Chapter 218 - That's No Freighter... (Patreon)

Note : Chapter 222 has been written and added to the queue !

Chapter 218

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

In Flight

For a second everyone, even the golems, were too stunned to do anything, as the roar of the detonation came over them.

Alexandra exhaled. Or rather her golem replicated the sound.

"Undock us, warn the other vessels to do the same, including those handling escorts. And destroy this ship. Then I want the entire squadron to pound the wreckage into dust. They faked their surrender."

She looked at the golem across the hologram from her, her 'executive officer', so to speak.

"There will be no prisoners, and no survivors."

Her voice was as cold as outer space, and she felt a twitch inside herself. Seemed like the apparition wasn't appreciative of-

Then a flash of energy filled the room, and half a dozen firearms were pointed on the intruder before they even hit the ground.

Alexandra's eyes went wide as she recognized CQ, and she threw herself by her daughter's side.

"CQ!" She grabbed her daughter, who twitched feebly. Her armor was a mess, but it had taken the brunt of the detonation, and Alexandra sighed in relief, realizing the link going dead was her daughter falling unconscious, and the twitch had been her regaining consciousness just long enough to teleport to the safest place she knew, her mother's side. Looked like the boss could be knocked out after all. "Holy shit."

"Alert! Enemy has deployed grapnels and metallic lines. We cannot cut loose!" Yelled out one of the golems.

"Hostiles incoming!" Yelled another, and Alexandra's head snapped to the screens.

The transport's deck was a burning mess…but it was built tough, and the hatches were mostly unobstructed, though whether by design or by luck she couldn't tell, and troops poured out of them, rushing onto her ship. Oddly enough, and just like the suicide bombers before them now that she had the time to process, they weren't wearing the same uniforms of the soldiers she'd faced in Amelia's army. Rather they were dressed in vermillions and rich purples. But odd or not, their uniforms didn't prevent them from moving out with almost mechanical efficiency, troopers even marching through fires as if they weren't even there, though most went around them whenever possible.

This was clearly a planned maneuver. Though probably something their commander had come up with on the fly. At least she fervently hoped so, if the Republic was willing to use their troops like that as standard policy, her raiding was going to get a lot harder.

Unfortunately for them, golems didn't suffer from battleshock. Not like humans did anyway. A flesh and blood opponent would have still been picking themselves back up, trying to figure out what was going on, making for easy meat.

Instead, the golems were fully aware and ready, as the enemy boarders jumped over.

Which was when they realized that CQ didn't just take after her mother in terms of enthusiasm. She had also inherited a fair share of her paranoia.

The boarders immediately came under a coordinated cross fire from four machinegun teams and two dozen shotguns and submachine guns, the deck space the boss' boarding team had waited in before crossing over turned into a killzone by their absence.

But those weren't marines and crewmen, dredged up from whatever dregs they could afford to leave out of the main fleet. Those were veterans, experienced and battle hardened.

More importantly, many of them had gained that experience fighting the Hegemony.

Archers and arquebusiers returned fire from the ship, trying to snipe the machineguns. But Alexandra's marines were patterned after her Standard Combat Units. Some fell, but most didn't.

The Republic infantry came on. Some wore a kind of heavy shield, easily turning aside shotgun pellets and even managing to resist some machinegun rounds before failing, like a madman's vision of a SWAT ballistic shield. They were dying in droves, but they weren't there to win the fight.

They were simply there to soak up shots and buy time, as Alexandra saw more of the suicide bombers emerge from the bowels of the transport, though thankfully far fewer than in the first wave. Looked like the ship had a finite supply of fanatics, that was something at least.

She barked out orders, and watched as the explosive ladden troopers rushed forward.

The machineguns retargeted, and some fell, but most didn't, their explosives refusing to detonate and take the rest. They neared the space between both ships…

But suddenly there weren't two ships. The Darokyn soared through the air and drew almost level on her flagship's other side.

And fired it's full broadside as it passed.

Ten heavy guns loaded with canister shot swept both ships.

Some historian would say it was a literal blood bath, without ever seeing the true horror of having almost a hundred people liquefied by being hit by hundreds of steel bullets fired at four times the speed of sound at point blank range.

Boarding shields or not, nothing could survive that without energy shields or wards.

This time, one of the bombs did explode, and the ship rang out like a bell as the shockwave hit its armor and casemates full force. Both ships were driven apart, the lines snapping from the detonation almost in the middle of them, and the golem at the helm leapt on the occasion, ripping the Theev away from the transport.

