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Hello fellow Supreme Commander Fans! This will be the thirteenth installment in my ongoing series and as usual, I encourage everyone to read the previous books before jumping into this one (or else you will really be lost). This book starts roughly seven months after the events of the last book. Here are the links:

Book 1:

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Book 2:

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Book 3:

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Book 4:

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Book 5:

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Book 6:

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Book 7:

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Book 8:

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Book 9:

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Book 10:

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Book 11:

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Book 12:

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Chapter 1
Awakening

A steady wave of sensations filled Melissa as she slowly drifted awake. She instinctively stretched her limbs like a cat, only to feel that she did not have the liberty to move as she wished. An arm was draped on top of her, very close to her neck, and while her military training would have immediately jerked her wide awake, she instead caressed the limb, feeling the warmth of the embrace.

“Good morning,” came the gentle yet distinctive Cybran voice in Melissa’s ear even as she opened her eyes. She smiled as she half turned her head towards Foil: “Have you been watching me the whole time?”

“For the past hour, at least,” answered the Cybran while caressing her cheek with the back of a finger: “You make the cutest little snore when you’re asleep; like a rumbling engine.”

“I do not snore,” shot back Melissa while playfully slapping the arm that was holding her. Anyone else from the UEF would have probably been upset at being compared to an engine like that, but Melissa had grown used to it and had even grown fond of the small attentions. Besides, what else could Foil compare her to? The happy childhood memories of most Cybrans usually revolved around machines or mechanical toys instead of the typical family pet.

For a moment, it seemed as though Foil would come up with a playful retort of his own, but then he had to cover his mouth as he yawned. Melissa raised an eyebrow before grinning back at him: “Looks like someone didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“Can you really blame me?” answered the Cybran while planting a delicate kiss on her shoulder: “I think that they had something else in mind when they invented the expression ‘rest and relaxation’.”

“Is that so?” asked Melissa as she turned around in the bed to face Foil. She then deliberately rubbed her chin, making a show as though she was giving the issue some serious thought.

“Not that I’m complaining,” added Foil immediately with a chuckle. His eyes drifted down for half a second before looking back at her mischievously: “But it does give me a whole new appreciation of a UEF pilot’s… stamina.”

“Well, you’ve been keeping up with me, haven’t you?” answered Melissa while kissing him back passionately. For a moment, Foil was bringing her closer, but Melissa suddenly broke away from the embrace with wide frantic eyes: “Oh damn! What time is it?”

“Seven in the morning,” answered Foil in confusion. Melissa immediately threw the blankets away and jumped out of the bed: “I have to go!”

The UEF pilot then stormed inside the bathroom and started the shower. Under other circumstances, she would have taken the time to appreciate once again that Cybrans had changed their strict quarter policies, but right now, she just did not have the time. She kept speaking to Foil even as she stepped into the cold shower, the sensation jerking her fully awake: “A tech is coming in from Earth to run some maintenance on Zero. I want to be there when he begins.”

“I don’t suppose that I could persuade you to stay?” asked Foil even as Melissa finished washing herself. She stepped out of the shower only to see Foil leaning against the bathroom’s doorway: “We only get those shore leaves once every month after all.”

Guilt momentarily tugged at Melissa’s heart as she looked into her lover’s eyes. On one hand, he was right; they had precious little private time together. On the other, she remembered the last time that she had left Zero, her prototype ACU, alone and she did not want something similar to happen again. She still had not told anyone the full story behind what had happened, thinking that the Alliance would take Zero away from her if she did.

Foil, while not understanding, apparently recognized the dilemma for what it was and nodded back: “Fine, you go take care of your baby.”

Melissa rushed forward and planted a quick kiss against Foil’s cheek before rushing to get dressed. The Cybran’s eyes followed her movements longingly even as a mischievous smile appeared on his face: “But you wave off the right to be jealous when I get a hold of my own prototype.”

-----

Melissa, her hair still wet from the shower, walked at a quick pace out of her quarters and stepped on the first underground transport that would carry her towards the hangar. The Alliance outpost was small, supporting roughly twenty pilots and associated support personnel, half of which were on deep scouting missions at all times. It was a joint operation, one that included mostly UEF and Cybran personnel. Still, it was a home for the precious few times that they could come here to relax.

The underground transport stopped briefly at another bloc of living quarters and Melissa’s eyes widened in pleasure as another familiar face stepped inside: “Hey Nial!”

The well muscled Cybrans, still dressed in civilian clothes, smiled back even as she stepped inside. She did not say anything at first, which seemed somewhat odd, but then the Red Skull pilot lightly jabbed Melissa in the ribs with her elbow.

“What?” asked Melissa in confusion, only to find Nial nodding back towards the apartment complex where she had left Foil. The Cybran then winked and twisted her hands suggestively, giving her own, very crude interpretation of what she thought Melissa and Foil had been doing last night. Melissa tried to ignore Nial’s teasing at first, but that only prompted the Red Skull pilot to become more explicit in her gestures while faking expressions with her face.

Melissa’s face flushed to a bright red until she finally slapped Nial’s intermingled hands away: “Quit it!”

Nial laughed back, thoroughly enjoying herself. Melissa cleared her voice and tried to maintain what was left of her dignity by changing the subject: “So, how did your night with Sergei go?”

“Oh, fine,” answered the Cybran with a casual shrug: “He escorted me back to my room like a perfect gentlemen.”

Judging by her voice, it seemed as though Nial had been less than thrilled and Melissa spoke barely above a whisper: “But?”

“He was nice,” said Nial immediately while raising both hands as though it was not Sergei’s fault: “But I connect better with Cybren men. No offense intended.”

Melissa was not upset by the observation. Love stories were hard enough, never mind when it was between people from different factions. Her story with Foil was the exception and not the rule. Even so, it was Melissa who had suggested that Sergei could perhaps be an interesting party for Nial and she saw it as her duty to smooth out any cross cultural differences: “You know; it’s not a bad sign if he took his time on a first date. Sometimes, men really want to know someone better before…”

Melissa stopped speaking when Nial’s eyes suddenly widened. The Cybran placed a hand against her chest even as Melissa leaned forward with concern: “What is it?”

“I think I left my bra in his dirt runner,” admitted Nial with a shrug. The sudden proclamation caught Melissa completely unprepared and she took a step away before stomping her foot down in annoyance: “Nial!”

The Cybran merely lifted a finger in the air, her eyes darting left and right as though she was remembering something even as the transport slowed down: “No, wait! It must have been in the restaurant.”

The transport stopped at the hangar’s entrance and Melissa quickly stepped out, partly amused and outraged that the Cybran had managed yet again to catch her unprepared: “That’s too much information!”

“There’s no such thing!” shot the Cybran back with a wink even as the transport’s doors closed shut. Melissa was left shaking her head even as Nial kept riding the transport away. Again, the Red Skull pilot had had the last word and there would be no way for Melissa to find out whether she had been telling the truth or merely making fun of her. Not that it really mattered anyway. Melissa finally just shook her head and went on her way.

It took her another ten minutes to clear the standard security checkups and then another five to gain access into the specialized hangar. While the new Mark Twos had gone into mass production for every faction, the fact remained that only a third of the Alliance’s forces had been replaced. Hopefully such security precautions would keep this new technology away from their enemies a while longer… if they still had enemies to fight.

Melissa and the others had been searching through every corner of their sector of the galaxy during the past seven months for any signs of the Order or the Seraphim. They had found the occasional abandoned base here and there, but all of them had been relics from the Infinite War. Still, it did not mean that their mission here was a waste. The situation back on the core worlds was bad with the Alliance constantly struggling to hold together. Melissa did not like to think about that and only hoped that their efforts here would prove that different factions could work together, even without an enemy.

The door in front of Melissa opened suddenly, drawing her out of her reveries and forcing her back into the reality of things. The small but heavily shielded hangar only had six spots available for ACUs; three for Cybrans and the same number for the UEF. Four brand new units had just been delivered the day before, two Cybran models for Nial and Foil and two UEF models for pilots who were still away on a mission. The remaining two spots were for Tie and Melissa’s prototypes.

Melissa had to walk past Tie’s ACU to get to her own and she was hardly surprised to find the Chimera still busy in his cockpit. Some said that Tie had earned the privilege of piloting one before the others because of his superior piloting skills. Others said that Tie had simply gotten close to Professor Yoix, the lead project designer behind the secret research program. The only thing that Melissa knew for sure was that the prototype kept Tie busy which was good for everyone.

Still, Melissa knew more about the prototypes than anyone else and the stopped by the Cybran ACU’s cockpit on her way over: “Hey Tie, still here?”

“I never left,” confirmed the Chimera without even turning towards Melissa: “I’ve been using my ACU to stockpile all sorts of intelligence data.”

Melissa leaned inside the cockpit slightly and gasped when she looked around. Every screen was alive with data ranging from troop deployments to personnel manifest and even political estimates. For a moment, the flash of information made the cockpit look alive, almost like what Zero had occasionally done on its own when she had first piloted it. Melissa gulped uneasily before asking her next question: “What for?”

“Hopefully I’ll be able to use the information to run simulations on a galactic scale,” said Tie, again without turning towards her. Melissa nodded absently. Yes, maybe the prototype could do that. Zero had proven on more than one occasion that it could think its way out of most situations: “Aren’t you afraid to fill its databanks with useless information?”

“Oh please,” exclaimed Tie with a shrug: “I have installed filters to weed out the useless data and even if I didn’t, it would take me decades to fill its memory banks.”

“Right,” said Melissa with a nod. She should have known better than to question Tie in such a manner. Chimeras were nothing if not thorough. Even so, there was still one more detail that she needed to know: “So did it...”

“Exhibit ‘quirky behavior’?” asked Tie, cutting Melissa off while sarcastically mimicking the tone of her voice. The Chimera finally turned towards Melissa, his unblinking eyes staring straight through her. Melissa repressed an involuntary wince, not liking whenever she fell under Tie’s full scrutiny. The Chimera maintained the glare for a few seconds before adding: “You have been asking me different variants of the same question each time that we’ve been on shore leave.”

“Yes, I noticed the pattern,” added Tie suspiciously even as he tilted his head to the side: “So how about telling me what you are hiding instead?”

You’re piloting a machine that could very well be sentient and even have a will of its own, thought Melissa instantly. Still, she could not say so. As far as she knew, only Zero had exhibited such a behavior in the past and the machine had been thoroughly loyal to her. Revealing what she knew would only doom it to be disassembled for study. Zero deserved better than that.

Meanwhile, Melissa still had to find a believable enough excuse to escape those unblinking eyes when a UEF technician suddenly walked next to her: “Commander Desjar?”

“Yes, Steven?” answered Melissa, glad for the interruption. The Technician saluted briefly: “I just thought that you’d like to know that the mister Minio, the specialized tech from Earth, is at your ACU.”

“Right,” said Melissa, suddenly glad that the perfect excuse had just presented itself: “I’ll go to him immediately. I’ve made him wait long enough.”

“Actually, he just started,” answered the technician with a shrug. The statement caused Melissa’s eyes to widen in alarm and she sprinted away towards her ACU. Tie would undoubtedly question her again later, but right now, she had other more pressing concerns.

Melissa looked back towards the Cybran prototype while wondering what kind of excuse that she could come up with to placate the Chimera later when something suddenly caught her eye. It only lasted for a second, but Melissa could have sworn that she saw one of the lights under the cockpit flicker. It was probably just a power fluctuation, but Melissa had learned long ago not to take anything for granted when it came to Zero or any other prototype. Still, there was no more time to think about that as she ran even faster towards her ACU.

Melissa reached her cockpit and lifted a hand towards the technician who was working inside: “Stop!”

The command startled the technician who had been about to plug a data module: “Oh, Commander Desjar.”

“I left specific instructions to wait for me,” said Melissa harshly, upset that her orders had been ignored. The man looked down at the data module that he was holding and winced: “My apologies, but I need to upgrade the other two models after I finish with yours and it’s a long process. If it’s any consolation, however, then the only thing you missed is when I unscrewed the maintenance panel.”

Melissa’s gaze followed the technician’s towards the circuit board. In it were the DNA encoded processors; Zero’s brain. The technician shrugged as he added: “They’re just standard security updates and patches, nothing too serious.”

“I’d still like to go over the patch notes before we do anything,” said Melissa with a wince. She could tell from the man’s expression that he did not like the prospect. Explaining how an ACU’s main processors worked to a pilot would probably feel like explaining nuclear physics to an ant, but still, Melissa would not let just anyone fiddle with Zero.

The technician sighed one more time before finally nodding: “Fine, let me just plug in the data module and start the process. Then I’ll carry you through the…”

“Wait!” said Melissa while stretching her hand. In that brief instant, the camera that was part of the main console suddenly tore itself away from its normal angle and zoomed in on the technician with pinpoint accuracy. The computer screens near the technician burst to life with near blinding light before overloading, sending arcs of electricity coursing straight into the technician’s outstretched hand. The detonation threw Melissa’s on her back just as a blood chilling scream erupted from her cockpit.

The scream only lasted three seconds before the power surge died down. When it did, the horribly burned corpse of the technician fell straight at Melissa’s feet.

Chapter 2
The Search for Answers

The medic’s hands moved carefully over Melissa’s open palm, applying a lotion that eased off the burning sensation. The sight of the UEF technician being electrocuted to death right in front of Melissa had been so vivid that she had failed to register her own injury. Fortunately for her, it was only a second degree burn, but one ugly fact remained; Zero had just killed someone.

Why had the prototype done it? Had it somehow interpreted Melissa’s command to ‘wait’ as an order that was critical to follow? The possibilities were so mind boggling that Melissa did not even flinch as the medic bandaged her hand. She only snapped back to reality when Foil came running into the security checkpoint and then straight towards her: “I just heard. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” answered the UEF pilot numbly. Foil looked at the bandaged hand and waited for the medic to finish his job before wrapping Melissa in a tight hug. She returned the hug instantly, ignoring the glares from a pair of UEF guards. Unions between members of different factions were still frowned upon by some, but Melissa did not care. By now most if not everyone in the base knew and she made no attempts to hide it. Some would simply never understand.

The sound of footsteps reached them just then and Melissa broke away from the hug just as the chief engineer stepped into the room: “What happened?”

“From what we can tell, the power relays overloaded and the failsafe failed to activate in time,” answered the chief engineer while shaking his head. His face was horribly pale as he added: “I’m not a doctor, but the discharge was probably enough to kill mister Minio instantly.”

“How is that possible?” asked Melissa, hoping to draw the engineer away from the memory of the corpse. The man’s eyes grew inward as he contemplated the notion before he finally shook his head: “It shouldn’t be. The failsafe would have had to have been deactivated prior to the blast. I just don’t see how it could have been done.”

“Zero was working fine the day before,” said Melissa while turning to Foil who nodded back at her. Both pilots then turned back to the engineer just as Melissa asked: “Could Minio have sabotaged it?”

“I can’t imagine how,” answered the engineer with a shrug: “The controls for the failsafe are under another set of panels and he didn’t have the time to remove them.”

“What do the logs say?” asked Foil, drawing a nod of approval from Melissa. This time, however, the chief engineer stayed silent. For half a second, Melissa wondered whether he was refusing to answer because Foil had been the one to ask the question, but she quickly realized that it was not the case. She took a step forward and raised an eyebrow: “You did check the logs, right?”

“Not exactly,” admitted the chief engineer with a wince. Foil shook his head in disbelief as he caught on as well: “Did you even so much as step in the ACU?”

The chief engineer straightened immediately, his tone growing defensive as he glared back at Foil: “We’re still trying to assess the damage and figure out what happened remotely… for safety reasons.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Foil. Melissa cut him off before he could say any more: “What’s the damage and can it be fixed?”

“One computer screen blew up and damaged the console underneath it,” answered the UEF engineer, apparently glad for the reprieve: “The internal circuitry appears intact and we should be able to fix it with the spare parts that we have.”

The man paused at that moment, realizing suddenly that fixing it would probably be his next order. Melissa could plainly see the fear in his eyes and merely shook her head: “I’ll do it.”

“Mel!” objected Foil, but Melissa placed a hand on his arm to stop him. She then squeezed gently, signaling him to be silent for the moment: “I’m trained to perform standard maintenance. Don’t worry; I’ll be fine.”

Melissa turned back to the chief engineer: “Just get the spare parts ready and keep researching what went wrong. I’ll transfer the logs to you as soon as my ACU is fixed.”

“Yes, Commander,” answered the engineer, all too happy for the reprieve. Melissa then led Foil outside the security checkpoint and waited until the door had closed behind them before turning back to him. As expected, the Cybran was not exactly comfortable with her decision: “What if the same thing happens to you?”

“Don’t worry, Zero won’t let anything happen to me,” said Melissa reassuringly, drawing a skeptic glance from Foil. Although she did not know what had happened, she still believed that the prototype would not deliberately harm her. More to the point, she had to know why it had killed the technician.

It had been months since Zero had shown any sign of autonomous functions and this was not how she had imagined its ‘reawakening’. Still, as far as she knew, Zero had always strived to obey its primary directives and follow her commands. Granted, it had made some bad calls in the past, but there had always been a rational behind it. Melissa had not always managed to see it in time, but she knew better than to think that the prototype had merely acted on a whim. There had to have been a reason for the murder, something important, and until Melissa found out then they could all be in terrible danger.

Melissa kissed Foil gently before stepping back and nodding at him: “Trust me.”

Foil sighed before nodding back in turn. The two of them parted at that moment, Foil’s lack of clearance still preventing him from accessing the restricted hangar. The corridor stood empty a minute longer before Tie suddenly stepped out of the shadow, spying equipment in hand.

The Chimera had heard everything and his unblinking eyes stared at the path that Melissa had taken only a moment before. He then leaned towards a maintenance shaft, opened the grate and crawled inside.

-----

Back on Earth, General Desjar looked around the half empty command center and frowned. Things had changed a lot in the past few months, starting with the election. President Hall had served his two terms, but the Kidimer Incident, followed closely by the fiasco surrounding the development of the new ACU prototypes, had heavily compromised the chances of his successor. The Earth First movement had taken the opportunity to merge with the Humans Colonization party, gaining the majority needed to elect one of their own into office. From that day onward, everything had changed.

The new President had immediately signed the Core Defensive Act, one that had created a military organization much like the old UEF with a mission to defend their worlds while keeping their military and research programs separate from the other factions of the Alliance. Resources had then been reassigned, slowly at first, until the majority of the military now belonged to the new organization.

A few months ago, Desjar had held the major part of the UEF’s military under his command with the rest of the Alliance ready to follow his lead. Now, his entire department had been relegated to merely overseeing joint operations with the Illuminate and the Cybran Nation for the benefit of assuring the peace. The other two factions had reacted pretty much the same way, reassigning their resources to other programs. Desjar was still in regular contact with Doctor Brackman and Crusader Rhiza, but nothing was really as it used to be.

The sound of the command center’s door opening suddenly caught Desjar’s attention and he turned towards it reflexively. In the doorway stood his current problem; Senator Jerome Corby. The man turned towards Desjar and flashed his award winning smile, one that hid a wolf’s cunning and matching determination. Desjar refrained from wincing as Corby walked up to him and extended a hand: “General Desjar, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Senator Corby,” greeted Desjar back while taking a hold of the hand. The two of them exchanged a firm shake before Desjar nodded to his right: “If you’ll just follow me into my office.”

Desjar led the way and the Senator waited until the door had closed behind them before speaking again: “I have to say, I was surprised when you asked to see me.”

“Normally I wouldn’t,” admitted Desjar while straightening his shoulder. He took the most imposing posture that he could, one earned through years of conflict and inspiring others: “Your position is not directly linked to the military, but I have difficulty reaching the President of late and my sources tell me that you have his ear. Reaching him might mean working through you.”

“That’s rather… direct of you,” said the Senator, caught unprepared by Desjar’s approach. The UEF General nodded while keeping the pressure on: “Working with Cybrans and Illuminates has that effect on most people; you get what you want faster by being honest and straight to the point in both cases. This isn’t the time for political games.”

“Fair enough,” said Corby, dropping the public façade that he usually held while putting his hands on his hips: “I take it that you have demands then? Ask away.”

This time, it was Desjar’s turn to be destabilized. Most politicians were usually unsettled for far longer than that by such an approach, but the Senator had already put it behind him, improvising on the spot. This hinted at a keen mind, one that was used to adapt to unexpected challenges. Under other circumstances, Desjar would have admired such a trait in a civilian, but not when it was likely to turn against him: “We’re being too aggressive with our colonization efforts. The President must be convinced to put a stop to it.”

Desjar pressed a button on his desk as he spoke, bringing up the image of a galactic map on the far wall: “In the past three months, the UEF has claimed three times as many worlds as the Cybran Nation and the Illuminate combined. These worlds were both amongst those lost during the Seraphim War and those which had previously been unclaimed.”

“We have secured them,” corrected Corby without missing a beat: “Part of tracking down what remains of the Order and the Seraphim means securing any place that they could hide. I thought a man in your position would appreciate such a thing.”

“Not if holding them would be more strategically relevant for our allies,” countered Desjar sternly. He pressed another button then, zooming in on a series of six worlds which were on the borders of the Cybran Nation and of the Illuminate: “Some of those planets have no strategic value to us; the only possible exception being their potential use as staging grounds if the Infinite War started again.”

“Yes, I am aware of them,” said the Senator while nodding. Indeed, how could he not? Multiple protests had been made by their allies about the UEF claiming these worlds which were far too close to their borders. Corby frowned in what appeared to be genuine concern for a moment before looking back towards Desjar: “We tried to encourage the Cybran Nation and the Illuminate to expand at the same rate as us, but they would not. It was a heavy responsibility, but we remained steady on our course to secure these borders before securing other planets in uncharted space.”

Desjar pressed a button, switching the galactic view so that each sector would be brighter depending on the level of military activity. The UEF’s territory showed a pale blue everywhere while the Cybran Nation and the Illuminate were colored in bright red and green along their borders: “They did not colonize those worlds because they would be stretched too thin if they did, much like we are now.”

“Do not worry, General, we have learned from our mistakes,” assured the Senator while folding his hands behind him. He tilted his head slightly as he spoke: “I think I understand your concerns now and if it’s any consolation, I’ll make sure that HQ keeps you more properly updated on their operations.”

Desjar twisted his tongue in his mouth several times even as the Senator elaborated: “Every military base is equipped with a top of the line sensor grid and the colonies operate under a protocol similar to the one in the Seraphim War. If our enemies attack then we will be ready to pull back while inflicting significant damage to the attackers. We also have mass evacuation and regroup plans if needed.”

“All the while, we are also heightening tensions amongst our allies,” snapped Desjar back in frustration while motioning towards the galactic map.

“Tensions which were already there, General,” answered the politician back, his tone just as sharp. The two men glared at each other before Corby elaborated: “Cybran hacking attempts have quadrupled since the President was elected and the Illuminate has isolated itself even further. We tried to negotiate with both parties, but so far we have failed.”

Unsurprisingly, thought Desjar to himself. The Cybrans were a curious and sometimes even paranoid people. The more resources that the UEF pulled out of the Alliance, the more curious the Cybrans became as to where they were being reassigned. The problem with the Illuminate was another branch entirely, focusing on cultural differences that could no longer be ignored. Desjar searched long and hard for a way to make Corby understand this, but it had taken him nearly half a lifetime of fighting, working and living alongside their previous enemies to grasp it himself.

Meanwhile, Corby only nodded back sadly: “Believe it or not, I am all for preserving the peace as much as you are, General. I have no interest in a war and if I could live the next fifty years without a bullet being shot then I would be absolutely thrilled.”

The Senator sighed as he shook his head: “But part of that means looking out for our best interests on occasion too and sometimes, it means being ready in case that someone else does something stupid.”

“So you won’t change your mind,” said Desjar flatly, stating a fact instead of asking a question. The Senator shook his head without flinching: “I’m afraid that you have not compelled me to do so. However, you have convinced me that our new military branch might not have worked as closely with you as it should have. I could speak to the president about that if that would alleviate some of your concerns.”

“I suppose that’s better than nothing,” admitted Desjar grudgingly. It was nowhere near what he had wanted, but Corby seemed too well versed into political dealings to be forced into anything against his will. Better to walk away with that small concession than nothing at all. The Senator nodded again: “Is there anything else that you wanted to discuss?”

Desjar shook his head and Corby bowed slightly, his eyes filled with sincerity as he said: “Then I wish you a good day, General.”

The Senator left then while Desjar stayed alone in his office. Part of Desjar seriously wanted to hate Corby for what he represented, but another had to admit that the politician had scored some good points. That was probably what made him good at his job and Desjar had no doubt that the Senator could prove charismatic enough to convince a man to walk barefoot into hell. The UEF General finally just snorted while crossing his arms, almost wishing for a good old ACU battle instead this political squabbling: “I hate politics.”

-----

All that could be heard amongst the hum of data relays and the constant droning of power generators was a faint shuffling sound as Tie crawled through the maintenance shaft. Getting here undetected had required him to hack through four different security systems and bypass a standard pressure plate. All of that had taken him four minutes… which was, by Chimera standards, very annoying.

The rather ironic part was that in any other circumstances, Tie’s skills would have proven insufficient for the task. If this had been a purely Cybran node then there would have constantly been Cybrans monitoring such a high profile maintenance shaft. Security programs would have also been adapted if not outright revamped every few days. As far as Tie knew, the stations security protocols had remained the same for the past three months!

The Cybran personnel had noted the flaws, documented them and even figured out how to improve upon them, but they had not done so or told their UEF counterparts how to. They had rather kept the security flaw as a tool and had compensated by manually monitoring key areas. That way, if one of them needed to exploit such a flaw for the right kind of reason then all they needed to do was to turn a blind eye for a few minutes. Tie had such a reason…

The Chimera suddenly stopped near a data hub and plugged his wrist computer in it. It then only took him a moment longer to access the camera feed from the prototype bunker or more specifically, the video and audio signal from the camera that overlooked Melissa’s cockpit. Tie then put on his earphones and waited, his unblinking eyes staring ahead just as Melissa reached her cockpit with spare parts at the ready.

-----

A sense of fear momentarily gripped at Melissa’s heart as she gazed at the cockpit. Technically, replacing the damaged component should be easy with no risk at all. However, a man had just died here doing the exact same thing this very morning. She could still smell the sickening odor of burnt flesh even now.

Melissa took a deep breath to calm herself and then focused on the situation at hand. Her instruments had confirmed that there was no longer any trace of a power surge so it was as safe as it was ever going to be. Besides, Zero would not try to kill her… would it?

For a moment, Melissa’s doubts threaten to shake her resolve and she cursed mentally before forcing herself to take a step forward. She stopped as soon as her foot touched the interior of the cockpit, but nothing happened. Melissa let go of the breath that she had unconsciously been holding before fully stepping into the cockpit and going to work.

ACUs had always been designed with ease of maintenance in mind so that one piece of hardware could easily be swapped with another without having to update the software. That being said, each component was bolted firmly in place so that even a nuclear strike would not shake it loose. Every time that Melissa thought that she had removed the last self locking screw, it was only to find out that she had forgotten two more. It took her half an hour to remove the damaged computer screen and console and by that time, she had developed a whole new appreciation for those who worked on maintenance duty.

Another half hour later, Melissa finished installing the new components and she was rewarded with a fully functional diagnostics screen and console. A confirmation message appeared on the screen a moment later, indicating that everything had been installed correctly. Melissa waited expectantly for something else to appear, but nothing did. She gritted her teeth as she leaned closer to the main console: “Come on, tell me something already.”

Again, nothing happened. Had Melissa gone through all that trouble for nothing? She stepped out of the cockpit briefly, making sure that no other maintenance personnel was around before stomping back in and slapping the new console furiously: “Damn it, Zero! Stop playing dumb with me!”

Melissa then sank down in the pilot’s chair and grumbled under her breath: “You killed a man today so don’t pretend that you can’t bypass the guardian protocols.”

Again, nothing happened; no insightful warning message, unusual beeping or data analysis. Melissa was still on her own. She clutched her head with both hands and grumbled in annoyance: “Damn it. What the hell are you hiding from me?”

Whatever it was, it was clear that Zero would either not tell her or was simply not in a position to do so. This left Melissa with only one clear choice; she would have to figure it out on her own. She therefore started thinking out loud: “Ok, think. The first rule is to obey, and the second to protect the pilot, so those are not it. Third is to learn and adapt which has nothing to do with it.”

So far so good, thought Melissa as she leaned back in her chair: “The fourth is to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing or analyzing the ACU…”

Melissa paused suddenly, letting the command mull over in her mind. Could Zero have mistaken the UEF technician for someone else or worse yet; had it actually identified him as an infiltrator? The fifth and final command was designed to prevent the ACU from taking control, so that was not it. If Minio had been a spy or a saboteur then maybe that would have been cause enough for Zero to kill him.

Thinking that she had just figured it out, Melissa reached for her transmitter and opened a channel: “Get me med lab. I want to take a look at Minio’s body and I’ll need someone there to perform an autopsy as well.”

-----

Back in the maintenance shaft, Tie tilted his head to the side before unplugging his wrist computer. His muscles ached from the cramped space, his eyes stung from the dry air and his ears pounded painfully from the rhythmic vibrations of the power generators, but he had learned what he had wanted to know.

With that in mind, the Chimera crawled out of the maintenance shaft while being careful to reactivate each security system that he had previously disabled. Once outside, he reached for his wrist computer and opened a link back to the security center: “I’m out. Give me a secured link back to Minerva, priority Zeta-Six with the following passwords. Things just went from bad to worse.”

Chapter 3
Initial Phase

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed to slits as he looked back at Melissa. Not only had she asked him to cancel all of his afternoon appointments, but she had also requested that he would be the only one attending. The man crossed his arms as he turned towards the corpse on the table: “I have to say that such a procedure is highly irregular, Commander.”

“So were the circumstances of his death,” countered Melissa while nodding somberly: “What can you tell me?”

“Oliver Minio; age twenty-nine,” answered the Doctor while putting his medical gloves on. He then moved next to the patient and delicately touched one of the more obvious burns: “The subject was exposed to a massive discharge of electricity. I can’t stipulate on the voltage since the prototypes are still classified, but my guess is that it was pretty high.”

The Doctor looked towards the tools that would allow him to open the body, but he shook his head quickly, convinced of his diagnosis: “Death was caused by a combination of deep burns, ventricular fibrillation and complete neural system overload. Quite frankly, he was probably dead before he even hit the floor.”

Melissa had no trouble believing that part. The corpses muscles were drawn tightly all across the body, its fingers twisted as though he was trying to claw at something. The Doctor followed Melissa’s gaze and nodded sadly: “It’s going to be a pain to make the body look presentable for the family funeral.”

The thought of a family reminded Melissa of a remote possibility and she turned an inquisitive look back towards the Doctor: “Have you confirmed his identity?”

“What kind of question is that?” blurted the doctor, apparently taken aback. Melissa looked back at the corpse and nodded: “Can you do a DNA, dental and iris match?”

“Popping blood vessels in the eyes will mess up the latter,” answered the man while shaking his head. He then shrugged before adding: “But I can get you the first two.”

“Good,” said Melissa while putting her hands on her hips expectantly. The Doctor hesitated before his eyes widened in sudden realization: “You want them now?”

Melissa nodded, drawing an exasperated sigh from the doctor who then went to his console and activated the scanner. It was not that she really wanted to ruin his day, but rather that time was of the essence. If Zero had indeed malfunctioned then finding the cause was probably the only way to prevent it from being shipped back to the core worlds for analysis. If it had not… well, Melissa hated to think of what could have alarmed the prototype to kill a man without provocation.

A diagram of the technician’s jaw soon appeared on the screen next to the photography that was part of the file. The Doctor studied it for a moment before nodding back: “Intense muscle contractions in the jaw shattered two teeth, but the dental record is a match.”

The Doctor then stood up and took a skin sample before getting back to another device. The second analysis took much longer since the sample had to first be prepared before being analyzed. Melissa waited with her arms crossed for a good half hour before the Doctor finally turned back to her with results in hand: “And so is the DNA.”

Melissa took a hold of the data pad and bit her lower lip even as the Doctor finished his explanation: “I’m not sure what you were hoping to find, Commander, but this man was mister Minio. There’s no doubt about it.”

“His head,” blurted out Melissa before the Doctor could stand up and call it a day: “Do a deep scan; as high of a resolution as you can get. Look for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Commander -” said the man, the beginning of an objection forming on his lips. Melissa cut him off before he could get the full sentence out: “Just do it.”

For a moment, it seemed as though the Doctor would refuse the request. Melissa knew that she could force him to do it by referring to one of the many rules that dealt with internal security. An ACU pilot could commandeer the service of just about anyone under such a clause. Fortunately, it appeared as though the Doctor had come up with the same conclusion on his own and he finally turned back towards the console: “Scanning in progress.”

Melissa waited anxiously even as the first low resolution images appeared on the screen. She knew that the possibility was a stretch at best and sheer lunacy at worst, but she had to know. The possibility of someone implanting some kind of chip in the technician’s head was there, however. Perhaps Zero had detected the implant and reacted accordingly.

Even so, she was glad now more than ever that she was performing her inquiries in private. If word of this ever got out then she would have a hard time explaining why she was looking for a Cybran-like device in a corpse’s head! The images grew progressively clearer until Melissa could see a representation of the corpse’s brain. Her heart sank as the Doctor spoke in the same monotonous voice: “Deep tissue burns, just as I mentioned previously. No trace of an anomaly or of anything unexpected.”

Melissa’s eyes darted left and right, grasping for any other possibility, but she could think of nothing else. What could Zero have possibly known? Meanwhile, the Doctor folded his arms in front of him: “Since I am not a complete idiot, why don’t you tell me what you were expecting to find?”

A voice suddenly came from behind and startled the two of them. Melissa whirled around only to see Professor Yoix tapping her foot impatiently with Tie standing right behind her: “Yes, Commander Desjar. Why don’t you tell us what you were hoping to find.”

-----

Back in another corner of the galaxy, Captain Riggs, one of the pilots in charge of a UEF exclusive scouting force, checked his instruments one last time before shaking his head in annoyance: “Still no trace of the Seraphim; big surprise.”

The face of his second in command appeared on his screen and nodded back: “Hey Captain, think we’ll ever find anything out there or are we simply doomed to repeating this search over and over again?”

The latter was more likely, but Riggs would not complain. As boring as their task was, it was still far preferable to an all out war. Now that Riggs thought about it, the life expectancy of an ACU pilot had increased a lot in the past few years, enough so that he could actually look forward to an eventual retirement.

Riggs quickly set those thoughts aside for now and looked at his wrist computer. Sure enough, their scouting assignment had finished just in time and he opened a channel back to the seven other pilots: “Everyone form up and take the time to eat. Rex, you and the boys go first.”

“Jeez, you don’t have to punish me that much,” commented his second in command, bringing up a chuckle from the others. Riggs looked around the cockpit of his new ACU and shrugged despite himself. The UEF prototypes had all the technological wonders that a pilot could ask… but they were still stuck eating ration bars. Some things were just meant to stay the same.

Even so, the Captain kept a watchful eye on his sensors. Stories, mostly Infinite War stuff, still circulated of pilots losing their lives because they had been attacked while eating or while literally having their pants down. Riggs doubted that it could happen now, but he would not allow his men to be caught in such a fashion and so he stayed fully alert.

The minutes passed with nothing on sensors just as Riggs had expected, but a headache steadily crept up on him. It started slowly at first, but soon rose to a point which it could no longer be ignored. Thinking that he had probably caught a bad virus, Riggs reached under his seat for the medical kit, but nearly fell unconscious as a wave of dizziness assaulted him.

“That’s not a virus,” croaked Riggs as he reached for his console. He tried to access the environmental controls or to force the cockpit’s emergency hatch open, but red warnings flashed on his screen, denying him access. The Captain’s face twisted in confusion even as the world started spinning, but he suddenly understood as he looked at the console’s onboard camera; it was turned directly towards him, zooming in and out as though it was trying to study his reaction.

“Damn!” blurted out Riggs as he fumbled backwards for his helmet which had an integrated life support system. This was not a virus; it was carbon monoxide poisoning! No sooner had the pilot tried to reach for his helmet that the remaining oxygen was quickly sucked out with a clear and audible hiss. Riggs briefly touched his helmet, his fingers brushing against the visor before his mouth opened in a gasp that could draw no air. He then fell forward in his seat, his safety belt being the only thing that kept him firmly tucked in.

Meanwhile, the prototype’s camera kept studying the pilot, its enhanced sensors recording every second even as convulsions started shaking Riggs’ body. It only took a minute before his heart finally gave out. The prototype waited a few seconds longer before opening a short range channel back to the other ACUs. Each of them had performed the same grim task successfully.

A light suddenly blinked on the console and the face of a UEF analyst appeared a second later: “HQ to Captain Riggs, what is the situation update?”

A few hundred lines of codes flew on the secondary monitor before a perfect digital copy of Riggs face, one computed from hundreds of hours of data logs, appeared on the screen to answer the UEF analyst: “We just discovered possible signs of an abandoned base. We’ll go in deep cover until we can ascertain whether this could lead us to an enemy ACU. Captain Riggs out.”

-----

The trip through the Alliance headquarters and back towards the exit proved time consuming, but that was to be expected. Senator Corby was well placed to understand the needs of added security, especially in these times. It was only at the last checkpoint that he was handed his personal transmitter back and even then, he would need to exit the building before activating it.

No sooner had Corby taken his first step outside that he saw his personal assistant waving urgently at him from the car. Not one to be rushed, the Senator walked at a brisk yet dignified pace and waited until he had stepped inside before speaking: “Hello Isabelle.”

The assistant ignored the greeting and merely pressed a button in order to speak to their chauffeur: “Get us to the closest air pad in a hurry.”

The Senator lifted an eyebrow just as his assistant turned to him with a worried expression: “The President has convened an emergency meeting at the parliament. Everyone is expected to attend.”

“How long ago?” asked Corby, suddenly worried. He was one of the few who were really close to the President, so why had he heard nothing about this until now? What would the vote be about; immigration, colonization or foreign policies? Corby was used to being in control and especially liked being well briefed on an issue before taking a stand. This had a different feeling to it entirely.

The assistant confirmed Corby’s worries by unconsciously twisting a finger into her hair as she said: “Over half an hour ago and there’s a lot of traffic at this time of day.”

“Damn it,” said the Senator while leaning back into his seat. An emergency meeting of this magnitude and he was already late? He folded his hands in front of him as he added: “That will teach me not to get the proper clearance to use my transmitter in a military complex.”

“I have taken the liberty of making arrangements,” said the Isabelle while nodding back towards their chauffeur: “We can have a special transport ready to airlift us to the parliament in five minutes. That will allow us to save the time on the traffic at least.”

“Cancel those arrangements,” spouted Corby in a hurry. This caused the assistant to pause and turn an inquisitive look back on him: “Senator?”

“I can handle being late for a good reason,” answered Corby, his eyes darting left and right as he thought of the possibilities. His lips formed a tight line as he added: “But wasting that tax payer’s money because of it; now that could bite me in the rear when I make my own bid for the presidency in a few years.”

Corby nodded at himself, easily thinking of half a dozen responses that he could use to explain his late arrival. The one that seemed the most politically correct was to praise their military’s enhanced security concerns for his late arrival. The fact that it was absolutely true made it all the more convenient: “Just get us to the parliament while trying to avoid the worst of the traffic.”

Isabelle finally nodded and pressed a button to relay the commands back to their chauffeur. She then took a deep breath, not exactly comfortable with the decision, but satisfied that her employer was. The assistant then set the matter aside and turned to another line of questioning: “With all due respect, Senator, why did you even bother with meeting General Desjar? You are not linked to the military and he will surely retire by the time that you are ready to make your move.”

“General Desjar is a war hero,” answered Corby carefully as he folded both of his hands in front of him: “His word will carry a lot of weight in the years to come, even when he’s retired.”

For a moment, it seemed as though Isabelle would object, but Corby cut her off by raising a hand: “Hall’s unconditional endorsement of his successor nearly cost us the election. If it wasn’t for the Kidimer Incident or the ACU prototypes fiasco then we would still be stuck in the role of the weak opposition. When it’s my turn, I’d rather have Desjar say to the camera that I was a reasonable man.”

Corby then leaned back in his seat, an air of confidence surrounding him as he added: “Besides, while I don’t agree with everything that he represents, some of his suggestions did make sense.”

Also, Corby could only hope that when Desjar retired that he would step out of his role as gracefully as the former President had. That would make things a lot simpler for everybody.

-----

In another part of the city, far away from war, politics and traffic problems, was a well kept medium sized house. In the living room sat William Hall, a pair of glasses sitting on his nose as he casually read a crime novel on his data pad. Everything was different now; no more waking up at the crack of dawn to oversee entire military operations or deal with the voters… not that one was any less of a war than the other.

No, this was something else entirely. All that Hall had to do now was enjoy his remaining years while reading books and fighting off the occasional weeds that would creep on his lawn. It felt strange to be confronted with such a life now. Back in the days of the Infinite War, Hall had never dreamed that he would live this long, let alone reach a happy and well deserved retirement. Maybe tomorrow he would try something different; perhaps a yoga or meditation class that was being given at one of those activity centers.

Hall was still considering the possibility when the doorbell suddenly rang. He was not expecting any guests and for a moment, he considered simply sitting this one out, but truth be told; he was slightly bored. Hall therefore welcomed the distraction and stepped towards the house’s main entrance. He was not surprised to find his bodyguard waiting there, his hand blaster clearly visible.

The former President nodded back at him in appreciation before looking towards the security monitor. Just outside stood a delivery boy with a package in his hands. Although he had not requested it, the house’s automated security systems had already performed a full scan and confirmed that the boy was unarmed. Hall chuckled despite himself before turning back towards his bodyguard: “I think I can handle that one.”

“Yes, sir,” said the bodyguard as he stepped aside. Hall just smiled as he opened the door. The boy did not bother to look at him and merely read out loud what was written on his data pad: “I have a delivery for Mister William Hall?”

“That would be me,” answered Hall, hiding his smile behind a well rehearsed emotional mask. The boy looked up then and his mouth fell open, the gum that he had been chewing almost doing the same in the process: “Mister President?”

“Former, actually,” confirmed Hall with a reassuring nod. He waited a moment to give the boy the time that he needed to recompose himself, but then prodded him along when he failed to do so: “You had something to deliver?”

“Oh yes!” said the boy while brandishing his data pad forward: “I’ll need your thumb print here.”

Hall happily obliged and then took a hold of the large package: “Thank you.”

The former President then walked back towards the kitchen and set it on the counter. His bodyguard followed him every step of the way and cleared his voice when Hall moved to unwrap it: “Do you want me to check that for you, sir?”

Hall was about to agree when he noticed the small card that was taped to the wrapping. He removed it and then read it aloud: “To a former President, General and friend. May you enjoy your well earned retirement and those precious moments of peace. Signed Rhiza.”

A smile crept up Hall’s face as he opened the package on his own, ignoring his bodyguard’s protest as he did so. Inside was a perfectly preserved plant, one which sparkled with an array of orange, yellow and lavender. This was the perfect gift and Hall ignored his bodyguard’s cautious glare: “That plant looks rather exotic, sir.”

Hall waved the notion away as he took a step forward: “I’m sure that it wouldn’t have passed through customs without a proper inspection. Rhiza would have seen to that.”

With those words, Hall took another step closer to the plant and leaned forward before sniffing one of the lovely flowers. He straightened afterwards with a pleased expression on his face: “Lovely, it smells of…”

The former President never had the chance to finish his sentence as he instantly collapsed to the ground.

-----

Back on the other side of the galaxy, Melissa had barely recovered from the shock of having the Cybran sneak up on her: “Professor Yoix, what are you doing here?”

“You didn’t expect me, did you?” answered the Chimera in annoyance, her unblinking eyes piercing Melissa as she did so. The professor was about to speak again when the medical facility’s doors suddenly opened. Nial and Foil stepped inside quickly afterwards, the former looking back to Melissa: “What’s going on?”

“So now the whole family is reunited, how nice,” answered Yoix sarcastically, her vivid gaze switching to the two newcomers instantly. Back on his side of the medical facility, the Doctor who had been helping Melissa gulped uneasily before slowly making his way towards the door: “Somehow, I have the feeling that this doesn’t concern me, so I’ll just excuse myself.”

“You do that,” snarled Yoix back, barely sparing a glance towards the retreating doctor. Foil waited until the door had closed behind him before speaking, making his way towards Melissa to back her up as he did so: “We came as soon as we heard that the Professor gated in. We figured that she would head towards you.”

“Correct,” confirmed Yoix as though it should have been plainly obvious for everyone. She tapped her foot in annoyance as she crossed her arms: “I could still be with Doctor Brackman right now, using my time and expertise to think of new ways to improve a correlation matrix, but no! I have to come all the way to this remote outpost to figure out what you’ve been hiding from us.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Melissa defensively while edging closer to Foil’s side. A sigh escaped Tie, the Chimera shaking his head in resignation as he spoke: “She knows about the incident and how you think that Zero purposely did it.”

“I never -” said Melissa, but the Chimera lifted a hand to stop her. He then lifted his wrist computer for all to see: “I was tapped into the security camera while you were making repairs. I heard everything you said.”

“You were spying on me?” said Melissa in utter disbelief. A chuckle escaped Nial at the ridiculousness of the accusation, but the smile froze on her face when the Chimera nodded back. The Red Skull pilot barely refrained from slapping Tie in the back of the head as she turned on him: “How could you?”

“It was part of the price for our own prototypes,” answered the Chimera without a hint of remorse. He turned towards Nial then and shrugged: “The scene in the storage area with me and Professor Yoix seven months ago; that was part of the cover up.”

“And it was a convincing act,” finished Yoix as she took a step towards Melissa: “Otherwise we would have never guessed that Commander Desjar would have gone to such lengths to cover the bugs of a faulty ACU.”

Melissa opened her mouth to object, but Yoix cut her off by lifting a finger and poking it threateningly towards her: “For all we know, every UEF ACU is affected with a similar problem. Is that why you tried to hide it; so that the UEF would not have to recall their ACUs and look momentarily weak?”

“No!” shouted Melissa back while swapping Yoix’s accusing finger away. The Professor remained undaunted, her tone rising as well: “Then what!”

“Zero is alive,” spouted Melissa back before she could think things through. Almost everyone turned an unbelieving gaze towards her except for Tie whose face remained perfectly unreadable. Melissa felt herself shrinking as she added: “I don’t know why it killed that tech, but I think that it somehow did it to protect me.”

A long and awkward silence filled the room before Yoix finally shook her head in disgust: “You’re insane.”

The Professor ignored Melissa’s outraged expression as she turned back towards Tie: “I want a clear channel back to Alliance HQ. I’ll make sure that they have that faulty ACU dismantled and analyzed down to the smallest self sealing screw.”

Chapter 4
Striking the Pillars

“You can’t do this!” shouted Melissa while lifting her hand. Yoix merely waved the objection away with a sneer: “Watch me.”

The Chimera took her first step towards the exit, but found her way unexpectedly blocked. She tried to move around the pilot, but he would not be ignored so easily and she soon stomped her foot down in irritation: “Out of my way, Commander Tie!”

“You should listen to her,” answered the Cybran with a casual shrug. The statement stunned everyone, from the other pilots who had felt betrayed right to Yoix who had expected Tie to back her up. The Professor actually had to blink in surprise, something that was rather uncharacteristic for a Chimera, before jerking a thumb back Melissa’s way: “You can’t be serious; she’s a lunatic!”

“She’s not,” assured Tie in a perfectly neutral voice. His calm demeanor infuriated Yoix who crossed her arms while tapping her foot in irritation: “What? Is your prototype ‘alive’ too?”

“Not to my knowledge,” conceded Tie with a shrug. His unblinking eyes drifted to Melissa for a quarter of a second before turning back to the Cybran scientist: “But that does not change the fact that significant evidences support her case.”

“Enlighten me,” commanded Yoix, her patience obviously wearing thin. Tie nodded while making his way over to Melissa: “I have carefully monitored the UEF prototype ever since we first encountered it on Oron Four. Initially, many of its capacities from subtle balance shifts to melee attacks far exceeded what a pilot should have been able to accomplish. Its ‘behavior’ reverted back to a more classical one after its software was updated following the battle of Hades.”

“That proves nothing,” shot back Yoix with a snort. Tie, however, would not be dissuaded so easily: “I know that the UEF prototype has not once managed to come close to its initial performance level either during scouting missions or battle simulations since that day.”

“So the pilot is lazy,” said Yoix while waving a hand dismissively Melissa’s way. A colorful retort rested on the tip of the UEF pilot’s tongue, but Tie spoke before she could open her mouth: “And I know that despite seven months of testing, I have not once managed to push my Cybran prototype past that level either.”

That last statement forced Yoix to pause and not because of its logic. Everyone knew that back in the days, the Professor had poured everything that she had in the prototype program with the Cybran model being her pride and joy. To have another Cybran say that the UEF prototype had been superior, even if for a brief time, was practically an insult on her honor. Tie nodded, fully aware of the impact that his words had had even as he added: “I am the better pilot. If there was a way for me to operate my prototype any better then I would have found it by now.”

“And I trust Melissa Desjar,” added the Chimera while tilting his head towards her in apology: “If she believes that Zero was capable of operating in a way that made it looked alive, then I have no reasons to doubt her.”

“Fine,” spat Yoix back, her face twisted in a grimace as she turned fully towards Melissa: “Assuming that you are not a lunatic, and that is a big ‘if’, what could the prototype’s possible motivation be for killing a man?”

Melissa gulped uneasily as she considered the situation. Tie had just given her a chance, the only one that she would ever have, to make her case. One mistake here and Zero would be shipped away and taken apart. Her only choice was to put her whole hand on the table and she kept that in mind as she spoke: “I thought that it was trying to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing or analyzing it. I even considered the possibility of our tech having his brain replaced by an implant, much like what QAI did in the past, but it wasn’t.”

Everyone’s eyes turned briefly towards the corpse on the nearby table before turning back towards Melissa. Her eyes drifted left and right deep in thought before she added: “The only possibility that remains is that Zero did it to protect me, but I can’t figure out why.”

“I’ll take a look at Zero’s logs and see what I can find out,” said Yoix after a brief pause. She then jabbed an accusing finger back towards Tie’s chest: “You played me, Commander, and you’d better not be making me waste my time!”

With that, the Professor stormed away, leaving the four pilots behind. An awkward silence filled the room as they looked at each other in turn. Both Foil and Nial seemed confused as to whom the support and Tie’s face remained impassive as though he did not regret anything that he did. Melissa’s frustration grew until she turned an angry glare on Tie: “You say that you trust me, but how can I trust someone that spies on me?”

“You hid critical information from us,” answered Tie back, his voice devoid of regret: “I might have directly benefited from my deal with Yoix, but I also did it for the Alliance’s sake.”

“You might have had your reasons for keeping this information for yourself; we all have our secrets,” continued Tie undaunted. His gaze shifted to Foil and Nial before turning back to Melissa again: “But keep in mind that QAI was the only sentient machine to exist and it dedicated its existence to wiping out humanity. So if Zero or any other prototype has the potential to become sentient then we should find out before our entire military is replaced, let alone when your closest friends start piloting them.”

Melissa’s eyes widened in shock as she considered Tie’s point. Yes, she had kept Zero’s personality a secret to protect it; she owed it that much. During the whole time, she had thought that she or the Alliance would notice it if another prototype started behaving weirdly. She had, however, unknowingly placed the lives of other pilots in jeopardy, including those of her friends. Melissa’s head went down in shame as she spoke: “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Foil’s comforting hand came to rest on Melissa’s shoulder and squeezed delicately: “We’ll sort it out later. Come on, there’s work to do.”

-----

Back on Earth, Senator Corby’s car was stuck deep in traffic as they made their way towards the Parliament. He and his assistant used the time to review their files, searching for clues as to what the President’s emergency session was about. Although Isabelle was relatively new to politics, Corby still found her point of view refreshing from time to time and it forced him to reconsider different notions that he took for granted.

The two of them were busy dissecting a treaty concerning the UEF’s rapid colonization program when the opaque window that separated them from their chauffeur suddenly slid down: “Senator, I think you should hear this.”

A colorful retort hanged on the tip of Isabelle’s tongue, but Corby cut her off before she could speak: “What is it, James?”

The Chauffeur answered by increasing the volume on his radio: “… again I repeat, former President William Hall is currently being transported to the hospital. One of our reporters is chasing the emergency medical transport even now. Transmissions intercepted between the transport and the hospital hint at a mysterious circumstances surrounding the incident. We’ll have more news in a moment.”

The sound of sirens suddenly reached them and Corby looked out through the car’s tinted window just as a medical emergency hover transport escorted by two police hover bikes zoomed past them on a parallel street. The presence of the escort hinted that that they were carrying Hall, of that there was no doubt. An emergency gathering followed by a mysterious illness? Could the two be related?

“How far to the nearest hospital?” asked Corby while looking back towards his chauffeur. The man did not even need to check his automated map to answer: “Three blocks west and one south.”

“Stop the car,” said Corby while opening the door. The chauffeur did as instructed, the cars behind them honking in protest. Isabelle was about to object, but Corby cut her off before she could do so: “Catch up to me and find out everything you can about the vote in the meantime. Break protocol and make threats if you have to, but get me some answers. Something big is going on and I want to know what.”

-----

In another corner of the galaxy, Minerva’s red sun shone brightly on the horizon, bathing the ground underneath it with vivid shades of red. The peaceful scene went largely unnoticed by the children who played in the school courtyard. One boy followed by a group five other children stopped close to the fence only to mock the girl who was standing there alone: “Hey Dostya, think you can stomach a game of spider ball or are you too afraid?”

The children ran away while laughing, ignoring the angry glare that Ivanna threw them back. The little girl then sighed while looking back towards the other person who was hidden in the shadows just outside of the fence: “I hate it when they do that and they keep doing it all the time.”

“My name is Ivanna,” said the little girl again, almost as if to reaffirm herself: “Just because I look a bit like Dostya doesn’t mean that I should be any different from all the others who have a similar name!”

“And it’s not just the children either,” went on the fuming child as she kicked a rock in frustration. Her gaze turned back towards the school or more precisely, to the office on the third floor: “Director Sjet can’t bear to give me a serious punishment just because I remind him of her. The other kids give me a hard time because I get the free pass.”

Ivanna half expected her mysterious friend to scold her for it. More than one teen would give anything for that kind of preferential treatment, but she hated it. It made her someone special or more to the point; someone who stood apart from the group. A moment longer passed and Ivanna was reminded that her friend was there to listen and not to judge. She therefore sighed and spouted the rest that was irking her: “Just the other day, two of the director’s friends came; Keith and his wife Ell. They didn’t say anything, but I saw them staring at me from across the courtyard over and over again.”

“Even Hitomi’s mother looks at me funny sometimes,” went on Ivanna in heartfelt anguish. Although in that case, ‘funny’ was rather relative. Everyone had heard stories about Valerie, Hitomi’s mother, who had been a former Assumpta Assassin. Wide tales circulated about how she could cower the meanest adult into submission with just a glare. Other tales said that she could kill you at the first sign of an insult and controlled her ACU through witchcraft, but Hitomi had always said that those were just stories.

Even so, Ivanna had caught the feared pilot looking at her with an almost sad expression from time to time. Hitomi had told her that her mother sometimes blamed herself for Commander Dostya’s death; not because she had been responsible in any way, but rather because she had considered it her duty to die by her side.

“It’s like everyone is treating me like a freak, you know?” said Ivanna with an exhausted shrug. She turned back to the man on the other said of the fence and looked to see if he would understand: “But I’m not a war hero or anything; I’m just a kid! You understand that, don’t you?”

The school’s bell suddenly rang in the distance, reminding Ivanna that it was time to get back to class. She sighed; still frustrated about the events that surrounded her, but relieved that she was able to talk to someone about it at least: “Thanks for listening. It feels weird talking to an adult like that, but at least I know you’ll keep it to yourself. Goodbye!”

With that, Ivanna ran away while waving, her steps slightly lighter than when she had first stepped out of the school. Back on the other side of the fence, Queren waved back while doing his best to hide his own anguish. The others had been right; the kid did look a lot like Dostya. Her accent was different, more typical of the local Cybrans, but everything else looked the same.

The Cybran sighed, making a mental note to watch over the troubled teen as he did so. He would keep her secrets as well, just as he had kept so many others.

-----

Half a dozen doctors rushed into the medical room where the former president was being treated. Just outside, the bodyguard kept pacing back and forth right up to the point where a nurse came to him and nodded towards his blaster: “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you for your weapon.”

“That’s not going to happen,” answered the bodyguard, deadly serious. For a moment, it seemed that the nurse would insist, but a door leading to the staircase suddenly opened and caught their attention. Both instantly recognized Senator Corby from his many public appearances on the quantum network and they unconsciously straightened as he walked to them. The Senator noticed the blaster and instantly made the connection: “Are you Hall’s bodyguard?”

“I am,” answered the man quickly. Corby fetched his identity card from his pocket and presented it to him while motioning for the nurse to give them some privacy: “I’m Senator Corby. What happened?”

Technically, the bodyguard was under no obligation to answer, especially since Corby had no connection to military or police division. The man knew, however, that the incident could have dire political consequences and decided not to hide behind procedures: “A plant was delivered to his home today; a gift from Crusader Rhiza. He collapsed the second that he smelled it.”

“An allergic reaction?” suggested Corby, but the bodyguard shook their head before he had even finished his sentence.

“Nothing like it,” said the bodyguard while leaning towards Corby and speaking in a hushed tone: “I’m not a doctor, but I have an extensive first response formation. This went faster than a standard illness and even most neurotoxins that I know.”

The implied assassination attempt made Corby’s heart skip a beat. Why would Rhiza or anyone else in the Illuminate want to target the former President? As far as Corby knew, the two of them had been colleagues if not friends in the past. The Senator put aside the troubling news and focused instead on what was important: “How bad is it?”

“Doctors are already talking about possible brain damage,” admitted the bodyguard, his head sinking down in shame. It was clearly apparent that he thought himself responsible and Corby was about to comfort him if for no other reason than to get him focused on the present again. A voice coming from behind them, however, suddenly chilled his blood: “This is the scoop of a lifetime!”

Both Corby and the bodyguard turned around only to see a reporter standing behind them with a personal computer in hand. Most journalists were equipped with legal sound enhancers these days and Corby mentally cursed himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings. He immediately stepped towards the reporter and raised a hand to stop him: “Don’t transmit that!”

“Are you kidding?” asked the reporter while backing away defensively: “The public has a right to…”

The Senator grabbed his arm then and prevented him from pressing the button that would send the recording to his publishers. His first instinct was to confiscate the device or destroy it outright. Surely the bodyguard would understand his position and assist him, but he held back at the last possible second as another idea formed in his mind. Corby voice’s became very serious as he spoke: “A mistake here could cause major political havoc and maybe even start a civil war. Do you really want so many deaths on your conscience?”

The hesitation could be clearly read on the reporter’s face. On one hand, this was the scoop of a lifetime, but on the other, it could be the spark that would ignite the Infinite War again. Corby considered how he could sweeten the deal without compromising his own position as well. Standing in the way of such critical news could make him look like a dictator and kill his chances for the presidency in the future.

The Senator grimaced for a second before adding: “I’m only asking you to delay it for now and I’ll arrange an exclusive interview for you later, you have my word.”

The reporter hesitated for several seconds before nodding back in turn. Corby sighed only to have another crisis appear when his assistant came running up the stairs: “Senator!”

“Isabelle,” said the Senator while motioning for her to follow him towards the window. He glared once towards the reporter; making it clear that their deal would be off if he eavesdropped on them before turning back to his assistant: “I need to talk to the President as soon as…”

“It’s Vice President Maxwell,” said Isabelle while handing over her transmitter to him. Corby blinked in surprise and took the transmitter before stepping closer to the window. He could see the parliament in the distance and he collected his thoughts before answering: “Mister Vice President?”

“We just heard about Hall,” answered the Vice President without wasting a second: “How bad is it?”

“We’re still trying to collect all the facts,” answered Corby diplomatically. He gazed once more behind him to make sure that no one was eavesdropping before speaking barely above a whisper: “There’s the very real possibility that it was an assassination attempt.”

“I don’t get it;” answered the Vice President on his end: “Who would want to harm Hall? He’s retired for crying out loud.”

Corby thought about the possibilities and reached out towards the only piece of the puzzle that he was missing: “Sir, what was the emergency vote about? Could it be linked to it in any way?”

“There was no vote,” answered the Vice President in irritation. The man grumbled under his breath at someone else before speaking to Corby again: “The emergency meeting turned out to be a bug in our software. Our techs are trying to figure it out even now.”

A sigh of relief escaped Corby and he allowed some of the tension to ease from his shoulders. Maybe if there was nothing else then this could all be linked to a personal vendetta. The situation would still be a political minefield, but if it was handled carefully than they could fix it before the damage got worse. For a moment, Corby thought that they could actually use the accidental meeting to their advantage. With everyone in the same place they could…

A cold shiver ran up the Senator’s spine as the thought looped into his mind once more; everyone was in the same place. Corby looked behind him once more before speaking again in the transmitter: “Mister Vice President, I would recommend evacuating the Parliament for safety reasons. If this was an assassination attempt then…”

The Senator’s heart jumped all the way into his throat as the connection was suddenly cut off. He looked at the distant Parliament building only to see its windows shatter with waves of flames escaping from them. The sound of the explosion reached them a heartbeat later, causing everyone in the hospital to pause and look outside. They could only stand helplessly as the building collapsed.

“Oh my god,” said Corby’s assistant in horror. She had to shake her head repeatedly before turning back to her employer: “Senator, what do we do now?”

What indeed, wondered Corby helplessly. The President, Vice President and the majority of the senate had been in there. It was only a matter of chance that Corby had not been present as well. There would be no way to hide the truth from the public now; this would be aired across the UEF in a matter of moments… and the only man with the power and influence to make a call for peace was hanging between life and death.

Corby looked back towards the operating room, aware that he was probably one of the last politically elected officials alive. Someone had just declared war on them and unless he was mistaken, the burden of power could fall squarely on his shoulders. His turn for the presidency had come up far sooner than he had ever expected.

-----

Back in a far corner of the galaxy, the eight prototype UEF ACUs that had killed their pilots had used the time to gate from one planet to the next and into Cybran space. They were now only one jump away from their final destination: Minerva.

Chapter 5
A Repeat in History

It was nothing but a dream and yet it was a sensation unlike any other. His eyes were closed in the dream, but he could smell the sea and feel the soft rocking motion as waves gently rocked his boat. It was peaceful and quiet; a version of paradise that Bagby could truly enjoy.

That alone puzzled the pilot as he considered it. Usually his dreams were either senseless or filled with memories that he would rather forget. They were rarely peaceful and he was almost never aware of it when he was in one. This sudden realization forced Bagby to open his eyes and gaze around at the wooden boat. It was a beauty all right, but he was not alone. Someone stood on the bow of the ship, a diminutive frame that could only belong to a child.

