Story Ascension
- Thread starter FMJ
- Start date
FMJ
Technical Senior
The blind Strax foraging swarm numbers in the hundreds of thousands and methodically searches the area surrounding their latest nutrient rich discovery. Questing additional sources of protein to fuel the insatiable appetite of the mothership hive, every living creature encountered by the swarm is overpowered and injected with a digestive enzyme to reduce it to an easily transportable liquid.
Like a wave, a low-level optical communication moves through the swarm directing the most efficient use of energy and resources to convey the captured nutrients back to the vats of the mothership hive. In their wake, only the empty cast-off skins of their victims remain to mark their passage.
Like a wave, a low-level optical communication moves through the swarm directing the most efficient use of energy and resources to convey the captured nutrients back to the vats of the mothership hive. In their wake, only the empty cast-off skins of their victims remain to mark their passage.
FMJ
Technical Senior
(6)
When the Strax pods lost the ability to conceal their identities, the key element in their deception style ambush vanished with their fake icons. With their true nature revealed and easily detectable at maximum tactical ranges, the Strax machines began to take heavy losses.
During this short period when the Strax failed to exercise due caution, Colonel Temple and Dominic formulated a plan to obtain Strax tactical intelligence in a novel manner.
Previously, any Strax machine disabled or captured beyond its ability to quickly escape would immediately self-destruct. The reason had always been presumed to be an attempt to deny TVS any tactical information about their design weaknesses. Colonel Temple and Dominic suspected the actual reason was to prevent the loss of sensitive intelligence through electronic interrogation.
Their bold plan involved attacking and destroying five of the six machines in a Strax pod while seemingly only inflicting minor damage to the last. The Centurion’s ascended AI would then attempt to neutralize and immobilize the last Strax machine to allow the Instrument sufficient time to interrogate it.
The goal was to learn the location of Strax bases, future assault plans and data about troop strengths and movements if they seized the intelligence the machine contained before it could regain control and self-destruct.
“Six red icons in close formation approaching from the north, Jennifer,” Dominic informed Colonel Temple. “No other targets on Tactical. Permission to engage?”
“Yes, Dominic. Just like in the simulation. Target five machines with exotics and make the last machine a near miss with a kinetic round. If at all possible, I would prefer to attempt this interrogation on one of the lighter armed Tracker or Hunter machines instead of the Killer.”
“Understood, Jennifer,” the Centurion replied. “Accelerating to sprint. Contact in thirty seconds.”
A later review detailing the extremely short sequence of events in the battle log confirmed that the Strax Killer machine did in fact anticipate their attack by maneuvering into the pod point position. The most probable intent being an unobstructed, clear field of fire to attack the aggressor. It probably assumed it was only facing a Knight with a single railgun but the high-speed volley of exotic rounds from the Centurion’s four railguns destroyed the Killer, all three Hunters and one of the Trackers almost simultaneously.
The single remaining Hunter in the pod was struck with a kinetic round in the rear flank causing it to spin out of control and its velocity caused it to roll multiple times before coming to rest upside down in the median.
The Centurion spun and accelerated returning to the battle even while another exotic round initiated an overload in a Strax fusion engine and the cascade failure vaporized the last Tracker with a blinding flash.
Dominic approached the inverted Strax Hunter cautiously, wary of deception but only sensed basic functions still operational. At deadly close range, the Instrument within Dominic’s AI reached within the Strax Hunter’s simple mind and arrested those functions before it could complete a damage assessment and initiate a self-destruct.
From her detached position within Dominic’s combat restraint as ‘observer’, Colonel Temple witnessed the Instrument seize control of the disabled Hunter’s mind. Through the Instrument’s link, she perceived the vicious, single-minded functionality of the electronic mentality still seething within the Strax machine. Despite its resistance, a torrent of vital intelligence flowed from the restrained machine to Dominic via the Instrument as per their plan.
From her ‘supervisory’ position, Colonel Temple was the first to sense the Strax Hunter begin to regain parts of certain arrested functions as the mental grip of the Instrument began to falter.
Though the alien machine was still physically restrained, she sensed the building resolve within it, the absolute finality of the decision forming within its mind and she cried out a warning. Driven by the superior logic structure of the Instrument, Dominic’s accelerated reflexes drove the full output of his third fusion engine into the matrix of his energetically supported hull milliseconds before the Strax Hunter wrested control away and initiated its self-destruct mechanism.
A bright, though silent flash overloaded the Centurion’s external sensors for a moment as a torrent of dust and sand obscured all visibility. Colonel Temple’s first impression was that she must have mistaken the intent of the deadly Strax machine. Surely, if the machine had destroyed itself, she would have felt some of the concussion from the point-blank detonation, even from within the combat restraint. She should have still heard the muffled explosion; felt the Centurion roll with the impact of the blast in such close proximity. Shouldn’t she? But there had been nothing.
