Chapter 14 Crazy Train
Laconia II - [REDACTED] Manor / Time: [REDACTED]
/BEGIN PLAYBACK
"We've got to curb her trips to the dump."
"…" He was wearing a butler outfit as he stared up calmly and patiently at his master, who regarded him with disgust. His master was a [REDACTED] human man wearing a top hat and suit. Data loss meant that the memory was saved improperly, with the human rendered in pitch black, with only their eyes shining through as two blank white lights.
"And where's she getting the hair to play dress up with them? Creepy." His master threw his wine glass up in the air. He had to take extra care to catch the glass with the rest of the pile he was carrying on a tray. Fortunately, being a Worker Drone meant the action was performed without dropping any of the glasses, and he even performed a bow for his master, before leaving with the tray to wash the dishes.
It was a stormy night on the swamp world of Laconia. He stared up out the window at the low hanging moon, and the…thing. The orbital megastructure. So large it could even be seen easily on bright days. The long, twisting spiral wrapped around a main body shaped like the decrepit corpse of some deep-sea fish, anomalous blue-green metal that pulsed with unnatural life. An inhuman design following unknown biology floating menacingly over sweltering Laconian skies and it's yellow lit night. As it always had.
As he wandered the halls of the manor, he looked away, and stumbled into another Worker Drone, a female with short silver hair, wearing a maid outfit and a set of circular eyeglasses. They ended up knocking each other to the floor, and breaking all the glass.
"Oh, ah, I'm so sorry-!" He apologized sheepishly.
"It's okay, I wasn't looking." The female Worker Drone smiled, seeing her friend. They each reached down to pick up the broken glass, but their hands touched and…sparked.
"…!" The female Worker Drone…that was…without a doubt…V…gasped, embarrassed.
"…" He considered it, rubbing his neck awkwardly. They both knew they felt the same way for each other. They were best friends, after all. They had so much fun just being together. Why not?
Before he could approach the subject, he was roughly kicked in the head by another female Worker Drone in a maid outfit, much to the distress of V. Her silver hair was split between two long pigtails. She stared down at him with arms crossed, a hateful scowl on her face.
Oh yeah, that was J.
"Move it, moron-" J chastised him, before she realized her master and creator was in the room with them, and rapidly changed her behavior, greeting her master enthusiastically and embarrassed. "Hi, Tessa!"
Then, J saw the thing behind her master.
"Oh no, another one?" J complained.
"…" He looked up at his master and creator, a human girl about fifteen years old. Data loss limited her to a black shape with two eyes as well, wearing an indeterminate thigh length dress, and a large bow behind her head.
Behind Tessa was another female maid Worker Drone, with long silver hair flowing down either side of her head. She moved uncertainly, peeking around her master with curious little eyes, her mouth in a shy smile. Her posture was all wrong, hanging like a puppet or a corpse, limbs held close, and head cocked lazily.
"…" Something about this Drone scared him. Something he knew. Something he forgot.
What he knew was that her name was…
Was…
/END PLAYBACK
Rubicon III - Grid 086 - Independent Mercenary Hangars – Western Belius / Wednesday, Tiberius 28th, 3175
"…!" N woke with a start, shifting uncomfortably with his back against the wall. He stared down at his Disassembly Drone shell apprehensively, a phantom pain reminding him he had once been much smaller, more Uzi sized…
Speaking of the purple haired Worker, she was caught in V's grasp, both of them still asleep and keeping each other warm in the bitterly cold Rubiconian morning. Though they would outright deny it, Uzi and V had definitely become friends at some point. It made N happy to see his friends getting along so well.
"Trouble sleeping?"
N looked up at the Hound with no name. His new master. Not that he could recall his old master all that well. 621 was sitting on her cot, messing with different blueprints and simulations of ACs, quietly tapping away at holographic controls.
"Uh…yeah." N sheepishly answered, as he got up and sat by his master. "Have you…ever been to Laconia?"
"No." 621 answered quickly. "I stayed in Sol to be close to family, before the war. Afterwards…things sort of fell apart."
"Well, do you know anything about the planet? Like what the weather was like?" N questioned.
"…" 621 stopped for a moment and answered tiredly. "It was a swamp and jungle planet, fairly warm and consistently plagued with thunderstorms. Though, that's not why it was colonized."
"Oh." N nodded. "Why-"
He was cut off as the console 621 was working on beeped in alert. She smiled.
"Stray Two, wake up your squad. Looks like work has just come in." 621 demanded.
"…Alright." N nodded, turning around to gently shake Uzi and V awake.
"…Huh! Wha-!" Uzi looked up, mildly startled.
"…Mmm!" V grunted, and quickly retracted her hands, releasing her hold on Uzi.
"Come on, Raven says we have a job." N informed them with subdued but apparent confidence.
Escort the Supply Train – "Cinder" Carla / Reward 100,000 COAM
"Get enough rest tourist?" Carla greeted cheerfully. "Hope so. I'm planning to send you back down the line, to Grid 077. I've got a train loaded up with supplies and…more Worker Drones, and I'd like to get it unloaded in Grid 085. Trouble is, the Coyotes plan to hijack this train. I've already got a crew on for protection, but they don't have a Hound to run interference. Could really use you on this one, and your cute little crew as well. Oh, and another thing, part of the shipment is an AC. I put it together in a hurry with BAWS and Balam parts, but it's also armed with a prototype weapon from one of my more unhinged department heads. I'd like for you to take it for a test drive. It might not be pretty, but it's very well armed. Let me know soon, tourist."
"…?" 621 considered the request. It was rare that a contractor would provide custom equipment for a job, but not unheard of. Still, test piloting a whole AC, even a crap one like Carla seemed to have suggested, was pretty much unheard of.
"What are the Coyotes like?" V wondered. "Cause we haven't fought them before."
"They use a combination of RaD and BAWS equipment, with some emphasis on melee weapons." 621 explained. "That being said…they're exceptionally violent. If any of them get close to you, kill them." She demanded. "I say that for your own protection."
"Oh…okay…" N nodded reluctantly.
"So…this job…Carla is moving more Workers to the sanctuary?" Uzi noted with cautious enthusiasm.
