Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 340 The Company's Public Enemy! (Part Four)
Auxiliary Power Armor (ACPA) is the only seemingly illogical weapon in this world.

The advanced biomimetic technology of implants has significantly improved the craftsmanship of humanoid weapons, while weapons such as heavy armored vehicles have not actually achieved outstanding results on the battlefield.

Instead, these single-person driven mobile armored vehicles have achieved remarkable results on the battlefield.

The flexibility and mobility of air-dropped ACPAs have made harassment and decapitation strikes behind enemy lines a mainstream tactic...

Even large enterprises that control the world's resource lifeline were once suppressed for a long time because they were a step behind in ACPA research and development.

That's right, I'm talking about Arasaka.

Fifty years ago.

In the increasingly fierce corporate wars, major companies are successively developing powered auxiliary armor, a deadly weapon on the battlefield.

The development path has gradually shifted from "lightweight, auxiliary, and reinforced" to heavy weapons.

Among them, the most outstanding are the military-grade heavy ACPs from some established military industrial companies!

With a height of nearly four meters and a weight of at least three tons, this thing has become an absolute ban in the city.

No one in the city has seen this weapon, which has been used in battles in other regions and countries.

This terrifying personal auxiliary armor requires an extremely skilled lone wolf to master—it is also known as an outstanding weapon with "tank-level firepower and defense"!

However, driving the ACPA is not something that can be done without any barriers or simply through training. In fact, it is a high-load weapon that places extremely high demands on the pilot's prosthetic body.

To drive an ACPA (Autonomous Driving Test), the two most basic things are major surgeries that many people are afraid to undergo.

One interferes with motor skills, the other operates on the head.

It looks like it's extremely risky no matter how you look at it.

First, the driver must strengthen their skeleton to withstand the G-forces during movement, and establish intricate neural interfaces to ensure the flexibility of ACPA commands. In addition, in certain situations, ACPA needs to perform highly responsive maneuvers, so a basic prosthetic body like the S.A.R.S ...

In some ways...

ACPA is essentially a large-scale external prosthetic body that can be removed; countless test subjects have died inside it.

A single soldier cannot handle ACPA.

It will never be possible.

That's how the company describes these products.

Since the ceasefire agreement between Arasaka and military technology, Night City has banned the circulation of any size ACPA within the city. Even some of the lightest ACPAs (also known as small-scale riot control ACPAs), which were used to maintain order in occupied cities during the Corporate Wars, appeared in Night City for a period of time...

However, with the legal agreements of Night City, the prohibited content, and the relaxation of the ceasefire agreement between Arasaka and the Military Science Department…

The emergence of such a weapon may be a test of the bottom line.

I've never seen ACPA Rebecca before.

Because of her high firepower as a machine gunner, the ACPA had been keeping an eye on her for a long time…

As she ran, everything in her path, even low walls or roadblocks reinforced with cement and steel, was torn apart and sent flying into the air as if they were made of styrofoam.

On the other side, Falco and Sasha

If Lin Yue were here, he would immediately have a general idea of ​​the scale of the ACPA in front of him—which is basically the same as the scale that appeared in the Kejing Logistics Park before.

Its size is similar to [Arasaka Type B], but its firepower is much worse.

Due to the progress of the times.

Mainstream ACPA models that entered service around 2020 include: Arasaka Daiki, Arasaka Standard B, Militek Commando, Zeta Tech Grasshopper, etc., which have all been improved and phased out with the times—the products of the Russian military industry, which are based on heavy firepower and the "powerful flying brick" concept, are also keeping pace with the times.

The unit in front of you is the ACPA "Stable Shield" series, a riot control system based on military technology.

While it can obliterate cover, its firepower is actually not top-tier among ACPAs... On the battlefield, such firepower, if not used skillfully, is essentially cannon fodder.

But if you want to be in the city...

Its terrifying power is especially evident in places like Night City, where large weapons simply cannot enter.

Standing over three meters tall and weighing two tons, it is just like its name suggests – a sturdy shield!

The crushing power of ACPA on individual soldiers is undeniable!

The fact that the squad was fleeing in panic at this moment proves this point...

"Falco!"

Sasha knew she had to do something for Rebecca. Once the soldiers' and ACPA's fire lines intersected, Rebecca's options for advancing or retreating would likely be completely blocked...

The nimble hacker's eyes shone with a hazy pink light, and a gleaming canine tooth peeked out from her lips. The ripper prosthetic in her hand instantly tore apart the throat of the soldier standing close by as she moved at high speed.

[Quickly Solve Cyber ​​Mental Illness]

The girl's jumping ability seemed to have exceeded the limits of a normal person; it was obvious that she had new prosthetic legs installed.

