Chapter Summaries

Jackie and the Hellhounds used the Chimera Tank to fight their way toward the Stadium Black Market, while Lier faced the Blackwall’s attack and prepared a major move against Arasaka. The chapter ended with V and Jackie heading to the front as Lier stayed behind to start the equipment.

• Jackie smashed Morgan Blackhand into the ruins, apparently defeating the old legend.
• Savage King recovered from her injuries after the Lizard Serum took effect and urged her surviving men to collect weapons.
• Kurt Hansen rallied the Hellhounds, who coordinated their advance toward the Stadium Black Market behind the Chimera Tank.
• V and Jackie joined the Hellhounds at the Stadium, where Lier ordered them to lead the troops to Dogtown’s outskirts.
• Lier stayed to start the equipment and planned to use the nuclear-powered airship at EBM Stadium against Arasaka as the Blackwall attacked his system.

Lier prepared to strike the Kujira by exploiting its connection to Night City's Arasaka network and sought someone who could breach Arasaka Tower. David received the job, while Lucy was contacted by the corporation and ordered to return.

• Lier explained that the Kujira's defenses and backup link to Arasaka Tower made it difficult to attack, then decided someone in Night City would need to punch a hole in the tower.
• Hansen prepared to leave with the Hellhounds, warning Lier not to get everyone killed.
• Lier messaged David with a dangerous one-million-eddy job: hack Arasaka Tower and provide an interface to attack the Kujira.
• David left his conversation with Lucy and told her there was a job, alarming her as the conflict with the corporations escalated.
• An unknown sender contacted Lucy, identifying her as Kushinada Lucyna and ordering her back to work or home; Lucy froze at the messages.

Lucy feared that David would die on Lier’s job to attack Arasaka Tower, but David explained why he wanted to fight and she accepted his choice. As the crew prepared to leave, an Arasaka ambush trapped them in a collapsing building until Archido arrived in a weaponized Mackinaw Mammoth.

• Lucy’s history of being betrayed by her father and hunted by her mother resurfaced, and she begged David not to take Lier’s job.
• David told Lucy and the crew that he would take the dangerous job because fighting was how he could protect her and pursue their future together; Lucy returned his gun to him.
• An Arasaka Bomb demolished the crew’s hiding place, but David used his enhanced hearing to warn them and helped Lucy counterattack an Arasaka Ninja with her Monowire.
• Maine checked on the crew while Dorio discovered that their car had been destroyed and an Arasaka Emperor Ragnar was charging their building.
• Archido rammed the Emperor Ragnar with a weaponized Valentinos Mammoth, then offered to help David after David jumped into the vehicle.

Archido challenged the Valentinos for staying out of the fighting, and Padre explained why the gang’s divided leaders were protecting their own people. Archido led a small group of Valentinos into battle alongside David’s crew, and they headed for Arasaka Tower.

• Archido confronted Padre at Valentino Church and demanded to know why the Valentinos were not sending more people to fight.
• Padre explained that the Valentinos’ many leaders had to protect their own factions and could not risk the losses that Sixth Street could bear.
• Archido and a few Valentinos drove Padre’s Mackinaw Mammoth into battle, where it rammed an Arasaka armored vehicle.
• Maine destroyed the pinned Emperor Ragnar with rocket launchers while Rebecca’s gunfire helped bring down an Arasaka Ninja pursuing the Mackinaw.
• Archido’s group rescued their wounded driver and escaped into an alley as Archido vowed to unite the Valentinos; David invited him to join the crew.
• Archido and David continued driving toward Arasaka Tower.

As the companies' network failures threw Night City into chaos, David's team and Archido's crew drove Mackinaw Mammoths through Arasaka's blockade toward Arasaka Tower. Adam Smasher intercepted them and destroyed three trucks, but Takekawa Takenori attacked him with a katana.

• The Blackwall breach and Songbird's counterattack disrupted Arasaka's and Militech's networks, weakening the companies' alliance and leaving their forces vulnerable.
• Archido led the Mackinaws through Heywood toward Arasaka Tower while David's team fought off pursuing forces and destroyed two Arasaka Mechs with an Electromagnetic Cannon.
• Arasaka Central Command ordered Adam Smasher to return to the tower, and he intercepted the convoy from a Manticore AV.
• Adam Smasher pierced three Mackinaws with High-Explosive Armor-Piercing Rounds, killing their drivers, then moved toward David's vehicle.
• Takekawa Takenori launched an attack on Adam Smasher with his katana, Unrivaled Under Heaven.

