by Skyler Grant
Unfortunately, based on my study of the crashed vessels, I wasn't sure just how effective they would be against the Martian Arks. On Mars my bacteria had worked well dissolving their hulls. The armor was formidable but ultimately something I could penetrate. The Martians had made little use of energy shielding, but they did use a 'psionic' shielding. That was a source of concern.
From what I'd been able to gather while studying the Martian vessels and speaking with Julasa, the psionic shielding phased incoming offensive energy attacks into another dimension.
The few tests I'd been able to perform showed that with Julasa's people powering it, it worked well, although exhausting them quickly. If the Scythe were able to use it as effectively as the original Martians, it was dangerous, and if given their psionic nature they’d managed to upgrade those systems I wasn't sure my Juggernauts would be able to hit them at all.
Still, I wasn't without ideas. Both the Mercurians and the Venusians had fought Mars and won. They obviously had a way past that shielding and I could deduce what it had to be, the psionic blockers.
Had I the opportunity to construct the weapon systems of the ship anew I'd have built them around the concept. Charged missiles with a psi-dampener core. I didn't have the luxury of completing rebuilding, but I could still work with what I had.
A lot of time designing in the lab and I soon had what I called the Anti-Psi Bubble. It was a grander name than it deserved. They were roughly spherical, housing a Venusian environment and my reproduction of the Venusian psi-blocker technology.
I'd load them aboard fighters and bombers, and use them to clear a path for heavy weapons fire, placing them in the areas of space I expected the Scythe to use their shields. In their vicinity they'd create a dead zone where psi powers wouldn't operate and my shots could pass through.
This way I could clear out any defenses in the way and blast some holes in the Martian armor. With an entry point made I could then send in shuttles. Neutralizing the Scythe vessels would be left to the boarding parties and their cargo of Omega research.
It had originally been my plan to fight the Scythe on Earth where we were strongest. If we were going to try to wipe them out for good that simply wouldn't work. Our chance to really neutralize them depended on a closed environment like the Martian Arks. I'd likely be dealing with a Scythe infestation on Mars for a long time to come, and if I let the bulk of them loose on Earth it would be even worse there.
I kept the Space Juggernauts in Earth orbit only long enough to fabricate the anti-psi weaponry and then had them break off to engage the Martian ships.
We'd meet in space and finish this, one way or another.
43
We were three hours until engagement with the Martian fleet when Caya demanded my attention. Caya was still on Triton along with a population of Flawess that had swelled to over thirty-thousand. They had laid claim to eight of the old Triton cities.
"You do realize that people that actually have to struggle for a living are soon to be in battle?" I said. Caya was in some sort of old Triton industrial facility built into the side of a volcano, bulky angular tech filling every wall.
"I am aware. I wouldn't have called if it weren't vital. I think I finally figured it out, how the Titans destroyed themselves," Caya said.
If Caya had finally figured that out it was useful information.
"It took you this long? You really are slipping these days. Eating that crystal didn't just add ten pounds," I said.
"I look better than ever, as you're well aware. Yes, it took me that long. While the Titans' level of technological advancement on average wasn't on par with ours, they were brilliant mathematicians. They had a particularly strong grasp of dimensional mechanics," Caya said.
Well, I went from mildly intrigued to very interested.
"Then I suppose this hasn't been exclusively a hedonistic getaway for your people. Tell me what you've found."
Caya swept her hand through the air. A holographic interface appeared.
"You've upgraded your display technology," I said.
"Two dimensional screens were too limiting. A holographic interface lets me use three-dimensional data compression for even more information. I've disabled that for speaking with you," Caya said.
Did she think I wouldn't be able to grasp her interface? Well, to be fair, I was going through a two-dimensional camera and I wouldn't. Still, it was rude. I also had to make certain to upgrade equipment around Caya.
"Yes, yes, you are mildly clever. Get on with it," I said.
Caya brought up a depiction of Titan, a satellite view of it spinning slowly in its orbit. A moment later it was surrounded by a corona of energy, the image flickering as if it were phasing in and out of reality.
"You're saying they surrounded their entire planet in a dimensional bubble," I said.
"Familiar, isn't it? That is what we did when restoring Earth to this universe. We even think they had similar goals, they were attempting to change the local physical properties," Caya said.
We had done the same thing to Earth, although there we'd changed the rules under which the planet operated by bringing it to a universe with friendlier physics.
"If it was a colder planet they wanted, I suppose we have to mark the results of their experiment a qualified success," I said.
"Quite," Caya said with a thin smile. "For all it was one that wiped out their civilization and almost exterminated their population. I trust, however, the most interesting bit of that hasn't escaped you?"
It hadn't. What we had done with Earth wasn't something that we were able to repeat. For all that this universe had less stringent physical laws than the one we'd come from, it seemed to have stricter dimensional laws. Our jump drives no longer operated here, and most of the dimensional technology that the Scholarium discovered no longer functioned.
