Chapter Seventy-Six - The Big Players
“Younger Samurai, and by that, we mean those who turned into Samurai recently (it has nothing to do with age!) are generally pretty well protected by the older ones.
But they can’t stop us from shipping them!”
--Deceased anonymous forum user, 2030
***
There were so many flying models out ahead that they were practically a cloud of living flesh, swarming out towards us like grasping vines.
“Damn,” I said.
“I’m going to need a bigger flamethrower,” Gomorrah said.
I nodded, ready to agree with her, when a large flamethrower appeared right next to Gomorrah at just the right height for her to grab onto its twin handles and angle its nozzle up.
It was nearly all-black, except for white detailing within and it was festooned in crosses and skulls and small statuettes across its entire surface.
“Did... did you put extra points into making it all... gaudy?” I asked.
“Don’t you have more important things to focus on?” she asked.
“Not right at this very second, no,” I said. I gestured to the swarm approaching us. “We’ve got like a minute before we’re pecked apart. I’m not going to spend it moping.”
Gomorrah sighed. “You are so unserious.”
“That’s not a word, I’m sure,” I said.
“You know what I meant,” she snapped. “And yes. I did spend an extra point to decorate my flamethrower. So what?”
“Nothing, nothing. I mean, it’s not my kind of thing, but it looks really pious or whatever. I’m sure Jesus will appreciate you burning things to death more if your flamethrower has the symbol of the thing that killed him on it.”
“Shut up, Cat,” she said. “At least I’m not slowly turning into some sort of heathen animal person. You’re one fur coat away from being a god-damned furry, you know that, right?”
I slapped a hand over my chest. “That stings, little G.”
She paused. “How long have you been waiting to call me that?”
“A bit,” I said. I wanted to rib her some more, but time was running short. I wiggled my shoulders and Myalis must have caught on because my new guns deployed from over my shoulder. Dumbass the First installed itself nearby, its plasma rifle twisting around and aiming at the sky. “Ready?” I asked as I adjusted my footing and brought Whisper up. I couldn’t even remember what kind of ammo I’d used in it last, but I was sure it wasn’t pleasant for anything it hit.
Gomorrah shifted her robes with one hand and let her leg poke out of them so that she could place her foot on the railing and hold her new flamethrower up towards the sky.
I snorted. “Trying to distract them with a bit of thigh?” I asked. She did have nice legs. “It’s working for me.”
“Shush you,” she said. “And yes, I’m ready.”
“Whenever you want to start,” I said.
We were still rolling along, the mobile base rumbling beneath as it slowly navigated around wrecked cars and abandoned trucks at a speed that most mobility scooters could outpace. There was going to be no outrunning the swarm.
The base’s main gun turned around and aimed up, as did the machine guns sticking out of its sides. “Myalis, get ready to spend a lot of points on stuff to clear the air,” I said. A big enough bomb might be able to do it, I figured. It wouldn’t be pretty, but if it worked then it was worth it.
Certainly.
The Model Ones flocked closer. I really wished they’d make more noise than the flap of their wings, it felt as if there were some sound-effects missing as the swarm scattered, then started to swoop down towards us.
Gomorrah and I both tensed. My finger started to pull back on the trigger.
The sky filled with actinic arcs of jittering energy. I squeezed my flesh and blood eye shut, but my cybernetic one was enough to capture the sparks darting from bird to bird, each flash leaving an imprint of their bones through their skin before the Model Ones were peeled out of the sky like so much snow.
Alien bodies rained down onto the street with a thudding pitter-patter like heavy hail, some of them crashing through windows, others bursting apart against the road. Only a few of them, with wings locked in place, managed to swoop as far as the mobile base to crash against its side and roof.
“What the--” I began.
A form blew past above us, a person with a pair of mechanical wings carrying a gun as long as I was tall that sparked with electrical discharges. They looked our way, face hidden by a bird-shaped visor, then flew on.
I was about to start swearing when I heard a low hum from behind and turned to see a second flier approaching our position.
Deus Ex landed atop the mobile base’s main gun with a heavy clunk, her twin engines hovering by her side and her face entirely covered by her mask. “Heard you got a name,” she said.
I paused for a moment, then refocused. “Hey,” I said. “Yeah, I did.” I flicked a thumb over my shoulder. “You know the idiot that did that?”
She nodded. “I do. We’re running clean-up in the area now. The way should be clear from here to the edge of the green zone. Good work out there, by the way. That’s a lot of civvies.”
“So, what, you’ll just... take over?” I asked.
I didn’t know why I felt so disappointed, or betrayed for that matter.
