Building the Collateral - 78 - Early Access (Patreon)

There’s also a sort of tenseness when it comes to sitting back and letting a ship bleed.

Boarding actions are rarely such clean things, if there is even such a thing in war. I suppose that it could happen in this universe somewhere, assuming all ideal conditions like enemies who respect one another, understandable motives, and a wide open plain where deception couldn’t work. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise then that often times, assaulting an enemy ship can be quite a gruesome thing.

Tight corridors where one can hide around or be ambushed from. Frenzied burst of violence that can span multiple decks, with especially poor management of controlled territories. Topping it all off, one side is quite very literally invading a home- and the other doing their very best to protect it.

A battle measured in extremes, so it could never be so simple or gentle. Then again, so too was the Diaspora when compared to the Metropolitan worlds.

“Commander,” Kaldun reported, breaking me from those thoughts as I watched the battle through the windows on the bridge. “Incoming message from Major Rowles. Playing it now.”

An image of the woman appeared on my screen, her outfit somehow stained with blood despite being in a mech’s cockpit. Given the way she spoke, it clearly wasn’t a wound on her part.“We’ve established a foothold, but these folks are doing their very best to keep us contained! They’re putting up one heck of a fight, I think these have to be their best sailors in the fleet. By the time you’re receiving this, I’ll be leading an assault to try and crack their guns.” The recorded officer cackled. “Wish me luck!”

Promising. We had cracked open the door just a little now, we just had to keep applying the pressure. Both wings were reportedly still onboard despite the best effort of the defenders, causing havoc on their ship. It was very tempting to order all remaining wings to commit and seal the matter.

But we still had to contend with that last enemy escort, the corvette loitering about. It looked almost torn if it wanted to stay or flee, which was certainly a poor set of choices. On the one hand, honor and duty. The other, survival and shame.

What really decided it for them was when the prow of Smirking Cat erupted in flame and smoke. Moments later, a new transmission from our boarders came through. “Smoked their tubes!” cawed Rowles triumphantly. “They’re out for the count!”

If what she said was true, then that frigate was truly now toothless. Their class typically didn’t have the support to mount more than one weapon set. Which meant now they were helpless and at our mercy.

That was perhaps why we received a call from them now. “Commander, the bridge of the enemy frigate is hailing us. Do you wish to accept?”

I gave a nod, indicating I wanted the connection to go through. A new screen popped up that featured the commander of that frigate, leading me to blink slightly at the sight of a… cat. A very literal one, though on closer inspection, it seemed slightly translucent. That telltale detail of a digital avatar.

“Nya, I give up, I surrender!” they cried out, rolling about to show their belly. “Mercy for this kitten, meow!”

… Well, it was a HORUS ship still. Or maybe Luna’s antics had made me rather inured to it all. “I see. Please do not resist as my subordinates seize control of your ship, and no harm will befall your crew. Those are the terms of surrender I offer to you.”

“I accept, nya!”

“I’m not actually...a rabbit,” Yue gasped as she pulled herself through the small vent. Strange as it might seem, according to her readings it was the fastest way in and her boots were recharging. So it was the meek woman wiggled into that tight space to save on time. “Dammit, stupid… snake!”

There wasn’t even an easy landing on the other side, as the vent grate opened up with a small drop to the floor below. There were at least some cardboard boxes that helped cushion her fall, slightly. The streamer groaned and rubbed at her backside as she staggered to her feet, hand placed on her pistol holster in case it was needed. There didn’t appear to be any immediate danger at least.

Her guard fully melted away when Yue’s eyes fell upon the center of the room and her entire body tensed up. Slowly, a triumphant smile etched itself upon her face as she approached, drinking in the sight. “Found you,” she whispered, hand reaching out.

When it pressed against a glowing barrier, she sighed and shook her head. Of course it can’t be that easy, especially when V1P3R had taken great lengths in suppressing that unique signature. Even then, entombed as it was, there still was that weak signal that Jean could at least track. So could Yue now that it was much closer, but there still was the matter of containment to handle.

There was a console that seemed to be the lock to this all, which Yue studied before blanching. Well, that explained where the metavault the NHP had used to trap Port Barbarus had gone. No wonder why the signal had been so suppressed from how temporal manipulation rewrote its projection. Now the problem was undoing it, which… was going to be difficult.

