Mass Release 2: AEINC ch - 12.4

Initial Battles (4)

According to the Prime Minister of the Highrider Confederacy, there are three Mass Drivers controlled by the ESA marked as acceptable targets for the Engineer, and Mark sends a repeating message to all of them.

*URGENT COMMUNICATION: ULTIMATUM TO EARTH MASS DRIVER BASES*

*From:* Wube Incorporated Tactical Command  

*To:* ESA Earth Mass Driver Facilities (Designated Sites: Mass Driver Alpha, Mass Driver Delta, Mass Driver Gamma)  

*Timestamp:* [XX: XX Coordinated Night City Time]

---

Attention ESA Ground Command,

This is an official communication from Wube Incorporated Tactical Command. You are hereby notified of the following:

1. *Unprovoked Aggression by ESA:* Earlier today, ESA utilized their Lunar Mass Driver infrastructure to launch asteroid strikes targeting our factory, BN2 Complex, and the metropolitan area of Night City.

2. *Interception of Threats:* These asteroids were neutralized mid-trajectory by Wube Inc.’s Anti-Orbital Defense Systems, preventing catastrophic damage to both corporate and civilian sectors.

3. *Retaliatory Measures Enacted:* As a direct response to this aggression, Wube Inc. forces have successfully neutralized and captured the ESA-owned Lunar Mass Drivers. These installations are now under our control.

4. *Imminent Retaliation:* Wube Inc. will proceed to bombard three of ESA's Earth-based Mass Driver facilities—designated Alpha, Delta, and Gamma—within *thirty minutes* of this message.

*MANDATORY ACTION:*  

Evacuate all non-combatant personnel and civilians from the premises of the targeted sites immediately. Failure to comply with this warning will result in preventable loss of life. Wube Inc. holds no responsibility for casualties sustained due to negligence in evacuation protocols.

This ultimatum serves as a firm reminder that Wube Inc. will not tolerate further hostility. Stand down.

*End Transmission*  

[Message repeats on loop.]

Three live video feeds of the bases were attached to the messages together with a countdown until the retaliatory strike. A similar countdown is also on Mark’s HUD and his attention returns to the moon. He quickly directs his Spiders to each new base to finish the captures.

A few minutes later, the Confederacy Prime Minister calls Mark, “Normally, people don’t give chances to their enemies,” she shows Mark an unreadable expression as if studying the Engineer, "I’m not certain why you decided to throw away the element of surprise on this part of the war."

Mark pauses for a moment to consider his response, "The moon had mostly military bases. The soldiers knew what it meant to enter into a conflict with another polity, especially after throwing a multi-kiloton nuke on Night City.”

Ranya nods, conceding the point, “I can understand the retaliation, but what about the warning to the ground bases?”

Sometimes Mark has to remind himself of the world he's stranded in, “The bases have a larger civilian population, despite being isolated compared with other locations. I will have to rely on different ordinances to capture the base from my position, and since the method is far more dangerous than using my automated forces, I issued a warning for them to evacuate. If they don’t, that’s on them.”

Ranya shakes her head, “You underestimate Earth corporations and the EEC's inhuman disregard for human life, Mark.”

Mark replies somberly, “I am willing to give them a chance to do the right thing, but I know the world we live in,” Mark leans back on his chair, “It would hit my conscience to treat people like I did the Maelstrom. They deserve the warning and time to evacuate.”

The Prime Minister stares weirdly at Mark, "I'm afraid I don’t think I understand."

He shrugs in response, “You will, soon enough.”

During the thirty minutes before the deadline, Mark proceeds with cleaning the Lunar bases, taking the occasional surrender by them. The Spiders managed to reach the various locations across the moon by using their equipped Jetpack Thrusters, quickly accelerating in the nearly frictionless Lunar atmosphere.

There is another purpose for the thirty-minute deadline beyond enabling the evacuation process. The extra time gives Mark's factory the means to fabricate the ammunition for Mark's Mass Drivers, called *Delivery Cannons* in Wube Inc.'s database. Compared with the typical Mass Drivers, they are tiny structures the size of a single building, but they can deliver capsules anywhere they have a targeting solution.

The *Weapon Delivery Cannon*, has its systems optimized for weapons and ordinance delivery. Loading them with special ammunition, Mark waits until the countdown reaches zero.

When it does, Mark signals the death warrant of the groundside bases. From his Weapon Delivery Cannons, they shoot capsules containing their deadly cargo, a bundle of Poison capsules exploding inside the perimeter of the enemy's Mass drivers and attached base. The poison from the Poison Capsules can turn large trees into biological sloops in a matter of seconds, and they are effective against all forms of life. The Poison's only weakness is how fast it decomposes under sunlight and room temperature conditions.

For the few places the Poison capsule bundles can’t enter directly, the Delivery Weapons Cannon throws a bundle of grenades to breach walls and defenses but does relatively minor damage compared with artillery pieces. With the aid of Wube Inc.’s spy satellites, Mark confirms the capture of each installation.

“It is done,” Mark calls the prime minister with a grave tone, “you can get your people to secure the bases. Some of them took a little bit of damage, but it should be functional.”

“You work fast and efficiently as always,” the prime minister praises Mark, “now we just have to wait for the assault teams to secure the Mass Drivers for the Confederacy and we will go from there.”

