God dammit… And I lost my beret… FUCK!

  And here I thought that this was somehow going to be a scam or something… Hey, I have this magical bullshit device… And now you got me caught up in all this crap… I would just turn tail and run if it wasn’t for this piece of shit that she says can save my life, too… Guess the carrot is working, after all…

  No… No, enough of that. All of that’s a non-issue if you can’t get up there. Think, V…

  –

  After looking around the rooftop, V eyeballed a construction chute used to carry large cinder blocks and rubble to ground level, taking a chance that nothing jagged would be waiting for her at the bottom. She braced herself with her backpack in front of her head, plunging down the tube and shooting out into a pile of garbage, scrambling back to her feet as BARGHEST trucks started converging on the downed craft’s position.

  This wasn’t exactly a neighborhood known for being trustworthy enough that just anyone would leave the keys in the ignition, leaving V with no other options than to sprint like absolute mad, frantically searching for anything with wheels and an engine that didn’t require hotwiring, which she had no time for.

  It took her all of one block of full-on running her ass off before she encountered something that would do the job – an old, rusted-out Galena, piloted by a man who looked to be made out of nothing but pure trauma. In no mood to fuck around, V unholstered and discharged her sidearm, scaring him half to death as he practically dove out of the car. She quickly jumped in after him, slamming the door and throwing the shifter into drive, mashing the throttle with reckless abandon.

  The engine shuttered and groaned to life, propelling the ancient vehicle to a reading of 60 miles per hour as she weaved in and out of traffic. Izanami rested on her lap, ready and waiting for her to dismount the vehicle so it can spill more blood – and it wouldn’t have to wait for long.

  Panicked residents lined the main streets, terrified of the dramatic entrance of the President and the seemingly endless waves of BARGHEST making their way towards the crash site, with a mad woman behind the wheel of an old Galena tailing just behind.

  –

  “Okay, V… I… I’m back.”

  “SONGBIRD?!” Fucking– GOD, GET OUT OF THE ROAD, YOU APES!

  “Yeah… made it out safely.” What in the– how?! “Yeah, I know… heh… Songbird the cat, runnin’ on my ninth life… I made sure to get Myers to the saferoom before I ejected – gotta get there, fast!”

  “What the hell do you think I’m doing?! Fuck– GOD! Get out of my way!!” I blew by a BARGHEST truck likely carrying a dozen or so soldiers – I don’t have time for this crap. “What, you didn’t know he still had missiles left?!”

  “I had no idea Hansen was that fucked in the head…” she said with a broken, panicking voice.

  “Yeah, well, welcome to my world – this bastard– FUCK!” Okay, I need to concentrate on the fucking road… “Whatever, look, I’ll call you back when she’s secured!”

  “Listen – take her to the safehouse at Liz Kress Street, safest place for her right now!” she shouted as I blew through the checkpoint, taking a soldier along for the ride – guess that’s my cover blown.

  Okay, my turn to brace for impact–

  –

  V crashed the Galena into a barricade, shattering glass, concrete, and metal alike and startling the remaining BARGHEST into action. None of them predicted that someone would be either brave enough nor stupid enough to just ram straight through the roadblock they set up, frantically scrambling for their weapons as the samurai leapt from her stolen car.

  Izanami immediately fired up, the blade’s heating elements cooking the exterior to 800 degrees and throwing sparks and electricity. Arcs flared from the weapon like a terrifying lightning display, instantly shorting out the turrets when they discharged into the exposed wires.

  “Who the FUCK are you?!” one of the soldiers screamed at her as she haplessly charged up the embankment they were stationed on, immediately opening fire. Izanami proved its worth to V in a heartbeat, blocking all of their combined gunfire and decimating the poor soldier in the middle with his own comrades’ bullets. Static electricity discharged into every round she deflected, creating a dazzling light show reminiscent of a fireworks display.

  Songbird looked on with abject bewilderment as this woman seemingly deflected several high-powered rifle rounds with apparent ease, her hands moving so quickly that she could barely even register what was going on. She kept silent, letting V do her job, astonished that this single, random mercenary was handily annihilating two whole squads’ worth of troops without any backup or apparent regard for her own safety.

  A quick look at V’s vitals showed her heart rate at a steady 170 BPM, fast enough that she was risking cardiac arrest. Her body was burning through calories at an astonishing rate, yet she showed no signs whatsoever of slowing her tempo, easily deflecting round after round as she sprinted at full-speed towards the next checkpoint, keeping the enemies on her protected right hand side.

