The Planet

by Skyler Grant

  Everyone else was in battle armor. It was a good thing.

  The power projector cannon teleported them into a swamp, greenish-yellow water loomed over by thin twisting trees. It took all of five seconds before a massive reptilian beast that looked like a giant crocodile tried to take a bite out of Hot Stuff. A pair of fire blasts from her hands blew huge, smoking holes in it.

  "I hope that wasn't a local," Hot Stuff said.

  "I kind of hope it was. We don't have any reptiles in the empire, always liked them," Sylax said.

  Another of the beasts popped up from the water going after her. Sylax’s claw reached out and drove its talons through the skull, ripping out the brain and throwing it off into the distance. The water became a maddened flurry where it hit.

  "This place sucks. Why is every place you take me to always trying to kill me?" Ophelia said.

  "Maybe it is you? Maybe the entire universe just wants you dead?" I said.

  Really, what was she whining about? Nothing had tried to take a bite out of her yet.

  I was getting a scan of the surroundings. Venus really was a wealth of Bio-matter. What I could do with this world. There were also signs of extensive bio-engineered structures in the distance.

  There were a lot of things that tried to kill the team over the next hour. I counted some thirty-one distinct species that made an attempt. I don't know if I'd ever seen Sylax happier, she just seemed alive when there were things trying to murder her.

  It was after an exhausting period of slaughter when we finally neared the structures. Towers of yellowish material rose into the sky. I believed it was actually wood. They'd engineered trees to grow structures directly.

  Familiar flying creatures surrounded us. I recognized them from the assault on Earth. Offensive drones capable of delivering multiple plasma blasts.

  They didn't attack, simply swarming around the party for a time before most departed, and one circling the party and moving away before returning, repeating the motion. It wanted us to follow.

  "They make their cities out of trees? Weird for people that use superheated plasma as a weapon," Hot Stuff said.

  "There isn't a thing built you can't tear down, if you put your mind to it," Sylax said.

  "This is all going to end up with me getting dissolved in acid or something, isn't it?" Ophelia asked.

  The flyer led the way to one of the towers. Vines that draped the trunk shifted aside to expose an entryway as we approached.

  Dissolving in acid definitely seemed a possibility. If so, she'd live. They'd all live. With Ophelia present it would take a lot to kill the party, it was the only reason she was there.

  The corridor angled upward, eventually coming to a large chamber. There was someone waiting for us, human mostly, his skin with a greenish tinge. He was dressed in mimicry of the current fashions on Earth, although the colors were all in shades of yellow and green that were unpleasant to the human eye.

  "Welcome," he said.

  The voice was a little breathy, but the words were human.

  "Why can everyone look like us and they can talk to us?" Sylax asked.

  "The inhabitants of Venus can't, that was why they made me. I am something of a test model that was made to exist on Earth after the climate had been altered. You may call me Vince," Vince said.

  "You need a more alien name," Ophelia said.

  She was one to talk, coming from a people that usually had names to reflect their abilities. Ophelia had always been a bit lacking there.

  "The point is to not have one," Vince said.

  "So was the plan to exterminate humanity or change them?" I asked.

  "Change," Vince said. "Our anti-psionic technology has some unique requirements in terms of life. We couldn't protect your planet as it was, so our goal was to alter it."

  "You might have mentioned that," I said.

  Vince gave a wry smile. For a mimicry of a human they'd done a good job. "They didn't know how until they made me and that took time. Their minds are very different and they don't observe reality in quite the same way as any of you do. I wasn't complete until our terraformers had already been destroyed and you launched weapons at this planet."

  I had tried to bombard them with crystal-enhanced nuclear weapons. It had only seemed fair.

  "You survived that," I said.

  "They are not normally stirred to quick action, but when peril is imminent they have ways of responding. They are not happy to see you here and you'll be asked to leave shortly. You've a few moments to discuss whatever you came here for," Vince said.

