Saul considered my words for a long moment. While he presented as a rough and tumble, simple folk kind of guy, I could see an intelligence in his eye that ran counter to his rough exterior.

"You offer a lot, but you ask a lot as well. I'm not thrilled at the idea of using my people as human shields," he said, leaning back in his chair. "That said, Nomads are used to threats from corporations, and we are used to being under scrutiny. Dakota Smith mentioned you're the kind of person the Nomads want as connected as possible to them. I'm not sure exactly what you did for her, but she isn't usually one to speak so positively about someone."

"It's a rough world out there," I said with a shrug. "Sometimes doing what you can to help is worth the effort for no other reason than it makes life better for someone else."

"It takes a certain amount of wealth to engage in charity," He responded. "Maybe not in eddies, but wealth all the same."

Saul took a long sip of his drink, following it up with a sip of his strawberry smoothie. He placed the beer down, leaning forward as he looked down at the red slushy drink.

"Say we give you a chance," He said. "How long would it take for you to clear out the space for us and start building defenses?"

"You mean the Aldecaldos?" I asked. "Well, this was never a weekend plan. We would need time and materials, and we are currently waiting for another group, a small community of people who will be living with us full-time. They will need space and infrastructure as well."

"So we are talking a couple months," He responded with a frown. "We have no plans on leaving Night City for at least that long, but what's the point of moving in if we leave only a month later?"

"No, getting everything cleared would only take a week or two," I assured him. "And we can start work on the defenses while things are being cleared."

He seemed surprised by that number, but he nodded in agreement anyway, leaning back in his chair. For the next hour, we discussed some of the possibilities of work, the services I was looking to provide, as well as what sort of infrastructure we would be installing in the cleared space. I explained some of my ideas and the general design for the defenses. It wasn't going to be anything special, just the same large defenses at each corner, with smaller defensive points running along the gap between each. Noah and I were also considering building large secondary structures since the distance between each corner would be much longer.

Eventually, the Nomad leader ran out of questions and finished his drinks. He didn't have much to say once he was satisfied, promising to think about the offer, as well as discuss it with his family. He seemed interested, but it was hard to tell with a group so used to keeping their cards close to their chests and keeping as independent as possible. We shook hands, and Riggs escorted him and his guards out, leaving Jackie and me alone in the meeting room.

"I think that went about as well as we could hope," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Jackie? Thoughts?"

"It's hard to deal with Nomads like this," He admitted. "There's good ones and bad ones. The good ones are pretty honorable, at least until it's every man for himself, but that's normal. The bad ones, though? They don't see people like us as anything but potential marks. Only their family matters to them."

"The Aldecaldos, they have a good reputation though, right?"

"More or less," He responded with a shrug. "I haven't heard anything off about them. Plus, Dakota Smith wouldn't have sent him over if she thought we would get each other in trouble."

"How do you think he took the offer?"

"He seemed wary, not that I can blame him," He admitted. "Not many people are looking to just help, Genio. It makes people like us nervous."

"So I should have been a bit more demanding? Made him pay or something?" I asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe," He said with a shrug. "I'm a just a solo, choom. I know how to smile my way out of a ticket and get a couple of eddies off a deal, not negotiate with Nomads that I've never met before."

"I think you're selling yourself short, but fair enough," I said, letting out a long breath before nodding. "Okay. With that done, we need to talk about something important. What are we going to do about the Wraiths?"

"About fucking time, Genio," Jackie said, slapping the table. "You got a plan?"

"I've got a vague idea of a plan," I admitted with a nod. "I'm gonna gather everyone up. We can go over it then."

Jackie nodded and grabbed our mugs before heading back into Frank's room. Meanwhile, I used the radio to call Riggs, Murtaugh, and Kaytlyn. They showed up just as Jackie was bringing out cups of more of the strawberry slush drink, this time with one for Kaytlyn as well. When everyone had settled and those who could had had a few sips of their drinks, we got down to business.

"So what happened a few days ago was unacceptable," I said, crossing my arms. "I don't care if we already got the asshat who's brilliant idea it was. We need to send a message that the Ridge is off limits and that we don't fuck around."

