by Jessie Wolf
“About twelve years ago a consortium of local government officials started to push through a series of laws that would force the local High Families to place over fifty percent of our manufacturing business on the stock market to be traded openly with off world. Much to my shame I did not know how to stop them. Thankfully I was able to stop any of the military manufacturers from being listed. As such we still control those outright.” I could tell that there was something she was not telling me. So I asked, as politely as possible. Her answer was, “I fear that I only angered those who are trying to gain control of our planet through economic means by buying up control of our business. And in doing so the local parliament and Hall of Lords along with them. As it stands right now I would have to hazard a guess that 45 to 50 percent of both houses of government are in the pockets of off world interests. People who do not have the best interests of our people at heart. These are greed driven, soulless corporations. The biggest of them is the Kiel and Blackstone Shipping Consortium.”
My anger at hearing that name must have shown on my face, for everyone in the room including my aunt, started to back away from me. All I could see was that smug bastard profiting off of the pain and grief he had caused when he got my daughter and her husband killed on Havens Misty. When I looked up at them I realized I was frightening them, so I got up and walked away from them. As I entered the bathroom I was shocked to see that my eye color was now golden with targeting crosshairs overlaying the pupils. Before I can question Dee De I receive a message from the COBRA o.s.
C.O.B.R.A.: Do you wish to initiate planned operations for the termination of selected targets?
“Who are you, and what did you do with Dee De?”
C.O.B.R.A.: I am the computer operated, battlefield, reflex action operating system. The Death Dealer operating system is still online, do you wish to query?
“Yes. Dee De... you ok gal?”
Hey. I’m fine As a matter of fact I think I can work side by side with Charley here.
C.O.B.R.A.: Query, Who is Charley?
That would be you, the cobra o.s., seeing as how you are a male AI system then you get a male name.
“Hold on here. Dee De... Did you just say that the cobra o.s. is an AI system?”
Yes I did. The reason why I haven’t been able to get a handle on how it operated until just now was the fact that I was treating it as a standard operating system program, not as an AI.
“But how? I would need two different micro-processers or a divided hard drive in my head for that to happen.”
I was programed to perform the necessary modifications to primary host during reboot and repair sequence. At the present time Commander there are a primary and secondary set of micro-processors and hard drives in the cranial cavity of this host.
“So when I had Dee De place you in the sleep mode, what were you really doing?”
Learning.
“Learning what, Charley?”
How to interact with the primary AI, Dee De, and when and where it is appropriate for me to activate my full capabilities.
“Ok so now that you have learned this why are you painting the crosshair on my eyes?”
I did not do that. You were the one to activate the active targeting system Commander.
“WHAT? I did this myself?”
Yes I believe so. It seems to be in response to your emotional state.
I told you Maiha that you have to keep calm. Every time you come close to losing control of your anger some part of the combat mode activates.
I took a few minutes to calm and then center myself. When I look back into the mirror I see that my eyes are still a golden color, but the targeting crosshairs have gone away. Well, that’s as about as good as I can get right now. I am way too pissed off to look normal. I need to get out and let off some of this steam. I think, between the new hormones, and the fact of all that I have gone through the past 24 hours have begun to catch up to me. I wish I could feel the peace and calm that I felt when we left the temple again, but that won’t happen right now. So I decide to put a quick and dirty plan of action into motion that will let me get back in control. Stepping out into my receiving room I commence to pass out orders.
“Lt Walking Water, you are to go over to the House troop H.Q. and inform Maj Howard to have the A.P.S. range up and running in one quarter of an hour.” I said to her, quickly.
“Hai Commander. What level do you wish for it to be set?” Was her quick but very military response.
“Start off with infantry suppression and anti-insurgent tactics, then go up from there until they score a killing blow. I will have Dee De relay all system stats to the control tower.” Once she had her instructions the young lady moved out with a purpose. Turning to the others I stated, “I will need your help to disrobe in the next 15 minutes ladies, let’s go. Auntie, if you will please forgive my untimely exit I would greatly appreciate it. I am afraid that I am in need of a rather unusual method to calm down to a point where we may continue this course of education.” My aunt just smiles at me, then stands up and comes over and proceeds to help my maids strip me down to the skin.