“Pretty much. Can’t let the small fry die because they bit off more than they can chew,” she said. “Plus you’ve been out for what, five hours? Six? Go take a break. In a couple of hours it’ll all be over.”
She glanced past me and to the road we were leaving behind.
“On that note, I’m off. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.” She bunched her legs up under her and jumped into the air with her entire rig pulling her up and away.
I lowered Whisper by my side and looked over the field of dead Model Ones. A minute ago I’d been wondering if I could take them all on, and now they were dead. It felt as if someone had just yanked me around and shown me the chasm between me and the other Samurai out there.
“Damnation,” Gomorrah said. “I got this thing for nothing.” She wiggled her flamethrower about.
I sighed. “You can probably make toast with it or something,” I said.
My guns retracted and I slung Whisper over a shoulder before looking out ahead of us. We were getting closer to the front meter by meter. At that rate, we’d be there in a few more minutes.
“You think we’re done?” I asked.
Gomorrah nodded. “For this incursion? Probably. I don’t know how much time you’ve spent with other Samurai, but they tend to treat new ones like, well, they treat us like children. It gets better relatively quickly though. I think it’s more about how well you can pull your weight.”
“Hmm,” I said. That made a sort of sense. We’d done a lot today, Gomorrah and I, but I was willing to bet that an older, or rather a more experienced Samurai, could do a lot more a whole lot more efficiently.
“Home,” Gomorrah said.
“Home,” I replied. “Not... I don’t think I have a home, exactly.”
“You mentioned someone close to you, no?” she asked.
I nodded along. “Yeah. I guess wherever she is, that’s home. I’m pretty sure Myalis can track her down for me.”
That would be as easy as... done.
My mood lightened a bit at that, so I found a spot to sit on the railings running around the roof and enjoyed the bumpy ride. It had been a hard day’s work, but one capped by some success. More success than failure. And in the end, I’d get to see Lucy and the kittens again.
That meant all sorts of new problems, but I doubted they’d be as challenging as facing an alien invasion while poorly prepared.
Cat and Gomorrah really do get along quite well. They’ve even got the friendly roasting each other going on already.
Cat finally caught a break huh? It’ll be nice for her to actually have a chance to relax and unwind after all this mess. I know she’s going to have a *lot* of stress and tension to work out with Lucy’s help
*blush emote*
u///u
I'm sure the friendly roasting is better then the other kind of raosting Gomorrah can do...
Lucyyyyyyyy!!!!
Our baby!!!!!!!!
But think of the points, err children, errr w/e
“That’s not a word, I’m sure,” I said.
It is now if you're not a filthy prescriptivist
“A bit,” I said. I wanted to rib her some more
Ribbed for her pleasure
If I am to be honest. I am liking Gomorrah as a romantic partner for Cat more than Lucy. I feel Lucy has the best friend/sister type of feel happening with her. Sides, I like the idea of the always serious Gomorrah having to deal with the unserious Cat. Even if it gets on her nerves. I also just love the idea of a Gomorrah getting all flustered at Cats' constant insistence and pestering.
Hmm.
I wonder if that opinion will change in the next few chapters. Cat hasn't spent a lot of time with Lucy in this book.
@RavensDagger Hahaha, yeah. Just commented on the next chapter.
This is a great time for a reprieve for our pair of rookie Samurai. Fatigue is a definite thing, both mental and physical.
You’re one fur coat away from being a god-damned furry
*PTSD kicks in*
*shudders*
They've earned their rest for sure!
I honestly still worried if Cat still has cancer
Like Myalis said-it is an increased chance of her getting cancer way down the road, and by the time it could become an issue, if it ever would, Cat would have enough points and resources to easily deal with it. I’m pretty sure Cat isn’t going to suddenly develop stage 4 brain cancer or anything, but even if she did Myalis could probably figure something out for her
@MarkofWisdom its like smoking, or being exposed to radiation, it mutates cells. Cancer is a mutation of cells, yet it is a faulty one. Smoking and radiation are considered mutagens, something that mutates cells giving them a higher chance to become cancerous cells on the next mutation. The device used to heal her is like that, but instead of smoking one pack a day for a week its like smoking three to four packs a day for a week. This means she should get the nano-factory as fast as possible, because every use of that device increases her chance of getting cancer. I also would suggest getting organs replaced in the areas of injury, that the device has healed, to decrease the chance of cancerous cells developing in or around those organs. Plus from what I know she can buy something for the cancer for 100 to 200 points.
Lucy time! Let the kissing and cuddling under bedsheets commence.
Nothing heals the war-weary soul like Yuri.