A Last Stand
All hell has broken loose. NATO is pushing into the city with weaponized robot dogs and new walkers. Rabbit is out of the fight and Brick is dead. On top of that, I have dozens of those giant lizards nicely and openly approaching asking for us to protect them.
Troops are moving ammo from the storage areas to the defensive positions and pumas are racing around. It’s complete organized chaos.
Griffin will be back any minute and luckily it seems the walkers are slow. That gives us time. Unfortunately, long-range communications are down. I’m not sure if it’s from the weather or the enemy but right now it doesn’t matter, it has the same effect that I can’t get fire missions from Strike Fleet Shark. though that doesn't stop NATO from Shelling us.
Another group of lizards arrive and I decide I’m done having my guys deal with them. I march over to where they are gathering around Bear. He’s busy scratching one’s head. “Bear my guys have more important things to do go meet the new arrivals at the perimeter”
I get the feeling he was enjoying himself and didn’t want to get up. He eventually does and I move on to where the patrol should be arriving. I glance back and watch a few of the lizards follow him.
Griffin is moving through the defensive positions by the time I get there. The helmet camera didn’t do justice to the carnage. Sherman’s tank has dozens of divots and gouges from shell impacts.
I stand aside as a medical puma rolls up and the occupants collect rabbit and brick. Thankfully rabbit seems fine other than his legs but they’ve already been replaced once already. Once they drive off I move up to Griffin.
I place my hand on his shoulder “We’ll make 'em pay” he nods silently. “They’ll be here soon get ready,” I tell him and move away. Things like this just take time. I know Griffin, he’ll pull through if he can get through the coming assault without doing something stupid.
I brush my new rifle subconsciously making sure it’s still slung next to my backpack. This is going to be brutal but I get the feeling if we can survive then it’ll be over, just one last push. I walk over to the artillery positions and the pile of wreckage that used to be cannons.
We still have a good number but now I really wish we had more. The ones left seem all ready to go and I move to the next point I want to check. As I inspect various areas I try to not think about who will survive and who will die.
I’m contemplating taking a nap before the battle but sudden machine gun fire gives me my answer. I sprint over to the section that’s fighting. On the way, I unsling my rifle and rack it glancing at its icon in my hud saying semi-automatic, HVAPHEDF (high-velocity armor piercing high explosive depth fuse).
There is another icon by it saying auto cycle and a symbol to indicate it’s turned off. I have no idea what that’s about so I leave it. I’m at the wall anyway. I move to a gun port and look out.
The street has a walker in it and probably more behind it but it’s also accompanied by scores of robot dogs. “Short bursts on the quads get some rockets on the big bastard” I call over the local comm. the dogs fall as fast as they are replaced.
Another section further down the wall opens fire then another and another. We’re surrounded and being pushed on all sides. “All units open fire and break their backs” I pick a dog and fire blowing out mechanical innards. I shift to another and smoothly take it out.
Someone drops a rocket onto one of the walker's legs causing it to slump forward. Immediately the volume of incoming fire drops off. A few minutes later I watch as another walker climbs over the first and sweeps the defensive positions with its guns. A few men go down but we hold the line and a tank puts a shell dead center blowing it up and throwing pieces everywhere.
This continues for nearly two hours with actual infantry joining in near the end when the phosphorus is dying down. A sudden explosion draws my attention and I see a smoking hole in one of the defensive positions and the dogs climbing through.
I move to run over and watch as Griffin detaches the ammo drum for the Pumas rotary gun and straps it to his back before ripping it free of its gun mount. He then slowly marches around the wreckage and once on the far side he plants his feet and leans forward spinning up the gun and firing.
He sweeps it over the gap and to my surprise he takes slow deliberate steps forward. His armor isn’t doing much to actually help him so this feat is almost entirely raw muscle. I catch up to him and then pass him leveling my own rifle and picking targets.
I get to the top of the mound and slide into a recess and pick more targets. Griffin just stands on top with his borrowed weapon. I notice a puma carrying supplies pull up and a few guys carry a new drum up to Griffin. They wait a moment then quickly switch the belt feet from one to the other seamlessly then cut off the empty drum.
I look back to the street we are now watching and I see no less than six walkers. And we have no anti-armor weapons here at the moment. They all sweep the mound and somehow all miss Griffin. I get the beep of a private message and see it’s from Bear.
It reads “Turn on the auto cycle immediately” Confused I turn it on and the ammo flashes a moment then it looks good to go. I fire at one of the joints of the closest walker and ineffective flashes and the ammo type goes to a new one. I fire again and the same thing happens.
