by Ivan Shaman
“Eat. When you get the level, you’ll take the ‘Master’ option,” Demon said strictly. “Got it?”
“Yes, Luminary.” Kris nodded, frightened, and she ran to collect the experience.
“Take all the ammunition, machine guns, and body armor. Don’t forget about the snacks and cans.” He told the two other Ghosts. “Anything that might come in handy, bring it here and put it on the tank. You have ten minutes.”
He sat on the tank and relaxed, leaning his back against the turret. Only now he remembered the backpack, hanging on his back. He took the Emperor’s arm and cleaned the cannon from the remnants of skin and scales. In the end, it ceased to look like an arm – just a thick tube with multiple mounts and external blocks. It was still a mystery how to use it, though. Turning it over in his hands and activating the ‘Master’, he learned a lot of new things both about power sources and the way the weapon operated, but this didn’t bring him any closer to being able to shoot with it. Sighing, he laid the considerably relieved gun behind his back.
During this time, the Ghosts had collected all the necessary equipment. Demon nodded with satisfaction. They had thirty-five lots of body armor, fifty machine guns, and several hundred ready-made shops, pistols, and grenades. He opened one of the MREs, taking out some canned meat.
“Eat. You have three minutes. Then we’ll move forward.” He looked at Kris. She was clearly upset, although she already had the double status of a ‘Master Ghost’. “What’s happened?”
“Nothing.” She waved him away. “Actually, may I ask something?”
Demon nodded, allowing her to ask.
“Why do I need to choose the ‘Master’ option? You can hand it over to me via the ‘Connection’ at any moment.”
“I’m not going to waste resources each time when giving you useful skills.” Demon shrugged. “Now you have the first levels of ‘Shooter’ and ‘Master’. This, of course, isn’t enough for a full-fledged single-player mission, but now you are much more autonomous: you’ll be able to repair a weapon or handle a machine.”
“Do you want to issue me some task in which these skills will be useful?” Kris asked in surprise.
“They’ll be useful to you right now.” Demon smiled. “I’ll sleep, and you’ll drive the tank to the relay station. Do you understand your task?”
The girl nodded. Without wasting time in explaining that these were useful skills, Demon climbed inside the tank. He adjusted his backpack so that the rail didn’t press on his back, and, sitting comfortably, he promptly fell asleep.
Chapter 40. Dream
The dream came almost instantly, but it was kind of psychedelic. He was a small snail hiding in his shell while hefty beetles tried to crawl under the shell, poking at him with their sharp horns. They stabbed his back and neck, moving up and down. A sudden sharp pain in his spine area made him wake up, but instead of the cabin of the tank, he found himself in a throne room.
“Greetings, New Emperor.” Someone or something bowed him. On the one hand, it might be considered a robot, as it clearly glittered with metal. But then there were the paws and other parts of the body that were completely naked, resembling more a skeleton. Its ribs protruded from under thin feathers, and even its wings seemed peeled.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my world?” Demon ask in surprise. “Why on Earth are you calling me the new Emperor?”
“I’m in your world because I want to exist,” the stripped metal raven replied. “My life is completely in your hands. You saw the death of my previous owner and breadwinner. You pulled me out of his power and from my death.”
“You’re an assistant working at the rail-base. I wonder why, then, my own gun, my plasma, doesn’t have an assistant of its own?”
The raven didn’t answer, but it looked carefully at the lava near his throne. So carefully, that he couldn’t stand looking at this place. He was accustomed to the fact that the gun submitted unquestioningly – it simply couldn’t be otherwise. He had never thought what or who constantly managed the most complex technological processes in the plasma, though.
Now he was watching the little head of a fiery red lizard rising from the lava. It looked into his eyes intently and, quickly moving its paws, climbed onto his left arm. The salamander lay on top of his elbow so naturally that he didn’t even doubt that it was in its rightful place.
“So ...” Demon muttered. “What do you want?”
“Let me sit on your shoulder, and I’ll obey your orders implicitly, save you and kill your enemies when you say or when it’ll be necessary,” the raven said, standing up as proudly as it could.
“It’s interesting.” Demon opened the character panel. Scrolling through the list of skills, he found and opened some of them for a more detailed inspection.
Shoulder cannon creates additional energy channels and additional power for the use of shoulder guns.
Transformer allows you to connect external devices to the internal system. Jetpacks, power weapons, barrier systems.
Terminator replaces the internal organs and tissues with synthetic analogues.
Having estimated the total time, he showed the information box.
“Do you see what is written here?” He asked, pointing to the timings.
“Two months,” the raven said in a sad metallic voice. “But I don’t have so much time left. My internal systems have already begun to fail. Sixty-two hours is all I have left.”
“I can’t do anything,” Demon remarked.
“Let me at least attach a backup power source. It’ll allow me to survive and adapt. I won’t be accurate or powerful, but at least I’ll stay alive.”
“As a result, you’ll weaken my main systems,” Demon objected. “We have a war now. I can’t and won’t take a risk.”
“We have enough reserve capacity to power it,” the salamander hissed. “In case they are needed, we’ll simply block them.”
