Future Zero: The Posthuman Chronicles

By Jave Harron

Ancient of Days

Iktomi sat in the chair with his robe-covered legs up on the table. The four others came back, each dressed similar to how they were the following day. Zhu was dressed in her blue jumpsuit. Doctor Zann had an exomesh suit on, with his weapons hidden among a belt of tools. Woods was dressed in his classic old Info-Age suit. Mausoleum was dressed in random clothes she had thrown on, with mismatched footwear being the only thing Iktomi cared to note about her appearance. They all had a seat in front of the trickster. A hologram depicting the system appeared. The primary star was a red giant, nicknamed Sophia. The first world was a minor rockball, named Agatha, then was a Martian-like world, Tarsus. The major settlement on that world was the New Antioch archology, with a population of a quarter million sapients. The last world was a hydrogen gas giant named Teresa. There were representations of several smaller ships, settlements, and colonies all across the system.

“This is a real time representation of the entire Sophian system,” Iktomi explained. “We're currently here, heading for the edge of the system.”

“Are you going to jump to another system?” Zann asked. “The closest system to this one with any confirmed Daedalan artifacts is-”

“One you should be very familiar with, Doctor,” Iktomi grinned. “We'll be heading to the Hera system, with the target being Alecto. I am glad you didn't get the chance to terraform it, Doctor. Who knows what artifacts may have been lost?”

“Hold on,” Zhu added. “There's no way this hologram and sensors can be so accurate in real time.”

“It's Solarian technology, Agent,” Iktomi snickered. “It's a little more complicated than banging rocks together, so don't worry your nearbaseline mind too much about it.”

“Iktomi, I have a question,” Mausoleum asked. “What type of sapient are you? Post-singularitian? Hyper-post baseline?”

“Good question,” the trickster said. “But suffice to say, if baseline humans were ants, you'd be roaches, and I'd be a chimp. Of course, there's things far above me in form. Beyond a certain level of sapience, interaction becomes virtually meaningless.”

“So the Solarian archais are to you what you are to us?” Woods suggested.

“Roughly, yes, but that's the gist of it,” Iktomi continued. “Now, it's a popular fallacy among the Terran-sapients here that the Solarians have no interest in colonization or expansion beyond Sol.”

Zhu looked a Iktomi with a piercing glare. “What do you mean? Is this plan of yours related to that?”

“Not at all!” Iktomi laughed. “Now, baseline and nearbaseline sapients often need similar resources. You prefer planets you can terraform, or barring that, plop down a few arcologies and mining settlements on. You have specific minerals, gases, star types, and chemicals you require for survival. We Solarians, you see, are much less picky about real estate.”

A hologram of a strange device appeared, resembling a saucer with several mechanical arms. “As you may have heard, we Solarians possess something you refer to as transmutation. We've developed picotech and femtotech, which transform any form of matter into any other at the quark level. So, whether it's cosmic gas or the standard emissions of our singularity reactors, we can form computronium structures from it. Since our technology is optimized for low-energy operation, we prefer red dwarf stars for our targets.”

“If you have von Neumann probes and singularity reactors, why the hell didn't you take over the galaxy yet?” Larry muttered. “That's infinite energy, matter, and an exponentially expanding industrial base that works anywhere. How come you have no interest in the societies that are right next door?”

“We don't think of them as societies as much as pets, or ants in the front yard,” Iktomi snickered. “But by we, I refer to me, myself, and I. Not all Solarians are as arrogant as me. Some of us find you amusing. Predictable, but amusing.”

“Are there any others we should be aware of?” Zhu added.

“Yes, one significant one, but I hope we don't see the bastard,” Iktomi mentioned. “He always was a misanthropic maniac.”

“Do you know where he is?” Zann added. “That's one place we should stay away from.”

“I know exactly where he is!” Iktomi replied. “Why, he's he reason High Priest Abraham VII took command of the Moabites! Chances are, he'll be giving them what advanced technology he knows, and unleashing them on their neighbors for the schadenfreude of it all.”