I decide to lay into it and after a few more ineffective rounds the joint explodes. I switch my aim to the front of it and flip it to full auto. The rounds eat through the armor and explode inside evidently hitting something important as it explodes into several chunks.
I switch to the next walker. I have no idea how long me and griffin held this position with only the help of a few soldiers to get him ammo and occasionally shoot a few robot dogs. That’s when I noticed something strange.
IFF tags that would flicker then disappear, dozens of them. They appeared friendly but it could be the enemy trying to trick us. It happens a few more times and I catch a glimpse of the body that one of the tags belongs to.
Heavy dust storm goggles and a heavy gas mask with a thick cloak that goes around the neck over a shoulder and down their back. It looked like they had some hard armor plates but it’s definitely not our gear. It’s not NATO either though. The IFF from the soldier I see is close enough that I can catch the unit.
DUST DEVILS
They must be from the unified East “All forces check your fire we have friendly among the enemy forces watch for IFF flickers” As I finish I watch two run out from under a walker and seem to dissipate into the dust and ash. Moments later the walker explodes. “Friendly's planting satchel charges”
The next while seems a blur and the next thing I know the battle is over. I almost go to check the casualties with my helmet but stop. Now isn’t the time. Griffin takes a few steps and then drops the barrels on the gattling are warped from heat. His helpers rush over to him as dose a lizard. It’s actually Fünfer. They are nudging Griffin and I can tell from the weak attempts to swat them away he’s alive. seems the adrenaline wore off.
A man appears out of nowhere next to me and speaks in decent though slightly broken Elysian “Seems we arrived just in time” I nod and watch Bear jog over to us “You helped save a lot of civilians and prevent any further casualties for that I thank you…”
He chuckles “Apologies Major General I am Colonel Malik Ali… you were the battalion that helped protect my homeland no” I tilt my hand side to side “It was a platoon mostly his actually” I point to Griffin who now has three lizards and Bear standing over him.
I hold up a finger to Ali “Cut the fucking ammo can off him and get him inside he’s probably dehydrated with torn muscles, and Bear make those overgrown lizards useful and have them sniff out our men there’s at least one buried under some rubble” the lizards all straighten up from my yelling.
I turn back to Ali. “I’m impressed by your time to get here and your ability to navigate in these conditions” he shrugs “It’s not much different than the dust storms we have back home”
I nod “Well then if I could trouble your men to scour the city for any remaining NATO forces I’ll get this area sorted out and we can get out of here” he nods and walks off into the haze.
I catch a glimpse of the lizards, we need a proper name for them, moving some rubble that was on top of someone. At least that was a gamble that paid off.
I open a map in my hud and overlay personal and filter it down to major and up. Griffin is now underground in a hospital wing. Willy however is still up and who I'm looking for so I head in his direction.
I arrive to see him lying on his tank probably stretching. “Get up we’re going for a walk” After a second he groans and gets up and slides off the tank. “Can I get coffee first” I shake my head “It’s kinda urgent but I’ll have someone bring a few sealed mugs” This seems to satisfy him so I pass on the order.
I lead us to the closest wall and then past to the robot dogs. I crouch down and get a closer look. “What are your thoughts on these? We both inspect it for a few minutes. The legs are aluminum and surprisingly easy to warp. The body is steel-cased with a fixed weapon on top so the entire body would have to shift to aim it.
It has several cameras and sensors in the front and a large battery and ammo box inside the body. Then I find company names. Boston Dynamics and Raytheon. So this is supposedly cutting edge. I wouldn’t even use this for security let alone a frontal assault. Willy is of the same opinion.
The next thing we inspect after a coffee break is one of the walkers. The joints are better protected than the quads but still more exposed than I’d personally like. The armament is impressive. It has eight twenty-millimeter autocannons four in front and four in the rear with a one-hundred-fifty millimeter cannon on top that has a 360 aiming radius.
The armor seems way ahead of anything they used prior. It seems to be a ceramic like their old stuff but it’s way more resilient. We’ll eventually load one up to have professionals examine it.
We find the hatch for the crew and the inside is cramped. Radio man and three gunners and a commander. The driver doesn’t seem to be a part of this compartment. We climb back out and look it over for another hatch.
After nearly an hour we don’t find one but we do find cameras. I have some grunts bring us some vehicle rescue equipment and I pick a spot and begin to cut through.
I eventually make it through and I got lucky it is indeed the driver but what we find explains why there wasn’t a hatch. The poor bastard inside is hard-wired into the walker permanently. One of the grunts throws up from the sight.
