Chapter 014: Cleaning Up

The first Enhanced were created as Mankind’s answer to the massively superior warriors of the Transhuman Alliance which dominated the first battlefields of the War of Purity. A dream of ultimate warriors made flesh and steel, taking full advantage of the technology of the Solar Commonwealth, genetic warlords of the Genetic Wars, and the Transhuman Alliance.

Each Enhanced is a marvel of science. A human soldier rebuilt with a plethora of cybernetic and biological enhancements. Limbs, internal organs, muscles, and bones reforged or replaced with nothing but a war in mind. Some of them are massively augmented humans, others are little more than a human brain lodged into a humanoid warmachine, either organic or synthetic. Each of them, however, is an extremely dangerous opponent worth at least several marines. Enhanced created with archeotech augments go even beyond that.

The largest deployment of Enhanced in history occurred in the last battle of the War of Purity. On the world of Noricum-V, more than one hundred thousand Enhanced alongside one million heavy infantry soldiers were deployed to break the last stand of the Ideals, the Enhanced-equivalent of the transhuman Dominion of the Pure. Their casualties were never replaced, as the Commonwealth began rapidly declining in the aftermath of the war.

During the Long War, their number dropped, as they were extremely costly to create and maintain. It’s rare to see more than a few Enhanced on a single battlefield. As a result, quality became more important than quantity. Technological progress on the field of combat mods further contributed to a change from merely very powerful soldiers to compact engines of destruction.

Encyclopedia Galactica

Book 1, page 612

***

The flash grenade exploded with both a blinding light and deafening noise. Christopher’s suit, despite the short distance and surprise, partly compensated for both. He was still temporarily blinded. The gunfire got closer. He expected to be abruptly torn into pieces by bullets, but everything went quiet right after a powerful DUUM.

“Keep your heads down.” He recognized the voice. Lieutenant Nowak?

His eyesight started coming back. Everything was still foggy and his eyes hurt, but he could see a towering figure passing by him. Details of the figure’s armor were blurred, but unlike theirs, it was a closed suit.

Something blurred jumped away from the corridor earlier guarded by Rukh. A large rifle in the figure’s hands emitted the same DUUM sound that Christopher had heard earlier, and the blurry something collapsed on the floor.

Christopher blinked a few times, and his view got clearer. Clear enough to recognize the person who passed by him as Lieutenant Nowak. Mostly because she wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Seriously? Wait a moment… Really? WHAT’S THE POINT OF MAKING ONLY YOUR HELMET INVISIBLE?! She is wearing it but is using some optic camouflage to look like she is helmetless. And for what? To look cooler?

The sci-fi roman legionaries refused to give up, despite two of their soldiers lying on the floor. The third one, this time with a shield, tried to push through the corridor with two soldiers behind him. The result was the shortest and most one-sided fight Christopher had ever seen.

Lieutenant Nowak timed her attack perfectly. Her left arm grabbed the left side of the shield the second the shieldbearer came from behind the corner. She pulled him towards her, the shield cracking under her grip. Then she headbutted him with enough power for his helmet’s faceplate to shatter into several pieces.

That’s when his two companions jumped from behind the corner, their attempt to save their shieldbearer backfiring. She fired her gun again, the abdomen of the first marine changing into a bloody mess when the round pierced the armor and detonated. The second one had enough time to notice the looming giant right in front of him and point his gun towards her. She used the stunned’ shieldbearer’s body as a shield and then threw it at the last remaining soldier. When the two of them collided and fell to the floor, she finished them with two loud DUUMs to their heads.

She paused her advance for a second and threw something behind the corner. As a distant sound of an explosion echoed through the corridor, she released the rifle from her grip. It didn’t fall to the ground - only now Christopher noticed that the rifle was attached to the back of her armor with a very thin rope. She rolled up the cable, the rifle itself positioning itself on her back.

She grabbed two items attached to the outer side of her legs, right beneath the hips. The small buckler in her left hand exchanged its thickness for size, becoming a shield as large as those used by the Hastati marines. The long stick in her right hand extended a rounded blade, becoming an axe.

And then she remembered that she was a soldier of the 28th Century rather than a warrior of the 8th Century. Two light machine guns rose above her head, each held by a mechanical arm, with two ammunition belts descending into her backpack.

She glanced behind her and nodded to someone. Then she covered herself with the shield and charged around the corner, her two machine guns raining fire on the remaining Hastati marines. Soon afterward Christopher discovered whom she nodded to, as a few of the Echo marines ran beside him and followed her beyond the corner.

