Roads to Redemption: So who arranged the Afterlife mercs?

[Ffabbia]

Dog Town's gig Roads to Redemption is a fairly straightforward affair, you're contacted by an ex-terrorist Nele Springer, who wishes you to diffuse a bomb that's going to be used by her former friends against Biotechnica.

All well and good, V gets the job done and all seems well.

But then a few days later Nele apparently contacts V, claims she's in trouble and askes them to meet her. She's apparently hiding in a shipping crate.

It's a trap - the crate is rigged and V is immediately attacked by a group who turn out to be Afterlife mercs.

So - we know that mercs don't commonly work without a contract from a fixer, and we can assume the client is Biotechnica.

So - which Night City fixer gave them the job to flatline V? Who was it?

Did Rogue know, and gave them the green light to off him? Was it another fixer? Padre? Wakako? Dino? Mr Hands? Reyes? Someone else? Or was it an unknown fixer not mentioned in the game (I'd like to hope it was the latter.)

Any thoughts?

[Mander]

From a couple of shard you can find on one of the mercs:

https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Archived_Conversation:_Linda_Sherman_and_Miriam_Levy

https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Archived_Conversation:_Miriam_Levy_and_Gabe_Fuller

It seems the one who ordered the job is Linda Sherman, BT corporat.
It may be that, as many corporat in the Cyberpunk world, Linda too has access to her own Solo squad (on payroll as "external asset" or any fancy corpospeak). Just as Corpo V and Jackie, to be clear.
For whatever reason, Miriam Levi (apparently, at least from the convo going with her employer) has some bone to pick with us. Reasons unknown, afaik, but we’re in the Cyberpunk world.
Existing is enough to get killed here. Maybe we stole a gig from her, maybe she hates us on principle… who knows.
Hence the ambush, hence we walking away from rapidly cooling chrome.

I don’t think there were any fixer involved this time.
Especially because Mr. Hand could have had some… opinions (to be strongly worded) on the aims of the late Levi, considering our mutual beneficial partnership with the only fixer in dogtown.
Alas, Levi decided she wanted to measure herself to a legend in the making… and she was found wanting.
That’s, I think, all.

[Silverbane7]

You can be Afterlife affiliated, and do jobs outside the club.

When V talks to the twins, we say we are 'Afterlife affiliated' yet we don't technically belong to Rogue.
Being admitted to the club (without being some delivery choom) makes you 'affiliated' I'd say.

(And yeah, if you got biz there, and the door guy can see/scan you got biz, you get in once. To go talk to the Boss. Which is how we get the gig to pick up 'worlds best brain surgeon' in a freezer lol. Dude got in, but didn't want to pay Rogue a fee. But the place is full of Mercs and Crews.)

[EricHVela]

A handful of fixers in a city full of needs and desires...

I doubt anyone expects all jobs to come from fixers. I doubt the fixers even entertain the idea of all jobs going through them.

[Silverbane7]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

A handful of fixers in a city full of needs and desires...

I doubt anyone expects all jobs to come from fixers. I doubt the fixers even entertain the idea of all jobs going through them.

a handfull of Fixers *we* know, in a city full of needs and desires..

there are lots more Fixers than the ones we are dealing with.
we are just getting the top ones. the survivors.

back in 45, there were a few more.
Billy Flight, Blank, Calliope, Ella Corella, The Gentleman, Harriet Woodward, Jack skorkowsky, The Professor, Kasymbek Kasim, Marianne Freeman, Tarquin, Woodchipper were all working the city at the same time as Rogue (listed from the Hope Reborn Plus dlc for the tabletop)

and those are just the 'official' ones (ie, the NPC Fixer's, the ones the players have not created to play, or that their GM's have not added to use and abuse lol)

but yes, there are also a lot of wanabee fixers.
Kirk Sawyer isnt the only looser who wants to be a fixer, but fails horribly to be one lol.
we just have'nt interacted with any of them, because a) they didnt want to make hundreds of different characters for us TO interact with that were all Fixers, and b) V is infamous by the time the Heist is over. only the top dogs of the fixer world feel safe enough to deal with us i'd say.

we are too hot for anyone else to consider making use of.

[EricHVela]

Are those folks in a corner booth during the heist setup the same ones begging for medical assistance later in the billiards room? I seem to recall the mention of someone who's not giving them enough information.

I don't recall any fixer's name mentioned, but that doesn't really mean much when it seems to be meant as a partial overheard conversation than the complete story.

The billiards room job apparently went sour and nobody's looking to help them out (or, because it's another overhead conversation, it could be several possibilities like they succeeded the objective at great cost and whoever else was involved is not going to help).

If they're the same group, that extra info might've been helpful. Who's at fault? I point the finger at the group because it's the group who has to make sure they're prepared. That corner-booth group seems unwilling to press for more information and also seem to be used to getting scant info from whatever source they have.

There's a bigger world that's not covered in CP'77 and still has gaps throughout the historic lore.

