot rollercoaster as it carried the lot of them through the city. Despite herself, Becca found herself grinning as they swooped between buildings and through neon lights. The kids were screaming with absolute delight as they flew towards Arasaka Tower. Or L's Tower now, she supposed.

The kids were disappointed that the ride was over, but given how many of them had been coasting on adrenaline, most of the kids seemed content to be on solid ground again. L reached out and rubbed T's head, the kid that Becca knew L had a soft spot for, before he continued on to his lab without so much as a word. Becca followed, finding that the tension between her shoulder blades was returning.

Becca had given up recognizing half of the crap in L's workshop. The things in it always seemed to change every time she stepped inside. The only constant was the cluttered tools and tables. This time, Becca saw what seemed to be a robot wrapped in white marshmallowy fluff. On a table, she saw what looked like an robotic animal with some kind of weird dispenser on its back. There was also a hologram of Earth with blue dots labeled 'delivery points'. Delivery of what, Becca had no idea.

What L walked to looked like an altered autodoc of some sort. It was larger, bulkier, and more advanced looking with a lot of cables running in and out of it. A normal autodoc just looked like a tube. Becca wasn't entirely sure what all the difference was, but it had clearly gotten some massive upgrades. "V, I need the Relic schematics."

Even as he spoke, he was priming the autodoc up for something. V tensed, which made Becca and Kaiden tense. "I don't have them-"

"Yes," L interjected, softly but firmly. "You do. You stole them from Hanako. She was using you, but you were using her for her access. Arasaka managed to complete the Relic technology and took the first step on four other projects." There was a calm certainty in how he spoke, and Becca could practically see V's flesh crawl. The 'saka ninja looked as unnerved as Becca had ever seen her.

V hesitated a long moment before she made a gesture, flicking L the data. "How could you know that?" She asked, her voice small and quiet. Becca could guess the play -- the tech that L produced was otherworldly. Even if it was incomplete, it would still sell for millions. V wanted to keep the data up her sleeve either for a payday or as a card to play.

A fabricator spun up and Becca saw a Relic being created. It was pretty similar to what she saw in the commercials that tried to sell immortality. L grabbed it before he slotted it inside of his own head. He waited a second before taking it out and blinking at the Relic. "... Huh. Lonely," he mused and Becca couldn't even fucking guess what that meant.

Either oblivious or uncaring of how he was weirding everyone out, L slid the Relic into the autodoc before he then slid in the container that V gave him. He pressed a few buttons on a screen, picking an option… and Becca only started to get a clue when she saw the expected result of what he was doing.

"Is that Johnny fucking Silverhand?" Becca blurted, looking at the hologram of the rockerboy. L was printing off a body. Cloning a body of one of Night City's Legends. The Relic- Becca gaped at L, knowing deep in her bones what L had just done.

He had cured death.

L looked at the screen for just a moment, offering a fragile smile. "Sorry. I won't be here to see you wake up…" He offered to the hologram before his gaze seemed to harden.

"But I've got a war to win."

...

The next chapter is currently available on my Patreon and Subscribe Star, so if you want to read it a week early, all it takes is a single dollar in the tip jar. Or, for five dollars, you can read the chapter after that two weeks before its public release! I hope you enjoyed!

 

[cestus41]

Wake the fuck up samurai we got a war to win

 

[Fellow Human]

He's gonna make everyone Innovators and thus empathic? Or at least unable to hide malicous intent and lies, which indirectly will lead to empathy.
If even possible, it would take decades before they learn to hide or fake emotions, and more times before it spreads.

 

[Ltd_Fox]

He's gonna make everyone Innovators and thus empathic?

Click to shrink...

That was going to happen anyway once he started handing out his GN drive tech after the Turians arrived. In 00, after just a few decades of widespread GN drive use Innovators were popping up left and right, to the point that even without specific intent to speed it along, after 30 or so years nearly half of humanity were Innovators.

That's going to have some knock-on effects, since in addition to the telepathy and empathy, Innovators are also naturally optimized for life in space, being healthier, hardier and have 2 to 3 times the normal human lifespan even without any other life extension options. Combined with his other tech, as Becca said, humanity can become entirely immortal if he wants to pursue that.

 

[feauxen]

So he's about to feed the Council some humble pie, isn't he? I wonder how long it's going to take them to notice that he has no intention of being diplomatic and every intention of making the people at the top pay for the blood they've spilt.

Or hey, maybe killing Saburo will have chilled him out a bit and he'll be willing to accept, "Okay we're very sorry and we're going to send a lot of unarmed infrastructure repair crews to prove it, will you please go away now?" as proof that for all the Turians are terrors on the battlefield they're not nearly as uncivilized as his own species.

 

[Arimai]

I really hope the Reapers don't get boosted by giving them ELS as some posters in SB and FFN wanted to create dramatic tension. I utterly despise the Lightsaber-Deathstar trope they were so keenly harping on.

 

[TribuneAlpha]

Glad to finally see L win without any caveats. He's been riding the edge for so long that a victory that doesn't directly cause more problems for him is awesome news. Especially given that he's probably just gotten answers for the really big problems like 'human nature sucks'. And given he's also likely not needing to worry about the 30+ tumors in his brain anymore, he can start really pushing his power into Omnissiah territory.