OMEGA Destiny

by Stephen Arseneault

  I stood as I opened a comm to Dallex. "Colonel, we have AI ships approaching Mayanis, though we don't know how many yet. Prepare the Talisan ships for a sweep out to Jorus. We'll make a stand from there if needed."

  The colonel replied, "On my way to the fleet now. Initial ships should be ready to jump in fifteen minutes. Send me the data when you have it."

  I nodded. "Will do, Colonel."

  I looked at Joni. "I would assume you are coming with us?"

  Joni half smiled. "Yeah, hang on. Let me lock down the house."

  Harden stood. "You aren't seriously going to leave me here, are you?"

  Joni said, "The gravity wall will be down. You can move around the house freely."

  "Please, take me with you. I will die of anxiety here knowing that the AIs are attacking. I may even be of help with suggestions."

  I took a deep breath. "Bring him."

  Joni stopped. "What?"

  "Bring him. He might just be of use for planning purposes. He'll be my responsibility to watch over."

  Joni shook her head. "No, I got him. Hopefully this is a minor incursion and we'll be back before the steaks spoil."

  Harden grinned. "Thank you, AIs!"

  Joni scowled. "Any more of that and you go back in the cage."

  Harden slowly bowed. "I will try to be more sensitive with my outbursts."

  A vehicle was waiting outside. We piled inside and Joni commanded a route to the portal gate. Fifteen minutes later we were racing from one gate to the next.

  Halfway through our journey back to Effica, Jack came over the comm. "Where are you? We'll sweep you the rest of the way."

  Go said, "Klaria IV gates."

  Jack replied, "Got your position. Hold for a sweep."

  Seconds later, we were scrambling to our positions on the bridge of the Garmon.

  Quan said, "Scan data coming in... Sir, this is a major incursion. The direction of the ships will take them past Mayanis. They are heading for the Kergan worlds."

  I replied, "Thank you, Quan."

  I switched comms. "Colonel, it looks like they're targeting the Kergans. We'll be sweeping you out there instead. How many ships do we have ready?"

  The colonel replied, "Six hundred. We should have double that in another ten minutes."

  I turned to Quan. "How many AI ships?"

  Quan replied, "Eighty-two thousand, four hundred fifty-eight."

  Harden said, "This would be their main offensive. What do we have to combat those numbers?"

  I grimaced. "Not a lot. Our Talisan force numbers about two thousand ships."

  I opened a comm to Frig. "Mr. Helgris, we have a major force of AI ships heading for the Kergan worlds."

  Frig replied, "When will they arrive?"

  Jack said, "That trip is about seven weeks by standard travel. We can have all of our ships swept out there in about an hour."

  Frig asked, "And our force numbers?"

  I said, "Two thousand of ours to eighty-two thousand of theirs. We should activate the ships back at Earth."

  Frig thought for a moment. "It would appear to be the necessary move. Colonel, how many Talisan crewman have you trained in the sentinel simulators?"

  The colonel replied, "We have about two thousand in various stages. I would feel comfortable with them manning less than a tenth of that many ships."

  Frig nodded. "Take them through the gates. I will meet you there."

  The colonel asked, "You?"

  Frig smiled. "I am fully capable of commanding a ship, Colonel. I have done it before."

  The colonel grinned. "That you have. We'll see you there."

  Jack began sweeping Talisan ships out to a staging point on the AIs’ path to the Kergan worlds. Two hours after the sweeps began, our ships numbered nineteen hundred eighty-six strong. Another four hundred twelve transports sat at the ready at Dallex. If the AIs made it past our fleet, we would have to turn to our ground game.

  I asked, "Jack, can you portal scan the AI fleet for their position?"

  Jack nodded. "I can do a quick scan for that. They are... continuing this way."

  Harden said, "You might want to follow up with a full scan. Just to make sure none have branched off."

  Jack replied, "Full scan coming up."

  Joni stood beside me as we looked over the holo-wall of ships floating in front of us. "I don't have a good feeling about this. They outnumber us forty-to-one."

