Engineering Peace - Part 6

A swarm of camera drones and an array of powerful sensors worked together to send signals through the capsule control interface into Arrakh's nervous system while he floated, immersed in viscous pod-fluid. His brain translated those impulses into a star-spangled panorama obscured by a nebula glowing a deep crimson in the near infrared spectrum.

He had chosen a wavering passage further into the Anoikis cluster as his central focus point in that stellar vista. His mace-shaped Sleipnir-class command ship rested motionless in space several kilometers off the cosmic gateway, flanked by a number of Loki hulls looking like squat insects in their chosen configuration.

Without warning, the wormhole before the group of ships shivered and flared. A moment later the gravitational tunnel collapsed in on itself and a long barge-shaped behemoth materialized in it's stead. The two-pronged bow of the gigantic Archon carrier reflected in the solar panels arrayed like a transparent fringe around the bulky front of Arrakh's ship as the commander addressed his fleet.

'Scouts, scan for a new exit.' he ordered lazily. 'Far Squad, report.' his simulated voice demanded more briskly then.

'This is Far Squad one.' came the reply 'The Yanissary fleet has jumped through it's vanguard. Their main body is now approaching the wormhole.'

'I want you to swing around that wormhole and jump through with them.' Arrakh commanded.

'But commander, we will end up in the middle of their fleet on the other side.' the commanding officer of Far Squad replied with fearful disbelief.

'Then pray that they have control of the other side and do not decloak you before they warp off.' Arrakh barked back, anger turning his deep voice into a menacing growl.

He knew it was a gamble, but his instincts told him that the Yanissaries will move quickly once they crossed over. If they had encountered any resistance they would not commit their full force immediately but bring in smaller and faster fighting ships into the battle first. Their vanguard had just jumped moments earlier after destroying an Awakened Industries spotter ship. The Matari fleet commander assumed that they must have cleared the other side. According to what he knew about commodore Sivaata, that man will want to move quickly and gain a strategic position where he can attack with the element of surprise before his opponents could form up for a concerted defense. 'He has caught you unprepared Cedrien.' Arrakh thought. 'But help is coming.'

'Far Squad, you have your orders. I want eyes on whatever happens over there and full reports.' Arrakh closed the channel. Then he addressed the main body of his forces who were with him in a wormhole system many lightyears away from the squadron of scout ships and their precarious position. 'As for the rest of you, keep scanning and collapsing. Find me an exit into that system.'

'Help is coming Cedrien, and this time you wont be able to send me packing with smug thanks. This time your fate will be in my hands.' The Matari thought, and the faint echo of a smile appeared on his full lips. An echo of the amusement he felt appearing on his otherwise unmoving face as his body floated in the capsule.

***

'We are under attack.' Cedrien's synthesized voice sounded over the fleet channel. 'Support wing, warp back to station. Tower ops, man the defenses.' He transmitted on a full spectrum broadwave that would be received all across the system. Immediately the swarm of interceptors that had helped to keep the Awakened Preserver drone immobilized veered away. One by one they vanished into the distance at warp speed.

'Torstan, we must stop the procedure. Now!' he transmitted to the bridge of Alira's ship where the Sebiestor scientist was busy adjusting variables, optimizing performance figures and compensating for system overloads as the ships computer systems strained to decrypt and manipulate the workings of that ancient synthetic intelligence they had ensnared.

Without stopping with his frenetic activities the old man shook his head at the disembodied voice uttering from the speaker system. 'Impossible!' he shouted back. 'If we stop now the subject's control systems could be irreparably damaged and we might even lose them completely.'

In their capsules, the two women, whom Hegomir Torstan had just called mere subjects, writhed and strained as nanites manipulated their neural interfaces under the influence of alien programming. So far Hegomir had not been able to create a full link with the Sleeper vessel's higher functions, but it's repair systems had been activated and were now reconfiguring the swarms of microscopic maintenance bots of the two capsuleer ships. Confused by the simplicity of the unfamiliar miniature machines, and at the same time confounded by the presence of organic matter intertwined with more familiar artificial parts, the Awakened Preserver's machine brain tried to cope, and failed repeatedly.

