[FIC] First Impressions (part 19)

[dd]

“Chute engaged successfully.”

“Affirmative,” Sousuke felt a sudden deceleration that gave truth to that observation. “Engage Lambda Driver immediately.”

He was glad that they had not passed through the fringes of any kind of Tesla field, which could theoretically be extended for a fair distance. He was also thankful that they had not been targeted by some form of ElectroMagnetic weapon. That would have ended things before they even really began.

“Lambda Driver initiated. Fins extended to proper length without fouling chute cords.”

“They’ll know we’re her soon enough, if they do know now. Radio Merida Island. See if there is HAARP data to direct our final approach.” Sousuke checked a radar read-out. There was a blip approaching their own “Steer chute to gather up nuclear payload.”

“Roger.” The A.I. broke radio silence, putting in a call to the Mithril base. While contact was being established with the Intelligence Division, a call came through from De Danaan, which had been respecting the communications black-out.

“Urzu-7. do you read.” It was Lt. Cmdr. Kalinin. “Sergeat Sagara, do you copy? Over.”

“This is Urzu-7,” Sousuke answered. “We are in the descent phase. I am awaiting data to help vector my approach. We have general coordinates Latitude 56ƒ 04' N and
Longitude 160ƒ 38' E, but need a precise LZ on the mountain. Estimate one minute until capture of the nuclear weapon.” He frowned. It wasn’t going to be simple, snagging the other chute before wind currents made such a maneuver impossible.

Klyuchevskaya Sopka posed a rather difficult problem. The magnificent mountain once attracted climbers from all over the world due to its magnificent conical shape, volcanic activity, and challenging slopes. The route to the top is classified as 2A, with the ascent takes about 8-9 hours for well-acclimatized mountaineers familiar with the use of crampons and ice axes. The top of the mountain is covered with snow all year round. The summit contains a round crater that always emits smoke and vapors, a sure reminder of the activity beneath the crust. Fresh ash falls on the south side of the caldera and can be seen as a dirty smudge on fresh snow. There are about 10 minor glaciers, and also the rather large Ermann glacier that stretches down the northern slope with a total surface area of about 15 square kilometers. On the eastern side, there are caves by one of the small glaciers. The entrance to the largest cave is located at the 3200 meters level.

Given the height and nature of the mountain, his choice of a landing zone would be crucial. If his target turned out to be in the crater, he would want to touch down near the top. If he wanted to gain entrance to the caves, he would choose an entirely different approach. Arbalest was not built to be a mountain climber. Even if it could nimbly traverse the rocky slopes, there may be no time for significant climbing in either direction.

Regardless of where he landed, he would need to be aware of falling rocks, areas of fresh volcanic activity, and potential high temperatures. Looking at the mountain on a long range scanner, he saw great plumes of ash extending up and away from it. It was a beautiful and surreal view that seemed out of place in a landscape of harsh realities.

“Very good, Sergeant. So far, things seem to be going as planned. As of now, we on the submarine are free from attack. We have defeated all enemies and are in the process of damage control. Miss Chidori and her family are in good shape.” Kalinin paused, letting that sink in. He had no doubt that Sousuke had been worried about the TDD-1’s survival. “Aerial reconnaissance has not identified any sign of Arm Slaves on the mountain yet. However, there are numerous places that an A.S. could wait in ambush. Proceed with utmost caution, keeping in mind that time may well be of the essence.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“We have a flight of aircraft preparing for launch. It is imperative that you inform us the radius of any scalar shield you pass through, should that fact prove obvious. We do not want our pilots passing through anything that would incapacitate them or their planes.” Kalinin paused again. A barely discernible voice was speaking to him. “The Russian military has sent a number of observation aircraft to reconnoiter the target area. They were repulsed and destroyed. No doubt the armed forces will now stage a major assault.”

“They of all people should now that will prove fruitless,” Sousuke said.

“True. But, no doubt they have to try. After all, what is there to lose?” Lt. Kalinin had been in his share of situations that had seemed hopeless, knowing that he had to do his duty just the same. “In any case, if we are lucky, the attack may serve as somewhat of a distraction, or at least a means for you to judge the dangers that we face.”

