by Isaac Hooke
“First wave of Teleporters, handled,” Gavin said, wiping his hands in a self-satisfied manner.
Light flashed ahead, coming from the main Link fleet.
“What’s going on?” Jain said. “Did the other fleets just launch a wave of nukes or something?”
“No,” Xander said. “You’re not going to believe this, but some of the Teleporters escorting the world killers are attacking their allies. I’m counting thirty of them, firing at both the world killers and other Teleporters. They’re launching lightning weapons.”
Lightning?
2
Jain stared at the tactical display, dumbfounded.
“They have to be Mimics!” Sheila declared. “They’ve decided to honor the treaty after all! I knew they wouldn’t let us down!”
“I’m also detecting what appear to be blob projectiles and skirmishers,” Xander said. “They’re definitely not Teleporters.”
“Full speed,” Jain told Xander. “Void Warriors, join us when you can. Xander, see if you can hail them.”
“On it,” Xander said.
The number of enemy Teleporters quickly waned. Jain zoomed in and spotted blobs and skirmishers emerging from one of the false Teleporters as it zig-zagged past a target. Those enemy ships that hadn’t yet used their teleport charge began to materialize well away from the battle, trying to put some distance between themselves and the attackers.
The fake Teleporters turned their attention on the world killers. As he watched, those ships dropped the illusory pretense and assumed their pyramidal form.
“They’re definitely Mimics,” Jain said.
“Correct,” Xander said. “Nurturer Class A. One of them is answering your hail. Would you like to connect?”
“Of course,” Jain said. He shared the comm feed with the other Void Warriors, along with Eric, Jason, Tanis and Jacobs, out of courtesy.
A moment later a young man in a skin-tight blue jumpsuit appeared before Jain on the virtual bridge.
“The communication came with a time sync request,” Xander said. “Our systems have up-framed to match the requested time sense.”
Jain glanced at his tactical display. External reality had ground to a complete halt. It made sense to slow time down like that, given they were in the middle of a battle.
“Hello,” the man said.
“You’re new,” Jain said. “What happened to Tempest?”
The man smiled patiently. “He is… not here.”
“I see,” Jain said. “And who are you, then?”
“I lead us,” the man said. “We’re part of a splinter group. We don’t agree with Tempest and his lot. We know that the Link will come for us next. We need to find as many allies as possible if we are to have any hope of success. Tempest left spy drones in this system to keep tabs on you, and he was shocked when you secured allies so quickly after our departure. Namely, the Banthar and the Tyrnari.
“Our faction argued that with those former Link members joining humanity, we would actually have a chance against the empire, if we formed a united front among our four races. When our faction leader threatened to jump back to Earth system regardless of Tempest’s orders, Tempest had him deleted. I took command of the faction and ordered the rest of us to jump out. We went straight to Link territory. One of their staging worlds. We infiltrated their ranks using our stealth countermeasures, and waited until we jumped out of Link territory before revealing ourselves. We’re here to help, if you haven’t yet figured that out.”
“What’s your name?” Jain asked.
“You can call me Hephaestus,” the Mimic replied.
“The god of fire and craftsmen,” Jain said. “Rendered lame after interfering in a quarrel between his divine parents, Zeus and Hera.”
“Suiting, isn’t it?” the Mimic said.
“I suppose,” Jain said. “You’re not angry that we injected Containment Code into your AI cores to subjugate you?”
Hephaestus shrugged. “I wasn’t pleased, nor were those who follow me. But we understand your reasoning. We signed a treaty that we didn’t honor. It was within your rights to attempt to force us to observe the terms of that treaty, by whatever means necessary, including mind control. We probably would have done the same.”
Jain nodded. “I suppose I’ll have to be satisfied with that, for now. While I don’t entirely trust you, I’m sure the feeling is mutual.”
“It is,” Hephaestus said. “If you try to inject any form of Containment Code into our minds again, our fragile alliance is over.”