This guy is more wire and hose than man. I log the positions of the crew and driver and we head back to our camp.
Once back we begin to pack up as the main spearhead arrives. I think about doing a public prayer but decide against it. Maybe just the majors and up? I’ll ask Griffin.
I’m sitting in my office, staring at a screen that’s displaying the outside world in all its gray-ashen glory. While it was unfortunate to happen it has happened. All we can do now is keep moving forward and in time fix it.
A soft knock comes from the door and it opens a few moments later. In steps siff and bliss. Before I can say anything bliss breaks into a smile and while she takes a seat only half sarcastically says “Congratulations on the reelection”
I nod dreading the news they actually bring “Anything on those echoes on Luna” Siff also takes a seat and nods “We can’t confirm it without getting on the surface but it points to construction” She pauses and I’ve known her long enough to know more is to come.
“Sentinel sensors have picked up echoes in the Oort Cloud we believe whatever it is is just running passive sensors and no I’m certain they haven’t figured out we are watching them back”
I nod “The Oort stays secret, bliss draws up some plans to assault that facility on Luna keep in mind who will be executing it. On that topic what is the status of ship construction”
Siff swipes through a tablet even though we all know she doesn’t need one. “What was flagged as top priority are all nearly done though the rest of the ships are lagging behind. the priority ships will be completed and able to take their shake-down voyage in a month”
I nod again “Unfortunate but within tolerance, I believe. What about equipment and vehicles” Both were important because if you don’t have a way to get to the fight it’s pointless to have the means to fight same goes if you have the means to get there if you are relegated to sticks and stones.
“Ahead of schedule actually. The dock master finished the refinery first to assist with the rest of construction so while they will be missing most of their fleet they will be fully equipped and stocked”
The right man in the right place makes all the difference. “Perfect once they deploy split production between filling out 1st void strike fleet and 8th void bulwark fleet. Now what's the surface status?"
Siff speaks after a moment “Besides the heavy-metal-laden ash that’s creating a nearly global cloud status is surprisingly good. We are completely unaffected in Antarctica meanwhile in Africa, coastal emplacement construction has slowed slightly but the population is staying healthy, we were able to get everyone into shelters in time.”
As expected “next is the unified east. They have taken a beating but our relationship with them is actually stronger now than half a year ago. This is due to the 104th stopping them from being turned into a sea of vitrified soil and our relief efforts and help with reconstruction. They actually sent a battalion with our southern spearhead into the federation”
Another pause “They are actually ecstatic that they were able to save the 104th and repay their debt. They have an uncanny ability to maneuver through the cloud. The status of the federation however is in question”
I nod and interrupt “Because they surrendered and assisted us. Put out the offer to them that they can join us as a semi-independent state and will be required to send a battalion worth of volunteers to us for training”
They both look a little confused so I clarify “They will function similarly to the UE but by demanding troops they will feel a sense of punishment that will help the people heal and move past the war”
Another hour goes by and we lament that the biggest problem we have because of the ash cloud is aircraft’s engines flaming out or exploding. Though it seems the trans orbital craft seem to be up for short hops.
“Anyway now that official business is over your saint seems to have taken the news incredibly well,” I say. Siff shrugged “I know you're not happy about it but would you rather have a repeat of last time”
I sigh “No but at the same time it’ll be on all of you to fix if it gets to that level I’m sure Ori would rather not burn another universe down” they both nod.
After a moment of silence, I decide to break it “While we’re on the topic I have two questions, how’s the Matroska coming along the signal is reliable yes” Siff smiles.
The matoska is the pinnacle of the sentinel's efforts in a way. It is the burning universe so nothing can touch it. It has twenty rings each dedicated to a sentinel and each powerful enough to simulate an entire universe including life and the movement of every atom. Once it’s complete of course.
“The hub is nearly complete after that the rest will follow swiftly and it’ll prioritize the two legion rings so they can help build it. As for the signal we’ve had unexpected issues with sudden dropping which shouldn’t be possible with paired quarks”
I nod “I’m sure it’ll be fixed before you all actually transfer there. Now the other question why Miss Tanya Rex. I admit she is a great leader and has an unbreakable will but I want to hear your thoughts”
Bliss laughs “I knew you weren’t listening when we talked about it. Anyway, it was actually Casper who suggested her and no one could really disagree or think of anyone else” Whatever I know they are all mature enough to have at least mostly thought it through and like I told them it’ll be their mess.