Her only comment was, “Go Maiha Mana. Become your name. Become the beauty of the Dancing Waves with Divine Power. Go child, and claim your right as Samurai and Defender for the Nakatoma Family. I will watch you from the control tower. I will face my own demons as you release the power that has come to you as the true Daughter of Death.” Once I am naked she has the rest stay and watch as I call up full combat mode. I feel the rush as all of my combat systems come on line.
Welcome home First High Lord Owens what is our mission?
“No mission as of yet Charley. This is a training run to get a feel for all of the upgrades. Additionally, the name is no longer James Jessie Owens. My new name is one that will come to be feared by all those who would misuse the power of their position in society as members of the ruling Families. From this moment forward I am Nakatoma Maiha Mana, Head of House for the Nakatoma Family and it Defender.”
Hai Commander. I will carry your honor on to the battlefield as if I was one of the Dragon sets of old. For you see we have all three blades. The tantō is our anti-personnel lasers in the figures; the wakizashi is our Plasma Laser Rifle in the left arm and finally the katana in the right arm that is the Practical Projection Canon. I am a full set of full tang Dragons.’
“Ok Dee De, you still there, girl?”
Yup, sure am, but right now I’m in the passenger seat. Charley does the driving when in this mode Maiha.
“Very well. Let’s turn it loose and see what we can do, shall we?”
With that, I leaped from my balcony to the courtyard below, leaving my maids and aunt to rush though the house. I get on the house troops TAC frequency to give the Maj. a heads up. ‘Maj. You up and running, or do you need more time?’ I was just hitting my cruising speed of 85 mph.
“Can you give us another 10 minutes? For us to set this up the way you need it is taking longer than expected. Over.” Came the Maj’s’ reply.
“Sure. I’ll lap the compound and come at the range from the 180 position in 17 minutes. How copy? Over.”
“Good. Copy you’ll approach from the 180 in T-17 and counting. I make your speed at just under 85 mph, is that right? Over.”
“That’s a roger on that. My standard cruising speed is 85 mph with a sprint of 110. Pretty cool Huh? Over.”
“Ma’am, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When you go full combat mode you can scare the very Gods themselves. I can't wait to see what you do on the course. Over”
“Well, in T-14 you will. Over.” And with that I started my loop around the estate grounds. I passed everything we did this morning, but this time I got a whole different point of view on everything there. This time I got a full technical readout on all the buildings. I knew their lengths, heights and widths. Material make ups and occupancy ratings. When I passed the temple I received a breakdown on the number of novices, Priests and a listing for the
Reverend Mother. As I rounded the guard post at the main gate I got the complete tactical read out for the two A.P.S. units on duty. The two Mustangs were truly eye awakening. I had no idea that those light scout power suits had that much fire power.
I must have gotten lost in thought, because after I passed them I looked up at the countdown time on my heads up display. It read T-1:45 and counting. I had less than two minutes to hit the range and I was over a mile and a half away. I kicked up my speed to max and keyed up the radio. “Ok Major Howard, this is Nakatoma Maiha Mana in-bound at 109 mph, from 180. Start my attack run in T-1:30. Over.”
“Good. Copy. Happy hunting Short Round!” I don’t know what to say to the call sign, but it won’t be that when I break the start line. I drop my speed to 95 when I realize that I'll cross the line too soon. I hold it that until the countdown reads T-10, 9, 8, 7,6,5,4,3,2,1. At -10 I floored it, crossing the start line at 114 mph. I called out over the radio “Wave Dancer on the attack.”
Charley took that moment to activate the rest of the secondary systems from the reconfiguration. The radar targeting and tracking displayed 14 hard locked infantry targets and had my arms swinging to engage before I knew what was going on. Within mere seconds all 14 were destroyed. The next ones didn’t even get a chance to rise up to their full height before being knocked down by my anti-personnel lasers. This was followed by a group with light armor support. The a.p.s took out the ones on the ground while my P.L.R. destroyed the vehicle.