  "Is this where I get to say join the empire or die?" Sylax asked me.

  "We politely decline both options," Vince said with a strange primness. "We suggest you not force the issue."

  "We have encountered an entity calling itself the Scythe. We believe you know them and know how to deal with them," I said.

  "We have encountered them," Vince said with a tilt of his head. "I'll tell you the story. Then you must go."

  40

  Vince stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking more comfortable than a human normally would at such still posture.

  "Your planet was the first source of life within the solar system, although not with your species. The Ixani dwelt within your oceans, roamed the stars, and ultimately grew tired and returned home to their slumber, but not before planting the seeds of other life," Vince said.

  "Good thing we got rid of the oceans," Sylax said.

  That hadn't exactly been deliberate and I had every intention of bringing them back, eventually.

  "The next were those you called the Mercurians. They were a creative people who made my own even as Mars developed its own life and has much in common with the Ixani," Vince said.

  "There was a war I take it. Or is murder on a large scale a purely human invention?" I asked.

  "It is not. The Martians pushed outward from their world and waged a great war against us and the Mercurians. Eventually we triumphed, and with our skill in altering life we managed to make them into a more peaceful version of themselves," Vince said.

  That was probably a crime against nature of some sort. I was hardly going to be one to judge them for that. I'd modified the Gobbles into something far different than how they'd started.

  "There was your mistake. It is dangerous to leave your defeated behind you," Sylax said.

  "Advice you're fortunate the empire has never subscribed too," I said.

  "Then the Scythe entered the solar system. A psionic parasite that moved to take over the most powerful species in the solar system, the Mercurians," Vince said.

  This was finally getting to a subject I cared about.

  "And Mercury fell," I said.

  "Not exactly," Vince said, with a shake of his head. "The Mercurians figured out a way to stop them, or at least to confine them. They invented a technological phage that could infect any intelligence with a physical form. Compel them into obedience. They allowed the Scythe to infect them and trapped them inside their own bodies. They then ordered their entire planet to sleep," Vince said.

  It was bold, noble, and obviously a failure. The Mercurians were no more, their world empty and dead. Still, it must have had some effect. The Scythe no longer seemed a purely psionic threat.

  "You and your people seem sub-standard work. Their heroic sacrifice was another thing they screwed up?" I asked.

  Vince narrowed his eyes at my drone. "They succeeded in trapping the Scythe inside their bodies. This prevented them from taking the whole of a species at once, and even from taking full control of a mind. They can influence, but are left far weaker than they once were. But no, the sleep command did not work. The Scythe wanted physical bodies and eventually found a way to get to Mars hoping to exploit the Martian’s psionic gifts. We had left the Martians harmless and they were easy prey."

  "Then when team Earth kicked their asses they went on over," Sylax said.

  "They're trying to do what they were made to do, although
they are far weaker than they once were," Vince said.

  Weak or no, they'd still managed to change the development of all life in this solar system.

  "Not weak enough. But you have a way to protect yourselves from them," I said.

  "We are masters of our own biology. In part with our psi-blockers, in part with our mastery of our own physiology, the Scythe have no way to gain a purchase with us. We had hoped to offer your people a similar protection, but that time has passed," Vince said.

  "So do I have a Scythe for a hand or one of your creators?" Sylax asked, holding up her metal claw.

  Vince frowned at the sight. "One of the few remaining Mercurians. There was some on Mars who aided in the alteration of the Martians. When Mercury was attacked they were not affected."

  Sylax's claw was an actual Mercurian then, or what was left of one.

  "So, I killed it?" Sylax asked.

  "To be honest we're not sure. We think that you incorporated a part of its essence somehow, but we're not certain how. We've not seen such done before," Vince said.

  I had an idea how. Like so much else that was probably a result of crystals, Sylax had a close connection to the Agate and that link had been especially strong when she'd killed the dragon. Anna's powers had also been demonstrated to be increasingly vampiric as a result of one of her crystals, a gift that had obviously been passed on to Sylax. It meant she'd somehow absorbed a part of what the Mercurian was.

