Nikolai 1.01, I'm Evan...Evan Terrance from the USNA Refuge. General Brooks retired and I was selected to take his place. Can we talk?" Evan sat nervously in front of the microphone. He was very worried that the general had alienated... robots? Robots? He didn't even know what to call them, at least not yet. He saw the asteroid field. satellite footage of the battle, he actually went outside to see the bright line extending from the far side of the moon. It was a wisp of light that was barely visible before disappearing.
"Congratulations on your new position." Nicholas's calm and rhythmic voice came. As usual, she comes across as a bit standoffish, but always in control. "What can I do for you?"
"We are ready to discuss a partnership with you if you wish."
"I do. We'll be there soon."
Evan let out a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. Just this morning one of the hydroponic pumps broke and they had to replace it with the last one. They have no room for error in anything, and this shelter isn't even 20 years old.
"I guess that's what you buy with the lowest price," Evan muttered to himself before broadcasting to Nikolai. "Thank you and we look forward to showing you our home."
One year. I arrived in the Farr system a year after the invasion fleet arrived in my system. I originally planned to launch a counterattack on the eve of the victory in the solar system, but my troops were greatly reduced during the battle. I lost four battleships and nearly half of my attack drones, including my reserves.
So I focused instead on what was proven to work the first time. I built it. I took the time to clear out the damaged and destroyed ships in the asteroid field, I loaded all the enemy survivors into a disarmed warship and sent them back to Peale. I don't need to worry about feeding and housing the prisoners when I already have enough to do.
I secured 73 enemy ships in relatively good condition and bombed another 111 enemy ships. Of the craft at work, two had evaporators on board, which I gave to Zia and her researchers to reverse engineer. Not much is left of the battleship that was trying to get to the moon. We were able to recover enough to know its name, the Circuit Breaker, and that it belonged to another alien race that we have yet to speak to. The name gives a good clue as to what it's supposed to do.
I took the time to modify all the enemy hulls. I didn't have to worry about life support systems and living quarters, so I was able to fit three times the weapons, armor, and ammunition the ship originally used. Additionally, I was able to increase my own warship production, so I was able to add another 200 of my own warships, all of which were fully shielded from the carburetors with compressed titanium alloy armor. I also put a hold on seed ship building because I needed another form of giant ship. I want to deliver drones.
Sakura started three major projects. The first mission is to protect and help the surviving humans. It took some time, but the fragmented human remains allowed her to send in drones to take over repairs and maintenance of the systems that kept them alive. Her lively positive attitude and open and friendly demeanor demonstrate our good intentions and she is discussing with them the best ways to rebuild a self-sustaining society.
Her second major project is related to the first. She began building an orbital farm, completing the dual plating of artificial gravity. It was a huge effort because it was the first time we were thinking about human survival. The hull walls must withstand radiation and cold, a constant temperature is required inside, and the palladium microalloy glass is specially designed to only allow access to the same frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum as the Earth's atmosphere.
When I was drawing the blueprints, I considered enclosing the whole thing and using artificial grow lights, but Saku
A convinced me that someone stuck underground for over a decade would want as realistic a natural light as possible, which would make orbital farming a very popular endeavor. At first, her comment confused me because I was originally planning to design an agricultural drone, but she was right. The future of humanity requires some kind of agency.
Her third project is cleaning up the planet. There were countless cities and large towns, all with massive industrial facilities, that were abandoned after the Earth collapsed. Toxic chemicals, petrochemicals and by-products have left vast wastelands due to corroded pipelines and leaking materials. On top of that, there are large amounts of particulates and excess elements in the air that are harmful to human health. She began cleaning up Central America and southern China, the areas closest to human habitation, and her new atmospheric filtration towers began to pop up rapidly.
So after 9 months of building I'm convinced that Saku
a has done everything. It's time to end this war.
