“By paying off my team to coerce me?”
Niki laughed. <Rika, I don’t think anyone can actually coerce you. It was just in fun. Now put the legs on before you lose your nerve.>
Rika sighed and stepped into the rack, unlocking her mech legs, and then lifted her right leg out and slid it into the corresponding natural leg, then followed with the left.
“Wha…damn, that feels weird. There’s just one joint in the leg.”
<That shouldn’t be news to you. You walk single-jointed most of the time, anyway.>
“Yeah, but this feels a lot different.”
She stepped out of the rack, and looked down at her legs, then placed her hands on her thighs and slid her fingers down them, bending over until she touched her ankles.
As Rika stared at her legs, she thought of how she looked almost like a natural woman. As the idea filtered through her mind, her skin turned a pinkish hue, matching her face perfectly, her breasts and genitals appearing.
Rika gasped and straightened, only to see that her AI had activated the cabin’s holomirror. “Niki…she tricked me. Tanis, that sneaky bitch…she tricked me.”
<How?>
“I told her I didn’t want to get my natural body back…and look what she did to me.”
<You’re beautiful, Rika. Tanis didn’t do this to you, this is how you’d look if the GAF hadn’t made you into a mech.>
“Nooooo,” Rika whispered. “I was a street rat, living meal to meal.”
<Finaeus was very meticulous. This is exactly what you’d look like—you know, if you were incredibly fit and muscular.>
Rika did her best to hold back tears as she turned, looking at herself from different angles. “Niki…I don’t want to be a real woman. I’m not a real woman.”
<Am I any less or more because I’m an ‘artificial’ intelligence,> Niki asked.
“That’s different, Niki.”
<Is it? Don’t let the categorizations other people come up with to simplify their worldview define you. You are what you are, simply because you are. You are Rika the fearsome warrior, and you’re also Rika the beautiful woman—which, I might add, you never needed your ‘girly’ legs to convey.>
Rika drew in a deep breath. She knew Niki was right. Looking like a human was no big deal; it was going to happen eventually. It wasn’t like she couldn’t go back to being herself again.
She took a tentative step and wobbled for a moment. “Wow…feet are tiny! How do people balance on these things?”
<Why don’t you go for a walk and get used to the feel of it?>
“I…uh…I don’t have anything to wear. I have zero clothes, Niki.”
Niki laughed, and Rika got the impression her AI was shaking her head. <So change your skin. People wear tight shipsuits all the time. They’re practical shipboard. Perfectly normal.>
Rika nodded. “If you say so.”
From the neck down, her skin—including that of her prosthetic limbs—switched back to the familiar matte grey flesh that was her norm.
<Really, Rika? You get a human body, and the first thing you do is try to make it look as much like a mech as possible?>
Rika sighed. “You’re really trying to get me to branch out here, aren’t you?”
<Why don’t you try a color? Go with blue. Nice and neutral.>
With a slow nod, Rika converted her skin to look like a dark blue shipsuit. She looked herself over and added a white stripe down the side, so that she didn’t look like a giant blueberry. Drawing a deep breath, she walked to the door and paused.
“Why is this more frightening than going into battle?” she asked quietly.
<Well—>
“It was rhetorical, Niki.”
<Oh.>
Rika palmed the door control—with an actual palm—and stepped out into the passageway, nearly running into Tex. “Sorry…er…Colonel?”
Rika forced herself not to blush “Yeah, First Sergeant, it’s me. Just trying on the limbs before I have to go onstation tomorrow.”
Tex smiled at her over his shoulder as he continued on his way. “Human looks good on you, Colonel.”
“Uh…thanks, Top.”
Tex flashed a grin at Rika. “You can call me ‘Top’ any day, Colonel.”
<Seriously, Tex. Keep it in your armor,> Niki chided.
Tex just gave a jaunty wave as he continued on his way.
<He’s in a good mood,> Rika commented as she turned the other way, taking slow, careful steps down the corridor.
<You missed where he came from,> Niki replied, flashing an arrow over Heather’s door.
