Unipsi, lovely entity

chapter 45: rift

“KEEP YOUR POSITION! They want to surround us. Commander we could use some help”

Ost2 was having serious troubles with the incoming horde of robots. They were 24 soldiers plus the Ostorna pilot and captain. The enemy however was in the order of 200 or 300 machines.

“We are coming, Idra can you…”

“Ost 2 keep your head down!” Idra’s voice was calm and cold. A strange coldness capable of bringing peace to all that hears it. The NDU that had just flew over their heads flipped on itself, the thrusters were emitting an agonising scream while they burned the forest below. Exactly 3 seconds later and it was above Ost2 soldiers facing the hill.

“Cool the Hypera and the reactor. Generate bullets we must stop them at once. Ask me if you need more than half our power”

|/we shall destroy. We must build.|/

//target locked.//

//fire//

All NDU’s Hypera turrets started firing. They were similar in concept to rotary guns and their main purpose was to defend the NDU from small targets while in atmosphere or at close range. However in the end they were 20mm arrays of hybrid chemical electromagnetic guns rotating on themselves and encapsulated into a cooling system build using electromagnets. Such complex structure allowed to shoot around 70.000 bullets per minute at unbelievable speeds. It was such an overkill for just small spaceships and while firing it looked like a constant laser beam. Those death-rays cutting horizontally thought anything were however interrupted each 60 seconds by the rail guns.

Idra’s rail-gun were almost as wide as the entire branch of the NDU and were completely closed to avoid external interference. The Hypera systems were unbelievable, the rail-guns marked as ETU-CAREMG10C100 were monsters in disguise. Each shot was preceded by deafening sounds. It felt like thunders were being confined and pushed with force into the gun. Then upon shooting. The recoil was so immense that the NDU had to go full throttle onward to stay in place. The trees crown just below were exploding from the tremendous sound-wave generated. It was so strong that the Ost2 soldiers were shaking and falling onto the ground each time a volley was shot. The sound was not the only effect on the surrounding. The incredible amount of energy discharged in instants blinded their sensors and jammed all communications. Each shot delve deep into the hill leaving a burning crater and vaporised rocks behind. It was a true weapon of destruction that Idra decided to use to make herself a door to get into the ruin, the best way to stop the machines was to cut the core away.

With Idra providing “support from above” the situation quickly improved. The army of machines was being destroyed and a burning path for the inside had been forced open. It was time to act as she couldn’t keep up with the NDU needs.

“disconnect from all systems. You are all coming with me”

|/as you desire|/

Idra dropped drastically the NDU rate of fire. She stopped the rail-guns as they consumed way to much power to be used just as simple excavation tools or on infantry. She also set the Hypera to slow down. At full fire capacity they eat through all their ammo as a fat guy at a timed all you can eat. They also have a cooling problem but that’s irrelevant if you have nothing left to shoot. To be more effective she could have stayed connected to the NDU and gave orders remotely, however she had yet to master her Whispers usage to sustain such connection without consuming too much energy. The ruin shielding didn’t help neither.

With the order to stay around and suppress the machine army, Idra along her small scale full army dropped out.

“Ost2 my army and my ship will help you survive until your extraction or until I kill the AI. Good luck”

With those words she rushed into the hole that she made and disappeared from any communication device.

Meanwhile kilometres behind the Gashris were flying for their life toward the Sheridan. The enemy fleets was pursuing them even if they saw the Sheridan.

“They are in range. Send out the missiles” commanded Scilla.

The left side exposed to the incoming fleet revealed a series of missiles launchers. Scilla was not really going easy on the enemy, but she couldn’t fire nuclear warheads nor use missiles clusters until the Gashri were far enough from the enemy. AI missiles can and should avoid friendly units, but jamming is always a possibility as are optical illusions, dust projectors or even more uncontrollable explosions. Explosive don’t distinguish friendly from enemies. It just go boom and hit whatever is on the way.

One after the other the left launchers sent out their space torpedos. Hundred of condense trails formed around the Sheridan as the missiles left their position and accelerate to inhuman speeds.

Mere seconds later the first explosions appeared.

“on target. 32 hits confirmed.”

“right side prepare to shoot, they are close. Brace for impact”

the 4 Gashris speeded by the tip of the ship and just behind them came what survived of the machine fleet. They got back into formation and like a raid dropped their missiles on the Sheridan top. Being basically small aircraft against a 500 meter highly armoured spaceship, they didn’t do much against the hull. However they mostly tried to shoot at the weapon systems and partially succeeded destroying some anti-air guns and rail guns. But their success was cut short as the fleet passed the Sheridan they were now exposed to the other side loaded with cluster missiles that put an end to their menace.

“Gashri, report? Pilot full throttle to Ostorna 2 position. Follow the NDU signal.”

“we live commander Lis”

“then get your ass moving. Ost2 won’t save themselves alone”

“yes sir”.

