Chương 87: Wanderer - Part 3

"Like I got hit by a truck. What's our situation?"

"I killed that thing that hit you, it looked like an oversized model three… Hold still a moment." Helen quickly checked the readout on the Trauma pack, it gave a clean bill of health so she removed it from Angela's abdomen.

"I won't lie to you, things are looking bleak right now, but we have some options."

"Is that what your new Samurai AI told you?" Angela asked, a deep frown on her face as she inspected the damage to her clothes. After realizing she couldn't salvage anything she removed her jacket and tied it around her abdomen to hide the damage.

"You remember all that?"

"I was in pain, not unconscious or incompetent. Of course I heard what you said." Angela's frown slowly loosened, "Thank you for saving me, but now what? I assume we don't have the liberty of just waiting for backup."

"No, every moment counts. We're in enemy territory, but we DO have a way out. If we can retrieve something from the Antithesis hive outside, my new AI friend here will reward me with a bunch of tokens and points, hopefully enough to get us out of here."

"Hopefully?"

"I've only known them for about five minutes, and you know I don't have the best history with Samurai. I can only hope the reward is enough to get us off this planet." Helen shrugged. You doubt Protector generosity? Your entire species would be extinct if it wasn't for them.

"I'm aware, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to blindly trust them." Angela shot Helen a look, "Talking with the AI?"

"Yeah… I think it's something everyone is going to get used to. I'm just glad I don't have any augs, otherwise…" Someone knocked on the wall, interrupting Helen's thoughts. After a few seconds both women received a request for a group call.

"Hey boss lady, commander, glad you're both in one piece." Samuels was the youngest member of squad one. She was the response team's demolitions expert, and self proclaimed adrenaline junky.

"I've got an arm full of shaped explosives here, you'll be out of that office in no time. Just stay clear of the part of the corner of the wall where I'm knocking, ok?"

"That's fine, just be careful," Helen shot back.

"No problem boss!" Samuels cut the connection, but both women could still hear her knocking on a section of the wall while humming. Helen and Angela stepped away from that area, and after a minute the humming ended and they both received the message 'Setup, stand clear, ten second fuse'. There was a moment of silence, then the corner of the wall exploded inwards, spewing pieces of bookshelf and concrete into the room. Samuels stuck her head through the hole before the dust and rubble settled.

She had dark goggles down over her eyes, dust in her hair, and a slightly unhinged look on her face.

"Exit secured!"

"Nicely done," Angela remarked, dusting herself off.

"Is everyone else accounted for?"

"Yes ma'am, safe and sound in the staff lounge. Jacobs and McMullin are watching them. Daniels pulled some of her ninja shit, climbed up to the HAV on top of the building, then lowered a rope ladder for Rameriz. He's checking the status of the VTOL now. Are we heading back?"

"Yes, but we're making a quick stop at operations first. You have a weapon for me?" Helen asked. Samuel's smile died, "No ma'am, I wasn't aware you were unarmed. I would have brought another weapon if I knew." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Helen shook her head, "Not your fault, I didn't inform Daniels when I talked to him. I do have my Cudgel, but nothing heavier."

"Right, well, guess I'm on point then." The girl ducked back out of the office before either woman could say anything. They exchanged a brief glance before following her. Thankfully Samuels was professional, despite her over eager attitude, and she cleared each approach quickly and cleanly before moving forward. With her leading the way it only took a minute to get across the floor and into the operations room.

What was once the nerve center of the Kwon Security Services operations was now a mess of damaged and destroyed electronics. Most of the computers had been thrown around before being smashed to the ground. Even the massive main display had been destroyed, it looked like a rogue monitor had gone straight through the middle and rendered it useless. Helen ignored all the destruction and headed directly for the far wall.

She pressed down on one of the wooden panels, which slid to the side and revealed a hidden compartment. She inspected it for a moment, then activated her headset, "Heimdall, time to go." The inner, metal security door slid open, revealing a metal saucer about two feet in diameter. The array of sensors along the disk's front edge focused on Helen. [If I leave the cradle I will not have full control of the building, I recommend leaving me here until the last minute.]"I don't want to hear any of that self-sacrifice stuff. The security shutters are already down, the network is cut off, there's not much else you can do here. I'd rather have everyone in a single location where they can be protected, that includes you." Then the lights in the room flickered for a moment as Heimdall disconnected from the network, then it floated forward into the room.

"It's good to see you again Heimdall, I wish it was under better circumstances." Angela said, while Helen was busy re-sealing the compartment. [The same to you Angela.]"That's Heimdall?" Samuels asked from the door, "I kinda pictured a massive computer that took up multiple floors, considering how smart it is."

"And that's why Angela and I never disclosed any information about Heimdall to anyone, a lot of companies would kill to get their hands on him." Helen wiped her hands, redrew her pistol, and joined everyone at the door.

"Let's head to the rendezvous point." Samuels stepped into the hallway, followed closely by Angela and Hiemdall; Helen was a few steps behind, so Loky took this moment to bring something up. That is a Mk II Explosive Hunter Killer Drone, a Class II weapon and EXTREMELY dangerous.

"No, Heimdall is a high class II AI that was forced to be a floating bomb until the Samurai that ordered him realized that using remote explosives like that would cut into his point totals, at which point he abandoned the lot of them." Helen was trying to keep her voice down, but it was hard with the anger bubbling up inside her.

"Most companies would have tried to reverse engineer the hover chassis or something, but my family bought the lot for a high cost. We disarmed them all and gave them the option of working for us, which a lot of them agreed to. Class II AIs are worth their weight in gold, the only things that can match them for processing power are Samurai purchased, and some idiot was using them as fucking bomb delivery units." Heimdall rotated 180 degrees to look at her, but kept hovering forward.

"It doesn't matter what Heimdall was before, he's an invaluable member of our team and I'm not leaving anyone behind." Thankfully Loky didn't push the issue further. Once she was done 'discussing' the situation with Loky, Helen jogged a little to catch up to the rest of the group, then fell into step beside Angela.

"Hey Angie, once we meet up with the survivors you mind giving them all a pep talk, keeping them calm until I get back." Angela just sighed, "Yes, I can do that. I can't believe you're still so useless when it comes to dealing with people, we really need to work on that more."

"Yeah, well, I think it's less of a priority now… I'm good at exterminating, which is what we need right now, and who knows how far away we are from the rest of humanity." Angela's face fell at the reminder, so Helen threw her arm around the other woman.

"Don't worry I'll do whatever I need to do to get us out of here. You just worry about our people." Angela just nodded, her eyes slightly moist. The two of them continued walking in silence, for several more minutes, until they came upon a small group of survivors and supplies. While Angela went over and checked on survivors, Helen walked over to the assembled supplies. There were a couple crates of weapons, boxes full of food, and half dozen medical kits. It wasn't a lot to survive on.

She opened one of the weapon crates and pulled out one of the K-340 carbines, a handful of clips, and a Antithesis resistant vest from the pile nearby. As she pulled on the vest, Helen signaled for the other soldiers in the area to come closer.

"Sounds like we're completely fucked commander." McMullen said in a low voice, as the group gathered. It might have been a joke, but no one was laughing.