“Fuck! Caodan!” Zhu cursed to herself. “That explains several things!”

“Explains what?” Woods asked.

“Certain recent Moabite tech,” Zann replied. “I had read a few reports that the Moabites had gotten advanced science from somewhere. They're being very secretive about it, though.”

“Chances are, the Moabites won't get any important tech. They'll just get a few weapons hundreds of years more advanced than anything of yours,” Iktomi nodded nonchalantly. “It's unlikely the Moabites will get any planet-killers, singularity drives, or picotech. That would ruin all the fun.”

“What is this Solarian named, Iktomi?” Zhu raised her voice. “Tell me what you know about him.”

“Abraham knows him as Azrael, the Angel of Death. Like me, he's a Solarian who finds you nearbaselines interesting,” Iktomi continued. “But unlike me, he enjoys a good war now and then. Not the sharpest blade, but definitely one that enjoys brutally hacking.”

Iktomi noted the rest of the crew wincing. “Relax! On this ship, you're perfectly safe. Azrael may not have constructed much SOTA Solarian technology, but I have. This vessel can tear apart any crap-bucket ship they can throw at us.”

He noticed the group calming down a bit. “Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense,” Zhu remarked. “If they can't harm us while we're aboard the ship, then they'll only waste resources by attacking us.”

“Exactly,” Iktomi said, turning the hologram back to the model of the star system. Zhu noted that the positions of several model ships and stations had changed. The Zeroth Trump was almost into jump range. Iktomi changed the hologram to the target system. The main star was a Sol-like star, a G2V type star known as Hera. There was three planets in the system, an Earth-sized world and two gas giants behind it. The Earthlike world, Alecto, had several arcologies along it. The two gas giants were known as Cronus and Rhea. The second world, Cronus, was surrounded by a decaying megascale shell of some sort. Its moons were largely asteroids, but it and Rhea both possessed permanent moons with Daedalan artifacts reported there. Again, several space ships, settlements, and other signs of settlement were apparent.

“This is our target: The Hera system. It's home to a decentralized political entry known as the Wayland Republic,” Iktomi explained. “The whole population of the system is no more than five million. There's a community of refugees from Moab, which is located on a colony in orbit around Rhea.”

“The Wayland Republic has an excellent military for its size,” Zhu added.

“Their current President is a former Moabite admiral named Adam Lorenz. He sided with a failed democratic coup in the Empire, and had to flee after Abraham came to power,” Iktomi continued. “Now and then, the Moabites pop in for some raiding, and loose badly every time thanks to him.”

“So, what's the plan? Just land on Alecto, find some dig site, and steal their artifacts?” Zann asked. “There's thousands of sites in this system, and searching every one would be a pain in the ass.”

“Yes, but as a Solarian, certainly you have some ability to find the ones statistically likely to fit our desires the most?” Mausoleum asked softly, turning her head to either side.

“That would be the plan if I cared on digging for a while,” Iktomi replied. “But in this case, some other saps have already done the hard work for us. I have one site in particular I'm interested in. The drawback is that it's defended by a group of mercenaries who don't like intruders.”

“Care to give us any more background? Who are the mercenaries? Who do they work for? What are they armed with?” Zhu asked.

“Can't we just offer to pay them more than their current employer?” Woods suggested. “The Wayland Republic's own currency is faring poorly against the Centauri credit.”

“These are nearbaseline mercenaries running bodies in autistic mode. They're not going to be able to listen to any of bidding,” Iktomi replied. “What I want is simple. They've been hired by a group of smugglers. Go in, handle the mercenaries, and bring back whatever goods they have to the dropship. I'll handle concealing our business from the authorities. Just get in, out, and back.”

A holographic map appeared of the landing zone. There were several prefab dome-like shelters, a shuttle landing zone, portable generator, air defense turret, and a communications hut. There was a marker inside the largest dome, with the label “Artifacts of Interest,” with a serial number and description of the crate. It was a featureless gray shipping container, roughly a meter on all sides.

