(Emerges from the shadows, cowl over his face and a single candle held in his hands)
Greetings to you, everyone, and I apologize for the delay in updating. I also apologize for not responding to the reviews like I normally do, but my hotmail had a bit of a hiccup and seems to have misplaced most of the ones for this story, and I haven't had the energy to search for them, mostly because of something that happened this week.
On Tuesday, July 25th, a car near I-10 was clipped by a semi truck. The car was smashed up pretty badly, and the driver was killed instantly. The driver was Adam Spencer Smith, age 18, and he was a good friend of mine. His funeral was today, and it's been kind of hard. I've been doing my best not to think about it, but I can't really help it.
Adam was the proverbial gentle giant, a big kid with a smile and a heart to match. That grin… it never seemed to leave his face. It would change from time to time, usually becoming sneaky or sheepish right before he and his twin brother Brandon would pull off one of their famous practical jokes. I'll never forget the time that my little brother was giving me trouble in church, and the two of them managed to steal his shoes right off of his feet. We were all laughing about it later…
Church… I guess that's one reason I've really been thankful for him. My brother and I are kind of the black sheep of the flock, so to speak, and we've never really been accepted by the majority of the rest of the kids there. Adam and Brandon, however, were two of about four that gave us that friendship. Whether it was in Boy Scouts, on a community project, or making a comment on a particular church lesson, they never failed to bring a laugh about when they wanted to.
Adam was a masterful tuba player in our high school marching band, going on to become its captain. He was a skilled mechanic as well, taking classes at the local community college, and later, he planned to go to Wyoming Tech.
He always left you with a good impression of him, and it showed Thursday, when his wake drew more than six hundred friends, family members, co-workers, and acquaintances.
I don't know if Heaven has an internet, but if you're reading this, my friend, I want you to know that your family and friends will miss you, even if the separation is only temporary, a blink of an eye in the long run.
In loving memory of one of the greatest human beings I have ever had the privilege of knowing, I dedicate this chapter. It is not much, but it is all I have to give…
&
Mind over Matter
"Watch it, Torn, you've picked one up!" Kage's voice growled over the comm., and the commander looked down at his radar, letting a curse fly as he realized that his Hellcat cruiser had yet another of the little robotic aircraft on its tail.
"Tess, blow that thing to the Nine Hells before it knocks us out of the sky!" he all but roared as a fusillade of Eco bolts struck their craft, causing him and Jinx, who was operating the forward point defense from the co-pilot seat, to nearly knock their heads together.
"Working on it," the blond haired elf said, before opening up with her quad laser cannons.
The unmanned combat drone was rather wily though, and it proved a difficult target to hit as it dipped and weaved back and forth, firing at its much larger and less maneuverable adversary. Tess did her best, though, and was not to be deterred by the enemy craft's superior performance. At last, she was able to trick it up, feinting like she was aiming upwards. The Death Bot went into a dive, only to find out that it had walked into a trap, and it took a barrage of crimson Eco bolts. The shots shredded its armor and vital systems, and it exploded in a ball of flames.
But it was merely one of hundreds, and Tess quickly found herself having to train her quad blasters upon another target, as another aerial drone came in at them, its own weapons blazing.
This massive dogfight had been going on for the better part of twenty minutes, ever since the elven strike force had arrived at the Death Bot factory. They had all been caught off guard by the response to their arrival, as while they had been expecting resistance, they had not anticipated this level of it. Nor, for that matter, had they expected the factory itself to be armored like a fortress. It verily bristled with anti aircraft turrets, and a large number of Hellcat gunships had been swatted out of the sky in the opening moments of the confrontation. Fortunately, Kage and Keira had been swift to begin taking out the gun emplacements.
However, whoever or whatever was in charge of the factory had then launched wave after wave of these nimble little combat drones, and while they weren't heavily armed or armored, their sheer numbers and maneuverability were making them royal pains in the neck.
"Torn," Kage shouted over the comm., his distorted voice quickly grabbing the commander's attention, "these things around going to tear us apart before we know it, you've got to get the assault force landed before that happens!"
"Tell me something I don't already know," the Revenant leader shot back, irritation and frustration both present in his voice.
"Keira thinks she's found a likely spot for a landing party," the Dark Eco demon continued, and Torn suddenly saw him appear off to the right of his craft. "Follow me and we'll guide you in."
Both elf and oni knew that it was not certain where this would place them inside of the factory, especially since they had no blueprints or anything else that they could use as a reference. Vin had been useful in guiding them here, but the construct had been unable to obtain any floor plans or maps of the factory itself. Hopefully, he would be able to do that once he got inside.
Still, even that uncertainty was better that staying out here and trying to hold off the endless waves of enemy fighters that kept getting thrown at them.
Barking out an order of the rest of the group to follow him, Torn yanked hard on the control stick, pivoting about until he got a glimpse of Kage flying away from them at top speed. The grizzled commander then gunned the throttle on his craft, causing the afterburners to kick in and pushing him back against his seat as the Hellcat shot forward.