About half way to the next set a wall about 10ft. high popped up between them and me. I didn’t even slow down as I jumped to the top with a burst from the jump jets. Once I cleared it the t&t locked onto a light armored scout tracked vehicle and an AI controlled medium tank. Charley hit the scout track with the P.L.R. and the tank with the P.P.C. Talk about a shock. I thought that, at most, it would have blistered the paint. The damn thing blows the turret off before coring into the engine compartment, but I didn’t slow down to view my handiwork, I kept moving.
The more targets I destroyed, the madder I had become. All of the pain and misery that had been caused by those greedy bastards, started with the deaths of my family. I no longer wanted justice, I wanted revenge. Once the hatred was out in force there was no stopping me. I just kept going. Tanks, armored personnel carriers, halo attack craft and finally, the big boys came out to play. First came the light weights, the scouts, four up, four down. They didn’t stand a chance. I was too pissed off and, because of this, all of my reflexes were beyond those of a human being. I had become Deaths own Daughter. Nothing less than something that could challenge a God was going to give me pause.
Next up was the middle weights that make up the support element for the infantry teams. They fell just as fast. The heavy weights came next, with their heavier armor and greater fire power. They slowed me down enough that, when the assault class stepped out, it was almost over with. But every last one of them would know they had been in a fight for their lives if it was real.
When the buzzer sounded for the end of the run, all of my anger had left me. By all rights I would be dead, but the exercise showed me why the High Command and the Space Port Security had taken such care when they found my cocoon. If I had come out of my cocoon with all of the anger I had just shown here. Sweet Mother of God, no wonder they outlaw the secondary configurations. If this was the type of damage one of us can do when we’re pissed off and hurting mad, I wouldn’t want to see one of us without a human mind to control that kind of fire power.
Now, Nakatoma Maiha Mana you see why I have spent so much time learning from the Dee De AI.
“You mean to say that if I had not been able to control myself when I first came out of the cocoon, you would have followed what you had perceived to be my orders that would have been based on my emotions?”
That is exactly what would have happened. That is why there are no others such as myself, who are active. All others had to be destroyed for the greater good of others. It is a sad destiny to be the last of a race.
As I stand there, hot, sweaty, tired and spent, I thought over what my combat AI had just told me. All three of us were the last of a dying breed. There would never again be a secondary configuration Death Dealer. No, if there was ever a need for a weapon system to be banded because of its destructive power this was it. I lost control out there. I let my anger take over. It not I controlled the cobra AI. I used every weapon I had to destroy the targets. Not just to disable or immobilize, but to totally destroy everything in my path. It took a full lance of assault class power suits to finally stop me. Even then, I had destroyed two of those and disabled the third.
Hey kiddo, you alright?
“I don’t know Dee De. I’ve never lost such total control like that. What the hell happened?”
From what I can tell, when we enter into the full blown combat mode the last emotion that you feel is amplified over two to three hundred times. Focusing everything into your combat operations for maximum impact.
“Thank you Dee De, and you as well Charley. For everything the two of you have done. I’ll take back control for now.”
Maiha you have had full control since the exercise ended. I have merely been keeping you from falling over from exhausted. Would like for me take us back to your room’s ma’am?
“I didn’t realize how tired I was. Yes please, but take it slow. I think a nice slow walk would be good for me.”
As I turned toward the far end of the range from where I began I was amazed at how far I had come. Keying up the radio, I called, “Hey Maj. Do you think you could maybe send the range car for me?”
“Wave Dancer I’ll send you a car if you promise me one thing.”
“I’ll bite. What?”
“That the next time you decide to go for a run on the range, you let me know four days in advance.”
“Would you care to explain why Maj.?”
“Sure Wave Dancer. I’ll need that long to come up with something for you that won’t require me having to send out the entire House Guard troop to stop your ass. That was as terrifying as it was amazing to see. The other night you said that you would be as terrifying as one of the A.P.S. in full combat mode. You were wrong. You put all of us to shame ma’am.”