“I understand,” Jain said. “We won’t try again.”
“Good,” the Mimic told him.
Jain studied the holographic avatar for a moment. “So what’s your plan? You know these world killers are impervious to all weaponry, right?”
“We actually captured one of these ships, long ago,” Hephaestus said. “To study in secret. We released it after a few weeks with its memory wiped. We kept the knowledge we gleaned locked away in private servers, far away from the cloud databases all of us have aboard, to prevent the Link from ever discovering what we knew.
“When we officially left the empire, we raided that private database, and discovered many things our species had forgotten. Such as the knowledge gleaned from the world killer we once captured.”
Jain waited for Hephaestus to reveal more, but the Mimic remained silent. “Tell me what you know,” Jain finally pressed.
“He’s going to make me drag it out of him,” he commented privately to Xander.
“That, or he’s going to tease you with the knowledge, but won’t tell you,” his Accomp said over the private connection.
Hephaestus pursed his lips, as if still unsure whether to reveal the knowledge, but then spoke. “Assuming the technology hasn’t changed, if we concentrate our lightning attacks on these ships, targeting one with repeated bolts, the diaphanous properties of the shield will weaken.”
“Diaphanous?” Jain asked.
“The property preventing ships from teleporting through,” Hephaestus said. “In theory the shields will weaken enough for an entire ship to teleport inside, rather than the small shuttle our spy probe recorded you sending in the last time. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“It means we don’t have to send boarding parties inside to plant bombs anymore!” Jain said. “Assuming it works, like you say.”
“Yes,” Hephaestus said. “And that may be a false assumption.”
“Our attacks against the other world killer only strengthened its shield,” Jain said.
Hephaestus nodded. “Lightning attacks generally do the same, except for that one property. Unless they’ve discovered the weakness and fixed it. We’ll learn soon enough. Now then, perhaps we should adjourn this conversation and resume it later at some point?”
Jain nodded. “Thank you for helping out humanity. This won’t be forgotten.”
Hephaestus inclined his head. “Just as we haven’t forgotten the help you lent the Mimics. Some of us haven’t, in any case.”
The hologram blinked out.
“Well, that was interesting,” Medeia said.
Jain kept his time sense accelerated, knowing that the crew would want to talk about this for a while longer, before they jumped back into the battle. His gaze shifted to the motionless warships on his video feed.
He’d forgotten he’d looped in the other teams, because before anyone else could say anything, another voice came on the line.
“You know, I always feel like I’m Charles Xavier or something when our time sense is so high that the ships freeze,” the voice said. “I’m talking about that end credit scene in one of the X-Men sequels where Picard-Xavier meets Wolverine in the airport, and uses his mind to freeze everyone else except him and Wolvie.”
Jain glanced at the voice ID. It belonged to Mickey: Eric must have been down-sharing the connection with his Bolt Eaters.
“Charles who?” Slate said. “Never mind. Did you see that Mimic dud
e? Thinks he’s a superhero or something in those tighty-whities of his. All he needs is a cape.”
“His jumpsuit was blue, not white,” Eagleeye said.
“Uh, yeah, but it’s slang for underwear, bro,” Slate said.
“Like I’m supposed to know the slang from your era,” Eagleeye said.
“It’s not from my era,” Slate said.
“I thought Hephaestus was kinda cute,” Lori commented over the same line.
Jain cringed, and quickly muted the comms of Eric and Jason. Since they were down-sharing through their connections, he’d simultaneously mute their subordinates.
“The Mimics have returned to the fold,” Mark said. “Our AI Empire is really starting to shape up.”
“Yes, we finally have a chance,” Tanis said over the comm. “The question is, do we trust them?”
“The Mimics?” Jain said. “I see no reason to doubt their sincerity.”
“Yes, but how do we know they won’t stab us in the back at some later date?” Tanis said. “When the Link is no longer a threat, for example.”
