by Skyler Grant
I’d been waiting for the perfect moment to steal the Agate. I analyzed where the fights had progressed since I’d gone offline. Shield control had been reached and the team was nearly to Weapons control. The fight for the bridge had gone poorly and several Righteous had been reduced to piles of goo by well-aimed shots from time-shifting snipers.
I could say that with the Sword of Light closing on Aefwal I’d been forced to take steps to bring it out of the sky. But there wasn’t a one of them that wouldn’t question that. Asking how I’d done it, what I might have seen or learned in engineering to make it happen.
If Vattier had hacked me through the ship’s AI then I should be able to do the same in reverse. I reviewed my system logs and tracked back the connections.
And I was expected, that much quickly became clear. I was being allowed to walk into certain areas of the systems too easily while others were impressively well-defended behind puzzle barriers that it would take even me some time to crack.
I was getting tired of puzzles.
I didn’t have access to navigation. I had limited access to Weapons control for both target selection and intensity. I had a surprising amount of access to environmental control systems, more than would seem necessary. I had limited access to the jump drive.
They were all pieces of a puzzle I was meant to assemble into a solution to accomplish my ends and, if I were smart enough, I could unlock even more pieces. I didn’t think I’d need them. A plan was coming together with what I had here and although it would be tight, I thought I had a real chance at achieving multiple objectives.
Before any of that I needed to get all teams in place. Helping the Righteous capture the bridge was a priority.
With access to the ship’s sensors I knew exactly where the Boreas snipers were and even with their ability to time-shift I had Gunslingers with chain-guns. A few carefully placed teleports and I cleared the way with the snipers having no space to maneuver out of harm’s way.
“Good work,” said one of the Righteous as they stepped past the Gunslinger onto the bridge. It was a sweeping and cavernous room with an absurd number of screens showing readouts of all sorts. “We’re in motion.”
I took over the drone. “How talented of you to be able to gather the barest basics from a navigational display. It is no wonder the Righteous have been so successful at putting reality right. And yes, the ship is closing on my city, can you do anything to assist?”
I knew they still wouldn’t be able to. The navigational controls were in a locked area of the system.
A Righteous technician sat down at one of the consoles and tapped at the keys. “If I’m reading this properly they’ve locked out helm control. I’m attempting to override.”
They were talented, I gave them that. They attempted to gain access to the evasion systems and to use a short-range burn to put us off course.
“Negative. I’ll keep trying. We’re on automated systems so if I can trigger the collision alarm I can probably get us to set a new destination,” the technician said.
I wondered if they were looking for a job. The Righteous kept proving both inconveniently willing to wipe out of existence while simultaneously being very competent at anything put in front of them.
I didn’t think that they would succeed here though and I switched over to another team.
Caya had finished with the park rangers while I’d been down and made her way to the Weapons control. As a high security area it had more of the drones like I’d encountered in engineering, but it seemed she had neutralized them by shooting out all of the local sensor arrays. I could still see through my drones, but the ship was blind in this area now.
“Negative on exploding the warheads in mounts,” said one of her technicians.
I slipped into a drone. “This is Emma. What is your status?”
“You went absent, we kicked a lot of ass, and according to ship’s sensors we are now on our way to your city. We’re trying to disable the ship’s weapons before we get there,” Caya said.
From what I could tell she was being sincere there. It was unexpected, while she’d helped me once Scholars were almost always out for themselves. We might be an ally against Boreas, but we were a threat as well. Many Scholars would have been content to let Aefwal be reduced to rubble and to deal with the consequences later.
“I’m under attack. I have Boreas’ agents loose in my city. Thank you for doing what you can,” I said.
“It’s the decent thing,” Caya said.
I wondered if human perfection was some counter to the worst effects of the crystals. Caya wasn’t quite like any of the other Scholars I’d met. Whatever else happened here I needed to make sure she and her people came through this alive.
194
I lost contact with three-quarters of my surviving team that accompanied Oozelord to the shield emitters. It was betrayal. He had timed it well and by using pseudopods to throw my forces against a wall managed to breach their protective shells and let his ooze reach them.
I teleported the survivors a short distance away.
This disrupted my plans. It wasn’t really a surprise that Oozelord would grab the opportunity to try to seize the Sword of Light, but it was inconvenient timing. I’d thought he’d have captured his section first and then offered to help securing the bridge.
The Sword had found its way to Aefwal and targeting data was flowing through the computer. The scanners were seeking out sustained energy sources emitting a particular pattern. The dimensional barrier—it was seeking the equipment powering it.
Given the strength of the scanners on the Sword of Light it didn’t take long for them to locate it. I was able to scale down the first blast of power. Even so an energy beam tore a skyscraper in half and I had fifteen thousand drones that would need to go back to the vats for rebirth.
I was being allowed limited interference in the systems, but not enough to fully blunt the offensive. If they brought down that shield the other factions would be able to bring in more ships. I didn’t need a massive aerial battle over Aefwal.
