"We are the Council of Humanity.

"We are unstoppable. We are the ones who guide, who have the foresight to lead Humanity through the difficult ages and keep the path intact. We are the ones with the vision and who carry humanity through their whims and appetites to that vision.

"We are the ones who understand that without struggle humanity grows weak. That the concept of work for survival and comfort is essential to the human condition. That those who fail within the system deserve their failure for their failure in acquire what they lack.

"We have been forced to return by the failures of humanity. Humanity's weakness and short sightedness has led to us returning.

"We are not subject to the whims of the electorate, we do not suffer from the need for popularity.

"We are the invisible guiding hand of Humanity.

"And you will do as we demand.

"You shall vote 'No' on the Mar-gite Incursion Relief and Military Activation Bill.

"The only reason you need to understand is that sometimes, humanity's weak must be culled and the Mar-gite are the perfect instrument to do so," - Memo presented by Senator Charles Marion Klikarak Rendutu's as evidence of a vast conspiracy before his death in an air car accident, as released on Stellar-Net to various conspiracy sites, three weeks prior to the Mar-gite Riots.

Vuxten finished up with the nanoforges, moving away from the wreckage of the massive creation engines, and moved back toward where the Joan was finishing off the last of the third wave. Fireworks shot up from where she was, pink and white expressions of joy in carnage.

"Too easy," Vuxten said quietly.

--other rock to drop-- 471 said.

They walked by the tanks, which were now just smoking, and past the troops that were scattered about, sprawled out and silent in death.

Vuxten bent down once to pull a faceplate away, looking at the face inside.

"This can't be accidental," Vuxten said, shuddering. "If it creeps us out this bad, a Terran would notice it right away."

--brr-- 471 said. --Terran see creepy go bang bang bang--

Vuxten nodded, straightening up. "There's no real reason for it, and I refuse to believe that it's an accident. That means it's for another reason."

--creep everyone out-- 471 guessed.

"Faceplates would be clear," Vuxten mused, skirting around the rock. He paused for a second. "A Terran would be able to tell at a glance that one of those guys wasn't human," he moved over and pulled the face shields off of a couple more, ignoring the dried blood on some faces. "Features are different, but all of them have upside down eyes and upside down mouths."

--fear-- 471 guessed.

Vuxten resumed walking back to the Joan, who's icon showed she was out of combat. "No. Something else," he checked the ammo status of his SMG just out of habit. "But it wouldn't be in the armor. It gives no advantage and is purely cosmetic," he mused. "It's to ID them!" he blurted out.

--outside armor-- 471 asked.

"Of course, it makes perfect sense. With features like that you can't hide, every Terran would notice them instantly. I means that they can't just blend in if they escape. They'd even be slightly repulsed by one another, meaning they'd have a hard time creating groups and communities."

--logic chain green-- 471 said.

"My guess, it's automatic. Built in. Disposable clone troops that can't escape and hide among the populace," Vuxten said. He shook his head. "I'll bet Daxin or Legion would have just plain gone Treana'ad in an ice cream factory crazy if they'd seen one of them," he hummed for a second. "You know, it could have been psychological warfare aimed at the original Immortals, Legion especially. Why do one thing when you can do three."

--still tracks-- 471 said.

Vuxten moved around a quartet of still burning tanks, seeing the Joan standing in the clearing. The torches were out and the banners furled. She was looking up into the sky.

"What?" Vuxten asked.

"Doki," the Joan said, pointing.

Vuxten followed her finger, looking into the sky, and saw it.

Eight falling stars.

"Drop pods," Vuxten said. "Already doing retro burn."

"Doki," the Joan answered, nodding.

471 threw up the angles and arcs of descent. Eighty-thousand meters and falling.

"They're going to try to land between the Digital Omnimessiah and us," Vuxten said. He broke into a run. "We've gotta get back."

The Joan nodded, following Vuxten as he jogged back.

Several times they passed crumpled bodies of troopers whose helmets were shattered or their chest pieces were dimpled.

--good shots-- 471 observed.

"Farmers have to be from what I've seen on the Tri-Vee," Vuxten said. He glanced up.

25,000m and dropping. Still firing their retros.

"Doki," the Joan said, lengthening her strides.

Vuxten got the point and startled hustling.

They reached where the Digital Omnimessiah was still sitting on a log, with the two Terrans flanking him on either side.

"These will be last, one way or another," the Digital Omnimessiah said, pointing up. He shook his head sadly. "None of what you have seen so far have the grace that normally fills the living with such a beautiful light."

"Bad clones?" Vuxten asked.

