Daedalus

by Skully

  The new rear-guard M3IAS began to fire upon her. Siderus himself was at the front line while he sent his last two liberos to assist the long-range sniper, or cover, which was their new designation. Mace thought of him as a rear-guard because Picard had turned the entire squad around.

  She began to return fire as she brought the two drones swooping down from above either side of his position, but close enough for Siderus to be caught in the blast radius. Much to her displeasure, Siderus retreated, jumping backwards while firing up at the two drones.

  Mace used this time to try and get some damage on the leader of the M3IAS. He was going to take out the drones, but he couldn’t do that and fire at her at the same time.

  As Siderus retreated over the hill after taking damage from Daedo and Mace, while Laurent and Paquet returned and began to engage.

  Thoth Squad Zero had pushed up into the M3 combined squad. There was little cover and certainly none from all angles unless the cadets retreated. Remaining with Thoth was Mace, Daedo, Axel-Zero, Vannier and Kang. Their opposition also had five cadets remaining, and the all cadets on the field had sustained some damage.

  It became a dance of skill, with the three liberos from M3IAS and the two covers. As soon as Picard went down they were up against the same mix from Thoth Squad Zero.

  Kang was the first to go down, then Bernard, who Picard had almost taken out, with one shot from a railgun.

  Siderus pushed up onto Vannier in an attempt to take her out, as Daedo and Axel-Zero kept the other two M3IAS engaged.

  Mace wove her way through to Dupuis, the last long-range cadet from M3IAS. Not only did she use a railgun, but she lobbed grenades into the mix from her entrenched position. It was too late for Mace to return and assist Vannier. She was too committed to taking out Dupuis.

  Dupuis was an excellent shot, and despite her manoeuvrability, Mace was taking hit after hit. A lobbed grenade from Daedo landed directly on Dupuis. She was unable to react due to being pinned down. Mace thanked him silently while lobbing one of her own.

  Daedo: Drone

  A drone was sent flying at Dupuis as Daedo released control to Mace. She could not take many more hits even in this improved exo, two more and she would be a goner.

  She directed the drone in, giving Dupuis a choice to either fire on her or the drone. Mace’s AI showed when the round was loaded, and she fired a smoke grenade in front of her position before strafing to the left. Moments later, she lobbed another grenade at Dupuis.

  Dupuis chose the drone as the grenade landed on her position. Mace received bad news during the thick of the battle that Vannier and Axel-Zero were down. It was just her and Daedo remaining. As soon as she exited the smoke she fired upon Dupuis with her railgun, and it only took her a second to swap weapons while moving.

  Mace was hit by Dupuis by a round at the same time. That M3 cadet had excellent prediction capability as she had rightly guessed the area that Mace would exit the smoke. But, ultimately, all the skill from the M3 cadet was defeated by another grenade from Daedo who wasn’t even in this area and a railgun round to the head from Mace.

  Mace wondered, how did he have the time to afford her a grenade when he was basically one versus three?

  Then the answer came in the form of a message from the AR adjudicator:

  Laurent / railgun / Daedo.

  “Bah,” Mace scoffed. He had helped her when he should have been helping himself. She didn’t know if it was an emotional decision or if he had calculated that she just needed that one extra grenade in order to win, which didn’t make sense. The flight time of the grenade from his position would be over seven seconds. If it was anyone else, she would have thought it was not calculated, but with Daedo she was not so sure.

  The cream of M3 descended upon Mace who only had enough armour for a single hit. She picked up Dupuis, who was deactivated by the AR adjudicator, and lay her in front of the entrenchment. She also stole the long-range railgun. It came from Daedalus anyway.

  As the three liberos spread, weaved and flew, she fired with Dupuis’ railgun. She was going to die, but she took an almost perverted pleasure in abusing the corpse and equipment of her opponent. Using the pretend corpse for cover was tactical but, nevertheless, embarrassing for the victim.

  “You’ll never take me alive,” she said under her breath as she returned fire.

