Embers After Flames, Chapter 11.2 (Patreon)

11.2

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With the Enforcement System’s Mainframe under my control, there was nothing to even slow down my army from leaving Watchpoint Alpha behind.

I simply opened all the doors and commanded all the machines to stand aside.

And so, up they came. A flood of C-Weapons, emerging from the cavern underneath the mainframe.

The first ones out were the fastest. CEL 240 models raced neck-in-neck with SOL 644s. The former’s smaller size and tighter agility was enough to allow it to keep up with the sheer speed of the latter, especially in the tight corridors of Watchpoint Alpha. SEA SPIDERs followed after them, larger and more sedate than either, but moving with the same purpose.

By the time they reached the highest point of the facility, however, the race was firmly in the favour of the SOLs. The long, thin cylinder of the entrance to the underground portions of the Watchpoint was almost entirely empty of obstacles, and so they could transform into their jet modes and accelerate upwards at a truly blistering pace.

I watched through the satellite feeds as they emerged, trailing shimmering red light behind them as they came up. Another came, and then another, and then another, and it simply didn’t stop. The first shot upwards, and then simply kept going upwards, wasting no time as it burned its way towards orbit. A large number of compatriots did the same, because there was nothing else that could thrive outside the atmosphere quite like the SOL.

Orbit was already quite secure, but I did not want to take any chances here.

The CELs were there to pick up the slack, on the ground. Their forms shot upwards, and then outwards, organising into groups of three, six, or nine before heading on to their actual targets.

They were tasked with wiping out every remaining PCA force on the continent. Given their maximum flight speed, I expected this to take no more than a few hours. The grouping was simply to make sure that the PCA didn’t get lucky with the scattered defense, because for all the unit’s agility and power, and even after all the upgrades and updates I’ve been making over the last few decades, the things still may as well be made of glass.

Seria, after only a bit of deliberation, took one of them for her own. She seemed to find it comfortable enough, and she shortly joined Dolmayan again, before the two of them went off to go finish their part in all of this, hunting down the remaining forces in their vicinity.

Scattered as they were, I had every reason to believe that this effectively solved the PCA as a threat.

If, somehow, it didn’t... Well, there were always more drastic options.

As for the SEA SPIDERs, I had a different goal in mind for them. I still, after all this time, had no damned idea where the fuck ALLMIND was hiding, and at this point, I had ruled out every location on Belius. Unless she happened to find a hole in the ground that was truly excessively hidden, or she had pulled an actual magic trick with her public compound, I was left with only a single conclusion.

She wasn’t on the continent.

That, of course, left the question of where the fuck she’d gone, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she was closer than I realized. The SEA SPIDERs were on scouting duty, to either confirm or rule out the possibility that I had considered.

If she’d actually done what I was thinking she had done, then I honestly had to be impressed. If she hadn’t... Well, I was missing something, but now that I’m operating in the open, I can afford to be much more quick in the thorough searches.

I suppose that meant I’d lost the spy games, but... eh. Whatever. Kinda winning the war, here.

Aside from the PCA and ALLMIND, that left only two matters unsolved.

Balam and Arquebus.

Fortunately, I had plans for both.

Both Megacorporations had, by this point, pulled their shit together and regrouped. Both had made new homes in a pair of Grids, and both of them were working to restore their forces. Dolmayan’s little diversionary maneuver would have caught their attention pretty quickly, and the subsequent orbital bombardment was impossible to not notice.

I was, admittedly, half tempted to simply bomb the shit out of them, too... but it wasn’t a great idea to resort to doing that.

The PCA was one thing. They had been an objectively dangerous force with access to weapons of mass destruction. Arguments could be made after the fact about the validity of the PCA’s mission, and presence on Rubicon in general, but destroying the majority of their forces with their own weapons was, at most, pointed irony .

Wiping out the Megacorporate groups in the same manner would send an entirely different message. Balam and Arquebus still existed outside of Rubicon, after all, and they had the means to make things more difficult than it needed to be if I decided to hand them that particular piece of reputational ammo.

It was all about the appropriate and reasonable use of force.

So, Closure Satellites were out unless it was desperate, but there wasn’t nearly as much of a problem if I did it the normal way, though. Any justification the PCA had for being here wouldn’t fly for the Megacorps, after all.

Hence, two plans.

Both of them needed to be removed as soon as possible. The Megacorps were a resourceful bunch, after all, and it wouldn’t do to give them any extra opportunities.

However, both of them still have at least five AC pilots remaining, and that alone necessitated a significant force deployment even considering the MT forces and fortifications.

A ‘significant force deployment’ was exactly what I was planning.

Both of them needed to be wiped out roughly simultaneously, so as to ensure there was no funny business. I’d given all twenty Firekeepers with C-Weapon support to one side, which I expected would be enough to handle most anything that they could throw at us.

For the other side, I had a simpler plan.

Send Raven.

Was it reasonable to expect Raven to be able to handle the entirety of a Megacorp’s remaining forces? Yeah. Yeah it was. It’s fucking Raven, literally nothing has even slowed the Hound down so far, and I didn’t expect this time to be any different.

Of course, that left the matter of which Megacorp to send Raven at, and which one to get the Firekeepers to hit.

It... really didn’t matter, to be honest. Five or six ACs either way, approximately the same level of skill and danger for their remaining Mts, and even a relatively similar degree of expected fortifications. The Grids were usually set up a bit differently in a cluster, but the ones up here in the Ice Field had all taken the Fires of Ibis much more directly than any of the ones in Belius, so that’s basically a moot point.

