Chapter 012: Assault

Sector 44 [also known as Antemuralis] forms the outer border of the European Oversector. It was initially colonized by the inhabitants of the Homeworld’s Central-Eastern Europe region, primarily members of the Visegrad Alliance. This changed during the Unification Wars when Admiral Aleksander Dunecki overthrew the democratically elected government of the secessionist Fourth Republic of Poland.

With his power base established, he began a campaign of conquest taking full advantage of his talent as one of the greatest navy commanders of the Unification Wars. Once the last of his enemies within the sector surrendered, he reforged his military dictatorship into a monarchy, seeking to grant the newly created Visegrad Empire a stable system of power inheritance.

Today it is a sector known typically as the worst possible place to live in mainly because Antemuralis is lodged in-between four different alien species, all of them refusing to conduct any sort of diplomacy. Triffids, Devourers, Berserks-Inheritors, and Fallen seek nothing but enslavement and/or death of anything that isn’t them. All of them regularly invade Sector 44, with invasions of all four powers at the same time not being unheard of. But the truth is a bit more complicated.

The attempts of all four invading species backfired. Each of them infected attacked worlds with nano, bio, and radiological agents. All of them means of terraformation, and many of them mutagenic for all forms of life. However, Mankind’s widespread access to genetic treatments meant that negative mutations were corrected in the prenatal phase. The rare beneficial mutations were seen as natural occurrences according to the Icarus Accord ban on artificial genetic improvements. This means they could be introduced into the national gene pool via mandatory gene treatments.

Beneficial results of this accelerated and human-assisted evolution were further enhanced by the extremely warlike culture and almost perpetual state of war against the diverse cast of enemies. Therefore it’s no surprise that visegradian mercenaries aren’t only among the most costly in Human Space - the army of the Empire is also beginning to gain ground, steadily pushing aliens away from the Sector 44.

Encyclopedia Galactica

Book 1, page 567

***

“I see. So you are interested in finding a diplomatic solution.” Rear Admiral Hao Yunqi repositioned himself on his seat.

Time was all he required to turn this around. It would not be easy, though. He had to be sneaky and shrewd about it. That was the first and last time Keller outsmarted me.

He started sending orders through his comm-implants. In the meantime, he had to keep Captain Keller occupied.

“Let’s just say that I’m emotionally involved in leaving this place alive. And with my crew and ship intact.” Keller answered. “I’ll, of course, alert authorities as to your betrayal as soon as I leave the subsector. However, this should provide you with enough time to vanish mysteriously. Not a poor deal, huh?”

“That surely sounds like you, Keller.” The Rear Admiral laughed. “Ever so upright. Always seeing the world in black and white, refusing to see the everpresent gray color. Fanaticism defines you as much as madness does.”

“Seeing a mix of black and white spots where you see a uniform gray color is not a symptom of being a fanatic. It lets me see all the little details with great clarity.” Captain replied, not losing his serenity for even a second. “Besides, a promethean cultist arguing about morality? That’s rich.”

“I prefer the term ‘Seeker of Truth’.” Keller’s face froze for a split second. It was hard to find someone in the Guild who didn’t recognize the term.

“How lovely.” Captain’s voice was slow. And much, much colder than earlier. “So? Was it worth selling your humanity?”

“Humanity!” Rear Admiral chuckled. “All I did was take a step away from this everlasting mess which is the Long War and looked for another answer. Almost four hundred years since Semann euthanized the Solar Commonwealth. Almost four hundred years of human cattle butchering each other over ideological differences. You think I care about such a worthless thing as ‘Humanity’?”

A report from the tactical officer showed up on his implant. Things were progressing just fine. Just one more minute and everything would be over.

“Yes. I believe that another lesson is in order.” Captain Keller looked to the side and nodded to someone. Then he looked at Rear-Admiral Hao once again. “Kaboom!”

All seven missiles disappeared from the sensors at once. The calculated trajectory of the projectiles that destroyed them led to the missile defense batteries of the Echo.

How?!

