“Rest is a rather fleeting luxury at the front for any soldier. Quite often the success of an operation hinges on the amount of time the troops get to rest. Samurai have it even worse. Very often they have to work nonstop for days on end, trying to stem the tide. Especially in areas that have very few Samurai available. The record was a nearly week-long period with nearly no rest for a Samurai in a small town in Switzerland. Suffice it to say, even with drugs to keep them running, anyone with that much sleep deprivation is bound to make poor choices or become agitated rather quickly.”
- Dr. Steven Johanson, Doctor of Psychology, 2043
When we got back to the shelter we found quite the surprise. Even from a distance we could see a flotilla of military vehicles surrounding an area in front of the shelter entrance. Soldiers stood guard, some sat behind huge machine guns placed on top of the trucks. All of them seemed alert and ready for any alien stupid enough to show up and make trouble.
Some of them, who saw us immediately, pointed their rifles our way, but once we got close enough and we waved at them they relaxed. I guess we were kind of definitely Samurai, considering the little army of Hexclaws and Sentinels following us.
I saw at least one person leave their post and run towards the shelter entrance. Probably informing their superior or something. It was a bit endearing to watch them work, they obviously were quite well equipped and seemed to hold themselves in a very professional manner. Much more than any gang ever could.
By the time we reached the defensive lines, a group of people came out of the shelter. At the front was a rather obviously high ranking officer looking guy, trailed by two soldiers, as well as Castas and Tina who stuck very close together. My eyebrows rose as I saw them approach, Castas and Tina looked to be way closer than just some people working together.
“Hey,” I said with a little wave, once they got close enough for them to hear me.
The officier looking guy saluted three steps away from me, “Ma’am! I am Lt. Blake, in charge of the rescue operations in this district. We have already cleared the western shelter without a hitch, ma’am!”
That was quite good news actually. Truth be told I hadn’t held out much hope for anyone to actually come, despite Patrick’s word, so this was a pleasant surprise. I also very much enjoyed the official treatment he gave us.
“Good. Things have been a bit… hectic around here. We’re just done cleaning out the Hive in the industrial area. Any complications?” I asked, looking around the group.
Castas snorted. “They got Purple Haze members on board. We’re organising things to keep the groups separate, you know how things are,” he said, crossing his massive arms over his chest. “Tina is making sure the people are cared for and the joytoys are happy. We got some plans on how to get everything rolling, once the shit here is dealt with. There was one close call with someone who managed to get more doses than he should have, but that’s dealt with and he’s still alive.”
I nodded and was about to speak, when I was interrupted by a yawn. “Well,” I muttered, shaking myself a bit to shake off the exhaustion, “Then I guess it’s time to head out. I could use some rest, but that can wait until we arrive, wouldn’t want to be surprised on the way. What’s the situation around town?”
“Pretty calm, ma’am,” Blake said, “The incursion seems to be a minor one. We had a close call north east, one of the defensive positions nearly got overrun by a giant flock of Ones and Twos, but it has been dealt with by the Family. They are also the ones who sent us here. With Bahamut still absent they have pulled as many resources as they could to protect this city until she returns.”
I wasn’t too familiar with Bahamut, otherwise known as the Dragon Queen. From what I heard, she was an older Samurai who had made a name for herself after utterly annihilating a corp some ten or so years back. She was also the reason the walls were erected. Outside of that, though, I didn’t know much, her name was known even in the outer districts, but it was a distant thing, mostly from feeds and such.
He snapped his fingers, “That reminds me. We were tasked with handing out an invitation to any Samurai we might find, there will be a big meet and greet tomorrow around six in the evening. You are free to attend or ignore it, however we have been told to let you know that there might be a big opportunity to earn some points soon.”
That had me raising my eyebrows in surprise and I shared a glance with Chloe and Jenna, both equally intrigued as I was. “Thanks for the heads up.” I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to get involved with the Family or not, but maybe I could at least show up for that and see how things went. I could still decide to fuck ‘em afterwards.
We spent some more time chatting about miscellaneous organisational items while the soldiers started filing out people into the transports. Once everyone was out, Lt. Blake led us to the leading truck. Even Castas and Tina, apparently the PMC treated them the same way they did Chloe, Jenna, and me, once they were told that I had put them in charge. That made me put them up a notch in my mind, they were very courteous and civil, definitely a point in their favour.
The truck was… stuffed. I did have some space to lounge around a bit, considering that I was rather small, but that was the exception. While we drove, I checked my virtual network. The entrance to the undercity was still calm, there had been a couple of xenos who had tried to get in, but between my Hatchlings and the gear we gave the people on guard duty, they had been dealt with without many issues.
