Stationary turrets... That's a separate story. Compared to portable infantry turrets, they're like a tank compared to a knight. In fact, it's a whole building, not only with its own controlling AI - it's just a bit more advanced than the one on my turret - but also with a self-supporting complex. It is true that the latter is often very economical, but nevertheless such a turret is more than capable of working without supervision and maintenance for many years and even decades.
Dahl installed many of them on Pandora. They were very cheap for the corporation, and they guarded the borders of the areas where the Dahl worked, or set up recreational and supply centers, or farms. The simple AI directive was that any object without an identification code approaching a certain boundary would be warned first, then shot dead with a large-caliber cannon.
The Dahl then fled without even thinking to at least disable the turrets - why do it? After all, it wasn't their problem.
The result was... odd, I'd say, but nothing special for Pandora.
Most of the more or less colonized areas of the planet are still surrounded by concrete turrets, firing on anyone who tries to cross the perimeter. A kind of invisible - and lethal - wall.
Which don't really bother anyone, really. Aside from the fact that the most populated areas are connected by roads that are not blocked by turrets, there are a number of ways to overcome this rather sloppy and hole-filled defense. Underground passages, air - turrets can shoot down air targets, but their range is short - FTS stations, maybe something else... So this "fence" is both there and not there. Probably more good than harm, though - the turrets shoot Pandorian wildlife from outside the zones. It's not that it stops the skags from breeding inside, and they use the underground passages, but at least it's something.
And somewhere these turrets are guarding some of the Dahl facilities. I'm not sure why not all of them, given that they're quite effective; it's probably due to the limited range, so if they decide to take the object they're guarding seriously, they'll just destroy it from a distance - turrets can't shoot down artillery shells and missiles, and something more advanced can be put on an object that deserves serious defense from the start.
In any case, there are a number of fortified objects of moderate importance, equipped with one or two turrets. Most of them are adequately protected from outsiders by these turrets - even on this insane planet, few private citizens have their own artillery and missiles, or "large caliber" lasers - but... When the Dahl escaped, they left not only their buildings and equipment, but also their personnel on Pandora.
A lot of personnel.
A fucking lot of personnel.
And not just ordinary laborers, colonists, and other low-ranking folk. Among the abandoned on the planet - maybe some of them were left behind? Who knows... - there were those with certain powers and access.
Come to think of it, Tannis is one of them.
In any case, there were officers left on Pandora who had access to control those turrets. And some of them, when they became bandits, couldn't help but take advantage of a gift like a fortress with cannons. A real castle that would make you a king, even an official one... And that's what I had to deal with.
I managed to convince Roland... well, I'm not sure if it was "as easy as expected from the protagonist and the quest", or still oriented to more realistic and less "game-like" expectations. But either way - I was able to do it. By promising a trophy share, including rewards for bandit heads, plus, if it works out, a lifetime discount on ammo.
But before I could actually act - or rather, before I could decide whether to act - I had to do some reconnaissance. Roland may be a MC, but he was still a professional military man.
Speaking of which, he was almost like a colleague of mine. A vanguard fighter with technical support in the form of a personal turret. And speaking of that "personal"... I remembered, or rather "remembered" something hard to say how significant, but interesting.
Turrets of various kinds are used very widely. Why aren't there equally widespread use of methods to hack and take control of them? And why does a deserter, which Roland is - I don't want to say anything bad about him, I know too little about him, but it's a fact - still have his turret, which is supposedly Atlas' property? Well, it's all connected.
The AI that controls the personal turrets (and ECHO) has several layers of protection and owner recognition, at least one of which is tied to the owner's DNA. Literally, the DNA code is used as a crypto-key. I'm still not sure why corporations don't leave some sort of backdoor to be able to at least remotely disable, but at any rate it's literally impossible to hack even a simple AI turret or ECHO. At the same time it is some kind of insurance against personal tech revolt, without a DNA key it can't work.