Hegomir looked over the various holographic readouts projected all around him and wiped sweat off his wrinkled brow. 'Maybe this confusion presents an opening.' he thought, and felt how he became light-headed like he usually did under high pressure. Possibilities raced through his mind as he processed the information coming from various sources. Somewhere on the fringes of his awareness he heard the voice of the Gallente commander.

'If we do not leave now we will all be lost.' the man's voice screamed from speakers far, far away in the shadowy recesses of the small ship's bridge which Hegomir had all but put out of his mind. His long thin fingers flew over keys and his eyes darted between glowing holograms and neocom displays. Some part of his over-strained consciousness found the capacity to speak.

'Leave! Fight your battle! I will fight mine here.' he shouted back and then he lost himself completely in the storm of numbers, equations and data models.

He knew he would only have seconds. Within moments the capsuleers out there would disengage. If he failed, that relentless machine out there would be free to obliterate the two small defenseless vessels flanking it. Hegomir did not even lose a thought about his own life, or that of the two capsuleer women whose fate was tied to his now. All he was focused on was the problem at hand. He had to link that inhuman mind with the brains of those two female pilots. To him they were not a manifest machine and two human beings, but a blur of higher mathematics. Problems to be solved, equations to be balanced, data to be processed.

With one last flurry of entries he gave it his last and best. Then he straightened up and looked outside through the bridge's tinted windows. The capsuleers of Awakened Industries had left to defend their home against an unknown invading force. Hegomir was alone with the two capsuleer women in their exploration vessels and the Awakened Preserver.

With a sudden serenity he realized that the menacing, dark Sleeper drone floating out there might be among the last things he will see in his life.

***

Commodore Sivaata stood in the centre on the bridge of his Archon-class command carrier and stared into the streaming vortex of the warp tunnel outside. With hands clasped behind his back and his square jaw thrust deftly forward, he looked like the unmoving statue of a military hero on the main square of a Caldari city rather than a man jumping with his ship into a fight. Calmly he reflected about his last experience with Cedrien Roucellis and his forces. The younger Gallente commander had fought with desperate cunning supported by sound tactical thinking. His capsuleers were powerful and highly skilled even when compared to others of their kind. Certainly they were superiour to any pod-pilot under his command since he lost his most capable capsuleers in the multiple traps of the last engagement.

Sivaata was not a man who dwelt on thoughts of revenge. His sober Caldari business sense prevented that. But retribution. Yes, that he would consider. A cold military concept implying the strategic crippling of the enemy's strength after suffering a loss. Evening out the odds. Restoring the balance of power.

The situation was favourable. They had encountered only one spotter ship that was quickly dispatched. The immediate scan of the system showed that there were no ships visible close-by, and the vanguard had quickly found that a group of ships was gathered at a far-off site. Roucellis and his capsuleers with certainty. One of Awakened Industry's space stations was within range of their scanners, and Commodore Sivaata had chosen that structure as their first target. He had the initiative, and he was intent on keeping that advantage for as long as he could. Moving forward while captain Roucellis was unprepared.

'Commodore.' the communication officer demanded his attention. Sivaata turned towards the young man and leveled his gaze at him. 'Report.' he replied curtly.

'Commodore, sir. One of our rear guard reports a ship's signature appearing just as they entered warp, sir.' the officer said.

'Was it an Awakened Industries signature?' Sivaata inquired.

'Negative, sir.' the young officer made a face. 'But they could not get a lock on their actual ID. They were already entering warp.'

Sivaata waved the man's report away with a brisk gesture. 'Probably the stray scout of some other wormhole dwelling bunch of outcasts.' he said. 'We left that wormhole on the verge of collapse. Nothing can follow us that would add any challenge.'

'Yes sir.' the young officer concurred.