The Digital Omnimessiah nodded. "A criminal act, to create such a thing," he pointed upwards. "Have no fear, those who come now, although they are the last of those who shall face us, here, one way or another, are missing the grace the malevolent universe imbues in all."

Vuxten just nodded.

"They just marched right toward us, not even paying attention to cover or anything," the woman said. She looked faintly sick. "I've never liked a can shoot."

The man put his arm around her. "They weren't really people, Sammi."

Vuxten stepped forward, holding up his left palm, and projected an image of what he had seen under the faceshield from his palm-mounted holo-emitter. "This is what they were."

He had been prepared for revulsion.

Both suddenly jumped to their feet, the male putting himself between the Digital Omnimessiah and the projection. The woman stepped forward, reaching toward Vuxten's hand. Both had bluish arcs of hair thin lightning crackling up and down their arms.

Vuxten turned off the emitter and took two steps back.

The woman stopped, her face going from a combination of disgust and rage to calm. The man relaxed slightly, his pose shifting from aggressive defense to more passive.

"What was that... thing?" The woman asked.

"An ancient injustice," the Digital Omnimessiah said. He shook his head and sighed. "One that my son Vat-Grown Luke could tell you all about, in depth."

"Sorry, champ," Sammi said, backing up and sitting down. "Didn't mean to go all full bore on you."

"It's all right," Vuxten said. He glanced up.

10,000 meters.

"They're coming in," Vuxten said. He doublechecked 471's estimates. "They'll make groundfall about two kilometers from here. They're Confederate heavy drop pods," he frowned, looking at the designation. "Old ones, from about eight hundred years ago. Not fabrication pods, not base pods, just plain disposable drop pods. Weird."

5,000 meters.

"┬──┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ) doki (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ (◣_◢) doki," the Joan said.

"Yeah," Vuxten said. "Let's let them hit. We'll get drones up. I don't want us waiting outside their pods and them sitting there with some kind of ugly trick."

The Joan gave a couple of screeches and a flutter of emojis which Vuxten just guessed. "I know, camping the spawn point is usually good idea, but there's too many unknowns. Let's get drones up, see what we're dealing with, plan accordingly."

The Joan just nodded tightly as Vuxten's missile launcher launched three drones.

2,500 meters and braking hard.

"Whatever it is, it's heavy," JR said, staring at them as they dropped. "You brake that long and that hard if your payload is really heavy."

Sammi nodded. "Done plenty of unpowered reentry as a Doomsday. Whatever it is is heavy and not built for reentry. Probably mechanical."

Vuxten just nodded.

1,000 meters. Drogue chutes deployed.

5,00 meters. Main chutes deployed. The rocket thrusters were screaming.

The pods hit just as the drones rolled to deploy their wings and run full stealth, the casing falling away.

"Here we go," Vuxten said, tying in the Joan. He wondered, for a moment, where Dambree was, then shrugged. She was a big girl and could obviously take care of herself. He included her in the screen and ran the datapulses omnidirectional.

Only a single side of the drop pod deployed down, steam hissing out.

"Let's see what you're bringing," Vuxten said.

What stepped forward made Vuxten's blood run cold.

--shit-- 471 said as the Novastar power armors stepped out of the pods.

"Get under cover," Vuxten snapped. "471, run off a heavy duty personal shield, wet print it, drop it with Sammi, JR, and the Digital Omnimessiah."

--printing-- 471 said.

Vuxten looked closely at the scans. They were different from the armor he'd seen Casey in. Only a single main gun, no missile or grenade launchers, no point defense systems, just the heavy gun with what looked like an underslung 30mm laser cannon. The cannon wasn't the big 155mm gun that Casey's armor used, the drone's sensor systems reported it as a 105mm gun. The gun was heavier, bulkier, and it looked to Vuxten like there was additional cooling on the barrel. It had a belt leading to the back of the armor.

The drone estimated that the suit was carrying a hundred round backpack ammunition pack.

--no creation engine nanoforges-- 471 said, throwing up a confused emoji.

Two power cables from the gun to the armor. All eight of them moved together then spread out in a skirmish line.

"They're coming right down our throats," Vuxten said.

"Doki," the Joan agreed.

The port opened on Vuxten's lower back, dropping a heavy personal protective shield.

"Get under that," Vuxten said. "If that thing can field any of the kinds of munitions I've seen those suits use, you're going to want to get under that and stay under that till the fight's over."

Sammi nodded, darting forward and grabbing it. Vuxten noted it had a heavier than normal zero-point reactor on the side. She leaned down, kissed her husband, then knelt down, activating the shield. The dome of energy, made up of interlocked hexagons, snapped into existence.