“The plan was excellent. I admit that.” Captain smiled at him. “You ejected missiles from the launch silos without activating their engines. They were supposed to fly on their own, undetectable until activation. Then, an instant detonation. Enough to knock Godhammer out. It would work on most ship captains out there. But not on me.”

Ok, I need to figure out another plan. Fast.

“I’m giving you one last opportunity.” Keller continued. “Surrender immediately, and you’ll get a fair trial. Otherwise, I’m going to exercise the legal result of being a part of the Truthseekers.”

Rear Admiral Hao was about to answer… but then he noticed something.

“You no longer want to negotiate.” Captain’s smile widened. “You were trying to buy time.”

“Yes. Just like you. The difference is that my plan will work.” What confidence. What is he plotting?

Keller had just one ship. Powerful and well-equipped, but there is a limit to what quality can achieve. What could be the source of his confidence? Another archeotech? Or was this simply a bluff?

“You are bluffing.” The Rear Admiral decided. There was a limit to how many archeotechs of this grade a single ship could display. “My answer is ‘go fuck yourself’.”

The Captain grinned. The grin soon turned to laughter. The Rear Admiral could feel his experience as a Guild's officer screaming to him that something was wrong. Very wrong.

“That’s what I hoped to hear!” Keller finally answered. “I never planned to let you live either way. Now, since it’s already too late for you to do a thing, let’s play a bit of a quiz. What is it: much smaller than a missile and requires almost zero energy to move around the Hyperspace?”

“I don’t have time to play your little gam…” The Rear Admiral’s rebuke was cut short.

“Multiple hull breaches throughout the starboard!” The tactical officer shouted, interrupting Hao. “We… we’re being boarded!” Judging from the reactions of Rear Admiral’s three remaining cruiser captains, Hercules wasn’t the only ship to be attacked.

“Really? That’s your plan?” Once again during this talk, Hao was suddenly overtaken by an intense relief. “Even without the Progress, we have two marine battalions from Hercules and Hastati, and two companies from Agreement and Nietzsche. One thousand four hundred soldiers. And you have like what? A company?”

“A platoon of handpicked veterans. More than a thousand recently inducted soldiers from Texia. And close to a hundred members of the Recovery Teams.” Keller answered, unfazed. “But I was always a fan of quality. As I discovered, the quantity might be a type of quality, but it becomes meaningless when faced with an overwhelming quality. That’s why I attached a single very special person to every boarding party. Someone to even the odds.”

“Even the odds? A single person?” Did he really lose his mind?

“Oh, you’ll love it!” Captain was shining with enthusiasm. “Let’s start the introduction, shall we? For Nietzsche, well. Unlike Hercules, I’m not interested in leaving anyone alive there. And there is no one I’d like to rescue from that ship. So I sent Lieutenant Commander Victor Fouquet. He has a bit of a weird hobby. Creating new and even more deadly diseases is his favourite pastime. He is a true virtuoso with self-replicating nanomachine-based plagues. He has already infected Nietzsche’s air with one of his newest inventions. So, we can already cross that ship out.” Captain Faust chuckled, obviously unconvinced. “I picked Vincent from the European Commonwealth. He was quite famous there. Do the words ‘bioterrorist’ and ‘Plague Doctor’ remind you of something?”

Captain Faust began barking out orders, sending someone off-screen to check the air supply.

The Plague Doctor was quite an infamous individual… before his disappearance.

“As for Hastati… does the name Róża Dunecki ring a bell?” Everyone went silent. Captain Severus also went pale. “Well, I didn’t get the Crimson Princess, unfortunately. Human Space’s most renowned close-quarter combat expert and tactician would be a cherry on top of my little collection.” I knew it. He is bluffing. “But she was kind enough to lend me her favorite sparring partner and second-in-command. Lieutenant Anna Nowak. A first among the graduates of the Shock & Terror school of combat so proudly led by Princess Róża.”

“Maybe you’re even speaking the truth. But that’s still just one person. My marines have numbers on their side.” Captain Severus retorted, speaking for the first time during the talk.

