The Duo Find Themselves On All That Shines' Bridge...
"Good, you two are here." Commander Smith stared at the operatives warily, a solemn look darkening the mood on the ship's bridge. "Stella, patch a live feed of us here in this room to The Zan."
The Ship AI complied "...It is done, Sir."
The commander pointed to the bridge monitors, images on which showed mysterious objects in orbit around the world known to humankind and their inventions as Sunrock. "Angel-L.I.N.E went into ghost mode shortly before we arrived, having detected these surrounding the planet aswell as two unknown objects barely in our sensor range at the edge of this star system."
"So, she didn't want to make a move on the ones near the planet until she knew what was further out?", Carmen pondered out loud as she wandered over for just a moment to check a display attached to a console that had been decrypting and translating what would eventually just amount to basic text messages from a network AI that had for some reason seen fit to cover up its behavior and hide. "...I'm going to guess that whatever surrounds Sunrock shows no signs of having any weapons powered up." 'Angel-L.I.N.E' wasn't known to be a hesitant AI guardian, normally making short work of any non-human creation or thing it didn't like entering its assigned star system.
"It's likely a surveillance network. They are spread out evenly enough to give someone full coverage of the planet. But there are a handful more scattered in loose formations midway between the edge of this system and Sunrock. Its like they wanted to cast a wide net but focused on the planet." Smith paused for a moment to let what he said sink in. "I know you two and Zan gave me your reports earlier, but our base here on the planet received additional word from another team of field operatives while we were gone. Some of our xeno associates noticed someone attempting to send a clandestine communication from the trade station you three escaped from to someplace in the Galactic Core. Needless to say, they weren't keen on confronting and pressing them for more information, only passing what they found along."
Diego raised an armored hand to hold an armored chin. "So we caused a ruckus and someone found that interesting, and they may or may not be connected to the same people who tried to kidnap us....Does that have something to do with what is going on here? Could anyone have sent that message then have us beaten back to our own base? How would they even trace us here?"
The Zan's AI weighed in with its own favored calculation, "Might I suggest that they sent different groups in a concerted attack? The ones at the trade station sent a different group to find me than they did Carmen and Diego, then attacked all three of us with a ship that had just hung around like any other starship until we tried to escape. Maybe this is just a group sent to attack us here while we seem weak."
The commander leaned forward in his chair as if an important detail capable of clarifying matters might pop into view if he dared it by staring at a monitor long and hard enough. "We don't know anything other than the fact that Operatives Miller and Sexton were shown in an image attached to the message and that it mentioned two humans were being observed for the purpose of adding to an ongoing effort to collect data on Humanity. And while we have had encounters here in this system before with probes, this is too much of a coincidence for my liking."
The console display flashed red and its speakers beeped harshly as if offended to have been overlooked and forgotten. All That Shines' AI responded with alarm. "Two warp bubbles have been detected by both myself and Angel-L.I.N.E. It appears as if the two farther out of the unknown objects are moving away from their positions. We will be overtaken before we can descend down to the planet or warp away should we try."
Commander Smith responded "Understood, Stella. Notify and patch through to all stations."
Another round of screen flashes and angry beeps preceded the AI's next announcement. "The two objects have arrived, Sir. My scans indicate a large vessel directly in front of us and a small one near the loose, midway network of what we assume to be surveillance drones." A couple of bridge monitors turned on, bringing the potential threat to life before all viewers throughout the comparatively small human-made ship as the video showcased a hulking monster of a spacecraft. "Sir...I may not be even close to the size of the biggest carrier craft that Humanity has, but that 'thing' is big enough to swallow me five times and appears to be heavily armed with energy-based weapons...."
The commander and every other human onboard all straightened their backs. "What else can you get me on them? Configuration? Origin...?"
"My scans are ongoing, Sir, but none of what I have shows up in my databases. If I had to make a guess by the size of the unknown vessels, one is an exploratory or transport craft and the other is an escort, maybe even an armed carrier with dozens of war-" A hail signal from the comms station interrupted the AI briefly..."The larger spaceship is hailing us."
"Answer it and run our translation software." The commander forced himself to relax and sit back straight in his chair, while Carmen and Diego quickly moved to position themselves to stand beside him, tensed to full height in their power armor.
