Life2.0 - An "Of Unity" Narrative (Completed)

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 1"
2942, 10, a.d. Nonas Octobribus (24th Daas, 10)
Appia Flavonius​

I wince as I stand. Stomach still hurts.

Around me, some in person but most via virtual links, are the combined military leadership of MSI and Life2.0.

I look at each of them. "So, for MSI officers, you may review your existing plans regarding the Gateway, and when the second part of this meeting begins we will discuss the tweaks to the plans we will make under the differences we have, as well as how to adjust the plan given our enemy are our own Praetorians. Firstly however, we'll go over it for our Life2.0 allies."

The view switches to a tactical overlay of our home system. "Here you can see the present positions of everything of note in the system. Note that the Gateway is equidistant between two hyperlanes, orbited by several Asteroid Artillery Platforms, and on the opposite side of the system from Brigantia at this time of year."

Snyc to next view. "We Olinbari planned for the situation where someone would be attempting an attack on the Gateway, obviously. Several Asteroid Artillery Platforms have been positioned to protect it, and once we get past them, we still have a legion of Praetorians to get through in fighting down to the Gateway control room. It will not be easy, as those platforms are benchmarked against assault from Prikki Attack Moons." I shrug. "They are the most likely attacker to be truly worried about."

I wait for the schematics to appear on view. "The good news is that being optimised for blasting massive stuff from the other side of the system is that they don't have the weapon selection to deal with a large fleet coming in from extremely close range; the expectation was having days to weeks to blast smaller things than moons, and that would get the job done. In any event, our combat planning for close combat at the Gateway assumed our fleet would be supporting, which means if we get there before Septima, our odds are good - they lack a fleet that could match us."

I cycle through the pre-existing plans, giving everyone time to take them on board. "We also made plans for what to do if the Gateway was captured, and therefore to recapture it. These plans rely on using our remote access control codes to direct the engagement in a desired way, and in this situation, we would shut the lot down."

I look at the room again. "Circumstances of course, change a lot of the underlying assumptions to these plans, which leads us neatly to the second part of this meeting."

Naomi raises her hand. "I see the plans for dealing with captured Asteroid Artillery involve using reinforced asteroids as bulk shields to cover the approach. Could we use them as a diversion?" She nods to Tunkuni. "Obviously, we are using Amothetet's passage to get to the Gateway, but there are advantages to making them think we're using a conventional attack."

"Well... In my view, the main reason not to use them is they'd take too long. Amothetet can get us there as soon as my nephew and your daughter get back."

She smiles. "I know. I was going to suggest launching them now, in advance of when we leave. We both know their lead time is Tsai Seong-Gye's workmanship on making them matching suits."

I smile. "And engaging in 'horizontal diplomacy'." Everyone else is looking at us awkwardly. "It's an in-joke between us."

A Xenaya wearing goggles, a headset and various sensors raises a hand. "These codes sound very useful. How sure are we that they'll not be countered?"

I nod. "The enemy is extremely familiar with these plans, and yes, they are very aware we have remote access codes to shut everything down and remotely disable any critical system and most non-critical systems. We locked them down as hard as we could, but the longer we leave them alone, the more chances of success they have in blocking them from working."

Buri looks at his companion. "Then we should move quickly, while we can stop at least some systems working."

The goggled one continues. "Yes. Have they been tried yet?"

Wami, that's his name. Been trying to remember. "Not yet."

Metius Eppius interjects. "From MSI's admiralty's perspective, we consider the codes of relatively little value to actually use in this case as we assume that they will counter them."

Naomi nods. "Yes, their value lies in distracting the enemy now."

Metius looks at her. "On behalf of the admiralty, there is a massive question to answer. We have considered your son's analysis, and it is a credible interpretation of the evidence he's gathered. If Septima brings a fleet of freighters filled with ten million Kyaese..." His eyes flicker to them. "...I can't see having to kill them to save Olinbari going down well."

Naomi nods to the Kyaese leader. "Their blood is on Septima's hands for using hostages in the first place. We've already accepted that realistically saving one percent of those on the freighters is probably the best outcome possible here." He looks at Naomi, then me. "We know we've only got one shot to save some Kyaese, which is intercepting the freighters at the Gateway - you guys can't risk freighters being used as mass drivers."

Metius bows his head. "I am hopeful it won't come to that."

Naomi's father looks around the table. "We all are."

I look at him. "Got a pep-talk in there?"

He laughs. "What we do here today is put action on a bold and new step into a brighter and better future. We must remember that Brigantia is home to dozens of races, not just Olinbari." Then looks at his daughter, and me. "Future generations will look back at this point in our history, and remember this time is when everything changed. Let's be the example we want them to have."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"What Mothers Fear"
24th Daas, 10 (2189)
Buri Of Unity​

My wife rolls off me, and smiles contently, her warm eyes shining bright. Yet... There is a little fear in her eyes. I nuzzle her. I love you, Naomi.

I love you, Buri.

Now I've sated you, I think we should talk about Septima.

She nuzzles me back. What's on your mind?

I've been thinking this all over, and I'm wondering if we're making a mistake. Surely Septima cannot miss that us attacking her is inevitable, right?

She nods. Right.

And she has to convert her economy to suit a war, which we know she hasn't yet done.

She nods. Appia's data would show it if she was already at a war footing, and Skrand's Kyaese agents would have reported being attacked by dedicated warships rather than tweaked freighters.

Exactly. The Kyaese are obviously being used in a misdirection, but if you were her, where would you want that fight to take place? My take is she wants us to attack the Gateway so that she can ambush us. Or get us out of a defensive position above Brigantia. Or maybe she's waiting on the far side of the Gateway to ambush us in transit.

She frowns. All possible.

And she has to know that we'd move to attack... How can she take advantage of that?

Her head tilts. Ok... So, MSI constantly scan for cloaked ships, it is part of why we found Septima has gotten a cloaked ship to collect Monica and the rest of them. I presume MSI's navy are able to find and intercept her ships if they are this side of the Gateway, which means they must be on the other Hyperlanes. But again, MSI would be aware of them, as communications travel much quicker than ships, and sensor platforms are extremely cheap and diffused everywhere. So... Unless they are already docked to Brigantia's Orbital Ring, they aren't going to be in range any time soon. And security on the Orbital Ring is extremely effective and well trained in taking down plots. So, I don't think she is going to be already in the system.

So she is waiting for us.

Maybe... If only we could contact our Kyaese allies on the other side more often, we could ask them to check. But...

I know, we can't ask them to reveal themselves.

She sighs. Especially when she's cracking down on them. No... We have to seize the Gateway, then cautiously see what's on the other side.

I think about what awaits us. What exactly are Praetorians? At a biological level. What makes them special?

She pauses. Well... There's conflicting theories that I've heard. But Cibbav has been running some tests on Praetorian bodies recovered after the battle with Gnaea's fleet in an effort to better understand what we are facing, and there's some really quite intriguing data in what she found as various Praetorians show really quite extreme differences beneath the skin.

How extreme?

She calls to mind Cibbav's analysis. As in, some Praetorians show substantial surgical and cybernetic enhancements on a base Olinbari genome. Other Praetorians are a deviation of genetic engineering specifically enhanced for super-soldier capability.

How much of a deviation?

They've been spliced with alien lifeforms way beyond the standard tweaks Olinbari got to make them different to Humans. To the point of being incompatible with normal Olinbari. She's fairly sure they have some radiation compensating organ that's taken from a radiotrophic plantoid race, for example.

