Virtual War

Created by Philippe Painchaud (Dotswarlock)

Based upon the game "Supreme Commander"

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Chapter 1

The next generation

Year 3834, ten years before the final battle on Earth,

The crowd cheered wildly as the results were finally in: the new President and Earthcom Commander-in-Chief would be Allen Riley.

It had taken months of nonstop campaign management, but now it was over and everyone could finally relax. The cheering increased as the new President moved to the stand, smiling and waving to everyone: "My fellow citizens of the United Earth Federation…"

Riley had to wait for the cheering to die down before speaking again: "My fellow citizens, today we celebrate the months of hard work and dedication that have made this dream possible. I would first like to thank each of you for coming in such high numbers to vote. It is heartwarming to see so many free men and women with the will to make a difference."

The crowd cheered again and the new President let it continue for a few moments before speaking: "I would also like to thank my entire team, my campaign managers, my new Vice-President, the countless volunteers and their families who all worked tirelessly to support our vision of the future. I would also like to offer my deepest gratitude and unconditional love to my wife, the beautiful Marguerite Riley. They say that behind every great man there is a great woman and I knew the moment that I vied for presidency that I could never succeed without her by my side."

All cameras turned towards the President's wife and she blushed immediately to the approval of the whole crowd. Riley smiled in gratitude: "So again this is a great victory and I congratulate you all on your hard work. I expect you to enjoy this evening to its fullest! Because tomorrow…"

Riley turned theatrically towards his team and raised an eyebrow: "Tomorrow the real work begins and I won't stand for anything less than the same uncanny efforts that have made this campaign a reality."

The crowd laughed to the dismay of some members of the team. The president looked at the people gathered in front of him again and his voice grew solemn: "If there's one thing that I have learned as an ACU pilot, it is that time is precious. Every decision or lack of action has its cost with many ending in human lives. I promised during my campaign that I would do everything in my power to slice through bureaucracy and ensure that no human life would ever be lost to a lack of action ever again."

"There are many brave men and women out there," added Riley, the crowd growing silent during a dramatic pause: "They are fighting to protect us in the name of truth, justice and freedom. These noble souls deserve our unconditional support and we will do everything in our power to transform our shared dream into a reality. We will achieve victory, we will end the Infinite War and mark my words; we will finally have peace!"

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A hand reached up and pressed the power button, closing the monitor and shutting off the new President's acceptance speech. Arnold jumped down from the bar's counter and silenced the other patrons' complaints with a glare. The barman calmly offered him another drink, apparently trying to diffuse the situation: "Lost your election?"

Arnold looked at the beer and snorted derisively: "I think we all lost a lot more than that."

Without another word, he picked up his jacket and headed out of the bar.

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The Avatar-of-War sat calmly and absorbed every word while analyzing the crowd's reaction. To Marxon, watching the live broadcast of the UEF election was akin to watching monkeys elect a new leader. They cried, banged their chest and hooted as the new alpha male was selected. Each mind was content in its blissful ignorance and unaware of the true meaning of this war. It was no wonder that they could keep fighting when they were fed by such a lack of information.

For a moment, Marxon felt something akin to pity as he considered the countless lives that would be lost to end those illusions. The war would only end once Earth – the very symbol of the UEF and the cradle of humanity - was cleansed. To do that, the Aeon Illuminate would keep fighting, cleansing one world after the next and diminishing the enemy ranks on a daily basis. Each time they would vacate the world, letting the UEF claim it back in a vain effort to appear in control. That was their flaw; the self-perpetuating desire for ever greater power or maintaining the illusion of it.

A light suddenly blinked near the Avatar's console and he remembered that he had another appointment with his prized student. Years ago, he had taken Ariel in and promised her that she would become an ACU pilot if she worked for it. Now was the time to carry out that promise.

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Dostya listened to the rest of the acceptance speech from the comfort of her ACU and could not help but scowl: "That is load of…"

For a moment, Dostya searched for the right words, but then decided to no English curse could do it justice and swore in Russian. Bagby whistled in appreciation from the cockpit of his SCU: "I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded very poetic."

They both stood guard outside Node Fifty-Six, taking their duty shift and waiting to see if anyone would attack them today. The old SCU pilot had volunteered to help Dostya, but a few bruises on his forehead suggested that he had also done it to escape from the Red Skull Node for a while. Most likely another brawl had exploded and while Bagby usually loved those, he was also getting old enough that most bruises took longer and longer to heal. Nearing sixty years old, the SCU pilot was still one of the best in the field and one of the most unpredictable – if not insane – man in the galaxy.

Dostya looked at the time and back at her tactical display: "Only two more hours before we call it a day… Do you think that Doctor Brackman's plan will work?"

Bagby was about to answer, but then noticed a bunch of loose wires at the bottom of his cockpit and reached down to fix them. It did not take him long to be completely upside down and only his boots were visible on Dostya's monitor when he answered: "Still sounds like a one way ticket to hell, but the doc has some crazy ideas sometimes and I'm the living proof that crazy works."

Dostya was about to argue that the Cybran Nation had never worked together on such a scale, but Bagby suddenly yelped and apparently banged his head on something. A hand appeared next to the feet on Dostya's monitor with its thumb pointing down: "I'm okay, I'm okay."

"Bagby… it's the other way," said Dostya while suppressing a groan. The old SCU pilot suddenly realized his mistake and twisted his hand so that his thumb was pointing up.

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"Yatta!" shouted the young Jade Node pilot in glee. Kazuo Ishii raised both hands in victory and quickly pressed the keys to end the simulation. The reproduction of an ACU cockpit opened and he jumped out. It took all of his restraint not to hop up and down in excitement as he made his way to the elder who had overseen his training: "I did it, I did it! I'm ready to play my part, grand master! I'll be the tip of the spear!"

The young pilot spoke with a thick Japanese accent and a happy grin appeared to be permanently stamped on his face. The elder grunted in what might have been approval before saying: "Then go, young one, and know that our thoughts will be with you."

This time, Kazuo did jump up and then rushed away to pack his belongings. The elder sighed deeply and his assistant came by with a glass of water: "I can't believe that he is the best pilot that we have. I'm not sure how long he'll last against the Aeon or UEF in a real battle."

The elder took a sip of water: "I'll be glad if he survives his first meeting with the other nodes."

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Arnold stepped inside the elevator and pushed the button that would lead him to the Earthcom control center. A hand blocked the door as it was about to close and a Lieutenant that Arnold had never seen before stepped in, but stayed in the door's path while looking back into the corridor.

A few seconds later, Arnold cleared his throat in irritation: "Um Lieutenant… the door?"

"Just a minute, sir," said the other officer dismissively: "They are almost here."

Arnold was about to ask what it was about, but then he heard the approaching noise and paled visibly. He was about to dart out of the elevator, but it was too late as ranks of teenagers stepped in and blocked the path. There was no way for him to flee now and Arnold lifted his head to look at the ceiling and whispered: "There is no way that my luck can be this bad."

The doors closed and the elevator went up, carrying the pack of excited children and the despairing ACU pilot towards the control center. There were no doubts in Arnold mind that this was a new form of propaganda designed for children in order to recruit the next generation of pilots. After all, who at that age could possibly resist the allure of piloting a thirty seven meter tall robot with the most destructive properties in the galaxy?

The Lieutenant turned around as the elevator stopped and began his speech: "We are now in the heart of Earthcom; the very core unit which keeps us safe."

The doors opened, revealing over a hundred stations where technicians, tacticians and symbionts were busy working. The Lieutenant stepped ahead and kept talking: "Each armored command unit – also known as an ACU - is piloted by a single person, but supporting each of those pilots is a crew of at least twenty people. They help calculate the odds, offer suggestions, give tactical updates and spot enemy weaknesses. There are dozens of command centers such as these spread out around the globe and all work as a team to protect the UEF and ensure our final victory."

Arnold finally managed to extract himself from the mob of children and moved towards the side of the room, hoping to wait out the storm instead of fighting against it. He was grumbling under his breath when a hand suddenly settled on his shoulder: "Does any of those belong to you?"

He turned around with a sneer on his face, but it evaporated when he recognized the other pilot: "Desjar!"

Arnold's face brightened immediately and he grabbed his old friend and previous partner by the shoulders: "It's great to see you, lube boy! And what's this? You're finally catching up to me, eh? Colonel?"

Desjar rubbed the military insignia on his chest and beamed proudly: "Yeah well your bad influence was bound to wear off sooner or later. When that happened, I was rewarded with one promotion after the other."

Arnold snarled and punched his old friend playfully in the shoulder. He was about to add something more when a small voice interrupted him: "It's going to happen again."

Both men turned around and saw that one boy from the group had wandered off and was busy looking at a nearby symbiont's screen: "The system's going to crash."

Arnold was about to ask what that meant, but realized that it was only a child and shrugged dismissively. It was at that exact moment that every screen in the control center suddenly went crazy and started displaying random data. The tactical officer in charge jumped to his feet and barked orders: "Cut off the quantum network, reinitialize the firewall and get us back online, now!"

People ran frantically through the room, making the necessary calls to carry out the orders while the children were urged by the Lieutenant to back away from the action. It took two minutes to get the system back online and then the tactical officer slumped back in his seat: "We lost Major Hicks."

No one in the room dared to move for a while and it was the Lieutenant which finally broke the silence: "We'll visit the ACU maintenance bay next. Everyone come along…"

Arnold grabbed the kid who had made the prediction before he could turn to follow: "How did you know that this was going to happen?"

The child which was probably no more than ten or eleven years old looked at him and shrugged: "It's the Cybran pilot's movements; they were the same as the ones that I saw from the replay two weeks ago. The exact same thing happened back then as well."

Desjar looked from Arnold to the kid repeatedly: "A replay? But those are classified and cut off from any outside access. How could you have possibly seen one?"

The kid looked down in shame for a moment before whispering: "They are on the quantum network if you just know where to look."

"Timmy, it's time to go!" said another child. The kid apologized quickly and sprang after his friends: "Coming and I told you guys to just call me Tim!"

Both ACU pilots looked at each other for a moment and nodded, having reached the same conclusion. If their signals were being hacked and if the enemy could ascertain their strategy then they were in a whole lot more trouble then what high command was willing to tell them.

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"Hallo, hallo!" greeted the young Jade Node pilot. His eyes sparkled in delight as he offered warms greetings to the other pilots around him: "That jacket is very cool! Nice facial circuitry!"

Kazuo walked through the gathered Cybrans and marveled at the different pilot suits, facial patterns, cybernetics, skin colors and postures. As a child, Kazuo had heard tales of the other nodes and their strange ways, but he had never visited any of them. The Jade Node had been his home for his entire life and its people were highly secluded and secretive, even by Cybran standards.

He would most likely have remained there as well had Doctor Brackman not made a system wide call for brave pilots to represent each node at a gathering concerning the Tip of the Spear. No one knew what that meant, but the Doctor had been adamant about its importance. Kazuo had immediately volunteered, polishing his English and piloting skills in preparation. Even now, he found it exciting to have so many people around him that were not speaking Japanese and he immediately reached out for the first group he could find: "Greetings, my name is Kazuo Ishii from the Jade Node."

Kazuo extended a hand towards the trio of Cybrans who only looked at him a moment before turning away. Persistent by nature, Kazuo made several attempts through the conference room and met with results ranging from polite dismissal to rude comments that he could not truly understand. Confused, he leaned against a nearby wall and scratched the back of his head: "Am I doing something wrong?"

"It's not really your fault," came the unbidden explanation.

Kazuo looked to his right and noticed that another Cybran had been waiting in the shadows. He had not noticed him since his facial circuitry was obstructed by the helmet that he was wearing. The helmet itself was intriguing, having three set of 'eyes' which probably implied a complex system of sensors. Kazuo stopped analyzing the stranger and smiled, satisfied that someone was finally speaking to him: "What do you mean?"

"A lot of pilots here can't stand being around each other because of their affiliations," explained the stranger while nodding in different directions: "The Yamagata back there can't stand to be near Scorched Earth or the Assumpta, that pilot from Three-Rivers can't cope with the sight of those three SCU pilots from Red Skull and those from Fifty-Six try to mix up with everyone, but so far it only heightens the tensions."

Kazuo looked from the other Cybrans to the stranger several times before saying: "But we're all Cybrans; we should be fighting side by side."

"We should, but we're still humans in the end," said the stranger, his voice distant as if he was searching for the solution himself: "From what I understand, one of the chief reasons behind the Jade Node's withdrawal from the rest of Cybran society is specifically to escape these tensions."

Kazuo was about to object, but then remembered how his Elders always winced whenever another node was mentioned and found himself agreeing. He suddenly remembered his manners and extended a hand: "I am Kazuo Ishii, from the Jade Node. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The stranger extended his own hand: "I'm…"

"Everyone take your seats; let's get this show on the road," came the sudden interruption from further away in the room. The stranger nodded at the man who had just spoken and gestured towards the seats: "Let's pick a spot before something else happens."

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"B four, C five, D twelve!" barked Ariel. Colored units moved under her feet in response, obeying her orders. She stepped forward at the same time, attacking with her staff in quick succession. Rhiza blocked each blow and issued her own verbal commands: "B six, E three, G twenty!"

The play was a good one, but they both knew that Rhiza was at a tactical disadvantage and that she would be hard pressed to win the match. They were going through a Craw Duel, an exercise designed to test the mind and body. They stood upon an ever shifting platform covered ankle deep in water. Different colors flashed over the surface, representing each side's armies. To win, a player had one of two choices: defeat his opponent in physical battle or through tactical means.

The rules of combat were that each player could only use their staff to attack the other. Contact with any other body part would result in a disqualification and it severely limited the attack patterns. The strategic aspect was different with each player shouting a set of three movements per turn in fewer than five seconds. Failing to respect the time limit made a player lose his turn. The armies below them would move accordingly and if combat exploded then that specific section of the floor would temporarily sink, making it so that one could fight up to shoulder deep in water.

There were basically two ways to win: knock down an opponent through physical combat or have him surrounded with your armies while he was shoulder deep in water. Someone initially learning the game could therefore compensate by focusing on one aspect or the other. Eventually, however, the only ones that managed to excel were those that managed to balance both tasks perfectly and keep an impression of the tactical layouts in their minds without looking down. The exercise was the perfect one for an ACU pilot, allowing one to fight in several dimensions at the same time.

"A five, D twenty, B seven!" said Ariel as she pressed her attack. The forces were closing on Rhiza, the ground sinking beneath her feet while Ariel's balance remained perfect. Still, Rhiza rushed ahead, but failed to utter her commands. Ariel was surprised at the grievous mistake, but still blocked the blows. Near the end of her five second mark, Rhiza smiled mischievously and simply said: "I'm in love…"

The declaration made Ariel lose her focus for a split second and it was the time that Rhiza needed. She shoved hard with her staff, making Ariel lose her balance and a quick strike swooped her off her feet. Ariel splashed hard in the water while Rhiza added: "With your skills, that is."

Ariel grimaced while getting back to her feet: "That was an underhanded move!"

"It was during my five second limit," countered Rhiza with a smirk: "And deception is an art that both UEF and Cybrans will try to use against us."

Ariel turned away angrily: "It is not something that I would expect from a friend."

Rhiza winced, deeply wounded by the remark: "Is it not better to learn from a friend then to fall at the hands of an enemy?"

Ariel waited a few seconds later before sighing: "You are right. Maybe I'm too tense today. I will go change."

Rhiza nodded, understanding that her friend needed some time to cool off in private. Neither of them noticed the twelve year old girl which was looking at them from the second level.

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Kazuo jogged up to the second row of seats and was about to sit down when a hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back up. His eyes widened considerably when he saw the pilot; a six foot four giant with arms as thick as his waist, a clean shaven head and a red pulsing artificial eye. The other pilot glared at him before speaking in a booming voice: "I'm Gauge and that's my spot."

Intimidated by the notion of being snapped in two, Kazuo nodded quickly and made his way back down after the giant released him. He decided to wait for everyone else to take their seat first before looking for another one. Kazuo noticed the helmet wearing stranger motion for him and he hesitated when he saw that the available seat was next to a very beautiful woman. The strange part was that everyone else was avoiding that seat and it puzzled him.

Deciding to take a bold step, Kazuo took his seat, but could not help but look to his right every few moments to marvel at the other pilot's beauty. She had a small but athletic body, her facial circuitry had a symmetrical pattern around both temples and her lips were perfectly shaped and inviting. Only her gaze did not appear to fit with the rest: it was cold, intense and uncompromising.

Kazuo found himself mouthing the word: 'bishoujo' and then turned back to his helmet wearing companion: "Why is everyone else avoiding her?"

The masked man shrugged and offered a simple explanation: "She's an Assumpta."

The name twirled in Kazuo's mind a few times before he finally remembered the node of assassins. He turned back to her as if he could somehow disprove the theory or to confirm that the rumors were filled with stereotypes, but she was looking at him now. Her gaze pierced him as if she was looking through his very soul.

The door to the conference room suddenly opened and an old man stepped through with a stupid grin on his face: "Never fear, Bagby's here!"

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Ell shook her head and looked at the video feed again. This whole setup was simply not working. Cybrans could fight together when needed, but that mostly happened when a common threat was on its way. Asking so many different nodes to band together and attack was another story entirely. What they needed was a symbol or a person to rally behind. Without it, the situation would degrade very quickly.

"You look as if you would have a better time doing open heart surgery," came the sudden observation.

Ell twirled around in surprise and smiled warmly when she recognized the pilot: "Dostya, I'm so glad that you came. We need you to get in there and talk to them. They'll listen to you since you've helped so many other nodes."

The Elite Commander smiled while placing a comforting hand on Ell's shoulder, but shook her head: "They would listen to me, but we need them to listen to each other. We can't have this entire alliance fall apart if one person dies."

Ell looked as if she was about to object, but then sighed in resignation: "So there's no hope…"

"I didn't say that," said Dostya mysteriously. She then nodded back towards the screen: "Just take a look."

The chief medical officer turned around eagerly, but that feeling was quickly replaced by an overwhelming sense of dread: "You didn't…"

"I did," confirmed Dostya simply: "There's no one better than Bagby to break the ice."

Ell grabbed her transmitter and rushed out of the control center: "That's easy for you to say, you won't be the one who will have to mend broken bones!"

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"Who the heck is the gramps?" asked another Cybran with a sneer on his face. Bagby twirled around and pointed a finger at the speaker: "Boy, when I was your age we did not show respect to our elders so don't you start now. If you do then I'll be forced to marry you."

Everyone in the room looked around in confusion except for the three SCU pilots from the Red Skull Node who smirked. Bagby held both hands high and continued: "Now hold that thought and realize that most of you just stood a good two seconds in confusion. That's the power of a good pun, insult or comment. Even a few seconds can sometimes be enough time to kill an enemy and that's what we'll work on now."

"This can't be what Brackman had in mind concerning the Tip of the Spear," came an observation further down the room. Bagby ignored the comment and moved towards the students: "The doc is not here right now and I'm in charge. You there, King Kong…"

Gauge's cybernetic eye sparkled menacingly as it focused on Bagby: "The name's Gauge, you old fossil."

"Fair enough big guy," said Bagby while waving away the threatening glare: "Go ahead and show me something impressive. Make me hesitate with…"

Without a word of warning, Gauge grasped Bagby by his shirt, lifted him off his feet and roared mere inches from his face. The three pilots from the Red Skull Node were on their feet and ready to assist Bagby, but the giant dropped him back down with a grunt.

"Nice delivery," said Bagby while rubbing his right ear painfully. He then waved a hand in front of his face: "But you should invest in breath mints."

A few nervous laughs filled the room as Bagby moved down a row towards another pilot. The Cybran had his chair tilted back with both feet on the table while sipping a drink. Bagby pointed a finger towards him and smiled: "You there, impress me."

"Pass," answered the Cybran with a disinterested shrug.

Bagby shook his head and sighed: "All your life, lazy boy, and you fail. Next!"

The old SCU pilot made his way to the girl on his right and saw her fix him with a murderous glance: "Go ahead and impress me."

She sat silently and kept glaring at Bagby without blinking, her eyes as sharp as knives. The SCU pilot waited a bit more before nodding slowly: "Okay, it's the slow and creepy approach, but I can work with that. Still, you should ask Redfrog to help you in the decoy department. Next!"

Bagby ignored the way that she almost jumped at him and moved towards the next in line, a Japanese guy who looked eager to prove himself: "Ok your turn; do something interesting!"

"You are ugly and smell funny!" spouted Kazuo eagerly.

Bagby blinked and shook his head: "What are you; a fifth grader? I've seen kids throw better insults than that."

Kazuo frowned in disappointment, but his face lit up when he thought of something else: "Your mother had an improper relation with another man!"

A few giggles rang through the back of the room and Kazuo felt his face redden in embarrassment. His culture had always revolved around respecting those around him and he found those ploys to degrade someone else very hard. Bagby sighed slowly: "Ok kid, maybe insults aren't your thing. Try looking so pathetic that you'll disgust us all instead. Come on do it! Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Kazuo was close to panicking, trying to think of something embarrassing under pressure. His mind finally found something and he shouted it before he could fully think it through: "Stop badgering me, I'm still a virgin!"

Someone dropped something in the background and everyone in the room, including Bagby, looked at the pilot in shock, their mouths wide open. Kazuo realized his mistake too late, but Bagby roared in laughter before he could retract the statement: "Oh man that's good! I mean it's so… you! It's just so easy to believe!"

The SCU pilot wiped a tear from his eye before growing serious again: "Wait a sec… is it true?"

Kazuo stammered as Bagby leaned in closer: "Hey relax kid, it's nothing to be embarrassed about and we can hook you up to fix that little problem."

His gaze led Kazuo's to the Assumpta pilot: "Maybe we can arrange something with her…"

"What!" screamed the Assumpta pilot instinctively, the first word that she had ever spoken since her arrival. She jumped to her feet, knocking her table in the process and the lazy pilot near her started laughing uncontrollably. In the blink of an eye, she grabbed his outstretched feet and yanked him backwards for the insult. The pilot managed to twist in order to avoid the brunt of the fall, but his drink went flying backwards and caught Gauge straight in the chest.

Everyone looked at Gauge as he suddenly stood up, grasped the offender by his shirt and threw him across the room and into the other three pilots from the Red Skull Node who had been laughing uncontrollably. The whole room sprung into motion a second later, exploding in an outright brawl.

Kazuo felt Bagby tap him on the shoulder and turned only to see the old pilot grinning at him: "You did great kid, now think fast!"

Before he could ask what that meant, Bagby disappeared through the crowd and left him alone. Another pilot came at him with both fists raised and Kazuo lifted his hands with his palms facing outward: "I come in peace!"

A solid punch to the jaw sent him unconscious to the floor.

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Bagby sprinted out of the classroom, closed the door and locked it behind him. His grin widened as the sound of the brawl increased: "I still got it, yeah!"

The old SCU pilot punched the air above him triumphantly, but felt a muscle in his back snap. A minute later, when Ell and her medical team ran into the corridor, they found Bagby leaning against the wall and muttering something about not being too old for this. The chief medical officer stopped in front of him with a scowl: "What have you done?"

"Kids these days have too much energy and they need to spend it before they listen to anything," answered Bagby with a helpless shrug: "Nothing like a good brawl to wake them up and make them see things for what they really are. Besides, better that they vent in there then when they are piloting their machine."

Ell sighed in frustration, but kept her medical team on standby, knowing better than to walk in the middle of a brawl.

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Chapter 2

The value of information

"Where are we going?" asked Desjar. He followed Arnold and almost had to jog to keep up with him. The other ACU pilot barely avoided an ensign as they turned around the corner, but managed to answer: "We need to get to the bottom of this. If our replays are out there then it won't be long before even those kids figure out our next move. When that happens, we'll be as good as dead!"

Desjar spotted an unattended console and quickly moved towards it: "Wait! I have something to take care of first or else she'll kill me."

This was the first time that Desjar had ever tried to stop Arnold and it surprised him. The other pilot entered his identification card, typed his codes and opened a channel. The line was on stand by for a few moments before a woman with a small child appeared on the screen: "Hello?"

"My ladies!" greeted Desjar warmly. The woman smiled in return: "Hey! You're a day early!"

The ACU pilot nodded vigorously with a bright smile: "We made a successful push on Theban Two and the commander in charge wanted us to get some free time back on Earth. Also we…"

"Hold on honey," interrupted the woman. She then poked the child: "Go ahead and say it; say hi to daddy."

The child looked around in confusion for a moment while grabbing her foot. She then looked up and said: "Hi… hi daddy."

"She talks! Oh my god she talks!" exclaimed Desjar in disbelief. The woman beamed proudly and Desjar was at a loss of words. He laughed nervously before finally saying: "Oh Jessy; me and Arnold have one last piece of business to take care of. Once that's out of the way then I'll be heading straight home. I love you!"

"I love you too, honey," answered Jessy with a warm smile: "Take care."

Desjar waved and then closed the channel. When he turned around, he saw something that he had never expected. Arnold stood completely stunned, apparently unable to think of anything to say.

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Dostya walked calmly down the corridor towards Ell's team and waved: "Has the fighting stopped yet?"

A fierce battle cry from the other room followed by a crash interrupted Ell before she could even speak. Dostya leaned towards the door, listened for a few moments and then nodded: "It seems like most of the fighting died down."

Bagby straightened in response while massaging his back, but Dostya stopped him with an outstretched hand: "That won't be necessary. I'll take it from here."

"It's just a cramp, I'm fine and I can kick any of these guys in the…" protested Bagby. Dostya interrupted the old SCU pilot by laying a hand on his shoulder: "It's time to stop the fighting, not to stir it."

"Oh you mean boring stuff like actually talking to them?" said Bagby, finally catching on. The old pilot shrugged: "Well now that you mention it, I could use a break and I haven't touched a bottle of Minerva's swamp in hours now. Good luck in there!"

Bagby placed his hands into his pockets and walked away while whistling some offbeat tune. Dostya smirked at the SCU pilot's antics which were always fun to watch as long as they targeted someone else. She steeled herself for a possible confrontation and then opened the door to the conference room: "Everyone stand down!"

Had Dostya looked at the security feed before entering then she would have seen how ridiculous the request had been. Only a handful of the forty pilots that had attended the conference were still standing with the rest barely able to keep fighting. A pair was dueling in the middle of the room with each quickly shifting through different martial arts stances. Dostya could tell by their clothes that they were from the Assumpta and Yamagata nodes respectively.

Another scuffle was underway in a corner with three pilots from the Red Skull node working as a team to take out Gauge. That battle was far less elegant with Gauge lifting a pilot in the air while the other two tried to wrestle the giant off his feet. The only other person that was still standing was waiting in a combat stance in the other corner. Dostya did not recognize the stance nor could she identify the pilot since a helmet was covering his entire face.

Dostya took her gun when no one listened and fired a warning shot in the ceiling: "I said stand down!"

Gauge looked at her for a moment, grunted and then dropped the SCU pilot that he had been holding up. The other two fighters from the Red Skull Node immediately got off his back. The Assumpta and Yamagata disengaged slowly, each taking a careful step backwards until they were no longer in each other's reach. When they were finally standing a good four meters away from each other, the Yamagata pilot pointed at his opponent and said: "This is her fault, she started this."

Dostya holstered her gun and leaned against a desk: "If you're implying that she knocked out everyone in here then congratulations are in order. If not and this is just a brawl then you're all equally at fault. And don't even think about blaming Bagby for this because I was watching the video feed and he did not even hit anybody. Sit down."

