Civil War

Private Erredis watched in horror as the ARM Commander brought his heavy laser and M-301 rocket launcher to bear upon his comrades. Their AK units were no match for the ARM counterattack, their economical cost and weapon power being their downfall. The bulk of the army had already passed him; now the huge battle suit advanced upon those crippled KBots that had survived.

“Damn you!” he cried, as he tried to get his left leg motivator to work. It had been damaged by a single volley of plasma fire, and now the doomed soldier couldn’t even limp. The Commander fired a rocket into a another twitching AK, whose lower half had been torn off by an enemy artillery KBot. Erredis turned off his visual sensors quickly – he didn’t want to see.

The Commander turned his head, and saw the struggling machine trying to get to him.

“Come on! Come…yes!” he screamed as the leg started to work. The AK ran towards the battle suit, hoping to get a lucky shot. Erredis fired his lasers at long range, but the targeting array was so cheap, the argon phase tube so poor quality, that the energy bolts dispersed long before they got to him.

“DIE!” No-one could hear him, but the Commander knew what he was saying. The battle suit raised its laser arm, and fired a beam straight through the approaching KBot’s right shoulder. The right laser arm was blown clean off, but Erredis didn’t feel anything. The Commander was hit by a few blasts from the remaining laser appendage, but the shots were deflected harmlessly by his Heavy Armour. The figure inside the machine spoke through his external output.

“Pity you didn’t join us, soldier.” The AK slowed down in the charge, his lasers recharging.
Inside his Patterned form, Erredis closed his ‘eyes’. He waited for a moment. Feeling the laser once again ready to fire, he charged, blindly, into his gargantuan opponent.

The Commander aimed his laser once again.
The target was locked in. He fired.

“Pity,” he sighed, as the decapitated KBot fell to the ground.

****************************

This new ‘Civil War’ had troubled the CORE government no end. Rebellion against Patterning had seemed almost non-existent, yet it had manifested itself on a remote, but nonetheless valuable planet. This ARM had become a minor collection of terrorists, mere parasitic gnats, on the great Empire of the benevolent CORE. That they had acquired deadly war technology from an age long since past was significantly threatening to the government, however. Civilians, quite oblivious to this vicious conflict, were debating Patterning amongst themselves; much to no conclusion (in an official sense), as decreed by CORE itself.

The rise of the ARM did pose certain questions - for instance, how? Where had the military technology come from? How did a certain terrorist leader, blasphemously calling himself the "Commander", stumble upon an
incredibly powerful battle suit? There would be great investigations to come, decided the "real" Commander, known only as Cephiroth amongst his few elite subordinates.

"I see the gnats have attached themselves to Hadrias. I trust the forces you have sent there will be sufficient, captain," said Cephiroth to one of his lessers.

"I should hope so - the AK is our newest frontline battle vehicle. More than enough to smash the fools, sir." Cephiroth sighed, and flicked a button on the console before him.

"Then why - and I draw your attention to this waiting message - has the fifth and eighteenth battle group been totally obliterated?"

"What?" A brief pause. "I..impossible!"

“Your incompetence has caused over two thousand deaths!” Cephiroth felt enormous fury as he realised the loss that the CORE had just experienced. This, however, did not affect his expression or his speech. “Had I the time for needless paperwork I would order your execution. Instead, I will effect the punishment myself.”

He drew his blade, slashed once, and the severed form fell onto the floor in two large chunks. The blade was specially attenuated to the frequency of Heavy Armour; even the patterned form of the late captain was of no obstacle. It had not been the first time a subordinate had been killed in that room.

Perhaps paradoxically, Cephiroth, the enforcer of Patterning, was unpatterned himself. He preferred his mortal form, in line with his mortal philosophy. He bore no grudge against the process, instead, secretly, having 'distaste' only for its almost mandatory necessity for all. Still, he abided by the wishes of the politicians; he saw the mighty governance of the Empire as an ultimate strength, one which he respected perhaps more than his own being.
He ordered the replacement of his subordinate, whom he had not regretted killing for his stupidity, and decided, instead, that he should oversee the destruction of the filthy, subversive terrorist-swine himself.

"Savour your existence while you can," he muttered, and walked out of his gigantic war room for the last time.

CORE Prime was a vast, sprawling metropolis of gargantuan steel structures, the tallest of which seemed to penetrate the very atmosphere. Patterning had now become quite fashionable, despite the government's plans to make it eventually compulsory. On CORE Prime, the Patterning centres had already been filled to capacity eight hundred times over - and only a sixth of the population had currently applied to the process. Millions of new orders were being received each day, and the government had been pressed into building over two thousand more centres in the capital alone. There were those that had upped the proverbial finger at the offer, preferring to remain their mortal selves for a little longer.

Cephiroth favoured a casual attire, without the imbalance of the older Khalyer plate armour, or new, cybernetically integrated Heavy Armour, on his person. Instead, he wore black Tellorium - a tactical, in addition to stylish, decision. The long, dark coat and thin, chained tunic provided him with little protection from projectile attacks, but did not hinder his agility in any way.

Cephiroth rarely ventured into public view, his experiences in the open being either in command of a large army, or a stealthy assassin. He wasn't agoraphobic, but felt out of place among the sheep he had fought so hard in the past to protect. The teleportion stations getting to the spaceport were non-existent in the CORE Central Administration building; officials that had not undergone Patterning had been encouraged to use the ageing public services as a political example. Cephiroth, always in the service of his masters, readily followed - he certainly didn't mind a brisk walk every now and again. Although he performed his strenuous exercises every day, the past few years of sitting in the war room had wasted his physical prowess.

None of the civilian population actually knew him as one of the Greatest - a small and secretive number of elite individuals amongst the government. He cared little, anyway. Of only concern was that his duty be uninterrupted. Soon, he had reached the primary node in the Capital City of Solarias, and from there, was instantly transported, with the aid of a military code, to the starport.

I

t took little time for Cephiroth to board the Imperial Carrier, a starship of gigantic magnitude. It was the CORE's primary assault weapon; housing over eighteen thousand combat units. For this mission, however, it would only carry a small number- those of Cephiroth himself, and a few of his chosen elite. The destination - Hadrias - the planet on which so many of his military had died. The planet infested by the ARM.

"Men, this may be your greatest challenge. You've all received your briefings about the terrorists who have taken Hadrias. Know this - those that have crossed the CORE will not survive my...OUR... retribution. Dishonour will cost you your life - die in battle, or not at all." The soldiers raised their arms in salute, and bellowed a terrible war cry.

Cephiroth, his men, and the Carrier, departed.

It had been two long days since the last navigation buoy had been passed, and the empty halls of the gargantuan Carrier provided no respite to the dreariness of the men. Cephiroth himself had become more resigned; it seemed, to the men, that even he had not the infinite willpower that many had thought him to have.

It was not so with his stamina, however. He had been awake for over eighty-two hours without the aid of stimulants, carefully planning his assault to the last man. Conflicting intelligence and lack thereof was a major obstacle to him, though he had not shown his frustration in any engagement. In his mind, statistics coarsed and seethed through his neural corridors like water in riverflow. It was with great ease and speed that he had drafted a strategic plan to obliterate his enemy, but he had spent the best part of a week in constant modification of his strategy.

A man entered. Cephiroth invisibly acknowledged the presence of Major Karris and continued in his work, all the while listening for the treachery of his footsteps. He could detect none, as usual with his personally selected troupe.

"Yes, Major?" he said without turning from the map table.

"Commander, Hadrias is within communications range. We have contacted the remainder of the fifth; they are requesting instructions, as per your order."

"Good. Where are they holding position?"

"East of Vadrek City, sir. They inform us that the enemy has deployed a small firebase within the capital."

"What? How could they be in possession of construction cranes?"

"That's the strange thing. No-one in the fifth has seen anything that large, even with satlink."

"Major, the following information is classified. None but you are authorised, by me, to know this. Do not break my trust." Cephiroth arose from his leaning position, over the map table, his towering form in full view. He fixed his impenetrable gaze upon the Major, waiting for the only valid reply.

