City-21 “Kyiv”, UNSA Protectorate, Avril Dominion
Object “The Wall,” Sector 359
Julia Drozdova and Vratislav Shvets, August 13, 2049, 8:57 AM
They were torn from the soft embrace of Morpheus by the siren’s piercing sound, so loud that the walls seemed to tremble.
“Attention! Red alert!”
This time, the siren was accompanied by the voice announcement system, though all messages were, of course, simultaneously relayed to their sub-brain:
#Attention! Red alert! Status “R - Four!”
They sprang up as if shocked by electricity, disheveled, confused, and clueless. Julia jerked off the bed, hitting her hand on a small table, while new notifications continued to flood in:
# Advancing Shaiszu horde detected. Time to contact: five minutes.
#All personnel, report to battle stations!
For a split second, her vision went black and then cleared instantly — the AR interface had completely changed. During the initial briefing, they had been warned that in an emergency, partial control over settings would be transferred to the AI. So, Julia expected something like this, though she never imagined it would happen so soon.
#Combat interface activated!
#Connected to the UNSA Protectorate Global AI: Embodied Eternal Sun
#Selected Entity: Gamma-One, Category: 9 (Avril Dominion Armed Forces, tactical command), Thread: 15411
#Current order: Take position as operator of combat fighter drone, unit [24-561]
#Objective: block Shaiszu air forces as part of the assigned squad until the main defense forces arrive. Engage targets according to the priority table. Preserve the unit if possible.
Before Julia’s eyes, the shortest path to her control point appeared, along with a countdown timer.
“I’ve been assigned to a combat drone! Can you believe it, an actual fighter! Really, wow! I’m like a Red Class now, hee-hee,” she informed Slavek, while quickly dressing, managing to chatter away without getting tangled in her clothes.
“Yeah, me too,” Vratislav nodded, fastening his boots. “Everyone with real experience of flying drones got assigned to them. Shall we run?”
“Yep,” the brunette threw on her jacket and zipped it up with a swift motion. “Ready! Let’s go!”
Bursting out of their two-person “capsule,” they sprinted down the short corridor to the doors, already opened by the automatics, and dashed outside. The sense of impending battle engulfed them. The Towers swiveled their guns; combat drone squads began to gather in the sky. The construction machines that could be used in this operation abandoned their tasks and hurried to join the squads. On the ground, military robots stood ready for action.
A dark purple “film” of the force field hung between the towers. From the briefing, Julia and Vratislav knew that such measures were planned by the Protectorate during Shaiszu attacks until the Wall was built. Yes, this kind of defense was highly energy-consuming and far less effective than full-fledged fortifications, but it was better than nothing.
It wasn’t necessary to look around, as the AI immediately highlighted the trajectory they needed to follow, taking their physical data into account.
A mediaglyph “Run!” flashed before their eyes. The virtual pathway highlighted the zone to stay within, to successfully execute the order.
And they dashed off, at full speed! Fortunately, it wasn’t far — just two hundred and twenty meters to the assigned control point.
Despite the constant influx of engineers into the command center, there was no chaos or disorder. By following instructions precisely, moving within the designated in the augmented reality areas, and completing tasks within the allotted time, any potential bottlenecks were avoided.
Two minutes and twenty-five seconds later, Julia jumped into the combat operator’s seat. The connection began automatically as soon as she touched the surface. Securing straps flashed, firmly fastening her torso and limbs. A set of deft manipulators parted her hair, revealing the connectors of the interface implant.
Both locks clicked into place.
The holder bars shifted, granting access to the ports.
From the headrest, a block of connectors extended.
Full readiness.
Connection initiated!
Her vision darkened, but within a split second, Julia was seeing the world through the drone’s cameras, fully immersed in virtual reality. Flying like this was nothing new for Drozdova, and it was clear the Protectorate had taken this into account when assigning her to as a fighter pilot. Even her last name was “bird-like,” as it meant “Song thrush” in Russian, though that was, of course, just a coincidence.
The girl already wasn’t feeling the holder bars snapping back into place or the locks securing the connectors tightly — that was all automatic. She had only one task now — in less than three minutes — the Battle!
The AI smoothly, without interfering, brought up a window showing the progress of the pre-flight tests for the combat machine and the countdown timer — 41 seconds.
#Clarify tactical recommendations?
“Of course!”