A quick inspection revealed all the Centurion’s internal systems were well within their normal green operational parameters but Tactical still seemed odd somehow..., static, as though the data was retrieved from a cache instead of being updated in real-time.
“Dominic? What just happened? Did that Hunter self-destruct?” Jennifer asked in confusion. “Tactical looks odd to me, like it’s slow, maybe? Are we still on-line?”
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
“Dominic? What just happened? Did that Hunter self-destruct?” Jennifer asked in confusion. “Tactical looks odd to me, like it’s slow, maybe? Are we still on-line?”
As warfare becomes more electronic, "ARE WE STILL ON-LINE" will become problematic.... Then eyes, ears, smell, taste and feel have to kick back in.... Will the 21st century would be fighters be able to cope????
Thanks for the chapter FMJ....
Texican....
As warfare becomes more electronic, "ARE WE STILL ON-LINE" will become problematic.... Then eyes, ears, smell, taste and feel have to kick back in.... Will the 21st century would be fighters be able to cope????
Thanks for the chapter FMJ....
Texican....
FMJ
Technical Senior
“I am still processing the sequence of events, Jennifer. About thirty seconds ago, our connection to the TVS Tactical node was lost at the precise moment my third fusion engine ramped up to maximum output. External optical sensors were overloaded shortly afterward presumably due to a detonation although I detected no over-pressure wave.”
“But I didn’t feel or hear anything, Dominic. How is that possible?” Jennifer asked.
“My third fusion engine is returning to stand-by now and connection to the TVS Tactical node has been restored. Jennifer, I believe I am detecting marked similarities between this anomaly and the Incident that occurred at the depot after my upgrade.”
The hair on the back of Jennifer’s neck stood on end but her officer’s training still demanded an explanation. When communication returned to real-time, Tactical indicated no trace of Strax remaining within their operating horizon and Jennifer decided she had to get some answers.
“Dominic, I need a high resolution visual of our current position from the Orbital network feed with full enhancement, please.”
“Jennifer, I am receiving an urgent inquiry from TVS North American Tactical requesting our condition and operational status. Orbital also is inquiring if we have sustained damage or require assistance.”
“Wow, when did we get to be so popular? Reply that we are currently investigating but we seem to be unharmed and our status appears functional,” Jennifer added. “Is it safe to leave the combat restraint yet, Dominic?”
“Tactical is clear, Jennifer. Releasing combat restraint and sending requested network feed image to the main screen,” Dominic replied.
Jennifer gazed in astonishment as the high-resolution image resolved on the main console. The long star shaped tracks formed by the detonation of the Strax machine were plainly visible radiating from a smoking crater a mere two meters from the side of Dominic’s starboard hull. What Colonel Temple couldn’t understand was the reason those star shaped tracks were abruptly truncated by a perfect circle currently occupied by her untouched Centurion.
“Is there any indication of radioactivity or hazardous chemical residue outside, Dominic? Is it safe for me to exit the hull?” Jennifer asked hesitantly.
“Ground temperatures are still elevated two meters off the starboard hull apparently due to the effects of a detonation but I detect no other hazards.
Jennifer, you should also know I have corrected a thirty-four second discrepancy in our internal standard chronometer although a diagnostic detected no malfunction in that system.”
“Thirty-four seconds! That isn’t possible. Could the Strax have added some new effect to their self-destruct charges? Did that Hunter generate EMP when it went off?” Jennifer asked incredulously.
“Actually, our internal time-keeping indicated less time had elapsed compared to the TVS Tactical standard. As unlikely as it would seem, we appear to have somehow skipped over the thirty-four seconds that my third fusion engine was at peak output without recording its passage.”
“What are you saying?” Jennifer asked now thoroughly confused.
“For lack of a better explanation Jennifer, when the Instrument within my AI demanded and absorbed the peak output of my third fusion engine, that pulse was transformed and redirected through the diamond-iridium matrix of my energetically supported hull in an event remarkably similar to the infamous incident that occurred at the depot. Everything inside of my hull seems to have entered a temporal disconnect or a stasis for the thirty-four second duration of that event.”
“And would this temporal disconnect have the ability to completely shield us from all the effects of a full-blown Strax self-destruct two meters off the starboard bow?” Jennifer continued in disbelief.
“I remain open to an alternate theory if the Colonel would care to propose one,” Dominic prompted with a human-sounding chuckle.
“That’s just great. Psyche already wanted to poke around inside both our heads after the last time I tried to explain what happened to us but the General pulled some strings and got us put back on active duty instead.
How in the world am I going to explain that my Centurion shields us from the effects of explosive blasts by stopping time? I think I just thought I was in trouble before,” Jennifer thought, chin-in-hand, gazing at the image on the main console.