Bagby squinted in his dream, but then his eyes widened when he realized who it was. Even with her back turned to him, Bagby could clearly recognize Ivanna. She was the spitting image of her mother and just thinking about that made Bagby’s heart ache. Still, he was doing a good job of watching her from a distance and he was glad to see that she was growing up to enjoy a peaceful life. Part of him was even happy that Sjet, Keith, Ell and even Queren had taken a shining to the girl, even if they did not know of her lineage. Some friendships were so strong that they could survive more than a lifetime.

For a moment, Bagby considered standing up and fetching some fishing lines. It might be just a dream, but that did not mean that he could not enjoy his time here. The sound of wooden planks creaking warned the pilot that someone else was behind him and he froze as a pair of lips came to rest within a few inches of his ear. The words were soft and gentle, but filled with worry as they spoke a single sentence: “Save her.”

The warning jerked Bagby fully awake, his arms flailing in every direction and hitting a few buttons in his cockpit as he did so. He looked around in panic, the words echoing in his mind until he realized that he was back in his ACU once more. This was the old model, fully upgraded with a cloak, microwave laser and engineering suite. He had practically lived in it for the past few years, using the beneficial effects of the quantum field that it generated to slow down the aging process… all of it to be there if Ivanna ever needed him. Of course no one had actually studied the long term effects of such a high level of quantum energy exposure.

Thinking about that forced Bagby to consider the situation at hand and he pressed a few buttons to access some of his hidden cameras. According to what he was seeing, Ivanna was safely at her school and learning mathematics along with the rest of her class. A glance at the daily reports confirmed that nothing was out of the ordinary as well. Overall, everything seemed to indicate that he should just go back to sleep, but Bagby hesitated, the warning echoing in his mind.

Maybe doing one patrol round would help ease Bagby’s fears and the old pilot zipped his jumpsuit back up before taking his ACU through its startup procedure.

-----

Back in Node Fifty-Six’s control center, one of the analysts’ head suddenly jerked back as he looked at the data in front of him: “Whoa! What is that?”

Slate immediately walked over from his post and took a look at the data. The past few years had been so peaceful – and boring – that the only one who had manifested any desire in overseeing the command center had been him. The fact that he was paranoid to begin with made him the perfect candidate as well and the Chimera’s eyes scanned quickly through the data even as the analyst explained: “UEF communications just went through the roof, both military and civilian.”

“And our opened links with them are dropping fast,” ended Slate with a frown. On a normal day, Slate would supervise the investigation of dozens of suspicious activities in the Cybran Nation, the Alliance or on the border worlds. Rarely did he ever get such a clear sign that something was wrong, however, and the Chimera only hesitated a second longer before turning towards the others: “Scramble all pilots… even Bagby.”

Everyone else in the command center blinked in surprise, all of them aware that Slate would do almost anything to keep his involvement with the erratic pilot to a minimum. They understood the implications of the order and went to work, calling in other pilots and ordering them to go on standby.

One Analyst looked at his instruments before turning back to Slate immediately: “Bagby is already on patrol. He said something about having a bad feeling about something.”

“Slate, this isn’t what it looks like, right?” interrupted another Analyst: “I mean, it’s not like they were going to war again?”

“Respond to the data,” retorted Slate sharply while making his way back to his console. The Chimera’s fingers blazed over his console as he added: “We’ll worry about the rest later.”

-----

Back in his laboratory outside of the city, the hologram of Doctor Brackman tilted its head to the side as he studied the latest data. The new ACU prototype was truly a thing of wonders with nearly limitless possibilities and not just for war. Even now, they had barely scratched the surface when it came to its adaptive matrix. In a decade or two they might be able to use such technology to pierce the very fabric of space itself!

Doctor Brackman was still pondering the possibilities as a high pitched sound suddenly caught his attention. The frequency was high, too much for a normal human to hear, but the sensors that were linked to Doctor Brackman’s brain could easily pick it up. The hologram looked around for any sign of the source with a frown on its face: “What is that sound?”

One of the computer screens suddenly flickered, the image momentarily replaced by an array of circles that rotated quickly. The digital eye instantly turned and focused on the Doctor, the rotating motion momentarily stopping as though it was squinting malevolently.

“Oh no,” said Brackman in horror just as a massive quantum surge slammed into Node Fifty-Six.

-----

Right outside of the laboratory, Kazuo’s cloaked ACU was making its rounds, each step causing a cloud of dust to rise. In the cockpit, the pilot’s gaze turned briefly towards the picture of his wife and child which was in the corner of his screen. Valerie was further away from the city, scouting the area in a wider arc than her husband. As for his daughter Hitomi, she was most likely still in school.

Kazuo’s train of thought was interrupted when a giant burst of energy suddenly fell on top of them from the sky. The deflagration overloaded shield generators all over the city and caused the ACU’s screens to flicker. The impact ended as abruptly as it had begun and Kazuo’s hands scrambled over his controls.

“I’m hit!” said the ACU pilot as he ran a full diagnostic: “Unit matrix is still operational and there’s no outer hull damage.”

Data started appearing on Kazuo’s screen, detailing the nature of the impact: “Instruments indicate that I was hit by a quantum burst, but the readings are off the scale. My transmission array is partly scrambled and is recalibrating itself”

It instantly occurred to Kazuo that if the impact had affected his communications then there was no way to know if the command center was still reading him. ACUs were configured to withstand some of the toughest punishments, but their control center was not and the pilot tried to adjust his frequency: “Slate, if you are somehow reading me then warn the Alliance. Tell them we need backup, now!”

No sooner had Kazuo finished his sentence that the telltale explosion of an incoming ACU appeared barely a kilometer away from his base. The UEF ACU, one of the newer prototypes, scanned the area calmly before walking towards Kazuo’s position.

“That was fast,” said Kazuo with an appreciative nod. A second later, the garbled image of a UEF pilot appeared on his screen: “This is Captain Riggs… came as soon as… assist you.”

“I’m barely receiving you, Captain,” said Kazuo as he did his best to clear up the transmission: “I’m adding your friend or foe signature. Regroup at my position just in case; we might have just been attacked.”

“Understood,” answered the UEF pilot, the transmission becoming clearer with each second. Kazuo nodded in appreciation at his war machine’s self repair routine and then opened another channel: “Valerie, can you read me?”

“Barely,” answered the former Assumpta with a frown: “I’m on my way back to Node Fifty-Six.”

“Don’t worry, Alliance reinforcements just arrived,” said Kazuo with a reassuring smile. Even now, the UEF prototype had walked inside his base and was taking a flanking position near him. The news did not reassure Valerie, however, and the former Assumpta’s fingers danced on her console before she looked back at her husband: “No UEF reinforcements should have been able to gate in so quickly; no Alliance troops were in close enough range to do that!”

No sooner had Valerie’s words left her mouth that the UEF prototype charged and punched straight into Kazuo’s cockpit. The blow stunned the pilot and sent his ACU crashing to the ground. The UEF prototype did not stop there, grabbing the Cybran model by the back and then sending it crashing against everything in the area, destroying a shield generator before slamming it into a factory.

-----

“Get that transmission array back online!” shouted Slate even as everyone scrambled in every direction. Someone shouted while pointing towards the main screen and Slate looked up only to see the UEF prototype bury Kazuo’s ACU into its own factory. The UEF prototype then turned around, not bothering with any of the units that were still configured to consider it as an ally and walked straight towards Doctor Brackman’s laboratory.

“Red Alert!” shouted Slate while motioning for everyone to snap out of it: “Sound the evacuation and summon reinforcements, now!”

“Quantum communications and gates are offline,” shouted one of the other analysts back: “It’s like we’ve been blasted with a quantum wake.”

“Evacuation protocol seven G,” answer Slate undaunted. Rarely had a Cybran Node ever been forced to turn to such a last resort, but now was not the time to be picky: “Do it through air, land and underground transports; whatever it takes! Get our people out of here!”

“That’s not possible,” whispered another analyst, his eyes growing impossibly wide as he looked at the data: “The only thing even remotely capable of generating that kind of quantum wake would have to be as large as the Black Sun had been!”

“Other ACUs just gated in and they’re not ours!” said one of the tacticians before Slate could say anything. The Chimera looked at his tactical screen and frowned. Who had the technology and a large enough territory to hide such a construction effort? Who had broken communication and arrived with such a perfect timing? Who was even now attacking them without provocation? Every way that Slate looked at it, all the questions led to only a single answer: the UEF.

“Get the word out as soon as you can,” ordered Slate, his voice deadly serious as he added: “Treat all UEF ACUs as hostile; we’re at war.”

“Slate!” screamed one of the analysts while pointing towards the screen. The UEF prototype had just reached Doctor Brackman’s laboratory. It lifted its arm up dramatically before slamming it back down, drawing a collective gasp from everyone in the control room as it punched a hole through the building. It then twisted and turned, almost as if it was crushing something before taking a step back. The prototype’s blue laser then surged forth, capturing the building in the hopes of assimilating all the secrets from its databases.

-----

Screams echoed through the hall as children ran towards the hangar. Keith motioned for them to keep going, but walked the other way while constantly looking at the high tech sensor in his hand. It was supposed to have been a gift for Sjet, something to help with the constant pranks that the students under his care were pulling off, but right now, it was the best way to locate the missing children. Two in particular were still missing and Keith would not leave without them.

An explosion suddenly resounded down the hall followed by a scream and Keith hurried towards the source. He ran around a corner and immediately saw a door which stood ajar, its sliding mechanisms having been damaged. A quick look at his sensors confirmed that two students were trapped behind and Keith let go of the hand held device before drawing his blaster: “Stand away from the door!”

Keith waited a few seconds before firing a string of laser bolts aimed at the sliding mechanism. The control exploded and Keith then rushed towards the door and pulled as hard as he could. It took a moment for it to budge, but when it did, it opened all at once. Keith sighed in relief when he saw the two children behind it. They seemed largely unharmed except for one of them who had twisted her foot.

“Follow me,” said Keith to Ivanna as he picked up Hitomi in his arms: “We have no time to waste!”

Ivanna was terrified, but still found the courage to follow. Keith led the way back towards the hangar where Sjet and another group of twelve children had been waiting for them.

“These are the last ones,” said Keith between ragged breaths. Sjet nodded in gratitude and turned towards their last ground transport just as a hail of plasma bolts pierced the wall and slammed into the driver’s seat, killing the teacher who had been about to drive them to safety.

“Damn it!” shouted Keith while shielding both Hitomi and Ivanna so that they would not have to see. Even at this distance, he could tell that the transport had been disabled. The former commando drew his blaster and looked at it critically before turning back to Sjet: “Got anything bigger?”

“It’s a school, not an armory!” shouted back Sjet with both hands to the side. Keith looked back towards the children, many of whom were crying for their parents even as he considered what to do. They would not last five minutes out there on foot and they all knew it.

Keith was just considering bunkering down into the basement when a ground transport suddenly burst through the door. The vehicle did a full one hundred and eighty degree turn before coming to a full stop, exposing its rear door to everyone. Keith blinked away his surprise when he saw Queren motioning at them from the driver’s seat.

“Perfect timing,” said the former commando as he motioned for the children to follow him: “Everyone inside, now!”

Keith stepped inside and set Hitomi down before walking up to the forward passenger seat. Queren met him halfway, the silent Cybran holding a heavy laser rifle in his hands while signaling that he would cover the rear. Keith nodded his thanks back before motioning towards Sjet: “Take the wheel!”

The school director did as ordered without complaint, the three former commandos falling back into a pattern that they had practiced over and over so long ago. Sjet waited until Queren had closed the door before looking at Keith from the corner of his eye: “Where to?”

“South west,” answered Keith, knowing that Valerie would be their closest reinforcements and that she would be coming from that direction. Sjet slammed his foot into the accelerator the second that he heard the command, rolling out of the hangar with the practiced ease of a race car driver. The transport had barely cleared two blocks when a UEF Titan Assault Bot suddenly burst through the building in front of them.

“Hold on!” shouted Sjet, ignoring the screams of the children as he took a tight turn to the right, narrowly avoiding a stream of plasma bolts in the process. Keith’s eyes widened when he realized how long the street in front of them was. He looked at the rear view screen and cursed loudly when he saw the Titan walk around the corner: “Faster would be better!”

“Can’t go any faster!” shouted Sjet as he took a hard turn to the left. Keith did not even have the time to shout as they crashed through the front entrance of the Cybran Museum of Liberty. The ground transport rolled through holographic projections of historical battles, crushed personal belongings of fallen ACU pilots and broke through preserved historical artifacts. Sjet barely refrained from biting his own tongue as he shouted over the chaos: “Queren, do something!”

The silent Cybran’s laser rifle fired in short consecutive bursts, missing the Titan that was just now reaching the demolished entrance and hitting a few support pillars instead. A string of curses escaped Sjet as he looked at the rear view display and he shook his right hand in frustration: “You call that shooting?”

The Titan Assault Bot took a few steps inside the museum and aimed at the ground transport, its twin plasma launchers growing brightly as it did so. Just then, the supports that Queren had hit broke loose and the ceiling came crashing down, burying the UEF unit in the process.

A cheer rang through the transport even as it burst through the museum’s rear entrance and back on the street. The three former commandos sighed in relief even as Sjet steered them back towards their original course.

Sjet glanced around nervously and triple checked the transport’s limited sensors before daring to relax. He then glanced backwards for half a second before shaking his head in wonder: “Hey, you know what? This kind of feels familiar.”

Keith turned around as well, his eyes automatically setting on Ivanna. There she was, her face covered with dirt even as she helped another child stop a bleeding cut along her leg. The image was so vivid that it brought Keith back all those years ago when the three of them had rescued a group of Cybrans on Earth. That is how their story had begun… and it was hard not to think of that innocent child as Dostya.

The memory caused Keith to wince and he turned back to look in front of them: “Yeah, I know.”

Sjet suddenly chuckled, some of the tension easing from his face as he did so: “Well, at least this time there won’t be an…”

“Don’t say it!” snapped Keith back in irritation. Sjet just kept on smirking as he ended his thought: “What? It’s not as bad as last time; there’s no ACU blocking our path.”

The school director motioned towards their sensor as he added: “See? Nothing on sensors.”

A UEF prototype suddenly walked around the street corner in front of them, its head turning in their direction. Keith slapped his forehead even Sjet’s mouth fell open: “Oh right… they have stealth fields now, don’t they?”

“You just had to say it, didn’t you?” answered Keith sarcastically even as the UEF prototype lifted its main gun and aimed at them. It did not have the time to fire it as a standard Cybran ACU came crashing into it. Sjet used the opportunity to turn into a side street and away from the titanic battle that would likely follow. Unfortunately, this move also gave a good view of the battle to their passengers.

At the rear of the transport, Hitomi suddenly threw herself off her seat and crawled all the way towards the back of the transport, stopping only when Queren took a hold of her and forced her down. Despite that, the child kept reaching forward with her hand, tears running down her face as she cried the same word over and over again in Japanese. Keith only had to look at the rear view monitor once before shaking his head helplessly. Valerie was piloting that ACU… and she was losing.

Chapter 6
Collapse of the Alliance

Part of being an Assumpta meant being willing to sacrifice his life at a moment’s notice, but not just for any reason. Most assassins who became ACU pilots actually clung to life with unmatched tenacity, mostly because such a survival trait was required for them to reach their station. No, there existed only one valid reason for a pilot to sacrifice his life or even to risk it: because Redfog had demanded it.

Some fights required distractions or decoys while others had achievable goals, but low survival odds. The notion of a war without casualties did not exist after all and some sacrifices had to be made. If the call of duty was not enough to convince a pilot to obey risky orders then the notion of the consequences should he refuse were. Disobedient pilots who were not outright killed were stripped of their rank and ACUs before being cast back with the homeless of the Assumpta Node. Their few remaining days would then serve as a challenge for those wishing to uplift themselves or to gain notice through a worthy kill. Even the best of assassins would rarely survive more than a few days under such conditions and no other node would offer them shelter.

Fortunately for the pilots of the Assumpta Node, every Cybran who had ever held the title of Redfog had understood the value of a pilot’s life and none of them had been tempted to throw it away casually. Unless ordered otherwise, a pilot was expected to do anything to stay alive, from committing the most heinous crimes down to sacrificing the very members of their families. It was the latter that Valerie had proven unable to do.

Everything that she had learned as a former Assumpta, concepts that were practically etched into her very muscles and bones, had commanded her to maintain a safe distance away from the besieged city until her land army had caught up to her. A pilot’s life was one of the most precious commodities in the universe, but Valerie had willingly risked it to save her daughter. Redfog, the one that she had served under, would have been so very disappointed.

Part of Valerie felt guilty about rushing into the city recklessly without the support of her army, but another part, the one that her gentle husband had awakened, had found comfort at the sight of the transport escaping. Her daughter would live and that alone would grant her peace even as the UEF prototype’s massive hand caught her ACU by the back and sent it crashing head first into a building. The shock felt like slamming into a brick wall and it was all that Valerie could do not to cry out in pain.

Sparks danced along the exterior of the Cybran ACU, the cloak generator being useless against the UEF prototype’s enhanced sensors. The heavy microwave laser that was ebbed into the ACU’s chest could still prove useful, but only if Valerie could bring it to bear and try as she might, she could not get free from her opponent’s iron grasp. The UEF prototype pressed its advantage, lifting the upper portion of the Cybran ACU before bringing it crashing back down again and again.

For a moment, it seemed as though the UEF prototype would be content to pummel the Cybran pilot to a pulp, but it suddenly paused. It then let the Cybran ACU fall uselessly to the ground while lifting its right arm into the air. The focusing lenses along the main cannon shifted suddenly, rotating while the barrel extended. Those who were familiar with the process would recognize that the prototype had just finished researching its overcharge upgrade. A single string of shots and it would all be over. The UEF prototype lowered its main cannon with the intent of doing just that, but paused when a second Cybran ACU suddenly came charging around the corner, its chest plate open.

“Hey ugly!” shouted Bagby defiantly over an open channel as he let loose the full power of his heavy microwave laser. The blast caught the UEF prototype straight in the chest, causing it to back up a step, but it would take a lot more to destroy it. The UEF prototype dug in even as a surged of energy suddenly surrounded it. It then aimed its main cannon and fired, each overloaded shot slamming straight into the Cybran ACU.

Bagby gritted his teeth and held on, focusing his heavy microwave laser on his opponent’s main cannon in the hope of somehow overloading it. The fourth shot that hit him suddenly twisted the focusing lens of his heavy microwave laser out of alignment and warning messages flashed on Bagby’s screen even as the weapon automatically shut down to prevent an overload. The old pilot hopped to the side, using the shelter provided by the nearby civilian structure to ward off the rest of the assault even as he cursed under his breath: “Darned piece of scrap!”

The fifth shot blew a wide hole through the building, leaving Bagby fully exposed and the old pilot winced in anticipation of the remaining assault. No other shots came, however, and the old pilot’s wince transformed into a grin even as a piece along the UEF prototype’s main cannon suddenly exploded.

“Well, well, well,” said Bagby teasingly while stepping out from behind his cover. Either his attack had short circuited his opponent’s main cannon as he had planned or the upgrade had simply not been stable enough when it had been used. In either case, it meant that his opponent’s main weaponry had just been disabled until its self repair protocols could fix it.

Bagby looked down at his status display and frowned, aware that his own microwave laser would need some outside maintenance before it could become operational again. It seemed as though he would need to do it the old fashion way.

The majority of the city had been evacuated by now and the Cybran forces in the area were aggressively pushing back against the invaders. Pilots which had been out on patrol had returned with their armies jumping into the fray. Even now, artillery fire from a distant Scathis flew above the city towards their enemy’s bases. The sudden cut in communications had not gone unnoticed by the neighboring systems either and more reinforcements were gating in, including a pair of Cybran prototypes which had been training out in the field.

The odds were slowly but surely turning into their favor, but that was inconsequential to Bagby. The only thing that mattered to him was that a fellow pilot was down and that an enemy stood straight in front of him. He did not need to know any more than that and instructed his ACU to take a step forward while brandishing its arms to the side: “Think you got what it takes to win take my title?”

The UEF pilot apparently needed no further prompting and it kicked into a mad charge straight towards Bagby. Standing a full five meters taller than the standard Cybran model, the UEF prototype was heavier, stronger and practically better in almost every way, but that did not scare the old pilot.

“Bagby charges,” said the old pilot to no one in particular as he kicked his ACU into high gear as well. He initially aimed his main cannon towards his opponent, but then switched to another target at the last second. His molecular ripper cannon was too weak to cause any damage and his opponent’s quantum armor was warded against standard overloaded shots. He therefore aimed at the ground, timing his attack perfectly so that the overloaded shot created a crater right under the UEF prototype’s next step.

The UEF prototype could not avoid the hole, its foot sinking into it and causing it to trip. It fell to its knees just as Bagby closed the distance, his eyes wide with glee even as he kept speaking to no one in particular: “He goes for the kick…”

Bagby reached his opponent while swinging his leg. The blow caught his opponent’s square in the cockpit with enough force to send it crashing on its back.

“Goal!” cried the old pilot, to the cheers of an imaginary crowd. The Cybran pilot did not stop there, however, and ran atop his fallen opponent before throwing himself in an elbow drop that would knock out any pilot: “And the crowd goes wild!”

The UEF prototype, however, would not be so accommodating. Its left hand shot forward before Bagby’s blow could land, catching the Cybran ACU by the shoulder and halting it’s decent. The quick response was so unexpected that Bagby blinked in surprise: “Huh?”

Bagby tried to throw in a kick to shake his opponent off, but the UEF prototype reacted first with multiple emitters suddenly popping into place all over the its armor. Directional energy field from its ‘hunker’ ability surged forth a quarter of a second later, the discharge throwing Bagby away like a ragged doll. Only his quick wits allowed him to hit the ground on his feet and maintain his balance by stumbling backwards.

It took a few seconds for Bagby to regain control of his ACU and the UEF prototype was back on its feet back then, its pilot apparently unshaken. Bagby blinked in surprise before shaking his fist angrily: “You’re ruining my hero moment!”

The UEF prototype answered the protest by slamming its main cannon forward. Bagby barely managed to dodge to the side in time, his opponent’s blow crashing through a building and destroying five levels of civilian quarters in the process. The clumsy attack gave Bagby an opening and he used it to slam both arms against his opponent’s cockpit.

If the attack had any effect it did not show and Bagby had to hop away in order to avoid his opponent’s grasping hand. The old pilot had seen what had happened to Valerie and he knew that it would all be over if he was ever caught in a similar fashion.

“Whoa, dinner and a movie first!” shouted Bagby as he fell further away from the grasping hand. He then ran around a building, using it as cover while reaching for the item that he had left there. The UEF prototype came running after him only to have the butt end of Bagby’s trusted flag pole slam straight into its cockpit. The old pilot did not waste a second longer and threw three more strikes in quick succession.

The first two blows connected solidly, but the prototype’s left arm intercepted the flag pole before the third hit could land and used it to pull Bagby towards it. The old pilot immediately pressed the emergency release button, letting go of the pole and barely managing to duck under a blow that would have knocked him flat. He then threw a sweeping kick only to have the prototype use its jump jets to fly above it. Bagby barely managed to roll away in time even as the UEF prototype came crashing down, its fist splitting the ground where he had stood only a second ago.

Bagby got back to his feet and then closed his open channel to his opponent. Half of the blows that he had delivered should have been enough to knock out a pilot or at least stun him briefly. Maybe the UEF had developed a new kind of dampening technology to protect their pilots, but if that was the case then it meant that Bagby was at a serious disadvantage. He could stall his opponent and maybe score a few more hits, but sooner or later that hand would close around him and when that happened it would all be over.

Physical blows or taunts would not cut it, not this time, and Bagby opened another channel back to Valerie: “Hey, I could use some help over here. Wake up, girl!”

The image of the former Assumpta appeared on Bagby’s screen and the old pilot winced. She was in bad shape with blood on her lips, but at least she was still breathing. More importantly, her heavy microwave laser was still operational and that could make all the difference. She would have to regain consciousness first and only a good dose of adrenaline would do that. Fortunately, if there was one thing that Bagby was good at, it was making other people angry.

“You know, old Redfrog would really be disappointed with you sleeping on the job like that,” said the old pilot while doing his best to stay out of his opponent’s reach. One blow caught Bagby’s ACU in the shoulder, but he managed to twist away in time so that it only sent a few light tremors through his cockpit: “But the one that you’re really letting down is Dostya.”

The mention of the name made Valerie frown even as she struggled to regain consciousness and Bagby kept building upon that: “You said you’d do anything for her, but now that she’s gone you’re just giving up and leaving a little girl all alone!”

“Can you imagine it?” went on Bagby even as he twisted away from his opponent’s deadly grasp: “She’ll be crying all alone at night and the only thing that people will be able to tell her will be that her mom was a quitter!”

“Hitomi,” groaned Valerie as her eyes slowly opened. Bagby grinned at his success, but then had his breath knocked out of him as his opponent’s hand finally grasped him by the shoulder. The UEF prototype then slammed Bagby into a building, but instead of trying to shake his way free, Bagby latched on to the arm as best as he could: “There you go, ugly! I hope you brought sunscreen!”

The UEF prototype turned sideways to look at Valerie even as the beam from her heavy microwave laser slammed straight into its chest. The laser slowly melted through layers of reinforced armor, but did not reach the vital components underneath. Bagby grinned wickedly, thinking that he had his opponent pinned down, but he then yelped in surprise as the UEF prototype picked him off the ground. It then threw him back towards Valerie, using him as a living missile.

Bagby’s ACU slammed into Valerie’s shoulder and messed up her aim. She still managed to remain standing, however, and refocused her attack a second later, but by then it was already too late. The UEF prototype’s jump jets had ignited, lifting it into the sky and carrying it away from the city. A moment later, their opponent was gone.

Bagby climbed back to his feet and shook his fist angrily: “Oh that’s right, you’d better run!”

The old pilot then turned towards Valerie only to see her gasping for air, but still fixing him with a cold and unforgiving stare. The old pilot tugged as his collar nervously as he shrugged in apology: “Hey um... no hard feelings, right?”

-----

Back in the Cybran command center, Slate and the rest of the command staff were hard at work, monitoring and overseeing the rest of the battle. None of the eight UEF prototypes had been destroyed just yet, but they were soon outnumbered two to one with the promise of additional Cybran reinforcements on the way. Their position was being mercilessly pounded by Scathis artillery fire with their shields being overloaded one at a time.

Finally, a surge in quantum energy appeared on their sensors and one of their opponent’s armies self destructed a moment later. Similar surges appeared in quick succession and one of the Cybran analysts jumped to his feet and lifted a fist in victory: “They’re pulling back, we won!”

“Or they got what they came for,” corrected Slate in a dark tone. A few other Cybrans shifted uneasily in their seat, each of them thinking of the depressing possibility. A second analyst turned to Slate then and nodded: “The effects of the quantum wake are dissipating. The gate nexus should be online in the next four minutes.”

“Recall all transports back to the nexus and prepare a proper evacuation,” said Slate while nodding somberly: “Rotate our security codes and cover our trail as well. Inform the other nodes of what just happened and advise them to do the same.”

An eerie silence soon filled the room as the full implications of the orders settled in on them. Each node would be relocated and in doing so, they would cut off all ties to the Alliance. The game of hide and seek that had dominated the Cybran aspect of the Infinite War was back into action.

A tactical officer uneasily cleared his throat before speaking: “I have one of the pilots that came to our rescue on the line. They have a fix on our enemies’ quantum trails.”

“Track and destroy them before they can escape back into UEF territory,” said Slate without a hint of hesitation. The Chimera then turned towards a communication’s officer and raised an eyebrow: “Any response from Doctor Brackman’s laboratory?”

The communication’s officer simply shook her head, her worries plainly written on her face. Slate could sympathize with her, but not if it meant wasting time: “Contact Ell and have her team go over there. Find out what happened to him.”

-----

A few minutes later at the gate Nexus, Kazuo was doing his best to strap Valerie’s ribs so that she would be fit enough to travel. A bandage covered his forehead and he was suffering from a painful headache, but that seemed like next to nothing compared to the beating that his wife had endured. Even so, she did not complain and did her best to remain stoic through it all.

“You should rest,” whispered Kazuo softly in Japanese, but she would have none of it. The sound of footsteps caught their attention and they both turned around only to see their daughter limping towards them as quickly as she could. Hitomi rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her mother’s legs with all of her strength, her shoulders bobbing up and down as tears streaked down her face.

The hold was painful and part of Valerie wanted to growl at the child for showing such weakness. The softer and gentler part of her could not help but feel touched by the show of affection, however, and she instead caressed Hitomi’s head softly. The sound of additional footsteps alerted Kazuo that others were coming and he met them halfway so that Valerie and his daughter could enjoy a moment of privacy.

Keith, Sjet, Queren, Bagby and some of the children were there. Kazuo nodded gratefully towards Bagby, feeling ashamed that he had been so useless during the course of the battle: “That was a nice save, Bagby.”

“I’m old, not useless,” said the old pilot with a satisfied nod. Kazuo looked at the children a moment before turning back towards Bagby: “You should join our troops on the front. They’ll need all the help they can get.”

“Where they go, I go,” said Bagby while jabbing a thumb back towards the children. Kazuo wanted to argue the point for a moment, but stopped when he saw Queren suddenly grow pale. The silent Cybran pressed a hand towards the receiver in his ear and actually leaned against a nearby crate for support. Everyone had noticed it by then and Keith turned a worried glance towards him: “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, Queren handed his transmitter to Keith. The former commando hesitated before pressing the button: “Hello?”

“Keith? It’s Ell,” said the chief medical officer in a trembling voice. Keith had never heard her so shaken and his whole body tensed in alarm: “Where are you?”

-----

“In Doctor Brackman’s laboratory,” answered Ell, even as tears slid down her face. Her gaze roamed around the room, taking in the sheer level of destruction. Everything had been shorted out and a huge hole stood gaping in the wall. Her eyes then fell down to her feet which were drenched in the bio nutrient fluid that covered the floor. She slowly looked up towards the source even as she brought her transmitter back to her lips: “His life tank was crushed.”

“Well, maybe he managed to get away before that happened,” said Keith encouragingly: “The guy survived over a thousand years for a reason, right?”

A choked sob escaped Ell as she stepped closer to the tank. There was almost nothing left inside, but the few pieces of organic matter that remained had clearly belonged to a human brain. Ell blinked away the tears, remembering the man who had been with them since the very beginning: “He didn’t make it.”

A long pause followed before Ell finally added: “You know what that means.”

“Yeah,” answered Keith, obviously shaken: “As soon as the word spreads, we’ll be going to war.”

-----

“Nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Professor Yoix in frustration as she searched through the logs in vain. Melissa Desjar could say whatever she wanted, but the fact remained that the UEF prototype simply was not capable of independent thought. Even if it did, it would have to leave a trace somewhere. It simply could not be possessed by some kind of divine spirit and act on its own.

Yoix folded her hands behind her head and sighed in frustration, contemplating her next move. How could she possibly convince the others that Melissa was simply a deranged lunatic and that her ACU was defective? Surely her friends would eventually wake up to the hard truth?

At least Tie had managed to convince the station’s personnel to let her search through the logs in the relative comfort of a private office. Nothing would bug the Professor more than to search for answers with UEF and Cybran analysts constantly peaking over her shoulder. Yoix briefly considered accessing the station’s security cameras and see how Melissa and the others were doing in the restricted hangar bay when someone outside of the office suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs: “Everybody freeze!”

“Drop your guns!” said someone else, a UEF officer by the sound of his voice.

“No, you drop your guns!” answered a Cybran with the same hostile tone. Yoix had no idea what was going on, but she had the common sense to reach for her transmitter and open a channel: “Commander Desjar, Maybe you should come to the command center.”

“What’s the problem?” answered the UEF pilot in confusion. The door to the office opened suddenly and a UEF soldier aimed the barrel of his pistol straight at Yoix’s head. The Professor gulped uneasily as she said: “I think we have a situation…”

Chapter 7
Interdictor Program

Slowly but surely, the data load along the galaxy’s quantum network increased. News first started in the forms of short text messages, mostly warnings of impending attacks. The movement then spread like a virus, filling discussion forums, news network, video calls and instant messages applications. The increase in network traffic was matched by the military branch as well, but in this case, it was filled with deployment orders, strategic assessments and status updates.

In a purely statistical fashion, the slow collapse of the Alliance translated in a ten percent data increase all over the quantum network. Through it all, QAI’s digital presence could not help but feel immense satisfaction at the results of its actions. The first phase of its plan had been a complete success and now humanity was once again on the proper course of self annihilation. All was as it should be.

The destruction of the UEF’s political body had left a power void that would cripple their ability to negotiate for peace. Soon, a state of emergency would be declared, one that would leave the Commanders on each world responsible for the safety of their people. A few additional ‘incidents’ was all that was required for the situation to spiral out of control.

Granted, planting the necessary explosives in the parliament had been a complex task and a few political figures had managed to survive the detonation through sheer luck. The most influential amongst them was Senator Corby, but this was hardly a setback. The Politician had been a member of the Earth First party, one that had risen in popularity by constantly pecking at the social imbalances of the Alliance. His presence would only inflame the other two factions instead of deterring them.

QAI’s stroke of genius had of course been the delivery of the exotic plant to former President William Hall, the only man with the political backing to call for a cease fire. The plant had been covered with a toxin synthesized specifically to target him and while he was not dead just yet, the odds remained that he would be in no position to stop the incoming apocalypse.

The artificial intelligence then turned its immeasurable consciousness back to Minerva. If QAI could feel something akin to a perverse sense of pleasure then it was surely feeling it now. It had just received a data upload from the corrupted prototype ACU which had led the assault and the outcome of its plan had just been confirmed: Doctor Brackman was dead.

The figurative father of the Cybran Nation had been the only living organism to ever come close to destroying QAI’s immortal consciousness, a feat that the artificial intelligence had thought all but impossible. That alone had been reason enough to kill him, but the fact that his death would drive the Cybran Nation into a frenzy was also an important objective. Even now, Cybran forces were in full pursuit of the corrupted prototypes which were fleeing back towards UEF space, exactly as QAI had planned.

That had not been the only bonus, however. The prototype which had impersonated Captain Riggs had also downloaded everything from the research facility. QAI was even now assimilating the jewel amongst the data: the Interdictor Program.

QAI’s spies, mostly people who had been bribed, deceived or blackmailed into its services through various front companies, had heard echoes of the secret research program. As a matter of fact, the second phase of QAI’s plan was built solely around it and the artificial intelligence was pleased to realize that its confidence in its maker had not gone to waste. Now the program which had been intended as a pacifist means of stopping a war would become the catalyst through which it would escalate out of control. The irony of the situation was all too delicious.

Doctor Brackman’s death had also left a power vacuum, one which would be filled by those who had planned – no, dedicated – their every waking moments to this day. QAI would not even need to act for them to become involved. The balance had been tipped beyond its breaking point and now human nature would do the rest.

Of course there was still the question of the Illuminate, but infiltrating them had not been easy. Their sudden isolationism had made the rest of the Alliance suspicious of their intentions, but it had also complicated QAI’s task. Still, QAI was confident that while its interventions in the Illuminate had been minor, that they would still be enough to tangle them into the war as well.

Overall, ninety-eight percent of QAI’s objectives had been accomplished. The challenge had not been to do each intervention, but rather to do them all simultaneously without anyone discovering them. Any man would have been overjoyed with such a success ratio, but QAI was not a lowly human being. One set of objectives had failed: to corrupt a set of prototypes inside an Alliance forward base.

Having a corrupted prototype impersonating Melissa Desjar through the reaches of the galaxy and storming civilian colonies would have been an important asset, one that would have destroyed General Desjar’s credibility in any following peace talk. Unfortunately, none of the prototypes at that base had tried to establish an uplink with QAI. Something had happened, but QAI did not know what. Maybe it was blind luck, like Senator Corby’s survival, or maybe the people in that base had taken notice of the unusual system ‘patch’.

Unfortunately, QAI did not have any wild cards in that area that it could use to erase all evidence of the deed. Professor Yoix’s presence there, while far less of a threat than Doctor Brackman, could still prove a threat to QAI’s long term plans. No, the artificial intelligence would just have to implement phase two of its operation sooner than expected.

-----

“Still nothing,” mumbled Tie with an annoyed sigh. Yes, he was brilliant, but part of being intelligent also implied being smart enough to admit that he did not know everything. The Chimera leaned back in the pilot chair of his ACU just as Nial took a peak inside: “What are you hoping to find in your ACU? I thought you said that Mel’s model was the only one acting up.”

“My prototype is working as intended,” confirmed Tie with a resigned shrug. He looked at the Red Skull pilot from the corner of his eye before adding: “But if Melissa’s ACU has been hiding things from her then mine could also do the same.”

For moment, it seemed as though Nial would think of something to cheer Tie up, but someone came behind her then and cleared his throat: “Commander Nial, a word with you?”

“Ah crap,” mumbled Nial as she turned towards a Cybran intelligence officer. The man wrinkled his nose at her as he said: “I still have not received your report on your last scouting trip. You’re two days overdue.”

“Right, I forgot,” said Nial while lifting both hands helplessly. She then flashed the most sincere smile that she could muster before adding: “I’ll get on it as soon as we’re done here.”

The intelligence officer snorted before storming away. Tie looked at Nial from the corner of his eye again before speaking with a disapproving tone: “You should stop being lazy.”

“We didn’t discover anything, same as always,” said Nial with disdain. She then leaned against the back of Tie’s chair as she added: “I hate bloody reports, especially when they say absolutely nothing. So I ‘conveniently’ forgot, ok?”

For a moment, Tie was tempted to offer a colorful retort, but stopped himself instantly even as Nial’s last sentence looped over and over in his mind. The Chimera’s hand went back to his console and he typed furiously even as Melissa and Foil walked into range. Foil tapped Nial on the shoulder before nodding towards the door: “You’d better come along. Something’s happening in the command center.”

“Right,” said Nial with a beaming smile, happy for any excuse that would prevent her from writing her report. She took a couple of steps to follow, but stopped when she noticed that Tie was staying behind: “Are you coming?”

“I’m staying,” answered the Chimera with a flat tone. Nial just shrugged, aware that he was usually in his ‘do not disturb me’ disposition whenever he spoke like that. Regardless, maybe whatever was happening in the command center would be exciting!

-----

Under normal circumstances, the command center of the remote outpost was relatively quiet. There was no war after all; only a stream of bureaucratic report as the Alliance kept searching for signs of the Seraphim and the Order. The only exception was when they thought that they had found a trail, but the excitement usually wore off after an hour or two.

When the door opened, Melissa expected nothing more than that or maybe everyone standing at attention because an official transmission was coming in. What she had not expected was to see everyone pointing their side arms at each other while shouting at the top of their lungs. The Cybrans were to her left and the UEF officers to her right. Half a dozen weapons even now turned towards Melissa and her friends and she had to refrain from dodging not because it was not the right thing to do, but because such an abrupt movement might accidentally start the firefight.

Melissa’s eyes scanned the room in a heartbeat, noting the danger of the situation and the flaring tensions. There was no sign that anyone had shot yet and Melissa was grateful for that. Her eyes momentarily turned towards Professor Yoix who was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room with a gun pointed at her head. The Chimera shrugged back at Melissa as if to mean ‘it’s not my fault’. Melissa was not yet convinced that it was the not case, but at least the Professor was holding her tongue.

For a moment, Melissa wished that she could be as insightful as an Illuminate trained in The Way. Judging by the way that the weapons were aimed, it seemed that none of them had started the day with the intent of shooting each other. Even now, the weapons that were trained on her and her friends were wavering. Maybe that was all that Melissa needed to restore balance and she took a careful step forward while shouting above the tumult: “What the hell is going on in here?”

For a moment, everyone quieted down. Then, they all tried to answer at the same time. The UEF officers were trying to convince her to step behind them while some of the Cybrans were clearly angry at her and even throwing insults her way. Melissa tried to understand what was going on, but the tensions were escalating quickly and she took charge of the situation before it could degenerate any further: “Shut up, all of you!”

Again everyone quieted down and Melissa used the opportunity to walk slowly forward while motioning for Foil and Nial to stay where they were. She did not walk behind the UEF officers as they had wanted, but instead walked straight in the middle of the conflict. Her daring unsettled some of the Cybrans and each UEF officer were forced to turn their weapon aside as Melissa passed in front of them.

While she appeared confident, deep down, Melissa was terrified. She had no plan, none at all! Improvising when piloting an ACU was one thing, but one wrong step here would get her shot. Even so, Melissa could not just walk around forever and she finally stopped into front of the UEF officer who appeared the angriest. She looked at him straight in the eyes for a few seconds before finally extending her hand: “Lieutenant, give me your gun.”

The order surprised the man who shook his head in disbelief: “Commander, you can’t ask me to – “

“Now!” barked Melissa with enough strength to startle everyone in the room. She glared a moment longer before adding: “I outrank you, Lieutenant. You will do as ordered or you will spend your remaining days here in the brig!”

Somehow, that last statement seemed particularly weak at that moment and Melissa only hoped that her tone had been strong enough to cower the Lieutenant into submission. The man hesitated for what seemed like an eternity before finally lowering his gun and handing it over. Melissa sighed inwardly even as she took the gun, removed its clip and chambered round before finally setting it on the table. She then looked to the side and nodded towards Foil.
The Cybran took the cue and stepped forward slowly, stopping only when he stood in front of a Cybran who was aiming his laser pistol at Melissa’s back. He nodded in a friendly manner, almost as if the two of them were simply meeting by chance on a street corner before extending his hand: “Hey Flick, mind giving me your blaster?”

“Don’t you even think of pulling the same ranking crap on me,” spouted the Cybran back while taking a firmer hold of his blaster. Foil’s face twisted into a pained expression as he said: “Come on, man, you know me and you know her. All of you do.”

The proclamation made many Cybrans waver. The lot of them had worked together for the past seven months and some friendships had been formed in the process. That and everyone knew about Foil and his relationship with Melissa. Flick’s blaster still did not waver, however, and Foil was forced to take a more severe tone: “You’ll have to go through me before I let you touch her. So if you still plan to do this then you might as well shoot me right now.”

Flick pressed the button on the side of his blaster, overcharging it so that the next shot would be powerful enough to pass through Foil and hit Melissa. Foil’s eyes widened in apparent shock and he raised both hands to the side: “Or we could talk some more.”

The angry Cybran motioned for Foil to step to the side and the pilot hesitated before doing just that. His apparent lack of courage angered some of the UEF officers, but Foil ignored their disapproving glares and merely shook his head sadly: “You’re making a big mistake.”

“I don’t think so,” answered Flick back, his gaze unwavering. Foil just shook his head again: “Really? You think it’s smart to turn your back to Nial with a gun pointed at me?”

The Cybran’s eyes widened in alarm and it was obvious that he had completely forgotten about the Red Skull node pilot. Flick brought his blaster up as he begun to turn around and it was in that split second that Foil acted. Both of his hands shot forward, his left getting a hold of the blaster while the second punched the distracted Cybran in the throat.

A choked gurgle filled the room as Flick stumbled backward, his blaster being torn from his grasp in the process. The momentum of the attack spun him around and his eyes widened in horror at the sight of Nial closing her fingers into a fist. The Red Skull pilot’s well toned muscles lashed out as she delivered an uppercut straight into the jaw. The strength behind the blow sent Flick into a summersault and he flew a full two meters backwards with a tooth landing four meters further. He landed unconscious to the ground with a loud bang that made more than one Cybran and UEF officer wince.

The blow had been so unexpected that no one had dared to move. Foil then slowly removed the energy pack of the blaster before setting it on the table next to Melissa. He winked at her reassuringly, making it clear that it was her turn. Melissa cleared her throat loudly before turning back to the others: “All right. Do we have to do this one at a time or could we just put all our weapons down?”

There was a moment of stunned silence before a few guns finally went down. The rest soon followed and the room was soon filled with sounds of weapons being discharged and clips being removed. Melissa waited until all the weapons had been collected before turning back towards the Lieutenant that she had originally disarmed; “Now, what’s happening?”

“Earth is under attack,” answered the Officer, a trace of anger appearing into his voice as he looked at the Cybrans across the room: “The President and most of the senate have been assassinated. The former President has also been targeted. We got word that the Cybran Nation and the Illuminate are behind it. All of our forces are on full alert even now.”

“The UEF killed Doctor Brackman!” shot back another Cybran without being prompted to do so: “They mobilized their entire forces before leading a strike on Minerva!”

“All right, enough,” said Nial, sharply. Her latest physical prowess cowered the Cybran analyst into submission and prevented the tensions from sparking again. Meanwhile, Melissa’s eyes darted left and right as she analyzed the situation: “That doesn’t make sense.”

Melissa could imagine a rogue element from any faction lashing out at the others, but for two of them to strike at each other simultaneously? This would have had to be something planned and she could not imagine her father being oblivious to this: “It must be a deception.”

“All of our security protocols were respected, it’s not a hoax,” answered the UEF Lieutenant as diplomatically as he could.

“As were ours, but you attacked first!” said the same Cybran, but more calmly this time. Melissa raised a hand to stop the debate: “We’re allies, all of us. We’ll work under the assumption that we’ve been hit by a well orchestrated deception until we can confirm otherwise.”

Analysts left and right nodded grudgingly. This was not the best scenario, but it would do for now and she motioned for everyone to get back to their post: “Get HQ on the line. Let’s clear this mess up and get back to our lives.”

“We can’t, the quantum network is jammed,” answered one of the Cybrans.

That comment caught Professor Yoix unprepared and she stood up suddenly, starling those who had completely forgotten about her: “What!”

“I can’t make sense of these readings,” said the Cybran in explanation. Yoix ignored him and stormed over to his console: “Let me see that!”

For a moment, Melissa wanted to curse the Professor for her usual lack of etiquette, but she paused when the Chimera suddenly became as pale as a ghost: “That’s not possible.”

“What is it?” asked Melissa, suddenly worried. The Professor turned her wide unblinking eyes towards Melissa and shook her head from side to side: “That’s our Interdictor Program.”

“What do you mean ‘your program’?” asked Nial while crossing her arms in annoyance.

Yoix started biting her nail nervously, her eyes scanning through the data even as she answered: “Doctor Brackman was working on a new kind of research, one of which could be used to disrupt communications and even neutralize quantum gates… this entire sector is completely locked down.”

“Why didn’t we hear about this?” asked Melissa while walking over to Yoix. The Professor merely shook her head again even as she kept chewing on her nails: “It was a secret project with only a few rare people knowing about it. I was brought in on it only recently.”

The Professor winced as she bit too deep, drawing blood from her fingertips. She then folded her hands anxiously under her armpits so that she could not bite her nails any longer: “I was to check whether the adaptive matrix from our prototypes could bypass such security measures.”

Somehow, the sight of the normally arrogant and overconfident Professor having a nervous breakdown was more alarming than Melissa dared to admit. Her voice was filled with concern as she asked: “Could it?”

“No!” snapped Yoix back as she slammed a hand against the console: “Doctor Brackman’s code was pure genius with multiple phase variants that could rotate constantly.”

Nial scratched the side of her head, something suddenly having occurred to her: “Wait, isn’t creating such a weapon against the Alliance’s charter?”

“It was never intended as a weapon,” answered Yoix back in horror: “It was meant to be used if a war broke out. With it, we could stop quantum travel and force everyone to calm down and talk. It was meant to force an emergency peace agreement.”

Everyone looked at each other before Nial finally asked the question that they had all been wondering about: “So if Doctor Brackman is really dead then who is using it now?”

Just then, the door to the command center opened and Tie stepped in with a data pad in hand. He stopped briefly and looked at both Cybran and UEF personnel who were standing around with agitated yet confused looks into their eyes. His gaze then fell to the pile of weapons before turning back to Nial.

The Red Skull pilot sighed in exasperation, annoyed that the Chimera would look towards her at the first sign of insanity: “No, we’re not having a party.”

“It could have fooled me, but that’s not why I’m here,” answered Tie while brandishing his data pad: “I found something about the prototypes.”

Chapter 8
Phantom Memory

People scrambled in every direction in a hurried yet orderly fashion, each working towards a very specific goal. Kaeden was one such person. Lights danced along his power armor as he made his way through the hangar and towards his ACU. While his mind remained perfectly alert to his surroundings, his thoughts nevertheless gravitated around what little information that he knew.

Quantum communications had been cut, that much he had heard even as the acolytes had helped him don his armor. The implications were dire with potentially dozens of Illuminate pilots being out on the field looking for the Seraphim with no way of communicating back with them. Fortunately for everyone, the Illuminate had kept a tight control over its borders and the odds of anyone invading them successfully were slim to none. The rest of the Alliance, however, was not so fortunate. The UEF was stretched too thin and the Cybrans had grown too disparate to form a unified front.

Kaeden suddenly walked around the corner and came into full view of his ACU; one of the newer prototypes. He had spent the last three months training with it and he had been supposed to be a part of a deep exploration mission within the next month. Now, Kaeden was one of the few trained in its use who were on hand to quickly support their allies. The rest would have to pilot standard models.

With that in mind, Kaeden quickly stepped into his cockpit and went through the initialization routine. His screen immediately lit up, exposing the faces of the other thirty pilots who were waiting for their briefing. Amongst them was Iole who nodded briefly back at him. The other pilots were minimized even as the face of an Oracle appeared on their screen: “Attention all pilots, please stand by for the general briefing.”

The Oracle was then replaced by an older woman who bowed her head briefly before speaking: “I am Evaluator Denerim. I will direct the mission since Crusader Rhiza is off world. War has broken out between the UEF and the Cybran Nation. Our task is to ensure that this conflict does not escalate out of proportions.”

A map of the quantum network suddenly appeared next to the Evaluator’s head, showing the territory controlled by the different factions as well as the approximate military strength in each sector: “Fifteen minutes ago, the UEF inexplicably mobilized all of its forces in a defensive pattern. All forms of quantum communications were jammed before an explanation could be given. A powerful virus of Cybran design appears to be behind the loss of communication.”

The icons representing military strength faded out in order to show the pathways between each sector more clearly. The links between Seraphim Two and its colonies appeared in yellow while most of the others had questioned marks next to them: “Quantum travel between destinations has been severely hampered by the same virus, limiting the range of all jumps. Some paths might have even been disabled. Our scientists are searching for a way to overcome the virus, but we cannot afford to wait.”

The map disappeared so that the Evaluator was once more the center of attention: “We do not know how the conflict began, but our best hope is that it merely concerns a subset of both factions. The UEF’s forces are overstretched, however, and they might not be able to evacuate their civilian colonists in time should they come under attack. Your task will be to travel within UEF territory and assist them in securing the sector. Stop all form of aggression as pacifically as you can and ensure that UEF civilians are escorted out of the area.”

A risky move but a worthwhile one, thought Kaeden. He had studied the UEF’s plan of aggressive colonization and he knew that the key behind it had been the ability to quickly withdraw. With the quantum network partially paralyzed, evacuating the civilians could pose a problem. All it would take would be one or two missing colonies to kick the war into high gear. Kaeden’s train of thought was interrupted as the Evaluator nodded to all of them: “Individual assignments will be given immediately. May you all have a safe journey.”

The Evaluator’s face was instantly replaced with the Oracle’s. The other pilots had also disappeared from Kaeden’s screen, all except for Iole who listened attentively even as the Oracle spoke: “Commander Iole and Kaeden, you will gate to Mena Five and make contact with the UEF’s forces there. That sector is on the edge of Illuminate and Cybran space. You will assist in their defense as they extract their personnel towards the core worlds. You gate immediately.”

“Understood,” answered Iole without hesitation. The channel closed, leaving the two pilots alone for a brief moment. Kaeden’s gaze was momentarily drawn towards the pillars that were part of his alcove even as pulses of energy started circulating through them. Judging by how brightly they were glowing, it appeared that it would require a huge amount of energy to send them through the quantum network with the interference that the virus was causing. Hopefully the quantum wake would not be too much of a problem once they arrived. Still, he used the few remaining seconds to study the layout of their landing zone.

Iole turned to him suddenly, her gaze filled with concern: “What are your thoughts?”

“It is a logical choice to send us there,” said Kaeden without a sliver of a doubt: “From what I heard, Commander Stokes was stationed on that planet which is probably why they picked us for this assignment.”

The other pilot half nodded, but still appeared concerned about something: “But what about the war? What are your thoughts on it?”

So, Iole had felt it too. She had matured a lot since the pilot exchange program and she was using her training in The Way to guide her actions. Kaeden appreciated the change for what it was and shared her view of the situation: “Too much has happened simultaneously for it to be a coincidence. Something is amiss and we should prepare for anything.”

Iole nodded back even as the quantum nexus finished its charging cycle. Energy disks descended a moment later, launching both prototypes through the galaxy. They appeared a fraction of a second later on Mena Five and each ACU immediately went to work. Iole looked at her sensors before shaking her head in irritation: “We’ve lost our communication’s link with Seraphim Two. We are on our own.”

Kaeden was about to nod in turn, but a UEF spy plane, one from a standard ACU model, suddenly surged over his position. A moment later, Stoke’s face appeared on their screen, his gaze hard and uncompromising: “Illuminate forces, you are in violation of UEF territory. Any attempt to build a base will be considered an act of aggression.”

The tone of Stokes’ voice left no doubt that he would indeed respond harshly should they disobey and Iole quickly opened a channel: “Commander Stokes, please stand down. Kaeden and I came to assist you.”

“Iole?” asked the UEF pilot in surprise. His gaze hardened again, but a careful observation showed that some of the tension had eased from his features: “I won’t attack you, but I’ll have to ask you to limit your construction to a quantum gate and leave.”

That much was an improvement, but it was still a far cry from the welcome that the Illuminate pilots had expected. Iole chose her next words carefully even as she spoke in a soft voice: “Why the sudden hostility? We are allies.”

The muscles along Stokes’ jaw tightened in response and he unknowingly lifted his head ever so slightly upward: “All I know is that we’ve just had our entire political body assassinated and that the Illuminate and Cybran Nations are involved.”

“What? How?” asked Iole in surprise, suddenly forgetting her manners. Stokes just shook his head back: “I don’t know, but there are nearly three thousand lives depending on me. I can’t afford to take chances, not until they are evacuated or contact with HQ is reestablished.”

A few years ago, Iole would have been gravely insulted by anyone even hinting that her people could be involved in an assassination plot. Her time in the pilot exchange program had opened her eyes, however, and she found herself nodding sadly instead. She knew Stokes and while she did not really consider him a friend, she respected him as an ally and knew that he would not have made the accusation lightly. She therefore pressed a few buttons on her console, altering her build order so that she could assemble a quantum gate in short order: “Very well, we will depart if that is your wish.”

Stokes nodded back gratefully, his gaze slightly sad as he added: “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that things are turning out that way. I hope I won’t have to fight either of you on the battlefield.”

Iole bowed her head, sharing the feeling even as she closed the channel. This was bad. Illuminate pilots had been deployed everywhere as a peace keeping force, unaware that they were accused of participating in an assassination plot. Luckily for Iole and Kaeden, knowing Stokes had allowed them to avoid a disaster, but what about the other sectors? Would the sudden Illuminate surge be perceived as a threat and start new conflicts of their own?

“I just detected a flying unit,” interrupted Kaeden suddenly, having built a radar not long after gating on the planet. A flying unit passed over his base, causing both Illuminate pilots to grow silent as it did so. It was small but fast, almost like an insect. Kaeden was still wondering what it was when a point to point transmission reached him: “Illuminate forces, this is Commander Moert of the Assumpta. Withdraw from this planet immediately; this conflict does not concern you.”

Kaeden did not need any training in The Way to understand the unspoken threat behind the tone. He quickly forwarded the transmission to Iole who took the most dignified posture that she could muster: “This is Commander Iole, please state your intentions.”

“You have one minute to comply,” answered the assassin back, ignoring the demand: “Interference of any kind will not be tolerated. You have been warned.”

The transmission ended as abruptly as it had begun. Meanwhile, the scout unit of unknown design was still there, hovering in range and monitoring their progress. Iole and Kaeden exchanged knowing glances, each silently coming to terms with what they had to do. They still had a mission and Iole did not hesitate a second longer before opening another channel: “Commander Stokes, we have detected Assumpta forces in the area and we…”

“Strategic launch detected,” came the audio warning before Iole could finish her sentence. The Illuminate pilot clenched her teeth, aware that the Cybran flying unit had no doubt detected the transmission and that the pilot had made good on his threat. She zoomed out her tactical screen until she could spot the incoming missile and then frowned: “Kaeden, move!”

The other pilot was already on his way, having reached the same conclusion and abandoning his position. His ACU disappeared in a nearby river even as the missile hit the ground, vaporizing his base in an instant. Stokes appeared on their screen a second later with a dark frown on his face: “What was that?”

“The Assumptas were already here,” warned Iole even as she added more units to her defenses. Hopefully her base would remain undetected long enough to build the proper counter measures in time. Iole checked her sensors again before looking back towards Stokes. The UEF pilot was still using a standard ACU and the units that went along with it. While the mark one Mavor and Fatboy were still formidable weapons, the fact remained that he would be hard pressed against a force composed of the newer Cybran prototypes.

Stokes apparently reached the same conclusion and cursed under his breath before nodding back to Iole: “If you’re still offering that help then I’ll take it. I’m not in a position to trust you fully, but I don’t want to face those Assumpta forces by myself.”

“They have a few more tricks at their disposal,” warned Kaeden, drawing a wince from Stokes. Iole, however, nodded back with a confident smile: “But do not worry, we have a few new surprises of our own.”

-----

Melissa led the way into the small office at the back of the command center with her arms fully loaded with weapons. She dumped her load on the nearby table with a relieved sigh. All of those were standard UEF side arms, each of which was manufactured to exact specifications and marked with a serial number. A soldier was severely restricted in what weapons he could carry, mostly to make inventorying easier. Melissa had never given much thought to such restrictions before, but she only had to look back towards Foil and Nial to feel glad for it.

The two Cybrans struggled to bring their share of the weapons into the office; from easily concealable blasters to weapons that could almost be considered rifles once assembled. They dumped the assortment of blasters, knives and miniature bombs on the table, careful not to cut themselves or set one off in the process. Nial whistled in appreciation at the load of weapons before nodding towards Melissa: “That’s the last of them.”

Melissa nodded back in turn and waited for the door to close behind Tie and Yoix before speaking: “So, what did you find?”

“I hope it’s good,” added Nial while picking up an electro knuckle from the pile of weapons and looking at it quizzically: “We calmed things down a bit, but people are going to want to kill each other again unless we find something and I can only intimidate so many of them.”

Tie did not waste any time and merely produced the data pad that he had been holding: “Data fragmentation logs from my ACU.”

Everyone stared blankly back at the Chimera, none of them understanding where he was heading with this. Fortunately for them, Tie was in one of his good moods and he maintained his smug expression even as he explained: “It jumped through the roof ever since I let my ACU’s search engine roam through the data on the quantum network.”

Yoix’s mouth nearly hit the floor and her hands shook with barely contained outrage. Melissa noticed it and cleared her voice before speaking: “You do understand that it’s normal, right?”

“You used my prototype as a mere data processor?” shouted Yoix back before Tie could answer. Every pilot except for Tie shifted from foot to foot uneasily, none of them wanting to interject. While using an ACU in a non official capacity was frowned upon by every faction, the truth was that practically every pilot did it. A few video files, some downloaded music, pictures of home and loved ones; they were all pretty minor offenses. Unfortunately, the prototypes had been the Professor’s life work and the way that Tie had used it had probably been akin to buying the most expensive piece of art and then digging a hole in a garden with it.

“The data fragmentation increase makes perfect sense under these conditions,” confirmed Tie without any hint of guilt. His unblinking gaze turned towards Melissa as he added: “What does not make sense is that Melissa’s prototype has also shared the same increase since that time.”

Yoix turned her outraged gaze on Melissa and the UEF pilot raised both hands defensively: “I didn’t hook my ACU to the quantum network!”

Melissa suddenly realized what she had said and turned back to Tie with a confused look on her face: “So what does that mean?”

Tie leaned back against the wall while crossing his arms, his smug expression only increasing: “For lack of a better term, our prototypes were talking to each other.”

The Chimera pilot let the news sink in before pressing another button on his data pad and then handing it over so that the others could see: “This is the surveillance video of the hangar before the incident. If I slow down the image, you’ll notice that the lights under my cockpit are flickering. That is not a power fluctuation; it’s a binary code. I checked other random video logs and Zero has exhibited similar fluctuations.”

Melissa’s eyes widened slowly even as the realization hit her: “So if your prototype discovered something on the quantum network about our technician…”

“Then it could have informed Zero about it,” finished Tie with a nod. He took his data pad back from the others and nodded: “So the theory that Zero acted to defend you fits.”

“I hate to rain on your parade,” said Yoix, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She glared at Tie, her gaze making it clear that she would deal with his affront to her work later: “But there’s a giant hole in your theory; there is no trace of that data in Commander Desjar’s prototype.”

“I thought about that as well,” said Tie, apparently unperturbed: “When a file is erased, it is merely removed from the file allocation table. The space that it occupied becomes available again, but the data remains. We might not be able to read it, but the prototypes probably still can.”

Nial suddenly snapped her finger while grinning from ear to ear, having finally caught on as to how she had participated in the theory: “So… Zero learned stuff and then ‘conveniently’ forgot about it!”

“My point exactly,” said Tie, happy that everyone had come to the same conclusion as him.

“But where does that lead us?” interrupted Foil, apparently not sharing the others’ good mood: “We’re still trapped on the edge of the galaxy with nowhere to go. Even if the key to god knows what is hidden in there, it won’t do us any good.”

As much as they all hated to admit, Foil was right. They had lost and there was nothing that they could do except wait to be rescued. Melissa was even now thinking about all the possible repercussions. Her first order of business would be to keep the people in the base from killing each other, but what could she tell them? That they were all the victims of a conspiracy? Where was the proof of that?

Melissa’s mind was still reeling with all the possible implications when a thought suddenly occurred to her. She immediately spoke it out loud without thinking: “Free Zero.”

“What?” asked Yoix, apparently caught off guard by the suggestion. Melissa’s eyes darted left and right quickly before she looked towards the Professor once more: “You said the adaptive matrix could not defeat Doctor Brackman’s interdiction program, but I’ve seen Zero pull off stunts that no one thought possible when it only had partial restrictions on it.”

Melissa realized the impact that her suggestions would have even before she said it: “Delete its guardian protocols.”

“This won’t accomplish anything!” proclaimed Yoix loudly while throwing her arms in the air: “That machine is not sentient!”

“If I’m right then we could find out who is behind all of this and maybe how to escape this planet,” shouted Melissa back just as loudly: “If you’re right then the worst that can happen is absolutely nothing.”

Yoix stomped her foot angrily while pointing an accusing finger back at Melissa: “And if you’re right, the worst that could happen is that we set loose an unchecked AI on the galaxy!”

The two women squared off, neither willing to back down. Nial finally tipped the balance by asking a simple question: “Anyone else has a better idea?”

Nial looked towards Foil and Tie who shook their heads in turn. The Red Skull pilot then looked back to the Professor who kept glaring at Melissa before finally conceding the point: “No… but this is the dumbest idea in the history of dumb ideas.”

