Chapter 96: Chapter 92

There was immense satisfaction watching the results of intense research bear fruit. At nearly a hundred and ten feet tall and weighing at a thousand fucktons if not for Zetan antigrav tech, the Nexus Severalty’s first Warlord-class titan walker was just about the pinnacle of our ground superiority. It was at least three times the height of Liberty Prime, and waaay heavier.

Just because I felt like it, I decided to name our first super-heavy walker the ‘Corrino’. His brothers ‘Atreides’, ‘Harkonnen’ and ‘Ordos’ were already in the works.

I managed to make my own version of the original volcano cannon by really suping up the white laser tech we had. Each arm-mounted cannon basically had two reactors charging its capacitors, and the new alloys developed in Ix allowed for structural integrity to remain after firing without the use of console fuckery. Trial runs had been already conducted in underground facilities of course, but it was still nice to see the effective range of two miles put into practice. A trail of smoke columns in the ruined city behind the Brotherhood marked the path of the beams that simply deleted Liberty Prime and blasted deep into the urban wreckage.

For the shoulder carapace weapons, I converted the laser blasters of the original Titan design into tri-barreled macro-PPCs, far bigger cousins to the existing PPC tech even the Kirov had. The detonation when the bolts hit enough resistance was awe-inspiring. Standing on the carapace of the Warlord, I got to see the blinding explosions tear through the Brotherhood’s formation. The first salvo had erased most of the assembled tech-hoarders, leaving the fleeing survivors too scattered to waste further shots on.

“Corrino, let’s go for a walk,” I cheerily ordered.

The AI, an independent program like the Kirov, responded through its booming audio horns. “As you command. For the foes of Nexus, the only mercy is a swift death. We shall snuff out the flames of resistance.”

With the help of the console I kept my balance as the Warlord heaved from each step. A quick glance showed that every heavy tread shook the earth around it, causing hills to collapse into hidden caverns and ancient roads to crack apart.

“Eva, anything on surrenders?”

“Negative, Sev. All survivors are fleeing, only the heavily wounded remain.”

Well, some prisoners are better than none. “Mark them out for retrieval. Corrino, try not to squish them.”

“Affirmative. To die without purpose is not a service. Let them earn their penance for their offenses against the Nexus.”

Since we were headed to the city, I guess it’s time for urban combat. I quickly jumped to the back end of the carapace to give the command to the assembled robots behind the Corrino.

“Automated legion of the Nexus Severalty!” Atop the massive titan, I can’t deny feeling giddy at addressing my troops. It was as if I was a warrior king or something, declaring a momentous attack.

“Dalek.”

The once still assembly of metal soldiers immediately sprang to life. Eversors and Strigoi launched themselves in the air to make up for the vast distance, while Centurions rolled ahead at full speed, easily keeping up with their omni-wheels. I left the Sentinels out to keep the peace in the Nexus while I threw every other combat killbot in this little hunt. It made for a change of flavor to the death and destruction we doled out.

Corrino locked onto a sufficient group of enemies holing up in the nearest abandoned office building. The left macro-PPC array fired a salvo, and three highly precise shots took out the entire block and left smoking craters in their wake.

A good thing the eyebots had checked for potential collateral here beforehand. We had quietly cleared out the ruins before the BoS even got close, either purging any hostiles or insisting the wastelanders evacuate. For anyone who somehow remained, their fates would be all on them now.

The hunt lasted all of three hours. High ranking elders and proctors were kept alive, whether they liked it or not, while a number of smart lower ranks were captured generally intact. As expected, most of the captures were from Eversors and Centurions, thanks to the displays of violence and firepower on select targets that prioritized intimidation over eradication, and gave the rest of the victims time to drop to their knees.

Unfortunately for those facing the Strigoi, nearly no captures were recorded. They were lightning fast and only had one mode: kill. So the first strikes usually ended up with entire groups slaughtered before they knew it.

With the city fully cleared out, Quetzals were sent in to take the prisoners and corpses for processing while everyone else made a beeline for the Capital Wasteland. It was time for another light show.

*****

This deployment was boring, yet exciting. The former because Edward and his troops would likely just be observing as Sev brought out the new toys, and the latter because what a display it was.

Everyone knew that the Liberty Prime had nothing on whatever secret weapon that Sev was concocting, but holy shit was the robot huge. It could likely punt Liberty Prime if it wanted to. And the firepower from the Corrino and the Kirov was further proof of Sev’s hard work. Who would have the idea and ability to come up with a huge-ass plasma array or laser cannons that could kill cities?

Sev, that’s who.

Edward felt bad for the Brotherhood of Steel. The poor fucks picked the wrong fight, and Sev was happy to use them as an excuse to show off.

