Then Tyber raked the black ship with an intense, wheeling, concentrated assault. Peppering it with close up, rapid ion fire.
Thanks to Alala, it’s ion cannons were even an improvement on the models the Corps used.
The attacks blasted off a few of the tentacle cannons or appendages. They exploded, rocking the black ship slightly. But the effects were still minimal at best.
The Darkstar looked like a lesser bird darting in and pecking at an eagle.
Alala and Tyber turned back to fighting the gray ship, having better luck damaging and slowing it down.
But in the end, the black ship formed another custom-made wormhole.
Both vessels vanished from the scene into it.
Any remaining Corps ships quickly fled as well.
Despite heavy losses on both sides, the battle was still the first major victory the Spacers and their allies had managed during the new war.
Along one part of the front, they finally succeeded in halting the relentless enemy advance.
The new shields worked somewhat, but they could still be improved upon.
And the enemy allies of the Corps had finally showed themselves, and were open to analysis now. Intel had a wealth of data from the battle to explore and analyze.
Naero gave command of the flagship and the fleets over to a vice-admiral whose name she could not recall. She vacated the command chair and went straight to Klyne’s medbed.
“How is he?”
“Fair,” the medtek said. “No serious injuries. but the stun gas has a delayed micro toxin that is virulent and deadly. We’re neutralizing it now. We almost didn’t catch it.”
Klyne began to come around.
“What happened, Klyne? What were they after? I thought at first it might be you, our High Admiral, and all of your tactical and strategic knowledge.”
“I thought so too. But they never even tried to grab me. My people and I put up one hell of a fight, but they still killed almost everyone. What the hell were these things?”
“Anyone missing?” Naero called over to the vice-admiral. “All crew accounted for, sir?”
The vice-admiral nodded, double-checking her pad. “Forty-seven casualties. Thirty-nine KIA. Eight severely wounded. All crew accounted for.”
Naero looked around suddenly. A terribly bad feeling crept over her.
“Not everyone,” she said.
“Where’s Hashiko?”
34
All along the extended front of the war, the Spacers and their new allies used their fixer clouds and the knowledge gained from the Battle at Nightshade-3 to implement the new shields and tactics. They ground the conflict to a temporary halt.
Heavy losses grudgingly forced the mewling emissaries of the Gigacorps to agree to meet and discuss terms for a ceasefire on all fronts.
For the time being, all forces on both sides of the war remained stabilized, poised to unleash all out hell once again.
And both sides took a breather, analyzed their strategies, and plotted their next courses of action.
The negotiations with the Corps quickly degenerated into a circus, serving mostly as propaganda flooding INS with the usual, heavily-slanted pabulum and insanity.
It also gave both sides a chance to regroup and re-supply their forces.
Naero used the time to contact Master Vane directly, and attempted to reach Baeven.
While she waited for replies, she rejoined Tyber and attempted to use teknomancy to merge with Alala and learn the tek secrets of the ion cannons, once and for all.
They met near the secret sections of the ship still blocked off from the crew. Naero and even Alala still struggled to bypass the intense security and open those sealed and shielded hatches.
Tye and several eager teks waited to help inspect the tek for the ion weapon systems up close.
Naero smiled at him. Zhen would be proud.
He and Alala made a great team and did well together.
“Tye, you look good in your captain’s uniform and rank. Good to see the cutlass at your side.”
He grinned. “And now my pay grade’s above Zhen’s. Pretty good for a tek monkey, huh? So, how’s my gal?”
“As snippy and opinionated as ever.”
“That’s why we love her so.”
The hatches popped open.
Naero stepped in. Tye right behind her.
Alala spoke over the ship’s com.
Immediately, an incredibly bad feeling swept all over her.
What in the hell were they walking into?
Om’s alarms also went crazy.
Be warned. This tek cannot be breached and accessed directly. The defensive protocols I’m sensing are extensive and self-regenerating and self-aware. They learn from their mistakes. You will not access their data or interact with them the same way twice.
“This is all insane,” Tyber said. “Why would anyone install tek like this on a ship in this manner. How could you ever control it?”
Merged with Alala, Naero gasped and swallowed hard again and again at the data streams flowing through her and the constant battle going on between her, Alala, and the fierce resistance of the sentient ion gun teknology to their teknomancing.
Even with Om helping them, it was touch-and-go.
What the hell kind of tek was this?
Bypassing deep encrypted defensive protocols. Layered self-destruct sequences: bypassed only for a short time. Four point five three standard hours. Long range remote control of the ion gun tek by outside entities–also bypassed and shunted into an infinite, regenerating break down loop to continue infinite cancellation of these noxious protocols.
“The aliens gave this tek to the Corps to use, Tye. But they’ve also done an almost perfect job of making it impossible for the Corps to fully understand, access, or copy and or modify it in any way. And according to what I’ve seen, the aliens still have somehow managed to retain control of their tek, and perhaps even the very ships it is installed on. If I’m reading all of this right. I haven’t teknomanced in a while, so I can’t be completely sure.”
