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Nellie and the Nanites - Bk3 - Ch.28
🕑 Added 2024-05-21 08:05:01 +0000 UTCChapter 28
The Outer Ring
…..
ACCESS GRANTED!
“We’re in,” Quad hurried back away from the door as the others took positions on either side of it.
This was their first foray into an I.E.S. facility while it was still powered, and taking every precaution in the book was now their default setting.
They wouldn’t open so much as a toilet seat without being ready to blast anything that moved.
Nellie slowly reached down and pulled on the rolling door hard. There was a loud squeak as the gummed-up machinery protested briefly, and then the door shot up. It jammed just short of fully open, and the squad swept the interior with their lights while the Heavy Smiler scuttled forward and searched the interior.
Lucy was handling the creature's command, as Paren was cut out of things by the scattering fields.
“All clear, and it seems we have a vehicle,” Lucy said.
“Okay, on me,” Nellie swung around the entryway, keeping her rifle raised to her shoulder, scanning the corners of the roof as she entered. Her boots made echoes, soon joined by the others as the space—only the size of a triple car garage really—filled with her people.
“Somehow, that isn’t quite what I expected,” Nellie frowned at the vehicle left in the furthest corner. It was a strange-looking vehicle, with two large front wheels and a single back wheel; the driving compartment was suspended between and a little back from the wheels on some kind of gimbal system. “Can we scan this thing?”
“Nellie,” Lucy sighed.
“Oh, shit,” Nellie laughed and wound her own senses up, noting the lack of any electrical aura, but the dense clusters of metallic signatures were a clear indication of an onboard computer. “Yeah, this thing is wired up and down. I’m seeing sensor clusters as well.”
Integration - 34%
Unlocking…
Survival Crafting
Situational Analysis
Nellie wavered a little as the information arrived in her brain in a rush. Logically, she knew it had been there for a while, with her system having only just adapted enough to make the necessary connections.
Still, it felt like she had just been downloaded with a couple of college courses' worth of information—enough to make anyone’s head swim.
“Unexpected,” Lucy noted. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just a second,” Nellie took a few deep breaths and focused on the vehicle they had found to distract herself. Something tickled at the back of her mind before the integration seemed to be complete, and it all became clear.
“Okay, we need to get detailed scans, then have a bunch of nanites eat this thing,” Nellie said with conviction. “Anything running an I.E.S. program is going to be a risk to us.”
“Good point,” Lucy said, looking at the Heavy Smiler.
“What?” Nellie asked.
“Just wondering how good this thing’s scanners are.” Lucy smiled.
“Some things you just can’t unsee,” Nellie said as they watched the smiler crunch down on the computer core from the trike. “It really looks like it is enjoying that.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Lucy said affectionately. “I kind of like it.”
“Me too,” Nellie admitted. Do you think Paren is starting to rub off on us?”
“Probably,” Lucy laughed. “Which is probably bad news for the rest of the galaxy.”
“Ha Ha,” Prim added. “Not creepy at all!”
“Good point,” Nellie grinned. “Let’s get to searching the rest of this place.” As they left, Nellie reached back and grabbed a couple of nanocubes from her backpack before lobbing them over her shoulder and onto the vehicle.
It would be a puddle in minutes.
The next building in the outer ring turned out to be a cafeteria, complete with tables and a counter, all half obscured by dust and ash thanks to a large hole in the roof. The shield they had on this place must have failed during some kind of eruption from a nearby volcano. The ejecta from the small crater here and in the house they found matched, so it must have been one hell of a blowout.
“Nothing here but twisted trays and metal scrap,” Prim declared with a dismissive wave of the hand. “Next?”
And so it went.
They found a destroyed arboretum, which presumably functioned as some sort of park, and a small office building. Both were pretty much useless. Their best find was a set of blank datapads, which could at least be useful as materials. Two more houses, which seemed to be for the more V.I.P. members of staff, were found, but both were empty of everything except the basic fittings.