"Of course, sir. I will not dishonour you by such a foolish action." The Major raised his bio-enhanced arm in salute.

"It appears to me that the terrorists are in possession of a vastly superior construction technology. Stolen from us, like that battle suit."

"Classified?"

"None but the most prestigious officials, and of course, myself, know of it. I am entrusting you with this information."

"It is an honour, Commander."

"The technology is termed a 'nanolathe', a technology which uses small particulate devices to render basic metals and energy into operational machinery. Currently, only three prototypes exist."

"I take it you mean two in our possession."

"Incorrect, Major. We have none."

"What? Were they all stolen from CORE Prime?"

"They were developed on Hadrias. The research facility is controlled by the terrorists. I assume the worst." He turned again to the map table, motioning for the Major to observe from the opposite side.

"Construction cranes and present-day factories manufacture parts from resin-based manipulation of refined elements. It is an efficient, but logistically impossible, method of mobile construction."

"So this nano-technology can convert basic elements into specialised materials?"

"Indeed. With this, it is possible to convert energy into matter, and matter, to energy. CORE have kept this project under a vale of secrecy, not to mention the research facility itself. I didn't consider that possibility..." He bowed his head in shame.

"Come on, sir, surely it can't be THAT bad?" The Major could detect the change in formal address. Cephiroth remained silent. "Sir?" The Major moved closer.

Cephiroth spun on his feet, eyes red with fury. "And what if I had not found this out before the battle? THINK OF OUR TACTICAL INEPTITUDE! For me to...for me..." he dropped off. The visibly startled Major had little to say to his enraged superior, but tried to retain a professional sense.

"Commander, all that matters is that we have discovered this information. We can create a counter..." The Major was interrupted; he deferred and silenced himself.

"Strategy? Of course we can. I know the intricacies of the technology. But think of the consequences. Remember, once we deploy, there'll be no going back."

"Sir?"

Cephiroth regained his professionalism at a stroke. "Major, there are now the possibilities of mobile field bases, deployable static defences, mines... Leave me, Major, I have much to do before the landing. Go."

"Might I..."he began, but the Major was stopped.

"NOW!" Cephiroth spun; blade in hand, his expression one of enormous fury. The Major, most unaccustomed to outrage in Cephiroth's conduct, stepped back, without salute, and quickly vacated the heightened atmosphere of the room.

Cephiroth turned off his anger like a switch, the cold expression returning to his face. He sheathed the huge, long blade, and returned to his duty; the only residue from his fiery rage a drop of sweat, which he casually thrust aside.

The Carrier and its attendant destroyer entered the Hadrias system unmolested, after destroying the poor quality space defence systems that had been deployed by the ARM. At Cephiroth’s request, a large number of Aggressor-class fighters had performed high level sweeps of the planet surface. To any other military leader, the apparent lack of data, at this stage, would throw carefully laid, intelligence-dependent plans into chaos. This did not trouble Cephiroth, though. He ordered a second, more intensive sweep, which revealed concealed defensive structures throughout a wide area.

“As I thought – mines, fortifications, and a fortress atop this mountain pass. Men, we shall have to circumvent these defences.” With a thrust of his arm, Cephiroth activated the enormous holographic matrix in the briefing room.

Rows of his men sat atop comfortable seats, a legacy of the organic infantryman. There was now no need for comfort, as most of the Patterned soldiers could stimulate their minds with whatever took their fancy, at a brief neural impulse. Cephiroth’s chair was, however imposing, extreme in its comfort – but even the unpatterned Commander held little gratitude for this. He preferred his presence to dominate those of lesser nature, and could do this only by standing. The man was over seven feet tall; very few exceeded his height indeed. The result was a towering figure, one that demanded the utmost of both respect and fear. This figure now moved, in slow, defined footsteps, to the spinning globe of artificial depth on to which all were looking.

 “The planet’s terrain, to the most part, is suitable for all vehicles and Kbots to pass over. All those on foot will find the ground quite advantageous, as there are many obstacles created from debris. This will give excellent cover to all who use it.” As usual, the Commander paid little attention to the larger war units, instead concentrating on his favoured infantry divisions.

Had the leaders on CORE Prime not forced him, he would not be using any KBots or vehicles at all, as he considered them sluggish and tactically unsound. It was with great displeasure, therefore, that he had been forced to select loyal infantrymen to be Patterned into these war machines, permanently. Though some of these individuals harboured a distaste to their totally metallic bodies, the most loyal of the soldiers accepted their fate and moved on. Those in command of vehicles fared better, being able to retain their mortal form, but were resigned to fight inside rolling coffins.

“Commander, where exactly will we be landing?” Corporal Fadrek, a tank commander, spoke out.

“Our dropships will deploy your batallion, and the rest of the ninth armoured division, to the rear of the capital. You will be supported by the thirty-first.” A member of this infantry division now spoke.

“Sir, how are we going to keep up with the ninth?”

“My engineers have prepped a few APCs for you. You’ll be deployed well out of the way of the enemy firebase, and the ninth will slow to compensate. Meanwhile, the fifteenth will flank the base’s heavy defences from the east. With fire support from the ninth and the aforementioned Kbot division, you should be able to slip right into their base.”

“Air support?”

“None.”

Major Soronus got up from his seat. “No air support? Why? I haven’t seen any large AA defence emplacements.”

“Because, Major, the terrorists have concealed surface-based missile launchers. Unless you want a massacre on your hands, I prefer not to waste lives. In addition, the city’s defence systems are, in all likelihood, under control of the terrorists. Many tall buildings were designed to house shielded emplacements – even civilian ones.”

“What? How the hell did these people commandeer these weapons? Why weren’t they used against them in their attack?”

“We do not know. All that is certain is the configuration of these defences: Kaimler-class anti-assault cannons, Arkryd gattling lasers, and the new CNC Defender-class AA missile launchers.” This information disheartened the men – the very mention of these military names aroused fear amongst their opposition. Cephiroth was loathed to lower their morale further, but had to make known the full situation. “And worst of all, soldiers – this Intimidator-class artillery cannon.” The commanding officers closed their eyes in visible recoil from this bombshell that had been dropped upon them. Never before had the CORE’s enormous warhead launcher been used against friendly forces.

“How, then, are we going to get past this?” Major Karris spoke out for the first time since his uncomfortable exchange with Cephiroth the previous morning.

He paused, his gaze falling from the faces of the men to the tactical hologram being emitted from the enormous table.. Visibly, he was in deep thought. He managed a smile, then looked up. “I will destroy it myself.” The room fell silent, for this turn of events was unexpected. It had been over eight years since the young Supreme Commander had participated in actual battle, reluctantly resigning himself to a non-combat role when demanded by his superiors. All except the man himself, present in the room, were stunned. “Without support – I have no desire to see my people slaughtered without necessity. You will all wait until I have destroyed the weapon, then enter the city.”

The Major, deferrent as always, gave a solemn salute, as did all those watching soon thereafter. Had Cephiroth the emotional faculty, he might have delegated this admittedly suicidal task to one of his lessers, but he had little concern for even his own life. He knew that the task would be done, completed with his usual efficiency. For he had not trained for these past eight years to sit in this war room while battle could be done.

He craved the honour of personal combat once again, and the blood of those that had razed a city of innocents to the ground, in addition to the two ill-fated CORE battle groups.

Having indulged himself in anticipation, he referred the remaining unbriefed men to a subordinate, and departed the room to prepare for his mission.

Upon entering orbit of Hadrias Prime, the Carrier's cavernous hangers were thrown open; fighters spilling out from every open orifice. Instead of slim Aggressor reconnaissance scout fighters came the enormous CORE Mammoth-class bombers. These one-man juggernaughts had been feared by enemies of the Empire for centuries, and could devastate any military unit or structure so far designed. Escorting them were Vamp-class stealth fighters, a new, but proven design which had become a favourite fighter complement for successful starship commanders. Their orders were do escort the Carrier into the atmosphere of the planet, and suppress what AA defences there were.