A Last Stand
All hell has broken loose. NATO is pushing into the city with weaponized robot dogs and new walkers. Rabbit is out of the fight and Brick is dead. On top of that, I have dozens of those giant lizards nicely and openly approaching asking for us to protect them.
Troops are moving ammo from the storage areas to the defensive positions and pumas are racing around. It’s complete organized chaos.
Griffin will be back any minute and luckily it seems the walkers are slow. That gives us time. Unfortunately, long-range communications are down. I’m not sure if it’s from the weather or the enemy but right now it doesn’t matter, it has the same effect that I can’t get fire missions from Strike Fleet Shark. though that doesn't stop NATO from Shelling us.
Another group of lizards arrive and I decide I’m done having my guys deal with them. I march over to where they are gathering around Bear. He’s busy scratching one’s head. “Bear my guys have more important things to do go meet the new arrivals at the perimeter”
I get the feeling he was enjoying himself and didn’t want to get up. He eventually does and I move on to where the patrol should be arriving. I glance back and watch a few of the lizards follow him.
Griffin is moving through the defensive positions by the time I get there. The helmet camera didn’t do justice to the carnage. Sherman’s tank has dozens of divots and gouges from shell impacts.
I stand aside as a medical puma rolls up and the occupants collect rabbit and brick. Thankfully rabbit seems fine other than his legs but they’ve already been replaced once already. Once they drive off I move up to Griffin.
I place my hand on his shoulder “We’ll make 'em pay” he nods silently. “They’ll be here soon get ready,” I tell him and move away. Things like this just take time. I know Griffin, he’ll pull through if he can get through the coming assault without doing something stupid.
I brush my new rifle subconsciously making sure it’s still slung next to my backpack. This is going to be brutal but I get the feeling if we can survive then it’ll be over, just one last push. I walk over to the artillery positions and the pile of wreckage that used to be cannons.
We still have a good number but now I really wish we had more. The ones left seem all ready to go and I move to the next point I want to check. As I inspect various areas I try to not think about who will survive and who will die.
I’m contemplating taking a nap before the battle but sudden machine gun fire gives me my answer. I sprint over to the section that’s fighting. On the way, I unsling my rifle and rack it glancing at its icon in my hud saying semi-automatic, HVAPHEDF (high-velocity armor piercing high explosive depth fuse).
There is another icon by it saying auto cycle and a symbol to indicate it’s turned off. I have no idea what that’s about so I leave it. I’m at the wall anyway. I move to a gun port and look out.
The street has a walker in it and probably more behind it but it’s also accompanied by scores of robot dogs. “Short bursts on the quads get some rockets on the big bastard” I call over the local comm. the dogs fall as fast as they are replaced.
Another section further down the wall opens fire then another and another. We’re surrounded and being pushed on all sides. “All units open fire and break their backs” I pick a dog and fire blowing out mechanical innards. I shift to another and smoothly take it out.
Someone drops a rocket onto one of the walker's legs causing it to slump forward. Immediately the volume of incoming fire drops off. A few minutes later I watch as another walker climbs over the first and sweeps the defensive positions with its guns. A few men go down but we hold the line and a tank puts a shell dead center blowing it up and throwing pieces everywhere.
This continues for nearly two hours with actual infantry joining in near the end when the phosphorus is dying down. A sudden explosion draws my attention and I see a smoking hole in one of the defensive positions and the dogs climbing through.
I move to run over and watch as Griffin detaches the ammo drum for the Pumas rotary gun and straps it to his back before ripping it free of its gun mount. He then slowly marches around the wreckage and once on the far side he plants his feet and leans forward spinning up the gun and firing.
He sweeps it over the gap and to my surprise he takes slow deliberate steps forward. His armor isn’t doing much to actually help him so this feat is almost entirely raw muscle. I catch up to him and then pass him leveling my own rifle and picking targets.
I get to the top of the mound and slide into a recess and pick more targets. Griffin just stands on top with his borrowed weapon. I notice a puma carrying supplies pull up and a few guys carry a new drum up to Griffin. They wait a moment then quickly switch the belt feet from one to the other seamlessly then cut off the empty drum.
I look back to the street we are now watching and I see no less than six walkers. And we have no anti-armor weapons here at the moment. They all sweep the mound and somehow all miss Griffin. I get the beep of a private message and see it’s from Bear.
It reads “Turn on the auto cycle immediately” Confused I turn it on and the ammo flashes a moment then it looks good to go. I fire at one of the joints of the closest walker and ineffective flashes and the ammo type goes to a new one. I fire again and the same thing happens.
