Never Fade Away: Code Red Initiated (ch. 57) (Patreon)

David knew he was faster. Probably stronger. But Biotics were one hell of an equalizer, he thought as missiles exploded around him and the surrounding area became nothing but fire, dust, and shrapnel. Kaiden and Panam would be okay -- nothing short of the wrath of God would be getting through that tank's armor, but the rest of the invasion sure wouldn't be. The plan was enacted under the impression that the Turians didn't have a solid answer to their ground forces. Or, to be more specific, to David and the borgs like him.

Adam Smasher, the Legend Killer was apparently the answer they came up with.

“Out of all the programs they could have given a body to, what in the hell makes you so special?” David asked as they clashed in a blur of speed, his voice box speeding up the words to the point that everyone in real time would have heard a single noise that lasted a fraction of a second. Even as he spoke, he pressed the attack, blurring forward as he tried to guide Smasher out of the way of the army. Smasher was synonymous with collateral damage -- to that end, David would really prefer it if they fought around Turian soldiers.

“What's it to you, shitbot?” Smasher asked as David strafed to the side, filling the space between them with nothing but death. He was a bit bigger than the Smasher that L killed. Had he killed him? “You might have some half decent chrome, but packed in it is a run of the mill merc. You aren't worth my time.” Smasher snarled, the shoulder mounted cannon slamming forward before David saw a purple glow.

A split second later, a slug shot forward at speeds that looked fast even to David's eyes that tore through the building behind him and probably every single one beyond it until it left city limits. The sonic boom that followed was deafening as the wake of the slug pulled everything after it. David would have followed if it wasn't for the GN Drive in his chest that gave him control over the gravity around him. A counter to Biotics.

David sprinted forward, seizing the offensive and closing the distance as a veritable wall of bullets tried to cut him off. Rearing back a fist, he leapt forward, his knuckles striking Smasher in the chest and he went flying back with an imprint in his armor. The building that he went through began to collapse, but David kept moving -- he’d seen what L had to do to put the last Smasher down. A little love tap like that wasn't going to be enough.

True to form, the rubble began to stir as Smasher unleashed his biotics. Chunks of rubble began to rise into the air, making a convenient platform for David to jump off of, letting him see Smasher as purple lightning cackled around him while what looked a lot like a black hole began to condense between two of his oversized hands. Around him, David saw Turians lashing out blindly, trying to find where the floor was as they were swept up in the gravity storm.

He wasn't one for blades, but David popped out the one that L had given him. The principle should still be the same -- get through the armor, fry the biological components. Failing that, he could just do enough damage. “We'll see who's the shitbot,” David muttered to himself before the black hole was thrown his way. It raced forward, a pitch black void that seemed to suck everything in it.

He saw a Turian get spaghettified as he was caught in the gravity well. As if David needed more reason to give it a wide berth, continuing on as he went wide, leaving a trail of GN Particles. A downside of the design, David thought as Smasher knew just where to shoot. The surrounding block that they fought in was reduced to nothing under a hail of bullets that cut down buildings as if they were grass. That was the exact reason David has knocked him into Turian turf.

Smasher would do their job for them if they let him.

Through the dust, David pivoted to go straight for Smasher. This time his blade flashed out, cutting bullets as they arrived. Dozens of them, a hundred even, all fired off in the span of a fraction of a second. Closing in, David thrust his blade out, only to hit open air-

He felt a spike in his brain as he kicked his Sandy into overdrive. He sailed through Smasher as he Blinked to avoid the blow, but as soon as he did, David spun sharply to thrust the blade into his chest. Smasher manifested again, and they were eye to eye. “Some Legend Killer,” David scoffed, yanking the blade free as he jumped back. His optics scanned the-

“I'm meat free,” Smasher confirmed, and there was a euphoric note in his voice, as twisted as it was. “The last little gift L gave that shithole. Biotics without attaching eezo to your nervous system. Just another implant.” He informed as he cackled, almost sounding like a kid in a scopshop. “It wouldn't be possible without ‘em. Or his choom R. Saw that flick -- how he died, bleeding from his ears and eyes… All on the same day he got out. That's a real kick in the balls.”