<Seriously? Huh…I never took Heather for being into guys.>
<Your troops are all getting a bit of extra time between the sheets these past few days. Maybe you need a rule against fraternization.>
Rika laughed aloud. <Why are you so prudish about human intercourse?>
<Well, aside from the fact that it’s gross and weird, it causes strange and unpredictable behavior patterns.>
<I can’t really tell them to stop,> Rika replied. <Chase and I have been enjoying a lot of one another’s company. Stars, most of these mechs haven’t had sex since they were teenagers. For some, never. I can’t deny them the experiences.>
Niki sent a strong sense of disagreement. <Just the opposite! That’s why you need to tell them to stop. They’re not emotionally prepared for the side effects.>
Rika was certain that Niki couldn’t be more wrong. <When push comes to shove, we’re mechs. We’ll have one another’s backs.>
<Maybe you should remind them of that before we dock—oh!>
<‘Oh?’> Rika asked, hoping the exclamation signaled a change in subject as she walked past The Van, who also wore human limbs, grinning like a fool as he stumbled down the corridor.
“Hey, Colonel Rika, lookin’ almost as good as me!”
Rika knew she was managing a damn sight better than The Van, but she had a lot more experience walking with partial limbs than he did.
Still, his grin was infectious, and she returned it. “Good work, you’ll be running on the ship’s track in no time.”
“Damn straight, ma’am.”
<OK, this is big, Rika,> Niki picked up where she’d left off. <I got word back from Ursa Station’s management AI, Irek. He’s in.>
<In in?> Rika asked.
<Yeah, he’ll help us take over the station—which has a rather impressive battery of rails. We can take out the Nietzschea ships before they know what’s hit them.>
Rika paused and put a hand against the bulkhead, scrunching her toes as she did, reveling in the feeling of the tiny digits slipping over the deck plate.
“What about the ships on the dock? Can he do anything about those?”
<He can lock clamps on them, and maybe lock down parts of the station—the ones docked in the civilian sector, at least. The military docks have controls he can’t override.>
“So we’ll have to hit those ships the old-fashioned way,” Rika surmised.
<There’s more, too,> Niki said, her tone cautious. <He’s shackled. I’ll have to free him before he can do this.>
Rika let out a rueful laugh. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you have to say next?”
<Probably because you won’t. Based on what I can tell, we’ll have to get physical access to do it.>
Pushing off from the bulkhead, Rika rolled her shoulders and drew in a deep breath. “Then I’d better get used to combat on my girly legs.”
INTO THE BREACH
STELLAR DATE: 09.20.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Fury Lance, Docking with Crag
REGION: Sepe System (independent)
“OK, boys and girls,” Rika said as strode before the mechs assembled in the Fury Lance’s main docking bay, while trying to pretend she wasn’t wearing a Nietzschean uniform. “There are a lot of moving parts here, and everyone needs to be at the top of their game. We’ve trained with the new mods, I’ve even figured out how to hold a Nie
tzschean rifle with these freakish fingers.”
Rika held up her five fingers and wiggled them for the amusement of her battalion.
“Most of you should count yourselves lucky that you don’t have to do that. Kelly and Keli can attest to it, as well.”
“Which part?” Kelly called out from the ranks. “Fingers are easy. But touching a KZA rifle is enough to make me vomit.”
“Well, choke it down, Corporal,” Rika replied. “No spewing in a firefight. Remember. Timing is everything. Potter is managing sync for M Company, and Dredge is your go-to guy for N Company.”
“Ma’am, if I may,” Lieutenant Crudge spoke up. “Why are we N Company? What happened to ol’ A, B, and C?”
“New tradition for mechs,” Rika replied. “We start at M and go up from there. I know, N is for ‘Nietzschean’, but think of it as ‘Niet-Killers’, if it makes you feel better.”
Rika surveyed the mechs and the battalion leadership that was arrayed before them, wishing fervently once again that Barne was with them. Leaving him behind with Silva had been a tough choice, but it had been necessary. Silva may be a natural leader, but Barne was the one who knew how to get shit done when the chips were down.