Nellie found herself wandering, wondering what had led to Dr Peterson staying behind when everyone else left. Did they miss the evacuation for some reason? Or did they stay by choice?
“Got something!” Quad called, and Nellie shook herself free of the thoughts.
They had work to do.
===<<<>>>===
The Security Center certainly lived up to the name. It was even more heavily shielded than the main building, to the point where scorch marks on the thick alloy showed that the same kind of impact that had melted a hole in the main facility had left nothing more than a scorched dent in this one.
“No windows, one door, and no chance of a scan getting through,” Sec reported to her as they arrived.
“Let’s try the access pass,” Nellie said, and they took up positions.
…
ACCESS DENIED
INSUFFICIENT CLEARANCE
“We could search the main facility,” Lucy offered. “There might be another access pass in there, one that can get us in here easily.”
Nellie chewed her lip while she considered it. Usually, she was a fan of the easier and, above all, safer path, but the new knowledge was sitting right at the front of her mind, and it was saying something completely different. It was laying out a plan that she was reasonably sure was the better option.
Situational Analysis might be the most universally applicable skill Nellie had ever heard of. Now that she had the knowledge, she was amazed it wasn’t taught in schools.
To break it down to the most basic elements, the knowledge could be summed up in three sentences.
Notice the details.
Think about everything twice.
Every action has a consequence.
On the subject of details, don’t just notice them, but ask why they are that way. For example, why the hell was this place more armored than the main facility?
The most likely answer was that inside that shielded building were the weapons and armor needed to take out anything in the facility itself.
Also, the now-deceased Dr. Peterson appeared to be at an administrative level within the facility, yet her card didn’t work. That suggested that the highest level of clearance in the entire complex was this building.
Her ordinary course of action in such a situation would be to search the facility for a safe and easy way to enter the security center, but that was just a first thought. If the security center was the greater threat, then it made sense to enter there first. If they couldn’t, they would likely be forced to enter the facility itself, but if they could…
Consequences were the final part of the puzzle. The consequence of entering the facility first would be going in there blind and possibly outgunned or underprepared.
The consequence of entering the security center first? They take the biggest risk now, but if they need to run, they have open ground all around and the best chance of escape. It's much better than discovering you need to run in the tight quarters of an unknown facility.
“Get the nano-blades,” Nellie said. “We breach the Security Center first.”
Nellie immediately vetoed the idea of Lucy attempting to hack the I.E.S. lock. The most dangerous thing to them, at the moment, was that they had no idea what the facilities were capable of. It was one of the reasons that searching them was so important.
When the time came to face down the bastards, Nellie wanted to know what they faced. She had too much to lose otherwise.
That left the option of Nanoblades, which was proving to be surprisingly slow.
“Shit!” Lucy snapped as a new barrier popped up when they carved away the locking plate. A heavy ‘thunk’ sounded around the doorframe. “Magnetic lock has engaged.”
“Stay clear for a moment,” Nellie said, pulling Sec away from the doorway. “I’m seeing an electric current through the structure now.”
“They really don’t want anyone getting in here,” Prim said, poking their finger close enough to the alloy walls to cause a small arc of electricity to earth itself through the Cent’s space suit.
“Okay, let's try with the MK2 rifles,” Nellie called everyone to back up and form a line. “Sending targeting information. Concentrate fire on my go.”
Nellie called the command, and the five beams all hit the exact center of the door.
A repulsor field activated, attempting to push the concentrated energy away. When that didn’t work, a small-scale scattering field coated the door, breaking the beams into a dozen tiny beams.
“Shit,” Nellie groaned. “Did we do anything to it?”
“Nothing major,” Lucy shook her head. “We could burn a hole in it, but it would drain the power reserves on these rifles completely.”
“We need something bigger,” Nellie said. “Bring in the Heavy.”