“The mercs are armed with a mix of heavy weapons and some conventional ones. Your current gear should suffice,” Iktomi explained. “I'll be doing most of the hard work, since I'll be controlling the dropship's guns. Alecto's terraformed enough to gain a breathable atmosphere, so you won't need any hostile environment suits.”

Zhu nodded. “Iktomi, I would like to volunteer to be the leader,” she bowed her head. “Seeing as I am the one with the most combat experience, I would like to take on this task.”

“You're not the only one with combat experience,” Doctor Zann muttered. “I was in the Centauri forces for a decade, you know.”

Iktomi looked away from the others and turned to Zhu. Zann noticed Mausoleum looking away for a split second. “Yes, Agent, you are indeed the most experienced one,” Iktomi explained. “I will give you all some of my personal rifles and upload you with the appropriate tactics to use them.”

The hologram changed to show the dropship. The vessel itself looked strangely conventional, with a gray hull, blank-tinted front and side ceramplate windows, and an engine on the back and sides. The craft had point defense flechette cannons on each protrusion from the primary hull, and a mini-turret underneath had an electrolaser and gyrok launcher. There was no identifying marks or symbols on it, save a black circle with eight lines of equal length protruding from it. Zhu's infolink brought up no information on the craft. It appeared to be a combination of several nations' own combat dropships, rather than any specific model. The technology inside seemed recognizable as stolen from several nations, rather than Solarian supertechnology. Obviously, Iktomi was trying to cut his losses in case they were captured. When in doubt, use primitive technology.

“Get suited up in insertation armor,” Zhu commanded. “Head to the armory.”

Iktomi uploaded the operation protocols for the dropship, which they now knew was called the “Wolf-Spider” class transport. The others had the proper use of orbital insertation armor, Iktomi's rifle, and basic tactics for the unaware. Zhu lead the way to the armory, and saw their recently nanofactured goods. The rifles were bullpup weapons that looked strangely conventional. There were made of a black polymer, and had several rails for accessories. It could take standard modular magazines of all the standard sorts: gyroks, flechettes, and nanorounds. Her recently updated infolink identified them as “MARS” weapons: “Modular Assault Rifle System.” The action seemed strangely mechanical, but it possessed a standard smart gun uplink and power cell. The stock possessed a similar circle and lines emblem to the design of the dropship.

Zhu checked the weapons, and handed them out to the others. She stepped into the armor fitting room, and several robotic limbs attached bits of custom-fitted orbital insertation capable powered armor onto her. The armor itself was the same green shade as Iktomi's olive robe, and there was the spider emblem again. Checking the suit, Agent Kai Zhu realized it also had active camo. While it was a combination of technologies she was familiar with, Iktomi had thrown together a chimera of technical innovations that had not been seen together yet.

The others came through, each clad in a similar outfit. The helmet was face concealing, the suit was both loose and formidable looking, and the person inside was completely subsumed by the suit. The powered armor's helmet and interface was designed to expand the range of vision of the person inside, rather than limit it. It was not as densely armored as a hostile environment suit, but definitely was able to seal a baseline human inside from vacuum. The material made was some advanced form of exomesh, and the hardened parts were made of ceramsteel and hardened composites. Zhu noticed several redundant power sources, as well as nanosolar cells, able to recharge over time. There was even a nanotool attached to one side. There was a chute and jumpjets used to slow the descent. The integrated communications, however, used no system that the Agent was familiar with. Perhaps that was one thing Iktomi preferred to take no chances on, and used some of his more powerful technology with.

“Everyone ready to move out?” Zhu gestured towards the airlock. She looked at everyone through the helmet's visor. The HUD identified them all as green, with an “affirmative” labeled from each of them. Before leaving, she ensured she backed up her consciousness on her room's console, and ensured the others did as well.

Neuraux links initialized, she transmitted to the others. According to the tactics you have just been given, I am the squad leader. Just sit back, and let your reflexes do the fighting.

The airlock they had entered before opened up. A dropship identical to the one that they had just seen a hologram of was now connected to the vessel.

