Almost forgot this is supposed to be writing set in a game universe, time to get those games in! It's a pity the models that started it all are OOP or limited, but they are the spark that created these characters.
20 – The Raid: Contacted Yue stormed into Mao Cong's Shack even before Unit 3-8 could open the door completely. She found herself in a massive room filled with exotic, most certainly illegal military materiel. She could identify several pieces of gadgetry that were clearly outlawed and dangerous, and for such devices to be carelessly tossed into boxes and hung on the wall with no regard for security protocols made her skin crawl. All the contraband before her evoked Yue's older memories, back from the times when she raided illegal hangouts and arms dealers as a security officer. To be caught possessing these items would mean incarceration many lifetimes over. "YAN?" she shouted. "Where are you?" A remote dog responded to her voice as it hopped into her view. It was a Yue Minerals remote, an older model. Despite its worn and shoddy appearance, it was surprisingly articulate and almost life-like. "VISUAL SCAN COMPLETE. YUAN YUE. YU-JINGESE. MOTHER OF YUAN YAN. AGE: –" "Hold it! What are you?" Yue grunted and raised her pistol. "No, Ma, please don't shoot! This is… QQ. I built it with Mr. Mao's help." Yue holstered her pistol as soon as she heard her daughter's voice in the shadows. Yan emerged. Close behind her was an older man wearing a pair of goggles. QQ rotated its rear sensor tail and responded upon seeing its master, "YAN IS MOTHER. SO YOU ARE… GRANDMA!" Yue was at a loss for words while the rest tried their hardest not to laugh. "BAD DOG!" Yue shouted. "Come on, Yan, let's go before it's too late!" "They've already landed," Mao Cong said as he broadcast his camera feeds to everyone's overlays. Yue's eyes traced one of the feeds on her overlay, and watched a dropship land to deliver a fire team of soldiers. Fusiliers armed with combi rifles and submachine guns disembarked rapidly as soon as the ramps hit the ground, their short bursts of well-coordinated movement put them well above the competence of an average soldier. Following closely behind were a couple of Orc Troops, one of them sporting an especially large ordnance weapon. As they advanced towards the hidden cameras, their voices boomed on her overlay. "Hey… the commander mentioned a woman and a remote. What about them?" "Our top priority is the target, alive. The rest are to be terminated." "Why aren't we negotiating with them at all? If the commander weren't so –" "Need I remind you guys who's listening in on the line? Keep quiet and stay on the mission!" Silence returned to Yue's overlay. "Someone saw us? But how…?" Unit 3-8 asked, looking at Yue. "Tsk… that Zulu Cobra…" Yue realised. "The special forces from Varuna are no joke," Mao Cong warned. "You would be safest here, where my defences are." "What have you done to incur the wrath of these people?" Yue asked. "That doesn't matter now! If none of us live, it's pointless to know anyway," Mao Cong barked. "Why my ex-employer is after me is my business and I never meant for it to come to this!" "Well, tough luck. Looks like we're trapped here," Yue said. Yan wrapped her arms around Yue and tightened her grip. The anxious expression she wore reminded Yue of the time the Elders passed judgement during the Fenghuang incident. "Ma, I don't want Mr. Mao to be taken away! I… I want to fight too!" Yan said with a nervous but determined tone. "YEP! YEP!" QQ barked. Yue shook her head and replied sternly, "Stop being so childish! Did you not hear what they just said? Listen to me… They don't know you are here, so stay out of sight and don't do anything foolish!" Yan loosened her grip on her mother's arm, but Yue secured it. She looked at her mother and frowned in protest. "The bad guys are coming, and I'm scared, but I'm also done hiding. Doing nothing and watching everyone I love get killed or taken away… I hate that kind of future!" Yan gritted her teeth. "If you don't let me help, then what is the point of this family?" "When was Mao Cong family?" Yue's reckless reply made her realise she had unsettled her daughter and Mao Cong. She winced at the old man with a disappointed look on his face and quickly pulled Yan to her chest and embraced her. "I understand how you feel, and I am proud that you want to do your part. But I cannot risk you out there at all." "You are the point of this family." Yan tried to break away from her mother, but Yue refused to give in. "Ma, please!" Yan pleaded. She wants me to let her go. If I do, things may never be the same… "If you die protecting me, there will be no family!" Yan cried. Yue's grip trembled. Then she let go. Yan accepted her new-found freedom, but she remained close to Yue. "Let me show you what I can do!" she said, with her feet planted firmly on the ground, her hands trembling. Looking into her daughter's eyes, Yue held Yan's hands tightly, transferring warmth and calm. I must be her pillar of strength. "Yan, when we are out there, listen to my every word. If you stop hearing my voice… think fast, act fast… trust your own judgement!" "I know you girls are having a moment, but they are closing in on us! The turrets and remotes should be able to hold them off for now, but we need to get ready!" Unit 3-8 said. "Sync up your GEISTs. I will be sharing my network's tactical overlay." Mao Cong then pointed to a yellow box labelled "my stuff" in Yan's