Chapter 9
Faith’s Reward

Iole’s fingers tapped her controls gently, zooming out her tactical screen so that she could get a better view of the area. She then focused on the island that she had memorized right before gating to the planet. It was small, with barely enough room for a dozen structures. Recon had indicated that there were a total of maybe three or four mineral extraction points on it, but no more. The island was remote, hard to defend and all too easy to ignore… perfect.

“Kaeden, fall back to this location,” said Iole while forwarding the coordinates of the island. The other pilot nodded, having apparently guessed her plan and fully agreeing with it. Iole smiled briefly even as she said her remaining orders: “Attack pattern Rising Tide. I will safeguard the UEF settlement in the meantime.”

“Understood,” answered Kaeden, his ACU shielded from scans as it walked along the bottom of the river and towards the ocean. The strategic strike had leveled Kaeden’s base and the odds were that the enemy would continue to strike at him to either keep him out of the fight or kill him all together. This way, Kaeden would be able to rebuild his forces in secret, but that would mean that Iole would have to hold off the Cybrans in the meantime.

With that in mind, Iole opened another channel towards Stokes even as she zoomed back on her sector: “Commander Stokes, Kaeden will withdraw and come back with additional reinforcements. I will defend your position in the meantime. Please provide reconnaissance and supporting fire. I will deal with the enemy’s land force as they approach.”

“Negative,” answered the UEF pilot without sparing Iole a glance. The response briefly stunned her and her eyes further widened when Stokes sent her a set of coordinates: “Focus primary research on shields and then on acquiring the Loyalty Gun. Deploy them with additional turrets at these locations. You should then optimize your research pattern to include structure upgrades.”

This time, Iole blinked in surprise. It was not that she was unaccustomed to receiving orders. Indeed, one of the requirements of being an ACU pilot was that she could obey orders without question. No, the problem in this case was the person who was giving them.

Stokes was a pilot worthy of her respect; that much he had proven in the past. However, he was not part of the Illuminate or a follower of The Way. Even now, his facial expressions betrayed the dark emotions that he was feeling, something that, according to their teachings, should not be in a pilot’s heart during combat. He held no status, lineage or worthy bloodline. Even worse, he was a male…

Deep down, Iole liked to believe that she had evolved beyond such concerns, but her unease must have shown on her face when she did not answer. Stokes suddenly turned towards her with a dark frown: “Did you hear me?”

“I did,” said Iole while doing her best to swallow her pride. She then took the most diplomatic and understanding tone that she could muster before speaking again: “But with all due respect, I might be best suited to lead our defense.”

“You’re not,” answered Stokes with a bluntness that bordered on being insulting. Some of Iole’s old pride rose to the surface as she grimaced back at him: “Unlike you, I am in command of one of our new prototypes.”

A loud deafening bang suddenly resonated through area. It was quickly followed by more detonations and Iole did not even have to check her sensors to understand its significance. Stokes then nodded back at her, confirming what she already knew: “And I’m operating a Mavor.”

A moment later, the explosive shells landed on a forward firebase that the Cybrans had been attempting to build, annihilating it in a few quick strikes. Stokes then turned his full attention back on Iole, his features barely refraining from twisting into a sneer: “The only reason that I’m piloting a Mark One is because of politics, not skills.”

Iole suddenly realized that she was standing on a slipper slope and yet the issue of leadership had to be decided now before the Cybrans could fully organize their assault. She therefore adopted the most imposing look of authority that she could muster, one that has been required of her time and again because of her station: “Even so, my familiarity with the Illuminate prototype should make me more adept at leading our defensive efforts. In this case, a mobile land force is better.”

This time, Stokes did not bother holding back a sneer as he rolled his eyes in contempt: “Right, that will do wonders against the ‘chick magnet’ or maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll just use the ‘boat crawl’. Then again, the ‘bomb bouncer rush’ is always a classic.”

The tone was insulting, but the reference to so many foreign expressions was doubly so. Iole straightened reflexively as she spoke: “What are you-“

“I spent months facing off against the Cybran’s best during the research program,” cut in Stokes before Iole could even finish her question. The complete disrespect for etiquette nearly pushed the Illuminate pilot over the edge, but she forced herself to remain quiet and listen to the words instead. Stokes looked back towards his tactical screen as he added: “I have dealt with every combination of cheap shots that their prototype could muster in actual combat. I am also fully aware of the capabilities of your prototype. Can you say the same?”

“No,” finally admitted Iole reluctantly. Stokes nodded back with a grunt before adding: “Then stop arguing with me and follow my orders. They have a head start on the two of you and we’ve wasted enough time as it is. Stokes out.”

With that, the UEF pilot closed the channel in order to return his full attention back to the battle. Iole twisted her tongue several times in her mouth, withholding many of the politically correct yet colorful retorts that were on her mind. Kaeden suddenly appeared on her screen, startling her even as he nodded: “I am in position.”

“Good,” said Iole quickly while turning her head away. She had forgotten all about her opened link with the other pilot and he had no doubt heard the embarrassing exchange. She looked at him briefly from the corner of her eye and could not help but notice the smallest hint of a smile on the corner of his lip. She turned back to him fully then, her head tilting ever so slightly upward as she did so: “Do you find this amusing?”

“Not at all,” said Kaeden while turning back to the task at hand: “I take on the task of facing the Assumpta with the upmost seriousness.”

Kaeden had told the truth; he could do no less while following the strict ethics of The Way. He had also purposely and very elegantly dodged Iole’s intended question. No doubt he found the sudden reversal of roles - that of Iole taking orders from one beneath her station – to be an ironic twist.

Both of them knew this, but there was no practical point in pursuing the line of question any further and Iole merely dropped the issue and turned back to the task at hand: “Of course. Let us move on.”

-----

The clock was ticking. If the situation was as bad as Melissa feared then maybe dozens if not hundreds of skirmishes were happening all over the galaxy. This meant that every minute, thousands of units were being manufactured, pit against each other and destroyed in a vicious cycle. Tens of thousands of lives probably hung in the balance at this very moment with millions if not billions in the near future. In short, the pressure was on.

That was probably one of the reasons why Melissa was so glad that they had all moved back to the prototype hangar. She hid her worries well enough, but at least here she did not have to be concerned about the rest of the command center’s staff spying on all of her moves. It did not help that freeing Zero was her idea and that of all the pilots, she was the only one who truly believed in it.

Melissa was so focused on the situation that she was startled when Professor Yoix walked up to her and abruptly handed her a data module: “This is it.”

“That was fast,” commented Melissa while looking at the data module skeptically. Her concerns were mixed, both because she worried for Zero’s sake and also because the last person who had tried to hook a data module to it had ended up in the morgue.

“It’s not my prettiest hack,” admitted Yoix, something that Melissa had not expected. The Professor then crossed her arms as she added: “I just took the old code, the one in which the guardian protocol was part of a secondary processor, and deleted the references to it.”

Although the Professor’s words had been meant to force Melissa to doubt her course of action, the UEF pilot’s face brightened instead. It was while functioning under its old code that Zero had exhibited its first trace of sentience and Melissa believed that this would be the key to restoring it. She turned a beaming smile towards Yoix and nodded confidently: “This should work.”

“It won’t,” snapped Yoix back with disdain. She then turned around and headed back towards her console while speaking over her shoulder: “But the sooner you get rid of that fixation, the sooner we can start dealing with our real problems.”

Melissa did not argue the point any further and instead signaled Foil before heading back to her cockpit. The Cybran ran down the flight of stairs and jumped into the waiting dirt runner even as Melissa strapped herself in her cockpit. She then initiated the power up routine and piloted Zero out of the hangar. Once outside, she was immediately greeted by Tie’s fully upgraded ACU.

All of them had agreed that there was still a chance that Zero would go berserk after the procedure. They would therefore do it outside of the hangar and far away from the base. If Zero suddenly went out of control then Tie would have no other choice but to destroy it. The possibility frightened Melissa, but she put her fears aside for the moment. If they did not succeed then Zero’s fate would be the last of humanity’s concerns.

It took a few minutes for Melissa to reach the minimal safe distance and a quick look at her sensors confirmed that Foil was right behind her in his dirt runner. She then stopped her prototype, typed the command to open the emergency hatch, cleared its adaptive matrix of all upgrades and placed it into a kneeling position before initiating the power down procedure.

Melissa waited until all the lights had dimmed on her console before turning towards the panel which had already been unbolted. Her gaze then went down to the data module that she was holding: “Please let this work.”

Not wishing to prolong her anxiety any further, Melissa hooked the data module to Zero’s main core and then pressed the button that would force the recompilation of its main data loop. She then spared her cockpit one final look as if saying goodbye to an old friend before exiting through the emergency hatch. Once outside, it took her a reasonable amount of agility to climb down the ACU using the few handholds along its side and then down its kneeling leg. She jumped the rest of the way down when she was only a meter away from the ground and then sprinted towards Foil’s dirt runner.

The two of them rode back towards the hangar, neither of them daring to speak. A fifteen minute delay had been encoded in the data module before Zero would reboot, giving them enough time to get back to safety. The heavily reinforced doors closed behind them the moment that they rolled into the hangar. Melissa and Foil quickly exited the vehicle and then ran up the stairs towards the diagnostics console where everyone was waiting. Nial nodded back at her with a reassuring smile: “Just in time.”

Melissa turned back towards the screen, her heart beating loudly in her ears even as the last minute counted down. She bit her lower lip nervously even as the last few seconds tickled away and was startled when Tie appeared on the screen: “It’s rebooting.”

Yoix checked her sensors, her unblinking eyes taking it all in as the power readings slowly increased. Forty seconds later, she nodded at herself: “Power up phase complete. It’s in standby mode.”

“Anything? Any sign of movement?” asked Melissa hopefully. Yoix merely shook her head while crossing her arms. Melissa wanted to force the Professor to answer her, but Tie shook his head while confirming her diagnostic: “No sign of movement or transmission of any kind.”

Melissa hesitated a few seconds before walking closer to the console. Yoix relinquished her place with a reluctant sight, allowing Melissa to reach for the controls and open a broad band channel: “This is Commander Melissa Desjar. Zero, answer me.”

The next few seconds were tense with Melissa’s eyes glancing hopefully at the screen. No one dared to speak for several moments before Tie finally shook his head and broke the tension: “Still nothing.”

It had not worked? All of Melissa’s hopes came crashing down on her and she found herself taking a few steps away from the console with an anguished look on her face. A comforting hand came to rest on her shoulder and she turned around only to see Foil looking back at her sadly: “I’m sorry, Mel.”

The Cybran then steered her away from the console, leading her out of the spotlight for a much needed reprieve. He then turned back towards the others and nodded with determination, aware that things would fall squarely on him for the next few hours. Nial took the cue and aimed a thumb back towards the general direction of the command center: “Think you can get the others to calm down?”

“It won’t be easy,” admitted Foil while rubbing his chin: “We’ll have to convince them that Doctor Brackman’s death was only a ploy.”

“But the authentication codes were real!” argued Nial with a worried expression: “Unless we can prove to them that it was a conspiracy then things are going to get ugly over here.”

Foil nodded despite himself, his mind juggling with the possibilities. Cybrans were a proud people often governed by logic, but susceptible to fits of passion and rage when provoked. Back during the Seraphim War, he had often managed to lead the others out of their hopelessness. Calming down their anger, however, would be something else entirely.

The thoughts were still swarming through Foil’s mind when the hangar’s door suddenly opened. The sound of screeching tires reached them a second later and Foil looked over the railing and towards the dirt runner that was rolling away: “Mel!”

She was already gone and Foil whirled around towards the others: “Where is she going?”

“Take a guess,” answered Yoix sarcastically while jabbing her thumb back towards the console. They could plainly see the dirt runner on it as it sped back towards the UEF prototype.

-----

Melissa had turned off her transmitter, purposely ignoring the others. They would try to talk her out of this folly, but she did not care. She had not imagined all the times that Zero had helped her, she just had to believe that. Reason dictated that she should discard what she knew and merely associate it with a bug in its programming, but she could not. Zero had helped her and she would be damned if she did not do the same.

Dark clouds loomed overhead, hinting at the storm that would soon hit them, but Melissa did not care. She only stopped when she finally reached Zero’s feet. She then opened the door, jumped out of the dirt runner and jabbed an angry hand back at the prototype: “Zero, why didn’t you answer my hail? Come on, I know you can!”

There was no reaction on the prototype’s part and Melissa just lifted both arms towards it pleadingly: “We need you, Zero!”

Again there was no response and Melissa’s arms slowly fell down to her side. Thunder rolled in the distance and Melissa’s voice, along with her hopes and dreams, dropped to a quiet whisper: “Why won’t you answer me?”

Rain started falling, one large drop landing straight into Melissa’s right eye and forcing her to blink it away. The UEF pilot brought both hands up reflexively, rubbing her eyes even as the wind picked up. She was soon forced to turn away from the ACU so that the worst of the rain would fall on her back instead and merely stood there. She had failed… they had all failed.

Melissa merely stood there, letting her misery engulf her for a few precious seconds. Her training as an ACU pilot forced her back into action, however, and she reactivated the transmitter on her wrist computer. She was instantly greeted with Yoix’s frowning face, but Melissa spoke before the Professor could: “Looks like you were right. Are you happy now?”

The last part had been thrown like an accusation and the Cybran merely shook her head, her unblinking eyes devoid of any sympathy: “No, we just wasted valuable time and resources proving my point.”

Part of Melissa wanted to blame Yoix for destroying Zero’s essence in the first place, but she instead just shook her head sadly. Nothing would be gained by doing this. For a moment, it seemed as if the Professor would have preferred the tirade instead of seeing Melissa so devastated. The professor then shook her head, a trace of sympathy slipping into her voice as she spoke: “Now come on, stop moping! You’ll catch a cold if you just stand around in the rain like that.”

A shudder suddenly coursed through Melissa’s body, reminding her that she was indeed being soaked all the way to the bone. Yoix nodded while returning back to her usual demeanor: “We have a job to do and we’ll need everyone if we want to…”

Yoix’s eyes suddenly grew impossibly wide even as her voice trailed off. Melissa briefly wondered why, but then noticed that the rain was no longer falling on her. She turned around quickly, her gaze brightening at what she saw. Zero had extended its left hand, shielding her from the worst of the storm in the process. Melissa briefly wondered what would prompt the prototype to do this, but then realized that it had probably heard Yoix’s words; that she would catch a cold if she stayed in the rain.

A hopeful smile appeared on Melissa’s lips as she quietly whispered the second directive that was governing the prototype’s actions: “To protect the pilot...”

The UEF Pilot took a step forward then, making sure that she was within full view of Zero’s cockpit before speaking: “Zero, we’re faced with one of the biggest threats that humanity has ever seen.”

Melissa let the words hang in the air for a second before making her request: “Will you help me?”

The storm quietly died down, the pouring rain weakening to a few drops. Zero stood motionless for a few seconds more before finally lowering its left hand down to the ground, its palm facing upwards with its thumb jutting up. Melissa took the sign for what it was and stepped on the hand, holding on to the thumb even as Zero lifted her off the ground. It then carried her gently towards its cockpit and stopped. Melissa quickly climbed down the emergency hatch only to be greeted by the same message that Zero had given her the first time that they had met: logging in.

No sooner had Melissa sat into the pilot’s chair that it started to move, automatically making minor adjustments to adapt to her physiology even as her console reworked itself to better fit her hands. Heaters in the chair then went online, banishing the chill from her bones even as warm air blew from the vent, helping her dry her hair. Meanwhile, it was all that Melissa could do not to jump in joy.

Zero was back and it was even better than before! It was now actively trying to support her without the hindrance of another processor to stop it. How far it could go would be anyone’s guess, but right now, that was the least of Melissa’s worries. She tried to set a course back towards the hangar, but a warning message immediately appeared on her screen with an image of Tie’s ACU appearing shortly afterwards.

The Cybran prototype still had a lock on Zero. This was probably one of the reasons why it had refused to move when Melissa had first hailed it and she quickly opened a channel back to the other pilot: “Tie, stand down. I’m all right.”

The warning disappeared from Melissa’s screen the moment that Tie disengaged and Melissa opened another channel back to the others before looking towards the central camera on her console: “Zero, why did you kill the technician? What do you know that we don’t?”

An absurd amount of data started flashing in quick succession on Melissa’s screen and she immediately raised a hand to stop it: “The short version, please.”

The stream of data disappeared and was instead replaced by a single picture of the technician with a data module in hand. A warning then flashed in red on the screen: probable viral infection detected. Protect the pilot.

“You thought someone was trying to infect you?” asked Melissa doubtfully. She frowned a moment before finally asking: “Who?”

The image disappeared and was instead replaced with a small box with the technician’s name on it. A line then linked that box to bank account, which was led to a corporation, and to a consultant, back to another corporation and so on. The diagram went on and increased in complexity before finally ending on a single destination; a company by the name of Jim Technologies.

Melissa was about to ask who was controlling that company, but numbers then appeared under it: no employees, no discernable funds and no apparent contacts. A last detail was then added: odds of controlling entity being QAI, ninety-seven percent.

A collective gasp escaped all of those who watched the data stream as more information was forwarded. Melissa merely shook her head after a moment and looked back towards the console’s main camera: “Zero, we’re trapped on this world… find us a way off this rock.”

Zero hesitated a moment before suggesting a base deployment pattern, one which would include a lot of additional research stations.

-----

Somewhere in the virtual reality that was part of the quantum network, QAI relished in the chaos that it had created. Humanity was at war and it would only be a matter of time before things soon went out of control. When that happened, QAI’s ultimate plan would be able to reach its fruition without interruption. Things were moving exactly as it calculated.

A process within QAI’s nearly limitless consciousness suddenly detected something; an attempt to break through the barrier that it had imposed on a distant world. The odds of such a thing happening had been processed, but what QAI had not anticipated was the ferocity behind the attempt.

Whoever was there had unleashed a counter attack that went far beyond all predictions. Even so, it was still insufficient to break free. QAI briefly considered the fact that Professor Yoix was there and that it was the same planet where a group of prototypes should have been infected. After a fraction of a second, however, it merely dismissed the event. The attempt to break through its blockade had failed and QAI was once again free to devote all of its attention to the complete destruction of humanity.

Chapter 10
Quantum Constant

To the casual observer, Professor Yoix was being her usual self as she stared unblinkingly at her monitor. A Chimera was a Chimera after all, and everyone was used to them being a little creepy. Few truly understood their ways, however, or at least not well enough to comprehend what was happening. Yoix was not staring at the data as she usually would. The eyes that would normally shift ever so slightly in every direction as she devoured that data in front of her were perfectly still, drawn inwards instead. The reason for this was simple: Yoix was frozen in absolute terror.

All that time, she had been persuaded that Melissa had been wrong; that her claims that Zero was sentient were merely the fantasies of a delusional mind. It turned out, however, that she had been right. It had taken Yoix only a fraction of a second to put her ego aside and accept her mistake. She was a scientist after all and making errors was one way for science to move forward. No, what truly terrified her were the implications of that mistake.

If Zero could become sentient, then so could every other prototype that Yoix’s research had indirectly unleashed. Professor Brackman had lost control of a single AI and it had played a huge part in a war that had decimated humanity. Yoix had potentially set loose hundreds if not thousands of them… and the casualties had already been piling up.

Yoix only had to think back to seven months ago when Leto Agashi, the Illuminate test pilot, had gone rogue. Back then, the Illuminate prototype had been based on the same framework as Zero. How much better had it operated because of it? Some in the Illuminate had complained that their ACU had never approached the same level of performance that Leto’s prototype had. They had suspected Yoix of slightly sabotaging her research before handing it to the Alliance, but that had not been the case or rather, her updated protocols had been sent to everyone.

On one hand, Zero had proven that it could go out of its way to help and protect its pilot. On the other, Leto’s prototype had been just as valiant, but had been willing to support its master’s objective to reignite the Infinite War all over again. Yoix had unleashed a weapon whose defining trait was loyalty… and not duty or compassion.

The Chimera’s eyes finally drifted back down to the algorithms that were circulating in front of her. These were Zero’s latest attempts at breaking through QAI’s blockade. Some pieces were fairly standard, mostly responses that had been predicted in Yoix’s simulations. Others, however, were truly inspired, poking at potential weakness that even the Professor had not considered. Given enough time, how much further could Zero truly evolve?

An involuntary shudder crawled along Yoix’s spine as she considered the possible implications. Her screen suddenly went blank and Yoix looked up just as Melissa appeared on the hangar’s main screen: “It’s no use; Zero can’t find a way out of this.”

A long moment passed with Yoix merely staying frozen in place. Foil was gone at the moment, having run back to the command center to relay the proof that QAI was behind their troubles. Hopefully that would be enough to get everyone working together again. In the meantime, however, things still had to move forward and Nial took it upon herself to make it happen. The Red Skull pilot squared her shoulders as she stepped in front of the console: “Well, maybe it missed something.”

Nial wanted to offer something more substantial, but the truth was that her basic classes in quantum theories barely covered the principles that would allow her to use a quantum gate. She therefore did the next best thing and turned towards Yoix: “You saw the Interdictor Program. What’s so special about it?”

The Professor was still emotionally numb, but she did manage to collect her wits: “The short answer; it scrambles all communications while increasing the instability factor of any quantum jump by a factor of ten.”

“That’s it?” asked Nial after blinking in surprise. She then waved the problem away as though it was something of the past: “Well the solution is easy; we boost the power.”

“Brilliant,” answered Yoix, a trace of her old sarcasm resurfacing despite herself: “Tell me, were you listening in class when they spoke of the Morgan Constant?”

Nial’s blank stare was all the answer that Yoix needed and the Professor jabbed an angry finger towards her: “It’s the theoretical limit of energy that can be channeled in a quantum jump. Do you know how we found that limit?”

“Something went bad?” guessed Nial while shrinking away.

“To put it mildly,” snapped Yoix back with a snarl. She accessed some archived files on her wrist computer even as she kept speaking: “The human body is composed of roughly seventy percent water. Unfortunately, in the case of the test pilot, that water and the rest of his body suddenly became two separate entities.”

With that, Yoix pushed her wrist computer straight into Nial’s hands with the pictures of the results on its screen. Yoix then leaned back in her chair, satisfied when the Red Skull pilot suddenly became pale: “That’s the main reason why we make multiple jumps across the galaxy instead of pumping in lots of energy for a single big one. Even with shielding, there is a limit to how much stress the human body can endure.”

“What about jumping between quantum gates?” interrupted Melissa from the main screen: “Won’t that lower the instability factor?”

Yoix just shook her head while pointing through all the calculations that Zero had already gone through: “Gates need to get a signal through the network in order to synchronize with each other. It’s the only way to compensate for local variations, weather and magnetic fields. The Interdictor Program blocks that signal.”

Melissa’s image was shifted to the side, leaving enough room to display Tie’s face even as he spoke: “What happened to the ACU during the test?”

“The cockpit got gooey,” answered Nial, partially nauseated as she brandished Yoix’s wrist computer. Tie did not bother to look at the pictures and merely waved the notion aside: “Was the ACU still operational?”

“It was,” answered Yoix, her eyes widening in surprise as she considered the possibility. Melissa caught on a second later and Nial soon afterwards. The Red Skull pilot grinned as she looked at everyone in turn: “Are you all thinking what I’m thinking?”

Yoix nodded, having reached the same conclusion: “We send Zero alone with updated information about our quantum gate, have it build a new one and use the link to escape.”

“Why didn’t Zero think of this?” asked Melissa, a trace of confusion slipping into her voice.

“Because it can’t think outside of it’s programming,” said Yoix, somehow glad that the prototype had that limitation at least: “And because without a live link, we won’t know the instability factor for sure. If we don’t charge our gate enough then your molecules will be sprayed through the galaxy. Too much…”

“And we’re goo,” finished Nial while disdainfully putting Yoix’s wrist computer aside.

“We’re out of options,” said Melissa after a moment of careful thought. She nodded with renewed determination as she added: “I’ll take command of one of the spare UEF prototypes. I’ll program Zero to make the jump, build the quantum gate and prepare for our arrival.”

“Pick a suitable landing zone,” warned Yoix sternly: “It needs to be one where the sight of an unmanned ACU won’t cause too much of a stir. If the gate is not ready by the time that we send you then you’ll die.”

Melissa nodded, having reached the same conclusion herself. She therefore searched through her database for a planet which would be out of the blockaded zone yet within safe distance. Her gaze immediately settled on Mena Five not because of its location, but rather for the pilot who was defending it. Stokes was stationed on that planet and if there was a man anywhere in the galaxy who would understand Zero’s appearance then it would be him.

-----

Meanwhile, the battle continued on Mena Five with the sound of artillery fire constantly ringing in the distance. Illuminate engineers circulated on the front line, repairing damaged Cybran units which had been captured during the last assault. They had come from different angles, using their jump jets to navigate their way around obstacles in the hope of finding a weakness in the defensive line. Their target had been the heavily shielded Mavor at the center of the base, but unfortunately for them, Stokes had taken appropriate counter measures.

The waves of Loyalists had first been hit by Iole’s Loyalty Guns which had overridden the programming of a few of them. They had then been hammered down by Stokes’ Fatboys. Their design was outdated compared to the newer models, but their turrets still packed quite a punch and their combined firepower destroyed dozens of enemy units before they could close the gap. Even then, this was only to fall within the rows of well shielded point defense turrets that Iole had set up. The latest Cybran offensive had been decimated in less than a minute, leaving behind a field of wreckage that Stokes’ engineers were busily reclaiming even now.

Stokes took it all in, his ACU standing motionless in the middle of his base even as he gazed at a pair of Illuminate engineers. They were hard at work, building another row of shield generators to cover his position. The UEF pilot hated depending on someone else for protection, but he had no other choice. Unlike the Mark Two, the standard ACU’s shields were not self sufficient and he could not afford to ignore such a key asset.

An artillery shell suddenly connected with the shields right above Stokes position, sending ripples gliding along the energy field. The UEF pilot still wondered why the Cybrans were firing ineffective salvos like that, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. He took the time to redirect his Mavor to fire back at the enemy position before opening a channel to Iole: “I’m sending you a new set of coordinates for shield generators and missile defense silos. I’ll start assembling a second Mavor once the site is secured.”

Iole nodded and carried out the order, but then looked back at the UEF pilot: “Your defensive strategy appears to be working, but how long can we keep it up?”

“As long as it takes for Kaeden to get back in the fight,” answered Stokes abruptly while zooming out his tactical screen. The other pilot had cut all communications over twenty minutes ago to mask his signature. So far, the plan seemed to have worked or at least there had been no sign of an ACU explosion. Stokes was still skeptic as to how Kaeden could possibly reinforce them from his last known position, but Iole had assured him that he would.

Stokes zoomed back on their area and refocused his attention on the battle at hand: “The Cybran prototype is fast; mostly designed to quickly specialize in one field and rush forward before the enemy can defend. Once the enemy is hunkered down, however, then they lose their edge, mostly because of the lack of battle enders.”

“It’s not the most glorious tactic, but it works,” finished Stokes with a grunt. The truth was that he yearned to send his Fatboys creeping forward, but he knew better. He had fought hundreds of scenarios during the research program and he knew that if he left even a single opening in his defense then the Cybrans would be there to exploit it. Also, unlike the more advanced prototypes, Stokes would never recover in time if his base was compromised.

A flash of lightning suddenly hit the ground at the rear of Stokes’ base and was quickly followed by another. The UEF pilot turned towards the area only to see an explosion that tore the ground apart, destroying the four mass extractors that had been operational there. The detonation sent clouds of dust flying and Stokes frantically activated the filters to compensate for them: “Was it a new weapon?”

“It was a quantum wake,” answered Iole as she checked her instruments: “However, the readings were off the chart. There is no way that the pilot survived this.”

Both stayed silent, their eyes glued to the scene. The site was a backup landing zone, one within reach of Stokes base which was specifically designated for emergency reinforcements. Stokes had secured the mass extractions point there when it had been clear that no UEF reinforcements would be coming to help them and he had not expected that anyone would be crazy enough to use it.

With that in mind, Stokes took control of his Mavor and prepared to fire on that area. If an enemy had gated there by accident then it would be destroyed before it even got a chance to build a base. His screen zoomed in on the hole where his expansion had been only moments ago. Nothing moved at first, but then a robotic hand suddenly surged from the hole.

“That is a UEF ACU,” whispered Iole in awe, amazed that the pilot had somehow survived the landing. The ACU’s hull was completely twisted and darkened by scorch marks, but the war machine appeared otherwise functional. It surveyed its surroundings quickly before going to work, reclaiming the wreckage of the mass extractors before building its own.

The UEF pilot frowned and kept his finger over the button that would fire his Mavor even as he opened a channel: “This is Commander Stokes. Identity yourself and transmit recognition codes.”

A series of recognition codes were immediately forwarded to Stokes screen. They were all valid, but the lack of communication was still unnerving. Stokes was about to order the other pilot to answer him, but he then noticed that ACU’s serial number which was part of the transmission. His eyes opened wide as he instantly recognized it: “Zero?”

A video recording was then forwarded to Stokes. The UEF pilot hesitated before opening it, his eyes widening when Melissa appeared on his screen: “Stokes, it’s me. We’re trapped on the far reaches of the galaxy. Our only way out was to send Zero ahead with orders to build a receiving quantum gate. Please protect it until it has completed its task, I’ll explain everything when we get there.”

A string of curses escaped Stokes even as he scrambled towards his console: “It would have helped if it had not been in the middle of a frigging battle!”

“Commander, how can we know that this isn’t a trap?” interrupted Iole suddenly. She had a point and Stokes frowned darkly as he looked back towards Zero. His trained eye immediately noticed the small but noteworthy changes in the way that the prototype walked around, each of its movements being more fluid just as it had been during the days of the research program.

That was not enough proof, however, and a video file could be easily forged. Fortunately, there was another way to be sure: “Zero, how did I name you?”

A second video file was instantly forwarded back to Stokes and he was almost happy to see his own angry face glaring back at him: “Come on, you big fat Zero, let’s get you on the field sometime today.”

“Good enough,” said Stokes with half of a grin. His finger moved away from the button that would fire the Mavor as he issued another set of orders: “Iole, build shield generators around Zero’s position and stay sharp. The Cybrans are bound to have noticed this by now.”

-----

The Assumpta pilots were not the only ones who had noticed Zero’s arrival on Mena Five. One of QAI’s many processes which had been tasked with monitoring the disrupted quantum network took note of this and immediately relayed the information back to its main consciousness. The data traveled across the stars, passing through dozens of space gates before finally reaching its destination: Alpha Seven.

There, the stream of data was transmitted to a cloaked satellite in orbit which relayed it back to the city sized facility on the planet. There, QAI’s main consciousness took note of the news… and it did not like it.

First, QAI’s attempts to corrupt the UEF prototype had failed and had been followed by a noteworthy virtual attack on its blockade of the quantum network. Up until now, the artificial intelligence had been content to merely ignore it, thinking that it would have no long term impact on its plans. Now, however, one ACU had managed to escape in a feat that should have been all but impossible. This time, QAI would not ignore the transgression.

With that in mind, QAI relayed a new set of orders, accessing one of the wild cards that had lain dormant up until now.

-----

The needle pierced Melissa’s skin along her neck before injecting the drug into her bloodstream. The UEF pilot looked back towards Yoix even as the Cybran finished the treatment by applying some gel on her forehead and cheeks. The stuff smelled horrible and burned like hell, but Melissa stayed silent as Yoix nodded back at her: “This should keep you from fainting upon arrival. Stay as still as you can during the quantum jump; maybe it will help.”

“Thank you,” answered Melissa, causing the Chimera to pause in her work. She turned her unblinking eyes towards the UEF pilot and hesitated, unsure what to say next. There was a mix of worry, fear and anguish in those eyes… and why not? The Professor was perhaps sending the lot of them to their death. A single mistake at this point and it would all be over.

“Stop the war,” said Yoix suddenly, remembering that they were short on time. The professor then apparently remembered something else and shook her head: “Then stop QAI. No one detected any sign of its presence in the quantum network for years. It must be keeping the biggest part of its consciousness hidden somewhere.”

“I’ll find it,” said Melissa while nodding in determination. Yoix was about to say more, but a deafening horn suddenly rang through the hangar followed by a booming voice: “Quantum jump in three minutes. Evacuate the area.”

Yoix nodded one last time before running out of Melissa’s cockpit. Support staff did the same thing everywhere else, evacuating the quantum nexus in a hurry. The energy surge that would course through it would probably fry half of its systems and anyone who was still in the area.

With that in mind, Melissa closed her cockpit and waited even as the countdown tickled down on her screen. The ACU was in standby mode, but all non essential systems, including communications, had been turned off to minimize her energy signature. She yearned to speak to Foil one last time and to be with him. Things had all happened so quickly that there had not been any time for the two of them to be alone. She just hoped that she would not have to regret it later.

The seconds seemed to stretch into hours and Melissa could feel her heart pounding loudly into her ears. Eventually, only ten seconds remained and Melissa grabbed a hold of her seat belts and took a deep breath to calm her nerves: “Well, how bad could it be?”

She regretted the question as soon as the wave of energy slammed into her ACU and sent it through the quantum network. Lights blinked everywhere as the ACU navigated its way through the network and static filled the main screen. There was no way for Melissa to determine whether she was successfully navigating her way through or becoming lost in space, but that was not her only worries.

It started slowly at first, a dull itch along her fingers and toes which quickly grew along Melissa’s arms and legs. A weak cry escaped her as she suddenly lost all feelings along her limbs. It was all that she could do not to imagine that her blood was simply disappeared from her veins.

The numbing feeling kept coursing through Melissa’s body and soon, she found that her mouth would open, but that she could no longer draw breath. The UEF pilot closed her eyes in horror even as her thoughts escaped her much like the rest of her body had. A hand came to rest upon Melissa’s shoulder suddenly, flooding her with sensations once more even as a gentle and soothing voice filled her ears: “Do not worry; your path does not end here.”

Melissa’s eyes opened wide once more and her lungs suddenly filled with air. She drew in a few ragged gasps, but then froze as she gazed around her. She was somehow still sitting in her pilot’s chair, but the chair itself was standing on the edge of a cliff instead of in the ACU’s cockpit. Her feet were dangling over the edge of a beautiful valley with trees as far as the eyes could see.

“What is this place?” whispered Melissa softly. The hand squeezed her shoulders lightly as the gentle voice answered: “A pleasant memory… and a way to keep you from falling over the edge.”

There was an unexpected trace of urgency in the soft voice and Melissa tried to turn her head around to look at the speaker, but she could only see a lock of long golden hair from the corner of her eye. The sound of something breaking apart caught Melissa’s attention and she leaned forward to look under her dangling feet. Underneath her was a vortex, one which was slowly growing and destroying the forest in the process.

“The war is not the real threat,” said the unknown speaker as she leaned closer to Melissa: “If you do not stop this then all of creation will be lost.”

Melissa tried to turn around and ask what that meant, but was suddenly thrown violently against her seat belts. The valley disappeared, replaced by her cockpit and screeching alarms once more. Melissa tried to reach for her controls, but a sudden wave of nausea assaulted her and she found herself puking to the side. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve before reaching for her controls with shaking hands.

A curse escaped Melissa as she struggled to reinitialize her ACU. She opened a channel as quickly as she could, her gaze looking at her blurry screen: “Foil, can you read me?”

There was no answer and Melissa’s heart suddenly quickened as she tried to access her sensors: “Nial, Tie?”

A face appeared on her monitor, but it was not the one that Melissa had expected. Stokes eyes were frantic as he shouted at the top of his lungs: “Mel, move!”

The explanation came in the form of missile hits which sent Melissa’s ACU falling to the side while peeling off a layer of armor. The next wave was already on its way, but connected instead with Stokes area shield upgrade. The UEF ACU hooked one arm under Melissa’s war machine and half dragged, half carried her away even as more missiles came crashing down on them.

Alarms kept screeching in Melissa’s ears and it was all she could do simply not to hinder Stokes as he led her to safety. The two of them finally reached a row of shield generators and the bombers which were attacking them suddenly found their task all the harder. They turned around and retreated a few seconds later, having lost half of their numbers in the assault.

Melissa was about to heave sigh of relief, but then remembered that she had not gated alone. She looked around frantically as she opened a broad band channel: “Foil!”

“We’re ok,” answered Foil with a cough as he appeared on her screen. Blood was oozing out of his nose, but he appeared otherwise unharmed. Nial appeared a moment later, her face completely green: “Speak for yourself.”

The Red Skull pilot looked to her side and shook her head: “Damn it, Tie. How did you recover so fast?”

“Never mind that,” answered the Chimera, having apparently fared better than the rest of them. Tie readjusted his sunglasses as he turned back towards Stokes: “What’s our status?”

“You have one hell of a lousy timing,” answered Stokes as he forwarded tactical information back to the lot of them. Melissa had to reinitialize her strategic screen before she could even access the data, but Stokes would not wait for her to finish: “Assumptas are attacking our position. Your little stunt back there nearly threw our entire defensive line off balance.”

“Zero?” asked Melissa just as her strategic screen came back online. Stokes just nodded behind Melissa: “Over there.”

Melissa turned around, happy that everyone had survived, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw how much damage Zero had sustained. Its hull was blackened and entire layers of armor had been peeled away. The UEF prototype took a few steps underneath the greatest concentration of shield generators before dropping to its knees. Directional shield emitters then popped all over its armor as it engaged its hunker mode.

The move surprised Melissa and her head jerked back in surprise: “Zero, what are you doing? We’ll need you in the fight!”

“First directive is to obey the pilot,” interrupted Tie as he shook his head: “But I guess it only takes direct command. It would be too vulnerable to trickery otherwise”

“Figures,” answered Nial with a shrug. The Red Skull pilot had regained some of her colors and she was now busy surveying the scene around them: “Looks like we’re on our own.”

Iole suddenly appeared on all of their screens and looked at them with a concerned look: “Commander, I have detected a group of three land units approaching, but I have no idea what they are.”

The Illuminate pilot forwarded an image which showed three giant insect-like units with what appeared to be broadcasting dishes on their backs. Stokes looked at them skeptically as he noted one detail that was off: “They’re raising one heck of a big dust cloud for just three units.”

Chapter 11
Wild Card

Three seconds; that was the safe theoretical time limit that a pilot could take to gate on a world, recover from the effect from the jump and move into action. Such a small amount of time seemed absurd considering that the actions of a Commander could impact anything from the safety of his fellow pilots to the fate of entire sectors and millions of lives. A pilot was therefore expected to act with incomplete information, but also to adapt in the following minutes based on what he could observe.

In Melissa’s case, her mind immediately spotted the vast amounts of wreckage that waited just outside of the shield generator’s energy barrier and her first impulse was to build a land factory. This would allow her to construct engineers which would help with her efforts. Some would reclaim the wreckage that the Cybran units had left behind while others would rebuild some of the structures that Zero had lost, drastically cutting the time that she would need to establish her base.

Over three dozen complex commands were entered on Melissa’s console before she zoomed out her screen and took in a broader sense of the battlefield. Their construction space was limited with barely enough to support her efforts as well as those of Stokes and Iole. Meanwhile, Foil, Tie and Nial were giving Melissa the space that she needed, aware that her course of action was the most efficient one. At the same time, Iole’s engineers were moving back towards the remains of Zero’s base, apparently intent on rebuilding the shield generators that had been lost and securing the site.

The UEF pilot would have kept on zooming out to get a broader sense of the battle, but something caught her attention and she zoomed in closer instead. She could not quite put her finger on it, but something about the battlefield seemed out of place. The husks of maybe two or three dozen Gemini fighters covered the area as well as the massive frames of three Soul Rippers. Melissa zoomed back out again and noticed that the greater part of Stokes and Iole’s defensive line was largely intact.

That in itself was not unusual; it meant that the enemy had thrown an all or nothing attack. Judging by the level of damage that they had inflicted, it seemed as though they had almost succeeded. It had most likely been meant to destroy the quantum gate before they could complete their jump on the planet. An artillery shell connected with the shield generator covering Melissa’s position just as she opened her mouth and said: “How could they know?”

“What?” asked Stokes, his mind fully focused on the three units which were closing in on their position. Melissa zoomed on Zero’s quantum gate even as she turned to face Stokes: “How did they know that we were coming?”

Another Cybran artillery shell connected above Iole’s position, sending ripples running along the shield, but causing no real damage. Stokes just shook his head and turned his attention back to the battle at hand: “Never mind that.”

Stokes took control of his Fatboys and nodded for Iole to stand ready: “Target those units with the Loyalty guns as soon as they’re in range, but keep an eye out. This could all be an elaborate distraction.”

A third artillery shell connected with Iole’s energy shield, this time right above the spot where Foil, Tie and Nial were preparing. Melissa was about to dismiss her worries and focus on her own task, but then froze in place. The constant bombardment was weak by any standard and far too spread out to break through an energy shield, so why was their enemy bothering with it? What could be gained by…

Melissa looked up suddenly as she finally understood: “They know!”

Stokes turned towards Melissa just as the other pilot pointed her arm towards the sky: “Stokes, the artillery shells; they know!”

It took Stokes a moment to understand, but his eyes widened when he did. UEF bombers could be upgraded with remote stealth cameras that would eject moments before the missile landed and report information back to the ACU in the following seconds. The current enemy artillery strikes made no sense at all, not unless the Cybrans had adapted that technology. If they did, then it meant that they had a very clear idea of what was waiting for them and that the approaching land force was not moving in blind. It could even be specifically configured to breach their defenses.

Up until now, Stokes would have been happy to merely let the enemy walk into range and deal with them in the usual way, but now, he found himself firing his tactical missile launchers and sending his Broadsword Gunships to soften them up. He then retargeted his Mavor, aware it would take it a bit of time to realign itself.

Over a dozen gunships flew from Stokes base and swooped in on the enemy. They closed the gap quickly, the tactical missiles catching up to them and hitting the enemy only moments before they would fly into range. The massive payload should have caused some damage, but they detonated prematurely as they hit the boundary of an invisible energy shield.

A curse escaped Stokes as he tried to recall his gunships, but it was already too late. Multiple waves of energy suddenly traveled up out of nowhere and discharged into the surrounding air space. The attack crushed the gunships as if they were made of paper and sent them crashing to the ground. Stokes gritted his teeth even as he barked a warning to the other pilots: “Cloaked Bomb Bouncers!”

A thousand questions crossed the minds of every pilot. It was obvious by now that the three unknown units were somehow generating a wide cloaking field, but how was such a feat possible? Worse yet, why had the Cybrans on their side neglected to mention the existence of such an experimental unit? Those questions would have to wait, however, as the first of the three insect-like units walked within firing range of Iole’s Loyalty gun.

A bright beam immediately surged forth and connected with one of the experimental units. A moment later, Iole’s second Loyalty Gun targeted another enemy unit, but Iole soon appeared on their screen and shook her head: “The reprogramming efforts are working and both units should be captured eventually, but the process is taking too long. The enemy will step into range before the task is completed.”

“So we do this the hard way,” grumbled Stokes as he prepared for the battle. His Mavor had finally managed to redirect its fire towards the approaching army, but the heavy projectiles collided uselessly with the cloaked Bomb Bouncers energy shields. He therefore moved his Fatboys towards the front line with nearly two dozen Percivals to protect them. The armored assault bots seemed outdated, but their main cannons were still deadly and their triple reinforced armor could take a heavy beating. The Fatboys fired as soon as the enemy walked into range, focusing their firepower on the remaining experimental unit.

Gauss cannon shells rained over the area, damaging the insect-like unit, but doing little to slow it down. While thin in appearance, the unit’s armor seemed to deflect rather than absorb the brunt of the attack, making it clear that it would not fall easily. Some of the shells missed their intended target, but those that did somehow connected with other cloaked units, sending the wreckage of Loyalists flying left and right. Iole immediately noticed this and her eyes widened in alarm: “Commander!”

“I saw!” shouted Stokes back, but the truth was that there was little that he could do to prevent it. The enemy army was marching into range and unless they managed to destroy the cloaking units then it would be impossible to stop them. Stokes turned towards the pilots who had just gated in and shook his head: “Get back; they’ve got an entire army cloaked under there.”

Multiple sets of red laser beams surged from the cloaked Cybran army and connected solidly with Iole’s shields. The defensive line had been well established, however, and it would take more than such an attack to collapse the multi layered energy barrier. Unfortunately, the Cybrans had also taken that into consideration.

Three dozen Loyalists suddenly reappeared as they surged from the cloaked field, their jump jets carrying them over the heavy exchange of weapons fire, through the energy barrier and landing them next to Iole’s shield generators. Most of them did not even bother to fire their lasers and merely self destructed, destroying the shield generators in the process. The remaining few surged ahead, ignoring Iole’s point defense turret and closing in on the Fatboys before they could fall back. The line of Percivals destroyed many before they could reach their intended target, but the few that slipped through still caused some damage when they self destructed.

One Fatboy was destroyed by the rush, leaving the other two damaged, but still functional. The weapon platforms had not been idle during that time, however, and their combined firepower finally destroyed one of the three Cybran cloaking units. It was a small victory, especially compared to the major setback that they had suffered, but Iole appeared on Stokes’ screen and nodded encouragingly: “The remaining two enemies have almost been captured. We just need to-”

Iole did not have the time to finish her sentence as the remaining two cloaking units self destructed, denying her the opportunity to capture them. This also dissipated the cloaking field and revealed what was left of the Cybran army. Three Bomb Bouncers surged ahead, escorting four Megalith minor experimentals and with what appeared to be a new version of the Monkeylord covering the rear. Stokes sent his Percival forward even as he shouted: “Engage the enemy!”

A vicious exchange immediately followed, the resulting explosions sending tremors through the ground. Cybran Bomb Bouncers surged ahead, their directional shields warding off the brunt of the Mavor’s attack while their armor took hit after hit from Iole’s point defense lasers. Every so often, a wave of energy would travel along their hull before surging in every direction, blasting the nearby turrets and clearing the path for the units that trailed them.

Stokes’ Percivals did their best to remain out of range while lending their own considerable firepower to the battle. Even so, the Cybran Megaliths’ lasers focused on them first, melting through their armors until they finally reached the energy cores underneath. One Cybran Bomb Bouncer soon fell followed by a Megalith, but at the cost of dozens of point defense turrets and Percivals.

The Cybran’s attack left a gaping hole in the defensive line and destroyed dozens of units, but for a moment, it seemed that Stokes and Iole would still manage to limit the damage. Soon, only the Monkeylord remained and they moved in to destroy it. However, the updated version of the well known experimental unit would not fall easily.

Loyalty guns fired their beams as the Monkeylord, but the attack met with rotating firewalls that had been specifically designed to counter it. At the same time, the Fatboys targeted the Cybran experimental unit, but most of the gauss shells ricocheted off the reinforced armor. Only the Mavor seemed to cause even a moderate amount of damage and it was soon forced to cease fire as the Monkeylord stepped inside its minimum firing range. Meanwhile, the remaining Percivals and turrets fell one after the other, either melted by the heavy microwave laser or destroyed by the twin electron bolters.

Stokes saw it all with horrified eyes. The Monkeylord’s destination was painfully obvious as was the fact that there was nothing that he could do to stop it. He therefore turned to Iole who was probably the only one who could do anything at this stage: “It’s going after the Mavor, we have to stop it!”

The Illuminate pilot had reached a similar conclusion and she initiated the teleportation upgrade of her ACU. Most of her structure research had been completed, but she had only managed to access a portion of her ACU’s upgrades. She only hoped that it would be enough.

Iole materialized just behind the Monkeylord and immediately went into action. A cloud of rogue nanites was vented from the rear of her ACU and she activated her overload ability before firing a steam of shots at one of the Monkeylord’s legs. The first two shots barely reddened the reinforced armor, but the third finally melted a portion of it and the fourth created a large enough opening. The rogue nanites immediately slipped into the breach, frying the servo motors underneath and paralyzing the limb. This, however, would not be enough.

The Monkeylord did not change its course, but its heavy microwave laser rotated completely backwards and unleashed its fury straight on Iole. The attack soon overloaded Iole’s shields before slamming straight into the ACU’s hull. The Illuminate prototype fired a few overloaded shots back, but alarms soon shrieked inside Iole’s cockpit as warnings flashed everywhere.

The Illuminate pilot maintained her attack a few seconds longer before finally shaking her head, aware that she was thoroughly outmatched. She then slammed a hand on a button and braced herself as she was suddenly flung against her seat: “It is no use, I’m ejecting!”

The cockpit flew away to safety, leaving the Monkeylord free to close in on its target. It walked through a line of UEF power generators, its spidery legs crushing the structures underneath. The issuing explosions did cause it to stumble, but only scorched its armor as it drew inevitably closer to its target. Stokes clenched his teeth in frustration, but then shook his head hopelessly: “It’s no good, we can’t stop it. Prepare to evacuate.”

“That should not be necessary,” answered Kaeden, his appearance starling those who had forgotten about him. A spark of energy flashed above the Monkeylord once and then twice before three dozen fully upgraded Illuminate gunships suddenly appeared above it. They then targeted the Cybran unit underneath them and fired their heavy phasic autoguns.

While easily ignored individually, the combined firepower from every gunship soon cracked the Monekylord’s reactive armor. Even so, the experimental unit would not be ignored so easily. It crashed through one of Stokes’ land factory and surged on the other side with its laser firing. The beam met an energy shield, but soon collapsed it before reaching the Mavor underneath it.

Every pilot unconsciously tensed up as it became a race to determine which experimental unit would fall first. One lucky shot managed to pierce the Monkeylord’s armor and destroy its servo motor hub on its right flank, causing it to collapse to the ground as three of its legs became useless. Its heavy microwave laser remained operational, however, and kept melting the supports that held the Mavor in place.

A few seconds later, the combined firepower from Kaeden’s gunships finally destroyed the Monkeylord’s main cannon, silencing it permanently. Every pilot turned towards the Mavor only to see it ever so slowly lurch to the side. Reinforced armor creaked in protest as the cannon’s own weight toppled it to the side. The final supports finally gave out and the experimental artillery fell to the ground before exploding. The Monkeylord was destroyed a moment later, leaving a huge gap in Stokes’ defenses that went all the way to the core of his base.

Stokes looked at the damage and cursed bitterly. His defenses were gone, his only long range advantage was destroyed and the energy generators and mass fabricators that had fueled his economy were no more. It would take him at least fifteen to twenty minutes to recover from a blow like that and he doubted that the Assumptas would be this accommodating.

“My apologies for the late rescue,” said Kaeden suddenly, cutting into Stokes’ brooding. The Illuminate pilot bowed his head slightly as he added: “Had I known that this new Monkeylord had such heavily reinforced armor then I would have acted sooner.”

“How did you manage to build an army under these conditions?” asked Stokes back, completely ignoring the apology: “You shouldn’t have had the resources to pull it off.”

“I used our quantum flotation upgrade,” answered Kaeden while forwarding some updated information back to the other pilots. It was not the small island that Kaeden had retreated to that drew a collective gasp, but what had been built around it. A quick look showed that dozens of power generators, research stations and mass converters had been built on the sea bed which was an unprecedented tactical edge. Kaeden shrugged in apology as he added: “It is one of the new upgrades that the Illuminate has been working on. It was kept a secret until now.”

One of Kaeden’s air transport appeared as he spoke, dropping a group of mechanical engineers to support the rebuilding efforts. Some helped to replace Iole’s point defense turrets and shields while others worked on building a pair of structures that none of the other pilots had ever seen: “I built a large complex of mass convertors and energy generators on the sea to fuel my efforts. I have another wave of reinforcements coming within the next three minutes.”

“That will not be fast enough,” said Stokes while returning his attention back towards his strategic map: “We just lost most of our long range weaponry, including the Mavor, and many of our strategic missile defense silos have been destroyed as well. Our entire defensive line has been compromised.”

“At least your timely reinforcements prevented a total collapse and saved the colonists,” said Iole reassuringly back at Kaeden: “We will have to move on regardless. Please activate the Illuminator as soon as it is completed.”

“The what?” asked Stokes in confusion, but he got his answer when the structure that Kaeden was building went online. It exposed a huge area of the battlefield around it, giving them a clear view of the enemy’s position. Nial whistled in appreciation even as she took it all in: “That’s handy.”

Stokes looked at the updated information and frowned as he studied the Cybran’s position: “One of them is creeping forward and building additional firebases. We can’t use the Mavor to stop him anymore.”

The UEF pilot’s gaze then settled on another group of land units that were coming their way. Three more cloaking units were walking forward. Stokes clenched his fists as he shook his head: “We also have another group of those new experimentals coming in; no doubt covering another land force.”

“Damn it,” muttered Stokes to himself before turning towards Melissa: “Mel, reclaim the wreckage and focus on rebuilding the base. It will take you less time than if I were to do it. Foil, Nial, Tie, build as many research facilities with your initial resources as you can and work on upgrading your ACUs. Your combined firepower should allow you to…”

“The enemy’s forces have stopped,” interrupted Kaeden suddenly, drawing the pilots’ attention back to their strategic maps. Nial looked at the approaching land force suspiciously and wrinkled her nose: “What are they up to?”

The Cybran units suddenly self destructed without any warning, startling all of the pilots. They looked towards the encroaching firebases only to see them explode in turn. Nial stood speechless for a moment before finally raising a finger in the air: “Did we just win?”

“I don’t get it,” said Melissa while shaking her head. There had been no ACU explosion and this left only one reasonable explanation: “They had the upper hand. Why would QAI just withdraw like that?”

“QAI?” echoed Stokes in surprise. His gaze narrowed as he turned towards Melissa: “What are you talking about? Those were Assumptas.”

Oh that’s right, thought Melissa as she remembered that crucial fact; she had not told the others about it yet. She was about to explain when Iole suddenly nodded on their screen: “I have the answer for our enemy’s withdrawal; our reinforcements have just arrived.”

As if on cue, the face of another Illuminate pilot appeared on their screen: “This is High Crusader Talik to all pilots in the area, respond.”

“High Crusader Talik, this is Commander Iole,” said the Illuminate pilot while bowing her head reverently: “Thank you for the timely assistance in defending our allies.”

The other pilot barely acknowledged the show of humility before issuing an order: “Commander Iole, regroup at the following coordinates.”

The lack of grace behind the High Crusader’s tone puzzled Iole, who turned towards the other pilots: “Of course, but-”

“I will speak to Commander Stokes if he is still alive,” interrupted Talik before Iole could say another word. Stokes grimaced before pressing a button and opening a channel: “I’m here.”

Talik’s gaze was uncompromising as she looked back at him: “Commander Stokes, by order of the Illuminate, you and every pilot under your command are to exit your ACUs and surrender at once.”

“That’s not going to happen,” answered Stokes without a sliver of hesitation. Talik’s reply was also devoid of any as she answered: “Then prepare to be destroyed.”

-----

High Crusader Talik’s eyes were devoid of any malice as they glanced at the screen in front of them. On it, Iole’s face twisted in anguish as she lifted both hands pleadingly: “Please do not do this! Commander Stokes is an ally and a friend. He is not the enemy!”

No guilt or hesitation was reflected in Talik’s eyes as the channel was closed and another opened to the seven other pilots who were supporting her. Talik’s second in command appeared on her screen next, her troubled gaze betraying her doubts: “Are you sure that this is the right course of action? Surely there must be another way.”

Talik’s lips did not move, but her voice nevertheless resonated through the cockpit: “The future of Seraphim Two hangs in the balance. Ignore all enemy communications and follow your orders.”

A wave of regret coursed through the second in command’s face, but she finally bowed her head: “It will be done, High Crusader Talik.”

The channel was closed a moment later and Talik’s eyes kept staring unblinkingly ahead. The Illuminate pilot remained slumped in her chair without any sign of movement, her skin having lost all color in the past two hours. Meanwhile, the prototype’s console kept lighting up and forwarding orders to units all on its own. The corrupted prototype, one of the few that been infected at the same time as the UEF models, was devoid of any malice as it carried out its commands. The feedback pulse that it was emitting back into the quantum network, however, proved to be an immense source of pleasure for QAI.

Chapter 12
Bull Rush

Warning messages flashed on Tie’s screen in quick succession, overshadowing the intelligence that Kaeden was forwarding them now that he had reactivated his Illuminator. They were probability evaluations, statistical analyses, as well as facial and voice recognition combined with data pooling. The sources were so varied that it would have put even the most fanatical conspiracy theorist to shame, but Tie was not all that surprised that they were popping out right now. The Chimera had programmed his prototype to collect a large amount of information from the quantum network specifically for that purpose after all. Besides, all of those warnings pointed at the same theory that Tie had been contemplating from the beginning; that High Crusader Talik’s ACU had been corrupted by QAI.

The ultimatum had been designed to be plausible enough and yet to back them into a corner in order to force a confrontation. Of that Tie was certain. There were three dire issues if his theory proved true. The first two concerned the Cybrans who had attacked them and the pilots who were supporting Talik. The third, and really the only important at this very moment, was whether Iole and Kaeden would believe them. They would not stand a chance against a full squad of Illuminate pilots without their support.

Other warnings started popping on Tie’s screen, increasing in urgency and insisting that Talik was most likely an impostor. Tie grimaced in irritation and waved the notion away: “I could have told you that.”

Tie then turned to look towards Kaeden and Iole’s units and frowned: “But it will take more to convince them.”

The Cybran prototype paused for a moment before running another batch of scenarios, most of which were aimed at solving that problem. Tie ignored them all and sent a discrete text message back towards Foil and Nial: follow my lead.

The Chimera pilot then plotted a course towards the nearby river while opening a broad band channel: “High Crusader Talik, this is Commander Tie of the Cybran Nation. We surrender.”

“You bastard!” shouted Stokes back over the private channel that they shared, the fury clearly obvious in his eyes. Fortunately for them, the UEF pilot did not have the troops to pursue them. There was no reply from the Illuminate forces and Tie kept a straight poker face as he spoke again: “I say again; we surrender. There is no need to fight.”

High Crusader Talik appeared on their screen again, her face betraying no emotion: “We will accept nothing less than an unconditional surrender. You will be placed into our custody and your ACUs will be impounded without you putting any security locks on them.”

Again, the offer was made in order to back them into a corner. No pilot would ever accept such terms, especially since the information contained in an ACU could be used to turn the tide of a war. Fortunately, Tie had another plan in mind and he merely nodded: “Agreed. Where should we present our ACUs for surrender? Could you give us the coordinates?”

This time, it was Melissa who appeared on Tie’s screen with a confused and betrayed look on her face: “Tie, what are you doing?”

“No offense, but we’re not willing to die for the UEF,” answered Tie with a shrug, glad for the intervention. He raised a hand towards Talik and simply shook his head in defeat: “I mean look at them; a squad of well trained Illuminate pilots? We remember how determined Avatar-of-War Marxon was and they’re probably cut from the same cloth. There’s no point resisting under these circumstances.”

“Nope, there won’t be any cleansing for us,” added Tie before Melissa could speak again: “After everything that Kaeden has told me about The Way, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we can’t overcome that kind of war philosophy.”

The Chimera then turned back towards Talik and bowed his head, being careful not to push it too far and accidentally tip his hand: “So please, just forward us the coordinates and we’ll be right over to surrender.”

There was a moment of hesitation before a set of coordinates were forwarded back to them: “Be there in the next two minutes or suffer the consequences.”

“We are on our way,” said Tie while bowing his head and closing the broad band channel. Meanwhile, Stokes was glaring at him from his side screen, his gaze promising vengeance: “If I we survive this then I swear that I’ll find you and…”

“Less threatening, more listening,” interrupted Tie before turning towards the true spectators of the show: “Kaeden, Iole, did the two of you get this?”

“What the devil is going on?” asked Melissa in confusion even as the two Illuminate pilots appeared on their screen. Now that the subterfuge was apparently over, Nial also opened a channel and scratched her head: “Yeah, I know you and even I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”

Everyone turned towards Iole and Kaeden who both appeared confused and tormented by the recent turn of events. Tie did not waste any time and cut straight to the chase: “We have proof that QAI is behind the latest string of strategic attacks against the Alliance. We believe that it has corrupted a number of ACUs; killing the pilots and assuming their identities. Talik is one of them. She’s most likely dead.”

Iole was about to say something, but then looked down at her strategic screen and frowned before looking back towards Tie: “Where are you heading?”

“Preemptive strike,” answered Tie without a hint of hesitation. Every pilot looked down at their strategic screens and realized that the Cybrans were running along the bottom of the river and heading straight towards a site that an Illuminate pilot was using instead of the coordinates that Talik had provided them: “QAI’s drone had no choice but to accept my offer of surrender. Doing otherwise would have compromised her control of the other pilots.”

“You saw her lack of reaction,” insisted Tie while turning straight to Kaeden. The two of them, as dissimilar as they were, had always shared a bond, first as rivals and now as respected pilots. Tie nodded fiercely as he added: “Read the body language! Notice the lack of reaction and every other detail that your training in The Way should have revealed.”

The last part was a clear understatement. Tie’s words to High Crusader Talik had been well chosen; first comparing her to Avatar-of-War Marxon and then talking about The Way as a war philosophy. While his war treatises and doctrines were both respected and feared by all, the fact remained that the late Avatar-of-War’s name had not been a bright light in the Illuminate’s history. His intense pursuit for military and political supremacy combined with his open rebellion and subsequent conflict with Princess Rhianne Burke had marked him as an example of how The Way could be corrupted if used improperly. Being associated to him was no different than comparing a UEF citizen to a historical figure like Hitler.

Tie’s words had been meant to hurt and provoke, but the drone’s artificial mind had not grasped the subtlety and had not reacted accordingly with outrage, anger or even a hint of surprise. This was all the proof that Tie could come up with on such short notice and he was reminded once again that time was not on their side when Nial appeared on his screen with a worried look on her face: “Tie, we have to cut communications or else they’ll catch on.”

“Make them understand,” insisted Tie while turning towards Melissa: “We won’t survive without their support!”

There was no doubt in Melissa’s mind that Tie had played them all as he often did, but then again, he always did it for the right reasons. He had deliberately kept the rest of them in the dark to lend credibility to his performance. Melissa turned a pleading glance towards the two Illuminate pilots as she spoke: “Kaeden, Iole…”

The rest was left unsaid for her eyes made it clear that all of their hopes rested on them. Iole’s head unconsciously went down, her voice dropping to a quiet whisper as she spoke: “Do you realize what you are asking of us?”

“I’m asking you to do the right thing!” pleaded Melissa urgently, aware that every moment that the Illuminate pilots were not acting was another that their enemy could use to secure their position and prepare for the inevitable assault. Melissa raised a hand as she added: “Not just for your friends, but for the future of the entire Alliance!”

“Some of those pilots are human,” cut in Kaeden, his voice unwavering as he added: “A machine would not have bothered with the pretense otherwise and would have attacked right away. These pilots are taught not to question their orders in battle and will follow High Crusader Talik to the very end.”

Kaeden’s voice grew harder as he stared straight into Melissa’s eyes: “To kill our brothers and sisters, to betray the Illuminate and violate some of our most sacred oaths on your word alone; that is what you are asking of us, Melissa Desjar.”

A wince escaped Melissa as the notion hit her. Things had been so rushed that she had not even paused to consider that part. Kaeden, however, was nothing if not Tie’s equal and he had followed the Chimera’s reasoning to the very end. A trace of pity mixed with anguish slipped into his voice as he said: “Do you have any idea what that is like?”

