Chapter Summaries

V and Carl followed Orionna and Kile after Carl deduced that Aeson-Brain had lied about the item and Psycho Squad. The chapter ended as a heavy truck charged into Orionna and Kile’s car.

• Carl told V she believed almost none of Aeson-Brain’s claims about Psycho Squad, the item, or a scheduled call.
• V realized Carl thought Aeson-Brain had lied about nearly everything and admitted he had been fooled too.
• Carl teased V for not checking the story with Kormac and watched Orionna and Kile speed away.
• A heavy truck burst from an intersection and barreled toward Orionna and Kile’s car.

Kile abandoned the gravely injured Orionna after a truck driven by Carl crashed into their sedan, and Aison-Bren revealed that Orionna was his niece and the target of his revenge. As Aison-Bren prepared to kill her, Carl called the NCPD and intervened, leaving the old gang legend facing arrest in Night City of 2076.

• Carl's truck rammed Orionna and Kile's sedan, throwing them from the wreck and leaving them badly injured.
• Kile took the job case and limped away, abandoning Orionna as four of Aison-Bren's people surrounded her and gave her Full Cure to keep her alive.
• Aison-Bren told Orionna that she was his niece and explained that he had spent thirty years seeking revenge for his sister, whom he believed had been murdered.
• Orionna learned the case did not contain Psycho Squad gear and accepted that Aison-Bren intended to kill her for what he saw as her mother's betrayal.
• Carl called the NCPD, and Andy arrived to arrest Aison-Bren after Carl pointed out that the crash had also injured innocent bystanders.
• Carl warned Aison-Bren that revenge did not excuse harming innocents, as the NCPD moved to arrest him.

Carl confronted Aison-Brain over his revenge and insisted that he tried to keep innocents from being harmed. After Carl subdued him and handed him to the NCPD, Aison-Brain promised something Carl could not be sure of, leaving the fate of an eight-year-old girl uncertain.

• Aison-Brain challenged Carl's claim that revenge could avoid harming innocents, and Carl explained that he chose to spare people because he wanted to.
• Aison-Brain accepted Carl's rules as a challenge and advanced on him with his curved blade.
• Carl immobilized Aison-Brain and told him he would be arrested, while Andy's authorization allowed lethal force.
• Carl asked Aison-Brain to evacuate crowds before any future revenge and, if possible, spare the eight-year-old girl.
• NCPD officers took Aison-Brain and the other offenders into custody, and Aison-Brain told Carl, "I assure you."

Carl saved an injured mother and son, while V reported that Kormac and Kile had been killed by Militech after their job was complete. The Militech squad then offered to hire Carl and V to intercept cargo using documents about Psycho Squad transport routes.

• Carl arranged medical care for the mother and son and explained to Andy that he had used their own insurance and funds to cover the expenses.
• Carl and Andy discussed his frightening reputation, which Carl blamed partly on Adam Smasher and on rumors about his past jobs.
• V called Carl and said Kormac and Kile had been killed by a Militech squad after they handed over the item but before paying the rest of the fee.
• V explained that he planned to recover the unpaid balance by claiming useful property and assets from Kormac's old Watson District turf.
• V told Carl that the item contained documents about Psycho Squad equipment transport routes and that Militech wanted to hire them to intercept a future shipment.

Carl and his team learned that dismissed Militech soldiers had hijacked a Psycho Squad transport after the team refused to help. Carl pieced together how the job had been arranged and called Blanca to find out why Militech wanted the cargo, suspecting an internal power struggle that could draw his team in.

• Carl and V declined the job to hijack Psycho Squad cargo, and T-BUG reported that Militech soldiers had attacked the transport in Santo Domingo.
• V confirmed the attackers were the soldiers who had tried to hire them, while Carl questioned why Militech would target the Psycho Squad.
• Carl retraced the chain of events from Aeson-Brain hiring Kormac to Kile and Kormac being killed, then proposed that Militech had used Kormac as a disposable intermediary.
• Oliver suggested Militech had wanted a fixer to handle the job covertly, and Carl reasoned that the soldiers had avoided targeting V and his team because they were unprepared to fight them.
• Carl called Blanca to ask why Militech had taken the cargo, suspecting the operation was tied to an internal power struggle and might give his team leverage with the Psycho Squad.