Hey, Agent, looks like Iktomi's been busy, Zann auxed. The whole vessel's made of reprogrammable matter. He nanofactured this from the ship while he was talking to us, probably.

Let's just get on board and get this over with, Zhu replied.

Agent Zhu entered the dropship and looked around. The back held enough room for a squad of troops and their support gear. The cockpit had two seats and conventional controls, as well as ones able to be activated by neuraux command. Either Iktomi was controlling them from a distance, or he had pre-programmed the AI on board the vessel. Once everyone was aboard, Zhu directed them to sit near the back. The dropship began to move, and Zhu auxed the ETA to everyone.

I realize most of you have not done an orbital insertion before, Zhu auxed. Just follow my lead, your reflexes, and your instincts. If in doubt, empty the clip.

Zhu activated one of the craft's internal hologram projectors and piped in data from outside. She saw one of the point defense flechette cannons, and the world below them. They were heading for a grassland region on the other side of the world from the world's main settlement, Miklagard.

Isn't this place disgusting? Zann auxed the others. The terraforming is so basic, so generic.

It's habitable, and that's what matters, Zhu replied. Terraforming's most economical as a science, not an art form, Doctor.

And that's exactly why I tried to fix that, Zann muttered over the aux. No geometric shapes, unique continents, or even specially made ecosystems. Just the same old Terran standard life with a few genes changed. No von Neumanns, cybiota, or interesting gengineered life. Just another soulless border world.

Unleashing them like you did almost caused this planet to be evacuated, Zhu replied. To say nothing of the Daedalan artifacts that would've been lost.

Zann said nothing as he leaned his helmeted head back. Zhu tuned into the local radio frequencies to see if anyone had spotted them. Strangely enough, even the local military channels reported nothing in their sector. They were entering the atmosphere, so that might change once they got closer to their destination.

Zhu noticed a change on the vehicle's hull once it made it through the atmosphere. The external sensor now showed the vessel was transparent. It took a moment to realize what was going on. The vessel itself had integrated thermoptic camouflage, and probable other ECM. She did notice that Iktomi was arming the weapons. Whatever he was doing would probably require a lot of firepower. She magnified the image from the sensors. They were coming over an ocean, and heading in for the target fast. The ocean changed to a grassland, and the dropship's retrorockets fired. The vessel's angle now changed, and they were holding steady.

Iktomi sent the prepare to jump signal. Zhu noted the coordinates, and saw the vessel's rear hatch open. The group used the tactics programmed into their suits, and activated the active camouflage in their powered armor. Zhu readed her MARS, and prepared to jump. The computer in each suit of power armor calculated the amount of thrust needed from the suit's own jumpjets to slow their descent and allow them to land at the exact coordinates they wanted to. Directly below them, she could see the mercenary camp. The air defense tower was a set of missile launchers and flechette guns, and thankfully hadn't noticed them. Several mercenaries, about a dozen total, were visible from the air. Iktomi sent an updated picture, showing another cloaked dozen, several camouflaged combat drones, and a number of people inside each of the prefab dome-shelters. There was a landing pad nearby with a dropship that had landed.

Zhu's instincts and Iktomi's programming both selected gyrok rounds for her rifle. The micromissiles would gain velocity not only from their propellant, but also from the gravity pulling them down. She aimed the scope at a heavy combat drone, and pulled the trigger. The other members of the squad selected their own targets as they descended. Zann targeted the air defense tower. Woods targeted another cloaked drone. Mausoleum targeted some of the cloaked mercenaries. At once, they pulled their triggers, and selected new targets. Before they could fire again, the dropship's own weapons activated. The mercenary dropship was hit, as the invisible beam from the electrolaser cut through the disabled craft. The flechette cannons blasted hundreds of nanoscale penetrators a second at the combat drones and few armored mercenaries. The Wolf-Spider dropship was still cloaked, and the mercenaries could only return sporadic fire upwards. A pop-up in the HUD informed Zhu that enemy communications had been jammed.

