Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.38

Chapter 38

Fire in the Skies.

“Dammit, Duke,” The woman grumbled as Duke finally squeezed his muscled frame into the comm seat, “Where the hell have you been?”

“Captain Bruchs,” Duke said, trying to hide his irritation, “We were not supposed to communicate until I was ready to launch.”

“Shit happens, Duke.” She chuckled bitterly. “All hell is breaking loose up here, or didn’t you notice the skies flashing above your damn farm!”

“What’s going on, Brenda?” Duke replied, resorting to her first name out of anxiety. If their contact in the fleet was lost…

“We were ordered to take out the security cruiser,” Brenda said. “Ahern and Danforth kicking the shit out of each other on the planet have officially spread up here. My ship went with the Ahern’s Command and another cruiser to take it out while a pair circled around behind.”

“Fuck,” Duck swore and immediately blushed. “Sorry, Brenda.” He hated to swear in front of anyone, let alone his kid sister.

“Whatever,” She shook her head, “We have bigger problems. It was all going okay; it even looked like Danforth was about to give in until there was a change in command.”

“What change?” Duke asked, mentally flipping through his list of Danforth’s senior officers.

“Someone called Prit-mal,” Brenda said. “She took command, had a chat with Danforth’s Captain, and then they sent a shuttle out to surrender the senior officers.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Duke knew damn well that would not result in the fire in the skies overhead.

“Nothing,” Brenda said. “Until they opened the damn thing, and it was stuffed with warheads.”

“Ahern’s command ship?” Duke asked.

“Fucking gone!” Brenda said. “The four of us engaged Danforth’s ship, only to lose one almost immediately. They used a flight of shuttles, all loaded with warheads. Just flew the damn things straight into the cruiser.”

“It’s gone?” Duke winced, “Completely?”

“Non-functional and being sucked into the planet’s gravity as we speak,” Brenda confirmed. “If Danforth’s ship lasts much longer, I don’t know if we will be in any state to protect your escape route.”

“What about the other ships with you?” Duke asked.

“One was severely damaged; the other had to roll to keep the breached shields away from Danforth’s cruiser,” Brenda said. “We have light damage as it is, and we are taking damage by the minute.”

“Switch sides,” Duke said instantly. “Hit the ship with weak shields. When it blows, make an offer to Danforth’s people. If they say no, then just come here. Bring your whole ship if you have to.”

“There’s no going back on this,” Brenda warned. “If we don’t take out that ship…”

“Then you all get in pods and land right here.” Duke finished. “I’d rather lose the easy escape than my family, Bren.”

“Such an insufferably upright big brother, even now,” Brenda laughed. “I’ll see you soon, either way.”

The comm line clicked shut.

===<<<>>>===

As the first hour passed, Paren was quite proud of her people, and the walls still stood. Outside the walls, a mass of horrors had stopped their run and swarmed the yard, and so far, they were holding.

“Another one!” Salem pointed to the far left, where a large figure was lumbering over the landscape on wide, thick legs. The massive creatures were almost unknown; all they really knew about the things was that they were solitary and rarely left their territory. It moved on six massive legs, the long, thick body held high off the ground as a massive maw in the front hoovered up anything in its way. Scales as thick as rocks protected the bottom jaw as it dug into the ground and pushed forward, everything inside pulled into the throat by three long, thick tongues.

“So much for them being fucking rare!” Paren swore and targeted the creature with the three turrets that could hit the same spot. “Open up, chunky!” She yelled, waiting for the massive bottom jaw to drop open. Once it resumed feeding, she fired all three laser turrets at full power, burning into the open mouth and throat at the same instant.

The air shattered with a thunderous roar of pain. Paren kept firing, waiting for it to turn and run as the others had.

“Oh, shit!” Salem rarely swore, but it was justified as the giant beast lowered its massive head and charged toward the nearest laser. Perched on the top of one tower in the wall… this was less than ideal.

“Everyone, concentrate fire!” Paren sent the command to all the Centrum units. In seconds, a hail of blots and laser lines flashed and burned the thing’s thick skin.

The beast slowed, then stopped mere feet from the wall.

“Keep firing!” Paren yelled as Baz swooped by in the shuttle, firing with everything he had.

The creature shuddered a moment later, taking one step forward and then slowly toppling over.

It slammed against the wall, slowly starting to slide down.

For just a moment, the wall held. After that, a loud crack sounded, and the wall began to crumble beneath the weight.

Creatures swarmed into the yard. Abomi-Toads, and worse. Paren stared in horror as they became marooned on the walls. Half were firing out while the others fired in. A group had already started to gather around the occupied hangar. Something called a Greater Swamp Fox, a larger and extremely aggressive relative of the Swamp Dogs, was leading a pack of its own to attack the doors while Abomitoads pushed at the ramps leading up to the walls.

“FUCK!” Paren screamed again. “Tiny!” She sent the command to activate and mentally apologized to Nellie. This was going to be a pretty clear signal if anyone was still looking for them.

The hangar door was pulled aside as Tiny emerged, a foghorn blaring in the darkness as its floodlights turned the darkness to daylight. Giant pincers swept out, sending creatures flying as twin shoulder-mounted laser arrays began to fire.

