Theseus

Ray returned the next morning with a smile on her face, everyone standing in the cargo bay to welcome her when she arrived. She looked refreshed. I was there as well, at least in presence. As Aisling had promised, I was not removed from the core module at all for the duration of our mission, which was now only half over. I’d spent most of the evening training my voice, and while what I had come up with definitely didn’t sound at all human, it was no longer a garbled mess that made everyone’s ears hurt. The feedback noise was gone and I’d managed to make a vaguely feminine voice to welcome her along with the others.

It was the kind of sound you’d expect from a cheap voice AI, except rather than being a pre-generated recording, I was creating the audio on the fly, so it wouldn’t even be considered good for that. Aisling even told me that I might be able to pass as an assistant AI if I kept my responses fairly stock. I would have to remember that if we managed to take the marks alive as planned. I kind of hoped we would manage it. After all, I certainly wouldn’t be getting out if there was even the chance that they might see me during a checkup.

Ray settled back into her room and produced more of that incense she liked so much. It must have been something from the village. After a short break, she joined the rest of the crew in the mess.

“Alright, listen up.” Aisling called, silencing the chatting crew, who laid all eyes on her. She motioned to Ray and let her take the floor.

Ray cleared her throat and moved to Aisling’s end of the table “Last they heard, Shaw and his crew were holed up in an old refueling station about two kilometers north-north-west from here. Shouldn’t be hard to spot from above since the place had underground biofuel tanks, so the ground’s no good for vegetation to grow in. Meryll can spot the bald patch in the Earth for us and we’ll grapple down. Word is they had some in-fighting about a week back, should only actually be two instead of three.”

Joel grumbled “Skulls aren’t gonna like it, but what can you do?”

“Should be easier to get ‘em to surrender though.” Aisling countered “We’ll see what we can do about the third when we get there. Might still be a body.”

“They’re going to see me coming, what if they run?” I asked.

“As far as we know, they don’t have a ship of their own nearby, or they would just be in it.” Ray added “And I guarantee, if they try to book it, I run faster than they do.”

“You should be able to stay in range to communicate on our comm channels, Meryll.” Aisling noted “You’ll be able to see if they make a break for the forest, just keep us informed. Do not open fire on the ground unless I give the say so or if you need countermeasures to defend yourself for some reason.” I had to wonder what two men in a temporary hideout could possibly have prepared to fight off a gunship, but I supposed that Aisling had probably had more unexpected things than that happen in her career. “Joel, you’re with me. Ray, you’ll be taking a flanking position best you can. Mouse, you got fire support. Meryll, you’re aerial support. Doc…” she paused for a moment, stammering a moment “You’re… Meryll support.” She shrugged “And medic if shit goes south.”

“So the usual, other than the newbie.” Joel smiled “I like the usual.”

“We’ve had aerial support from Theseus before too.” Mouse objected “From our last ship core.”

“Last ship core wasn’t a person.” Joel replied “And we’ve yet to see if that’s a good thing. She’s not battle-tested yet.”

“I’m right here, you know?” I declared from the intercom, eliciting a surprised expression from Joel hearing how much clearer my voice had become.

“I got a good feeling about her in that regard, Joel.” Aisling smiled, motioning for people to follow toward the cargo bay “Come on, time to gear up. You too, Meryll. You’re clear for takeoff.”

—

It was a strange feeling, hovering over land rather than sailing through the stars. I had to constantly vertically adjust my engines to fight the constant pull of gravity. As someone who grew up on a moon, planetary gravity had always been heavier than I cared for, but when you’re a massive metal machine, it’s even worse. Still, I’d learned enough from the sims to hold steady at a cruising speed.

My cargo bay door sat partially opened, and the wind whipped at the rest of the crew. They looked different with their gear on. Armored with tactical vests and carrying weapons. Mouse was the most jarring, hauling what looked to be a long bright yellow metal case, a handle along its length in each of his hands. I had to wonder what the small boy could possibly need so much gear for, but the fact that he needed both hands to hold onto it already told me it was even heavier than it looked.

I wasn’t familiar with guns yet, but Ray held a long-barreled one as well as what looked to be some kind of hooked sword on her back. Joel had what looked similar to a standard foundation rifle I’d seen them carry around at military shows. Aisling, interestingly, wielded a smaller caliber. A handgun. The same one I’d seen her threaten the ripper with the other day. I saw two more pistols at her hips and at least two more attached to her vest. Did she intend to use all of them somehow?

I scanned my outer sensors, and sure enough, in the far distance, there was a break in the trees marked by a large building. I turned up my volume to counter the sound of the wind “Target spotted.” I declared “You’re really going to just jump out while I’m moving?”

Aisling nodded “Landing will take too much time.” She said as she attached herself to a long cable at her waist. The others followed suit “Nothing new for us, just worry about your role here.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still worried, but it wasn’t like I was in any position to object. “You should land just South of the facility. If you get lost, it’ll be straight North.” I said as I slowed my thrusters, hoping to give them as safe of a landing as I could. “On target in ten.”

