Coeus?

Chapter 23: ~Pain.~

If you can't protect yourself, then don't protect others.

-A simple truth

***'Greek' Node, Revelation Wing Asteroid Base***

***Ed***

The corridors and hallways of this place have a sinister feeling to them. I imagined that the base of the Revelation Wing must be a dark hellhole, but it's worse than I thought. Coming across the prisoners was particularly shocking, though it explains a lot of things.

Our intelligence office anticipated something like this, or at least something similar. I was right in letting Gideon do as he pleases, even if cleaning everything up will be a mess.

Following his ship wasn't a problem up to the point when he left the normal trading route. From then on I had to search blindly while relying on a few favours from the techno-mage elder.

If he hadn't given me a ship with a reliable and secretive pilot I would still be searching this sector. Sanguin is the easiest to deal with of all the elders. All you have to do is giving him a proper reason to help you.

I would never approach the elder of my own branch for matters which have to be kept a secret. He doesn't understand that the faceless and the elders are two opposing weights on a pair of scales.

The corridor in front of me splits and Crono takes the left. I follow the battle sprite without questioning his decision.

It's a little surprising that Gideon chose to imitate Crono to create his little personal army. But he had enough time to watch Crono's design, so it may not be strange after all.

Apparently Gideon's weaponry overwhelmed the forces of the Revelation Wing and he even captured their base.

If the battle between his vessel and the station hadn't been visible throughout the whole sector we would have never caught up to him. My pilot was already beginning to bitch about the boring mission. It must've been really annoying for him when I gave the order to him that he has to stay on the ship and close his eyes and ears.

The battle sprite guides me through a huge blast door and into a separate part of the station. There are more of Gideon's drones here, but all of them seem to be powered down. Or I don't fit into their commands. That's much more likely since they don't seem to have intelligence of their own.

Upon entering a laboratory I find Gideon in front of... Fuck! So I was too late. Why did those idiots from the Revelation Wing keep proof like this around? Are their brains rotten?

Gideon didn't even react to my arrival. I hope it wasn't too hard on him. Stepping closer to him I place a hand on his shoulder. Gideon, are you okay? Have you gotten the enemy leaders?

Yes. He answers with a mechanical voice. They are having a date with the void.

He spaced them? How long have you been standing here? Are you sure that you aren't in shock? If Crono is right then the station was taken ten hours ago. There is no way that he is okay.

I was just thinking about my life and some other things. And I also researched some things about my past, just to be sure. Don't you think that there is something you want to explain to me Eduard Klein?

My fingers tense and I take my hand away from his shoulder. I won't defend my actions. How did you find out?

Old news reports, the voice, the lazy pseudonym. Gideon answers, not taking his eyes from the incubation tanks. At least they are dead. It would be awkward if there are more things like me.

You shouldn't say that. Don't you have a family at Aether? I intentionally didn't say anything to you or them. I wanted you to see that there is more about life than someone's origins. I answer.

Gideon starts chuckling crazily. Don't tell me that I should call you father from now on.

I grip my clothes at my chest and try to think very hard about my answer. No. I've no right to be called that way. For all intends and purposes your grandparents are your father and mother. They adopted you where those who should have taken the responsibility didn't do so.

And didn't Aether's doctors themselves identify you as a member of the Alvar family? Tell me, Gideon, what's one times one?

One.

So why should a mix of different humans be something else than a human? That's not logical. So don't hang yourself up on that. From what I've seen so far you turned out to be a much better human being than me. I gesture at myself. The story between your mother and me is more complicated than the media suggests.

A sigh escapes me. To make it short it's my fault. That's why I am hunting her. She is my responsibility and because of that you are too. We were young lovers and I was young and stupid. I pursued my career before everything else.

I reach for the mask on my face. In doing so I shoved her away from me in the most idiotic way possible. It's no excuse, but do you know that I can't have children, Gideon? The younger me didn't take that message well when the doctor told me so. I thought that ending my relationship with Sadina was for the better and I did so in a very unfortunate way. I guess in return for hurting her like that she'll haunt me for the rest of my life.  Maybe I'll tell it to you in detail someday. Does she annoy you too with that busty avatar of hers? She is quite good at hiding herself.

Gideon snorts. And you can't even lock her out of your systems because you are an electro-mage. I guess you deserve that.

I nod. Yes, probably. Why don't you take your time to relax while flying back to Oibras? Take some time off and relax. I'll stay here and sweep this whole place under the biggest carpet I can find.

Why?

Do I really have to spell it out for you? I ask.

No. On a second thought I don't want to hear it. Gideon turns and leaves. Crono scuttles aside and waves one of his pincers at him to say goodbye, which is a rare gesture for the sprite.

I turn back to the laboratory equipment and start massaging my temples. Yes, cleaning up all this will be a real headache!

***Jupiter, en route to Oibras Station***

***Gideon***

I took Ed's advice and flew back to Oibras at low speed. The flight should have taken just a few days, but I stretched it out to over a week. It gave me time to think and be alone. While doing so I also repaired the Coeus and made some changes to its weaponry. If nothing else then I made at least some improvements to the ship.