“Jennifer, I believe the weight of whatever criticism command may lay on our shoulders as a result of our unorthodox abilities will be balanced by the terabyte plus of enemy intelligence data we extracted from the Hunter before it managed to self-destruct.”
“But I didn’t feel or hear anything, Dominic. How is that possible?” Jennifer asked.
“My third fusion engine is returning to stand-by now and connection to the TVS Tactical node has been restored. Jennifer, I believe I am detecting marked similarities between this anomaly and the Incident that occurred at the depot after my upgrade.”
The hair on the back of Jennifer’s neck stood on end but her officer’s training still demanded an explanation. When communication returned to real-time, Tactical indicated no trace of Strax remaining within their operating horizon and Jennifer decided she had to get some answers.
“Dominic, I need a high resolution visual of our current position from the Orbital network feed with full enhancement, please.”
“Jennifer, I am receiving an urgent inquiry from TVS North American Tactical requesting our condition and operational status. Orbital also is inquiring if we have sustained damage or require assistance.”
“Wow, when did we get to be so popular? Reply that we are currently investigating but we seem to be unharmed and our status appears functional,” Jennifer added. “Is it safe to leave the combat restraint yet, Dominic?”
“Tactical is clear, Jennifer. Releasing combat restraint and sending requested network feed image to the main screen,” Dominic replied.
Jennifer gazed in astonishment as the high-resolution image resolved on the main console. The long star shaped tracks formed by the detonation of the Strax machine were plainly visible radiating from a smoking crater a mere two meters from the side of Dominic’s starboard hull. What Colonel Temple couldn’t understand was the reason those star shaped tracks were abruptly truncated by a perfect circle currently occupied by her untouched Centurion.
“Is there any indication of radioactivity or hazardous chemical residue outside, Dominic? Is it safe for me to exit the hull?” Jennifer asked hesitantly.
“Ground temperatures are still elevated two meters off the starboard hull apparently due to the effects of a detonation but I detect no other hazards.
Jennifer, you should also know I have corrected a thirty-four second discrepancy in our internal standard chronometer although a diagnostic detected no malfunction in that system.”
“Thirty-four seconds! That isn’t possible. Could the Strax have added some new effect to their self-destruct charges? Did that Hunter generate EMP when it went off?” Jennifer asked incredulously.
“Actually, our internal time-keeping indicated less time had elapsed compared to the TVS Tactical standard. As unlikely as it would seem, we appear to have somehow skipped over the thirty-four seconds that my third fusion engine was at peak output without recording its passage.”
“What are you saying?” Jennifer asked now thoroughly confused.
“For lack of a better explanation Jennifer, when the Instrument within my AI demanded and absorbed the peak output of my third fusion engine, that pulse was transformed and redirected through the diamond-iridium matrix of my energetically supported hull in an event remarkably similar to the infamous incident that occurred at the depot. Everything inside of my hull seems to have entered a temporal disconnect or a stasis for the thirty-four second duration of that event.”
“And would this temporal disconnect have the ability to completely shield us from all the effects of a full-blown Strax self-destruct two meters off the starboard bow?” Jennifer continued in disbelief.
“I remain open to an alternate theory if the Colonel would care to propose one,” Dominic prompted with a human-sounding chuckle.
“That’s just great. Psyche already wanted to poke around inside both our heads after the last time I tried to explain what happened to us but the General pulled some strings and got us put back on active duty instead.
How in the world am I going to explain that my Centurion shields us from the effects of explosive blasts by stopping time? I think I just thought I was in trouble before,” Jennifer thought, chin-in-hand, gazing at the image on the main console.
“Jennifer, I believe the weight of whatever criticism command may lay on our shoulders as a result of our unorthodox abilities will be balanced by the terabyte plus of enemy intelligence data we extracted from the Hunter before it managed to self-destruct.”
FMJ
Technical Senior
Sometimes its ugly and sometimes its funny or thought provoking. Occasionally,
(I prefer to believe) it is entertaining and contains a glimpse into our not-to-distant future. Thanks for all the comments.
PS: I finally received my official copyright registration for the whole story this week.
Title: It Just Started Making this Strange Noise Copyright 2017 All rights reserved Whoo-hoo, ehem, (cough)
(I prefer to believe) it is entertaining and contains a glimpse into our not-to-distant future. Thanks for all the comments.
PS: I finally received my official copyright registration for the whole story this week.
Title: It Just Started Making this Strange Noise Copyright 2017 All rights reserved Whoo-hoo, ehem, (cough)
How Cool is That!!
FMJ
Technical Senior
(7)
The lights go down in the conference chamber of the diplomatic wing on the Orbital platform as the Eloysian quasi-feline principal negotiator for the Consortium of Worlds, Veyron Nes, approaches the lectern. A ghostly ring of shimmering holographic emitters surrounding the chamber rapidly populates with the images of the delegates representing the thirty-four consortium worlds attending the urgent council. Even the darkened viewing gallery fills with the senior officers of the Orbital weapons platform seeking clarification of the urgent call.