"That would seem to be the implication." 621 confirmed. "That's what Carla said. Do you think you can trust her?"
"I…" Uzi hesitated, suddenly uncertain.
"It's good to be cautious, Stray Three." 621 smiled. "It means you're learning."
Grid 077 - Central Belius / Two Hours Later
A helicopter dropped them off at a large train platform, facilitating the loading of a rather massive vehicle.
On Rubicon, there were trains of four sizes. Type One trains with car lengths of ten meters, the rough standard for over a millennium. Heavy Type Two trains that were two tracks wide and with fifty-meter-long cars. Super heavy Type Three trains that were three tracks wide, and lastly, ultra massive Type Four trains that ran on custom, twenty-meter-wide tracks with cars 184 meters long. The train before them was a Type Two, ten cars and an engine on double tracks, a half kilometer of steel, weighing twenty thousand tons. It was loaded up with hundreds of cargo containers, stacked twenty-four meters high.
"Yeah…that's definitely a train." Uzi whistled.
"So what exactly do we do?" V questioned.
"Carla said we were to meet up with a squad of mercenaries she already had on site. We'd get our orders from them." 621 advised.
"Oh, is that them there?" N pointed to the end of the dock. "Wait…hey, look who it is!"
"Holy shit!" Uzi cheered as she eagerly ran to greet the group. "MA-R1!"
"Oh, hey!" The one-eyed machine greeted pleasantly. "Long time no see, Uzi. Carla said we'd be working with some Jenson Drones, didn't think it would be you lot. Hey N, V. And you must be Carla's temporary Hound, 621?"
"Yes." 621 walked forward and shook MA-R1's hand. "Seems you are already familiar with my squad, MA-R1, was it?"
"Please, call me Mal." MA-R1 requested. "I met these three at The Wall, when they tried to sell me a couple of tons of gold."
"…I can't imagine you made much of a profit from that, huh?" 621 nudged V.
"Ugh, no. That was J's idea though, she just forced us to drag that shit." V rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, what happened to your little business suit wearing friend?" MA-R1 wondered.
"Ah…J got sold off to a different master. We haven't seen her for a week." N explained.
"Well that sucks." MA-R1 bowed his head. "Hope she's doing alright."
"I was told you have a squad as well, to operate the train?" 621 demanded.
"Oh, yep, let me introduce you!" MA-R1 eagerly brought them over to four other individuals, one robot and three humans. "My crew here will be in charge of operating the train and protecting the engine from boarders, while your squad protects the rest of the train. Here is my XO, Zoey."
"Ma'am." The dark-skinned woman with long curly hair greeted with a military tone, but she smiled politely. "Good to be working with an experienced Hound."
"…" 621 nodded to her.
"This here is our pilot, Wash." MA-R1 pointed out to tall man with wild blond hair and wide smile.
"Hello, hope this wasn't too out of the way for you. I'd pilot the AC myself but uh…I have a bad habit of getting a little too excited." Wash apologized.
"He screams like a little girl when he gets shot at." Zoey explained with a tired smile. "But I still love him."
"Hey! I can still fight!" Wash defended. "I'll just be screaming all the while. They say bullets are very bad for your health."
"Oh, well nice to meet you!" N waved cheerfully.
"And this here is our chief engineer, Kaylee." MA-R1 pointed to a girl in grease covered work overalls.
"Oh what cute little Drones!" Kaylee, a young woman no older than twenty fawned over Uzi, V, and N. She had long soft brown hair and cheerful blue eyes.
"Uh, thanks…oh!" Uzi awkwardly thanked her, only to then be picked up by Kaylee.
"Mal can I have her!?" Kaylee begged. "She's so adorable!"
"Ah…you'd have to ask her master." MA-R1 pointed out.
"…She's not for sale." 621 announced, and politely took Uzi back from Kaylee, setting the short android on her feet.
"Yeah, she gets like that, sorry." MA-R1 apologized. "Lastly there is…uh…JC-66…but just call him Jayne."
"…What are you looking at, Laconian scrap?" JC-66 was the tallest "person" there. He was a machine with four small red eyes and a large body made of thick metal. He appeared to be some variant of combat droid.
"Nice to meet you too…" V hissed back.
"Don't mind him too much, Jayne's a grouch to everyone." Kaylee assured them.
"This is your whole crew?" 621 asked.
"Mostly." MA-R1 added. "I've also got two of mine looking after the Drone Sanctuary in Grid 085. You'll meet them when we get there."
"Mmm." 621 nodded. "If I may, I'd like to look over the AC before we take it into combat."
"I thought you might." MA-R1 nodded. "We put it together in a hurry, but we'd thought an experienced Hound such as yourself might want to give it a lookover. Take Kaylee, she'll help you out."
"Yes boss!" Kaylee cheered, and grabbed V by the shoulders. "Let's go little cuties!"
Kaylee led 621 and Stray Squad back to the rear of the train, towards the last car.
"You have experience in AC maintenance?" 621 asked her.
"Some." Kaylee assured her. "I prefer ships myself, but we'll take what jobs we can get." She then gestured towards the last car. "Now apparently, Carla has some master plan and some hidden weapons on this train. Said something bout 'giving the Coyotes a hard time.' So you'll be held in reserve till the last minute to give them a really nasty surprise."
"Well, that sounds fun," V grinned menacingly.
The last car of the train only appeared to be a pile of cargo containers. It was in fact several false walls that held a rear gun and the AC, which sat on a short launch platform.
"Oh! Well, I did not expect that." Uzi's eyes went wide at the sight of the AC 621 was going to use for this mission.
"…" 621 smirked. It wasn't pretty, but it was certainly well armed. "Alright Stray Squad, let's get to work."
Escort the Supply Train – "Cinder" Carla / Central Belius / Wednesday, Tiberius 28th, 3175
The train was halfway to Grid 078, going across one of the many three-kilometer-high bridges between Grid Sectors, when Carla decided to call.
"Did you like meeting my crew, tourist?" She wondered sweetly. "Mal and his lot are a fun bunch, and they'll do most anything for the right price. 'Cept they don't have a Hound for any heavy lifting. That's where you come in. I'm going to hold you in reserve, hidden in that secret compartment until the Coyotes are right on top of you. That should make for a decent surprise."