Which was when Alexandra saw the people crawling out of the hatches on the side of the Republic ship.

People who were wearing glider and climbing gear on top of their oddly colored uniforms.

"Oh, hell." She just had the time to say, before they launched off. They were too close, they couldn't bring the tesla emitters to bear against them, and…wait, they were too close. She raised her voice. "Bring us back against the transport!"

The golems didn't question, they acted. And the Republic's airborne troops had a split second to realize the ship was coming back towards them before they landed on the hull.

Most had the wind taken out of them by the impact. Only a few had enough air left to scream as the Theev crashed back against the transport, reducing them to greasy stain against the armor.

Alexandra looked at the transport as her ship began limping away, expecting another wave. And as she thought, she saw more soldier popping out of hatches, either on the deck or on the side.

But they had lost too much time, as the Darokyn, the Irontooth and the Vertung were in position. The broadsides of three ships slammed into them at point blank range, with no wards to protect them, and capital ship or not, the unarmored transport came apart in a hail of splinters and shredded bodies, the debris tumbling down onto the merciless sand below.

Allya took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Well…shit." She looked at CQ, the boss stirring in her arms. "Damn it. Emilia is going to have my ass for this. And not in a good way." She winced, not that the golem had the facial feature to show it, as she lifted CQ up, one of her golems coming to help. "Alright kiddo, let's get you laying down onto something a little more comfortable. And then we'll wrap up this damned battle."

*****

"They're being cautious, commander. That's all." Said Colonel Orzal Vek, as he looked at Commander Marie Azulin, who was pacing back and forth in front of his desk.

"Cowards is what they are. They're shitting their pants for three measely ships?" The senate guard commander threw her hands into the air. "Seriously?!? Monsters I could understand, but three ships? They have a squadron of battleships, dozens of cruisers and Gods know how many escort ships and they're afraid of three corvettes? I was right to send some of my own to oversee these spineless fools. Make no mistake, my men will do whatever is necessary to win, and they'll fight to the very last, unlike Amelia or her pet Malcom."

Orzal twitched. Marie brazenly requisitionning the largest troop transport available and packing it with her most fanatical amongst the senate guard had already been a considerable slight, especially as she had conveniently 'forgotten' to mention that to him until it was almost a fait accompli, and even when he had found out and he'd confronted her, she had ignored his strenuous objections. The last thing General Coledar needed was some political officers with a do or die complex breathing down his neck.

Of course, he hadn't been able to say it like that. Which meant that he'd have to try another approach for this discussion, if he didn't want to be swept aside again.

"Commander. Those 'three corvettes' as you so succinctly put it, have a massive technological advantage and destroyed two of our own corvettes, a frigate and a gunship without much, if any, hassle. Furthermore, those ships have the luxury of choosing their time and place to strike, while the general has to spread his ships to protect every convoy."

"Then why haven't they struck again then? If they weren't sent packing with their tail between their legs."

"Because they had to escort the prizes they took home. To Rebirth. Or the wasteland would have annihilated them."

"Right. And that takes them out of action. So what is all the fuss?"

Orzal sighed.

"Because if those ships are manned by golems, then they're the dungeon's. And that means that every ship she takes augments her power."

"Bullshit. The adventurers guild wouldn't allow that."

"My intel indicates that they can't, and won't, do much against that. The reveal of Starvak's power considerably damaged their standing in the Kingdom or, for that matter, throughout the world. And Rebirth's government has formally signed up with the dungeon. They know that protesting at this juncture would end poorly for them."

"Ah! As if they expect the town's government to last long. They're cut off, surrounded by enemies."

"The fact that they believe it will indeed last should be the warning sign, Marie."

The senate guard commander froze. Orzal never called her by her first name. For the first time in their entire conversation, Orzal had her complete and undivided attention.

"I'm listening."

"The guild has eyes and ears everywhere in Rebirth. It's a dungeon town, they know everything, they have to. Otherwise they couldn't maintain their monopoly on dungeon delves. And that means they must have an excellent idea of what the baroness' chances are. And right now, they seem to think they're pretty damned good."

"And you think the same."

Orzal nodded. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Marie knew very well that his opinion was that they should negotiate, not pursue a military invasion.

"I do. Because if they repelled an Old World army, they can repel ours."

