Naruhito POV
WHAM…
"I think it's time you told us the truth." Kallen demanded as she pointed her Crisis Suit's fusion blade at my face, the bright blade of ionising energies bathing me in a radiant heat. I looked past it, my enhanced eyes allowing me to ignore the brightness and focus on my target. I was glad we were having this conversation in private, Ghost would have already shot her for pointing that weapon at me. I think.
"Okay, first of all – keep pointing that thing at me and you'll not like how the rest of this conversation goes." I stopped there, glaring into her optical sensors until she got the point. If I didn't know better, I would have said that the suit trembled for just a moment, before she pulled her weapon back and stepped away.
I nodded once she'd back down, accepting her contrition and continued speaking, "Second of all, that's far too open of a question. You'll have to narrow it down."
"Okay, how about this?" This time it was Homura, the leader of the resistance cell I worked with during the Kamiketsu's debut. He was also piloting one of the Crisis Suits, though his seemed to be optimised for command and control rather than straight fighting power. "Who are you? What are you? What was that… that… thing you fought? And-"
"Are you really Sakuna?" Kallen interjected, her words echoing through the tunnel we were having this conversation in. "And what's with all the identical twins?"
"Finally, some proper questions." I said, "I am Naruhito, formerly Naruhito Setsuna, though I basically don't bother with my family name anymore. You also know me as Sakuna, the pilot of the Kamiketsu. I used to be human, until I altered myself into a state beyond humanity just…" I checked my internal clock, huh, I must have been asleep for longer than I thought. I'd have to watch out for that. "forty-three hours ago."
The two Suits were utterly still as their pilots communicated via datalink, and I took that opportunity to make my next plans in an accelerated reference frame. If I cared to listen in it likely wouldn't be too difficult. Battle Suit CadreNET wasn't exactly secure. Sure, it was better protected than civilian networks, but with such close proximity it wouldn't be hard to breach their software. One of the more interesting and novel ways I'd conceived of in my frame-jacked state was to essentially turn myself into a software cognito-hazard. I could hack into their systems through the optical sensors, using my nanites and some creative bending of light to strobe them and trigger specific responses in the Suits's operating systems.
Of course, the solution to that was simply to make all optical data read-only, but then all of that juicy battle-analysis software the suits were loaded up with would be useless. And I'm making it sound a lot simpler in theory than it would be in practice. I haven't yet studied the Battle Suit's operating systems in depth and wouldn't know the sequence needed to breach it.
But enough about my capabilities, I was frame-jacked to plan out my next move and that was what I would do. First, I needed information.
[Naruhito: VENUS, have we determined the locations and current status of all the resistance cells across the planet are yet?
VENUS: All the ones that have been active within the last year. Why?
Naruhito: I think it's time to move up my timetable. I've just had a big, public battle with a Greater Daemon and while the people of this planet might not truly comprehend what that means, the imperial agents will at least have an idea, which means we are once again on the clock. We must assume that the Imperium is on its way.
VENUS: Very well, though you will have to make time to deal with Ghost, she was looking rather upset when I called her in to assist with your rescue.
Naruhito: Of course she was. Any idea what I'm in for? Or is this a situation where I should ignore her?
VENUS: She believes that you are either suicidal, or just incapable of making sound decisions with your own life. Which, given your track record, isn't that far from the truth.
Naruhito: Enough with the metacommentary, get to the point – both points.
VENUS: I think she's going to try to go full amazonian style femdom on you. She won't try to seize control over your life, but she will go out of her way to alter your priorities. She's even recruited your brainwashed Eldar into assisting her.]
I was silent for a whole hour of subjective time, processing the words that had hit me out of nowhere. Sure, I knew she was into me, I'd have to be an idiot to not notice it at this point, but that she would jump from close friend to… whatever VENUS was implying was a bit unexpected. And she's even pulling Eliandryth and the Banshees into it too? How did she even do that?
Spoiler:
You Runed Everything
Before the development of the Arcane Enchanter in the 4th Era which streamlined enchanting to the point that any novice without even the barest hint of magicka could bind an enchantment, and even before the Guild-standardized enchanting techniques of the 3rd Era which drastically eased the process to a simple matter of shoving stored magicka into an item, the tool of choice for infusing an item with a magical effect was the humble Glyph. A Glyph is a combination of three runes, one inscribed with the potency which determines the base strength and whether it adds or removes, one with the desired attribute to effect such as health or a specific element , and a third designating its aspect, ranging from Common to Legendary. You know enough to be able to use and translate up to Rank Five runes(Pora, Denara, Hade and Idode) , with even more becoming available to you as you research and translate more.
That wasn't as useful as fuinjutsu, but I'm sure I can incorporate it into everything easily enough.