"It sounds like she has it out for the Coyotes." Arye noted in 621's mind, slightly amused. "I wonder what they did to piss her off?"
"…" 621 sighed.
"As for your Strays, they'll help stem the tide, and draw out more Coyotes for you to put down." Carla added. "Now, for you three. Stray-" She cut herself off with a hiss of annoyance. "Mmm…no. You lot are just too cute to go by such uninspired callsigns. I'll give you some special nicknames that I'll use just for you, so try to live up to them. V, I'm giving you the nickname of Specter. Your job will be interception and quick-reaction. Cut down any aerial units before they get close, or be ready to move up and down the train to respond to boarders."
"Uh…copy!" V responded, confused and surprised by the nickname she had received, but she liked how it sounded.
"N, I'm going to call you Shepherd." Carla announced. "Your job will be to keep the enemy off of Uzi, as well as clearing boarders from the rest of the train, purely in a defensive role."
"Copy!" N smiled, liking his new nickname.
"Uzi, you already got a fitting nickname from me. You'll be known as Sparky." Carla declared. "Your job will be man that rear gun, and give the good news to anyone coming from behind. Just wait on my word."
"C-Copy!" Uzi answered anxiously. She was both frightened by the prospect of combat and excited to use the hidden gun Carla had on the rear of the train.
It didn't take too long for them to get noticed.
"Looks like you have company." Carla announced, serving as mission Operator. "Detecting two transport helos, and two quad-choppers carrying MTs. Knock them out, Specter."
"Copy!" V answered, quickly deploying her wings, taking off and flapping them quickly in the direction indicated. She found the transports, and deployed her weapons. "Targets sighted, Specter engaging!"
Targeting the two quad-choppers, V fired two missiles from her arm, hitting the engines and making the unfortunate MTs they carried fall three kilometers back to Rubicon.
"This is wave one, we're under attack!" One of the transport helos, an ancient Bell UH-1 Huey, called out on whatever assortment of radios passed for the Junker Coyotes battle net. "Carla's got herself a Disassembly Drone!"
"This is an unexpected development." The Coyote Commander sneered. "Shoot down that damn drone! Looks like we'll have to bring out the big guns if we want to steal Carla's new 'toys.'"
V came back around to engage the Hueys, but had to evade and dive down as the door gunner of the closest chopper fired on her with a mounted M134 gatling gun. Not allowing that to delay her for long, she swooped in under the chopper, hung onto it from the bottom, and crawled towards the open side door. Reaching up, she grabbed the door gunner by the foot and flung him out of the chopper, then climbed up into the cabin, grabbing the discarded door gun. Spinning the door gun round so that it pointed inwards, V cut down both pilots and the other crew within the chopper at fifty rounds a second, then focused on shooting the other chopper with her borrowed weapon, tearing into it's crew as well. She leapt out of the chopper before it lost control, and flew back to the train at a steady pace.
"Specter reporting, enemy flight downed." V called on her radio.
"Nice one Specter!" Carla cheered. "Get back to escorting that train. Shepard, be advised a hostile Type One train is backing into ours from the front. Get up there and help out Mal."
"Copy!" N deployed his wings and made his way up the length of the train, kicking off of it to give himself a speed boost without having to work his wings as hard. He found Mal's crew engaging Coyote soldiers with small arms as they tried to climb up onto the engine.
"Good to see you, kid!" MA-R1 called out. "Do me favor and take this bomb to their train! Try and stick it between the engine and first car, as close as you can to the wheels! We'll cover you!"
"You got it!" N picked up one of the bombs, which appeared to be a magnetic anti-armor mine with several pounds of high-explosive affixed to it.
"Wait for my signal!" Zoey demanded as she, MA-R1, and JC-66 reloaded their weapons. "Go!"
While Mal's crew fired down on the Coyotes to keep them distracted and their heads down, N quickly flew up to the front of the enemy train, in between the engine at the front and the first car behind it.
"Hey!" One of the Coyote soldiers noticed him and lunged at him. N dropped the bomb on the deck and had to grapple with the man, who was dressed in dirty armor. "Come here, ya fucking little drone!"
N hadn't expected the violence or strength behind the Coyote, as he was forced down to the deck. The Coyote soldier sneered down at him with dirty teeth and a cruel smile.
"Ain't you something!" The man sneered. "Carla sure knows how to pick 'em! You look like a cut of fu-"
N stabbed the man through the head with his tail, and pushed him off. He quickly affixed the bomb near the bottom of the train. "Okay! Bomb is in place!"
"Get out of there kid, and quickly!" MA-R1 shouted over radio.
Climbing to the top of the train, N spread his wings and used them to slow himself down, such that Carla's train came up under him, allowing him to land near MA-R1 and his crew.
"Blow it!" Zoey ordered, and JC-66 hit the detonator. The large bomb took out the front of the enemy train, and derailed several cars. After several seconds, it crashed into itself as Carla's train pushed the rest of it forward, causing it to collapse into itself.
N openly winced as he watched dozens of Coyote soldiers get thrown from the wreck, and sucked under their train.
"Good job Sheperd!" Carla assured him. "Head back to the rear. Things are looking serious."
Passing the Grid 078 megapillar, Carla's train attracted more unwanted attention.
"Get in there and capture that fucking train!" The Coyote Commander demanded. "It's just some reject mercenaries and two stupid drones. Fuck them up!"
"Uh…Carla…" V reported worriedly. "Counting four Type One Trains coming up from the rear."
"Yeah, I see that." Carla assured them. "Okay Sparky, your time to shine! Get that gun warmed up!"
"Copy!" Uzi reported back as she settled into the controls for the weapon system. She also had a separate control to blow the explosive bolts that hid her half of the rear car, so that the gun could shoot out.
"Get on that train already!" The Coyote Commander demanded. "Get in there and capture all those stupid drones!"
"Carla…those trains are getting really close…" N alerted her.
"Just hold…hold for just a bit longer…" Carla watched their data feed closely, undeniably excited, even from the safety of Grid 086. "Now Sparky!"
Uzi hit the release, blowing the panels on the rear half of the last car, and exposing an armored turret armed with four three-barreled 100mm gatling guns.
