“We just picked up a frequency from a ship decently off the coast of the harbor. It’s an Antithesis resonant frequency. Is there a Samurai out there? In that?!”
2056, Seattle Militia Colonel McNamara looking at a readout of local phenomena during the Siege of Seattle
The Requiem Piercer was much lighter than I thought it would be, and much better weighted than any staff that I had used in martial arts before. It was built solidly though, a piece of steel that could bear a lot of strain, with a spear tip that hummed lightly with energy, its blue hue promising some nasty electricity. I twirled it around a couple times, before I found two buttons with different symbols on them. One looked like multiple spears striking, and the other a piercing shot.
I made sure to label the buttons for you. The spear can also be launched via your augments, but that will require a neural implant that you will need more points for. That said, you are not without a point rich environment, so that can be rectified. I would recommend moving up and out of the viewing area though.
I was about to ask why, before I heard the sound of a couple different slams against the walls of the viewing enclosure, and the slightest splintering of glass. My eyes drifted up to the hole in the ceiling that would surely make the water entering the viewing area turn into an absolute death sentence for the ship. That…needed fixing.
“Right,” I said, leaving the Sonar Resonator where it was, looking to the Antithesis at the walls, giving them a middle finger and a fuck you smirk before running up the stairs and back into the main area of the superyacht. I mulled over the issue of the possible sinking of the ship as I ran past the quirky and existential catchphrases of the animals on the walls, considering a lot of the logistics that would go into even considering stopping the fall of the yacht. As I passed through the halls that I had cleared on the way, all the calculus in my brain landed me back on a single thought.
“How are we going to get the rest of the people out of here? I saved them once, but to get them off the ship is a whole different difficulty.”
Considering the amount of Antithesis still in the water? You would need some assistance. Unfortunately, you have no fellow samurai with you. That does not preclude you from being able to save them. This ship will sink in about fifteen minutes once the viewing tank ruptures, thanks to the hole the Model Twelve created in the ship. There will be time to help, but it will be an extremely tight window that will not be conducive to your own survival, nor theirs. You may not be able to save them all.
I sighed.
“I know I may not, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. What are samurai for?” I smirked and gave a breathy chuckle, “If I can’t save at least one person from this, how many people will I be able to save in the future?”
Saving yourself would at least be saving one person.
I stopped in my tracks, recoiling at those words.
I…didn’t know how to process them.
For all the time that I had been willing to be selfish…did I deserve this more than others?
I felt my legs quake under me. My heart beat faster. My stomach churned in despair.
Am I really allowed to be…ok?
A voice in my head broke through my depressive spiral.
Breathe, Macy. I understand that that was an existentially charged statement, and I know that while you said you were fine earlier, you may not be. I am truly sorry if it triggered a response in some way. You are deserving of life, however. You are deserving of love. I wouldn’t have chosen you if I knew you weren’t. I need you to keep moving. Being in a higher position may assist you in creating a path out of the situation you are in.
I swallowed, letting the pit in my stomach fester for now, not recognizing the tears forming in my eyes. I breathed slowly, following Kyos’ advice.
“Add that to the therapy docket…I guess…,” I shook my head, and exhaled loudly before I continued to sprint up, my cybernetic tail swishing behind me.
I called out to the various rooms that the survivors were holed up in. One of them deigned to open up.
“Hullo?” They said with a very noticeable British inflection, peeking out the door, “Are the plant monsters gone?”
The man looked to be somewhere in his early twenties. Must have traveled over here to be on this tour. Poor bastard. Well, not poor if he’s here and wearing Louis Vutton-Gucci shit, but there was a lost dog energy to him.
“Yes, they’re gone…from the ship. We just need to get off. The thing that was probably scrambling your augments to call for help is gone at least.” I said, pausing my stride, and turning to address him.
“You mean that we’re trapped here. Oh no…” He looked fairly downtrodden at that info.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and save all of you. We just have to make it through a wave of plants. Some way. I’m figuring it out as I go.”
I turned to leave, before they spoke up again.
