Stray Cat Strut Chapter Thirteen - On the Up and Up

Chapter Thirteen - On the Up and Up

These fucks! Do u know how much I sacrifice to keep this company rolling?

I only got a 29% pay increase last quarter, and these shits are complaining?

Were not getting enough for a house & food. Why did u cut dical? The company made big profits, why arent we making more?

Selfish.

--Forr Nimbletainnt CEOs last Tweet, 2028

***

You got those security feeds? I asked while looking around us. The garden pillars cut off my line of sight, I couldnt see as far as I wanted down any direction, not unless I happened to be in one of those spots where things lined up just right, then I could see all the way across the facility.

Just connected to them. It looks like there was so hesitating from the head office as to whether or not to give you permission, but it was overridden.

We might actually be working with soone clever, Gomorrah said.

Well, youre used to working with , I said.

She snorted. Exactly. Working with soone clever will be a new and interesting opportunity.

I laughed while I continued to scan ahead of . We were nearing the sections that Jake had ntioned the antithesis has been seen in. At least, if I had figured out how the sections worked. We were in section G, according to the signs on the pillars we were passing.

Atyacus and I are pouring over the feeds from the last few days. There are several thousand caras all across the facility. It seems as though theyre quite worried about employees stealing plants, or resting during non-break minutes. In any case, weve found three locations that are likely to be the places where the antithesis are entering the facility.

Three spots, huh? I asked. Can you mark them out for us?

Done.

I blinked as an overlay popped up over my cybernetic eyes vision, it turned all the buildings ahead of us into wirefras, then highlighted three spots in a dull orange that I guessed could only an one thing.

The breaches are a couple of hundred tres apart, Gomorrah said. Do you think we should split up?

Theres three of them and two of us, I said.

I can send the Fury to the middle one. It can shoot down any antithesis trying to sneak in or out while we clean up the other two locations, Gomorrah said.

Alright, fair enough. Ill get the bigger breach then, since youll be covering the other two. I pointed to the south-most hole in the fence.

That seems reasonable, Gomorrah said. Stay on the line with the entire ti? If we bite off more than we can chew, well be able to run over to help each other. She raised her fla thrower and started to adjust a few little knobs hidden inside a panel on its side. Are you ready for a fight?

In a minute, I said. I didnt have my crossbow or my grenade launcher. Both were back ho. I liked them as weapons, but they both had a few disadvantages that... well, they werent perfect weapons. What I did have on was my trusty Trenchmaker, currently loaded with high-explosive rounds.

I tugged the gun out of my right thigh holster and checked it real fast before putting it away.

My other holster had my Claw. The bulbous gun was loaded with tightly wound monofilant rounds that would shred anything apart. I aid it ahead, making sure that the overlay worked before I tucked it away. It could teleport its payload into anything I aid it at, which was pretty helpful against bigger enemies. I probably wasn't going to see anything big enough to be worth using the Claw on for a bit.

A shrug of my shoulders had both of my back-mounted railguns unfolding themselves and shifting so that they aid over my shoulders. I checked their ammo counts, made sure they were topped up, then nodded to myself.

The only other weapon I had on was my sword. I hadnt parted with that thing since I got it. Not that Id had many opportunities to use it since. It was just too fucking cool to leave at ho.

I think I need a new main weapon, I said.

You should probably work that out sooner rather than later, Gomorrah said. What are you thinking about?

Uh, I dont know. The grenade launchers versatility was nice, but its too... clunky? The crossbow was fun too, but it was shit when it cos to crowd control. I need sothing silent that can still pack a punch.

Gomorrah humd. Ask Myalis about a shotgun, maybe. The shell-type can change the range, and youll have a lot of options. They can be pretty satisfying too.

I thought youd suggest a fla thrower, I said.

No, thats my gimmick. Besides, having two of us so focused on close-range wide area-of-effect weapons might an that well be leaving so huge gaps in our defences.

Aww, youre thinking of us as like, a battle pair or sothing, I said.

Gomorrah shook her head. Weve been working together a lot, its only normal. Besides, the average samurai that works solo cant specialise as much if they want to cover every possibility. Together we can afford to spend more points on specific parts of our kit if the others covering the weaknesses that that would leave.

Awfully clever, I said.

One of us has to be.

I let out a long breath. Okay, so your burns arent just physical today. Damn.

Ah, Im sorry. Ive been a little tense.

I waved it off. Its fine, I know youre not being a capital-B bitch. I slowed to a stop at the next intersection between pillars. It was where Id get the straightest path to where I wanted to go. Alright, Im heading out here. Keep in touch.

Likewise, Gomorrah said. She gave a final nod, then stomped off to the left.

I flicked open my aug nus, then toggled on the invisibility on my suit and coat. My outfit wavered, then disappeared. All I saw looking down was the grey cent that covered every inch of the facility ground.

Reaching down, I tugged my Trenchmaker out and held it by my side as I walked on. It was probably weird that I wanted my boots to make big clunks as I headed down towards my goal.

So, you thinking about weapons? I asked.

Im thinking about many things, but yes, weapons are one of those. Are you in the mood to buy sothing now?

Lets see how tough the aliens here are. Ive got the impression that were dealing with small-fry.

That should be an accurate impression, yes. The hives that have just awoken likely havent reached the point where they can produce anything thats a real threat yet.

How long do we have? Until we start getting the scary aliens, I an? I asked.

If we rely on the general projections for hives that have lots of biomass and room to grow? Then one full day before the hives can start producing models above ten. Two days for models above twenty. Likely five to ten days for models above the thirties.

Thirties, I repeated. A shiver ran down my spine. Gomorrah and I had had a hell of a ti against a model in the twenties. Gonna need a big gun for those. Hopefully well make enough points in the next couple of days to be able to deal with them. If things scaled the way I thought they did, Id be a snack for a model thirty if one showed up now.

I was a good fifty tres from the orange zone when I heard a scuffling.

I stopped, dropping into a crouch while holding my breath back. Sothing had moved. I focused on my hearing more, trying to pinpoint the exact location of... whatever it was that had scrambled like that.

There were plenty of things generating white noise around. Sprinklers hissing, ventilation shafts rattling inside the pillars, so fans humming along sowhere else. A lot of sounds that I hadnt paid any attention to until I had to listen past them.

Where had the...

I glanced up and to my right as I caught a shadow moving.

There was a pillar nearby, with the usual glass walls that allowed natural light in.

A model three was tearing apart the plants on the edge of the glass, little clawed paws digging away at everything like a street dog on th. I stared for a mont until I noticed the large form of a worm moving up deeper in the pillar, its mouth wide open so that a few other model threes could toss in mouthfuls of plant matter and bags of what I guessed were fertiliser.

I opened a line to Gomorrah. Hey. Found so alien buddies. Theyre going all black-friday on the fertiliser over here.

A distant and familiar roar, like liquid fire being hosed around by a pyro-nun, echoed through the field of greenhouses. Ive found so too, Gomorrah said. Just kill them all.

Alrighty then, I said as I started towards the pillar.

***