Carl’s squad accepted a job from Blanca to locate Militech personnel carrying a heavy Psycho Squad unit toward Dogtown and report them, disrupting their plan. Blanca suspected the Intelligence Bureau was involved, but the group’s target and purpose remained unknown.

• Blanca told Carl she had not taken part in the matter but knew its details and was ready to get involved.
• Blanca offered the squad a heavy unit of Psycho Squad equipment through a transfer loss, and Carl agreed to take the job for a reasonable payment.
• Blanca explained that a New America faction within Militech was heading toward Pacifica, possibly with Intelligence Bureau involvement, to target someone in Dogtown.
• Blanca told the squad to pose as tourists who found the missing equipment and reported it, so Psycho Squad could intervene and she could act against the Militech faction.

Oliver, V, Carl, and Jack headed for Dogtown to track former Militech personnel and planned to meet Maine and the others for local help. They learned their destination was the Moth Bar in Long Beach Stockpile.

• Oliver drove through the city while Sixth Street Gang members greeted him, and he admitted he distrusted those who had once backed Will Firecannon and plotted against his family.
• Carl suggested dealing with the gang members, but Oliver believed his father had a plan for them and turned the conversation to tracking the former Militech personnel.
• T-BUG confirmed the former Militech personnel had entered Dogtown, and the group confirmed their travel documents would let them enter.
• V suggested contacting Mr. Hands, but Carl pointed out that Maine and the others were already in Dogtown and could guide them.
• Carl checked Maine's reply and told the group to meet them at the Moth Bar in Long Beach Stockpile.

Carl and his companions met Maine's Crew at Moth Bar, where Carl and V sensed that the blonde bartender was unusually capable. As the group quietly watched her, she sent a message saying she had seen the KK Squad.

• Carl entered Moth Bar, noticed the blonde bartender's trained movement toward her gun, and realized she had recognized him.
• Carl greeted Maine's Crew and thanked Rebecca for the chance to return her father's guns.
• Rebecca said David was studying with Lucy for his upcoming exams, so they had not come to the bar.
• Oliver, Jack, and V arrived, and V and Carl told the team that the bartender seemed skilled.
• T-BUG agreed to monitor the bartender while Jack and Oliver took seats on either side of her.
• The blonde bartender sent someone a message saying she had seen the KK Squad.

Carl and his companions grew suspicious of the drinks at Moth Bar, but testing found no poison. Carl discovered that the bar had been built over a large hidden open space around the time the Unification War ended, leaving him wary of the coincidence.

• Carl noticed that the sweet tea at Moth Bar was garnished with unusual mint leaves.
• Jack pretended to drink Carl’s tea, secretly tested it with his cyberware, and learned from T-BUG that it contained no harmful substances.
• V and the others considered leaving because they did not trust the bar or want to risk drinking there.
• Carl checked an old urban planning map and found a large open space beneath Moth Bar.
• Carl realized the bar had been built six years earlier, when the Unification War ended.

Carl suspected bartender Daphne was an undercover operative gathering intelligence in Dogtown and recognized that she wore a Mimetic Masking Overlay. When Daphne tried to draw her gun, V disarmed her, and Carl invited her to run while the team surrounded her.

• Carl reasoned that the bar could serve as an intelligence hub and suspected Daphne might be a New American operative.
• Carl identified the bartender as Daphne from her records and noted that her name seemed to carry hidden meaning.
• Daphne realized Carl was examining her cyberware and suspected he had uncovered her disguise.
• Carl identified her Mimetic Masking Overlay and asked to see her real face.
• Daphne reached for her pistol, but V dislocated her wrist and disarmed her as the team surrounded her.
• Carl told Daphne she could try running while he remained seated.

