A Displaced Samurai

June, Monday 1st, 2048

07:50

Elya woke me up.

There is a major Mack assault underway, according to the traffic on the security forces network. Multiple locations in Victoria and on the east coast, one in Sooke and some are trying to go ashore at the south side of the Victoria military harbor.

I threw some clothes on and started to drag equipment to my van. “Elya, if I set up at the municipal government building, is the military harbor in range for my mortar?

Yes. You would be firing at near maximum range, but all beaches between the Gillingham Islands and west of here would be in range. From the Royal Colwood Golf Club premises, Portage Inlet would also be in range.

We had discussed Mack emergence patterns in considerable detail. They liked flat, open terrain and high population densities as destinations. Ideally beaches. A follow-up emergence at Portage Inlet was quite possible, even if it was not among the initial locations.

“The Golf Club it is.”

I continued dragging stuff to the van. Mortar, forty image recognition guided mortar bombs and both Spectracopters. Also, my two converted Type 4s followed, and the van was pretty full. The roads were deserted as I drove off, only a few stragglers still tried to find a shelter. Two times I saw HANAF units on the road, but they seemed to have better things to do than accost a lone civvie. At the golf club, I set up my mortar at a place with a convenient field of fire and launched one of my Spectracopters.

08:30

From the HANAF network, Elya managed to get some footage for me. The harbor was indeed under siege, and I could see a warship casting off. Elya flew the copter closer to give me an independent view of the situation.

Soon I had a more comprehensive view of the location. Two Type 21s had crawled halfway up the beach, but stayed below the street level so they were covered against fire from the land. They had already started gating in smaller units, mostly Type Fours.

One of them did have no cover between the warship and themselves. The frigate used none of its missiles, but from a relatively small cannon it pumped that Twenty-One full of grenades. More than three per second. Under that hail of fire the Mack did not last long. Its left flank was literally shredded in a series of explosions, and through the camera of the Spectracopter I could see its eye go dark.

The other Mack happened to sit between a tiny rocky island and the road, where the warship could not easily hit it. So I contacted the commander of the troops ashore.

“This is Vanguard Artillery Command, we have eyes on a Type 21 at the beach near Esquimalt Road, between the parking lot and the tiny rock island. Forward observer drone is supplying coordinates. Ready to fire. Can you ensure your troops are under cover?”

From the other end came a short and angry dispute, but the desire for support won out. “Yes we can. Provide one minute warning please.”

“One minute warning now.”

I waited another thirty seconds, then I fired four mortar grenades. The flight time would cover the remaining thirty seconds.

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

Four hits, but the target is still active.

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

It’s still alive. Keep firing.

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

Target burning, implosion suggesting a gate collapse. This one is dead.

There were still a few type Four hiding between the rocks, so I prepared four more grenades, with the target type set to type Four.

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

WHUMP

One grenade seemed to have trouble finding a target. It self-destructed.

Another one hit less than a meter from a Type Four. The explosion ripped two tentacles off and threw the machine into the sea.

The third hit perfectly, and its target was ripped apart.

The final grenade that had aimed for the same target, showed a behavior I had hoped for but not dared to count upon. It seemed to notice that its target was already destroyed, and it turned to the closest target of the same type. It did not quite manage to hit, but it got close enough that this Mack was also thrown into the water. Suddenly Elya shouted in my head:

TYPE SIX APPROACHING. TAKE COVER.

The closest cover available were the nearby trees. I sprinted that way. Behind me I heard the Avian Eliminator firing.

BRAAAP

A massive detonation hit me. I felt hot pinpricks stinging my back. With ringing ears, I reached the trees and dived behind one of the thicker tree trunks.

BRAAAP

Another detonation, this time not quite as close.

We should move. Where two of these are, there might be more. On the upside, you get ten points for each as your point defense is destroying them.

Elya was right. The Type Six tended to show up in groups. But even so, I was not ready to leave my weapons behind. With shaking knees, I managed to get up, disassemble my mortar and dump the parts into my van. The four grenades I had prepared but not fired yet, I handled more carefully. Four empty ammunition boxes were left behind. I jumped behind the driver’s seat and took a few minutes to come down from the shock. Then I took off with spinning tires.

“Elya, I’d like to contribute some more but not at the expense of being blown up. Can you point out targets I can reach from an artillery position with good cover nearby?”

There is a small underpass near the motorway junction Millstream Road / Highway. It offers reasonable shelter against Type Six drones. From there you can hit some suitable targets along the Trans-Canadian Highway.

“Show me the way, and keep the copter at the harbor there for observation and recording.”

A path was highlighted in my augs, and I followed it north. As suggested by Elya, I found a place with a small tunnel nearby where I could hide from Sixes. I set up my mortar and launched my second Spectracopter eastwards along the highway, where Elya had suggested I would find more targets.

09:00

I was ready to fire again, and Elya had indeed found more targets for me. Two Type 21s on the north side of Port Inlet, plus eight Type 28s guarding them, looking over the highway and the Inlet. They were barely in the range of my mortar.

