By: Sterling
PeeWee PW17492 raised his helmet. His hands were both encased in the arms of his power suit, which both ended in gun barrels, so of course he couldn't use those. But the neuro-interface helmet allowed him to control many of his suit's functions without the need for hands... or anything but pure thought, for that matter. He took a breath of fresh air, and looked over his handiwork.
His squad had been on advance spotting duty for a team of Lugers and other artillery units. They were a part of the large Arm force that was permanently stationed on Sterus IV. Sterus IV had been a lush, tropical resort world before the War. But its large metal supplies and abundant solar and tidal energies made the world an ideal prize for both the Arm and Core. Both sides had galactic gates and large bases at several places on the planet. It was unlikely that either would take the world, but both sides kept fighting all the same.
His gaze swept over the blackened earth and twisted lumps of metal that were all that remained of an important Core extraction base. The Gaat guns and other defences had been the first to go, and the entire base had been reduced to a twisted tangle of smoking metal by the anti-sliver shells lobbed in by the far-off Lugers. Soon, Arm construction units would come to reclaim the metal and establish their own base.
He closed his helmet, and swept his sensors over the base again to insure that nothing remained. Overhead, a squadron of Freedom Fighters flew by, contrails streaming out behind. He watched as they pulled a tight turn over the base, heading along the next leg of their patrol route. As he lowered his gaze again, his radio crackled to life with new orders.
[PW17492, do you copy? This is WR5462. Over.]
PW17492 blinked in surprise, then accessed his suit's table of unit references. He didn't recognize the WR prefix. The data scrolled quickly through the screen, then stopped. A blinking cursor highlighted the entry, and knowledge filled his head. WR was the new Warrior K-Bot. Designed to supplement other, smaller, level-1 K-Bots, the Warrior had good armour and speed, and was equipped with a plasma cannon and EMG. The voice crackled over his radio again.
[PW17492, do you copy? Over.]
[This is PW17492. I copy,] he responded, sitting down on the smoking remains of a wind generator.
[PW17492, hold your current position. Due to the heavy casualties sustained by your squad, you have been assigned to mine. We are en route to your position, and have orders to hold it, and defend the base once the construction teams are done. Commander Kirra has plans for that site.]
[I will comply. Holding position.] PW17492 switched off his radio, and turned his eyes towards his radar screen. As a forward spotter, PW17492 had a radar built into his suit, at the expense of the more specialized sensors. It was easily fooled by jamming, but better than nothing. He turned his head as a pair of construction VTOLs began reclaiming the former perimeter defences, then settled down to wait.
Unit Aik-004524 registered that it would be good to return to Central Consciousness. He (and he did prefer to think of himself as male) had been on solitary patrol for the last 5.6 standard hours, and was well aware of the protests coming in from his various diagnostic programs. He could keep operating for days if he had to, but he would require extensive maintenance when he returned to base. He suspected that his body already needed several of its joints worked over with a nanolathe, if not a complete replacement of several limbs.
He was also eager for the companionship of other A-K units. Solitary patrol did get lonely, and higher units did not tend to associate with A-Ks, due to their limited life expectancy. So the A-Ks generally stayed by themselves, which was fine by them. They regarded most other units as slightly 'stuck-up.'
Finally, the squishy, organic substance known to some as 'dirt' gave way to the smooth, solid metal of the Core base. Several small mountains on other Core worlds had been consumed to create this base, and it was only one of the three central Core bases on Sterus IV. Aik-004524 walked unchallenged past the heavy outer defences, composed of the best weapons the Core had developed.
In the distance, he could see the huge construction buildings stretching up into the sky. Kbot labs, Vehicle plants, airfields, and the newly-developed Krogoth gantries. All were busy, nanolathing new machines of war or construction units. He headed deeper into the base, towards one of the maintenance pools.
The maintenance pools were where units returning from patrol could head to have their bodies refurbished and their patterns down loaded back into the Regional Central Consciousness. They usually consisted of six to eight specially constructed nanotowers, which were essentially four nanolathes attached to a central control pillar, and two or three R.C.C. nodes. The R.C.C. nodes looked like giant pyramids, and each provided a linkup to the planetary R.C.C.
He downloaded his diagnostic data to one of the nanotowers, which immediately began regenerating his body's damaged systems. Knowing that his body was in good hands, he opened a channel to the R.C.C. node and downloaded his pattern into the R.C.C.
The loneliness of solitary patrol in his body was immediately replaced by the sensation of thousands, perhaps even millions, of minds all around him. He could feel several conversations going on, but didn't pay any attention to them for now. He connected to the R.C.C. message centre, to see if he had any messages waiting. To his surprise, he did. A message from one of the Regional Planning Consciousness.
