Massive Disaster 4-17 (Patreon)

“I’m telling you, Zee, there’s a lot more I can do.”“...what do you mean by that?”

Tommy Hale held his hands out in front of him, already mid-gesture as his mouth worked silently as if unsure about what to do with the opportunity to speak.Which was ridiculous, because if there was one thing Tommy knew how to do, it was move his lips. Even after losing the belly and putting on muscle after a year with the Iron Legion, the guy still didn’t shut up.“W-well, first thing, boss…”Zedd Victors rolled his eyes and did his best to tune out Tommy as soon as he heard the word boss, as everything after that was bound to be just bullshit coming from him. Nodding his head to the background drone of the Legionnaire’s words, he leaned back against the wall outside his house, aviators reflecting the suns that hung solidly in the afternoon sky, Arkadia IV’s twin cosmic spotlights that made the summer weather as unbearable as a desert and the cold. Been waiting on this for months now. 

The official unveiling, the big reveal, whatever you wanted to call finally showing people what he'd been building while they thought he was just tinkering with medical tech and corporate expansion. If I'm being honest, been waiting on this since the very start of the project.

Kai stood at his usual position, close enough to matter but far enough to give the illusion of space, that silent presence that had become as automatic as breathing. Speaking of breathing... Kai had taken to the free offer of a MELD tuneup quicker than Zedd had expected him to when it was first offered, but also was far more stern about it than he had expected on top of it.A weird one-two combo, that pretty much sums up the guy. Frankly, Zedd didn’t see the point of a general tune-up that brought you to your current body’s hypothetical peak health and functionality, not physicality at all, but then when you did want an upgrade to your physicals, you started with and stopped with just your lungs.Zedd fought the urge to scoff. I mean, make it make sense.It didn’t take long for Caleb to show up, the first one Zedd expected as usual. That easy stride of his wasn’t doing him any favors in the ‘looking cool part of his life, but Zedd had plenty of slack to cut the guy for and that rope had yet to run dry either. “Sup, boss?”“‘Suuup.”Dev wasn’t too far behind, shoulders rolling as he approached, that restless energy that came with being built for action but stuck in downtime. Black cargo pants and a dark green t-shirt hung over his outfit reminded Zedd that his oldest guy friend on the colony didn’t really spend all that much time outside his actual job just chilling. Not to self, give Dev more vacation days.He really did need them. The guy had taken to the job of running the Iron Legion like an Asari took to stripping, honestly, which spoke really well of Dev finding his niche and raised a whole new set of questions in Zedd’s head about why a species of immortals spent a hundred years of their lives selling sex and violence just because…He shook his head, already pushing that to the very back of his mind. You’ll figure out the Asari question another day, he promised himself as he glanced up, only to smile as his eyes landed on Adele rounding the corner, only trailing after Dev and Caleb by just a few minutes.

No more than five, really. “Zee…” She muttered with a nod as she nestled into Dev’s arms, one NicStic rolling between her fingers and sending wisps of synthetic smoke into the afternoon air. Her usual white lab coat was still hanging from her shoulders and, as usual, she seemed more tired than anything else.Guess that’s on me. The stress had been wearing on her lately, even though Zedd wasn’t sure exactly how he was supposed to fix that, considering Adele didn’t really work much.At least, not directly.I mean, being the corporate face of Medigel-V is more of a hassle than I thought. A half-second later, he shook his head, already irritated with himself at being so flippant with his friend’s health, especially considering he was the one who asked her to lie for him on that.

I’ll give both her and Dev a vacation, and call it a day. He clicked his tongue as he nodded, satisfied with his solution. Now we’re only missing… 

"Kira, Nina!” 

Kira rounded the corner and made her way across the green with that measured pace she'd developed since N7 training, blue hair catching sunlight as she moved. Dark jeans and a baggy black N7 jacket the girl had refused to go a day without wearing like it was her security blanket, Zedd could almost ignore it if not for the fact that he knew she was always armed under it.“... been wondering where you guys were. We were about to get started without you."