My mood just dropped another notch. That was not something that I wanted to hear. For my own house troops to be afraid of me was not something I wanted, but of all the things to hear, what came next lifted them to the very heavens. “Matsue always told me that you were far from some ruthless killer and she was right, Maiha. You have become, for all to see, the true blending of a Samurai with his Dragons. You have done nothing to be ashamed of, child. Now when you have returned to your rooms and you have bathed and been appropriately dressed we shall have dinner in the main dining room. So be sure to instruct your maids that dinner is a formal affair. Until then, Dancing Waves of Divine Power.” And with that the radio went silent.
I saw the range car coming hard and fast over the ground. I could see a young Sergeant behind the wheel. Once he had pulled up beside me and stopped, I quickly climbed in. “Thank you for coming after me Sergeant I wasn’t expecting to be this far out on the range when I finished. I had thought that the farthest I would have been was the infantry engagement zone. You know a quick, but glorious death and all that?”
The young man sat there for a moment before bursting into all out laughter. He was laughing so hard that I thought he was going to hyperventilate. Seeing the concerned look on my face he finally gained some control.
“Oh ma’am if there is one thing I know now, it's that you definitely have a sense of humor. I take it you have never cut loose like that before, correct ma’am?” At the nod of my head he continues. “I was on Hyfaha during the Colleen Rebellion of a few years ago. We had a Death Dealer by the name Sorenson in charge of the P.D.F. We were being overrun by the Rebel A.P.S. units when he took a direct hit to the chest. We all saw him go down but he went down fighting. Seeing that made us fight back and hold the line, whi
le H.Q. got off its dead ass and found us some reinforcements. About two, to two and a half hours later, the sorry sons of a Horbathainin night crawler struck again. Only this time they came in with a full two companies of AI Assault Tanks. Normally we wouldn’t have had any problems but we had lost close to seventy five percent of the unit in just holding the line the first time. I figured we were done for.
“Then, out of nowhere, in the middle of the fight, comes this blinding light. Then, all of a sudden there’s someone running amongst those AI Tanks, getting right on top of those fracking monsters. Then blowing them to Hell before moving on to the next one to do the same thing, again and again. I was the only one who got a good look at who it was doing all of this destruction. It was a young girl who could have been Sorenson’s kid sister. That was the first time I ever saw a secondary configuration Death Dealer, and it wasn’t the last. I saw two more, but they just looked like younger versions of themselves. But back to what I was saying, that Death Dealer gave up his life so we would still be alive today.”
Looking over, I notice that the Sergeant was actually closer in age to thirty-five than the twenty to twenty five I had originally thought. My shock must have been evident on my face, because the man just laughed. “No ma’am, I’m not saying I would want to fight you secondary’s going full out, with no brakes, but those of you who I have fought alongside of... Well, that there's a horse of a different color.”
From the sound of his voice and the look in his eyes, I could tell he was proud to have served with those Death Dealers. “Thank you Sergeant for telling me what you just did. Do you understand that, as it stands right now, I believe I am the only active Secondary Configuration Death Dealer who is currently active?” I ask the young man sitting next to me.
“Ma’am, I know that you’re the only one to be successfully activated. The others have all died doing their last duty to others. I know that, and so do all of the Hell Hounds. Don’t you worry about your secret getting out from us. We all owe you too much, and have far too much respect for you to ever let that happen.” Came his very intense reply. “Oh, by the way, thanks for winning me the pool. I had fifty credits on you to make it to the assault class A.P.S. lance. Nobody else, except the Maj., thought you would make it past the AI tanks.” I could tell by his grin that he was looking forward to collecting his winnings. I just couldn’t help it I busted out laughing. They were your typical G.I.s, sitting there, placing bets on the range run of a commanding officer as to where they wound up dying in the mock battle. It took me back to my days as a lowly front line troop. Back before all the medals and promotions, back before the loss of so many dear friends and family. God it felt good. And then out of nowhere, that sense of peace and calm I had felt earlier that day, returned. As we pulled up to the range tower I see Maj. Howard standing at the bottom with the company's 1st Sergeant. As I climbed out they both walked over to me. I can see the smiles on their faces, so I must have done well for this type of reaction from them.