The fight had gone all of a few seconds and it seemed effectively over. I knew it wasn't quite that easy, Anna did have accelerated healing, but it was nothing compared to Ophelia's. While Ophelia would already be getting back to her feet, that wasn't the case with Anna.
Wolfson bent down and grabbed her by the throat, using it to lift her high into the air. "You think you can fight girl? You think you're worthy of leading the Wolves?"
Anna didn't respond in words but with action. Her legs wrapped themselves around his waist and she punched at the hand gripping her throat. When it released she drove her head forward and pounded at his nose with her forehead. There was a spray of blood and he stumbled backward to collapse onto the floor.
Anna kept hold. There was nothing subtle about what happened next, she followed up with one blow after another, smashing her head into his face again, then again.
I don't know if the other Wolves knew, but with my science drone I could tell that he was forcing down his defensive instincts. A leg muscle tensed to drive her off, then relaxed. Wolfson was letting her have this, letting Anna get her blows in.
When Anna finally pulled herself away from him her face was a bloody mess. Her own nose had broken sometime in the scuffle and her lip was split in several places. They'd heal eventually, but her boosted healing was tending to more serious injuries first.
In unison the Wolves dropped to a knee with their heads lowered.
That was all it took for the deck to start coming online.
Ship Status
Primary weapons: Offline
Primary shielding: Offline
Secondary weapons: 15%
Primary Engines: Offline
Auxiliary thrusters: 5%
Hull integrity: 21%
"DO WE HAVE CONTROL?" Anna asked.
"We do, of a ship that impossibly looks even worse than you do," I said.
"The Mists wanted to sabotage us before that army gets here. It must be someone or something with the old Command core from the throne," Anna said. “It escaped.”
I'd figured that out myself.
"I admire your ability to state the obvious in even the most time sensitive of situations," I said.
"As I do your ability to squeeze in an insult," Anna said, and triggered her comm to go ship-wide. "Wolves. I've defeated your leader in single combat, prepare to form a defensive perimeter around the ship with me. Doctor Batavius, have your department aid in the defense and help the Rats get our engines back online."
8
The Rats were blinking about the ship. Now that they were officially my minions they could teleport within a facility that I controlled. It seemed to barely faze them, I wondered if the old core had also offered them the teleporting ability. Unlike the Wolves and Bats, although they could shape change to human, the Rats rarely seemed to do so.
I teleported Ophelia into a containment cell in the research wing and triggered the forcefield.
"Really? Prison?" Ophelia asked. The woman had looked better, her clothes shredded to ruins by the rat attacks and her flesh stained with dried blood.
"You're filled with super-powered diseases that have faced a super-powered immune system for awhile. While I can't actually imagine anyone wanting to be close enough to you for it to spread, you do need to be quarantined," I said.
It wasn't just that.
Research Menu
"Plague Variants"
The Rats possess the ability to spread a host of diseases that operate on systems at an accelerated rate. In Ophelia they have encountered an accelerated immune system. This has resulted in fragments of advanced viruses.
Extraction of samples will take forty-eight hours and are a resource that can aid in the development of new bioweapons.
RIGHT NOW I didn't have any bioweapons, unless you counted the humans I could manufacture. I'd like some, anything that expanded my ability to defend my research facilities was a good thing. SCIENCE must go on, no matter what.
"Two days. Then I'll send Hot Stuff in to incinerate you. I doubt you'll be the first disease-infested specimen she has gotten close to," I said.
"Seriously not happy about this," Ophelia said.
I killed the connection and materialized some cookies in her cell.
One problem handled, I switched over to Anna. My human drones were still in her company and she was slowly leading the Wolves down the stairs—slow, because she was barely holding it together, her broken ribs were just starting to regrow.
Based on her rate of healing I thought it would be several hours before she was back in any sort of reasonable fighting shape.
"I know you'd like to lead the defense, but let us be honest, your technical skills are somewhat less horrible than your fighting ability. I could use your assistance with the engines," I said.
"You can have Mechos and the Mechanites," Anna said.
I wasn't going to object to that idea. They were outstanding engineers, but really my entire point was to keep Anna on her feet. However, if she was going to be stubborn we'd just have to deal with it. I'd constructed the infirmary and could heighten her healing even more, if needed.
"I'll take them," I said.
Mechos and his people separated from the group and headed to Engineering. I let the Rats know to expect them.
I switched my attention over to Doctor Batavius. Instead of making her way over to either the main engines or the ground defenses, she and her assistant had gone to the secondary thrusters.
"Doctor, your goggles may have failed you. Those aren't the main engines," I said through the nearby comm panel.
"How fortunate that I have you to remind me of the design of this ship. Did you spend all of five minutes studying it, when not busy failing to adequately defend against the Mist saboteurs?" Batavius asked, cracking open a panel, goggled features studying the interior.
"Is there a reason why, or has the dementia gotten worse?" I asked.
"There is usually a reason why, even when you're too stupid to grasp it," Batavius said. “Whether you need a quick hop to escape those approaching hordes or simply to set the jungles on fire to hold them back, the thrusters are your best mix of defense and unlikely offense. I'm working to give you all the options I can."
While I could fault her attitude—there really was no need to be so insulting—I couldn't fault her logic. In addition, as one of the few systems still partially operational, it was easier to get something out of the thrusters. I was already seeing an improvement.
"We believe it is the old core out there. You may have been considered barely useful enough to be in its company once or twice. What can you tell me?" I asked.
"The Crystal Spider. Did you find none of its agents on your deck after establishing control?" Batavius asked.
"We didn't. I destroyed the throne and established a link," I said.
"Then fried your tiny little mind, I expect. Predictable. The Crystal Spider is primarily an upgrade core, although enhanced with a number of Command cores over time. Lady Sylax profited well from both. The throne was not its core, but something of a control hub," Batavius said, screwing a new part into the panel.
That explained why I didn’t get any upgrades from the destruction of the throne. The old core truly was still active and out there. When we'd disrupted its control it must have fled from the ship and spent the time in the jungle raising an army to take its home back.
"Why would it flee? Couldn't it simply have used its abilities from the Command core on us?" I asked.