Not for the first time, she so desperately wished her acquaintance was present to solve the matter. Maybe she could call- no, 8unz had been clear that they figured time out in a very literal way. So remote consultation wasn’t going to work.

Which left one choice if she wanted the machine inside freed within the century. “Manager, please come help me!”

Jean heard the plea and paused, brow furrowing in contemplation. He hadn’t much territory left to defend now, his foe having nearly chased him out of the station. The plan was on its last legs now.

Yet it also could still walk, perhaps run if this objective was achieved. With a grunt, he acknowledged the request and made the gamble. While half of his processing power still fought to hold onto his greatly reduced control, the other diverted and dove into that lancer’s personal systems. They immediately recognized the request and began to rapidly crunch the numbers, breaking the walls of data down in ways only an entity of pure data could.

It was a choice that allowed V1P3R to briefly match the lapse in attention, allowing their gaze to suddenly fixate elsewhere. But to their frustration, many of their toys had been already rent asunder. They could fire the guns- but that wouldn’t stop the station from being physically conquered on the inside. That would be an issue that would drag this conflict on for far longer, a siege that an isolated rogue station could hardly win alone.

So they decided to gamble it all, on a specific new toy that had fallen into their hands not so long ago. That was even under threat now, so better hurry.

The invading NHP could only watch as he allowed his opponent to get a move in. It had been a selfish choice, he acknowledged, to favor his own part of this arrangement without informing others. But at the same time, Jean yearned too much to see that rabbit on the moon once again.

So it was that he dove into the labyrinth to reach its heart, making haste.

“Unbreakable defense, my ass!” Erica grumbled even as she crushed a Pegasus’ head with a brutal stomp of her Saladin. Plenty more of those wrecks littered the streets she had passed by, much of their demise her doing. But the mercenary still fumed, more upset at something else. “What use is a ‘shield without form if stuff still gets through!”

Naturally, the destroyed mechs didn’t provide much of an answer. So she muttered dark curses at them and pulled up the damage diagnostics, scowl deepening with every line. It wasn’t good. While the Saladin’s force field did prevent physical damage, those paracasual weapons had steadily chipped away at it until said system began to falter as well, delicate internals being rent asunder by whatever damage superseded all means of protection.

Aside from that, armor was wearing a bit thin in some of her steed’s limbs. It was almost tempting enough to call a withdrawal, had it not been for the fact that her accompanying Shermans had fared even worse in the overall engagement. They were beginning to get worn down in a bad way, in hostile territory and surrounded on all sides by the urban environment.

At least it sounded like fresh reinforcements had arrived, the commander having come through to supply her with additional manpower. So it was that Erica ordered her escorts to substitute out, moving back to get proper rest and repairs while fresh armor rolled up. The same applied to the infantry as well, who needed the chance to evacuate their own wounded.

But she was going to stay on station. Something in her gut told her that this grueling endeavor was far from over, so the mercenary scanned the battlefield with both her sensors and eyes. Soon, she found her suspicions vindicated.

That there both was still a fight, and that the scientists who gave her this experimental machine were full of it!

There actually weren’t many subalterns left in the workshop, Ichigo realized. The vast majority of them must have departed with the others to fight whatever was happening out there. Though she still wasn’t sure if she could handle even these few by herself.

In contrast, Morgan casually already headshot a number of them while just running for cover.

Bullets sprayed the workbenches as the two girls huddled behind one of them, very mindful of the various tools being shot off racks and falling onto the ground. The mechanic’s heart almost broke at the sight of those familiar aides being destroyed, but there wasn’t much she could do to undo a round through the core. So she focused on what she could do, which… wasn’t much. The submachine gun felt incredibly alien and foreign in her hands, a far cry from the handguns she had been forced to defend herself with sometimes.

Maybe the better idea would be to swap with the genius child soldier. As she was about to make the trade though, Ichigo faltered at the sight of Morgan’s wide eyes and panicked breathing. Even as she suddenly snapshot a flanking robot, her body reacting on some ingrained instinct to kill- her mind wasn’t conditioned the same way. “Are you okay!”

