Base 43
“I have heard enough.” growls the Empress, interrupting my proposal. “Do whatever you wish – I will not be a part of this foolishness.” Striding towards the communications panel of the Kaguya-hime, she opens up a line to one of the captains. Within thirty seconds she has brow-beaten him into agreeing to take her back to Earth. Within thirty minutes she is standing in front of the shuttle that the cruiser had sent to pick her up, her bags packed. All but one of the Higashi VIPs are following her; Minister Azo seems keen on sticking with us to the end. Every member of the Kaguya-hime's crew had elected to stay aboard the ship too.
“Kyrie.” calls out the Empress coldly. “Come.”
She shakes her head. “I'm sorry, mother. I think it will be a more learning valuable experience for me to stay here.”
The Empress sighs as if dealing with a petulant child. “These absurd people are going to throw away their lives in meaningless suicide. I believe I raised you smarter than this.”
“If I am to be a good ruler, I must know war. Did father not participate regularly in leading army exercises?”
“Those are
exercises. This is not. You can certainly learn about war safely behind a desk somewhere.” snaps the Empress exasperatedly. “Really, I wonder who is it that has been feeding your brain with nonsense.” Her eyes shift to me. “Perhaps I should look into getting rid of unwanted influences on my daughter.”
Then, she gives a haughty sniff. It seems to run in the family... or is it some acquired tick? Would I start sniffing haughtily if I hung around Kyrie long enough? “So be it. I will not change your stubborn mind, I know that. Let us not waste any more time arguing. Do come out of this alive, my dear daughter... surely you can do that much at least? You still have the transponder I gave you, right? Don't hesitate to abandon the ship if it means you survive. You are the most important thing here.”
I can tell that the Empress means it; cold and arrogant she may be, but she wouldn't be too happy if her only daughter died. I wonder how she really feels about Kyrie refusing to leave the ship.
“When we meet again, Kyrie,” she continues, “I will help get rid of all the parasites and hanger-ons that will latch on to you... or already have.” The Empress gives me a murderous look.
I don't think our next meeting will go very well.
***
“Tell me again why you stayed behind?” I ask Kyrie as we head to the hangar. The repairs on Anhur are almost complete, and Tabitha had called me over to start calibrations. “Valuable learning experience,” she grins. I look at her twinkling emerald-green eyes. Yup, there's no mistaking that gleam in those eyes. When she gets that, it can only mean...
“I have no idea where you get off calling me a risk-taker, you adrenaline junkie. You're only here because it's more exciting.”
“Hey, just because I like a thrill doesn't mean I rush from bad positions into worse situations like you do.”
“I don't recall ever doing that. I always take calculated, measured action after assessing all possibilities. I do not rush.”
She laughs. “Sure. I suppose it only appears that way.” She doesn't believe me.
“If it isn't the ace pilot and his princess!” Rose and Babs approach us in their tailored black suits, on their way to some other part of the ship. They had stayed behind as security detail for Minister Azo.
“Hey guys. On an errand?” I greet them casually. They give Kyrie a short bow, acknowledging her rank, and flip me a mocking salute.
“You bet. The Higashi minister is asking us to make sure the ship is secure, so we're going to run over safety procedures and security checks with the captain and his crew. The old guy's pretty cautious.” remarks Babs.
“He must not have wanted to talk to the captain himself to avoid it seeming like he was interfering directly with the ship's operation.” I reply.
“Oh, no. He's having tea with Captain Grimlock. They apparently know each other from way back. I hear he used to be a mercenary in his younger days.” says Rose. “He doesn't look it to me, though.” Well... that's interesting. I seem to be meeting plenty of ex-mercenaries – Butterfield himself certainly is one, from some of the stories he told of his past and the skills he taught me. If I ever meet Shulgi again, I should ask him about it.
“So, how's the ol' sex life between you two lovebirds?” grins Rose all of a sudden. Kyrie makes a curious moan along the lines of “Uuu”, her face turning bright red. I feel a heat creeping into my cheeks too. Where did
that come from?