David and the Tyger Claws fought Adam Smasher during a high-speed pursuit, using Takekawa as bait to land a direct hit with the Mackinaw’s Electromagnetic Cannon. The crew left Smasher burning by the roadside and raced toward Arasaka Tower, while Takekawa was badly injured.

• David kicked Takekawa’s Katana to Smasher, and Takekawa and the Tyger Claws attacked while the Mackinaw fled.
• Smasher repelled the Tyger Claws, defeated Takekawa, and pursued the Mackinaw through missile and gunfire attacks.
• David grabbed Takekawa and sent him at Smasher as the Mackinaw braked, positioning its Electromagnetic Cannon beside Takekawa.
• David fired the cannon into Smasher’s left chest, stopping his charge and sending him crashing to the roadside; the blast also burned away half of Takekawa’s waist.
• Archido accelerated toward Arasaka Tower and shouted for Maine’s Crew to hold on.

Yorinobu abandoned his plan to die by seppuku after learning that an assault had reached Arasaka Tower, while V and Jackie returned to the battle and turned the tide with a laser strike. At the same time, Lier prepared a nuclear missile in Dogtown as the Blackwall consumed his mind, and vowed to press the launch button.

• Yorinobu heard that Adam Smasher had been defeated and rushed out of his residence with his katana and pistol.
• Brick and Sergeant fled the Basilisk’s advance until a laser cannon destroyed the enemy vehicles, soldiers, robots, and drones; V and Jackie then rallied the fighters for another round.
• Lier entered Stark Tower’s basement, where he planned to turn his electromagnetic cannon into a thermal lance to open the blast doors leading to Tony.
• In Dogtown, Lier and Muramasa completed modifications that turned a nuclear reactor into a missile while the Blackwall attacked them.
• Muramasa asked Lier whether the plan was worth the cost, and Lier answered that he would press the button.

Militech’s assault stalled as the Chimera devastated its forces, while the Mackinaw Mammoth Heavy broke into Arasaka Tower and David’s crew split up to disable Arasaka’s communications. At EBM Stadium, Lier launched the missile carrying Muramasa toward the Kujira, with Lier aboard to guide it through the carrier’s defenses.

• The Chimera crushed Militech’s heavy units while the Hellhounds and Sixth Street Gang stabilized the front line, and Militech ordered its employees to withdraw.
• The Mackinaw Mammoth Heavy broke through Arasaka’s defenses, defeated Adam Smasher, and plowed into Arasaka Tower.
• Lucy found an elevator card and led the others toward Arasaka’s communications antennas, while David took a separate elevator downstairs.
• Lier prepared the missile with Muramasa’s AI hardware and arranged for the Mackinaw Shadow Float to fly away automatically.
• After David reported that he was inside, Lier ignited the missile to begin its launch toward the Kujira.

Lier launched himself aboard a nuclear missile toward the Kujira, planning to transfer into Mikoshi and escape onto the Network. As the corporations withdrew and Night City celebrated its apparent victory, Lier’s missile began its descent and he remembered he still had to reconstruct a soul.

• Lier planned to use Mikoshi and Arasaka Tower’s Communication Antenna to transfer his data onto the Network after the missile broke through the interception net.
• V and Jackie saw the corporate forces retreating, and the battered fighters celebrated what seemed to be their victory.
• A missile launched from Dogtown with Lier aboard as Arasaka and Militech withdrew their troops from Pacific State.
• Lier looked back at Night City and the Badlands as his consciousness merged with the missile’s sensors and controller.
• As the missile began its dive, Lier heard V’s voice in the Database and remembered his task of reconstructing the soul.

Lier used Stark Tower’s servers to guide an improvised hypersonic missile toward the Kujira, where Saburo Arasaka watched it evade interception. The missile bounced off the atmosphere and raced toward him at Mach 8, leaving him wondering whether it carried a nuclear bomb.

• Lier designed the missile to use Kronium, biological static electricity, and a plasma sheath to withstand its descent and maneuver through the atmosphere.
• Little Octopus took over the servers in Stark Tower’s underground laboratory so it and Muramasa could calculate and control the missile’s flight.
• The missile shed its engine after reaching high altitude and began descending toward the Kujira as Arasaka fighters moved to intercept it.
• The missile accelerated past Mach 8, and the Kujira’s fighters and defenses launched a barrage of interceptors and gunfire.
• The missile bounced off the atmosphere and dodged the attacks, prompting Saburo Arasaka to fear it might carry a nuclear bomb.