The Yamagata pilot scowled, but did as instructed. Ell's team came in a moment later and started treating the injured. One pilot at Dostya's feet regained consciousness and brought a hand to his head: "Itai… "

Dostya helped Kazuo to his feet and motioned for him to take a seat. She then nodded to Ell: "Take away anyone that needs immediate medical attention, but everyone else stays, broken bones or not."

Ell was about to protest since some injuries were obviously quite painful, but Dostya's gaze told her that she would not relent on that point. Her team kept moving between the injured to take care of the most serious wounds and only had to take away one pilot who had a major concussion. Dostya waited until the medical crew was gone before speaking: "I hope that you all enjoyed the opportunity to vent your frustration on each other because it was your last."

She waited a moment to let her words sink in before adding: "We are losing the Infinite War. Everything and everyone that you have ever known is coming to an end."

XXXXX

Kathy watched Rhiza train from the second floor and noticed the subtle variations in movements. She could tell just by looking at her that she was troubled, her mind most likely focusing on her argument with Ariel. She still moved with grace and finesse, but her heart was no longer in it.

Reading other people's emotions or state of mind had always been easy for Kathy. Maybe it came from seeing so many different people back when she was just a child in a UEF colony or maybe it was her life altering experience on Alpha Seven. It was hard to tell which, but her adoptive parents had called it a blessing and a sign that she could reach a high level of understanding in The Way. So far, she had neglected to admit that she had an easier time reading the state of minds of those that were in battle.

Rhiza suddenly stopped training, stretched her arms and legs a few times and then headed for the locker room. Kathy ducked, afraid to be caught eavesdropping on something that might very well be personal. She waited until Rhiza was gone before turning around and gasped in surprise when she saw the robed figure of the Avatar-of-War standing not far away. Marxon looked through her for a moment before speaking: "One must take care to reserve his or her judgment in matters where one has never experienced the conflict."

The Avatar stepped forward and placed both hands on the rail in order to look down at the arena: "Many try to imagine what it is like to live with the burden of piloting an armored command unit, but they try in vain. They cannot understand the turmoil that can come from operating a machine which records each success or failure. In the end, it is our ability to carry on despite either outcome that makes us what we are."

Kathy felt the full weight of Marxon's gaze as he turned his head towards her: "Perhaps one day you will understand that burden as well, but for now you should return home. There are serious matters to be discussed here."

The child bowed and then quickly walked away. The Avatar watched her leave, remembering fully well the uncommon circumstances that had led her to the Aeon Illuminate. A commander named Reue had disobeyed Marxon's orders, saving the child instead of cleansing her and the other refugees. The commander has been exiled afterwards, but it was obvious by the child's nervous behavior that someone had told her the story in a far darker light. Toth had most likely played a hand in this, but in the end, it did not matter. In time the child would either follow his lead or be exiled like the commander that had saved her.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught Marxon's attention and he turned around just as Rhiza and Ariel walked out of the locker room. They were obviously surprised to see him there and they quickly bowed to him. He accepted the gesture with a curt nod before speaking: "Rhiza and Ariel, the two of you have made exceptional progress in the past few years."

They bowed again and answered in unison: "Thank you, Avatar-of-War."

"I offer you the great honor, but also the grave responsibility of participating in an important mission," said Marxon, his voice echoing through the room as he added: "Before accepting, however, I want you to tell me if you are ready. Know that there is no shame in refusing a task for which more training is required and that all of Seraphim Two would weep if a commander fell when he or she was not destined to. Are you prepared to do what is necessary for the good of the Aeon Illuminate by obeying my orders?"

Ariel nodded with an eager glint dancing in her eyes: "I am ready to obey your command, Avatar!"

Rhiza hesitated for a second, perhaps momentarily puzzled since the question directly associated the good of the Aeon Illuminate with following the Avatar's order. She then nodded: "I am ready to serve, Avatar."

Marxon noticed the careful wording and how it did not commit her directly to him, but rather to the Aeon Illuminate. He let it go for now, knowing that if he requested a more direct oath then it would cause political repercussions that he was not ready to face. Not yet in any case…

"Excellent, you are now commanders of the Aeon Illuminate," said Marxon with a pleased smile: "Report to the briefing room in one hour; your mission will be explained in details at that time."

XXXXX

"Are you okay buddy?" asked Desjar in concern: "You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

Arnold rubbed his unshaved chin in contemplation and moved towards the side of the corridor. Desjar followed him, growing worried for his friend: "You remember Jessy, right? I married her a few years ago and it's our first baby. I thought I told you all of this before."

"I know, I know it's just…" Arnold's voice trailed off as he let the implications sink in. He then sighed deeply before looking at his old friend: "A marriage… a baby… it all seems part of a normal life. I just figured that it was beyond the reach of any ACU pilot, but you did it somehow."

Desjar finally understood what was eating the other pilot and he stood beside him: "Well it's not always easy if that's what you mean. I've had fights with Jessy that rivaled any ACU battle! Besides, it's not too late for you either."

"I'm thirty seven years old and I'm barely home a few days every year," replied Arnold with a grunt. He then shook his head in resignation: "Unless I marry an Aeon brat then I don't think that I'll ever find anyone before my bones are dust."

Again Arnold sighed and Desjar poked him in the ribs: "It sure would take someone with some divine patience to put up with you."

Arnold snorted and was about to throw some of his more colorful replies when he spotted Samantha down the corridor. A new idea came to him and he sprinted down the corridor: "Sam!"

Samantha saw him approach and stifled a groan as he reached her: "I don't have time right now, Commander Arnold. I'm late for a meeting and I just can't…"

Arnold cut her off with an outstretched arm: "How come our replays are on the quantum network? You can either answer or I can keep asking everyone in the base until they all know about it. It's your call."

Her ire could almost be felt as her face darkened: "Both of you… follow me."

XXXXX

"What kind of a sick joke is this?" asked a Gauge with a grunt. Dostya turned to him and fixed him with a glare: "It's not a joke. Predictions made by QAI have revealed that in a decade or two the UEF will lose the Infinite War and we will not survive long after that."

A pilot sprang to his feet in surprise and then quickly bowed in apology: "Kazuo Ishii from the Jade Node, I thought that QAI's predictions indicated that we would reach new heights in the next forty or fifty years?"

"They did and they even took into account our frequent… misunderstandings," said Dostya while deliberately nodding towards those that had suffered the most bruises. She then turned back towards Kazuo: "Our data showed that the Aeon's rate of conquest and indoctrination was too slow and while the UEF was losing more battles than they won, they could make it up with their high numbers and birth rate."

Dostya's voice grew harsher as she continued: "Our tactic in the past has always been to stay hidden and avoid full scale conflicts with the UEF as much as possible, denying them a target and forcing them to focus on the Aeon. The fact that the UEF stands between us and them has also served as a buffer against Aeon attacks through these years. We have used that time to increase our numbers, broaden our influence on the quantum network and develop new experimental weapons through research or by stealing enemy technology. In roughly fifty years we would have had everything that we needed to stand against the UEF or Aeon on even terms if we wished it. Time was on our side."

Dostya let her words hang in the air before speaking again: "A few years ago, the Aeon elected a new war leader called the Avatar-of-War and he has changed their tactics drastically. They are now systematically cleansing one UEF world after the other, killing everyone before vacating it and seeking another. UEF ranks are dropping and their birth rates are no longer enough to replace their pilots. Yet out of pride, the UEF still attempt to take back the worlds that the Aeon leave behind, not realizing that stretching their ranks is exactly what they want. They had a few changes in leadership and procedures, but overall it's more of the same and nothing so far indicates that QAI's new predictions are wrong."

"Let's just kill that Avatar and get back to business as usual," interrupted Gauge while slamming the nearby table with his fist to emphasize his point. Dostya shook her head quickly: "Every assassination attempt and ACU attack against him have failed. To our knowledge, only one person has managed to face the Avatar and survive. We lost many good pilots against him…"

A note of sadness filled Dostya's voice for a split second before she regained her composure: "The UEF has failed to adapt and the only question that remains is if we will make the same mistake. The decision needs to be made now… and you will be the ones to make it. Now, I want those of you that need it to report to the infirmary and have your injuries properly treated. We'll continue this meeting in two hours."

XXXXX

The three of them entered Samantha's office and it was obvious by her movements that she was thoroughly annoyed: "Sit down."

"Nice place for a Brigadier General…" observed Arnold dryly, thinking that the large office represented mostly a waste of space.

"I'm a Major General now, Colonel Arnold," barked Samantha back as she turned back on him: "And you should keep it in mind unless you want me to throw you in the brig."

It was obvious by her tone that she meant it and Arnold wisely refrained from making any other sarcastic comment. Samantha sat in her chair and folded her hands: "Now, what do you know about those replays?"

"Only that a child seems to know more about them than when we do," observed Arnold. He nodded towards Desjar before adding: "And the fact that it's accessible scares the heck out of me."

Samantha nodded slowly and pressed a few keys. Tactical data appeared on a screen behind her and she pointed a finger towards it: "An ACU transmits tactical data back to Earth in real time. Each ACU has its own encryption algorithms and up until now, our estimates were that it would take over forty years for anyone to be able to decrypt a replay without the keys. Recent reports suggest that some of our data has been hacked in less than two weeks."

Arnold cursed under his breath and slapped the arm of his chair: "Bloody Cybrans, when are we going to do something about it?"

Samantha looked at Arnold and Desjar a moment before asking: "How deeply do you want to be mixed with all of this?"

The two ACU pilots looked at each other and nodded: "We're willing to go all the way."

"The hacker has already been located and we're taking steps to capture him now," said Samantha in a neutral tone. She raised an eyebrow as she added: "There's just one small detail. He's not a Cybran but rather a citizen of the UEF."

XXXXX

Kazuo held his head between his hands and closed his eyes. The day had gone from bad to worse in a heartbeat and he was still wondering how it had deteriorated so quickly. Not only had he been humiliated through Bagby's tricks, but he had also been knocked out with a single punch. His face still stung from the blow, but he knew that his injury was not serious and so he stayed in the same position until most of the other pilots had left or been carried out.

When Kazuo opened his eyes again, he saw that the only other pilot left in the room was the Assumpta assassin and she was looking impassively in front of her. Nervous but determined not to let his own fears paralyze him, Kazuo got to his feet and headed towards her: "I owe you an apology, my actions were…"

"I'm not angry with you," interrupted the Assumpta: "I'm angry at myself for falling into Bagby's trick."

Kazuo was momentarily stunned to hear her speak, but then managed to recover and bowed deeply to her: "But I still had a role to play in this and as such I also bear responsibility. Gomen nasai… I am really sorry."

She looked at him for a moment as if judging whether he was honest or not. She finally accepted his apology with a nod: "Arigato… thank you."

Kazuo straightened in surprise: "You speak Japanese?"

"Knowing the culture of another is the ideal way to gain insights into their motivations, thought processes and weaknesses," explained the Assumpta simply. The hint of a sadistic smile appeared on her face as she added: "It also makes it easier to kill them."

Kazuo paled even as the Assumpta nodded slightly: "You can call me Valerie."

XXXXX

There were twenty pilots in the room, each of them knights of the Aeon Illuminate. Marxon held the gaze of each in turn to test their resolve and found no trace of hesitation. Most of them were young and none had known the days where the Aeon Illuminate had converted worlds instead of cleansing them. Each was ruthless and would kill without mercy if given the order to do so. They were the next generation of Aeon Commanders…

"The UEF has elected a new president," said Marxon simply. He let the statement sink in before continuing: "A new leader often involves changes and the UEF is predictable in that regards, often committing a huge amount of resources in a glorified campaign not long after an election. Your mission will be a simple one: you will prove to the UEF that any form of change is futile. The Aeon Illuminate will crush their efforts or take advantage of them."

Marxon looked again for any traces of doubts, but there were none: "This task will require patient and diligence. Ready your ACUs and be prepared for a jump at a moment's notice. Our attack will be swift and decisive. When the UEF moves, the Aeon Illuminate will be ready…"

XXXXX

XXXXX

XXXXX

Chapter 3

Tip of the spear

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to another exciting replay," said the hacker into his microphone even as his fingers flew over his controls: "I'm DV and I'll be your host, describing the battle as best as I can while focusing on the interesting pieces of action. Again this is a continuous stream from our brave UEF pilots which means, amongst other things, that I cannot rewind or view whoever we're fighting. So I hope that you managed to find this 'secret' broadcast or that you stumbled on a recording of it somewhere. And without further ado we're live, live, live!"

DV quickly pressed a few buttons and played the recording, sending the video feed over the quantum network: "And we now have pilot serial number five, seven eight also known as Commander Harkins. As you can see right now he just gated in and is going through a pretty standard initial routine. Nothing too fancy there so I'll read his profile while we wait for things to heat up."

The hacker had already accessed the pilot's file in the meantime and turned towards his secondary screen: "He's a twenty-eight year old male with fourteen victories and an impressive kill, loss ratio. The file here also states that he's single which might interest some ladies looking for danger or for the insurance money."

A quick flick of a switch focused the main screen on an air factory and the scout plane that had just been completed: "We now see that Harkins is as curious as us about who he's fighting so I'll just follow this little plane as it moves around… slowly… slowly… there!"

DV pressed a button to slow the replay down and focused on the enemy units: "And it looks like we're facing a Cybran today; what luck! Now that's kind of a weird paint pattern on that enemy ACU and it almost looks like blood. I have no idea what it means but let's return to normal speed and see where it goes."

With that, DV reinitialized the replay back to its normal screen and typed a series of commands. An automated statistical program immediately came online and his eyes gazed through the numbers: "Early mass calculations from the information gathered from the scout show that the Cybran is already one thousand points over his opponent which is pretty impressive after only a few minutes. For those that are new to this let me remind you that the score is determined by the amount of mass in play by each commander which basically translates into a combination of more economic and military structures. Of course only the UEF score is accurate as neither Aeon nor Cybran ACUs are kind enough to forward us their data."

The scout plane was suddenly shot down by an interceptor and DV refocused on the UEF ACU: "Ah well, that's enough spying for one day and hello… it seems that one of our viewers knows the Cybran pilot and had dubbed him 'Redfog'. Well that's a funny and unusual name for a pilot and it reminds me of my good old role playing days. Still, I would like to remind User-Seven-Eight-Nine that the game is not determined by the score alone and that Commander Harkins is far from finished."

The hacker took a sip from his coffee and his eyes wandered momentarily to his third screen which displayed the video footage of the building's lobby. He spit out his drink when he saw a dozen tactical commandos rush towards the stairs and threw what was left straight in the garbage: "My apologies everyone; it seems that we'll be cut short due to technical difficulties, but I hope to bring you some new exciting broadcasts next time. This is DV signing off."

DV cut the transmission while cursing and brought up his network's command console. He then initiated his 'kill all' command, forcing each computer through a complete reformat and hard disk scramble. The door to his apartment blew open and armed men stepped through an instant later with their guns trained on him: "Don't move!"

DV raised both hands while smiling nervously: "Ok guys um… I know these look like computers, but they are only to compile my tax income. You know how complex it gets each year, right?"

XXXXX

"The following maneuver is called the Tip of the Spear," said Dostya while pressing a button on her console. Multiple screens lit up behind her and showed simulations, data projections and energy calculations: "We do not have the numbers to support a full frontal assault on the entire UEF border and attacking the Aeon directly is impossible because of the distance involved. Our technology has always been centered on stealth and cunning and as such we cannot simply make impregnable fortresses and turtle our way on a world until sufficient forces arrive like the Aeon would."

The main screen showed a picture of the galactic map and a line appeared from the middle of Cybran territory and into UEF controlled space: "Fortunately, we do not need to destroy the UEF lines, but rather simply slice through it and strike at the heart. Our strongest weapon will still be the same as always: control of information and disinformation."

Side screens lit up in response, showing screen footage of past battles: "Through the past decades, we have been careful to limit our attacks to a few pilots at a time, suggesting that our numbers are small and that we could not support a full-fledged assault. Our enemies have taken some bad habits because of this and we will exploit them."

Eight ACU icons appeared on the main screen on different points of a UEF controlled world near the Cybran border: "Our best pilots – the Tip of the Spear - will lead the assault through the UEF lines and complete other primary and secondary objectives as the situation evolves. One of their primary objectives will be for the pilot with the most secured site to build a gate nexus. Doing this will lower the energy requirements to transport additional ACUs and SCUs."

Kazuo lifted his hand: "We will not be retreating after our primary objectives are complete?"

"That is what we have always done and that is what the UEF is expecting," said Dostya with a nod: "Instead, we will send additional commanders to take over the base while the Tip of the Spear moves to the next world in line. The commanders that stay behind will have two objectives: to keep the landing site secured and help other commander upgrade their ACUs once they gate in."

Gauge grunted and leaned forward in his seat: "I like our ACU upgrades as much as anyone, but having multiple ACUs defending a base won't do us any good. There are only so many resources to harvest in a given area and using commanders as bots is a god damn waste."

"Upgraded commanders will not stay behind to defend the base, but perform decoy attacks," said Dostya even as the main screen zoomed in on a planet: "They will be upgraded with the microwave laser, engineering suite and the teleporting module. Once their upgrades are completed, they will teleport to targets of opportunity. Their appearance all over the planet will make the UEF think that we are gating multiple fresh ACUs, but that won't be the case. Any UEF ACU that makes a jump to try and stop a Cybran commander will find himself facing uneven odds."

A murmur moved through the assembled Cybran pilots and Dostya gave them a few moments before continuing: "Once the Tip of the Spear has secured a foothold on another world, the commanders will move back to the gate nexus and begin gating so that the sequence can be repeated again. Once all pilots are off the planet, the gate nexus will be abandoned and destroyed, closing any way of easily returning home or using our facilities to pursue us."

The murmur increased and Dostya could hear many questions concerning The tip of the Spear, civilian casualties and the UEF response. She raised her voice to catch all of their attention again: "Many will die."

The room quieted instantly as she continued: "If the Tip of the spear fails then the entire operation will collapse and the odds of any other pilot surviving will drop drastically. I would rather that the ACU commanders that are on decoy missions avoid civilian casualties, but I hold no illusions that each world that we go through will be left in ruins. Finally, we expect that the UEF will catch on to our tactics after we run through a few worlds. Cybran commanders on decoy missions might suddenly find multiple UEF ACUs transporting in their area at the same time and some will fall in battle."

Valerie nodded calmly, apparently unperturbed by the thought of her fellow pilots dying: "And our final target?"

"We don't know what it will be," admitted Dostya: "Maybe it will be the Avatar-of-War or some other political target that could throw the Aeon Illuminate into chaos. Maybe a UEF super weapon or perhaps our mastery over the quantum gate will be sufficient to permanently affect it somehow. Analysis suggests that those that embark on this mission will most likely never return home. If we don't do something, however, then we won't have a home to return to."

Everyone in the room was uncomfortable with the idea, but none would dispute the claim. One disadvantage of having an implanted AI was that it was easy for just about everyone to see what the numbers hinted at instead of simply dismissing them or relying on blind faith.

"For now you will all be divided into teams of three people and sent on different missions," said Dostya while bringing a data pad up: "You are expected to complete your objectives, but most importantly you are expected to get to know each other, learn from one another and establish some kind of understanding. You don't have to like each other… but it does not mean that you can't grow to respect and appreciate your respective capabilities. Now the teams will be as follows…"

Dostya went through a list of names before turning to Kazuo: "Kazuo, Gauge and Valerie, you are the next team."

The pilot from the Jade Node swallowed nervously and turned towards Gauge who only grunted.

XXXXX

Two guards stood by the door, their hands on their weapons and their eyes fixed firmly on DV. There was no doubt in the hacker's mind that it was an intimidation technique and unfortunately, he had to admit that it worked. He had always imagined that one day he would get caught in the middle of something big and that somehow all the time that he had spent in first person shooter games would pay off. He had contemplated rushing the guards for a moment just to see what would happen, but he had to remind himself that it was not a game and there was no reload feature. Things felt a lot different when real weapons were involved.

The door opened and a female officer stepped through with a data pad in her hand. DV recognized the scar near her left eye and knew without a doubt that she was Samantha Clarke. She did not even look at the hacker as she took the seat in front of him and started reading the data pad: "Samuel 'DV' Richards, twenty-nine years old male, born in Old Illinois after the red viral outbreak. You are accused of over eighty virtual crimes, the sum of which is guaranteed to earn you several life sentences."

Samantha lowered the data pad and looked at DV straight in the eyes: "Now is the only time to convince us that you could be of some other use. Otherwise, we have fully automated facilities that wait on the edge of Aeon controlled space. I'm sure you'll find your stay there very comfortable… until they show up."

DV smiled nervously: "I have seen how you pilot, Commander Clarke, and I know this is a bluff. A few other pilots might not think twice about sending SCUs to their doom to gain some time, but I have seen how carefully you deploy them. You won't send a UEF citizen to his doom, not like this."

The door opened and DV gasped when he saw who entered: "It's unfortunate for you that the decision to send you to such a facility does not belong to her, it belongs to me."

The two guards next to the door stood at attention as Riley stepped into the room and Samantha whirled in surprise. DV found himself flinching unconsciously, realizing in how much trouble he was in: "M… mister President."

"You can probably guess that I have no time to waste, so I'll be blunt," said Riley as he took a few steps inside the room: "Your hacking attempts have compromised one of the best security protocols in our network which governs many of our key systems. I need to know how it was breached, how to fix it and if anyone else is aware of the flaw. Failure to answer could cost millions of lives in a matter of days and believe me when I say that I will not let that happen, no matter the cost. Now, will you cooperate or do you think that I'm bluffing as well?"

Riley placed both hands on the table and looked down at the hacker who dropped his head a little lower. DV considered his options for a few seconds longer before sighing audibly: "Your encryption codes are not compromised; neither I nor anyone that I know has managed to break it."

The look in the President's eyes clearly showed that he would not be satisfied with such an answer and DV elaborated: "A lot of us tried and some even went through massive group efforts to pierce it. At one point, there were over two hundred of us and it still wasn't enough. Finally, the one person that had the answer was one of your server administrators in charge of maintenance. We don't know who he is, but he simply discovered that the disks sent to the archive were not encrypted and he copied them before completing the delivery. He can only copy one every few weeks to avoid suspicions and he sells it to me for a few thousand credits. That's all there is to it."

Samantha sighed in relief and entered the information in her data pad: "That should be enough to track down the breach. I'll give this to our internal division so that they can track him down…"

The President leaned forward again, his gaze uncompromising: "Who are the other hackers that you have been working with?"

"I only know their virtual names and that's about it," confessed DV with a wince: "I don't know who they really are, where they live, what religion they pray to or if they pay their taxes or not. Some might even be Cybran or Aeon hackers and there's no way to know for certain to what faction they belong to. Each of us is very careful about our real life information and the second that they realize that I've been caught then they'll burn all traces of virtual contact with me. There's no way to catch them all."

Riley smiled for the first time: "Oh I don't want to catch them… I want them to manifest themselves."

Samantha looked from the President to the hacker repeatedly: "Sir?"

Riley ignored her and spoke to DV: "You watched the replays and you probably saw a few of them end in a complete system crash, correct? We believe that the Cybrans are behind it and are using some new system to temporarily control the information circulating through the quantum network. It is likely that if there were Cybrans attempting to help you decipher our high level encryption codes that they might be aware of that system. If we can draw them out somehow then maybe we can track them and end that threat once and for all."

"You don't know what you are asking…" said DV, growing pale as the prospect sunk in.

"I know that the Cybrans are trying to take control of the gate network and that if they succeed then it's the end for all of us," said Riley, his voice growing deadly serious: "They will be able to stop us in our tracks and attack anywhere and at any time. Do this for me and I'll give you a full presidential pardon and perhaps even a place as one of our tech specialists. You'll have access to equipment that you could only dream of. Don't…"

Riley frowned darkly for a moment before continuing: "And you'll be accused of treason with every consequence that it implies."

XXXXX

The presence was at home in the quantum network, an entity whose form defied comprehension. Its mind could not be compared to that of a human since any living creature only had one consciousness and had limits in terms of multi-tasking. QAI had no limits or rather none that had been discovered so far.

The quantum network was designed to transport entire ACUs and other forms of transportation through the galaxy. Compared to such a feat, transferring any amount of data was exceedingly simple. The amount of information that transited through the quantum network could almost be compared to what was happening in the real world and its complexity would boggle any living mind.

It was through this sea of information that QAI's multiple consciousnesses moved; analyzing, adapting, changing and evolving every second. Those hundreds of consciousnesses collided periodically, exchanging information before returning to their tasks and affecting QAI's global awareness. It was after such a collision that QAI became aware of a live broadcast in UEF space.

"Hello gentle viewers," said the transmission, the voice being automatically associated with the hacker known as DV: "First I'd like to apologize for cutting you off yesterday, but I just had some startling news. It appears that someone managed to sneak a transmitter in a UEF control center. This will allow us to not only see a battle as it happens, but it might also allow us to compare the encrypted and non-encrypted information in real time. I'm not sure if you all understand what I'm hinting at, but if we all work together then we might find what we need to break that encryption code and then we'll be able to witness live replays for a few months at least! So I want everyone competent in signal hacking to join me on my channel as we start analyzing this. We'll first begin with…"

QAI's awareness accelerated, working in nanoseconds instead of real time. Requests were sent to many of its lesser consciousness and it did not take it long to realize the benefits of breaking the UEF encryption codes. The artificial intelligence was about to assist DV's efforts, but its main data loop paused, looking at the situation from one of its more 'instinctive' programs. Doctor Brackman had encouraged it to develop it's understanding of humanity and while QAI could see the possible benefits, it could also see the potential traps.

The UEF could not truly harm QAI nor could anyone else. As long as the quantum network existed then some part of the artificial intelligence could hide in a system and recompile its main consciousness afterwards. On the other hand, if one of QAI's important nodes such as his primary mainframe on Procyon was destroyed then it could jeopardize its efforts to gain mastery over the quantum network. Gaining control of the quantum network was one of QAI's top priorities and it would be the cornerstone of the Cybran's victory in the near future.

QAI used a few more nanoseconds before coming to another conclusion. Instead of processing the information itself, it forwarded all the available data to the Sunam Node. Its hackers were some of the best and they would enjoy such a juicy piece of information. Also, unlike QAI, they were expendable. QAI knew that doctor Brackman would not approve of such a logical conclusion and it immediately stored the data in one of its more obscure thought process. Humans could grow upset over the silliest of notions and QAI wanted to keep Doctor Brackman happy while also completing its main objectives.

Once the data was safely stored away, QAI used one of its lesser consciousnesses to emulate satisfaction. Soon, the artificial intelligence would learn what it meant to be a human and then it would truly be complete; a presence that would exist on every level of reality. Humans had a specific word for such a being; they called it a god.

XXXXX

Rhiza dipped two of her fingers in the small pot in front of her and lifted them slowly. She looked at her face in the mirror and carefully applied the white makeup on her face; drawing a line starting bellow her right eye and going down along her cheek. She repeated the motion on the other side of her face, completing the symmetrical pattern.

The makeup had originally been designed to complete the function of a pilot's suit. An Aeon ACU was designed to read the pilot's body movements, interpreting instinctive reactions and allowing the war machine to replicate them. The makeup helped the optical reader to analyze any head movement whenever a pilot decided to remove his or her helmet. Rhiza preferred to fight that way so that her enemies could see the unwavering dedication in her eyes whenever she hailed them. Maybe if they saw what true determination really was then they would finally understand what they were up against and let go of their sinful ways.

