by Will Crudge
Kara slapped the node into the port, and then bounced off the cluster of metal and flesh that she’d run straight into. By the time she got her footing, the sounds of straining grunts and whines of machinery had ceased. She looked up to see the incredulous faces of four Soldiers all exchanging glances. The rogue suit of armor was now back in the control of its occupant.
“All clear… all clear.” The audible voice of the soldier’s AI came through. But the tone was one of regret and defeat.
“Gentlemen, Lisa here was infected by a Crimson bug we call a Chimera,” Steve said. “She’s a little battered from trying to fight back, so go easy on her. She’ll need some time to recover. I’ve put her into a standby mode until we can get her some help.”
“Thank you!” David answered. “Can you fix our ship too?”
“Your ship?” Kara asked as she folded her arms and arched her eyebrows.
“That’s why we came here to begin with. Our ship AI went rogue and tried to autonomously engage you’re… vessel.” Davis looked over at the LRF with curious eyes. Then his eyes shifted to Jimma and Sasha.
“Whoa! What the…” Staff Sergeant Kelley spouted. All the UAHC personnel were standing with jaws wide open.
Jimma and Sasha walked up casually. They both smiled at one another while sharing a giggle.
Kara supposed the sight of a War Master and her mount would shock even the most battle-hardened warrior.
“Please allow me to introduce War Master Jimma Alba, and War Master Mount Sasha.” Kara smiled and gestured towards the pair.
“Today is just full of surprises.” Master Sergeant Davis shook his head. “First, our ship AI goes ape shit and tries to engage a friendly Unum craft. While our embedded AI’s went berserk and kept us from doing anything about it. Then second, the last of our ‘non-fucked up’ AI’s goes berserk and tries to kill a legendary figure and her mythical creature... No offense, War Master. I’m just now trying to process the fact that you and your kind aren’t actually fairy tales!”
Jimma smiled and raised one hand with an open palm. “That’s completely understandable, Master Sergeant. Our guild has been very low key for the past few centuries.”
“And please, don’t be threatened by my looks either.” Sasha winked.
“Whoa! It talked! I mean, she…” Corporal Jefe jumped back.
“Hey, dude! I’m not your AI to shake around like that! I’m just in here to help.” Steve jeered. Jefe realized he still had Steve’s node inserted into his armor’s auxiliary port. The Corporal spun around, and Staff Sergeant Kelley pulled the node. She passed it to Kara with a friendly nod, and she then inserted it back into her own armor.
Kara asked.
Kara snapped her awareness back to the present. She saw the Soldiers chatting with Jimma and Sasha as if they’d met a celebrity. Jimma even had her sword out and was explaining the unique metallurgy that went into its construction. Kara didn’t know a molecule from a doorknob when it came to chemistry or engineering, so she pretended to listen attentively.
She waited for a break a lull in the conversation and then tapped David on the shoulder. Her turned to look at Kara, and then stepped away from the others.
“Yes, Major?” The Master Sergeant said.
“Didn’t mean to break you away from all that… I’ll admit it is impressive, but I grew up in Unum. That’s been the guild’s base of operations since the last war, so I’ve known of them for years. Of course it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve ever seen what they can really do in action and I’ve only ever seen a mount from a distance. But I digress…” Kara paused, and David nodded intently.
“So tell me what happened.” Kara got to the point.
“We were passing through Clarendon Station to link up with our squadron flagship at Tangine—” David got cutoff.
“The Hailstorm?” Kara asked.
“Yes, exactly. How did you know?” David asked.
“I passed through there recently. I even got to take a quick tour with your new Fleet Marshal.” She winked.
“New what? Who replaced Acting Fleet Marshal Morgan?” David’s eyes got wide.
“You didn’t hear? We’re at war!”
“That’s impossible!” He glanced down at his status display. “If we were at war, then I would be a commissioned officer. How the fuck is this even possible?”
“We have a lot to get you spun up on, don’t we?” Kara rubbed her chin.
Eventually the group of Soldiers all gathered around Kara, and she laid out all of the details that she could. She explained the subversion by the Crimson alliance, the Chimera, and everything she could piece together during her short time with Darius. The soldiers listened intently and shared many nervous glances at one another as she spoke.
“So, what’s the Crimson’s play? They’ve infiltrated Fleet HQ, and most of the major hyper gate stations?” Staff Sergeant Kelley asked. Kara nodded in acknowledgement.
“My guess is, that they’re going to somehow shut down the hyper gates to keep our forces from consolidating into fleet formations. They can’t take on our ships in a fleet to fleet engagement without heavy losses. But if they keep us separated, then they can overpower us and threaten the core,” David surmised.
“I think it’s even worse than that, Master Sergeant,” Jimma said.
“Oh? How do you mean, War Master?”
