…
"In battle, in the forest, at the precipice in the mountains,
On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows,
In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame,
The good deeds a man has done before defend him."
(Bhagavad Gita)
…
UCV Saint Luke, November 7th, 2:11 PM, 2186
…
Running up and down the starboard hangar of the Saint Luke, I stopped to look over each portion of the construction process, listening to my radio station down in Serenity Valley. Currently playing and echoing through the hangar was The Go-Go's "Our Lips Are Sealed". The irony of the song's title wasn't lost on me as I turned back around to focus on the bomb.
Each part of the Ares Device had to be built to perfect specifications, and we didn't have the time for screw ups. We made a mistake doing any of this, and we could all kiss our asses goodbye in one way or another. Sure enough, the Admirals accepted our modified design document the moment I showed it to them, though I made sure to downplay its true power for obvious reasons. I told them it would be "enough" to trigger a coronal ejection, and with few options left to them they accepted it immediately. I got the twelve nukes I asked for.
The spherical Ares Device stood in the center of the hangar, suspended by dozens of chains and filled with even more wires. It was exactly 46 feet in diameter, and in its current configuration looked a lot like "The Gadget", the first nuclear device ever detonated in Earth's history as part of Trinity test. In our rush to get the thing ready in time to intercept the Reapers, we've all been working double shifts to keep up with the demands of this bomb. Just standing next to it and thinking about it too long sent shivers up my spine.
"I adm...admit, I think you've ac-actually gone nuts this time." Dan remarked, walking over with two cups of coffee, one of which he handed me as a big grin stretched across my face. "I figured I'd b-bring you one of these to delay your inev...inevitable James Holden coffee machine be-beatdown."
"You know me too well." I replied in a jokey tone, taking the lid off and taking a big whiff of the steaming brew. "Oh, that's nice."
"I still blame you for getting me back into my caffeine addiction after college." He shook his head as I rolled my eyes, both of us turning back to the Ares. "Looking over that file you sent me, I can see wh...why you didn't go into details regarding it's ac-actual yield."
"It's surprising to hear you say that, given how open you've been to other ideas regarding weapons technology in the past." I commented with a smile, shooting my eyebrows up as I took a sip of the hot coffee.
"Look, I'm all f-for giant guns and plasma wa...warheads, but this is way beyond what I'd ev-ever consider." He shook his head as we both stood back and watched the techs and engineers work tirelessly on it. "Is it true you pr-printed all those physical documents on flash paper?"
"What? No-o-o-o-ho." I immediately replied, trying and failing to stifle my laughter. "Where did you hear that?"
"It's probably b-better that I don't tell you." He finished with a smirk, crossing his arms as he pulled his head back slightly and looked around. "This bucket of bolts will be g...good to go in time, right?"
"It'll move, sure. I wish we had a more sophisticated delivery system, though." I remarked in an off-handed way, realizing how absolutely jank the deployment of the Ares would be.
Originally, we'd planned on literally dropping it out of the ship like a piece of junk, but even I couldn't bullshit my way through that kind of explanation. We couldn't bolt engines to it and fire it, because it would be detected way too quickly. Instead, it was being suspended between three of our stealth-capable Cobra gunships and flung into position, almost like a big slingshot. Luckily for us, the bomb didn't have to be right on top of the Reapers to do its job correctly. The three Cobras, each with the individual callsigns "Demios", "Phobos", and "Enyo", were known collectively as Chariot.
The naming was deliberate, of course. It wasn't for any sort of humorous purpose, it just happened to fit.
"Would you like us to play "Dance of the Reed Flutes" while we drop this... thing into space?" Dimitri asked in a mocking tone, not looking at all thrilled with our conversation as he walked over with more reports. "Or perhaps we should instead pat ourselves on back and congratulate one another on job well done?"
"Dimi, I told you-" I began to say before he quickly pushed the papers against my chest, cutting me off.
"I know why we are doing it. It does not mean I am required to like it." He growled, holding the papers against my chest for a few moments as I stood there with my eyes aimed away from his.