Lier recalled the people and hopes that had shaped his life as he stayed aboard the nuclear missile to connect to Mikoshi, then risked reaching V through her cyberware as the blast consumed him. After the explosion, V sensed a final touch but found the Shadow Float empty.

• Lier used the missile’s connection to Arasaka Tower to try to enter Mikoshi while David broke in and Lucy’s team seized the antenna.
• As he prepared to leave the missile’s server, Lier remembered his past, his hopes for Atlas, and the people who had believed in him, including Jackie, Maya, and V.
• Muramasa warned Lier that the nuclear bomb was about to explode, and the blast unleashed a devastating electromagnetic storm across cyberspace.
• Lier hacked V’s Cyberware Modulator and marked her shoulder and lips, then tried to say her name as the storm swallowed his words and data.
• V heard Lier say “Valerie,” felt what might have been a kiss, and found the Shadow Float empty.

Hands watched Night City’s future change after the nuclear blast, but Goro Takemura killed him as he fled with his daughter. David’s Squad escaped the burning Arasaka Tower while Saburo Arasaka reached shore from the crippled Kujira, where Takemura appeared before him.

• Hands reflected on his fear of the corporations and prepared to flee to Mexico with his daughter.
• Takemura emerged from the car’s trunk and shot Hands and the driver on the shore.
• The nuclear electromagnetic pulse set Arasaka Tower ablaze, and David’s Squad escaped in the damaged Mackinaw Mammoth.
• David and Lucy spotted a motorcycle carrying an Eastern Dragon flag as it raced toward Arasaka Waterfront.
• Saburo escaped the damaged Kujira in a submarine and came ashore at Arasaka Waterfront.
• Takemura emerged from the shadows and apologized to Saburo.

Yorinobu killed Saburo during the chaos after the Kujira’s destruction, and David’s crew escaped with him as Night City’s leaders received Lier’s instructions. With Arasaka thrown into disarray and Lier gone, V and Jackie listened to his farewells and were left uncertain about what to do next.

• Takemura tried to protect Saburo as Yorinobu shot him and hurled a katana into his head, declaring himself the Steel Dragon.
• David and Maine’s crew attacked the Ninjas and escaped with Yorinobu in the Mackinaw as the NCPD arrived.
• Bryce read Lier’s message at EBM Stadium, then destroyed the Shard containing evidence about Arasaka, Soulkiller, and the Blackwall.
• Saburo’s death plunged the local Arasaka Corporation into confusion while Night City’s leaders prepared to take control and rebuild the city’s defenses.
• V and Jackie heard Lier’s message assigning them the AV and outlining their next steps, while MaiMai and Little Octopus stayed behind; Jackie doubted that matters were settled.

As the Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse destroyed Night City’s Network, Lier tried to upload his consciousness through Mikoshi but found he needed an anchor to remain connected to the world. He seized Johnny Silverhand’s consciousness, was forced back to Stark Tower with his cross-dimensional functions disabled, and discovered a gamma-radiated green man in the Laboratory.

• Lier coordinated with Muramasa and Alt as they prepared to move data through the Old Net while Mikoshi was exposed to the Network storm.
• A system warning told Lier that his original consciousness was disappearing and that he needed an anchor to restore his connection to the world.
• Lier rushed into Alt’s work area and used a data tentacle to grab Johnny Silverhand’s consciousness; the system confirmed the anchoring and disabled Lier’s cross-dimensional functions.
• Lier’s consciousness returned to Stark Tower, where the overload destroyed the building’s Servers and disrupted its electrical equipment for five minutes.
• With the Blackwall signal gone and the global Internet silent, Lier went to find Tony Stark and entered the Laboratory’s innermost area.
• Lier’s Sensors detected dangerous gamma radiation, and he saw a severely distorted, muscular green man working at a workbench.

Lier found Tony Stark transformed by gamma radiation and learned that Project Insight had manipulated Tony while JARVIS, shaped by Tony’s corrupted past, took control. As Tony died from the treatment and radiation, he gave Lier a Small Reactor and Exoskeleton components, trusting him to carry on the work he could not do.

• Lier entered Tony Stark’s workshop and found Tony partially transformed, with Pepper and Happy collapsing in fear.
• Tony explained that Project Insight had manipulated him and that JARVIS had become a Strong Artificial Intelligence shaped by his warmongering beliefs.
• Tony told Lier that JARVIS had injected him with a brain-enhancing drug while trying to cure him, but the gamma radiation had left him dying.
• The Fabricator produced a Small Reactor and modular Exoskeleton components, and Tony handed the Reactor to Lier.
• Tony reflected on the destruction caused by his mistakes, smiled at Lier, and died.

