Vash half-carried Takemura into the Caliburn and headed straight for Heywood.
On the way, he got through to Jackie.
"Jackie, wake up. Someone's hurt — needs a ripperdoc, now. Find someone you trust."
"V, gimme three minutes. I'll ping you the deets."
In Heywood, if you needed something done fast, Jackie Welles was always the right call.
After hanging up, Vash glanced at Takemura. He switched the Caliburn to auto-drive, then rummaged through the emergency kit and pulled out a pneumatic injector and hemostatic bandages.
He drove the injector into Takemura's chest to keep his pulse steady, then wrapped the abdominal wound tight, packing it down until the bleeding slowed.
Working with practiced calm, Vash couldn't help feeling a sting of irony. If Takemura were an Arasaka heir, Trauma Team would already have him on a premium stretcher. Not all loyalty got rewarded.
With the emergency aid buying him time, Takemura's eyes fluttered open. His lips moved.
"I'm saving your life." Vash cut in, "Shut up and conserve your strength."
He tightened the bandage again. The bleeding finally eased to a crawl — dragging Takemura one step back from the edge.
Takemura lay rigid in the passenger seat, voice rough as gravel, "You… why… are you saving me?"
It was absurd.
Last night, he'd still half believed Vash's warning. After he'd identified Saburo-sama's killer, Yorinobu's first response wasn't to demand vengeance — it was to ask where Takemura was. Then, on the road from Watson to Heywood, Takemura was branded an Arasaka "traitor." and corporate death squads with military-grade chrome hunted him down like an animal.
He'd nearly died more times than he could count — fleeing all night, low on ammo, drained of strength, a step from bleeding out…
Only to be saved by the man he'd regarded as an enemy.
Anyone with a brain could see what that implied.
"I don't understand… why he would do this…"
Vash kept his eyes on the road, "You mean Yorinobu trying to zero you?"
"No." Takemura's jaw tightened, "I will always be loyal to the Arasaka family. If required, I would give my life without hesitation."
Pain slipped into his voice.
"But I don't understand… Saburo-sama was his father. How could he do such a thing?"
He stared at the roof, as if trying to find an answer in the dark.
"If only I had been more cautious… perhaps I could have prevented this."
Vash said nothing.
Takemura's loyalty really was blind.
Saburo Arasaka wasn't some old executive waiting to be pushed aside. He was a war-era monster who'd built Arasaka from the ashes of World War II into a global empire. A man like that didn't fly in from Japan just to be murdered by a "useless son" by accident.
It was all calculated.
Vash had already pieced most of it together. Unless the butterfly effect had smashed the main timeline, the big picture wouldn't change.
Saburo had stopped caring about mere money and domination decades ago. He had plenty of both. For a man like him, only one prize remained worth chasing:
Immortality.
Humans had hunted immortality for millennia — emperors and tyrants, saints and madmen. Night City just happened to live in an era where it was finally possible.
Decades ago, Johnny Silverhand had stormed Arasaka Tower. After Adam Smasher crushed him, Arasaka recovered what was left — and Saburo turned that "relic" into a test subject.
The Relic was the product.
Saburo's trip to Night City had two goals: reclaim the Relic stolen by Yorinobu, and remove Yorinobu decisively — laying the groundwork for his own immortality.
Only something had gone wrong mid-game…
Vash pushed the thoughts aside and looked at Takemura.
"Talking about it won't fix anything." He said, "Heal first."
Takemura closed his eyes, "I will make Yorinobu Arasaka pay."
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The Caliburn rolled into Heywood and pulled up at the ripperdoc Jackie recommended — Molina's Clinic in Wellsprings.
Once Takemura was taken inside, Jackie finally asked, "V, didn't get a good look earlier. Who is that?"
"Goro Takemura." Vash said, "Saburo Arasaka's shadow."
Jackie swore under his breath, "Madre de Dios… V, you outta your mind? That's our enemy. Should've flatlined him. Why bring him here?"
"Takemura's loyal to Arasaka." Vash said, "But he's loyal to Saburo — not Yorinobu. And he can be turned."
He gave Jackie the short version.
Jackie nodded slowly, "Yorinobu's a real piece of shit. Kills his own father, then tries to zero Takemura too."
He glanced toward the clinic, "Compared to him, Takemura's the real deal. Heywood respects men like that. But what happens when he's patched up, huh?"
"Takemura knows Arasaka from the inside." Vash replied, "He wants Yorinobu to pay. We want to go to war with Arasaka. Our objectives line up."
Jackie scratched the back of his head, "Alright. If you can handle it, fine, choom."
Then he leaned in with a grin, "Now the real question — when we headin' back to Watson?"
Heywood was home turf for him, sure — but with the Valentinos everywhere, it wasn't the best place to grow power quietly.
"In a few days." Vash said, "Once the corpo dogs calm down."
He'd never planned to build in Heywood anyway.
The old saying was true: the most dangerous place is often the safest.
Maelstrom in Watson was already gone. And Vash had just done Militech a massive favor. With Meredith Stout and Sandra Dorsett in the mix, building something in Watson would be easier.
Besides, Arasaka couldn't just run wild without consequences — harassing them too hard risked provoking Militech. In the world of capital, profit was everything. Cross a certain line, and anything — anyone — could be trampled.
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A week passed.
Night City slowly returned to normal after the media frenzy around Vash Dale and Jackie Welles. Even Arasaka couldn't keep the entire city under martial-law scrutiny forever.
Vash and Jackie stayed put in Heywood — and the corpo hounds never crossed the line. Little by little, the revenge storm faded.
Meanwhile, their name only spread farther.
On this day, Takemura was finally back on his feet. They took him out for a meal.
At the table, the samurai's expression was unreadable — almost uneasy. Life was strange.
To think he could sit here, eating and drinking with people he never should have been able to share a table with…
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T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
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Take a look at the new book I'm translating on my profile, Umamusume Pretty Derb: I'm Just a Trainer! Its also on my website for $5 too!
That's it and happy reading! (-‿◦)