{Aik-004524, this is the R.P.C. You are to await further orders once your maintenance is completed. We have a special project, and you have been chosen as part of its escort.}
Aik-004524 would have had his jaw hanging open in surprise, if he'd had a jaw. The R.P.C. contacting a mere A-K unit was almost unheard of, unless the A-K unit could shortly expect a promotion. He couldn't wait to see what the special project was.
PW17492 knelt down in the trench a construction unit had dug behind a row of Dragon's Teeth. He checked again that his guns were fully primed and loaded, and that his scanners were working properly. WR5462 had brought a couple of Marky radar Kbots with her, but PW17492 didn't want to rely on their sensors unless he had to. On either side, other PeeWee suits shifted position. They looked uncomfortable and impatient. Everyone seemed to wish the Core would just attack and get it over with, even though that would probably meant the death of many clones here.
He looked back down at his radar, then almost jumped in shock. There were four red blips, Core units, headed for his position at a speed that could only indicate aircraft. He opened a channel to WR5462.
[WR5462, this is PW17492. I've got four blips closing with us at high speed. Hostile, presumed to be Core aircraft or scout units. What are your instructions?]
[This is WR5462. Hold your position, and take cover. We've got them tagged with our other radar units, and our anti-air systems are tracking them.]
Even as WR5462 was speaking, PW17492 could see the contrails of the enemy jets closing. As they came closer, his systems identified them. Two Fink scout aircraft, escorted by a pair of Avengers.
As the planes flew closer, Defender missile towers and Flaker anti-air guns twisted to track them. The planes began to bank as the weapons locked on, but it was futile. The barrels of the Defenders twisted, and missiles flew skywards. An Avenger and a Fink were temporarily consumed by explosions, then spiraled groundwards in pieces. The remaining Avenger launched a pair of missiles into the base. They flew over PW17492's head and exploded against a metal extractor, seriously damaging the extractor's weak armour.
As a construction K-Bot began to slowly waddle towards the damaged metal extractor, the Core aircraft made banking turns, coming back around for another run. The Fink passed almost right over a concealed Flakker, and paid the price. Its pieces rained down around PW17492 as he turned to track the Avenger. It had just leveled out for another attack run as some Flakkers opened fire on it. Their shots missed, flying past all around the Avenger. PW17492 twisted, searching for cover as his computer warned him of a hostile lock, and...
He blinked as the lock light flickered, then switched off. He looked up to see that missiles from the Jethro units in his squads had backtracked the fighter's lock. At least five had hit dead on, reducing the fighter to a pair of wings. His radio crackled to life.
[All units, this is WR5462. Commander Kirra has informed us that it is very likely that the Core now knows that we are here. We can probably expect a major attack force within twenty-four standard hours. Stay on your guard, people. We should be able to hold whatever they send against us. WR5462 out.]
Aik-004524 was awakened from what passed for a pattern's sleep by the beeping of a message waiting alarm. Instantly alert, he reached out and opened the message.
{Regional Planning Consciousness-19524628-X to Unit Aik-004524. These orders carry the highest priority, overriding all other orders from any source. You are to attend a secure group briefing at the attached co-ordinates. Do so now.}
He closed the message, and sent the command to be downloaded back into his body. After a slight disorientation, the mental crowding of R.C.C. was replaced by the loneliness and sensor flow of his A-K body. Turning, he began to move towards the co-ordinates R.P.C.-19524628-X had specified.
There, he could see many other K-Bots waiting. Most were Level-1 designs, but he thought he could see a few Pyros in the mix too. In the front row, there were eight strange-looking K-Bots. They were about the same shape as an A-K, but seemed much more heavily armoured. They also had a strange arrangement of crystal around their heads. Standing in front of all of it was a huge R.P.C. K-Bot. It was almost half the size of a Commander, but had no weapons. Its only function was to transport a R.P.C. pattern to where it needed to go. As he entered his position, the R.P.C. opened a channel to him. He could sense that it was transmitting the same data to every other K-Bot in the area.
{This is a great day for the Core. We are almost at the moment of a massive victory over the Arm. Surely, you all know of the Arm's feared psionic troops, and how we could never match their power. How these troops have defeated us every time we fight them. Well, no more!}
The R.P.C. bot gestured to the eight strange K-Bots standing in the front row.
{These designs show the dawning of a new age for the Core! By backtracking through many archived minds, we managed to piece together a psionic pattern. Since the Arm's psionic warriors must all be naturally born, they are very few in number. But these can easily be replicated, creating huge armies of psionic warriors!}
{But before we commit our K-Bot labs to building these designs, Commander C-056 wants proof that they can do what we say they can. He has authorized eight of them, and here they stand. To prove to C-056 that they work, we have decided to assault the Arm here.}
At this point, a holographic map appeared, and zoomed in on the co-ordinates given by the R.P.C.
