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From Badlands To Good Times A Cyberpunk 2077 Tale	By : Crystal_Dreams_Writes Category: -Misc Video Games/RPGs > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3887 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberpunk 2077 nor the characters from it I do not make any money or profit in any way from the writing of this story

Chapter List
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“Can you feel it? Can you touch it? Get ready ‘cause here we go!”

As V walked through the doors of the Afterlife, she was received by ‘Chippin’ In’ by Samurai, the first time she went to the fabled bar, she figured they were permanently tuned in to the Morro Rock radio station, but there were no Maximum Mike segments. It was until later that she found out that Rogue had gotten all of Samurai’s discography and had it loaded into the audio system. Not that it bothered her, but considering the nature of her latest job, she thought it was a coincidence, a hell of a coincidence indeed.

Still looking like a slutty groupie, she sat at the bar, she immediately felt the eyes of nearby mercs on her. Finally proper attention. “Hey V, wow, where’s the concert?” V smiles as Claire approaches “Get you anything?” V simply nods, ordering a Broseph. A few seconds later, Claire slid a beer bottle her way “What’s on your mind? Here looking for a gig?” V took a sip from her beer, shaking her head “Just unwindin’ choom, kind of a messy job I just did for Padre” Claire raised her eyebrow, she knew that V was not always the stealthiest or the most silent when it came to takedowns, but she had never thought she’d hear her call a job ‘messy’, that definitely got her curiosity “What happened? Did you now complete the job?” V took another deep sip from the bottle “Oh I completed it alright, choom. But not to my satisfaction” That was a first, Claire knew that some fixers were specific and sometimes even demanding on how a job is supposed to go, but a merc? V perceived Claire’s confusion and proceeded to explain. She went into detail about how she had prepared for the Orphean job, how Slayton had found her at the door, and what happened from there until she walked out of the apartment with the guitar. Claire was conflicted, on one hand, she felt sympathy for V and her ongoing case of blue bean, on the other hand, she was about to burst laughing at how the job had gone, and the unexpected twist. She finally smirked, which caused V to stare daggers at her “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! But the whole thing is just insane to picture! You got this poser trying to come across as a badass rocker, and the second he blows his load, he falls asleep!” Claire shook her head “But at least you got paid, right? And maybe, hopefully, earned a bonus too?” V shrugged, finishing the beer “I got to hang out with Kerry Eurodyne and down a few glasses with him” Claire’s face froze, she could tell V was serious. Talk about unexpected twists and turns. “You’re shittin’ me” Claire finally says, V smirks “I am not shittin’ you, choom, got into his fancy villa and all that”.

“How can you be so mad? Kerry Eurodyne? Have you seen the man? He has God’s biosculptor on speed dial, how can you be so moody after banging him?” Claire was almost outraged, V stopped her in her tracks “Whoa choom, chill, I said I got to hang out with him, down some shots, but I never said anything about fuckin’. Guy said he had an autograph session or some shit at Dark Matter” Claire still seemed incredulous but decided to roll with the story. “So, what? Are you here to maybe find someone to seal the deal?” A mischievous Claire asks, V grins back at her “Why? You offerin’ choom? Interested in some under-the-counter kind of action?” Claire clears her throat, of course, she was interested, but not at work, not when Rogue could easily see her from anywhere in the club. V knew that, but it wasn’t like she was going to stop teasing her, V sighs, as busy as the Afterlife was, most of the people there were either fixers looking for a merc team or mercs looking for gigs, she was wondering why she had come there in the first place “Everything alright besides that?” Claire asks, breaking the awkward silence, V nods taking another sip from her beer “Yeah, Jackie got a new ride, promised to help him with it” Claire’s eyes open widely “Oh really? What did he get? No wait, let me guess, Villefort Alvarado, right? That car is definitely his style” V shakes her head “Swing and a miss choom, even if he was a Valentino at one point, he’s thinkin’ practical now, he got a Chevillon Emperor 620” Claire blinks, that really came out of the left field for her “Huh… Not a bad ride, just didn’t think it was for him” V shrugs taking another sip from her beer “Said he was thinkin’ when the time came for us to get a crew, get three or four more mercs to be cruisin’ comfy to the next gig, room for some small armory, the works, but don’t worry, pretty sure you’ll see a pimped out Emperor 620 with hydraulics and neon rims with a gold paint job rollin’ down the streets in no time” Claire fell silent, thinking for a moment “You guys seem to work well together, as a duo I mean. Rogue used to mostly run with Santiago, though you already know she used to team up with a bigger team whenever the job called for it. How do you feel about having an actual crew this time?” V fell silent, remembering that at one time, with T-Bug, they counted as a crew. Things had been working out so well that she didn’t feel like they needed a crew, but with things changing all around her, maybe it was time to consider a change.

