This is why we always request that any Family Samurai be available to be dispatched to smaller, more rural parts of North America, but to also be aware that those hives might be more powerful than expected. And for those in those more rural parts, please try to keep us up to date on any developments you discover, as well as never be afraid to ask for help.
Samurai are a precious resource to defend civilians with and safeguard the Earth as a whole. Every one we lose could mean millions of civilians either in danger or at severe risk of death. We are Humanity's shield, but we are also the beacon of hope for humanity everywhere!
-Speech given by Doma to new Family Samurai, 2052
As I flew high above the battlefield, watching the carnage happening far below, I focused more on the Bastion of Dawn and its database, going over their plans. The basic strategy involved mass panic and subjugation of the populace, using these “Shock Troops” to distract and eliminate Rocker Boy and the Groupies, as well any other smaller Samurai that could oppose them. They wouldn't earn points from killing the Shock Troops, as they weren’t antithesis based, which was something I didn't know. The only Samurai left would have been Bub, Shrew, High Noon, Red Menace, Black Log, Eye Spy, Trigonometry, and myself.
Bo and Cass don't have any children, though they were thinking about it, meaning Cass was marked to be taken care of by the Shock troops. And considering the Grelnests ate metal, her mech was in serious danger. Black Log's file here indicated that he would have been easy to deal with as he had “No combat potential”, sourced by some internal Family files, same with these Trigonometryand Eye Spy. I was very glad I had yet to fill out my file, now. And the rest of us would have been forced to leave the city. And with our families kidnapped, Bestlé could have had the rest of us under their thumbs.
Shaking my head, I pulled up the schematics of the Bastion and quickly realized that I had no idea how to read such technical schematics, so I pulled in Morrigan.
[Hmm. This is a fascinating piece of human tech. Looks like it scavenges its parts off of some Samurai tech directly, namely the armor, shields, and radar tech. It's actually Class II stuff. The shuttles would be able to penetrate it, but only after, like, an hour of direct sustained fire.]
I whistled at that.
While you have access to Class III catalogs and Morrigan has the ability to create Class III Materials, none of your current equipment besides your portal tech is Class III. Plus, the materials there belong to the Exotic Materials Catalogs, so the comparison is not quite equal.
[I mean, yeah! Class III Materials take so long to make, even in massive batches. The only reason we Commanders are Class III is because you bought the Ascension kits for us. Once I am done with the Cruiser, I will upgrade the Fabricators to Class III, which will take about a month, considering how many we have. Then I will have to upgrade the Shuttles, your armor and weapons, the minions, my lab equipment. And on top of all of that, I have a massive flying island to build…]
I had no idea we were still working with Class II materials and gear. And hearing her workload, I cringed a little.
[Why would I want that?] She asked. I could feel her head tilt questioningly at me. I would have to ask Synaptic about getting a virtual meeting space set up, like Black Log, I was missing her emotes, considering we were not on the same network currently. [Vic, I am an R and D type. I would rather you toss more projects at me. Give me more to do! I have already finished the tech tree for the PMC, Monster Box, with the company commanders help. I have ideas on how to make the core of the floating island, but I have more space inside the island proper I could utilize if you have more ideas. Most of what is there is redundant systems, anyways.-]
[Oh? Did Bahamut not update you on the PMC? Weird. Yeah! So, it was Cody's idea to call it the Monster Box, something about how the Game Master would pick different figures out of a box to fight the players with. And each company is named after a different monster! Horatio's Goblin company is the infantry, with a nice mixed bag of front line troops, medics, and long ranged troops. The Ankeg company is based off of the old Navy Corp of engineers, the Seabees, lead by Wanda. Infiltration experts, explosive experts, and fortification experts, they can build up fortifications, tear them down, and get anything you may need from behind enemy lines. Ulrich's Orc Company is full of heavies. Heavy lasers, cannons, and plasma throwers, designed to take on the big things like sixes, forteens, and Twenty Threes. Well, eventually on the Twenty Threes, gotta build up trust for equipment that good]
[Then we have the vehicle Companies! Owlbear and Wyvern companies, for ground and sky based vehicles respectively. Julius has been wonderfully creative with his ideas and suggestions, and with your recent request to avoid pure ground based vehicles, he will have to get more creative. Then there's Mindy, and she has been a dream to work with. So many ideas in that head of hers! And because we are working with Class III Materials on paper, we can get very creative with aircraft.]
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Sands, we already have five companies? And Commanders I don't know? I sighed.
[We do indeed! Though, it could be better. You don't have anything for social stuff. The new monitoring catalogs are nice, and Outsider is very happy with them, but there are a few things I would like to ask you to buy to make things easier for us.]
[I know! But just today I learned that there are things I cannot do, that I can do with just two Class I catalogs! It's just two, I promise! After this, I won't ask you for anything, I promise!]
I sit in silence for a few moments, looking down at the rapidly clearing battlefield. The Klaxautoma were nearly all eliminated, and the Grelnest swarm had been wiped out. After letting her sweat for a bit, even though I knew she couldn't actually sweat, I ask.