“Wow!” Demon looked at it in surprise. “You’ve kept silence for so long, but now you’re here and talking.”
“This is an important constructive moment that determines the efficiency and effectiveness of the combat system,” the lizard said, looking into his eyes. When their eyes crossed, it pressed its head to his arm. “This is just my recommendation, of course.”
“Just your recommendation...” Demon stroked the salamander’s scaly head with the thumb of his right hand. Then he pressed on it so that there was a squeak and a slight crunch. “The subsystem makes its recommendations only when it’s asked about it.” The lizard beat its legs and tail, but it couldn’t wriggle free. Having kept it in this state for a few seconds, Demon relaxed the pressure. It was obvious that the creature breathed heavily, but it lay still. “What are you recommending now?”
“I propose to attach the rail gun to the backup systems,” the salamander hissed barely above a whisper. “In the future, this will allow increasing significantly firepower without the loss of limbs and time to create external devices.”
All the while keeping his finger on its head, Demon took the lizard into a fist and brought it closer to his face. Many information windows carried data flows that were processed by this additional entity. Impressed with this situation, he put the lizard back and stroked it again.
“Okay,” he said slowly, looking at the raven. “But if you disturb me, I’ll destroy you. You won’t survive your second owner.”
“I obey!” The raven croaked and, flapping its wings, it flew over Demon’s shoulder. “The Emperor is dead, long live the Emperor!”
Demon found himself back in the real world; his back was burning from pain. Stretching out his hand, he groped the backbone of the armor along the spine stuck into his dorsal plate, penetrating really deeply. Swearing silently, he examined the interface. As he expected, the rail’s icon was present, but it was inactive. There was a countdown next to it, showing that it would take two months to fully recharge.
Clenching his teeth so as not to moan, he straightened up an
d examined his surroundings. They were almost there – only two miles remained. Choosing Marcus in the list and trying to reach him with the ‘Connection’, Demon realized that the distance was still too great.
“How long have I slept?” He asked Kris, sitting behind the partition. She glanced around, but then stared at him with her eyes full of horror and surprise. “Follow the road,” he said, noticing her lack of forward attention.
“Yes, Emperor,” she murmured. “You’ve slept for about forty minutes.”
“Why ‘Emperor’,” he breathed out in frustration. “What makes you think that I should be the Emperor?”
“Your status,” Kris said. “Everything is written in your status.”
Cursing, he opened his status:
Demon Emperor
Well, now he wondered what had happened to the ‘Eternal Incinerating Blazing Luminary Absorber’ that had been there previously. He looked through his character panel. All the statuses were in their place, they had just shortened to one.
That was it. Now he was the Emperor. Moreover, the past one hadn’t even had a proper name. Only a status. Although, it wasn’t very nice to just be a status, this was the only correct way to become someone powerful.
“Call me by name, okay?” He asked her. “After all, we’ve known each other for a long time.”
“As you wish,” Kris said. “We’ll be there in about five minutes.”
“Very well.” Demon once again tried to reach the Senior Master, but he couldn’t. “I’m going to go for a walk.” He opened the hatch and looked out. It was snowing hard, but it didn’t really matter. The vehicle kneaded the road, smoothly absorbing one mile after another. Kris tried to go around obstacles, but she didn’t always succeed in this. Sometimes, the tank, lifting its barrel to the dark sky and grumbling, climbed up, crushing a car or two.
“How are you?” He asked the two Ghosts sitting outside and holding a pile of the equipment and ammunition with some difficulty. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is well, Emperor,” one of them answered. “We’ll hold out as long as necessary.”
“We’ll be there in five minutes.”
Demon looked around: the black outline of the relay station reached for the skies before them. On the upper floors, the light of those welding flashed weakly. The Masters repaired the antennas and tightened the cables again. Somewhere in the east, the clouds were getting a little lighter, so soon the morning would come. The people were about to attack. Fortunately, the cyborgs would be ready for them.
“Marcus. Do you hear me?” He asked through the ‘Connection’, turning it to its maximum radius.
“Yes, Blazing, I hear you well,” the Senior Master replied almost instantly. Demon grinned: apparently, the Luminary was working so hard that he hadn’t seen his new status.
“How are you doing?” Demon wanted to get a brief but complete report.
“The antenna will be ready in four hours. The barricades are ready, and the stairs have been collapsed. There is a spare entrance and a rope ladder to the third floor for you.” Marcus hadn’t disappointed him.
“Great. The Ghosts will raise the body armor and ammunition up for you. I’ll order that everyone who will be on the defensive to put them on.” If the lower floors were cut off, then the danger might be only in the collapse of the entire building, but then the people shouldn’t have enough strength to do that. At least, he thought so. Although it was impossible not to risk things when you let events take their course. “Find me one of the less useful Masters, preferably with the ‘Shooter’ skill.” Demon suddenly remembered Kris. “Actually… stop. There’s no need. Go about your business.”
Having descended back into the tank, he checked for the presence of shells in the ammunition stores – twelve shots. A month ago, these same vehicles hadn’t helped people get through to the relay station. Today this one wouldn’t help them either. Demon estimated the distance to the nearest group of their opponents. According to his calculations, the people were due to appear near the former television tower in around half an hour.
