Chapter Forty-One – Rapid Return

Chapter Forty-One – Rapid Return

“We’re not so different from the Antithesis, in some ways.

Back either of us into a corner, and that’s where you’ll see us fighting the hardest.”

–Nomad, 2056

***

Gomorrah flew the Fury over the gap.

I didn’t know what else to call the long stretch of space where the wall just stopped. Cranes were set up on either edge, and there were huge cement slabs ready to be pulled up onto the foundation that was even now being poured, but there was no missing the fact that a three-kilometre stretch of the city was entirely unprotected.

It wasn’t an empty spot either. Suburbs were set up on what was going to be the outside of the wall. A satellite city sat on the southernmost part of the gap. It looked like the wall was going to bulge out a little to accommodate it.

“Atyacus, did Laserjack give us a spot where we’d be needed?” Gomorrah asked.

“The Family has suggested some locations which require reinforcements,” a smooth, rather posh-sounding voice said. “The entire stretch of space without a wall needs to be defended. Anywhere along or around that area could use Vanguard-tier reinforcements.”

I glanced out the window and noticed that several armoured vehicles were forming a barricade just outside the area where the wall would be. More vehicles were moving into the space behind the wall. Mobile bases, semi-trailers with mobile offices on their backs, and a whole heap of supply vehicles.

“Looks like every other PMC in the city is coming over,” I said.

“This location is the most likely to lead to the Antithesis breaching the city,” Atyacus said.

I nodded. “Makes sense. Get everyone over the spot that’s weakest. The plants will definitely be pushing that spot hardest. Least resistance, and all that.”

“Indeed,” the AI said.

“I’m going to station myself a bit out in the open,” Gomorrah said.

“Isn’t your range pretty short?” I asked.

“Yes, but I expect that there will be enough of them that it won’t matter,” Gomorrah said. “Besides, I do best when I have a lot of space with no one friendly inside it.”

I considered that for a moment. Not so much Gomorrah’s fighting style as my own. How did I fit into all of this?

“Can you drop me out at the far end of that city?” I asked, pointing to the suburban sprawl. Lots of apartment buildings, and a few dozen condo-enclaves. “My gimmick’s not going to be useful in the open, not if there’s going to be thousands of the fuckers. I’m going to head in towards the walls, leave a few hundred traps behind.”

“We don’t have a lot of time for traps,” Gomorrah said.

I shrugged. “I can run pretty fast. Maybe I’ll get a jetpack of my own?”

Gomorrah chuckled. “Go ahead. I won’t need to taxi you around quite as much.”

I grinned as we swung around. A glance at the map wiped that smile away, at least a little. The wave was way too close for comfort. I could see plumes of dust in the distance, getting closer.

“Go,” Gomorrah said. “And remember to stay alive.”

I nodded, then reached out a fist to her. She bumped it.

My boots hit the ground with the softest of thumps, and the Fury whined as it rose out above and shot out across the city. Gomorrah had left me on a once-busy street. Ten-story buildings on either side, their first floors nothing but colourful shopfronts with screaming-bright advertisements.

“Not much time,” I muttered. “Myalis, you ready to buy some shit.”

Catherine, you should know that I am always prepared. What are you thinking of?

“I need… fuck it, I need a better suit. More mobility, better guns. Stealth too. And I want to be able to fly.”

Do you mind sacrificing your back-mounted guns for flight?

I winced.

Understood. Your current armour is modular. I wouldn’t be surprised that you forgot that. Let me suggest a cheaper alternative to a whole new set. Boots with deployable jump-jets, a jet-pack that will fit in the centre of your back and over your lower back. You will have to remove your coat unless you wish to find a different solution?

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“No, no that sounds good,” I said. I was already shucking the coat. It was cool, and I’d be sad to see it go, but… yeah. Needs must and all that.

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