"Get started with what?" The question from the N7 came out much sharper than he expected, but he didn’t mind… much.

Zedd's grin spread wider than it probably should have, more sharklike than human. "You'll see."

Nina settled in beside Kira, his ex in just a white tanktop and jeans with only a small cropped jacket on top of it all. "I don't trust that smile." Her arms were folded over her chest as she tried to look as serious as Kira did, but it did not help her that she needed to take almost twice as many steps as Kira to cover the same ground.Short.

The comment only made his grin wider as he pushed off from the wall, aviators sliding down his nose just enough to let them see his eyes. "Got something to show you all. Been working on this for about nine months now."

Longer than that, really, but nine months sounds less obsessive. The project had been eating his attention since before Providence had taken off, back when Victory Innovations hadn’t even gotten its first expo, and the GUARDIAN program was literally just an idea. 

They started walking across the green expanse of his property, footsteps creating an odd rhythm on grass that stayed perfect despite never seeing the care of an organic maintenance crew. Automated systems handled the landscaping, same way they handled most things that didn't require his direct attention.

Fun fact: ADAM hated lawncare so much he created his own little programs to do it for him. As lazy as that was, Zedd knew he couldn’t really judge in the slightest, not when he had used his primary NetNavi to handle that work. Just wish I knew why they look like Battle Network programs.

Dev stretched his shoulders as they walked, rolling his neck like he was ready to brawl. "Zee, this better not be another workshop. I'm still recovering from the last underground tour."

Fair point. The last time he'd led them into one of his hidden projects, it had been down in Sub-Level Three directly under his house. But that had been proof of concept stuff, design work and theory testing.

This was different.

Adele exhaled a cloud of blue-tinted smoke from her NicStic, voice carrying that particular exhaustion that meant someone needed a nap. "Please tell me you didn't build another AI down here. Can't handle another digital enfant."Tommy let out a gasp, and Zedd knew what question was coming next “You got another ADAM, Zee?” He wasn’t surprised that Tommy was hyped over the idea, considering the guy was the closest thing to a fanboy ADAM had, and the Navi loved the attention Tommy gave him. Apparently, being around in his lab interacting with the VI while Zedd had been occupied with work made Tommy possibly just a tad parasocial, even before ADAM went full EXE.

"No." He clicked his tongue, though his head tilted as thoughts shifted to the currently decommissioned frame of Aye-U resting in his workshop, waiting for the upgrade that would turn the simple drone into ANGEL’s brother. "Not yet, at least."

The sound of Adele cursing in Quebecois behind his back made him snicker, Dev rolling his eyes at his deliberate provocation. As lighthearted as they took it, he couldn’t help the slight frown that crossed his face as he saw Nina and Kira share a tight look.The group trailed behind him across grass and onto gravel pathways marking the route toward a building that looked like every other prefab storage facility on the colony. Boring by design.

Kai stepped ahead of him as he moved with that silent precision that made everyone else's footsteps sound clumsy by comparison, automatically checking sightlines and positioning himself to cover angles that probably didn't need covering but might matter if things went sideways. 

Nina pulled her jacket tighter against the chill that came with late afternoon on a world with two suns and unpredictable weather patterns. "A storage unit… I know this isn’t the big surprise, so can we get to the real secret already?"

Zedd felt his eyes threaten to roll out of his sockets. Patience, padawan.Caleb scanned the structure with eyes that had learned to spot details that mattered, voice carrying easy confidence. "Yeah, but you know Zee, he likes the tension."

Yeah, well, tension's half the fun. He approached the building entrance, hand already moving toward where the scanner would be before he consciously thought about it. "Course I do." His fingers found the hidden biometric panel, disguised as part of the composite wall.

The beep marked his presence as expected and the retinal scan came next, his aviators raised high as it read his eyes. "Identity confirmed."

ADAM's voice filtered through concealed speakers, that particular blend of smugness and efficiency that was the little red guy. "Welcome back, dad o' mine. Hangar systems online, climate control optimal, and yes, before you ask, I remembered to prep the Grande for passengers."Good. 

