“Why… why didn’t we just carpet bomb the whole planet?” Uan wheezed as he knelt beside the extended legs of his unit’s Swallow.

  “Because it would take significantly more resources to rebuild everything. It’s easier to move in when there’s already furniture and a stove than when you have the stuff you need shipped here and assembled. Also, no Friendly Fire.” Afilada explained while patting his back.

  Shatterrock Unit had landed on a pad near an FCLF camp that was a few kilometres south of the targeted refinery and they had been given twenty-four hours to secure the facility.

  Such an order would have been ludicrous but, armed with their new bodies and brandishing high power, high precision hybrid rifles which shot both conventional Projectiles and Plasma beams, it felt somewhat possible for the Armada. These rifles were bulky, almost one and half meters long, made from Titanium and other durable alloys and had large dual Magazine which carried twenty conventional Projectiles and Plasma Cartridges.

  Each Armada member carried a large backpack for their general supplies and several smaller bags of Ammunition.

  “Come on. Let’s greet the locals.” Afilada gestured with a nod as Uan stood up.

  Saai and Gizagi then followed the two down from the slightly elevated landing pad and onto the dust beneath.

  Two straight faced FCLF soldiers awaited them and they were dressed simply in dark grey fatigues, flack armour and Standard issue rifles.

  Without saying a word, the soldiers led Afilada’s unit into the bustling camp, where they received all manner of looks, and they eventually arrived at a tent that was guarded doubly more than others.

  They were allowed entry and didn’t need to confirm their identities since the Ardi Network recognised them as allies.

  Standing inside the tent, behind a holographic display of the local terrain was a man who Ardy identified as Colonel Dent whom Shatterrock Unit greeted with sharp salutes.

  “At ease, soldiers. I’m gonna have to give it to ya hard and fast since the clock is ticking. I’m assuming this won’t be a problem?”

  “Not at all, sir,” Afilada said.

  “Good. Now, as you may have seen on your descent, the target is on a hill that is dotted with heavy firepower. We’re talking twenty-four automated turrets firing high-calibre rounds at unreasonable speeds. This in itself wouldn’t be a problem but we don’t have the guns that can take them out so we need you to provide some cover fire for my boys who’ll then disable those pieces of shit with everything we’ve got.”

  Uan bit his teeth.

  His unit was being used as a decoy, and while this was as basic as strategies went, he felt insulted.

  “You’re capable of that much, right?” Lieutenant Colonel Dent asked.

  “Of course. We’ll get the attention of the ones to the south of the target.” Afilada smiled politely.

  “Good. Dismissed. You are free to deploy when you’re ready but give us a heads up five minutes before you leave.”

  Afilada nodded before leading her men out of the tent and back to their Swallow.

  “They do know that we’re not indestructible, right?” Saai shivered.

  “Yeah, but I reckon he’d much rather we be blown to bits instead of his own men.” Afilada sighed while eying the setting star.

  “We’ll move as soon as this sun sets but, in the meantime, how are we feeling?” She asked as she plopped onto her seat in the Swallow.

  “Positively panicking!”

  “Sleepy.”

  Saai and Gizagi reported while standing attentively on the landing pad alongside Uan only he was pacing back and forth.

  “And you, Uan?” Afilada raised a brow.

  “Ready, as always-“

  “Say, is it true that people on LC-935 eat each other for dinner? I’ve heard stories that say a single person is chosen everyone day to be ritualistically slaughtered and cooked.” Saai interrupted and this managed to get Uan to stop pacing.

  “And which god do they say those rituals serve?” Uan chuckled softly.

  “The Twin Brides or something.”

  “Huh… close, but time and space have warped our oral traditions. Allow me to share with you the possibly already distorted version of the belief you speak of.”

  Uan proceeded to recount the stories he’d been told countless times, and even he noticed a change in his demeanour.

  He spoke clearly, with an energised passion that was coaxed out of him by the curious Saai.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Even Afilada peeked her head out of the ship as Uan carried the torch, which his elders had lit all those years ago.

  “And so, our people now wait for the arrival of that faceless being. One who will be the true deliverer of all things.” Uan concluded as the last of the star’s light faded into night.

  “Wow.” Saai was very obviously awed by Uan’s words.

  “I agree. That was quite the story time, but the sun is gone. Now we can move. Saai, inform that prick, Dent, that we’re on the move while plopping your ass down! We leave in sixty seconds!”

  .

  ..

  Afilada’s plan was suicide.

  That’s the only way Uan could see it as his unit plummeted from high in the atmosphere.

  Afilada had instructed their Swallow to take them almost four thousand meters into the air where she told her men to jump out from.

  The maximum effective range of their weapons was two kilometres, so they had to fall for a full two kilometres before they could even start firing.

  Fortunately, the turrets had a maximum effective range of one and a half Kilometres but this only meant that was as far as they could shoot with a near 100% Accuracy so the unit had a window of about five hundred meters of safety.

  A window through which Afilada planned to use to take out the turrets using her team’s Plasma Cartridges, which would be able to melt through the turrets' thick armour.

  The turrets quickly noticed the approaching humans and quickly opened fire but, since they were still out of range, most of the hundreds of bullets that shot up into the air missed them.

  [Woo-hoo! Now we’re talking!]

