If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn't plan your mission properly

– Colonel David Hackworth

***

I wanted to build up my numbers gradually, so I went looking for a small concentration of Macks next. Elya hacked into the security forces network for me as usual, so I could use video streams from the HANAF recon drones. There. A group of about twenty Macks, and the building they were assembled before had a rear entry one floor higher. That might lead to the balcony at the front where I would be able to use my favorite coward’s tactic:

Hit them from where they cannot hit back.

Someone had already broken into the rear door, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. I could get in without noise, and in the corridors single Macks might actually be at a disadvantage. I just had to make sure to keep my own around me.

I reached the balcony without enemy contact. Leaning over the balustrade I saw about ten Macks of various types, and I heard splintering sounds from below. Apparently the Macks had entered the building already. My taser went to work on those who were still in the open.

A minute later, I had gained a Type Four and six Type Ones as new minions, another Four and three Ones were dead on the ground. I told Elya “Bring these around to the rear of the building where we entered.” Playing it safe, when advancing further I wanted to have a stronger bodyguard.

While I waited, one of the typical emergence warnings was transmitted over the civilian data net. Out of idle curiosity, I had a closer look rather than let Elya summarize it for me. The text went like this:

Warning! Emergence Detected

An Emergence event has been detected at or near your location. Internet connectivity has been disabled. Phone systems have been disabled. …yadda yadda yadda

Late. Very late. I had been fighting Macks for at least five minutes at that point. That warning system sucked donkey balls, and this time the security forces network had been just as slow.

Soon my reinforcements were here, and we regrouped in the stairwell of the house. From there, my Macks and I went down to the ground floor. On that floor was a gallery with several small shops, many of those with smashed glass doors and windows now.

One Type Four stood in the middle of the floor. “Elya, make our Ones surround that one.”

The dog-shaped hexapods clattered into the room and formed a crowd around the Type Four metal squid. Then I stepped from behind the corner and signaled Elya to fire. With a crackling sound sparks danced over the Four. Somehow, the dance looked different this time, but it was effective and the Four showed as subverted on my augs. Now, to repeat that with the other metal pests.

“Elya, one Four to the door of that shop”, I pointed at the smashed in door of a bridal fashion shop. “The rest of our Macks watch my rear and flanks!”

With my rearguard thus given generous strength, I followed behind my tame steel squid until I could survey the interior of the store. A lone Model Four had gotten tangled in a coat stand and dragged down some of the dresses. Now it wore one of these like a toga, and somehow it had managed to put a veil almost correctly over its lone eye. Nevertheless, I was not going to marry it.

Double blink. Beams, sparks and crackles. The Four immediately switched loyalties, and I noticed that Elya had used the same new pattern for her hack attack. “Elya, your attack looked different this time. What’s up?”

I have developed a more accurate model of the Mack’s electronic vulnerabilities and how to best subvert them. From now on you can expect an improved conversion rate.

Nice. If that trend held, I might yet become queen of the Macks. But for now, I had a row of shops to clean out. At my estimate, there had to be another eight to ten units there, probably all of them Ones if I had read the aerial surveillance correctly.

So I rearranged my forces. I had four Type Fours by now, that I kept around me as bodyguards. As I had valid IFF codes at the moment to make my units appear loyal to their makers, I could use my Ones to search the building with impunity.

I found eight Type Ones in the various stores either alone or in small groups. Going from shop to shop with my own Macks I brought quick reeducation for most and swift death for the rest. Now I had a following of four Type Fours and fourteen Type Ones.

On to new conquests. I consulted the HANAF recon data again (courtesy of Elya’s hacking) and found a huge concentration of Macks of various types. They were besieging Willway Elementary. Again. Fortunately, at this time of day nobody should be in the school.

There were almost eighty of them, and from what I had seen last time at Willway, they had a tendency to go into the building. So there might be more. On the lawn behind the school two Twenty-Ones were digging in.

One interesting thing were the Type 28s grouped around the Type 21s. They were also close to the school. It should be possible to sneak up on at least some of them and try to subvert them. I was currently west of the school, so I sneaked through the gardens of the houses south of Mount Wells Drive.