"If those are the real deal, armor will be extensive," Vuxten warned. "They can operate and fight inside the blast of a megaton level atomic. Four or more can rip apart a BOLO tank. Not sure which model, but they were designed for the Ring Wars."

The Joan just nodded tightly. The torches lit and the banners unfurled, showing the Joan and Vuxten as bubble headed cartoons running back and forth shooting pompoms in the air.

--plan-- 471 asked.

Vuxten ran through the options. He didn't like any of them. He'd seen Casey in operation in that armor and Casey had been worth at least two divisions of firepower, highly mobile, and due to his extensive training and exper...

"These aren't Novastar pilots, older gen suit, let's soften them up with some indirect," Vuxten said. He looked at Joan. "We'll wait till they clear the tree line, then go at them, scissor them."

The questioning emoji and accompanying moving image made Vuxten choke. "Uh..."

--ha ha ha-- 471 sent back. --she ready--

Vuxten targeted one with the full brace of eight rockets, two launches with the second launch having a hypervelocity kicker to catch them up, then a steady 40mm per 5 seconds, all raining down on the same armor.

"Let's see what kind of point defense they have hidden," Vuxten said, watching the rockets get close, kick in their sprint drives, and howl in. All eight of them slammed home and the drone increased the magnification.

The targeted one rocked back, stumbled slightly, then took an extra half-step to get back in formation.

The EFP rounds had only driven fist sized divots in the armor.

The grenades went off with no apparent effect.

"Oooh boy," Vuxten said.

A second volley rang out, the launcher clacked as it reloaded, and the second volley of rockets streaked out. The same one brought up its arms over its chest, hands clenched into fists and covering the face, and the rockets slammed home.

Divots.

The overly thick forearms served the same function as Vuxten's.

The Joan snarled and started firing at the same time as Vuxten, the rounds whipping through the trees to smash into the one that had been hit by the rockets.

"Cease grenades. Switch to masking, coat the area," Vuxten said.

--double plus ungood-- 471 said.

Vuxten didn't answer, firing short, sharp, controlled bursts into the one he'd hit with rockets.

The third volley raced out as Vuxten knelt down, bracing the top of the heavy SMG with his off hand.

The SMG rounds and the Joan's heavy ack ack rounds hit hard, staggering the target, bright white flashes as the mass reactive antimatter core gyrojet rounds hit home. Vuxten's rounds blew quarter sized divots only a half inch deep, where the Joan's rounds blew out palm sized sections almost three inch deeps in a conical depression.

Vuxten got a tight burst of five into the helmet of the lead one, fully expecting just to see tiny divots.

The eyes shattered and the faceplate exploded.

The armor took two more steps and dropped.

Vuxten switched targets at the same time as Joan, both of them ripping at the armor. Joan was going for the knees and ankles, Vuxten was shooting for the face and neck.

As the remainder deployed the heavy 105mm gun the second suit went down.

Vuxten glanced over at where the two Terrans were crouched down next to the Digital Omnimessiah as 471 cranked his battlescreen to the max and drove the grav-spike deep into the dirt.

Four of them stopped, seeming to set themselves, and aimed while the others slowly stepped forward.

One fired at the Joan, the round hitting her heavy chest plate and shrieking off into the darkness, heading straight up. A thick gouge in her armor was bright red for a moment but she showed no other effect as she kept shooting.

The round fired by the other one hit Vuxten's battle screens. The forward one collapsed as the round was deflected off to the side, where it howled into the woods. Even with the grav-spike and in the kneeling position the impact drove Vuxten back several feet, his knee and foot leaving furrows in the dirt as the battlescreen exploded into a shower of multicolored sparks.

One round hit the Digital Omnimessiah's shield, howling off into the sky at an angle.

The last one hit the heavy freezer and the refrigeration unit rang like a bell as the round blew clear through it, reducing the fruit inside to slurry that sprayed out the door.

The four that had fired paused for a second, then began to walk forward.

The Joan suddenly ran forward, firing her ack ack one handed, raking her fire across three of them.

Vuxten threw himself to his feet, staggering slightly, his head still slightly ringing. The icon for his battlescreen was amber and blinking, showing it would be back in seconds.

If he could survive that long.

Following training and Lady Keena's lessons, he moved to his left, their right, forcing them to swing the weapon outward, knowing that range of motion arcs were usually bad on an outward rotation. Their arms were fully extended, hand wrapped around the trigger, the weapon's drop-down recoil compensator against their shoulder, the heavy rear of the weapon past the shoulder.

