"Is this going to work?" V asked curiously, eyeing the power station perched on top of the mountain.
"At least it's more reliable than trying to shoot it down with your little pistol," Panam replied, leaning against the car as red warning lights blinked across the station's exterior.
Their plan was simple. When the hovercraft passed overhead, they would overload the power station and unleash a powerful electromagnetic pulse. From there, it all depended on luck.
The base of the mountain held chimney-like energy collectors designed to receive microwave transmissions from orbiting satellites. These collectors converted the energy into electricity to power Night City.
But if they overloaded, those same collectors could emit a devastating EMP. Such a surge would wreak havoc on a hovercraft—disabling its engines, scrambling navigation, severing communication. In short, it would fall from the sky.
Then, it would be time to neutralize Kang Tao's guards and capture Anders Hermann.
"Why not just blow up the whole power station?" V asked. "Wouldn't brute force be easier than sneaking in and hoping for the best?"
"If we destroy the station, the system will activate an emergency fuse mechanism. That'll shut the entire thing down, and we'll get no EMP. This way's better—and it's easy," Panam explained. "All we have to do is push the voltage to maximum."
"Heh. Easy sounds good." V nodded. They couldn't afford to linger inside for long; being discovered would screw everything.
"Let's go over it again," Panam said as she got back into the driver's seat. "We go in fast, hack the system, crank the value to max, plant the detonator, and get the hell out. Got it?"
"Got it!" V replied with a confident grin.
"If anyone shows up, we use the turret to clear them."
"Good plan."
The car rumbled to life and sped up the mountainside.
"Damn, this place really is the middle of nowhere," Johnny said, appearing in the back seat and taking in the empty, windblown mountaintop dotted only with power equipment. "You're destroying corporate power stations, hijacking corporate vehicles, and kidnapping corporate executives. V, I gotta say, you're making me proud. Reminds me of myself fifty years ago."
"Please, I'm nothing like you," V retorted, speaking to him mentally.
"Right. You're not nearly as handsome as me."
"Sure. But at least I'm not as much of a jackass."
"Give it time. You'll grow into it."
"The more we go through, the more alike we become. It's disturbing."
As they parked at the summit, V noticed something odd: there were no patrols—only a few drones lazily hovering near the station. Panam made quick work of them using the car's mounted turret.
Once clear, they dashed into the central control room.
The moment V entered, a wave of dizziness hit him. He staggered, his cybernetics sparking faintly.
"Move it!" Panam yelled. "You take the left panel, I've got the right! Crank the value to max—don't forget!"
"Got it!" V shouted, gritting his teeth against the discomfort. His steps were unsteady as he reached the console.
"The electric field is too strong—your implants are failing!" Johnny's voice rang out in her mind, unable to manifest physically in the field's interference.
"I know!" V hissed back.
Fighting through the static and nausea, he managed to override the safety locks and shove the voltage settings to their highest. Just as he confirmed the values, a pulse wave blasted him across the room.
"V! Are you okay?" Panam rushed over and helped him up.
"I'm fine! Let's get out of here!"
The two bolted from the station and returned to a vantage point with a wide view of the city and the highways snaking into the horizon.
This was where they'd planned to observe the hovercraft. Thanks to intel from Rogue, they knew it would depart tonight.
"Johnny? Johnny!" V called out mentally but got no answer. Her concern grew with every second.
They stepped out of the vehicle, surveying the quiet landscape.
"It's beautiful up here," Panam said, her voice soft. "Fresh air, no noise, just the breeze."
"No matter how pretty it is, it still pales next to you," V teased.
"Fuck you," Panam shot back with a smile. "Eyes on the sky. Press the detonator when the hovercraft gets close."
"Haha—your flirting made me nauseous," Johnny's voice suddenly returned, raspy but present.
"You good?" V asked.
"I've been worse. Don't worry about me. Focus."
"There it is!" Panam pointed.
A glowing orange-red hovercraft crept over the city, leaving Night City's regulated airspace before speeding up—hitting 300 kilometers per hour as it cut toward the Kang Tao control zone. From there, it would transfer to a private jet back to the corporation's headquarters.
"Now!" V slammed the detonator button.
The control room behind them exploded in a massive fireball. The redirected voltage surged into the energy towers.
For a moment, a blinding sphere of white light—like a miniature sun—formed at the peak of the tower. Then it burst. A shockwave rippled out from the tower, flattening nearby trees and tossing cars like toys. Half of Night City went dark in an instant. Only corporations with private power sources retained their lights.
"Holy shit!" V exclaimed. "That was way stronger than I thought. But... no! They activated the emergency system! It's still in the air!"
"Don't panic," Panam said coolly. She popped open the trunk and pulled out a massive shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. "Let's fix that."
She fired. The missile hit the hovercraft dead-on. It began to tilt, wobbling as smoke poured from its side, and finally plunged diagonally toward the earth.
"Nice shot. Let's go."
They jumped in the car and took off in pursuit.
"Scorpion! You see that?" Panam called out through the car's radio.
"Yeah! Hovercraft's down! No idea on casualties. Heading to check it out," came Scorpion's voice, casual and calm.
"I'm on my way too," Mitch added.
"Wait—no!" Panam shouted into the comms. "Don't go over there! Those are company goons!"
"Shit. The EMP's still scrambling comms. They can't hear us," V muttered.
"It's okay, Panam," she said, gripping the handrail as the vehicle sped through rugged terrain. "They'll be fine."
"Damn it! That's a Kang Tao craft. Those bastards don't take prisoners."
"Maybe they're just looking for survivors," V offered, trying to stay optimistic.
"Maybe," she replied, her expression dark with doubt. She didn't believe it. Neither did V.
They reached a hill overlooking the crash site. Below, several Kang Tao security guards and robots were already on the scene. Bodies of the Aldecaldos littered the area.
Panam's eyes flared with rage. She moved to leap out of the car.
"Don't! Be smart," V grabbed her arm. "They've got firepower down there. We go in quiet. I saw Mitch—he's alive. But we have to be careful."
Panam clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and nodded. "I'm with you."
The two slipped down the slope, staying low in the shadows. They took out a few guards with silent takedowns, then turned their attention to the robots. It wasn't long before they breached the hovercraft's mangled hull.
Inside, they found a Kang Tao pilot holding Mitch hostage, a trembling gun pressed to his temple.
"Don't move!" the pilot barked. "If I die, he dies!"
Clearly, the man wasn't trained for this kind of confrontation.
"Easy, man," V said calmly, stepping slightly to the right. "Let him go, and we can all walk away."
The pilot, panicking, tracked V's motion with the gun.
That's when Panam took the shot.
One clean bullet to the head, and the threat was over.
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