“Hadn’t even thought about it, just came up in conversation, you know?” Claire nods in understanding, some mercenaries can have good chemistry with someone else, working in a functional team was a miracle, and there was a small portion of the merc population who preferred to work on their own, even if that meant getting smaller contracts “So, what kind of work are you looking to help him with? You know, for his ride?” V looked up to Claire again “Well, it’s a do-over I think. You know, refurbish the ride, work the suspension, check for weight reduction measures, maybe see what can be done about the soft and the engine, and dunno what else Jackie wants to include” Claire thinks for a moment, looking at V “You guys wanna use my shop?” There she was, offering again, V looked at Claire, the thought of them needing a proper place to work on a significantly bulkier vehicle had just crossed her mind, and Claire was already there making the save “You sure it’s alright? That ride has a fat ass compared to my Dusk” Claire shrugged “I don’t mind, same deal though, whatever parts you need, you get them through me, and if I can help out in anything else, lemme know” V grinned, finishing the beer “So, what’s the catch this time, choom”? Claire laughs softly “Having the two hottest mercs at the moment owing me favors, that’s all I want”.

The rest of the evening at the Afterlife had gone well, and much to V’s dismay, there were no attempts to even hit on her. Maybe Claire wasn’t joking when she said she had scared off some possible takers. Leaving the bar relatively earlier, she made it back to her home. After parking her bike at the parking garage, she rode the elevator in a relatively quiet fashion. The ads and the corpo-fueled news were blaring the whole way up, but after some time, people get used to those and they simply get filtered out. As she stepped out of the elevator, she heard a commotion in the distance. Reaching the stairs, she saw an unusual concentration of people by Wilson’s 2nd Amendment shop. She checked the hour, she knew Wilson worked late most of the time, but this was excessive, even for him. She decided to make her way there, cautious as possible, hoping that Wilson hadn’t pissed off the wrong gangoon with his gun zealotry. Once she got close enough, it hit her: The photoshoot. Wilson had already created the new ads for the shop, all featuring her, and all concealing her face. And if memory served her right, most of the items on display had an increased price too.

“One at a time! One at a fuckin’ time! Sheesh, people!” This was the first time V saw the shop at full capacity since she moved in, and the first time she saw Wilson try to multitask “Alright, alright! Calm down, here’s your bill, and here’s your complimentary poster, yeah you with the freckles, whatcha want?” Complimentary poster? V realized that not only was Wilson using the pictures for the new ads, but he was also giving them away in every sale. As much of a tumbling goof as he could be sometimes, he could get bright ideas as well. Happy to see he hadn’t pissed people off, and satisfied to see him turn his business around, V turned around and headed back to her apartment.

She was in a strange place, mentally speaking, she was tired but not exhausted. And as the night went on, she felt stuck in place, with a strange feeling, similar to the feeling she had before rejecting Dexter DeShawn’s big heist plans. Things around the city were changing, pressure from both Arasaka and Militech was increasing, and she hadn’t heard a word from Vaughn. Of course, it was too soon to assume the worst, so she simply decided to follow the plan: Lay low, stay away from corpo contracts.

