CHAPTER 59 – SEPARATION

DATE POINT: JUNE 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,

UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: FIREPIT

LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER LANCE BLACKFORD

“Well, I’d say we’ve found it.” Lance said drily as he stared at a tall pair of heavy, gilded, stone and gem-inlaid doors.

Pressed into the face of the doors was a winged sun disk above a slain, dismembered serpent-dragon. Arranged above was a long crescent of carved stars in constellations and carved hieroglyphics.

“Eh… I’d say you’re probably right.” O’Brien answered with a deep chuckle.

“Let’s check on that drone before we move in.” Lance said.

“I’ll get right on it, sir.” O’Brien replied before he cracked open the control case and got to work.

Lance knelt down next to him so he could see the recording.

“Looks like it’s hit a dead end on what must be the other side of this room. Those doors look familiar enough. Restart the video and fast forward through.” He said while studying the drone-generated map.

“Sir! Looks like we've got some good footage here of the wormhole power generator room. We can review all that later.” O’Brien said as he fast-forwarded through the film.

“There’s a blast door at the bottom stem of that Y-corridor on the map there.” Lance commented as he switched between the camera feed and the progress on the map.

The drone paused for a moment before it turned left and traveled down a long corridor and sat itself down in front of a set of gilded doors identical to the ones in front of them.

“Hang on, rewind it back. I want to get a good look that sign above the blast door. Pause it right when the floodlight hits, then see if you can zoom or enhance the image.” Lance ordered.

“There's only a couple seconds to work with, so I'll have to go frame by frame." O'Brien said as he slowed the video to a crawl before they found a clear image. "Well.. I’ll be damned. Looks like we're gonna get to raid their armory! Betcha they got all kinds of good shit in there.” O’Brien said in an almost gleeful tone.

“Alright, its settled then. We’ll scout this chamber first, then we’ll break into the armory before circling back. Hopefully by that point we’ll be able to link up with the rest of the team so Lucas can help wire the bomb into Rah’s stasis chamber. We can end this threat nice and clean, and everyone makes it back to the ship whole.” Lance said.

“Solid; let’s get to it then. Looks to me like these doors swing on hinges. Odd choice, though I could see their purpose being far more ceremonial than practical this deep into the facility. I see no signs of life on thermals, nothing on the motion tracker either. I could break out the fiber optic camera, maybe peek underneath them first?” O’Brien replied.

“No need when the place is cold and dead like this. I’ll get the door, be ready to move in.” Lance said as he got into position ready to push.

“Ready, sir.” O’Brien replied as he shouldered his rifle and flipped the selector to fire.

“Go.” Lance shoved the massive door open and out of the way of the hulking Guardian who thundered past in a blur of aggressive motion.

“Clear!” He shouted.

Lance followed into a large room with a crenelated upper gallery. Four more belt-fed Gatling guns poked through the stonework above glinted in his light. There was a passageway behind the guns which disappeared off into a darkness even his spotlight couldn't penetrate. In the center of the upper gallery sat a trio of ornate thrones surrounded by an arc of more humble seats to either side upon a raised platform. A glass enclosure was built into the base of the back wall on the ground floor.

“That must be the control panel over there, doesn't look like it will be easy to access the wiring though. More of those belt-feds up top, too. Gotta say, if nothing else, this room definitely makes a statement as to who’s in charge.” O’Brien said.

“Yeah, the arrogant fucks never expected us, though. We’ll need to find our way into the upper levels after this. Maybe find out how we can cut the power to or disable any additional stasis chambers back there. Last thing we need is to accidentally wake their garrison.” Lance commented as he studied the room around him.

“We probably want to cut the power to Rah’s stasis chamber, too. Just to be extra safe.” O’Brien added.

“That’s what I was thinking; the nuke should really remain a backup for if all else fails. We still plan to leave an intel team behind with a small garrison of our own. Losing them would be a devastating blow to our long term plans. Anything we can do to reduce their personal risk is key. Since there’s nothing more we can do in here yet, we can move on to that armory.” Lance declared.

