OG: Chapter 26

The Red Cyclone was a Major Organiskaya Hotspot, that much was true. It was an Organiskaya Hotspot in the same way that Lizzie's was a Mox Hotspot. The Organiskaya owned it. In fact, they owned the entire building it was in. Actually, they owned the entire row of buildings it was in. From the VRcade on the Corner with its Vidiot crowd, to the Cafe next door, serving Scop, but Scop with a bit more flavor than usual, and all the apartments above, they owned it all. The Bathhouse, though, was the Major Money-Maker in this particular stretch of buildings. Sure, the VRcade might squeeze a few Eddies here and there out of the Vidiots who literally couldn't stay away, and the Cafe had a steady stream of Gonks coming in and out, but the Red Cyclone attracted all kinds of people. People who had Eddies to burn on a Preem experience like a swanky bathhouse.

As I pulled up in my Paladin Five-Hundred and parked in a nearby Garage, one my implants flagged as not run by any of the front or shell companies owned by the Gangoons of the Organiskaya, I couldn't help but note that the building looked fairly normal from the outside. That was probably by design, though. You didn't last this long in the Night City Underworld by being a Leadhead, so of course the building was gonna blend in.

See, the Organiskaya was one of the true last vestiges of organized crime in Night City. They, the Triads and the Italians, were the last Mobs standing after the Tyger Claws ran off the Yakuza and the Valentinos sent the Cartel packing into the Badlands to die. Honestly, the Italians had barely survived, largely thanks to allying with the Valentinos and having support from Back East. The Organiskaya, though, and to a lesser extent, the Triads over in Little China, were positively thriving. Now, here I was going in Iron out to fuck with it all. If I weren't who I am, I'd be tempted to say that Suzie Q had set us up for failure. Fortunately, I was exactly who I was.

The Entrance to the Red Cyclone was in the Alleyway between two buildings, an unassuming doorway with a simple sign on it, plus a camera hooked into the security system for the building. I immediately hacked the Security Camera with my Implants and Netran my way into their setup via a backdoor. The Cameras were now all looped, though I could still use them to have a look around via my Backdoor Access. It was because of this that I knew the place was full of Organiskaya Gangoons. They were having a little party in the Club, celebrating what they probably thought was their impending victory. I spotted both Nikita Letov and Arkadiy Ulyanov inside.

Just inside the door, a pair of blue-tracksuited Organiskaya Gangoons were being forced to pull watch duty, twenty-twenty hindsight clearly working for the Organiskaya. Unfortunately, they were drinking. They each had a bottle of Bolshevik Vodka in their hand, taking occasional swigs. Smirking, I pulled my new blade, Fuerza Chispa was eager to be used for the first time, and took a deep breath. It was time to make like John Wick and zero a bathhouse full of Russians. Nodding to myself, I busted in the door with a kick and came out slashing with Fuerza Chispa for the First Gangoon's neck.

The First Organiskaya Gangoon was Zeroed without ever doing more than getting startled by my sudden entrance, my blade slicing through his tattooed neck and the subdermal underneath, and practically cutting his head clean off in one go. The Second Gangoon dropped his bottle of Vodka and reached for his pistol, a Heavy Derra Polytechnic DR-Five Nova. Unfortunately, I was too close to him for him to shoot me, grabbing his arm with my off-hand and forcing it out wide. His eyes widened, shocked at me being able to overpower him with his Gorilla Arms, but that only lasted a split second until I could plunge Fuerza Chispa up under his Chin, through the roof of his mouth, and into his brain. He hadn't even had time to squeeze the trigger of his Revolver before he was on the floor, Zeroed.

Doormen successfully zeroed, I made my way down the stairs into the Bathhouse Proper. The Red Cyclone took up the basement level of an entire section of the row of buildings. It was lit all up with lights, red and blue marble tiles, and fluted columns evoking an old world charm as the heated pools that functioned as the baths were surrounded by preem leather chairs, made with actual leather from the Old World. Nova luxuries that just aren't available to the average Gonk these days. In the baths, various Joytoys frolicked with multiple Organiskaya Gangoons as music filtered in over the speakers. Still other Organiskaya Gangoons lounged on the leather seats, drinking Vodka, indulging in their Dorphead Habits, and even having a bit of Stuffit with some of the Joytoys in public.