  Afilada’s euphoric voice came through Uan’s helmet.

  [Yep. Definitely a battle junkie.] Saai concluded, and Gizagi agreed in several short hums.

  [Damn that geezer! Oh- we’ll take out those turrets, alright and clear out the whole fucking base while we’re at it!] Afilada roared before spreading her arms and legs.

  [If everything goes well, our Boosted Dermises will absorb the impact and the heat generated by this will recharge our batteries, getting us up to half a tank of juice. That’s what Ardy said, at least. I'm still surprised she not only supported my crazy idea but improved it too. I’m starting to think you’re onto something with the whole transcendence thing.] Several bullets whistled past Afilada as she spoke.

  [Entering the window!] Gizagi reported, and Afilada immediately pointed her rifle downwards, prompting everyone to do the same.

  There were twenty-four turrets around the refinery, meaning each unit member had four targets, which Ardy highlighted.

  Their new bodies and eyes helped make them super precise, but there was only so much one could do to hold steady when falling from the sky.

  Uan lined up his first shot.

  Lined up his rifle, switched it’s firing mode t Plasma and sent forth a single, narrow beam of energy that seared off a large chunk of the turret’s armor but it wasn’t down for the count yet.

  The reason why the FCLF hasn’t been able to get past the turrets was because of just how robust they were, not to mention their precision but Afilada had negated that by not having her men be sitting ducks at the bottom of the hill.

  Uan shot the turret again, and this time the Plasma tore through the armour and melted the components within.

  Uan repeated this three more times, destroying his targets as the ground got closer and closer.

  His teammates successfully took out their targets as well, leaving the skies clear of bullets.

  [All targets are Delta! What now?] Saai screamed.

  [Bend your knees when you land, haha!]

  Uan was horrified by Afilada’s excitement.

  He looked down and positioned himself accordingly as the ground got ever closer.

  [Also, don’t land on any spikes!]

  It was too late to give such advice!

  Uan landed in the refinery’s courtyard, where he exploded in a flash of light as his Dermis redirected all of his kinetic energy. Half of it was ejected as heat and light, while the rest was absorbed by his Nanites, which all led to him having a full shield and half of his total Energy at 500J.

  Seventy armed soldiers then rushed to his location, but before they could begin their attack, Uan rushed towards the nearest one and punched him in the skull with so much force that his shiny black helmet shattered along with his skull.

  The other soldiers then opened fire, but their bullets were promptly stopped by his Dermis, although it wouldn’t be able to do this indefinitely.

  Uan quickly rushed to some cover, a series of metallic trollies which provided ample space for him to shoot his sixty-nine remaining targets.

  Each shot he took was a headshot, and each bullet mercilessly popped the head it went into.

  [Roll call!] Afilada barked.

  [This is Saai, and I somehow crashed into the first basement Level! Experiencing some low-level resistance, but I should be able to rendezvous in sixty seconds!]

  [Gizagi here, and I’m in the power room. It’s quiet.]

  “I-“

  [I already know what you’re gonna say and yes, Ardy is updating me on your statuses but I like hearing your voices too, God Dammit, so sound off!]

  “Ugh. Uan here, and I’m in the courtyard in the back.”

  [Good. I’m taking care of things in the control room. Sweep your sectors and gradually make your way to the entrance. Dent’s men have just reached the bottom of the hill, and I’d like to greet them.]

  Uan shook his head while walking over the corpses that now littered the courtyard.

  Ardy detected some movement in the main building, so he moved in to investigate.

  According to her scans, it was an android, information which got no reaction from Uan.

  While basic androids were commonly used in extremely hazardous environments, they were too costly to produce but also didn’t have as much intelligence as Archons or even humans and so they were often relegated to menial labour.

  As for why people didn’t just hack into the turrets or androids or even Archons, it was because the signals required to disrupt C-core processes didn’t distinguish between targets and non target.

  No one had that much control over the Quantum Realm.

  Without even bothering to move quietly, Uan approached the Android, which he would have briefly confused for a human if it weren’t for Ardy. It stood by the entrance of an elevator and, based on the gunshots from below, Gizagi was killing others of its kind.

  The one before Uan took the form of a pale-skinned man, clad in overalls, and it held in its hands a pistol which it pointed at Uan.

  It’s face mimicked the human emotion of fear and hostility but since Uan could see through its faux face, he was unaffected by its threatening expression and pose.

  In this sense, he was grateful that Archons often chose not to have faces.

  “Stop! This is a restricted area! Please.” The Android cried.

  While it operated on archaic binary coding, it was smart enough to see that winning against Uan was impossible, and so it chose to attempt to bargain for its own life.

  Uan’s apathy towards the machine then briefly waned as he considered that Ardi was part machine.

  He was a cog in the palm of a machine which he could not even begin to understand.

  So… did that mean she would look at him in the same way that he looked at the Android?

  Uan wasn’t sure.

  The Android, after seeing Uan’s pause, shot him several times in the head, but every bullet simply fell to the ground.

  The android’s expression then twisted with horror as Uan raised his rifle.

  He then shot it in the head just as the elevator’s doors opened, revealing a dusty Gizagi.

  “Howdy.” She greeted lazily, and for whatever reason, this made Uan chuckle.

  He finally understood that he had much to learn.

  About humans and machines.