Chương 430: Book 7 - Chapter 26 - Contributions

"Something on your mind?" Sharron asked once we'd finished strategizing, and everyone split up.

"You kind of got quiet there at the end."

"I was just thinking… I'm so used to being on the front line, or at least contributing to the actual conflict, but out here on the water? I'm a little out of my element," I muttered.

"Is that supposed to be a joke or…?" Sharron asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What? No!" I hissed.

"I'm saying that because all my tech is terrestrial-based, and even though I can contribute, I'm used to being front and center instead of performing a support role. What joke?"

"Water is an element…" Sharron said, looking at me expectantly for a couple seconds. When I gave her a blank look, she just shook her head.

"Never mind. Look, I kind of understand what you're going through right now. When I first arrived on Mars, I was one of the weakest samurai there, and I couldn't contribute that much."

"You couldn't contribute much," I said suspiciously.

"Even with that stupid tanky armor of yours?"

"That 'stupid tanky' armor would have been completely flattened by some of the Antithesis up there," Sharron replied.

"Keep in mind, when I went up there I had access to one or two Class III catalogs, while our front line was using Class IV and Class V stuff and still struggling. I had to figure out how to contribute without being directly on the front line."

"So what did you do?" I asked.

"I found ways to contribute to the battles until I could. The Deep Dweller Catalogs specialize in tanky aquatic based armor and mining, so I started digging trenches, helping the sapping teams, and intercepting any Antithesis tunneling efforts. Although I wasn't able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the others, I could still contribute to the battle," Sharron said.

"I know you're a little frustrated with how things are going, but there are things you can do to help that don't involve throwing bears at the Antithesis."

"But throwing bears at the Antithesis is what I'm best at," I whined.

"I won't deny that, but you've been throwing down sensor buoys, scouting with your custom bears, and coordinating with the rest of the samurai. That all contributes," Sharron said.

"I'd still rather be beating the fucking thing's head in," I grumbled.

"I know," Sharron replied, patting me on the head.

"So… I know you've volunteered to guard the southern breach, and repair the sensor net, but are you planning to do anything else?"

"I plan on moving the Strato Carrier over the breach, just in case the Tender actually does attempt to sneak out that way but otherwise… I don't know; I have to think about it. I don't have a ton of points left, so it's not like I can make an effective navy or something, but I want to do SOMETHING more," I replied before sighing.

"I guess I'll think about it more. Before that, we need to talk to Mako. I did promise to talk to her on the way out." I quickly surveyed the room, my eyes flickering between the different groups arrayed around the tables. Even though we'd only been here a couple minutes, it looked like a ton of people had filed in after us. I guess that kind of made sense, since the Destiny was acting as the hub for both the samurai fleet and the rescue effort.

I just hadn't realized how many samurai had actually decided to participate in the operation. Mako was pretty much right where we'd left her, off in the corner talking to a small group of samurai. The only difference was, instead of talking to the mermaids, she was talking to someone who was wearing a suit of armor that made them look like an octopus in combat armor. At least, I hoped it was a suit. When I walked over, Mako looked up and waved.

"Hey, I wanted to introduce you to Cephalopop; he's been visiting from the East Coast. Nice guy, doesn't talk much," she said. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Cephalopop waved with one floppy tentacle and made a blubbering noise as he stepped back and excused himself.

"Right… nice to meet you," I replied, waving back awkwardly before turning to Mako.

"You said you wanted to talk to me before I left?"

"Oh, right!" Mako exclaimed before leaning in closer to me.

"I was wondering if you'd mind letting my friends and I use Bear Force One as a base of operations."

"I guess so," I replied, frowning in confusion.

"Why would you want to, though? The Destiny is already set up to provide you and the other samurai with whatever support you need."

"That's true," she replied.

"The problem is that since it's become the flagship, and it does have all the facilities everyone needs, almost everyone is based here right now. Oh sure, a couple people are working independently, on their own vessels, but even then I doubt many of them want to stray too far from the main fleet after what happened. I, on the other hand, think we need to spread out our forces a little bit more, and since you seem to have the most heavily armed ship in the area…"

"You think Bear Force One will be able to hold its own if something happens," I finished.

"I can't argue with your logic, so… sure. I'll have the bears clean up one of the meeting rooms for you."

"Really? Thanks!" Mako chirped.

"Uhhhh… would you mind if we borrowed one of your transports too? I mean, some of my friends have cars, but I doubt they'll want to use them to get up to the carrier or to take them into an active battlezone once we actually find the Antithesis."

"As long as you don't mind swimming if there's another EMP," I said.

"I haven't had the time to harden any of my vehicles against the effect yet, so if they're hit by something like that, they'll be going straight into the drink." Mako smirked.

"Don't worry, we're all right at home in the water," she said.

"Besides, if we're hit by something strong enough to knock one of your vehicles out of the air, it probably would have also knocked anything we have out of the air too. We're specialized in aquatic combat, not air support like you."

"I'm not specialized in air support," I grumbled.

"I'm specialized in defensive warfare." The girl paused and raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You would have fooled me with all the aircraft flying around."

"Well, I have so many bears that I needed transports to actually get around," I explained.

"The strike craft are a more recent addition. I needed something to help deal with the larger Antithesis, and when I was defending Great Falls, I discovered they were excellent at deploying sensors and munitions."

"Right…" Mako said.

"You do realize that most samurai in that situation would just buy a new weapon, right? Maybe a drone or two? How the hell did you afford to build an entire airforce?"

"Same way I managed to afford to have thousands of bears running around," I replied.

"I purchase the blueprints and build them myself. I may not be able to deploy those forces immediately, but it allows me to deploy a much stronger force over time."

"I know a lot of samurai do stuff like that; making your own equipment saves you points over time, but I've never seen someone take it to such an extreme before," Mako said.

"Well, you know what they say. If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing," Sharron snorted.

"And Evelyn here is a living example of that."

"Hey! I'm just being efficient," I grumbled.

"When you live in the undercity, you learn not to waste anything, and recycling trash into a military is the best way to do that."

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that," Mako said.

"Anyways… it'll take me a little while for all my friends to gather, would you mind sending the transport in, say, half an hour?"

"I can do that," I replied.

"I'll also have a couple bears waiting for you in the hanger to show you around. I don't have any off-limits areas, like Claire and Alise, but my engineering teams are still working on the ship upgrades, so there are a couple construction areas. I'd appreciate if you wouldn't interrupt them."

"You have an engineering team too?" Mako asked.

"It's best to not ask any more questions; the more you dig, the more you're going to discover the absurd things Evelyn gets up to, and if you do that, we'll be here all day," Sharron said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Mako muttered.

"Anyways, if you'll excuse me, I have some calls to make."

"Alright, I'll see you on the ship," I replied as she slipped away. Once she exited the room, I turned towards Sharron.

"What do you mean absurd things? What have I done that's absurd?"

"You're single-handedly pulling a large chunk out of poverty by providing them with food, shelter, and the resources needed to start their own businesses," she said flatly.

"That's not absurd; that's just helping others," I replied.

"Uh huh, just keep telling yourself that." Sharron smirked before throwing an arm around my shoulder.

"Come on, we should get going. You have some guests coming, and you should prepare before they arrive."

"You make it sound like I'm running a hotel instead of a battleship," I muttered as she pulled me towards the exit.

"When you're a samurai, sometimes they're the same thing," she said.

"Now who's being absurd," I said.