CHAPTER 61 – COLLISION

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

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,

UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: DOGHOUSE

LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST

THREAT DETECTED, NEPHAELI’IM-HUMAN HYBRID; SOLDIER ARCHETYPE, QUANTITY: THREE, THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE FIGHT OR FLIGHT DETECTED; COMBAT HORMONE PRODUCTION RELEASE APPROVED

What’s your read, Creepy? Do they know we’re here? Are they hostile?

They are cautious… curious… but not yet hostile…

Good to know, thanks. We might have a chance to avoid disaster, then, if we play this smart.

“Gardner, move up, see if you can head them off. Anubis, back her up. We’ll stay back here out of sight ready to assist if things go badly. Ariana, cloak yourself and get in position to block their retreat.” Paul whispered.

Ariana nodded and activated her suit’s tactical cloak, causing her to disappear in a bright flash of reddish light. A faint transparent distortion was all that remained visible as she moved into position in perfect silence.

“WHAT, ME?! JUST WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY?” Gardner objected in the lowest volume her suit speakers allowed.

“Anything! Improvise, stall them, just don’t let them sound the alarm!” Paul hissed.

“TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS, MY LADY, AND FEAR NOT; I WILL GUARD YOU WITH MY LIFE.” Anubis stated as he placed one hand on the bejeweled mace clipped to his belt.

“Go! We’re running out of time!” Paul ordered.

Gardner’s fists clenched as her shoulders tensed up for a moment before she audibly released a deep breath. She strode forward calmly around the corner while Anubis followed confidently behind and to her right.

“Lady Isis? Lord Anubis! We were not expecting your visit. His Grace, Lord Set’An has been notified of your arrival and requests the… honor of your presence in the throne room.”

Well… shit. There goes the element of surprise… Play it cool, Gardner…

“WHEN DID SET TAKE ON THE TITLE OF AN? NEVER MIND, IF HE WISHES TO FALSELY PROCLAIM HIMSELF A SON OF THE SKY GOD, THAT IS A MATTER TO BE HANDLED ANOTHER DAY. WE COME IN THE NAME OF PEACE BETWEEN OUR PEOPLE AND TO HEAL THE RIFT THAT HAS FORMED. THE GRAVITY OF THE OLYMPIAN THREAT IS ONE THAT SHOULD UNITE US IN COMMON CAUSE. WE WOULD BROKER AN ALLIANCE TO REUNITE THE AHT’LANTEAN PANTHEON, SUCH AS IT WAS IN DAYS PAST.” Gardner stated with as much confidence and gravitas as she seemed able to muster.

Brilliant… Lean on those memories, Gardner.

“This is a… most surprising development. I wonder… Does Lord Horus share your sentiments? Perhaps we should contact both him and Lord Aten to join the negotiations, as well… You! Head to the communications room and raise the Tartarus facility. The Light Bringer will certainly wish to know of this development, if not attend the negotiations in person.” The envoy audibly sneered as he said the last sentence.

Set’An and Aten, the… Light-Bringer? Could it be?

Could it be what?

Nothing… it has to be a coincidence…

You don’t truly believe that… Most curious… What is the purpose... of lying to yourself like that?

Drop it, Creepy, I don’t have the time to explain it.

“WE COME UNDER THE ORDERS OF LORD OSIRIS HIMSELF. LORD HORUS WILL FALL IN LINE BEHIND US WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT. THERE IS NO NEED TO CONTACT THEM AT THIS EARLY STAGE OF NEGOTIATIONS.” Gardner replied with the slightest edge of panic in her voice that she did an admirable job hiding.

“With respect, your Grace, our alliance with Lord Aten obliges us to keep him informed of all major developments. We must insist upon it, I’m afraid. Now, if you will follow me, his Grace awaits our arrival.” The envoy stated.

“LEAD THE WAY, THEN.” Gardner replied.

Shit… They’re going to blow Lance’s cover… Ariana. I’ve got to signal her. Fuck it… I’m just gonna have to take the risk. Paul thought as he worked to find a solution to the mess they now found themselves in.

With a deep breath, he clicked his radio once as he pinged her status icon. Please understand… and please don’t get us caught…

Paul waited several long, agonizing moments before the radio clicked twice in reply. A second contact suddenly appeared on his motion tracker behind the soldier that had split off towards the comms room. He let out a sigh of relief as he turned his attention to watch the four contacts retreating down the corridor until they moved out of detection range.