“Well, you’re absolutely correct in your assessment, but I fear shutting down the gates isn’t there play. I’m not sure what they intend to do, but once you shut down a hyper gate, it can take months to reinitiate it. It’s a complex balance of physics and technology to keep a gate open, let alone just simply throw a switch and turn it back on. The few gates that are in Crimson controlled space are much smaller and use more archaic tech. If they shut the big ones down, they may not have the knowledge on how to get them going again. Without functioning gates, they would have a hard time hunting down pockets of resistance, and the UAHC might have a fair shot at piecing together enough ships to counter attack in the meantime.”
“That’s very true, I suppose.” David nodded in acknowledgement. “When our ship came through this station, it’s because we were diverted here. Traffic into and out of Tangine was restricted. They cited security reciprocity as a reason. I guess this station has the same hired guns as Tangine, so we had no choice to reroute through this dump.”
“Exactly. Which is when your ship’s AI must have spotted our IDENT and went rogue,” Jimma added.
“It seems like there was no accident in that attack. LRF’s registered in Unum are known to be piloted by War Master’s or their affiliates.” Steve added.
“Yeah. Not to mention I was forced to try and take on a War Master. That Chimera thingy must be afraid of you or something,” Jefe noted.
“Well, it seems we have compatible goals here.” Jimma looked at Kara, then glanced over to David. “We all need to get to Tangine. We need to link up with a local contact to get INTEL on potential Crimson activities, and you all need to report to your flag ship.”
“Yes. Exactly,” Kara agreed.
“Well, just one little problem… Our ship can’t fly.” David frowned.
“How did you get here on station then?” Steve asked.
“When the AI went rogue and attempted to get a firing solution on your ship, we had to pull her node. Trouble is, our ship is piloted strictly by AI. We have minimal manual controls, and those are intended for landing only in emergencies. Truth is, we can’t leave the dock we crash-landed in without an AI.”
“And all of your AI’s are either infected or asleep,” Steve pointed out. “I guess the other embedded AI’s are pulled too. I don’t detect any nodes in the rest of you.”
“True. I was on the bridge when the AI got trigger happy, and my own AI locked down my armor. Lance Corporal Dennis was on coms, and the same happened to him. Staff Sergeant Kelley isn’t due to pick up her AI until we reach the Hailstorm.”
“So, where were you two during the AI target practice ordeal?” Kara asked Kelley and Jefe. The two blushed and exchanged glances.
“We were showering,” Jefe said sheepishly as his cheeks began to flush.
“Which is funny since we only have one shower on board!” Dennis chuckled. “That’s how they were able to run their naked assess down to engineering and started pulling nodes!”
“Ha! And I suppose you totally forgot to pull your own when you donned your armor, didn’t you, Jefe?” Steve laughed.
Everyone started to erupt in laughter, and the two love birds just waved them off with flushed faces.
“So much for unauthorized relationships, huh?” Kara smiled.
“Oh, no. We don’t have any policies against that,” David explained as he caught his breath from laughing.
“Really? I figured the most disciplined fighting force in all human history would frown upon things like that.” Kara looked confused.
“Our careers are managed by non-sentient super computers.” David tapped his status display. “Things like kissing up to the boss, or forging political connections are irrelevant. Our supervisors have little or no impact on our careers, so having personal a relationship is irrelevant. There’s no perception of favoritism when leaders don’t have the latitude to effect anyone’s individual career.”
“Well, that actually makes perfect sense,” Kara replied.
“Now that we are all much smarter…” Steve butted in with his usual brand of sarcasm. “Seems like I’m the only one who can fly you guys home to mama!”
“Well… I don’t… You’re not a UAHC Military AI. I don’t think you’d even have the tokens required to access all the systems.” Davis frowned.
“You’re the senior man on your vessel, right?” Steve noted.
“Yes.”
“Then, all you have to do is pass me your tokens. AI’s don’t command UAHC ships. People do. You should have all the authority required to delegate the flight systems to me.”
“I guess you’re right, now that you mention it.” David nodded. “I’ve been doing this for nearly fifty years, and never once found myself in a situation like this. Forgive me if I seem flustered.”
“Let’s get you guys back to your ship. Luckily the pirate assholes left the ion field on, so if there are any Crimson fuck-sticks creeping about, then they have no idea what just happened. We should be able to bee-line straight for your vessel and get it fired up,” Steve added.
“Alright. We’ll all make sure you get to your ship,” Kara said.
“And what of yours?” David asked.
Kara turned and hollered at the LRF. “Skull, get fired up and meet us at their dock. Steve is transferring their docking location now.”
“You’ve got one hell of a pilot in there! That’s the smoothest dust off I’ve ever seen—even AI’s are rarely that smooth.” Kelley noted.
“I’m the pilot,” Kara said. “My NAV system has more flight time than most AI’s have been alive.”
“NAV?” David asked. “Space requires astrogation, not navigation.”
“True, but Skull was created by a crazy old monk nearly two thousand years ago. Normal isn’t exactly his thing!” Steve spouted.
Ain’t No Cutters Here
Location: Clarendon Station, Interstellar Port, dock
Date Time: Post Interstellar 08/01/4201
System: Vulcan System, Outer Region
“Wow! I didn’t know the UAHC had cutters in their fleet!” Kara’s eyes got wide.
