𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐬

Goro Takemura as Goro Takemura

V as V(alerie)

VIPER MERCENAIRES LOGO

Headquarters of VIPER Mercenaires

SUMMARY OF LORE

VIPER Mercenaires

VIPER Mercenaires is a collective of mercenaries without a sole focus area. They specialize in work related to the protection of individuals, data, or other jobs typical for mercenaries throughout Night City. They offer expertise in various fields from netrunning to weapons production. The main activity of the VIPER collective is to protect the government project Create Anew, which concerns research on DNA. They are subsidized by both the NUSA government and the Night City government (after J. Peralez came to power).

History of VIPER Mercenaires (2070 – Present)

2047-2060

In 2047, Kena Sokolov, the founder of the VIPER Mercenaires collective was born.

Kena and her stepsister V grew up as orphans in Heywood, in the Wellsprings neighborhood. They were raised under the supervision of Sebastian ”Padre” Ibarra.

2060-2069

"In 2060, Lucius Rhyne was elected to the Night City Council as a member of the Revolutionary Party. During the Metal War (2069-2070), Councilor Rhyne led the city's defense against the New United States of America. Rhyne was the one who persuaded Arasaka to come to the aid of Night City, leading to an early end to the war in June 2070. Night City secured its independence, Rhyne was elected mayor, and Arasaka was taken back into the city and allowed to rebuild Arasaka Tower. Rhyne was either respected as the savior of the city or branded as the most dishonest politician."

In 2060, Kena began work as a mercenary. Despite her childhood roots with the Wellsprings-area fixer Padre, due to the fact that the girls' father knew Japantown-area fixer Wakako Okada well, she moved to Wakako to carry out assignments for her. Padre never forgave her for this act he saw as betrayal.

In 2067: Kena had been a contract mercenary for years, but it was a far cry from the experienced mercenaries in the area. Although Kena put a lot of effort into learning and practicing, Okada knew that she would never make any career in this profession. Since that moment, Padre has always stood up for her stepsister V, criticizing Kena in every single gesture she was doing. He did not respect her decision to create a collective, denied her cooperation with Paralez, and even despised her collaboration with the other politicians. All along, he has been against her activities; witnessing her strategy to get people addicted to her and to take advantage of their situations to climb higher and higher.

While Kena was carrying out various jobs, she learned that she could entrust tasks to other more talented friends and colleagues that she grew up with together on the streets. With the money she earned, she bought food for them and other Heywood orphans. She offered them a job, a roof over their heads, and a place to study. She organized extracurricular activities and took care of them. Later, these children grew up and repaid with a vengeance by expanding their activities to other areas and helping other kids. This is how the core of VIPER Mercenaires was created. The kids trained in various areas became mercenaries, specializing in weapon design, netrunning, and other activities.

Jefferson Peralez had just graduated from college and he and his newly-wedded wife Elizabeth saw Kena trying to argue with the seller about textbooks. The Peralezes became interested in this situation, so he and his wife decided to find her. They had an opportunity when she came to apply for a subsidy for the Heywood children's club. They took her activities and the kids from Heywood under their wing. The Peralezes helped Kena get a scholarship and finish her education. Later, she helped the kids write applications for their scholarships. Many of them managed to get out of the street, remaining grateful and therefore indebted to her. Jefferson became the district attorney.

In 2070, Kena officially founded VIPER Mercenaires and under this name, along with four other Peralez's charges, took care of guarding, contracting, and the refurbishment of recycled weapons. Kena started to be only an intermediary, growing into a young fixer.

In 2074, Peralez was approached by Rosalind Myers, wishing to regain control in Night City as the president of NUSA. She asked him to recommend someone who is not affiliated with any of the leading corporations (Kang Tao / her native Millitech / Arasaka). NUSA started a research project a few years ago that they wanted to develop outside of NUSA - Night City was the best solution, but Myers couldn't ask for official permission from Rhyne, because they hated each other. It was about someone who would protect the project from corporations, the Night City government and, above all, Arasaka. Since then, VIPER Mercenaires has grown because it has received a huge injection of money. They became a respectable company, even NetWatch and other NGOs hired from time to time.

2075-2077

In 2075, famous Rockerboy Kerry Eurodyne hired VIPER. It was such an important job that after it was completed, Kena met Kerry in person. Through her new connections with this new community, she met another Rockerboy. After a whirlwind romance with lots of parties and concerts, Kena married. After a quick wedding, the couple moved to North Oak.

In Summer 2076, predictably, Kena’s marriage was quickly burning out. They both indulged in alcohol and drugs, and quarrels began. Each of them had a completely different vision of themselves. He cared about very little but himself. At this time, Kena cornered V to try and convince her to be part of VIPER. Kena saw an opportunity for capable V to work for her, but V didn't want to become part of her "corporation". V resented Kena, because in her eyes, her stepsister was selling herself with VIPER. Yet, Kena did not accept V’s refusal and continued to push for her to join, believing it would be for the best. Due to the hostile relationship between the two of them, V was pushed to Kena’s husband, and she was slowly wrapped around his finger. The nail in the coffin of their marriage and her sisterhood from V was the betrayal they both committed on Kena in the Summer of 2076. Kena expected him to cheat on her, but when the other woman was her own stepsister, that broke her completely. After the high-profile divorce, her ex-partner finally left Night City. He no longer spoke to her in person, but through the lawyers. Kena cut her contact with V as well at this time. She was slowly moving away from her stepsister, although she knew deep inside that she didn't even feel angry with V. It was just bringing back memories she wanted to forget.

In Fall 2076, VIPER imported from Japan the technology needed for further research in the Create Anew project.

Timeline:

4/27/2077 - Saburo Arasaka arrives in Night City

04/28/2077 - V steals the Relic.

5/11/2077 - Kena returns to Night City. The interrogation in Arasaka.

5/ 16/ 2077 - Parade; The kidnapping of Hanako Arasaka.

5/ 20/ 2077 - V flies to the orbital station.

6/ 12/ 2077 - V returns to Earth; Takemura returns to Japan.

6/25/ 2077 - Takemura turns to V for help.