Cephiroth joined Admiral Akenis on the bridge of the Carrier. Compared to the economical space of lesser starships, this bridge seemed an agrophobic's nightmare; a claustrophobe's paradise. Akenis was in charge of any and all space-based complications which could form during a mission. He was one of the few CORE officers over which Cephiroth had no real authority, but was nonetheless deferent to the Supreme Commander's great achievements.

"Admiral, be sure to recall your smaller vessels if our descent falls ill."

"Nonsense, Commander. I've evaluated the threat myself...there is little which my fighter pilots cannot handle. Even if the whole area is covered in CNCs, we can take them out without great losses."

"I hope you're right, Admiral. Don't waste lives on a hunch."

"With respect, Commander, this ship, herself, can yield enormous firepower on any ground targets. I'm sure I've shown you the Voladex beam weapon on many an occasion."

"We have firepower and armour on our side, Admiral, but these terrorists have surprise. They have already proven themselves capable of taking and holding a valuable CORE holding against two entire battle groups. They have also plundered a research facility, the technology in which could perhaps down even a vessel of this magnitude."

"Our shields will be able to weather any kind of assault." The Admiral turned and smiled to Cephiroth, satisfied that he had 'shown' the Commander the full extent of the Carrier's capabilities. Cephiroth turned but did not smile. Having reviewed the Admiral's boastful expression, he returned to observing the modicum of events represented by the sixteen yard wide viewscreen which dominated the bridge.

A klaxon sounded.

"What have you to report?" said the Admiral to one of his officers. "Aerofighters?"
"Negative, sir. Incoming fire. Shields are ready, Admiral."

"Triangulate position and return fire."

"Yes, sir." The officer opened a communication channel with the requisite personnel required to complete this operation. "Fusion control, divert power to weapons. Weapons control, prepare all main batteries for firing."

Within a few seconds, the Carrier's escorts had taken up a position behind the juggernaught, for the enormous beam weapon was in preparation to be used. An enormous, armoured sliding door retracted, exposing a turret of similar magnitude. The turret ascended to the surface of the carrier's hull, the plasma coils clearly energised and producing the consequent blue-green glow.

Akenis moved forward, motioning for the viewscreen to be activated. He was one who preferred to see his targets destroyed, witnessing the firepower over which he had overall command. He had called it 'the high point of the day' on many occasions. Cephiroth was, unusual, somewhat perplexed by this inefficient procedure of self-satisfaction, but nonetheless observed with interest.

Unlike the rest of the bridge crew, however, Cephiroth was unstartled when the first planet-spawned projectile smashed into the Carrier's shields. The force of the blow had caused severe vibrations. The Admiral seemed unconcerned with the subsequent hits when he ordered his favoured weapon into action.

"Tactical, fire." Without reply, the appropriate officer tapped a few commands into his console. A dazzling crimson beam was the result. The beam instantly tore into the planet's surface, creating a significant shockwave which destroyed most of the firing surface emplacements in a single blow. Again, the Admiral smiled. Cephiroth looked into an unmanned station, input a few commands, and returned to near the Admiral.

"Most impressive, Admiral. But do you intend to fire again, and again, and -" Cephiroth ceased in the waste of his breath, stormed over to a console and replaced the viewscreen with a topological map, showing the locations of over six dozen AA fortresses. He turned to the Admiral, his face as calm and serene as usual. Seeing the representation of numerous defence emplacements, which had most recently been discovered by the Carrier's sensors, the grief-stricken Admiral recovered his dignity in defiance.

"Comm, hail the Athena."

"Sir? The destroyer is holding position on our port flank. You requested radio sile-"

"NOW! Circumstances have changed!"

"A...at once, Admiral." Once the Athena, the Carrier's escorting destroyer, had replied, the Admiral began to speak."

"Captain Edlington, we have over seventy defensive sites on radar. Charge your primary weapons and join us in our assault."

"Of course, Admiral. Wait...what the..." The Captain of the Athena trailed off.

"Captain? Captain! Report!"

"Admiral, turn your vessel around immediately! Registering heavy plasma fire from the surface!"

"Our shields-" the Admiral was quickly cut off.

"SIR! Get yourselves as far away as you can! I'm moving in the Athena to cover you. Get out of here!" Having terminated the transmission, the Athena fired its engines to yield full thrust, and vectored in front of the Carrier. The helmsman of the juggernaught had no choice but to turn the Carrier away from a disastrous collision. Amidst the Admiral's furored barking, an officer focused the viewscreen on to the Athena. Experiencing great displeasure at this turn of events, Cephiroth silenced the Admiral and walked closer to the screen. He could see that the Athena was firing most of its support weapons in an attempt to destroy the larger warheads in the volley, and was partially succeeding.

Cephiroth knew what would happen in a few moments. Despite the urge to look away, he remained focused on the image. Silence gripped the bridge crew.

An enormous explosion tore a hole in the Athena's hull, spraying electrical debris all over the Carrier. Moments later, another detonation blew out the bridge structure of the destroyer, resulting in certain death for all those therein. Despite the damage to the ship, the automatic weapons kept firing, preventing some of the closing wahreads from hitting the beleaguered vessel. But without the aid of humans to guide the systems, their success was severely limited. As the Carrier retreated from its crumbling 'wall' of defence, the destroyer's hull, the exposed fusion reactor was hit by a small piece of debris.

The destabilisation which resulted reduced the tattered hull, and any possible survivors, to liquid, or less. Though the resulting blast and shockwave could not be heard by anyone, anywhere, imagination in league with the visual stimuli, sufficed to compensate. Even Cephiroth struggled to feel devoid of emotion, but the lives of thousands of innocents had been lost. As the officers on the bridge struggled to regain their senses, Cephiroth, with renewed determination and resolve, left, silently.

Having destroyed the Athena, the ARM surface batteries now fired in full force on the beleaguered Imperial Carrier. The Admiral ordered as much spare power as could be generated to the shields, which were now strengthened against the incoming assault. Despite significant damage, the juggernaught remained at operational readiness, and having weathered the ARM's weapons, now struck back for the devastation of their escort destroyer.
Because the Carrier had deployed its large number of small fightercraft already, they were prepared for their inevitable orders - attack. At once, the veteran pilots of fighter and bomber alike headed into the atmosphere of Hadrias, their specialist hulls protecting them from the enormous frictional heat. For those on the ground, the sky seemed to be lit with thousands of flaming fireballs; disconcerted ARM troops headed back into their structures in terror. They had good reason: for as soon as the invading fighters had hurled themselves into the sky, they tore into the surface emplacements as the Admiral planned. Escorted by superior fighters, the bombers were able to reach their targets unmolested, while the ARM fighters were easily put down. CORE air superiority, both in technology and number, was to be short lived, however.

Cephiroth watched, from the viewpoint of one fighter displayed on his screen, as the most dreaded of anti-air weapons arose from their concealed subterranian positions. The CNC Defender batteries locked on to their targets and launched their guided volleys into the air, penetrating, and destroying, the armour of the CORE forces. Despite their quick reaction, and a hailstorm of missiles and bombs, they could not stop the inevitable death wrought upon their fragile craft. At this turn of events, the Admiral ordered his smaller vessels to retreat to the protective hangars of the Carrier. Despite many losses, the retreat succeeded, though a heavy toll of lives had been paid. However, most of the anti-starship planetary guns had been eliminated, and so the Carrier could proceed into the atmosphere and deploy her dropships. Cephiroth now found new respect for the boastful Admiral, and congratulated him, without grudge, on his success. Having appeased the great commander, the Admiral was quite satisfied with the reaction.

Weathering the remainder of planetary fire, the great CORE Carrier hovered in the atmosphere; the dropships launched, still under the protective umbrella of the Carrier's primary guns, and headed for their targets. All of Cephiroth's armoured and infantry divisions were aboard. The last dropship would be for the Supreme Commander himself, as he ventured into the capital to eliminate the captured Intimidator. Although he was surrounded by bodyguards, he would dismiss them upon landing. He had prepared thoroughly for this mission; his physical prowess was as supreme as ever, as was his powerful mental state.