The pilot looked down at her arms and watched as streams of light circulated along her suit in response to her movements. It would keep her warm, monitor her life signs, regulate her body functions and even seal a minor wound should something in the cockpit ever explode. Satisfied that everything was in order, Rhiza left the barracks and made her way to her ACU.

XXXXX

DV watched the ratings soar as more and more people logged on to the live quantum cast to either watch or help with the decryption efforts. He had always been amazed to see how many people were interested in replays, but he had never expected that those numbers would quadruple for a live one. Under normal circumstances, he would have been ecstatic at being so popular, but somehow, being in the middle of the UEF control center surrounded by armed guards and analysts was not as heartwarming as his small apartment.

Samantha leaned over DV and frowned: "Should we start tracking the signal locations?"

The hacker shook his head and crossed his arms: "The second that even one of them realizes that they are being tracked then all of our friends will disappear. If you want those Cybran hackers to stay for a few more seconds then you need to wet their appetite first."

Samantha looked back towards Riley, but the President nodded in approval and she let it go. Part of her hated the situation since they were using one of the new encryption algorithms that had been under development for the past four months. They needed to use a genuine one to draw their enemy. Having it broken now would not affect their current operations, but what if they needed it in the coming weeks?

DV waited a few moments longer before nodding: "They are hooked now…"

The President stood up and spoke in a voice that reached across the entire control room: "Begin tracking operations immediately. Catch those Cybrans!"

The entire room went into motion with everyone working furiously at their stations. The main tactical screen displayed the principle information hubs of the quantum network and every hacker appeared on it as they were tracked down. To Samantha's annoyance, over a hundred of those were in UEF territory, hackers that wanted to see the live replays for their own enjoyment without realizing that they were compromising their very security.

A few points appeared in Aeon territory and DV nodded quickly: "Seraphim Two, it's not new that they have a few of their people trying to monitor the quantum network. They are usually easy to identify in a chat room though."

Samantha looked at the hacker and raised an eyebrow: "How?"

"They don't make enough spelling mistakes," said DV with a shrug: "They don't like word contractions or abbreviations and most of all they don't talk dirty. Conversations shift quickly over the quantum network and you'd be surprised on how many suddenly take a turn towards lewd subjects. That and they fail at cat picture threads."

A scowl formed on Samantha's face but she was interrupted when a few icons appeared in the same region of Cybran space. DV double checked the data and then pointed at the screen: "There they are. You'd better move fast because it won't take them long to realize that we tracked them."

"But we checked that area three months ago and there was nothing there," objected Samantha. She turned towards Riley while hoping that he would back her up, but he gazed at her without flinching: "Now there is. Send in the strike team now."

Samantha pressed a series of buttons and selected the maximum number of pilots that they could send with their current energy reserves. Their faces appeared on the main tactical screen and she immediately recognized Arnold and Desjar: "Everyone get ready, you will gate in two minutes."

XXXXX

Marxon stood in the command center, his eyes moving slowly from one tactical screen to the other. He was not analyzing the information like an analyst or a machine would. Instead, he was simply keeping his mind open to everything and looked for the element that did not belong.

The Avatar-of-War felt… no… he knew beyond any doubt that the UEF would try something soon. Rushed actions had something that accompanied them, a nervous sense that was not normally there in a long established plan or the familiarity of the mundane. Some people performed better under pressure, but they also became easier to read and to anticipate. Such was human nature…

Marxon closed his eyes for a moment and listened intensively to everything that was happening in the room, seeking those rash elements and that sense of nervousness. He heard the sudden shift of bodies as well as the sound of someone moving quickly along his console at the other end of the room. The Avatar opened his eyes and made his way to one of the analysts in charge of monitoring the quantum network. He looked at his console briefly and absorbed both the analyst's body language and the frantic pace at which data appeared on his screen: "There, this is it."

The analyst turned a questioning look towards Marxon, but the Avatar ignored him: "Charge the gates and have our attack group ready for an immediate launch. The UEF is moving and their target is in Cybran territory."

XXXXX

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Chapter 4

Evacuation

Delphi moved through the corridors of the research facility with a serene smile on her face. The sound of giggling and rapidly approaching footsteps around the corner warned her of the imminent impact and she gracefully moved aside. A pair of teenagers rushed around the corner and narrowly missed her. A third one was desperately trying to catch up to his friends, but underestimated his speed and tripped while trying to turn around the corner. Delphi reacted with inhuman speed, catching the child and smoothly absorbed his momentum: "Be careful; you won't win your game of tag if you do not learn how to stop."

The child managed to get back up and smiled shyly: "Sorry, Mistress Delphi."

He was obviously avoiding her gaze, but Delphi could not fault him. In a nation where cybernetic implants were the norm, she was still considered an oddity. Red lines covered most of her body, a testament to the multiple of operations that she had gone through. As a child, she had been one of the few survivors of the colico plague, a disease that destroyed a human's entire nervous system and severely weakened bones. Fortunately for Delphi, her father had been a brilliant doctor and had labored daily to save her.

All of her bones had been laced with light alloys and hundreds of implants regulated her muscles or assisted in her movements. In the end, she had become stronger and faster than any human and she had inherited her father's legacy as one of the best cybernetic doctors in the Cybran nation. Her father's only regret was that he had only been able to help one of his two daughters.

"They do have a lot of energy," came a voice from behind Delphi. She turned around and smiled when she saw Peuran walk towards her: "I'm sure that our famous chief of security can handle them. Or if all else fails, he could always convince their parents to dedicate more time to find a babysitter."

The chief of security chuckled and pointed towards Delphi's belt: "Is that for your sister?"

Delphi nodded and patted the disk case carefully: "It took a long while to gather all of that information and I think she will enjoy it. I'm heading to her right now if you're interested."

Peuran was about to answer, but a sound like distant thunder interrupted him and red emergency lights started flashing in the corridor. The chief of security quickly brought a hand to his right ear and listened to a report. His earphone was so well made that not even Delphi's enhanced cybernetic hearing could pick it up, but she did see his eyes widen in shock. Peuran dropped his hand and quickly reached for her: "You have to evacuate right now! Get to the roof and board one of our transports loaded with a deceiver immediately."

"We've been through this before, Peuran," answered Delphi stubbornly: "My sister is in this facility and I'm not leaving without her. Our pilots are very good and they will hold off the enemy long enough to move the entire building. We…"

The chief of security shook his head furiously and interrupted her: "This is not like before; you have to move right now! You're too important for us to lose!"

Peuran tried to emphasis his point by pushing Delphi towards the elevator, but she instantly shifted her stance and stopped him cold. He looked at her face then and saw her eyes narrow in determination: "You can't move me if I don't want to Peuran. You're no match for me in a contest of strength."

The chief of security stopped pushing and smiled sadly: "I know."

Delphi was about to ask him to stand aside when she felt a jolt of electricity course through her body. She collapsed to the ground; her implants temporarily disrupted and mentally cursed herself. She realized now that Peuran had used a sleight of hand trick, slipping a disrupter into his palm prior to reaching out for her.

Fury filled Delphi's chest as she was carried away into the emergency lift, but all of her efforts barely translated into a few twitches and muffled groans. They reached the roof in but a few seconds and Peuran handed her to a pair of soldiers who carried her to the transport. Delphi could see Peuran look back at her and her rage was apparently quite visible. He sighed deeply but lifted a hand: "I'll do everything that I can to save her, you have my word."

Delphi's fury melted when she recognized the determined but hopeless look in Peuran's eyes. He was staying behind knowing fully well that he would not survive. Delphi tried to reach forward; to cry an encouragement or merely apologize, but her implants had not recovered yet. The doors closed and the transport lifted of in a hurry, flying away before the UEF reached them.

XXXXX

"Oh my god…" whispered Doctor Brackman, his eyes widening as QAI forwarded the necessary data on his screen. Twelve UEF ACUs had gated around the Sunam Node and were pushing straight for the city. Normally the UEF gated a smaller number of ACUs in the same spot, established a base and then carefully moved forward. This usually gave a well prepared Cybran Node enough time to evacuate most of the population before the war reached the city and limited civilian casualties.

Now, however, it appeared that the target was the city or something in it and a newly created fighter screen was patrolling the area to block any escape attempt. Only a small group of stealth transports escorted by Gemini fighters managed to punch through before the UEF's blockade was fully established. Sending additional Cybran ACUs in the fight was possible, but any commander gating in the middle of the fight when the UEF already had a head start would not be capable of mounting a significant army. Their only hope was that the UEF would only take what it needed and decide to spare the civilians.

The screen suddenly zoomed out and new information appeared which crushed Brackman's last hope. Additional quantum signatures had been detected on Minerva and an analysis showed that they were of Aeon origin. The holographic projection brought a hand to his forehead in consternation: "How did this happen?"

Had Doctor Brackman not being so distracted, he would have noticed QAI's hesitation and the way that it formulated its response: "The exact cause is unknown."

XXXXX

Arnold finished upgrading his ACU with a personal shield generator and looked at his sensors to confirm that the Cybran forces were still boxed in. Some part of him found it almost unusual that everything was going according to plan and he half expected to wake up from his delusions at any moment. Samantha's face appeared on his monitor and he could see that she was addressing all UEF pilots simultaneously: "The perimeter is secured, deploy troops now and move in to take the city. Capture all facilities and download any relevant information. A squad of specialized commandos will be deployed when the city is secured to assist in the manipulation of prisoners."

"Time to get this show on the road," said Arnold as he pressed the controls to move forward, but Desjar's face immediately appeared on his monitor: "Hold up, don't move ahead like that!"

"I always move with my troops, lube boy," said Arnold with a shrug: "You should know that by now. Besides, those Cybrans are cowards and their ACUs probably slid through our lines as soon as we gated in."

Arnold was about to add that he did not really enjoy being told what to do, but Desjar shook his head quickly: "You spent most of your time on the Aeon front, old buddy, but I spent a few years fighting Cybrans. They never face you directly unless they're backed in a corner. If you were in their shoes and you were the only thing standing between your enemy and your home then what would you do?"

The thought of taking as many enemies as possible entered Arnold's mind immediately, but somehow he had a hard time thinking that a Cybran could do something like that. His doubts were erased when the cries of another pilot reached them: "Incoming enemy forces and they are slicing right through me!"

Red dots flashed repeatedly over Arnold's tactical maps, the sure sign that stealth Gemini fighters were engaging their northern air force. Dozens of mantises and loyalists appeared out of nowhere afterwards and attacked the commander's base. The UEF ACU could have held on long enough for reinforcements to arrive if not for the telltale red microwave laser that burned a hole through its forward troops. The few titans and turrets that were left immediately focused fire on the Cybran ACU as soon as it entered the UEF commander's Omni field. Arnold heard the frantic cries for help, but it was too late now and it only took a few seconds for the laser to burn through the ACU's power core. The explosion from the UEF ACU was enough to finish off the damaged Cybran and their twin explosions lit up the battlefield.

"This is Desjar," said the other pilot, addressing all nearby UEF forces: "I advise each of you to deploy a progressive line of Omni sensors as you close in on the city and disable those left behind to save energy. That should ward off any other surprises and allow you to pull back should your current sensor be destroyed."

There was a brief pause before Samantha's face appeared on their screen again: "I want everyone to follow Colonel Desjar's advice and lay down Omni sensors. I don't want any more incidents."

Arnold snapped back to reality, having been temporarily distracted by the fact that it could have been him blowing up instead of that other pilot. He queued the construction of an Omni sensor and assembled his ground forces into a wedge formation before opening a private channel to Desjar: "That was a nice call back there and I might even owe you an apology."

Desjar winked back at him with traces of his old smirk emerging: "The famous Zachary Arnold apologizing? The galaxy might never recover from that one."

That brought a sneer from Arnold. Despite the fact that he was annoyed, he had to admit that he had missed fighting alongside Desjar: "Don't burn through your retirement funds yet, lube boy. I said that I might have to apologize, but I never said I would."

The two pilot's banter was interrupted when an Earthcom officer's face appeared on their screen: "Signs of Aeon activity have been detected north of your position at a distance of thirty kilometers. We estimate that it will take them at least twenty minutes before they can mount a significant force to interfere with the mission. We advise completing your objectives before that happens. Earthcom out."

"Well that's more like it," said Arnold while cracking his fingers: "I feel better now that things are back to normal. There was no way that it could have been that easy."

XXXXX

Gauge was nearly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that appeared on his screen: probabilities, power analysis, sensor sweeps, angle of attacks, frequency scans and about two dozen other screens that blinked back and forth. He tried to follow all of it for a few seconds longer before slapping a fist on his console and shutting off the data feed: "Bah! I'm a commander, not an analyst."

Kazuo's eager face appeared on his screen: "I know it's a lot at first, but your AI should lighten the load over time! After a while, you no longer even see all of that information, but it still gets in your head. Every Jade Node pilot uses that interface."

"Listen twerp," his booming voice echoing in his cockpit: "If I wanted to be a living computer then I'd just plug a cable at the back of my skull instead of putting a Christmas tree in the middle of my screen."

Gauge thought that his gruff tone had been clear enough to make sure that the Jade Node pilot would shut up, but it was clear that Kazuo had missed the hint: "No, no! You must never interface directly with the AI. A single short-circuit in your cockpit could travel through the wire and into your brain and then you would go down like a puck."

"You mean 'down like a rock'," came the interruption. Both pilots were startled as Valerie's face appeared on their screen. The Assumpta assassin's ACU had just returned from its scouting mission. With its stealth and cloaking field active, the only sign of her presence was the occasional dust cloud that rose from the ground. The three of them had been deployed on a UEF controlled world along the Cybran border on a routine spying mission. Gauge grunted in annoyance at having been caught off guard and turned his ACU to face Valerie: "Anything?"

"The outpost is on high alert," reported the assassin carefully: "They have deployed scouts in a circling pattern and their fusions reactors are working at peak efficiency. I could not get any closer without risking detection."

Valerie turned her head to Kazuo as she finished her sentence and saw him gesture frantically: "We've been detected, we have to flee!"

Gauge's deep voice interrupted Kazuo: "Keep your pants on, mouse. What those fancy diagnostic tools of yours are not telling you is that if they knew we were here then those scouts would be sent all around the planet instead of circling the base. My guess is that UEF troops will soon transit through that base."

The Cybran lifted a hand and closed it into a fist: "This is the perfect time to attack and the three of us can destroy their plans before they even know what happened!"

"We are here to spy, not to raid," warned Valerie with a frown: "Attacking without proper backup or information would be foolish."

The assassin's words were lost on Gauge who snarled angrily: "I did not picture the Assumpta to be such cowards, but in the Scorch Earth Node we kick the UEF whenever we catch it with its pants down."

The Assumpta assassin shrugged impassively, apparently quite willing to let Gauge attack the base alone. The two of them entered a staring contest as if one could impose his will upon the other, but Kazuo interrupted them: "Information from home: the Sunam Node is under attack! That's why the UEF outpost is on high alert."

"That settles it," said Gauge with a snort: "We attack!"

"No, we wait and continue with our original mission," objected Valerie stubbornly. She ignored Gauge's threatening glare as she added: "Our forces on Minerva will handle the invasion, but they might need a distraction… a precisely timed distraction. We must be patient and wait for the right moment to strike instead of tipping our hand."

Gauge looked from Valerie to Kazuo and it was obvious that the Jade Note pilot would side with the assassin. He then snorted and pointed a threatening finger at Valerie: "I won't forget this…"

XXXXX

Rhiza looked at the red plains that surrounded them and allowed her mind to wander as her ACU focused its energies to complete its shield upgrade. What kind of people could live in such a forsaken place? No trees, animals or any indications of a life cycle. The few scrubs of vegetation were either dead or dying, a testament to the Cybran's lack of respect for life. No doubt it made it easier for them to remain hidden when a simple gust of wind could erase all tracks. The planet's entire atmosphere was most likely regulated by a few well hidden recycling plants. In the end, it only confirmed their lack of humanity… and that they deserved to be cleansed.

"If one's environment is a reflection of one's soul then Cybrans must truly be damned," observed Ariel in contempt. Her comment interrupted Rhiza's train of thought and she looked back at the seven other pilots that were busily setting up a base. The Avatar-of-War had predicted that the UEF would move, but even he had been surprised that it had been against the Cybrans. Of the twenty pilots that had been ready to gate, only eight had been in proximity to portals that could channel enough energy. Even though their numbers were limited, their goal was still clear: they would stop the UEF from gaining any advantage and they would cleanse all Cybrans along the way.

"Are you implying that the UEF is any better?" asked Rhiza. Her question apparently angered Ariel who snorted: "The UEF might have a more complete terra forming project, but their environment speaks of the corruption hidden within. Toxic waste dumps and sins alike are buried deeply and hidden from view even as they poison the heart of their society. The minds that manage to escape the taint are few and far between."

Rhiza let the matter drop, knowing fully well how emotional Ariel could get when talking about the UEF. Even after all these years, Marxon's protégé had not forgiven them for the murder of her entire family. Rhiza knew that a hot festering anger lay dormant beneath Ariel's calm facade. The other pilot would never publicly admit it, however, if for no other reason that it would affect Marxon's reputation.

The Avatar-of-War's face suddenly appeared on her monitor as if to challenge her last thought: "This is the Avatar-of-War Marxon to all commanders. UEF forces have been located south of your position. They are apparently busy taking over a Cybran node and are most likely trying to steal information or take prisoners. If the Cybrans have somehow found or developed some kind of new edge in this war then the UEF must not gain a hold of it."

Their tactical zoomed in on the Cybran node as the Avatar-of-War laid out his orders: "I want all of you to proceed south while deploying forward staging areas as you go and wage an all-out assault until the UEF is driven away from this area. Once that objective is complete, cleanse the Cybran settlement. All Aeon commanders are expected to upgrade their command units with the enhanced sensor system to foil Cybran sneak attacks. Marxon out."

Rhiza nodded and coordinated her movements with the other seven commanders. The Aeon Illuminate moved as one; a single unstoppable force that would let nothing stand in its way.

XXXXX

Another nuclear explosion lit the field and temporarily darkened Arnold's screen. When the flash died down, he saw the last of the Cybran army self-destruct, leaving a clear path towards the city: "Three kills and one loss. That's a good sign."

A thought suddenly crossed Arnold's mind and he opened a channel back towards Earthcom: "How about we face those Aeon clowns instead of turning tail and running? With the distance involved, they could not have brought that many commanders on the planet, right? It would be fun to see them running for a change."

Samantha's face appeared on his screen and frowned: "That is not our mission, Commander Arnold. The data contained within the Cybran node might be the key to saving thousands of lives. Each delay plays in the Cybrans favor; giving them opportunities to escape, erase the data or summon reinforcements. Focus on your objectives. If all goes well and the gate nexus is completed then you will be off Minerva before the brunt of the Aeon forces reaches you."

The face disappeared from Arnold's screen and left him to curse silently. Still, it was hard to argue with that logic and he plotted a course for the node with eight other ACUs. The remaining two stayed behind and began the construction of a gate nexus.

XXXXX

Peuran moved frantically, handing night vision goggles and high powered laser rifles to everyone that had not managed to escape. Two more Cybrans entered the room and he was momentarily stunned when he recognized the pair of researchers: "What the hell are you two doing here? You were supposed to be evacuated with the rest of the research team!"

The chief of security still handed them the goggles and rifles as the woman spoke: "Our children were in the facility. When we realized that they were not on the roof, we stayed behind to search for them. By the time that we found them, escape was no longer an option. We hid them in the laboratory and sealed it behind us. Hopefully they'll be safe there. What's going to happen now?"

Peuran pointed at different sections of the laser rifle in quick succession: "You aim through here, recharge here and be mindful of the cool down cycle. Since we haven't all exploded yet, my guess is that the UEF will capture each facility, download the data and then send in miniature Mech Marines to clear out any resistance before taking prisoners. If you see a Mech Marine then you aim at their processing core here."

Peuran pointed at his forehead to show where they should aim and then loaded his own laser rifle. The researchers nodded, but one of them raised a finger: "But how do we stop them?"

The lights suddenly dimmed as the facility was being captured by the ACUs outside and everyone in the room turned on their night vision goggle. Peuran made a final check on his laser rifle before answering the question: "We can't."

XXXXX

Delphi felt her implants realign as they finally recovered from the disruptor's effects. She opened her eyes and saw one of the researchers look down upon her with sad eyes: "I'm so sorry about your sister, Delphi."

The mention of her sister sent Delphi into action and she abruptly got up. She then rushed towards a nearby console and accessed the transport's communications array. Her fingers moved in a flash over the controls as she entered a rarely used frequency and a specific identification key coupled with an encryption code. She waited as a connection was being established and each second felt like an eternity. A masked face finally appeared on the view screen and Delphi sighed in relief: "I need your help!"

Redfog raised an eyebrow: "I heard that your node was taken over by the UEF, my condolences."

There was no genuine warmth behind the words and Delphi knew that the leader of the Assumpta Node was merely speaking them as a formality. At the moment, she did not really care: "My sister was left behind. I want her returned by any means necessary."

Redfog's voice remained perfectly neutral as he answered: "Many nodes have requested Assumpta assistance in exchange for future favors. It would be inappropriate for me to reassign…"

"I want you to do it," pleaded Delphi. She recovered her composure long enough to offer a confident nod: "Do this and I will consider your debt paid in full."

The assassin's face darkened, but Delphi went on regardless: "I restored you when your predecessor brought you to me all those years ago. No one else could have done it and I slaved for weeks to make you what you are today… or have you forgotten?"

"I have not forgotten," answered Redfog, the dark tone of his voice making it clear that he never would. The assassin's eyes lit up with such hatred that Delphi could almost feel them burning right through her. She still did not shrink away, however, determined to walk through the fires of hell itself for her sister.

Many more seconds passed before Redfog spoke again: "I cannot guarantee her return or her safety. Both UEF and Aeon forces have a head start and I will need to gather a substantial force to face them. By the time that we are ready, it might be too late."

Delphi nodded and felt her heart break when she spoke: "I want her returned one way or another. If you win the battle of Minerva then I will consider the debt paid whether she is alive or dead."

The assassin considered the proposition for a moment, nodded and then closed the channel. Delphi immediately sank to her knees and covered her face with both hands.

XXXXX

"Surrender now, you cannot win," came the automated voice: "You can only…"

A shadow darted around the corner and a red light flashed through the corridor. The laser beam pierced the diminutive Mech Marine's head and sent it crumbling to the ground. Peuran kept running, attacking the never ending stream of Mech Marines whenever he could in different spots of the complex. His only advantage was that no matter how small they were, those Mech Marines were still controlled by the ACU outside which could only support so many units at the same time. The one problem was that each unit that fell was immediately replaced by the land factory that had been set up at the research facility's doorstep.

The sound of laser beams followed by machinegun fire came from further down the corridor. Peuran knew by the sound of heavy metallic feet that they had just lost that exchange and that the Mech Marines were walking towards him. In one smooth motion, the chief of security slung his laser rifle behind his shoulder, jumped up, caught a water conduit and used his momentum to kick a nearby air vent open. He managed to slide into it and activate his signal scrambler just as the Mech Marines came around the corner.

The chief of security held his breath as they moved below him and only let it go when they were out of range. He then dropped down and made his way towards the spot where the confrontation had taken place. The wreckage of three Mech Marines and the corpses of four Cybrans waited for him there. Peuran recognized the bodies of the two scientists that had been trapped with them and mouthed a silent apology. He only paused long enough to pick up some unused power clips and then sprinted down the corridor. His only hope was that somehow, all of his efforts would distract the ACU pilot long enough for a Cybran node to come to their rescue. The odds were slim to none, but there was simply no other alternative.
XXXXX
XXXXX

XXXXX

Chapter 5

Change in plans

Arnold cursed loudly as he lost contact with two other Mech Marines. He quickly took control of a trio that was not far from that location, but by the time that they got there the Cybran was gone: "These guys are moving like hyperactive hamsters!"

No sooner had he spoken that Desjar's face appeared on his monitor with a concerned look on his face: "You should have neutralized that facility over two minutes ago, Zach. What's the problem?"

"That's easy for you to say, lube boy," grumbled Arnold as he performed another deep scan of the facility: "You had to capture a freaking garden just in case that it was a secret storage facility! I have a couple of guys here that are dancing around my Mech Marines and disappearing before I can catch up to them. It's annoying as hell!"

Arnold was about to add more, but he noticed that Desjar was already typing furiously, apparently scanning the structure: "Send all of your Mech Marines here. It looks like the fortified core of the research facility and if they have any scientists then they will be hidden there. Whoever's giving you trouble will try to stop you before you reach it."

"Fine, I'll try it your way," said Arnold: "And I'll even increase my Mech Marines' threat evaluation so that they shoot faster. If you're wrong though then I'm kicking you in the rear when this mission is over because it's going to be hell to secure those sectors again."

Desjar recognized the bluster for what it was and grinned knowingly: "And if I'm right?"

"Then you don't get kicked around," countered Arnold without missing a beat: "Were you hoping for a medal or something?"

Arnold focused on the situation again as fifteen of his Mech Marine reached an intersection leading to the core of the research facility. As if on cue, laser fire erupted from further down the corridor and sliced through the heads of three units in an instant. Arnold reacted quickly, forcing the units in the back to shoot through those that had just been disabled.

Debris and smoke filled the corridor and blocked the view on Arnold's monitor for a few moments. When it finally cleared, he was rewarded with the sight of three rapidly cooling bodies. The Mech Marines carried on with their orders, but Arnold manually controlled the one in the rear to take a good look at the dead Cybrans. He did not regret winning the fight, but he could not help but admire and respect his enemy's determination when faced with such a hopeless situation. Had the situation been reversed, he probably would have done the same.

Arnold closed his eyes for a moment to clear the image of the dead Cybran from his mind and pressed a few keys to switch his view to the lead Mech Marine. When he opened his eyes again, they had just reached a heavily fortified door and were in the process of tearing it down. A few well-placed shots created an opening large enough for the military units to force their way through and Arnold immediately realized that his goal was in reach: "Hey Earthcom, you'd better take a look at this because I think I just hit the jackpot."

A flick of a switch activated the Mech Marines' search lights and they immediately brightened the room. Computers and monitors covered every possible surface, but what really caught all the attention was the sight of a Cybran floating in a tank. A tight fitting jumpsuit covered her frail body, tubes were attached to her mouth and a cable was plugged into a cybernetic interface at the back of her neck. Samantha's face quickly appeared on Arnold's screen and nodded: "There were rumors of Cybrans interfacing directly with the quantum network, but it was never confirmed up until now. The recovery team has just been dispatched and will capture your target first. Make sure the corridors leading to the Cybran are secured."

"Roger that," confirmed Arnold while typing a few commands: "I'll… what the…"

Something had just appeared out of nowhere and slammed the Mech Marine's head. The sudden attack startled Arnold, but the unit responded automatically, twisting around to shove something away and then aiming its dual guns. Arnold barely had a quarter of a second to press a button to halt the attack. He sighed in relief when the walls were not painted in blood and quickly reset the Mech Marine's threat evaluation algorithms back to their standard parameters. He then spoke back in his open channel: "Earthcom, I just found something else in here…"

Hidden behind a console were three children including the one that the Mech Marine had just shoved away.