The lure had also worked wonders to attract smaller groups. We probably could have made some points if we had stuck closer, but at this distance points were scarce, not that we needed much on that front. The defences themselves still held up, despite having taken quite the beating, and, from the looks of things, Chloe would keep it going until either the defences were overwhelmed or the lure destroyed. Not that we needed to keep Hatchlings or Sentinels there, so both Jenna and I had ordered our pets back. They were on their way to meet us at the destination.
Just as I finished the inspection, Lt. Blake turned to us.
“Crimson Princess, Ma’am!” he said, looking me directly in the eyes. I didn’t miss the fact that he very studiously ignored my charms and remained professional, which I really couldn’t fault him for. In a way it actually made me like him even more, he seemed to be a man of principles. But that didn’t mean I would make it easy for him.
“Yes, Lt.?” I asked with a sweet smile, shifting just so in my seat to pronounce my charms a bit.
“We have gotten word from HQ. The Samurai in the undercity is requesting assistance from anyone who has time to help. It appears that some xenos have gotten into the undercity and they are too overwhelmed with other issues. Considering the fact that we do not have many men to spare, we were tasked with informing any Samurai we could get in contact with.”
That was… not good. I glanced over to Chloe and Jenna, both of whom were glancing between me, the Lt. and each other, before finally settling on looking at me. With a shrug I turned back to Lt. Blake.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“We can go and see what we can do. Care to drop us off, Lt.?” I asked with a sugary sweet voice and gave him my best smile.
He remained stoic, not even acknowledging my attempts to trip him up. “Of course, ma’am, we should arrive near the entrance shortly.”
I had to give it to him, he had nerves of steel. Half the soldiers around him didn’t have near his professionalism.
Your penchant for distracting hard working people is… amusing.
I snorted at that, but didn’t comment.
True to the Lt.’s word, we arrived near the entrance not long after. It looked the same as it had been a couple of minutes ago when I had checked the status of things.
As we got out, I turned to him, “Lt. Blake, was it? Where will you be dropping these guys off?”
“We have a secure megashelter near the HQ. It’s about as safe as you can be in this city, ma’am!”
I nodded, then looked at him a bit more seriously, dropping the sugary sweet tone from my voice. “And I do hope the accommodation is no trouble? These people aren’t exactly made of credits.”
“I will make sure it is taken care of, ma’am.” he said with a small nod, obviously taking the hint.
“Thank you. Do that and I owe you a favour. Feel free to contact me when you know what that favour is.”
He nodded and I turned to leave, Chloe and Jenna already waiting outside.
“A favour, hm?” Chloe asked with a smirk when I arrived next to them. The soldiers didn’t waste any time and immediately took off again.
I just shrugged in response, catching her meaning, “I doubt he’d ask for something like that. He seems to be too professional for that. Best guess he’ll either ask me to get him or his people out of trouble, or he’ll ask me for gear.” I shook my head, “Anyways, let’s go save some people. I swear, though, if I can’t get some proper rest soon. I’ll fall over. And no Kaysa, I don’t want whatever shit you gave me earlier, that shit tastes foul!”
Jenna gave me a strange look, but I didn’t stop to explain.
When we got closer to the gate, I had the Hatchlings, still stationed as guards, walk in our direction, so as not to surprise the guards.
The Hatchlings in question were changed. All of them were bigger and had a much more refined look. Still alien, yes, but there was a good part of elegant woman in there as well, which should have clashed hard with the design, but strangely it didn’t. On the contrary, it fit very well, somehow.
“Well, you look different," I muttered.
I did mention they grow and evolve. The Hexclaw Swarm Intelligence is a Sentient Hive-Organism with a big focus on biological adaptability. They are one of the leading genetic engineers in the galactic community, one of the very few Hive-Organisms that can mesh well with non-Hive Organisms.
“Genetic engineers, hm? I mean, I guess I can see that, Hive-Organism doesn’t scream technology to me.”
You would be surprised, the Hexclaw Swarm Intelligence had already developed quite sophisticated technology by the time the protectors found them. Through their own unique biology, they are quite suited to fight off the antithesis, as their flesh is barely digestible for the antithesis, probably a side effect of their origin. The Hexclaw’s are not a naturally evolved species, rather the remnant of genetic experiments courtesy of their unknown progenitor species. The scholars aren’t sure who exactly that was, although historic records on the Hexclaw’s homeworld mention a so-called Hexswarm, which seemed to have similar characteristics as the antithesis, although instead of plants they were an animalistic species. The exact history, or even the validity of the historic texts are a topic of hot debate and often disputed as nothing more than nonsense.