"Double jump..."

In Night City slang, this is what they call tendon reinforcement for leg implants.

It seems that Sasha, who has recovered from her illness, hasn't been idle during this time...

Falco's kinetic revolver was no less impressive than any rifle. Texas cowboys loved to ride on the backs of cattle on ranches and shoot targets—it was an innate ability. Of course, Falco also possessed a superb driving skill that cowboys lacked… unfortunately, it was of little use now.

Of the three people present, Falco probably had the fewest implants, but his handling of the revolver was simply phenomenal…

He could accurately predict the trajectory of some Type I S'anwesteins, and he could also calculate the trajectory of bullets launched from the ground with the help of the [Conto Electronic Eye].

Upon hearing Sasha's call, Falco mumbled something with a thick tongue—

"Hackers should just stay in the back and behave themselves."

Sasha didn't care about any of that. She was like a nimble cat on the battlefield, her claws leaving a trail of air in her throat.

Cyberpsychosis is now at work.

The Dreamers purchased a top-of-the-line quick-crack kit for Sasha, which Emma specially bought for her at the Petró Petrochemical Stadium in Dogtown. The plugin supplier didn't want anything, and Emma had to give up some other company secrets to get these things.

The highest level of cyberpsychotic puppets is no longer as slow as when the girl was in the Liz bar.

The machine gunner immediately lowered his head, his pupils darting around.

[Currently tracking]

Sasha looked at the progress bar. She knew her time was limited and she had to attract the ACPA's attention as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the military technology entered the scene, the team would be doomed.

"Hold!"

The machine gunner suddenly turned his gun and aimed at the area where the soldiers were most concentrated. His heavy bulletproof armor made the soldiers pause for a moment.

Watch out for those fucking hackers!

Someone was roaring.

Sasha's small, cat-like lips curved into a breathtaking arc as she enjoyed the process of moving through the darkness. Meanwhile, the network access bay behind her neck, emerging from the black wall, was doing something even more dangerous!
Detonate the grenade!
This was an extremely dangerous quick crack, which usually required being far from the source of the explosion, but Sasha didn't care about that anymore; she had to create a considerable disaster to stop the ACPA's actions.

Required RAM: 1300

[Detonate Grenade] ×1 -10 RAM
[Weapon Malfunction] ×1-8 RAM
[Synaptic Melting] X3-27RAM
……

As Sasha watched as more and more of her attempts to crack the code failed on the quick cracking interface, she knew that she had reached her limit under normal circumstances!
Are there any other options?

some…

However, that is a burden on the brain. No one can guarantee that brain-computer interface overclocking will not cause problems. The failure of any control component is a terrible probability of self-destruction.

She is an ordinary, cute girl from Night City who knows a lot about hacking. She has no control panel and no extremely abnormal physical regeneration ability.

But she was determined.

As for the mission he was currently undertaking, it was something he had promised himself: to ensure Sasha's participation in the attack on biotechnology, no matter what. He had promised to let her witness firsthand the fall of this deformed monster that had destroyed her happy childhood and her mother, and in that moment, the girl would spare no effort!

If being deeply in love with someone could lead Sasha to choose the extreme measure of sharing AI computing power—

Rin's relentless self-redemption is the only ray of light in this city.

"Absolutely...absolutely not..."

Stop here!

Sasha caught a glimpse of the ACPA firing out of the corner of her eye, realizing that the sheer volume of memory meant she couldn't quickly hack into the power armor. The world seemed to freeze—

Her kaleidoscopic eyes suddenly brightened at that moment…

The world began to turn colorful, a reaction from the prosthetic eye of the screen, purple cracks tearing apart the peaceful world.

Brain-Computer Overclocking!

Unlike Lin Yue.

Sasha can only access that one and only weapon when he enters brain-computer interface overclocking!
A weakened version of the Blackwall overload.

This kind of data can tear the sky apart, and in the red and black data stream, it can pierce the other party's implant with pain!
Wow!
A sudden burst of noise followed.

Sasha crouched on the ground like a cheetah, with his other leg stretched out to the side to reduce the force of his fall.

Huff...

Her fluttering eyelashes seemed to make a sound as she blinked!
The surrounding soldiers seemed to sense the impending killing intent; their eyes glazed over.

boom!
Four or five red data streams instantly pierced through the bodies of several heavy machine gunners. In front of her, enemies afflicted with cyberpsychosis and fearless of death were taking the hits for her.

hum…

The ACPA finally responded.

The driver squinted and saw the girl staring at him with cold eyes.

"You little bitch, are you tired of living?"

ACPA has almost none of the clumsiness of large humanoid mechs; it is as fast and swift as a human implant.

