The Alliance (AI Empire Book 2)

by Isaac Hooke

  Jain glanced at his Accomp. “Did Wilcox say anything else?”

  “No,” Xander said. “Other than, the president wishes us a good journey, and hopes we can normalize Banthar-Human relations.”

  Jain had to smile at that. That was as close to a stamp of approval for his mission as he could ask for from the president.

  He glanced at his team. “All right, Void Warriors. It’s time to jump to Banthar space.”

  16

  Eric swung the Bethunia II underneath the two Battlestars, destroying the fighters in his path with gamma ray bursts. He raked the undersides of the Battlestars with the micro machine swarm that coated his exterior, and peeled open the enemy hulls like cans of sardines.

  Two Teleporters appeared in his path, and he began evasive maneuvers. He still felt the pain as bombs materialized inside of him, but because of his random, erratic movements, the enemy wasn’t able to hit any critical components. He released a series of black holes at the pair, herding them toward one another. They were forced to collide, and the impact sent up clouds of debris around them, and disabled the ships. He launched a few final black holes directly at them, and the teleporters spaghettified. As he completed his flyby, he launched dispersion bolts behind him to dissipate the black holes. It wasn’t a good idea to leave them orbiting his homeworld for too long. It could adversely affect atmospheric conditions.

  He swooped down toward Banthar Prime, heading toward the Claws that had gathered next to the Vaernastian Laser Pinwheels. The latter had just recharged, and unleashed a wave of laser attacks that ate into his hull. He was still weaving back and forth, but the Pinwheels had powerful targeting AIs, and he wasn’t able to escape the impacts. The wave of rifts from the Claws came next, and he narrowly weaved out of the way of those.

  The Bug Killer came in from the side, launching black holes at the Claws and Pinwheels. The vessels dispersed, moving directly into Eric’s path, and he accelerated. He changed course so that he wouldn’t ram them, and unleashed his micro machines, tearing open the enemy hulls and disabling the three vessels.

  Ten Barbells came down from above, and launched a series of energy grids that formed a sheer wall in front of him. Eric was forced to reverse course completely, and he dove downward, toward the planet, until he was able to slide out of the way of that rapidly incoming wall.

  Then he turned upward, and fired several more black holes until the weapon overheated.

  The ships moved out of the way of those black holes, but more Banthar swooped in to attack with their micro machines. The Bug Killer turned back, darted out of the way of the next series of energy grids, and fired more black holes. Two of them struck an unlucky Barbell, while the remaining ships managed to maneuver away. It didn’t help them, however, because other Banthar had been expecting the trajectory change, and they met the Barbells with their micro machines. In moments they’d torn open another four, and the remaining Barbells turned back to regroup.

  They gathered with the ship types Eric had been avoiding directly engaging so far. The Gralos Reflectors. Those ships could reflect any attack he launched their way. Black holes bounced off their hulls and returned toward the ships that launched them, seemingly defying the laws of physics. Gamma rays were similarly reflected. Even the micro machines were unable to latch onto the hull, and simply bounced away. Eric had no type of weaponry that could harm them. Well, other than all-out ramming—according to the specs he had on them, the only way to damage ships of these types was by hitting them with objects of equivalent or larger size. But he wasn’t willing to sacrifice any of his fleet in such a manner. He wasn’t that desperate. Yet.

  But if he could herd the surrounding Barbells into them, the same way he’d just made the two Teleporters collide, then perhaps he could destroy them without losing any of his own ships. It was worth a try.

  “Banthar fleet, concentrate black hole fire on the Barbells,” Eric said. “Utilize the following firing solutions.” And he drew on the tactical display, giving each ship a different vessel to target.

  “Ooo!” Slate said. “The deviousness of it!”

  “I don’t get it,” Traps said from where he sat on the virtual deck of the sailing ship next to Eric.

  “They’re trying to herd them into the Reflectors,” Brontosaurus explained beside him.

