61 Book 4 - Chapter 119

Y:2142

Inter-Academy Round 4 Fortescue Points: 418, Rank: 6, PR: 0.5225

Term: 3, Round: 4

Daedalus Operating Capital: +1,600,000 bitcreds

"They're blocking our primary connection," Mace stated after a few minutes of checking her systems. "One sec, I'll reroute and use one of our alternates."

Mace smiled in satisfaction, "Our neighbour's connection is coming in handy, the organisation overlooked it again."

The pair were sitting close together, Daedo and Myrmidon were attempting to track the remaining operatives while keeping a close watch on the tunnel network. Mace leaned her back to Daedo's while testing the security of their internet connection.

"It's ready," she announced and waited expectantly for what he would do next. It was typical that Daedo would not ask for advice or approval unless he was not sure of his chosen action.

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"Can you keep watch while I make calls?" He asked.

"Swap positions," she said because was facing the wrong way.

They slid around in the dirt, the exos doubling their normal mass.

Daedo messaged his first contact asking for voice comms.

"Well," the deep voice said as the way of introduction, "You've stepped in it now haven't you."

"Yes Sir, Sorry Sir," Daedo replied. "Colonel do you have any advice, or is there any way the EUDF can intervene?"

"Sorry Cadet. My hands are tied. I tried to organise maneuvers in your vicinity, but that was immediately quashed. I've never heard of this so-called organisation, but they seem to have pull with command. The O10 General contacted me directly and told me to stay out of it. If I were to offer advice," Colonel Martin went quiet.

"I'm not sure where to begin. Has surrender been ruled out as a viable option?" He asked.

"Yes," Daedo replied without going into details. Even if he had changed his mind, it was likely that surrender would not reverse the recently applied death warrant on Mace and her parents.

"Your perimeter is secure?" Colonel Stanley asked.

"It's under control," Daedo replied. "Our current situation could be classified as a stalemate with a few intruders that need to be nullified."

"Mm," the Colonel grunted non-committedly, "And, is your supply line open?"

"No Sir," Daedo replied.

"You enemy could bring more forces to bear, and I assume their entire capability is unknown to you. Is this correct?" The Colonel asked.

"Yes Sir," Daedo confirmed.

"It's not wise for you to send me any data. There is nothing I can do on my end to secure it, as its all open and accessible to command. Including his conversation cadet. With that in mind, I suggest you break out and leave the area. Lose your pursuers. Understood?"

"Yes Sir," Daedo replied, "Understood. Thanks for the advice," and after a short pause he added, "Out." And with that Daedo ended the peer to peer voice connection.

"What was that?" Mace asked guessing something was up.

"We feint an escape for a diversion …" Daedo trailed off leaving out what they would use the diversion for.

Mace chuckled lightly, "He must know you well." Her brow creased, and she became more serious.

"He was right with one thing, we have no idea what else they can throw at us," Mace said. She sounded concerned which was a change from her aggressive stance up until now.

Daedo sent his next message. "You need to ensure this voice chat isn't monitored," he asked Mace.

"And watch the corridor?" Made queried.

"I thought you were good? And Myrmidon will help watch the corridor," Daedo replied.

"Did you just tease me?" Mace was startled.

"No. That was issuing a challenge designed to activate your instinctual drives," Daedo recited leadership communication basics coursework.

"Pfft, like I need motivation. They are trying to kill me … my parents now don't forget," Mace said with lightly humoured disgust.

"Daedo, we're here," Vannier said over the comms, and the rest of Daedalus appeared in the list of participants.

"I need to make this quick, the last thing we want is for this to be intercepted," Daedo stated.

"What's going on are you ok?" Ikaros asked.

Daedo nodded, "We are fine, but they have us hemmed in with six mechs which wouldn't be an issue, but Mace's Father is injured, and we have no way of treating him."

"Can you get him to the Wadan village?" Axelzero asked.

"It's possible, but we would need diversions. Otherwise, it's an obvious location for them to hunt for us," Daedo stated.

"I'm an expert at diversions," Barran declared. "Can we bring out all seven mechs?"

"We need to bring them up to the latest desert specs and procure a first-class medilab. Also, Father, can you check the design platform and construct seven PPC rifles, the mech variant 2.5?"

"I can, and Etana, the mechs have already been prepared. It was all we could do to keep some of your friends here," Ikaros replied. It went without question that only Ikaros had access to the latest PPC design, it wouldn't show for anyone else.

"That's great, get on the guns now, they will take time to manufacture," Daedo requested. "Vannier can you an Axelzero get a mobile medilab that will fit in the carrier and before the PPCs are finished."

"Can do," Vannier replied. Axelzero was already searching through models and availability.

"We are tracking the mechs, which are patrolling just out of range of the PPC sentry guns. We also have infantry hostiles in the base, but they are under control at the moment. It may be possible to land on the base, or you may need to walk in from 50km. I will contact you in twenty-four hours for an update, any questions before I go?"

