Chương 172: Book 3 - Chapter 19 - Breakdown

Since Sharron didn't have anywhere to go, and was living out of her RV, I let her move into level five of the tower, once construction had finished. I even lent her the beavers so she could arrange the space however she wanted. I didn't expect her to go all out, and completely trick the place out, but I didn't expect her to go so minimalist. She had a small bedroom, moderate living and dining rooms, and a small kitchen. That was it.

The rest of the massive space was slowly turning into a workspace, with armor maintenance, weapon storage, and various workstations. It surprised me how many machines she'd set up over the last few months, considering she'd been living out of a tiny box before that. We stepped off the lift into her workshop, then had to cross the relatively empty space to get to her living area. The walls had extremely good sound proofing, so as soon as we stepped into the comfy little room, the sounds of all her machines vanished.

"So, what's so important?" I asked as I climbed up into one of Sharron's massive comfy chairs.

"Is the world coming to an end again?"

"Sort of…" Nora started.

"Today, during the corporate council meeting, the Helmar Electronics representative accused Telnet Aerospace of colluding with an outside power, and assisting with the various sabotage attempts around the city," Sharron explained as she collapsed heavily into another one of the chairs.

"They're demanding that Telnet be removed from the board, and have threatened to withdraw both their monetary and military support from the council until it's done."

"Fuuuuuuuuu…." I moaned.

"I thought Mirage and his cronies were trying to keep those assholes happy, what happened?"

"Apparently Helmar found definitive proof of both the collusion, and sabotage, but they refused to disclose it during the meeting. Since the council meetings are open to outside observers the entire city is in a panic," Nora said, "I'm surprised you haven't already heard about it."

"I don't watch the news," I replied with a shrug.

"It's not like all that political posturing affects those of us in the undercity anyways." I sighed.

"So, what's the worst case scenario, defense wise?"

"Both companies provide twenty percent of the city's military forces, either through PMCs or corporate military forces. The best case scenario is that Mirage helps them work out their problems, and everything goes back to normal," Sharron explained.

"And worst case is they're thrown out of the council, and we're out another twenty percent of our forces?" I asked hopefully.

"No, the worst case is they're right," Nora replied quietly.

"And the other corps send in their militaries to deal with Telnet. Since both sides have armor, and super heavy tanks, we could be out upwards of forty percent of our forces." I dropped my face into my hands.

"I don't have the bears to cover that. I barely had enough to cover the shortage left by Global Rare-Earth," I moaned.

"We know," Sharron replied.

"Hel's already sent out a call for reinforcements. The council will probably take a couple days to make a decision, she's hoping to have a couple more samurai willing to stop by before it becomes a problem."

"It's already a problem! I've become involved in politics, even if indirectly. I hate it," I complained. Sharron sighed.

"No you're not. You're getting news about the situation second hand, and commanding bears, that's it. Stop being melodramatic."

"Speaking of bears" Nora cut in.

"You still have a couple bears sitting around…" I sat back up, and looked at my friends.

"Yeah, I know. I can probably spare another three hundred without disrupting my own operations. I just upgraded my augs, but it'll still take me quite a while to get that many units moving, so you need to make preserving those PMCs a priority." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Can you make more bears?" Nora asked.

"I never stopped. I have teams going around to the abandoned towns and salvaging anything they can, and the matter reconfigurators are pumping out two squads a day," I replied.

"It's great for slowly building up troops, but doesn't help when we need a ton of forces all at once." I slumped into my seat again.

"Do we know what Mirage is doing?"

"Investigating apparently," Sharron grumbled.

"He kind of stopped talking to us when we refused to support his side of the conflict, but we're pretty sure the information didn't come from him. He wants the situation stabilized just as much as we do, and a schism in the council just makes his job more difficult."

"What about Zetta?" I asked.

"He's investigating, but the accusation came out of nowhere, so everyone is scrambling to catch up," Sharron replied.

"You have to admit, the timing of the accusation is odd. If they had proof, why not provide it? What's with all the spectacle?"

"I thought the corps liked that sort of thing. Making news to drive up the stock prices," I shrugged.

"Do you honestly think that announcing that the city has been under attack, and one of the leading companies in the city was helping to drive up the stock prices?" Sharron asked.

"Even you can't be that ignorant."

"Fine, it's not to drive up the stock prices, but it's some sort of play," I shrugged.

"What are the PMCs doing right now?"

"They're just standing by, like usual, I think," Sharron replied. Her brow furrowed, "Why?"

"Because if Helmar honestly thought Telnet was up to something they'd probably want to move their forces into advantageous positions before the fighting broke out," I pointed out. The other two women stared at me in surprise.

"What? You don't command troops for months on end without picking up a few tricks. Positioning is everything." Sharron pushed herself to her feet.

"I'll be right back," she said quietly, before stepping into the kitchen. With her gone Nora and I fell into an uncomfortable silence. I knew she was even newer to everything than I was, and was following Sharron's lead, so I tried my best to make small talk.

"Soooo… been doing any teaching lately?" I asked awkwardly.

"I know people have been swarming your gym."

"I only give demonstrations, like when I teach the kids here. My legs are lethal weapons now, so I can't exactly participate in matches anymore," she replied glumly.

"Oh, right, sorry to hear that," I replied blankly. Thankfully Sharron came back into the room shortly after that, preventing me from making things even more awkward.

"Helmar's forces have moved, but not to engage Telnet. They've secured essential chokepoints, buildings and utilities. A significant number of troops are moving towards both industrial districts, but they haven't blockaded anything yet."

"So they're securing their facilities?" Nora said.

"Makes sense."

"Still… I feel like if they really believed Telnet was the saboteur they'd want to get the upper hand, not take the defensive," I grumbled.

"Maybe they're just used to fighting the antithesis, and default to the defensive operations."

"How long will it take you to field the remaining bears?" Sharron asked.

"Probably a couple hours," I replied.

"Even though I have plenty of troops, the Kodiaks are at a premium right now. They take a couple days to produce, so I only have one for every six squads. I could probably use the Marsupial to speed up the deployment, but the last time I took it out Hel complained. Apparently the locals didn't like having a heavily armed hovership floating above their heads."

"Leave it then," Sharron said after a minute.

"The last thing we need to do is cause even more panic, just slip them out using the Kodiaks."

"Fine," I muttered. The room fell into silence for a minute.

"So, is that it? Any more news you want to drop on me?"

"The city is falling apart, isn't that enough?" Nora asked quietly.

"Absolutely," I said, jumping out of the chair.

"Wanna come to dinner?"

"You still want to eat, after everything we discussed here?" Nora asked.

"Well Issi would be upset if I didn't try her favorite lasagna, and even though everything's gone to shit, we can't do anything this instant. Might as well eat," I explained. Sharron just shook her head.

"Come on, Jane and the kids would love to have you both," I added before heading to the lift.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Nora muttered as she followed me.

"Don't worry, you'll feel better on a full stomach. I'm already repositioning bears, so there's no point sitting here and worrying about it. What could possibly go wrong in the next couple hours?" I asked as the doors closed.