Embers After Flames, Chapter 10.4 (Patreon)

10.4

+++

There was one, very brief, moment of silence. A single instant where everyone on the opposite side of the battlefield was afforded the chance to realize precisely how fucked they were.

Ten seconds ago, it had been Raven, the eternally dangerous and infinitely infuriating threat, alone against an army. Ten seconds ago, the largest C-Weapon that had ever been built moved to destroy Raven, to finally end that threat that had plagued the PCA continuously.

Then Dolmayan showed up. The oldest threat to the PCA moved alongside the newest one, and Dolmayan had also stolen the ICE WORM in the same moment. No warning had been given. No indications that he’d been off Belius and in the Northern Ice Field at all.

Oh, and he now also had an entirely new AC equipped of unknown make, equipped with weapons never before seen.

“Code 16f!” One of the PCA Captains roared, and the entire group immediately moved to scatter.

They weren’t quick enough.

The red orb contained by METS ASTGHIK’s Coral Oscillator flashed outwards, launched with a flicker of crimson lightning that arced around the AC. The orb hit the ground. Containment was lost immediately.

The detonation obliterated the overlook that they were standing on, as compressed, high-pressure Coral spilled into the air and Surged. Anything that was caught in the initial expansion fireball was instantly sublimated, so much heat and energy released that there was no material which could survive it. Outside of that radius, it was only slightly less dangerous, a shockwave of raw power that was more than capable of destroying even ACs if they were to be caught too close.

A chunk of the enemy army vanished in an instant. Crimson slammed into the rest of them, throwing them around even as the Coral melted whatever it hit.

METS ASTGHIK burst forward, Boosters flaring with the colour of fresh blood. The ICE WORM shifted, unravelling from the tower, falling towards the ground before plunging into it with force that scattered earth and snow into the air.

621 followed only a moment, chasing after Dolmayan’s AC for a moment before splitting off towards the right flank when Dolmayan shifted towards the left.

“I am terribly sorry you’ve gotten caught up in the dramatics, Raven.” Ayre sighed. “They’re just... like this.”

621 shot a HC directly in the optic, blinding the machine. Only a moment later, a Laser Blade severed the Head from the Core entirely, angled so that the blade also passed through the cockpit.

“It was basically inevitable, Ayre.” Seria said. The ICE WORM tore out of the ground a moment later, arc into the air before it came down, landing directly on top of a squad of LCs. Missiles streamed out of the body, flying in every direction.

“Was it really too much to ask for an introduction that was... calm?” Ayre asked. “Or even a warning? I could have done with a warning.”

Seria only giggled.

METS ASTGHIK’s other arm raised, Coral Rifle lashing out with a burst of crimson beams. All of them found their targets, puncturing through armour and shields as easily as a bullet goes through air. Cavalry units fell one after the other, holes punched straight through internal components like cockpits or generators.

Dolmayan was not done yet, however. The Back Units activated next, Coral-enhanced Lightwave Projectors spinning up. Both of the units quickly found their set of targets, and bolts of shimmering red-white surged into the sky.

They appeared as bolts of energy. They acted like something alive; twitching and writhing as they moved. Instead of flying off, they turned suddenly and sharply, making unerring movements towards their targets. There were twenty bolts, two for each Cavalry Unit that Dolmayan was facing.

Normal Lightwave technology had already been spectacularly dangerous. These Coral-enhanced versions?

The bolts sought out their targets, no matter how hard they tried to avoid them. They could turn at a moment’s notice, and the only real way to not be hit by them was to simply outspeed them entirely. If they’d known what to do, perhaps they could have managed it. As it was, they tried to dodge at the last second.

The detonations that followed were potent, dangerous, and worst of all, lingering.

Clouds of Coral particulate hung where they exploded, flashes of lightning and heat arcing between them. A visible heat haze surrounded the crimson bubbles. Those that hadn’t died outright found themselves inside of clouds that seared away armour, ruined sensors, and blocked visuals. Most of them were quick to boost upwards away from the clouds, but flying high like that just left them vulnerable to either METS ASTGHIK’s Coral Rifle or Coral Oscillator.

“Well, if you’re looking for calm introductions, then I suppose I could oblige.” Seria said, after she was finished giggling at Ayre. “My greetings to you, C4-621. It’s so nice to finally meet my sister’s partner.” Her voice hummed. “You’ve already met mine, of course. He’s right over there being all dramatic.”

METS ASTGHIK’s Coral Oscillator flashed, Coral briefly spiking in front of the left arm. Dolmayan promptly cored a HC with it.

Ayre sighed. “Well, at least he’s having fun.” She paused for a moment. “On your right, Raven.”

LOADER 4’s rifle placed a shot directly into the sensor of an LC as it swooped in. The pilot clearly didn’t anticipate that, because the mech jerked before crashing directly into the ground. LOADER 4 kicked its Head in as 621 went over it, crumpling it against the Core.

“Your partner seems to be having a decent amount of fun.” Seria observed. “If ‘fun’ could at all be used to describe this situation, anyway.” The ICE WORM rushed towards a squad of LCs. Most of them went into the air in order to try and avoid it, which would normally be a perfectly fine idea.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an expert system that was controlling the ICE WORM anymore.