Even with the help of the NDU, Ost2 was not in a safe position. The mechanical army was decimated but more kept coming from inside the ruin. They couldn’t just shoot at all of them. They were advancing and the trees offered only a partial cover against all their bullets.

“We need extraction, immediately! We can’t survive much longer. Ammo are running low”

as the Ostorna pilot said so the 4 Gashri flew over their heads striking whatever they could see with the left over missiles.

“Ost2 regroup, extraction inbound ETA (estimated time of arrival) 65 seconds.”

“it was about time. Cruz, Dina grab the injured.”

a second raid slowed the enemy advance and allowed a third Ostorna to lowered down and extract them to safety. 1 soldier died, 3 in critical conditions and 3 more were wounded.

The pilot that behaved as commander as the machine killed the original commander was immediately called by Scilla as she saw that the NDU took back its army but was still shooting at the remaining retreating machines.

“pilot Sierra. Where is Idra?”

“I don’t know commander Lis. She jumped out of the ship and has yet to return”

“communication channels?”

“she didn’t provide anything. She just went in”

Scilla sigh but she was caught mid way as the hill exploded loudly vaporising part of it in thin air. Outside the NDU stopped as the machines collapsed on the ground.

“what the fuck was that? Any data?”

“high level of radiation are being diffused into the area. Our sensors detected a small nuclear explosion”

“pull back from the ruin but stay stationary. Try to see if there is any communication in that shit”

where the fuck are you Iris? You promised me…

fortunately for her, Idra’s voice along a video feed was detected and passed on the main deck screens.

“Sheridan? Do you receive me? Threat neutralised. I repeat threat neutralised. Do not approach the ruin. Do not get into the ruins. There is a radiation leakage. Your suit won’t survive it.”

Idra’s feed was heavily disturbed but from the look of it things got out of hand. All around her was burned or to be more precise melted as if exposed to a nuclear heat blast. Idra’s arm and weapon that could be seen as she was running toward the disintegrated part had been damaged. Well the AMS-111 was fine, it was just totally goo less and instead of pure black it was of a greyish colour. Each smaller hexagonal module also had different markings and painted parts probably for the machine that makes them.

“good job Idra. Do you need extraction?”

“are you fucking kidding me? Why should I use one of your flying tin cans, I have mine”

The NDU moved on top of the hole and dropped a cable. Idra attached to it and climbed back into safety.

While the Sheridan was fighting Idra had pushed into the ruin. She couldn't stop to look around and went for the lower level were she found a different, bigger, android. It was the AI core inserted into a body. It tried to fight off Idra but the Whisper holder was just no match for a mortal AI. On the ground, almost entirely broken and without any-more control on the mechanical army that was left with generic commands, the machine wanted to talk. At least it could get and transmit information to other AIs. They had to speak in Morfian language that Esterians had partially decoded years before

“wicked monster. Why do you hunt us?” asked the dying machine.

“you know why. I need data and I need your computational power.”

“what have you done to my brothers?”

an Evil laugh echoed in the room.

“I gave them a choice. Die or serve me. Well I guess you should build a graveyard for them. Now will you cooperate?”

“abomination. We will never bow to your will Whisper holder. Your kind…”

Idra didn’t like being insulted neither did the Whispers.

“corrupt it. Slowly eat away chunk of its memory. Let’s show him, what torture means”

|/our wishes overlaps.|/

There are few ways to torture a living machine, one and probably the most effective, was corrupting its program little by little. If the AI was “alive” the best torture was eating away its memory as they were literally part of who it was. It’s like eating way the happy day of a person life. Leaving only trauma and sadness behind, he will became someone else. The machine couldn’t oppose as the Whispers moved electrons away from its memory.

“you know what I want… I could spare your life and even let you live”

“how hilarious. An abomination looking for a second one. You’ll never know”

Idra corrupted more memory, entire chunks of data disappeared as the machine corrupted even more. She was not patient at all.

“Speak”

“She is dead, like all the others. Poor monster can’t meet your friends?” The AI was mocking Idra.

“you think I’m that stupid. I know that Leermorfs don’t age. And I know more. I guess this is your end”

“no, it’s our end”

While pronouncing those words Idra shot at the machine but it was too late. Something exploded in a flash without any damage. However something changed. In front of her there was no longer the rest of the ruin. She was on the side of a street. On her left grain fields, on her right what looked like an old industrial zone with warehouses and factories. It was like if reality had ben cut and attached to a different one. In the distance she could also see houses. They looked like human houses from 2000 up to 2050, just like the industrial structures on her right.