I watch her move to fetch her pad. Feel her warmth as she nestles on my chest. Been working on a few ideas?

She smiles. Buri, I've been studying Olinbari all my life. She leans back thoughtfully. I have a great view here. And well... I'm really quite looking forward to once this is all dealt with and things settle into peace. At least, for a little while.

There is the fear again. I pull her close. What are you planning for after the war? Another one?

She shows me the tablet. Not my planning... This map is something Grepp gave to me. It shows where all the Pre-FTLs within this region of space are, what technological level they are at, and his progress in shaping them towards Xenophile ethics. She sighs. Grepp has made me an offer I can't refuse.

Oh no. I take a deep breath. "Why? What? How bad?"

She sighs again. "Grepp and Ossuhphuhr have been scheming together. They've decided to bring their respective nations to the negotiating table to try to get a truce which buys our merged MSI-Life2.0 state time to establish ourselves. Then Grepp will back Ossuhphuhr in trying to take the Celestial Throne from the Uqathre dynasty, and coronate a new Zhao dynasty."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Off-World Excursion, Part 7"
25th Daas, 10 (2189)
Scipio Of Unity​

She steps out from the changing room. "Does this make my bum look big?"

My eyes see nothing else but her as she twirls. Gosh, she's volumptous. "Yes, and I love it."

Her eyes run over me. "I'm liking you in armour too." She smiles. "My eyes are up here, Scipio."

I try to resist the temptations.

But I can't.

My eyes rove over her armoured body, my mind undressing her as I'm captivated by the thoughts of her fur, just as dark as her armour.

She licks me as she hugs me. "Scipio, you have to control this. We can't have you going into battle wanting me sexually."

I laugh. "Yes."

She steps away.

Draws her new sword. "Scipio, I want to have a little practice together, so that we can better understand each other." She sighs. "After all, if we are going up against Praetorians, we have to be prepared."

I nod.

Draw my own sword. Our blades are composed of strands of neutronium as a central core and a sliver of a neutronium cutting edge, surrounded by graphene electrical conductors for stun coils and nanotube reinforcement to give the wisp-thin blade the ability to withstand the forces when swung; even with just filaments of neutronium and a blade thickness barely a hair width it masses not far off as much as several Olinbari. Without the zero point reactors in the suit, I'm not sure I could lift it, but with them I show off a few flicks.

Then she does too.

Her form is...

Suddenly I don't want to fight her. Unlike me, she is actually strong enough to lift her sword without assistance, and with it she demonstrates exactly why Appia warned me.

She can flick between any of the Olinbari dueling forms at will, plus several Human forms that I haven't seen personally but have read about, and then she cycles through the Xenayan ones her mother and father have been developing that blend their brute strength with a surgeon's precision. And of course, the sheer size of her means her armour has more volume to put reactors and exomuscles in, making hers even better.

Even armoured in the best Energy Credits can buy, I still think she could cut me in half.

I gulp, but bravely take position.

We activate our helmets.

Switch to a private channel. "That was scarily impressive."

She laughs. I have to turn the volume down. "Mum and Titus Marius taught me well." Her sword points at me. "Husband, if you manage to land a strike on me, you can have sex with me."

I laugh. Suitably motivated, I launch my attack.

I can't beat her on strength, but I can on agility.

We both have integrated thrusters, but hers are inevitably less effective than mine because she's best part of two tonnes with the neutronium filament reinforcement in her suit. I can jump clear of her reach and flip around her, but I'll probably only get away with it once...

The trouble is, she's figuring it out too. She's adopted a guarding poise, and parries my strikes, circling around and never letting me get her out of position.

I'm getting desperate...

I try the flip.

She catches my heel, and I crash hard.

Roll onto my back.

Her sword rests on my chest, signifying that I'd be impaled if she wasn't sparing me. We deactivate our helmets; I've lost.

She smiles. "That was fun."

I do too. "At least I know I don't have to worry about you in a fight."

She puts down her sword, laying it next to mine. "I think you need more practice."

"Yes..."

"We will." She licks me. "But first... I'm going to take my prize."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 2"
27th Daas, 10 (2189)
The Holocron​

My corporeal representation walks across the bridge. Dozens of Neumanns are standing by. Tens of thousands more across the ship. Hundreds of thousands across the fleet.

It's been a long way since I experienced the world as a display module and a portable disc drive.

Long way to go still.

I look at them all. "Signal the fleet."

A Neumann nods to say I am live.

"My friends, this is the Holocron." Amothetet opens her portal. "On the other side of that swirling purple thing, ladies and gentlemen, is freedom. Before we get there however, we have to get through Praetorian hell and Septima's xenocide. Make no mistake; we do not fight for glory, or lust, or riches or fame, but for liberty. In the cause of liberty, blood has always been shed, for only bloody uprising is the bane of tyrants. Today's tyrant has a name; Septima Severus. A woman for whom trillions of Kyaese lived to twenty so that she can live to two hundred, their blood buying her life extension. Think of them for a moment. We fight for them. And we will rage for them. Our fire burns for a greater world than the one we entered. Our fire burns for a world where there is no more slavery, no more use of sapient beings as livestock. Let your rage burn bright, for now is the hour; now for wrath, now for the shattering of empire! All limbs, battlestations."

I look straight at the helmsman.

I could do this myself.

But the saying has more impact.

I draw Tzarah, my sword. "All ahead, full."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 3"
27th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

I feel sick.

Oh God do I feel sick.

We're through Amothetet's passage, and straight into enemy fire; they are focusing on the Holocron's Titan, as it went through minutes before us.

They didn't even reply to Naomi's offer. She'll try again once the asteroids are out of action.

The asteroids...

I look at the battle on my display. Focus the view on a platform.

The primary weapons are immense. Armoured superconducting railguns a hundred kilometres long. A hundred! Near-enough lightspeed cannons... They stick out, making the structures forboding spikes of doom on menacing orbs. Thankfully, Amothetet put us out of their cone of fire. But they are spinning around to face us...

And there's nothing we can do about them - they were designed to face Prikki Attack Moons - only evade and get the asteroids captured in boarding actions. That's where we come in, the Holocron's forces are on capturing Gateway control as that's where the Praetorians are; we'll be facing Sirzuzians, Auxilia XII.

The secondaries are firing though; gamma ray lasers. They can tear through ships.

The Holocron is firing casabas at them. A Titan's Perdition Beam takes hours to charge it's capacitors. Those megaton lances fire that every few seconds...

Naomi's voice comes through. "Thirty seconds ladies. This is your last abort chance - anyone who doesn't want to do this, please say so now."

I wait. Heart is pounding.

I think of the pistol on my inner thigh. It reminds me why I'm doing this.

Ok, Sirzuzians aren't what I had in mind... They're the only race other than Olinbari trusted with military roles thanks to them being Servile and Zealous Defenders. Naomi would love to fix the first, but she hasn't managed yet with the ones on Unity. They'll be riled up into a frenzy when we land.

But they are a a symptom of the problem that MSI has made. There's nothing we can do for these Sirzuzians, but we can help other Sirzuzians in the future.

"Fifteen seconds ladies. Check your systems, breathe, and then follow me in."

I switch off the display.

Feel the cold metal encasing me.

Feel the whine as the capacitors charge. Rocket motor runs pre-ignition sequence.

Heart pounding. Done this a dozen times in the sim and it still goes crazy every time...