I picked one of the Twenty-Ones as a target and fired a series of four mortar bombs at it. And again. And again. Explosions pummeled the Mack. Elya flew the copter closer and reported:

The eye is still glowing. You are not done with this one.

Another four rounds. This time the eye went dark. I had eight mortar rounds left, and it seemed questionable if these would be enough to kill the other Type 21. So I went after the Twenty-Eights instead, one shot at each. One mortar bomb seemed unable to decide on a target and self-destructed. Seven hit, smoke coming from the stricken machines. Elya went on a close flyby with the Spectracopter.

Six of the Type 28s were destroyed. One had survived the hit.

“Elya, we are going home for now. Call the copter we launched first home for recharging. Move the second one to the harbor and keep observing.”

09:30

I arrived back at my shelter. There were no more immediate threats coming my way, so I could take an interim tally of my exploits today. These had brought me 1200 points, bringing my total balance to 2975 points and one token.

As I had no idea how long the battle would take, I queued up the next sixteen mortar bombs on my fabber. Perhaps there would be more opportunity for hunting Macks before the day was over. I also collected Spectracopter #1 from the roof and connected it to the charger. Hmmm. A mobile charger for the van might be a good idea.

09:45

The video from the harbor, taken by Spectracopter #2, showed a massive construct on six crawler tracks struggling up the beach near Saxe Memorial Hospital. It looked like a huge insect with short and thick legs that ended in said crawler tracks. From the Emergency Survival Guide, I recognized it as a Type 32.

The size was similar to the Landkreuzer Ratte, a planned but never built ultra heavy tank from WW2. Around its body, half a dozen cannons were covering all directions. Up front, it had two short but massive extremities that looked like a hybrid between arms and mandibles. Dragging material from the side into its mechanical maw, they reminded me of horizontal excavator arms.

The metal monster made its way towards the hospital, ripping apart fences, felling trees and devouring the occasional car on its way. Tasty little metal morsels. As it was halfway to the hospital, a series of explosions ripped into its back. Apparently a whole mortar battery had found an attractive target. From the explosions, I could see a sort of glittery dust rising.

That appears to be more than the typical steel armor. Perhaps some sort of diamond-based reinforcements. We would have to get access to the wreck for a closer examination.

Something to keep in mind. I kept watching the recording from my copter. Even after taking dozens of mortar hits, the metal monster kept advancing. One of its cannons was hanging off the side a bit lopsidedly, but the remaining guns were firing at whichever defender dared to show their face.

Soon it reached the building and started ripping into the walls with its mandible-arms, digging into the building until parts came down on it. This did not faze it, it just backed up a bit and advanced again, ripping larger holes into the building. More mortar fire hit and failed to stop the metal monster. Its back was quite pockmarked by now, but that did not impress it.

By the time it had leveled most of the building, a Magical Girl strike team finally appeared. Two Reds with a halberd and a huge battle ax respectively, a Yellow and a Pink. The supporter in a yellow costume hit the Mack with a sort of magnetic field. It was strong enough to put its movements to a grinding halt, and shredded rebar clung to it like paper clips to a big magnet.

Then the two melee fighters went in and hacked off the cannons first. The legs were next and the Type 32 was stuck in place. There was one tense moment when the final leg came off and the girl with the battle ax was almost crushed under hundreds of tons of falling steel. After that it was an execution, not a fight anymore.

10:45

Copter #2 is low on battery, recalling it now.

Copter #1 has finished reloading,

Your sixteen mortar grenades are ready.

I was ready to go out again. But the worst of the fighting was already over, the big Macks in Victoria were down. Now the Magical Girls and HANAF were mopping up the smaller units. It would not make much sense for artillery units to take part in that, so I called it a day.

Of course, I did not have much time to gloat. Only two minutes later, an exasperated B.S.O.D. called me and complained about risking myself in the open instead of hiding in a shelter like a good citizen. She even hinted at assigning the Battle Bugs as my personal nannies.

B.S.O.D. actually had a point there. I had not explained to her that my tech unlocks would come faster if I could earn points in battle. Her concerns about losing the golden goose were reasonable from her point of view. Perhaps I had understated Elya’s abilities a bit too much.

But revealing that Elya could judge my accomplishments and dole out points accordingly would come awfully close to admitting I had a full blown AGI in my head. I was still not quite ready for that leap of faith.

Two days later

Victoria had taken the worst damage in years, but the last remains of the Mack invaders were cleared out by now. Also, HANAF had finally collected all the reports about their use of my weaponry.

I had earned quite a few points from it. Much reduced as Elya considered my contribution rather indirect, but I still received fifty points per Type 21, plus some for other targets. It amounted to a total of 1582 points, pushing my total to 4577 points.

The leaders at SHOCKS held speeches praising the Magical Girls for saving the day, but my tech had made a difference too. The dinky 81mm mortars did not do much against a Type 32, but they had thinned out the Type 21 portal-making Macks quite a bit. Without that, the fighting might have turned out a lot nastier.

As a civilian and “mere” equipment supplier, I was not invited to HANAF’s official celebration. But Major Allen had invited me to a small, informal meeting in a nearby pub. Which I actually enjoyed more than a big parade.