  "We need your help to fight them," I said.

  "We tried to help you. You killed our people and you attempted to destroy our world. We are not unsympathetic, but we will not be aiding you further," Vince said.

  "Perhaps you missed how convincing we can be?" Sylax said.

  "Despite what you think we did not come to Earth prepared for war. If we had, the outcome would have been different. We wish you well, but we will not be assisting. If you ever fix your problems we would be interested in knowing you better," Vince said.

  I might not have wanted a fight out of Venus, but I was prepared for one. I'd brought my heavy-hitters for a reason. There wasn't much that Sylax couldn't tear limb from limb one-on-one and if I unleashed the safeguards on Hot Stuff she'd leave the entire city a smoldering ruin.

  I never got the chance.

  A flicker of distorting space and the entire squad was back on the teleportation platform of Earth.

  I didn't have a way to get us back without a teleportation gate. It was the Venusian’s doing. They hadn't shown that ability before, but then I was also limited in the size of what I could transmit. Regardless, I'd gotten some answers. There would be no help coming from Venus.

  41

  It was still days before the Martian Arks would arrive at Earth when the Omega team called me with results to report. It wasn't a total surprise, the group was far too dangerous for me to not be keeping a close watch on them. Of course, they were also very talented at avoiding my surveillance.

  I wasn't going to deal with another auditorium full of Omegas, so this time I just met with the Primes.

  "So, what have you got?" I asked.

  "First of all, you're going to want to kill the others. They're too dangerous to allow out there," Vardok said.

  I didn't disagree, exactly. I'd known all along that the Omega teams were a risk. That was why I'd kept each tower isolated.

  "Your cruelty and self-loathing is noted," I said.

  "He isn't joking. The other Esmes are terrifying. I always wondered what it would be like if I went wrong. I guess I usually go wrong," Esme said.

  "That isn't you, they aren't even wrong. I've shown them the very worst of this world and made it clear they know who is to blame for it," I said.

  "Guilt doesn't suit you, Emma, and the risk is too big for your self-indulgence," Martine said, with a glare at my camera.

  Is that what it was? I couldn't dispute the scientific contributions that came from my Omega teams. Were they partly driven by my guilt as well? It was possible.

  "I'll think about it. What do you have?" I asked.

  "The Venusians weren't lying, first of all. Their psi-blockers are specific to their environment. That doesn't mean they're useless to us," Esme said, tapping at some keys.

  The team had been busy. The Venusians had used some specialized microbes to aid in the attempted terraforming of Earth's atmosphere, and they'd combined our technology with theirs. The bacteria created could rapidly change an environment although at an extreme energy cost and some rapid genetic degradation.

  "For use against the Martian Arks," Vardok said.

  Obviously, although it might have some uses on Mars as well. Although we'd managed to liberate most of the surface of the planet, a few concentrated areas of Scythe presence remained stubbornly persistent.

  "This is going to be difficult to execute. We'll need to actually get Bio-reactors aboard their vessels," I said.

  "And access to their life-support systems for distribution. It will be a challenge, but we're not done," Vardok said.

  "We didn't figure this one out, I had to have Caya have a look," Esme said, bringing up another display. This one was just math, a lot of math.

  "That looks like the Mercurian subversion routine. Planning to brand your other aspects and put them to work in a lab?" I asked.

  Esme frowned. "I hadn't thought of that. Taking all their will would make them far less dangerous. Still, they are also geniuses and might find a way to turn the whole thing back on me. You really should just kill them. Anyway, I think we figured out where the Mercurians went wrong."

  The Mercurians had practically wiped out their entire species with their attempt to control and contain the Scythe. The math wasn't giving me a lot of answers, although of course wherever I checked the numbers it was flawless. Caya did know what she was doing.