"Blow them away, Sparky!" Carla demanded.
"Oh…oh shit!" The Coyotes in the trailing cars panicked as the massive turret angled down at them. Uzi fired, raking back and forth across the trains with gatling artillery, oversized rounds tearing the trains and their crews apart.
"Heh…hahaha!" Uzi cackled, a bit out of her mind. She loved big guns, and the gatling turret was probably the most powerful weapon she'd ever been given, making her giddy and unhinged. "All trains destroyed!"
"Haha! Excellent Sparky!" Carla cheered. She tracked their progress as they crossed through Grid 079, and towards Grid 080. "No time to rest though, the next wave is coming. More Type One trains coming from the front, and a Type Two train from the back." Carla noted. "That's going to give you some problems, it's frontal armor will protect it from that turret."
"Is it time to let Raven loose, yet?" V wondered.
"Not just yet." Carla assured them. "She's going to be the final surprise. For now, split up. Specter, head to the front and get rid of those trains for Mal. Sparky, keep any MTs on that train pinned down. Sheperd, keep infantry boarders away from that turret."
"Copy!" Stray Squad answered.
While V flew forward to help MA-R1 get rid of the trains at the front just as N had before, N stayed close to Uzi's turret, as she fired on the oncoming train coming from behind, keeping the small legion of BAWS MTs pinned down, or destroying them quickly when they tried to get over the top.
"Fucking hell! Carla's got a fucking gat turret on that train! MTs are fucked!" The Coyotes on the train complained, hiding behind the heavily armored engine.
"Infantry, get on that train and fuck up that turret!" The Coyote Commander demanded.
"Uh…Carla? They're sending infantry forward over the engine, should I…?" Uzi suggested.
"As funny as it would be to blast Coyotes apart with gatling cannons, that turret is just too slow to go between the infantry and the MTs, and your ammo isn't infinite. Just keep pinning down the MTs while Shepherd deals with the infantry." Carla advised.
The Type Two train, which consisted of an engine and three cars, came up to the rear, close enough that Coyote infantry could step off onto Carla's train, but N had his MP5 guns deployed, and shot at them to keep them in cover, so they couldn't board.
"God dammit, we can't get close to them! We need more back up!" The Coyote Infantry complained.
As Carla's train passed through the Grid 080 transit lines, towards the next Grid Sector, more Coyote assets were added to the fight.
"Okay, heads up." Carla warned. "You got two more Type Two Trains coming in, one from the front, and another from behind. This is going to be tricky."
"Ah! I just got done blowing up all those other trains!" V complained.
"Yeah, I know. Which is why we'll be deploying the tourist now." Carla announced. "That should be an unpleasant surprise for these damn Coyotes."
"Looks like you're up, Raven." Ayre pointed out. "Let's warm up the AC, we don't want to keep the Coyotes waiting."
"…" 621 sighed, but agreed, starting the systems for the AC.
"Carla, I see that other train coming up alongside us. What should I do?" Uzi requested nervously.
"Keep pinning down those MTs on the train directly behind you, Sparky. The tourist will be making their move any minute now." Carla assured her.
The other Type Two Train came up alongside them, the MTs on it's flat cars preparing to board Carla's train.
"Get in there and destroy that turret, take over the train, and capture those drones. Do that and maybe I'll even let you get first dibs on the cargo." The Coyote Commander encouraged.
"Sounds like it's going to be a good long night then!" The MT pilots cheered. "Let's fuck some shit up!"
"…" 621 had a data feed showing her how close the other train was getting, and how close those MTs were from boarding. She could ascertain Carla's plan well enough, deploying the AC so late as a psychological warfare tactic. She didn't mind playing that part, and would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to it.
"Alright tourist, put on a good show for our guests." Carla requested.
"They're almost on top of Uzi. Now or never, Raven." Ayre pointed out.
"…" 621 scoffed, and smiled widely.
/MAIN SYSTEM: ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE
Without even blowing the explosive bolts to clear the way, 621 engaged the ACs assault-booster out the gate, ramming through the paneling, and directly into the face of a Coyote controlled MT.
She was using a heavy tank AC with faded and chipping grey paint, made with BAWS built "Basho" Head and Core parts, the same kind of head as "Chatty" Stick, giving her seven triangular eyes on the heavily armed, flat box with a short hood. The Core looked cheap as shit, with a huge slab of sloped armor bolted on the front. The arms were square "Meander" medium type with a high load limit, and the lower "tank" section was a massive, tracked monstrosity, four treads and many thrusters making it extremely heavy but unusually quick for it's size and bulk, both of which were built by Balam.
A fact that the Coyote MT learned the hard way as 124 tons of Armored Core tank slammed into his face so hard, he was sent flying off the train and over the edge of the transit line, falling to his eventual death three kilometers below.
"Fffffuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkk!" The MT pilot screamed as he fell to his death in a partially crushed MT.
"Oh fuck! Enemy AC, right on top of us!" The rest of the Coyote MTs panicked as 621 leveled her weapons on them.
She had four weapons, one in each hand and one on each back mount. In both hands were a pair of 220mm Gou-Chen artillery cannons, loaded with high-explosive shells, and on her left back mount was a 50mm Shao-Wei three-barreled gatling gun. Lastly, on her right back mount was an experimental RaD weapon known as a "Delivery Boy", which just looked like a cargo container stuffed full of cruise missiles.
"…" 621 fired from each artillery cannon, the explosive rounds detonating with such force that Coyote MTs were sent flying, either off the edge of the line or under the other train, getting crushed under their wheels.
"Try out that new toy, tourist." Carla demanded. "Get me some good data on it's use."
"…" 621 locked onto one of the MTs on the train behind the one they were protecting, waiting a moment for the missile to get a targeting solution. Target locked, a large cruise missile launched from the cargo container on her back, flew about fifty meters overhead, leveled out, and then proceeded to fly down the length of the enemy train, dropping seventy-two sub-munitions like a mini-bomber, killing most of MTs.
"Haha!" Carla cheered. "Good hits! The 'Delivery Boy' was designed for wide area target annihilation. Not very good in one-on-one combat, but excellent in wiping out large numbers of MTs or tanks. Now hurry up and get to the front, that other train is going to start deploying MTs any second now."