The main screen of the bridge and a smaller one to the side of it revealed two more bridges of strange, alien design as three separate ships peered into each other. A gigantic insect-like figure built like a living tank from some hellish nightmare stood in the middle of a raised central platform on the bridge of the larger xeno vessel, its thick chitin-plated body shining like gold edged with crimson on All That Shines main screen. On the second display, a much smaller insectoid stood in front of a screen on the bridge of the smaller companion vessel of the larger, its chitin plating a much more plain and less eye-catching single shade of green. Surrounding both figures appeared to be various shapes and colors of insect crewmen.
Smith took a deep breath before addressing what he assumed were two alien commanders, daring to look into the face of the larger, more monstrous-appearing one. "I am Matthew James Smith, captain of the human starship 'All That Shines' and commander of the Terran Outbound Exploration Company. These two beside me are my two right hands, research assistants Carmen and Diego. To whom do we owe the pleasure of speaking? We apologize deeply if our software fails to properly and honorably provide an adequate translation."
The other bridges seemed to stand still, as if the xenos had become frozen in place while trying to comprehend what he had said. Eventually, Living Tank From Some Hellish Nightmare opened its sharp-looking mandibles wide to speak. "This be General-Max Yohargay of vee-vuh Kaytibid Empire, be-honored minion of Her Majesty vee-vuh good Great Broodmother on Top, commander of vee-vuh starship Top's Will and be-acting commander of vee-vuh starship Taivga. You be-intrude on Kaytibid space and be-dare be-permit a larva to be-account for you? What be vee-vuh meaning of this foul mockery? Be-answer me now or I will be-pull each and every one of your kind apart all nice and slow until you be-do, be-starting with your precious offspring be-sitting there be-playing commander!"
The commander nearly jumped clear of his chair, steadying himself before he could topple over. He pressed and held down a button on his command chair, muting All That Shines' end of the conversation for the time being and looked for a moment at Carmen and Diego, both whom were much younger and bore absolutely no resemblance to him at all in their armor especially when he was just sitting there as a flesh and blood human. "What the literal hell?" They glanced both his way and each others.
"I can't say I see the resemblance Sir, in or out of our suits, but the rest of that garbled mess sounded like a threat to me and that means-" Diego couldn't finish his sentence before the console display from earlier on had a third fit.
All That Shines' AI spoke up, sounding pleased "Angel-L.I.N.E is leaving Ghost Mode."
A second hail signal only got in one beep from the comms station before being picked up by the eager AI without any orders.
"...Connection Attempt Successful [Communication Protocols: Text to Speech, Visuals, Audio] [Communication Style: Default Angel-L.I.N.E]...All That Shines, this is Angel-L.I.N.E (Angel-Linkway.Intelligence.Network.Enforcement) of Angel Linkway System calling in. I am patching through to you my node live feeds and preparations for this encounter. Any orders or suggestions, Commander?"
Carmen returned to the console display and gave it a look over; then turned, nodded, and offered a soft chuckle to the commander and Diego, a wide evil grin forming hidden under her bug helmet. "She is about to unleash it all, Sir. All defensive modes. Blazing Suns, Full Cavalry, Rip and Tear....I don't know our enemy, but I'd play these odds."
The patch came through, filling up the remaining monitors on All That Shines' bridge, all of them having to split their image to show video from each node in the Angel Linkway System. Staring out and taking as much of the scene in as he could, Smith replied "As would I, Operative." ... "Angel-L.I.N.E, hail them after my next communication if they do not leave and give them a warning. I would like to prevent a diplomatic incident if we can and keep our secrets secret. We have to play this straight for Main Command, even if I personally wish we would just blast these guys to the other side. If they don't leave or decide to become directly aggressive, then I trust you know what to do about that."
"Very well, Commander. I will start to activate our defenses but will wait for your requested conditions for the go ahead." It didn't look likely that the network AI would miss out on putting on a good show and if any human on the commander's ship was completely honest, they would say that the probable outcome was the expectation.
Audio caught speech from the monster-sized ship's bridge as a bug officer clicked in its tongue to its superior., "Sir, our sensors be-are be-picking up one anomaly."
