As we neared the base’s exit, detonations shook the ground, and I heard the rumble of massive tracks. A fucking Type Thirty-Two. I stealthily approached the entrance, in the hope of regaining my data link to the Spectracopters.

Success! I quickly checked the state of the fight both near us and on Vancouver Island. In Victoria, HANAF and the MGs were still under a lot of pressure. The Magical Girl teams being cut off from part of their normal resources did certainly not help.

On our side things looked even more dire. Near the exit from the base a bunch of Macks were milling. The greatest danger came from the Type 32, which had already smashed the Explorer into scrap and was now looming over our escape route. Some Macks were already entering the tunnels in an attempt to hunt us down.

Falling back to my old tactics from the past, I used my Mack-zapper pauldrons to try and capture the Macks instead of simply destroying them. Strings of lightning played over the Macks, carrying cyberattacks that corrupted and blinded the enemy cyberbrains. The tactic proved dangerous, as sometimes only Pink Orchid’s defensive field kept the plasma blasts from the enemy Battlecats from roasting us.

But even so, we managed to turn a portion of the Macks to our side and made them into a small guard that kept the other Macks at a distance. After finally getting a moment of respite, I took the time to reorganize my little air force over Vancouver Island. Send those Spectracopters home for recharging. Relieve them with this newly manufactured batch. Refresh the Dragonfly screen over there. Reload the Bombardiers… wait, I’ll need something specific to take out the gargantuan Type 32.

“Elya, what ammo for the Bombardiers can I afford for fighting that fatass Thirty-Two? Perhaps something to shoot out the eyes?” Which I knew were one of the few weak spots on the huge steel monsters. We just needed to take out all six of them.

The DoubleTap Mk I tandem HEAT glide bomb with rocket assist comes to mind. The concept is far from new, and even pre-contact Humanity had similar weapons. The blueprint is therefore rather cheap at only 100 points. You need to buy the Class I Guided Munitions catalog for 80 points as a prerequisite though.

I chose not to haggle and just said “Yes please”. If we came out of this alive, the points from the fight would pay for the catalog and blueprints several times over.

“Elya, get me a flight of Bombardiers equipped with those ASAP!”

ETA twelve minutes. In the meantime, twenty Bombardiers with standard ammunition are close to arriving at your position.

I already could see those inbound on the tactical screen, escorted by a handful of Dragonflies. I selected all of them and assigned a pre-designed attack pattern, only marking the Thirty-Two as “Don’t attack, too hard a target.”

Relying on their glide bombs, the Bombardiers did not even bother to dive towards their target. Instead, they dropped their little packets of death from a kilometer up and then they were homebound to collect the next batch of airborne destruction.

Several seconds later, the glide bombs arrived. Those did dive if they calculated a reasonable chance of a successful hit. Which was the case here. Almost invisible in the night with their black hulls, they plunged into their targets and ripped them apart in powerful detonations. The number of active Macks outside suddenly decreased by half.

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Behind me, I heard a groan, a whack and “Fucking Cyberbitch, let me down!”

“Ow!”

“Is that you, Mantis? So sorry for hitting you! And thanks, thanks, thanks for coming for me!”

As I turned around, I saw a still pale B.S.O.D. who was supported by Mantis and made apologies for hitting her. As she caught my eye, she gave me a weak grin and said “Somehow I’m not surprised that you are mixed up in this.”

I had an idea. “We have another ten minutes until the next batch of my little bombers arrives. I’d like to use that time to plant some computer malware.”

The Battle Bugs agreed, if somewhat reluctantly. B.S.O.D. on the other hand was eager to help. Between B.S.O.D’s and Elya’s hacking abilities we quickly turned most of the manufacturing drones and injected the ”Parasite” rootkit into their cyberbrains. Most of the

stationary machinery received the same treatment.

Around us, the Battle Bugs steadfastly had our backs during our digital subversion activities. The clash of melee weapons, thunder from Ladybug’s lightning salvos and gunfire from my Battlecats surrounded us.

We finished just in time for my special wave of Bombardiers to arrive. Diving into my C&C suite, I set up waypoints and attack orders. This time, the bombardiers came low and fast. Hugging the ground, they drove towards the Thirty-Two and lobbed their deadly cargo towards its ugly face. A barrage of smart little glide bombs hurtled towards the deep-set yellow eyes and hit. Fountains of pulverized crystal erupted from the Thirty-Two’s eyes, accompanied by deafening explosions.

Taking a look outside the base, Ladybug explained “Oh shi… shucks, it still has two intact eyes!”

B.S.O.D: “Not good. We need to destroy all six to neutralize it.”

On my C&C suite, I could see another wave of the smaller Macks forming up. So I interjected “My bombardiers have some glide bombs left. I’ll have them launch at the remaining eyes, but then I think we need to run for it!

“I’m instructing my Battlecats to keep firing at the Thirty-Two’s eyes while we escape to the Mack aircraft that brought B.S.O.D. here. I’m hoping we can commandeer that.”

Subvocalizing I said: “Elya, as soon as we are close enough, try to unlock the Mack aircraft’s controls. Cooperate with B.S.O.D. as necessary!”

Seconds later, the Bombardiers came rushing in for their second attack. As before, they came in deep and lobbed their bombs in shallow arcs at the Thirty-Two. The primitive intelligence in the bombs recognized the hostile glow of the Mack’s eyes and dived at those. Another one of the yellow eyes winked out under the detonations.

At this point, a visibly recovered B.S.O.D. took command again. “Go, go, GO!”

Together we sprinted towards the Mack flyer. Elya whispered into my mind

Accessing the flight computer. B.S.O.D. is already breaching the ICE… We’re in but she seems not to recognize the code for the flight controls. I’m taking over.

Behind us, the Thirty-Two was swatting at the Battlecats as if they were annoying mosquitoes. A flood of smaller units was already surging around its massive treads.

Before us, the Mack aircraft came into sight. It was considerably larger than the Explorer. Cylindrical in shape with two stubby wings from which alien machinery protruded.

Just in time, the rear hatch opened and we piled in. “Elya, fly us home! Self destruct order to the Battlecats!”

Applying mutual fratricide protocol. The Battlecats will destroy each others’ sensitive components. Our technological secrets will remain ours.

At tree-top height, we were racing back to the relative safety of Vancouver Island.