“Well…. That puts us in a real bullshit situation, don’t it? The hell are we gonna do now?” Hamilton griped.

“We can’t just let them get split off like that, but we also can’t let that message get out either…. I don’t know what to do.” Estefani said.

“Ariana will take care of the messenger. For now, there’s nothing we can do for Gardner but trust her and Anubis to take care of themselves and to buy us some time.” Paul replied.

They waited in silent tension for several, long, agonizing minutes before Ariana reappeared amongst them.

“There won’t be any messages escaping the ship any time soon. Did my best to hide the body as well, but we should take precautions regardless.” Ariana said in a strangely happy tone.

Paul chuckled and rolled his eyes before he turned back to his squad.

“The immediate threat has been extinguished, but make no mistake, we remain in a very dangerous situation.” Paul began, “The truth is, there are some things we can do to help restore our collective fortunes and to regain the upper hand.”

Estefani looked back at him quizzically before she replied. “What’s the plan then, boss?”

“We’re going to sabotage and deny the enemy access to as many critical systems of this ship as we can while Gardner keeps our host distracted.” Paul said with a smirk.

“Now you’re speaking my language!” Estefani replied enthusiastically. “Where do you want to start?”

Paul thought for a moment before he turned to look at his sister.

“Ariana, where’d you hide the body?” Paul asked.

“Just inside the door to the comms room, why?” She replied with a slight tilt to her head.

“Show me.” Paul said.

They hustled together down a set of hallways towards a sealed bulkhead door. Ariana twisted a hand control to the side of the door frame, and it slid open to reveal a room full of assorted consoles.

“Well, trashing the comms equipment will cause us problems later with repairs, it might even set of an alarm, right? I’m thinking we instead get started by welding some key doors shut, starting with that one. After that, we can move onto setting traps and other, more subtle forms of sabotage.” Paul stated with a growing smile as he reached into his bag for an antipersonnel mine.

Time to get busy. Paul thought as he knelt down and connected the mine to the body with a pull wire.

“There, now whoever makes it through that door and turns this guy over will get a nasty surprise.” Paul said before he motioned everyone out of the room.

“Estefani, you know what to do.” Paul said as soon as he’d sealed the door shut behind them.

She nodded, set her infiltration bag down, and got to work welding the edge of the door into the metal frame.

“So, where to next?” Ariana asked.

“I’m thinking we pay a visit to the stasis chambers.” Paul said as he read the signage directing them to various sections of the ship.

“Sounds good to me, I’m done here.” Estefani said as she packed the torch back into her bag.

“Ohhh, I’m getting excited now. I love a good game of sabotage. Think we can raid their armory after that?” Hamilton asked in a giddy tone.

“All in due time, first we need to cut off the possibility of enemy reinforcements, then we help Gardner. We can load up on new toys after that. Now let’s hurry, I get the feeling she’s going to need our help sooner rather than later.” Paul said with grim certainty.

“Right. I’ll take point then.” Hamilton said as he raised his breacher to his shoulder once again.

“Ready Jenkins? Everyone watch your fields of fire. Now move out!” Paul said.

“Let’s hope Gardner is staying safe out there. She came up with a good plan, considering how much time she had. Let’s just hope it works….” Ariana said.

“We can only hope. I just wish we could keep tabs on them." Jenkins bemoaned.

“Yeah, but there’s not, so we need to focus on doing our jobs quickly.” Paul said, even though he knew full well he did have a way; he just didn’t like it.

Alright Creepy, it looks like I’m going to need you to do that apportionment trick again. We need eyes on Gardner and Anubis to make sure they haven’t gotten themselves into trouble.

As you wish…. Prepare yourself, mortal…

The things I do for my people… Paul thought as he braced himself for the inevitable pain of separation with clenched teeth.

I’m ready, let’s get this over with. Paul thought before every nerve in his body lit up as if he were on fire.

The apportionment has been sent… you will be warned should danger befall them…

Thanks, Creepy. Paul thought as he steadied himself.

Jenkins gave him a strange look but said nothing after Paul rejoined the group. They rushed through the empty corridors, following the signage painted on top of the walls at every intersection. They made good time, and soon found themselves at the doorway to the primary garrison room. Hamilton motioned them to a halt, and Paul lined them up and gave the signal.

