“Kimber, we have a problem.” Marcus says as he removes his helmet in my office of the Civic’s building.

  I’m trying to be a good Director, but when you have office hours, people use them. How ridiculous is that?

  “We talking resident problem, or settlement problem?”

  “LA gangs, two of them, are loading up vehicles to come our way.”

  The fuck? I was not expecting a settlement problem of this magnitude. “Not to doubt your intel, N2, but how do you know.”

  He nods, “You remember when we heard rumors that the LA gangs were talking about Adelanto and coming to Vegas to ‘represent’?” I confirm with a nod. “Well, when Jaime’s analysis cell predicted a response, I sent a squad with two of your survey drones and a solar recharger. One of them got some audio to confirm and one of my men confirmed two separate gangs loading cargo vans with personnel and equipment. ETA tomorrow afternoon.”

  “That’s . . . really slow.”

  “We suspect they’ll be picking up reinforcements along the way as neither group has enough people to be a threat to us and protect their own turf without more people. No news yet as to who or how many, but by tomorrow afternoon, there’s not much we can do about the difference.”

  “Can? Or should? I can have turrets delivered in place if I have to Marcus. What kind of threat do you expect?” I stand up to get a better vantage on my desk display as it shows an expanded view of the Camp.

  Marcus steps forward and engages the map. “The good news is that the shortest way is the hardest. That freeway has a vantage on our settlement, but I only expect long guns which you can obliterate. The northern and southern approaches are more applicable to urban warfare. However, with our reclamation efforts, only a dozen or so structures could support a retreat or an entrenched approach.”

  He has colored approach vectors, accentuated by spread routes and main assaults assuming a certain number of people. I tap the options he had prepared and cycle through them.

  “Have you looked at the survey data from our reclamation teams?” I ask.

  She shakes his head. “Not enough to verify occupancy or not.” This must be why he came to me.

  I look at the two approaches and start selecting any building over three stories that I can part with. “Marcus, I’ve selected keepers on levels of priority. Take everybody you need and the six mining wands that we have and start razing buildings. Collect as much survey data as possible, but the wand won’t target biologics and it should avoid placing the remnants on them. In any case, I want teams ultimately assigned to the ‘keeper’ tall boys shooters on floors, auto-turret on the roof, and a crew on the ground of each. I got your funding for materials and overtime.”

  “Sounds great, but what about ROE?”

  “If they come in hot? Eliminate with prejudice. If anyone, and I mean anyone that looks like an authority figure, wants to talk. Call me up. Aria and I are a force of our own, and I know how to make a dramatic entrance.”

  “Is showboating your version of diplomacy?”

  “I’ve been told to work on diplomacy, and apparently the Elton John approach can be appropriate at times. I usually go for the angry badger approach, so this is a change for me.”

  “Where are you going to be?” He asks.

  “Probably a few thousand meters above the Port of Entry on Aria’s tail ramp. I can be anywhere in the encampment within thirty seconds from there and shoot all the way down.”

  Marcus spends some more time looking at the map and planning his team placement before I kick him out to plan at home. I inform my staff on the way out that tomorrow is a leave at noon kind of day and to be well gone from the building by 2pm.

  “Aria, you good to provide close air support?”

  “I’m loaded for a few thousand rounds, Kimber, and a dozen or more plasma bursts. A small army will have nothing but trouble with me.”

  “When you say such pretty things, Aria, how can we not love you.” She trills appreciatively and zooms off to take survey data. Or so she tells me. “So much for my ride home.” I chuckle and the ‘inconvenience’ of walking 7 blocks.

  As much as I hate this development, I would loath if this interrupted my Founders’ Day plans. I haven’t seen my girlfriend in person and touched her pretty faces in months, so gods help my enemies if they prevent me this coming week. Seriously, I need me some Zia time and maybe convince her to it being fiancée time. Do I get to call her ‘mine’ if we’re not engaged? I don’t know! Dragons and Elves are apparently fucky when it comes to those rules!! I am more than willing to share my hoard and lifespan with the woman. What more can she need from me?

