“Early warning sensor was tripped in the tunnel. It’s an Imperial battle group,” said Hind, one of the rebels manning the monitors. Flashing red icons marked where the enemy troops were.
“Is that a good or bad thing?” Quipped Dakota, her lips twitching into a smile..
“Bad. There’s a lot more of them than there are us,” replied Hind, an utterly dead pan. “They’ll be entering our mine fields shortly.”
Mai used her suit’s HUD to sync into the command centre’s systems. From there she selected the cameras which showed the enemy’s approach.
Damn, that’s a lot of enemies to kill, she thought, her stomach sinking. She’d expected more of a policing action by the Imperials than a full-bodied assault. Maybe her missions for the rebels had raised them from ‘minor annoyance’ to ‘eradicate with extreme prejudice and harsh words.’
“They’ve got nanosects, cyber-animals, vat-breds and humans,” someone said. Stunned silence filled the command centre. Nanosects were weapons of terror. Small, insect-like, they would burrow into the victim’s orifices before detonating a small-but-powerful charge.
“Well, at least they don’t know what we’ve got,” Mai watched as the first of the mines detonated. A couple of bodies were thrown through the air. “First blood to us.”
“Thank the gods you built up and down as well as out,” said Biao, another one of the rebels who had supported her prior to the showdown with Anna
pointed as another enemy force appeared on a different level. “Otherwise that force would be dropping down into where we’re standing.”
That was another thing which had surprised Mai. The original base had been on just one level. As if it was designed to be expanded. A blueprint, rather than an actual base. Or a base template to be developed.
“Second battle force is about to enter the upper traps,” Hind threw the scene onto the holotable so that they could all watch without having to patch in.
Mines and various other traps detonated, blasting the enemy into pieces.
“Anyone else getting BASE scores?” asked Biao.
Mai looked down at her menu. In the corner was a tab for the base. Opening that up she was surprised to see that the kills had awarded extra base expansion slots, the name of the rebel responsible for the kills listed on what looked sadly like a leader board.
“We can add more weapons, which will increase the base points available as they kill more enemies,” Hind said as he waved his hands and dropped a turret into the middle of the mecha hangar.
“All rebels keep an eye on your base menu. As soon as you’re able to, drop additional traps and turrets into the path of the enemy. Acknowledge,” Mai ordered.
A chorus of voices responded. The minimap flashed as rebels started to add turrets from the base points they’d already earned.
“Seems that defending the base is going to be a lot easier than we thought,” mused Dakota. More of the enemy had been killed by the outer defences.
“We’ve got a third battlegroup,” warned Hind, highlighting the new force. “It’s got heavier armour than the others.”
Looking at her base menu, Mai realised that there was an expansion point leading directly into the sewer. Selecting a twin-barrelled minigun turret, she dropped it into the river of sewage and directly in front of the entrance.
Blink-clicking it, she synced it with her HUD. Her vision immediately changed to that of the turret. It was a strange feeling. Even though she was still in the suit, she felt as though she was floating inside the turret.
A wave of vertigo, quickly followed by nausea washed over her, and she forced the bile that rose into her mouth back down. Turning, she swivelled the turret to face the enemy.
From the looks on the faces of the humans, they hadn’t expected a turret to suddenly pop up out of the river of waste.
Giving them no time to react she squeezed the ‘triggers’ on the weapon. The noise was phenomenal, a guttural ripping sound that made her bones vibrate.
A near-solid stream of tracers reached out towards the nearest enemy soldiers and their cyber-creatures. And they ceased to exist, blasted apart in the blink of an eye. Clouds of blood and remains filled the air as her bullets continued to scythe through them.
Spinning she directed her fire back up the tunnel in the other direction. It was just as devastating. She tried to pretend it was a hologame, not wanting to acknowledge the damage she was doing to her fellow human beings.
“Shit me, these turrets are devastating!” Mai gasped.
“Wait, you can get into them?” asked Dakota.
“Yes, sorry, sync with it, there’s a menu, bit busy,” replied Mai as she spun again to open fire on a squad of heavily suited Imperials. They took longer to die, and their weapons started to chip away at the turret’s armour.