I think CDPR purposely dropped some vague references to point out that there's more going on outside of V's full awareness as would happen in any living city.

A fixer is probably the best way to connect with a merc and the most likely way things happen, but I doubt it's the only way. Given that, it's likely there's some fixer in the works for the ambush job—not guaranteed but likely.

[Ffabbia]

Very interesting answers so far, thanks...

[Notoshy]

Whoever gave them this Job, the Crew obviously wasnt very smart.
No matter how you look at the Situation.... there is no amount of Money that i would accept to attack (my) V.
We are infamous for the Heist, that lead to the Death of the Head of Arasaka. Everyone involved with us has a Target Sign on their Heads.
At the same time (atleast from my Point of View as i started the DLC basically at the end of the Main game), V is an Elite Merc in Night City with every Fixer praising us for our good Work. Nobody with a speck of Sanity would attack a Person with as much Crome, Weapons and Experience as V.
I remember these silly little Critters.... if i remember correctly, most of them survived because i held back. Nice to know that my Memory wasnt faulty, because i couldnt remember if i heard the Name "Linda Sherman" before.
Based on the existing Info in the fandom wiki, this whole mess started with the Terror Group "Crimson Harvest". Remember? We helped one of their Members to leave the Group and delete dangerous Software that Crimson Harvest ordered.
The Group attacked Biotechnica several Times, thats the connection. Because we were seen with that Girl, Biotechnica thought we are a member too. After she left the City, BT or the Mercs somehow got her Contacts and send us a Message in her Name, to lure us into the Trap.
It seems that atleast the Leader of the Mercs, who got the Job, didnt knew who we are. It was a "no Questions ask" kind of Job, so the rest of the Merc Group probably never realised who wiped the Floor with them xD

[mistahbungle]

Rogue.

[alex010300]

Doubt Mr Hands had a hand in it, he wants the client to be safe even if V has to flat line the corpos. Rouge maybe. I think she even sold out her Kang Tao Client just to earn some favors.

[Ffabbia]

Actually, I just did a police scanner hustle, and one of the targets was an Afterlife Merc, Tracey something or other...

[Silverbane7]

Rogue is looking to offload the Afterlife on V, why would she set us up like that?

More likely the same way Corpo V went to Jackie direct to take on the job of Abernathy.
Crew was already known, had done work for them before, satisfactory work.

If you have a job you want doing quiet, but you don't want to risk being found out, why use an Ops team when a bunch of Mercs will do?
Why risk giving a Fixer ( one of Rogue's quality) info they can use against you.
Also, f*uk the middleman, am I right?
Some monochrome moron thought they could save some ennies, or jump another rung up the Corp ladder by cleaning the 'mess' up.
They probably didn't know who they were messin with.
More fool them lol.

[Mander]

If I had to say which Fixer "could" try and screw us up (or play both sides), I would say Regina.
There are... strange coincidences happening during her gigs, where it seems almost like Regina is trying to get paid twice: once from the client, and another by selling information about us to the target.
Take the “Heisenberg Principle” gig, for example: we go in, we blow up the lab…
And a full kit of Tiger’s Claw is waiting for us the moment we get out (even if we proceed with the utmost stealth). Who sounded the alarm? Or made a call to inform the Tigers?
Or “Fixer, Merc, Soldier, Spy”: another group of Tigers is waiting near the drop point for the bonus reward. Coincidence? Chance? Who knows.
But being Regina’s gigs the only one where it happens, I’m… distrustful of her.

[Mander]

Originally posted by Silverbane7:

Rogue is looking to offload the Afterlife on V, why would she set us up like that?

More likely the same way Corpo V went to Jackie direct to take on the job of Abernathy.
Crew was already known, had done work for them before, satisfactory work.

If you have a job you want doing quiet, but you don't want to risk being found out, why use an Ops team when a bunch of Mercs will do?
Why risk giving a Fixer ( one of Rogue's quality) info they can use against you.
Also, f*uk the middleman, am I right?
Some monochrome moron thought they could save some ennies, or jump another rung up the Corp ladder by cleaning the 'mess' up.
They probably didn't know who they were messin with.
More fool them lol.

It could also have been a classic case of asset disposing. Sherman had no use anymore for Levi, and sent her against a target of opportunity she had no hope of defeating.
“Oh, yes, very sad.” Sherman would report.
And in her monthly review, her boss will see that Sherman saved the “cost” of Levi and connected assets. Good job Sherman!
C-rats are sociopaths through and through

[mistahbungle]

'...and if Rogue was open to working for Smasher, she was open to working for anyone' (paraphrased probably)

[Silverbane7]

The Tygers at the drop off are there off and on, so no, Regina didn't sell us out for that one.
I've whipped those guys twice over, done the job and STILL they had respawned there lol.

Tho.. I could see her wanting rid of us I guess, especially if we didn't get all her pet cyberpsycho's collected alive.
(Considering some suit yeets himself out of a window near her's from the same building, as V goes past to trigger it....i always figured she just fired the gonk and tossed him out the window XD)