Anyway, with a moment of thought I could easily see how she recruited those two to her cause. It was my own fault really, they had standing orders to assist me not just by order, but by intention. They wanted to help me, and on some level agreed with Ghost in her assessment of my actions. I was confident that they couldn't turn on me so…
[Naruhito: Should I let them?]
This time, it was VENUS's turn to be shocked into silence, her own inactivity lasting even longer than my own. A full real world second!
[VENUS: Well, it wouldn't be the worst idea. Didn't you explain that the whole problem with the universe we are in was that the most powerful human ever to exist tried to control everything, always thinking that he was infallible?
Naruhito: No, the problems started when the Emperor finally did relinquish some control. Horus rebelled almost as soon as he was gone. The moral of that story is to always have an iron-fisted grip on everything.
VENUS: You missed the part where I said he thought himself infallible. Being submissive in the bedroom is a fast way of popping any overinflated ego. Even a cast iron one like yours. So sure, when they try to assert control in that one aspect of your life, let them. Even if it would all be fake since you could obliterate them with a thought.
Naruhito: You're not just saying this because you want to see me getting pegged or something right?
VENUS: You wouldn't be able to tell either way. You're kind of oblivious about that sort of thing.
Naruhito: Good point. Now, back to the original point; I want you to start seizing control over as many Drones as you can. Civilian, Combat, it doesn't matter, just gain control over as many of the autonomous systems as you can. Maintain their normal operations until I tell you otherwise, and let me know the second you suspect someone noticing your presence.]
For all their skill at software systems, the Earth Caste were still woefully unprepared for a true AI like her. I just had to keep an eye on her to make sure she wasn't corrupted by anything. I was still unsure about weather or not her status as a Forge perk benefit would grant her fiat protections but why take chances?
[VENUS: Understood Naru. And what else do you need doing?
Naruhito: That will depend on how it goes with the leadership of the rebels, hence my question about their locations and statuses. I'm going to be asserting my control and the last thing I need is them biting at my heels in some stupid attempt to rebel from
me. Now, give me those details, I need to start planning my next series of point-to-point jumps after this conversation is done.]
"What is it that you want, Sakuna?" Kallen asked, using my fabricated name rather than my real one. "And you never answered the other questions."
"You already know what I want. I announced it along with the deaths of a few thousand Tau." I explained with a tone that was crafted to ask: 'did you forget already?'
"You want the Tau to leave." Homura said, more a statement than a question.
"No, I want the Tau to cede authority of the system to its rightful shogun." I clarified.
"And who is that? You?" Kallen asked, "How do we know that you would be a good choice for leader?"
"Well, I actually know what our galaxy is like for one. I know what the Imperium of Man is and how it acts. I refuse to live under that. And finally, because I have the power to enforce my claim. It has to be me in charge, anyone else would just get it wrong." I stated, listing off the major reasons in order of ascending importance. "And as to your other questions…"
It didn't take long to get their cell under my command. In all honesty they were under my command from the moment VENUS managed to rope them into the rescue effort, they just didn't know it at that point. Though there were still some problems that needed to be addressed, the presence of Tau within my organisation being the big one. I could tell that Kallen's inbuilt distain for them was going to be a problem down the line. But for now, she would be useful. I could always fix her later.
Kallen POV
Kallen wasn't sure what was going on anymore, ever since that day when the Kamiketsu arrived things had gotten… weird.
She missed the days when she simply hurt the Tau, fuelled by her hatred and need for petty revenge. She had fought to win, even if she never really expected things to change. In her gut she knew that the Tau were here to stay, up until the 'interrogator' came.
Sergei had told them, not just her cell but practically all the rebel fighters on the continent, about the Imperium of Man. An empire from beyond the stars that would come to liberate their world and the whole of the Shizukana system from their xeno oppressors. Honestly, she just enjoyed hearing him talk.
And it wasn't only stories he and the other interrogators came with. They brought weapons, tools, infrastructure, resources and planning. Where before it felt like a hopeless but needed fight, one where they would die at the end on it, now it felt like they were making real progress. All they had to do was soften the planet up so that when the imperial crusade fleet came the planet would be easy pickings.
Then Sergei had been killed, and things had gone off the deep end from there. One of his colleagues on another continent had taken over – this one had been decidedly less charismatic than Sergei – but they kept on fighting. Which lead to her bearing witness to Sakuna and the Kamiketsu's first outing.
One thing had lead to another, and it felt to her like Sakuna was hijacking the whole rebel movement. No wait, that was exactly what he was doing, assuming what he had told them about the Imperium of Man was true.
Not that it mattered, he had fought an real life monster, like something out of her darkest and most vicious fantasies. Just remembering the image of it from the recording was enough to make her gorge rise and drive her to punch something. She had been scared until Sakuna explained exactly what that thing was. A Daemon, he had called it. 'A literal embodiment of life's worst impulses', then he recommended deep breathing exercises and not watching the footage again, 'just to make sure you don't go insane.'