  Chapter 24

  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142

  House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero

  M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null

  Term: 2 to 3, Break

  Daedalus Financial Position -1,660,000 bitcreds

  ◆◆◆

  “That was awesome!” Barran congratulated Mace. Somehow, she had managed to take out two cadets before going down, but it wasn’t a close contest, she barely took the second one out before being hit with two railgun rounds.

  “Not really,” Mace replied. “Daedo and Axel-Zero had ripped them up so it only took one shot each.”

  “Yeah, but still,” Barran grinned at Mace. “I’m glad you’re on our side.”

  Mace raised an eyebrow, ”Who says I’m on your side?”

  She walked off leaving Barran to contemplate the reply. It took him a few seconds to come to the conclusion that she was playing with him.

  “What now?” Axel-Zero asked Vannier.

  The match versus the Middle Inter-Academy Squad (M3IAS) was over, and although they won, the M3IAS only had one surviving cadet at the end therefore, it was a close call.

  Siderus approached Daedo. While Vannier explained to the rest of the squad what they were doing for the next few hours.

  “We’re going to the Marais box,” Vannier called to Daedo and summoned him with a hand.

  Daedo looked at Siderus who nodded.

  “I’ll walk with you,” Siderus said.

  “Okay,” Daedo answered, “The Marais are nice people you could probably come in if you wanted.”

  Siderus shook his head, “I need to spend time with my squad, I have nearly as many duties as you.” Siderus was not only a Zero Squad leader but also a Shu house captain and the leader for M3 in general due to his position at the head of M3IAS.

  “Okay! We don’t have time for a debrief right now but we can do it when you visit the Daedalus practice arena,” Daedo stated.

  “That’s not what I wanted to discuss with you,” Siderus said in a serious manner. “It’s obvious to me that we’re not the best eight, not without you as tactician. I want to change your mind. I want you in the Inter squad.”

  “We’ve discussed this already,” Daedo replied.

  “And, we’re discussing it again,” Siderus stated. “For someone so good at analysing, why can’t you see this? It’s bleeding obvious!”

  Daedo thought while they walked. He didn’t want to leave his squad to join another, not for a minute. They were like family, and if he joined the Inter squad, by himself, it would feel like cheating. The whole scenario was illogical. He was acting in an illogical manner. The fact that he felt this way and was overriding logic was disturbing to him.

  Daedo simply said, “I’ll think on it. We can discuss this next week.

  “Good,” Siderus said succinctly. “I better be off. See you next week!” And with that, he ran in the opposite direction.

  Picard floated back to walk with Daedo.

  “What did he want?” She asked genuinely.

  “The usual,” Daedo obfuscated.

  They were walking up an arena hallway towards the Marais box. All the exo matches were finished. The so-called all-star match was the last item on the agenda. Cillian Marais said they would stay in the box for at least another hour discussing the matches or just socializing with friends and business associates. He had invited the squad to visit if they wanted.

  Picard was about to ask another question when she was interrupted by an adult.

  “Oh, it is you, hi!,” the tall young woman said.

  Daedo continued to walk, but proper
conduct required he answer an adult politely, “Hello Miz?”

  “Miss,” she said enthusiastically, “Fafner, I believe you know my little sister.”

  “Yes, if she’s in Gaumont’s squad? Thoth Squad One, is that who you mean?” Daedo answered and asked.

  The young lady nodded. “I don’t want to hold you up,” she said when walking beside him and Picard while leaving her friends behind. “But I wanted to know if the rumours are true.”

  Daedo paused for a moment before continuing to walk. The Marais box wasn’t close enough to escape.

  Recognising his reluctance while not knowing the cause Miss Fafner explained, “The rumour about your squad going to Svarski.”

  Daedo stopped and looked at her. She was tall, but only when compared to him, she was probably average height, with dark hair and pale skin. She looked old for a sister with someone his age, she looked somewhere between twenty and thirty-five, but he wasn’t sure.

