Chapter 14; No Rest for the Weary
Soaring up and away, Ludzik tried to keep his temper under control as the training drones swarmed after him. The pesky little machines had been put under the control of Maylin's AI. While they had all been reluctant to trust it to help train them, it did have a rather solid reason for it. "You need a proper third-party to train you," it had said, "None of you are capable of that, and none of the personnel on this base can take the time to do it properly. That leaves me as your only real choice."
At first, it had only been given control over Maylin's Laser bits, which it had used with frightening effectiveness. The pesky program had been able to analyze their battle tactics in less than ten minutes and had then proceeded to tear their little 'team' apart. And that had only been yesterday, when Maylin had still been reserved about trusting it. Now she had talked the maintenance staff into allowing it to use the stadium's built-in systems. And now that thing is throwing every single one of its new toys at us he thought in annoyance, and I can tell it's not even really trying.
Down on the ground, Maylin watched as Ludzik tried to outrun the drones with little success. She had wanted to take part in the exercises, but 134 had told her that it would be too taxing on his systems to run the training and her IS at the same time. "Besides, you don't really need this training," he had said, surprising her with what almost sounded like praise, "Your personality lends itself to teamwork naturally, so you will do fine. It's the others that need this." "So, what? I'm naturally superior to them?" Maylin asked, skeptical. Snorting, 134 responded, "Not by a long shot. But, the only thing that can truly prepare you is something that is best done in private."
"Why is that?" Maylin asked. She had yet to receive an answer to that question, and she had asked him yesterday. Looking over at his projection in the seat next to her, she saw the look of intense concentration. It wasn't just Ludzik; all off her friends were undergoing serious individual training. Erin was being forced to take out targets that would spontaneously disappear before reappearing somewhere else. Karen was attempting to exercise more precise control over her missiles, while Joshka got to work with several sword trainers. His time studying under Charlotte had done wonders for his aim on the move, as well as his use of multiple weapons. However, she hadn't been able to properly teach him good sword techniques, so now he got to learn on the fly as the trainer machines lashed out with stun rods.
So far, they had made fairly good progress. Well, most of them had. Turning around to face the drone swarm, Ludzik fed power into his sword while they opened fire. Bringing his left arm up to ward off some of the shots, he brought out his energy blade before bringing it around in a wide slash. And just like the last time he had tried this, the drones separated and went around the blade before surrounding him and opening fire. Their weapons were set to their lowest settings, so it was more of an annoyance than a real threat. Swinging his sword in another wide arc, Ludzik tried to take at least a few of them down. He did succeed in destroying two of them, but then another pair scored a hit on his right hand and broke his grip on the sword. As it fell away, the energy blade disappeared.
Before he could try to dive and recover the blade, he was surrounded again and pelted with stronger blasts. "Sloppy work, Russian," he heard through the coms, "Next time, try using both hands. At least then you won't lose your sword." "Shut up, you stupid program!" Ludzik fired back as he dove through the drones, "I don't need your help." "Clearly," 134 replied as he watched the kid go for his sword, "Then maybe this will clear things up for you." Suddenly, the drone's attack power jumped up to its normal level. He received four shots into the back, sending him rocketing into the ground before he could stop. On top of that, he was shot several more times before he could even get back up.
Once his shields had hit 20% the drones stopped and backed off, allowing him to pick himself back up while looking furious. One of the drones moved forward before projecting 134's avatar before the kid, and he looked a combination of pissed off and disappointed. "I expected more from you," 134 said, crossing his arms, "Your file said that you had outstanding scores in one-on-one." "Well, this isn't one-on-one, is it?" Ludzik replied, waving his arm at the drones, "So, stop playing around with these toys and fight me properly!" "You think this is a game?" 134 said, keeping his voice level even as Ludzik let his get louder, "You think these things will fight you in gentlemanly duels? You think that you have the power to win on your own?" "Yes!"
