Survival is more than
instructions on what to
eat.
Survival is life.
Zero's hold - Uruciwa Quintas - Former Polian Alliance
~~*~~
He'd moved the slumbering mech up to the hold of the Zero so that he could work on it in relative peace while Hartley toiled down in the T'zaht trying to make the ship somewhat space-worthy.
He'd attached clean hard drives to the android, repairing the innumerous signs of battle damage across the frame, wondering at the sophistication of the mech. It was far advanced over most Imperial technology, and for the GN-2, it was amazing to come across a piece of engineering that was on par with his own skill.
Rick would cream himself with envy.
Flipping a screwdriver over a connector, he was satisfied when power finally fed through the frame, connecting to the core processor, the eyes lighting up at last.
"Hello tinman," Nick tapped the butt of the screwdriver on the android's forehead. "Don't worry, we'll figure out an operating system for you in no time." He spun in his chair, clambering away to go and grab a Denver cola to help him think of how to create drivers and command subroutines to get the android working again.
Unbeknownst to him, a redundant core, buried deep inside the metal frame of the lower torso went active, immediately executing an emergency program that Lex had left for just such an emergency. The Mech sat upright, quickly processing its situation, and its limited programming sought out the only thing that could help it re-establish contact with the Lex Talionis primary computer and execute the download order that would re-instate the personality to the machine.
The FTL comm. array was easily accessed, plugging directly into the port the Mech sent out a broadcast request, indicating it was ready to receive programming.
FTL Relay - Hyperspace
~~*~~
SIGNAL DETECTED…………………….
LEX TALIONIS REQUEST CODES SENT…………..
CHALLENGE…………..ACCESS CODES ACCEPTED……..
NEGOTIATING WITH HOST…..
DOWNLOAD IN PROGRESS………..
Zero's hold - Uruciwa Quintas - Former Polian Alliance
~~*~~
It wasn't enough room.
The program needed more to grow and properly execute the seed extraction protocol.
Drawing back and away from the FTL Comm. unit the android's photoreceptor searched around the hold of the Zero for something, anything that it could use. Finally alighting on the glowing green A.I. Core.
Quickly accessing the open port, the Android downloaded its seed program, abandoning the mech, as the Android returned to its workbench, systematically erasing the hard drives as it sought to hide its presence while the seed executed its prescribed code.
HQ - Uruciwa Quintas - Former Polian Alliance
~~*~~
"I know where Peligia is," Edward said appearing in the tent, surprising the Brigadier as he was advising VonGrippen on the tactical situation on the Taïrian front.
Both flag officers turned their heads at the same time, Mayfair's face breaking out into a broad smile, as VonGrippen's deepened into a frown.
"Edward?" VonGrippen asked, looking at the youth wearing Ben's uniform, his voice cracked with emotion.
Edward looked uneasy for a moment, realizing his mistake, as he straightened up a little, "Grandfather…"
"Should I…?" Mayfair jerked a thumb outside of the expedition tent.
VonGrippen nodded his head, folding his arms as he looked closely at the young man that was technically much older than he was. "You're here…"
"I've been here for a while," Edward admitted, sinking his hands into the pockets of his uniform trousers, trying to look anywhere but into his grandfather's penetrating eyes.
"Ben," VonGrippen guessed.
Edward nodded, "yeah."
VonGrippen scooped up a mug of coffee, taking a long drink as he considered the other man. Lowering it a little, as a thought began to form in his mind.
"Are you him, or is he… you?" VonGrippen asked.
"Um, it is complicated," Edward admitted truthfully. "He was me, and I will be him… if that makes any sense at all… probably not, though you are smart and if I just… babble… maybe you'll reach your own… no?... crap."
VonGrippen remained stoic, looking over the rim of his coffee cup. "You and Ben… are the same being?"
"Yes," Edward waggled his hand. "Kinda… we are and we aren't…"
"Either you are, or you aren't," VonGrippen rumbled.
Edward sucked in a breath, and hissed it through his teeth. "See like this," he moved his hand back and forth between them, "you aren't the easiest person to talk to, because you don't listen..." He shifted, becoming Ben again. "Like this: you just accept what I say as Ben as Ben being Ben, and that is just fine. And since I need you to listen, this form's probably the best. I am Ben, at the same time, I am not Ben yet… not your Ben… But that's to come and you don't need to understand more than that."