The ICE WORM spun, wrapping in on itself. The head went skywards, and crimson lightning crackled across the surface.

It was not Assault Armour. The mechanic’s of the ICE WORM’s shield generators made traditional Assault Armour impossible for it to utilize.

What it unleashed instead was energized Coral, on a scale that far surpassed any meagre Assault Armour.

Crimson lightning launched from it in every direction. They did not care about grounding, conductivity, or resistance. They struck the ground, leaving trails of vitrified earth. They struck the snow, vaporising it. They struck the Cavalry units with a force that belied their size and appearance, each individual bolt more than capable of liquefying the metal and blasting off entire limbs, simultaneously electrifying the entire frame.

Just like that, there weren’t any Cavalry units left to harass the ICE WORM. Each and every single one of them had been struck down, wiped out in the blast.

There wasn’t much left in general, really. Dolmayan was making short work of his group, the ICE WORM had been designed from the ground up for the purpose of widespread destruction, and the last member of the group was 621.

When it was done, Dolmayan simply landed at one of the ridges, letting his AC vent for a moment as it went through a quick-cooling cycle. The ICE WORM, too, came to a halt, as Seria ceased to give it directions.

621 landed only a short distance away, not too close to be dangerous, and not too far to be stand-offish.

“I had little opinion of you when we first met.” Dolmayan stated. “You were a mercenary. There have been thousands of mercenaries to come to this world. The reasons why vary, and ultimately, they do not matter.”

LOADER 4’s head turned towards METS ASTGHIK.

“But now, here you are. Fortunate, in the same way that I had been. You hear their voices, perceive the sparks. That alone affords you no honour, for it is merely the product of chance. Seria and I were once the same...” Dolmayan hummed, for a moment, in a way that was an echo of Seria. “But she seems to be happy with you, even with how little time you’ve known each other.”

“I am.” Ayre spoke.

Dolmayan chuckled. “Quite excellent. If your Raven is your choice, then I hope you find your happiness, Ayre.”

His AC turned around, Boosters igniting as it shot off. The ICE WORM held still, even as Seria pulled her presence from it.

“... They’re both drama queens.” Ayre sighed, after a moment. “Seria may like to pretend that she isn’t, but she never hesitates to go along with whatever he’s doing. And that sudden exit after a speech...” She scoffed.

LOADER 4’s head tilted to the side.

“Right.” Ayre spoke. “That was... your first introduction to my family. You’ll meet the rest of them sooner or later now that Seria has shown up.” She paused for a moment. “I... I’ve made my decision, now. Raven, you and I... I would like to keep exploring this. If you are alright with that?”

621 didn’t hesitate. LOADER 4 nodded.

I chuckled.

LOADER 4 snapped into a combat ready stance.

“... Oh no.” Ayre said, dread in her voice.

“What a lovely confession.” I spoke. “Dear daughter of mine.”

“... How long were you..?”

I laughed.

A moment of my attention made the ICE WORM reactivate. I passed a series of commands to it, and the machine moved to obey, spinning in on itself before it crashed into, and through, the ground. “Bold of you to assume that I wasn’t watching from the start.” I spoke. “Don’t worry, Ayre. There will be time for this later.”

The sound of her despairing whine filled me with nothing but mirth.

+++

621 went back to base shortly. Walter contacted Carla the moment that the Hound was safely back.

I kept only one eye on their conversation, however.

They weren’t the only ones who were suddenly very busy.

The PCA, not to put too fine a point on things, was freaking the fuck out. Chatter along their channels had spiked to a level that I hadn’t seen since the last time they’d lost a C-Weapon, but this time was even worse.

Since most of the PCA army was actually deployed, the Enforcement System actually had to communicate to all the individual Captains and other leaders that were planetside. For once, that meant that I had a fairly good ability to intercept those communications, and find out what was happening directly rather than just guess at it.

The Enforcement System was planning something big. For decades, he’d been a thorn in their side, and since his threat level had just shot up again, the Enforcement System was well and truly done with his shit.

They were planning an operation to kill him. An operation that would involve the vast majority of their remaining forces.

Overkill? No. Not after everything he’d done. Not when Dolmayan was, ICE WORM aside, seemingly alone on the Northern Ice Field, with every other identified member of the Rubicon Liberation Front being stuck over in Belius. He was ‘vulnerable’, in a way that he hadn’t ever been before.

The System would take no chances. Not after all that Dolmayan had already done. Not when he was in a new, Coral-powered AC, more dangerous than ever.

The Enforcement System would gather a truly enormous amount of its forces in a single location to do it... And that was an opportunity that I couldn’t miss.

If I did things right, I could solve that entire problem all at once.

It was still early, for the actual plan, but there wasn’t much that could be done about that anymore. The timetable had called for a different option, but 621 had changed everything. Now we were adapting.

I scheduled a meeting for Flatwell about it. I didn’t expect it to take very long, but he was currently busy, so I just dropped it in his book for when he had a free moment.

Before I could do anything else, though, I finally received what I had been waiting for.

A call. From Carla and Walter.

The time had passed. The clue had been given, and the newer information by now should have been considered by them.

Which meant that it was finally time for the answers to be given, the choices to be made, and to see whether or not it had all been worth it.

“Drich.” Carla addressed, for once actually greeting me. Off to a good start. “We need to talk.”