-Unknown Reddit post, 2042
“So, how many people called me over the last hour?”
Hundreds, but most of those are scams, spam, or ads. Of the important calls, one. From Doma. She was curious as to why you were not available, thinking that you may have needed backup, but I let her know it was private, not medical. She asked that you call her back once you are available. Are you available?
“Yeah. Yeah I am.” I say, cracking open a can of orange soda made from the hydroponics facilities below. Tasted far better than any of those energy drinks sold elsewhere.
The call connected, and Doma was projected in my kitchen. I mean, I knew they were there, I saw Outsider use them, but I didn't know that I could use them for calls. Neat.
“Good to see you, War Games.” She says, then pauses, a look of concern on her face, “Are you sure you're okay to talk? Forgive me for saying this, but you look terrible.”
Shit. I forgot to put my mask back on. I flash it up, “Yeah, I'm okay now. What's up?” I say, tired panic tinged my voice. Fuck, I needed a stim.
The skepticism didn't leave her face, “Alright. I have reviewed the information you sent over and this is far more critical that the Tonto State Reserve was, yet not something that can be solved in the same way. If Gunny were to fire a Delete Button large enough to remove the hive, it is highly likely to destabilize the city. Not to mention leave a massive hole that would be seen from anywhere in the city, causing panic. I have called an emergency meeting for all Tier Three Samurai associates with The Family in the area, actually members or independent, that will take place tonight at ten pm. You are, of course, invited to attend.”
I looked at the time and saw it was not even noon. “Yeah, I will be there. Am I expected to speak?”
“No, you do not have to if you do not wish to. This will be a preliminary meeting informing everyone of the danger and asking for volunteers to assist with the extermination of the hive, as well as defence of the city while we descend.”
“Ah, yeah. That makes sense.” I then release a deep breath. “You should probably do an audit on those defences, Doma. The commanders I have had made a number of observations about how… inadequate they are. They were actively pushing me towards operating a PMC to reinforce said defences at some point in the future. I have curbed their ambitions for a full city takeover, but their concerns stand. I'll send you their findings.”
Done and sent.
I could see Doma pause to read the data, then her face falls and she places her head in her hands. I see her lips move but I have no idea what she says. She glowers at me through her fingers, “Why do you keep finding problems? From the moment you awakened till now, you have done nothing but accidental your way to finding every weak point of New Phoenix. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were working for the antithesis as a prankster god like Cassy. But no one is like Cassy, and you eat antithesis, so I will chalk this up to horrible luck and an overreliance on good sensory equipment. Do I have permission to contact Morrigan separately to ask for details?”
“Details on what, specifically?”
She leans back in her chair, cracking a smile “Details on the defences, her plans for a PMC, and apparently her desire to run the city,”
I chuckle, “Like I said, I crushed that desire. She will be, at worst, an HOA president. Sands, I said it twice in an hour.” I rinse my mouth with orange soda. “Yeah, sure, you can talk to her or whoever else she designates.”
She chuckles, “Thanks, War Games. Get some rest, seriously. You can skip the meeting. I'll talk with your team to plan an attack vector for you and a few other newbie Samurai, if you're okay with that?”
I lean back onto the counter, thinking. “How many newbies are you thinking of? And how many will be at the meeting?”
“No more than three with you and one other vet, and nine newbies from across Arizona have confirmed their attendance.”
“Yeah, I should show up. It instills confidence in teammates or something. Thanks, Doma.”
“I should be saying that to you. Or maybe I should be cursing you for increasing my workload.” She chuckles. “See you later, War Games.” The call ends.
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I stood in silence for a bit, then made my way to my room to take a nap.
**********************************
Entering the DM Screen, I see the three new Hero units have completed their Ascension. The first one that draws my eyes is a Silver dragonoid in ancient Chinese purple robes carrying a paper fan.
The second one is huge. Taller than Rogal while in similar armor, he stood tall with no helmet. His bald head was a dark ashen color, and his armor was a combination of gold and emerald green.
The last was the most ordinary human I had seen. Big, bushy brown beard, a receding hairline, in a basic indistinct blue military fatigues. The weird thing was his right eye had a telescopic cybernetic.
Everyone looks at me, nodding in greeting. I nod back. “Before we begin, Bahamut, Vulcan, Jim.” I say, naming the new Heroes in order. “Those are your new names. We can get to know each other later. Morrigan, did Doma end up contacting you?”
“She did, and she was very appreciative of our proactive attempts to fix the defense situation. She asked if we would need help recruiting eventually, so we have Family support at least. She has also started referring to me as HOA pres.” She glared a bit.
