Stray Cat Strut

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Stray Cat Strut (A cyberpunk system apocalypse!) - Ongoing

Fluff (A superheroic LitRPG about cute girls doing cute things!) - Ongoing

Love Crafted (Interactive story about an eldritch abomination tentacle-ing things!) - Completed!

Dreamer's Ten-Tea-Cle Café (An insane Crossover about cute people and tentacles) - Hiatus

Cinnamon Bun (A wholesome LitRPG!) - Ongoing

The Agartha Loop (A Magical-Girl drama!) - Volume Two Complete!

Lever Action (A fantasy western with mecha!) - Volume One Complete!

Heart of Dorkness (A wholesome progression fantasy) - Completed!

Dead Tired (A comedy about a Lich in a Wuxia world doing Science!) - Ongoing

Sporemageddon (A fantasy story about a mushroom lover exploding the industrial revolution!) - Ongoing

Past the Redline (A girl goes too fast, then she does it again) - Completed!

Magical Girl Crystal Genocide (Magical Girls accidentally the planet, and then try to fix it) - Completed!

Magical Girl Rending Nightmare (A sequel to Crystal Genocide! Cute girls in a soviet dystopia having a picnic on the roadside) - Volume Two Completed!

Noblebright (A shipcore AI works to avenge humanity) - Completed!

The Complicated Love Life of Ivil Antagonist (The Empress of Mars finds love) - Completed!

Pokebun (Broccoli Bunch in the world of Pokemon) - Hiatus

Queen Violence (An Assassin Reborn as a Kitten) - Completed!

No Strings Attached (An Elden Ring/Bloodborne inspired progression fantasy) - Ongoing

Save Scumming (A time-looping system apocalypse) - Ongoing

Chapter Eighteen - Nothing but the Truth

"And in international news, the cruise ship Azeb of the North Sea was lost this weekend. The cruise ship, with a passenger count in the upper seventeen thousands, called out for assistance as it moved over Antithesis infested waters over the north Atlantic. This is the second cruise ship to be attacked this year."

--Int News, 2033

***

I removed my helmet so that I could better rub at the bridge of my nose. I already had a migraine starting up. "Myalis, you have anything for headaches?" I muttered.

Plenty. And I have things for stress, which might serve you better in this case. Root causes are often best treated first.

Yeah, that was a good point. And speaking of root causes. "Where's this commander guy now?" I asked.

Juno's tongue darted out as he licked his lips. "I'm not entirely sure. Everything I've said was what I could put together so far. There are a few lieutenants that didn't defect and who stuck to their work. One of them reported to me, and that's where I gained most of my knowledge, but it's not verified yet."

"And it'll take forever to get a proper investigation going," Tinwhistle said. "We don't exactly have a whole lot of MPs over here. A few, sure, but not enough for this kind of shitshow. The MPs that are here had to know. And they'll want to be formal about it. Do a whole investigation and, you know, cover their own asses."

"Tinwhistle," Juno said, his tone warning.

"Just the truth, Juno," Tinwhistle replied.

I raised a hand, stalling out the discussion before it could turn into an argument. "Alright, I see how this is going down. Let's say, hypothetically, that we do this by the book. Call in fresh MPs... that's military police, right? Right, we call in new ones from Montreal or whenever. They get here tomorrow, then how long would it take for things to get in order?"

"A few days," Juno said instantly. "If we can even retrieve those troops... if we even want to."

"Yeah, not exactly brimming with loyalty," I said.

Tinwhistle nodded. "We're going to have to run the investigation no matter what. At best it's a lot of troops obeying stupid orders. At worst it's half a city's active garrison doing a bit of desertion. Can't remember that ever happening."

"It has," Juno said. "Not in Canada, but there's precedent in the States. Lost cause cities where morale dropped too low. The fall of Syracuse is practically textbook for how desertion can make a city fall. More recently there was Medford in the Democratic Republic of Oregon."

"The what?" I asked.

"They don't matter," Juno said. "It's just an example. The city was hit hard by some antithesis that had hived in a nature preserve and when reinforcements took too long to arrive, the army broke up and deserted."

"Okay, fine, so it could happen," I said. "Do we know where the Commander is right now?"

"No," Juno said. "Not precisely. But I can try to find out?"

"Nah, it's fine," I replied. "I'll figure it out."

I turned towards Crisis Mode and eyed her up and down. She didn't seem to be bursting with energy, but she wasn't exactly sleeping on the job either. "What is it?" she asked as she noticed me staring.

"Just wondering. You down to go Commander hunting?"

"What are we going to do with him?" she asked.

"That really depends. Juno, if I flung him out of a window would you be the next Commander?"

"That's not how it works," he replied.

"Would it be less paperwork than bringing him back as a prisoner?" I asked.

He was quiet. Suspiciously quiet. "I... think I'm supposed to encourage you, very sternly, not to throw out command personnel from windows."