“Understood, Sir. Better them than us.” Sousuke shook his head. He had to watch what he said. The men flying to their deaths shared the same homeland that Lt. Cmdr. Andrei Sergeyevich Kalinin did. He also owed those men respect. Sacrifice is something that goes beyond national boundaries.

“Sergeant Sagara, it is merely a matter of time. Soon enough, it will be us as well.” Kalinin’s voice carried a weariness that Sousuke had not heard often.

“Attention, Sergeant. Connection completed. We have Mithril Intelligence.”

The A.I. patched Lt. Vavilov through to one of the lateral view screens. Sousuke informed her that he was in the middle of a conversation with his commander.

“I will leave you to your intelligence gathering, Urzu-7. That takes precedence of all else at the moment.” Kalinin had heard the A.I.’s announcement and knew that timing was critical. “We are all counting on you. You are the only one who can do this. Over and out.”

“Lieutenant, you have the necessary data?” Sousuke toggled his communication system to complete a connection through his headset.

“Yes we do, Urzu-7.” The Intelligence Officer moistened her lips. She was beginning to feel the pressure of the situation. She and her team had not gotten much sleep lately. “Before we get to that, I will present the latest data from KVERT. Based on recent seismicity, remote-video systems, field observations, satellite images, and pilot reports, they are assigning a concern color of ‘Orange’ to Klyuchevskaya Sopka.

She explained the concern codes quickly, mentioning that ‘Green’ meant that no eruption anticipated. Such a Volcano is in a quiet, ‘dormant’ state. ‘Yellow’ meant that an eruption is possible in the next few weeks and may occur with little or no additional warning. Small earthquakes are detected locally and increased levels of volcanic gas emissions are present. ‘Orange’ meant Explosive eruption is possible within a few days and may occur with little or no warning. Increased numbers of local earthquakes are expected and extrusion of a lava dome or lava flows may be occurring. “Red’ meant that a major explosive eruption is expected within 24 hours. Strong earthquake activity would be detected even at distant monitoring stations. Explosive eruption may be in progress.

“I will hope there is no eruption” Sousuke said dryly. The information was not pointless. He would need to be on the lookout for lava flows and would need to make doubly certain of Arbalest’s footing, lest an earth tremor catch him off guard.

“Me too,” Lt. Vavilov said. “We all do.” She reached to something out of the camera pick-up. “Here, a fairly accurate representation should be appearing on your screens now.” The Intelligence Officer sent Sousuke an image of the volcano as a cutaway view. “The graphics people have done a fine job, all things considered. The tomographic capacity of the HAARP system is superb. We have pinpointed a number of points of interest.” Those areas were highlighted by pulsing red marks. “These smaller areas…” A number of red marks became green. “…Most likely represent man-made recesses and enclosures. We conjecture that such areas could be used to house troops, shelter Arm Slaves and other weapons systems, and serve as control rooms for various purposes.”

Sousuke frowned. The areas were spread around the periphery of the volcano at various heights and distances from one another. There was no way he could reach all of them, regardless of how much time he might be given.

“A control room could be the size of a closet. So, it is unlikely we can pinpoint the precise location of any such room, if it is large enough to show up on these scans at all.” Lt. Vavilov changed the orientation of the image. Sousuke was now given a close up view of the uppermost crater. “Instead, we have determined that it is best for you to concentrate you efforts at the summit. Hopefully you have time to alter your descent accordingly.”

“Just barely,” Sousuke said through clenched teeth. He instructed Al to steer the chute towards the nearest side of the crater. “But, I will not be able to do that and capture the nuclear device.”

“That’s unfortunate,” the Intelligence Officer said. “We only just received our information. Nevertheless, I want you to pay attention to these satellite images superimposed on our HAARP soundings. They will provide you with your precise targets.”

“Ma’am?”

“Here… here…” Areas within the crater of Klyuchevskaya Sopka were shown and highlighted. “Here… here… here… and here…” One such area was magnified. “We wondered where the necessary weaponry components would be. As it turns out, the largest structures are present within the mountain in front of you. But, there are also a smaller number of similar structures in each of the other volcanoes.”