For the next few weeks, V, Claire, and Jackie worked on the Emperor. It required more elaborate work than her car did. And to V’s surprise, Jackie picked at not so Valentino paint job scheme for the ride, it still was black and red with golden chrome accents, but it steered clear of the Valentino giveaways, such as the religious imagery and the gang emblems. On the outside, it looked very kitsch, but unlike everything kitsch, the ride not only had style but also substance. The interior was reworked completely: The pilot and co-pilot seats remained the same, but the passenger section was re-arranged, changing the orientation of the seats to be placed to the sides and facing each other, which allowed for the side doors to be sealed and the back of the Emperor to be reworked as the passenger access. The suspension had been completely reworked, and the armor rating was carefully worked with. The principle was simple: The more protection, the heavier the Emperor became, and the heavier the Emperor became, the harder it was to maneuver it, not to mention, the toll the extra weight would take on performance. A small armory was also worked on the inside, similar to V’s idea with Dusk’s trunk, and as for weapons on the vehicle, surprisingly Jackie decided against that, but instead, suggested electronic countermeasures, and maybe means for netrunners to jack in and operate from the vehicle. Much to V’s surprise, it seemed that Jackie really was thinking of creating a crew in the future.

The exterior of the Emperor was also modified, and the bumper was reinforced, in a similar way to the NCPD reinforced their vehicles. There was an extra set of lights on the roof, and the back panels were upgraded to host recon drones. If V didn’t know any better, Jackie was getting ready to not only race to the big leagues but to leave them in the dust. Maybe she had to get her Dusk worked on some more if she didn’t want to be left behind.

The extensive work on the Emperor took some time, and to Jackie’s credit, he did apply himself as much as he could to learn and work. His life became taking contracts by the day, and working on his ride by night, balancing out some dates with Misty. He learned plenty from both V and Claire, and they bonded over the experience.

The Corpo-political climate in Night City continued to build up, with the first encounter between Arasaka and Militech taking place behind closed doors. The uncertainty of what would happen only caused mass anxiety and, in some cases, mass hysteria as well. 6th Street was eagerly supporting Militech, and what they would hope to be a way to rejoin the Union, the Tyger Claws saw Militech’s growing influence as a threat to their relatively rich life: They had dealings with the Scavvers and Maelstrom. Human trafficking increased substantially, and they had a strong presence in the black market for technology in general, not to mention their iron grip on both Jig Jig Street and Clouds. The tension between 6th Street and Tyger Claws had already resulted in some violent clashes in different districts of the city. The Valentinos and Nomads such as the Aldecaldos and even the Raffen Shiv, as well as freelancers, played the waiting game, hoping that whatever new corpo ruler would rise from these encounters would be at least agreeable.

It was no secret that Arasaka had been blamed for what happened during the Arasaka Headquarters incident in 2023, they had even been run out of Night City. But Arasaka had also been the key factor for Night City to remain independent from the NUSA when now Mayor Lucius Rhyne appealed to them. Arasaka had been welcomed back in Night City and had rebuilt their tower over the ruins of the destruction of 2023, as a symbol and also as a reminder that no matter how fearsome an enemy was, Arasaka would never truly be defeated. As for Militech, it wasn’t a secret that the corporation was part of the NUSA government, in fact, many people used Militech and NUSA as interchangeable terms. Current NUSA President Rosalind Myers had been a Militech CEO before taking office, and Militech was essentially the NUSA Military. The fragmentation of the Union remained a sore spot in the government, and it was the main reason behind the horrific Unification War, a war that had ended just six years ago. The NUSA felt that Night City, and California for that matter, was part of the Union, and they would be annexed one way or another, but Arasaka as well as the mostly independent Night City Council got in the way. An open war between those two megacorporations would not only cause a bigger separation, but it could also burn the entire territory, and there would be nothing left to annex once everything was said and done.

So a new kind of war was waged, a war of public opinion and public perception. Commercials and advertisements about the goodness of Arasaka, showing Yorinobu Arasaka smiling, shaking hands, and working with regular workers were plastered everywhere, while Militech had their advertisements appealing to freedom and patriotism to every Night Citizen, equating Arasaka’s influence to a foreign invasion.

And as tension rose on both sides of the conflict, the fixers all over Night City were making a killing. There was no shortage of contracts of any kind: Sabotage Arasaka’s media, jump a Militech convoy. The exact same fate Jackie and V tried to prevent when they saved José Luis and his people. It was still happening, and it was more or less in the open now. As time went on, V started to wonder about Vaughn, maybe he wasn’t as naive as she thought he was, he probably saw this happen in the long run and decided to let things happen. For the most part, things on the streets didn’t change much. People were still hysterical and psychotic, more and more people were carrying weapons, which was a double-edged sword: At the smallest hint of trouble, people would draw their guns and aim for safety, quite literally. But that also meant more accidental shootings.