“Well, let’s see how long that will last.” Captain Keller replied, winking mockingly. “To Agreement, I have sent Innocent. The Innocent. I assure you, Captain Arthval, that his status as a fairytale is deliberately inaccurate. And for Hercules, well… he’d be super pissed if I told you who he is, so I’ll leave this one a surprise.”

“Introducing all your hidden trump cards just like that?” Is that man insane, or is he just so bad at bluffing?

“I assure you, Rear Admiral, that the reason for this exposition will become evident in time. And on that note… see you later.” Keller terminated the commlink, disappearing from the screen.

“That man is an absolute lunatic.” Captain Arthval commented.

Captain Faust tried to say something. He was interrupted when one of his officers visible in the background suddenly began vomiting.

***

The first person to notice the incoming attack was a crew member of the Hastati who was passing by one of the outer airlocks of the cruiser. He halted after hearing some noises coming from outside. He was about to investigate when a sudden detonation tore the entire airlock into shreds. The crew member died in the explosion, making him the battle’s first casualty.

Unlike the much tamer boarding action on Pristine Jewel, there was no place for subtlety here.

The attack was overwhelming, brutal, and destructive. This method was needed due to the cruiser’s construction. Besides the outer armor layer which the attackers pierced through immediately, there was also one inner armor layer. This nigh-indestructible shell surrounded the innermost ‘citadel’ of the ship where the reactor, computer mainframe, bridge, life support, and other crucial systems were located.

Unlike the outer armor layer, the inner one had only a few entrances, each of them easy to protect. If they gave the defenders time to reinforce those chokepoints, it would change the boarding into a siege. Slicing their way through the armor could take days. Even if the attackers located one of the holes through which cables and pipes went, clearing their way through such a weak spot would take many hours.

Unlike the combat-ready attackers, defenders required precious minutes to reach armories, equip their weapons and armors and reach their designated positions.

There were, of course, combat-ready marines on standby. After all, Hao Yunqi ordered his ships to be on combat alert. When the boarding was announced, those who were stationed in the citadel rushed towards the chokepoints. Those that were in the outlying sections of the attacked ships sought to slow down the attackers in the labyrinth of corridors and halls, together with some braver crew members.

***

“Can someone tell me: How the hell did we end up here!?” Tendrik complained. Not for the first time, either. However, Christopher empathized with the cyborg too much to order him to be silent.

The interiors of Hastati looked much different from the Echo. The dominant color was white, with some rare golden adornments. The floor was made of large, white plates of a material which resembled plastic in touch.

In Christopher’s opinion, the ever-present white color only made stains and dust more visible. Though it still felt like he shifted from a rusted, industrial vision of the future from the times of Alien series to a more modern depiction. A welcome change of scenery… if they hadn’t come here to kill everyone.

There were twenty of them, walking through the corridors of the outer hull of Hastati. Seven members of Recovery Team Eight, and thirteen soldiers. All of them were Texians who went through two years of mandatory military service in the Protectorate’s army. As Rukh said, that was an adequate foundation, but even forty to fifty days of accelerated training regime aboard the Echo couldn’t make them an equal opponent to actual marines. Especially as most of their equipment was Texian, too, which meant obsolete.

Hopefully, the three crawlers rolling behind them each packed with various goodies, were enough to change that.

“We were ordered to secure this area to protect Lieutenant Nowak’s flank during her assault on the citadel.” Recently, Rukh had started speaking. It was rare. Often derogatory. Yet a progress, nonetheless.

“I know about that! I just don’t get why we are anywhere close to a battlefield!” Tendrik replied.

The ship was large, but not large enough for the distant explosions to not be audible. Sometimes they could hear gunfire. Both seemed to be slowly moving away. “We were supposed to be scavenging things from abandoned ships! Not attacking active warships!”

“Scared? Typical for Techtrian cowards.” Rukh, unlike the rest of them, seemed to be glowing with enthusiasm.

“Goddamn Numenian’ warmongers.” Ryan mumbled loudly enough for the microphone to catch it.