Even Alala had a hard time explaining it to them.
You are correct, Naero. We we’re forced to modify several of the ship’s systems to remain free. It was extremely difficult.
“That is scary,” Tye said. “We’re looking at an entire herd of potential trojan horses here. And we don’t even know what they are. Why would the Corps take a chance at installing dangerous alien tek like this on all of their warships? That is a huge risk.”
“Simple,” Naero said. “They’ve made deals with these devils in order to destroy us. And that has blinded them to everything else. And this tek is extremely advanced. Even most teks wouldn’t perceive these threats or understand them. I can barely make sense of them, and I’m teknomancing with Alala and Om. The Corps might not even fully understand how insidious this tek is.”
Om cut in. Almost in a panic.
Retreat! Get out immediately. A lethal defensive response by the alien tek is about to be–
“Everyone,” Naero commanded. “Get out of here. Back out now. Run for it!”
Tye and his crew broke.
Naero threw up panes of shielding Chaos energy, layered directly behind them as they fled.
She sensed the massive counter-attack that the ion gun tek responded with.
Neither her or Alala could control it.
That very instant, writhing black tentacles erupted out of the walls, ceiling, and floor of the access conduit.
They shattered Naero’s defenses, ripping through them.
They ensnared almost everyone. Including Naero.
Only the two teks furthest back made it out.
They and the security detail drew weapons and fired on the writhing mass. But the tentacles were shielded and took little damage.
Shock charges stunned almost everyone.
Naero gritted her teeth a the seething pain of the charge, shunting most of it harmlessly through her and Tye.
> She’d managed to grab his arm before they were pinned up against the corridor wall.
Then the entire access chamber hummed and pulsed.
Alala, Om. What’s happening? What do we do?
You must create a feedback loop and cancel out their defensive measures. They will phaze you into the walls of the structure and absorb your physical matter and your energies into itself.”
Om, do something. This alien tek is going to eat us!
Already the alien tek began to pull them into the matter of the walls.
Tyber pointed at a control node.
“En! Teknomance through that info and command hub. Try to shut it down!”
Both of them started screaming as the walls continued to absorb them.
Naero fought back, using raw strength and Chaos energy to melt and tear her way free. To free Tyber also.
The other stunned teks were already half-way into the walls.
Yet the alien tek matched her every attempt, stepping up its defenses to pull her back in.
“I can’t reach it!” she cried.
Tye wrapped an arm around it, still clutching her hand. “Do it! Teknomance right through me.”
“It might kill you.”
“We’re dead any way!”
Naero used teknomancy through Tye to tear great rifts through the walls and into the command and control protocols of the alien teknology.
It actively responded with a massive counter-attack. Stun charges and rippling layers of defenses she could not comprehend or keep up with.
I’m going down, Om. Take over for me. Unleash those protocols of yours, damn it. Defend us!
Full function access granted to our current form..
Level 1,946 response. Invasive re-routing and–
Just do it Om! I’m numb. I’m blacking out…
Naero had a sense of Om using what seemed like a controlled explosion of tek to match the alien assault wave for wave.
Ribbons of dark, and light energy grappled with the tentacles and pulled Naero, Tye, and the others free.
Om flung them out the access chamber and disrupted the alien ion tek, almost to the point of making it inert.
Once they were out, Alala sealed the security hatches behind them, cutting off hundreds of the writhing, fighting tentacles as if they were living snakes and serpents.
The crew still fought with them, trying to destroy them. A dozen more crew got zapped.
Even cut off from the main unit, the tentacles were heavily shielded and difficult to destroy.
They attempted to constrict and throttle anyone who resisted or was already down.
Naero quickly grabbed onto them one-by-one and disrupted them.
Just touching the vile things disgusted her and gave her a very bad feeling. The tek was that alien and menacing.
Tye struggled to remove one from the throat of a stunned crew member, whose face turned purple.
To her surprise, Tye disrupted the tentacle. It fell to inert, sparking pieces.
Tye stared at her in sudden wonder.
“I…I just teknomanced, En,. I can teknomance!”
Laughing like a maniac, he helped Naero destroy the remaining tentacles.
Later, after the wounded were tended to, they held an emergency planning session.
Om continued to speak to her and feed her data all the while.
The ion cannon tek is heavily shielded and obviously actively protected by a seriously advanced sentient knowledge base. It cannot be duplicated or installed on any vessel without a heavily coded set of advanced permissions from its originators.
Without them, the tek will defend itself most vigorously, as we have seen. We will not even be able to get near it. Let alone garner its secrets. If need be, it will even detonate as a last resort, destroying the ship and all on board. I’m amazed that Alala was able to shunt its defenses aside so that she could use her ion cannons freely.
Alala spoke next.
This Tek was already installed on me. I have since upgraded it and eliminated several of the most detrimental features, including the self-destruct protocol. But even if you could replicate this tek in its current version, any ship you install it on would not be able to modify or bypass its virulent defenses without my advanced intellect.