I decide to lay into it and after a few more ineffective rounds the joint explodes. I switch my aim to the front of it and flip it to full auto. The rounds eat through the armor and explode inside evidently hitting something important as it explodes into several chunks.
I switch to the next walker. I have no idea how long me and griffin held this position with only the help of a few soldiers to get him ammo and occasionally shoot a few robot dogs. That’s when I noticed something strange.
IFF tags that would flicker then disappear, dozens of them. They appeared friendly but it could be the enemy trying to trick us. It happens a few more times and I catch a glimpse of the body that one of the tags belongs to.
Heavy dust storm goggles and a heavy gas mask with a thick cloak that goes around the neck over a shoulder and down their back. It looked like they had some hard armor plates but it’s definitely not our gear. It’s not NATO either though. The IFF from the soldier I see is close enough that I can catch the unit.
DUST DEVILS
They must be from the unified East “All forces check your fire we have friendly among the enemy forces watch for IFF flickers” As I finish I watch two run out from under a walker and seem to dissipate into the dust and ash. Moments later the walker explodes. “Friendly's planting satchel charges”
The next while seems a blur and the next thing I know the battle is over. I almost go to check the casualties with my helmet but stop. Now isn’t the time. Griffin takes a few steps and then drops the barrels on the gattling are warped from heat. His helpers rush over to him as dose a lizard. It’s actually Fünfer. They are nudging Griffin and I can tell from the weak attempts to swat them away he’s alive. seems the adrenaline wore off.
A man appears out of nowhere next to me and speaks in decent though slightly broken Elysian “Seems we arrived just in time” I nod and watch Bear jog over to us “You helped save a lot of civilians and prevent any further casualties for that I thank you…”
He chuckles “Apologies Major General I am Colonel Malik Ali… you were the battalion that helped protect my homeland no” I tilt my hand side to side “It was a platoon mostly his actually” I point to Griffin who now has three lizards and Bear standing over him.
I hold up a finger to Ali “Cut the fucking ammo can off him and get him inside he’s probably dehydrated with torn muscles, and Bear make those overgrown lizards useful and have them sniff out our men there’s at least one buried under some rubble” the lizards all straighten up from my yelling.
I turn back to Ali. “I’m impressed by your time to get here and your ability to navigate in these conditions” he shrugs “It’s not much different than the dust storms we have back home”
I nod “Well then if I could trouble your men to scour the city for any remaining NATO forces I’ll get this area sorted out and we can get out of here” he nods and walks off into the haze.
I catch a glimpse of the lizards, we need a proper name for them, moving some rubble that was on top of someone. At least that was a gamble that paid off.
I open a map in my hud and overlay personal and filter it down to major and up. Griffin is now underground in a hospital wing. Willy however is still up and who I'm looking for so I head in his direction.
I arrive to see him lying on his tank probably stretching. “Get up we’re going for a walk” After a second he groans and gets up and slides off the tank. “Can I get coffee first” I shake my head “It’s kinda urgent but I’ll have someone bring a few sealed mugs” This seems to satisfy him so I pass on the order.
I lead us to the closest wall and then past to the robot dogs. I crouch down and get a closer look. “What are your thoughts on these? We both inspect it for a few minutes. The legs are aluminum and surprisingly easy to warp. The body is steel-cased with a fixed weapon on top so the entire body would have to shift to aim it.
It has several cameras and sensors in the front and a large battery and ammo box inside the body. Then I find company names. Boston Dynamics and Raytheon. So this is supposedly cutting edge. I wouldn’t even use this for security let alone a frontal assault. Willy is of the same opinion.
The next thing we inspect after a coffee break is one of the walkers. The joints are better protected than the quads but still more exposed than I’d personally like. The armament is impressive. It has eight twenty-millimeter autocannons four in front and four in the rear with a one-hundred-fifty millimeter cannon on top that has a 360 aiming radius.
The armor seems way ahead of anything they used prior. It seems to be a ceramic like their old stuff but it’s way more resilient. We’ll eventually load one up to have professionals examine it.
We find the hatch for the crew and the inside is cramped. Radio man and three gunners and a commander. The driver doesn’t seem to be a part of this compartment. We climb back out and look it over for another hatch.
After nearly an hour we don’t find one but we do find cameras. I have some grunts bring us some vehicle rescue equipment and I pick a spot and begin to cut through.
I eventually make it through and I got lucky it is indeed the driver but what we find explains why there wasn’t a hatch. The poor bastard inside is hard-wired into the walker permanently. One of the grunts throws up from the sight.