The tank taxied out in front of the station. The small area had been completely cleaned, as it was now blocked by two barricades of cars. The space was sufficient enough to stick the tank between the two barricades, completely blocking the way.
“Kris, let’s change,” he said, getting out of the hatch. After waiting for her to take his place in the gunner position, he bent down. “Look here. Do you understand how everything works?”
She turned the turret several times, checked the automatic loader, put a new belt to the machine gun, and then nodded affirmatively.
“Yes, everything is clear.”
“Good. Then listen to my order. You’ll let the people’s vehicles get within distance for a shot. You’ll wait for them to stop considering you as a threat, and only after that will you shoot. When the ammunition ends, get out in disguise mode and hide in one of the nearby buildings.”
“I get it. I’ll do everything as you say.”
“Fine.” Demon shut the hatch and looked around. The Ghosts had already carried the ammunition and weapons to the top of the station, and the Masters were busy on the upper floors.
Well. Hopefully, they were now ready for anything.
Chapter 41. Battle for the Relay Station
They thought they were ready for everything, but it turned out, not for that. The new Emperor wasn’t a military man, although due to his intellect, and despite the fact that he had made up an ideal defense plan, things went very wrong. At first, his foes acted exactly as he’d predicted, rather routinely, but then...
It all started with artillery preparation. Their tanks fired at the relay station from a distance of less than a mile, maximizing their turrets’ capabilities. One by one, the shells pierced the thin concrete walls and flew through. They used high explosive, armor-piercing, cumulative and other kinds of shells. The station reeled, creaked, and showered those inside with shards of glass and tile, but still it withstood the barrage. Its internal rods and composite piles were designed for earthquakes of up to nine points, so it didn’t matter. It was almost unreal to hit the rods, hidden inside the walls, from a mile away.
The second wave began before Demon had managed to climb into the building. Several windows on the middle floors burst, and the body of a Shooter fell from above, but he was the snipers’ only bloody harvest – because the Emperor had provided it. The main forces were divided into two parts. One part was too low, at the level of the fourth floor, and covered from attack by the nearby buildings. The second one was at the very top. In the district, there wasn’t a single building from which one could shoot at such an angle.
Grinning, he calmly walked over to the relay station and, climbing the rope ladder to the fourth floor, wound it up behind him. Looking around, Demon saw tanks slowly going out of the alley. Therefore, everything was going according to his plan. He would deal with the snipers personally, but that would be later, now he needed restraint and patience.
“Let them come closer!” He commanded Kris, and she obediently waited. The tanks were approaching from two sides, slowly entering the square. None of the people had survived the last attack on the station, so they couldn’t know exactly how the cyborgs had dealt with the vehicles during it. This time they were ready. The cyborgs were waiting for their approach.
Connection! Control! He had put four Shooters with anti-tank grenade launchers in buildings along the route of the armored vehicles. Not so high that they couldn’t be detected by external observation, but not too low, so that old anti-tank grenade launchers would work. It was a miracle that people had found the positions, and an even greater miracle that the cyborgs had managed to capture them during a night attack. They had only four grenade launchers and two interchangeable tubes, but under his control this was more than enough. Marksman! Fire!
As if in slow motion, he saw five versions of the event simultaneously: his own and each of his four shooters’. The ro
ckets flew at their targets almost at once, and the military men immediately opened automatic fire toward the windows, but that was no longer important, the front tanks were blazing. The people, following them, tried to drive around their defeated comrades, and then it was Kris’ turn.
Fire!
She did her best. Slowly turning the turret of the tank, she aimed at the nearest enemy. There was a deafening shot, and the projectile, after flashing in through the driver’s hatch, exploded inside. Then she began to aim at the second tank, but Demon understood: she didn’t have enough time. The choice between the Shooter, who was albeit in a good position, and the tank with the Master Ghost was obvious.
Control! Marksman! He had to shoot and then hide. The first bullet hit the Shooter’s shoulder, but he didn’t stop. Take aim, exhale, and fire! He saw the rocket crashing into the commander’s hatch from above. The Shooter didn’t have time to move away. However, he had spent all his ammunition. It wasn’t the time and the place to regret the loss of anybody, even one of his own fighters.
Kris reloaded the gun and sent shells toward the columns of armored vehicles, again and again. The first three hit successfully, then there were several near misses. Demon led her, adding his vision to hers, and she then managed to destroy some more of the armored personnel carriers behind the destroyed tanks that blocked the driveways. It was time to retreat.
“Get out,” he ordered. “Turn on the disguise immediately. Their infantry is already on their way.” Looking around and gathering eight or twelve people into squads, the soldiers were slowly going past the burning vehicles.
Demon understood perfectly the thoughts of their commanders: if they hadn’t managed to shoot with the tanks, they needed to now blow up the foundation. The decision was right, but they didn’t know the construction of the relay station as well as the cyborgs did. There was a solid concrete ten-yard-thick foundation, five floors upward and five floors down under the ground, which made it almost impossible to blow the station up. So, they would have to go upstairs. However, all the stairs had prudently been destroyed. The Shooters were in these places and waited patiently for the people to approach.