“Then is our goal impossible?” Sousuke asked. “The only way to destroy every site would be with cruise missile, short range tactical missiles, or ICBMs. If scalar shielding exists, those methods would be rendered impotent.”

“True,” Lt. Vavilov said. “But, it looks like our friends have been very bold, very foolish, or very limited in the work they could carry out in relative obscurity.” She switched to a different computer graphics display. The image wavered, and Sousuke felt himself buffeted by unknown forces.

“Lambda Driver fluctuations encountered. Near catastrophic failure has been contained and reversed. System function building to optimal levels again.”

“Urzu-7, we lost contact for a moment, are you OK?” The Intelligence Officer sounded concerned.

“Affirmative. Urzu-7 here. We just suffered a number of strange effects. I would conjecture that we just passed through the outer barrier of a Tesla dome or globe. Diameter estimated at five miles.” Sousuke swallowed hard. That had been close.

”I see. It looks like they went for intensity rather than coverage area. They also didn’t create a barrier that would scramble communications. But, it may be that they have built a number of successively smaller domes in nested fashion. We could lose contact at any moment.“ The Lt. sneezed and excused herself. The long hours had left her with a cold. “No doubt a single set of interferometers is projecting domes over each of the select mountains.” Vavilov coughed to clear her voice. “As I was saying, the largest of the structures are in Klyuchevskaya Sopka.”

“The significance?” Sousuke felt the need to hear everything as quickly as possible. He had to calm down. He couldn’t afford to miss a single point.

“Either the large collection is necessary for influencing the sun, or it is responsible for projecting the Tesla shield over the most crucial installations. We conjecture the latter, as smaller devices could easily disrupt solar equilibrium. It would also be wise to have multiple devices for that purpose, should one or more prove insufficient or suffer failure. I doubt they would risk losing their one and only means of carrying out their scheme.” Lt. Vavilov projected a rough hand-drawn schematic. “Now, for your task.”

“Record this, Al. In case we have reason for playback later.” Sousuke rubbed at his temples. He felt a headache coming on.

“Roger, Sergeant.”

“Two scalar antennae together along with the computers to control them, make up a scalar interferometer. Some have referred to these as ‘Tesla Howitzers.’ They can deliver a giant blast of energy to a distant target site, true ‘action-at-a-distance‘. The weapons trigger the release of immense energy from the vacuum at the target location . The blast of a scalar howitzer can be of near nuclear level in destructiveness, and can be repeated at that place… nearby… anywhere… as many times as desired. But, that will not be their use in this instance.“

“If they are not targeting the sun, how will they attain their goal? That is a large target to damage or destroy.” Sousuke had no idea whether the Intelligence Officer were versed in the subject, or merely repeating things that she had learned in a cram session. There was no time to ask. His question was not for interest sake. If he knew what could be done, he might be able to figure out how to stop it from taking place.

“There is a closed-loop scalar radiation exchange system between the Earth and Sun. Tweaking that could stimulate a large solar scalar resonance. Any large collection of nuclei… such as a star or a planet… is a strong absorber and radiator of scalar wave radiation.” Lt. Vavilov sneezed two times in succession. “The Sun is a particularly strong source of scalar radiation. This radiation penetrates the Earth deeply and thoroughly. Most of the heat in the molten core of the Earth comes from this absorbed scalar radiation. Ordinary ElectroMagnetic energy is liberated as heat. The Earth also re-radiates scalar wave radiation back to the Sun. The Sun and Earth are thus coupled into a "scalar" system in equilibrium or near-equilibrium. Each body in the couplet possesses both a feed-forward and a feedback loop.”

“I am fairly well versed in rudimentary physics, but…”

“If significant scalar effects are produced on earth, disturbance of the earth-sun system results.” Vavilov sniffled. “If too much or too sharp stimulation occurs on earth, the coupled resonant response from the sun would be disastrous. Indeed, the Sun could violently belch and destroy our biosphere. In that case, fiery destruction of the earth, strongly indicative of Biblical prophecy, would result.”