A second shot tore through the fundamental of the city, opening a hole towards the high-energy regulators that I was using to power the effect.
An airship, it would have to be. The Bioreactor wouldn’t be capable of the sustained energy requirements of the shield, but I might be able to manage rapid pulses. That would provide shielding about ninety percent of the time. It would have to do. I made the alternations and killed the emitter in Aefwal just as the cannons were charging up for a third shot.
The targeting computer moved on instead to blast apart one of my bigger defensive arrays. I wasn’t troubled, at the moment I didn’t have the power to run them anyways.
I switched back to one of my drones on the bridge where the Righteous were still trying to gain control of the ship.
“We’ve got a problem and your hapless monkey flailing isn’t helping,” I said.
“We’re most of our way through the protections for the lateral thrusters. I know it is little comfort but we think we’ll be able to divert the ship in twenty minutes if you can hold out that long,” said the Righteous Commander.
It wasn’t all talk. They really were good at this.
“I wish you had that long. Oozelord has betrayed us and subverted my forces. He’ll be coming for the bridge,” I said.
The Righteous exchanged looks. Only six of their team was still standing.
“We’re low on ammo. Can you contribute any aid?”
Of course I could, but it wasn’t in my best interest to do so. I didn’t want the Oozelord to seize the ship, but I didn’t suit my ends for them to know what I could do here. Even if killed to the last man today, the Righteous would rise tomorrow. Their stories would remain.
“A few of my forces survived his betrayal. I can slow them down, but I don’t have anything to stop him,” I said.
The Righteous Commander nodded and they began to establish a defensive position. Fortunately most of that
work had already been done by the Scholars.
If there were a fight for the bridge, it might give me just what I required to justify the Sword of Light’s destruction.
I switched over to my drones with Caya’s team in Weapons control.
“We’ve got issues,” I said.
“No pretty princess crack? You are upset. We see the guns tearing you apart. We still can’t get control although there seem to be some unexpected power regulations we’re trying to figure out how to exploit,” Caya said.
That was me. I didn’t need them seeing that.
“We don’t have time to worry about that. I need to get you and your people out of there. Oozelord turned on us and subverted my forces,” I said.
“And you figure if he’s betrayed you, then he’ll betray me,” Caya said, tilting her head for a moment. She nodded. “With a prize like this I’m not surprised. It might allow him to settle things against Galapos with a single strike.”
It wasn’t a name I was familiar with, but a study of Sylax’s old records shed some light on things. Galapos was a baron under Boreas with an ability to shield his body in a layer of destructive energy.
“How novel, you have some knowledge I lack. I’d like the details,” I said.
“Galapos razed the city of Perpolis two decades ago. This was before he even joined with Boreas. Oozelord lost his family in the attack, he didn’t have the crystal then,” Caya said.
Missions of vengeance, how trite, how useful.
“Exchange one razed city for another? I wouldn’t mourn Boreas losing an underling, but I wish he’d decided to work with us. Unless your flawless perfection renders you immune from getting slimed on I think he’ll be looking to add you and your people,” I said.
“We’re not immune,” Caya said as she drew a pistol from her hip and blasted the room’s energy regulator. The consoles sparked and died. “Wish we could do more to stop the attack, but we’re not making headway. If you have a way out we’ll take it.”
I could just teleport her off the ship, but it wouldn’t do to let them know I had that ability. So far I’d been playing it up that the ship was disabling my ability for anything but short hops.
I had my drones guide them through the halls towards the nearest section of open hull. I’d be able to extract them with the Graven.
195
The battle for Aefwal was going in our favor. The districts had been built up and staffed enough that the Lords were more than capable of defending their own territory. Powered with the offensive Divine core Jade had already neutralized the threats she faced and had dispatched people throughout the city.
Sylax had assembled her people and come through the jump gate to take up positions defending my central core. While none of the Children of Dust were as powerful individually as a full crystal holder, she had been teaching them to coordinate their abilities and work as a team. This was a stark contrast to the usual Scholar method of warfare where the strong dominated, and while teamwork could happen it was always done cautiously and with an eye towards betrayal waiting to happen.
Right now a group of them were squaring off against a telekinetic and an energy projector. Sylax closed in on a temporal shifter with a dagger in her hand.
It was worth taking a moment to watch. The shifter should be more than comfortable in this situation, but he looked terrified.
“So what iteration are we on?” Sylax asked with a wicked smile.
“I’ve lost count. You’ve gouged out my eyes, my balls, skinned me once,” the man said, exhausted. “Last loop you said if I just surrendered you’d end it quick. Will you?”
Sylax stepped forward and drove her dagger upwards through his throat, a savage twist tearing it out and putting him to death. “Good boy.”
She was without her powers—and I’d just watched her essentially kill a man by scaring him to death. If I ever decided this working relationship of ours was at its end I would need to make sure to kill her quickly and thoroughly. Sylax wasn’t the sort of enemy you wanted behind your back.