handwriting. "Yan, your things are over there. Ms. Yuan, please follow me!" Yue tailed Mao Cong as she looked back at her daughter, who was pulling out what looked to be some sort of grenade and hacking device from the box. What stuff did Mao Cong give her? It'd better not be anything dangerous! They stopped at the corner of the Shack where firearms and weapon crates were stacked against the wall. Unit 3-8 grabbed himself a Spitfire. "Ms. Yuan, I believe you know this kit…" Mao Cong singled out one of many crates and cracked its case open to reveal a full set of Beast Hunter equipment that looked all too familiar to her: the gauntlet with flamethrower, camouflage mantle, panzerfaust, armour-piercing mines… Sticking both hands into the case, she lifted the massive dual-handed blade; it had the same make that she cherished as her workhorse as a Beast Hunter. She tested the grip and balance of the weapon with a brief bout of swordplay. "You trained under Suwanna, didn't you?" Mao Cong watched as Yue moved. "She and I go way back…" This man is more complicated than I thought… "You know Suwanna? How did you –" Yue asked as she donned her gear as quickly as possible. "Look, I know you have a lot of questions for me. I promise you I will answer every one of them if we get through this," Mao Cong said while tucking a marksman rifle under his arm. More turrets sounded off as the enemy entered his well-prepared kill zones. "ZERO SECURITY CERTIFICATES DETECTED! DIE MEATBAGS!" echoed ad nauseam. "There's plenty more where that came from, but it won't hold them for much longer. Hopefully they didn't bring their biggest guns, otherwise…" Mao Cong's ill-timed words followed through with a massive explosion. A mist popped from above like a rolling cloud, and shattered debris rained onto the ground like spears from an angry heaven. Yue ran for her daughter and led her away from the centre while Unit 3-8 sheltered Mao Cong from the smaller pieces of the falling rubble. The interior structure of the Shack groaned with the loss of integrity, signalling it was about to collapse at any time. When the clouds dispersed, the silhouette of a sleek flyer cast a long shadow into the Shack. The engines on its wings emitted an ominous hum as it hung in the sky, painting the ground with its targeting laser like a finger of doom. "A Redeye, fantastic…" Mao Cong scoffed. "The Shack is busted, everybody out!" Unit 3-8 said, taking some potshots with his Spitfire. A gentle sway was all it took for the Redeye to make Unit 3-8's efforts futile. On the ground near the entrance of the Shack, two scavenged remotes armed with heavy machine guns engaged the aircraft, peppering the sky with their bullets. The Redeye was pushed back, but not before it launched a parting gift from its grenade launcher. Without the layer of armour most typical gun remotes possessed, one of the remotes was annihilated by the explosion. "Unit 3-8, get to the vehicle graveyard. I'll cover you!" Mao Cong shouted. Yue kept her distance behind Unit 3-8 so that she could keep her daughter in front and in view at all times. She gripped her camouflage mantle, its highly reflective material allowing her to blend into the background and started running. Occasionally tapping into the tactical overlay shared by Mao Cong, Yue caught glimpses of video feeds displaying unsuspecting enemy soldiers coming under fire from turrets and sudden ground explosions from tripped mines. She remembered Unit 3-8 leading her through the maze of abandoned vehicles earlier, and how she had complained about the difficulty of navigating it to reach the Shack. Now the same maze had flipped on its head, standing as an unmoving defence against the enemy. Deeper in the labyrinth, beyond the Shack, stood the vehicle graveyard. As soon as Unit 3-8 entered its safety zone, he ushered Yan and QQ into a small opening where the shell of a massive, derelict tank sat in the middle. Its turret and armour plating were intact, but everything else was picked clean. "You'll be safe inside here," Unit 3-8 said after settling Yan and QQ inside the turret. "Watch your HUD very carefully. Use your hacking device when a target presents itself. And don't forget your EMP grenades! Hopefully you won't need to use them unless it is the final resort!" "This… this is too much to handle! I'm worried about Ma…" Yan looked up at her godfather, shedding a tear in her eye. "I'm worried about you too, godfather!" Unit 3-8 placed both hands on her arms and sparkled his sensor. "I'm a remote, so they can't kill me. But if I'm destroyed, I can no longer protect you. Calm down, feel the battle… I promise you will be fine, my dear goddaughter." Yan wiped the tear and nodded sharply at his promise. "GODFATHER?" Yue shouted. "Oh no. I'm dead already," Yan said to herself. She smiled wryly at her angry mother. "Hey, Ma, didn't see you back there…" "ZERO SECURITY CERTIFICATES DETECTED! DIE MEATBAGS!" The distant responses from the automated turrets at the perimeter of the vehicle graveyard sounded off as the ominous hum of the Redeye's engines returned. Shots rang out continuously, but the aircraft was more agile. "Incoming!" Unit 3-8's speakers blasted at maximum volume as he pushed Yan deeper into the turret and leaped off the vehicle, hunkering down behind it. Yue took cover behind the nearest scrap pile and checked her overlay. Yan is safe inside the tank with QQ. Unit 3-8 has taken cover behind the same vehicle. Some hostile blips are