Well, that settles it. We’re really low on the scale of combat effectiveness. Those three marines would be enough to finish us all and she just bulldozed through them within five seconds!

“Hall.” Rukh’s voice brought Christopher back to reality. “We received an order to finish fixing ourselves up and retreat to the landing zone.

Time to leave the rest for the professionals.

***

The Perfect fell to his knees, the final round piercing its synthetic carapace and destroying the last of its hearts. This warrior was an apex of genetic engineering and both cybernetic and biological enhancements, designed by the Seekers of Truth to simultaneously engage several Enhanced in combat at once. Yet it fell to a single enemy.

Rear Admiral Hao Yungi couldn’t believe his eyes. But he knew he could neither hide nor fight. Not against someone who just felled a Perfect in single combat. Instead of hiding, he rose from the hideout where his bodyguard had tossed him before facing their pursuer.

The attacker made no move. It wasn't an easy fight for him. He was sweating and bled from several shallow wounds. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Who are you?” the Rear Admiral said. Third Tenet. Shock and fear of the unknown is a weakness. To die after learning the nature of your enemy is to win.

“Lieutenant-Commander Lith Athalia. Chief Medical Officer of EGS Echo, at your service.” The petite man bowed, his neon blue hair waving around. “I’m afraid Captain Keller was precise with his orders. Letting you reach the hangar where you parked your private frigate is not an option. You are not allowed to warn the Seekers. Also, Alexander can’t wait to meet you in person.”

Those moves. Too fast, even faster than a Perfect. An Enhanced. Non-standard, but speed-focused. Exalted or archeotech augments. Probably biomod-based. Where did Keller find such a monster?

The Rear Admiral’s eyes moved sideways.

That pistol… no manmade weapon of this caliber could have pierced the Perfect’s carapace. Even exalted. So an archeotech. Several modes of fire, each varied in the rate of fire, firepower, and even projectile trajectory. Energy gun or solid rounds?

“I can imagine that,” grumbled Hao. If Captain Keller had been tracking the Seekers’ operations in the subsector, then Rear Admiral Hao was his best source of answers. The only possible source of answers, in fact.

Almost five meters of distance between him and the Enhanced. How much time did he have? One second? Two? Even if the archeotech pistol had a stun mode too, it would be for naught. Escaping was futile, slaying or even injuring his opponent wasn’t a choice either. That was the only Perfect he had received, and he would require at least two of them to take the Enhanced down. This left him with only one option.

First Tenet. Knowledge is power. Gather it. Use it. Protect it.

“No gods. Only men.” He spoke defiantly. The minuscule bomb implanted in his brain by the Seekers began charging up. The neon-haired Enhanced leaped forward, his movement so fast that Hao failed to follow him with his eyes.

A blast of pain took his senses over. It was followed by the shocking discovery that he was still alive, yet he couldn’t move a muscle. He was lying on the ground, paralyzed, seeing nothing but the floor plating in front of him. Then something turned him around… and soon he was facing the Enhanced. Rather than the pistol, he was waving around some short stick, made from a substance resembling plastic.

“Committing suicide to avoid interrogation, and with the motto of your organization on your lips. Admirable, even when your organization consists of a bunch of assholes.” The Enhanced pointed towards the stick with his other hand. “Small and useful gimmick that I got from a friend. It’s an archeotech that allows me to fry every electronic near me, with no detrimental effects on the flesh. Very convenient for someone like me, without even a milligram of circuits. But for someone who enhanced his nervous system… quite a jolt. And look, the bomb no longer works!” The Enhanced laughed. However, the only part of him that took part in that was the mouth. The eyes remained cold yet somehow… furious.

“All right!” Hao Yunqi could feel himself getting raised up and slung over the much smaller man’s shoulder. “Now, time to get you to the meeting.”

***

“That was… unbelievable.” Lena Drathari didn’t feel good with her temporary replacement body. She was even more robotic than Innocent. Her replacement droid was humanoid - and that’s where the similarities to humans ended. Even her voice now sounded much more mechanical. “Both an unbelievable achievement and unbelievable danger to us all.” Captain Keller rolled his eyes in an answer.

“I promise to pull nothing like this ever again, at least not without detailing the plan and my reasoning to you.” Probably unless he randomly decides that it’s sufficiently hilarious. “So, what’s the result?”