What I found inside the station affected me. In hindsight I wish that I had simply blown the damn thing apart. My problem is that I am not entirely sure what sent my mind over the edge. Was it the death of all those people? But I've killed before. What does it matter if it's a handful or a hundred? Did it get to me that one of them was supposed to be something like a parent?

Or was it the sight of those prisoners? I don't know them, but according to the social norm I should have felt for them if I am not mistaking something. Probably I'll never know the answer.

Whatever it was, I'll simply try to calm down when I am back on Oibras. Maybe I'll even make an appointment with Amia.

Though I am not sure if that's a wise decision. She isn't someone whom I can do anything else with besides having sex. We are simply too different and our interests don't match. I'll sleep over it. Oibras is still far away. It'll take me a while even if I press the drive.

Without any energy left to wreck my brain over my mental problems I readjust the pilot chair to take a nap. Then I reach for my plush toys to use them as a pillow. Soon afterwards my exhausted mind drifts away.

It feels like I took barely a nap when the noise of an alarm wakes me up. I activate my ability out of reflex and connect to the ship. The first impulse is to check the ship's functions, but everything turns out to work properly.

A closer look at the reason for the alarm leads me to a system wide message which is flagged as critical. Something like this can be only sent out when a catastrophe happened. Is a ship in need of rescue?

In the next moment I receive a live feed from Oibras. The station is a ruin and its AI is screaming a warning through the whole system. I hastily gather the received information to puzzle a picture of the events together.

Four unknown ships with strange configurations appeared out of nothing on the station's radar, heading directly towards Jupiter and into the restricted flight zone around the station.

Three ships were taking the lead with the fourth following them closely.

I hold my breath while I watch the events from a few seconds ago. While ignoring all warnings the three ships enter the restricted flight zone. It's like they don't even notice the station's existence until the very last moment. Then they open fire. Laser beams so powerful, that they are freely visible lash out at a spherical transporter, wiping it out of existence. Another beam tears a huge scar into the station, overloading barriers and shields. The station is a living habitat. It isn't designed to be attacked like this.

Other big freighters fall under the random attacks of the unknown ships while the first ship passes the station and leaves the engagement area. The ships tore a path of destruction through the waiting vessels.

A second strange ship tries to avoid the area around the station and I notice that it actually produces something like an exhaust jet! The ships are roughly shaped and look a little like claws.

One of the transporters around the station suddenly finds itself in the attacker's path as the powerful laser beams lance out again.

I don't know what went through the head of the transporter's pilot, but being faced with the decision of running away and dying, or taking the unknown attacker with him he does the latter.

He probably noticed the strangely lacking engines of the new ships. There was no way that he could have run away from such powerful lasers. If the first hit doesn't destroy him, then the second or third will finish the job.

A laser beam takes a huge bite out of the freighter, but doesn't destroy it outright. In the next moment the freighter is kicked towards the strange ship like being kicked by an angry god. The pilot must have overloaded his gravity field and killed himself in the process. The other ship has no chance to evade and both ships disappear in a flash of light.

Before the third alien ship gets even close to the station and the surrounding fleet of commercial vessels the station's anti asteroid lasers activate.

The third strange ship lights up as several of the station's laser beams intersect at its position. The huge, over-engineered lasers of the station stay for a whole second on the ship before its energy barrier flickers out of existence. The ship lights up like a matchbox and is reduced to its atomic state.

The fourth ship which was following the other ships starts accelerating away from the station, but it's already clear that its puny engines can't get it to safety as the sky is filled with the station's energy beams. Many of the commercial vessels in engagement range join the station's weapons.

Lasting even longer, the fourth ship takes out a small private ship and one of the merchant vessels. A spread of ten small objects leaves the fourth ship before it is consumed by a huge explosion. I register that one of the mass drivers for smashing asteroids was turned into a weapon by its mining crew.

The small objects wink out of existence as they are picked out of the sky one by one. Luckily they don't turn out to be some kind of warheads. They fly past the station and two manage to get out of engagement range while making slow evasive manoeuvres.

Unfortunately that doesn't save the station. The first attack must have hit something vital and I watch as a huge explosion tears a large hole into the station. Then the lights go out and the station is torn apart by its own artificial gravity and the angular momentum of the station's spin.

I switch my attention to my instruments in order to find the escaped attacker. A moment later I curse myself upon noticing that I am still thirteen light seconds away from Oibras. The light which could inform me of the events hasn't even reached me out here.

The information feed from Oibras is continuing though. Apparently one of the ships around the station took over when the station went to pieces.

An incoming high speed call shakes me out of my observations, so I answer it. The needed level of acceleration to take the call surprises me. There aren't many techno-mages who can accelerate to such speeds. The avatar of a person whom I didn't expect at all appears in front of me. It's Sanguin, the techno-mage elder.

