Chapter 147

The Daedalus Academy

Y: 2143 – 10 weeks until Southern Europe regional inter-academy first round.

Daedalus Financial Position: -33.9M bitcreds 

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Jia woke with her head aching like there was a knife embedded to the hilt in the back of her skull.

“Fark,” she bleated uncharacteristically. She then opened an eye and regretted it as light streamed into her iris. She couldn’t activate dimming on the ocular implant fast enough. At least she didn’t make the same mistake with her other eye. She battled her foggy mind as she strained to recall what happened and where she was.

A clue emerged as she felt the jolt of the aircraft and its engine noise became apparent. It was always there but she hadn’t deciphered whether it was internal imbalance or an external noise. 

As recent history dawned on her she growled. She never had her cybernetic implant changed and it was a sponsored Huawei issue. She chided herself for not at least getting it probed. She winced as a throb of pain rolled through her head.

“Bastards,” she whispered. Tampering with someone’s cybernetics – she deduced they did to her - could have been fatal. She barely heard footsteps over the background noise, so she lay still and closed her eyes. 

Before she could control her breathing and heart rate a voice spoke, “There is no use pretending.” She heard a tapping. “I can see you are awake.” The voice sounded familiar and it took a few seconds to recognise it because her mind was still foggy.

It was her brother.

The emotions of betrayal, hurt and sadness swirled through her when she realised her brother was there and witnessed or ordered her possibly fatal capture. He could have killed her in service of Huawei while it tried to kill Daedo. Her mind did not halt as her thoughts swirled around how long they had been planning to use her and how much information were they able to gain from an implant.

“I’m sorry Meng,” he said softly and sighed before adding, “But it’s better that it’s me. I can at least try to save you and bring you back to Huawei.”

Her emotion of sadness quickly turned to anger, and she sat up with the bolt of adrenalin that it supplied. “Back? Fuck Huawei. I was never their tool like you.”

He looked sad and nodded in understanding. “I am sorry Meng. But it’s probably for the best now. Daedo is dead.”

The air turned heavy between them. Jia took a slow breath and considered immediately that he was lying. But she couldn’t see how this lie would help him if it wasn’t true. “I don’t believe you,” she said testing her brother.

He shook his head slowly and brought up a screen with images of the desert sands appearing. Multiple drone missile strikes hit the ground and two bodies appeared in the aftermath. One fired and struck down one drone and then another. This continued until a barrage from low orbit struck the ground covering it in fire as the surrounding oxygen ignited.

The image switched to a satellite which zoomed and scanned the area. At first it seemed as if the very air was on fire until the scene was obscured by sand – the normal haze interspersed with crystallised granules where it shone brightly reflecting light like tiny mirrors.

Her brother narrated the end of the vid, “We were able to get a read on your stealth armour in the high frequency, short wavelength range and then it was just a matter of adjusting our sensors to search for it. During the day it was impossible to find due to the sheer abundance of UV but at night your little stealth suits shone like beacons.”

Searching in the dark usually consisted of sonic or infrared technologies which the nanosuits was designed to obstruct.

Jia closed her eyes and lay back while she contemplated the information. Her brother was brilliant, and he now seemed to possess a ruthless streak. He was the perfect sponsorship candidate for Huawei even at a young age he was athletic, creative, charismatic and intelligent.

She rejected their sponsorship and instead applied to Daedalus. The new corporate and military power appealed to her in so many ways where Huawei appeared stagnant and corrupt in comparison.

“I didn’t see any bodies,” she stated which was true because after the explosion there was nothing but a grotesque sandstorm.

“Not possible to show you bodies when they were vaporised,” he retorted.

“Where are we going?” She asked changing tac.

“Classified,” he replied.

“You assaulted me and are taking me somewhere against my will. I really don’t care if its classified. If you want me to be compliant you will answer my questions,” the last she made into a threat. Her brother had dumped his exo and was in a standard issue Huawei bodysuit. They may be able to track her nanosuit now but that didn’t counteract its lethality. She was far stronger and faster while wearing it. Her only issue was her hijacked implant.

“We have bases throughout Africa and we are headed to the primary on the Horn. Didn’t you know we own this continent and Daedalus just waltzed into our domain?” He retorted snarkily.