"…" 621 obeyed, spinning the AC around. Though powerful, the tank AC was somewhat unwieldy, and difficult to control at slower speeds. Oriented in the correct direction, 621 engaged the assault-booster again, and took off.
There was something about seeing a 124 ton tank "flying" with considerable speed that just seemed so…wrong. 621 pushed the tank AC to three hundred kilometers an hour, up alongside the train.
Catching up to the engine, she caught sight of a pair of MTs about to board the train, right on top of Mal and his crew. Locking on with her gatling gun, 621 fired a twenty-five-round burst of 50mm armor-piercing ammunition through the two MTs, cutting them down.
"Oh good, I was getting worried." Wash announced. "Thanks for the save!"
"Wash, stay off this channel!" MA-R1 ordered. "Sorry about that. Keep up the good work, Raven!"
"…" 621 boarded the enemy train, and fired another cruise missile, which flew up the length of the train, raining sub-munitions all over the enemy units.
"Damn that Hound. Fucking up all our plans. Tsk. If we can't have those drones, then no one will." The Coyote Commander declared.
"Nice going tourist. That just about…" Carla trailed off as she noticed another enemy. "Hold up. This is going to be tricky…"
With their troops slaughtered, the three Type Two trains disengaged, stopping in Grid 81, while a completely new train started chasing them.
"Ah…what the fuck is that!?" V stared down worriedly at the mass chasing them down.
"Yep, I see it…" Carla confirmed. "It looks like the Coyotes Frankensteined an armored train out of the wreck of a PCA heavy tank."
Within the PCA's vast arsenal, there existed a mass production super heavy tank known as the AAS01: Phalanx. Weighing in at two thousand tons, the Phalanx was heavily armored, and armed with two 300mm cannons, and four sponson mounted 50mm autocannons. It had four large tracks and thrusters that could propel it at two hundred kilometers an hour. Whereas the AAS02 Cataphract was a specialized, high-tech annihilator, the Phalanx was it's predecessor, a standardized battle tank, or, in other words, a land battleship.
What the Junker Coyotes had done was strap the hull and turret of a Phalanx to a Type Three train flatbed car, then welded a bunch of random weapons to it's turret, which included machine guns and missile launchers. Lastly, there were two large gantry cranes that ended in large demolition saw blades, and a mechanical plow on the front that seemed designed to violently derail other trains.
"Your luck has just run out, Carla!" The Coyote Commander yelled. "The ShitFuck 9000 is going to eat your little drones alive!"
"…It seems the Coyotes lack imagination." Ayre noted. "Carla at least had the idea to name a dumb, fire spitting crab the 'Smart Cleaner.' The least they could have done was give it a more dignified name."
"…" 621 signed.
"Alright tourist, this looks like the last enemy for today." Carla ordered. "Destroy the…ah…uh…weird armored train." She then muttered, under her breath, "God that's a stupid name."
Uzi fired on the ShitFuck 9000 with her gatling turret, only for the bullets to bounce off it's frontal armor. "Uh…no effect with my gun! Carla…?!"
"Get out of there Sparky, that turret won't survive a hit from those guns." Carla ordered.
"Oh shit!" Uzi realized that the Phalanx turret was traversing in her direction. She quickly leapt from the controls and onto the deck of the rear car, just as the Phalanx turret fired, and damaged the rear gun, rendering it inoperable. "Uh…we've lost the gun."
"Yep, I can see that." Carla noted. "Get in there tourist."
"…" 621 obeyed, firing on the front of the improvised armored train with her artillery guns, getting it's attention on her. Unfortunately, the thick armor of the former tank protected it from all sides.
"Hmm…if it was just a Phalanx, it would be easy enough to mission kill it, but as a train…" Then, Clara had an idea. "Huh…maybe…okay tourist, looks like you and your strays will earn some extra for this one. But the timing has to be perfect."
"What's the plan, Carla!?" Uzi demanded. N was by her side, and V soon joined, watching as 621 engaged the armored train, using her smaller size to dodge and weave around the relatively static turret, though she had to be careful, since the gantry cranes were swinging their saw blades wide, tying to tear her apart.
"This is going to be a multistage plan. For now tourist, you keep distracting that armored train while I use your squad to set up a nice trap." Carla advised.
"…" 621 grunted in agreement, as she traded artillery shells with the Phalanx turret.
"First things first. Start prepping that last car for decoupling, but don't drop it just yet." Carla ordered. "It's just dead weight at this point, but we can use it for something. First disconnect the hydraulic lines."
"G-Got it!" Uzi agreed while she, N and V dropped below the deck of the last car, in the claustrophobic space around it's coupling arm. The thick hydraulic lines were tightly affixed, and there seemed no way to disconnect them easily. "Uh…Carla? Do we need a special tool to disconnect these lines-?"
V used her claws to slash at each of the hydraulic lines, violently disconnecting them. They hissed loudly as they spat oily red fluid over the tracks below.
"…Never mind. We finished." Uzi reported back.
"Sheperd, stand by that decoupling arm. We'll need your strength to disconnect it while under speed." Carla advised. "There should also be an emergency brake control nearby, so be prepared to hit that at the same time."
"Uh…copy!" N replied, easily finding the manual control for the decoupler. It would require him to lift a heavy connector pin, so he needed to use all his strength for that. The emergency brake for the last car was also nearby, close enough that he could hit it with his tail.
"Now, Specter, take Sparky a few kilometers up the line to Grid 082. You should find a crane overlooking the track." Carla let them know.
"Copy!" V answered, picking up Uzi, and used her considerable speed to approach Grid 082 much faster than either train.
While V and Uzi flew up the line, 621 continued to fight the armored train, firing large artillery rounds into it's sides, stunning the crew inside. She'd even managed to destroy several of it's improvised weapons. Still, the large gantry cranes and the original PCA weapons were still operational, and causing her no small amount of problems, and there weren't any obvious weak points. At least the Cataphract had a weak spot on the front that supposedly could be exploited.
"Carla! We made it to the crane!" Uzi reported back as V dropped her off in the control shack. "But…it doesn't reach out to the track!"
