The District

by Skyler Grant

If I was going to effect any sort of rescue I'd need either a ship or to control the transit portals that rimmed the city.

  I reached out and tried to reestablish my connection with Tara and my drones on the Graven. It was like trying to pick out a whisper in a loud room but when I finally got a connection everything snapped in at once.

  Tara was on the bridge of the Graven and had been injured, one arm broken in four places and some burns that might prove life threatening without proper treatment. Oddly enough she was also in shades of black and white. None of my drones were or the ship itself. I had lost eight drones, and the others all had injuries of their own.

  I took one over so I could have a conversation. "This is Emma. Status?"

  "Crystal blacked out and we have her in a medbay. Vessel secure. Holding position above the Alivari Ravine having escaped from that dimension I was a prisoner," Tara said.

  "You're looking rather duochrome," I said.

  "Don't have an answer for that. I didn't have coordinates for Aefwal and outside of your control neither did your drones," Tara said.

  Her words matched what I was pulling from my drones memory. It seemed they'd had a hell of a fight just to get safe.

  "Do you want a healing upgrade?" I asked her. Righteous tended to hate the powered, it seemed polite to ask.

  "Will I survive until I can get back to one of your medbays?" Tara asked.

  "Probably," I said.

  "Then I'll pass," Tara said.

  I cleared an underground hanger and had my drones take over the ship controls. A shimmer as I engaged the drive and the ship was docked.

  I sent a medical drone for Tara and my others at once as well as replacement drones for those injured to man the ship.

  Well now I could get to the Ooze world but that wouldn't help me to save Anna and Sylax. To do that I thought I'd need the most formidable offensive tool I could get, I needed Hot Stuff.

  Even while I was out my surveillance systems had been monitoring and recording. Put together I had a good idea of what was going on in Wolf's district. His district was mostly composed of dense forest and under ground bunkers, and under thermal scan some irregularities quickly became apparent.

  Hot Stuff herself put out a lot of heat, and with the number of Werewolves who now had her ability the systems to vent that heat were straining. One of the underground bunkers had effectively been dug up and a whole new fan system dug through the reinforced structure.

  That didn't just compromise the integrity of the building, it gave me a good idea where Hot Stuff was housed.

  I wasn't getting any sense of her, but if she responded as Tara had I might be able to if I got a ship full of my other drones close. I might even be able to communicate a message to her, if she was still loyal.

  I wasn't going to get any second chances.

  Every human drone I sent to the ship I made sure was upgraded with the fire matrix. None of them would burn as hot as she did but it would help to insulate them from her and the Wolves.

  When I was ready I engaged the ships dimensional drive. Using it for a short range attack like this was difficult, the complications got insanely complex when dealing with such a small scale but I really was very smart.

  The Graven appeared in the air over the bunker. I had her. Hot Stuff was trapped within some sort of energy shielding, it looked like something that Batarius might have made. If I had a connection it also meant she was still loyal. Good, I wasn't sure I could pull off this plan without her.

  I tried to establish a connection with her mind like I would have with my drones. I didn't think I could get any sort of complex message through but I only needed one. Burn.

  It got through, Hot Stuff's skin began to glow a reddish orange as the air around her erupted into flames. The shielding held, it must be incredibly powerful to hold even under that.

  It was fine that it did. I'd rigged the underside of the Graven with a single shot weapon. High melting point metals that even now my drones were heating to the very limit of their melting point. It was a dangerous game I was playing here.

  Explosive charges detonated and funneled that energy to propel a single massive blast from below the ship. The Graven rocked with the force and the hull buckled in three places, the bunker below didn't fare as well. Already weakened by the addition of the fan systems the hot metal shards shredded their way through.

  Werewolves within were cut to pieces, the shards could survive their flames and even their accelerated healing factor couldn't cope with this much damage all at once. Ophelia could have handled being torn to shreds, they couldn't.

  A collapsing roof and a spray of metal tore the force shield protecting Hot Stuff to shreds and met her aura.

  Hot Stuff burned hotter than the Wolves. The spray evaporated before it could hit her flesh.

  The scene after a few seconds was a massive crater where a bunker had been, a lone woman standing bare in the middle of it all as flames rippled along her flesh.

  I brought the Graven low and extended the ramp and her flames flickered off as she leapt aboard.

  Three airships were closing in. Wolf hadn't left his district totally undefended. They were too late. I engaged the dimensional drive and jumped out.

  26

  I'd set the jump coordinates for the location where Tara had earlier docked the ship. I knew it was a safe locale and it gave me time to work out the next step with Hot Stuff.

  "Before you make some bitchy comment about how I look terrible. I'm naked and I have an amazing metabolism. I look amazing," Hot Stuff said.

  As if I would ever insult someone based on their appearance. Well, if they didn't deserve it.

  "Your ability to keep the ugly on the inside is legendary. In your absence Mechos has taken up with two women that satisfy him in ways you never could. I have detailed sensors, I know. If we are done with your childish need to be insulted can we get on to business? I take it you didn't cooperate with Wolf?" I asked.

