Ally or Alien: A Sci-Fi Novel

by Dorian, Mars

  Hull and components merged into the creature and became part of its ever-growing tech body.

  The closer the creature creeped, the more Bellrock's heart hammered. Or maybe it was the excitement to finally engage in combat. eLoom must have sensed his vibes, because her left eye pointed at his direction.

  "I know you are probably sick of our passive approach."

  Pause.

  "Well, based on your military background, you are going to enjoy what will happen next."

  "Stop teasing me and show me your fire power."

  He said it in playful way, but he was indeed wired for the action.

  The battle was imminent.

  49

  eLoom.

  Back in her element.

  Connected to the station, being the station, seeing through its optical sensors—placed around Farsight's exterior hull. She unlocked all unmanned vehicle bays of the facility. The door of the ground hangar slid skyways, the airpad—located near the peak of the structure, retracted its dome hull and released ten launching pads with the aerial UDVs.

  So this was it, eLoom thought on a private channel, all means of peaceful communication have failed so far.

  The human captain, Bellrock, stood to her left and glanced over her shoulder with eyes bulging out. eLoom knew the Earthlings used similar unmanned vehicles which where less advanced units than their Newtype counterparts. Plus, not a single human was able to command dozens of units at the same time—unlike her.

  The perks of cybernetic brains with endless upgradable storage space.

  While coordinating the droid army's launch, eLoom explained her action to the human captain. Judging by his twitching face, he seemed a little bit bewildered.

  "These are our unmanned defense vehicles, called UDVs for short. All of them are equipped with anti-grav technology and defense measures such as directed-energy cannons and smart missiles."

  Bellrock nodded and seemed to smile.

  "I'm impressed. Didn't know you guys actually used any form of firearms."

  "As I said before, it should only be the last option."

  eLoom pre-checked every available unit and sub-divided each droid variant according to their roles on the battlefield. Her array consisted of four highly-specialized main types:

  1) The HVR-Hornet came equipped with a separate firing mount, consisting of two twin-turrets which could fire in 360 degrees, independent of the vehicle's floating direction. They used 35mm Anti-Materiel shells which could penetrate medium-armor and carried two pods with Anti-Air mini-cluster rockets.

  2) The LGR-Wolf, a long-range variant of the HVR-Hornet, sporting less armor and low maneuverability in exchange for tri-barreled cannons with an effective range of up to 500 km.

  3) The ARL-Sparrow, a light aerial droid equipped with kinetic 20mm HV impactor rounds and long-range scanning abilities.

  4) The BMBR-Falcon, a slow and heavy aerial droid that launched armor piercing smart bombs.

  Four variants in total, perfect for any ground-to-ground and air-to-ground combat situations.

  Like this one.

  eLoom focused on the tactical display of the dome screens. They showed live-feeds from the units swarming out the bay. Green triangles depicted their positions on the map. The LGR-Wolf artillery units floated over the ground near the station, extracted their mechanical stabilizers that drilled through the ground for maximum recoil reduction. The long-range cannon transformed on the tank's chassis and tripled in size. eLoom then ordered her HVR-Hornets to target the biomorph in a straight line while the two diversions of aerial droids ascended in a V-formation. Almost every screen in the dome showcased the impressive robotic armada.

  eLoom tilted her head and smiled at Bellrock who couldn't stop gazing.

  "What do you think?"

  "I think it's good you're on my side."

  She giggled. The soldier from Earth seemed to be more relaxed. Maybe the sight of her military equipment calmed him down. After all, annihilating the opposing faction seemed to be the Earthling's preferred choice of conflict management. Quite different from his scientific partner who seemed to share her passion for analysis and peaceful exploration. She had to keep in mind that humans came in variants as well.

  "Are you ready?"

  "Just waiting for you to unleash the fireworks."

  eLoom threw a glance at the worldmap screen.

  Distance to the biomorph:

  277.2 kilometers.

  Now eVax rang her up on the private channel. She had barely noticed her compeer up until now. It was so rare of him to stay in the shadows. eLoom could feel a sense of hesitation, even though eVax tried to block the thoughts that gave away his emotional state. Maybe, just maybe, he was intimidated by the human's presence.

  After all, Bellrock followed the archetype of the alpha personality.

  A character model that few Newtype expressed, even the ones that identified as male.

  eVax mind-said.

  He added a pressing tone, but eLoom ignored it.

  Truth was, she didn't want to do any of this. It had been more than a decade in Earth years since she had used military measures to tackle a challenge. She still loathed physical violence with every active cell of her circulatory system. Especially after what had happened in the last sols. Truth was, making first contact with the biomorph was the most revealing moment of her life cycle. The humans would call it a godlike experience where you connected with the universe and felt part of something greater.

  Pure existence, resulting in a human condition close to bliss.

  Thus, using military technology to keep the life form at bay was the least preferred option, but the human called Dr. Rao was facing death, and keeping him alive with eKazumi's help was the priority.