  It didn’t look like she was brazenly waving her sword around, either – she was angling it in such a way that the deflected rounds were hitting targets. Songbird had never seen anything like it – and neither had any of the soldiers facing V down, for that matter.

  V scrambled up the side of an old parking garage, swatting bullets out of the air like flies and systematically eliminating everyone in the streets below. She moved carefully now that she was in cover from the snipers, never exposing herself to more fire than she was capable of deflecting at one time, starting off with the machine gunner. An expertly-blocked high-caliber projectile from a marksman’s rifle floored him on his ass, and V drew her Kenshin automatic sidearm from its holster and expended the entire 20-round magazine on him. One gun down, two to go, she thought to herself, holstering the empty pistol and redrawing Izanami, cautiously walking up the collapsed structure while easily deflecting the submachine gun rounds coming in. Slow and steady wins the race came to her mind, the subsonic ammunition positively lazy by her tempo.

  The fire blazed away on the building across a pedestrian footbridge, the interior lined with an entire marksman squad – five soldiers in all. They operated as a team, covering one another as they moved up, careful not to open fire on the samurai before they were behind concrete cover. V was having none of it, sprinting up and thrusting Izanami straight through the hard cover, shattering the embankment like it was made of glass. All five of them charged her at once, blasting their weapons until they ran dry, forcing V on the back foot as she took several rounds to her ballistic armor, striking her sternum and winding her.

  Sensing blood in the water, three of them went in for the kill, only for V to cleave through two of them in a single swipe. They each landed in no fewer than seven distinct pieces, with V’s sword bisecting torsos, arms, and coming back around to scalp one of them before the third approached. His cyberarm caught her weapon’s electric current, instantly frying all of his cyberware and vaporizing the blood in his right arm. One of his burst veins erupted in a shower of sparks as his body seized and collapsed, brain-dead before his limbs even had time to register what had just happened.

  The final snipers proved no match for V, screaming in absolute terror as the swordswoman charged at them. They each drew their sidearms and fired a single shot between them before V sawed their heads in half, ending the fight.

  Fifteen bodies littered the streets behind her, though she had no time to pause – these were only the perimeter guards.

  –

  “Okay… Well, wasn’t expecting that,” Songbird said with utter shock in her voice, “Alright, uh, take the scaffolding up. Crane’ll carry you to the crash site.”

  “Got it,” I nodded, shaking the blood off of Izanami without so much as a pause in my pace, “What’s your position?”

  “Don’t worry about that, just get Myers first,” she said insistently. Weird…

  “What, you don’t want me to come get you? Are you secure?” I replied with a confused tone, starting my ascent – thank God, a ladder. No more scaling rubble for me… At least not now…

  “Too hot where I am – I’ll meet you at the safehouse.” Right, Elizabeth Kress Street… Wherever that is… Maybe I should ask one of these assholes for directions. Izanami is positively brutal, it must be said… I genuinely can’t believe how effective it is. No wonder Arasaka poured so much capital into this thing.

  “Alright, well, what about the security detail? How many were aboard?” Alright, a crane booth… might be able to do something here…

  “There were eleven of us, including Myers and myself,” Songbird appeared before me, watching the chaos unfold. BARGHEST elite forces descended from AVs, ripping the automated drones to shreds. “No word on who’s left, though.”

  “Mm… So I might have more than a few passengers, in that case… I can make that work, but they’re not my priority.”

  “I know. So long as Myers gets outta there, our deal’s still good,” Songbird confirmed, “Here, press that button, should extend the crane arm, get you over there!”

  –

  V hit the button she designated and the crane lurched to life. Glitchy red effects dripped from its arm as Songbird hacked it, turning the entire piece of equipment to get V right on top of the BARGHEST forces. Without a second’s hesitation, she leapt from the moving crane, sword extended and poised to carve more BARGHEST apart.

  The first victim was wearing particularly thick armor – not that Izanami seemed to notice, parting the hardened steel like paper. The weapon destabilized the armor at a molecular level, effectively turning it into a semisolid before the edge struck the target, allowing V to completely bisect the man vertically with a powerful downward strike. Stunned, the two soldiers next to him fell just as quickly and effortlessly.

