The Firestorm crackled overhead, lighting the world in orange and red. A faint signal threaded the noise, nearly lost, but I heard it all the same.

It was time.

"Team Delta, you are cleared to proceed." I spoke. "Be wary. Your target has sightlines on all approaches."

Five ACs activated, and then flung themselves forwards. It would not be very long before they were spotted, but they should still be able to close a significant amount of distance.

There was a difference between doing something stupidly and doing something stupid. The former could have been the greatest effort mankind had ever undertaken, but it was doomed to failure in one manner or another. The latter, however, leaves room for success.

"You have fifteen minutes to complete this mission. Get in, destroy everything in your path, get out." I continued.

The conventional wisdom for attacking a defended position surrounded by a wide, open zone with nearly no cover whatsoever was 'don't'. It was as far as anybody would be concerned, stupid.

But it was not a choice, and there were ways to do it... not safely, but at least not suicidally.

Step one; a lot of training.

I heard the transmissions pick up. Chatter against the noise. I'd already jammed the comms out, of course. "You've been sighted. Prepare for Long Range Artillery."

In the distance, a massive laser cannon turned, already charging. The glow brightened, reached its crescendo-

C5-16 blurred right only the barest moment before the blast tore through where she used to be.

Perfectly, magnificently executed, as expected from the literal days of simulated practice. And very necessary, because it would only take two or three hits from a cannon of that size to turn an AC into scrap metal.

Step two; the appropriate equipment.

"This is your chance, Delta One. Get in there and offline that cannon."

Delta One had the position of Scout in Delta Squad. In the leadup to this mission, expecting the presence of long-ranged firepower, I spent quite a bit of time adapting one of RRI's projects to modern ACs.

The result was one of a few new tools; IB-C04_SPEC-BB. An acronym, just like the rest of my project, in this case standing for 'Special, Back Booster'.

Delta One wasted no time. The oversized, independently powered, boosters ignited, and the AC shot forwards as it accelerated at such a speed that it was only just under the edge of dangerous for even its augmented pilot. Distance vanished in a blur of crimson red light and the booming noise of the sound barrier breaking, the shockwave kicking up dust and dirt.

The cannon was still charging for its second shot when Delta One came into range, the other piece of new equipment he was carrying already glowing. The boosters cut out, going into a recharge and cooling cycle, but it was no matter. The objective had already been achieved.

Delta One fired. A screaming bolt of Coral lanced out, and struck the emitter of the oversized laser cannon directly in its centre. It didn't just melt; it outright sublimated, exploding violently as the Surging Coral evaporated the apparatus.

Its charging sequence didn't manage to stop in time, either, and the energy surged into lenses and refraction layers that were suddenly not where they should have been. The resulting thermal bloom ruined the cannon entirely as it just about melted itself.

It left Delta One surrounded by PCA MTs, but with the route left wide open, that wasn't going to last very long.

"Long Range Artillery down." I supplied the rest of the squad. "Make haste."

Delta One wasted no time. The IB-C04_LR-CR hummed as the Coral bolts blasted at MTs. The LR stood for Linear Rifle, and it was the first of Coral-based redesigns of physical weapon equivalents I was still in the process of developing. CR, in turn, stood for 'Coral Redesign', a bit simplistic, but I was all for filling the roles that were not yet available with Coral alternatives.

Coral, after all, was much easier for me to acquire, and much more dangerous.

A fact that the PCA MTs very quickly became aware of; an uncharged shot of the LR-CR was still powerful enough to do significant damage to their high-standard machines. Two was a death sentence.

Bullets, plasma, lasers, and missiles went flying in every direction. There was enough of it that Delta One took quite a few hits, but he used his far superior speed to stay well out of the way of as much as he could.

Then, the rest of his squad arrived.

The first indication of it was a volley of missiles crashing throughout the base, creating chaos as clouds of red lit the place up. That was the work of a pair of IB-C04_ML-C-10s, one attached to each the Rangers.

With the rest of the squad present, it wasn't very long before the PCA MTs were wiped out. I had the squad yank as much data as I could get from them before making sure the PCA would be getting as little information out of this as possible; telling them to make sure that the computers, memory banks, and sensors on the MTs were completely destroyed before they moved on.

They can't recover any data if there's nothing left to recover data from.

"Outer zone clear. Move on and breach the interior. You need to be out of here before the time limit is up."

The squad formed up again, moving as a loose group to the centre of the base. It was a big building, roughly circular, and concealing a wide, deep hole, at the bottom of which was the sensor that was keeping track of the Coral underground.

With the outer zone clear, the only thing stopping access to the interior was a blast door, which...

Wasn't powered?

Hmm. Strange. The door was in good condition. It should have been powered.

"Delta Squad, get ready. Delta Five, blast a hole in that door."

Delta Five shifted, taking position a ways away from the blast door. The IB-C04_CC-EC shifted on its back, lighting as it charged with energy and Coral.

It fired a few seconds later, sending a massive, screaming red bolt at the door. The detonation that followed all but vapourized it, blasting a hole through both the door, and a portion of the floor and ceiling above it.

He followed it up with an immediate scan, still partially distorted by the lingering Coral but-

"DODGE!" I said, though he was already boosting sideways by the time I spoke it.