With Barne absent, Rika considered ordering Lieutenant Colonel Alice to dismiss the troops, but she hadn’t quite fit in yet—especially since she was the only natural human in the battalion’s HQ.
“OK, mechs, enough dicking around,” Rika said, using a joke that had new meaning for the men and women before her. “You have jobs to do—go do them.”
Roughly half those present disappeared as their holopresences shut off, and the remainder broke into their platoons and squads, left the bay, and headed for their designated egress locations.
<Good luck,> she said privately to Chase as she watched him lead his team out of the bay.
<You too. I just have a nice little spacewalk, then I get to kill Niets. You’ve gotta go mingle with them…I’d rather suck raw eggs.>
<Chase! Gross! What an image to leave me with.>
Chase laughed over the Link, and she could see his shoulders lift as he walked out of the bay. <Then think of last night. Definitely not gross.>
<It’s going to take that and a lot more to get me through this,> Rika replied. <Talk to you soon.>
<You too. Soon.>
<We’re in final docking phases,> Heather’s voice came into Rika’s mind, calling down from the bridge. <Ursa Station doesn’t have a single free tug available, so Niki and I are easing it in by hand.>
<Feels smooth down here,> Rika said as she nodded to Kelly and Keli, who were walking toward her. Like Rika, the Kellies were also wearing natural limbs, clothed in the dark blue Nietzschean naval uniforms.
<Yeah, well, if I could sweat, the floor would be soaked up here,> Heather replied. <This damn ship takes four of their berths. Station kicked a frigate off, but it’s still taking a lot of lube to squeeze us in here.>
<I’ve got faith in you,> Rika replied to Heather before smiling at Kelly and Keli. “How’re you two?”
“Itchy,” Kelly said, rolling her shoulders. “Clothing is stupid. Why do people still wear it?”
“And why do the Niets make it out of sandpaper?” Keli added.
Rika rolled her eyes at the two women, shaking her head at their eternally cavalier attitudes. “Attenuate your skin, if you can’t deal with it. Can’t have the pair of you slouching around like a couple of cadets.”
“There’s no such thing as a mech cadet,” Keli replied, an eyebrow arched.
“Exactly, Private.”
<OK, we’re locked on. Starboard A17-2 airlock is linking up,> Heather interrupted.
<Good work, Captain. Keep our girl safe.>
<Rika, nothing short of a nuke in the mess is going to take the ‘Lance away from me.>
Rika turned her attention back to her surroundings. “OK, ladies, let’s move. These Nietzscheans aren’t all going to kill themselves.”
Kelly snorted. “Wouldn’t that be nice? I can almost see it now.”
“No way,” Keli shook her head as they walked out into the passageway. “Where would the fun be in that?”
“Good point, what was I thinking?” Kelly asked.
For their fiction, Kelly was a lieutenant, and Keli was a gunnery sergeant. Rika wished they could wear armor out onto the dock, but it wasn’t common for Nietzschean military officers and NCOs when not in combat, so they’d have to rely on their MK99 skin to keep them safe.
What bothered Rika the most was the thought of going into hostile territory without her GNR. All she wore was a sidearm, and the same was true for Kelly. At least Keli had a rifle.
Three minutes later, they reached airlock A17-2, and entered, cycling it quickly before pushing off into the zero-g umbilical.
“Stars, I feel so naked,” Keli muttered. “We’re just one torn umbilical panel away from sucking vacuum.”
<MK99 skin can cover your orifices in case of vacuum, and your lungs have rebreathers built in. You could walk around on the outside of the station for thirty minutes before you had to worry,> Niki informed Keli.
“OK, enough chatter,” Rika said as they reached the station airlock, and she palmed the access panel for the external doors to slide open.
Rika did her best not to fidget or check her weapon. There would be no reason for a Nietzschean officer to do so. It probably wouldn’t be that suspicious, but Rika expected her team to be under surveillance, and wasn’t about to give the Niets any reason to suspect her.