"They had the adventurers, their defenses were shredded by that attack, and they're cut off from their support." Enumerated the senate guard commander. She wasn't shrugging him off, she was actually arguing, and that made Orzal shiver internally. He had to remember that behind the almost flighty, armchair general and political animal persona there was a cunning woman that had gotten herself there by building a staircase out of corpses on behalf of the senate. "That's a lot of things working against them."

"Yes. It is. But they have the dungeon. A dungeon that has tens of thousands of golems, that do not tire, sleep, or rest. With that kind of labor, how long do you think it would take them to rebuild their defenses? Furthermore, do you seriously think the dungeon core has stopped building her stockpiles since we last saw her army?"

"Her dungeon was nuked."

"The top of her dungeon was destroyed, yes. But she's a dungeon core. Do you seriously think her most important stuff was at the top?"

Marie pulled up a chair, and sat down, looking thoughtful.

"So what you're saying is, we're walking straight into a meat grinder?"

What we? Both of us staying comfortably far away from the frontlines my dear. Thought Orzal, before shaking his head.

"Yes and no. What I am saying is that this is not going to be a cakewalk, and that the dungeon core is clearly thinking ahead."

"How so?"

"You said it yourself. This is a war on two fronts now. The dungeon has to think about us and Sunrise. That means she needs to fight us both. Now she has a lot of resources, but they're not unlimited. Using airships and raiding convoys to stop the army is supremely cost effective from her point of view."

"They could press ahead."

"And if they did, they'd arrived in front of a fortress city half starved and missing a good chunk of their equipment. A city festooned with heavy artillery and that generates its own mana. No, pressing ahead without secure supply lines is madness. All the same, the dungeon is buying time, possibly to deal with the Republic."

"She can't move an army through the wasteland."

"Yet we are doing it."

"And we have an artifact for it!"

"Yes. And do tell me, how sure are you that, given the size of the automated Old World army that attacked the town, it wasn't carrying such an artifact as well?"

That gave Marie pause.

"But…they might not attack Old World automata, that is all."

"And? All of the dungeon's golems are repurposed Old World automata." Well, that was stretching the truth a bit, but Marie didn't need to know that.

The senate guard commander leaned back into her chair, clearly thinking hard.

"So you're saying we're screwed?"

"No, I'm saying ordering the general to push ahead would only collapse the entire effort."

"I see. And you said that the dungeon core is the problem?"

Orzal nodded.

"Ignoring her is what has cost us the victory, time and time again." Actually, not ignoring her the first couple of times and trying to kidnap her is what had created this entire damned mess to begin with, but Marie wasn't going to take that particular argument well. "The baroness is almost irrelevant to anything but the town's internal politics at this point. The golems outnumber her forces, and if the accounts of the fight with the Old World army and the attack on the convoys are true, have better technology and more firepower."

"Then we simply need to remove her from the equation. And we have the perfect solution for that, don't we?"

Orzal froze.

Trying to 'remove the dungeon from the equation' is exactly how we got in this mess you imbecile! He almost yelled out. Almost.

"The dungeon almost certainly has put countermeasures in place."

"And what, managed to jam teleports? Besides, if that happens, we can just pull them back. And your teleport commandos will only need few supplies, which can be sent with a massive escort, or taken from the army. And they're, what, only a company? They're expendable."

Not to me they're not. They're my people. I trained them.

"It will be a slaughter."

"Better lose a thousand soldiers than three hundred times that many in the whole army. And that's just the ground troops."

Orzal sighed. He knew defeat when he saw it.

With those arguments, she'd sway the senate, and Senator Veumen, easily. Especially as they were desperate for someone, anyone, to give them the magic bullet to win, to tell them what they wanted to hear, instead of a constant barrage of sensible and pragmatic answers.

"So you want me to send what's left of my special forces to assault the dungeon?"

"Well, you still have a platoon here."

"More a disparate group of squads, but yes."

"Then it'll be most of the rest. Besides, if they succeed, they'll be heroes!"

"And if they fail?"

Marie gave him a long, meaningful look.

"I see." Said the colonel, his conflicting loyalties once again flaring inside of his mind.

He clenched his firsts under the desk. No. Not yet. This situation was still salvageable. He knew it. He just had to play his cards right.

"Now then, I'll contact Senator Veumen. I believe you should contact the general, and prepare the way for what has to be done."

"Yes. Yes I will."

"Excellent." Marie got up, and walked out, stopping at the door's threshold. "Oh, and Orzal?"

"Yes?"

"Don't beat yourself up. This is the better option."

Orzal stared after her.

She'd seen right through him.

Shit.