I tried doing a SI Multicross once, but I decided to alter a lot of thanks to certain comments...
The Neverending Cosmos - ['SI' Multicross]
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GI + Chapter 01 - 1: A Young Soul In a Normal World
- Location
- Void of Observation
I tried doing a SI Multicross once, but I decided to alter a lot of thanks to certain comments, to the point that it was no longer a SI, but a whole new story on its own.
That said, please enjoy it anyway!
N: Why the 'SI' tag? Well, because this fanfic features a person from a world similar to ours brought into this extremely unique situation, but its not me per se, its...well, a 'pseudo' SI.
When people die, they go to the afterlife, and find peace.
Not for Benjamin Theo. A would-be unfortunate victim to a car accident, an otherworldly visitor rescues his soul and offers him a job; to destroy those of his kind that wishes to paint the stars red and forge bloody fiefdoms.
To topple empires, and to crush gods.
With the prospect of resurrection and an adventure to parts unknown, the boy accepts...
Under a hot burning sun, crowds thronged the two sides of a road.
Tapping on his phone, a boy clad in a simple set of a beige shirt and pants walked down the left side of the street, looking nervously over his shoulder once every few minutes.
Mother isn't going to be back home until midnight, but who knows whether she or any of her friends are around... My classes were cancelled, but I told her that I was with my friend- no, classmates...
Adjusting his spectacles, the student picked up his pace. The many malls that lined one of the biggest shopping districts in the city flew past as he sprinted down the road.
...last thing I need is another bloody 'aunty' breathing down my neck, and Ma nagging me about liking 'cartoons' or something like that...
A few minutes later, he was in front of a mall entrance. Passing the pair of automatic glass doors, he bent over, sucking in the cool air within the mall as he tried to soothe his burning lungs.
Dammit. Shouldn't have skipped P.E. class last week...
Slapping himself twice, he took a while to recovering, before making a beeline for the nearest elevator, following a well-memorised route. A few minutes later, he emerged onto the third floor, and made straight for a certain shop.
Stepping onto its carpeted floor, he took a moment to admire the shop's offerings - many action figures and models from various video game and anime franchises, stored safely behind glass panels or within well-decorated boxes.
After taking a quick look around, he went straight for the counter. An old man sitting behind the counter was looking at a set of books; when the boy walked up, he noticed his approach, taking of his reading spectacles and facing his customer.
"Ah, it's you again." Speaking with the general grumpiness that all seniors had, the old shopkeeper gazed at the student with eager eyes. "Let me guess," the shopkeeper began, while pointing his glasses and pointing at his customer, "you are here for that Space Battleship Yamato model?"
The youth smiled. "Of course, I haven't been bothering you for past two weeks for nothing, have I?"
"Annoying." The man spoke with mock disdain, before putting on a mask of professionalism. "Alright, so the few sets that I ordered just came in yesterday," he pointed at door at the far end, where the storeroom was located. "But I haven't had time to inspect them yet. You want to look it over with me?"
"Sure." The youth replied, barely holding back his excitement.
"Alright, wait here." The shopkeeper grunted, before walking to the storeroom. For a few minutes, the youth snapped his fingers in nervousness, looking around the mall.
"Right, here we are." Turning back, the boy saw the shopkeeper emerge from the storeroom with a plain cardboard box in his hand, about half a meter long. Walking over to the counter, he unpacked its contents with practised carefulness, preventing any damage being done to the box and model.
"Right, here we go." Laying the ship model on the countertop, he motioned to the youth, "So, how is it?"
"It's...beautiful." The youth gazed over the exquisitely ship model, his eyes glazing over as he pictured the various battle scenes and shots he had seen the ship in. "Its like...I can imagine myself on its bridge, looking into space…" He whispered, before turning to the old man. "Hey, uncle...don't mind if I touch it?"
The shopkeeper scoffed. "Of course not. I can't let you have your sweaty fingers on my stuff. But I can assure you, this is one hundred percent genuine, straight from Japan itself."
"You sure?" Mock skepticism filled the youth's voice.
"Oh? You don't believe me?" A cheeky grin filled the old man's features.
"Then why don't you let touch it then?" The youth returned the grin, albeit in a sly manner.
The old man considered it for a while, before relenting. Placing a pristine cloth on the counter, he said. "Fine. But wipe your fingers on the cloth before doing so."
Following the elderly man's instructions, the youth gently touched the side of the model, feeling the smoothness of the material and the curves of the design, which confirmed the shopkeeper's assertion that the article was genuine.
Of course, if the forum-goers aren't lying to me...nah, that would be just ridiculous.
"Yup, it works. Can I have it now?" The youth stood up straight with a smile."
"Ok!" The elderly man sat back down, and began to carefully repack everything back into its original packaging. "Just so you know, the price is the same as I told you before - one hundred and twenty dollars."
"Ok." The student fished for his wallet. "Um, uncle, if you don't mind, could you give me a...discount?"
"What?" The old man reacted with disbelief. "What do you mean, discount?"
"Like, a small cut for a recurring customer? I mean, I only come to your shop, so could you give me a small gift-"
The old man roared with amusement, a loud guffaw that attracted the gazes of the other customers in the shop. "Oi, boy, if I gave all of my 'recurring customers gifts, I would have to close the shop!"
"Just once, please? I mean, I already have enough money for this, it's just, well, I want to save some money on the side…"
The old man thought over it for awhile, before relenting for a second time. "Fine. But just this once. Name your price."
"Um...one hundred?"
"Really, boy? Hundred and ten."
"How about hundred and eight? Exactly ten percent off."
The old man rolled his eyes at the youth's words, but he agreed. After a few moments with the cash register, the transaction was completed with the youth handing over a wad of bills.
"You know boy," the shopkeeper asked, "I wonder where you get all the money for all this from. You got a rich father or something?"
"Eh...no, it's just that I do a lot of part time work...and I don't eat a lot."
"Wha, so much time to do part time stuff? Doesn't that mean that you are neglecting your studies?"
The youth scoffed. "Like my mother would let me do that."
"Then...no social life, huh? No girlfriend is it?" The shopkeeper continued to prod into his young customer, curiosity mounting.
The youth pondered for a while, before dipping his head in embarrassment. "Girlfriends are a waste of time...although yeah, I don't have many friends. Still, it means more time for mysel-"
"Boy."
The youth looked up. The shopkeeper had put his glasses back on, and was observing him from behind those round shaped lens. "You know, working and studies are important...but at the same time, having friends is also very important too."
"Um...yeah…"
"Don't neglect friendships just over shiny things like these." The shopkeeper continued, tapping the box in front of him. "Ultimately, one day this thing will break...but if you know what you are doing...well, friendships can last forever."
Customer and shopkeeper stared at each other for a few moments. "Just take it as advice from an old man." The senior smiled, a twinkle in his eye.
"Ok...still, not everyday you get advice from your shopkeeper. Haha." The boy spoke with a sense of nervousness.
The shopkeeper shrugged, making a 'what can I say' gesture. "So...as usual, when do you want me to send this over?"
The boy took out his phone and examined the calendar - on it, were the dates of specific events and important deadlines - as well as a list of dates when his sister and mother was out of the house.
"Let's see…how about one week later, at around 2.30pm?" Selecting a date and time when he would be all alone, he informed the shopkeeper with a smile.
Nodding silently, the shopkeeper recorded the details in a notebook. "Lots of money, being so secretive, with so little friends...are you a supervillain by any chance?"
Laughing at the joke, the youth said his goodbyes. The shopkeeper waved and replied, "Ok, and don't forget what I told you!"
"I won't."
A green light flashed, and the crowds took the cue to begin crossing.
The road was empty...except for one thing.
Accompanied by a loud revving, a red sports car shot down the roads like a bolt of crimson lightning, weaving through the traffic madly, inviting a couple of commuters to press on their horns in irritation.
Even as it faced an imposing red light, the car didn't stop, only accelerating further.
A few pedestrians saw the incoming danger, and quickly scattered, making straight for safety.
Others weren't so lucky.
The car ploughed through the hapless crowd, scattering people like pinballs under a cacophony of horrified screaming. A few were lucky enough to be simply knocked over by their compatriots, while others had been run over. Some lay quivering on the grounds, still in shock or bleeding out.
But one unlucky soul had remained in front of the car, and was thus carried away by it.
The car swerved from side to side, before finally driving off the road, scattering yet more pedestrians, before finally slamming straight into a concrete pillar.
Thankfully for the poor schmuck who was stuck in the middle of the wreckage, his body nothing but a mush of biological debris, his soul had been mercifully taken long ago, spirited away...
That said, please enjoy it anyway!
N: Why the 'SI' tag? Well, because this fanfic features a person from a world similar to ours brought into this extremely unique situation, but its not me per se, its...well, a 'pseudo' SI.
==|The Neverending Cosmos|==
==|==
Summary:==|==
When people die, they go to the afterlife, and find peace.
Not for Benjamin Theo. A would-be unfortunate victim to a car accident, an otherworldly visitor rescues his soul and offers him a job; to destroy those of his kind that wishes to paint the stars red and forge bloody fiefdoms.
To topple empires, and to crush gods.
With the prospect of resurrection and an adventure to parts unknown, the boy accepts...
==|==
SB Mirror: The Neverending Cosmos - [Multicross]
FFN Archive: TBP
==|Chapter 01 - 1: A Young Soul in a Normal World|==
SB Mirror: The Neverending Cosmos - [Multicross]
FFN Archive: TBP
==|Chapter 01 - 1: A Young Soul in a Normal World|==
Under a hot burning sun, crowds thronged the two sides of a road.
Tapping on his phone, a boy clad in a simple set of a beige shirt and pants walked down the left side of the street, looking nervously over his shoulder once every few minutes.
Mother isn't going to be back home until midnight, but who knows whether she or any of her friends are around... My classes were cancelled, but I told her that I was with my friend- no, classmates...
Adjusting his spectacles, the student picked up his pace. The many malls that lined one of the biggest shopping districts in the city flew past as he sprinted down the road.
...last thing I need is another bloody 'aunty' breathing down my neck, and Ma nagging me about liking 'cartoons' or something like that...
A few minutes later, he was in front of a mall entrance. Passing the pair of automatic glass doors, he bent over, sucking in the cool air within the mall as he tried to soothe his burning lungs.
Dammit. Shouldn't have skipped P.E. class last week...
Slapping himself twice, he took a while to recovering, before making a beeline for the nearest elevator, following a well-memorised route. A few minutes later, he emerged onto the third floor, and made straight for a certain shop.
Stepping onto its carpeted floor, he took a moment to admire the shop's offerings - many action figures and models from various video game and anime franchises, stored safely behind glass panels or within well-decorated boxes.
After taking a quick look around, he went straight for the counter. An old man sitting behind the counter was looking at a set of books; when the boy walked up, he noticed his approach, taking of his reading spectacles and facing his customer.
"Ah, it's you again." Speaking with the general grumpiness that all seniors had, the old shopkeeper gazed at the student with eager eyes. "Let me guess," the shopkeeper began, while pointing his glasses and pointing at his customer, "you are here for that Space Battleship Yamato model?"
The youth smiled. "Of course, I haven't been bothering you for past two weeks for nothing, have I?"
"Annoying." The man spoke with mock disdain, before putting on a mask of professionalism. "Alright, so the few sets that I ordered just came in yesterday," he pointed at door at the far end, where the storeroom was located. "But I haven't had time to inspect them yet. You want to look it over with me?"
"Sure." The youth replied, barely holding back his excitement.
"Alright, wait here." The shopkeeper grunted, before walking to the storeroom. For a few minutes, the youth snapped his fingers in nervousness, looking around the mall.
"Right, here we are." Turning back, the boy saw the shopkeeper emerge from the storeroom with a plain cardboard box in his hand, about half a meter long. Walking over to the counter, he unpacked its contents with practised carefulness, preventing any damage being done to the box and model.
"Right, here we go." Laying the ship model on the countertop, he motioned to the youth, "So, how is it?"
"It's...beautiful." The youth gazed over the exquisitely ship model, his eyes glazing over as he pictured the various battle scenes and shots he had seen the ship in. "Its like...I can imagine myself on its bridge, looking into space…" He whispered, before turning to the old man. "Hey, uncle...don't mind if I touch it?"
The shopkeeper scoffed. "Of course not. I can't let you have your sweaty fingers on my stuff. But I can assure you, this is one hundred percent genuine, straight from Japan itself."
"You sure?" Mock skepticism filled the youth's voice.
"Oh? You don't believe me?" A cheeky grin filled the old man's features.
"Then why don't you let touch it then?" The youth returned the grin, albeit in a sly manner.
The old man considered it for a while, before relenting. Placing a pristine cloth on the counter, he said. "Fine. But wipe your fingers on the cloth before doing so."
Following the elderly man's instructions, the youth gently touched the side of the model, feeling the smoothness of the material and the curves of the design, which confirmed the shopkeeper's assertion that the article was genuine.
Of course, if the forum-goers aren't lying to me...nah, that would be just ridiculous.
"Yup, it works. Can I have it now?" The youth stood up straight with a smile."
"Ok!" The elderly man sat back down, and began to carefully repack everything back into its original packaging. "Just so you know, the price is the same as I told you before - one hundred and twenty dollars."
"Ok." The student fished for his wallet. "Um, uncle, if you don't mind, could you give me a...discount?"
"What?" The old man reacted with disbelief. "What do you mean, discount?"
"Like, a small cut for a recurring customer? I mean, I only come to your shop, so could you give me a small gift-"
The old man roared with amusement, a loud guffaw that attracted the gazes of the other customers in the shop. "Oi, boy, if I gave all of my 'recurring customers gifts, I would have to close the shop!"
"Just once, please? I mean, I already have enough money for this, it's just, well, I want to save some money on the side…"
The old man thought over it for awhile, before relenting for a second time. "Fine. But just this once. Name your price."
"Um...one hundred?"
"Really, boy? Hundred and ten."
"How about hundred and eight? Exactly ten percent off."
The old man rolled his eyes at the youth's words, but he agreed. After a few moments with the cash register, the transaction was completed with the youth handing over a wad of bills.
"You know boy," the shopkeeper asked, "I wonder where you get all the money for all this from. You got a rich father or something?"
"Eh...no, it's just that I do a lot of part time work...and I don't eat a lot."
"Wha, so much time to do part time stuff? Doesn't that mean that you are neglecting your studies?"
The youth scoffed. "Like my mother would let me do that."
"Then...no social life, huh? No girlfriend is it?" The shopkeeper continued to prod into his young customer, curiosity mounting.
The youth pondered for a while, before dipping his head in embarrassment. "Girlfriends are a waste of time...although yeah, I don't have many friends. Still, it means more time for mysel-"
"Boy."
The youth looked up. The shopkeeper had put his glasses back on, and was observing him from behind those round shaped lens. "You know, working and studies are important...but at the same time, having friends is also very important too."
"Um...yeah…"
"Don't neglect friendships just over shiny things like these." The shopkeeper continued, tapping the box in front of him. "Ultimately, one day this thing will break...but if you know what you are doing...well, friendships can last forever."
Customer and shopkeeper stared at each other for a few moments. "Just take it as advice from an old man." The senior smiled, a twinkle in his eye.
"Ok...still, not everyday you get advice from your shopkeeper. Haha." The boy spoke with a sense of nervousness.
The shopkeeper shrugged, making a 'what can I say' gesture. "So...as usual, when do you want me to send this over?"
The boy took out his phone and examined the calendar - on it, were the dates of specific events and important deadlines - as well as a list of dates when his sister and mother was out of the house.
"Let's see…how about one week later, at around 2.30pm?" Selecting a date and time when he would be all alone, he informed the shopkeeper with a smile.
Nodding silently, the shopkeeper recorded the details in a notebook. "Lots of money, being so secretive, with so little friends...are you a supervillain by any chance?"
Laughing at the joke, the youth said his goodbyes. The shopkeeper waved and replied, "Ok, and don't forget what I told you!"
"I won't."
==|==
On a busy street, two crowds gathered at both sides, waiting for the signal to cross
A green light flashed, and the crowds took the cue to begin crossing.
The road was empty...except for one thing.
Accompanied by a loud revving, a red sports car shot down the roads like a bolt of crimson lightning, weaving through the traffic madly, inviting a couple of commuters to press on their horns in irritation.
Even as it faced an imposing red light, the car didn't stop, only accelerating further.
A few pedestrians saw the incoming danger, and quickly scattered, making straight for safety.
Others weren't so lucky.