Even as it slammed and punched, Tiny began to stomp down on anything too slow to get out of the way.

The formerly uniform yellow Tiny was now boasting two arms covered in black armor repurposed from the pod. Its best trick was shown a moment later.

“Everyone, hold on!” Paren yelled out a warning, her voice amplified by her armor.

Tiny stood tall, the chest spinning around until the back became visible; a large turbine glinted in the reflected laser fire as it whined briefly before a torrent of fire roared out the back. Turning a hover turbine into a super-powered flame thrower was astonishingly easy. Fire bathed the yard as jet wash pushed at the people on the walls.

“Tiny, push to the gap and hold!” Paren called the moment it was over. “Let’s kill these things!” She whooped as she opened up with the twin blaster cannons in the wrists of her armor. With a roar, everyone joined in.

Inch by inch, they regained control of the yard. Only as they finished pushing the animals outside the walls did she realize something had gone down the ramp to her workshop.

“Per-Chi!” Paren yelled and leaped from the walls, running across the corpse-covered yard to rescue her pet. Her readouts had been so busy she hadn’t noticed if it was calling for help. The main problem was that she had left it in passive mode. The thing would not attack even if it was dying in that state.

“Paren, look out!” Salem called from the walls as another section began to crumble under the impacts of something outside.

Paren simply dove, face first, down the ramp to the workshop with her arms outstretched before her.

Something landed on her back the moment she hit the bottom, heavy as it stomped along her back, and something bit the back of her helmet, trying to shake her. The suit’s defenses locked the helmet in place as she electrified the outer suit. Something screeched and fell to the side.

Paren pushed herself up, seeing a Greater Swamp Fox twitching next to her. She pushed her wrist laser against the temple and fired until it stopped moving.

Growling from the tunnel warned her in time to push upright before another of the creatures hit her in the chest, forcing her onto her back. The six large legs scrabbled at her as the beaked face hammered against her chest. She wrapped one arm around the neck and squeezed. The powerful servos in the armor’s power functions popped the neck almost immediately. Before she could even move, something grabbed her leg and began to pull her into the dark.

“Per-Chi! Battle-Mode!” She called, sending the mental command through their link.

Something at the other end of the corridor screeched, and a loud booming started as it tried to escape the secure room she had built.

Something grabbed her other foot, and she fought to get the Swamp Fox off her to get a look, but something with powerful jaws grabbed her arm.

Paren gasped as the suit was shaken from three directions, suddenly the rope in a game of tug of war. She couldn’t fire her lasers, or she might hit herself. As a shadow appeared at the top of the ramp, Paren really began to worry she would die.

“Weasel! Kill those fucks!” A familiar voice yelled as something blurred past her face.

===<<<>>>===

They had arrived back in time to see the yard’s wall breached for the second time. While Lucy brought the shuttle into hover of the gap, letting the lasers do their best work, Nellie saw her young friend dive into the shed.

“Salem, where is Paren going?” Nellie called over the comm line.

“She said something about Per-Chi?” Salem called back.

“Ostie,” Nellie sighed. “I’ll deal with it. Casualties?”

“Two dead, seven injured that I know about,” Salem reported. “I’m glad your back, we were kind of screwed here.”

“We still might be,” Nellie muttered after closing the comm line. As they had flown into the yard, there was one thing in common almost everywhere. Creatures of all makes, models, and sizes were covering every spare meter of space. If this kept up for too long, they would have to evacuate everyone and hide out underground until the ship was ready.

“Lucy, any idea what is going on up there?” She pointed at the clouds, which had just hosted a massive flash of light.

“Battle,” Lucy said as she reloaded her pistols and grabbed some spare power packs. “Other than that… no.”

“I’ll get Paren, you see what you can do with the injured?” Nellie suggested.

“Be careful,” Lucy said, and they bumped fists before they both stepped off the back of the shuttle, falling three stories before rolling upright and dashing off in separate directions.

Weasel hissed from her back as she entered the remains of the shack and saw Paren being shaken between several creatures she hadn’t seen before. Her HUD offered information, which she ignored. She told Weasel to attack and leaped down after him.

The swamp foxes took a few hits to fall; their hide was tough, and their skulls tougher. Still, she was out of sight of anyone, so she didn’t hide her strength.

“You okay?” She asked as she pulled Paren upright.

“I’m good, and I can explain everything,” Paren said immediately.

“Later,” Nellie said as she turned back to the corridor. Squeals and snarls were coming from the darkness ahead, and she turned on her night vision to see a scene from hell's own abattoir. Per-Chi and Weasel were making quick work of their adversaries. As Nellie watched Per-Chi bite a large chunk out of the belly of one fox, a split second later, Weasel forced itself into the hole, little back legs kicking as it tore the creature apart from the inside.

“I want one,” Paren said immediately.

“Right?” Nellie said proudly, “Come on, we better get back outside.”

Tiny’s fog horn echoed into the darkness again as it continued to fight off the beasts trying to get into the yard. Lucy, controlling the shuttle remotely, kept the other gap covered. In short, things were starting to settle again. They were still getting attacked, but they were holding.