  “I haven’t spoken to anyone from Svarski, let alone held talks. Where does this rumour come from?” He asked before deciding to keep walking quickly in the direction of the Marais box.

  “I don’t know, everyone is talking about it. You aren’t leaving us are you?” Miss Fafner asked.

  “So what if we do?” Picard said aggressively. “It’s not like it's any of your business, and this Academy has hardly given us stellar treatment.”

  Daedo held out a hand to Picard and touched her arm, she responded through comms.

  Picard: Sorry. The whole thing just makes me angry sometimes.

  Daedo: You can say what you like, but I’d prefer it if we said very little to outsiders.

  Picard: Agreed. I will keep a lid on it in the future. I can give them cold stares though, right?

  Daedo: That would be ideal.

  Their AIs had become adept at accepting thoughts, translating and sending to the recipient AI and that AI converting for its host. This communication was continually being improved through combat practice and general comms. They would have great difficulty communicating this way with an outsider, but within the squad, it was akin to telepathy.

  The young woman waved her hands in submission at Picard’s onslaught as a crowd began to gather behind her because the pair had stopped moving again.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry,” Miss Fafner said apologetically.

  “Where’s the loyalty these days?” An older man gave his unwanted opinion.

  Daedo: We need to get out of here. If we try and set them straight, we will be arguing for millennia.

  Picard nodded to Daedo before striking back. “Exactly!” she stated emphatically. “Where is the loyalty these days?” She immediately grabbed his hand and pushed her way through the crowd to the Marais door which was fifty metres up the corridor.

  Picard: Sorry, had to do it.

  Daedo: I’ve never seen you back down from a fight and didn’t expect you to start now.

  Picard: But I did! Yet, I had so much more I wanted to say.

  Daedo chuckled at Picard. She was always focused and serious which made the times when she was funny stand out that much more. Which led him to some self-introspection, he was just as focused and serious, but never funny.

  The robot attendant to the Marais box let the two cadets enter while stopping a couple of adults who were following at a close distance.

  Picard and Daedo immediately headed over to Cillian who was summoning them.

  “You made it,” Cillian said kindly in the way of introduction. With him was his friend Andre and Colonel Martin. “Let me get Sophie and Jeram,” Cillian said hurriedly.

  “That was some match,” Andre commented.

  “I think congratulations are in order,” Colonel Martin said kindly. “It was an excellent display of teamwork, tactics and skill against a much more experienced opponent.”

  “I wasn’t sure what was going to take place when they replaced the M3 final as the main event, but it certainly lived up to its billing as an all-star match,” Andre added.

  Colonel Martin leaned towards the cadets, “You can speak now,” he said kindly with a little dash of humour in his voice.

  “Sir, it was excellent training,” Daedo answered seriously.

  The adults including Cillian and Sophie, who had just arrived, burst out laughing. Daedo was unsure what was so funny.

  Cillian put a hand on Daedo’s shoulder and said merrily, “Only you would think such a nail-biting match was excellent training.”

  Daedo looked at Vannier who shrugged.

  “It was good training,” Axel-Zero stated.

  And the adults burst out laughing even louder.

  Colonel Martin waved the other adults quiet. “You put on an excellent display, one worthy of an Inter-Academy match. Forgive these ingrates, they just don’t understand your perspective.”

  “Hey!” Cillian protested, “We do! We do! We invested heavily into Daedalus for their latest venture, and we believe it will have an excellent outcome, don’t we Sophie?”

  Cillian’s wife and the CEO of Marais industries nodded, “We are very keen to build a strong working relationship with Daedalus which is beneficial to us both.”

  Andre looked a little concerned at the remark. “These cadets could write their own ticket. Have you thought about where you could go next year?” He asked.

  Cillian darkened at the comment and was torn by its implications. While he wanted to advise the cadets and support them, he didn’t like it when Andre made such a statement out of the blue. Cillian looked at Sophie, who nodded imperceptibly and then back to the cadets.

  “Sir,” Vannier replied matter-of-factly, “we’re focused on getting results this year.”