“Moving on, what's the status of our forces? I have to be at the meeting in an hour, and I would like to know we will be combat ready by time we have to march on the hive.”
Bahamut nodded, unfurling his fan. There was an ink painting of herons flying through mountains. They even flapped their wings. “In terms of fighting capacity, Rogal and Leman both have fully functional minion squads, so they can act individually as needed. Vulkan will have enough forces by morning, as his minions are more unique in nature.”
“Wait, hold on. Minions, not swarms?”
Morrigan nodded her head, “Indeed, minions. There are amalgam swarms with more specialized combat functions tailored to each Hero Unit.”
The table shifts from a map to showing a few different figures. Rogal's are just smaller versions of himself, but with hardlight shields and heavy pistols. Leman's are dire wolves with thermal fangs, claws, and fur, allowing them to damage antithesis with their entire bodies.
Vulkan's troops are, again, smaller versions of him with large, heavy hammers and shoulder mounted plasma launchers.
“And why does Jim have tanks?”
Jim's minion looked like a thin, yet bulky hover tank with a long main cannon. “I'm the ranged artillery specialist.” He says with a heavy southern drawl, “While I can fight in close-ish range, I operate best at a minimum distance of sixty feet. My boys and I can swap up from heavy single fire shots to wide area plasma dispersal.” The tank’s main gun shifts into a heavy mortar as large stabilizing feet attach themselves to the simulated ground.
“Huh. Alright then. Please continue, Bahamut.”
“Of course, Sire. Currently, each main combat Hero will have one squad of specialized minions by morning, and each of them will have numerous swarms to assist them. The supporting Heroes minions will only be available by end of day tomorrow. We will have another Shuttle available for dispatch by morning as well. Vanguard Doma mentioned that she is hoping to attach three newer Vanguard with you, as well as one veteran, though she has not set a specific roster at this time. Due to the size of our forces, she requests that we be a spearhead for this tunnel here,” the map returns, and a spot on the far west lights up, “and with the addition of active plasma weaponry, we should finally be able to kill high number Twenties and lower numbered Thirties.”
I let out a slow breath. “Morrigan, how long in your research until we can regularly kill Thirties with limited difficulty? I read about this Samurai up north with a bunch of teddy bears having killed a Forty Four after numerous casualties of both newer Samurai and Veterans. I want to minimize casualties as much as possible with this attack.”
“Well, um… I am only working with Class I weapons tech. The Collapsing Warhead is my strongest weapon because it relies on spatial tech, which we have at Class III….”
“Synaptic, upgrade my weapons Catalogs to Class II, please”
Unlocked Class II Kinetic Weapons
Unlocked Class II Exotic Explosives
Unlocked Class II Plasma Weapons
Unlocked Class II Thermal Weapons
Unlocked Class II Linear Acceleration Weapons
Unlocked Class II Laser Weapons
Points reduced to 41578
Tokens reduced to 1
“Depending on when The Family decides to launch its offensive, you might be able to unlock more tokens for me so I can unlock some of those to Class III if they are not enough for you, Morrigan.”
She looks at me with sparkles in her eyes, “Really! You would do that for me!” her voice was very high and very loud.
“Yes, but only one at this time, so make it count. Bahamut, anything else I should be aware of?”
“Numerous things, Sire, but in regards to the hive network to our south, no. You have already upgraded your armor to Class II, I see, so the only thing else I would recommend would be for you to acquire a new personal weapon, as while the Iron River was very effective, you now have a large variety of weapons to choose from.”
“Yeah, that makes sense… Morrigan, something with a high rate of fire and penetrating power.”
Her head snaps to me, smile widens, “Yes! Of course! And since you have Class II Field Commander armor, I can even give you shoulder mounted guns!”
Above the table, three weapons appeared. The first were a pair of shoulder mounted blasters, the second being a heavy coilgun the size of the Iron River, while the third was a minigun.
“The Twin Adder plasma bolters are equipped with their own targeting software and are capable of firing in a near three hundred and sixty degree arc. They have the capacity to fire over a hundred, individual shots before they need to be reloaded with focusing pellets. The Immortal Flame coil gun combines the penetrating power of rapid acceleration with the unique payload of a self immolating explosive that burns at eight thousand degrees Fahrenheit for a time of ten seconds. It contains fifteen shots before it needs to be reloaded.”
“Finally, your new main gun, the Maelstrom. A fire rate of eighteen hundred rounds per minute, connected to a special subspace that contains a Fabrication pair and a collection swarm, actively creating ammunition for the weapon at the same rate it fires, allowing you to customize the payload on the go! And you can purchase a subspace storage upgrade for your armor from Synaptic in order to carry your guns with you no matter what!”
“Yeah. Yeah, those will do.”