  "Does this involve them not being genocidal enough? Why is it you humans are so fond of genocide?" I said.

  "Everything is trying to wipe us out. We're just better at it," Esme said.

  Bloodthirsty, and mostly true.

  "They forced the Scythe to be resident in their bodies and executed a mental shutdown command. What they didn't take into account was the psionic nature of the Scythe and how that impacted memory storage," Esme said.

  I was partly psionic, partly organic, and partly electronic. My original processing core was electronic, although after absorbing a power crystal I'd communicated with my drone network partially psionically, then later upgraded myself to utilize organic components. When I'd blown up my original Laboratory I'd found myself transferred to the control systems of an airship just taken, purely by psionic means.

  "The Mercurians ultimately deleted themselves, but since the Scythe were largely psionic their memory storage survived and they simply took over the bodies again after the execution of the command?" I asked.

  "From what we can tell that isn't quite accurate but is close. It hurt the Scythe quite a bit, their capabilities pre-wipe versus post-wipe are sharply different. They have impartial control of their Mercurian bodies and interfacing with an organic system is not really a matter of seeking a stronger host, but one of necessity," Esme said.

  That was intriguing.

  "So, what do you want to accomplish?" I asked.

  "We seize the Arks and infect their life-support systems to spread bacteria to alter the environment, enable psionic-abilities, and dissolve human flesh. This will isolate the implants in a non-psionic environment, where we then hit them with a more targeted command," Esme said.

  It was a solid plan—tremendously difficult to execute, but a solid plan. If the implants really could be isolated and erased, the Scythe would be wiped out quickly.

  "Leaving us the Martian Arks," I said.

  Martine gave a wry grin. "Oh, the Arks are a tame prize here. Nothing is going to protect us even having eighteen space-worthy vessels, not with an alien fleet on the way, but the real bounty here is the Mercurians."

  Esme nodded. "We can't bring them back
from the dead, although I wish we could. Scans show no trace of their memory patterns although we may have some from their corpses. But even Mercurian bodies are a treasure trove of their own allowing for organic manufacture and alteration far faster than your own growth vats or upgrade chambers."

  I was again reminded of the use of the Omegas. Esme was right, I could use the Mercurians to give myself quite an upgrade.

  42

  Hot Stuff had yet to hit one of the Martian Arks with one of her shots but I still kept them firing relentlessly anyways. With the Scythe backing them, the Sedara aboard might be resistant to stress or exhaustion. If not, I lost nothing by keeping them constantly on edge and wary.

  Still, I needed a plan now more than ever as to how to approach those invading vessels. The Omega team had given me a solution, but making it work was going to be a challenge. To implement what they had planned would require a boarding action, getting up-close and personnel.

  They were scan-resistant and I couldn't teleport teams aboard. A space battle had to happen.

  The Space Juggernaut project was coming along well. I now had twenty-four of the vessels ready for combat and they were the most formidable fighting machines I'd ever constructed.

  Space Juggernaut

  Crew: 18,000

  Energy: Forty-seven Tier 8 Heavy Bioreactors

  Shields: 158,000 MUK

  Armor: Tier 8 Self-Regenerating Bio-armor

  Weapons: 4 Tier 8 Heavy Energy Cannons, 2 Tier 8 Mass Drivers, 16 Point Defense Turrets, 48 Tier 8 Stinger Fighters, 12 Heavy Wasp Bombers

  I'd built the Space Juggernauts to survive in a hostile universe, but when I was constructing them I couldn't know quite how the universe would be hostile. I'd done my best to preserve the versatility that worked so well in the battles on Earth, a combination of both energy and kinetic weaponry as well as energy shielding and regenerative armor.

  The Juggernauts couldn't just deal out damage but could take it and quickly repair themselves. Furthermore, with the biological systems and growth vats aboard they could theoretically remain in space indefinitely. Even without some sort of accelerated engine design these ships could take us to the stars—eventually. They were built to survive the long trip. Even very long ones.