Chapter 222: Destroying Arasaka Waterfront
Arasaka Waterfront was the corporation's largest and most fully functional logistics and transportation hub in Night City.
It occupied a vast area of the bay, boasting deep-water berths, massive automated warehouse clusters, cargo sorting centers, vehicle dispatch yards, and tight fortifications.
This was not only the main gateway for Arasaka supplies entering Night City but also a critical node for controlling West Coast trade.
On ordinary days, cargo ships shuttled back and forth, and vehicle traffic was ceaseless, making it one of the busiest areas in the entire city.
At this moment, however, ear-piercing alarms echoed throughout the entire waterfront district.
All non-combat personnel had been evacuated. The remaining Arasaka garrison formed a final line of defense, relying on pre-constructed defensive positions, the sturdy walls of warehouses, and the cranes on the docks.
Tanks hid behind shipping containers, power armors occupied the high ground, and infantrymen crouched behind sandbag barricades, gripping their weapons nervously.
They saw the steel phalanx walking out of what seemed like hell, stepping on shadows elongated by the setting sun, marching unhurriedly into the periphery of the waterfront area.
Ignis's optical lenses calmly scanned the defensive system ahead.
Data streams were analyzed rapidly in her processing core, identifying nodes with the strongest energy signatures—the command center, power supply stations, air defense missile arrays, and several heavy hardpoints.
"Priority targets locked," her voice rang out in the internal channel. "Dismantle defense structures, destroy storage facilities, purify all resisting units."
The Secutarii phalanx actively changed formation for the first time the moment they entered the enemy's direct fire range.
They spread out from the tight wedge, forming an arc-shaped battle line more conducive to firepower projection, while maintaining distances within the effective connection range of the resonance shield.
The Arasaka garrison opened fire.
Tank cannons, heavy machine guns, rockets, rotary cannons of power armors... all weapons spewed tongues of fire simultaneously. A dense rain of munitions smashed toward the pale gold shield like a storm.
Continuous energy ripples erupted on the shield's surface once more. The light flickered uncertainly, yet it stood stubbornly.
Simultaneously, the Secutarii counterattack began.
This time, they were no longer limited to simple Arc Lance volleys. Ignis assigned strike missions based on target characteristics.
Several Hoplites pointed their lances at the distant air defense missile sites and fixed turrets. Thick electrical arcs crossed hundreds of meters, hitting those facilities with precision.
Missile launchers twisted and exploded in the electric light; turrets were melted into red molten iron.
Meanwhile, the remaining Hoplites shifted their strike focus to the Arasaka armored units and power armors exposed within their firing sector.
Lethal arcs were like invisible yet precise long whips. With every fierce lash, an Arasaka war machine would inevitably disintegrate in blinding electric light, turning into charred, twisted scrap iron.
In the center of the line, Ignis had aimed her lance at the massive automated warehouse cluster symbolizing Arasaka's material foundation.
The energy core at the tip of her lance emitted an unprecedentedly sharp hum as destructive energy was compressed to the extreme.
Then, a super-arc, far exceeding standard specifications and solid as liquid metal, surged out. Like a blue python breaking free of its bonds, it bombarded a giant warehouse fully loaded with supplies with unstoppable momentum.
The anticipated violent explosion did not occur. Instead, a more terrifying scene of annihilation took place.
Under instantaneous extreme heat, the metal outer walls of the warehouse melted and vaporized directly, as if exposed to the surface of a star. The mountains of goods piled inside didn't even have time to burn before they were carbonized, ionized, and reduced to elementary particles in the horrific heat wave.
The massive architectural structure lost support within seconds and collapsed with a crash, leaving only a pile of molten matter wrapped in flames and still flowing. Pillars of fire and thick smoke announced the utter termination of its existence.
This devastating strike was like the sounding of the horn for the general offensive.
The remaining Hoplites then unleashed their firepower to their hearts' content upon the storage facilities representing Arasaka's wealth and lifeline.
Countless arcs cut vertically and horizontally through the warehouse district, igniting, melting through, and disintegrating building after building.
Stored fuel, chemicals, and ammunition were detonated in succession. The continuous boom of explosions exacerbated the catastrophe.
The dock area did not escape the fate of destruction either.
Arasaka cargo ships docked at the berths were hit precisely by arcs. Sturdy hulls were easily torn apart, rapidly swallowed by fire, and slowly sank into the murky seawater with an unwilling list.
Towering gantry cranes emitted ear-piercing metallic groans under the entanglement and erosion of electric light, finally twisting, snapping, and crashing into the sea, kicking up massive columns of murky water.
Faced with this absolute disparity in power, the will to resist of the Arasaka garrison collapsed rapidly.
Their attacks were like ants trying to shake a tree, while every return strike from the Secutarii brought thorough destruction.
Surviving soldiers lost all will to fight, discarding weapons and fleeing their positions.
However, the Secutarii strictly followed the directive to "clear all hostile targets." Any figure attempting to attack or flee was precisely targeted by the merciless arcs, turning into yet another charred corpse on the ground.
This systematic destruction operation lasted less than thirty minutes from start to finish.
When the last main warehouse collapsed in flames, when the turret of the last resisting Arasaka tank was melted through, and when no intact facility could be found on the docks, the entire Arasaka Waterfront had been thoroughly reduced to ruins ruled by fire and thick smoke.
The air was filled with the acrid smell of ozone, the stench of melting polymers, the strange odors of burning cargo, and the terrifying sweet-sickly smell of burnt flesh, mixing into a nauseating aura symbolizing the end.
Ignis stood in the center of the ruins, surveying their masterpiece.
Her sensors confirmed that there were no valid hostile energy signals within the area, and all primary targets had achieved physical destruction.
"Mission complete. Target 'Arasaka Waterfront' has lost basic function and strategic value." She reported to Joric via data link, her voice steady as always, without the slightest fluctuation after completing a mission of destruction.
Inside the workshop, Joric received the final battlefield assessment data and real-time footage sent back by Ignis. Watching the logistics center turned into a sea of fire, his processing core merely calmly updated the mission status.
"Confirmed. Mission 'Phased Cleanup' complete. Secutarii units, return to the Badlands perimeter to establish guard positions. Await further instructions."
Destroying Arasaka Waterfront was merely one step on his path to solving the problem thoroughly.
It clearly demonstrated to Arasaka, and to all factions in this world, the level of power he possessed and his unquestionable style of action.
Now, he needed to concentrate his main computing power on the next, and final, phase of the mission—erecting the large-scale portal to welcome the Knights of House Rinco.
Only then would it be the moment to deliver final judgment upon Arasaka, and indeed upon this twisted corporate era.
Led by Ignis, the Secutarii phalanx turned and left the still-burning ruins, returning silently along the path they came.
They left behind only the soaring flames and the thoroughly paralyzed vital node of Arasaka, silently recounting everything that had just occurred.
(End of Chapter)