It only took me a fraction of a second to take this all in, thanks to my Chrome and enhanced capabilities. Distracted as they were, the Organiskaya Gangoons didn't notice me until I pulled my Iron and began shooting, Xipe Totec barking out and spitting ten millimeter death at various shirtless Organiskaya Gangoons. One of the Joytoys screamed as the Organiskaya Gangoon she was riding got Zeroed underneath her as one of my rounds caught him in the head. Then all Hell broke loose as the Organiskaya Gangoons raced for Irons left discarded at poolside in favor of vodka bottles, Dorph inhalaers, Cigars, or the hair of some Joytoy.

I kept firing even as the Joytoys ran for whatever cover was available. That was fine by me, they weren't my targets here. I must have zeroed thirteen Organiskaya Gangoons by the time they began to fight back, having time to load a fresh clip into my Xipe Totec before they'd managed to grab Irons and begin firing back. Unfortunately, none of the Rusty Scop they were using could so much as put a dent in my armor. It was mostly Scop like the Techtronika RT-Forty-Six Burya or Techtronika Metel, revolvers that wouldn't put a dent in my shiny new gear. A couple managed to grab Techtronika VST-Thirty-Seven Pozhar Shotguns, but those were only mildly more annoying to deal with at this point.

Bullets pinged off my armor, which was made with the best technology and magic I had access to. Shotgun slugs flattened against it as well, or otherwise lost momentum as they struck the Vibranium Fibers woven into the Ballistic Nanocloth that made up my hooded coat. I fired back the whole time, soaking up bullets like a sponge, advancing as I did so, and zeroing Organiskaya Gangoons as I moved forward, efficiently aiming and firing with my Iron as I zeroed Gangoon after Gangoon.

It wasn't until the pools of the Bathouse's common area were practically dyed red with blood, and I reloaded once again, that something changed. A group of Organiskaya Gangoons rushed out of the Sauna, all of them sporting the telltale chrome that marked them as former Scavs. Scavengers tended to be almost as heavily Chipped In as Maelstrom Gonks sometimes. What this meant for me was that when they charged me with Slamdance Iron, I actually had to pay attention. Most had Spawnblades or Hyperhammers, the sort of Melee Iron you had to be very careful to avoid because if you got hit even once with that sort of Iron, you could be in for some serious damage, especially if the guys wielding them were heavily Chipped In.

Time slowed down as I ran the numbers for this part of the encounter, Sandy and Kerenzikov working overtime. Six former Scavengers so heavily Chromed Up and Chipped In they may as well count as Full Borgs, all wielding Iron that was specially tailored to be used by Gonks like them. As my abilities worked out the best possible way to Zero them all, time sped back up, and I blurred into motion to put it into action.

As I parried an incoming Spawnblade, it fanned out, memory-metal blade widening to try and take my fingers off unexpectedly. Fortunately, my Gauntlets were backed by Uru Chainmail Inserts, and the gambit failed. I shot him with my Xipe Totec at point-blank range, three shots punching through his heavy subdermal and zeroing him, before leaning away from the swing of a Hyperhammer. The solid tungsten hammer came with a rocket-assist for deadlier swings. It was a known armor-destroyer even for the sort of Doughboys who wore the full Sardine Can of Power Armor. The solid metal head missed my temple by a single inch, and I punched Fuerza Crispa through the Gangoon's Optics as I came back in at him, cracking the reinforced glass lens and punching into his brain, zeroing him.