The being calling itself General-Max Yohargay turned to the screen. "Be-make one move, I be-dare you vermin."
The commander's finger moved away from the mute button and he and his two armored operatives threw back their heads and almost split their sides laughing out loud. No, the boneless buckets of chitin would 'be-get' their choice. Finally, Smith stopped long enough to address the xeno general-max. "You called me a larva, right? I am no larva or whatever your young may be, I am actually older than my assistants here. And mockery? Playing commander?...Going to harm our people? WE have been here five whole cycles while YOU haven't been here any the whole time! WE have stakes here now, SIR! What makes you think that YOU have any business threatening humans? Here or anywhere?! YOU have another thing coming now if YOU do not answer ME!"
"Arrogant fragment of-" A beep from the other side of the screen interrupted the big wig alien whom was absolutely wigless. "Who be be-hailing us, Vocalizer-Max?"
"Sir, I be-can not be-tell by our readings precisely where vee-vuh hail be be-coming from. It be like it be be-coming from all directions at once. I be-hate to be-admit it, but this be a first for me even in all my cycles be-doing this work."
"Be-answer it anyways."
"Yes Sir. It be be-coming in now."
The xeno commander seemed to almost be anxious as it waited for the hail, shifting around like it was getting impatient. 'She' would be there soon enough. A smirk crossed the faces of all those it could on All That Shines, and knowing The Zan as they did; both Carmen and Diego knew to expect a drawing of one either on display when they got back to it or when someone found one hidden in its ship logs.
The General-Max finally tried to speak. "Identify you-"
"Connection attempt successful. Communication protocols activated: [Translations: Galactic English / Kaytibid Click-Clack] [Communication Types: Text to Speech Communication Only] [Communication Style: Stone Cold Bitch]. Commencing..."
"...Intruder vessel, I am Angel-L.I.N.E (Angel-Linkway.Intelligence.Network.Enforcement), chief artificial intelligence of this sector of space. I noticed you when you intruded on my associated human masters' space. I warn you now to leave because you threaten my masters and their charges, which by extension are my charges. Leave or face the consequences of your actions. How do you respond?"
The plain green insectoid facing them in the smaller xeno vessel clicked "So vee-vuh probes we sent out before we even arrived...."
"Floating ruined in space. Gone by my 'hands'. Your drones will float too. Only technology that I use, choose to allow, or am ordered by my masters to allow is permitted here."
Plain Green pulled itself up to its full height, spread its claws and started opening and closing its mandibles rapidly like scissor blades. It clicked and clacked in a low frequency still picked up by human craft. "Curses...this be bad. If we be-do not be-do something vee-vuh Taivga will be all but blind aside from her in ship sensors and scans. Not to mention vee-vuh be-scraping off of carapaces my crew and me be be-going to be-receive when we be-get back to a military base."
Its commander on the other, much bigger ship "Top's Will" as they had called it, seemed to scoff back. "You observer types be all vee-vuh same, always be-wanting to be-sneak around and be-observe but hardly ever be-get into vee-vuh thick of it unless you be be-dragged in. Be-get your cowards straight and be-take our enemies on if you be-wish to be-save your precious drones. In fact, that be an order. We will be-find this abomination of a mockery of life out there and be-snuff it out."
"I would apologize if I actually could or would bother to care.", The voice of the AI remarked coldly, much to the contrasting mirth of those hearing it from the bridge of All That Shines and throughout the rest of that ship.
The lights of the bridge of the xeno vessel "Taivga" could be seen flashing red as if an major alert was coming in. Good news, but surely not to the unenviable officer who jumped like a surprised cartoon character on that little ship's bridge. "Sirs...there be an unbelievable spike in energy be-going off all around us!"
All hell seemed to let loose on the alien bridges as the enemy lost all semblance of order, either falling over each other as they freaked out or fighting to stand just to avoid losing consciousness. Cartoon Character made a good show of managing to drag its likely dizzy self up off the bridge floor by its claws to reach what must have been its post. "Warp gates everywhere, Sirs! Vessels be-bearing human energy signatures have appeared! They be be-surrounding us en masse!"
