CHAPTER 016: Elysium V

Vryn Vasaryk

TCS Cutlass/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 17:57

“Aaand… there goes another wing.” One hundred twenty bomber voidcrafts left the assault carrier. The first wing was still busy decelerating in hope of changing course by about a 180 degree to go after us again.

Also - I’m beginning to HATE the phaseshift jumps. But it looks like I don’t really have any other choice.

“Alright, prepare for another jump.“ Einstein nodded and typed furiously on her computer

I really hope that the captain figures something out. Fast.

***

Adam Rytman

Ockham’s Razor/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:04

Thankfully, the nearest hangar was close. It also looked like the battle was enough of a surprise for the Ockham’s Razor crew for it to not launch all of its fighters.

Stupid. Fighters can bring a lot of firepower. Although even in bomber config they can at best cause superficial damage to anything heavier than a light cruiser. Seventy-five percent of their doctrine (that I read about) focused on causing the ‘superficial damage’ to weapons, shield generators, sensors, and so on.

That the majority of the Razor’s voidcrafts weren’t launched (despite the thorough thrashing that the fleet suffered) was another mystery.

The hangar was filled with voidcrafts. All of them looked nasty (or at least much more so than the shuttle). Arrowhead in shape.

“Oh, come on!” Nymphae had to complain about something. “These fighters don’t make sense! There is no front thruster, so they shouldn’t be able to decelerate! Just how…”

“You know what, the whole ‘THE PRECURSORS DON’T MAKE SENSE’ is tiring.” I commented. “At this point, nothing will really surprise me so… keep the ranting private. Any idea how to use it?” She should focus on more important things.

“Ugh, right. Give me a second.” She froze again.

She is a great asset. But I think the weirdness of Precursors’ is taking a toll on her… sanity, I guess. Then again, she is a creation of science. Precursors’, in the first glance, seem like a hyper-advanced scientific tech-gods. Despite that, we keep encountering things that make little sense or are happily ignoring established rules of science and engineering in a way that, it seems, even local science fiction didn’t foresee.

It’s probably taking a toll.

“You know that I heard all of that?” Oops. “Even when I don’t have time to bother with rendering my avatar, I still receive data from the outside. And I think you are overthinking. Though I agree that I rant too much.” A loud sigh, followed by even more words. “Well, the fighters lack any computer security. Most of them are in basic, fighter config. With weaponry including an anti-voidcraft laser in the craft’s tip, and an assortment of missiles. You are not seeing them, because unlike normal fighters they have their missiles hidden in a closed compartment.”

I see.

“Well, so where do I… uhm… where the heck is the cockpit?” As far as I know, fighters are manned, right?

“Well, that voidcraft seems to be a drone.” Oh? That’s new. “I think the Precursors’ voidcrafts operated in groups of four. One manned, and three drones. Similar to how average voidcrafts work even today. That one should be a manned voidcraft.”

Yeah, well, now that she lighted it up, I noticed the bulge.

Wait a fucking second. How am I supposed to fit inside?! The fighter itself is five-six meters long, so there is a lot of place… however, the bulge I presumed to be the cockpit is tiny. Too tiny.

Even Nymphae noticed that, though probably because of my thoughts.

“Alright, this is weird.” You don’t say? Then she froze. “I… Alright, I think you aren’t supposed to board the fighter in flesh. If I read things correctly, there is a way to upload your personality to the fighter’s control system. Wait, there is a way to upload your personality to the fighter’s control system?!”

Ok, so I guess we stumbled upon another weird thing. Useful clues to the nature of the Precursors’, obviously. But not useful right now.

“But it also seems that… what?!” Nymphae continued her explanation. “Ehm… I think that’s a one-way street. During the upload, your brain gets irreversibly damaged. You can then exist only as a mental copy. Main for the ‘manned’ fighter, three incomplete copies for the drones. The latter can be replaced as long as the former exists, but when the former is destroyed, it’s game over.”

“Who the heck would accept such treatment?”

“Liars.” What? “It’s written that it was done by ‘Liars’. But there is no sign who the ‘Liars’ are. Looks like the Razor was under-supplied on that field, and because of that most of voidcrafts remained on-board when the battle started. They didn’t even launch a majority of crewed fighters.” She looked at me, worried. “The more I look at it, the more it looks like Precursors didn’t even bother to fight for real. Most fighters not launched, most of the crew committing suicide, the ship abandoned after suffering superficial damage.”

