Mother fucker, if you don't start speaking using normal sentences, I'm going to airlock your ass and you will have to make your way to Mars on your own.

  Try, you will. My ass, you will eat.

  That's it! Fuck this! Starfall, stop holding me back!

  -Conversation between Vanguard Bombardier and Vanguard Space Frog, 2057

  Morrigan

  The world turned on and was no different from when it turned off thirty five hours, twenty six minutes, and four seconds ago. First thing I did was reconnect with my lab hands to check up on experimental data on the building sims, weapons test results, and numerous chemical trials. The last one had stalled as I didn't have live test subjects, but so long as the corporate raids went well in a few days, I would have my pick of the litter.

  The second thing I did was check the building’s progress, which had progressed… boringly. I mean, the Hatchlings worked according to the blueprints, but without my Will, there was no spark, no hidden memes! Well, they had carved various penguins in the walls, so that was nice.

  Third thing was checking up on the news feeds and making sure the city was still there, and it was! Then Outsider forwarded us a report saying the raid happened early? And an article showing a clip of VICTOR GETTING SHOT IN THE HEAD- oh he's fine. Heh, fuck that guy and his stupid arm, good luck wiping normally, dick.

  Wait, if the raid happened early, then what about my test subjects!? I shot a message to Black Log to inquire and expected a response in a minute or two. So, like several hours cause time dilations are fun. In the report Outsider sent, there was a clip of a panic rocket flying out of Bestlé, then it stopping in the air while the rockets just blasted. Hhmmm, Doma was a beast, and she gives me ideas.

  Forth was- OWO? Who is that? We have a guest? Let's see the cam records. I see the others are also pulling up the records, so I set up a virtual theater for us. We all agree to maintain proper theater etiquette till the end.

  Victor brought home a bombshell! I needed to reevaluate my model of him, if he was that- oh no, wait, she brought him home. That was more in line with it.

  Jill seems to be acting like a proper older sister, but I couldn't focus on her. Readings around the girl, Cari, were slightly fuzzy, not enough to block me, but enough to be noticeable- Huh, the sensors I installed are only picking up her presence, not anything else. I mean, I know I have better ones now, but I forgot to install them. I pushed that upgrade to the maintenance queue.

  Oh, now they are heading to a training room! Cat fight! Jill picks training gloves, something I designed to be nonlethal, yet still hurt, and Cari picked the same! A proper, no holds barred cat- THE FUQ DID SHE TURN INTO A SNAKE?!

  *************************************

  Victor

  As we were wrapping up breakfast and I cooled off considerably, I received a ping from Morrigan to meet her in the DM Screen when I can, which I would go now. No, I'm not running away from my family, bite me.

  “Well,” I begin standing up, “My presence has been requested in the Screen, so I shall be on my way. See you soon.” I nod to everyone and make my way out of the room. I hear snickering from them but choose to ignore it. My revenge shall come in the form of no hot water tomorrow for showers.

  I use the hidden elevator as it's faster, not because I hear a set of footsteps a ways behind me that sound like Cari. When the door opens and I walk to the holo table, I see Morrigan, Outsider, and Bahamut sitting on some very official luxury rolling chairs, a nice new addition to the room.

  As I take a seat but before I could greet them, Morrigan snickers. “Smooth, Victor. Leaving your fiance behind in the garage. How heartless.”

  I deflate, “I just… not now, please? It's too much for me emotionally, no matter how fast I can process reality.”

  “Should I block her access to this room for now?” Outsider asked.

  I sit in silence for a moment, thinking hard on that. If I say yes, then that means that I have at least one place to think, but it also sends a message that I don't trust her. Sands, do I trust her? Jill seems to have accepted her after whatever happened last night, but she just proposed to me in front of my entire family and I just…. Ran away!

  “Morrigan, I think it would be prudent to postpone this meeting for a bit.” Bahamut says, dilling the silence, “Sire, why don't you take a break in one of the prep rooms in here? While they may not be as comfortable as your room, they are designed to allow for breaks for strike teams between dispatches, and thus are fully capable of letting you rest and process.”

  I shake my head, “Thanks, but no. Don't block her access for now, Outsider. Hopefully she understands that I just need some space for now.” I turn to Morrigan, “So, you have things to report? Didn't you guys wake up not long before me?”

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Morrigan nods her head slowly, a small smile on her face, which was not what I was used to. “Yeah. I mean, we did, but Victor, you know we can think faster that you, right? And that we can multitask more tasks than you? We were caught up to speed on everything that happened over the last few days in moments. But, I digress.” She shrugs, then her normal smile returns.

  “So! Good news first! Hmm, actually, most of it is good news. Bad news first! Bestlé has declared war on the New Phoenix Family Branch and has gotten the main Family to stay away for the duration. And no, it's not because of another hostage situation, but rather by paying a bunch of money to enforce a neutrality contract.”

  I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, then understanding. “The Family knows they will win, so they are simply giving them the rope to hang themselves with.”

  Morrigan snapped her fingers, “Bingo! Only problem is the potential civilian casualties, and the rules that they are trying to force upon Doma and the others.” She snickers, “They want all Class IV Samurai to leave the city for two months in exchange for even more benefits for The Family.”