  “Ah,” Traps said. “Won’t they just move out of the way?”

  “Not if they’re hemmed in by black holes,” Brontosaurus said.

  “At least that’s the plan,” Eric confirmed.

  He sent the Bethunia II forward, and unleashed his black hole weapon at the Barbells in the prescribed pattern. The other Banthar, including the Bug Killer, joined him, and together created a light-bending tunnel of death. The Barbells fired their energy grids, but the black holes sucked most of them up, and the Vaernastians had no choice but to change course, flying toward the Reflectors. The latter vessels purposely steered toward the black holes in an effort to reflect them. Eric had anticipated and planned for that in his black hole dispersion pattern. In fact, he’d launched some specifically to reflect toward the Barbells, further hemming them into the path he wanted.

  And then two of the Barbells struck a pair of Reflectors, destroying all four of them. The remainder managed to evade the onslaught. That left three Barbells, and two Reflectors.

  Eric and the others made another flyby, but this time they launched dispersion bolts, cleaning up the mess they’d created.

  The Barbells launched energy grids in an attempt to stop them, but Eric and the others evaded. He turned back and sent the latest firing solution to the Banthar ships, and the next wave of black holes approached. The Vaernastians were smart this time, and quickly reversed course, putting as much distance between themselves and the Reflectors as possible. Too bad.

  The Reflectors purposely hit the black holes, and caused them to bounce away. Eric and the others fired dispersion bolts; one of the Reflectors passed close to Eric, and it launched its close range energy beam. The weapon tore through the starboard side of his ship.

  “We have multiple breaches on decks five through nine,” Dee announced.

  “I know,” Eric said.

  He swung away, trying to put as much distance as he could between himself and the slower ship. He turned toward the Barbells, and launched a series of black holes that the Vaernastians easily evaded.

  He spotted three more Reflectors approaching behind them.

  “Where the hell did those come from?” he asked Dee.

  “Where do you think?” Dee said. “They’ve been coming in from out system for a few hours now, since the reinforcements jumped in.”

  The reinforcements. He’d almost forgotten about them. He’d dismissed them to the extremities of his machine mind.

  He glanced at his tactical display. Seven more Reflectors approached behind the three newcomers.

  It looked like he was going to have to start destroying his own ships.

  No.

  “Banthar, set a course toward the asteroid belt,” Eric ordered. He turned around, and allowed the enemy to pursue.

  Eric was the first to reach the nearby belt. It took half an hour. Asteroid belts weren’t anything like what were portrayed in old twenty-first century movies, with rocks of various sizes filling the view from horizon to horizon. At least none of the asteroid belts he had ever encountered, which admittedly wasn’t very many. Here in the Banthar system, the asteroids were so far apart, that when you were next to one, the surrounding space essentially appeared empty, save for the ever-present stars.

  “What’s the plan?” Slate asked.

  “I think you’ve figured it out by now,” Eric said. “Grab a rock, and throw it at the Reflectors. I’ve got dibs on this one.”

  He headed toward the closest rock and fired grappling hooks into the asteroid. When he accelerated away, the cords grew taut, and one broke. He worried the remaining cords would break, so he ceased all movement and launched his micro machine swarm toward the
rock, forming hundreds more grappling hooks out of the tiny machines, and then tried again. The cords grew taut once again, including those formed by the micro machines, but they all held.

  “Muster with me here, when you have a rock,” Eric said. “We only need about eleven of you.” He randomly selected eleven Banthar ships. “The rest of you, meet at the waypoint.” He created a waypoint about thirty thousand kilometers ahead in the asteroid belt, and accelerated toward it.

  He glanced at his tactical display. The Reflectors had returned to Banthar Prime, where they waited in orbit with the Barbells, as if guarding the planet. Eric’s consciousness was still on that planet, but he had no way of attacking them, not while the land-to-space weapons were still offline, and all the orbital defense platforms were destroyed. He was still fuming about that.

  Those idiot councilors.

