Armorum Fidei Chapter 23

Across the barren plains long lines of bedraggled figures marched. They flowed over the landscape like dark rivers, converging on a basal sink. Thousands of dishevelled people, many of them barefoot, burned or scarred. They were starving and cold yet none of them complained, they could not, they had no minds left to gripe with. The populations of several train-cities, each overrun by Psybrid attacks. They had fallen to the alien invaders and now their bodies were forfeit, doomed to serve an insidious purpose.

Chuqik looked upon them and saw the miserable state of the captives, but he cared nothing for their wellbeing. Humans were an inferior species, fit only to serve the needs of the Psybrids, all other races were inferior, to think otherwise was a truly alien concept to their cruel minds. Chuqik watched them pass by, calculating numbers in his head and disliking the results. They hadn't captured nearly enough slaves, not even close to the required amount.

"Not enough," he growled.

Mewak was nearby and she remarked, "It's a good start."

"Not for our purposes," Chuqik snapped, "We need more, many times more and they'll be harder to get. We've claimed the nearest warrens, the rest will be further away, more remote and better prepared. It will take longer to bring them here and more will die on the way, lives we need."

"Then have the Gestalts portal them closer," Mewak sniffed, "We can travel anywhere we will."

"An exorbitant waste of time and energy, but we may have to. Time is running out, the Songbreaker will soon learn of our attack, one way or another, we must move faster."

It was true, the most hated and feared opponent the Psybrids had ever faced was merely a dozen light-years away, with overwhelming forces. The Psybrids had sensed the movement of vast armies and fleet through nearby space, the Otherness singing of blunt souls in the millions. That he was coming to finish what he began ten thousand years earlier was inarguable, the time they had to thwart his plans was growing shorter by the hour. Strange, Chuqik thought, how could so pathetic and emotional a species as humans produce so dangerous an enemy, a question the Choir for Science had debated for generations and never found a satisfactory answer to.

The thought made Chuqik look again at the humans and he saw something odd. Among the plodding slaves a male walked and at his rear scurried a smaller version, an offspring perhaps, neither of them had the slightest hint of awareness in their eyes and yet despite that they were holding hands. That shouldn't be possible, the Song gripped them both tight, erasing any trace of identity and yet they clung to each other. Some vestigial memory, a habitual reflex, or a quirk of genetics, Chuqik didn't know but wanted to find out.

"Where are you going?" Mewak asked.

"To test a theory," Chuqik replied.

He walked over to them and with a shrug sent a command through the Song, ordering them to halt. The pair stopped walking and turned to face him. Chuqik loomed over them and examined them for any hint of reaction but there was none. They faced the towering alien in his Exo-cuirass without the slightest flinch, they were husks, nothing left of their individuality and yet they still held hands. Curiously Chuqik reached out to the little one and grabbed its head in a tight grip, then snapped its neck with a sharp pop. The body collapsed to the ground and the big one didn't react, and yet it still held the hand of the corpse. Chuqik was flummoxed and shook his head in bewilderment then ordered the big one to resume its march. The male did so, walking on as if nothing had happened and yet still clinging tight to the arm, dragging its offspring's dead body behind.

"Humans are so strange," Chuqik spat, "Their attachments seem to go beyond thought itself. They cling to each other beyond any bound of rationality."

"On an individual scale," Mewak observed, "And yet on a larger level they display a callous disregard for their own species. Billions of lives spent in toil and hardship, armies sacrificed for meters of mud, worlds burned to ash by their own hand. Their race kills itself faster than we ever could."

"A paradox," Chuqik mused, "How can a single species be so sentimental and callous at the same time? How can they cling to their blood so tight with one hand and spill it so freely with the other? Human behaviour makes no sense."

"A debased and insipid species," Mewak agreed, "How they came to spread so far across the galaxy defies reason, but they have and we can make use of that fact. Speaking of which…"

"Indeed," Chuqik agreed, "Let us gaze upon Yeuek's labours and see what the Choir for Science has wrought."

The pair turned and bounded towards the distant horizon, their loping gaits swiftly outpassing plodding humans. They passed various Psybrids and lesser alien guards, but paid them no mind, seeking only their goal. Within minutes a dark blot appeared on the horizon, which swiftly grew in size as they closed. Within minutes its outline became distinct and as they neared its true scale became apparent, swelling from a shadow into a vast construction that loomed against the skyline. It took nearly an hour for them to reach its base and as they closed Chuqik observed that it made up of resinous girders, a complex weaving of struts that left open spaces between each spar. They were arranged in a honeycomb fashion, creating a wall that swept out to either side in a roughly circular fashion, describing a ring five kilometres wide and half a kilometre tall. An impressive construction and yet this was only the first level, when it was complete it would match a human Hive City for height and width.

The lines of humans were closing upon this structure, where they were divided into two groups. The strongest and most nimble were directed by Psybrid overseers to take up black girders from prepositioned loading areas and carry them to the construction, to continue building its majesty. The rest were sent to the foundation itself. The weak and the dying, were taken by uncaring hands and placed into the openings of the honeycombs, then secured by sprays of quick setting resin. They were sealed into the structure like flies trapped in sap, left to hang uncared for as the Psybrids moved on to the next and the next.

Chuqik pulled to a halt and breathed, "The Nexus Array."

"The first level is complete already," Mewak observed, "Impressive work."

"I am glad you approve!" came the call of Yeuek.

The pair turned and saw the Scientist closing, his body encased in an Exo-cuirass, more for protection than any expectation of combat. He was in charge of this project and had made sterling efforts to assemble the needed components and through the Song he resonated with self-satisfaction.

"You are on schedule?" Chuqik asked.

