Location: Nuclear submarine USS Poseidon, enroute to corpo underwater black site.

Date: Year 2127 Month 12 Day 15

We were close to the site. 10 minutes until drop off. The other submarine with Irene Croft’s people was 5 minutes ahead of us. They would strike first and divert the attention away from us.

In the lowermost section of our submarine there was a room with an exit hatch. The first teams that would leave already stood inside. We were among them, huddled in a corner. One more gangster was with us.

Due to the crushing pressure of the water outside, moving would be difficult for those with little cyberware. Everyone relatively normal in strength like Alex, Jun and me would need someone else’s help to move. Which is why every team was assigned at least one cyber augmented individual for each person who needed assistance.

The gangster with us did no introduction and hasn’t spoken a word so far. We chose to respect the silence and did not inquire for the reason.

Aside from our armors we all had ballistic weapons. No Thor this time around, since we might need more than five shots. I had my usual Cyclone, the Longbow had been lost back in the spaceport. Everyone also carried a waterproof and pressure resistant container strapped on our backs. Inside were all the belongings that would come with us on the journey. Some clothes, and cyber meds mostly. According to the intel we got from the exec that was captured, the ships were going to be launched tomorrow. Therefore, all necessary supplies such as food should already be loaded.

The usual chitchat we would partake in was not present. We were all nervous about what was next. This was do or die, the moment we stepped into those cold waters we either left in a spaceship or we died… Or worse.

Once the submarine arrived at the edge of the plateau the room we were in was partially flooded, and the bottom hatch was opened. The nearest teams started descending in the dark waters below. We slowly shuffled towards the opening. Batou’s body language screamed his discomfort for him.

When it was our turn to go down, he stopped by the edge and looked at the water.

Jun put his left hand on his back in support…

And pushed him.

Being caught by surprise and Jun using his synth limb resulted in Batou stumbling and falling into the waters with a splash.

We all turned to look at Jun.

He shrugged. “Better to get it over with quickly.”

From the comms Batou’s low angry voice disagreed, “Come down here, I promise I will make it quick and painless.”

Jun looked at us. “You guys go first.”

Alex and Revy dropped together.

The gangster that was with us and I followed them.

As soon as we sunk, I felt the force of the ocean’s depth pushing all around me. Once I touched the ground it was all I could do to remain standing and hold my weapon. If I fell, it was certain to me that I would not be able to get back up on my own.

The gangster accompanying us wrapped an arm around me and helped me walk forward.

“Thanks.”

Even if no reply was forthcoming, it felt right to say.

Turning on the night vision of my helmet the darkness retreated and the world became green.

The black site loomed ahead.

While the submarine did drop us close it was still a 400 meter walk.

A team ahead everyone else was moving quickly. It was an advance group with only gangsters packing lots of cyberware. Their job was to take care of the guards in front of the underwater entrance we were going for.

One of them was Kenzo, the man had synth muscles on top of his metal arms and high grade cyber eyes. It explained why he had been able to react fast enough to shoot down a rocket midair.

Wanting something to distract me from the tedious and difficult job of walking under so much water I sent a ping to Kenzo requesting to share eyesight. He accepted almost immediately.

Kenzo was not using the typical green night vision. He was just increasing the light intake of his eyes. The surroundings looked to him as if they were under the midday sun.

The water was a transparent blue, and it was teeming with life. The mountain range was one massive coral reef. Fishes of all types and sizes swam around in large groups. Sharks and other predators stalked after them. The riot of colors dyed the underwater world in countless beautiful hues.

If we made it to Mars, I would make it a priority to get high end cyber eyes.

Kenzo shifted his focus to the entrance of the site.

Six corpo sec guards stood outside, they weren’t paying much attention to their surroundings.

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To be fair, who would expect an underwater attack on a site that had been hidden for decades? If anything, I wondered what was the point of having guards outside at all?

If I had to guess, I would say that these six were here as punishment.

It was unfortunate for them.

Kenzo and nine other gangsters raised their weapons and took aim at the unsuspecting corpos.

With nary a sound ten supercavitating bullets pierced the waters, leaving trailing spirals in their wake.

Six visors shattered and sealed the fate of those behind them.

“Entrance is clear.” The voice of Jun’s father said in the general comms.

The next 10 minutes were a slow march towards a circular opening at the base of the building. It led to a flooded room with a sealed door. A gangster had already hacked both doors and any cameras. He was waiting for the room to be at capacity.

Once it was full, the circular metal doors that led outside closed. The water was pumped elsewhere, and the pressure normalized.

No longer feeling like I was being crushed by a giant hand I was able to stand straight on my own. The gangster who had supported me so far let go of me and gave me a nod, which I answered in kind.

While we waited for the pressure to finish equalizing with the interior, I received a private call from Vera.

I Furrowed my brows and answered, “Did you call the wrong number?”

A snarky voice replied, “Na, pretty sure it was your sorry ass I was helping the last ten minutes.”

I turned to the gangster near me, she was waving.

“Vera, why on earth are you here?”

“I’m not missing out on the opportunity to make millions.”

I sighed, “If someone with half a brain finds out you’re a vamp during the journey they’ll kill you.”