{This area was formerly the location of a large Core extraction base. Three days ago, Arm forces destroyed the base and established their own extractors there. We have already lost four aircraft in an attempt to survey the defences. We are to attack this area, and destroy the Arm infestation. Do so now!}
The entire force transmitted their understanding, then signed off the channel. They knew they were just providing cover for the Psi-Bots, but it would still be glorious. After all, without them, the Core would surely be wiped out.
PW17492 was beginning to drop off to sleep. Five days of waiting had begun to take their toll. Suddenly, he jerked awake. He could see units all around him doing the same. His radar had just spotted a large group of Core units on approach. A mixed group of Level-1 KBots. Most were easily recognizable to his scanners, but eight registered as only 'anomaly.'
He stood upright, and checked his EMGs. They were in good working order. He levelled them in the direction of the enemy, and waited for the attack. Around him, more PeeWees did the same. He would die fighting for the Arm if he had to. Better to die fighting than be a submissive pattern in the hands of the abomination. He heard footsteps to his left, and turned his head.
A Rocko rounded the corner, followed by more K-Bots. In the centre was WR5462. She turned, and pointed at the approaching Core units. The K-Bots fanned out, levelling their weapons and preparing for combat. WR5462 moved beside him, and knelt down. She opened a private channel.
[Most of those K-Bots we can handle no problem. We outnumber them by almost eight heavy units. But the unidentified ones could cause problems. Our radars can't quite seem to lock onto them. It's almost as if they weren't fully there,] she sent.
[What could cause that kind of disturbance?] he asked.
[We have no idea. But be on your guard.]
Then the Core was in range of the Hammers. A deafening crack rang out as the Hammers unleashed a volley of plasma rounds. WR5462 stood up and added her own plasma fire. PW17492, for no reason he could understand, shifted his field of fire just a bit, to cover WR5462.
Aik-004524 twisted for cover as the plasma shots from the Hammers exploded all around him. Two A-Ks were hit, and exploded, leaving twisted piles of metal around. Another shot dropped straight towards one of the psionic K-Bots. Aik-004524 braced for the impact. But the shot seemed to stop in mid-air, then explode against some sort of psionic shield. He turned towards the Arm battle lines, carefully matching his speed with that of the Psi-Bots.
The Psi-Bots seemed inert. He could tell that the Thud units in the force were becoming impatient, and preparing to fire, contrary to orders. He was ready too, when the Psi-Bots opened fire.
One Guardian plasma cannon, then another, and another exploded from no apparent cause. A group of Defenders followed. The base's stationary defences were quickly torn to ribbons by the destructive mind bolts of the Psi-Bots, without firing a shot at the advancing Core Kbots. Aik-004524 checked that his laser was primed, in case of trouble. He couldn't hit the Arm yet, since they were still behind their Dragon's Teeth, but he knew the Teeth would be next to go.
PW17492 looked up in alarm as the Sentinel towering behind him exploded. He hadn't even seen anything fire at it. He turned his head towards WR5462, wondering if she knew anything. She shook her head, and continued shelling the Core force with her plasma cannon. As he watched, several more A-Ks went down, then a Storm. The Core forces were slowly being cut down. But still nagging doubts worried him. What could have done that to the Sentinel?
He raised his guns, preparing to fire. Just as he was drawing a bead on the lead A-K, the Dragon's Tooth in front of him exploded in a cloud of superheated metal. His armour was undamaged by the blast, but he was thrown back against the wall of the trench. He shook his head, recovering slowly. All along the trench, he could see Dragon's Teeth exploding. Arm units were flung back by the blasts, spoiling their aim and removing much of their cover.
He pulled himself back up, to look over the wall of the trench. He didn't like what he saw. The Core units seemed to have abandoned their 'stay back' strategy. They were advancing forwards, and the strange K-Bots were following them like puppies. He levelled his gun arms at the advancing Core forces and opened fire. His shots tore an A-K to shreds, and he tracked his fire over to a Pyro. Several other PeeWees recovered and opened up, further savaging its armour. As he continued to fire, a missile from a Jethro put a quick end to his target.
As the Core forces entered range of the Arm's infantry weapons, they began sustaining huge losses. Units were torn apart or exploded from EMG fire, plasma blasts, missiles, and rockets. But it only put a small dent in the might of the Core forces on this battlefield. And they still had the Psi-Bots. Walking through fire like ghosts, destroying Arm units almost at a whim, the Psi-Bots seemed to be more than proving their worth. And if they did, it would likely be the end for the Arm...
Aik-004524 registered unemotionally the destruction of the Core units around him. To him, they were mere constructions of weapons and firepower. The patterns were nothing special. They could be down loaded again into new units from Central Consciousness. It never occured to him that in living, patterns developed a life and personality of their own.