They were waiting in the now emptied hangar of the Echo for the main guest of the party. The list of people present included Captain Keller, Commander Drathari, and Lieutenant-Commander Innocent. It was going to be a very exclusive party.

“Bad.” What an understatement on my part! “Twenty-three marines dead, fifty-two wounded. Which leaves us with a whole twenty-six combat-ready marines. Out of the recent recruits, we lost one hundred forty-five, while almost twice as many suffered various degrees of wounds. Which leaves us with around seven hundred recruits left. The number of dead can rise a bit because many of them are still in critical condition.” Lena always hated such reports. The idea that you can sum up people’s deaths as numbers was abhorrent.

The Marines had taken the brunt of the damage. The relatively low casualties of the recruits meant the enemy had lacked the time for any serious flanking attacks. The Marines had lost lots of people burgeoning their way through the fortified positions, while the recruits had to handle panicked crew members and some small counterattacks. Overall, it was a wonderfully executed operation.

“There is also an issue of remaining holdouts of enemy forces on both Hastati and Hercules.” I wonder how many we’ll lose digging them out? “Lieutenant Commander Innocent and Lieutenant Commander Fouquet eliminated everyone aboard Nietzsche and Agreement, but both the heavy cruiser and the armed supply ship are big. We took over their citadels and are in full control of their ship’s electronic systems, but wiping out the survivors will take a while and might incur further losses.”

“Great.” Captain’s reply was cold, almost heartless. She stared at him, accompanied by Innocent in her silent demand for an apology. “That was sarcasm, people. The casualties are horrible, and we will spend lots of time mourning. Besides… recruits are replaceable, but the marines… handpicked over the years.” He shook his head. “However, we won. And we are about to get the answers we need.”

“Yes, but… I need to say it. Do we need to continue this?” Commander Drathari said what was troubling her for a while. “Two disasters of this scale in a row, how many more?”

“Comman… Lena.” So we are on a first name basis now, huh. “I understand you. I really do. I assure you that every death pains me as much as you. However, you need to understand one thing. Scavenging things isn’t the only job of the Explorer’s Guild. We are also supposed to make sure that no disaster on the scale of the Machine Wars ever occurs again.” Lena managed to not glance at Innocent after hearing it. “I have no idea what the Seekers of Truth are doing here, but I know one thing. It’s nothing good.”

“I think you misunderstood the reason behind my objection.” Lena replied. “Now that you allowed me to read the restricted database section about the promethean cults, I agree with your desire to understand and suppress their operation. Even when you do not count the obvious ethical motivation, I’m a navy officer first and foremost. I made a vow to defend the inhabitants of my nation, and I consider it valid even while in the Guild. And my homeworld is too close to this subsector for me to feel comfortable. I’m against prosecuting this operation right now because of the casualties we suffered, a notable decline in morale unavoidable after their loss, and our lack of firepower.”

“Well, I might have made some… preparations to even the odds.” The only reason why Commander Drathari didn’t stare at Captain Keller with suspicions was her current lack of eyes. . “Do you remember the Primrose?”

“The Primrose? You mean that transport and passenger vessel that was lazing around on the orbit of Texia during our stay?” What does it have to do with anything?

“It’s en route to our current position, carrying a further three thousand recruits and over one hundred retired officers and petty officers. Either from the Texian Protectorate’s Space Defense Force or the Tavian Republic Navy. You’d be surprised how many of them pick Texia for retirement.” The resulting silence was almost deafening.

“All right. I didn’t see that coming.” Lena admitted after a while. “You want to crew the ships we seized, right?” Once she was answered with a nod, she continued. “How the heck did you persuade the Protectorate to all of that?”

“By selling them the Agreement.” This time the silence was an explicit invitation to sharing some details. “Their administration is pragmatic. They realize that all major countries in the subsector are crazies of various brands. The more… insurance they can get, the lesser the chances of someone invading them in a fit of ideological fanaticism. The Agreement is a modern light cruiser designed for long-term operations away from home bases. It won’t achieve anything if it tries defending Texia, as the invaders will swarm it with numbers. But if it withdraws into Hyperspace, it can prey on the attacker’s hyperspace traffic for years. The chances of any of the invading powers from the sector to survive the resulting economic collapse are… debatable.”

“I see. It makes sense.” Lena nodded. With her robotic head lacking the neck, it probably looked weird. “Though it’s one less light cruiser for this operation.”