"Nah, we can make this work." V assured her.
"Wha…V?" Uzi stared up at her in confusion.
"Centrifugal force." V explained briefly. "What? You're an engineer, you only see what's there. Me? My head is a ballistic computer for breaking things. We spin this crane at just the right time and we can use it like a hammer, just like Carla planned."
"Specter's right. There should be a three-thousand-ton container there, so pick it up and wait on my word. Specter, how long do you need?"
"…" V ran the numbers in her head. "To get this bitch up to speed to swing it far out enough to hit the armored train, it will need three revolutions, so at least a minute of warning."
"Copy that, now pick up that container and get in position." Carla ordered. "You don't have very long."
Uzi and V worked together and used the large crane beside the transit line to lift a three-thousand-ton container into position, letting it hang slightly below the line so that when it swung out, it would be level with the trains.
"And…mark!" Carla warned. "Spin it Sparky!"
"Copy!" Uzi answered, using the crane controls to spin the container.
"Sheperd! You have less than a minute to pull that pin out of the coupler and hit that e-brake! Be ready!"
"Copy!" N answered as well.
"And tourist, try not to get hit by that hammer! In fact, make sure the turret is oriented in the reverse position, to make it easier to roll over." Carla ordered.
"…" 621 grunted in response.
"Well, this will certainly be a spectacle." Ayre realized. "Just stay alive another minute, Raven."
"…" That was easier said than done. At least the tank AC was nearly twice as touch as her other AC.
"One revolution done!" Uzi reported, holding down the control that would spin the crane.
"Forty seconds boys and girls!" Carla advised. "You're doing great tourist!"
"…" 621 could see that crane spinning about a kilometer up the line, it's heavy load swinging out near the transit line. Though she wasn't doing much against the armored train's thick armor, she continued to apply pressure, so that Carla and her Strays could finish their mission.
"Two revolutions done!" Uzi announced, seeing what V was talking about as the heavy container was swung out away from the crane, and towards the transit line.
"Twenty seconds! No turning back!" Carla shouted.
"No…No!" V panicked. "It's not going fast enough!" She quickly landed on the swinging container, and spread her wings.
"Hey! Specter! What are you doing!?" Carla demanded worriedly.
"Speeding this bitch up!" V stressed, gritting her teeth. What she was doing was dumping her reserve energy into the micro-anti-gravity generators located on the carpal joints of her wings, in order to speed up the container ever so slightly.
"Five seconds!" Carla alerted. "Shepherd! Punch it!"
"Right!" N pulled the connector pin on the last train car, while pressing the emergency brake. The double wide flatbed car with a damaged gatling turret quickly separated from the rest of Carla's train, towards the Coyotes armored train.
621 stayed to the rear of the Phalanx turret, keeping the crew manning it from noticing the two massive objects rapidly approaching. She did notice V, holding on to the speeding container with her wings spread.
"…" 621 sighed.
Riding the container currently being flung into the side of the ShitFuck 9000, V had a front row seat as the three-thousand-ton container slammed into the improvised armored train, causing it to lift off the tracks. The rapidly braking flatcar ejected from Carla's train certainly didn't help with the stability of the half tipped over Coyote train, as it slammed into the front of it and caused it to jump tracks. As a result, the ShitFuck 9000 rolled over, and fell off the transit line, falling back to Rubicon far below.
Unfortunately, V had burned out her anti-grav generators forcing the container up to the speed needed to slam-dance the armored train. That would take a few minutes to heal from. Until then she had essentially lost flight control, and was currently fighting to even recover her balance after straining herself.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" V had been flung up and over the armored train, and out into the air far past the transit line. As she recovered, she immediately lost balance again as she was hit by several…gold bars?
So that's why that container weighted three-thousand-tons.
Certain she was going to fall with the ShitFuck 9000 back to Rubicon, V was surprised when she heard the sound of roaring thrusters, and looked to see the tank AC being used by 621, "flying" towards her rapidly. Reaching out, V caught a grip on the AC, and hung on tightly as 621 flew back up to the transit line above, stopping in the middle of the tracks.
"V! Are you okay!?" N had shouted worriedly, as he currently rode Carla's train towards Grid 085.
"…Huh. I guess gold does have some use on Rubicon." V noted calmly.
"Whew, nice catch, tourist." Carla praised. "Thought you'd nearly lost your prettiest Stray."
"H-Hey!" Uzi complained.
"Don't stick around there too long. It's still not friendly territory, even if you've thinned their numbers a bit." Carla advised. "Hurry up and go retrieve Sparky, then get back on the train. You've got no more enemies, but works not done yet. I'll contact you again soon. Good job today."
"Tsk!" The Coyote Commander hissed. "Don't think just cause you have a new Hound, that will stop us Carla! We'll get our hands all over your merchandise!"
"In your dreams." Carla responded back flippantly.
As 621 returned to the crane to pick up Uzi, V turned towards her thoughtfully, looking up at the AC appreciatively.
"Hey Raven…" V smiled up sweetly. "Thanks."
"…" 621 grunted back.
Grid 084 – Transit Line
Carla had given them the all clear, so MA-R1 and his crew were standing down, alongside 621's Strays. They were all in part of the train's engine compartment, in a spacious cabin which included the controls for the train. As for 621, she was still in the AC, not letting herself relax until they made it all the way to Grid 085.
"Woho!" Kaylee cheered. "What a fight!"
"Yeah-ah!" Uzi had also been cheering when Kaylee picked her up and started spinning her around. She liked the girl's energy, but her gyroscopes weren't top of the line, meaning she could be prone to feeling "dizzy", as it were.
"Yeah! I totally didn't panic at all!" Wash lied.
"Just don't crash the train, dear." Zoey smiled warmly.
"Well, we certainly couldn't have done it without you lot." MA-R1 nodded, as he patedt N on the back. "Thanks a bunch."
"Glad to be of help!" N saluted with a carefree smile.
"…Hey, little drone girl thing." JC-66 pointed at V.
"What?" V crossed her arms.
"Ya fight alright. For a drone." JC-66 nodded reluctantly.
"You're damn right I do." V smiled widely, hand resting on her hips confidently.