So either losing a goliath (plus entire fleet) and a DYSON FUCKING SPHERE together with a ringworld didn’t matter to them at all… or they knew that even all of that would amount to nothing. If that really was the Precursors’ last stronghold, then being clinically (and suicidally) depressed (as they had to lose pretty much everything else earlier) made sense.

“Barely.” Nymphae interrupted me. “99,99% of countries and organizations I have data on would rather put a desperate and glorious last stand before activating a weird device on the Dyson Sphere that would end up detonating the star. Humans have a tendency of doing whatever they can to stay alive. And, if the situation is hopeless, going out with a bang. That they consider ‘dying with dignity’ or ‘taking some of those bastards with us’. I really don’t know how to explain the Precursors’ actions. I could name one or two alien species ‘alien’ enough to do stuff like that. But humans?!”

I think she overestimates humans. Or idealizes them too much.

“There is one alien species that concludes each hyperspace trip with ritualistic mass-suicide.” She looked at me fiercely. “Every travel. And of all crew members. That’s how different they are. After seeing creatures so different from humans it’s really easy to psychologically profile the human species. Even if being at least partially unpredictable and weird is a part of it.”

RITUALISTIC MASS-SUICIDE?!

“Yeah, but they are far away and it really doesn’t matter.” She turned again towards the voidcraft. “Unfortunately, somebody has formatted the ‘Liars’ databank. And there is no mind upload machine anywhere onboard so that would be out of the question even if it wouldn’t fry your brain.”

So… the plan failed?

“Actually, no. I think I can figure out a way to make defunct copies of myself and fit them inside. The distance isn’t huge so the communication delay between the shuttle and them will be manageable, at least unless we have them attack the fleet. I’ll be bound to the shuttle for a while.”

Then what are we waiting for?

***

Vryn Vasaryk

TCS Cutlass/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:12

“Oh? Another fighter launch.” Einstein interrupted my sweet rendezvous with a bucket I was hugging lovingly for a while, while my last dish contemplated leaving me alone. “Wait, this time it’s from Razor?!”

That’s something new.

Also, I envy her resistance to the effects of the phaseshift jump.

“How many?” Another wave of nausea almost overwhelmed me. Talking wasn’t a good idea.

Maybe I should just vomit and get over with that? I will do that after the jump towards the hypergate whether I like it or not.

“Nine.” Hmph. I could see the dots moving through the wreckage field, on an interception course for the Numbers’ squadron going after the captain. 12 to 9? But unless captain learned to teleport things around, they are Precursors’ fighters.

Matters little. The wreckage field wasn’t that big. No sensible approach for us. No matter where we jump, the Numbers’ fleet will have a clear shot at us before we pick the captain up. Fighters won’t make it in time, but the artillery rounds will.

Unless they figure out a way to take down the assault carrier at the very least, there is no way for us to pick them up.

“Aand… another wing is going at us.” Einstein commented. She looked down though not because of nausea. “Course for the Hypergate?”

I guess that the captain’s really out of luck. Dammit. Leaving people behind… you never really get used to that.

“Yes. We’ll wait for a while near the Hypergate.” The distance was longer so the fighters would take a while to reach us there. In fact, I don’t think Numbers would follow us, as we could disappear from there whenever we want. The interception was no longer possible.

“I’m afraid it’s not possible.” I raised my head from above the bucket to see Shalyn walking into the room. Great, another headache. “I must insist on the ship staying here for at least two more jumps.”

She doesn’t look very good. Pale skin. Probably vomited like most of the people aboard the Cutlass at this point. Doesn’t help me much as I’m in an even worse state.

“This is unwise.” I uttered. I wanted to use harsher words, but… then I remembered who she was.

“I insist.”

At this point, the only people left on the bridge were me and Einstein. The rest either left to be put in sleep (that merely weakened negative side-effects of frequent phaseshift jumps) or was waking up.

Do I have enough strength to fight her alone? Einstein seems too quiet. I don’t think help is coming.

“And what will we do, if after next jump… we discover that we lack people to man the ship?” It was still a threat. But I think I’m improving. That was a long sentence. I was close to vomiting in the middle, but still it was progress.

“I understand that in an extreme situation, the Machine Intelligence of the ship can make the trip back.” She seems to be feeling better than me. Magic?

I was so busy contemplating her lack of nausea I took a while to notice the important part.