This guy is more wire and hose than man. I log the positions of the crew and driver and we head back to our camp.
Once back we begin to pack up as the main spearhead arrives. I think about doing a public prayer but decide against it. Maybe just the majors and up? I’ll ask Griffin.
I’m sitting in my office, staring at a screen that’s displaying the outside world in all its gray-ashen glory. While it was unfortunate to happen it has happened. All we can do now is keep moving forward and in time fix it.
A soft knock comes from the door and it opens a few moments later. In steps siff and bliss. Before I can say anything bliss breaks into a smile and while she takes a seat only half sarcastically says “Congratulations on the reelection”
I nod dreading the news they actually bring “Anything on those echoes on Luna” Siff also takes a seat and nods “We can’t confirm it without getting on the surface but it points to construction” She pauses and I’ve known her long enough to know more is to come.
“Sentinel sensors have picked up echoes in the Oort Cloud we believe whatever it is is just running passive sensors and no I’m certain they haven’t figured out we are watching them back”
I nod “The Oort stays secret, bliss draws up some plans to assault that facility on Luna keep in mind who will be executing it. On that topic what is the status of ship construction”
Siff swipes through a tablet even though we all know she doesn’t need one. “What was flagged as top priority are all nearly done though the rest of the ships are lagging behind. the priority ships will be completed and able to take their shake-down voyage in a month”
I nod again “Unfortunate but within tolerance, I believe. What about equipment and vehicles” Both were important because if you don’t have a way to get to the fight it’s pointless to have the means to fight same goes if you have the means to get there if you are relegated to sticks and stones.
“Ahead of schedule actually. The dock master finished the refinery first to assist with the rest of construction so while they will be missing most of their fleet they will be fully equipped and stocked”
The right man in the right place makes all the difference. “Perfect once they deploy split production between filling out 1st void strike fleet and 8th void bulwark fleet. Now what's the surface status?"
Siff speaks after a moment “Besides the heavy-metal-laden ash that’s creating a nearly global cloud status is surprisingly good. We are completely unaffected in Antarctica meanwhile in Africa, coastal emplacement construction has slowed slightly but the population is staying healthy, we were able to get everyone into shelters in time.”
As expected “next is the unified east. They have taken a beating but our relationship with them is actually stronger now than half a year ago. This is due to the 104th stopping them from being turned into a sea of vitrified soil and our relief efforts and help with reconstruction. They actually sent a battalion with our southern spearhead into the federation”
Another pause “They are actually ecstatic that they were able to save the 104th and repay their debt. They have an uncanny ability to maneuver through the cloud. The status of the federation however is in question”
I nod and interrupt “Because they surrendered and assisted us. Put out the offer to them that they can join us as a semi-independent state and will be required to send a battalion worth of volunteers to us for training”
They both look a little confused so I clarify “They will function similarly to the UE but by demanding troops they will feel a sense of punishment that will help the people heal and move past the war”
Another hour goes by and we lament that the biggest problem we have because of the ash cloud is aircraft’s engines flaming out or exploding. Though it seems the trans orbital craft seem to be up for short hops.
“Anyway now that official business is over your saint seems to have taken the news incredibly well,” I say. Siff shrugged “I know you're not happy about it but would you rather have a repeat of last time”
I sigh “No but at the same time it’ll be on all of you to fix if it gets to that level I’m sure Ori would rather not burn another universe down” they both nod.
After a moment of silence, I decide to break it “While we’re on the topic I have two questions, how’s the Matroska coming along the signal is reliable yes” Siff smiles.
The matoska is the pinnacle of the sentinel's efforts in a way. It is the burning universe so nothing can touch it. It has twenty rings each dedicated to a sentinel and each powerful enough to simulate an entire universe including life and the movement of every atom. Once it’s complete of course.
“The hub is nearly complete after that the rest will follow swiftly and it’ll prioritize the two legion rings so they can help build it. As for the signal we’ve had unexpected issues with sudden dropping which shouldn’t be possible with paired quarks”
I nod “I’m sure it’ll be fixed before you all actually transfer there. Now the other question why Miss Tanya Rex. I admit she is a great leader and has an unbreakable will but I want to hear your thoughts”
Bliss laughs “I knew you weren’t listening when we talked about it. Anyway, it was actually Casper who suggested her and no one could really disagree or think of anyone else” Whatever I know they are all mature enough to have at least mostly thought it through and like I told them it’ll be their mess.
