It took but a bit for Kashi to put her plan into motion. Using the schematics she had taken and working her way carefully through the service tunnels, the courier made her way to the place best suited for her clever plan.

The drop hangar was one of the largest rooms in the outpost and the acoustics echoed off the walls. If the outpost was still active, this would have been where the aircraft Kashikoi loathed so much would land and take off. Being but a small outpost, the hangar only had one place for aircraft to launch.

A door was set into the floor to quickly launch an aircraft in an emergency. There was no sign of any flying machine in the bay and it seemed to be used instead as a warehouse. But per regulations the door was clear should they need to receive an aircraft.

“Perfect,” Kashikoi wrung her hands in anticipation. “Now Mr. Robot, I’ve got a surprise for you. You ready to party?”

Taking the audio message cylinder Kashikoi cranked the volume to MAX and set it on the door and let the message play on loop.

“Captain Gascal! It seems running an outpost is a task beyond your capabilities! You have failed to make your weekly report and you do not seem able to answer any of your communication lines. Consider yourself reprimanded! Send your report or your next assignment will be janitorial work in the latrines.”

The tongue lashing echoed off of the walls, as Kashikoi smiled and crouched by the door controls. The message was on repeat as the furious commander dressed the late captain down, over, and over and over again.

“Any minute now,” she stated.

Nothing happened. Kashikoi’s ears lowered in disappointment.

Then there was a thunderous crash as the robot charged into the bay, heading straight for the message cylinder.

“Gotcha!”

Kashikoi grinned as she pressed the button, sending the robot and message cylinder plummeting down to the wasteland far below.

Kashikoi ran to the door wanting to watch the hated robot fall. It was already but a dark spek tumbling away.

“Yeah! That’s what you get! I freakin owned you! Loser,” Kashikoi taunted as she made a rude gesture at the falling robot.

Then there was a bright flash of flames as the object suddenly righted itself and began to move upwards, back to where it fell. Kashikois mouth hung open and her tail sagged.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Oh, that’s so not fair! That’s BS!”

Quickly the neko ran back to the door controls and pressed the button. The doors began to close agonizingly slow. Not wanting to press her luck the neko ran. She had to get some distance between her and the robot. She had just cleared the bay when there was a terrible shriek as the robot smashed through the half open doors.

Kashi ran once again. It seemed like her one best bet for ending the robot had come and gone. In desperation, she ran to the only place she could think of that would give her even the slightest chance of victory.

The neko rounded the corner as the thrumming of robotic limbs echoed behind her. She found the steel door wide open with two bodies lying contorted in odd positions nearby. She slid into the open room, her eyes lighting on what she sought. There in the grip of one of the dead soldiers was a long tubular object.

“Yes!” Kashikoi shouted as she struggled to free the weapon.

“Let go of it dummy,” she grunted as she tried to free the weapon from the stiff grip of the corpse.

She had just gotten the weapon loose when Kashikoi felt a tightness around her waist and ankles.

“No! No, no, and no,” the woman shouted. She looked down to see metal tendrils wrapped around.

Suddenly and violently she was dragged from the room. Her hand slipped on the rocket launcher.

“I don’t do tentacles,” she shouted as her hand caught the strap of the rocket launcher. Kashi quickly pulled it to herself and rolled onto her back.

“Aaaaahhhhhhh,” she yelled as she flipped the safety off.

The robots metallic shell gleamed before her.

“I’m shutting you down for good! You stupid robot!”

Kashi pulled the trigger, shut her eyes, and opened her mouth to protect from the concussive force. There was a loud whoosh and a deafening explosion. She could feel the heat from the blast as bits of metal fell like hailstones.

The tendrils grew limp.

Kashikoi opened her eyes and stumbled to her feet. She swayed as her ears rang and her tail twitched. Grabbing a thermal grenade from the wall, she hesitantly approached the robot. A large hole had been blown inside the armor and smoke poured forth. There was the stench of fried circuitry.

“Yeah! Screw you,” Kashikoi shouted.

The robot shifted, lights flickering on and off.

“Crap,” the neko shouted as she ran forward and tossed the thermal grenade inside the wound of the robot. “Just die already!”

There was a bright flash and a stronger smell of burned circuits before the mechanized monstrosity lay finally still.

Kashikoi fired a few shots into the hole of the robot just to be sure it was dead for good before poking at it with a rifle butt.

“Is you dead now,” she asked.

No response.

Kashikoi was about to say something celebratory, but remembered every time she had something else had gone wrong. So she refrained. Eventually, the neko gathered her supplies and found a way to open the door.

As she set out back across the light bridge for Aerios she cast one last look at the abandoned fort. The sun had set leaving the outpost a black monolith against the bright starlit sky.

“Well that was something. Let’s not do that again,” Kashikoi said as she gunned the throttle of the cycle and headed back home. Someone else could take care of the mess of the ruined outpost. As for her, she wanted nothing more than to take a shower and lay around her apartment with some chocolate and catnip.