Seren J.H. Wolfe

“THERE ARE NO CLEAN HANDS. BUT IT IS IMPORTANT HOW THEY BECOME DIRTY.”

 – GORO TAKEMURA

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Kabuki’s perfume wafted through Panam’s open truck windows as they drove, allowing Johnny to hang his hand outside the cab while he smoked. He stared hard at the city as it went by: trash heaped on the curbs, wild-eyed citizens stumbling down alleyways. He spotted a suit and two thugs stomping on someone, while the cops drank their shitty coffee half a block away.

“Blowing those motherfuckers sky-high didn’t do a goddamn thing,” he muttered to himself. Tilting his head back, he tried to focus on V’s reflection flashing in and out of view on the glass with the streetlights, his stomach turning.

“Eddie for your thoughts?” Panam asked, pulling to a stop at a red light. “From what I understand from V, you’re not usually the strong, silent type.”

Johnny shrugged, then flicked his hand dismissively towards the streets. “Nothing has changed, Panam. People still kneel down like sheep before slaughter, fifty years later. If anything, it’s gotten worse. What was the point in dying for this?”

Saul snorted from the backseat. “For someone to get rich, someone else has to die.”

Johnny looked in the rear-view mirror at him and Mitch. “Were you in the war?”

“Good ol’ Unification War,” Mitch replied, Saul nodding grimly beside him. “Fed the same fucking scop as everyone else who was convinced to join: big, shiny toys, as much drugs as you could cram into yourself before you flatlined, and a horizon to blow up, all while being told we were ‘fighting the good fight’. Fucking corpos.”

Johnny rubbed his face with his free hand, then took a long pull on his cig as traffic began moving again. “Used to think I was doing the same thing, back in the day. Came home and realised I couldn’t fucking stand any of it. Thought I was fighting the good fight when we went to Arasaka Tower, something to even the odds for everyone.”

“We all thought we were going to be heroes,” Saul grumbled, “turns out we were just another pawn. Best laid plans, right?”

They rode in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts, but a question was growing loudly as Johnny mulled over the war, the tower, V…

“We’re doing the right thing, right?”

Someone honked behind them as the van screeched to a halt in the middle of the street, sending Johnny into the dashboard. Panam jerked the wheel to the side and pulled them into an empty side street, before swivelling in her seat to stare hard at him.

“What the fuck, Panam?”

“We don’t have the luxury of second guessing anything, isn’t that what you said to us on the holo?” She snapped, gripping the steering wheel. “You’ve mobilised a ton of firepower to the centre of a city that operates on shoot first and ask questions later. We’re doing this for V – is that the hard part? Or is it something else? Arasaka?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me, old man.” Panam replied smoothly.

Avoiding the gazes of the nomads, he re-lit his cigarette and took a deep pull. The same feelings from the rooftop were coming back, memories of dead friends ready to appear anytime he tried to remember the good times.

Fuck it.

“I can’t lose her, Panam,” Johnny said in a low voice, staring out the windshield. “It’s because of V that were even having this fucking conversation, and it’s because of her that I even want to do this. Fuck me, it feels like I’m back in the war again, except everyone’s already dead.”

“Hang on,” Mitch interrupted, “you’re a vet too?”

Johnny pulled out the dog tags from around V’s neck. “Nicaragua. A good friend of mine gave his life to save mine back then.”

Mitch nodded to the tags. “And you gave those to V?”

Saul and Panam shared a glance, but neither said anything as Johnny tucked them back under V’s shirt.

“Mhm.”

He nodded and sat back, approval on his face. “Well alright then. You remember what those mean, and I take it V did too if she’s wearing them. Isn’t that enough to get you there?”

“V’s counting on you, Johnny, and this isn’t going to happen if you’re stuck in the past,” Saul added quietly. “Those memories, they happened, but they aren’t happening right now. Be here, right now, and we’ll get through this, okay?”

Be here, right now.

Grinding his teeth, Johnny sat up straighter in his seat. “Punch it, Panam, I got a date lined up,”

Mitch clapped him on the shoulder, grinning.

“That’s the spirit.”

Appeased, Panam pulled out of the alley and back into the street, weaving the beefy truck between vehicles with expertise. Mitch leaned forward and turned the radio up, then elbowed Saul good-naturedly.

“I don’t know what you guys did, but in my squadron, we cranked the music over eleven when we were heading into active firefights. Got the blood pumping almost as good as drugs.”

The Rubicones were playing hard over the speakers, and Johnny agreed wholeheartedly with the nomad: music would always get his blood pumping. Hunkering down and puffing rapidly, he went over every step of the mission once, twice, three times, until Panam was pulling up at the rendezvous spot outside Arasaka Tower where they were to meet up with the Delamains and Excelsior, the original Del’s brain child.

“Alright, they should be around here,” Panam peered over her steering wheel, squinting into the night.

