"I'm sure if you had any former partners they'd disagree."
"What is up to, and how?" Anna asked.
"Sixty-five percent. I harvested some hyper-aggressive viruses from Ophelia's system and adapted them," I said.
"How do the rest of the crew transfer their conditions into the recruits?" Anna asked.
"Mechos makes more Mechanites by implanting a mechanical control engine at the base of their spine. Doctor Batavius can make more of her kind with a bite. The Rats and the Wolves both seem to utilize scratches. We haven't figured out Ophelia yet," I said.
"Not by way of her blood or I'd have been infected," Anna said.
"Possibly. Now that I've already given you the weakened version of her ability, you should be protected from it," I said.
Anna pushed herself up from the table. "Good talk. Get me a location on Lotus and those supplies. We need to be ready for a fight."
19
"Every step of an operation like this should be planned out in advance," Baron Wolfson said. I'd rushed repairs to the hull, but otherwise not been able to do much but load supplies before we were pulling away from the dock again on our mission to capture Lotus.
The Descari Cartel kept their operations in the jungle a few miles from the city. While the wildlife made this exceptionally hazardous, the beam weapons they had placed on top of a large dome helped to discourage the animals from becoming too much of an issue. It also made things tough for executing any sort of assault.
"I'm a fan of quick plans. If we think too much it rarely turns out okay," Anna said, looking out at the dome. We were hovering perhaps a half mile away.
Doctor Batavius, Candice, Anna, Ophelia, Mechos, Ratticus the leader of the Rats and Baron Wolfson had gathered to discuss plans.
"That is because you're a terrible leader," I said.
"You shouldn't let her talk to you that way," Wolfson said.
Ratticus said, "Indeed! You are a brilliant leader and an endless source of delight and bliss to your humble subjects who praise your gentle and caring nature and lack of destructive instincts."
Wolfson growled deep in his throat and the Rat moved to hide behind Anna.
"Emma and I have an understanding. If anyone else tries it, we'll have words. I need solutions on this assault and not advice on dealing with my partner," Anna said.
"We can assault with the Graven. A maneuverable weapons platform is superior to a fixed one," Ophelia said.
"Spoken like someone whose only understanding of the science of things is from being a science experiment herself. Those cannons hold a lot more charge than those on the Graven and if they deal with the wildlife, we know they must have a wide range of fire," Batavius said.
"Can we teleport?" Anna asked.
"They're shielded against sensors to some distance out from the dome," I said.
"Not close enough," Anna said. "Can we get Hot Stuff close?"
"If they were projectile cannons they wouldn't be able to hurt her. Beam weaponry of that intensity might be able to overload her system at best—and slice her in half at worse," I said.
"Can we soak the hits for her or the Graven, and get close?" Anna asked.
That was a more challenging question to answer.
"Shields are operational and they add a lot to our defensive power, but without the ability to get a proper scan of their weaponry we just don't know what kind of force they can throw at us," Batavius said.
Anna took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Fine. Let’s do this differently. I'm not going to keep throwing out ideas and getting shot down. Someone give me a solution that might work in the next thirty seconds or I start really shooting."
"I'd think you would be accustomed to being shot down," I said.
"Not now, Emma," Anna said, staring at the crew.
"Oh, she of most destructive and splendorous beauty whose presence makes the heavens quake and rain down magnificent showers of happiness. If we but move fast enough our defenses need not be as strong," said Ratticus, wringing his hands.
"If you would like me to eat him, it would be my pleasure," Wolfson said.
"I make a better engineer than spy," Mechos said.
"We are happy to run Espionage alone," Ophelia said.
"We don't eat people with good ideas. Is he right?" Anna asked.
"If we give ourselves time to build up some velocity, and I overdrive the engines and thrusters for the last stretch, we can minimize their firing time enormously even factoring in your weight," I said.
"It won't matter if we can't take out those guns quickly," Batavius said.
"Did you ever build more detonators as I ordered?" Anna asked Mechos.
"I've got three," Mechos nodded.
"Those bombs brought down airships. Can they take down those guns?"
I wished I had a proper scan of the guns. Precise targeting helped a lot when dealing with destruction like this.
"Whether they alone suffice or not, we can assist in the Graven," Ophelia said.
"Wolfson, prepare your teams for an assault. Bringing out Lotus alive is the primary mission with a secondary goal of destroying personnel and equipment in the facility. Batavius and Ratticus, have teams on all decks. They'll be especially likely to target our shield systems or the engines," Anna said.
"I also want samples," I said.
"All right, and samples of anything and everything that looks interesting for Emma. I'll be along with the ground team. Questions?" Anna asked.
"No question, but a comment. The ground team is not the place for you," Wolfson said.
Anna gave him a steely look. "Not the time or place for this argument, Baron."
Wolfson shook his head. "With respect, it is. Whether you are Queen or Captain or Leader of the Pack, your place is on this ship."
"The old Wolf has a point," Batavius said.
"The old Wolf will learn to do as he is told, but I'll listen to his advice this time. The plan does have a lot of moving pieces that could go wrong. Emma, I want a proper tactical station built for me on the bridge," Anna said.
I'd actually already been working on the plans for just such a thing. More than once now I'd lost my senses in one way or another and had to have Anna salvage the situation. Although I hated the idea of her having full command, access to my core routines and control systems was as sensible as it was intolerable.
"I suppose, if it keeps you out of the way of anything important. I'll fabricate that at once," I said.
"Very well then, people. We execute in fifteen," Anna said.
Anna hated to waste time.
20
I readied the three bombs for delivery and got us in position for our run. Doctor Batavius and her team made some tweaks to the shields so that they'd rotate their strongest section as we drew close. Given the initial limited angles they could hit us from, it should give us a little extra defense where it counts.
Ophelia took her position in the Graven and I released the clamps so she could take off. We'd be able to gain a bit more speed without dragging the other ship along.
I started with a long circuit to get our engines up to full speed before I turned towards the complex and engaged the overdrive. It was fast enough that the ship became to tremble, and when the thrusters were added we shook violently.
The cannons on the dome glowed blue and a beam struck our shields.
"Sabotage"
The words echoed inside my mind like a demand needing to be obeyed. I couldn’t disobey and I found myself angling the ship down towards the jungle. It lasted only a moment and just as I was starting to change our trajectory another blast hit us.
"Sabotage"
A Command core, it had to be a Command core. I'd encountered one with the Commander, and Lady Sylax also had some abilities granted by one. This was different, but similar. I blew out several non-vital systems when the compulsion to obey was the strongest and I had to do something, and as soon as I felt the pull weaken again, I activated a teleport.