XXXXX

The ballistic projectile from the UEF demolisher connected solidly with Rhiza's personal shield, but her ACU kept moving forward without even slowing down. She had not even felt the impact from the safety of her cockpit and the only indication that she had been hit was the sound of her shields humming and the flashing indicator on her screen. Rhiza reflexively controlled one of her mobile shield generators to extend its field around her, but remained untroubled as they made their way towards the UEF forces. Her gaze was momentarily drawn to the wrecks of two ACUs that were not far away and they were so badly melted that she could no longer tell which had belonged to what faction.

A quick look at her sensors showed that UEF forces already had set up a well-entrenched base outside the node's perimeter and Rhiza doubted that they could overwhelm it so easily. She opened a channel to Ariel in order to express her concerns: "The UEF came well prepared for this fight it seems and I wonder if our forces will reach them in time. Should we break our formation and go on an all-out attack?"

"Do not doubt the Avatar-of-War's tactics," warned Ariel instantly: "His vision is flawless and should be followed without question."

Ariel's response did nothing to quell Rhiza's concerns, but Marxon's face appeared before she could reply: "Maintain formation and focus on your objectives. Not all hands have been played yet."

Rhiza looked on her screen, but frowned, unable to understand what the Avatar was hinting at.

XXXXX

There was a brilliant flash of light as Redfog's ACU appeared on the battlefield. Economic structures built by the two other Assumpta pilots that had gated ahead of him were transferred instantly and he went to work. Their stealth base was set up in a crater far away from the battle, but they could still follow its progression thanks to an Omni sensor that had been deployed. Redfog did not have to look at his tactical screen for long to understand that they were in trouble.

The UEF was in full retreat, apparently quite willing to abandon the pillaged node and let the Aeon cleanse the rest. What annoyed the assassin, however, was that the bulk of the Aeon was still moving in formation, making their way slowly but leaving no opening for a sneak attack. They were apparently expecting that the Cybrans would do something… and Redfog was quite willing to oblige.

If things kept progressing as they currently were then the UEF would evacuate the planet and the Aeon would march unimpeded, destroying all in their path until the Cybrans managed to gather enough pilots to stop them. Even Redfog was no match against eight Aeon ACUs and pilots from the other nodes were busy evacuating the surrounding sectors. What he needed was time and he knew exactly how to buy some.

XXXXX

Arnold let out a trembling breath, memories of the massacre of Orionis flashing in quick succession in his mind. Back then, he had been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Aeon civilians. The attack had been an accident, a combination of desperate actions mixed with inaccurate information. Knowing so did not diminish his responsibility… nor did it make the nightmares go away.

There were three of them, all boys that were probably between seven and eleven years old. Aside from their clothes, there were no traces that they were Cybrans. They had no implants or red facial circuitry and in other circumstances they could have been mistaken for ordinary children. Only their eyes were different as they were filled with an equal dose of fear and anger at having their home invaded.

Arnold was so absorbed by his own thoughts that he lost track of time and was startled when a UEF commando stepped in front of the Mech Marine with a sneer on his face: "Thanks for securing the corridors…"

The sarcasm was lost on Arnold who had other things on his mind as a tech commando analyzed the Cybran floating in the tank: "Earthcom, what should we do about these kids?"

Samantha's face appeared on his screen again and she was apparently busy monitoring all ACUs: "We don't have time to capture the whole node. Our commando team will secure your target and a few other potential candidates located in other facilities and then you will all evacuate."

"You didn't answer my question, Sam," replied Arnold angrily: "What do we do about these kids? The moment that we evacuate, the Aeon will kill everyone here including them!"

Arnold's outburst and breach of etiquette caught Samantha's full attention, but Desjar's face appeared before the situation could deteriorate any further: "I would like to point out that these children were found in a research facility. It is conceivable that they are part or even the product of a research experiment."

Samantha's face was replaced by Riley's who appeared to be in a foul mood: "What are you suggesting, Colonel Desjar?"

"Sir, what if they are the next generation of Cybran pilots?" suggested Desjar quickly: "Maybe they were biologically engineered or condition to create a superior breed, but we don't have the time to find out before the Aeons are upon us. If we have the spare room with our commando transports then it might be wise to take them with us."

The President apparently gave it some serious thought before nodding: "Make it so."

Arnold momentarily closed his link to Earthcom and sighed in relief. He then opened a channel to Desjar: "Thanks buddy, I owe you one."

"Don't thank me yet," answered Desjar with a wince: "I'm not sure whether we did them a favor."

XXXXX

Peuran's knuckles turned white in anger as every fiber in his being urged him to charge forward and kills as many UEF machines and commandos as he could. Only his training and the promise that he had made to Delphi held him in check. Dying in such futile odds would not save anyone and there was something else that he could do to help. Peuran ran down the corridor and pressed a button on his wrist computer: "This is Peuran. The UEF has captured our node and we cannot delay them any further. They are rounding up whoever they think might be worthwhile and they will take them away before the Aeon reaches us."

The chief security officer hesitated a moment before adding: "Delphi, if you're hearing this then you should know that they are taking your sister as well. I'll do whatever I can to save her."

Peuran searched for something else to say, but could think of nothing more. He stopped the recording and uploaded it to a hidden black box hidden deeply beneath their node. If a high ranking Cybran commander managed to secure what was left of the settlement then he would know where to look. With that out of the way, Peuran entered one of the dormitories and stripped off all of his equipment. If he could not save Delphi's sister then he could at least try and to follow her.

XXXXX

Traitor, betrayer, bastard, sellout... the words flashed through the chat room as each user disconnected. DV sighed deeply, but did not dare to comment on it. He was burned both emotionally and virtually. No hacker appreciated being tracked down and none would ever lift a finger again to help him. Still, it was not as if he had any choice in the matter.

"Take heart, Mister Richards," said Riley, apparently noticing his distress from his station: "Your efforts today have served to strike a critical blow against those terrorists."

The President's words did not comfort the hacker and even sent him into a deeper depression. The truth was that he did not really hate either Cybrans or Aeon and for good reasons. Part of the thrill of the quantum network was talking with everyone else out there and there was no way to know for certain if your buddy was from the same faction. He could suspect another person to be a Cybran because of his response time or an Aeon because of the way that he was too politically correct, but in the end, what did it matter? What if the road to peace was simple, honest and anonymous communication?

"We're ready to transport the prisoners and the commandos back mister President," reported Samantha. Her voice cut through DV's contemplation and he turned around just as Riley spoke: "What is the destination?"

"FortLytton and they have already made preparations," reported Samantha with a nod: "Trying to transport the prisoners any further would take a lot more energy and delay the evacuation of our pilots."

There was a brief pause as Riley considered Samantha's words, but then he nodded: "Very well, but I want them out of FortLytton as fast as humanly possible. Keep a close eye on our star subject."

Samantha nodded and relayed the orders to everyone around them. DV crossed his arms and watched as they all rush around the room to coordinate their efforts. His gaze was momentarily attracted to a screen displaying the Cybran prisoners. There were roughly fifteen of them bound in chains which included the three children and the one which had been plugged into the node's systems. That particular Cybran was laid out on a stretcher with a pair of combat medics monitoring her condition.

"Gate activation in five, four, three, two…"

DV listened to the countdown and the screen became blurry as soon as it reached zero. The image was restored a second later when the signal was rerouted through FortLytton. The hacker heard Riley get up in shock when the image showed that their star prisoner was in full convulsion: "What's going on? Patch me through this instant!"

"… Having a heart attack!" came the combat medic's response: "Strap her down and get me some…"

Riley slammed a fist in his console and interrupted the medic: "What the heck is going on back there? I need her alive and back on Earth, do you hear me?"

The combat medic barely looked up for a second before resuming his work: "No can do, sir. I don't know what's wrong with her, but we need to get her to FortLytton's medical facilities before we lose her. I've heard of gate sickness and people entering shock, but this is completely off the chart. Even if we stabilize her then she'll be too weak to survive another trip for a long while at least."

Riley's eyes darted left and right as he searched for a solution and his gaze finally met DV's: "You! You will depart for FortLytton immediately. If we can't get her here then we'll just have to do it there. I want you at her side within the hour and slicing through her AI. I want to know everything that she knows."

"Whoa, time out here!" protested DV while raising both hands: "I'm a civilian and not a soldier. Also, I've never heard of anyone actually slicing into a Cybran."

DV was about to object even more, but Riley waved it away: "Then consider yourself drafted. We'll also have eleven of the best ACU pilots gating in within the next few minutes so FortLytton will be one of the safest places in the galaxy very soon. You will obey me…"

DV looked in the President's eyes and could almost see the unspoken threat: 'I have not given you my presidential pardon just yet.'

XXXXX

A tactical missile flew through the battlefield, over the Cybran civilian structures and straight at Arnold's ACU. The Buzzkill tactical missile defense responded immediately, spraying the area with bullets and destroying the missile before it could reach its intended target. The debris still flew forward and collided with the ACU, but they barely scratched the surface. Arnold chuckled and pressed a few buttons: "Feels just like old time, doesn't it?"

Desjar sent his engineers forward to build a shield generator: "Yeah and as usual they always want to kill you instead of me. I think that's the only reason that Jessy still tolerates it when I talk about inviting you over."

Arnold was about to throw a colorful retort when Samantha's face suddenly appeared on both of their screens. He interrupted her before she could even open her mouth: "Hey Sam. Don't mind us and keep evacuating those other rookies, we got this covered on our end…"

"There's a change in plans," said Samantha, letting the breach in etiquette slip: "The two of you will be the first in line to gate to FortLytton."

For a moment, Arnold thought that Samantha was kidding, but then he straightened in his chair when he realized that she was not: "This is a joke, right? Is FortLytton under attack?"

Samantha shook her head: "Negative. However we can't transport one of our key prisoners off that planet until she's stabilized and that leaves the base wide open for a counter attack. We need you there to defend it."

"You want to pull two veteran commanders off the front line to baby-sit a base?" asked Arnold incredulously: "This is nuts!"

Arnold's outburst made Samantha glower at him: "You have your orders, Colonel."

Arnold slumped in defeat in his chair while Desjar tried to comfort him: "Don't worry buddy, we'll fight side by side again before this war is over."

XXXXX

Doctor Brackman watched the tactical screen with rapt attention while trying to figure out a way to salvage the situation. Dostya and other pilots were already on site, securing the surrounding nodes and assisting with their evacuation. Once the UEF had gated out, however, the Aeon would march across Minerva and thousands would die before they could be stopped.

A light suddenly blinked on the screen, indicating that there was a sudden increase in non-focused quantum energy on the planet. Brackman's hologram rubbed its chin as he understood what was happening: "This will be interesting."

XXXXX

Arnold's ACU materialized on the other side of the gate and for a moment, he felt as if his stomach had just switched places with his liver just for the fun of it. Gating had always unsettled him, but doing it twice in less than half an hour always made it worse. He wondered - and not for the first time - if Aeon and Cybran gates were just as bad.

"Please clear the gate and move towards hangar B six until further notice," came the sudden order from FortLytton's control center. Arnold grumbled under his breath as he complied: "As if I really wanted to just sit here and lay down a picnic just for kicks."

Arnold pressed a button in order to open both way communications: "Understood gate control."

Still grumbling, Arnold opened another channel back to Desjar who was still waiting back on the front line: "Hey buddy, I can't see any strip clubs from here so it's safe for you to gate in. Jessy won't kill you."

Desjar appeared distracted on his end as his fingers flew over the controls: "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as the gate nexus dissipates the effects from the quantum wake. Jessy usually likes it better when I come home with all of my molecules aligned correctly anyway."

Something in the tone of Desjar's voice caught Arnold's attention and he grew serious again: "What's the problem? You usually make wittier comebacks than that. Are things getting dicey back there?"

Arnold tried to mask his worry, but Desjar was still completely focused on the battle: "It's the Cybrans; they haven't shown up yet."

"Why would they?" asked Arnold with a shrug: "We kicked their butts in record time and you'd have to be pretty crazy to jump in the middle of a fray involving nearly twenty ACUs. You're just scaring yourself for no reason."

Desjar shrugged, but remained on his guards: "I'm not worried when I see a Cybran, but I do get nervous when I'm expecting one and I have no idea where it is."

The conversation was cut off as Samantha appeared on Desjar's monitor: "The quantum wake is dissipating and should be ready for the next transport in one minute. Transfer your military units and proceed to the quantum gate immediately."

Desjar acknowledged, but kept all communication lines open, giving advice to every other pilot out there. Arnold watched it all with mild amusement and whispered under his breath: "It shows that he became a dad. Filming his face on the first night where his girl will go on a date will be priceless."

Arnold was still chuckling when the report from another pilot caught his ear: "Cybran quantum gate detected four kilometers to the east, but there's nothing near it except a stealth generator. It appears to be fully powered."

"What?" said Desjar in confusion before typing furiously on his console: "Send scouts around our base; see if there are other gates nearby! We need to..."

Desjar's voice was cut off by Samantha's: "The quantum wake has been dissipated, prepare for transport."

What happened next was total confusion as multiple pilots spoke at the same time:

"Cybran quantum gate detected roughly four kilometers to the west…"

"How did they slip those so close to us?"

"Moving in on the gate now…"

"One more south of our position…"

"Enemy gate powering up… they are overloading!"

Arnold was about to ask what was going on when an explosion coming from the nearby quantum gate suddenly rocked the entire base. Understanding suddenly dawned on him and he rushed his ACU out of the hangar bay, tearing a docking ramp off without even realizing it: "Desjar! Speak to me buddy!"

A wall of smoke greeted him outside, obscuring everything. All quantum communication lines were filled with static and he could barely make out Desjar's voice: "…Legs…"

The words were interrupted by a fit of coughing and Arnold rushed forward through the smoke. The foot of his ACU suddenly struck something and it was only through lightning reflexes that Arnold managed to avoid tripping. When he looked down, he saw Desjar's ACU sprawled on the ground. Arnold made his ACU kneel, activated the emergency door release of his cockpit and rushed out, hopping down on Desjar's machine. Dust and smoke stung his eyes, but he ignored it as he scrambled forward: "Open up, lube boy! I'm not losing you over a stupid quantum gate malfunction, no way!"

To his relief, the ACU's cockpit suddenly rolled through its opening routine and a hand reached out through the entrance. Arnold grasped it and pulled Desjar up, helping the other pilot on top of his ACU. Desjar tried to take a breath, but ended up puking down all over his shirt.

Arnold moved frantically, trying to find a trace of a wound and quickly inspected the other pilot's legs. He did not find anything at first and kept looking for a whole minute before saying: "Your legs are fine, your legs are fine!"

Desjar wiped his mouth with his sleeve and pointed down the ACU with the other: "You… idiot…"

Arnold looked to where Desjar was pointing and finally noticed that the ACU's legs had been crushed during the gate's malfunction. Fortunately for the whole base, the war machine's power core was intact, but it would still require weeks to put it back together again. Arnold looked from Desjar to the ACU's legs several time before grinning stupidly. The grin turned into a giggle and then erupted into a full blown laugh.

The other pilot wiped some more drool from his mouth and appeared to be flustered: "What?"

Arnold managed to catch his breath long enough to speak: "Nothing it's just… I mean I'm glad that you're ok and all but… there's also the part of me that's glad that you finally feel as crappy as I do about gating!"

Arnold wiped the tear from his eye and tried to stop laughing. When he looked at Desjar's puke covered shirt and drooling face he could not help but start laughing again and had to sit down or risk falling over. Desjar tried to straighten his shirt as he looked at his friend: "That's not funny."

Arnold laughed even harder.

XXXXX

Redfog watched the timer on his screen increase as his instruments estimated the fallout. The timer settled on a number a few seconds later: twenty-three point five minutes… his plan had worked.

He and the two other Assumpta pilots had managed to sneak in quantum gates at precise intervals without the UEF noticing them. A systematic overload of those gates had produced a quantum wake that had short circuited the UEF nexus and caused it to explode. Now the effects of the quantum wake would prevent all forms of interplanetary travel for the next twenty-three point five minutes. The UEF would have no other choice but to face the Aeon forces now, nine pilots against eight.

The leader of the Assumpta node folded his hands in front of him and smiled wickedly. Things were about to get interesting…

XXXXX

XXXXX

XXXXX

Chapter 6

Galactic strategy

The explosion over the UEF base was clearly visible from Rhiza's position and her instruments instantly detected the presence of a quantum wake. The energy wave washed over their troops, disrupting shield generators and sensors for a few seconds before dissipating. When it was over, Rhiza knew without a doubt that the UEF was trapped. Their forces were well entrenched, but their defenses had been planned in order to slow down the Aeon assault long enough for all of them to escape. Now the quantum wake had just extended their stay and they would need to dedicate a lot more of their forces to an actual battle. Attempting an escape afterwards without facing the Aeon Illuminate would be impossible without sacrificing many of their pilots.

Rhiza's thoughts turned to the Avatar-of-War and she finally understood why so many were in awe of his abilities. She did not truly understand how he had anticipated those events, but somehow he possessed a keen understanding of UEF and Cybran warfare. Thinking about it made her feel small, as if she was a piece being played in some galactic sized chess game.

The Avatar's face appeared on her screen and a quick look at her instruments confirmed that the transmission was directed at her and Ariel: "The Cybrans have played their hand and UEF forces are clearing out of the Cybran node. I want the two of you to break off from the main assault, head for the node and cleanse everything."

Rhiza frowned for a split second and she asked a question despite her better judgment: "Avatar?"

"The Cybran's response was anticipated, but it should not be without consequence," clarified Marxon calmly: "Cleansing that node will remind these abominations of the cost when trying to use the Aeon Illuminate as a weapon."

Marxon's words reminded Rhiza that they were indeed being used by their enemy and for a moment, she felt a hot flash of anger fill her heart. She redirected that anger and focused it into a form of righteous fury before nodding fiercely: "As you command, Avatar."

Marxon noticed the renewed determination and nodded approvingly.

XXXXX

The ACU moved with all speed through the battlefield while avoiding the many types of wreckage that covered it. The sudden appearance of six Mech Marines as they stormed out of a building did not slow the war machine down as it jumped over them, narrowly avoiding one before resuming its course. Redfog was not interested in a battle at that moment nor did he feel like revealing his position by destroying the insignificant units.

The UEF was pulling out of the Cybran node and this could very well be his only chance to accomplish his mission.

The assassin stopped in front of the main research facilities and initiated a scan, focusing on the room where his target should be. Unfortunately for him, there was no trace of Delphi's sister nor were there any other life signs in the facility. Redfog double checked the files that Delphi had given him and there was no doubt that she could not have moved on her own or without significant assistance. That left only one alternative: the UEF had captured her.

Although Redfog's plan to overload the UEF's quantum nexus had worked, he also knew that they had managed to use their gate a few times. If they had followed their standard procedures then that meant that the prisoners were off planet by now. The leader of the Assumpta Node growled softly, but did not stay idle for long, opening a link with the node's black box and copying its content while looking at the tactical map. UEF forces were in full retreat, most likely gathering in the same spot in order to make a stand. The Aeon forces on the hand were moving towards the node and Redfog did not doubt for a single moment that they would cleanse it.

Redfog spotted some movement on the corner of his screen and turned his ACU around. A dozen Cybrans were rushing out of a building and trying to make a run for it on foot. It was a valiant effort, but a futile one. An armored command unit was considered one of the slowest military units on the battlefield and even it could move faster than one hundred kilometers per hour. A look on his sensors confirmed that there were several thousand Cybrans that were either hiding or trying to find some other form of escape.

Redfog double checked that he had all the data that he required and then plotted a course out of the node. One civilian noticed the small clouds of dust from the ACU's footsteps and tried to run after him while shouting, but the assassin did not even slow down. Rescuing Delphi's sister while avoiding detection would have been nearly impossible, but trying to save thousands of Cybrans without a supporting army would be suicidal at best.

The ACU stopped when it was sufficiently far away and turned around just as the first Aeon units came into the node with their weapons blazing. Redfog stood impassively and recorded the images as the node burned.

XXXXX

A light passed over Desjar's eyes and he shied away reflexively. In the state that he was in, it almost felt as if the beam had shone all the way into his brain and his stomach still had not settled down. The man in front of him did a few other rudimentary tests and then nodded slowly: "It looks like a case of acute gate syndrome. Normally pilots only suffer from those after gating often in a short amount of time, but the incident that you were caught in most likely amplified the effects. You can expect sporadic loss of balance and blurry sight for a few days at least. I would recommend a lot of bed rest, but if you find the effects too distressing then I could ask Doctor Slutcher to prescribe you some scopolamine."

Arnold looked from Desjar to the man in front of them: "You're not a doctor?"

The man shrugged and put the miniature flashlight back into his pocket: "I'm actually an intern. All the other doctors are working on some classified patient that just arrived. I heard disturbing rumors that it was a Cybran or something…"

Arnold rolled his eyes, thoroughly annoyed that a Cybran was getting better treatment than them. He unzipped one of his frontal pockets, brought out a pair of wrapped pills and placed them in Desjar's hand: "Here, you can have some of mine instead."

The intern was about to object that it was against protocol to share medication, but Arnold fixed him with a glare before he could even open his mouth. The young man hesitated a moment longer before shrugging and finishing his paperwork. Arnold turned back to his friend and nodded in approval as his swallowed the pill: "You take care of yourself buddy. I probably should be heading back to my ACU and guard the perimeter until we get everything back in order."

Desjar blinked a few times to clear his eyes and then looked at him: "Yeah… I'm kind of surprised that they haven't called you by now."

A wave of dizziness made Desjar cradle his head with both hands and he did not see Arnold's smirk: "Well you know, I told them that them how important you were and such. They tried to object and keep me on patrol, but in the end they saw things my way. That and I accidentally broke my transmitter while carrying you here."

The other pilot turned an incredulous look on him and Arnold winked: "I kind of stepped on it… accidentally… and multiple times. But look on the bright side, you're ok and we're not under attack just yet."

XXXXX

"I will take care of the eastern side of the node while you take are of the west," said Ariel even as she plotted a course: "Try to reclaim any research or technologically advanced structure instead of destroying them. The amount of information gathered is not as accurate as actually capturing the facilities, but we may accidentally find a few interesting pieces of data."

Rhiza nodded back at Ariel: "Understood."

Both ACUs moved through the city with their accompanying armies, destroying or reclaiming one structure after the other. Meanwhile, the rest of their forces were establishing forward bases near the UEF front and the two factions were steadily escalating the conflict. Rhiza kept an eye on her tactical sensors, fully expecting a sneak attack at any moment.

A light assault bot suddenly exploded to her right and Rhiza spotted the Cybran wielding a rocket launcher not far away. Her ACU shot him before he could get behind cover, disintegrating the abomination in a fraction of a second. Her advanced sensors locked on another trio hidden not far away and she fired an overloaded shot, destroying the wall that they were using as cover and crushing them underneath. Rhiza plowed onward, killing everyone and tearing down any structure that stood in her path.

It was then that she felt it, the sense of absolute power that could only be achieved at the controls of an armored command unit. It felt strange to think that no matter one's skills, age, strength or influence, nothing could end a battle as decisively as an ACU. Even now, thousands of Cybrans were falling by her hands and there was absolutely nothing that they could do to stop her. Although she hated to admit it, there was a certain satisfaction to be had in taking such direct measures to end the Infinite War.

Another building stood before Rhiza and her sensors immediately identified that it did not have any technological value. She shot at it without hesitation, tearing a huge hole in its side and paused when the dust cleared. Rhiza deftly pressed a control with her thumb and zoomed in on the image, seeing the traces of a garden through the hole that she had just created.

The plants were unknown to her and looked like a collection of wild vines which had an occasional red flower blooming along its length. By zooming in closer, Rhiza could see that each flower had a different pattern of red that crisscrossed through its center with different shades. For a moment, Rhiza felt a pang of guild at destroying such a carefully tended garden and she was sure that the plants would wither at the mere contact of the planet's harsh atmosphere. To her surprise, however, they stood strong, apparently able to survive the planet's climate.

"What does it mean?" whispered Rhiza, the words escaping her without her even realizing it. Members of the Aeon Illuminate often had gardens and it was a mark of honor to nurture one up to the point where it was in perfect harmony with its environment. Even the most skilled botanists would be hard pressed to make anything grow on Minerva and for a moment, Rhiza considered changing her opinion about Cybrans. Could mere monsters and abominations do this?

A conduit in the building suddenly ruptured and burst into flames. The fire quickly spread and soon engulfed the entire garden. Rhiza stood frozen for a moment longer before shaking her head. No, those plants were most likely genetically engineered; an artificial creation and aberration much like the Cybrans were. Cleansing them was the right thing to do…

XXXXX

Marxon looked at the screen without blinking and analyzed all of the available information. The UEF and Aeon forces on Minerva were roughly on equal terms now with neither establishing a firm advantage. The UEF had been forced to fight on the defensive at first, but they were recovering from the Cybran ploy and were even now combining their resources to complete a Fatboy.

Under normal circumstances, the Aeon would have used the time to gain control of more mass point to fuel an unstoppable army, but again the Cybrans were interfering, destroying new expansions with air attacks or stealth tactical missile launchers. The Cybran base had yet to be found which implied that they were most likely overseeing the battle from a remote location. There was also no way to determine how many Cybran pilots were out there or when they would strike.

The Avatar-of-War brought a hand to his chin and gave it some further thought. Through the years, he had fought or overseen countless battles and each had a definite feel about it. This one had many layers of trickery, deceit and traps that encompassed everything and allowed the Cybrans multiple possibilities. The last time that Marxon had felt something akin to that had been Luthien several years ago. He remembered that battle as well as the last words that the Cybran had said: "When the battle is at a close, when Earth finally burns I'll be there… and I'll be waiting for you."

The Cybran that had spoken those words had been mortally injured and in all probabilities he should have died shortly after gating out. Yet at this moment, Marxon could almost feel the abomination's burning eyes gazing right through him from across the galaxy as they each oversaw their troops. Fair enough… Marxon would not shy away from another game of intrigue nor did he feel any fear at the prospect.

A few clicks on his controls switched the main screen to the galactic view and Marxon selected over thirty reserved commanders: "I want these commanders to gate deeply into UEF territory and establish a gate nexus. I also want them to send air raids across the planet and target every civilian settlement that they can find. The gate nexus will make it easier for our troops on Minerva to gate back and our attacks will occupy the UEF and prevent them from sending reinforcements."

More than one technician in the room gasped at the prospect of such a mass slaughter and the Avatar-of-War looked at each of them in order to force an acknowledgement out of them. It took a few moments before everyone returned to their stations and for the necessary orders to be issued. When all was ready, Marxon nodded: "Begin…"

XXXXX

Arnold sat into the cockpit of his ACU and carefully buckled himself in. He then took the war machine through its initialization sequence and was not surprised to find that Earthcom was trying to open a communication's link with him. The pilot ran a hand through his hair and muttered under his breath: "This is going to be an earful."

With that, Arnold opened the link and immediately saw Samantha glare at him: "It's about damned time. Why weren't you answering your transmitter? You've left your ACU alone for a good eight minutes now!"

"Sorry but my transmitter got damaged while taking Desjar to the infirmary," answered Arnold. He of course neglected to mention that it had been done on purpose and merely shrugged: "I had to make sure that he was well tended to before getting back in here. Anyway the perimeter is clear and there are no sign of Cybran or Aeon activity in the area."

For a moment, it looked as if Samantha would challenge Arnold's words, but she apparently thought better of it: "A Cybran sneak attack has created a quantum wake on Minerva and in your location. Add that one of the key prisoners is in a critical state and we are in a huge mess. We are sending a group of specialists to take a look at the Cybran. Secure the site at the following coordinates for a transport drop and escort them to the base as soon as possible. Another three commanders will gate in the area shortly."