"Listen m-man, we've been through a lot, but you can't treat my best friend like this." Dan stepped in, standing between the both of us. "You've got to trust him and le...let us do this."
"Very well, but I shall say it again… if this thing is ever seen or deployed again by anyone following tomorrow, I will kill you where you stand." He threatened, walking off in a huff as I finally breathed in.
"He'll ge...get better." Dan reassured with a worried expression, walking off after him as I stood by myself once more.
Obviously, Dimitri was quite angry with what "I" had created, and wouldn't have been involved at all if he had any real choice in the matter. He was terrified of the idea of his name being attached to such a device at all if any news about it leaked, having read extensively about the Manhattan Project while working on his college papers. I found it all the more strange, given he had no qualms over helping develop the Confederation's nuclear arsenal. I understood his extreme reservations, sure, but he believed there was no way we'd be able to keep this a secret forever. Right now, I just missed his old, jovial attitude.
I really hoped I wasn't burning bridges with this thing. I knew it would be worth it in the end, but I didn't want to sour my relationships in the process. This thing got more difficult by the hour. I quickly downed the rest of my coffee, hands shaking as I walked off to read the reports privately. At this point, I just wanted this thing off my ship.
My only hope was that it would take a few dozen Reapers with it.
…
UCV Saint Luke, November 8th, 8:04 AM, 2186
…
Standing at attention in the CIC with Dan and Dmitri on the side watching, I looked over at Dixon and nodded, getting an immediate salute from him. We were running with a skeleton crew for this mission, but I knew better than to relax when less lives were involved.
"Helmsman, move us out of drydock at 10% thrust. Keep us steady." He ordered as I eyed the feed of the spherical Ares suspended in the starboard hangar. "Inform damage control units that they are to remain on standby until further notice, and make sure all teams are at their assigned locations."
"Yes'sir." The damage control station replied as I turned back to the tactical display in front of me.
The last recon picket had confirmed the Reapers were beginning their move to PX-192's magnetosphere and had begun discharging their drives. We had a limited timeframe to deploy the weapon as intended, and needed to do it now. We had only just finished constructing the detonator before coming here.
"I hope this thing you built delivers the goods." Dixon commented as he stood across from me, looking at the display as well. "Without our main gun, there's not much we can do against a Sovereign-class."
"Well, if it doesn't, we won't live long enough to figure out what went wrong." I remarked dryly, shooting him a no-nonsense look. "Just trust me."
"No trust issues here." He shook his head as the helmsman's station beeped loudly.
"Sir, we've cleared drydock. Gravity Drive is charged, awaiting your orders." He announced, looking back at Dixon. I gave him a single nod as I narrowed my eyes.
"You're cleared for FTL." Dixon acknowledged, giving me that feeling in my gut once more as we jumped away from Reach.
The view outside peeled away to reveal the intense blue shift ahead of us, and the red shift behind us. Somewhere in the middle, it turned into an odd purple I'd never been able to describe properly, shifting and changing as the magnetic field fought to keep us isolated from the space outside. It was always a fascinating thing to watch no matter how many times we jumped, though this time it filled me with a strange sense of unease.
For ages I stared out at those shifting blues and reds, thinking back to those scant images that had flashed through my mind. I remembered the desiccated face of Jack Windham, telling me he was some part of me, my "everything". I'd never be able to tell what was "real" in my own mind or what might have been a Reaper hallucination anymore, though if the implant was working as intended, that meant all of it was now solely the result of my own mind. I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with the idea of having these kinds of "experiences", but that warm feeling I felt picturing my mother and father's faces… that was as real as they come.
"So… what d-do you think's gonna happen?" Dan asked, knocking me out of my little trance. He had walked up next to me and crossed his arms with an inquisitive look on his face.
"What do you mean?" I replied, not sure exactly what he was talking about as I grabbed my belt with my right hand and forced myself to relax.
"You know… this." He stammered, now just as confused looking as me. "I've never been involved in a battle with actual R-Reapers before. Anything I should be aware of?"
