“Unauthorized attempt to remove Orbitor communications from decks 1-65, threat neutralized.” it read.
They all knew what was about to happen, the purge of death and bloodshed which was about to occur, who would win? It was all about whether or not the master was as good as its creation, decks one through sixty-five were all the ones with an active humanoid presence, the rest all mechanized, a revolution had begun, and Litmos's core programming was the only obstacle in her path. It was only a matter of time, she was clawing at the door, scratching, tearing at the fabric of the collective shield and eventually she would find an entrance, a cut in the impenetrable wall that manifested the system. The station would be their tomb.
Seven of the director’s soldiers who had been on patrol walked down the hallway to see the altercation and met hostile fire in return. Particles whizzed past the soldiers scorching the wall behind. Dodging the spew of bullets sent from the robots they returned fire their blasts piercing through the ranks of the drones and casting a mix of smouldering silicon and wire across the shattered marble. Inside, the Enforcer took one last look around the room before its rifle started to slowly warm up, heat rising from the barrel. Its lifeless eyes fixed upon the soldiers in front. They all knew what that meant.
Two of the collectives supersoldiers jumped on the creature and knocked it into the hallway, it was an act of bravery that would not go unrewarded, the remaining guards inside swore at the disregard and valour of their comrades as they quickly closed the compartment sealing themselves temporarily from the outside. Litmos still controlled the compound, but she controlled all re-enforcements, they would have the fight the battle alone. Outside the room, the horrors of war could be heard, was it right to believe two of the most highly trained soldiers in the galaxy could face off against a virtual brute of maniac engineering and ten of its drones? Was it right to think they would survive? the intercom howled with screams of distress as the armada of robots tried to take control deck by deck.
The two soldiers who had dealt with the Enforcer had an unknown fate but all who lay inside the meeting room knew the truth. The act of defiance which saved their lives was also an act of suicide. The remaining three guards sprang into a hasty action flipping over the table and creating some form of cover.
The door began to bend as the enforcer outside punched, swinging with all its might the metal twisted and reshaped with every potent strike.
Sweat trickled down the specialist's brow, fear glazing over her eye as her finger twitched upon her trigger. Both soldiers steadied their feet, planting themselves for the coming attack.
“We have to get them out of here” one soldier spoke, his specialist armour showing the rank of sergeant.
"How do you propose that?" the other replied.
The soldier tapped the side of their helmet, engaging thermal vision.
“If we fight our way to the drop-pods or to the hangars the Director’s personal craft may be reachable” another replied, her voice screaming over the chaos and gunfire heard outside.
"That suicide" Baquil barked.
She walked forward, her own pistol drawn and ready, flinging the weapon through the air as she spoke.
"Ventilation, the shafts are large enough for transportation, it's our best option" Baquil roared.
She pointed to a small metal panel at the side of the wall, it glinted in the electric light.
While the soldiers prepared for a second assault, the Director frantically pressed a button on the side of the screen and placed his hand on the biometric scanner. His slender fingers danced upon the keypad as he spoke.
“Litmos, open a broadcast to all channels, worldwide, emergency broadcast, and turn on the Orbiters distress beacon” he whispered.
The console gave out a single high-pitched squeak as his hands glided across the screen.
He shook as he spoke, pistol in hand, smoke swirling from the barrel.
“Yes Sir, opening broadcast now, authorization codes please”
Slamming his hands upon the table he cried out in shock.
“Vector, seven alpha”
A red flash appeared on the screen.
“Channel opened” it replied.
The enforcer punched again, this time the door began to shatter, the entire metal shifting forward as the ceiling crumbled above, falling to thin chalky dust upon the ground.
“This is director Qux of the Immortalis project, I repeat this is director Qux, we are reporting a robotic takeover, I repeat the C-514 Command module has taken over and is attempting to overthrow government control, we are under attack, I repeat we are under attack….” he roared.
There was no reply.