"Wait, we are getting back at the Wraiths?" Kaytlyn asked, pumping her fist when I nodded. "Fuck yeah! What's the plan, Jay?"

"Well, as much as I would like to, we can't go full scorched earth. We could, given enough time and effort, technically hit all the hotspots around here. But the Wraith around here are just the ugly end of a much larger group. Not only would they be back eventually, but they would have a pretty strong grudge against us as well. Not exactly something I want."

"Then what? A couple of smaller hits?" Kaytlyn asked, now frowning. "I mean, that kind of seems… like it's not enough."

"I agreed. Which is why we are going to engage in some classic psychological warfare," I said with a smirk. "If we can't target them all directly, then we are going to target them all indirectly. I want them too scared to even look in our direction."

Kaytlyn grinned at my idea, and Jackie nodded in agreement. Riggs, who had taken off his helmet, just listened stoically, but I could see his expression shift as well, a small smile quirking at the edge of his mouth.

"I plan on talking to Dakota for as much info on some of their bases as she can get. She owes us after all, plus clearing a few hotspots benefits her just as much as it does us," I explained. "Then, we can pick some of the juiciest to target and hit them hard. Wipe the bastards out. "

"I like the idea, but what exactly makes that psychological warfare?" Kaytlyn asked.

"Well… That's where I'm not exactly sure," I admitted. "I have a few ideas, but I want to hit at least three or four spots, so I could use a few more."

"Please, Genio, you're smart for sure, but you grew up sheltered," Jackie said, shaking his head. "You really think you can spook some hardened gangers. Whatcha got?"

"Well… I was thinking we could hit a target hard and wipe them out fast. Then, once we have control of the location, we could pick a spot that's pretty central," I explained casually. "Then we have a couple MRVNs crudely tear the cybernetics out of every single Wraith, including internal stuff like liver implants and cyberdecks. Then we stack up all the cyberware in that central location we picked out. For added effect, we take the bodies with us to bury somewhere in the desert or burn in a kiln or something. Plus, we can leave a calling card to make sure they are all tied together."

Jackie stared at me with wide eyes, clearly not having expected such a brutal answer. Kaytlyn seemed surprised as well, but she only nodded in appreciation.

"Jesus Christ, no orale, Jay! Where the hell did you get that from?" Jackie asked, cursing a bit more when he was done.

"Video games and history classes," I said with a shrug. "The world might be fucked now, but history had plenty of bad moments for inspiration."

"Well, what's your other idea?"

I smirked, and together, we began a brutal and dark brainstorming session. I did have to draw a few lines since Kaytlyn was taking what they did to us personally, and Jackie, for some reason, felt like he needed to one-up me. While I had no problem mutilating a corpse, since to me it was just wet waste once the person was dead, I had to stand firm about mutilating or torturing people while they were still alive. Killing was one thing, but there were lines I refused to cross, no matter what they did. They might deserve punishment, but delivering that isn't worth hurting our own mental states.

This world might be filled with psychopaths, cyber or otherwise, but I was going to do my damndest to make sure my people didn't join them.

After a few hours of discussion, Kaytlyn volunteered to reach out to Dakota and figure out what they knew about our options. We tentatively planned to hit our first target the following night, since, by then, the walls would be fully manned by shades.

Once the meeting broke up, I headed back to the garage. Two MRVNs were already set assembling Jackie's ram, having made serious progress while I was spending the morning in meetings and planning. By that point, I had completed the companions for Jackie, Sam, Riggs, and Kaytlyn. That meant that all I had left was to make Noah, Frank, and Murtaugh theirs before I could present them all. I also had an idea for the shades and MRVNs, but they could wait for later. Now, I wanted to focus on our security expert.

I sat there for a minute, trying to come up with a proper companion idea for Murtaugh. On the one hand, as a commander of our security forces, making him a horse to ride around made a certain amount of sense. Plus, it was big enough that I could add some interesting things. On the other hand, he rarely left the security building. It was his dominion, and from there, he kept in touch with all of our shades and specters, as well as now controlling and directing our turrets. That made me think something more cerebral would be more helpful.

