“…Holy shit.”
“So this is what an orbital bombardment looks like…” Christeané muttered as he and Davídrius came to a stop at the foot of the Western Peaks. The entire mountain that the Gate Train depot had been on was completely obliterated, leaving only a pile of rubble as the surrounding mountains collapsed to fill the crater. The dust thrown up by the bombardment clouded the sky, obscuring the searchlights shining from the two Frigates hovering a mere 500 meters over the bombardment site as they watched over automated search drones scouring the rubble for scrap or survivors. The sound of the ships’ engines filled the air, masking the noises from the city behind the Chaotics but not creating enough noise to deafen them.
“It’s gotten a lot colder, too,” Davídrius remarked, shivering, “…an orbital bombardment can do this?”
“No, the cold has to be something else,” Christeané shook his head, “It is winter, and it is night. …But, to get this cold, this quickly…”
“Well the best way to warm up is to not stand still, yeah? We should be looking for Kievkenalis, or Morcii, or the Master Ayas…”
“True,” Christeané nodded as he began whirling his hammer by its cord, preparing to launch himself into the blast zone, “I doubt we’ll find anything here, though!”
“We can at least find a lead!” Davídrius shouted back as he launched himself forward, arriving in the debris field several seconds before Christeané. He immediately scowled and wiped his brow as sweat began to drip down his face, brought on by an intense – albeit bearable – heat. “What the…?”
“It’s what happens when you orbitally bombard something,” Christeané snorted after arriving and noting Davídrius’s puzzled irritation, “There’s a lot of energy in a bombardment, where do you think it all goes?”
“…Into destroying stuff?”
“And that generates a lot of heat,” the Master Lieutenant shook his head wearily, “C’mon, we don’t have time to discuss this. We need to figure out where Kevken and Morcii went.”
“Assuming they even survived…” Davídrius muttered, switching on his communicator as he dashed across the rubble field and began inspecting the damaged mountainsides. “This is a pretty big area, I dunno if Kievkenalis is fast enough to get out in time…”
“Kevken is fine; he checked in with me just five minutes ago.”
“Kevérin?” Christeané questioned, momentarily surprised by the new voice on the comms, “How did he make it out?”
“The basic gist of it is that he teleported to safety. But that’s irrelevant right now,” the Transfer Captain declared, “You won’t find anything at the bombardment site. Kevken’s gone and so is the Master Ayas, and according to satellite and fleet surveillance Morcii is gone as well.”
“Yeah?” Davídrius responded, stopping his search as he looked up into the nighttime skies at the Frigates above, “How’d they know that?”
“They were able to catch sight of him for a split second. Aside from that, I think we can safely assume that he’ll be going after the Ayas. Kevken has that covered, but the more important issue is that the path would take Morcii right by Kaoné… and for some reason, I can’t contact her.”
“So you want us to go back her up?” Christeané questioned.
“Yes, and the sooner, the better!”
“Sounds like it’s time to get goin’,” Davídrius commented as he blasted off toward the east, giving Christeané a brief nod as he passed by, “Maybe this time we won’t show up late to the action!”
* * *
“Communication
system stability has increased by 53%. Estimated lifespan has decreased by 38%.”
“Damn. Thanks, Arcán–“
“Estimated chance you are doing an optimal job: 9%.”
Kevérin paused for a moment to sigh irately before continuing to work on the communication systems. “Well maybe if you focused more on helping me instead of telling me how wrong I am, that would get better, wouldn’t it?”
“…I apologize. But as the situation stands, you will not be able to overcome the Nanocreatures on your own.”
“How’s that?” the Pyrotechnic questioned flatly.
“I cannot say. But there may be a way to truly end them… a way that is possible through Morcii’s own short-sightedness, but without someone of equal ability at the control of your forces–!”
“You ‘can’t say’? You’ve been saying that for months, Arcán! If you want things to change, if you want us to win, then damn it, tell us how!”
“And if you lose? Then the Nanocreatures will learn of the plan, fix their weaknesses, and never be vulnerable again!”
“If we lose there won’t be another chance to beat them! It’s now or never!”
“That is not true.”
