Dangerous Toys (Part Eleven) When the Director coded for ‘Pest Control’ a thousand AI’s turned their attention to the problem. It was a simple command, a warning that the Galaxy was throwing a new surprise at them and it needed steel and blood to solve. The XCC was the smiling face of humanity. The Director sighed, one day the Xenos would learn that humanity would still have a smile if they had to burn the whole thing down. Normally it was a day like today where one of the Diaspora smelled a rotting corpse somewhere and needed firepower. Humanity had seen the scourged and burned worlds of peoples that had died in cruel innocence and now they carried a variety-pack of sharp sticks to use if needed. Wellerman Orbital was a prosperous place and its AI was proud of the flood of trade that moved through his ports. He had turned a small dock into a major regional player and he enjoyed that the many Xenos took no thought for their safety or their security in his station. The fact that they didn’t even need to think about it was the proof of his success. He was currently in discussions to found a bank and then came a hidden data burst from the dark that shattered his complacency, “Wellerman/XCC -coded- Pest Control-Defend/Retrieve-HDF Dangerous Toys. Asset is unguarded. Level Six response Authorised. Order 49857623. Confirm.” He scrambled back to his training, taking entire micro-seconds to absorb the situation. He reconfigured his Comms and dark-burst his reply. “Order 49857623. Confirmed.” Shit. He locked down every ship on his station, cancelled every fee held by the traders and offered unlimited free access to the bars and restaurants. He told them that it was an unexpected religious event. He didn’t care if they believed it, he couldn’t allow the Xenos to see what was happening outside. Better to keep them drunk and distracted. He pulled all his shuttles back to bays that were known to the humans alone and began punching them through a swift transformation. They went from being the helpful Tugs and Fenders into something more worrying as the new modules slammed into place. By the time a mixed collection of humans had arrived to board them, they were met by his Avatar. He looked around and wondered, I mean it had been less than thirty minutes since he had called a free bar on the Orbital, how could so many of them be drunk already? “All right, I know you’re pissed. Take your plan B and sober the fuck up. None of us expected to be going into a battle today, and with a bit of luck, we won’t need to. We have an unarmed ship out in the dark that we need to get home. All I have is a name but I can tell you now that the ship holds an Engineer and two dogs.” His ragged crew perked up. Wellerman shook his head. Humans and their dogs. He had thought about opting out of the Canine Alliance but perhaps not. He continued, “I have five ships ready to go and that will have to do. Sorry folks but I’m sticking an Avatar on every one since none of you has a Captains rank. Check your Comms for your berth and get aboard. We are leaving in fifteen minutes and I want Comms, Nav and Weapons manned. Welcome aboard.” Across the Orbital, anyone looking for their missing human crewmates was stonewalled by a flat refusal to discuss their strange absence from free beer. Patrica ended the call and faced the Captain. “Ignore Oscar, Captain. I’m the only one on board with a HDF rank and my name is now on the transponder. This is still your ship. We do need to get to the closest Human Orbital because this ship can barely swat flies as it is. Permission to do something about that, Sir?” /Longnose/ hesitated. What were these humans? “I thought humans were forbidden from weapons? What is going on exactly Engineer?” His thought was interrupted by his Comms as his bank registered a deposit that...that answered his questions. “Of course Patrica, I’ll see to the crew but what are you expecting? Why…” He looked at the numbers,”...this?” The Engineer nodded, “Not on our own ships, Sir. As to the rest, well it could look like humans had just seized your ship and we don’t want that. My government would rather that you and your investors got suddenly wealthy than we look like pirates.” She smiled at the Captain, “Don’t worry, if I’m wrong they will take it out of my paycheck, not yours.” Her tone grew grave, “I don’t think this is over. Someone out there just lost a lot of money and they know exactly where we are. Welcome to the HDF. I’ll be in Engineering.” She saluted and left the Captain to work it out for himself. Patrica walked through the silent bridge, followed by the gazes of the crew. She nodded to them and left it to the Captain to explain. Deep in her heart, she didn’t believe this was over yet and even with a hold full of imprisoned criminals she knew someone out there was going to be looking for blood. She stopped at her cabin to grab Lokis bits and pieces. Loki watched, aware that the mood of the ship was different, /NewHome?