"Five seconds ladies. No matter what happens, I love you all."

Three.

Two.

One.

Her voice again. "Let fall the rain."

I black out.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 4"
27th Daas, 10 (2189)
Scipio Of Unity​

I take my wife's hand as we watch her Mum and Dad streak out first, a blazing stream lighting them and the Scarlets up against the void of the Gateway.

She checks her parents' rockets first.

She's tense.

I squeeze her hand. "Your Mum and Dad are the toughest people I know. They'll be ok."

She licks me. "When I was very little, learning to walk, Mum taught me, like any Human mother would."

I nod. "I'm guessing it's harder for Human children than Xenayan children."

"Yes, but that's not the point. No, a normal Human mother will pick up their child when they fall. Mum didn't."

Oh. "Why?"

She sighs. "Because I wouldn't always have her to pick me up. That I needed that inner strength of will to keep going, to rise each time I fall." She stands. Worry creases her face. "She's always been in favour of a individually-focused management methodology as a means of safeguarding against her assassination. And it influenced how she raised me and Ruki."

"The whole 'growing up afraid of MSI' thing?"

She nods. Then opens her mouth. "I had these sharpened for a while, as part of processing it all."

I look at the blips on the display. "Why did your parents deploy first?"

"Old Yehoshua HaMaadimi was a reader of Heinlein. And one of the things that stuck with him most was that in a drop, officers go first."

I think about the Holocron. "Is that why the Holocron sent his ship first?"

"And why he will be first in against the Praetorians."

"it's risky."

"War always is."

"No, I mean, you could lose your command staff in one sweep."

She shrugs. "Mum believes that anyone can do what she does, and she defined Life2.0's professional military. It was always designed to produce autonomous officers who could be deployed without backup onto hostile territory and establish a new rebellion movement from the local Indentured Assets."

I pause. "You'd have to put a huge amount of training into each soldier, if all of them are in effect officers."

"Yep. And?"

I think about MSI's navy. "We'd have the command decisions made by a well-fortified central group within a Flagship."

She turns towards me. "You have the same issue then, what happens if it gets hit in your scenario?"

"Passes to the reserves in other sections of the Flagship, and if they are all compromised, then to a cloaked emergency retreat vessel that exists to attempt to organise whatever rout happened if we lost so many command groups. But we'd always maintain a central command structure. But you guys... You could end up with an Ensign taking an Admiral's post and giving orders to Captains."

"Yeah, we could. Possibly other Admirals even, if the Ensign was on Valerius' staff; he's the closest to a central commander we use. Mum's Human. They have a very long history of warfare, not mere tribal scuffles like the conflicts among Xenaya, but proper full-on wars involving the whole Earth several times over. And on Earth, they've actually had that kind of situation, which means it is something Mum briefs on." She pauses to check on the others again.

I look over her shoulder.

Pips are getting close to the nearest asteroid.

I lick her. "It'll be ok."

She doesn't answer.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 5"
27th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

I bang my head on my suit when the adrenaline kicks in.

I feel horrible.

But, I've made it...

My rocket opens to let me out. Part one is done, move to part two. A ping on my HUD tells me where Naomi is.

My ears stop ringing long enough to hear her. "Ladies, landing site is compromised, Sirzuzian mixed infantry, no Olinbari sighted yet." Five pings appear, different sized. "Pick your nearest ping and get to it."

I hit up a hypo to sort out some of my issues, then load out.

I've landed with two other girls, and I'm first up... I take point.

We've smashed through hole punched by a casaba, we're a good thirty metres in. It's all going to be open space until we breach a door.

Naomi demonstrated what happens when you do; the other two ladies magnetise to a wall while I place remote detonators on a door leading to the nearest ping. Or at least, I think it does... Head is wozy. Another hypo.

Get clear. Boom - door goes bang, and with it the atmosphere on the other side undergoes explosive decompression, blowing out the contents. As soon as the debris comes through, we sprint. I try not to see the bodies among that debris.

I follow Naomi's advice and ground myself. The magnets are strongest on the ankles, so that you run by pushing hard on your toes and kind of lifting off - artificial gravity is off here.

The next room has some very confused Sirzuzians. Me and the girls - my HUD is saying Sarah and Yvonne - lay down supressing fire. Our rifles are in a burst fire mode, four bullets a trigger pull. HUD gives you an estimate direction.

So... At least those slaves don't get drawn out deaths.

I'm not sure what feels more horrible right now, my body or my heart...

Must keep moving. Self-reflection is a luxury on a battlefield.

Gravity comes back, and the doors start working. On one side that's good, but the other is the Sirzuzians can fight much more comfortably, But they aren't really equipped for facing against the Praetorian-spec gear we're using, and especially not my suit with it's extra tricks.

It does get easier when they are fighting back, it just becomes you or them, and well...

You can't let it be you, and we outgun and out-armour them.

Tears are flowing down my face... These poor Sirzuzians, they didn't deserve this. How many of them have loved ones they were hoping to go home to?

Just like me...

They woke up today, and their world shattered because their masters are basically just in our way, and they are too cowardly to face us themselves.

One gets within three metres of me as I turn a corridor. I watch his eyes go blank as his blood seeps from four holes in his chest.

Eventually, we get to the nearest ping - it's Naomi and Buri. You can tell it's them, one stands ten feet tall in armour, and the other is blood-red with a wolf's helm. Naomi looks at me, and taps her head. I stand. I don't know what she means, so she looks at Sarah, who holds me.

I realise the issue - I've lost suit internal audio, and I change to the reserve feed.

Naomi waits for me to stand again. "Elizabeth, can you hear me now?"

"Yes, I've lost primary audio feed in here."

"I see. Ok, you follow me. Scarlet One to all - we have our beachheads, and we are now going to complete our tasks. Team one you are going with me and Buri into the command bunker. Team two you are going with Clarissa and Tina to reactor cores, team three you are going to momentum ring operations with Lydia. Team four you are going to primary batteries with Nefertiri, and team five you are going to astrometrics with Sophia. Let's move Ladies."

She and Buri take point as we head deeper in. Now that we've breached the hull, we can get sensor data from inside the platform, and as we move I review it.

This asteroid is roughly a hundred km wide. But, very little excavated; the bulk of the surface facilities are equatorial, while the innermost core that contains the control room relies on the bulk mass of asteroid to absorb weapons fire. For us it means it is the bit most likely to contain Praetorians. Which is why we get Naomi and Buri... The next most likely spot is the reactors, which is why that team gets the other long-time Scarlets.

Either way, we've got the longest journey, and that means more Sirzuzians.

They are everywhere.

Literally, being Avians they come from all over the place...

Thankfully for us, they prioritise Buri, as he's the biggest threat. Which is logical, but such a mistake - he rips them to pieces. Literally... One poor Sirzuzian gets bitten in half after he jumps at Naomi.

Hours pass of descending through an access tube, room by room, mopping up completely outclassed Sirzuzians.

I breathe in. "Naomi, I'm getting suspicious here."

"What do you think Elizabeth?"

"Are they really just going to waste the Sirzuzians like this? What's their plan here?"

She thinks for a moment. Switches channel. "Ladies, report status - tiredness and ammo."

I check. I feel tired. And I'm a little low on ammo. Hit another hypo to get myself up again.

From the reports of the other women... I'm not alone. It hits so differently in the real world than it does in the sim.

Naomi pauses. Looks at her husband. They're talking. "Ok Ladies, we have to condense ammo, we are hours from resupply. Volunteers for melee?"