“I see. My targets are the large transmitting antennae. If they are projecting the domes, their removal would make the other systems vulnerable.“ Sousuke moved around in his pilot’s chair, trying to scratch a sudden itch in his back. “The weapons I have may not be effective in destroying those quickly. The monomolecular cutter would suffice, but would be slow. I would need to cut the support structures one at a time.” Sousuke cursed under his breath. He doubted the crater itself was blanketed by scalar waves. The nuclear device would have made his job that much simpler. “If I can focus my thoughts effectively… yes… the Lambda Driver itself might serve as a destructive tool.”

“Whatever method proves effective, Sergeant.“ The Intelligence Officer patched through a fuzzier image. “Satellite photographs like this one suggest that there is a power cable running to each tower array. Cutting that might suffice. Furthermore, I would guess that only one such tower is necessary for projecting the one dome overt Klyuchevskaya Sopka. Find that one, incapacitate it, and you allow for strike that mountain. Take out the dome antennae and you hand the game over to us.”

“How will I identify the specific tower?” Sousuke began to feel more hopeful, despite the level of uncertainty. If he only had to destroy one cable…

“Our best guess is the one now outlined in yellow on the screen. But, it could be any of the antennae arrays. It’s a crap shoot, sergeant, just like I said before. If you get just one, might be lucky. Getting two, things are more in our favor. So forth and so on.” Vavilov sighed.

“Shit!”

“That’s an understatement.” The Intelligence Officer shook her head. “The possibilities can drive you crazy. We may have the towers incorrectly figured. The cables may be fakes. The whole series of installations in this area of Russia could be red herrings meant to sucker us in. The list goes on. It doesn’t pay to worry about any of that.”

Arbalest was strongly buffeted. For a moment, they were upended, suspended above the chute. Detonations took place in the air around him, and along a long wide swath of ground. The enemy obviously had offensive scalar capacity as well. Fortunately, the Lambda Driver was hanging in there.

“It looks like my presence is now known. Henceforth, things will become hectic. Is there more necessary information?” Sousuke was feeling edgy.

“No. That is the gist of things. Good luck, Sergeant. I will cook you dinner if you get us all out of this mess.: With that, Vavilov cut communications.

“Uhhh…” Sousuke had not had time to refuse the woman’s offer. That wasn’t the same thing as an acceptance, was it?

Suddenly, the proximity alert sounded. The radar screen was projected onto the main viewing panel. There was a number of high altitude contacts. They were moving very fast. Fighter aircraft.

“Al, activate ECS. Rotate one projector and get as much coverage on the chute as you can. Now!” Sousuke cursed. The weakest part of his approach was the time he was hanging from the cords of his large wing-shapes and gas-filled chute. If the chute was hit at this altitude, there was a chance that Arbalest would survive the fall given the effect of the Lambda Driver.

“Belay that.“ Lambda Driver. Lamb-da Dri-ver. Idiot! It didn’t matter if they could see him.

“Roger, Sergeant. Threat identified. Russian Su-27s. That’s the word received from in in from Merida Base.”

“There are no SU-27Ks stationed at Kurai-Klyuchi-20 or Yelizovo on this peninsula. The Mig-31 and An-26 aircraft they have will not be much use against this target, even without scalar defenses. Other bases in the Far East Military District support that aircraft, including Komsomolsk na Amure-Dzemgi.” Sousuke watched on wide-angle camera feeds as a flight of aircraft attacked.

“They are not focused on us.”

“That is our good fortune. Not that we could be hit. It will be instructive to watch their effectiveness.” Sousuke nodded. “I believe the aircraft will be Su-34, a fighter-bomber derivative of the Su-27. Their AA-11 Archer and AA-12 Vympels would have given us trouble had we not been shielded, and had they been intent on targeting us. I suspect, however, that much of their load will consist of KAB-500 laser-guided bombs, developed by the Region State Research and Production Enterprise based in Moscow.”

“Training question. I do not have records of all that in my surface files. How do you know all this, Sergeant?”