closing in… Wait, where's Mao Cong? *** "Unit 3-8, this is Mao Cong." "What's going on? Why are you using the encrypted channel?" "I'm going to draw them away. Don't tell Yan or her mother!" "Mao Cong, are you doing the sacrificial play here? If they find the rest of us first, they will kill us!" "Exactly. I'm taking a huge risk here, friend. I'm betting everything here that once I'm taken, they will leave immediately and spare you all. If I'm right, whatever's in front of you is all you'll have to deal with. If I'm wrong… I'll SEE YOU IN HELL!" Mao Cong laughed, and that was the last thing Unit 3-8 heard as the comms went dead. The Redeye's fusillade of bullets lifted soil and scrap from the ground, reminding him he was still in battle. Mao Cong, you are as mad as the day I met you… *** "Yan! Spotlight the Redeye!" Yan heard Unit 3-8's voice in her HUD. "How? I can't see it in the network!" Yan gasped, trying to find the Redeye in her overlays. "Over here, flyboy!" Unit 3-8 opened fire at the Redeye and started retreating from it. The Redeye tilted its fuselage and engaged its engines to close in on Unit 3-8. Yan's visor lit up with the Redeye's information almost immediately. I can see it now! Okay, remember the steps… Now what are they… "EEK!" Yan shouted when her doodling was interrupted by the Redeye executing a strafing run across the tank, raking its armour. Come on… I can do this… I MUST do this… Yan concentrated harder, doodling again despite the Redeye's second strafing run rattling the hull again. Finally, the target lit up. Success! "Nice one, my Little Swallow!" Yue's voice sounded in Yan's HUD. A rocket whizzed towards the Redeye from Yue's position and flashed. The explosion ruptured the wing engine, sending the aircraft spinning out of control. The Redeye crashed into a pile of scrap, which collapsed like a deck of cards and buried the aircraft. "Great shot!" Unit 3-8 said over the comms. Yue managed a grin as she lowered her smoking panzerfaust, wiping the sweat from her brow. "The soldiers are retreating. Looks like the turrets are doing their job!" Unit 3-8 said while observing the map on his battle overlay. "Hmm. Something odd is going on…" "ZERO SECURITY CERTIFICATES DETECTED! DIE MEATBAGS!" echoed from a different corner of the vehicle graveyard with another turret locked onto its potential target. Yue noticed a shimmer in the distance and slight vibrations beneath her feet. She flinched when a thunderous sound roared across the graveyard. After opening her eyes, she saw a mangled turret. "Did you see that?" Unit 3-8 asked Yue on the comms. "There's something else out there. Yan, keep quiet! Unit 3-8, can you cover the other side?" "Will do, Ms. Yuan." Yue watched Unit 3-8 break cover for just over a second when a thunderous roar sounded off again. Bright flashes of light streaked across her view and shredded Unit 3-8 into several pieces. Yan screamed into her comms for Unit 3-8, but he was gone. Yue craned her neck to take a quick peek and saw a massive silhouette shimmer and fade to match the background. It was too large to be a mid-sized TAG. "Mao Cong, do you read? MAO CONG?" Yue screamed into her comlog. No response. "THERE'S A CUTTER ON THE FIELD!!"
20 – The Raid: Cutter Yue continued to stare at what little remained of Unit 3-8 scattered in tiny pieces across the charred ground. In the distance, several more turrets sounded off in different parts of the junkyard like annoying little whispers. Yue clasped her camouflage mantle tight and crept close to the edge of the opening. "Where's that Cutter…" she whispered to herself as she looked up and leapt on top of the maze. "Ma… I'm scared… Unit 3-8 is, is –" Yan sobbed over the comms. "Calm down, I know Unit 3-8 is gone, but QQ is still with you," Yue said. "Don't worry, Ma won't do anything reckless…" Yue took a few leaps before a turret on top of the maze activated to attack a target below, only for it to be torn apart by the Cutter's machine gunfire. There you are… Yue turned towards the source of the gunfire and started hopping, landing back inside the maze just short of where the Cutter had to be. I'm sorry Yan, but I must slow their advance, otherwise they could get to you. *** "Oh QQ, I know Ma just lied to me, she always does this…" Yan looked at Quanquan and stroked its head. "What do you think she'll do?" "MOTHER, ENEMY OUT THERE, SCARY. SHOULD I HELP GRANDMA?" "First of all, stop calling Ma 'GRANDMA', and stop calling me 'MOTHER'. Call me 'Yan' and Ma is 'Ma', okay?" "INSTRUCTIONS PROCESSED," QQ said, rotating its tail. "SHOULD I HELP MA? I HAVE A NANOPULSER!" "Hey, when did you get that installed? I don't remember – you know what, never mind… Yes, please go protect Ma. I don't want her to get hurt." "INSTRUCTIONS PROCESSED. SO YOU WANT QQ TO GET HURT INSTEAD? OK…" QQ crawled deeper into the tank, exiting the vehicle through a hole at the floor of the hull. "And I want you to stop that sense of humour! This is a serious fight, you have to be serious!" Yan said. "You be careful out there too, okay?" "INSTRUCTIONS PROCESSED. UNDERSTOOD. I AM NO LONGER FUNNY." *** Yue felt the hanging metal rattle as the invisible enemy roamed the maze. The only things keeping her safe were the mountains of scraps between her and the Cutter. The pitter-patter of sounds made by small feet caught her attention. "QQ? Why did you leave Yan? Go back to her at once!" Yue said over the comms so as not to give away her position with her voice. "INSTRUCTION