Stephen Berry - The AI War

"I wasn't addressing you," said L'Wrona. He turned back to Harrison. "Is it?"

"Allegedly," said the Terran. "Can you make it work?"

They ducked as a blue bolt tore into the top of the door frame, showering them with sparks and droplets of molten metal.

"Ask Guan-Sharick," said John.

L'Wrona turned reluctantly. "How does it work?"

"Ask me when we get to the ship, Captain," said the blonde, meeting his gaze.

"What if you don't get to the ship?"

"You'll see that I do, won't you, Captain?" she said with an easy smile.

L'Wrona looked out, checking the skirmish. "No one's going anywhere until we reach that generator room. There are about five squads of hostiles fronting us, backed by endless reserves."

"You seize the shield generator, then what?" asked John.

"Then Guan-Sharick teleports us back to Implacable," said the captain.

"I'm not a god," said the blonde. "I can get you out in fours and fives, but-"

"Just get the device back to the ship," said L'Wrona. "Please."

Guan-Sharick nodded.

R'Gal joined them, moving up the corridor and into the doorway, a blur of motion. "Guan-Sharick," he nodded. "R'Gal," nodded the blonde. "I need your help again," he said. "As in the Revolt?"

"As in the Revolt," said the AI. He pointed up the corridor. "Move me up one doorway-I'll jam the impulse matrix on the shield generator."

"Done," said the S'Cotar. R'Gal was gone.

"Blades attacking from the rear!" S'Til's voice crackled over the commnet.

"Squads seven, nine and four, face about!" ordered the captain.

The blades came slicing up the corridor, a long phalanx of death mowing through the troopers, firing and slicing. Whenever one fired, blue lightning snapped from its rim and a commando fell, shot neatly between the eyes.

It took overwhelming firepower to bring even one of the blades down. As John and L'Wrona fired from the doorway, the lead machine faltered, accelerated, and plunged past them, plowing into the wall, a geyser of blue-red flame.

"Shield's down," said Guan-Sharick, appearing between L'Wrona and Harrison. "Hideous things, aren't they?" she said, staring at the blades. The carnage ended as the blades vanished, leaving the smoldering remains of four machines behind.

"You flicked them away," said John.

Guan-Sharick nodded. "Northern polar region. It'll take them a while to get back."

"Shield's down," said R'Gal over the commnet. "Up and away!"

Eyes streaming, choking and wheezing from the smoke, D'Trelna and T'Ral dragged K'Raoda from the shattered navigation console, stumbling in the murky twilight.

They'd lost the lights almost at the start. The Combine ships, already wounded by S'Gan, were minimizing risks, coming in waves of four, pounding the shield at preselected points. Soon the shield was rippling red-white, too weak and unstable to completely stop the hundreds of blue fusion bolts ripping at it. Then the hull began taking hits- greatly weakened hits holing it in a score of places.

A diminished fusion salvo found the bridge, exploding row after row of consoles, sending the atmosphere rushing out in a sudden gust, until stopped by the automatic sealants. By then the bridge was a smoking ruin, dead and wounded laying where they'd fallen.

"N'Trol," D'Trelna had shouted over the din of alarms and explosions, "engineering to take conn!" Flipping off the commlink, he'd stood, bellowing, "Evacuate the bridge! Wounded first. All others to engineering." He'd turned then and seen K'Raoda, slumped on the deck. Cursing, he'd knelt beside the young officer, turning him gently onto his back. Blood ran freely from a nasty head wound, and his left hand was badly burned, but he'd live-until the shield failed.

D'Trelna's communicator beeped just as he reached the lift. "What?" he managed as T'Ral set K'Raoda down beside the other wounded. The lift doors closed and the machine moved sluggishly for Sick Bay.

"You want to kiss Implacable good-bye, D'Trelna?" It was N'Trol. "We can take three more of those runs, maybe four-shielding's almost gone-then we're one with the universe."

"You keep that shield up, N'Trol!" snapped D'Trelna. Just leave us communications and internal transport."

"What do you think we've been doing?" The engineer's tone was jocular. Defense mechanism, thought D'Trelna, watching T'Ral rip open a medkit and fumble for a dry compress. N'Trol's as scared as the rest of us.

"Then carry on," he said as T'Ral put the compress on K'Raoda's forehead. The first officer groaned but remained unconscious. "I'll be there as soon as I can." If there's any there left to get to, he added to himself. Kneeling beside the medkit, he searched for the burn salve.

"They've raided the lab and stolen the prototype of a navigation jump aid." The security captain's face filled the comm screen. There was a nasty blaster burn across her cheek and exhaustion in every line in her face.

"Where are they now?" asked T'Lan One.

"Subbasement seven. We have them trapped."

"Very well. Continue. Make every effort to recover that navigational aid." He switched off before she could answer.

"If they reach their landing zone, they could pull it off," said T'Lan Two A. "That shuttle is jump equipped."

T'Lan One nodded. "Instruct our reaction force to disengage Implacable and establish a blockade around S'Hlu. Our enemies have risked everything to get that device. Whatever it is, they're not going to have it."

"They're breaking off," said N'Trol.

"What?" D'Trelna looked at the small tacscan. Tucked away in the back of engineering, auxiliary control lacked the sophistication of the main bridge-there were only a handful of screens and four consoles, all now doubly manned. Yet one of the small screens showed the Combine ships were in fact leaving Implacable behind, racing for S'Hlu.

"After them," said D'Trelna, reading the data. "They're after L'Wrona."

"You're crazy, Commodore," said N'Trol. The engineer's face was streaked with black, residue of an electrical fire in the shield generators. Bloodshot eyes glared at D'Trelna. "I can give you half of standard, or I can jump. I can't give you weapons and propulsion and shield."

D'Trelna felt him flushing. "Don't tell me what you-"

He and N'Trol whirled, drawing their side arms as Lan-Asal appeared on the other side of the console. The transmute shook his head. "Mustn't think with our blasters, gentlemen."

"What is it?" said D'Trelna, holstering his M11A.

"I need you to stabilize position relative to S'Hlu, and drop your shield."

Commodore and engineer exchanged glances. "Why?" asked D'Trelna.

"We're going to try to teleport the raiding party off of S'Hlu."

"Do it," said D'Trelna to N'Trol.

It went well at first, with John and fourteen wounded troopers teleported to Implacable's hangar deck in three separate jumps.

"Take this," he said, tossing the prototype to a startled DTrelna.

"What…"

"It's what we came for," said John. He turned to Lan-Asal. "Do you need me back there?''

"No-just another body to carry," said the transmute, and was gone.

"Well, that eases up on the return fire," said L'Wrona. He stood with R'Gal in an open doorway, firing at the Combine forces as they tried to advance up either side of the corridor, weapons silent.

"Great defensive position, Captain," said R'Gal, looking at the sign over the door: Armory 7-Atomics.

"Works for a time," said L'Wrona, reloading. "Until they send in more blades." Behind them were the last of the raiders-five wounded and two not, sitting and lying in front of rows of deep-cooled white metal cylinders, all labeled with various ordnance nomenclatures.

"Here they come," said R'Gal, pointing to a flight of blades as they whipped around a corner, light glinting off blue steel. He shook his head. "Can't help you this time, L'Wrona-they're frequency shielded."