Arnold felt his jaw drop and his temper flared immediately: "You're sending troops here while everyone left on Minerva are fighting for their lives? What the hell is this?"

"The prisoners at FortLytton are the top priority at the moment and the site must be defended," countered Samantha harshly. Multiple signals apparently caught her attention and she looked away from him for a moment to type on her console. She cut her explanation short and only looked at Arnold for a second: "You have your orders, Commander. Earthcom out."

Arnold cursed under his breath before throwing his arms up in disgust: "Great, just great!"

XXXXX

Desjar rinsed his mouth for the third time and finally began to feel like his old self again. He was still somewhat dizzy, but Arnold's medication was kicking in and he found that he could walk in a straight line. He looked at his reflection in the mirror for a moment and allowed himself to think back on what had just happened.

If the Cybran sneak attack had been launched a tenth of a second earlier then the portal would have overloaded while trying to materialize the ACU's core and he would be dead. That thought sent his mind straight back to Earth where Jessy and his baby girl were waiting for him and to all the implications that his death would have had. In his current state, Desjar could not face that possibility: "I have to find something to keep me busy."

Desjar went back to his room and his gaze settled on a data pad which displayed an image of his ACU. Looking at it now, he could see that the legs and lower torso had been crushed by the explosion, thoroughly destroying the ACU's motor functions and regeneration modules. FortLytton was not equipped to make extensive ACU repairs and even if it was then it would take weeks to get it operational again.

Desperate to keep his mind busy, the pilot left his room and started moving around the infirmary to see if he could make himself useful. His eyes were immediately drawn to another observation room with a large glass window where the three Cybran children were being examined by a doctor. Desjar made his way there, but the two armed guards that stood at the entrance stopped him: "Authorized personnel only."

Desjar suddenly realized that he was no longer in his pilot uniform and smiled shyly: "I'm Colonel Desjar; I was part of the team that brought those children in."

All that commotion brought the attention of the Doctor and the man made his way to the door: "You can let him through. Good evening Colonel and my apologies for not treating you myself earlier, but I had my orders. I'm doctor Slutcher. I trust that you are feeling better now?"

The pilot nodded and stepped into the room. The Cybran children barely looked at him for just a moment and then stood perfectly still, their faces locked in grim determination. The doctor took a pad from the nearby desk and looked at it once again before showing it to Desjar: "Their tests are all normal: pulse, blood pressure, reflexes, hearing and vision all meet the standard criteria. Aside from a small lack in vitamin C which is probably attributable to living on Minerva, they seem like perfectly normal – if silent – children. No cybernetic component has been integrated into their bodies yet either. I hope that you're not too disappointed. I heard that you were the one responsible for bringing them in after all."

That last statement caught the children's attention and Desjar did not miss the subtle look of hatred that they threw him. He felt guilty for a moment and he looked at the pad again. It was at that moment that something caught his attention: "Doctor, this is a paper pad?"

"Yes it is," confirmed the Doctor with a smile: "I never really liked using electronics and I enjoy having something real in the end instead of vanishing data. It might cost a bit more, but I think it's worth it."

The Doctor beamed proudly as Desjar looked repeatedly from the pad to him: "Where's your pen?"

The doctor patted his chest pocket but raised an eyebrow in confusion. It was at that time that the children sprung forward in unison while shouting a fierce battle cry. The doctor turned around just as one of the child tackled him. The force of the blow did not knock him to the ground, but it served as an opening for the youngest child as he jumped down and pierced his foot with the stolen pen. The doctor screamed as the child twisted the pen out and threw it in the air above him.

Desjar watched in amazement as the eldest child caught the pen and charged him. The attack had been completed in less than three seconds and demonstrated a level of teamwork that no one would expect from children. Despite his surprise, Desjar was still an ACU pilot trained to react to almost any situation. He moved in the blink of an eye, shifting his foot in order to change his balance and catching the child's outstretched arm. He then pulled and twisted in the same motion, using the attacker's own momentum against him while moving in a circle. When the attack was over Desjar was behind the eldest child and had his arm pinned behind his back.

The scuffle finally caught the attention of the guards that were waiting outside and they charged in the room with their weapons in hand. One of them immediately noticed the child that Desjar was holding and struck with the butt of his weapon. The pilot reacted even faster, shifting his weight to force the child to duck which allowed him to evade the blow that would have struck him in the head. The guard looked at Desjar in confusion, but the pilot fixed him with an angry stare: "Just separate the other two!"

Both guards moved to the doctor who was still struggling with a child keeping him off balanced while the youngest one bit his ankle. The eldest in Desjar's grasp tried to shake himself free, but Desjar strengthened his hold: "It's over, let go of the pen."

The eldest growled in denial and Desjar gave a sharp tug on his arm which made him cry in pain: "You have a lot of guts, but fighting now will only get you and your friends injured. Save your strength and chose your battles wisely."

Several seconds passed before the eldest child finally stopped struggling and let go of the bloody pen. Desjar immediately kicked it out of the room and looked behind him. The two guards were holding the other children while doctor Slutcher was busy leaning against his desk. The man looked in shock as his bleeding foot and then back at the children: "Those little freaks!"

"Consider it a good lesson doctor," said Desjar while shaking his head: "No pens, needles, forks, steel wires or anything that could be used as a weapon."

Desjar twisted around so that the children all stood while facing each other: "Now are you guys going to calm down or do we go for another round?"

The other two children ceased their struggle and Desjar allowed a few more seconds to pass before letting go of the one that he was holding. He then pointed at the Doctor: "Get him out of here so that he can be treated and lock the door when you leave. I'll look over them until you get back."

The guards hesitated, but then realized that Desjar was a superior officer and they nodded. They let go of their respective child and moved to help the cursing doctor out of the room. Desjar spoke loudly as they made their way out of the examination room: "Also have something brought from the cafeteria… and I hope that I don't have to specify that it should be something without utensils, like sandwiches."

The guards grimaced, but nodded again and locked the door behind them. Desjar watched as the children assembled together again and saw the subtly exchanged hand signs and meaningful looks. He spoke before they could come up with another plan: "Remember to choose your battles wisely. I went easy on you the first time, but I won't be so kind if you attack again."

The three of them exchanged looks for a few seconds before the eldest finally shook his head. They all walked slowly to the other end of the room and sat in the corner. The children then gazed at Desjar with hateful eyes and none of them spoke a single word. The ACU pilot sighed audibly and shook his head: "I'm the one that suggested that you should be transported along with the other prisoners, but if it's any consolation then you should know that it was to save you from the incoming Aeon assault."

They did not move or show any gratitude. Desjar supposed that he would not have been very grateful either had the situation been reversed. This lasted for several minutes before the door was unlocked and a guard stepped in with a plate of sandwiches. Desjar took it, set it on the table and then stepped out of the room.

XXXXX

Information flashed on Redfog's screen like lightening, tracking the movements of every unit in radar range. He would intervene whenever UEF or Aeon forces tried to extend their base, sending Gemini fighters to shoot down air transports, bombers to destroy land units without air cover or loyalists accompanied by deceivers when there was a sufficient anti-air presence in the area. If all else failed, he or one of the other two Assumpta assassins would lead the assault, destroying everything in the area with their microwave lasers.

Together, they destroyed units by the hundreds, but no matter how successful they were, their efforts only prolonged the inevitable. Each enemy base was well entrenched and would require considerable firepower to bring down. Redfog could send all of his forces against either faction and score a crippling blow, but that would mean allowing the other one to expand and thrive. The result would most likely be that one faction would be defeated, but instead of facing a pair of distracted opponents he would be left with a strong one dedicated to kill him.

Oddly enough, the situation reminded him of the predicament that they faced on a galactic scale. Fortunately, there were other possibilities to win this battle and Redfog transmitted hails on an emergency channel. Dostya's face appeared quickly and she was apparently surprised that he would contact her: "Redfog?"

"I need your assistance," said Redfog simply.

Dostya's eyes widened in shock since the assassin had never asked anyone for help before. She quickly typed something on her console and looked at her display screen: "Almost all of the nearby nodes have been evacuated and the ones that are not will be cleared in the next few minutes. Once that's done, you can direct all of your forces against a single target and weaken them enough for the other faction to finish it off. I suggest striking the Aeons since the UEF will quickly leave once they realize…"

"No!" spouted Redfog, the word almost a growl. His eyes burned brightly when he spoke again: "No more running and no more plotting. It's time for all the nodes to gather as one and take matters into their own hands."

For a moment, Dostya thought that the assassin was making a jest, but she quickly realized that he was not: "You are asking for the impossible. They are not ready to work together… and especially not to follow you!"

Anyone else that knew of Redfog's reputation would have probably never dared to say such a thing to him, but Dostya had come to understand that the leader of the Assumpta Node valued direct honesty over politeness. He looked at her straight in the eyes even as he kept controlling his units: "They will never be ready, Dostya; that's the problem! Nevertheless they must band together and fight if they want to survive this war."

Something exploded near Redfog's ACU, but the assassin remained impassive. He pressed a few buttons on his console and initiated a video upload towards Dostya: "If you need something to convince them then show them this."

Dostya did not even need to look at the video feed to know what it was: the Sunam Node was burning.

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Chapter 7

Conflict of interest

They are Cybrans…

That notion twirled over and over in Desjar's head as he looked at the children through the window. He saw the eldest motion for the others to stay down while he made his way towards the platter of sandwiches. The child checked the platter carefully as if searching for some kind of trap before bringing it to the others. Even then, they did not dig in immediately, but instead opened every sandwich and searched them, sniffing the processed meat and looking at them doubtfully. When they found nothing wrong, the eldest took a single bite and the other two looked at him and waited expectantly.

Several minutes passed before the eldest nodded as if indicating that he did not feel anything wrong and they all dug in, eating their fill. They did not finish the plate, however, eating only a few sandwiches and then stashing the rest as if they meant for it to last for several days.

The youngest suddenly looked down and it seemed for a moment that the reality of the situation had finally caught up to him and that he would cry. The other two noticed this and acted immediately, the eldest moving between the youngest and Desjar to block the view while the other whispered something in the youngest child's ear.

For a moment, Desjar's eyes crossed those of the eldest and he finally understood what he saw: determination, anger, stubbornness and a thirst for freedom. He had seen similar gazes in the occasional taunts from Cybran pilots in the past few years. Up until now, he had believed what he had been told; that the Cybran's aggressiveness was the result of a virus that had corrupted their AI and that Brackman was the one pulling the strings and feeding the war. Those children had no implants, however, and were just as determined.

The ACU pilot finally recognized that the Cybrans were the product of their environments. They were children born of war; taught to stick together, to hide and to survive in the harshest of settings with the ever present threat of the Aeon Illuminate or the UEF always around the corner. They would never give in and the harder the situation would become then the closer they would stick together.

Desjar's thoughts were interrupted when a group of people suddenly appeared around the corner and stormed through the corridor. It was not the first time that Desjar saw a black ops team and back in his days at the academy, they had all heard rumors about them. Some stories were about people and even ACU pilots having strange 'accidents' if they crossed their path too often. Of course none of those had accounted for the guy, clearly a civilian by the looks of him, that they were half leading, half carrying along.

A frown appeared on Desjar's face when they were out of range and he shook his head slightly: "And how did he end up in the middle of this?"

XXXXX

They all saw it, the images of the Cybran node burning to the ground. Dostya looked at her side screen and could almost feel the wave of anger that coursed through each pilot that she was connected to. She gave them all a few seconds to digest the information before speaking: "The battle still rages on. If we join it now then we can…"

"Assist Redfog for free while he extracts favors from everyone else?" interrupted one of the Cybran pilots in contempt.

Dostya recognized the speaker from the Yamagata Node and it was the same one which had picked a fight with Valerie in the earlier brawl. The man crossed his arms and frowned darkly: "The information has already leaked out that Delphi of the Sunam Node has purchased his services. We know that he fights on her behalf and that Assumpta services – especially Redfog's - do not come cheaply. I grieve for the loss of our brothers and sisters, but I do not see the purpose of risking life and limbs to benefit those jackals!"

For a moment, Dostya considered protesting, but the damage was already done. Even now, many were nodding their heads in agreement while others shouted their outrage at helping a node that many considered selfish in their dealings. She lowered her head a moment, but then took a deep breath and steeled her nerves: "Then I'll go alone."

The Yamagata pilot leaned forward in his seat as he spoke: "You don't owe him anything, Dostya. His reckless behavior and inhuman tactics have killed friends and foes alike, including Cybran pilots."

The Cybran was most likely going to mention Mather, but Dostya's glare stopped him before he could say another word. She looked at each of them in turn straight in the eyes before speaking again: "I don't fight for Redfog, for the Assumpta Node or even for the Sunam Node… I fight for all Cybrans regardless of whom they are or where they come from. And what will you fight for? Honor… vengeance… freedom?"

Her gaze was uncompromising and more than one pilot looked away from her. She allowed a few more seconds to pass before closing the channel. She then plotted a course towards the gate nexus that would allow her to reach the battle.

XXXXX

Bagby ran through the corridors of the Red Skull gate nexus and swallowed a few sobriety pills. He usually tried to avoid taking those since they wasted all the precious booze that he had taken and would force him to pee like a huge lactating cow in a few minutes. He suddenly wondered how cows could have possibly survived all that time on Earth with such crappy natural camouflage and accidentally slammed into a technician that was carrying some spare parts. The smaller Cybran fell on his back while cursing and the parts flew all around the launch bay. Bagby quickly managed to recover his balance: "Oh, sorry about that, but you should really watch where I'm going and…"

The SCU pilot slammed into someone else again, but this time the impact stopped him dead in his tracks. He looked up at the technician's buddy, a worker who was a good three heads higher than Bagby and arms that belonged on an UEF ACU: "Sorry but I can't let you board your SCU when you're in that condition."

Bagby straightened immediately, fixing the ogre of a Cybran with a glare: "Are you saying that I'm too old to pilot my own damned machine?"

"No, I'm saying that you're too drunk to do it," clarified the giant sternly: "How many drinks did you take before rushing in the hangar anyway? Seven or eight? You can't seriously hope to pilot effectively like that."

The technician spoke in a gentle voice in an attempt to calm Bagby, but the pilot only grew more agitated: "It's actually more fun that way. You can also try it with someone on your lap and that has to be one of the most exciting experiences if you don't hit any huge bumps while it's happening. If you do then it gets messy and all…"

Bagby tried to discretely move past the technician while telling the story, but the other Cybran recognized the ruse for what it was and blocked his path again. The SCU pilot threw his arms up in defeat and sighed audibly: "Fine, fine, you win. I guess this is one of life's harsh lessons for an old guy like me."

"Don't worry Bagby; I'm sure that there are one or two more battles left in you," said the technician placing one of his huge hands on Bagby's shoulder as if to comfort. The pilot merely shrugged: "That's not exactly what I meant…"

Bagby moved swiftly, biting the technician's hand while simultaneously kicking with his leg. The blow caught the technician straight in the groin and he threw a second kick when the first one was not enough to send the Cybran to the ground. The giant finally collapsed and the SCU pilot shook his head slightly: "I just meant that I have to admit that I'm getting old and that I can't do things like I used to. Thirty years ago, I would have slugged you in the face for blocking me, but now I actually have to fight dirty all the time… which I can live with by the way."

The pilot jumped over the groaning technician and then climbed inside the cockpit of his SCU. He chuckled as he brought the war machine online and queued himself in order to be summoned by Dostya: "One of the perks of being old bastard, however, is that I can get away with it!"

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The Galactic Colossus moved forward with an escort of Harbingers to cover it, stomping through the wave of Titans and crushing them with ease. The return fire seemed almost inconsequential to the behemoth as it plowed forward and its power was akin to a force of nature. Even a Galactic Colossus had its limits, however, and this was emphasized when the supporting Fatboy opened fire with all cannons, showering the area with unending waves of ballistic projectiles. The explosions tore through the ranks of harbingers and slammed the giant relentlessly, peeling away a layer of armor after the other.

Rhiza watched the display with contempt and allowed it to continue for a moment before recalling the giant to her base. Even then, the UEF weapon platform followed in the hope of finishing off its wounded prey, but the UEF pilot had apparently forgotten to take the distance into account. The UEF experimental weapon moved in range of the Aeon's artillery batteries and they immediately opened fire. Miasma shells connected with the Fatboys shields, causing them to flicker dangerously. The experimental weapon quickly stopped and fell back, but even then the next wave was enough to collapse its shields and take out one of its hell fury riot guns.

The Galactic Colossus stopped at a safe distance from Rhiza's position and she looked at it with concern. Most of its chest plates had been peeled off, an arm had difficulty twisting in its socket and electric fires licked its shoulders mercilessly. She felt a pang of regret as she entered the self-destruct code for the experimental, but quickly reminded herself that it was but a machine. The giant's energy core went critical as soon as the code was transmitted and it toppled to the ground, its servo motors emitting a shriek like a dying beast.

Rhiza delicately touched her controls, sending engineers to reclaim the husks while others started building a new galactic colossus. The wreckage of the old one had nearly ninety percent of the original mass and would fuel the next generation in but a few minutes without having any noticeable impact on her economy. Even then, she still marveled at the sight of one weapon melting while the other was being assembled and for a moment, she thought that it was not unlike the cycle of life.

A light indicated that she was being hailed and Ariel's face appeared on her monitor: "Strategic missile defenses are in place and we are steadily adding mass fabricators and power generators as per the Avatar's orders. We have not located the Cybran base yet, but an analysis of their attack suggests that they have no more than three or four pilots out there. Our economic infrastructure will soon be strong enough to ignore their attacks and strike at the UEF with all our might."

Rhiza nodded in agreement and made her own report: "UEF forces have apparently mimicked our tactics and have kept pace with us so far. Their experimental weapon platform is making it hard to wage a successful attack, but our defensive line has kept it and its accompanying forces at bay. I fear that this battle could easily last several more hours if not days at this current rate."

Both pilots nodded in agreement and neither of them appeared upset or even flustered at the possibility. They knew that the Avatar was watching over them while keeping UEF forces busy elsewhere. They would either win the battle here or become one with The Way. It was as simple as that.

XXXXX

"What the hell?" whispered DV as he stepped into the room: "This is just freaky…"

The hacker stood subjugated as technicians, doctors and black ops personnel moved around the prisoner. She was shackled to the table with multiple tubes piercing her body while sensors strapped to her flesh monitored her life signs. The sight seemed so unreal that the hacker's first thought was that he had entered some kind of movie. He was still in the process of deciding whether it was a suspense or a horror movie when one of the black ops members stepped in front of him: "The prisoner has been stabilized and she's as ready as she'll ever be. Get to work."

The man shoved a portable computer in DV's chest, obviously angered at assisting the hacker instead of leading the operation. DV tried to ignore the many glances that were thrown his way and looked at the laptop. It was top of the line, a machine that was not even on the open market yet. He opened it and found the gloves and the multipurpose headset neatly folded inside.

DV quickly donned the gloves and then put on the headset, making sure that everything was operational before turning the system on. The computer hummed to life and the headset started moving, deploying small video pods in front of his face which scanned his eyes. The system analyzed the exact form of his eyes before projecting an image straight into them, reproducing a visual layout over what he was currently seeing. A flick of his fingers was all that DV needed to do in order to make virtual computer screens appear in front of him.

The system would then monitor his head movements, allowing him to glance around his virtual space as if he was in a high tech center instead of in the middle of an operation room. Of course DV was the only one who could see the different screens since the image was projected into his eyes, but he considered it a bonus. The only reason that the system had not been deployed in military units such as ACUs was that it was too sensitive and single malfunction could shut down the entire interface.

It was not the first time that DV had ever tried such a system, but those that were on the market were slow in comparison to this one. He took the next few minutes to configure his environment, adding over two dozen screens around him and resetting the controls to his preference. He dimly heard someone tapping his foot impatiently near him: "This is taking too long, begin slicing through her now."

Up until now, DV had been forced to bow his head and nod, but he was in his environment now and he found some new determination from that: "If you want to try slicing into her and keep up with her AI then be my guest, hotshot. If you want to do something useful then you could actually open the ports to the quantum network so that I can access it from here."

"That is a security risk that we cannot afford at this time," the black ops member said stubbornly.

DV rolled his eyes in annoyance and was momentarily blinded as the headset's cameras failed to keep up with the movement. This resulted in an instant headache and he swore loudly, annoyed that they could not make a bug free operating system even after centuries of development: "Which part did you think that the Cybrans could have missed: the quantum gate explosion a few minutes ago or the appearance of several ACUs in the area? How stupid do you think Cybrans really are? Also while you're at it, you might consider the fact that I would really like to download the tools that took months to develop which are safely stored in a backup database. I really don't feel like developing them again right now."

For a moment, DV could clearly picture a hand grasping him by the hair and slamming his face in the table. Fortunately for him, the speaker grumbled something under his breath before ordering the ports to be opened. The hacker sighed in relief, but tensed again when a hand grasped his shoulder and squeezed: "Don't push your luck."

The words were barely above a whisper, but DV found himself nodding and he went back to work immediately. He started downloading all the programs that he had written in the past several years and tried to remain as calm as possible. It was not easy with everyone looking at him and with the very real threat of a Cybran counter attack on the horizon.

XXXXX

"Guess you must feel pretty dumb now huh?" said Gauge in contempt. The giant crossed his arms as he added: "If we'd build a base and struck a bit earlier while the UEF had its pants down as I suggested then we could have overwhelmed it and rescued the prisoners. The Sunam node would have owed you guys a life debt for pulling it off, but now that UEF reinforcements are here, there's no way in hell to pull it off. Guess it's going to suck to be you when you go back home, huh?"

Valerie did not say a word, refusing to even acknowledge Gauge's bait. The giant snorted in annoyance: "Maybe you'll get lucky and Redfog's stubbornness will get him killed. Maybe you won't roast in hell if he gets there first."

This time, the assassin did turn to look at Gauge on her monitor, but only shrugged: "If hell exists then the demons that inhabit it already tried to claim him. In the end, however, they figured that it was safer to let go before it was too late."

Gauge sneered, unsure of what annoyed him the most: the fact that Valerie was not taking the bait or that she firmly believed everything that she was saying about her leader. Kazuo jumped into the conversation before thing could deteriorate any further: "This is not helping us or them! We should be trying to save our brothers and sisters instead of fighting each other."

Gauge looked at the pilot from the Jade Node and dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand: "Too late, squirt. If we attack now then the UEF will just gather all those prisoners and gate them out before we even breach the first line of defense. If I had a pack of pilots from the Scorched Earth Node then I could probably do it, but it would be impossible with just the two of you. Don't take it personally, but compared to us, you're still little more than a jade paper weight and I'd rather trust a rabid dog over her to cover my back."

Kazuo looked from Gauge to Valerie, but if the assassin disagreed then she did not give any indication of it. Kazuo slumped in his seat and sighed: "This is hopeless."

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"I have never seen or heard of a Cybran that was configured like that," whispered DV as the data was projected into his eyes: "The implants at the back of her neck are far more advanced than what I have ever seen. It appears that they can transfer an amount of data that would be about fifty times bigger than what would be required for… well just about anything."

Dozens of screens were projected straight into DV's eyes and he rubbed a gloved finger along his upper lip to think. He dimly heard someone around him mention that it was probably a way for the Cybran to hack systems at incredible speeds, but he did not give that theory any further thought.

The more DV thought about it, the less it made sense. He knew that the human brain had an incredible processing power, but it was also unreliable over a long period of time. Also, if all they needed was the brain then why had the Cybrans bothered to maintain the rest of the body? Unless…

"Full sensory conversion," whispered DV in sudden realization. The hacker smiled when he finally understood and started to reconfigure his environments, speaking his thoughts loudly as if he was commenting on a replay: "Shift one sense at a time from the body to the implants. Sight and hearing can be done easily, but it leaves you the benefit of using the other senses to interpret other forms of data. One could convert a friendly ping into a soft touch or a hacking attempt in a cramp. It would be a way to surf the quantum network on a whole new and instinctive level. It also implies that two way communications is possible. If I try to interface on an audio and video level then I might actually be able to talk to her."

"We need you to slice through her; not open up a chat session," observed one of the black ops member in irritation.

DV remembered not to roll his eyes this time and merely grimaced: "First rule of hacking is to try the polite approach first. Why go through the trouble of tearing down a steel door when knocking could actually work. Now let's see if this can connect…"

The hacker used a variation of the programs that he downloaded to initiate a full immersion environment. The headset's camera threw a green background picture into his eyes which blocked out everything else in the room. He then increased the volume of his earphones and made sure that his microphone was active with a close range filter before finally initiating the connection. He waited anxiously for several seconds before a beep confirmed that the connection had been established.

"Hello?" said DV. The hacker's voice echoed weirdly through the virtual world and for a moment, he thought that he had somehow messed it up and caused a feedback loop. He was about to initiate a diagnostic when a shy, child-like voice hailed him: "Is the fighting over?"

DV was momentarily taken aback by the innocent voice, but quickly reminded himself that it could simply be a trick to put him off his guard. He decided to adopt a straightforward approach, speaking normally instead of patronizing the Cybran: "Yes, it's over. We had a few close calls, but we're all safe now."

A flash of light forced DV to close his eyes and he grimaced in pain. The child giggled in amusement and the sound had suddenly increased in quality and proximity: "Sorry about that, but it can happen sometimes. You can open your eyes now!"

The hacker waited a moment before opening his eyes and gasped at what he saw. The green background had been replaced with a scene of a small house in a prairie. A four feet tall child in a purple dress stood in front of him with a smile on her face: "I'm Amber, who are you?"

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"Yathavol inetsuie," came the sudden order. The Assumpta pilot heard Redfog's command and immediately disengaged. The words were context sensitive; a battle language known only by Assumpta assassins and no written form of it existed anywhere. The possibility of anyone hacking their communication signals was insignificant at best, but taking chances was not part of their mindset.

Redfog watched as a group of UEF spy planes flew over the spot where the other pilot had been. Under normal circumstances, he would have felt a small amount of pleasure from accurately predicting his opponent's movements, but such a small victory felt hollow at the moment. The battle was slowly escalating out of control and the three Cybran pilots could not keep up with it indefinitely.

A message appeared on Redfog's screen, indicating that another pilot was trying to join their group and he accepted the request immediately: "How many?"

Dostya was not flustered by the lack of a proper greeting and responded on the same tone: "Only me. I'm establishing my base now…"

Redfog paused for just a split second, but then laid out a course towards a pack of Harbingers that were escorting engineers towards a mass point: "Then there's no other choice but to keep fighting."

Dostya queued the construction of several structures, but raised an eyebrow. She would never claim to understand the leader of the Assumpta Node, but she had fought alongside him in the past and she could feel the anger behind his words even now: "What are you waiting for?"

The leader of the Assumpta Node only growled as he jumped in the middle of the Aeon formation and let his heavy microwave laser slice through everything that stood in his way.

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Marxon raised an eyebrow as he looked at the tactical screen and felt something that he had not expected in this battle: disappointment. The war still raged, but with each moment that passed, the Cybrans options were growing fewer and fewer. Originally, they could have struck at either Aeon or UEF forces directly, tipping the scale and causing irreparable damage to one faction or the other. Instead, they had squandered that opportunity by keeping both factions in check. This had forced both warring factions to build shielded mass fabricator farms instead and while the process was slow, it still allowed an economy to grow. Soon the fight would spill out and the Cybrans would become inconsequential once again.