He went down, and I tucked and rolled over his corpse, avoiding the spiked head of a Ballistic Harpoon fired at me from one of the other Gangoons. I came out of my Shoulder Roll on one knee, even as the Ballistic Harpoon punched straight through the corpse of the last Gangoon and stuck into the stone floor a full six inches, firing at the Harpoon Gangoon with my Xipe Totec, two shots to the face zeroing him. As he went down, I got to my feet and dodged a cut from a Gangoon who was using a Tasmanskiy Klô Battleglove to try and make like Wolverine and dice me to bits. I dodged away from a claw swipe, only to get kicked backward by his clearly chrome legs. Staggering back and just barely avoiding a fifth Organiskaya Gangoon's Spawnblade, which cut across the bridge of my nose as its memory metal fanned out the same moment I dodged the thrust. I hissed in pain and fired three shots from my Xipe Totec into the Fifth Gangoon's side, punching through his subdermal and zeroing him.

The Battleglove Gangoon came back in, slicing out at me with the claws of the Battleglove, in a three-hit combo. I was forced to sway aside to avoid the first two cuts, pairing the punch from his off-hand Gorilla Arm with Fuerza Crispa before he thrust his Battleglove at my throat, forcing me to duck. His knee slammed into my nose as I did so, breaking it with the pneumatic force of Chrome Legs, but as I staggered back, I raised my Xipe Totec. He seemed to realize his mistake because he spat out a curse just before I emptied the rest of my Iron into his face.

"Kurwa!" He spat in Polish before my Iron barked twice into his face, Zeroing him. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to reload as the last Gangoon had thrown away his Spawnblade in favor of grabbing the fallen ballistic harpoon. I was forced to throw myself into a shoulder roll to avoid an incoming ballistic harpoon shot. The spike punched into one of the fluted marble columns and sank in halfway through the stone. I came up as the Last Gangoon reloaded, flipping Fuerza Crispa around and throwing it at him. It hit him in the throat, punching through the light subdermal around his neck and zeroing him, his reloaded ballistic harpoon flinging its spike wide as he fell, sending it splashing into the body-filled pool.

I reloaded my Xipe Totec, reset my broken nose, healing it a bit with Alkahestry, retrieved Fuerza Crispa, and headed further into the Club. There was a back room attached to the Baths and Saunas where private Organiskaya Meetings were held. As I burst in through the door, I was immediately assaulted by gunfire from the sort of Techtronika and Darra Polytechnic Small Arms that these Gonks had taken with them to a party. None of it punched through my armor, and I fired back, zeroing five Organiskaya Gangoons in succession, each of them protecting two men. One was a large, burly Man whose tattoos marked him out as Arkadiy Ulyanov, one of the Night City Organiskaya's Avtorityets. The other was a short, fat Man whose greasy hair and mustache reminded me of nothing so much as a Cyberpunk version of Ron Jeremy. This was Nikita Letov, the Obshchak, or treasurer of the Night City Organiskaya.

"Cyka Blyat!" Swore Arkadiy Ulyanov, coming at me with a pair of Slamdance Fangfist Battlegloves, wrist-mounted blades slicing out for my face. I dodged a punch aimed at spiking my face, ducked a cutting hook, and swayed aside from the same knee strike the Polish Former Scav with the Wolverine Claws had tried previously. All of these former EastBloc Gonks seemed to fight the same, apparently. Probably Ex-Military, I knew the Organiskaya pulled from the Soviet Army a lot.

As I parried another strike of the wrist blades with Fuerza Crispa, swaying aside from another punching thrust of Arkadiy's off-hand Blade, I thrust my Xipe Totec at my opponent, who tried to bring his elbow down on my wrist to force me to drop my Iron. However, I was wise to how this fighting style worked now, and so I let him do that in favor of flipping Fuerza Crispa around and having the Adamantium Monoblade shear through his battleglove and the hand underneath. As Arkady pulled back and I knelt down to retrieve my Iron from where it had fallen at my feet. Coming up with it pointed straight at Arkadiy.

"Suzie Q sends her regards." I intoned.

