Embers After Flames, Chapter 7.2 (Patreon)

7.2

+++

The SEA SPIDER was quick to skedaddle after the battle was over. The AC waited about thirty seconds before it elected to follow, though it chose to hang back at a fairly large distance, well outside of engagement range. 

Either stupidity, or a great deal of confidence. Misplaced? Well, I’d say ‘yes’ in most cases, but you could never be entirely sure.

The SEA SPIDER flew north, rushing towards the canals as fast as it could. Its boosters were intended for hovering more than real flight, but they could build up a perfectly serviceable speed all the same. It was still slow enough for most ACs to keep up, especially if they weren’t actually in combat mode and could thus spare the energy for indefinite flight.

The AC that was following the SEA SPIDER definitely wasn’t in standard mode, but it was also fast enough to not really need it. The SORA model line was, technically, a mediumweight mech, but it was well optimised and quite energy efficient. 

The AC stayed low to the ground, engaging in the occasional Assault Boost whenever the distance got too large, but other than that, it only went airborne to deal with the terrain.

It took barely four minutes for the first PCA response to arrive.

A trio of falling stars burned their way through the atmosphere, the re-entry fires fading only as they came close to the ground and started a hard deceleration. All three were familiar sights by now; AH12Bs, the new and upgraded assault Helicopters.

Bigger and bulkier than ever, and that was before the Pulse Shielding planes activated, wrapping most of the craft in walls of Pulse energy.

Unfortunately for all of them, they were up against a C-Weapon.

The SEA SPIDER dropped from the air, shifting to land on all of its legs, before the thrusters re-ignited and it pushed upwards at the same time. 

It flipped halfway in the air, the rocket pods of the AH12Bs slamming harmlessly into the ground where it had been only a moment beforehand.

A fully charged upper, now lower, cannon shot cleaved straight through the Pulse Barriers of one of the AH12Bs, and did a pretty number on the helicopter itself, too. The aircraft reeled as its pilot reacted, desperately banking left in order to avoid the follow up shots from the smaller cannons. The other two launched their missiles, gatling guns getting ready to loose a torrent of bullets.

They had fucked up, however, because I hadn’t flipped the SEA SPIDER for no reason. Boosters fired, and the SEA SPIDER’s rotation stopped even as it began to fall. Burning light gathered in the core weapon, and then a beam of crimson lanced out.

The AH12B it targeted didn’t even last a second against it; the overwhelming Coral beam punched right through its Pulse Barriers and then burned straight through its armour and hull. It didn’t stop there, either, as a spray of vapourized metal blasted out of the other side of the helicopter, and the beam continued onwards to gouge a line in the megastructure of a Grid several kilometers behind it.

I shut the beam down quickly, reactivating the boosters and flipping the SEA SPIDER over again. The last AH12B was pulling away, but I wasted no time chasing it, briefly flaring the thrusters to their maximum even as the SEA SPIDER started a circular spin.

The Coral Oscillators in the leg activated again, projecting six long blades from the now spinning form. It was an impromptu blender, but certainly no less effective for it.

The blades spun, each one tearing a glowing gouge in the hull of the AH12B. It took mere seconds to tear it apart, the Surging Coral more than enough to reduce the PCA warmachine to a cloud of vapour and slices of metal.

As for the first AH12B, I fired two waves of missiles from the SEA SPIDER, and then gave them a manual target of my own.

The pilot, still caught in their maneuver, barely even had the chance to react as the missiles homed in on the cockpit. The first set stripped it of what remained of the protective Pulse Barrier, the second set obliterated the armour that protected it.

A single, final crimson beam flashed out from the secondary cannons and cut straight through the cockpit. The AH12B, already tilted, simply continued its manoeuvre, and flew straight into the ground.

Total engagement time: Much too small for how much time and effort the PCA spend on these things.

Yeah... These helicopters are right up there at the top of the contenders of ‘the worst thing to use against a C-Weapon’. All that size, armour, and power? Completely irrelevant. If it didn’t have the agility of an AC, it was going to achieve exactly dick-all, because there were precisely two options for surviving Coral weaponry, and one of them was ‘don’t get hit in the first place’.

The SEA SPIDER continued onwards, barely even slowed by the entire engagement. 

The AC pilot also continued onwards, notably not stopping to get a look at all that juicy, juicy PCA tech that the C-Spider had left behind. With that first helicopter being as intact as it was thanks to my precision attacks, you could sell some scans of that for quite a decent sum of COAM if you knew the right people.

That they didn’t even bother...

This was certainly not the typical mercenary. Skipping the payday is something they’d only do if they were fighting for a belief rather than the money, but most mercenaries are, well, mercenaries.

Really, who would-

Ah.

Oh, that’s Raven, isn’t it?

Fuck.

Fuck. I really should have put that together sooner! 

Canonically, Raven uses the C-2000 series Frame parts with a unique Head, but all those parts had come from RaD, which had been founded by Carla and made its designs by refurbishing other technology. 

What went into the C-2000 series? A bunch of industrial mechs. The core had been for space operations, the head had been for terrain surveys, the arms had been for scrap salvaging, and the legs had been for surface surveys of asteroids and small moons.

In other words, all the shit that BAWS makes, but tuned for combat instead.

And who did we have here? 

Someone in the economy model of BAWS’ technological integration efforts! Cheap, and by now, fucking everywhere. 