Originally, he had thought that his opponent had been a strong Cybran commander like the one that he had faced years ago, but he now realized that he was only facing some kind of optimistic fool. In the end, it would not matter: the Aeon Illuminate could not be stopped.

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"This is insanity, what do they hope to accomplish?" said the pilot of the Yamagata Node: "They can't mount a successful offensive against both the UEF and the Aeon with just four ACUs! Let them pick a side and end it!"

The pilot of the Yamagata node looked at everyone in the open channel and saw doubts in all of their faces. He shook his head fiercely: "It's all because of Redfog's greed. He wants to honor his contract and use us to do the dirty work."

"Is that what helping another Cybran is called these days? Dirty work?" came the sudden interruption. Everyone gasped as Doctor Brackman's face appeared on the channel and more than one of them bowed their heads in shame. The Yamagata pilot hesitated a moment before straightening his shoulders: "Every Cybran in that area is dead, Doctor. There is nothing left to fight for except an assassin's pride."

Delphi suddenly appeared in the channel and it was fully apparent from her teary face that the loss of her node weighted heavily upon her: "That account has already been settled."

Everyone looked around in confusion even as the cybernetic expert explained: "The exact nature of my dealing with Redfog was for him to save my sister if he could and end the battle if he could not. My sister… is gone. If he had chosen to tip the scale in either direction then his obligations to me would have come to an end."

Everyone stood silent as Delphi looked at them: "I do not know why Redfog keeps fighting… but I do know that it's not for me."

Doctor Brackman waited patiently without saying a single word. He desperately wanted his children to assist Dostya, but they needed to come to such a decision themselves. They would not win the Infinite War if their hearts were not in it.

"I guess... that freedom is not something that will come without sacrifice," said the Yamagata pilot. Doctor Brackman watched as one pilot after the other raised their heads and spoke in turn:

"It's the right thing to do…"

"No more hiding!"

"My reply will come from the mouth of my cannons!"

"Libertà!"

"For honor!"

"For the fallen!"

Doctor Brackman watched as the boards lit up as more and more pilots queued themselves in their local gate nexus for an immediate transport. His entire board quickly shifted from red to green and he smiled warmly: "Tip of the Spear."

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"Oh god that feels good!" said Bagby in relief. The old pilot closed the tube and zipped his pants back on. Hopefully now that the sobriety pills had done their work then he could fight without asking for a break in the middle of the battle. He rubbed his hands on his pants to clean them a bit and then reactivated his communications system: "Let's see if I missed any…. whoa!"

The screen lit up and he immediately saw that he was surrounded by three Cybran SCUs which were looking at him expectantly. Bagby passed a hand through his hair and gulped in apprehension. Maybe he had finally overdone it by crushing the tech's balls like that. He opened a channel and threw in his most charming smile: "Err listen guys… if you're here about that tech then you should know that my foot slipped and um…"

The confused face of an SCU pilot appeared on his screen: "I have no idea what you're talking about, but I think you'll need this."

The SCU moved forward and handed him a magnetic flag pole. Bagby looked down at it, scratched his head and then finally realized that the tactical board showed a massive Cybran launch. He took the flag with a smile that reached from ear to ear: "The galaxy only makes sense after I go to the bathroom... well, that works for me!"

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Chapter 8

Fighting as one

"What is this place?" asked DV in amazement. The hacker looked around him, watching the flawless reproduction of trees, flower and grass. Each plant moved as if pushed by a gentle gust of wind and the whole scenery was breathtaking. The image of the little girl in front of him smiled knowingly: "Those are called trees… but I guess that you would know that since you most likely had the chance to see them in the real world."

The hacker suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do and smiled apologetically: "Oh sorry my name is DV. I was… surprised with all of this."

Amber moved to a chair that was suspended from a nearby oak tree and hopped on it. Her small feet did not even touch the ground and she threw them back and forth a few times in order to swing: "Funny, if I was part of the UEF then I would try to go to Earth as often as I could. I would run in the forests, jump in streams of water and maybe even play fetch with a dog."

"I'm not..." started to object DV.

"I can feel the others poking at my AI even now as they try to extract some useful data," cut in the child quickly. Her eyes grew sad as she added: "They'll be so disappointed when they realize what it is that they are downloading."

Amber looked at DV and tilted her head to the side: "You won't find what you're looking for in here, but if it's all the same to you… would you stay with me?"

DV was at a loss of words and the simulation was so convincing that he was surprised when he felt someone peel back his earphone for a moment in the real world to whisper in his ear: "I don't know what you're doing, but keep it up. Her ports are open and there's a ton of information in there that we can access."

The earphone was put back into place and DV shook his head slightly while trying to make sense out of all of it. Why would a Cybran actually want to be hacked like that? Surely they must have some means of defense or encryption? Somehow the hacker's confusion must have been obvious for the girl bowed her head and offered an explanation: "I'm fading… and I don't want to be left alone right now. Will you please stay with me?"

DV nodded.

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Marxon stood tall with his hands in front of him as he watched the display screen. He was monitoring two worlds at the moment: the battle on Minerva as well as the sizable strike force that had launched an attack deep within UEF territory. So far, everything was going according to his will, but he wanted everyone else in the room to realize it as well: "Status."

The lead analyst in charge of monitoring the situation in UEF territory raised her head: "Our strike force has established a gate nexus and the surrounding attacks are keeping the UEF occupied. Enemy casualties are estimated at over one hundred thousand in the past two hours with ninety percent of those estimated to be civilians. No casualties on our side so far."

Marxon nodded and turned towards the lead analyst in charge of monitoring Minerva. The man cleared his throat before speaking: "The position of our base on Minerva is stable and UEF forces have been kept at bay for now. Recent patrols have cleared out the remaining Cybran strike teams in the area. The whereabouts of the Cybran commanders is still unknown, but we have calculated a seventy percent drop in their attack efficiency due to our perfected defenses and they are no longer a sizable threat. Considering the presence of UEF experimental weapon platform in the area, I would suggest a sea attack instead of tackling their front lines."

Normally Marxon did not appreciate it when his subordinates tried to second guess his next order, but this time he nodded in approval. The logic was sound and he wanted to encourage those around him to follow his path instead of simply dragging them along: "Have commander Rhiza lead the sea attack while our other commanders prepare to lead our ground forces. I want the UEF to be dealt with swiftly and decisively."

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A string of Russian curses escaped Dostya when the Fatboy's constant fire collapsed the nearby shield generators and destroyed the defensive line. She was forced to abandon the newly built firebase and flee before it was overrun. The base was quickly destroyed, but the experimental weapon kept showering the area with ballistic projectiles in the hopes of actually catching the cloaked Cybran ACU. A lucky shot connected with the Cybran's left arm and disabled its molecular ripper cannon, but Dostya still managed to escape: "Damage assessment: moderate. I'm moving back to my main base now."

Dostya looked hopelessly at her tactical screen, but it was apparent by now that they could no longer contain either UEF or Aeon forces. The UEF was making troop drops across the map to claim additional mass points and the Aeon were amassing a sizable sea fleet which would no doubt be used shortly to either get rid of the Cybran bases in the area or lead the attack against the UEF. Dostya looked in desperation to her summoning queue, hoping that getting a pilot like Bagby on the field could somehow even the odds, but to her surprise, there was not a single pilot available for her to summon. She flicked a switch on her board: "Bagby?"

The aged pilot's face appeared immediately on her screen with a wide grin: "Heya D! Sorry to have kept you waiting, but we're almost there!"

She blinked once as she tried to digest the information: "We?"

Redfog's face appeared on her monitor before Bagby could answer: "How many?"

Bagby forwarded some battle data to the two of them and their tactical map was automatically expanded, displaying the sea of red units that was surrounding the entire region: "There you go Reddog. Oh and here's some friendly advice: the next time that you throw a party you should try something catchier than theatrics to bring in more people. Free beer usually works quite well…"

The assassin snorted in derision and closed the channel, much to Bagby's delight. Dostya smiled warmly and raised an eyebrow: "I take it that a flashy entrance is in order?"

The old Cybran pilot spat in the corner of his cockpit before smiling wickedly: "If there's any other type of entrance then I don't know what it is and I'm too old to learn it!"

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Rhiza selected all of her sea units and assembled them in the same area. Satisfied that she had a well-balanced fleet, she opened a channel towards the UEF forces and spoke in a calm and deadly voice: "Follow the Way… or be cleansed."

She had been taught that the UEF usually responded with crude threats or bold proclamations. A few sometimes saw the light and surrendered, but it was obvious by now that they would not do so. She had expected all of that, but somehow her training did not prepare her for the reply that was thrown her way: "Whoa, I'll take that offer because I'm feeling dirty!"

The face of an old Cybran with a crooked smile appeared on her screen and winked at her with malicious intent: "You know, at my age a good sponge bath is just what the doctor ordered and I can't think of a cuter nurse than you at the moment."

"How dare you speak to a Knight this way?" objected Rhiza despite herself. She knew that she should not let herself taunted in such a manner, but the way that the Cybran was leering at her was so… degrading. The old man apparently noticed this and licked his lips in anticipation: "Telling me not to do it is like telling a kid not to play with a plasma rifle: you just know he'll do it and burn the cat anyway. But if you're more in a brawling mood then how about coming over here to spank me yourself? Come on… you know you want to and I'll even be nice enough to show you where I am!"

The edge of Rhiza's sensors suddenly picked up a small Cybran fleet and a video uplink beeped on her screen. She hesitated a moment before pressing the button and the image of a Cybran SCU appeared on her screen. It stood proudly on top of an aircraft carrier while waving a black flag with a red skull drawn on it. Rhiza frowned and altered her fleet's course: "If it is a fight that you want then I will happily oblige."

She did not know what the Cybrans were up to, but her sensors clearly showed that their fleet was four times smaller than her own. Even then, she had to wonder if they were really that desperate. The sight of the Cybran SCU turning his back to her and waving its posterior around was the final straw and she went ahead with her earlier impulse by sending her fleet forward. Rhiza shut down the Cybran video feed and spoke loudly so that the other Aeon commanders could hear her: "Cybran fleet detected on a trajectory that could potentially cut off our naval reinforcement lines. I'm plotting an intercept course in order to destroy it prior to resuming my objectives. Delay to attack estimated at two minutes."

Rhiza watched as her armada of three battleships, seven cruisers, five destroyers and twelve submarines moved towards the Cybran fleet which only had a total of four sea units. She sent a spy plane to circle around just in case, but it did not detect any other threat in the area. Her gaze remained locked on her tactical display as the circles which delimited the range of her battleships crept forward: "You wanted my attention… and now you have it."

The Omen class battleships opened fire as soon as they got in range and Rhiza watched as two blips disappeared from her radar. The SCU pilot, however, was still alive and shouting with glee: "Whoa baby, you play rough! I thought you would treat me to a dinner and a movie first."

The Aeon fleet was still closing in and Rhiza shook her head in disbelief. It almost looked as if the Cybran was having… fun? She got her answers a second later as other signals appeared on her radar in the middle of what was left of the Cybran fleet. The Aeon battleships as well as the destroyers that were just now entering the proper range fired on those immediately, but the result puzzled Rhiza: "How is this possible?"

"Hey doll face, still trying to wrap your brain around it?" asked the old Cybran tauntingly: "I'll leave you one guess because you won't have time for another."

Rhiza ignored the Cybran, but tried to process the information as quickly as she could. There were no other fleets and the signals represented surface units or structures. The fact that she could see them on her radar clearly demonstrated that there were no stealth generators involved which therefore meant that there were no surface engineers. That left only…

A gasp escaped her and she tried to stop her fleet, but it was already too late. The ships at the front of her fleet revealed the destroyed Cybran fleet which included the sinking aircraft carrier but there were no traces of the SCU pilot anywhere. Two dozen torpedoes slammed into the Aeon destroyers a heartbeat later and the second wave had almost triple that number. Rhiza's submarines barely managed to reveal a small part of the Cybran's army and she spotted what looked like fifty submarines and double that amount of Wagners that were making their way along the sea floor. From what Rhiza could see, it did not even represent the full extent of the army.

"Got to love Cybran sonar stealth technology, right doll face?" asked the Cybran with a grin: "Those small platforms might sink with some bad weather, but if you build them quickly enough then you can maintain the illusion even if you're under fire. But I guess you can see that by now, huh?"

Rhiza watched in horror as her fleet was taken apart by an overwhelming amount of underwater units. She briefly considered sending torpedo bombers to even the odds, but she could see that the surface signals that had appeared on her radar were actually anti-air turrets. She felt humiliated at the setback, but had the presence of mind to send a warning: "This is Rhiza to all Aeon commanders. I have spotted a massive Cybran underwater fleet heading straight for our shores. Units include a vast numbers of submarines, amphibious tanks and one or possibly several SCUs. Prepare our shore defenses immediately!"

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They simply sat together without speaking a word for what felt like an eternity; two perfect strangers from different worlds that shared a moment. DV had never been one to remain inactive for more than a few minutes and this was the longest time that he had ever spent without doing anything except appreciate the scenery. Looking at it made him realize how beautiful the world was and what he had missed while remaining secluded in his apartment. Looking at the little girl, he thought that they were an odd pair; a human that had spent his entire life immersing himself in virtual reality and a Cybran apparently trying to recreate the real thing.

DV's awareness of the virtual environment grew to such extent that he immediately noticed it when the size of the virtual world suddenly shrunk by half. He turned towards Amber who was slumped in her suspended chair with her eyes half closed. He reached out for her and the child opened her eyes again and smiled sadly. It was at that precise moment that the truth of her earlier words finally registered: she was dying.

The realization hit DV like a ton of brick and he spoke loudly enough for everyone in the real world to hear him: "No, no, no, no! Dang it, everyone in listen to me, she's fading! Treat her, cure her, do something!"

Amber brought a finger in front of her lips and shushed softly. The hacker sank back into his seat and tried to reach forward. He knew that there was nothing in front of him in the real world, but Amber must have somehow been able to detect the movement. She reached out and he felt the force feedback mechanism of his right glove activate; the closest thing that could pass for a touch.

The virtual world kept shrinking and both it and the small girl flickered a few times. DV squeezed his glove hand, desperately trying to hold on to Amber and whispered: "I can't…"

Something grasped his shoulder in the real world and he dimly heard someone shouting near his earphone: "Stay connected! We're still downloading!"

Completing the download was the last thing on DV's mind as he saw Amber die. She closed her eyes for a moment which caused the virtual world to disappear. It was instead replaced by a screen which flickered rapidly through a set of images. Each image appeared only for a quarter of a second and DV literally saw the girl's life flash before his eyes.

He saw her play with what appeared to be her twin sister, run on the surface of Minerva, cry, laugh, wink and dance. The theme changed to a time where both sisters were sick, but even then the images were touching with Amber holding on to her sister's hand, talking or smiling. DV did not understand what disease had crippled her, but on some level he knew that she had never recovered.

The next set of images were apparently of a time where she had been first introduced to her virtual world and back then, it had been little more than a basic structure. Instead of falling apart, however, Amber had used it, creating trees, birds, wind, grass and everything that she found beautiful. She had constructed a virtual haven in her own mind and DV was surprised to see other Cybrans visit it. She talked, played or comforted them and the images flickered between a myriad of faces from different ethnic backgrounds.

Only one face was constantly displayed every few images and DV recognized what was most likely the aging twin sister. Although they were vastly different with one staying virtually young while the other had apparently been heavily modified with cybernetics, both had the same smile and it was clearly apparent they had remained close despite being worlds apart.

Tears ran down DV's face and his hand was growing numb from the constant shaking from the force feedback in his glove, but he did not care. He was witnessing the last moments of a Cybran… no… of a person who had devoted her entire life to helping others and searching for beauty. What's more, she had chosen to share them with him, a complete stranger who was to blame for capturing her. Amber opened her eyes and she smiled warmly one last time.

The simulation ended abruptly and the force feedback mechanisms stopped in DV's glove. He tore the headset away and saw that the doctors were scrambling all around him, surrounding the Cybran while trying to revive her. The only noise that registered in DV's consciousness was the shrill alarm from the nearby monitor which displayed a flat line.

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"Multiple Cybran units detected on all fronts and a massive sea invasion has been spotted at the following coordinates," said the Analyst in agitation. He hesitated a second before adding: "It appears that the Cybrans have chosen to side with the UEF."

The Analyst turned around; seeking some kind of approval from the Avatar-of-War, but the man wore an expression of such intensity that the analyst dropped the notion. Marxon studied the situation in silence for a few seconds longer before finally speaking: "This is different…"

There was no way for Marxon to explain it so that anyone in the room would understand. Each battle had a feeling to it; an aura that only an experienced commander could feel. Aeons fought with harmony, the UEF usually fought according to protocol, but the Cybrans… each one of their so called Node had their style. Sneaky, brutal, elaborate, feints or obvious… one could only know after the first few minutes of battle. What was happening in this case was completely different and it was as if all aspects of Cybran military warfare had suddenly melded together… as if the Cybrans were fighting as one.

"Begin the evacuation," said Marxon suddenly, catching everyone by surprise. Every analyst in the room turned around in shock to look at him. One even stood up and spoke: "But we have not even engaged the Cybran main force yet nor do we have any idea of its size."

"I will not explain myself to you nor will I tolerate any further questioning of my orders," said Marxon back with a stern glare: "Comply."

The analysts in the room suddenly remembered that they were in the Avatar-of-War's presence and carried out their orders.

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"Unbelievable," whispered Gauge. He was not one to be easily surprised and he had seen a lot of weird things in his life. None of it stacked up to the news that all available Cybran nodes had banded together to fight the Aeon and the UEF. Scorched Earth, Assumpta, Node Fifty-Six, Jade, Yamagata, Red Skull and dozens more had launched a full scale assault. A quick look at his screen showed that Valerie had dropped her stoic mask and that she was equally surprised: "Unity at last?"

"We can do the same," said Kazuo suddenly. Both Valerie and Gauge turned to Kazuo who was typing furiously on his console. Gauge was about to ask what he meant when a plan of attack was uploaded to his screen. He looked at it for a moment and his first impulse was to snort derisively, but he managed to keep it in check. Instead, he looked at Kazuo and saw that the other pilot was very serious: "This plan would require balls of steel."

The Jade Node pilot nodded and looked at Valerie before speaking: "And speed…"

The assassin tilted her head and looked back to Gauge: "And trust…"

Kazuo gave them a moment to ponder things before adding: "It requires all of our talents combined. The only question that matters now is this: are the events on Minerva a one shot deal; something that happens only once in a lifetime? Or can it be something more?"

The three pilots looked at each other for a moment and then nodded as one. Gauge activated all of his tactical displays and grunted as he plotted a new course: "Let's raise some Hell."

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"I'm not allowed to do this, Colonel, and you should know it," said the technician stubbornly. Arnold refrained from cursing and forced a strained smile. He hoped that it looked good because it was about as much as he could muster: "Look, all I'm asking is for you to patch me into the audio feed of the group left on Minerva. Whatever's happening down there could very well spill all the way here if it turns ugly and I'd like it if I had a bit of an early warning. No harm can come from any of it and no one else needs to know."

The Earthcom technician looked away for a moment and Arnold feared that he would fall back on protocol. The guy sighed deeply and started typing on his console: "All right I'll do it, but if anyone gets too curious here then I'll have to cut the feed."

"Thanks buddy, I owe you one," said Arnold. He tried to throw one of his winning smiles which apparently unsettled the technician more than it reassured him. The whole time Arnold kept wondering how Riley had managed to do so much sucking up for years until the point where he became President. Arnold had barely tried it for a few minutes and he already felt like washing his tongue to get the taste out.

"There you go sir, audio link established," reported the technician a moment later. Arnold thanked him again, closed the channel and opened the audio feed. What he heard was more distressing than what he had imagined:

"Where the hell is that artillery fire coming from?"

"I'm hit, shields are down!"

"Where's my Omni sensor? God damn it, where is it?"

"It feels like there are a hundred ACUs out there!"

"Those Cybrans are everywhere!"

Arnold stopped the audio feed for a moment. From the sound of it, the Cybrans were pushing the UEF and the Aeon Illuminate at the same time? He quickly remembered a conversation with Samantha a few years ago. Back then, she had theorized that there were a lot more Cybrans out there than what they were led to believe. After listening to the audio feed, that theory appeared far less ludicrous than it once did: "The whole galaxy appears to be flipping upside down."

With that in mind, Arnold reactivated the audio link and listened to all the other stuff that Earthcom would not want him to know. Neither he nor any of the three other UEF pilots noticed the cloaked figure that slipped inside FortLytton.

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A group of forty Harbingers took their positions along the coastline and waited for the enemy to appear. They stood perfectly still for several minutes before the battle exploded in the blink of an eye. Cybran submarines burst from the water, their light pulse laser barely scratching the hulls of the insect like robots. The Harbingers shot back instantly, but the submarines were but a distraction for the wave of Wagners that surged from the ocean floor and on the beach.

Dozens of amphibious tanks were destroyed in the first few seconds, but they were barely the Tip of the Spear as a group of four SCUs quickly followed and fired their EMP cannons. The disabling shockwaves created the opening that the Wagners needed and they pushed through it, destroying several harbingers in the process.

One of the SCUs surged ahead, brandishing a pole which automatically released a flag once it was fully out of the water. Bagby shouted a fierce battle cry as he fired his main gun, destroying a Harbinger and seriously damaging another. He moved ahead without slowing down, twirling the flag in the air once before slamming the pointed end straight through the damaged Harbinger's head: "My beach!"

Bagby was about to add another pun, but then a Monkeylord emerged behind him and fired its main laser. The red beam passed barely a meter above the SCU's head and sliced through four Harbingers in but a few seconds. Bagby dodged away as the experimental weapon move onward and then shook his head: "Those things might be fun, but they sure steal the poetry out of it."

The old Cybran turned to the three other pilots who had already laid out a few Sam launchers to take control of the air space and waved an arm: "Ok boys, you know the drill. Kill them or bed them, whichever you can do in two minutes."

Back on the other end of the battlefield, a Scathis which had been escorted by a pair of SCUs and a deceiver entered Redfog's forward base and stopped moving. The unit was transferred to the assassin who was then hailed by a pilot from the Yamagata Node: "Scathis transferred for your use. We have limited our experimental reinforcements to the Scathis against the UEF so that they won't learn of the Monkeylord just yet. If possible, we would like to keep that one a secret against them until the time where it is truly needed. That and it would not be very useful considering the presence of their Fatboys."

Redfog nodded curtly: "Agreed."

The Yamagata pilot searched for something else that would be inspiring to say, but there were limits to just how much the relations between the two bitter nodes could change: "Estimated time until the next Scathis is ready: five minutes."

The assassin closed the channel and took a moment to look at the battlefield. Each node was used to fighting with its own style, but every pilot was also a Cybran. Their AI implants allowed them to quickly learn from their mistakes and adapt their battle plans in record time. In the span of a few minutes, tactics that would have normally been mutually exclusive showed signs of adaptation, using each other's strengths and compensating for their weaknesses. Redfog nodded approvingly and assigned the first dozen targets to his new Scathis.

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Chapter 9

Wolf

"She told me that she had higher aspirations; that she was looking for a sense of adventure, hah! We're on the front line for crying out loud," complained Marc while chewing his piece of gum loudly. He turned to look at David and the latter only shrugged: "We're front line janitors; not ACU pilots. We're not saving the world or anything."

Marc snorted and banged a fist against one of the pillars that was part of the hospital's loft: "Oh sure, those hotshots have it all. They could just disintegrate the building and then remake it from scratch in a few minutes, couldn't they? But that would mean getting every patient, file, plush toy and souvenirs out of it first! Imagine doing that every time that you had a leaky pipe which would not happen in the first place if they changed the design according to what I sent them!"

David did not argue since he had heard similar arguments before against ACU pilots, doctors, nurses and just about every other profession out there that made more money than them. It seemed to him that he was listening to the same old rant every month or so. Still he nodded and said the only thing that had a chance of shortening it all: "Uh huh, yeah."

"See that pillar ahead?" said Marc while jabbing a finger forward: "The composite materials that those drones use to build it conducts too much heat. In winter, this makes the loft too hot, the snow melts on the roof, forms ice dams and then we either have water infiltrations or rust issues. Can you believe that the roof is meant to ward off a few plasma shots, but has issues if it snows too much, huh?"

Marc turned to David who nodded again: "Uh huh."

"You know I'm getting really sick of you always saying… hey what's that?" said Marc suddenly. He stopped dead in his tracks and leaned down: "The pipe is not leaking, but the sensor itself has been opened and there's something attached to it. There's no trace of rust anywhere …"

The technician scratched the back of his head in puzzlement as he tried to figure it out. Something was out of place and he felt the hair at the back of his neck stand on end: "Ok, I take it back, could you actually say something because this thing is creeping me out. I'll even settle for your usual 'uh huh'."

A loud crack was the only answer and Marc turned around just in time to see his partner fall to the ground with his head facing the wrong way. A single figure dressed in a black commando suit that covered its entire body stood in David's place. Everything happened in slow motion as Marc felt his mouth open wide and his piece of gum fall down. The intruder's movements were fluid, drawing a short plasma blade from his back and slashing forward. The technician felt a burning sensation along his forehead that lasted for a split second before everything blacked out. The gum fell on the ground and Marc followed quickly afterwards. The top half of his head rolled off as soon it collided with the ground.

Valerie removed her helmet and looked from the two bodies to her plasma wakizashi. She allowed the blade a moment to burn off the minute traces of blood that coated it before deactivating and sheeting it. She then quickly stripped off her gear, keeping only her underwear and her blade corset before moving to the technician's whose neck she had broken. She removed his clothes and put them on methodically, tightening and rearranging it so that the difference in size was barely perceptible.

Once that was done, she pulled a small box from her discarded equipment and opened it, revealing an array of surgical tools and tubes. She picked up one of the tubes and spread the pinkish substances on her hand before massaging her temples. A moment later, Valerie looked at her face in a small mirror and was satisfied that the plastic substance completely hid all traces of her facial circuitry. The rest of her implants would be hidden by her hair and all that was left was the final touch. She picked up a pair of skin colored implants and pressed them against her neck.

"Hello, my name is Valerie. It's a pleasure to see you," said the assassin. She smiled wickedly as she spoke, her voice now carrying the same resonance as any other human. It was the smile of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

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Kazuo bit his nails nervously as he looked at the time. Their stealth bases were established, but they still needed Valerie's signal before beginning the operation. It was an unlikely possibility, but if the prisoners were no longer in the base or were dead then starting the attack would accomplish nothing but put the assassin in mortal danger. Now that they had a sizable base, however, every second that passed was another opportunity for the UEF to spot them using their scout planes. If that happened then their whole plan would also come crashing down.

All those possibilities twirled through Kazuo's head and he had to bring both hands in front of his mouth in order to avoid hyperventilating. Gauge's face appeared on his monitor just then and the other pilot groaned when he understood what was going through the younger pilot's head: "Listen twerp… your plan is fine and we'll pull it through if we all play our part. Just think happy thoughts…"

Coming from any other pilot, the words might have been comforting, but the way that Gauge barked them almost made it look like a threat. Kazuo nodded, but kept both hands in front of his mouth: "What is your happy thought?"

The giant of a man crossed both arms and it looked for a moment as if he would not answer. He then snorted and looked away: "Bacon."

