If everything goes smoothly and Spark Team successfully completes the designated target, then the second team of mercenaries will be responsible for driving the truck to transport the equipment, saving the money for the missile launch system.
The second team of mercenaries only needs to be paid a transportation fee.
In Faraday's view, this is already a sufficiently cautious arrangement—no matter which team encounters an issue, the other can ensure the completion of the goal as much as possible.
As for both teams encountering problems at the same time... Faraday would consider himself unlucky, but as long as Arasaka's armor can be recovered in time, they could then find a way to remedy the situation, such as locating where the equipment is stored and sending mercenaries to infiltrate and destroy it.
Overall, the risks are relatively controllable, and the chances of success are high.
Feeling pleased, Faraday took a sip of coffee.
What he couldn't imagine was that Mercer was simply here to freeload.
...
"So, are we intercepting the biotech convoy at the border and engaging in a direct conflict with their armored troops?"
Just after getting back into V's car, Rebecca couldn't help but ask.
Even Mann didn't drive his car today; V drove to pick him up, which made it convenient for everyone to have a quick meeting in one car.
Mercer shook his head, disdainfully adjusting his mask: "Of course not, we stick to our plan. If there's a chance to deal with them separately at the border, then we'll split them up.
If there's no opportunity, we'll wait until they reach the outskirts of Night City."
Face Arasaka's experimental armor against Military Science's Demon Lizard in a direct firefight?
Not to mention whether they could win, what if a stray shell destroyed his equipment?
Besides, Arasaka has been quite lackluster in developing these weapons in recent years; the company's focus has been on finding the 'Elixir of Immortality' for Arasaka Saburo.
Therefore, Mercer was actually more inclined to acquire the armor first, research it, and then save it for Night City's outskirts to use it against regular soldiers after Military Science's Demon Lizard retreats.
"What should we do about Faraday?" Mann asked, furrowing his brow.
"To hell with Faraday, this is our business deal, he's just a pawn."
After speaking, Mercer paused and said, "I suspect Faraday won't just send us to do this job; he's likely to have his own people involved as insurance."
"Maybe Mann could probe a bit?" V suggested, "Mann has worked with Faraday many times before, maybe he'd let something slip?"
"If he truly trusted Mann, he'd have already told him about the insurance. Since he hasn't, and given that the client is Arasaka, telling us nothing and just letting us snatch Arasaka's stuff...
It clearly shows he's planning to screw us over."
Hearing Mercer's words, Mann frowned, "Faraday set a trap for us?"
"Think about it, why would he have us steal Arasaka's so-called Single Soldier Armor instead of just handing it to us?"
Mercer questioned: "Isn't it obvious? If anything goes wrong, all the blame could be put on us.
At that time, if Military Science or Biotech retaliated fiercely, Arasaka would undoubtedly say the 'armor was stolen', and Faraday?
He could easily bypass this step by coordinating with Arasaka, just announcing it as stolen to the public. So why does he need us to steal it?
It's to ensure we are caught red-handed. I bet he's ready to cooperate fully with Arasaka, putting all the blame on us."
Mercer sneered, "He never mentioned who the stolen armor would belong to afterward; I suspect he's setting us up.
Think about it, everyone knows that armor is invaluable, would he be so generous to just give it to us?
He could have easily gotten it through an Arasaka contact, using any excuse, then told us it's for the mission. Once the mission's over, retrieving the armor is justified...
So why didn't he do that?"
Mann was silent for a moment, clenching his fists.
From Mann's perspective, Faraday might not trust Mercer and his crew, who were new to him, but Mann was practically his subordinate.
Since coming to Night City, aside from his initial small jobs, Mann mostly took jobs from Faraday, gradually rising through the ranks.
But with Faraday introducing people to entrap him, and even seemingly intending to set him up... Mercer's evaluation wasn't wrong. This bastard was utterly unscrupulous in his bid to cozy up to the corporation.
"I know who usually works for Faraday, I could go and ask around." Mann offered.
"Hold on." Mercer almost forgot his ctOS system was already developed.
He directly sent a message to Venus using his Brain-Computer Interface.
[Mercer: Help me investigate if Faraday is involving any other personnel in this biotech job.]
[Venus: In fact, I've already prepared some preliminary reference materials for you, please review them.]