Book 4: Chapter 211: Clash of Hives (Finale)

Book 4: Chapter 211: Clash of Hives (Finale)

USD: ~12.5 Hour contact mark with Hadenic forces.

Location: Nu Crateris, Hades, Hadenic Hive

Nanite cohesion was a complicated process, and the times Heeler had truly been able to find time to experiment were few and far between. That didnt mean that his MainComputer couldnt accurately predict the required resources and computronics required for a given task.

The further from a computronics module a directed nanite was, the weaker the control mechanism was. Every nanite group formed their own small network, but if they fell out of control by the central node, they were implicitly set to self-terminate.

That was hard-coded into the very nature and makeup of his own being and was one of the few things that neither he nor his MainComputer could change.

That meant that any directed effect he wished to create would scale with the available modules and the distance from them. The more modules, the more nanites, and the more nanites, the larger his desired effect could be.

The Heavens Fire II was nearly thirty percent computronic modules by weight, forgoing much of the weapon systems and armor that would have been expected on a ship of its size.

The thick superconducting cable that connected him to the ship allowed for a nearly zero latency connection to the computronics. The fact that it needed to maintain a constant flow of coolant through its core made it slightly vulnerable, but half its mass was simply a protective, flexible layer of special alloy.

Heeler looked out at the chamber. The worms were dying under the barrage of railgun fire, but that had allowed the more distant flying Hadenics to close the distance.

Those creatures had weapons designed to take on starships that were fully capable of shredding the ground forces entirely.

One of the ship-creatures began to glow, then its body expanded into a massive balloon. Then it compressed.

A massive blast of energy shot out from its face, its entire body disintegrating as the beam carved a canyon through the Rexxor lines and ploughing into the wall of the chamber.

The molten rock flowed backwards into the chamber to form a pool of lava, and Heeler growled as he watched the warriors that had been near the blast burn.

He issued a mental command to hold the line, and then he moved.

The ground underneath him began to glow blue, the cloud of nanites that he had spread since arriving in the chamber going fully active. He had discarded the simplistic ANUF system that had been created for mother to easily understand her Avatar functions, and instead used his own direct interface with his MainComputer to direct the swarm.

It was something he understood on a deeply instinctual level.

The ground flexed and then turned into a moving wave, carrying him and his cable forward. Scythes of rock and stone converted into nanites at a rapid rate that resembled an uncontrolled rampancy.

This was anything but.

The wave had a singular purpose.New novel chapters are published on

As he passed over warriors who had been cut off or pressed in their attack, the ground engulfed them before harmlessly passing over them, leaving them drenched in a thin layer of sand and terminated nanites.

***

USD: 5 days since Ertan Fleet surrender and clearing of the orbitals.

Location: Meltisar, SRS Iron Horse, Captains Quarters

Alex sat at her desk, staring at the screen. The room was quiet, the only sound the soft hum of the ships systems tickling her ears. She was supposed to be sleeping, but she hadnt been able to sleep for more than a few hours at a time since the battle.

Theas report had been a shock. Elis had been injured, and the 6th Fleet had been decimated. The Ertan had been defeated, but at a heavy cost. The 1st Fleet had been victorious, but only after shed put the smart munitions forward and used them.

Shed been forced to use them.

Nearly an entire week of rescue operations and repairs had passed. It had provided plenty of time for her to think about what had happened.

On the Aegis, she had run rescue operations from the bridge. Shed volunteered to pilot a rescue shuttle, since there had been a shortage of pilots But Nameless objections and Admiral Parks decline of her request had nixed that idea in the bud.

It wasnt like they had been wrong; she wasnt just a regular Ensign...

Ugh, Alex groaned, rubbing her eyes just to stand up and fall into her bed. It was a comfortable bed, unlike the bunks on the Aegis. There really had been no expense spared in retrofitting the Iron Horse.

The Aegis was unlikely to return to Meltisar for a while, being required out-system to coordinate the Fleets recovery efforts. Fleet Admiral Wilkes and Tia had sent the modified and updated destroyer to fetch her from the front.

Thrakers broadcast had been a shock, and now her personal warship was without a Captain, although Commander Talbot had run the ship effectively.

Okay, she was technically the captain. But the amount of hats she was wearing was already starting to be ridiculous, and she had simply told Talbot to keep on running things like he had been since Thraker left command.

Then holed up in her quarters.

The flight time from the Aegis back to Meltisar was effectively over a day off from work. It felt like a week wouldnt have been enough, and she hadnt used the single day properly.

Pouring over reports, trying to find something that would make her feel better about the situation... she had found nothing.

Nameless has been completely silent, other than a few status updates or reports on the ship, and that made her feel worried.

Normally he had at least something to say about her actions or behavior, but he had been silent since the battle... since theyd left Meltisar.

It felt like a vice of angst was pinching her chest and was shaking her to the core. Even after theyd survived...

She hugged her pillow. Theyd be back soon, and shed get to see Elis and the others.