They’re all in disrepair, and one half-shattered, broken Grid isn’t going to be that different to any other half-shattered, broken Grid.

It... basically just boils down to what flavour of enemies they’d want to fight. Lasers and energy on one side, bullets and kinetics on the other.

Mmm.

I’ll flip a coin or something.

First, though, I should check in with Flatwell.

“I am pleased to report that everything has gone quite excellently.” I stated.

“I’d guessed.” Flatwell’s lips twitched upwards. “The satellite views suddenly being added to my intel screens did rather give it away... Alongside the Closure Satellites firing repeatedly.”

“Some people have occasionally accused me of being too subtle, so it’s good to see that this is obviously not the case.” I said, humour colouring my tone. “But, being serious for a moment, the plan was executed to perfection. I now have full control over the PCA’s orbital infrastructure. The satellites have been reconfigured already, so you can feel free to go wild across that front. I estimate that, by this point tomorrow, there will be no remaining PCA forces on the planet.” And man was that a good feeling. “When that’s done, I’ll be hitting the corporations. Your side can feel free to proceed.”

Flatwell smiled. It was a true, genuine smile. “Then I’ll get right on that. I do have one question, though.”

“Dolmayan?” I asked.

He nodded.

“He has elected to continue the operation against the PCA.” I said. “Seria has joined him, of course. I expect that they’ll be busy for a few hours before they stop. After that, he should be free.” I sighed. “I’d mark him on the map, but there’s some cloud cover in his position thanks to the Closure Satellites. I’m afraid the most I could do there is a simple dot.” I added that anyway. It was still good to know his actual position, after all. Even if he couldn’t be seen.

Flatwell nodded again. “My thanks. I’ll be getting to work, then.”

“I’ll talk once we’re done over here.” I agreed. “See you soon.”

Hmm. I... didn’t really have anything else to do, now. All the important stuff that could be dealt with right now had already been taken care of.

Well then. Time to move on to preparations.

First things first, composing a new message for Raven.

I framed it as a job offer, because it actually was one, it was simply also one that Raven would accept. With that opening out of the way, the next thing to do was to give a briefing on the situation, which was simple enough. There were two targets, and Raven was getting the choice on which one to hit. Very easy, that.

I bothered to include my analysis on both Arquebus and Balam, even though it probably wasn’t necessary for Raven, of all people. The expected forces that were likely to be present was a bit more useful, but thus far, increasing the number of things sent against Raven on the battlefield had only ever resulted in increasing the number of casualties, so could it really be said to actually matter?

Eh. Professionalism. I had enough pride in my work to make sure that Raven got the full effort regardless.

What else... Hmm. No, that was pretty much it, actually.

Alright.

Ooh, Seria and Dolmayan just found their first survivors!

My attention shifted to them, and I decided to take a moment or two to watch.

It... really was not much of a battle, that was certain. A bunch of Cavalry units that had been inside of a Warship when the strike had come down, disabling the Warship and, surprisingly enough, not actually destroy it.

Must have been a spot of good luck. Normally, once the internals are damaged, those things go off like fireworks.

In any case, it was a small amount of Cavalry units against possibly the most agile model of C-Weapon that had ever existed, and fucking Dolmayan. It was over quickly...

And...

“Seria. Sixty two degrees to the left.”

Seria shifted the CEL 240, the machine turning as it rose further in the air. With the machine now facing in the direction I wanted, it was now much easier to pick out what I’d seen.

A distant machine, rapidly approaching. Hard to see through everything that had been kicked up, but the blue plasma exhaust of its boosters shone brightly enough to be obvious.

I did not recognize the silhouette.

“Incoming unknown.” Seria stated. “I will engag-”

“Wait.” Dolmayan said. METS ASTGHIK landed on top of the Warship wreck only a few seconds later, standing steady and calm. “No need to be hasty.”

“..? You know something.” Seria said.

Dolmayan chuckled. “To come charging out here into this mess...” He’d swapped to open channels, too. “I suppose I should have expected this. Who else would be so bold?”

The machine continued its approach, until it reached the terminal point. Suddenly, its boosters cut, and it rode its momentum towards the ground before settling almost gently against the other end of the Warship wreck.

It was an AC, but not a model I recognized. Its engineering language, though... Corporate to the core. The cutting edge of Arquebus, Schneider’s designs, incorporating what was obviously stolen PCA technologies. Elegance and durability in equal measure...

“How could I not, after the last battle was stolen so cruelly?”

I recognized the voice.

Ah. Of course.

I should have expected it too.

“Away, Seria.” Dolmayan requested, and she listened. The CEL rose into the air, moving away from both ACs. “You come, seeking violence.”

“I come, seeking the only thing that ever mattered.” The other responded. “Will you deny me?”

“I should.” Dolmayan chuckled. “Some would claim I’m foolish not to... And yet, you’ve caught me in a good mood. My blood is boiling like never before.”

... Honestly? That’s fair. I couldn’t blame him.

“I will accept what you’re seeking, but this will not end like last time. Out here, there will be no second chances, and no running... but you already knew that, didn’t you? Why else would you charge straight out into the bombardment zone...”

In response to his words, he received laughter. “As it should be!”

“Hah.” Dolmayan laughed. “Bring your best then, Freud!”

Neither hesitated.

Both ACs flashed forwards, and the rematch started in full.