TBoB - Book 3 - Chapter 38 - Cleaning up the mess

As I sat on the bridge of the Marsupial, monitoring the various cleanup operations, humming to myself, I received a call.

[Howdy Jane, what’s up?] I asked cheerfully.

[Evelyn… What the hell are you doing? I thought you were going to keep out of the conflict. Why are you all over the TV, stomping on corporate forces?] came Jane’s annoyed reply.

I froze. I’d been so distracted by the conflict that I hadn’t considered that Jane or the kids would see the broadcasts. [Ummm… Fake news?] I said.

[The broadcasts are coming from your forces, so don’t you dare claim you don’t know what’s going on,] Jane hissed.

Collapsing into one of the bridge chairs I kicked out my feet. [Fine. The truth is I’m not involved in the main conflict, but dealing with a third party which was only out to kill everyone, and burn the city down around themselves.]

There was a pause on the line. [So what’s the real reason you’re getting involved now?] Jane asked suspiciously.

[They shot missiles at me, twice,] I replied indignantly. [Even my patience has its limits!]

[Don’t I know it,] Jane sighed. [I’m honestly more surprised it took you this long to get involved. Are you ok?]

[Fine. I’ve lost a couple bears, but I’m methodically picking apart all their forces. I’ll be back in time for dinner,] I replied cheerfully.

[Don’t do anything stupid,] Jane muttered.

[You know me!]

[That’s why I’m warning you,] Jane snapped, before disconnecting. 

With the call finished I spun my chair back towards the bridge monitors. Nyx had completely infiltrated the Helmar command network before disrupting everything, so I knew exactly where all their forces were located. I’d already flattened over half of their armored vehicles, and already had combat groups out to deal with the rest. They didn’t really have anything even close to as powerful as that mammoth tank left, so I didn’t even need to concentrate that much. The squad could handle the details.

As I sat there kicking my feet, Bandit sent me a ping, letting me know he was arriving back at the marsupial. Jumping off my chair, I wandered back towards the Kodiak docking area to meet him, and my new ‘guests’.

By the time I arrived at the back the Kodiak had already locked into place and the ramp was slowly lowering. “You have no right to do this!” a high pitched female voice echoed out of the back of the vehicle. “Do you know who I am?” 

“A fucking idiot, that’s who,” I grumbled as I waited for the ramp to fully lower. The sounds of struggle within the Kodiak ceased as soon as I spoke up, and everything was quiet for a moment. It took another few seconds for the ramp to lower enough for me to see inside. 

There were half a dozen people, dressed in various fancy suits and dresses, cuffed and being manhandled by the bears inside. Most were moping on the benches that lined the side of the vehicle, but there was one older woman standing in the middle of the vehicle, glaring at me.

She had black hair with streaks of grey, and wore a casual business suit which didn’t look fancy, but probably still cost more than the yearly wages of an entire building. “So, you’re the one behind this indecent act. I thought you’d be taller,” she snarled.

“And I thought you would have learned your lesson,” I spat back, “but then again, if you were stupid enough to indiscriminately fire your weapons in the direction of a samurai, you couldn’t be that smart.”

“I am Elenore DuWitt Helmar,” the woman said, standing up as straight as she could in the Kodiak, “and I will not be treated this way.”

“Since your security detail couldn’t take down a single bear, or prevent me from apprehending you, I don’t think you have any further say in your treatment.” I looked her up and down, before shaking my head in disappointment. “I honestly thought since you assholes had been in power so long you would have learned to respect samurai. Guess all the years of Mirage kissing your ass gave you the impression you could get away with anything,” I grumbled. Elenore bristled at my comment, but I didn’t stop long enough to give her a chance to talk back. “Don’t worry about the treatment, you won’t have to deal with it for long. I’ll be dropping you off at the council building in a few minutes.”

“They’ll kill us! Those ungrateful upstarts,” Elenore yelled, pulling away from the two bears that were holding her.

I stared at the older woman in disbelief. “Are you senile? Mentally unwell in some way? Or maybe your head is so far up your own ass you can’t recognize the consequences of your own actions.”

“Our actions were justified,” the older woman sniffed.

“So bribing a tank crew to attack my defensive cordon was justified? Attacking a samurai seemed like a smart idea? I practically crippled your forces by taking away the PMCs, then decided to leave you alone. After that, you still fired missiles at my forces.” I stepped right up to the taller woman and looked her right in the eye, “You, madam, are what I call a fucking idiot.”

The older woman huffed in rage, but didn’t instantly reply so I turned to leave. One of the other board members, a mousy looking balding man, coughed slightly. “I’m sorry, we tried to convince Mrs Helmar that her actions would have negative consequences, but we just couldn’t convince her to back down.”

“You should have tried harder,” I snarled. “Actions have consequences, especially while fucking with a samurai.” 

The Kodiak’s ramp started closing the instant I stepped off the vehicle. I had to listen to Elenore complain for several more seconds until the back finally sealed. 

“You sure you want to drop them off at the council building?” Spooky asked as I marched back to the bridge. “You didn’t seem that impressed with the council at the peace talks, and they didn’t seem that interested in dealing with Helmar themselves.”

“Honestly… I’d rather drop the Helmar board smack dab in the middle of one of the residential buildings they were firing indiscriminately at, and let the people deal with them, but after evacuating the core I doubt there’d be enough people to give them exactly what they deserve,” I replied. “I don’t have a place to keep them, and after all the shit they’ve been up to, I doubt the council will let them get away. I can always drop them in one of those residential units later.”

Spooky raised an eyebrow, but didn’t reply. Instead he just turned back to the console he was monitoring and fiddled with the controls. “While we’ve been dealing with Helmar the council has clashed with Denver’s forces in multiple places. There has been serious damage on both sides, blocking up several intersections with wreckage.” 

“Enough damage to actually make a difference?” 

Spooky shook his head. “Not with the reinforcements. As a matter of fact, this might actually extend the conflict if they keep blocking up the lanes into the city.”

“Wonderful,” I grumbled. “Head back to the undercity access point. We’re close enough for Bandit to head to the council building himself, and honestly after all the shit they put me through earlier today, I don’t even want to see those assholes again.”

“You’re not going to step in?” Deadbeat asked from across the bridge. “We could probably end this in a couple hours.”

“Probably, but I honestly still don’t have a fucking clue on which side I would support. As far as I’m concerned they’re all fucking terrible,” I grumbled. “I think it’s best we let them settle this themselves, unless they decide to attack civilians, or someone I respect asks me to step in.”

“So, pretty much anyone except Mirage, yah?” Heavy laughed.

“I’m not going to deny it,” I sniffed. I stood on the bridge for several long seconds, watching the skyline pass by before I opened my mouth again. “Let’s make sure there are squirrels monitoring both the battles, and the command centers of both sides. Considering how badly today, and the entire war in general has gone so far, I expect someone will step out of line before too long. I want to be ready when that happens.”

The bears all nodded, then hurried back to their assigned stations. This battle was over, but the war raged on.