USD: 1 Day after Cadre-S Graduation

Location: Van Biesbroeck’s star, Meltisar, MIL-1A Elevator, Main Transit Hub 35

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Alex let out a puff of air from her cheeks as she browsed the CMV’s screens. She had checked twice, once per hour, to see if their ‘escort’ was still there, and sure enough, they were still being detained each time.

The most worrying sections of the rampancy had been hauled off safely, but things remained tense as ships swept for debris, and an ongoing disposal via high-powered lasers plasmifying things stuck in d-fields was underway.

Nameless had told her that even with all the efforts, there was still a 23% chance that rampant nanites might still escape and land on the moon’s surface, eventually. Meltisar was going to need to come up with a long-term plan for dealing with such things.

“Can you zoom in on the shuttles?”

[Informative: Applying Emergency Evacuation Shuttle filter now.]

An overlay ran over the main screen, removing all the ships and vessels except for the emergency rescue craft that were collecting people from the escape pods. Alex looked for two that she had flagged for close observation earlier.

She nodded to herself as she found Rachel’s shuttle. It still hadn’t landed at the medical center, but the small vessel had an onboard emergency room. Alex had called and confirmed with the staff there that Rachel was going to be alright. The shuttle appeared to be in the final approach for the medical center and would deposit her to the main medical facility soon.

A frown creased her face as the second shuttle didn’t show up.

“Nameless, where did Thea go?”

The map suddenly panned, and then a highlight appeared around a new ship.

[Informative: Sub-core Thea has been transferred from Shuttle #3839 to MN Solion. The NAI signal link to the sub-core emergency core is poor. It is unlikely sub-core Thea will regain consciousness until Avatar can perform a close range reboot. The Corpo flitter carrying Thea's computronic units has also been apprehended along with sub-core.]

A sudden icy fist punched Alex in the gut. She hadn’t even considered what would happen to Thea as she pushed her out the airlock!

“She... she’s going to be okay? I didn’t even think about it... it might have killed her! Why didn’t you warn me? NAMELESS!”

The main screen flipped its picture to a third-person view of a cell. Thea was laid out on a bench, and a force field was locking her in.

It looked like they had provided her with a pillow and blanket. However, Alex could tell she was a prisoner as she glimpsed an ankle shackle.

[Notice: While Avatar distress shows a concerning lack of foresight, this unit took precautionary measures when applying current management policies during new sub-core acquisition. The unit has been rendered into a low-power dormant state that will prevent rampancy and degradation.]

Alex leaned back in the cockpit seat and let out a sigh of relief. Being a prisoner was better than being accidentally murdered...

She could blame the chaos of the battle, but it was a serious mistake that could have killed someone, and Alex made a mental note not to forget about it again.

“What are you screaming about now?”

Alex’s eyes widened, and she jumped out of her seat to find Tia sitting up and holding her head with one hand. “Tia! You’re awake! You’re okay!”

The silver-haired girl gave her an annoyed look. “Don’t be so loud. What’s the situation?”

Alex rushed to fill her in on everything. “The AGAI was destroyed. Nameless built this vehicle with the modules in it. The navy tried to detach the rampancy-infected module with us still on it, but I got us out first. I converted the Corpo NAI to a sub-core, but she’s unconscious and they locked her up on the Solion.”

Tia winced as she stood up, rubbing different spots on her body with a hand. “Nice. You converted the Corpo. I would have thought that would be too hard for you.”

Alex bit her lip before protesting, “I’m not useless!”

“Why is there a platoon of power-armored marines outside, then?” Tia challenged.

“Admiral Anderson ordered the marines to detain us... I don’t know what’s really happening there. I’ve been monitoring Rachel and Thea while checking the progress of the rampancy cleanup.”

Tia glared at her. “So, basically, you were waiting for me to wake up and handle everything.”

“What do you mean? We were ordered to sit tight.” But Alex winced at the accusation. It was something that she had thought about herself while waiting.

Tia’s voice came out gentler than Alex had ever heard before. “Alex... that thing could have wiped out all life in the system. Forever. Trillions of people would die. Still could. Meltisar acts as a transshipment hub for so many products; half the interstellar industry, including agriculture, would grind to a halt if it had to be quarantined.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, I can’t imagine how much fallout there will be.”

