Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six: Embracing Command (Patreon)

Agni walked up to me, chuckling. "Where to now, Supreme Commander?"

"Don't call me that."

"Hey," interrupted Unity. "You're her, aren't you? Agni? The pyromaniac?"

Agni cocked her head at the Herculean. "I've been called worse. You are?"

"Unity. Herculean from Southampton. I've heard you killed half a million people."

"Two hundred thousand. I'm looking to match the number in aliens."

"Well that's just bloody fantastic. You seriously think there are that many?"

"If not today, then in the next round. This isn't my first alien defence, and I don't intend it to be the last." Agni giggled. "I had too much fun killing that thing."

Chequers stared at Agni as if she'd grown a second head. "Fun?" His voice crackled. "That was a kaiju! They've killed thousands!"

"Closer to millions. That's what makes it fun." Agni flexed her fingers. "Killing the easy ones isn't as entertaining. Still, quantity is a quality all its own…"

"Enough with the chitchat," I said. "Shamrock. Can you control the speed of your flaming potatoes?"

"Yeah…"

"Can you make them roll along the ground? Slip under a shield?"

Shamrock nodded eagerly. "That I can do."

"Agni. Shamrock will roll burning potatoes under the Shield Tower boundaries outside Bushy Park. Can you pick it up from there?"

"Absolutely. How hot do you want to make it?"

I smiled a nasty smile. "Shields can keep out the yield of a nuke. Don't burn the towers. Chequers?"

"Here."

"You predict the exact time when Agni should let loose. Once the burning potatoes are inside."

Chequers swallowed. "I don't know exactly how her power works."

"I burn things," Agni commented. "It's pretty straightforward."

"Unity, you're close guard. For us and the Travelers."

"What Travelers?"

"The seven of us will be teleporting to the edges of Bushy Park," I explained. "Shamrock rolls potatoes through the shield, Agni sets fire to them and starts burning the troops."

"There are multiple overlapping shields," protested Shamrock.

"Which is what the Travelers are for. We'll have to move fast."

"And the Carnotaurs?"

"Another reason to move fast."

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LEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 14.

+1 ATTRIBUTE BOOST AVAILABLE.

I ticked off the notification absently. Third level up today, and we weren't even halfway through the enemy.

I'd need more AP today, so Perception it was.

+1 PER. My AP shot up to 380. PP, CP and Psydef also rose.

And I was currently only about 5000 XP short of the next level, and another attribute boost…..

<Belessar>: Anne, point me to some Raptors. About eleven.

<Nanocloud>: You're in luck. There's a bunch of them crawling around the park, preparing for a counterattack.

<Nanocloud>: I'll leave a few for you, but I want to test out the Nanospikes.

<Belessar>: Just point in their direction.

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Five minutes later, I stood over the smoking remains of a Raptor patrol.

Fourteen Raptors versus me, my freshly reloaded Mass Driver Rifle, and a willingness to swing the Lightning Hammer in Deadly Blows? And with Nanocloud ‘testing’ her Nanospikes while we were at it?

Hardly a contest.

LEVEL UP! YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 15.

1 ATTRIBUTE BOOST AVAILABLE.

I need more AP.

+1 PERCEPTION.

400 AP, enough for eight Javelin Strikes in quick succession.

Still not enough to kill the Greater Carnotaur. Which, according to Nanocloud, was still lazing around in the middle of the park, snacking on the massive plate of grey octopus-like flesh and sipping drinks the size of beer barrels.

Standing over the corpses of the dead Raptors, I glanced through the descriptions of the new blueprints killing the Carnotaur had unlocked:

NANOTHORN KUKRI:

POWERED BY A CLOUD OF CUTTING FULLERSTEEL NANOPARTICLES, CHARGED BY LIGHTNING THIS EDGED WEAPON INFLICTS CUTTING DAMAGE AGAINST A FOE.

DAMAGE: 2,000 DAMAGE / HIT.

CONSUMES 25 MP/SECOND WHILE ACTIVE.

REQUIREMENTS: LEVEL 15, 20 DEXTERITY, 20 STRENGTH, LIGHTNING STRIKE LEVEL 2.

COST: 1 COMBAT KUKRI + 1 KG CONTROLLED NANOPARTICLE SWARM + 1 FOCUSING CRYSTAL + 3 GRAVITIC CONTROL ARRAYS + 3 COMPUTERS + 600 MP.

NANOBLADE JAVELIN:

THE FULLERSTEEL JAVELIN HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO CARRY A NANOSCALE CUTTING EDGE.

DAMAGE: 1,000 DAMAGE / HIT.

REQUIREMENTS: 20 DEXTERITY, 20 PERCEPTION.

COST: 1 FULLERSTEEL JAVELIN + 0.05 KG CONTROLLED NANOPARTICLE SWARM + 500 MP.

Powerful weapons, and major upgrades over my current armory.

I could hear the steps of people approaching. Daisy. Maria. Tucker. Nanocloud.

And Doyle.

I turned.

Doyle stood ramrod straight and snapped off a salute. “Sir.”

“I should be calling you that.”

A hint of a smile cracked across Doyle’s face. “General Curry informed us that he had a bit of an argument with you. These things happen, he says, between peers. He’s willing to offer what support you need to crack Bushy Park.”

“... Peers?”

“I believe you are in charge of all ultrahuman forces in London right now. That makes you a general, at least.”

“Don’t you need to, you know, have some experience to become a general?”

“I used to be a lieutenant once upon a time. Someone said becoming major-general wasn’t such a big deal.”

“Fine, you got me. I have no idea if the ultras will follow me, though.”

“And I had no idea if the colonels, majors, and brigadiers around here would follow me, either. We all learn as we go along. Now, what are your orders?”

“Are the Travelers I asked for here?”

Three men in grey suits made their way to the front. One was clutching a broken arm. “Drivers Thirteen, Twenty-Two, and Ninety-Four reporting in, Belessar. Capacities sixty-four, thirty-seven, and forty-three tons….”

“How quickly can you form portals?”

“Thirty seconds.”

“Good. This is what we’re going to do….”