"What's the extent of Mace's Fathers injuries?" Axelzero asked.

Daedo flicked the squad some images, then a added a brief verbal description of the injury, status and treatment.

"Wait!" Barran exclaimed, "Can I see vids of the PPC sentry guns taking out hostiles?"

"No," Daedo replied, "It's not important."

"It is to me," Barran replied and even received some moral support from Picard.

"When everything is over. Daedo out," he said before cutting the voice connection.

Daedo: we'll be back online this time tomorrow.

Mace cut the connection and inspected her trace and security program dashboards.

"Looks clean," she stated. "Nothing I can detect."

"You've been in front of them so far, your Mother confirmed they only found us using old school methods."

Daedo: Myrmidon, bring up the 3d virtual map. Good.

Daedo zoomed in on one of the sentry guns and moved it west dragging it virtually with his finger.

Daedo: can we move it here?

Myrmidon: tunnelling won't be an issue, but we would need to extend the power conduit.

Daedo: Mace and I will engage the operatives. This will enable you to bring in the working bots to repurpose the unused conduit between reactor 002 and 001.

Myrmidon: Digger 003 will start now. Do you need 002 for your attack?

Daedo: Yes. The heavy diggers give us a significant tactical advantage.

Daedo stood and looked back at Mace, "I had an idea. We need to push on the operatives to give it a chance."

"What's the idea? You hold too much back Daedo" Mace lectured.

"We're going to move the PPC sentry gun and catch their Mechs off guard," Daedo replied.

Mace grinned, "I love it. I would also love to rid this base of those operatives." She said standing and hefting her railgun.

Daedo nodded, "They're hard to find, but, I have to agree. It'll be much easier for us if we can clear the base." He pulled up a map on his HUD and shared with Mace.

Mace sent out her tiny spyderbots and added their sensor data alerts to the HUD. After the spyderbots made it through the solitary entrance, Daedo had it closed by one of the diggers. The dirt tunnels were serviceable, but without constructofoam lining, they were easily collapsed by the diggers.

The main base consisted of constructofoam lining, but the sentry gun network was new, the manufacturing and construction tasks were focused on building the emplacements themselves. There was a thin gel-like layer which kept the tunnel from collapsing, and the digger cut through this protection quite easily.

The pair walked behind a digger, guns drawn and alert. They were heading to the breach tunnels dug by the operatives who had not shown themselves after the former cadets had taken out two of their cutters.

They walked on in silence, sending intermittent text messages across each other HUDs. The digger finally broke through into the original breach tunnel, and the pair exited as quietly as possible, sending off the digger to make noise elsewhere.

There was little point in attempting to be stealthy other than not advertising their position throughout the base. They were in exos, not stealth suits. It was their adversary which had to hide from them. However, they did move slowly, checking for traps, or possible ambush when they entered a crossroad.

As they approached the communications hub, which was near blown reactor they heard voices.

Mace looked at Daedo, they couldn't quite make them out.

Daedo: recording. Myrmidon can attempt to decipher later.

The pair laid in wait, wanting to gather as much intel as possible before engaging. Mace suddenly noticed a slight movement from behind, and she turned only to see a large hammer swung down towards her head.

The hammer's head was approximately thirty kilograms in weight and swung from a handle almost two metres in length. The tall operative who wielded the makeshift weapon must have been strong. The weapon itself was probably scavenged and put together from parts in the manufacturing area due to the superior armour of their exos. The operatives had not brought weapons which could harm the former cadets, the were jury-rigging what they could in response to their ineffectiveness.

The seemingly large and mysterious spy agency simply known as the organisation had underestimated the young cadets who owned Daedalus severely.

Mace did not hesitate, she launched a grenade directly into the operative's midsection. Upon reflection, Daedo was not certain if she calculated this action or merely reacted. The Daedalus exo could take a few grenade blasts before becoming inoperable.

An operative in a stealth suit could not. He was shredded like vegetable matter in a blender. First, his body split into segments before muscle and bone were indistinguishable in a mess of blood and guts splashing against the white constructofoam wall.

The exo Mace was wearing was damaged, but still fully operable. There were nasty gashes across her torso where the mesh underlay was now visible. The ceramic plate on her left should came off entirely, and a large cut was visible through the mesh, which began to leak bright green hydraulic fluid.

Daedo used his jumpjets and flung himself inside the communications hub, he spun while shooting his railgun. Two nets flew at him from opposite directions. They were the electrified version he had encountered before, however, they may have tweaked the output or were relying on the seconds of incapacitation they offered as a chance to disarm or disable him.

Daedo would not give them that chance. He fired a grenade into the ceiling in front of the incoming nets at the point of intersection, and enough of the roof fell to bring them down crashing as he skidded and lurched to avoid the chaos.

The fast-moving exo was draining power at an unsustainable rate with the shield, jumpjets and life support active concurrently. Daedo had deactivated the jumpjets, and he was down to one minute's worth of storage available for the life support and shield.