  I said, "The colonel and Frig should be here any moment. If those sentinel ships are anything like the ones at Gratis, the AIs won't stand a chance."

  Garrett frowned. "Unless they have a code again. Remember, they took that sentinel computer."

  Go shook his head. "Frig said that code won't work again. It will be different for the sentinels at Earth."

  I said, "I just hope we don't lose a lot of lives. If we can fight them out in deep space, at least we spare any planets."

  Jack pushed the scan numbers to the holo-wall. "Ship counts match. They are all heading this way."

  I leaned back in my chair. "When the colonel arrives, we can plan out our attack."

  Joni said, "Sure wish I had the Stinger or the Thorn. We got the portal ships and we rescued Garrett, but we might have wasted two really good assets."

  Go replied, "The Thorn is still out there somewhere."

  Joni frowned. "Only we don't have a comm to be able to tell its location. It might as well not exist."

  Quan said, "If you would like, the shipyards at Earth are fully capable of reproducing those ships. We only need ask Frig or the colonel to approve their construction."

  Joni raised her eyebrows. "Well, yeah, let's ask!"

  Jack said, "We don't have comm to them at the moment, not until the new QE tags are ready."

  I said, "Jump us to the nearest portal gate. We can make contact through that."

  Jack nodded. "On our way. Looks like the new gate at Odenta is it."

  After a quick jump, a comm was opened. "Colonel, Joni would like a to have a few of the fighter ships like the Stinger built. Is that something the Earth yards can do?"

  The colonel nodded. "Absolutely. I'll put in the command. Probably take a few days, but we have time."

  "How are the Talisans coming?"

  The colonel replied, "I'm thinking we can crew a hundred with another hundred or so in reserve. What's the latest from there?"

  I said, "Latest scan shows all ships still heading toward the Kergan worlds. We picked a spot about two-thirds of the way there. I figured we would want to fight this fight in open space. That will give us time to plan, and time to fall back and re-plan if things don't work out. I'm sending you the coordinates for the staging point."

  The colonel smiled. "Good work. We should be jumping out there in about an hour. We can start our planning then."

  I replied, "We'll be waiting."

  Chapter 6

  * * *

  Frig and the colonel arrived with a hundred forty-seven sentinel ships. Frig commanded one while the colonel commanded another. While both were concerned over the size of the AI fleet, they were equally optimistic about our chance of victory. The sentinel ships were superior to the AIs’ main force battlecruiser in almost every way. We sat in a conference room on Frig's ship, the Destiny.

  The colonel stood in front of a holo-wall display. "We use the Talisan fleet to lure them, in and follow up with the sentinels jumping in from behind before they engage. The Talisans will retreat, drawing the pack ever forward while we devastate them from behind. Given their numbers, this is going to be a long battle, but our superiority should bring us out on top."

  I said, "I don't know, Colonel, last time the Yacabucci and the signal inhibitors didn't do much. Our ships should be of equal speed, but we don't want to engage unless we have to."

  The colonel replied, "The gravity pulsers you just added should give you a speed advantage. And as a last resort, you have the new fermium missiles. With twenty-four per ship, you should do significant damage to t
heir numbers."

  I crossed my arms. "That's only if we can get them within range. And as far as gravity pulsers, the Tamarin had that technology. For all we know, the AIs have incorporated that as well."

  The planning sessions proceeded for most of the day. Jack continued his scans of the approaching fleet. While the numbers were a certain threat, the colonel's confidence worked to boost my own outlook. Was this it? Would this be the grand battle that put a stop to the AIs? Everything after would surely just be cleaning up the strays. I sat back in my chair, listening to the colonel as he talked of deploying individual units and the tactics they would use.

  Quan opened a comm. "Mr. Beutcher, I have the first two dozen QE tags at the ready. Perhaps a jump to Effica to deploy one end is in order?"

  I nodded. "That's probably a good idea, Quan. We can take the Garmon. The colonel has finished up with us and the Talisans. He's focused on the sentinels, and from the looks of it, he will be for some time. I'll be over there in a few minutes and we'll get started on that. Will be good to pick up the newsfeeds about AMP progress again."