At that, 134 shot him in the back, the blast overcharged and knocking him to his knees. By this point, everyone else had stopped what they were doing and had turned their attention to the two. When 134 shot Ludzik in the back, they all moved forward, fearing that something bad was coming. Before they could get too close, however, the drones moved and blocked their path. "And that is why you will only ever be second rate," 134 told Ludzik, ignoring the others, "This is why I've been pushing you so hard while letting the others get off easy." "You've been doing what?" Ludzik asked as he got back up. "You are the real problem on this team, not them," 134 continued, "They are all at least willing to work together, but not you. No, you know better; you can do this all alone. You just have to have your way, regardless of what it will cost others."
As Ludzik stepped forward and started to speak, he was shot again, in the stomach this time. Clutching the impact sight, he just gasped as 134 continued. "You will listen this time," he said, steel creeping into his voice, "Because this attitude of yours is going to get everyone else here killed. You don't even have the strength to stop these pathetic trainers and don't even use your other weapons; how in the hell do you expect to stand up to the human IS?" "I'll find a way," Ludzik managed as he stood back up again, "And I'm not about to let some machine lecture me on something it knows nothing about." The moment Ludzik said it Maylin could feel anger through her connection to 134. It wasn't just mild annoyance; it was real anger at him. Somehow, Ludzik had crossed a line and Maylin found herself agreeing with him.
"Alright, then maybe we should teach you," she said, stepping forward, "What do you say, 134?" "Happy to," he replied, smiling coldly as his avatar disappeared. While Ludzik did a quick recharge of his shields, the others quickly moved all the gear off the field; although, Karen seemed conflicted over the idea. Walking up to Maylin, she asked, "Are you sure this is a good idea, May?" "Someone needs to teach him some proper manners," Maylin responded as she clutched her necklace, "I would have left it to Madoka in the past, but I guess it's up to me now." "But he's a close-combat type," Karen protested, "All you have is your rifle and bits. He could take you apart."
Maylin just smiled as she summoned her IS, unconcerned with the prospect of fighting up close. Uncoupling from the charging station, Ludzik grabbed his sword and prepared to fight. While he felt a little guilty about fighting Maylin, he had had enough of her and her AI constantly underestimating what he could do. It's high time I showed them real power he thought as he charged.
Watching her screen in silence, Kanzashi tried to keep her emotions in check as she watched the footage from Laura's battle. The new IS seemed unaffected by any of her team's attacks, almost like it was just toying with them. As she got to the part where Laura's second-in-command was killed, she bit her lip to keep herself from crying. She had known the woman personally, and they had been quite close. To watch her die like that was almost too much. The rest of Laura's team did little better as they all attacked in a blind rage. Laura fell within seconds of closing on the IS, her machine apparently self-destructing before sending her down into the sea.
Her other three comrades fell quickly after her, none of them able to even land a blow on the machine. But one of the most puzzling things came next; rather than pursue them and finish the job, the IS instead withdrew from the area. Kanzashi was stumped as to why it would abandon such a clear victory. Not to mention how it had clearly stolen her sister's own technique. She had recognized it the moment she had seen how it shifted and changed its physical form. Somehow, the machine's entire frame was one solid mass of Nano machines, giving it an unthinkable amount of power in combat. If all of them are even half as dangerous as this single machine, we are all in serious danger she realized as she stopped the video.
Laura was currently at their medical center and receiving treatment for her wounds. Two of her teammates were with her, having received minor lacerations and burns, while a third was still in critical condition at a nearby hospital. Whether she would survive the next few hours was anyone's guess. As she got up and walked back over to her terminal, she noticed that her research staff was unusually quiet. Word of the defeat of their best IS team had spread quickly, and she couldn't really blame them for being scared. Accessing her own research, she flipped through her recent notes and ideas. Ever since she had learned of that machine's abilities, she had been trying to come up with an effective countermeasure. She had even used data on her sister's Mysterious Lady as a base for them, since she also used Nano machines.