The NCPD was also on overdrive, and the number of violent car chases skyrocketed in the coming weeks. It wasn’t uncommon to see a couple of NCPD cruiser cars chasing down some Maelstrom or Tyger Claws vehicles and engaging in shootouts, which would normally end in several accidental deaths. Eventually, new rumors of Militech getting reinforcements for border patrol duties started to circulate, more reinforcements meant smaller chances for smuggling, and probably more strict interviews for those wanting to get into Night City, or those aiming to leave. This caused outrage in the Arasaka ranks, which Militech expected. They had a campaign ready to go, accusing Arasaka of perpetuating crime and promoting human trafficking, but what they did not expect was the Rhyne Administration so openly, and vocally, opposing Militech’s reinforcements. The smear campaign now involved the politicians, the NUSA openly sided with Militech, accusing Arasaka of bribing Night City officials, but this also opened the door for Arasaka and the Night City Council to accuse Militech of being nothing more than a proxy for the NUSA and their attempts to impose their will on the people of Night City.

As the streets got more dangerous, work for mercs became plentiful, and for both V and Jackie, this came at a perfect time. The Emperor was now to Jackie’s liking, a brand-new vehicle that had much more power and maneuverability thanks to the teamwork of both Claire and V. A tank that could take a pounding and dish out poundings of its own. At the same time, V worked on Dusk as much as she could. Balancing it out, tweaking the engine, and the software in general. Of course, it wasn’t going to be as big and comfortable as the Emperor, but for jobs that she would take solo, or for jobs for her and Jackie, it was perfect.

Almost two months had passed. The fame of both V and Jackie Welles had increased so, that every time they were at the Afterlife they would meet mercs wanting to team up and form a crew with them. Sometimes the duo would take one or two of these hopefuls along for a contract, and they weren’t bad, but they didn’t feel right either. Of course, this could also just be V’s unwillingness to be part of another crew, especially after what happened to T-Bug and how it had happened too. To her, T-Bug was a friend, but the more she thought about it, the more she wondered about her. Who was she, really? Friends with Jackie from before she came into the picture, and she knew Dex too, she had helped him not only survive Pacifica but to leave it. And her netrunning skill was almost legendary. Could she have been part of the Voodoo Boys herself? She rarely met in what she called realspace. It was either holocall, message, or email. Yet that night Jackie and V met Dexter and delivered the Flathead, she risked it to meet them face to face. Was she truly an ally and friend as V had thought she was? Or was she keeping tabs on both her and Jackie? Truth was, T-Bug was gone, and there was no way of getting those answers now.

As the fame of the duo continued to increase, V’s popularity rose significantly. She didn’t stop being the badass merc she was, but she was also known to fuck almost everything that moved. That didn’t help matters when it came to talks of forming a crew, anyone wanting to join them could be really looking up to be part of a merc team, or just work their way into V’s pants. Of course, they could just ask, but V wasn’t going to be the one telling them it was that easy.

Life continued on, until one morning, as V woke up, she had two messages waiting for her. “Trauma Team Platinum activated: Dear client, we’re delighted to inform you that your Trauma Team Platinum plan has been successfully activated. Your coverage is valid for the next three hundred and sixty-five days starting the day you receive this message. Your current plan covers up to 98% of any and all medical procedures, as well as emergency services, extractions, on-site paramedic services, AV fuel, ammo and ordnance, and logistics. For more details and information, please consult the attached dossier. Thank you for signing up for Trauma Team Platinum”. V blinked a few times, it made sense to have Trauma Team watching your back, especially when you’re a walking target, but most of Trauma Team’s plans were prohibitively expensive, especially for a regular merc. And now she was signed up for the most expensive one? She frowned as she checked the second message. Much more brief, but as impactful as the previous one “We need to meet, I have a job for you, come over to the Tower, more details when you arrive. Bring Jackie.”.