  His death could mean the end of the fragile alliance between humans and Newtype, and that was out of the question. Besides, with eLoom's firepower, she could eliminate most of the biomorph and still allow the organism to survive. As long as the core remained intact, eLoom could still research this fascinating life form in safety, far away from human intervention.

  But now it was time for defense.

  With eLoom's brain synced to the system, she mind-told her Falcon bomber droids to charge ahead while telling the Sparrows to guard their flanks. The two classes of aerial droids spearheaded in V-formation and targeted the incoming biomorph walker, now 256 kilometers away. Trajectory lines connected the bomb pods with the organism and showed the optimal ballistic line of fire. Hundreds of data points depicting air pressure, turbulences, temperature and accuracy bickered over the target pointers.

  eLoom observed the two men standing flabbergasted to each of her sides.

  "This is it."

  eVax twitched. He mind-talked to her again.

 

  She suppressed that rare feeling inside that felt like a bubbling volcano. How dare eVax accuse her of violent behavior if she had tried so many peaceful methods? What had he done in return, apart from the lecturing?

  Null.

  Nada.

  0.0%

  So she mind-replied back with twice the attitude.

 

  eVax' mind-chat remained idle.

  I thought so, eLoom mind-said.

  She shifted her attention back to the human captain. Bellrock's eyes burned with determination. It looked as if he wanted to swap places with her, controlling the droid armada himself.

  "Shoot that sucker into submission," he said.

  eLoom sighed and stared at the magnified biomorph on her main tactical screen.

  What it is...

  ...is beautiful.

  Mmmm.

  Oh believe
me, fellow life form—this is going to hurt me more than you.

  And with that, she ordered the bomber squadron to unleash their first 'package'...

  50

  The smart bomb fell down in a curved trajectory.

  Contact in T-minus five, four, three, two...boom.

  In the last nanosecond, the walker sidestepped the projectile in dazzling speeds. A blue explosion shattered the crimson ground, scratching off the top hull layers of the biomorph.

  Azure firework.

  SFX deluxe.

  eLoom tried to ignore her feelings for the life form. She pictured a giant wall of fog between her and the organism, as if her droid attack was happening on a planet far, far away.

  Like in a simulation.

  Blue bursts.

  And virtual action.

  But this was just the beginning.

  Every bomber unit in the squadron dropped their 'package' and blew apart layers of the biomorph mech. The ground around the walker exploded; parts shredded into the dusty air. The biomorph closed its impact holes by shifting more of its body mass to the damaged parts. Even during the march, it adapted its tactics.

  What a fascinating organism, eLoom thought.

  It used the former hull of the exploration ship as a smart, physical shield. Since the projectiles were originally built to penetrate armor made from Earth, they caused minimal damage against Newtype hulls. And now the walker responded with an assault protocol of its own: barrels protruded from its openings and spat projectiles at the aerial squadron. Thanks to their automatic evasion protocol, most units avoided the biomorph's volley of needles. The agile ARL Sparrows increased their altitude and escaped the assault, but one bomber was hit by the shards and trailed down with smokey curves.

  The casualty meant nothing to eLoom. She had dozens of units at her disposal.

  All locked and loaded, an unstoppable force of Newtype engineering.

  The biomorph mech walker interrupted its route to the Farsight facility and targeted the shot-down bomber. Hovered over its wreckage and assimilated the parts into its structure.

  eLoom couldn't help but smile.

  It was terrible, but oh, was it also fascinating. All destruction aside, the biomorph was a sustainable organism that transformed trash into technology. Not even the Newtype were that effective at recycling, which she applauded the biomorph for.

  "What are you waiting for?"

  Bellrock's coarse voice interrupted her thought line.

  "Your aerial units are hovering in circles. Attack, attack, attack."

  "Right."

  eLoom, back in the game.

  The top bar on of her tactical screen showed her current memory load-out.

  "521 different tasks."

  The remaining bombers dropped their explosives while the point-defense lasers of the ARL Sparrows heated the space around the heavier needles from the biomorph and imploded them prematurely.

  You can not fool me twice, dear biomorph, eLoom thought.

  Amidst the battle, Bellrock's voice roared from behind.

  "That beast is taking down your bombers."

  Au contraire.

  80% of bombers had survived the assault. They hovered over the moving biomorph walker and unleashed their last bombs before returning to the Farsight's pads for the ammo restock. Back at the base, the munition cases extracted from the platform and fed the freshly-printed explosive shells into the bombers' bays. During the reloading process, eLoom took control of her artillery units, the ones that had drilled themselves into the ground in front of the base. The tri-barrels extracted from their rear and discharged blue javelins that tore through the air in a ballistic trajectory. The first volley of twelve shells impacted the biomorph kilometers away from it. The salvo ripped through the front layers of the armor and hopefully shattered meters of hull. The biomorph tried to avoid the incoming blasts but received over 73% of the projectiles. One rear leg blew up and spat pieces into the rocky surrounding.

  Bellrock clapped his hands like an Earth-based offspring unit.

