You know, when my little girl was still little, she and her friends would always want to play with me, and this was before I initialized. I was the definition of a beanpole then, so they would play games that didn't involve feats of strength, like hide and seek. And let me tell you, even ten years later, I still suck at both hiding and seeking. It's why I love fighting the plants. You punch one and they all come running to you!

  -Interview with Vanguard Heracles on crazy fights and stories, 2056.

  The moment Synaptic detected the engines failing, or rather, being turned off, she had one of the emergency shuttles take off. Inside was a decent number of swarm dice, Leman and his squad of minions. Bahamut and Outsider tried to take control of local surveillance, but EMC measures were heavy in a five mile diameter of the attack site.

  Cari and I switched to battle mode quickly and made our way to my personal Shuttle. It was one of the ones from the hive assault, but with a few upgrades, namely new guns on the rear and below and a unique armor coating.

  As we loaded up, twenty Ravens flew in as Rogal and his squad took positions near the ramp inside. I had my combat swarms loaded in, connected, and ready to go as I took off shortly after the other shuttle.

  I could not go as fast as I wanted due to the sonic boom threatening to damage the city, plus we had to navigate below the Fog once we got close, forcing our arrival time to be what it was.

  Cari flexed her massive gauntlets to try and relieve her anxiety, while I flexed my rotary cannon, causing it to spin at various speeds.

  Leman should have deployed by now, Victor. He has very good tracking capabilities and is very capable in combat. Not to mention how capable your family is.

  I knew that. I knew all of that, but it didn't lessen my fears. Someone got close enough to their vehicle to install a kill switch, and the only place they could have done that is The Family HQ.

  

  I felt a positive note from her as I began my descent into the Fog. From there, I saw carnage on the streets. Dozens of dead soldiers, three ruined mechs, what looked like the remains of a compressed van. I saw the other shuttle had already landed, and saw some swarms flowing around it, protecting it.

  I opened the ramp as Rogal and his minions dropped, taking control of the swarms on the ground. I couldn't sense them, even this close, which was very worrying.

  Landing the shuttle, Cari and I jogged out, my personal swarms shifting to life and following me. The first thing I did was test the limits of my control, and it was barely a one hundred foot radius. The Ravens flew out and begin to navigate the street, marking everything for later review.

  We jogged to the other shuttle and saw Buddy applying bandages to Roger, while Cody sat on the floor. There was no sign of Jill or Leman.

  “Where's Jill?” I shout as we approach.

  “Taken.” Buddy answered. “Leman is in pursuit, that way.” He points to a building and I see a dire wolf waiting. “Go! We will be fine.”

  I nod and sprint to the minion, Cari right behind me in human form. As we reach the wolf, it sprints into the building wordlessly, beckoning us to follow.

  ******************************

  Leman

  The trail was still warm. The Lady’s scent is still present, being pulled away. I rushed to follow, ordering one of my pack to wait for our Lord and follow with him.

  I leap through the hole in the wall they made, switching my senses, seeing the flow of air, dust, and heat, following her scent through the maze of hallways that are the foundations of this building. I smelled others of the enemy split off, trying to create false trails, but I ignore them, sending my pack to follow them, to subdue them.

  Gorm asks if they need their legs. I chuffed, rolling my eyes. Of course they didn't, probably didn't need their arms either. He laughed as he sprinted away.

  The main one, the one with the Lady’s scent, has taken an elevator. I shift into a cloud, ripping through the door, ripping the recent information from its systems, and know they went down to the undercity. So down we flowed, rushing into the factories and smog and dirt. Her scent fades slightly, being masked by the smog, but it is still there. Growing stronger.

  We burst out of the elevator and shift back, maintaining speed as we rush through the industrial hallways.

  Then we see them. Four men in red and black armors, heavy guns, and the Lady in a net, carrying her like a sack of refuse, hurrying towards a van fifty feet away from them.

  I whistle and Bruhm launches forward with a burst of speed, rapidly closing in as his saw launcher forms. He fires at them, hitting one in the thigh, the superheated blade passing through the enemy’s body, removing their legs and flying past him, but missing anyone else. They are thirty feet from the van, Bruhm is forty feet from them. He fires another blade, this time at the van, but one of the enemy launches himself into its path, deflecting the blade but losing his upper torso in return.

  Another ten feet closer, another ten feet before we lose her.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I roar as I push myself, feeling my nanites' thrusters heat rapidly as I reach my maximum speed, glowing slighly, overtaking Bruhm in moments and reaching them as they are steps away from the van. Roaring, I tackle them into the van and lose all connection to the outside as the doors shut, but it doesn't matter.

  I shred the remaining enemies in the van as I feel it take off, and I cradle the Lady, feeling my mind begin to slow, my connection to my body weakening rapidly. This van must be equipped with stronger, more direct EMC, yet it doesn't matter. My Lord will arrive soon, and my pack will follow, and I will protect the Lady. I cut the net to shreds and shift my form to be a dome over her, and with the last of my thoughts, ordering myself to shred anyone I do not know who gets close, anything that I do not know, all to protect her.

  I feel my core be cut off from my form, but I do not despair. I will fulfill my mission.