Obviously there are subtleties here that I don't know about, but the big picture is this. Personal AI is unhackable, and often can't change owners... frankly, it reminds me of familiars, a concept from fantasy, in a technogenic version.
It would seem that personal equipment should have weaker defenses than powerful corporate installations, but the opposite is true; bosses and staff in corporations change, so it's impractical to tie control rigidly and unchangeably to any one person. Hacking defenses are still very serious hard, but some options do appear.
First of all, though, usually the most basic and simple is to get physical access keys. Well, or digital, the point remains, especially with the technology of digitalization, it's practically the same thing.
A small concrete building surrounded by a wall, roughly the same as Don Quail's outpost. Two turret turrets controlling opposite directions, slightly smaller caliber than the border turrets, but still more than enough to kill. If there was some alternate entrance like the one again available at that outpost, no sign of it was visible. Not a lot of people were visible yet either, but there were shacks being built both behind and in front of the wall; the local boss was definitely planning to develop.
That's the bad news. Of the good... There was no good news.
- We could have a sniper siege - Roland suggested thoughtfully. - Or try to impersonate the gang's recruits, given that they're expanding, it shouldn't be difficult, and then start acting inside... But if we can't get control of the turrets, it'll be difficult to leave the facility.
I nodded.
- We'd have to find out who has the keys, take them alive, and force them to hand them over... Too risky, on many levels. Even without turrets it is problematic, and with them at all...
I grimaced.
Roland's ECHO came to life; he frowned and looked at the device, but the next moment the situation became clearer: there was a hologram of Angel in front of us. And I wondered why she didn't show up after the first contact...
- If the problem is the turrets, I can help you, - she said. - I can't hack into them, it's beyond my capabilities, but I can affect the secondary systems and block them from firing... temporarily.
She's a bit too... familial, but it would actually be useful. If we can trust her.
Roland's presence helped, though. The protagonist isn't going to die that easily, so this can't be a setup to get rid of us. Especially since we haven't done anything for this suspicious non-Shodan yet, so it's too early to get rid of us, but it's quite an opportunity to gain some trust.
- I have reason to believe she can be trusted in this situation, - I said. - What do you think?
- Hmm... - the black man said. - Angel, is there anything else you can do? Information on the floor plan, personnel, anything?
- There are a couple of surveillance cameras in the building - after a pause the hologram answered. - I'm trying to connect to them... done.
Two more holograms appeared next to the one representing it, showing a couple of rooms - a long empty corridor, to be more exact, and a barrack with several bunk beds, on which half a dozen people were lying.
- Not much, - Roland said, and I nodded.
- I'm transmitting a map of these rooms and the video feed from the cameras to your ECHOs, - Angel added, and I received a notification of an incoming message.
- That's something, - Roland remarked. - What about the intercom?
- ...I think I can keep you up to date on their negotiations.
- Now it's beginning to look like a plan of operation, - my partner for the mission said with a nod. - We'll be counting on your support when it begins.
The hologram nodded and disappeared.
- Experience in commanding idiots? - I inquired.
- Experience in commanding idiots, - Roland nodded.
We finally gave up on the attempt to infiltrate under the guise of wanting to join. Or rather, we adjusted the plan, because neither Roland nor I had the slightest desire to go through the "newcomers' test". We both didn't like robbing and beating civilians, and we didn't want to work with them afterwards.
So we decided to do things a little differently.
Most gangsters are very careless and inattentive. Even if this gang is led by former officers, they are not able to eliminate such qualities in their subordinates - rather, minions - they are too low-quality human material. If the gang consisted entirely of professionals who had deserted or abandoned on Pandora, that would be another matter, but the language we captured confirmed that there were only a few of them. So instead of recruiting, we "recruited" a recruiter to pass under the guise of recruits... um. I'm surprised I didn't get confused by that word construction myself.
