Space Force One - En Route from Night City - Midnight .....
The soft hum of advanced avionics echoed in the presidential craft's belly, cloaking the cabin in a subtle ambiance of authority and control. Space Force One cut through the sky like a silent blade, its hull brimming with countermeasures, its command chamber fit for a queen.
President Rosalind Myers sat poised at her private table, legs crossed in a crisp ivory suit, fingers gently cradling a crystal glass of whisky. The reinforced windows revealed the Earth below, quiet and unknowing.
Across from her stood Amelia, her young secretary, loyal, sharp, but still naive to the deeper games of the world.
"Madam President," Amelia began hesitantly, fidgeting with her tablet. "If I may… who exactly is this M? I mean, I read the files. His company is making waves, sure. But asking him for help? With Arasaka? Isn't that a bit… beneath you and over him?"
Rosalind didn't answer at first. Her eyes wandered to the stars.
Then she smiled, quiet, dangerous, reminiscent of someone who had seen too much.
"Sit down, Amelia."
Amelia obeyed.
"You want to know about M? Fine. Let me tell you a story. A myth… or the closest thing we can get to a myth."
She sipped the whisky, eyes distant.
"Back during the Metal Wars, he wasn't known as 'M'. He had many names. But the one the troops whispered the most? The Lion."
Amelia blinked. "The Lion?"
"Yes. Maximus Moriarty. Back then, he fought for everyone. Free States. Arasaka. Militech. Even us. But don't confuse him with a simple mercenary. He didn't chase the highest bidder. He chose sides not based on money, but based on balance. Control."
"But why?" Amelia asked.
"Because he wanted all of them to lose," Myers said coldly. "And in many ways, they did. That's why history says no one won the Metal Wars. But the truth is far more interesting."
She leaned forward.
"The truth is that Maximus Moriarty made sure no one won. That was his victory."
Amelia's brow furrowed. "That's insane. How could one man control an entire war?"
Myers smirked.
"I didn't believe it either, until I saw it."
Flashback – The White House, War Room, 2069 .....
Rosalind Myers stood near the center of a digital command room. Back then, she was younger, serving her second term as the President of the NUSA.
Tension gripped the room like a vice. The Free States had just unleashed a new weapon, a colossal land tank, impervious to air strikes, durable enough to survive three orbital bombs. They called it Juggernaut Prime, and the Free States were producing them by the dozen.
Myers had lost three cities in five days.
The doors burst open.
General Lux strode in, calm and smiling.
Myers whirled. "General, would you care to explain your smirk while we're losing territory by the hour?"
"Relax, Madam President," Lux said, brushing a speck of dust off his dark-blue uniform. "The tank factory will be ashes by sunrise."
She stared at him. "Are you drunk?"
"No. I just made a deal with the Lion."
Myers stiffened.
"That man is a menace. He's been sabotaging both sides. You want to trust him now?"
Lux grinned. "The Lion doesn't serve anyone but himself. And right now, his goals align with ours. I gave him one hundred soldiers. In return, he'll give me a smoking crater where that factory used to be."
He tapped a control on the holotable, and a projection emerged, a pre-mission broadcast.
A makeshift camp, dimly lit by flickering neon. One hundred soldiers stood in loose formation, disparate, unmotivated, half drunk.
Then M stepped forward.
Leather coat. Ashen eyes. That unmistakable deep voice, cutting through the noise like a blade.
Hologram – M's Speech
"You're all here for different reasons. Some of you are criminals. Some deserters. Some cowards. And some, fools."
The soldiers murmured.
"But today? You're all mine. And I don't give a damn about your past. Only your present. I asked for a hundred wolves. What I got were mutts. But that's fine. Even mutts can bite if they're desperate enough."
He paced.
"They built a monster, a tank that can level cities. They think it's unbeatable. I say it's just steel. And steel melts at the right temperature."
He looked at them all, voice low and steady.
"You want money? You'll get it. You want fame? It comes with fire. But if you're looking for meaning - something more - you follow me tonight. And you'll earn something no corp or state can ever buy: purpose. For how long are we gonna tolerate these corporations, these leeches drinking our blood, destroying our families, our lands, our money?? I present you with a chance to pay these corporations the pain they inflicted on you a hundredfold"
The soldiers went still.