But so far she had hit one dead-end after another. Everything she had seen about that machine, and all of the data they had been able to salvage from their IS' flight recorders, and they still didn't know enough to be sure that any of their theories would work. Clearing the screen, Kanzashi took a deep breath as she sat down, trying to organize her thoughts and think clearly. There has to be a way to beat it she thought as she began a new string of calculations. Unknown to her, the sight of their department head acting calm and collected served to calm the nerves of the research staff. She wasn't scared of what these things could do, so why should they be? After a few minutes, Kanzashi noticed that the room had started to grow louder as her people started to talk more. Looking up, she noticed an increase in their morale, and wondered where in the world it had come from.
Meanwhile, in the command building, Tatenashi was trying to get in contact with her other IS teams. So far, the IISA had only been able to secure enough machines for three active teams. And now, one of those teams was down and almost out. Another one was in Eastern Europe while the third was quickly being reassembled here in Japan. We've lost a third of our total strength she thought, gritting her teeth as she paced the room, and they didn't even have to try. God only knows what will happen when they decide to get serious. One of the men quickly walked up to her with an update before returning to his station. Scanning it, she grit her teeth in frustration as she threw the paper down on the main table before dropping into a nearby chair.
"Is everything alright, ma'am?" Kevin asked. While on the outside he looked passive and uninterested, on the inside he was growing more worried with every passing minute. He had never seen his boss look so far out of her depth, but the past 24 hours had sent her into a tail spin that she had yet to recover from. "No, they most certainly are not, Kenny," she replied, her tone like ice, "Our little extremist problem in northern France isn't cooling off any time soon, and the French government still require the help of our team there." He didn't need her to say the rest, he had been at this job long enough to fill it in. If they recalled their team now, they would face serious political backlash from France and its allies. This would also put more pressure on Ms. Dunios and her company, who continued to be strong supporters of the IISA.
"So, what does that leave us?" she asked, trying not to dwell on it. "Two of our IS are still down for repairs, but the technicians tell me that they will be ready by this evening," Kevin responded, bringing the information up on a nearby terminal, "That will bring our Japan team to full strength, giving us seven machines including yours and Miss Kanzashi." "Twelve," Tatenashi corrected, causing him to look at her in confusion, "We would have twelve machines, or are you forgetting the kids on base?" "But ma'am," he began, trying to word this carefully, "With all due respect, they're just children. Surely you don't intend to make them fight?" "What I intend is of little consequence," she replied, smiling sadly, "Even if I said no and sent them home, they would still find a way into the battle. Trust me, I know."
Dodging another one of Ludzik's slashes, Maylin launched her laser bits as she fought to gain some distance. He wouldn't allow her, however, as he kicked in another Ignition Burst and almost slammed into Maylin as he brought his sword down again. Grabbing her rifle's barrel with her other hand, Maylin brought it up and managed to stop the sword cold, but it was a near thing. They both struggled mid-air to overpower the other, and Ludzik would have won out if Maylin's laser bits hadn't moved into position first. A pair of bolts into his side shifted enough of his weight to allow Maylin to break away and before he could try to pursue her he was forced back by a hailstorm of fire.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Ludzik tried to lash out at the bits, even going so far as to use his cannons to try and shoot them down. But in spite of his efforts, they continued to dodge his attacks while landing all of their shots with almost no effort. Maylin, meanwhile, just floated nearby and watched Ludzik with a combination of pity and contempt. After a minute of continues fire, she stopped them before speaking up. "Do you get it now, Ludzik?" she asked, "You're only so strong on your own. If it had been you working with one of our friends, then this would have been easy." "Shut up!" he replied, turning to face her, "I already told you I don't need your help!" "Would you wake up already, you stubborn jackass?!" she screamed, catching them all by surprise. Maylin hadn't ever been the kind of person to raise her voice, let alone curse.
"The only reason you've lived this long is because you've had people looking out for you!" she said, ignoring his look of shock, "Only the weak refuse help when it's offered. All you're doing is proving that you're just a spoiled kid at heart. So take that stubborn pride of yours and drop it already, before you get someone hurt!" Feeling out of breath from her little rant, Maylin floated down to the ground while trying to steady her breathing. Unable to really respond, Ludzik just followed her down. It was…impressive that she had that kind of strength in her. And while it was embarrassing to have her throwing all of that out into the open, it made him think. What have I really been doing all this time he wondered as he landed.