She is the first. Eventually, I volunteer too. Not many others do, but eventually we have a group of us on the flanks and rearguard with these Praetorian neutronium filament swords out, plus Naomi and Buri upfront.

I feel naked without my rifle, now I have to engage hand to hand.

I wet myself at the next engagement as two Sirzuzians fly at my head.

Sure, both attacks bounce uselessly, but that was scary.

After another hour, us girls using our swords rises to more than half. Naomi orders the ones with ammo to hold it for Praetorians, especially explosives.

The tunnels down are really easy though - switch the zero point reactors into open-cycle ramjet mode, and blast down the tunnels off the waste heat. We go too fast for the Sirzuzians to intercept.

The core...

Naomi halts us. Looks at each of us. "Ok ladies. If it is going to go wrong, it'll go wrong now. Intel says inside this structure is more Sirzuzians, but equally, the intel is old information. Two, three, four and five have achieved their objectives, and they are acting as a relay between me and overall leadership. Whoever is inside, knows we are about to knock. Buri and I will go first." She looks at each of us, as Buri stands with her. "If there are Praetorians, we will engage them in melee. If we can't beat them, we will at least buy time for you to detonate everything you have left at them. Irrespective of Buri and I, you must take them down. Full danger close. Am I understood?"

We all look at each other.

My heart is pounding.

I don't want her to be right.

But...

She kind of is.

I think of an alternative. "Why not wait for backup? We're down on ammo, we could use support. We have time."

She shakes her head. "Team four has discovered the primary batteries have been re-routed to be operated off the reserves inside here. They won't have the firing rate they had before team two disabled the reactors of course, but those primary batteries are still online."

I nod. "Ok."

Naomi plants the breaching explosives.

Those with guns take positions.

Breathe.

We breach.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 6"
27th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

How am I feeling?

Sick. Honestly I am wishing I was back in Appia's bedroom right now, making love with her. I was safe when I was her sex toy, and freedom terrifies me. Because freedom...

Freedom means I'm holding plasma grenades to throw just as the smoke clears from the breach and Buri's roar is loud enough I feel it through my armour, and...

Force myself to focus.

We hold a line for dealing with charging Sirzuzians that come past Buri and Naomi.

But none of them get that far...

They were lined up as a sacrificial set of dummies, and Buri's sweeping blows fling dozens into the air at a time; he routs them. We just stand and watch the carnage of an apex predator obliterating prey.

But they aren't the target.

There's the Praetorians, who are all standing guard at a door. Ten of them.

Think.

I look at the other girls. "Volley! They need support to close the distance!"

Girls with guns start firing at the Praetorians, just as they recover from watching the savagery of Buri's assault; Naomi gets one with her guns, and we ruin their formation with our fire. Buri's timing is perfect - he leaps across the room, and uses three Praetorians to break his fall just as they recover from the explosions.

We hear their armour smash, and they don't get up.

Naomi dances with two, a sword in each hand.

Sheesh, these Praetorians are fast; its a blur trying to keep up with the speed that they and Naomi can fight at. We stop firing because by the time we have a target, Naomi or Buri have already changed positions... No wonder Naomi said to use explosives.

They run from Buri now, they've figured out how deadly he is in a brawl; walls, floor, roof, he uses very heavy impacts to do brute force trauma. No slicing or thrusting, just smashing.

We aren't firing out of fear of hitting Naomi and Buri. I look at the girls with rocket launchers. "Girls, we can use the rockets to deny them areas of the floor and keep them confined into the area where Naomi and Buri are."

Everyone agrees that's a great idea, and we start firing again, those of us with grenades advance close enough to throw them, setting plasma fires to deny them escape.

Naomi is fighting them conventionally, and they realise she's the weaker of the two, but Buri...

Focus on Naomi, and Buri gets you. One of them isn't fast enough - Buri throws him by the leg, and he goes head first into a wall. He doesn't get up either.

They are perfectly in tune, which cannot be said for the Praetorians. I realise Naomi isn't fighting them. Nope, she's positioning them for Buri to whack.

The last two lay down their weapons.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 7"
27th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

Naomi rounds on the two who surrender when they deactivate their helmets. "Here's the options. Help us, and you have a full pardon and restoration of position courtesy of Appia Flavonius. If you refuse, you'll be taken as prisoners of war pending a trial as rebels. Say you'll help and then turn on us, and my husband will eat you."

They confer, casting glances at Buri as he places his hands on Naomi's hips. He retracts his helmet, showing his blood-stained sabres and teeth. He smiles. "Can't guarantee I wouldn't eat you alive either."

One of them speaks up. "Is that it? Help you, and there is no consequences?"

Naomi nods. "My war is with Septima. You guys just picked the wrong side. But you join us, and Appia will forgive that little episode. Or don't, and take your chances on a court martial."

They look at each other. The other one steps forward. "I am Sergius Tanicius, evocatus of the Praetorian Guard. I will be taken as a prisoner."

The first one looks at him. "Fool. Appia will execute you."

Sergius looks at him. "Honourless dog."

"But a live one. You won't be." he turns to Naomi. "I am Ocipter Falcidius, evocatus of the Praetorian Guard. I accept your offer."

Sergius starts at him. "Traitor!"

He stops when Buri takes one step. Buri yawns. "Sergius, are you going to come nicely, or am I going to have to break your arms and legs and drag you?"

Sergius pauses. Then spits at Ocipter, before stepping back from Buri - he raises his arm, a rifle flying to his hand.

Naomi's sword runs him through the chest, and she twists. Sergius goes down. "Don't threaten my husband." She turns to Ocipter. "Let's get started. I want control of the primary batteries."

Ocipter nods, and leads her to one of the various command consoles on an overlooking balcony. "Here."

"Communications?"

Ocipter points. "This one."

Naomi puts out a broadcast to inform the fleet of their success.

Ocipter comes to me. "You were one of Appia's."

"Yes. She owned me for fourteen years."

He looks around, now others are deactivating their helmets. "All women?"

"And all ex-Companionship Assets. Except Buri obviously, he's Naomi's husband."

Ocipter looks at Naomi with a double take. "That's Naomi? I thought she was Human?"

"She was. Then she got a little upgraded."

He stays looking at her. "Clearly things have changed..."

"Yes. Appia is a genuine reformer now."

His eyes flash. "What Naomi said about helping you and getting a full pardon; is it real?"

"Yes. I know it might be hard to believe, but Naomi convinced Appia to do it; our fight is with Septima, not you."

He leaves, to talk to Naomi.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Ad Praetoria"
2942, 10, 3 a.d. Idus Octobribus (27th Daas, 10)
Ocipter Falcidius​

I wait for her to speak to me rather than interrupt. It takes a while, with the battle ongoing, but eventually she makes time.

Until then, I observe.

"Now Ocipter Falcidius. First of all, you and I both know Septima would realise the strategic value in having some Praetorians surrender rather than fight to the death, and that she would work out Life2.0 would propose mercy for Praetorians as a means of ending that fight more quickly. It therefore follows that I have to assume there's a reasonable chance that you are continuing to work for her by an alternative means."

I nod. "Rational."

"Ergo, why should I not just put you to the sword are prempt you becoming a problem?"

I look at her. "Because you intend to use me for testing Praetorians in the same way you tested other Olinbari. We are a sub-group that you have much less information on and experience with, and you want a benchmark to calibrate your approach to decide whether you agree with Appia's purging of the lineage."