"We burn the factory. And if any of you survive, drinks's on me."
"For the greater good", M concluded
"FOR THE GREATER GOOD", They shouted back.
End of flashback ...
Amelia blinked. "He inspired them?"
"He owned them," Myers corrected. "That speech didn't just motivate them. It transformed them. They fought like zealots. One hundred soldiers, most with barely any discipline, stormed the factory that night. Took down the entire complex."
"Did… any survive?"
Myers looked out the window again.
"Only one."
"…M?"
Myers nodded slowly. "When General Lux asked him why he didn't save more, he just said: 'They were pawns. And they served their purpose.' "
She turned back to Amelia, voice soft but firm.
"That's why I trust him. Because while everyone else is playing for points or power, M is playing to win. Not for himself, but for something bigger. And unlike everyone else, he always pays the price."
Amelia swallowed hard. "And now you want to work with him?"
"I'd rather be allied to the Lion than in his jaws."
-------------
Aegis HQ – M's Office, Next Morning ...
Night City's smog filtered golden sunlight into M's towering office. The skyline of City Center burned in the distance, all chrome and corruption.
M stood at his desk, arms crossed as Maine stepped in.
"You called, boss?"
"Solomon Reed," M said. "He's in town."
Maine raised an eyebrow. "Reed? That bastard's still breathing?"
"I want him brought here. You two go way back. Should be easier for you than most."
Maine cracked his knuckles. "If he runs?"
"Don't kill him. But he's allowed to limp."
Maine went to the Netrunners division and acquired Reed's location, then took a team of agents to his location.
Electric Orgasm Club – Northwest of Corpo Plaza – Afternoon ...
Pounding synth beats shook the foundation of the Electric Orgasm, a sleazy den where corpos and lowlifes blended into the same neon-soaked blur.
Maine walked in like he owned the place, flanked by four Aegis operatives. He scanned the crowd until he saw the man in the back on his shift resting.
Solomon Reed. Grizzled. Quiet. Drinking alone.
"Reed, I thought you worked here. Why are you drinking" Maine called.
Reed looked up, eyes narrowing. "Shit."
They met halfway.
"Been a while," Reed muttered. "You still carrying that busted knee from Rio?"
"I fixed it," Maine smirked. "With a crowbar. You coming, or we doing this the loud way?"
Reed sighed, looking at the armed agents finishing his drink. "Lead the way."
Aegis HQ – Executive Meeting Room – An Hour Later ...
M sat at the end of the room, a ghost in a chair made of shadows. Reed entered with Maine and nodded.
"Fuck me," he muttered. "Still breathing, I see."
"You too, old dog," M said. "Sit."
Reed dropped into the seat.
"Myers told me to reach out to you," M said.
Reed leaned back. "Figures. They were too scared to tell me who the outside help was. Should've guessed."
M's tone shifted. "We don't have time to waste."
Reed's face sobered.
"Right. We've got intel that Arasaka was arming a rogue AI. Something behind the Blackwall. It's being developed in a bunker deep in the Badlands. We lost over a hundred agents just getting the location."
M leaned forward.
"Coordinates?"
Reed slid a datachip across the table. "Here. We hit it fast, or they bury it deeper."
"You coming?" M asked.
Reed snorted. "What do you think? I didn't survive five wars just to be a spectator."
M nodded once.
"Then drop by the armory and suit up."
The room fell silent.
Outside, the sun set behind the towers of Night City.
The Lion was moving again.
And soon… so would the world.
-----------------------------------------------------
Author here, I fucked up
I moved a little and fucked myself up.
Fortunately, my doctor said I didn't do any damage, but I was in so much pain that they kept me drugged for two days. I was awake for some hours but most of the previous days I was sleeping.
anyhow here is a small chapter since I am feeling better.
I was thinking of something the next chapter you can choose.
M and reed find the ai in the bunker and the mission end in night city.#
M and Reed find out that Arasaka had armed the AI and was ready to drop it in Europe, so they destroy the research data and then smuggle themselves to Europe in hope of stopping the AI.
choose in what direction should we end the mission specially since there will be a boss fight in the end.