O’Brien fist pumped then advanced toward the heavy doors at the far side of the room. On his signal, they burst through the back doors and hoofed it down the hall. O'Brien stopped for a moment to return the idle drone to its case and got smoothly back on his feet and moving. Shortly afterwards, they arrived at the end of the Y intersection and the armory door.

“Looks like the same design as that other blast door from before. Electric locks and all.” O'Brien said as he examined the door.

“I’ve still got some of that Thermite on me. Should be plenty left to burn our way in.” Lance said as he dropped his pack and began to dig through it until he found what he needed.

Lance took a deep breath and began to climb up the door with his mag boots as he applied a continuous bead of Thermite to the inner section of the door. Once he'd finished, he stepped back onto the deck and set up the remote igniter next to the start of the bead.

“Get clear!” He said as he hit the button.

His visor darkened in response to the bright flash as the line of Thermite melted through the thick, iron door in spectacular fashion.

“Care to do the honors, Gunny?” Lance asked as he shouldered his pack and raised his rifle.

“Yes I would, sir.” O’Brien said before he put his shoulder against the door with a grunt of effort once he found a good grip.

After straining for a second, he forced the door section from the groove in the floor into the room behind it with a bounce that sent dust swirling in their lights.

“Oh baby! I've got a feeling this will be a damn good haul.” O’Brien said as his helmet floodlights first cut through to the far wall, splitting the oppressive darkness of the massive room.

Lance entered moments behind him and took in the scene with a slow pan of his own spotlight. Four full-sized bull-helmeted power armor suits glinted as he panned past them, locked as they were into cradles set into the back wall. Each had another glass enclosure next to it, indicating the importance of their intended occupants. One whole section along the back wall was devoted to assorted racks containing both rifles and assorted melee weapons.

“Jackpot!” O’Brien exclaimed as he moved to inspect the weapons. “You’ve gotta come check these out, sir! They have particle rifles, a plasma glaive, a couple types of different null matter weapons… Some of them are even named!”

“Go ahead and pick one that’ll fit in your pack, we’ll come back to inventory the rest later. Right now I’m far more concerned about cutting power to these stasis chambers back here.” Lance said before he switched to his EM filter to search for power conduit lines.

“Cutting the power huh? Let’s see… The eye scanner says this one’s called… Voidshear? Wireless power required? Well, shit I’ve got that. You’re mine now, beautiful.” O’Brien said before he grabbed one of the smaller weapons from the wall.

“What’d you pick?” Lance asked, once satisfied he’d found where he’d need to cut the power.

“Check it out. Go long!”

O’Brien sent the gilded object gliding through the micro-gravity over to him. Lance grabbed it from the air and studied the curious artifact, surprised by its size and heft. It looked like an idol or statue of two snakes coiled around one another to form a handle with their heads reared back and hissing at each other which seemed to form a hilt of sorts. Two red jewels were embedded in the design, one in the pommel, and another between the snake’s mouths.

VOIDSHEAR

UNIQUE; NULL MATTER GREATSWORD

WIRELESS POWER REQUIRED

NO BIOMETRIC LOCK SYSTEM DETECTED Voidshear channels and shapes null matter into a nanometer-wide blade capable of slicing through any known material. Voidshear's blade can only be repelled by hard-light and null matter barriers.

Warning: Insufficient cooling identified in design leading to rapid heat build-up.

Not recommended for extended use in airless environments.

“That sounds incredibly useful, so long as you manage that heat issue properly.” Lance said before he sent the hilt sailing back over. “If you want to test it out, all four conduits converge right over there before they disappear into the wall.”

“Sounds like a perfect test for the sword to me.” O’Brien said.

Lance shone his lights on the spot he had identified as the hulking man advanced forward. The sword hilt which had seemed comically large in his own hands was a near perfect fit in the Guardian’s absurd, massive paws.

“Let’s see, now how do we activate you?” He mused.

The gems flashed, and dual streams of null matter flowed from the snake’s mouths. From there, they flattened out to form a two-meter long pitch-black blade. In one smooth motion, O’Brien cut the conduit in a shower of high energy particles before he shut the blade off and stowed it in his pack.