“What do you want from me?” She asked seriously.

“Nothing,” he said pausing for a moment. “We got what we want. Our analysis shows Daedalus will crumble without Daedo and the threat has been nullified. If you weren’t my sister, you probably would have been pushed out an airlock after we took your nanosuit from your carcass.”

“How long have we been flying?” She asked.

He quirked an eyebrow. “We will arrive soon so don’t concern yourself with that irrelevant detail.”

He paced for a moment before turning his dark eyes on her. “I am trying to save your life. Don’t make it impossible for me by trying anything.”

A smile grew on Jia’s face, one which didn’t reach her eyes. “Don’t worry about me brother I can take care of myself.” She punctuated the statement with a kick to his groin her nanosuit enhanced lightning reflexes gave him no time to react. As he doubled over, she sent a rising jab to his chin. A strike that was designed to knock him unconscious.

He made a satisfactory thump sound as he crumpled to the floor. Jia had no idea what to believe, but she wasn’t going to be taken to a Huawei base against her will if she could fight her way out. With a tap of an access pad she was able to open the storage room door where they had placed her unconscious form.

It was a sleek VTOL aircraft designed for versatility to enable a range of operations. Small elite team transport and kidnapping being one of and its current function.

Three heads turned as the door opened with three looks of surprise at her form in the doorway. One exo soldier yelled halt, a second pulled his pistol, while the third took on a defensive stance because she was flying directly towards him with a leading leg aimed at his centre of gravity.

The only exo soldier still wearing an exo was the one who had shouted halt. The other two were in bodysuits which meant that his defence was like butter to attacks from the nanosuit wearing, rampaging, martial expert; Meng Jia.

Among all the elite cadets chosen to attend Daedalus military academy she was the cream of the crop. An elite among elites. The experienced exo soldiers of Huawei were unaware at how much they were outmatched.

Her leading leg broke the soldier’s arm on impact sending a shockwave of pain through his body. She pushed him back into his upright rest which he would have used for the majority of the flight and its cushioned frame shuddered on impact. Her moment moved her past him to the exo soldier with the pistol.

He fired. His aim was good as his shot hit her dead centre. A small ripple of her nanosuit relayed little insight into how it absorbed the impact with zero effect on her movements let alone injury.

Before the exo soldier who had commanded her to halt could finish his sentence ordering his comrade to shoot her in the head she had snapped his wrist forcing him to drop the pistol.

The first soldier dived to retrieve a weapon from its rack. With one fluid motion she caught the falling pistol, turned, and shot him in the back. Unlike her nanosuit his bodysuit offered little protection from the tiny ion bolt.

She turned again, facing the former owner of the pistol and shot him dead centre.

The only remaining enemy in this compartment was their leader who was wearing an exo.

“Smart,” he said grimacing at his fallen comrades. “Take out the unarmoured first and quickly.” He moved towards her slowly. “You won’t find me so easy however.” In this he was correct his body was protected by his exo and his head had the obligatory helmet which all exo soldiers used.

All until Daedalus embraced ocular implants. Her nanosuit reformed on command, sliding up her neck and over her head until only her eyes were visible. Her nostrils, ears and mouth were protected by a nano-fashioned grille.

During the fight she had not said a word as she quietly dispatched his companions. There was no taunting, no yells of anger or requests for surrender. The young cadet merely disabled and killed them quietly and efficiently. Soldiers with six years of cadet training and a further four years in the field were dispatched with ease. She was certainly Jin’s sister.

The thought of Jin made him suddenly wonder what had happened in the back room. He cursed as he realised Jin’s exo was damaged and he would have been unprotected against her insane bodysuit or exo or whatever it was.

She slapped the pistol on her hip and her armour immediately grasped it. It reformed in front of his eyes for the second time. Daedalus may be an upstart corporation, but they certainly were breaking ahead in tech. It was a situation someone from Huawei was not used to. They were either ahead or at least on equal terms with Svarski and DaVinci.

The Huawei exo soldier crouched just outside of arms reach. He wanted to test her armour capability with his most powerful strike. Her suit may be next gen, but it looked lightweight.

