Chapter Twenty-Five - Making Fans |
Chapter Twenty-Five - Making Fans
"When the price of oil rises, so does the price of all other goods. Our transportation and power systems requires it to function, and all other enterprises, therefore, are impacted by changes to the price of crude. Did you know that oil is a hydrocarbon? One created by long-dead and rotten vegetation? Did you know that the Antithesis are vegetation? An infinitely growing source of it? Do you see where I'm going with this?"
--Mark Mux, CEO of Crude Corp, in a 2034 press conference
***
I really wish I could stay home. Maybe I could convince Lucy not to go to school today? Just hug her tight all morning and never let her leave? But... no, that would be rude. She wanted to do her thing, and it wasn't like I didn't have a million things waiting for me.
So I let her go, then got dressed myself, had a coffee while half zoned out in the kitchen, then stumbled into the Bastion and set the auto-pilot for Quebec city.
I really should have taken a nap, because I landed more annoyed than I had been when I slipped out of bed.
The Bastion settled down on the edge of the military compound in the northern bit of Quebec, not too far from the wall and not that far off from the tower that Libre had planted his operations in.
There were a lot of soldiers moving about outside.
I hadn't been a samurai for long. And before that, my experience with combat could be summed up by me getting a few black eyes and maybe chipping a few asshole's lips in an alley. Still, I wasn't so stupid that I couldn't look at the way these people were moving and figure that something was up.
"Looks like fun," I muttered.
For a certain definition of it, certainly. You might want to head out equipped for combat.
Urgh. But if Myalis said so... "Fair enough," I said before I left the cockpit and geared up. Bullpup rifle at my back, reloaded handgun at my side, coat on, a few 'nades tucked into my bandoleer, big girl pants on, the whole kit, really.
I stepped out of the Bastion, followed by the thumping of two mechs following after me. It was just moments before someone came out to meet me. I didn't know how to read ranks well, but the guy that drove over in a little Jeep-like car had a small row of tinsel on his front so I figured he ranked somewhere above private and below important. "Samurai Stray Cat, Ma'am," he said as he stepped out of the vehicle and saluted.
"Uh, at ease," I said with a wave. I'd have tried to salute back, but that'd just get me mocked. "I see everyone running around. What's going on?"
The solider nodded and slid into a very slightly more casual stance. "Samurai Libre has warned us of an incoming Antithesis incursion along the eastern banks of the city, and there is rioting."
"Rioting?" I asked. The Antithesis was old hat... maybe. I could handle that. Rioting was different.
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "Over... several factors. I'm not in a position to say, exactly."
"You're not allowed?" I asked.
"I'm not informed," he corrected after swallowing. "We're preparing to face the enemy outside of the gates before switching to crowd control duties."
"Damn," I said. That would be rough. Handling aliens that wanted to do nothing more than eat your face then immediately switching to a crowd of semi-resonably angry people that also wanted to eat your face. "Don't envy you guys." I reached over and patted my new soldier pal on the shoulder. "Tough shit."
"Uh, thank you, ma'am," he said. "Tough shit indeed."
"Heh. Okay, so, where are the people in charge right now?"
"The other Samurai as well as the Major and Commander Juno have relocated to the administrative building." He gestured in the direction of Libre's tower. "I can escort you there, if you want?"
"Nah, I'm good," I said. "Thanks for popping over. I'll head over myself."
I turned and walked over to the Nyanzerfaust. Of my two mechs, it might have been the older of the two, but it was also the faster. The mech leaned down onto one leg in a crouch as I approached it, so I put a foot on that leg, then hopped into the cockpit even as it was still opening.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
It had been a minute since I'd piloted the Nyanzerfaust, but it was the mech I had the most hours in... like, just ten or so, but that was still the most. The soldier watched as I leapt past, then started a quick run towards Libre's little tower. Then, because I could, I pushed the machine to go as fast as possible.
There was something very primal about moving so quick in a massive machine that the ground was a blur around me. That, and the strange quadrupedal gait just felt nice.
Unfortunately, the tower was only a while away, so I had to slow down and walk around the base of it to find the main entrance. It was guarded by a few troopers who paused to stare. Gomorrah's Fury was nearby, so she had to be around as well.
I opened the cockpit and then jumped out, landing with a crouch before I headed in towards the tower. No one opposed me. That was, until I found Hedgehog waiting for me, arms crossed and face set. "You're late," he said.
"By a lot?" I asked.
"Not yet."
"Well then, not that late, huh?" I asked as I moved past him. "I didn't even get to sleep in any."
He sighed before following after me. "Sure. You do know that when we fail, people die."
"People die, period," I replied. "I don't know if we can afford to lose sleep over every person that dies that we could have, maybe, saved. Anyway. What's the situation?"
"Libre will be able to explain it better," he said.
"You like him?" I asked. We were fully within the tower now, and I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that we were being listened in on, but I also didn't give a shit.
Hedgehog made a noise. "No. He was irresponsible. Shortsighted. He could have acted in a way that would have saved a lot more lives. But... I looked over what he did, and he used what he had well. I wouldn't ever want him as a commander. I wouldn't ever want him as a superior officer. I wouldn't mind so much if he was a tactical or strategic consultant."
"Yeah, that's kind of the read I got on him too," I admitted. "He took charge of the tactical stuff, missed the bigger, political picture. I don't think I could do better if I was put in charge, only... I think people would be happier with me than with him, even if we were losing a lot harder."
"Tsk." He licked his teeth in a way that was kinda gross, then sighed. "Yeah. The man has no charisma, none of what makes for an even halfway decent leader. And he hyperfocused."
I nodded. If it was just Crisis Mode here when we arrived, and if it had only been her for the last day or two, I think we would have arrived to find Quebec already being overrun.
Libre, for all that he was a massive steaming asshole, had done alright in keeping the walls intact and pushing the Antithesis around with what he had to keep things afloat. Others might have done it better, but others weren't here. His big flaw was people, I think. He didn't see them right.
Dude needed therapy.
Instead he was a samurai, with no laws to tell him what he could and couldn't do, and a while lot of clout. It was almost as good.
"So... how bad is it?" I asked. "The situation, I mean. Whatever it is."
"Not great. But it's not great that was at least partially expected. I think our arrival threw off some plans. So the wall isn't as defended as it should be. But we also have more troops to work with. Except now we need to decide on what to do about the rioting."
"Is it bad?"
"Hasn't had time to get bad," he replied. "But it's never a good sign."
"What are people even angry about?" I asked. At his flat look, I shrugged. "I mean, specifically?"
"I don't know," he said.
Well, that was incredibly informative, wasn't it? "I guess I can poke Lucy. If the media blackout is down, she might be able to figure it out at a glance."
"Your girlfriend? She's... kind of scary."
"Thanks, I find it hot."
He sighed again even as the door opened up onto the floor that Libre had turned into an active war room and command centre.
Libre was there. As was Crisis Mode and Gomorrah. Princess and Knight were off to one side, sitting together on a pair of office chairs and... maybe Shy was around? Ah, there she was, way off in an unused cubicle, focused on a tablet.
"I'm here!" I said.
"You're late," Gomorrah replied, without even looking up from what she was doing.
"Damn. If you didn't have Frannie I'd see about hooking you up with Hedgehog here, you're so similar," I said.
Oh, that didn't earn me any fans.
***