  Blarg, I need to shoot something. But nooooo, I have to wait like 16 hours. “Alright, Aria, we’re taking a sojourn. One kilometer up to assess targets, ascending until I can’t hit.” I warn Marcus that I’m performing live drills a kilometer north and he copies with a proposed null zone for me to use and him to stay away from. I concur and start donning my re-entry suit.

  “Alright Aria, Station Keeping with position pattern Kilo.” For Kimber, I’m hilarious.

  She stays on each point for two minutes and I try to fire at the end of each window. The defined window feels mega awkward, so we modify to two minutes or immediately after I fire, whichever is faster. That feels far superior. By the time we get to two kilometers up, I’m eight of ten. Three Kilometers, I’m merely four of ten. I call it at three as that’s not good enough to snipe anyone.

  “Unless you have a shield you can turn into a lens, that’s as far as I can hit reliably.”

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “With your bio rhythms, you’ll likely be stuck here until your body of power is higher, or you let your suit bolster your stability.” Well shit, chica, I should have thought about the reactive suit. It’s time for bed, however, and sleep is generally more important than a single extra piece of gear. Aria chirps her concurrence and takes me home to the hospital building.

  When I enter my condo, I see my assistant still in her bathing suit (mostly) and passed out on the couch. I don’t love this development, but at the same time, I did offer for her to live here and passing out on the couch is a factor of living with someone. So I resolve to flip flap jacks at her face if she’s still there when I get up. Hot sausage to the forehead? Hah! That is too wrong. It’d be funny though.

  ***

  \Deuces eyes on, three Kilo’s out.\

  /Copy Deuces. Settlement boundary half Kilo from your local, engage at quarter./

  \Copy Delta, point two fife engagement.\

  /Overwatch, how read?/

  \Loud and clear, Delta. Eyes on Deuces’ target and additional people at zero one zero from our location.\

  I scope in that direction and Aria tells me they are just outside my half kilometer stand-off. I blast the warning out to the closer group again, that this is taken territory and that they should weapons down or back down. At point fife, I snipe their foremost member. At point four, Aria engages her mini and eliminates the squad. We change position twice.

  \Delta, DE Deuces, Approaching force halting at point six. Flashing lights.\

  Aria, record and analyze.

  It’s old naval signal for a line break or line stop.

  Thanks Tova, get me the signal for received and transmit to Marcus.

  \Copy Delta, relaying.\ he pauses and then all squads of their make-shift army stop where they’re at.

  \It worked and one of my advanced scouts confirmed their desire to parlay.\

  /Fuck, alright. I’ll land just behind the boundary and walk toward them. I expect a squad to meet me./

  He clicks his copy this time and I ask Aria to land in such a way she can gun down any detente breakers.

  Wanting to make an entrance, I depart early and thrust toward my approaching squad in my re-entry suit and coast down like Iron Man to meet them.

  /Delta on scene with detachment. Advancing toward potential hostiles./

  I engage my outer speakers as we approach within 100m of the aggressors. “Greetings, new guests. How may we help you?” Their man in front makes a gesture of one finger on each hand meeting in the middle. That is an easy enough symbol. I gesture to my squad and they spread to take assault positions as I walk forward.

  I walk to the edge of my territory and stop. They beckon me forward, but I decline. “We stop at our borders, state your business gentlemen.”

  “You killed some of our men.”

  “They ignored our warnings and trespassed without so much as a hello. I sent a warning shot through their leader, they still advanced. So they died.”

  “So you won’t treaty with us?”

  “It’s just treat, but I would be willing, however, I will take all trespassers as violent thieves.”

  “You have resources we want.” They shout.

  “You have personnel we need.” I reply.

  “So you will surrender if we bring manpower?”