She instinctively selected and fired the gyroks on the next group of targets. Iktomi's training helped the others, and the barrage of fire from their dropship pinned their enemies down. Kai Zhu knew that this wasn't a battle, or even had been. It was a massacre. Iktomi was giving them plenty of indirect support, since their communications were working perfectly, while the enemy had literally none, aside from frantic cries and shouting.

Zhu switched to thermal vision to detect if there was anything left. There were no survivors, and about twenty-some dead mercenaries and about half a dozen destroyed drones. The ground was now close enough to touch. Unlike the parachutes of yesteryear, the powered armor allowed her to land softly and gently on the ground. The gray carbon-fiber prefab dones were now riddled with bullet holes, laser burns, and flechette cuts. The ground was now covered in unidentifiable detritus of all sorts: scrap metal, torn slivers of flesh, bodily fluids mixed in with spilled implants, and mangled bodies.

The objective, though, was just ahead. The other three landed, and pointed their weapons outward, scanning for any more hostiles. If anyone was waiting nearby cloaked, they were either waiting for something or wisely deciding to not fight. Zhu entered the primary dome, where Iktomi had said the objective would be. Passing through a sterile airlock, she had the others fan out to the storage room inside. There were several crates, all sealed gray metal ones. A small lifter drone moved around the aisles of the ad hoc warehouse, ignorant to the fact its owners had all been killed. Zhu hacked it from a distance, and reprogrammed it to get the crate with the number and code Iktomi wanted. The drone carried the crate out to the landing pad, where the cloaked Wolf-Spider awaited.

Guys, can you get a few other crates while you're there? Also, check for this computer system in the smallest dome, Iktomi auxed them.

A new list of crates to take appeared, and a computer system had to be hacked and uploaded. Zhu directed Zann to come with her, since he claimed to have some combat experience, and his infolink indicated some time as a combat engineer. She assigned Mausoleum and Woods to carry the remaining crates by hand, since it would take to long for the drone, and the power armor would make the work easier.

Zhu forced her way into the targeted dome, seeing only communications gear. Several bulky, inefficient computers and a makeshift generator were scattered about the room. Just then, she heard gunshots from her suit's sound amplifiers, and saw Zann blasting an auto-turret on the ceiling, just out of her range of vision.

That thing was disabled, you know, she angrily auxed.

For now. Best to not take any chances, Zann replied.

Checking for any more threats, Zhu accessed the computer. She felt Iktomi himself working through her, blasting through barriers that would normally take hours to crack. A packet of data was broadcast up, and Iktomi gave them an updated on their HUDs. The inventory of the warehoused goods indicated they had taken all 'items of interest,' and the uploaded minds of the mercenaries they had just massacred.

What use are a bunch of backups from dead mercenaries? Zhu asked.

A bit of intelligence for me, and also a bit of bounty. All of these names are wanted smugglers and mercenary associates, so I'm just forwarding them to the local authorities. And oh, looks like I just got a nice paycheck.

Satisfied with the answer, Zhu directed Zann out of the dome. The gunship's weapons turned on the smaller shelter and blasted it into scrap metal.

Was that really necessary? she auxed.

No, but it was fun.

Zann helped load the last of the crates from the shelter. The rest was just military surplus and spare parts for the mercenaries' nearly obsolete machinery. Having cleaned the place out of artifacts, the group headed back into the dropship. As the rear hatch closed behind them, Zhu noticed a flash of light outside. Not knowing what it was, she auxed Iktomi.

Just get back to the ship now. Keep the active camo on.

Iktomi's previously carefree tone had now gotten much more serious. The craft now seemed to move faster than before, heading up into the atmosphere. Looking out the view from an external camera, Zhu could see what the flash was. The shape of a mushroom cloud loomed over the world's horizon. There was another flash, and another cloud. She could not hear any of the nuclear holocaust, but she could clearly see what was going on. The other three were speechless. The rest of the ride stretched on for eternity as Zhu considered who could be behind it. The Moabites were the most logical suspects, but they had not even gotten this lucky before. What changed?