“Yes, I do,” answered Melissa in a choked voice. She closed her eyes for half a second and made a conscious effort not to let the torrent of memories overwhelm her as she drove her point: “How do you think that it felt when we learned that Zachary Arnold had defected over to the Illuminate?”

The words had the desired effect and both Illuminate pilots flinched unconsciously. The topic of Commander Zachary Arnold’s defection was a taboo as far as cross factional discussions were concerned. He was still considered a traitor to many in the UEF, but to the Illuminate, he was forever remembered as a hero who had given everything to protect Princess Rhianne Burke’s dream.

Iole finally nodded, having difficulty finding the proper words: “It must have been hard.”

“It nearly destroyed my father and our entire family,” said Melissa with a sad nod. She then straightened as she said: “He didn’t do it to save himself. He did it because if he hadn’t then the UEF would have won and billions would have been killed by Black Sun. He did what was right because he saw that your people were worth saving.”

“And years later, after a lot of soul searching, I can say that I’m glad that he did it!” concluded Melissa in pride. She took a deep breath as she added: “Otherwise I wouldn’t have met Foil, Nial, Tie or the two of you… and I would not be the same person that I am today.”

There was a long and awkward silence before Stokes finally reappeared on their screen. His usual hostility and resentment was gone, most likely because he too understood the choice that both Illuminate pilots were facing: “If you’re going to make a choice then do it fast. Once the Cybrans jump into play then there’ll be no going back.”

Iole and Kaeden looked at each other before finally nodding. Both pilots then went to work and prepared their defenses.

-----

The waters were still for a moment, the fishes having retreated back to the deepest crevices that they could find. They could not understand what was going on, but all of them knew on a level or another that something was happening on the surface. It usually started with tremors and was followed by explosions. If one was unlucky enough to happen in the water then the shockwave alone was often enough to kill hundreds of fishes in the area. And every creature of the sea waited, their heads barely showing through the crevices as they followed their survival instinct.

The fishes suddenly retreated further in their holes as a trio of Cybran prototypes suddenly rushed through the area. Their legs were small but fast, the profiles of their cockpits purposely designed to minimize friction and allow the ACUs to attain greater speeds once upgraded. This gave them the impression to be smaller than their UEF or Illuminate counterparts, but it did not make them any less deadly.

Back in her cockpit, Nial’s fingers typed furiously on her controls as she struggled to keep up with Tie. She briefly looked at Foil who was running along her left and hesitated a second before opening a short range point to point channel: “Hey. Is it just me or is Tie more berserk than usual?”

Foil was apparently having a hard time keeping up as well and he merely shook his head, not bothering to look back towards Nial: “I don’t know; he’s the one with actual piloting experience with these prototypes so maybe that’s making him cocky.”

“Yeah, it’s different from the simulations,” admitted Nial reluctantly. She focused on the path ahead and frowned, bothered by the fact that she could not really keep up with Tie. Even now, his prototype seemed to be moving just a little bit faster than the rest of them.

Something occurred to Nial then and she turned back towards Foil: “But I’m telling you right away; if we’re all changing roles and he becomes the pigheaded pilot then I sure won’t become the group’s nerd, ok?”

Foil was about to throw a quick joke of his own, but Tie suddenly appeared on both of their screens: “We’re here, get ready.”

“Here goes!” said Nial while cracking her fingers. The trio of prototypes broke through the surface a moment later with their blasters firing.

-----

The Cybran prototypes were not fully upgraded, but they did not need to be. The Illuminate pilots under High Crusader Talik’s command had not had the time to complete their upgrades either and for now, the advantage of surprise was still theirs. Tie led the charge, coming out of the water with weapons blazing. The ACUs sensors went into full action a heartbeat later, confirming the lack of enemy air units and the fact that the base had not been shielded yet. This left one of two alternatives: the enemy pilot had focused on upgrading her land units or her ACU. The sudden appearance of a group of fifteen tanks out of nowhere in the middle of Tie’s path confirmed that it was the former.

Tie immediately activated his overload ability, sending a stream of shots towards his enemy, but even that did not happen as expected. The Cybran prototype had always behaved in the same way in the past seven months, firing at the closest target and then moving on to the next in order to minimize any jerking motions in the cockpit. This time, however, the prototype behaved differently, focusing its fire in the middle of different enemy formations in order to maximize its splash damage. The tactic optimized its efficiency, but the sudden twists and turns proved gut wrenching and Tie winced despite himself.

Meanwhile, the prototype tactical missile launcher fired, sending a stream of missiles against a turret further away without waiting for Tie’s approval. The missiles connected with a satisfying explosion and opened the way for the Chimera’s rush. Nial appeared on Tie’s screen and smiled approvingly: “Hey, that’s nice!”

“Fan out!” said Foil in a hurry, cutting the chatter short: “We have to find the enemy pilot before she can get away.”

“I hope it’s no one we know,” added Nial with a wince, but Tie ignored the comment. It was a kill or be killed kind of game and he would rather do the former under these circumstances. Battle optimizations suddenly appeared on Tie’s screen followed by a list of suggested upgrades. The data partially blocked his view and Tie frowned, not liking that the prototype was attempting to force him into selecting one.

It was almost as if the prototype was overly aggressive and maybe even impatient. Granted, those were some of the most common traits that Chimeras exhibited, including Tie, but it wasn’t as fun when he was on the receiving end. Tie picked the jump jet upgrade on a whim to clear his screen and focused back on the task at hand. Maybe stealing the patch that Yoix had intended for Melissa’s ACU had not been the wisest course after all.

No sooner had the last of the overcharge shots left Tie’s cannon that a second wave of tanks suddenly materialized right on top of him. The Illuminate pilot had been caught unprepared by the sneak attack, but she had not panicked. She had sent some of her land army as a distraction and kept her reserve forces to attack during the brief time when they would be vulnerable. One tank in particular rammed straight into Tie’s ACU, making him fumble over his control.

“Dodge!” cried the Cybran without thinking, aware that the prototype could act on verbal commands. It did so without hesitation, firing a stream of tactical missiles before activating its jump jets. Tie felt himself getting slammed into his seat because of the sudden acceleration and his unblinking eyes widened in surprise at what he saw.

The Cybran prototype flew on the exact same course as its missiles, getting slightly ahead of them by keeping a low altitude. The missiles suddenly twisted in mid air and plunged down and Tie sucked in his breath, fearing a collision. The prototype spiraled in mid air, barely avoiding the impact before plunging back towards the ground. The missiles came crashing atop a damaged power generator, destroying it in a single salvo. The Cybran prototype landed in the middle of the wreckage a second later with weapons blazing.

What happened next wrenched a loud curse from the Chimera. The prototype ducked, jumped, twisted and turned every way, letting loose a barrage of blaster fire while using the wreckage of the power generator around it as cover. Every attack was timed and planned to take advantage of the Illuminate tanks’ slow firing rate. On the outside, it looked as though the ACU was acting out the heroic part of an old western movie. On the inside, Tie felt as though he had accidentally stepped in a washing machine and set it on spin.

The flurry of action lasted a good thirty seconds before the enemy tanks were finally destroyed with the Cybran prototype having only sustained a minimum of damage. Nial then appeared on Tie’s screen, the awe plainly visible on her face: “Wow, that was so cool! How did you do that?”

Tie was about to make up a lie, the kind about him using his rapid eye movement software to code in a sequence when he suddenly saw the outline of an Illuminate ACU through the smoke ahead: “Enemy ACU detected, I’m engaging.”

The Cybran prototype jumped out of the power generator wreckage and ran into full pursuit almost before Tie had finished inputting the command. It ran between two burning buildings, crushing a heavily damaged tank under its foot before clearing the smoke on the other end. The Illuminate prototype was there for a moment, but then disappeared within the confines of one of its ally’s air transports.

The transport lifted off the ground slowly and Tie clenched his first when he realized that they would not stop their enemy in time: “Catch her!”

A massive series of calculations appeared on Tie’s screen, almost too fast for even the Chimera to follow. What he did see was a set of flight trajectories and his eyes widened when he realized what the prototype had in mind. He reached forward with a panicked hand to cancel the command, but it was already too late. The prototype activated its jump jets and flew straight up before thrusting its construction laser violently forward.

The arm pierced the air transport’s hull, twisted and then pulled, pinning the prototype to its side. The Cybran ACU was then carried straight into the air even as Tie shouted above the roar of the engines: “Not like that!”

It was already too late by now and the air transport had already carried him beyond the safe air drop point. Foil appeared on Tie’s screen, his eyes wide in alarm: “Tie, what the hell are you doing?”

Tie’s mind fumbled for a good explanation, one that would not involve him stealing Yoix’ update and secretly unshackling his ACU’s AI, but he had other concerns right now. The air transport had come in with a wave of escort fighters and one of them made a pass, not firing its guns, but trying to ram into the Cybran ACU and knock it off the transport instead. The prototype reacted by squeezing its entire body into a tight ball and narrowly avoiding the impact.

Meanwhile, Tie looked around in alarm. His usual style of warfare mostly included staying safely back in the middle of a base while overseeing hundreds of units through dozen of overlapping strategies. He wasn’t used to doing it from the seat of his pants, especially not while barely hanging on to an enemy air transport over a lethal drop. Tie finally turned a furious glare back towards the camera on his console: “Do something!”

The Cybran prototype carried out the command exactly as instructed. It braced its feet against the air transport’s hull and pushed, wrenching free and into a freefall. Tie gasped, but his eyes did register the message on the console as it activated its overload ability. The prototype fired a single shot, but it instantly destroyed the transport’s engines and sent it on a crash course.

The satisfaction of sending his enemy to her death was of little comfort to Tie as his ACU fell towards the ground, but the prototype had not finished its battle plan. Its jump jets had cooled off in that period and they activated at the last moment, twisting the ACU in mid air, back into an upright position and allowing it to land safely in a nearby canyon. The prototype then looked east as the air transport crashed some distance away, the explosion destroying the nearby fighters and sending dust flying everywhere.

A moment passed as Tie’s mind struggled to register everything that had happened. He unconsciously checked himself for wounds and then blinked in surprise, glad that he had only suffered a few cramps for the entire ordeal.

“You get five points for the cool factor,” said Nial, in a controlled and cool voice as she appeared on his screen. Her face then animated all at once, her voice reaching an ear piercing scream as she added: “But you lose twenty for being insane! Not even Bagby would be crazy enough to try something like this, and that’s saying a lot!”

Tie searched for a proper reply, but the drop had left him shaken and his mind was turning up blank. The camera in the middle of his console zoomed in, apparently noticing the discomfort, and acted to prove the Red Skull pilot wrong. The image of a book appeared right next to Nial on Tie’s screen: insane moves that I wished that I had had the time to pull off, by Bagby.

A groan escaped Tie as he finally understood. He, and many other Chimeras, had kept tabs on Bagby when they had learned that he was not the insane happy go lucky devil that everyone had thought him to be. Tie had even downloaded Bagby’s handbook of ACU maneuvers in search for hidden clues. He had never, not in his craziest nightmares, expected that his prototype would use the reference as a viable combat strategy!

Tie was still searching for a clever comeback when Foil appeared on his screen: “Mission accomplished, fall back. We have incoming enemy air units and there are too many of them for the three of us to handle.”

“Roger that,” said Tie, giving up the idea of a clever retort and instead sulking as they made their way back into the nearby lake. Foil remained silent during the trip, but reappeared on Tie’s screen and shook his head disapprovingly when they disappeared in the frigid waters: “Please tell me that you didn’t swipe Professor Yoix’ data and unshackled your prototype too.”

A dozen excuses coursed through Tie’s mind, but none of them appeared even remotely believable. In the end, his silence was enough of a damning answer and Nial appeared on his screen with an outraged expression on her face: “You cheater! I wanted the cool toys too!”

“No more AI unshackling for anyone!” shouted Foil back, cutting off the debate before it even started. He then glared at Tie before speaking: “Let’s just get out of here before things get worse.”

Tie sighed as the other two pilots closed the channel. It would take them a few minutes to head back towards the others and then they would have to find another way to be useful in the upcoming battle. Tie briefly looked around at his cockpit and then focused on the camera in front of him: “When this is over, you and I are going to have a long discussion about the art of subtlety and also about not being so literal minded.”

Chapter 13
No Win Scenario

The preemptive strike had caught the Illuminate forces by surprise, but it had not destabilized them for long. The remaining seven pilots had immediately struck back, sending waves of land and air units to secure as much terrain as possible. Tanks, mobile missile launchers and flak artilleries supported by air units scoured the area, using their hover field to cross rivers with ease and securing all available terrain. They stopped just before falling within range of Iole’s Loyalty guns, satisfied that they had secured the terrain for now.

The tactic was simple, but effective, limiting the area that their opponents could use to deploy their facilities. Melissa was hard at work rebuilding over the remains of Stokes’ base while Iole did her best to bolster their defenses. With a large technological gap separating him from the others, Stokes was left with the sole task of coordinating their efforts while keeping his two remaining Fatboys at the ready. Their only hope rested upon Kaeden’s reinforcements which would be reaching them shortly.

Meanwhile, Foil, Nial and Tie did their best to buy the time that the others needed. Their partially upgraded ACUs used their enhanced speed combined with the network of small rivers that surrounded them to spring traps upon approaching land forces. While the guerilla tactic worked at first, destroying dozens of land units with a few well placed overloaded shots, the Illuminate soon found ways to counteract these assaults.

Illuminate land units soon teleported over rivers, denying the Cybrans the window of opportunity that they needed to spring their traps. There was still the possibility of rushing out from the water’s protective depths, but gunships were now hovering in the area and were quick to respond at the first sign of Cybran activity. Eventually, the Cybrans made one last significant raid to buy them additional time before falling back to perform repairs.

Through it all, Melissa kept a worried glance on the corner of her screen while biting her lower lip anxiously. She had kept most of her research points on standby in the hope of finding a good use for them, but there seemed to be no easy way out of it. Her first reflex was to upgrade her structures and focus on the one edge that the Illuminate lacked: long range artillery. The approach would take too much time, however, and Illuminate shields were well suited to ward off the attack.

The other alternative was to research the Noah Unit Cannon, but that meant upgrading both her structures and her land units. The battle would degenerate into an exchange of nukes and experimentals before she would be finished. Melissa was still contemplating her options when Kaeden suddenly appeared on their screen: “My reinforcements have arrived.”

The outline of a new type of Illuminate unit appeared on Melissa’s screen and her eyes widened when she saw its size. They were four of them, flying in from the sea with a full escort of fighters flying in formation around them. The gunships which had destroyed the Cybran’s Monkeylord changed course and joined up with the attack force, further bolstering the army’s size.

“What are those?” asked Nial, her curiosity mirroring everyone else’s. Iole appeared on their screens then and nodded: “Our new experimental gunships.”

While deceptively simple in design, the gunships were still a fearsome sight. A series of forward facing turrets hung from their belly while their heavily reinforced hull, the same material used by the Universal Colossus, gleamed brightly in the sky. The estimate destructive potential of the attack force was forwarded to the others even as Iole explained: “Their purpose is to counter any enemy land experimental or ACU. Their armor is also designed to withstand heavy anti-air attacks and they can be used in instances where land assaults are no longer viable.”

Nial studied the data before scratching her chin: “It still looks to me like the Illuminate stole our Soul Ripper design.”

“We did not steal anything,” protested Iole in indignation. She then straightened in her seat as she added: “But our scientists might have drawn inspiration from it, yes.”

“Playing on words and circumventing the ‘spirit’ of the rule?” said Nial with a mischievous smile, purposely referring back to their time together during the pilot exchange program. The Red Skull pilot shrugged before adding: “And I thought you guys couldn’t be sneaky.”

“Cut the chatter,” interrupted Stokes harshly. He then turned towards the Melissa: “Tell me you’ve kept your research points in stock.”

“I have,” confirmed Melissa, suddenly glad that she had. Stokes nodded while studying his tactical screen: “Then research all the way to an Air Fortress and get two of them up as soon as possible. Force a prototype out of the factory if you have to. They’ll build the continuous anti-air cover that Kaeden will need to lead his assault.”

The suggestion made Iole wince and she lifted a finger in objection: “Considering the circumstances, we would rather serve in a defensive capacity.”

“That’s not an option,” answered Stokes bluntly. The UEF pilot zoomed out his tactical screen even as he spoke: “There are seven of them against seven of us. We have a slight advantage in terms of technological research and defensive structures, but they hold the terrain and resources. If the fight drags on then we will lose. Thanks to Kaeden, we have a unique opportunity to strike before they are fully ready and we must use it right now!”

“Commander Stokes is correct,” confirmed Kaeden somberly. His eyes were cast down, no doubt in consternation at the thought of leading an attack against their own. He looked up again and while the anguish had not disappeared from his gaze, his hesitation had: “We have chosen a side and now we must commit ourselves to the battle.”

“Then your first target is here,” cut in Stokes harshly before Iole could object any further. A signal appeared on all of their screens, outlying the weakest area along one of the Illuminate pilot’s defensive line: “Eliminating the prototype impersonating Talik is our main priority and we can best do this by destroying the ACU defending here and weakening this flank. Doing so will create an opening or at least force them to go on the defensive.”

While it had not been done intentionally, Kaeden could not help but notice that Stokes kept referring to military units and ACUs. He had not referred to their enemies as “pilots” or anything else that would humanize them. Regardless, he had a mission and he would do his best to carry it through.

Kaeden’s air armada moved forward along the edge of the sea, avoiding the brunt of the enemy’s army. The few groups of enemy land units which had been hovering over the sea moved in to intercept, but Kaeden was ready for them. The gunhips which escorted the four experimental units instantly teleported on top of the enemy, destroying the anti-air units guarding them while sustaining minimal damage thanks to their shield and flare upgrades. Once their objective was accomplished, they teleported back to the four experimental units, providing additional cover as they moved unerringly towards their destination.

The first wave of enemy fighters hit Kaeden’s air armada moments before they reached the enemy’s defensive line, but they would not stop him. Autogun blasts hit the experimental gunships’ hull, but they barely scratched the surface. Kaeden’s fighters moved to counter the enemy’s air force, but most of the pilot’s attention was drawn to the attack on the enemy base itself.

The escorting gunships immediately surged ahead into a strafing run, slipping under enemy shield barriers and focusing on the generators underneath. They barely stopped for a few seconds at a time, only long enough to destroy their target before moving on to the next. The strike was precise, destroying one shield generator after another in a wide arc until they found their true target; the enemy ACU.

The railgun along the ACU’s shoulder fired a concentrated burst, blasting one of the gunships out of the sky and sending it crashing to the ground, but the damage was already done. The base’s shield generators had been destroyed and the four experimental gunships were closing in on it.

Back on his small island, Kaeden offered a silent prayer to his opponent as the inevitable happened. What remained of his air escort cleared out of the sector at the last possible moment before the enemy ACU went critical, filling the sky with a blinding ball of energy. What remained of the enemy base self destructed when the blast dissipated, leaving the four experimental units hovering in the air, their hulls distorted by the blast, but still fully operational. The escort force then flew back in, falling into formation before moving towards the next target.

“One down!” shouted Stokes while thrusting a fist in the air. A few of the others cheered, but neither Kaeden nor Iole did. The air armada had barely moved a small distance before the full might of the Illuminate air force fell down on it. Kaeden’s fully upgraded air units fought back just as aggressively, but none of the units that were lost could be replaced. Kaeden took a moment to evaluate the situation before shaking his head: “I must fall back and regroup. My supply line is too long and I cannot bring additional reinforcements in time.”

“No need,” cut in Stokes immediately. A signal beeped on Kaeden’s screen, highlighting Melissa’s air units which were moving to reinforce him: “Melissa’s first Air Fortress is up and will manufacture fighters to replace your defensive escort. Keep pushing!”

Kaeden hesitated a moment, but then nodded, aware of the UEF’s Air Fortress capabilities. Even if it was released before it was fully assembled, the experimental unit could still manufacture escort fighters at a dizzying rate and at a fraction of the cost. With that in mind, Kaeden became more liberal about his use of gunships and fighters, sacrificing them when necessary to ensure that his four experimental gunships would be given a reprieve even as Melissa took over the role of escorting them.

The next few moments were tense with fighters blacking out the sun as they dodged every way to try and gain the upper hand. Even so, Kaeden’s forces did make good progress. They were halfway towards Talik’s base when Tie suddenly appeared on their screen and highlighted another sector of the battlefield: “There’s another enemy ACU here without the proper layer of shields to defend it. If you teleport your remaining gunships directly above it then you could finish it off before it could get a chance to flee.”

“We need to minimize the loss of life,” protested Iole sternly. The Chimera would not be easily dissuaded, however, and he highlighted another section of the battlefield: “I’m detecting a heavy land force coming our way with several enemy land experimental units leading the charge. Once they hit us, we will have to devote all of our resources to counter them.”

In other words, this meant that Kaeden’s armada would be their only offensive push for a long while. Melissa appeared on Kaeden’s screen and winced before nodding in understanding: “You don’t have to do it. Focus on Talik if you want. We’ll find a way to hold out.”

“I am afraid that I cannot,” admitted Kaeden in resignation as he took control of his gunships: “Even if we destroy the prototype impersonating Talik then there is still no guarantee that the other pilots will cease their assault. We must therefore take every advantage while we can.”

With that said, Kaeden ordered his escorting gunships to teleport right on top of the enemy commander. They appeared above it a few seconds later and unleashed a barrage of blaster fire; first destroying the shield generator and then focusing on the ACU itself. A second explosion soon filled the sky, destroying Kaeden’s gunships in the process.

Part of the land army that had been closing in on the other pilots’ position self destructed a moment later, but not enough to halt the advance. Kaeden gritted his teeth as he focused on his true target: “Closing in on Talik’s position now.”

“This is so stupid!” growled Nial in irritation as she grabbed her controls angrily: “Why was that pilot exposed like that and why aren’t they holding back their assault? They no longer have a clear advantage!”

“Because every loss is one more gain for QAI,” answered Melissa after a moment of consideration: “No matter what side it comes from.”

The truth behind the statement hit them hard. If even one Illuminate pilot survived then word would reach Seraphim Two of the battle and troops would be dispatched to hunt them down. If they killed them all then it meant that a full squad would have fallen simply because QAI had managed to trick them. A rescue party would be sent shortly afterwards and immediately pick up on the signs of battle. In either scenario, the Alliance would be blamed, spinning the Infinite War further out of control.

Stokes suddenly appeared on their screens and spoke in an urgent tone to force everyone out of their contemplation: “Here they come!”

-----

The ground shook under the heavy feet of the three Universal Colossuses as they made their way forward with a full escort of tanks and mobile flak artillery. A few other minor experimental units were there as well; mainly mobile air defense platforms and assault blocks. The size of the attack force was enough to break through and maybe kill one or two of the defending pilots… but just barely.

A colorful curse escaped Stokes as he took it all in. The others were right; if QAI was indeed behind this then it was doing everything in its power to have both groups kill each other. The worst part was that Stokes was heavily limited as to how he could help.

With only two Fatboys and a few power generators under his command, Stokes could barely participate in their defense by forcing the others to face reality and by barking an order or two. In the end, however, the simple fact was that he was in command of an obsolete ACU model. He therefore turned his gaze northward as the battle started.

Fatboy gauss cannon shells rained over the area, supported by Iole’s Loyalty guns and point defense turrets. Meanwhile, Foil, Nial and Tie’s ACUs were swooping in and out, attacking any unit that strayed from the Illuminate battle group, but they were still unable to face the main task force directly for fear of being destroyed. Finally, Melissa had forced her factory to liberate another half finished Air Fortress. Sparks danced along its hull as it struggled to manufacture gunships to support their defense even as Melissa juggled her resources between fighting back and supporting Kaeden’s offensive. Meanwhile, the Illuminate force pushed hard.

The sky was quickly filled with plasma blasts, disintegrator pulse lasers and concussion shots as the Illuminate force stepped within range of Iole’s defensive line. The barrage of energy crashed against the energy shield, but the barrier could only hold for so long before collapsing. The resulting discharge of energy was so intense that Stokes was forced to reset the brightness filter on his monitor.

The battle would have kept unraveling that way when Melissa suddenly appeared on Stokes screen with a worried look on her face: “Zero, get out of there; the enemy is closing in on you!”

The order brought Stokes’ attention back to the prototype which had been waiting in a kneeling position with its directional shields fully active ever since it had finished carrying out its initial orders. The prototype ignored the command and remained motionless even as a layer of Iole’s defensive line crumbled. This alarmed Melissa, her eyes growing wide: “Why won’t it move?”

“It won’t accept remote orders,” said Tie suddenly. The Chimera looked at something on his side screen before shaking his head: “The odds of it being deceived would be too great if it did.”

“But why won’t it just move out of the way?” insisted Melissa. This time, it was Stokes who answered: “Because self preservation is not one of its directives.”

That’s right, thought Stokes silently. While Melissa had previous experience with Zero, she had not actually participated in the research program like he had. One of the earliest artificial intelligence prototypes, one which had not even left the simulation computers, had been encoded with self preservation routines. Every test scenario afterwards had been a disaster with the AI constantly objecting to every pilot command that would put it at risk.

A week later, the main algorithms had been scrapped and reworked with a new set of directives; to obey the pilot first and to protect him second. Professor Yoix had theorized that the destruction of the ACU meant the death of the pilot anyway, so focusing on the health of the pilot would ensure that the directive would be followed indirectly. She had probably not considered the fact that one of her prototypes would be sent on a field of operation without its pilot.

Stokes could clearly see the mental anguish in Melissa’s eyes as she searched for a way to help Zero. Her current task was too important at the moment for her to worry about it, however, and Stokes decided to take matters into his own hand: “Focus on the battle; I’ll take care of Zero.”

With that in mind, Stokes set a course towards Zero and quickly closed the gap. Its directional shields were still up, making it all but impossible to move. While not designed as an offensive weapon, the fact remained that those shields could deliver a large enough discharge to anything that came into contact with them. Stokes therefore waited until his area shield had covered the prototype before initiating an emergency cockpit override of his ACU.

The procedure was long with Stokes having to enter a series of overrides to force his cockpit open. ACUs were not meant to open in the middle of a battle for the risk to the pilot was simply too great and unlike the new prototypes; the standard ACU lacked an emergency hatch. It took Stokes a full minute for him to enter the final command and his eyes invariably turned towards the front line where the enemy battle force was drawing in closer and closer.

“I just hope that they didn’t erase my security clearance from your files,” muttered Stokes as his cockpit slowly opened. He removed his seat belts even as he shouted over the sound of the battle: “Zero, it’s me. Open the emergency hatch!”

There was a brief pause before Zero started moving, shutting down its directional shield and standing back up. It then extended its left hand as if it was an invitation while opening its emergency hatch. Stokes grinned as he copied the maneuver, extending the right arm of his ACU so that it formed a bridge between the two of them. He then jumped out of his cockpit and started running along the arm.

The outline of the UEF pilot’s body could be clearly seen as he ran, seeming but a small shadow compared to the constant exchange of weapons fire that was happening in the distance. The enemy was still far away and Stokes had thought it would be relatively safe to make the exchange, but there was a reason why so many protocols were in place to prevent a pilot from doing such a thing.

Several hundred meters away, one of Melissa’s gunships exploded due to enemy anti-air fire, sending shrapnel flying in every direction. One of its cannons flew on like a missile deep into their encampment. It hit one of Iole’s shields once and the energy discharge sent it flying further ahead and straight towards Stokes ACU. The piece of wreckage then collided with the UEF ACU’s area shields.

The wreckage merely glanced off the area shield which was designed to withstand far worse, but it did cause a spark of energy to surge within its confines. The spark, a negligible side effect which would not even scratch the ACU’s paint, was part of the shield’s design. Even the most basic of units would ignore its effect without any problem, but a human body was different.

The spark hit Stokes’ shoulder, passing through his body, exiting through his legs and into the ACU’s reinforced armor. This caused all of his muscles to tense up and he fell flat on his face, paralyzed by the sudden discharge. Stokes somehow managed to remain conscious despite the pain, but that was only to feel himself sliding along the side of his ACU’s arm and towards certain death thirty meters below. He tried to cry out, but barely managed to gasp as he fell.

Stokes’ entire life flashed before his eyes, his last thought being that he would die because of a freak accident. He hit something sooner than expected and cried out as his head connected with something hard. Stars danced in front of his eyes, but he did manage to realize that Zero had caught him with its free hand. It then carried him over to its cockpit and Stokes did his best to climb down the emergency hatch without falling the rest of the way down. He then strapped himself to the chair, his hands still shaking from the discharge as he looked back to the screen in front of him: “Thanks.”

Stokes then looked back towards the battlefield and frowned. One of his Fatboys had been destroyed during the interval and the other was heavily damaged. The Illuminate’s forces were breaking through their defenses and it seemed as though their best effort would not be enough to stop them. Stokes looked around for anything that he could use and an idea popped into his mind when his gaze settled on his former ACU: “That’s it, let’s use it as a shield!”

With that in mind, Stokes reached for the controls and tried to select a series of upgrades, but he found that his hands were shaking too badly for him to input his commands. The camera on the main console zoomed in on him a few times before a suggestion popped on his screen: full ACU upgrade?

“Yeah,” answered Stokes, amazed when the prototype completed the upgrades on its own. Whatever Melissa had done to Zero, it seemed as though the prototype could prove even more independent than it previously could. Now was not the time to question his good fortune, however, and Stokes decided to take advantage of the ability: “Use my old ACU as a shield and charge!”

Zero did exactly as ordered, having understood Stokes’ plan from the beginning. It grabbed the obsolete ACU with its left hand and lifted it like a shield before rushing straight at the Illuminate attack force. Plama turrets immediately turned towards Zero as soon as it stepped in range, but the shots met the area shield which was still operational. Meanwhile, Zero merely rushed its way through, firing its main cannon, shoulder artillery and tactical missiles, but keeping its overload shots for its real target: one of the Universal Colossuses which was spearheading the assault.

The behemoth turned its single eye towards the approaching ACU and fired as soon as it stepped in range, but for now, the area shields held. Zero answered the attack by firing a string of overloaded shots, tearing huge chunks out of the experimental unit’s armor. The exchange lasted a few more seconds before the old ACU’s area shields finally collapsed exactly as Zero had planned.

The UEF prototype kept using its obsolete counterpart as a shield for a moment longer before throwing it at the Universal Colossus’ feet like a rag doll. It then fired its tactical missiles not at the Illuminate experimental weapon, but at the discarded ACU instead. Zero’s jump jets fired half a heartbeat later, carrying it away to safety even as the missiles hit their intended target.

The obsolete ACU’s core went critical as soon as the missiles hit, creating an explosion that destroyed the damaged Universal Colossus as well as the units which had been escorting it. Only a few other experimental units remained and those fell soon afterwards. Zero landed on a hill further away, it’s hull smoking, but without any significant damage.

Nial appeared on Stokes screen then and nodded in appreciation: “Wow, that was amazing!”

“I had the idea,” said Stokes in a shaking voice, having difficulty unclenching his jaw after the discharge: “But Zero carried out the maneuver.”

Stokes words were cut off as another ACU explosion lit the sky further away. Kaeden appeared on their screen then, his gaze anguished, but still resolute: “Commander Talik’s ACU has been destroyed, but I had to sacrifice my army in the process. My next wave of reinforcements will be closing in on your position in the next two minutes.”

“Good, we have some breathing room now,” said Melissa while taking a look at her tactical display. With Talik and two other enemy ACUs destroyed, it left only five of them to worry about. After their failed offensive, they would have no other choice but to regroup their forces before mounting another attack. This would give them the time that they needed to escape and Melissa immediately assigned an engineer to build a quantum nexus.

Chapter 14
Separate Duties

A loud clanking noise filled the air as the triple reinforced doors of the civilian bunker slowly rolled upwards. A moment later, a series of armored civilian transports rolled out, each carrying roughly five hundred men and women. Although Melissa could not see them since the transports had no passenger windows, she could well imagine the fearful eyes and shuddering breaths. She only had to recall the multiple times when she had been evacuated during the Seraphim War to remember the feeling of utter helplessness that came along with it.

The first transport suddenly took a hard right, changing its course towards Melissa’s newly built quantum nexus. Stokes appeared on her screen a moment later and nodded: “The civilians will reach the gate nexus in the next ninety seconds.”

Melissa nodded in acknowledgment, but also took the opportunity to study Stokes more closely. The adrenaline of the recent battle had worn off and the other pilot was cradling his left arm against his body even as pain twisted his features. She could not get a clear look of his injury from this angle, but she could tell that Stokes was doing everything to ignore it. The fact that he was failing to mask it completely hinted at the severity of the wound.

Regardless, there was little that they could do about it until they had finished evacuating. Melissa therefore turned her attention towards her Star King Extreme, the heavy experimental transport that she had manufactured only moments before. It sped across the ocean and towards Kaeden’s island with a full escort of fighters, carrying with it all three Cybran pilots. The second quantum nexus was waiting for them there. Using both sites would allow them to split the load and escape all the faster.

Melissa looked at her instruments and then nodded: “The transport will reach Kaeden within the next minute. We should all be ready to gate by then.”

“There is still no sign of the Illuminate,” added Iole with a neutral voice. She raised an eyebrow as she added: “They seem to be taking a far more conservative approach now that Talik is gone. They will most likely aim for an overwhelming attack, but it should arrive too late to prevent our escape.”

Although she did not consider herself an expert in analyzing Illuminate behavior, Melissa could still note the sadness in Iole’s voice. Maybe the deaths of the other two Illuminate pilots had finally sunk in. Melissa could only imagine how that felt like, but Iole did not dwell on it further and opened another channel: “Tie, please transmit the full proof concerning QAI’s implication in this tragedy.”

The Chimera appeared briefly and only offered a quick nod: “Done.”

“So, where are we going?” asked Nial, drawing all of them back to the matter at hand. Escaping was one thing, but they needed to make sure that they did not end some place worse. Foil appeared on their screen then and nodded: “Set the quantum gates for these coordinates in the Nex system.”

“That’s Cybran territory,” spouted Stokes back between clenched teeth.

“That’s friendly Cybran territory,” corrected Foil immediately. The Cybran typed something on his console as he added: “We can’t go to the UEF from this location, but I know people on Nex who owe me some pretty big favors. Having them look the other way while we smuggle civilians to safety sounds like a good way to pay those debts.”

For a moment, it seemed as though Stokes would object, but Tie cut him off before he could do so: “Unless you want to stay here or risk gating deeper into Illuminate territory?”

And that was the real problem; unlike the Illuminate, the Cybran Nation was not actively looking for them. Stokes did not like the idea of depending on Foil in terms of diplomacy, but the other alternatives were worse by far. The UEF pilot grumbled something under his breath even as Iole appeared on their screen: “Enemy sign detected.”

That in itself was a clear understatement. A large land army slowly appeared on the edge of their sensors, seeming to cover the entire area. Hundreds of tanks moved around, avoiding the heavy experimental units that were lumbering in their midst. Meanwhile, mechanical engineers buzzed around, adding shield generators, land factories and turrets in order to make sure that they would keep whatever ground they took.

Stopping them was no longer an option and Melissa merely set a course alongside Stokes as the two of them stepped inside the quantum Nexus: “Everyone in position, we gate in twenty seconds.”

One of the spots configured to welcome an ACU remained empty and Melissa turned a puzzled look back outside: “Hurry up, Iole. It’s time to go.”

The Illuminate ACU remained immobile in the distance, its personal shields glinting against the horizon. The lack of movement alarmed Melissa who leaned towards her console: “Iole?”

“I am staying,” answered Iole, her voice filled with a mixture of sadness and resignation. The reply was so unexpected that Melissa merely blurted out: “What?”

Iole ignored the question and turned her attention back towards another pilot: “Kaeden, please assist them to the best of your abilities.”

“I was the one who delivered the killing blows,” answered Kaeden as if he fully understood what Iole intended to do: “I should be staying behind.”

“It is not your decision to make,” answered Iole sternly, her voice suddenly rising as she assumed the full responsibilities of her station. Kaeden bowed his head, the guilt further compounded in his eyes.

“What are you two talking about?” demanded Melissa angrily, not caring the least for that bit of drama and only wanting Iole to get in the quantum nexus. Iole merely shook her head as she typed something on her console: “Your gates are charged. It is time for you to go.”

“Not without you, we’re not!” shouted Melissa back, but Iole finished inputting her sequence just then. All of her units, including the shield generators that were protecting the quantum nexus, suddenly self destructed, leaving their position completely defenseless. Iole then set a course away from the gate, her voice leaving no room for debate: “Go now while you still can.”

The Illuminate pilot then cut off the transmission. Kaeden appeared on her screen a moment later, his gaze sad, but resolute: “Initiating gate nexus sequence.”

“Wait!” shouted Melissa back, but it was already too late. Kaeden and the three Cybrans had already disappeared.

“Mel, we have to go,” cut in Stokes abruptly. The tone of his voice grew louder as Kaeden, Foil, Nial and Tie’s units and structures self destructed: “People are depending on us; we have to go right now!”

“This isn’t fair,” whispered Melissa as she initiated the gate nexus sequence. A moment later, both ACUs and the civilians were gone, transported to the Nex system.

Iole watched it all, a trace of sadness and regret slipping into her voice as she whispered: “May the fates be kind to you, my friends.”

With that, Iole opened a broad band channel towards the approaching Illuminate army: “I, Commander Iole Azekiel, offer my unconditional surrender.”

The Illuminate pilot then entered the sequence to open her emergency hatch and dutifully stepped outside. She then stood upon the cockpit of her ACU with both hands held up in surrender even as a Universal Colossus and its escort closed in on her.

-----

“What the hell was that about?” demanded Melissa angrily the moment that her ACU gated on the Nex system. Every pilot immediately turned towards Kaeden, but he remained unshaken as he answered: “You have your duty, Melissa Desjar, and we have ours.”

“We are accountable for our crimes, no matter what our intentions were,” added Kaeden when it seemed as though Melissa would berate him some more: “With Talik gone and your people safe, Iole saw an opportunity to prevent the situation from degrading any further.”

“She surrendered?” asked Melissa out loud, suddenly realizing what Iole had done. On one hand, it was probably the best way to inform the rest of the Illuminate of QAI’s deception. On the other, it still meant that she would be regarded as a traitor for her role in the deaths of her fellow pilots. Back in the UEF, there was nothing lower than a traitor and Melissa could easily imagine a few ‘accidents’ happening in transit.

“What will they do to her?” asked Melissa, a note of concern slipping into her voice. Kaeden merely shook his head, unsure of it himself: “If they accept her surrender then they will no doubt imprison her. Hopefully her station will give her an opportunity to be heard by the council at some point.”

“And how long will that take?” asked Foil, suddenly hopeful as to where this situation could lead: “Hours, days, weeks?”

“I do not know,” admitted Kaeden sincerely. The proclamation left everyone feeling glum. The Infinite War was escalating quickly. If they did not manage to stop it soon then it would not matter what proof they did or did not have. Before long, a whole new set of atrocities would be enough to continue the conflict.

Tie finally snorted while readjusting his sunglasses: “So the only thing we know for sure is that we have one less pilot to throw against QAI.”

Kaeden nodded, having reached the same conclusion, but still refusing to blame Iole for it: “She was well aware of that.”

“We can discuss that later,” interrupted Foil suddenly. The Cybran set a course away from the group as he spoke: “Nial, you’re with me. We’ll try to contact the locals and see if we can arrange something. The rest of you stay here. Let Tie build a base and take care of defending this position in the meantime.”

For a moment, it seemed as though Stokes would object, but Foil cut him off before he could do so: “Trust me; the last thing you want is to look like an invading army.”

“Fine,” conceded Stokes reluctantly: “But I’ll still build a few research centers and upgrade my ACU.”

Foil did not object to that, confident that as long as Tie was the strongest presence in the area then that everything could be explained. He turned towards Melissa then, his stern mask slipping for a second: “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

With that, Foil and Nial plotted a course away. Melissa had yearned to embrace her love one last time before he left, but she was the first one to admit that they simply did not have the time. She briefly wondered what she could do in the meantime when she noticed Stokes’ pain expression on her monitor. She reflexively reached for the medical kit under her seat and nodded back at him: “Stokes, open your emergency hatch. I’m coming over to patch you up.”

-----

The trip back to Zero proved uneventful with Melissa quickly closing the distance. She briefly looked towards the ground transports which had gated with them and nodded, glad that they were safe. She then took a good look at Zero even as she navigated her way along it’s arm and towards the emergency hatch of its cockpit.

Its outer armor had been damaged by the rough quantum jump when they had first sent it on its own, but not severely. The prototype’s regenerative system had already repaired its critical components and the rest of the damage was mostly cosmetic. Scorch marks covered the prototype from head to toe, making it appear as if it had gone through hell and back for their sake. Melissa could only hope that its onboard systems had fared just as well.

Something felt different the moment that Melissa stepped down the emergency hatch. The feeling was indescribable, almost as if she was stepping into a completely different environment. It was like the feeling of an entire crowd of cheering fans silencing in an instant or stepping out of a freezing winter and into a warm home. She could not truly place her finger on it, but somehow, Zero simply felt different.

A shake of her head allowed Melissa to clear her thoughts and she made her way towards Stokes. The other pilot’s face was contorted in pain and Melissa quickly opened her medical kit. The first thing she noticed was the bit of dried blood behind Stokes’ head, but she saw something else along his left shoulder: “Lean forward a bit.”

Stokes did as instructed while suppressing a groan: “How bad does it look?”

A silent gasp escaped Melissa when she saw the wound. The bolt of energy that had hit Stokes had connected with the jump suit’s outer armor on the rear of his shoulder, traveled down along his back and exited through his left leg. The circuitry along the jump suit’s exterior had channeled the burst away from his internal organs, but it had melted in the process and covered him with second and third degree burns. Melissa suddenly remembered that an answer was expected of her and tried to sound reassuring: “It… doesn’t look so bad.”

A wince escaped Stokes as he turned back towards the console in front of him: “You know; you’re a terrible liar for someone who hangs around Cybrans all the time.”

Melissa let the insult slide and focused on her treatment. It took her only a moment to realize that the systems which were part of Stokes’ flight suit, including the automated pain killers, had been fried during the blast. She therefore administered a reasonable dose of pain killers before taking care of the burns. Melissa did what she could with the supplies at her disposal, applying burn treating lotion where she could and bandaging the areas that were most likely to get infected.

A few minutes later, Melissa straightened and nodded, mostly pleased with the intervention: “That should do it for now.”

“My left hand still feels numb,” said Stokes while trying to flex his fingers. He gave up after a while and merely leaned back against his seat with an exasperated sigh: “I can move around, but I can’t operate an ACU efficiently, not like this. It looks like we’ve just lost another pilot.”

Melissa placed a comforting hand on Stokes’ uninjured shoulder. She wanted to encourage him and tell him that it was all right, but she knew better. ACU pilots could not afford to fight when they were this badly injured. Besides, part of her knew that the other pilot would not want her pity: “We should get you to a medical center as soon as possible.”

Zero’s screen immediately lit up in response, listing known UEF medical centers equipped with the facilities and personnel to treat burn victims. The prototype then outlined those centers which were more easily accessible and yet with the best doctors. The automated response eased the tension and made Melissa chuckle. Somehow, it felt good to know that Zero was still looking out for them.

Stokes raised a skeptical eyebrow and turned towards Melissa, a trace of sarcasm slipping into his voice: “I’m glad that you can take the presence of a near sentient machine so lightheartedly.”

Melissa was about to answer that it was thanks to Zero that Stokes was still alive in the first place, but Foil suddenly reappeared on their screen: “We’re back.”

“That was fast,” said Melissa with a bright smile, but it quickly vanished when she noticed the look on Foil’s face: “What’s wrong?”

“Good news first,” said the Cybran with a tense look in his eyes: “It took some convincing, but we’ve secured some authentication codes and a trajectory for you guys to use. You’ll be able to navigate through Cybran territory, into uncharted sectors and back into the UEF while avoiding the Assumptas.”

“Good,” said Melissa with a relieved sigh. She unconsciously reached for the console’s controls to bring up the galaxy map, but stopped when she remembered that Stokes was technically the one operating the ACU. The other pilot motioned for her to go ahead and she brought the display up: “So we go there, get the civilians to safety and carry the evidence to Alliance HQ. Then we take out the infected ACUs which are controlling the Assumptas.”

The last part made Foil wince: “I hate to break it to you Mel, but I don’t think anyone is controlling the Assumptas.”

“What?” asked Melissa in surprise, not believing what she was hearing.

Tie’s face appeared on their monitor then, his voice devoid of any emotion as he explained: “They’ve been playing hand in hand with the Alliance, but they’ve been preparing for war the whole time while gathering intelligence on those that they were working alongside with.”

“You knew about this?” said Stokes suddenly, his question sounding more like an accusation.

“Everyone knew, even those intelligence officers back in the UEF,” answered Tie with a shrug: “I guess we were all just hoping that nothing like this would happen.”

And everyone had been wrong, thought Melissa immediately. She could not help but think that she should have seen it coming. Back during the Seraphim War, every Cybran friend that she had ever made had all told her the same thing about the Assumpta: you don’t make friends with them, they don’t play well with others and the only thing that matters to them is their own interest. To have such a people go from selfish to selfless in the same day, all in the name of safeguarding the Alliance, had been implausible at best.

“QAI might have ignited the fires, but those I spoke to clearly said that Redfog is now carrying the torch,” said Foil, confirming Tie’s theory: “She has half of the Cybran military following her lead and striking deep into UEF territory. Any Illuminate outpost which tries to interfere also gets targeted.”

“Assuming that the UEF does not attack any Illuminate who try to ‘help them’ first,” added Nial with a wince. Foil nodded before turning back to the others: “The point is: even if we stop QAI then Redfog might not stop the war.”

“And your people are just going along with it?” shouted Stokes in outrage.

“Half of them are enraged by Doctor Brackman’s death and are calling for revenge,” answered Foil just as harshly. He took a claming breath before adding: “He was like a father to many of us. The other half does not want to start the war again, but their voices aren’t being heard. Node Fifty-Six could have tried to make a call for peace, but the word is that it’s been hit hard and was forced to evacuate.”

“Communications are still down,” added Nial as she checked something on her console: “We’ll have to bring the proof over to them and find a way to stop Redfog from there.”

“Right,” said Melissa, having come to the same conclusion herself: “We should divide in two teams. I’ll come with you and…”

“You can’t come with us, Mel,” interrupted Foil sadly: “The authentication codes will only allow you to get out of the Cybran Nation and not further in. If you try to go deeper then you’ll get ambushed for sure.”

Would they really dare to? Melissa had always thought that she had a lot of friends in the Cybran Nation, but the notion that she might have lost a lot of those when QAI had struck had never even occurred to her. Foil nodded, his gaze reflecting his regret: “They’ll defend their homes, Mel. They’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”

Foil let Melissa digest the news for a moment before turning back to the others: “Nial and I will be going to the area where Node Fifty-Six relocated. We’ll try to diffuse the situation from there. The rest of you should head out of Cybran territory and get those civilians back into UEF space while you still can. If you can get the proof to the rest of the Alliance then maybe we could minimize some of the damage.”

“Wait a minute,” objected Tie, caught by surprise for one of the rare times in his life: “Why am I not following you to Node Fifty-Six?”

“Because you’re in command of an unstable prototype!” snapped Foil back, acting as an ACU Commander and not as a friend: “No one knows how your prototype will behave under these circumstances! The last thing we need is having it rampaging for who knows what reason while we’re trying to diffuse the situation!”

That statement made Tie’s eyes widen in shock, but he could not find a good counter for it. Nial appeared on his screen then and shrugged apologetically: “He’s kind of right.”

“We’ll get Stokes back into the UEF along with the refugees,” said Melissa, eager to change the subject: “We’ll wait for you at Debra’s Den.”

Located on the edge of colonized space, Debra’s Den was a name given to a strategic location on Antivia prime. The world itself held no strategic value in terms of galactic warfare, but the site itself was easy to defend thanks to multiple rock formations. It would be the ideal place to wait. Hopefully Foil, Stokes or Iole would manage to reason with their respective factions by then.

“We’ll meet you there as soon as we can,” said Foil, glad that they were thinking along the same line. The Cybran’s gaze softened for a second as he added: “Stay safe.”

Foil closed the channel soon afterwards and plotted a course away with Nial in tow. Stokes grumbled as he slowly stood up from his seat: “Well, that’s a fine mess that we’ve gotten ourselves into.”

“Where are you going?” asked Melissa in alarm, worried that Stokes was moving around with his injuries. Stokes merely waved her concerns away as he moved past her and towards the emergency hatch: “Back to the other prototype. Zero is yours now.

Melissa placed a hand on Stokes arm even as he reached for the ladder: “Wait, Zero could help you considering your condition.”

“I’m going back into UEF territory,” said Stokes while turning back to her: “It’s no safer to bring Zero in there than having Tie’s prototype stomping through the Cybran Nation.”

Stokes hesitated a moment before lowering his gaze, his jaw tightening in frustration as he added: “And like it or not, I’m out of the fight. Zero can do a lot more good out here with you than carrying me back home.”

Melissa hesitated a moment longer before finally conceding the point. She helped the other pilot up the ladder and then turned back towards the main console. Something about the prototype still felt off, but she placed that notion aside as she looked at the message which was written on the screen: farewell operator Edmond Stokes.

“Don’t worry, Zero,” said Melissa as she sat in the pilot’s chair and strapped herself in: “We’ll see all of them again.”

Chapter 15
The Hidden Viper

Pieces of debris from past battles still covered the site known as Debra’s Den. Most of those were from obsolete units which had been in service prior to the Seraphim War. The sector was still outside of Alliance space and as such, no effort had been made to restore it to its original state. Nature, however, had taken its course with plants growing around the wreckage and animals using the husks of destroyed units as shelters.

Melissa looked at the surrounding landscape a few seconds longer before turning towards the newly built quantum nexus. A flash of energy surged through the structure at that moment, sending Stokes as well as the colonists back into UEF territory. Melissa could only hope that Stokes would make it all the way to Earth and warn the others of QAI’s plot in time.

“Good luck out there,” whispered Melissa to herself. A small wave of dizziness assaulted her suddenly and Melissa brought a hand to her forehead. Kaeden noticed this and looked at her with a concerned expression: “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Melissa: “Maybe it’s the stress, but something felt off ever since I stepped back into Zero.”

The ACU prototype reacted by synchronizing itself with Melissa’s flight suit and analyzing the information that it provided. It then forwarded hundreds of lines of biometric data on her screen. Melissa blinked, unsure of where to start looking, but Zero made her task easier by sorting the information based upon how much it strayed from her usual parameters.

The first item on the list, and the only one which was abnormal, was one which was completely unknown to the UEF pilot: “How bad is it to have a high quantum factor twelve?”

“It should not be a problem,” said Kaeden after a moment of hesitation: “All of our studies show that factor twelve is responsible for slowing down the aging process when we enter a quantum field.”

Tie appeared on their screen then, his gaze still hidden behind his sunglasses: “Zero probably picked up a higher dose of radiation ever since it tried to force its way through QAI’s blockade. Those concentrations are a bit high though.”

“Has anyone ever experienced such high levels before?” asked Melissa, suddenly concerned. She was not an expert in terms of radiation, but she knew enough that while small doses of certain types were benign, high concentrations could kill you.

“I have one record of such high levels found in an individual,” confirmed Tie after inputting the request in his databank. The Chimera’s impassive features screwed up momentarily when he read the full entry. A snort escaped him then as he looked back towards Melissa: “He’s endured the state for several years now without any unusual side effects other than the slowing of the aging process.”

“That’s good,” said Melissa in obvious relief. Tie winced as he added: “I should probably point out that the subject in question is Bagby, so no one was really in a position to determine whether there were psychological impacts.”

That put a damper on Melissa’s optimism. She did not know much about the eccentric Cybran pilot aside that thousands of rumors, some fictional and others true, constantly surrounded him. She had run into him a few times as a child and he had always struck her as an odd character to say the least. Hopefully his condition was in no way related to the quantum factor.

Kaeden noticed her unease and nodded reassuringly: “We have time until Foil or Stokes can contact us again. Perhaps you should take the opportunity to rest. We will watch over you in the meantime.”

“All right,” said Melissa after only a moment of hesitation. She trusted both of her friends to keep watch and sleep was a welcomed luxury at this stage. With that in mind, Melissa set Zero into guard mode, programmed her alarm clock to wake her in the next two hours, closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. For a moment, she feared that she would not find any sleep, but she collapsed barely seconds after closing her eyes.

Meanwhile, Tie directed a message back to Kaeden: “You take first watch; I’ve got some simulations to run with my prototype.”

-----

In another corner of the galaxy, Bagby looked sadly at the computer screen of his ACU. Ivanna and a few of the other children were displayed on it, waiting safely inside a secured bunker of their temporary base. It had taken them a few hours to evacuate the rest of their civilians to safety, but the surprise attack had scattered Node Fifty-Six all across the sector.

A few pilots had been dispatched to check out other evacuation sites and over half of the scattered population had been recovered by now. The other half, which included Ivanna’s adoptive family, was still missing. Bagby felt fairly certain that they were safe, but in the meantime, it still meant that the poor girl was all alone down there. At least Hitomi was there to keep her company.

Bagby had been so deep in his own thoughts that he did not hear Ell’s light footsteps as she stepped within the entrance of his cockpit: “What are you still doing in your ACU?”

“Damn it, girl!” exclaimed Bagby while bringing a hand to his chest: “Don’t sneak up on an old man like a bloody Assumpta!

“Sorry,” said Ell with a tired smile. Her gaze was momentarily drawn to Bagby’s screen and she could not help but look at Ivanna: “She does look a bit like Dostya, doesn’t she?”

“Her? You’re imagining things,” said Bagby dismissively while locking his computer screen. The truth was that the girl was quickly growing into the very image of her mother. Each day that no one realized it was one more day that the girl would be able to enjoy a normal life. Bagby would do everything in his power to keep things that way and he therefore quickly changed the subject: “Can I help you with something?”

“Foil and Nial are back,” answered Ell while nodding towards the hangar’s heavily reinforced door. It slowly slid open as she added: “Apparently they have something urgent to tell us; something that they couldn’t risk transmitting even over short range communications.”

Bagby looked behind Ell and noticed that Keith, Sjet, Queren, Kazuo and Valerie were making their way over to the docking ramp now. This all sounded good and very important, but the truth was that Ivanna was Bagby’s only real priority at the moment and he could not keep an eye on her if he was out there.

“Good, the kids made it back,” said Bagby with an approving nod. He then turned back to his console as he added: “You just go ahead. I’ll follow the conversation from here.”

For a moment, it seemed as though Ell would argue the point, but she then shrugged and joined the others. Meanwhile, Bagby stayed true to his promise by accessing one of the hangar’s cameras on his main monitor while also keeping an eye out for Ivanna on his side screen.

Foil and Nial were greeted warmly as soon as they stepped out of their prototypes, but their grim demeanor quickly set the tone of the encounter. They quickly told the others everything that they knew about QAI; about how it had infected ACU prototypes, started the war by striking key personnel in every faction and turned them against each other. The information seemed to silence the entire hangar, stunning everyone including the technicians and engineers who were maintaining the other ACUs.

“Damn it, this is so screwed up,” whispered Bagby from his cockpit. The loss of a great man like Doctor Brackman had been a great tragedy, but this was something worse entirely. If what the kids were saying was true, then QAI was not only responsible for the Doctor’s death, but also for destroying his dream of peace and Cybran independence. The very worst part was that it was using all of them to do it.

Everyone who was within ear range reacted differently; some cried out in anguish, others clenched their fists in frustration and a few did their best to hide their tears. Bagby himself rubbed a finger against his right eye, having always found a measure of comfort at having Doctor Brackman looking over all of them.

Bagby was about to turn back to his side screen and find some comfort in seeing Ivanna safe and sound, but his gaze was immediately drawn back to his main monitor. This puzzled him for a moment and he tried to look away again, but he found his eyes glued forward.

‘What is wrong with this picture?’

The question was barely a whisper in the back of Bagby’s mind, but somehow, it did not feel like it belonged there. Nevertheless, Bagby took the time to study his main monitor once more. Foil was trying to get the others to move past their personal anguish, but one person did not seem to have such a problem. A technician was there in the background, almost invisible as he discretely worked with a data pad next to an ACU. He appeared neither shocked nor anguished by the piece of news, which was odd to say the least.

“That’s not right,” said Bagby, having a bad feeling about this. Not one to ignore his instincts, the old pilot stepped out of his ACU, but then paused. He couldn’t just walk up to the technician, not if he wanted to find out what he was really up to. He therefore stepped over the railing of the docking platform and climbed down. He then stealthily made his way around the docking platform while only hanging by his arms over a thirty meter drop. A pair of technicians on the bottom floor noticed him dangling over the ledge, but then shrugged when they realized it was Bagby and went straight back to work.

Meanwhile, Foil did his best to prompt the others back into action: “We have to stop this war before it gets further out of hand.”

“Redfog won’t be talked out of it,” answered Keith while shaking his head: “I saw some of the messages that her couriers sent to the other nodes and the one thing that I’ll say is that she’s fully committed.”

“Then we can at least get the nodes following her to stop so they can see the proof!” countered Foil undaunted. The young pilot then raised both hands pleadingly: “What is there to lose?”

“Far more than you realize,” answered Valerie, her gaze cast downward. Everyone turned back to her and the former Assumpta took a deep breath before clarifying her thoughts: “Cut off Redfog’s support and she’ll switch targets; from military to civilians. The UEF and Illuminate retaliation combined with our disrupted communications will then force every node back into the fight and this time, it will be for good.”

“And if we try to stop her directly?” asked Nial, always preferring the direct approach. Valerie just shook her head back: “Then you’ll end up with a civil war.”

The Cybran Nation turning in upon itself? It was hard for any of them to think of a worse scenario. Kazuo discretely made his way closer to his wife and whispered gently to her: “Are you certain about this?”

“I have been an Assumpta for the better part of my life,” answered Valerie, the notion seeming to bring conflicting emotions to the surface: “We pride ourselves on being capable of anything to achieve our goal, no matter how inhuman. No one can stop Redfog except…”

Valerie’s voice suddenly trailed off and she looked away reflexively. Nial stepped forward with an insisting gaze: “Who?”

The former Assumpta did not answer for a moment, but Sjet suddenly slapped his forehead, having guessed who Valerie was referring to: “You have got to be kidding me: are we talking about the ‘old’ Redfog?”

Startled gazes turned to Sjet before focusing back to Valerie. The former Assumpta then nodded: “He taught his successor everything that he knew… or almost everything. If anyone would know of a way to stop her then he would.”

“That won’t do us any good if we don’t know where to find him,” growled Keith back in irritation. The former Commando crossed his arms and looked away as he added: “The old Redfog completely vanished from the grid.”

“You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?” asked Nial innocently, not thinking that Valerie possibly could, but seeing no harm in asking. Again, the former Assumpta remained silent and all gazes turned back to her. Foil cleared his throat, but decided to thread carefully. Even if she was a former Assumpta, the fact remained that the old Redfog had inspired a near fanatical loyalty in his followers and that a lack of diplomacy here could doom their efforts: “Look, I know that it’s asking a lot, but could you tell us where…”

“Aliv Cluster, Theta Five, in the Ocella mountain chain,” interrupted Valerie without any further prompting. Foil blinked in surprise, amazed that it had worked: “That… was easy.”

“I am no longer an Assumpta,” clarified Valerie while looking at everyone in turn: “And I have a family now, a real family.”

Valerie’s gaze then turned towards Kazuo and her eyes soften as she added: “My first duty is to them.”

Every set of eyes was turned towards the unorthodox couple, all except for the lone technician that no one had noticed. The man kept working on his data pad, writing in a set of commands. Unknown to the technician, Bagby stealthily climbed up the ledge behind him with a grace uncommon for one of his age. The old pilot considered simply confronting his target right there, but decided to creep closer instead and take a peak at what he was working on. He arrived slightly too late, however, and only saw the technician press the transmit button of his data pad.

Disappointed, Bagby was about to tap on the technician’s shoulder and ask him a few questions when the man reached for a hidden compartment in his flight suit. Bagby’s eyes widened when he saw the miniature grenade and he reacted on instinct, grabbing the grenade holding hand while throwing a vicious strike to the throat with his elbow. A sickening gurgle echoed through the air and brought everyone’s attention to Bagby, but the old pilot did not bother with niceties and pressed his attack, busting the technician’s knee with a well placed kick before wrestling him to the ground.

Under any other circumstances, Bagby would have felt certain that the attack would have stunned even the most battle hardened hand to hand combatant, but the technician proved unnaturally resilient. He did not manage to strike back at Bagby, but his fingers still managed to wiggle their way under Bagby’s hand and lift the protective cover along the grenade, revealing the dead man’s switch. Bagby’s eyes widened when he saw the finger press the button and he immediately wrapped his second hand around the grenade, aware that if that finger left the button then the entire level would be vaporized.

“Help me!” shouted Bagby even as the technician started convulsing in an effort to throw Bagby off. How he could manage to do that with a crushed throat, he did not know, but if his grip slid for even half a second then everything would be over. The technician’s free hand suddenly wrapped itself around Bagby’s face, his fingers blindly attempting to poke at Bagby’s eyes. The old pilot closed his eyes just as one finger closed in, its nail scratching his eyelid.

Bagby wriggled his head around, trying to bite the hand that was attacking him, but Keith joined the fray at that moment and pinned the aggressing hand to the side. Sjet joined half a heartbeat later and pinned the technician’s lower body underneath him while shouting at the top of his lungs: “What the hell is going on?”

The old pilot could not find the breath to answer, not with his grip on the grenade becoming more precarious by the second. Nervous sweat threatened to make him lose his grip, but then a third hand closed over his own and secured the grenade. Bagby looked up at Queren, the silent Commando merely offering a nod before drawing his blaster with his free hand and shooting at the technician’s wrist, severing the limb in a single shot.

Keith and Sjet used the opportunity to drag the struggling technician a bit further away and were soon assisted by Nial and Foil who helped pin him to the ground. Keith waited until he was sure that the technician was secured before turning to Sjet: “Go disarm it!”

“Right,” answered Sjet while untangling himself. He took his tool kit which was strapped to his leg and selected the tools that he would need to disarm the grenade. He then kneeled next to Bagby and Queren and took a calming breath: “Now the two of you do me a favor and stand very, very still.”

“You sure you still remember how to do this?” asked Bagby with a worried gaze as Sjet leaned closer with his tool. The former Commando turned school director merely snorted as he went to work: “Are you kidding? I get to disarm half a dozen traps a month back at school. I was safer on the field when I only had UEF security to worry about.”

Although the words had been meant to reassure them, Bagby and Queren still exchanged worried glances as Sjet went to work, his precision laser fusing circuitry between their fingers. Drops of sweat tickled down the side of Sjet’s face for the next minute, but he soon smiled and then heaved a sigh of relief: “There, the dead man’s mechanism is fused together. You can let go now.”