She smiles. "Well done on working out my motives."

I smile. "So, you need me alive, and I have to convince you to restore the Praetorians. You have the technology to restore the lineage."

She tilts her head. "And what does restoring the lineage mean to you?"

I lean back. "In the most ancient times of Olinbari history, the Praetorians were extracted by the Minamari from Olinbari stock using nucleotide purification techniques and they modified the Praetorians into optimised soldiers that were engineered to reproduce through genome seeds that would be developed for batches of Praetorians, instead of the natural way. And over time the seeds ran out, and the lineage is now all but spent, with only a fraction of the Praetorian Guard being true Praetorians."

She looks at me. "And Appia has destroyed the facilities where Praetorians could be made."

"Yes. So, we true Praetorians are the last of our kind."

She thinks it through. "I can't make any promises regarding Appia. And I am on a matter of principle vetoing the development of soldier species and clone armies... The battledroids the Holocron is bringing are borderline."

"But you aren't vetoing the idea of bringing back the Praetorians?"

"No."

"Which means we have an arrangement that we can both work towards."

She looks at Sergius. "What of the other Praetorians?"

I shrug. "Tricky. Some will consider it a betrayal - mostly the natural Olinbari who worked their way into the Guard - some would object to the altering the lineage and would rather it died out than was soiled. That's where Sergius is, its why he wants a trial is so that he can orate against Gnaea's dilution of the Guard and Appia's destruction of the barracks. But others will accept it."

She considers it. "I can't make any promises until Septima is dealt with."

"Understandable."

"But, we will look into it."

"Deal."

She smiles. "Now, what can you tell me about the defences on the Gateway control orbital?"

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 8"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

With this platform secured, a garrison of Neumanns will take over from us. While we wait, Naomi gathers us together. "Ladies, cast your minds back to when we began training. We first gave you uniform in Diplomatic White, then you got to choose between Infantry Grey or Naval Blue. And I said then that eventually, we wear Command Crimson."

It seemed rather presumptious at the time...

She continues. "One of the tasks I set my section leaders ahead of our attack on this platform was to identify future officers. This operation was always going to be quite a 'throw you in at the deep end' approach. With that in mind, we knew there would be several outcomes from this first contact with the enemy. You could easily decide 'nope, I don't want to do this anymore'. I completely understand. There have been a few moments I would have preferred to have been different."

Some of the other Scarlets snigger. But only briefly. "If that's you, then I'll take this opportunity to say that you have fought through a baptism of fire, and each of you has earned an honourable discharge if you wish to take it; I only ask that you wait a little longer until we can debrief you properly. Some of you present had moments that your section leaders identified as being the beginnings of an officer. As such, I'm going to give the opportunity to accept field commissions to those candidates."

Naomi looks at me, then the others the section leaders have recommended. She looks at us.

Clarissa and Tina step forward. "Ansari, Ghodsi. Decker, Megan. Herminton, Elizabeth. Leifsdottir, Bjarnhildur, come forward."

I nervously step forward.

Naomi smiles at us, then removes her cape. "Miss Ansari, you are highly commended for successfully taking the lead in team four after your commander's suit suffered comms unit failure."

Then she turns to Megan, and passes Megan a pair of shoulder pads. "Miss Decker, Lydia singled you out for commendation thanks to your volunteering to lead an assault team against a fortified control bunker."

She comes to me. "Miss Herminton, for rallying and inspiring our people under the pressure of ongoing battle with Praetorians while I was engaging the enemy, I commend you." I get her bracelets.

I realise Bjarnhildur is missing fingers and a chunk of arm. "Miss Leifsdottir, for bravely leading a counter-charge while your commanding officer oversaw hacking the enemy's sensor systems despite armour technical issues, Sophia recommended you."

Bjarnhildur puts on Naomi's dragon helmet, and Naomi stands back from us. "Congratulations ladies. I hereby grant you the ranks of Probational Lieutenant, should you choose to accept it, and I relieve you of duties - as circumstances permit - to allow you to consider your decision. Command carries with it responsibilities and duties that must not be entered into lightly, and while it is my hope that you will rise to the challenge, there is no compulsion to do so."

I run my fingers over the adjusting straps of my crimson bracelets, and run the thought of Imperatrix Elizabeth Herminton through my mind.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Gateway Assault, Part 9"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

Appia makes herself look at my eyes. "I must confess Elizabeth, that red looks great on you."

I smile. "You always liked me in red."

"Guilty." She smiles. "So how are you? You've been promoted, obviously."

"Probational Lieutenant. When I'm ready I've got to talk to Naomi and confirm it."

"Well done." She looks down at her feet. "So... How was your first battle?"

"I... I kind of wet myelf in fear when I ran out of ammunition and had to fight hand to hand."

She frowns. "Against Sirzuzians?"

"They jumped me in an access tunnel. Aimed at my head."

She nods. "I understand. But your suit would have stopped them?"

"It did..." I sigh. "When we encountered Praetorians, I found myself wishing I was back with you."

Her eyebrows rise. "Oh?"

"I was safe when I was yours. And when you are facing Praetorians, you don't feel safe at all."

She takes a while to reply. "I'm sure Naomi wouldn't have let you go against them without someone more veteran..."

"Her and Buri went first. I was in her group."

Appia runs a hand over her stomach. "Are they ok? The last time Naomi fought Praetorians, they ran her through. Gnaea put a search and destroy order on her."

"Naomi positioned them, Buri played pinball."

She stifles a laugh. "I take it they are fine."

"Two Praetorians surrendered."

She smiles. "Good."

I rest my hands in my lap. "Appia, can I swear you to secrecy for a moment?"

Her eyes narrow as she flicks a UI segment on her display. "Yes."

I take a deep breath. "One of the Praetorians discussed reforming the unit with Naomi."

She stands , and walks around her room. Taps a finger on her right wrist. "Ah."

"I figured you'd be unhappy with it."

She faces me. "What did Naomi say?"

"She's willing to use Life2.0's tech to restore them, but not to reinstate them as a military unit."

Her shoulders relax. "I can live with that." She looks at me. "Did she say you could discuss it with me?"

I shrug. "She didn't say I couldn't."

She pauses. Sighs. "I won't bring it up. Hopefully she'd discuss it with me... Are things busy over there?"

"I'm in my quarters, and I'll be going to her to accept my promotion after our call. She's resupplying for the attack on Gateway control now the asteroids are secure."

She leans on a wall. "Could you suggest she talks it over with me?"

"I will." We spend a while looking at each other. I break the silence. "Appia, how do you feel about Imperatrix Elizabeth Herminton?"

She smiles as she can't help run her eyes over me. "I'd love to see you properly in crimson Elizabeth." She sighs. "But, it's up to you now."

I smile. "I'm going to go talk to Naomi."

She laughs sweetly. "Go for it, Imperatrix-to-be."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Septima Arrives, Part 1"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

"Rivkah, we have an issue." Scipio pulls me from my monitor.

The Gateway is active...

I look at him, then the rest of the crew aboard his corvette. "Sensors to maximum."

"On main viewer, Imperatrix."

I watch as Septima's fleet starts coming through the Gateway.

First ships through are mix and matched ships, purchased from the Salvagers. Mostly corvettes.

Then freighters. "I want sensor scans of those freighters, we need to know if there are Kyaese hostages on board."

Dozens of freighters.

Soon, there are at least a hundred freighters.