  Izanami put V on a power trip, allowing her to defeat her foes in an incredible display of swordsmanship. Her body pumped blood like a high-pressure hydraulic line, struggling to cope with what she was asking it to do as she sawed her way through the distracted soldiers. Limbs flew up into the air, raining blood down onto the battlefield, leaving the floor coated in pools of deep black.

  A massive airship bearing the image of Hansen on an overhead display lit up the crash site before her. BARGHEST soldiers tore through waves of NUSA drones with ease, appropriating their advanced weapons for their own use. Flames and rubble permeated the field, allowing V some modicum of cover as she moved.

  It wasn’t long before every single drone was dispatched, leaving just the Wyvern flying drones overhead to intercept the airship. Each of them were near-instantly shot down as well, incoming drop ships opening fire on the craft while they deployed ever-increasing numbers against NUSA forces.

  Gunfire began to die down in the distance as the remaining squads of BARGHEST mopped up. V was having none of that, however, savagely carving a bloody path to Space Force One. Izanami never once stilled in the air for longer than a nanosecond, blocking and attacking in continuous, fluid motions as V struggled to conserve her energy.

  BARGHEST soldiers teamed up in squads of three, attempting to flank her and using their Sandevistans to get around behind her. Songbird once again sat in pure shock at the swordswoman – despite taking several gunshots and likely in considerable pain despite her subdermal armor plating, she still ripped through every single soldier they sent at her. She had to double-check V’s implants again, in apparent disbelief that this woman is somehow using organic muscles and tensioned cables so precisely.

  Something seemed off with this mysterious woman, why she never once showed up on Militech's reports. Myers would've almost certainly pegged her for work in her personal security detail had it not been for Arasaka. With a little digging, Songbird soon discovered V's case file - Captain Valerie "V" Tokai, an alias for an indigenous Japanese name that she didn't recognize. Further reading revealed that this mercenary was one of only a single-digit number of people with two separate First-Class Golden Army Swordsmanship Proficiency Badges, a feat not seen since World War II.

  Now I'm really interested, Songbird thought to herself as soldiers bombarded V's position with overwhelming firepower, falling one after the other as she continuously defeated them within mere seconds. Part of her deferred to the concept of determinism that her mother taught her at a young age, seeing not just brutalism, but a certain measure of inner pain in V's style. It wasn't graceful by design, but rather by incident, a byproduct of its straightforward, functional nature. Every artist had their own 'signature' they left behind. If one dug hard enough, they would find Songbird's blueprint in various tomes of knowledge hidden in the Deep Net. Likewise, there was a sort of odd elegance about V's swordsmanship that seemed individualistic, even expressionistic, as if she was conveying a sort of unspoken rage with every strike.

  The continuous flood of BARGHEST kept coming, and despite handily dispatching squad after squad, V was getting noticeably tired. After carving up the last remaining soldier, she quickly reached back into her backpack and produced one of her emergency rations, stuffing her face with 5,000 calories’ worth of condensed RealFruit peanut butter in a single gulp – hopefully enough to power her through to the downed spacecraft.

  V crawled through the rubble before her to emerge in what appeared to be an old shopping mall, not unlike the Grand Imperial Mall the Animals appropriated, with Space Force One dominating the floor. It hung precariously in the middle of the battlefield, with BARGHEST soldiers pouring in off the starboard side in a bid to breach it.

  Dozens of Wyvern and humanoid drones battled in a futile attempt to stem the tide, each of them being easily shot down by the trained soldiers. Red signal flares littered the floors, disrupting automated targeting systems and basic cyberware, compromising the drones’ ability to fight back. Some of them performed kamikaze-style attacks, launching themselves at the soldiers before discharging their power cells, electrocuting one or two enemies before more replaced them.

  They seemed to pour in from everywhere – storefronts, escalators, AVs from the skylight… V gripped Izanami and swallowed her ration, cautiously picking her line through the fighting to provide the enemy with as few opportunities as possible to return fire in bulk.

  The spine of V’s sword was glowing red-hot, reacting to V’s increasing levels of rage and satisfaction as she took the fight inside an old software store. Two soldiers ran in to meet her, the first being impaled through the heart and falling limp to the ground, his major arteries and veins instantly exploding. The second ran for dear life, rushing for cover before the samurai cut him down as well, seemingly possessed by sheer indifference after the first twenty bodies piled up – some of which, like the one behind her, were still smoking and crackling with the sounds of boiling blood.