“Nope.” What is it now? “They are even less sympathetic towards the Seekers running unchecked through their subsector than we are. The Agreement will accompany us during the operation, though as a loan from the Texian Space Defense Force. If things go well, they will get a cadre of veterans to man it. If not, then I promised to use my contacts to provide a suitable replacement ship, including a temporary crew to train their Texian replacements.”

“Wow, that’s…” Lena went silent for a few seconds. “... something. How did you persuade them to this?”

“I already signed all the documents.” Captain replied. “The transport vessel carrying them should be halfway to the hyperlane. They will store the contract in the database of the nearest sector’s Explorer’s Guild base, so even if we never return, a friend of mine will still provide them with a replacement cruiser. They get their cruiser in any case, so it’s no wonder they were so eager to make the trade! Bonus points for said base soon sending people to burn the Seekers' influence from the subsector's Guild structures.”

“I see, I see. I hope that in the future I’ll get to learn things like this BEFORE they occur, Captain.” It’s INFURIATING to learn things like that so late. Captain nodded in answer, which was fairly uncommitted. “And the destroyers?”

“They were attached to the First Task Force under Rear Admiral Hao Yunqi according to the standard set of prerogatives given to the Guild by the Confederation of Mankind.” Once reminded of that, Commander Drathari internally went berserk.

They should give us every ship we asked for, as long as there is a serious risk of an external threat to the subsector - and that’s what Keller reported when he issued the call for help. But each country gave us exactly ONE destroyer! If the threat we found were aliens or someone from Discord, this degree of stupidity would lead to not only the Guild’s fleet getting overwhelmed but maybe even with everyone in the subsector getting enslaved, killed or worse. Bunch of idiots, even without mentioning the fact they sold themselves to the Seekers.

“This is still the First Task Force, however, the sudden and unexpected deaths of all higher officers means that the command of it has passed to me.” The captain continued. “And that’s the interpretation I’m planning to stick to when I’ll get to talk to their commanding officers. This leaves us with two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, four destroyers, and an armed supply ship. Without counting the crew of the destroyers, we will have close to four thousand Texian personnel, plus around 150 of various ‘properties’ from Agreement and Hastati. Once Innocent and Lith finish fixing them up, we should have enough crew members to run all ships of our little fleet. Anything else about my ingenious master plan you want to inquire about?”

The shuttle they were waiting for finally arrived. The massive airlock opened, letting it in.

“Can you stop describing our forces to the enemies, please?” That was the last thing that bothered Commander Drathari.

“I learned that from Princess Róża.” Wait. He knows the Crimson Princess herself? Or did he simply read about her exploits? Should I ask him? “If you have spooky names on your side, and either numerical superiority or inferiority but with extraordinary quality, making the enemy understand that is the best way to break their morale once the battle starts and they begin to figure out the mess they are in.”

“Regretful Information: Captain is objectively wrong.” Innocent spoke for the first time in a while. “Princess Róża used her name to instill fear in her enemies during campaigns of guerilla warfare. The enemies’ understanding of who they were facing combined with her terror tactics and inability to respond led to their morale cracking under the strain. Captain Keller, in the meantime, is just a drama queen.” Too bad that I shouldn’t be laughing at my commanding officer’s. I really feel an urge to do it.

“Et tu, Innocentius?” Captain replied, obviously amused by Innocent’s summary. The shuttle landed in the background.

“However, it worked well.” Innocent continued. “Captain Arthval’s panic attack contributed to the swiftness of my assault on the Agreement. Once I got to the bridge, I understood its source. We met already, though she was only a lieutenant back then.” To Captain Keller, this explained the panic attack. Most of Innocent’s opponents reacted like that after seeing him for the second time.

“With everyone on Nietzsche dead quickly, your massive information leak didn’t count.” The priest continued. “On Hastati the leak didn’t matter, because Lieutenant Nowak’s combat style wasn’t easy to counter, even if you knew her. And you said next to nothing about Lith. However, I feel an acute desire to ask you to cease such shenanigans in the future.”

“All right, all right. I promise I’ll behave.” I wish I had the same influence on Captain Keller as Innocent has! ”Hello there, Lith. Fancy seeing you here!”

The medical officer who just walked out of the shuttle gave the Captain a somewhat frosty look, before throwing his package to the ground in front of them. Rear Admiral Hao Yunqi was still paralyzed. He seemed to have also lost his consciousness during his flight to Echo.