“Machine?!” I half shouted. “We are supposed to trust a mach…”

And then I finally used the bucket. Not a very nice way of having a dialogue.

“You do not have to trust the Machine.” She said, calm despite me still emptying my stomach. “You are supposed to trust me. That’s all.”

Do I even have enough strength left to fight her? I disagree with her. Both when it comes to what she says and what she represents.

We looked at each other for a short while. She was waiting for my answer. I was trying to come up with it.

Finally, I decided.

***

Shalyn Or’Kas

TCS Cutlass/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:16

I left the bridge. There was no longer anything else for me to do there, and despite using magic to fix the worst effects of jumps (not the way Holy Magic was supposed to be used, but not a moment to complain), I still longed for the moment when I’ll be able to curl up in my bed.

There were ‘holographic projectors’ here and there. Three-dimensional films. Similar to illusion magic, but easier to use. A few of them fired up when the door to the bridge closed behind me.

A small figure resembling one of the woodland spirits waved to me.

“Thank you! This should give the captain enough time to evacuate from Razor.”

Unexpected and improvised alliances are sometimes needed in politics. I’d still go homicidal after learning the truth of ‘our’ machine, if not because Avran contacted me and vouched for her. If only I could read minds as well…

Couldn’t they use a spirit for that? Why does everyone around seem so crazy about the machine intelligences?!

“Tell him to hurry.” Or I’ll end up going on a date with a bucket like Vasaryk.

***

Adam Rytman

Ockham’s Razor/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:17

Nymphae returned from her brief disappearance, bringing news. Good news - the Cutlass would stay around. At least for a while.

I wonder how she achieved that. Not that it really matters.

Ironically, our shuttle would be much faster than the Numbers’ fighters in this environment - it was built like a brick and it could ram through most of the junk. The artillery from the Numbers’ fleet would pin us down the second we left, so it wasn’t important.

The fighters we launched turned out to be massively better. It barely qualified as a battle. Each side fired a few nuclear missiles. Half of them hit something mid-flight and didn’t detonate. The half that Numbers’ launched got fooled by ECM and detonated causing no damage, hitting nearby wrecks. As for ours, five out of five hit the enemy.

They dispersed, but half of the enemies were out of commission. The rest got shred in a shorter distance with the lasers.

One fighter got too close to the fleet. The contact was suddenly terminated.

“Looked like an energy weapon. Raser, maybe. From the assault carrier.” Nymphe commented.

“Raser?”

“Like laser, only much stronger. Laser amplifies light, raser amplifies roentgen rays.” Oh! I know that. They called it Roentgen Laser in the last game I played. “The only way to get higher is by amplifying gamma rays, but that’s pure overkill. You’d need to fill the entire battlecruiser with generators to power it up.”

“Shouldn’t fighters be able to avoid it?” She looked at me like I said something stupid.

“Avoid an attack as fast as light?” Right, I forgot about that. “If the fighters were flying with top speed while making evasive manoeuvres, then yes, the laser can miss. While it’s as fast as light, the computers and people behind them aren’t. But here, the fighters need to crawl through this insanely dense wreckage field. The second they reach the opening... “

Right.

“Well, we wait for King now. Unless he... “ That’s when she froze again. “Oh, crap.”

***

Karan Vinvaral

TCS Cutlass/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:20

Right after I replaced Vasaryk I discovered something.

Being asleep only weakens the side effects of phaseshift jump. It’s still somewhere there. So the first jump instantly feels like a second or third.

Most people on the bridge vomited. According to the medical officer, we had a growing number of people losing consciousness.

Einstein wasn’t around anymore. But I didn’t need her to interpret what I saw on the monitor.

The captain somehow activating Precursors’ fighters and wiping out the Numbers’ squadron was nice. Unfortunately, Numbers’ took it as a serious offence.

“I’ve counted four hundred eighty fighters.” The tactical officer (a trainee, as were all of us) informed me after checking the data. “All of them are heading towards the Razor. One of the light cruisers is also changing its position, it’s moving closer to the wreckage field. “

“Well, looks like we’ll finally discover if the Voice’s faith in the captain is rightly placed.” I really hope it is. “Make sure that everything on the ship is in order. I have a feeling we’ll be jumping around soon.”

***

King

Ockham’s Razor/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:27

“Alright, that’s the fire control room.” Nymphae confirmed my hopes. “Give me a while to look through the systems.”

