The machine city grew ever larger as they approached.
“Incredible,” Cygni whispered.
“Sixty years in the void,” Athame stated. “This is what Daedalus built; an impenetrable, hidden fortress that we are about to assault.”
“Let’s hope it’s not that impenetrable or this is gonna be a real-short op,” Armstrong said.
“Hostile ordinance destroyed,” the weapons officer announced.
Ichiro nodded.
“We are in optimal firing position.” Hamasaki-taisa sat to his right, restored to her position as commander of the Kageryū-maru. They relieved Einaga’s bridge crew with personnel loyal to him before launching into this engagement.
“Signal our escorts,” he ordered. Commodore Graves gave them four ships to aid in the rescue of her brother; the Thetis, the Ascalaphus, the Teleon, and the Peleus. “Commence firing on Deep Hydra.”
“Hai, Mitsugawa-uesama!” the comm officer answered.
The hum of discharging power capacitors filled the air and lances of deadly HEXL fire rained down upon the massive station below. Now that they knew what to look for Deep Hydra’s position and scale was revealed. It appeared as a field of connected metal ice bergs stretching out over tens of square kilometers. Each component put out a steady stream of neutrinos indicating it was home to a large and potent power source. He had little doubt that damaging one would do little to the whole. In order to kill Daedalus, they would have to take out most of the hundreds of segments. Given the power of the aegis field around them that seemed a far away goal.
Through the sensor feed he could see the rainbow hot spots appearing on the structure’s domed shield, but nowhere did it give.
“New contacts bearing 0-0-1 mark 0-0-0 mark 0-1-2,” the sensor officer announced. The tactical display above them showed the caramel arch of the Matre’s atmosphere, holographic representations of them and their allies, and thousands of tiny dots streaming up from the station below.
“Drone fighters,” Hamasaki-taisa stated. “Thousands of them.”
“Aegis fields to maximum, launch our own,” he ordered.
“We have only a hundred and twenty, Mitsugawa-uesama. They’ll be shredded in seconds,” she stated.
He frowned. The truth of it was obvious. His computerized brain performed the calculations and their odds of success were near-zero.
“Prepare point-defense systems and brace for impacts,” he stated.
“Shouldn’t we maneuver to a better position?” she asked.
“We have to give the Fukuro a chance to get through that shield. Until it succeeds, we must endure.”
She bowed her head, grim faced but determined.
“New contact,” the sensor officer announced. “Einstein-Rosen bridge forming at 2-7-9 mark 0-3-2 mark 0-0-5, range: 147,000 kilometers.”
He aimed the ship’s sensors toward the new contact. It was large, over a kilometer wide, and shaped like half a clam-shell with a rail running down its center line.
“Annihilator,” he said.
Hamasaki looked at him for just a moment, but it was enough for him to see the worry in her eyes. The thing that destroyed their home planet was now here to destroy them as well. Nothing could withstand its relativity cannon, and though he or some version of him might wake up on Kosfanter in an EpiGenome VEM, no one else on board would.
“Have the fleet take evasive action,” he ordered as the first of Daedalus’ drones reached them.
The hum of the ship altered frequency as it started blasting away.
Kae banked the ship again, bringing them parallel to the bubble of Deep Hydra’s stubborn aegis field. Behind the Fukuro-maru raced twelve V-shaped drones. They were little more than two HEXL cannons strapped to an engine, but they were hammering away at the Fukuro’s shields and taking a toll.
“47%” Athame announced. “You may wish to take more evasive maneuvers.”
“I’m doing my best goddessdammit!” Kae banked again. “It would help if we could get that damn shield down.”
“Working on it.” Sorina’s eyes were closed but her ears vibrated madly in the air above her crimson braids. “I’ve got a lock on their signal. Mondu?”
“I’ve almost got it. The encryption is complex but not as bad as the brain cores were.” Now on the bridge, Sanul’s ears were flicking away almost in time with her vibrations.