The heavy smiler reared up in front of the door, the front third of it splitting into two halves that opened like the petals on a particularly unsettling flower.
There was a faint hum, followed by a flash as the semi-organic laser array was activated. A second later, a hissing beam of energy gathered in the center of the gap before shooting out in a constant stream that hit the door dead center. It drilled through the scattering field like a hot knife through butter, and the heavy door began to buckle.
The beam burned for almost a full minute before it winked out.
“How did we do?” Nellie asked.
“It is heavily damaged,” Lucy said with a grin. “The Heavy needs a bit of time to recharge, but then we will be in.”
“Uh, is that a problem?” Sec nodded to the dented and twisted door.
As they watched, one of the dents began to straighten out.
“Putain!” Nellie growled. “How is that fair?”
“This must be what it feels like to fight us,” Lucy said with a slight smile.
“Yeah, well, let’s not wait.” Nellie patted the heavy on the head and pointed at the door. “Eat!”
The smiler let out an excited chittering and charged the door.
“Isn’t that still electrified?” Prim asked.
“Shit,” Nellie had forgotten about that.
“Wait,” Lucy laughed, “Look.”
Small metal arms had appeared on the sides of the Heavy Smiler, sliding out from the joint between two armor plates. The electricity arcing between them was being drawn into the center of the creature, where it was gathering.
Apparently, enjoying the free energy feed, the Heavy reared and slammed its head against the door repeatedly. Finally, a bit gave, and the glinting mandibles chomped down immediately.
“Uh,” Quad raised his hand.
“What’s up?” Nellie asked with a broad smile.
“We are the good guys, right?” Quad asked nervously.
“What?” Nellie frowned.
“It’s just that I’m not sure the good guys have that kind of creature,” Quad asked nervously.
Lucy glared at Quad, who quailed.
“I don’t know,” Nellie said with a shrug. “I don’t think it's what you are or what you have that makes you good or bad. It’s how you use those things and how you act.” She smiled at Quad. “Good question. It’s always important to check you never end up on the wrong side of that one.”
“Really?” Lucy asked. “You aren’t upset?”
“Our Paren’s creature is currently eating the door on the secure door of a secret facility, which we intend to rob down to the last nail. No, it is always good to check.” Nellie laughed.
“So we are the good guys?” Quad checked again.
“More good than bad,” Nellie shrugged. “Which is the best just about anyone can do in real life.”
“Thanks,” Quad looked relieved.
“No problem,” Nellie nodded. “It looks like Fido is about to finish his meal. Let’s see if we can get a scout drone in there to check it out.”
The Scout had to turn sideways and retract most of the sensor equipment to get through the gap, but it made it inside.
Nellie and the others watched on a small portable screen as the interior was rendered in more detail each second. The screen would have looked entirely incomprehensible to someone with regular human or brackta vision, overlaid with so many different auras and signal markers, but to the five of them, it was as clear as day.
There was a central counter, with a thick transparent material covering the upper half, and a single door off to one side. It was another heavy-looking thing, but nowhere near as bad as the actual exterior door, which was a relief. It was also open.
Beyond that, they could see several racks of gear, with what she cataloged as at least one full set available.
There was also a line of clear walls, each with a door that Nellie assumed was some sort of cell, before a rolling door at the back that looked big enough for some kind of vehicle.
Lights flickered on as the scout floated across the entryway, returning more readings, including a set of stairs going up at the back of the building. In all, it seemed to be a relatively simple setup.
Nellie was almost disappointed there wasn’t more to it.
The feeling didn’t last long.
A line of writing scrolled across the back wall.
INTRUDER DETECTED! INTRUDER DETECTED!
“Shit!” Nellie yelled as a pair of armored turrets dropped from the ceiling and obliterated the scout in a single burst a split second before the interior door slammed closed and sealed itself.
“Get to cover!” Lucy yelled as two more appeared in the lobby, immediately opening fire through the doorway.