“Hoo-rah! I think I’m in love, sir.” The massive gunnery sergeant said with a chuckle.

“Alright, alright lover boy. Let’s head on back to Rah’s chamber and see if we can find some similar easy conduit we can cut.”

Nervous for reasons he couldn’t pin down, but unwilling to show it, Lance switched through his assorted visual filters, looking for any sign of change to the facility.

No obvious changes or alarms… yet. For some reason, he still couldn’t bring himself to find comfort in that thought.

“Let’s move.” Lance said.

They proceeded quickly and in silence while Lance considered their options. Once they reached the doors to Rah’s chamber, Lance lined up on the door and shoved the other one open to allow O’Brien through.

“Clear!”

Even though he could find no evidence that something had changed, something still felt different. Like there was a static electricity in the air. He stowed his concerns and proceeded forward, ignoring the hairs as they rose on the back of his neck.

Mind on the mission, Lance.

“While I inspect this chamber, why don’t you review the drone footage of the wormhole generator room? We might have to cut the power from that side.” Lance asked.

He switched to his EM filter to search for ways to sabotage the central stasis chamber. After a minute of growing frustration, Lance switched back to the visible light spectrum.

“No good, the stasis chamber is built solidly into that back wall. There goes the easy solution; there’s no exposed conduit on this side anywhere.They must have routed the power right through the wall first. That's the one it shares with the generator room, too.” Lance said as he moved over to inspect the control panel.

“Doesn’t look any better from the generator side. There are twelve conduit lines routed parallel to one another up the back wall and that disappear into a hole bored into the ceiling. There’s no way to know which cable powers what without a full technical readout of the facility.” O’Brien replied before he shut the lid.

“Well.. shit. We don’t want to cut all the power to everything… Too risky to cut the power at the console here…” Lance said as he pondered their options.

“Couldn’t have made it easy on us, huh? Bastards.” O’Brien said before he kicked the glass of the stasis enclosure in frustration.

Lance looked over at the man in horror before every light in the room powered on and the speakers in the ceiling crackled to life.

“What did just you do?!?” Lance asked in horror.

“UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO FACILITY DETECTED.

GARRISON CAPACITORS AT FULL CHARGE.

AWAKENING FORWARD GARRISON; ACTIVATING TEMPORAL COFFINS.

RESERVE GARRISON ON STANDBY; CHARGING CAPACITORS.”

“I didn’t think… What the fuck was I thinking!?” O’Brien shouted as he shouldered his rifle and scanned the ramparts above for movement.

“THRONE ROOM CAPACITORS CHARGING.

ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMMING DETECTED.

ANALYZING… RE-ROUTING POWER…”

You… didn’t think!? Lance’s mind reeled in fury before the consequences of their current predicament settled heavily upon him.

“ARMORY CAPACITORS NOT RESPONDING

SERAPIAN GUARD DEPLOYMENT ABORTED

WARNING: EMERGENCY SYSTEM MAINTENANCE REQUIRED”

“What the fuck, Gunny!?!” Lance shouted as he dropped his pack and began to dig for the nuke. “You know what? Never mind that now! Get the fuck out of here and link up with the others!” His anger cooled as he realized the alarm could just have easily had been triggered by Lucas’ attempts at hacking the hangar bay.

“So you can do what? Sacrifice yourself to blow the facility?!” O’Brien shouted back.

Lance clenched his jaw as a swirl of conflicting emotions punched him in the gut. A series of explosions and the repetitive crack of gunfire could be heard in the distance, shattering the silence between them.

“We don’t have time to argue about this! This is bigger than me! I know what I must do, and so do you! Now get the others back to the Shadowhawk and get to minimum safe distance. Move it, Guardian!” Lance shouted as he fell back to the doors that led towards the armory.

“Dammit!” O’Brien’s biceps tightened as he squeezed the grip on his rifle. “I’ll get the others out of here safely. I won’t let you down, sir.”

“We always knew what this mission could mean. Now go! I’ll hide and protect the nuke as long as I can. Radio silence is lifted. Now go link up the others so I know your progress, but don't give me or the nuke away over comms. You need to hurry before they catch you in that kill zone we saw back there!”