The car ploughed through the hapless crowd, scattering people like pinballs under a cacophony of horrified screaming. A few were lucky enough to be simply knocked over by their compatriots, while others had been run over. Some lay quivering on the grounds, still in shock or bleeding out.
But one unlucky soul had remained in front of the car, and was thus carried away by it.
The car swerved from side to side, before finally driving off the road, scattering yet more pedestrians, before finally slamming straight into a concrete pillar.
Thankfully for the poor schmuck who was stuck in the middle of the wreckage, his body nothing but a mush of biological debris, his soul had been mercifully taken long ago, spirited away...
==|==
Last edited:
Chapter 01 - 2: Spirited Away
- Location
- Void of Observation
==|Chapter 01 - 2: Spirited Away|==
The boy awoke with a gasp.
What the fuck happened? He clutched his head, still shaking from what he had experienced, venting his shaking thoughts with a rare swear. The last thing he had remembered, was that a red sports car had been gunning straight for him, and there had been screaming all around him....
Something in him suddenly clicked, and he realised that he was...not where was earlier. He was sitting in a simple bed, wearing his old clothes...and around him was a simple expanse of unending white.
One single thought remained on his mind. Am I dead?
"Not exactly."
The boy started at the voice, and looked around - only for a man to appear in front of him. Wearing what could be a said to be a kind, elderly face, he wore a simple set of formal businessman wear, with a striped suit and grey fedora perched on his head.
"Allow me to introduce myself." The old man took off his fedora, bowing as he did so. "You may call me Albert - although that is just my assumed name. I come from a species that you may call the Quadras - an extradimensional entity - that has had an interest in you for...quite some time. When-"
"Wait, what?" The boy stood up straight, his voice tinged with disbelief. "Extradimensional entity? Is this some kind of a bad joke?"
"I can absolutely assure you, that I am, at least, 'not human'. Please take stock of your current situation - and your old memories. You do remember, right?"
"I…" The boy began thinking back. The scene of a red car driving straight at him still stood out in his mind. He shook his head again, an attempt to deny it. And again. And again.
"Do you understand?" The old gentleman asked.
"I...think so…" The boy began, his voice beginning to shake. "I died, right? In a car accident…but if that's the case...what's this place? Am I in heaven? Or...hell?"
"Neither. I have preempted the collection of your soul by other entities by doing so myself." Albert explained.
The boy stared at him blankly.
"Simply put, there is at least an 'afterlife' for all of us after our deaths - but however, I have prevented your soul from getting there, by simply transplanting you from your body milliseconds before it was destroyed, into another container. As such, you are not in a state where you should have travelled to whatever afterlife you believe in."
The boy looked down at the bed for several minutes. Silence hung in the air as he thought of the old man's words, still in shock at the man's blunt delivery.
I'm...dead, huh...
After a long while, the boy finally asked, "Then...why did you do that?"
"Simple." The old man walked over. "I have been observing you for quite a while, in preparation for an offer I was about to make. However, due to your...accident, I was forced to act, and here we are, where I shall be making you an offer."
Emotion slowly began to flow back into his voice, causing it to be tinged with fear and disbelief. "What offer? And...and how long have you been observing me?!"
"Let me answer the latter question first. You, the person who goes by the name Benjamin Theo, has been observed by my department for a period of...approximately two years at this point. Based on your abilities and personalities that you have, you were a prime candidate for our purposes."
"Wait, department? Who are you exactly? Are you the Culture or something like that?" A loud exclamation came from the boy.
"I shall answer that question in due time, but I require you to calm down, and listen to what we have to offer you first."
Benjamin stared at him for a while, face twisted in confusion and fear like a cornered animal, before calming down. "Alright, what's the offer?"
"Simple." Albert withdrew a slip of paper and a pen from within his suit. "How would you like being a commander of your own space dreadnought?"
Yet another blank stare came from the confused teenager. "Huh? What...all of all things…" Confused, Benjamin continued to splutter out random words.
"Let me explain further. As I have mentioned, we are extra-dimensional beings - as in we come from universes that have more dimensions than your usual three-dimensional space. However, due to certain circumstances, we require an agent to act on our behalf for some of our operations in these three dimensional universes."
"And there's where you come in. Should you accept our offer, you will become that agent, and we shall equip you with the tools to explore the many universes in the multiverse and help us accomplish our tasks - which mainly comes in a space warship that should have all the tools to help you do so. In exchange, you will gain the ability to explore said multiverse, and have all the freedom to do what you see fit - alongside your own physical resurrection."
Benjamin looked at the old man, the gears in his mind finally beginning to turn. He pinched himself twice, only experiencing a sharp pain - demonstrating that everything he was seeing right now was real. Taking another breath, he asked,"That sounds….nice, but...why me?"
"Because you satisfied some of our qualifications we required. Firstly, you have shown a mind capable of strategic and tactical planning. Second, you have very little commitments to your own world in question. Thirdly, you have a reasonable level of apathy to events occurring within your own world. Last but not least, you have a reasonable amount of meta-knowledge about various fictional settings created by your people."
"Hang on…fictional settings? Do you mean…"
"That most of the worlds that you will be travelling to are effectively replicas of the various fictional works created by your people. Be they be fantasy or science-fiction, or relatively mundane places like historical settings. Of course, some of them are 'original' settings such as alternate versions of your own home universe, or with completely alien sapients. Some may even be completely empty universes."
"I...see…" Benjamin finally felt that he was gaining an understanding of what was going on. "Then...what do you want me to do?"
"...in truth, our specific objectives are not concrete at the moment, and are very subject to changes over the course of our relationship. However, goal for you, should you accept, is this - to maintain a presence in the multiverse, searching for a group of individuals called the 'Exploiters' in our lexicon, and as per my superiors' words, 'eradicate them with extreme prejudice'.
Eradicate them with extreme prejudice. A shiver ran down Benjamin's spine as he heard those words. Only one word tumbled out of his mouth: "Why?"
"Hmmm." Albert scratched his chin, in deep thought. "Alright, the explanation behind this will take awhile, so please bear with me for awhile."
Benjamin waited, and the being began.
"As a species, even we had our disagreements. Quite some time ago, we divided into a few groups over the issue on how to handle three-dimensional universes. Two groups were the most prominent - the Reclaimers, who wanted to take a restrained hand in dealing with those universes, versus the Exploiters, who ultimately saw all of them as, to use your slang, 'free game'."
"Ultimately, this turned into a war - where both factions ended up fighting a war, in both our home universes as well as the three-dimensional ones. It went on for quite some time, until in the end, the Reclaimers won by driving the Exploiters out of our homes alongside destroying all bastions of power the Exploiters had in the three-dimensional universes."
"Or so the Reclaimers thought. Recently, they have discovered that the Exploiters have recovered some strength, and to make matters worse, they have managed to transplant their souls directly into three-dimensional bodies, alongside with the inherent abilities of our kind. Hence, we are currently assembling a force to deal with this, and you are a prime recruit for this effort."
I see… Benjamin thought through the old man's words, before noting a specific detail in his speech. "Inherent abilities? Transplanting their souls? What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, I forgot. You see, our kind are usually born with the ability to shape the world around us in many ways, such as space-warping, teleportation, or similarly esoteric abilities, but they were originally limited to our own dimension, mainly because our influence in three-dimensional universes were limited to the use of various puppeted avatars. However, by transplanting their own souls directly into those avatars, they have managed to retain use of them, with the drawback of being unable to return to our dimensions. Alongside the use of 'bodies' such as say, 2 kilometer-long biomechanical constructs, they have become severe threats to us as well as other three-dimensional universes."
The thought of such a massive monster made Benjamin shudder again. "And what are you giving me to handle them?"
Albert, nodding, opened his hands. A image appeared between them, showing the schematic of a certain space warship - a long, elongated brick, so massive that the many weapons on it seemed minute. One that Benjamin instantly recognised.
"Hang on...isn't that the UNSC Infinity? And those markings on it...are they…?"
"I must admit, I do not know much of this vessel nor your fiction, so I cannot exactly confirm any of your suspicions." The Quinta replied. "I can however tell you where we obtained this from - the Exploiters recently had a base in a pocket universe that contained a sizable fleet and shipyard, one that a few vessels like this in its yards. We called in a few assets, and as a result managed to destroy said fleet, alongside seizing the shipyard and this vessel."
He closed the image, and pulled out an electronic tablet of sorts. "Of course, alongside the vessel, various technologies from a few different universes are also provided. Please take a look at them." With that, he placed the tablet on the youth's lap.
Benjamin picked it up, causing the screen to light up, showing the interface of a simple file management system, with a singular document on it. Flicking through its contents, he read through a simple list of what he was going to be provided with. The UNSC's Post-Covenant War techbase from the Haloverse was inside, as he suspected, but he didn't expect two completely unrelated techbases to be added in the mix - the Fleet Of Fog femtotech, or the rather low-level cache that would have belonged to a triumphant Extraterrestrial Combat Unit.
"This...is a rather messy set of technologies. Not exactly what I would be packing for a full scale galactic war…" The sci-fi fan thought about what else could have been useful in this situation, his mind running through multiple possibilities. Perhaps a Wave-Motion Gun…
"Perhaps," Albert replied. "However, that's where the 'free rein' portion of this agreement should come into play."
Benjamin looked at him.
"As I mentioned earlier, the Reclaimers are more than willing to give you free rein over all of your activities, as long as you are capable of accomplishing what they want you to do. Thus, you are encouraged to gather whatever resources you are able to collect, such as manpower, technology, et cetera, et cetera, with your ability to travel the multiverse."
"You would let me do that?" Benjamin asked with skepticism.
"My superiors would, indeed."
"Can I trust them?"
"I can assure you, while we may not seem so, they only have benevolent feelings regarding this. I will stress that this is not a 'faustian contract' in any case, and simply a recruitment offer."
With those words, silence fell upon the pair. Benjamin looked back at the tablet, and back at the...being, deep in thought.
"You know...this might all seem like an elaborate ruse, if it wasn't for the long backstory, our current location...and your demonstration." Benjamin finally remarked.
"I rather you not see it that way; that would make poor light of my negotiation ability." Albert replied with a chuckle.
Silence fell upon them again. As they waited, tears slowly started to pool in Benjamin's eyes.
"I'm dead huh...what is my family going to do about it?"
Albert did not respond immediately, but when he did, he replied in a careful, pitying tone, "I'm afraid the best they can do is just move on from your death. I understand that it hurts to lose a child and brother...but even if my superiors wished to do anything about it...we cannot. We are neither omnipotent nor omniscient, and our resources are too limited at the moment to reverse your death or erase its occurrence. Please understand."
At Albert's words, the youth looked at his hands, before dropping his face into them. A sound of weeping came from them, and tears began to drip from those hands. In between sobs, he whispered, "What...what is Ma going to do now? She lost me...and...and...my sister won't be able to support them both for long enough…"
Albert looked at Benjamin, making no comment as the youth cried and lamented. Finally, the Quinta knelt down beside the youth when he lapsed into silence, and whispered, "If you do work with us, I personally can arrange...financial support for your family. Its at least, the best I can do for you, if you choose to work with us."
The youth stopped his weeping, and looked at the old man, his face a mess. "Really?"
"Yes. As someone who has lost way too many people, this is all I can offer with regards to your tragedy."
The human and the entity from a different world stared at each other, while Benjamin's face slowly turned stoic. "Alright, I can accept that."
Albert nodded, and pulled out the contract. "Please sign it then." He spoke, placing a pen in the youth's hand.
After looking over the contract briefly, which was a formal writing of what Albert had said to him, Benjamin quietly scratched a signature at its bottom. A sense of trepidation filled him as let go of the pen, and he laid back into the bed.
Here I go…
Albert collected both articles, and looked at the youth. "Thank you. Now then, please rest for a while as I prepare for your transport and reconstruction."
He tapped the boy's head, and Benjamin slowly felt the sweet feeling of sleep consume him.
==|==
Some music to end off...
==|==
- Location
- Void of Observation
A bunch of comments in the Pet Peeves in Fanfiction thread.
What did I change? Well...I changed it from a SI to a not!SI, and the Quintas were created for this story.
- Location
- Error 505: pending move
Mmm, Keeping an eye on this. though that outro song doesn't.....fit the way he was sent to sleep for the transfer, but that's just a pet peeve on my part.
Last edited:
- Location
- Void of Observation
I was trying to invoke that sense of mystique and adventure that was often common in many sci-fi JRPGs of the 90s-2000s era, like, you know, Xenosaga or the aforementioned Zone Of The Enders.
- Location
- Error 505: pending move
No I get that, it just seemed a little to fast paced for the outro in this case.
When I read that last little bit up until he was put to sleep I kept hearing
as to me it just fits that bit better, but like I said just a bit of a Pet Peeve on my part.
Chapter 01 - 3: Command
- Location
- Void of Observation
A/N: Yeesh, I hate introductory scenes.
Sorry for the delay - Its currently exam season for me, and I needed the time for work.
==|Chapter 01 - 3: Command|==
Within a brightly illuminated room, a man wearing a business suit and holding a strange cylinder waited in front of a pod, surrounded on all sides by debris and wreckage.
Within said pod, a human body was slowly being grown, flesh forming around a reinforced skeleton, with metal parts and computer chips being inserted at appropriate locations.
Before long, the clone was almost complete - it looked like a twenty-year-old Asian, fit and ready for combat.
As the clone's hair was being smoothed into a suitable hairstyle, the man grabbed both ends of the cylinder he carried, before twisting it. Drawing the cylinder apart, it revealed an orb with a warm yellow light caught within. The man held it aloft, as if offering the strange orb to the clone.
For a moment, nothing happened, until a blue indicator blinked twice on the cylinder. With a click, a hairline crack appeared on the immaculate orb, and the two halves of the artifact separated.
The yellow light floated away, hovering above the clone. In the blink of an eye, a yellow string appeared between the clone and the light, and the light was slowly drawn into the clone, passing through the glass walls and liquid of the pod, and vanishing within the clone.
The man snapped the cylinder shut, and with a beep, the pod signalled that its job was done. Liquid was slowly pumped out of the pod, as an indicator on the top of the pod turned green.
Slowly, carefully, the clone's eyes opened.
Benjamin blinked his eyes, looking around the...pod he was in now. A set of pictures and holograms surrounded him, all lettered in some strange language.
Suddenly, a voice filled the pod.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Benjamin Theo." Albert's friendly voice came from a set of unseen speakers, causing the boy to jolt.
"Oh! Erm...where am I?"
"You are currently aboard the Throne Of Moonlight, a Keepstar-Class Citadel. I needed to reconstruct your body, which is why you are currently sitting in a clone pod."
"Hang on...didn't you say that we only have assets from the UNSC, Fog and XCOM? What's a New Eden Citadel doing here?"
"I will explain later - right now, it seems that you should get changed."
Benjamin looked down, becoming all too aware of his very naked body. "Ah...um…"
"I have a uniform ready for you. If you wish, I can wait outside the clone bay."
"Ah, sure," The hissing of a pneumatic door opening and closing filled the room, as a red light filled the pod. Moments later, the pod opened, exposing the man to the station's air.
Holding himself tightly, Benjamin stepped out, looking around. Wreckage filled his eyes - broken clone bays, damaged and sparking machinery alongside flickering screens. He looked down, and spotted the prepared uniform.
Picking it up, it was based off an UNSC officers' uniform, albeit missing any unit patches or badges. After fumbling with it for a while, Benjamin finally got it on, and adjusted it slightly, attempting to make it as neat as possible. Using one of the pods' glass casings as a mirror, he did a double take - he looked a lot older, and a lot more fitter too.
"Alright, I'm done…" He spoke, and the doors slid open, revealing Albert, who nodded at his appearance.
"Ah, looking rather alright yourself. Please follow me."
As they started down the hallways, Benjamin took a look around. The hallways were all cast in cold, harsh metal, a militaristic look with barely any decoration save for a few scuffed symbols on the walls.
He finally asked, "Why do I look different?"
"While we managed to extract your genetic material, as it happens we needed you to look older as well as be in a completely fit condition - hence the main reason for your differences."
Benjamin shivered at those words. "You know...toying with my body isn't exactly what I am comfortable."
"My apologies for not telling you earlier. I assumed you would be completely fine with such a modification."
"...perhaps, yeah." Benjamin did not sound exactly satisfied with his benefactor's words, even as part of him felt happier at the fact that he was actually fit now...at somewhat zero cost.
They walked on further, through a set of large halls meant for some unknown ceremony. The damage here was much more prevalent - dried blood along the walls, holes and lines dotting the walls, exposed wiring within broken walls and piles of rubble all around them.
"Where is everyone?"