It rang as though someone had slammed a hammer into it from behind. Turning again, she opened her mouth in surprise as she saw that the Imperials had a track-mounted cannon.
They didn’t have that before, bastards are forming weapons as they need them. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but not knowing how the military worked, she’d assumed that Cullers were granted special abilities. It was stupid, and she cursed herself for not thinking about it before.
Accessing her base menu she selected a laser cannon and dropped it into the sewer. Blink-clicking she synched with it, finding the vertigo much easier than last time. Laying the sights of the laser onto the cannon she blasted it to smithereens. It exploded, the blast killing even more enemy soldiers.
“I’m not getting kill notifications,” she commed.
“Me neither,” replied Dakota. “It’s going into the base points though. I guess because they’re not Cullers or Mogwai or such, and because we’re in the base defending it that it doesn’t count towards our Culling levels.”
The last turret rang from a heavy blow, its armour plummeted to less than fifty per cent, Mai turned once again and opened fire on another cannon which had appeared.
“Mai, you need to direct the battle,” warned Biao. “You can’t get wrapped up in a micro-battle of your own.”
Chastised, Mai set the turret to automatic and de-synced, staggering slightly as her vision returned to normal.
“Sorry, you’re right. Got tunnel vision.” She dropped another turret into the sewer out of spite. A minigun was two hundred base points, whilst the laser was three hundred.
Points well spent, she thought as the turrets wreaked mayhem.
Looking at the holomap of the base, she started to add further turrets. Seeing a section of enemy troops clustered in a room three base levels up, she sent a squad of rebels against them.
Another group of enemies had already gained entrance to the base by using some form of manned mining drill, so she dropped a series of acid pits and smaller turrets into their way whilst adding a series of walls. Between each wall she placed another turret.
“Well that’s just plain evil,” laughed Biao. “Blow a wall, face a turret. Destroy the turret and blow the wall. Rinse and repeat.”
“Thanks, I resemble that remark,” Mai smiled over at her friend, before turning back to the battle.
*
FIRST WAVE DEFEATED
The attack had taken nearly thirty minutes to defeat. None of her people had been killed, but the base had been penetrated in numerous places.
“We’re going to run out of bio-mass boost damned quickly if every attack damages the base like this each time,” sighed Dakota.
She was tired. They all were. The turrets and traps had done the bulk of the fighting, but the automated systems hadn’t proved to be as good as having someone actually manning the weapons.
Mai had been forced to split her forces into those manning the weapons, and those fixing the base and creating more weapons as the original ones were destroyed.
Lights started to flash, and sirens blared once more.
DOMINATION - WAVE TWO - HOLD THE BASE
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?
“Oh shit,” breathed Hind, eyes fixed on the monitor. “They’ve brought mecha.”
“It had to happen. We kicked their arse. We upped the stakes, so they’ve upped the stakes,” Dakota dropped a heavier turret into one of the upper base level approaches.
“They’re going to get deeper into the base this time,” Biao dropped turrets of his own into a different level.
Mai selected two squads and gave them orders to move to where the largest part of the new force was approaching. She added a couple of turrets and additional walls to give them protection.
“Don’t hold on to the last mecha. Hold as long as you can and then pull back. Builders, as soon as you see a force pulling back, drop some walls between them and the enemy. Acknowledge.”
She didn’t bother waiting for an answer, selecting another part of the base, and adding thicker walls into a corridor another enemy force was approaching.
“Think we can hold them?” Dakota commed on a private channel.
“Not a chance in five hells. We’re going to damage them, but they’ll just keep sending stronger and stronger forces,” Mai said.
“So why don’t we just make a run for it now?”
“Because if we do that, they’ll be able to hunt us down at their leisure. Our forces will be scattered, and it’ll turn into a series of small, one-on-one battles. If we defeat this wave, then we’ll be able to consolidate and make our escape before the next one begins.”
“We’re going to lose people,” warned Dakota.
“We always were. This way we keep the losses to a minimum.” She left the words I hope unspoken.