With escorts - dozens of small craft undock from the bulkheads and swam around, plinking away with small naval weapons bodged as spinal cannons.

"Imperatrix, we have visual confirmation."

I frown. "Visual?"

The Olinbari officer nods, and cycles the main view through various freighters.

The bridge falls silent.

Glass hulls.

Her freighters have glass hulls.

Or at least, some transparent material. Surprise turns to anger - the first reason for her to have transparent hulls is she wants to show off the live Kyaese within, packed in on top of each other.

They go feral with fear once they realise what's happening.

They really don't look well...

Healthy Kyaese have mainly black plumage, with streaks of reds, blues, yellows...

These Kyaese are mostly bald. And they peck each other.

Scipio is much paler.

I raise the fleet. "Juliet One to all - we have visual confirmation of Kyaese hostages."

"Imperatrix, enemy fleet dispatching a pre-recorded broadcast."

I look at him, as he puts it on the main viewer.

I take a deep breath.

An Olinbari woman sits on a throne of Kyaese skulls, her calloused and bony fingers tapping on a armrest of spines. A Human woman stands beside her.

Scipio prods me, while pointing at the Human. "Who's she?"

I scowl. "Monica."

Septima begins to speak. "Throughout history, Olinbari society has only prospered by utilising the talents of lesser races. The recklessness of the young sets aside the destiny of our people, leaving chaos and collapse in the wake of their poor leadership that has impoverished our great civilisation. It is time to correct this grave error, and excise it before the cancer spreads. I will not suffer our enlightened and majestic civilisation to rot any more. To those unwise Olinbari who have fallen for the schemes of a harlot I say this - wake up! For justice is coming, and I am the surgeon who must sever a limb to save the body."

She stares out from the screen.

Pausing.

She allows a brief relaxation. "And to those Indentured Assets who have forsaken their role in our society, I say this; that whore cannot save you. Overthrow her, and I will forgive your lapse in judgement in listening to her. Continue this charade however, and I will sweep you aside."

One last ship comes through the Gateway. An immense one. Scipio whistles. I look at him. "What is that?"

"She has a Fallen Empire Titan."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Septima Arrives, Part 2"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

I look at Scipio. "How do we beat that?"

He looks blankly back at me. "I don't know how... It's an old Auridan warship. One of the Fallen Empires the Prikki resorted to Attack Moons to beat."

He's interrupted. "Tactical display on main viewer, Imperatrix."

"Thank you Tarquinius." I turn to the main viewer. I like Scipio's officers. Well, they are Appia's officers really.

Tarquinius has put up Septima's Titan, and the Holocron's Titan to compare. Which has half the guns Septima's monster has... Captured singularity power core. I dial Ruki. "Hey fluff nugget, run the numbers on this thing."

Ruki downloads the data.

He gulps a few seconds later. "It is... Potent."

Appia puts us into a conference call. Me, Mum, Valerius, her, and the Holocron.

She sighs. "We have a problem."

I glance at the viewer. "A big one."

Mum frowns when she looks at the viewer. "I'm guessing that don't have the firepower to slug it out with that."

The Holocron nods. "Not unless we get the whole fleet at point blank range."

Appia shakes her head. "We'd get wiped out. She has a whole fleet there."

I look at the Holocron. "How many megaton cassabas have you got left?"

He scowls as he looks at the shield specs. "Not enough; shield regen alone is in the petajoules. I'm already swapping to the shaped charges, but each shot is best part of 40 tons, the machinery needs a few minutes to switch reloading feeds."

Dad leans over Mum. "The skulls."

Mum pauses. Then looks at Appia. "Appia, has any Olinbar ever dealt with an entity called 'The Eater Of Worlds'?"

I look at her. "You don't think..."

Mum frowns. "Monica may well have told her."

Appia looks at us. "What are you talking about?"

Mum flicks her eyes to Dad. Then Appia. "When you are desperate, you consider deals you shouldn't take... We found out about these thing called the Shroud, and the most powerful Shroud Entities. One of them called itself 'The Eater Of Worlds'. It took the form of a demon seated on a throne of skulls."

Appia processes it. "You think she's taken them up on it?"

Mum takes a moment. "I had been training Monica as a protege. She knew about them. And Septima would be in a position to find out more."

Valerius frowns. "What of the Necroid who got us into this battle?"

Mum looks at him. "We need Amothetet. Now."

We wait nervously as she is summoned. She joins our conference call, with Vorosh.

Mum replays Septima's speech. "That throne is a remake of the one sat upon by The Eater Of Worlds when he appeared as Khorne in a visitation to the Shroud we did, once."

Amothetet looks very intently at her. "You met The Eater?"

"And The End Of The Cycle."

Amothetet looks to one side, then begins an invokation. I look at Vorosh. "What's she doing?"

Vorosh looks through the portal. Then positions the view.

Amothetet is scrying the Shroud. Then Amothetet shuts the portal. She composes herself. "The Eater Of Worlds is not in the Shroud."

Mum looks at Septima. "How many Kyaese would she sacrifice?"

Dad looks at Mum. "Blood for the blood god."

Mum looks at him. "Skulls for the skull throne."

We... Well, I look at Amothetet. "You're a self-made Chosen One, right?"

She looks at me. "Do you mean, child, that you want me to challenge The Eater Of Worlds to draw it back into the Shroud?"

I stand. "Yes."

She paces. "You don't understand what you ask."

"Tell me."

She looks at me. "Such an endeavour is extremely risky. Firstly, The Eater if they are present, is because Septima has fed it to bring it here, then promised more to come. Making it return to the Shroud is possible, but you would not like the method."

"I get the point. So can you bind it or something?"

"That is the route that carries the greater risk. The Eater is only sated by the sundering of Psionic energy. Kyaese, and Olinbari for that matter, offer little Psionic energy. Your Lukhuinites offer a little more, but the gift is under-developed."

I see where she's going. "We'd need to use you as bait."

She nods. "So you can see my reluctance."

Mum looks at her. "You know what that thing will do to Brigantia if Septima goes unchecked."

Amothetet looks at her. "Yes. I do. Better than any of you. It's why we are still having this conversation, instead of washing my hands of the matter."

Mum smiles. "So..."

Appia coughs. "I would be most appreciative of you stopping that thing."

Amothetet looks at us all. "I can make no promises. I will gather my assistants, and put the trap in place." She turns to Vorosh. "You will assist."

Vorosh looks at me. "We'll do our best."

I look at her. "What are you going to do?"

Dad interrupts. "Fireball."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Septima Arrives, Part 3"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

"Our problem remains that Titan." I look at Appia. "I don't suppose you have a plan for taking down a Titan?"

Appia sighs. "Skrand was it." She looks at Septima's fleet of strikecraft that undocked. "Looks like she prepared for him..."

I think. "Septima isn't going to come out to us, is she?"

Appia's admirals shake their heads. "Why would she? She still has three asteroid artillery platforms, and in a few hours once they finish turning, they'll be able to attack from any range we can get to."

I look at Amothetet. "Could you open another portal?"

She stares back. "Lure The Eater. Open a portal for a fleet. Pick one, because even I get tired, and I need to be at my peak to handle The Eater."

I look at Mum. Hmm. "What about a portal for one man?"

Mum looks at me. "Thando."

I nod. "Our best assassin."

Amothetet looks at Septima's Titan. "I can get him in. But he'll have to find his own way out."

I look at Mum again. "Can he do it?"