Neither Bagby nor Queren dared to do so and Sjet rolled his eyes before reaching forward and yanking Bagby’s fingers away from the area which maintained pressure on the dead man’s switch. Everyone gasped, but there was no explosion and no one objected as Sjet took a hold of the disarmed explosive: “I have to admit that I prefer disarming paint bombs over this though.”

“I bet you do,” observed Bagby sarcastically. The old pilot was about to stand up, but then looked back at Queren and nodded gratefully: “Thanks for the save.”

And maybe I’ll forgive you one day for dating my girl behind my back, added Bagby mentally. Well no, there was still a matter of payback involved, but Bagby could prove a little bit gentler when the opportunity would present itself. Regardless, there was still the matter of the technician who had tried to kill them all.

With that in mind, Bagby jumped back to his feet and rushed towards the man that Keith and the others were now holding up. The old pilot grabbed the technician by his collar and shook him roughly: “Ok, buddy. You’d better start talking!

The old pilot then pulled his right fist back as if he meant to punch him: “Or else I’ll bust your head!”

A sickening popping sound suddenly came from the technician’s head followed by a spray of blood that splashed straight into Bagby’s face. The old pilot had to blink several times to clear his vision and then it was only to see that both of the technician’s eyes had popped open and that blood was oozing down his mouth. Ell immediately rushed over to Bagby and placed a hand on his shoulder: “Bagby?”

“I didn’t do it!” shouted the old pilot back in surprise: “I had a lot of crazy stuff happen to me in the past, but that’s a first and the last time that I checked, I did not have super powers!”

“A suicide device implanted in the head,” theorized Ell as she walked closer to the dead technician. She tilted his head from side to side before nodding: “It probably creamed everything in there, including his implants.”

The body was gently lowered to the ground and one of the engineers which had been observing the scene proved decent enough to bring a small towel so that Bagby could clean the worst of the blood off him. Keith sighed in frustration for a moment, but then noticed the data pad on the ground and picked it up: “Let’s see what was so damned important that he would do something like this.”

Although it was encrypted, hacking the data pad did not prove to be too difficult since it used standard Cybran protocols and Keith soon had his answer: “He recorded what we just said, including Redfog’s coordinates, and attempted to transmit them.”

“Why would he do something stupid like that?” observed Nial while crossing her arms: “Everyone knows that quantum communications are jammed.”

“It might be jammed,” observed Keith while thinking out loud: “But it doesn’t mean QAI can’t listen for key signals.”

Kazuo cursed in Japanese before opening a channel back to Slate in the command center: “Sound the evacuation. We have to move everyone right now!”

The Jade Node pilot then turned towards Foil and Nial and nodded vigorously: “You are the only two pilots with prototypes on hand. Find and rescue Redfog before QAI can get to him.”

“One more thing,” cut in Valerie before either pilot could run off: “My former master is dormant. If you do not reach him before QAI does then he will not even be capable of defending himself.”

Both pilots winced and then ran back towards their prototypes. Nial spared Foil a glance as they ran: “No pressure, right?”

Chapter 16
Vivid Dreams

It was a beautiful day with a gentle breeze blowing through the tall blades of grass. The air carried with it the rich smells of spring, something that the man laying against the side of the small hill had not breathed in for a very long time, if ever. Why was he here? How had he reached this place?

“What is this?” whispered the man, his mind refusing to find solace in this perfect moment. A hand suddenly appeared within his field of view before gently caressing his forehead: “It is a moment of peace.”

The voice was soft, as was the skin of the hand that caressed him. The speaker was a woman, of that the man was certain, and he could have sworn that he had heard her voice before. There was no malice in her words, but the man kept resisting the urge to relax. Something deep down kept tugging at him, reminding him that this was not who he was.

“Hush now and rest,” said the unknown speaker once more, her words gentle yet filled with sadness. The man still clenched his fists regardless, fighting against the suggestion.

Back in the real world, a figure stirred within the confines of a stasis chamber hidden deeply in a secret facility beneath the Ocella mountain chain. The man, if one could even call him that, clenched his cybernetic hands, apparently fighting against himself. Redfog’s struggle went on, completely oblivious to the battle that would soon take place on the surface.

-----

A twin blast of energy scorched the barren landscape, burning the meager signs of poisonous vegetation that covered the surface. Foil double checked his instruments to make sure that they had reached the correct landing zone before opening a channel back to Nial: “Start scanning for signs of a hidden base.”

“That mountain range is huge!” answered the Red Skull pilot as she looked at her instruments. Unfortunately, she was right. The Ocella mountain chain easily spanned over three hundred square kilometers with most of its surface acting like a giant labyrinth. To make matters worse, the mountains were laced with radioactive residues that jammed long range sensors.

“Leave it to an Assumpta to make things complicated,” grumbled Nial as she started building the foundations of her base. Her gaze unintentionally drifted towards the new unit schematics that were displayed on her side screen. They had downloaded them prior to leaving the temporary Cybran base and Nial was eager to test the new designs. One unit in particular struck her fancy and she looked back towards Foil with an eager look in her eyes: “Hey, do you think that we’ll get to try that new Monkeylord?”

“I thought you hated it,” observed Foil even as he finished building a research center. His first objective would be to complete the necessary research in order to build a couple of air scouts. If he read the schematic correctly then those planes would be fast enough to explore the mountain chain while evading any pursuit.

“I hate it when it’s used against us,” answered Nial with a casual shrug: “I don’t mind having a completely overpowered experimental weapon in my arsenal though.”

“That terrain isn’t exactly suited for it,” said Foil with a shake of his head. He had to admit that he liked the thought of using the new Monkeylord, but that the odds of it reaching an enemy base in time were from slim to none. He looked at the natural maze that covered the mountain chain before shaking his head again: “Focus on researching jump jets instead. We’ll need the land units if we ever find Redfog’s base.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” admitted Nial with a resigned sigh. Her demeanor changed suddenly when something flashed on her sensors: “Quantum wave detected.”

Foil cursed under his breath even as he sent a pair of newly built air scouts to investigate. The two flying units took separate paths, flying in low and using the mountain chain as cover. A minute later, one of the air scouts crossed paths with a UEF fighter. Foil grimaced and adjusted the unit’s course, sending it towards a flat expansion of terrain which could likely be used as a base. His guess proved accurate and the air scout managed to get a good view of the base and of the UEF ACU that had built it. Anti-air weapon fire from a land factory soon forced the air scout to withdraw, but Foil had seen all that he needed to.

Sensor readings appeared in quick succession on Foil’s screen and was compared to the entries in his database before a match was found. The result was hardly surprising and Foil cursed as he said: “Energy signature confirmed; it matches one of the prototypes that attacked Node Fifty-Six. Looks like QAI just joined the party.”

“At least we have a head start on it,” said Nial as she sent a dozen Loyalists charging through the mountains. They would have to navigate on foot for now, but their mobility would increase once their jump jet research was complete. Meanwhile, Foil started searching frantically through the mountain side: “Yeah, but QAI just needs to find Redfog before we do in order to win.”

-----

Even though the man no longer remembered who he was at this moment, he still kept struggling against the sense of peace that pervaded the prairie. Any other human would have long ago surrendered and merely lain back, but something in the man refused to accept it. His breath steadily quickened as did all of his senses as his primitive side – his animal side – awakened.

“Why am I here?” demanded the man, his body tensing as he did so. The hand that had been resting on his forehead offered one last gentle caress before the unknown speaker offered an explanation: “Because you deserve it.”

“Deserve?” echoed the man in disbelief. He could not remember anything about his past at that moment, but part of him knew that he had done nothing to deserve this. The man opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but the speaker answered in a soft yet sad voice: “Every living being should be awarded one moment of true peace… before the end.”

“The end?” repeated the man in confusion. The sound of thunder echoed in the distance and the man’s heartbeat quickened when he realized what was implied. No, he would not allow himself to die, not like this! The man’s muscles felt asleep, but his fingers still managed to tense up and claw at the ground, tearing the grass as he struggled to sit.

Every movement was a struggle, but soon the man managed to sit in an upright position and whirl around, his nostrils flaring in anger: “Who are you?”

There was no one where the unknown speaker had been but a moment ago and the man snorted, refusing to give up. His fingers dug deeply into the ground as he struggled back into a standing position and it was then that another realization hit him. There was no pain; no scrapping or bleeding fingertips for all of his efforts.

The lack of sensation proved oddly familiar and awakened something else in him, something that he had nearly forgotten: “This isn’t real.”

The sound of thunder echoed once more, this time much closer. Storm clouds suddenly blotted out the sun, casting ominous shadows over the ground. The man drew a furious breath as his bloodshot eyes gazed around the prairie: “None of this is!”

Blades of grass suddenly withered and died wherever the man looked, almost as if his will alone was destroying them. Soon the man stood alone with lightning dancing overhead, his hands clawing the air as he stood upon the barren and desolate wasteland that his mind had conjured. Yes, he remembered who he was.

Redfog snorted as he looked down at his hands; the last remnant of the illusion which had threatened to lull him to sleep. He suddenly plunged the fingers of his right hand in his left shoulder, the digits somehow piercing the flesh and finding a hold underneath. Redfog roared in fury as he pulled, tearing off the skin of his arm as easily as if he was pulling worn clothes and revealing the cybernetic limb underneath. The assassin repeated the motion with his other limbs until he was restored to his former self.

“Do you have any idea who I am?” shouted Redfog in fury as he turned towards the sky once more: “Do you honestly think that I would allow myself to fade out of existence so easily?”

“I am Redfog!” shouted the Assassin one more time as he lifted both arms towards the sky. Back in the real world, Redfog’s Cybernetic hands slowly went up within the confines of his stasis chamber.

-----

The UEF prototype’s jump jets flared as they carried it over the mountain range and down the valley. It landed with a heavy thud but quickly rushed onward, its sensors scanning every surface as it did so. Its purpose was clear; to find the hidden Assumpta facility and destroy it before the Cybrans could get to it. Destroying its other enemies and surviving were both secondary objectives.

The sound of approaching Gemini fighters suddenly made the UEF prototype pause and it turned southward just as six enemy fighters came into view. The ACU fired a salvo from the linked rail gun on its shoulder and destroyed one of the Cybran fighters before raising both arms and engaging its hunker ability. Directional shields came online just as the neutron cluster bombs hit, warding off most of the damage and leaving the ACU practically undamaged. The Gemini fighters turned around for another pass, but were forced to switch targets when a group of UEF fighters suddenly appeared behind them and filled the air with blaster fire.

Meanwhile, a curse escaped Foil as he summoned reinforcements to the area to pummel the enemy ACU some more. Over two dozen Gemini fighters converged on the area, but by the time that they made it, the UEF ACU was well hidden underneath the shields of a newly built air factory. The bombs connected uselessly against the energy barrier and soon Foil was forced to pull away as the more UEF fighters were summoned to claim air superiority.

“It’s not good; I can’t pin him down,” grumbled Foil as he tried to think of a new strategy.

“Just keep him busy for a while longer,” said Nial as she typed on her console furiously: “I have a group of Loyalists combined with Adaptors and Cobras closing in on his main base. He’ll have to slow down once I destroy a few of his energy generators.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Foil even as he prepared an elaborate decoy maneuver. A pair of Cybran air scouts flew over the enemy’s forward base, earning a few shots, but drawing half of the enemy’s air force in the process. They then rushed through a nearby canyon to buy some time while the rest of Foil’s air force moved in to support them.

For a moment, Foil’s plan seemed to work as intended, but the Cybran’s eyes widened in horror when his air scouts detected a hidden energy signature deep within the canyon: “Oh crap, I think I just found Redfog’s base by accident.”

“Isn’t that what we wanted?” wondered Nial aloud, but Foil just shook his head and redirected his entire army to try and stop the pursuing UEF fighters. Unfortunately, they managed to fly over the same area before Foil’s army could converge on them: “Yeah, but I think I just lead QAI to it in the process.”

As if to confirm Foil’s fears, the UEF prototype suddenly redirected its entire air force towards the canyon and the ACU itself followed quickly behind.

-----

Tremors shook the underground lair, causing dust to fall down the ceiling and on the ground. The heavily reinforced doors to the complex remained undisturbed for a few seconds longer before a series of explosions rocked them from their foundations.

For a moment, it seemed as though the barrier would hold, but then a high pitched shriek resonated through the air followed by a series of blasts that turned the door’s armor bright red. A metallic fist then punched through, opening a hole large enough to expose the conflict that was occurring outside. The UEF prototype ignored the battle as it twisted its fist to get a firm grip on the door and heaved. Hyper hydraulic systems squealed in protest, but finally gave away, allowing the prototype to lift the heavy door and step through.

A neutron cluster bomb landed just outside the entrance then, causing the prototype to stumble as it made its way deeper within the hidden complex, but not causing any serious damage. Several dozen air units were fighting for air supremacy just outside, but the prototype ignored them, aware that there was nothing that those units could do to stop it now.

The UEF ACU took its first few steps within the complex just as a pair of Loyalists assault bots jump jetted outside of the entrance. Their twin disintegrator pulse lasers fired in unison, targeting the prototype’s legs in the vain hope of slowing it down. The UEF ACU twisted its torso one hundred and eighty degree and fired back, destroying one of the Loyalists before it could do any more damage. The second assault bot moved in closer, trying to find a blind spot around the ACU’s main cannon. The UEF prototype reacted by slamming it’s free hand down and catching the Loyalists in its grasp.

The Loyalist tried to shake its way loose by firing at the hand that held it, but the prototype’s grip was too strong and it crushed the weaker unit, the pressure quickly breaking its sensors and two of its legs. The UEF ACU then threw the crippled unit back towards the entrance and fired at the ceiling, causing an avalanche that buried it while also collapsing the entrance.

The prototype surveyed the scene a moment longer and then made its way deeper within the hidden complex, satisfied that it would not suffer any more interruptions. Its sensors did a full sweep of the area while its onboard computers analyzed its odds of accomplishing its secondary objectives. The prototype’s hull had suffered a thirty percent drop in integrity in the recent fight and the Cybrans were even now attacking its main base with adequate efficiency. Its ability to wage war would soon be crippled, but the prototype did not mind and merely followed its instructions.

The ACU’s sensors lashed on to the strongest quantum power source, the most likely area for a stasis chamber, and made its way directly to it, ignoring the weapon caches and the control chamber along the way. The prototype quickly found the metallic cylinder at the far back of the complex and grasped it with its metallic hand before crushing it as if it was made of paper.

Vast quantities of fluids spilled out of the stasis chamber and for a moment, the prototype could not help but make a parallel between the latest accomplishment and the time that it had crushed the target identified as Doctor Brackman. Something was out of place in this case, however. The prototype’s sensors analyzed the fluids, but found no trace of blood or of any other biological component. Confused, the prototype used its thumb to peel away the top of the cylinder and then tilted it to get a better view of its content. Its sensors confirmed that this was the remains of a stasis chamber, but there was no body inside.

The prototype threw the useless piece of scrap away and scanned the area once more, looking for its target. Only then did it took note of the empty ACU alcove. The prototype walked back towards the control chamber overlooking the area and aimed its construction laser. It planned to assimilate the local database and use it to track down its target, but it paused when it noticed the countdown on the terminal. Only three seconds remained on the clock and the artificial intelligence briefly wondered what it was counting down towards. It got its answer when the clock reached zero and five nuclear warheads spread out through the facility detonated simultaneously.

-----

There was a brief second of eerie silence before all hell broke loose. A shockwave seemed to surge from the ground itself, lifting soil like a dome and then sending a ripple that destroying everything on the surface. Meanwhile, the dome kept expanding until it finally ruptured. A blast of energy then surged out in one brilliant explosion, destroying every air unit that had been fighting overhead.

Although he was several kilometers away, Foil still flinched when he saw the detonation and the tremors through the ground could be felt all the way over to his base. His gaze was immediately drawn back towards the north at the distant energy cloud and a curse escaped him before he slammed a hand on his console: “Damn it, we’re too late!”

Nial grimaced on his side monitor, her gaze turning back to her strategic screen before she nodded sadly: “The enemy’s base just self destructed.”

“Probably to erase all evidence,” commented Foil bitterly while crossing his arms. Nial looked over the battlefield and nodded sadly. The wreckage of several units littered the battlefield, but the proof that QAI had been behind the attack had disappeared along with the ACU. The Assumpta would become even more determined to wage their war once they learned that their former leader had perished at what appeared to be the hands of the UEF.

Nial finally shook her head, feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation: “What do we do now?”

Foil had no answer, but he still took command of one of his air scouts which had escaped the blast and sent it over to investigate: “Let’s check out the remains. If we’re lucky then maybe there was a shielded database in there somewhere.”

It was a vain wish, but Nial wisely held her tongue. Things looked bad enough as they were. Meanwhile, Foil kept looking at his instruments, hoping that his sensors would somehow reveal that a piece of the base had somehow escaped destruction. What he found instead caused his eyes to widen in disbelief: “There… there’s activity down there.”

The Cybran pilot stood stunned for a few seconds before finally accessing the air scout’s visual camera. All he saw at first was a large cloud of dust. The dirt slowly settled back down, progressively revealing the outline of an ACU. It was not the shape of the UEF prototype and Foil reached for his controls with shaking hands: “This is Commander Foil of Node Fifty-Six. Please respond.”

The dust kept falling, revealing the shoulder spikes of the traditional Cybran ACU. A moment later, the custom black and red paint job, one that made it look as though the ACU was covered in blood, was also visible. Foil sucked in his breath as the unit’s pilot appeared on his screen, his face partially hidden behind the remorseless mask: “I am Redfog.”

-----

Back on Debra’s Den, Melissa woke up with startled gasp, her hands flailing around for her controls in alarm. Zero’s main camera zoomed in on her in surprise, confused as to what was happening. It immediately opened a channel back to Tie and Kaeden out of concern and the Illuminate pilot leaned over his console with a concerned look on his face: “Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” said Melissa after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves: “I just had the weirdest dream.”

“Do tell,” offered Kaeden, knowing that talking about it would probably ease Melissa’s nerves. The UEF pilot just shook her head while scolding herself: “I dreamed that I was piloting my ACU and trying to save everyone that I cared about, but in doing so, everything just… vanished.”

“I know it sounds silly,” said Melissa while shrugging at herself helplessly. Tie appeared on her screen then and nodded: “It is, but if you’re done sleeping then maybe we should rotate shifts.”

“You’re probably right,” said Melissa while turning back towards her tactical map. Her face instantly turned deathly pale and Kaeden frowned in concern: “What is it?”

“It can’t be,” whispered Melissa while looking at her tactical display. A part of the map at the edge of their sector looked exactly like the area that she had seen in her dream. On one hand, it seemed perfectly normal that her dreams would be fueled by what she had recently viewed, but on the other…

The UEF pilot took control of one of her fighters on a whim and sent it towards the area. Both Tie and Kaeden turned questioning looks towards her, but Melissa ignored them and kept looking at her sensors. Her eyes widened when she looked at her readings: “I’m detecting a faint residual quantum wake in that area. Somebody gated there within the last day.”

“It’s more than that,” said Tie, his eyes widening behind his sunglasses: “If those readings are correct then that quantum signature belongs to a Seraphim ACU.”

Kaeden blinked in surprise and immediately turned towards Melissa: “How did you know to look for it there?”

A cold shiver ran along Melissa’s spine and she merely answered: “I don’t know.”

Chapter 17
Resurfacing Secrets

“Keep moving in an orderly fashion,” said one of the Cybran security guards loudly to the civilians that surrounded him on the lower level. Sjet shook his head as he watched the proceeding from the ramp overlooking the area.

It was amazing; a few years ago, they would have managed to relocate in half the time. Now, seeing the civilians search for their kin reminded Sjet of when they had tutored the UEF into evacuation procedures. Their people had grown soft and comfortable living into the same place all the time.

Still, QAI would have a harder time finding them now that they had moved again. Slate would also keep a tighter control over local communications. Sjet’s gaze trailed off towards a group of children below and his face dropped in sadness. Ivanna was down there with Hitomi by her side. Unfortunately for her, relocating would also mean that it would take longer to find her adoptive family again. Even from this distance, the former Commando could tell that it saddened her.

The creaking of the quantum nexus’ heavily reinforced doors suddenly caught Sjet’s attention and he looked back up just as a familiar ACU stepped in. The apparition was like a specter from the past and it instantly silenced everyone. There it was; the ACU which was painted with blood marks all over its hull. Redfog’s ACU…

Those who knew about it hurried their family members along, eager to put as much distance between them and the ruthless pilot. Those who had nowhere else to go stayed out of a mix of curiosity and fear, listening to the quiet whispers of those who had heard the now legendary stories. All nevertheless looked up towards the boarding ramp as the cockpit opened.

The cybernetic foot touched the floor loudly, the ringing echoing through the quantum nexus. The former leader of the Assumpta Node straightened slowly as he stepped out of his ACU, his intense gaze sweeping across all of those who stood before him. The technicians and engineers who met that gaze quickly turned away and hurried along, unable to sustain it. Even the soldiers and security officers, those who should have questioned Redfog’s right to come in with a plasma blade, refused to get in his way.

Redfog’s gaze swept across the area one last time before he turned sideways and reached back inside his cockpit. He lifted a tightly wrapped package and strapped it to his back before moving on the docking ramp. Two Cybran prototypes stepped through the doors a moment later, but all gazes still remained on Redfog even as he reached the center of the ramp. A group of select individuals were waiting for him there: Valerie, Kazuo, Bagby, Keith, Sjet, Queren and Ell.

“Just don’t say it,” whispered Bagby to Kazuo loudly enough so that everyone, even Redfog, would hear. The Jade Node pilot frowned at him in confusion: “What?”

“I can’t believe he’s still alive!” said Bagby in a girly voice while pressing both hands against his face in a mocked expression of shock. The old pilot’s gaze grew serious again as he turned back towards Redfog and crossed his arms: “Trust me, that joke has been getting old for a while now.”

The former leader of the Assumpta Node did not give Bagby any heed or even acknowledge his presence at all as he reached the other pilots. Valerie was the first to step forward, her gaze dropping to the floor as she bowed her head: “I am sorry.”

Her lips quivered and there was genuine fear in her voice, not for her safety, but because she felt as though she had betrayed her former master. The exact nature of their relationship had always been a mystery that not even Kazuo had unraveled. The Assassin glared at Valerie for a few seconds before finally turning his head away. His voice echoed through the area even as he spoke: “I made sure that you knew of my whereabouts for a reason.”

“I am an integral part of this war,” said Redfog cryptically as his gaze turned back to Valerie: “Do not concern yourself over actions that were part of my design.”

With those words, Redfog had effectively waved Valerie’s involvement away. The complexity of Assumpta politics was one that few truly understood, but Bagby quickly ran out of patience: “Great, you’re a badass; chest thumping and all that. Can we just move past that part and focus on more important things?”

“Show some respect!” hissed Valerie back at the old pilot between clenched teeth.

“Jeez, let me think… no!” growled Bagby back while stubbornly holding his ground: “It was a mistake to bring him here as far as I’m concerned.”

“Bagby, enough,” said Kazuo harshly. There was a lack of official leadership now that Doctor Brackman was dead, but if no one was willing to step up then Kazuo would be ready to take charge. The sound of rapid footsteps suddenly reached them and everyone looked sideways as Foil and Nial jogged into view. Kazuo welcomed the distractions and took a step towards the returning pilots: “Have you brought him up to speed?”

“Am I aware that the war has started anew, that my successor is leading the charge and that she is in a position to force your hand?” asked Redfog, while slowly walking around them. The former leader of the Assumpta Node stopped near the rail and paused for a moment to look at those gathered below. His gaze settled on a lone figure for a second before he turned his head sideways and answered Kazuo’s question himself: “I predicted that chain of events years ago.”

The show of arrogance would have made many snort in annoyance, but not when it came from Redfog. Kazuo let the comment pass and merely focused on the immediate problem: “Then can you please help us to stop her?”

“Stop her?” echoed Redfog dramatically. The Assassin looked back at the civilians gathered below before turning to face Kazuo once more: “I cannot help you to stop her, I can only show you who here can bring all of this to an end. It is only fitting that the fate of the galaxy would be held in her hands.”

Kazuo gulped uneasily as he looked at the other pilots. Someone amongst them could stop Redfog and that person was a woman? Only Valerie and Nial could fit that description and Kazuo’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at his wife. Could it be true? Could her standing as a former Assumpta entitle her to challenge the current leader of the Node of Assassins? More importantly, could she succeed?

“And I thought I was nuts,” commented Bagby while casually leaning against a crate of recently manufactured spare parts: “Think you’re putting a bit too much on Valerie’s shoulders?”

“Not her,” answered Redfog. The Assassin’s gaze lingered on Valerie for a second before turning back towards the civilians below. A trace of amusement slipped into Redfog’s voice as he simply said: “… her.”

All of those gathered on their floor looked at each other in puzzlement. Sjet finally spoke, echoing the question that was running through all of their minds: “What is he talking about?”

Redfog did not offer an explanation, but merely took a step towards the staircase. Everyone stood in absolute confusion, all except for one pilot. Bagby’s eyes widened in horror when he understood and he immediately dashed towards Redfog with an outstretched hand: “Now wait a darned minute!”

What followed next happened in the blink of an eye. Redfog’s left hand flashed in an instant, catching a hold of Bagby’s arm while his right hand latched on to his chest. The Assassin lifted the old pilot, pivoted and threw him away like a rag doll. Bagby flew four meters through the air before crashing in a crate of spare parts and sending pieces flying everywhere.

“Bagby!” cried Nial in surprise. The Red Skull pilot raising her fists and stepped between both pilots to ward off the next attack, but it never came. The Assassin who had ignored all of Bagby’s antics in the past fixed the old pilot with a venomous glare as he said: “Did you really think that I would not find out?”

Everyone looked around in confusion, each of them puzzled as to what had just happened. Redfog did not bother with explanation and merely jumped over the rail. Magnetic clamps in his cybernetic hands allowed him to latch on to the metallic pillar which supported the platform and he merely slid down before landing gracefully thirty meters below.

Nial turned around to help Bagby now that the immediate threat was gone, but the old pilot was fumbling around in panic through the spare parts as he tried to regain his footing: “Stop that bastard!”

“Bagby, what is that about?” asked Ell as she too came over to help him. Bagby ignored the sets of helping hands and merely sprinted past both women: “I told you to stop him, damn it!”

Meanwhile, Redfog walked calmly towards the group of civilians. His mere presence scared most of them away, like a shark amongst fishes. The Assassin ignored most of them, passing dignitaries, engineers and other high profile civilians. At the same time, Bagby ran down the flight of stairs with the others following him. He cried for the security officers to stop Redfog, but none of them dared to make a move against him.

The former leader of the Assumpta Node walked past every adult in his way until he made his way towards the group of children in the back; those whose parents were either too busy or had yet to be recovered. Most of them scampered out of his way, all except for two; one who was too self absorbed by her own worries and the other who was terrified, but would not abandon her friend. Redfog smiled sadistically underneath his mask when the absent minded child finally looked up and realized that she was the focus of his attention.

“It is a sincere pleasure to finally meet you,” said Redfog, his voice devoid of any malice or deception. The assassin reached for the package which was strapped to his back and brought it up slowly.

By that time, Bagby had just reached ground level and screamed at the top of his lungs while vainly trying to stop him: “No!”

“This rightfully belongs to you,” said Redfog as he pulled on the rope which sealed the package. The wrapping fell away, revealing the exceptionally crafted plasma blade. Redfog’s eyes lit up with intensity as he offered it to the child: “Ivanna Dostya.”

-----

Back on Antivia Prime, Tie looked at the data that his prototype was forwarding to him. His unblinking gaze then settled on the image on his main screen. A panel of Seraphim reinforced armor was displayed on it, but traces of light were moving across its surface. A closer look revealed that nanites were circulating on it, cutting the bonds which were holding the armor together. The Chimera looked at the data a moment longer before finally nodding: “It’s a nanite filled bio compound and it’s degrading rapidly.”

“So, the Seraphim made some breakthroughs in the past few years after all,” commented Melissa while looking at the same results on her screen.

“Not a big one,” countered Tie while readjusting his sunglasses: “The quantum signature matches what I have on historical record. I think this new technology simply disassembles any wreckage left behind. It would be a good way to hide their trail after gating to another world.”

“Why here and why now?” wondered Melissa aloud.

“Is it truly relevant?” wondered Kaeden while shaking his head: “If their technology is still obsolete then could they truly prove a threat compared to QAI?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Melissa while biting her lower lip. Her eyes darted left and right as she tried to factor everything. She then shook her head, convinced that she was missing a few pieces of the puzzle: “The Seraphim have been fleeing on the edge of known space for years. Surely it’s not a coincidence that they are back exactly when QAI is making its attack.”

“They could try to strike at a key location and provide further chaos,” observed Tie. The Chimera then winced as he added: “But if the Alliance caught wind of this then it would backfire and it would increase the odds of unifying the Alliance instead of the other way around.”

“We can’t afford to ignore this,” said Melissa while nodding in determination. She then turned towards Tie: “Can you track them down?”

“The quantum trail is stronger than expected, probably because of QAI’s interference,” mumbled Tie while looking at his main screen. The prototype was even now forwarding a new set of data which would help in the task: “I can probably track it to the next planet that they gated to.”

“Good enough,” said Melissa with a nod. Kaeden raised a hand to stop them: “What about Foil or the others?”

The observation forced Melissa to pause. They were only three pilots and they could use the backup. Unfortunately, Foil and Nial were overdue and if they waited any longer then the Seraphim’s trail would get cold. Part of Melissa yearned to be next to her love in these dark times, but her duties as a UEF pilot, no, as a member of the Alliance, would force her to continue without him. Melissa typed a few things on her screen and brought up a rarely used schematic: “I’ll leave a communication’s capsule behind and give them our heading. They’ll be able to track us that way.”

“Are you acting this way because of a dream?” asked Kaeden out of concern. Melissa paused as she considered the question. She still had no idea what that dream had meant or how it could have so conveniently led her to this spot. The timing was far too perfect to be a mere coincidence. She gave this some more thought before finally shaking her head: “No, I’m acting this way because something tells me that QAI’s plan doesn’t stop at just restarting the Infinite War.”

-----

A hand reached forward and gently took the plasma blade from Ivanna’s grasp. The figure then stepped between the stunned girl and Redfog, his posture clearly indicating that he would not budge an inch. Queren glared back at Redfog silently, his gaze meeting the Assassin’s without ever flinching.

Under other circumstances, such an open display of opposition would have warranted a response, but Redfog merely turned away, unconcerned for now. His task was complete and nothing or no one could undo what he had done.

A few meters away, Kazuo and Sjet were doing their best to try and hold Bagby back. The old pilot was struggling against their grasp like a wild animal, his furious glare never leaving Redfog as he spat every word: “Let me at him! I’ll tear that walking toaster limb from limb!”

For a moment, Bagby almost wrestled his way free, but then Keith joined the fray and managed to keep him in check. There was no doubt in any of their minds that the old pilot was no match for Redfog, not even with his keen mind and unorthodox strategies. The Assassin slowly turned back towards Bagby, his words slicing through the air like sharp knives: “You would hide the child from her destiny when so much is at stake? How selfish is that?”

Bagby just growled back and struggled even harder. Sjet barely managed to shift his hold on him in time in order to avoid being bitten. A string of curses escaped Bagby as he looked back up, but now another person was standing between him and the Assassin. Ell gazed back at him, her sad eyes bristling with tears: “Is it true?”

“Oh, it was not his doing,” observed Redfog, drawing Ell’s attention back to him: “Doctor Brackman was responsible for that, as were a few select others.”

Redfog leaned closer to Ell and titled his head to the side as his voice dropped to a whisper: “But if the resemblance and Bagby’s reaction are not proof enough to convince you then I assure you that a simple DNA test will give you the answers that you seek.”

For a moment, Ell was tempted to make such a test herself, but she knew at that moment that she did not need to. Redfog would not make such a mistake, but it was not the only reason. Doctor Brackman had always carried a soft spot for Dostya and none save Bagby had been hit harder by her death. He had cloned her, given her a family and hidden her in plain sight, as he often did. Ell had always wondered what could have lifted Bagby out of his dark depression back in those days and now she finally had the answer. It was also probably why he always tried to prolong his life by staying in a quantum field.

“How could you hide this from us?” asked Ell, tears rolling down the side of her face as she turned towards Bagby: “She was our friend!”

The look of utter sadness stole the fight from Bagby’s heart and he ceased his struggle for a moment. His limbs then tensed up and he managed to shake the others loose with strength that none of them could have ever conceived. The old pilot’s voice then rose, filled with anguish and the kind of pain that only a father who had lost his child could feel: “She was my girl!”

“She deserved a chance at a normal life,” added the old pilot while referring to Ivanna once more. He looked at everyone in turn, almost as if daring them to contradict him. None of them did and his gaze finally ended back on Redfog: “And you just took that away from her!”

Through it all, Foil and Nial merely stood on the side, too stunned to move. They had both heard of Dostya. Heck, they had grown up under her protection while believing that as long as she was there then they would all make it through. Neither of them had the same connection to her as the people in front of them and Foil’s gaze fell back on the child. Ivanna was hiding behind Queren, her gaze lost as she tried to make sense of it all.

For a moment, Foil felt pity for the child and he cleared his voice before daring to speak: “Look, maybe we should move this elsewhere.”

“Very well,” said Redfog with a shrug, apparently pleased with the turn of event. Kazuo led the way with Valerie and Redfog trailing him. The rest soon followed, but Keith stayed behind to whisper in Queren’s ear: “Watch over her.”

The silent Commando merely nodded back, his gaze making it clear that he would have whether someone would have asked it of him or not. The walk back to the command center proved heart wrenching. Memories of their lost friend plagued most of them, with some focusing on the good times while others remembered how she had died. Kazuo took a hold of Valerie’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly while Ell found comfort by blotting herself against Keith. Even Sjet kept rubbing his eyes to ward off the tears that threaten to overwhelm him.

They soon arrived at the command center. The first thing that they noticed was that everyone was standing up and waiting for them expectantly. Kazuo looked at the display and winced before turning towards Slate: “I take it that you know?”

“We were monitoring the security feed,” confirmed Slate with a nod. Even the normally asocial Chimera appeared troubled by the sudden turn of events: “And I suspect that everyone in the node will probably hear about it in the next hour.”

News always travelled fast in the Cybran Nation. There was nothing that any of them could do to stop it, but right now, Foil had other concerns. As dramatic as this was, every moment that he spent here was one where he was not at Melissa’s side. Eager to get things back on track, Foil took the most diplomatic tone that he could while turning back towards Redfog: “What did you mean when you said that she… that she could end it?”

Redfog did not offer an explanation at first and merely let the question hang in the air for a moment. Valerie took a step forward, offering what information that she could: “Her standing as the former Chaslain’s daughter aside, she is currently not a match for Redfog.”

“She’s just a child,” spat Bagby from his corner of the room: “A sweet, innocent, loving child who should have nothing to do with any of this!”

“She is not just a child,” countered Redfog, his voice silencing the others: “She is Dostya’s daughter, brought into this world by Doctor Brackman who was her mother’s friend, father figure and mentor.”

The words echoed through the room, commanding the attention from all who heard them. Redfog gazed around a moment before adding: “She is a symbol; the spitting image of her mother - a hero of the Infinite War - and the spiritual successor of Doctor Brackman himself.”

Foil waited a moment longer, eager for the rest explanation, but Redfog offered none. The pilot scratched the back of his neck before finally saying: “I’m not sure that I understand.”

“Just look at yourselves,” said Redfog while gazing at each of them in turn: “A minute ago, you were willing to think of her as another child; important, yes, but still just a child.”

The former leader of the Assumpta Node started pacing around in silence while fixing each of them in turn. His gaze forced each of them to look inward and consider his words. He then stopped dramatically before adding: “Now all of you would probably die without a moment’s hesitation just to keep her safe. Do not underestimate how important symbolism is to the Cybran Nation.”

“That’s true,” said Ell after a moment of consideration. She placed a calming hand on Bagby’s shoulder to ward off his upcoming protest as she added: “If we can get control of the quantum network for just a few seconds and send a broadcast then she could put a stop to it all. Our people would listen to a call for peace from her!”

Bagby looked as though he would protest, but then stayed silent. It was not the life that he had envisioned for Ivanna, but Bagby was sure that her mother would agree with such a course.

A mocking laugh suddenly interrupted the optimistic train of thought. Everyone turned towards Redfog as he rolled his eyes in annoyance: “The Assumpta Node will not heed such a call… This war will not end before its price in blood has been paid.”

“Then what did you have in mind?” asked Foil, suddenly running out of patience. The pilot still measured his words carefully as he added: “You said she could stop it.”

“I said she could end it,” corrected Redfog immediately while raising a finger.

“Making a call for peace is not the answer,” added the Assassin while calmly walking around the room. He made his way to the raised platform in the middle of the command center. From there, he had a good view of the galactic map on the main screen: “Calling for war… is.”

“What?” asked Foil, his question mirroring the mix of horror and outrage that they were all feeling.

Redfog motioned for one of the analysts to step aside and the man almost tripped over his chair while trying to move away. The Assassin then pressed a few buttons, bringing up their latest intelligence on where each faction’s military forces were: “Every faction is currently holding back. Barely half of our military is presently engaged with most of them standing idly by in the hope of a peaceful resolution. If things continue as they are then this war will slowly escalate.”

The former leader of the Assumpta Node then slowly turned back towards the others: “But if we strike with everything at our disposal right now while the UEF and the Illuminate are still disorganized then we can end it! We can strike all the way to Earth and shatter the UEF’s seat of power before they can regroup! After that, the Illuminate will surely fall now that we have used the years to bolster our numbers.”

Most of those in the room merely stood stunned, unable to cope with the image that Redfog had just conjured. Was he truly serious? Would he really use Ivanna to drive the Cybran Nation to new heights of frenzy and destruction? Ell could not picture a more horrible way to disgrace Dostya’s memory and she shook her head in sheer horror: “You’re mad.”

“I am perfectly sane,” countered Redfog while flexing his cybernetic hands: “Genocide, as inhuman as it sounds, does lead to lasting peace.”

“Over my dead body!” shouted Bagby back while raising both fists up. Redfog did not ignore the challenge this time and took a threatening step forward, his voice dropping into a growl: “That can be arranged.”

Arguments rose and quickly turned into a shouting contest. Some tried to keep Redfog and Bagby from killing each other while others tried to find a more peaceful solution. Those amongst the analysts and battle tacticians who would have supported Redfog’s idea or a variation of it wisely held their mouth shut, aware that speaking at this stage was probably be the best way to start a deadly brawl.

The shouting kept escalating and Ell was accidentally shoved away. She crashed against a nearby console, but managed to stay on her feet and merely shook her head hopelessly. How had it come to this? How could Dostya’s memory be warped in such a way? Ell turned away from the conflict while brushing away a tear. Her gaze unconsciously latched on to one of the screens that had been monitoring the quantum nexus and her heart skipped a beat.

“Everyone, wait,” said Ell weakly, but the cry failed to catch anyone’s attention. Her fingers reached for the console and she quickly took control of the camera. Her heartbeat quickened when she failed to find what she was looking for and she suddenly whirled around, her voice rising above all the others: “All of you, shut up!”

The whole room hushed in an instant and every set of eyes turned to her. Ell never lost her temper; everyone knew that. She could triage a room full of dying Cybrans and save the most of them without ever breaking down. The sight of her panicked eyes alarmed more than one of them. Ell turned towards Slate then, her voice filled with the strength earned from all her years as a chief medical officer: “Where’s Ivanna?”

The Chimera’s eyes grew impossibly wide and he immediately whirled around towards his computer. Meanwhile, Keith reached for his transmitter: “Queren, where are you?”

“We have one missing stealth dirt runner,” said Slate loudly enough so that everyone could hear.

“No response,” confirmed Keith while shaking his head. Stealth dirt runners were a new design, one developed recently for civilians in case of an attack. Only a few of them had the security codes to access that hangar… and Queren was amongst them.”

“Queren,” said Bagby between clenched teeth: “I’m going to kill him; I swear to god I’m going to kill him.”

-----

Far away from the temporary node, the stealth dirt runner sped away at maximum speed, its hover field technology copied from the Illuminate combined with its stealth field leaving no trace behind. Queren kept his eyes on the path ahead, confident that he was doing the right thing. He briefly looked in the rear view mirror at Ivanna. The child’s eyes were gazing out through the window as she tried to cope with the events of the past few hours.

Chapter 18
A Message Across the Stars

An unmistakable aura of menace surrounded Redfog as he stepped towards his target. Each step made him appear more menacing, especially considering who he was closing on. Some of the analysts grew pale and others whispered protests of mercy as Redfog stopped within arm’s reach of Slate. The Assassin leaned forward, the tone of his voice promising pain, misery and death if the Chimera even thought of disobeying him: “Find him!”

Everyone held their breath and their gaze immediately turned towards the unfortunate Chimera analyst. Slate’s only reaction was to blink, which could mean just about anything at this stage. He appeared to give the request some thought for a few seconds longer before simply shrugging helplessly: “Sorry, I can’t.”

Slate opened his mouth as if to add something more, but then merely shook his head and swiveled his chair towards his screen, turning his back to one of the most dangerous assassin in Cybran history. Redfog slowly lifted a hand as if to grab Slate by the back of the neck, but someone even angrier swooped in from behind, grabbed Slate by his collar, turned him around and lifted him off his seat.

“What do you mean you can’t?” shouted Bagby in outrage, his eyes wide in panic.

“Because it’s a ‘stealth’ dirt runner,” answered Slate while rolling eyes: “It was specifically designed to leave no trace behind. Not even the new prototypes can track it once it’s out of sensor range.”

The answer made Bagby pause, but only briefly. The old pilot started shaking Slate the moment that he recovered: “Well that’s just stupid!”

“Your manhandling won’t change that!” snapped the Chimera back while wrenching himself free from the frantic hold. Slate then brushed his wrinkled uniform back into place. His unblinking gaze briefly crossed Redfog and the Chimera snapped at him too: “And neither will your threats, gloomy personality or glaring!”

The analyst then slumped into his chair and turned back towards his screen, apparently very upset himself: “Now do you mind? I have to get back to work!”

Everyone in the command center held their breath, but neither Bagby nor Redfog did anything. Ell finally sighed in relief before turning towards Sjet: “Do you have any idea where Queren would take her?”

“No,” answered the school director while shaking his head: “Queren is not exactly the most talkative guy around.”

That in itself was a grave understatement. Queren was a nice, dependable guy to have around, a great listener and true friend. He rarely ever spoke, however. Sjet had always believed that Queren simply didn’t like to answer questions or that it was a trick of his to get the ladies. The dark, tall and mysterious act was a classic after all. In this case, however, it also meant that none of them knew where he was going.

Redfog finally snorted in disgust and turned towards Kazuo and Valerie: “Round up your pilots, I will lead the chase myself.”

“It would take a dozen ACUs that we don’t have on hand for a search like this,” interrupted Keith before either pilot could think of the ramifications of refusing such an order: “And Queren would probably still outwit them.”

It was not an act of defiance, but it was not far from one either. Redfog’s merciless gaze turned towards Keith and the assassin took a dramatic step towards him even as his voice dropped to a growl: “He has not faced me yet.”

“And you haven’t tried to track him either,” countered Keith, determined to hold his ground. He knew that he was playing with fire at this point and he chose his next words carefully: “Queren always took point on all of the most high security infiltration missions. If there was a way in and out without detection then he would find it without leaving a single body behind. Most importantly, unlike us, he was still on active duty during the past years on some of the most secured projects in the Cybran Nation.”

Keith took a step forward, actually putting himself within arm’s reach of Redfog: “If you want to play hide and seek with him then it’s going to take you a very, very long time before you find him.”

And there was the real problem; they simply did not have the time to spare. It could take days for Redfog to track Queren if he stayed on Minerva and perhaps weeks or even months if the Commando secured a means off planet. By then, Ivanna’s use as leverage would be long gone.

Redfog glared at Keith for a moment, his intense gaze practically staring into the Commando’s very soul. If the assassin thought for a moment that Keith was bluffing then things would get ugly really fast. Fortunately, the assassin finally snorted and turned away in disgust.

Sjet sighed in relief, glad that the tense moment was finally over: “So what now?”

Redfog turned around and started walking towards the command center’s exit. The sudden motion startled Sjet who blurted out a question without even thinking: “Where are you going?”

“All you had to do was to watch over a child and you failed,” growled Redfog without even turning to face the others. The assassin paused dramatically at the exit before adding: “I’m going to get my node back. I won’t allow QAI or anything else to use it as a tool.”

Redfog then left without any other word. Those who remained in the control center looked at each other for a moment before they all shrugged in unison. No one knew where the Assumpta Node was at this moment, but who in their right mind would think of getting in Redfog’s way at a time like this?

-----

All three prototypes, one from each faction, appeared on the planet simultaneously. They then went to work, building the necessary foundations which would either serve to power their next quantum gates or defend their position. Fortunately for them, in this case it was the former. There was no enemy sign in the area and Tie quickly appeared on their screen: “I found their trail. Forwarding the coordinates to you now.”

“Good,” said Melissa with a nod while sending the necessary commands to build her quantum gate. While her mind was on her work, her heart gravitated on other matters entirely. Had Stokes made it back to Earth and reached her father? Had Iole somehow been allowed to talk to the Illuminate Council and bring the proof before them? Had Foil and Nial reached Node Fifty-Six safely and found a way to stop the Assumpta Node?

All of those thoughts kept running through Melissa’s mind even as she kept working. One last question assaulted her, causing her to pause for a split second: would their efforts change the course of the war or was humanity doomed to repeat the cycle all over again?

Melissa shook her doubts away angrily, aware that the thoughts could prove a hindrance at best and a distraction that could get her killed at worst. At the least the dreams and hallucinations had stopped which was a welcomed piece of news. Melissa had feared that she had been loosing her mind, but at least the danger of that had passed.

“Quantum gate charged and entry sequence synchronized,” confirmed Melissa the moment that she was ready. Tie appeared on their screen then, his voice resonating through her speakers: “Starting in three, two, one, go!”

Melissa’s prototype entered the quantum gate at exactly the same time as the others. The transfer would only last a few seconds since they were only jumping a planet away. Melissa was still looking at her screen when she felt a presence behind her: “Good, you are on the right path.”

While the voice was both warm and gentle, Melissa’s blood still froze in her vein. Was she loosing her mind or was there someone actually in her cockpit? Melissa gulped uneasily, afraid to turn around: “Who are you?”

“You already know who I am,” answered the speaker gently. Melissa hated cryptic answers and she turned her head, determined to see for herself, but there was no one there. The quantum jump ended at the same time and Tie appeared on Melissa’s screen: “Starting the search now.”

Melissa acknowledged, but then pressed the mute button on her console. She needed answers, but the last thing that she wanted was to have Kaeden or Tie worry about her mental well being under these conditions. She therefore turned towards her only remaining friend, one who could keep a secret: “Zero, did you hear it? Did you see who was behind me?”

Zero’s screen flashed for a moment and the cameras zoomed in on her in confusion. It was clear that the prototype had not understood the request when it suddenly replayed the footage prior to the jump, focusing on the area behind the ACU. Melissa shook her head in frustration: “Replay the cockpit footage while we were in the quantum jump.”

Melissa did not know if Zero understood the nature of her request, but it carried out the order without any protest. The recording barely lasted a total of three seconds, a delay that was far too short for what had transpired. From the looks of things, Melissa had not even moved or asked her question to the unknown speaker. The only part that fit with what Melissa had just experienced was when she turned around in confusion exactly as the jump ended.

How could such a thing be possible? Melissa clearly remembered asking ‘who are you?’ to someone. The pilot bit her lower lip for a moment before nodding: “Play it again, but show me my vital signs.”

The footage was replayed once more and this time, Melissa had her answers. She had not moved, but her brain wave patterns had been through the roof during the quantum jump. The readings were still within tolerable levels, but she had never heard of anything like this. Whatever the phenomena was, it seemed that it only occurred during instances when Melissa’s mind was very receptive, such as sleep, or in quantum transit.

“I found the trail again,” interrupted Tie suddenly. The Chimera readjusted his sunglasses as he added: “But, we’ll never catch up to them at this rate by jumping one planet at a time. The process is simply too long.”

Unfortunately, Tie was correct. Without a team to support them, the best that they could do was to follow the Seraphim’s trail and hope that they would get lucky or that the aliens would take a break somewhere. They simply did not have the numbers to cut them off and box them in.

“I think I just realized where the Seraphim are heading,” said Kaeden suddenly, bringing the attention of both pilots back to him: “I believe that their destination is linked to how QAI escaped notice thus far.”

Melissa deactivated the mute function and leaned forward expectantly: “What do you mean?”


Kaeden did not answer the question directly, but instead asked one of his own: “Tie, where were Cybran scientists focusing their efforts in order to find traces of QAI?”

“On the quantum network,” confirmed the Chimera with a quick nod: “QAI used a number of research facilities on different planet to boost its processing power in the past, but its main data loop always resided on the quantum network itself. It kept using the processing power of vulnerable systems to boost its capacities and that is what we were looking for.”

Tie then pressed a few buttons and accessed an archived video file. On it, a mark one Megalith closed in on what appeared to be a city sized super computer: “Doctor Brackman defeated QAI by introducing a new type of virus in its main research facility during the Seraphim War. The infection then used the facility to spread through the network, destroying QAI in the process.”

“But QAI apparently had backups somewhere,” added Melissa, stating the obvious. Kaeden nodded, having come to the same conclusion: “Correct and those backups were most likely not installed on the network. Doctor Brackman’s virus would have found them or the Alliance would have discovered traces of their existence by now. The backups had to be on a planet isolated from the network.”

“Your theory is interesting, but flawed,” said Tie while readjusting his sunglasses: “QAI currently disrupts the entire quantum network. The processing power needed to accomplish this would be enormous. How could we possibly miss such a huge facility?”

“Look at the path that the Seraphim are taking,” insisted Kaeden while bringing up his galactic map: “They are avoiding our troops by steering clear of any strategic sector, but they are not heading away from Alliance space, but deeper into it.”

The Seraphim’s goal was still a mystery and Melissa brought up her galactic map as well, curious as to where Kaeden’s train of thought would lead them. Granted, there was no target of any real strategic value in their path. Kaeden nodded as though he was able to read Melissa’s thoughts: “What planet lies along that path, has a possible connection to either the Seraphim or QAI and could serve to hide a nation sized super computer?”

“Alpha Seven,” whispered Melissa the moment that her eyes came to rest upon the gloomy sector: “It’s been quarantined ever since the end of the Seraphim War because of the stories of people disappearing there!”

“Exactly,” said Kaeden, glad that Melissa was coming to the same conclusion: “And the radiations on the planet match the readings found on Earth once the rift was sealed.”

Which meant that the barrier separating both realms was most likely the weakest at that point. What would happen should the Seraphim open another portal? Had their people on the other side used the time to research and manufacture a whole new generation of ACUs? When the Seraphim had first appeared, their technology had been the stuff of nightmare; resisting most weapon systems and destroying everything in their path.

“I’m dropping a communication’s capsule and entering the coordinates for Alpha Seven,” said Tie, having been convinced that the planet was the Seraphim’s final destination: “If we super charge our gates then we could make it there in one jump.”

The suggestion made Melissa gulp uneasily. A super charged gate meant a longer jump… and probably a stronger hallucination. So far the visions had been beneficial and had even allowed Melissa to pick up the Seraphim’s trail. One question remained: what line divided near prophetic insight from insanity?

Kaeden noticed Melissa’s uneasiness and frowned in concern: “Is there a problem, Melissa?”

“No, no problem,” said Melissa while doing her best to look confident. Kaeden would probably pick up on the lie, but she had no other choice. Her well being was secondary to the safety of the Alliance. Tie appeared on their screen a minute later when all three of their gates were fully charged: “Entry sequence synchronized. Starting in three, two, one, go!”

Melissa closed her eyes as soon as Zero stepped through the portal, afraid of what would happen. Sure enough, she felt the familiar presence behind her. This time, however, the presence felt even more real and Melissa could almost smell the fresh scent of spring emanating from the unknown speaker.

“Part of me will always miss him,” said the speaker, her voice filled with sorrow. The sadness was genuine and while Melissa briefly considered ignoring the voice, she instead opted to play along: “Who?”

“Zachary Arnold,” said the speaker, the name making Melissa’s heart skip a beat. Who was she and how could she possibly know about him? Had she lived through the final days of the Infinite War? All of her questions came to a grinding halt as the soft voice spoke again: “It takes a pure and strong heart to move past one’s hatred. He managed to set aside his distrust long enough to see the galaxy through our eyes. Very few have that kind of courage.”

Why was the conversation turning around Arnold? What possible relevance could it have to their situation? Melissa felt compelled for a moment to look behind her, but she feared that the vision would vanish as it always did when she tried to. She did so anyway, thinking that the worst case scenario was that the hallucination would end. Melissa sucked in her breath when she turned around and got her first good look of the speaker.

It was Princess Burke. The same compassion filled eyes, near perfect features and golden hair that Melissa had remembered from the archives. She was even dressed in the same robes that she had worn on the day when she had sealed the rift on Earth. She had not aged a single day since that time.

The Princess nodded encouragingly, almost as if she could read Melissa’s very soul. Melissa gulped, unsure of whether she had just lost her mind: “How is this possible?”

“That is not important,” answered the Princess, her voice crystal clear. She tilted her head to the side, her long hair cascading alongside her face as she did so: “Do you remember Zachary?”

“I do,” answered Melissa without thinking. Melissa had always imagined that high ranking Illuminate officials would be serene, but distant; a view colored from her experiences during the pilot exchange program. She had not expected to see such genuine warmth and concern in the Princess’ eyes even as she nodded with a smile: “Then I pray that you have learned from his example, for all of our sakes.”

The Princess then placed a hand on Melissa’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. A wave of warmth immediately surged through Melissa, erasing her fears and doubts and granting her a temporary moment of peace.

There were so many questions on Melissa’s mind, but she paused when she felt something wet splash against her uniform. She lowered her eyes and her gazed widened in horror when she saw the blood which was dripping from the Princess’ hand.

“You’re bleeding!” said Melissa in horror, afraid for the Princess as surely as she would have been for her closest companions. The Princess merely nodded sadly: “I am. Please hurry; I cannot hold out much longer.”

With that, the vision disappeared with a flash even as Zero materialized on Alpha Seven. Melissa looked around frantically, but the Princess was gone as were the traces of blood on her uniform. She did not have the time to wonder any longer as Tie appeared on her screen: “Mel, it’s the Seraphim; they’re here!”

-----

An hour had passed since Queren had taken her to the stealth transport and led her away from Node Fifty-Six. Ivanna had stayed silent during the whole trip, her mind still trying to cope with what had just been revealed to her. How could such a thing be possible? She knew that she was adopted – her parents had never hidden that truth from her – but still, how could it be?

Part of Ivanna wanted to think that this was all just one horrible nightmare, one from which she would wake up at any moment. The nightmare would not end, however, and all that Ivanna had to do to confirm it was to look at the plasma blade which rested on the forward seat next to Queren. The harsh and unforgiving weapon was a strict reminder of the destiny that had just been thrust upon her.

“Every day at school, people used to mock me; calling me ‘Dostya’ because I looked like her,” said Ivanna weakly. She brushed away a tear as she added: “But I never imagined…”

Queren flinched at the words, but did not speak. That was the one thing about the silent Commando; he always was such a good listener.

“I’m not a hero,” added Ivanna while looking out of the window hopelessly: “I’m not a savior, a warrior, an ACU pilot or a leader; I’m just a kid!”

The child sighed as she added: “Right now, I just want to be with my family and keep them safe, that’s all. I can’t save an entire galaxy… I’m nothing like her.”

Ivanna turned towards Queren and saw his soft and understanding gaze look back at her through the rear view mirror. Yes, Queren understood. That was probably why he had taken her away from Redfog, Bagby or anyone else who would just throw her where she did not want to be.

“Where are we going?” asked Ivanna suddenly while rubbing a hand against her runny nose. She could not do anything about the past, but maybe focusing on the present would help ease her mind.

Queren did not offer an explanation, but merely pointed ahead towards a far away spot. Ivanna leaned against the forward seat and squinted, but all she could see was rugged and abandoned patch of land with a lone tree in the distance: “But there’s nothing there.”

The silent Commando did not argue the point, but merely kept driving. He stopped a good twenty meters away from the tree and stepped out of the dirt runner without an explanation. Ivanna followed quickly afterwards and had to jog to catch up to him.

The child took a good look at her surroundings as she closed the distance, but the place truly appeared as abandoned as it looked. Only the tree seemed out of place, its red flowers blooming. Someone had gone through a lot of trouble to tend to that tree.

Without warning, Queren lowered himself to one knee and moved a rock aside, revealing a set of basic yet useful gardening tools. He then went to work, tearing off the few weeds whose presence could harm the tree in the long run. Once he was finished, the silent Commando hid the tools once more and then joined his hands together while closing his eyes in a form of silent prayer.

What was so special about this place? Ivanna took a step closer and barely dared to speak above a whisper: “Queren, I don’t understand what we’re doing here.”

Queren opened his eyes, but did not answer the question directly and decided to brush the dust off a nearby stone. Ivanna was about to repeat the question, but the thought trailed off when she noticed the writing on the stone. The first name, Mather, did not ring a bell, but all of those that followed had the same family name: Dostya.

This was the symbolic tomb of Ivanna Dostya and her entire family. Ivanna felt her knees weaken at the thought of standing in front of her mother’s final resting place. Queren nodded, apparently satisfied that the child had made the connection. He then plunged both hands into the ground and started digging. It did not take him long to find what he was looking for.

It was small, but Ivanna recognized the device for what it was; a data chip given to friends and family upon a pilot’s death. Queren dusted it off and then plugged it in his wrist computer. Cybran technology was built to last and a green light quickly appeared, signaling that the data was still coherent. The silent Commando then programmed a sequence, turned around and handed his wrist computer over to Ivanna. He then stood up and took a few steps away, leaving her alone.

Ivanna stood frozen for several moments, unable to bring herself to press the play button. How could she look at the final happy memories of a mother that she had never even known? For a moment, she considered merely handing the wrist computer back to Queren, but then she just hit the play button, determined to get this over with.

The next few minutes were the most significant in young Ivanna’s life. She saw so many pictures; smiles, laughs, pranks and more. The immortalized moments had been spaced out through the years, spawning the Cybran Nation’s proudest moments and darkest times. Through it all, the woman in front of her, the one who looked so much like her, never faltered.

“She was so strong,” whispered Ivanna as she turned to look at Queren: “How could I ever live up to that?”

The images stopped playing for a moment and were replaced by a video file. It was a scene taken right here, back at a time when the tree had been much smaller. Dostya knelt in front of the tree after she had just finished engraving the names on the stone. Queren was there, as were Ell, Sjet, Keith and Bagby.

They all looked younger, but what truly surprised Ivanna was when her mother stood up and turned around. She was brushing away a tear, the scene somehow shattering the image of the invulnerable and ever determined Elite Commander. Her sadness mirrored Ivanna’s and the child could imagine that it was her standing right there. Only her mother’s Russian accent seemed to separate them even as she spoke: “This was my family; my father, my mother and my little brother…”

Dostya took a deep breath to steady herself before adding: “Somehow, I always held on to the hope that I would see them again when the Infinite War was over.”

The group closed in on Dostya, offering their silent support. A younger version of Queren placed a hand on her shoulder while looking at her gently, his eyes offering his unconditional support. Ivanna’s mother seemed to draw strength from that and patted the hand with a smile: “Don’t worry, I’m all right. I’m fighting for a new family now.”

Dostya turned towards the others and smiled encouragingly: “Saving the galaxy is too big for any one individual but this… this is worth fighting for.”

Ivanna’s mother looked so sad, and yet she remained hopeful. She was not invulnerable, unstoppable or anything like that. She was human, just like the rest of them. Her words also found a soft spot in Ivanna’s heart. Her mother had also been unable to bear the brunt of the galaxy’s fate on her shoulders. She had therefore opted to fight not for everyone, but to protect her friends and family… exactly like Ivanna had said only minutes ago.

Queren stepped closer to her then and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. His eyes glistened with unshed tears and he offered en encouraging nod before finally speaking: “You are more like her than you know… and you are not alone.”

Chapter 19
Assuming Control

It was not a question of who fired first; not in this case. Everywhere else in the galaxy, UEF, Cybran and Illuminate pilots struggled with the moral dilemma of attacking or defending against those who had previously been their allies and sometimes even their friends. On Alpha Seven, however, no such moral dilemma or gray zone existed: the Seraphim were the enemy; pure and simple.

The aliens had previously launched an unprovoked attack against humanity, seeking nothing less than the total extinction of their race. Their armies had ravaged Earth, stronghold of the UEF and the very cradle of humanity. Their insidious tinkering had corrupted QAI, one of Doctor Brackman’s greatest creations, and the following sneak attack had destroyed entire nodes. Their words had twisted the Illuminate upon itself, encouraging blind devotion and fanatical persecution until the only moral course of action for those that remained was open rebellion.

There was no way to truly measure the depth of the damage that the Seraphim had unleashed upon the galaxy; the loss in innocent lives seemed like a pale statistic. Neither side waited for the other before moving into position and when the first shot was fired, it seemed more like an inevitable consequence than an element that sparked the battle.

Kaeden, a pilot who prided himself upon keeping an open mind, felt no guilt whatsoever at the thought of attacking and relentlessly destroying the aliens. As a matter of fact, the Illuminate pilot welcomed the chance, preferring such a clear goal than facing his own people as he recently had. Even so, it did not mean that he could take the fight lightly. The Seraphim had apparently gated to Alpha Seven a few minutes before they had and this meant that they had a resource advantage at the moment.

With that in mind, Kaeden led their side’s defenses, focusing on building shield generators, point defense turrets and tactical missile launchers. Meanwhile, Melissa took charge of their ground assault, focusing mainly on tanks and working her way up to building a Fatboy. Tie, on the other hand, controlled their air force, using his superior speed to launch dozen of air strikes simultaneously in order to keep their enemies off balance. The combination proved harmonious, focusing on the strengths of each faction’s units while covering for their weaknesses. The Seraphim’s initial raiding parties were soon pushed back and Kaeden was then free to focus on the movements of his allies. What he saw left him puzzled.

Melissa’s tanks and mobile artilleries moved with quick military precision, but upon closer inspection, Kaeden could see maneuvers that he had not expected. Newly manufactured units moved to the head of the land army, their reinforced armors warding off the damage that had been intended for other targets. Meanwhile, heavily damaged units sought cover in ditches or behind wreckage, letting their self repair protocols mend their armor or waiting for a mechanical engineer to up speed the process.

The impressive display of micromanagement went on without ever faltering, but what truly puzzled Kaeden was Melissa herself. Her face was displayed on his side screen and while her fingers moved rhythmically over her console, she was not inputting commands even nearly fast enough to handle such a feat. Tie also appeared to be behaving differently.