Together they stormed into the room, a panicked technician looked up from their work then reached for what had to be an alarm. Hamilton pulled the trigger on his breacher and blew a fist sized hole through their chest. Gore painted the wall behind them as they were knocked from their chair to the ground in a heap.

“Quick thinking, Hamilton, nice shot. Now take Jenkins with you and guard the door.” Paul said before he turned to Estefani as he reached down into his bag. “We need to move fast; can you wire this into the control circuit? This ought to leave a nasty surprise for anyone trying to activate the system.”

“High explosive? Nice, I daresay that will take most of the equipment in here with it.” She said as she took the bomb from his hand.

“Just get to work, we’re on a time crunch. There’s one more garrison to visit!” Paul said.

“I know the stakes Paul, give me a minute and it will be done.” Estefani said as she poked her head under the console and popped open the access panel.

“We might not have a minute, just do the quick and dirty version.” Paul said impatiently.

“Done, I hooked it up to a multi meter clamp. Any power flowing through that circuit will set the bomb off.” She reported as she popped the panel back in place and set the bomb in place under the console.

Perfect. No alarms yet, no warnings from Creepy, let’s hope our luck lasts.

Paul shouldered his pack and motioned for her to follow before he rejoined the others in the hallway. “No time to waste, people, let’s move!”

Hamilton charged forward, setting an even faster pace than before as the rest of the group rushed to keep up. They took turns down corridors at a breakneck pace until they passed a long one marked as leading to the throne room. Paul stopped for a moment as a horrid feeling crawled down his spine before he shook it off and rushed to catch up.

Soon, they reached the hallway leading up to the primary garrison. Across from it another room was marked as the cafeteria. As they approached, they slowed down tremendously, until Hamilton raised his fist.

“Boss, we got a problem.” Hamilton whispered.

THREAT DETECTED, NEPHAELI’IM-HUMAN HYBRID; SOLDIER ARCHETYPE, QUANTITY: TWELVE, THREAT LEVEL: DANGEROUS; EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED FIGHT OR FLIGHT DETECTED; COMBAT HORMONE PRODUCTION RELEASE APPROVED

Oh... son of a...

MEANWHILE…

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

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,

UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: DOGHOUSE

AMBASSADOR VANESSA GARDNER

“This way, this way, my lady. Lord Set’An is expecting us. Right through these doors now.”

Gardner followed behind Set’s messenger with her head held high and her posture straight as they approached a heavy looking set of gilded doors. Pressed into the face was a motif of a humanoid figure with a strange animal’s head with a narrow snout and long ears plunging a spear into the heart of a falcon. Surrounding its head like a halo was a sun disk with dozens of hooked arms extending out from it like sun rays. Below them was a scene of other deities weeping over a dismembered body.

“THAT INSUFFERABLE USURPER! HOW DARE HE GLORIFY HIS BETRAYAL IN SUCH A BRAZEN MANNER! WE SHOULD HAVE HIS HEAD FOR SUCH IMPUDENCE!” Anubis roared.

“PEACE, ANUBIS, YOU FORGET YOURSELF AND OUR PURPOSE. HE MEANS TO ANGER US, AND IF WE ALLOW IT, HE SHALL HAVE HIS VICTORY. STAY YOUR HAND AND THINK NOT OF VENGEANCE OR THE ROT OF OLD WOUNDS TODAY.” Gardner replied, trying her best to sound the part.

I know he can hear us… She thought, though she dared not voice it. Instead, she strode forward as boldly as she could muster with her head held high. The messenger pushed open the double doors to reveal four steel armored giants standing with rifles at attention at either side of the entryway. Further in, Set sat upon a gilded throne in his own armor holding a crook and a flail crossed over his chest.

“My Lord Set’An, forever may you reign, I present the Lady Isis and her guardian, Lord Anubis.”

Gardner could practically feel the fury rolling off Anubis in waves behind her as Set studied them dismissively. At last, he rose, and clipped the implements of the Pharoah to his belt.

“YOU HAVE SERVED US WELL IN BRINGING THEM BEFORE OUR THRONE SO THEY MIGHT BASK IN THE RADIANCE OF OUR ASCENDED GLORY. WHAT OF OUR FAITHFUL ALLY, HAS THE LIGHT BRINGER BEEN INFORMED THAT WE REQUIRE HIS WISDOM AND PRESENCE?”