PROCESSING FAILED. YAN SENT ME TO HELP SO GOING BACK IS AN OVERRIDE OF HER ORDERS, WHICH IS FORBIDDEN. I AM EQUIPPED WITH A NANOPULSER," QQ replied. "ALSO, I SCAN TWO FUSILIERS APPROACHING OUR LOCATION." "Impressive, QQ! Can you hear what they are saying?" "STANDBY… SHARING SOUND FEED." QQ extended its rear sensor like a radio antenna and started rotating non-stop. "So, where's our power-armoured muscle?" "He's gone looking for higher ground, to overlook this area." "Heh, he's got the big gun, the perfect excuse to avoid taking point. Man… If I see one more automated turret, I'm gonna lose it!" "Calm down. We bait the defences, the Cutter takes them out. So long as we're careful, we got nothin' to worry about!" "Being a meat shield for a remotely piloted TAG is dumb." "You signed for the cash, just look forward to –" "LOOK OUT!" "ZERO SECURITY CERTIFICATES DETECTED! DIE –" The deafening sound of machine gunfire ended the alert. "See? Easy!" As the footsteps got louder, Yue dashed for the nearest cover further back. QQ was right behind her, continuing the broadcast of the enemy's conversation. "Cutter One sure made short work of that Dokkaebi, huh?" "Sure did. But why didn't Cutter One push through?" "The Redeye pilot reported that someone Spotlit her vehicle before it was destroyed. That put Cutter One on edge." "So we're the ones sent in to deal with this. Great…" "Don't worry, big buddy, we got you! Just keep those turrets off our backs, yeah?… Hey, Cutter One, you're still with us, right?" Mixed in with the footsteps of the soldiers was a louder series of stomps that shook the ground. Sounds like they're all bunched up… This could be our chance! "QQ, you said you had a nanopulser?" Yue asked. "ASSESSING… MOVING… STANDING BY." Yue noticed QQ sneak to a position where it could flank both soldiers and the Cutter on her overlay. Good boy! "Ma, what's going on?" Yan asked over the comms. "QQ is flanking the Fusiliers to bait the Cutter. If it works, I can nail it with my last panzerfaust shot." "Wait! Through QQ I am picking up a faint hackable signal on my network, which I believe is the Cutter's. If the Cutter reveals itself, I can use Spotlight to get you a better shot!" Yan exclaimed. "Hacking the Cutter may expose you. Are you sure?" Yue asked. "I'm already exposed after hacking the Redeye. Also, this is your last shot. So please… let me help you succeed!" Yan retorted. This is incredibly risky, but there is only one way to find out… "Fine. Yan, I need you to get ready! QQ, charge on my mark…" Yue readied and aimed with her panzerfaust. "MARK!" Yue watched her overlay as a green blip moved around the bend to outflank the Fusiliers. "Hey, what's that? It's the bloody remote! How did it –" QQ unleashed its nanopulser at the surprised Fusiliers, who screamed as the aggressive nanobots overwhelmed them. The army of billions raced over the soldiers and onto the Cutter, tearing and scratching as they tried to penetrate its bio-technological barrier. While the swarm did not faze the TAG, it tore a hole in the optical façade that hid it. "The Cutter is exposed!" Yue shouted. The longest couple of seconds passed before the TAG was lit up by Yan's successful Spotlight. Seizing the initiative with the target assistance, Yue fired. The warhead barrelled towards the Cutter's chest, but the TAG threw its arms forward. The explosion sent it stumbling backwards, giving her a window to take cover again. The Cutter's gun-wielding arm was slightly twisted, but remained intact. Yue cursed, discarding the empty panzerfaust and readjusting her camouflage mantle to blend back into the background. The Cutter's machine gun laid down covering fire as it retreated. By the time she peeked out again, the Cutter had already vanished. Instead, she saw QQ rushing back to join her. You can have this if you dare come my way… Yue thought to herself as she deployed an armour-piercing mine at her position. "Ma, the Cutter is still up? I thought you hit it?" Yan asked. "The Cutter blocked the attack, but its gun arm is likely damaged. Stay low, this isn't over yet," Yue said, panting heavily. "Be careful, Ma." "Nice work dealing with those Fusiliers, QQ," Yue said. "Any new chatter from the enemy?" QQ's tail was up again. "TARGET COMMS CHANNEL DECRYPTED… READING…" Yue's overlay read the text messages in real time: [CUTTER ONE]: I traced back the signal where the hacking came from. Here are the coordinates. [ORC TROOPER]: Got it. So it is coming from that tank. [CUTTER ONE]: You got the Feuerbach, take care of it. The power-armoured muscle! Screw the Cutter! "YAN, GET OUT OF THE TANK!" she shouted into the comms as she leapt on top of the maze. In the distance, on the tallest scrap heap overlooking the heart of the graveyard, she saw the Orc Trooper readying his weapon. "YAN IS IN DANGER! ORDERS OVERRIDE, RETURNING TO YAN!" QQ bolted as soon as it finished speaking. "GET OUT OF THE TANK NOW!" Yue repeated into the comms as she started bouncing towards the Orc Trooper, firing potshots with her pistol. Repeated booms sounded when the Orc Trooper responded to her trivial attack with a salvo of his own. Yue increased her speed and avoided every explosion with each burst of movement as she got closer and closer to her target. The last round clipped a piece of wreckage near her and threw her off the attack path. Yue tumbled and righted herself. Looking up, she saw the Orc Trooper turning his attention back to the tank. She dropped her