“The Rescue” is one of the earliest and most memorable missions in Cyberpunk 2077. It serves as the first full-length combat mission following the player’s chosen Lifepath and optional tutorial. This mission throws you straight into the gritty, dangerous heart of Night City, offering a hands-on introduction to the game’s stealth, combat, cyberware, and immersive storytelling.
While it may seem like a straightforward job — extract a kidnapped target — “The Rescue” showcases everything that makes Cyberpunk 2077 what it is: a city of broken systems, high-stakes action, and morally gray decisions.
🏙️ Mission Setup: A Job for a Mercenary
The mission begins shortly after V and Jackie Welles have solidified their partnership. They receive a job from Wakako Okada, a fixer in Japantown. The task is clear: a young woman named Sandra Dorsett, a high-profile client, has gone missing. She was last seen entering a Scavenger hideout — a group notorious for harvesting cyberware from their victims, often while they’re still alive.
You and Jackie are hired to find and rescue Sandra before it’s too late. Simple on paper, but in Night City, nothing ever is.
🧠 Gameplay Mechanics and Player Choice
“The Rescue” is a carefully crafted tutorial in disguise. It introduces you to real combat with meaningful stakes, giving you the option to approach the mission in several ways:
🔹 Stealth or Assault
- You can sneak through the Scavenger apartment, silently taking down enemies and using Quickhacks to distract or disable them.
- Alternatively, you can go in guns blazing, using pistols, rifles, or melee weapons in a full-frontal assault.
🔹 Combat System Introduction
- You’ll get hands-on experience with weapons, cover mechanics, and environmental hazards (like explosive canisters).
- Jackie will support you in combat, showing how companion AI can play a tactical role.
🔹 Hacking and Tech
- Quickhacks come into play as you access security cameras or distract enemies using vending machines and other devices.
- This is your chance to see how different playstyles (tech, stealth, brute force) open up different paths.
🧬 Finding Sandra Dorsett: Cyberware and Humanity
Once you breach the Scav hideout and clear the rooms, you eventually find Sandra Dorsett in a bathtub filled with ice — a crude attempt to preserve her body temperature. She’s been disconnected from her biomonitor, and it appears she’s moments from death.
This scene is both graphic and emotional. V must act quickly, using their medical knowledge (or cyberware interface)to resuscitate Sandra. You’ll inject a stimulant and call in the Trauma Team, Night City’s elite (and privatized) medical responders who only care about clients with active subscriptions.
In a gripping moment, the Trauma Team arrives via AV (aerial vehicle), fully armed, scanning Sandra’s ID and whisking her away — completely ignoring you and Jackie. It’s a stark reminder of Night City’s class divide: if you’re not on the payroll, you’re disposable.
🚗 Mission Wrap-Up: Welcome to the Streets
After the rescue, V and Jackie leave the apartment. On the ride home, V collapses unexpectedly due to the cyberware strain and a malfunction in their neural interface. This moment foreshadows future complications and connects directly to the larger story arc involving Johnny Silverhand.
The mission ends with V resting in their apartment, allowing players to explore customization options, inventory, and the UI before continuing the main quest.
🎭 Narrative and Worldbuilding Impact
“The Rescue” is more than a mission — it’s a compact showcase of Cyberpunk’s core themes:
- Life and death in a city where everything is commodified, even healthcare.
- The dehumanizing role of cyberware, showing how people are literally harvested for parts.
- The indifference of power structures, exemplified by the Trauma Team and the corrupt street systems.
- The emotional bond between V and Jackie, who begin to feel like a true team after this intense experience.
✅ Conclusion: A Glimpse of What’s to Come
As an early mission, “The Rescue” does an excellent job balancing gameplay mechanics, atmospheric tension, and narrative depth. It marks your first real job in Night City — your introduction to merc life, and a hint of the complex decisions, moral questions, and violence that define the rest of the game.
Whether you choose to be stealthy, aggressive, or tech-savvy, this mission lets you define your style while pulling you headfirst into the game’s dark and dazzling world.