***

Rear Admiral Hao Yunqi woke up. He was kneeling in a hangar, his arms and legs bound behind his back. He could move now, however slightly because of his binds, which meant that his implants were at least partially reactivated. His attempt to access his commlink however ended in failure. Did they hack me?

He could see Captain Arthval and Severus kneeling next to him, bound similarly. Captain Keller was sitting on a chair right in front of them, flanked by the Enhanced that took Hao prisoner. He was standing there, observing the captives with a neutral look on his face.

“Time for the interrogation, folks.” Captain Keller smiled widely and leaned towards them. “Ladies first. Lith, throw the dice.”

The Enhanced pulled a small device from his pocket. It was little more than a handheld digital screen. Once he clicked a button, the device displayed a picture of a pistol.

“That’s tame, isn’t it? Well, even better. Torturing women is so ungentlemanly.” Keller remarked, before turning towards the captives. “All right, Captain Arthval. What is the nature of the Seekers’ operation in the subsector, and where can I find their nearest base?”

“You think they told me the details of their plan? And even if they did, I wouldn’t tell you a thing.” Captain Arthval said defiantly.

“Great. Lith?” The Enhanced suddenly pulled a pistol out of the holster and pulled the trigger. Captain Arthval’s body slumped lifelessly, with a large hole right between her eyes.

What?!

“Hao, don’t look at me that way! We have two spares after all. Lith, the dice.” This time the screen displayed what looked like a large drill. To the terror of two remaining captives, the Enhanced pulled a similar-looking drill from another pocket. “All right, Captain Severus! Please tell me, what’s the nature of the Seekers’ operation in the subsector, and where can I find their nearest base?”

“I don’t know! I really don’t! Hao knows everything!” Captain Severus tried to struggle against his bonds.

It was a useless attempt. When the Enhanced began the execution and the screams of Captain Severus filled the hangar, Rear Admiral Hao looked to the side. You could have at least tried to stay faithful to the end.

“And now, Rear Admiral Hao. Oh, how I couldn’t wait for it. Our main course. Lith, dice.” This time the screen displayed a knife. Hao felt a relief. It was a short-lived feeling, however. “So, how much can you cut him before he dies?”

“I have medical equipment on the standby. He will struggle for a while.” Enhanced opened his mouth for the first time during the interrogation.

“Fantastic, try to keep him alive for as long as possible. Now, Hao. What’s the nature of the Seekers’ operation in the subsector, and where can I find their nearest base?” If you think I will break, then you are in for a surprise.

“Fuck off. I’m not telling you a thing.” I can’t even feel pain anymore. I wonder how long it will take them to figure that out if I will pretend to struggle and scream well enough?

Something changed. Suddenly he found himself lying on the ground, once again paralyzed. Captain Keller, the Enhanced, the Berserk in a priest’s robe, and what looked like a primitive service robot were standing in front of him. He couldn’t see the bodies of Captain Severus and Captain Arthval.

He couldn’t feel his body once again.

“Confirmation: ECHELON base, in an unregistered binary system two jumps away from Senla system.” The Berserk spoke with a robotic voice. How?! How do they know that?! “His thoughts just confirmed the data, Alexander.”

“Great!” Captain Keller clapped his hands. “Some explanations are in order. My dear friend Innocent is an expert in telepathy, meta-empathy, and the mundane art of hypnosis.” What? Telepathy and empathy are different powers, you can’t have both of them at once!

“The entire ‘interrogation’ was an illusion.” Keller continued. “The voices you heard were Innocent’s telepathy. Things that you felt, from the pain to binds on your limbs were induced via his meta-empathy power. And the ‘plot’ was hypnosis and some acting skills since the Seekers had you vaccinated towards being directly hypnotized, brainwashed, or persuaded via empathy into betraying their secrets. Each time we get to the end, Lith injected you with something to mess with access to the recent memories. We had to go through it eight times before your random thoughts that Innocent read finally betrayed enough information to puzzle up the answer.”

No. No way. This isn’t possible.

“Quite the resilience, I admit.” Keller continued. “However, right now we know the nearest base of operations of the Seekers AND we know that they never told you what they want to achieve in this subsector. Also, for your information, both Captain Severus and Captain Arthval died when we stormed their ship’s bridges. So, a checkmate, I believe.” He glanced towards the Enhanced. “We’re done here.”

The last thing that Rear Admiral saw was the Enhanced’s pistol pointing towards him.