Carl exposed Daphne as a Militech agent after she tried to draw her gun, and Maine’s Crew trained their weapons on her. Daphne’s superior, Smith, then took over the conversation with Carl by phone.

• Carl offered Daphne a chance to run, but she stayed still because she knew his team would stop her.
• V dislocated Daphne’s arm, and Maine’s Crew drew their weapons to support Carl’s group.
• Carl identified Daphne’s latest Militech cyberware as suspicious for a Dogtown bartender and demanded her real identity.
• Daphne received instructions from her superior to let him handle the conversation and placed her phone on the counter.
• Smith introduced himself to Carl, revealing that this was their second conversation.

Carl met a new Smith, who asked him and Maine’s Crew to take on a joint mission for New America. Maine was tempted by the offered million eurodollars and left the decision to Carl, who asked Smith to explain the job.

• Carl recognized that the Smith contacting him was different from the previous mission dispatcher, who had apparently disappeared.
• Smith invited Maine’s Crew to join Carl’s team and revealed that he knew Maine’s former rank in New America’s military.
• Maine rejected Smith’s appeal to serve the country again and recalled the military work he had done before retiring.
• Smith offered Maine’s Crew one million eurodollars for the mission, and Maine agreed to participate if Carl accepted.
• Carl agreed to hear the proposal and asked Smith what New America wanted them to do.

Carl, Maine, and V learned that their mission to eliminate a Militech squad was part of a covert operation to protect Kurt Hansen and preserve the Alvin Accord. Alex discovered that the order bore Rosalind Myers’s authorization and realized the attack was a plot to undermine her presidency; the group was left preparing to act against the squad.

• Carl’s team and Maine’s Crew agreed to work with Daphne, who led Carl, V, and Maine to a hidden intelligence center beneath her shop.
• Daphne revealed that she used the alias Alex and opened the center’s files to the group.
• Carl and Alex found the Alvin Accord Maintenance Plan, which said Militech personnel planned to attack Kurt Hansen with Psycho Squad equipment and destabilize Dogtown.
• Alex recognized the command authorization RM as President Rosalind Myers’s initials and concluded that the plot was meant to weaken or remove her.
• Carl realized the Militech squad’s attack was tied to the cleanup mission his team had accepted.

KK brought Carl and Maine to meet Kurt Hansen and warned him that former Militech personnel planned to use Psycho Squad equipment against him. Kurt agreed to cooperate on protecting himself, leaving Carl pleased at the prospect of securing three payments.

• KK arranged a meeting with Kurt Hansen and brought Carl and Maine to a roadside diner in Dogtown.
• Kurt Hansen recognized Maine but could not identify Carl, whose appearance he suspected had been altered with Militech technology.
• KK explained that former Militech personnel planned to attack Kurt Hansen and that the government wanted to prevent their operation from succeeding.
• Carl told Kurt that his safety mattered to the mission and warned him that a hidden attack could be harder to stop than a direct assault.
• Kurt Hansen accepted the need to talk and suggested an additional protection contract, and Carl agreed, anticipating three payments.

Carl, Maine, Jack, Oliver, and V joined Kurt Hansen’s plan to draw out Militech operatives and disloyal Barghest members by accompanying him in Barghest disguises. As they set out in an armored car, Kurt had to tolerate Carl’s casual test of its armor with her knife.

• Jack complained that their recent jobs kept turning into protection contracts, while V said their Barghest disguises would help them guard Kurt Hansen without alerting his enemies.
• Carl suspected that Kurt’s incomplete intelligence on Dogtown meant someone in his command might be disloyal, and she complained about the green Barghest uniform before putting it on.
• Kurt chose to patrol Dogtown with Carl, Maine, and the others disguised as newly enlisted Barghest soldiers, bringing few of his established subordinates.
• Oliver chatted with a new Barghest soldier while Carl rode beside Kurt in an armored Colby car.
• Carl described the car’s armor after admitting she had tested it with her knife, and Kurt silently accepted the behavior of the mercenaries he had hired.

