Book 2: Chapter 41: Interim Movements

Book 2: Chapter 41: Interim Movements

USD: Five hours later

Location: Dedia IV Orbit, Space Elevator Rendezvous, Tears of Fire, Mess Berth

Alex confirmed a third and final bombardment, this time drawing a line of horrific fire in front of the main front. It was more spread out, but the Rexxor nest had spat out an increasingly large number of units after the first bombardment, which had taken the beleaguered militia by surprise.

If the Tears had more ammo ready, they would have likely called for a fourth, but as it was, they had already held position over the battlefield for over five hours and they needed to return to a proper orbit before they ran out of gas and fell out of the sky.

They also needed more tungsten for more kinetic projectiles.

She was also ready for a nap.

Nameless, notify the ground that we are pulling out for resupply and replenishment.

[Affirmative: Changing Tears of Fire ready status to non-active.]

Alex leaned back in her chair, looking over to confirm Elis and Boopers telemetry, and saw they were fine for the millionth time.

Everything was nominal, except for Boopers low ammunition levels and a maintenance alert on one of its multi-barreled gatling guns arms.

Elis and the Tears complement of combat drones wouldnt be returning to the ship until the last of the militia evacuated out of the town, and that worried Alex. The attacks had rapidly continued to escalate as the colonists had brought more firepower to bear. Alex wasnt sure the militia had a concrete plan for evac if they came under heavier pressure.

There was a certain amount of people required to defend the towns walls and it was not going to decrease as more and more of the defenders reached orbit. They had no real smaller secondary lines of defense or fallback positions once the main wall was breached, something she thought the command should have realized. Her opinion wasnt consulted or wanted, however, as the ground commander had shrugged off her single attempt to provide her opinion.

That disregard felt like it stemmed from a complete lack of recognition for the Rexxors seemingly intelligent tactics. She didnt understand how simple fauna could be capable of anything at this scale, even if they were supposedly like ants going into a frenzy. Even more, she didnt see how the colonists had such a large blind spot in examining that thought.

Alex sighed.

Nameless, can you send over an invoice to the Governors office for todays bombardment? Three volleys should be 150 million SE. Find out if they are going to reimburse us for fuel costs and we have to find our own supply or if they will transfer the fuel directly.

[Affirmative: Generating invoice and sending clarification request.]

She was just about to leave the CIC when a sudden sad beep chimed in her head.

|Credit Balance -1,560,344 SE|

|Total Balance: 630,421,507 SE|

Wait, what? Nameless, what just cost us over one and a half million credits!

[Informative: Credit balance update stems from updated system relay information. Analysis has detected a packet ship has arrived from 92 Pegasi. Inference has determined Starlight Revolution funds have been spent outside the system.]

Alex mentally pounded on the transaction in an attempt to expand the information to see just what had cost her so much money. Her vision filled with a glaringly red ad that filled her HUD.

|INTERESTED IN SEEING A DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF YOUR EXPENSES? THE CEC OFFERS AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE FOR THE LOW PRICE OF 500 MILLION SE CREDITS. SEE ALL COST REPORTS, INCOME STATEMENTS, AND SYSTEM ORGINIATION LOCATIONS, AS WELL AS REPORTS ON ALL MANAGEMENT AUTHORIZATIONS! |

Fuck! Is this thing seriously streaming adware into my fucking head?

The angry thought dislodged the text, but Alex wasnt pleased.

Nameless, can you, like, hack the CEC and fix this or something? Hell, fuck them and give us an infinite money cheat or something.

[Informative: The CEC SE standard is a quantum-triangular-matrix with 1024 mutations per]

Youre not smart enough to do it? Got it.

[Notice: The inability to perform this computation is not about intelligence, the time requ]

Blah blah blah. Nevermind, okay! If you cant do it; you cant do it.

Another sad sounding chime, then a third and fourth in rapid succession sent Alex into a mild panic as their balance rapidly began to move down in alarming chunks.

|Credit Balance -589,886 SE|

|Credit Balance -3,587,456 SE|

|Credit Balance -2,145,685 SE|

|Total Balance: 624,098,480SE|

She took a deep breath. There were only four members of Starlight Revolution. Nameless, Elis, and herself were all in the system. That left only one other person capable of spending the corporations credit chit like this.

A-3123Y, what the fuck are you doing!

USD: A few hours later

Location: Nu Crateris, Dedia IV Orbit, Rendezvous with Space Elevator, Tears of Fire



Alex slipped her captains jacket on. There was no way she was going to get it as neat as Elis had insisted, but she did her best to get it as close as she could in the time she had.

The crack of distant rifle fire was now a constant companion. Even if the assault ended in defeat for the Rexxor, there was now a constant pressure being put on the militia guardsmen. Thankfully, the evacuation had taken care of over half the civilians already. Nameless had also been delivering the basic firearms that the colonists were used to. Every man and woman who had requested one, received a weapon.

It was in the hopes that if a few Rexxor broke into the perimeter, people would at least be able to protect themselves.

