The District Page 11

  The Wolf airships were dropping shuttles, I knew what that meant. Firewolves would be on the way. Worse yet I was picking up signs of reinforcement from the other districts. There was a dimensional attenuation from Flicker's district pointed this way, giant combat mecha were rising from Crash's and a swarm of Pterodactyls was rising from the Professor's.

  Wolf must have seen Sylax and knew that she was back. He knew what that meant had obviously decided to throw everything at her and hit her where she wouldn't have much support.

  What he hadn't taken into account was that he was still facing the true mistress of this city. I detected a surge of power on the perimeter of my district. The teleportation portals were coming online. I detected the same surge in Jade's district but none of the others.

  An invitation then to the party.

  I had to figure out how to handle that invitation. Did I think Wolf and his allies capable of taking out Sylax? If so it might be in my best interest to allow this to play out, with their forces weakened in taking her out and Jade under my control that would mean the city would be mine for the taking.

  I also knew how invincible Sylax seemed. I'd done my best to kill her in the past and failed, I couldn't be sure Wolf and his allies were strong enough. If they were and he did have sort of mirror core, his long term danger remained and he might have surprising abilities yet to show.

  While tempting to let this play out I had to trust in the plans already laid. I began equipping my clone army and ordered them to the portals and sent a command for Jade to join the fray.

  Wolf's airships had nearly touched down when the newly formed crystal towers exploded. Shards of crystal sent shuttles tumbling and crashing along the ground and where the towers had stood forces were tumbling out. Satyrs, minotaurs, and harpies. Hybrids of all sorts of a bewildering away of forms.

  Crystal wasn't regrowing her city, she was unleashing an army.

  I wish she'd chosen to unleash a few more dragons. The enemy airpower was a problem, although Jade and her people would provide some impressive air defenses.

  I sent my first drones through the portals and they materialized in the center of Crystal's district near Sylax and Crystal herself. Jade stepped out of another shimmering portal of energy flanked by her Lieutenants.

  Anna was slipping into her own battle armor.

  "Are you sure you want to come to her aid? While I realize being her pet and peeing on her floor comes naturally I'm still surprised," I asked.

  "We work with the team we have. Just don't lose sight of the endgame Emma. You see more clearly than any of us. If it looks like there is a real chance of taking the bitch out, take the shot," Anna said.

  Pragmatism, I could work with pragmatism.

  In Crystal's district the Firewolves had survived the crashing of their shuttles and were even now forming a line. James Wolf himself was there among them. Back from them were forming a line of wire golems, hundreds of them with parts occasionally flickering out of existence. Still further back were lines of mecha as pterodactyls and airships flew overhead.

  They surrounded the defenders on all side, although we still had reinforcements arriving into the center through the portals. Crystal's misshapen army of hybrids, my perfect lines of clones, Jade and her leather wearing band all of whom were surrounded by a green glow as dragons flew overhead.

  I hadn't expected this attack to turn into a final battle, this was going to be a quick prelude before deciding on how to launch an attack on Wolf but it seemed Wolf had picked the battlefield before hand.

  That didn't seem to our advantage, but it was also an act of desperation.

  Sylax stepped forward, "Stand down Wolf and I'll allow your people to live. I might even even allow what is left of you to return to service, eventually."

  Wolf stepped forward from his own line. That was bold of him given how powerful Sylax was. "Emma, Jade, this isn't your fight. Once I put these two down you can still have a place here. I've seen how useful you are and I treat my pack well."

  I also remembered how he treated his enemies. I remembered what he and his pack had done to Sylax's captured peasants. I could never really trust him any more than I'd ever be able to truly trust Sylax.

  I didn't even get to give my insulting reply because Sylax was already surging forward. The army followed her and the battle was on.

  32

  Sylax approached Wolf at a run, a punch thrown at his abdomen missing as he vaulted over her and his flesh began to ripple. He had some sort of adaptive armor that actually grew as he did, the man really had found a way to unleash his own beast. In his Werewolf form he was larger than any of the others in his pack.

  I couldn't focus on that fight, I had my own to deal with. Each of the clones really did have their own intelligence, their own personality, for all that they might look identical they weren't any sort of mindless copies. That said, they also all lacked my computing power to analyze threats, target weak spots, and coordinate attacks.

  I wasn't seeing this battle through a single pair of eyes, but through hundreds of them all working to inflict as much damage as possible and to keep core assets such as Anna, Hot Stuff, and the others alive.

  It didn't always lead to a linear fight. It meant hopping into one drone to shift the aim of a rifle just enough so that instead of targeting the head of the Firewolf coming at them the shot would fly over their shoulder to hit the cabling of the power regulator of the mech behind them.

  The drone died beneath the set of claws, but the resulting explosion neutralized four enemies that otherwise would have survived. I had to always be alert to those opportunities, aware, and step in where needed.

  Jade brought an airship down, the entire thing enveloped in a green glow as she plowed it into the ground in the middle of Crash's mechs. While I admired her strength, I'd have preferred she thrown it into another airship. Still, Jade and her forces I was not in direct control of.

