9:30 at night.
Watson, northern industrial district, abandoned steelworks.
Once the Militech vehicles pulled out, the fierce gunfight from moments earlier came to an abrupt stop, and the whole area fell quiet.
Bodies, shattered remains, blood, and organs were smeared everywhere across the ground. Spent casings, shell fragments, and wrecked drones were scattered all over, making it obvious that a major battle had just taken place here.
Kai paid close attention to the shell casings that had killed the Arasaka tactical teams. None of them bore Militech markings. The ammunition was all common commercial stock.
From that detail alone, it was obvious Meredith had come fully prepared. She had been waiting for Arasaka to take the bait.
As long as Arasaka couldn't get hard proof, they would have no excuse to go after Militech even if they wanted to.
All local electronic signals had already been locked down, and the data chips inside the brains of the dead Arasaka operatives had all been destroyed.
Meredith's methods had been airtight.
That actually made things easier for Kai. He would not need to clean up Militech's mess. When the action report was filed later, he could simply dump the entire thing on Maelstrom.
After all, the bodies of more than a dozen dead Maelstrom members lying on the ground were solid proof that they really had fought a vicious battle with the Arasaka tactical teams.
The only part that would be hard to explain was that those ten-odd Maelstrom gangers clearly did not have enough firepower to wipe out three Arasaka tactical teams on their own.
So the story would need a little extra seasoning.
The blame would have to be pushed further up, straight onto Maelstrom's leader, Brick.
It would be defined as a premeditated, organized ambush by Maelstrom targeting Arasaka during a staged trade, with suspicions that the operation had been backed and directed by Militech.
If the Arasaka board really wanted to vent its anger, they could always go purge Maelstrom in retaliation.
Of course, those polished self-serving corporate rats were never going to play vigilante for the NCPD.
Kai and Maine shook hands outside the workshop, marking the successful completion of their cooperation. Both sides had basically achieved what they wanted.
At that point, most of Maine's doubts about Kai had disappeared. Showing up to save them in that kind of life-or-death moment had already proven that Kai's offer to cooperate had been sincere.
Kai had not done what Maine and the others had half-expected, betraying them at the critical moment and selling them out for the biggest possible gain.
Maine's tone softened noticeably when he spoke.
"Thanks. If you hadn't shown up when you did, Militech probably would've wiped us out tonight. Bastards."
Kai had already expected the situation to develop this way, but Maine's crew had paid a heavy price for it. He gave them full credit for the combat strength they had shown.
"You held up well. You earned this outcome. Standing your ground against Arasaka tactical teams wasn't easy."
Maine clicked his tongue, still unwilling to let the bitterness go.
"So what if we pushed back Arasaka's dogs? Militech was still waiting behind them. They never planned to let us walk out alive. That bastard Faraday."
The little twin-tailed menace jumped in furiously.
"Exactly! Corpo trash, the whole lot of them! That old hag's lucky she got out alive! I swear I'm gonna kill her!"
Just thinking about the way Meredith had looked at them, like they were insects to be crushed whenever she felt like it, made Rebecca's blood boil all over again.
Kai looked at the foul-tempered little gremlin with some amusement and asked, "Then what do you call the corpo who just saved you?"
Rebecca bristled immediately and glared at him.
"Shut up! I'm not scared of that old hag! If you hadn't talked her down, she'd be dead already! I'd have put her in the ground myself!"
Maine saw Rebecca was still worked up and, for once, snapped at her in a more serious tone than usual.
"Rebecca. Cool it. However you look at it, Mr. Kai bailed us out. Militech wasn't his doing."
Rebecca still looked unconvinced, but she wasn't unreasonable.
Putting the whole thing together, aside from Kai coming out at the end, talking to Meredith, and letting Militech leave alive, he had not really made any move against them.
But Rebecca clearly did not believe Kai was a good man.
Especially after watching him order his people to kill Caitlin.
In Rebecca's eyes, Kai was Arasaka. Caitlin was also Arasaka.
One of their own killing one of their own meant the guy was ruthless and dirty, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't turn that knife on them someday.
Kai understood there was no point trying to explain himself to her right now. In any case, Maine's whole crew had made it out alive, which meant this had ended as a win for both sides.
Despite the pain, Dorio still thanked him.
"Thank you, Mr. Kai. You saved Maine. You saved all of us."
Pilar, just as blunt as ever, grinned and chimed in.
"Yeah, feels weird saying it and all, but you really did save our asses! If you don't mind, I'll hook you up with a pair of arm implants one day. You'll have a hell of a time with them."
Rebecca immediately snapped at her brother.
"Bro, would you shut up already?!"
Not long after that, Trauma Team arrived on scene.
Once they confirmed that all the Arasaka tactical personnel with medical coverage were already dead, they hurried off without even bothering with the bodies.
Seeing that, Rebecca nearly exploded again.
Tonight had completely shattered the image of every major corporation in her mind.
She already hated the things companies did. Now that hatred had curdled into something deeper. By extension, Kai wasn't exactly high on her list of favorite people either.
Still, since he had kept his word and saved Maine's crew, she swallowed her temper and said nothing.
The Counterintel tactical squad Arasaka had dispatched arrived on site at nine-thirty according to their mission orders, only to find the place in ruins.
The bodies of fellow Arasaka operatives were still lying there, leaving them all staring at one another, unsure of what to do.
After receiving direct instructions from Kai, their higher-up in Arasaka Counterintel, they began cleaning the site according to his orders.
Once they had confirmed the identities of the dead and recovered all Arasaka-related weapons and equipment, the Counterintel team headed back to Arasaka Tower to report in.
As for the corpses, city recovery services could deal with them. There were dedicated morgues for holding bodies until relatives came to claim them.
Kai never saw Carter show up for the mission, which told him more than enough. Carter was probably already on the run, maybe even being hunted down by Susan's people at this very moment.
Kai shook his head with a trace of resignation, giving a silent sigh for the corporate dog who had dug his own grave.
Years of enduring humiliation inside Arasaka, all for the sake of clawing out a small position of authority.
And overnight, all of it was gone.
There was something deeply ironic about that.
No one could save a man bent on killing himself.
That was Kai's final judgment on Carter.
If Carter had personally led the team tonight, Kai would not have killed him. He would have protected him and given him the chance to defend himself, maybe even to point the finger at Susan.
But that chance was gone now.
Fine.
Kai had no reason to waste any more brainpower on a corporate mutt determined to destroy himself. Once someone chose that road, they had to be prepared to walk it all the way to the edge, even if the road ended in a cliff.
(End of Chapter)
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