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Flame's commander graduates. The next guy, promoted in from Salamander, doesn't get along with Brighteyes and trades him away for a girl, making Flame the only army with more than one girl in it. Everyone seems to expect Aegis to have some particular interest in befriending this girl, but she's not even in the same toon or particularly interesting. Aegis's new toon leader (a promoted second from another toon, not her) doesn't know what to do with her, but he's bright enough to know that he doesn't know what to do with her. She retains her nominal toon second position, which means that she takes over if he gets frozen - not often; he prefers defensive maneuvers - and otherwise she dances around alone, achieving higher level Flame goals as a one-girl formation-wrecker. She's good enough at this to sometimes lead opposing armies to decline to use formations at all when they're battling Flame, and then she's a sharpshooter, hiding herself behind human shields and holding her beam on everyone who gets in her sights.
Eventually command changes again. The new guy makes a lot of trades, but keeps Aegis, and makes her a toon leader at last when she's nine and a half. It takes this long for Brighteyes to make good on his promise to try to trade for Aegis, but the new commander knows what she's worth and won't part with her for any price he offers.
Aegis watches Sue in the rosters. He gets an army when he's just barely eleven: Phoenix. He makes a lot of trades too, but not for her. That's okay. She's got a toon, and she teaches them to throw her where she needs to go, to make formations that will stand up to all kinds of busting moves like the ones she knows, to freeze their elbows if they can't hold their arms steady like she can to shoot straight.
Everyone's rapidly terrified at Phoenix's hivemindy mutie kuso.
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autokinetic
autokinetic
Aegis reports her findings. Her commander wants to know who those three soldiers are, but she doesn't know. "I might be able to pick them out by watching the army move around, but not until we flashed at least a few of the linked ones and he rotated in more to narrow it down."
"Well, what would you do, Aegis?"
"Sue's army's not a slouch even with him out of commission, but the main threat is still the coordinated core of it. We can flash up to thirteen linked guys and he'll just rotate more in before we can actually hurt that core; if we even damage them, he can swap them out for efficiency and leave his less maneuverable ones on their own. Freezing Sue should still be our top priority as an army, but -"
"But?"
"Sir, I don't know if this'd work, but if we don't get Sue right away, I kind of want to try engaging them hand-to-hand, man-to-man, and taking their guns before trying to flash anybody besides Sue. The guns are all the same; they register who's holding them when they fire, not who palmed it out when we suited up. I think they'll try to get the guns back instead of rotating out of the link the way they will if they're flashed, or at least they will for a few minutes. My formbusters can take anybody in Phoenix one-on-one and I can do some emergency training for everybody else on it too except whatever toon you want to assign to take out Sue. We can also work on shooting with both hands, although I don't expect anyone to match me on that in the prep time we have."
"Interesting," says her commander. "I'll give B toon the mutie hunt. You borrow everybody else in practice, you and your toon catch them up on hand-to-hand, anyone slightly ambidextrous you give them a quick primer on shooting two-handed."
"Yes, sir."
"Flame to battleroom! We're practicing!" shouts the commander.
"Well, what would you do, Aegis?"
"Sue's army's not a slouch even with him out of commission, but the main threat is still the coordinated core of it. We can flash up to thirteen linked guys and he'll just rotate more in before we can actually hurt that core; if we even damage them, he can swap them out for efficiency and leave his less maneuverable ones on their own. Freezing Sue should still be our top priority as an army, but -"
"But?"
"Sir, I don't know if this'd work, but if we don't get Sue right away, I kind of want to try engaging them hand-to-hand, man-to-man, and taking their guns before trying to flash anybody besides Sue. The guns are all the same; they register who's holding them when they fire, not who palmed it out when we suited up. I think they'll try to get the guns back instead of rotating out of the link the way they will if they're flashed, or at least they will for a few minutes. My formbusters can take anybody in Phoenix one-on-one and I can do some emergency training for everybody else on it too except whatever toon you want to assign to take out Sue. We can also work on shooting with both hands, although I don't expect anyone to match me on that in the prep time we have."
"Interesting," says her commander. "I'll give B toon the mutie hunt. You borrow everybody else in practice, you and your toon catch them up on hand-to-hand, anyone slightly ambidextrous you give them a quick primer on shooting two-handed."
"Yes, sir."
"Flame to battleroom! We're practicing!" shouts the commander.
The hour of battle arrives.
Phoenix blasts out of their gate like water from a hose, or fire from a flamethrower. Groups of soldiers form and scatter without discernible pattern, in twos and fours and the occasional eight, scrambling along the walls or cannoning between stars after the initial explosion. Anyone who has a shot at a Flame soldier takes it.
Phoenix blasts out of their gate like water from a hose, or fire from a flamethrower. Groups of soldiers form and scatter without discernible pattern, in twos and fours and the occasional eight, scrambling along the walls or cannoning between stars after the initial explosion. Anyone who has a shot at a Flame soldier takes it.
autokinetic
There are casualties, but the other Flames use their casualties as shields, and as weapons, knocking guns into the air or into their own hands.