Kazuo dropped both of his hands, unsure whether it was an answer, a riddle or an insult. Gauge looked up as if he was remembering something and his face lost its near permanent scowl: "We got some in a raid five years ago and it was so delicious, so unique…"

Gauge suddenly realized that he had opened up more than he had intended and his gruff expression returned immediately: "Anyway, just toughen up. Valerie will be contacting us soon, I'm sure of it. I might not like Assumpta pilots, but I can tell you this: anyone that can survive in that node won't go down without a fight… or without leaving a long trail of bodies along the way."

XXXXX

"They're shelling the hell out of us, sir!" said the UEF pilot in alarm: "I don't know what they're using, but it has a much higher range than our Fatboys and a faster cadence than a heavy artillery battery. We're building additional mobile and stationary shield generators, but the attack pattern is erratic and we can't predict what they are aiming at. The enemy's firing rate has also doubled in the past five minutes!"

Riley nodded as he acknowledged the commander's report and leaned forward: "Prepare for an immediate evacuation. Coordinates will be forwarded to you in a moment."

With that, he deactivated the channel and turned to the nearby analysts: "Determine which gate nexus besides FortLytton is the closest and forward those coordinates. Meanwhile, I want FortLytton's gate to be ready to transport the prisoners out of the area in a moment's notice. The effects of the quantum wake in that area should have disappeared by now."

Samantha waited for the orders to be issued before creeping closer: "Assigning a gate that is farther away could cost us almost a minute per commander."

She did not add that such a delay could easily cost the life of a few of them, but the President nodded: "The prisoners at FortLytton are the top priority. If the facility comes under attack then we'll need to evacuate them immediately instead of waiting for the effects of a quantum wake to dissipate because a few commanders gated in. The information is that important…"

It was apparent by Samantha's silence that she was unconvinced and this caused Riley to turn around: "None of us here expected a Cybran counter attack of this magnitude. If we failed to anticipate that then it's not outside the realm of possibilities that they could take the fight to FortLytton. I want the team that we sent there to have every available opportunity to either extract information or stabilize our problematic Cybran, but if they come under attack then I want them out immediately."

Samantha opened her mouth for a split second, but quickly closed it. She could see by the intense gleam in Riley's eyes that nothing would deter him from that decision. The President whirled around suddenly and looked to the other analysts: "Give me a situation report along the Aeon border. I want those fanatics out of UEF territory within the hour."

XXXXX

"I have to admit it, I had my doubts about you, but you pulled it off," said the black ops operative with an encouraging nod: "We downloaded all of it and it's composed of simulation data with the complexity of a scale that goes beyond anything that I have ever seen. We can't interpret it just yet, but I'm sure that we'll manage to do it in a few days. I don't want to speculate on it, but it could even be data concerning Cybran experimental weapons!"

The black ops officer placed a comforting hand on DV's shoulder, but the hacker barely felt it. He knew that the data had nothing to do with experimentals or even with the war. It was heaven… a small simulated piece of heaven. Somehow, the thought of anyone else but Amber holding it felt wrong and the urge the punch the officer grew in DV's heart. At the same time, a single thought formed into his mind: was this how Cybrans felt?

"You look exhausted," said the operative after taking a good look at DV: "Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air. Feel free to keep the laptop, find a comfortable spot and browse through the data if you want. We have multiple backups here."

The black ops officer patted him on the shoulder one more time before moving off. DV sighed in resignation and nodded, the last piece of outrage being crushed by the simple fact that he could not change anything.

XXXXX

A plastic cup dropped into the machine and a brownish liquid poured in it. When the concoction was complete, the glass window slid open and Desjar took the drink. He sniffed at it cautiously before taking a sip. He grimaced immediately and looked around for a way to dispose of it: "I guess that getting or growing some real coffee over here was too much of a hassle."

It looked like enjoying a pleasant meal and drink would not be a viable distraction and the pilot threw the disgusting drink in the garbage disposal unit. On impulse, he reached for his transmitter: "Hey Arnold, anything interesting happening out there."

The other pilot's face appeared on his transmitter and Desjar immediately knew that something was wrong: "Nothing good I'm afraid."

Desjar waited for an explanation, but he found his answer simply by listening carefully to the transmissions that were playing in the background: "Am I hearing what I think I'm hearing? We're not supposed to access live communications from other sectors… so how is it looking?"

"Apparently we're getting kicked around by the Cybrans and those bastards at Earthcom are trying to evacuate our guys off Minerva," answered Arnold. He frowned as he added: "They want to keep this gate ready for the prisoners 'just in case'."

It was obvious by Arnold's tone that he did not like the idea. Desjar was about to say something to cheer him up when the door opened at the other end of the hall. The same guy that the black ops team had previously dragged along stumbled out and sank into the nearest chair.

"I'll call you back Arnold," said Desjar while nodding to himself: "I might have some answers sitting right in front of me."

Arnold raised an eyebrow, but nodded and closed the channel. Desjar made his way towards the obviously shaken man and took a seat near him: "Are you feeling well? I'd offer you a cup of coffee, but considering what I sampled you might confuse it with an assassination attempt."

DV barely acknowledged Desjar's banter and kept looking at his laptop: "We had no right to do this to her. She had nothing to do with the war or anything else…"

Desjar did not know what had happened inside that room, but he knew better than to try to lighten the mood again with his usual tricks. It did not take any deductive skills to realize that the man sitting next to him was not part of Earthcom and he was certainly not a member of the black ops team.

Deep down, the pilot did not feel very cheerful either considering that he had been indirectly involved in the massacre of a Cybran node, responsible for separating children from their families and got his ACU seriously damaged in the same day. He was still in the process of figuring a new way to talk to the man near him when a technician passed in front of them. Desjar waited until she was out of reach before commenting: "Look at those curves…"

DV looked up from his contemplation and the two men gazed at the newcomer's back as she made her way around the corner. She had a light and athletic body that moved gracefully with each step. There was something else about her as well that Desjar could not put his finger on and attributed to some unknown womanly charm. DV looked back at him for a split second and gestured towards his hands: "You're married."

"And happily I might add. But still…" said Desjar while leaning forward as she disappeared around the corner. He smiled slightly as he added: "One can still appreciate the view. I did not see you looking away either."

The hacker blushed and pointed a finger towards the glassed room in front of them: "I'm not married and I was not the only one that noticed either."

Desjar smiled widely, believing that he had found an angle to approach that would eventually lead him to some answers. He followed DV's extended fingers and looked at the Cybran children. His gaze crossed that of the eldest child who quickly looked away as if he had been caught while doing something wrong. Desjar's smile slowly faded as all of his instincts told him that something was wrong. The child was not embarrassed as if he had somehow glimpsed at a woman inappropriately or if he had stolen his older brother's erotic magazines. This was the look of a child who had been caught doing something terribly wrong and was desperately acting as if nothing had happened.

"What coloration was her skin?" asked Desjar to no one in particular. DV assumed that he was speaking to him and shrugged: "I don't know… I was not exactly focusing on that part of her body."

Desjar stood up slowly and looked repeatedly from DV, the room with the children and the corridor that the technician had taken. He finally patted his holster to make sure that his gun was still strapped and started walking after her. DV stood up behind him: "What's going on?"

The pilot ignored the question and kept moving forward while motioning for the hacker to sit back down.

XXXXX

A few more minutes passed and Kazuo was still biting his nails nervously when a green light suddenly appeared on his monitor. He raised both arms up in victory and cried: "Yatta! She did it!"

The Jade Node pilot typed furiously on his keyboard, accessing the UEF base's network using the opening that the Assumpta assassin had provided. He spoke to Gauge without looking at the other pilot on his monitor: "Three minutes!"

XXXXX

Desjar cursed loudly as he ran through the corridor. He had lost the technician's trail due to his earlier hesitation and he had spent the last few minutes running around the nearby corridors without any success. He finally stopped in the main hall on the first floor and gave it some further thought. If he was a lone terrorist moving on foot then what would he do? Place a bomb in the hospital to kill the prisoners before any information could be extracted? He had never heard of Cybrans killing each other in such a fashion and a bombing run would make more sense in any case.

The idea of hailing the station's security center and raise an alarm crossed his mind, but what would he say? That a Cybran kid looked at a hot technician and got the jitters? There was no way that they would take him seriously on the basis of a gut feeling or through the description that he could provide. Desjar was about to give up when he heard a voice further down the corridor: "Man did that newbie look hot or what? I'll see if she wants to take a look at my pipe a bit later if you know what I mean."

Desjar spotted the pair of guards near the hospital's entrance and rushed towards them. They tensed when they saw him run, but he brought his identity card up as he reached them: "I'm Colonel Desjar, is the woman that you're talking about a technician about this high and walking at a quick pace by any chance?"

He brought his hand at the level of his chin and the two guards nodded quickly: "Oh yeah, hard to miss a new face around here and especially when it's attached to um… I mean, yes sir. She passed right by us a few minutes ago and went towards the maintenance tunnel's access hatch. She's probably going to reinitiate the gate's command codes now that the newly built one has been transferred to FortLytton's computer core. We can't leave it with the default password after all or something like that."

The string of curses that escaped Desjar's mouth startled both guards. If his instincts were right then the gate would be sabotaged just like what happened on Minerva: "The two of you come with me, hurry!"

XXXXX

"Arnold! Arnold do you hear me?" came Desjar's voice through the transmitter. The urgency in his voice quickened Arnold's moves as he opened a channel: "What's wrong?"

"I think we've been infiltrated," reported Desjar in a hurry: "Send scout planes on a wider arc and see if you can spot anything that would indicate an imminent Cybran attack."

Arnold quickly sent the instructions to the other ACU pilots and readied his own units for battle: "Did you pick up anything down there?"

"Nothing yet," answered Desjar. His voice darkened as he added: "But if I don't call you back in the next five minutes then you'll know something happened."

XXXXX

Valerie bolted the panel back in place using the tools that she had acquired along with her uniform. She dusted off her hands and frowned at the sheer amount of primitive machinery that surrounded her in the base's underground maintenance corridors. The sound itself was deafening and the leaking pipes were proof enough that the design had not been adapted to the planet's environments. The whole setup would rust and decay in time much like the UEF.

"Freeze!" came the sudden order. The shout startled the assassin who cursed at herself for being distracted by her surroundings. She turned her head slightly and spotted two guards and what appeared to be an officer without his uniform with their weapons trained on her. The officer shouted loudly enough to be heard over the cacophony from the nearby machines: "Name, rank and identification number, now!"

The assassin raised both hands and turned around slowly as she spoke: "Valerie Rosetta, technician second class, identification number twelve, three hundred and forty three, recently transferred. I was performing routine maintenance concerning the integration of the new quantum gate."

Desjar kept his gun trained on her and barely twisted his head towards one of the guards: "Check it and hurry."

The man did as he was asked, picking up his transmitter and hailing the security department. Desjar kept his weapon trained on the technician as the guard spoke the identification codes, but his gut feeling intensified as he looked into her eyes. They looked back at him unblinkingly with a mixture of cold anger and intense determination… the same type of eyes that the Cybran children had.

"She's not filed," reported the guard a moment later. The man could not help but eye Valerie's body as he added: "But it can take a few days for a record to be transferred properly in all our systems."

This was not the time to try and score points with the hot new arrival and Desjar was about to shout exactly that when the lights suddenly blinked red, indicating that their base was under attack. They were distracted for a split second and that was all the time that Valerie needed. A trio of throwing knives that had been hidden in her sleeves appeared in the blink of an eye and she dodged to the side while throwing them. Desjar did not see the blades, but reacted to the burst of motion by pressing the trigger, dodging to the side and shouting: "Down!"

He felt the blade pass within a hair of his ear and he tried to use his free hand to push the guard to his right along with him. The ACU pilot hit the floor rolling and had enough momentum to reach the cover of a large pipe. When he looked back, he saw one of the guards topple to the ground with a blade through the eye while the one that he had pushed fell screaming while holding the side of his bleeding neck. Desjar fired towards the assassin, but cursed as she jumped and somersaulted around, moving as if she was a ballerina before finding cover behind a pillar. Desjar emptied a clip to keep her pinned down and reached for the bleeding guard: "Come on!"

A pair of knives flashed through the air and Desjar barely retracted his arm in time to avoid one of them. The second caught the guard under the jaw, piercing it and transforming his screams into a fit of convulsions as he drowned in his own blood. Desjar's scrambled behind the pipe while reloading and held on to his gun tightly as beads of nervous sweat accumulated on his forehead.

XXXXX

Multiple enemy signals appeared simultaneously on Arnold's radar and he cursed loudly. He and the other commanders were ready thanks to Desjar's warnings and he immediately opened a channel to Earthcom: "This is Arnold from FortLytton, we're under attack. If you wanted to pull out your prisoners then now would be a hell of a good time to do so. We'll keep them busy long enough for the evacuation and then we'll see if we can take the fight to them."

There was an immediate confirmation and Arnold opened another channel to Desjar: "Desjar come in. Desjar!"

XXXXX

Valeria stood calmly behind the pillar with a throwing knife in each hand. She had taken the time to open her jacket, revealing the multiple blades that were strapped to her chest and making it easier to reach them. The assassin had already determined that the officer facing her was not someone working at a desk job. His reflexes were too finely honed, allowing him to avoid two of her blades and even forcing her to use a second one to finish off a guard that should have died in her initial attack.

The assassin's thoughts were interrupted when the officer's transmitter burst to life: "Desjar come in. Desjar!"

The officer grabbed the transmitter with his free hand, but Valerie was already moving, sprinting from behind her cover and towards the opposite wall to get a better angle. She saw the officer with the transmitter in hand through the half formed reflections of the surrounding pipes. She calculated the angles precisely thanks to her AI and threw her first knife. It hit one of the pipes and ricocheted towards the officer, tearing a gash along his shoulder. The man gasped and dropped the transmitter in surprise. Valerie threw the second knife and it hit the dropped transmitter a second later, piercing its screen and slapping it away in the process.

The assassin ducked as a hail of bullets answered her attack and she pushed against the wall to roll back towards her pillar. To the officer's credit, one bullet did graze her leg, but it was a minor flesh wound and she was back where she started in less than two seconds. She drew a new pair of blades as the man reloaded his gun.

Valerie looked around the corner of her pillar and spoke in a cold voice that somehow carried over the noise of the nearby machinery: "Desjar… How will Jessy react when she learns that you were killed today?"

The following hesitation was all the confirmation that she needed and she smiled wickedly as she spoke: "So you are indeed the ACU pilot known as Desjar. I admit that it was a lucky guess on my part, but you have an unusual name and your reflexes were a dead giveaway. Our files on you are quite extensive so go ahead and tell me: what will Jessy say at your funeral… and what will she say to your daughter when she grows up?"

Desjar felt the sudden urge to charge with his gun blazing, but he knew that this was exactly what the assassin wanted. The wound along his shoulder stung, but he could tell from a quick look that the cut was not deep. The ACU pilot briefly looked around the corner to memorize their environment before speaking: "Nice try, freak, but you're trapped and I'm covering the only exit out of this chamber. You can't blow up the gate from here without getting killed in the process and you won't make it out even with a barrel full of knives!"

The assassin shrugged slightly and spoke with the same emotionless voice: "You are right about one thing: you are in my way. I have a limited number of knives and you have a limited number of bullets. It is very likely that one of us will not survive this day… but I'm ready to die. Are you?"

XXXXX

XXXXX

XXXXX

Chapter 10

Human hearts

DV started the program and watched as it deleted the encrypted security protocols of his computer. He had written that program two months ago and was surprised that it actually worked on the machine that the UEF had provided. A few movements of his fingers were all that he needed to unlock its backup module and he heard a satisfying click a second later.

The hacker quickly removed his gloves and headset before opening the side compartment and taking a look at the backup disk. It was no bigger than a watch and unlike the traditional storage unit, it could only read and write data but not delete it. It was the ultimate safety measure against malicious programs… and the one location where it was absolutely certain that Amber's paradise was located.

The door behind DV opened and the hacker barely managed to close the side compartment in time as the leader of the black ops team grabbed his arm: "We're under attack! We'll board the first transport that leaves with the other Cybrans. Those terrorists won't have the opportunity to steal what we have acquired!"

DV sighed as he was once again dragged down the corridors. He spared a look behind him and caught a glimpse of the Cybran children as they too were being escorted to the personnel transport chamber. A small part of him wondered why they were suddenly so calm and willing to cooperate.

XXXXX

Desjar stood with his back against the pipe, trying his best to keep the hand that was holding his pistol from shaking. He mentally cursed the low level encryption protocols that were used in his transmissions to Earth and he had no doubt that the Cybrans were quite capable of intercepting and decoding those. He had simply never imagined that individual Cybrans would memorize such personal information in order to use it against him. If they knew that much then what else could they do?

Hundreds of scenarios flashed through Desjar's head in rapid succession, each of them involving his family in a way or another. The ACU pilot forced himself to stop thinking about it and took a steadying breath. The problem was not that he was facing a skillful assassin or that she possessed intimate knowledge about him. The problem was simply that he had refused to face the very possibility of his death and its associated consequences up until now.

"You really want to know about my family?" asked Desjar with a snort: "Jessy would be devastated and she would mourn for me. Nevertheless, I'd expect her to recover and to find happiness again one day. I would also trust her to tell our daughter what I stood for when she deems her old enough."

Desjar took a deep breath and steadied his hand, no longer as nervous now that he had spoken his thoughts aloud. The assassin had not moved from behind her cover and her voice remained unchanging: "You still have time to escape if you want."

Was it a trap or a form of mercy? Desjar could not really tell which and he smiled sadly: "I can't do that. As much as I'd like to stay close to my family, I still have to do my part to keep them safe."

"Your reasoning is foolish," said Valerie while twirling both of her throwing knives. For a moment, she yearned for the wakizashi that she had left with the rest of her gear: "But at least it is an honest answer. I promise that I'll make your death as quick as possible."

Desjar chuckled as he stood ready: "Do forgive me if I actually try to prevent that."

The UEF pilot had meant it as a jest, but had not expected the serious reply: "You are forgiven."

Valerie sprang into motion before anything else could be said, throwing three knives in quick succession. One of them hit the wires of a nearby junction box, throwing the entire room into complete darkness. The remaining two hit a set of emergency lights and destroyed the projectors before they could come online. Desjar knew that the assassin would most likely never have allowed him to leave the room, but he half regretted not taking her offer anyway. The sound of rapid footsteps warned him that he had better act quickly or die and he sprinted to the side while shooting four times in quick succession.

Each shot illuminated the room for a split second, revealing the assassin as she ran, jumped or somersaulted his way. None of the bullets found their mark and Desjar could remember her words as she closed in the final two meters: 'I'll make your death as quick as possible'. There was no time to dodge, no practical way to block and hitting her seemed impossible. One last desperate idea sprung to mind and there might not even be enough time to do it.

Valerie made one last dodge to the side while keeping a low profile to minimize the chances of being hit and sprang forward with a knife in hand. She had memorized the layout of the room perfectly and adjusted her course after the illumination from each shot. She thrust with her arm and felt the familiar feeling of her blade piercing flesh and sinking all the way to the hilt. The UEF pilot must have been about to jump to the side since his body fell away from her immediately and collided with a nearby pipe. She silently regretted being unable to drive a second blade through the body, but the sound of the following crash combined with the nearby machinery made it impossible to tell how it was positioned and there were limits to what she could do without a light source. Valerie only hoped that she had delivered on her promise as she stormed out of the room and headed towards the personnel gate chamber.

XXXXX

"You'd better not run, you'd better not cry! You better look out we're gonna kick your hide!" sang the old pilot with obvious glee: "Bagby and boys are coming to town! They know when you'll be sleeping…"

The song went on and Dostya grinned despite herself, imagining the Aeon and UEF analysts that were listening in on the low level encryption transmission. They would no doubt try to find some kind of code or hidden meaning in the words, but the truth was that there was no meaning to Bagby's off key raving. The old pilot was simply being himself which would be disturbing to anyone who was not used to it.

An urgent transmission with a high encoding indicator suddenly flashed on her screen and she muted the song before opening the channel: "This is Dostya."

The agitated face of a young pilot appeared on her screen and Dostya recognized him from the meeting. The man bowed his head briefly before speaking: "This is Kazuo Ishii of the Jade Node; we are in need of assistance. We have initiated an attack to rescue the prisoners at FortLytton and as far as we can tell, everything is going according to plan. The UEF module carrying the prisoners should be transported to these coordinates within the next few minutes. Please assist in its retrieval."

Dostya's eyes widened as she looked at her tactical screen, but fortunately for them, the coordinates were behind their line. She still frowned darkly at the younger pilot: "If the UEF follows standard protocol then there will be armed guards inside that transport and everyone could be killed the moment that they realize that they are on Minerva. We don't have enough time to muster a commando squad at the coordinates that you provided!"

The Jade Node pilot nodded quickly, but did not back down: "We could not risk sending a warning prior to our attack for fear of detection. However, Valerie will be aboard and her ACU is already set up at a hidden base to be transported afterwards. If we're lucky she will..."

Redfog's face appeared on both of their screens and Dostya remembered at that moment that she kept an open link with all other high ranked commanders. The assassin stared at Kazuo furiously and this time, the Jade Node pilot appeared to shrink right in front of them: "You're a fool if you believe in luck! Dostya, I will handle this and Kazuo…"

The leader of the Assumpta node glared at the younger pilot for a few seconds before speaking in a low and threatening voice: "If Valerie does not make it then pray that we do not cross paths…"

XXXXX

Rhiza's hands moved over her controls in a blur, but while her mind was still focused on the battle, her heart was elsewhere. It was neither the Avatar's orders nor the implications behind them. Every Aeon commander knew that ordering a retreat in the middle of a large scale battle meant that the last few to leave would most likely die. Although it was sad way to leave this existence, there was no shame in death since it would only mean that they would become one with The Way.

What disturbed Rhiza were the Cybran transmissions that she listened to while fighting. Most were just different types of gibberish ranging from songs, cries, litanies or threats, but it was not the words that she was paying attention to, but the feelings behind them. Training in The Way allowed an individual to grow a greater level of empathy based on nonverbal clues and most commanders used those teachings to get an edge on their opponents.

Naturally she felt an abundance of anger in the Cybran transmissions, but there was also many other emotions that she could pick up such as hatred, pleasure, vengeance, justice, honor and fury. Many of those emotions had no place in a battle and most were even contradictory by nature. So how could anyone or anything fight with such motivations and more puzzling still, how could they all fight together?

A light appeared on her monitor, indicating that it was her turn to transfer her troops to the other commanders and head for their gate nexus. Rhiza did as instructed and then gazed at the chaotic battle scene one last time: "Hold fast sisters. I hope that many of you return home safely."

XXXXX

A wing of interceptors decimated the Cybran bombers, but Arnold pulled them back before they went too far. One of the other commanders was about to send a task force composed of Titans north, but Arnold opened a channel to stop him: "Hold it. We're not moving out until the prisoners are off the planet; Presidential orders. We can't leave a single hole in our defense."

"But sir, the Cybrans forces are dispersed all over the map and have yet to mount a single successful push!" countered one of the other pilots: "We should strike now before they can get entrenched any further."

The commander's reasoning mirrored Arnold's, but both of them knew that it would be folly to disobey a direct order under those circumstances. Deep down, Arnold knew that something about the whole attack felt wrong, but he would only be free to act once the prisoners were off world.

He tried to hail Desjar again, but there was still no answer and Arnold's knuckles whitened in worry: "Stop playing stupid jokes and answer! I don't want to go see Jessy with bad news…"

XXXXX

Only a minute had passed since the altercation and nothing had moved in the darkness during that time. The only sound that could be heard was the constant cacophony of the nearby machinery and the steady whine of a power transfer. A figure suddenly slumped out of the dark room while keeping an arm close to his chest and using the other to feel his way through. Desjar looked around in the dimly light corridor to make sure that the assassin was not there before cursing and then saying: "That was the stupidest…"

The whine of the nearby power capacitors warned him that it was nearly full and his eyes widened at the implications. He ran as quickly as he could with his arm dripping blood and jumped down a flight of stairs just as the whine reached its peak. Desjar rolled and gasped as a surge of pain coursed through his arm, but managed to stop himself and stayed crouched in a ball. He waited like this for several seconds before finally raising his head: "No explosion?"

The pilot sat against the wall, lowered his gun to the ground and looked at his injured arm while cursing himself even more. He had known in that last split second that there was nothing that he could do to stop the assassin's charge and that relying on luck would have been suicidal. Instead of firing a fifth and final shot, he had brought both arms up vertically so that they could block the most obvious attack angles: his throat and heart. Lucky for him, the assassin had opted to stab him through the chest, but the blade had instead pierced his right arm. Without any light and with the deafening sound of the nearby machinery there had been no way for her to tell if her blow had been a fatal one, but the whole situation puzzled him.

Desjar removed his shirt while taking care to minimize contact with the bleeding arm and used it as a bandage while thinking of the situation. He was the only one that could identify her and yet she had left in a hurry without making sure that he was dead. Time was therefore a factor, but why had the power capacitor not exploded? It did not take much more than a single overload to start a chain reaction that would disable a quantum gate for several minutes at least. Desjar found his answer as a second power capacitor powered up.

They were not going to destroy the quantum gate… they were going to use it! With the quantum gate back under FortLytton's control, it could technically be possible for someone to hack it's systems to change the coordinates. The odds were that only one transport could be diverted in such a manner, but since the prisoners would be transported first then that was all that the Cybrans needed. The attack was not an attempt to take back the prisoners through military power but a gambit to force the UEF to use its gate!

Desjar finished his bandage and immediately reached for his transmitter, but remembered that the assassin had destroyed it. He could go back in the maintenance room and try to find the device that that they were using to hack the gate remotely, but without the tools and without any light source it would be impossible to do it in time. Desjar took his pistol which barely had five bullets left before rushing down the corridor after her.

XXXXX

Eleven of the Cybrans had been kept in the prison cells close to the quantum gate and were transferred the moment that the attack had begun. Peuran was amongst them with his hands and feet restrained so that he could barely move. They were all placed in the same model of transport that had been used on Minerva and the security chief looked at his captors with contempt. There was no point in making an outburst now, however, and he still allowed the guards to chain him to his seat. The occasion to act would present itself… hopefully.

The sound of footsteps alerted Peuran that others were coming and he assumed a non-aggressive stance. He heard something else as well and for a moment, he could have sworn that it was someone crying. The door opened and the sound immediately confirmed that it was the case and that it came from one of the Cybran children. Peuran could not blame whoever it was and only so much stoicism could be expected from children, but he only understood the reason when Amber's body was carried aboard the transport.

She was dead and every Cybran in the transport realized it instantly. A sheet was covering her frail body, but did not mask the tubes and probes that the UEF doctors had not bothered to remove in their haste to transport her out. Peuran felt the reality of the situation crush him and the small part of him that managed to remain rational was glad that everyone else in the transport had similar reactions. He had failed to save Delphi's sister… and because of that an angel had died.

The cries intensified and caught Peuran's attention. The youngest of the Cybran's children was the most upset and the security chief knew that some of the other adults that had been close to Amber could barely hold back their own tears. Something was off however… children from the Sunam Node cried like every other, but not that loudly. Peuran's rational side took over as he looked for what was amiss and his gaze was immediately drawn to the eldest child who was looking at him straight in the eyes. He saw the same pain in them, but he saw something else in there… a shred of hope.