Very few had seen his powers of mental projection; this was so because he used it to dispose of his enemies in personal combat. He had since made a distinct, perosnal rule of honour: he had swore that he would never use his superhuman abilities on another man of flesh or demi-flesh; only his technology-endowed opponents would feel the wrath of his mind. His sword would suffice for any infantry he might encounter.

Within five minutes, Cephiroth's forces were on the ground, each of the dozen dropships landing amidst an enormous battle. The remnants of the fifth and eighteenth battle groups had been called in to provide cover fire for the landing of their reinforcements, and were losing.

Despite their AK's supposed superiority, the unseen ARM KBots were easily winning, firing successive, rapid bursts of energy into the hapless laser-wielding AK division. The speed and firepower of the ARM KBots was so far unseen, surprising even Cephiroth. As the dropships opened their bay doors, the armoured vehicles immediately launched a maelstrom of shells and energy weapons into the fray, killing many of the ARM KBots in the first volley. CORE's most powerful battlefield vehicles and mechs, like the BT612 Raider tank, and the M509 Slasher, rolled out of their deployment vehicles, directing their fire on to the nameless ARM terrorists. As their machines fell, the infantry within, controlling their war machines not with their consciousness, but with their corporeal form, clambered out of the steel coffins. They took up arms, and began a suicidal rush towards the new forces which were now slaughtering the ARM en masse. In particular, CORE's patterned infantry were the superior of the two forces, being able to withstand the heavy weapons of war. In a few minutes, the terrorists were retreating, many falling in the rout.

Major Karris arose from the hatch of his tank, jumped on to the ground, and walked over to Cephiroth. He was now finishing off the critically wounded, both ally and enemy alike. Those who had been so were now honoured in death by Cephiroth's huge blade; the man himself ensuring that all fighters died a death in battle; not suffering. As the Commander went about his morbid task, the Major spoke.

"Sir, our forces are ready. 100% successful deployment." Cephiroth, upon hearing these words, impaled another man near death, and upon pulling his sword from the corpse with little effort, turned instantly.

"If only it were so. At least those who died did so in battle." The Commander jumped atop a wrecked tank, thrust his blade inside, heard the squelch of steel meeting flesh, and jumped to the ground in as swift a move. "Major, we are done here. As of now, I'm on my own. Tell my guard that they are to accompany you, on my orders. I am entrusting the strategy to you, officer. Take care." The Major was startled.

"ME, sir?" Cephiroth began walking from the battle site, his destination Vadrek city, the capital. The Major impeded his progress. Running in front of him, the Major said, "I don't have your tactical prowess - no-one does. I am neither..." he struggled to find words,"...worthy nor...adept to perform this task!" Cephiroth smiled.

"I sense great potential within you, Major. Let this be known to none: I trust you more than anyone else. You have shown your ability in strategic simulations before. That I have even noticed this should shows this. Now go, and serve your Empire."

The Major was still stunned; paralysed, from these words as Cephiroth disappeared over the horizon.

Cephiroth, after almost an entire day of solitary walking, was nearing the fortified border of the capital. As the Commander saw the CORE defences surrounding the huge walls ten kilometers away, he saw the inevitable irony of the now ARM-controlled weapons. The tall, dark figure was still surrounded by his cloak of darkness, but would need to move soon, for the light would come in less than an hour. He used this time to survey the landscape; plan his hasty breach of the defence line.

Major Karris, the acting commander of the CORE strike force, was only now beginning to live up to his responsibility. He had reviewed, in great detail, every one of Cephiroth's ideas and strategems since attaining his present rank. Many an officer had aspired to be like the Greatest One; Karris, though he knew this not, was more special than most of his equals. For he held the favour of his role model, in addition to a 'strong relationship of amiable nature'. Karris laughed out loud when Cephiroth made that cold remark some years ago. He supposed that this was as close to mutual friendship as the two were ever going to be. At that time, the CORE was in a much-similar crisis to that of the present; the faction, the ideals, the motivation, and the circumstance. The Neo Volariax Alliance consisted of disgruntled CORE soldiers; hoping to live life anew after being discarded by the shrinking military of the Empire. A few planets of the Volariax system were acquired in the initial conflict; CORE forces had slaughtered the rebels on all fronts within two days. It was Cephiroth's greatest victory, for he had planned, orchestrated, and participated in, the enormous invasion, all, way back then.

He had selflessly risked his own life in personal combat with both rookie and veteran ex-CORE forces alike, and had survived unscathed. Cephiroth's huge sword became an unofficial symbol of CORE power, and it was said that the very presence of a symbol of the gigantic, but streamlined Katana, inspired foreboding and respect wherever it was placed.

This was not so on Hadrias, however, for despite the graffiti scrawled in the major cities, and Vadrek itself, the ARM spat upon any notion of CORE's thus far unmatched power. The Major was now planning strategy for his first objective - the major firebase atop the Akerid Pass. The region was desolate, but well shielded, from the hostile elements which were spread throughout the planet's southern hemisphere. Providing ARM scouts could not spot the assault before it reached the canyon-dominated area, the vehicles and Kbots within would remain hidden from the Intimidator, whose range extended beyond many hundred miles. The Major, travelling inside the mobile command vehicle, was now discussing the remaining details with his appointed second, Major Mekrath. Both officers, of similar rank, shared also the strategic knowledge and cunning to provide success, though most of their abilities had been thus far untested.

"Well, Major Karris, once we finish the base, we'll have to wait. That Intim will pick us off as soon as we leave the canyon."

"Mekrath - do you think he can do it? The Commander, I mean."

"I - I'm surprised you, of all people, should say that. Why?"

"I'm not sure…the circumstances surrounding this entire mission seem…unusual. The enemy is in a much greater technological position, for one thing."

"Hmm…I've never doubted him before - look at his record. We've both witnessed him in combat; its quite a pity that we won't see him perform on this mission."

"But one man? Against an army of hundreds? Fixed defence emplacements? Why did he choose to go in alone?"

"To prove himself. He is the exemplar of the Oath of Honour - he taught it to every soldier under his command. For all his talk of this honour, he hasn't really had a chance to prove himself worthy of his own principles."

"Yes. But the Oath doesn't demand suicide - even with his skills, the probability of a gattling gun, a stray laser blast…how has he survived all this time?"

"Command has attributed his vitality with his skill - his situational awareness scored over 780 on the Ratoj-Ho scale."

"And to think that I scored only 237 - I was one of the best scorers on that test. 780 is well beyond the physical ability of human reflex; how, therefore, does he do it?"

"There have been stories, Karris - nano-augmentation, genetic refinement - too many to list."

"I doubt any are true - he frowns on technology…he has said as such many times to me. Everything about that man is incredible; perhaps it was just natural selection?"

"I don't think we'll ever find out, Major - he classified his past by his own authority. I wonder…" The truck shook violently. Loose objects were hurled from whatever they were formerly attached to. Another shock; Major Karris stumbled. Opening the window, he saw the flare of plasma cannons and lasers, and the already dead infantrymen which littered the landscape before him. A voice spoke on the intercom.

"Major, we're under attack."