“Oh come on, what's with that reaction? My buddy here is a pilot now, princess. Haven't you the slightest temptation to jump his joystick while riding in his cockpit? I mean, that big machine is just wasted standing there in the hang-” A burly arm hooks its way around Rose's neck and chokes him off. Good old Butterfield.
“You may not speak to the princess like that, Mr. Raul.”
“I-I'm sorry, sir.” splutters Rose. “I will not do it again.”
“See that you remember. As a member of the ISC's security force, you must conduct yourself with more dignity. The princess is not a personage you can speak crassly with.”
“But it's okay to talk like that to Senya?” he grins hopefully from between Butterfield's arm-choke.
“You may speak to Master Hoshikawa however you wish, as he is not royalty. He has the wisdom to handle such matters of conversation without believing he should act on it. Isn't that so?” Butterfield throws me a glance. I understand what he means, and nod.
“Of course. I would never think of sullying the princess.” I smile awkwardly, a bead of sweat trickling down my neck. That is a lie. I do think of it sometimes. Good old Butterfield. I'm never sure whether I should be grateful or scared of him. Kyrie looks slightly down right now. Perhaps Rose
was being too crass.
“Very good, Master Hoshikawa. Now, you should be on your way. This is no time for idle chat.”
He drags Rose off under his arm, Babs following behind obediently, having been smart enough not to open his mouth.
***
I gaze up at Anhur. There are only some minor repairs left, primarily on the legs. It would be fully operational by the time we reach Base 43. Also, it's now painted in shiny black, with gold highlights accentuating its smooth form in a very tasteful manner. Someone appears to have painted the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph for 'night' in white on the left shoulder armor. Tabitha comes up to greet me, cheerful as always.
“What's with the new colour scheme?” I ask, surprised at the Anhur's new look. I've only seen it in its gaudy show colours; the black & gold paint gives it an elegant menace that was not there before.
“The Chief said your favourite colour was black. He figured you'd be happy to have a CF in your own custom colours. We even painted the Egyptian word for night on the side.”
“Night?”
“That's the meaning of your name, right? I recall it was Higashi something along the lines of river of stars and a thousand nights. Sounds kinda romantic.” grins Tabitha.
Kyrie pokes me in the side. “I didn't know that. Why didn't you tell me?”
“It's embarrassing.” I reply with a blush. “Anyway, that's not important. Where's the Chief? I didn't know he came onboard.”
“He's in the bathroom. All this excitement is too much for him.” says Tabitha as she walks back to Anhur. To be honest, I've never seen the man before; he seems to always be in the bathroom for some reason or another. I wonder how he gets anything done.
Well, time to wonder later. I should get to work calibrating Anhur properly. I don't want a repeat of last time.
***
track: counterattack
Base 43 is an installation anchored to a small rock in a remote region of Sun L4. The ISC's intel indicate that it primarily deals with CF research, and testing is usually conducted at a nearby asteroid field. The Kaguya-hime and the two remaining
Pimsin cruisers, Kalai and Sarmatia, manage to come in close enough without running into the enemy. Most of the forces in L4 have spread out to hunt us down, fanning out towards Sun L3. They did not expect we would travel so deep into UNS territory.
Two warships, as expected. The base's radar detects our approach soon enough, our electronic jamming unable to fully camouflage our signature once we get too close. The Centeotls launch after three minutes. It looks like the base is already on alert if they managed to get the CFs out that fast. Six brown Centeotls head towards us. Looks like it isn't White Fang.
That's good. I'd hate to have to kick their heads in.
The catapult throws me into space. This is a test for both me and the combat frame; Captain Grimrock has decided to see what the CF is really capable of with me at the controls. To that end, no fighters will be launched, nor will the warships interfere unless I get into trouble. The simulations indicate that a CF of Anhur's specifications, piloted properly, should be able to defeat a force of this size with little difficulty.
Well, I suppose piloting it properly is the major issue here. I should be able to do this, though – no, I know I can do this. Out in space, free from the confines of gravity, the controls of Anhur are much less restricted than they were in the colony; they're far more responsive than the construction mech I was in. Having spent the past hour - and the past day in simulation practice - getting Yua to customize the macro commands to my preferences, I feel as if Anhur is moving exactly according to my will.
