Chapter 130 - Arasaka Special Operations Squad

"Karl, we've got a problem."

Kiwi's voice came through the comms. "Arasaka personnel are closing in. Looks like they've already tracked this location."

"How the hell did they get here this fast?"

Maine, clearly surprised, lifted Tanaka—who had already passed out—while Oliver performed basic first aid to stop him from bleeding out.

"Even if they noticed the signal jamming, it should still take them time to trace his hidden location, right? Tanaka set this meeting up privately."

"I know why."

Lucy's voice chimed in. "Just now, I checked the latest corporate downsizing list from Arasaka. Tanaka's name is on it—it was posted less than a minute ago. Because of our signal jammer, he didn't receive the notification."

"What? He got fired? What the hell… then these guys are—"

"They're here to clean him up."

Karl's thoughts drifted back to Lizzie's Bar, where he had seen the aftermath of corporate power struggles firsthand.

So, Tanaka had been caught up in that mess too.

And yet, he still had time to go watch black-market BDs? Did he seriously not realize he was next on the chopping block?

"So, what's the plan? Extracting the data from Tanaka's head is gonna take time. We might not be able to finish before Arasaka gets here."

Maine turned to Carl for a decision, and Carl didn't hesitate.

"Tanaka was a section chief in R&D. Who knows how much classified Arasaka tech he has in his head? There's no way they'll let us walk away with him.

Me, Maine, Jack, and Oliver stay behind. The rest of you take Tanaka and extract the Adamant Cyberware data from his neural implants."

Leaving the strongest four to hold off Arasaka's pursuit team was the only logical move.

Hearing Carl's orders over comms, Dorio, the muscle of Maine's crew, stepped up.

"Four against Arasaka's elite? You sure that's enough? I should stay too."

"The retreat team needs cover just as much. Four is enough. Dorio, fall back."

Technically, Carl wasn't even part of their crew, but hearing him speak, Dorio found herself unable to argue. Without further hesitation, she started prepping the extraction team outside.

"David, hand Tanaka over to them."

"Got it!"

Knowing he wasn't strong enough to help in the fight, David didn't waste time. He grabbed Tanaka's unconscious body and hauled him out.

Seeing the thin-looking kid carry Tanaka like it was nothing, Maine raised an eyebrow.

"Karl, your recruit's got some strength."

"Animal-stimulant booster. Same stuff the Animals gang uses. He bought a dose before the job."

"Hah? The kid's going the muscle route like me?"

"More like muscle augmentation plus cyberware integration. He's still gotta train his body to handle future upgrades."

A strong physique was necessary to withstand high-end cyberware. David's original frame wasn't cut out for it—so that's where the transformation had to start.

Not long after David and the extraction team left, Kiwi's voice came through the comms again.

"It's Arasaka Special Operations personnel. Be careful. These guys are elite—way above regular Arasaka grunts. Eleven of them. And they've got a netrunner. I can hold them off remotely for now, but once they get too close, you're on your own."

"No problem. You've done enough."

Maine cut the call immediately to prevent Arasaka from tracing Kiwi's location. Then, he grabbed his Militech Crusher power shotgun and pumped it.

"Arasaka Special Ops? We've dealt with worse."

Oliver aimed at the ceiling hole left by the steel flechettes earlier, then drew his Nova revolver and blasted the hole wider. With Jack's help, he climbed to the second floor and set up his sniper rifle by the window.

"Let's see if their smart weapons can still lock onto me at max range."

"Eleven guys against us? Sucks for them."

Jack pulled out his Saratoga SMG and took position near the first-floor window.

"I just hope they don't drop too fast."

Carl climbed up after Oliver and pulled out his Seraph.

"The only downside is that we might have to expose our identities."

Originally, Carl had wanted to stay under the radar so they could keep taking jobs related to the Adamant Cyberware project. But thanks to Arasaka's constant corporate backstabbing, that plan was already falling apart.

Even if Militech hired them next time, Arasaka would be on full alert.

"So, what? We just kill them all."

Maine didn't see the issue.

"Special Ops squads have BD recorders or surveillance implants. Some of them even have direct uplink feeds. Remember what happened last time? That gig ended up on the black market as a BD."

"Wait—what?"

"So don't think too hard about it—just kill them all. We're exposed anyway. Keep it simple."

The eleven-man Arasaka Special Operations team quickly locked onto Tanaka's last known location—the safehouse in the distance.

"Be careful. The signal's been cut for over three minutes. There may be others involved."

"Are they protecting Tanaka? What's the order?"

"Wipe them out. No survivors."

As soon as the squad leader gave the order, the team's netrunner finished his scan.

"The enemy netrunner is gone. I've established a link to the safehouse's local network. I'm detecting four bio-signals—two on the first floor, two on the second."

"Got it. Mark them for us."

"Understood, marking no—"

The netrunner's words cut off as a surge of data flooded his neural link, his cyberdeck overheating instantly.

"…The enemy has a netrunner—SH—AARGH!"

His comm signal cut out abruptly.

"Hey! Six! Respond!"

"Captain, Six's vitals just flatlined. Cause of death: cyberware overheating."

"That's impossible! He was using an Arasaka Type-3—top-of-the-line military-grade tech. Only Special Ops gets access to it. There's no way some random overheat attack bypassed its firewall!"

Before the squad leader could process what just happened, something in the safehouse window on the second floor flashed for a brief moment.

A glint of light?

His thoughts hadn't even fully formed before a bullet pierced his skull, taking his life with it.

"Better gear than the rest. Must've been the leader."

Oliver muttered to himself as the squad leader's headless body swayed, then collapsed heavily onto the ground.

In just one exchange, two members of Arasaka's Special Ops team were dead.

Character Info & Loadouts

Karl

Age: 18 (recognized appearance age)

Weapons: Kenshin pistol, backup weapons including Saratoga SMG

Cyberware: Arasaka Type-3 Neural Link, Monowire, Arm Augments (Titanium Bone Structure, Dense Bone Marrow, Reinforced Tendons, Synthetic Skin)

Netrunning Protocols: Target Lock, Cyberware Overheat, Memory Erasure, Mobility Disruption

Vehicle: Thorton Hera (never driven)

Jack

Age: 29

Weapons: Malorian Arms 3516 (Gold Custom), Saratoga SMG

Cyberware: Subdermal Armor, Synaptic Accelerator, Basic Kiroshi Optics

Vehicle: Nazare Motorcycle

Oliver

Age: 24

Weapons: Nekomata Tech Sniper Rifle, Nova Revolver, Shingen Smart SMG

Cyberware: Kiroshi Optics (Custom Color Model), Nanofiber Skin, Basic Augments Omitted

Vehicles: Quartz Thorton, Thorton Hera (actual driver)

V (Not Yet Introduced)

Age: 22 (Born in 2053)

Weapons: ?

Cyberware: ?

Vehicle: ?

Upcoming Cyberware Upgrades

Carl: Upgrading Neural Link, more TBD

Jack: Berserk System

Oliver: QianT Sandevistan Mk.4

.

.

.

📢 Important Announcement! 📢

From now on, there will be 20 chapters ahead available on Patreon for early access! 🎉🔥

Also, we're excited to announce our new translation of the Harry Potter fanfiction: The Rebirth of Harry Potter! ⚡📖

🔗 Join here: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus

Thank you for your support! 🙌