===<<<>>>===
Nellie rolled as bolts of energy slammed into the stone behind her. The turrets were formidable, and they hit like a truck. Quad had already lost one arm to their fire. In the first second alone, they spit out fifty bolts like they were on sale.
The situation had not improved since.
Nellie spun in the air, firing a concentrated beam from her rifle into the nearest turret and seeing the shield on it fail. A second later, three more beams hit, and one of the turrets went down.
One down, one to go.
The destroyed turret withdrew, and a new one dropped into place.
“Foutre le camp!” Nellie swore and started dodging again.
“One more second!” Lucy called.
“Hurry up!” Nellie growled.
“Now!” Lucy called, and Nellie slid to a stop, presenting a static target in sight of both turrets, which immediately turned to fire on her.
The heavy laser of the smiler cut them in half like butter.
It took three more shots to kill all the replacements.
“I hate being bait,” Nellie chuckled to herself as she took a couple of breaths—which, for someone with nanite lungs, was tantamount to panting.
“Clear!” Lucy called, and the Cents came out of cover on either side of the door.
Prim found Quad's severed arm, and they were trying to re-attach it, so she went over and tossed them a small nanite cube to help.
“Thanks!” Quad said, giving her a thumbs up.
“We need to get that inner door open, too,” Lucy warned her.
“Five minutes,” Nellie said with a smile. “Then we go again.”
The interior lights were now strobing red, and the word ‘BREACH’ scrolled across the top in an unending loop.
Lucy was examining the interior mechanisms on the exterior door, looking for a weakness they could exploit in the others they would no doubt encounter. It wasn’t looking promising. There were two backups for every system and at least a half dozen defensive shields and plates it could drop, as well as what looked to be connections for an interior pressure system to force out any dents.
It was, in short, a hell of a door.
One they would be copying from here on out.
“It would be great if we could get one of those turrets in an almost complete state,” Lucy noted. “But I have my doubts.”
“Me too,” Nellie said as she approached the interior door carefully.
Never assume the sealed door won’t open so something can shoot you. It was a lesson she didn’t need the Situational Analysis to tell her. It was something she would do, after all.
The door didn’t open, but a shield did flicker into place at her approach.
“We almost ready?” Nellie asked.
“Two minutes,” Lucy called. “One last look, then we can get everything in place.”
Their plan for this one was simple.
Have the heavy shoot through the outer door, blow the interior one, and then take cover behind the reception desk while they returned fire.
The transparent material had already been shattered, so it was out of the way at least.
Nellie spent the time scanning everything she could see for any clues, anything that might help them now or in the future.
Nothing jumped out at her. It was pretty normal-looking stuff, at least out here.
“Fire!” Nellie yelled, and the smiler opened fire. The concentrated beam burned through the shield and interior door in under a minute this time.
“Now!” Nellie yelled, and the five of them fired from cover, their rifles up to maximum power. They hit one turret first, energy bolts shattering the cover around them. The first died, and they switched back and forth until the replacements stopped coming.
“Sending in the scout,” Lucy called, and they headed outside, just in case.
The scout entered and scanned the room, fortunately finding no more turrets waiting to exterminate it. The room itself was smaller than she first thought, but the more important point was the explosive device silently counting down.
“Ostie!” Nellie swore. “Cube it!”
The scout reached into an interior compartment, pulled out a nanite cube, and placed it over the explosive, which began to count down even faster.
“Everyone back,” Nellie called but stopped as the nanites vanished into the explosive, only for it to fall to pieces as the explosives were stripped into base components.
Nellie exchanged a relieved smile with Lucy as the writing on the wall suddenly changed.
NANITES DETECTED! COUNTERMEASURES DEPLOYED.
A wave of energy rippled out from the center of the structure, the leading edge passing through the walls as if they weren’t there.
Lucy and the others dropped like stones, and a terrible silence echoed inside her head as her nanite-powered body began to shut down.