  “I work with quite a few companies, let me know if I can be of assistance,” Andre offered.

  “What do you mean, Andre? Shouldn’t you be advising them to stay at Fortescue as a supporter of Fortescue Academy?” Colonel Martin made an accurate yet mischievous comment.

  “I mean that Academies like Templars, or regional academies, or even a tier two and maybe even a tier one academy would give them scholarships and grants towards their research projects,” Andre explained.

  Cillian was unhappy but said nothing. However, Sophie was not so shy.

  “Daedalus can certainly write their own ticket, but why stop there?” she said ambiguously.

  The group, including Daedo, wondered what she meant.

  Cillian wanted to change the subject from Academies, “Daedalus needs to focus on the next six months. Need I remind everyone that there is much riding on the result.” He looked towards the cadets.

  “You will always have my support and any support that Marais is able to give. Isn’t that right Sophie?” Cillian said.

  Sophie nodded but diplomatically added, “Where it is prudential. Even if I am CEO, there are rules for executives of a company that I need to adhere to.”

  “There is something I wanted to ask you about,” Daedo ventured. It was hard getting a word in edgewise with the adults going off on tangents.

  “Go on,” Cillian said eagerly. “This is also something that we wanted to propose and since this get together has morphed into a business meeting let's talk about it now. Are you cadets good for time?”

  Vannier, Mace, Axel-Zero, Barran, Picard and Kang all nodded.

  “Let’s move over to the booth,” Cillian said, as there were plenty of eavesdroppers standing around sipping drinks.

  “Ah sorry, Andre,” Sophie said blocking him from joining the group. “This is a Marais/ Daedalus meeting.”

  “What about Colonel Martin? He is sitting with the group, is he not?” Andre ventured.

  “Colonel Martin is an official advisor to Daedalus. You are not,” Sophie said with very little tact.

  Andre looked upset, however, took the rejection in his stride. He moved off to a vacant corner with Sophie watching him closely. She suddenly turned to join the group in the booth with Jeram at her side.

 
“What is it that you need Daedo?” Cillian asked.

  Daedo felt bad asking for this, but he felt it was necessary.

  “We need a VTOL for the break. I am sorry we didn’t place an order months ago, but I have been so busy I didn’t think ahead,” Daedo announced the usual waiting time for a Mech carrying VTOL was three months. They were made to order and didn’t grow on trees.

  Barran immediately stood and cheered, “Yes!” He did the trademark single Barran fist pump in the air. Not letting it go, he turned to Vannier and said, “Whumpa!” Mimicking the sound a VTOL makes when it takes off. And then he continued to look each cadet in the eye from Picard to Kang and exclaim, “Whumpa!” each time.

  “We get it,” Picard said, sounding annoyed.

  “Do you want to borrow one, rent, or purchase?” Sophie asked.

  “Whatever method works, we need one for the break,” Daedo said.

  “Why?” asked approximately six people at once.

  “Two unrelated travel needs; one is a confidential trip to northwest Africa, which I can’t explain its purpose just yet and the other is for the Svarski pro league invitational in Japan,” he announced.

  “Japan. I told you, Japan!” Barran said excitedly.

  “Tell me about the pro league,” Cillian said excitedly. “Are you competing?”

  “Yes, we can submit one or two entries, but we would have to work our way through the qualifying rounds and the only way the timelines work is if we prepare the mechs here and fly them across,” Daedo stated. “Plus I need the VTOL for Africa, so it makes sense.”

  “And you are doing all of this in your three-week break?” Jeram asked astounded.

  Daedo nodded.

  Vannier, Axel-Zero and Picard quickly looked up dates and messaged for parental permission to attend Japan.

  Vannier: A little warning would be nice.

  Daedo messaged the entire squad.

  Daedo: Sorry. I only worked it out when looking into the sale that Barran made, and I have been busy, so I forgot to bring it up.

  Picard: If I can’t attend due to the short notice, you are going to regret it next time we spar.