"Yeah, cross your fingers and hope your FTL charges before they reach you." I answered in a bland tone, memories of Chief Tirus' dead body still fresh in my mind. "What the hell do you expect me to say? Our more conventional weapons barely hurt them."
"Yeah… though I sup-suppose what we have in mind is h-hardly conventional." He went on, ignoring my obvious attitude. "What'd you do with all the p-papers and data?"
"I burned the papers, and put the few digital files on the bomb itself. The Ares lives in our heads now." I reassured as I tapped the side of my head, knowing I wouldn't let this escape the recesses of my mind. "Assuming all goes well here, we'll have the advantage for once."
"It's about time we had something over these bastards." Dixon remarked, getting us to turn and face him. "For months we've been pushed back, and back, and back. Maybe knocking out a few dozen at the same time will give them something to think about."
"I'm getting the feeling they aren't coming to Reach because they feel threatened by our military strength." I tempered, trying to refocus the conversation as I remembered what Old Dan had said about the cranial implant. "There's something else involved. They wouldn't have pulled away that many ships to attack a single planet without good reason."
"I have been wondering about reason as well." Dimitri chimed in, walking over to join our little circle. "At first, I believed it to be diversionary tactic to draw forces away from Traverse, but Reaper lines have not moved since they have pushed through."
"Maybe…" I spoke up, only to stop myself as I continued to process my thoughts.
"Maybe what?" Dan urged, wanting to hear what I had to say.
"Maybe they know about the implant I received, and they're afraid that we've created a proper countermeasure to their indoctrination." I remarked in a lowered tone, crossing my arms as I realized the true implications of this. "If that's the case, then we might have bigger problems on the horizon."
"Hm… maybe if it b-blocks indoctrination, it can fix my stutter too." Dan joked in a nervous tone, actually managing to get a sunken look from me. "What?"
"It's just… uh, it would be kinda weird to hear you without a stutter after all these years." I immediately replied, smiling in a way I knew didn't look quite right.
"Ooook then." He remarked with widened eyes, looking away.
"If you are correct in assessment, then solution will need dissemination among Confederation forces and allies." Dimitri nodded, rubbing the underside of his chin. "Perhaps Richard can-"
"I'd hate to interrupt gentlemen, but we're almost there." Dixon chimed in as the jump counter flashed onto the display, counting down.
"Activate the stealth systems, and tell Chariot to prepare for deployment." I ordered, watching the external cameras as I waited for everything to shift back to normal.
As the counter clicked down to zero, there was a gentle nudge of deceleration as we reentered normal space, immediately met with a dimmer-than-normal sun. Even though it wasn't as bright, it still forced the camera sensors to automatically readjust themselves. As soon as they did, it revealed the charged particles drifting off of it, only visible due to the high amount of ice that was constantly pulled into it.
It was strange, PX-192 reminded me a lot of that report Biss had written regarding his study of Haestrom's star. Young star, unexplained solar activity, random coronal ejections that stretched as far as 80,000 kilometers away… it must have been another star that had been "poisoned" by a Q-ball. It didn't matter though, because there were well over 50 Reapers in orbit, looking like tiny black slivers from this far away. We were right where we were supposed to be.
"Looks like the ones that got here first are starting to leave. Double check our tight beam connection with the Ares, and tell Chariot they're clear to launch." I ordered as I gazed at the holotank in front of me. "Here we go."
Demios, Phobos, and Enyo fired out of the starboard hangar with the massive Ares in tow, finally on its way to its destination. I kept my eye focused on the Reaper signatures, looking for any changes in their movement.
"Cobras are at maximum burn, accelerating to Mach 8." Dixon reported, giving me a neutral look before focusing on the signals. "Still no change… I suppose you were right about those charged particles helping mask our signatures."
"Don't count your chickens just yet." I warned, knowing there were still plenty of ways this could go wrong.
As the Cobras reached Mach 8, they released the Ares from their tethers, sending it flying towards the Reapers. All we could do now was wait for them to return so we could pull back and detonate the device.
"What the f-fuck?" Dan exclaimed, narrowing his eyes as he stared into space. "Do you guys hear that?"
