Disclaimer: I don't own Xenosaga I-III
'Thoughts'
"Words"
Xenosaga III: Es last Sich Nicht Lesen
Also Sprach Menschheit
By: Nim Maj
Chapter 4: Judgement
"Representatives, I am ready to present my report." Katsu addressed the Federation Assembly. "As per instructions, I began my investigation into the actions of Dr. Yuriev as head of the Zohar Project. It is my conclusion that the Director had a workable plan." It was really. Draw the Immigrant Fleet into battle with Merkabah, and activate the Song of Nephilim system to lure Gnosis into the area. Then activate Merkabah's X-Buster to absorb the Gnosis and deal damage to the ships of the Immigrant Fleet. "Unfortunately, this plan has several exploitable flaws as pointed out in my report. Also, it seems primarily directed against the Immigrant Fleet and not the threat that the Gnosis are presenting. It is the Gnosis, not the Immigrant Fleet, that threatens mankinds existence. In the end, we do not know how effective the Merkabah would be against the Gnosis' sheer numbers. They could simply overwhelm Merkabah's defenders before the Merkabah can absorb all of them."
"Thank you Mr. Kuno. Now what about the other part, Dr. Yuriev's alleged war crimes?" the Executive Director of the Federation asked.
"Unfortunately, this part of the plan is even more illogical. Omega Res Novae, despite its potential, is piloted by an utter novice when it comes to combat experience. It relies purely on the Omega's sheer overwhelming power. This is augmented, somewhat, by the introduction of the Erde Kaisers, but considering that the Erde Kaisers have only been recently introduced, and this plan has been a year in the process, Dr. Yuriev likely intended to field the Omega with known forces, all of which unfortunately, have proven less than up to the task of taking down an Ein Sof, which have been observed to be piloted by elite pilots. I could go on, but the rest is in my report. In conclusion, I do not believe that Dr. Yuriev was justified in his breaking of Child Labor and Humanitarian Laws. We are not yet desperate enough to arm children to fight our wars for us." Another demerit included that Abel was the ONLY person able to pilot Omega Res Novae, leaving it vulnerable, should the pilot be incapacitated. Not something you would bet the existence of mankind on if one has better options. Another was the fact that it was powered by a new unrecorded and unstable Zohar Emulator. On the capital, this could be bad news. Just look at Ariadne and Miltia, two recent examples. "Unless all files are declassified to the investigative teams however, that is as much as we can theorize. As I do not believe that Dr. Yuriev suffers from incompetence, I must suspect an ulterior motive.
The Executive Director considered Katsu's report briefly before turning to Yuriev, "So Director, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"Hmph," Yuriev snorted, "The investigators are clearly unable to comprehend my full plan, one that must remain Top Secret, lest the Immigrant Fleet discover it and move to counter it. I strongly object to this... farce. Still, I challenge the investigators to come up with a superior plan."
Katsu accepted that challenge. "Hmmm, let me think." He said while closing his eyes and adopting a thinker's pose.
"I assure this Assembly that everything is under control. Merkabah is powerful enough to destroy Abel's Ark allowing us to recover the Original Zohar. Once it is under our control, nothing, not even the Immigrant Fleet or the Gnosis will be able to stop us." Yuriev declared grandly. "Abel's contribution is a necessary sacrifice. One he is willing to make." He added in admission.
"Alright. I've got it." Katsu interrupted. "First, turn your attention to your consoles." Katsu said while he worked on his. "I am sending you all a file that is the groundwork of my plan. Please watch it."
Albedo (in Katsu's original body, but sporting his own white hair) was seen, trying to light a campfire in a forest clearing. After several failed attempts, he growls, stands up, whips out a pistol and pulls the trigger. A small flame ignites from the end and Albedo successfully ignites the campfire. He begins cackling.
The camera then moves up, above the treeline to show the horizon. Except instead ofa horizon curving down hiding the rest of the terrain, it curves up. Tall walls can be seen on the edges as they narrow to a point on the horizon curving up and getting more distant, forming a band. One can see seas and landmasses. The horizon continues curving up as the camera pans up until the camera is pointed straight 'up' to see the band continuing to curve off the screen.
A pleasing female voice is then heard, "Halo, a slice of heaven. Brought to you by the Kukai Foundation." The Kukai Foundation and the Kukai Konstruction Krew logos fade in on opposite sides of the band. After a bit the video ends.