Cygni looked up at the tactical display. One of the five ships in orbit flashed and vanished. “I think we just lost the—” She checked the record. “—the Ascalaphus. I don’t think they can last much longer up there.”
She stared, wide-eyed as the swirling dots above them devoured the cruiser and moved on to the next. The drones were disappearing one by one, but not nearly as fast as they needed to for the remaining ships to survive. Even more worrisome was the Abyssian Annihilator that just showed up in high orbit. It was turning toward their allies. The tactical display showed they were detecting a massive power build up in its core.
“Can’t we do something to help them? Don’t we have some kind of weapon or… or…” she asked.
“We could use some help ourselves, honey,” Kae said through gritted teeth. “What’s this thing in our system about missiles?”
“Hawking warheads,” Athame explained. “Their yield is enough to destroy all matter within a one astronomical unit sphere.”
“You can’t adjust that? Turn it down a bit maybe?” Cygni asked.
“No.” Athame’s statement on the matter bore the weight of finality.
“Yai! Keep me the hell away from that,” Kae shouted then swooped them to the port side, firing madly behind them at the drones. Three more vanished, but the nine remaining pressed on.
“Yeah, let’s not use those. Why the hell would this ship have something like that on board anyway?” Cygni was horrified.
“This craft was meant to test all of Shiragawa’s next-generation armament and military technology,” Armstrong drawled. “Those warheads were meant to be used in deep space.”
“We should dump them.” She shivered. “What if they go off during the fight? They would destroy the Matre and the capital.”
“Dumping them is inadvisable,” Athame stated.
“And impractical,” Armstrong added.
Cygni crossed her arms and frowned. She felt like she was going to throw up.
“I guess you never know when you need a planet-destroying—” Kae began, but Sorina cut in.
“We’re in. Transmitting virus now.”
“How will we know when it works?” Cygni’s eyes went back to the tactical display.
The hum of their shield generator stabilized and the drones pursuing them dropped like stones into the swirling caramel of the Matre’s clouded atmosphere.
“I would guess that’s how.” Kae angled the ship at the massive structure of Deep Hydra.
The shield flickered before them and vanished.
“Yes! That’s it!” Kae shouted, pushing the engines. The structure grew still bigger through the cockpit windows. “How do we know which of those, ah, pod things has Nero?”
“Third on your left,” Athame stated. “That is where Daedalus began the experiment that converted Nero Graves into an Abyssian.”
“Third from the left it is, and look, it’s even got a parking spot for us.” Kae grinned.
Cygni peered through the forward view port, spying the arc of the open hanger bay mid-way down the double-cone-like structure.
“We’re coming buddy. Hang in there!” Kae shouted as though Nero could hear him.
The interconnected structures shuddered, sending out a pulse of energy through the clouds like a ripple through a pond. Cygni felt it pass through the ship, and a sense of dread descended upon her.
Kae’s look of triumph turned into shock as Deep Hydra fell into the swirling atmosphere and vanished.
“What the hell?” Kae said.
“The virus, it must have disabled all functions on the station,” Sorina said.
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“Fuck, Nero! The pressure will crush him to death.” Without waiting, Kae pushed the controls and the ship dove into the maelstrom of clouds with its engines screaming.
“What are you doing?” Cygni said in shock. “You’re going to get us killed!”
He ignored her. In a panic she looked from him to each person on the bridge. She found no support in the mismatched eyes of the mercenary, nor in Sorina’s golden gaze, nor in even Sanul’s geodes. At last her eyes settled upon Rune. His cool eyes connected with hers and he nodded.
“Don’t be afraid. My dad knows what he’s doing,” he said.
She froze, staring at this boy.
“YAAAA!” Kae shouted, pulling them up out of the dive. Cygni felt her body pressed hard into the curve of her seat. Through the forward viewport the brown and gold clouds swirled and parted. Before them yawned the blue pulse of a docking bay’s plasma window mere yards from them. It flickered as they passed through, and then she saw the metal wall at the end of the bay racing toward them.