At this moment, the "Cyber ​​Psychosis" body, which was exerting its power, suddenly split open from the middle, and Sasha's eyes froze instantly!

ACPA's left arm had become a hot-cutting blade. It hardly needed to spend time resisting the automatic detonation of the surrounding grenades before it spun its body and swung its other arm down!
If you get hit by that, being reduced to minced meat is probably the best outcome.

puff-

Sianwistan's voice suddenly rang out!

Black fists and flying twin ponytails, throbbing veins on her forehead—that was Rebecca's true rage!
"Fuck you!"

The prosthetic connection points and clips of the gorilla arm emitted a large amount of hot air, and with the support of S.A.S., Rebecca's fist made fierce contact with ACPA!

call!
The hot air from the ACPA and the thunderous sound of fists colliding made the scene somewhat frightening!

Rebecca, with her small frame, gritted her teeth, but a defiant smile graced her face.

Even though the asphalt beneath her feet was cracked and her knees were in great pain, she was determined to do it—

My friends and the whole plan must not have any mistakes.

Sasha's reaction was also impeccable; she spotted the ACPA's vulnerability...

"Falco, left arm!"

Sasha was referring to the exposed membrane of the mecha's bionic joints caused by the large movements...

The driver, who was also extremely experienced in combat, immediately tried to retract his arm!
But the blackened gorilla arm is no joke.

Although Rebecca wasn't heavy enough to hold onto ACPA's arm and delay Falco's firing, she could use that almost superhuman strength to punch the mech's unstable leg...

The driver cursed under his breath, and with his head tilted back and connected to the auxiliary power armor, he had no choice but to use all his strength to calibrate his posture.

At that moment, Falco appeared from the side, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his eyes sharp, a mocking smile playing on his lips…

"bong!"

Falco's bullet pierced ACPA's arm diaphragm with pinpoint accuracy, and instantly the arm began to drop rapidly to the ground as if it had lost its backbone!
The soldiers around them, who had just recovered from the aftermath of the explosion and cyberpsychosis, watched as the mech suddenly tilted to the side. At that moment, they were no longer worried, but rather terrified to the point that their legs went weak!
"Damn! A home run!"

Rebecca had blood on her lips, but she didn't care and turned to run away. Sasha also used her prosthetic eye to quickly crack the code, causing the hot-cutting samurai sword in ACPA's hand to immediately malfunction!

In the instant she lost her balance, Rebecca twisted and raised Erebus, the bullets evenly scattering across the nearly ineffective riot control ACPA!

boom!
Whether the mech would continue fighting the moment it fell to the ground was no longer important; what mattered was that a high-end weapon capable of stabilizing the city had been caught completely off guard!
at this time--

"Military technology is responding!"

Falco's voice came through the voice channel.

Without saying a word, Rebecca grabbed Sasha's little hand and rushed out!

Falco fought and retreated, and the group prepared to evacuate into the complex residential areas of the valley...

"Damn it!"

"They're already here!"

Falco's voice was filled with helplessness.

The two girls, running, looked up and saw two dark objects hanging below the hovering cargo engine, which had been suspended twenty meters above the battlefield...

That's a dual ACPA for military technology!

Rebecca gritted her teeth and activated the Sianvestan directly. However, since the cooldown hadn't finished, she could only move it a few meters, and had no idea whether the mech would land on their heads.

This area is too dangerous...

As she watched helplessly as the grappling hook beneath the hovering engine released the mecha, Rebecca suddenly felt a lightness in her body. Sasha had thrown her off first—

"Damn it! What are you doing, Sasha?!"

Rebecca had no idea that Sasha would sacrifice his own speed to give up his partner in order to speed up Rebecca.

"Damn it, I never expected military technology to be more than ten minutes faster than Rin predicted!"

Special arrangements were made for this matter; even Rin probably hadn't anticipated this aspect.

Sasha tried to run, but her body lost its balance. Just as she was about to fall onto the ground, a strong hand wrapped around her waist and supported her.

The feeling of blood rushing to the body indicates G-force overload.

Sasha nearly fainted.

A young and strong figure stood in front of Rebecca, who was trying to come to Sasha's rescue. His leather jacket on his right arm suddenly bulged, and he clenched his fist with one hand!
[Gravity field]!
The falling mech felt a tearing sensation, as if it had been stepped on from above or ripped apart, and instantly crashed to the ground—

Boom!
Smoke and dust spread rapidly.

"Shh...don't talk."

The guy whispered in the voice channel, and although his voice was completely different, it was exactly the same as that smiling guy from Dogtown.

"While they can't recognize me, I'll deal with them properly before I speak—"

"Okay?"

"It'll be quick."

……

……

(End of this chapter)