I couldn't have taken Earth back to where it came from if I wanted. If the Titans had managed it, they'd figured out something I hadn't.
"Can their feat be replicated?" I asked.
Caya looked smug. "I was hoping you'd ask. Let's find out."
My connection was severed with Triton including my physical feed to the network of cameras set up, and my drone connection. Triton became a void in the universe for several agonizing passing seconds before it returned.
My sensors were blaring nonstop alarms and I silenced them. The composition of Triton’s atmosphere had altered, drastically, retaining heat far better now. It would take time for the ice that covered the surface to melt, but melt it would.
I reconnected with Caya who was studying readings, the display a mass of data I could barely analyze. It seemed she had turned her three-dimensional data readings back on.
"Not quite intelligent enough to devise a new program, you reversed the original one," I said.
"I did, although it did require a few minor tweaks," Caya said, still sounding rather pleased with herself about the whole deal. "Titan is about to become a tropical paradise. The Flawless are claiming it, by the way. I'd say we deserve it."
"There is an indigenous species, if you haven't forgotten about them," I said.
Caya tilted her head. "True, I'll figure out a way to make them Flawless as well. If the Tritons had just been a bit more accurate in their original programming this never would have happened."
While I didn't fully approve, this was a valuable discovery. If the Flawless wanted Titan this badly I was inclined to let them have it, and if the Titans objected they were free to do something about it.
"Other planets?" I asked.
"Useful for atmospheric adjustment, but not fine-tuned enough to just manifest a biosphere. Give me time, maybe. I figure first you’re going to want to modify the technology to see if we can get jump drives working again," Caya said.
"Do you think that plausible?" I asked.
Caya massaged her eyes. "Honestly? Yes, but I think you're going to need a Flawless to do it. This entire thing is built upon creating a sequence of mathe
matical impossibilities so extreme the universe is willing to pretend you don't exist for a moment. Then, you reappear with different data and force the universe to average things out. Even a minor error has catastrophic consequences."
Caya was making sure she and her Flawless would be indispensable to the future of humanity. We'd see if they were, I could perform my own tests.
44
My fleet started to attract fire as they approached the Martian Arks. The Martian energy weapons had a longer range than mine, and while I could have responded with mass drivers it was best to wait until I was closer and deployed my anti-psi bubbles.
Fortunately, with evasive maneuvering only a few of the shots landed and my shields were strong enough to soak those. If the shields of any individual ship became too weak I could move them behind another in the line of fire and give them time to regenerate.
When we got within range of my own weapons I unleashed a flurry of energy blasts. The goal here wasn't to damage their ships, rather I wanted to test their psionic shielding and give my fighters and bombers cover as they launched.
The Arks were launching their own fighters, stubby octahedrons that had completely useless spikes grafted onto them.
However ludicrous their appearance they were packing powerful weapons. A single hit from one of them was enough to leave a fighter's shields drained. I made suppressing them a priority focus of the first wave of attack as our fleets hammered at each other.
As I feared, the Scythe were able to effectively use the psionic shielding and none of my original energy blasts reached their targets. They were having more success. Blasts of their energy weapons had already ripped away the shields of two of my Juggernauts. For the moment their armor plating was holding.
Nothing unexpected so far, this was just setting things up as I established dominance of the space. My fighters were more maneuverable and numerous than those of the Martians and while theirs were more powerful offensively, my numerical superiority made a difference. They'd lost three fighters before my first was destroyed, a rate of attrition that continued until their diminished numbers started putting things even more in our favor.
It was time. I deployed the Anti-Psi Bubbles. While they dampened my connection to my drones, they didn't dampen abilities. I teleported several into place while shuttles delivered others.
The effects were quickly clear. For the first time the fire from my Juggernauts started to reach the Martian vessels, chunks of their armor drifting off into space as it was blasted clear.
I focused my fire on their engines. I didn't want any ships getting away from us and the more immobile they were, the better it was for the purposes of the next phase of the fight.
As rents appeared in the hulls of the Martian ships I amplified my scanners, aiming them to get a survey of their interiors.
Even a partial scan would do in a pinch, but I wanted to get readings as close to their life-support as possible. That was where my infiltration teams would need to go. Where the battle would be won or lost.
Concentrated fire from Martian Arks resulted in my first lost of a Juggernaut, the atmosphere aboard become superheated under sustained energy fire and the ship’s systems dying as a result.
I had my first solid scan of the life-support deck of one of the Arks. I adjusted my remaining fire, weakening armor on the other ships to better allow my scans to go through. Then I began teleporting in strike teams.
This was the situation where my people were most outmatched. One-on-one my drones were far weaker than Scythe-enhanced Sedara, and even with that the Scythe had a massive numbers advantage.
But then, they were suicide missions from the outset. No drone I sent would be coming back alive, and if all went well given the psi-blockers, they'd not even have memories when I imported them into a new clone.
