Chapter 247
"... Weapons? What if we run out of bullets and electricity? Surrender? Only sissies rely on equipment to survive!"
"Teammates? Damn it! Your comrades-in-arms, they also have their own missions! Your superiors? They need to command the assault and control the overall situation, not stand there staring at you!"
"Expecting support that's sometimes fast and sometimes slow? That's idiotic!"
"On the battlefield, the most reliable thing is always yourself!"
It's an old-fashioned but timeless argument.
It was not only the excitement of the promotion, but also the exhilaration of the return of the power of the prosthetic body and the release of the violent impulses in his heart. Therefore, the veteran spoke with particular passion when he talked about his temperament.
It has a kind of old-school tough guy vibe.
In short, he wanted to crack down on the prevailing weapon-centric mentality that had developed in recent years due to the SAT's increasingly sophisticated military equipment.
Of course, this does not mean he opposes the iteration of equipment.
This was meant to be a dose of reality. With his seasoned experience, he pointed out the shortcomings of the SAT. Weapons are important, but what determines victory in war is people. This principle remains relevant today. It wouldn't be good if the SAT were to be known as the "Logistics Captain."
David only began exchanging secret messages with Katsuo and Xiaofu after Ram finished his old-fashioned speech emphasizing 'cultivating a tenacious spirit and will'.
[Suneo: Hmm, these words remind me of what my dad used to say about Showa Man.]
[Katsuo: It's not that far. What I mean is, Xiaofu, you should abstain from sex and avoid going to the Twist Street and Kabuki District.]
[Xiaofu: Ahem, Katsuo, stop undermining me.]
[David: Showa Man... Are they the samurai of the pre-Showa era or the corporate warriors of the post-Showa era?]
[Katsuo: Perhaps both. I guess Commander Ram is emphasizing these things because war is probably on the horizon. Only when facing opponents of equal strength will our equipment advantage become less significant; those petty thieves don't stand a chance.]
David: Hmm. Since it's unavoidable, be prepared to face it calmly.
[Suneo: That's why I said we should enjoy life while we can... But speaking of which, now that the inspection is over, why aren't we dismissed yet?]
At this point, the three stopped exchanging coded messages and looked towards the small stands.
After Benliang finished his inspection of the next base, Ram was gathered with the station commanders, standing ramrod straight, the orange-red communication lights in their eyes flashing in unison.
Clearly, instructions have come from above.
What's going on?
David felt a jolt in his heart.
"Assemble! Emergency mobile combat mission!"
No sooner said than done, the base commander's order rang in his ears, "Special Rapid Response Unit, assemble!"
The scope includes seasoned SAT veterans watching from behind the railings.
The quiet training ground was instantly turned into a boiling state by the assembly whistle. The company soldiers of AST Heavy Armor, wearing the EX0-2 Modified Combat Exoskeleton, quickly assembled from the barracks.
Beep beep—
Shortly after, a notification popped up on the retina's visual interface for a new email. David glanced at it and saw an urgent red electronic document from the [Arasaka Tower Security Department - General Affairs Bureau [Night City]].
Execution unit: SAT.
Task type: Counterterrorism fieldwork.
Location: New Mexico / Colorado / Wyoming / Montana.
Mission Description: Assist the Barghest Mercenary Group and the North American Free State Alliance in carrying out military services, suppressing terrorist attacks in the region, and eliminating hostile sabotage organizations hiding within the employer's territory.
Date: 2077/4/12.
Status: Pending execution.
Buzz... Buzz...
As the mission was issued, armored airships, Heavy Octant Drone, Hive Mothership, and Mech Troop Transport started up on the base's helipad, violently stirring the air. The vibrations quickly turned into a roar that echoed throughout this near -Badlands permanent base.
"Hurry up!"
The junior non-commissioned officers were shouting.
For a moment, the sounds of the Vector Engine of the armored airborne vehicles taking off and landing blended with the sounds of heavily armed personnel boarding the vehicles.
David, Katsuo, Xiaofu, and the others remained standing in line, looking at each other in bewilderment.
A whooshing sound came from overhead, growing louder as multiple aircraft flew in formation low over the training ground. The huge air currents they created caused a 'sand rain' to fall from the sky, and soon a thin layer of fine sand covered them.
No, what about us?
We haven't boarded the bus yet!
"The recruits are dismissed!"
A supply depot officer walked over and yelled, "Level 4 combat readiness! Continue training as usual! Prepare for emergency response!"
"Yes!" ×N.
Although the SAT recruits were disappointed, no one made a fuss. They dispersed and went into groups to carry out daily drills to improve their weaknesses.
Several more hours passed, and it was noon, lunchtime.
"Pity."
As they marched out of the training ground and headed towards the barracks, Xiaofu couldn't help but shake his head.
There's no way around seniority; I just became a senior in the Mobile Garrison Unit, and then I was "raised" to the SAT, only to become a newbie again.
Something's strange.
However, Katsuo Tanaka was most sensitive to the inside information of Arasaka, looked thoughtful.
"The Barghest shouldn't have suffered a defeat. Although the Free State Alliance of Sacramento has requested assistance, do they really need to send the SATs to deal with Washington's infiltration? They should send us 'new recruits' to familiarize ourselves with tactics and gain experience."
What kind of terrorism could Arasaka be fighting in North America? He's fighting the 'terrorism' of the Washington authorities, of course. They're just tacitly refraining from saying it outright.
"Did you mean?"
David nodded. "Is it a deterrent, or is the higher-ups setting another trap for Washington...?"
Before he could finish speaking, ding-dong.
"Katsuo, Xiaofu."
The three of them looked up at the same time.
Looking around, they realized they weren't the only three. Many people paused for a moment. David narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight.