A ringworld. The Kukai Foundation was building an inhabitable ringworld. Clearly a step up from the weather control of the Kukai Foundation. "How is this possible?" asked a stunned member of the Assembly.
"Ahem," Katsu coughed to draw their attention. "Halo is considered an open secret of the Kukai Foundation. It was originally conceived by me as a present for the Little Master. However this secrecy was suspicious and the Commerce Committee investigated me. Fortunately, I proved that I had the approval of Gaignun Kukai to go ahead with this project and try to keep it secret from the Little Master for as long as possible. I hope you can all keep this from him?" It was also a good time for the Kukai Foundation. Not only had the project been kept secret, but the various members of the Commerce Committee had begun jockeying for advertisement rights with the Kukai Foundation. Everyone wanted to be part of what was turning into a Wonder of Human engineering. All without the public or Jr. noticing.
"As interesting as this project is," the Executive Director interrupted, "how is this related to your plan?" he asked.
"Halo is extremely large. Around 12,000 kilometres in diameter!" Katsu began. Then he dropped the bombshell. "I intend to turn the structure of Halo into a planet –wide Rhine Maiden array." Silence met his declaration.
Katsu continued to explain. "We know from experience that the Hilbert effect can be used to damage the Gnosis. The Rhine Maiden array developed by Vector is based on the Hilbert effect. Recently, T-ELOS has displayed a Hilbert effect generator that can damage Gnosis. In addition, KOSMOS' Hilbert effect generator, which is small enough to fit inside her body, was capable of affecting an entire solar system filled with Gnosis, refer to her recovery by the Kukai Foundation after the destruction of the 117th Marine Division. From that starting point, we can construct giant Hilbert effect generators to be focused and directed by Halo's shape. That alone could secure the star cluster for humanity from Gnosis invasion. Also, if we were to somehow connect the Zohar Emulators to the ring or generators, we could possibly, and I stress possibly, clear a quarter of the galaxy of the Gnosis" Here Katsu paused as he considered something. "And considering that the Original Zohar is unknown magnitudes stronger than the Emulators, if we were to connect it, we could possibly clear the galaxy of Gnosis. Probably a bit further out actually."
The silence was finally broken by the Executive Director. "Timetable?"
"Hmmm," Katsu considered the question. "Probably six months. It would take four to five years to make Halo inhabitable, but since we only need the ring shape, yes six months. We don't need it to be inhabitable 24/7 just yet. Also, the sheer power we are going to be using would largely negate the impurities in the metal. The Rhine Maiden pulse may be uneven, but still cover the star cluster, or most of it anyway. It would also take around 1 year if we were to start from scratch, provided we had an unused asteroid belt we could use for the base materials."
"Six months? I find that highly unlikely."scoffed Yuriev.
"Normally yes, but thanks to a new construction technique I designed, it can be completed within the aforementioned timetable." This construction technique involved Nanomachine Colonies being spread throughout the structure. Instead of making it one-shot however, thanks to the introduction of colony 'queens', new orders could be sent to the nanites to order them to change the structure, or activate or deactivate them. Katsu hesitated, "IF, and I stress the 'if' part, we run into unconceived problems, it could extend from six more months to a year."
"I see." Said the Executive Director. "And the cost?" he queried.
"For the current Halo? Nothing. Unless we need more asteroids to be moved." This was because the nanites could even construct more 'queens', thus providing for a growing nanite population. The nanite population could continue multiplying exponentially or even break down nanites to be used in the construction. "Our new construction method is best for megastructures. Halo is one. In fact we are still within the budget for this project. For a new Halo however, it would be a minimum of 200,000 credits. Unfortunately, the Halo would also be constructed much slower. The more you invest in a Halo, the faster it is built." Katsu explained.
"Very well, are there any questions before I make my decisions?" After waiting a while the Executive Director continued. "So be it. By the power vested in my as the Executive Director of the Galaxy Federation, I remove Doctor Dmitri Yuriev from his position as Director of the Zohar Project, to be prosecuted by the Contact Subcommittee to the full extent of the law. In addition, I hereby release Katsuyori Kuno from his duties as Governor-General of the Beta System and appoint him to the position of Director of the Zohar Project. I call this Assembly to an end." The Executive Director announced. Then he turned to Katsu. "Our Future is in your hands Director."
'No Pressure.' was left unsaid.
Katsu was making his rounds, putting the Zohar Project officially under his control, telling the project heads about the change in directors. However, when he got to T-ELOS' control room… T-ELOS and Roth Mantel weren't there. His assistants however appeared to be packing up.