  "Did his best to bribe me then his best to rape me and finally settled for locking me up until he figured out how to jab a needle into me. What took you so long to come to my rescue?" Hot Stuff said.

  "Sylax won the city. Then got captured, then there was a civil war. There were grand plans to put things right but they've all collapsed into ruin like every relationship you've ever had," I said.

  "Your usual plans then. I assume your breaking me out is a part of some desperate and unlikely to succeed mission?" Hot Stuff asked.

  Well, perhaps she knew me a little.

  "I believe Anna and Sylax are under the control of some sort of mind controlling slime. If we can find their ship I'm dropping you are some other pyros on board and you're going to roast everyone and everything. Anna can heal and I doubt you're killing Sylax," I said.

  "Bitch kicked my ass last time," Hot Stuff said.

  "We're hoping she'll be grateful now," I said.

  I fortunately had the coordinates for the Ooze city from what I'd observed through Anna's eyes when the fleet jumped in. I just had to hope that the Powerhungry hadn't been taken somewhere far distant. If so I'd never have a chance to get the ship back.

  We jumped.

  The ooze hadn't left. There wasn't much of the city left down below after what Sylax had done to it but a few structures still haphazardly leaned with their structures drenched in slime.

  The airships Sylax had taken with her were intact, although grounded. Thick layers of slime coated each.

  I'd learned my lesson from before. There was not a crewmember aboard that couldn't ignite a flaming aura. Even if the Ooze managed to get aboard it would find us far harder to seize than Sylax's fleet had been.

  I set course for the Powerhungry and opened the ramp. We weren't going overly subtle here, it both wasn't Hot Stuff's strength, it also wasn't necessary.

  When we got close I signaled and she leapt down from the ramp. Her flames ignited mid-air and when she landed on the slime-covered hull it was with a violent cloud of steam and t
he stench of roasting goo.

  Hot Stuff triggered an especially bright flare and the slime rippled in its efforts to retreat from her as the hull beneath her feet began to glow a dull red as she started to melt her way through the thick armor plating.

  I sent down every non critical drone I had. They formed a ring around her, their own flames igniting.

  Hot Stuff dropped from sight into the top deck of the ship and my people followed her in.

  The power systems on the ship were dead, but then they were making their own light sources. Slime dripped on every surface and it surged violently against them. It flung itself against Hot Stuff violently as it tried to drown her. A particularly violent wave quenched one of my drones and my connection was instantly severed.

  That was ok. Apart from their ability to flame I hadn't sent them in with any other weapons and if they ignited their flames they'd simply be burning off the very ooze that now controlled them.

  I'd given the slime a useless puppet.

  Hot Stuff lead the rest towards the bridge. At least she was well familiar with the ship, the design had changed very little since Sylax regained control and the command center remained on deck three.

  There were no other crew controlled standing in their way. I didn't think their would be. I hadn't observed any population in the city below during the initial assault either, I thought that the slime must have some sort of acidic property to it. At first it took control of a host and forced them to obey but over time it dissolved them and simply transformed them into more slime.

  Anna had a healing factor and Sylax was Sylax, I couldn't be sure that as long as they'd been in the slimes possession they'd both be fine but I had to hope they would be.

  It was hard to see as my drones moved. Every step was more steam and more clouds of thick oily smoke as slime burned. The corridors were becoming choked with it and without power there were no ventilation systems to filter it out.

  It was slow going to the bridge and by the time Hot Stuff reached it I'd lost another three drones to the waves of ooze.

  With all the smoke it was hard to tell but I thought I saw humanoid figures beneath the slime covering the floor. Hot Stuff burned and burned some more as the slime desperately tried to overpower her flames. It was failing.

  Then I heard a snap of fingers and Hot Stuff and all the others were aboard the cargo hold of the Graven.

  Sylax stood in the middle of them, the woman looking paler and more haggard than I'd ever seen her. A charred body at her feet was slowly working to knit itself back together, Anna.

  "You," Sylax said with a look towards hot stuff, "I owe Wolf for this rescue then?"

  "Emma," Hot Stuff said.

  "Very good," Sylax said and fainted dead away.

  This was the unstoppable force I'd just dared all to rescue. Fantastic.

  I engaged the dimensional drive and got the ship back to Aefwal.

  27

  I returned to find that that the assault on the Ooze world was time enough for Wolf to finish his assault upon her castle and to finally claim it for himself. With Sylax back I didn't think that he would be able to claim the central core and so far it seemed as if I was right. He held a majority and the central core but hadn't actually claimed the city.

  I began several more upgrades. I wanted to raise my Defense to twenty but when I tried to do so got a warning prompt.

  Error

  Cannot raise another division to more than twice your Utility rating.

  It was probably for the best I raise my last two areas to ten that I hadn't already. I spent the requisite resources for Utility and Residential.

  Upgrade Options

  Residential

  High

  With this option you choose to build towering skyscrapers to help house your people. The views are outstanding and help to improve morale but these facilities are also more vulnerable to attack.