"Not a lot of people left, I'm afraid. The recent battle for this station caused quite a bit of damage, and the defenders thoroughly sacrificed themselves to defend every inch of this place - and neither do we have the manpower to staff everything but the more essential parts of the Citadel."
"Hang on…" The youth paused, "Does that mean that there will be only a small amount of crew to help me out with the Infinity?"
"Sadly, yes...but we already have a solution at hand."
"A...solution…" Benjamin thought for a bit, recalling the list of information he had been given earlier, "Are you talking about having a full-fledged Fog AI operate the ship?"
"You are perceptive indeed. Something like that-" Albert suddenly stopped in front of the doorway at the end of the hall."
"What's wrong?"
"It appears that the section ahead of us has recently suffered a catastrophic breach. It is now impossible to transverse, which means we will have to find another way to the command sector."
Surprise and worry set in the boy's mind. "How long more will it take?"
"Probably a couple of minutes mor-"
"Or less." A disembodied, cool female voice filled the hall, and with it part of the hall started to slightly shake.
"Whoa!" Benjamin shouted in shock, facing the door, where the vibrations seemed to be coming from. Albert simply looked at the door, his blank stare forming into a disapproving frown.
Suddenly, the vibrations stopped, and out of nowhere a light on the door turned green, it opening with a hiss moments later. Beyond the doorway, a polished, well lit corridor waited, in stark contrast to the ruined hallways the duo had been traversing earlier.
As Benjamin continued to stare, something strange happened. A cloud of silvery dust flowed into the corridor, either from wherever it led to or from the walls themselves. The cloud of dust flowed and twisted, coalescing in single spot just behind the doorway.
Within the cloud, a human figure slowly formed. It looked like a tall wax figure at first, but as time passed more and more features appeared on it, creating a tall, female figure clothed in a beautifully-decorated blue dress, with stylistic patterns and symbols decorating it, the most prominent being a simple ring surrounding a flame. It also held a staff of sorts in its left hand, plain and devoid of any decorations except for a ball on the top end.
When the dust settled, the figure opened its eyes, and a blue field flickered into existence around it, fading away in a matter of seconds.
"You really are taking too long, so I thought I should speed up the process." The figure - no, Mental Model, Benjamin realised, spoke with the same disembodied voice from earlier.
"You do know that doing that might destabilize this station's integrity? The battle has already stripped most of its armor to a dangerous lev-"
"Yes, yes, that is all true," The Mental Model waved him off with an air of exasperation, "but this is through the middle of the place and not any critical components, if you haven't noticed yet. Besides," the AI cocked her head to the side, "Are you sure you want to hold up the introductions?"
The Quinta and the Artificial Intelligence stared at each other for a while, before the former relented. "Benjamin, this is Rebecca, commander and main controller of the Throne Of Starlight. She will be under your command and will be assisting your efforts by use of this starbase."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Benjamin...or shall I call you Commander?." The AI offered her hand, a polite smile on her face.
"Just Benjamin for now, please." He took her hand and shook it.
"Very well. Please follow me." As the Mental Model walked away, Albert and Benjamin followed.
They walked in silence for awhile, before arriving at a glass elevator of sorts. As the trio stepped inside, Rebecca snapped her fingers, causing the glass doors to close and the cylindrical car to shoot upwards quickly.
"You know, I need to ask again - why do we have a New Eden Citadel here, when you never showed me anything from New Eden inside that technology database?" Benjamin turned to Albert and asked.
Before the Quinta could answer, the Mental Model cut in. "Technically this place didn't just have things from the New Eden Cluster - it had things from the United Federation of Planets to the Galactic Empire - it was literally a goldmine of technology from a thousand different universes."
"Problem was…when we attacked and took over the system, most of said stuff was lost. The Exploiters made sure to wipe most of their databanks as well as initiate self-destruct protocols on their ships and research projects they could get their hands on...out of everything that was lost, we just managed to save this station, a bunch of ships, and those three technology databases. That's the hand that we are dealt with, I guess."
Benjamin pondered over her words. "The both of you mentioned that this station was damaged. How bad is it?"
"To put it bluntly, it is currently operating at fifty percent capacity. Most of the armor of this station is shredded, but luckily I have been able to salvage almost the entire shield system, alongside the electronic countermeasures system, so protection shouldn't be a problem unless a whole battlefleet comes on our doorstep; though most of the weapons are gone and don't expect the remainder to chase off anything longer than four hundred metres. The docks are almost completely trashed save for a few, and the clone bays are nonfunctional - save for the sole pod that we managed to reactivate."
The elevator reached its destination - a massive which held the bridge of the station - multiple flashing holograms, maps and signs filled the room, with visible signs of weapon discharges and burn marks.
But what awestruck the boy was what waited outside the windows of the 'bridge' - in the light of a gleaming white stars, the endless expanse was filled with hundreds and hundreds of wrecks of many ships. Lifeless, broken hulks of ships that Benjamin only knew from various pieces of fiction drifted past the windows, with clouds of debris and rubble orbiting them.
It was a wondrous and terrifying sight, one that caused the first vestiges of fear to spread into the young man's bones, making him feel very, very small.
Is...is this how a war in heaven would look like?
As Benjamin continued to gawk at the sight, Albert gently prodded him, making him step out quickly, stumbling in the process. Regaining his balance, he asked in a worried tone, "It's going to take a very long while to rebuild this Citadel, isn't it?"
"Correct. A few years at the very least." Rebecca stepped into the middle of the room, nodding in approval. "But that's enough for now. We need to give you the full introduction package first. Please take a seat."
"Um...I think I will just stand first." Benjamin responded.
"If you wish." The Mental Model manipulated several holograms with a twitch of her fingers, presenting a map of a star system. "Albert has gone through the main points with you, so this will be easier; I shall be explaining further about the assets we have, the nature of the multiverse, alongside more of the objectives the Quinta have for us." Rebecca set down her staff, looking Benjamin directly in the eye.
Benjamin nodded, signalling for Rebecca to begin. With a wave of her hand, changed the map from the star system to a diagram of hundreds of different spheres hovering in the air, each with a label attached to them.
"This is a map of the three dimensional multiverse. As you might have guessed, each of these spheres -they aren't exactly spherical though, in case you get confused - all represent a single universe. Each of them have their unique characteristics - some are similar to your own, with the same physical laws and chemical makeup, while others may not. Others can be as big as your own home universe, while others are as small as the one we are now in. Got it?"
The boy nodded. "Alright. More importantly, in between and underneath these universes, is a never ending flux of raw, unstable energy that obeys no physical laws, and can be shaped to one's will - known as the Immaterial Plane. Still with me?"
"Wait - inbetween and underneath?"
"Think of it like the immaterial compliment to each universe, just that it is everywhere - basically, if you are at point A in the multiverse, and that portion is 'within' a universe, you can choose to emerge from it and appear at a specific place in that universe. Better now?"
"Huh…" Benjamin continued to scratch his head, slightly confused. "Like...a separate dimension or 'plane of existence' underneath the entire multiverse, you mean."
"...yes, that is correct." The Mental Model pondered over it, before turning to Albert. "See? I warned you that we had to change it already."
Albert simply sighed and waved her away, causing Rebecca to turn back to the young recruit. "So, how does one travel between universes? Simply put, one simply creates a tear in realspace, which allows access to the Immaterial Plane, and either bubble from the energies within that will allow him to transverse the plane, exit at his destination. Another method would be to create a passageway of sorts in the Immaterial Plane, linking two locations together."
"Huh…" Sounds too much like Warp Travel… "How long does it take for one to travel?" Benjamin asked with apprehension.
"From almost instantaneous to a matter of few hours." The AI replied blunted, causing the young man's jaw to drop. "Because the Immaterial Realm is not affected by realspace, distance is not a thing in it, allowing us to define the so called distance between universes. Of course, the universes are separate, and hence there's a limit on how much travel time you can cut...but it's still just a small inconvenience. "
"Seriously? That just sounds way too good - or easy."
"Its major drawback is that it is way too easy to interdict or block, by establishing 'walls' within the Immaterial Realm or simply strengthening the walls of realspace. And there's the problem - facing some of the more...established Exploiters would be difficult, with them blocking the main way in and out of the systems they lay claim to." Albert answered.
"True. For example," Rebecca brought back the map of the system, highlighting a couple of red dots orbiting it. "This pocket dimension has quite a few of those 'Dimensional Interdictors' placed around it, in a pattern that limits entry in and out to a specific space at the other side of the system's sun." On the holographic map, a small portion of the area was highlighted blue, which had multiple stations surrounding it.
"Another drawback would be that if you aren't a Quinta, you would need an Artificial Intelligence or another Quinta to control the Dimensional Drive which allows this to happen. All the calculations and control needed is just too fine to leave to 'normal' three-dimensional computers." Rebecca added.
"What happens if you don't use either?" Benjamin asked with morbid curiosity.
"Why, you either get turned into pasta with your ship, or you end up annihilating nearby realspace - nearby as in everything within a few hundred million kilometres around your attempt to do so." Rebecca answered sardonically. "Of course, the latter hasn't happened once, and I can personally say that I have never seen a Dimensional Drive fail by accident, not even once."
"Doesn't...sound so bad now that you said it. I mean, when you are about to go hunting gods, a drive failure doesn't sound all too bad, doesn't it." Benjamin made a short laugh, easing off the short burst of nervousness that had flowed into his system.
Why do I feel so disconnected from all this -
"Speaking of which, I think I should probably let you meet the AI who is going to handle that part."
"Eh? Aren't you going to…" Benjamin looked up in surprise.
"I can't, mainly because..well, my systems are not transplantable to the ship you are going to be using, even if my expertise would be very much desired." The Mental Model looked away, twirling her hair.
"You aren't a Fog AI? Then why are you -"
Reading his question, the AI quickly responded, "If you install the right components, any AI can gain the right abilities. Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that, and I would rather you respect my privacy by probing further."
Benjamin, still curious, turned to Albert. The Quinta was about to open his mouth, only to be interrupted by a glare from the Mental Model."Sadly, I'm going to respect Rebecca's wish for silence in this matter."
"Oh...ok."
"Right, enough of this - Achiral, could you please show yourself?"
At Rebecca's words, a younger, monotone voice filled the room. "Understood, Mentor."
To Benjamin's right, a door opened with a hiss, revealing a girl who looked around eighteen to nineteen years old. She wore a yellow dress that ended around her knees, a pair of boots and a clean black capelet, secured by a pin with a symbol on it - a eight pointed star with a circle cutting through its points.
She walked in, stopping in front of Benjamin. "Greetings, Benjamin Theo. My name is Achiral, and I will be your adjutant and second-in-command throughout the entire time you wish to work with me." With that blunt introduction, the Mental Model bowed, before abruptly extending a hand in greeting.
"Um...pleased to meet you too." Nervously, the boy took the Mental Model's hand, only to yelp in pain as the Mental Model shook it vigorously.
"Oh dear, did I hurt you?" Seeing Benjamin wincing and clutching his arm after letting go, the Mental Model queried, a small sliver of concern slipping into her monotone voice.
"Its nothing...ow...just, you know, you aren't supposed to shake people's hands that hard." Benjamin answered, placing a kind smile on his face. "Just...you know, do so gently."
"Oh, Understood, sir. I apologise for my mistake, and I shall file away that information." The Ai returned to a guard posture, watching Benjamin closely.
Rebecca had been watching the both of them with humor on her face - as Benjamin continued to nurse his arm, she spoken, "Sorry about that, Benjamin, Achiral is rather young and hasn't gotten used to her Mental Model yet. And as you can tell, she also isn't really used to human contact yet."
"Its...alright…" The young man answered, finally letting go of his arm as the pain subsided. "Though, how young are you exactly, Achiral?"
"My Union Core was activated approximately 6 months ago, and I only developed my current personality around a few weeks ago. The past few months have simply consisted of me undergoing training from Mentor as well as me acclimating with the various systems on the Throne Of Moonlight. As such, I am ready for service."
"Thanks…" Again, Benjamin spoke with apprehension. Sensing it, the young AI responded, " While my personality remains underdeveloped and I do not know you well, as comrades I sincerely hope that we can strike a fruitful relationship, Benjamin."
"Yeah...me too." With this, Achiral lapsed into silence, waiting for other instructions.
"Right, back to topic. Benjamin, you are aware of what you are going to be using, right?" Rebecca cut in.
"Yeah. Infinity-Class Warship, outfitted with various Fleet Of Fog and XCOM, technologies, am I right?" The boy answered.
"Yes. The Transcendence, as it is known, is currently undergoing its refitting down in the docks. Of course, it's being upgraded with what I could grab from around this graveyard, which should make it a formidable warship...so on and so forth."
"Of course, that isn't it. Like Albert said, everything in this sector, from the remaining hulks in the docks to the sun out there, is going to be yours from a certain point onwards...but first, Achiral and I will be giving you a crash course on basic naval command and strategy, which should actually help you understand what you are going to be going into, which should be completed in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, the Transcendence will go through its final refitting."
"I see...thanks a lot for all this. Though...I wonder why another AI or Albert handle this…"
"Simply put, Achiral is underdeveloped, and I'm stuck to this station. As for Albert…" The AI sighed. "Quintas can sense another Quinta, even if they are very far away if they are in the same universe. Albert may only use an Avatar, but his presence is strong enough for them to sense. Of course...we could conceal him in the future, but that would require quite a few years of work, and we don't have the time."
"I see." Benjamin nodded.
"Alright -" Rebecca started, only for Albert to walk up, tapping her on the shoulder, a worried expression on his face. "What is it?" She asked as she turned around.
"There's a situation. The crew are coming here a few days early."
"Huh? Why?" The older Mental Model stood up straight, asking with bewilderment. "What's going on? Weren't they supposed to be maintaining incognito?"
"For some reason, they are blowing their cover - they are effectively sending out distress calls through our official channels, and they are demanding to be let into this system, immediately."
"Wait, now?"
Rebecca's worried call caused Benjamin to interrupt, Achiral following him. "Excuse me, but what's going on?"
"The crew that were enroute here have suddenly blown their cover and are demanding that we shut down the Dimensional Interdictor Fields and let them perform an emergency jump to the system. As far as I know, that's all my department has managed to extract from their transmissions - it appears that those transmissions are being suppressed." Albert answered
"So...is a hostile fleet incoming?" Benjamin asked, worry in his voice.
"Most likely, or it could be a local threat from the universe they are in. In any case, we cannot afford to lose those crew, so...Rebecca, deactivate the Interdictor Fields and let them in." The Quinta finished his last sentence with a commanding voice.
"If you say so…Engaging Citadel shields, readying weapons, preparing targeting solutions...deactivating Local Interdictor Field Network." As the Mental Model spoke, various holograms around the bridge changed as subsystems changed their orders and programs ran.
For a while, nothing happened.
Suddenly, Rebecca spoke. "Detecting 2 groups of 3 dimensional anomalies at 270 degrees and 174 degrees respectively."
Two holographic screens flared to life. On each screen, 3 white lights flared to life, slowly turning to white ringed portals. Out of each emerged six small ships - all of designs that Benjamin could not identify on sight.
"Our crew…" As Albert spoke, Rebecca began to transmit a message. "This is the Throne Of Moonlight. Transport Fleet, are you al -"
"Help!" A static-clouded, panicked voice filled the bridge, presumably a voice transmission from one of the ships. "We are currently being chased by a set of Quintas who are wielding ship-bodies and using various powers! We just lost half our flee-"
"Second series of five dimensional anomalies detected, bearing 260 degrees," From Benjamin's side, Achiral spoke. On the holographic screen, four white rifts opened in spacetime, and out of them emerged -
Benjamin gasped. In all his life, he never imagined he would have never dreamed of it.
Out of the portal, five Sovereign-Class Reapers, their squid-like bodies gleaming under the glow of the system's star, their shapes as menacing as hunting tigers, emerged out of those rifts in reality, right behind the hapless fleet. The transmissions from the transport fleets heightened in intensity, as the transport fleet's crew started crying in yet more panic and fear.
Before any of them could react, one of the Reapers swung its tentacles in and out, in a way that seemed almost lazy. Out of nowhere, a bright light flashed, and the panicked cries of the many crewmen were suddenly cut short.
When the light faded, Benjamin looked at the screen again, and gasped. Where the first transport fleet had been, lay their wrecks, sliced into half by an unknown force, their remains falling about before exploding as their reactors failed.
Turning around, the boy spotted one of the Reapers break away from its formation and chase the other transport fleet.