Tommy's eyes went wide at the sound of ADAM's voice. “Hey, ADAM!”“He can’t hear you, Tommy. That’s a pre-recorded message.” Zedd snorted at the sad little noise Tommy made as the door slid open and they walked inside the prefab, the door sliding back shut as everyone made their way in and stood inside the completely empty space.

“So wh-” Whatever Nina had to say went unsaid as the entire floor section began to descend with a mechanical hum. All of it worked exactly as he’d planned it to, hydraulics and stabilizers working together to lower what was essentially a large elevator disguised as a building floor, though calling it an elevator made it sound way less cool than it actually was.

Kira stepped back as the ground literally moved beneath her feet, combat instincts kicking in even though logic said this was planned. "Course it's an elevator."

Better than stairs.

They continued descending for at least a full minute, and by the point that the second began creeping up, some of the group were starting to get a little restless.Nina gripped the safety rail with slightly trembling hands, white-knuckled despite trying to look casual about the whole thing. "Seriously, how deep does this go?"

"Deep enough." The dirty look she shot him was honestly worth it.

The hangar revealed itself as they dropped, massive underground space opening up both wide and tall. Lighting systems activated in sequence, revealing polished metal and sleek designs that definitely hadn't come from any colonial manufacturing catalog.

A dozen ships, four of each type, sat positioned on individual maintenance platforms, each one of the three models representing months of design work and problem-solving that had required inventing solutions to things most people didn't know were problems.

Dev's jaw actually dropped as the lift shuddered to a stop, letting go of Adele as he stepped forward. "... Zee, bro… you’re insane? Did you…”"

“All custom built, like I told you.” Granted, he hadn’t mentioned it since his first day  From drive system to designs.”

Tommy practically bounced on his toes, acting more little kid than grown man. "Bro, you built your own line of spaceships?"

"Ships." Zedd walked toward the nearest craft, the single-seater sitting pretty in pearl white with cobalt blue accent lines. "These babies don't need space to fly."

Adele flicked ash into her portable disposal unit, pocketing the thing back again. “So… this is where you disappear to. No wonder you look like death most mornings."“Ehhh…” Sleep's overrated anyway. His hand trailed along the closest ship’s hull as he approached, which also happened to be the smallest model of ship. His fingers found familiar surfaces that had been shaped according to specifications that came right out of his head. "This right here is the Carly. A personal scout vehicle, and the fastest thing I've built. Mach 12 in atmosphere."

Dev whistled low, Toronto accent thickening with surprise. "Mach 12? That's insane, bro."

Insane but functional.

Kira circled the craft with that methodical attention N7 training had burned into her brain, voice carrying skepticism wrapped in professional interest. "How long ago did you build this?"

"Nine months." Give or take. The timeline was deliberately vague because explaining the actual development process would raise questions about resource allocation and time management that were better left unasked.

"By yourself?" The disbelief was obvious, like she was trying to process how one person could accomplish something that should require teams and time and… well, money would be the third thing but that wasn’t really a problem.

He smiled her way. "Yeah."

With help from building drones and some VIs, but that's technical details. His VIs (and they were actual VIs) had handled coordination and fabrication oversight out in the Terminus, but the actual design work had come from his own brain figuring out problems that didn't have existing solutions.

The next set of ships in line were much larger than the previous, all cardinal red with pure white accents that followed the natural design flow lines of the ship. Far more aggressively aerodynamic than the carly, the Valentine had basically come about when Zedd had remembered how cool he thought they looked when he was thirteen and kinda… well, could you blame him if he couldn’t let go of the concept?My baby. There was a reason he loved it so much. Everything about it, from it’s low predatory stance, with the weapon bays and hardpoints open like a McLaren’s butterfly doors and the Bugatti-like drive exhaust. No man could deny the raw feeling of cool when they saw it.“Why does it look like that?” Dev’s confused voice almost made him flinch. Zedd turned to face the group walking behind him. “Look like… what?”“I get what you mean,” Nina approached cautiously, fingers not quite touching the hull like she was worried it might bite. "This one looks..."

