Never Fade Away: Extraction Action (ch. 56) (Patreon)

Kaiden was increasingly convinced that the very worst part of war was the waiting. Waiting when you knew something was going to happen, that within minutes or hours everything would become a chaotic mess in a life or death struggle. Time seemed to warp as seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours. Perhaps it would have been a good thing -- a calm before the storm, time to take a breath and prepare.

Some managed to. They talked, played games, some even prayed. Kaiden hadn't found anything to fill that void of time beyond obsessing over the plans and sitting in tension as he waited for everything to go to hell.

He sat in a tank that was being piloted by Panam, who seemed right at home in it. Before him was a hologram of the terrain and their approach. The red marked the enemy, zones of control marked the absolute furthest their artillery could shoot, while blue arrows marked out the plan. A full assault. Borgs, biotics, and tanks serving as the tip of the spear. Mechs and general infantry coming up to secure positions. They concentrated in three points on one side of the city, intending to secure a chunk of it.

The fighting would likely go on for a few days. A week, maybe. These moments of peace were the only ones he was going to get for days on end, and he wished they would be over already.

“We're entering maximum range in ten. Engage shields,” Kaiden ordered the army as the tanks and vehicles all activated their bubbleshield.

“Any sign that they've spotted us?” Jackie spoke up, his foot bouncing with nerves that leaked into his voice.

“None yet,” Panam answered, focused on the task at hand. “Unless your netrunner friends have anything to say?” L had given them stealth tech, but it couldn’t do anything for the dust clouds that they left in their wake. They went slow, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but a few hundred vehicles all moving in the same general direction stirred up a lot of dust even with their efforts.

Kaiden shook his head, resisting the urge to quadruple check his shotgun. “Lucy hasn't said anything, so we'll assume we're still hidden from their sensors. I expect that'll change pretty quickly when we're in eyeshot,” he admitted. There was still a good twenty miles of distance between them and the actual turian base. They managed to fool their long range scanners, but their close range? Well, they were about to find out.

Because if they didn't, then it was going to be a long bumpy ride to the Turian base.

“Never thought this would be how I left Night City for the first time,” Jackie said, his foot still bouncing. He was clearly nervous, but he was the only one openly so. Jack sat next to him, rolling her eyes, while the rest of the team were killing time in their own way. In contrast to Jackie, David sat still, his arms crossed over his chest with his eyes closed -- completely at ease with what they were heading into. “Every tourist says that Night City’s a blight on the shoreline, but I only see a whole lot of nothing.”

Panam laughed, “Spoken like a true city boy. You probably wouldn't know what to do with a view and silence.”

Jackie chuckled, glad someone was willing to engage in some small talk. “Dios mio, I wouldn't know where to start. Spent a night camping in the badlands for a gig -- everything was so quiet I couldn't sleep a wink. Felt like I was in a horror flick.”

Kaiden just got an alert from Lucy. “Looks like we'll be getting some noise. Sensors flagged us. Lucy is running interference, but we had better punch it.” For the past month, Lucy had been steadily working her way into the Turian systems. They were purposefully compartmentalized to prevent easy hacking, but their efforts weren't perfect. Their computer systems had a single, fatal flaw. It was a flaw that humanity was well aware of.

A dependence on AI. Or VI, as the Turians used. Extremely sophisticated programs, but not to the point of being sapient. They were necessary to maintain the fleet's communication, maintenance, and systems. They were the glue that held everything together. The VI's had extensive anti-hacking protections, but they didn't understand cyberspace. They weren't built around netrunners deep diving into the systems and slowly infiltrating them little by little.

It was a testament to how well the VIs were made that it took Lucy, one of the best netrunners in the business, a month to infiltrate as deeply as she had. Enough to obscure them from the long range sensors and trip up the short range. This battle had been a month in the making and it was only possible because of Lucy's efforts.

“... I think I preferred the quiet,” Jackie muttered under his breath as Panam let her lead foot drop. The tank flew faster, the GN Particles generating more thrust as the actual thrusters gave it their all. The rest of the convoy followed suit, and before long, they surged forward at a hundred and fifty miles an hour.

The tension in the tank swelled, everyone waiting for the moment that they were caught. Lucy would buy them time, but it was inevitable that- “Alert went through,” Kaiden informed and everyone braced.

Ten seconds later the vehicle shook as an artillery shell struck it, the explosion rocking the tank even as it remained whole, the explosion not getting through the bubbleshield. “Hold on, things are going to get bumpy! Those birds are accurate,” Panam said as more explosions echoed out as the bombardment began in earnest. Through the tanks' cameras, Kaiden saw that the space between the vehicles had become filled with fire and dust.

The connection showed that the convoy was dispersing a bit, but so far the shields had held out. They had ten minutes before they reached the base, but within five, they could fire back with some of their own longer ranged weapons. Eight before they were too close for their artillery to be used while the base would be in range of their main guns.

It was far too long for Kaiden's liking, gripping his shotgun as each muffled explosion rang out through the tick armor plating. L hadn't skimped on the safety features -- the armor itself was a good ten feet thick, shrunken down to eight inches to maintain a light weight to not impact the speed. Even if the shells did manage to penetrate the bubble shield, they wouldn't do that much damage.