"No… hear what?" I replied, turning to face him immediately.
"It's almost li-like voices, but indi...distict." He answered as I felt all the color drain from my face. "Could it-"
"Fire off one of the drones now!" I yelled before he could finish as I turned back to Dixon, surprising him. "Do it now, and direct it towards the Ares! As soon as those Cobras are onboard I want us out of here!"
A dull thump could be heard as fire control immediately launched one of the drones. Before we had even ignited the drone's engines several of the Reaper signatures had shifted their trajectories towards us.
"Jesus, this is cutting it close." Dixon exclaimed, holding the edges of the center console tight as he looked back up at the three friendly signatures speeding back to the Saint Luke. "Come on…"
The Cobras were fast ships for their size, but the Reapers were faster. They were quickly beginning to close the gap, and I knew our emission-based stealth wouldn't hold up at this distance.
With little time to spare, the three zoomed into the hangar and made hard contact with the deck. Just in time too, because the Reapers were nearly on top of us. We jumped about 700,000 kilometers away from PX-192 in an instant, re-orienting ourselves back towards it. This was considered minimum safe distance. Even still, the sudden sweat I had developed left me with a pang in my chest.
"Do we still have a tight beam to the Ares and drone?" I asked, looking over at communications as I fought to control my breathing.
"Hold on… uh, connections are still good, sir." He answered, looking quite happy with himself.
"Patch me into the drone's broadcast array. All frequencies." I ordered, breathing deeply as I took the nuclear key out of my pocket and inserted it into the console.
"Sean, what are you doing?" Dixon asked, looking very worried. I understood why, given what had just happened.
"I'm just making sure there are as many of those bastards around the Ares as possible before we detonate it." I replied, tugging on the bottom of my coat and picking up the phone. "Listen to me you godless machine bastards. It's me, the guy you can't control anymore. Admiral Sean Michaels. I'm glad my "pitiful display of organic ignorance" threatens you, because there's more where that came from. We're not afraid of you, and we're going to defend our home till our dying breaths. Come and get me."
Putting the phone back on the receiver, I watched as the telemetry coming back showed the Reapers following the drone, and by extension, the Ares. I couldn't help but grin as they took the bait.
"Ready?" I asked, looking back to Dixon as he pulled out his own key and put it in the console, nodding.
We both turned our keys at the same time, opening the panel with the big, red "LAUNCH" button once more. As that dull alarm rang out again, I held my breath and pressed it. A few seconds went by as the signal was sent, and the whole world seemingly stopped for a moment.
Everything grew silent as the Ares Device detonated, creating a flash so bright that the camera sensors were briefly overwhelmed, nearly blinding the CIC. It truly looked like the birth of a star as a ball of pure plasma engulfed all the nearby Reapers, sending a massive shockwave through the star's orbit. It started off as a pure, bright white, slowly shifting to purple, then blue. The force of the explosion was so great that I could see layers of PX-192's surface being sheared off and ejected into space, like a flamethrower blasting a ball of wax.
It was simultaneously the most terrifying and awe-inspiring thing I had ever witnessed.
"Wow…" Dan exclaimed, his eyes focused on the explosion. He watched it the same way a dog would look at a piece of fresh meat as Dimitri turned away, clearly troubled.
"Боже мой." He muttered under his breath, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as the shrill radiation alarm switched on, promptly being cut a few seconds later.
It was one thing to read numbers, equations, and estimates of what something was capable of, but seeing it put into action like this was something completely different. The complete, utter disconnect between the written statistic and visual result was something I had never truly grasped until now as I watched that small sun churn, shift, and shrink in the vacuum of space. The void created on PX-192's surface quickly rushed back in, creating one of the largest coronal mass ejections I had ever seen.
"May God have mercy on my soul." I said, feeling the impact of what I had just unleashed on the world.
"Sir, readings are beginning to clear up. I believe we've destroyed at least 58 Reaper vessels, including two of their Sovereign-classes." Morgan spoke up from her station, getting cheers from many in the CIC. "We did it!"