"Wait! Someone stop i-"
Before he could respond, the Reaper shook its tentacles, and in a flash of light, the other transport fleet vanished in a flash of light, its bisected remains adding to wreckage surrounding the Citadel.
As the Reapers began to take up positions outside the Citadel, their main cannons beginning to open up, the would-be commander stood there, stupefied and shocked at the sudden loss of life and surprise attack on his position.
What...the hell...
Sorry for the delay - Its currently exam season for me, and I needed the time for work.
==|Chapter 01 - 3: Command|==
Within a brightly illuminated room, a man wearing a business suit and holding a strange cylinder waited in front of a pod, surrounded on all sides by debris and wreckage.
Within said pod, a human body was slowly being grown, flesh forming around a reinforced skeleton, with metal parts and computer chips being inserted at appropriate locations.
Before long, the clone was almost complete - it looked like a twenty-year-old Asian, fit and ready for combat.
As the clone's hair was being smoothed into a suitable hairstyle, the man grabbed both ends of the cylinder he carried, before twisting it. Drawing the cylinder apart, it revealed an orb with a warm yellow light caught within. The man held it aloft, as if offering the strange orb to the clone.
For a moment, nothing happened, until a blue indicator blinked twice on the cylinder. With a click, a hairline crack appeared on the immaculate orb, and the two halves of the artifact separated.
The yellow light floated away, hovering above the clone. In the blink of an eye, a yellow string appeared between the clone and the light, and the light was slowly drawn into the clone, passing through the glass walls and liquid of the pod, and vanishing within the clone.
The man snapped the cylinder shut, and with a beep, the pod signalled that its job was done. Liquid was slowly pumped out of the pod, as an indicator on the top of the pod turned green.
Slowly, carefully, the clone's eyes opened.
==|==
Benjamin blinked his eyes, looking around the...pod he was in now. A set of pictures and holograms surrounded him, all lettered in some strange language.
Suddenly, a voice filled the pod.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Benjamin Theo." Albert's friendly voice came from a set of unseen speakers, causing the boy to jolt.
"Oh! Erm...where am I?"
"You are currently aboard the Throne Of Moonlight, a Keepstar-Class Citadel. I needed to reconstruct your body, which is why you are currently sitting in a clone pod."
"Hang on...didn't you say that we only have assets from the UNSC, Fog and XCOM? What's a New Eden Citadel doing here?"
"I will explain later - right now, it seems that you should get changed."
Benjamin looked down, becoming all too aware of his very naked body. "Ah...um…"
"I have a uniform ready for you. If you wish, I can wait outside the clone bay."
"Ah, sure," The hissing of a pneumatic door opening and closing filled the room, as a red light filled the pod. Moments later, the pod opened, exposing the man to the station's air.
Holding himself tightly, Benjamin stepped out, looking around. Wreckage filled his eyes - broken clone bays, damaged and sparking machinery alongside flickering screens. He looked down, and spotted the prepared uniform.
Picking it up, it was based off an UNSC officers' uniform, albeit missing any unit patches or badges. After fumbling with it for a while, Benjamin finally got it on, and adjusted it slightly, attempting to make it as neat as possible. Using one of the pods' glass casings as a mirror, he did a double take - he looked a lot older, and a lot more fitter too.
"Alright, I'm done…" He spoke, and the doors slid open, revealing Albert, who nodded at his appearance.
"Ah, looking rather alright yourself. Please follow me."
As they started down the hallways, Benjamin took a look around. The hallways were all cast in cold, harsh metal, a militaristic look with barely any decoration save for a few scuffed symbols on the walls.
He finally asked, "Why do I look different?"
"While we managed to extract your genetic material, as it happens we needed you to look older as well as be in a completely fit condition - hence the main reason for your differences."
Benjamin shivered at those words. "You know...toying with my body isn't exactly what I am comfortable."
"My apologies for not telling you earlier. I assumed you would be completely fine with such a modification."
"...perhaps, yeah." Benjamin did not sound exactly satisfied with his benefactor's words, even as part of him felt happier at the fact that he was actually fit now...at somewhat zero cost.
They walked on further, through a set of large halls meant for some unknown ceremony. The damage here was much more prevalent - dried blood along the walls, holes and lines dotting the walls, exposed wiring within broken walls and piles of rubble all around them.
"Where is everyone?"
"Not a lot of people left, I'm afraid. The recent battle for this station caused quite a bit of damage, and the defenders thoroughly sacrificed themselves to defend every inch of this place - and neither do we have the manpower to staff everything but the more essential parts of the Citadel."
"Hang on…" The youth paused, "Does that mean that there will be only a small amount of crew to help me out with the Infinity?"
"Sadly, yes...but we already have a solution at hand."
"A...solution…" Benjamin thought for a bit, recalling the list of information he had been given earlier, "Are you talking about having a full-fledged Fog AI operate the ship?"
"You are perceptive indeed. Something like that-" Albert suddenly stopped in front of the doorway at the end of the hall."
"What's wrong?"
"It appears that the section ahead of us has recently suffered a catastrophic breach. It is now impossible to transverse, which means we will have to find another way to the command sector."
Surprise and worry set in the boy's mind. "How long more will it take?"
"Probably a couple of minutes mor-"
"Or less." A disembodied, cool female voice filled the hall, and with it part of the hall started to slightly shake.
"Whoa!" Benjamin shouted in shock, facing the door, where the vibrations seemed to be coming from. Albert simply looked at the door, his blank stare forming into a disapproving frown.
Suddenly, the vibrations stopped, and out of nowhere a light on the door turned green, it opening with a hiss moments later. Beyond the doorway, a polished, well lit corridor waited, in stark contrast to the ruined hallways the duo had been traversing earlier.
As Benjamin continued to stare, something strange happened. A cloud of silvery dust flowed into the corridor, either from wherever it led to or from the walls themselves. The cloud of dust flowed and twisted, coalescing in single spot just behind the doorway.
Within the cloud, a human figure slowly formed. It looked like a tall wax figure at first, but as time passed more and more features appeared on it, creating a tall, female figure clothed in a beautifully-decorated blue dress, with stylistic patterns and symbols decorating it, the most prominent being a simple ring surrounding a flame. It also held a staff of sorts in its left hand, plain and devoid of any decorations except for a ball on the top end.
When the dust settled, the figure opened its eyes, and a blue field flickered into existence around it, fading away in a matter of seconds.
"You really are taking too long, so I thought I should speed up the process." The figure - no, Mental Model, Benjamin realised, spoke with the same disembodied voice from earlier.
"You do know that doing that might destabilize this station's integrity? The battle has already stripped most of its armor to a dangerous lev-"
"Yes, yes, that is all true," The Mental Model waved him off with an air of exasperation, "but this is through the middle of the place and not any critical components, if you haven't noticed yet. Besides," the AI cocked her head to the side, "Are you sure you want to hold up the introductions?"
The Quinta and the Artificial Intelligence stared at each other for a while, before the former relented. "Benjamin, this is Rebecca, commander and main controller of the Throne Of Starlight. She will be under your command and will be assisting your efforts by use of this starbase."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Benjamin...or shall I call you Commander?." The AI offered her hand, a polite smile on her face.
"Just Benjamin for now, please." He took her hand and shook it.
"Very well. Please follow me." As the Mental Model walked away, Albert and Benjamin followed.
They walked in silence for awhile, before arriving at a glass elevator of sorts. As the trio stepped inside, Rebecca snapped her fingers, causing the glass doors to close and the cylindrical car to shoot upwards quickly.
"You know, I need to ask again - why do we have a New Eden Citadel here, when you never showed me anything from New Eden inside that technology database?" Benjamin turned to Albert and asked.
Before the Quinta could answer, the Mental Model cut in. "Technically this place didn't just have things from the New Eden Cluster - it had things from the United Federation of Planets to the Galactic Empire - it was literally a goldmine of technology from a thousand different universes."
"Problem was…when we attacked and took over the system, most of said stuff was lost. The Exploiters made sure to wipe most of their databanks as well as initiate self-destruct protocols on their ships and research projects they could get their hands on...out of everything that was lost, we just managed to save this station, a bunch of ships, and those three technology databases. That's the hand that we are dealt with, I guess."
Benjamin pondered over her words. "The both of you mentioned that this station was damaged. How bad is it?"
"To put it bluntly, it is currently operating at fifty percent capacity. Most of the armor of this station is shredded, but luckily I have been able to salvage almost the entire shield system, alongside the electronic countermeasures system, so protection shouldn't be a problem unless a whole battlefleet comes on our doorstep; though most of the weapons are gone and don't expect the remainder to chase off anything longer than four hundred metres. The docks are almost completely trashed save for a few, and the clone bays are nonfunctional - save for the sole pod that we managed to reactivate."
The elevator reached its destination - a massive which held the bridge of the station - multiple flashing holograms, maps and signs filled the room, with visible signs of weapon discharges and burn marks.
But what awestruck the boy was what waited outside the windows of the 'bridge' - in the light of a gleaming white stars, the endless expanse was filled with hundreds and hundreds of wrecks of many ships. Lifeless, broken hulks of ships that Benjamin only knew from various pieces of fiction drifted past the windows, with clouds of debris and rubble orbiting them.
It was a wondrous and terrifying sight, one that caused the first vestiges of fear to spread into the young man's bones, making him feel very, very small.
Is...is this how a war in heaven would look like?
As Benjamin continued to gawk at the sight, Albert gently prodded him, making him step out quickly, stumbling in the process. Regaining his balance, he asked in a worried tone, "It's going to take a very long while to rebuild this Citadel, isn't it?"
"Correct. A few years at the very least." Rebecca stepped into the middle of the room, nodding in approval. "But that's enough for now. We need to give you the full introduction package first. Please take a seat."
"Um...I think I will just stand first." Benjamin responded.
"If you wish." The Mental Model manipulated several holograms with a twitch of her fingers, presenting a map of a star system. "Albert has gone through the main points with you, so this will be easier; I shall be explaining further about the assets we have, the nature of the multiverse, alongside more of the objectives the Quinta have for us." Rebecca set down her staff, looking Benjamin directly in the eye.
Benjamin nodded, signalling for Rebecca to begin. With a wave of her hand, changed the map from the star system to a diagram of hundreds of different spheres hovering in the air, each with a label attached to them.
"This is a map of the three dimensional multiverse. As you might have guessed, each of these spheres -they aren't exactly spherical though, in case you get confused - all represent a single universe. Each of them have their unique characteristics - some are similar to your own, with the same physical laws and chemical makeup, while others may not. Others can be as big as your own home universe, while others are as small as the one we are now in. Got it?"
The boy nodded. "Alright. More importantly, in between and underneath these universes, is a never ending flux of raw, unstable energy that obeys no physical laws, and can be shaped to one's will - known as the Immaterial Plane. Still with me?"
"Wait - inbetween and underneath?"
"Think of it like the immaterial compliment to each universe, just that it is everywhere - basically, if you are at point A in the multiverse, and that portion is 'within' a universe, you can choose to emerge from it and appear at a specific place in that universe. Better now?"
"Huh…" Benjamin continued to scratch his head, slightly confused. "Like...a separate dimension or 'plane of existence' underneath the entire multiverse, you mean."
"...yes, that is correct." The Mental Model pondered over it, before turning to Albert. "See? I warned you that we had to change it already."
Albert simply sighed and waved her away, causing Rebecca to turn back to the young recruit. "So, how does one travel between universes? Simply put, one simply creates a tear in realspace, which allows access to the Immaterial Plane, and either bubble from the energies within that will allow him to transverse the plane, exit at his destination. Another method would be to create a passageway of sorts in the Immaterial Plane, linking two locations together."
"Huh…" Sounds too much like Warp Travel… "How long does it take for one to travel?" Benjamin asked with apprehension.
"From almost instantaneous to a matter of few hours." The AI replied blunted, causing the young man's jaw to drop. "Because the Immaterial Realm is not affected by realspace, distance is not a thing in it, allowing us to define the so called distance between universes. Of course, the universes are separate, and hence there's a limit on how much travel time you can cut...but it's still just a small inconvenience. "
"Seriously? That just sounds way too good - or easy."
"Its major drawback is that it is way too easy to interdict or block, by establishing 'walls' within the Immaterial Realm or simply strengthening the walls of realspace. And there's the problem - facing some of the more...established Exploiters would be difficult, with them blocking the main way in and out of the systems they lay claim to." Albert answered.
"True. For example," Rebecca brought back the map of the system, highlighting a couple of red dots orbiting it. "This pocket dimension has quite a few of those 'Dimensional Interdictors' placed around it, in a pattern that limits entry in and out to a specific space at the other side of the system's sun." On the holographic map, a small portion of the area was highlighted blue, which had multiple stations surrounding it.
"Another drawback would be that if you aren't a Quinta, you would need an Artificial Intelligence or another Quinta to control the Dimensional Drive which allows this to happen. All the calculations and control needed is just too fine to leave to 'normal' three-dimensional computers." Rebecca added.
"What happens if you don't use either?" Benjamin asked with morbid curiosity.
"Why, you either get turned into pasta with your ship, or you end up annihilating nearby realspace - nearby as in everything within a few hundred million kilometres around your attempt to do so." Rebecca answered sardonically. "Of course, the latter hasn't happened once, and I can personally say that I have never seen a Dimensional Drive fail by accident, not even once."
"Doesn't...sound so bad now that you said it. I mean, when you are about to go hunting gods, a drive failure doesn't sound all too bad, doesn't it." Benjamin made a short laugh, easing off the short burst of nervousness that had flowed into his system.
Why do I feel so disconnected from all this -
"Speaking of which, I think I should probably let you meet the AI who is going to handle that part."
"Eh? Aren't you going to…" Benjamin looked up in surprise.
"I can't, mainly because..well, my systems are not transplantable to the ship you are going to be using, even if my expertise would be very much desired." The Mental Model looked away, twirling her hair.
"You aren't a Fog AI? Then why are you -"
Reading his question, the AI quickly responded, "If you install the right components, any AI can gain the right abilities. Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that, and I would rather you respect my privacy by probing further."
Benjamin, still curious, turned to Albert. The Quinta was about to open his mouth, only to be interrupted by a glare from the Mental Model."Sadly, I'm going to respect Rebecca's wish for silence in this matter."
"Oh...ok."
"Right, enough of this - Achiral, could you please show yourself?"
At Rebecca's words, a younger, monotone voice filled the room. "Understood, Mentor."
To Benjamin's right, a door opened with a hiss, revealing a girl who looked around eighteen to nineteen years old. She wore a yellow dress that ended around her knees, a pair of boots and a clean black capelet, secured by a pin with a symbol on it - a eight pointed star with a circle cutting through its points.
She walked in, stopping in front of Benjamin. "Greetings, Benjamin Theo. My name is Achiral, and I will be your adjutant and second-in-command throughout the entire time you wish to work with me." With that blunt introduction, the Mental Model bowed, before abruptly extending a hand in greeting.
"Um...pleased to meet you too." Nervously, the boy took the Mental Model's hand, only to yelp in pain as the Mental Model shook it vigorously.
"Oh dear, did I hurt you?" Seeing Benjamin wincing and clutching his arm after letting go, the Mental Model queried, a small sliver of concern slipping into her monotone voice.
"Its nothing...ow...just, you know, you aren't supposed to shake people's hands that hard." Benjamin answered, placing a kind smile on his face. "Just...you know, do so gently."
"Oh, Understood, sir. I apologise for my mistake, and I shall file away that information." The Ai returned to a guard posture, watching Benjamin closely.
Rebecca had been watching the both of them with humor on her face - as Benjamin continued to nurse his arm, she spoken, "Sorry about that, Benjamin, Achiral is rather young and hasn't gotten used to her Mental Model yet. And as you can tell, she also isn't really used to human contact yet."
"Its...alright…" The young man answered, finally letting go of his arm as the pain subsided. "Though, how young are you exactly, Achiral?"
"My Union Core was activated approximately 6 months ago, and I only developed my current personality around a few weeks ago. The past few months have simply consisted of me undergoing training from Mentor as well as me acclimating with the various systems on the Throne Of Moonlight. As such, I am ready for service."
"Thanks…" Again, Benjamin spoke with apprehension. Sensing it, the young AI responded, " While my personality remains underdeveloped and I do not know you well, as comrades I sincerely hope that we can strike a fruitful relationship, Benjamin."
"Yeah...me too." With this, Achiral lapsed into silence, waiting for other instructions.
"Right, back to topic. Benjamin, you are aware of what you are going to be using, right?" Rebecca cut in.
"Yeah. Infinity-Class Warship, outfitted with various Fleet Of Fog and XCOM, technologies, am I right?" The boy answered.