O’Brien paused in front of the opposing doors to look over his shoulder and to snap off a salute.

“It’s… been an honor serving with you, sir.”

Unable to reply, Lance returned the salute with clenched teeth before he turned and pushed through the door and fell back further down the corridor.

“THRONE ROOM CAPACITORS AT FULL CHARGE

AWAKENING STATION ADMINISTRATOR; ACTIVATING TEMPORAL COFFIN” The ancient speakers in the other room rumbled in the gutteral alien tongue.

A wave of peace filled Lance’s consciousness as he inserted his key card and entered his code. As a precaution, he set a five minute timer, knowing he could either extend the time or detonate on his command if needed. Satisfied, he knelt down with his rifle ready and aimed at the door.

THWUMP

There’s the administrator… God… if you’re on our side, or even if you’re listening… I want to believe that you are. Just.. Please keep my people safe, my aim true, and know that I’m ready as a man can be to meet you.

His only answer in the deafening silence that followed was the mysterious sense of tingling peace and self-assurance of a man ready to die for a cause greater than himself.

“Give ‘em hell, Guardian!” Lance said quietly to himself.

If he’s fast, he’ll make it through… Now let’s hope we haven’t fucked over Karst’s team in the process… Lord, we need your intervention right about now…. Please….

MEANWHILE…

DATE POINT: JUNE 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,

UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: DOGHOUSE

LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS ACTUALLY WORKING THIS EASILY!” Gardner said in a gleeful tone through her suit’s speakers as she keyed the controls beside the door.

“BIOMETRIC ID VERIFIED; ACCESS APPROVED. WELCOME ABOARD, LADY ISIS.”

The heavy blast doors shuddered for a moment before they slid apart. Hamilton let out a low whistle as he launched himself into the boarding tube. The massive wings of the Ur-Uatchti loomed large before them, dominating the view through the glass ceiling. The stylized wings extended out from a gigantic octagonal plate buried deep into the bright semi-molten core. The light it produced illuminated the hollowed out interior of the asteroid and cast deep shadows behind them.

“Damn, she’s even huger in person…” Hamilton said in awe.

“Even huger?” Paul couldn’t help himself but snort.

“Hey, I can’t help it, seeing it up close got me all tongue-tied, man. From here it looks even bigger than the Indomitable Will!” He replied without missing a beat in spite of his claims to the contrary.

Estefani placed a hand hallway up his back and patted slowly. Whether it was a show of sympathy or support, however, Paul couldn’t discern.

“I’m still not sure how these things even work. Like what’s with the glowing core? I thought it was supposed to be a fusion power plant or something, but that should be crazy hot. I mean that’s clearly molten metal, so why isn’t the back section melting too? It’s not gonna be like a thousand degrees in there is it?” Hamilton asked as they walked ever closer to the ship.

Gardner and Anubis turned and shared a long look through their ceremonial helmets. Anubis relented with a grumble and she turned back towards Hamilton.

“IN SIMPLE TERMS, THERE IS A TINY ARTIFICIAL STAR AT THE CENTER OF THE CORE. GRAVITY AND AN INTERNAL STRUCTURE HOLDS THE SHIP AND THE CORE TOGETHER, WHILE THE STELLAR WIND PUSHES BACK AGAINST THE INNER WALL OF THE CORE TO MAINTAIN ITS SHAPE AND TEMPERATURE. THE HEAT STORED IN THE CORE CAN THEN BE DRAWN UPON AS NEEDED TO POWER THE SHIP.” She stated through her external speakers.

“But aren’t stars like crazy hot? Like a million degrees or something? Shouldn’t the rest of the ship be molten hot too?” Hamilton asked.