Suddenly a private screen popped up on his display, and he was greeted with an image of 134. "Was that enough of an example of your shortcomings?" he asked, crossing his arms, "Or will you require another lesson in humility?" Part of him wanted to explode at the stupid little program, to tell it exactly where it could shove his lessons. But now that he took a good look at his actions up to now, he was realizing just how little he could have really done. He had done well against those Harpies, but they were simple fighting machines and he had been lucky enough to only fight a few at a time. If he had fought a large group of them alone, he would have been serious trouble. I…can't do this alone he realized, ignoring how painful that was to admit, I need help.
Floating over the human base, Legion felt an incredible sense of pity for the little insects about to be crushed. They surely knew by now that she had allowed those humans to live, but judging from the lack of activity they didn't know that she had tagged their IS to track them. Now she was about two miles above their precious facility and the fools where still acting like it was business as usual. They really have no idea how weak and insignificant they are Legion thought, flexing her hands in anticipation.
She had been ordered to deal with the IISA presence in the area while her comrades prepared a strike against Tokyo. Their raids on the smaller population centers had only been a test-drive; they had wanted to see what kind of national and international response would come from their activity. And the result was actually very little. The US had sent its second fleet, as well as an entire air wing to bolster Japan's defenses against future attacks. But as far as the other nations were concerned, they had adopted a wait and see policy. They're probably hoping this is just a bad terrorist attack and it'll all go away Legion reasoned, feeling disgust, the fools have no idea what's coming.
Looking up behind her at the Harpy force she had brought along, she decided that now was as good a time as any. Dropping her Nano machine shield, she imagined how they would panic at the sudden enemy contacts well inside their perimeter. As they fell past her and started to launch their attack, she shifted the metal on her right forearm into a large particle cannon before sighting on one of their maintenance bays. Her shot was the opening salvo for their attack as the Harpies then opened fire. And the IISA base burned.
The explosion from the first blast grabbed the teen's attention immediately, and Maylin couldn't help but groan in protest. Not again she thought, trying not to get too depressed, why are they attacking us now?
I doubt it has anything to do with you specifically 134 responded, I would say this is simply them attacking the IISA base. I would recommend taking cover until the attack is over.
You may be right Maylin agreed as she summoned her IS again, but we can't just sit back and do nothing. Looking at her friends, she saw her own look of determination mirrored in their faces. They had already lost the IS Academy, they were not about to lose this place, too. As if summoned by their thoughts, a new IS landed in the middle of the stadium and stood staring at them. Legion had detected several active IS in one location the moment the battle began, and had decided to remove them quickly rather than let them lay waste to her forces. But when she saw a group of children standing before her, she hesitated. This wasn't like her previous battles where she had been fighting trained soldiers; these were kids that were still too young to know what a fight really was.
"Why are you here?" she asked as she let her arms drop. "Because you took our home from us," Karen replied, stepping forward and drawing one of her swords, "We're not about to let that go unpunished." "And we're not going to let you kill any more innocent people," Erin added as he stepped up next to her. Letting her head drop, Legion couldn't help but feel disappointed. She had been able to tell from their expressions that there was no chance they would back down. She had seen that determined look too many times to not recognize it. "Very well," she said, shifting her forearms into guns, "Then you leave me no choice."
Bringing both arms up faster than they could react, she fired off a pair of energy bolts at the two out front. Karen and Erin didn't even have time to think, let alone dodge, as the bolts hit home and sent them into the wall. For a brief moment, Maylin wanted to go make sure they were okay, but as she watched Joshka and Ludzik charging the IS she knew she had to back them up. Launching her bits, she made sure they were fully divided before she took flight. "I'll pin it down," she told the boys, "You two close in on its sides!" While they didn't verbally respond, they did split up and slow their pace to give her time.