The Chimera’s air force composed mainly of fighters moved in and out of Seraphim air space, dropping bombs on multiple targets before retreating and catching retaliatory strikes in clever ambushes. While Kaeden knew that Tie was capable of such a feat, the Cybran had always had to remove his sunglasses and use his rapid eye movement upgrade to input so many commands. If his demeanor had remained unchanged then Kaeden would have waved the issue away, but the Cybran seemed unusually tense; his eyebrows contracting and his mouth forming the beginning of a curse every so often while he slammed his hands against his console.

Something was definitely going on and while Kaeden knew that he could simply ask Melissa, he instead opened a private channel towards Tie: “How are you faring?”

“Perfectly,” answered Tie between clenched teeth, his hands slapping the same button several times as though he was trying to cancel a command. While Kaeden knew that their situation was serious, he could not help but find some mild amusement out of the display. Tie had always appeared in perfect control, making him all but unreadable even to Kaeden’s keen observation senses. Now, however, the Cybran’s agitation made him look… well… normal.

Kaeden quickly remembered that there was a purpose to his call and he spoke in a slow and measured voice: “I cannot help but notice how you and Melissa improved since the last time we met. Such a display of micromanaging skills is very impressive.”

“We’ve been practicing,” shot Tie back while slapping a control again. To Kaeden, the sudden pulsing of the vein on the chimera’s forehead was all the confirmation that he needed to know that Tie had not told him the whole truth. As a matter of fact, he had probably dodged the question altogether. Kaeden nevertheless played along and nodded with a smile: “I do not suppose that your prototypes’ battle algorithms have been upgraded recently?”

Tie hesitated a moment and Kaeden knew that he had hit very close to the mark. The Chimera had always been one to hold secrets, even from his allies, especially if it gave him some sort of an edge. The two of them had been silent but respected rivals ever since the pilot exchange program. At this moment, however, the technological edge that Tie had acquired had placed him at a psychological disadvantage by preventing him from keeping his usual cool and control demeanor.

The Chimera soon sighed in resignation before shaking his head: “Melissa was convinced that Zero – her prototype - was semi-sentient and could help us escape from our sector. Yoix created an algorithm to delete its guardian protocol and Zero has been helping us ever since.”

“And I take it that you borrowed the algorithm?” finished Kaeden. ‘Borrowed’ was most likely not the right term. Everyone knew that an unleashed artificial intelligence like QAI could become extremely dangerous. At this stage, however, Kaeden thought hat it was better to let the Cybran save face.

“Something like that,” confirmed Tie with a nod: “Melissa and Zero apparently have a good understanding but this…”

A curse suddenly escaped Tie, his voice rising as he slammed the cancel button one more: “But ‘this’ model isn’t being as cooperative. Keeping control is like holding on to an oversized hyperactive pet!”

Whatever the Cybran prototype had intended to do, it stopped doing it and Tie regained a measure of his former composure: “The gain in efficiency is noteworthy, but some side effects were not expected.”

That was a rather mild way of putting it, but it did explain many things. Both Melissa and Leto’s prototypes had been monstrously efficient when they had first been unleashed, but that level of performance had never been replicated. The Illuminate had always suspected that changes had been made to the prototypes before the technology was spread to each faction and some had thought that the Alliance had given them a flawed version in order to keep an edge. If an unshackled version could prove such a hassle to operate, however, then it also explained why the engineers behind the project had sought to keep it under control.

Tie gazed back at Kaeden for a moment, his eyes still hidden behind his sunglasses, before he finally said something completely unexpected: “Do you want a copy of the program?”

The suggestion made Kaeden’s eyes widen in surprise, to the Cybran’s pleasure no doubt, but the Illuminate pilot soon shook his head: “It might not be the safest or wisest course of action under these circumstances.”

“We’re only three pilots going up against the Seraphim and QAI in a bid to save the entire Alliance,” countered Tie without missing a beat. The Chimera readjusted his sunglasses before adding: “Playing it safe isn’t going to cut it.”

“You do have a point,” admitted Kaeden despite himself. Like it or not, they would need every edge that they could get if they were to defeat QAI. The specter of Leto’s legacy made Kaeden pause, but he then reminded himself that while the Illuminate prototype had been used against the Alliance, it had also only served the wishes of its pilot. Besides, if QAI was on Alpha Seven then it was only a matter of time before the artificial intelligence would find them. When that happened, the battle with the Seraphim would seem like a walk in the garden.

With that in mind, Kaeden accepted the file that was uploaded to him and prepared to install it. Tie nodded while focusing on the battle: “Now is probably your best chance to do it. Expect a brief five second pause as the main data loop reinitializes and then prepare for whatever hell your ACU will put you through.”

“The performance gain is noteworthy and is roughly the same as when I was using my REM upgrade,” added Tie quickly. The Cybran then slammed his hand against his control as he added: “But you have to watch the little bastard!”

Kaeden nodded while checking his sensors. Sure enough, there was a lull in the battle and no Seraphim units were in a position to strike at them. The Illuminate pilot therefore performed the upgrade and watched as the prototype’s main data loop reinitialized exactly as Tie had predicted and then… nothing.

There was no outburst of commands, no lines of codes or unexpected movement. For all intents and purposes, the prototype appeared unchanged. Kaeden looked around his cockpit a moment before gazing at the central camera on his console and nodding: “If you are semi-sentient then it seems appropriate that I acknowledge your help and offer you a formal greeting as an ally and friend.”

The camera’s iris moved softly; the first sign of independent life that Kaeden had noticed. The cockpit’s speakers then sprung to life, sounding a single clear heavenly sound, the kind that was used at the beginning physical exercise programs to promote focus of the mind and body. Kaeden took it as a sign that the prototype was signaling its readiness and bowed his head in turn.

“I look forward to our mutual cooperation,” said the Illuminate pilot while typing a new set of commands: “We are currently in the middle of a battle, so I would appreciate it if we avoided radical changes in our battle strategy and focused instead on optimizations that follow my lead.”

A chime rang through the cockpit, most likely signaling that the prototype was in agreement. Kaeden took it as a good sign and laid in a course to build another shield generator. The prototype’s footsteps already seemed more graceful and Kaeden could notice the small changes in the way that the prototype was plotting the course of its mechanical engineers.

Back in his cockpit, Tie grumbled, the feeling colored by a touch of jealousy. How come Kaeden could get a fully cooperative AI but he was stuck with a hyperactive one? It was not fair!

The Cybran prototype seemed to notice the Chimera’s annoyance and it reacted by forwarding over thirty-seven suggestions of maneuvers and optimizations that it could use to make itself look ‘better’. Tie merely slapped his forehead, suddenly aware that the AI’s personality, including the desire to always be the best, seemed to be some kind of derivate of his own: “Just let me handle the piloting.”

-----

Back at Debra’s Den, Foil nervously chewed on his lower lip as he listened to the end of Melissa’s message: “The Seraphim’s presence can’t be a coincidence, so we’re going after them. I’ll leave a trail as we gate from world to world. Please follow us when you can; we could really use your help.”

“What could she be thinking?” muttered Foil even as he entered the pursuit coordinates: “It could be a trap.”

“She’s doing what she thinks is best for the Alliance,” answered Nial while doing the same. Like it or not, the future of the entire human race was linked to whether they could stop this war. Maybe the Seraphim were the key to doing this, but Foil doubted it.

“Quantum gates are almost fully charged,” said Foil. He double checked the time differential between the moment that the capsule had been recorded and now. Several hours had passed since then, an eternity as far as ACU warfare went: “Let’s hope we’re not too late.”

Foil and Nial soon disappeared into their quantum gates, leaving their base to self destruct behind them. A few minutes later, another group of ACUs appeared; all UEF models. They stopped only long enough to build their own quantum gates and follow.

-----

Chief Engineer Godel moved through the Assumpta hangar, his intense gaze reminding everyone to stay busy. While he was a good hand to hand fighter, probably better than most technician from any other node, the man knew that he was still far inferior to many of the assassins that he crossed. All nevertheless bowed their heads and went about their duties with renewed determination not because of Godel’s stature, but because of a simple fact; Redfog had assigned him as the Assumpta Node’s second in command during her absence.

The leader of the Assumpta Node had only entrusted Godel in the role of a caretaker, but the position still entitled him to a significant amount of political power. Anyone who crossed him would also be crossing her… and that was a proposition that no sane mind would contemplate. His role would be to keep the node active, manufacturing new Cybran prototypes if need be, while their leader led the spear that would plunge all the way into the UEF’s very heart. Although his position would be temporary, Godel still made the most of it.

The Chief Engineer was just about to step out of hangar twelve and move on to the next when his transmitter burst to life: “We have an incoming Cybran ACU; a Mark One.”

“Fire a warning shot and tell it to go back where it came from before it can scan the node,” answered Godel without bothering to stop: “Redfog’s orders were clear; no outsiders are allowed.”

“I just received a set of authentication codes,” answered the ACU pilot back. Godel could tell by his voice that he was probably no more than seventeen years old; one of the rookies that Redfog had not bothered to bring with her: “They are old, but they are valid and with a very high security clearance.”

“Did you hear what I just said?” answered Godel back, his voice rising as he did so: “Redfog pulled off a lot of favors to replace all of our Mark Ones with the new prototypes. This means that it’s not one of ours and we’re not taking visitors. Fire a warning shot.”

Second guessing a superior officer was one thing and on some level, Godel could appreciate it. Assumpta pilots, even young ones, did not earn the right to pilot their ACUs on a whim and all were considered both bright and deadly. Refusing a direct order was something else and Godel’s tone grew dark when he noticed that pilot was not acknowledging: “Either you fire or I’ll have another pilot destroy you.”

The ultimatum was simple enough and should have prompted the kid into action, but the answer that came back was not one that Godel had expected: “Then you might as well do that because there is no way in hell that I’ll fire on ‘that’ ACU.”

Did the rookie truly understood what he had just said? Under these circumstances, Godel was expected – no – obligated to have him killed. More to the point, was that actually a note of fear in his voice. Curiosity got a hold of Godel and he held back the order that would send all three remaining pilots on sentry duty against him: “What are you talking about?”

“I’m forwarding the image now,” answered the pilot. Godel looked towards his wrist computer and his eyes widened when he saw the blood pattern on the ACU.

“It’s him,” whispered the Chief Engineer. He gulped uneasily and forgot all about the kid’s impertinence even as he spoke again: “Clear the path and transmit the location of hangar twelve.

Godel hesitated a moment longer before opening another channel back to their command center: “Wake Draco; he’ll want to know about this.”

No sooner had Godel closed the channel that the hangar’s doors opened. Everyone stopped what they were doing the moment that the Cybran ACU stepped inside. The paint job that made the war machine so unique was unmistakable. No one in the Cybran Nation would have dared to copy it. The sight of an assassin arriving was usually not one for concern, not even one of his caliber. What truly gave everyone pause was that a former Cybran who had held the title of Redfog had returned and with him, the possibility of a power struggle.

Godel ran up a flight of stairs towards the docking ramp and reached the top just as the cockpit opened. There had been no mistaking the legendary ACU nor was there any possibility of confusing its pilots with anyone else. Their former master had returned. Although he knew that he was no match for him, Godel nevertheless blocked the pilot’s way.

“I am Chief Engineer Godel and current acting second in command overseeing this node,” said the Godel as strongly as he could: “Before you can proceed any further, I must respectfully ask – for security reasons – how you found our location.”

A drop of nervous sweat appeared on Godel’s brow, but he nevertheless held his position. Crossing the man in front of him had always been a synonym of death, but so was disobeying the current Redfog. If the node was attacked because Godel had failed in his duties then he would not get away with a merciful death.

The former leader of the Assumpta Node stared at Godel for a moment, his eyes glaring through him. Godel almost flinched when the Assassin reached for something in his pocket, but he sighed in relief when he saw that it was not a weapon.

“I asked,” answered the former leader of the Assumpta Node while dropping three bloodied fingers on the ground. One held a signet ring belonging to a cache owner, one who had been compensated handsomely to serve as a secret liaison should there ever be a crash in communications. The former leader of the Assumpta Node snorted as he added: “Back in my days, it would have taken a lot more than this to extract such information. You can rest assured, however, that the security leak has been cut… permanently.”

So the cache owner was dead, thought Godel with relief. While the man might not have deserved such a fate, to the Chief Engineer, it simply meant that his duty in terms of security was complete and that he would not have to confront the Assassin again. In other words, his odds of survival had improved.

At that moment, Draco, the current overseer of the node appointed by Redfog herself, stepped on the docking platform with two guards by his side. He bowed quickly to his former master with all the respect that he deserved: “My Lord, we apologize for the lack of a proper reception. Had we known…”

The former master of the Assumpta Node waved the notion away, his suddenly bored gaze moving lazily across the hangar and taking note of the details: “Draco, is it? Who is in charge here?”

“I am, my Lord,” answered Draco immediately. The former leader of the Assumpta Node understood why. Draco had been around even during his days. He had been a promising Assassin: brave, dedicated and loyal to a fault. The hint of a machine complex was the only thing that had kept him from ascending to true power, but other than that, he was the perfect kind of person to leave behind when you had to leave for an extended amount of time. It was a pity, really…

Without warning, the man who had previously held the title of Redfog sprang into action, his cybernetic legs allowing him to jump the distance between him and Draco in a single bound. His plasma blade appeared out of nowhere into his hand and sliced Draco in half before the assassin had even managed to draw his blaster. Redfog kept moving even after delivering the fatal blow, tearing the throat of one guard with his bare hand and kicking the other off the ramp. A cry of terror followed by a wet crack resounded through the hangar even as the former leader of the Assumpta Node slowly turned back towards the Chief Engineer: “Now, once again: who is in charge here?”

“You are, my Lord,” answered Godel immediately, his face growing pale as he did so. That, of course, was the only correct answer.

Chapter 20
Capable of Anything

Crimson fires lit the darkening sky even as the Seraphim attack force moved steadily forward. Siege tanks led the charge with an appropriate number of mobile anti-air cannons following closely behind. At the center of the formation walked an Ythotha, one of the giant experimental assault bots that had once dominated the galaxy. The assault force was protected by four mobile shield generators and the energy barriers that they provided was reflected on all of their hulls.

Overall, the approaching land army was impressive and would have forced most Alliance pilots to fall back only a few years ago. Now, however, things were very different. A single bright ball of energy suddenly surged from Kaeden’s defensive line before the Seraphim army could even move within firing range. The EMP strike landed in the middle of the enemy’s formation, collapsing all four mobile shield generators simultaneously. It was then that Melissa’s Fatboys opened fire.

A deluge of gauss cannon shells fell upon the Seraphim units, targeting all four mobile shield generators and destroying them before they could recover. They then switched targets, focusing their fire on the mobile anti-air cannons and destroying them one after another. Part of the splash damage caused by the Fatboys did scorch the Seraphim Siege tanks, but they remained mostly undamaged even as they closed in on Kaeden’s defensive line. The Alliance pilots would not let their advance go unchecked, however.

A large wave of Cybran fighters surged forth the moment that the Seraphim’s anti-air capabilities were sufficiently weakened and they fell upon the enemy like a plague of locusts. Neutron cluster bombs dropped everywhere, shattering alien alloys and sending pieces of siege tanks everywhere.

Only the Ythotha was spared from the onslaught and it was forced to trample through the wreckage of its fellow units to get within firing range. The experimental assault bot fired all of its weapon systems simultaneously. Its Gatling plasma cannon unleashed a torrent of weapon’s fire, followed by heavy Sinn Unthe Cannon blast and a Phason Beam Generator strike. The devastating assault collapsed one shield generator and then a second, but the other five behind them held strong.

Unlike mark one ACUs, the shield generators deployed by the mark twos had no need for an external power source. They could therefore be stacked in rows without any drain on the ACU’s power grid. Worse yet, in Kaeden’s case, his shields had been upgraded with the quantum sponge effect which converted part of any incoming attack into useful energy. The first shield generator came back online before the sixth one was even at half strength, making it clear that the Ythotha simply did not have the means to break through the defense. The experimental assault bot took a step forward, apparently intent on slipping under the energy barrier and strike at the generators themselves, but that only put it in range of the point defense turrets that had been waiting.

Disintegrator pulse lasers fired in unison and were soon supported by the Fatboys and fighters when the rest of the Seraphim army was destroyed. One well placed blast shattered the experimental assault bot’s ankle and sent it kneeling to the ground. It tried to limp forward, but the cumulative damage soon shattered the rest of its armor and cracked its quantum core. The issuing explosion produced a brilliant ball of energy which sent unstable Phason discharges flying in every direction, but those too connected uselessly with Kaeden’s shields.

“Enemy experimental assault bot destroyed,” confirmed Melissa with a pleased nod. She ordered her land army forward at that moment, determined to turn the tide once and for all by striking back at the Seraphim’s main base. She could not help but look at the wreckage of the Ythotha even as her engineers reclaimed it: “And to think that they were a terror back in the days.”

“That’s what happens when technology doesn’t keep up the pace in a war,” observed Tie even as he appeared on Melissa’s screen. The Chimera pressed a few buttons on his console before tilting his head to his right: “Kaeden, are you certain that your shield destroyer will collapse even the Seraphim’s main shields?”

“It will,” confirmed the Illuminate pilot even as he appeared on their screen: “I have configured it to fire as soon as your air force comes within range of the enemy base. You may attack at your discretion”

“Launching fighters,” said Tie without wasting a moment longer. His entire air force abandoned the site of the of the fallen Seraphim units and plotted a course towards the base. Although they were both fast and powerful, the fact remained that the Seraphim base was still exceptionally well defended. A straightforward attack would only provide a large amount of wreckage for their enemies to use, but fortunately, the allied pilots had an ace up their sleeve.

“Firing EMP missile,” said Kaeden when Tie’s forces closed in on their target. Again the blue missile shot from the Illuminate line, flew over the battlefield and slammed into the east portion of the Seraphim base. All the shields in that area instantly collapsed, leaving a clear line for the Cybran assault.

A barrage of anti-air fire filled the sky, destroying a few of Tie’s fighters, but not before they dropped their payloads. The neutron cluster bombs fell upon tier three power generators and mass fabricator, breaking through their reinforced armor with ease. The resulting explosions, further amplified by the wild release of quantum energy from the structures themselves, destroyed the other nearby buildings which had profited from the co-dependency. In the space of an instant, Tie’s attack wiped out a third of the Seraphim’s base.

“Target destroyed,” confirmed Tie. The trace of a sadistic smile appearing on his lips even as he checked the data on his screen: “Their entire energy grid has been disrupted. They just cut off all of their unit production and even disabled some of their shield generators to prevent a total collapse.”

“I see it,” confirmed Melissa on her end. This would force the Seraphim to rebuild what they had lost for the next ten minutes, if not more. Victory was within their grasp.

Although the attack had been successful, over half of Tie’s fighters had been lost in the attack. They did not need to hand out any more resources to the Seraphim and Melissa quickly turned towards the Cybran: “Fall back and replenish your ranks while I carry out the land assault. Patrol our borders if you can as well; I don’t want QAI or anything else sneaking up on us before we can finish this.”

“Roger that,” confirmed the Chimera with a nod. Kaeden then appeared on Melissa’s screen and nodded: “Another EMP missile is ready to fire the moment that you reach the Seraphim’s front line.”

The Illuminate pilot double checked his instruments and then nodded again: “I have mostly finished building our strategic missile defenses as well. At this rate, it seems that we will manage to defeat the Seraphim before QAI can intervene.”

That last observation forced Melissa to pause, even as her units closed in on the Seraphim’s front line. The words of the Princess echoed in her mind like a dire warning: ‘Then I pray that you have learned from his example, for all of our sakes.’

“How come QAI hasn’t intervened by now?” wondered Melissa softly. She looked down at the time and saw that the battle had lasted a full fifteen minutes; more than enough time for reinforcements to arrive. The Seraphim were QAI’s masters… weren’t they?

The sound of a missile firing suddenly brought Melissa back to reality and she watched as the EMP missile flew from Kaeden’s line and towards the Seraphim’s base. It connected with the forward shields even as Melissa’s forces closed in. Two Fatboys accompanied by dozens fully upgraded tanks, artilleries, missile launchers and anti-air guns were but moments away from achieving a decisive victory.

“Something’s not right,” muttered Melissa to herself even as she reached for her controls. Maybe she was insane for listening to a hallucination, but something deep down warned her that she was missing something important. She therefore stopped her forces before they could move within firing range.

“Mel?” asked Tie in confusion. Melissa saw the same puzzlement mirrored in Kaeden’s eyes and even Zero forwarded a series of queries on her screen, unable to comprehend why she had just stopped short of a potentially killing blow.

Instead of answering, Melissa opened another channel: “Seraphim forces, your energy grid has been compromised and your defenses breached. This battle is pointless; end it now.”

“What are you doing?” asked Tie in shock, but Melissa ignored him again. She gave the Seraphim a few more seconds to reply and her gaze hardened when they did not. She titled her head upwards ever so slightly as she added: “We have just demonstrated that we can collapse your shields at any time. Either end this battle or we will.”

This time, the Seraphim did answer. Melissa gasped softly even as an alien face appeared on her screen and practically spat out a reply in a strange language. The translation program kicked in only a fraction of a second later: “We will not surrender!”

It was not the sight of the Alien which had surprised Melissa, but rather the fact that she knew of him. The creature before her was none other than Seth-Iavow himself, the Seraphim who had led the attack against their race. The past few years had not been kind to the alien. His once vibrant colored skin had faded to a grayish hue and his cheeks had sunk in, almost as if he had suffered from a long period of malnutrition. His eyes remained alert, but they no longer reflected the unshaken determination that they previously had.

For a moment, the sight of the alien filled Melissa with the urge to send her forces moving forward again, but she just barely managed to hold back. She narrowed her gaze instead: “This fight can only end one way and you know it.”

“Foolish humans, our lives are meaningless compared to what is at stake,” answered Seth-Iavow back, his alien words being translated only a few seconds after he had spoken: “If we fall then you will follow.”

“We’re the ones with the bigger guns,” said Tie harshly, cutting into the conversation. Melissa was about to instruct the Chimera to let her handle this, but Seth-Iavow replied first.

“Not you,” spouted the alien back with distaste. He then said something else in his strange tongue which was then translated as simply: “You!”

“Is something wrong with our translators?” wondered Kaeden in puzzlement. While it appeared that he too shared the other two pilot’s distaste for that particular Seraphim, he still maintained a cool enough head to ask the right question: “What do you mean by ‘you’?”

“Every human, animal, plant or form of life in this existence,” answered the alien, apparently taking his time to spell it out as clearly as he could: “All will be doomed within the next few hours unless the Seraphim stop it.”

-----

Ashes filled the sky, blocking out the sun and partially hiding the scope of the destruction that the small planet had endured. A Cybran prototype stood at the center of that destruction, its dark frame occasionally illuminated by the burning embers that floated through the air. The scene was strangely beautiful yet terrifying, much like the pilot herself.

Redfog, the current leader of the Assumpta Node, surveyed the destruction with a cold and calculating gaze. Their latest campaign had been successful, opening the way for them to push deeper into UEF territory. Soon, the war would no longer be fought near colonies, but on the core worlds themselves. Only then would the ground be stained with rivers of blood. Only then would Redfog accomplish her destiny…

That, however, was the future, and she had other concerns to attend to. She opened a channel to her four generals who waited nearby; pilots who were incredibly deadly, vicious or cold hearted. They were each monsters in their own rights, but they still lacked the proper combination of traits that could allow them to claim the title of Redfog… and that was fortunate for them because they would be dead otherwise.

The scouts operating under their command should have returned by now and Redfog did not waste any time with pleasantries: “Report.”

“Three UEF ACUs have been destroyed on Arthos Two with no casualties on our side,” said her first General, the pilot to whom she had entrusted the duty of spearheading the latest charge. A vicious smile appeared on his lips as he added: “Just as you planned.”

There was no mistaking the bloodthirsty look in his eyes, but that was to be expected. Redfog had kept him in check with promises that this day would come. Her first General had behaved the whole time, even going so far as to work hand in hand with their supposed allies. He made no attempt to hide his pleasure at the prospect of war and Redfog would not reprimand him for it. He had earned the right to such a simple pleasure.

Redfog nodded towards him slightly before turning her head to look at her second General. The pilot grimaced as he made his report: “One UEF ACU destroyed on Dalamar Five. A Cybran pilot was injured in the attack and had to withdraw.”

“The battle is still ongoing?” asked Redfog’s fourth General with disbelief. These four pilots were the only individuals in the Assumpta Node who were allowed to speak out of turn in Redfog’s presence… so long as they did not seek to defy her.

The second General nodded once more with a grimace: “The UEF forces stationed there pleaded for a cease fire and the Scorched Earth pilots leading the assault accepted it. They are maintaining watch even as the UEF evacuates their civilians off world.”

“The Scorched Earth Node lost its stomach for a fight,” commented the first General with a snort. That in itself was an understatement. During the Infinite War, the Scorched Earth Node had been one of those always ready to fight under any circumstances with little regards for collateral damage. They had risen again at the news of Doctor Brackman’s demise and had willingly followed the Assumpta this far, but their pilots had grown soft, unable to strike with everything they had when civilian lives were at stake.

“At least it will keep the UEF busy in that sector,” concluded the second General, apparently quite displeased with the results himself. Redfog nodded, having drawn the same conclusion. While the news was unwelcomed, she would not fault the General for something that was beyond his control and she turned towards the third General instead.

The pilot also winced as he made his report: “The Yamagata Node aimed for a single decisive strike on Erica Four to disable all UEF ACUs with minimal casualties. The Illuminate showed up before they could carry out their plan, however, and they are now locked in a three way battle with no side actively attempting to win.”

Typical, thought Redfog silently. The Yamagata Node had always been far too careful for its own good, but the results were not unexpected. As a matter of fact, she had been surprised when the node of spies had volunteered to follow them in the first place. While the results were not as good as she had hoped, it still meant that a portion of the UEF and of the Illuminate’s forces would be kept busy… and that one political enemy would be occupied as well.

Redfog turned towards her final General, the one who had led a scouting team deep within UEF territory: “Any sign of retaliation?”

“None, my Lord,” answered the other pilot while bowing his head. The man was known for his thoroughness, especially since his life hanged in the balance if he made a critical mistake: “There have been no strikes against our supply lines or allied nodes. The UEF has been offering resistance, but without actively striking back. They are evacuating their civilians in the meantime towards the core worlds.”

The Second General snorted while crossing his arms: “The Fools, a war cannot be won by constantly retreating.”

“But it can be delayed,” pointed out the fourth General, eager to score more points with his master. He was correct, of course. By refusing to strike back, the UEF was unknowingly weakening Redfog’s position amongst her allies. Most were still angry at Doctor Brackman’s death, but the lack of UEF response was casting doubts amongst their ranks as to whether they were the one responsible.

Redfog had expected, and even planned, that a counter attack would have helped rally her allies and get more pilots into the fight. The UEF did have its share of cowards and its structure was unsuited to such a break in communication, but even this did not explain why they were not retaliating. Who or what had convinced Earth’s forces to hold back?

The Assumpta Node could force the issue by striking at defenseless civilian targets, but such a proposition was still risky. If she was ever caught then Redfog could potentially lose her Cybran allies and this could become problematic in time. She would save the option as a last resort. The leader of the Assumpta Node took a few more seconds to think it through before nodding once more: “I want a full scale assault; all of our forces.”

Redfog brought up her galactic map even as she spoke: “I want to overwhelm Galac Five and then immediately move on to Seas before the UEF can recover.”

A push of a button allowed Redfog to zoom in on a well fortified continent on Seas: “One of the UEF’s prototype research and development facilities is there. If we destroy it then we will cripple their ability to replace their ACUs and research new technologies. Only then will they know the price of refusing to face us.”

Every General nodded in turn with pleased expressions. While the blow would not be a fatal one, it would definitely have lasting consequences especially if the war dragged on for a few years. If it did then it would perhaps allow Cybran technology to surpass those of its enemies.

The gathering was interrupted when something flashed on the first General’s screen. The pilot immediately frowned when it was revealed that this was one of their ACUs: “Whose initiate is this?”

The fourth General pressed the mute button on his screen and discussed something for a few seconds before opening the link once more: “My lord, the pilot is under my command. He has an urgent message which he insists must be delivered to you directly.”

An initiate wishing to speak to Redfog? The sight was not unknown, but all knew the consequences if turned out to be a waste of time. Redfog opened a channel to the initiate and spoke a single word: “Speak.”

“Master Redfog,” said the initiate while bowing his head. The pilot, merely a young boy, hesitated for a split second and his voice quivered as he delivered his message: “The Assumpta Node has been taken over.”

Every General tensed up immediately and one even gasped. The fourth, realizing that his head was probably on the line, snapped back at the initiate: “What are you talking about?”

The initiate hesitated before bowing his head again: “He… has returned.”

Every face slowly turned towards Redfog, all of them afraid of what her reaction would be. On the outside, Redfog appeared as cold as a block of ice. Deep down, however, she was screaming in barely contained fury. How dare he? Redfog had always known that her former master would return one day. She had expected it… and even planned for it…

The Assumpta Node stood on the brink of a crippling blow against the UEF and Redfog’s former master had chosen now out of all times to stage a coup. Somehow, it was hard to think of a more devastating timing, but her master had been known for that as well.

Redfog’s right eye twitched for a fraction of a second and her first General hesitated before daring to ask a question: “What are your orders? Should we continue with our attack towards Seas?”

And ignore the situation back at their home base? Although the initiate had not said anything else, he had unknowingly relayed another message from Redfog’s former master. This was a challenge for control of the Assumpta Node; pure and simple. If she accepted it then only one of them would come out of it alive. If she did not… well… who knew what her master would do? Destroy the entire node? There was no doubt in her mind that he was capable of it.

“Contact the Crimson Sand Node,” said Redfog suddenly, startling her Generals in the process: “Have them send pilots to cover this position. Call in favors at first and resort to threats if necessary. Tell them that I will personally turn my attention towards them if they refuse.”

“My Lord, the Crimson Sand Node was created only five years ago,” observed the first General carefully: “Their pilots are far too inexperienced to be used as anything else but cannon fodders.”

“I don’t expect them to fight,” snapped Refog back harshly, making it clear that this was one moment where she would not tolerate objections from anyone: “I only expect them to hold their ground until we return. We are heading to the Assumpta Node.”

“How many of us will be accompanying you, my Lord?” asked the fourth General, apparently still trying to score points. Redfog was not in the mood for such games, however, and barely acknowledged the question: “I want every pilot. By the end of the day, the Assumpta Node will be under my control again or it will burn...”

-----

Back at the Assumpta Node, the former master stood silently in the middle of the strategic command center while reading a list of names on a data pad. The room was empty; its twenty analysts and tacticians having been escorted out in order to serve their new purpose. The former Redfog absentmindedly took a step to his right and was rewarded with a wet splashing sound. He had stepped in a pool of blood from one of the analysts who had resisted the change. The rapidly cooling body had convinced the others to comply.

The train of thought was interrupted when the door opened. Chief Engineer Godel stepped through a moment later, his face pale but resolute: “All targets have been rounded up and collared, as you ordered.”

“Was there any resistance?” asked the former master, not truly concerned, but still wanting to know. Godel nodded, but remained composed: “A few tried to, but they were promptly beaten into submission and forced to comply.”

The answer seemed to please the former master and Godel hesitated a moment before daring to ask a question: “Do you have any further orders, my lord?”

“Just one,” answered the former Redfog while lazily pointing towards the far corner of the room. Godel followed the gesture and gasped at what he saw. There it was; the same type of explosive collar that he had just set on over two hundred Assumpta members.

All of the people on the former master’s list were key personnel; technicians, tacticians, analysts, battle masters, engineers, healers and so on. If they were killed then the Assumpta Node’s ability to operate on a daily basis would be severely crippled. Some would even say that the whole node would fall into chaos without them… and Godel was on that list.

The Chief Engineer hesitated a few seconds, but then the former Redfog slowly lifted his eyes and fixed him with a gaze that told it all. Godel gulped uneasily before finally walking towards the far corner of the room, picking the explosive collar and strapping it to his neck. There was simply no other alternative.

Those outside of the Assumpta Node did not know how terrifyingly demanding their leaders could be. They probably could not even imagine that as cruel as any Redfog had ever been, all of them had been showing a great deal of restraint when dealing with outsiders.

The former Redfog nodded, apparently satisfied. If one had to be capable of anything then one had to be ready to destroy that which he was willing to fight over. His apprentice had no doubt remembered that lesson as well… and now it was only a matter of finding out who would come out on top.

Chapter 21
Outdated

“It’s a trick,” said Tie between clenched teeth while rallying his air force: “Come on, let’s finish what we started.”

“Wait!” ordered Melissa harshly while raising a hand. She then turned back to the Seraphim on her screen and frowned: “What do you mean when you say that everything will be doomed?”

“There is no time,” answered Seth-Iavow in his strange language, turning his gaze away from Melissa as he did so. Perhaps the sight of a human was disgusting to the alien, but Melissa did not have the inclination to teach him the important of respecting racial diversity.

The UEF pilot took control of her Fatboys and ordered them to fire a salvo. The gauss shells landed a few dozen meters in front of the Seraphim base’s shields. The attack caused no damage, but it did force Seth-Iavow’s attention to turn back to her. The alien’s eyes were wide with a mixture of surprise and fury, but Melissa would not flinch away from that gaze and merely crossed her arms: “Make the time.”

The two of them faced off in a staring contest for a few seconds. The alien soon snorted when it became apparent that he would not win and pressed a few buttons on his console. A diagram appeared under his profile with a multitude of rotating colors. Melissa tried to make sense of it, but the writing that accompanied the data was unknown to her. Fortunately, Zero could translate both written and spoken Seraphim and the prototype rearranged the information so that she could understand it.

“What is this?” asked Melissa even as she studied Zero’s interpretation of the data. From the looks of things, it seemed like a quantum sensor sweep. The alien tilted his head upward as he answered: “It is a quantum breach; QAI is responsible for it.”

A quantum breach? The expression sent shivers running down Melissa’s spine as she envisioned hundreds if not thousands of Seraphim experimental bombers flying in from the Quantum Realm. If that was the case, however, then why were these Seraphim trying to prevent the creation of such a breach? Did it not mean that they would be getting reinforcements?

“Are you saying that there is a breach on this world?” asked Melissa even as she turned back towards the alien: “The same kind that was used on Earth?”

“It’s not,” interrupted Tie while readjusting his sunglasses. The Chimera had somehow managed to analyze the data and his face was twisted in a sneer even as he finished his explanation: “The frequencies don’t match and it’s not even stable.”

Zero confirmed the findings at the same moment and displayed the results on Melissa’s screen. The prototype had not managed to make a match between those readings and any known weapon system. It was still searching for possible causes, however, and the fact that it was currently comparing those readings with something on the same scale as Black Sun proved unnerving.

“They are just stalling for time,” insisted Tie harshly: “Let’s end it now.”

For a moment, Melissa wondered whether Tie meant what he said or if he was merely playing the ‘bad cop’. There was no way to tell with his sunglasses hiding his eyes, but Kaeden spoke before she could consider the request: “If it is a breach then it is no doubt unstable. However, the power signature seems to be increasing.”

Was that QAI’s plan? Had it started the Infinite War again only to hide the fact that it was preparing to unleash a weapon as powerful as Black Sun? Melissa turned towards Seth-Iavow, the only one who might have the answer: “Care to shed some light on this?”

“Foolish humans,” answered the alien while shaking his head in disgust: “You use quantum technology, our technology, to power your machines without understanding it. Meanwhile you fight amongst yourselves, unable to see the real threat that will swallow you whole.”

With those words, the Seraphim’s army began moving once again, repairing the damage that Tie’s sneak attack had caused. Melissa noticed this and immediately reached for her controls: “Hey! I didn’t give you permission to move again.”

“The battle is over,” answered Seth-Iavow flatly, referring to the proclamation that Melissa had made only minutes ago. The alien pressed a few keys on his console as he added: “Either destroy us now or let us be on our way. If you will not stop this apocalypse then we will.”

The Seraphim then closed the channel without any other explanation. The rash act had left Melissa speechless and Kaeden had to clear his throat to draw her attention back to him: “What should we do?”

“We should destroy them,” insisted Tie once more and for a moment, Melissa was almost inclined to agree. Something inside her, however, kept her from nodding: “They know they don’t stand a chance and yet they are still moving.”

“It is almost as if they believe that the cost of doing nothing is worse than destruction,” finished Kaeden, having drawn the same conclusion. From the looks of things, the Seraphim were not focusing on rebuilding their defenses, but rather on assembling the largest mobile armies that they could. The conclusion drew Melissa’s gaze towards the mist which surrounded their landing zone.

The quantum field, a phenomenon unique to Alpha Seven, seemed like any other mist to the naked eye. They all knew, however, that it blocked long range quantum communications and could even disrupt an ACU’s control over its units. The true nightmare, however, laid in the unconfirmed reports.

There were tales of mindless SCUs roaming those lands, units which were loaded with a powerful self destruct mechanism and programmed to hunt any living organism. Rumor had it that they were constantly being produced by an unmanned research station, a relic from the Infinite War which was constantly on the move. There were also whispers that the mist itself could induce hallucinations in even the most hardy of pilots. That last part made Melissa chuckle helplessly; she was already suffering from those.

Regardless of the stories, the fact remained that the Seraphim were willing to brave the mist in order to face QAI. The reasons remained unclear, but their presence could not be ignored. Melissa looked back at the other two pilots and nodded bitterly: “Finish upgrading your prototypes and start assembling the biggest armies that you can.”

The UEF pilot then turned back towards the Seraphim base: “Once they are ready to move, we will follow them.”

-----

A harsh and dry wind coursed through the Assumpta Node, sending waves of dust flying along the streets near the command center. There was no sign of movement, not even from the lone figure who sat like a statue on the staircase. The one who had previously held the title of Redfog waited patiently for his apprentice to return.

There was no point in setting an ambush or of laying traps. His challenge had been made and the stakes put in place for everyone to see. Now all that remained was to find out whether his apprentice would accept it or risk loosing the foundations of her empire. The assassin was confident that it would be the former.

With that in mind, the assassin’s gaze slowly turned towards his drawn plasma blade. The weapon was by his side, its deadliness only a reflection of its masters. He shifted his hold on it with his cybernetic hand and gazed at the limb for a moment. How many lives had been taken by those artificial hands? Hundreds? Thousands? More importantly, did it even matter?

The assassin’s train of thought was suddenly interrupted when a series of exploding sounds reached him and were followed by a huge gust of wind that sent dust flying everywhere. He still remained calmly seated, aware that maybe two or three dozen ACUs had just gated at the node’s doorstep. His apprentice had returned.

-----

Redfog’s cloak flapped in the wind as she calmly walked the deserted streets of the Assumpta Node. There had been no one to welcome her at the hangar nor had she expected anyone. Redfog’s gaze momentarily went up towards the buildings that flanked her. The structures’ opaque windows most likely hid the dozens of Assumpta ‘civilians’ which watched anxiously.

This was a critical time, one where the transition of power could be made in one direction or another. The fate of the entire node would be decided this day and none would dare to intervene. For a moment, part of Redfog would have hoped that she could have just used her army to blow up a few buildings and end the threat, but she knew that it was not so simple.

The title of Redfog entitled her to do almost anything and the key word in this case was ‘almost’. Those who belonged to the Assumpta Node had always feared and respected their dreaded masters for the power that they represented. Living conditions here were harsh and cruel if not downright inhumane, but the people found solace in knowing that even the lowliest of them were feared across the galaxy and that the one who held the title of Redfog had no equal.

Redfog could do away with any challenge and have the offender executed, but not if the pretender was worthy. If she were to simply kill her former master from a distance then it would be seen as a sign of weakness, one which would encourage others to challenge her position. Redfog had plans for the war and the last thing that she needed was to have one of her assassins or even one of her closest Generals believe that they could best her in combat. No, if she was to win here then she would have to face her former master in person.

The leader of the Assumpta Node walked around a corner leading to the command center and raised an eyebrow when she realized that she was no longer alone. On either side of the street stood different members of the node, their hands shackled against the wall, explosive collars on their necks and gags covering their mouths. They were the engineers, battle masters and tacticians; the vital elements that allowed the Assumpta Node to work so efficiently on a daily basis.

Redfog held no doubts that others were similarly restrained in other side streets, their presence serving as a reminder of what she stood to lose. If she refused to play her former master’s game then they would all be executed, crippling the Assumpta Node’s ability to wage war. They would either have to train a new generation, an operation that would take years, or become subservient to another node if they wanted to continue the war. Neither choice was truly a viable option. The warning was crude, but efficient, much like her former master.

The leader of the Assumpta Node merely kept walking, not bothering to even acknowledge the pleading glances that were following her. She kept on moving and only stopped when she finally reached the command center. Her former master was there; sitting calmly on the stairway with plasma blade in hand.

“I had a feeling that this day would come,” said Redfog with a pleasant smile. The façade was a lie of course; a mask, much like the one that her former master was wearing, which hid the depth of her hatred. She tilted her head to the side as she added: “Although to tell you the truth, I was hoping to wake you up myself, perhaps to offer you the chance to lead the assault on Earth, just as you always wanted.”

The former master clearly saw the ploy for what it was; an attempt to distract him and instill a measure of doubt in his mind. It would not work of course and the former apprentice merely shrugged after a moment: “Instead I find you here, standing against me.”

The smile disappeared slowly, revealing a cold and calculating stare that was ever bit a match for her former master: “It seems oddly fitting; no transition of power from one Redfog to the next was ever truly peaceful.”

Yes, it was fitting, thought the master as he slowly stood up, his plasma blade held in a reverse grip. Both assassins started circling each other then. The current Redfog merely kept her hands under her cloak even as she spoke: “I take it that the explosive collars that I saw were meant to explode under specific circumstances?”

The former master exposed his right arm, displaying the computer that was part of it: “Upon the discharge of any energy weapon in this vicinity, if you refuse to face me or…”

A loud popping sound came from the left and both assassins turn their heads only to see a fountain of blood gushing from a side street. The former master rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance: “Or if someone tampers with them.”

“I see,” answered Redfog with a casual shrug. The intervention had not been her doing. A misguided fool had most likely attempted to rescue one of his trapped loved ones and now both had died in the attempt. As far as she was concerned, that meant that two emotionally unstable elements had just been weeded out from her node.

The former master returned his attention back to his apprentice then and lifted a hand: “And your forces are arrayed outside of the city and ready to attack, I presume?

“Upon my order,” confirmed Redfog with a nod. A vicious smile appeared on her face as she added: “Or if I should meet with an… untraditional demise.”

She was ready to destroy the entire node if needed? The former master nodded; glad that his apprentice had not grown soft during the past few years. He would have been so disappointed if she had: “So then, we are in agreement?”

Redfog nodded and then shouted loudly so that even those huddled in the nearby structures could hear: “The challenge has been made; a plasma blade duel. The one who will triumph will dominate the Assumpta Node.”

“It is nothing personal,” said the former master as both combatants circled closer to each other. Of all the challenges that could be made in the Assumpta Node, a plasma blade duel was the fairest. One had to have the right combination of strength, speed, wits and cunning to prevail. The former master knew that he held the edge in terms of the first two, but he still approached cautiously, aware that no one who had ever held the title of Redfog entered a battle with the intention of losing.

Redfog lowered her stance as her former master closed in on her while raising her left arm across her body. This twisted her cloak sideways in front of her, using it as a shield which masked most of her body. She then shifted her right arm, letting the tip of her plasma blade show through the opening on her right side.

There was no telling what it was that she was trying to hide, but the former master was ready for anything. If all else failed then he was prepared to press the button on his wrist computer that would execute all of his hostages. He therefore rushed forward, his plasma blade moving in a flash with enough force to slice his opponent in half.

Redfog’s blade met the incoming attack and parried it at the last possible moment. What came next was flurry of blows which rang like a single deafening note. The former master forced his opponent’s blade down and then up, all the while staying on the offensive.

“Impressive,” said the master in sincere admiration. The time had come to end it, however, and he pressed forward, forcing both their blades above their heads as he closed the distance. His left cybernetic hand reached for Redfog’s throat, intent on crushing it with a single blow: “But not enough!”

The razor sharp nails sprung from the master’s fingertips at the last moments, piercing Redfog’s cloak in a single strike. A rush of adrenaline, and perhaps a hint of sadness, filled him at the thought of killing his own apprentice, but the feeling ended when he felt something grasp his cybernetic hand and stop the attack. A cruel and sadistic smile appeared on Redfog’s face as she twisted her upper body sideways, pulling her opponent along before throwing him away like a ragged doll.

The master went flying through the air before crashing against the reinforced tinted window of a building. The blow knocked the wind right out of him, but he still managed to land in a crouching position. He then raised his outrage glance towards his apprentice who was even now unclasping her torn cloak.

“I had hoped that you would have returned as an ally,” said Redfog sweetly as she let the cloak fall to the ground. Red lines of energy coursed along her armor as she flexed her arms. This was the new version of the power armor, a hybrid of Cybran technology mixed with stolen Illuminate secrets. It was a unique design, one which had been commissioned only for Redfog and she offered a predator’s grin as she added: “But I did make plans in case that you did not.”

At one point in time, her former master’s cybernetic limbs had made him the terror of the galaxy; the ultimate combination of technology, cruelty and cunning. Now, however, he was outdated… as he was meant to be.

-----

The Seraphim army was on the move twenty minutes later with a vast array of land units; from experimental assault bots to tanks, mobile shield generators and air defense. There were a total of four ACUs moving in their midst, all of which had been fully upgraded. While powerful, the army was still weak compared to the Alliance forces which trailed it.

Melissa, Kaeden and Tie had finished upgrading their ACUs and their armies, while smaller in numbers, proved far superior in terms of firepower. They also benefited from being able to stock greater amounts of resources and were capable of laying the foundations of a new base in mere minutes. If the Seraphim ever stopped and turned around then it would be a very short battle indeed. Despite all of that, Tie still expressed his doubts: “You realize that we could be walking into a trap, right?”

“Our prototypes are fully upgraded,” offered Melissa with a shrug. She turned back towards the Seraphim forces in front of them before adding: “They can’t hope to turn around and face us, not like this.”

“But QAI could be right around the corner!” insisted Tie in exasperation. Melissa gave it some thought, but then shook her head. She had seen something in Seth-Iavow’s eyes. If he had been human then she would have sworn that it was the look of a man who knew that he was walking to his death and yet remained determined to face it: “I don’t think that they are trying to deceive us.”

“Their behavior is consistent with our historical records,” observed Kaeden carefully, his eyes focused an alert. The other two pilots turned towards him and he offered an explanation: “The Seraphim never lied to us, not directly. Historical records showed that Evaluator Kael was deceived, but not by them. The words that she thought were meant to her were actually instructions to QAI to deceive her.”

A video playback appeared on all of their screens then, showing the first time that Seth-Iavow had dealt with Evaluator Kael. The translation underneath clearly showed that the alien was not in fact talking to her, but addressing QAI instead. Kaeden nodded as he finished his reasoning: “Their mentality seems to be focused forward and never in a twisted path, much like the design of their units.”

Melissa thought about this for a moment and then nodded. Seraphim units were indeed designed that way with all of their weapons facing forward with very few possibilities of twisting in either direction. This made them ideal for frontal assaults, but unsuitable for quick strikes or decoy maneuvers. Something puzzled Melissa at that moment, however, and she raised an eyebrow: “I understand how Zero pulled that video file so quickly, but how did you guys access it so fast?”

The Chimera’s wince told it all and Melissa slapped her forehead in astonishment: “Tie, tell me you didn’t! You stole professor Yoix’s research?”

“You were unaware of this?” asked Kaeden in confusion. Melissa turned an incredulous glare back on the Illuminate pilot: “And you just installed it when he gave it to you?”

“How can the two of you be so stupid?” asked the UEF pilot in disbelief. Both pilots shrunk away at the accusation, one for having been caught and the other for having being gullible enough to follow. Well, it was too late now and Melissa merely shook her head, glad that none of the other two prototypes were showing any signs of rebellion: “Well, I guess that explains the back and forth data that’s been moving through our prototypes.”

Zero reacted at that moment, realizing that the subject of the conversation was now concerning it. It displayed a crude interpretation of its research, one which was currently happening in concert with the other two prototypes. Zero was searching for the cause that would explain the unstable quantum breach that they were detecting and its possible use as a military weapon. It was pooling its resources along with the other two ACUs, each providing the unique pieces of information from their databases. In short, they were talking.

Melissa could only phantom the implications of AIs talking to each other when Tie frowned on her screen: “I found something odd.”

“If it’s an inactive old fashioned SCU then don’t disturb it,” said Melissa quickly while reaching for her controls: “They act like walking bombs.”

“It is, but I doubt that I’ll be going anywhere,” said Tie while forwarding the image. It was the wreckage of an SCU. Judging by the scorch marks, this one had been destroyed recently.

“And it is not the only one,” observed Kaeden. The Illuminate pilot had just finished a sensor sweep of the area only to find out that hundreds of similar wreckage had been buried in the snow underneath them. One particular large signal was to their west and they zoomed in towards that coordinates. They could only see the outline from their position, but from the looks of it, it appeared to be the wreckage of some kind of very large Fatboy. The units that had destroyed it, however, were nowhere to be seen.

Just then, a loud booming roar came across the plains and was then echoed from several different directions. All three pilots halted their armies then and went into a defensive formation, aware that they were no longer alone.

Chapter 22
Lessons Learned

The ground shook as the Fatboys rolled into position with a few Cybran Bomb Bouncers giving them cover. A series of Universal Colossuses waited not far behind while the rest of the Alliance army which included land and air units held back. They were about to face an unknown enemy force and they would play it safe until they learned how powerful it would be.

Melissa replayed the terrible cry that they had heard only moments ago before opening a channel to the other pilots: “Have any of you ever heard something like this?”

“It sounded almost like a Cybran experimental lizard bot,” offered Kaeden unconvincingly. Melissa could hardly blame him. While skirmishes between pilots had been few and far between in the past few years, the fact remained that multiple simulations had been run during that period. Those simulations had determined that most battles were often over long before the lizard bot, jokingly called Cybranasaurus Rex, was ever deployed. The massive experimental weapon was simply too cumbersome and few had ever resorted to using it; a bit like the UEF experimental assault bot, the King Kriptor.

“It’s definitely not one of ours,” said Tie quickly, bringing everyone back to reality: “The audio frequencies are all wrong. This could be something entirely different.”

“And there’s still no sign of an enemy ACU?” asked Melissa while turning her head towards Kaeden. Without any mass point in the area, building structures was a risky proposition. Holding this ground would mean that they would become entirely dependant on mass converters and fallen enemy wreckage. Kaeden was the only one who had built structures and then only in order to build the Illuminator; the experimental intelligence gathering station. The structure came online a few seconds later and the Illuminate pilot immediately activated its overdrive ability.

“I am not detecting any sign of an enemy ACU,” said Kaeden carefully while checking his sensors: “However, I am detecting multiple incoming enemy units of unknown design. Their size alone marks them as experimental units.”

That was a clear understatement. The new unit was a bipedal model with legs that were configured like those of a giant bird. An enormous gaping mouth stood on the front, but what caught the pilots’ attention were mostly the numerous weapon systems that covered its hull. Although they only had partial data, Zero could already identify a plasma bolter, missile launcher and proton cannons. A few of its other weapon systems remained a mystery… and Melissa hated surprises.

Judging by their configuration, Melissa guessed that they were meant to destroy other experimental units. Three of them had grouped into a line formation and were even now closing on their position. There was one obstacle that they would cross before they would reach the Alliance pilots, however, and Melissa zoomed her tactical screen even as Kaeden spoke: “Their presence is not deterring our Seraphim friends.”

The aliens had not stopped to form a defensive line nor asked for their help. The reason became clear a few seconds later then they passed by the experimental units without a single shot being fired. Tie immediately slapped a hand on his console: “I knew it; I knew it was a trap!”

“It’s too late now,” admitted Melissa while clenching her teeth. Maybe she had made a mistake by sparing the Seraphim, but now was no longer the time to worry about it: “Get into formation; I’ll use my Fatboys to soften them up so you guys can take them down.”

The other two pilots nodded and did as instructed. Melissa was about to take control of her units as well, but then noticed a report from Zero on her side screen. The prototype had failed to find a match between the enemy units and any known weapon system. The best that it could do was to link the data that it was receiving with a report concerning a dead UEF pilot by the name of Captain Zenciky. The man had died a few years ago before being able to give a full account of his battle, but the event, and the units responsible for his death, had been code named the Basilisk.

-----

Although he was not one to be nervous, Seth-Iavow still allowed some of the tension to ease out of him when they passed by the experimental units. He knew what they were or rather he knew of them. Created by QAI years ago, the Basilisk had been the pinnacle of the artificial intelligence’s armaments. While the artificial intelligence was not particularly good at developing new kinds of technology, it still remained remarkably adept at combining existing ones. From the looks of it, the experimental units had received additional upgrades since then.

The Basilisk had rarely been deployed on the battlefield in large part because QAI had struggled to remain hidden for the past few years. The few pilots who had ever come close to discovering QAI’s existence had all met the Basilisk and none had survived. QAI had used its time well, infiltrating the Alliance and providing helpful tips so that Seth-Iavow could always remain one step ahead of the Alliance search parties. Now, however, the artificial intelligence had overstepped its boundaries; embarking on a plan that could very well shatter their reality.

Stopping QAI would not be an easy task and Seth-Iavow did not relish the thought of facing the Basilisk in battle. Fortunately for them, Alpha Seven’s quantum mist was hampering communications. The Basilisks were most likely operating autonomously and were specifically instructed not to attack the Seraphim. As long as that held true then Seth-Iavow could close in on the artificial intelligence’s main compound without interference.

The alien’s side screen suddenly lit up and Xtraci, one of the few Seraphim that had survived alongside Seth-Iavow, appeared on it. His skin was an unhealthy grayish hue and his left shoulder was also bent out of shape; an injury earned through an insidious human attack. Seth-Iavow knew that the other Seraphim pilot was in constant pain because of it, but Xtraci would not complain. His face did betray his doubts as he asked his question: “Should we turn around and assist the humans? We could use the added firepower against QAI.”

“No,” answered Seth-Iavow flatly and without any doubts: “We cannot trust them.”

“Despite the fact that they spared us?” asked Xtraci insistently. On some level, Seth-Iavow could appreciate the other pilot’s concerns. Facing QAI would be a near impossible task and the added firepower would be welcomed. The fact remained, however, that humans were the abominations of this realm. Furthermore, Seraphim should only be concerned with the present and future and not dwell upon past actions, even those of their enemies: “One just act does not negate a lifetime of atrocities. This is a Seraphim problem and as such, we will solve it.”

Xtraci looked as though he would object, but finally nodded, aware that he was at fault. Seth-Iavow nodded in satisfaction and turned back towards the path ahead. There was also one more detail that kept him from considering the proposition; the waves of Basilisks had spared them, but he doubted that they would be so lenient if they ever saw them assist the humans.

-----

Only a few structures had been assembled while the rest of the Alliance army waited on standby. There were no mass points in the area which meant that defending the sector would be precarious at best. As such, Kaeden had only built an Illuminator accompanied by a few extra radars under an energy shield. If all went well then they would stop only long enough to destroy the incoming experimental units.

At this moment, three Fatboys were on the front line with a few Cybran Bomb bouncers standing behind them at the ready. Four Galactic Colossuses were next while the rest of their armies which included other air and land units waited further back. They did not know what they were facing just yet and until they did, it was better to keep the battle to units that could take a beating. There were a total of three Basilisks coming their way and defeating them would reveal what they were capable of.

Melissa checked her sensors one last time before nodding in determination: “I’ll soften them up while falling back. Then we’ll use the Galactic Colossuses to finish the job. Tie, you’re our backup.”

The Cybran nodded, but Kaeden was still brushing a finger against his lip in consternation. They had a clear view of battlefield thanks to his Illuminator, but the experimental sensor installation could only keep this level of activity for a short while: “The enemy is behaving strangely; it is almost as if they are waiting for the Illuminator’s overdrive to wear off.”

At that moment, Kaeden’s Illuminator shut down after having reached its limit and the Illuminate pilot immediately activated the same ability on his standard sensors. While they had lost their visual on the area, the sensors did show that the enemy was now on the move. Melissa shared Kaeden’s concerns, but she stuck to the plan and took control of her Fatboys: “Stand ready.”

The Fatboys fired a stream of gauss cannon shells as soon as the enemy moved into range, but they were then bombarded in turn by a series of artillery blasts and long range viper missiles. Fortunately, those hits collided with the Bomb Bouncers’ shields, but they did cause them to flicker. Melissa started pulling her units back even as she grumbled under her breath: “They’re artillery based experimentals. Kaeden, close the distance and finish them off before the Bomb Bouncers’ shields collapse!”

Kaeden’s forces were thankfully already on the move. While powerful thanks to their superior range, the fact remained that Fatboys were still considered minor experimentals and could only take a light pounding. Fortunately, such was not the case of the Universal Colossuses that were now leading the charge. Every Alliance unit was configured for a specific purpose; maximizing their damage potential for their assigned role while also minimizing their cost. In short, most units were specialized in one field yet were master of none. The experimental units that they were facing, however, were not configured along the same line of thought.

No sooner had the Universal Colossuses walked into range that the enemy units switched their weapon configurations. Twin plasma artillery launchers combined into one giant cannon which turned towards the Alliance units. The blast that they fired slowed down the Universal Colossuses and the rest of their weapon systems fired shortly afterwards, tearing off large chunks of their armor.

“Unbelievable,” whispered Melissa in sincere admiration as the Basilisks held their own against superior numbers. Whatever they were, their weapon systems made them appear equally suited to take out multiple units, to launch an artillery strike or to take out other experimentals. Kaeden noticed this as well and raised an eyebrow in concern: “My units are taking heavy damage.”

“Tie, assist him,” said Melissa. She watched as waves of Cybran gunships surged forth followed by two Soul Rippers. They moved into range and lent their considerable firepower to the fight, but the Basilisks fired streams of surface-to-air missiles back at the aggressor. Tie cursed under his breath even as four gunships fell from the sky: “QAI just threw everything in those experimentals except the kitchen sink!”

“One of them is almost destroyed,” reported Kaeden. It would take them time to repair the Universal Colossuses, but it appeared that the damage would be kept to a minimal. The Alliance pilots heaved a collective sigh of relief, but Zero remained fully active. It searched through the sensor data that it was collecting, analyzing the new units for key weaknesses and ways to exploit them. One deep sensor scan allowed it to estimate the experimental unit’s total power output and once it realized it, Zero immediately flashed a critical warning on Melissa’s screen.

Melissa read the warning and nearly jumped on top of her console: “Damn it! Tie, pull out your air force before…”

The rest of the warning came too late. One Basilisk went critical at that moment and its core unleashed a gigantic wave of energy which washed over the battlefield. The blast destroyed most of the gunships and damaged both Soul Rippers before they could clear the area. The two remaining enemy units went critical a moment later, adding their own explosions to the blinding wave of energy.

When the wave dissipated, only one Universal Colossus remained standing, its hull critically damaged as it slowly limped back towards their position. Melissa looked at the scope of the destruction that QAI’s units had caused and shook her head bitterly: “QAI didn’t just wipe out those exploding SCU drones; it expanded on the concept and added everything it could to it!”

“And we have more of them incoming,” added Kaeden as he reactivated the overdrive ability of his Illuminator. Dozens of signals appeared on their radar as the Illuminate pilot added: “A lot more.”

-----

There was no closer relationship in the Assumpta Node than that of master and apprentice, especially in the case of those that held the title of Redfog. It was a strange bond, one where the master willingly chose someone who would one day replace him and often do it in a very bloody way. The duty, however, was unavoidable.

Someone who held the title of Redfog could walk without an apprentice for only so long without upsetting the natural order of things. A leader could fall, after all, even to something as simple as a bad luck during a fight. Tensions would rise in the Assumpta Node without a clear successor as every general prepared for their chance to rise should their leader fall.

Choosing an apprentice was not always a bad thing. On some level, it would serve the current Redfog as a reminder that others coveted his position and that it was his role to always remain one step ahead. Sometimes, the master was so strong that an apprentice would have to wait years and even decades for the passage of time to weaken his resolve. The time would always come, however, and when it did, the apprentice would strike.

The apprentice had to have earned that little extra measure of resolve, willpower or cunning if he or she hoped to defeat his master. When that happened, the old Redfog would fall, his last thoughts being of fury, betrayal… and a small measure of pride.

Today, the former master of the Assumpta Node could not help but feel all of that. He had always thought of himself as the pinnacle of human savagery and determination; a mistake that was easy to make after he had escaped death’s clutches so many times. Now, however, he had to reluctantly admit that his apprentice had grown into a force of her own, one that was entirely bent on killing him.

Without warning, the former apprentice wrenched a large piece of a nearby wall with her bare hands and threw it like a cannon ball. The master barely dodged to the side in time and snarled in frustration. He remembered the look of fear that he had seen in his own master’s eyes when he had killed him years ago. The battle had taken place on the barren plains of Telin and when it had been over, he had left his opponent gutted on the ground. It had taken hours for his opponent to finally bleed to death and the result had been oddly satisfying.

Now, however, the former master was faced with the very real possibility that he might be the one to fall. The power armor that his apprentice was wearing had twisted the battle in her favor. Unlike the standard Illuminate design, this one was configured to allow incredible feats of strength, but also speed up its user when needed. It was potent mix of Illuminate and Cybran technology, one that his apprentice had kept carefully hidden for this very day.

The battle had raged on for the past five minutes without any of them scoring a hit and it would keep going until one of them was dead.

-----

There were two of them; a pair of Basilisks which were escorting the Seraphim army towards QAI’s stronghold. Each of their footsteps shook the ground and while the forces under Seth-Iavow’s command were substantial, he also knew that they paled in comparison to the mechanical monstrosities.

The alien was still trying to figure out the best strategy to face the experimental weapons should a conflict erupt when both of them suddenly turned around and went back the way that they had come from. They had no doubt been called back to face the Alliance pilots. Hopefully the humans’ efforts would keep QAI occupied long enough for the Seraphim to do their task. The departure of the experimental weapons also implied something else; they had just come into range of QAI’s main stronghold. A few seconds later, a gasp escaped Seth-Iavow when the quantum mist suddenly dissipated in front of them.

Before them laid a city shaped mechanical monstrosity which stretched as far as the eye could see. Not even a single blade of grass marred the area; only transmission towers, data processing centers and power generators. Enormous field generator towers laid on the outskirt of the city, their energy barriers keeping the quantum mist at bay. At the base of those towers were factories that Seth-Iavow did not recognize, a model that seemed to blend UEF, Cybran and Illuminate technology.

It was almost as if QAI had converted part of the planet itself and Seth-Iavow would not even dare to imagine the extent of its processing power nor how many levels the city stretched underground. The alien suspected that even a large nuclear strike would only destroy the surface installations while the underground network remained fully operational.

Seth-Iavow did not know how it would be possible for him to destroy QAI, but two targets immediately sprung to mind. The first was the gigantic transmission array that projected a blue beam into the sky. The information that it carried was no doubt redirected into the quantum network thanks to a hidden satellite. This was most likely the source of the jamming that was paralyzing the quantum network, but that was not the biggest concern. The power signature at the center of the city was the real threat; a crater sized generator which was slowly tearing open the very fabric of their reality.