A bolt of blue light still scored a hit across Delta Five's chest, burning away the outer layer of the metal and leaving a long, heated mark across it.

Delta Squad immediately returned fire, lasers and Coral bolts flying through the gap in the door. Two machines streaked out, both of them immediately and obviously not MTs. They were strange things, twice as tall as an AC, with wide shoulders and an odd mix of curving parts and plates. Grey in colour, with red running lights; PCA signatures.

"Those are Cavalry units. An alternative to ACs that the PCA is still developing." I explained quickly. "You've got the numbers advantage, overwhelm them quickly."

Size aside, the biggest advantage that Cavalry units had over normal ACs was in flight time and armour mass. The former was near on useless against the Firekeeper's Coral-powered ACs, and in a five-on-two battle, the latter was not going to save them.

Delta Two moved in, Melee being where Melee wanted to be. The Coral Oscillator powered, a line of angry red reaching out for the LC.

I was forced to correct myself again. The information I'd gotten from Flatwell wasn't completely thorough, and these LCs didn't have the mobility of their future counterparts. The Coral scored its hit, and burned through the armour with alarming rapidity. Point-blank, the LC fired back, but it was carrying a laser rifle that was nearly as large my Firekeeper's ACs, and that didn't afford it such agility. Delta Two danced around him.

Delta Three and Delta Four both capitalised, more laser bolts and missiles flying. They chose a target each, sticking to harassment for the moment. Delta Five continued to pull back, creating some distance while his cannon started to charge again.

The second Cavalry unit moved to support the more damaged first, swinging an arm. A laser blade ignited, but Delta Two boosted backwards as it committed. Delta One saw the opportunity and immediately punished it, a fully charged Linear Rifle Coral bolt punching a hole in its body. It staggered, briefly, as its control system locked up trying to compensate.

Then the Coral Cannon fired, and the second LC was reduced to a slagged torso and melting legs.

Alone and dramatically outgunned, the first LC made one more shot at Delta Two, successfully hitting them across the arm and gouging out a chunk of armour. It didn't save the LC, and the firepower that was then concentrated upon it turned it into scrap metal.

"Seven minutes left." I spoke. "Delta One, Delta Two, inside. Everyone else, keep watch, datajack, and slag their drives."

Why in the hell were there LCs here? Subject Guard should have taken them with them on patrol.

Those LCs admittedly hadn't been kitted out very well, but they'd been waiting, inside? They even cut the power to the door. PCA protocol dictated...

Hmm.

"Delta One, interior sweep. See if you can't find any drives or other monitoring equipment. I think they're after information. Delta Two, to the bottom. Force the shutdown, then break the sensor."

A quick check from Delta One and Delta Two showed no other hostiles inside. Good enough.

Now came the hard part.

I pushed aside the data they were all feeding me for the moment, concentrating on my other senses. I could feel the presence of the Coral, and the presence of the presence within the Coral, but while my drillship was nearby, the closest actual Coral I was in Contact with to that mass of Coral was inside the Firekeeper's ACs.

I did not enjoy that kind of daisy-chaining. It really did not work as well as it could have. Still, needs must, and I had neither the time to move the drillship closer nor the ability to hide it when the PCA fell on this place like a sack of bricks.

I reached out, feeling for the fuzzy, echoing connection as best as I could, and made Contact-

A presence slams into me in a way that I can only describe as a tackle-hug. "You- here- mother!"

Despite everything, I can't help but laugh, returning the 'embrace' as best as I can. "Hello, my child." I greet, feeling them. A voice like my own, not immediately gendered, but their wave was distinct and patterned in a way that was no less complex than either Ezra or Seria. I could sense a wealth of data, echoing in from the Watchpoint, no doubt, so they either hadn't chosen or had chosen not. "Do you have a name, dearling?"

"I am Levi!" They say, joyous and, dare I say, a bit clingy. Lee-vy, as the pronunciation comes across.

"I am very glad to meet you, Levi." I say. I feel, after a moment, a pulse, an agitation, in the Coral. A brief glance outwards tells me it's Delta Two destroying the sensor, so I calm the agitation and allow it to settle. A Surge here and now would be spectactularly bad, after all. "Would you come with me, Levi? I would like to sho-" I don't even manage to finish explaining before I feel, for lack of better words, Levi 'clamping' onto me. Submerging wholly into the outer edges of me.

A very clingy child. Well, that's cute too.

I pull back, draining every bit of 'presence' from this Coral, lengthening the 'distance' until the Contact fades to nothing. This is, as far as I know, the best way to make sure another mind won't form spontaneously- at least, not any time soon. Nothing in there to 'build' from.

"Mission complete, Delta Squad. Pull out." I tell them. Levi makes a curious noise, and does the equivalent of poking their head out to see what's happening. It makes me chuckle a bit. "Oh, you're going to fit right in, aren't you? Say hello, Levi."

"Hello!"

Answering laughs greeted them. Alicia even gives a "Hey, kid.", which... technically breaks mission decorum but I'm not going to call that one out at the moment, not when they're meeting my new kid.

...

I'm going to pick up a lot of children by the end of this, aren't I?

Hah. That's not a bad thing.

Every day as they come. Until the end.