The force was being flanked from the left; ARM had deployed a small number of KBots in addition to its heavy vehicles. The enclosed diamond, seen in the previous battle, decorated the heavy tanks with swathes of blue. The KBots, again brandishing their heavy EMGs, tore into the exposed flank, easily destroying the lateral armour of a few CORE M-501 Raider tanks, which were nearly overturned by the strength of the ARM attack. As the CORE Patterned infantrymen, and a few disorganised KBots provided cover, both Majors departed the MCV for their tanks, from which they could participate in the battle. The drivers, upon seeing the incoming officers, popped the hatch and jumped out, weapons ready, to join their equals in battle. Karris ran quickly to avoid any stray fire – the sight of his men felled by the powerful warheads launched by the ARM was an all too familiar sight. Karris’ vehicle was a custom designed M-950 Reaper class tank, sporting missile launchers and lasers in addition to its two enormous plasma cannons. Taking the controls, the Major recalled his training; began to pilot his vehicle and order his troops simultaneously.
“All units, converge on the heavy vehicles! We must break the infantry line!” His words came as both barrels of his tank shelled a retreating KBot, moving to support his charge, a tank of unknown configuration. It was definitely custom designed, but this was still no match for the upgraded weaponry. As Karris’ tank crushed the wreckage of the felled infantry KBot, the vehicle was hit side on by a volley of rockets. Rotating the turret to bring his attackers into view, he saw a group of three rocket autoloading KBots advancing upon him. “Lieutenant Wrexis, get your division over here!” The sky was immediately shredded with the pulsing of mass driver rifles, as a unit of CORE Patterned infantrymen diverted their attention to the defence of the Major’s vehicle. Having acknowledged the lieutenant’s fortuitous (for him) decision, Karris focused the gigantic weapons of his Reaper on the leader of the assault.

"Commander, I have trajectory on incoming hostiles. Arm the Intimidator and prepare for firing on the coordinates specified."
"Are the CORE units holding their position?"
"Affirmative; we don't have much time. I've got an MBT closing in on my position. Communications may be disrupted. Begin now or we lose our long range capability. With all due respect, sir."
"Alright then. Gunners, tie the weapon into the network. Range is within two thousand kilometers. Good work, Jerov; retreat as soon as they are down 50%. I have another surprise waiting for them in the pass."
"Acknowledged, sir. Happy hunting." Captain Jerov terminated the communications link, and ordered his two guards in the command vehicle to man their stations.

Major Karris hurled a volley of rockets into the large armoured vehicle. Large chunks of armour ablated and fell to the ground. He fired both plasma guns in quick succession, blasting a crater near the undefended vehicle. Or so he thought. Without warning, two infantry KBots ran out from behind the armoured command truck and engaged him in a pincer movement. Rotating the turret ninety degrees, Karris blew a limb from the first attacker with a heavy laser blast. The KBot stumbled and fell to the ground, trapping its owner in his own metal coffin. Seeing one of his opponents disabled, he attempted to turn the turret again. It would not move.
"Lieutenant! Where are you?" He paged his support infantry. Wrexis did not answer. Feeling the heat from continued EMG attack, the Major thrust the engine to its maximum capability, and quickly reversed into the KBot, crushing its foot beneath the tracks. As he had hoped, the EMG fell silent. The ARM unit would not risk destroying the tank in such close proximity. It was a pity that another ARM weapon would not. A turret rose from the square shaped command vehicle. From its visual configuration, Karris could see it was an energy cannon of great magnitude. A cannon that was charging. There was no other option: the Major would have to abandon his vehicle. Climbing out through the hatch atop his tank, the Major scrambled to avoid the inevitable explosion. The crimson laser fired, blasting the tank and the helpless KBot thereunder to scattered debris.

Stunned by this turn of events, the Major did not notice the railgun shots which were now being focused onto the exposed turret. Taking damage, it retracted; the engine of the vehicle starting simultaneously. The CORE units had swiftly eliminated their attackers, although at a heavy toll. Had they not been surprised from their flank, the 14% of soldiers dead might have been fewer in number; with the next event, however, it could only increase. A screaming fireball from the direction of Vadrek hit and immolated the landscape under a CORE AK, destroying the helpless unit instantly. The Intimidator had fired.

Cephiroth now moved with great speed, determined to take cover behind the Intimidator. Towering energy cannons stood atop the surrounding landscape, obviously installed to stifle any large scale assault on the gun. The automated defences would be hard to circumvent, thought Cephiroth, so he would instead enter the installation through the barracks.

The three infantry stationed therein were decidedly veterans - probably ex-CORE soldiers. They were unpatterned, but nevertheless augmented with bio-technology of crude nature. The wrist mounted guns on these men would prove little threat to Cephiroth, who now entered through the rear of the building.

With sword ready, he primed his mental capacities; with but a thought, he pushed a loose weapon from its hanging position, clattering on the floor. At once the soldiers turned to investigate the din but found no trace of any disturbance. Turning their backs to the concealed Cephiroth, while they replaced the weapon on its rack, two of the men were slashed across their exposed jugular vein. They died within seconds, having lost the faculty to respond. The third spun round, firing his sidearm at the Commander. Rolling to avoid the blast, Cephiroth flipped backwards thereafter and kicked his assailant across the room with a single blow.

"Do not resist," said the tall figure, picking up the man by his body armour, held firmly in one hand. The other contained his sword, now levelled at the soldier's stomach.

"Urgghh…damn you…." He struggled in vain, his strength and physical faculties pathetic in the face of his opponent.

"You will give me the access code to the weapon. You will do so now." Without emotion, without concern.

"You…you're Cephiroth? I can't believe..urghh…I can't believe this…"

"Tell me, or I'll kill you in the most painful way imaginable. I'll enjoy killing a terrorist like you." He smiled, faked.

"You won't get anything from me, CORE *******," said the soldier, whose feet were a foot from the ground. "Heh..right now, your precious army is being slaughtered by your own weapon. How's that for irony."

He had struck a raw nerve. TERMINATE. Terminate? Cephiroth put this thought to one side, unusual and needlessly emotional as it was.

"It is of no consequence whether you tell me now, or I kill everyone inside the Intimidator. Would you like to see your technicians slaughtered?"

"You would kill…innocents? I expected…" he paused to regain breath, since his air intake was under great stress. "I expected more from you," he said, the pain obviously increasing.

"I would prefer not to, but my patience has certain defined limits. As more of my men are killed, more of yours shall suffer the same fate. Give me the access code. Now."

"Ne…never!"
"So be it." Smiling again, he impaled his captive, with blood soon dripping from his mouth. The frightened eyes became dilated, the pulsing of his heart had soon ceased. All the while, Cephiroth kept his penetrating gaze upon the victim, who eventually slid from the gigantic blade to the floor. However, Cephiroth had already derived the code - before it had ceased to function, the man's weak mind had yielded significant information to the telepathic Commander, who had now formulated the most efficient plan to eliminate the Intimidator. Taking some explosive charges from a weakly sealed container, the Commander proceeded through the access hatch to the artillery gun's main control facility.

As he walked slowly through the exposed entryway, his instinct forced his sword arm left, the huge blade skewering the fool who had not managed to surprise him. Without turning his head to look at the latest victim, he thrust the corpse from his weapon in a single movement of his arm; heard the low thud of it hitting the wall.

RECTIFIED. What? Rectified? The thought caught him off guard; strange. He cast it aside - perhaps the thrill of combat was the cause of this unusual word. He gave it no more attention, and recovered his demeanor. The Commander, with renewed determination, ran through the empty spiralling corridor, culminating in the Intimidator's control room. This area, however, was not empty. A tech had noticed him.

"Who the hell are…wait, you're not cleared!" Almost without thinking, Cephiroth levelled his sword, charged at the man who might pose a threat. Swordpoint only a few inches from his chest, the Commander stopped himself. What was he about to do? Kill an unarmed man? No…he could not. Lowering his blade, he stepped back from the cowering technician; mentally reset his mind. The surrounding men were both astonished and fearful of this event - astonished because many of them recognised the Great One, fearful because of his frenzied expression, which had overtaken his face. It did not last long, however, and the cold look of uncaring soon took precedence.

"Ahh, Cephiroth. It is you after all." Who said that? The voice was familiar to Cephiroth.

"Show yourself, whoever you may be."

"Ha - somehow I doubt you've forgotten me, oh Great One." The amused tone seemed inappropriate. "Don't you remember me, Cephiroth?"

"I care nothing for your knowledge of me."

"Oh, but you should." The white-coated figure emerged from the shadows, and was immediately recognised.

"Professor Atten?"

"I see your optical capacities still supersede your those of your other senses. I would've thought that by now, you'd have evolved past that stage. How goes your career?"