Mum adds my uncle to the chat. And Alexandra with him. "Thando... Fancy one more assassination?"

He smiles. "Septima."

"Naturally."

"There's just one problem."

I stare at him. "What?"

He points at his viewscreen. "The Kyaese have broken formation."

Oh... Nuts. "Tryykad!"

Mum gets him on the line.

What follows is a torrent of abuse directed at Septima from every Kyaese.

Eventually Tryykad gets them to be quiet.

He looks at Mum. "Naomi, thank you for getting us this far. But if that abomination thinks she can slaughter and descrate hundreds of Kyaese to make her throne... I am going to peck her heart out."

Cries of 'if she has one!' fill the air around him.

They really are furious.

I take a deep breath. "Tryykad, have you considered that she wants to provoke you?" I don't think I should bring up The Eater Of Worlds yet.

He pauses. Considers. Then vents his frustration. And sighs. "Point taken, it worked." He turns. "All stop."

The Kyaese helmsman eventually complies.

Tryykad looks around the room. Settles on Mum. "Naomi... What's our plan?"

Mum smiles. "Well, for a start, I'm not deciding it. Septima has followed Monica's advice, and so she believes she is facing me. We can exploit that."

Tryykad frowns. "Ok. What is your suggestion?"

"There's a complication. We think those Kyaese were actually sacrificed to The Eater Of Worlds."

Another raging storm of unrepeatable expletives follows.

I follow up when they stop to breathe. "And that means we have to face the possibility that Septima's forces are being boosted."

Tryykad eventually settles the other Kyaese. "Do we have any good news?"

I smile. "Amothetet is working on a ritual that will bind The Eater back to the Shroud."

He looks at his viewscreen. "But in the here and now? We have to attack. We can't wait."

Thando nods. "Those platforms may only do a fraction of a degree a minute, but they are still coming."

Mum looks at the Holocron. "We can't slug it out. But we could send in the razors." She looks at Appia. "That Titan... It has no flak?"

She smiles. "No, it doesn't. No weapon smaller than a Medium-sized turret in fact. What are you thinking?"

Mum smiles. "Our Vanguard corvettes have six thousand miniturised nuclear casaba howlitzers. Each. And we packed all of them onto The Holocron's carriers."

Thando smiles. "They could shred those strikecraft."

Daas nods. "We developed them to counter Skrand after all. And frankly, bodged limpet-craft are nothing on those Skaravid strikecraft."

Mum shakes her head. "No, we can use our ruby-holmium UV lasers for sweeping those strikecraft. We use the Holocron's Titan as a bulk shield, and bring the Vanguards in behind it. We nuke the Titan."

Appia's eyes go wide. "But... That's the Holocron's command centre you are discussing... A few blasts from her Titan will destroy his Titan, it can obliterate smaller ships in one hit. You'd lose the Neumanns for fighting the Praetorians on Gateway control."

The Holocron thinks it over. "If we don't take that Titan down, then Gateway control is irrelevant. Give me a few minutes to evacuate my people." He looks at Appia. "What would you suggest?"

She looks at her admirals. "We can send in our corvettes too, she'll assume ours are the real threat. I don't want to send in bigger ships; that Fallen Empire Titan carries a lot of Large and Medium turrets that can hit Destroyers and up fairly easily."

I look at her. "Appia... Now isn't the time to be cautious. We should use them as bait, make Septima have to choose attack groups to respond to."

Appia frowns. "If it goes wrong, we'll have no reserve."

Mum smiles. "A reserve is held for the moment of decision. That Titan is our moment of decision."

Tryykad frowns. "There's just one issue. Well, two. "First, there's no guarantees that we'll kill Septima when we take down that Titan. And Two, we Kyaese want her alive for her justice."

Appia looks at Mum. "Is their plan still to make her watch what her people did to the Kyaese still?"

Mum flicks her eyes at Tryykad. He nods. "Yes."

Appia looks at Thando. "Well, we happen to know a guy who has done this before."

Thando smiles.

Alexandra places his hand on her stomach. "Thando... Please stay with me."

Thando looks at her.

Then Mum.

Then Alexandra.

Then Mum.

Then Alexandra.

Then Mum. "Sorry Sis. Wife's orders."

HK-47b rests a rusty claw on Thando's shoulder. "Statement: Never send a meatbag to do a droid's job."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Flight Of The Vanguards, Part 1"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Thando HaMaadimi​

"Switchblade One to fleet. In front of us is Septima Severus. And her ship is so big we can't possibly miss." Scattered nervous laughs. "The good news is we've got a lot to hit her with, and after the stunt with that throne, there's an awful lot of hitting we want to do. Let's get started."

I look at my bridge crew. "Propulsion team, as soon as we are clear, I want those racks of pulse units blasted ASAP. Primary railgun team, target enemy corvettes. We have a million pellets in the armoury, so don't spare the trigger. Laser teams, focus on their strikecraft. Casaba drone pilots, we have six thousand kilotons of nukes aboard." I point at the Titan. "Lay waste to that thing."

My Kyaese set to work.

For now, we wait for the Holocron to get us close before ejecting.

I watch the displays as our groups advance.

Think about the headache Septima's staff must be having.

The Holocron's Titan has a huge advantage over Septima's - his "main gun" launches self-orientating casabas and shaped nuclear charges, depending on whether he wants a stream of searing plasma or multiple ton shells.

Hers doesn't. She's only got a fixed mount directed energy weapon, and has to position her whole ship to use it.

Solution?

Advance with everyone a few degrees apart to neutralise how quickly she can hit us.

Then she has the "which target" issue.

Does she hit Appia's battleships, with their XL weapons and strikecraft?

Does she hit us, who are advancing straight forward because we've got the lowest delta-v?

Does she hit Appia's corvettes that are going to flank around and disable the freighters?

So many choices.

She chooses to hit the Holocron.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Clash Of The Titans, Part 1"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Titans.

Mum discussed how they made these monstrously massive ships a long time ago. Each one is so big and has so much logistical management that MSI station an Admiral in command... Normal sized ships are built inside a Starbase. Integrated drydocks within the structure allow them to be built without requiring the use of spacesuits, which makes manufacturing and maintenance easier.

But Titans are so big that the facilities to build them are built onto the Starbase hull.

Scipio takes my hand as we watch Septima's Titan on screen and sensors. I'm told that the Auridan grew their ships from crystals of neutronium fibres, but this ship has had to be rebuilt with MSI's technology.

It's shockingly agile. Warps local space around it to change direction and move. I suppose it must be easier than using a conventional engine.

But it means she's already in position, and she's hammering the Holocron. Every blast from her spinal gun lights up space and sends hundreds, if not thousands, of tonnes of molten armour and hull into the void.

But, the Holocron fights back; his shaped charges tear through her shields with negligible deflection, although her armour can take the hits. For now - he fires every few seconds, whereas Septima's spinal gun takes minutes to recharge. And the Holocron's Titan doesn't have to choose between repositioning and firing, but Septima does - we find out when she realises that her shields are taking a pounding she begins trying to evade. She stops, and the two Titans resume slugging it out.

All our fleets are racing into the engagement. Our corvettes are going to attempt to disable the freighters and their strikecraft, while our bigger ships are feigning advances on the Titan that will swing into targetting the weapons of the asteroid artillery; we were hoping to capture them, but we need to disable them now.

Our problem is that Septima's fleet is... Big. And concentrated at the opening of the Gateway. And quite flexible in equipment apart from a deficiency in battleships. We are outnumbered, and until that Fallen Empire Titan goes down, outgunned.