Just as Nellie considered that the worst might be over, a roar from overhead heralded the sun's return.

Looking up, they both saw the ever-present clouds part as a massive ship spewing smoke burst through the cloud layer and careened overhead before crashing a few miles away with a massive explosion.

“EVERYBODY DOWN!” Nellie yelled as loud as she could. Moments later, the blast wave reached them. Nellie and Paren were thrown back down the ramp as a wave of debris washed over the yard.

They landed in a tumbled heap as another wave of sound passed by, temporarily deafening them as the pressure seemed to press them into the floor. Nellie winced and blinked as the light began to flood the ramp, and for a second, she was sure another beam weapon had been fired at them, that she had messed up somehow, and this was when she would die, taking most of the survivors with her.

It passed a second later as her eyes adjusted, and she finally realised what she was seeing.

Sunlight.

Nellie and Paren stumbled up the ramp, the shed's remains completely obliterated in the blast wave. She blinked numbly up at the wide hole the ship had torn in the dense cloud layer, seeing it was closing already.

“Lucy?” She called.

“I’m here,” She answered, “But my body is buried under some debris. I’ll be free in less than a minute.

“Salem? Baz? Vey? Dar? Remy?” She called.

“Baz here,” Baz called cheerfully. “I’m currently upside down in the shuttle, but functional.”

“Dar here, inside the hangar, some damage, and the door seems jammed, but we got a collapse. Will need help to dig people out.”

“Vey here,” The other sergeant called in, “Lost a leg and an arm. Do I get another one?”

“Yes, Vey,” Nellie smiled. “Salem? Remy?”

“Remy here, pinned under the control tower, but I am undamaged.” The man sounded utterly unruffled.

“Salem?” Nellie called. “Answer me!”

A large heap of rubble moved suddenly, Tiny standing and unfolding as it carefully cradled Salem’s unmoving body. It hurried over, shaking the ground as it moved, and laid it down hopefully in front of Nellie.

Salem was in a bad way, one leg gone, part of her chest crushed, and a chunk of her skull cracked open. Her eyes stared blankly, but Nellie could see the auras of electrical and magnetic fields flickering weakly.

Paren gasped and started to struggle out of her broken and dented armor. Voices approached as Nellie scanned the synthetic, finding serious damage pretty much everywhere.

She looked up, seeing the survivors gathering around, several with tears in their eyes.

“Lucy,” She warned, “I’m done hiding.”

“Agreed,” Lucy called, appearing from under some rubble as people gasped.

“Anyone has a problem with me for this,” Nellie said loudly, “You’re welcome to fuck off and try somewhere else.”

With that said, she forced two nanite tendrils out of her knuckles and jabbed them into Salem.

No one was taking anything from her ever again, especially not a friend.

There were a few gasps, and one or two people started to back away. Nellie ignored them and focused on directing the nanites to repair her friend.

“You that nanite person they were firing at?” Grams asked archly.

“I am,” Nellie said. “They missed.”

“Never liked that Bartlett anyway,” Grams said, turning to the others. “Well? What are you all staring at? Get to work helping!”

“So, how done are we with hiding?” Lucy asked, looking up. “I can only detect a pair of ships up there now, massively damaged.”

“DONE!” Nellie said with feeling.

“Oh, good!” Lucy clapped. “Everyone stand clear of the walls!”

Nellie looked away when Salem’s eyes fluttered open.

“Nellie?” She asked.

“How are you?” Nellie asked.

“Systems are stable, thank you,” She stared wide-eyed at the tendrils going into her chest. “What about hiding?”

“Like I’d let a friend die for that?” Nellie said. “We are done with that now.”

“Thank you,” Salem said with a radiant smile.

“You rest for a bit,” Nellie said as Paren took Salem’s injured form from her, “We have some work to do on this place.”

===<<<>>>===

Prit-Mal stood at attention as Danforth did his best to sit up in the bed. He did not like to look this weak in front of her, but his body was simply not responding to treatment. Everything felt numb and lifeless.

“How bad was it?” He asked, ashamed at having collapsed. “When does Ahern come for me?”

“I am pleased to say we were able to destroy the attacking ships,” She smiled proudly, “We have also turned the one surviving ship to our side. The skies are ours, sir.”

Danforth frowned, remembering the situation they had been faced with. It was not possible… was it?

“How?” He asked, finding nothing else to say.

“Dirty tricks and foul play mostly,” Prit-Mal said easily. “They were assured of their victory. I used that against them.”

“Well done,” Danforth said, feeling himself sliding lower in the bed again.

“How are you, sir?” Prit-Mal frowned at him. “You seem…”

“I’m a wreck,” Danforth admitted. “It must be poison. I can’t think of anything else, but our antidotes aren’t working.”

“Ahern? Another Spy?” Prit-Mal bristled.

“At this point,” Danforth gave up and lay back, “I can’t even guess.”

“Orders, sir?” Prit-Mal asked.

“Take command, and find me some better antidotes,” Danforth said, feeling sleep tugging at him as he thumb-printed the pad she had entered the orders on without looking.