Cyberpunk: Becoming a Legend from Dogtown

Where are the most cyberpsychos?

Find them in Night City's Maelstrom gang!

These psychos love swapping out cyberware without anesthesia, slapping grotesque optical implants onto their faces that no sane person would find aesthetic.

Their signature look? Glowing red optics, black metal tattoos, excessive illegal mods, and a fondness for hollowing out their jaws for that distorted, electric voice.

To them, a fragile human body is useless. The more chrome you got, the better. Bonus points if you're into bizarre, ultra-violent crimes—and hey, a little death metal love? Maelstrom will welcome you with open arms!

Today's gig was huge. Maelstrom gang members sat around the front room playing cards, passing around "the good stuff," occasionally making that telltale hissing sound as they took a hit.

A little hit here and there. That's Maelstrom life.

"Dum Dum (Note) here? Damn it, why leave just us to keep watch? Dogtown's perfect for burying people. If it were up to me, that mutt would already be cemented into a wall—I'm losing it here."

"Damn, that's some good shit!"

The guy's grayish-white arm, veined and laced with soft metallic wiring, slammed his cards down in a fit of high-fueled frustration.

Beside him, another member—whose poorly grafted cyberware barely clung to his chest—grinned through a cigarette, tossing his cards onto the table. "Pay up, pay up!"

They shoved and jeered at each other, their harsh laughter and crude swearing filling the room.

BANG!

A loud crash at the front door. Sunlight flooded the dim room, making the cigarette smoke dance in the air.

The old automated door sparked and hissed, riddled with holes, swinging on its last legs. A bootprint in the middle made it clear how it got busted open.

Silence.

The only sound left was the death metal track still blasting through the room's speakers. One guy, standing on the card table, mouth agape, let his cigarette drop to the floor.

At the door, backlit by the harsh light, stood a twin-tailed girl holding a sleek black shotgun.

"Shit! Mercs!"

One Maelstrom member dove to grab the rifle leaning against the table, but Rebecca's shotgun went off first.

The guy with the half-smoked cig? Smeared across the wall now.

"Motherf—!"

All barrels turned toward Rebecca just as a pale blue shot whizzed past her shoulder from behind.

Her hair fluttered wildly from the force, and before the Maelstrom goon could even pull the trigger, his head split open like a cracked egg.

Rebecca rolled into cover by the door's server room, gunfire pinning her down as bullets ricocheted around her.

"Nice shot, asshole!" she yelled, waiting for a pause in their fire to pop out and return the favor.

"Don't mention it," Lin Yue called back from the rooftop of a nearby building, his sniper aimed and ready.

Chunks of concrete flew as Maelstrom's shouts filled the air. A beeping grenade arced through the air, heading straight for Rebecca's cover.

BOOM!

Lin Yue's second shot detonated the grenade mid-air, sending a cloud of dust and debris raining down. Rebecca barely avoided getting buried alive.

Knowing she was about to go ballistic, Lin Yue packed up his sniper rifle and sprinted toward the Maelstrom hideout.

Sure enough, Rebecca's voice rang out right after.

"Alright, assholes! You had your fun, now it's my turn!"

Lin Yue flinched at her scream, quickly signaling Maine to start the breach.

Rebecca was the perfect distraction. But if she kept drawing fire, things would go south fast.

Outside the dilapidated two-story Dogtown building, Pilar planted a high-explosive charge on the wall while Maine, crouched to the side, covered his ears, ready for the blast.

Urban warfare 101?

Lin Yue learned from the best—NCPD's MaxTac. Forget doors. Blow through the walls.

After a few gigs together, the squad had picked up MaxTac's ruthless efficiency: suppress with fire, lob grenades, and sweep through.

Rebecca danced between cover, her erratic movements making it impossible for Maelstrom to land a shot.

A mounted auto-turret spat fire from a rooftop position, its aim far deadlier than its human counterparts, becoming Rebecca's biggest threat.

"Sasha would've hacked that turret and turned it on these freaks," Rebecca grumbled, dodging bursts of gunfire. Timing a moment when the turret's servo lagged, she lunged out and grabbed its power cable.

Sparks flew as she wrestled with the turret, muscles straining.

Lin Yue's shot severed the turret's power line anchor, and with a growl, Rebecca ripped it free.

She planted her feet firmly, the black turret now a monstrous weapon in her grip. Her pink thigh tattoo contrasted menacingly with the dark steel.

"Chew on this, assholes!"

Heavy gunfire roared, bullet casings clattering to the ground as Maelstrom's cover was shredded to pieces.

BOOM!

A section of the wall caved in, smoke and debris flooding the room. A Maelstrom goon closest to the blast? Gone.

A hulking figure stepped through the breach—Maine, all brute force and dark skin gleaming under the dust.

The Maelstrom gangers froze. One gulped audibly.

RATATATATAT!

Maelstrom's rifle fire erupted, but not a single bullet found its mark. Maine charged, sending one poor bastard flying, spine snapping audibly on impact.

Lin Yue, gun drawn, flanked from behind. Rebecca, still suppressing the enemy, didn't notice more Maelstrom thugs creeping up behind her.

POP! POP!

Lin Yue's Lexington-XMOD, enhanced with a trajectory processor, bounced bullets off surfaces, dropping the would-be ambushers in an instant.

Back-to-back, the two mercs moved in sync.

"Nice aim," Lin Yue muttered.

"Don't underestimate me! I'm your badass protector!" Rebecca shot back, her machine gun barrel glowing red-hot.

With her last bullet fired, she hurled the turret like a blunt weapon, clocking another Maelstrom thug squarely in the head.

The pair shifted into search formation, pushing deeper into the building.

With the front room cleared, Pilar made his move.

"Good ol' bio grenades," he grinned, hurling them into the dark underground corridors. Explosions echoed, smoke and chemical fumes flooding the tunnels as Maelstrom's coughing and curses filled the air.

WHIZ!

Bullets zipped through the hallway, barely missing Rebecca. Lin Yue shoved her aside, taking shots to the face and arm, blood oozing from fresh wounds as he stumbled into a pile of junk.

"Lin Yue!" Maine shouted, momentarily frozen in shock.

Maelstrom's fire intensified, pinning the squad down.

"I'm fine!" Lin Yue gasped, shaking off the dizziness. His under-skin armor held up—barely.

"Lucky this time," he thought, spitting out blood and a chipped tooth.

"Damn kid's solid," Pilar muttered, relieved his sister was okay.

Rebecca, reassured Lin Yue was alive, unleashed hell on the remaining Maelstrom.

Lin Yue's cyberware kicked in, slowing his breathing and dulling the pain. Just as he steadied himself, his optics lit up with a notification.

[Pilar's Relationship Updated: 20]

[Reward: +2 Technical Ability, Technical Skill Tree Unlocked]

Lin Yue let out a raspy chuckle, blood dripping from his lips.

"Totally worth the bullet holes!"

---

Dum Dum: A Maelstrom member in Cyberpunk 2077's "The Pickup" mission, known for his twisted humor and ruthless nature, often seen extorting V and Jackie alongside Royce.

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