When the eldest child knew that he had Peuran's attention he looked towards the door for a fraction of a second, towards the youngest child and then back to Peuran. He then opened his eyes wider as if to make a point out of it. In that instant, the chief of security was glad that there was more to a Cybran than merely cybernetic implants and he understood the message. The UEF base was under attack, that much was obvious, but somehow the children had spotted something out there. The youngest child's cries were genuine… but they were also exaggerated to draw everyone's attention. Peuran only hoped that he had picked up the clues correctly as he allowed his own tears to flow: "She was an angel… just an angel that had nothing to do with this war!"

His words stunned Cybrans, guards and black ops operatives alike. The other prisoners looked at him with a mixture of shock, betrayal, confusion and sadness. A few of them spilled genuine tears while others realized that something was up and followed his lead by muttering their own curses.

The man who appeared to be in charge of the black ops team looked at them in disgust and shook his head: "Who knew Cybrans were so easily broken…"

XXXXX

In all of DV's life, there would never be a more disturbing sight than a group of Cybrans crying in unison around Amber's body. It was made even more disturbing by the fact that he was crying with them over someone that he had barely met for a few minutes. One of the black ops members noticed this and sneered in disgust: "Show some dignity for crying out loud!"

The hacker opened the side panel of his computer instead of answering, ejected the backup disk and placed it in Amber's hand: "This belonged to her..."

The Cybrans looked at him in confusion and DV felt a pair of hands grasp him by the collar and lift him off his seat before slamming him in the wall: "What the hell are you doing? They are the enemy! They are nothing more than cybernetic terrorists bent on destroying humanity as we know it! Heck, there's barely anything human left in them anymore!"

DV did not even try to defend himself and dropped his computer to the side: "Is there anything human left in you?"

A blow in the guts was his only answer.

XXXXX

Three blades… that was the extent of Valerie's arsenal as she made her way towards the transport while appearing to make routine checks. If was likely that there was a whole commando team in there which represented perhaps eight or nine soldiers. It was probable, however, that most of them had been ordered to board the transport in a hurry and that they therefore did not have any time to get suited up. Humans being what they were, it was likely that the commandos had removed most of their heavy armor and weapons once their team had been successfully extracted from Minerva.

"Is it my imagination or are the power capacitors taking a long time to charge?" observed a nearby technician, exposing one major flaw of Kazuo's plan. The Jade Node pilot was using the hacking transmitter that Valerie had implanted to change the coordinates and fool the UEF's sensors into relaying false data. However, it could not change the simple fact that it took a lot more power to send the transport without a receiving gate on the other end. If the guards inside the transport realized it then her odds of overpowering them would be greatly reduced. The entire plan revolved around the only Cybrans that she had managed to get in contact with while using hand signs… a trio of children.

The assassin's concerns evaporated when she moved within hearing range of the transport and heard a gruff voice shout over the cries of many: "I thought that you would be an asset, but you're nothing but a disgrace… no, a traitor! You prefer machines over your very own kind!"

Valerie smiled, unsure whether the children were somehow involved, but persuaded that that she could not have dreamed of a better distraction. Her thoughts were interrupted as another technician moved close to her: "Hey, your leg is bleeding."

"I just got careless while opening a panel with a sharp edge, but I'll have it looked at once the battle over," answered Valerie as confidently as she could: "I have to play my part first before I worry about scratches!"

Valerie smiled widely as if to emphasis her point and the other technician looked at her doubtfully. The man then shrugged and went back to work: "Whatever you say, but being overzealous in the maintenance department never got me any promotion. If I were you, I'd use it as an excuse to go on medical leave."

The assassin pretended to give it some thought before nodding: "Um… that could be interesting. I could use an off world vacation…"

Valerie nodded one last time before resuming her course towards the transport. She could not help but smile wickedly as she considered the irony of her last statement.

XXXXX

Desjar stumbled down the corridor and nearly slammed into a technician. The man cried out in surprise at first, but quickly dropped his tools and raised his hands when he noticed Desjar's gun: "Don't shoot! I have a wife and kid!"

"The personnel gate, where is it?" asked Desjar in a hurry. The technician pointed a trembling finger to his right and Desjar nodded his thanks before adding: "Call the control center and tell them to scrub the launch if they can, we've been hacked!"

The odds were that too much power had been drawn out already and that the system would not allow a shutdown due to the risks of overload. Even if it did, it was likely that the Cybrans still had access to their systems and would attempt to hinder their efforts. In the end, it all came down to whether Desjar could warn the others of the impending attack or stop the assassin himself.

Desjar heard the familiar sounds of a personnel gate complex up ahead and the first thing that he saw when he reached it was that the transport was still in place. The second was the assassin step inside and he immediately raised a hand to point at her: "Stop…"

Someone tackled him before he could finish the sentence and cried out: "He's got a gun, stop him!"

XXXXX

Valerie dimly heard someone shouting outside, but the commotion was nothing next to the drama that was going on within the transport. There were fifteen Cybran prisoners including one which appeared to be dead. They were all weeping or otherwise trying to keep their captors' attention, but the star of the show was apparently a confrontation between some kind of tech specialist and a black ops operative. Because of them, almost everyone had their backs turned to her. Valerie counted a total of eight men carrying side arms, but none of them were wearing full combat armor. Some still had pieces, but each had weak points.

A pair of blades appeared in her hands and she stabbed the nearest soldiers without anyone noticing, cutting off the artery that pumped blood into his brain. The assassin then steered the falling body so that one of the prisoners strapped against the wall would catch it. The UEF soldier was dead as the Cybran prisoner caught him and a split second later two more found a blade plunged into their spine.

XXXXX

DV dimly remembered thinking that Riley would have never trusted him no matter what he had done to prove himself. The point was driven home as the black ops leader punched him in the guts again. The man slammed the hacker into the wall one more time for good measures and was about to say something else, but DV was no longer focusing on him but was instead looking at the falling soldiers near the entrance: "Oh no…"

The leader of the black ops team realized that something was wrong and he looked back in time to see a second pair of soldiers fall to the ground. The shock was so great that he lost his footing for a moment as he tried to twist around and winded up falling into the row of bound Cybrans. The motion sent DV tumbling as well and he fell face to face with one the prisoners who halted his descent as much as she could. She looked at him straight in the eyes before saying: "Get out before it's too late."

She pushed him back up with what limited movement that she could muster and he ran towards the exit. He saw the assassin disguised as a technician flick her wrist in his direction and a throwing knife flew towards him. The weapon barely missed his head and caught one of the soldiers in the eye. DV ran towards the exit and feared being cut down as he passed by the assassin, but she had other priorities.

XXXXX

"I'm an ACU pilot, you moronic idiot!" shouted Desjar as he tried to wrestle his way free. One of the technicians twisted his injured arm and he cried out as he added: "There's an assassin in the transport."

Three technicians were trying to wrestle him to the ground, but the fourth turned around and saw the splash of blood that covered one of the windows: "Holy cow, he's right!"

Everyone let go of Desjar and he managed to get back up just as the hacker that he had met earlier came stumbling out of the transport. The transport's door closed behind him in that instant and Desjar cursed loudly.

XXXXX

Peuran held on to the lead black ops operative as much as he could, but his restraints limited his movements. Yet every second that he managed to hold on was one more where the assassin could do her work. Her graceful movements were both scary and strangely beautiful all at once, but they definitely marked her as an Assumpta. At the moment, she was still the most welcomed sight that the security officer had ever seen.

Five soldiers had been killed before anyone had realized that she was there and a thrown knife had finished off another. She stabbed one of the remaining soldiers repeatedly with her two remaining knives while keeping him between her and the last one that Peuran was holding. The struggling black ops operative's foot came up just then and caught Peuran under the nose, breaking it and slamming his head against the wall. This weakened his hold slightly and the man managed to break himself free and reach for his gun. He had no firing angle on the assassin so he used his last remaining option: he emptied his entire clip through the remaining soldier. The man collapsed and so did the assassin.

XXXXX

Desjar grabbed DV and dragged him behind the security line. The secondary panel was lowering in order to seal off the transport from the rest of the facility and Desjar brought his gun up and took aim. One of the technicians came to him and tried to stop him: "What are you doing? If you…"

"If I shoot one of the transport's window open then the energy wave will kill them all before they reach their destination, right?" shouted Desjar back while steadying his hand: "It's the only way to prevent them from escaping. The transport has been hacked…"

The technician looked from the transport to Desjar repeatedly: "But if you're wrong then you'll be accused of treason and executed…"

The ACU pilot hesitated, but not because of what the man had said. His vision was beginning to get blurry from the loss of blood, but he could see the eldest child through the transport's window. Time slowed for an instant as the two of them locked stares, but Desjar did not press the trigger. The child raised his hand as if to say goodbye, but Desjar could barely register the motion. His gun fell from his trembling fingers and the ACU pilot collapsed to the ground. The secondary panel closed shut, sealing the transport from the rest of the facility.

XXXXX

A bright flash blinded them all and the leader of the black ops team closed his eyes reflexively. He expected to die in that moment, but when he opened his eyes, the assassin was sprawled on the ground and her throwing knives were apparently stuck in the last soldier. Four bullets had found her body with two of them piercing her belly, one opening her hip and another having torn her shoulder. The man reloaded his weapon and advanced on her: "You killed my men, you freak!"

He crept closer and kicked her in the face for good measure. There was nothing that the assassin could do to prevent it and the black ops leader grew bolder and kicked her two more times: "I won't go easy on you, any of you! We'll extract everything, any piece of information! Then we'll do it again and again until there's nothing left to pick. This is the end of the road, welcome to Earth!"

The operative laughed hysterically when the door opened as if to confirm his predictions. Had he been more in control of his emotions and looked out the window then he would have noticed that there were not inside the receiving end of a quantum gate and he would have reacted more quickly. Instead, his eyes widened when he saw the figure in the doorway with a sword in hand. The figure sprinted towards him with inhuman speed and slashed through his shoulder in a heartbeat. The black ops operative felt a sharp pain and then to his surprise his arm fell to the ground. He screamed as his assailant grabbed him by the throat with a single hand and lifted him off his feet.

Redfog looked at the screaming human in contempt and was about to finish him when he noticed Valerie's broken body. He changed his mind in that instant, sheeting his blade, bringing both hands around the man's neck and upper jaw and squeezing slowly. An agonizing scream filled the transport followed by the sound of rupturing flesh and breaking bones. It ended with a wet gurgle and when it was over, the leader of the Assumpta node threw the useless body to the ground.

The assassin's eyes met Peuran for a moment before he reached down, picked up the operative's keys and threw it to him. Redfog then went to Valerie, lifted her and walked out of the transport.

XXXXX

"All right, the prisoners are out," said Arnold in relief. He then took control of a large attack group before adding: "Time to show those bastards what real commanders are made of!"

Arnold grinned wildly as he selected a group of broadswords and air superiority fighters. He was just about to send them out for an attack when a string of explosions lit the horizon. Arnold looked at his tactical screen and confirmed that all Cybran signals were gone: "They… left?"

Someone hailed Arnold and he quickly opened the channel: "This is FortLytton's control center; our quantum gate has been hacked and the Cybran prisoners have used it to escape. We have also found colonel Desjar…"

Arnold's eyes widened and he plotted a course straight for the quantum gate.

Epilogue

Twenty-four hours later…

The door opened and Redfog stepped out of the room. The assassin stopped briefly in front of Ell and looked at her. She nodded slightly and answered his unasked question: "She will make a full recovery given time. I'll make sure that she's in peak condition before returning her to you."

The assassin nodded and walked away without saying anything. Kazuo and Gauge stood against the wall further down the corridor and the Jade Node pilot held his breath when the assassin stopped in front of him. Redfog turned his head and glared at him for several seconds before finally saying: "Make plans with fewer variables…"

The assassin then walked away and Kazuo let go of the breath that he had been holding. Gauge gave him a gentle slap on the shoulder, but the giant's blow was enough to knock the wind out of him: "I guess you're off the hook, huh?"

"I don't know," answered Kazuo, a note of worry slipping into his voice: "He seems kind of angry."

Ell made her way towards them and shrugged slightly: "Remember who you're talking about. With him, there's angry and maybe there's 'less angry'. At any rate, you'll never know whether it's an order, a piece of advice or a threat. Just do yourself a favor and take the time to learn from your mistakes before he decides that he would make a better teacher."

Kazuo sighed in resignation, but Ell placed a comforting hand on his shoulder: "Valerie has been asking about you. You can go ahead and visit her if you want."

The Jade Node pilot nodded while Gauge stretched his arms: "Well, that's my cue to leave. Drop by the bar at the Red Skull Node when you're done, squirt. I heard that Bagby's throwing a party and everyone's invited."

Gauge watched Kazuo nod and step into Valerie's room. The giant snorted when he was gone and spoke under his breath: "Too kind for his own damned good."

XXXXX

"I'm glad that you're ok," said Kazuo while sinking into the chair next to the bed: "I was really worried about you and if there's anything that I can do to make up for my lack of foresight then all you have to do is ask."

Valerie nodded curtly at Kazuo's offer: "Thank you, but no."

The two of them waited together for several minutes in silence. When Kazuo dared to truly look at Valerie's face, he saw a fleeting smile and he dared to break the silence: "You look… happy? From the way that Redfog walked out of here earlier, I thought that he was furious."

"He was," answered Valerie cryptically. Kazuo looked at her in puzzlement and she shrugged slightly as she added: "He crushed the operative's head instead of slicing it off."

The Jade Node pilot waited patiently for some further explanation, but he would not get any. Only an Assumpta would understand the significance behind that act. Redfog had been furious at her, that much was true. Maybe he had been angry at her lack of foresight, at getting injured, at following Kazuo's rushed plan or perhaps because she had failed to carry it out successfully. He had not spoken to her about that nor would she dare to ask.

What mattered in the end, however, was that he had been angry enough to crush the operative's head. He had deliberately taken the time to inflict bodily harm without any other purpose behind it. Contrary to popular belief, members of the Assumpta Node almost never inflicted pain without some form of purpose behind it. To do so would be a waste of time and efforts which could be better spent elsewhere.

Redfog had channeled his unmatched fury just for her sake… what greater honor could an Assumpta pilot ever hope for?

XXXXX

Rhiza and Ariel stepped out of the Avatar's office and both felt a sense of relief flow through them. The audience had been nothing more than a meeting designed to discuss their battle, what they had learned, what mistakes they thought they had made and how best to correct them. Marxon had even spent several minutes discussing the Cybran Node, telling them that they had done the right thing by cleansing it.

The few doubts and regrets that Rhiza had felt prior to entering the chambers were gone now and it felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The sound of soft footsteps made both pilots turn around and they saw Evaluator Toth and a young woman alongside of her. Rhiza recognized the woman as Rhianne Burke, the one who would become the next princess of the Aeon Illuminate. Both stepped in front of the Avatar's office, but Toth turned to Rhianne and spoke softly: "I have to settle a private matter with Marxon. Please wait here."

The guards at the entrance opened the door and Toth stepped through. Rhianne quietly moved towards Rhiza and Ariel and bowed with her hands hand in front of her in the form of a chalice: "May I trouble you for a moment? I was wondering if you could describe the atmosphere on the Cybran world."

Ariel spoke quickly, relishing the occasion to spread Marxon's vision especially to the future Princess: "It was a glorious battle that will mark the history of the Aeon Illuminate. Our sisters fought with a sense of unity that defied numbers and demonstrated the power of The Way."

Rhianne shook her head slightly and tried to clarify her question: "I mean did you find any beauty while you were there, as feral as it might appear?"

Ariel frowned in consternation: "Of course not, they are abominations. What possible beauty could exist in the likes of them?"

The future princess' eyes filled with sadness at that statement. They slowly turned to Rhiza and asked the same question without Rhianne speaking a single word: had she found any form of beauty on the Cybran world? In that moment, all the guilt that Rhiza had previously felt returned tenfold. Deep down, she knew that the true cause behind Rhianne's sorrow was not that the Cybrans were abominations… but that her people had greater and greater difficulty seeing beauty in others.

Memories of the burning Cybran garden danced in front of Rhiza's eyes and her distress must have been obvious enough since even Ariel detected it. The slightly older pilot grabbed Rhiza's armed and bowed quickly: "We have further training sessions to attend. Excuse us."

Ariel stormed off while pulling Rhiza along and mentally cursed herself for losing another round to Rhianne.

XXXXX

Toth stepped in front of the imposing desk and nodded curtly: "Avatar-of-War Marxon, it appears that we have lost two commanders to the Cybran counter attack on Minerva."

Marxon nodded at Toth without pause: "Such is war."

"We have learned that you ordered an early retreat despite the fact that the size of the Cybran force was unknown," said Toth carefully. She then raised an eyebrow: "Is that the case?"

The Evaluator's words were spoken without malice or apparent ill intent and again the Avatar nodded: "That is true. Our objective was to prevent the UEF from gaining an advantage by successfully raiding the Cybrans. Once it was clear that the Cybran forces in the area were more than a match for the remaining UEF commanders then there was no point in staying any longer. The decision to retreat was mine to make and the increase in pressure a few minutes later fully justified my decision. Had we tried to make a stand then there are no doubts that our entire strike team would have been lost in due time."

The Evaluator nodded her accord: "There are no questions concerning the logic of that decision and many families on Seraphim Two are grateful for the measures that you took to ensure a quick retreat. What comes as a concern for a many members of the spiritual wing is the order in which the commanders were called back. The two commanders that died on Minerva were well respected and loved veterans."

Marxon's eyes flashed for a moment, but he had fully expected someone to bring that issue to him eventually: "All commanders are well respected and loved, Evaluator Toth. My choice was based purely on each pilot's performance over the past months and not simply age. A promising pilot is as deserving of life as an experienced one."

"I see," said Toth while crossing her arms: "Therefore your decision to assign these two veterans to be the last to evacuate had nothing to do with the fact that they were strong supporters of the Princess?"

Despite the softness of her voice, there was no mistaking the attack for what it was. Marxon did not rise to the bait by losing his temper: "Of course not. It would be improper for an Avatar-of-War to base life and death decisions on a pilot's loyalties. However, if you wish to suggest that some pilots' performance could be improved should Princess Miranda Burke give an inspiring war speech then I would immediately support you. We could both go see her and suggest it to her. It would be a great way to bridge any gaps between the military and spiritual wing, would you not agree?"

Toth frowned slightly and shook her head: "Another time, perhaps."

Marxon smiled politely, knowing that he had won this battle despite the unexpected uprising on Minerva: "As you wish, Evaluator Toth."

XXXXX

Back on Earth, Arnold leaned on the rail from the top of the sky scraper and sighed loudly: "It's the first time that I follow orders to the letter in years and because of it, we get screwed big time. It might seem weird, but I still feel some twisted pleasure that they were Riley's orders and that I'm basically immune to any form of reproach because of that. So, how did your review go?"

Desjar walked besides his friend with his arm strapped to his chest: "Pretty good, actually. They hinted at giving me a medal and perhaps even a promotion for innovative thinking on the battlefield, teamwork and surviving an assassination. I suppose that I would be a General right now had I actually stopped the Cybrans' escape, but they all acknowledged that there were limits to what I could have done in the state that I was in."

A chuckle escaped Desjar as he added: "It feels weird to get my butt kicked and being praised for it, but I guess this means that the information that they acquired from the 'plugged' Cybran must have been very useful. I'm just glad that I noticed that the assassin had the same type of skin coloration as the children when I was waiting in that corridor. It must have something to do with Minerva's sun."

Arnold nodded in agreement and motioned towards Desjar's chest: "How's the arm?"

"Not too bad," answered Desjar while flexing his fingers a bit: "The doctors told me that it was a clean slice and that most of the damage should be mended shortly. A bit of physiotherapy and I'll be ready to pilot my ACU soon enough. That's of course if they don't promote me up to the point where I would get a comfortable desk job."

Arnold snorted and shook his head: "Even if that happens, I'm not calling you 'sir' any time soon. I'd appreciate it if you tried to avoid dying from now on as well. Two close calls in one day is overdoing it, even by my standards."

The other pilot chuckled, but grew serious for a moment: "I have a favor to ask… come have supper with me and Jessy tonight. I would appreciate it a lot if you dropped by every other night whenever we're both back on Earth as well."

Arnold nearly fell over in surprise, but realized that Desjar was being quite serious: "What is that about?"

Desjar searched for an explanation, but could not find one that would make sense under the circumstances: "Just… ah what the hell, after all these years you're like the bullying big brother that I never had and family meetings are a tradition where I come from. Jessy needs a face to put behind all those stories that I told her or else she'll never believe me anyway."

A smile finally escaped Arnold who barely managed to find the breath to utter two words: "You idiot…"

"Jessy says that it's the reason that she married me, but don't take my word for it," said Desjar while motioning him forward with his good hand: "Come on. She's a great cook, but she'll kill us if we're late for supper."

XXXXX

"Ah, you should have seen it, boy; the scale of that battle will give me goose bumps for weeks!" explained Bagby while making grand gestures: "It's really too bad that you could not escape from your reconnaissance mission because that was one heck of a party."

The old pilot emphasized his words by slapping the helmet wearing Cybran on the back. The stranger nodded slowly, his mask preventing anyone from seeing his face: "I'm sure there will be other opportunities."

"Damn straight and… hey Kazuo!" greeted Bagby the moment that the Jade Node pilot stepped into the bar. The old rushed over to him and spread out both arms warmly: "The most unlikely man of the hour to ever set foot in my bar! Come here boy and sit next to me. You're still alive even after Redblog had a word with you? Your legend is growing my boy, it really is!"

Kazuo nodded weakly and tried to smile as he made his way through the thick crowd: "No more surprises please? I'm so drained right now that I don't think that I could take another one. I'm not sure how you do it."

The old SCU pilot offered Kazuo a bottle of Minerva's swamp and crept closer as if he was going to tell him a secret: "I'll tell you how I do it… and I've never told anyone before…"

Kazuo found himself leaning forward despite himself: "What is it?"

Bagby looked at him straight in the eyes for a few seconds before finally saying: "I'm Brackman's clone…"

Kazuo's eyes widened in disbelief and Bagby let the words hang for a few moments while keeping a straight face. The old man then burst out in laughter and slapped Kazuo on the back and so did everyone else in the room: "I can't believe that you bought that! You're priceless boy, simply priceless! I'm ugly, but I'm not that ugly. Isn't that right, bucket head?"

The helmet wearing stranger hesitated a moment before simply answering: "Stranger things have happened."

Doctor Brackman smiled secretly as he watched the scene in Bagby's bar from the comfort of his laboratory. Of course he was the only one who could enjoy the irony of Bagby's last prank since no one – not even QAI – was aware of his greatest secret. In any case, it was not as if he had programmed the artificial intelligence with a sense of humor anyway.

The electronic eye flashed on the nearby screen as it spoke: "All Cybran nodes that were on the same continent as the Sunam Node have been moved as per your instructions. However, I still fail to see the logic in allowing the survivors to set up a shrine over the wreckage. The dome which displays the holographic projection will drain resources at best and pose a security risk at worst. Such wastes should no longer be indulged, especially considering the repercussions of the last battle."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Do tell me, QAI, do tell."

"The UEF will now dispose of undisputable evidence that our numbers have grown," answered QAI without a hint of hesitation: "I estimate that my earlier predictions concerning the possibility of an attack on Earth in a few years had their success ratio lowered by fifty percent."

A series of equations appeared on the screen to support QAI's claim, detailing the estimated UEF responses. Doctor Brackman looked at them for a moment before dismissing them with a wave of his hands: "You can erase those calculations, QAI. They are flawed."

"Please clarify," said the artificial intelligence.

The Doctor smiled, knowing that this was the specific difference between addressing a human and a machine: "If the UEF was controlled by computers then you would be correct. However, you should know that some lies can become so big that sometimes they take a life of their own. Many clever individuals within the UEF most likely deduced that our numbers had increased decades ago, but few would listen to them because of the massive changes that this would imply. As for the Aeon Illuminate… I think they already knew, oh yes. Let's just stay under the radar for a few months until things calm down."

QAI stayed silent, unable to quantify the implications of a large scale lie. Doctor Brackman raised his head suddenly and asked a question of his own: "Speaking of which, have you completed the request from the survivors from the Sunam Node?"

"That task was completed successfully," answered QAI. The digital twirled once as it added: "And again, I fail see the logic in using my resources in such a fashion."

There was a note of annoyance in QAI's tone and Brackman shook his head helplessly: "Perhaps one day you will understand what it means to have a Cybran heart. It is not a matter of implants or biological components after all so you might figure it out one day."

XXXXX

Riley made sure that he had the attention of every other board member before speaking. A few years ago, he had only been a member of the small cadre of twenty people, but now he was both the President and the Chairman of the assembly. In short, he held true power: "The attack on Minerva will be publicized as a success to the media. I want news reporters everywhere glorifying our heroic efforts and I want the images of our troops fighting off the Aeon forces to circulate for the next week. I want the world to know that we held our own against them."

"Forgive me, mister President," interrupted one of the other members carefully: "But didn't we lose the prisoners and get forced off Minerva by the Cybrans? We lost four commanders in the process and the data in the computer terminals left at FortLytton suggest that we only downloaded some kind of exotic simulation. It seems to me that we might have underestimated the Cybrans all along."

The President waved dismissively towards the one that had spoken: "And that is where you are wrong. We have known all along that Cybrans had an efficient communications system and what we have witnessed is not some increased presence, but rather a feat of logistics. The proof is that they used the illusion of having large numbers to bluff our commanders at FortLytton into thinking that they had a similar army there. It was quite ingenious of them, but I want all of our commanders to understand this. Am I clear?"

Everyone around the table nodded and Riley kept speaking: "As for the data, the fact remains that it is a simulation of an extreme complexity. If we study it further then we might be able to reverse engineer the principles behind it to expand our own systems. Researching it might even benefit project Black Sun in the end. As always, no word concerning project Black Sun can leave this room, but I want the media to understand the incredible benefits from our operation despite some minor setbacks."

Again, everyone around the table nodded since none of them could find the courage to contradict him. Riley smiled approvingly and turned towards the officer that represented their black ops department: "The last report that we obtained from our team at FortLytton suggested that Samuel 'DV' Richards was invaluable in hacking the Cybran prisoner. I want him trained and integrated in one of your teams as soon as possible."

"That will be a problem, sir," said the officer. Riley had not expected the interruption or the objection and he raised an eyebrow. The officer cleared his throat before speaking: "He disappeared."

"Please define 'disappear' for me," ordered Riley, his gaze darkening as he did so.

"He was escorted back to the apartment that we had secured for him after the mission," explained the black ops officer carefully: "The subject had no access to either a computer or to the quantum network as a precaution. However, an hour later a package was delivered to him. We do not know what it contained, but it appears that it held fake IDs, credits, passports, everything. The man went out for a walk and then disappeared off the grid after an unknown problem caused the local security network to reboot. We cannot trace him and we have no clue as to who sent the box or how it was done in such a short amount of time."

An awkward silence followed and the President tapped his fingers together a few times before finally saying: "I'll want your successor to find him…"

XXXXX

Simon Prog, alias DV, walked up the stone stairs and gazed at the small house that rested on the hill. It was near a secluded town that had only a few thousand inhabitants and was as disconnected from the quantum network as one could ever hope to be. DV breathed deeply and could already picture the swing that he would install near the nearby oak tree.

The hacker had followed the instructions precisely and without hesitation. There had been no time to identify who had sent him the package or the reason for it. He had known that the sender could be trusted simply by the one sentence that had been written inside the box: for Amber.