pistol and unsheathed her sword. "YAN!" Yue screamed for her daughter but got no response. With no time to lose, she boosted the harness and launched herself at the trooper, swinging her blade as he fired. A boom from the Feuerbach reached her ears but not before she felt her blade connect with the target. The Orc Trooper disappeared amongst the shower of debris that landed on the ground below. At the same time, the tank crumpled and was blown apart when the explosive warhead from the Feuerbach detonated. Yue trembled as she watched the remains of the tank burn. "Ma… you're really loud. I got out the first time you called…" Yan responded on her comms. Yue heaved a huge sigh of relief after hearing the voice of her child. In the distance, she heard the sound of a mine go off. Was that the mine I placed earlier? She spun. The corner of her eye caught a cloud of dust where nothing stood. Then a vehicle shifted slightly on its own, as if the wind moved it. Next, a pile of scrap flattened for no reason. The Cutter is going for… NO! Yue screamed over her comms and started racing towards her daughter's location. "YAN, RUN!!!" *** Run? Is the Cutter coming for me? Yan coughed profusely as her body tried to expunge the dust that entered her lungs. She continued to stare at the wreckage that was her sanctuary just moments ago, and wondered where she could go. She looked around quickly and moved towards the exit that was closest to her. Just after a few steps, Yan noticed her vision blur. The opening just ahead rippled like a drop landing in a still lake. The dust in the air danced around something physically present but visually absent. A shimmering transformation revealed the Cutter. Yan saw it appear on her hacker network, but she was too slow to engage. The Cutter raised its machine gun and Yan closed her eyes to accept her fate. Silence? Am I already in heaven? Yan heard a familiar electric bark and the sound of clashing metal. She opened her eyes and saw QQ clinging to the machine gun of the Cutter. The TAG grabbed the remote with its free arm and tossed it aside. Yan flared up as she watched her precious QQ tumble on the ground like a discarded toy. "And don't forget your EMP grenades! Hopefully you won't need to use them unless it is the final resort…" she remembered the words of her godfather. "How… dare… you –" Yan unclipped an EMP grenade from her belt. She doubly remembered to twist the knob, then tossed it as hard as she could at the TAG. "– HURT MY QQ!!" A dull thud rang when the EMP grenade hit the Cutter square on its chest. Within moments, the grenade broke into pieces and unleashed an invisible halo. Arcs of lightning that were barely visible danced across the body of the Cutter, rupturing the TAG's optical façade. The motivators of the exposed TAG came to a screeching halt as multiple critical systems shut down in an instant. A soft breeze rustled Yan's short black hair. Looking up, she saw a heavenly figure descend from the sky, her radiant cream-coloured robes and long black ponytail gliding like dual ribbons that flowed with the wind. MA! "Yan, get as far away as you can!" Yue shouted. Yan scrambled back towards where QQ fell, and peeked from behind cover to see what her mother was about to do next. Beast Hunter Yue braced the sword with a firm grip on both hands and ignited her power harness. It groaned under pressure as she diverted what little power remained to her legs and gauntlet, launching herself like a missile at the Cutter. A loud hiss emitted from the power gauntlet as Yue released the stored kinetic energy to guide the massive sword across the Cutter's torso. The superconducted gel in the grooves of her weapon's blade ignited inside the Cutter, burning through motivators and cabling. She tumbled in the momentum of her finishing move, but the explosion that followed denied her a graceful landing, knocking her onto the ground. For a moment, everything around her was dark. The only sensation reminding her she was still alive was feeling the roasting heat on her skin as the wreckage of the Cutter burned. *** The Commander's overlays flashed yellow and orange. [CUTTER ONE, DESTROYED]. "COME ON, PEOPLE! We are only dealing with three hostiles here!" she shouted, staring at everyone on the bridge. The operators around her hid behind the monitors to avoid her livid gaze. "What the hell happened? Pilot, did you not see who destroyed the TAG?" "No, Ma'am. I tracked the hacker… and found a young girl. A remote jumped on me out of nowhere, then she threw an EMP grenade at me. I lost all control and visuals after that." The TAG pilot's voice cracked as he concluded. "I'm sorry, Ma'am… I just couldn't do it… she's just a kid!" The girl… who is she to you, Mao Cong? This whole operation had better be worth it. The Commander winced at the mental sums on the losses so far. "Ma'am, this is Gamma Team! We have the target surrounded!" "Some good news at last! Give me the goddamned visuals!" the Commander ordered. The Commander watched one of the bodycams on her overlay, showing Mao Cong in full view. Several other video feeds from the remaining soldiers' bodycams showed Mao Cong backed into a corner from multiple angles. He held his hands high and kept his finger off the trigger of his weapon, giggling at all the guns pointed at him. "If your commander is watching this, and I know she is… Just so you know, I fired off a transponder. Those StateEmpire troops in Yaochi City will mobilise in minutes. I'll