“MANY SMALLER, LESS DENSE STARS HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY COOLER SURFACE TEMPERATURES. THE VACUUM GAP IN THE CORE HELPS INSULATE AGAINST ALL HEAT TRANSFERENCE EXCEPT FOR RADIATION, WHICH IS FAIRLY INEFFICIENT. THE ALLOY USED FOR THE CORE IS ELECTRIUM, A GOLD-SILVER ALLOY WITH A LOW MELTING POINT. THE SUPERSTRUCTURE OF THE SHIP ITSELF IS HIGH GRADE TITANIUM ALLOY WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER MELTING POINT. THERE’S EVEN A WING TO WING COOLANT CIRCUIT TO FERRY EXCESS HEAT TO THOSE FEATHER SHAPED STRUCTURES ON THE WINGS THAT ACT AS RADIATORS. THIS MAKES IT SO THE INSIDE OF THE SHIP IS ACTUALLY QUITE COMFORTABLE.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” Hamilton said. “Glad to know we aren’t walking into an oven, at least.”

“That must be why the Anunnaki were said to have needed to mine such tremendous amounts of gold and silver to repair the atmosphere of Nii’Baruu in the old Sumerian myths. It's close enough to tue truth, while still occluding it, muddying the water.” Ariana added in, causing everyone to turn and look at her.

“What? Can’t a girl do a bit of reading up on our enemy? What the hell else was I supposed to do? Take the Alderei’s words as gospel?” She scoffed.

“Nobody is judging you; it just came as a surprise to us all, right?” Jenkins chimed in with a pointed tone.

Poor guy's still got it bad. Paul smirked.

“AFTER LORD U'RAH'NOS WAS DEPOSED BY APOPHIS, WE ESCAPED TO THIS SYSTEM TO REBUILD OUR STRENGTH. WE NEEDED TREMENDOUS QUANTITIES OF GOLD AND OTHER METALS TO REPAIR THE HEAVILY DAMAGED CORE OF NII’BARUU. THE LOWER RANKS REFUSED TO TOIL IN THE MINES FOR LONG, AND THUS THE FIRST SEEDS OF OUR INTERNAL STRIFE WERE SOWN. THIS WAS THE REASON WE CREATED YOUR RACE IN A LESSER FORM OF OUR OWN IMAGE. WE NEEDED HARD WORKING COMPLIANT SLAVES OF LIMITED INTELLECT WHO WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO WORK, YET WOULD BE TOO WEAK TO REBEL. THE FIRST PANTHEON RULED OVER YOUR KIND FOR MANY MILLENNIA IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF YOUR HOME CONTINENT BEFORE GREED, CATACLYSMS, AND CIVIL WAR IRREVOCABLY SPLIT THE PANTHEONS APART AND YOUR PEOPLE SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE PLANET.” Anubis stated in a somber tone.

“Fucking hell, that’s depressing. I know we’d heard it before from the Alderei, but it somehow hits different coming from him.” Jenkins said.

“WHY? YOUR MERE EXISTENCE HERE PROVES THAT OUR KIND DIED OUT AND YOUR RACE EVOLVED AND ELEVATED YOURSELVES TO REPLACE US. IF ANYONE HAS RIGHTS TO DEPRESSION, IT WOULD BE OUR KIND. YOU ARE A REBELLIOUS AND CAPRICIOUS RACE, SMART ENOUGH TO BE DANGEROUS, YET LACKING THE WISDOM TO SEE PAST YOUR SHORT TERM AMBITIONS. LONG HAVE WE FEARED WHAT WOULD COME TO PASS SHOULD WE LOSE CONTROL OVER YOUR SPECIES.”

“Hey, that’s not exactly fair! Sure, some of us are like that, but not the majority. If anything, those are the kinds of traits that we inherited from your kind!” Paul snarled.

“WE RULED OVER YOUR KIND FOR HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SOLAR CYCLES IN PERFECT EQUILIBRIUM WITH NATURE! JUDGING BY THE LEVEL OF YOUR TECHNOLOGY, IT IS CLEAR YOU DISCOVERED THE SECRETS OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY ONLY RECENTLY. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOUR KIND TO FILL THE PLANET PAST ITS CAPACITY? DID YOU MANAGE TO PRESERVE THE BIOSPHERE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING YOUR TECHNOLOGY, OR DID YOU DESTROY IT WHILE YOUR LEADERS ARGUED AWAY WHAT LITTLE TIME YOU HAD TO ACT?” Anubis shoved his clawed finger at Paul as he hissed his accusations.