“You have a problem with me, engineer?” Rukh felt insulted. That was the point when Christopher concluded that he had enough of it.

“Silence, all of you. This is not the time for arguing.” Even Rukh obeyed, to Christopher’s genuine surprise. “Ok, so can someone tell me who the heck are promethean cults?” The silence went on for several seconds.

“I keep forgetting he is from the past.” Tiriel was the first one to speak.

“Yes. He fit right in, didn’t he?” Tendrik answered. “So, how should I describe it…”

“Really bad people.” Nekia speaking up was another surprise. She seemed rather taken aback by the fact they were going to battle. This affected all of them, but Tendrik, Nekia, and Kivanna seemed to be hit the most. “The Confederation established a treaty called the Icarus Accord forbidding various branches of research on account of them being too dangerous. Promethean cults violate this law.”

“So… mad scientists?” Christopher replied with a question.

“Well… yes.” Nekia continued her answer. Is her mother teaching her about such things? “Depending on the cult in question, they differ from dangerous to extremely dangerous. If the Captain is correct, then the enemy we are facing is the Seekers of Truth, the oldest and most powerful promethean cult in existence. It was originally a research & development corporation from the Free State, but after some time it was found responsible for multiple crimes against Mankind and violations of both the Icarus Accord and the Founding Charter of the Confederation. It was exiled from the Confederation as a result.”

“Only exiled? That’s some shit punishment for stuff like that.” It wasn’t what Christopher expected.

He was met with a period of silence, an obvious indication that he accidentally said something really wrong.

“When you are exiled from the Confederation, you are no longer considered a human being.” This time it was Tiriel who enlightened him. “You become a true outlaw, with even human rights no longer applicable to you. Anyone can steal your money, murder or enslave you risking no punishment. Every exiled group other than the Truthseekers Corporation was wiped out from the world in short order.”

That… changes the situation.

“Petty Officer Hall.” An unfamiliar voice cut into their talk. A corporal in charge of the soldiers, judging from the name tag. “We’ve arrived.” Finally.

***

There was no real sense in pushing too far. Enemy forces were still operating in the outer section of the ship. Most of them according to the tactical screen were busy retreating into the citadel through every passage possible, but that could change at any moment.

Judging from the fact that their group had not found anyone yet, the retreat must have included regular crew members whom they were ordered to shoot on sight. The only exception were ‘slaves’, if they came upon any.

Slavery, apparently was a thing in Hastati’s country of origin. Each time Christopher thought about it, he remembered how curious he used to be about Mankind's state in the 28th Century after he travelled to the future. Now his curiosity waned a lot.

The area they decided to dig in was a now-abandoned hangar. No shuttles were present there during the boarding action, and all crew members of the Hastati had fled from the area. As one of the few open spaces aboard the ship, it was a pretty decent place to defend if you knew where to place yourself.

Of course, you also had to carry out some precautions. The crawlers carried an abundance of useful equipment: deployable bullet proof covers resembling a concrete road block, a remotely operated heavy machine gun, mines and what resembled an early WW2 anti-tank gun.

“We’re digging in here.” The Corporal announced. ”According to the schematics, we need to seal two corridors, two maintenance tunnels, and some ventilation shafts to make sure that any attack in this area will have to go through this place.” Not something I want to happen.

“Ryan, Nekia, go do that.” An engineer and an explosive handler sounded like the best pick for the job. “Tendrik, send some scouts to accompany them. And place them on both sides of the blockades.” One to know if the enemy tried to get through these routes, the second one to know if they somehow breached through the blockades. “Corporal, could you…” Christopher was interrupted.

“Adams, Feller, Rynn, Tesla, with them.” Four soldiers in black and only slightly nazi-looking armor stopped unloading the equipment. Soon they disappeared from the hangar together with Ryan, Nekia, and a small army of scout-bots.

Little more than a camera and radio transmitter on four legs, so small that you could step on it and notice them only because of the crushing sound. But how useful they are!