  He occasionally hit smaller fragments of rock, which were common in the asteroid belt; they pelted his hull, forming fresh micro craters, but otherwise did no real damager. When he reached the rendezvous point, he waited.

  The other eleven designated ships gathered their own asteroids, and then joined Eric, who waited alongside the remaining Banthar. Then the fleet turned back toward Banthar Prime.

  It took another half hour to return, and when they reached the planet, the Reflectors lined up to block their path. Eric and the others altered course so that they’d come at the ships from the same orbital height, rather than from above, that way the planet wasn’t underneath the enemy—he intended to fire a ton of black holes, and didn’t want them smashing into the planet below.

  When the fleet arrived, he and the others unleashed the planned black hole assault against the two Vaernastians, and dispersed them.

  Eric ordered those Banthar that weren’t towing rocks to engage the Vaernastians. Meanwhile, he and the other eleven continued to approach the Reflectors. The latter attempted to flee, but Eric and the others had superior speed. Even though they all had inertialess drives, the Banthar’s were more powerful.

  Eric maneuvered upward as he approached, and decelerated, allowing his asteroid to swing forward like a wrecking ball. The other eleven Banthar did the same. The Reflectors easily dodged these rocks, which was expected. They fired their energy beams, drilling small holes into the celestial bodies, but otherwise the rocks remained intact.

  Eric rescinded his grappling hooks until the rock was essentially a part of him, and then he set a course directly toward the closest Reflector. He turned around, so that the rock was facing the enemy, and then accelerated, matching the target’s course.

  The moment before impact he released the rock and swooped downward.

  “Reflect this!” Eric said.

  Once again the Reflector tried in vain to fire its energy beam, but did little damage to the asteroid. The rock impacted, destroying the Reflector, and itself.

  The other eleven Banthar similarly attached the asteroids to their hulls, and released them before striking their targets. One by one, they destroyed the Reflectors.

  Meanwhile, the other Banthar had eradicated the remaining three Barbells.

  “That’s the last of them,” Frogger said. “For now.”

  “How many waves was that?” Tread asked.

  “Too many,” Eric replied.

  “I’m detecting another rift opening nearby,” Dee said.

  “Again!” Eric said. “It never ends.”

  “Wait,” Dee said. “The heat signatures of these ships are different…”

  “Different?” Eric said. “Come on, I need specifics, Dee.”

  “I’m detecting a Mimic Nurturer, and several Earth class starships,” Dee said. “I think they belong to the Void Warriors.”

  “Oh,” Eric said.

  “That’s a relief,” Bambi said.

  “Maybe,” Eric said. “Depends what they want.”

  “We did say we’d return to help them, after we were done here,” Crusher reminded him from the deck nearby.

  “Yeah, but I’m beginning to have second thoughts about that,” Eric said. “Considering that it looks like we aren’t going to be done here for a very long time!”

  “Maybe that was the last wave…” Dunnigan said.

  “Wishful thinking, my English friend,” Eric said. “Dee, let me know as soon as the Void Warriors are in range. We might as well get our little talk over with.”

  17

  Jain received the comm request from Eric when he reached realtime communications range.

  He accepted, and Eric’s hologram appeared.

  “Nice of you to show up,” Eric said. “Just when we finally get rid of all the attackers.”

  “I can see the debris in orbit,” Jain said. “Looks like it got a bit rough here.”

  “Rough?” Eric said. “An understatement. Look, let’s not beat around the bush. We both know why you’re here.”

  Jain frowned. “Beat around the what?”

  “Never mind,” Eric said. “An archaic expression from my days. But anyway, I can’t go back with you. That’s why you’re here, right? To bring the Banthar back into the great Mimic-Human alliance? But we can’t leave yet. The attacks keep coming. More ships will probably be here within the hour.”

  “Then we’ll stay with you, and fight,” Jain said.

  “You mean it?” Eric asked.

  “I do,” Jain replied.

  “You’re not doing this because you want the Banthar to rejoin the humans?” Eric said.