Why the hell did I ever let Gardner upload that language pack to Anubis' suit?

Must we truly answer that? You know precisely why...

No, that was a rhetorical question, creepy. I get why she was getting tired of translating and we needed to be able to give direct orders in combat. The problem now is there's no filter to his understanding our words and the arrogant bastard has a retort for everything. I'm just venting so I don't rip his damn head off is all, leave me alone.

Mortals...

Silence reigned as they stared each other down. Paul leaned forward as he struggled to control his anger and to find a worthy retort.

“How is your homeworld? I’ll bet it was no better when your kind first industrialized. You sling accusations at us, but to me it reeks of projection! How enlightened can you possibly be when your cousins’ orbital bombardments did far more damage to the biosphere than we ever did to it ourselves!?” Ariana shouted as she interjected herself into the middle of the confrontation.

“ENOUGH OF THIS, ALL OF YOU! WE’RE ON THE SAME TEAM, BOUND BY OATH TO A COMMON CAUSE. THIS BICKERING SERVES NO ONE! THE ONLY REASON YOU ALL KEPT THE BIOSPHERE ALIVE WAS BY ENSLAVING US AND HOARDING KNOWLEDGE! THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS ALLIANCE IS TO GIVE US A CHANCE TO DO BETTER THIS TIME. WE KNOW HOW TO INDUSTRIALIZE WITHOUT DESTROYING THE PLANET IN THE PROCESS. WE ALSO KNOW HOW TO GOVERN NOW WITHOUT CREATING PERMANENT INFLEXIBLE HIERARCHIES AND WITHOUT SUCCUMBING TO THE TRAGEDIES OF GREAT POWER POLITICS. THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE NEPHAELI’IM CLEARLY NEVER FIGURED OUT. WE ARE GOING TO DO THINGS RIGHT THIS TIME, TOGETHER!” Gardner exclaimed in a tone that brooked no argument.

“She’s right, you know. If we can just set aside our differences, we can become far stronger, together. That is the whole reason Henry and Osiris were able to come to an agreement in the first place.” Jenkins said with a calm tone and his hands raised.

Anubis leaned back away from Paul and folded his arms with a growl. After a long moment, he turned to look at Gardner.

“OUR…. MY APOLOGIES, MY LADY. ONCE MORE YOU HAVE SHOWN YOURSELF TO POSSESS A WISDOM FAR BEYOND YOUR YEARS. THOTH TRULY CHOSE WELL IN ARGUING FOR YOUR ASCENSION. PERHAPS YOUR PEOPLE TRULY HAVE GROWN IN WISDOM IN PROPORTION TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE, TIME WILL TELL THE TRUTH OF IT. WE SHALL NEED EVERY ADVANTAGE WE CAN SECURE IF WE TRULY WISH TO SUCCEED.”

Paul took a deep breath and eased back finally, as well.

“The ambassador is right. It’s time to refocus ourselves on the mission. We not only want to succeed, but we will, and furthermore, we must. Has everyone gotten this all out of their system? Good, because the second we enter that ship I want everyone focused and ready. We need to treat this like a hostile incursion boarding operation. Am I clear?” Paul

The chorus of agreement that followed did much to assuage his concerns.

They sound confident, at least….

“Good, then move out.” He said after giving a look to each of the members of his team in turn. Most of his team nodded with the notable exception of his sister, who somehow gave the impression of judgement despite her expressionless helmet. Anubis, unsurprisingly, seemed as grumpy and aloof as always.

They’re ready as they’ll ever be. Any sign of trouble from our little astral follower?

Still nothing... still quiet...

Good. Now hopefully, they stay ground-side… Its time to focus on the mission.

“All right then, Ambassador. Why don’t you get us an invitation to board?” Paul said with a cocky smile hidden behind his visor.

“IT WOULD BE… MY PLEASURE, LET’’S JUST SAY I’VE GOT THE CONNECTIONS WE NEED TO BREEZE RIGHT... ON... THROUGH.” Gardner said with a giggle and a strut over to access the control panel just ahead of them.