Opening up with all of her weapons, Maylin peppered the machine with as many shots as she could muster without overheating her weapons. For a few seconds Legion had to just take the attack as she shifted to defense, shedding metal that formed into shield bits before setting them up to intercept the shots. With the long-range attack taken care of, she noticed the two boys coming at her and pitied what was about to happen. Her guns shifted into two blades as she brought her right arm up and blocked Ludzik's slash. Without even breaking her stance, she deflected Joshka's attempted stab before shifting and throwing Ludzik to one side. Now able to focus on just one person, she shifted the metal again so that she was holding the swords rather than having them as parts of her arms. Pressing her advantage over the boy, she lashed out with both swords while her bits continued to block all of Maylin's attacks.
This strategy worked until a wave of missiles hit her from behind, sending her off-balance and allowing Joshka to move past her defenses and put a decent slash into her side. As he moved clear, his grin of triumph turned into a look of shock as the wound flowed back together and closed. "That thing can heal itself?" he asked in awe as the damage from the missiles also repaired itself, "How are we supposed to beat that?" "We just have to pound it into mush!" Ludzik shouted as he charged past him, "Hit it with everything we have!"
"He's right!" Maylin said as she brought up her Command Link, "Don't give up now!" With the link active, their power jumped through the roof as they pressed their advantage. Joshka sheathed his sword before summoning a pair of SMGs and unloading them into her from behind. Meanwhile, Maylin and Erin kept her shield busy deflecting their shots while Karen sent one wave after another of missiles at her from different angles. On top of that, Ludzik was attacking her at close range, keeping her from doing much more than defending herself. While it appeared they had the machine on the ropes, in truth Legion was taking the time to analyze their sudden increase in power and efficiency. There's no way mere humans could get so skilled so quickly she thought as she blocked a strike at her head, there must be something bolstering them.
Running a quick scan, she noticed there was a subtle remote energy flow between the IS, and that it was all centered around one machine specifically. Found you Legion thought as she absorbed her right blade back into her arm. Taking this as a sign of weakness, Ludzik came at her from the right before she grabbed his blade with her now free hand. Twisting it to the side, she brought her knee into his stomach before allowing him to collapse to the ground, wheezing. After that, it was simple matter of breaking through the ranged fighters. Bringing their swords back out, Karen and Joshka moved to stop her. At a gesture Legion shifted her shield into fang bits before sending them at the two, forcing them back as she rocketed over them.
Landing before Erin and Maylin, she watched in amusement as Erin stepped in front of her before firing at almost point blank. The blast penetrated the armor, but did no real damage as she back-handed his head, sending him skidding away. "You're the reason they got so good so quickly," Legion said, stepping forward, "So I think it's only fitting to remove you first." Bringing her bits down around it, Maylin brought her own rifle up and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened.
"H-huh?" she said, looking down and pulling it again, "What's happening? Why won't it work?" "The moment I got close to you, my Nano cloud infected your weapons," Legion said as it continued to advance, "They will only work if I allow it." To prove her point, she waved her free hand at the bits, causing them all to explode. Her shock turned into pain as her own weapon detonated in her hands, jarring her as well as disarming her. Reaching to the small of her back, Maylin grabbed the handle to one of her energy blades and prepared to use it. But Legion was too quick and soon she was struggling to breathe as it wrapped its hand around her throat and lifted her up. "It really is a shame to end a life so soon," Legion commented as she brought her sword up, "It would have been better if you had just stayed home."
It was over before anyone could move to stop it. The blade entered just below her ribs and exited just to the left of her spine. Her eyes went wide with the pain, too hurt to do much more than give a strangled cry. Withdrawing it in one smooth motion, Legion loosened her grip and let Maylin fall to the ground, her IS destructing in a flash of light. Looking down, she watched as she was slowly surrounded by blood, and realized that it was hers. "You children should really learn your place," Legion said as she turned away.
The human is continue their campaign, this time moving to take the IISA out of the fight for good. Will this lead to yet another victory? What will happen to our young pilots ow that they face Legion? Till the next chapter.
So, I'm going to guess that one of your most pressing questions is this; did I just kill off the heroin? And the answer is this; you're probably going to love what this leads to. And as for Ludzik's quick change, there's only so long I can drag something like that out before I lose patience with it.