She laughed at that, “That’s why I’m sticking close to you guys.”

When her laughter died out, she added, “Don’t tell Jun yet, he’d freak out if he knew.”

I shook my head. “Guess you owe me again.”

“Heh, guess I do.”

“So, why’d you reveal yourself now?”

“The submarine is gone now, can’t exactly go back.”

“Ok, but what made you think I wouldn’t out you to the others?”

“Cause you saved me back in Nox City.”

“You saved yourself.”

“Pffft, I couldn’t have made it without your help.”

She turned to face me. “You cared. And I’m choosing to trust that.”

Or take advantage of that.

Perhaps it was fitting that I was becoming friends with a sociopath.

Thinking those thoughts made me feel vile. She didn’t willfully become one. And she was trying to be more.

I truly believed that.

Because I needed to believe.

That despite how broken someone was, they could still choose to be better.

That I could be better.

Jun’s voice brought me back from my musings.

“Stay sharp, more guards on the other side.”

As soon as the door opened, the gangsters who cleared the first guards irrupted into the room. Gunshots announced our arrival. We followed behind them.

Once we entered the room, we heard the blaring of an alarm. The sound was distant, like it was coming from the other side of the site. Irene Croft’s forces were already on the move.

In the room four guards lay dead, one was on his knees, begging for his life.

“We don’t have time for this.” Jun’s father said as he shot the guard in the head.

He then reminded, “15 minutes until the guards in the corpo submarines reinforce the site.”

After having said that he walked out of the room and started marching down a corridor, we followed after him. Behind us I heard another group of gangsters entering through the underwater entrance.

I’m guessing we weren’t waiting for them.

Not even thirty seconds later another alarm started sounding around us.

People started evacuating rooms, labs, and other facilities. Most of them were unarmed and wearing white coats. We shot warning shots at anyone coming towards us, they made a quick reversal and hightailed out of the way.

After one minute of quick walking, we stopped before entering an open area.

“Blockade ahead, 20 corpo sec grunts and at least 10 corpo elites I can see.” Kenzo’s voice announced.

After several precious seconds Jun’s father spoke, “Change of plans, our teams will proceed to the ship area now. Those behind us are going to have to reach the control room without us.” He started walking back and deviated to another corridor.

Jun spoke in the general comms, “Why the change of plans? And what if the others can’t reach the controls?”

Jun’s father did not answer, he instead sent a new group call to those that were walking with him.

“The others will have to manage without us. As for the reason why, look at what I’m seeing.”

He shared a recording of what he was observing. It wasn’t his sight but that of Irene Croft.

A vast rectangular space stretched for kilometers. Near the longer sides of the area columns rose to the ceiling. By each column one spaceship was affixed. Each ship was armed with 3 railguns. Stairs around the pillars led to a glass tunnel that connected the ship’s airlock to their supports.

Irene’s forces were split in two, half of them pushing the left flank with her and the other half to the right.

By advancing on the sides, they were trapping the corpos in the center in a crossfire. However, the corpos weren’t having any of that. They were pulling back while harassing our allies. Many of the corpos were corpo elites armed with armor piercing bullets.

It was a bloodbath for both sides.

Irene’s troops took cover behind the columns they had already reached and climbed them to board the ships.

Irene moved her attention from her surroundings to the center of the room that was further ahead.

And that is when I understood why the greedy gangster changed plans.

At the very center two columns rose to sustain one large spaceship. The hull of the ship was bristling with railguns, many smaller armaments covered every side of the exterior. One large cannon hardpoint was mounted on the nose of the ship.

Before I could guess what the cannon was, an ecstatic Alex sounded in the comms, “Oh my god! That has to be a laser cannon, as in a sci-fi laser cannon! The kind that melts through steel! And so many railguns and laser turrets! They must have figured out how to use the new energy cells to power all that stuff. This is huge! The new energy tech alone is worth more than all the ships combined-“

Jun’s father froze at that, stopping us in our tracks.

He then started walking faster than before, and asked, “How much would you say Mars would pay for that?”

Alex answered a little uncertainly, “I wouldn’t know the exact number, but considering what they paid for the MSG, I’d guess it’s around 100 billion?”

Ryuji Ishikawa started running.

His fellow gangsters were right behind him.

Before we could start rushing after them, Jun caught our team’s attention. Vera stayed back too.

Jun spoke to us, “While that is certainly more money than we could ever imagine spending, the ship is located in the most dangerous location. The center of the room means we have to fight through all the corpos on the way, our allies were not doing too well against them. And let us not forget we are on a timer.”

Batou looked at him. “What’s the plan then?”

“We could just go for one of the regular ships and be happy with sharing one billion instead of hundreds. We should vote for or against trying to take the central ship. I vote no.”

Revy piped up, “What do you mean no?! I vote yes, I’m going to be the first to pilot that ship.”

Batou shook his head. “I say nay.”

Alex held her helmeted head with one hand and eventually said, “I- I vote yes.”

I knew why Alex voted yes despite wanting to say no.

Even if we agreed not to go after the ship at the center, Revy would try to go anyway.

She wanted to look after our foolish team member.

Like she always did.

The last time I said no.

And I lost two people close to me.

I will not let history repeat itself.

“I vote yes.”