CHAPTER 49 – DIALECTICS
DATE POINT: MAY 12th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, NEAR JUPITER,
ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL
CAPTAIN HENRY O’TOOLE
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“I understand, Captain, I’m not gonna make excuses here. I made the call to intervene because I genuinely believed it to be the right thing to do, especially with Haberman being so damn aggro with her. The man is a raging xenophobe, and after losing his wingman and his tank crew the way he did, I was concerned that he wouldn’t be willing to disengage. I hope you can understand my reasoning, and I submit myself to your mercy.” Locust replied.
“I was counting on that aggression to properly frame the negotiations for maximum advantage. Your intervention weakened our starting position and gave aid and comfort to the enemy! Before today, you've enjoyed a near perfect operational record, and I'll admit that I need every pilot I can get, but none of that matters if I cannot trust you to follow orders.” Henry fumed before he ran his fingers through his crimson hair and continued.
“As it is, assuming the doctors even clear you for duty, you are officially grounded. Valkyrie will take your place on the Dirge for the Fallen, and you will be assigned to counter-boarding ops. So, help me, Lieutenant, If you ever disobey a direct order like that again, I will have your wings stripped from you and I’ll have you scrubbing toilets until your fingers bleed. Have I made myself clear?” Henry snarled into the mic.
“Crystal, sir.” Came the curt reply.
“Good. I expect to never have this conversation again. Just know that I will be keeping a very close eye on you.” Henry warned.
As he closed the app, he hoped to everything that what he’d said would be enough. The last thing he needed was one of his Patriot pilots going full maverick on him.
Now onto the other headache dead ahead; politics.
He released his grip on the railing and turned to Alvarez.
“Commander, you have the CIC. Have GS four on standby to launch as soon as we arrive on the flight deck. Have GS three rearmed and ready to depart as well. Three tanks and two gunships ought to send the right message… Know what? Fuck it, let’s have Valkyrie follow us in, too. Can’t hurt to remind them that we have additional Patriot suits available to us.”
“Aye Captain, they’ll be ready and waiting. I’ll have the techs warm up Beowulf to replace Valkyrie on counter-boarding duty while we’re at it.”
“Good, the best thing we can do to project strength is to showcase our deep available reserves. If they truly want this alliance, we can use this opportunity to extract maximum concessions.” Henry said, with his mind whirling already on the possibilities.
“Yeah, but this is Gardner, she knows exactly what we have available. Have you considered the possibility that if they have the technology to save her memories and re-implant them in another body, they can read her memories too? Hell, they I wouldn't be surprised to discover they could even modify or implant new ones! How can we be sure she’s even still the same person in there, or that our secrets haven’t already been compromised?” Alvarez replied.
“I can help answer that one, Captain, if I may?” Doctor Octa said. Henry simply nodded, intrigued to hear the Alderei’s thoughts.
“Time and computing power would be the limiting factors here as they most certainly have such capabilities. It is important to remember that their brain scanning technology can produce a rapid copy, but the actual process of analyzing an entire lifetime’s worth of memories is a rather slow and laborious process. It is far more likely they transferred over her personality aspect intact while using simple persuasion and emotional manipulation to bind her to their cause.”
“So they play nice enough to convince Gardner that they want to come over to our side then upload her into a spare body to in turn convince us. Is there anything stopping them from just loading up a new personality copy to interrogate or deep scan while we are distracted with these negotiations? Also, what are the odds that they slipped some brain control chip into her?” Alvarez asked.
“Nothing can stop them from taking such actions now, they have a permanent copy of her memories and personality that they can instantiate at their leisure as many times as they need. Each new instance would have no knowledge of what happened to prior ones. Conversing with multiple instances of her personality aspect at one time would have been the prudent move with the limited time they had. It would allow them to pursue multiple strategies and apply trial and error, with the best outcome being the one they uploaded. Their only limitation would be their surviving computational power. As to your other question, without access to a more detailed brain map, the more sophisticated and subtle control tools they have would be impossible to embed in the time they had. That does not preclude the possibility of them integrating a simple pain/pleasure switch and a background program smart enough to know when to activate it. Such an option would be a far more subtle method of influence which would be easy to slip in and operate unnoticed.” The tall grey said.