Just then, the craft stopped. The rear hatch opened, and they found themselves staring at Iktomi. They had landed back on the Zeroth Trump.

“I regret to inform you that our mission has just gotten a lot more complicated,” his old man face turned into an angry, younger face. “It looks like Azrael and friends have made their move. They've just nuked the major settlements on Alecto.”

“Fuck!” Doctor Zann cursed. “So the Moabites just somehow managed to get through the Wayland Republic's much-vaulted military in a few hours? Or is this your friend here escalating things?”

“I'm afraid to say yes to both cases,” Iktomi solemnly said. “But their seat of government is still intact. I managed to alert them when the first Moabite ships jumped in. President Lorenz managed to get to an escape ship with several key personnel.”

“Iktomi, you're going to help them?” Zhu asked. “Aren't you worried about the Moabite fleet?”

“Not particularly. None of the Moabite vessels have a chance against us. It's Azrael I'm worried about, and he's off somewhere else, laughing his ass off from a distance,” Iktomi added. “For now, just relax. I'm afraid the rest of this operation will involve ship battles. Since I control all the operations of this vessel, just lay back and enjoy the fireworks.”

Zhu knew it was pointless to argue. Iktomi controlled every drone, automated fighter, and craft produced by the vessel. She was not surprised as the Wolf-Spider dropship was stripped of its cargo, and then decompiled back into nanogel. With the matter stores replenished, Iktomi went about producing several fighter and decoy drones. It was time to show the Moabite fleet how a Solarian vessel could fight. Zhu lead the others back to their rooms. Predictably, they opened holographic links to see Iktomi's actions.

Iktomi contacted President Lorenz through a covert government frequency he had cracked before. Before, he had used another frequency to trigger the evacuation. Now, it was time to call him up in person. He selected his old man face to provide a face that looked experienced. That could often be a calming factor in dealing with nearbaselines. He opened the channel, and saw the President's face: If he was a baseline, he would have appeared as a middle aged man. But due to a full body prosthetic, he looked like a younger, strong man. Iktomi did know he was quite surprised.

“Greetings, Mister President,” Iktomi said. “I'm Iktomi, a Solarian visitor to the system. Glad you got my warning signal.”

“That was you?!” Lorenz asked, obviously discontent. “That, and this channel, were supposed to be a concealed government frequency!”

“You're in no position to complain, President,” Iktomi replied. “These Moabites caught me by surprise as well, so be glad I hacked your pathetic networks. You may be wondering how a Moabite fleet managed to get past your defenses.”

“Would you happen to know anything about that, Solarian?” Adam Lorenz was obviously unsure of what to make of Iktomi trying to help.

“This fleet is using technologies provided by a renegade Solarian, Azrael. He's the benefactor of High Priest Abraham, and he's not very nice. I'm offering to help escort you, your forces, and as many civilians as possible out,” Iktomi answered. “You personally established the Exodus Protocol for that reason.”

“You obviously have access to top secret Wayland files,” Lorenz stated the obvious. “What do you gain from this?”

“The satisfaction of helping a republic that thrived for so long on the doorstep of one of the worst regimes in Terran history. If not for you, President, this would have happened decades ago,” Iktomi knew despite his appearance and civilian rank, Lorenz had reformed the small defense force into an elite, professional one. “My ship can handle anything the Moabites can throw at you. They don't know how to fully use the technologies that Azrael provided them with. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your evacuation ship attracting the attention of a Moabite frigate?”

The evacuation ship was disguised to look like an obsolete civilian freighter, and superficially have its characteristics. It was unarmed, but thickly armored and equipped with defensive measures. The freighter itself was rectangle-like body with thrusters on the side. The bridge was built into the hull of the vessel, and the communications and sensor array was mounted on the front. As Iktomi could see on hijacked sensors, a Moabite vessel was closing fast.