Less than a meter from her, on the side of the street 2 human girls on on top of the other. The top one was giving her back to Idra and was definitely dead as blood was flowing out of her. Scans showed no electrical signal at all. What was more interesting was the girl below. She was almost the stereotypical nerdy girl from movies produced during the late 1980. Lightly tanned skin with a few localised darker freckles that dotted her face. Eyeglasses with a sturdy frame and light brown eyes. Her hair reached just a bit further than her shoulders and as the rest of the body they were in tone with it being light brown as well. The only thing missing was a braces. She was also the definition of a Mediterranean dweller with all her shades of brown. However the main difference from the other girl was her astonishing height of 191cm more than 20cm above the dead one. By no mean she was ugly but neither she was a model. Her colours resembled those of Idra but they lacked something, they lacked hybridization, yet she could tell that originally they came from the same county on Terra-3. The girl was particularly young, probably between 16 to 18 years old. She had blood all over her and several cuts. They were probably fighting as their clothes were damaged and the girl backpack was broken with all her things scattered around. She had notebooks, a small laptop and a wallet that was open. The document inside read Aura Volta.

What intrigued Idra was the absurd amount of electrical current flowing into Aura and their shared language.

Idra didn’t hesitate a second to lift her weapon and point it at the crying and panicking Aura.

“Ti prego no! (please no)” exclaimed Aura believing she was about to die. From Idra’s prospective she was speaking in Estir while her name on the documents was written with the shared alphabet.

“Come cazzo fai a parlare in Estir? (how the fuck can you speak Estir?)”

Aura was even more confused. She was not speaking any strange language. For her it was just normal Italian. Reciving no answer if no unintelligible words Idra shot right beside the girl head. Aura screamed, curled up in a pool of blood, tears, sweat and pee.

“papà, voglio mio papà. (dad. I want my dad)”

Idra moved closer and shot again and went in to grab the girl. This second time however she triggered the crying girl that screamed again but now all the energy confined in her body got released. The energy discharge was the cause of the explosion that destroyed the hill and broke the reality overlap. Idra was hit directly by it. The goo mixed with the Whispers tanked the impact that just sent Idra flying toward the room walls. That for sure was an anomaly and that girl was another occultist. Judging by her behaviour she had just discovered her powers.

Once back connected to the Sheridan, they started their journey back. It was not a happy one as they lost 27 people in battle. Still in Scilla’s mind, such sadness was pushed away by worries. Once the NDU connected and they started their jump back to Icar 3°, Scilla went to check on Idra. She found her in her armoury. She was checking her suit and Scilla rushed to her to hug the “naked” suit.

“thank god you are safe”

Idra turned to face her.

“I made a promise didn’t I? I always keep my promises”

“you scared the shit out of me. What happened? Where is all the goo? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Idra took off her helmet. She didn’t want to lie. Her face showed fear or more precisely concern for the future.

“I… I got scared too. It was all going fine. It was an ambush planned by the AIs”

“how? There is no way to communicate…”

“there are a few ways to break light limit. They are just costly. Probably all Morfians AIs are linked into a network, I already told you. I just don’t know how big it is nor how effective. They knew we were coming. The troops were already there. For what I saw, it was a secret outpost. They were building up troops in secret to then attack their enemy, their creators probably went extinct meanwhile.”

“what the fuck? So instead of keeping sleeping they activate to kill a bunch of scavengers?”

“not really. They wanted, and still want to kill me. Maybe I should tell you a bit. I’m actually looking for what Morfians called a Leermorf. They are rare mutants that lived among their society. They can modify their body as they please and so they don’t age…”

Idra stopped, she was reflecting on how to proceed with her words. So Scilla intrude.

“if you don’t feel like telling me all it’s ok.”

“it’s just hard to say. Idras are only half sisters. So we all share our mother, our Founder’s daughter. The second parent however changed overtime, the first one were mixed with a human. Then they all got mixed with the same Morfian to became Esterians. And lastly me. I’m the only one among the Esterians with a different Esterian DNA. Initially I was just trying to discover who was my second mum. Then I found out her name. Aru Ar Aurum. And with the last AI core I discovered that she was a Leermorf. So if nothing killed her, she could still be alive. I… I would like to see if… well if I still have something that shares my blood. Even if I don’t know if Leermorfs do so.”

Scilla hugged her tightly.

“What matters is that you are alive. I won’t stop you from searching, but remember that me and Wiola will always be your family”

“thanks… but the AI is not what scared me. I met an occultist”

“what?”

“something exploded and made me travel in time. Or shit like that cause out of nowhere I was on a different planet and I’m sure it was also a different age. Shit happened and I was damaged. What scared me was that I feared to be stuck on the others side. Fighting off a newly born occultist was not the issue. I got damaged because I didn’t want to run out of power to use the Whispers. In case I was actually stuck there. Fortunately in the end it all returned to normal. Sorry to make you worry”

Scilla started tearing up. She could have lost her, and thank god that she forced her to stay out.

“thanks you. Thanks you for telling me, and probably for saving my life by sitting me out of the mission”

“thanks you for listening to me. And… for being here”

“I'll always come to you. No matter what”