From the viewing ports of the already wondrous Kirov, Edward and his 1st Company watched as the ruined skyline of the Capital Wasteland came into view. He heard the general address being boomed out simultaneously from the titan and the airship as they entered the city.

“People of the Capital Wasteland. Be not afraid. We are the Nexus, and have come to put an end to the war with the Brotherhood of Steel, as well as restore order to this fallen capital. For your own safety and to avoid unnecessary collateral damage, do not harbor any member of the Brotherhood. To the Brotherhood of Steel: Surrender peacefully and you might live, or resist and your ashes will fertilize our crops.”

The announcement was repeated by eyebots who descended from the skies to float above the ruins.

As expected, reports found the remnants of the Brotherhood of Steel decided to hole up in their Citadel. The Kirov hovered lazily above it, keeping an eye on the fortified base, while Corrino waded through the ruins to stand menacingly at a distance from it. Sev said that the building once housed the pre-war nation’s military HQ. From the way he said it, it must have been a big deal.

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Shame that such a landmark would be erased soon.

Keeping tabs on the enemy base while Sev made the final preparations was rather dull, but thanks to the teleport array within the Kirov, the troops stationed could easily return to Caladan to rest and relax before resuming their shifts on the airship. Edward remained on the Kirov at all times though, preferring to keep up with the stream of reports coming in from the robots on the ground.

Already peaceful contact was being established with Rivet City, Canterbury Commons and other settlements, while the rest of the city was being cleansed of raiders, super mutants and other nasties.

A call came from Sev, which Edward immediately received. It was an order, a very simple one at that.

“You’ll be sent the location of Paradise Falls. Supposedly it’s a slaver’s haven. Go there and correct that assumption.”

Edward grinned as he accepted the order and called in the troops. All three companies would be taking part, as a show of force. They took little time in organizing themselves before boarding the Quetzals for deployment. Edward hoped he didn’t miss the big fireworks display Sev had in store, but at the same time, he was happy to be removing Paradise Falls from the map.

The Nexus’ strike into the slaver’s den was ruthless. Freed slaves were given the choice of leaving with some rations and equipment or rehabilitation in the Nexus. The slavers were all collected onto piles, their limbless bodies stacked like writhing and moaning firewood to await retrieval.

The leader of Paradise Falls was the exception, Eulogy Jones’ torso was impaled on a bundle of rebar and kept alive with periodical applications of healing guns, left to scream and writhe in agony while the vindictive members of 1st Company and some other troopers, and even some freed slaves, took turns tormenting him.

By the time they returned to the Kirov, satisfied with their work, they were just in time for the big light show. Excitingly, it was the first showing of the Kirov’s primary weapon. Edward and his friends listened to the exchange on the general channel as they continued to watch events unfold below them.

“Archives retrieved, complete blueprints of the Pentagon, now known as the Citadel, secured. Full reconstruction can be initiated with little issue.”

“Thanks Eva. Anything worth looting down there?”

“Interrogation has revealed the designated storage and archives of the Brotherhood of Steel. I suggest sending a salvage team to secure potentially useful items.”

“Hm. Can we do it while corralling the defenders aside? I still wanna level this place.”

“Calculating. Affirmative, orders can be carried out to ensure maximal retrieval efficiency while minimizing encounters with the Brotherhood of Steel.”

“Thanks Eva.”

Edward watched as a stream of robots entered the Citadel, and from the updates, they were laying down suppressive fire to lock in the defenders or push them away from Eva’s predetermined path. Sentinels swarmed in after the breakthrough, making their way to the Brotherhood’s hoard. The looting was finished in less than thirty minutes, and the robots all evacuated from the Citadel in good order.

“Sev, the target area is clear.”

“Cool.” Sev cleared his throat before continuing in a more officious, serious tone that was broadcast to the Capital Wasteland. “As our enemies refuse to surrender, we shall cleanse them and their fortified hole.”

As the airship moved into place directly above the Citadel and ruined the view, he had to resort to using the live feed being streamed from several eyebots. The Kirov rumbled as the main weapon was deployed, a set of four cannons lowered from the Kirov’s keel aimed directly below towards the Citadel.

“Commencing Death’s Gate bombardment.”

As one, the cannons fired. Hypervelocity rounds flashed past and tore into the Citadel and its foundation, forming a rough perimeter. Edward let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when suddenly the Citadel imploded as the deeply buried warheads detonated.

Edward didn’t know that the warheads triggered the one-way teleportation of everything within their blast radius. The teleport beacon that took months to be situated by a Zetan scout ship opened the exit that vented dirt, concrete, metal and people into deep space, in a close and decaying orbit around the sun.

“Bombardment successful.”

A vast crater now took the place of the Citadel and its foundations. Severed underground pipelines leaked stale water as loose concrete and rubble rolled down the sudden void in the center of the city.

Yeah, leave it to Sev to come up with crazy weapons that just vanished things.

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