“You truly have a knack for setting one’s mind at ease while simultaneously providing a wholly new and unexpected set of concerns. Well, that settles it. Doctor, would you care to join me for the negotiations? We will be staying safely aboard one of the Sparrowhawk gunships, and we’ll be the first to fall back if the talks fall apart.”
“Certainly, Captain! I must say, I did not expect them to break and negotiate like this, and I find it highly suspicious that they have done so. This is a most unexpected turn of events. I should be there if for no other reason than to help update our predictive analytics model with the new data.”
“Speaking of which, what does Consensus have to say about all this?” Henry asked as they walked through the CIC blast doors into the main hall.
“Consensus has agreed in principle to amend the terms of our alliance within reason. There are certain ideological black lines which must not be crossed, but they are ones which we have already made you aware. Primarily, do not enter into any agreement that would allow for the continued exploitation of the native population, and keep the focus of the alliance on the defeat of our real enemy, Apophis.”
“Good, then it sounds like having you join in the conversation was definitely the right move.” Henry replied.
“I’m afraid I would have been forced to insist upon it, had you not so graciously extended the invitation first. I do have one other request, a personal one this time.” Dr. Silvar’Esh said as he stopped to look at Henry.
“Oh, and what would that be?” Henry asked in a bemused tone.
“That we please take your elevator instead of that death trap you call a quick lift.”
Laughing, Henry walked over and hit the call button. He ran through a mental checklist while they waited. At last, the elevator dinged, and he walked in to press the button for the flight deck. Henry turned towards his alien compatriot as the doors closed and the elevator shot upwards.
“Doctor, I realize I should have asked before we left the lower levels, but are you prepared with everything you need? Do we need to go back for your spacesuit or anything?”
“I have everything I need right here, Captain.” The Alderei said as he patted the pouch slung across his chest. He then reached over and pulled open what appeared to be an invisible seam and stretched his arm deeper into the pouch than it visibly should have fit. Henry stared incredulously as several items were retrieved.
“How in the world does that all fit in there?” Henry asked, unable to help himself.
“This is a dimensional sling linked to a much larger pocket dimension within. I won’t bore you with the physics, just know that I have all of my supplies and my more portable tools with me at all times.”
“That’s really handy. Any chance I can get my hands on one of those someday?” Henry asked.
“There is no current consensus on such technology transfer at this time. I will remember your request and if possible I will grant it, however. You will likely have to wait a few of your weeks for the arrival of the Solar Warden.”
The doctor removed his dimensional sling temporarily before he strapped himself into a harness and palmed a control on the belt section. Within moments, he was covered in a silvery liquid that solidified into an armored full body suit, including a bulbous helmet with a metallic black faceplate. He then connected a backpack that Henry assumed had to be a life support extension before he again slung his pouch over his chest.
“Well, you certainly look ready for action.” Henry said with a smirk before the doors opened.
Together, they hurried towards the flight deck where he was met by a young petty officer.
“Captain, if you will follow me, we have your gear loadout ready for you.” She said after snapping off a smart salute.
“Perfect, are the birds rearmed and ready to fly?” He asked her as she led him over towards the armory where a Paladin suit sat open and ready for him to step into.
“Affirmative, GS three launched just a few moments ago and is waiting in formation with Valkyrie and the Rhinos you requested. GS four is prepped and waiting in launch bay one for you.”
“Excellent. Hand me that helmet over there will you?” He asked before he accepted the offered helmet and sealed it with a hiss as the HUD booted up. As soon as the system initialized itself, he stepped away from the charging cradle and hurried down to the awaiting gunship with the suited Alderei following close behind.