Soon I had the school in sight. Macks were milling all around it. I sent one of my captured Ones ahead to see if it still was accepted as friendly. Yes it was. Time to advance.

I jogged up to the west side of the school on a path that would keep me out of the Twenty-Eights’ field of fire. Surrounded by my minions of course. Five Ones were in my way. Four switched their loyalties under the persuasion of the laser-taser and Elya’s skillful manipulation of their cybernetic brains. Unfortunately, Elya failed to hack the last one and it ran around the corner, reporting our threat to its brethren.

The Macks have just changed their IFF codes. It seems their tactics are evolving.

Now I had to hustle. I sent two of my Fours after it and sprinted to the southern wing of the school, close enough to one of the Type 28s that I might be able to hack it. I picked a window where I would not be in range of other ranged Mack units, leaned out and lashed out at the big sniper unit with my ranged taser. That did not have an effect immediately, and it turned around, aiming its barrel at me.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I dived behind the next wall. The fucking Mack followed my movement and shot at me through the wall. I felt like a horse had kicked me in the chest, and I was bowled over backwards. As I took a peek through the hole, I saw that my two Fours were attacking the Twenty-Eight and hammering at its eye with its spikes. The eye shattered, but then the Twenty-Eights across the field turned around and fired at them. With a sound like sledgehammers, their big projectiles punched through my poor Fours. Which dropped dead immediately.

In the meantime, hostile units streamed into the room behind me and engaged my remaining Mack companions. Hoses and pipes were ruptured and black, viscous oil splattered all over the room.

Against those new enemies my persuasion zapper worked again, and I ended with more units than I had before. I was back to four Fours and sixteen type Ones now, one Four and eight Ones lay in their spilled oil on the ground.

When I had recovered from the metaphorical horse kick to my torso, I fought my way back to the entrance hall of the school, struggling against a tide of more hostile units. Black oil squirted across the hall in copious amounts, electrical cables were severed and added crackling sparks to the din of the battle. All the time I took care not to be in view of the Twenty-Eights outside. I gained another Type Four, lost five of my Ones but captured three new Ones, and the ground was littered with nineteen dead units of various types.

Now the wave of fresh Macks came from the direction of the field east of the school. It seemed the Macks were charging now, like human soldiers of the past trying to storm a position with sheer numbers.

This time I managed to arrange my forces better, and the enemy either fell to attacks from the side or was captured. I lost only two Ones, but managed to kill fifteen enemies and capture three Fours and eleven Ones. My forces were replenished to eight Fours and twenty-three Ones now. The floor was positively slippery now with black oil and it became difficult to keep my footing. I had quite a bit of oil on my face and in my clothes too. Also, my pauldrons with the lasers and high voltage generators inside became uncomfortably hot.

I took a moment to catch my breath, but was interrupted by a massive form rushing towards the school. It was followed by another dozen light Mack units.

I recommend a tactical retreat

But where to? I decided on the south wing of the school again. While already somewhat perforated, it still offered the most room to maneuver and delay.

“Elya, use the Ones against the light enemy units. The Fours try to damage the big one's leg joints!”

The chaos of the ensuing battle exceeded even the previous one. The enemy Ones fell to the stabbing legs of my Ones, and mine even overwhelmed the enemy Fours with a bit of help by yours truly. I was however quite busy running from the Twenty-One, which made my hacking contribution less effective.

At that point six of my previous Fours were left, stabbing away at the leg joints of the Twenty-One. It had, however, managed to grab and smash two of them. By now it was a lot slower though, with most of its left legs badly damaged or outright broken. I had captured another Type Four in the commotion, which left me with fifteen Ones and seven Fours.

I directed my Fours to the other flank of the huge Mack to hobble it even further. This time I lost only one Type Four. The Type 21 was now too lame to bull its way further through the demolished south wing of the school, but another problem appeared. One of the two remaining Type 28s came around the building and threatened to cut off my retreat through the windows and towards the west.

I made a desperate plan. “Elya, can you use the Fours to hold down its barrel? I need to capture that thing, not kill it.”

An unusual move. But it's worth a try. If it gets loose, we can try to poke its eyes out again.