In any case, the remote-controlled bomb in the bandit's pants - Roland's idea, my execution - quickly induced him to cooperate. To be on the safe side, Roland and I put on face-hiding trophy gas masks, and accompanied by our "key", aka "tongue", went to the castle of the self-proclaimed Baron Flint.
It turned out to be much easier than I expected. No one was paying much attention to us; if our "key" had signaled something, there would have been trouble, but he wasn't taking any chances. So we just walked confidently, like people who knew what they were doing and were probably engaged in some important business, into the "castle".
We stopped in a deserted alley - and our thug settled down with a knife in the back of his head. Roland's quick and precise blow seemed to separate the skull from the spinal column.
Ruthless and effective.
Roland sat the corpse in the corner and listened. I noticed the sound of footsteps, too; the ex-Atlas man pointed his chin toward the corpse, and I nodded, sitting down beside him and patting his cheeks.
- Dude, what's wrong? - I said, sounding concerned. Roland stepped out into the hallway.
- Hey, bro, come here, I need a doctor's help, - I heard his voice say.
- I don't--
- I knew you'd don't refuse, - Roland interrupted the bandit. - You got a face just like a doctor's.
- Hey, I-oh, fuck you. Somebody's drunk off their ass again, isn't he?
The bandit that came out of the hallway-- Uh. He had a wooden mask on his face. Anyway, I stood up and stepped aside, pointing at the corpse.
- Wo, bro's in bad shape...
The masked bandit sighed and crouched down next to him... only to immediately receive a knife to the back of his head from Roland, who was following him.
- I could use another one... - the soldier said thoughtfully, taking off his mask.
This should have been the beginning of a story of heroic endurance and the desperate struggle of two against many in the stone bowels of a bandit stronghold. The reality, however, was somewhat different.
Instead of a shooter, it was stealth action mixed with tower defense.
"Look, there's a straight corridor here on the first floor, there are rooms here. Right here" - Roland jabbed his finger at the image Angel provided - "the wall between the rooms is half destroyed. So if..."
Two turrets at the end of the corridor. Cover them with corpses.
We're good to go.
Open the door on the right, throw a cluster grenade, - Roland's modifier - close the door. My partner was doing the same thing with the door on the other side, but instead of a grenade he threw a small black box - a compact module of the Scorpion turret.
Most corporations have a portable turret ideology that is radically different from what Vladoff uses. If our turret is just a digital construction scheme plus network AI, the others use special modules. The main advantage is faster deployment, only a couple of seconds against about five seconds when using typical digital construction through ECHO, but such turrets are more difficult to modernize - not impossible, but more difficult - and if the module is damaged, there are difficulties with its repair, unlike the non-material-based CRETINy turrets of the Vladoff.
The turret's cannon rumbled to the screams of the bandits; I smashed the door with my shoulder and flew into the room, killing the big guy who had managed to survive. The room was expectedly and unpleasantly covered in blood, but there were no survivors left.
For a second, Roland's turret - which quickly silenced - was joined by my sweet couple's shots; apparently someone from across the hall had jumped out into the corridor. Making sure I really didn't have anyone alive here, I glanced at the camera image transmitted to my ECHO; the corridor was empty. Roland had managed to disappear; he got the stealth part of the event and I got the fun towers. Set up another turret in front of the doorway, and now the Wave at the ready.
I didn't have to wait long. The camera image showed several bandits coming down the stairs; a big guy with a shotgun, two of normal height (one with a mask, the other with just a plastered face), and a dwarf. The dwarf was holding a pilot-assault rifle and a grenade, the other two had automatic rifles.
I waited for them to walk down the corridor, estimated their positions and trajectory from the camera, and fired a load of circular saws.
An engineer is not only a set of typical licenses, but also good spatial imagination, knowledge of geometry, and the ability to play billiards... nah, you have to do something between missions, right? I'm not talking about coffee makers - that goes without saying.
The absurd physics of this absurd planet makes all fired disks keep their angle regardless of ricochets, and it makes it very easy to estimate the trajectory, but even so to calculate it and hit the target accurately is at least problematic, especially when you are aiming at the ECHO image transmitted from the camera. Still, I... well, let's just say I did it.
