"Maine! Kiwi! Lucy!"
Maine, the bulky leader of the crew, turned toward the back of the van, addressing the woman in red with a cybernetic mouthpiece, and the white-haired woman who had recently crossed paths with David.
"What's the situation?! Can you and Falco find us the best escape route?" he asked urgently.
"I can't see a thing! The entire area seems to be jammed," Kiwi, the woman with the cybernetic mouthpiece, responded with frustration.
"Same here," Lucy added, her voice tense. "Whoever's doing this is far beyond Arasaka's netrunners in terms of skill."
"Looks like we've pissed off more than just some minor corp," said another large woman sitting across from Kiwi and Lucy, her tone laced with grim realization.
"We don't have time for regrets now," Maine muttered, turning to glance out the van's windows at the chaotic scene unfolding outside. "Falco, watch the road! Look ahead!"
Falco, the driver, spotted something through the windshield—dark figures rapidly descending from the sky. Reacting swiftly, he slammed the brakes.
Screech!
The tires screeched as the van came to an abrupt halt.
Boom—Boom!
The dark figures hit the ground in front of them, creating massive clouds of dust and debris that temporarily obscured their vision.
Thump, thump!
The sound of heavy boots hitting the ground followed, along with—
"Hahaha! Look at these fools, thinking they can mess with Atlas!" a woman's voice, filled with mocking laughter, rang out.
Moments later, the dust settled, and Maine and his crew finally got a clear view of the armored figures standing ahead. Several Glory Warriors in full combat gear, covered head-to-toe in protective suits and full-body armor, stood before them.
Alongside them, a group of ODST troops, equipped with specialized gear, had emerged from their drop pods, rifles trained on Maine's van.
Thud, thud!
Most notably, a massive four-meter-tall Tyrant in heavy armor and a towering five-meter-tall mech, known as the Cyclops, loomed ominously over the scene. The Tyrant, wearing a trench coat-style restraint and loaded with Titan-grade alloy armor, held a colossal 60mm plasma cannon in its right hand.
The Cyclops mech, painted in Atlas's signature black with red and white accents, was similar in design to the AMP mechs from other universes but far more agile. It was equipped with a 30mm rotary Gauss gun and a multi-functional mechanical arm.
The Cyclops was one of Atlas's cutting-edge developments, created using data from the UNSC's classified "World Tree" defense system, provided by Ap and Melissa. It was part of the third-generation mech series and marked the end of AMP-based models.
Compared to the AMP, the Cyclops offered vastly superior balance, stability, and reliability. Atlas was also working on reducing the production costs of its fusion reactors to provide all combat units with semi-permanent power sources, but this goal was still out of reach for now.
However, the research team had successfully developed personal energy shields using Jackal technology and advancements in condensed matter science. The new shields were cost-effective and durable, and each unit could deploy a barrier with a radius of 0.8 meters, equivalent to the output of four BFG plasma rifles. Maintenance for these shields was also less complex than BFG weapons.
The Cyclops, in particular, was equipped with a shield module in its multi-functional mechanical arm, capable of generating a 1.6-meter energy barrier.
As this imposing scene unfolded, the roar of Atlas's air support echoed across Night City.
Roar—Roar!
Peregrine and Ghost fighter jets soared through the skies. Though they could have engaged from a distance, there was no need—ground forces had no substantial anti-air defenses. The jets' presence served as a powerful psychological weapon, showcasing Atlas's dominance and discouraging resistance.
Several Pelican and Luna transport ships descended unchallenged through the atmosphere, landing near the division building. Their cargo bays opened, and heavily armed clone soldiers, carrying AMWS rifles loaded with high-explosive and armor-piercing rounds, poured into the streets, operating in coordinated squads.
Several "female clone soldiers," wielding compact submachine guns designed for defensive roles, accompanied the main clone units.
Rat-tat-tat!
The sound of gunfire erupted.
Splatter! Splatter!
Flesh and cybernetics were torn apart by high-explosive and armor-piercing rounds. The mercenaries and gang members, hired by Arasaka to assault the division building, stood no chance against Atlas's clones, who moved with precision and lethality.