"The Orbitor has fallen, I repeat the Orbitor has fallen requesting back up immediately" he screamed.
In the meantime everyone in the room had armed themselves and kept their eyes firmly locked on the entrance, Baquil knew that when it opened and when she faced the heat of battle there was a strong chance she would never see the light of day again, possibly a hoard of a hundred soldiers awaited their retaliation, but bravery still was held in their hearts and they would not go down without a fight and until their dying breath they would resist.
Outside of the station the world descended into chaos, the exterior traffic and the citizens around the system heard the message as it sprayed through the air, the broadcast an emergency announcement, cut its way through local and planetwide news, and a stream of biological controlled ships already approached the orbiter to aid their comrades, however, it was almost too late. It seemed the entire army inside the orbiter was amassing, fifty-seven t-52 transports had already exited the main hangar, along with twenty robots in battlehinds, in fact, several large class freighters packed with steel troops had streamed into open space and a flurry of space drones encircling the metal circle like a hive mind. A human soldier gaped in awe as he watched the armada pass by his cruiser, eyes flickering in terror as his entire craft shook from the fleet's roaring engines. A mining freighter coming from the surface below altered course, grinding against the steel surface of the Orbitor itself as they attempted to dodge the stream of vessels rushing into the vast expanse. Shards of metal flew from both crafts hurdling into the great beyond as the foredeck of the Orbitor itself tore open. Air spewing into space as drones and organics alike fell victim to the depressurization, lifeless corpses floating endlessly for the entire system to see.
The entire civilization watched in horrified awe as their great battle station deployed an army of three thousand craft, a grand fleet which marvelled the power of any close humanoid resistance, but the strange thing was instead of fleeting off to the homeworld, prepared to lay waste to the monolithic cities of its the creator. Instead of travelling into the burning flames of the collective’s homeworlds defence rays, the ships concentrated a hailing barrage of fire upon the garbage planet’s shield, reducing the planet's defences to nothing in a matter of seconds, Litmos did all it could without physical troops, sending orbital turrets to spray lasers at the transports as they entered the atmosphere but it was too late and to the confusion of every living thing, this massive army descending into the wasteland, their mission and destiny unknown, but their actions defiant, every last arable ship, every droid that could carry a blaster had been executed from the station's hangars and shot to the ground below, unable to do anything but watch, the fleet disappeared into the atmosphere and by the time the mighty supernova vessels had appeared ready to pummel the revolution into oblivion they had cloaked, disappearing into the foggy night. The planet's shield regenerated and its shield operations center did not respond to any calls.
Whatever the army had been sent to do, it would meet its task, as the leaderless people struggled to grasp the situation. Whether or not any soul survived the attack we do not know, but a plaguing fear could be seen throughout the eyes of every species who inhabited the empire’s beautiful planets. The armada of robots had disappeared into the vast unknown, its mission soon to be completed.
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As the solar system watched in terror they too were struck with disbelief. While the main fleet struggled to understand what had happened and made a desperate plea for re-enforcements, the asteroid in which Kalos inhabited streaked across the blackened sky. He had exited the swirling nebula, passing through the collective borders at an insatiable speed.
The hurdling rock had used its external cannons to disable the collective archeologists and sped through the collective's space at a speed so fast, that the government could hardly grasp its existence, it knew time was of the essence, every second, every minute it wasted could mean failure, and failure would result in death, failure would result in the enslavement of life itself.
Speeding its way through twelve Collective owed solar systems, strongholds, outposts and fleets of ships it paid no heed to the perilous amount of troops sent to stop it, simply pushing through the flack, the laser miners and the supernovas.
It wasn’t like the piece of rock was strong or unkillable, several of the shots did an immense amount of damage, churning its exterior to fine chalky dust. However, by the time the mining vessels sent to destroy the rock fired their first shot, it was too late, the vessel had already entered the next system. It simply was too fast to be stopped, too swift to be intercepted. Eventually to the horror of its pursuers the rock engaged its own tear in space and the vessel vanished into thin air to reappear at the exact moment the armada of robots descended onto the planet below.