“I know, but I do,” Tia said. She moved to open the door to the tram.

Alex felt a minor panic. “Wait, you can’t go out there...”

Tia looked back sharply. “Are you going to give me the first directive, then? That I can’t go out there or have to do what you say?”

Alex blinked. “No... I wouldn’t do that to you. You know how I feel about that.”

Tia’s stare softened. “Do you want to fight, then? I feel pretty bad, but we can have a fistfight if you want.”

Alex shook her head.

“Okay, then I’m going to go take care of things. You can come if you want to help.”

Alex felt frozen as the door slid open and Tia stepped out. By the time she made her decision to help, the marines had already formed up, their rifles raised threateningly. The lieutenant, easily distinguished by his more advanced suit, argued with Tia.

“You need to go back inside the tram, cadet. We have orders to watch the two of you and make sure you don’t go anywhere. There’s a lot of confusion and chaos going on right now, and you need to stay put.”

Alex missed Tia’s reply as a buzzing filled her ears. As she made her way to join Tia, she looked around for something resembling the nanite fields from the AGAI battle. However, all she saw were the nervously pointed rifles in their direction.

The lieutenant turned his glare to Alex, then once again insisted they return to the tram.

Tia’s next words were impossible to miss. “Nameless, we need more firepower. Deploy PDC-Ks.”

Alex turned as the whirring servos of six turrets popped out of the roof and sides of the vehicle, all the multi-barreled weapons whirling to lock onto nearby marines.

There was a moment of silence before the lieutenant spoke again. “What did you do to communications?”

Tia wore a smug expression. “I jammed all of your suit comms.”

“This is not de-escalation!” Alex hissed.

[Informative: Supporting sub-core Tia with heavy firepower is an efficient usage of resources in this situation.]

The buzz in her ears reached a crescendo, and before the marines could figure out how to react to the sudden display of weaponry, pillars of nanites punched through the floorplates like spears, targeting their rifles.

A few marines did their best to hold on to their weapons and were lifted into the air for their troubles. Some even accidentally discharged them as they struggled, but all were disarmed and restrained in a matter of seconds.

Only the lieutenant, who hadn’t been wielding a weapon, was spared.

“Lieutenant, please offer your surrender, otherwise all your men will be turned into paste in the next few seconds,” Tia warned.

Alex wondered what the man’s expression looked like behind his helmet.

“We surrender,” the man said tonelessly.

Tia clapped a few times. “I’m so glad we could come to an agreement.”

She forced them to disarm and exit their suits while Alex watched. When Tia had finished rounding them all up, she secured them in handcuffs that miraculously appeared from a side compartment of the CMV.

“You planned this together!” Alex hissed, unsure whether she was directing her accusation at Nameless or Tia. “We are going to get court-martialed so bad for this…”

Tia pulled out a helmet and pushed it into Alex’s arms without a word.

Alex blinked, then examined it. It was the visor for a flight suit. “What…?”

Tia pulled out a flight suit and a second helmet. Her outfit morphed into a compatible skinsuit, and she sealed the helmet on. “What are you waiting for? Put it on.”

Taking a breath, Alex calmed herself down and put the helmet on, clicking it into her skinsuit. “Okay. Let’s just do it, whatever we are doing!”

Tia let out a little laugh. “Great. Turn around.”

As Alex complied, Tia hugged her from behind. Before Alex could ask what was happening, the flight suit’s thruster ignited, propelling them toward the ceiling of the hub. The deafening bark of 22mm cannons filled the air, shattering a glass-crystal opening. A field of nanites, tossed from Tia’s hand, pushed the debris out of their way.

And then they were in space.

Tia cut their thrust, reoriented them back toward the station, and initiated a long burn that skimmed them along the station’s surface. Alex reveled in the adrenaline rush of flying, her exhilaration amplified by the fact that she wasn’t the one in control. A manic giggle escaped her lips as she spread her arms like a bird soaring through the cosmos.

Tia tightened her grip on Alex. “Seriously? You freak out about everything else, but this is fine?”

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Next time... Chapter 146.2 – Lay Down Your Arms

See you, Space core