Chapter 18: Dakota Smith

Chapter 18: Dakota Smith

Badlands.

Nova Li scrolled through the glowing data feed on her wristband, eyes narrowing as she scoffed. "Tch. You want me to risk my ass for this kind of chump change? Stingy bastards."

A bounty of a million eddies wasn't pocket change—most families in Night City wouldn't make that kind of money in a lifetime. But was it enough to risk going toe-to-toe with someone like Goro Takemura? That was a different question entirely.

Takemura wasn't just some random street samurai. He was Arasaka Saburo's personal bodyguard—a man enhanced with some of the finest corpo-tier augmentations, trained to kill without hesitation. Anyone dumb enough to chase this bounty was more likely to end up a smear on the pavement than a millionaire.

Still, Night City had no shortage of desperate mercs, trigger-happy gonks, and chrome-stuffed thrill-seekers. All it took was the scent of easy money, and they'd come crawling out of the gutters with guns blazing. Takemura wouldn't have to look for trouble—it would find him.

"If the Captain really wanted him dead," Nova muttered, "he'd have said the word. But he hasn't. Which means we're not chasing money—we're chasing death."

With that, she slapped the roof of the car. "Hey! You find the damn signal yet, or what?"

"Stop rushing! I'm working on it!" Takumi Kai snapped, eyes locked to the lines of code flickering across his deck's display. He was crouched in the backseat with his laptop balanced across his legs, fingers tapping furiously as he filtered through local network chatter.

Sovoil was out here somewhere. The Badlands were huge and lawless, a stretch of cracked desert and scrub that swallowed signals and secrets alike. But where the wild things roamed, there were always paths. You just had to know the right rats to talk to.

Every region had its own fixers—deal-brokers who made the nomad world go round. And out here, the name that mattered was Dakota Smith.

As a city-born crew that had only dipped into the Badlands twice, they had no real connections. So Takumi went with a tried-and-true netrunner tactic: bait.

He posted a bounty thread across several shady boards claiming they needed to reach Dakota Smith for a high-value gig.

Surprisingly, it worked. Dozens of replies poured in. Most were just scam attempts or misdirections, but one tip led them to a camp surrounded by rusted freight containers, drone turrets, and a surprising number of armed personnel.

"This one might actually be legit," Nova muttered, her tone shifting as she spotted the mounted auto-turrets scanning for targets.

Tanaka grunted from behind the wheel. "You want me to back you up?"

Takumi pushed his glasses up his nose, analyzing the camp's network security. "The cameras I can spoof. But the turrets? Might take a few minutes to crack—too long if things go sideways."

"I could ping Oda," he offered. "Have her patch in remotely."

Nova waved them off. "If you need backup for something this basic, why are you even out here?"

Tanaka stopped the vehicle a hundred meters from the encampment. In the flat openness of the Badlands, there was no such thing as a stealthy approach.

Nova popped the door open and stepped out, raising both hands high in a universal signal of peace.

From the camp, a pair of turrets whirred, locking onto her center mass. Sentries took position, rifles shouldered. This wasn't some scav hideout—these people were professionals.

Nova halted at about fifty meters. "We're here to see Dakota Smith!" she called.

"She's not here! Move along!" a guard barked.

"She will be when I hand over Da Shi's payment. He gave us this address!"

The guards exchanged a look. One of them jogged back into the camp. The other held position.

"Fine. Come forward. Hands up. Keep them up."

Nova gave her team a thumbs-up behind her back and stepped forward cautiously. As she neared, the guard stopped her. "Search time."

Nova stepped back with a playful grin. "You boys don't have any female staff? I'm not used to being frisked by men."

The guard rolled his eyes and waved a woman over. As the female guard started the pat-down, Nova tried to keep it casual. "No need for all the tension. Just here to talk."

"We've had several unknowns clearing out small crews out here," the female guard said. "Can't be too careful."

Nova's expression twitched. Who the hell had been spreading that story? Sure, they had offed a few idiots who attacked first, but it wasn't like they were staging mass purges. Rumors out here spread faster than a bio-plague.

"She's clean. Just a sidearm," the woman said.

Nova shrugged. "What more do you need?"

Just then, a voice echoed from behind the guards. "Let her in."

The speaker was a middle-aged woman dressed in a dusty green tactical jacket, a canister-like oxygen mask dangling around her neck. Her sharp blue mole and worn face made her easy to recognize.

"Da Shi?" Nova raised a brow.

"You tell me," Dakota replied smoothly, inhaling from her oxygen unit with a faint hiss.

Nova followed her through the gates. The interior of the camp was quiet but fortified, with Nomad gear stacked along the periphery.

Inside a makeshift meeting room, Dakota sat behind a table and gestured to a chair.

"You're looking for Sovoil. Why?"

Nova crossed her arms. "That's private."

"Then I can't help you."

"Not even for a payout?"

"No."

Nova sighed. "We're trying to make a deal with them. Simple as that."

Dakota leaned back, contemplative. "I don't care about your reasons. I only care that you're not wasting my time. So here's the deal—I don't want a commission. I'll make the connection. If it pans out, I get ten percent of whatever you earn."

Nova snorted. "Fifty thousand. Flat fee. Paid now. That's my cap."

Dakota studied her face, saw the overconfidence. She didn't argue. "Fine. You'll have your answer tomorrow."

"Not today?"

"Sovoil doesn't trust easily. Neither should you."

Back outside, Nova returned to the car, climbing into the passenger seat with a hum.

"La-la-la~ I'm back. What'd I miss?"

Takumi closed his laptop. "Enough. They're already on edge. Dakota knows there's big eddies behind this."

Nova smirked. "She going to sell us out?"

"Doesn't matter," Takumi replied. "Let her try."

Tanaka cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Sounds like someone else is asking to die."

The Nomad 10 roared to life, tires throwing up a storm of dust as the crew rolled toward the next battle.

And somewhere, in the whispering wires and echoing canyons of the Badlands, gears were turning.

Tomorrow would be a bloodbath.