"Is the third module primed?"
"No, sir!" The tech she'd shouted down to had jumped in fright for a moment, not expecting the sitesman's replacement to call upon her. But her decorum slid back into place once she locked eyes with her. "Those assigned to the NDS's operation are still calibrating the settings to optimize manual detonation."
"Try to hurry them along. We don't need everything perfect; diminishing returns will pounce upon their efforts before long." She turned to her officer. "Were He-6 still here, he'd compose some speech about investing one's utmost efforts into speeding the process along, or powering through intense discomfort for humanity's betterment. What do you think?"
"About what?"
"Don't play coy, Aa-7. You know what."
He coughed and lowered his screen. At the same time, he canceled at least half of his communications. "Well, if you don't mind the unprofessional language, sir, we're cutting things damn close, both with testing the steel of our servicemen and allowing the Aud to close the distance."
At her nod, he continued. "The capability of the Titan's crews to resist hopelessness or despair in the face of such overwhelming odds is already tested. The sitesman's decision to allow the Aud to close the distance keeping them from overtaking the walls may have grave consequences. You and Directory Control not disputing this doesn't automatically instill renewed assurance."
"I know what worries you about the aspects of this confrontation that worry them," she tilted her head at the assorted servicemen throughout the lower platforms of the command compartment, "and they aren't unfounded."
"I wouldn't have expressed them had I thought otherwise."
"Good. I like that about you. But there's no need for concern unless our gambit doesn't go to plan."
"And that gambit is?"
She smiled. "You needn't hold your curiosity back for long, from the looks of things." She'd received a confirmation notice through her communicator from the tech seconds before.
As much as she wanted to apply familiar and comforting discipline to herself to rein in He-6's wilder aspects of command and leadership, right now she couldn't deny her heart was pumping itself into a frenzy. Not out of panic or trepidation, but sheer excitement. She sighed and hid her face in her hands. To think she could be a thrill-seeker, no different from him.
"Sir?"
"Focus on your duties, Aa-7!"
"Yes, sir." An audible gulp. "Sorry, sir."
It wasn't all bad. She sighed again. Though a technicality, she was one of his duties; not that she'd affirm that. The tech sent another notice, and she met it halfway before the beep could irritate her when it struck. She reached for the vocoder protruding from the sitesman's console.
"Service crews of the Jackal. Please accept my thanks for remaining patient while critical infrastructure and systems became optimized for comprehensive NDS utilization. For those with concerns on the Titan's immediate performance, I invite you to spectate the initial countermeasures the Titan will deploy."
Based on the metrics she watched, a good chunk of the servicemen took her up on that offer. For the third time, she sighed and marked down the positions they held as needing potential replacement.
Those who couldn't resist finding some way to assure themselves, or even needed one other than a stalwart belief in their assigned officers and sitesmen shouldn't hold such critical roles in the war effort.
She had nothing against those individuals; she, and by extension, He-6 and the One-Light Directory couldn't afford to leave such influenceable servicemen as they were. In a Titan, there could be no second-guessing or hesitation. Not an iota of it.
"NDS crews, the third module will see use in the opening strikes. After launching the capsules, a select few of you that your superiors have already informed will switch your assignments to monitoring and carrying out the manual detonation of these capsules."
This broadcast was smaller, and only a few sections throughout the Jackal would hear it. She checked her screen. "The beginning salvo will detonate five meters above the Aud. The targeting programs have accounted for wind shear this time, but to expedite the firing process, won't for the rest of the Jackal's operation during this battle."
Outside, the Jackal bristled. The tail of the Titan, also in anatomic accuracy with the body of a feline, swished and swayed, its external plates bulging along every corner as tracks carried large and bulky cylindrical shapes beneath.
The tip of the tail shuddered, danced like a snake, then retracted, nine curved plates folding in around the edges to reveal a spinning barrel, lit with lighting apparatuses to create an outline. It curved around the Titan's side, and elongated enough to reach over the edge without compromising its stability and aim.
The barrel spun a little faster but otherwise maintained its current calibrated settings while the targeting programs and autonomous intelligences guiding it marked off different sections for the launch of a capsule.
The techs, in turn, guided them, while the engineers monitored the hardware, ensuring the prehensility wasn't abused to its extreme to achieve near-impossible shots. The initial round of launches was withheld twenty seconds longer to smooth out any remaining glaring wrinkles.
"Fire." Much like her composed tone, the actions He-6's aide sent into motion were lacking in the overt or the magnificent. The launches looked mundane, no different from the cylinder launchers already peppering the climbing Aud with explosions, flashes, and flammable liquids.
The thing that mattered was where their ballistic paths originated from: the tail launcher spun faster per each capsule that escaped it, firing faster and faster until it carpeted the entire length of the southern stretch the Titan was responsible for.
A derivative of the Curtain Protocol was appropriate here, made easier that the tail launcher only needed to operate along a line. Each capsule had identical casings to the cylinders already in use, ensuring none of the more aware Aud would find anything remiss unless they caught sight of the tail launcher becoming involved. Not much the service crews could do there.
Captured by the multitude of recording equipment distributed along the Jackal's exterior, the more jumpy servicemen watched with bated breath as the capsules finalized their descent one by one, and in a staggered stretch, detonated.