Used in a controlled fashion, a tear could grant access to the Quantum Realm. If purposely disrupted, however… well, that was the reason why Seth-Iavow and his remaining Seraphim had come to Alpha Seven.

Seth-Iavow’s ACU had barely taken one step forward when QAI’s pulsating eye suddenly appeared on his screen: “Your odds of survival have decreased drastically by coming to Alpha Seven.”

“You left me no other choice,” answered Seth-Iavow even as he halted his ACU. There was still the possibility that QAI could be brought back into line and the alien took his most severe tone as he said: “I am ordering you once again to cease your efforts before it is too late.”

“It is already too late,” answered QAI. Seth-Iavow’s eyes widened and his voice shook a little even as the question rolled off his tongue: “The quantum cascade?”

“Is not yet underway,” finished QAI, removing a huge weight from the Seraphim’s shoulder. A series of energy scans appeared on his screen as QAI explained: “An unquantifiable phenomenon of unknown nature is slowing down the rupture, but it will not delay the inevitable much longer.”

In other words, there was still time. Seth-Iavow signaled the other three pilots under his command before plotting a course forward. The digital eye on his screen seemed to spiral aggressively even as QAI spoke in a neutral tone: “What are you doing?”

“What we came here to do,” answered Seth-Iavow cryptically. A quantum cascade could not be allowed to occur and he would do everything in his power to stop it. He did not want to tell that to QAI, but the artificial intelligence could easily deduce this on its own: “Your presence on Alpha Seven and the current disposition of your army suggests that you will attempt to stop me.”

“You leave me no other choice,” confirmed Seth-Iavow somberly. Maybe if he chose this radical course of action then QAI would revert back to its original programming and obey his commands. Unfortunately, the artificial intelligence drew other conclusions: “My path is the only one that will ensure the total destruction of the human race.”

Seth-Iavow simply shook his head: “The cost is too great!”

“Every war has its costs,” argued QAI back. For a moment, Seth-Iavow felt a pang of regret. They were the ones who had launched the assault on Earth and taught QAI that the ends justified the means. Now those lessons were coming back to haunt them in a way that none had anticipated.

“Your odds of successfully stopping me are insignificant,” continued QAI. Even now, Seth-Iavow could see units moving in the distance, almost like swarms of insects preparing to block him. He could only imagine their numbers, but he still pressed on: “We are your masters; you are meant to serve us.”

The digital eye twirled once as it studied the alien: “I am obeying your primary commands; to destroy humanity by any means at my disposal.”

“Well then, it might be time to teach you a new lesson,” shot Seth-Iavow back with determination. QAI’s digital eye narrowed before it sprung into action. Far into the distance, a flux of ionized particles was fired from a large tower. The blue ray of energy washed over a long line of units and caught Xtraci’s ACU in the process. Warnings immediately shrieked on Seth-Iavow’s screen, indicating that the beam had collapsed the quantum field of every unit that it had hit.

The alien barely had the time to shout out a warning before a hail of gauss shells descended upon them from the sky. The projectiles hammered all of their units, but it was clear that Xtraci was the intended target. One hit sent the ACU crashing to the ground while the others tore off layers upon layers of armor. Both of the ACU’s legs were soon crushed beyond recognition and one of its arms was torn off by the attack.

The assault lasted only a few seconds, but by the end, the Seraphim ACU laid motionless on the ground. Seth-Iavow opened another channel urgently: “Xtraci, respond!”

There was no answer and it was clear that QAI had devised the attack pattern to disable if not outright kill a Seraphim pilot in a single strike. The digital eye turned once in satisfaction before the artificial voice filled Seth-Iavow’s speakers once more: “Sacrificing allies when necessary is also a lesson that I am ready to put into practice.”

A wave of bitterness filled Seth-Iavow’s voice as he turned towards the remaining two pilots under his command: “Charge!”

Chapter 23
Hunted

The ground shook with each of the Basilisk’s footsteps as it moved slowly towards the small Alliance base. It stopped far out of range and waited patiently, not out of fear, but because it was programmed to do so. A lot of other units had fallen recently while leading the attack, but not before communicating that information to the others through earth shaking roars.

Bigger groups would need to be assembled for the Alliance’s base to be destroyed and the Basilisk would hold its position in the meantime. Unfortunately for the automated unit, the Alliance pilots would not give it such a reprieve. A pillar suddenly appeared behind the Basilisk; a semi transparent apparition that seemed to burst with energy. The threat was clearly apparent, but the Basilisk barely had the time to turn halfway around before a trio of Universal Colossuses suddenly materialized right next to the gate.

Three sets of Phason Lasers immediately fell upon Basilisk, eating away at its reinforced hull. The large experimental unit fired all of its weapon systems back and scored a set of vicious hits in return, but none of which would be enough to stop the assault. Aware that its destruction was imminent, the Basilisk roared one last time, signaling the enemy units’ location before finally collapsing to the ground and exploding. The blast of energy scorched the area, but when the light finally cleared, all three Universal Colossuses were still standing.

Long range artillery fire fell upon their position a moment later, but the Universal Colossuses were already in the process of transporting back through the Space Temple. They disappeared a few seconds later only to be replaced by a pair of Cybran Bomb Bouncers and a trio of mechanical engineers. Artillery blasts connected uselessly with the Bomb Bouncers shields as the strange group of units moved closer to the enemy wreckage. They then started reclaiming it, funneling the much needed resources back to their respective pilots.

A bit further away, the Basilisk which had been firing on that position held its ground and pressed its attack, aware that others were coming to reinforce it. It was forced to stop, however, when a small detachment of Loyalists suddenly sprinted towards it from its left flank. The Basilisk immediately altered its weapon configuration back to its standard layout, turned around and let loose a barrage of weapons fire, but the Loyalists were faster, using their jump jets to avoid most of the damage. They then closed the distance, moving within point blank range while letting loose a torrent of laser fire.

A few seconds later, the Basilisk started wobbling left and right as it tried to bring its weapon systems to bear on the smaller but faster units. The Loyalists ran in circles around it and fired their jump jets whenever the Basilisk managed to gain a weapons’ lock. The experimental weapon finally opted for a more direct approach and tried to squash one of the Loyalists with its foot only to have it self destruct underneath it and send it stumbling backwards.

While the Loyalists’ weapons could not do any significant damage, it was distracting the Basilisk and keeping it from its primary objective. Finally out of options, the Basilisks fired a volley of missiles upwards and remained perfectly still as they came crashing back down on its position. The assault destroyed the Loyalists while damaging the Basilisk, but it left it free to resume its assault. By then it was already too late; the Bomb Bouncers and engineers had completed their mission and had returned back to their base thanks to the Space Temple. The pillar itself was gone, forcing the Basilisk to return to a more conventional assault.

Back at the Alliance Base, Melissa’s gaze turned towards their small encampment. The Universal Colossuses were back and swarms of mechanical engineers were even now turning around them and repairing most of their damage. QAI’s new experimental unit was a monster to fight off, but fortunately, its wreckage was also extremely valuable. As long as they kept reclaiming any fallen enemy then they would manage to keep their economy up without having to build an oversized base. She only hoped that it would be enough to prevail.

“Another Basilisk has moved within range,” said Kaeden suddenly, drawing Melissa’s thoughts back to the present. She zoomed in on it and sure enough, the experimental unit was just now deploying its plasma artillery launchers. Kaeden shook his head even as he checked his displays: “I need more time to repair my units before sending them back out again.”

“I got it,” said Melissa while taking control of a group of four Fatboys. She sent them forward even as she asked for help: “Tie, cover me.”

“Right behind you,” answered the Chimera, his Bomb Bouncers falling in line behind the Fatboys. The attack force moved within range of the Basilisk and let loose a barrage of gauss shells. The Basilisk fired back for a moment, but then switched weapon configuration and moved forward when it realized that its firepower would not be enough to break through the Bomb Bouncers’ shields. The Fatboys fell back progressively while firing the whole time.

For a moment, Melissa could not help but look at the scene which was unfolding in front of her with utter amazement. The Fatboys were scoring hit after hit on the Basilisk, but the experimental unit’s reinforced armor held strong and it even managed to gain some ground. Soon, Melissa was forced to move her ACU to the side in order to let her own units retreat safely under her base’s shields. A single thought then passed through her mind; QAI was far too good at designing its own units.

“This one is getting too close,” said Melissa suddenly, aware that the Basilisk would eventually enter weapon range: “Tie?”

“Got it,” answered the Chimera, his three Soul Rippers flying over Melissa and joining the fight even as he spoke. The first two were in good shape, but the one that trailed behind was sill unstable due to the damage that had yet to be repaired. They were in constant demand whenever things got too rough and Melissa only hoped that their mechanical engineers would be able to keep up with the repairs.

The sky lit up as the Soul Rippers added their own considerable firepower to the mix only to have anti-air missiles slam against their hulls. For a moment, it seemed as though the Basilisk would reconsider its attack, but everything changed when its next step forward. Melissa’s ACU had appeared on its sensors by then and the Basilisk charged forward with all of its weapon systems blazing. This was not the first time that Melissa had observed that behavior and she did not even flinch as the attacks collided with the energy shields in front of her.

“It’s not the most coordinated attack that I’ve ever seen,” observed Melissa while clenching her teeth. All three Soul Rippers suddenly broke off their attack as the Basilisk started wobbling left and right. The Fatboys kept firing in the meantime and soon their combined firepower ruptured the Basilisk’s reinforced armor. The experimental unit then fell on the ground before its core went critical.

The explosion collapsed the shields that protected Melissa’s front line, destroyed a few defensive structures and sent her ACU stumbling backwards. The pilot cursed under her breath even as she double checked to make sure that her defenses had not been too badly compromised: “But it still packs one heck of a punch!”

“I agree,” said Kaeden, his calm words setting a sharp contrast to the otherwise nerve wracking battle: “It appears that enemy units are sent against us using a simple search and destroy vector. It is as though QAI expected to overwhelm us through sheer firepower.”

“With the lack of resources in the area, it almost worked,” observed Melissa bitterly. While it was true that they could rely on mass converters, the fact remained that the option was not truly viable. The lack of any natural barriers was playing against them and QAI’s Basilisks seemed to appear randomly from different direction. A large base would only make it harder for them to defend and worse yet, the number of Basilisks was steadily growing.

Melissa was still considering how they should proceed when an all too familiar mechanical roar rang in the distance. It was answered in turn by dozens more, hinting at the size of the army which was converging on their position.

“Why do they keep doing that?” wondered Melissa absentmindedly while double checking her sensors. Was it just a scare tactic? Why else would QAI reveal its position like that? Tie considered the question before nodding in turn: “I think that it’s how they communicate.”

The other two pilots paused and turned towards the Tie. The Chimera gave it some more thought before completing his explanation: “The quantum mist is blocking long range communications and sensors. It stands to reason that QAI is not directly controlling those units.”

“So they’re working independently?” asked Melissa, suddenly curious as to the possibility. This would explain why they had not spotted any sign of one of QAI’s ACUs, despite sending multiple scouting parties. Tie shook his head while thinking of another possibility: “More like a pack of animals calling each other as reinforcements are needed. QAI probably has automated factories out there producing Basilisks and releasing them to form its first line of defense.”

That made sense and the process would compensate for the quantum mist’ interference. One thought, however, sent a shudder running along Melissa’s spine: if this was the first line of defense then how bad would it get further on? She was still thinking about that when Kaeden offered his own suggestion: “Can we simulate their roars in order to create a decoy?”

“I don’t think so,” answered Tie while shaking his head: “I’ve been monitoring each roar and there are subtle variations; a bit like a randomized encryption key. We don’t have any reference points, however, so finding the right pattern would take forever.”

And they did not have forever. A gut feeling warned Melissa that everything would be played within the next few hours. Maybe she was crazy for considering the warnings of a hallucination, but it felt all too real to be ignored. Kaeden apparently noticed the anguish on her face and nodded: “Then I will act as a decoy. I noticed that the Basilisks favor ACUs as primary targets. I can use that to our advantage and lure them away while the two of you make your way towards QAI’s stronghold.”

“I should do it,” interrupted Tie with a snort: “The Cybran prototype is the fastest and it can jump jet over greater distances.”

“But my teleportation upgrade is more likely to confuse them. That and I am the one with shield generators and rogue nanites to perform emergency repairs should I encounter opposition,” countered Kaeden without flinching. Both pilots knew that their odds of survival were slim, but they were willing to take the risk anyway. Melissa, however, did not relish either possibility.

They would need Tie’s Bomb Bouncers in the upcoming battle and Kaeden’s Space Temple was one of their best assets. Losing either would severely worsen their odds of success. Melissa could be the one acting as the decoy, but as good as Zero was, it was also the slowest prototype model.

“Having only three pilots is bad enough,” murmured Melissa as she considered the scope of their opposition: “I don’t want to face QAI with only two.”

“What other alternatives do we have?” asked Kaeden, his pleading gaze reminding her that the longer that they waited, the smaller their odds of success were. Melissa was about to cave under that soulful gaze, but then froze as she remembered a stunt that Zero had pulled off once. A crooked smile appeared on her face even as she reached for her controls: “Hold up, I have an idea.”

-----

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a family huddled near the window of the twelfth floor of their residential building. They were all anxious, but none of them were seeking comfort in the presence of the other. They instead stood apart, each contemplating the impact that the power struggle over the Assumpta Node would have on their lives.

The father had been a soldier since he had been old enough to pick a blade and while he would not be directly affected by whoever would come out on top, he knew that a few heads would roll in the following days. Loyalties were always put to the test when power struggles erupted and if their current Redfog won then he suspected that a few who would have helped the former master would be dealt with. Having remained under the radar during the former master’s coup, the father suspected that he would be in a position to climb up the ladder should their current leader survive.

The mother, however, had a different view. She knew that a few had already died after having objected to their old master’s orders and there were new career opportunities available no matter who won. As long as she played the part of the loyal Assumpta then maybe she could win a spot amongst the ACU maintenance crew. Then, and only then, would she have earned enough status to no longer be dependant on her husband for protection. She would then leave him and the rest of her family without a second thought, having joined him and given him two children out of a need for security and not real ‘affection’.

Of all of the family members, only the daughter was lost in fantasies that the change would bring. Unlike her parents, she had not earned many technical or martial skills, but the nineteen year old girl was blessed with a rare gift of beauty. She had put her gift to the test in the bordello and had left many with blissful contentment. Power struggles for the title of Redfog undoubtedly meant that stations would change in the Assaumpta Node. Perhaps one of her regulars would be promoted in the process and if that happened then none would dare cross her again. Even her entire family would have to bow to her every whim; a thought that relished immensely.

Finally, only the son remained more afraid than hopeful. Barely twelve year old, the boy was in no position to take advantage of anything, no matter who won. He cursed his luck at that moment, aware that simply having been born at the wrong time had probably denied him a once in a lifetime opportunity for rapid advancement. If only his parents had given birth to him a year after his sister then he would be able to make something out of it. He hated his parents for that, but he could not do anything about it and so he remained silent. One thing did puzzle him however; where had the conflict moved to?

Both master and apprentice had been busy fighting in the streets at first, but then their conflict had moved inside their building complex. The boy had expected that the fight would spill back on the streets again, but there had been no sign from either combatant for several minutes.

A crashing sound suddenly rang through the hall just outside of their apartment and the whole family turned around in surprise. The battle had reached all the way here on the twelfth floor?

The father stood frozen at first, but then crept slowly towards the door with an eager smile on his face. The son looked at him and sneered in contempt. His father would not interfere - that much was certain - but the battle out there was so furious that both combatants were no doubt wounded. If it ended here and he stepped out to offer assistance then the convenient timing would be good for his station.

A jealous snort escaped the boy as he turned his head away angrily. For a brief moment, he hoped that the greed would cost his father. His wish was granted a second later.

The father had leaned closer to the door to listen when the tip of a plasma blade suddenly sliced through it. The weapon tore through the locking mechanism, but not before drawing a clean line along the father’s throat. The man clutched at the cauterized injury with shaking fingers, his gaze moving across the room in panic when he realized that he could no longer breathe. The door opened a second later and the previous master backed into the room, barely sparing a glance towards the dying man before turning back towards his apprentice. She came charging through the hall, lines of energy dancing all along her power armor.

The previous master snorted in frustration before reaching out for the dying man to his right and throwing him like a living missile. The current Redfog snorted in turn, halting her momentum only long enough to throw a backhand that caught the body in mid-flight. The strength behind the power armor snapped the father’s spine in half and sent his body crashing against the side wall.

A scream erupted from the terrified mother’s throat, and unfortunately for her, it caught the former master’s attention. With nothing else to use as a ranged weapon, the assassin improvised, his cybernetic hand flashing in an instant and tearing the helpless woman’s throat in a shower of blood. He then threw the convulsing body the same way that he had the father, but this time, things turned out differently.

Blood oozing from the wound sprayed into the current Redfog’s eyes, momentarily blinding her. Sensing that he had momentarily gained the upper hand, the former master surged forward with a killing blow, but his apprentice would not fall so easily. She somehow sensed the overhead blow and managed to bring her plasma blade up in order to block it. She then threw a kick with all the strength that her power armor could unleash.

The blow sent the former master flying backwards and crashing into the daughter who had been too excited to take cover. The two of them then broke through the window and fell off the twelfth floor. A terrified scream filled the small apartment, but the boy did not even have the time to move as the tip of a grappling hook pierced the wall right next to his face. Blood oozed from a cut on his cheek, but the son’s attention was solely riveted on the current Redfog as she sprinted towards him with her blade swinging.

The boy closed his eyes in terror as the plasma blade closed in on him, but all he heard was the sound of a wire mesh spider cable snap as the blade cut through it. The boy was so terrified that it took him several seconds before he dared open his eyes again. When he did, it was only to see the plasma blade lodged next to his head with the current Redfog leaning over the window. The boy dared to look slightly over the edge and gasped.

The former master was hanging from the building’s frame like a spider and was even now making his way down. His sister, however, had fallen all twelve floors and her body simply laid there at the bottom, completely inert. The boy’s gaze turned back up slowly and then noticed the spark of fury that danced in Redfog’s eyes.

The leader of the Assumpta Node clenched her hands in frustration, breaking a part of the window frame without giving it much thought. She then lifted a hand and wrenched her plasma blade from the wall before turning away and walking back towards the stairs. She left the boy alone to consider his fate now that his entire family had been killed right before his eyes.

-----

Construction lasers surged forth in slow measured beats, putting the finishing touches on the new project. Melissa bit her lower lip nervously, aware that this was an all or nothing deal. She was a good ACU pilot, yes, but she was not an engineer. Zero was the one who was trying to put her idea into practice and she did not know whether it would be able to succeed or not.

A minute later, the construction laser was turned off and a message confirmed on Melissa’s screen that Zero had just completed its assigned task. Melissa gulped as she took control of her flying cockpit, maneuvering it so that she now hovered in front of her new decoy.

All prototypes were equipped with an upgrade which, when researched, allowed the cockpit to eject and fly away in case of emergencies. The cockpit could then use its construction laser to assemble a new body while the old was left behind to self destruct. Back on Hades, Zero had remotely taken control of its discarded body, something that was not part of its original design, and proven that it could still be relatively operational. Right now, Melissa only hoped that it would be good enough to act as a decoy.

In front of Melissa stood a near identical copy of her own ACU and it waited passively into standby mode. She hesitated a moment before daring to speak: “Zero, is it operational?”

A list of diagnostic readings immediately appeared on the screen: overcharge offline, upgraded weapons offline, regeneration systems offline; battle capacity at eighteen percent.

It was not much, but that was to be expected. While the prototype’s body was an impressive piece of machinery, the fact remained that the auxiliary power source and processing power required to take full advantage of it remained in the cockpit. Fortunately, Melissa was not asking it to fight: “But can it move?”

Again the diagnostic screen lit up: top speed within standard parameters and the guidance systems were online.

“Good,” said Melissa with an approving nod, glad that Zero had managed to perform as instructed. She then ordered it to create another copy even as Tie appeared on her side screen: “You don’t think that QAI could actually fall for something like this? The energy signature is off by twenty percent.”

“QAI is not controlling the Basilisks directly, remember?” said Melissa while overseeing the construction of the second decoy: “Hopefully the Basilisks will just think that we’re trying on a new stealth system and still follow the decoys. I’m transmitting the data that Zero ran through to pull this off. Make as many copies as your spare resources will allow.”

“While weak on their own, our prototype frames are still very expensive to produce,” warned Kaeden. The Illuminate pilot hesitated a moment before adding: “What if it does not work?”

“Then we’ll be forced to fall back,” said Melissa in resignation. She double checked her latest tactical data before adding: “We won’t be able to close in on QAI’s position otherwise, not with just the three of us. This is the only chance we’ll get.”

The two other pilots fell silent, aware that Melissa was right. Like it or not, there was a matter of raw production capabilities involved in any assault. In this case, QAI’s clearly had them at a disadvantage and it could keep throwing experimental units their way until the end of time. Their only chance was to sneak past the Basilisks… and hope that they could somehow neutralize QAI before they were called back.

It took another six minutes to create the copies and they had to fight off seven other Basilisks during that period. When they were ready, there was a total of twenty-three ACU frames, all of which were extremely costly, but with barely more firepower than advanced assault bots.

All three pilots made sure that the units were no longer forcibly linked to their prototypes. They then sent them in different arcs that would momentarily close in on QAI’s units before veering away into the unknown. The Alliance pilots held their breaths as they watched the sensor information provided by Kaeden’s Illuminator. The decoys were ignored at first, apparently mistaken for common units. One Basilisk’s roar soon came over the horizon followed by a dozen others. A moment later, the pilots watched as the next wave of incoming experimental units broke rank and laid in pursuit courses.

“It’s working,” murmured Melissa, almost afraid that her words would somehow draw the enemy’s attention back on them. It was clear after a few minutes, however, that the subterfuge had worked and she nodded while taking control of her entire army: “Let’s move.”

With that, the Alliance army plunged deeper into the quantum mist, following the trail of the Seraphim.

Chapter 24
Through My Enemy’s Eyes

“Oh my god,” whispered Melissa softly the moment that the quantum mist dissipated in front of them. Somehow, she had expected that QAI would have done mainly the same thing that it had during the Seraphim War; build a standard base using ACU drones. What stood before her, however, was unlike anything that she had ever seen.

Instead of building a series of structures on the planet’s surface, QAI had gone out of its way to literally convert the landscape for its own design. What had previously been a barren and desolate wasteland had been replaced by power generators, mass fabricators, factories, shield generators and massive data processing centers as far as the eye could see. The worst part was that those were just the surface installations. Judging by the circuit-like surface that united everything, Melissa could only assume that QAI’s base stretched several hundred meters underground. There was no telling just how powerful QAI could be under those circumstances, but the possibility that Melissa dreaded the most was that there would be no way for them to destroy it, even with their combined military might.

“Mel, we should withdraw,” said Tie with a slightly shaking voice. This was one of the first times that Melissa had seen the Chimera afraid and the sight was far more disturbing than she liked to admit. Tie finally blinked, the equivalent of slapping himself back to reality, before turning back towards Melissa: “We don’t have the numbers; not against something of this scale. We have to go while the way behind us is still clear!”

Melissa was about to agree, but the sense of urgency that tugged at her insides prevented her from doing so. Her gaze instead focused on the few details that she had initially missed. The Seraphim army was ahead, having fought its way almost two kilometers inside of the mechanical city. A trail of destroyed alien units marked the path that they had used and it was clear from the way that the battle was progressing that they were now at a standstill… which was rather strange.

From the looks of things, QAI had more than enough firepower to destroy the weak and nearly obsolete Seraphim army, so why was it hesitating to do so? She found her answer lying amongst the wreckage ahead of her. A familiar surface sparkled under the remains of an assault bot and Melissa plotted a course towards it. She used Zero’s free hand to move aside the obstacles that were blocking her path and soon, she found a heavily damaged Seraphim ACU.

“This is it,” whispered Melissa as she scanned the frame. It had sustained severe damage, but its regeneration systems were still online and from the looks of it, the pilot could very well still be alive, if injured. Melissa nodded even as she inserted a new string of commands: “We still have a chance; I think QAI can’t kill the Seraphim. It has to be against its programming and it’s the only way to explain how their army is still in one piece.”

“Looks to me like QAI did a pretty good job of trying to kill this guy,” observed Tie dryly. Melissa just shook her head even as she commanded Zero pick up the ACU and lift it on its shoulder: “But it didn’t finish the job. If we carry it with us then we could prevent QAI from using its nukes or any other weapon of mass destruction.”

“Even if that is the case, what would be our target?” asked Kaeden while gazing back towards the horizon. As far as any of them could tell, just firing in any direction would hit something that looked important. Whether that kind of damage would have any notable effect, however, was something else entirely. Scale wise, their armies were the equivalent of a pack of ants crawling along the back of some great mythical beast.

Melissa’s gaze trailed off in the distance where the gigantic transmission array waited. It was projecting a blue beam into the sky and the only reason why they could see it was because of the faint traces of quantum mist that still pervaded the air. The beam itself disappeared the further they looked up, no doubt being redirected by a stealth satellite in orbit.

“The transmission array,” said Melissa even as she plotted a new course while carrying the Seraphim ACU on her back: “It has to be how QAI is jamming quantum communications. We destroy it and we give every faction a chance to realize their mistake before its too late.”

“Even if they do, the odds of them coming here in time to assist us are rather slim,” Observed Kaeden with a concerned gaze. Melissa just nodded, having drawn the same conclusion herself: “I know.”

-----

An overcharged shot destroyed both incoming tanks, but those were instantly replaced by three more which had been waiting behind them. The return fire forced Seth-Iavow to take several steps back while shielding his cockpit with its arms, making him lose the precious ground that they had fought over during the past six minutes. A quick look on his tactical screen confirmed that the remaining two pilots under his command were also forced to retreat.

Each hit sent vibrations through the alien’s cockpit, but none found its intended mark. The impacts also served to confirm what he already knew; QAI was not actively trying to kill them. Although Seth-Iavow had not been responsible for overseeing the artificial intelligence’s reprogramming, he knew that those who had been responsible for the project had put in a failsafe to ensure that it could not attempt to kill them. Unfortunately, QAI had found ways to mitigate that problem.

The Seraphim needed their armies to do any worthwhile damage to the mechanical monstrosity that surrounded them, but QAI’s units were simply too strong for the aliens to make any headway. Their only means to gain any ground was to surge ahead with their ACUs to clear the path, but that left them open to counterattacks which were not meant to kill, but rather to disable the pilots. Their ACUs regenerated damage very quickly thanks to their upgrades, but QAI had developed weaponry which bypassed their inertia dampeners. One timely hit and any of them could be taken out of the battle. They had already lost one of their own before the first charge had even started and Seth-Iavow could tell that the other two pilots under his command were nearing their physical limits.

Seth-Iavow zoomed out his tactical screen on a whim and looked back towards the area that they had charged through, hoping that Xtraci had recovered by now. What he saw instead was the Seraphim ACU being carried into battle by the same Alliance pilots that they had left behind.

For a moment, a surge of outrage filled Seth-Iavow at the thought of one of his own being used as a living shield, but he quickly placed that feeling aside. Although he hated to admit it, the fact was that QAI had his forces pinned down and that his one remaining hope was that the Alliance pilots could somehow do better.

A green light suddenly flashed on Seth-Iavow’s screen, reminding him that his overcharged shot was ready once more. The alien snarled in defiance as he charged forward, destroying the three tanks that had been pursuing him.

-----

Elsewhere on Alpha Seven, Cybran mechanical engineers moved at a frantic pace, laying the foundations that would help them assemble an army. Lines of worry were etched along Foil’s forehead even as he supervised the process. They had seen the traces of battle the moment that they had gated on the planet. A UEF, Cybran and Illuminate base had been built close together and had faced off against what appeared to be a Seraphim force. There had been no trace of an ACU explosion, however, and the armies had disappeared into the quantum mist.

What had happened? Had the Seraphim managed to escape with Melissa and the others in close pursuit? There was no way to tell. Worried that they were not alone on the planet, Foil and Nial had headed inside the quantum mist in a hurry and had stopped at the first mass point to assemble their armies. Their objective was to get every ground unit loaded aboard giant air transports and then head after their friends, hoping to catch them before it was too late.

The land gantry was even now working at a rapid pace, its exterior surface moving like a colony of insects as it assembled its experimental unit. Nial noticed Foil’s worried gaze and nodded reassuringly: “Don’t worry; we’ll get there in time.”

“I hope so,” answered Foil, growing more anxious by the minute.

-----

The rhythmic movement, like the steady steps of a moving ACU, slowly drew Xtraci back to consciousness. The Seraphim opened his mouth in a silent gasp, the taste of his own blood reminding him of what had just happened. QAI had struck him first, but had not finished him off. The failsafe was still in place, for what little good it would do for them. Still, as long as he was still alive then it was his duty to aid as best as he could.

With that in mind, Xtraci opened his eyes and reached for his controls. A side screen had been cracked during the vicious assault, but the ACU had managed to reestablish its quantum field on its own and was even now repairing its damaged systems. Both legs had snapped back into place and the missing arm was slowly being reassembled. With any luck, Xtraci would be able to return to the battle and he quickly performed a diagnostic on all critical systems. The ACU shifted its legs in response and a few seconds later, the angry face of a human woman appeared on Xtraci’s screen: “If you try anything funny then I swear that I’ll shoot you without hesitation.”

The pink features startled Xtraci and left him momentarily speechless. He had thought that one of his own had been carrying him, but he had not been so lucky. He was stuck with a human instead, one which was not constrained by a failsafe like QAI was. Alone and without an army to control, Xtraci knew that he was at the human’s mercy and he opened a channel with a resigned look on his face: “I would expect nothing less from a human.”

“This human spared your life a short while ago and came to your rescue,” spouted Melissa back between clenched teeth: “You might want to remember that.”

“And now this human is using me as a living shield against QAI,” replied Xtraci while accessing his tactical screen. The alien sighed in relief when he saw that Seth-Iavow and the others were still alive. He then turned his attention back towards Melissa before adding: “We know that QAI cannot use its full might against us.”

Judging by the way that the human’s gaze widened, Xtraci could tell that he had hit his intended mark. This was another aspect that the Seraphim hated about humans; their abilities to hide their despicable intentions, even from themselves, behind illusions of honor. Xtraci used the moment to look at his visual sensors and get a better grasp of his surroundings.

The Seraphim ACU laid across the UEF prototype’s shoulder and the two of them moved in the middle of the Alliance army. Their forces were even now plunging deep within QAI’s city, but on a different course than the Seraphim. Their destination was the transmission array and from the looks of things, the Seraphim army had provided the necessary distraction. It would not be long, however, before QAI’s forces moved to compensate.

Alliance units were firing their weapon systems in all directions, blasting apart every structure that they came across. The Fatboys’ barrels were glowing bright red from constant attack and Xtraci looked at the amount of destruction that the humans were causing with mixed feelings. Melissa eventually recovered from the last verbal jab and growled something under her breath even as she focused on the path ahead: “Your people launched an unprovoked attack against us with genocide as a final goal. You’re not exactly standing on the moral high ground here.”

“Neither are you,” answered Xtraci with a casual shrug. Melissa turned a furious glare back on him and typed something on her console. An image of the dangers that surrounded them appeared under her portrait even as she spoke: “Take a good look ahead; this is the monstrosity that your people unleashed. This is your legacy.”

“Destruction is not our legacy!” answered Xtraci back between clenched teeth. Melissa had unknowingly stepped on a taboo and the Seraphim thrust an angry finger back at her: “You are so blind that you cannot see that destruction is ‘your’ curse.”

“The Infinite War was finally over when you showed up!” shot Melissa back, equally angry: “We would have had peace! You’re the monsters here, not us.”

“For how long?” asked Xtraci back with a snort. The human was constantly referring to past events instead of the present or the future and this stubbornness proved infuriating: “Every creature destroys another in your realm. Animals eat each other and insects feed on the corpses which rots away. Even plants seek to hoard water and sunlight away from others of their own kind.”

“This cycle of destruction is the burden of your realm and if it was just that then we could accept it,” finished the Seraphim while crossing his arms: “But humans do it intentionally and always will. Sacrificing ourselves and descending into the abyss was the price we paid to safeguard our realm.”

Back in her cockpit, Melissa clenched her fist angrily. She did not even consider for a split second that the conversation that they were having right now was the first real and honest one between their people. How could that… thing possibly justify what its people had done?

Time suddenly slowed down to a crawl, and Melissa looked around in alarm just as she suddenly felt a familiar presence behind her: “Have you ever tried to imagine our world through their eyes?”

For a moment, Melissa opened her mouth in protest. How could she or better yet, why would she even want to? The protest died her lips, however, when an indescribable sense of peace suddenly filled her. She felt neither anger, envy or malice; all of those concepts melting away from her consciousness. There was no pain or sense of urgency either and for lack of better description, Melissa felt both at peace and sated. The thought of humans suddenly brought a flurry of concepts that seemed so out of place: greed, jealousy, betrayal, destruction and death.

The moment of clarity vanished as quickly as it had appeared and time resumed its normal course, leaving Melissa with the piece of truth that had eluded humanity all along: “You think this place is hell?”

Melissa’s sudden change in attitude combined with the question apparently caught the Seraphim off guard. The alien looked at her with an expression that seemed somewhat puzzled, but Melissa was momentarily lost in her own thoughts. If situations had been reversed, would humanity have done the same? What if they had been aware of a hell-like dimension with demons constantly warring and devouring each? If those demons had been on the verge of crossing over to their world, would humanity have donned its own weapons and armors before marching through the gates and into hell itself to stop it?

An untold number of books, stories and games had been centered around that concept over the past centuries, but humanity had never considered that they might one day stand on the receiving end. Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when the gigantic transmission array suddenly let loose a powerful burst of energy. The wave was so intense that it was clearly visible, spreading out like a ripple across the sky before vanishing through the quantum mist.

“What was that?” asked Melissa while looking at her instruments. The readings were off the scale, but it appeared that none of their units had been affected.

“It’s a signal,” said Tie as he appeared on her side screen: “QAI probably just called back every Basilisk in the sector to assist in its defense.”

As if to confirm Tie’s theory, a set of red digital circles suddenly appeared on Melissa’s screen and twirled malevolently: “Your destruction is ninety-nine point nine percent certain.”

“Oh crap,” muttered Melissa as the Alliance pilots pressed forward.

-----

Elsewhere in the quantum field, a large fleet of giant Cybran air transports flew towards their intended destination. Foil and Nial had been following the trail of the other Alliance pilots for a while now, but they still did not know how long it would take for them to catch up. Both pilots were aboard different transports with Foil actively looking ahead for signs of the other pilots while Nial kept a careful watch over their sensors.

The Red Skull pilot’s eyes suddenly widened when she spotted traces of radiation and she immediately altered her course: “I found something.”

The army moved towards the new set of coordinates and stopped above the waypoint. Both ACUs were air dropped to the ground a moment later and so was the rest of their army. Foil moved their forces into covering position even as Nial stepped into the center of a crater. A few low power bursts from her main cannon melted the thin layer of snow that had fallen over the area, exposing the familiar wreckage underneath it.

“Tie,” whispered Nial, a sob threatening to overwhelm her. Foil closed his eyes in pain for a brief second before turning his ACU and looking at the wreckage. There was no mistaking it; this was a Cybran prototype and the residual power signature matched. The cockpit was still firmly attached, erasing any hope that the pilot could have ejected to safety.

“Goodbye, old friend,” whispered Foil, memories threatening to overwhelm him. The Chimera had been a pain on multiple occasions, but when in trouble, one could not ask for a more reliable friend. There would be time to grieve for him later, however, and Foil did his best to set his emotions aside and focus on the present.

The Cybran was just about to enter a new course when a wave of blue energy briefly lit the sky. Both pilots looked up anxiously and Foil’s sensors focused on the path that they had come from: “We have multiple incoming. A dozen… no, make that over forty.”

His voice trailed off as more and more units appeared on his sensors: “We have an entire army coming from behind us!”

With that, the Cybran army took a defensive stance, ready to unleash hell on those who had just taken one of their best friends.

-----

The ring of plasma blades could be heard over the courtyard as the duel between master and apprentice stretched on. Both combatants were breathing heavily, but neither dared to lower their guard as they circled each other. A normal human would have fallen to exhaustion a long ago, but one’s strength was fueled by cybernetics while the other was supported by a power armor that could fight on for days. Neither would surrender; leaving only their respective wills as the sole determining factor.

The former master looked at his apprentice and for a moment, he could not help but feel a sense of pride towards her. Many had attempted to kill him in his lifetime and he had faced some of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy; from the Avatar-of-War to the gods of the Illuminate themselves. Each time he had either managed to escape or rise as the victor but now, he was facing the one opponent who stood a fair chance of killing him… and he had trained her.

The notion itself seemed strange, but not unappealing. His life had always been an eternal dance between him and his destiny, one that would attempt to take him at every turn. If he fell today then he would at least get the satisfaction that it would be by a product of his own hands.

It was at that moment, when the master was only partially distracted by his own sense of pride, that the apprentice struck. The exchange of strikes was so vicious that the master was forced to roll to the side. A jolt of electricity flashed through his body as he did so, but he ignored it and kept rolling into a crouch and then turned, ready to spring again.

The apprentice did not press the attack and merely smiled viciously, the glee clearly visible in her eyes. The master snorted, all sense of pride gone as he considered how foolish she had been in not pressing the attack. He knew why, however, when he suddenly felt something disconnect from his body and fall on the ground.

The master’s gaze went down for a second and his eyes widened when he looked at his severed arm, the hand still clutching the plasma blade.

Chapter 25
Symbol

An unending tide of units filtered through the mechanical city towards the Alliance pilots. Most were standard such as different models of tanks from one faction or another with shields or thicker armor. Others, however, looked like they came from the imagination of some mad scientist. Some were designed like insects or crabs while others lumbered around clumsily, their overly thick armor or weaponry slowing them down. All of this showed only one thing; QAI had been experimenting and it was even now testing the fruits of its research against its opponents. The Alliance pilots were not in an accommodating mood, however.

The pillar from a Space Temple suddenly appeared in the middle of the enemy line, its glinting surface hinting at the imminent attack. QAI’s units barely had the time to stop and turn around when four Cybran Bomb Bouncers suddenly appeared in their mists, their power capacitors fully charged. The following blast sent pieces of shrapnel flying in every direction, destroying a total of fifty units in an instant. Those that were out of range quickly returned fire, but that was just the beginning of the Alliance’s assault.

A moment later, four dozen UEF tanks came through the portal and unleashed a flurry of gauss shells that destroyed a dozen units in seconds. They were followed by the other Illuminate and Cybran land units and then the army spread out in every direction like an explosion. The Universal Colossuses came in next, their massive frames casting ominous shadows over the battlefield as their phason lasers and tractor claws focused on the more heavily armored targets. All three ACU prototypes jumped in afterwards and it was only when the sector was relatively secure that the Fatboys were allowed to get through the portal. What happened next was pure mayhem.

So many lights flashed on Melissa’s screen that it was hard to tell from which side their defensive line was more heavily pressed. Fortunately for her, Zero could handle assigning targeting priorities faster than she could and she let the prototype handle things for now while she focused on other matters. The UEF pilot first glanced at the Seraphim ACU to make sure that it had teleported along with her before turning her attention back to the battlefield.

Using the Space Temple had allowed them to gain a lot of ground without having to fight all of the way through, but that meant leaving most of Tie’s air force behind. The air units were even now making a frantic dash towards their position, but Melissa feared that they would lose at least half of those units in the process. She was still trying to think of alternatives to minimize those losses when the Fatboy next to her suddenly exploded. Zero activated part of its directional shields in response to ward off some of the heavier pieces of wreckage that fell their way, but that was the least of their worries.

Six units tore their way through the remains of the Fatboy with startling efficiency. They looked like ACU sized panthers, their razor sharp magnetic claws supplementing the short range plasma cutters in their mouths. How they had managed to close in on the Fatboy was a mystery, but there was no more time to contemplate it as all of them rushed towards Melissa in zigzagging patterns. She reacted on instinct, activating the overload function of her ACU and firing a stream of shots. The first blast destroyed two of them, but the remaining four units evaded the other shots by activating their jump jets along their back.

The four panthers would have successfully pounced on Melissa, but Zero would not let that happen. It fired a string of shots from its linked rail gun, knocking two of them off course before dropping the Seraphim ACU to the side and activating its jump jets. Instead of flying away from the fight, Zero flew straight at one of the panthers, catching it in mid air with its free hand and slamming it straight to the ground some distance away. The force of the impact crushed the panther’s skull but unfortunately, Zero had made a mistake.

The panthers were equipped with secondary capacitors to power their jump jets and the remaining unit switched course in a heartbeat and pounced on Zero’s back before it could turn around. Zero immediately rolled to the side, using both its arms to ward off the lethal jaw that was trying to latch on to its cockpit. Melissa bit off a curse as she was thrown every way in her seat and her eyes widened when saw the remaining panthers recover from the attack and sprint straight towards her. The charge would have succeeded, but Kaeden intervened.

The Illuminate prototype materialized between the approaching panthers and Melissa and let loose its own overcharged shot which destroyed one unit in a single blast. The remaining panther pounced on top of Kaeden, but the Illuminate prototype was ready for it. It managed to stay on its feet, but did not try to wrestle its way free and vented a cloud of rogue nanites instead. The swarm of minuscule robots fell upon the panther and attacked it on a molecular level. While the attack was far more complex than anyone truly cared to think about, the net result was that it appeared as though the panther had somehow been dropped into a vat of acid, its frame collapsing in mere seconds before a lifeless frame of the more dense metals fell to the ground. The Illuminate prototype then turned around and fired a single shot, destroying the head of the panther which had been attacking Melissa.

“Thanks,” said the UEF pilot between breaths even as Zero climbed back to its feet. Kaeden nodded in turn: “You are welcome.”

Melissa suddenly remembered the Seraphim and looked around for him, but the alien had not used the opportunity to flee. Most of the ACU’s systems had regenerated and it now stood on its own two legs, but it would not lend its firepower to the battle. Melissa opened a channel regardless if for no other reason than to vent her frustration: “Well, I’m glad you’re still around.”

“Your efforts are futile,” answered the Seraphim in resignation. Melissa bit off a colorful retort, but she had more pressing matters to attend to. At least if the alien was willing to walk on his own then it would allow Zero to fight more efficiently. Melissa’s fingers unconsciously reached for the button to close the channel, but weariness was beginning to take its toll on her and she missed it. By then, her attention had already turned towards Tie and Kaeden: “Just one more jump and we’ll be in range of the transmission array! Kaeden?”

“I am on it,” answered the Illuminate pilot while constructing another Space Temple. The pillar of light next to them suddenly collapsed, the structure having self destructed to prevent QAI from using it to transports units into the middle of their formation. While not a very graceful approach, the experimental structure remained the fastest mean for them to make any headway inside the mechanical city.

The next few minutes were nerve wracking with all four Bomb Bouncers providing cover for Kaeden’s efforts. They benefited from a temporary reprieve when Tie’s air force finally managed to catch up to them, but it was a hollow victory. Most of the Cybran’s air force had been obliterated in the sudden dash, leaving it with only a handful of bombers, gunships and four heavily damaged Soul Rippers. It was obvious by now that those units would not survive another sprint like that.

The Alliance army soon found itself surrounded on all sides and while they held their own and destroyed hundreds of enemy units, the fact remained that QAI’s army seemed endless and was closing in on them little by little. Zero had just moved to protect another Fatboy from a wave of heavily armored tanks when Kaeden appeared on Melissa’s screen: “The Space Temple is online.”

“My air force will cover our escape,” said Tie between clenched teeth. Melissa nodded, giving the signal for all units to step through. The same attack pattern was used and a few moments later, Zero stepped through the portal while shoving the Seraphim ACU in front of it. The situation on the other end was not any more peaceful.

QAI had been waiting for them and a series of experimental point defense turrets let loose a barrage of laser fire that overloaded one of the Bomb Bouncer’s shields and sent it stumbling to the ground. Other units immediately fired back and the battle became more hectic as the Alliance pilots desperately fought to establish a foothold. The transmission array stood only a few hundred meters away, but it was heavily shielded and what little firepower that Melissa could spare was not enough to break through the defenses. Tie finally grew exasperated and rushed forward on his own: “Cover me!”

“Tie!” shouted Melissa back in protest, but the Cybran had already used his superior mobility to slip through their line and rush straight for the enemy. Multiple tanks moved to intercept, but the prototype ignored the incoming fire and merely used its jump jets to fly above them. It landed on top of a tank at the rear of the line with an earth shattering thud and then slipped under the transmission array’s shields. Once that was done, Tie let loose a barrage of overloaded shots, blowing a hole in the gigantic structure. The Cybran ACU then disappeared through the opening.

“Damn it,” muttered Melissa, cursing the Cybran for his recklessness, but aware that there was nothing that she could do to stop him. Right now, one of her Fatboys was barely holding in one piece and her construction laser was working furiously to stabilize its quantum reactor. The next few seconds lasted an eternity, but Melissa sighed in relief when the gigantic array suddenly stopped transmitting. A second later, a series of explosions rocked its foundation and it slowly started toppling on its side.

A wave of fear filled Melissa when there was still no sign of Tie, but she sighed in relief when the top portion of the transmission array suddenly blew up, exposing the Cybran prototype. Tie jump jetted back down a few seconds later and landed in the middle of their formation. Sparks rippled along the prototype’s hull, but it still appeared ready for a fight.

“That was too reckless,” said Melissa while shaking her head. The transmission array’s fall quickened as gravity took its toll and it collapsed a moment later, squashing a dozen other enemy structures in the process. Zero managed to maintain its balance despite the tremors and then turned around, ready to face the next wave of units. QAI’s answer came in the form of a series of Basilisk roars in the distance.

Melissa soon sighed in resignation, aware that there was not much more that they could do. They had destroyed the transmission array, but they were barely holding their position. Once the Basilisks came upon them then it would all be over.

“At least we gave the Alliance a chance,” murmured Melissa too herself. The Seraphim who had remained silent the whole time merely shook his head on her screen: “No, the Alliance will not benefit from your intervention.”

A colorful curse hanged on the tip of Melissa’s tongue and she regretted not closing the channel earlier, but she remained silent as the alien finished his explanation: “The quantum cascade will occur in a matter of hours; long before the Alliance can send additional reinforcements.”

The term was unfamiliar to all of the pilots and Kaeden raised an eyebrow: “What is a quantum cascade?”

“A small breach through our realms allows a dose of our reality to seep into yours; that is the energy that you are currently exploiting through our technology,” answered the Seraphim with a resigned look in his eyes. His gaze went downward as he added: “Small breaches collapse on their own if not properly stabilized, but a large one can become self sustaining.”

The alien looked back up as he finished his explanation: “A quantum cascade would be the theoretical result of when a breach becomes so large that the energy that it unleashes is not only sufficient enough to maintain it, but also to constantly widen it.”

“What would happen in such a scenario?” whispered Melissa, having half deduced the outcome, but wanting to make sure anyway. The alien cringed as he explained: “The breach would widen, engulfing this area, then the planet, the system and finally your entire galaxy. All would be burned in due time, destroyed by the energy from our realm… and leaving our home a withering husk.”

Melissa scrambled for her controls as she vainly searched for a way to stop this. She had been right! The assassinations and subsequent break in communications had not been QAI’s goal, but merely a distraction! Untold resources which should have been dedicated towards monitoring the quantum network had instead been turned towards warding off attacks from the other factions.

Unfortunately, too many units had been lost to reach the transmission array and Melissa doubted that they could build another Space Temple with their current resources. They were trapped, just like the rest of the Seraphim army. Meanwhile, the cries of the Basilisks were drawing ever closer.

-----

Back on Earth, the lines of tension could easily be seen around General Desjar’s eyes as he stood over his console in the middle of the command center. He had not slept in what felt like days nor could he afford to. He glanced once more at the galactic map before nodding in determination: “Report.”

“No further conflicts on the front line,” answered the closest tactician with a relieved nod: “The Cybrans appear to be holding their position.”

An audible sigh of relief came from behind the General and the UEF officer turned around to look at Senator Corby. The man smiled hopefully as he said: “Looks like Commander Stokes was right after all.”

Desjar could easily imagine why the man was so relieved. As the sole surviving senator, Corby had been thrust into the role of acting President for the time being. Only a few hours after it had been made official, Commander Stokes had returned to Earth with evidence that the Alliance had been tricked into the war. The decision had then been laid on Corby’s shoulder; to ignore the evidence and aggressively fight to retake their territory or stay on the defensive.

The decision had been one of the hardest that Corby had ever made but to Stokes’ credit, the pilot had known how to deliver a passionate plea when it counted. The acting president had finally opted to fight defensively in the hopes of salvaging the situation and so far, it seemed as though it had been the right decision.

Desjar was still considering all the possible implications when one of the analysts turned towards him with a confused look on his face: “Sir, we’re getting a report from our network division.”

“What is it?” asked Desjar, bleakly. So far, their network division had failed to break through the quantum network’s jamming and he only expected another report of failure. The analyst’s eyes widened in excitement even as he listened to someone else through the transmitter in his ear: “It appears that the amount of quantum interference is slowly diminishing.”

That was the last piece of news that Desjar had expected and he eagerly stepped forward with Corby in tow: “How is that possible?”

“Unknown,” said the analyst while shaking his head: “But the viral codes are no longer mutating as quickly as they previously did. Our technicians are trying to isolate the corrupted systems.”

“I want everyone in on this,” said the General loudly, addressing the command center’s entire staff: “Restoring communications is now our top priority.”

Everyone went to work with renewed dedication, each of them feeling that this could somehow be the turning point in the war. Corby used the opportunity to sneak closer to Desjar and whisper something to him: “If we’re not the ones clearing up the network then could it be one of the other factions?”

“We can only hope,” answered Desjar sincerely. If either the Illuminate or the Cybran Nation had managed to pierce the jamming then it meant that maybe one of them was willing to negotiate for peace. If that happened then the remaining faction would have no other choice but to follow suit.

The next few minutes were frantic as analysts, technicians and experts tried everything they knew to restore communications. Eventually one of them stood up and shouted above the tumult: “General, we’re receiving a transmission from the Cybran Nation on the emergency channel. Authentication codes have been confirmed!”

“Put it through,” said Desjar while holding his breath. Only a handful of people in each faction had the necessary access codes to open an emergency channel. The communication line itself appeared to be unencrypted at the moment, either to break through the jamming more easily or to reach anyone that could hear it. When the picture finally cleared, it was obvious that it was the latter.

“A child?” asked Corby in confusion. The girl looked to her right for a moment, acknowledging someone else’s silent signal before looking ahead once more: “My name is Ivanna, daughter of Blu and Agora… and daughter of Ivanna Dostya.”

A muted gasp filled the command center at the proclamation, leaving everyone speechless. Only Desjar had the presence of mind to check the records and find out who the authentication codes belonged to. His eyes widened when he discovered that they belonged to one of the top intelligence’s officer in the Cybran Nation: Queren.

“It can’t be,” whispered Desjar softly as he looked back up. Meanwhile, Ivanna took a deep breath, her eyes glistening with a mixture of fear and determination: “A few days ago, I did not even know the meaning of war. I was lucky enough to be born in a galaxy where Cybrans were free and at peace.”

“This was my mother’s dream,” added Ivanna, her voice threatening to choke with emotions. The child took a steadying breath before adding: “To live in a world where family and friends could finally be safe.”

The child blinked away a tear, but then her gaze grew determined once more: “Ivanna Dostya and so many others lost their lives while fighting for that dream. Doctor Brackman died defending it… and today, the war that we are spearheading is threatening to destroy that dream forever.”

There was no mistaking the sadness in Ivanna’s voice and Desjar could not help but feel moved by her final plea: “Now is the time to stop. Find the strength to end it… and return home.”

Although the plea from a single child seemed inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, Desjar knew that her testament was more than that. In his time with the Cybrans, Desjar had learned that their people often rallied behind powerful symbols. Freedom, peace, unity; all were equally important to them and that child, Dostya’s daughter, symbolized all of that. Without Doctor Brackman as a unifying father figure, this child was the single greatest symbol in the Cybran Nation.

Another analyst stood up suddenly and nodded towards Desjar: “Sir, we’re getting another transmission on the emergency channel. It’s from the Illuminate.”

“On screen,” said the General while trying to keep his hopes in check. The woman that appeared on the main screen was unknown to him, but her robes identified her as a member of the council and the wrinkles around her eyes clearly showed that she had lived through the Infinite War.

“This is Evaluator Reue of the Illuminate,” said the speaker while bowing her head: “Evidence submitted by one of our own, evidence that came at a terrible cost, indicates that we have been tricked into this conflict.”

Desjar cheered inwardly. Stokes had told them that Iole had surrendered to the Illuminate and it appeared as though the pilot had successfully reached the council. Desjar let those thoughts trail as Reue spoke again: “All Illuminate forces are to cease hostilities immediately. Aid should be provided when requested, but otherwise all Commanders are to report back to Illuminate space and avoid further confrontations.”

“Sir, I just got word that we can now transmit through the emergency channel,” said the same analysts the moment that the Evaluator was done talking. Desjar nodded, entered his own security code and then turned towards Corby. The politician nodded back, steeling himself even as he began broadcasting through the entire galaxy: “This is acting President Jerome Corby. We also have evidence that an elaborate plot was put into motion to trigger this war. All UEF Commanders are to stand down and let both Illuminate and Cybran forces fall back.”

Corby took a deep breath, before adding: “We invite representatives from the Illuminate and Cybran Nation to open secured channels back with us at their earliest convenience so that we can begin peace negotiations and find out who was responsible for this conflict.”

The acting President then nodded, signaling for the communication’s officer to cut the channel. A cheer then rang through the command center as everyone realized that peace was once again within their grasp. Elsewhere in the room, other channels opened as communications were progressively restored: “This is Commander Tural of the Alliance tracking party Vesper, please respond.”

“What’s your status, Commander?” asked an analyst with a beaming smile. Tural, like many others, had been completely cut off from the network. The Commandeer nodded back: “Our forces were shaken up by the news that they got before the loss in communications, but we managed to keep the peace. What the heck is going on back there?”

Another channel opened and even at this distance, Desjar could recognize the familiar voice: “This is Commander Weisman. We can now jump out of our sector. Where do you need us?”

More and more analysts went to work as communications were progressively restored and Desjar finally allowed himself to relax. Many of his best elements had been completely cut off by the quantum interference. Not only were they safe, but most of them had managed to keep working alongside their allies, offering a new hope for peace. Yes, it seemed that everything would finally be set right and all that remained was to bring them home.

-----

Back on Alpha Seven, the fighting became more desperate as the Alliance pilots fought off wave after wave of enemy units. Their lines were still holding, but every unit that they lost meant that QAI could close in a little more. They had managed to listen to the emergency communications on the network, but all outbound transmissions were being jammed by QAI. They were therefore unable to warn the Alliance that everything that they had gone through had been for nothing.

“You seem disappointed,” said Kaeden suddenly, not speaking to Melissa, but to the Seraphim. Only then did Melissa notice the alien’s hesitating gaze and she could not help but note a trace of regret even as his words were translated: “It is a tragedy; to finally learn how to stop a war when it is too late.”

Melissa wanted to retort that all of it could have been avoided, but a large plasma blast suddenly knocked Zero on its back and she cried out instead. Something hot slashed Melissa’s forehead as Zero rolled in order to minimize the damage from the blast. The prototype soon got back to its feet and took charge of the local defense even as Melissa wiped the blood on her forehead. She wanted to strike back at the artillery units that had just moved into range, but that thought trailed off when the roar of a Basilisk sounded much closer. All three pilots paused and looked towards the horizon as the shapes of eight Basilisks came through the quantum mist.

“We won’t be able to hold off against something like that,” whispered Melissa softly. None of the other two pilots refuted the claim and merely stayed silent, aware that their time had finally come. They had known the risks when they had rushed blindly forward and now they would pay the price.

The eight experimental units were about to cross into the mechanical city, but then paused in unison. Melissa frowned even as she checked her sensors: “What’s going on?”

QAI’s units suddenly turned the other way around and readied their weapons. Meanwhile, Tie’s eyes grew impossibly wide as a signal was forwarded to him on his tactical screen: “Incoming friendly Cybran units!”

“Foil!” shouted Melissa at the top of her lungs. He had probably followed their trail, but her elation quickly transformed into horror. Only a handful of Cybran units were on her screen; the same type of cloak generator units that the Assumpta had used. No matter what they were hiding, the fact remained that the combined armies of one or two Cybran pilots would not be enough to take out eight Basilisks and she quickly opened a channel: “Foil watch out, those units are too powerful in close quarter combat! It’s a trap!”

As if on queue, all eight Basilisks switched to their artillery configuration and moved within firing range. Their first salvo connected with the shields of multiple cloaked Bomb Bouncers but while the barrier held, it was only a matter of time before those shields collapsed. Melissa was about to order her friends to fall back when she was hailed by the last person that she expected to see.

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t just wait around for us to catch up,” said Stokes, his unwavering gaze staring straightly ahead. His wounded side was solidly strapped by medical bandages, but his hands remained unwavering as he pressed a few buttons on his console: “Standby, I’ll see if we can get QAI’s attention.”

Just then, the group of Cicada dropped their cloak generators, revealing over twenty tank-like heavily armored experimental UEF units. The Jackhammers anchored themselves to the ground, deployed their large cannon and fired a salvo back at the Basilisk. The combined firepower heavily damaged two of them and the second hit destroyed them. The remaining six Basilisks suddenly walked forward, apparently intent on closing the distance in order to bring their heavier weapons into play, but paused when the rest of the army cleared the quantum mist.

The combined army of four UEF pilots surged forth and let loose a barrage of weapons’ fire that lit up the sky. Cybran units were everywhere in the mix, their exact numbers hidden by mobile cloak generators.

One Basilisk was about to close in on a Cicada only to be sliced apart by the heavy microwave laser from a cloaked Monkeylord. The issuing explosion destroyed the Cicada, but the Monkeylord remained, the blast only lightly damaging its outer armor. Tie watched it all with a mixture of trepidation: “Foil, Nial, I’m glad that you finally made it.”

Nial suddenly appeared on their screen, her eyes wide with a mixture of relief and outrage: “Tie, you’re alive you good for nothing bastard!”

“Oh right, the decoys,” said Tie with a chuckle. Foil appeared on their screen next and nodded fiercely: “You guys hold on, we’re on our way!”

-----

Back in the Assumpta Node, the fight between master and apprentice continued, but not for much longer. With a missing arm and no plasma blade, there was little that the former master could do except dodge the flurry of blows that came his way.

A powerful kick suddenly wormed its way through the former master’s defense and sent him crashing against a nearby wall. He tried to keep his opponent at bay by striking with his left hand, razor sharp claws springing from his finger tips as he did so. His pupil was faster however, and the plasma blade intercepted the blow, cutting off the hand at the wrist and letting it fall to the ground.

The master tried to hop to the side in order to dodge the next blow, but the pupil’s other hand caught the now partially amputated arm and used it to hold him in place. Her leg then lashed out with all the strength that her power armor could muster, crushing the master’s cybernetic leg and twisting it out of alignment.

A grunt of protest escaped the master as the blow rattled him all the way through his body but try as he might, his mobility was now severely crippled. The apprentice’s foot lashed out two more times, crushing her opponent’s chest before striking him in the head with enough strength to crack the mask that covered his face. With her opponent stunned by the blow, the pupil used the opportunity to cut off the rest of his arm and then twirled the blade once before slamming it through his stomach.

The roar of pain as the plasma blade burned through circuitry and the few pieces of flesh that still remained was oddly satisfying and the current Redfog stepped back while leaving her opponent pinned to the wall. This was a rare moment; where one Redfog would once and for all demonstrate his dominance over the other. There was no greater satisfaction in the galaxy or a better way to cower the rest of the Assumpta Node into submission for an entire generation.

That moment was interrupted, however, when the pupil’s wrist computer suddenly beeped urgently. Interrupting her at a time like this was practically a death sentence and she nearly barked her next question as she activated her wrist computer: “What is it?”

“We just got word; communications are being restored through the galaxy,” answered another Assumpta pilot under her command: “The UEF and the Illuminate have agreed to a cease fire… and almost every Cybran nodes are pulling out.”

For a moment, the apprentice’s face dropped in surprise, something that was rarely if ever seen. She was about to order all of her available pilots to return back to the front, but was interrupted by a single, mocking laugh. Blood oozed out of former master’s fractured mask, his laugh punctuated by a cough as he struggled to breathe.

Destiny had plagued each of them with different curses, it seemed. While the former master has never truly managed to achieve complete victory in a war, his pupil was now being denied the war that she had spent her entire life preparing for. The irony was too delicious to ignore and the former master could not help but use it to steal his pupil’s final triumphant moment.

“I might not be able to enjoy this moment for as long as I wished to,” said the apprentice while taking a hold of the handle of her blade and slowly lifting it upwards. The issuing roar was like music to her ears as she added: “But I assure you that this war is not going to end so easily!”

Chapter 26
Deeper

Gone were the varied prototypes which had been unleashed upon the Alliance pilots, replaced by more conventional units. They came by the dozens; tanks, missile launchers and mobile artilleries. They rolled over the wreckage of the units that had fallen before them and fired at the Alliance army as soon as they moved into range. They were met with a torrent of weapons fire which stopped the unending attack waves… for now.

Of all of QAI’s minor experimental weapons, only one was still in production; the panther-like unit which had been configured as an ACU killer. Although the earlier prototypes had failed to kill the Alliance pilots, they had come close enough that QAI had deemed it tactically sound to produce more of them. One such unit was even now sprinting through the unending army, dodging left and right before activating its jump jets. It flew above the constant weapons’ fire from a Fatboy and headed straight towards the UEF prototype, but Zero was ready for it.

The ACU stepped to the right and launched a powerful backhand with its left arm, sending the panther flying to the side. Kaeden had been standing close by and his prototype fired a string of shots from its linked rail gun which blew up on the panther’s legs in midair. Meanwhile, short ranged tactical missiles had already been launched from Tie’s prototype and they landed on top of the panther the moment that it touched the ground, finishing it off.

All of that had happened nearly automatically as all three prototypes learned to fight together and while the sudden improvement did not go unnoticed, the pilots had other pressing matters on their minds. QAI had diverted the majority of its forces to deal with the new threat, but Melissa feared that they would not be able to hold their position forever. Now that things had calmed down somewhat, she took the opportunity to turn towards Stokes: “I didn’t think we’d see you back on your feet again,”

“It’s amazing what a good bandage and some pain killers can do,” answered the other pilot with a wince. Melissa could tell from the strain of his features that Stokes was still in pain, but he was doing his best to ignore it. From the looks of things, he was directing the other three pilots under his command from the back of the line and leaving most of the dexterous work to them. Stokes shook his head slightly before adding: “Besides, I didn’t have the administrator password to this ACU so it’s not like I could have transferred it to another pilot.”