“…It’s not?” Kevérin responded, surprised by the response. “…What does that mean?”
“…I cannot say, for reasons that are beyond you.”
“Arcán–!”
“But there may still be a way for you to emerge from this situation victorious! Your Commander is dead, and your automated defense forces are suffering under Nanocreature jamming and influence. You need someone to take control, to direct the battle for your side, and to properly counteract the Nanocreatures through explicit use of the communication systems and the automated forces. You need someone of similar computational ability to Morcii to take control! You need me.”
“…You want me… to put you… in control of everything.”
“As a Prior, my multitasking and processing abilities are far beyond anything you can comprehend. My core may be damaged but it is not enough to hamper my efforts to stop the Nanocreatures!”
“And you want me to put you in control of all our military forces… just like that?”
“You may not understand it, but given the current situation it is possible to defeat Morcii – for good. But it is still only a remote possibility, one that can only be realized if you win this battle. I cannot tell you how to do so now, so as to safeguard the plan in the event that you lose – but I can lead you, thereby opening the path to Morcii’s defeat!”
“I have little reason to believe you,” Kevérin countered as he continued working at the console in front of him, “You’ve been extremely resistant to sharing information on Morcii or the Nanocreatures, citing your core’s damage as why. And now you claim to know how to beat them? Either you lied before, or you’re lying now, and I’m not about to let a lying supercomputer take control of Nimaliaka’s defenses.”
“…The key is the corrupted Electrotechnic.”
“Huh…?”
“Her return… could be Morcii’s downfall. If we can take advantage of her corruption, or Morcii’s current lack of Ayas, then she may be what gives you the opening to deal the true final blow. But this is only if you can keep the Ayas Syn out of Morcii’s hands – I can guarantee that he has forces going after the other Ayas, and if he claims the Ayas Syn as well then it is all over.”
“The ‘Ayas Syn’? …You mean the Master Ayas…” Kevérin scowled, “…what would you do?”
“Use the automated defenses to intelligently kite the Nanocreatures, slowing their corruption efforts and forcing Morcii to go after the Ayas Syn on his own, where you and your fellow Chaotics can fend him off.”
“Are you not aware of how well we were able to ‘fend him off’ when he first appeared?”
“At that time, the Nanocreatures possessed at least three of the Chaos Ayas. Even if they were not on Morcii’s person, they still offered both him and the Nanocreatures a substantial boost – but thanks to his defeat at Neticen, and your recovery of all the Ayas, he currently has none. However he is still a threat, a threat that requires the thinking speed and ability of a similarly advanced intelligence to counter optimally. And he will not be without Ayas for long, as I can guarantee that he is attacking wherever else you have stored the Ayas as well. We must act now, before it is too late, if you hope for your galaxy to ever have a chance of surviving!”
“…”
“Need I also mention that I can fix and stabilize the communications systems far more quickly and optimally than you could, thereby freeing you to use your most important ability – your Pyrotechnism – to render direct assistance to your friends?”
The Transfer Captain paused, mulling over the Prior’s words. He had no doubt that Arcán, as an AI, could control Nimaliaka’s defenses better than anyone, especially in lieu of a Commander. He also agreed that his own abilities would be much more useful in the field, using his flames to fight the Nanocreatures, than he was working on technological systems in the base. But the Prior had yet to offer any kind of proof that he knew how to defeat Morcii, or that he was even on the side of Nimalia at all. And aside from that – Kevérin never had any experience with AI. Before Arcán, he didn’t even know that AI could exist, as most AI research in the galaxy came up with dead ends or simply more advanced automated systems. For all he knew, Arcán could seize control of all the planet’s technology and begin the “robot uprising” that was so common a trope in sci-fi stories across the galaxy. The more he thought about it, however, the more he realized that Morcii was already doing the same. Giving control to Arcán had the possibility of backfiring, but leaving the Prior in a helpless state had an even more helpless result: Morcii had already returned from obliteration once, so what was to stop him from doing it again? If physical destruction wasn’t enough to stop Morcii, then what was?
“…You say you know how to defeat Morcii?”
“I know of a possible path we can take, yes.”