One of the Death Bot drones came zooming in, its twin blasters raking across the front of Torn's craft. But, even before Jinx could get the point defense turrets properly oriented, Kage had pivoted around and let loose a familiar blast of Dark Eco lightning. The bolts of electricity wrapped around the enemy ship, eating through it before causing it to explode.
It took them about thirty seconds of frantic flying and fighting to get to where they were going, which would turn out to be a hangar. It was the first break they'd had, and Torn was grateful that Keira's sharp eyes had spotted it. The manner in which it was placed within the factory would give their Hellcats and the assault team some much needed cover, and since these enemy drones did not appear capable of hovering, would make it nearly suicidal for them to try and come in to say hello again.
Down below, he could see Keira floating in the air, her shimmering wings acting like a beacon to the elven ships, guiding the rest of the group in. Well aware of just how many aerial drones were trying to turn them into smears on the ground, Torn found himself having to make a very difficult call. If they slowed down too much, the Death Bots would sweep them from the sky, but if they went into the hanger too fast, they might very well turn into a burnt and charred crater on the inside walls. Complicating this was the fact that he had absolutely no idea how deep the hangar was.
While Torn had never exactly been someone who might be classified as the religious type, he certainly had a prayer in his mind as he dove into the hangar.
Fortunately, it was a rather deep place, apparently having room for dozens of the unmanned fighter craft that had made getting here hell for them. Still, at the speed he was moving, it still required every ounce of control he could muster from his gunship to get it to stop in time.
By some gods given miracle, the Hellcat cruisers were able to land without crashing, though a couple of suicidal craft had flown in after them, and the resulting explosions were making things a little hairy. Even worse was that more of them were doing quick gun runs upon the open hangar door, their blasters tearing through support struts and coming dangerously close to killing a few members of the assault team.
Kage and Keira both growled, but knew they couldn't do anything against the swarm of enemy fighters, especially from where they were. Their sole hope was Vin.
The oni and angel both reverted back to normal, and both Ascended Channelers made a break for it, heading for the deeper recesses of the hangar. Dangling from around Jak's waist was an armored container, within which was Vin's memory crystal. The container would protect the now very vulnerable construct in the event that his carrier took fire, but nobody wanted to see how effective it was against Eco bolts designed to take down gunships.
The dark Channeler looked about, his visor set to its electromagnetic viewing mode. The world appeared before him as a washed out, almost watery type, black and white. It was difficult to see normal things, like the assault team moving about. Indeed, the only clues he had that they were even there was that their equipment was slightly different from normal this time around, and gave off small electronic resonances that the visor was able to pick up.
However, what it did reveal to him was something that he'd been looking for from the get go. Up near the top of the hangar was a pedestal, and its electronic signature was a near perfect match to the one that Vin had given him before they left. Tapping into his superhuman abilities, and well aware that the enemy was still shooting at them, the dark elf jumped up, planting his feet into a support pillar, and then using that to push off towards the pedestal.
Landing upon the catwalk, the Ascended Channeler rushed forward, stumbling slightly as an explosion was touched off by another drone flying into the hangar in an attempt to take out the landing party. He reached his goal a moment later, and looking down, sighed in relief as he realized there was indeed a slot for Vin's memory crystal to be slid into. Knowing every second counted, Jak quickly reached down and withdrew the crystal from its container, before sliding it in.
Not two seconds after he did so, the hangar doors began to close, sealing them off from the outside world and the danger of the enemy attack craft.
"That was closer than I would have preferred," the dark elf muttered to himself, leaning back against a nearby column and switching his visor back to its normal viewing mode.
'Tell me something I don't already know,' Kage grumbled from within his mind, 'I think we lost a dozen ships trying to get into this place.'
Then let's make certain that their sacrifice was worth it,' his host responded soberly, before looking back to the pedestal that he'd put Vin into.
The AI gazed about; looking for a module or something similar that would be likely to hold the blueprints.
A construct's vision was a strange thing to describe, they saw in code, but it was not exactly a bunch of ones and zeros. Instead, it was more like flashing symbols of different colors that came together and formed images and the like, which often gave their world a look that was somewhere between a downtown region full of holographic images and a child's computer game. The images in many ways denoted the purpose of the object, or in his own case, what he was like. This was reflected in his crystalloid appearance, full of sharp angles and facets, and having a bluish tinge. It was neat, orderly, predictable, just how he liked things to be.
He found what he was looking for, skillfully overcoming the module's defenses and retrieving what he wanted. After that, he focused his attention back to the dark elf who was waiting for a reply. A small hologram of the construct appeared in the pedestal, this one much like how he had appeared in life.
"Well?" Jak inquired, looking down at the AI.
"Very interesting…" Vin muttered to himself, before looking up at the dark elf. "The layout of the factory is all here," he said, before tapping two fingers to his forehead, and a moment later, chatter from down below indicated that the assault team had received the info. "The layout's weird though, I've never seen anything like it," the construct told him.
Jak noticed the factory layout as it appeared on his HUD, and a frown crept over his face. There were elements of the construction that appeared to be of elven design, but there were other parts that seemed… out of place, for lack of a better term. It made Jak uneasy, as he suddenly began to suspect that there might be a whole lot more to this than he had previously anticipated.