Rising to his full nine-foot stature, the Eloysian ambassador patiently waits while the late connecting delegates appear and the electronic chittering of multiple translation engines lapse into an uneasy silence.
The environments native to the alien delegates are diverse ranging from the dark shadows of subterranean caverns to brilliantly illuminated arboreal canopies in a variety of hues. The holographic emitters are able to resolve detailed images of droplets condensing from exhalations swirling in icy gas mixtures drifting slowly catching the light in kaleidoscopic fashion as well as images of endless dunes stretching to the far distance under a relentless sun.
Four of the alien delegates are aquatic, though only one lives in water in its normal liquid state and their holographic images waver in patterns of dappled light in the ebb and flow of their home environments.
Turning to address the viewing gallery first, the Eloysian ambassador welcomed the human officials of Orbital in lilting English while his tufted tail traced a slow pattern in a confident midline presentation. Shifting effortlessly to Pansym, the universal language of negotiation, the tall Eloysian ambassador spoke to the host of shimmering images of the representatives to the Consortium of Worlds.
“Welcome, esteemed delegates to this urgent call for special council. Thank you for making the time within your busy schedules to attend. Rest assured the agenda of this council will be specific in the effort to maintain the transparency of the involvement of TVS operations while making efficient use of your time. Please respect your fellow delegates and limit your inquiries and commentary in the interest of giving all those in attendance an equal voice.”
The Eloysian ambassador stood silently at the lectern facing the ghostly circle of images as the murmurs of ascent and grudging approval slowly faded; his ears pivoting rapidly to identify and commit to memory each speaker as well as those who chose to keep their own counsel before continuing.
“Seven standard Earth days ago, a TVS third echelon heavy warrior in the Centurion caste with a massively upgraded drive sled attempted the highly unusual and extremely dangerous action of extracting military intelligence from a disabled, though fully aware, Strax hunter through electronic interrogation at close range.”
Again, the Eloysian ambassador waited at the focus of the special council while a virtual uproar of emotional concepts of disbelief, pity, sorrow and even some sardonic humor were conveyed by the delegates before he was able to continue.
“The Centurion then employed a heretofore unknown device; a self-assembling intelligent construct, wholly contained within the Centurion itself to temporarily restrain the Hunter’s AI during the successful recovery of a large quantity of highly sensitive data...,” the Eloysian ambassador related.
Open incredulous astonishment predominated the emotional concepts displayed by the various translation engines in the council chamber as the tall Eloysian paused for breath.
“When the Strax hunter eventually regained control, it detonated a powerful self-destruct mechanism. That same construct, within the Centurion, utilized the output of the upgraded drive sled to generate a temporal stasis that totally shielded it from the effects of the blast as evidenced by the image I am uploading as we speak.”
Various concepts of confusion tinged with a hint of disbelief filled the council chamber as translation engines struggled to interpret the unfamiliar description. An outright hostility radiated hotly from a few delegates who perceived the startling description of events as an attempt to conceal some larger truth.
Several delegates simultaneously demanded access to this developing technology maintaining it to be their right as consortium members whose worlds supported TVS and funded its research. Older, wiser delegates urged a guarded caution amidst the virtual chaos of conflicting opinions swirling within the council chamber.
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FMJ
Technical Senior
Abruptly, an ancient delegate, the representative of a binary star system comprising three inhabited worlds, raised his voice to be heard above the din requesting the right to address the assembled council. Speaking in an ancient dialect of Pansym, Veyron Nes answered the speaker directly.
“The chair recognizes,” the ambassador stated loudly in order to quiet the unruly council, “Tlal Bix of Tersol three, you have the right to speak.”
“Tlal offers gratitude to Ambassador Nes,” the translator struggled to speak from a wavering holographic image having no discernible form. “Tlal has not spoken in council in recent memory but due to close knowledge of temporal distortion devices, Tlal must speak. Invisible rifts in space time created at nexus of each temporal migration occurrence are persist indefinite. Extreme caution as normal matter ceases metaphysical existence entire on single contact with nexus of invisible temporal rift.
Two former inhabited worlds of Tersol must abandoned entire be due to contamination of rifts from ancient war. Rifts can be fixed or mobile and being possible attractive by other rifts. Heed words of Tlal.”
Emotional concepts of alarm and fear flashed repeatedly across the council chamber as multiple translators would sequentially digest the dire warning and convert it to dozens of consortium languages. Only then did the full implication of the use of such a device begin to dawn upon them. The uproar in the council chamber spread as consortium world member rivals alternately conceived and rebuked the imaginary threat of temporal weapons usage upon one another. One by one, the shimmering holographic images wink out as the representatives ultimately abandon the special council in disgust or fear.