Ahead of him, he could see the hated enemy. He joined several other A-Ks in firing their lasers at a Rocko, slowly cutting it to pieces. He was definatly enjoying this, as he had been programmed to. The Arm forces were being slaughtered. He swept his laser over the armour of a PeeWee, slowly slicing it into four pieces.
Pausing to take breif delight in slaughtering the enemy with such mathematical effeciency, he turned to watch the Psi-Bots for a second. He couldn't see their weapons, but they were definatly doing damage to the Arm. He'd seen several units explode with no apparent cause. The Psi-Bots also seemed to be undamaged. Some strange shield, perhaps?
He didn't pause long, though. There were more Arm vermin to exterminate. He could always replay the battle later, if he wanted to. As he turned back, alarms went off. A PeeWee was pounding his armour with EMG fire. He couldn't take much more of that.
Kicking his memcomposite up to turbo power, he sped away and dived behind cover. But more Arm units had seen his effeciency. A couple of plasma shells arced overhead and exploded behind him. Not close enough to do any damage, but he was momentarily flattered. All this attention for a single A-K unit!
Then he heard more explosions, and raised himself back up over the rock to fire his laser into the Arm lines. The battle continued. He had no time for thought. His ballistics processes tracked the missiles and rockets fired back and forth by both sides at their optimum 96.5739% effectiveness, and alerted him if one could possibly damage or destroy his already weakened frame. Battle was what he had been patterned for, and battle he would do!
Neither side seemed particularly inclined to send reinforcements to the battle. The Core declined because they wanted to see exactly how effective, to twenty decimal places, the new Psi-Bots were. And the Arm didn't because they were unaware the battle was happening. The Core was jamming radio, and the next status report wasn't due for hours. A survallence satilite was due to pass over the area shortly, but even then, it would take time. And time was something the Arm forces were running out of.
PW17492 swept his EMGs over another A-K, then bent down to get out of the line of fire. He looked to the side, to check on WR5462's status. She seemed to be doing fine, and was lobbing plasma shells into the battle, and using her EMG to wipe out anything that got too close. She noticed his attention, and opened a channel.
[PW17492, I think we're in trouble. The Core is jamming our radar, and we're taking a serious beating. Those new Kbots are something really nasty. See if you can do something about them. For me.]
PW17492 nodded, and signalled the three PeeWees that he was in temporary command of. All four popped up over the ridge, and began spraying the nearby units with EMG fire. Beside him, WR5462 saw his plan, and sent orders to a group of Hammers. The field of fire created by the EMGs was made even deadlier by the concentration of plasma shells and fire from the few remaining defences that poured into it.
Faced with such a huge volume of fire, the Core units were forced to pull back or be blown apart. As they pulled back further out of effective range, PW17492 and his forces turned their fire on one of the Psi-Bots.
The Psi-Bot seemed to shrug off the torrent of incoming fire like a light rainstorm. It continued to advance, and soil beside PW17492 fountained into the air. The Psi-Bot's concentration wasn't on firing, but on blocking all the incoming shots. It continued to close, seeming not to notice that the other Core units were pulling back. Suddenly, it was wreathed in ghostlike fire. Something had gone... wrong with it.... Space twisted oddly... and...
**Discontinuity**
Aik-004524 was sweeping pulses of fire from his laser along the Arm lines, covering the retreat of the rest of the Core forces. He hadn't killed anything since the EMG and plasma fire had started, but the volume had decreased. The rest of the Core forces had almost managed to pull back out of range, and were beginning to regroup for another attack. Beside him, a Crasher attempting to make a similar stand made a fatal mistake. It lept to one side as a plasma shell hit the top of its cover, and right into some full-auto EMG fire from a platoon of PeeWees.
Aik-004524 was sweeping his laser fire towards a Warrior Kbot that seemed to be ignoring him. It was firing past him, with both EMG and plasma fire. He contemplated ignoring his fire, but his probability computer nagged him.
//Alert! There is a 85.63429% that the Warrior's fire is directed. Recommend discovering target.\\
Keeping his laser arrangement pointed towards the Arm lines, he twisted his sensory apparatus around, tracing the path of fire. His sensors registered that it was striking the seemingly invulnerable shields of a Psi-Bot. He was twisting around when he noticed something odd. Almost every other Arm unit along the line was concentrating its fire there as well. He briefly registered that wasn't right before... space twisted....
**Discontinuity**
PW17492 blinked as he slowly became aware of his surroundings again. He hadn't been unconscious. He had been knocked out a couple of times before, and this was different. It was if he'd been completely unplugged from reality. His sensors seemed to have been knocked out too... All he could see was static.
//Alert. Sensor systems down. Running diagnostics/repair programs... please wait... bringing subsystem back online... re-activation completed!\\ His computer reported.
