In a single instant, the scene erupted in combat. The drones that made up the defensive line opened fire ferociously on the hIE girls. Gunshots split the night, while muzzle flashes lit up the air like fireworks.
Youssef quietly tapped at his keyboard. No matter what happened, staying as calm as a machine was a vital skill any soldier needed to survive these days.
The pilot, Thomas, tried to make his voice light to cover his anxiety. “Well wouldja look at that, boss? Our targets are shrugging off .50 caliber rounds.”
The machine guns mounted on the wheeled drones poured bullets at the hIEs like hoses spraying water. The red-haired girl used a giant blade to shield herself from the barrage; bathing in a storm of a thousand bullets a second, any one of which could have easily pierced 5mm thick steel plate, the little lady hIE was completely unshaken. .50 caliber rounds were fairly standard for military use, but even combat hIEs generally didn’t have the defensive power to withstand them so easily.
“First squad, units 01 to 03, look for an opening in the red one’s defenses to snipe her body,” Sest ordered. “All remaining units, get those four other hIEs pinned down.”
Fiery explosions from the activated mobile mines swirled and spread like flowers. The smart mines were key support units in drone combat; their explosive power could tear through the armor of anything but the heaviest Main Battle Tank (MBT) units. The images from the thermal sensors were blotted out with white heat readings.
But the sound of sniper fire never came. An alert sounded, and a notice flashed onto the screen. All of the armed drones equipped with 40mm automatic grenade launchers — which formed the final line of defense in front of the drone container — had shorted out and shut down.
Sest’s team had lost all their biggest guns in a single instant. “Get them back online,” he urged.
“I can’t even tell what hit them,” Youssef said, his fingers stopping on the keys. He felt as though the air had grown viscous. Even when running in the depths of the Amazon, you would never see every single wheeled drone in a squad shut down at the same time.
“Get the tactical AI on it,” Sest ordered him. “We just got hit by an enemy attack. Have it analyze the enemy’s weapon.”
But the AI, which based its combat directions off the records of a wide array of past battles, simply gave them a 〈Judgment Pending〉 notice and went silent. Even Sest drew in a sharp breath at the abnormality of the situation.
Thomas, the pilot, turned to them from the cockpit. “Flowers, boss! MemeFrame’s got its girls using flowers,” he said with a whistle.
At his comrade’s light comment, Sest returned to himself. His eyes searched the screen for danger, as if to reclaim the few seconds he’d lost in hesitation while reacting to the strangeness of their situation. Flowers of all colors were blooming on the road, which was paved with recycled materials.
The hIE girl with red hair, who had been pinned down by the machine guns of the wheeled drones, was free. Her weapon, a blade larger than herself, shone vividly crimson.
Sest tried to predict her next movement. What would he do, in her position?
She was undamaged, despite having stood in the heart of the smart mine explosions. Having shown them her inconceivable defensive power, she smiled. Apparently she was enjoying this quite a lot.
“She’s coming for the container!” Sest yelled, at the same instant the red light made a beeline for the container.
A thin line of light cut its way through the night. It pierced through the center of the container, then vanished. The landing container, built to withstand shots from MBTs, distorted with heat before a massive hole opened in one side.
In the helicopter, over twenty warnings flashed across the operations screen. The landing container doubled as a relay station that transmitted vast amounts of battle data. Feeling the performance of their puppet strings failing, the drones raised alerts about the abnormality.
Just then, right as they had received a decisive blow, the tactical AI came back with a response: 〈There is a high probability that the short was caused by electricity from the high voltage wires underground, used by the laboratories, flowing into the drones.〉
The high voltage wires of the landfill island were kept in a common trench over ten meters underground. The targets not only knew this, but also had the ability to pull the wires from ten meters underground and use them to attack.
A contact came in from Major Lemaire. Her expression was neutral, but Sest knew she had used the damage taken by his unit as a bargaining chip with the clients to the best of her ability.
〈The client has disclosed further information,〉 she told them. 〈Don’t try to get them all. First, take down whichever seems easiest.〉
Data appeared, printed across the 3D screen.
“Youssef, read it. I can’t take my eyes off the battle.” To Sest, the fight below had mostly been decided, but he didn’t have the authority to order a retreat himself. He requested authorization for a retreat on a confidential line.
The answer was ‘no.’
He ordered the drones to fall back and re-establish their line.
The new intel from the client, summarized by Youssef, began to print across Sest’s retinal display:
〈Class Lacia humanoid Interface Elements. Information on their intended use is blank. They’re equipped with devices loaded with quantum computers. They can make advanced decisions on their own without relying on a network.〉
A caption appeared on the screen showing the red-haired hIE that had blown away the landing container.
〈Type-001 Code: “Kouka”〉