"I can't believe you, of all people, would defect to these… people. No matter - you will do as I say, or I will kill you as I have your incompetent guards." His superiority had returned, as had his belying smile. "Cease your firing, now. For every ten seconds that passes from now, one of your colleagues will die."

"But of course - your lack of emotion is a strong point, as is your ability to use emotion against others. A nice trait."

"Six."

"Alright, I'll do it." The Professor, one of the key minds in the inception of the Patterning beta stage, could not hold back his emotion, as could the tall, long silver-haired man, cloaked in black from neck to toe. Within a few moments, the gigantic motor could be heard turning the artillery turret away from its firing position.

"Good." In a few short instants, he had smashed the control panel to pieces with the hilt of his sword, rendering it inoperable. "Don't move, civilians. Professor, come with me."

Grabbing the arm of the scientist, he left the control room, throwing back a flash grenade as he left. Taking an explosive charge from those he had gathered earlier, Cephiroth attached the limpet-style warhead to the control circuitry in the spiral corridor, his hostage held in tight grip. Moving round towards the barracks, he placed more charges upon key areas, not least of which was the shell magazine. It was a cavernous structure, and the shell autoloader extended down into unlit darkness, accessible by a secure door. It proved no challenge to Cephiroth, who had finished his task.

Turning his head to the hostage for the first time, he was too late to notice the instrument which the Professor had procured, likely from a coat pocket, and was surprised by the electrical discharge into his body. In his pain, for which he had not prepared, Cephiroth's grip loosened on the Professor, who quickly got free. Cephiroth recovered, only temporarily overwhelmed by the pain.

DESTROY. Again? Where were these words coming from? He resisted. DESTROY. He resisted again, and it stopped. When he had mopped his brow, the Professor was nowhere in sight. What was happening? He had been distracted too many times. Single words - why was he thinking in such narrow terms? From where were these thoughts coming? The security alarm reset his mind, now lost in hopeless thought.
Shouting.

"There he is! Fire!"

Curses, he thought. The mines were armed - he would have to detonate them a safe distance away from the cannon. And now his escape route had been blocked by a curtain of fire. Before the first slug had hit the wall, the Commander had evaded it, as he jumped straight over the blockade, his sword slashing behind as he gravity took its toll. His attackers were not mortally wounded; merely temporarily disabled.

"Forgive me, but I haven't the time to see to your deaths. Your own detonators will see to that." He paused; smiled. "How's that for irony?"

The CORE force was in disarray. Despite the cesation of the Intimidator's fire, the scattered army was by no means in any condition to proceed. The enormous wall of metal which surrounded the army while they were fighting had been penetrated, however, the construction Kbot that had built it had escaped. CORE losses due to the Intimidator's fire were enormous - forty percent of all units had been disabled or destroyed by the nuclear tipped shells. Infantry had died quick deaths, at least - but the carnage and tactical knowhow of the ARM angered Karris, whose plan had fallen apart.

Now that they had escaped ARM attention, CORE forces now assembled outside the ring of the so-called 'Dragons' Teeth'. Many men had escaped their assault vehicles, but were now virtually useless on the battlefield. Only a scant few Raider class tanks remained inside the virtual arena; the rest of the ground was covered only by debris and metallic wreckage.

"How could this happen? I followed Cephiroth's strategy to the letter!"

"Don't blame yourself, Karris - even he could not foresee such an interesting tactic, Major. They have superior technology - that's the key. How, I don't know."

"I'm not obliged to tell you, Mekrath, but Cephiroth told me about this technology before we landed. It's our own."
"CORE technology?"

"Yeah. I won't divulge the specifics, but you should know that it is a construction and destruction technology, so far unseen by virtually anyone."

"That's how they built that wall around us so quickly?"

"I think so. Cephiroth told one of my units when he radioed for help."

"He can't have been pleased."

"Cephiroth? The Intimidator has stopped firing. We can assume that he took action to disable it after the message got through - he isn't - wasn't - usually this fast. Somehow I think he cared for our safety more than his own. God, I wish he was here now though." The Major sighed to his colleague.

"We better get going. Rho four says he's the last out of that deathtrap."

"We've lost half our assault units. I don't think we're in any position to attack that fortress. For one, our MARTs are almost all gone. Defence suppression will be almost impossible."

"Mobile artillery isn't the only way to take down those towers, Karris."

"Either that or send our Kbots and tanks to the slaughter. Wait - hand me that scan." Mekrath was directed to a desk inside the command vehicle, only slightly damaged by the skirmish. He handed it to Karris. "I thought so - there's a concealed depot near this defence platform we destroyed from orbit. Pre-constructed units, Major…"

"Alright." He walked over to the communications officer. "Tell the Carrier to send down a detailed scan of that depot. I want to know about every tactical aspect of that base."

"Yes, sir." The private entered some commands on his input device, asked the bridge of the Carrier to do the scan, and to return it when finished. A few moments passed, and the scan was downloaded. "Sir, I'm relaying it to your console now."

Activating the map table, and tapping a few commands, Majors Mekrath and Karris took up opposite positions around the holographic display unit. A 3D representation of the surrounding landscape in which the depot was located appeared within the air above the projector. Karris had the image magnified and enhanced, showing the multitude of CNC Defender towers located atop tactically advantageous positions. A heavy energy emplacement guarded the front entrance to the base. Then Karris saw it.

"Zoom in on that energy storage facility." The image was again magnified, but the limits of image enhancement prohibited a clear picture. "There it is. They only have three solar generators - too few to power all of those defences at once. If what's left of our big guns takes up position on that ridge, we can destroy them in a few seconds. Their defensive grid will be slowed.

"Then we can focus our energies on destroying the barracks - it'll only take a minute for the troops therein to mobilise and get to their vehicles. Stealth will be our priority."

"Agreed - if we're seen before we get to that ridge, the defences will provide more than enough time for them to launch a counterattack. Our infantry should secure those vehicles as quickly as possible."

"Just one thought, sir," said the more humble comm officer in the background.

"What is it, soldier?"

"Do our guys know how to operate those things?" A short silence pervaded.

"I hope so, soldier. I hope so."

The button was pressed.

The explosion was heard.

Agony was felt, though not by himself.

Irony for irony, thought Cephiroth. Both sides had now suffered losses by their own weapons, and the long-ranging threat of the Intimidator had been crushed. His task had ended; he could now rejoin Major Karris and his force at the other side of the pass. Then the strike on Vadrek itself could begin. The flames erupting from the dome housing the gigantic autoloading mechanism for the cannon now lit the sky; small debris was still falling around the exploded structure. Cephiroth smiled. He had not lost his touch after all.

A ridge, overlooking the depot. Two heavy laser cannons. A retractable battery of CNC Defenders, currently dormant. Silence. This was what Major Karris could see as he peered over the high edge of the canyon; quite formidable. He kept scanning with his electric binoculars across the base until he found his target - the storage facility. The small number of energy collectors was constantly supplying the huge, glowing batteries of power, large enough in reserve to power the defences for up to an hour.

"Captain, we're clear. Move your artillery atop that ridge." The radio buzzed, as the officer replied. After two and a half minutes, the first mobile gun had arrived in its firing position. The next three moved in behind the first, they too raising their barrels to an approximate elevation. "Theta group, lock coordinates, azimuth two three point four mark seven six point eight." The mobile guns, without line of sight, adjusted their guns to the required trajectory. "Mekrath, is everything alright on your end?"

"We're ready. On your word, Major." Mekrath's battle line of tanks and heavy vehicles stood outside the radar range of the base, ready to swiftly invade. In the army were several trucks, from which the infantry would be deployed.
"Theta group, open fire." He covered his ears as the guns began to lob their shells on to the depot below, blasting great holes in the storage battery. Streaks of energy arced atop the surface of the structure, flowing free from its confinement. "Azimuth two three point eight mark seven seven point two! Fire at will, captain." The guns adjusted, and the ballistic shells started to rain on the next structure. The armour withstood the assault. "Target remains - continue firing. Major Mekrath, begin your assault."

"We're on our way." Mekrath opened a communication channel to his units. "Alright! Let's give 'em hell!"