"What on earth?" mumbled Katsu with a confused expression. "What is going on here?" he shouted to the scientists.
Gaining the attention of the scientists, one answered, "Excuse me sir, but you can't be here. We just received orders to pack up and leave. T-ELOS is going to be moved to be mass produced."
Growling Katsu replied, "I gave no such order yet! That's why I'm here! Command of the Zohar Project has passed to me." Katsu showed the datapad with his authorizations. "Now get me Roth Mantel!"
"B-but, he was the one who gave the orders and went ahead with T-ELOS!" the confused scientist stuttered.
Katsu glared at the poor scapegoat. "Where?" he demanded in a threatening tone.
"B-bay 15! Sir!" he blubbered.
"Security!" Katsu shouted into his device as he gave orders to detain Roth Mantel. Unfortunately, it was all in vain. Roth Mantel and T-ELOS weren't in Bay 15. They weren't to be found anywhere on the planet at all.
Katsu found himself in front of yet another Parliamentary hearing. The Executive Director, many Representatives, and the Contact Subcommittee were hearing Katsu's report on his findings. Suffice to say that what he did find was disturbing, enough to detain Dr. Yuriev in a maximum security prison. In the meantime, the Federation military was quietly preparing for a possible hostile takeover from the Salvatore faction while Katsu and other investigators gathered the information to convict him. Katsu however was still cementing his control over the Zohar Project. And with T-ELOS gone, he had to come up with a new anti-Gnosis android, or something similar.
"And that ends my report thus far Sirs."
"Hmmm, this is troubling. Leave this matter to us. It is not for you to remedy."
"Thank you sir. Finally, the last item on my agenda is a replacement anti-Gnosis android to replace T-ELOS." Katsu said.
"Oh? Aren't the KOS-MOS units enough?" asked the Executive Director.
"Sadly, no sir. Although good, T-ELOS was three times better, faster, and stronger at only a slight change in price. They also suffer from a logistics problem that may affects the regular forces as well. The details are in the report I'm sending you now." Katsu said as he did just that. Essentially, KOS-MOS, T-ELOS, their mass production units and the regular forces were constrained by logistics. They had to pack up, move, and then engage the enemy. Lather, rinse, repeat.
"And your solution?" queried the Executive Director.
"Battle Droids. Lots and Lots of Battle Droids. I'm sending you the proposal now."
The proposal, known to the Kukai Foundation as Project Bleach, called for Battle Droids built in substantial numbers to negate the Gnosis' sheer numbers and even their ability to transform their victims into Gnosis should it happen. Basically, the Battle Droids would be cheap, easily produced, amassed in the billions (as opposed to the KOS-MOS and T-ELOS lines' thousands), and built with a nanomachine self-repair system.
The design was rather simple, a dirty-white painted Terminator-style humanoid Battle Droid. Complete with a white skull mask, Katsu nicknamed them Immortals.
The original plan called for Hilbert-generator equipped Battle Droids or light tanks to make the Gnosis vulnerable, then have the Droids finish them off with regular weapons, but preferably lasers as they were all-around better and cheaper. In fact, the Kukai Foundation had some thanks to the idea coming from Katsu, serving as a backup in case the Foundation's regular police weren't able to control the situation. But now he was selling the idea to the Federation.
Oh, and yes, there was one more selling point for the Immortals. They could be transferred via the Unus Mundus Network. En Masse. That's right. Many could be moved anywhere in the cluster via the UMN, thus allowing near instant reaction to invasion. For a small fee for Vector, the custodian of the UMN of course.
It did not occur to anyone at the time, perhaps because they were too busy trying to survive first, but the Immortals could be equipped and programmed to use regular weapons against humans. The Gnosis were assigned first priority, with anti-Gnosis weaponry and Hilbert generators. Then later it occurred to them to use the Immortals against rebels like the Immigrant Fleet and Ormus. Finally, each other.
The proposal met with unanimous, if cautious, approval.
A.N. It's been so long! But I'm finally back! Woohoo! I've just graduated and got a job teaching so I'm kinda busy but don't worry, I think I've found enough time to get in a bit of work. So I'll get things done even if I won't post regularly.
I deeply apologise for my dry spell. I haven't written since 2009. Writer's block, Graduation, and an overall disenchantment with writing have taken their toll. But I have overcome!
Anyway, Project Bleach is based on the Necrons out of Warhammer 40000. Project halo is of course, from the Halo games from Bungie.
Hope you all enjoyed!
