Chapter Fifty-Five – The Calm Before

Chapter Fifty-Five – The Calm Before

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***

“I’m going to split off for a moment,” Emoscythe said. She extended a hand my way for a shake. “It was nice meeting you properly. If you ever need image help, give me a call. If you’re looking for a reason to live, then maybe call someone else.”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said. I took her hand in mine and shook, careful not to squish her with my armour. My gauntlets basically eclipsed her hands in armoured steel and I worried I’d hear a crunch. Nothing of the sort happened though.

She was a more experienced samurai. Maybe her arms were all cybernetic. Or maybe she was a remote-controlled meat puppet the entire time. It was impossible to tell without asking, and asking felt like a faux-pas. It was like asking a girl if she was wearing a wig

“Keep an ear open for updates from the Family. Knowing Laserjack, he’s going to want everyone in particular spots until the wall’s entirely closed up. Your choice whether you listen or not,” Emoscythe said. She waved me goodbye, then headed out. A couple of PMCs jogged over to her and started trailing after her like dogs after someone with a bagful of treats.

I watched her go for a moment before turning around and facing the suburbs the aliens were gleefully taking over. “How long until the next wave?” I asked.

It was meant for Myalis, but the Bear-PMC next to me took it to mean I was asking him. “We predict that the next wave will be ready within the hour. We’re expecting a much bigger one tonight.”

“Right, they’ll have all day to replenish themselves, especially if we’re here defending the city and not fucking over their hives.” I looked up and down the length of the defences. The edges were going to pinch in eventually.

The crews working on the wall were laying down another section of it. Ten fewer metres of space that the aliens could easily cross. I imagined that they were doing the same on the far end.

“How quickly are they adding wall segments in?” I asked.

“About one every twenty to thirty minutes,” he said. “They have to slow down whenever enough xenos approach the wall.”

I nodded along. “How long do we have left then? Assuming that no aliens bother us?”

“One point two kilometres left, ma’am,” he said. “Segments are ten metres each.”

I cursed silently. More math. I worked it out though. Sixty hours if they only did one side. Half that if they came in from both sides. “How’s it going to take so damned long? We’ve covered the rest of the city in a day and a half.”

“Ah, I think for the rest of the city they had a lot more than two crews working at once.”

That made a heap of sense. I checked on the Family’s map thing to see how things were going. The city map was predictably a red mess of alien sightings and confirmed locations. The pins for other samurai were all either behind the fortifications or moving back already. Gomorrah was about three hundred metres north of my position. I glanced up, but couldn’t see her past the tanks and temporary towers and moving troops. I couldn’t even use the smoke in the air to tell where she was, there was so much of it.

I got a text the moment I closed the map. From Laserjack, of all people.

LaserJack: To: all Samurai currently defending New Montreal – RE: city defence. We are assembling a defensive position within the gap on the eastern side of the city. For best results, please move to the following locations at your earliest convenience. See Attached.
Jolly Monarch: Moving to position.
Emoscythe Mordeath Noir: Very well.
Gomorrah: Understood.
Sam-o Ray: No problem, bro

I paused for a moment, then with a roll of my eyes I sent my own reply.

Stray Cat: I guess

I opened the map again and noticed a few squarish sections added to the gap, each one had a samurai’s name over it, and if I lingered my attention on any one of them, more information would pop up. Which PMC or militia group was located there, who to contact to get in touch with them.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I wasn’t too far from where I was supposed to be. A bit further north. Maybe two hundred metres from the wall. Gomorrah was stationed to my north, and there was a small slice just below mine. It was maybe half the size of either mine or Gomorrah’s chunks.

Hovering over it didn’t tell me much. New Samurai, Temp-Designation: Farm Boy.