Chris Locke wants you! Tired of not having enough food on the table? Tired of seeing too many people unable to make ends meet?
It’s hard to know how to balance where to spend your Representation, Influence, and Stipend points. You only get so much RIS per quarter. Do you put it into Representation to get directives passed that help you? Or do you spend it on Stipend so you have a place to stay? And how much do you keep handy for Influence in case of a tax hike or you get a ticket? And those choices aren’t any easier when you are living on the basic points.
That’s why you should drop some RIS on Directive 6783. Sponsored by Chris Locke, the Directive to the National Council will increase the annual allotment of RIS that all citizens get. That will make it easier to use your points without putting yourself at risk.
--Cascadia Campaign add, 2047
***
The cultists quickly filed through the door one by one. Two of them handed Ginny weapons: a rifle, a pistol, and a knife. Seeing the knife reminded me that I hadn’t had a chance to pick up the knives I had been fighting with. I looked back at the sealed hole, troubled. Samurai had a reputation for abandoning gear all the time without care. Considering the number of points I had gained in the battle, I could understand that habit, but it still bothered me to litter that way. “Those were really nice blades,” I muttered to myself as I passed through the security door and waved at it for Tara to lock it up.
--There’s more where those came from, and even better. Although if you want to melee, you should take some lessons. Flailing about blindly like that isn’t the safest way to fight.
I decided to ignore my AI for a minute, beyond starting a new list Equipment: Melee (knives? swords? ), pistols. Then added to the Upgrade Ideas list: Melee Training.
I found Ginny talking with a couple people further down the hallway. “How are the people doing? Are they ready for a hike?”
“We have several that need some help: walkers, bandages, and the like. But none of them are as bad off as you,” she said, looking down at my body. Like a switch, the adrenaline wore off, and the pain rushed in all over my body. I looked down and saw that my shirt and pants were nearly black from all the shallow cuts I’d overlooked during the rush of battle.
I pulled open one of the slits in my pants to see the wound underneath. A thin red line showed, growing shorter as I watched.
--The nanites from the regen suite you took are still active and working. They should be good for these small wounds. They’ve already closed up the bleeding and will have the deeper tissues fixed after a short rest. But your clothes are a mess. I’m not sure I’d trust a Vanguard that looked as messy as you.
“I’m good. It’s healing fast.” I reassured Ginny. “While I’m thinking of it, let’s get that girl’s leg healed at the least. Corie, how many bandages do we need?” It ended up taking a good twenty minutes before we had the people’s medical needs covered and some Class 0 nutrient bars passed out.
We kept a person posted at the door closest to the former prison, but none of the aliens had broken through the prison walls. Tara reported that she’d bounced the signal from the drone left behind around the dead space. It showed that while the M-3 and M-4 could reach the blocked holes, they were still holding. None of the stronger M-6s could reach them due to the cell walls and narrow hallways.
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While we rested and ate, I was finally able to catch up with Ginny. “We have a total of one hundred twenty people to rescue. Ten of them will need help traveling since they are effectively immobile. We also have twelve children to watch and one pregnant lady—that cultist. Of the able-bodied, five are former cultists, and another five have some firearm training. I don’t promise how good of a shot they are.”
“How pregnant?” I asked. The last thing we needed was for her to pop while we had to run.
“Only five months along. Not enough to worry about her going into labor, but it will slow her down.”
I sighed. “So what you are saying is that we won’t be moving fast.”
“I’m saying we might get up to a slow pace.”
“Put them in wheelchairs,” suggested Kaitlyn. “And have the people in the chairs hold onto some of the littles.”
--A class-zero wheelchair will cost 3 points due to its size. I can make them extra-sized to hold two additional children for another point. But that will make them heavy enough to need more people to push.
“I’ll buy some basic wheelchairs, but not the extra size. That won’t speed us up. There are those boxes to get past. I know there is dignity in being able to move yourself, but even the more mobile elderly will be in a chair. I’d rather they be indignant and alive than plant food. If they can’t keep up with a normal walking pace, they get a ride.
“We need to move fast, or the Anti’s will catch up. That wall and door won’t hold forever. Were there any more weapons in the security station?”
“No, we grabbed them all. Unless there was a hidden locker.” Kaitlyn said.
“That’s not worth the time to search for it. I’ll buy new rifles for you two, and you can give the AK-47 and P5-AT to ex-prisoners. With that and the weapons from the cultists, they will have three rifles and a pistol. And I’ll get a couple extra mags for the new stuff. It’s not good, but enough to hold off a couple Threes until help can arrive.”
“I’ll have them keep an eye out for more to scrounge up as we go.” Ginny said.
“As long as it doesn’t slow us down, I’m ok with that. I doubt they’ll find any, but it might not hurt to look. Our first concern is speed. Anything else?”
“Drones. We don’t have any that are fast enough left. Also, Feed One has had a couple doggies pass by. We should hurry.” Tara had been monitoring the drone we left beyond the machine room.
“I’ll get six of the Chibats. Send two forward and keep at least one behind, but also keep a couple in the middle of the group. I need to know as soon as there is anything suspicious. Let’s get busy. I want to be moving again in 5 minutes.”
With that, we broke up the meeting and started wrangling evacuees. When everyone was ready, we added four former prisoners to the conference call to help wrangle people. I addressed the leadership team, “Our goal now is to get out. No more side trips, no trying to stop the Anti’s from escaping. We just leave.
“I’ll be at the lead until we get to the machine room. I want Kaitlyn and Ginny with me for that. Kang,” I said to the one in charge of the armed ex-prisoners. “Your people will be at the other end of the line from me. Depending on what we find in the machine room, we’ll rearrange the order there.”
I muted my mic and spoke louder so the whole group could hear me.
“We’re ready to move out. I know you all have had a hard time, and I admire your strength in making it this far. We only have a kilometer and maybe a bit more, and you’ll be out of this hell and back to your life. That said, I won’t lie. This will be dangerous. I’ll be protecting you, but I can only do that if you all stay together. If someone goes off chasing a wild hare, I’m sorry, but if you do that, you will be on your own. My duty is to protect as many of you as I can, not any one individual. So please, stay together and help each other. Let one of the leaders know if there is a problem, but to be honest, unless it’s life-threatening, you might have to suck it up. Now, enough of the speeches. Let’s get moving.”
I turned to the door to open it. And it did not move. I unmuted my mic for the conference. “Uh, Tara, can you, um, unlock the door?” The people behind me laughed. After a second, the door clicked, and I opened it. Ginny had found a vaguely wedged-shaped thing in the security office and jammed the door open.