  “Of course I am,” Jain said. “Humanity could certainly use the help. It feels like we’re so close to beating the Link. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m telling you, the tide is definitely at our back. Or it was, until the Link forced us apart. So yes, I would very much like the Banthar to return. But it has to be what you want. I can’t force you to do this, especially considering that the cost probably won’t be all that cheap. But in the meantime, I’m here to help you. After I’m done here, I’m heading to the Tyrnari system to see if Jason needs a hand.”

  “That way you can get him to convince the Tyrnari to rejoin the alliance as well, huh?” Eric said. “You consider yourself some kind of war broker, or something?”

  “More like a peace broker,” Jain said. “But also, even if neither of you rejoin the alliance, that’s completely all right. Because we Mind Refurb rogues, we help each other out.”

  Eric pursed his lips, and nodded slowly. “I appreciate the candor. And I kind of feel the same way about helping out. I won’t abandon humanity, though I admit I’ve been feeling a bit stressed lately. I don’t want to leave Banthar Prime until I’m sure it’s safe.”

  “Then stay here as long as you need,” Jain said. “I’ll probably leave for the Tyrnari homeworld by tomorrow, if there’s no more attacks by then. Up to you whether you come or not. By the way, you were supposed to call us for help if the situation became overwhelming here.”

  “Except it wasn’t overwhelming,” Eric told him.

  “But they kept coming, you said,” Jain pressed. “That seems tantamount to overwhelming, to me.”

  Eric shrugged. “We were able to handle it. Sometimes it got a bit rough, yes.”

  “Maybe you’re just too stubborn to ask for help,” Jain said.

  Eric nodded. “Maybe. But I hate owing people anything. Especially for something I can handle on my own.”

  Jain studied the Mind Refurb for a moment. “By the way, have you got the insurrection handled? Maybe that’s something we can help with.”

  “Won’t be necessary,” Eric said. “Dee’s got half the councilors arrested. The rest are still in hiding, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve already replaced the Ruling Council with fresh bodies. These new Banthar are willing and eager to obey their Essential.”

  “That’s good,” Jain said. “I suppose.”

  “It is,” Eric said. “One small squiggle for snail, one giant squirm for Banthar-kind. Or something.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll wait here in orbit then,” Jain said. “
With your permission, of course. We’ll help secure the perimeter of Banthar Prime against further Link attacks.”

  “That’s fine,” Eric said. “You plan to stay until tomorrow if there are no attacks? How long are we talking? Twenty-four standard hours?”

  “I think so,” Jain said. “I don’t want to stay if we’re not needed. Jason could be in dire straits. In fact, I almost want to jump to the Tyrnari system right now, since things have quieted down here. But my instincts tell me I should stay a little longer.”

  “You could always send a probe to his system or something,” Eric said. “And check how they’re doing that way. If it looks—” He suddenly glanced to the side. “Gotta go!”

  Eric’s avatar winked out.

  Alarms went off all around Eric.

  He resided in the virtual reality environment of his planet-wide consciousness. Around him, the wireframe cities depicted on the globe around him were beset by red dots.

  Yet another coordinated attack.

  “The insurrection was supposed to be quelled,” Eric said.

  “We’ve only arrested half the councilors,” Dee said. “And the ringleader is still out there.”

  “The ringleader…” His gaze moved distractedly from city to city. The worst attack was here, in the capital, where his main data center resided. If he lost those buildings, his processing power would take a big hit, dropping by up to thirty percent.

  Gotta protect those skyscrapers.

  He tried to switch to the security camera equivalents he had embedded in the towers, but all of them were offline. He was forced to access the camera on a nearby building instead.

  Outside, the street was literally steeped in sloths. Just hordes of them. The metal machinations covered the neighborhood, crawling over the streets, and across the buildings. All of them were concentrating their fire on the energy shields that surrounded the main data center buildings, and unleashed plasma beams in rapid succession.