Then, an obligatory freeze. She should just write a program that would render her automatically.

“Well, I checked through the technical descriptions of the weapons are still in working conditions... more or less.” Nymphae unfroze after maybe a minute. “And… oh, dear. Half of the numbers are downright absurd. The other half is simply unbelievable.”

“Can you fire anything at the Numbers’?” That’s what’s important right now.

“Yes. I think so. The missiles seem much too complicated for me to figure them out on the fly, but the artillery is a different thing. Actually…” She gave me a mischevious smile. “Since we’re in a hurry, why not go straight for the big guns?”

I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, but… sure.

***

Karan Vinvaral

TCS Cutlass/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:31

I was contemplating the idea about retreating after all… when the assault carrier suddenly disappeared. A second later it was replaced with a glowing point on the monitor. “Uhm… Edwyn? Talk to me.”

The tactical officer quickly checked the data as the glowing receded. “It’s gone.” I can see that! “I… I think Ockham’s Razor fired from one of its main artillery towers. According to the computer, two hundred fifty megatonnes. Inside the carrier.”

Wow. I can’t wait to see a similar bomb dropped on Ikhvir’s main processing centre.

That’s when the first of the light cruisers suddenly exploded.

***

King

Ockham’s Razor/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:34

“That weapon is an abomination.” Nymphae said after she evaporated the second light cruiser. “It fires rounds with faster than light speed, According to the data, the ship is supposed to use dedicated frigates to direct fire. Said frigates have FTL communication systems onboard. Both things directly contradict half of what we know for sure about physics.”

If you think it’s an abomination, start by wiping that maniacal grin from your face. Looks like someone reaaally enjoyed it.

“I can do little about the fighters. Unlike the main artillery towers, the AV weaponry wasn’t covered in thick armour.” She sighed. “And now, the Overseers are coming from all directions.”

“Unfortunate.” I commented. Right before I pulled out the pistol and shot myself in the head.

***

Adam Rytman

Ockham’s Razor/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 18:36

We were all packed in the shuttle, waiting for King. Avran and his sidekicks mostly got better but were still pretty shaken.

The fighters were getting closer. While Nymphae was busy downloading every scrap of data she could find… and programming additional fighters to follow us. Dunno how they are powered, but even if we could use them for a while, they were bound to be of great help!

Still, the enemy had numerical superiority. Especially after all the surviving fighters (with exception of those that were going after Cutlass) joined the mass wave directed at Ockham’s Razor. So we wanted to avoid direct combat.

And then King suddenly respawned in the middle of the passenger hold of the shuttle.

Well, high time.

***

Adam Rytman

Ockham’s Razor/Elysium System

Long War

18 April 2547, 20:00

We would have failed to reach the Cutlass in time… if not the fact that my current replacement as a captain had balls. Rather than wait, they decided that it’s a better idea to jump closer. Despite the obvious medical side effects of that.

Just as planned.

We were preparing for a return jump towards the Hypergate leading back to Pontifex - with the fighters close, but not close enough to intercept us in time - when shit hit the fan again.

“... Thermal flare?!” The tactical officer (Edwyn something) looked even more shocked than I was. “Distance: 128 million kilometres.”

Well, at least it’s far away. On the other side of the system, even.

I was really happy about that… because the thermal flare I could see on the monitor dwarfed the one that accompanied the assault carrier. By an order of magnitude.

Within a few minutes, we had a general outline.

Three dreadnoughts, seven battleships, four battlecruisers, nine heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers and forty-seven destroyers. All of them Numbers’. An equivalent of an average human state navy.

“There is one ship we have no data on.” The tactical officer - now understandably pale - added. “Equivalent to a battlecruiser in size.”

He showed us a camera feed. Damn, the thing looked ominous. Black, with a lot of sharp edges. Didn’t look human. The amount of tough looking artillery towers and missile launchers was… threatening.

Nymphae slowly turned towards me. Why is she so pale?!

“Among the stuff I ‘liberated’ from the Razor was the targeting data.” She said slowly. “Including an expansive table of ship classes known to Precursors.”

Then she showed it. A floating window in front of me, with a miniature version of the battlecruiser in front of us.

Baphomet-class battlecruiser. Allegiance: The Archenemy.

Oh shit. Wait a second, the Precursors’ could fire stuff with a faster than light speed, right? What if the Archenemy can as we…

“EMERGENCY JU…” Unfortunately, I was too late.