"Yes. The Transcendence, as it is known, is currently undergoing its refitting down in the docks. Of course, it's being upgraded with what I could grab from around this graveyard, which should make it a formidable warship...so on and so forth."
"Of course, that isn't it. Like Albert said, everything in this sector, from the remaining hulks in the docks to the sun out there, is going to be yours from a certain point onwards...but first, Achiral and I will be giving you a crash course on basic naval command and strategy, which should actually help you understand what you are going to be going into, which should be completed in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, the Transcendence will go through its final refitting."
"I see...thanks a lot for all this. Though...I wonder why another AI or Albert handle this…"
"Simply put, Achiral is underdeveloped, and I'm stuck to this station. As for Albert…" The AI sighed. "Quintas can sense another Quinta, even if they are very far away if they are in the same universe. Albert may only use an Avatar, but his presence is strong enough for them to sense. Of course...we could conceal him in the future, but that would require quite a few years of work, and we don't have the time."
"I see." Benjamin nodded.
"Alright -" Rebecca started, only for Albert to walk up, tapping her on the shoulder, a worried expression on his face. "What is it?" She asked as she turned around.
"There's a situation. The crew are coming here a few days early."
"Huh? Why?" The older Mental Model stood up straight, asking with bewilderment. "What's going on? Weren't they supposed to be maintaining incognito?"
"For some reason, they are blowing their cover - they are effectively sending out distress calls through our official channels, and they are demanding to be let into this system, immediately."
"Wait, now?"
Rebecca's worried call caused Benjamin to interrupt, Achiral following him. "Excuse me, but what's going on?"
"The crew that were enroute here have suddenly blown their cover and are demanding that we shut down the Dimensional Interdictor Fields and let them perform an emergency jump to the system. As far as I know, that's all my department has managed to extract from their transmissions - it appears that those transmissions are being suppressed." Albert answered
"So...is a hostile fleet incoming?" Benjamin asked, worry in his voice.
"Most likely, or it could be a local threat from the universe they are in. In any case, we cannot afford to lose those crew, so...Rebecca, deactivate the Interdictor Fields and let them in." The Quinta finished his last sentence with a commanding voice.
"If you say so…Engaging Citadel shields, readying weapons, preparing targeting solutions...deactivating Local Interdictor Field Network." As the Mental Model spoke, various holograms around the bridge changed as subsystems changed their orders and programs ran.
For a while, nothing happened.
Suddenly, Rebecca spoke. "Detecting 2 groups of 3 dimensional anomalies at 270 degrees and 174 degrees respectively."
Two holographic screens flared to life. On each screen, 3 white lights flared to life, slowly turning to white ringed portals. Out of each emerged six small ships - all of designs that Benjamin could not identify on sight.
"Our crew…" As Albert spoke, Rebecca began to transmit a message. "This is the Throne Of Moonlight. Transport Fleet, are you al -"
"Help!" A static-clouded, panicked voice filled the bridge, presumably a voice transmission from one of the ships. "We are currently being chased by a set of Quintas who are wielding ship-bodies and using various powers! We just lost half our flee-"
"Second series of five dimensional anomalies detected, bearing 260 degrees," From Benjamin's side, Achiral spoke. On the holographic screen, four white rifts opened in spacetime, and out of them emerged -
Benjamin gasped. In all his life, he never imagined he would have never dreamed of it.
Out of the portal, five Sovereign-Class Reapers, their squid-like bodies gleaming under the glow of the system's star, their shapes as menacing as hunting tigers, emerged out of those rifts in reality, right behind the hapless fleet. The transmissions from the transport fleets heightened in intensity, as the transport fleet's crew started crying in yet more panic and fear.
Before any of them could react, one of the Reapers swung its tentacles in and out, in a way that seemed almost lazy. Out of nowhere, a bright light flashed, and the panicked cries of the many crewmen were suddenly cut short.
When the light faded, Benjamin looked at the screen again, and gasped. Where the first transport fleet had been, lay their wrecks, sliced into half by an unknown force, their remains falling about before exploding as their reactors failed.
Turning around, the boy spotted one of the Reapers break away from its formation and chase the other transport fleet.
"Wait! Someone stop i-"
Before he could respond, the Reaper shook its tentacles, and in a flash of light, the other transport fleet vanished in a flash of light, its bisected remains adding to wreckage surrounding the Citadel.
As the Reapers began to take up positions outside the Citadel, their main cannons beginning to open up, the would-be commander stood there, stupefied and shocked at the sudden loss of life and surprise attack on his position.
What...the hell...
==|Chapter 01 End|==
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Chapter 02 - 1: Surprise Attack
- Location
- Void of Observation
==|Chapter 02 - 1: Surprise Attack|==
The blue, glowing hulls of the Reapers swooped into position above the Keepstar, their massive cybernetic tentacles opening up to reveal their main guns.
From deep in their bellies, the synthetic horrors unleashed red-hot lances of glowing hot metal, shooting straight for the massive starbase from thousand of kilometers away.
Long before they could make contact however, the lances slammed into a transparent shield that shrouded the station, the molten metal splashing all over the protective bubble, leeching some of the energy that was used to keep it up. They lance along the curved barrier, before fading away as the flow of metal dissipated.
In retaliation, a series of pods on the station's exterior opened up to reveal waiting arrays of autocannons, missile launchers and railguns. The weapons swiveled about to target the enemy dreadnoughts, firing a barrage in return.
The shells and missiles flew straight up, only for the shells to shatter against powerful blue barriers, while the missiles were sliced apart by waiting point-defense lasers.
On the station's bridge, Albert spoke, a frown on his face. "Perhaps we should not waste ammunition on them? Our limited weaponry will possible have no effect on them."
Rebecca evaluated his words, before tapping on a hologram beside her. The few remaining operational turrets on the Throne Of Starlight shut off and returned to their inactive position.
"What else?" The AI asked.
"Reactivate the Dimensional Interdictor Network; don't let them get a word of this place out. Also begin scanning their features. Perhaps we can acquire some intel on our besiegers." The Quinta ordered bluntly.
As he spoke, a rain of mass effect slugs fell upon the Citadel, turning the shields visible for a moment.
"Alright." As the AI silently prepared the next set of commands, Albert turned to Benjamin. As it was, the youth was still frozen in shock, his face full of abject terror. Achiral stood beside him, the AI silently waiting for some sort of order to come through...or more likely, evaluating the situation and preparing the best possible scenarios.
"Benjamin." Albert spoke, hoping to get the young man's attention.
He did not respond, still frozen in shock.
Albert sighed, and turned to Achiral. "Achiral, please snap your superior out of his funk."
Achiral nodded, and raised one finger to Benjamin's ribs, before jabbing him.
"Yeow!" The boy spun around, holding his side, wincing. "What was that f-"
The Quinta held his hand out, stopping the young man halfway through. "As you know already, right now we are currently besieged."
"Um...yes," The boy slowly released his aching sides, looking at Albert.
"Right now, given our circumstances, do you have any suggestions to give us?"
"Wa...Bwah?" The boy looked around, confused. "That's just...that's just way too sudden!" He looked around, and saw the rest of the crew looking at him. Feeling a little embarrassed, he retreated and sat on a nearby chair, mumbling to himself
Albert examined him for a while. "Fine, please take a moment to calm yourself. Rebecca, is the Dimensional Interdictor Network back online already?" He finally spoke.
"Yes." The AI answered simply.
"Very well. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this annoyance?"
"We could have the Transcendence deployed early...but I'm afraid that it will do nothing except delay the destruction of this station a little. How about getting one of the Department's other fleets to come and assist us?"
The Quinta remained quiet at Rebecca's question, and only answered after a few minutes and several more mass accelerator slugs had collided with the Citadel's shield. "Unfortunately, none of those fleets' ships can be spared at the moment...and even if they could be, they may not reach here before the shield goes down."
"Oh dear. What do you have in mind, Achiral?" The older AI asked her protege.
"I believe that a 'tactical retreat' might be feasible. Albert has shown the existence of other bases belonging to his organisation. We have a few stealth warships in our inventories - perhaps we can make use of them for such an effort."
"Leaving the Transcendence behind is not an option. In fact, leaving this whole setup is completely out of the question. Whether they may be Exploiters or simple pirates, the consequences of leaving this...treasure trove of technology in their hands is terrifying to behold."
"Besides, you do know that I am incapable of removing myself from this station, don't you?" Rebecca stared at her student with one judgemental eye.
"I apologise." Achiral bowed. "I forgot to take into account your current situation."
"Speaking of which...perhaps you are ready to give us some suggestions, Benjamin?" Albert turned to the silent boy.
Benjamin had been watching them all, with unease slowly growing in his gut. "Well...I remember that Keepstars have a Doomsday Device mounted on them...but I assume ours is broken at the moment, is it?"
"Sadly, yes. And I doubt it can repaired any time soon."
"...how...about…" The boy racked his head for ideas, grimacing as he placed his forehead on his fist. "Could we use some Nanomaterial to create a salvo of Corrosive Missiles to try and take out the Reapers? A single missile should be enough to demolish them, so perhaps if we swarm them -"
"A good enough idea...if you are willing to sacrifice all of the Super-Graviton Cannons and related Fog Nanotech that could be installed on the Transcendence, because we simply don't have that much nanomaterial at hand." Rebecca stepped up to reply.
"How about some Photon Cannons instead? If I'm not wrong, Reaper technology is only protected against kinetic-based weaponry, so perhaps a powerful enough barrage of Photon Cannon fire - or even Super-Graviton Cannons could finish them quickly, and it can be disassembled afterwards."
"Perhaps…" Rebecca considered his point, tapping her feet against the floor as she did so. "However I'm more than certain that given the use of Dimensional Drives, our enemies are Quinta, thus they may have probably picked up countermeasures at the same time."
"Are...are you sure though?" A thought came to the boy, causing him to stand up on instinct. "I honestly doubt that Reapers would have a place to dock or do refitting, what with their...special kind of circumstances and technology." He paused, before adding on another point. "Besides, they are pirates, so perhaps they don't even have access to ports or the like."
"...you make a good point." Rebecca conceded, "However, that all is irrelevant...as, well, the maximum range of either of those weapons are about a few hundred kilometers. And our enemies are far beyond that range."
"Oh. Oh, yeah." Covering his face with his left palm, Benjamin let out a short groan.
"Even if I were to alter the output to the point that we could reach them...it might have become too weak to affect them. Good try though; do you have any other ideas?" The AI put his thoughts to rest.
"Well…deploying the Transcend- wait, no, that's out of the question..." Despite racking his mind for yet more proposals, the young man eventually found himself at a loss. Dropping back into his chair, he admitted, "I...don't. Sorry about that…"
No one answered, all of them still thinking of ways to resolve their precarious situation. In response, Benjamin continued to air his thoughts. "SInce they are besieging us...we probably need either a friendly force to break the siege...or something powerful enough to destroy them in one fell swoop…"
From schoolboy to starbase commander in a few hours, meeting AIs, gods and a race of hostile, sentient spaceships. How in the world am I still coherent? Despite the seriousness of the situation, and the possibility of his life being extinguished, the former student could not help remark on the ludicrousness of everything that was happening, not least the fact that his own mental facultes were still working properly.
Behind Benjamin, as he rambled away, Achiral had not been idle. After a while, she asked, "Perhaps...we could attempt to retrieve a superweapon?"
"Retrieve a superweapon?" Rebecca turned around, a look of disbelief on her face. "And where would we get one?"
"I was looking through some of the older database files, and I stumbled upon a description of a 'Nova Bomb'." The AI opened up several holograms, and proceeded to read off them. "Apparently a high-yield nuclear device with an output enough to destroy small planetoids and wipe out entire fleets, a series of research files indicated that it was installed in a specialised missile, and deployed onboard several supercarriers belonging to this station's old masters, with its own specialised launcher. If we retrieved the warhead…"
"Oh, that. I assume you are referring to that planet-buster that was originally created by the UNSC?"
"Precisely." Achiral nodded.
Listening on the AIs' conversation, the implications of what they had been saying finally dawned on Benjamin. "Wait wait wait, a NOVA bomb? You want to use that? Wouldn't the bomb blast severely damage this station?"
"That…"
Achiral pondered on the matter, only for Rebecca to wave them aside. "Simple. This station had quite a few countermeasures installed on it, one of which happens to be a Mirror-Ring System. I assume you are familiar with it?"
The shock on Benjamin's face changed to a look of skepticism. "A Mirror-Ring System installed on something as big as this? That...doesn't sound like it would work."
"Oh, it does; I can guarantee you that." Rebecca waved aside his concerns yet again.
"Right...so, if we detonate the bomb near the Reaper formation, we should be able to inflict a massive amount of damage, and if it is not enough, the Mirror-Ring System should catch the energy coming our direction, and then fire it back at them. Did I get it right?"
"Yes." Rebecca nodded.
At this point the silent Quinta decided to speak up again. "Of course, that is assuming we can retrieve the weapon as well as find a way to deploy it without consequence."
"The latter should be easy." Tapping her staff on the ground, Rebecca brought up a schematic of a massive long-barreled weapon. "If they can get it back, I can have a special round built for it so that it can be fired out of a railgun, which should allow it to get past the enemy's point defenses. However…"
"Retrieval of the device should be trivial, given that we have a stealth spacecraft available." Achiral answered. "If we remain under stealth, hypothetically we should be done in a matter of hours - enough time for the station to endure the bombardment."
Everyone on the bridge looked at each other, silently debating whether to agree or not.
"Personally, I think this is ultimately the best solution now." Rebecca spoke.
"I agree." Albert added.
They all looked at Benjamin, who shifted in his seat rather uncomfortably. "Um...well, first off, not to sound rude, but is it a must for me to go?"
"Yes." Surprisingly, Achiral made the claim. "A presence of a non-machine intelligence in required to retrieve the NOVA Bomb - the systems on the supercarriers had a few failsafes installed to protect against AI intrusions, using measures such as brainscanning and nanomaterial detection, which I will need your help to bypass. Also, as your subordinate. I will require your direct oversight."
"...How about Albert?" Benjamin turned to the Quinta. "Is there a specific reason you can't accompany Achiral?"
"Sadly, there is." Albert replied. "To put it simply, Quinta can, well, 'smell' other Quinta. I think that would go against the 'covert' portion of this mission."
"I...see." Benjamin looked away.
"I apologise for this unfortunate series of events - although on the bright side, perhaps this encounter might make you a lot more prepared for the future - that is, if we survive, of course."
"Thanks." Benjamin thought over it for a moment, then stood up. "Well. At least we can get out of this mess without much trouble. "
At least this isn't an actual fight or something…wow, don't say that kind of things!
Ignoring the slight discomfort he was still feeling, the youth got ready to leave.
==|==
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This is interesting.
Chapter 02 - 2: Stealth Recovery
- Location
- Void of Observation
A/N: I keep telling myself to not rush chapters...and here we are. :/
==|Chapter 02 - 2: Stealth Recovery|==
Above the gargantuan citadel, the four Reapers continued to rain shells and mass effect slug on its massive shield, even as the hours passed. Despite the sheer amount of ammo they had already expanded on it, none of their ammo reserves showed any signs of reaching critical levels anytime soon.
However, even as their bodies could wait here for all eternity, none of their minds could bear the same weight.
Each of the souls that controlled the massive cybernetic bodies were young, and were impatient and fearful as their inexperience. While they knew the star fortress had no way of destroying them, they were all too painfully aware of the interdiction field the fortress controlled and projected, trapping them in this pocket universe. Even worse for their fraying minds, they had guessed that under the protection of their massive shields, the denizens were no doubt putting together a plot to eradicate them all.
There had been an argument over their intertwined psychic network over the choice to chase a bunch of freighters into this pocket dimension, but luckily for them cooler heads prevailed, and thus they resolved to simply bombard the starbase until it finally cracked.
But even so, disquiet and weariness built up in their souls, nearly reaching breaking point.
And it was in this situation when all of the weapon pods on the Citadel reactivated as one, unleashing all of their firepower in a single salvo upon one of the Reapers.
With its soul tired from fatigue, the Reaper failed to dodge the barrage, causing it to overwhelm its barriers for a single instant, thus allowing several thermonuclear shells and plasma lances to slam into its exposed belly.
It let loose a pained psychic scream, fraying the network between it and its fellows. Attempting to deal with the many hull breaches across its underside, it retreated, creating a hole in the formation and a brief reprieve in the bombardment upon the Citadel.
Right after this all four Reapers felt their senses dull and mess up in the span of a few microseconds - where they 'felt' the many wrecks scattered across the star system, all they could feel was an endless span of 'noise'.