PW17492 waited as his displays filled again with sensor data. He expected to see the brown dirt wall of the trench, and the burnt grass, and the corpses of Core Kbots. Instead, he saw something different.
There was no proper way to describe it with words. His mind could barely understand what it was seeing, and he was seeing it through several levels of image processing and refinement. It seemed as if the space around him had been twisted. It shimmered through the spectrum of colours on visible light scanning, and did the same on ultraviolet and infrared. His radar had simply given up trying to process it, and was obstinately displaying a blue screen with an error on it. What the error was changed from moment to moment, but something wasn't right.
The sounds of battle had stopped completely. There was some kind of music playing, but he couldn't tell what it was. He instructed his systems to tune it out, and looked around for other Arm units. Surely someone had to be here with him!
At first glance, he couldn't see anything. But as he swept his gaze over the ground, he spotted the sprawling, fallen body of a Warrior Kbot. A cursory examination showed it to be WR5462. He made sure his drive system was functional, then walked over to her. She seemed stunned, but alright. As he bent down, she shook her head and began to push her suit upright.
[What happened?] she asked. [The last thing I remember was lobbing a plasma shell at that weird Kbot, then a huge explosion, then...]
PW17492 nodded, [I think its explosion may have done something to the local space. Look around.]
WR5462 did that, and almost fell over again. Now, the entire area around them looked like it was shifting.
[We've got to get out of here. Find how far it extends and what else might be trapped in here and report to Commander Kirra,] she sent.
PW17492 nodded, and they set out.
Aik-004524 slowly returned to operating levels. His systems were constantly sending back errors and bad data warnings, so he ran every diagnostic program he had. The results came up fine, so he ordered the systems to just be quiet and show him the data needed.
The systems did so, and he almost shut down permanently. At the last second, he activated an image filter. That seemed to clear things up a bit, at least to the point where he could understand it. The space around him was seriously twisted. The floor suddenly became a wall, then the floor again, then the ceiling. It shimmered through the spectrum of colours available to him, and over all the bandwidth.
He paused for a moment to try and figure out what caused this. His last memory was of the Arm units firing at the PsiBot. Perhaps they somehow penetrated its shielding? His probability system informed him that the chance of that was almost a million-to-one, and he told it to shut down.
If they had managed to destroy it, what would be the effect of the violent death of a psionic mind? The outpouring of a lot of energy? His scientific routines informed him that an outpouring of mental energy about so-and-so Baraohms (whatever those were) could indeed create this kind of disturbance. He acknowledged, and thought about his next course of action.
Since there didn't seem to be any Core units around, he should probably try and find his way out of here. He should also find out what else was in here, and its extent, then report back to C-056. There could be a promotion in this for him! He activated his drive system and moved out.
PW17492 was confused. The twisting, winding passageways and rooms of whatever this was made no sense. He and WR5462 had been wandering through them for hours without seeing another Kbot, Arm or Core. His sensors were pretty much shot from trying to make sense of the space around him. He'd long since dropped his guns from their ready positions.
Space went through another twist, and suddenly he was in a huge spherical room. Behind him, he heard WR5462 gasp in shock. The room was huge. It looked to be almost two kilometres across, and seemed larger because it was enclosed. PW17492 got the feeling that there were a lot of passages radiating off of here, and that this was a hub somehow. As he turned around, he almost shouted in surprise.
There was a Hammer standing there. Or part of it, anyway. It looked like a leg, but he couldn't be sure. It had been burned by something, and all organic matter had been removed. PW17492 turned away, and looked at WR5462.
[It was a Hammer. Probably one of yours. Something else got to him before we did.]
WR5462 nodded. She looked saddened that one of her soldiers could come to such an end. Conflicting emotions tore at PW17492, then he decided to turn away and try to get out of here.
They travelled for almost half a kilometre along the sphere's surface without finding any kind of exit. There were no more pieces of scrap, and little at all to confirm that this place was real. PW17492 was almost ready to believe that he and WR5462 were the only ones alive in here when a red blip showed up on his radar... almost right on top of him! He looked up, and saw the bulk of a Core A-K come out of what seemed like nowhere! He brought his guns up, and....
Aik-004524 wandered through the maze of the distortion. He'd lost his bearings hours ago, and hadn't seen a single Core unit since. All of his routines were clamouring errors at him, or had been when he'd shut down his internal stderr channel. The only systems he was still accepting warnings from were his memcomposites and laser. And since they weren't complaining, or saying anything much for that matter, he was pretty much alone inside his head.
It was even worse than when he was on lone patrol. There, at least, he had the knowledge that he'd be back at base soon and among other minds in Central Consciousness. And then there was the radio chatter. Even though he tuned it out, it was still there.