David worked his jaw. That did change things. He needed to destroy whatever was enabling Smasher to use biotics. Last time, his body had been stuffed full of biotic nodes strung together. If he really wasn't rocking any meat, then that meant he was probably tapping into pure eezo, and a lot of it. Given that there didn't seem to be any loss in functionality with a sword through his chest…

Hm. He was overthinking it. He’d opened up a gap in his armor. He just needed to smash through it. He'd lose control of his biotics one way or another with a big hole in his chest. He shifted, ready to do exactly that, only for a message to reach him.

It was from Lucy: ‘He's not the only one.’

It was a short message, but it had staggering implications. Right. Smasher said that he was all digital, hadn't he? So Arasaka copied and pasted him into a couple of extra bodies? That… That was worrying, David had to admit. He was struggling a bit with Smasher. How was everyone else going to cope with one of these monsters rolling up to a city?

He took in a deep breath and steadied himself, even if he didn't need to breathe anymore. The simple act was grounding. Already, he had wasted too much time on Smasher. He needed to kill him, crush the Turians, and then they needed to reshuffle their priorities because all the Smashers needed to die. Again.

Smasher wasn't content to just let him put him down though. A pulse of power echoed out that David felt travel through him a split second before he felt a strong pull towards Smasher. Planting the sword in the ground, the GN Particles fought against the gravitational pull even as the concrete of the ground began ripping up in chunks. He was planning something big and David wasn't sure he wanted to see the end result of it.

It'd be better if he got in close, but Smasher was aware of that. The dust and rubble began to circle around him, gaining in strength as the mass effect field around him expanded, reducing the weight of everything in the area. Rubble, chunks of buildings, then cars, all of it got swept up in the growing cyclone.

His control was better. David still remembered when he saw a flick of L's fight with Smasher -- the raw power that was on display. But it wasn't just power now. Smasher had control over it. He was forced to make a decision as the cyclone expanded towards him -- offense or defense. And… Well…

David knew he was a lot better on offense.

Despite it all, he felt a flash of excitement as he dove into the cyclone, high winds whipping around him as he leapt from a chunk of a building, to a neon sign, to a car to press on to the eye of the storm. He had been on his way to becoming a Legend in Night City. Not really out of any sense of ambition, but more as a result of his goals. He’d chromed up faster than anyone, and most told him to pump the brakes… and for gearheads like him, there was one man that stood at the end of the line.

Adam Smasher.

David had been out of it, but he saw the first clash between him and L. The one that resulted in L blowing off his arm with Becca’s shotgun. Smasher had been terrifying. Awe-inspiring. One hell of an obstacle in the road.

As he emerged into the eye of the storm, David saw Smasher was ready for him. He’d rolled out the welcome mat of overwhelming gunfire, missiles, even lasers. That impression he gave off hadn't changed at all. And despite the danger, David found himself wearing a smile as he dove right into it. The body that L crafted for him responded perfectly to what he needed.

His blade flashed out, bisecting bullets even as he dodged hyper powered lasers. He rushed forward, as the near misses stopped being misses. Bullets scraped against his body, first grazing off the armor plating before striking him fully. It just wasn't enough to slow him down and he trusted the body that L built for him. He'd move heaven and earth for his family, and he wouldn't give David anything less than his best. And his best outstripped everyone else's by a longshot.

His free arm began to shift, the armored plating rippling. It wasn't Maine's arm. Not by a long shot. L couldn't have known the story behind it, so he had simply assumed David's preference. A projectile launcher emerged from his forearm and Smasher was ready for it. He collapsed the twister inwards, sending what felt like half a block at him, forcing David to dodge and the slight delay allowed Smasher to build up his next move. Biotic energy began to condense around him, and David recognized a Charge.