  I stood, letting the colonel know of my new mission before dismissing myself. Joni, Garrett, and Go stayed in the briefing. Jack swept me back to the Garmon. The coordinates to Effica were laid in.

  I asked, "Quan, when will the next tags be ready?"

  Quan replied, "Going forward, we should have an additional forty per day."

  I nodded. "Excellent. We can have everything tagged that we had before in less than a week, well before the AIs arrive."

  Jack said, "Initiating jump... and we're home."

  I looked over at Quan. "Enable the tags and give Jack the coordinates to our new bunker."

  Quan replied, "Coordinates coming across."

  "Mr. Beutcher," Quan said. "I am detecting additional AI activity."

  I stood. "Where? How many ships?"

  Quan replied, "It isn't ships. The activity is in the gate system. All gates in the Yallux Galaxy, along with twenty-six—no, twenty-seven—gates in Andromeda are no longer under our control. Sensors show thousands of bots streaming through."

  I said, "From where? That's not possible!"

  Quan replied, "Tracing back through the logs, it appears that Mayanis was the first to be overrun. The bots are rapidly spreading from there. I'm now sensing intrusions in all galaxies. The capital gates have all just fallen. Within the hour, the portals to all systems will be under their control."

  I stood, frozen in what to do for several seconds. "Jack! Sweep us back to the colonel!"

  Moments later I was on the comm. "Colonel! The AIs have somehow landed on Mayanis and forced their way through the gates. They now have bots in each of the galaxies!"

  The colonel jumped into action with a command. "Send the shutdown codes to all gates we still control! And, Beutcher, prep your Talisan ground fighters. We're going to have to take these gates back one at a time. And move it with that shutdown!"

  Jack swept the Garmon back to the gate at Effica. Quan sent the signal through to the remaining portals. In an instant the spread of the AI assault had come to a halt.

  I rubbed my forehead. "How is this possible?"

  Jack asked, "Quan, can we still scan through those gates?"

  Quan replied, "We can. The scanning function is on a channel separate from control of the gate's activation."

  Jack said, "Give me a deep scan of Mayanis. There has to be clues as to how they did this."

  I said, "What's the closest infected gate?"

  Quan said, "The gate to SS241 is under their control."

  I reached over my back, taking my maul in my hand as I said, "Sweep me there. I'll shove them back through. As the colonel said, we take these gates back one at a time. And, Quan, give me one of those tags for the inside of my helmet. Jack, go back and put one on the colonel's ship and on Frig's. And of course one on here. Had our tag comms been up and working, we might have stopped this assault before it got started."

  Several seconds later, I was standing on the deck of Bay-37 on SS241. I powered up through the remaining floors to the gate room. Hundreds of bots, followed by AI masters, streamed through the gate. I broadcast an inhibitor signal, to which there was no response. Out of frustration I swung my maul, blinking in an out as it came in contact with an AI. A third of the bots surrounding me went idle.

  I punched the commands into my arm pad. A quick scan pointed out the four other AIs that had come through the gate. I powered my way to each, taking a swing as I drifted past their positions. In under a minute, the bots on SS241 had been made inert. I returned to the gate, smashing the next AI that attempted to come through. I powered over to the control console and blinked in, shutting down the gate. SS241 was now back under our control.

  I opened a comm to the colonel. "I just took out six AIs and shut down the gate at SS241. The kill switch and the inhibitor broadcast had no effect. I used the BGS suit to take them out without doing damage to the gate or anything around it. I have several thousand idle bots that are now standing around me."

  The colonel replied, "Quan, how many gates have been affected?"

  "Thirteen hundred twenty-two."

  The colonel nodded. "We can handle that. I want everyone with a BGS to start doing just what Beutcher did. We can get this mess cleaned up before having to deal with the AI fleet."

  "Quan," I asked, "how many gates were compromised in Omega?"