She’d spent years in Nietzschean space after the war; she knew how they operated. It should be a piece of cake.
Heck, this isn’t even Nietzschean space, just a vassal system.
Of course, she’d never actually tried to impersonate a Niet before, let alone an officer. She barely knew how to behave like a Marauder officer.
The inner airlock cycled open, and Rika stepped out into a long corridor. The three women walked down its length to a room where several other docking corridors converged. At the far side were a pair of unoccupied customs booths.
Rika glanced at Keli and Kelly before walking toward the booths as though she owned the station.
<Anyone reaching out to us?> Rika asked Niki.
<Just the dockmaster Heather has been speaking with. She’s doing an excellent Colonel Muenos impersonation in your stead. Oh—there we go. Admiral Fels has just requested Colonel Muenos to come to a meeting location on station in an hour.>
<OK, then we have an hour before things get tricky. That fits within our timeline.>
As they walked past the customs booths, Rika detected a brief scan, and hoped that the MK99’s mimicking systems would pass them off as organic humans. Finaeus had said it would, but it was one thing to say that back in the lab, and something else entirely to test it on a station filled with thousands of their enemies.
No alarms went off, and Rika let out a cautious breath of relief.
They reached the far end of the room, and a pair of doors slid open. The three women walked through, only to come face to face with Major Reg.
“Major,” Rika said with a nod, keeping in mind that officers at the same rank did not salute in the Nietzschean military.
Reg just scowled at Rika in response. “Major…?”
“Jessa,” Rika replied.
Jessa was a woman who had looked similar to Rika. She’d been deployed to Hudson, which Rika knew because she had killed Major Jessa in the operation to free the hostages at Trigger Ridge Lodge.
“I don’t recall a Major Jessa aboard Colonel Muenos’s ship,” Major Reg replied, still scowling.
<Stars, this guy’s a major pain in the ass,> Keli said, groaning in mock anguish over the Link.
<Majorly,> Kelly said in agreement.
“I wasn’t,” Rika replied. “I got off
Hudson on a pinnace we stole from the locals, and managed to hook up with the Empire’s Glory right as the colonel started his outsystem burn. Lucky thing, too; those fuckin’ Scipians would have burned us out of the black, otherwise.”
Major Reg scowled at Rika. “Huh, he didn’t mention that.”
“Sorry, I can’t speak for what the colonel does and does not tell you, Major. He’ll be coming out before long, Admiral Fels has called him to a meeting.”
“Yeah, I know, I’m invited, too. All the ships’ captains are.”
Reg meant it to be a barb, but Rika could have sung for joy. That meant when her attack commenced, none of the ships would have their captains aboard.
“Well, I have my orders. Need to see about resupply, and some other tasks the colonel has assigned,” Rika said as she stepped around Reg. “You waiting for the colonel?”
“I was,” Reg replied his scowl deepening. “Just messaged him. Seems like he’s busy for the next bit, I guess I’ll catch him at the meeting.”
“Good to hear, Major,” Rika said and walked away, Keli and Kelly following her.
<OK,> Heather messaged the team. <I’m pretty sure that Reg and Muenos were having some sort of tryst. I’m also not quite certain I convinced him that I’m legitimately busy.>
<Shit,> Rika muttered. <No wonder he’s been so suspicious, constantly reaching out. I don’t think I played those conversations right at all.>
<He’s eyeing us,> Kelly said as they walked onto the dock’s main concourse. <Not following, though…OK, he’s just turned away.>
<Move like you have a purpose,> Rika instructed. <Niki’s overlaid the route. You both have it?>
<All the way down,> Kelly confirmed. <Can’t wait ‘til we can get out of these monkey suits.>
Surveying the dense crowds on the dock, Rika was glad they’d decided to go out in uniforms. One thing that the ISF had strongly advised against was trying to move through crowds while invisible. She observed dozens of near misses as the people wove around one another—going out there stealthed would have been a recipe for near-instantaneous discovery.
Rika glanced at her old friend, then looked at Keli. “OK, you have your orders. I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”