Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty-Two: Tactics with Tessie (Patreon)

Quantosphere’s armour shone.

I’d seen him wear it at London – shiny white, dotted with glowing green lines.

Well, if he wanted to shine like a lightbulb on a dark night, better to do so in the tunnels instead of in the open where hundreds of aliens could target him at the same time.

Now that I though about it, few of the ultras I’d called had costumes that blended in easily. Aspenthorn’s purple-and-forest green was the nearest to anything that allowed concealment. Mahotsukoi wore a magical girl dress, Lafayette’s costume mimicked the waves of the ocean.  Indradhanush wore the colours of the rainbow. Fitting considering his name. Horrible choice if you were trying to hide.

Then again, I didn’t expect them to take the open field.

“The aliens are dug in,” I explained, “and will open fire the minute we emerge. We’re going to give them a target to shoot at. Something that attracts their attention, takes the hits, and keeps moving forward. It’s got to be strong enough to handle a fair number of hits, attract their eye, and keep going forward.”

“I understand the concept,” Quantosphere said, “but why do you have a banged-up electric autocar up front?”

“An autocar covered with fullersteel plate. Which can shrug off a fair bit of enemy fire.”

“Wouldn’t a tank do a better job?”

“There’s more to it than just the plate. I need you to mount an illusion generator on the car.”

Quantosphere snorted. “That thing? My illusion matrices cost ten million apiece. Shouldn’t we spring for something better protected than your old clunker?”

“They won’t hit the autocar. I want the illusion generator to show an image of a superlarge tank.” The tablet in my hand pulled up the image I’d had in mind. “This.”

There was a sharp, indrawn hiss of breath. From every ultra around.

Quantosphere chuckled. “Nachtsturm’s Ultimate Fighting Vehicle. Nice.”

“An image that, maybe, the aliens will recognize.”

“Small problem, though. The Ultimate Fighting Vehicle had armour capable of shrugging off enemy fire, and then some. That jalopy of yours won’t last against a single hit.”

“I want this to be sixty feet long, fifty feet wide and twenty feet high. Hifara will expand this tunnel just before it emerges, to give the impression something large is coming through. The UFV shows up, goes through the shield – at a reasonable pace – and the aliens start shooting at it.”

“At which point the car, and the generator, is toast.”

“Not if they miss.”

“It’s sixty feet by fifty feet – how are they going to miss?”

“Because, Quantosphere, when the enemy sees a massive armoured vehicle coming at them, they’re going to aim at where they’re most likely to hit – centre of mass.” I pointed to the hastily armoured form of Tessie, all of fifteen feet long by seven feet wide. “She is going to be at the edge of the illusion. Sixteen feet away from centre of mass, which is where the shots will be directed. So the maser blasts will pass straight through her.”

Aspenthorn laughed hollowly. “The aliens will think we’ve figured out a way to dodge their shots.”

“Phase-shifting. Teleportation technology makes it theoretically possible for us – so that’s going to be their first reaction. They’ll keep shooting at centre of mass, and the shots will miss – for a few seconds, at least.”

“And when they figure out that the UFV is basically smoke…”

“By that time it’s hopefully too late.”

“Small problem, Belessar. The illusion generator has to be at the centre of the illusion.”

“How big an illusion can you make?”

“I can stretch it to a few hundred feet, why?”

“Then let the illusion of the UFV be to the right, and add sixty feet of empty air to the left. They’ll aim for the centre of the UFV, not the centre of the illusion.”

“That’ll work. It’s only going to last for a few minutes, though.”

“I only need it that long.” I turned to Devilmade. “I need you to do something for me. Something dangerous.”

Devilmade nodded, uncharacteristically serious. “You got it.”

“There are three maser cannons there. Each could take out anything short of a tank. I want you to teleport on top of them, drop off bombs, and get out. No more than a second at each, and you teleport out as soon as you’re done.”

“Can’t teleport past a shield.”

“You’re going to ride past the shield in the autocar.”

“The autocar with the illusion generator that’s going to be a target for hundreds of Raptors.”

“Yes. Make sure you teleport the second you’re past the shield.”

Devilmade chuckled. Then sobered. “Belessar – I’m sorry about Agni.”

“I know. Thank you.”

A few feet away, a dozen soldiers were fixing the microfusion reactor to a small wheeled platform. Indradhanush stood by, a frown on his face.

I walked over to them. “Sergeant. Is it set up?”

“Yes, sir, and the guidance computer is programmed. It’ll follow Indradhanush through the shield.”

“Does it have enough power?”

“The Model AT-26 Automated Cargo Pallet can run for half an hour on its onboard batteries, sir. It’ll last the duration of the fight.”

“Good. Indradhanush. You know what you have to do?”

“Follow the Boar armour equipped soldiers through the tunnel they assign me, waltz through the shield after they’ve charged, and start zapping the aliens with rays from the reactor. Pretty straightforward.”

“Do you want a different suit? The one you have kind of stands out…”

“I thought about it, but don’t the aliens have infrared sensors and stuff? That means they’ll see me no matter what I wear. So I might as well stick with what makes me comfortable.”

Couldn’t argue with the kid, unfortunately. I moved on to Mahotsukoi and Lafayette, who wore grim expressions on their faces.

“Are you ready?”

“As much as we can be,” Lafayette replied haltingly. “It will be hard.”

“But we will do it,” Mahotsukoi continued. “For Agni.”

I swallowed. “Thank you both.”

“Belessar?” Mahotsukoi asked. “Will you be okay?”

Calm.

I needed to stay calm. Agni was gone, but now was not the time to think about it.

“I’m trying to be,” I confessed. “But – I don’t know. Let’s finish this, and we’ll see.”

Mahotsukoi reached out and took my hand.

Her hands were warm.

“You have friends, Belessar.” She sounded serious. “Don’t do foolish things. We like you.”

“What she said,” Lafayette stammered. “We all lose people in this fight. You not alone.”

<Nanocloud>: They’re not the only ones, bro. Stay safe.

<Belessar>: Thanks. I’ll remember that when I’m charging into the teeth of Raptor fire.

A chuckle conveyed itself along the channel.

“Thank you both,” I said. “I will do my best. And once the battle is won, we’ll raise a toast. All of us. For Agni.”

“For Agni,” the two women chorused.