Here, there was none of that. Or, to be more accurate, there was more of it. Oh, there was nothing on the radio, and his routines for communicating with other minds reported nothing. But all the same, he could feel hundreds, perhaps even thousands of minds all around him. They were like a constant stream in the background, just below the level where he would actually become aware of them. It was like low-grade torture. And they were all screaming his name.
Just when he thought he couldn't stand it any longer, the stream of minds stopped. Space ahead of him twisted. First, he thought that it might be something coming to kill him. But then he was dropped into a small, spherical room. Somehow it was worse. There was a Thud there. But not an active Thud. There was a hole torn in the centre of its chest. All its internal systems had been ripped out, and were gone. The only thing left was the shell. He was almost ready to scream, then space twisted again.
As his visual sensors slowly came online again, he saw a PeeWee and a Warrior Kbot standing there. Both looked shocked. He brought his laser units around into alignment, saw the PeeWee's guns begin to come up, and....
A creature appeared between them. It was about three-quarters of the height of a Kbot. But it looked totally organic. Its limbs and torso were long and thin, and draped over its body were many kinds of fur. Its face was stranger still. At the same time, it seemed to be human and alien. In its hands, it clutched a long staff. Somehow, that was more terrifying than the array of weaponry on a Krogoth. All three Kbots waited for a moment, just standing there in shock, then lowered their weapons.
The creature turned its head between them, then spoke. "I do not have much time, so I cannot waste time telling you about me or asking about you. It is sufficient to know that both of your factions are in extreme danger if they remain on this planet."
The creature paused, looking around nervously, then continued, "It was foolish to create such powerful psychic computers. Most organic minds have safeguards built in, but your 'pattern' had none of that. When it suffered an explosive death, its mind, in extreme pain, released all the energy it had built up. This twisted space and time around it, creating this place. But that is not the most dangerous side-effect."
The creature looked around again, then continued. "There are those who are drawn to distortions such as this... supremely evil beings who wish to rule or destroy all they encounter. The devastation wrought by your peoples is nothing in comparison. You MUST warn your respective commanders to prepare for their strongest, deadliest opponents yet. They must cease their petty feud before it is too late!"
Aik-004524 listened intently. What the creature was saying made sense, in a way. He was already using one of his subprocessors to format a report to Commander C-056 as the creature was finishing its speech. He listened intently, storing every word to memory. His concentration was broken, though, but his motion sensors.
{Alert! Motion detected @ 345 degrees! Recommend immediate visual scanning of region between 320 degrees and 370 degrees. Do so now.}
Aik-004524 twisted his scanning apparatus around to point in the direction indicated. At first, it seemed as if there was nothing there. But his motion sensors insisted there was, and Aik-004524 finally spotted what they were reporting.
Moving along the surface were five small, lizard-like beings. The ran on four legs, and their pointed faces were at the end of long necks. They had long tails, and small wings rested on their backs. Their skins ranged in colour from green to yellow. And they seemed to have smoke coming from their noses. Aik-004524's subconsciousness recognized them, and screamed at him to run... hide... anything! But his computational systems were telling him that such things were illogical, they couldn't exist. He remained frozen in place, staring at them.
Behind him, the creature nodded. "I had not expected them so soon, but they are here. You must go now. Report this to your commanders, make them understand. I will attempt to hold them for long enough."
Then the creatures were almost within striking range. Aik-004524 levelled his laser assembly at them, and he could see the PeeWee and Warrior suits behind him doing the same with their EMGs. But the creature shook his head.
"You alone cannot fight them. Go. I will hold them." It leapt over Aik-004524, and motioned with its staff. A glowing space distortion appeared behind him. "Go now! I will hold them!"
Aik-004524 turned his legs towards the space distortion, known to most as a Galactic Gate. For the creature to open one so casually meant that it had immense power. He began to move towards it, watching the creature the entire time.
The PeeWee unit asked a question, "But can't they follow us through?"
The creature responded. "No. These cannot live outside of a reality distortion such as this. At least not before they develop further. But such distortions serve as beacons to more highly developed forms. Now GO!"
Then the things were upon it. The creature whirled its staff, and struck. The last thing Aik-004524 saw before the Gate enveloped him was the thing vanishing in a bright blast of light. Then his sensor input dissolved into a NULL stream, and his main pattern processes followed...
**discontinuity**
PW17492 blinked a couple of times. For the second time in a day, he waited patiently for his suit to come back online. As the sensor feeds again filled his helmet with data and images, he blinked at the light of Sterus IV's sun. After several hours inside the distortion, the light was intense.
The distortion! He blinked again, and looked around. There it was, towering up behind him. The terrain seemed to flow and twist into it, as the space it occupied was put through a wringer. That alone would have been disconcerting enough, but the way it was twisted seemed to change from moment to moment.
He heard a groan over his radio, and turned around again. WR5462 was slowly pushing herself upright. Her suit looked a bit the worse for wear, but she seemed alright. He moved over to make sure that she was indeed Ok.