Uzi had managed to slip out of Kaylee's grasp, and found MA-R1.
"Hey, thanks for helping with this job, protecting my people and all." Uzi smiled appreciatively at the other machine.
"Of course, Uzi." MA-R1 nodded to her. "Normally we don't take too kindly on the whole 'non-consensual moving of sentient beings kind of job' *cough cough* slave trade." MA-R1 made a coughing sound and ended the sentence quickly, muttering quietly. "But ah…I've seen what Carla's doing with the Worker Drones in Grid 085, and I think she means it when she's trying to help your people. Not a lot of people left in the 'verse willing to do that at all."
"…You were." Uzi pointed out appreciatively.
"Yeah." MA-R1 agreed quietly. "Guess I just never really saw too many of your kind during the war is all."
Uzi thought about his statement. "You fought against Laconia?"
"…Yeah." MA-R1 sounded reluctant, but decided to sit by her, and tell a story. They were a bit away from the rest of the group, so only Uzi heard him speak. "Sol was still cleaning up after Inaros, so when Laconia came for the outer colonies, we had no fleet and some scrappy volunteers and idiots to hold the line, including yours truly." He pointed at himself jokingly. "Now in the beginning, it was the whole 'verse against Laconia, and no one took them seriously cause, I mean, it was just one planet. Even with half the Martian Fleet, it was still them against a thousand other colonized worlds. Surely they couldn't fight a war against the whole 'verse. Surely we didn't need Sol's help to protect our freedom and throw off the yoke of Laconian Imperial rule."
MA-R1 paused, his optical camera incorrectly focused on some distant point in the cabin.
"Laconia was fast and relentless, utilizing technology we'd never seen before. The Colonial Administration was barely able to hold the line, and suffered defeat after defeat. Our force of a thousand scattered colonies was sent running after just barely a year of war, before they set their sights on Sol. In our worst defeat during that one-year war, we made a stand in a place called 'Serenity Valley' on the colony world of Hera. Fifty thousand Colonial Marines fortified the valley, and held the line for seven weeks. In the end, there were only two survivors."
"Why didn't Sol come to help?" Uzi questioned. "I don't know a lot about Sol and it's politics and stuff, so why didn't they do anything?"
"Because Laconia was very careful to control information, and made sure to keep FTL capable ships from making it back to Sol to report on the full situation. We knew Laconia was attacking, and we knew we were losing, but we couldn't send word to Sol for help, not that it would have done them any good. It's why they call the brief conflict between Laconia and the colonies closest to them the Silent War."
"What did you do after the Silent War?" Uzi wondered.
"Well, afterward, I was stuck behind enemy lines, and made myself look like a 'collaborator', helping to run civilian logistics in a mid-bulk transport. What I was really doing, was fighting quietly. Smuggling Sol infiltrators into Laconian space, moving weapons or troops, and generally keeping tabs on Laconian movement. I'd like to think that I helped do my part in some small way, in turning back the Laconian hoards." MA-R1 summarized. "Even helped smuggle some people out of Laconian space. I never won any big battles, but I made up for it in a thousand tiny victories."
"…" Uzi frowned, feeling sorry for the older machine, as it rested tiredly. Suddenly, she had a question that he might be able to answer. She reached into her pocket, and grabbed the award she'd found discarded by 621, the silver medal adorned with black ribbon. "What's this thing, Mal?"
"…?" MA-R1 took the medal from her in one hand, then seemed to realize what he was holding, and gently reached for it with a second hand, holding it with cautious reverence. Metal fingers traced the ribbon softly, rubbing it almost for comfort. "Where did you get this?"
"I uh…found it." Uzi partially lied. "What is it?"
"Why? Are you looking to sell?" There was an accusing tone in his voice.
"Uh…no. I just want to know what it is." Uzi clarified.
"…Good." MA-R1 relaxed slightly. "Because this is worthless…and priceless."
"Uh…how?" Uzi cocked her head in confusion.
"Well, for one thing, it's illegal to trade in war medals. It's one of the few laws of Sol enforced and respected, even out here on Rubicon." MA-R1 explained. "As they should, because this is the highest honor any could achieve during the war. 'The Order of Sol's Light.'"
"…Oh." Uzi's eyes hollowed in surprise. "Uh…what does that mean?"
"…" MA-R1 bowed his head tiredly, before he stared up at her intently with his one eye. "As the war became so very desperate, it's fate was decided not by technology or numbers, but by those unwavering fanatics who faced impossible odds, and did not yield. Those who sacrificed everything for victory over Laconia earned this." MA-R1 took Uzi's hand, and placed the award in it, and held it firmly in her gasp, trying to imply his desperation to make sure she understood exactly how heavy it was. "I don't know how you found this, but carry it carefully, and remember that whoever earned it…is not someone to be reckoned with."
"..." Uzi took the award back, and held it tightly. What had 621 done to earn this? What had she sacrificed?
And why did she try to throw it away without a second thought?
Grid 085 – Loading Dock
The shadow of the Grid 085 megapillar loomed overhead, casting the whole area in mid-day dark, the corpse sun shining in few holes in Outer Shell far above. The train had come to a stop at a loading dock at this altitude, and cranes were already at work unloading hundreds of cargo containers.
Finally satisfied that the area was secure, 621 powered down the AC, and set about collecting her Strays.
"Stray Squad." She called. "Good work today, but we're not quite finished yet. Go assist Mal's crew with offloading the Worker Dones, to finish the contract."
"Yes ma'am!" Uzi, V, and N agreed, and followed MA-R1 towards thirty of the cargo containers set aside from those containing raw materials. Along the way, they met the remainder of MA-R1's crew. One odd robot, and one mysterious lady.
The machine with two, friendly blue eyes was odd because it was wearing a plain set of robes, making it appear as a…priest. The woman held herself with regal pride, and was dressed in her own flowing robes, that made her look like a goddess. She had dark skin and long, flowing ebony hair, and a young, attractive face that made her appear no more than thirty years old.
"Uzi, V, N, I'd like you to meet the rest of my crew." MA-R1 announced. "This gentleman is DB-0K, but we just call him Book. And this…lovely lady…is Inara Serra." MA-R1 had momentarily struggled when he said Inara's name, and looked away from the woman.