  We were too strong for the battle to be one sided, but too outnumbered for it to be fair and there wasn't an enemy type that was easy to face. If they got close my drones were no match for the Firewolves, the mixture of heat and claws shredded armor and while my temperature resistant acid mixture would put them down for a time to actually kill them required quite a lot of effort. Flicker's golems were simply odd and any efforts I made to predict their motions was proving inaccurate.

  The expected way for the battle to proceed was for us to be overwhelmed at first but as our most powerful members beat theirs for us to gain ground later. So far it wasn't happening, most alarmingly Wolf was holding his own against Sylax.

  Given her past performances I'd expected a single blow from her to rip out his spine, instead it simply sent him sailing through the air to come charging back moments later to rip into her with fang and claw. More alarming yet, those fangs and claws were connecting and she was bloodied.

  I opened a comm line to Anna. "While I realize you are busy being ineffectual in your efforts to destroy golems perhaps you might pay some attention to the main fight."

  Anna plunged an armored first into the chest of a golem, wrenching out a strand of wire that caused the entire mass to unravel into a pool of wire. It was the third one she'd taken out that way. I'd never tell her this but I was actually rather impressed, my drones weren't performing nearly as well.

  "I told you to take her out if you got the chance," Anna said.

  She had, and in a general sense I approved of the plan. What I didn't approve of was how strong Wolf was. The more I analyzed the fight I didn't think he was just holding his own, he was winning.

  I'd kept our heaviest hitters back at base to play defense. I wasn't sure if I still had that luxury, this time I opened a line to Hot Stuff.

  "Want a chance to take a swing at Wolf?" I asked.

  "You know I do," Hot Stuff said.

  "Portal D7."

  Wolf and Sylax were moving all around the battlefield but unlike with the golems my predictive algorithms were workin
g just fine.

  Hot Stuff appeared just on cue. The portal bringing her to just behind where Wolf stood after he had sent Sylax staggering back a few steps with a swipe of claws across her face. Hot Stuff's aura blazed and she flung herself at his back, wrapping her arms around him.

  The air was already filled with the stench of burning flesh, although that was mostly from my drones. Hot Stuff could melt her way through meters of armor plating but Wolf wasn't dissolving into a puddle of steam and he slammed his head backwards to crash into Hot Stuff's face. It shattered her nose, blood spraying and she stumbled backwards releasing her grip. In an instant he was on her, claws digging into her abdomen before he bodily lifted her and flung her into a cluster of my drones.

  They didn't fare as well, as hot as she was burning they were instantly vaporized with only a few whisps of smoke to mark their passage.

  Hot Stuff would survive, the wound might have been a fatal one for most but I had upgraded her with accelerated healing in the past. It would take her time to recover but as long as I could get her clear of the battlefield she'd survive.

  I upgraded a nearby drone with temperature resistance and had them carry her through the nearest portal.

  Sylax was still down after hit hit but Wolf wasn't pressing the attack. He was moving towards Crystal, she transformed into a crystalline spider just before he arrived but that didn't deter him. A clawed hand reached out and ripped one of the spider's legs from its body before tearing free a second moments later.

  Crytal wasn't yielding, but then she didn't have to. By the fourth leg she passed out and he threw her limp body to the ground. There was a shimmer in the air.

  "Destroy them" Wolf roared and now the hybrids joined in against our forces. Crystal had fallen and her forces were now his.

  "Get your people clear," Sylax said as she staggered back to her feet marching back towards Wolf.

  She was going to buy us some time, we needed it. I signaled all forces, full retreat.

  33

  It was a rout, but at least for my forces it was an orderly one. My drones weren't exactly disposable, not truly. While I could regrow any one of them in time with their mind and memories intact it would take time and resources. Still I had to sacrifice many to hold the line while others withdrew, covering the retreat for my people and for Jade and hers as well.

  I signaled Sylax when the retreat was finalized but she didn't join us. Perhaps she had other plans or perhaps she simply made the decision to go down fighting. It didn't matter, not at the moment.

  A bold step that had seemed such a step towards victory even a short time ago had now ended in ruin instead. If Wolf had gained the ability to take on Sylax and win then the day was already effectively lost. I didn't have the power to stand up against that, but what had happened?

  Anna was headed for the medbay and as soon as she arrived I opened a conference call with her and Mechos, "We need to discuss what just happened."

  "Sylax remains alive and in control of city systems," Mechos said.

  That was something I hadn't been able to confirm myself. It meant Wolf's control wasn't total. Sylax had the ability to teleport and had probably made her own retreat to somewhere secure.

  "Wolf shouldn't be that strong. He wasn't before," Anna said.

  That I agreed with. I had an idea as to why. If he did possess some sort of Mirror core as speculated then he had at different times mirrored powers. By mirroring Crystal's he'd helped to unlock his hybridization which had been kept away from him, mine had given him the ability to capture the powered and research them which was how he'd gotten Hot Stuff's power. Neither would describe his newfound punch.

  "Sylax had to have had a crystal," I said.

