Dakota was driving her pickup truck across the Badlands, heading to the Aldecaldo camp with a few capable hands.
Just as she was about to leave, the signal from the Aldecaldo camp suddenly cut off, and there was severe interference. The last ssage she received was:
Drone attack!
So, she grabbed so additional dicine and weapons, which delayed her for a bit.
However, when she got close to where the Aldecaldo camp used to be...
There was nothing there?
She looked around several tis—
There was a tall, abandoned power transmission tower at the Aldecaldo camp. The Braithewaite family had hung solar panels on it to generate electricity.
She looked again and confird that the tower standing in the wilderness was indeed the one from her mory.
But then, she got even more confused!
There was absolutely nothing there!
Then she spotted a large man standing under the sun in the Badlands, in the middle of the empty desert, expressionless, standing tall.
This was the Badlands, where the highest temperature could exceed 140°F!
"Brake!"
Dakota's instincts were screaming, and she imdiately ordered her n to stop the vehicle.
Screech—
The signal tower's connection was restored, and static buzzed through the car's radio. Soon after, Leo's voice ca through:
"Dakota, you've got the right place. Saul and the others have already left. I'll explain the details on the way."
"Alright."
The people in Dakota's convoy breathed a sigh of relief—
Who in their right mind would stand in the Badlands waiting for soone?
How long had Leo been waiting there?
Is he even human?
So of the nomads started to co up with stories in their heads.
As a fixer, Dakota's car was pretty decent. While it wasn't as powerful as the Wraith's vehicles, it offered a comfortable ride, which was nice.
The handling was also decent, similar to a Mackinaw—at the mont, Leo was driving.
Jackie, being a big guy, took up two seats in the back without saying a word.
Dakota thought to herself: He looks like a simple brute, but if he can stand under the scorching sun in the Badlands like that, his willpower must be imnse.
When Dakota finally spoke, Jackie's eyes moved—looking for sothing to drink.
Dakota said, "So, Saul and the others went to Red Ocher?"
"Yeah—it's not bad over there. But of course, Red Ocher is no longer in the sa spot it used to be, I won't forget that detail."
As he spoke, Leo looked around: "Got anything to drink?"
"Under the steering wheel."
Two bottles of water popped out from under the dashboard—crudely filtered water.
In this world, there's hardly any water that isn't polluted. To Leo, polluted water tasted worse than soft drinks—at least, that's how he felt.
But Leo still took a sip despite the urge to gag, then tossed the other bottle to Jackie in the back.
Dakota continued, "I've got a lot of things to discuss with you, one at a ti.
First of all, you've caused a huge ss. The nomads in the Night City Badlands are all having a hard ti because of you."
"Heh, that doesn't work on . Let's talk business."
"You don't seem like the kind of rc who finishes the job and walks away. What's your plan?"
"Simple. Militech thinks they've already conquered the Badlands. Let's remind them. How many nomads are around Night City?"
Dakota closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, feeling a bit dizzy.
"Going up against a corporation never ends well. You're leading them to their deaths."
"Don't you think that sounds a bit contradictory? If they don't want to oppose the corporations, why even be nomads? You've been a fixer too long, your mind's getting foggy?"
"Watch your tone, Burger King," Dakota said sharply. "The nomads aren't going to follow you into reckless chaos."
"You're just a fixer; you don't get to decide that. There's always soone willing to do a job that pays—
Speaking of money, did you get that stuff I asked you to sell to Dogtown? Nobody's co after , right? Don't get too cocky just because you're a fixer."
"No one talks to like that."
Leo laughed.
"In Night City, no one talks to like that either—want to tell you what happens to the people who do?"
He looked arrogant.
Maybe, in the ga, Dakota ca across as a respected figure, soone not worth provoking.
But Leo had to act cocky.
Dakota had distanced herself from the nomads for too long.
Saul might still be hesitating about siding with a corporation, and he'd been criticized for it multiple tis.
But Dakota had been working with them as a fixer for a long, long ti.
Dakota was a nomad-turned-fixer, forrly a nomad but now affiliated with no tribe. At best, she was just a fixer living like a nomad.
And if she truly still cared for the tribe, if she still considered herself a nomad, she wouldn't hold a grudge against Leo for this.
Just like how Saul got into argunts with people in the tribe every day, but no one in the family would ever stop following his orders because of it.
On the flip side, interacting closely with the corporations and Night City could subtly change a person's outlook. A fixer who dealt with rcs and corporations daily but still wanted to talk like a tribe elder?
This kind of straightforward, confrontational communication was how nomads truly behaved, and it was also the deanor expected from Night City's top rcenaries. It could help Dakota clearly understand her role in both spheres.
As a nomad, Leo had sold dicine at a low price to save a group of people, fought for justice for Red Ocher, and now helped the Bright family fend off an attack.
As long as the nomads didn't try to suck up to the corporations, resolving their crises would largely depend on Leo.
As a fixer, keep things straightforward, don't get caught up in formalities and rank.
If you don't like it, draw your gun and end the cooperation—but are you sure you want to do that?
The last fixer who was that arrogant had their ashes scattered to the wind.
So, would Dakota see herself as a nomad or a fixer?
Clearly, Leo was reminding her of the forr.
Dakota paused, then looked deeply at Leo. "Fine, let's talk business.
I sent your goods to Dogtown, just like you guessed. They're selling well, and the buyer is very interested in you."
A small line of text appeared in Leo's vision:
Transfer: 120,000 eddies.
Account balance: 135,648 eddies.
The fixer's cut was quite hefty, Leo thought to himself.
"Nice, pleasure doing business."
Leo didn't doubt that Dakota would skim off the top, and Dakota's expression softened a bit. "Back to the main point. I used so thods. Militech plans to cut off all access for nomads within the next month. The other corporations don't seem to mind, so it looks like they're tacitly agreeing."
"How long is 'soon'?"
"One month."
"So, that ans we've got one month left—what about the Maelstrom situation?"
"Hard to say. They've suddenly gotten their hands on a lot of gear."
"Perfect—we're short on gear. My people and Saul's are already looking for more, and we just captured one of their guys.
Let's see if we can get anything useful out of his head."
"You want... to directly attack Maelstrom?"
Leo nodded. "Militech doesn't have enough boots on the ground here; otherwise, they wouldn't need to sponsor Maelstrom."
Dakota thought about this and slowly said, "But have you considered, Militech might have anticipated that? They could use the Maelstrom camp as bait."
The nomads weren't very strong, and there weren't many who could fight, especially with families to look after.
Given the recent supply issues, it was only natural that Militech would guard against these crazed outlaws attacking Maelstrom to buy themselves so ti.
Since they weren't strong enough, it was ti to strengthen them.
"So we'll need to boost our strength first—I've got a plan.
Whether or not Maelstrom's camp is bait, we need more power, so we'll have to rob soone rich.
Give the fence's number in Dogtown. I'll negotiate directly, and you get in touch with the rest of the nomads.
Tell them—the ti to strike is coming soon."
"But... who are we robbing?"
Yeah, who to rob?
The Badlands wasn't exactly full of riches, after all. You couldn't just decide to rob soone and go for it.
But Leo had been thinking about the tuition he'd paid at the Valley District for a while.
Martin hadn't just taught him how to override gene drives; he also gave him a "treasure map."
"Don't worry, I've got an idea. You'll find out soon enough—just finish what you're doing for now."
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