He briefly considered deactivating the shield but discarded it immediately. It would be better to fight all out for a minute, with his railgun and grenade launcher it would be over soon.

Daedo: use the diggers to surprise our opponents, highlight any breach on the HUDs.

Myrmidon would assist Daedo and Mace by bringing in diggers as fast as possible to collapse a roof or floor. There were service and old tunnels close at hand he could utilise.

The operatives in the room with Daedo were behind cover which consisted of repurposed base equipment. The railgun would be able to penetrate almost anything except the foundry furnace or ladle, neither of which they had on hand.

As they sat behind the cover thinking they were safe for the moment, Daedo began to fire his railgun. If the operatives had a plan they were about to unleash Daedo did not care, it was difficult to track them down, and they were adept at running away. While he had them in his sights, he wanted to end this. He wanted his base back.

With the constant threat from the infiltrators he was unable to build anything, they had taken out the main reactor and even if he had attempted to build something they could have easily sabotaged it.

The extremely high-velocity rounds were designed to penetrate the most advanced exo armour, and they shredded his old equipment before perforating the operatives. In the end, the railgun rounds weren't lethal, but the shrapnel from the shredded equipment was.

Each round punched a large hole through their cover and the material which had previously occupied the hole splashed all over the operatives. The cover was adequate, but the operatives were numerous; barely a shot occurred that was not followed by a painful scream or a grunt and a thump.

After he had decimated all the cover positions, Daedo began to move around the room, checking one body after another. They were all dead, and none had fired upon him after the initial attack with the nets. He wondered if they had something else planned as he looked towards the door where Mace was still fighting.

The initial blast had stunned her, she was used to AR where the blasts were fake. Apart from the light display, there was little to compare to reality. There were no shockwaves in AR.

As soon as her head cleared two more operatives charged her, they had forgone either assault rifles and wielded large metal objects. But as soon as she thought they had all turned primitive, two more began to unload their clips into her armour.

Mace did not attempt to dodge, nor did she pull out her railgun. She pumped frag grenades at the feet of her attackers and disregarded any residual blast damage she suffered.

Her shields handled the minimal amounts of shrapnel that hit her at the extremity of the blast range. She did not suffer similar damage to the point-blank blast at the battles inception.

"This…." She shouted as the first shockwave knocked the melee combatant into a wall pulverising him.

"Is," Her second shout preceded the second explosion.

"Our," The first gunner had cover, but it was inadequate as the grenade bounced off the ceiling and down onto his position before shattering his spine with a shockwave from above his head. The shrapnel was inconsequential, he was dead before it sliced through his body.

"Base," she seethed at the last operative who had turned to run. The shockwave pushed him forward, and he skidded along the floor leaving a trail of blood as what was his face lined the floor.

She turned to see Daedo standing in the doorway, and due to the blank faceplates of their exo helmets, she could not tell he was open-mouthed.

"I think that's all of them," Daedo stated after a moments silence. "What's your count?"

"Five," she replied.

"Eight," he said.

It was Mace's turn to be stunned.

"Eight?" She asked.

He nodded once slowly.

"That's twenty-three all up and if we include your parents, twenty-five," Daedo observed.

"Their estimate was twenty-four," she stated.

"I hope that's all of them. I want to get this base back up and running," Daedo said.

Myrmidon: The diversion breaches have been aborted.

Daedo: Thanks. What's the estimated time to enhance the audio?

Myrmidon: no access to the net affects my research capability. I would require ten seconds access.

Daedo: Granted. Mace will secure for you as soon as possible.

"Myrmidon needs net access to download code to enhance the audio we captured," Daedo asked Mace, and she nodded.

The pair went about their business repairing the base. It had suffered damage from the battles, sabotage and even breaches caused by the cadets themselves.

They checked and repaired the bots who went straight to work. Mace checked for tampering while Daedo ensured they were in working order to the best of his ability. He did not have much experience as his Father usually did this work. His rudimentary understanding was enough to get basic systems online except for two which were beyond his capability to repair.

While the digger moved a single sentry Daedo placed the order for a second to be moved a kilometre so he would have two underground sentry guns in range of the enemy mechs.

If there was an attack in the interim, he still had eight online.

The next major task was repairing reactor 001, it was a model built in Nanterre by Cisse, and after an hour of assessments, Daedo deemed it beyond his capability. The robots connected the base to the two reactors from the sentry gun network, and he added an automatic bypass. If the guns required the power the base would lose it, they took precedence. He would have to override if a circumstance required the opposite.

Mace collected her Mother and unconscious Father as the robots disposed of the dead operative bodies or what was left of them. After picking through their equipment, the remains were incinerated in the furnace.

"Mother, is there anything here that should concern us?" She asked.

Her Mother contemplated the dead, but did not raise it as a concern, she picked through the equipment and selected a single item for destruction.

Adele looked up from the equipment, her eyes welling up but no tear dared escape, she then said sadly to her daughter, "You know," she took a single shuddering breath, "They will never stop."