come quietly with your boys. You let my people go. You won't have time for them. Let's keep this easy, eh?" "What are you waiting for?" the Commander shouted. "Take him. Take him NOW!" "Hello, you heard me? I'm sure you're looking through one of these bodycams!" Mao Cong's voice rang as a backdrop from one of the bodycams' feeds. One of the bodycams zoomed straight into Mao Cong's chest; the other views simultaneously showed a soldier slam into Mao Cong. Several more bodies dog-piled on the man, pinning him down. One of the soldiers ripped the rifle from his hands while another bound his wrists. "We have our target! I repeat, we have our target! Commander, do you wish to say anything to him?" The soldier flipped his communicator to put the Commander on the speaker. Before she said anything, another operator interrupted with a raised voice. "Commander! Our sources in Yaochi City reported the departure of several Azure Dragon dropships in response to an emergency transponder! That probably means us!" The Commander opened her voice channel to the soldier still waiting on her to give Mao Cong an answer. "All units… back to your dropships! I don't want to risk any Yu Jing entanglements…" the Commander said. "Ma'am, Zulu Cobra Beta here. I have the hacker in my network. Permission to engage." "Fry her," the Commander responded. "You have less than a minute." "YOU HEARTLESS BITCH! I WILL –" Mao Cong screamed into the bodycam, but was gagged and dragged away. *** Yue pushed herself up with her sword and took a deep breath. Power harness, an empty drag. No more panzerfaust, where's my pistol… does it matter? I am totally spent. There were no enemies in sight, no abnormal blips on her overlays, just silence over the comms. In the distance she watched Yan checking on QQ for signs of damage. QQ greeted its master, starting with an affectionate beep that turned into an ominous alert, startling the girl. "DANGER! DANGER! ZULU COBRA DETECTED!" QQ's eye sensor started flashing red. Yue started running towards her daughter. What Zulu Cobra? I don't see anyone! "Ma, my visor, it's –" Smoke and sparks emerged from Yan's visor and hacking device, and the latter popped with a loud bang. The girl slumped onto the ground like a lifeless rag doll. "ZERO SECURITY CERTIFICATES DETECTED! DIE MEATBAGS!" A turret nearby activated upon detecting Yan's assailant and opened up with a few shots before it ceased fire. QQ rushed to the base of the turret and returned, its head hung low. "ZULU COBRA SIGNAL, LOST…" "YAN!!!" Yue cradled Yan's limp body, carefully laying her onto the ground. She ripped the visor from her unconscious daughter and began emergency resuscitation. No breathing, no pulse. Yue's heart was racing as she pumped Yan's chest and forced air into her mouth. QQ prodded its master with its head. No response. The vehicle graveyard became completely silent to Yue. The crackling of burning wreckage, the engines of the dropships taking off, QQ's desperate beeps, even the wind… it didn't matter when she could not hear her daughter's breathing. Again, she tried, withholding her tears as the worst could not happen. "Yan… please…"
21 – The Reunion "This is the biggest headache I've ever inherited in my entire career… A massive stockpile of illegal guns and gear? Automated defences? A wrecked Cutter? How am I going to explain this to the Chief…" the Lieutenant lamented, staring at the work remaining to complete his report. Yaochi City Junkyard Incident - Live Report by the Lieutenant [Time: 072036] An emergency transponder signal came from a local dumping ground that ceased operations a couple of years ago. Our rapid-response drones traced the source of the signal and detected gunfire and abnormal network activity. The Chief deployed an emergency task force to investigate the incident immediately. [Time: 072654] Two Azure Dragon dropships carrying fireteams BAOZHENG (Guarantee) and BAOWEI (Protection) were deployed to the coordinates marked by the drones. Our forces contacted the enemy dropships, which were clearly from Pan Oceania, but they left Yu Jing-controlled airspace after a brief aerial engagement. Neither side suffered any casualties. [Time: 074330] Our dropships landed without incident, and the vanguard discovered a trail of destroyed gun turrets and remotes, which we believe to be the handiwork of the Pan Oceanians. We found two survivors: a middle-aged woman and a remote. There was also a young girl, who was unconscious and in critical condition. The Yisheng who accompanied BAOZHENG took the girl back to the dropship for immediate medical treatment. As the fireteams ventured deeper into the junkyard, they came under turret fire and were pinned down. The woman came forth and offered us a security certificate, allowing our engineers to shut down the automated defences with relative ease. The teams also discovered a massive stockpile of illicit weapons and equipment which would require additional support to retrieve and impound. The Gongcheng corps were activated for emergency deployment. [Time: 084001] A ground convoy from the Gongcheng corps arrived to set up a temporary base of operations in the junkyard. The girl was transferred to the ground ambulance for close observation, while the woman and the remote were detained by our security detail for questioning. [Time: 085510] We established from our initial questioning that the woman, Yuan Yue, is a Beast Hunter from Yue Minerals. She said she was looking for her daughter, who