Sigma 16 T2 - Chapter 109 - Adjustments (Patreon)

Keeping the spiders from chasing the Blues out into the desert wasn’t easy. Talia spotted a few bolting forward, rushing toward the damaged boundary. “Dapple! Hot Pink!”

The two spiders turned toward her, attentive, and scurried over to listen. “We can’t let the others run out of the jungle,” she said, her voice firm but gentle. The two spiders tilted their heads questioningly.

“Can you stop them? Get them to come back?” Talia asked.

They chirped at her, then ran forward, raising their high-pitched spider voices loud enough to make her wince.

Other spiders hesitated, their legs twitching with pent-up energy as they centered their focus on the shrieking duo. Talia’s fists clenched, and she silently urged the Tch’Llik to stop.

They did. The growing mass of spiders halting and then milling about to express their anger on the dead Blues. Talia watched the expression of rage, a knot of worry tightening in her chest. The spiders had every right to be angry. Their home had been invaded, their leader killed, their sisters stolen. But the rage she saw needed direction, a purpose.

It was an ugly side that made the spiders seem even more human.

Her IRUs began setting up defensive emplacements. Talia took a deep breath. The fight was over. She needed to calm down. To think clearly and to find a way to channel the spiders’ anger productively.

Dapple and Hot Pink returned, their eyes reflecting worry.

“The spiders need to return to the Nest for now,” Talia said, her voice steady. “We need to prepare.”

The nest spiders chittered among themselves, their voices a chorus of clicks and chirps. Talia’s heart sank. Would they listen? Could she convince them to retreat and regroup?

[Observation: In the absence of leadership, User might fill the vacuum and take control.]

Talia frowned. “I’m just trying to help them, Neo. Not control them like that.”

A CRD-X9 arrived, its heavy tracks churning the jungle dirt. Talia climbed up on top of it. Hot Pink and Dapple followed suit, their legs gripping the vehicle’s surface with ease.

Talia let out a puff of air, a small smile tugging at her lips. She realized she was acting like the spiders, riding on the outside of the vehicle.

[Warning: Engagements along the line of contact have begun to intensify.]

Talia’s eyes narrowed at the data streaming in. Her frown deepened. “Neo, this indicates they have multiple units large enough for simultaneous operations. There’s no way the kidnappers could have regrouped yet.”

[Affirmation: This unit concurs. Blue numbers are estimated to be increasing rapidly.]

She bit her lip. If the Blues had enough forces to mount multiple operations, their situation was more dire than she had anticipated.

[Notice: Slim Girl unit remains in position, supplementing the front line with additional units. Current supply lines are unchallenged.]

Well, at least one thing was going for them. It didn’t seem like the Blues were much interested, or at least not capable of interfering with their back line units. Yet. It wasn’t good to count on that forever.

[Warning: Signs indicate a second axis of advance in desert regions, targeting HEM deposit area.]

Talia shook her head. “I bet this one isn’t a distraction or ruse.”

[Notice: The nearest desert auto-base has begun to fill the gap with additional defensive-oriented heavy units. This unit suggests that an additional two auto-bases be converted to combat production. This will reduce expansion rate, but current force projections show the risk of being overrun without an increase in User forces. These additional forces will be required to be directed to protect the HEM extraction site.]

She clenched her fists. “We can’t lose that site, Neo. Without it, we’ll run out of power. Go ahead and convert the additional auto-bases.”

[Confirmation: It is currently the only large enough deposit of HEM capable of powering our heavy fabrication needs.]

“What about the site’s defense itself?” Talia asked.

[Report: A shield barrier and multiple defensive artillery emplacements with direct fire capability have been installed to secure the area.]

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. At least there was something there in case they broke through. Even a small hitch in their extraction of HEM could cause a snowball effect. Maybe she should direct more defenses for the site itself.

No, that’d cost them more resources and units tied up. Ugh. She wanted to hit something. Nothing had ever prepared her for being a ground forces commander. She had just wanted to explore and live on her own, flying her own corvette. Maybe pick up a few crewmembers and stay on the edges of the frontier, away from everything she had run away from.

“It won’t be enough if the full enemy assault reaches it,” she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

[Affirmation: This unit agrees with User’s assessment. HEM site defenses are incapable of resisting a frontal assault by current hostile force projections.]

“But our current strategy is to stop the enemy from advancing via mobile combat units, not fortifications,” Talia added.

[Affirmative: Current user strategy is to focus on flexible defense patterns that can be modified for offensive capability in the future.]

Talia nodded. “I think it is the best plan. If we fortify, we’ll lose the ability to respond. And if the Blues keep pouring in more soldiers, we’ll be overwhelmed.”

[Notice: According to the prisoner’s statements, a highly aggressive campaign geared to destroy the Blues’ ability to reinforce would be ideal.]

Her brow furrowed. Raxion. She needed to question him again. “If we don’t, we might end up with an exponentially increasing auto-base regime that strips the planet. He suggested they have more than thousands of worlds to pull soldiers from.”

[Warning: Such a scenario could have dire consequences, potentially damaging the planet entirely.]

Talia blinked, taken aback. “How?”