After a few minutes, I finally came to a decision and got to work. Rather than go big for the security specialist, I decided to go small, compensating for the lack of space by creating multiple companions that work as one. I quickly whipped up a small bird, much smaller than Samwise's raven, giving it flight with a similar electropulse thruster design.

This time, however, due to its small size and lightweight carbon fiber and polymer construction, it was almost silent as it needed significantly less thrust. I finished the design with some lightweight, detailed cameras and a tight band short-range radio system to communicate. Then I added our stealth tech, allowing the bird to vanish into thin air. It had some power limits, meaning it couldn't remain invisible and fly around at the same time, but it was still silent and almost impossible to spot.

Murtaugh would also get a dozen of them, as well as a hardware and software package that would allow him to better connect, direct, and interpret the information they were picking up. Altogether, he could use them to watch over the town in a much more close-up way than our drones did and investigate issues without ever leaving the security building.

After I finished the design for Murtaigh and sent it off to the molly makers, it was time to tackle Noah. He, out of all of my AI creations, had maintained a strict and direct nature, remaining computer-like even as he aged. Because of that, designing him a companion was difficult. Still, I eventually determined that he would most likely appreciate a company that would improve his efficiency. In the end, I was glad I had gone with the bird idea for Murtaugh, because designing a large horse for the stoic AI was a pretty solid fit, especially when I filled its large chest cavity with dozens of tools and a computer terminal he could link to to access design software and other stuff. Basically, it was a minor mobile workshop he could ride around on, heading between construction sites.

After putting the finishing touches on the horse and sending off the design, it was finally time to work on Frank. I approached this companion's design process a little differently. Rather than starting by brainstorming what sort of companion Frank would like, I instead started by designing what I wanted it to contain. When I was done with that, then I designed an animal around it.

As the team biologist, doctor, and medic, I wanted to give Frank a portable medical lab, something that could follow him around the town and be used to help treat a variety of injuries. I ended up making a cow, something nonthreatening to put people at ease but still big enough to fit an entire lab inside it. When it was stocked, he would have a version of damn near anything he might need to stabilize and treat just about any injury that could occur, at least by Titanfall standards, since that's where a lot of the tech came from.

With the final design finished and shipped to the production room, I worked on assisting in assembly, working with the MRVN units to put the final touches on Jackie's Ram before getting to work on Riggs' bear. It really was a monster of a robot, its head coming up to my neck. If we wanted to bring him on missions, I would probably need to modify a vehicle to fit him. The Emperor would be large enough, so maybe I would make something similar. Or he could hang out in one of the beds of the trucks I already planned on making.

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We kept working, the two MRVNs and I, for most of the day, eventually assembling all of the companions. Each one got a simple test before being shut down and dragged out of the garage and under the CHOOH2 canopy outside. I then carefully covered them in sheets to keep people from seeing them as well. When the sun was starting to set and all the companions were finished, I then gathered everyone around to present them.

"Welcome!" I said, like a presenter of a show. "I have gathered all of you here to present you with your new companions!

"Our what?" Jackie asked with a raised eyebrow. "What did you make now, Genio?"

"Well, if fighting with the Wraith on our turf showed me anything, it was just how effective Duke could be in a fight," I explained. "Plus, I already made Kaytlyn her Nova, so it only made sense to make a companion for Riggs and you as well. And I wouldn't want to leave everyone else out, so…"

I gestured to the covered robots before stepping back and putting my hands on top of the bear, looking at Riggs with a smile.

"First up, Riggs!"

As the AI stepped forward, I pulled off the cover to reveal the massive, armored, robotic bear. Everyone gasped while Riggs paused for a moment, as if deciding if the bear would attack or not. When he was sure he wasn't about to get chewed on, he crossed the remaining distance and gently put his hand on its head. The bear reacted by lowering its head slightly, letting the large AI more easily rub its armor.

"Holy hell, Genio! That thing is huge!" Jackie said, his eyes wide. "Will it even fit inside a building?"

"Most of them," I said, pausing for a moment before adding. "Probably."

"Does it have a name?" Riggs asked, still looking at the bear, walking around to see it from every angle, his hand rubbing its back.