Although he lacked a certain vision and social awareness compared to Katsuo due to his background, he had still managed to make it through, and his observation skills as a combatant had greatly improved.
Without exception, these people were all graduates of the Arasaka Academy, or simply second-generation Corporate Dog of Arasaka.
This was accompanied by the email notification sound that had just gone off again.
Operation Codename: Break the Cage
Details: [Encryption]
Mission location: Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico.
Mission brief: To receive a Washington official who is defecting.
Openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass?
Looking back at the earlier actions of the old SAT team, David thought of what he had borrowed from Katsuo... uh, oh, was it a story from "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or a more obscure story from "Records of the Grand Historian"?
The next day.
Upon receiving a mission to contact and recruit the Voodoo Boys, FIA agent Lark, tasked with exchanging intelligence on the "Black Wall" and information about the AI behind it, secretly leaves Washington under the escort of Secret Service agents at the White House.
Heading west.
Chapter 243 The Spark That Triggered the Fire: Santa Fe City.
Buzzing—whooshing—
The warmth was palpable inside the trembling train carriage.
The moment Song Zhaomei opened her eyes, she looked at the pillow, where the square, golden barrel of the Arasaka [Incense LX] submachine gun was reflected on her iris illuminated by the sleep lamp.
My pupils gradually focused, and further into the distance, I saw a bedside table with anti-collision corners. On the table, the screen of a laptop computer remained lit, displaying the real-time status and route of the current bullet train.
The other furnishings in the soft sleeper compartment, as well as the secret mechanism she had specially set up to check for any 'supervisors' visiting, remained unchanged.
Safe, no abnormalities...
With a whoosh, Song Zhaomei pushed aside the cooling blanket and sat up from the cleaner bunk.
With a wave of the hand, the sunshade curtain, having received the command, automatically opened, allowing the morning sun to pour in, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the sun.
Outside the porthole, the Badlands wilderness of New Mexico unfolds: red rock cliffs, vast deserts, rolling, withered hills, sparse and broken cacti and long-spike palms... a stark contrast to the densely populated urban areas of the East Coast, revealing the remains of a dead natural world.
Seven years have passed. Since that disastrous retreat, she hasn't set foot on western soil for many years.
Ironically, last time he managed to leave unscathed by betrayal, and this time he's going there again for the sake of betrayal...
Song Zhaomei thought to herself with a self-deprecating smile.
Humans aren't plants or trees; betrayal is never something to be ashamed of, but she had no choice.
Simply because she wanted to live!
If she stays in the Federal Intelligence Agency any longer, there are only two possible outcomes for her:
Physiological functions exhausted, died, and were dissected;
They are alive, but in a state of being neither alive nor dead, a living person who is already dead. Through increasingly frequent deep dives and contact with the "Black Wall" research, they are assimilated by AI, gradually losing their Remembrance, their personality, and everything else.
Song Zhaomei chose to break free from her cage.
The man who brought her into the industry, who always said "the interests of the motherland are above all else" and was devoted to the public good, Solomon Reed, is dead!
He was an old dog that needed a leash. If the shackles were put on too early, he could only struggle until he was covered in blood and gore. Even if he managed to break free, he probably wouldn't go far. But she was different. Her sunk costs were within an acceptable range, and she could still break free.
Even though she would face a lifetime of pursuit, she still made her choice without hesitation.
It's like a drowning person grasping at a straw.
—Throw it towards Arasaka.
Arasaka's new technology can cure her, and with her access to top-tier NUSA dirt and numerous secrets from the White House and the Federal Intelligence Agency, she is undoubtedly the key person Arasaka needs.
Moreover, as long as she remains healthy, she will still have value to be exploited, given her ability to dig holes in the Black Wall and partially invoke its protocols.
At the same time, as someone who surrendered voluntarily before the war even began and before the outcome was clear, she, like Kurt Hansen, served as a model of 'spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones'.
"Call!"
After exhaling a heavy sigh of relief, Song Zhaomei thought of the gentleman's agreement she had with the higher-ups at Arasaka.
That day, after she resolutely conveyed her willingness to surrender to the deep-diving hacker Arasaka, she had a brief encounter with that woman outside the Cyberspace "Black Wall":
"... So, Rosalind Miles's favorite general, is this why you chose to defect?"
The ambitious Arasaka's Third Generation Tyrant, Vera Adelheid Arasaka Russell, is currently looking at her with a formulaic, elegant smile in his data-mimicry form as a network traveler.
In the obscure cyberspace, colorful data characters floated, the numbers arranged in a neat matrix. Above this, the dignified and majestic figure of 'Arasaka's Most Shining Gold Stone' was imprinted on Song Zhaomei's Neural Matrix with unprecedented clarity.
Cyberspace amplified Vera's virtual form.
It allowed her to see something vaguely obscured within the data-mimicked human silhouette.
Song Zhaomei is already one of NUSA's top hackers today, even before the Great Network Collapse: the 'golden age of hacking' when the internet was developing wildly, knowledge was flowing rapidly, and the spirit of open source was prevalent. This is an achievement that she can be proud of.
But when she truly saw the essence of Vera's data mimicry, that indescribable 'numerical remains', she realized...
What is that? The remnants of a dismantled, roaming Rogue AI data architecture and obsolete code!
Just how many AIs did she prey on and dismantle in Cyberspace?!
To give a perhaps inappropriate analogy, in Song Zhaomei's eyes, those residual data and obsolete codes were like the 'blood' dripping from the mouth of a predator that had just finished hunting its prey on the African savanna and was now feasting on it.
She felt fear.
Fear of the unknown, fear of predators...
He was a monster, a talented monster who understood human nature.