[Report: Due to the artificial nature of the planet, certain systems are highly engineered. There is a startling low amount of biodiversity. If systems are disrupted, it could cause cascading effects that could destroy the habitable ecosystem, or cause other engineered systems to go out of control and devastate the planet. Any device that can weaponize the planet, like evidenced previously, would likely be capable of this.]

The implications hit her like a punch to the gut. “You just turned everything into a bad holovid plot,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Now we have to win or the planet gets destroyed? It’s a joke.”

[Clarification: This was not an attempt at humor. The other option is that User purposefully lose to spare the planet damage.]

She scoffed. “I don’t think the Tch’Llik’yzz’Lrr would go for that, even if we put it to a vote. For all we know, they are kidnapping them so they can cook them in some type of soup or something.”

Neo didn’t respond to that, and she stared at her HUD. How had the stakes been raised again? They had no choice but to succeed. Failure wasn’t an option.

It was nice to tell herself that, but another thing to actually make it happen.

They reached the tunnel to the nest, or at least one they had used earlier. Spiders mulled about, watching her IRUs while others disappeared underground. Dapple and Hot Pink watched her, waiting. Their eyes were full of expectation.

That was heavy. The two of them were relying on her completely for what to do next. She needed to figure it out, and fast. With the spiders in such a confused mess, someone had to direct them. Maybe her companions could do it?

She couldn’t be in every place at once. Someone needed to stay behind. The thought made her stomach twist. That was what happened to Dusky...

But it was necessary.

“Neo, prepare the IRUs to remain in the jungle and help protect the Nest,” she said. Somehow, she kept the turmoil out of her voice. “Make permanent fortifications and help the spiders prepare for another attack if the Blues try to raid again.”

[Affirmation: Orders confirmed.]

Talia stood up and stepped toward Dapple, rubbing the spider’s head with her gauntlet. “We need to work out a communication method for me and the spiders that works at long range.”

[Suggestion: A translation computer attached to their current utility belts.]

She shook her head. “There’s no time to make one right now. What if we use an IRU to follow the spiders around, one with a relay connection?”

[Assessment: Likely to work, but connection could be spotty inside the Nest itself.]

“It’ll have to do,” she said. “We can leave a relay of LIRUs in one tunnel to help fix that.”

She swallowed, then addressed Dapple. “You need to stay at the Nest while I’m gone.”

Dapple and Hot Pink lowered their bodies, expressing unhappiness at being left behind.

“It’s important. You have to help organize the spiders so we can save Dusky,” Talia added.

Their eyes brightened, attention focused on her words.

She smiled despite the tightness in her chest. The spiders were relatively simple-minded but had big hearts and cared deeply. It crushed her she was going to have them help with the fighting. More of them were going to die.

She bit her lip. They didn’t have a choice anymore.

They got off the CRD-X9, and she called two LIRUs over. She explained how they’d use them for communications, then decided that it would be a good idea if the LIRUs were actually riding the spiders. Or rather, glued to them.

The two spiders were more than happy to provide some sticky web goop. Talia attached the LIRUs, and the web acted like glue.

Both spiders twitched, adjusting to the unfamiliar weight. Dapple did a little hop. “Maker-thing-not-get-lost!”

“Alright, let’s test this out,” she said, stepping back.

Hot Pink and Dapple wiggled, their legs tapping the ground in a rhythmic pattern. They turned to face each other, chirping and clicking as they tried to communicate through the LIRUs. Hot Pink moved closer to Dapple’s side, and Dapple responded in kind.

Her HUD chimed with two incoming signals. She accepted the call and two video screens appeared, the spiders’ faces appearing much too big. Sound transmitted through fine. “Okay, okay. It’s working. Only one of you has to call, by the way.”

Talia watched them with a mixture of pride and concern. This was a temporary fix, a stopgap measure until they could create something better. At least she wouldn’t be gone for long.

“I’ll be back with the fabricator and to help figure things out more,” she said, her voice steady. “I just need you two to organize the spiders until I get back. Don’t let them rush out into the desert after the Blues, and try to keep them from interfering with the IRUs so they can build more defenses.”

[Warning: User’s position is critical due to the chain-of-command. Protection is paramount.]

Talia’s jaw tightened. “Then figure out how to make the jungle and spider nest better protected. I’m not abandoning them to hide in the auto-base areas.”

Her HUD flickered with suggested assistance cues, and Talia winced. That was one of Neo’s ways of sulking. She wondered if that was normal. Probably not. But then again, nothing about her situation was normal anymore.

She patted Dapple and Hot Pink, their eyes reflecting a mix of trust and uncertainty. “I’ll be back soon,” she promised before climbing into the CRD-X9.

As the vehicle rumbled to life, Talia’s mind drifted to Raxion. The base was dangerously close to the current fighting. Moving him to one of the auto-bases might be safer. But first, she needed to speak with him again.

Five minutes later, a comm channel opened. Dapple’s face appeared, her eyes wide. “Come-Back-Soon! Dapple-Make-Nest-Sisters-Help!”

The video feed started to shake. “Hot Pink-Help-Too!”

Talia smiled weakly. “I will.”

A dozen more chimes followed, one every few minutes, as the spiders discovered their new favorite toy. Talia winced, but she didn’t yell at them.

She didn’t want to be lonely either.