  "You're kicking its ass. Keep at it, eLoom. You rock."

  It wasn't fireworks anymore.

  It was a blue-struction.

  While the artillery units reloaded, she sent her medium-armored HVR Hornets to the front. In a line formation, they approached the biomorph while firing their twin-barrel cannons at the same time.

  It was working.

  The stats said so.

  Numbers updated in the upper-right corner of her vision.

  The biomorph's speed slowed down to 34.3 km/h. Half its body seemed torn apart. The creature staggered like a wounded animal unwilling to give up.

  A flood of empathy overcame eLoom.

  Please slow down and stop moving toward our direction, and I will stop attacking you.

  But the life form had other plans. It went kamikaze on the HVR Hornets.

  "Watch out," Bellrock said.

  The volleys of the hovertank squad pierced the front armor, but the biomorph construct ignored its damages, and shot its needle gun at point-blank range. The stakes penetrated the armor of the HVR Hornets but didn't cause severe damage. At least not on the surface.

  But then something else happened.

  Every unit that was hit by the biomorph walker disconnected from her CoreCommand. Their avatars blacked out on the tactical screen.

  "Signal lost."

  "Signal lost."

  "Signal lost."

  What was happening?

  eVax chimed in again.

 

  Me too, eLoom thought. But the confusion didn't last. Half of her HVR Hornets rotated their barrels and targeted the remaining units in the perimeter. They opened fire and destroyed two other HVR Hornets with their AM 35mm explosive projectiles. The terror ate through eLoom's circulatory system as she realized what had happened: the biomorph converted her tanks to its side.

  Going full nanobot infection.

  A quick glance at the captain from Earth showed he was flummoxed as well.

  "By the way, the alien's in charge of your tanks."

  "I know."

  eLoom moved into the second line of defense control. With the second salvo of her stationary artillery units buzzing through the sky, her bombers, now filled up with more explosive goodness, engaged in their second attack wave, about to launch their new load. But now the corrupted HVR Hornet tanks opened their Anti-Air rocket pods and spat out cluster missiles. The smart projectiles split up midway through their flight sequence and released a volley of a smaller ones. The point-defense lasers of the BMBR-Falcons took down 85% of the mini explosives, but five rockets escaped the heat and blew up.

  And two bombers with them.

  eLoom hated to admit it, but the explosions looked bluetiful. There was elegance in warfare, at least if you were in charge of superior technology and knew how to use it.

  The Earth captain next to her stood still and marveled at the feast of annihilation.

  Well, that wasn't entirely true.

  Bellrock's widened eyes reflected the colors of the screen. A broad smile painted his lips, as if he was stuck in a wonderful dream.

  eVax however froze to her right.

  He wrestled with his face and didn't know which expression to showcase: one of utter disgust or bewilderment. eLoom wanted to know what was going on in her compeer's head. Thank tech his thoughts were on public now.

  Loom, Loom, Loom, eVax' thoughts said.

  He sometimes dropped her 'e' when thinking of her.

 

  eLoom's thoughts replied.

 

  Besides, destruction was such a loaded term.

  Call it:

  Risk mitigation.
r />   Biomorph growth restriction.

  Human peace treaty enablement.

  But don't call it destruction.

  Boom.

  Eyes back on the main screen.

  All bombers down.

  4 ARL Sparrows and 3 HVR Hornets on the ground left, plus the artillery units in front of the base. The damaged BLDR-22 of the biomorph kept creeping forward, now surrounded by its new squad of converted hovertanks.

  678 tasks and counting.

  eLoom thought, I'm sorry.

  I wish there was another way.

  But your goals and ours, they just do not align.

  Please, oh please.

  Turn back.

  We can live in peace.

  Harmony before hate.

  Stay still and soak up the sun.

  Let me inspect you in mutual safety. Let me find a way to communicate with you beyond cannons.

  Send me a signal, a sign, or anything of that matter.

  Hear me?

  I am still waiting.

  No way. The biomorph BLDR-22 walker launched more needle volleys of its adapted cannons and took out the remaining HVR Hornets with its corrupted brothers, all lined up in front. The wreckages became part of the life form, allowing it to strengthen its arsenal. Worse, they gave the walker additional cannons that could threaten the Farsight facility from a distance.

  No, the life form wasn't stopping.

  Au contraire.

  eLoom realized her prayers vaporized into the void.

  The biomorph was still stomping toward the station while swallowing up every unit in its way.

  Reducing in size, slightly.

  Slowing down, barely.

  eLoom calculated the possible outcome of the battle...

  51

  Bellrock exhaled shallow breaths.

  Not because he was scared.

  Far from it.

  He was: flabbergasted. Flashed. Fudged up.

  Why?

  Because he couldn't believe the destruction porn that played on the dome's surround screens. Dozens of displays, showing the same action. eLoom’s remaining droids fired everything they got. He couldn't identify the exact weapon layout of each unit, but he could see each one carried a specific weapon that complemented its squadron, kind of like an insect.