*
“Squad two engaging, squad three engaging,” Mai blanked the reports coming in. There wasn’t any point in listening to the reports as she could see the kills appearing on her minimap.
“Dakota, remember, hit them hard and keep moving.” She knew it was pointless reminding her friend, but nerves were getting the better of her.
“Don’t fret Mai, we’re all good. These fuckers are going to really regret attacking us,” chuckled her friend.
*
Mai looked at the five rebels in her team. Whilst it was hard to read the body language of someone encased in a three-metre tall suit of armour, the shifting feet and flexing hands let her know that they were just as nervous – or keyed up – as she was.
“Remember, fade out, strike and move, fade back in. Wait for your stealth to cool down before engaging the enemy. Our suits are not built to take much firepower, no matter how big they are.”
“Wish they were bigger and didn’t need us to have to use a catheter,” joked Jock. He’d been one of the first to volunteer for the stealth suits.
“I kinda like the nappies myself,” laughed Hind who had been the second fastest.
“Yeah, yeah. Enough banter. Let’s scan where we’re needed the most. Focus people.”
She followed her own advice, calling up the minimap and looking for hotspots she could flank and exploit.
“Corridor fifteen, the unit approaching through the old industrial area. They’ll be entering a large workshop in about two minutes. Lots of cover, bad lighting and once they’re in, they’ll find it hard to get back out,” Mai highlighted the route that the enemy would have to take. “We’ll take them in the workshop.”
As they made their way to the workshop, Mai had re-designated her team as the Cutters. Opening her SASS she saw that just that small gesture had raised her reputation with the rebels by another five points. She promised herself that she would look properly into how it worked when things were quieter.
Interestingly, the increase only applies to the rebels with me, she couldn’t work out why that was, but put it down to the fact that the name change only affected the rebels with her, and not the rebels as a whole.
Still, it means that I’m getting a good cadre of people who are going to be strongly loyal. If they survive the battle that is.
“Spread out. I’ll take up position nearest to the entrance. Once they’re fully into the workshop, cloak and engage. I’ll take the rear elements out as quickly as possible. Split their attention in two directions.”
Moving swiftly, she covered the open area of the workshop, sliding into cover behind a large drilling machine. It gave her both cover and concealment as well as a clear line of sight to the entrance that the enemy had to come through.
Scanning the minimap, she licked her lips as she saw the size of the wave they had to face. Whilst the rebels were punishing the enemy, they were already taking casualties they couldn’t afford. Thus far, three of her people were down.
“Dakota, I’m in position, move your people into sector five. I’ve dropped some turrets there to back up against infantry,” she ordered as she dropped a mix of turrets into the area she’d sent Dakota to.
“Roger that,” replied Dakota. “Good luck with your lot.”
Mai didn’t tell her friend to take care, she knew that she wouldn’t, and that Dakota would tease her mercilessly if she did.
“Boss, they’re here,” whispered Jock as if keeping his voice low was going to help hide them. “Five so far. Fast and dumb. They’re not expecting us.”
Fast and dumb, Mai smiled at the thought. The Imperials clearly didn’t realise that they were in a world of trouble. And she was more than willing to punish them for their hubris.
“Fifteen,” whispered Hind. “Still fast and dumb.”
Looking at her map, Mai could see where her team had started to ping the enemy, their locations added to the minimap and updating with each step they took. Five-to-one wasn’t the best odds, but the enemy didn’t have any stealth mecha as far as she could tell.
“Looks like the last of them,” Jock was still whispering, the tension in his voice raising her own anxiety. Palms sweating, she tracked the rear guard of the enemy mecha. It was a heavy, bristling with weapons.
Running a quick scan, she identified it as a T-36, an assault mecha with thick frontal armour and much weaker rear armour. Mai smiled as she realised that the enemy had played directly into their hands.
“Engaging,” Mai activated her suit’s STEALTH mode, the HUD rippling as a visual cue to demonstrate that she was now cloaked as best as a three-metre tall mecha could be. Stepping from behind her cover, she activated her MECHA skill, laying the sight of her tight-beam laser on the back of the enemy mecha’s knee.