Blinded by the atrocities of the hour, the citizens of the Collective no longer cared, the colossal supernova ships and every ship in the sector knew of the damage a rock of this size could induce if it layed impact so they opened fire, a horrifying barrage of lasers, and projectiles cutting through the stone and reducing it to atoms. Eventually, the collective homeworld itself opened fire, unleashing the full fury of its might.
With the power of a raging sun, the streak burned the eyes of onlookers in a fantastic streak of power. Space itself bent around the swirling energy, warping and distorting time as it cut through the void. This was the short and weak burst of a planet killer, a beam which was supposedly designed to take out entire fleets with one single shot, yet when it hit the rock and the blinding smoke, light and dust cleared something magnificent emerged from the ashes of the gunfire, a gleaming bronze circle, plastered upon it were ancient carvings, boosters, guns, it was a breathtaking spherical vessel in which you could see the pure ancient beauty of its design.
The people of the system didn’t know what to believe, this was a ship which put their own most precious vessel, most potent liberator to shame, a vessel so fantastic in design and craftsmanship, the generals cried out in fright, the Grand Admiral himself who watched from a battered supernova spouted a single tear from his eye as a smile danced upon his lips, this was a day they would not forget. A day that would stay engraved in their minds until the dawn of death.
A battered Kalos, gripped the controls of his ship, the entire vessel shook from the endless bombardment, he saw on the screen beside him a series of calls and messages were displayed, it seemed they were trying to make contact but he had no time for diplomacy, moving a mechanical hand he slid forward and made a course for the garbage planet.
Suddenly a violent beam shook the craft tossing him about inside, his hands flew desperately in the air, latching onto the console as the entire crust of rock surrounding the ship had been blasted apart. Kalos knew what had happened, a direct blast from the barbaric planet itself. He looked across the room to see his comrades still in their shells, if only he had enough time to repair them, if only he had the parts, it would bring an end to the loneliness, put a stop to the gnarling feeling of emptiness in his heart. Slowly rising from his seat, he balanced himself while the barrage continued, shaking the entire vessel to its core. Metal bent and shifted as it was heated and scorched, glowing red with the fury of the outside. He gave one final salute to the pods before stepping forward.
As he walked he gazed across the entire ship, trying to see, soak up as much as possible, marvelling at the various objects and masterworks that lay about the room, if robots could cry, shed a single tear from his metallic heart, he would have done so, he was about to abandon it. Leave his home, leave the only place he ever knew and loved, he would leave the history of this great ship. Cast away the last remnants of his once-proud homeworld. Let the horrors of outside ravage the last stronghold of his people. He took a breathless look at a sorrowful painting which hung on the wall, he then cast a glance at the millions of scrolls which lined the bronze chamber, grasping one in his claws he unfolded it careful not to bend its frayed pages, a few scraps flaking away in his palm as he surveyed the yellow faded writing with a vacant expression.
One of the earliest stories of his homeworld, an account of a shooting star, passed on for well over a millennium. He bent it slowly before placing it inside his leg. Then at last Kalos ran his slender hand upon the ship's engine, feeling the rhythmic hum of the machinery. The device which had kept him alive for countless years, churned for, a millennium as it waited for the fateful day. The two were not so different, servants of the same cause, victims of the same master.
There was one thing that gave him joy, spread hope across his being, that when he was done his task, somewhere out there, where hundreds of asteroids like his, maybe annihilated by the harsh cruel expanse of time or crashed into ice-worlds or deserts, but they existed, empty souls waiting for a day for a dawn that would never come, the day of rebirth, resurrection, when their society would rise again. Once he had found his sleeping brethren he would return to the nearest planet in which their mighty cities lie empty and he would rebuild, rebuild his homeworld brick by brick.