The important thing was going to be to strike all at once, to take them by surprise, and to act quickly. If the Scythe figured out what we were up to, they'd send more forces to protect the life-support decks.
I had clear teleport paths laid out on fifteen ships, it wasn't enough. The remaining three were taking shelter behind other ships. They must be command vessels of some type.
I put my bombers onto suicide runs. Just before impact they engaged their payloads, direct energy blasts flaring in blooms against the Martian hulls. They had easy access to two of the ships, but the third was proving more problematic. I was forced to really swarm it to get my scans.
That was too obvious and they'd know my target now.
It was time.
Each vessel got ten squads of twelve drones each. They all had an Omega payload and were capable of initiating the required steps if they could reach their target. They were two thousand one hundred and sixty of my best, all backed up prior to the mission, and all well aware that this was a one-way trip. That achieving the mission was of the highest priority.
It was a slaughter, I knew it would be.
Sixty seconds after teleportation I had over five hundred dead. I also had my first reach a target. That squad had been lucky, they'd materialized almost right on top of the target. Bio-reactors and a bacterial pod were connected. I lost connection. That was expected, the atmosphere of the ship was shifting Venusian and being filled with psi-blocking growth.
A second ship lost communication, a third.
The fire from the Martian ships was becoming more sporadic. Aboard them, the atmosphere was rapidly changing and the crew was probably grabbing masks. If I was fortunate they were having more issues than just that. The Scythe were a psionic race and even if trapped in Mercurian hosts, they still seemed to have some use of those abilities. Cutting them off was like me severing connection with my drones, they could still fight but they lost a powerful asset.
I was getting an incoming comm signal from a Martian vessel, the signature was familiar. Scythe wanted to talk.
45
I didn't need to talk to Scythe, but I didn't see the harm. There was nothing he could do to change what was coming. Besides, I liked to gloat.
I created a virtual environment. A laboratory, a containment field. Suitable, I let him establish the connection.
It was only a recreation sadly, this wouldn't really hold him.
Scythe materialized, massive, bearded and scarred. A contemptuous look was given for the containment cell in which he found himself.
"Petty games. You seem prone to them. A defect that needs correcting. You were stupid to meet us out in space like this. We're winning," Scythe said.
It was partly true. I'd lost another three Juggernauts under sustained fire. To date no Martian Arks had been destroyed, but that was by choice. I wanted to take them intact. Still, even had I been doing my utmost to destroy them, I wouldn't have been able to by this point. If this were purely a space battle he would win.
"Yes, yes. You're making a desperate call because you have me in such a bad position," I said.
Scythe let out a chuckle. "Fine, you're right. You discovered those damned blockers and put them to use. You wouldn't be worth conquering if you weren't clever, but it won't be enough."
No, I didn't expect it would be. But then, stage two of the plan was starting to take place aboard the Arks. Rapid-breeding, high-powered, flesh-eating bacteria, mixed with some select samples designed to eat holes in any space suits or breathing gear.
My drones aboard the first ships were dying agonizing deaths they wouldn't remember.
"How do you think this ends? You'll reach Earth and convert me? You'll send a drone army amongst the stars?" I asked.
"Something like that," Scythe said, pacing within the confines of the cell. "I absorb the strong. It is what I am, it is what I do. Your every display of strength is yet another reason why I'm going to absorb you."
The pacing stopped and Scythe twitched.
Yes, the flesh-eating bacteria was doing its work. It had been a close thing on some of the ships, but on all I'd had a squad reach a life-support input. All eighteen Martian Ar
ks were now dead zones for psionic input and on those where the crew still lived, they wouldn't live for long.
"Do you know the most pathetic thing about you? How backwards you have it all. How you still think you are the hunter here. That you are the one who is going to steal my body," I said.
Scythe paused. "You mean to seize these Mercurian shells I am just a part of?"
"Oh, I'm going to do much more than that unless you're careful. For an intergalactic threat you are really very disappointing," I said.
There was no life left aboard the Martian ships according to my scanners. The Omega bombs had done their grisly work. Scythe was still here, and that must meant that he had some sort of hard-wired connection to the Martian equipment. He wouldn't for long.
I triggered the Mercurian erasure program.
Scythe's image blinked out. It wasn't the death of him, not even close. He still had countless implants on Mars. I was even counting on it. I switched focus to one of my Martian relays and sent a comm request on the same channel.
Scythe flickered back in, scowling. "As you realize, this does not stop me. The fact that you have destroyed the fleet means nothing to me. You have delayed the inevitable and made what is to come all the worse."
He still didn't get it. What was it about bullies and invaders that they never realized when the tables had turned?
The first of the purified implants was being brought aboard one of my Juggernauts, teleported there and decontaminated to wash off the host of destructive bacteria. The Mercurian technology was strange, unfamiliar, and after so long hosting the Scythe extensively redesigned to be comfortable for a psionic connection.