In fact, the corridor was narrow enough that it was almost impossible to miss. It was more a question of where they would hit, and how much of their damage would be lost in ricochets, but these weapons were designed for ricochets, so not much.
And one disk hitting the neck was enough. For all the survivability of the Homo Recens, the neck is still a vulnerable place; after all, it's where the arteries that feed the brain pass through.
That's why I wear a steel collar on my armor. The bandits, however, neglected such protection.
Another advantage of the "Wave" was that this "shotgun" fires without rattle and flash, so the bandits did not even realize what came from where. However, they realized that they were targets here and ran back to the stairs. Well... "Don't run from a sniper, you'll die tired" is now in the "don't run from a turret" variation.
I picked up the weapons that had fallen out of the corpses' hands - including a grenade, mm-yum... - and returned to my position. Then, after thinking for a second, I moved to the room on the other side. It was a little cleaner after Roland's turret than after the grenade, and it wouldn't hurt to put another turret here.
I stuffed the corpses from corridor in the "grenade" room, so that they wouldn't be immediately conspicuous.
The next batch of bandits acted smarter: a big guy with a big shield was in front, two machine gunners were behind him, and a punk with a sniper gun was left near the stairs, wiggling the barrel from side to side. I sighed sadly. Well, as it came, so it went....
This time the ricochet was simpler, untargeted, and with a grenade. Modern grenades don't react to blows, you can even hit them with a sledgehammer (though you shouldn't, take a pity for poor thing), so it didn't do anything from hitting the wall.
But to the walls, after activation by timer - quite well.
Bandits, even more so.
Most modern material shields can withstand bullets, even large caliber ones, but they are relatively vulnerable to explosions. And more importantly, my grenade split into many small grenades flying in all directions, some of which simply flew over the shield, falling behind the shield-bearer's back - or even on his shoulders and head.
The blast wave rolled down the corridor, mostly past me. The turrets hopefully covered the corpses, but the bandits... well, the grenades didn't kill the machine gunners - which, however, was immediately fixed by the turrets. As I had hoped, they are safe, my cuties...
There was still a sniper alive - before the volley from the "Wave".
Second Wave on the second wave of hostiles. All right, let's go.
This time I didn't have time to remove the corpses: a third wave followed. The camera survived, too, and I saw only two people coming down the stairs. Large, but of ordinary human size; both with shields - and with "shields". Both the usual tangible plate of armored material to cover against frontal fire, and comprehensive energy protection.
Also, and this was far more disturbing, both of them were not in their usual bandit gear, but identical armored suits with white Dahl triangles.
"Ex-Dahl officers, threat level: 12," the ECHO reported.
From behind the shield, a grenade flew into the corridor, with a sort of humming sound....
Reflexes, or perhaps instincts, worked faster than reason. Activate ECHO, start the barricade's digital construction program. Seal the doorway. The sound of a grenade... homing modifier.
Explosions erupted outside; dust kicked up, but my barricade... not that it "held," it just recovered.
Turrets rumbled, but... I won't even put a tangerine on them in this fight.
Should I use a grenade? The two remaining ones? With shields and armor, even that might not be enough. I still have my trump cards in the form of turrets in the side rooms, but the enemy already knows where I am and will expect fire from them. They'll probably use grenades again now; besides, they can cover each other with shields, and sweep the rooms with grenades and shotguns.
A rustle made me turn around, ruining the tactical plans I'd been making, and I narrowly dodged the sawaxe in the dwarf's hands. Not quite dodged, actually; my shield was halfway down.
And then a second dwarf emerged from a narrow vent hole in the wall.
In games, it's always MCs climbing through vents. For some reason, almost no one thinks that enemies can do it too.
The rifle in the second dwarf's hands rang out, knocking down the rest of my shield, and I parried the sawaxe with my shovel.