Kevérin froze again, staring down at the console in front of him uneasily. …The fate of the entire galaxy may well be in my hands right now, he thought warily, …damn it. I hope I don’t regret this…
“Alright. I’ll remove your access restrictions and patch you into the base systems directly.”
“I knew you could be reasoned with. Should we emerge from this battle victorious, Transfer Captain, you will have all the answers you desire. Of this, I assure you.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Kevérin muttered, inputting several commands and entering his Transfer Captain passcode multiple times before finally standing up from the console. “Alright, Arcán. You’re free to do whatever it is you’re planning to do.”
“Thank you. I assume you now intend to enter the field?”
“As if there’s any other choice, now,” Kevérin retorted as he quickly left the room, “I’m going to help Kaoné! You focus on holding back the Nanocreatures, Arcán – we can keep the Ayas from Morcii!”
* * *
Kaoné leaped backwards, evading
several laser blasts from distant Nanocreature units before removing the ground
underneath them, letting them drop into the newly-created hole and then
re-spawning the ground, completely trapping them. She then jumped into the air,
casually manipulating her body itself to maintain a sort of flight as she began
raining steel spikes on any Nanocreatures in sight, catching the remains of any
units she destroyed in steel spheres that she launched into the Nimaliakian Bay
nearly twenty kilometers to the east.
After clearing everything within a hundred meters of her position, she alighted on a nearby building and paused to survey the city. The immediate area around her was bathed in post-midnight darkness; all of the lights had been demolished during her encounters with the Nanocreatures. Kaoné had made sure to evacuate as many civilians as she could beforehand, managing to protect them through the clever use of barriers and traps against the Nanocreatures, but nothing seemed to be able to stop the metallic bugs for long. Several Frigates had lowered into low atmosphere to provide searchlight and fire assistance to the city under siege, and several mech squadrons – both manned and unmanned – had been released to defend the city, but Kaoné was the only Chaotic in sight as she attacked the Nanocreatures and racked up a destruction count higher than the rest of the defense force combined. But as she looked over the damaged city, it was evident that her efforts meant little. She was only one person, after all, and lacked the ability to watch over every civilian, every life – and she lacked the ability to save everyone from corruption.
“And now it’s snowing, too…” she sighed wearily, noting the white flakes that slowly drifted past distant lights. “At least people tend to stay inside during winter. If the Nanocreatures had attacked during summer…” she shivered at the thought, unwilling to contemplate the fate of a city in which many more citizens had been wandering the streets at night. Just as she prepared to seek out more Nanocreatures, however, Davídrius suddenly appeared behind her, rolling to a stop after a gigantic leap onto the building she was standing on.
“You’re back?” she questioned.
“Well, yeah,” he responded warily, taking a moment to survey the landscape himself, “…thought you could use a hand.”
“…Well… you’re not wrong,” Kaoné admitted quietly, “…where’s Christeané and Rebehka?”
“Uh… dunno? They’ll be here eventually, probably.”
The Materiatechnic sighed. “You really don’t have any patience, do you?”
Davídrius simply shrugged in response, and then pointed to the north. “Look… are those more Nanocreatures?”
“Huh? Where–?” Kaoné turned to look herself, squinting into the distance – and then felt a sudden, fierce pain in her chest. She impulsively coughed up blood before glancing down and noting a blade protruding out of her stomach –
– Davídrius’s saber protruding out of her stomach.
“Well, I suppose there are some right here, as well.”
“Wha–?!” she choked out, attempting to spin around and step back in one motion, only to collapse painfully to her knees. “Wh…who…?”
“Need you really ask?”
“…!” Kaoné stared, wide-eyed, up at Davídrius – or rather, who appeared to be Davídrius. “…Morcii?!”
“Correct!” he grinned maliciously, glaring haughtily down at Kaoné through the Superspeed Introtechnic’s visage as he allowed his normal voice to take over, “You Aldredanoids, always so–“
“Overdrive: Conflict’s Judge!”
