Evelyn laughed, but she just stepped back, waiting as the gold-hulled shuttle from her ship came in for a landing. It came in with an easy grace, landing with a precision that surprised Helsen.
“I’m sure we are. It’s just that most people learned better than to piss me off,” Evelyn said, and nodded at the ship. “If you need to coordinate, talk to Zelirana or Ilyra. The rest of the crew are Dolls, so they aren’t quite as bright. Zel! Take care of Lyra and the shuttle, hm? I don’t want to come back and find any holes in either of you.”
“Yes, Evelyn,” a woman replied, and Helsen blinked, opening her mouth, then shut it as the elf loped off toward the halls of the station. Moments later a group of attractive women in light armor and wielding heavy weapons began pouring out of the shuttle with an eerie, organized precision. A pair of women in more colorful armor followed them after a few moments.
“Hopper! Coordinate with the ladies on keeping the bay secure,” Helsen ordered, then jerked her head toward the exit as Evelyn opened the nearest door. “Delma! Let’s get moving, time to pull our weight.”
The other sergeant nodded, muttering, “Dunno that we’ll be able to, with that in the lead, sir.”
As energy weapons opened fire in the hallway, followed by an explosion, Helsen couldn’t help agreeing. This would be… interesting.
Chapter 48
“Hm.” Evelyn murmured, crouching down to look at the bodies she’d found on the other side of the door.
A barricade had once blocked access to the armory, but at some point the robots must have cleared it out of the way, yet they hadn’t done anything to the deceased themselves. They looked very, very strange to Evelyn, and after a few moments of thought, she cast a spell to detect any poisons or diseases.
Magic flickered out in a wave invisible to most, though it looked a lot like a shimmering bubble to Evelyn, and her eyes narrowed, though a hand snapped up with her pistol to put a few bolts through a robot that came around the corner, reducing the machine to scrap. Well, its CPU, which made the rest of it pretty worthless, as that was the expensive part.
The bodies were odd, in that they were gaunt, like they’d been mummified and all the moisture sucked out of them, which was quite strange. But it must not have been that long since they were killed, since there wasn’t any sign of preservation magic and there wasn’t much decomposition. Not that there’d be much, with the lack of liquid, but there should be some. There weren’t any signs of diseases or poisons, and Evelyn could sense an odd magic from them. Not something she was personally familiar with, but she frowned at the sense of necromancy. Not reanimation, obviously, and she half-closed her eyes, then nodded.
“I’ve found nine bodies in an armory. They’re all dead, and appear to have been defending the room, then fell over. No signs of wounds, but I recognize necromantic magic. Considering their appearances, their life energy was sucked away,” Evelyn told the mercenaries and her own crew over her comm. “None of these are animated, but that doesn’t mean others won’t be. If you see bodies, tread carefully.”
“Thanks for the warning,” the leader of the mercenary troops replied a moment later, her voice calm and controlled. “We’ve encountered a few robots, but nothing more yet. All humanoid models.”
“Unsurprising. I’ve encountered ten of them. Eleven,” Evelyn corrected herself as she destroyed another robot without hesitation, sparks flying from the machine as the energy bolt punched through it. “It looks like the armory is fully stocked, though. Odd that the robots would have put everything back. Probably not a renegade AI, based on that.”
There wasn’t a response to her comment, and Evelyn shrugged, standing again as she looked over the weapons in the room, rather than the bodies. They were nice enough weapons, better than the ones which Daggerhound’s mercenaries had used, but they weren’t good enough that she’d want to find space for them on Djinn’s Gift. No, they weren’t her focus at all, and she already had enough grenades for the moment.
Her decision made, Evelyn moved into the hallway, just as Fya contacted her directly.
“We’ve got a little movement out here, it looks like there’s a couple of destroyers pretending to be asteroids. They’ve underestimated our sensors, which is why I spotted them,” the djinn reported. “Want me to blast them, Milady?”