“Master, incoming fire. Maybe we should dodge?”
The ranged fire comes first, the Centeotls trying to pepper me with bullets from their machine-guns. I roll Anhur to the left, evading the hail of shells with ease.
“Alright, let's test the beam rifle. Pick a target, Yua.”
“How about that one? It's straggling behind.”
These Centeotls don't have the teamwork and cohesion of the White Fangs. I track the target that Yua has painted with my eyes – the cameras of Anhur's head focus on it and my reticule indicates a lock. The enemy is still trying to hit me; I stop my movement short and dash in the opposite direction immediately. As smoothly as raising my own arm, I have Anhur aim and fire while still in movement. The yellow glow that streaks forth from my rifle melts through the hapless mech with ease. It looks like I hit the reactor – the mech vaporizes in a small ball of fire.
That's one down.
“They're about to fire again, Master.”
I boost downwards as another round of fire misses me. At this range, their aim is too predictable. I wouldn't even need to use my powers as long as Yua keeps an eye out for me. Two Centeotls break off formation and head straight for me. It looks like they're tired of trying to hit me with their guns. I keep the throttle steady as I let them gain on me, swaying to the left and right to evade the occasional shots that would hit the frame.
If I remember correctly, this would be the limit of their speed. I can see them wobbling as the Centeotl pilots try to maintain a steady control of their frames at top speed. I push the throttle harder, taking me out of their range in seconds. Floating above them, I take careful aim. I have all the time in the world to take my shot – two more beams from my rifle go straight through the Centeotls, turning them into scrap metal before they even think of taking evasive action. Once aimed properly and fired, a particle beam moves too fast for any human to dodge easily.
“Master! Incoming rocket!” shouts Yua suddenly. The ping indicates that it's coming from behind. I slam the throttles on full. Anhur rockets upwards. Though I'm pushed back in my seat from the acceleration, it's not too uncomfortable thanks to the pilot suit. I turn around and head for the Centeotl that had fired upon me, retrieving the beam saber from the storage compartment on Anhur's back as I do so. As I approach it rapidly from a high angle of attack, the panicking frame abandons its plans to retreat and draws its sword for melee combat. It swings at me as I bring up my saber.
The saber, connected to my frame's powerful reactor, charges the particles within it. They flare to life as superheated plasma, contained only by a strong magnetic field projected in the shape of a long blade. The mono-molecular sword meets the saber edge to edge – the plasma melts through the hardened alloy with ease as I swing the beam saber. It passes right through both the sword and the mech wielding it, cutting it almost in half.
Three left.
All three converge on me at once, thinking to overwhelm me with numbers. Anhur's thrusters deliver me safely away as I dash backwards. The Centeotls cannot keep up with its speed at all. I dance around them, pelting them with the fire-linked vulcans now equipped on the frame's head. One of the enemy frames takes a dozen unlucky shots through the cockpit as it moves in the wrong direction. Another tries to flee – I fire upon it with the beam rifle. My first shot tears off its legs, and the second hits it dead on in the reactor. As the mech explodes, the last Centeotl – the squad leader – charges at me with sword drawn.
He's not bad. The Centeotl evades the swing of my saber by going down low. Using its verniers, it pivots into a spin, attempting to cut me in half at the waist. I remember a trick described in that text adventure Shulgi gave me; I fire my verniers to send me backwards. The sword misses me, and before the enemy recovers from its attack I push the throttle up and dash forward, faster than the Centeotl can react. I ram my beam saber right through the chest of the Centeotl, frying the pilot within with the superheated plasma. Raising the Anhur's leg, I kick the dead frame away.
“That's all of the frames, Master. Should we return to the Kaguya-hime?”
'Let's see if we can finish the job, Yua.” I reply.
The warships begin to fire their particle cannons once they spot me moving towards them, probably desperate now that their escorts are gone. They should have started sooner instead of relying on their CFs to do the job. At this range, I'm too small and too fast for them to hit reliably, and their attacks travel in predictable lines. With ease, I dart in between the beams and missiles. The Anhur's immense mobility brings me right to the warships in mere seconds. I fly along them in the dead angles of their anti-fighter weapons, emptying my beam rifle into their sides. The particle beams rip through even warship armour with ease, but I'm still not packing anything big enough to reliably destroy a cruiser. I would have to learn how to hit their reactors properly to do so. I dart around the warships to prepare for my next round of attack. They are badly damaged, but still operational. I take out my beam saber. Perhaps I can carve my way in.