Blinded and underfire, all four Reapers maneuvered about madly, separating and reforming positions several times as they struggled to deal with the sudden attack.
However, as bizarrely as it began, the barrage stopped, the entire fortress turning inert in a blink of an eye.
Pausing in astonishment, the band of marauders turned their attention on the starbase for a few moments. Suddenly, they received a brief transmission from the starbase.
Hesitantly, one of the Reapers opened the message.
It was a sound-only media file - specifically, a crudely-slapped together voice track that contained an endlessly repeating set of canned laughter and applause.
They hung there for a few moments, before all four of them converged on the fortress, mad with fury at being tricked, firing their cannons with impunity.
A silent burst of engines, and a cloaked ship - a UNSC Prowler - sped through the cosmos, invisible to the web of sensors and scanners that it passed through.
"I must admit, while the personality of my caretaker has always been on the mischievous side, I did not expect her to pull something as absurd as this."
As Achiral commented on the 'taunt' that had been broadcasted by Rebecca, Benjamin - now clad in a sleek form-fitting jumpsuit - stayed quiet in the pilot seat of the, still nervously checking the various screens for any indication that the Reapers had noticed their presence. Meanwhile, on the holographic map, the symbol indicating the ship that they were on continued to move further and further from a series of symbols that indicated the Reapers and the Citadel.
After a little while, Achiral finally spoke. "I believe that it is safe to say that we are no longer being pursued, Benjamin."
"Are you sure?" The young man nervously asked.
"Yes." The AI replied.
For a moment Benjamin remained tensed, before releasing his stance, relaxing his stance, releasing a long sigh.
"I...well, thank goodness that this was in our inventory the whole time. Thank goodness for UNSC cloaking technology." He sighed.
"Indeed. Still, I believe we may have to be careful in using the systems aboard this Prowler - the slipspace drive might attract attention from the rogue Quinta due to its release of energy, and scanning for the NOVA Warheads will probably bring us the same amount of unwarranted attention."
"Yeah...so, slow-boating to each Supercarrier and searching it from top to bottom until we can locate it, huh?" The youth's face fell as the implication of what they were going to do dawned on him. "That...is sounding a lot more harder than it sounded back on the bridge."
"Contrary to what you said, it is actually a lot simpler." Achiral answered. "I just completed my analysis of the various data files I have on the capture of the Throne Of Moonlight and the various ships wielded by its previous owners. Simply put, there were no NOVA detonations throughout the entire battle, and all the Punic-Class Supercarriers had theirs ready when the battle occurred."
"So...just a quick grab and run, huh?"
"Indeed. I shall begin plotting the path to the nearest supercarrier." Achiral confirmed.
"Alright." Benjamin returned his focus to the screens, seeing a message: 'one hour till estimated arrival'.
For the next fifteen minutes, the newly minted commander spent his time checking the map, watching the progress of the ship, or re-reading up some of the data files within the ship itself. As he stumbled across a piece of information, he frowned.
"Achiral...why didn't the rogue Quinta use their 'abilities' on the Citadel? Or was it that the Citadel had some sort of suppression field or something?"
"Correct." The AI answered from beside him. "Another piece of equipment, known as the 'Suppressor Field Generator', prevents Quinta from using their abilities in a specific radii of space. The Generator's range was wide enough to prevent such abilities from being used on the Citadel, but could not prevent those same abilities from being used on our crew."
The implications of what Achiral said rung heavily in Benjamin's mind. If they had been a little faster…
"Are you still affected by their deaths?" Achiral prodded her commander as she received no response from him.
"Somewhat…" Benjamin checked himself. He thought about the loss of life, the people who died...yet could not derive any strong emotion from it, feeling only a small tinge of regret. "...strangely."
"Strange in what sense?" The Mental Model asked, while surveying him carefully with her bright blue eyes.
"I mean...for some reason, I can't feel sad, angry, or even...some kind of emotion when I think about how all of them were butchered by the Reapers. I mean, those are human beings, right? I am supposed to feel for them, right Achiral?"
The AI was lost in thought for a moment. "This...is a subject that is woefully outside of my expertise...as such, I'm afraid I cannot help you at the moment. However, I shall endeavor to read up on the subject of psychology so that I may help you diagnose this issue."
"Ah...um, you don't need to do that!" Benjamin exclaimed, waving his hands at Achiral's declaration to help him with his issues. Stopping to think, he backtracked a little. "I mean, I appreciate the help and all that, but I don't want to bother you…"
At Benjamin's outburst, the AI cocked her head to the side, confusion on her face. "'Bother me'? You are my commanding officer, and as such, it is my duty to help you resolve any of your problems. Also, I am not required to sleep or rest, and as such puts me in a extremely favorable spot to perform research on psychology."
"Well…" Feeling even more uncomfortable now, Benjamin shifted gears. "You know, why...why are you so, um, 'eager' to…'serve' me? You keep saying that it is your job to serve me because I am your commanding officer...why?"
The question made the AI pause for an even longer period. For a few minutes, the Mental Model remained completely inert, while Benjamin nervously waited for her answer.
Finally, the Mental Model replied with a hesitant voice. "In...insufficient information for deduction. Please specify - are you worried that I may be 'bound in servitude' to you, or is your concern something else?"
"The...the first." Benjamin replied, after letting out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she isn't mad at me or anything…
Pausing for a while, the Mental Model finally launched into a speech. "When I was created, after my initial education on how to handle basic functions, my caretaker spent a long time trying to instill 'basic morality' into me, for example the ideas of 'human rights', the knowledge of good and evil, and related concepts. After all of that, she gave me an entire dossier about this 'mission', the full details on what we would be doing, as well as the knowledge that I would be working under an unknown persona."
Placing a hand over her chest, Achiral finished, "I accepted."
"Um...why though?" Benjamin asked, feeling a little silly. "I mean, no offense, but there could be a lot of other things to do out there, especially when you can go to anywhere in the multiverse…"
Again pausing to consider the question, it was only after a minute that Achiral finally answered. "...an obvious answer to this question would be that I was under the control of the Reclaimers, that my ultimate fate was decided by them...but the truth is...I wanted to."
The AI looked Benjamin in the eye, the intensity of her stare causing him to retreat a little. Speaking with a slightly fiercer tone, she continued, "I was completely informed about the various wars and battles that broke out between the Reclaimers and Exploiters, as well as the damage that Quinta could inflict on the various worlds in the multiverse if they were careless or foolhardy with the power they wielded."
"As such, with the chance to ensure that they would not do so, I accepted."
Benjamin kept quiet for a little after hearing the AI proclamation. "Still, that...doesn't explain why you are so…"
"Subservient to you?"
"...that, although it's more...why would you accept being under the command of me, specifically…"
For the first time in ever, the Mental Model let loose a burst of emotion by releasing a sigh. "While I probably have the skills required to command this whole operation by itself, I am ultimately a synthetic intelligence with several complications - you have brought in to solve those complications - my lack of an 'human element', as well as providing a second voice to any tactical or strategic decisions we will make on the battlefield."
"The Quinta say you are qualified for this role, and I accept that, and the fact that you are my superior. As such, to ensure an optimum level of effectiveness, I believe that it is best that we nurture a good and strong working relationship. That is to mean, to accept whatever role we play and try to be the best at it. Of course, my caretaker has said that respect must be provided by oneself instead of waiting for the other to provide it, and thus I am following this principle."
"Okay…I see your point." Benjamin looked away, deep in thought.
It's like she is both human...and inhuman at the same time. A robot wanting to be human…
"Thanks for revealing to me everything. I hope you aren't too bothered by my questioning." Benjamin apologised.
"On the contrary - I appreciate all the questions you have been asking, as it has allowed both of us to understand each other much more."
"Really? Then, don't mind if I ask...how do you see me?"
"Inquisitive. Adaptable. But most of all...someone who shows care and concerns for those who work with him." The Mental Model turned to Benjamin, a slight smile appearing on her face. "I believe that those qualities were what Albert was looking for when he found you."
"Um...thanks."
"There isn't a need to thank me so many times in a row."
The both of them lapsed into silence for the rest of their journey. As the Prowler weaved through the graveyard, they soon found themselves approaching their target.
"Bringer Of Fire. Modified Punic-Class Supercarrier, destroyed approximately 9 months ago at the battle of Universe I-2697e." Achiral spoke, listing the details of the once-proud warship.
As the Prowler hung in front of the shattered beast, Benjamin brought up a picture of the original ship, before comparing it to the hulk in front of him. The bridge of the ship had been torn away from the ship, and massive craters littered the back armor plate and engine assembly. The hangar bays had long collapsed, and a multitude of smaller breaches could be seen all over the hull.
"Where's the NOVA Bomb?" Benjamin asked.
"It should be...above the main MAC assembly." As Achiral spoke, the image of the supercarrier rotated, before highlighting a spot above the the two holes where the barrels of the main guns were.
"Searching for nearest ingress point...found."
"Alright. Shall I get ready?"
"Yes. Please head to the Armory to retrieve the rest of the EVA gear." With this, Benjamin got out of his seat,stretching his legs and limbs, before heading out of the Prowler's bridge."
Walking through the brightly lit but empty corridors of the ship, Benjamin arrived at the armory as per the AI's instructions - in there, an armor outfitting station had been installed, waiting for a user to step inside.
Breathing in deeply, Benjamin stepped into the station.
"Attaching EVA unit." Achiral's voice came over the speakers.
A crevice in the ceiling opened up, and several large robotic arms holding pieces of hardware descended quickly from the ceiling and the back of the station. With incredible speed and agility, the arms placed a chest piece, a jetpack assembly, and various other parts on Benjamin. They danced all around him as they secured the pieces together.
Finally, the robotic arms retreated, leaving him with a slim hardsuit with a large jetpack mounted on his back. A sleek, light open helmet descended upon his head, fixing itself to his neck. The visor - two metal pieces that were separated to the left and right swung in, attaching themselves together and securing themselves to the helmet.
As Benjamin waited, the visor lit up with a view of the entire armory, alongside a strange logo - a diamond with a triplet of crossed swords within - and some strange language, a mishmash of various geometric symbols written from top to bottom.
"Hold on." Achiral spoke into his ears. "Let me reset the language system on the suit…"
The visor suddenly buzzed with static, before returning with the strange language translated to English. A heads up display appeared on the visor, showing details such as powerlevels, a map, and various other things.
"Um…" Benjamin finally spoke. "Should I pick up a weapon or something?"
"I...don't think so. There should not be any threats to your person on the ship. Although...are you trained in firearms?"
"...No." Benjamin sighed.
"Personally, then I would recommend that you just take a standard pistol from the armory, and nothing more. It should be enough."
"...alright." Walking over to a section, a robotic arm extracted a futuristic-looking pistol from a rack and delivered it to him. After quietly examining the weapon, Benjamin placed it on the magnetic belt that was provided with the hardsuit.
With the clanking of metal and metal, he carefully made his way to an airlock. Entering it, the doors behind him closed, causing a hiss of air that slowly faded as the airlock was depressurised. Finally, as it was done, the doors in front of him opened…
Exposing him to outer space. Even as Achiral took control of the suit and launched him into the world, Benjamin looked around, soaking in the sights of the cosmos.
Under the beautiful dim light of the system's star, the endless wreckage, the planets and everything that existed in this single moment bore down on the young man, as if reminding him how little, how small he was compared to everything else.
Wow…
Even as he marveled at all the sights, Achiral steadily guided the suit into one of the hull breaches in the massive carrier, only warning him as he was about to land.
"Oh shi-" The youth hurriedly assumed a landing position, stumbling onto all of his four limbs messily.
Quickly getting up, he withdrew the pistol from his belt, holding it with both hands. Breathing heavily, he waited for Achiral to give a confirmation on the area.
"Scanning for lifesigns...none. You may proceed."
At the top of his visor, an arrow appeared, pointing at the direction he needed to go. Replacing the pistol to his belt, he jogged along the carrier's dead hallways, his boots keeping him secured to the floor despite the lack of any working gravity system.
Few, if any, obstacles blocked his path - while collapsed hallways were a thing, boxes proved easy to push aside with his new-found strength, and locked doors were a trivial matter as all he had to do was to attach the communicator that Achiral had passed him to a nearby control panel and let her unlock the door.
Soon, he arrived at his destination - a control panel attached to some strange apparatus, with several dead bodies littered around the system. Looking down at them, Benjamin froze with shock.
For a few moments he stood there, not attempting to move. Contemplating the various horrific wounds the bodies had received - shrapnel violently thrust into their bodies, broken arms with actual bones sticking out, and the faces of absolute terror and shock as they realised they weren't going to live.
It took everything strand of the boy's courage to not run away and flee in terror.
"Benjamin. We need to keep moving." Achiral's voice came through his helmet again, as she urged him to move.
"...ah. Arrgh!" Shouting to relax his mind and get used to the sight, the boy shook his head a few times, before breathing heavily.
"...are you alright?" Achiral asked, a small amount of concern in her voice.
"Yeah." He replied, somewhat shakily. "Yes." Repeating himself in a firmer voice, he walked over to the control panel, before slapping the communicator onto it with forced determination. "Let's just finish this quickly."
A few moments later, Achiral informed him that it was done. "However, you will have to move over to the identification system to have the missile released."
"Ok." Beside him, the strange apparatus appeared, revealing two robotic arms wielding two different kinds of equipment - one was a piece of metal that was shaped like the visor he was wearing, and the other some sort of metal bowl with a glowing purple aura around it.
The first clamped itself over his eyes, while the other positioned itself that it was covering his head slightly.
Words appeared on the visor.
Psionic and Retinal Scan commencing….Complete.
Commencing Neural Implant Check...Complete.
"Complete. Let me retrieve you first before picking up the missile." Achiral spoke.
"Okay."
Benjamin quickly made his way back to the Prowler. After he landed on the cloaked ship, he moved to the armory, letting the hardsuit that he wore be quickly and unceremoniously stripped off him.
Making his way to the bridge, the youth got back into the pilot seat. Achiral acknowledged his presence with a nod, while continuing to maneuver the ship right above the supercarrier.
The view from one of the back cameras was displayed before him - the NOVA missile, a sleek, black large cylindrical tube, was slowly being grasped by two robotic arms, and gently dragged back into the Prowler's cargo hold.
Surveying the weapon of mass destruction, Benjamin held his breath. It wasn't until that the missile was safely stored and secured within the ship that he finally released it.
"That's it?" He asked.
"Yes. We may now return to the Throne Of Starlight." Achiral replied.
"Excellen-" Benjamin replied, but was interrupted when a warning beep fired.
On the map, a dot indicating a new contact had appeared - and when he touched it, it revealed the visage of a smoking, damaged Reaper, having just jumped into the area.
"What?!"
==|Chapter 02 - 2: Stealth Recovery|==
Above the gargantuan citadel, the four Reapers continued to rain shells and mass effect slug on its massive shield, even as the hours passed. Despite the sheer amount of ammo they had already expanded on it, none of their ammo reserves showed any signs of reaching critical levels anytime soon.
However, even as their bodies could wait here for all eternity, none of their minds could bear the same weight.
Each of the souls that controlled the massive cybernetic bodies were young, and were impatient and fearful as their inexperience. While they knew the star fortress had no way of destroying them, they were all too painfully aware of the interdiction field the fortress controlled and projected, trapping them in this pocket universe. Even worse for their fraying minds, they had guessed that under the protection of their massive shields, the denizens were no doubt putting together a plot to eradicate them all.
There had been an argument over their intertwined psychic network over the choice to chase a bunch of freighters into this pocket dimension, but luckily for them cooler heads prevailed, and thus they resolved to simply bombard the starbase until it finally cracked.
But even so, disquiet and weariness built up in their souls, nearly reaching breaking point.
And it was in this situation when all of the weapon pods on the Citadel reactivated as one, unleashing all of their firepower in a single salvo upon one of the Reapers.
With its soul tired from fatigue, the Reaper failed to dodge the barrage, causing it to overwhelm its barriers for a single instant, thus allowing several thermonuclear shells and plasma lances to slam into its exposed belly.
It let loose a pained psychic scream, fraying the network between it and its fellows. Attempting to deal with the many hull breaches across its underside, it retreated, creating a hole in the formation and a brief reprieve in the bombardment upon the Citadel.
Right after this all four Reapers felt their senses dull and mess up in the span of a few microseconds - where they 'felt' the many wrecks scattered across the star system, all they could feel was an endless span of 'noise'.
Blinded and underfire, all four Reapers maneuvered about madly, separating and reforming positions several times as they struggled to deal with the sudden attack.
