Epilogue: Alliance in Ruins, Arsenal Reborn
[The Frontline Alliance has crumbled, and a flood of classified documents has spilled out. Thanks to you. It's the payoff from that successful raid on their meeting that day.]
The boy listened to Sonya's voice message from inside the Nexus.
This was a briefing to lighten the mood before the next mission. Sonya pulled up profiles of various corporations on the screen as she continued.
Sonya let out a huff of a sigh.
"It's fine. I've got plenty of patience."
Anyway, Sonya pressed on.
"Right. We're hunting their secret weapons."
"Guess I should."
The boy nodded.
The alliance's collapse. A result of corporations fighting as usual. But for them—and the world—the situation was shifting into a new phase.
I'd stayed up all night reading... no, admiring the illustrations.
"Hah."
Before I knew it, I'd dozed off with my head slumped forward. Maybe it was the bad posture, but when I woke up, my body ached all over. Should've just lain down to sleep.
"Ughhh…."
Thud-thud-thud—I started the day with the heavy thrum of the rotors.
Protein bars for breakfast—plenty sufficient. Sure, good meals and entertainment make life feel human, but I couldn't find joy in that stuff anymore. Realizing it left a faint sense of something chipped away, but I didn't dwell on it. Isn't that just part of growing up?
After eating, I spent the morning blowing credits from the last job.
Hmm, first things first…
I wanted to dump it all into Nexus parts, but the world doesn't bend to your whims. People need to live (especially me, with all my special needs—such a hassle), and the mobile hangar can't fly forever. Fuel for the Nexus, consumables—expenses add up.
"SIF, run the numbers."
I left the tedious stuff to the handy AI. Stripping out allocations for consumables left about 300,000 credits.
That's a ton.
It rivaled my highest payout yet. I couldn't grasp its value to average folks, but for a Nexus? I could ballpark it. I'd spent plenty in-game on parts, after all.
"Shotgun…."
Main weapon was priority. In-game, the top pick was Semi-Automatic Arms' BLUE PRINT, nicknamed BPF—great for mid-to-close range.
Not really my go-to, though.
I preferred charging in head-on over awkwardly measuring distance even up close. BPF's lower fire rate felt clunky. Sure, high damage, but low rate of fire sucked in point-blank scraps more than expected.
So, something with faster fire…
There it is.
Laterano Arms' HARD TACK. Hard Tack—the basic shotgun I'd noted last time. 90,000 credits each. Two would run 180,000, leaving 120,000.
Hm, a pair's pricey, huh.
Still cheaper than BPF at 130,000. BPF was sleek high-tech; Hard Tack felt a notch below but reliable, mass-produced vibe.
"Not like it's too much to pass up."
Purchase made. For the remaining 120,000, I invested in modules and extras: lighter 4-pod missile launcher over the 6-pod, flares for emergencies, upgraded hacking module. FCS for 20,000—way better than my current one.
With internals refreshed, the Nexus finally felt complete.
Well… the big perk of a Nexus is modular builds for easy swaps…
Like my combat style, you settle into a build that fits like a glove, refining your fights around it. To others, who knows—but for me, it was getting stable.
Almost identical to my in-game favorite now.
Maybe that's why it suddenly felt like the game had leaped into reality. The air tasted fresher, somehow.
Anyway, shopping done. Saved my preferred build as preset, set up mid/long-range, light/standard variants for emergencies.
Oh, spray paint too?
Messing with customizations ate up time till past lunch. Wasn't hungry anyway.
Should be here soon.
The parts from Railwalk Foundation as payout for the last job—due via Hermes Network any minute. I'd sent my hangar ID and route ahead; a quadcopter would handle delivery.
Air handoff's tricky, so I landed at a good spot early.
"It's here."
SIF opened the main hatch. Rumble-rumble—the massive rotors roared like a storm, kicking up snow as the quadcopter touched down.
"Hm."
Whirr—the underbelly crate slid open. Preservation gas billowed like thick fog, revealing the delivery.
Yeah, looks brutal just sitting there.
Unmanned, as expected. Payout covered shipping, so no hassle—I just moved the rail shotgun inside.
Thud-thud-thud—the copter lifted off, vanishing into the sky.
"SIF, set it down there."
This body being what it is, I relied on SIF a lot. How many times for cargo alone?
SIF maneuvered hangar gear to cram the rail shotgun into storage.
"Hmm…."
Staring at the packed bay, I rubbed my chin.
Can't keep treating this mobile hangar like permanent home forever.
Parts pile up; need proper storage somewhere. A real hangar.
Plus…
Mobile hangars aren't lifetime rides. It's rented—I've treated it like mine, but time for my own.
But I hate being tied down.
Owning something fixed to the ground feels like chaining yourself to the earth. Gives enemies a target, gathers valuables, traps you in place.
Curious, I searched for mobile hangar upgrades.
"Whoa…."
Super carrier. Air super carrier. Operational costs fit megacorps only. Annual figure made my head spin with all those zeros.
Table that for later.
Shifting focus…
Time to check the rail shotgun.
New toy meant test time.