Nodding, Mark redirects his attention elsewhere to deal with the growing issues in other theaters of war. After a few hours, the prime minister calls Mark once more with the findings on the captured base computers, “I’m sorry Mark, but I have bad news to share with you.”

“Did something happen during the raids?” The Engineer asks, his heartbeat accelerating as he considers the possibilities.

She shakes her head, “Securing the former ESA's assets wasn't an issue, it’s what we found,” She shows an image with photos of the Mass Drivers and activation logs, “The Mass Driver used against you and Night City had its logs scrubbed by a Netrunner. Normally, that would only delay finding the information by a few hours to a few days, but they didn't scrub the activation logs, instead, they cleared the emergency reports. We found out the Mass Driver computer targeting system was shut down and they calibrated the target manually. This feature is only available when certain power conduits suffer catastrophic failure, which would normally be recorded in the emergency reports logs. We suspect that due to the large targets they were aiming for, even a non-specialist technician could perform this task."

“What does that mean, exactly?” Mark frowns upon hearing the news, uncertain of its meaning.

“The manual calibration doesn’t leave a usage log in the systems," the Prime Minister clarifies to Mark, "It is an old loophole against the few concessions ESA made after they initially threatened the NUSA before the Datacrash. The forensic evidence might uncover when the Mass Driver was activated, but in a war that's irrelevant."

"Ah," Mark finally understood, "I can see the problem now."

The Highrider Confederacy preferred to stay away from groundside politics, but since the Lunar installations were involved they had a duty to get themselves involved.

"We will Negotiate with the EEC to prevent them from joining the war against Wube Inc. and potentially dragging the Confederacy into this conflict. Thanks to the other facilities taken hostage, we have the upper hand in the negotiations, but as far as the council is concerned, our participation in the war is over."

Mark nods in understanding. The Confederacy already got what they wanted, satisfied the Warhawks looking for blood, and now the pacifist factions will consolidate their gains, "I hoped you could have supported me until the end, but I have no complaints about your help so far."

“Thank you for the understanding," The Prime Minister starts, almost sounding apologetic to Mark's ears, "however, that’s not the only issue for you. Since the Confederacy finished their involvement in the war that means all assets meant to deal with Orbital structures will abide by the treaties in place, including the treaty that limits the use of Mass Drivers.”

Mark doesn’t catch the implication immediately, but soon he realizes the issue. “My Delivery Cannons."

She nods, “As part of the Confederacy, you need to abide by the treaties, otherwise it will become a war between us and Earth. While we’re confident we can win this conflict, especially with your help, the disruption in trade and potential damage to the Pan-African Alliance was deemed unacceptable by the council.”

Sighing, Mark accepts their judgment. "I understand. My primary objective was to prevent the ESA from attacking us from orbit. I can consider this a success."

Steepling her hands, Ranya gives her final words to Mark, "My diplomatic team will be busy negotiating with the EEC, but we hope that you can survive and win this conflict. Good Luck, Mr. Engineer.”

…

In the Afterlife bar, the news shows the latest development of the War between Wube and Militech, with the latest news shocking the Edgerunners and Fixers keeping track of the conflict.

The news anchor is an older gentleman with salt pepper hair and he is accompanied by a young, red-haired woman with an appearance biosculpted to attract the audience, sponsored by NeoSculpt Aesthetics(™).

The older man opens the news, saying, “In recent news, NUSA and Militech started their joint military operation called 'Operation Early Harvest,' though some analysts unofficially call it the 'Wube Subjugation War,' with the operation facing an unexpected setback when the Highrider Confederation issued a statement claiming the European Space Agency involvement in an alleged attack on Night City.” 

A large image of the Mass Driver and a short video of asteroids being shot down by Wube’s Anti Orbital Defenses show on the screen. The red-haired anchor resumes the news, “The ESA denies their involvement in the grievous attempt at Night City, however, the Highrider Confederation has captured all of the EEC-owned Mass Drivers on the moon and disabled three of their installations on Earth.”

“I fucking knew it!” One of the regulars at the bar, known as AJ, yells at the scream, “I knew what I saw! Those euro fucks aren’t happy with just fucking with our currency, but they want to destroy us all!”

Normally, AJ would be ignored when he goes on one of his rants, but his words resonate with those present after realizing how close they came to inevitable death.

The female anchor continues, “The Highrider Confederation and the EEC are negotiating a peace settlement, and as a show of faith by the EEC, they had the Executive Director of the ESA, Thomas Kowalski, resign his position while they investigate the current allegations. Thomas Kowalski is currently under house arrest while the EEC investigates," a video of the ex-director Thomas Kowalski shows him leaving his car while surrounded by the local reporters and ignoring all their questions before he enters his house.

The gentleman resumes with the news, "However, while the orbital war has come to a close, the ongoing conflict between Wube and Militech started to involve other polities. Is this the Fifth Corporate War? How this conflict will unfold? Find out here, at Night City News.”

Post Chapter Notes

The second chapter of the day. The astute reader might have noticed a segment that sounds different from the rest. It was generated by ChatGPT, though I only use it when I need to have an official, corporate-sounding letter or message in the story. If they sound dry and generic, that's intentional as they are generated in-universe by their equivalent systems to produce corporate sloop.