Carl and Kurt Hansen discussed war and Dogtown before their convoy was ambushed. Carl identified the attackers as using an exoskeleton associated with elite Psycho Squad personnel, but their identities remained unknown.

• Carl asked Kurt Hansen what war was like, and he described its horrors and defended his Barghest soldiers.
• Carl and Kurt Hansen spotted a rocket heading toward their car and escaped as it struck the vehicle.
• Carl and the others returned fire, while the attackers targeted the most capable fighters and evaded her shots.
• Carl took cover beside Kurt Hansen and told him she could not yet identify the attackers or confirm they had stolen Psycho Squad equipment.
• Carl heard heavy mechanical footsteps, discarded her rifle, and removed her helmet after identifying the approaching exoskeleton.

Militech attacked Kurt Hansen’s convoy with Psycho Squad exoskeletons operated by elite soldiers led by Kim Ji-woon. Carl moved Kurt to safety and prepared to call the Psycho Squad to reclaim its equipment as V fought the attackers.

• Carl identified the stolen equipment as Psycho Squad exoskeletons and explained how they strengthened their wearers.
• Oliver, Jack, and T-BUG recognized the four approaching Militech attackers as elite soldiers, and V identified their leader as Kim Ji-woon.
• Carl questioned Kurt Hansen about the attackers and pulled him away from cover before their vehicle exploded.
• Carl gave Kurt a helmet and revealed that he intended to summon the Psycho Squad to retrieve its stolen equipment.
• V fought the exoskeleton-wearing attackers with his Thermal Katana as Carl watched the battle.

V killed Kim Ji-woon with a katana thrust and finishing slash, then joined the fight against the Militech exoskeleton soldiers. Oliver was injured by a grenade he had mistaken for one of Carl’s, and three of the four soldiers were down as the chapter ended.

• V evaded Kim Ji-woon's attacks, pierced his heart with the Thermal Katana, and killed him with a finishing slash.
• V saw that Maine, Jack, and Oliver were still fighting the exoskeleton soldiers and moved to help Oliver.
• Oliver's mistakenly short-fused grenade exploded, knocking him down and injuring him with shrapnel.
• Oliver withdrew to treat his wounds, while Jack activated Berserk and traded blows with a Militech soldier.
• V used a gap in the soldier's exoskeleton to stab him, leaving one of the four ambushing Militech soldiers still standing.

Carl's team quickly defeated the Militech soldiers protecting the failed attempt on Kurt Hansen, leaving Kurt impressed by their strength in urban combat. As Kurt took over the scene, Carl suspected the conspirators might next try to kill President Rosalind Myles.

• Kurt Hansen watched Carl's team and nearby Hellhound recruits defeat the exoskeleton-equipped Militech personnel, and recognized how difficult the team would be to stop in a city.
• Kurt's people located and surrounded the remaining enemies, so he told Carl that his team and the New America group could leave while he took over.
• Carl agreed to leave but said Kurt would need to speak with Ms. Alex about New America's group.
• Carl considered the failed attack and suspected the conspirators might try to survive Rosalind Myles's retaliation by assassinating her.

After the Dogtown battle, Carl and Maine discussed a hidden New America agent who had watched over Kurt Hansen and recognized Maine. Carl then woke up in Night City on November 3, 2076.

• Alex told Carl that the country would remember her help before leaving Dogtown.
• Maine invited Carl to the Afterlife, and Carl revealed that a concealed New America agent had been watching them.
• Carl said the hidden agent had likely been sent as backup and warned that he would have been more dangerous than the Militech forces.
• Maine suspected the agent was Solomon, a former comrade believed to have died after betraying New America six years earlier.
• The agent left without meeting Maine, keeping his cover intact after confirming Kurt Hansen was safe.
• Carl woke to Stan's radio greeting and saw that the date was November 3, 2076.