“No. Warn them off if they approach within the perimeter decided on, and open fire if they try ignoring you,” Evelyn said, checking her shield charge. It was back up to ninety-four percent, and with a little more time it would fully recover, she decided. Assuming it didn’t take any more fire, but she knew it would. “You have any idea what would cause what I saw? Most forms of life absorption like that would have caused them to rise as undead as well, but those corpses were very dead. Not much decomposition, either.”
“Sorry, I’m not sure,” Fya said, and Evelyn could practically see her shrug in her mind’s eye, she had so much experience with the djinn. “I’ve seen lots of situations that could be similar, but it depends. I mean, if something ate all of the life force, there wouldn’t even be bacteria to make them decompose. Or it could be a spell that sucked out all the water, or someone used a light spell to banish any spirits right after draining them… I dunno. There’s plenty of wishes that could do something similar.”
“Point. That’s the problem with magic,” Evelyn replied, spinning as a door hissed open, and a pair of robots unloaded into her with their rifles.
Evelyn dodged some of the fire as she charged, but she was too close to avoid most of it, and blasts splashed off her shield in bright yellow flashes. Of course, then the first of them went down to her counter-fire, and she cut the other into bits. Shields at eighty-nine percent, she noted calmly.
“Busy?” Fya asked sweetly.
“Robots, nothing too impressive. I’m beginning to think… wait a second. I just had a thought…” Evelyn paused, her eyes narrowing. “Do you sense anything? Your cousin noticed something out here, after all. I find that a little suspicious.”
“You should be,” Fya agreed, pausing for a few seconds, and Evelyn didn’t interrupt, instead moving down the hall, then stopped, an eyebrow rising as she saw the heavy blast doors ahead of her. There was a control panel to its right, and Evelyn debated what to do.
“I’m not sure. I’m sensing a bit of wishcraft… but nothing that I can pin down. If it was something that ripped the souls out of everything in the area, I’d probably sense it. It’s nagging at me, and I’m sure I’ll figure it out when it’s too late… ugh, I hate it when this happens,” Fya replied grumpily. “I give you fifty-fifty odds that this is all my cousin’s fault, and she just wanted me to clean up her mess. You’re one of the few people I know who’s powerful enough that you can overpower wishcraft. Most wishcraft, anyway.”
“If it is, do you think she was wrong about there being something we want, here?” Evelyn asked, her mood cooling slightly. She pressed the button on the panel to open the door, and it immediately asked for her access code. She gave it her ID codes, and it informed her that she lacked authorization. Evelyn shrugged and decided to use her other access code, activating her sword.
The blast door was strong enough that directly attacking it with her sword would’ve taken a lot of time, so instead she cut through the bulkhead surrounding it, all while Fya spoke.
“Nope, she’s not suicidal. If she sent us, she’s not doing it on false pretenses,” Fya assured Evelyn quickly. “She knows that I wouldn’t stop you from showing up and ripping all the magic out of her. After Ventryl, no djinn is going to think you can’t kill one of us. I’m mostly surprised you left her alive.”
“An object lesson does no one any good if they don’t know about it,” Evelyn replied simply, her annoyance fading at Fya’s reassurance.
With the cuts in place, she kicked the blast door inward as it sagged slightly, the force of her kick driving her backward a meter, even as the metal groaned and collapsed. An instant later there were whining sounds and as Evelyn
landed, she smiled, seeing a robot trying to drag itself out from under the fallen door. That was the other advantage to kicking the door in.
“Point! I didn’t think of that,” Fya said. “Either way, it isn’t that important, I suppose. Unless I want to point out to my friends that the only reason she’s alive is as an example, and that the next person won’t be as lucky.”
“Probably not, no,” Evelyn agreed, cutting off the robot’s head, then ran her sword under the edge of the door, destroying two more of the robots.
She didn’t continue, instead scanning the hallway, and clicked her tongue as she saw a couple of maintenance robots come around the corner, then stop. They had twelve limbs each, many of them with different tools, and they had large compartments on their backs for supplies. They examined her for a moment with their long, stalk-like optical sensors, then looked at the fallen door.