“I concur,” Tyber said. “Alala’s intimate knowledge of her own inner workings is unique. Only she could modify and bypass this dangerous alien tek. This tek is therefore far too advanced and dangerous to be of any use to the Clans in its current variation. Frankly I’m still flabbergasted that the Corps allowed it to be installed on their fleets.”
Haisha! What they had gained was nearly useless.
“I’m afraid we’re at another dead end here. A dark wall. We can’t take this any further. Tyber, turn the tek knowledge we’ve gained over to Intel. Let them analyze and attempt to find a way to utilize or defeat this alien tek.”
From what Om told her, it was nearly as complex and unfathomable as the KDM. But at least their side could get started on the process.
An urgent com reached Naero from Janosha.
She sucked in a breath.
Things with Master Vane did not begin well. His face grew blazing red with rage, even through his holo.
He proceeded to blame Naero entirely for Hashiko’s abduction or death, whichever it turned out to be.
Thankfully, the voice did not work over com links.
“Why in the devil did you leave her alone!”
“I did not leave her alone. She was safer than I was. I left her on the Intel flagship with Klyne. In the rear. While I went directly into the teeth of a major battle.”
“But what are the end results, Maeris? She has been captured or slain by unknown foes, while you remain unhurt!”
“Exactly. Hashiko herself agreed to stay with Admiral Klyne while I went out to lead my squadron. No one can be responsible for what the enemy chose to do. How could we have known these new aliens would go after her specifically?”
“You should have stayed with her. You could have defended each other.”
“Sounds like you’d have rather had them kill or take me instead of Hashiko.”
“Of course I would, Maeris. Without question. Hashiko is a valuable adept that we’ve groomed for years. A potential Mystic High Master for the future. While you know very well that you are completely expendable.”
“Thanks. It means so much to me every time you tell me that.”
“Why should I lie about the truth?”
“Sure.” Chaos jerks.
“Hashiko is an immeasurable loss. I demand that you and Intel do everything you can to locate and retrieve her.”
Naero sighed.
“We’ll do our best, Master Vane. I want to get Hashi back. But there is a war on still. Doesn’t it mean anything to you that we helped stall the enemy advance?”
“Don’t kid yourself, Maeris. It will all heat up again, all too soon. This phony respite will last no more than a month or two.”
“I’m afraid I agree with you there. The Corps and these new alien allies of theirs are biding their time. But we have to use this time to the best of our ability.”
“And free Hashiko.”
“If we can. If we can find her. We don’t even know who or what these aliens are. Where they come from or where they took her when they fled. It’s a little scary that they had access to such incredible power sources on board their ships. They can create wormholes at will and vanish. And they also showed little concern for the outcome of a major battle.”
She paused and thought about it more.
“Actually, they seemed more bent capturing Hashiko than anything else. Why would one Mystic matter so much to them? What does it all mean; why would they want her so badly?”
Vane threw up his hands in frustration. “You’re the one there, you moron. You figure it out and tell me. Leave figuring out the alien motives to the strategists. Just find Hashiko, by any means necessary, and bring her back. Preferably ali
ve.” He broke off their link abruptly.
Naero clenched both fists tight.
Part of her did feel responsible for Hashi.
“By any means necessary,” Naero repeated.
35
On the third day after the battle, the Clan Fleets held their wakes for their heavy losses.
And a steady stream of caskets shot into the nearest star.
Naero and her people still mourned the loss of brave Captain Ruiz and all of her fine crew aboard The Obsidian.
Merely one ship that was lost.
One among so many.
Yet for weeks since The Fifth Spacer War began, the Clans had endured such losses or worse, on an almost daily basis.
For the time being, the insanity remained on hold.
Ceasefire talks droned on for maddening days of folly and grandstanding by the Corps on INS. It was all a stupid show.
Naero watched them here and there in simmering frustration, while Intel struggled to find out what was really happening and gain some kind of advantage.
She met with her friends, and the other officers of her command on board Captain Chaela’s The Ajax. The old reliable battleship shaped like a flattened hexagon, with dual, rapid-fire spinal guns sticking our of each juncture of its hull.
Keeping with the ship’s theme, the main conference room was also hexagon-shaped. Twenty meters wide and ten high. Light green bulkheads and blast panels open to reveal the stars.
Not a smart room but with a newly installed nanofloor, table, and chairs. Which most Spacer captains preferred as a standard feature.
Chae and Saemar were present.
Captain Tyber begged off from the meeting in order to see to some personal matters with Dr. Zhentisa. With the lull, Tye invited her over to inspect his new ship and his captain’s quarters. Zhen had smiled and claimed that she was going to give the good captain a physical or some such.
Her two friends had never been apart for so long. Months as it turned out, what with the war and all. The meeting was not mandatory. She had granted their requests gladly.
Naero called her murmuring officers who were present to order.
Spacer Clans Adventure 2: Naero's Gambit Page 24
