"Quite a lot of people here."
It was finally the day of the job. After being dropped off by their fixer, Faraday, and after he negotiated with what were clearly Arasaka security personnel, Karl, Oliver, and Jack were granted permission to enter a warehouse in Arasaka's coastal shipping port—fully armed. But even though they had arrived an hour early, they were still considered one of the later arrivals.
Because inside, there were already at least twenty other mercs, fitted with all sorts of cyberware and carrying heavily modified firearms, all waiting.
"Yeah, there's a lot of people."
Hearing Jack's remark, Karl nodded before scanning the mercs they would soon be working alongside. After a thorough look at their gear and weapons, he realized something—he actually recognized most of them.
"Subdermal armor, Mantis Blades, Saratoga SMGs, Kenshin pistols, Nova revolvers... Oh, Oliver, someone else has a SOR-22 precision rifle just like yours. Looks like we've got some real pros here."
None of these weapons were cheap—definitely out of reach for low-tier mercs. But it made sense; no fixer would send some street-level punk to a high-stakes gig like this.
"No shit."
Oliver glanced at his own SOR-22, then at Jack's Saratoga, and finally at Karl's Kenshin. If the three of them mixed in with this group, it would be hard to tell their squad apart from the others.
"Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three... Karl, Oliver, counting us, that's twenty-six mercs. If each one's getting a hundred grand, how much is the client paying for this job?"
"You're not even factoring in the fixers' cut or all the other costs. Either way, it's a number way beyond what we can imagine, Jack."
Oliver couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed."The gap between people is bigger than the gap between dogs."
"Have you even seen a dog in Night City?"
Karl chuckled."I've seen plenty of adorable dogs. Used to have one, actually."
"Oh yeah? How come I never saw it?"Oliver flipped him off."Corporate dogs don't count."
"Alright, you two, cut it out. Someone else just showed up—look familiar?"
Jack nudged them with his elbow, motioning toward the warehouse entrance. Oliver and Karl turned to look, and sure enough, they recognized the new arrival.
"Wait, isn't that...?"
The blond, muscle-bound merc, casually carrying a huge machine gun in one hand, was someone Oliver remembered well.
"The guy from outside the braindance shop—the one that got into that fight. I remember he had two teammates back then. What happened? Why's he alone?"
"Could be they got killed. Or maybe they just weren't good enough for this gig."
Karl wasn't particularly invested, shrugging."This is Night City. Nothing surprises me anymore."
Just as he said that, the blond merc noticed them—and, instead of ignoring them, he walked straight toward them.
"Is he looking for trouble?"
That was Karl's first thought. But something was off—there was no hostility in his expression. In fact, his face showed something closer to relief.
"You guys are Karl, Oliver, and Jack, right?"
As soon as the blond merc arrived, he called out their names and introduced himself.
"Name's Maine. I've worked with Faraday before, but he only had three slots for this job, so I took another fixer's contract. When the escort mission starts, wanna team up?"
"Mann?"
Karl didn't answer right away. Instead, he sent a quick message to Faraday to confirm Mann's identity. Once he got the confirmation, he spoke up.
"Why team up with us?"
"This job."
Mann glanced around at the other teams before looking back at Karl and the others.
"Since you guys have some connection to Faraday, I figured you'd be more reliable. And honestly, I'm a little curious about your skills. I've worked with him for a while now, and I never thought he'd pass up my team for some rookies."
"And also because you're alone, right?"
Karl saw right through the muscle-bound merc. Taking on a high-paying, high-risk escort job solo was a death sentence. Using his small connection to Faraday to team up with someone trustworthy was just common sense.
For someone to make it as a merc running fixer contracts, Mann was clearly no fool.
"Yeah, that too."
Seeing that Karl already understood his angle, Mann didn't bother hiding it. Instead, he cut to the chase.
"So, what's your call?"
"What are you good at?"
"If needed, I can tank shots for you. Got full subdermal armor and this Type-31 heavy machine gun. I can hold the front line. That good enough?"
Standing in front meant the rest of the team would always have a clean shot at his back if things went sideways.
"More than enough."
Karl extended his hand, and Mann shook it.
"Looking forward to working together."
"Same here... Captain."
"Just call me KK. Consider it a codename."
Now that Mann was temporarily part of the squad, Karl didn't mind introducing the rest of the team.
"Jack does about the same job as you. Basically, you two will be laying down suppressive fire. Oliver is our medic and sniper—if you need treatment or long-range support, he's your guy. As for me..."
Karl paused, thinking about how to describe his role. Then, he just grinned and said:
"You'll figure it out once the shooting starts."
"I'll... figure it out?"
Mann didn't quite get it. But seeing how Oliver and Jack both nodded like it made perfect sense, he decided to just let it go.
Whatever. It's just one job. As long as we get a basic understanding of each other's roles, that's enough. If we survive this mission, no telling when—or if—they'll work together again.
As the mercs observed their teammates and familiarized themselves with the group, time passed quickly.
And at exactly 9:00 AM, a corporate suit wearing Arasaka colors entered the warehouse, leading a squad of Arasaka security personnel.
The mission had begun.