He lunged forward and she predictably went to grip his outstretched arm. He pulled it back out of her reach while he brought his other fist up from down low twisting his body in the process. The swivel gave his strike extra power and even if she blocked it she still had to withstand the power behind the blow.

She stepped to the side, leaned back and much to his surprise avoided his blow nimbly. She used the momentum of her attempted grip to turn herself and with the movement of her back foot she had a clear line of sight to his side and he was in no position to block her. Her movements were too quick and before he could blink, she had struck the side of his head. 

A stiletto appeared under her arm and he had no idea where it came from, in the brief glimpse he captured it seemed to be made of the same material as her armour. He saw it, from the corner of his eye, as it approached his head. The last emotion he experienced was horror as the stiletto penetrated his helmet with ease.

Jia stood, surveyed the scene and quickly verified all three exo soldiers were dead. All that was left was the cabin which was certain to have a human pilot even if his role was to monitor the flight AI. A combat mission like this would not rely on a flight AI alone. Upon inspection she realised the cabin door was reinforced and sealed shut. The pilot was probably aware of the circumstances.

Fortunately, the passenger area was for exo soldiers with an array of weaponry stored in racks. The only reason the arsenal wasn’t used on her was due to the speed of her attack and the reticence of her enemy to bring down their own aircraft.

“Oh! A plasma thrower,” she beamed at the volatile weapon. She had never fired live rounds from one and although she didn’t want to die her desire to escape the craft before it landed in a primary Huawei base was greater.

She hefted it and as it primed it made a satisfactorily menacing noise with an increasing intensity. She mouthed, ”booh,” as she fired, and a plasma jet slowly melted the reinforced door causing all sorts of devastation in the local proximity which worryingly included the floor.

When she heard a scream from the cockpit, she stopped firing. With molten hot plasma globules between her and her destination she picked her way through carefully jumping from one safe landing zone to another.

She was greeted with a scene of a pilot writhing in agony, his own weapon dropped to the ground along with what remained of one arm. She had melted away most of his right arm and it was amazing he was still conscious. She sighed and shot him through the head putting him out of his misery.

After a quick reconnaissance of the control panel and HUD she could see they were getting close to the base on the Horn of Africa. Far too close for her liking. She needed help and the only way to receive it was to open a channel to someone from Daedalus.

Jia: I need your help.

Vannier: Where are you?

Jia shared an image with Vannier showing her everything she could see.

Vannier: I see.

Jia: That’s their primary base in Africa.

Vannier: I know.

Jia realised of course Vannier knew. It was only her that was ignorant to this sort of information. One of the leaders of Daedalus would not be surprised.

Vannier: let’s get this craft turned around. Follow my movements.

Vannier was able to project instructions through Jia’s ocular implants which was basically an AR overlay. It was easy for Jia to follow her commands and when it required finesse Vannier would supply verbal supplementary information to accompany the visual.

Although Jia was so occupied with piloting that she failed to hear her brother approach.

“Meng,” he breathed angrily. “Stop now or I will disable you again.”

The fact she survived one such occurrence did not mean she would survive again. On the contrary, it was not dissimilar to Russian roulette, she would eventually succumb and with each occurrence the odds that she would die only increased. She knew this and her brother knew this, which was probably why he threatened first before acting.

Without turning she replied, “You would forgive your companions deaths so easily?”

“The fact you took them out so effortlessly speaks to your worth. It can be forgiven if you join me,” he answered.

She stood slowly and said, “Ok.” Without turning to face him.

“Good,” he said and breathed a sigh of relief.

She turned slowly and he saw the pistol she was holding against her stomach too late. The moment he saw it an ion bolt pierced his brain.

“I decline,” she finished her sentence. When she looked at what remained of his face, she could not help but imagine he had a look of disbelief and betrayal.

Vannier: that was your brother?

Jia: yes

Vannier could hear the sadness in her tone.

Vannier: its Huawei who turned brother against sister. It’s not your fault.

Jia: that’s easy to propose but much harder to feel. Let’s get busy flying this thing back to the Eye. That’s the best medicine right now.

Vannier: true and if you are attacked it may not be as easy as it sounds either.