“I...I’ll manage,” Morgan gasped out, hand flicking in a perfect way to dislodge the spent magazine. The other reached to fumble for a belt, a holster which wasn’t there and she looked torn. Confused. “I- no, I never had a kit like that. Why… why do I think and know all this?”

Ichigo gritted her teeth and handed the only loaded gun between them left. “I don’t know. But your Monarch is right there, isn’t it? Look, they’re doing something with it!”

By now, enough of the remaining drones were downed that the gunfire had let up. Some even seemed to halt and affix their attention instead to the hanging frame. They reached their arms out, as if channeling some sort of prayer to the machine.

Ichigo saw it first, in the corner of her eye. A twitch of a giant finger.

Morgan meanwhile paid no heed. Instead, again with borrowed memory from someplace she could not name, she advanced out of cover and fired into the last remaining enemies. Even when they fell, sparks shooting out of the holes in their chassis, the girl didn’t hesitate to aim downwards. Only when the gun felt painfully light did her body ease up, her breaths coming in ragged pants from the mix of exertion and adrenaline.

Crimson pupils looked upon the ripped bodies and wondered if it was better they were circuits and chips. Instead of flesh and bone. Then they ripped around, spinning to spray the last bullets at the seemingly worshipping robots.

They clattered to the floor and for a moment, Morgan felt triumphant. They… they had done it. She had her steed back.

Then her eyes widened at the sight of her mechanical companion moving by itself. Her gaze snapped to the empty cockpit, where newly installed screens scrolled line after line of code. They soon faded away, only to be replaced by a sprawl of letters and digits that seemed to form a shape.

One that looked much like a viper in abstract.

Her mech- no, it wasn’t that anymore- the Monarch rumbled and raised a hand to clutch at the cables holding it in place. With a heave, they were ripped away, the mountings coming with as the workshop began to shudder. Morgan stood there and watched with a horrified gaze, as the only tie she had ever known cause destruction around it.

Was this her fate too, to be the death of everything around-

“Fucking idiot, move!” Ichigo’s tackle shoved Morgan out of harm’s way, when a piece of the rapidly crumbling roof slammed down where she once was. “We have to get out of here!”

“B-but… the Monarch-!”

“I don’t think we can do anything with these stupid peashooters, get going!”

Finally that seemed to snapped her out of her reverie and both girls ran for the way they came in. The office was deserted when they passed by, a detail that none cared to linger on. Instead, they burst out into the open environment of Port Barbarus, gasping for breath.

Then the Monarch smashed right through the bay doors right besides, the final burst that collapsed Ichigo’s workplace for good. The frame let out an electronic screech that soon tuned itself into a synthetic voice, a mocking one as the cameras on the mech’s head affixed on the two. “I had wanted all of the project too, but I’ll settle for this! What fine craftsmanship, the SSC normally are too jealous to ever dare let these toys slip from their control!”

A part of the walker’s arm extended out, revealing a gun that was pointed squarely at the two humans. It unfolded with a serious of harsh clacks that sounded over what was like a roar in the background. “I would have liked a full toybox, ah well. I suppose I simply have to make sure I make this one last, that’s all. Thank you for the delivery!”

Before either could make their mind up on what to do, the weapon fired.

And the Saladin from earlier appeared, boosting in from a side street to intercept itself right between the shooter and the target. The battered and frazzled electronics on the shoulder activated, manifesting a weak barrier that caught the guided projectiles that fired from the Monarch’s arm. It wasn’t a perfect defense, a few of the rounds making it through and impacting the wielder to leave marks, yet nothing substantial.

There was a moment of stunned silence, the only noise being the growling reactors.

Then the fired rounds dropped to the floor, payloads rendered inert as the Saladin raised up its other arm and unleashed a volley of laser volley from the mounted heavy laser. The Monarch though was already boosting back and away, utilizing installed jets to get away. A curse echoed out from their savior, then they turned to face the two.

“Both of you, get out of here!” the pilot inside roared, cycling out a fresh coil. Her last one, if the number of empty slots on at their side was any indication. “Run, and don’t look back!”

Morgan and Ichigo could only numbly nod, then quickly obeyed. Meanwhile, Erica turned back to the enemy frame and squared her shoulders. The things she did for a paycheck!

But at the same time, she could feel the sharp grin forming as her blood began to finally race. Now the fire was lit, and she was going to burn.