was with a stranger she claimed to not know that well. The stranger, only described as an elderly Yu Jingese man, is currently missing. When told that her family would be detained for further questioning, she protested, stating that her family needs to leave Dawn for Shinju as she is on urgent business at the request of a Dragon Lord. We are currently trying to confirm this. The remote found with Yuan Yue, which calls itself QQ, claims to be the companion of the girl. We deem it unnecessary to confiscate. [Time:_ _ _ _ _ _] The flaps of the tent blew wide open, and the icy wind made the Lieutenant flinch before he could enter his next update. "Where is the Yisheng!?" Yue pleaded, almost collapsing onto her knees. "Ma'am, this is a secure area, you aren't supposed to be wandering freely—" the Lieutenant said as he was interrupted by a private call on his comms. "It's the Chief here. Listen, there has been a change of plans. The woman is right. She has been summoned by Dragon Lord Shao, and he wants us to release the family immediately. An agent from the Imperial Service will be arriving later to handle the rest of this mess. I take it that you know what to do… Lieutenant!" "Roger that, sir. I'll handle this accordingly." The Lieutenant ended his call and turned to Yue. "Ms. Yuan, my apologies. You were looking for…?" "The Yisheng?" Yue panted. "The emergency vehicle is just over there, can't miss it," the Lieutenant said. He flinched as the flaps of his tent opened again, and by the time he looked up, Yue was gone. *** "Hey! Close that door, it's chilly out there!" The Yisheng tweaked the bio-visor on his right eye as a woman dressed in a soiled robe stomped into his sanctuary. Then he remembered her face. "Oh, it's you." "So how is she? Were you able to…?" Yue demanded as she looked down at the girl lying before them. QQ lay snugly beside her, unmoving. "Yisheng, you have been really quiet. Is my daughter…" Yue asked, tears welling in her eyes. She cupped her daughter's cold hand with her own and hovered her head sideways above Yan's face. Her brows unfurled as the sound of light breathing reached her ear. "All I can really say is that she is incredibly lucky, thanks to you," he finally said. "Your resuscitation efforts managed to bring her pulse back, and I was able to stabilise her with the medical facilities back at the dropship." "The girl survived the attack thanks to the hacking device's built-in firewall," a Zhanshi Gongcheng further inside the vehicle said as she held up Yan's backpack, giving it a little shake. "This is pretty advanced tech to be in the hands of an adolescent." "She should be sent to the hospital as soon as possible, but I last heard from the Lieutenant that you are all being detained, so…" the Yisheng stopped as he noticed Yue could not take her worried eyes off her daughter. "Come on, let's give these two some room." He gestured to his colleague and both stepped out into the cold. *** A feeling of warmth reached her head in the darkness, a sensation she hadn't felt since she had a fever as a child. Yan's fingers twitched as they touched something familiar and equally warm. She slowly tightened her grip to secure her source of comfort. The voice coming from above was one she had heard moments before intense pain and darkness, a voice she feared she would never hear again. "Ma…?" Yan said as she struggled to open her eyes. What looked bright and blurry gradually adjusted, the form before her slowly turning into one that she had known since the day she was born. She grabbed and pulled, to feel more of that warmth she had been missing this entire time. Yue also couldn't let go. Even QQ stirred and rotated its sensor. "My little Swallow, my dear little Swallow…" Yue gasped. "Welcome back…" "Ma, I was so scared I would never see you again…" Yan sniffed. "It's all right, Ma is here." "AND SO IS QQ!" the remote beeped. Yue rubbed her fingers on her kid's forehead. "Does it still hurt?" "A little… That was intense…" Yan palmed the side of her head. "You don't have to do anything right now but rest. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you want anything to eat? I can go find the—" "No, Ma, it's okay! Just… stay." Yue held onto Yan's hand, looked into her eyes and nodded. "Headaches aside, how do you feel right now?" Yue asked. "What just happened was insanely intense! Honestly, it felt like taking a final exam without studying!" Yan exclaimed, staring into space. "And it was impressive! You hacked the Redeye and even nailed that Cutter with an EMP grenade. That made things a lot easier for me," Yue said. "Yeah! And how you finished them off was just like the Maya war dramas! You were so cool swinging that big sword of yours!" Yan gestured as if she had a blade of her own. "We managed to take them down, all three of us!" QQ sparkled its sensors in fervent response when Yan placed her hand on its head. "But remember, this isn't some game," Yue warned. "Every moment had to be carefully timed, and a single mistake can be disastrous. That Zulu Cobra's attack was unexpected, and you almost died from it." Hearing Yue's remark, Yan tightened her grip on her mother's hand. "When everything was just pain and darkness, I was afraid I'd missed the chance to tell you… I'm sorry." "Hmm? Sorry for what?" "I'm sorry… for all that has ever happened. Ever since Pa died, I blamed you and did many things to spite you. I chose to adopt the baby Fenghuang, and that incident forced you to kill