Chapter 185: Shattered Jade
Reed's brief appearance was like a blurry yet sharp mirror, reflecting the outline of his past in his mind while simultaneously bringing his current predicament into sharper focus.
He was no longer the soldier who could fight for some grand ideal—whether true or false. Nor was he the mercenary fighting in the streets and alleys for survival and Eurodollars.
So now, what exactly was he?
A sharper weapon in the hands of the Boss?
Or a trapped beast, deeply mired in the eternal cycle of war, despite possessing power beyond ordinary men?
Before the fog of his thoughts could dissipate, several flickering spots of light suddenly lit up on the distant horizon, followed by the dull, dense roar of engines, rudely interrupting his introspection.
"Attention! Hostile units detected! Frontal sector!" The voice of the Barghest forward observer spiked in the comms channel, carrying an urgent warning.
All distracting thoughts were cleared in an instant.
Maine's crimson optical lenses focused sharply, locking onto the distance.
In his field of vision, dozens of crudely modified armed vehicles, like mad dogs slipping their leashes, kicked up pillars of dust as they pounced toward the defense line with unreserved madness.
Arasaka insignias were roughly sprayed or carved onto the vehicle bodies, and some vehicles were obviously strapped with bulky explosives.
The personnel on the vehicles were equipped with a mess of gear—some wore tattered corporate uniforms, others just civilian clothes—but their faces uniformly displayed a mix of mania and finality. They opened their mouths in silence, as if emitting soundless war cries, while the weapons in their hands began spewing a chaotic rain of bullets toward the defense line.
"Here they come!" Maine growled low. The bionic skin on his left arm slid open, and the master-crafted plasma cannon muzzle began to gather a ghostly blue glow. "Rebecca, suppress the front! Dorio, watch the flanks! Pilar, burn anyone who gets too close!"
Combat detonated in an instant.
On the Barghest positions, light and heavy firepower spewed simultaneously, weaving a curtain of lethal projectiles.
The few Arasaka vehicles charging at the very front were torn to shreds by the dense rain of bullets almost immediately, turning into burning wreckage.
However, the following vehicles didn't slow down in the slightest. Instead, with even more manic postures, they accelerated over the wreckage of their comrades.
Rebecca's heavy boltgun let out a heart-palpitating roar. Every boom was accompanied by the complete disintegration of an assault vehicle, sending metal fragments and organic tissue flying.
Dorio stood like a monolith at the forefront of the line. Her oscillation generators outputted at full power; visible shockwaves uprooted vehicles attempting to ram her and smashed them ruthlessly back into the ground.
Pilar's flamethrower continuously sprayed viscous, ghostly blue Promethium flames, building a wall of death in front of the position, turning any enemy attempting to cross it into screaming charcoal.
Maine's movements were precise and efficient. With every low hum of the plasma cannon on his left arm, a blinding azure sphere of light shot out, instantly evaporating a massive hole with molten edges through a target vehicle.
He was like a perfect killing terminal, yet deep in his heart, the scene before him constantly overlapped and intertwined with fragments of memories from past wars.
The same charges, the same death. Only, the enemies before him had abandoned all tactics, leaving only primal madness.
Just then, a distinct, heavy booming sound came from the flank of the position.
Two "Commando-VII" power armors belonging to the Lazarus squad finally activated.
The steel bodies, nearly three meters tall, stomped violently on the ground driven by hydraulic systems. The auxiliary thrusters on their backs burst with short lived blue flames. Moving with a swiftness that belied their massive bulk, they smashed into the scattered flank of the Arasaka remnants like two heavy hammers.
Their actions were concise, brutal, and efficient.
The auto-turret on the shoulder of one power armor hissed briefly. Precise bursts tore apart several Arasaka soldiers who had just peeked out from behind burning vehicle wreckage, along with the cover they were hiding behind.
The other was even more direct. Its massive metal foot trampled ruthlessly, crushing a screaming enemy strapped with explosives, along with the detonator in his arms, into a paste of flesh and metal.
Faced with these steel giants, the small-caliber weapons in the hands of the Arasaka remnants seemed laughable.
Bullets hit the composite armor, sparking only sporadic flashes, unable to slow them down by even half a step.
A rapid volley from the multi-barrel grenade launcher on one power armor's arm swallowed a group of seven or eight clustered enemies in a cloud of explosion smoke.
The other waved a heavy power claw, tearing a technical pickup truck attempting to turn and ram it in half at the waist, along with the occupants inside, like a hot knife through butter.
The brief impact of these two power armors on the enemy group was like boulders rolling into an ant colony. Within a mere dozen seconds, they utterly crushed the Arasaka assault squad of over a dozen men on the flank, leaving only a field of wreckage mixed with flesh and metal.
"They're crazy!" Pilar shouted in the channel while maintaining the flame jet, his voice a mix of combat excitement and astonishment at this suicidal charge.
"They are sending themselves to die," Maine responded calmly. His plasma cannon hummed again, directly vaporizing the front end of a truck attempting to ram the base of a power armor. "For some twisted concept of loyalty."
The battle was cruel and brief.
The fanatical offensive of the Arasaka suicide squad disintegrated rapidly under the dense firepower of Barghest, the unconventional strikes of Maine's squad, and the overwhelming domination of the Lazarus power armors.
Like surging waves crashing against an indestructible reef, they were smashed to pieces.
When the last Arasaka vehicle was precisely blown up by Rebecca in the distance, turning into an expanding fireball, the battlefield finally fell silent.
All that remained was the crackling of burning wreckage and the faint, fading groans of sporadic survivors.
Maine stood behind the cover, looking at the hellish scene before him, and slowly retracted his plasma cannon arm.
The air was filled with the nauseating stench of thick smoke, ozone, burning rubber, and charred flesh.
A Barghest sergeant major strode over. The dust on his face was streaked with sweat, and his eyes held a mix of post-combat adrenaline and a hint of imperceptible unease.
"Good shooting, Mr. Maine! You guys were a huge help!" His voice was half an octave higher than usual, carrying the tremors of having just survived a life-and-death struggle.
Maine simply nodded with a minimal movement in response.
His gaze passed over the crackling wreckage still burning before him, casting toward the blurry skyline of Night City, and the pitch-black ocean further out where the White Whale might be lurking.
This was merely a prelude.
A reconnaissance in force packaged in despair and fanaticism. A cold-blooded act of attrition.
Arasaka's true main force—those well-trained soldiers and real steel beasts—were still hidden behind the curtain, yet to take the stage.
And he, his squad, everyone here, had been ruthlessly swept into this massive vortex woven together by corporate ambition, years of hatred, and deeper conspiracies.
War never changes.
And he, it seemed, had never truly escaped this killing field.
Solomon Reed's words, tinged with the mockery of fate—"Protect yourself, old timer"—seemed to still whisper in his ears.
He unconsciously clenched his fist. The metal knuckles made a subtle yet clear grinding sound in the silence.
No matter for what, no matter where, surviving was the only eternal truth at this moment.
(End of Chapter)