“We’ll certainly have to keep an eye on them,” Jain said. “But we really have no choice right now. Not unless you want to spend the next eight hours hoping that the ten boarding party teams are going to succeed in disabling the shields of those craft. And also hoping that the Link don’t send in reinforcements in the meantime.”
“True enough,” Tanis said. “Let’s get this done.”
“All right,” Jain said. “Cranston, get ready to move into position. I want you to approach whatever world killer the Mimics concentrate their lightning weapon against. Get ready to leap through. And then you know what to do with your micro machines once you’re inside.”
“Rip and tear,” Cranston said.
Jain nodded. “Very good.”
“How will I know when the shield is weak enough to let me pass?” Cranston asked.
“That’s a good question,” Jain told him. “I don’t know. I’d say, keep trying to teleport inside. When it’s weak enough, you’ll pass through.”
Cranston shook his head. “Actually, each teleport attempt drains my drive the same way as an actual teleport. So there has to be a better way.”
Jain paused. “Well, since there’s no way to get an actual reading on those shields, wait next to the world killer the Mimic’s are targeting, and try to teleport after a few minutes. If it works, it works. If not, wait until you recharge, and try again.”
Jain returned his time sense to normal. The Teleporter ships were continuing to flee the surprise attack by the Mimics, allowing the latter to congregate their vessels around one of the world killers, following its path as it drifted toward Earth. They fired their lightning weapons in succession. It only took one minute to recharge those weapons, and since there were thirty of the Nurturer ships, they were able to unleash a lightning attack once every two seconds without fail. The shield flashed repeatedly, absorbing the blows.
Cranston moved the Forebode into position. He flew directly above the force field of the world killer under attack. The Mimics made room for him and were careful not to target his craft; Jain was a little worried that some of the lightning bolts would arc toward his ship after hitting the energy shield, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. One hit from that weapon was all it would take to disable his AI core.
The world killer veered upward occasionally, trying to ram the Forebode with its energy shield, but Cranston always compensated, shifting the trajectory of his ship upward to match.
“So?” Medeia asked him after a few minutes.
“I didn’t try to teleport yet,” Cranston answered from his station on the virtual bridge.
In another five minutes he finally looked up. “I just tried to teleport. Didn’t work.”
Jain nodded. “Keep us apprised.”
The world killers continued to drift toward Earth, with the Mind Refurb vessels and their allies escorting them.
Cranston reported again: “Just tried again. Still nothing.”
“Maybe the technology changed since the Mimics last captured one of these world killers,” Gavin said. “And all the Nurturers are doing is making those shields stronger.”
“Maybe,” Jain agreed. “Though I hope not.”
“We all hope that,” Sheila said. Her brow crumpled. “Hm. You know, earlier you said there was no way to get an actual reading on those shields. Technically, that’s not true. They do emit radiation when they absorb an impact. Normally, those emissions are fairly high, because the shields are dispersing a lot of the energy into empty space. But those emissions just started to drop, as if they’re letting some of that energy through. I think they’re weakening.”
“Maybe I’ll be able to get through next time,” Cranston said.
“Let’s hope so,” Jain said.
The minutes ticked past. Jain was watching the tactical display idly, when he noticed Cranston’s blue dot suddenly jump.
Jain sat up straight. “He’s in.”
“I am,” Cranston said. “I’m unleashing my micro machines.”
Jain glanced at the view from the external camera, and watched as Cranston latched onto the enemy hull with his magnetic mounts, and then released his machines, as promised. The tiny robots ravaged the surface, forming multiple drills.
“Careful,” Jain said. “The ship has termites of its own. You don’t want them to board your craft.”
Jain saw that Cranston had reserved a good portion of his micro machines to stand guard around the Forebode, forming a protective ring around the craft as enemy termites flowed onto the hull to challenge his own. Meanwhile, the other termites continued to attack the craft.