"What are your orders?" Torn asked him from down below, carefully staring about with his morph gun raised as if he expected an ambush any second.
"Vin, have you been able to locate any structural weaknesses?" Jak inquired, figuring the sooner they got this job over with, the better off they would all be.
"Just two," the hologram replied, holding up a pair of fingers, before tapping both of them to his forehead and causing a pair of flashing dots to appear on the map, one in the center of the factory, the other one more towards the bottom.
"These are the primary and backup power supplies for the repulsor lifts that are keeping this crate in the air. You take those out…" he trailed off.
"And gravity does the rest," Keira finished, tapping Masamune against the floor.
"Alright, move out!" Jak barked, drawing Kitetsu and motioning for the troopers down below to begin to mobilize.
"Sir, yes sir!" they shouted in unison, shouldering their weapons and beginning to move, allowing for Keira to get up on point.
Jak smiled grimly behind his helmet, before leaping down from where he was, landing next to his soul mate and falling into line beside her. Vin would remain where he was, as the AI would be of more use to them inside the factory's systems. Not exactly a norm for a mission like this, leaving him behind and vulnerable, but this wasn't exactly a normal mission either.
One look at the elven assault team could tell even a casual observer that. They were not clad in their normal blue armor, instead they wore matte black equipment with fully enclosed helmets. The gear's armor plates were also more subtle, less bulky than the traditional infantry armor. They provided less protection, but came with a very lucrative tradeoff: they doubled as environmental suits, something that was invaluable in a place such as this. After all, their enemies were mechanized constructs that would not be bothered by airborne toxins, biological or chemical, and Torn had insisted that they be capable of meeting the enemy on even footing.
Thus, one could imagine their surprise when they rounded the first bend and ran into a welcoming party; a welcoming party composed of Metal Heads.
They scarcely had time to react before they were being fired at. Indeed, one elf was taken down and another wounded before they were returning fire. It was a traditional Hora-quan group, with Grunts and Drones lunging forward to try and bring down the elves while the Centurions raised their energy shields and fired from behind them. There was also a pair of Crab Head commanders that were calling the shots, both figuratively and literally.
Jak and Keira found, to their immense surprise, that they were largely ignored by the Metal Heads. A few shots came at them, but most of their enemies chose instead to concentrate upon trying to mow down the assault teams. At first, both of them were confused by this, until the truth clicked in their minds. These Hora-quan were part of a suicide squad, they knew they weren't going to live through the battle. Their purpose was to whittle away at the weaker members of the group, to take down the normal soldiers until only the two of them were left.
The enemy was learning, and both of them were unnerved by it.
Another elf fell, a gurgle coming from behind his helmet as he hit the ground, his weapon clattering harmlessly to the floor. Complicating matters were that by this time, the Grunts and Drones were nearly upon them.
Once again, Jak decided that he would just have to have faith that the Precursor crafted armor that he was wearing was up to the task of stopping Eco bolts, and he stopped using his dark blade to block and reflect incoming blasts. He concentrated, felling the power flowing through him, and then he struck, focusing on the charging wave. The by now infamous dark mist flew from his outstretched hand, surging towards the enemy ranks and consuming them.
Howls of pain and agony came from within, only to be silenced a second later as the cloud of Dark Eco literally ate away at those unfortunate enough to find themselves inside of it. As always, it cleared to reveal nothing of the Metal Heads it had been unleashed upon. During that time period, though, the ranged fighters had been hard at work, a few shots slamming into Torn and Jinx, though their Katarn battle armor was thankfully capable of shielding them from it. However, their armor's gray plates were now streaked with carbon scoring, evidence of where the rounds had hit home.
Still, they were more than happy to return the favor to the enemy, and several Centurions fell as Torn fired his morph-gun, using its assault rifle mod to expertly place shots where their shields didn't cover them. Jinx and Tess, on the other hand, used their submachine guns to try and chew away at the Crab Heads. Dozens of blaster shots hit the two large Hora-quan moments later, rocking them backwards, impacting upon their armor, and eventually tearing through that to their flesh. With blood curling howls, the two commanders died, slumping down amongst the remains of their troops, their death spasms causing them to fire off a few more shots, though these connected harmlessly with the walls and floor of the hallway.
"So, looks like they've got all hands on deck," Torn muttered to himself, looking around to try and take a good guess of their causalities.
"All the more important that we take this place out, fast," Keira responded, going over to those who'd been hit.
Thankfully, the two who had been hit but not killed had faired better than she had believed. They'd likely have some nasty bruises from the impacts, but their suits had not been breached.
As she had said, though, speed was imperative, and they were quick to be on their way again.
It was not long before they came across a locked door, and Jak called for Vin to give them a hand.
"Just a moment," the construct's voice echoed out over the comm.
In the course of a millisecond, he hit the locking mechanism with almost fifty thousand possible code combinations. Whether Vin had gotten the right code, or he'd simply overloaded the mechanism, none of them would ever know. Regardless, he got them through. However, as he was doing that, the AI felt a sensation that would have felt kind of like someone or something brushing by him if he'd had a body. As it was, though, he felt a moment of confusion, followed by that sinking suspicion one gets when one is being watched.