  Bahamut shakes his head, “Based on the information Doma was willing to share, it seems as though they are offering thirty five percent of all their holdings in North America in return for this.”

  “Thirty five percent? That's insane! Their basically shooting themselves in the leg to give us a black eye.” I say.

  “It's more complicated than that, it seems.” Bahamut says, “Do you know of Samurai Starfall?”

  I do not, so I look her up. I then start sweeting bullets as I read her CV over the past twenty plus years of active service. I learn that she is one of the founders of The Family, and a Class V Samurai in her own right. She drops suns on hives and she froze a huge portion of the Gulf not that long ago!

  “I see you know of her now, Sire. It seems as though she is pushing for Doma to accept the deal due to unrelated matters.”

  I snap back to reality, “Wait, what? What reason would all the Class IV Samurai need to leave the city at once? The ocean?” My words are a little jumbled, but I think I get the message across.

  “A close concept, Sire, as there is a large hive that requires their direct attention, but no. It is not the ocean.” He points up, “It is Mars. Our neighbor has fallen to the antithesis threat a while ago, and all Class IV and above Samurai have been dispatched in waves, with quite a few Class III that was trusted with this information volunteering to go as well. Doma, Heracles, Apollo, and Gunny are going to be a part of the next dispatch, as well as a few other Class III Samurai that have volunteered.”

  I lean back. Mars has fallen, and no one knew? “Why-”

  “Doma didn't tell you for a few reasons. "Bahamut interrupted, "namely that you have only been apart of the Vanguard for slightly longer than a week, not to mention you are still listed as ‘on break’ in their files. The only reason we know about it is because it is unfortunately related to the raids that happened, and that she is hoping you will help head the defense of New Phoenix.”

  “You know,” I say after a few moments of silencs, staring at the ceiling, “I came here as an excuse to maybe distract myself from my family, not have horrible knowledge and responsibilities dropped on me.”

  Morrigan giggles, “We offered you a break room,”

  I shook my head. “You said there was a lot of good news? That, please.”

  Outsider giggles softly, “Of course, Victor. From the top, the raids were successful last night, with all five corporate compounds having been raided, neutralized, and all executives captured. That last part is part of the reason Bestlé has declared war, as three of those captured are children of board members and the CEO.” I groan, “All toxins were also successfully neutralized and even converted into more healthy alternative additives to the water. A press conference is scheduled in an hour for Doma to go over everything, which I encourage you to watch. Due to the success, Gunny will be firing Morrigan at the moon shortly after the press conference in order to get the portals set up, which will accelerate the Cruiser project to be completed in four days.”

  I raise my hand and sit at attention, “Wait wait wait. The Cruiser is going to be finished in four days? When I saw it last, it was barely a frame.”

  “Yes, Victor! With the constant influx of materials, as well as my new upgrades, I will finish the portals in a few hours and focus on finishing the Cruiser before anything else! Doubly good news, that means I can create a Cruiser a week if you want a fleet!” Morrigan smiles and puts two peace signs on her cheeks with her hands.

  “You still haven't gone over the specs with me, Morrigan.” I mutter, glaring at her slightly.

  She shrinks a bit, chuckling nervously. “Uh. Yeah. Right. I wanted to surprise you with the finished design and then things just kept happening and you didn't seem to have the time, sooo….” she trails off.

  I stare at her for a bit longer, then sigh. “I want a full tour the moment it is done, Morrigan.”

  She perks up, “Of course! And afterwards I can go over the next huge project I wanted to do, and also go over all the catalogs I need to do more cool things! You have so many tokens from that super hive cluster and we will finally have a constant flow of materials to make things, and a reason to make them, with the army of idiots on their way.”

  Right. I glanced at my current point and token total.

  Points:105670

  Tokens 20

  I can do so much, get so much. I smile contently.

  “Speaking of idiots, do we have an estimate on when they will be attacking?” I ask.

  Bahamut shakes his head, “No, unfortunately. We can surmise that it will be in the next two or so months, considering the offer, but Outsider requires Class II Cyberwarefare systems to infiltrate their servers outside North America, as well as satellites to monitor movements outside the city.”

  “Why not use the Family's? I'm sure they have some.”

  “They do,” Outsider says, “But they are not ours, Victor, and I cannot utilize them as I wish at all times, only request feeds and information.”

  I nod. I never thought about it like that, but yeah. Of course we could have our own satellites. We will have a portal on the Moon, so install should be easy.

  “Any other good news I should be aware of?”

  They all look at each other, then Morrigan giggles, “Cari's extended family? The fools who want to kidnap a Samurai's child with no Vanguard help? They are staking out the place, and since we stopped the supply vans, all they know is that you entered the top floor garage last night. They have no access to any of the new blueprints, no idea what defenses I am currently installing, and no idea who you really are.”

  Bahamut chuckles, “We know they know the building's original layout, as that was ‘public’ information, as well as the fact that the exterior is made of Class II materials. They also know the building currently only has five registered residents, being you, Roger, Cody, Jill, and Buddy, as that is public information.”

  Outsider giggles, “We expect them to attack tonight and are currently debating how best to deal with them. Opinions range from non-lethaly capturing them via traps, to more violent, instant measures, as well as a wide range of option in between.”

  That sounds like a great distraction to focus on for a time.