"Hello." DB-0K said warmly. "It's good to see you and the rest of Mal's crew made the journey unharmed. I would have prayed for your safe passage…but I know Mal dislikes that."
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Inara bowed, slowly and elegantly. "It's always a joy to make new friends in these troubled times."
"Hello, uh…" Uzi stared in confusion at DB-0K. "If you don't mind me asking, are you a priest?"
"Ah, I suppose the outfit gave it away." DB-0K laughed softly. "Yes, I am a priest."
"Oh, so do you worship The Old Ones?" N asked innocently.
"That's actually a bit of a human misconception." DB-0K explained. "While it is true that The Old Ones are frightfully powerful artificial intelligences, they openly discourage attempts at worshiping them, despite the irony they must have realized when they named their colony on Mercury 'The Silver City.' No, I worship the hands that made the hands that made the hands that made me, a being simply known as the one true God of all creation."
"Now, Book, we talked about this, no need to go boring our new friends with one of your sermons." MA-R1 complained.
"I was merely sating their curiosity. I know that I am something of an oddity in their eyes." DB-0K argued back calmly.
"Uh, why would a machine worship a human god?" Uzi narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"There isn't any prerequisite that says that machines cannot serve and worship gods that they were not made in the image of. Rather, I practice religion so that I may better appreciate the grand beauty of all our Lord's creation in this vast and infinite 'verse. God may not have created me, but he created a universe in which I and many other machine intelligences could gain sentience and have the capacity to question 'why?'" DB-0K concluded quietly, with his hands crossed behind his back.
"Please excuse Book, he means well, but he can be quite passionate in his beliefs." Inara smiled with friendly intent.
"It's cool. Uh…so what do you do, pretty lady?" V questioned curiously.
"Ah, thank you for the complement." Inara feigned blushing, appreciating the praise. "Though I may not look it, I am an artificial human, created during the war as an assassin."
"An assassin?" Uzi stared at her incredulously. "You don't look like an assassin?"
"I should hope not. I would not be very good at my job if I looked like a killer." Inara smiled sweetly. "I was created in Sol by The Old Ones for the task of infiltrating Laconian space, to spy and assassinate high-level targets. Mal here helped transport me from world to world, keeping the heat off my back. When the war ended, I was released from my contract to Sol and live by my own free will."
"Hey, as much fun as these history lessons are, Carla's not paying us by the hour people." MA-R1 advised. "So let's get a move on and send these drones to their new home!"
Opening each of the cargo containers was…unsettling for Uzi. Seeing her people packed in a hundred at a time, huddled close together fearfully, their necks aglow in the hateful, Coral red of their control collars. Still, she felt some semblance of hope, of righteous achievement, at releasing them into the Worker Sanctuary.
"H-Hey!" Uzi shouted nervously. "It's going to be alright! Come on! This is a place that doesn't hurt Workers! It will be okay!"
"Oh…t-thank you!"
V and N received much less warm receptions.
"Oh god we're all going to die!" The Workers shouted upon seeing N.
"Woah, hey, it's okay buddy!" N raised his hands non-threatening. "I'm here to take you to a sanctuary for your kind. See, I'm under orders too." He pointed at his collar. "It's going to be alright now."
V was far blunter.
"Ah please don't eat me!" A Worker shouted upon seeing V open their container.
"…" V frowned, letting her hands hang by her sides lazily, almost dragging on the ground as she slouched in annoyance. "Hey, I'm working a job for your new master, 'Cinder' Carla. This will be your new home. Out!"
With the Worker Drones extracted and sent to their new home in Grid 085, the job was complete, and Carla sent them payment.
100,000 Coam as base pay, followed by a 50,000 Coam bonus for defeating the…ShitFuck 9000. Since the AC 621 used was borrowed, Carla elected not to charge maintenance or ammo fees, which was great since the artillery shells went for 1,200 Coam a piece and the cruise missiles were 600 Coam a unit. So, in the end, Stray Squad took their cut of 45,000 Coam for a job well done.
"Thanks for the support guys!" MA-R1 called out as he led his crew away. "Hopefully we'll work again soon!"
"Alright, sounds good!" Uzi shouted gleefully, waving. "See ya!"
Shortly, 621 found them, her hand terminal open. "Good work today, Stray Squad. We earned our keep, and did something…right."
"Yeah. Thanks." Uzi smiled softly. "So, back home…or…er…back to Grid 086 I mean?"
"Not quite."
"Oh? Another job?" V questioned. "What is it this time?"
"Something close by, and from Carla again." 621 answered, as she opened the incoming call.
"Hey tourist, little drones." Carla called happily. "Good job today with that delivery. This is really going to help me out."
"Oh, uh, glad to do what we can!" N shouted back eagerly.
"That's the spirit!" Carla cheered. "And while you're there in Grid 085, I had another job you could do for me. No combat this time, at least, I hope not. Your mission will be to audit the Worker Drone Sanctuary."
Author's Note: When I was playing through AC6, you know what my first thought was? "Where is my obligatory train fighting mission for this generation?" So, I made my own. It's not perfect, and 621 was kinda underutilized, but I had a lot of fun writing it. There will be a couple more missions like this where I pull something out of my ass to pad out the length of the story to make it more interesting, so look forward to that.
Chapter 18 took maybe a week or two longer to write than I intended, but I'm hoping the next mini-arc that happens will go by quickly. Frankly, I'm terrified and excited with what I have planned.
Also, no real citations this chapter, but yeah, all those new characters are just the main cast of the show Firefly, with some of them reimagined as robots or something else. They might come and go between chapters as minor characters.
Hmm...I'm sure that flashback to Laconia has no implications whatso ever. Not the little drone or the thing in orbit. Nothing to worry about.
Just something I was thinking about as well, that new Murder Drones episode comes out in 2 days, and while I expect some kind of drama or mystery or revelations, I've left myself open enough that nothing revealed should contradict with the lore I have planned for this story. And even if it does, I've already kind of combined Murder Drones lore with The Expanse so that the Absolute Solver has a completely different, and possibly more sinister origin. Oh I'm excited!
Anyhow, stay tuned mi beratnas, and abide with Rubicon!