Vuxten knew they'd have to turn or the heavy cooling fins on the back of the weapon would hit the back of the helmet.

Four stopped, aiming. Vuxten's HUD estimated two at him, one at the Joan, one at the Digital Omnimessiah.

His grenade launcher coughed and the clearing vanished in smoke and water droplet suspended crystal prism mist. Dazzlers went off, bright strobing flashes in the smoke and jammers howled.

The off one aimed at the Joan as the other two fired at Vuxten.

He'd already ducked and thrown himself forward in a roll. Both rounds went over his head, one missing by a good three feet.

The shockwave of their passage still buffeted him.

As he came up on his feet he saw it.

A shadow lunged out of the trees, got in close, there was the flash of a warsteel blade, the engravings on it glittering for a moment, then the shadow vanished back into the darkness around the trees.

The two power cables hung limp.

The operator lifted the weapon, staring at the two power cables.

Vuxten gave him a burst in the armpit and he caught something good as the armor went stock still and armor shards exploded from the wound.

The armor slumped as Vuxten's shield came back on.

The Joan had taken both shots, one hitting her in the chest, the other hitting her pauldron. Neither had slowed her in her running advance, just throwing her slightly off balance, which she recovered between one step and the next.

GRAV GRAV GRAV scrolled up.

--take knee-- 471 ordered.

Vuxten dropped down on one knee, weapon up and by his shoulder, fist down. He felt the grav-spike pound deep and twist to lock him in.

The world suddenly went mad, heaving around him. Trees exploded away from him, rocks were ripped from the ground, and his grav generator howled even as his battlescreen failed again. This time the icon went bright red and flashing.

For three long seconds the world heaved around him, then went solid.

471 sent a ping query.

He got it back, the bunny-girl was still on the move, crouched down behind the creek bed.

Vuxten came up, firing with one hand, even as he bounded forward to close the distance. The Joan was close, grabbing her chainsword off her hip.

The next round hit Vuxten square, picking him up and throwing him backwards, the grav-gen exploding on the side of his armor. He tumbled backwards, coming to stop nearly fifty feet from where he'd been hit, face down in the dirt.

The Joan took three direct hits, driving her down on one knee.

Vuxten got up to his hands and knees, looking up just in time for a round to hit him in the top of the helmet, the curve deflecting the shot. His visor blew inward, microbeads covering his face as he suddenly got a taste of the night air. Everything went sideways and he fell over.

Another shot hit him in the side.

Another hit him in the back and he saw 471's icon go amber with a red ring around it.

The Joan was hit four times, sending her staggering back.

She yowled, enraged, and got to her feet, moving forward.

The five remaining concentrated their fire on the Joan, alternating fire so she was constantly suffering impacts.

Vuxten struggled to his feet, spitting blood and saliva out. Blood was running into his eyes as he aimed carefully, looking down the iron sights of the weapon.

The round hit home, slamming into the heavy acceleration system at the back. THe back of the weapon exploded and the pilot threw the weapon to the side, walking toward the Joan.

One of the others turned and fired at Vuxten.

The round hit him square in the chest, throwing him backwards. He landed on his back and slid for a long way, falling over the edge of the creek bed, landing on the sand.

"Breakaway breakaway breakaway," Vuxten snapped out, then coughed.

His armor blew open and he slowly got to his feet, breathing heavily. He still had on his pilot's undersuit as he bent down and picked up the heavy SMG.

"Stay here," Vuxten said over his datalink to 471.

He didn't get an answer.

Gritting his teeth he climbed up the bank, looking through the fifty yards of trees he had slid through.

He could see the rear of one of the suits as they moved to the Joan's flank. Blood ran into his eye and he blinked it away as he aimed down the iron sights.

"Enraged Phillip be with me now," he whispered.

The recoil almost knocked him down, but the back of the armor exploded in white flashes and shards of armor.

The suit went face first down and didn't move.

One of the suits turned toward him and he fired again.

The shots went wide.

The Novastar cannon stopped and the muzzle seemed as wide as a train car.

I got some of you, Vuxten thought. I hurt you. Maybe it's enough.

The Joan came up to her feet, swinging her chainsword, sawing through a blocking forearm.

A point blank shot to the chest drove her backwards.

Vuxten could see the glow deep inside the Novastar cannon.

I'm sorry, Brennie, he thought.

Something slammed down in front of him. Black. As big as a mountain.

The round hit whatever was in front of Vuxten, lighting up the night.

Vuxten realized it was a biped.

And the round hadn't even shifted it.

It turned, looking back, and Vuxten realized it was a Terran in heavy armor.

"Let Armored Matthias be your shield, brother."