“It’s a hobby. Be quiet. Focus on the approach.” Sousuke spoke with some heat. The A.I. Could perform many tasks at once, but he didn’t want to take risk of it being distracted by useless dialogue.

“Sergeant, I read multiple additional flights of aircraft in the distance, closing in on this general vicinity. I cannot contact Merida base for I.D.”

“There must be a series of nested Tesla Domes. Our communication will be disrupted from here out. I would guess that there might be a flight of Su-25 Frogfoots from Chernigovka, or…” Sousuke was interrupted.

“Sergeant, shouldn’t that be ‘Frogfeet’?”

“Be quiet! It may also be Tu-22M Backfires from Alekseyevka or Su-24 Fencers from various area bases. It will be whatever aircraft can get here first. No, it will probably be all of them, over time. It looks like the Russians are taking things seriously. It may be that the Backfires are armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.”

“Sergeant, would the Russian’s fire ICBMs at a target within their own borders? Why are they attacking like this, if they are the nation that designed and built scalar offensive and defensive facilities?”

“I cannot judge their level of desperation, Al. The attack we are about to witness may merely be a means to assess the threat level and the operational status of the enemy. Nuclear attack would be unnecessary if this first strike is successful, and useless if the Tesla Dome remains up. They might also be worried about getting word through to the Americans, reassuring them that the attack is not a prelude to a nuclear assault on their nation.”

Sousuke chewed on the irony of the situation. The Soviets had been worried to death about an American nuclear attack on the Motherland. Now, under the right circumstances, the Russians might actually invite such a strike.

The air assault unfolded quickly. The men piloting the Russian aircraft were skilled and brave. Their equipment was top notch and their weaponry impressive. None of that mattered. As Sousuke and the A.I. watched the brief battle, they saw multiple fighter bombers fly straight unto the ground, their pilots dead and their electrical systems fried. Likewise, laser-guided munitions and unguided missiles struck the ground as duds. The Tesla Dome was operating as theorized.

“We are nearing the mountain top, Sergeant. I have detected a number of smaller radar contacts. Signature suggests ACLMs.”

“They will most likely be AS-4 Kitchen, AS-15 Kent, or AS-16 Kickback. They will finish their flight without power or inertial guidance. Whatever payload they carry will be rendered useless. We could be struck by random missiles, but they should be deflected by our force shield. Disregard them and focus your entire attention on terrain. That will be challenging enough.”

“Chute detaching in five… four… three… two… one…”

Arbalest began falling free. Landing hard on both legs, the A.S. slid a ways down slope before Sousuke fired one of the tow lines. A sharp metal stake had been added by the engineers. It stuck deep into the ground, serving as a piton, stopping his unwanted descent.

“Line number one holding. Stabilizing posture now. Setting appropriate bilateral angles. Crampons functioning properly. Making use of the ice axe as programmed.”

The machine shop aboard De Danaan had constructed a large aluminum shaft with a stainless steel head shaped like those seen on ice axes used by mountain climbers. There work had been exemplary, especially considering the limited time and the types of material available.

“Very good. Hasten your ascent. We have little time. Retrieve line number one. If it is too deeply entrenched, detach the cable and add a new snow stake.” Sousuke cursed as sixteen foot cruise missile rammed its ton and a half body into the side of the mountain without detonating. Two others hit nearer to the top, on both sides of Arbalest. All broke up into fragments, dislodging large stones and sheets of ice in the process. Those began sliding down the mountainside. “Jump over it Al. Now!”

“Roger.”

The ARX-7 made a prodigious leap, easily clearing the falling debris before any of the rock or ice could cause it to lose footing and tumble down the side of Klyuchevskaya Sopka. Landing, it used the crampons and ice staff to good use, heading for the summit. Unfortunately, its good footing would not last.

“What’s that noise, Al?” Sousuke felt strong vibrations through his chair and harness. As they grew, so did the series of percussive sounds. “Someone is setting off explosives underneath the surface. Jump!”

His order came just as one set of explosions threw the A.S. upward and back. The Lambda Driver force shield protected both man and machine, but they were now suspended over open space, far above the nearest rock face.