  ********************************

  Victor

  Cari and I float through the shattered remains of the elevator on my defense swarm, following the dire wolf named Vuldi. He sprints ahead until we are met with another wolf named Bruhm, who shares the fact that Leman and Jill were taken, and that two wolves and four Ravens are in hot pursuit.

  I am manually controlling a shuttle to descend to your position. I heard the sounds of rotary cannon fire drill towards us from above. Once a Raven leaves the EMC range, I will know. She will not leave the city.

  The shuttle flies down and turns to pick us up, and we all jump into it.

  “Synaptic, what can I buy right now to track her? Costs be damned.” I say, fire and steel on my voice as I strap in.

  While in the shuttle, the most effective is a combination of Void Watcher Sensor and two Tracking Catalogs, Predictive tracking algorithms and Forceful Monitoring and reconnaissance software.

  “Buy them, explain what they do as we go.” I say curtly.

  Unlocked Class I Predictive Tracking Algorithms

  Unlocked Class I Forceful Monitoring and Reconnaissance software

  Purchased Class II Void Watcher Restricted Omniscient Multi-Sensor Array

  Purchased Instant Install Nanites

  Points reduced to 80895

  I feel my face grow fuzzy as the new sensor array installs itself, then my perception speeds up as Synaptic begins to explain what I just bought.

  First, the hardware. For one thousand points, plus the hundred for instant install, the Restricted Omniscient Multi-Sensor Array is able to detect, analyze, and decipher every particulate, air flow, light particle, and energy flow, including limited Spatial disturbances, within a very large radius normally, up to three miles with extreme accuracy, and twenty five with considerably lower accuracy. Currently, with the extreme levels of EMC jamming in the area, that radius is reduced to half a mile.

  My anger had simmered to a quiet background heat as she talked, allowing me to be actually very impressed at what I just bought.

  As I said, this is the Restrictive Omniscience model, so it is missing the capability to see quite a few spectrums that exist, but the ones that you can are fully within humanities capabilities to detect eventually., However the biggest drawback is the requirement for debilitatingly massive processing servers in order to utilize this array. Since you are using this yourself, I am taking the load from you. If Morrigan wishes to use these, she will have to build the server farms herself.

  Moving onto the software, each catalog costs one hundred points and does different things, of course. The first, being the Predictive Tracking Algorithm, takes in numerous factors, from city architecture to human psychology to corporate procedures, and predicts with over ninety percent certainty which direction a target is traveling or will be. The second is more of a daemon, allowing me to forcefully control any and all surveillance devices in an area to actively track a target.

  

  I could feel her roll her eyes at me, then sigh exasperatedly. Victor, honey, My chosen Vanguard, my adopted child, When you purchase certain types of catalogs, such as the cyberwarefare catalog, you are giving me permission to use more of myself to directly interfere on your planet. This does give your Commanders access to some of my code base to design their own tools and daemons, but unless you are using software you designed with the information in said catalogs, I do the work, not some lesser AI. her tone shifts from annoyed to overly sweet. Any other questions, Victor.

  <....No….>

  Good! Now, follow the navigational line. I have colored it green for your convenience.

  And so there was a green line that pointed straight ahead as time returned to normal. I sighed and punched it as fast as I safely could through the undercity's hexplate supports.

  Flying under the streets was a unique experience, to say the least. Relatively tight, dark tunnels with no floor in sight, with numerous self-driving industrial hover transports moving in perfect harmony. I could see massive pipes connecting the city above to, what I assume, is the sewers below. A quick calculation shows that I could probably fly the shuttle through one of those if it was empty.

  Soon enough, we approached the edge of the EMC field, and I saw a Raven in the distance. It flew over and landed on the shuttle, sending a data packet of the van’s information. Black, no plates, only one life sign inside.

  Found it.

  A camera feed from a different Raven appears in my vision, showing the van moving at full speed between the auto-trucks, with two wolves with clouds for legs following close behind. The tracking software indicated we were a few hundred feet away, so I accelerated a bit more to close that gap.

  

  Your current payloads are too strong to disable the vehicle without risking Jill, but scooping it may be feasible with the help of Dolgohr and Svek. However, I will caution against this action, as we do not know what anti-capture measures the van has. It may be in our best interest to maintain distance and wait for it to reach its destination, then move in to rescue her.

  “I have to agree, love.” Cari said with a hardened voice. “While Leman is with her, considering the fact that the van is still intact, it means that he is either unable or unwilling to break it. Even if the van enters a spot we cannot immediately enter, the moment they try to extract her, Leman will be right there to stop them.”

  I take a slow, deep breath, then release it just as slowly. “Fine.” I say through gritted teeth. “Synaptic, do you have a way to predict where it is going?”

  I do, in fact.

  A wireframe map of the undercity opens in the shuttle network, zoomed into this tunnel. It moves to highlight a in a local park, where a ramp to and from the undercity resided nearby.

  After analyzing a number of video feeds across the city, I have discovered an anomaly in this park. A composite image appeared, showing the outline of a different kind of vehicle. There is a vehicle using optical refraction hiding here, and it seems as though it has been there for a few hours. There are also a number of individuals who have loitering around the park, not moving from their spots for hours. Using The Family's facial recognition database, I have linked each of these people to a PMC directly working for Bestlé. It seems as though the first attack is in progress.

  patreon! It is 10 chapters ahead of public release and I will do my best to keep it that way.