Now he was hosting a summit meeting of all the major and most of the minor groups of rebels. Using that teleportation power of him he had jumped across the world, dropping off small paper talismans that could apparently be used to transport people without Sakuna needing to do it personally.
They were in one of the larger underground chambers of his mountain fortress, with about 2000 people attending. That had been a sobering number, mostly because of how small it was, since it was only the leaders plus their seconds attending this meeting.
If her group was typical with its 30 core members then that meant there were around 30,000 rebel fighters across the globe. Of course not all of them were attending, some had chosen to ignore the invitations he delivered, and she had no idea how large the groups actually were, for all she knew her group was among the smallest even if they were rather successful as a cell.
She had expected the actual numbers of rebels to be far higher than that. There were about 3 billion humans on the planet and about a half again as many Tau, a far decline from their prime some millennia ago, stories say that Shizukana Prime had ten times that many people living on it once upon a time. She had expected the rebellion to number in the hundreds of thousands at least – but it seemed that most people were content to live their lives as the pet people of the Tau. She grimaced at the thought, angry that more people weren't angry.
Among the assembled rebel leaders, clear cliques and power hierarchies were forming. Not all that surprising, most of these men and women were defined by their disagreeability and irrepressibility. There were ideological lines being drawn, and honestly she was surprised that a fight hadn't broken out yet.
"It took quite a but of work to figure out the seating arrangements." Came the voice of one of Naruhito's clones. He wasn't the unique one, just one of the numbers, #114 going by his uniform. She was still having a hard time wrapping her head around the idea that someone could just create… copies of themselves like that. If she did that then she would probably lose herself in them. Though that would explain how odd Naruhito could be at times.
He was speaking to the other clones, the group leaning on the guardrail from their overhanging balconies. She listened in as he spoke, "VENUS had a profile built for each of them, and most of the work was already done but the boss wanted me to double check her work."
"Like you could somehow do a better job of ensuring this rabble doesn't kill itself than an AI specifically designed for managing human relationships." One of the other clones said, his tone mocking.
"That's what I thought, I think he just enjoys punishing himself." #114 replied.
"We are masochists like that yes." The group spoke as one, nodding in eery synchronicity. Though she couldn't really tell if they were being serious or if this was some kind of inside joke.
"Regardless, see those more impressive sports down near the centre? That's where the 'important guys' are. They are the heads of clans that lead the do or die resistance movement. Officially they are content with the Tau, but until the interrogators came they were the primary source of arms and armour for the resistance across the world. Get this, they call themselves the 'Kyokujitsu Group'."
That last comment was met with a series of groans and face smacks of frustration. She didn't understand why, she had heard whispers of the that group and they were staunch supporters of the cause, what was wrong with that name? Though… she had to admit that they looked like the stereotype of the stern clan heads she had red about and romanticised in her youth. The kind of men who were at once honourable and of good face, but at the same time dismissive of the women in their lives as little more than ornaments or objects, something to look good and pleasing to both have and look at.
"Did the interrogator accept the invite?"
"Of course he didn't. He has the standard Inquisitorial paranoia down to a science. VENUS said he started vacating his hideout the moment the message had been left." #114 answered, an annoyed look on his face.
"Such a shame, I guess he's getting-"
"Shut up, idiot."
"Right, sorry."
Just what had that been about? She'd resolve to ask Naruhito about it when she next got the chance. She was pretty sure he would tell her, since her own group had unambiguously hitched itself to him at this point.
"Now look, it's starting…" Kallen tuned out the commentary of the clones at this point, far more interested in the momentous events playing out before her.
Por'Vre Mai'Mori
Por'Vre Mai'Mori sat in her cell, idly wondering at the events that had swept up her life. Not even six months ago, she was living a relatively peaceful life – even in her occupation assisting the Law Cadre there was very little danger, or even excitement. Certainly, there were intellectual challenges; studying the minds of human insurgents and the minds of their backers was always stimulating. Almost as stimulating as devising and carrying out ways to motivate those minds to act on her behalf and that of the Greater Good
She especially enjoyed dealing with the humans who secretly enjoyed the act of being subjugated by her, so few of her people were inclined in that manner, and what few there were often served in the Fire Caste rather than the Water, making them forbidden by the dictates of the honoured Ethereals. And while she might consider forbidden fruit to be the sweetest of all, she was decidedly in the minority on that topic so she kept her deviancy one that front to herself.
Hence her interest in humans. Technically, they are also considered off limits by the Ethereals, however no enforcement for such a dictate exists – and it is in fact tacitly encouraged as a means of maintaining Tau dominance over them. Human men were generally easy to keep corralled and tame if their urges are satiated and they do not feel threatened while their females, more often than not, simply bowed whichever way the wind was blowing. The Tau are in charge, so the human Women encourage their society to keep it that way.