“Fire both cables, Al. Follow that with the reserve cables. Do it now!” Sousuke bit his lip and drew blood. Watching through the view screen, he saw large chunks of rock and ice flying past them, obscured by a dancing dervish of snow. Huge slabs of ice slid down the slope beneath them, beginning to melt as the passed over newly exposed rivulets of lava.

“Cables away.”

As the sharp spear tips of super-hard metal grabbed hold of the rock, Arbalest began swinging around like a yoyo in the middle of a trick. But, a second series of explosions dislodged the rock the cables were anchored to.

“Retrieve the cables and fire again. Hurry. Aim upslope away from the lava.” Sousuke clenched his fists. He paid no attention to the blood dripping down his chin. Every decision he made now could mean the difference between the end of the world and life as usual. “Al!”

“Cables reloaded. Firing.”

Once again the swung around. When they were above a piece of ground that looked relatively intact, Sousuke ordered the A.I. To release the cable. Moments after huge metal feet slid across the ice before digging in, another explosion went off. This time, it looked as if a massive lid of stone had been lifted up and pushed over, falling like the word’s largest domino. Arbalest was centered under its falling bulk.

“No!” Sousuke cleared his mind. He pictured himself holding his hands out, pushing with all his might. The Lambda Driver responded according, forming a substantial shield weighted to the frontal aspect of the A.S. “Move. Ten meters ahead. Past the center of gravity.”

The force shield extended and directed the slab to one side. Miraculously, they had not been crushed or driven into the soft rock laden ash and snow. But, there was no time to celebrate their success. There was only one victory that matter.

“OK, Al. Up the slope. Hurry!” Sousuke moved the control levers, steering the A.S. as it climbed the slope. Huge chunks of ice flew off of the cramponed feet while the long shaft of the ice axe helped push the ARX-7 along.

“Our frequency has been determined and matched,” the A.I. Reported. “There is communication coming in.

“That was quite impressive,” a young female voice said. “I doubt any of us could do that.”

Sousuke frowned, wondering just who ‘us’ was, and how many ‘us’ there were. Before he could determine that fact, missiles impacted against the Lambda Driver shield, along with shells of at least 57mm caliber.

“Well, that explains why he survived the shield,” another young female voice put in. “Lambda Driver. Pretty complete too. Maybe even better than ours.”

“But his A.S. is not nearly as attractive,” a third female voice said with a laugh. “It was probably designed by men.”

“Hmmm. He doesn’t seem to talkative, does he?” The forth voice had a slight lisp. “Think he’s a shy boy?”

As Sousuke reached the crest of the crater, he saw what he was up against. Inside the crater lip, running just above what must be the antennae he needed to destroy, there was a wide corrugated metal platform swaying slightly under the weight of four widely separated Arm Slaves of a type he had never seen before.

“Should we introduce ourselves before we send the poor benighted soul to his death?” The first voice asked.

“Why not?” The third replied. “He’s lucky he made it to the top. Otherwise he would have faced the men.”

“That would have been terribly dull. And, who knows, he might be capable of defeating them.” The second voice chuckled.

“Should we let him go first, girls?” The final voice was the most melodious of all.

“I am Sgt. Sousuke Sagara of Mithril,” Sousuke said. “You are fools if you do not know the true intention of this installation, and even worse if you act with full knowledge.”

“My, that’s a lot of ‘S’s, isn’t it. He sounds kind of grumpy, though. It’s just like I told you all, nonbelievers can be just as stiff and boring as our leaders.” The first voice paused. It actually sounded like the speaker was yawning.

“Should we delay him or destroy him? Both could be a lot of fun.” By the sound of that fourth voice, the speaker sounded truly torn.

“Sergeant, training question. Should we attack while they are talking. Second question. I have heard that women are infinitely more vocal than men. Is this true?”

The A.I.’s question did not sit well with the enemy A.S. pilots. Not at all.

“Who said that? Ooooooooh! We need to destroy them for that wisecrack.” The second speaker sounded somewhat snappish.

