Friday Night Firefight - A Cyberpunk 2077 Isekai

Friday Night Firefight - Chapter 65

Pacifica was barely recognizable as part of Night City, even by the city's rough standards. The place was a ghost town of failed dreams and forgotten projects. Streetlamps hung dead and dark along cracked sidewalks; billboards and ad panels were blank; crumbling reminders of someone's failed plans to sell the district to rich corpos. Trash piled up in the gutters, too far off the city's radar to ever get cleared out. Nobody sane wanted to be in Pacifica after dusk. I wasn't exactly thrilled about it myself, but work is work, and it had to be done.

There was a makeshift homeless camp at the edge of the district that sprawled out under the shadows, stitched together with tarps, rusted-out metal scraps, and worn tents. I parked my Kusanagi on the outskirts, the bike's engine cutting off like a final warning for me to get out of there. Stepping into the camp, I nodded to a few folks on my way through, catching a few glances of appreciation. Barrel fires cast flickering light over the faces of the homeless in the camp, shadows deepening the lines that had seen more than their fair share of hardship. Even the homeless of Pacifica were more rundown than elsewhere in the city.

I spotted John and Deng at the far end of the camp, under the dim glow of one of the few street lamps that wasn't burnt out. Keeping my head steady, I clocked a lone working camera across the street, probably the only set of eyes out here that hadn't died along with the streetlights. I didn't look at it directly. Didn't give away the fact I'd spotted it; if the Voodoo Boys were watching, I wanted to keep them guessing.

When I finally reached John and Deng, I nodded my greetings to them before shifting my attention to the man they were speaking with.

"This is Jacob," said Deng by way of introduction. "Runs things around here."

Jacob's eyes scanned me with practiced ease, evaluating me in the way people who run things tend to do. I could see a quiet strength under his worn exterior – a guy who knew the ins and outs of Pacifica better than anyone else in Night City. His voice came out rough, worn, and assured. "Got the information you were asking for. Biggest Scav den is in the southern part of Pacifica at an old motel – Los Osos. They're led by this butcher named Slava and his enforcer Yasha. Slava's got a reputation. He's a twisted shit. And Yasha...well, think an Animal, but worse. Built like a tank."

"Sounds charming," I muttered. "Any other groups worth noting?"

"There's a big camp set up by that rusted-out Ferris wheel. Last count, thirty or forty of them. A few smaller bands have been cropping up all over, too. Then there's a woman leading a Scav group who's in tight with Barghest. She runs guns to a few other Scav spots around town. Name's Anna or Anya or something."

I took a second to think it over. "We'll leave the one working with Barghest out of it, for now. But all the others are fair game. If you can pinpoint the smaller camps, we'll handle them."

As Jacob gave a nod and wandered off to join the others, John turned to me, an eyebrow raised. I could tell he wanted to ask me a whole bunch of questions but he'd refrained while Jacob was still around.

"Noah. Why Pacifica? I thought you didn't want us in Pacifica? You said we weren't going to mess with the VDB here."

I met his gaze, keeping my voice low. "I don't want us here. And we're still steering clear of the VDB. But the Scavs? That's another story. They're a menace. Think about who they target the most." I nodded back toward the camp. "They see these folks as parts and meat for the black market. They're an...existential threat. We can't let that keep going. The Pack's going to hit Scav holes all across Night City – Watson, Heywood, Santo Domingo. Pacifica is just one piece."

Deng, always skeptical, chimed in. "And what about the VBD? You're not worried they're gonna take us moving into Pacifica as an insult? I mean, we're talking about carving up their backyard."