Henry turned back to look at his deck crew moving about efficiently at the top of the ramp before he hit the button to seal the crew compartment. After a quick comms check and verifying the doctor was properly strapped in, he settled himself into an acceleration cradle of his own for the ride over. As he heard the pilot complete his checklist and get approval to launch, his mind wandered to the task ahead as he began to work through as many contingencies as he could, assisted by his neural computer.
All right, Gardner… Let’s hope that it’s really you in there. Thus, he sat and thought as he was sucked back into his seat as they accelerated out of the bay doors towards the rest of his arrayed forces.
MEANWHILE….
DATE POINT: MAY 12th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, NEAR JUPITER, THE DUAT
AMBASSADOR VANESSA GARDNER
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Vanessa paced back and forth with heavy magnetized footfalls as she fought to get a handle on her nerves. Anubis sat patiently like a statue off to her side, seemingly unfazed by the situation.
“I really don’t know how you can be so calm about all of this right now.” She blurted o ut, before she kicked herself over the lack of control.
“ARE YOU WORRIED YOUR PEOPLE WILL KILL YOU RATHER THAN ACCEPT OUR OFFER OF PEACE AND COOPERATION?” He asked her, causing her to stop and ponder the question.
“No… I don’t think the Captain would order that… unless we proved to be a threat to him, I suppose. I guess I’m just having trouble settling my nerves after what we went through out there. Just the fact that we were so close to getting killed already is a stark reminder that it’s still a possibility.”
“CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT THIS WAS INTENTIONAL? THEY WANTED TO TEST YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR WORD AND TO INTIMIDATE YOU IN EQUAL MEASURE. WE ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN THEY AND HAVE A GREAT ADVANTAGE IN WISDOM AND TECHNOLOGY. HAD WE SO DESIRED, WE COULD HAVE CUT A BLOODY PATH THROUGH THEIR FORCES AND FALLEN BACK TO THE THRONE ROOM, FROM WHICH NO ADVANTAGE IN NUMBERS OR MACHINES COULD DISLODGE US. IF YOUR PEOPLE HARDEN THEIR HEARTS TO OUR OFFER, WE CAN FORCE THEM TO RESPECT US AND FEAR THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR PRIDE.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Gardner looked away from him and shifted in her stance as she considered his words.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend… Few things bring people together like a common enemy or a common goal. I have to believe that we can succeed here without further violence. We have to…” She replied.
“SUCH IDEALISM SPEAKS TO YOUR PROFOUND IGNORANCE OF THE DEPTHS OF DEPRAVITY AND SELF-INTEREST LURKING IN THE HEARTS OF MEN AND GODS. THE TRUTH IS THE ENEMY OF YOUR ENEMY IS NAUGHT BUT YOUR ENEMY’S ENEMY. A COMMON FOE FORMS A WEAK BOND EASILY BROKEN IN THE LUST OVER THE SPOILS OF VICTORY. THE TRUE CHALLENGE BEFORE US WILL BE IN FINDING STABLE GROUND UPON WHICH TO BUILD THIS ALLIANCE. WE WILL REMAIN CHAINED TOGETHER TO OUR DEMISE UNTIL A SOLUTION IS PRESENTED. REMEMBER, THERE ARE NO MORE REPLACEMENT BODIES IN STORAGE FOR US.”
I KNOW. Why the hell do you think I am so anxious!? I told them I wasn’t cut out for this!
She clenched her teeth to avoid snapping at him.
“I’m working on that, and I know enough about the depths of evil we are all at risk of falling prey to. I’m what I like to call a part time student of history. I watch the serial killer stuff; I also listen a lot to the true crime podcasts while I work. There’s way, way too many examples to count across history to be all that ignorant. Then there’s all the horrible shit that happened to us during and after the invasion… Actual hell on Earth, perpetrated by your species, most of it with little communication or explanation. Hell, we have only now identified them as the forces of Apophis. Most of the people on our ship lost their whole family in the war. A fair chunk of them might never be willing to see that distinction for what it is.”