However, as bizarrely as it began, the barrage stopped, the entire fortress turning inert in a blink of an eye.
Pausing in astonishment, the band of marauders turned their attention on the starbase for a few moments. Suddenly, they received a brief transmission from the starbase.
Hesitantly, one of the Reapers opened the message.
It was a sound-only media file - specifically, a crudely-slapped together voice track that contained an endlessly repeating set of canned laughter and applause.
They hung there for a few moments, before all four of them converged on the fortress, mad with fury at being tricked, firing their cannons with impunity.
==|==
A silent burst of engines, and a cloaked ship - a UNSC Prowler - sped through the cosmos, invisible to the web of sensors and scanners that it passed through.
"I must admit, while the personality of my caretaker has always been on the mischievous side, I did not expect her to pull something as absurd as this."
As Achiral commented on the 'taunt' that had been broadcasted by Rebecca, Benjamin - now clad in a sleek form-fitting jumpsuit - stayed quiet in the pilot seat of the, still nervously checking the various screens for any indication that the Reapers had noticed their presence. Meanwhile, on the holographic map, the symbol indicating the ship that they were on continued to move further and further from a series of symbols that indicated the Reapers and the Citadel.
After a little while, Achiral finally spoke. "I believe that it is safe to say that we are no longer being pursued, Benjamin."
"Are you sure?" The young man nervously asked.
"Yes." The AI replied.
For a moment Benjamin remained tensed, before releasing his stance, relaxing his stance, releasing a long sigh.
"I...well, thank goodness that this was in our inventory the whole time. Thank goodness for UNSC cloaking technology." He sighed.
"Indeed. Still, I believe we may have to be careful in using the systems aboard this Prowler - the slipspace drive might attract attention from the rogue Quinta due to its release of energy, and scanning for the NOVA Warheads will probably bring us the same amount of unwarranted attention."
"Yeah...so, slow-boating to each Supercarrier and searching it from top to bottom until we can locate it, huh?" The youth's face fell as the implication of what they were going to do dawned on him. "That...is sounding a lot more harder than it sounded back on the bridge."
"Contrary to what you said, it is actually a lot simpler." Achiral answered. "I just completed my analysis of the various data files I have on the capture of the Throne Of Moonlight and the various ships wielded by its previous owners. Simply put, there were no NOVA detonations throughout the entire battle, and all the Punic-Class Supercarriers had theirs ready when the battle occurred."
"So...just a quick grab and run, huh?"
"Indeed. I shall begin plotting the path to the nearest supercarrier." Achiral confirmed.
"Alright." Benjamin returned his focus to the screens, seeing a message: 'one hour till estimated arrival'.
For the next fifteen minutes, the newly minted commander spent his time checking the map, watching the progress of the ship, or re-reading up some of the data files within the ship itself. As he stumbled across a piece of information, he frowned.
"Achiral...why didn't the rogue Quinta use their 'abilities' on the Citadel? Or was it that the Citadel had some sort of suppression field or something?"
"Correct." The AI answered from beside him. "Another piece of equipment, known as the 'Suppressor Field Generator', prevents Quinta from using their abilities in a specific radii of space. The Generator's range was wide enough to prevent such abilities from being used on the Citadel, but could not prevent those same abilities from being used on our crew."
The implications of what Achiral said rung heavily in Benjamin's mind. If they had been a little faster…
"Are you still affected by their deaths?" Achiral prodded her commander as she received no response from him.
"Somewhat…" Benjamin checked himself. He thought about the loss of life, the people who died...yet could not derive any strong emotion from it, feeling only a small tinge of regret. "...strangely."
"Strange in what sense?" The Mental Model asked, while surveying him carefully with her bright blue eyes.
"I mean...for some reason, I can't feel sad, angry, or even...some kind of emotion when I think about how all of them were butchered by the Reapers. I mean, those are human beings, right? I am supposed to feel for them, right Achiral?"
The AI was lost in thought for a moment. "This...is a subject that is woefully outside of my expertise...as such, I'm afraid I cannot help you at the moment. However, I shall endeavor to read up on the subject of psychology so that I may help you diagnose this issue."
"Ah...um, you don't need to do that!" Benjamin exclaimed, waving his hands at Achiral's declaration to help him with his issues. Stopping to think, he backtracked a little. "I mean, I appreciate the help and all that, but I don't want to bother you…"
At Benjamin's outburst, the AI cocked her head to the side, confusion on her face. "'Bother me'? You are my commanding officer, and as such, it is my duty to help you resolve any of your problems. Also, I am not required to sleep or rest, and as such puts me in a extremely favorable spot to perform research on psychology."
"Well…" Feeling even more uncomfortable now, Benjamin shifted gears. "You know, why...why are you so, um, 'eager' to…'serve' me? You keep saying that it is your job to serve me because I am your commanding officer...why?"
The question made the AI pause for an even longer period. For a few minutes, the Mental Model remained completely inert, while Benjamin nervously waited for her answer.
Finally, the Mental Model replied with a hesitant voice. "In...insufficient information for deduction. Please specify - are you worried that I may be 'bound in servitude' to you, or is your concern something else?"
"The...the first." Benjamin replied, after letting out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she isn't mad at me or anything…
Pausing for a while, the Mental Model finally launched into a speech. "When I was created, after my initial education on how to handle basic functions, my caretaker spent a long time trying to instill 'basic morality' into me, for example the ideas of 'human rights', the knowledge of good and evil, and related concepts. After all of that, she gave me an entire dossier about this 'mission', the full details on what we would be doing, as well as the knowledge that I would be working under an unknown persona."
Placing a hand over her chest, Achiral finished, "I accepted."
"Um...why though?" Benjamin asked, feeling a little silly. "I mean, no offense, but there could be a lot of other things to do out there, especially when you can go to anywhere in the multiverse…"
Again pausing to consider the question, it was only after a minute that Achiral finally answered. "...an obvious answer to this question would be that I was under the control of the Reclaimers, that my ultimate fate was decided by them...but the truth is...I wanted to."
The AI looked Benjamin in the eye, the intensity of her stare causing him to retreat a little. Speaking with a slightly fiercer tone, she continued, "I was completely informed about the various wars and battles that broke out between the Reclaimers and Exploiters, as well as the damage that Quinta could inflict on the various worlds in the multiverse if they were careless or foolhardy with the power they wielded."
"As such, with the chance to ensure that they would not do so, I accepted."
Benjamin kept quiet for a little after hearing the AI proclamation. "Still, that...doesn't explain why you are so…"
"Subservient to you?"
"...that, although it's more...why would you accept being under the command of me, specifically…"
For the first time in ever, the Mental Model let loose a burst of emotion by releasing a sigh. "While I probably have the skills required to command this whole operation by itself, I am ultimately a synthetic intelligence with several complications - you have brought in to solve those complications - my lack of an 'human element', as well as providing a second voice to any tactical or strategic decisions we will make on the battlefield."
"The Quinta say you are qualified for this role, and I accept that, and the fact that you are my superior. As such, to ensure an optimum level of effectiveness, I believe that it is best that we nurture a good and strong working relationship. That is to mean, to accept whatever role we play and try to be the best at it. Of course, my caretaker has said that respect must be provided by oneself instead of waiting for the other to provide it, and thus I am following this principle."
"Okay…I see your point." Benjamin looked away, deep in thought.
It's like she is both human...and inhuman at the same time. A robot wanting to be human…
"Thanks for revealing to me everything. I hope you aren't too bothered by my questioning." Benjamin apologised.
"On the contrary - I appreciate all the questions you have been asking, as it has allowed both of us to understand each other much more."
"Really? Then, don't mind if I ask...how do you see me?"
"Inquisitive. Adaptable. But most of all...someone who shows care and concerns for those who work with him." The Mental Model turned to Benjamin, a slight smile appearing on her face. "I believe that those qualities were what Albert was looking for when he found you."
"Um...thanks."
"There isn't a need to thank me so many times in a row."
The both of them lapsed into silence for the rest of their journey. As the Prowler weaved through the graveyard, they soon found themselves approaching their target.
"Bringer Of Fire. Modified Punic-Class Supercarrier, destroyed approximately 9 months ago at the battle of Universe I-2697e." Achiral spoke, listing the details of the once-proud warship.
As the Prowler hung in front of the shattered beast, Benjamin brought up a picture of the original ship, before comparing it to the hulk in front of him. The bridge of the ship had been torn away from the ship, and massive craters littered the back armor plate and engine assembly. The hangar bays had long collapsed, and a multitude of smaller breaches could be seen all over the hull.
"Where's the NOVA Bomb?" Benjamin asked.
"It should be...above the main MAC assembly." As Achiral spoke, the image of the supercarrier rotated, before highlighting a spot above the the two holes where the barrels of the main guns were.
"Searching for nearest ingress point...found."
"Alright. Shall I get ready?"
"Yes. Please head to the Armory to retrieve the rest of the EVA gear." With this, Benjamin got out of his seat,stretching his legs and limbs, before heading out of the Prowler's bridge."
Walking through the brightly lit but empty corridors of the ship, Benjamin arrived at the armory as per the AI's instructions - in there, an armor outfitting station had been installed, waiting for a user to step inside.
Breathing in deeply, Benjamin stepped into the station.
"Attaching EVA unit." Achiral's voice came over the speakers.
A crevice in the ceiling opened up, and several large robotic arms holding pieces of hardware descended quickly from the ceiling and the back of the station. With incredible speed and agility, the arms placed a chest piece, a jetpack assembly, and various other parts on Benjamin. They danced all around him as they secured the pieces together.
Finally, the robotic arms retreated, leaving him with a slim hardsuit with a large jetpack mounted on his back. A sleek, light open helmet descended upon his head, fixing itself to his neck. The visor - two metal pieces that were separated to the left and right swung in, attaching themselves together and securing themselves to the helmet.
As Benjamin waited, the visor lit up with a view of the entire armory, alongside a strange logo - a diamond with a triplet of crossed swords within - and some strange language, a mishmash of various geometric symbols written from top to bottom.
"Hold on." Achiral spoke into his ears. "Let me reset the language system on the suit…"
The visor suddenly buzzed with static, before returning with the strange language translated to English. A heads up display appeared on the visor, showing details such as powerlevels, a map, and various other things.
"Um…" Benjamin finally spoke. "Should I pick up a weapon or something?"
"I...don't think so. There should not be any threats to your person on the ship. Although...are you trained in firearms?"
"...No." Benjamin sighed.
"Personally, then I would recommend that you just take a standard pistol from the armory, and nothing more. It should be enough."
"...alright." Walking over to a section, a robotic arm extracted a futuristic-looking pistol from a rack and delivered it to him. After quietly examining the weapon, Benjamin placed it on the magnetic belt that was provided with the hardsuit.
With the clanking of metal and metal, he carefully made his way to an airlock. Entering it, the doors behind him closed, causing a hiss of air that slowly faded as the airlock was depressurised. Finally, as it was done, the doors in front of him opened…
Exposing him to outer space. Even as Achiral took control of the suit and launched him into the world, Benjamin looked around, soaking in the sights of the cosmos.
Under the beautiful dim light of the system's star, the endless wreckage, the planets and everything that existed in this single moment bore down on the young man, as if reminding him how little, how small he was compared to everything else.
Wow…
Even as he marveled at all the sights, Achiral steadily guided the suit into one of the hull breaches in the massive carrier, only warning him as he was about to land.
"Oh shi-" The youth hurriedly assumed a landing position, stumbling onto all of his four limbs messily.
Quickly getting up, he withdrew the pistol from his belt, holding it with both hands. Breathing heavily, he waited for Achiral to give a confirmation on the area.
"Scanning for lifesigns...none. You may proceed."
At the top of his visor, an arrow appeared, pointing at the direction he needed to go. Replacing the pistol to his belt, he jogged along the carrier's dead hallways, his boots keeping him secured to the floor despite the lack of any working gravity system.
Few, if any, obstacles blocked his path - while collapsed hallways were a thing, boxes proved easy to push aside with his new-found strength, and locked doors were a trivial matter as all he had to do was to attach the communicator that Achiral had passed him to a nearby control panel and let her unlock the door.
Soon, he arrived at his destination - a control panel attached to some strange apparatus, with several dead bodies littered around the system. Looking down at them, Benjamin froze with shock.
For a few moments he stood there, not attempting to move. Contemplating the various horrific wounds the bodies had received - shrapnel violently thrust into their bodies, broken arms with actual bones sticking out, and the faces of absolute terror and shock as they realised they weren't going to live.
It took everything strand of the boy's courage to not run away and flee in terror.
"Benjamin. We need to keep moving." Achiral's voice came through his helmet again, as she urged him to move.
"...ah. Arrgh!" Shouting to relax his mind and get used to the sight, the boy shook his head a few times, before breathing heavily.
"...are you alright?" Achiral asked, a small amount of concern in her voice.
"Yeah." He replied, somewhat shakily. "Yes." Repeating himself in a firmer voice, he walked over to the control panel, before slapping the communicator onto it with forced determination. "Let's just finish this quickly."
A few moments later, Achiral informed him that it was done. "However, you will have to move over to the identification system to have the missile released."
"Ok." Beside him, the strange apparatus appeared, revealing two robotic arms wielding two different kinds of equipment - one was a piece of metal that was shaped like the visor he was wearing, and the other some sort of metal bowl with a glowing purple aura around it.
The first clamped itself over his eyes, while the other positioned itself that it was covering his head slightly.
Words appeared on the visor.
Psionic and Retinal Scan commencing….Complete.
Commencing Neural Implant Check...Complete.
"Complete. Let me retrieve you first before picking up the missile." Achiral spoke.
"Okay."
Benjamin quickly made his way back to the Prowler. After he landed on the cloaked ship, he moved to the armory, letting the hardsuit that he wore be quickly and unceremoniously stripped off him.
Making his way to the bridge, the youth got back into the pilot seat. Achiral acknowledged his presence with a nod, while continuing to maneuver the ship right above the supercarrier.
The view from one of the back cameras was displayed before him - the NOVA missile, a sleek, black large cylindrical tube, was slowly being grasped by two robotic arms, and gently dragged back into the Prowler's cargo hold.
Surveying the weapon of mass destruction, Benjamin held his breath. It wasn't until that the missile was safely stored and secured within the ship that he finally released it.
"That's it?" He asked.
"Yes. We may now return to the Throne Of Starlight." Achiral replied.
"Excellen-" Benjamin replied, but was interrupted when a warning beep fired.
On the map, a dot indicating a new contact had appeared - and when he touched it, it revealed the visage of a smoking, damaged Reaper, having just jumped into the area.
"What?!"
==|==
Chapter 02 - 3: Plotting
- Location
- Void of Observation
==|Chapter 02 - 3: Plotting|==
Benjamin stared at the screen, breathless from shock.
For some reason, one of the Reapers had arrived, right beside the supercarrier which they had just raided, and was headed straight for them -
- and yet, instead of unfurling its tentacles and blowing the Prowler, it simply ignored it, and Achiral had the ship turn and fire a quick burst, maneuvering away from the Reaper.
As it passed, Benjamin had a good look at its hull - cracks ran down its once-pristine blue hull, sparks flew from its exposed innards and some of the lights along its hull were snuffed out.
The Reaper moved past them, before doing an about turn and moving for the Bringer Of Fire. Suddenly, a flash of light nearly blinded the boy, and when he looked back at the screen, part of the main engines had been sliced off, the cut diagonal to the ship.
After opening up the ship to it, the Reaper positioned itself around the back of the supercarrier, before using its massive appendages to clamp itself onto the larger ship. From within its massive bulk, small flashes of lights could be seen, and small pieces of debris and machinery could be seen floating out of the breach.
"What is it doing?" Having got over his initial shock, Benjamin hissed in a low voice.
"I have insufficient data to determine its motives...however, I believe that as we have secured our objective, we can evade its attention by making our way back now." Achiral replied, as she prepared a course back to the Throne Of Starlight.
"...hang on for a moment." Benjamin, after a moment's thought, held up a hand. Scratching his chin, the youth frowned as he looked at the Reaper continue its work."
"What is it?" Achiral queried.
"Something doesn't feel right." Benjamin half-answered, half-rambled."If they had all four Reapers stationed above the Citadel they could finish us off faster than doing it with three. So why are they sending out one to inspect all of these ships? Are they looking for something? If so…"
He stopped halfway through, a sinking feeling in his gut as he suddenly came to a conclusion. "Oh no. I get it."
"And?" The AI asked, concerned.