“He’s asking as if I’m not ready! I’m more than ready!”
In the upper-left corner, a mediaglyph appeared: “Optimal configuration for ‘Air Combat’ mode applied, version 2-A,” and a detailed map of the upcoming battle unfolded before her eyes...
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The boundary between the untouched city and the demolition zone was still visible, but in seconds it would all blend together — the first wave of Shaiszu creatures was already upon them. Giant spider-like monsters scurried with their many limbs, massive toothed lizards sprinted on powerful legs, and swarms of comparatively smaller “mantises,” “craboids,” and “hounds” surged forward in an unending stream.
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The “scorpions” providing radio-cover had scattered to the sides to avoid obstruction, clustering in small groups on the flanks of this horrific horde. Their primary role was completed, and their next targets were unclear. Hence, the AI designated these creatures as “important to eliminate, but not urgent.”
Cyborg chimeras with cannons moved into the second line, while deep in the rear, the main Shaiszu artillery — the “turtle-squids” — had already deployed in siege mode.
But the most terrifying sight was the swarms of large, winged creatures descending from the low gray clouds, quickly filling almost the entire sky.
A few seconds of relative silence were shattered when, finally, the air exploded with a monstrous roar — the artillery began its work.
Rockets thundered through the sky, leaving wide fire trails in their wake. Anti-aircraft guns of the Protectorate pounded incessantly, filling the air with flashes, smoke, and dust.
The city’s defense managed to repel the first few salvos, but then one after another, the first, second, and third heavy rockets broke through!
It became evident that the Shaiszu knew exactly what they were doing and why — all three weapons struck the base of one of the Towers. While it withstood the impact, the armor was severely damaged — two or three more hits like that, and the monumental structure would be finished. However, the critical point was that the force field was still holding, and not a single ground creature had breached Kyiv’s perimeter.
As for the damage, special repair spider-robots had already scurried out of their special niches, rushing to mend the damaged areas as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, a positional war had erupted in the air — the Protectorate’s side had speed, maneuverability, and rapid-fire guns. The attacking monsters had numbers and, of course, razor-sharp teeth and claws capable of tearing through even the toughest composite armor.
In this slaughter, there was no place for individuals like Jules or Slavek. Only the singular combat organism of the Protectorate remained, a multitude of minds deeply integrated with the streams of the global Artificial Intelligence.
Only a few minutes had passed, though it felt like an eternity!
And it seemed the might of technology was beginning to prevail. The density of artillery fire gradually decreased — fighters and bombers had evidently succeeded in destroying most of the “turtle-squids” and similar monsters.
Nevertheless, all the Towers within the attack zone were heavily battered, and the repair teams were clearly struggling to keep up with the damage. Furthermore, the raw material reserves were rapidly depleting. And the strength of the protective field had visibly waned, evidenced by its dimming brightness.
A new command arrived for the most agile pilots: support ground forces and block the largest and most dangerous creatures. Key targets lit up brightly on the tactical map, and one nearby target was marked as “critical.”
Pushing her engines to the limit, Julia plunged her agile machine into a steep dive, straining to aid gravity in accelerating the drone.
Target in sight!
A colossal “spider,” astonishingly agile and swift for its size, stubbornly pressed forward toward the Tower under the relentless fire of ten drones. Chunks of chitinous armor flew off, but the monster steadily advanced. Several approaching fighters fired missiles, but five cyborg-chimeras with rapid-fire machine guns intervened, managing to shoot them all down. Not a single missile reached its target!
Unerringly identifying the weakest point of the nearly shattered Tower, the creature extended its neck and spat a massive glob of corrosive acid at it.
Barely avoiding the “shot,” Jules managed to complete her maneuver and, in response, fired all her remaining rockets directly into the closing maw of the beast. The spider’s head exploded into pieces, showering the area with bloody debris.
Unfortunately, the destroyed monster’s shot also hit its mark. The Tower groaned and tilted with a roar, flames and thick smoke pouring from the cracks in its armor plates. For a moment, the force field flickered and disappeared, but two neighboring Towers took over the generation, though the protective power in that area was noticeably weakened.
The battle lasted for seven minutes more. Seven whole minutes… The Shaiszu monsters, seemingly driven to madness, were desperately trying to smash the Towers and breach the force field, heedless of their losses. The machine guns fired constantly, rockets tore through the air with deafening explosions, and energy weapons roared with a piercing, vibrating howl.
