Gearbound: Cyberpunk 2077

Meredith's voice cut through the tension: "Lower your weapons. They're on our side."

She emerged from behind the ranks of soldiers, and once she spoke, they reluctantly stood down. Most spread out to search the rest of the club, leaving only a few behind to guard Meredith. As she passed the twisted wreck of the mech—one of the hijacked Militech shipments—she paused, casting it a long, shocked look.

She recognized it immediately. The fact that Leo and the others had shredded a fully armed mech without taking so much as a scratch left her speechless. She remembered Leo's casual confidence back in the drainage channel, and how he'd said one little gang was nothing to worry about. Clearly, he hadn't been exaggerating.

Meredith turned to him. "I like your style. How about coming to work for Militech?"

Though she phrased it as working for the company, her real aim was to recruit his entire crew under her command. Leo shook his head.

"Sorry, not my thing. I prefer staying independent. Don't like being on anyone's leash."

On the surface, Militech looked impressive, but signing up with their security forces wasn't always as promising as it sounded—especially given Militech's longstanding rivalry with Arasaka. Since the start of the new millennium, they'd clashed in the Fourth Corporate War, the Unification War (sometimes called the Metal War), and more. Officially, sure, the Unification War was about the NUSA trying to unify North America, but in truth, Militech had direct ties to the NUSA's president, once Militech's CEO. Meanwhile, Arasaka backed the Free States. So really, it was just another front in the corporate conflict.

Unless you pulled off something like becoming Adam Smasher, a personal bodyguard for Arasaka's top brass, you'd remain just another disposable asset in a never-ending corporate feud. Leo had zero interest in getting tangled up in that.

Meredith looked disappointed but not surprised. It was like some unspoken rule in Night City: outside of a few notable exceptions like Smasher, top mercs never seemed to join a corp. Johnny Silverhand, Andrew Weyland, so many of them had avoided that trap.

"All right. If that's your choice, I won't force it. But if a job comes up, I'll reach out. Hopefully, we can still cooperate."

"We'll see," Leo replied. "As long as it doesn't cross my moral lines and the pay is good, I'm game."

They'd said all they needed to. Leo gave his teammates a look that said, "Time to go," and they moved to leave. Just then, one of the soldiers—the type who either wanted to suck up to Meredith or just wasn't thinking—noticed the Militech logo on the display panel of the metal case Jackie was carrying. Without waiting for Meredith's order, he barked:

"That case is Militech property! You can't take it! Put it down!"

His outburst made every soldier nearby turn to look, intensifying the tension. Jackie and the others tensed, suddenly surrounded by a small army of Militech troopers. Out in the street, who knew how many more were waiting? Their gear and firepower were in a whole different league than Maelstrom's. Starting a fight here could end catastrophically, and they'd be branded enemies of Militech. Once that happened, Night City might as well be off-limits. No fixer would dare work with them again.

But giving up this case meant tossing all their hard work down the drain. Jackie and the others looked torn, not knowing how to get around this. Leo, however, remained calm. He simply folded his arms and leveled a steady gaze at Meredith, wordlessly challenging her. She got the message loud and clear.

In that moment, she felt like a country saddled with idiot allies—like Germany stuck with its bumbling partners in World War II. "Did I ask for your opinion? That case is empty! It's got nothing inside! You all hear me?" she snapped.

Then, as if afraid they still wouldn't get it, she doubled down. "I don't want to hear another damn word about it. Anyone who flaps their gums gets dumped into the ocean for fish bait!"

The soldier who had tried to curry favor now stood there getting chewed out, too scared to even utter a squeak. The rest of the squad pretended they'd seen nothing, each turning away. None of them dared look at Leo's crew again.

Meredith let out a frustrated snort and waved them off. "All right, you can leave."

Jackie and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sure, from the conversation it seemed likely Meredith would let them go, but hearing it confirmed was another matter.

Yet just as they were about to depart, Leo didn't budge. While scanning the area with his tactical goggles, he'd noticed Militech had come in multiple armored SUVs and troop transports. The trucks weren't of interest, but the SUVs looked tantalizing. Their armor was practically tank grade—hardly just another car.

"Ms. Meredith," he said, "you've got so many vehicles. You won't miss one, right?"

She frowned slightly, then gestured indifferently to a subordinate. "Give him the keys."

Having just witnessed Meredith's temper, the soldier didn't dare argue. He pulled the keys from his pocket and tossed them over. Leo caught them and lobbed them underhand to Jackie.

"Didn't you say you wanted one of Militech's armored SUVs? She's all yours," Leo said.

Jackie's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. He hadn't expected Leo to remember that offhand remark. Gratitude flickered across his face as he realized just how much thought Leo put into such details.

…

Leaving the Totentanz in their newly "gifted" SUV, the four of them told the sporty coupe they'd come in to autopilot its way back to the El Coyote Cojo. Sitting behind the wheel, Jackie steered them toward Afterlife. Meanwhile, Leo called Dexter.

"How's it going, Mr. Leo?" Dexter asked the moment he picked up.

Leo didn't answer directly. "You got a table ready for us at Afterlife?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. You know me—I trust my instincts. I just hope you won't disappoint."

"Your instincts are right. We've secured the Flathead."

Dexter let out a triumphant laugh. "Excellent work! That's fantastic news—I knew you'd come through. Come meet me at Afterlife, and we'll discuss the details."

Once he ended the call, Jackie turned with a grin. "So, what's Dex say?"

"He wants us to swing by Afterlife for a face-to-face."

"Hell yeah! Here we come, Dex!"

….....

...

.

About half an hour later, they parked in front of Afterlife. Jackie pulled the SUV to a stop and was just about to jump out when Leo held up a hand.

"Hang on," he said. He turned to V and Lucy. "Lucy, you stay in the car. The three of us will head in."

A flicker of concern crossed Jackie's face. Meanwhile, Leo's thoughts churned with a nagging worry: If Dexter really did have some monumental job lined up—one so big even a fixer of his caliber called it "major"—it almost certainly involved going toe-to-toe with a corporate giant. If that was the case, they needed to be cautious, and Lucy's netrunning skills might be more valuable on standby.

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