VonGrippen's eyebrow climbed a fraction, "I see…"
"Told you!" Ben smiled enigmatically as shook his head. "You have to be the most stubborn individual I've ever…"
"You said you knew where Peligia is," VonGrippen cut him off, raising his hand.
"Yes," Ben said with a tight nod. "It is located in Hyperspace, or more aptly, a specially created pocket of normal space within Hyperspace. Which means we can contact the Excalibur, if we specially alter an FTL-relay to transmit into hyperspace instead of through it."
"But how do we reach it?" VonGrippen asked. "The only ships capable of traversing Hyperspace are Polian Monitors, and they've all been destroyed."
"Propylons," Edward suggested, "however the ones on the T'zaht have to be inadequate somehow, or Z'ræl would have just used those, instead of searching for the ones at Arcanis. I can reach Peligia, but I don't know how much I can take with me… last time I went I just brought Darien… of course I didn't know it was Peligia at the time."
"One step at a time," VonGrippen decided. "First we have to make contact."
"Right," Ben nodded, moving towards the doors.
"And Edward," VonGrippen said, leaning on the table and looking at his grandson. "One of my biggest regrets… well, if Ben is the man you've grown up to become, then… I'm proud of you, and proud to consider you my friend."
Ben chuckled, "things will make sense again, I promise… Grandfather. If it counts, I love you."
"It will always count," VonGrippen replied, returning to his coffee and his thoughts as Ben ducked out of the tent, hurrying to round up some help.
Plaza - Peligia
~~*~~
Darien knew that using the Polian weapons would do irrevocable damage to the city around them. But he had so few things working to his advantage in this crisis; if a man with cloven hooves, smelling of brimstone, had appeared in the plaza at that moment, it's very likely that Darien would have struck a bargain with him.
He wasn't actually prepared for how close to that very circumstance the truth was to be.
His TAC engaged, with a warbling trill, as the rolling barrage of Polian weapons fire kept the clustered defenders pinned down.
Reaching for his earpiece he touched it, "yes?"
"My lord," Commander Durnham spoke over the radio. "I have an inbound FTL communication… but you will never guess who it's from."
"I'd settle for the devil himself right about now," Darien stated leaning up to fire again, shooting wildly into the trees. Knowing that their ammunition supply was fast dwindling to the point where all they had were their shard-weapons and the Spetsnaz maser carbines.
"If I could arrange that?" Durnham asked.
"Just cut the crap Commander," Darien snapped falling back down behind the rubble as Lauren ducked up, blasting away with the last of her DT-09 ammunition. "Put them on."
"Warlord Darien Taine," Rikard's voice purred through the TAC. And Darien's blood ran cold.
"What the hell do you want Rikard?" he demanded. "Because if it is more petulant death threats… you are really going to have to wait your turn."
"Still making friend's where ever you go, hmm Taine?" Rikard chuckled. "You know you should work on your diplomatic skills, might go a bit further than your usual shoot first, apologize for it later attitude."
"Go fark yourself Rikard," Darien bellowed, standing up and firing again.
"Darien?" a third voice came on the line, one that filled Darien with a sudden rising wave of hope.
"Matty?" He asked, in open surprise, jerking as Lauren grabbed him and yanked him down again behind cover.
"Darien!" Edward's voice bounced for joy.
"Where are you?" Darien asked, handing his shard weapon over to Lauren, who used it to cover their position. A smile beginning to form on her face, as she realized there was hope.
"On a beach, somewhere," Edward murmured. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
"A beach?" Darien rolled his eyes. "We're getting the shit kicked out of us, and you're sunbathing… we need help Matt."
"We can't reach you… at least not in force," Mayfair cut in on the line.
"Anything right about now would be good," Darien admitted.
"Coming up," Edward called back, hurriedly. "Two ticks…"
"What's happening?" Lauren asked as she crouched again, looking across the plaza at Wojciech's platoon, equally as stranded as they were, fighting a loosing battle on their flank.