Johnny jumped out of the truck, adjusting V’s jacket and head on a swivel as he made his way across the parking lot. He kept his hand close to the pistol that was tucked against his waist. Panam, Saul, and Mitch stayed inside the cab, watching.

The barely visible outlines of the Delamains were abruptly lit up as one of them turned their headlights on, blinding all four of the humans and stopping them in their tracks.

“That you, Del?” Johnny called out, hand over his face to shield his eyes.

“It’s Excelsior,” the car replied patiently, the other vehicles giggling. “Good to see you V.”

“He knows you’re not V right now, right?” Panam asked out the window..

“Yeah, but semantics are the least of our worries right now,” Johnny answered, before giving Excelsior his attention. “Good to see you too. Everyone ready, remember the plan?”

“BEEP BEEP, MOTHERFU-”

One of the Delamains slammed their passenger door into the hood of the other. “Shut up, idiot, you’ll get us arrested!”

“We remember the plan: cover all Arasaka Tower vehicle access points, eliminate any personnel that wish to stop us,” Excelsior replied evenly. “Will you be riding with us, V?”

“Sorry Del, I’ve got a date with destiny,” Johnny said, turning back to the nomads while dialing the Lady of Westwood. It barely rang before Wakako answered.

“Hello, terrorist,” she opened in a clipped tone, “My husband is rolling in his grave over this. V better be eternally grateful for my assistance.”

“There won’t be a V to be grateful for anything if we don’t hurry up,” he replied tightly, watching the nomads exit the truck. “Are your people ready?”

“Since you called.”

“Good, wait for my signal.”

Panam was at his side, iron in hand. Looking over her shoulder, he saw Saul and Mitch walking briskly towards the tower, weapons glinting under the lot lamps.

“They’re going to set up our perimeter, but will wait for us,” Panam explained, giving him a quick once over. ”All that’s left to do is the thing we came to do. Good to go?”

Johnny nodded. “Yep. C’mon.”

He made a small gesture at his side, and the Delamains went dark, rolling behind him and Panam silently as they headed towards the tower.

The entrance was concrete, glass and red neon lights, mechas patrolling the walkways and surrounding gardens. A handful of Arasaka soldiers stood guard at the doors, guns at the ready, cameras surveying the scene.

Johnny sprinted to the retaining wall, drawing his gun as Panam ducked down beside him. The hum of drones passed by them, and he took the chance to peer over the concrete.

“Alright, as good as it’s gonna get. Ready to fuck ‘em up?”

“You bet your ass I am,” Panam replied, taking the safety off.

“Ok, on my signal. Three, two, one… now!!”

Blinding white light flooded the area, pointed directly at the soldiers as a cacophony of horns and shouting crashed through the night silence. Wakako’s people emerged from everywhere, wielding katana and chrome equally, while the cabs had driven straight up the walkway to smash into the mechas, shaking the defence line. Gunshots rang out, strays ricocheting off the mechas as they brawled.

Under the ensuing chaos, Johnny and Panam bolted for the doors, taking out any soldiers that came for them. Flanking the doors were Mitch and Saul, more Aldecaldos behind them as they forced everyone into the building.

Johnny briefly registered that the lobby was devoid of both people and mechs as they crashed inside, cameras swivelling onto their positions. An alarm went off somewhere, and more soldiers appeared.

“Gotta split up, we’re not going to cover enough ground if we group up like this,” he shouted, smashing the grip of his pistol into an Arasaka soldier rushing him. “Mitch, Saul, take the family and do some damage control!”

“Let’s make it hot!” Mitch shouted, diving under a swing aimed at his face. Booting an attacker out of the way, Saul took off at a run, waving the Aldecaldos to follow him as rapid gunfire rang out down the hall.

“They’ll be fine,” Panam muttered, mostly to herself.

The pair ran towards the elevator at the back of the room, slamming the DOWN button rapidly. Gears grinding against metal shrieked behind the doors, and Johnny let out a noise of frustration, kicking the elevator.

“Fuck me, we’re not gonna make it at this fucking rate!”

The entire elevator shaft shook suddenly, angry clanging, a shout, and then silence. The doors opened a few moments later, a dead man slumped on the floor.

“Need a ride?” Rogue’s voice came through the holo.

“Perfect, get us down to floor -06 as fast as you can!”

“We’re on it,” Judy’s voice chimed in.

Johnny and Panam hurried inside, the car shooting down immediately. The lights flickered as the building shook. Panam raised an eyebrow at him.

“What the hell is going on out there?”

“Some aerial support from a few of our friends,” he replied, a grim smile on his face. “That Pacifica fixer and Dino offered to provide some heavy firepower from above.”

The elevator shook again and shuddered to a stop, the echo of explosions coming down the shaft, then a bang over the holo and a string of curses.

“Rogue, what’s happening?”

“Motherfuckers found us,” came the terse reply, gunshot ringing out over the holo. “Netrunner is fighting with Jude, huscle backing them up. We can’t get you further, but Alt should have – arrgh!”

A scuffle and the sound of a muffled thump, and the holo dropped.

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