“What–?” Morcii started, but had no time to finish his phrase as a dome of diamond and steel suddenly encased him entirely. Outside the dome Kaoné clutched her chest painfully, taking a deep breath before clenching her eyes shut and attempting to locate all of the damaged material in her body. He’s corrupting me–! she thought warily, noticing that she couldn’t manipulate the matter in her body around the blade – but she was still far from helpless. With a single thought she disabled her pain receptors and subsequently seized control of the entire region of her body around where the sword had impaled her, separating it, and all of the corrupted material within, from her body. She then flung the mass of bloody, mangled organs away, taking a moment to filter her blood for corrupted cells and remove those as well before lifting a chunk of rubble from the ground below to her level. A second later she inserted the rubble into the hole in her body, transmuting it into new organs and blood as she did so and completely rewiring her body’s insides so as to be as good as new. She sealed up her skin and then reactivated her pain receptors, taking a careful, deep breath to test her emergency battlefield surgery – and then sighing of relief as her body functioned perfectly. And not a moment too soon, for she almost immediately had to jump back as Morcii exploded free of his steel prison, his form returned to his normal tan-skinned, short-haired, maroon-trench coat-wearing self.
“…I must admit, I’m impressed,” the Nanocreature commented, turning toward Kaoné and noting the hole in her clothing where he had impaled her – as well as the fact that she had completely expunged the corruption from her body. “You may well be the first Aldredanoid to–“
He had no opportunity to finish his thought as Kaoné removed the roof beneath his feet and slammed him toward the ground below. He quickly recovered mid-air and landed on his feet, only to have them immediately burned as the ground below transformed into lava. The Nanocreature leader quickly took to the air, turning to face Kaoné just in time to block a massive chunk of rock she had launched his way. She instantly followed by transmuting the air around Morcii’s arms into steel, trapping him just long enough for her to jerk the entrapments in opposite directions, tearing off the Nanocreature’s arms. As soon as she had done so the severed arms removed themselves from the steel casings, grabbing them and tossing them toward Morcii’s main body where he dealt both casings fierce kicks, simultaneously corrupting them to prevent Kaoné from seizing control as they flew her way. The Materiatechnic simply blocked them by raising a barrier of steel before ripping the barrier from the rooftop and flinging it back at Morcii as she simultaneously transmuted nearly fifty meters of the ground below into lava and raised it up to cover the Nanocreature leader. He burst out of the makeshift lava geyser a mere moment later, slamming into Kaoné and flinging the both of them across the roof where they rolled to a stop at the opposite edge. The Materiatechnic promptly flung Morcii away with a board of diamond, jumping to her feet and quickly removing and replacing any corrupted body material as she had done earlier. She then turned back to Morcii just in time to see him lunge forward, allowing her to leap to the side and knock him off the edge with a club materialized from the air itself. Kaoné prepared to deal another blow, but she was beat to the punch – or kick, rather – as the real Davídrius came flying into the scene, smashing his foot into Morcii’s head. The Introtechnic rebounded from the blow onto the rooftop next to Kaoné as Christeané entered the area hammer-first, missing Morcii by a hair as the Nanocreature dodged and then took off into the air.
“…There he goes again,” Davídrius scowled, quickly losing Morcii in the cloudy nighttime skies. He then glanced down at Kaoné, only to find her giving him an uneasy stare. “…What?”
“…Nothing,” she shook her head, sighing of relief after attempting several slight matter manipulations of Davídrius’s body, and succeeding. He’s not a Nanocreature… it’s the real Davídrius. Good…
“…If you say so,” the Introtechnic responded flatly, turning to quickly survey the area. “…Well, you seem fine, holding off Morcii the way you were. Maybe you didn’t need help after all.”
“I still appreciate it.”
“Mm,” Davídrius grunted, “…Well, the bastard’s going after the Master Ayas now, and we need to get it before he does.”
“Alright,” Kaoné nodded, “I’m coming with you, then. We need to stop him, soon.”
“…Heh,” the Introtechnic smirked, “…didn’t even have to ask.” He then launched himself off the building, followed closely by Kaoné as she manipulated her body to fly right behind him. “Alright! Let’s go whoop some Nanocreatures ass!”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 75 ====================
* * * * *
Data Entry: {null}
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