For five long minutes, they endured the bombardment. Then they entered the range where they could strike back. “Long range missiles and cannons, pick your shots,” Kaiden gave the order. In response, the formation shifted and their long range options were given a clear shot. Shrunken down cruise missiles shot forward, flying the distance at hypersonic speeds to slam into the Turians’ front door.

“How are we on overcast?” River questioned and Kaiden had to check.

“Fleet is responding but it looks like L has chased them off,” Kaiden answered. Or, rather, the fleet wasn't willing to come anywhere near him and his new ship, the Swordfish. When the attack began, they might try their hand, but given how wide of a berth they were giving L… “They'll probably sound the retreat before they risk engaging him.”

The Turians were scared of L. They had plenty of reasons to be, but Kaiden didn't think L understood just how scared of him they were. So far, the biggest defeats of the war all came directly at his hands or were credited to him.

It didn't mean that the war was won. Humanity could still lose, even if the Turians avoided fighting L. It was how Hannibal and Napoleon both lost -- they were too great of an enemy to engage, so the enemy didn't and attacked everywhere they weren't.

“At this rate, soon enough, we'll be taking the fight to these birds! See how they like getting their planet invaded,” Jackie exclaimed, reassured that the day was won simply because L was on their side. A dangerous way of thinking, but Kaiden couldn't say it wasn't understandable. Mostly because he felt the same, to a degree.

Then Kaiden saw one of the convoy markers flesh red. Disabled? How? In an instant, he looked over the status data of the tank that was rapidly falling behind. “They have mines in the ground. The thrusters were taken out,” Kaiden said, seeing that everyone in the tank was still alive.

“Well, we’ll just have to pick up their share,” Panam said as they crossed the eight minute threshold. Kaiden nodded, closing his eyes as he took control over the tanks’ main guns. He leveled the double barrel cannon at a building, and with a thought, the mass driver in the barrel flung a shell into it, blowing the top of it off. The other weapons -- dual mini laser guns, plasma launchers, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, all of them were being primed.

Ten minutes was more than enough time to muster a defense. The Turians brought up their own tanks, their entrenched positions being fortified further. A normal force would have balked at such defenses, but with their tech advantage, they broke through them like a stone through glass. The software targeting system eased the pressure off of his brain, letting him fire on all cylinders the moment they crossed the threshold of the city.

The secondary barrel launched a deep green blast of plasma against one of the Turian tanks, bypassing the kinetic barrier. The metal began to steam and bubble, the main weapon warping when the Turians fired upon them. The shell smacked against the bubble shields, and Kaiden saw that it was a hard knock. However, the damage smoothed itself over with a refresh and they were able to cut deeper into the defensive line.

While the main guns fired off, the point defense and secondaries lashed out in every direction. Missiles streamed upwards, impacting points of cover and clusters of the Turians while laser miniguns cut them to shreds, reducing some to piles of ash.

It was pure overwhelming firepower. The kind that the Turians didn't have a good answer to. Some brave Turians pressed on despite the carnage, trying to get past the bubble shield to take out the GN Drive or the thrusters. They never managed to get close with Kaiden in the gunner seat. Others weren't so lucky, as Kaiden saw one or three tanks get disabled, but not destroyed. Simply because their offense was only matched by their defense.

Once they were truly deep behind the defensive line that was trying its best to overwhelm them with pure firepower, the hatch began to open. “You're all up,” Kaiden informed them. David and the other frontline fighters would handle things from here. They would go where the tanks couldn't reach and break the Turian defenses. The infantry would arrive soon, securing the grounds, but David and his teams would be doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

David and the crew jumped out of the tank undercover before they moved on to hit key points in the Turians defense. He and Panam continued up the street, three tanks following in their wake while a street over, there were another three. A Turian tank fired a shot at them, buried up to its barrel in reinforced concrete by the looks of it. Kaiden fired twice in rapid fire, the first shell weakening the kinetic barrier and the second shot shattered it. Along with it’s cover, letting him destroy it with a loud fiery explosion.

“The birds are flying,” Panam told him and Kaiden looked up with the cameras to see that the Turian air force was entering the fray. Their jets flew in low for a bombing run and they dropped everything that they had, even as Kaiden shot one of them down. The entire city trembled as the cameras revealed nothing but smoke and dust, so he switched to thermal and motion.

“They're covering a retreat,” Panam added as a rocket slammed into the shield, only to break on it.

The bubbleshield might be the most dangerous thing that L had ever created. On its own, it was just another kinetic barrier, but when it was attached to a proper power source? Like… a soda can that could power a city? It was virtually unbreakable, and it refreshed itself every half second. Normal inventors would have to make certain compromises  when it came to designing a weapon of war -- not L. He didn't have to compromise. His answer to an issue with so many energy guns tapping into the same power source that the tank relied on for propulsion and defensive shields was just to make it bigger.

He couldn't blame the Turians for pulling back in the face of it. The tank he was in was a vehicle of war like no other. They couldn't destroy it, their defenses melted underneath a barrage of bullets, lasers, plasma, and rockets -- they didn't have any choice but to retreat in face of such overwhelming firepower.