Her students were impressive. One girl with the ability to turn herself into some sort of highly durable metal closed with enemies while another poured lightning into her from behind. Her form was thus wreathed in electricity and her punches became instant knockout blows.
They were doing well, but I couldn’t help but to think how I could improve matters even further. A lot of the charge was dissipating and a proper suit would able to hold it better, as well as having built-in communication systems for team coordination and communication.
The Sword of Light was continuing to blast the city with beam cannons. I was dampening the worst of the strikes, but the city was still getting hit hard.
The death toll of my drones was now over one hundred thousand. I’d be able to bring them back, but it was enough to hurt.
Aboard the Sword of Light my drones had led Caya and her people to the exterior hull. It was a fight just to get there, the ship still had defense drones and they weren’t friendly. Just before their arrival I jumped in the Graven and unleashed cannons at close range to tear an opening and extend the ramp.
Caya and her people didn’t hesitate, human perfection at play as they crossed the distance to the ramp with long leaps and precise coordination.
I really should copy their design. Anna was technically perfect in terms of pure stats now but really, no matter how talented the cook, bad ingredients make for ordinary cookies.
Oozelord was meanwhile starting his assault on the bridge. The Righteous had decided to make use of the captured Scholar beam weapons given their shortage of ammunition. It was the right call, the beams seared and drove back the ooze on contact, but there was a slow wave of orange slime now creeping with inevitable certainty towards them down the corridor.
I’d already been periodically using a second airship for bringing over the Bioreactors. Until recently they’d been powering Aefwal and its defenses, but now they were lining up in rows filling the engineering section of the Sword. Getting them over was just part of the struggle, I’d also been working to tie them into the ship’s power systems.
I needed the ship to still have power even after removing the Agate. That had gone more slowly than I’d have liked, the ship’s systems were unnecessarily wasteful with a power source such as it had and I had to bypass a lot systems to make sure the ones I’d be substituting would keep active.
The Ooze took the first of my drones standing with the Righteous, cracking her armor and flowing inside as the Righteous continued to fire.
It was time. My drones opened the Agate’s containment cell and extracted the massive crystal. Surrounding it with four drones I used their combined aura to teleport it to my airship and in an instant had it jumping back into an underground hangar in Aefwal.
The ship’s guns died off, my Bioreactors weren’t sufficient to power the massive cannons. Caya and her people had already left engineering and the Righteous were too busy to watch the bridge monitors. There was nobody there to see the oddity.
The Ooze had taken two Righteous. Their power-resistant aura was enough to handle a droplet, but submerged they fell to the compulsion just like anyone else. My last drone dropped off the network as the Ooze took them and my only means of observing events was through the ship’s sensors.
The last Righteous fell and I dropped the power to the shield preventing jump travel. At my command the Sword of Light jumped out seconds later.
On the bridge all screens began to flash red before depicting a visual of what as below.
Aefwal had been left behind and the Sword of Light was now directly above the city of Orilia—under the command of Baron Galapos, the murderer of Oozelord’s family.
The same principles that had let me block jump travel in and out of an entire band of reality didn’t function as well here. I could maintain the effect with the power aboard, but not for long. That was fine, I only needed thirty seconds to put the ship outside of the limits of a temporal rewin
d.
Every cannon in the city opened up the moment the ship appeared. They had time-shifters present. As always the best way to deal with time-shifters was overwhelming force.
A prompt came up on the bridge screens.
Engaged with city of Orilia.
Do you wish to initialize self-destruct?
Warning: Interdiction field is activated and ships cannot leave the city below. Self-destruct will destroy all residents.
The Ooze rippled and formed a human shape, Oozelord stepping out and just for a moment he glanced at the nearest ship camera. He knew this was me, here at the end he appreciated a move well made. He was laughing as went to the closest keyboard to hit accept.
196
My access to the sensors aboard the Sword of Light faded the moment the field was enabled. Still, I knew what would happen next—what I’d planned to happen next.
The ship would crash into the city. That much kinetic energy would shake the city to its very foundations and a great many buildings would collapse. Then the Bioreactors would go, tearing through the hull of the ship and beginning to reach the civilian populace. My Bioreactor bombs were made to be fueled off Biomass, and in a city of a million they’d have no shortage of fuel.
It was possible there would be survivors but I wouldn’t count on it. There would be just ruins and rubble and in twenty-four hours the resurrecting bodies of the Righteous. They’d probably be interrogated, tortured, compulsed or mind-read, but they’d only be able to tell what they’d seen. Their brave stand against a compulsor attacking the bridge. Further research would reveal Oozelord’s mission of vengeance against the ruler of this city, his personal motivations for pushing this crusade.
Boreas would lose a powerful ally and have none living to blame for the fact. All would mourn the loss of the Sword of Light and the secrets it held, and also quietly be grateful that it had been removed from the battlefield.