  The store opened up into a main promenade, dominated by the cleanup crew left behind by the bulk of BARGHEST’s forces. V immediately beheaded the armored machine gunner closest to her, his helmet flying across the battlefield trailing smoke and burning blood in its wake, prompting everyone else to turn towards her. At first, all five of them – two squads’ worth – held their fire, not fully comprehending the sight. A woman, no taller than 1.7 meters, held her stance after the completed strike, sword held high above her head and body low to the ground. She stared them down individually, her eyes darting between them to see who would make the first move.

  “Ah, fuck this,” the machine gunner taunted before opening up on her, with V immediately batting the round straight into a tank for their oxyacetylene torch. The superheated, electrified projectile ignited the oxygen and instantly vaporized the welder standing next to it, showering the rest of the group in entrails and debris.

  Everyone recoiled back as she again lowered her position, sprinting clockwise and using each soldier in-kind as an impromptu human shield. Desperate for a clear line of fire, the remaining gunners backed off and attempted to flank her before being just as readily cut down. Songbird observed with a sort of morbid curiosity, noting V's clever usage of psychological warfare tactics - a sniper could, theoretically, end it all in one shot. But no one wanted to make that shot on the off-chance that she would use the round to end the life of some other poor bastard instead, as she'd done at least a dozen times up to this point.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Her augmented reflexes betrayed specialized hardware installed by Arasaka techies, most likely some sort of quantum-state drive or predictive soft that informed her of incoming projectiles' pathways based on estimates of the enemy's body language. In either case, Songbird was no longer questioning V's fortitude, now fully-committed to helping her get Myers out alive.

  At last, only one gunner remained, shouting his lungs out as he opened up with his .50 BMG machine gun on the strange warrior. But she was too close for him to effectively maneuver the massive weapon, easily sidestepping his fire before rotating her sword in her hand and delivering a final, massive blow. She jammed the blade through his heart, pressing down on the back of the grip with her body weight to help the sword find its way through to the other side. Smoke billowed out from either end of the wound, a grisly hissing noise emanating from his chest cavity. The battle was finally over.

  –

  Okay… I think that’s the last of them for now… More will be on the way. Okay… Okay, calm down. Breathe… Don’t focus on the fire. Don’t focus on it. Don’t think of the words ‘inferno’ or ‘searing’… no, stop… stop…

  “V, you okay?” Songbird asked me, snapping me back to some vague sense of reality… Wh-what on Earth…

  Easy… Easy does it. Your adrenaline is spiking again. Remember what Jackie said… About the rage. Just take it easy… “Yeah… I think…” I checked over my body again, “Looks like I took four to the chest… need some new plates and mag pouches. Took one to the hip… both legs… Subdermal armor’s holding up.”

  “Good God, I… know what, okay, what’s the status of Myers? Anyone else make it?” Songbird asked me with an incredulous tone… Wait… Did she bet on me not making it out of here or something? I honestly wouldn’t blame her, granted.

  “None yet…” I frowned.

  “Mmh… Got it…” Songbird muttered in return as I made my way down to the ship’s hull.

  “Looks like they cut open the starboard side door… I see bullet holes.”

  “Any survivors in there?” she asked me anxiously as I drew Izanami again, gingerly turning the corner. Front area’s clear… Cockpit’s clear… passenger cabin’s clear… Nothing. Nothing but an absolute bloodbath.

  “No…” I said somewhat hesitantly, “I see no signs of life.”

  “Fuck…” Songbird cursed to herself, “I know you said they weren’t your priority. But these were good people.”

  “No, I know… That’s not how I meant that statement…”

  “C’mon, yeah, it was. You’re Arasaka, we’re Militech, I get it, trust me.”

  “No, it’s not that…” I sighed, “I suppose… I don’t know. I’m sorry. Let’s just find Myers and get the hell out of here.”

  “On that we can agree… Check the panic room, should be in the back.”

  “Okay…” I grimaced at the carnage before me… People crushed by their own seats. Bullet wounds to the chest. A gaping hole in the side of the plane, presumably blown open by the missile… bodies were everywhere, blood pooling on one side of the plane in a gruesome little pond. I certainly would shed no tears if Myers was among the dead, but I’m willing to bet she’s not. She’s a Marine, and apparently a tough one, at that. And it wouldn’t surprise me if that panic room of hers was lined with plush velvet to cushion her blow. What did surprise me was that Songbird didn’t join her, instead punching out in her own private escape vessel.