"We can celebrate once we know Reach is safe." I tempered, well aware that our job still wasn't finished. "Get us out of here, we don't need to stick around and soak in this radiation."
As we jumped back to Reach, I looked back to Dan who had suddenly become uncharacteristically quiet since I began shouting orders at my crew.
"You alright?" I asked, giving him a tap on the side of his arm.
"No." He shook his head, looking rather disturbed in stark contrast to his tone just a minute ago. "I had no idea… I n-never thought about my exposure to indoctrination. It was so s...short, but-"
"You were exposed back on Imaneya, same as me. I remember that static." I stated, knowing what thoughts must have been going through is head. "The good news is I didn't hear anything, and if the Reapers reacted that quickly to my message, then I know it's me and the implant that they're worried about."
"Forget what I said ab...about the stutter. You'll just have to tell Richard he has another t-test subject." He joked, his voice shuddering slightly as he seemingly ignored most of what I had just said.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as my mind began running away with my thoughts. I no longer felt any sense of success or victory, only a dreadful sense of unease.
Hopefully the sin I committed today would save us tomorrow, and maybe win the war beyond that.
…
UCV Saint Luke, November 9th, 2:39 PM, 2186
…
I stood at my usual spot in the CIC, overseeing the final repairs to the ship as we waited for what was left of the Reaper fleet to inevitably arrive. In addition to the repairs that already had to be done, the entire ship exterior was decontaminated due to our radiation exposure. Our shielding held up, but we had apparently cut it closer than I thought. The front of the ship, immediately after the flash reached us, had been hit with over 8,000 millisieverts of ionizing radiation. That was more than enough to fatally irradiate someone on the outside of the hull in an instant if they didn't have proper protection. It was quite the wake-up call, that much was certain.
Despite our reservations, yesterday's mission had proved quite the valuable morale boost to the combined Confederation fleets currently in the Klenot Nebula. Hopes were high, and I could only hope we were all truly prepared for what was about to happen. The bulk of our defense was based around the orbital defense platforms, of which there were currently twelve. Nine were in range to fire at the incoming Reapers, including the Cairo, and the other three were positioned just outside their expected attack vectors, leaving them as auxiliaries.
We expected CASTLE Base and the orbital shipyards to be their primary targets, so the bulk of our defenses were dedicated to protecting them. Reach was our primary shipbuilding world, with Rannoch being a close second. If Reach's ability to service or construct Confederation vessels was destroyed, we'd be severely hampered in our efforts to fight the Reapers.
Looking away from my reports, I opened my omni-tool and projected my screen into the center console so I could more easily look at our… other options. Not out of doubt, but of caution.
As part of a contingency plan in case the worst came to pass, we had silently spent the last few months setting up UCNF HIGHCOM on one of the planets we had scouted before first contact with the Raloi, Śnieg. It was located in the Endar Cluster, roughly between Reach and Turviss. Even though it was a cold, dead rock with a stable, if frigid atmosphere, it was positioned in a very strategic location. It was close enough to reach all current Confederation worlds in less than an hour, but far enough from the Relay network that trying to get to it would take a long time without our technology. Even then, that was only if you were one of the privileged few who currently knew about them. The other systems we had scouted, the "cleverly-named" Tau'ri Expanse and Abydoni Prime, were considered our primary fallbacks if things really hit the fan.
The Tau'ri Expanse was a massive system consisting of nearly a dozen gas giants and hundreds of moons, but curiously there was only one terrestrial planet, which we had named Scorpia. It was aptly named, given its a hot, hostile world shrouded by clouds of vaporized sulfuric acid. The only enticing feature of the deadly world was its massive titanium deposits, which we quickly moved to exploit for the war effort. It had become our main source.
Abydoni Prime was home to one of the largest asteroid fields we'd ever seen, so massive that it made the asteroid and Kuiper belts back home look like hula hoops in comparison. There were plenty of moderately-sized worlds around the system, but the habitable terrestrial planet, Arnhem, was the major focus. It had been given to the Raloi Technocracy as their first off-world colony, and they had since turned it into a breadbasket world.