  I chuckle and snort at his supposition. “No, in fact, hell no. I am willing to discuss helping people settle the area as long as they’re not trying to take what’s mine. Coming with multiple groups advancing at the same time does not convey ‘we come to talk’.”

  “We came to test you, but I suppose we can talk.” He taps a piece of metal under his ear and continues talking. “Yeah, it’s me. Someone from the fancy settlement says they’re willing to talk. Yeah, I have people in place, but she’ll take it personally and with the armor she’s wearing I doubt it will be the end of it. I don’t fucking know! Some space age shit, just tell the boss to holo chat me.” He taps his ear metal again.

  “Sorry about that. No other way to do that with some folk in the gang.”

  I shrug, “As long as it’s productive, I don’t mind waiting. Though it is interesting that someone thought that you could just show up and kill the resistance.”

  “Lady, with enough people, that’s usually how this works. The massive technology difference is another matter.” I nod at that and silence takes the parley site.

  One of the leader’s toadies comes forward with a blinking device and before I know what I’m doing, I have a pistol drawn and light pressure on my trigger.

  “Hey! Hey, it’s just an emitter for the holo chat, jesus. The light is an incoming call. Everyone lower their guns and we can hear what the boss has to say.” I lower my pistol but keep it in my hand. I watch both men in front of me blow out a large sigh as the lackey pushes a few buttons on what looks like a land mine.

  A pair of life-sized floating busts manifest semi-transparent between us. “Scouting team Vegas, report.”

  “We had our northeast team advance, and the leader of the settlement had the squad erased in less than a minute. I signaled them for a meeting and they agreed to talk. The woman in the space suit appears to be speaking for them.”

  “He is correct,” I state, “I have the authority to speak for Camp Elsewhere,” my voice coming though external speakers on my helmet.

  “Excellent. Our organizations desire to leave LA. We heard Warram was overthrown and replaced by a much less ruthless organization.”

  “Less casually cruel, for sure. We haven’t been provoked yet, so our response to it has not gone public. I would note that I’m an Alchemist, and Explosives manufacturer, and the Deputy of Southern Nevahrado and the Texico Conflict region.”

  “Deputy? Eh? That must make you Kimber Novarro.” I nod. “You took down a wendigo in personal combat, very impressive.”

  “I must admit, all I know about you is that this group is somewhat of a merger, and your man brought half a battalion with him. You have me at a disadvantage.”

  The woman on the holo-projection grins. “Yes, well, quantity is its own quality and all that. I am Slade, and yes, we are interested in mergers of the like-minded to survive a change in territory. My partner is discussing things in Reno as Nevahrado is known to favor stability, in both law and money.”

  “It would be interesting if they favored you over me, but stranger things have happened. Let’s say for a moment, that you decided to come here and we co-exists. What would that look like to you?”

  The hologram freezes for a minute, the man before me insisting that it was paused on the LA end. Curiously he seems more nervous and his men have put their guns away for the time being. Is that because I introduced myself as a Deputy of the territory? Pretty cool if it is.

  “Miss Novarro, I have contacted my partner and we wish to conduct negotiations in Reno with a representative of the territory present.”

  “Well, shit! That is good news Slade. I’m game to discuss occupying the same mesa. Are your men going to stay in town until then?”

  “Yes. Will they be allowed your hospitality?”

  I shake my head at that. “Afraid not. They can camp at my border if they wish and the strip is beyond my interest and the old Warram Casino should still have services connected. Gym, rooms, Exchange services.”

  “We’ll contact you before the week is out.” The hologram cuts out entirely this time.

  That altercation went much differently than I expected. Hells, I didn’t think it’d get to talk to someone in charge until several squads were taken out and now I’m standing across from some very nervous, very surprised minions and me not wanting to turn my back on them.

  “Well, leader man, if you ever need to send a message to us, an unarmed messenger will be allowed to approach the government office on the Northeast Side. We might be neighbors soon, so keep the troops in line, would you?” I engage my thrusters to back me up a few dozen meters before turning and jetting off toward my home.