the mother… then I chose to fight even though I was unprepared, and if you hadn't been there to save me, it would most certainly have cost me my life…" Yan said, choking slightly towards the end. "Ma, I keep getting you into trouble. I am a total mess…" Yue looked at her daughter's wet eyes and wiped away her tears with her finger. "My little Swallow, growing up is messy. Look at it this way: you chose to give love to an orphaned animal, and you chose to be brave because you wanted to avoid the worst outcome. Every action you took is shaping you into the person you want to be, and you have grown so much from it." Seeing her daughter ease up, Yue smiled bitterly and continued. "Ma is sorry too. I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me the most. When we came to Dawn, I truly wanted to start afresh and leave behind what was painfully missing in our old home. My work left me separated from you for so long. That was why I tried calling as soon as I could, just like how Pa would have called whenever he had the chance… I was afraid you would have forsaken this family." "To be perfectly honest, Ma, I almost did…" Yan confessed. "But godfather's encouragement turned it around for me." "What happened to us was cruel, and sometimes even unfair. But we endured. I am glad we are together again," Yue said as she kissed her daughter on the forehead. "Right now, I'm not even sure if we can go to Shinju, considering the amount of trouble we got ourselves into." "Oh yeah, we are in deep trouble…" Yan echoed. "Speaking of trouble, where are we? What happened to my stuff?" "After you fell unconscious, the StateEmpire troops arrived to secure the junkyard. We are inside the ambulance where the Yisheng treated you. Your stuff? What makes you think the authorities will let you keep your hacking device and EMP grenades? It's all impounded. We get to keep QQ though, since it was yours from the start." "Too bad about the stuff, but the Pan Oceanians are gone? So we won?" Yan was unable to contain her excitement. "Where's Mr. Mao? Is he okay?" Sorrow filled Yue's eyes. "They only found us. The Pan Oceanians must have taken him before they left," she explained, her tone heavy. "No… then I failed…" Yan sobbed. "It's not your fault. I lost contact with him during the fight. I don't know if he abandoned us. He—" Yue said, but her daughter shook her head violently in response. "Mr. Mao would never do that! He is friendly, and kind, and responsible! I don't believe it!" "It's all right, I understand how you feel. What's most important is you are okay," Yue said. "Maybe Unit 3-8 knows something! We could—" Yan's eyes widened at the thought. Yue pressed her finger to her daughter's lips and whispered, "I don't think we want them hearing us talk about things they needn't know… like your teacher and your godfather." Yan nodded at her mother slowly and asked in a hushed tone, "What do they know so far?" "I offered them the security certificate so they could lock down the junkyard," Yue said. "But I made sure to give them as little as possible about your teacher. As for your godfather, I mentioned nothing, because the wreckage cannot tie him to us…" "Ma, I'm scared they'll start asking me next…" Yan said. "That is the worst-case scenario I'm trying to prevent," Yue said, then her eyes widened. "That's right, I never told you. I have been selected by the Dragon Lord to assist him in an urgent task on Shinju. That is why we have to leave Dawn as soon as possible. I'm using this as leverage. Hopefully they will let us go, so as to avoid upsetting a high-ranking official in the Imperial Service." "What if I do get questioned? How should I answer?" Yan asked. "Be brief, but also truthful, understand?" Yan nodded. A loud sound came from the twist of the door handle and the cold air slipped in as the Lieutenant poked his head in to interrupt the private moment. "I'm sorry, Ms. Yuan, can I speak to you for a moment?" The Lieutenant's salute surprised Yue. "Why the sudden formalities? No matter, let's go." Yue turned to her daughter and nodded before stepping out of the vehicle to face the young man. "Actually, I was about to inform you before you rushed off to find your daughter. I received word from my superior that your claims were sound. Your family is free to go," the Lieutenant said. "Thank you, Lieutenant. If you'll excuse me, we shall take our leave," Yue said as she bowed to the officer before stepping back into the vehicle. "Yan, we're leaving for the hospital. I'll get the Yisheng to make arrangements immediately." "Really? I didn't expect him to let us go that easily," Yan said. "Right now, I want you to take a good rest." Yue helped Yan settle down and pulled up her blanket. "Also, I have a promise to keep." "Oh? What's that, Ma?" "I'm paying a visit to a good friend. Come along, I believe you will like him." Yue smiled. *** "Lieutenant," the Agent said. "I take it that the area is secure? My unit will be arriving soon." "Affirmative, sir." "And those implicated by the incident?" "They have already left. I was ordered to release them immediately," the Lieutenant said. "Oh? On whose authority?" the Agent asked. "Dragon Lord Shao from Shinju. Said it was urgent business." The Lieutenant held his breath. "I see. I would have liked to meet them," the Agent said. "But no matter. Our priority is the investigation here. Surely our paths will cross again." Dragon Lord Shao, always a step ahead… Shinju… This should be interesting.