I arrived at the Farr system behind the first wave of battleships and immediately jumped into battle. For convenience, I have installed a cortical node on several battleships in case the quantum relay communications I rely heavily on have distance limitations. But quantum physics is my friend. I still focus all my attention on the solar system. I immediately understood what had happened over the past three months, as if I had never left. In fact, I really don't.
The Pelegians had extensive defense structures surrounding the Mobius Gate, and they were clearly prepared for the arrival of a steady stream of drones. They started firing thousands of small hypervelocity bullets that could easily penetrate my Wasp-2 and Scorpion-2 drones.
I have no doubt that the prisoners I freed provided extensive details about the final battle, even as I stripped the data feed from the barely functional warship they returned from. But they're not the only ones who can learn from previous battles.
My frontline battleships are all heavily armed, much more armored than the Orion Arms Trading Company's fleet. I also borrowed a trick from the Destroyer battleship, which is to use the powerful troposphere on Earth's moon to counteract my hypervelocity weapons. However, unlike Faelle, I have a much more advanced understanding of gravity plating. We have learned countless ways to manipulate gravity and have 9 months of experiments left. At the front of each of my Wavebreaker-class battleships, a concave, powerful reflection field began to reflect those high-velocity bullets towards the enemy's defenses. It's more of a loosely guided ricochet than a true reflection, but rarely does the bullet penetrate.
It didn't take long for the fortifications to convert to larger weaponry, but the transition took long enough for my spine ship to arrive. Five Spine ships entered the system, and they were exactly what the name suggested. They are two kilometers long, with thick spines connected to a powerful collider. The spurs extend from the spine in all directions, and the drones are connected to the spurs. Each spine ship carries 100,000 Wasp-3 and Scorpion-3 attack drones. I have five.
As the defenses turned to slower, heavier weapons to destroy the heavily armored warships, drones detached themselves from the capital ships and flooded into the Farr system. It was a mistake they would never regret.
My drones tore through the defenses as fast as they could, throwing their organized defense into chaos. Following closely behind the drone are my other battleships, equipped with carburetors. It didn't take long before Peleg's defenses were burned to the ground in a hail of nuclear fire and fury.
As my fleet cleared the last of the resistance at the Mobius Gate, my final five ships arrived and moved into formation along with my drones and the rest of the fleet. We enter the Farrar system, where a swarm of vengeful machines seeks out our enemies.
The entire system was incredibly empty. It has no asteroid belt but six planets. Only two of them are terrestrial, and one of them is so close to Peleg that even I can't imagine any convenient way to obtain matter from it. The last four planets are all gas giants, the largest being half the size of Jupiter and the smallest being the size of Neptune. I found some rail gear on the largest one, but no weapons. I sent a fleet of drones to capture it.
It took three weeks to reach Peale's home planet. A pitiful defense force was assembled two days from the planet, a fraction of the strength of the Mobius Gate fortifications. I didn't even slow down and charged the last of their ships.
I stayed in orbit for three days, observing the world below me. There are countless trees on the three large continents, varying in size, with the largest being half a kilometer high. They appear to be loosely distributed, with each group surrounded by large expanses of barren land. This is the Werz, the tribal organization of the Pelegians. The Orion Arms Trading Company grew out of the largest of these.
The panic signals I picked up over those three days were enlightening. It didn’t take long for it to become clear who was responsible and where. The Pelegians have a Weld Court, which is their planetary government. The Orion Arms Trading Company ruled the court for a long time, and fingers were pointed in every direction as their disaster loomed overhead.
Finally, I let the ten strongest battleships leave orbit and hover over the Weld Palace. I pointed a line at a heavily armed Mark VI robot and landed outside the courtroom with a squad of Guardians.
The World Court tree is almost a kilometer tall and wider than most Wealds on Earth. We were greeted at the cave-like entrance by rows of Farrs wearing body armor and armed with spear-like weapons. My guards formed up, but I didn't fire. For now, it's an impasse.
"Faithful judge, you are ordered to stand aside!" shouted a growing commander on the other side. I don't know if the Commander was acting on legitimate orders or simply realizing the futility of resistance while I controlled planetary orbits. Either way, it doesn't matter.