These new clones had undergone extensive biological and pharmaceutical enhancements during their development, making them physically superior to ordinary humans. They were equipped with advanced personal gear and mechanical exoskeletons, giving them the combat experience of seasoned veterans, thanks to their neural control chips.
The real challenge, however, came from Arasaka's special forces. These soldiers, equipped with military-grade cyberware and armor, had survived the initial plasma strike and now engaged the clone troops in brutal combat.
Their enhanced armor and cybernetics provided substantial resistance against high-explosive and armor-piercing rounds, leaving only the clones' .30-caliber smart machine guns as a serious threat. With their superior speed and reflexes, Arasaka's special forces quickly eliminated several clone squads.
Some of the Arasaka soldiers, equipped with Mantis Blades, even launched counterattacks, shouting, "荒坂社のために! (For Arasaka!)" and "サブロウ様のために! (For Saburo!)" as they charged into the clones' lines, slashing through the soldiers with ruthless efficiency.
But just as Arasaka's forces believed they were gaining the upper hand, their bodies suddenly seized up, twitching uncontrollably.
Crackle—Pop!
Electric sparks flickered from their heads, and their cybernetic eyes exploded in a shower of light. One by one, the elite soldiers collapsed, paralyzed and motionless.
The clones, showing no hesitation, moved in and systematically executed the downed Arasaka soldiers to ensure none survived.
The ones responsible for this sudden collapse of Arasaka's forces were the female "clone soldiers."
However, these "soldiers" were actually synthetic beings with a degree of self-awareness and the ability to analyze and counter enemy systems. Unlike Smart AI, these beings could not upload their consciousness into networks or other systems—they were bound to their physical bodies. Once destroyed, they would perish like any human.
Atlas had mastered consciousness copying and transfer technology, allowing them to upload minds into new bodies, but this was not yet applicable to the synthetics.
The skeletons of these beings were crafted from titanium alloy, resistant to all but the heaviest caliber rounds. Their flesh, blood, organs, and neural networks were created using advanced nanotechnology.
In essence, these synthetics were like Atlas's "artificial race," much like the Huragok engineers created by the Forerunners.
Due to the high cost of production and maintenance, Atlas had no plans to release these synthetics to the civilian market. For now, the first batch of synthetics produced in the Akra district had been deployed exclusively in the Cyberpunk universe, serving as both a live test and support for Atlas's integration efforts.
Their ability to neutralize Arasaka's forces through hacking and countermeasures made them especially effective in this high-tech universe.
By this point, the low-intensity skirmish in Night City had turned decisively in Atlas's favor. Their troops outmatched Arasaka in both numbers and quality.
And the initial salvo from the Paris-class frigate had already scared off many of the mercenaries.
Meanwhile, Captain Leroia stood amidst the chaos, her helmet now retracted to reveal her waist-length white hair flowing behind her. She held a large sword in one hand and pointed the blade at Maine's van.
Her personal HUD displayed brief information about Maine, Kiwi, Lucy, and the rest of the crew, along with a suggestion from Celine:
"The Maine Group mercenaries are viable captives. They can be used as a vanguard force in Atlas's efforts to unify the Zero-Nine universe."
Simply put, Celine had identified mercenaries like Maine's group as potential "cannon fodder" for the company's integration campaign.
When Leroia and her troops spotted Maine's vehicle among the escaping convoy, she decided they weren't worth a fight.
"Step out of the vehicle and surren—"
"We surrender! Don't shoot!" Maine interrupted, thrusting his hands out the window in surrender.
Maine and his crew quickly exited the van, hands raised in a clear display of non-aggression.
"Hey, Maine, what the hell are you doing?" Kiwi hissed under her breath, disbelief written across her face.
To her, it was incomprehensible that their leader would so easily throw down his pride and surrender. This wasn't their style.
Maine remained calm as he explained, "This is no longer something we can handle. This isn't a small job anymore—"
Lucy, her voice trembling, finished the thought: "This is a corporate war."
Having been raised as one of Arasaka's child netrunners, Lucy knew all too well the horrors of corporate warfare.
In the Cyberpunk universe, world wars had always been triggered by corporate disputes, with nation
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