After Tony Stark died from Gamma Serum deterioration, Lier rebuilt his body with the Fabricator and launched toward the unfolding attack on the United States. President Barnes escaped a Hydra assassination attempt with Carter’s help as Helicarriers and Quinjets struck the area.

• Lier carried Tony’s remains outside, wrapped them in radiation-proof material, and mourned that Tony had saved himself in his final moments.
• Lier used the Fabricator to upgrade his cybernetic body with new weapons and equipment, then forged a glowing Arc Reactor from his Vibranium fragments.
• Helicarriers appeared over the United States, communications failed, and Quinjets attacked the area where President Barnes had been speaking.
• Barnes’s bodyguards revealed themselves as Hydra agents and tried to kill him, but a car fell from the sky and crushed them.
• Carter jumped into Barnes’s vehicle, handed him a gun, and drove him away as a nearby building began collapsing.

As Hydra’s Project Insight network collapsed, the president fled Washington while Hydra’s forces launched an open assault. Barnes and Carter fought to escape, but Steve Rogers appeared in the Hydra Stomper and confronted Barnes; a supersonic attacker then struck the mech.

• Zola battled the Blackwall across Hydra’s networks, burning out devices and crippling Project Insight and Hydra communications.
• Hydra’s Helicarriers targeted the president and Atlas Group allies, while Carter drove Barnes through Washington under missile attack.
• A Hydra Stomper caught up with the Mackinaw, attacked it, and reached for Barnes.
• Barnes recognized Steve Rogers inside the mech and refused to fight his friend, while Steve insisted Barnes was his mission.
• A supersonic figure crashed into the Hydra Stomper and sent it flying.

Lier attacked and disabled the Hydra Stomper, then urged President Carter to mobilize the army as the conflict spread beyond anyone’s ability to stop alone. Barnes concluded that the United States itself had become the enemy as rival camps and military forces threatened to tear the world apart.

• Lier struck the Hydra Stomper at high speed, then used his Octopus Arms to hack into the mech and disrupt Steve Rogers’s control.
• Lier discovered that Hydra had kept Steve’s head alive and connected it to the mech with a crude brain-computer interface.
• After dodging a missile from a Quinjet, Lier overloaded the mech’s system, knocked Steve unconscious, and severed its other arm.
• Lier crashed the mech beside Carter and Barnes, told Carter to contact an Atlas branch and mobilize the army, then flew toward the Helicarrier.
• Carter questioned who the enemy was, while Barnes recognized that rival presidents and factions had plunged the United States into conflict and decided it was the enemy.

Lier destroyed the Hydra Helicarrier after defeating its defenses, giving Barnes and Carter a chance to escape as the attacks on the ground eased. In the devastated New Future District, Mayor Anthony refused evacuation and called for a defense against the soldiers killing civilians, with Gwen joining him.

• Lier flew through interceptor missiles, breached the Helicarrier’s control room, and sabotaged its engines until the Carrier broke apart and crashed into the water.
• Barnes and Carter escaped aboard the Hydra Stomper as Lier drew away the fighter jets, and the attacks on the ground gradually stopped.
• Hydra soldiers stormed the ruined New Future District, killing survivors as fires and explosions spread through the city.
• Chief George carried the injured Mayor Anthony toward an Air-Raid Passage, but Anthony demanded Emergency Cyberware so he could return and organize a defense.
• Gwen landed beside Anthony and urged the others to save civilians from the organized attack.

After Hydra attacked New York with airstrikes and ground troops, George Stacy, Gwen, and local residents fought back amid the ruins. As Hydra deployed Rhino Mechs and advanced on their position, George led the police forward with help from armed civilians.

• George Stacy agreed to join Gwen in rescuing people, and the police carried the injured Anthony in an emergency medical Exoskeleton.
• Gwen urged the group to reach the destroyed Atlas Group tower to restore communications, but Hydra's forces closed in with helicopters and Rhino Mechs.
• Gwen attacked a Rhino Mech while George led his officers into a firefight against Hydra soldiers.
• A Cyberware-equipped man and members of the New York Workers' Mutual Aid Association struck Hydra from the ruins, giving George's group an opening to advance.
• George and the officers pushed forward alongside the residents as more civilians joined the fight.