Chapter Fifty-Nine - Enjoying the View


    Chapter Fifty-Nine - Enjoying the View


    Why? Because this piece of shit runs off the same trash software some guy made in his mothers basement in the fucking eighties! Thats why!


    --About modern printers, 2057


    ***


    Its going to have to be a custom job for each one.


    I frowned, but it made sense.


    I had three cars sitting before me and five armoured vans. The cars were all sharp angles and boxy frames. They looked like they could move fast and punch through reinforced walls with ease. The kind of overly manly design language that got the little knobs of cops around the world all hard.


    Having the Fury parked nearby kinda ripped the wind out of their sails, however. These things were at best armed with piddly little turreted autocannons designed to punch cars out of the air. They might have been police pursuit vehicles, but they werent rated to do much against the antithesis.


    The five vans parked behind them were a bit better. I noticed three distinct models there, but they all followed more or less the same design language. Rounded fronts as a slight concession to aerodynamics and a big bulky box of a body with side-opened doors. Three of them had side-mounted turrets with the guns missing. A few techs were installing them in a hurry, though.


    Yeah, those would do.


    Alright, I said. There was a gathering of pilots and volunteers from the militia nearby. Were going to arm up the vans with something to drop bombs. Youre going to need someone inside to reload the bomb dropping thing, but it should be able to drop them on the right spot.


    I was half talking to these guys and half to Myalis. I didnt want to have to trust some bozo with dropping bombs. Youd have to be a special kind of stupid to give someone with no training access to exotic explosives.


    Clearing my throat, I gestured to the three pursuit vehicles. We can add a cheap laser turret onto these. Itll make them a bit better in the air. That autocannon looks like its enough to take out some of the earlier double-digit aliens without too much trouble.


    Franny was arriving soon, and it wouldnt be too hard to divert three of those turrets over. Plus it would save me a few points.


    I walked over to each van in turn and scanned their interiors with my augs to give Myalis a good idea of the amount of space we were dealing with. Then I ordered up the bomb-dropping mechanism for each. They were a hundred and twenty points each, which... I wasnt sure if that was a ripoff or not. Each was relatively large, able to fit into the door and block it completely, with a sort of deployable tube thing on the side to actually drop the bombs from.


    Franny shrugged. Im not averse to a little hard work. Next batch of turrets should be ready in about twelve hours though. We got the kittens working on loading up the machine. Rac sourced a bunch of supplies too.


    There was a bit of warm pride in my chest at hearing that. My kittens were doing good work. Not that they were really mine, but whatever. Id take credit for basically raising them as long as they were doing good.


    The moment they fucked up, Id pretend I had nothing to do with it, of course.


    Hey, can you set aside three turrets for the interceptors? Were going to be using them to keep the bombers safe, I said. Ah, speaking of which. Gom, as much as Id love to see your bumbling attempts at flirting, do you think you can put it off for a little bit? We need to discuss bombs.


    Gomorrahs shoulders moved in a way that suggested she was sighing. Was it because she was sad that she wouldnt get to flirt, or was it something else? Yeah, thats fine, she said. Franny, you probably should go see Lucy. I think she could use the help. Cat here keeps giving her more work.


    Hey, I complained.


    Wait, was that true? Was I overworking Lucy? Fuck, I wasnt even paying her, was I?


    How much was a person like Lucy worth? Organising an impromptu army, putting down dissidents, arranging to feed an entire city, and running a PR campaign at the same time...


    Double fuck, I wasnt making enough money to afford her at all, was I?


    So, I was thinking of keeping it simple. Longer lasting firebombs. Atyacus has a few chemicals that will burn for days at a time. Theyre not as powerful as some liquids I have, but the duration is important here.


    I think I can get Myalis to give me resonators thatll keep going for a long time and thatll be tough enough to endure the drop, I said. I guess were going to mostly aim for duration, then?


    The problem is the spread, in that case. Even if our bombs overlap where they land, theyll only cover a relatively small area. Itll take thousands of them to create a complete barrier, Gomorrah said.


    Tricky, I said.


    Mostly, I was still thinking of how to pay Lucy back. Would foot rubs count?


    ***