147 The Flow of Blood, Pt The Admiral’s temporary lab was in the midst of yet another highly productive cycle. Load bearing antigrav drones flew in every direction as they brought their cargo from sector to sector. Recycled and raw materials to shield frames to fully-completed antigrav shields.

Off in the corner, the testing range was still in full swing, blasting antigrav shields in a real-world stress-test. The shields almost always worked perfectly and captured the vast majority of the bullets fired at them.

They only failed when they held more than they could handle and the whole thing short-circuited. There were also the rare cases where the frame itself was struck, and caused the antigrav field to fail or weaken.

In another corner, they were scanned for defects and other flaws. A vast majority were fine, though some held a few odd manufacturing defects. Those were immediately disassembled and sent to be recycled and reprinted.

On one side of the entire building were the massive printers that churned out each of the shield’s parts. They were then sent to a master printer, which assembled and completed each of the shields.

Both the Admiral and Miko stood near the master printer, and inspected the freshest shields as they were completed.

As Miko picked up one of the shields, she felt the ground rumble under her feet.

“Did you feel that?” she asked. “And that sound just now... did you hear it?”

The Admiral shot her a curious look. She didn’t feel or hear anything, except the cacophony happening inside of her lab.

.....

“I didn’t hear anything. What was it? What did it sound like?” she asked.

“Gunfire,” replied Miko.

The Admiral was taken aback, then quickly pointed at the large guns firing various ammunition at the antigrav shields downrange. They were muffled somewhat by the range’s baffled walls.

“There’s gunfire right there,” she said.

“I mean, outside,” said Miko. “I believe there might be a fight happening outside.”

The Admiral cocked her head, and strained to try to hear something. But she was completely unable to. There was just too much noise happening all around her. Not that it mattered. She knew what Miko and Eva were capable of, and had no reason to doubt her.

But the scientist in her demanded empirical proof regardless.

Before she could say anything, one of the Drogar Guards ran up to her. She was alarmed by his urgency, disheveled appearance, and most critically, the bleeding gash on his arm.

“Admiral Chase!” he said. “The compound’s under attack! The Shieldmaster is ordering you to take shelter immediately! I’ll be escorting you to the barracks for your own safety.”

The shock passed through the Admiral quickly. She knew an attack was on the horizon, and none of this was a surprise. Except perhaps that they attacked sooner rather than later. Retholis was sure that they had another few weeks, or at least his source was sure.

“No,” she said. “We’re not gonna die here like helpless dogs! Tell the Shieldmaster to expect some backup from my people. They’ll be under his direct command.”

She quickly sent orders to her officers through her DI – orders she had long since prepared.

—

ATTN: Tartarus Command

Operation Tortoise has commenced. You know what to do.

Equip all combatants with first and second-tier shields and have them report to Shieldmaster Toreth, or highest in command.

Organize all noncombatants and send them to their habs with third-tier shields.

Godspeed.

—

The Admiral turned to the engineers working the printers and issued them new orders.

“Crank out as many Type 7 Antigrav Shields as much as possible,” she ordered. “I want a hundred of them out the door in five minutes! Miko -”

She spun towards the girl, but saw nothing but air. Miko had long since left, and was already out the door by the time the Admiral spotted her.

Doleth was right behind.

As they went out into the courtyard, the sounds of fighting were as clear as day. Gunfire, explosions, screaming – all could be heard clearer the closer they moved towards the gate.

The two of them launched into a sprint towards all the fighting, Doleth was secretly amazed by how fast Miko was. Not that she should’ve been – she already knew Miko was a Reborn. Her dossier had already told Doleth about her capabilities.

She wondered just how many people Miko had already killed. And if that was a normal thing for human children.

“Don’t be reckless,” said Doleth. “I’m supposed to keep you safe.”

“I cannot just stand by and watch while all this happens,” Miko replied.

“Honestly, heading straight into a fight isn’t the best of plans.”

“If we don’t go towards it, it will eventually come towards us. By then, we will be at a disadvantage.”

Doleth grimaced at the truth Miko had uttered. They needed to do what they could, right now. If they didn’t, then all was basically lost.

She ducked her head down and sped up as she headed towards the front.

Far ahead, dozens more guards exited the barracks and ran up towards the gate. They were armed and armored, but scared all to hell at what they faced. There were more than a thousand terrorists out there, and the guards numbered all of 320 in total.

Only half of them were currently engaged, while the others were still gearing up and getting ready.

historical

Those few dozen who were able to quickly kit up met up with the Shieldmaster, who had pulled the guards back from the walls and into the compound. There, they set up multiple lines of defense alongside the various drones and turrets roughly 50 meters in, and in a wide arc around.

He needed to keep the terrorists contained – if they broke through their lines, it would have been game over for everyone inside.

Most of them hid behind building corners, trees, low walls, and such. They were well-defended against small arms fire and hand-held explosives. If the terrorists brought in their rockets however, they were done for.