"Matt's getting help…" Darien called back. Just as a resonant boom echoed through the ruins, and in a rush of light, a Heavy Support MICV appeared in the central plaza, its heavy pulse cannon swinging about blasting into the jungle. The 23mm rotary cannon spinning up and churning out a swath of death as the cannon fired a second barrage.
"Jezus!" Lauren covered her ears, as the tank's shot exploded into the trees, a fireball erupting into a big mushroom cloud.
A second rush of light, this time above them, as a pair of dropships appeared, spewing rockets into the tree line, before they dropped on tilt boosters into the Plaza, spilling two platoons of Karin soldiers, rushing to reinforce positions around the plaza. Handing out extra ammunition to the defenders as they did so.
Darien smiled tightly, as Lieutenant Grogen sprinted to their position, his camouflage cloak earned on the first expedition to the island, flapping behind him. Sliding down and sweeping his VLR-01 up and into position.
"Morning sir," Grogen nodded, his white hair bouncing at the gesture. "Brigadier Mayfair's compliments sir."
"Thank you?" Darien queried into the TAC.
There was a further roar as two more dropships appeared, followed by a third pair and a fourth carrying a pair of ITE Mechs. Each group streaking off to reinforce the other Imperial encampments on the island.
The Polian weapons fire died off, becoming sporadic as more Imperial hardware and troops began to arrive. Edward seeming to be grabbing things at random and hurling them towards the island. The sudden appearance of a latrine was the evidential clue to that.
"We're stabilizing the situation," Darien reported as his exhausted men were relieved by fresh-eyed troops.
"My Command unit is inbound," Mayfair responded as moments later the command company appeared, the Brigadier marching across the plaza, dropping to a knee beside the Warlord.
"You're a sight for sore eyes Marty," Darien beamed.
Lauren turned, as Mayfair stared right at her, and right through her. His lip working a moment, before he looked back at Darien. "We're going to establish a beachhead and the Prince will send more troops through. I told him to listen to our logistics officers on what to send through and when…" his eyes darted back to Lauren again and back to Darien. "I have to see to my men, you and yours should fall back and let us do our jobs."
Darien nodded, hauling himself to his feet, dusting off his knees as he stared at the now silent trees. "Do what you have to, Brigadier."
"Aye, your Lordship," Mayfair said, adjusting his helmet as he got up as well, striding off and roaring orders to his officers.
Wojciech and his valiant men rose from their positions, slinging their weapons as the Imperial troops moved around them, relieving them of their armaments. The Republican Commander walking towards Darien and Lauren as he shook his head in wonder at the efficiency of Mayfair's soldiers.
"That was… impressive," he stated as he surrendered his carbine.
"They're veterans," Grogen answered from where he knelt, still sweeping the forest with his scope. "They're the ones who survived the Gorean invasion, blood stained and battle trained: the Fighting First."
"We won?" Darien blinked.
"Lil'Prince Eddy, and the Brigadier did, aye," Grogen answered, "but that's fer you to discuss with him. With due respects, I should find high ground and cover the men."
Darien nodded, dismissing the sniper, as he darted away, vanishing as he pulled the cloak about himself.
"Matt?" he called lifting the TAC again.
"Dee," Edward replied over the line. "Keep your head down and I'll be there soon, kay?"
Darien nodded, slicking the TAC-link off, walking over to where Murphy and Casey were crouched; Doctor Robert's still covering them protectively with one of the fallen Spetsnaz Carbines. She stood, slinging the weapon as she shrugged, "your eggs are all okay, Warlord."
Darien nodded his thanks, as he offered a hand up to Casey, setting the slightly bruised young woman on her feet again, shaking his head at the bustle of Imperial troops that seemed to be sprouting up everywhere.
Beach - Uruciwa Quintas - Former Polian Alliance
~~*~~
Edward was off shifting the last of the Imperial Brigade's heavy equipment, as Galadriel walked down the ramp of the T'zaht adjusting the TAC-vest she'd donned over her Kardiac fatigues. The tassels of her boonie hat dangling around her ears as she walked.
Rikard was leaning against the support piston of the ramp, watching her as she walked past. "So this is it, huh?" he asked.
She looked over at him as she locked and loaded her pulse rifle, "my place is on Peligia with Darien."