Aisling nodded and started bouncing her head in second intervals, then as they walked together toward the end of the cargo hatch, she held a hand up for the others to see and counted down on her fingers before she took a running jump.

Everyone quickly followed suit, including Mouse with his enormous box. I watched them disappear into the trees below and briefly considered checking in on the comms, but thought it best not to distract them. Instead, I turned to Doc for comfort. “Ever do this with them?” I asked.

“A few times, when we’ve had the opportunity to land first, yes. I’ve shot people, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He said as he watched my vitals. They were elevated. “Try to focus. This will be easier on you if you can get into a flow state.”

I didn’t really know what that meant, but I wasn’t one to spurn Doc’s advice. I’d just have to try to let go of my reservations and act as the observer as planned.

“On the ground.” I heard Aisling over comms, and I made sure to retract the cables so they wouldn’t interfere with my flying “Mouse is setting up and we have eyes on the facility. Need eyes on the rear end, watch for runners.”

I nodded to no one in particular, observing the grounds “I don’t see you, but one man hiding outside. South side of the facility, behind a green cargo container from your angle. Small weapon, trained your way” I reported, then turned my attention to the rear of the facility as I slowly passed by. I didn’t see any movement, but I made a turn to begin circling so I could stay in range. “No other contacts, they must be inside.” Talking to actual human beings was definitely felt different than it was in the ground support sims, but I was at least happy to know the terse vocabulary so I didn’t crowd the comms too much.

“Mouse, fire for effect.” Aisling declared.

“I see him.” Mouse proclaimed.

My sensors actually picked up the register of the gunfire that followed. A single shot who’s marker was visible from high in the sky crashed into the container the man was behind. The container slid back from the sheer force of the massive bullet while the corner of it was torn, wrenched off the top of the heavy steel object, and was sent sailing across the facility’s yard. Had Mouse carried a CANNON into the drop?!

I couldn’t read expressions from this far away, but I was almost certain that the hiding man had just shat himself in fear, the way he stumbled back and started to run toward the tree line.

I saw movement where I expected the crew to come from and Aisling’s voice came over comms again “That one’s all you Ray. Remember, shoot to stun unless you’re in danger. Joel and I got the facility. Mouse, reload and be ready to assist. Meryll, keep eyes up for our other target and get ready to land in the nearest clearing on my say-so.”

I immediately identified a fairly flat patch of land a few hundred meters from the treeline. I’d have to crush a few smaller trees, but there were enough of them, I wasn’t too concerned.

I watched as the pair sidled up to the building, holding their respective weapons up as they swept over the large opening on one side of the building, and what came next was a series of declarations of ‘Clear’ from the two in sequence. He had to be in there. I was covering every escape route.

A single shot of small arms fire rang out from the woods, interrupting the two “Ray, report. Sh-!” she shouted and more fire erupted inside of the building.

I was scared in that moment. I wished I had eyes on the ground now. What had just happened to both groups. Then another loud bang fired off, and another tracer from Mouse’s position, straight through the building, this one traveling all the way through and into the woods behind it. That was one hell of a gun, but I wish I could see what he was trying to accomplish.

More gunfire from inside, and then silence. I waited for someone to say something. They were alright, right?

“Nice shot, kid.” Aisling said, her breath heavy from exertion. I briefly opened my eyes and let out a deep breath that I hadn’t realized that I was holding. The captain gave a frustrated sigh though “Target down. Dead. Think he was stimmed up hard. There was no talking to him.”

Ray’s voice came in next “You’re never going to believe this.” She sounded frustrated.

“Yours dead too?” Joel muttered.

“That wasn’t my shot, and it wasn’t aimed at me.” Ray groaned loudly.

There was a long silence on comms before Joel spoke up again “No way, he pussed out?” he asked angrily.

“Not how I would’ve said it, but yeah.” I could feel Ray rolling her eyes at Joel despite everyone’s distance.

There was silence over the comms for awhile and I could sense the tension. This mission hadn’t ended well. “Land.” Was all I heard from Aisling’s commanding tone, and I quickly moved to obey, setting course for the spot I’d dedicated. “Rest of you, group up with the bodies, we’ll see if we can at least find the third.

—

“Aisling sounded pissed.” I said to Doc on my heart’s intercom unit “I hope we can still get paid.”

“Won’t be as much, but we’ll get through.” Doc replied “She did also get winged in that firefight. A flesh wound from the sound of it, but I won’t know that she’s not trying to be a tough guy until I get a proper look at it myself.”

“I just hope she’s not too mad.” I knew that nothing that had just happened had been my fault, and Aisling wasn’t going to blame me either. But I still felt like maybe I could have done more.

“She might be mopey for a bit. I’ll try and cheer her up. But we should still be good on funds, even if they stiff us on most of the bounty.” Doc didn’t seem to concerned with anything that just happened, but I anxiously awaited the rest of the crew’s return, my external sensors sweeping the nearby tree line for their arrival.

What came out of the woods surprised me though. Mouse with his repacked weapon of mass destruction, Ray and Joel, each with a gruesomely bullet-ridden body over their shoulder, and Aisling with a wide smile on her face and what appeared to be a living breathing human man, gagged and bound with thick cable.