31 - Swarm

“How do these assholes know exactly when to crash our party?” Maya demanded as she exited the Cage onto the bridge of the Bonita’s Revenge. Bell looked up with relief as she entered, followed by Yosi and Nan.

Roci stood by the threshold and grumbled as Maya sent the Cage back to the Hangy and the mess hall. She was on offloading duty as Maya dealt with the rogue AI attack. She pulled up the view screen and pulled out a rogue tech tablet connected to Tender’s mech-drones and scout rats.

The mech-drones were in a defensive stance around the Hab, as it lacked any kind of defense. Most of the Hab was being dismantled anyway, as Maya slowly tore out parts of the structure and then rebuilt the damaged areas of the Hangy where she, Yosi, and Bell required quarters and workshops. Eventually she would remove all the medical equipment, but with Badblood occupying it, that would have to wait.

“I didn’t expect you to take the entire forty hours,” Bell said.

“Sorry about that, Nigerian princes wanted to give us money,” Maya replied. “Plus it was only thirty eight and a half hours.”

“I shall man the scanners,” Yosi said.

“I shall return to the Hab and check on Badblood,” Nan said. “Unless you require my assistance here.”

“No, Nan. If we get something blown off, we’ll call you. Set the Hab to repel boarders until the All Clear is sounded,” Maya said and took a seat on her captain’s chair. She had did as she once promised and installed a swivel chair. The cheap low-grade view screen showed panned the area where the rogue AIs were building up. “Any word from Zono?”

“He called in the sighting,” Bell said. “You did not open a threshold to this side for the last ten hours.”

“Yeah, our bad, bud. We were on a spending spree back at Haltor’s World.”

“Anything good?”

“Nan stocked up on your supplies and we got a lot of explosive gel to make more ammo. Plus we killed a giant whale and didn’t even get any of its meat as a thank you.”

Bell sighed. “I am getting dreadfully sick of ration bars. What I would give for a bowl of Terrigos stew.”

“We did get word from Peg, looks like we’re gonna be rich. The enchanted gear are hot ticket items in the Sword Union,” Maya said. She opened a window and connected to the cluster of railguns that sat upon the Hangy, then slaved the targeting system to the BR’s own sensors. “Fire at will, Yosi.”

“Me?” the woman gulped.

“Why not? We’ve got some beam weapons, some good old rockets, and a few additional railguns that Shen built onto this ship, not to mention what we created as defenses. It’s time to give this girl a good workout.”

“I fear that we aren’t going to be able to sustain the amount of enchanted gear we initially gave him,” Bell said. “We’ve stripped all of the officer and high leveled quarters, before you even left. I would estimate there’s another ten million credits worth of items remaining, but beyond that we’ll need a new source of income,” Bell said.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I think if we get the black goo nets up and running, we might have a top seller on our hands.”

“If we ever get around to it,” Bell said.

“Easy there, pal. It’s just that we’ve got a lot of things on our plate. We need to level up to the industrial age first. We got the tech and the knowledge, we just don’t have the base to make everything we need.”

Maya felt the rumble of the BR and looked to the screen to see a white blast of an explosion that wiped out a rank of rogue AIs. The creatures weren’t that tough. They were dog sized ant like creatures, six legged, with a small head, a thorax, and an abdomen that glowed as it charged up a beam attack. There were also one a hundred of them.

Rogue AI Swarm - 11ARCN54B - low-grade, tier 1

“That’s an odd designation,” Maya said.

“It’s a rogue AI swarm, from what I’ve heard, they don’t have levels as we know it, but are considered… machines. I suppose. They have grades and are all apart of a collective hive mind,” Yosi explained. “The higher the grade of the swarm the worst they are. They’re smart, brutal, and nearly unstoppable when they set up a base and really get to work.”

“A singular mind controlling all of them?” Maya asked.

“No,” Yosi replied. “It’s a type of super organism. Each unit of the swarm contributes processing power to the overall hive, so the more units the smarter it is.”

“So, the more of the little guys we kill the dumber it gets?” Maya asked.

“Basically. Dealing with swarms is about attrition. If one manages to get away, it can start the whole process over again. That’s why they’re the worst. The Nerigana had a few systems that were overrun by swarms. ”

Maya drummed her fingers on her chair arm. “How dangerous are these things?” she asked. If they could take out a whole solar system, what would that mean for them? Their entire defense measures hung on the BR’s own weapons and barely two dozen turrets.

“Depends on the grade and tier of the swarm,” Yosi replied. “This looks like it’s a low grade, Tier 1 swarm… so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I’ve heard that it usually takes a entire company of Nerigana soldiers to clear out a low-grade hive.”

“Not to difficult?” Maya said. “There’s like only three of us that can fight. Five if we add you and Roci to the mix.”

“Ah, right,” Yosi fidgeted nervously.