Both of these locations certainly weren't ideal in terms of fighting, but as long as the Reapers couldn't track them down, they'd be safe. Even if the Reapers did try to attack these systems, it would take weeks to reach them. We had deliberately kept them off our military charts, and especially off the ones we'd shared with the Council.
"Sir, damage control reports the main gun is repaired and ready for testing." Dixon said, getting me to swipe away the map and face him.
"Very well. Power up the main gun for a dry fire." I nodded, opening my omni-tool and cycling through random tracks until I settled on "Born Unto Trouble" from the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack. Liking the mood it left me feeling, I switched it off random and over to the whole soundtrack instead.
I watched our reactor power levels carefully as we disengaged the safeties and charged the gun. Doing it slowly after a full shutdown was recommended
"Hey there, partner. You fancy a drink down at the old saloon?" Dixon jokingly mocked in a faux "Old West" accent as I smiled, allowing a small huff of amusement to escape.
"Only if you're buying." I replied, watching the gun reach full charge and firing, sending a *thump* through the ship's hull. "Good, no fluctuations in the power grid, reactor is stable… I think we're ready. Move us out of drydock and into position with the rest of the fleet."
"Yes'sir." He nodded, picking up the phone and sending the usual tone throughout the ship. "Attention all personnel, secure your stations and move to combat positions."
As we flew away from the drydock, I opened up the feeds from the forward sensor nets, knowing it wouldn't be much longer until they arrived. The moment the nets either started sending hostile telemetry or stopped broadcasting, we were in for the fight of our lives.
"This is going to be interesting." Tony spoke up from his station, cracking his fingers above his head as he leaned back in his chair. "Hey Admiral, would you say these anti-intrusion ECM systems are rated against Reapers?"
"I don't know, that's supposed to be your field of expertise, Ensign." I replied, knowing he was about to say something stupid as I rolled my shoulder to readjust my shoulder holster.
"Well then, I suppose you're lucky to have one of the best computer specialists around." He boasted, getting me to smile and shake my head at his sheer audacity. "It doesn't matter who it is trying to get in, this system is as airtight as they come."
"Shut up, you ass." Morgan exclaimed in an amused, hushed tone. Dixon was barely able to keep himself from laughing as he leaned against the center console with closed eyes and a grin, shaking his head.
"This is good… and I thought the people I worked with were comedians." I remarked as the center console suddenly beeped, putting all of us immediately on high alert.
The lights went red as we entered combat mode, giving all of us a sinister, red glow of sorts.
"One contact… 7… 12… the net just went down." She said in order as I tensed myself up. "Last reading was approximately 22 ships."
"Everyone stay calm, focus on your stations." I ordered, picking up the phone and patching myself into my Fleet's wideband. "This is Admiral Michaels. The enemy will soon be upon us, and your resolve will be tested. You know I'm not one for speeches, so I won't waste your time with platitudes or metaphors. I only ask that you keep your minds focused, your reflexes sharp, and hands steady for the tasks at hand. If the ODP grid is breached at any point, you are to plug the holes and keep them away from the surface. My standing orders remain the same. Good luck to all of you, and godspeed."
I put the phone back down on the receiver as the Reapers neared our long-range sensors, nearly in range of the orbital defense grid.
This was it. Our time to shine.
…
A/N: Sorry to give you all blue balls again, but I wanted to dedicate the entirety of the next chapter to the Battle of Reach in full, and not tack it onto this chapter in such a way that it doesn't keep you from thinking about the detonation of the Ares Device. It sucks to wait, I know, but I promise the end product will be worth it. We're putting all our chips in on this one.
In other news, I'd also like to thank Blazbaros on deviantART for the awesome new art I had commissioned of Admiral Michaels. I urge everyone to look them up and check out the full resolution version on their profile, it has lots of small little details that add a lot to Sean's image. I will warn you though, Blaz draws plenty of voluptuous women as well as muscled men, so I urge you all to keep an open mind if you do search for "Admiral Michaels" in their gallery.