"Noted," I said. I'd fling him off a roof, then. Well, if he gave me trouble or had a face I didn't like. If he was cooperative it might be a balcony, or a place with a nice view. I shook my head, ran my fingers back through my hair, then pressed my helmet back on. "Keep things running here. I'll be back in three or four hours. Try to get a good idea of what's going on past the wall, if you can?"

Tinwhistle nodded. "I got some new surveillance tools that I want to play with. Little drones that are all shiny and new. I'll need a couple of squads, if you can spare them, but I can have them out within the next six to nine hours. Some of the local surveillance net isn't completely shit, so that might work as well."

"Alright," I said. "I think that's it, then?"

"The militia," Crisis Mode said. We all turned towards her, and to her credit, she didn't flinch back or anything. "We've been keeping the wall safe for a couple of days with little help from the army except for some soldiers and gear. I think you'll find a lot of 'deserters' joined the militia. I'd... like to advocate on their behalf. If I can do that?"

"You can," I assured her. That would probably save some brave souls an ass kicking.

She smiled a little. "Good. If you want to know what's going on, you might want to get in touch with the people in charge of the militia. Libre has been using them for weeks now. They have a pretty good chain of command. It's a little piecemeal in places. Some people only join for a few days, or half-days, or whenever they have off work. So it's not nearly as professional, but there are a lot of militia people and they'll know more about the state of things than... no offence, but more than anyone just showing up today."

"That's a fair point, Samurai Crisis Mode," Juno said. He smiled winningly at her. "I'll see what I can do. And your advocacy on the behalf of those who continued to fight even while their, ah, leadership didn't will go far, I'm certain."

"Thank you," Crisis Mode said.

I waved to the two military sorts. "Alright. I'll keep you guys in the loop while I sort out this Commander shit. Call me... no, call Gomorrah if there's a disaster. And try not to get yourselves killed. I'd hate to have to make new army friends."

Tinwhistle, at least, thought that was funny.

I slid out of the room, Crisis Mode following after me. I slowed down so that she had to walk by my side. "Thoughts on all of that?"

"The Commander defecting explains a few things, I think," she said.

"You never noticed?"

"No? I probably should have, I suppose. I think... I don't know why I was chosen to be a samurai. There are others who would have been better."

"Eh, fuck off with that humility shit," I said. "It's for normal people. You're a samurai because you are. You don't need to justify it to anyone, not even yourself."

I had no idea what the hell any of that meant, but Crisis Mode seemed to get something from it.

We made it out of the bunker and started towards the Bastion. I turned towards Crisis Mode to ask her something, but immediately forgot when I discovered a third person walking right next to me. "Shit!" I hissed.

Shy looked up to me, blinking innocently behind her large goggles. "Hm?"

"Since when were you there?" I asked even as I noticed Crisis Mode start a little as well.

"The door?" Shy tried, then she blushed prettily. "I mean, sorry, I was waiting outside, and then followed?" She glanced at Crisis Mode, then focused on her feet. "Hi?"

"Damn. Uh, Crisis Mode, this is Shy, she's from NM as well."

"Hello," Crisis Mode said. "A pleasure to meet you. I hope you've been enjoying Quebec so far."

"You too," Shy said. I think I saw her die a little in real-time as she registered that her reply didn't really make sense.

In my magnanimity, I decided to step in and save her a little. "Shy's cool," I said. "She's our second stealth specialist."

"Who's the first?" Crisis Mode asked.

Shy aborted a snicker.

"Me," I replied.

"Oh," Crisis Mode said.

"We're heading out to find some military Commander guy who probably sold out to get a nicer, cushier position away from the wall with all the aliens on the other side. That's like, turbo illegal, so we may or may not do some homicide on him and try to figure out why no one outside of Quebec knows what's going on here."

Shy nodded slowly. "I can help?"

"Sure," I said. "I was going to bug Myalis until she decided to finally do her job and help me, but if you can figure out where the Commander is it'll save us all a lot of time."

Cute.

"I can do that," Shy said. "I just need a few minutes. I'm good at finding things online."

"You're talented," Crisis Mode said.

"Ah," Shy replied. "Thanks? I'm sure you have talents too?"

"I'm still looking for them," Crisis Mode replied.

Well, that was better than self-pity, at least.

***

A note from RavensDagger

Victor is just your average child espionage agent for a bunch of different corps living in the hellscape that is New Phoeninx, where even in winter, the average temp is 100 degrees Fahrenheit, let alone the summer we start out in.

Vic and his team of misfit child soldiers are doing a surprisingly routine, very well paying boring job in a megabuilding, when they stumble into hive build into its very walls, as an Incursion just so happens to start.

After fighting for his life, Victor awakens and, after remembering how he kicked his teammates but in a game last night, decides to play Command and Conquer: Nanobot edition.