“Stop. Stop. Please stop,” she said.
Kae fired the retro thrusters. Ahead of them the wall sped closer.
Cygni gritted her teeth, flinching.
“Gear down,” Kae said. The air filled with the screech of metal on metal moments before it all stopped.
Cygni opened eyes she hadn’t realized she closed. The wall was just ahead of them and unmoving.
“You crazy son of a—” she cut herself off. There was a curious noise in the air. She could tell by the way they were all looking up that they heard it too.
With a bark Tengu lunged to his feet and charged out of the bridge.
“I wonder where he’s goin’ in such a hurry.” Armstrong said, then added, “We aren’ falling anymore.”
“No, we are not. Deep Hydra is back online. Come, Nero needs us.” Athame drew her pistol and headed out after the cerberai.
Nero’s head snapped up, his eyes pulsing with unearthly-green light. He knew in an instant something was wrong. Though he was still suspended, bound by his hands and feet inside the column of nanomachine fluid, he felt his guts trying to press their way up through his throat and a vertigo fighting to overthrow his equilibrium. Through the verdant haze he saw Ben—no, Daedalus’ body—stiff as a board slam into the ceiling as the lights beyond his tube flickered and sparked.
Prospero, what’s going on? His lungs burned for air that wouldn’t come and his body convulsed as the nanomachines invaded his organs. Though it seemed that Prospero was able to cut out the pain he was getting black spots in his green-tinted vision.
I’m just as confused as you are. As far as I can tell, Daedalus’ systems are down, ah, for now. I suggest we take advantage of the situation and free ourselves. We are very low on oxygen at the moment.
How do I free myself? Nero flexed his muscles, but his steel bonds would not budge.
I thought brute force was your area of specialty, Prospero stated.
It’s not working! He gritted his teeth in frustration, hauling again on his trapped limbs.
Try harder.
That’s it? That’s your advice?
Or you could wait for Daedalus to recover and go back to torturing us, Prospero retorted.
Fine. He gritted his teeth even harder and hauled on his limbs. He felt them strain, then scream in pain. The black spots in his vision grew darker and wider and colors danced between them. His lungs were on fire, pumping against the fluid in them in vain. His muscled burned, screamed for release but he refused them succor as the gravity of the situation sank in. He was going to die if he didn’t manage to snap his bonds.
The artificial muscles of his body groaned, on the verge of tearing, and yet the stubborn steel held him fast.
He opened his mouth and screamed into the nanofluid, fighting with all his might.
Inexplicably, he felt a hand touch his cheek. He blinked, opening his eyes and saw green irises staring into his. They pulled back, and there she was, Kiertah Rega as she was on Zov, floating before him with her long black hair swirling around her tattooed body.
He blinked, but she remained. Was he dead already?
The fluid around him pulsed, then started to swirl. The current became a maelstrom tearing away at the bonds holding him and the walls of the tube, dissolving them like salt in water. He felt the grip of the steel loosen and give. The tube exploded outward, glowing-green nanofluid flying about the room in a fine, swirling mist. At its center Nero hovered in free-fall with his eyes ablaze. He thought he should be gasping for air now that he was free, but he didn’t feel the need. Power pulsed through his body in time with the glowing circle and line patterns appearing just beneath his skin.
What the hell?
The station shuddered around him and the lights snapped back on. A moment later he was plunged to the ground as gravity took hold once more. Before him, Daedalus’ body fell amid the rain of nanofluid and slammed into the deck.
I suggest we take this opportunity to leave. Whatever is going on, we can work it out later, Prospero said in a hastened voice.
He shook his head and stood up. Where?
Start with the door you idiot!
The room’s only exit was embedded in the wall ahead of them. The sight of it triggered something and he ran forward, leaping over Daedalus’ robotic body. Three steps away he drew his fist back. On the second step he launched it forward and struck the thick, gray metal as his foot landed the third. The blow bent the door in, but it did not break. With a snarl, he reared back for another strike.