  Quan replied, "Twenty-seven, including the gate at Dallex."

  "Jack!" I yelled. "Sweep me to Dallex!"

  Seconds later, I was standing on the landing pad outside of the capitol tower. I powered through the outer wall and into the portal room. With SS241 cut off, no more AIs or bots were coming into Omega. Nine were on Dallex, with only one at the gate complex. A quick trip past it sent its hardware to oblivion.

  I scanned and identified the other AIs by their signature broadcasts. The eight remaining were in and among our ship factory docks. As I powered their way, bots could be seen shredding everything in sight—my Talisan engineers fighting them with blasters. But the bots were relentless in their progress and nearly complete in their destruction.

  I powered to the closest AI, taking it out with an easy swing. Two additional AIs followed, but not before they had destroyed our generator assembly and ion amplifier plants. Both would be time consuming and difficult to replace.

  It took another twenty minutes to catch up to and to destroy the remaining AIs. By the time I had silenced the last, the great factories on Dallex were in shambles. Hundreds of my engineering and manufacturing staff had been killed, including my chief engineer, a Talisan female Go had worked with extensively.

  I asked to be swept to the next closest gate. Jack complied. It was a small colony of three hundred thousand, mostly farmers. By the time I had finished cleaning up, the main silo complex of the capital city had been burned to the ground, taking with it half the colony's food supply.

  Jack said, "I'm sending you to Gratis next. Just saw that it was on the list."

  "Gratis only has a gate to Earth. How'd they get there?"

  Jack shook his head as he performed a quick portal scan. "There are five AI ships on the planet's surface. They must have come in when our QE tags were down."

  "Send me directly to the gate room. And make it fast."

  Jack entered the coordinates. "Unless they have the gate code, they aren't getting through. And we know the exact location now. We can jump there if needed."

  When the portal window closed behind me I stood in disbelief. The portal to Earth was open.

  I yelled, "They got through! Notify the colonel!"

  I charged through the gate with my maul at the ready. The short hallway to the greeting building was empty. I powered through the doors just as the eightieth floor crashed to the ground around me. AIs and bots covered the fields surrounding the rubble. My disbelief soon turned to anger as I glanced up toward the lit daylight sky.

  Thousands of fireballs were falling towa
rd the planet's surface.

  "Jack!" I yelled. "They're bombarding the planet!"

  Jack replied, "What? How?"

  I took a quick scan, sending the data to the Garmon.

  Seconds later, Jack came over the comm. "Mr. Beutcher, those aren't bombs. Those are the remaining sentinel ships! They are crashing them into the ground!"

  I replied, "How do we stop it?"

  Jack shook his head. "I think we're too late!"

  The colonel came over the comm. "What is it? What's happening?"

  I grimaced as I powered toward an AI. "The AIs made it to Earth! The remaining sentinel ships are dropping through the atmosphere and crashing to the ground. The main building is nothing but rubble. Colonel … where were the other clones?"

  "On those ships. Hang on. I'm on my way!"

  The colonel jumped his sentinel to the surface of Gratis, destroying the AI ships sitting in wait. After powering through the portal to Earth, he joined me in the hunt for AIs. Scans revealed seventy-two were on the loose with their bot minions. Small powered craft had been used to attack a half dozen of the other buildings, bringing them hard to the ground. We chased AIs for an hour before bringing their capacity for destruction to an end.

  As I pulled to a stop near the portal gate, the colonel joined me. Seconds later the bright light of the sun shone down on us as the active skin surrounding the Earth was violated from the inside. By the time we reached the AIs attacking Earth's protective shell, large sections were beginning to float off into space. It was the first real sunlight the Earth had seen in nearly two thousand years.

  A massive explosion then took place on the ground just below the gate, collapsing the land for several kilometers in each direction into an expansive crater.

  I asked, "What could they have possibly done there?"

  The colonel winced. "My sensors say they just detonated a fermium bomb."

  We powered down to the surface where a remaining building stood looking over what I understood was the Caribbean coastline. We came to a stop on an outside platform and blinked in.