“Um, my name is Viktor, if you want to know. Also, whatever is making that loud noise, can you turn it down?” They said softly and sheepishly.
I paused, and then laughed.
“Hahaha, no. This is the thing keeping the Antithesis from climbing on board or the bodies from existing,” I laughed.
“Ah…carry on then, Miss Samurai,” They relented, heading back into their cabin room.
Miss Samurai. Huh. A twinge of pride raced through my body. I could get used to that. And so, I happily trodded along, swishing my tail with said pride. Self-esteem boosting is a hell of a drug, especially after the sobering note that Kyos brought earlier. Though, it was less that Kyos brought and more that I reacted poorly to it. My mood was probably swingy as hell after a brush with death.
At this point for most other Samurai, I would recommend rest to reset your mental state to one more stable, but this is an extenuating circumstance. As solace, you will be getting a token if you manage to get a majority of them back to safety.
“A token, you say? Entice a girl with number go up, do you?”
Number indeed go up, my dear. Speaking of, you are at 308 points, and one token.
“I was meaning to ask earlier. What is a token?”
I’m glad you asked. It is a currency gained from outstanding achievements from Samurai. You received one for taking down your first enemy in the tens. After a brutal bout that befits your place as a Vanguard. The first kill usually tends to go, as you would say, haywire in one way or another. Which, considering the state you were in during the end of the fight, it was a close brush with death to be sure. Of course, you had to improvise due to your proclivity for melee weaponry, but you did excellent.
“I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants on that one, working with my martial arts knowledge and maybe a little active xenobiology, but very much blind as a bat in terms of actual combat knowledge.”
And yet you still did it. There are some Samurai that become discouraged after that, and yet you are still moving forward to the next objective. It is admirable.
“If you say so.” I said, cresting the top of the stairs. I then pulled up my messages with Nate, and sent over a message detailing my current situation and plans.
That said, I do plan to assist you in learning better tactical reasoning later to improve your active thinking in the midst of combat.
“That would be helpful,” I rolled my shoulder as I finished climbing a flight of stairs. “Gonna try and get back to shore somehow. We’re gonna try and get that token too, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
I then got a reply back from Nate, and then a call rang in my ears soon after.
“[Macy! Things are fucked here. I still can’t believe you’re even still alive. Apparently, the local samurai are short staffed, so they’re sending in multiple other squads. The city’s not going to survive this though. Not without a lot of rebuilding.]” His voice was rapid, yet exhausted over the call.
“[Oh shit. Well, I’m glad you’re at least alive. Keep safe, will you?]” I sighed in relief, glad to hear his voice.
“[You said in your message that you were going to try and get back to shore? Honestly, I’d try and get closer to Tacoma. Either that, or try and take the Locks in towards Bellevue. They’ll probably be more defensible.]”
“[Right. Gotcha.]”
“[Alright, please please please don’t die, I don’t want to- wait, what’s that sound…? Shit I’ve got to go, something’s up.]” Something in the background of the call sounded like another person calling to him with worry.
“[Wait-Nate? Nate!?]” I called into the open air with nothing to respond to me.
Oh fuck. No, no, no! I wasn’t going to let him go without a fight.
“I…I’m going to have to ignore your advice, Nate. I can’t leave you high and dry. You’re a remora, but you’re my remora,” I muttered with fear, but underlying fierce determination.
And that meant that I had to get to his shelter. Through the swarm of xenos. Alone
Shiiiiit.
“Kyos, what’s the chance I can get assistance through drones or something like that?” I asked, cracking my neck, resigning myself to my future herculean task.
Extremely high. I even have some options that you may like already prepared. Why do you ask?
“I think I’m going to need to make a shiver to work with this Mako to storm the ocean.”
A shiver, as in a group of sharks?
“Yup.”
That can be arranged.
Fuck the ship.
I gripped my hand around the shaft of the Requiem Piercer with fierce determination.
“Fantastic. I’m coming, Nate. Hell or high water…and there’s a lot of high water.”