Karris could see the doors opening, and a few men scurrying to their vehicles. "Damn! Theta, adjust your guns three degrees to north. Fire!" Another volley of shells and another energy store was blown to bits. The energy of the explosion tore the infantry to pieces as they ran past the decimated structure, free energy arcing over their dismembered corpses. The heavy laser cannons rotated and elevated their turrets to the ridge. They began firing, blasting rock from the overhanging stratum. "Theta, one more to go…adjust your turrets to azimuth two three point five mark seven five point nine. Fire, then get out of there. Be aware that the ridge is being destabilised." The artillery guns adjusted, then fired. The volley of shells was dead centred upon the target, which was instantly decimated. "Good work, Theta. We'll take the rest from he…" He stopped dead.

Karris watched as the rock was blasted out from under the artillery, the weakened structure tearing itself from the canyon wall and falling to the floor. The artillery crashed to the ground, shells detonating upon impact; he shielded himself as the combined force of the warheads sent flying debris in all directions. The world seemed to spin around him as the needless deaths became apparent.

Steady yourself, soldier.

Get a grip on yourself.

"Mekrath, we've lost Theta…it's all up to you now. Those lasers still have some power - one of the six batteries is still standing."

"Theta is gone? How?"

"Never mind that - you'll need to concentrate your fire on those guns. I'll take out as many infantry as I can from up here."

"We'll be there in about one minute."

Karris lowered his radio and raised his sniper rifle, the sight aimed firmly on the barrack doors. Another man came out. Click. He died. He moved to a different position, hiding behind some vegetation. He raised the rifle again. Six shots left. Another soldier - female. She was running to a tank, firing her sidearm into the air to discourage the now apparent sniper. Click. Her attempt had not worked.

Major Mekrath's tank was the first into line of sight for the laser cannon. The laser turret turned on his vehicle, and the eerie green glow of energy began to grow inside the barrel. The Major closed his eyes.

The laser cannon fired its pulse, which only scratched the paintwork of the tank. Without analysing the situation, Mekrath returned fire with his dual plasma guns, joined also by rockets and shells from his supporting KBots. The tower, protected by Dragon’s Teeth, continued to fire weakly, doing virtually no damage at all. The CORE assault, however, was relentless, as hundreds of assault munitions found their way to the beleaguered, low-powered tower. It was destroyed as Mekrath’s tank and the first wave of Raiders invaded the depot.

Meanwhile, Major Karris was searching for more targets. Nothing.

“Mekrath, those b a s t a r d s have stopped coming. Probably cowering in their foxholes.”

“We’re moving to secure the vehicle park now, Karris. Looks like we’ve got something extra as well.”

“What?”

“That KBot that sealed us in that damned arena. Inactive.”

“Major, listen carefully. Above all other objectives, you must secure that vehicle and get it to safety. The experimental technology must be preserved. Listen, I’m coming down.” He lowered his radio, then said to himself, “God, I hate this.”

With a jump into the air he leapt from his sniping position, straight down the side of the mesa. Luckily, his thruster pack slowed his descent as he reached the bottom. He had been concerned with using them since special ops personnel had suffered a one in twenty death rate in each use; luckily, he had spent time training with them before. He landed in front of the barracks, doors still sealed. In the distance, he could see the last functioning energy battery. It was no longer glowing; its reserves had been emptied. He made for the CORE force, now offloading the infantry to obtain their ‘new’ vehicles. When Karris had finished his brief run, he saw Mekrath now directing the seizure operation.

Something about the stillness was bothering him. It was uncharacteristic of a base capture for it to be so dormant.
Jogging to his colleague, Karris spoke his mind. “Mekrath, what’s with this place?”

“You’ve noticed it too? Something’s seems - eerie - here. There’s that structure over there - an iris door almost flat to the ground. I wonder what it’s for?”

“Concealed entrance?”

“I doubt it. I can’t understand why they left that laser turret to be destroyed - why their infantry locked themselves in their bunker…”

“Dig them out. If they resist, send a few plasma shells in there. That’ll sort them…Mekrath! Look!” The iris doors were opening. The purpose of the enormous structure, designed to withstand a continued assault, now became apparent. A pointed object raised itself from the opening aperture. In tandem came a support structure for the massive, now obvious, nuclear missile. It was painted black, with a dark, navy blue tint to its pointed top.

Karris tried to speak, but could not.

Mekrath tried also, but could not.

As the horror of the enormous warhead reached its peak, the weapon launched, flames roaring from the underground launcher. The missile launched itself into the air, accelerating as it gained altitude. The cruise engines took over from the rockets, and, wings unfolding, the nuke headed off towards its target.

“The Carrier!” both Majors said in tandem. Karris pulled out his portable uplink, and contacted the orbiting starship. “Officer, put me through to Admiral Akenis! This is urgent!”

The startled officer acknowledged, and the Admiral appeared on his small viewscreen.

“Admiral, we’ve just seen a nuke. It looks like it’s climbing into orbit!”

“WHAT? Helm, get us out of here! Weapons control, target incoming hostile - if you see ANYTHING, fire at will!”

Barking out more commands, he returned his attention to the Major a few minutes later. “Listen, son - our shields are non-functional. We cannot take a direct hit - if we go up, tell Cephiroth that Command is sending reinforcements.” The Admiral looked frenzied.

“Yes, sir.” He saluted his superior, though the Admiral had turned his attention to intercepting the deadly warhead. Karris could hear everything happening on the bridge.

“Target is on radar. Eight hundred kilometers and closing. Weapons batteries report they are ready, sir.”

“Beam control, get a lock on the hostile.”

“Sir! Target is entering weapons range!”

“Fire!” On the bridge, the Admiral could see an enormous shockwave; the missile had obviously been destroyed. “Good work, men. Major, I- ”

“Admiral! Radar reports another hostile! One hundred kilometers!”

“WHAT? Impossible!”

“Seventy five!”

“KILL IT!”

“Fifty!”

“Sir, weapons are ready…”

“Twenty-five!” Karris went pale.

Akenis went pale.

“Damn.”

CONTACT SEVERED. This message was the only thing his radio gave when he tried to open a link through the Carrier's comm array, and this personal communication device was too short ranged to open a channel to Major Karris. A momentary thought passed and he had a solution.

Capture the ARM command relay in Vadrek before departure.
Points - advantageous:
Primary objective - restore contact with CORE forces.
ARM command and control ability severely compromised.
ARM defences deactivated near com/con facility.
ARM will spend time recovering control of facility.
Disadvantageous:
Communications only temporary.
Possibility of ARM forces intercepting and decrypting communiques.

The Commander weighted the points in his mind for only a second, and decided on taking the command facility, since it would cause further disruption to the ARM.

*******

The doors opened. A bellow of defiant war screams pervaded the air, and turned to death screams as the vulnerable ARM infantry were blown to shreds by a hail of CORE plasma fire. The captured ARM vehicles, including several plasma tanks and missile trucks, joined in, and the orifice through which the infantry had come was soon charred rubble.

Major Karris still felt the stinging lust for revenge - but it had been sated by the taking of the launch facility.

“Sir, do you think there are any more of those things in the silo?” It was an Patterned infantryman - name unknown.

“I doubt it - once that damn thing was launched, those men just sacrificed themselves - I’ll bet the facility is useless.”

“Karris!” Major Mekrath had finished scouting the perimeter of the depot to ensure that no resistance remained.

"The nuclear weapon system is still active. We might be able to use this to our advantage - if we take out that base with their own missiles, we won't need to risk any more of our own men."

"No - I want this launch facility destroyed. We'll take one warhead with us."

"What? Why?"

"This facility undoubtedly sent out an alert to the ARM. If we wait here to launch another, they'll surround and destroy us."

"Agreed. Oh, one other thing…something that might make the Commander smile." Mekrath signalled something with his hand, and the ARM construction Kbot walked out from the rubble. "Its still fully functional. One of my pilots knows how to operate it - a simple neural interface to control the Kbots motor functions. Less efficient than Patterning, though."

"How does it work?"