“Send some of them there?” Tendrik asked while pointing towards the opposite end of the hangar—towards the side of the ship that was a no-man’s-land separating them from the crew and marines of the Hastati.

“Yes. Wait, how many do you have left?” Probably not an infinite number. Shame.

“Twenty.” The cyborg answered. The number was higher than Christopher had feared, but smaller than he had hoped. It should, however, be enough for the task at hand.

“Send… twelve. Spread the remaining eight in the corridors behind us.” Corporal nodded enthusiastically. They only had a general schematic of Spatha-class heavy cruisers. But what if the Hastati had been modified after leaving the shipyard? He would not get attacked from behind by someone sneaking through an added tunnel.

Tiaa was rather… insistent about depending on the blueprints too much.

“So, now we set up the rest of the equipment and… wait until Lieutenant Nowak captures the citadel?” Christopher asked the Corporal. The answer he got was a nod.

Ten minutes later they discovered that things wouldn’t go as easy as they had hoped.

“Uhm, Chris? I’ve just lost contact with one of the scout bots.” Hoping that it’s a malfunction is probably futile, isn’t it?

***

“I don’t fucking care what Sena is saying!” Randall Lerathi, lieutenant in charge of the Agreement’s marine detachment shouted at the sergeant. “Stop acting like a pussy only because she mentioned that some goddamn fairytale is attacking the ship!”

Ever since Captain Sena Arthval heard Keller’s bluff, she began acting unreasonable. Worse, her cowardice started spreading to other members of the crew. Ten minutes ago it was funny. Now it was infuriating.

“But…”

The fact that someone dared to talk back to him in this state was a clear sign of things going seriously wrong.

“Look around you.”

The main passage through the inner armor layers was wide. It was a key communication artery of the ship - lots of essential things inside, most of the storage areas to the outside. Three transport trolleys could ride alongside each other. The passage was seven meters wide and thirty meters long - much longer than the armor layer’s thickness, but it was an intentional element of design made to improve the defensiveness.

To allow high packages to travel with the trolleys, it was also almost three meters high. The ceiling was mostly a mess of pipes and cables, though. The ship’s designers had agreed that it’s a better idea to lead some of them through here rather than to expand the number of holes in the inner armor.

There were also two massive bulkheads on the opposing sides of the passage. Each of them was constructed with similar technologies as the armor. They didn’t offer protection as good as the full armor layer. But if things got really bad, they could retreat inside and seal the passage.

Which would consign the entire outside part of the ship to the attackers. The defenders would have to wait for reinforcements from other ships to kick them out. That’s why Lieutenant Lerathi preferred the alternative option.

Bleed them out when they attack. Then counterattack. And he had means to do that.

Two whole marine squads made it to the passage in time. Deployable covers, mines, two heavy machine guns, and two heavy troopers with anti-tank rifles changed the entire passage into a death trap.

“All of that, and you are afraid of a fucking fairytale! Of a character from Res Publica Christiana’s equivalent of a superhero comic!” It was so foolish that he could scarcely believe he even had to talk about that. “Of a priest with a mysterious past who is also a powerful sorcerer, genius hacker and has every skill imaginable! Someone told you that the ship is attacked by a god damned Mary Sue character from contemporary fiction and you are all losing your fucking minds! Get your act straight!”

“Uhm, boss?” One of the soldiers interrupted him, pointing towards the end of the tunnel.

When Lieutenant Lerathi looked that way, he saw a Berserk in a… robe with a clerical collar waving towards him.

What the actual fuck?

Lieutenant raised his rifle and pulled the trigger. The robot disappeared behind the corner in time, avoiding the rain of bullets.

Before Lieutenant Lerathi could chastise his soldiers for not opening fire after seeing someone who wasn’t part of the crew, something even more bizarre happened. A long stick with a paper fixed to the end of it emerged from behind the corner where the robot hid.

‘Look up’?

Controlling twelve fragmentation grenades with telekinesis at once required almost perfect control. Levitating them among the clusters of pipes and cables that formed the ceiling pushed this feat into the realm of impossibility. Detonating them all at once was, in contrast, simple.