  Low

  With this option you choose to expand your residential facilities deep into the earth. This offers some advantages to defense but also leads to lower morale.

  Morale actually did seem important, I needed my people working as diligently as possible. I was also a part of a city at war and on the losing side of a civil war coming to the end, I needed every defensive advantage I could get. It wasn't truly an option, not now. I selected Low.

  Upgrade Options

  Utility

  Universal

  Your utility drones and systems are constructed with a generalist mindset. All building types can be expanded to twice the Utility rating.

  Specialized

  Your utility drones and systems are constructed with the intent to maximize the output of one type of structure. The selected type can be raised to four times the Utility rating, all others can be raised only as high as utility.

  In the past I'd have specialized in Research without question. SCIENCE was unquestionably the most important thing one could do. Yet the exigences of the moment made me also consider other options. I had to raise Utility at all right now to improve my defense rating and with this I could raise it far higher. Yet under Sylax the most important thing that had been keeping me alive to do science was my manufacturing potential.

  I was coming to realize that I always had to be prepared to be strong in a host of ways. My ability to do SCIENCE wasn't just a matter of how many labs I could build but depended on how well I could defend them. I selected Universal and then proceeded to upgrade my Defense.

  Upgrade Options

  Defense

  Powered

  Your gain a small bonuses to all powers granted to troops. This not only makes their powers stronger but allows them to be used more frequently.

  Equipped

  You gain a small bonus to all equipment utilized by your forces. This improves the defensive value of all armor as well as the offensive value of all weaponry.

  This one was more complicated. With my research focus I'd already gained a lot of new powers from captured foes and so already had options there. Time would provide me more. It was obvious that the Scholars as a whole had once chosen this sort of path, while they made use of technology their focus was on abilities gained from crystals.

  I could contrast that with the Righteous who actively suppressed crystal powers and whose airships and gear were top of the line. They were undoubtedly strong, although to date the Scholars had seemed stronger.

  I had to go with that observation. I selected Powered.

  With this I could double my defensive strength. With enough clones I could perhaps keep Wolf at bay until I figured out a way forward.

  I had help now.

  Anna's healing factor didn't act anywhere near as quickly as Ophelia's, still once I had her placed into a med-bay it only took a day for her to regain consciousness.

  "I don't recommend being burned alive. I also don't recommend being mind-controlled by slime," Anna said sitting up with a grimace."

  "Hot for once in your sad, pathetic, little life and you don't even appreciate the experience. How predictably grim," I said.

  "That's me. What is the situation?" Anna asked.

  I filled her in on all that had happened during her disappearance.

  "Fuck," Anna said displaying the eloquence I expected from her. "And Sylax is.."

  "Still unconscious. So is Crystal. While I expect your dull wits can't see it I expect there is a connection," I said.

  "That only makes sense. Wolf didn't accept Ophelia yielding when he could have. He isn't going to settle for us just bending the knee either," Anna said.

  "I wouldn't recommend it anyways. He shares more of Sylax's negatives than we'd have expected," I said.

  "Its the power. The more of it one gets the more chance for their mind to become twisted. If he winds up taking the city for himself his madness will get a lot worse," Anna said.

  My mind felt fine for all the power that I'd taken. Still, I was obviously superior to humans to one could hardly expect us to react the same wa
y.

  "I don't have the forces to challenge him directly. I'd hoped to use Sylax but if she out of contention I don't know what else we can do. If necessary we can transfer my core back to the Powerhungry and try to get the ship operational," I said.

  Anna shook her head sharply, "That ship is covered in slime. Even if we needed to retreat that wouldn't be an option. It would have to be the Graven."

  Logical. It was such a tiny ship though I didn't relish the thought.

  "You want to stay in that ship long term? Bit like an elephant wanting to hide in a mouse hole," I said.

  "I don't want to retreat. I want to bust some heads. You know the current situation best Emma. What do you want to do right now?" Anna asked.

  That wasn't hard. Most of the crew was back together now. I'd rescued Mechos, Anna, Hot Stuff and even a newcomer like Tara. There was one of my old division heads still in captivity however.

  "Rescue Ratticus," I said.

  "Then get me some armor, a gun, and a team and lets break some skulls" Anna said.

  It was good to have her back.

  28

  While Crystal might be unconsciouses her district hadn't actually been conquered. Jade remained under my compulsion which meant our alliance right now stood at three members. We didn't have the numbers and with Sylax returned it may be moot anyways, but I still wanted to take any support I could from Wolf.

  If we were going to be invading Zora's district anyways this was a chance to try. Zora's district was one of gleaming steel and glass, well dressed figures in suits and shades walking along perfectly ordered boulevards.

  We were going to do the hit on the Graven. Without teleportation being possible between the districts the dimensional drive remained my best option to hit fast and in a hurry. We were going full strength for this, Anna was in armor along with a collection of heavy combat drones equipped with a variety of powers. Hot Stuff was providing further offensive support while I had brought Mechos along for his technical expertise.