Suddenly, Vin had a gut feeling that things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.
A few minutes had passed, and they were now deeper into the compound, getting close to where the primary repulsor controls were. They'd encountered more enemy resistance along the way, but careful planning, the fact that they were on guard now, and that Vin had managed to take control of a few of the security systems gave them an enormous edge, and they'd pressed on without any more causalities.
They were right outside another locked door, and while they waited, Vin decided that it was time for him to use the security cameras once again. With that thought, he was looking at the blueprints of the factory, and just as quickly, through the 'eyes' of the camera for the next room. A group of Metal Heads stood guard inside, waiting with eager anticipation for the enemy to reveal itself that they might take them down. The constructs clever eyes noticed something, though. Off in the corner of the room was a large power conduit, which the Crab Heads and Centurions were huddled close around.
An idea came to him, and if he'd still had fingers, the AI knew that he would have snapped them at that moment. He sent his consciousness out, seeking, searching for the controls to this particular conduit. In the time it would have taken an organic creature to blink, the construct had located it. A few more fractions of a second, and he'd smashed through the four security layers that had been guarding it, and he was in.
As Vin saw it, he hovered there, inside of the computer systems, looking at this thing. He had two options before him right now. First, he could shut the conduit down, taking down the power to that room and rendering the Metal Heads inside and in any surrounding rooms blind to what was going on, thus providing the assault team with a huge surprise when they stormed in. The other option was considerably less subtle and more brutal. He could overload the power going through the conduit. This would cause a devastating chain reaction of failures that would essentially turn it into a bomb.
He decided upon the latter. It was less refined, but the number of enemies hovering around it simply made it an irresistible target for the AI. A brief nanosecond of concentration, and the orders had been sent. Emergency protocols and overrides attempted to halt it, but Vin was able to squash those meager programs with scarcely any effort. This was cyberspace, and here, in this element, he was a god.
Thus, he was very much caught off guard with what he saw happen next.
The conduit exploded, taking out the Metal Head group. However, at the same time, he saw hidden vents suddenly open in the room that held the assault team, and a visible, gas-like substance began to pour out of them.
Somebody, Jinx by the sound of it, got a whiff of the stuff, and fell to his knees, coughing and gasping.
"Nerve gas! Seal your suits!" he screamed into his comm. between his hacking, and Vin could hear a hissing sound as everyone did just that.
"You alright, buddy?" Torn asked, scrambling over to his squad mate and trying to make certain that he was alright.
"I've had better days," the pyromaniac grumbled, still coughing his lungs out, "just glad that I only got a bit of the stuff."
"You and me both," the Revenant commander growled. "Vin, what the hell is going on?"
"Give me a second, I'm scanning through this computer code here," the construct responded.
There! Vin stopped abruptly, looking at one line of code that stood out from the rest. It had been added recently, just a few minutes prior, one that would activate the release of the nerve gas if the power conduit in the other room was shut down or destroyed. A computer loaded booby trap, and the AI had fallen for it. Vin cursed himself for his carelessness, how could he not have seen this coming? Furthermore, how come he hadn't spotted this? Then he realized it had been because the command was buried under so many lines of normal operating codes. That worried him. The only other thing that he knew of that could move so quickly and efficiently as to throw this in like that was…
Pain suddenly shot through him, agony unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Instantly, he threw out a self diagnostic subroutine. The check completed itself almost as soon as it had been initiated, and then Vin discovered something that would have made his blood run cold, if he'd still had blood. He'd been infected with a virus of unknown classification and origin, and it was attempting to destroy his programming. Quickly, he diverted every available counter measure he had to crush it, which for an AI, was something akin to using a fifty pound sledgehammer to squash a fly. Though the living definition of overkill, Vin wasn't about to take any chances with something like that.
'Panting' for lack of a better term, he sensed about, trying to discover what it was that had hit him.
Not bad… for a construct of the primitives…
The voice, which was actually something like a telepathic communication, rather than a verbal comment, came from behind Vin, and he spun about to face it. What he saw took his breath away.
Hovering before him was something that almost looked like a swarming cloud of data. It was silver in color, and after a second, it formed into a roughly humanoid shape, though the region around where the head would have been was an overhanging region, almost like a cowl. Vin realized that this was the other presence he had felt, and he was looking at the egoscopic manifestation of the other AI. The enemy construct gave off an 'aura' for lack of a better term that was very much like what he had felt when he'd unlocked that first door. In that moment, Vin cursed himself for a fool, realizing that this enemy AI had been watching him since he'd entered the system, and had no doubt been getting a good look at how he operated.
A bright bit of crimson light gathered in front of the enemy construct, and Vin's eyes widened as he realized it was launching another viral attack at him. Quickly, just as the cloaked figure fired his attack, Vin created a firewall program, raising it up around himself. The virus hit the other program, and was destroyed before it could penetrate. Thinking quickly, he created a viral algorism of his own, and as soon as the firewall had dissipated, he launched it.