  This did provide me with a rather unique insight into Militech’s operations, though… I might as well do some homework while I’m here. Not like Myers is going anywhere… Neither is her computer. Jackpot, it’s working…

  Let’s see what we have here…

  Risk assessments…

  Heh, apparently Arasaka’s threat level is ‘HIGH’… I suppose with Yorinobu at the helm, anything’s possible. Texas being the same level doesn’t surprise me; they’ve been hostile to just about everyone since the country’s inception. What’s most surprising to me was not a single mention of China on here. Considering they’ve already infiltrated Night City’s political system, maybe it’s just disinformation…

  Wait, what’s this…?

  Konpeki Incident Report number six…

  “It is still unclear exactly what transpired at Konpeki Plaza. Nevertheless, certain facts are unclear: Saburo was most likely murdered by Yorinobu despite the presence of at least two more individuals at the scene. These were local mercenaries hired to steal the Relic. It seems likely that Saburo appeared in the penthouse unannounced.

  “The possibility that the mercenaries anticipated this has been ruled out and hence the likelihood that they murdered Saburo. The identities of the mercenaries remains partially unknown. Informant 0-1257 disappeared before he could access his employer's files. Perhaps Songbird may extract more from Arasaka's servers.

  “I confirmed that the stolen Relic contained an engram of the late rockerboy, Johnny Silverhand. It is unclear why Yorinobu chose his personality construct in particular. Perhaps Saburo confided something important in Silverhand just before he was Soulkilled? I stress that this is merely a hypothesis.”

  Interesting… an informant? Male pronouns, at that… That rules out T-Bug. Who else knew about the heist? Dex? No… Dex got killed… Dex… uh… Who else was… Wait, the driver? Yeah, the guy who shot my brother… Fuck, what was his name… Oh, Oleg? Hm… Yeah, I can see that… And the fact that he disappeared afterwards, likely because he was killed along with the rest of us… Why would he be spying for Militech, though, to what end? Perhaps they knew of the Relic’s existence through Oleg and wanted it for themselves, then Oleg was executed before he could find it? Or perhaps he was executed because he gave Dex an empty box? But he wouldn't know about Johnny, so that doesn't make sense. Hm, either way, it doesn’t matter now – Myers sure as hell isn’t getting her hands on it.

  “I’ve located the safe room,” I told Songbird, heading to the back of the spacecraft after checking each body for signs of life, just in case.

  “Alright, I’ll pop it open.” Sure enough, the door unlocked and partially opened, revealing a barren interior. Alright, V… Check the corners, don’t want to get–

  –

  Myers was lying in wait for one of those soldiers to come barging in. She had no idea how they got the door to open without authorization, but she sure as shit wasn’t about to let some fucking street trash take her down without a fight. She didn’t become the CEO of Militech and the three-time NUS President by playing nice, and she certainly wasn’t about to start now.

  As soon as the black-clad soldier started to pry open the door, Myers came in and lent a helping hand with the butt of her rifle, temporarily stunning the intruder who instinctively clutched the weapon, preventing Myers from bringing it to bear.

  One quick observation revealed that the person had no muscle augmentation to speak of, allowing Myers to easily overpower her and torque her weapon free. But before she could even comprehend leveling it, much less firing it, the soldier threw her own weapon high above her head, clutching the blade in mid-air and yanking it out of the sheath before bringing it down into a reverse high-guard.

  The soldier pushed her around the corner, driving the sword in between Myers and her weapon and cranking it hard, ripping the gun right out of the President’s hands and severing its connection with the magnetic sling wrapped around her suit. Almost instantly, she raised the sword with a seemingly superhuman level of speed, leveling the spine end of the weapon with Myers’ throat.

  –

  “And who the fuck are you?!” Hmph… President Myers, I presume…

  “President Myers?” I asked her, my hands still shaking from the earlier battle, “My name is V. I’m here to bring you and Songbird to safety.”

  “V… Heh, I know it’s corny, but that’s my favorite letter of the alphabet right now…” she grinned, “Nice sword. Wanna save it for the enemy?”

  “They’ve seen quite a bit of it by now,” I replied bluntly, lowering Izanami to my side and allowing her to pick up her weapon again, “We don’t have much time. Are you injured?”

  “I’ve had worse,” she scoffed at me with a sly grin, “Songbird tells me you’re military.”

  “I am.”

  “Good, then I’ll assume that you know what you’re doing,” she said with a deep, commanding voice, “Lead the way–!”