“Query. Did you destroy the door?” one of the robots asked, surprisingly speaking elven. The other backed up two meters as Evelyn started down the hall at an easy pace.
“I did,” Evelyn confirmed, smiling slightly.
“This unit wishes to inquire why,” the robot said, its optical sensors focusing on her again.
“It rejected my access codes,” Evelyn told it, her smile widening.
For a moment or two, the robot seemed to consider that, then spoke again. “Acknowledged. This unit will return to the maintenance bay until you have finished. Please keep destruction to a minimum to reduce repair time and expended resources.”
Then the two maintenance units turned and fled, prompting Evelyn to laugh.
“Well, that was amusing. Apparently, some programmer had far too much time on their hands,” Evelyn murmured to herself, grinning.
With the robots out of the way, she followed the signs toward the command center, fully expecting at least a couple more groups of defenders. Senne were usually predictable in that they put heavy defenses around their command centers, which occasionally proved a problem. It was far too easy for most militaries to figure out where the headquarters of a senne strike force was just by looking for wherever the heaviest defenses were.
There was another wandering patrol only a dozen meters later, which Evelyn dismantled ruthlessly, not allowing these to even hit her shield, then she poked her head around the corner and paused, looking at the weaponry around the much thicker blast door ahead of her. There were nine robots, along with a couple of turrets and even what would normally be a crew-served plasma cannon set up in the hallway, which caused Evelyn to click her tongue, pulling back just as they opened fire on her.
Energy weapons slammed into the corner, while some hit the wall just past it, and Evelyn shook her head at the terrible din, amused despite herself.
“Ah, robots… and that was a terrible decision.” Evelyn murmured, her will focusing, and she glanced down at her belt, unhooking the seven grenades she’d picked up earlier. Plasma grenades might be just a bit too much for a station-board battle, but she didn’t mind causing some damage. It wasn’t her station, after all.
With a thought she primed the grenades, all of them at once, then she used telekinesis to throw all of them into the middle of the formation, or at least where the formation had been. The clatter of the grenades wasn’t loud over the hail of suppressive fire, but the voice of a robot speaking in the senne language was much louder.
“Warning! Grenades, take cover, take cover, take—” the robot began exclaiming. Then everything became incredibly loud for just a moment, then almost all sound ended as the explosion boomed down the corridors, the decks vibrating under Evelyn’s feet.
The only sound that came moments later was the soft clattering of debris hitting the floor, along with the sizzling and popping of the robots and metal paneling in reaction to the grenades. Evelyn waited for a moment, then poked her head around the corner again and smirked.
A smoking, half-molten hole in the ground awaited her, with only a few mangled pieces of the robots remaining. Evelyn chuckled softly, then murmured, “They should’ve invested in better shields for those.”
One of the ceiling-mounted turrets was turning toward her, but with the barrel of the gun destroyed it didn’t do it much good, and Evelyn calmly walked down the hallway, aiming for the charred blast door. It had survived intact, at least.
“Now, computer… will you let me in, or do I need to remove the door?” Evelyn asked, holstering her pistol and flexing one of her hands.
For a few seconds the door didn’t move. Then there was creaking, popping and squealing as two interleaved panels pulled apart despite being partially fused together by the grenades, and revealed the command center. Evelyn smiled slightly.
“Wise,” she said, and walked into the command center like she owned it.
She may as well own it, after all.
Chapter 49
“This is boring,” Fya said, watching the sensors and letting out a deep sigh.
“Why do you say that?” Control asked, and the djinn glanced at the Doll speculatively. There was something about the Doll that seemed odd to Fya, something that bothered her, but she didn’t quite know what it was.
“Because we’re having to sit here and do nothing fun,” Fya replied, letting out a sigh. “Oh, Evvy is having fun, but we’re just floating here imposingly, while a bunch of weaklings try to decide if they’re brave enough to test us.”
“My programming indicates that avoiding battle is preferable to having damage dealt to our assets,” Control replied primly.