“Sloop,” David corrected. “Not a cutter.”
“Dear, that’s a cutter if I’ve ever seen one!” Kara pointed at the hull of the small ship. The entire vessel was still small enough to fit inside the tiny docking berth. The berth was no bigger than the one they’d just left. The thirty-meter ship loosely resembled a 20th-century German U-Boat. Its hull culminated into an axe-like prow at the fore, and even had a superstructure above the main hull.
“I can see where you get that, dear.” Steve chimed in. “But the Master Sergeant is correct. Cutters and sloops have the same basic hull design… in fact this sloop is in the Forge class.”
“But the Forge class is one of the most common hull types in Unum’s fleet? What makes it a sloop and not a cutter?” Kara asked as crinkled her lips to one side.
“I can take this one, Steve,” David interjected. “Unum builds both sloops and cutters in the same shipyards. The main difference is the configuration. Cutters are mostly used for law enforcement and search and rescue. But sloops are configured for wartime applications. The Foehammer here is a minelayer.”
“We’re just learning all kinds of cool stuff today, aren’t we?” Kara smiled and turned to wink at Staff Sergeant Kelley. Jefe looked at them both and then nervously diverted his eyes down to the deck’s surface.
“Yep. Sloops are used for a lot of different combat applications, but this one is dedicated to the marine garrison on the Hailstorm. Its mission is to lay mines and pre-positioned missiles into open space. We lay out a protective layer at the flanks of drop ships. It’s a layer of protection from enemy fighters that may try and pick off the slow-moving pods.” David spoke with a sense of pride. He made it sound like it was vastly more exciting than it probably was, but Kara thought it was fascinating.
She also was trying to learn as much about space combat as she could. She went from an employee of a contract security firm, to a fully commissioned military officer with a single drop of a token. She supposed an all-out war with the Crimson may translate into her having to learn military tactics on the fly with plasma cannons firing at her.
“Reactor is getting cold. If we hurry up, we can get her up and moving on auxiliary power. That way the reactor will have time to be at full capacity by the time we hit the taxi lanes for the gate,” Steve said.
Kara was getting the impression that Steve was dying to fly a warship. It may not have been the sexiest hull design, but it was still built for combat applications. She wondered if it was from all the years he’d spent in the Skull-Crusher. Before Skull was released from his digital shackles, that were intended to render him demilitarized, she needed Steve to be the intermediary between her and the NAV itself. But Steve was never able to take control and fly the ship himself. All of the flight controls were routed through Skull’s console, so there was no way he could get around it.
“OK, Steve. We get it. You have a digital boner right now. I’ll pull you and hand you over to David.” Kara laughed. Chuckles could be heard from all in their midst.
“It’s about damned time!” Steve spouted. Then Kara reached up and pulled his node from the back of her armor. She handed it over to David, and then began to walk towards the gangway.
“Kara, dear?” Sasha asked, with her motherly tone. “Where are you going?”
“Where Steve goes, I go,” Kara said. “We may all be going to the same place, but Steve
doesn’t have legs. When we get there, he’ll need me to get him back to us if something goes wrong on the UAHC side of the house.”
Sasha nodded, as if Kara had a solid point. “Very well, dear. I supposed we’ll fly escort.”
“I’m sorry.” David and the other Soldiers were all smiles. They no longer seemed to represent the most hardcore warriors in existence (aside from the War Masters) but they seemed to be totally geeking out over a talking cheetah. Sasha realized they were all smiling and high-fiving each other.
“You were saying, dear?” Sasha raised an eyebrow at the Master Sergeant.
“You are the coolest thing… err person… animal… I’ve ever met!” Kelley came in to finish off David’s thought.
“You say that only because you haven’t had to share your ship’s toilet with me.” Sasha winked, and then let out a long growly laugh.
Everything remained light and casual until the shooting started.
Pew Pew Pew
Location: Clarendon Station, Interstellar Port, dock
Date Time: Post Interstellar 08/01/4201
System: Vulcan System, Outer Region
Kara was facing Master Sergeant David when a bolt of plasma impacted the energy shield that covered his head and neck. His armor’s proximity sensor must have engaged the shielding a fraction of a second before impact. A few specs of blue plasma hit Kara’s chest, but her own armor protected her.
All four soldiers barely shouldered their weapons and turned to the back of the dock’s bulkhead. Kara’s pulse pistol instantly sent optical aiming data to her optical HUD, and she zoomed in to see Crimson soldiers filing into the dock through the bulkhead door. Plasma, electron beams, and heavy pulse energy balls filled the air. The scent of ionization and the bright flashes of light quickly overwhelmed Kara’s senses. She didn’t have time to regret pulling Steve from her suit, as she was now in a deep stance. The pink translucent energy shielding held off the impacts of enemy fire, but she had to further deepen her stance to hold back the constant impact energy. Her shielding was below forty percent and she had to dive into a combat roll. She rolled into a full sprint and then spun around to halt behind a support column for cover.