Then I fired three shots at Arkadiy, zeroing him. I turned toward Nikita Letov, who was scrambling for the back door. I raised my Xipe Totec just in time for him to open the Back Door to the Bathhouse. As I fired three shots into his back, the Organiskaya Obshchak stumbled to the pavement in the back alley of the Bathhouse. Somehow, the Gonk was still alive, and that forced me to follow him outside to put a final round into his head as he tried to crawl to safety. I kicked him in the ribs, causing Nikita Letov to cry out in pain and flop onto his back, bloody lips opening and shutting like a fish that had just been reeled in by the fisherman and now had to contend with his imminent death. Then he began to spit curses at me in Russian.

"Sorry, I don't speak Gopnik." I smirked.

"You're a dead man walking! You understand? The Organiskaya will kill you and everyone in your group of whores too!" Spat Nikita Letov.

"Maybe. But only if we lose." I shrugged.

"Fuck your mother!" Snarled Nikita Letov.

"Now that's no way to speak to the man who holds your life in his hands. You'd think you wanted me to zero you." I taunted.

"Go to Hell, you son of a motherless goat!" Growled Nikita Letov.

"Eventually. You go first, though." I grinned, firing my Iron. The last bullet punched into his fat, mustached face, zeroing him. Unfortunately, we weren't alone in the Back Alley.

"About time!" Exclaimed a voice that was at once familiar and unwelcome.

I turned to see Aleksander Yurinov standing with a cigarette lit in his mouth further down the back alley. As he summoned two creatures, one a Woman in a long coat who seemed made of what looked like Solid Copper and the other a Giant Spider that was clearly some sort of Fantasy Creature, I sighed, reloading my Iron as I prepared to face off against the Champion of Flidais.

"You didn't think to check the party? I zeroed damn-near forty of your pals in there. I also can't help but notice you stood by out of sight while I zeroed one of your bosses." I pointed out.

"Psh! What do I care if some NPCs get iced? They're not real people, remember?" Scoffed Aleksander Yurinov.

"Yeah, you know that's not how this works. These are actual universes in the Greater Omniverse." I pointed out.

"Says who? The Gods? Why do you believe them, anyway? I know this place is a video game, so these people can't actually be real. Simple as that." Sneered Aleksander Yuriniov.

"I guess we're just too far apart on that fact, then." I shrugged.

"Looks like." Nodded Aleksander Yurinov.

As he said that, he summoned some sort of scaly, organic-looking armor with his powers that seemed to fortify him somewhat before summoning a metallic shotgun that shimmered like it was made of mercury. I frowned at that, bracing myself for the inevitable as time slowed down and I began to run the numbers, with my Sandy and Kerenzikov working hard and my Chrome and enhanced intellect helping do tactical analysis. Unfortunately, Aleksander Yurinov didn't seem to want to wait, raising his silvery shotgun and letting off a blast that my powers screamed at me to dodge. I ducked away, rolling behind a dumpster as time sped back up again and jagged shards of molten liquid metal melted into the steel dumpster, setting trash alight.

"Stop fucking about and let's Slammit On!" Roared Aleksander Yurinov.

Then his Copper Golem shucked her coat while his Giant Spider bounded up onto the outside wall of the Bathhouse Building, screeching out in a keening wail that sounded more like the shriek of tearing metal than a living animal. I popped out of my destroyed cover, raising my Iron to fire.

And the battle against Aleksander Yurinov was on. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. The SI pretty much annihilates the Organiskaya Members in the Bathhouse, including two of the highest-ranking members of the Organiskaya in a scene that was semi-inspired by the first John Wick movie. Now he has to deal with Aleksander Yurinov, Champion of Flidais and Wielder of the Celestial Menagerie. It will effectively be his first time fighting one of the Other SIs that are one of the other Champions in this little contest the Gods put together.

At any rate, the next chapter will be that fight, and the one after will show how Jackie and V's attack on the Hotel Vladivostok goes. I'll also have character sheet updates and more images out before the next chapter.

Stay tuned. . .