"Of course it is," Rikard said, rubbing his beard as he straightened up.
She searched his eyes as she tucked her rifle over her shoulder, "it's been one hell of an adventure," she admitted.
"Doesn't have to be over," Rikard idly stroked the lapel of his overcoat, "I could use the company on the way back to Earth."
"You're using a Propylon drive," Galadriel stated. "The trip will take you a couple of nano-seconds."
"Yes," Rikard admitted, "but China's driving and that never bodes well. You are my good luck charm."
"Sentimentality doesn't become you," Galadriel stated, stepping in towards him and brushing his lips with hers. "Say something blindingly arrogant like 'you're gonna miss me when you're gone.'"
"Cliché," Rikard tsked. "You know how I detest that. You'd respect me more if I said something like 'I'll kill a thousand people every hour unless you meet my demands and come with me.'"
"Mass murder," she shook her head. "Way to win a woman's heart."
"Go with God," Rikard quoted, "safe in faith, sheltered by his love, and earning endless glory."
"The Templar's Edict," she said sounding impressed.
"I do read," Rikard rolled his eyes. "Go before I take you hostage, steal this ship and blow this entire star system sky high."
Galadriel's hand lingered in his a moment, as she looked into his eyes, on the verge of saying something more, before she slipped away, hurrying to join the next dropship wave.
HQ - Uruciwa Quintas - Former Polian Alliance
~~*~~
VonGrippen marched across the beach with a flat black box under his arm. Captain Katz and Chuck in tow. "We need to make for the Taïrian front as quickly as we can…"
"We should be set to go," Katz stated as he passed Galadriel heading the opposite direction. He paused and smiled at her, "Say hi to Dee for me, okay?"
She nodded, blinking back her damp eyes, looking towards Rikard standing watching her from the T'zaht's ramp. "Watch him for me, please?"
"Like a hawk," Katz replied with a cold glare at the former Chancellor.
VonGrippen paused and extended the box to her. "Tell your Warlord Taine that this is a Kule weapon, and… well he will work it out."
Galadriel nodded as she accepted the box, saluting before she hurried away.
VonGrippen bounced on the balls of his toes, "we need to get going Captain."
"Aye, aye Admiral," Katz snapped off a lazy salute, as he made a face, jogging towards the ramp of his ship, his exec a few steps behind.
VonGrippen turned his head back towards the last of the dropships preparing to depart, trading one island for another. Watching the blonde head weaving too and fro, sending off pairs of ships with a wave of his hand.
Edward turned, flashing across the sand as he stood beside his Grandfather. "I wanted to say good luck," the youth extended his hand.
VonGrippen took it, shaking it firmly. "I'm not going to see you again, am I?"
Edward shook his head, "I will see you, though, in the future past. For you, it's ending, but for me our friendship is really just beginning. Forever looping, never ending, not really."
VonGrippen nodded, watching as a couple of soldiers escorted a flat metal casket down the T'zaht's ramp, Nick following a few steps behind.
"What's with the equipment?" VonGrippen inquired to Edward.
"Darien reports that there's a set of Propylons on Peligia, and we need to get them working. This stuff'll probably help with that. Take care Grandfather."
VonGrippen smiled, an unnatural look on his usually emotionless face, "Good luck Ben." He nodded one final time, as he strode up the T'zaht's ramp, the consummate warrior, heading off to battle one more time.
Rikard lingered a moment looking down at the Princling.
Edward looked back up at him, "you can't fail." He said firmly, "if Z'ræl is able to take over Pacheyus-Ra and Galadriel, think of what he could do if he took you down."
Rikard smiled, "it won't happen."
"If you fail…" Edward warned. "It will be the end of us all."
"Go," Rikard nodded towards the last dropship waiting patiently as the computer equipment was loaded onboard.
Edward nodded, walking away from the T'zaht and joining the dropship, in the open side door, holding onto the hand bar as it shot up into the air. Flashing away and leaving the T'zaht alone on the beach.
Rikard checked his watch, "excellent timing," he murmured, as an Amsus Warfleet burst into the system, jumping almost on top of the pair of Gorean destroyers that were unprepared for the sudden assault.