As long as it wasnt a horde. The imagery from the earlier battle came to her, and she leaned against the brick of a building. Shed seen a lot of shit and been in it, too. But the sheer savagery and bloodletting of thousands and thousands of the creatures mindlessly throwing themselves into bullets and explosives was something else altogether. She couldnt imagine what the main armys primary front looked like.

Even fighting the nannies hadnt been as visceral. They werent flesh and blood, and although their swarms of machines might have been just as terrifying in some situations, they at least acted with rational thought processes that could be understood.

What she had seen earlier in the day was just pure bloodlust, akin to something she would expect from a rabid dog.

Elis had intended to go back to her room and get some more sleep, but feeling the need to unwind changed directions. She had noticed an active bar nearby that the local militia had taken over near her quarters. She turned to go in that direction.

There was no alcohol on the Tears, and she hadnt seen the need to correct that.

There were a dozen men and women outside underneath the cover of a porch, bottles of beer or other drinks in hand. It sounded like a lively crowd had gathered. They were probably here for the same reason she was, even though it was already in the wee hours of the morning.

As she started up the steps to the entrance, a mans arm suddenly came up to grab the porch post, barring her way.

Darling, this aint the place for a civvie, although Im sure we could make an exception for a pretty thing like you. How about ya spend some time with us?

Although she wasnt in her armor, she was still wearing her normal federation fatigues. She wondered just how lit the man was to not recognize that while she wasnt in a militia uniform; she wasnt a civilian either. One of his companions who already had a girl on his arm let out a laugh, but Elis only felt annoyance.

Move your arm or lose it.

Wooooah. Relax, doll. No need to be so tense. But if youre the frisky type, thats exactly what Im

He never finished his sentence as Elis slammed her shin between his legs, his shocked look disappearing as she followed up by grabbing his arm and flinging him to the ground behind her.

The sudden violence surprised everyone watching, but the mans buddies responded quickly, squaring up for a fight and moving toward her. A bar fight hadnt been in her plans, especially not before even getting a drink, but shed was alright with it. Although three on one was a bit much.

Fighting and being a bit rowdy was almost as good an outlet as drinking, especially after being blooded. It was a marine tradition. One she had been a part of many times before. Elis spat on the ground, backing up into the street to gain some space as she moved into her own stance, Alright, motherfuckers, lets dance.

Before they could oblige her, an earthquake sent everyone staggering for their balance and a cloud of sandy dust erupted behind Elis, rapidly enveloping her.

She didnt quite manage to suppress a cough as she tried to wave the dust out of her face, and a hand landed on something metallic as she regained her posture.

Booper was standing above her at its full height, its multi-barrel gatling guns spinning slowly in a threatening manner as it shined its floodlights on the three men shed been about to brawl with.

A low, angry Broooop escaped from the steel chassis, and for a fearful second Elis thought it was about to turn the men into meat paste.

She recovered first and patted the robots leg. Guess you assholes arent interested in a two versus three?

The men didnt respond, but their NCO did, bursting out of the building and taking in the situation in a single glance.

What the fuck are you ass for brains doing? Thats THE mercenary.

The off-duty militiamen looked at each other, uncomprehending expressions on their faces as their boss rounded them up and led them away. Elis didnt blame them for the shock. Booper had made one hell of an entrance.

The NCO waved at her, and Elis waved back.

She patted the robots side. Thanks, I think its fine now.

It let out a Boop and then turned to walk idly down the street, resuming its patrol throughout the town.

Entering the building without issue, she homed in on a lonely stool at the bar. The bartender wasnt interesting, but they did get her the drink she ordered in record time.

Although it had been outside, no one inside had missed the interplay between her and the idiots. She tried to strike up a conversation a few times, but she realized she had somehow become off-limits to socialization. Either she was too intimidating, or it was resentment for the damaged pride of their compatriots. Having a several-ton robot as a friend was also possibly damaging to prospects.

That suited her just fine, and Elis laid into several glasses of whatever the place was calling their liquor. The warmth had settled into her stomach and the heat of the room washed across her face.

It had been a long time since she had done this. Before her last cryo-tour had been cut short by the war. Normally, she had her squad beside her. She edged closer to the line of drunkenness that she would have not tolerated before. And that was saying a lot because her tolerance was high thanks to whatever ancestor had played with her genome.

She ignored the other patrons, but their sounds and laughter still poked at her senses. About to finish and go back to her room, a young man approached.

Is this seat taken?

She glanced at all the empty barstools that been vacant soon after she arrived before studying his face. He was young. The marks on his collar showed he was a lance-corporal, or whatever the militias equivalent was called.

He was handsome in a puppy-dog sort of way. He wasnt exactly her type. She would have liked to have found a woman, but she was thankful she wasnt very picky with that sort of thing.

A roll of laughter caught her attention, and she noticed that a table in the corner had its attention pointed at the two of them.

Looks like the seat is free. Those your friends?

He winced and looked back at the jeering militiamen. Uhh, yes Maam.

As he turned back to look at her, Elis reached up to grab his collar, pulling him to her for a kiss. It was short but communicative and elicited an eruption of cheers and egging from the man's friends.

Im leaving. Are you coming with me?

Yes Maam.