TBoB - Book 8 - Chapter 13 - Creative Demolitions (Patreon)

“How long do you think it’ll take to take everything down if we pull the salvage rigs off their current assignments and have them start cutting down the wall?” I asked as I climbed up the small embankment in front of the wall. 

“Probably an extra day or two,” Deadbeat replied. “The problem is they’re currently occupied with disassembling the minefield. Even though we’ve shut down their ability to replicate we still need to dig up all the individual mines. If we don’t we risk having some PMC patrol, or even worse a civilian driving over one.”“Aren’t we sending out a warning that there’s an active minefield in front of the town, with coordinates of all the active mines?” I asked.

“Of course we are,” Dusty replied. “But not everyone listens to the warning system. All it takes is one fuckwad who thinks they know better and our names will be all over the news for ‘unsafe practices’.”“And manslaughter,” Bandit muttered.

“Well, yeah, but I figured that was a given,” Dusty shrugged. 

I sighed. “Remind me later to redesign those self replicating mine systems so they can both assemble AND disassemble mines around them. While they’re really helpful when we dig in, and try to defend an area, I really don’t want to spend a week digging them up after every major battle.”

“It hasn’t really been a problem before, because we normally only deploy half a dozen units at a time, not several hundred like we did here,” Bandit said.

“That’s true, but who knows when we might have to deploy them on this scale again,” I grumbled. “It seems like every time we’ve engaged the Antithesis in the last few months they’ve deployed on a city devouring scale. I miss the days when we only had to deal with a couple hundred all huddled up in some hole in the wall.”“You realize that you only have yourself to blame for that, right?” Deadbeat asked. “We did come all the way out here to help deal with the phobos shard.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t exactly expect things to spiral to this extent,” I muttered, gesturing to the barren wasteland in front of us. I stared at it for a minute, then sighed. “Well, whatever. We managed to deal with it so even though the clean-up is a pain, I guess I shouldn’t complain.”“Hey! Instead of waiting for the salvage rigs why not just let me and the Badgers knock them down? The walls are already damaged anyway, so it’s not like we need to keep them in pristine shape. A little punchy here, melty there, and we’ll have these panels down in no time!” Bob declared. 

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Deadbeat said warily. 

“Why not? We want to take them down, don’t we?” Bob asked. “This way we don’t have to wait!”“You’re not exactly known for having a soft touch. I’d be worried about you launching a panel into one of the buildings behind the wall,” Deadbeat said.

“That’s an easy fix, I’ll stand on the inside,” Bob replied. 

“It would save us a couple days,” Bandit muttered. “And it’s not like we need the panels in pristine condition.”“What about the part that’s still embedded in the ground? You know the boss doesn’t like leaving her stuff behind, even if it’s broken,” Dusty said.

“It’s just a little bit of wall,” Bob replied with a shrug. “As long as we get the panel loose the heavy lifters can take it back for reprocessing, then the salvage rigs can come in later and dig up the remains.”“Uhhh… is it just me, or does Bob’s idea seem… reasonable?” Dusty asked quietly.

“It’s not just you,” Bandit replied. “I’m so used to Bob suggesting bashing things just for the sake of bashing them. I wasn’t expecting a semi coherent argument to accompany his suggestion.”

“I have good ideas sometimes,” Bob grumbled.

“Yeah, but most of them involve jumping off something high and landing on some form of Antithesis,” Dusty replied. 

“And that’s a good idea!” Bob declared. 

“I don’t have a problem with you taking out the panels on your own. In fact, it’s probably something I should have thought of. I really need to get out of the habit of falling back on my existing equipment to solve everything,” I said. “In fact I probably could buy the blueprints for some sort of industrial saw for you and the badgers to use, it would be faster and easier.”“But… where’s the fun in that?” Bob pouted. 

“For just the Badgers then,” I sighed. “As long as you loosen, or remove the panels from the ground, I guess it doesn’t matter.”Bob cracked his knuckles and smiled. “Excellent.” I shook my head and turned away, looking across the barren plain. Although I couldn’t see the crater, I could see either Dial-Up or Lag’s behemoth tank looming in the distance in the approximate direction of the former hive. 

I couldn’t tell whose tank it was, the truth is they looked nearly identical to me, and I had no idea where the second vehicle had gone; It had been my impression that the pair almost always stuck together. I’d have to ask about that later. 

As I stared at the massive vehicle I noticed something peaking out from behind it. A metallic spire which I was fairly certain hadn’t been there before. “Uh… Do any of you know what that is?” I asked, pointing roughly in the direction of the building.

“That’s a tank,” Bob replied, completely deadpanned. 

I turned and looked at him, eyes narrowed. “Not that, the thing behind the tank,” I said.

“Oh, the building?” Deadbeat said, squinting at the distant monument. “From what I understand, a couple samurai wanted to study the shard of Phobos, so they’re building a dome to isolate the area.”“Why….?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

Deadbeat frowned. “I don’t know; it’s not like I was involved in any planning discussions around it. You’d have to ask Wild or Mud; the samurai in charge came and asked their permission before beginning construction,” she said.

“Sorry! I was just curious and I thought you might have heard something while you were doing the cleanup,” I said, before turning back towards the crater. “Maybe I sould talk to Wild, find out what’s going on, maybe introduce myself.” “Might as well, we’re just sitting around waiting for the cleanup right now anyways,” Dusty said.

“Speak for yourself, I’m being helpful!” Bob exclaimed. “And destructive.”“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Deadbeat sighed before turning towards me. “Anyway, since we’ve figured out how to deal with the walls, what do you plan to do now?”

“I might try and track Mud down,” I replied. “Both find out what’s going on with him, and maybe figure out what’s going on in the crater. Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. You guys going to continue inspecting the wall?”“Someone has to,” Bandit grumbled. “We found this after investigating less then a dozen panels, who knows what else might be wrong down the line.”“Fair enough,” I muttered. “Let me know if you find anything else.”“Can do!” Bob called cheerfully. 

I turned back towards my Kodiak and barely took two steps before hearing a massive ‘Clang’ sound.

“No! No! No! Bob you have to hit it from the inside to prevent property damage, remember? It was your idea!” Deadbeat screeched. 

“Sorry, I got excited,” Bob replied.

I just kept on walking.