  –

  A massive explosion shredded the exposed side of the spacecraft, cracking it like an egg and sending both V and the President flying across the room. Body parts of the fallen had broken apart and intruded into the safe room, littering the floor with scorched flesh and clothing.

  V, being closest to the door, struggled to recover, the shockwave knocking the wind out of her. Myers faced no such problems, her synthetic lungs easily compensating and retaining plenty of air. She ran over and helped her fellow soldier to her feet, V coughing up smoke and retrieving her sword off the ground.

  “They just don’t let up, do they…” Myers grunted, flipping her weapon off safe and posting herself by the door, “You okay?”

  “大丈夫、行け [I’m fine, go]!!” V shouted, leaning on her weapon to stabilize her as she stood up and got her bearings. Her ears were ringing and her eyes blurry, both issues that persisted through her shaking her head and steeling herself for the second round. Apparently they didn’t take the hint the first time, she thought to herself, her sword instantly heating back up as she walked outside the safe room, ready for more blood. She donned her scarf again and leveled her sword with the charging foes, a scowl of determination painted on her face.

  BARGHEST forces charged out of the SoftSys storefront behind the pair of massive Minotaur drones, a ‘gift’ from the NUSA. Their missiles, normally firing in volleys, instead deployed all at once, focusing on the compromised weak points in the ship’s hull and annihilating it in seconds. Men loosely kicked the fallen drones and severed body parts down to the lower levels, extensive combat experience and cyberware utterly desensitizing them from the smell of the charred bodies. Hansen had promised them a baptism of fire, and fire he certainly delivered, taking the form of no fewer than a dozen assault rifles alongside the Minotaurs in a lethal firing line.

  V ordered Myers to cover her advance with suppressive fire, the President’s weapon providing a stream of fire that was like a garden hose trying to match a raging flood. But it was enough to at least hold off a few of the BARGHEST soldiers, if not the Minotaurs, their robotic senses remaining unflinching in the face of any level of firepower. The mercenary darted out into the face of it all, rotating her sword so rapidly that its glow produced a distinct outline of light wherever it went.

  The mesmerizingly deadly patterns she weaved in the air deflected round after round, with several high-velocity projectiles making it through and striking her in the leg and chest. Her Kevlar ballistic tights soaked with blood as she grunted and powered through the intense pain, fueling her inner fury hot enough that her sword’s edge began to glow white-hot at several points, the blade’s composition easily accepting the heat. Bullets were returned as jets of molten fluid as Izanami superheated and near-instantly melted the lead projectiles in a dazzling plume of smoke and sparks, all propelled forward by the winds V was producing. One of the Minotaurs was near-instantly shredded by friendly fire, V directing it all straight into its faceplate and crippling it. The massive machine fell four stories down, landing with a massive crunch in a bed of expended shell casings.

  The remaining Minotaur shifted its focus from Myers to V, sensing she was the greater threat while the President reloaded another magazine. Its massive cannons proved too great for the samurai to overcome with one hand, having to brace herself against her own weapon to effectively block the tremendous weight of fire. The glowing blade instantly scalded her left hand with a gruesome sizzling noise, a sensation she was forever numb to after her experiences with Shinden.

  Izanami seemed to adapt - as much as it could, anyway - to her hand suddenly grasping the superheated element, immediately shutting off electrical flow beyond that point and cutting off the heat generation. The weapon recuperated most of its internal heat stores, supercharging the rest of the blade and vaporizing every single round it came into contact with, save the heavier 20mm sabot slugs fired by the Minotaur.

  Knowing that a single shot from the monstrous weapons could easily end her, she covered herself behind the hull to regain some stamina, the bulkhead groaning in protest under the sheer weight of fire. Myers ducked to V’s left, opening up on crucial weak points she memorized from her tenure as Militech’s CEO. At last, an opening presented itself to them both – an exposed magazine underneath the beast’s armature, which V exploited with an expertly-aimed 20mm shell deflection.

  The chain reaction quickly propagated, permanently disabling one of the Minotaur's weapons and allowing a crucial respite for Myers to reload and pull off the same trick on the right-hand side weapon in turn.

  Every BARGHEST recruit screamed obscenities and battle cries alike at the duo, in apparent disbelief that there were only two people still alive and somehow able to fend off a whole platoon’s worth of their finest. More reinforcements were coming, however – there will always be more. They just had to whittle down the enemy until there was nothing left, a plan that was put to scrap with the second Minotaur’s violent ammunition detonation.