“So, you are like the vast majority of stupid males, is that it? Because we’re women, you don’t take us seriously?” The first voice purred, but not with coquetry or good humor. “That will be to you detriment… you can be certain of it.”

“All this wordplay in front of an enemy is foolish, but foolhardiness is by no means solely a female trait.” Sousuke scowled. He did not like being mocked, and was annoyed by the seeming unprofessional stance of his opponents. He was also disappointed that his external examination of the Arm Slaves didn’t give him any clues regarding strengths or weaknesses. If the summit was the crucial area to defend, they must be the best machines in the enemy’s possession. That certainly did not bode well. “My Captain is a woman. My squad leader is a woman. I would not trade either of them for anyone else.”

“Sergeant. Miss Chidori is also a woman. If you fail to mention her, she may shout at you again. That…”

“BE QUIET!” Sousuke closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment. “Furthermore, any student of military history knows that women have excelled in battle. Among the ancient Celts, women rulers and warriors were so common, that when a group of Brigantian captives was brought to Rome in the reign of Claudius they automatically assumed his wife, Agrippina the Younger, was the ruler and ignored the Emperor while making their obeisance to her. Tomoe Gozen’s last act, on the verge of Yoshinaka's defeat, is the subject of many plays and poems. To buy time for her husband to commit seppuku, she rode into the enemy forces and, flinging herself on their strongest warrior, unhorsed, pinned, and decapitated him. In the interim, however, Yoshinaka was killed by an arrow, by no fault of hers. History is full of many examples.”

“He sure talks a lot, doesn’t he?” The third voice asked.

“I wonder if he’s cute. It’s not as much fun killing the cute ones.” The fourth voice stuttered slightly.

“Cute or not, what chance does he have against the Vishpla?” The first voice oozed with self-confidence. “I would say less chance than one of those slabs of ice, dropped into the lava below.”

“I see. Are you all cripples in body as well as mind?” Sousuke decided it might be best to enrage his foe, in case that might make them fight less carefully. If they were not going to rush him, he would need to take the fight to them. But, he had to proceed carefully. All they needed to do was knock him down into the lava below. The force shield might protect them for a time, if the heat didn’t cause ARX-7s equipment to malfunction But, it wouldn’t matter either way. There would be no way to pull himself out again and complete his mission.

“What?!” It sounded as if all four voices spoke at once.

“I take it the name Vishpla is a version of the name Vispala, referring to Queen Vispala mentioned in the Rig-Veda, the ancient sacred poem of India, written between 3500 and 1800 BC.” Sousuke said as if he were giving a lecture. “Queen Vishpla, who lost her leg in battle, was fitted with an iron prosthesis, and returned to the fight. battle. Your group name suggest wearers of prostheses, or warrior women riding on legs of iron, namely Arm Slaves.”

“He’s right,” the second voice said. “Much too clever to be a man. Maybe it’s a woman with her voice disguised.”

“Hah! That’s it.” The third voice laughed. There was the sound of clapping hands.

“I… am… not…” Sousuke caught himself. If anyone here needed to be of sound mind, body, and temperament, it was him!

“In any case, he’s right. ‘When in the time of night, in Khela's battle, a leg was severed like a wild bird's pinion, Straight ye gave Vispala a leg of iron that she might move what time the conflict opened.’ He must be a real geek, if he knows something like that.” The fourth voice sounded disappointed.

“Sergeant. Are you…”

“BE SILENT!” Sousuke double-checked all of his weapons systems. It was time. The dangers of the situation worked both ways. If he could use the Lambda Driver to push force far in front of him, he could push the enemy machines away from him, the way that Codarl had done to Arbalset in Khanka. “It is strange to hear women such as you identifying with that valiant warrior, when she was favored by Asvins, the twin Hindu deities. They were the earliest bringers of light, associated with dawn and the sun. If your misguided masters impose their will upon the Sun, it will bring darkness and death.” This next part ought to get them angry. “But, I have faced puppets before. They think they know all the answers, while they move at the whim of others.”

“You… you…”

“Now, Al! Full military. Let’s go!” Sousuke pushed the control handles forward while the girls sputtered and spat.

The battle had begun in earnest.