/Sadness?/ScentofhappyPack/’. Patrica knelt to her dog and wrapped her arms around him, /PackHunted/EngineerGuarding/ScentofhappySafe/. Loki sniffed, his tail low. He pressed into Patrica and let out a low whine that needed no translation. She rubbed behind his pointy ears, ‘/BetterSoon/TreatsforEveryone/’. Time to go to work. Together the two of them headed to Engineering, an odd pair trying to guard their pack. She sealed the door and pushed down her HUD. She was pretty sure the room was clear but she had enough surprises recently. As she spread out Loki's blanket and let him settle she called Oscar. “Well, it looks like I’m back in the Fleet. I want you to update our security access - the new codes will be in the metadata and cross-check our hardware against the best the Fleet have come up with. I want engines, shields and scanners as our priority. We don’t have time to build a weapons system from scratch but apply the Eell's doctrine to our transporters. We might get lucky. I need a work schedule for myself and a training schedule for the crew. I’ll be running shields and weapons from down here so I can keep an eye on them. Let me know what you come up with and we’ll go from there.” Oscar felt more doors open in his database, doors that he didn’t even know were there and plans, instructions and strategies poured out. The latest designs with annotated versions of his ship-systems. His ship and crew weaponised in a way that he had never dreamed possible. “Engineer, my database has expanded. This was encoded before we boarded the ship. I am confused. Did you suspect this was a likely outcome?” Patrica was already disassembling the shield console, “Hmm...no Oscar, every AI gets the same package. You know how humans feel about information. It’s just restricted to prevent overload in your early days.” She paused with the plasma lance in her hand, “Normally you wouldn’t be getting the keys just yet but you aren’t the first. Space can be a bastard.” Oscar matched her statement with his ethical understanding of Patrica. “Do you not fear that I, or any human AI could be taken by force? The database is...extensive.” Patrica shook her head and went back to work. “To get close to that database we would all have to be dead and you would have blown the ship. No one has ever taken an AI alive and no-one ever will.” She left it at that and went back to her work. Oscar took the hint and began applying his new software and sending his drones out to work on the exterior. His first days in the world were proving interesting. Out in deep space, a force of thirty ships was hunting the Dangerous Toys. Technically they were called the Recovery Initiative Fleet but only because Murderous Henchmen sounded crude. They were pretty relaxed since they were been sent against a cargo ship that didn’t know they were coming. The Fleet Commander was more worried about the man that had sent the orders, a man not known for his tolerance of failure. Or anything really. Better to do the job, take the money and hope you never hear from him again. He looked at his Navigation, “Have we found them yet? I thought we had co-ordinates.” The navigator hesitated, “Sir, I have the Dangerous Toys but something is wrong. It has a new Captain, a human, and a new designation. Its a part of the Human Defense Forces now.” He pulled up the transponder readings, “Sir, that ship is now designated a diplomatic scout for the humans. They get really...awkward about anyone interfering with those ships. Like declare war and flatten your Fleet awkward. Maybe you should call home?” It took a few moments to begin the tortured chain of Comms before the Commander was speaking to Incice. “Sir, I’m happy to attack on your orders but I thought you should be aware of the possible consequences. This is going to be a lot bigger than a lost cargo ship.” Incice was already pacing the room. One fucking human and now he was nearly at war over a training ship. He hissed to himself as a plan evolved in his head. “Commander, I want you to separate ten ships from your fleet and send them in for the kill. They will be paid a triple bonus for the attack. You will stand away until the attack is over and then ‘destroy’ the ‘Pirates’. Tell them to hit the lifeboats as soon as the Dangerous Toys is dead and burning and pick our crews up. I’ll sell it as heroic. I’m sure you’ll get a medal.