The Moabite vessel was a frigate sized craft. It had a sharp, predatory shape, but hardly looked like a high tech vessel. A dented and uneven black hull showed the scars of several previous battles and shoddy repair work. The vessel had a sharpened, beaklike shape, long body behind it, and engines mounted on the sides. While even the Moabites put their command centers in the armored hull, the Moabite designs showed the classic hubris of baseline machismo. The exposed ‘beak’ of the craft was a lookout port, often observed by the vessel’s command staff. Underneath the primary body of the ship was a railgun. Missile tubes and point defense systems protruded from the body of the craft, resembling cancerous growths. The vessel was ignoring all communications, instead targeting the fleeing freighter.

It fired several anti-shipping missiles, expecting the vessel to easily be destroyed. However, Iktomi hacked their guidance systems, sending them back to their point of origin. The vessel’s missile launchers had been disabled, but it still possessed its powerful rail cannon. Iktomi disabled its pitifully outdated sensors, and caused the fusion reactor inside to overload itself. At the same time, he shut down their life support systems, and caused their arsenal of nuclear and antimatter munitions to explode. In space, the vessel seemed to fall about silently. Careful maneuvering by the President’s ship evaded most of the debris.

“Thanks for saving us!” the President replied. “We haven’t be able to reach any of our colonies or warships. We’re being jammed.”

“The Moabites are using a Solarian-made electronic warfare signal. The only thing that can hack it is, well, another Solarian, and you’re in luck,” Iktomi added. “I can tell you that most of your warships have been crippled by the attack, as have most of your remaining settlements’ communications. Before you ask, I’ll fix that.”

The electronic warfare method that the Moabites were using was a self-adapting attack algorithm. Not a conscious AI, but something based on the same principle. It would find all enemy communications devices, and overwhelm them with garbage inputs. The Solarian program could change much faster than the nearbaseline technology, rendering even their best self-adapting defenses moot. By Solarian standards, the program was woefully pitiful and pathetic. But by nearbaseline standards, it was utterly undefeatable. Iktomi had no trouble bypassing the program and giving their cyberdefenses a boost.

“Mister President, you have several forces and colonies remaining. Since you already have several rendezvous points organized, most of your forces will be heading there. However, you’ll need some time to fully evacuate the colonies,” Iktomi noted. “Time that I am going to provide. Order your forces to get your remaining colonies, and evacuate as many as you can to jump-capable ships.”

The Lorenz nodded. “What’s the enemy force composed of?”

“Two super-dreadnaughts, three battle-carriers, ten frigates, and hundreds of fighters and drones,” Iktomi replied. “It’s lead by Admiral Yeshua Shechem. I presume you are familiar with him.”

“Oh, I certainly am,” Adam Lorenz muttered. “Figures they’d send him to do the dirty work. But given your abilities, Iktomi, I’m sure you know my history with him.”

He was the man who kept Lorenz at a lower rank, fearful that the common-born officer was more capable than him. During the failed Secularist revolt, Adam led the rebel forces under a different name. Due to interference from Azrael, the revolt failed, and Abraham cemented his power. For a nearbaseline, Lorenz was one of the best strategists for his level of sapience. He did not have the abilities of a Solarian, though. Iktomi got to work with his own strategy, one that would annihilate the man responsible for annihilating an innocent world for no reason.

A transmission went out to the entire Moabite fleet, directly from Admiral Yeshua Shechem’s flagship, the super-dreadnaught Merkava. The bearded man, dressed in the pure white robes of the Order of Saint Bressian and bearing the crucifix-and-crescent medal of the Empire, spoke to his fleet. “My men, the enemy has fallen back! The hubris of this Godless, secular state has driven them to believe they have a primary rendezvous point, from which they will regroup and flee,” he spoke condescendingly. “All units, jump to this point, and prepare to intercept them! Two million shekels to whoever kills their President, Adam Lorenz!”