- Sir, your second is violating the gentlemanly rules of dueling! - I said.
- What? - the dwarf with the shotgun asked perplexedly, even pausing its reloading, and immediately got in the face with his friend, whom I kicked in his direction.
- How the cultural level has fallen - I noted judgmentally, shooting the axeman with my pistol. His head exploded... hmmm, no brains visible. - No intellectual one either.
Another dwarf came out of the vent, this time with a knife at his height. The turret installed in the room finally came to life; not sure why it took so long, will need to run diagnostics if I survive. Either way, coming in with a knife to a gunfight isn't too sensible... A shovel is another matter.
The barricade in the doorway shuddered under the gunfire outside. I don't like this situation...
I pick up the dwarf's shotgun, and start digitally building another turret. My shield rebooting, but I'm not injured; however, a couple enemies behind the wall remain a problem. I even missed an opportunity to use a grenade.
A glance at the camera image, a glance at the barricade - covered in cracks, won't last long - and the digital construction starts up again. Not another barricade, but close.
A shield of wood, metal, and ceramic appears in my hand, a slightly modified version of the one I used in the skirmish with the Eridian guardian. It would only withstand a couple or three shots, really, but it should be enough for me.
My energy shield rebooted; another shot from outside blew a hole in the barricade, and I immediately slammed my shield into the barricade, shattering it and smashing it into the shield.
And at the same time - turning the enemy a little to the side, and opening his side for the turrets.
The bluish shroud of the shield flickered and disappeared under the twin volleys; the armor didn't last long either. No, the Dahl fighter tried to retreat and get out of the limited firing zone, but I caught him in the shoulder with the edge of my shovel. A second and he was down with a bleeding hole in his side; the ECHO showed that his health bar was empty.
The second man of Dahl, standing nearby, obviously realized it too, because he threw another grenade, aiming over my head.
He shouldn't have done that.
Before the grenade could detonate - I couldn't hear the engines humming, so it wasn't homing - it met the shovel, sending it flying back.
An explosion, and I rushed forward. The grenade returned to its owner didn't kill him, but it knocked his shield down and stunned him, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass. The enemy still had time to fire his shotgun, but my shield held; sopromat rules. There was no time or need to change weapons; I just slammed my weight into the shield, knocking the enemy into the wall, and began to strike with my shovel. To the arm, to the head... Kick to the legs, again with the blade....
In the battle between the Dahl armor and the Vladoff shovel, the shovel won.
From somewhere above came the rumble of gunfire and explosions. Roland wasn't wasting any time either, apparently. I grinned, and after making sure the second enemy was dead, I unhooked the shield from his arm. It'll come in handy.
I didn't have time to look around for other goodies - more enemies might show up at any moment, and I couldn't even hear them over the noise - so I just retreated back to my position. We'll collect the trophies later.
- Do you need support? - just in case, I asked on the line dedicated to Roland. - And by the way, Angel, do you have anything to report?
- Not necessary, I'm almost done - my partner said.
- He was almost done - Angel confirmed.
That wasn't an exaggeration. I spent some more time and effort on the new guests from the ventilation - this time, unexpectedly, a few skags, and unexpectedly, varkids - and then...
- The second floor has been cleared - Roland reported.
Actually, the operation didn't end there. First we combed the building for hiding people - we found a couple of bandits and some civilians, hostages and servants - and then we waited for the absent bandits to return to the base, who also had to be eliminated.
All told... A dozen dead in the bedrooms (plus the two next to them), thirteen at my place, twelve at Roland's on the second floor, a dozen more returnees....
- I expected it to be harder - Roland voiced my thoughts. I shrugged.
- Well, four hands can do a lot of work.
Yes, it was a trap - there were two of us.
All kidding aside, even though it was relatively easy, it was only because of Roland and Angel's information. I extended my hand to the ex-Atlas man.
- We did a good job. I hope we can continue working together in the future.
He nodded and shook my hand.