"Ahead of schedule," Yeuek smugly replied, "So long as you keep sending us bodies, we can maintain a pace far ahead of projections."

"Excellent work, but bodies will be harder to come by in the future. You must factor in diminished workers into your plans. We may fall short of the required number."

"I can't be expected to produce marvels out of nothing, the Nexus Array needs lifeforce to make it work. If you want to shape the Otherness, I need more slaves."

Mewak leaned in and pressed, "You can really do it? Cut off the Otherness, make it impassable for all save our kind?"

"Simplicity itself," Yeuek sniffed, "The human's understanding of extra-dimensional space is feeble. All I have to do is create a sphere of turbulence around our Nest worlds, one no human ship can pass, not even the Songbreaker. The Nexus Array will drain the lifeforce from the slaves and channel it to the Gestalts, then harmonic resonators will mould the psychic energies to our desired form. Stirring the Otherness is easy, but shaping it is the true skill."

"The Songbreaker cannot destroy us, if he cannot reach us," Chuqik mused, "But is there no way to do this without the Gestalts?"

"Sadly not, we need them, all of them," Yeuek sighed.

Their eyes slid over to the centre of the Nexus, where seven immense creatures sat in the middle of the broad circle. The Gestalts from the starships, brought down to the planet in readiness for the plan. It made Chuqik nervous to see the epicentre of their collective will touching ground but there was no other way. The Gestalts were key to the Nexus and had to be installed as it was constructed, they couldn't be plugged in at the last second, the structure had to be built around them. The Gestalts opened and shut portals constantly, bringing down components from orbit. Without their presence production would be greatly slowed and time was something the Psybrids didn't have.

Chuqik muttered, "I am stationing significant guards to protect this location. To lose the Nexus array would be disastrous, but to lose the Gestalts…"

"Don't say that," Mewak scolded, "Don't even think it."

Yet Yeuek commented, "I think someone has, look who comes."

Chuqik saw the lithe figure of Newek approaching, the warrior clutching his Blister-spine tight as he closed. There was a swagger to his bearing, a sense of triumph, no vindication, and Chuqik heard the Choir for War singing louder than ever. Something was changing, he heard it in the harmonies, something building to a crescendo and it was centred upon Newek. He was up to something, Chuqik knew it to be true.

Chuqik decided not to wait and barked, "Why are you here, you should be breaking open more warrens!"

Newek halted before them and stood proud as he retorted, "I am dealing with a most concerning matter."

"We don't have time to waste with your trivialities!"

"Trivia! Perhaps you haven't heard but our assaults have been thwarted, by the Praetorians. An entire army wiped out in a counter-attack."

The Song grew darker at the proclamation and Chuqik sensed his race's anger building. Of course, he'd known of the attack, how could he not, but Newek was stirring the Song to a frenzy, making the point resonate louder than ever. Chuqik sensed a building rage in the harmony and knew it heralded a disaster in the making.

Hastily he sang, "It is of no concern, we have attacks on-going all over the planet. One denial is not significant."

"Significant!" Newek snorted, "It is not merely slaves that died, Psybrids did too. A dozen of our own kind laid low in the muck, by brutal Praetorians who cannot even hear the Song. It is an insult that must be redressed."

Agreement coursed through the Song but Chuqik argued, "It was expected they would fight; they always do. My plan is simple: let them fight worthless battles, spend their strength defending a warren here or there, while we progress with the Nexus Array. So long as they fight in the field they do not fight here, where we do not want them to be."

"Blindness!" Newek spat, "You let them roam free, to wreak havoc and kill our own, while you tinker with grand plots and worthless devices. We should wipe them out utterly, raze their base and obliterate the threat, then your precious Nexus can be built in safety."

The Song was thrumming with anger but Chuqik snapped, "We have faced their kind before and know head-on attacks never work. We must mislead and distract them from the true goal. If we reveal our true objective early, then they will not hesitate to attack. Deception is our surest route to victory. Keep them running in circles until the Nexus Array is complete, then when we are safe inside our sphere of silence, we can quash them with ease."

Newek sneered, "The Choir for War knows battle better than the Choir for Prosperity. Letting Praetorians roam free is to invite defeat. We must strike now and obliterate them, before they claim more of our heads."

"Never back Praetorians into a corner! " Chuqik snapped but it was too late. The Song shifted, a tidal swell of belligerence drowning out all entreaties to cunning. The Psybrid race wanted violence and death and Newek had swayed them to his cause. The Song demanded bloodshed and destruction and there was no arguing the point. The Psybrid's favour had turned from Chuqik and embraced Newek, by the authority of the Song he was Praecentor now. Chuqik had to bow to his people's collective will, to disobey was unthinkable. He could no more refuse the Song than a hand could refuse to close.

Chuqik sagged as he sighed, "So shall it be, our armies shall break off their assaults upon the warrens and amass on the Praetorians."

"Be not dismayed," Newek scoffed, "I am not so blunt as you believe me to be. I have more finesse than to merely throw bodies at our enemies. Cunning and guilt have their place in war and I have a plan that will catch the Praetorians at their weakest moment. Continue the assaults on the warrens, keep gathering slaves while I lay our trap. We will use their sentimental attachments against them, exploit their emotional flaws and make them dance to our tune. Soon the Praetorians will learn to fear us, when we remind them why the Psybrids are superior."

Chuqik acceded to the new Praecentor as he must but his thoughts were troubled. He knew well that the Praetorians were stern foes and not so easily dismissed. In the darkest recess of his mind he feared the Psybrids were about to make a terrible mistake, but he was helpless to protest. The Song demanded death and he had no choice save to obey.