It was for that reason that Kaiden didn't suspect anything as the Turians rapidly pulled out of the city, retreating to fall back positions. Within an hour, they had broken through the first line, and it would likely take a day or two before they crushed any resistance in their captured burrough. Kaiden occupied himself with targeting the Turian jets, thinning out their air support, while the infantry caught up and began securing the area. Mopping up, essentially.

The only warning that he got about what was about to hit them came from the life-link tech. A piece of soft that made sure that he knew if someone was killed, preventing any ambushes. He had just fired a shot, destroying another jet, when he was suddenly hit with an alert -- B12 Destroyed.

For the briefest of seconds, Kaiden didn't know what to make of the message. It didn't make sense -- how could a tank be destroyed after they broke the Turian line? How did they manage to get through it's defenses? User error?

Kaiden received his answer a second later when the building next to them smashed outward as one of their tanks flew through it, landing in a heap upside down. Even through the dust that was kicked up, Kaisen was quick to notice something that made his stomach flip -- the armor. It was warped and dented.

“The fire power isn't bad. But you're still ou're just meat in a can,” Kaiden heard a voice thunder, emerging from the dust. Twelve feet tall, four legs, six arms, a large heavy set torso black steel -- Kaiden recognized him instantly. “How many do I have to kill before L shows up? That punk killed me. I'm itching to return the favor.”

“Panam!” Kaiden shouted, bracing for impact.

“I'm on it!” She shouted back, throwing the tank into reverse as Kaiden leveled the guns at Smasher, his mind firing off a thousand and one thoughts in that second. And that was before he activated his Sandevistan, making time slow to a crawl as Smasher blurred forward. Panam would be too slow to react, but he should be able to. The main cannon fired, a shell exploding off of Smasher's biotic shield as he pressed forward. If he could even be called a he at this point.

Kaiden saw biotic energy swirling around him a split second before the tank was yanked forward towards Smasher, a fist cocking back that he greeted them with. For a fraction of a second, Kaiden thought that the bubbleshield would hold. It took everything that the Turians had to throw at it without issue. L had put forth every effort to make the tank as safe as it was deadly.

The bubbleshield shattered like glass and in that .3 of a second, Smasher fist struck the tank with the force of a bomb. The front of the tank caved in, warping dangerously. Kaiden grit his teeth and fired a laser into Smasher's chest, washing it in heat until they were knocked back. The GN Drive sputtered, errors creeping up, but it was still operational. “Panam! You get guns!” Kaiden shouted as he all but yanked the steering wheel from her.

“What the fuck is that thing?!” Panam shouted back, getting on the guns. The aim assist would help her deal with the speed so long as Kaiden could keep them in sight.

“Are you peeping through those cameras, L? Are you going watch as I kill these kiddies you care so much about?” Smasher asked as his own weapons warmed up and bullets struck the reformed bubbleshield, letting Kaiden strafe into a building, uncaring of the glass and concrete that broke around his vehicle. Panam hammered Smasher with everything that the tank had, but he stood there and ate it.

A show, Kaiden realized. Like a cat playing with its food, letting the fear sink in before it went for the kill. Only it wasn't their fear Smasher was trying to cultivate. It was L's, who absolutely would be keeping an eye on them through the cameras.

Then Smasher started shooting back as he moved -- he was far too agile for a body that huge and clunky, Kaiden thought with a cold sweat dripping down his spine. The building they had strafed through began to collapse around them, the heavy weaponry simply cutting through the supports like they were nothing.

“You don't have that much time, L. If I can't kill you… I'll settle for everyone else!” Smasher roared, as Kaiden left the building, giving Panam a shot. It would have struck dead on, only for Smasher to Blink through the lasers and plasma, resolidifying on the other side of it. Something popped into place on his fist -- Kaiden didn't know what it was, but he knew what it would do.

His last thought was how L was going to kill him after he died.

Only for the punch that would have destroyed their cockpit to be thrown off as David arrived, kicking the appendage to the side. The punch exploded against their armor, but it wasn't a clean blow. Kaiden and Panam were thrown to the side, the GN Drive still sputtering, but barely.

“Pretty sure I saw L kill you, choom,” David greeted Smasher, who towered over him. David crossed his arms, unafraid and Kaiden felt nothing less than relief with his arrival.

“He did,” Smasher answered with a joyous laugh. The sound of it gripped Kaiden's heart with dread. “He freed me from my last piece of meat. I'm all digital now! Immortal and never ending -- I am what humanity should be! He can kill me a thousand times, but I'll always be back.” Smasher snarled, and Kaiden could hear the feral grin in his voice.

“A gonk like you isn't worth his time,” David dismissed, getting ready for a fight.

“You have some decent chrome there. When I'm done with you, you'll understand what I mean.” Smasher swore, bringing his main weapons to bear -- oversized shoulder mounted cannons, missile silos, defense guns, heavy machine guns, and Kaiden didn't know what else.

He swallowed thickly as the two sized each other up.

And with an unspoken signal, the two titans clashed.