“You flatter me, Lord, I am but a humble vessel of your divine will. Indeed, a message has been sent, your grace. We can expect Lord Aten’s arrival shortly.” The messenger replied.

“YOU ARE DISMISSED, MY FAITHFUL SERVANT. THOUGH BEFORE YOU RETURN YOURSELF TO YOUR TEMPORAL COFFIN, WE HAVE ONE MORE TASK FOR YOU TO COMPLETE. WE MUST DISCOVER HOW OUR EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS WERE DEFEATED SO EASILY. WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THEIR ARRIVAL BEFORE THEY ARRIVED ON OUR DOORSTEP.” Set turned towards Gardner and seemed to study her intently through his mask.

‘WE WELCOME THE OFFER OF PEACE, BUT YOUR ARRIVAL BEARS UNCOMFORTABLE IMPLICATIONS. THE DUAT SUFFERED IRREPARABLE DAMAGE IN OUR ATTACK. HORUS HASN’T BUDGED FROM HIS PERCH IN THE OUTER SYSTEM AND COULD NEVER HOPE TO REPAIR THE COMPUTERS WE DESTROYED. WE LEFT NO SHIPS CAPABLE OF TRAVERSING THE SEAS OF PRIMORDIAL CHAOS, AND THERE IS NO HIDING THE APPROACH OF AN UR-UATCHTI. YAH’WEH REMAINS ON THE SURFACE WITH HIS STOLEN SHIP AND WORMHOLE INTERFACE. NEITHER THE OLYMPIANS NOR THE ASHURA WOULD DARE RISK THEIR SHIPS TO INTERFERE IN AHT’LANTEAN AFFAIRS. BY ANY LOGIC, YOU SHOULD NOT BE HERE.”

Set motioned to his honor guard, who then promptly barred the door as others streamed into the room and raised their rifles. Anubis snarled and drew his own weapons from his belt and placed his back to hers. Gardner’s mind raced, as she found herself utterly at a loss of what to say or do as the situation deteriorated before her eyes.

“GIVEN THE SUSPICIOUS NATURE OF YOUR ARRIVAL, THERE IS BUT ONE FINAL LOGICAL CONCLUSION TO BE MADE. WE CAN FEEL YOUR FEAR… YOUR UNCERTAINTY. HOW VERY UNLIKE YOU, MY LADY. WE WILL ASK YOU BUT ONCE, AND KNOW THAT WE WILL KNOW IF YOU ARE LYING. HAVE YOU BETRAYED US AND SOUGHT THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ALDEREI?”

Gardner opened her mouth to speak, but all she could manage was a dry squeak as her nerves failed her.

Draw your weapons, Lady Gardner, and be ready! Set rarely asks such questions without feeling he already knows the answers. This was likely his plan from the moment you boarded! Her Osiris advisor program spoke, just in time to help snap her out of her frozen state. Gardner drew her weapons and found her courage.

“IT SEEMS PEACE WAS NEVER ON YOUR MIND AT ALL! HOW DARE YOU THREATEN US IN SUCH A MANNER, AND WITH SUCH VILE ACCUSATIONS!” She shouted in an attempt to turn the situation back to a conversation.

THREATS DETECTED; ACTIVATING COMBAT SUBROUTINES; RAISING SHIELDS

Set drew a curved blade from his waist and summoned a shield of pure null matter with a snarl.

“YOUR ACTIONS AND YOUR EMOTIONS BETRAY YOUR WORDS AS FALSE. KILL THEM BEFO-,“ An explosion rocked the ship and interrupted his words.

Set pointed his sword at two of the guards flanking him.

“YOU TWO, RAISE THE GARRISON AND SECURE THE SHIP! THE REST OF YOU, KILL THESE TRAITORS!” Set ordered as his guards split off and the others surrounded him.

"WERE IT SO EASY! FIGHT COURAGEOUSLY, MY LADY, AND WE SHALL HAVE THIS COWARD’S HEAD! YOUR REBELLION ENDS TODAY!” Anubis shouted as he raised his graviton mace, summoned a blade on his scythe, and charged Set.

Why didn’t I bring my gun!?! Gardner thought in a panic as the enemies guarding the door opened fire on her and she charged with her twin swords.