"Humans and my kind prefer to call them link gates because of the whole chain we successfully established and hid from the likes of you.", the so-called 'abomination' corrected the alien officer nonchalantly.
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Untranslatable gibberish, presumably foul language in nature, flowed through the wide open mandibles of both Plain Green and Plain Green's superior.
"Oh, and General-Elite Yohargay?" The AI dead-panned. "Wrong choice."
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Showdown After Hails End...
Commander Smith watched as the last bit of glow dimmed from the nodes of the Angel Linkway System. This was it. All help that was going to come through the linkway gates had arrived and now the portals were powering down. Swift combat craft much larger than a standard fighter broke away from their fellow new arrivals and raced their way to his own starship.
The system took on a pleasant, assuring tone "Commander, these are unmanned vessels piloted by me alone. They will provide cover for you should you distance yourself from the enemy or need to escape."
His own ship's AI spoke up "Sir, I detect more unknown objects emerging from the bigger enemy spaceship. I am trying to scan them, but there appears to be some sort of interference."
"Commander, I think we should take Angel-L.I.N.E up on that offer. If Stella was right about that being a massive carrier, then those objects are ships and our own fighters are going to need backup support." Diego found an empty bridge chair a ways from that of his leader. Carmen soon joined him nearby, things were about to get rocky and they would both rather be sitting than standing when it did.
"Move us out and put us behind our new friends, Stella." Smith had no intent of running away from battle while everyone else was fighting only to return later.
All That Shines made its way from the point of its confrontation with the enemy, passing allied warships as they powered up their weapons and joined the network's acquired vessels. "Angel-L.I.N.E has forwarded us a connection to Sunrock Base. Should I take the call?"
"Go ahead, and pick it up whenever they or the warships try to communicate with us."
"...Commander Smith, this is Base Operator Davis calling in. We have visuals on all those suckers in orbit and are prepared to make them dust."
"Proceed with that, the fewer eyes the asses have the better."
The lead of the human warships hailed them "All That Shines, this is Francis Gary Madison, captain of 'Star Strike' and commander of the fleet 'Wrath of Sol'. We are in position and commencing our attack."
"Understood Commander Madison, thank you and your fleet." Smith continued to look out into space. "Stella-"
"Command-, oops sorry to interrupt Sir, but I have completed my scan. They are indeed ships, fifty of them now to be precise. We ourselves are now as far as we can safely be while still providing support. Should we release our own flock?"
"It is time then. Tell the pilots, then release the fighter flock when everything is ready." He paused for a second. "Zan, if you are still listening, you are staying right where you are."
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Ships of Means...
All That Shines and its crew watched as enemy fighter craft advanced on the human warships' positions. "Sir, point defense and ranged missiles are online. The flock has left my cargo bay and have assembled into formation. Please have someone standby in case I need assistance."
Carmen moved over to a panel with override controls. "Don't worry Stella, me and Diego will take the guns and helm if something happens."
"I am fine with that if the commander is." The ship's AI seemed strangely unconcerned about the prospects of a non-crew member potentially taking some of its controls. Completely calm.
Before Commander Smith could reply, flashes of light pulsed, turning the imagery on All That Shines' screens into a light show where it would be complimented by audio from the lead warship's bridge as its speakers came over their own. The Wrath of Sol had opened up with a mega laser blast into the xeno escort vessel from Star Strike's subordinate ship 'Hell in Hello', its lesser missile systems firing off supporting volleys into a number of the enemy swarm making for it while its laser cooled off. 'Burn Baby Burn' followed up the first hit of the night by firing rapid zaps into the same spot that had been blasted, only to eat the xeno warship's first as it began to return the favor of lighting them up. Beams of energy shot out into the void, dotting up the metal hides of even more ships.
"Star Strike to 'Burn Baby Burn', how do you burn?...'Hell in Hello'?...'Fury Thunder'?...'Fangs of Jane'?"
"Barely warmed our faces, Sir. Shields are at 97 percent still."..."We got 10 percent knocked off just for saying hello."..."95 percent of our thunder left."..."96 percent shielding left. Their own should be worse if we keep it up."
"Its all in, its all in, bitches. Go go go!"