Aegis herself is a photon. No one can train a beam on her long enough to shoot unless they are her, and she's not trying to shoot anyone yet, although she does seize a lost gun on one of her bounces from wall to star to star and have it ready in her hand while she kicks other weapons away from their owners. She looks for Sue, so she can shout to B toon's leader...
Aegis herself is a photon. No one can train a beam on her long enough to shoot unless they are her, and she's not trying to shoot anyone yet, although she does seize a lost gun on one of her bounces from wall to star to star and have it ready in her hand while she kicks other weapons away from their owners. She looks for Sue, so she can shout to B toon's leader...
He's not visible—but there's some shouting coming from that star across the room.
A Flame soldier drifts out from behind it, in clearly uncontrolled flight, yelling and clutching his arm; another drifts out in the opposite direction, frozen.
A Flame soldier drifts out from behind it, in clearly uncontrolled flight, yelling and clutching his arm; another drifts out in the opposite direction, frozen.
autokinetic
Aegis frowns and bounces that way. Is Phoenix still coalescing like a hive mind...?
Yes they are. And several of them try to intercept her flight.
autokinetic
Well, they can't catch her. She has her guns in her hands; she bounces, she aims for the back of that star, she's faster than B toon, the air is full of lost guns now - she shoots. Is that Sue?
Yes it is, wrestling with a third Flame soldier for control of both their guns, and winning.
autokinetic
They're entangled enough that if she flashes the Flame soldier's arms, Sue won't be able to move and she'll be able to freeze him at her leisure. She does. Sue's stuck; the guns float off into the air. She lands on the star, clings, flashes both of her pursuers who she's failed to lose at the same time, one with each gun, and then gets Sue neatly in the back. With that handled, she flips over the edge of the star to help with the cleanup. She doesn't even stop to say you idiot, that was Sue, him we were supposed to shoot not engage. She just gets up speed again, although little enough that she can shoot stationary or slow-moving soldiers from her flight.
With Sue out, what's left of his army arranges itself into groups of four and proceeds to be an almighty annoyance to everyone. They're not going to deprive Flame of victory, with their major advantage out of commission and half their guns floating in space, but by damn are they going to make them work for it.
autokinetic
It's ultimately close. A stray shot that wasn't even aimed at her gets Aegis in the foot, and she's one of six left not completely frozen at the end of the battle; the commander is frozen, so she goes through the enemy's gate as the only mobile toon leader.
When they're forming up to bow and whatnot, she winks at Sue.
When they're forming up to bow and whatnot, she winks at Sue.
He grins back.
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The armies hit the showers, and Flame's ordered to reconvene in an hour for post-battle analysis. Since Flame has two girls in it now and Phoenix has one, and since there are only two girls' bathrooms on the entire station, Aegis is not completely alone when she has to peel off the spiderwebbed copper, first from her legs and then from her torso and then her right arm and then, finally, her left. She does all this as far away from the other girls as she can. Being naked except for her exo is nothing; being naked including her exo makes her feel terribly vulnerable to anyone else even if they're harmless, like she's peeled off all her skin and they could hurt her just by breathing. She heavily, awkwardly soaps herself and rinses away the electronics-eating substance as fast as she can without overbalancing her chair and collapsing on the floor.
The Phoenix girl - did Aegis shoot her? Aegis might have shot her - doesn't seem to want to allow this personal space.
She showers faster - she's not a cripple - and then she's in Aegis's face. "So that's how you do it. They let you cheat, is that it?"
"I - it's a -"
"Water wrecks it?"
It's only soap that will damage the electronics, Aegis could go swimming if there were a pool, but she instantly pretends terror: "Don't put it in the -!"
The Phoenix girl seizes a piece of the exo - left calf section - and holds it under the spray.
"Naoko!" Aegis screams for the other Flame girl. "Get a teacher - run -"
Naoko bolts, and the Phoenix girl slaps Aegis across the face and she lands with a wet smack on the tile.
In theory she is not paralyzed - in theory she can move - but she can't quite remember how to do anything but soap herself, without her exo. She can't remember how to roll away from a kick.
Naoko's not going to be fast enough, Naoko will have to explain to a teacher, Naoko will have to get a teacher to come -
Bird bird bird bird bird Sue Sue Sue Sue Aegis thinks as hard as she can, choking on a scream when the Phoenix girl stands on her stomach and leans.
The Phoenix girl - did Aegis shoot her? Aegis might have shot her - doesn't seem to want to allow this personal space.
She showers faster - she's not a cripple - and then she's in Aegis's face. "So that's how you do it. They let you cheat, is that it?"
"I - it's a -"
"Water wrecks it?"
It's only soap that will damage the electronics, Aegis could go swimming if there were a pool, but she instantly pretends terror: "Don't put it in the -!"
The Phoenix girl seizes a piece of the exo - left calf section - and holds it under the spray.
"Naoko!" Aegis screams for the other Flame girl. "Get a teacher - run -"
Naoko bolts, and the Phoenix girl slaps Aegis across the face and she lands with a wet smack on the tile.