The fleet began to stop their bombardment of Alecto and hunting the stray remaining ships. The carriers withdrew their drones and fighters. The super-dreadnaughts prepared to jump. The eager frigate captains moved first, taking their ships into position. The coordinates were at the edge of the system, hidden in a nebula. Iktomi had moved into position, and had his vessel’s stealth mode engaged. As the enemy vessels jumped in, including the hijacked Merkava, Iktomi prepared his own weapon. The singularity reactor was not merely a power source. It could also be used as a very spectacular weapon. The goal would be to ensure that the Moabites all assembled. The dreadnaughts and carriers were there, as were seven of the frigates. The carriers deployed their fighters, and hunted for targets.

It was then Iktomi fired the mini-black hole at them. A short-lived black hole, invisible to anyone not using sensors, was launched at the center of the fleet. It did not have to be seen to be felt. The black hole expanded, ripping the Moabite fleet apart with its supergravity. The black hole ensured that there would be no ability to escape, and no survivors. It would also dissipate rather rapidly, ensuring their would be no long term harm. The remaining three frigates, without orders, had another unpleasant fate in store for them. Overriding their jump controls for a distance, he set all three to jump into the exact same location. The three wormholes opening at the exact same spot would annihilate all of them, and the system’s primary, Hera, would burn anything that remained.

A few stray fighters or drones might remain, but overall, the Moabite fleet had just been annihilated. Iktomi knew it would not be easy the next time the Moabites attached. Azrael would know another Solarian was interfering with his project. For now, at least a good part of the Wayland Republic had been saved.

“Iktomi, I don’t know what to say,” the shocked President told the Solarian. “You just…annihilated the entire fleet! You saved countless lives!”

“You’re welcome, Mister President,” Iktomi said. “Though this attack was unprovoked, I believe I know the reason. As you know, your system is a source of several Daedalan artifacts.”

“Yes, but if he was trying to capture them why would he nuke a planet with several artifacts, instead of occupying it?” Adam Lorenz brought up footage of the broken megastructure around Cronus. Several new holes and craters covered the megastructure. “And why target the megastructure, as well?”

“Because Azrael’s a Philistine. For some reason, he wanted to deny anyone else the benefits of researching Daedalan artifacts,” Iktomi replied. “Which means other systems are at risk of Moabite invasion. President, it’s not safe to remain where you are. Luckily, you prepared yourself if you ever had to evacuate and live in hard vacuum.”

“That I know. My biggest concern is Moabite pursuit,” Lorenz replied. “Moabite vessels easily have a greater jump range than my ships.”

“I may be able to help,” Iktomi added. “I can open a wormhole that can take your fleet halfway across the galaxy. They won’t bother with you out there.”

“Thank you, Iktomi,” the President bowed his head. “You have done us a great service today. Before we leave, is there anything we may do to assist you?”

“Yes, in fact,” Iktomi added. “I’d like every note, nanoschematic, and piece of information you have on the Daedalans.”

“Can do,” the President said. Iktomi received the data, and kept his word. The Wayland refugee fleet and remaining warships were now halfway across the galaxy, where even Azrael would have no interest chasing them. Iktomi himself left the system after ensuring the last refugees got through. Looking over the information from the refugee ships and damage, of the five million inhabitants, only a hundred thousand sapients remained. Most of them had been on Alecto, but an unlucky few were in civilian spaceships destroyed by the Moabites.

“Why do they do it, anyway?” Zann asked Iktomi. “An occupied place is normally better than a destroyed one. The terraforming was generic, but now, that doesn’t matter too much.”

“In Moabite religion, they have something called the ban. When they don’t aim to occupy, they aim to annihilate. It’s their way of giving everything to their sick, deprived God,” Iktomi replied. “Their inspiration came from the vile Abrahamic cults of ancient history. All three of them.”

“So, why’d you do it?” Zhu asked him. “You could have just left them. Now Azrael knows another Solarian, probably with contrary goals to himself, is willing to escalate things to achieve those aims.”

“I know,” Iktomi replied. “We’ll prepare for him next time we see him. If you’ll excuse me, I have some data to look over.”

Of course he was lying, since he could manage sorting through the data and talking with the nearbaseline, but for now, he just wanted some time to himself. His crew had performed well, as he hoped they would. For now, it was time to plan his next move.