Lodestone TLR-99

The derelict

They were about 20 miles away from the settlement by now; the old wrecked tower was still visible at this distance, but so too were the Twin Cities on the distant horizon. Unavoidable. Kath had seen the tactical maps hundreds of times, and she'd known just how vast the salt-flat was, but it still bothered her more than it ought to have. There was never any place to hide out here, save for underground, and that was the only reason the drone had spotted her the other day. "Subcon, this is Ego 1. I think this is the place, but I'm not seeing the vessel, over," she said, keying up the recycled CB radio.

"Give bearing, over?" Damn it, she still can't see what I see.

"Point Kilo 12, bearing two two one, over."

There was a brief pause. Mehr was probably finding the spot on an old paper map, not having access to the real-time satellite feeds like she used to. "Ego 1, hold position and check bearing four three, over."

Kath pulled a ballet-like pivot on Lodestone's heel, through the mechakinetic harness. Before her, the salts gave way by a gust of wind along the flats and finally revealed the rusted cargo freighter they were looking for, only half a click away. She wondered how she missed it before, but she was still the only pair of eyes out here until Mehr could figure out how to replace her virtual cockpit. Poor girl's trying so damn hard back there. She must feel so useless, not being able to "be" here. "Subcon, objective spotted, over." Ought to reward her extra-well tonight.

A salvage operation was not something Lodestone was normally used for; this was usually the job of fleets of lifter trucks, in the immediate aftermath of Lodestone's actual job. Kath and Mehr were usually the ones causing the wreckage, not looting it. But this was a favor for the Stork. The bunker needed more materials. Whether those materials were intact when they came home was yet to be determined.

Despite the rust and corrosion from the heavy salt air, the crashed freighter was very much closed. It was hard to believe nobody had gotten into it before, given its proximity. But the settlers understandably didn't like being out on the surface, with no place to hide from the attack drones. North or South didn't matter, both armies could call down hellfire as soon as one of those peeping eyes saw a stray pixel on the horizon. Which was exactly why Chief Moll had bucked out for his favorite mercenaries for this job - they'd stand a chance of making it out alive, if caught.

"Subcon, is Stork on the line? Over."

"Ego 1, stand by." A pause. "Go ahead, Ego 1."

"Looks like this is the wreck of the Magnús Ver Magnússon," Kath reported. "Doesn't seem like anybody's cracked the hatch yet but I don't know where to start. ...Over."

The next voice over the line had a distinct Northern twang to it, supplemented by a husky, halfway-in-between timbre, like a heavy-smoking lounge singer. "Stork here," they said. "The Magnús, going by my records, was a Hymir-class cargo vessel, served for fifty years. Not sure why she went down, but the rear hatch is probably your best bet, over."

"What should I be doing here? Punch it?" She very much wanted to, but Moll had warned them not to hit the ship too hard, lest its contents not survive the attempt.

"If you've got some kind of breaching tool, I recommend targeting hinges or locking mechanisms. The door itself is likely too thick to put a dent on."

Kath reached out one of Lodestone's massive arms and aligned the pilebunker against the vault-like lower hinge of its cargo door. With the screech of metal against metal, the hinge was blown free. She carefully sidestepped towards the one on the other side, and shanked that one off, too. The door was not swinging open on its own; it was probably still held in place by a heavy latch pin or five. She flattened Lodestone's fist into an open palm and smacked the ship's hull, with a resounding gong-like noise. The massive cargo door slipped from its mount and fell to the ground.

"We're in."

"Describe the contents?" It was Mehr again.

Lodestone stepped around the door and peered inside. This was the first time anything in this ship had seen daylight in probably several years. ...if there had been anything inside it to begin with. "Air," Kath said.

"Say again, over?"

"Bone-dry nothing. The Magnús wasn't loaded when she went down." Kath had said it, but she wasn't really certain of it. There didn't look like there were any signs of prior entry. "...I don't know. None of this looks right. Stork, where do I find a...ship's manifest, or something like that?"

"Probably in the computer system," Stork replied. "Hard to say if she's even operating enough to do that for now, though. I'll need to come visit her in person. C'mon back, Ego 1."