“THEN THAT IS THE POINT YOU MUST FOCUS SOLELY UPON, AND STRIKE AT REPEATEDLY. WE SHALL ARMOR OURSELVES IN THE DISTINCTION, AND ARM OURSELVES WITH OUR INDIGNATION IN THE FACE OF ALL SUCH IGNORANT COMPARISONS. WE MUST AT ALL COSTS BE SEEN AS DIFFERENT, THE VERY SUCCESS OF OUR ENDEAVOR DEPENDS UPON IT.”
“I think I can work with that. Thank you, Anubis, that helps.”
Her mind flipped back to the mindfulness exercises she had so often neglected and decided to give them a try. I can’t allow myself to fall apart right now.
Her subconscious mind dove into the problem while she focused her conscious mind on the tips of her fingers and the palms of her feet, basking in the sensations of the moment. An alert pinged in her helmet, grabbing her attention.
THREAT IDENTIFIED;
COMBAT MODE INITIATED
The light glinted off the hull of a gunship as it slid into view through the rent hull against the starry backdrop. Her blood ran cold as a second gunship pulled up alongside it and a familiar voice shattered the peace she had felt.
“Ambassador Gardner! How good it is to see you and your little lap dog again! I’ve been positively itching to get you back in my sights. We never did get to finish our dance.”
Oh, so it’s going to be like that. Asshole.
“I’m surprised after what you pulled back there they let you off your leash, Haberman.”
“Oh, they couldn’t wait to get me back out here, I’ve never had a faster re-arm. Don’t worry, I still remembered to bring all the best party favors. I can’t wait for my cue, I’ve got a killer part to play.”
As they spoke, three hover tanks flew in a long curving arc through the wounded superstructure and came to a stop in formation boxing her in on all sides. In their wake, a Patriot suit decelerated hard into a hover before it set down on the deck and raised its rifle at her.
Brandon? No, Locust was damaged…
Two of it’s railgun arms aimed themselves at her, and the other two aimed towards Anubis.
This must be one of the two from the Indomitable Will… I don’t know any of these people… shit.
“All right, Ambassador. You said you wanted a ceasefire so we could talk? Here’s your chance.”
The Captain’s voice betrayed little warmth, and even less hope. Vanessa looked at all the myriad gun barrels pointed her way as she began to sweat.
You can do this. Don’t settle for defeat in your heart before you ever begin. No matter your fear, it is imperative that you speak with bold conviction. What starts as an act will be soon replaced by true confidence. We will be with you every step of the way.
Vanessa set her jaw, steeled her spine, and focused on the gleaming gunship in the distance.
“Captain, thank you for agreeing to meet. I can see you’ve rolled out the red carpet for us here. I’m not going to waste time on useless platitudes. I had a long debate with the station master after I.. after I died. We both believe that there are areas of mutual interest upon which we can build an alliance. He is most insistent that the message be spread, enough that he allowed me to be uploaded into their last remaining war body in onsite storage. We have already lost enough in this battle; Osiris would preserve what we have left and has offered combine our strength first against Set and the Olympians, and then afterwards against Apophis.”
“Osiris, you say? So that’s the name of your new master. How kind of him to offer up an alliance after the tide of battle turned against him. Had you not arrived when you did, Anubis would be dead and the facility would be ours. What advantage would we gain by chaining ourselves to such an alliance?”
Come on, Captain… don’t be like this.
He is trying to shake your confidence, do not allow him to succeed. Be bold and focus on the advantages, remember that Horus still has his Ur-Uatchi as well, and we can compel him to join our cause. Remember that none of his warriors individually could stand against Anubis, use that fact to your advantage.
You’re right, thank you. I think I know what to do.