Raven likes operating in the shadows. Literally what could be better for that at the moment than the current everyman mech with a bunch of tried and tested equipment?

Mmm.

Well, I sure am glad I didn’t start that fight.

Now what the fuck does Raven want here? How the fuck did Raven even know what was passing through here? It hasn’t even been a full month, what kind of information network could Branch have possibly established in that time? The only reason I knew about it was because the Firekeepers had literally raided them and stole the data.

...

Which... would have basically left it wide open to be stolen again by the notable hacktivist group, Branch. 

If they’d been in the area. 

Which I couldn’t confirm that they hadn’t been, since I’d never been able to find where Raven had gone in the first place.

Which in turn also means they have a direct causal link between the mysterious unknown forces raiding a corp base, this SEA SPIDER destroying Marzan’s forces, and probably also the RLF’s preparations after this whole thing is over and they have time to crunch the data about the response.

Hmm.

Alright then.

Well, whatever. I’ll make sure Flatwell has that information and we’ll deal with the consequences as they come. Escape was only a couple more minutes away for the SEA SPIDER, and-

And there’s the second wave now, actually.

This time, there was only a single falling star rather than three, though it was around about the same size as any of the helicopters. Re-entry plume makes it a bit difficult to see the actual shape of it, but from what I can make out, it’s definitely not one of them. It was a bit more roughly oblong, like an angular teardrop.

A drop pod? That was actually rather unusual for the PCA. While the drop pods were faster, they were also a one way trip, and transports weren’t. If they were sending a drop pod, then they were very serious about this, and that could only mean one thing.

PCA SP. Special Forces. 

Now this was going to be an experience, because if SP was coming down, then that meant I had a decent fight on my hands.

The drop pod came closer and closer to the ground. Reverse thrusters ignited at the last possible second, bleeding just enough speed for the machines inside to survive. It slammed into the ground, before the explosive bolts triggered and the entire thing opened wide in an instant.

Four machines. Small ones, too, only a meter or two larger than the average AC yet still appearing somehow squished. A long, relatively flat core with an integrated head right on the front. Two rather absurdly sized reverse-jointed legs, with arms long enough to reach the ground if they were stretched straight out.

No doubt about it, these were EKDROMOI.

High performance, high mobility AC-equivalent craft, utilized only for the most important missions the PCA embarked on, typically assassination or destruction of high value targets.

Certainly, the SEA SPIDER definitely counted for that.

And hey, these were even exactly the right kind of craft to send against a C-Weapon, too. Agile, manoeuvrable, some pretty potent weaponry on top of that... These guys actually stood a fairly chance, here.

The EKDROMOI wasted no time, the entire squad shooting out and boosting towards the SEA SPIDER. They weren’t in combat range yet, but they very soon would be. 

Enough time to observe them, easily.

Let’s see. There’s an EP model, obvious by the extended back that incorporated a larger array of boosters for long-range lunging, perfect for the Energy Pike it was carrying, as well as the visible ‘visor’ on the head. All the other three were standard EKDROMOI models, but their weaponry differed. One was dual wielding machine guns, and had a pair of what looked like scatter rocket launchers on its shoulder. Another had a plasma gun as its sole Hand weapon, but two Seeker Missile Launchers equipped as Back Units. The last had two Pulse Rifles, and...

Were those Disrupter Needles? 

They are. Wow. That’s a guy fishing for ACS overloads. He goes right at the top of the priority list.

Alright, four-vs-one. Not great odds, but I’ll work with it.

“Code 23. Priority target, C-Weapon SEA SPIDER sighted.”

And there they go again, using the same channels to the Enforcement System that were oh-so-easy to tap into. Joy, I’d get to listen to their little commentary.

“Confir- Wait, there’s something following it. Is that an AC?”

And they spotted Raven. Not a big surprise. I could already feel them scanning them, as well. But if the SEA SPIDER didn’t have any luck, then why would they?

“No IFF. No displayed license. I’m sending the data to the system. Orders are clear until then-”

Oh?

“Elimination.”

...

Heh.

“I’ll prioritize the unknown first.”

Hahahahahahaha!

Oh, buddy. 

“Focus on the target!”

That is not going to end how you think it will.

They closed.

Crimson beams missed by mere millimetres, the EKDROMOI more than skilled enough to read the aim. Missiles flew out, fire already returning. Three of the EKDROMOI spread out, dancing outwards in a display of remarkable teamwork 

The fourth, the captain, went straight over the SEA SPIDER, boosters ignited to full. I paid close attention to him as the two came closer together.

The captain pulled their Energy Pike up, its light flaring a bright blue as he charged straight at the AC. It was a blindingly quick attack, one that few would have had the chance to react to.

The AC shifted only slightly, the Boosters half igniting as it pushed to the right. The left hand came up, and the Pulse Blade formed, tip pointing slightly outwards.

The EKDROMOI’s momentum carried it forwards. The Energy Pike went straight over the AC’s shoulder. The Pulse Blade’s tip met the EKDROMOI’s hull.

The EKDROMOI flew onwards, for a brief moment seeming like nothing had happened at all.

Then air friction caught up, and the legs of the EKDROMOI tumbled in a different direction to the rest of it.

If I’d had any doubts that this was Raven?

I didn’t anymore.