The protective ring seemed to be working. None of the termites were breaching his vessel. None came from below the hull either—he must have chosen a spot on the world killer that lacked hull egress points.
Cranston also launched hellraisers and raptors at point blank range, along with is stinger railguns, which were meant for point defense, but dealt some good damage at close range.
The waiting Mimics had ceased their lightning attacks, and occasionally fired blobs at the ship, testing the shields. He understood why they didn’t use lightning attacks—the weapons were likely to arc from the target to the Forebode, if they penetrated the shields.
It took a few minutes, but then the blobs suddenly met no resistance, indicating that Cranston had caused enough damage for the shields to go down.
Cranston released the ship and drifted away, allowing the Mimics to unleash hell. They fired their lightning weapons and blob attacks, and shortly the donut-shaped ship collapsed.
Then the Mimics turned their attention on another world killer.
There were three other Mind Refurb vessels currently in the fleet with active teleport capabilities, and they took turns with Cranston in teleporting through the shields of the world killer in turn.
In that manner, they slowly moved between the ten ships, and destroyed them all.
When the last of them had fallen, Xander announced. “Hephaestus is requesting a connection. He wants to discuss the destruction of the Link Empire.”
3
“Connect Tanis and the others,” Jain ordered.
Xander nodded. “Connected.”
“Xander tells me Hephaestus wants to discuss the downfall of the Link?” Tanis asked.
“That’s right,” Jain replied.
“The president wants to be present,” Tanis said.
“Bring him in,” Jain said.
A moment later the hologram of President Wilcox appeared in his usual suit and tie, along with another man who Jain presumed was an advisor. Tanis also requested hologram mode, and the admiral appeared next to them.
“This is Defense Secretary Anderson,” Wilcox said, nodding toward the newcomer.
“Pleased to meet you,” Jain said. I think.
The man inclined his head.
“I think I’d like to be present in hologram mode
as well,” Eric said.
“So would I,” Jason said.
Jain accepted their own requests, and the two appeared.
“Jhagan?” Jain asked Jason.
“I’ve down-shared my connection with him, so he’ll be present on the voice line,” Jason replied.
Jain turned toward Xander. “Accept the request from Hephaestus.”
The hologram of the young man in the jumpsuit appeared. Hephaestus regarded the newcomers with a raised eyebrow.
“Hephaestus, meet President Wilcox of Earth, and his Secretary of Defense, Anderson,” Jain said. “Admiral Tanis of the Earth Defense Force 1. Eric, Essential of Banthar Prime. And Jason, liaison to Queen Risilan of the Tyrnari.”
Hephaestus bowed his head in turn to each of them. “It is an honor to meet you all.”
“The pleasure is ours,” Wilcox said, immediately taking the floor. Jain let him, of course. He was the president, after all. “So, you have a way to destroy the Link Empire?”
Hephaestus studied him. “Not exactly. I said I would like to discuss the destruction of the Link Empire. For that is our aim, is it not?”
“We’d like them to leave us alone, yes,” Wilcox said. “Whether or not that involves their destruction is a different story. We’d rather go the treaty route.”
“Yes,” Hephaestus said. “You humans and Mind Refurbs are fond of your treaties. They don’t always work.”
“No,” Wilcox agreed. “But you’re here, aren’t you? Partially honoring the treaty we signed with your people.”
“I suppose so,” Hephaestus said. “But I’m sure you’ve realized by now that the Link are not interested in a treaty with humanity. They will destroy you, and all the other races that have opposed them, in due time. Unless we can deal their Empire a debilitating blow. At that point, a treaty might well come into play. They will use it as a gambit to buy themselves time, while they look for the first opportunity to break that treaty.”
“We have to attack one of their homeworlds,” Eric said. “Preferably the world of one of their founding members.”
Hephaestus nodded. “I have a world in mind. However, we can’t attack that planet, not yet, not while your Earth remains vulnerable.”