The second message, to her surprise, was from Vaughn himself. Almost three months without hearing from him, and the first thing he says is ‘I have a job for you’. Immediately afterward, she gets a call from Jackie “Hey chica, mornin’... So… Did you get a message from Trauma?” V sighs, nodding, this looked to be Vaughn’s doing “Yeah, Platinum right? 98% coverage of everything?” Jackie nodded “That’s the one, fuck chica, almost got a heart attack, I thought Platinum was for rich corpofuckers and elite mercs… Got any idea what’s going on?” V nodded this time, looking through her window “Pretty sure it was Vaughn, just got a message from him, saying he has a job for us” Jackie winced momentarily, thinking for a moment “If he’s signed up for Platinum, then he’s probably gonna send us to a suicide run chica, I don’t like this” V had considered it, her time as a merc had shown her that whenever a client says ‘Money is not an issue’ it means that the client doesn’t expect the merc to live long enough to collect. To Trauma Team, death had tiers, just because your heart has stopped and your brain registers no activity it doesn’t mean you’re truly dead. Although of course, there were ways to work around Trauma Team, she remembered the Sandra Dorsett case, a corpo with Trauma Team Platinum too, yet the Scavvers had managed to code a signal jammer to fool Trauma. “Well, we signed up for this, Jack… The good thing is that all contracts Vaughn issues are very well paid” Jackie grumbled, he did like that part, but he didn’t fully trust any corpos, and that unfortunately included Vaughn “Just keep your eyes open, chica. It's no good getting paid millions if we’re not gonna live long enough to enjoy them” V nodded again “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind… So, want me to pick you up, or you wanna give that beast of yours another test drive?” Jackie grinned, rubbing his hands together “I’ll pick you up chica, say… In an hour?” V nodded, that’d give her time to get ready “Sure Jack, see you in an hour”.

V engaged in her morning routine, a shower, her makeup, and her dress up. Of course, going to Arasaka Tower meant she couldn’t wear what she’d normally wear. At least not in the way she wanted to wear it anyway. She chose a modified netrunner suit, reinforced and flexible that showed the outline of her forms, knee-length exo-jacks, a utility belt with her Kenshin gun clipped to it, and her round shades.

Leaving the apartment, she headed toward the boxing gym. Coach Fred was still sore about not being able to get either Jackie or V to sign up for the fighting tournament he tried to push, the only way they could appease him was to promise Jackie would sign up for the next, with V in his corner. Of course, until that happened, Coach Fred was relatively distant. Wilson continued to profit from V’s photoshoot, of course, he hated the thought that people were only getting iron to get the posters, but that meant eddies to his pocket, and of course, the uncertainty between Arasaka and Militech also meant a lot of genuine purchases. V simply waved to the busy man as she took the elevator to the lobby.

A few moments later, she was outside, when Jackie’s Emperor pulled up. She smiled, genuinely happy to see how the Emperor turned out, a rare mix of kitsch and functionality, a vehicle that was truly Jackie “Hop in, chica!” the cheerful man greeted, and as soon as the door closed behind V, the Emperor took off and headed towards City Center.

It hadn’t been long before V decided to call Vaughn, just to make sure he was going to see them today. “Hello V, something wrong?” V couldn’t say he missed that direct corpo-speak, but it was good to see the man again “Hey Vaughn, just to let you know Jackie and I are on the way” Vaughn nodded “Splendid, thank you for the heads up, we’ll be waiting” V rose her eyebrow, there would be some others in the office it seemed. “Yeah, we’ll be there soon. Your office, 38th floor, right?” Vaughn shook his head “No, 50th floor, there’s a lot that has changed, I’ll brief you when you get here, and I’ll send word to the reception desk that you’re coming to see me”.

The call ends, and V couldn’t help to get that strange sensation again “Everything alright chica? You are pale” V snaps out of it and nods “Yeah, everything’s preem choom, seems Vaughn got a new office, 50th floor” Jackie smirks “Este pinche tipo, cabrón doesn’t stop going up the corpo ladder… It’s cool V, we’ll be there soon”.

A few moments later, V and Jackie were standing outside the imposing Arasaka Tower. They had been there before, but V couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated by the aggressively neomilitaristic architecture of the tower and its dark tones. If there was a hostile building in all of Night City, this was it “C’mon V, no point in standin’ around” Jackie was the first to head in, a few seconds later, V took a breath and followed in after Jackie.
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From Badlands To Good Times A Cyberpunk 2077 Tale