“Of course it does,” Fya said, rolling her eyes as she figured out what was bugging her. “The thing is, that’s not necessarily fun. So, why do you act more robotic when Evelyn is here, anyway, or when talking to her? You seem far more personable when you’re with me, or not around her.”
“Captain Tarth appears to dislike or be uncomfortable around me for some reason. That being the case, my programming indicates that the ideal solution is to be more formal. It is intended to reduce the likelihood of my destruction,” Control replied promptly, pausing for several moments, then continued. “I am not certain why she reacts in that manner, but I’m attempting to fulfill my responsibilities without upsetting her.”
Fya paused, looking at the Doll again, then giggled softly. The giggles turned into full blown laughter, and it was all she could do not to fall out of her chair, it amused her so much. The idea of Evelyn confusing the Doll… that was just perfect. Especially since Fya knew exactly why Evelyn was uncomfortable around Control.
“Is something I said amusing? I did not intend to say anything that would be humorous,” Control said, frowning ever so slightly.
“Oh, you’ve got entirely the wrong idea about her,” Fya said, grinning broadly at the construct, her eyes glittering as she thought for a few seconds. “See, the reason she’s uncomfortable around you is that you look an awful lot like the lady she’s been crushing on for ages. Not that she’d ever tell her that or admit it to you. If she was really uncomfortable, she’d have put you to work in a different position, rather than leaving you where you interact with her a lot. She’s got issues, My Lady does. She really should be more honest with herself.”
Control looked at Fya quizzically, then at the screen which showed the station. After several seconds she spoke, a hint of confusion in her voice. “I do not understand what I should do, then.”
“Mm, maybe not… but I think I do,” Fya said, grinning broadly as an evil thought ran through her head. “It might even help her relax a little… that’d be nice.”
“So long as it doesn’t contradict my core directives, I will listen to your instructions,” Control replied, and Fya’s smile widened even more.
“Good! I just need to look through my skill chips for all of you… and maybe wish up the right outfit,” Fya said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
Evelyn wouldn’t kill her, Fya was sure. Probably… and if she did, it’d likely be worth it.
“Covering fire!” Hel
sen called out, and in response the heavy weapon team unloaded with their carbines, the energy bolts flying across the chamber in brilliant red-orange flashes of light.
The robots on the other side took cover, but that gave her an opening, and Helsen nodded to her partner, then both of them charged across the room, pulling out their favored melee weapons. In Helsen’s case it was a gravitic hammer, one which was designed to crack shields like an egg. In Ortom’s hand was a sword, simple metal that looked mundane enough, but she knew better. The force field it generated gave it an edge that couldn’t be believed by most, and could cut through most substances… which was rather the idea.
They lunged around either end of the stack of crates they’d chosen without pausing, and the pair of robots, crouched near the wreckage of their third, turned to engage them. Not that they posed as much of a threat up close when they didn’t have their own melee weapons out.
Helsen shattered the first with a single, overhead blow, while the other managed to block the first attack with one arm before Ortom cut it down. Other robots fired in support belatedly, but Helsen rushed around the crates with Ortom to take cover before her shields could take more than a couple of seconds of fire. She nodded to him and asked. “How many left?”
“Seven hostiles still on the scanners,” Jason reported, his voice terse, and a rail gun round flashed across the chamber, followed by the crack of exploding atmosphere before he corrected. “Make that six.”
“Good work,” Helsen said, peering around the edge of the crate as she wondered what was going on, putting her hammer back as she unlimbered her rifle again. From their position she could flank the robots, which would make this much easier.
The wing had been much as Evelyn had suggested it might be, with numerous side passages where mining had been performed, and through the airlocks Helsen had seen robotic mining units working hard, while they’d passed the smelting equipment earlier. Then they’d found the manufactory. A manufactory where they’d seen dozens of robots in the middle of assembly, and Helsen had promptly shut that down by taking out power to the entire system. It was too expensive for her to destroy entirely, and if they could reprogram the bots, they’d be useful to the company.
Chosen of Chaos (Eve of Destruction Book 1) Page 34