We have to be fast. You are in a perfect position to intercept the alien intruder. Accellerate now and follow him. You are hereby enlisted as a vessel of the Solar Defence Force.

What? Hell! No! I try to break the connection, but it doesn't work. Shit! My next impulse is to activate the manual override. But Sanguin stays where he is, totally unimpressed by my actions.

It seems like this isn't going to get any easier, even if I took over the mainframe of the quantum net. There are still people who refuse to cooperate. Young one. We are currently being attacked by an alien race and according to the law I am taking responsibility for defending our people, so the least you could do is hear me out. The old man growls.

Okay. I listen. There doesn't seem to be a choice. I want to punch my armrest, but I can't do so while my mind is accelerated to this speed. Sanguin is known to me by watching him over the news. I also got to talk to him in person once or twice in my short life, but I never saw him angry.

Sanguin places both his hands together in a praying gesture. I'll make this as short as possible since you seem to be one of the problematic cases. It helps that you are a fast one though, so I won't lose too much time while talking to you.

He continues like he already held this speech a few thousand times since the attack. Yes, the government hid information about long range teleportation from the public. I am currently uploading a complete explanation to your data core. Everything about our first encounter with them, plus the instructions to modify your teleportation circuit to long range transition.

He takes a deep breath despite having no need to do so as an avatar. Time is almost standing still while we are both accelerated. I've also drafted a complete mission plan for your deployment. The instructions should be detailed enough. Let me just inform you of the benefits of taking this assignment.

First you'll get a military rank and influence, depending on your performance. Second, I'll take measures to ensure that you are rewarded properly. If not with money, then with power. The only thing you have to do is to fulfil the mission and find out the intentions and motivations of the attackers.

My thoughts race as I try to reason myself through the situation. My ship isn't configured for the- I stop before Sanguin can rebuke me. His unwavering gaze tells me that he knows the little secret of my ship. I don't have the resources for such a task.

Sanguin nods. That at least is true. That's why I took over the long range teleporter of Oibras Station.

It's still working? I ask. Who would have thought that. Though it's possible. Teleporters have so many fail-safes and all of them have redundant circuits with their own power supplies. If the teleporter was inside one of the bigger fragments of the station then it could still be functioning.

Yes. Luckily your ship is very close to Oibras. I am currently using the teleporter to fill your ship's cargo bay with resources and war materials. You also got a few blueprints for new weapons which were previously a secret-

I interrupt Sanguin. What!? That's dangerous! How do you know where to teleport the stuff? You could destroy my ship! I've made so many changes to the Coeus that the old plans are completely wrong by now. Wait a moment! Why don't you use the teleporter to kill that fleeing ship?

Calm down. I've access to your quantum computer. I am using it to triangulate your position and it has a complete log of the changes to your ship. The teleports won't fail. For the same reason I can't hit the enemy ship. It's not linked to our quantum-network and I can't get a good resolution of its position.

I decide upon a course of action. It's not like I want to get involved, but I can't ignore aliens who seem to kill without reason. And it looks like they already killed a person whom I knew personally. Even if it was just one night. I accept, just promise me one thing.

What? Saguin asks.

See to it that my family isn't anywhere dangerous when the shit hits the fan. I've read enough bad SciFi novels to know what aliens mean.

Okay. I'll order Aether to relocate to the Forge. That's where the new warships are being built. I guess that's the safest place in the solar system. He nods to himself. I almost forgot it. Your ship is so highly automated that you are able to fly the ship alone. You'll need at least one co-pilot on this mission. You can't stay always awake. I'll need a very skilled one for that purpose.

No, I don't need an annoying crew-member! I manipulate my ship's gravity field and accelerate towards the fleeing enemy. Maybe he can't teleport any more stuff to my ship if I am travelling fast enough.

His eyes flick left and right, then he answers. I am afraid that you won't get around your company. She's already briefed on her new deployment and in a similar situation to yours, so try not to kill each other. Sanguin cuts the connection and an ass appears in my field of vision.

He teleported my co-pilot directly into my cockpit! That old fart! I contemplate several possibilities to get rid of the uninvited intrusion into my private sphere.

But I don't find a solution that doesn't resort to murder or violates my agreement with Sanguin. I sigh inwardly and deactivate my ability to let the events take their course.

The inviting ass drops into my lap and the impact drives the air out of my lungs while unbearable pain wanders through my entire being. I've made a mistake. I've made a grave mistake! This is worse than anything that ever happened to me.

Where am I? Why is it so dark in here? A shivering female voice echoes through the cockpit.

Geh- ouh... I breath my death rattle into her ear.

Kya! She jumps out of my lap, maybe crushing the last remains of a very important organ while doing so.

I get out of my chair and crouch down, lying on the ground. Tell my family that I love them.

So, sorry! It's that stupid elder's fault. I am Cyla Estene. C- can you make some lights in here? The lights are too dim. The voice stutters and a pair of hands tries to get me up.

Gih- Gideon.

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