“PROBABLY THE MAIN THING I ACTUALLY LIKE ABOUT THIS NEW BODY IS FINALLY BEING TALL ENOUGH TO REACH THESE CONTROL PANELS. I’LL NEVER NEED A BOOST EVER AGAIN!” She said while she worked.

“DO NOT BELITTLE YOUR BLESSINGS SO READILY. YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY DEIFIED, YET YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED MANY OF ITS GIFTS. THE NEW AND OLD ASPECTS OF YOUR NATURE ARE STILL IN CONFLICT, TRUE, BUT THIS WILL NOT LAST. LET US HOPE YOU CAN RETAIN YOUR ADMIRABLE HUMILITY AND COMPASSION AS YOUR POWER AND YOUR CONFIDENCE IN YOUR AUTHORITY GROWS.” Anubis said.

“I… UH… I’LL TRY MY BEST? I DON’T PLAN ON CHANGING WHO I AM INSIDE FOR ANYONE. THANK YOU, THOUGH. I’LL THINK ON YOUR WORDS, SEEK THAT BALANCE.” Gardner replied.

“THAT IS ALL THAT WE… THAT I CAN ASK. IT WOULD BE TRAGIC TO LOSE YOU TO THE SEDUCTIVE DELUSIONS OF POWER-SEEKING. FEW THINGS WEIGH UPON THE HEART MORE THAN A LIFE OF SELF ABSORPTION AT THE COST OF ALL ELSE.”

Gardner stopped what she was doing for a long moment before she nodded and got back to work.

“BIOMETRIC ID VERIFIED; ACCESS APPROVED. WELCOME ABOARD, LADY ISIS. WILL YOU REQUIRE AN HONOR GUARD?”

“NO, THAT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY! WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN WAY. WE SHALL REQUIRE QUARTERS APPROPRIATE FOR OUR ROYAL RETINUE.” Gardner’s tone seemed to tense up, in spite of her clear effort to keep her cool.

“ACKNOWLEDGED; MAP UPDATED.”

Gardner’s shoulders relaxed and she released the breath she’d been holding. Hamilton walked past her with a pat on the shoulder before he shouldered his breacher and moved through the door. Paul’s eyes narrowed as he followed the rest of the team through the oversized airlock.

It can’t all be this easy, can it? Creepy, back me up here! Paul thought, half-joking.

Be wary for traps… mental or physical… including those born of paranoia… or of overconfidence….

Can never just give a straight answer, can you? Fucking useless.

You ask in circles around… the question you want to ask… or to confirm what you think you know… When you ask a straight question…you’ll get a straight answer…

Paul squeezed the grip on his rifle tighter as he clenched his teeth.

Alright, smartass. Just… pipe down unless you have critical tactical information to provide.

As you wish…

“All right! Huddle up everyone!” Paul said as soon as they were all through the inner airlock door.

“Gardner knows the way, so she’s navigating in the center next to me. Anubis, I want you in the back slinging null matter artillery and working crowd control. Hamilton you’re on point, assume there’s a hostile patrol around every corner and take us through slow, and by the book. The rest of you line up on corners, take my left flank when we move, and watch your sectors of fire. These are tight quarters, so no friendly fire.” Paul rattled off their orders, first looking at Anubis before finally checking each helmet in turn for recognition.

Satisfied with how he'd arranged his forces, Paul signaled for Hamilton to move up. Corner by corner, corridor by corridor they progressed as Gardner pointed out the way. Paul’s mind worked in the background trying to memorize the halls visually as he worked to build his mental map.

Hamilton stopped them abruptly, and Paul signaled his troops to flatten against the wall as he watched Hamilton closely. Paul’s heart sunk as he saw the hand signals. Enemy patrol, three tangos, armed, and approaching rapidly. A quick switch to thermals confirmed it.

FUCK! I knew this was too damn easy. Paul thought.

Paul motioned to his squad in a desperate attempt to get them into firing positions in time. Satisfied, he shouldered his rifle, flipped the selector switch, and prepared himself for the arrival of the enemy.