But the engineers and the few soldiers from the Protectorate’s Red Class achieved the impossible. At the cost of immense effort, two more incapacitated Towers, and a multitude of destroyed construction and military equipment, they bought the crucial fifteen minutes needed for the heavy combat machinery from the Bastion to arrive.
VICTORY!!!
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City-21 “Kyiv,” UNSA Protectorate, Avril Dominion
Sky Bastion “Queen Lamarck,” Command Level, Small Tactical Room
Jurgen von Scholz, August 13, 2049, 9:46 AM
His hand froze over the table for a moment.
“There is no need for that, Weltkommandeur,” objected the head of the Air Corps, Brigadegeneral Beniamin von Kopp. “They can’t launch it; the ‘Twenty-Sixes’ are neutralizing that unit right now.”
Only the highest officers of the Protectorate were present here. Those permitted to address General von Lamarck during military operations by the title “Weltkommandeur.” Even the steadfast Jurgen von Scholz, who was stubbornly refusing to accept his long-earned rank of Lieutenant General, remaining an Oberst-Protector, adhered to this old Avril tradition.
Illustrating von Kopp’s words, a semi-transparent arrow appeared, glimmering above the surface, and indicating the attack direction of one of the assault wings.
“Very well. I’m canceling the orbital strike. Are you certain there are no other carriers with nuclear warheads?”
“Yes, Weltkommandeur. We’ve been tracking the entire column since crossing the fiftieth line. They had only four such missiles; this was the last one.”
“Then I leave the elimination of the installation to your responsibility,” von Lamarck nodded and turned to the woman sitting to his right, in the uniform of the head of the Engineering Corps. “Oberst-Protector Dominguez-Perez, have you completed the calculations? Everything ready?”
“Exactly, sir! The battle broadcast has been live on all possible channels from the beginning. The GT-collection peak has passed, and considering the psychological service’s recommendations, I believe it’s optimal to wrap up the operation now. This is the best moment; we will get another good GeistToken generation spike from the audience’s positive emotions from the victory — and minimize all possible risks. A detailed report with the necessary data is attached.”
A large virtual panel unfolded above the tactical table, with streams of information scrolling by. After receiving confirmation from the Senior Templar, participating remotely in the meeting, von Lamarck nodded and announced:
“Decision made, proceed to conclude the operation.”
The high-ranking officers present, all members of the White Class, plunged into their work. The quick wrap-up plan for the operation had been prepped in advance, but it was still crucial to ensure the entire event ended successfully. In the end, everything needed to look exactly as planned.
Oberst-Protector Jurgen von Scholz, head of counterintelligence and internal security, widely known throughout the Protectorate’s outer worlds, thoughtfully drummed his fingers on the edge of his electronic officer’s tablet.
“Weltkommandeur von Lamarck, am I correct in understanding that we won’t receive a report from the Analytical Group?”
“The Templars are preparing to open a corridor to the Great Spheres to facilitate the arrival of the Third Sun Bearer. Senior Templar Antonio Ceccarelli, who is attending the meeting remotely, confirmed that he monitored the battle in four threads and recorded everything for further analysis. But their report is not ready yet.”
As if expecting this answer, von Scholz nodded and clarified:
“The Shaiszu aren’t fools. They know we’ll understand this is just a cover operation and will take corresponding countermeasures... On the other hand, if I were in their place, I wouldn’t wait for the barrier to reach full strength, let alone the Wall’s construction. Judging by the battle scene, they managed to deploy at least five hives in the city.”
“I believe you’re right, Oberst-Protector. What does your service require?”
“A quarter of the new resource capacities after the Sun Bearer’s arrival and carte blanche for a counter-operation to counteract Shaiszu infiltration. Oh, and I will use a significant number of local personnel.”
“This bloody spectacle is repeated every time, in every new world!” thought Oberst-Protector von Scholz irritably, not allowing even a shadow of emotion to reflect on his concentrated-neutral face.
“Such a battle played out to perfection by both sides in the first days of the invasion. Psychological service recommendations. The invisible and useless presence of the High Templars, who in the end don’t have a mere report on the situation. As always... The rigid Protectorate, the traditionalist Avril... We’re all degenerating. Becoming ossified, unlike the damn flexible TACTA, which always adapts to the situation and is prepared for modern threats! Oh, how I loathe… all this!”