Sliding Reality: Chapter 8 Part 4 of 7 (Patreon)

"What's up?"

"Luke, my dad and Uncle are under attack, I don't trust anyone other than our squad I need your help."

"How can I help?"

"Log into Sphere World, you'll get access to a bot on the station. Federation marines are searching for them."

"Real marines, humans?"

"Yeah," Jynx sounded shook up.

"Get Foster as well," Luke looked over to his Dad, everyone was looking at him in confusion. "I'll be there, get the others. Foster will know what to do, Fin got us registered as a corporate security company now."

"’kay."

She cut the call. Stephen was standing nearby looking at Luke.

"Jynx’s dad and uncle are under attack by Federation marines. Jynx has asked me to help protect her dad-."

Stephen looked away, grimacing.

“I have to help them.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Dad?”

“I’m trained for this, been some years though. Hopefully I can speak some reason into them, get them to stop.”

Adeline reached out and grasped his hand.

"Be safe.”

He gave her a quick kiss, her eyes full of pain as she looked at Luke.

Luke just nodded to her and turned for the net room, they shed their coveralls in silence, the net suits opening, ready for them.

Luke spotted the Federation Marine code on his father's shoulder, the scars of his term of service.

He stepped into his net suit before he had time to think.

Its motors whirred as the armor closed around him and lifted him upwards, already flicking through familiar menus, logging into Sphere World. He saw an option blinking red and clicked on it, finding a new bot spawn point in nearly the center of Sphere World. The menus cleared and he was inside a bot, stepping out of the rack. He raised a terminal and sent a request through to his father.

Everything was the same, the net suit, the logins, the bot-but the anticipation, maybe the reality of what was going to happen, it loomed ahead of him like the edge of a cliff.

The possibility of a fight, that he might kill another human. The Marines didn’t have bots to fight with, just their bodies.

“Ready?” His father said on local. Snapping his mind back from the cliff.

“Yeah, this way to the armory.”

Bots stepped out of the racks with familiar names, fellow Legion members.

[Fin is online]

[Jynx is inviting you to a party chat]

Luke accepted, sending his father an invite as he scanned through the maps.

[Shiro has joined]

[Fin has joined]

[Stephen has joined]

[Moose has joined]

"Jynx, what's happening?" Fin asked.

Luke saw the armories and walked inside, grabbing gear, plat amounts were all set to zero as he ordered gear.

"Federation marines were loaded up on the Destroyers, when my father evicted them because of them nuking a station, they attacked, they’ve made it to Dad and Uncle Stuart’s ship. Didn’t find them there and are looking for them through the station now.”

Fin and Shiro entered the armory at nearly the same time, heading for terminals, Jynx and Moose behind them.

Luke waved his dad forward, to grab their gear. "How the hell do we handle this?" Luke said.

"Are we going to shoot them?" Fin asked. Luke started strapping on ammunition and gear.

Stephen cleared his throat.

"Tell them to surrender, tell them how the federation blew up an undefended civilian station and they're covering for it. Tell them that we don't want to kill them. Tell them to go and see the information on it, their officers just want to hide this all don't put down their lives for lies. If they don't stop and they keep coming," Stephen shrugged in my bot. "We did our best. I don't want to kill fellow marines, but if we let them past then two innocent men could lose their lives."

"Jynx, could you get your Dad to say that over Sphere World's system?" Fin asked.

"I'll ask him."

"Stephen? Who are you?" Moose asked.

"He's my dad," Luke said.

"Ex Marine, Luke said you needed help."

"We're going to be going up against other marines." Shiro said.

"I know, I wish it wasn't the case, but a man has to put a line in the sand, stand on it."

"Oorah," Moose said.

"You?" Stephen asked.

"Federation as well, a lifetime ago I feel."

“Never thought something like this would happen back when I was in,” Stephen commiserated.

"Coalition," Shiro said.

"Ah well, we can't all be badasses," Stephen laughed.

Luke checked the others as the speakers across SW went live with Brad repeating Stephen's message.

Other bots were piling into the armories. Luke led his squad out.

"What's everyone running?"

"Sub-machine gun," Jynx said.

"Same," Moose and Stephen said.

"Repair tool, rifle," Shiro said.

"Rifle, repair." Fin said.

"Rifle and repair," Luke said.

“This way,” Jynx lead them through bots, into an indoor garden, through a blast door into a residential area.

Squads grabbed their gear, heading to the main entrance to the habitat. Others ran and used the zero-g to shoot through the main thoroughfares.

Luke opened his map, markers picked out the entry/exit points of the habitat and the squads moving to them as they moved deeper through the residential areas into the offices and working areas of the habitat.

The General channel came to life.

"Alright everyone, listen up.” Foster said. “This is not our normal shit. There are real live humans attacking us. I do not want to engage them any more than you do. Thing is that our bots will not die. WATCH your goddamn fire. Request their surrender if they surrender, you will take them into custody. You can’t die, even if they break your bots do everything you can to limit hurting them. If you have to, then fire back. Think of your mother, your father, your brother, your husbands, wives and sons, these are people. Not just another fun night." Foster's words were lead in Luke's stomach. "Do the right thing here." The channel cut off.

“Come on come on.” Jynx said, waiting at a meter thick blast door, she shimmied through as soon as it was open enough.

Luke waited for it to open a bit more before following, entering the command post. He slowed, looking up.

“Dad!” Jynx bounded up the amphitheatre steps on the right side towards the two men at the top, breaking their eyes from the wall of screens above Luke.

Stairs lay on either side, the room widening as it got taller, creating several landings with consoles, the entrance front and center.

“This is going to be a bitch to attack,” Moose muttered looking around the room as they followed Jynx, the doors closing behind them.

“Jynx?” Brad tensed up as Jynx hugged him and then relaxed.

I’d be a little freaked out having a six foot bot loaded for war hugging me.

"Preparing to fire." A robotic voice called out through the speakers. That must be Sally?

Luke turned his head to look at the screens, showing navigation readouts centered on Sphere World, long range images of the different ships.

“Sixth Fleet,” Luke glanced to his father who’d spoken, staring at the screens.

"Keep repeating the terms of surrender. Make sure we are broadcasting." Brad said, patting Jynx’s shoulder and turning to the screens again.

Stuart side hugged her, glancing at Luke and the others as they reached the top floor, and stood behind Brad, watching.

"Done." Sally said.

Brad hung his head, closing his eyes. “I’m so sorry.” He said in a bare whisper.

Shutters across Sphere World opened, revealing missile tubes as rail and plasma cannons shifted onto target.

“Firing.” Sally said.

Launchers released missile after missile, rail cannons releasing plumes of plasma with each round. Missiles launched without a clear line of sight on the fleet, used thrusters to alter their heading and engaged their main engines, adding their weight to the others.

A screen of six corvettes led eight Destroyers, two cruisers and the Dalton; carrier-flagship of the sixth fleet.

Sixth Fleet’s close in weapon systems filled the space between them and the station with tracers, detonating missiles. They were trying to stop the tide. Ships began to rotate, bringing all their weapon systems to bear, launching missile countermeasures.

The ships rocked with explosions.

Large nuclear missiles bloomed in short-lived suns, encroaching closed until they started warping the lead ships with their force, then met the ships head on, removing them from existence.

Sphere World’s rail cannon rounds crashed into Federation ships with enough force to push them off their trajectories.

Missiles diverted and turned their engines to face the way they were accelerating, rail cannon rounds detonated as Sphere World went quiet.