Chapter Fifty-Seven – Before the Storm

Chapter Fifty-Seven – Before the Storm

“Times change, weapons change, but the fundamentals don’t.

We keep that race going. This year we introduce civilian-grade class seven armour. Able to stop even a DMR round dead in its tracks. We also introduced a new 9.50mm AP round which can brush through class seven like it’s tissue paper.”

–Mestle Arms and Childcare Division head, 2039

***

“You know, I’d appreciate any advice you can give,” Jimothy said. He rubbed at his chin, where there was a bit of stubble. Not enough to be like… hot guy on a poster stubble. He looked more like someone that needed to shave. Then again, I wasn’t really keen on facial hair.

“How long have you been a samurai for?” I asked. It couldn’t be too long if he didn’t have a name. Then again, Gomorrah had gone around without one for a bit.

Jimothy shrugged. “About… four hours now? Five? I don’t know, the day’s been pretty busy.”

“Huh,” I said.

“Yup. Was back home, minding my own, when some monsters roamed over. I lived by Hitchen’s Brooke, out to the east of here. Nice little community. Anyway, I thought we were right done for when the aliens started showing up in the morning.”

“You decided to stay there?” I asked.

“We were packing still. We decided to move as a big group. Smart thing to do, you know? More people means more protection, but also more chances of getting help if something goes wrong. But it also means that we were slow. Couple of retirees over there, you know? Not the fastest tool in the shed.”

I wasn’t sure if that was how the expression went, but I didn’t have the credentials to second guess him. “Yeah, fair. So you took a stand or something?”

“Mmmhm, with my great-grandpa’s Mosin. Took out a few beasties. Then this nasty tentacle’d fuck, pardon my French, showed up. Ate nearly every round I had. Grabbed me by the leg and I only got out of there because I gotta a knife in my pocket. It did let the others get to safety.”

“You’re a brave one,” I said.

He chuckled. “Didn’t you have to do the same?”

“Well, no, I only had to kill two of them.”

“Just two? You got off easy.”

“I only had one arm at the time, and a piece of pipe,” I defended.

He grinned. “Now that makes for a better story.”

I patted him on the shoulder. “It’s not all about the story. Just getting the job done, keeping your folk safe.”

“I don’t know about that. This pretty samurai lady showed up a bit after. She… gosh, she was something else.” Jomothy was blushing a bit, which was… something alright. “We got to talking. Well, she talked and I shut my trap and listened. She said that having a good and proper image is one of the most important things you can do as a samurai, to get recognized easily. She didn’t wanna name me though.”

I frowned. “Wait, was that Emoscythe?”

“Miss Emoscythe Mordeath Noir, yes,” he said. The way he spoke her name made it sound like something fancier than it was.

“Right, yeah, she’d say something like that. Anyway, my advice isn’t about image, alright? Just shoot the enemy dead, then kill the next one. Keep yourself safe too, I guess. Maybe buy a helmet so that people don’t think you’re insane when you’re talking to your AI.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea, I guess,” he said. “Don’t know how I’ll incorporate a helmet into my look though.”

“Life finds a way,” I said. “Or your AI can, at any rate. If you want to play into the gimmick… I guess big guns and woodcraft stuff. Knowing how to track and find hives will be damned important in the next bit.”

He nodded. “I’ve gone hunting before. I’m a fair shot too.”

We both paused as the ground shook. One of the nearby buildings decided to give up the ghost and collapsed. Fortunately there were a few buildings between it and us, so the dust cloud went up instead of out.

“We’re going to need to get into position. So, you shoot things well?”