Maya grimaced. “This means there’s a hive out there, right?”

Yosi nodded. “Yes.”

“We’ve gotta tell Whiteclaw. If these AIs have set up a hive, they’re in trouble.” Maya pulled up the comm channel for the communication’s array that she had given Whiteclaw. She toggled it on and dialed up the other array. “Whiteclaw Tribe, this is Maya Sullivan calling, ya’ll there?”

Only silence greeted her. She tried for ten more minutes, but there was no response.

“I don’t like it, but those guys are smart and crafty. I’m sure they know how to survive anything this place throws at them,” Maya said. Though she recorded a message and set it on repeat for the next hour. She turned her attention to the battle that was occurring. “The railguns are a bit too big for these little guys.”

“The gatling turrets would have chewed them up,” Bell said. “But we don’t have any installed in this area.”

“The BR’s own defenses are more than enough to hold them a bay, but that all depends on how many they have,” Maya said. She pulled up a count that the sensors were tallying. “Eighty destroyed and seventy still kicking.” Maya watched as the rogue AIs fell back for a moment, regrouped, and then surged forward once again.

The rockets from the BR flashed amongst the creatures, tearing them into shreds. The heavy beam weapons fired and left behind chunks of molten metal. The surviving rogue AIs shrugged off the devastating attack and continued to scurry forward, those that were badly injured were left behind and still tried to crawl forward on damaged limbs.

“They don’t seem to have any kind of self preservation,” Maya said. “They’re just running into the weapons fire.”

“That’s a swarm,” Yosi said. “They don’t stop until they are all destroyed or they reach their goal.”

Maya frowned again and pulled up their inventory. Shen’s ship had been well armed, but she watched as the small battle chewed through a quantity of their ammunition. She had no idea how to make the missiles and rockets they were firing, but at least the railguns and beam weapons were easy to maintain and arm, but the power consumption was becoming a tad worrying.

“Ease up on the missiles and rockets,” Maya said. “Stick to the moderate railguns and beam weapons.” Maya got out of her chair; she could feel the Cage still operating. “Roci?”

“Yeah?”

“You finished yet?”

“Half way, one of these blasted sacks of biomass ruptured!” she cried. “It’s filled with rotten meat!”

“Gross.” Maya heard Bell chuckling. “Wanna help her?” she asked.

“I would love to help my fellow companion in securing the biomass we need to survive, but Yosi needs to have someone ready to assist if the swarm gets too out of hand,” he said.

“Right.” Maya switched her comm and contacted Scotty. “Hey, Scotty. How many turrets have you made since we left?”

“I have assembled twelve canisters turrets and have completed the remaining three gatling turrets. I have also built fifty pulse grenades.”

“That’s cool, buddy. I’ll be there in a moment.”

“What are you up to?” Bell asked.

“Don’t you feel that this whole thing seems too weird?” Maya asked.

“How so?”

“I’ve got this feeling, like we’re being tested,” she said. “I think that little swarm out there is just to see what we can do.”

Bell and Yosi exchanged looks.

“How big are these low-grade hives?” Maya asked.

“I’m not sure. If a company of soldiers can deal with it, maybe a thousand or less?” Yosi replied.

Maya looked at the screen and tallied dead once more. Nearly the entire swarm was dead now, only a few badly injured continued moving. A hundred and fifty rogue AI ants and it had taken nearly a quarter of their ammunition and power.

“I don’t like this,” Maya muttered as she opened her comm once more. “Nan, can Badblood be moved?”

“Yes, Maya. She’s in stable condition, but still unconscious. Is there trouble?” Nan asked.

“There’s always trouble. Something about this swarm that is attacking us feels wrong. I want you to move Badblood to the Hangy ASAP. Load up all the meds and once you get to the Hangy, prepare to defend it, Roci will be there to lend a hand. I want you to hook your mana core up to Scotty and keep him running. We might need to draw power from the Hangy’s core if this goes sideways.”

“Alright, Maya,” Nan said.

Maya turned to Bell and Yosi. “You two protect the BR, I’m going to grab those extra canister turrets.” The two nodded and Maya summoned the Cage threshold.

In the multiverse at large, the Cage wasn’t able to form less than 200 kilometers from its previous position, but in the RSH the rules were different. Every threshold opening didn’t drawn an additional 1Mg and she could open the threshold anywhere she wanted. It would have been a great method to explore and seek out needed resources, but she couldn’t remote engage the Cage and the mana needed to keep the Cage active was too great.

A terrible smell struck her when she entered the Cage. Roci was covered head to tentacle in yellow green flesh and liquid. She looked at Maya and her purples eyes narrowed in outrage.

“This stuff is disgusting!” Roci cried.

Maya refrained from chuckling and created another threshold into the manufacturing room. Roci was still crying out her disgust and as to why she had to do this when Maya ducked out of the Cage.