The enemy construct, caught off guard by this suddenly aggressive move, did not have enough time to raise his own defenses before the attack hit. It fell in upon itself, its code boiling around like a storm cloud, and a growl of pain coming from within it as he fought with the rogue programming that was attempting to erase him from existence.
However, he, like Vin, could not be overcome by any one viral attack, and he quickly crushed it.
Impressive… most impressive… it responded as it reformed, a genuine tone of respect in its voice. I think I've learned all I need to know for now, construct. We'll meet again soon, and I, Grendel, will see how well you can keep up with a construct of the Ancients.
With that ominous message, Grendel retreated, the image shattering into a flurry of code and fading back into the blur of the computer systems. Vin took a moment to try and collect himself, his thoughts drifting over what had just occurred, and what doubtlessly would as they drew closer to the heart of this plant.
"Vin, you okay?" Jak inquired suddenly, wondering why it had been so long, compared to normal at least, since the construct had contacted them.
"I think we've got a bit of a problem here," he muttered, his voice having that old quality of uneasiness that was his trademark in life.
"What do you mean?" Torn inquired, wanting to know of any complications that could jeopardize the mission and those involved.
"There's something else in this system," he told them, all the while keeping his defense systems on their highest alert setting, just in case Grendel wanted a round two. "It's what caused that nerve gas to get dumped on us."
"What is it?" Keira inquired, puzzled at what might give him reason to pause.
"There's another AI construct in here with me," he told them, pausing again to allow their minds to comprehend what he just said. "Furthermore, I think it's Precursian in origin."
"Wait a minute," Torn inquired, raising a hand up despite the fact that it didn't serve much of a purpose in addressing Vin, "you mean to tell me that the thing in charge of this facility, is a Fallen Precursor artificial intelligence?"
"That's what it claimed to be," Vin responded in a matter of fact tone. "It got the jump on me and hit me with a virus, and then it left. I don't know where it is in the system now, but I got a really bad feeling that it's still watching us somehow."
'All the more reason for us to be careful,' Kage murmured, scratching his chin from the inside of Jak's mind. 'We're on this thing's turf, and it would be foolish to assume that it didn't have more booby traps like that one.'
'You're right about that,' Jak concurred, before giving voice to the oni's thoughts.
Thus, it was with that in mind that they proceeded forth in a far more careful manner than they had before.
Ironically, Vin thought that the paranoia that he'd been cursed with in life might actually have a positive application in this matter. After all, Grendel appeared to be fighting a shadow war with him, and the Precursian AI doubtlessly knew these systems like the back of his hand. Vin would have to be doubly on guard, or he could expect another sneak attack form behind, this one probably far more damaging.
Which reminded him that he needed to find out what parts of himself had been damaged, deleted, or corrupted by the attack. With a thought, he spun off another subroutine to try and assess the damage that had been done to him. It was nothing serious, what one might attribute to a flesh wound. Nonetheless, Vin knew that he had been lucky, and that he would have to be infinitely more cautious than he had been before.
Three minutes after Vin's initial contact with Grendel, he came across a situation that he felt might enable him to turn the tide upon the other construct.
It was another group of Metal Heads behind a door. This time though, it was not power conduits or things of that nature that got the AI's attention. Rather, there was a large ventilation shaft that blew air into the room. Pausing just long enough to give a command to the assault team that they should wait for him to work a little magic, Vin concentrated, before sending his consciousness out once again, looking for a module or something that he might be able to hijack.
The code module that he was looking for was rather well hidden, as it took the construct a couple of real world seconds to locate it, ages for a entity that dealt in time units such a nanoseconds and the like. After smashing its defenses, the AI then scanned through the code until he found what he was looking for. After pausing to make certain that no traps had been laid within this one, he made a few minor binary changes to it, a sensation he could only describe as grim elation going through him as he pulled his trap off.
The only thing that the Hora-quan back in the room were aware of was the fact that the ventilation fan suddenly began to turn the other way, and the air as a result was literally sucked from the room. Now, seeing as how the Metal Heads lacked any form of life support, they immediately began to gasp for the life giving oxygen that was no longer present within the room.
Within two minutes, they were all dead, their bodies upon the floor and the elven assault team tramping over them without even having to fire a shot.
Vin, still feeling pretty good about what he'd just done, suddenly sensed that Grendel was about again, and he instinctively threw up a few firewalls around himself, while retreating inside of them. Much to his surprise, no attack came, instead, he simply felt the other construct staring at him.
Not bad at all… Grendel said abruptly, his tone quiet, almost as if he'd been thinking out loud.
As quickly as he had appeared, the Precursian AI vanished. Vin hesitantly lowered his defenses, just in case this might be a ruse designed to lure him into a false sense of security. He wasn't really certain why Grendel seemed to be avoiding a direct confrontation with him, but he couldn't exactly say he was thrilled at the notion that he would eventually have to battle the other construct. It was something he'd never done before, and truthfully, the AI did not know exactly how well he would be able to stand up to one of his own kind. On the other hand, every moment between now and that inevitable battle meant one more moment that Grendel would have to observe his foe and get an idea of how to deal with him.