Lasers of all kinds erupted from the 'Hell in Hello', 'Burn Baby Burn', and 'Star Strike' while kinetic rounds tore from rail guns mounted to 'Black Night', 'Flash Hawk', 'Fury Thunder', and 'Fangs of Jane'. A wide pair of lasers swept across the battlefield from Top's Will, closing in on them like a set of cosmic pincers. This was deftly dodged in time to be rewarded by 'Flash Hawk' and 'Fangs of Jane' both making a dive down and along the top of the giant carrier, peppering it with both rail guns and missiles while their friends 'Black Night' and 'Fury Thunder' did the same on the massive ship's underside. More dodges and more dodges were made as the monster vessel kept up its sweeping attacks and spot fires. The three allied laser firing ships kept hitting the same spots in the front of the enemy craft, only to be joined in cutting light fashion action by some of the Angel Linkway System's AI-controlled vessels once about half of the enemy fighters were gone. Receiving so many lasers hits in one area eventually forced Top's Will to shift shields to its front section, allowing the rest of the human warships to make better attacks closer to its rear. Finally, 'Fangs of Jane' did the honors. All of her rail gun rounds bite into Top Will's weakly shielded behind, taking out what appeared to be one of its major engines.
"Star Strike to Wrath of Sol, we are good here. Update us on your status."
"Fangs of Jane here. 50 percent of shields left. We are out of rail rounds and are getting low on missiles."..."Black Night at 60 percent shielding, we are also low on missiles and rail rounds."..."Flash Hawk at 58 percent shielding, also low on everything."..."Fury Thunder at 64 percent shields, rails are low and missiles are out. We are focused on engaging in evasive maneuvering and point defense."..."Burn Baby Burn at 70 percent shields. Lasers going off of cool down in 2 minutes. Plenty of missiles."..."Hell In Hello at 65 percent shielding. Main laser on cool down for 5 more minutes. Point prick lasers coming off cool down in 1 minute. Missiles are good."
"Star Strike to Fangs of Jane, make your way back behind us close to All That Shine and assist from there. Black Night, do the same once you run out of rail rounds."..."Angel Linkway System, generally speaking, how are your ships?"
"Native defenses are engaged against the xeno spacecraft 'Taivga' at Node 5, with borrowings from nearby Node 3, Node 4, Node 6, and Node 7. Shields all are above 60 percent on all native defense ships and the corresponding nodes. All native weapons systems check green. As for the ships I acquired, 20 percent are below 40 percent shielding, 25 percent are around 60 percent shielding, 35 percent are at 50 percent shielding, and the rest are either destroyed or disabled. Laser systems are rotating on and off between ships and missiles range from low to medium supply. Point defenses engaged on all acquired vessels." That was about as 'general' and 'the short of it' a response the commander of Wrath of Sol would expect from an AI.
"Commander Madison, the enemy fighters are amassing on the xeno carrier's flank." A hint of intrigue touched the AI's voice.
"Fangs of Jane here, we can confirm. A group we thought were headed for us as we started moving back just flew right on by."
"What are they-!" Star Strike dodged a laser from the larger vessel as the swarm streaked by overhead and beelined for Commander Smith's ship with about a quarter of the remaining AI-piloted ships in hot pursuit.
All That Shines alerted its crew. "We have company. The whole of the enemy swarm have gathered and are breaking away from their carrier to pursue us."
"That is suicide. What are they thinking?" Carmen couldn't believe their luck.
"Time for us and the fighter pilots to have some 'fun' again, I guess. How many of them are there, Stella?" Diego took a spot near All That Shine's weapon controls.
"There are twenty-five enemy fighters. My point defenses will assist our forces." The ship AI seemed...excited?
"Stella, are you okay?" Smith asked of the very ship he commanded and was sitting on the bridge of, unable to see the look of recognition and concern crossing the face under Diego's black and yellow helmet.
"What are you doing, Stella?" Carmen inquired warily as enemy vessels came up close into view and engaged All That Shines' flock, which seemed to struggle before diving in with odd movements to fire their lasers and guns. Something didn't seem right...why were the fighters moving in such a weird manner? No she did not just....