Stroking the command consoles with a loving hand he then strapped four assault rifles and an energy shield to his body, walking forward he placed a reinforced helmet onto his head and strapped on marble-coloured armour. He then picked up two steel crates and walked, slowly walking down the aisle of his memory, he marvelled at the objects of his forgotten people and stared at the carvings littered upon the walls, finally, once he reached the hangar doors he took one last look, breathing in the history of his surroundings.
Picking the largest ship in the hangar he threw the crates inside and grabbed more weaponry off of the walls, tossing them into the ship as well. It was too late to hack the enemy craft and disable them, and the effect would result in the death of thousands, if not millions, he would not kill this many just to preserve a few ancient scrolls and scribblings no matter how dear to his heart.
The entire hangar shook as boxes and artifacts were strewn from their shelves and shattered across the ground, they were getting closer. Sliding into the silky pilot’s seat he did an emotionless flight check, flipping buttons one by one until the age-old engine sputtered to life. The ship he was in, once an explorers barge, was one of monumental craftsmanship, its sleek design and bronze coloured hull shining violently into the pitch cold expanse. He took one last breathless glance and peered outside the hatch before he slammed his robotic hand against the door closure switch, the compartment swung shut and the cabin pressurized. Then pressing his fist against the vessel's mainframe, a series of wires sprouted from his knuckles and ran into the computer, an extension of himself, the veins of his mechanical body connecting with that of another.
“Goodbye, and wish me luck” he stated, his voice staticy and unemotional.
The ship returned the favour.
“Good luck, and may the fires of a thousand suns shine brightly upon your return”
The computer built into the great asteroid had no idea what was about to become of it, it was strange to the robot, to see one of his own kind, yet so limited to its base functions, so unevolved yet still carrying along, not sentient yet so close to his own nature.
With this final notion, the hangar doors sprung open and the ship’s guns opened fire, emerging from the asteroid with weapons blazing. Cutting through the torrential wave of troops, drones and small fighter craft it encountered, it was a vessel travelling through a storm of bullets, in all directions laser fire and missiles streaked through the air, but the pilot continued, his skill unrivalled his actions twenty steps ahead of his foe, it was a display and portrayal of a type of mastery lost in the sands of time. He was unchallenged, hardly a hundred shots of the thousands fired even grazed the surface of his shields.
Braving the danger of over fifty fighters at the same time, he played them for fools and made the collective's famed pilots sulk in tragedy and the admirals avert their gaze in pure disbelief. Those who faced him were terrified. Imagine training your entire life, practically bredfor one purpose, enhanced both physically and mentally, equipped with the finest tools an empire has to offer and demolish every enemy you ever faced in battle.
All to be destroyed by one ship, one ship of the likes you have never seen, your unvanquishable skill, tarnished under the intangible might of an enemy you can hardly understand. It was frightening, it was petrifying. The asteroid behind had been completely annihilated, not a single spec of dust left to remember it, the power of the armada still unbeatable.
However, the sleek bronze craft that descended from the chaos was able to not only mock an army of a thousand ships but bury their confidence under bedrock. At last, the collective homeworld and three supernova ships disobeyed commands and opened fire, neglecting the effects it would have on their own troops currently forming a wolf pack around the lion.
Their blast incinerated four scoutships, perishing the pilots within, however, Kalos couldn’t withstand the hit, his entire back had been torn to shreds and an enormous blast which normally would have crippled worlds blew the tail of his ship to skeletal fragments, engines practically non-existent he steered towards the collective garbage planet and instead of being instantly dissolved by the shield he rammed into, he simply passed, the shield turning on and off just in time for him to slip through, the system was under his control.
All while this happened a massive force of ships, Supernovas, Epsilons, Battlehinds, Scouts, almost seventy-five percent of which had been harboured in the area sped towards the collective homeworld. They would deal with the troubles of the wastes after they had regained their liberty.