“Captain, you know as well as I do that we cannot openly use technology on the surface, and both teams we have been training for this purpose are in the hospital as we speak. Osiris has told me that he has full control of this facility, and would never have allowed us to keep it. We avoided disaster in the space battle against Horus by the thinnest margins. He is still out there, along with multiple other dreadnought class ships throughout the system. This alliance grants us full access to the Duat’s manufacturing capability, Anubis and my help in battle, and once I can speak with Horus, Osiris has promised he would join us too. Furthermore, we would have the whole of Egypt to base ourselves within, as well as their armies and alliances. Or we can kill each other in an endless cycle of escalation. I know you see me as biased or potentially compromised, but this is an offer that truly is too good to refuse.”
Very well said.
Vanessa clenched her teeth as the silence dragged on. Why isn’t he saying anything!?
It has only been a few seconds, be patient child. It is imperative that he speak first, or you will break the power and tension of your words.
“How can he possibly promise all of this? How can we trust him? He’s one of THEM. We already have an agreement with the Alderei and it includes wiping out ALL of the false gods. That list includes Horus and Anubis, as well as your new master, Osiris. You offer a lot, but we risk as much as we stand to gain. What if Horus is in no mood to talk? What if the Pharoah refuses to recognize this deal? What if this is a ruse to save their lives while we eliminate the competition for them only to be later stabbed in the back? Don’t forget this is the same race that has oppressed and lied to potentially hundreds of less advanced races to play god. The same race that invaded and killed billions of our people trying to subjugate us. I don’t think there is any way we can possibly trust them.”
We must correct this blasphemous ignorance! Horus will obey his father, and no Pharoah would dare defy the orders of the gods! There are many gods who would stand with us against the tyranny of Zeus. Without our blessing and assistance, you will face the full and united wrath of the Olympians alone. With our assistance, we can fracture their unity and win. The system can be reformed from within, controls loosened, and together we can refocus on the true war against Apophis.
Okay, thank you, I’ve got this.
“Captain, Osiris and the Egyptian pantheon have the same true enemy that we do. They have as much reason to fight Apophis as we do! Once we land, we will have the entire weight of the religious apparatus supporting our claim and authority. I am inhabiting the war body of the goddess Isis herself and I speak with the authority of Osiris. The Pharoah wouldn’t dare defy us, nor would Horus. Zeus has made many enemies; Osiris knows who we can turn to our cause and he has the sway to do so. We aren’t going to have a better start to the war than this.” Vanessa said.
“Captain, you can’t seriously be considering this line of bullshit!?” Haberman shouted.
“Stow it, Haberman, let the lady speak and the Captain think! Keep off the damn comms.” Another voice shouted back.
That must be Valkyrie, looks like I might be swaying some of them to our cause at least…
“Let’s say we could come to an agreement and build a coalition against Zeus strong enough to survive and refocus against Apophis. None of these so called god-kings will want to lose their power or status, and the Alderei have made it clear that we must democratize while we liberate. We represent an existential threat to the same gods you propose we ally with; nothing will change that fact. We will always be watching our backs as much as they will be watching theirs.” The Captain finally replied.
Tell the captain that we have set Thoth on the task of assembling some proposals for democratic reforms which would be acceptable to us. Most deities intervene infrequently in the affairs of mortals, there are only a handful of us that would refuse to surrender control. That is not an issue as they would not ally with us anyway, and thus will have to be culled.
That’s a big step, are you sure this will be enough?
It will have to be enough.
Okay, here goes.
“Osiris has already tasked Thoth with developing several possible avenues of acceptable democratic reforms. I’m sure that we can hammer out a deal in future meetings that will make everyone happy. Most of the God-kings intervene very little in day to day politics, and even then only in dire circumstances. Those that do take a heavier hand in governance are unlikely to ally with us anyway and will instead make it on our kill list. There is a massive political divide amongst the different pantheons, the situation is far more complex and nuanced than we had initially realized. Osiris can be the perfect guide to help us successfully navigate through this mess. Once we clear up the domestic political situation and set up a working constitution we will have no reason to turn on each other while Apophis, the real enemy, looms so large over us.”
“Kinda hard to see the difference between your Pantheon system and the tyranny that Apophis would bring upon us. How many thousands of years have they hidden here on the Earth now? They’re not going to want to join the war, Osiris just wants us to eliminate the competition for him! Captain, I beg you to listen to reason, we don’t need them!” Haberman chimed in.
