Chapter 3: The Dispute Begins
"Oh my god! That's Konpeki Plaza!"
Sandayu Oda, standing beside him, followed his gaze and gasped in disbelief. Konpeki Plaza wasn't just another corporate tower in Night City—it was a symbol of luxury, power, and prestige. A sky-high fortress hosting the rich and ruthless, combining a five-star hotel, private entertainment, and high-level business meetings.
Now, it was being torn apart by a swarm of heavily armed AVs—once majestic, now violated and burning like a dismembered doll.
"Looks like Arasaka's gonna be bleeding money after this," muttered Takumi Kai, letting out a low whistle. But his eyes betrayed his unease—this wasn't just another job.
The rest of the squad, arriving shortly after, wore the same solemn expression. Someone had breached Konpeki Plaza. That wasn't just bold—it was suicidal.
"This city never lacks lunatics," Ash said with a crooked smile to his team. "And as long as cyberpsychos keep showing up, we've got a purpose. We're the ones who send 'em back to hell before they take the rest of us with them."
Despite the chaos, their captain's composure was contagious. The team chuckled, tension easing just enough to remember who they were.
Beep beep beep~ Beep beep beep~
Ash's smart communicator lit up on his wrist, auto-connecting without a prompt.
"Headquarters to Seventeen Squad. Repeat: Headquarters to Seventeen Squad."
"Seventeen Squad, standing by," Ash replied.
"Immediate deployment to Corporate Plaza Way 101. Lock it down. No one gets in or out—on foot or in vehicles."
"We're on it," Ash confirmed and cut the line before the dispatcher could repeat.
"Who's the corpo genius that made auto-connect a default feature?" Takumi grumbled. "Next time I see them, I'll 'thank' them with a bullet."
The team had the same communicator, but Ash forbade them from using it during missions—one loud, unexpected connection could get them all killed.
"Gear up. We've got work."
"Captain, what about You Dou?" Nova Li asked from the driver's seat, glancing at a nearby pachinko parlor.
"Arasaka is both a badge and a burden. He's got his own mess to handle," Ash replied. "When he needs us, he'll find us."
Nova smiled, reassured by Ash's steadiness. "Great! That means I won't have to listen to him nag at the party. Let's roll! Hurry up!"
Ash said nothing. He just gave her a knowing look. Teammates didn't always need words—just trust.
In a city built on betrayal and greed, having people you could rely on was rare. That alone was worth more than eddies.
Everyone piled into the vehicle. Ash racked his weapon's slide and smirked.
"Let's find out who's got the balls to hit Konpeki Plaza."
The military-grade vehicle drifted out in a cloud of burning rubber, earning curses from pedestrians. Ash just chuckled.
Let 'em blame Militech. What's that got to do with Arasaka?
But instead of heading straight to the scene, Nova detoured to a hidden garage. There, she opened the doors to reveal a matte-black Arasaka Colt 300—a mobile fortress outfitted to kill.
It was a beast. Custom crash beams. Reinforced bulletproof glass. Nearly 20 tons of armor and attitude. Modified by Nova herself to plow through anything—cars, drones, even Arasaka's own tower guards.
She wanted to upgrade it even more, but since the squad paid out of pocket for mods, she stuck to the essentials: durability and raw power.
Ash didn't care about how flashy their ride was—only that it could survive a warzone. Strength, after all, was what he valued above all else.
Whenever a new weapon or tech hit the streets, Ash personally made sure someone from the squad mastered it. Hell, he usually learned it himself too.
He demanded everyone on the team know their turf—the gangs, the key players, who to avoid and who to shoot. No last-minute scrambling on the job.
"It won't make your life better," he once said. "But it'll stop it from getting worse."
Night City didn't have public education—not really. Schools were owned by megacorps like Arasaka, Militech, or Kang Tao. Enroll, and you were stamped with a corporate barcode, buried in debt, and funneled into a life of servitude.
Ash had been one of them. He'd just gotten lucky. Crawled his way out of the gutter. That's why he fought so hard to make his team better.
Back on the road, Nova slammed the pedal. Meanwhile, Sandayu pulled a heavy laptop from her bag and started hammering away on the keyboard.
Data scrolled across the screen like neon rain.
She was wiping the stolen vehicle's usage logs—standard corp hardware always tracked its own data, privacy be damned.
In ten seconds flat, she closed the lid.
BOOM—an explosion rocked the distance. Yue Tanaka looked down at the timer on his wristband as it hit zero. Expressionless.
"Twenty-two seconds," Ash murmured from the backseat, eyes still closed.
He didn't say more—but under the shadow of his black hood, Sandayu thought she saw him smile.
A few seconds faster than last time.
Her lips curved up too.
If he's happy, I'm happy.
Ten minutes later, an NCPD cruiser rolled up to the smoldering wreckage they'd left behind.
"That a Militech ride?" asked a rookie officer.
"Sure looks like it. Call it in. Let the suits clean up their own mess," his partner muttered, lighting a cigarette.
They weren't getting themselves killed for a few hundred eddies a month. Better to shake down some punks in Kabuki than mess with the kind of people who blow up Militech gear and don't even blink.
Nova reached Corporate Plaza in record time. From several blocks away, gunfire echoed through the concrete jungle.
Ash jumped out and issued orders like a conductor orchestrating a symphony of violence.
"Takumi, take high ground. Yue, bring the MG. Sandayu, hack the cam grid within six blocks. Nova, turn those parked cars into barricades."
As he spoke, Ash launched a surveillance drone into the air. It hovered a second, then zipped off under Sandayu's remote control. Best way to find trouble was to see it first.
Of course, Ash already knew what was happening.
He didn't care much for video games, but even he couldn't forget this part of the plot.
The person being hunted down... was none other than V.
---
Half an hour earlier...
"That's Adam Smasher!" Jack Wells whispered, staring at the full-chrome monster behind Arasaka Yorinobu.
"Keep it down!" V snapped, ducking low. "This place might be bugged!"
"Saburo's bodyguard is here. If they spot us, we're screwed."
Inside, Arasaka Saburo motioned toward Takemura Goro.
"Leave us. I'll speak with my son alone."
"But the security sweep isn't finished," Takemura protested.
"No need. He's my son," Saburo replied calmly.
Takemura bowed and left—with Adam Smasher.
Yorinobu's patience snapped the moment the door closed.
"You said you wouldn't interfere!"
"You want to hand our tech to some Western mercs and expect me to do nothing?" Saburo roared. "You've learned nothing!"
Yorinobu's fury exploded. "You're insane! This whole plan—your greed, your control—it's monstrous!"
Saburo stayed calm. "You've changed. This isn't the son I raised."
"And you're not the father I respected!"
Saburo's face turned mournful. "If your mother were alive, she'd never allow this."
That broke Yorinobu.
"Don't you dare speak her name!" he screamed, lunging forward.
Hands locked around his father's neck.
Saburo struggled, but it was no use. In seconds, the old man was dead.
Yorinobu gasped for breath, chest heaving with rage and guilt. Then he straightened, clutching his father's lifeless body.
"I... I want the hotel on full lockdown."
"Reason for lockdown?" asked the room's AI.
Yorinobu took a breath. Then, coldly:
"My father has been murdered."
Red alerts flashed as every alarm in the building screamed to life.
And just like that, all hell broke loose.