"They are doing the same things as us." Benjamin turned to her, his face pale from the implication. "They are probably trying to get a WMD like the NOVA Bomb or a Doomsday Device to destroy the Citadel outright, or at least take out its shields. That's why the Reaper was here - they aren't looking for us, but they are trying to get at the NOVA Bomb!"
Achiral watched her commander shift in his seat in panic, making several calculations, before adding a suggestion. "Perhaps it would be imperative to retreat to the Citadel immediately, and then deploy the bomb when the fourth returns, before they can deploy whatever they have recovered."
At Achiral's suggestion, Benjamin, placed a fist over his mouth, thinking. That doesn't sound like a bad idea...hang on...
He turned to Achiral and replied, "That might work...but they could have retreated to a safe distance before firing such a weapon, to the point that we will not have a chance to deploy the NOVA Bomb. Even then, I don't really like the odds of taking such a risk…"
"A reasonable deduction...if so how do you plan to proceed, Benjamin?"
"I...suppose we could…" For a moment, the youth paused as he thought of how to deal with the problem.
How would I deal with this? I guess...I should start by making sure that the Reaper does not get its hands on a NOVA Bomb. Thing is, the Prowler has no weapons that can either disable or destroy the Reaper, and doing either would bring the other three Reapers upon as immediately. We can't expect any support from the Citadel, even as they are probably monitoring the situation right now…
The best I could do is divert the Reaper from searching for WMDs, as well as head back to the Throne Of Starlight...to do that I would have to lure it back, hm, what could be a good lure with what I have now?
After spending a few more seconds to think of a solution, Benjamin finally explained his plan to Achiral. "We are going to lure it back to the Citadel, using ourselves as bait, and deploy the NOVA Bomb while it and its fellows are still looking for us."
Hearing his proposition, the AI looked dumbfounded, before expressing disbelief through her face. Seeing Achiral stare at him with such a look, Benjamin winced, his embarrassment showing in the form of two red spots on his cheeks.. "Alright, it's not the best plan, but that's the best I as an amateur can give you."
"That plan is much more riskier, with a much higher possibility of our deaths." Achiral bluntly replied.
"Yeah, but...the thing is, if we let them go, there is a much higher chance that they will find a way to escape their predicament, and destroy us in the process. And frankly, the chances of them actually being able to discover and destroy this Prowler is already low, given how they reacted to the UNSC cloaking technology. And if I'm doing it right, we should be able to lure it without attracting his fire to this ship at all." Benjamin defended himself.
"How would you do that?" Achiral asked in response to his last statement.
"First, I would have the ship travel a haphazard route back to the Citadel. Along the way, at irregular intervals, I would release a unidirectional pulse of radio waves or some form of energy, to attract the Reaper's attention. Rinse and repeat until we arrive back at the Throne."
"That all depends on whether we will catch the Reaper's attention, and that he won't break off halfway through the chase." Achiral answered.
"Yeah...but if it doesn't succeed, we will just fall back to your plan." Benjamin replied.
For a few moments, Achiral made no move as she calculated the merits and risks involved. As her motionless figure again betrayed nothing about her feelings, Benjamin could not help but feel a little apprehensive.
Finally, she spoke. "I'm not in full support of this plan...but I'm willing to go ahead with it."
Benjamin breathed a sigh of relief, and Achiral turned to pilot the ship. Shrouded under its active camouflage, the Prowler accelerated and turned about, facing away from the Reaper as it travelled.
A came to a rest at a point a several kilometers away from the cybernetic creature. Benjamin looked at the map, where a series of lines indicated the path Achiral had plotted as well as the points where she planned to release those signals.
He looked at the image of the Reaper once more, before turning to Achiral, who was waiting for him.
"Uh...yes?"
"Shall we begin?" Achiral asked.
With apprehension in his heart, the youth answered, "Yes."
"Firing." As she spoke, the sensor system aboard the Prowler fired a powerful burst of energy. Through the boundless space, the energy wave travelled and touched various floating debris and the Reaper itself.
Holding his breath, Benjamin watched the map carefully as it indicated the wave expanding from the stealth ship and onto the Reaper, before turning his gaze upon the footage of the Reaper.
For a few moments, nothing happened.
And suddenly, the Reaper stopped. In a heartbeat, its cybernetic tentacles stopped their tight motions across the shattered supercarrier, and the lights stopped flashing.
Not a single sound was made on the Prowler's bridge. As Achiral and Benjamin watched, the Reaper slowly untangled itself from the wreck, slowly maneuvering to aim at their direction.
Releasing his breath, Benjamin spoke in an urgent tone, "Let's go. Let's go right now."
Complying, Achiral had the Prowler turn and make straight for its next destination, as the Reaper accelerated towards to place they were hiding before.
And yet, several kilometers away, under another shroud made from different technologies, a third spaceship watched silently.
Seeing the game of cat-and-mouse begin, it fired up its engines and gave chase.
==|==
A few hours passed since they had began their attempt to snare the Reaper, and so far, it was proceeding according to plan, they having fired three pulses and consistently keeping the Reaper hot on their tails without discovering them, causing Benjamin to relax a little.
Yet still, the youth could not shake off the feeling that right now, something bad was about to happen.
He looked at the map again. Strangely, he wasn't feeling any form of lethargy, despite he being in a complete rollercoaster of emotions and events for...how long now?
Suddenly, he felt Achiral slowly tense up, the atmosphere hardening. "What's going on?" He asked, turning around to face her.
A series of holograms with several strings of scrolling text had appeared around the Mental Model, who was observing all of them one by one. Her eyes darted about wildly as she wore a tense expression on her face.
"Achiral? What's wrong?" Panic seized hold of the boy, as he looked at Achiral's uncanny appearance.
For what seemed like an eternity, the AI did nothing. Finally, the holograms disappeared and Achiral finally turned to Benjamin. "My apologies, Benjamin. It appears help has arrived."
Bewildered, the youth asked, "What?"
"There's not much time to explain. Apparently another Reclaimer agent has entered this universe a few hours and is under stealth like us. He wants to open communications with us."
"Wait wait wait what?" Suddenly confused at the sudden pronouncement, the youth felt both confused and suspicious. "Are you saying that one of our allies has just dropped into this place, even with the Interdictor Fields active?"
Achiral explained, "The agent used the uncovered section to enter this place, and only arrived just an hour ago."
"That just sounds suspicious. Are you sure you aren't being controlled by the Reaper or anything?" Benjamin continued to question.
"No. They have transmitted a set of codes through targeted radio beams meant for the identification of Reclaimers and their agents. I have checked with my current database and all the codes he has used matchup. Also, I have locked down my systems from outside attacks." Achiral replied.
Frowning yet satisfied. Benjamin paused for a moment before saying, "Patch them through."
A holographic screen appeared appeared above their consoles, showing a lone figure. To Benjamin, the man looked like a young American, sporting a militaristic crew cut and a slightly shaven beard. Wearing a plain black jumpsuit and serious frown, he asked, "This is Commander John Hanson of the Vindictive. May I know who I am talking to?"
"This is the AI Achiral, and my commander Benjamin Theo." Taking the initative, Achiral responded first.
At Achiral's words, Commander Hanson reacted with shock. "Your commander? Isn't he - hold on, we responded to a distress call through the Quinta and haven't had the time to learn about the current situation. Please update us."
Very quickly, Achiral ran down the events of the past few hours with the Commander. His frown grew, and he responded, "I see. Well, as it is, do not continue with your current plan of action."
"Huh?" Benjamin blurted out. "Why?"
"Because that guy," the Commander spoke, referring to the Reaper, "currently has a good idea of what you are doing, and is planning to unleash the mother of all psychic attacks on your mind the moment you fire that next pulse, and I can't guarantee that you are going to survive that."
"Wha? How? You mean those rogue Quinta have powers other than -"
Before Benjamin could finish, the American cut him off. "Did you forget what Reapers can do, kid? Being able to pull all sorts of psychic mojo comes with the body."
"Oh...um…" Feeling a little embarrassed. Benjamin kept quiet. Meanwhile, Achiral herself continued to talk. "Seeing that you contacted us and is in the area, what do you plan to do?"
"I'm going to deploy ECM in the area, and then hit him with a Quinta Soulcatcher while the guy is still confused. Hopefully he won't notice while he is still fixated in pulping your brains."
As Achiral nodded her understanding, Benjamin felt even more confused. "Soulcatcher?"
"Extremely short-ranged weapons system that is designed to rip out and capture souls of beings that have placed themselves inside ships. In other words, the perfect weapon for destroying idiots who think they are invincible because they have a dreadnought for a body."
The commander answered.
"I...see." That sounds way too much like it came from a fantasy novel. Benjamin thought.
"Alright, so can both of you stay quiet while I try to knock out this thing?"
Turning to Achiral, Benjamin asked, "What do you think?"
"I personally think that the Commander's plan is the best course of action."
"If you say so…" Turning to the American, Benjamin said, "Alright, please do so."
"Good. Hold onto your butts kids, this is going to be a wild ride." The transmission cut off. Meanwhile, Achiral turned the throttle to maximum, causing the Prowler to release a burst of speed.
Benjamin turned to look at the Reaper. Despite the American talking to them, he had no sign of his ship, and the Reaper was alone in pursuing them - and had also accelerated in response to Achiral turning up the throttle.
Gulping, Benjamin messed with harness keeping him to his seat.
"Detecting electronic interference." Out of nowhere, the map screen flashed and frizzled, with various false contacts popping up at random.
Benjamin turned his attention back to the Reaper. As if it knew what was happening, it had slowed down, and was extending its tentacles at random -
"The Vindictive has arrived." At Achiral's flat pronouncement, a black shape appeared out of nowhere, and like a shroud peeling off, the ship's cloaking device deactivated, revealing a flat, birdlike shape with several structures mounted on its top in an asymmetrical manner.
Like an eagle, the Vindictive closed the gap between it and the Reaper in a couple of seconds. The Reaper frantically attempted to turn, but its massive multi-kilometer long hulk prevented it from being able to turn any of it guns on the incoming cruiser.
As it advanced, a white ball of energy formed at its bow. For a few seconds, it grew, before bursting and firing a lance of white ethereal light at the Reaper.
Too close to be dodged, it slammed into the Reaper.
As the beam touched it, it stopped, and began to shake madly, electricity dancing over its hull and debris flying off its broken sections.
As its soul was excruciatingly torn out of the Reaper, the Quinta writhed and struggled, its pain causing the machine quiver and shake on the spot, letting out painful psychic waves through its psychic systems, like screams from a trapped and terrified monster.
It released bursts of powerful psychic waves, touching Benjamin and connecting him with the Quinta. In a single moment, the tormenting pain fell upon him. Clutching his head, he yelled, straining against his harness as he felt every bit of the Quinta's slow death.
"Ah...AHHH!!" Feeling as if his soul was being torn apart to shreds, the youth kicked out wildly, spittle flying from his mouth, his eyes bulging, uncaring about what was going all about him as he felt pain beyond anything. Achiral ran to assist, but all she could do was watch in horror, unable to do anything to help her commander.
The Vindictive hovered around the Reaper, keeping its weapon targeted at it, until after several minutes, the struggles of the Reaper died, its lights extinguished.
Aboard the Prowler, Benjamin collapsed in his seat, fading into unconsciousness.
==|==
- Location
- Void of Observation
Anyone?
Stahor
BookWorm
- Location
- Russia, Moscow
Mental Models don't use hand gestures or UI as sign of interactions with machinery, as apposed to neon tattoos. Or it's a quirk of this MM?
Fog AI runs on Union Core, witch fist-sized. Or current AI runs on different hardware?
Corrosive Missiles require Thanotonium, witch is more critical resource. Also, standard-sized Corrosive Missiles, while powerful, do implosion damage with, relatively, small area of effect compared to Sovereign-class.
In last transmission they were identified as Quinta:
- Location
- Void of Observation
Rebecca's main systems run on New Eden's AI architecture. She just has the ability and technology to manipulate Nanomaterial.
I know they require Thanatorium. And actually, about ten Corrosive Missiles is enough to severely cripple Reapers.
Derp.
Stahor
BookWorm
- Location
- Russia, Moscow
Sovereign-class is 2 kilometres long. Going by close-up of corrosive warhead hit (on Nagara), area of effect is less than 10 meters. Unless Sovereigns have a lot of critical components, even 10 surface hits is just too swallow to do real damage.
Also, original quote talks about only one, but it's probably in-character error.
I understand plot convenience, but Fog can copy organic matter down to cell structure, and it's been implied that it's possible to down to DNA. And can control bodies remotely. Therefore it can put perfect human replica with neural activity and everything for scanning.
I know nothing about Halo, and surface googling does not brings anything about psi-powers in it, so usage of such is probably due to tech mix here. But given that it's automated system, it's science-based scan and as such can be bypassed by sufficiently good replica.
Lastly, Fog comes from post-informational age and therefore has downright ridiculous e-war abilities, Halo, as i understand, do not. And if security tech is not taken from somewhere even more advanced (witch i struggle to remember from top of my head) it can by bypassed by hacking.
For stealth ship - MM can push buttons even better than human, and in case you need more than two operators - can spawn sub-nodes or even additional full-sized bodies, and it's if you don't want to stretch like Reed Richards.
- Location
- Void of Observation
Corrosive Warhead yields are variable, as seen by their radius on Haruna and Kirishima on the battle of Yokosuka.
First off, this isn't just Halo tech - all this is actually an amalgamation of various technologies, including EVE Online, Halo, XCOM and various other systems, as well as the Fog E-WAR abilities. They have been combined to an extent that a lone Fog AI will have problems getting through it effectively and quickly.
Stuff like mind-wiping viruses or disabling worms, you know.
Psionics (XCOM's at the very least) cannot be sufficiently replicated by Fog. It requires a soul, a brain with the necessary augments as well as the use of Elerium, which happens to be one of the materials that cannot be replicated by nanomaterial.
Also, the systems developed by the High Technocracy (the ones who owned the system before the Reclaimers came in and smashed their shit up) are designed to analyze the brainwaves of a subject and check if its artificially created or natural.
They are also able to detect nanomaterial constructs.
Achiral was controlling the entire ship. Why do you think Benjamin was doing nothing but looking at the screens?
Stahor
BookWorm
- Location
- Russia, Moscow
Haruna/Kirishima explosion is not representative, due to being fire right into active Super Graviton Cannon.
There no souls in X-Com, and if there were, than a machine that does scanning can't use psionics.
That's better argument, and probably needs to put in story, because current "can detect machine intelligence" makes no sense.
Than why it was mentioned that he incompatible with stealth ship systems?
- Location
- Void of Observation
The first two fired by I-401 before the Hakugei intervened.
Souls have not been mentioned in XCOM, yes, but I am doing a bit of canon welding here. Also, remember that in the ending cinematic of XCOM 2, the Ethereals are able to use Psionics outside of their bodies. Make of that as you will.
Oh. Derp. Gonna edit that.
Stahor
BookWorm
- Location
- Russia, Moscow
You using anime? In manga they are in different location, with Takao.
Still does not explain how machine can do soul-related stuff.
I get that systems were specifically designed to not by bypassed by Fog, given that's Fog is part of larger tech base here, it's makes sense. But soul-scanning machine does not.
- Location
- Void of Observation
Uh? The Battle at Yokosuka where both of them tried to breach Yokosuka to get at I-401 before she could leave with the Vibration Torpedo. Halfway through, as I-401 was distracting them to retrieve Gunzou and his crew while allowing Hakugei to leave, she fired a salvo of Corrosive Torpedoes that had an explosion radius of half of a Kongo-Class Battleship.
You just witnessed a warship tear the soul out of a Reaper, and a Quinta bringing a soul by hand, and you question soul-scanning machines?
Though, to be honest, identification technology by Soul does not exist yet. While the Quinta are masters at manipulating souls, they can only examine souls in 'controlled' environments.
Stahor
BookWorm
- Location
- Russia, Moscow
I derped about I-400/2.
You mean [this] scene? It happen, can't say anything about that. But through the story corrosive effects depicted as much smaller scale. For example: [1] [2] (in all Takao battle, where corrosive warheads used very liberally, all effects are consistent). But i agree that there they still bigger than 10m, but not that much.
You can use it, but it very much an outlier scene.
In relatively common ID tech that works in heavy damaged ship? Yes.You just witnessed a warship tear the soul out of a Reaper, and a Quinta bringing a soul by hand, and you question soul-scanning machines?
- Location
- Void of Observation
Honestly I'm just going to stick with 'Halo/EVE missiles are bigger than Fog missiles thus having more firepower' and the idea of variable yields other than anything else.
- Location
- The Medium
Well isn't this ominous...