Stray Cat Strut

Chapter Twenty-Two - Jolly Old Day Job

“A lot of people, when they talk about the ideal samurai load-out or specialisation, tend to suggest mass automation. Things like drone armies or reproducible nanoweapons.

It’s strange that despite the number of samurai that do have some automated drones at their disposal, very few actually focus on using those.”

--Spacefight Versus Forums, 2041

***

One of the first things I did on waking up was check the interactive map.

The antithesis hadn’t been sleeping much, it seemed. The orange blobs representing their positions had grown to cover almost twice the space they had the night before, and now there were a few red dots here and there.

If it doubled again, it was possible that they’d manage to encircle the entire city. As it was, the blobs were spread out into long tendrils, often poking out from one big area and reaching out in a dozen directions. I could almost see a pattern there.

Then, of course, I squeezed in closer to Lucy and opened a few media apps to doomscroll the night’s news.

A few cities had been hit already. Some had had terrible problems with evacuations. Washington was taken over by protesters from some anti-doomsday cult who were chanting that the antithesis were all made up. The forests around Los Angeles were on fire, because why not, and Mexico City’s arcology had shattered.

Shit was hitting the fan all over.

I sighed.

And it was my job to stop that.

I got up, figured that I’d showered once in the last twelve hours and didn’t need a second even if I’d been rather active last night, got my clothes on, then stepped into my armour.

Lucy was laying down on a heap of blankets, one bare leg uncovered while the rest of her hugged the spot I’d been on a moment before.

I took a picture before sneaking my way out of the room.

A few of the kittens were up and about downstairs, but they were mostly preoccupied with making a mess of the place. I told them off, maybe tossed a few threats around, then headed outside.

It was, of course, raining. Because we couldn’t have a nice day of sunshine to go with the invasion. I called over my hoverbike while adjusting my coat against the constant weak drizzle. I bet a bunch of corporations were having a field day pumping the production on their factories while inspectors and the like were too busy preparing for the invasion.

My bike came to a stop before me and I climbed on and shot up into the air.

It was just shy of noon, and the city below looked like it always did, as if the invasion was an afterthought. The banner ads on the sides of skyscrapers would warn people to stay home, but only between ads for new hair gels and some celebrity porn sites.

Sighing, I opened the map and started looking for a place where I’d be useful.

Catherine, there’s a mid-urgency call for assistance at this location.

Myalis highlighted a part of the city to the west. A long stretch of road where a smaller city was set up. It was almost big enough that its suburbs merged into New Montreal’s. The priority alert was just on the outskirts of that, away from New Montreal.

“What’s going on there?” I asked. There was a pin there, with an exclamation mark and a tag saying that one samurai was present.

In summary, a large convoy of supplies gathered from a collection of smaller settlements to the west is heading to New Montreal. The convoy has attracted a lot of attention from the antithesis, and is being followed. The Family suspect that this formation of antithesis might be the first proper wave in this incursion, at least if it isn’t stopped.

“What makes it a wave or whatever?” I asked as I turned my bike that way. That sounded like a good spot to make some points from.

A wave is a colloquial term for when a large body of antithesis all start moving towards a singular objective or area. Often these will run into small groups who will join the larger formation.

“So this is, what, a pre-wave?”

Likely a large number of antithesis all charging in the same direction. It’s possible that other cells will join them in their charge and that any small hives in the path of the wave will start producing more models as the hive discovers that they are threatened.

So it was the start of an exponential shitshow. “What does the Family want to do about it?” I asked. The pin on the map opened up a heap of documents, but I didn’t have time to read those while racing over.

Stop the wave before it grows large enough to overwhelm the defences of the satellite city. The data-pack includes information about those defences. They are not exactly impressive.

Myalis opened up an array of screens across the edges of my vision. A map of the smaller city, with images of the defences. Those consisted mostly of chain link fences that had been put up overnight, a few two-generation-old tanks and armoured cars, and a lot of local volunteers with guns older than I was.

I tapped on the icon that indicated another samurai was around, then blinked at the name. Jolly Monarch? He was the weird guy with the crown. He seemed like he was decently experienced. Wouldn’t he be enough on his own?

Then again, the Family’s request for more assistance hadn’t been removed despite him being there, so chances were that he didn’t think he would be enough on his own.

I searched the map for a moment before finding the spot where Gomorrah was at. She was patrolling along the edges of another small settlement, in an area that was orangey-green.

If she’d been at it since the morning, she was probably a little tired already.

I revved up my bike and leaned down lower, cutting the wind resistance and darting across the city a bit faster.

The moment I was out of the crowded skies of New Montreal I pushed the bike ever harder. Wind and rain whipped at me, but I couldn't feel either within my armour. Dropping lower, I skimmed over the ground until I neared the outskirts of the satellite city and started to circle around it.

I knew that the family was working to build some sort of reinforcements around the main city, but it looked like this place had its own version of that.

Like the cheap credit-or-less version of a wall. Second-hand fencing and cement barriers cut across one of the bigger highways that went around the edge of the city. It made sense that they’d put up their wall there. The highway was a wide stretch of flat asphalt. The militia defending the city could place their old tanks and gun-nests right on the inner side of the road without issue, and any antithesis crossing over to them wouldn’t benefit from any cover.

The houses and businesses on the other side of that highway were shit out of luck though. It looked like a lot of the homes on that side had their lights off. People had evacuated already, or they were too stubborn to leave their cookie-cutter for the safety of the city proper. Either way, it didn’t look like anyone gave much of a shit about them.

Jolly Monarch is at that major intersection.

Myalis highlighted a part of the highway where two eightlane roads met.

The intersection was busy, with a police officer directing traffic holding a pair of batons, and a roadblock set up on either side of the intersection, ready to close at a moment’s notice.

Volunteers, onlookers, and a lot of local militia sorts were milling around behind the blockade while the last few cars drove back to the safety of the city.

One section of the road was closed off, and that’s where I found Jolly Monarch.

The older samurai was parked next to what looked like the cross between a cartoonishly over the top throne, and a parade float. He was standing next to the throne while drones moved all around him.

I brought my bike down nearby, put it in park, then swung off the back of it. I could feel all the eyes turning my way as I walked over to Jolly Monarch and his army of black and white drones.

He seemed to have a few models around him, most of them about the size of an adult. They looked like giant floating trashcans. Very postmodern trashcans. With little barrels sticking out of their sides.

“Hey,” I said.

“Ah-hah! Stray Cat, here to save the day!” Jolly Monarch said. “It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah, you too,” I said. “So, what the hell is going on around here? And what are those?” I asked while pointing at the nearest drone.

“These are my pawns, and unfortunately, they won’t be enough to keep us safe today.”

***