Either way, Vin knew that if he failed, there was a good chance the mission would fail as well. With Jak and Keira along, there was a good chance that they might still be able to take this floating factory down, however, he was certain that Grendel could find the means to delay them from returning to the hangar bay until this factory turned itself into a large crater.
They'd reached the primary controls for the repulsor lifts, and were now in the process of setting the demo charges. As per usual with someone like Jinx on the case, the assault team was operating on the 'P for Plenty' motto, and they were laying down approximately twice what would be necessary to destroy the place, just in case there was something they hadn't seen.
What surprised Vin the most was that Grendel was nowhere to be found. He'd seen neither hide nor hair of the other construct, and that was making him nervous. Given the guerilla styled tactics that the Precursian AI seemed to be engaging in at the moment, Vin had no doubt that he was planning something devious.
However, despite that caution, he was still surprised when the attack came. A coolant control valve suddenly exploded, showering three members of the strike team with its contents. Two were fully enveloped, but one of them managed to twist out of the way in time. That elf cried out as the deadly chill swept through his body, freezing armor and flesh alike, and Vin could hear his horrified gasping as his arm became little more than a block of ice. He had fared better than his two comrades, whose bodies were now frozen to the floor.
At the same time, a power conduit on the other side of the room exploded, and the ensuing shrapnel cutting down two more, and wounding another pair of soldiers, their blood spreading across the floor like a crimson oil slick.
Though he was caught with his proverbial pants down, Vin did react fast enough to stop a far greater catastrophe from taking place. Realizing the danger that the active demo charges presented, he remotely deactivated them, lest a stray attack or something like that take them out, and kill everyone in the room, which he suspected was Grendel's intention.
As a matter of fact, he was even able to turn the tables upon the other construct. Quickly focusing, he located the systems that the other AI was using to move about, and with a thought, set off a careful chain reaction of power overloads and the like that physically destroyed the circuitry, with the exception of a single route, the one that he'd taken to get in here. This effectively trapped the Precursian construct in the immediate area. The only way out was through Vin, and both of them knew it. This would also force the confrontation that Vin was eager to get out of the way, because even if he chose to wait and remain to skulk in the shadows, Grendel realized that it would give the elves enough time to destroy the factory, which would effectively make anything else a moot point.
The alien construct once again materialized before Vin, his arms crossed and his head bowed, almost giving him the impression of a monk at prayer.
So it at last comes to this. He stated calmly, to which his counterpart merely nodded.
For a nanosecond, they stared, before Vin made the first move. A thought caused a quartet of virus to be created and expelled from his consciousness. Once again, though, Grendel's firewall capabilities proved to be more than capable of thwarting the malignant programs, and his defenses ripped them apart. However, rather than dissipating, the elven construct watched as the hooded figure absorbed them into himself. For a moment, he was confused, until he realized what was happening: Grendel was copying the malignant codes, studying them and storing them away for future use. He had literally dissected the attack, and it now resided within his own memory, something for him to use at a later date.
The split second of distraction that realization provided nearly proved to be a second death for Vin, as Grendel launched a vicious counter attack, a multitude of attack protocols coming in at every imaginable angle. Vin raised a shield around himself, but as the first one hit, he realized his error as a tingling type sensation passed through him, and the attack reflected directly back towards its sender. He quickly dropped his shield and moved out of the way of the others, realizing that the Precursian AI was once again probing him, trying to find a weakness in his defenses, something that he could exploit to his best advantage.
Hoping that if nothing else, he might interrupt the other AI's scanning, Vin launched another virus at his adversary. This time, though, Grendel didn't even bother to raise a firewall to protect himself, instead, he once more collapsed inward upon himself, resembling a cloud of code and data again. As the attack drew near, he moved outward, opening up a hole in his center that the program went right through.
Grendel did not reform afterwards, but instead shot forward, streaking towards Vin. As he drew nearer to the elven AI, the other construct suddenly expanded and broke apart, swelling outwards and enveloping his foe. Vin scarcely had time to raise his defensive protocols before the barrage came. Viruses and malignant programs of ever variety he knew impacted upon his firewalls, causing them to 'shudder' under them. If sweat could have formed upon his crystalloid brow, it certainly would have at that particular moment. One by one, the firewalls overloaded and failed, as the sheer number of attacks that Grendel was unleashing destroyed them. Vin was running out of time and he knew it, he had to get out of this, for once his defenses failed, there would be nothing to stop the Precursian AI from deleting him from existence.
An idea came to mind, and not a moment too soon. As quickly as he could, Vin created every attack protocol and algorism that he could think of, surrounding himself with them. As his final firewall failed, blinking out, he shot forward, using the viral programs he'd created as a shield.
Almost too late, Grendel realized what the elven construct was attempting to do, and he made haste to try and get out of the way before they crossed, and he would up taking in all those rogue programs. While the AI held little doubt that he was fully capable of deleting even that many viruses before they could do permanent damage, such a delay would enable his adversary to get another chain of attack going, something he had no desire to experience. Unfortunately for him, though, was that while he was able to get out of the way of the overwhelming majority of the attacks, the ones on the fringes still clipped him, and he had to suppress a groan as he felt parts of his code become infected by the malignant programs. Retreating away from his opponent, he deleted them as swiftly as he could, firing a few of his own off in an attempt to buy himself some time.
