Militech took WCN's war contract. Now their executives were already regretting it.
"Boss, Militech wants to talk," Lissandra said in Rocky's ear.
Rocky didn't think long. He opened the line. Their purpose was precisely what he expected.
Militech wanted to surrender.
In a matter of hours, Ascension Technology had made one of the world's biggest corps bow its head.
"Mr. L, I've heard your name for a long time," said Lucas, Militech's CEO.
"Militech took WCN's commission. That's why we invaded Night City. I'm sure you know that. We want to end this. I'm willing to terminate our contract with WCN unilaterally. From now on, Militech will completely withdraw from Night City. We'll also pay Ascension a massive indemnity as compensation for the war," Lucas said, laying out a ceasefire plan.
For a giant like Militech, the posture was already low. Even when they tore into Arasaka in the past, no one ever heard them talk about surrender.
Rocky's reply surprised him.
"I don't think Ascension needs your surrender. As for compensation, that has no value to us."
The number Militech had in mind would make any company's eyes light up.
Rocky didn't bite. Ascension didn't lack money anymore. He wanted power. He wanted these companies to stop treating the world like their private board game.
"What's that supposed to mean? Are you really going to go to full war with Militech? WCN started this. Militech will pull out, so we won't affect you anymore.
"Militech doesn't want more losses, but we won't be pushed around. Ascension is strong, sure, but nobody wants to see the world's strongest arms manufacturer go to a do-or-die counterattack.
"If the compensation isn't enough, we can negotiate. If this becomes an all-out war, you can't put the genie back. Think this through," Lucas said, face tight.
"If it's about 'enough,' then no, it isn't," Rocky said, smiling. "A single Militech won't do. You can stop fighting, but I'll come collect what I want you to hand over.
"I'm actually looking forward to seeing Militech's desperate counterattack. Let's hope your reason keeps that scene from happening."
Lucas didn't understand a word of what Rocky meant to do. Before he could continue, Rocky cut the call.
He still didn't get it when the subsequent notice arrived: Ascension forces were disengaging.
Militech's bases stopped screaming red. The chaos eased. Executives let out a breath. As long as Ascension wasn't pounding them anymore, nothing else seemed urgent.
…
Militech's commissioned invasion of Night City shocked the whole world.
Not because of Night City alone, but because of the two megacorps involved.
After so many years, Arasaka and Militech were fighting large scale again. No one could say whether this would turn into a fresh global corporate war. If it did, no country or market could claim it'd stay untouched.
Attention spiked to record levels.
And when the shooting started, it stunned everyone.
You couldn't hide the Badlands turning into an inferno or the thunder of a giant ship overhead. Ascension and Arasaka didn't even try to block the footage.
With the Ascension Network stitching the globe together, information moved at frightening speed.
Clips flooded every feed: the crushing presence of the aerospace warship, Titans running the field, steel mechs carving the sky.
It broke people's mental models and rewrote their idea of what Ascension was.
Militech, the company that wins wars, couldn't land a punch. In minutes, they were suing for peace. That told the world all it needed to know.
WCN was the most shocked of all.
They had a clear deal with Militech: one paid the money, the other did the work.
The fighting barely started, and Militech surrendered.
WCN stormed Militech for an explanation. If a contractor tears up a war commission unilaterally, the penalties are brutal.
Militech said they didn't care about the penalty. They sent WCN a message instead:
We've surrendered. You should stop picking fights with Ascension, walk away now, or you won't even understand how you died.
WCN took that in and hesitated.
WCN headquarters.
Not long after the last meeting, the senior leadership was back around the same table.
"What is Militech's problem? They surrendered in under half a day?"
"Ascension is scarier than we thought. The leaked footage makes that obvious. Not even Arasaka can field tech at that level. If they could, Militech would've been crushed years ago."
"So what now? Do we just watch Ascension take our entire market? You know what that does to our balance sheet."
The room sank. They all knew Ascension wasn't simple, but none of them wanted to swallow this.
"Even Militech surrendered. I don't think we have any play this time. If we keep pushing against Ascension and Arasaka, we'll only bleed more."
Alarms went off across the campus. The chairman's secretary burst into the room.
"It exploded. Everything exploded!"
"What happened? Speak clearly," the chairman snapped.
He checked his personal system on instinct. His entire network had flipped to disconnected.
He was on WCN's private satellite backbone. With no signal, the picture snapped into focus.
"All of the communication satellites just exploded."