"Nano-technology. It rearranges common metals and energy to form the more valuable materials. For instance, it can refine a plate of heavy armour from some ore in a boulder. Its completely self-replicating too - it must be one of ours. I heard some scientists were developing this technology."

"Remarkable." Karris feigned a stunned façade, disappointed that the technicalities of the secret kept between himself and Cephiroth had been revealed. "Mekrath, can this Kbot build defence turrets?"

"Yes - the blueprints exist for those ARM heavy laser towers. They need megajoules of energy to fire, though, but it can build energy collectors like those we destroyed. I can't believe how versatile this thing is!"

"We'll need it, Major." He raised his radio. "Liutenant, get those warheads loaded into one of the trucks. Fall back behind our main strike force once you're done. We're heading out." Turning to Mekrath once more, he said, "We'll prepare a little surprise for those terrorists. If that thing is as good as you suggest, those bastards won't stand a chance. Have your experts demolish that silo - and for god's sake, PLEASE disarm any warheads before you do it."

"As if I wouldn't remember that." Mekrath smiled, then began executing his colleague's plan.

"He is here."

"I know."

"What do you intend to do? He will be calculating and plotting as we speak; every minute we delay will cost us dearly."

"He'll be dealt with."

"How?"

"He'll be dealt with, Professor."

"HOW? He's survived decades of combat. He's killed scores of soldiers."

"Professor, he is but flesh, like you and I. Unpatterned. Un..CORE."

"What?"

"He is as we."

"You really think so? Let me tell you something. He isn't like anything you've seen before."

"Come now, Atten - you know that's nonsense spawned by your government."

"It isn't. I was there."

"Where?"

"In the laboratory. That helpless child was torn to pieces; then put back together again. He was brutalised by those machines - those so-called 'science personnel'... I pitied him back then."

"Not so pitiable now, I take it?"

"In a way, I still feel sorry for him. Despite the fact that he was the only specimen that survived the process."

"Wrong, on that count, professor."

"You know what I mean."

"Go on."

"When they put that - thing - inside him, he became something else. No longer a child. No longer human."

"Like me, you mean?"

"Of course not. Well, I don't mean to say that he isn't-"

"Then you concede my point. He is as we."

"Oh, think as you wish. Just be ready." Having spoken these last words, Professor Atten departed.

*******

Cephiroth was cornered – a foolish mistake on his behalf. His lack of light-footedness on a pile of debris had revealed his presence to several ARM infantrymen, and a KBot, which were now closing in on his position.

“CORE Commander! You’ll be glad to know all your forces are sleeping - permanently. Surrender, and you and the last of these POWs might get off this rock.”

Psychological warfare; a poor attempt. His faith in Major Karris was not misplaced, and he believed his subordinate – and friend – to be still alive. He hoped that would be the case, anyway – but that was irrelevant in the face of the approaching scourge.

“Cephiroth! This is your last chance!” came the booming, amplified voice. A few seconds passed. He heard the KBot’s servos power up. A heavy, probably equipped with guided ordinance. The first footfall of the large mech came down with a crunch, as the vehicle climbed the debris without difficulty.

Another footfall.

Another.

Cephiroth had his back turned to the small hill of wrecked building , alert as to when the KBot would be vulnerable. He readied his sword, its attenuated blade glinting against the moonlit ground.
There it was. STRIKE.

As the torso of the KBot turned, Cephiroth sprang from his position, sword outstretched. The force of the first blow to the leg hydraulics tore through the Heavy Armour as if paper. The leg was crippled, but the torso was not. The pilot had seen him; the missile launchers were now targeting him.

DETECTED. ELIMINATE.

Paying no attention to the strange, one-word phrases in his mind, he dodged the explosion as the first two warheads shredded the air around him. With the opportunity to focus his mind, he tore one of the launchers from its mounting, without the aid of any material weapon. The pilot of the KBot lurched in surprise, his movements being reflected by his machine. Before he could fire the second missile battery, Cephiroth had already sensed a weak spot in the armour, jumped upwards, and thrust his sword through it.

A splatter of blood emanated from the slit he had created.

“Hmm. Penetration is excellent,” he said to himself.

Removing the impaling blade, he jumped back down from the KBot’s torso to see it slump to the ground.

Admiral Dakann lay flat in his private quarters of the Orpheus, an Imperator-class dreadnought. Though much less spacious than the Carrier, the compact but nonetheless gigantic warship was still as awesome in repose as in battle. The ship itself was a fusion of many new technologies; particle beams, high-yield mass drivers, and multiple Voladex plasma beams. Four enormous Hades engines were set into the rear of the ship, their power output enough to near light speeds. What made this new craft a cut above the rest, however, was its capabilities. Atmospheric flight, pre-fab base deployment, and a defensive plasma pulsar system were among the most obvious features, though the innards had not been forgotten.

He slid his hand along the smooth metallic veneer of the handrail, and hoisted himself out of the compact but comfortable bed. Although un-Patterned, he still had some implants to help with his long-term injury, a plasma wound that he had suffered nineteen months ago. True, his condition had improved signifcantly, but it would take at least another year until no physical disfunction remained. He was nevertheless a capable man – his Admiralty had proved that, at least – but there was still the element of slight disability which affected his movements, which were sometimes erratic. Not today, however. Dakann put on his uniform and prepared himself for the upcoming mission. It would only be a few hours until the CORE fleet reached Hadrias; the Orpheus leading the multitude of destroyers and cruisers into local orbit.

He walked on to the bridge, his officers greeting him as was customary. “Good morning, men.”

“Sir,” they acknowledged in poorly timed chorus. One of them arose from his station, and walked to the Admiral, an electronic device in hand. Dakann greeted his science officer, Lieutenant Johnson.

“Admiral, I recovered the Carrier’s transmission. It’s marked as for your eyes only.”

“Sensitivity level?”

“Level Rho, sir. I’ve had it purged from the central computer – you have the only copy.”

“Very good, lieutenant.” Taking the handheld computer pad, he strode into his private office. Sealing the door behind him, he plugged the small device into his desk terminal.

“Enter decryption key.”

He tapped a series of terminal buttons, and relaxed himself for the DNA and retinal scans. The probe was over in a brief moment, his identity confirmed.

“Play message.”

The image of his late colleague appeared on the screen.

Akenis had an expression of great gravity on his face, and before he began his first sentence, he sighed.

“Dakann, the problem is more serious than we thought. Our forces planetside have made little progress into the city, and we are powerless to help them. Worse, he has broken off from the strike team. I haven’t been able to raise him on any frequency.” The Admiral’s expression remained as stone as he said this, as did his cold voice. “I’ve determined that the other one is here, as well as the nanolathe technology. Karris, the acting commander of the team, told me that he’s captured one of the prototype KBots. The vehicle must still be in the facility.” A brief pause. “As I said, I believe the other one is in the capital – with Cephiroth – right now. He masked his implant signatures well, but not well enough. I discovered the traces myself; they might have been generated by an external source, but the patterns are too coherent to be a coincidence. He is definitely here, as I thought. We...” the playback ceased as Dakann was called to the bridge, the image of Commander Halin replacing that already on his terminal.

“Sir, we have encountered debris – sir...it’s the Carrier.” With these words, Dakann’s heart sank. He had been pessimistic about the situation when the garbled communiqué had first arrived; his fears had now proven true.

“Acknowledged. I’ll be done in a few minutes, commander.”
“Yes, sir.”

Dakann resumed the playback.

“...must ensure they don’t encounter one another. Be aware that the terrorist presence on the planet is enormous. Our initial airstrike has already ended in severe losses. Lastly, I...oh, hold on a second...” the Admiral disappeared from the view, obviously attending something on his former bridge. He came back a few moments later. “Sorry about that. We’re getting another transmission from Karris. Speaking of which, I better wrap this up. I’ll speak to you in person when the Second arrives.” The video terminated.

The words ‘End of File’ remained on the screen for several minutes, as the stone-cold expression of Admiral Akenis was passed to his now-successor like a contagious disease.