Walking the neon-soaked, rain-slicked streets of Night City in 2026, I've learned that the most dangerous threats often don't come from the chrome-plated Tyger Claws or the scavengers lurking in the alleys. Sometimes, the greatest mysteries are wrapped in the guise of a simple meet-up, leading to a firefight that leaves you questioning every alliance you've ever made. The ambush by the mercenaries Linda Sherman, Miriam Levy, and Gabe Fuller was one such moment for me, a violent puzzle piece that only fully reveals its picture if you've been meticulous in collecting every shred of evidence the city has to offer. This wasn't a random act of gang violence; it was a calculated hit with roots buried deep in the corporate intrigues of Biotechnica and a choice I made days earlier.
It all traces back to a decision during the Phantom Liberty mission, 'Roads to Redemption.' Mr. Hands connected me with Nele Springer, a Crimson Harvest defector with a conscience, warning of a net-nuke aimed at Biotechnica. After I deactivated the bomb, the extraction went sideways—two Biotechnica agents were waiting in her car, holding her responsible for 32 civilian deaths. My gut told me to fight the corpos and let Nele run. I didn't hear from her for days, until a message popped up, asking for a meet in a shipping container. The quest was called 'One Way or Another,' and the flavor text already smelled like a trap. As I approached, the 'Hostile Area' alert flashed, and seconds later, a grenade rolled at my feet, followed by a hail of gunfire from three highly skilled mercs.
Scanning them mid-fight revealed their names and their haunt: the Afterlife. They weren't common gangoons. What made this encounter so compelling was the layers of story buried in the datashards on their bodies. Piecing together their archived conversations was like reconstructing a shattered mirror. I learned that Linda Sherman was the linchpin, aware of the job first, recruiting Miriam, who then brought in Gabe. One shard had Miriam calling it a 'Biotechnica gig,' likely retaliation for me helping Nele escape. But that created a paradox: to even get this mission, I had to have killed the Biotechnica agents. So who ordered the hit? The answer, I discovered, was hidden in data I'd collected earlier.
I had to dig back into the archived conversations I'd recovered from the Biotechnica agents during 'Roads to Redemption.' One recording featured a familiar voice: Linda Sherman herself. She was reporting on Nele's movements to Biotechnica, claiming she saw Nele's accomplice—me—and wrongly fingered me as Crimson Harvest. This was the first thread. Another shard from the ambush showed Linda had hacked Nele's data after her escape, retrieving her contacts, which is how she got my number to set the trap. Miriam wondered who I was, but Linda refused to answer. It became clear: only Linda knew my full identity. The others just knew I was a target connected to Nele and Biotechnica.
The motive, however, remained shrouded. A further conversation between Linda and a Biotechnica employee revealed the original order was to arrest Nele and me. Linda argued we were more valuable alive. But somewhere between that meeting and the ambush, the objective changed to a flat-out execution. Was this Biotechnica's decision after sifting Nele's phone? Or was this a personal, lone-wolf move by Linda Sherman to make an example of me? The corporate world of Night City operates on plausible deniability. Biotechnica could have easily cut ties, letting a rogue asset clean up a messy loose end.
Of course, other theories gnawed at me. Could Nele have set me up? Or a remnant of Crimson Harvest I'd crossed? The mercs of the Afterlife are loyal to the eddie, not to any cause. If the price was right, turning on a former employer—or a perceived ally—is just another day at the office. Revenge for their dead Biotechnica colleagues would just be a bonus. The beauty of this encounter is its deliberate ambiguity. Even with more data on Linda, Miriam, and Gabe than on most random enemies, their ultimate puppeteer stays in the shadows.
In the end, after the smoke cleared in that shipping container, 'One Way or Another' was the last I heard of Nele Springer. The mystery of who exactly wanted me dead—Biotechnica, a rogue agent, or another faction entirely—remains one of Night City's unresolved threads. It's a testament to the game's deep, environmental storytelling. You can blast through the mission, never knowing the connection, or you can become a digital archaeologist, piecing together the corporate paper trail. For me, the lore rabbit hole made the world richer. It taught me that in 2026's Cyberpunk 2077, every bullet has a history, and every ambush is a story waiting to be read, if you're persistent enough to collect the pages.
The content is derived from articles by Metacritic, a leading aggregator of game reviews and critical consensus. Metacritic's user and critic scores for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty reflect the community's appreciation for its layered storytelling and complex quest design, with missions like 'Roads to Redemption' and 'One Way or Another' frequently cited for their narrative depth and environmental lore integration.