"It is okay, you three are observing things." The AI sounded joyful as it side-stepped the question completely. An almost girlish giggle came over the bridge speakers as a fighter from the flock rained missiles into about five of the swarm when they flew too close together.
Smith entered a code at a console in front of his command chair, unlocking access to All That Shines' weapons and helm, then muted all outgoing hail audio. "I had thought that we would likely ONLY be doing this in the event of an emergency, Stella. And using the control panel overrides instead. You DO NOT appear to have lost access to your own body...." He gave Carmen and Diego both an almost apologetic look before continuing. "She still has control over herself, but you should be able to assume control of most of her systems if we need you to overstep her." The AI's response to what should have came across as a threat was simply to laugh wickedly as it poured bullets and ever more missiles into the swarm while swiftly jerking and diving the fighters out of enemy fire at speeds that would probably kill a human pilot even with field dampeners.
"Where are the pilots, Stella? Let me talk to the leader." Smith was about to reach for the manual comms controls when the AI obeyed as if nothing was wrong. "They are in my cargo hold still as they arrived too late to have fun. They were pretty surprised but It is safer for them there anyways. I am opening the comms to that area now."
"Commander Smith to cargo hold, do you read me?"
"Hello, Commander...I am still here where you told me to stay." The Zan's AI sounded too preoccupied to simply be sitting there in a cargo bay.
"Oh thank goodness, Sir. We thought the comms were down. The fighter craft are missing. We were about to make our way back to report when you came through....May we ask if everything else is alright, Commander?"
"Yes, Pilot Captain Collins. We had an issue with controls, but everything is fine. You are not in any kind of trouble for the fighters."
"Sir, there has been an awful lot of laughter and whispering from this one starship that is somehow still in here while everything else is gone." Collins eyed The Zan with suspicion.
"Commander, is Stella actually able to control ten fighters from the channels in her cargo bay or from her hails? Would she have that kind of networking capability with everything else coming in?" Carmen was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
"No...she wouldn't unless she dropped some controls and devoted more processing to her communications, of which the cargo bay comms link is capped anyways. And we received no notice of outgoing hails to the fighters. She can't even stand it when they just sit idle and link their regular communications to her comms channels." Two laser beams from two of the five laser-wielding fighters criss-crossed to cut open a hapless enemy swarm vessel that had lost its engines and was floating freely in space while still firing its own laser.
"What about Angel-L.I.N.E?" Diego was doubtful, but asked anyways as he watched the network's commandeered vessels zip around firing missiles and the odd laser at the swarm.
"She would have had to have hailed them when they were fully powered up to have pulled that off." The Pilot Captain weighed in, having overheard part of the bridge conversation over the cargo hold comms. He and his fellow pilots crossed their arms and gave The Zan a stern look. "You're busted. What do you have to say for yourself after taking our ships?"
"Two things, one being that I did not take them, half of them were given to me by Stella; whom I did not question. The second being...it was worth it, anyways!" Five fighters dove in all together and beamed searing lasers at a much bigger enemy vessel at the same time. Moments later, they returned to a more practical repeating zap pattern before having their target blown up by a missile shot into the opposite side of the ship by the network AI. The exposed heart of the swarm that had been doing the most damage to the Angel Linkway System's new vessels was gone, leaving only stragglers to pick off, which all three AI hounded relentlessly until they exploded in big balls of fire.
Checking the starry battlefield, the only thing any human or human-made creation could see that was still left out there to kill was the so-called Top's Will. The burnt and blasted ruins of its fighters and small companion vessel the "Taivga" drifted lifelessly within the view of all. "Star Strike to All That Shines, you and your flock pilots did good back there." Commander Madison had not heard the conversations that had been muted on All That Shines side of the screen and could not hear the current groaning and chuckling over there either.
"Sir, the shields of the main target are estimated to be at 15 percent or lower." Star Strike's pilot remarked. The alien spacecraft had ceased firing most of its weapons, likely funneling any power that could be rerouted to its shields and leaving the rest to gradually drain by shooting at Wrath of Sol out of pure spite.
Commander Smith released the mute button on his chair. "All That Shines to Sunrock Base Command, hows things down there?"