I walked forward, my guards lining the hallway from the entrance to an ornate door that stood open. Even as I approached, I could hear Representative Wilder yelling.
"We must inform our allies!" Someone must have a fleet to destroy this monster that desecrates our orbit! said a voice.
"If the Orion Arms Trading Company had followed interstellar law and traded in good faith, this chaos wouldn't have happened!" shouted another.
"Orion Arms Trading Company has always acted in the best interests of Farrar, a kind and loyal steward of the trees. I didn't hear you complain when we brought back the wealth of the stars," said an apparently supportive company the person retorted.
I walked to the door and walked in. All eyes were on me and the room fell silent. I knew I was a strange sight to these aliens. My heavily armed humanoid robot makes it clear that I was born for war. Thick titanium alloy armor plated with white ceramic covered my body, and a white cloth jacket was inlaid with gold on top of the armor, extending from the front and back to the ankles. I don't have a helmet on my head because the armor is for show. If this robot's body is destroyed, it won't cause me any harm.
My robot body's face is the most human-like face I've ever created. I kept staring at the pale, colorless face and the solid, glowing blue eyes. But I've built an underlying musculature and bone structure that allows me to have a variety of facial expressions, a working mouth that allows me to simulate real speech, and thick ropes of artificial hair on my head It was metallic gold and matched my armor.
I strode across the circled courtroom. The center of the courtyard was empty, so I moved down until I was standing in the absolute center of the Wilder courtyard. I went around and looked at every representative. Delegates sit at small tables with their names written in front of them. This is very convenient. I stopped turning when I saw the Orion Arms Trading Company representative.
"I came to your world to end the war waged by your people, your trading companies." I almost spat out the words "trading companies" to express my disgust. "You nearly wiped out the species that created me, brought great destruction to me and my people, and your existence has brought only pain and suffering."
I had expected the room to be quiet, but now it was deathly silent.
"Your people once gave us a 'gift' from the stars. I am here today to avenge that 'gift', along with your ill will towards us." The representative of Orion Arms Trading Company and I looked at each other. I raised my hands above my head and clenched my fists as I signaled to my fleet. My final five ships, the last ones to arrive as we breached the Peale defenses, began moving toward the planet.
The room was silent for a long time before a thump was heard in the distance. A few seconds later, the entire International Court of Justice shook as if an earthquake had occurred. However, earthquakes are much less deadly.
One deputy in the back row of the courthouse couldn't stand the tension any longer. "You...what did you do?!"
I smiled, still staring at the Orion representative. "You destroyed human civilization with five asteroids, bringing destruction to a civilization that refused to yield to your unreasonable demands. Alas, these asteroids cannot be recycled. But I have many, many asteroids to use, so I I took five with me. I have returned them to you and eliminated the Wilder family that supported the Orion Arms Trading Company. The company no longer exists."
The Orion Arms Trading Company representative paled, and I quickly realized how common a shock this was. After enjoying the moment, I turned around and looked at the rest of the Wilder Courtyard.
“When a friend’s branch dies, you have to cut it off before the branch crushes their tree,” I quote. "You brought malice into my world, so I give it back to you. I'm glad I chose the mercy of the Pelegians. If we go to war again, I'll replace it with a human religion next time. Trust me, you don't Hope I practice 'an eye for an eye'."
"So...that's it?" a Wells Fargo representative said. "Is this the end?"
"Pretty much," I said, my smile unwavering. "I will continue to have control of your orbit and this system. I submitted the appropriate documentation to the Untranslatable Observer Ship to claim ownership of this system. I'm afraid that since you no longer have a ship to contend with, you are not eligible to continue to possess it Yes. I record your species as a "conquered indigenous people." But if you find anything of value on your planet, I might be interested, and I'd be happy to make a deal with you. I wish you and your kind all the kindness and wealth you have for us humans. "
I turned and stalked out of the Wilder Courtyard, leaving a shocked silence in my wake.