Even as she kept moving she fired, the brightness of the weapon causing her HUD to dim automatically to protect her eyes from the glare.
HIT! 10%
-10% MOVEMENT
Sending power to her lightning fist and blades, Mai charged into battle. Her opponent was good. Despite the surprise they must have felt, they were already turning to face the new threat. Dropping to her knees, Mai slid her mecha along the floor of the workshop in a shower of sparks.
Sliding past the rear of the mecha as it continued to turn, she raked her blades across the knee once more.
HIT! 57%
CRITICAL HIT! – LEG LOCKED
Jamming her fist into the ground she brought her mecha to a halt. Leg locked, her opponent started to tumble to the side, unable to compensate in time and counter the momentum caused by its spin.
Surging to her feet, Mai smashed her hammer into the back of her opponent’s head.
CRITICAL HIT! 30%
STUNNED
The mecha collapsed to the floor just as if it was human. Closing she was surprised by the message which flashed up:
FINISH IT!
YES/NO
She tabbed the YES and a box flashed, showing exactly where she needed to strike. Rolling the opponent onto their back, she drove her lightning blades into its face, punching through the armour and killing the human inside.
KILL!
Chest heaving sweat pouring down her cheeks where the helmet’s pad wasn’t absorbing it, Mai took a look at the battle before her. Her rebels flickered in and out of existence, even her own systems barely able to spot them as they fought the enemy mecha.
Her counter showed that she still had twenty seconds left before she needed the STEALTH to cool down. Glyphs hovered above all of the enemy mecha, INTIMIDATION, FEAR and even PINNED showed. She needed them to panic.
An enemy mecha stepped out from behind a large machine that Mai couldn’t even start to identify. Weapons raised, it sent a stream of lasers towards Jock’s mecha.
“Fuck! That’s singed me short and curlies good and proper!” Shouted Jock as he threw his mecha to the side. She couldn’t help but be impressed with the manoeuvrability of the suits.
“Keep moving to the right, it’ll make them present their back to me!” Ordered Mai, running towards the enemy mecha.
“On it,” Jock’s mecha smoked from where it had been hit by the lasers, the damage didn’t look too bad, but the stealth suits weren’t intended for fighting other mecha toe-to-toe and she wasn’t sure just how much punishment it could take.
His opponent kept turning, raking the workshop with weapons fire as the pilot forgot about the battle as a whole, losing sight of everything but the enemy he was determined to kill.
Let’s see what else I can do if I’m up close and personal, Mai thought as she moved to within an arm’s reach.
TAKEDOWN!
YES/NO?
Closing the remaining distance, Mai selected YES. On its own the suit moved, the hammer arm snaking around the opponent’s neck, pulling the head up and back. The lightning blades stabbed twice into the exposed neck area, then dropped and pumped another three stabs into the rear of the mecha’s hip.
KILL!
It’s just like killing real people, Mai thought, feeling sick. She’d hoped that killing mecha would be different somehow, would remove the knowledge that she’d killed the pilot as well as the suit they were sitting in.
Dropping the smoking mecha, she fired her laser, snapping a shot off at another assault mecha who had one of her people pinned.
HIT! 25%
PANIC!
Mai smiled as the PANIC glyph appeared over the damaged mecha. Its armour was scarred, great slashes showing sparks every time it moved, its left leg dragging. There was a sudden explosion and the front of the mecha blew off, and the pilot ‘s chair launched them into the air.
That was dumb, she thought as the chair’s rocket fired the pilot straight into the workshop’s ceiling.
KILL ASSIST!
“Good kill boss!” Laughed Hind. What passed for silence descended. Mai had been so focussed on her own fights she hadn’t realised that all of the enemy were down. As were two of her people.
Never even bothered learning their names, the thought upset her. She wasn’t used to treating people as pawns, but this was what the battle had forced her into doing.
I’ll never let that happen again, she swore to all of the gods she could think of.
WAVE TWO DEFEATED!
WAVE THREE BEGINS IN 600 … 599 … 598
“Mai to all mecha, good job people. Pull back to the workshop. We’ve got less than ten minutes to prepare, gods help us all.”