  The soldiers were thrown off their feet from the explosion’s shockwave, sending shrapnel and errant cookoffs in every direction and peppering them with scorching-hot lead. V finally let go of her sword’s blade, not willing to risk yet more permanent damage to her hands, and immediately charged up the side of the spacecraft’s wing before the enemy had time to recover. Myers covered her advance yet again, scoring multiple hits on several soldiers to capitalize on V’s convenient distraction tactic.

  –

  “Stance.”

  I sheathed my bokken in my kimono’s sash, following my mother’s instructions.

  “Draw.”

  The wood gently slid out with almost no noise, fighting the air as I snapped it up over my head.

  “Blunt. Focus on the motion. Loosen your wrist and let the weapon dictate its path, then carry it forwards.”

  Once again, I sheathed the bokken and tried again, this time the wooden sword emanating not a single sound as it effortlessly sailed through the air. A smile crept onto my face – I knew I’d finally hit my mark… It was perfect.

  “Good,” my mother paid me a remarkably unexpected compliment… my jaw opened wide and my eyes watered… I’d done it…

  “Yes…” I whispered under my breath, running over and giving my mother a hug. I knew she would never reciprocate it, but I still felt like I owed her one. “Thanks… Heh, I can’t wait until I’m a proper samurai!”

  My mother separated herself from me, looking visibly confused at her six-year-old’s question. “You already are a samurai. It is not something to earn, it is a birthright. What you refer to is the concept of an onna-musha.”

  “A… ‘female warrior’?”

  “Indeed. Not all samurai are bushi, and not all bushi are samurai. The term comes from Old Japanese – saburafu, ‘to serve.’ All a samurai is, was, and ever will be, is a servant to those in power, in whatever capacity is required.”

  I stared down at my bokken again, absorbing what she was saying. “But then… you are also onna-musha?”

  “I am.”

  “But that isn’t what makes you samurai?”

  “No. ‘Samurai’ is no more significant than your blood type. What gives it value is the capacity to serve a greater purpose than your own interests.”

  “My own interests…”

  “I will tell you more when you come of age,” she shook her head and started to walk away from me.”

  “No! Please, Mom.”

  She turned around, looked at me for a few seconds, and sighed deeply. “Your sword is a tool. It only becomes a weapon when it is wielded as one. It may also be art if one appreciates it, or any number of other concepts. In this way, a samurai is only a warrior if they go to war. It is merely a purpose. It is not what defines us. Do you understand?”

  “No…”

  She glared at me for a moment before wordlessly turning back around and disappearing into her study…

  An onna-musha…

  “Come,” she beckoned me inside, “Sit down.” The room was dimly lit by the overhead light, turned down to help preserve my mother’s new cybereyes while she got used to them, I imagined. Books sat to one side of her massive wooden desk, the deep ebony featuring elaborate carvings depicting a mixture of Chinese and Japanese mythology.

  “Wow…” I gasped, my eyes wandering around the office and focusing on a beautiful sword, the one she called Shinden.

  “You like that okatana, don’t you?” she asked me, digging inside her desk and producing a bottle of sake, “One day it will be yours. And, the spirits willing, it will someday belong to your descendants as well.”

  “Can I see it?” I asked with a shaky voice.

  My mother silently got up and I immediately gasped, not expecting her to grant me this privilege in the slightest. Her eyes carefully scanned the sword before she gently cradled it, slowly removing it from its mount and carrying it over. I felt a wave of euphoria unlike anything else as she rested it on her desk, gingerly taking my hand and placing it on the silk handle. “This is our family’s sword,” she told me in her usual resonant tone, “It was passed down through our line for over five centuries. And one day I will pass it down to you.”

  “Really?! When?!” I cheered, more excited than I’d ever been in my life.

  “When you are ready.”

  “I’m ready now!!” I shouted, practically jumping in my seat.

  “No. Being samurai is more than technique. Much like how this sword is more than a weapon,” her voice was oddly soft now, not in a way I was used to hearing. She carefully lifted Shinden back up, as if it was made of brittle glass, “It has not shed blood in a hundred years. Nor will it ever, under my watch. There is a difference between fate and purpose. When you learn this, I will give you the sword.”

  “Fate and purpose…”

  Mom looked at me dead in the eyes. “You wish to learn the ways of the warrior. That is a purpose you have given yourself. But it is not your fate. Do not mistake the two.”