It worked, and Vin found himself to busy deflecting and dodging the attacks to worry about countering. The result was that when both AI constructs were done, they simply stared at each other, once more waiting to see who would begin round two.
Vin was a little uneasy, as this battle was already proving to be as difficult as he feared it would. Furthermore, as each phase passed, with each attack he created and launched, Grendel learned more and more about him and his patterns. The only solution that he could honestly think of at the moment was that he was going to have to get significantly more unorthodox in his patterns of attack and defense. He was going to have to go for something bolder and more risky.
Grendel on the other hand, looked on with confidence. This was not his first time facing an enemy construct. Indeed, during the Kinslayer War, he'd deleted nearly half a dozen Precursor AIs. However, he had to admit, for something born of a race that was so far behind his own creators, this other construct, Vin, if he'd heard correctly, was a crafty and cunning adversary. There was something about him that was also different, perhaps in his origins, or his memory nexus, but regardless, Grendel knew that this elven construct was unlike anything that he'd faced before, and thus, he'd have to be careful. One slipup could turn the tide, and make all of this work be in vain. He concluded that it would perhaps be best if he got this over with as quickly as he could, and thus, he shot forward, resembling a silvery comet as he rushed at Vin.
At the last possible second, he twisted, and as he trailed by his crystalloid opponent, a veritable swarm of viral programs flew off the tail he left in his wake, all of them rushing towards his foe. Some went straight at him, while others twisted and turned, moving about at seemingly random intervals in the hopes of confusing the other construct just long enough for one of them to hit him and do some damage.
Vin was just as fast on defense as Grendel was on offense, though, and he defeated every single attack, though he couldn't help but wonder if all of this was just a delaying tactic, something that the Precursian AI was using to keep him off balance long enough for him to whip out something particularly nasty. However, that train of thought brought an idea to his own mind, and he figured that if Grendel was planning something of that nature, then he'd better have a dastardly trick or two up his own sleeve. Two thoughts came to mind, both of which he decided to implement.
The first one could be implemented rather quickly, so he decided that it would be best for him to start on that one, and then use the time he bought himself to begin work on the second. A second later, two attacks streaked away from him, looking like crystal daggers. They homed in on Grendel, who abruptly pivoted about, expanding again as he caught the attacks, once more attempting to take them apart and analyze the attack patterns of his opponent. Too late, he realized his error, as he removed the outer layer of code around them, only to find that there was a secondary viral program contained within them. The red tinged burst of light entered into him, and promptly began to ravage his internal systems.
These viruses, he realized, were of a far more potent nature than the previous attacks that Vin had used upon him, and the damage was spreading fast. Being certain to keep a proverbial eye out for his adversary, he quickly loosed his defensive protocols upon the two viruses, hoping to contain them before any permanent harm was done. He succeeded, though he was partially distracted by the fact that Vin was continuing to rain attack down upon him.
Clever move, Vin… he muttered to himself, before launching another barrage of attacks at the elven construct.
Vin was able to raise some firewalls in order to protect himself, but Grendel noticed that they had come up almost too late to stop the rogue programs from entering him, and something about that bothered him. Vin had, up until this point, demonstrated that he was more than capable of keeping up with him, and this sudden slowdown unnerved him. He knew that the other AI was planning something, and it had to be something big by the way in which it was making his reactions sluggish.
That was all the more reason to finish his opponent off quickly, as far as he was concerned, and so great were the numbers of attack programs that he launched that the next few moments might have passed as either a computerized reenactment of the battle for Haven, or the finale of the celebration that occurred after said battle.
As the attacks began to smash through his defenses, Vin suddenly began to question whether or not what he was attempting to do was a very wise idea after all. Still, he was so far into what he was attempting to do that he wasn't truly certain that he could stop it even if he'd wanted to. He only prayed that he could hold out long enough, a few more moments, and then he'd be done.
Thus he decided that fleeing would be a very good idea t the moment. Lowering his defenses, he ducked out of sight, leaving a very puzzled Grendel in his wake. The way was now clear for the Precursian AI, but he did not wish to leave an enemy at his back, not after he had placed so much into this fight. This would end here and now, for better or for worse.
Thus, he let his consciousness spread out, seeking for a trace of his foe, wondering where he might have gotten off to, and for what purpose. After a couple of moments, he sensed something that he knew was Vin, but he was somewhat confused. It didn't feel quite the same as the AI he'd been battling and as he cautiously went out to face it, he remained on guard and wary of any tricks.
He found his target shortly thereafter, but as he went to pounce, he noticed that the other construct made no move to defend himself, or anything of that nature. He also seemed somewhat… diminished, for lack of a better term. It was then that Grendel realized what was happening. Vin had made a decoy copy of himself, something to try and throw him off the trail. Many of the constructs he'd battled before had tried such tactics, and Grendel prided himself on the fact that after the first time, he'd never fallen for the trick again.