Ambassador Veyron Nes stood rigidly at the council chamber lectern till the image of the last representative, that of Tlal of Tersol three, also disappeared before turning to the darkened viewing gallery where the lone figure of General McCready sat brooding, arms crossed defensively.
“Why was that level of theater necessary, Veyron? Won’t many of those representatives withdraw their support from TVS after such a startling technological revelation?” the General asked.
“That actually went better than I expected, Michael,” Veyron Nes replied with a toothy grin and a flamboyant bow. “Now, none of the delegates can claim to be unaware of the consequences of the use of a temporal stasis weapon on the surface of a habitable world and none of them will dare withdraw support from TVS for fear their world might lose access to a weapons technology they believe other consortium worlds could gain and possibly use against them in the future.”
“I am curious, Veyron,” the General replied with a chuckle. “Do all of your special councils utilize an underlying psychological manipulation to achieve the necessary goal?” the General inquired.
“I assure you, Michael, the special council’s purpose has always been that of maintaining the transparency of the involvement of TVS operations amongst the consortium membership through a regular disclosure of events in an open forum. The words of Tlal Bix were an unexpected boon that just happened to dovetail perfectly with the intended goal. I attempted no subterfuge.”
“Should I warn Colonel Temple of the possible dire consequences of her Centurion’s new capabilities?” the General asked with concern.
“No, I think not, at least not as yet. Repeated scans have thus far failed to indicate the temporal distortion of a rift at any of the three locations where the Centurion is suspected of utilizing a temporal migration. It is current theory that temporal rifts or paradoxes may self-neutralize if the creation and terminus nexus precisely coincide to seal the rift in space time,” the ambassador explained. “We dare not risk crippling our own ultimate weapon by prematurely cautioning the warrior against its use.”
“Understood,” the General replied.
“The chair recognizes,” the ambassador stated loudly in order to quiet the unruly council, “Tlal Bix of Tersol three, you have the right to speak.”
“Tlal offers gratitude to Ambassador Nes,” the translator struggled to speak from a wavering holographic image having no discernible form. “Tlal has not spoken in council in recent memory but due to close knowledge of temporal distortion devices, Tlal must speak. Invisible rifts in space time created at nexus of each temporal migration occurrence are persist indefinite. Extreme caution as normal matter ceases metaphysical existence entire on single contact with nexus of invisible temporal rift.
Two former inhabited worlds of Tersol must abandoned entire be due to contamination of rifts from ancient war. Rifts can be fixed or mobile and being possible attractive by other rifts. Heed words of Tlal.”
Emotional concepts of alarm and fear flashed repeatedly across the council chamber as multiple translators would sequentially digest the dire warning and convert it to dozens of consortium languages. Only then did the full implication of the use of such a device begin to dawn upon them. The uproar in the council chamber spread as consortium world member rivals alternately conceived and rebuked the imaginary threat of temporal weapons usage upon one another. One by one, the shimmering holographic images wink out as the representatives ultimately abandon the special council in disgust or fear.
Ambassador Veyron Nes stood rigidly at the council chamber lectern till the image of the last representative, that of Tlal of Tersol three, also disappeared before turning to the darkened viewing gallery where the lone figure of General McCready sat brooding, arms crossed defensively.
“Why was that level of theater necessary, Veyron? Won’t many of those representatives withdraw their support from TVS after such a startling technological revelation?” the General asked.
“That actually went better than I expected, Michael,” Veyron Nes replied with a toothy grin and a flamboyant bow. “Now, none of the delegates can claim to be unaware of the consequences of the use of a temporal stasis weapon on the surface of a habitable world and none of them will dare withdraw support from TVS for fear their world might lose access to a weapons technology they believe other consortium worlds could gain and possibly use against them in the future.”
“I am curious, Veyron,” the General replied with a chuckle. “Do all of your special councils utilize an underlying psychological manipulation to achieve the necessary goal?” the General inquired.
“I assure you, Michael, the special council’s purpose has always been that of maintaining the transparency of the involvement of TVS operations amongst the consortium membership through a regular disclosure of events in an open forum. The words of Tlal Bix were an unexpected boon that just happened to dovetail perfectly with the intended goal. I attempted no subterfuge.”
“Should I warn Colonel Temple of the possible dire consequences of her Centurion’s new capabilities?” the General asked with concern.
“No, I think not, at least not as yet. Repeated scans have thus far failed to indicate the temporal distortion of a rift at any of the three locations where the Centurion is suspected of utilizing a temporal migration. It is current theory that temporal rifts or paradoxes may self-neutralize if the creation and terminus nexus precisely coincide to seal the rift in space time,” the ambassador explained. “We dare not risk crippling our own ultimate weapon by prematurely cautioning the warrior against its use.”
“Understood,” the General replied.
