We left the Kriegsmen to their duty. It was time to finish this quest.

The Probes cleared the path to the surface and once we were standing by the CHOOH2 station, they sealed the underground away once more. Let the monsters have their realm.

No more hiding or skulking, it made me sick to my core. We would expand and face our foes. This test had proven that most of the weapons of this world were no match for ours.

Next we would have to take the skies, and then orbit. From there we shall rain fire upon the sick and twisted, and offer succor to the worthy. Then the stars...

I shook my head. This was getting out of hand. I'm not some all conquering asshole. I just want to help people, and heal the land.

One thing was certain, I would have to be very careful before I fed the Voice of the Emperor class. Its influence on my mind was too great already. The struggle to remember who I was grew more difficult by the hour. Not that I wasn't inclined to burn this city down to begin with, but there were more humane ways, more surgical methods to get the same results.

'Spare your enemies, suffer the rewards of your foolishness.'

Great. Now it spoke to me.

We got ourselves loaded up into the MRAP, along with the new Probes. I had a feeling we'd need a War Pylon or two to hide under before today was through.

It was just past noon. There was a sense of time loss. The events we had just been through had done a number on our internal clocks.

The bright sun only slightly obscured by pollution. Not a cloud in the sky. For some reason this felt like a good omen. Probably just wishful thinking.

I drove us to the next target.

Another building under Maelstrom control this one was a clinic of some kind. From the data the Observers had pulled up they initiated new members there. That made it an excellent target to send a message.

We pulled into an empty lot across the street from the three story structure.

The Probes began assembling a War Pylon above us, while we went over the feed from the Observer. Hmm, about 32 fugly bastards in there.

John would run the chaingun back and forth once on each floor. Then we'd take off, and be three miles away before anyone could even spot us again.

If we managed to kill even half of the gangoons, then the quest should be complete and we'd head home. If not, then we move to the next target and repeat the action.

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I was surprised no one in the area came over to ask about the very noticeable construction process taking place right above our heads. It's Night City's mind your own business attitude, I guess.

As the War Pylon came online, we could feel the Psifield snapped into place. The Probes quickly reattached to the vehicle.

Using the controls, John walked the barrel of the chaingun through his intended actions.

Once he was satisfied with the movement, he nodded.

The gunfire cracked the sound barrier repeatedly. After the first couple of rounds, individual shots couldn't be distinguish from one another, creating a singular crackling roar.

I was very thankful for the earplugs John had found.

It took just over a minute to complete the pattern. It was just long enough to make every nerve in my body twitch in a matching rhythm. Then it was over, and in the quiet my skin prickled.

The front of the building was collapsing as many of the supports had been destroyed by the chaingun's heavy rounds.

I saw the quest completion come up and floored the pedal.

Time to go home.

We made a brief stop to check on Greg at the Sunset Motel. I introduced him to Jim and John. Bought the boys some drinks before we moved on.

Greg told me everything had been fine, barely any trouble since the last time he saw me. Good. One possible source of this dreadful gnawing in my gut, could be marked off the list.

'Meadran, you there?' I figured it was worth it to check in.

'Young One, I sense you.' He seemed unbothered.

'Are you okay?' Better to ask...

'Yes, everything is okay, as far as I'm aware.' He seemed to snap to alertness.

'Can you check on the others for me, I can't shake the sense that something is wrong.' I could feel him reach out through the trees.

'I can sense nothing amiss, and Faergin and Korvaith report they are fine.' He was now fully awake and worried.

'Thanks Meadran. I'll check in with Alina and she if her sensors have picked anything up.' Hmm. Really what could it be?

'Be careful, Young One. Premonitions are often misunderstood until it is too late.' Once again images of dragons chasing shadows. Green ones this time.

I reached out for Alina in the Psifield, 'Alina status report.'

'Everything is within operational expectations, Executor.'

Would she even be able to conceive of covert actions? I tried to consider how our operation might be fucked with. I needed more information but fortunately we had the means to gather all the data we could possibly want.

'Alina, have an Observer scan the whole of New Lordaeron and the Valley. Report anything even remotely anomalous.'

'By your command Executor.'

I thought about my next actions carefully. I was worried it was too late to stop whatever was coming. I looked at the troops drinking and snacking.

"I need all of you to stay on alert after we get home. I still can't shake this feeling that something is wrong." I was going to want to bury myself in distraction, tinkering or spending time with Sally and Megan, even working on mana shaping. I couldn't let myself lose focus.

The first thing I had to do once we got back was to fix or replace my damned Paladin Class, somehow I knew that it made it easier for the Emperor Class to screw with my thoughts.

Raynor shared a look with the men, "Hoss, I think I speak for all of us, when I say we trust your gut. We've been through too much shit together to ignore you now."

John nodded, "Yeah."

They all raised their drinks to me.

I returned the gesture.

"However this all plays out, know that I am proud of you all."

We all took a drink.

My mind was already turning back to the ways someone could screw us over. I couldn't let that happen.