Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 111 Arasaka's Request (Third Update)

Deep within the abandoned town outpost, the air was thick with the smells of dust, metal, and cheap cleaning agents.

The only lighting came from a few hanging work lights, casting a dim, yellowish glow in the cluttered space.

Mann, Dorio, Rebecca, and Pila were gathered around a rusty metal workbench, on which were scattered secondhand prosthetic bodies they had just acquired from Gloria.

Some still bore traces of unwiped biological lubricant, while others gleamed with a standby glow at their interfaces.

Falco leaned against a pillar, wiping his sunglasses.

Qiwei and Sasha were hidden in the shadows further away, with encrypted data flowing across the screen in front of them, occasionally making a soft ticking sound.

Mann picked up a complex mechanical arm, his large knuckles and reinforced armor-covered fingers carefully examining the hydraulic transmission rods at the elbow for signs of wear.

Just then, at the edge of his implant's field of vision, an encrypted communication request silently flashed—it was the priest's insignia.

He made a gesture, and the hushed conversation around the workbench immediately stopped.

Dorio took the mechanical arm from his hand, and Rebecca and Pila also looked up, their eyes following him.

Mann walked behind a pile of abandoned industrial parts, where the signal was relatively stable and it was also more secluded.

He took a deep breath of the oily air and connected the link.

“Father.” His voice sounded particularly deep in the empty corner.

"Mann." The priest's voice came through, as steady as ever, carrying a calmness born of experience, as if it could always penetrate the noise of the signal and reach the listener's eardrums directly. "There's a request, specifically requesting your team."

Mann did not respond immediately; only a faint hissing sound came through the receiver.

Having experienced direct confrontations with military and biological technologies, especially the bloody ambush by Arasaka and Mowell's subsequent ruthless retaliation, any commission that comes their way with a specific name is enough to make them wary.

He waited silently, like a rock imbued with caution.

The priest seemed unsurprised by his silence and continued, "The client is Valerie from Arakawa."

Mann's brow furrowed instantly, deep lines appearing on his forehead. "Valerie? The deputy head of the counterintelligence department?"

There was a subtle tension in his voice.

Not long ago, it was this woman who represented Arasaka in seeking peace, barely managing to quell the storm caused by that foolish ambush by offering Abernathy's future and compensation from the company.

"What is she trying to do? She ran into a brick wall with the boss, so she turned around and came to us?" He could almost picture Valerie's calculating face beneath her corporate persona.

"Her intentions are not hard to guess." The priest's voice still showed no emotional fluctuation, but was simply stating objectively, "After the last incident, Arasaka, or at least the faction to which Director Jenkins belongs, has temporarily abandoned the hardline approach."

As the person in charge, Valerie needed to maintain a communication channel, or more accurately, establish a 'connection'.

Directly contacting the entity behind you is too risky. Starting with you—this rising mercenary team that is clearly closely connected to that entity—is a more logical and roundabout strategy for the company.

Mann pondered; the priest's analysis largely aligned with his and Dorio's previous assessments. Valerie's actions were more of a gesture of goodwill than a calculated maneuver, at least on the surface. The company was attempting to access forces they couldn't directly influence in another way.

"What are the mission details?" Mann asked, pulling his thoughts back to reality.

Regardless of the other party's intentions, the final decision depends on what they actually do.

“She offered two options,” the priest explained. “One was a routine escort mission, escorting a ‘company asset’ from the Heywood district to the Aragaka facility in Charter Hill. The route was sensitive, passing through the border areas of several gang territories, but according to the intelligence she provided, the level of armed threat was not high.”

The other is data retrieval, which involves extracting specific data packets from the servers of an Arasaka subsidiary that has been infiltrated by a competitor. This requires a certain level of infiltration and electronic warfare capabilities.

He paused briefly before adding crucial information: "The advance payments for both tasks are quite substantial, far exceeding those for similarly challenging projects in the market. She emphasized that this was to demonstrate 'sincerity'."

“Sincerity…” Mann repeated the word, his tone carrying an undisguised mockery.

In Night City, a company's sincerity is often directly linked to the Euro, and there is always a higher price tag behind it.

But he also knew that the team needed to operate, needed to purchase supplies, maintain equipment, and, more importantly, they needed to prove to the being deep within the workshop that, in addition to carrying out those unimaginable cross-dimensional missions, they still possessed the ability to independently handle affairs and create value in Night City.

Completely refusing to contact the company is neither realistic nor advisable, and could be misinterpreted as weakness or incompetence.

“What do you think, Father?” Mann asked the old mediator as usual.

The priest was deeply rooted in Heywood, and his intelligence network and wisdom helped mercenaries like them find a foothold on the edge of a deadly vortex countless times.

“The risks are manageable,” the priest succinctly concluded. “What Valerie needs right now is to ease tensions, not create new conflicts. These two tasks don’t involve Arasaka’s core secrets; they’re more like resources she can mobilize within her authority for ‘goodwill’ purposes.”

Accepting the commission can be seen as a tentative response and can also supplement your funds.

The priest lowered his voice, which carried a warning tone, "But remember, Mann, when dealing with people in the company, especially when they extend an olive branch, be extra careful about the costs beyond the terms."

“I understand,” Mann replied in a deep voice, taking the warning to heart. “Thanks, Father. Commission as usual.”

"May your mission be successful." After the priest finished speaking, the communication link was silently disconnected.

Mann stood there for a few seconds before stepping out from behind the pile of parts.

Several pairs of eyes immediately focused on him at the workbench. He didn't speak right away, but first shared the mission briefing sent by the priest to the group's encrypted channel, then walked to the workbench and placed his hands on the cold metal surface.

“It’s the priest,” he said, his voice echoing in the silent stronghold. “The client is Valerie from Arakasaka.”

"Arasaka? Or that Valerie?" Rebecca exclaimed first, her green prosthetic eye widening instantly, flashing with disbelief. "Aren't they going to stop yet? Weren't they scared after being beaten last time? Mowell is..."

She didn't finish speaking, but the stench of blood seemed to linger in the air once more.

“This time they’re not after the boss; they specifically asked us to do the work.” Dorio had already quickly glanced through the mission briefing. She raised her bronze face, her eyes calm. “The mission details look… quite normal, even a bit too simple, compared to the price they offered.”

She pointed to the prominent number on the briefing.

(End of this chapter)