  –

  “Impressive skill,” Myers complimented as I flicked the remaining blood off of Izanami, returning it to its saya and observing the battlefield, “Never seen anyone move a blade that fast.” Clearly you haven’t met my mother…

  “I do what I can with the tools given to me.” I checked my vest for additional damage… Fuck… Another back shot. Would’ve been disabling had it not been for my backpack taking the brunt of it… Shot went into my canteen. What an asshole… Shotgun pellets in my hip from when the guy fired at me from the escalator… “You wouldn’t happen to have painkillers in there, would you?”

  “Where are you injured?” she asked, heading back into the safe room to retrieve the aid kit.

  “Mmh… Left hip. And the shoulder.”

  “Alright…” she shouted from behind the partially-opened door, gathering the necessary supplies, “Anywhere else?”

  I scanned my body again… “Burned my left hand… and I think I may have one on my back.”

  “Christ, did any of their ammo miss you?” Myers joked as I removed my backpack, groaning in pain as the adrenaline started to die down again. She came back in with the aid kit, producing a decent-sized needle filled with some sort of metallic fluid. “This’s gonna hurt…”

  “What is th– GAAH!!” I yelped as she jabbed me in the back, physically restraining me with her body as she plunged the syringe into me–FUCK!! IS THAT MY SPINE?!

  “Nanites,” she said matter-of-factly as my body contorted and shook violently, “Experimental nanosurgeons. Courtesy of Militech. Acts as a lattice that clots and coats the wound with collagen. Gives you a nasty scar if you’re not careful, though.”

  “GGRRMMmmh… I grunted through gnashed teeth, “I’ll bear that in mind… How long does it last?”

  “Few hours. Enough to see us through the night, hopefully…” she said rather pensively before checking her own body for wounds… No, she looked clean. Good news for me.

  “Hopefully…” I repeated in a low voice, unable to hear myself with my ears still ringing from that explosion, “Songbird mentioned a safehouse at Elizabeth Kress Street, do you know it?”

  “Nah, I don’t exactly come here too often,” she said somewhat jokingly, “Regardless, we need to be anywhere but here.”

  “Agreed,” I nodded, glancing around the place and looking for any sort of exit… Might be better off heading out of the port side. “Go collect weapons, ammo, anything with calories in it from the safe room… anything you think might be useful.”

  “What caliber does your sidearm take?”

  “5.56 NATO,” I told her, “Well, the big one does.”

  “The big one? Heh, alright…” she disappeared back behind the door again.

  “Songbird, I have Myers, she’s secure.”

  “Really? Thank God,” Songbird chimed back in, “What’s the sitch?”

  “Not good,” I said frankly, “We’re gathering supplies from SFOne before heading out. How do we get to the safehouse?”

  “Okay, you’re gonna want to head east. There’s a building that’ll take you down to ground level. From there, keep your head down and make your way over to the far western end of Dogtown. Kress Street’s one block north of the Stacks, you’re lookin’ for an abandoned hotel. Not a single heat sig in the whole building, so you should be clear from there.” No heat signatures doesn’t necessarily mean nobody in general, but I’ll take her word for it.

  “Got it, see you there,” I said softly as Myers headed back inside, handing me a box of 5.56 and another of .45 ACP.

  “Got a few MREs but nothin’ calorie-dense,” she told me, revealing a pair of MREs marked ‘crab ragu.’

  “Thanks, I’ll pass,” I chuckled a bit, turning around and popping open the emergency release hatch on the port side, “Kress Street’s west of us. First thing’s first – we head east. There’s an elevator in the building next to us that’ll bring us down to the road. Then it’s just a matter of looking both ways before crossing.”

  “Hooah.”

  We exited the craft, my skin already seemingly fully-healed… Damn, that shit really does work. I guess it pays to be on top of the world… Gonna check with Vik and Judy regardless, see if she placed a tracker or something in me. I wouldn’t exactly put it past her. Also I had to hand it to her – she knew how to move in heels, clearing rubble like it was nothing. Good to see this wasn’t an ordinary babysitting extraction like the old days.

  Speaking of the old days, I found it ironic that I was even performing such an operation at all. Back then, I would’ve paid all of my worth just to have a shot at killing this woman. Now I’m saving her life – and saving my own in the process. Funny how wars can be like that… Enemies one day, tentative survivalists the next. Though her survival remains to be seen – Songbird still owes me a magical cure-all.

  Alright, here we go… time to earn your paycheck, ronin.