ASSHOLE!
“Stay off the damn comms Haberman! This is between me and the Captain. He is right about one thing though; Osiris wants to help us clear out the competition, but that was already our goal! Osiris is motivated, and we’re going to need them as much as they’ll need us. I know we have lost people to this mission, and I feel that as much as you do, but we have inflicted losses on them too and we are the clear aggressors here. He is meeting us more than halfway; we just need to step forward ourselves to meet him there.” Vanessa replied, trying her best to avoid letting her frustration show.
“Halfway is not nearly far enough! There is no moral equivalency between some mindless gene spliced monsters and the brave soldiers who lost their lives and limbs to this mission. The fact that you could possibly even consider those to be equal gives me real concern as to just how compromised you truly are. We can repair our ship and we can kill the imposter gods without help. If that means we need to use our technology in the open then so be it. A few bunker busters from orbit followed by a full combat drop onto Mount Olympus will take care of the problem, of that I have no doubt. We are in this to win, and to liberate all the people of Earth. Maintaining some of the pantheons just to topple the others is not the way to that high moral victory. If we do accept this deal, the false gods need to admit the truth to the people and will need to fall under our command structure afterwards.”
The Mount Olympus temple complex is protected by thick armor and capital ship grade shields, such an attack would likely never succeed. Even if it did, does your Captain not understand the people themselves will cling to their worldview and religions and unify against you as hostile invaders? We can reform the system and introduce democratic rule while still maintaining religious order. Separating the religious and political apparatus would be seen as a radical concept, but it could be successful if implemented correctly. Without this compromise at the very least, how would he possibly plan to sway allies to his cause? No god would willingly accept such terms.
Panic rose inside her as she felt the conversation begin to slip from her grasp until Osiris’ previous advice came to mind.
Solutions… I need to focus on seeing the solutions through the problems….
“Captain, I know as well as anyone there is no moral equivalency with our losses. I was one of those who died on your orders to take the facility. As I understand, Mount Olympus has dreadnought grade armor and shielding and plenty of escape options. You know as well as I do that people don’t respond well to top down change through force. Even if we could succeed in a decapitation strike, we don’t have even a fraction of the troops necessary to occupy hostile populations. We must move forward with diplomacy first and violence second. Osiris has stated that he is open to a separation of church and state and religious freedom to break their political power while still maintaining some of their former status. Based on our own historical experience, the people will hold tighter to their religions in times of crisis and will resent anyone who tries to take it from them. Any surviving god-kings will be free to whip up an army of religious zealots to fight us. We need allies. Every god-king we can bring to our side is a high moral victory, as it brings their peoples along with them unharmed and strengthens our argument and position. Can’t you see that this is the better way?”
Vanessa exhaled sharply in an attempt to vent some of her stress while she waited. A couple of short, encrypted transmissions passed between the forces arrayed before her. Her anxiety spiked all over again as she imagined the worst possible outcomes in a series of flashes.
At last, Henry broke the silence.
“Very well, we might have a pathway forward with this after all. We were always going to need more of a Marshall plan than a treaty of Versailles to clean up and integrate everyone after the death of the false gods. Having a few holdovers who buy into our new system and help support it in the critical early phases could be beneficial, if properly managed. The separation of church and state and a doctrine of religious freedom is a starting point from which we can work. Hell, they formed an important cornerstone of the American model, I see no reason why they shouldn’t be a part of our new system too. If these false gods wish to keep their heads they’ll agree to be bound by those limitations, and they will need to be ready to assist in battle and follow my commands to the letter. I will not bend on this requirement, and I will be making it clear that we will be watching them for any sign of betrayal, including by you. Now, I am going to ask you to surrender your weapons and follow us back to the ship where you will be held in safety and comfort while we finish negotiations.”
Vanessa looked over at Anubis to her side with a sigh.
He is NOT going to like this...