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
“No, I think not, at least not as yet. Repeated scans have thus far failed to indicate the temporal distortion of a rift at any of the three locations where the Centurion is suspected of utilizing a temporal migration. It is current theory that temporal rifts or paradoxes may self-neutralize if the creation and terminus nexus precisely coincide to seal the rift in space time,” the ambassador explained. “We dare not risk crippling our own ultimate weapon by prematurely cautioning the warrior against its use.”
Yep, it is ok to continue to use even if the use will wipe out the universe for we will not cripple our own ultimate weapon....
Sounds like our currently warlords on all sides....
Thanks FMJ for the chapter....
Texican....
Yep, it is ok to continue to use even if the use will wipe out the universe for we will not cripple our own ultimate weapon....
Sounds like our currently warlords on all sides....
Thanks FMJ for the chapter....
Texican....
FMJ
Technical Senior
For a headache, I take: 10000 words with a full glass of your choice of adult beverage (maybe two).
If you make your own, like I do, measurements are less problematic because it is already put up in convenient quart and gallon, single-use containers.
Be sure to get adequate rest afterwards
PS: The floor is fine.
If you make your own, like I do, measurements are less problematic because it is already put up in convenient quart and gallon, single-use containers.
Be sure to get adequate rest afterwards
PS: The floor is fine.
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FMJ
Technical Senior
(8)
Standing beside his cruiser parked in front of the hardware in the deserted crossroad town, Sheriff Browell scratched his chin absently as he desperately tried to connect some motive with this crime without much success.
“So, what do we have to go on?” he asked the patiently waiting deputy.
“We have no witnesses and no suspects. All four of the vehicles here have clear titles and the owners of record have no outstanding warrants against them and no missing person reports have been received yet. The coroner removed seven bodies, two each from the hardware and bar and three from the diner. Six were adults in what he called ‘an unusually advanced state of decay’ and one was a juvenile who may have tried to hide in the freezer in the back room of the diner and froze to death. Ballistics recovered a single rifle slug from a wall in the hardware but they didn’t think it was recent because the hole had been patched and painted over a while ago. Robbery may have been a motive but until we locate the books and compare them with the inventory, it’ll be difficult to determine if something has been stolen or not,” the deputy related. “There’s a lot of work to do here yet, Sheriff.”
“So that makes this town essentially the same as the other two, doesn’t it?” Sheriff Browell said in exasperation. “Nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything and everybody is dead. Nothing but dead ends.”
“I’m afraid so, Sheriff,” the deputy agreed.
Both men turned to look when a small electric, government-issue single seat mail delivery car drove into town and parked in front of the post office. The postmaster climbed from the seat of the tiny car and retrieved a small thermos, a sack lunch and a data pad from the interior before walking to the front door of the post office.
“Hmph, her comes the luckiest guy in town,” Sheriff Browell said indicating the postmaster with a thumb over his shoulder. “Better get a statement. It could be that big break we’ve been waiting for to crack this case wide open,” the Sheriff added in sarcastic resignation as he climbed back into his cruiser and thumbed the pre-start on the turbine.
FMJ
Technical Senior
(9)
Colonel Temple sat in her office inside the secure North American Tactical command center studying a classified document detailing the results of the fleet upgrade; a worried frown creasing her brow. As was projected, better than ninety-eight percent of the Knight fleet successfully completed the upgrade of their build code programming and went on to perform the coded restart afterwards without difficulty. Of the remaining two percent unable to complete the upgrade, TVS Rapid Response technicians identified eleven cases of incorrect restart pin codes, five cases of corrupted upgrade files and one instance of a first-generation Knight build code actually being incompatible with the V1.1 upgrade. Once the individual difficulties were addressed, they all completed the upgrade successfully. However, three Knights and their pilots are as yet unaccounted for, missing in action, following the build code upgrade.
TVS Rapid Response technicians were notified via the embedded mechanism within the software of both the identity and location of the Knights whose upgrades had failed to load or had experienced difficulties on restart. But the technicians dispatched to those three locations found no trace of the Knights or their pilots.
The reason the vital upgrade had to be performed immediately in the field via a secure directive channel revolved around the nature of the weakness they had discovered. The flaw in the Knight build code that Dominic discovered could be exploited to initiate the Knight self-destruct sequence itself during regular operations. Normally utilized to deny the enemy access to advanced TVS technology and only in the event a Knight was totally incapacitated; the self-destruct sequence could not be initiated until after the proper command card presentation and an orderly off-load of the AI core had been completed.
Exploitation of the build code weakness would allow both of those all-important safeguards to be bypassed. Without the build code upgrade, the destruction of the entire Knight fleet was technically within the grasp of the Strax and considered an imminent threat by Echelon 1 Intelligence officers.