 His head snapped to her. “Looks like what?”Neither Nina or Dev seemed inclined to continue their thoughts, both of them simply shrugging as Zedd did his best to stay calm. I don’t mind. I don’t mind. I don’t mind.

“Anyyyway,” Zedd's grin turned sharp, satisfaction bleeding through as he gestured toward his personal favorite. "This is my baby, the Valentine. A stealth strike fighter, she disappears from sensor arrays, and hits targets they never see coming."

And look good doing it. The aesthetics weren't just for show, though they didn't hurt. Form following function in ways that created beautiful efficiency.

Adele's voice carried the dry exhaustion of someone who'd stopped being surprised by impossible things. "Weapons?"

Zedd gestured to hardpoint configurations that could accommodate various payloads depending on mission requirements. "Special cannons, missile systems, some experimental stuff I'm still testing. She's built to hurt things that need hurting."

Understatement of the year. He was pretty sure it could take on Council frigates and win, assuming he wasn’t surrounded and a sitting duck. Hell, it’s fast enough with enough weapons I could probably nuke a frigate and be gone before I even registered on any sensors.Adele raised an eyebrow. “And you’ve flown it?”"Course I've flown it." What's the point of building something you can't use? Test flights had been educational, though some lessons were better learned through experience than simulation.

The doctor of their group shook her head, smoke curling around her head. "And you wonder why I use these things." She held up her NicStic like evidence in a trial about poor life choices.

Zedd shook his head and kept walking towards the largest set of ships that waited for them at the far end, those four with a far more imposing presence than the other eight combined. The ship at the front matched its three siblings with a lavender hull and metallic finish, its multi-seat configuration visible through the transparisteel windows. 

Zedd spread his arms wide as he approached his largest creation, pride bleeding through practiced casualness. "This beauty's the Grande. Heavy interceptor, extended operations, full team capacity. Enough firepower to take on a frigate."

Council frigate, specifically. Its design parameters had been based on very particular threat assessments, though that was operational planning better saved for different conversations.“What’s with these names?” Tommy chimed in, confusion clear on his face.Zedd shook his head a little, looking at the Carly, Valentine, and Grande in order. “...no real reason.”

Kira's command training kicked in, voice carrying edge that came from understanding military hardware. "You planning on fighting someone, Zee?"

Maybe. "Since the day I realized humanity's been playing catch-up with our ship tech."

Truth. Simplified, sure, but still truth. Human spacecraft design was at least a generation behind what other species considered standard, limitations imposed by reliance on an element humanity just barely started playing with.Kira approached the Grande's engine housing with clear curiosity as she leaned her head towards the drive exhaust. "...you’re insane,” the soldier muttered to herself, shaking her head with each syllable. 

“Dev already said that.”"What kind of engines do these things have?" Kira didn’t even pretend to care about what he said back, a new question on her lips.Did she not hear… Zedd nearly pulled a face at the fact he’d been talking and no one had been listening to his explanations the whole time, even the questions he already answered. "Well, all of them are my own personal make, like I said before. Non-eezo, baby."Kira’s eyes widened, blue eyes bigger than he’d ever seen them. “N-non eezo…” her voice trembled, Zedd watching as her legs shook like her and only her was experiencing the planet’s most localized earthquake. “Th-th-that’s not possible.”Nina’s mouth hung open besides Kira, her own eyes looking at all the ships like she was seeing them for the first time. On the other hand, Adele, Tommy, Dev, and Caleb shared knowing looks, already having been through pretty much this convo, or at least this topic, a few months back.