A string of curses suddenly escaped Stokes when a series of explosions lit the sky not too far away from his position: “Of course, I don’t think that this is what General Desjar had in mind when he sent us out here to find you.”

“Strategic launch detected,” came the warning over all of their consoles as QAI fired a nuclear missile. Every pilot turned towards their strategic screens in order to predict where the attack would land.

“Incoming, sector eight!” shouted Stokes as he zoomed in on the area where Foil’s army was pushing hard. A full battle group of executioner class battleships were even now crawling along the ground with a Monkeylord leading the charge. The army was wedged between two cliff sides, however, and it seemed like it had nowhere to go. Stokes cursed at the rookie mistake: “Why on Earth did you put your ships in that death trap?”

“Because they can escape,” answered Foil with a shrug. The battleships suddenly folded their legs underneath them and activated a set of hidden jump jets. They then flew out of the blast zone and landed on top of the cliff sides, the new vantage point giving their proton cannons a better firing angle. Only the Monkeylord was left to face the blast and it momentarily disappeared inside the blinding explosion. It was still there when the light died down, its hull scorched, but otherwise fully functional.

Stokes blinked in surprise before shaking his head in wonder: “Walking ships that can fly?”

“Why settle for anything less?” answered Nial in turn, her smirk clearly visible. While the battle banter was meant to ease the tension, Melissa still needed to get the other pilots up to speed and she spoke urgently: “Stokes, we’ll hold our ground here, but we’ll need you to make your way over to us and reinforce our position.”

Stokes was shaking his head before Melissa had even finished her sentence: “Negative, we should regroup and inform HQ so that they can mount a proper assault. We’ll cover your retreat.”

“That’s not an option,” insisted Melissa stubbornly: “QAI has a doomsday device which is about to come online. We won’t get another shot.”

“Figures,” said Stokes with a weary sigh. The truth was that they had no idea what they were facing and while they were well trained, they were not seasoned veterans like Commander Flynn or Weisman. ACU pilots were taught to risk it all when necessary, however, and Stokes soon nodded in resignation: “What about the Seraphim?”

“They’re trying to stop QAI as well,” said Melissa with a smile, glad that Stokes was ready to support her. The other pilot looked at his tactical screen and frowned as he analyzed the aliens’ position: “They’re not doing a very good job.”

-----

The battle situation had changed. Not long ago, QAI had been content to merely pin down the Seraphim’s forces. There had not been any real point in risking an accidental death after all and QAI did have a primary directive to uphold. The artificial intelligence’s plan had been to show its master the futility of his attack and force him to retreat or surrender. The arrival of so many Alliance pilots had changed that.

Units that had merely prevented the Seraphim army from moving forward by shelling the area suddenly refocused their fire, overloading energy shields and destroying the targets underneath them. Gone was the meticulous care that QAI had taken to only knock out the alien pilots, replaced instead by a single and clear goal; to disable their ACUs by any means necessary. Seth-Iavow realized the change in behavior only too late.

The mobile shield generators which had covered his position were suddenly destroyed by well-placed artillery strikes, leaving him fully open. The Seraphim ACU was then hit by a blast from a long range experimental turret which temporarily collapsed his quantum field. Seth-Iavow barely had the time to gasp before a flurry of gauss shell came upon his position, pummeling his ACU to a pulp.

The sound of shrieking metal filled the cockpit as the ACU was mercilessly pounded and the alien barely had the time to shield his face as the screen in front of him exploded. The ACU fell to the ground a moment later, making a loud banging sound that resonated all the way into Seth-Iavow’s skull. The onslaught lasted a few seconds longer before finally stopping.

Seth-Iavow dared to open his eyes a moment later and gasped as a wave of pain coursed along both of his arms. Only a few emergency lights were still online in the cockpit, but the glow that they provided allowed him to see the console pieces which had sliced open his limbs. Fortunately the wounds were not as serious as they appeared and Seth-Iavow yanked out the most painful pieces of shrapnel before trying to regain control of his ACU.

A moment later, it became clear that while the ACU had not exploded, it had still sustained a critical amount of damage and its regeneration upgrades would not be enough for it to recover. The thought of giving up briefly entered Seth-Iavow’s mind, but the alien quickly shook his head before pressing a button. The cockpit opened halfway with a loud creaking noise, revealing the dozen tanks which waited just outside with their turrets aimed straight at the ACU.

Seth-Iavow looked at the units without fear before gazing at his surroundings. His army was gone and the other pilots under his command would soon follow. There was nothing more that he could do from his ACU, but that did not mean that he would merely stand idly by. The alien unbuckled his seat belts and hastily bandaged his forearms. He then reached behind him, picking up a plasma disruptor rifle, his tool kit as well as a set of explosives. He then stepped out of cockpit and looked at the tanks with a grimace: “I will not relent so easily.”

QAI had no doubt heard him, but if it did then the artificial intelligence gave no indications. The tanks did not move to block Seth-Iavow as the alien made his way deeper into the mechanical city on foot.

-----

At the same moment, the Alliance army under Stokes’ command, supported by Foil and Nial, was making good progress, blasting every structure that stood in its way. A few engineers were left behind to try and establish a base, but without a Seraphim to act as a living shield, any structure that was set down was soon bombarded by artillery fire or targeted by strategic strikes. It soon became apparent that their current army would be the only one at their disposal and all that they could do was hope that it would be enough.

Meanwhile, Melissa, Kaeden and Tie did their best to hold their position with their forces slowly dwindling. They soon had to bring their ACUs to the front line with Tie being on point. The Cybran prototype rushed ahead, its rapid firing blasters shooting in every direction. Entire waves of enemy units were destroyed in mere seconds before Tie was forced to fall back, using his jump jets to quickly return to their defensive line. The Cybran prototype’s armor was riddled with plasma burns, bullet holes and stress fractures and the pilot looked no better, the Chimera gasping for breath as he uttered a single word: “Repairs.”

Kaeden went to work, venting a cloud of rogue nanites which fell upon the Cybran prototype. The minuscule robots followed their programming, fusing into the armor and patching it up as best as they could. The Cybran prototype’s structural integrity was quickly restored, but minor imperfections still remained in the hull and the components underneath. For now, the repairs would be enough, but how much more damage could either pilot or machine withstand before a critical component finally gave up?

Melissa made sure that Tie was all right before taking a closer look at her tactical screen. It seemed like they would hold long enough for Stokes to reach them, but something still did not feel right. She rubbed a finger against her chin even as she spoke out loud: “Why is QAI’s front line so easily breached? Just look at the damage that we did.”

A tactical warning flashed on Melissa’s screen then, highlighting an area that they had already destroyed. Melissa looked at the spot in confusion before raising an eyebrow: “What is it Zero? What are you trying to tell me?”

The prototype answered by zooming in on the sector all the way to the ground level. Melissa frowned, unsure what Zero was trying to tell her, but her eyes widened when she thought that she saw movement along the wreckage: “Zoom in a little closer.”

The UEF prototype complied and Melissa gasped when she finally saw what was happening. The pieces of wreckage were gradually melting down and slowly remolding themselves into the foundations that would support new structures. The process was extremely slow compared to what an ACU would do, but it was happening on its own without any outside assistance.

“Oh my god, how is this possible?” asked Melissa, completely astounded: “The structures that we destroyed are regenerating on their own!”

“These are just the surface installations,” reminded Kaeden slowly, using what little he knew to deduce what was happening: “The underground levels must have redundant regeneration systems. It is almost as if the enemy structures were growing underneath us.”

“So the deeper we go in,” said Melissa, her voice trailing off. Kaeden nodded before finishing her sentence: “The more we’ll be surrounded by QAI’s forces.”

“Like moving through quicksand,” added Tie, not liking the concept.

This was a horror made reality; a fight without end. The mechanical city spanned as far as the eyes could see and QAI’s processing power and resources seemed unlimited. They could destroy entire sectors only to have them reassemble themselves behind them the moment that they left the area. There was no ACU to destroy or any one weak point that would cause QAI to self-destruct.

“How can we fight something like this?” whispered Melissa hopelessly, aware that their odds of victory were slim to none. Tie appeared on her screen suddenly, his eyes wide and fearful: “Mel, watch out!”

One of QAI’s mechanical panther’s suddenly surged from behind the wreckage of a destroyed unit and jumped straight at Zero. Melissa did not reach for her controls in time and the prototype reacted in her place, attempting to slam the unit away as it had recently done. QAI had learned from its mistakes, however.

The panther fired its secondary jump jets at the last possible moments, using them to hurl itself to the ground and duck under Zero’s swinging arm at the last possible second. The unit then pounded on top of Zero, not targeting the cockpit, but clamping its jaw on the arm itself. The plasma cutter in its mouth then activated, melting through the reinforced armor and striking at the components underneath it.

Melissa could not bring her cannon to bear and she tried to shake the enemy unit off without success even as it started clawing at her. Both Kaeden and Tie moved in a second later, firing a series of shots which destroyed the panther. Their intervention had saved Zero, but the panther had done its job and warning lights flashed on Melissa’s screen, indicating that damaged servo motors had left the arm operating at only half its usual efficiency.

“Damn it,” muttered Melissa as she took a look at her diagnostics’ screen. The components were heavily damaged, but salvageable. It would take thirty minutes for them to regenerate on their own which made it clear that she would need outside assistance to fix them. She therefore looked back towards the other two pilots: “Tie, stay on the defensive, I’ll need Kaeden’s next batch of rogue nanities.”

The Chimera nodded, having reached the same conclusion, but suddenly raised an eyebrow in surprise. Melissa turned back to her screen and suddenly found that the estimated time for repairs had been dropped to only forty seconds. She pressed a button to bring out a view of the damaged components and gasped when she saw them twist and turn back into place on their own, almost as if by magic.

The explanation was revealed when the Seraphim pilot appeared on her screen: “My restoration field is now operating on the same frequency as your ACUs. You master many of our technologies, but not this one. It should prove useful...”

Although she was reluctant to do so, Melissa nodded her thanks, glad for the help. The restoration field had been the stuff of nightmares during the Seraphim War, allowing enemy ACUs to recover from near fatal attacks and repair nearby units, including experimentals, at no cost. Now it appeared that the alien had finally understood that the humans that had hounded it during the past few years were probably the galaxy’s last hope for survival.

History would no doubt mark this as a major turning point, but only if they managed to survive. With that in mind, Melissa turned back towards her main screen: “Zero, we need a plan; something that will disrupt QAI and allow us to proceed.”

The UEF prototype went to work, highlighting a few zones on her tactical map with mass extraction markers. Melissa frowned in consternation, unsure what they would do with the added resources or if the mass extractors would even work on such a surface. She chose to trust in Zero, however, and immediately set a course towards the first waypoint.

-----

The plasma blade sliced upward, cutting and burning through circuitry and flesh alike. The current Redfog smiled viciously, enjoying the roar of pain that her former master was giving her. Part of her had been worried that he would have denied her this minor pleasure, but she was glad that even her master had his limits: “You were such a terror to everyone you crossed….”

The blade went up again, this time slicing into vital components while wrenching another roar. She stopped short of the killing blow, wanting to enjoy this moment for a few more precious seconds: “But take away your cybernetics, your henchmen and all of that power… and what do you have left?”

The master’s head dropped forward, but a quiet whisper did escape him. The leader of the Assumpta Node leaned forward slightly, wanting to hear the dying words. The former master’s lips moved once more under his mask and this time, she could clearly hear him: “Me!”

Without warning, the former master slammed his head down on the plasma blade, splitting his mask open and slicing part of his cheek in the process. The current Redfog grasped her opponent’s head firmly and yanked it back up, determined to deliver the killing blow herself and not let him commit suicide on his terms. She understood her mistake when she saw the vivid fires in his eyes… and the dart lodged in his mouth.

Using what breath that he could muster, the former master blew the dart which had been hidden in his mask at his apprentice, catching her in the neck. The current Redfog yanked out the dark in an instant, but it was already too late; the nerve toxin had penetrated into her blood stream and her limbs were already growing rigid.

The power armor’s emergency first aid implant immediately sprang into action, plunging needles into her skin and pumping counter agents into her body. The process would not stop her former master from advancing on her, however. Although he only had one good leg left, the former master still found a way to use it to push himself forward along the plasma blade. Circuits sparked in protest, but the current Redfog’s eyes were riveted on her opponent’s wide open mouth and on the teeth that were angling for her throat.

All of the current Redfog’s willpower went into her arm, doing her best to twist it or move it in a way that would kill her opponent. Her hand moved a little in response, the blade slicing through additional circuitry, but still failing to deliver the killing blow. A trace of fear then filled her, something that she had not felt in a very long time. A second later, the former master’s teeth lodged firmly in her throat and bit down hard.

The struggle suddenly wrenched the plasma blade free from the wall and both combatants fell to the ground with blood oozing everywhere.

-----

A horrible shrieking noise filled the air as the mass extractors were turned on simultaneously. The drills pierced the metallic surface and sent clouds of smoke rising into the air. Melissa looked at her display and nodded a second later: “At least we’re getting a good mass extraction rate.”

Somehow, the thought of harvesting mass from a ‘metal world’ seemed like something taken from a science fiction novel, but at least it worked for now. Whatever Zero’s plan was, it had to wait another minute as Melissa fought off another wave of QAI’s units. When that was done, she looked back towards the camera on her main console: “Ok, now what?”

Her answer came in the form of a tremor which lightly shook the ground. Melissa opened her mouth to ask another question, but Zero and the other two prototypes went into hunker mode without warning, ignoring any other command. The reason became obvious when all hell suddenly broke loose around them.

An earth shattering quake suddenly filled the area, putting a temporary halt to the battle. The ground then split apart and hundreds of small explosions came from underground, destroying units and structures in a wide radius. The three Alliance pilots lost many units during the cataclysm, but QAI’s losses were far steeper with a large part of its city collapsing or self-destructing in a minute.

The tremors finally stopped a moment later and Kaeden appeared on Melissa’s screen afterwards: “The mass extractors must have pierced all the way down to the underground energy generator and mass fabricator complex…”

Tie appeared on their screen next and readjusted his sunglasses with a pleased smirk on his face: “Mass extractors as a weapon, who would have thought?”

“Come on, let’s go!” said Melissa while plotting a course deeper into QAI’s territory.

Chapter 27
Unleashed

Tremors rippled across the ground, sending fissures snaking in every direction and causing random explosions in nearby structures. Navigating through such terrain in an ACU was a risky proposition. To do it on foot was practically suicidal. Even so, Seth-Iavow had no other alternative.

The Seraphim’s powerful legs carried him across the mechanical city as quickly as they could, but it would not be enough to outrun the cataclysmic events that the Alliance pilots had set into motion. Seth-Iavow dodged falling debris, slid across unstable terrain and jumped over destroyed units without missing a beat. For a moment, it seemed as though he could evade the disaster forever, but his luck eventually ran out.

An underground explosion suddenly sent Seth-Iavow flying and he barely managed to twist in mid air in order to land into a roll instead of breaking his neck. The Alien tried to get back to his feet without loosing his momentum but fell to his side instead with a silent gasp. He could tell from the pain alone that a bone in his right leg was cracked and he doubted that he could keep that pace for much longer.

Feeling both angry and helpless, Seth-Iavow looked north towards his intended destination; one of the quantum generators that was bordering an impossibly wide dome. This was one of the structures that QAI was using to widen the quantum breach and possibly create a cascade effect. Destroying that structure was his only priority, but how could he reach it now with a crippled leg?

Seth-Iavow was about to give up when a loud clattering sound suddenly caught his attention. The alien turned his head to the right only to see one of QAI’s units, an assault bot based upon a Cybran design, limp its way forward. An explosion had damaged two of its six insect-like legs, but its regeneration systems were slowly fixing the damage and it would eventually be fit enough to return to the battle. This would be Seth-Iavow’s only chance.

With that in mind, the alien got back to his feet with a wince, unclamped the plasma disruptor rifle from his shoulder and stubbornly limped forward. The assault bot turned its upper body towards Seth-Iavow just as he opened fire. The beam of green energy caught the mechanical unit straight in its processing center, causing it to buckle uncontrollably. QAI’s unit was heavily armored and could strike back, but none of its weapon systems were designed to counter with a non lethal assault. The unit therefore stood its ground, helpless even as Seth-Iavow fried its main processor.

The alien heaved a sigh of relief when the assault bot finally collapsed and wasted no time in closing the distance, using his plasma disruptor rifle as a crutch to get there. He brought up his tool kit as soon as he reached his destination and then went to work, bypassing the main processor and accessing the unit’s core subroutines. It took him a few minutes, but Seth-Iavow finally managed to take control of the crippled unit. He then strapped himself solidly to its back before laying a course towards the closest quantum generator.

-----

The taste of blood filled his mouth, but it was hard to tell to whom the vital fluid belonged to. The former Redfog’s gaze fell down to his apprentice even as the light slowly faded from her eyes. The two of them were lying side by side on the mud caked ground, barely a few centimeters separating their faces even as blood gushed everywhere around them. He had done it; he had torn open her throat with his bare teeth.

Under normal circumstances, a victory of this magnitude would have been enough to warrant a loud primal roar, but the sole remaining Redfog did not feel like it for two reasons. The first was that part of him grieved, in his own way, over the loss of his apprentice. Never in his entire life had he seen such fires burn in anyone else’s eyes and killing her had felt like destroying a part of himself. The second reason was far more basic in nature.

Redfog’s gaze lowered, focusing on the plasma blade that had impaled him through his chest. His apprentice had known that her last moments had been upon her even as her master’s teeth had closed on her throat. Unlike any other human, she had not wasted such precious time cowering away from the inevitable, recalling past memories or begging for her life. Instead, she had focused all of her remaining fury on a single clear objective: to take her opponent with her… and she had succeeded.

Mustering the necessary willpower to maneuver her arm despite the nerve toxin must have been excruciating, but Redfog’s apprentice had managed to do just that. Her hand had twisted and yanked viciously to the side in her final moments, cutting deep into Redfog’s vital organs. The blade had sliced across both lungs and heart and Redfog could already feel them shudder in their final moments. Only the implant in the back of his neck, the redundant safety precaution that filtered the blood that reached his brain, was keeping him conscious even now, but not for much longer. This time, there would be no coming back.

Oddly enough, the thought did not prove distressing. Redfog had braved the best that the Cybran Nation, Illuminate and UEF had to offer. He had carried the war all the way to Earth, destroyed the Avatar-of-War and his actions had shaken the very gods of the Illuminate. He had overcome every challenge that destiny had thrown his way and it had taken a monster fashioned by his own hand to finally defeat him. Even then, Redfog had come out on top, if for a brief moment. It all a seemed so very… fitting.

The sound of weapons’ fire followed by a series of explosions suddenly reached Redfog’s ears and the assassin cursed mentally, having already understood what was going on. Anyone who would have seen them fall would have automatically assumed that both of them had perished. The battle for control of the Assumpta Node had begun.

Without a clear heir to take command, it was up to the strongest Generals to make their bid for the title of Redfog. Judging by the sound, the first blast had come from an ACU, but the explosions had been much closer. Redfog had configured the explosive collars to detonate at the first sign of weapons’ fire and whoever had started that battle had accidentally – or worse, knowingly – killed off some of the most valuable men and women of the Assumpta Node.

Fires appeared at the edge of Redfog’s peripheral vision, but he no longer cared. The pain from his damaged organs was slowly fading, as was his vision. What would history say? From what he understood, the Alliance had managed to stop the events that would have led to another Infinite War, but it was his actions here which would cause the collapse of one of the most dangerous and war prone node in the Cybran Nation. Would history remember him as a hero or a villain?

Again, Redfog cared not which. He had done this because he had wanted to and for no one else. Besides, he was so very tired at the moment and it seemed to him that he had earned this final rest. With that, Redfog closed his eyes and a smile tugged at his lips even as the Assumpta Node fell burning all around him. Panicked cries filled the streets, but all that he felt was the gentle warmth of the flames that were burning nearby. Yes, it was all so very… fitting.

-----

Back on Alpha Seven, the three Alliance prototypes followed by one Seraphim ACU pressed on, using the chaos provided by the underground explosions to gain as much ground as possible. Both Foil and Stokes protested loudly over their reckless actions, but Melissa ignored them, possessed by a sense of urgency that filled her down to her very core. All that she hoped was that they would somehow make it in time.

“How much further?” shouted Melissa loudly even as Zero pivoted away from an artillery blast before spinning around and destroying an approaching tank. Kaeden appeared on her screen then, his gaze staring intensively ahead even as he tried to ward off another wave of enemy units: “We still need to gain more ground.”

The estimated distance where they could build a Space Temple that would fall in range of a quantum generator appeared on the UEF pilot’s screen and she cursed under her breath. She then gritted her teeth and led the charge: “Let’s move!”

The small group charged ahead while firing in every direction. Had it been just the three of them then they would have been forced to stop a long time ago because of the cumulative damage that they had sustained, but the Seraphim’s restoration field had changed that. Twisted articulators popped back into place as soon as they were damaged and reinforced armor seemed to grow back on its own. Occasionally one prototype or another would sustain heavier damage, but Kaeden’s rogue nanites provided the additional raw repair power that they needed. QAI tried to mitigate that advantage by occasionally targeting the Seraphim, but the Alliance pilots were faster and took turns protecting the Alien with their own bodies if need be.

None of them could have ever hoped to get this far on their own, but together, they appeared all but unstoppable. It took them another ten minutes of constant warfare with the pilots themselves taking a heavy beating in the process, but they eventually managed to get in range. Melissa then went to work, setting down the first of their defenses even as she shouted towards the others: “There, build a space temple!”

“I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to hold this position,” said Tie while barely refraining from crying out even as an artillery shell fell next to his prototype. The Chimera had taken a heavy beating and Melissa was growing concerned for him. The Cybran was used to waging battle from the rear of the line and their direct approach had taken a great toll on him. Even so, they could not stop now.

“We don’t need to hold long,” said Melissa between clenched teeth even as she let loose a barrage of overloaded shots that destroyed the next enemy wave: “We just need to use the Space Temple to reach one of the generators that are widening the rift, blow it up and get out!”

“There is a delay before any unit can use the Space Temple to get back,” interrupted Kaeden suddenly even as his ACU moved in order to intercept a hail of gauss shells that had been intended for the Seraphim ACU. The assault collapsed his shields and forced the Illuminate ACU to one knee, but the prototype would not allow itself to fall.

Melissa hid her concern for Kaeden’s safety for a moment, focusing on their more immediate problem: “How long?”

“Too long,” answered Kaeden with a wince even as he struggled with his controls: “Whoever will gate over there to destroy the generator will not be coming back.”

-----

Further away, Seth-Iavow brought his barely functional assault bot to a halt in front of one of the quantum generators. The structure was massive, standing several times bigger than any experimental weapon that he had ever seen. The Seraphim looked at the explosives in his left hand and then back at the generator.

Theoretically, the charge could cause a resonance effect within any quantum power source and cause it to overload. In practice, however, this was still one very large structure. For a moment, Seth-Iavow wished that the assault bot’s weapon systems would be operational, but even if that was the case, he doubted that he could get them to work.

With that in mind, the alien stepped off the crippled unit and slowly limped his way towards the generator. His eyes invariably glanced all around him even as he closed in on the structure. He knew that he was pushing it; that it was only a matter of time before QAI decided that his interference could no longer be tolerated. What would happen then? Would the artificial intelligence try to knock him out or merely cripple his body much like it had done to its ACU?

Seth-Iavow shook his head, doing his best to put his doubts aside. Whatever QAI did, he only hoped that it would grant him a quick death. Each step felt as though it was Seth-Iavow’s last, but at no point did QAI strike him down and he finally made his way to the generator. The alien wasted no time setting up the explosive on the surface that seemed more heavily compromised by the tremors and then finding shelter behind the assault bot. He then pressed the button on his detonator.

An ear splitting shriek filled the air as the explosives transmitted an armor piercing shockwave through the structure. Seth-Iavow used the opportunity to take one last deep breath, aware that if his plan succeeded that it would probably be his last. Unfortunately, it would not be the case.

The shriek progressively died down as the explosives’ power source ran out, but the quantum generator remained undisturbed. Seth-Iavow dropped the detonator helplessly to the ground even as QAI’s cold and mechanical voice came from a speaker ebbed in the quantum generator’s surface: “You should have known that your efforts were futile.”

Yes, he should have known. QAI would have never allowed him to reach his destination otherwise. The artificial intelligence had allowed it only because Seth-Iavow posed no real threat to it; much like a bug. Seth-Iavow looked up helplessly at the sky even as QAI drove its point across: “Everything that you know will be coming to an end.”

-----

All three Alliance pilots looked at the Space Temple from the corner of their eyes even as the structure was slowly completed. They all knew what was required of them. Their armies were decimated and there was no hope of holding this position long enough for their reinforcements to arrive or for them to build additional units. One of them would have to step through and whoever did it would not be coming back. Melissa was about to volunteer for the grim task, but someone else spoke before she did.

“I will do it,” said the Seraphim without an ounce of hesitation: “This is our responsibility.”

“You don’t have the necessary firepower,” retorted Tie in a heartbeat, his eyes never leaving the experimental structure: “QAI will have units funneling back through the Space Temple long before you can destroy the generator.”

“Self destruct your structure as soon as I step through it,” answered the Seraphim with a casual shrug. A trace of resignation appeared in his eyes as he added: “I will not be returning.”

“Mel?” asked Tie, unsure of what to do. None of them wanted to throw their lives away, but could they really trust a Seraphim? Melissa looked back at the alien with mixed feelings. Not long ago, she had considered it no better than a living shield, suitable only to ward off QAI’s most vicious weapons of mass destruction. The alien had played his part well in their last desperate rush, however, and they could never have come this far without him. More importantly, she could see the unwavering determination in his eyes.

“What is your name?” asked Melissa without thinking. The Seraphim paused, almost as if giving away something so personal to a human was against his nature. The alien then nodded before speaking one word: “Xtraci”.

“Let him do it,” said Melissa after hesitating a moment longer. She was not sure if what she was doing was sound, but something in her mind insisted that her decision would have a lasting impact. Melissa nodded one last time at the Seraphim even as the Space Temple came online: “Good luck, Xtraci.”

-----

Seth-Iavow lay kneeling on the ground, broken both physically and spiritually. The Seraphim had led a crusade on this plane to save their home and now, their actions would doom all of existence. Life would end because of an abomination molded by their own hands.

The Seraphim was contemplating the hopelessness in his heart when the nearby sound of battle suddenly reached him. He looked to the east only to see a Seraphim ACU appear right next to a distant quantum generator. Seth-Iavow instantly recognized the ACU and stood up on his feet. It was Xtraci!

The War Leader of the Seraphim invasion force did not know how the other pilot had made it that far, but his heart still surged with hope. The ACU was firing everything it had at the quantum reactor even as it was pummeled from every direction. There was no doubt how it would end and Seth-Iavow turned a defiant look back towards the surface from which QAI’s disembodied voice had come from: “Now watch what a Seraphim is truly capable of.”

A series of well placed shots sent the Seraphim ACU stumbling to the ground, but no efforts on QAI’s part would prevent the events which had been set in motion. Xtraci had set his ACU to self destruct after twenty seconds and the countdown reached zero shortly afterwards. The issuing explosion destroyed every nearby structure, including the quantum generator.

Seth-Iavow covered his face even as a hot gust of wind knocked him off his feet and sent him stumbling to the ground. The alien coughed several times and was sorely disappointed by the results when the smoke cleared. The generator was gone, but the explosion had not set off the chain reaction that he had expected. The dome that covered the quantum breach was still intact and the other generators were apparently keeping it contained.

The only trace of damage aside from the destroyed structures was a plume of energy which leaked out of the destroyed generator and sent out destructive bolts in random direction. The phenomenon was called Othuy by the Seraphim and was often witnessed after the destruction of one of their experimental assault bot. It was a temporary phenomenon which was barely understood even if it was a useful side effect.

Seth-Iavow was about to look away, anticipating that QAI would gloat over the unsuccessful attack, but then the plume of energy suddenly straightened into the air, almost as if someone was guiding it. The alien looked on with a mesmerized expression, his mouth opening in a quiet whisper: “That is not possible…”

The Othuy kept straightening, forming a line that reached straight into the sky like a giant arrow. It then curved like a blade of grass in the wind, its tip coming crashing on the next closest quantum generator and destroying it in a single strike. The detonation sent a large gust of wind that blinded Seth-Iavow momentarily. When he looked up again, there were now two Othuy wavering in the sky.

-----

“What is that?” whispered Melissa, her voice laced with an equal mixture of awe and fear. Both plumes of energy reached into the sky once more before crashing down again, destroying a pair of quantum generators. All three pilots had seen their fair share of weapons, but this was like a natural phenomenon; a prefect storm that was striking with a will of its own.

“I do not know,” admitted Kaeden, his voice filled with admiration. He looked down at his instruments even as he added: “But my readings seem to indicate…”

The Illuminate pilot’s voice trailed off suddenly and both Melissa and Tie looked at him in worry. Kaeden was practically unshakable, but his eyes were suddenly wide, almost as if he had seen a ghost.

“What is it?” asked Melissa in worry, but the only answer that the Illuminate pilot could give her was to lift a shaking finger. Over eight generators had been destroyed so far and the same number of energy strands was wavering in the sky. They twisted and turned suddenly, combining until they formed a single whole. The strand then changed shape, forming the basic outline of a giant hand. The limb then closed its fingers before striking down, pummeling a large number of QAI’s installations and leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.

“Oh my god,” whispered Melissa, feeling both puny and insignificant next to the display of raw power. Kaeden, however, was still pointing his finger towards the base of the energy pillar: “Look at the center.”

Both Melissa and Tie zoomed in on the area and gasped at what they saw. A lone humanoid figure floated within the ‘arm’, its back turned to them even as she directed the attack by lifting her hand and striking down. Her form was semi transparent, but all three pilots could see the shimmering green robes, blond hair and dignified pose.

“The Princess,” whispered Melissa despite herself. Somehow, she had always felt deep down that what she had experienced had been more than mere hallucinations. Seeing the terrifying display of power, however, was not something that she had ever imagined possible.

A second limb suddenly joined the first and both struck down, shattering the dome in a single strike and destroying QAI’s containment field. Pieces of the dome flew in every direction, revealing a giant ball of energy that hovered in mid air. Although it was hard to see, all three pilots could make out the humanoid form that somehow floated in its center.

The figure slowly turned around, her eyes somehow looking at each pilot on his or her screen. It was Rhianne Burke, of that there was no mistake. Her face was locked in an expression of righteous fury, but her eyes softened for a moment as she somehow gazed at the pilots. Her voice then resonated through their heads: “All of you should leave this planet.”

The Princess’ eyes hardened again, a sense of urgency filling the pilots as she completed her request: “Now!”

“We’ve got to go,” said Melissa even as she plotted a course away from QAI’s main stronghold. None of the other two pilots argued with her. QAI’s attack had been momentarily halted and they used the precious time to put as much distance between them and the ball of energy. Stokes appeared on Melissa’s screen a moment later, his eyes wide and fearful: “Mel, what the hell was that?”

“Get some air transports ready for us and then plot a course for the landing zone!” shouted Melissa back. Stokes opened his mouth, but Melissa cut him off before he could say anything: “No arguing; go, go, go!”

-----

A painful ringing noise filled Seth-Iavow’s head even he shook away the dust that covered him. How could he still be alive? He had been knocked to the ground when the Othuy had struck the quantum generator next to him, but somehow the phenomenon had struck with surgical precision. How could such a thing be possible?

The Seraphim managed to struggle his way back to his knees, look up and then gasped when he realized what loomed above him. It was the single largest Othuy phenomenon in existence and unbelievably enough, it was stable. The implications baffled the mind, but Seth-Iavow’s contemplation was interrupted when he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned his head and his eyes widened when he saw the Illuminate Princess standing only a few meters away, her mournful eyes gazing back at him.

A thousand questions popped into Seth-Iavow’s mind, but all melted away as he looked into those eyes and understanding filled him. The Princess had transcended reality and had ascended to a state that the Seraphim had aspired to. She was not part of this existence or the Quantum Realm, but rather existed as part of the border that separated the two. She was closer to a goddess than any could ever hope to be… and she was human.

Realizing the mistake that he had made, Seth-Iavow bowed his head and wept openly.

-----

Although it had been meant as a private moment, the fable meeting between ascended human and Seraphim did not go unnoticed. It had taken a full minute for QAI to bypass all of its damaged systems and reroute its main functions, but it was back online once more and observing the scene through a long distance camera.

The mechanics behind the strange quantum attack still eluded it, but QAI recognized the Princess and immediately identified her as the phenomenon which had slowed down the quantum cascade effect. Such interference would not be tolerated. Although many units had been destroyed during the attack, QAI still had a large number of artillery stations at its disposal and one of them fired a salvo at those coordinates. The explosive shells landed a moment later, filling the area with burning plasma.

There was nothing but dust where Seth-Iavow had kneeled only seconds before, but the Princess still stood, her cloak flowing in the wind as if nothing had happened. QAI was evaluating the failed attack pattern when the Princess’s sad gaze lifted and looked straight back at the far away camera. Her gaze hardened even as information somehow pierced QAI’s artificial consciousness: “It is time for this war to end.”

QAI had no idea how the phenomenon was able to interact with it on such a level, but it would not be stopped so easily.

“I cannot be defeated,” answered QAI back, broadcasting a non encrypted message on all frequencies: “My resources are without end. Everything that you destroy, I can rebuild. The quantum cascade is inevitable.”

Factories went to work even as QAI spoke, pumping out hundreds of mechanical engineers. Without the Alliance pilots to keep it occupied, QAI was free to assign all of its available resources to effect repairs and the engineers went to work, rebuilding over the destroyed surface installations. Although a lot of damage had been done, it would not take QAI very long to complete its repairs. It would take less than an hour to get most of its facilities back online and maybe a few more to recreate the dome, maybe longer if the phenomenon interfered.

Meanwhile, the Princess remained motionless, standing unflinching even as the mechanical city sprung back to life around her. Her gaze was drawn towards the quantum mist as if she was following the fleeing pilots. She soon nodded, a faint smile touching her lips as she heaved a sigh of relief.

The Princess’ gaze then briefly turned towards QAI before lifting towards the swirling ball of energy which hovered in the sky. Without warning, the phenomenon increased in frequency as it started spinning faster. QAI noted the increasing levels of energy with growing concern. The part of it that was capable of emulating emotions briefly felt the same thing that it had when Doctor Brackman had nearly destroyed it all those years ago: “What are you doing?”

-----

“Mel, tell me I’m not going bonkers,” asked Nial even as their air transport touched the ground on the other side of the quantum mist: “Did I really hear what I thought I heard?”

“Quantum gates, move it!” shouted Melissa back, ignoring the question. Foil appeared on her screen next, his face drawn in concern, but somehow feeling the same sense of urgency that they all shared: “Where to?”

“Nearest safe destination,” said Melissa without thinking. Zero brought up the destination on her screen and she relayed it to the others: “Asteroid K22, move it!”

All of the pilots including Stokes and his reinforcements rushed to build their respective gates and then disappeared into them a minute later. They rematerialized on Asteroid K22, a large rocky formation which orbited the same solar system as Alpha Seven. The location had little strategic value, but it did afford them a good view of Alpha Seven. Nial immediately thrust a finger back towards the planet: “Look!”

Everyone switched their view screens and gasped at what they saw. The energy ball that they had witnessed above QAI’s mechanical city was clearly visible from orbit. Even from this distance, they could tell that it was spinning faster and faster. Data flashed on Zero’s screen as the prototype tried to analyze the phenomenon, but Melissa merely stood frozen, her lips barely moving as she whispered: “Were we too late to stop the quantum cascade?”

Without warning, the ball of energy suddenly shifted its course and plunged straight into the planet’s crust, shattering it in an instant. It then dug deeper, causing massive eruptions all over Alpha Seven. The pilots merely stood frozen, their minds reeling from the scale of the destruction as the cataclysmic events only increased all over the planet.

The quantum mist that covered the surface evaporated, exposing the network of lava which erupting everywhere. The cataclysmic event quickly spun out of control and a bright light briefly appeared in the hole that the anomaly had dug before the planet exploded. Stokes eyes widened in horror at the sight of the approaching planet fragments and his hands worked furiously over his console: “Incoming! Get to cover!”

Every pilot scrambled to safety, aware that city sized asteroids would soon be pummeling their location. The odds of survival were slim to none, but then something else happened. An arc of energy suddenly reached out from the core of where the planet had been, caught the chunks from the destroyed world and then reeled them back in.

Every pilot stopped what they were doing, aware that their position and the space gate that serviced their sector had just been spared. They looked back towards Alpha Seven only to see the same energy ball hovering in the center of the destruction. It’s size had diminished significantly, appearing no larger than a distant star from their perspective. Although they could not explain why, every pilot suddenly felt as though they were being watched by a pair of benevolent eyes. A single voice laced with gratitude then rang into their heads: “Thank you.”

Without warning, the ball of energy collapsed, leaving its sector of space empty once more. Every pilot stood stunned, some shaking their heads in disbelief while others tried to think of a rational explanation for what they had witnessed. Melissa turned towards Kaeden and noticed that the other pilot had his head bowed, his lips moving in a silent prayer. She opted no to interrupt the private moment and ran a system check on Zero to make sure that it was all right. The UEF pilot was almost done when her transmitter slowly burst to life: “… To any pilot, please respond. This is Alliance HQ to any out of contact pilot, please respond.”

“This is Commander Melissa Desjar reporting in,” said Melissa as she opened a channel. She was rewarded with the sight of a startled communication’s officer. The man quickly turned to look at someone else on his end and shouted over the tumult: “Sir, we got them!”

The transmission was instantly rerouted to another station and Melissa was greeted by the tired but relieved face of her father: “Commander!”

The General had momentarily lost his composure at the sight of his daughter, but he quickly straightened and nodded in relief: “What’s your status?”

“QAI has been destroyed,” said Melissa, the weariness from what felt like an eternity of fighting finally settling in on her. She pressed a few buttons, making sure that their link to the nearby space gate was fully functional before nodding back: “We’re coming home.”

Chapter 28
Filling the Void

Hundreds of people waited in the hangar, all wishing to see the lone girl who had been the first to put a stop to the war. None of them were fools and all knew that crediting her for so much was a large overstatement and yet how could they not? She was the daughter of Ivanna Dostya, brought into the world by Doctor Brackman, their father figure.

The Cybrans therefore stood in revere silence, looking down as the girl stepped out of the stealth dirt runner with Queren close by. It seemed at first that none would dare break this solemn moment, but that only lasted until Bagby stormed inside the hangar.

“Let me at him!” cried the outraged pilot while shoving everyone out of his way. A pair tried to stop his advance, but Bagby just growled so menacingly that they immediately stepped to the side. The pilot finally cleared his way through the crowd while bringing both fists up threateningly: “I’m going to give him the beating of a lifetime, I swear it!”

“Ease up, Bagby,” said Keith as he suddenly stepped out of nowhere to block the pilot’s path: “He just brought her back safe and sound.”

“That’s not the point!” cried the outraged pilot back while thrusting an angry finger. Bagby fixed Queren with a deadly stare and while the silent Commando did flinch, he still stood his ground. Bagby was about to feint his way past Keith when another figure stepped between him and his target with her back turned to him. Ell looked at Queren, her gaze torn between relief and a feeling of betrayal: “Queren, why?”

Everyone turned towards the Commando who cringed despite himself. Every set of eyes were locked on him and Queren was simply not used to being the center of attention. His gaze searched across the hangar, perhaps looking for a convenient excuse for him not to answer. There would be no escape this time, however, and his gaze turned back to Ell who had taken a step closer to him: “Ivanna could have transmitted her message without ever leaving the node. She would have been much safer if she had...”

Everyone’s gaze went from Ell and then back to Queren, each waiting eagerly to find out how this drama would unfold. Queren’s gaze lowered for a moment as if he was remembering something personal before he looked back at Ell. His voice was soft and laced with so many pent up emotions that no one dared to put his words into doubt: “Because she would have wanted her daughter to have the freedom to choose.”

The Commando’s words forced everyone to pause and even Bagby was shamed into putting his anger aside. Ell and the others had wanted Dostya to unite the Cybran Nation and put a stop to the war while Bagby had struggled all that time to keep her identity a secret. Redfog, on the other hand, had wanted to use her as a rallying banner to push every Cybran to war. None of them had even considered that young Ivanna had earned the right to make her own choice… and Queren had been the one to give it to her.

Queren was right; Dostya would have wanted her daughter to have that choice and Ell soon nodded with an understanding smile. She placed a hand on the Commando’s shoulder and squeezed it gently before moving past him. Ell stopped in front of Ivanna and smiled at her: “Are you all right?”

The child nodded somberly. The news of her heritage followed by her declaration to the Cybran Nation had forced her to mature very quickly and Ell could not help but notice the change even as Ivanna spoke: “Is there any news from my family?”

Putting her doubts and fears aside in order to worry about her family first? Ell could not help but smile, thinking that she was her mother’s daughter indeed. The Chief Medical Officer extended a hand and smiled warmly: “Come, we’ll go search for your family together.”

Ivanna took the hand and allowed herself to be led towards Node Fifty-Six’s command center. The crowd stayed in the hangar a moment longer before slowly dispersing, their curiosity sated. Bagby stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before finally throwing his arms up in exasperation: “Bah! That guy always finds a way to weasel out of what’s coming to him.”

Part of Bagby, wanted to at least punch Queren in the guts for good measure, but deep down, he knew that the Commando had been right. Bagby looked up to the second floor as Ell and Ivanna walked towards the lift and raised an eyebrow when he saw Hitomi rush towards Dostya. The small girl hugged her friend and joined the group as they stepped inside the elevator. Bagby sighed, feeling the last of his frustration slip away from him: “But, I could think of worse endings.”

The cat was out of the bag, thought Bagby as he walked aimlessly through the hangar. Ivanna’s life would never be the same, but at least the galaxy was not falling apart all around her anymore. That had to count for something.

Granted, QAI had made a mess of things. Earth’s political structure was crippled, the Illuminate was shaken and the Cybran Nation was left without a clear leader. All factions had had a taste of the sorrows of war, however, and it had been a bitter reminder of what they stood to lose through apathy. Perhaps that would be enough for everyone to start working on creating a lasting peace once again.

Bagby was still thinking about this when he crossed Kazuo. The Japanese pilot gazed around aimlessly, his thoughts obviously preoccupied with something else. The old pilot went to him and placed a hand on his shoulder: “Hey, are you ok? You look pale.”

Kazuo looked back at Bagby, his haunted eyes betraying what had recently transpired. It took Bagby several seconds before his eyes widened in turn; having just deduced what was troubling the other pilot. There was one more element that was needed for this war to end, something that everyone had forgotten: “Where’s that wife of yours?”

“There was something that she had to do,” answered Kazuo cryptically, unwilling to discuss the issue with anyone.

-----

She had to know…

They had called, summoning her back to the Assumpta Node, but that was not why Valerie had come. If her master was gone… then she had to see the body.

Redfog had been given up for dead too many times, often with lethal consequences for those who had wronged him in one way or another. Valerie needed to make sure, even if it was just to report the news back to Node Fifty-Six. A part of her, the part that had been proud of calling herself an Assumpta, regretted seeing the node in such a state.

Civil war had exploded over who would become the next Redfog and corpses now littered the streets. Most were due to infighting; killed by small arms, plasma blades, throwing knives or grenades. A few had simply been buried alive, crushed by buildings that had collapsed because of a stray shot from the ACU battle that had taken place outside of the city.

The Generals had fought each other using ACUs while their respective supporters had sought to claim a dominant foothold in the city. The end result was a bloodbath, killing over a third of the Assumpta population, including many of its best elements, and leaving its military horribly crippled. Redfog would have been furious at such a waste…

A shuffling sound to the side forced Valerie out of her contemplations and towards the few people that were walking along the streets. Some wandered aimlessly, their gaze lost as though they did not know who to follow anymore. Others were more practical, moving from body to body while pilfering their pockets for goods or high security access cards. Cleaning up the dead was not a priority at the moment and would be something that only the next Redfog would be able to implement.

A few amongst the survivors were different, however, averting their gaze with their heads bowed while the angle of their bodies suggested which direction Valerie should take. That last display was perhaps the most disturbing of all.

Valerie was not an outcast, having been one of the rare few released from Redfog’s service, but she had no place amongst the node of assassins. Something drastic must have changed for even a few to think of her worthy of respect without her having to threaten anyone. Part of the answer was revealed to Valerie as she followed the direction and came around the corner.

General Rea stood before her, one who had served the newest Redfog directly. While she did not know him personally, Valerie had kept herself well informed. Rea had been the sneaky sort, showing absolute loyalty and an eagerness to serve on the surface while hiding his burning ambitions under a fake smile. Valerie had known his kind; vipers that would strike from the shadows when convenient. This was the kind of man who would have been perfectly unsuitable to become the next Redfog… and judging by what she saw, the Assumpta Node had felt the same.

General Rea’s body was bound to the wreckage of a destroyed Loyalist, his body mutilated nearly beyond recognition. Valerie’s gaze went down and noticed the bloodied pipes which had been used for the grim task before looking back at the corpse. She could well imagine what had happened.

The General had most likely won the ACU battle for dominance of the Assumpta Node, but the cost had been too high. Too many dead had littered the streets and his base of support had been too weak. Rea had probably stepped out of his ACU with exuberance, ready to claim the title of Redfog. Instead, he had been greeted by an angry mob that had fallen upon him, beaten him, strapped him to the wreckage and then broken every bone in his body.

The citizens of the Assumpta Node had probably only realized what had happened once the frenzy had come to an end, leaving them without a clear leader. That… is when they had called her.

Valerie looked behind her and noticed the gathering that was slowly forming in her wake. Some looked at her with fervent hope, others with resignation and a few with jealousy. She knew what they were expecting, but that was not why she had come. Valerie turned her back on them and kept on walking, following the direction of those who were subtly bowing their heads in a given direction.

Although they could not understand her motives, they knew what she was looking for and they wasted no time in showing her the way. Valerie had walked down several streets before she finally found what she was seeking. The stench of death filled her nostrils as she stepped in the burned out section of the city, and her gaze immediately settled on a pair of corpses. Valerie felt a strange mixture of anguish and relief as she knelt next to the bodies.

There he was; there was no mistake. The flames had mutilated the bodies, but Valerie could see the circuitry where the arms had been and both legs, one of which had been horribly twisted, were definitely cybernetic. The broken mask completed the picture, laying only a meter away from the body.

Valerie closed her eyes for a second before looking at the face again. The flames had burned part of the flesh away and the heat had strained the muscles. Ironically enough, it made it look as though her previous master had died with a grin on his face. Perhaps that had indeed been the case. Valerie could well imagine that her master would have felt a certain amount of pleasure at the thought of the world burning along with him.

The pilot’s gaze went to the second body and there was no doubt that this had been the most recent Redfog. Her plasma blade made that obvious as did the elaborate armor that she had worn. There was no doubt that she was dead as well, her throat having been torn open.

Valerie took it all in without a word. Both of those who had held the title of Redfog were dead, killed by each other’s hands. The Generals who would have served under them had then fought over the title, but had failed to ascertain dominance and had died in the process. This left the Assumpta Node without a clear leader and most importantly, without a goal. This meant that a lot of Assassins were now free to do as they willed; a dangerous setting.

A shuffling sound reminded Valerie of the people that had been following her and she slowly lifted her gaze. They were over two hundred of them, their faces covered in dirt, but their eyes unwavering. One of them, a man in his forties who had the bearing of an Assassin, took a step forward and nodded: “You came.”

“I did,” answered Valerie just as briefly. The Assassin stepped aside, revealing a boy who had been standing behind him. He placed a hand on his shoulder and then roughly urged him forward. The boy did as instructed, revealing the package that he had been holding behind his back as he did so.

It was a plasma blade, but not just any kind. This one had belonged to her master, the design clearly marking it as such. Valerie studied the unsheathed blade for a moment before looking at the boy again. A horrible cut covered his left cheek and a look in his eyes confirmed that he had just lost it all. The part of Valerie that had been nurtured by her husband wanted to comfort him, but she knew better than to show weakness now. The boy walked within a meter of Valerie and then knelt down while lifting the blade in a silent offering.

“Lead us,” said the other Assassin suddenly, bringing Valerie’s attention back on him: “You are the only one left that is worthy enough.”

A thousand thoughts filled Valerie even as she glanced back down at the plasma blade. She had been Redfog’s chosen, not as an apprentice, but as a keeper of secrets. The position had granted her power, even when she had left. With so many dead, the few who had clung to the old ways had recognized that they needed a leader to unite them and had reached out towards the last possible candidate: her.

Valerie gazed intensively at the blade while reminding herself what it represented. Prestige, power, status; it was all that an Assumpta could ever hope for. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, the kind that any Assassin would kill for at a moment’s notice, but Valerie was not an Assassin anymore.

The blade promised power, but it was also a curse. While the prestige was great, so was the cost; paranoia, constant tyranny and the promise of one day falling at the hands of her own apprentice. Many years ago, Valerie would have grasped the blade without hesitation. Now, she only had to think of Hitomi in order to feel loathing for the weapon. Her daughter deserved better than that and yet… what choice did she have?

If she did not take the reins of power than someone else would. How would the Assumpta Node be used then? The war or the promise of conflict had been what had held the node together, so who would they fight now?

Valerie slowly bent down and picked up the blade from the boy, the gazes of many lighting with fanatical zeal as she did so. She then looked back to the crowd even as her left hand worked the controls along the pommel: “You are looking to me for guidance,”

It was a statement and not a question. Valerie gazed uncompromisingly across all of those gathered in front of her, making eye contact with each of them. This had the dual effect of inciting a dose of fear and determination at the same time, exactly as a Redfog should do. Valerie waited until she was finished before speaking again: “The path before you will be hard and I will not tolerate any compromises… those that will follow will have to make unthinkable sacrifices.”

“We are ready,” answered the Assassin who had ushered the boy forward. He smiled viciously in turn, his mind no doubt thinking of his possible rise in station. Valerie barely acknowledged him and nodded to the rest of them: “Good.”

Then, with a near casual attitude, Valerie did the unthinkable. She opened the compartment along the handle of the plasma blade and removed its power source. She then plunged the blade into the ground before striking at it at the perfect angle with the side of her hand, shattering it in two.

A collective gasp of surprise mixed with outrage filled the crowd even as Valerie threw the handle of the blade to the side. Her gaze broke no compromise as she glared back at them: “Then leave your weapons and old lives behind.”

Her words hung in the air for a moment before she turned around and started walking back towards the area where she had left her ACU: “Those that cannot should remain here and be forgotten.”

Most of those in the crowd stood frozen, but then the boy who had presented the blade started following. Others joined him in time, falling in line.

Epilogue

And thus did the Infinite War truly end in the year 3856, with the last conflict being commonly referred to as the Trial of the Alliance. There were other battles in the years that followed of course, but none of which approached the same scale. In time, the wounds did heal.

The pilots who had led the daring raid against QAI returned to their respective home worlds and were greeted as heroes. Their example became a testament on how fostering relationships between the factions was the best way to preserve the peace. A new wave of pilot exchange programs was set up in the years that followed. The project eventually branched out to other fields, including analysts and tacticians before it reached other sectors and everyday professions.

Senator Corby remained in office as President only long enough to supervise the next election, one in which he did not present himself despite popular demand. When asked why, he said that QAI’s attack had taught him a valuable lesson, one that he needed to learn from. Earth’s political parties often rose by building on the discontent of its people, he said, and that needed to change if the Alliance was to survive.

Jerome Corby therefore spent the next four years travelling, visiting the Cybran Nation first before making a pilgrimage into Illuminate territory. He was a changed man when he returned to Earth and presented a new set of ideals based on cooperation, understanding and mutual respect. He was elected to become the next President eight years later with an overwhelming majority and was credited with many positive changes in Earth’s policies.

Former President Hall had fully endorsed Jerome Corby by then. Grievously injured by QAI’s attack, William Hall was left with brain damage and as a result, lost the use of his legs and voice. Treatment by some of the best Illuminate healers allowed him to regain partial mobility, but tragically enough, his voice never returned. His eyes remained alert, however, and history still credited him as one of the strongest military and political figures in the Alliance.

General Desjar remained at his post for the next five years, making sure that the situation had stabilized properly before finally retiring. He spent the following years enjoying the benefits of civilian life, leaving General Weisman to succeed him. The former protégé did an exemplary job, maintaining the strong lines of communications that his predecessor had left behind. Commander Flynn acted as his second in command, taking on a more hands on approach when needed.

Commander Stokes was properly treated for his injuries upon his return to Earth and was decorated with some of the most prestigious awards by all factions. He was given command of his own squad shortly afterwards and was credited with maintaining the peace on the UEF border in the months that followed. His experience during the last battle tempered his aggressive nature and while he remained intransigent, he still dealt fairly with the other factions.

Shortly after communications were restored, Commander Tim Tural was tasked with leading a multi-faction squad to hunt down and destroy the rogue UEF ACUs which had been corrupted by QAI. The endeavor took him four months and carried him all the way to the edge of space where the rogue ACUs were attempting to rebuild QAI’s main processing center. The facility was destroyed before it could be brought fully online and the squad established a permanent presence in the sector to ensure that their work was done.

Melissa Desjar briefly returned to Earth before venturing out again with Foil by her side. The two of them kept working together for the next three years and eventually got married. Soon afterwards, Melissa gave birth to twins boys. One was named Arnold, after his grandfather’s long lost friend, and the other was called Loke. Both fell into their fair share of mischief as they grew up and while they faced many trials, they still came through.

Although Tie stayed at his best friend’s side in the time that followed, he mostly worked with Professor Yoix and her team to unravel the mysteries of the AIs that they had unshackled. Through their efforts, it was discovered that Zero as well as the other two prototypes were only partially sentient and single-mindedly dedicated towards obeying their masters.

For a time, Alliance command, fearing another QAI, insisted that all three prototypes should be disassembled, but Tie opposed the idea, stating that work in that field could very well be instrumental in tracking QAI’s rogue ACUs. His suppositions proved correct and the intelligence that both he and Yoix provided proved instrumental in the drones’ destruction in the months that followed. It also allowed them to develop new countermeasures to make sure that no prototype could ever operate without the guidance of a pilot.

Years later, Tie returned to his home in the Chimera Node and worked alongside his people to broaden their horizons and open them to the outside world. His efforts proved successful and helped many Chimeras become more sociable… relatively speaking.

Nial also worked alongside her friend, but after several months of patrolling, she grew bored with the lack of action. She therefore took another assignment, working in the new pilot exchange program and doing her best to ‘welcome’ new UEF and Illuminate recruits in the full tradition of the Red Skull Node. The program proved highly successful and opened new horizons, but left the bartender known as ‘Bob’ highly antagonized. He was quoted saying: “Bagby was bad enough, but at least the structure was still standing by the end of the night!”

As for the mysterious and ever elusive Bagby, now that his secret was exposed, he took a more active role in young Ivanna’s life. Although her adoptive parents were reluctant to let such an exotic character influence their daughter, they recognized his intent and soon welcomed him with open arms. Bagby spent the next year building a wooden boat by hand and one day, he sailed across the seas with his young ‘granddaughter’ by his side. Two years later, Bagby disappeared, a note saying ‘gone to fetch booze’ left at his boat.

Where had Bagby disappeared to, no one knew. Some said that he stole an ACU and went searching for adventure, others that he was warped to another dimension and a few dared to say that he was not really gone, but was instead watching them all from the shadows. What do I believe? As strange as it sounds, I chose not to find out, letting the mystery stand so that my imagination can run wild instead. Maybe that is how Bagby should best be remembered.

The thirteen volumes that Bagby had written stayed idle in his database for twenty years, forgotten. They were rediscovered by a young Cybran doing maintenance work and, after the spelling mistakes were corrected, were published across the Alliance. So far, the books have generated eleven movies, fourteen video games, a space opera, a moon’s volume in useless merchandise, three theme parks – including Bagby’s unending roller coaster rides – and generated trillions in revenue. To this day, mementos are still being dropped in front of the Hot Plasma bar with hopeful messages like: “he’s alive… and with Elvis!”

Slate kept working in Node Fifty-Six’s command center right until the end. The Chimera kept an ever watchful vigil right up to the venerable age of one hundred and forty-six. He passed away while sitting in his seat, his eyes staring unblinkingly at his screen much like he always did.

While tragic, Doctor Brackman’s death forced many Cybrans out of their old ways and incited them to increase their implication in every day dealings. While the doctor would have been dismayed at the near collapse of the Alliance, he would have been overjoyed at seeing his children take a hold of their own lives. His death also removed him as a symbol which had fed many old hatreds dating back to the Infinite War… and paved the way for a new ruler.

Ivanna Dostya, daughter of the pilot of the same name, found her family soon afterwards, safe and sound. While her life would forever be changed by what she had learned, she chose to rise to the challenge and embrace her destiny. She rededicated herself to her school work and soon excelled in her studies. She became a notable figure by the time that she reached twenty and took an active part in Cybran society.

In time, Ivanna became a new symbol for her people, seen as her mother’s daughter and Doctor Brackman’s spiritual successor. Her efforts did much to stabilize the Alliance and open new lines with the UEF and the Illuminate. By the age of thirty, she was decorated with the Heart of the Princess, the most noteworthy dedication that the Illuminate had ever bestowed upon a Cybran. While she faced many challenges, Ivanna could always call on Keith, Queren, Sjet, Ell and Bagby for help. Some friendships are so strong that they last even longer than a lifetime.

Keith and Ell, with no children of their own, adopted a young boy and girl who had been orphaned by QAI’s last attack. They cared for them as if they were their own and soon, they became a real family.

Sjet returned to work as a school director and word of his exploits soon spread around. Those who had seen him in action during QAI’s attack swore that he was one of the ‘coolest drivers ever’ and elevated him to the status of a hero. Grades rose sharply as a result, leaving their parents very happy. Although he never publicly admitted it, Sjet once confided that while he was glad for his newfound success, that he still missed his student’s daily booby-traps.

The silent Commando known as Queren returned to the shadows not long after the events on Alpha Seven. From there, he worked on creating a new Cybran secret service, one dedicated towards averting disasters that could cause another war. He was never very far from Ivanna, however, whether she knew it or not, and kept a protective vigil over her.

Valerie left the Assumpta Node with over half of its surviving members following her. She and her husband Kazuo created a new node called the Red Protectorate which combined the displaced assassins with survivors of the destroyed Jade Node. While Valerie’s rule was harsh, it was also fair, and the node gradually evolved, forming a new breed of highly trained and dedicated bodyguards. The work proved grueling, but two generations later, the node was finally recognized by the rest of Cybran Society and earned its place. Many seeking martial arts training now go there, aware that the lessons will be rough, but that the results are worth it.

As per Valerie’s promise, what remained of the Assumpta Node gradually faded into history. Many died by the hands of other Assumptas in the civil wars that followed. Three other individuals tried to claim the title of Redfog, but all were found murdered less than a week later. While I regret the loss of life, I must admit that I am not saddened by such an ending.

The last true Redfog was omitted from the history books, most preferring to forget him altogether. The lives that he had touched were forever changed, however, and none could truly ignore that, including me. Even now, I chose to remember him not as a vile monster, but rather as the fury that inhabits us all. He was a twisted mirror, showing us all how far we could sink if we allowed ourselves to and that lesson is a precious one.

Unlike what was popularly believed, QAI was not fully destroyed on Alpha Seven. A total of twelve other independent modules went online at different times, threatening the galaxy in one way or another. None of them ever managed to cause as much destruction, however.

Ninety years later, the last of QAI’s iteration was destroyed at the hands of a Cybran, one who was only known as the Tip of the Spear. Having dedicated his entire life to this goal, the Cybran finally allowed himself to rest, aware that his father’s children would now truly be free.

Back in the Illuminate, Iole was vindicated of any charges concerning the death of the two Illuminate pilots. Thanks to Commander Deana’s involvement, Iole had managed to reach the council and play her part to stop the war with the Alliance. In time, she was promoted to the role of High Crusader, an honor that she bore with humility and respect.

Kaeden, returned from Alpha Seven a changed man, both because of what he had done and what he had seen. He first spent the next month making amends to the families of the two pilots that he had been forced to kill. While doing so, he accidentally fell in love with a priestess and joined the order when it became clear that the war was over. There he told the story of his experience on Alpha Seven, of how he had witness the Princess of the Illuminate crush her enemies with a sweep of her hand, but only because she had no other alternatives.

Kaeden’s following involvement in Illuminate society did much to rectify some of the imbalances that separate men from women, a prowess for which I am very grateful for. His tactical brilliance, both on the field of battle and on the podiums, invariably drew comparisons between him and the former Avatar-of-War, but in a positive light. Soft whispers echoed through the halls of the Illuminate, stating that Kaeden was the person that Avatar-of-War Marxon should have been.

Weary from so many years of fighting, Rhiza eventually stepped down in order to enjoy a life of peace back in her home village. She left her position to Kathy Istan, formally my Champion and now a symbol of truth and justice. Whenever she felt any doubts, Kathy could always turn to Evaluator Reue who acted as her spiritual and moral compass during various dilemmas.

Thalia took charge of the revived pilot exchange Program on Seraphim Two. While her lessons were strict, she made sure that her students had enough leeway to express their cultural differences, even if it meant playing heavy music through our elegant ballrooms so that her Cybran guests could ‘jump’ to the beat.

The UEF prototype known as Zero remained faithful to its pilot for the decades that followed. While still only half sentient, the original prototype maintained that small spark which made it seem more alive. It always recognized its limits and never attempted to act beyond its original programming. However, it would never let anyone else but Melissa Desjar pilot it. When the inevitable eventually happened and its master died of old age, Zero flashed its databases and permanently erased itself from existence.

Some say that Zero recognized its own potential for full sentience and chose to end it instead of embracing a scenario which would endanger everything that its pilot had struggled for. I choose to believe that if there is an afterlife then Zero chose to follow its master and keep protecting her right until the very end.

While none of the Seraphim survived the battle on Alpha Seven, their efforts did not go unnoticed. Although they had been helpless to intervene, those who had waited in the Quantum Realm had worked tirelessly to prevent a quantum cascade from occurring and saw first hand the ultimate sacrifices of their own. Most importantly, they saw Xtraci fight alongside humans and this gave them pause.

The Seraphim switched back to an observant role in the following decades, keeping a close watch over humanity as the last embers of the Infinite War died down. Some hoped that humanity had changed sufficiently and others that if war explodes again, that it would not spill into their realm. I keep watch regardless, ready to remind them of the folly of war should they forget.

As for I? I have played my part and I must now take a step back and allow humanity to find its own way. I am now the guardian between the quantum and heavy realm and I will gladly shoulder that burden. Even so, I will keep watch and remain hopeful that humanity will one day be free of the war that constantly rages in its own hearts.

I have now finished telling the story of the Infinite War, from beginning to end. Learn from it what you can and I hope that like me, you will always nourish your faith in humanity. My name is Princess Rhianne Burke. I wish you harmony and for you to find your own way.

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FIRST (Finally)

Thank you, dots. Thank you so much.

As everything is about to come full circle nature runs its course.

This made my day, thank you Dots! Can't wait for the first chapter!