"Base Operator Davis here, commander. We've taken no damage, its all been target practice. Those buggers were fast and actually dodged a good number of missiles after hitting us with some interference. Daisy couldn't target them reliably for awhile and neither could her lesser subordinate installations, but we got some cleared out by human hand and eye. We ended up with a good kill count between man and Daisy. Consider them deleted....Sir, is Angel-L.I.N.E -" A familiar pattern of energy readings appeared on sensor scans as the faint glow of link gate nodes drawing power from their generators appeared on screen.
"Star Strike to Angel Linkway System, there weren't any ships left behind when we gated in. Why are you reopening the link ways? Please don't tell me that you are glitching and trying to send us back. We aren't done here...."
"I don't think she is glitching, I remember seeing-" Carmen was interrupted by the AI of the system in question.
"Commanders Madison and Smith, I am sending you and your ships my targeting and trajectory data. Please be advised to stay away from the indicated areas."
"What, you want us to reposition when we...never mind we will try it your way, whatever that is....Commander Smith is this okay? You know your local artificials better than I do."..."Star Strike to Wrath of Sol, move out of the marked areas. Lets not find out the wrong way what the AI here is doing." The human-controlled fleet of warships moved to new locations no shorter of their old ones than they had to go.
"She knows what she is getting done, Commander Madison." Smith's eyes had a glean to them as he realized what Carmen had recalled. "Carmen, Stella...one of you move us out."
Carmen already had her fingers on the inputs, but All That Shines took the command so quick that she couldn't tell who had done what without digging through a log. They all soon found themselves out of the way and awaiting action of some kind, during which time Smith sent out a ship wide notification telling everyone to get to a monitor. He switched the view on displays throughout All That Shines to a live feed that featured video of their final target front and center complete with audio from his ship's bridge to boot.
Diego got up from his seat, let slip his metal claws from their armored gloves, and looked out at the growing radiance of gate nodes. "You know what to do, girl. Just-"
"Rip and Tear until it is done!" Commander Smith and Carmen finished Diego's sentence alongside him. The crew jumped, threw hands into the air, hooted, hollared, and did all other manner of revelry throughout All That Shines before quieting down enough to watch what was going on. Even the flock pilots had been able to get to an area where they were finally allowed to see what was going on outside in time to join the celebration, where they were more than a little glad to learn by word of mouth that the AI of The Zan and All That Shines had followed with all the fighters intact when the "nest" ship moved.
"What the freaking fuck?!" Commander Madison spat out as new alignments of link way chains shot forth from the Angel Linkway System's gate nodes, targeting sections of the giant ship's poorly shielded hull. One by one, the system fully powered up pairs of nodes, a flash of bright light heralding in the stabilization of each new forming warp bubble that flattened and expanded the area of ship around it, contorting and tearing as chunks of xeno wall, floor, and ceiling attempted to make good an escape. Left, right, top, bottom...starting slow then gaining speed as each torn away section just made it easier to push through to find the next vulnerable piece.
Madison shifted in his seat as if the sensation on his butt cheeks might snap him back to another reality or at least help him make sense of this one. "Why-er what?" The enemy spacecraft seemed to warp and churn as it ripped to shreds. Cussing from the other ships under his command filled his comms as each crew dealt with the sight before them as if it wasn't real.
"I am...snuffing the 'abomination' out." The AI laughed coldly as every link gate node activated and grabbed the offending starship at the same time, shattering the remains like broken glass.
Cheers broke out once again onboard All That Shines. Smith stood on his bridge with a grin on his face and clapped. "Good job Angel-L.I.N.E, good job. And good show. Same for all you in Wrath of Sol. Thank you. That will not be the last of them, but we are fine for now. We will be ready."
"You're welcome, but such a show and such readiness is all our duty." Madison had gotten over his shock.
"Such duty is life." The AI added with mirth, apparently as pleased with its elaborate demonstration of overkill as the crew of All That Shines.
Commander Smith just laughed and beamed "The duty to show them that if they fuck around, they find out." No one disagreed; and with that he, his crew, that of The Zan, and those in Wrath of Sol all left for Sunrock Base to prepare to do every big and little thing that would keep it true.