Without the height and cover provided by the wall, they were practically sitting ducks for anything in the air.

The Shieldmaster set up a temporary command post roughly a dozen meters back from the very center of their defensive line. He was accompanied by a handful of his officers as well as a half dozen armed guards.

They hunkered down behind some low walls and portable fortifications and kept an eye on every centimeter of the battlefield before them.

His officers snapped their datapads together until they were one large screen, and set it down on the ground. On it was a top-down map of the entire compound, fed with live data from the sensors hidden all around them.

They were all set up by the time the first of Taloren’s Children ran through the severely mangled gate.

Although the terrorist was quickly shot and killed, it wasn’t long until more of them came barreling through. They poured through by the dozens, screaming curses and waving rifles in the air.

“Open fire!” yelled the Shieldmaster.

Every single guard and nearby turret poured streams of fire into the terrorist mob. Many were cut down before they could even make more than ten steps inside. But the guards’ initial victory only lasted mere seconds.

Right behind the overzealous dead were the terrorist’s mobile fortifications. Makeshift or not, they had certainly proven their worth thus far. They quickly wheeled a number of them down into the courtyard as fast and as far as they could go.

Although they were sturdy, the constant barrage of defensive fire easily wore through the makeshift armor. Entire sections of the shields were shot off, and sometimes killed the Drogar right behind. Many were torn apart even before they got within 20 meters.

The problem was simply the sheer number of them. Even as one was taken down, two more came up to replace them.

And when the turrets had to stop shooting – their barrels were glowing red from the heat – the Chosen used it to gain as much ground as they could. They pushed their fortifications hard and got as close as they possibly could – about 10 meters away from the front line.

In order to solidify their front, they slammed the fortifications up against trees or low walls to anchor them. They had subsequent fortifications come down in a staggered formation three or four deep.

It allowed them superior cover as they advanced towards the front line.

Shortly after all of the fortifications had been set up, masses of Chosen swarmed in with guns blazing. And as they moved from fortification to fortification, the Guards laid down a hail of suppressing fire.

The entire courtyard was peppered with bullets. The trees all around them were shredded – their bark splintered with every spray they took. Low walls were pounded until they were reduced to rubble, and fortifications were ripped to pieces.

Drogar on both sides were struck down in the furious crossfire, and their blood seeped into the soil.

“Keep the pressure high,” yelled the Shieldmaster. “And get the wounded outta here, gods-dammit!”

As he issued his frenetic orders to his guard, a team of Federation combatants ran up to him with their large oval shields in their hands.

“Shieldmaster Toreth,” said one as he saluted. “Admiral Chase sends her regards. And her shields. Two hundred fifty Tier 2 Shieldbearers, reporting for duty. Sir.”

Toreth’s mouth gaped as he looked at the young Federation officer in front of him. Then grinned. This was exactly what he needed. If the enemy had their mobile shields, then they needed their own.

“Get up to the front and spread out among my guards,” he said. “Keep my people safe!”

The Federation officer saluted a second time, then ran off to the front with his shield unit in tow. As they dispersed themselves all along the line, the Shieldmaster issued another set of orders.

“All units,” he said. “Incoming Federation Shieldbearers! Team up: two shields per Guard. Get mobile and flank those fortifications immediately! I want them taken down within the next five minutes! Sending markers for primary targets in five seconds.”

On the large map his officers were sending out orders with, Toreth tapped and circled a number of targets on the map. He quickly sent his updated map to every Guard and Shieldbearer in the fight.

The shields quickly coordinated with the guards the moment they arrived at the front. The teams quickly maneuvered themselves into highly nimble and yet highly protective positions.

The shields typically stood in a two-man shield wall, but that was plenty to keep them and the Drogar behind them relatively safe. And thanks to their mobility, each guard could peek over the shield wall and fire, even as they moved.

Just as the Shieldmaster ordered, a number of teams shifted their positions to create a bunch of holes in their opposition’s defensive line.

Two of the teams moved forward aggressively on one of the fortifications, and began to circle around it. One left, the other right. Bullet-shaped dents danced across their shields as the terrorists raked them with gunfire.

But it was of little use. It didn’t take long for both teams to completely flank the fortification itself, and the two Guards on each end tore apart the Chosen between them. Their powerful rifles tore through the Chosen’s flimsy armor with ease. Blood splattered all over the place as the terrorists were torn to pieces.

Once they had eliminated their targets, the teams then took up position on their side of the fortification itself, with the two guards peeking out from either side.

Under cover of the fortification, the shieldbearers slipped a small materials bar in a slot on the shield’s frame and activated its nanorepair circuit. And over the next few moments, their shields were restored to their former shape and strength.

Other teams had also moved up on a number of enemy positions and eradicated the terrorists that sat behind them. Bit by bit, the Chosen were pushed back and suppressed, to their chagrin.

Some terrorists were infuriated – they were clearly superior, and with superior numbers! How were these few able to push them back?!

.....