His Sandy fired up into high gear, and instantly David knew he was going to pay for it later. The GN Particles reduced his weight to the point he was basically weightless, firing him off in a straight shot forward. It was an emergency option, he had to remind himself. Not something that he could abuse over and over. Even if his body could take it, his brain couldn't.

Maybe Smasher had a point there, David thought quietly to himself as he closed the distance, bringing his projectile launcher up into an uppercut as Smasher rushed to condense the energy around him. It was a near impenetrable shield, but only when he got moving. At a standstill-

David fired off the projectile, a sleek looking missile that shot straight for the hole David had made with his blade. It sailed through the biotic energy just as Smasher began to move, forcing David to eat the Charge head on. David found himself returned to real-time as he was flung back, struck by an unstoppable force. His back tore through a truck, a chunk of building, and he dug a trench in the ground -- the first knocks he had taken with the body.

Smasher got the worst of it, though. Even as he pressed forward, the bomb in his chest exploded -- first, there was no sign of it. Then Smasher's torso collapsed in on itself, a pinprick of a black hole that drew in everything around it. David was back on his feet as Smasher's momentum carried him a decent bit before the Charge faltered, revealing that he was split in two. The materials he was made out of spat out in cubes, and David saw a solid cube of Element Zero, almost as big as his hand.

“How's that for a shitbot?” David asked, approaching the scrap heap that was left. Most of the upper body was gone, leaving only the head and everything above it. And the legs, David supposed. So, he fired another rocket at them to make sure they didn't have a little extra surprise as a final fuck you.

“Not bad, shitbot. You'll be worth killing,” Smasher's glitch filled voice uttered. No fear. He didn't sound defeated. “Be seeing you.” He warned ominously before the lights blinked out of his eyes and David heard a pop. Ripping apart the scraps, he saw it was a Relic. Sort of. It was pretty different from the one that they had taken out of L's head with hundreds, if not thousands of thin silvery wires connected to a single node of circuitry.

Despite it being a warzone, there was a loud silence as he looked down at Smasher. “Lucy, I beat him. What are we looking at here?” he asked, and he felt the ghost of her touch in his systems. She worried too much, but her presence was more of a reassurance than he wanted to admit.

However, she didn't answer him for a few seconds. Enough time for him to start getting worried. And what she said was nothing more than a cold comfort.

“The next stage of the war.”

…

I knew better than most how fast things could go to hell. How a single second served as the barrier between absolute control and total chaos. With everything I had done, I had been all but sure that I was prepared for that moment. I gave everyone all the tools they could need to make it. I was serving as overwatch, acting as a great big ‘Beware of Dog’ sign to scare off the Turians from even thinking of trying something.

Yet, when the moment came, I was as caught off guard as anyone.

“What in the hell are they doing?” I muttered, looking at the hologram of the globe and, more importantly, the shifting of the ships in orbit. At first, I figured they were responding to me. I wasn't exactly being subtle with my presence, even if it did seem excessive to reshuffle the entire fleet because of me. But, when none of them came near, I settled in for some waiting as the action below began. Things progressed smoothly with the initial stages of the plan.

Then, of all things, Adam Smasher showed up.

Only he didn't just show up in the battle below me. He showed up in Europe. In Africa. In Asia. In the NUSA. The only place he didn't seem to show up was in Night City, simply because the one that would have arrived there was fighting Kaiden and Panam. And that made things clear.

“You weren't ready,” I said, speaking to the Turian Admiral I had met however briefly. That's why the holograms showed an almost mad scramble to get everything into position as dozens of Smashers were seemingly released against the cities that were protected by a bubbleshield. And with simple, raw, unfettered power, Smasher was tearing through the defenses to the shields, and with them down, the Turians could simply roll in. At least, that was the intention.

Now, they were scrambling to get into place to actually launch the followup invasion. Our attack ruined the surprise and revealed their Ace, their counter to my tech, before they were ready to play it.