Roci’s drone was clumsily, but helpfully, moving a finished canister turret into an out of the way spot. Maya looked at the machine and it turned it’s ‘head’ toward her.

“Hello, Maya,” Scotty’s voice came out of a speaker attached to the drone.

“Hey, Scotty. I’m collecting the turrets and what you’ve made. We’re going into low power mode for a bit, Nan’s going to hook her core up to you and we might need the Hangy’s core.”

“I understand. I have been keeping myself abreast with current events. I fear that these rogue AIs will not be deterred so easily.”

“Yeah, same here, bud.” Maya inventoried the twelve canister turrets and a box of pulse grenades. She paused as she looked at the stored containers of helix explosive gel. She walked up to it and inventoried a fifty kilo stack.

“That’s a lot of explosives,” Scotty remarked.

“Always be prepared,” Maya said.

“Understood. There is an additional emergency mana battery that has been fully charged since you left,” Scotty said. “If you require it, it is available.”

“Cool, we can get another railgun up.” Maya grinned.

“I suggest you not use the emergency battery for a weapon,” Scotty said. “The advantage of the Cage is that you are able to form a threshold anywhere you deem. If the fight to come is very difficult, may I suggest that you use the battery to power the Cage instead? It will offer you many more options than just powering a weapon would.”

Maya grinned again. “Are you sure you’re not a strategic AI instead of a manufacturing AI?” she said.

“It is an obvious advantage you have over anyone else in this plane,” Scotty said.

“You’re right. I need to use everything at my disposal. I’ve got a feeling, not dangersense, but dread that something is coming that’s gonna be bad. I can feel it in the air, like a storm is coming.”

“I would not know,” Scotty said.

“Thanks for the hard work, Scotty. I’ll be back later.” Maya opened the threshold again and was assaulted by the smell. Roci saw her and began complaining about buying faulty biomass containers. Maya opened another threshold to the Hangy’s core and exited.

When they had returned to the Hangy, the core had been sealed in a massive block of marsani, but over the weeks, they had built a shell around the core. Although there wasn’t any need to protect the heavy block from external weather effects, Maya thought that it was more aesthetically pleasing to have a room built around it. Maya entered the core room and saw that the nearly fifty emergency mana batteries had been brought over and stored. She walked up to the core and found the thick cabling that snaked into the ship itself and which powered everything on the vessel. Beside it, spliced into the cable was a small box that had many leads coming out of it. It was a jury rigged set up that allowed them to charge their mana batteries.

Maya pulled her battery tester out and checked the emergency battery. It showed a hundred percent charge and was holding steady. Maya smiled at the read out, this was one of the refurbished batteries that Bell and Yosi had fixed. They were a lot better than the ones that Maya had cobbled together out of old components and gel from other batteries. She had made five and once she had the tester she saw that they were only eighty percent effective.

She inventoried the battery and hooked up another before re-entering the Cage. Roci was cursing and restitching the biomass container. They were made out of duracloth and had a marsani skeleton to keep it all together. Somehow one of the skeletal beams had snapped and tore a hole into the duracloth, spilling its contents. Maya watched for a moment and then exited the Cage into the medical room of the Hab.

“Hey, there, little lady. Need a lift?” Maya asked. Nan looked up from where she had been working. The doctor had detached Badblood’s medical pod from the wall and was wheeling it out of the door.

“I suppose it would be easier to use the Cage,” she said.

They wheeled in Badblood and Maya dropped Nan off at the mess hall inside of the Hangy. Although the medical room would have been better, Maya had already managed to reinforce the mess hall bulkheads and decks. It would take a decent sized explosion to break into it.

Finally Maya stood before the array of batteries that were powering the Cage. They existed within the Cage itself, but Maya always figured it was a separate area from where she and the others were. It felt different, like a pocket within a pocket. Maya removed the emergency battery and hooked it up to the power outlet, feeling the mana surging into the Cage.

They had an additional five hours. Maya worried that it would not be enough. Roci mumbled something and finally began moving the patched biomass container out of the Cage, once Maya formed a door for her.

“Maya, it looks like your worry was justified,” Bell said.

Maya opened a window that connected to the sensor of the BR; an army of ants marched at them. There were the smaller low-grade ants they had butchered only moments before and behind them strode larger and bulkier machines that looked more like tanks on skinny legs. Thier dull yellow armored bodies gleamed in the reflected light of the rainbow sky and Maya could see the snouts of weapons peeking out behind the armor.

Instead of fear or more worry, Maya felt a sense of relief. The unknown dread that had been filling her was finally exposed. She had a face to what was bothering her and although it was a terrible army of rogue AIs, she wasn’t facing the unknown anymore.

“Hit the tanks first, they look like trouble. I’ll deal with the ants,” Maya said and headed back into the Cage.