"Not yet," I responded. "That would be up to you."

"Arthur," He responded instantly. "Arthur the bear."

"More like Author the four-legged tank," Jackie whispered, only for Kaytlyn to swing her arm back and slap him across the chest. "Ow! Okay, sorry."

After I explained some of his abilities and limits, as well as promising that we would talk about what he could store in his chest, I turned to Jackie next.

In all honesty, I was a bit nervous about introducing my friend to his companion. I was worried he would expect something like a tiger or a lion, only to be disappointed by a horned ram. To my surprise, my worries were completely unnecessary. When I pulled off the sheet covering his ram, he let out a whoop of excitement.

"No mames! He looks like he could do some damage!" Jackie said, grabbing onto the ram's horns and giving it a firm tug. "Holy hell, he is built like a tank too! You tested him out yet?"

"No, but going by how much I reinforced his skull, there isn't much he shouldn't be able to punch through," I assure him. "We can test it out on some of the ruined buildings in the bigger part of town. I want to demolish most of them and save the good ones."

"Sounds like fun," He said before resting his hand on the ram's head. "I'm gonna do some thinking about your name, so bear with me for a bit."

After Jackie, I showed Murtaugh, Noah, and Frank their companions as well, and both of them greatly appreciated the extremely useful gifts. Frank was already considering how to attach a stretcher to their cow, which they named Betsy. Murtaugh was equally happy when I introduced him to his companions, all twelve of them. Unfortunately, they needed to remain depowered, as I needed to install the internal components into him before he could interact with and control them properly.

The last to receive their companion was Samwise, who happily let his raven hop up on his shoulder. The bird chuffed and pecked gently at his neck before straightening and looking around.

"Thank you, Jackson,' Samwise said with a smile. "I believe I will call him Lucky."

"Sure, it works for him," I said with a smile before my expression turned more serious, and I looked around at everyone. "Just don't forget guys. These are robots. They are meant to work with you and support you, and if necessary, get destroyed to protect you. I know how it works, I already feel attached to Duke, but you need to keep in mind they are not alive, and they may sacrifice themselves to save you. I can, of course, rebuild them, so if you're going to get attached, try to think of them as progressive, conceptual things rather than this frame in particular. Grow attached to their idea rather than this exact version."

Everyone nodded in understanding, and we spent some time going over their capabilities and letting everyone experiment with their new companions. Samwise and I also pulled Murtaugh to the side to install his new hardware, and the AI happily experimented with his companions after that. When it started to get dark, everyone split off to either head to bed or do their own thing. I headed back to my trailer, with Duke following behind me, sniffing around and keeping a watchful eye out.

When I woke up the next morning, Samwise was waiting for me with a report, explaining that they now had thirty-five shades manning the walls, as well as letting me know that they would have it fully staffed by around midnight, probably slightly after. He also reported our next run of MRVNs was complete, and he had put them and all of the currently unused units to work gathering scrap and hauling car wrecks closer to the scrapping yard. I thanked him for the report and his hard work before leaving to find Noah, who was overseeing all of the "extra" MRVN units. He was also using his companion horse to work on some of the designs for our future buildings.

"So, we need to start working on getting this space ready for whoever is moving in," I explained after greeting the stoic AI. "I quoted Saul two weeks, so we should try to vaguely stick to that. Someone is going to be moving in as our cover, even if Nomads don't."

"Very well, I assume you want to tear down the trailers and other structures?" He asked, turning away from his horse computer.

"Yes and no. We need space for the Nomads, but we also need space for the fake borgs, and the sooner we can move them in, the better," I responded. "I want you to inspect the trailers. If any of them are intact and stable, even if they will only last a few months of use, I want you to drag them to one side of the town. Face them together with a little space in between so it doesn't look like a prison camp, but the idea is to create a living section for the fake borgs when we start making them. Over time, we can make our own buildings, but these trailers will have to do for now."

"How will we move them?"

"You have free rein over the extra vehicles, and feel free to commandeer a couple of molly makers to build a temporary trailer moving kit or something," I answered. "Tear down the trailers that are junk, pile everything in the scrap yard forming by the scrap area."