In theory she is not paralyzed - in theory she can move - but she can't quite remember how to do anything but soap herself, without her exo. She can't remember how to roll away from a kick.
Naoko's not going to be fast enough, Naoko will have to explain to a teacher, Naoko will have to get a teacher to come -
Bird bird bird bird bird Sue Sue Sue Sue Aegis thinks as hard as she can, choking on a scream when the Phoenix girl stands on her stomach and leans.
Something bumps gently against the edge of her mind.
There's almost nothing to it: just a feeling of contact, of Sueness, and the automatic, self-evident knowledge of how to push back.
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your soldier's hurting me she pushes, half tentative, half frantic. help
It's instantly obvious who, but he flashes her face queryingly at Aegis just to be sure, at the same time that he gives the soldier in question a tap-on-the-shoulder what-are-you-up-to mind-nudge. And starts running for the girls' showers.
autokinetic
yes her help
The pressure's been moved from her stomach to her chest now, and she can feel her ribs creaking and she can - not - move -
The pressure's been moved from her stomach to her chest now, and she can feel her ribs creaking and she can - not - move -
The soldier he tapped doesn't answer him.
He pushes BACK OFF/STAND DOWN, not angrily or with force to hurt, but intensely and with force to command attention.
To Aegis, he pushes on my way and a summary/reflection of what he sent the soldier.
He pushes BACK OFF/STAND DOWN, not angrily or with force to hurt, but intensely and with force to command attention.
To Aegis, he pushes on my way and a summary/reflection of what he sent the soldier.
autokinetic
Little piece of kuso think she hot shit! She not so hot without her cheat! snaps back the Phoenix girl. She a year older than me but in a fair fight she nothing!
Aegis no longer has the wherewithal to keep up the effortful shield-relaxing mantra of bird bird bird. She can scarcely breathe for the knee on her chest. She can't breathe, she can't move, she might not be alive at all - something's the matter with her eyes now -
Aegis no longer has the wherewithal to keep up the effortful shield-relaxing mantra of bird bird bird. She can scarcely breathe for the knee on her chest. She can't breathe, she can't move, she might not be alive at all - something's the matter with her eyes now -
You get off her right now or you out my army, he retorts.
autokinetic
You defending her? Transfer me, I don't give a rat's ass, I got a perfect record except for her, everyone want me!
(This is an exaggeration.)
(Aegis is losing consciousness.)
(This is an exaggeration.)
(Aegis is losing consciousness.)
No shit, I defending her, he says, and pushes location/trajectory: it's going to be about fifteen seconds before he's in the room. You still on her when I get there, I keep you in my army, I freeze you coming out the gate and carry you as a shield.
autokinetic
Aegis has passed out anyway. The Phoenix girl stands up and away from her, spits, scatters all the exo pieces in the still-running water, grabs a towel, and takes the side exit that won't take her past Sue on his way in. Do what you want.
He pushes the same message to everyone in his army he can link, in two batches of twenty-four and twelve respectively, mostly wordless: Nina caught an enemy soldier in the shower and beat on them because she's a sore loser. Phoenix don't do that shit. Nina is not Phoenix.
He gets back thirty-six affirmations, twenty of which come with a 'where?' or other wordless offer of help. Those soldiers he links, and exchanges locations. One of them can see a teacher down the hall. Sue pushes him a concise summary of the whole shitshow. A few want to know if they should be hunting Nina down, but Sue is very clear with them that any retribution here is going to come straight from him. They can act towards her as their feelings dictate, but if their feelings dictate violence, they are going to be in as much shit with their commander as she is.
All that before he arrives. He turns off the water and kneels by his friend's side, careful not to disturb the pieces of the exo because he has no idea how it works and he doesn't want to be the one to break it. He pings his twenty helpful soldiers to find out if any of them knows first aid. No such luck, although another one finds a teacher, and Sue summarizes for him too.
One more thing.
Who's the other Flame girl? He's seen her before, he's sure. He finds her mind and nudges it.
He gets back thirty-six affirmations, twenty of which come with a 'where?' or other wordless offer of help. Those soldiers he links, and exchanges locations. One of them can see a teacher down the hall. Sue pushes him a concise summary of the whole shitshow. A few want to know if they should be hunting Nina down, but Sue is very clear with them that any retribution here is going to come straight from him. They can act towards her as their feelings dictate, but if their feelings dictate violence, they are going to be in as much shit with their commander as she is.
All that before he arrives. He turns off the water and kneels by his friend's side, careful not to disturb the pieces of the exo because he has no idea how it works and he doesn't want to be the one to break it. He pings his twenty helpful soldiers to find out if any of them knows first aid. No such luck, although another one finds a teacher, and Sue summarizes for him too.
One more thing.
Who's the other Flame girl? He's seen her before, he's sure. He finds her mind and nudges it.
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Ack! replies Naoko. Oh yikes is this Phoenix's commander your shit of a soldier was getting in Aegis's face I'm trying to find a teacher I can't find one I've knocked on four doors now