She shook her head, and looked around. [No sign of the Core. I guess they all either left or were sucked into that distortion after the explosion. I just hope some friendlies arrive soon. They might decide to come back at any time...]
PW17492 turned his head towards the extraction base they should have been guarding. It seemed to be mostly undamaged, except for the trench. It had been partially twisted into the distortion. But there was no sign of any units. The defences were gone, as were all the C-units. The extractors and generators were still working busily away, but the base seemed curiously dead.
PW17492's radio crackled to life again, making him jump a bit.
[Hey! You two!]
PW17492 and WR5462 turned to face the new arrival. Or arrivals. There was a complete platoon of Flash and Stumpy tanks. He could see some Zippers with them as well, and a Panther that seemed to be in command. The transmissions were coming from the Panther.
[Commander Kirra sent us to search for survivors. Our surveillance satellite passed over the battlefield just as that strange Kbot exploded. We immediately sent some Atlas with Hawk cover to airlift out the C-units that couldn't fly, and basically abandoned the base. We didn't expect that half the Core force would be sucked into that thing, and the other half would retreat. Even now, more C-units are on their way to rebuild the base, and add a couple of Kbot labs in the process.]
WR5462 nodded, [We have urgent information for Commander Kirra. We've got to get to Arm Central Command immediately!]
The Panther pilot responded quickly, [Hey, we're here to get you back to base. We'd already swept this area once, and didn't find anything. But Central picked up a pulse, like a Galactic Gate opening. They told us to check the area again, and there you were. And I'm sure Kirra's going to want to speak with you...]
Aik-004524 quietly vanished back into the jungle. He'd briefly considered ambushing the two Arm Kbots. But his probability circuits told him that there was a 86% chance that he'd die in the attempt, so he decided against it. The arrival of the Arm tanks had only confirmed his choice of actions. So he'd vanished back into the jungle, making his way as stealthily as a Kbot could back to Core-02, his home base.
One by one, he ran diagnostics on the systems that had gone down in the distortion. They all seemed fine now, and the diagnostics were perplexed by their earlier behaviour. There were a couple of errors that needed to be cleared up, but they had likely occurred as a result of his EMG shelling.
His memcomposite monitors began protesting as the organic junk of the jungle got into his systems. But even that seemed good. It restored some balance of routine, the hardships of jungle patrol, to his existence. Core scientists had made the Kbot frames rugged, but the Core scientists had never counted on a jungle like that on Sterus IV.
To his partial surprise, a channel open protocol activated. The instigator was the pattern of a Weasel scout car. Its header package informed him that it had been sweeping the jungle for several hours, searching for survivors of those that had vanished into the distortion. So far, he was the only one.
Thoughts of sadness or pity did not even register in his circuits. They were only patterns. They could be replicated again. The only regret he felt was that there was no scrap left from his former comrades to reclaim. To his greater surprise, the Weasel's channel cut out after only a preliminary exchange, and was replaced with a channel to Commander C-056!
{Unit Aik-004524, you are to immediately download all of your records and logs of the past twenty four standard Core gigacycles to Central Consciousness. Use maximum possible encryption. We need to analyse your actions, and the events surrounding your ill-fated assault force. Do so now.}
Aik-004524 sent the requested data, carefully navigating his way through the jungle as the channel program copied the relevant data out of his memory. He hardly paid it any attention when it finished, concentrating on navigating the jungle. Mere cycles later, the channel was flowing with information again. C-056 had decided to begin preparations for a possible assault by hostile aliens.
{But we shall not give up operations against the Arm vermin. Our actions on this planet may prove all-important to the course of the War. Even now, on Core Prime, Central Command Consciousness is planning the next stage of the War. All-out war against the Arm vermin, using all of our available resources. Civilian projects will be put onto a necessities-only level. However, this information could change all of that. A hostile alien race, so far undiscovered, could eliminate the Arm for us! This is excellent work indeed, Aik-004524. You shall be promoted to a Pyro frame, and assigned as the bodyguard of Angel-7509, a Morty-class level 2 Kbot. Commander C-056 logging off.}
Aik-004524 would have danced for joy, if a Kbot frame were capable of such an action. He was finally getting rid of this weak, fragile body. A Pyro frame would mean that he could kick some serious Arm....
PW17492 had, for the first time in his life, removed the forearm EMGs of his suit. He was sitting atop the turret of a Flash tank, which was just driving into the Arm base. He needed his hands to hold on during the bumpy ride. He'd been talking with WR5462 the whole trip. She'd already transmitted the data to Commander Kirra, who had acknowledged the transmission. Kirra would probably have made a decision on how to deal with the aliens during PW17492's trip back to base. Commanders were remarkably fast at making tactical decisions.