“There's only one thing to do, L,” Johnny said as I sat in the cockpit of the Swordfish, hesitating. “They can handle themselves. Trust David to take care of it. The rest of the world can't.”

My grip tightened on the joysticks, the jack behind my ear itching. I sure could talk a big game, but when it came to actually trusting everyone to look after themselves, I was hesitating. “It could be a trap,” I replied, and not just for the sake of arguing. While it was a bit much to just poke a reaction from me, I would be shocked if they didn't have a contingency. To get me to move out of the way, so they could attack either the army of mercenaries and gangsters or Night City itself.

My grip tightened when I heard Smasher -- his voice echoing through my tap in everyone's coms. The threats. The very instant I was about to make a snap decision, I got a call from Yorinobu of all people. I accepted it instantly, knowing that it was an emergency. Despite the situation, I saw that he had a rather… calm expression on his face.

“L-san,” he began, his voice low but even. “You will receive an offer from the Turian Admiral shortly. I'm calling to tell you that there is no need. I am taking care of it. You'll know what I mean soon enough,” Yorinobu stated, and I opened my mouth to reply to that, caught completely flat-footed by the call. What did he mean by that? Instantly, I gave a call back, only to discover that his agent was deactivated.

“The fuck did that mean?” Johnny wondered, and, sure enough, no sooner than the call ended, the Swordfish got a ping. “I don't like this. Was he working for the birds?’

I'm not sure how else he could have anticipated this, but that didn't sit right with me. My grip eased ever so slightly as David arrived on the scene, rescuing Kaiden and Panam. Gritting my teeth, I decided to accept the hail and the hologram of Earth became the familiar visage of the Turian Admiral. I wasn't quite adept at reading alien facial expressions, but if I had to guess, the word tense came to mind.

“L,” he began.

“Admiral,” I returned flatly. “If you're not calling to offer a surrender, then I'm not sure why you're calling at all.” A delaying tactic, maybe?

The Turian Admiral narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. “You once claimed to be a mercenary with no loyalty to your species. I offer you this -- do not interfere with the operation, and you and yours will be allowed to leave the planet.” I fought off a frown -- as far as offers went…

“A little late for that. If you're coming to me asking I don't shoot down that fleet of yours, I'd expect something a little more,” I retorted. He was trying to negotiate me out of the war. Honestly, I was a little flattered. I'm just not sure why he was making the offer now of all times. If he made it a while ago, I would have considered it at least, but now? Now, my course was set.

He nodded, not particularly surprised with my refusal. Then he spoke, “I understand. Circumstances have forced both of our hands in this matter, but as I understand it, the Arasaka corporation is a personal enemy of yours and your people. They managed to escape your grasp,” he continued, and this was the real offer, I sensed. “Stay your hand, and you will be given safe passage… and the location of your enemy.”

What was Yorinobu doing? How did he know that this was coming, and what did he mean he was taking care of it?

I worked my jaw, swallowing my surprise, “You'd sell out your allies? Makes it hard to trust that promise of safe passage.” I needed to buy myself a moment to think. Sitting out the invasion wasn't just a return to status quo -- with Smasher as the tip of the spear, humanity was going to get absolutely hammered. It might not be enough to win the war outright, but it would be a catastrophic blow.

“As I said, circumstances have forced our hands. The Council has decided that the Arasaka corporation is a necessary evil. That they're past actions can be redeemed with faithful service, or failing that, that they can be punished when their use is over,” the Turian Admiral admitted quite candidly. Then his face plates twitched, “I disagree.”

He didn't offer any more than that. None of his reasoning or his motivation.

I still thought he was a blowhard, but he was a straight shooter, if nothing else.

Yorinobu… I closed my eyes for the briefest of seconds, having doubts but I knew what I had to do.

“Sorry, but I refuse,” I told him outright. The Turian Admiral didn't seem surprised, but he did seem faintly disappointed.

“I see. Then prepare to be engaged,” He responded neutrally, ending the call there.

Just like that, the die had been cast.