Thus, he immediately raised his defenses around himself, and felt grim elation course though him as several viruses were destroyed an instant later. Spinning about, he spotted his true prey, and shot forward, flowing to and fro to try and throw off the aim of his opponent. It worked, and he once more enveloped Vin, before hammering the elven construct's defenses.
For a moment or two, this continued, and Grendel made certain to have a firewall of his own set up around his interior, as he wanted no repeats of what happened the last time he had tried this. He felt Vin's defenses beginning to buckle beneath the weight of his assault, and he knew that victory was at hand.
He was right, but the victory was not exactly has he had planned.
Pain suddenly coursed through him as a large number of viral attacks slammed into his exposed exterior. A screech of pain, distorted electronically, came from him, as he realized what had happened. The copy that Vin had crafted of himself was no mere dummy, but one that was actually capable of attacking and defending on its own. A moment of disbelief coursed through him. How had the other construct been able to do that? Not even he, with all of his impressive abilities, could copy so much data onto a clean template in the period of time that had been available to him.
A nanosecond after that, he felt the firewalls that Vin had set up fade, and the elven AI came on with a fury that Grendel had never before witnessed. In that instant, the Precursian construct knew that he was finished, that he had no hope of coming out of this one. However, he was like his makers, a proud and strong warrior. No pleading came from him as he reverted back to a more basic form, no begging for mercy. Instead, a grim measure of respect for Vin filled him, and he regretted only that he was now incapable of stopping the enemy assault team from accomplishing their goal.
The final moments of the construct's life were both quick and eternally long, as he felt himself being ripped away layer by layer, code by code. At the same time, he also felt the distinct sensation that he was being copied, and he realized that Vin was absorbing him, analyzing his data to get a first hand idea of how his kind operated… and of any knowledge that might have been held inside of himself.
After that, he knew a bright flash, and then nothing.
Vin panted and muttered something to himself as the fight ended and the other AI became one with himself. He then looked up and saw his copy coming towards him. Nodding slightly, the other version of himself shattered into a thousand crystal shards before coming back into the original.
He'd had no idea for how long he'd battled his foe, but he knew that the victory he'd achieved here had been a very important one. The data he'd just gathered would prove invaluable once he'd managed to crack the encryptions about it. However, he'd have to be careful, as he wouldn't put his foe beyond leaving a booby trap or something like that in his code in the even of being assimilated by another construct.
"Vin, you okay?" came a voice that he recognized as Jak's.
"I'm fine," he responded, already beginning to send his consciousness out, searching for modules and remote controls for the Death Bots he knew were here.
"What happened?" Keira asked.
"Me and the other AI just scrapped it out with each other," he told her.
"I take it you came out on top?" she returned, a bit of relief in her voice.
"Yeah, Grendel's gone," he replied. "With him out of the picture I think I'll be able to remotely control the battle droids here, and turn them on the Metal Heads."
"Leaving the way clear for us?" Torn concluded, and everyone could tell that he was smiling behind his helmet.
"Yep," Vin stated, though he was only half listening, as he believed he'd just found something very important.
"Then let's get moving," the Revenant leader said, reactivating the demo charges and moving on.
"You guys do that," Vin murmured, before sending everything he had out to try and break a very interesting lock.
He succeeded a moment later, and found himself gasping as he saw what was before him.
Grendel had been a busy little computer. Apparently, in an attempt to defend this station, he'd been fashioning a 'body' for himself. Vin could see the influence from the Hunter Killers in its design, but this one was far sleeker, more angular, and it seemed to bear influence from his Precursor makers as well. All in all, it looked like a cross between a Viper and a Precursor Warrior. What stood out the most, however, was four protrusions off of the back, which almost resembled skeletal bat wings. They appeared to be engines of some nature, and he realized that this one might have actually been capable of permanent flight. Its onboard weapon systems were far superior to the Hunter Killers, as well, and he noticed that unlike their bulky guns, the Eco weapons of this one were cunningly concealed inside its sleek lines. There was one exception to this, though, and that was what appeared to be its melee weapon. It was a large halberd, held in the right hand, composed of some foreign material that the AI sensed was similar, though not quite on the same quality level, as the substance that made up Jak and Keira's armor.
It wasn't completely finished, however, as it didn't have any higher level programming or a place for the AI to have his memory chip inserted. But that was so much the better as far as Vin was concerned, as it meant he could customize it completely to his liking. He could still send it out after the assault team though, as after the traps Grendel had laid for them, they would probably welcome the extra firepower.
He opened up a comm. channel to them, and let them know of the help that was coming their way, as he didn't want this thing getting destroyed by the pair of Ascended Channelers because they got surprised by it.
It was some time later, and the factory was merely a bad memory. After Grendel's defeat, the mission had gone smoothly, and no further injuries had been sustained by the team. However, one thing was still on Vin's mind, and had been bothering him ever since he'd bested his opponent. Before he'd destroyed him, Grendel had reverted back to a base form, and it was the nature of that form that puzzled him.
Why in the name of the Ancients had Grendel taken the form of an ottsel?