Sucking her teeth, Adele took another drag from her NicStic. “Uhhh… Kay?”Kira spun around, an irritated look spreading across her face as she met Adele’s bored face and Dev’s nervous expression. "Don't tell me you two knew about this?"Dev winced, tensing at Kira’s tone. “Well…”"And you didn't tell me?" Kira's voice rose with a sharp edge that promised bad things.Zedd interrupted casually, deflecting anger before it could build momentum and derail the presentation. "In their defense, they honestly probably forgot. I mean, I told them like two and a half months ago. You guys kinda showed up late to the party."

True enough.

Nina seemed to recover from her shock, as she looked up at the Grande again. “... if this got out…”“Not happening,” Zedd shut down that line of worry without even blinking. eople can barely figure out my tech in the first place. Good luck stealing it." Plus ADAM would notice and respond appropriately.

Zedd turned toward the Grande's boarding ramp, thumb gesturing at the ship as he clicked his tongue. "You guys wanna go for a short little trip in the Grande? She's not my favorite compared to the Valentine, but she flies pretty well."

Nina clutched her jacket tighter, excitement fighting terror as she realized they were standing next to experimental aircraft that potentially broke the galaxy’s understanding of physics. "This is completely insane."

Caleb stepped toward the Grande's boarding ramp,. "I mean, if we're gonna do insane..."

Kira seemed to give up her annoyance for at least the present, the girl throwing her hands into the air with clear exasperation in her voice. "I can't say no to this."

Dev cracked his knuckles, ready for whatever came next. "I'm in. When do we leave?"

Adele rolled her eyes with practiced resignation. "I’ve got nothing better to do."

Kai didn’t bother walking towards the ramp as everyone else began to move. "I'll maintain perimeter security."

"You sure?” Zedd raised an eyebrow, memories of seven months in the Terminus with Kai running through his mind. “Might not get another chance for a while."

Zedd almost wished he was recording as he saw Kai nearly frown, the ninja purposely taking a step back from the ship. "I would prefer not to again... sir."

He grinned back at his bodyguard with a knowing look. "Fair enough."Tommy’s face poked up from the side, looking a little bit nervous. “Hey, boss…”Boss. Zedd’s eyebrow went right back up, higher than before. “What is it?”“I get a little sick some times on small ships. Is it still cool i-”Hell, no. “If you stay here with Kai?” Zedd finished for him with a smile. “Of course.”“No. I was gonna s-”Zedd patted him on the shoulder, entirely unmoved by a grown man making a pouty face because of his sensitive stomach. “I’m glad you know your limits, Tommy.” Turning around, he ran up the ship entrance, the ramp closing up behind him.

Kira's curiosity shifted as she glanced back towards Zedd, one eyebrow disappearing into her dyed hair. "What's with Leng?"All Zedd could do was smile wider. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said aloud as his eyes roamed the inside of the ship. The ship was no Milano, and he was no Star-Lord but the interior of the Grande was decently sized, probably around the same size inside as a luxury business jet or something. 

Thirty-five meters by twenty-two meters by eight meters does not make for a lot of moving around space, especially when a lot of that space is taken up for actual necessary ship stuff that keeps us moving and alive. Truthfully, all the three ship models he had here were more personal vessels than anything else, and even the ones that could hold a crew like the Grande… eh, still more of a personal.

Zedd settled into the pilot seat with practiced familiarity, hands finding controls that had been designed specifically for him. The system interface responded to neural patterns that had been calibrated through hours of testing and refinement, pilot and machine working together in ways that transcended conventional human-machine interaction.

A hand went into his pocket and came right back out, only this time with a large red chip in his palm. Without bothering to look, Zedd slotted the chip into the main panel and a set of extra lights came on, blinking a bright familiar red.“Hey, bossdad, we ready for take-off?”

All strapped in, Nina gripped the sides of her seat tighter, voice breathless. "I... yes. Absolutely yes.""Seatbelts, everyone!” Zedd announced, one hand up in the air. “First time's always interesting."

Dev secured himself in a passenger seat, tugging hard on the restraints just to test. "Define interesting."

Better to show than tell. The ceiling above their head split open, as hydraulics and gears did their job and cleared their path above, leaving nothing but the atmosphere between them and outer space.

"You'll see."