Book 3: Chapter 142.2 – Taking stock

Book 3: Chapter 142.2 – Taking stock

USD: 1 Day after Cadre-S Graduation

Location: Van Biesbroecks star, Meltisar, MIL-1A Elevator, Main Transit Hub 36

Relief flooded through her as Admiral Anderson accepted her request, but it was short-lived as a map flashed onto her HUD. Some of the rampancy was already getting close to the edges shown! She was going to need to act fast.

The Admiral stared back at her seriously. Ive tasked a frigate to move in to CQB range. You will need to coordinate with it for fire support. I doubt either of the ships can target the AGAI accurately enough from range without you acting as a range finder for it. The FF should be able to move in considerably closer.

A black bar with the listing for a comms channel appeared on her HUD, and Alex nodded. Thank you, Admiral, Ill see to it! Ah one more thing. There were two emergency pods that were ejected from the hub, one has Cadet Rachel who is injured and the other has the unconscious Corpo NAI. Shes offline until we have time to deal with her, but shes not hostile anymore.

The man stared at her silently for a moment before looking over to one of the bridge officers and nodding. The man turned and moved with a purpose.

Im having a priority shuttle sent to collect them. Was there anything else?

Alex shook her head. No. Thank you, admiral.

A serious expression filled the mans face. Men I respect might have been right while I was wrong. If the spread reaches the cable, we will almost certainly be forced to sever it to prevent it from reaching the surface, and that would cause an inconceivable amount of destruction to the people living there. It is imperative you succeed, cadet.

Alex gave him a determined nod. Understood, sir. I need to hurry to get ahead of this.

The Admiral nodded and then his link disconnected, giving Alex back her regular vision with just the sensor map showing the Rampancy on her HUD. It was going to take a while for her to get used to accepting video calls in her head.

Tia was still going at it with the AGAI, the two combatants acting like ping-pong balls inside the hubs space. Alexs eyes narrowed as she spotted the nanite-laced dust and debris they were spreading everywhere. There was a clear path wherever Tia traveled, her nanites clearing the rampant ones.

Unfortunately, those sections often collapsed under their own weight from the ordeal.

Nameless, we need to stop the spread at these three junctions. Can we expand my field to cover them?

[Informative: Proposed area exceeds Avatar Nanite field range and density. An extra two computronic modules would be required.]

A dozen vessels had moved in close to the station, and the spew of material impacted a massive field that had formed around the station. Somehow, the ships and the station had linked their D-fields and inverted them to prevent anything from escaping from the infected section of the station.

Everything inside had gone dark except for the dull white and red emergency lights that were self-powered.

[Informative: Main power relays throughout the module have been degraded.]

Alexs comm crackled with Tias voice in her ear. Whatever youre doing, do it now. Im running out of energy!

Switching her vision to thermal, Alex tracked the fight. Sure enough, Tias energy bar was dropping rapidly now that she couldnt tap into any of the power relays. It seemed like the same would be true for the AGAI, but since the whirling mass of angry nanites was larger, it probably had a bigger store of power.

The thing needed to be put down.

Nameless, can you patch me into the comm channel Anderson gave us?

The bar labeled FF-Turnpike blinked green twice, then a new video call was added to her view. A captain she didnt know sat on the bridge of his warship.

Captain, Cadet Tia is engaged with the enemy. Are you in range to provide fire support? I will relay targeting coordinates.

The man didnt waste time. We are in position. Weve been tracking movement within Hub 36, but weve not been able to lock on anything specific. He launched into a flurry of technical questions, complete with incomprehensible acronyms she had no understanding of.

Captain, Im just a Cadet. I havent had a forward fire designation course and I have no idea what any of that means. My MainComputer will relay the targeting data in real time.

Before the man could respond, the ships tactical officer made an announcement. Captain, targeting data channel opened. Its FWDOLRFFC Standard.

Alex nodded to herself, Thanks Nameless. Uh, Captain, I need to coordinate with Cadet Tia so she doesnt get caught in the beam.

The captain nodded. Understood, Cadet Myers. Well be ready to fire on your mark.

Alex patched into Tias comms again.