The Flash sped over the crest of another hill, and PW17492 gasped. There, stretching out in front of him, was the central Arm base on Sterus IV. It wasn't the capital, but was the largest military base on the planet, and location of Sterus Arm Central Command. The huge central command tower rose up in the centre of the base, its sides sprinkled with weapons batteries. In the centre there was a huge missile launcher. From the data his suit supplied, PW17492 noted that it could launch several types of combat missile or be used for more everyday surface-to-orbit launches.
Around the central tower there were many smaller structures, spreading out like a carpet. Kbot labs, vehicle plants, and airfields spread out. All were busy nanolathing units to replace those lost in battle, or manufacturing new units for a new push or stand. Defensive encampments were located throughout the base, as were resource extractors. Since he had been nanolathed at a far-away base, PW17492 had never seen Arm Central. As they drew closer, PW17492 could see the imposing bulk of Commander Kirra's Commander suit.
The Flash drew to a halt, and PW17492 dismounted. WR5462 jumped down from the unit she was riding and walked up beside him. To his complete surprise, she reached out and took his hand. Not knowing quite what to do, his fingers closed around her hand.
The tanks circled around them, then moved off to their own duties, leaving the two slightly bewildered Kbots standing alone with their Commander. To their shock, Kirra reached up and removed her helmet, shaking her head back and forth to free her hair.
PW17492 had never seen a Commander unsuited before, and didn't know quite what to expect. Kirra looked old. Not her skin, or her hair. The suit's internal nanolathes kept those looking young and fresh. But her eyes gave away her age. PW17492 heard that no matter how advanced the nanolathes you used, you could never change your eyes. Now, he saw what that meant.
"PW17492 and WR5462, you have performed a duty of great service to the Arm. You have not only foiled a new Core attempt to exterminate all life, you have delivered word to us, at great personal risk, of a new enemy. The Core has rebuffed our attempts at a truce, so we cannot let our guard down on that front. But we are already preparing for a new war, in space as well as on the ground. You can be sure that your information is being put to good use."
She paused for a second, then raised her nanolathe. A brief fog of green washed out, and PW17492 found himself standing without a suit, wearing only the neurointerface mesh that all Kbot pilots wore. To the side, he could see that WR5462's power suit had also been removed.
"I grant you the use of your name, as well as a promotion. PW17492, you are now Nick Z8935, assigned to a Level-2 Zeus Kbot Suit. WR5462, you are now Beth SH3023, assigned to a Level-2 Shooter Kbot suit. Your new suits will be ready within the hour. Nick Z8935, you are assigned to guard Beth SH3023, both in and out of your Kbots. Do not fail each other."
Kirra replaced her helmet and strode off into the Arm base. But Nick Z8935 was barely aware of that, because Beth SH3023 had just spun him around towards her and kissed him solidly on the lips.
Aik-004524 reactivated slowly in his new body. At first, he thought it might be something wrong with the transfer. His scientific subroutines came on 1.3425 moments later, and informed him that this was perfectly normal for patterns in a new body. Their interface software had to adapt itself to the new operating codes.
Finally, the process was complete. Aik-004524 made a few simple, experimental movements. The new body reacted wonderfully. He couldn't even tell the extra armour was there. The flamethrower felt truly amazing, and the shield was a nice touch. Out of curiosity, he looked up into the sky.
A bright circle of blue light appeared as he looked up. He queried his computer as to what it was. The linked minds of the Central Science and Tactical Control were wondering the same thing.
Core Computational Recording:
{Alert! Galactic Gate formation detected. Approximate range: 1.2397 light-years - almost on the sector border. Warning! At this distance, normal Gate emissions should take approximately 1.2397 years to arrive.}
The Science minds paused for a second to compute, then continued with their output. {Conclusion_1: the only possible way these emissions could travel so fast is a huge Galactic Gate portal. Transited material must be in excess of one hundred megatons. Energy requirements for such a transition approach infinite. Conclusion_2: Such a Gate is beyond Arm or Core science. It must be created by an outside agency. Conclusion_3: The aliens warned of by Pattern Aik-004524 have arrived.}
Aik-004524 downloaded this data, and would have nodded to himself, if he had a neck. They were coming already. If they could create a Gate that huge, what chance did the Core stand against them? They couldn't even defeat the pitiful Arm vermin. He looked up again at the sky. Now he knew the name of those things he'd encountered in the Distortion. In some inexplicable way, he knew why they were here too. One phrase ran through his processors over and over...
The phrase was, "Here there be Dragons."
This story is continued in Here There be Dragons.
Story originally written in Word Perfect 6.1 Format by Sterling
HTML Conversion & Revision done on 3/24/1999-3/25/1999 by Sterling.
Document may be freely downloaded and/or distrubuted as long as this block remains unchanged and no modifications are made to the story.