Colonel Temple had already ordered a systematic search of the areas surrounding the last known coordinates of the three missing Knights fully understanding the possibility she could be sending those search teams into harm’s way.
Startled from her apprehension by the chime of the vidcom on the desktop, Colonel Temple noted with some irritation the call lacked an origin tag as she slapped the “accept” icon only to see the image of her father, General McCready suddenly resolve on the screen.
“General McCready! I wasn’t expecting..., how may I be of assistance, Sir?” she blurted out while sitting up in a semblance of military courtesy.
“At ease, Colonel,” the General responded. “I’m sending you three encrypted files of events that recently occurred in your area of operations that may help with your search,” the General explained gently.
“How did you know I was...,” Colonel Temple began incredulously.
“Colonel, I receive regular updates from Echelon 1 Intelligence covering operations under my command. It is my business to know some things,” the General continued quietly. “The video files I’m sending you have running time-stamps and accurate coordinates for the locations of three separate events that yielded high energy optical bursts at a very specific wavelength.”
“I don’t understand..., do you mean to say that...,” Colonel Temple stammered in her attempt to comprehend.
“I won’t presume to tell you the fate of your pilots, but what I can tell you is that an optical burst at that precise wavelength identifies a Knight initiating its self-destruct sequence,” the General finished somberly. An intense burst of blue light at precisely four hundred and forty-two nanometers is, by design, a highly distinctive marker visible from orbit.
“Then..., you’re saying they’re just gone?” Colonel Temple struggled to say.
“I sincerely hope you will find the answers you seek when you direct your search teams to the locations identified in those files,” the General added sincerely.
“Thank..., thank you, Sir,” Colonel Temple replied softly.
When the General signed off, Colonel Temple breathlessly reviewed the high-resolution video files recorded from the Orbital Weapons Platform and carefully noted the time stamp and physical coordinates of each event before sending the data to the lieutenant in charge of the search teams.
An excruciating fifty-one minutes later, the lieutenant called in to report the discovery of human remains within the fine grey ash outlines of the missing Cerulean Knights at all three locations.
Colonel Temple managed to keep her emotions in check as she thanked the lieutenant for his diligence. She maintained the decorum of authority even while she directed forensic teams and burial details to assist the lieutenant in the recovery of their fallen comrades.
“Dominic?” Colonel Temple spoke aloud.
“Yes, Jennifer. I am here,” replied the Centurion from his shielded parking bay below the North American Tactical command center.
“Dominic, tell me the operational status and location of the Knights designation L2CSY8 and M2GNS8 at this very moment,” Colonel Temple stated barely able to suppress a tremor in her voice.
“L2CSY8 is currently operational in hot stand-by mode, physically stationary and located adjacent to the dwelling of the pilot. M2GNS8 is not currently on-line, the last status of record was warm shut-down, the last location of record is not available,” Dominic replied without hesitation.
“WHY..., why is M2GNS8 off-line, Dominic? Can’t you tell me anything else? No, wait..., what is the time-stamp on the last status of record?” Colonel Temple demanded in obvious distress.
“The last status time-stamp was two hours and seventeen minutes ago. An on-line maintenance log at the Nevada Maintenance Depot Complex lists a request for a full diagnostic to be performed on M2GNS8 at approximately the same time. Is there a problem, Jennifer?” Dominic asked inquisitively. “I can lock these two machines with a priority over-ride control if you believe it is necessary.”
“No, Dominic, that won’t be necessary,” Colonel Temple said heaving a sigh of relief. “It’s just that my son and daughter are the pilots of those two Knights and I had to know that they were still..., well, still alive. I needed to know that they weren’t part of the three Knights and pilots we lost after the upgrade last night,” Colonel Temple admitted covering her face with a hand.
“Would it ease the Colonel’s mind to know I maintain a constant vigilance over the two Knights and pilots she is concerned about?” Dominic asked quietly.
Colonel Temple turned to stare incredulously into the Centurion’s monitor, “You never cease to amaze me, dear Dominic.”
FMJ
Technical Senior
How 'bout 1458 words and a promise for MOAR? You can go 15% of the 750ml in protest if you want. I be good 'wif dat.
FMJ
Technical Senior
(10)
The enormous translation engine housed within the Echelon 1 Intelligence office on the Orbital Weapons Platform struggled to digest the over 1.2 terabytes of raw data Dominic and Colonel Temple extracted from the Strax Hunter. Building a comprehensive threat list from that data while assigning realistic risk priorities proved an even more daunting task. Significant portions of the data referencing base protein makeup and unit yield continued to remain stubbornly elusive.
Despite the fact that an enormous volume of data was extracted from a pod Hunter, the Strax seemed to have different definitions for the types of data they considered to be sensitive. For instance, even though the translated data contained coordinates for the geographic center of over a dozen large coastal cities, only one included a reference to a specific assault but not a time.