[Extotic Materials and the Troop performance Monitoring systems. The second one contains systems to better understand and monitor armies as a whole, allowing us to know when and how we can roll out the upgrades to their gear. Much more accurate and safe than the slapdash system we have already. And the first, well, it has unique materials that can only be made using crazy methods, like singularity alloys and the like!]
I will mention that, while the Esoteric Materials catalog would be a boon for you, Victor, it would only show its true worth once it reaches Class II, and that is only if you purchase the blueprints for each material possible, which would be hundreds of options for thousands of points. You would be better off purchasing the Esoteric Foundries Catalog, which would allow Morrigan to build Esoteric Fabricators and obtain the relevant knowledge of the subject, allowing her to experiment with the materials at far lesser cost to you.
One hundred and twenty points for the Troop Performance and Monitoring Systems catalog, and one hundred and fifty points for the Esoteric Fabricators catalog, plus nine hundred for the relevant blueprints for Morrigan.
[Um… well, I mean… hmm.]
I chuckle at her consternation.
I hear her squeal in delight. [Thank you, Victor! I will not disappoint you!]
Unlocked Class I Troop Performance and Monitoring systems Catalog
Unlocked Class I Esoteric Fabrications Catalog
Purchased Various esoteric materials blueprints and esoteric Fabrication knowledge
Points reduced to 79725
I cut the call shortly after, seeing that the battle had finished. I descended rapidly to meet up with the others. I feel as though I am forgetting something, but I don't worry about it for now.
Exiting the shuttle, I make my way over to where Leman, Vulkan, and Jim are, seeing Baba Yaga landing nearby as Collector Swarms start harvesting everything from the Column. I see everyone no worse for wear, which does surprise me. But then I remember that they are mostly nanite based constructs, so any damage would be easy to hide. I check on them through my network and I see that Leman is registering as missing more than sixty percent of himself, while his pack is down forty percent. Vulkan is only down twelve percent, and Jim is fine.
“Leman, are you okay?” I ask.
He just laughs heartily, slamming his fist on his chest. “I have never felt better, my Lord. This fight was glorious, and it is only a shame that there are no more of these things to fight.”
Vulkan chuckles, “He's not wrong, General. These things were just as fun to fight as the plants. Although, I suppose that Bestlé has more of these things somewhere, considering this PMC is one of three they have in North America. It's just a matter of hunting them down.”
Jim shrugged. “Had to pull my boys out, unfortunately. I could offer some covering fire, but we don't do well against close ranged fighters with no support. Not a slight on either of you, but I think we will requisition some swarms for more permanent usage. Being able to make wave breaks and have a field of blenders between us and the enemy sounds mighty useful.”
I could agree to that. I had noticed that Jim hadn't participated much in the second phase of the fight, but that makes sense if he couldn't fight them off. “So, we just need to clean out this thing. Leman, you think you can do that? If not, Vulkan can take over.”
Leman chuckles once more. “My Lord, we have no organic parts, thus do not tire. If you wish of it, either of us could quickly clear this mobile command center.”
Ah. Right. “Leman, you go ahead. As much as these idiots deserve death, I think that burning them alive is a bit much for me right now.”
He nods as I signal the Bastion to open a door. Bullets flew out immediately, but Leman and his pack flowed through the hail of lead, silencing it quickly.
A Mole pops up from the ground, and Shrew hops out, walking over to us. “Good work, War Games. Glad this is over with. I see you are cleaning up the area already, but do you mind sending me some of the raw materials of the vehicles? I plan to make a few more Moles.”
“Of course, Shrew. Send Baba Yaga the location you want the mats sent. I'll give you fifty percent of everything we grab. You have a use for any this?” I say, waving at the Bastion.
She places a hand under her chin, looking over the behemoth of steel. “It's Class II stuff, right? Maybe the sensor stuff could be interesting, but considering they didn't sense me approach, probably not.”
I nod. “I'll still send fifty percent of it your way, anyways. You basically disabled this thing immediately on your own. From what I can see, it could have posed a huge threat to my shuttles. Hypersonic rounds, apparently. Morrigan might be happy to disassemble a few.”
“Thanks. Any plans for the rest of the day? I want to go back and see my family. Bub moved them to the bunker before I arrived, and while I am grateful, I want to hug my baby girl and husband.”
I think for a moment. “Nah, I will probably do the same. While they are safe, a lot happened and it is getting dark out.”
Suddenly, a call comes in from Black Log. Answering it, I arrive in the virtual conference room with Shrew. “Hey, guys. Well done on the column, but could you get back here soon? Apparently, Beslté had more agents in New Phoenix than we thought. Numerous riots have kicked off and the defenses on the southern wall have all exploded. The PMCs are stretched thin as their HQs have been bombed as well. War Games, I know you have a PMC that is in heavy training right now, but do you think you could deploy them to maintain order?”