I nodded, but dismissed it. As interesting as it was, right now I really wasn’t feeling up to a history lesson, and truth be told I much rather wanted to get the undercity chaos dealt with so I could head home and sleep a bit.
At the sound of approaching footsteps I looked up. It seemed that the guardsmen had figured out what the Hatchlings were up to.
“Princess, you’re back,” the man I had spoken to earlier greeted me with a nod.
The rest of the guards stuck close behind him, although still alert. Some were looking at my Hatchlings with dismay still, probably left quite an impression after they had taken care of the xeno corpses, and at least one person was looking at them with a look that hinted at much more lusty thoughts. Oh well, to each their own.
“That I am,” I replied with a smile, “We got a call for help from below, so we are here to help out a bit. Just waiting for the rest of our troops to arrive.”
“Any… Any news on Paradise Hills?” His tone was calm, but the underlying emotions were clear.
I shook my head somberly, “Nothing we could find. Place was cleaned out by the aliens. We couldn’t check the shelter though, too busy dealing with the Hive.”
To my surprise he nodded, and his expression lightened a bit, “That means there’s a chance then. Slim, but it’s there. Thank you.”
I just nodded, not really knowing what to say. At least they could hope, even if personally I thought that was a tad too optimistic to be reasonable.
With an obvious effort of will, he looked around in show, “Uhm, so… Can’t see your attack wolf.”
I nodded sadly, “Yeah, she sacrificed herself to destroy a Hive in the industrial area. Poor Snuffles will be missed.”
“My sympathies? I guess,” he tried, obviously not quite sure what to say.
“It’s fine. She went out with a bang. Without her we would have some Twenty-Ones running around. It’s better this way.”
That had them all stare at me with wide, panicked eyes. A model Three already was quite the threat to a civilian, models in the tens a nightmare, I didn’t even want to know how much destruction a model Twenty plus would have wrought.
“Anything we need to know about the undercity? You mentioned some gang dispute earlier,” I asked, switching the topic. The undercity wasn’t a place I was too familiar with, I had only been there once, and only very briefly, when I was still running with Thorns.
“Well, yeah. The remnants of Grey Wolves have taken one of the salvage towers for themselves, and Sweeping Dragon doesn’t take kindly to that. Before the aliens showed up, Wasps and Napalm were using the distraction to dethrone Dragons as the head honchos of the area. And as I said, Haze trying to fuck with the Doves, that won’t end well for anyone involved.” he shrugged as he finished.
“Who are the Doves? I don’t think I have heard of them before.”
He nodded, “Makes sense. White Doves aren’t really a gang, not like the typical folk anyways. They are mostly made up of doctors and people with medical knowledge, who help anyone who needs it. They are kind of off limits for everyone. Not that there is an actual rule saying that or anything, but messing with White Doves means you’ll have every gang in the undercity on your ass. Without them most people would have died long ago, and the undercity takes that seriously. Hell, Sweeping Dragon came to be because two gangs at war agreed on a truce after some fuckwit decided to attack a White Doves member. At each other’s throat on one day, fighting side by side the next. In effect Doves are the people in charge, as much as we have people in charge. ”
That was quite surprising. Normally people wouldn’t waste a single opportunity to take advantage of others, but these guys sounded downright angelic.
“How come I haven’t heard of them yet?” I asked.
“Well, they don’t do much, really. They help the sick and injured, but that’s about it. There have been some who tried to weaponise them within their ranks, but those fucks are quickly sold out to the other gangs and find themselves with a pound of lead down their throat.”
Just as he finished, my Hatchlings and Jenna’s Sentinels arrived. I looked around, doing a quick head count, before I looked back at the man in front of me, “Well, I guess it’s time for us to meet them. If they help poor souls nobody else cares to help, I have a big bundle of meds to drop off for them.”
All of the undercity people looked at me with a serious and thankful gaze.
“Thanks, Princess. You have no idea how much that means,” the man in charge said with an appreciative nod.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving it off, “Life’s shit, we gotta look out for each other. And it’s not like I’m doing it entirely out of altruism, if they’d be willing to help the redlight district, I don’t mind supplying them with what they need.”
He nodded again, then waved to someone behind him. The lad quickly turned and ran over to open the giant gate.
“Have fun down there,” the big guy said, before they all went back to their post, weapons at the ready.
We started to make our way over to the gate. Time to visit the undercity.