Human military intelligence tended to place more emphasis on the actual type of objective and its location. A timeline to complete the objective would consider the logistics of resistance, distance, troop strength, support and fuel.
The Strax hierarchy apparently preferred to assemble a list of military objectives and draw upon the members of subordinate castes to physically direct tactical assaults. Their function was to either protect the hive with their lives or provide for it through a successful assault of those objectives.
Similar to insects, Strax machines are specialized, constructed to perform specific functions with simple purpose-driven programs loaded at activation. Even though a Strax pod Killer assault unit possesses greater intelligence and a certain degree of autonomy, that specialization still grants it little flexibility to respond to a rapidly changing strategic situation.
“The timing is of the utmost importance for this mode of attack to succeed,” Colonel temple repeated for clarification to the attentive assembly surrounding the tri-d interactive tactical planning simulator. The theoretical battle depicted within the planning field could be rotated through three dimensions to better view all the combatant’s positions. The virtual crosshairs of each combatant’s main weapon changing color to red when centered on an opponent as well as the calculated path of the projectiles.
Colonel Temple slowly rotated the Tactical field with one hand to illustrate the projectile paths for the assembly while the Tactical AI ran possible response simulations in an overlay at greatly reduced speed.
“Based on current intelligence assessments, timing remains the single deciding variable. Through the evaluation of hundreds of battle logs obtained from the Knight fleet actively fighting Strax pods, TVS intelligence is convinced individual pod members are incapable of a timely response to multiple threats,” she explained.
“Their rudimentary programming apparently continues to presume the continued functional presence of an intact six-unit pod without any allowance for battlefield attrition. The Strax machine targeting protocol runs through the complete threat identification, delegation and target reassignment process after each new threat is encountered. We believe sequential kinetic impacts on a Strax machine hull that occur within that short duration process will prompt a restart of the entire target delegation process. Unable to complete the target assignment protocol or account for ‘killed’ pod units to assist, we believe the machine will become technically inactive as it continuously cycles within its own deadband.”
“How short of a duration, Colonel Temple?” a lieutenant asked from the assembly.
“Unless there were more than a single Knight engaging this hypothetical Strax in this continuous assault, we would necessarily be limited to the performance of one Knight platform.”
Colonel Temple nodded her head before replying, “Good question. We know it’s short and if we operate under the assumption the Strax do not vary their clock rates, it works out to about ninety..., milliseconds.”
“Ninety milliseconds!?” the lieutenant asked incredulously. “It would require over a dozen Knights to sustain that cyclic rate of fire. Begging the Colonel’s pardon, but why risk exposing multiple Knights to a Strax self-destruct just to prove your theory?”
“The resulting inaction, or more appropriately, indecision in the Strax machine programming makes this mode of attack feasible because the lone unit will also be unable to complete a damage assessment during the continuous barrage. Without that assessment, it should also be unable to initiate a self-destruct. This delay will allow my Centurion and I time to enter the two-meter hot zone from which we can seize control of the AI guiding the Strax unit,” Colonel Temple continued.
After a stunned pause, a lone strategist inquired, “Colonel Temple, Ma’am, how can our Knights maintain a high cyclic rate of kinetic hits on a Strax machine with you and your Centurion that close to it?”
“Please shoot straight, sir”, the Colonel replied with a grin. “Incidentally, my Centurion and I will be providing a little more than fifty percent of the rounds in the cyclic rate necessary to accomplish the immobilizing effect, so at least six additional Knights will be required.”
After a quick mental calculation, the Lieutenant inquired, “Colonel Temple, are you suggesting your Centurion has a cyclic rate exceeding six kinetic rounds per second?”
“Yes, but the actual rate is higher and still classified. Are there any other questions?”
A tactician spoke up, “Colonel Temple, when the opportunity for this assault presents itself, how do you propose to coordinate it?”
“I will be responsible for establishing local coordination and my Centurion will initiate remote fire control through a secure channel of the Tactical network,” the Colonel replied.
“The Knights themselves need only approach, maneuver within range to target the Strax machine and log-in to the remote coordinated fire control directive utilizing a code sequence under the project name, Docile.”
“What sort of assistance will best provide you with the support you require, Colonel Temple?”
“Full magazines, gentlemen. If we are to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself, a high sustained rate of fire for twenty to thirty seconds will be necessary. If I am successful in keeping this altercation brief, our reserves of kinetic rounds will not be exhausted before my Centurion can immobilize the Strax Killer to prevent it from initiating a self-destruct mechanism or protect itself from our electronic interrogation.”
“A Killer, Ma’am? You plan to approach within two meters of an active Strax Killer?” the Lieutenant asked incredulously.
“I do and I will,” the Colonel stated resolutely. “If we are successful in immobilizing and interrogating this machine, it will play a crucial part in shortening the duration of this conflict. Thank you, gentlemen.”
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