  It was the only thing that made sense, the only reason he could have become so powerful. While I could imbue people with powers they were usually weaker than that of the original crystal holder, it was the same for any Lieutenants of a crystal holder. Sylax had always been something of an anomaly anyways in being so incredibly strong.

  "That makes sense. It was why she was so strong," Mechos said.

  His ability to state the painfully obvious hadn't vanished in time.

  "We even know what it was. Some sort of amplifier of other abilities. It allowed her to magnify the effects of the powers that Crystal gave her and when Wolf mirrored it allowed him to magnify his own," Anna said.

  That was logical. Anna was always at her best when it came to figuring out how to take a foe down.

  I tracked the movement of ships. Wolf was moving his airships and the supporting armies were moving on. They were headed for Jade's district.

  I could see how this was playing out. With Crystal down they were going to now subdue the last elements of resistance in the city. Jade would be next, then me.

  I turned all production towards explosives and began repairs of the Graven. I wasn't going down without a bang, and ideally wouldn't need to go down at all.

  I could transfer my core to the ship if needed. I'd survived with an airship as a host before, I could do it again.

  "Can he mirror more than one ability at a time?" I asked.

  "There have been limited studies on mirror cores. They are fairly uncommon. Given this one is allowing him to fully replicate the power in question I'm guessing no," Anna said.

  That made sense, my ability let me replicate a wide variety of powers but weaker than any of the original cores.

  "Then he's trapped. He is now mirroring a power too strong for him to want to give it up," Mechos said.

  Stuck being overwhelmingly powerful, as advantages for our side went it wasn't much of one.

  "Right now he is moving on Jade's district. While powerful she is no match for what is coming and even those of your limited mental faculties can deduce he is headed here next. I have this conversation at all in the highly unlikely event either of you can think of a solution I can't," I said.

  "There are the Righteous and their dampening powers. While it wouldn't completely cancel out the ability it might be enough to give Sylax the edge," Mechos said.

  That was a possibility. We had rescued Tara. When killed the Righteous turned into a sort of goo for twenty-four hours before returning to life, that goo maintained their ability to dampen powered effects.

  "We could also kill the host of the original power. Kill Sylax and her power is no longer there to be mirrored," Anna said.

  An intriguing possibility, all the more so as it would allow me to claim the amplification crystal for myself.

  "Even if that daunting task were possible it still leaves us facing an overwhelming force. Any better ideas," I said.

  "Can one of your containment cells hold him?" Anna asked.

  I'd been trying to figure that out myself. I had upgraded them to make that sort of thing even more powerful but Wolf like Sylax was now breaking all the rules. The sheer level of powered he was exhibiting was well beyond anything else I'd encountered.

  My containment cells weren't absolutes. Hot Stuff had once managed to escape from one, Runner had pushed them to their limits. The stronger the powered individual the more I had to work to contain them.

  "Much like your armor, I think containment against such overwhelming force might be a bit much to hope for," I said.

  I issued Jade her instructions. Under my compulsion she couldn't help but to obey which means I got to set her defensive strategy and I wanted her whole focus on being to neutralize those airships. Everyone flying was a risk to the Graven and it appeared escape was going to be necessary.

  34

  It took less than six hours for Jade's final defenders to fall. Just before they did I ordered her to evacuate by way of the maintenance tunnels and to make her way to my district. That would initiate a timer on her district instead of her defeat which would have put her under Wolf's compulsion at once.

  That was two big battles in a row and instead of coming right for me afterward the enemy took some time to regroup. That was good, I needed eve
ry moment that I could get to prepare.

  The Graven was a small ship, far smaller than the Powerhungry had been. If I wanted to evacuate my people that meant I had to get creative. There was no way I'd be able to take all my drones for example, there simply wasn't room.

  The ship had originally one service as a pirate vessel however and so the cargo hold was reasonably sized, with a bit of conversion it would do to house the refugees while leaving the original cabins for my team.

  I also had a fair number of modifications I needed to make to the ship. I had a biological component as a primary part of my current design but the ship did not. Replacing the engine core with a bio-reactor was risky in the time we had but I felt that the added weapon power and shields that an increased power output would allow was worth it.

  I also had a good supply of them given that I used variations for my bombs. A quick conversion and I was ready to test.

  It was then that tragedy struck. I'd no more than gotten the Graven off the ground for the test flight of the new systems than the air around it began to warp and twist with dimensional warping. Nothing had prepared me for the attack and before I could even engage the dimensional drive to get away from it the ship was falling to the ground broken into its component pieces.

  Fortunately I only lost three drones in the crash. If my core and everyone had been aboard that would have destroyed us, it was meant to destroy us.

  Wolf had been a step ahead, again. Flicker must have been responsible, it certainly fit her powerset.

  It was terrible news. I didn't see what choice I had now except to get the others away. We'd overrode the teleportation portals once to our advantage, we could do it again to get them away. It wouldn't save me but I didn't see a way to accomplish that now. I called everyone together to give them the news.

  "Absolutely not," Anna said.

  "Agreed," Tara said not to be outdone.