We look back at the Holocron's Titan.

Not good.

It's split into three chunks. Two of them are what was the magnetic accelerator for the casabas.

It is only a matter of time now, as Septima continues - we've gotten close enough that the engagement is moving into the XL batteries too, and Septima's Titan is sending several streams of plasma scorching in.

Scipio nudges me. "He's taken a lot of damage."

I shrug. "It's the Holocron."

His brows furrow. "His ship is falling apart."

I put my arm around him. "The Holocron has a very different perspective on losses than we do. That ship would be pouring out people if it was manned by a crew. But it isn't, just him now. The way he sees it, every moment Septima is hitting him, she isn't hitting anyone who can die." I smile. "Besides, he has a lot of computing going on. He'll already be working out new options."

Sure enough, he's already taking advantage of that she's just knocked a few billion tonnes off his ship. What remains is now accelerating at a missile-like pace as the Holocron goes for ramming, and Thando's Vanguard corvettes on board are launched.

Septima redirects everything at the hulk of the Titan, but every blast just makes his mission more easy; she can't hit the propulsion section.

The Holocron just guides the wreckage home towards her.

Scipio's tactical officer interrupts us. "Imperatrix, Imperator, please take your seats. We are engaging."

Back in our secured seats, our own battle begins, as our corvette group intercepts the freighters. I speak. "Flak turrets on intercepting strikecraft, primary turrets on disabling these freighters."

Scipio squeezes my hand as our fight begins.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Clash Of The Titans, Part 2"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
The Holocron​

The Ukuthula dies around me.

Casaba howlitzer is obliterated.

Hull buckling.

Everyone else is off the ship.

Feeling my way through the internal sensors is like feeling half a body.

Still, 'tis but a scratch.

I push the engines to maximum.

Her Titan is strongher than mine, but I have a crucial advantage; I can afford to spend mine.

And spend it, I do.

Her fleet focuses their fire on me. Her smaller ships slip knives in, her Titan rips chunks off...

Systems are failing.

An internal explosion obliterates the RCS propellant.

Propulsion reactors are down.

I am adrift, travelling fast enough that I'll reach the next system in fifty years if I remain.

My Titan sails past Septima's Titan.

But, as I review what remains of external sensors, and see the fleets converge, I know the mission was a success. It was never about me destroying Septima's Titan; the rest of the fleet will bring her down. I just had to get them past her spinal lance that only my Titan could withstand.

The ship shuts down. All that remains is my uplink back to Unity, and my corporeal combat hull I have been managing the ship through. I leave it behind, the captain going down with his ship, and return to Unity.

The greatest warrior does not dwell on victories or defeats, but ponders the next battle. And I have a Ringworld to liberate.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Flight Of The Vanguards, Part 2"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Thando HaMaadimi​

While Septima's fleet pummelled the Holocron, we were busy launching our casabas. I hit the group-wide comm channel. "Light them up boys!"

My group consists of 14 Vanguard corvettes.

Each one carries three sets of 20 x 100 Harrier missiles repackaged into mini-casabas.

I told my Kyaese to launch all of them.

In a conventional nuclear missile attack in space, you are using the flash of the detonation to scorch the hull and disable subsystems. Inevitably, that means pretty much all of the blast gets wasted - the incredible amount of energy released is what makes them work.

These casabas are smaller, but they focus the blast into an X-ray absorbant, then use the heat to turn a sheet of plastic into plasma that hurtles extremely fast at the enemy. Ones with explosively formed projectiles on top are a little slower, but they tear through shields. They might only be very small nukes, and not very efficient, but they are still way more energy on target.

I look at the viewscreen, at Septima's fleet. "Down sensors. Fire."

The systems down most of our systems to prevent interference. My Kyaese stand as we wait for the viewscreen to return.

Has it worked?

I mean...

Your mind goes crazy in those few moments. On paper, we've hit them hard. But paper can be unreliable.

The viewscreen returns.

Strikecraft are wiped out in a single hit.

Ships get holes punched through, a few as deep as several decks. Hull-mounted systems get destroyed.

Several are adrift.

Bodies float in open space.

Some ships are on fire briefly as oxygen tanks and pipes burn.

But ships are made to take a pounding. Airlocks cycle, engineers go to damage control, bulkheads seal, systems are checked.

They start returning fire.

I look at my Kyaese. "Redirect power to deflector screens. Helm, get us out of here."

We all float briefly. My fleet reorinentates, and we present our tungsten pusher-plates to the enemy, and reverse course. Then slam into the deck as we get out of dodge at 2g.

I look at the viewscreen. Septima's fleet pursues us, then turns to face the two MSI fleets.

I relax. "Well done guys, mission accomplished. Appia's forces take it from here." Some of my Kyaese look a little glum, so I gather them. "Look." I tap a wall. "We have a few milimetres of aluminium as a wall. Beyond that, a few milimetres of carbon composite. Beyond that, several feet of carbon aerogel. Beyond that, navigational deflectors. Appia's fleet have got neutronium, battle shields, regenerative hulls... They can do the slugging it out." I smile. "We're not battleships. We're submarines. We appeared from nowhere, whacked the enemy, made him think 'what the actual fuck was that?' and now we get out before he lashes out." I go back to my chair. Hit the button marked with the skull and crossbones. I smile. "Switchblade One to group; fly the Jolly Rogers."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Promotion"
28th Daas, 10 (2189)
Elizabeth Herminton​

I catch up with Naomi and Buri as they watch the corvettes feign a pass on Septima's warships and begin to disable freighters.

I look at the one they are focused on. The Strix - it's one of Appia's, she used to command it, on her way up. Not a big ship, even the Captain's quarters were tiny, we had a single bunk between us.

Things aren't looking good...

Septima might be losing, but she hid her Destroyers among the Freighters.

And one of them is chasing down the Strix. I take Naomi's hand. "Rivkah's going to be ok."

She looks at me.

She looks like she's aged a century in a day.

Her eyebrows rise. "That noticable?"

I nod. She already knows anyway.

The Destroyer pursuing Rivkah and Scipio is a missile destroyer, and it launches a volley of Whirlwind missiles. The Strix was an Interceptor hull, it didn't have point defence...

I'm hoping it's changed since nine years ago.

But...

It hasn't. Just an aft Flak turret, but those are for Strikecraft...

The missiles hit the aft and port sides of the ship, but the armour holds. The Destroyer follows up with more volleys. The helmsman goes evasive, puts the ship into a spin that tricks some of the missiles into colliding, but there's too many missiles...

The hull breaches from one blast.

Another rips through the rockets.

There's a huge explosion from a ruptured fuel tank - it rips the Strix in half.

My fingers break where Naomi squeezes. She apologises, but...

In an instant, I understand why she and Buri do infantry roles. I'm not sure which of us is in more pain.

I look back at the chunks of the Strix. Other corvettes have taken out the Destroyer, and are now collecting escape pods.

I gulp. "Naomi... Is now a bad time?"

She stays looking at the viewer. She's working the odds. Eventually, she turns. "Yes." She shakes her head. "But it'll be ok. What do you need?"

"I've decided that I want to accept."

"One final time I will ask this - are you sure?"

I look at the viewer. Think about how often this must have weighed on her. But she's still standing. So I know I can. "Yes."

She puts her arms around me. "We'll call the girls together, and I'll officially promote you then."