A signal comes through to me from Captain Grimlock.
“Alright, that's a wrap, Ensign. The enemy captains are trying to surrender, babbling about getting me to stop you from ripping and tearing into them. What were you going to do to them?”
“My job, sir.” I can't say I'm comfortable with the idea of killing, but I'll do what I must. This is the path I have chosen, and if it means that walking it stains my hands with blood, that is a burden I must accept - though I must be careful not to fall into the trap of self-inflicted melodrama. Speaking of which, I should probably try to keep Kyrie away from that too if I have the time... she seems troubled enough to fall into it right now. Perhaps I should do it...
“Well, good job. I'm convinced of the frame's power, as are the captains of the Kalai and the Sarmatia. The enemy are laying down their weapons even as we speak. The mission is a success.” Grimrock congratulates me, disturbing the thoughts that have begun to wander across my mind now that the tension of battle has left me.
As the captain cuts the commlink, I allow the Anhur to float in space as I stand guard by the enemy warships that have surrendered. All in all, a pretty successful sortie, I suppose...
***
Our crew manage to take over the base with little fuss. It seems that the staff on the base had managed to get rid of most of the information they have between their military's surrender and our arrival. That's pretty loyal of them. Of course, the ISC
generally follows the honourable rules of war, and Grimrock decides not to execute any of them for their little act of defiance.
We get to work resupplying and obtaining whatever parts we need immediately; now that Base 43 has fallen, I am sure the rest of the UNS forces in the area will return swiftly. I don't fancy fighting off a small navy – no matter how well Anhur performs, it is only one frame. I won't be able to protect the Kaguya-hime if I am occupied by overwhelming numbers... it would be an automatic loss for me if the ship goes down.
Searching the base, we manage to find two unpiloted Vizala IIs in the maintenance hangar. These go on the Kaguya-hime immediately. The facility appears to have been shared with Indus researchers. We also find schematics for...
A. A barrier made of scattered particles that can diffuse ranged beam weaponry, lowering their lethality by a significant amount. The particles also act as radar-jamming particles, heavily reducing effective combat range if scattered over a wide area. This could help me in situations where I need to close in to the enemy.
B. Prototype remote weaponry mounted on a combat frame. These consist of small and highly mobile particle beam platforms that are semi-autonomous under computer control and can be directed from within a CF. I might even be able to control them manually if I use my ability.
C. An ultra-long range particle rifle. As particles lose their potency very slowly over a distance and have little deviation in their trajectory, the rifle's main advancement is in the sensor accuracy that it packs, rather than its power or range. Sniping targets from long range should be easy for me with this.
D. Reactive armor parts. They have anti-beam coating and are also functional against explosives and other solid weaponry. They reduce mobility by a bit, but provide plenty of protection as a trade-off. As the Anhur has plenty of mobility as it is, this would make my frame more well-rounded.
Adapting these schematics for Anhur and producing them would probably take quite some time, however.
***
There are three particular points of interest for our next destination on this pillaging spree across UNS and Indus space.
A. The combat frame that was supposed to have been developed at this facility is being tested in an asteroid field. The fragments of data we manage to retrieve indicates that it appears to be a two-pilot frame, which will be brought to the front-lines for practical testing in a matter of weeks. We might be able to ambush the frame and capture or destroy it if we head there.
B. There is a vital Indus asteroid mining facility in one of the many asteroid fields that dot the area. Raiding and destroying it would do a great deal to hamper war efforts on the part of the Indus – they have little resources on Earth and rely mostly on space to provide what they need.
C. UNS and the Indus are conducting a joint CF training exercise that will be televised live in a show of the military superiority of their frames over the ISC and the Higashi. Over 50 frames are supposed to be taking part. Perhaps we should come up with a plan to crash the party...
