Book 3: Chapter 74: Heaven’s Fire

Book 3: Chapter 74: Heaven’s Fire

USD: Nine days after the battle of Dedia IV

Location: Nu Crateris, Eastern Continent, CSS Tremissis

The hum of stressed power systems vibrated through Heelers carapace as the defensive emplacements swept across the incoming horde of enemy nestlings. Long lines of fire left massive smoke clouds that billowed into the sky as the tall prairie grass burned and the nestlings were incinerated.

Heeler watched the weapons make a second sweep over the incoming horde across the plains from his vantage point atop the crashed Corporate Systems battlecruiser.

As the last of the nestlings died, Heeler growled in discomfort as he blocked out the incessant mind-noise thrust upon him by the nearby enemy Queens.

Their incessant attempts to subvert him to their nests had only increased in volume, as had their hostile attempts to force him to join them with their now hostile spawn.

Far distant waves of nestlings now crossed the surrounding plains across the continent toward their position, and long-range spotters from aerial drones showed that their number was increasing as the Queens increased the rate of production of new nestlings in their hives.

Over the last week, he had built multiple defensive emplacements as robot workers had come online. Regular deliveries of more construction robotics had begun to arrive thanks to his ability to relay orders from his Cores MainComputer through his mind connection with Szizsielia, whose nest was part of a sprawling underground industrial plant and bunker.

A new delivery was about to arrive, and Heeler moved to observe from a hole in the crashed battlecruisers side. A large orbital shuttle made a loud crack as it slowed its descent through the sky, massive VTOL engines rotating to a vertical position as it came down for a landing on the ground near the crash site.

As it set down, the rear hatch opened and dozens of nestlings poured out, armor and back mounted gatling turrets glinting in the evening sun. A stream of flying multi-use orb drones copied them, flying up towards the battlecruiser to map the wreckage. A parade of tracked digger bots followed them more slowly, along with dozens of bipedal worker units.

Heeler felt satisfaction. It was the first major shuttle to arrive and with sub-orbital flight capabilities it could cross the thousands of kilometers to the nest every hour. A half dozen more were under construction, along with a rocket that would launch a new communication relay into geostationary orbit.

The battle with the Corporate Fleet had destroyed nearly all of Starlight Revolutions space assets and he had yet to re-establish contact with Mother or the new human manager that had been stationed in the outer system.

That bothered him, but there was little he could do to affect their outcomes presently, so he focused on what he could do while continuing his efforts.

Claiming the massive wreckage would be an impressive feat and solidify the defense of the nest world long enough for them to expand. At least, that was his intention.

Extending a tentacle to a still active console, he dug into the ships systems with the help of H32.

He had spent an entire day of his own labor bridging the segregated networks on the ship that were intended to prevent remote access. It was quite an annoying trait to the NAI, which was likely why it had been designed that way.

It meant that the humans had been forced to rely on many sailors and manual actions that could have been easily automated, but it prevented the outright takeover of the ship by an advanced intelligence.

Having bridged all the networks together with physical wires, the NAI had no trouble cutting through their internal protections with the direct connection.

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The first thing Heeler did was scrub the Corpos authorizations and replace them with Starlight Revolutions hierarchy list. A feeling of accomplishment filled him. The ship was finally well and truly taken.

A blinking entry flashed at him as he decided what to rename the ship. The vivid imagery of the ship plunging through the atmosphere came to him.

|SRS Heavens Fire|



USD: 16 days after the battle of Dedia IV

Location: 92 Pegasi, IND Iron Horse

Captain-Major Thraker sat at his command console in the CIC of the destroyer, Iron Horse. The old warship the flagship and namesake of the Iron Horse Mercenary Company, which Thraker commanded.

He stared at the sensor readouts and reports that had been collated for him by his bridge officers. He carefully scrolled through the data collected about Ackman station and A3123Y station, the only two inhabited stations in 92 Pegasi. Both were in orbits around planet Ackman, which was more a snowball than planet.

As he read the information gathered on A3123Y he felt a mild surprise at how quickly A3123Y was repairing after the recent battle in 92 Pegasi. It did go with what he knew of events, and it was obvious that Alex had provided the station crew with advanced FedTech.

Rick and Sawet had shown her that you could also lose yourself in countless hours of aerobics and strength training. It had only been one day, and they had quickly explained that over-training could be disastrous, but she had found that her singular limit was much higher than what was normal for human.

Nanites coursed through her blood, delivering energy and carrying away waste at a rapid clip, her strengthened tissues and muscular structure turning what should have been a one rep max into a cardio exercise.

She hadnt put on a heavier weight because the ships bar wasnt strong enough to hold more. Heavier bars existed, but none of the crew was particularly into the sport.

None of that really mattered to Alex. She continued to press the weight until her vision spiked red.

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She stopped at the top of the rep and Sawet took hold of the bar as she guided it into the benchs grooves.

You done?

Yeah.

Alex sat up and nodded, grabbing a towel and wiping off the sweat.

Rick, who was sitting nearby, just stared at her. Three hundred fifty-six.

What?

You pressed that three hundred and fifty-six times.

Thats pretty good, right?

The two corporals shared a look that shed seen Elis give her many times before. A sudden pang bit at her.

Im done for today. I need to go check on Elis.

As she finished wiping down, she realized that a small crowd had gathered and was watching her.

Rick noticed them as she blinked at them with a confused look.

He sent them scattering, Nothing for you lot to see here! If youre not using the gym, scram!

Alex tilted her head. What was that about?

Sawet looked embarrassed. Not many gals on the ship, and none of them lift weights.

Alex suddenly realized they had been watching her. She had only been wearing a sports bra and shorts while working out. Her cheeks heated to a blush, and she grabbed her hoodie and zipped it up quickly.

It was one of the few possessions of hers that had survived the loss of the Tears, simply because shed been messy and left it in the ShipCore room one day.

Im going back to Medbay. Alex said, then hurried out of the room, leaving the two corporals to clean up and re-stack the weights on their own.

As she hurried through the ships corridors, she couldnt help but feel like she was being stared at. The closer to Medbay she got, the less the feeling haunted her, and she slowed down her pace, which saved her when she almost tripped into an open access cover.

Hey, watch it! A crewman called up at her when her foot clipped his hair.

Sorry! Didnt see the opening!

As she reached the medbays corridor she could hear talking and sped up again, the distant hope that Elis had woke up foremost in her mind.

She froze just outside the doorway when she realized it was the doctor speaking with the nurse.

No improvement. Shes still a 3. Doesnt look good.

I feel so bad for her sister, its obvious the girl was wholly attached to her.

Maybe a major institution dealing with N-tech would have some luck, but we are far from that. I dont see much hope for her.

Alex stepped inside, and a worried look appeared on the nurse and doctors face. They said something to her, but she didnt hear it, instead going over to Elis and sitting beside the bed.

She couldnt hold back her tears anymore. At some point, the nurse came over and put Alexs blanket around her shoulders after she cried herself to sleep.