Of course, that only held true for so long as the Tau remained in power. Should that ever change then their allegiance would follow that change.
And now she was here, having born witness to the likely birth of that change. Just how had she missed so much about Naruhito when she had spoke to him that first time?
He was an odd one – she worked that out almost immediately, but she was expecting nothing so… different. She did not think he was capable of killing so many, even if they were Tau, until he admitted it in person. And then there was the battle with that thing.
That battle had nearly levelled the city, like the climax for one of those strange holo-shows the youth enjoyed so much. It was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen, and she had not even been in the city at the time.
"Hello Mai." She was snapped out of her thoughts by the man himself appearing at the door to her cell. He was still the same man, with that shy demeanour she liked… no, this was not him, it was one of his clones.
"Clone." She replied evenly, taking care to neither appear too curt nor too friendly.
The clone sighed before stepping into the cell and taking a seat. "I am a clone, but we have met before. Call me Hito."
She stared at him, processing those words for a moment. She did not fully understand the mechanisms of these clones, that was the domain of the Earth Caste, but they all appeared to be full replicas of the original with only minor changes in personality. That implied they at least had the memories of the original. "I was under the impression that you clones had numbers, not names."
"Ah, I'm unique among them. The way I was made was rather different and I've maintained my own continuity of consciousness from my initial creation, I was the first clone. I was also the one you spoke to when you visited my old apartment." He clone, Hito, explained.
Mai was not sure what to think now, so she fell back on her intelligence gathering training. "So was that whole meeting a lie?"
"No, I enjoyed our time together, even if I was terrified for the whole thing."
"Terrified? It was just a friendly conversation." She had picked up on his fear responses at the time, but she had put that down to the usual awkwardness human males have around objects of their desire.
"A friendly, state mandated, conversation. One that had to go well or you would have come down on me like a tonne of bricks." Hito explained, his voice clipped.
Just what did he think of her people? if that was how he thought about them. "Why would you think that?"
He looked at her with a raised brow and a look that asked 'are you serious?' "I know what the Tau empire is like, what the Ethereals are like. I can't explain it all but what I can say is that I do not want to live my life in their omnipresent shadow."
"Come now, you're speaking in riddles and idiom. Didn't you tell me that you much preferred precise and true speech as opposed to metaphorical language like that?"
"I did, and that's still true." He confirmed with a smile, "and don't think I didn't notice how you started talking like a human just now. But unfortunately I do t have permission to explain everything just yet." Damn, he hadn't called her out on that the last time they spoke. Was that new insight or was he always like that?
"Permission? I suppose there must be some hierarchy among you clones. But if you cannot tell me that, then perhaps you might explain why it was necessary to kill so many people?" despite everything else, she just didn't understand why all of those Law Cadre soldiers needed to die. From the reccordings of Sakuna, or Naruhito she supposed, he came across as both callous and attention seeking – someone with more intelligence than sense lashing out at the Tau.
But that didn't line up with his actions to save Tau bystanders during the battle with that monster. Sure it had only been a warning to run, but he had still done it – even though he could have just tried to escape instead. If she wanted to ensure the best possible outcome from all of this, she had to understand him. It might even be possible to bring him back into the fold of the Greater Good, though he would likely have to atone for the damage he caused if that was how this went.
"The exact reasons for those deaths are a bit complicated, and it might not have been the best possible plan we could have enacted." Hito admitted, a pained look on his face. "But that does bring us to one of the reasons I wanted to speak to you."
"Oh?" She tilted her head to the side in that way humans called 'cute'. It usually gave her an edge when she was dealing with them.
"There are going to be a lot of changes coming to Shizukana, and there is a serious chance that many more people, both human and Tau, will die. I would like your help to prevent the worst possible outcome." He explained.
"You want me to help you? Against my own people?"
"Think of it as serving the Greater Good. Trust me, there's no chance of us not gaining control over the planet, it's just a matter of figuring out how to minimise the loss of life in the process and afterwords. Your skills as a member of the Water Caste could serve well here, and I would prefer it over needing to keep you here in this cell." He continued.
She looked at him, pondering his words and putting together everything she knew about him to figure out if he was genuine. He certainly believed what he was saying, unless he was the best human liar she had ever met but she doubted that. He even meant that part about preferring it over keeping her in a cell.
She would do her duty, and try to fix him. That was how she could best serve the Greater Good. "Very well, I am willing to listen to your proposal."
And here's chapter 22, sorry about the delay but the heat up here has been kicking my ass, preventing me from doing anything for 3 days.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please let me know what you think. I'll see you soon.