“Good.” I built some primitive stairs from chairs and desks to two windows, then I waited for the Type Twenty-Eight to come closer. As it was close enough, I gave the command and my Macks were boiling out of the windows. First the Ones as distraction, then the Fours, then myself.

The Twenty-Eight managed to shoot four of my Ones, then the Fours were on it. I sprinted close to the Mack and unleashed the full power of my hacking taser on the machine. From close up, the effect seemed to be stronger. A few seconds of wild flickering, then Elya overwhelmed its defenses.

At this point, I had eleven Ones, six Fours and my new Twenty-Eight minion at my disposal. As far as I could see, the enemy had a fully operational Twenty-One, a damaged and almost helpless one, a Twenty-Eight and probably a few units hidden in the north wing. It was almost dark now, and now the shadows could hide dangers one could easily see in the day.

I peeked through the hole the Twenty-Eight had made when it stormed into the building. The other Twenty-One had uncovered its glowing eye and seemed to look around. I pointed at it.

“Elya, do you think you can hit the eye with the gun of the Twenty-Eight?”

If it is not de-calibrated from the rough treatment, then yes.

“Try!” Elya walked the Twenty-Eight into position and started firing at the eye of the huge Mack. It tried to cover its eye, but too late. Elya’s second shot hit before the eye was fully protected and broke it. That left the surviving Twenty-Eight as the most dangerous enemy. My Macks and I managed to sneak close to it behind a shed, thirty meters from our target.

I repeated the method I used to overwhelm the previous one, and my Macks rushed it. This one reacted much slower and only managed to hit one of my Fours. Several seconds later, it was mine. Now I had eleven Ones, five Fours and two Twenty-Eights under my command. Exhaustion was setting in, but I would at least finish clearing out the school.

I collected my forces and marched back to the school, this time from the east. Through the hole the Type 21 had rammed into the building we could easily follow, approaching its massive body from behind. Three Type Four tried to tackle us, coming from the direction of the Mack’s head. Apparently the overgrown metal caterpillar had gated in more units.

I managed to capture two of them, my own Fours stabbed into the joints of the third one until it lay helpless on the floor. I gave it a thumbs down, Elya instructed one of the Fours to finish it.

That Twenty-One had to die before it brought in even more reinforcements. Fortunately, I had examined the broken and incomplete Macks at Styx Base. Now Elya and I knew exactly where the innards of a 21 were positioned. I stepped back and said

“Elya, a few shots through the reactor controller and the capacitors.”

Three shots out of the 28’s coil gun finished the job. From its middle part where the reactor was installed smoke and an acrid stench emerged. I went around the front and watched its eye gradually go dark.

My last act for today was clearing the rest of the school. Fortunately, the lights still worked so I did not have to stumble around in the dark. I found two more Ones and successfully captured them.

A look at the battery status of my laser-tasers showed eight percent left. Messages on the security forces network indicated that other Mack concentrations nearby were already hunted down by MGs. Time to call it a day.

“Elya, make all units assemble on the field behind the school.” A final inventory check.

As you command. Should they prostrate themselves?

I did not deign to answer that. Elya was obviously joking. Or was she? Either way, soon I had all my minions standing on the lawn in rank and file. Thirteen Ones, seven Fours and two Twenty-Eights. Some of them visibly banged up.

A group of Magical Girls came around the school. They had to be newbies, all of them in the “white” class. There were no colored markings on their costumes, which meant they had not found their specialization yet. As they saw the size of my well organized Mack force, they started to retreat. Too many enemies in one place, huh?

I subvocalized to Elya “All units, submit!”

My minions rolled over and showed their bellies to the Magical Girls. The 28s were a little slower, but then they, too, dropped onto their backs. It sounded like big dumpsters being tipped over.

I stepped closer to the MGs, pointed to my Macks with a sweeping hand movement and said with a big grin “Don’t worry, they won’t bite!”

It took me a while to calm them down and convince them I was not some evil Mack queen going to feed them to my machines. By the time I managed that, an all-clear message came over the network. Elya tallied up my score for the day:

You earned 2280 points today. That brings your total to one token and 5499 points.