Something grabbed his hand and he found himself flying backward, mouth and eyes open with surprise. His body slammed into the wall and sparks flew through his green-tinted vision before the floor rushed up to meet him.
“Curious,” Daedalus said, his black-eyed head angling down at the floor. “Your Cephalon-nanomachines converted mine.”
“Suck.” Nero coughed and struggled up to his feet.
He is attempting to hack us, shutting down all comms, Prospero said.
Daedalus’ empty gaze held his eyes.
“If you want this to be hard I can make it very, very hard on you, Nero.” His black boots made dull thumping sounds against the deck plates. “Last chance. Let me in or suffer.”
Looks like we’re going to have to fight him, Prospero said.
Looks that way, yeah. He took a deep breath and let it out slow, then flexed his fingers into fists hard enough to crack his knuckles. Prospero, combat mode on.
“Bring it.” Nero raised his fists and the world slowed down.
For a moment he could swear Daedalus smiled, then accelerated.
Despite perceiving time at 1/100th the normal rate, Daedalus managed to be on him faster than he could react. One moment he was ten meters away and the next he was in his face, pummeling him with blows that Nero felt straight through to his spine. He grunted as Daedalus jackhammered his fists into his gut, then grabbed his wrists and wrenched them apart before raining blows down on his head with the steel-hard skull of Ben’s body. Each punishing strike sent sparks and darkness through Nero’s vision. There was pain too, he was sure, but there was little time to perceive it between one blow and the next.
His vision blurred and Daedalus switched gears, punching him in the head over and over again, driving him back into the far wall.
“You are no match for me. I have had decades to refine my design. I am in every way your superior.” Daedalus shoved him against the wall. He took a step back and held his hands out wide. “Come, see for yourself how you are only prolonging the inevitable, only punishing yourself when you should be submitting to my will.”
Nero forced the dizziness he felt back and spat upon the deck.
I don’t think we can win—oh, okay, we’re doing this anyway, Prospero stated as a primal roar issued forth from his lips.
He charged and launched a fist at Daedalus’ face, striking with an audible crack. His momentum carried him forward and he thrust a knee into his o
pponent’s side, then another before returning to hammering away at the stubborn body before him. Each blow shook Daedalus, but he refused to fall. Frustration built inside Nero like a ticking bomb with each futile attack until at last he gave a shout and kicked out with all his might.
“Enough.” Daedalus sidestepped his foot and grabbed him by the ankle. Nero had just enough time to yelp as he was swung around by the leg and thrown clear across the room.
“Ugh!” he grunted as he struck the floor and skidded to a halt.
“Perhaps I chose my subject poorly. I thought you would have more fight in you than this. Perhaps you suffer from that human deficiency of needing the proper motivation. I will discover the truth once I crack your skull open and rip the knowledge from your dying brain.” Daedalus raised his hand between them and a hologram appeared.
At first he didn’t recognize what he was seeing, but the image resolved into a large black ship sitting in a rectangular hanger. Its ramp was down, and there were people disembarking in light armor with weapons drawn.
“You have very loyal friends.”
A gurgling noise drew Nero’s attention to the pumps in the ruin of the tube as they bubbled and oozed forth more glowing green liquid.
“It was clever of them to embed your lover’s code into my own signal, but their cleverness can only take them so far. I have anticipated their every move.”
“And let me guess—” He flexed his chest, feeling it ache where Daedalus pummeled him earlier. “—If I defeat you, you’ll let them live?”
“Oh, no. Of course not. I just want to see how hard you’ll fight knowing they have come to die with you. Call it your final field test.” Daedalus dropped his arm and the hologram vanished.
He snarled.
Don’t! Prospero shouted in his head as he launched himself forward. His hand almost reached the machine’s throat before Daedalus slammed an elbow into the back of his exposed neck.
With a shout of shock and pain he went down into the deck. Daedalus’ footsteps splashed in the thick layer of nanomachines now coating the floor as he tried to move his arms and pick himself up.
Deep Hydra Page 44