"What about the structures that aren't trailers?" Noah asked, gesturing to a nearby kiosk of vending machines.

"Use your own judgment," I said with a shrug. "A shed or two might come in hand, but once you're done moving everything, your next project will be building defenses for this area of town, but that's a few days away at least."

"Most likely, moving the structures without damaging them will take time," Noah agreed with a nod. "Very well. I will start by designing a frame to move the trailers, starting by taking some measurements."

We talked a bit more before Noah went off to get started, and I left to head back to the garage. Kaytlyn and a pair of Samwise's AI MRVNs had finished deconstructing all of the car models we were looking to replicate with advanced tech, meaning it was time to sit down and design the new versions. I wasn't sure when we would get a chance to produce them, as I had no idea how busy I would keep the production room when my new tech tree came in, but we would get them designed now so they would be ready to go when we had time.

The start of the design process was pretty simple for all the vehicles since all it was was the same frames, this time with a super strong, lightweight alloy from Titanfall. Once that was done we added some more frame reinforcement, as well as adding mounts for future armor plating. From there, we descended into the nitty gritty details of what we wanted these vehicles to be capable of. We quickly decided that they would be electric since I had two different electric Titanfall motors. I understood the general principle of these motors, though I hadn't built them out during the tech tree. We could still make them, though, I just wouldn't be a complete expert.

The electric motors would be able to output all the power and torque that we needed, even for the trucks. They were also smaller and could run damn near forever on an Elerium generator.

A lot of the basic parts, like the drivetrain, transmission, axles, and suspension, got simple upgrades in materials so that they would last longer and work smoother. A significant portion of their internal electronics were upgraded as well by simple upscaling. We fully armored the interior, including an interior lining of advanced Kelvar to catch any shrapnel that managed to make it through the armor. The reinforced materials continued on the outside shell as well, where Kaytlyn and I decided to go for more coverage than the original cars, including wheel wells. The wheels themselves were filled with a lightweight filler, making them completely bulletproof since they didn't deflate.

Even with all of our upgrades, added armor, and reinforcement, we still had a significant amount of room in each of our cars. I expanded the storage in my Quadra Type-66, before finally deciding to add internal weapons. I "cut off" the two exposed machine guns and instead got three mag cannons, pared down and modified to be fed from a much larger, reinforced magazine. I then stuffed two of them under the hood and the third in the back. I now had seventy-five rounds of "fuck you" ready to take out any trying to stop me or chase me.

While my personal ride would be a Quadra Type-66, modified to be a cross of the Avenger and Javelina exterior, the company vehicles would be a pair of Mizutani Shions and a pair of Thorton Colbys. All four of them would be reinforced with extra exterior plating to cover the wheels, even though they weren't going to pop from simple bullets. On top of the other modifications making them faster and more agile, both of the Thortons would have anti-personnel turrets collapse in the back, ready to deploy for some heavy firepower. Unfortunately, with the Colby acting as a heavy lifter and the Shions acting as small, speedy, more maneuverable vehicles, they didn't have as much room under the hood as my jack-of-all-trades Quadra. I still had room to mount smaller weapons under hoods, but nothing like mag cannons.

We also included a clamping system on the back of the Shion so a large crate could be affixed to the back under the spoiler. This would allow the smaller car to carry some cargo, whether it was a delivery or some of our groceries.

In the end, while the designs were completely functional, I decided not to call them complete just yet. Part of me hoped I would gain access to some interesting things with my next tech tree, but I also wanted to give Samwise a chance to look at the designs and for me to just consider them for a while. It wasn't like they would be getting built in the next few days anyway, and on top of that, the temporary cars we had were more than enough for most work.

Kaytlyn and I spent most of the day designing the vehicles, only stopping as the sun was slowly setting and the Badlands started to go dark. It was the end of my second to last day with no tech tree, and it was time for us to make the first payment on our vengeance plan for the Wraiths. Kaytlyn already had a spot for us to clear, and we had already decided on my first idea as the heavy impact psychological attack.

All that was left was for us to wait for it to be suitably late for our attack. In the meantime, we all went through our gear, cleaning, prepping, and generally getting in the zone for the night's mission.