First Contact

Chapter 842: Names of the Fallen

You're still alive.

It's another day or night.

If you are in a city, get out. It's that simple. Any BobCo nutriforge has a VI that will instruct you on how to disconnect it and take it with you. Most of the Confederate nutriforges and nanoforges are in "Civil Defense Mode", which means that you can print off survival supplies and weapons. Take one with you if you can. Even the smaller ones are capable of producing more than you would think.

If you are in the countryside, remember, the fewer electronics, the better.

If this is the first time you have listened to this broadcast, there are a few things you should know.

Tap-codes are the new hotness. There are four different tap codes appended to this message. Choose one.

Any BobCo nutriforge of "Happy Feline" or better model number can produce a "Happy Quark Desk Tapper" module. That will enable you to listen in on the tap-code stations.

If you don't know: 880808 is the color you want. Mylar with a 1.5 micron aluminum oxide layer will block the shades. Salt for barriers and iron for weapons.

Finally: The howl of a goodboi will cause them to disperse and the hiss of a kittykitty will cause them to often flee. These sounds do not have diminishing returns, but they MUST be authentic.

Just remember: We can beat this. We can survive.

Carve your name and the date on a wall or rock so that people in the future know that you lived and loved.

Goodnight. - Recorded Broadcast from the front Lines of Iron Piglet; Journalist unknown (Presumed Killed in Action, remains unrecovered, file header damaged)

The day was no different than any other.

Reports on how many had fled his benevolent rulership for the wilds of the anarchy lands. Reports on how many had returned. Economic reports. Security reports. Planetary Director For Life Namtotun listened and paid attention even though he would much rather be playing golf out on the greens. The Terran sport, enjoyed by the Rigellians, was calming and relaxing to him.

Sirens started going off and Namtotun frowned, flicking his ears in concern.

"What is going on?" he asked.

"Unknown," his Chief of Internal Security said. "Let me check the visual feeds," the other Tnvaru said, reaching up and touching his datalink.

The Chief of Internal Security went rigid, his eyes suddenly going red as the blood vessels burst.

As Planetary Director For Life Namtotun watched a hand pushed its way out of the Tnvaru's eye, followed by an arm, followed by a shoulder, then a head. The head was tilted and rocking, nodding and shaking, at insane speeds that seemed to skip sections of movement.

It took less than a second to reveal itself as a Terran as it pushed its way out of the Chief of Internal Security's eye. From his other eye a hand reached out, twisting at the wrist and grasping at the air. The Terran that was pulling itself free looked crazed, its mouth full of broken and jagged teeth, its eyes wide and staring, its hair wild and crazed.

It was also entirely composed of white line art.

Namtotun sat, wide eyed and shocked, his brain still processing what he was seeing. The rest of his staff was still turning to look, their thought to reaction slowing them noticeably.

The Terran, which Namtotun could see through, lunged forward, reaching its hands into the chest of the Minister of Mental Hygiene. The Minister gasped then went limp as the Terran snatched a glowing and glittering blue transparent version of the Minister out of the body.

Namtotun just stared in shock as the white line-art Terran began tearing huge chunks of glowing blue 'flesh' off of the Minister's form with its teeth.

Three more had pulled themselves from the Chief of Internal Security's face, moving toward the other functionaries in the room.

Namtotun knew, as one of the shades slowly turned and looked at him, that he was about to die.

The wall paper on the edge of the room blurred and shifted strangely.

A massive canine exploded from the wallpaper, jumping into the room. Its jaws slammed shut on one shade, which burst like an overripe melon, spewing juice everywhere in the form of clear cold sticky fluid. A swipe of a massive paw, the toes terminating in wicked looking claws, tore another shade in half. Another snap of the jaws, this time crushing the Chief of Internal Security's head.

Namtotun just stared, aware he had finally started screaming.

He stared, transparent goo showering over him as the massive canine ripped through the shades, finally stopping when they were all gone. It turned slowly and stared at him, its head lowered, baleful amber eyes staring into his.

All he could do was gabble at it, his mouth working, making sounds that didn't fit together.

His eyes got even wider and his mouth dropped open even further when the great hairy beast spoke!

"Use the text menu, set all lights you can control to the following color number: 880808," it said, its voice growling and menacing.

Namtotun just nodded. He reached over to his main terminal.

In his world, beneath his benevolent hand, he controlled everything about his subject's lives.

Their housing temperature, the temperature of the water from their faucets, the humidity in their dwellings, the intensity and color of the lights, the tastes from the nutripaste dispenser, whether sounds were muted or increased in volume due to the smart paint and ferrocrete.

"Set the temperatures to at least 26.5C. Lights to intensity of at least 60 watts. Color to 880808. All lights," the big beast growled. "Now! Every second is another ten thousand lives lost."

Nodding along, Namtotun did as ordered, quickly shifting through the text only menus as fast as possible.

"What... what were those things?" Namtotun asked, his voice quavering and breaking.

"Terran phasic shades. Someone, somewhere, screwed up royally," the giant canine said. Its voice changed in the middle of speaking, going lighter, softer.

When Namtotun looked up the great creature was gone. Instead, one of the omnipresent Terran Security Agents stood in front of his desk, not a hair out of place, her uniform immaculate, her eyes gray and unreadable.

"That... that was you?" he asked, adjusting the temperature of all buildings.

"Lower the humidity," she said. "And yes. One of my battle forms. A gift from Our Father, who serves the Digital Omnimessiah."

"I am grateful for your protection," Namtotun stammered out.

The Terran woman nodded. "You serve the Confederacy in your own way," she said. She pointed at the interface. "Order your soldiers and policemen to coat their armor and clothing with the red coloration. Arm them with iron weapons."

Namtotun just nodded. He followed her instructions as she gave them.

They were his subjects. His peasants. His proles.

They were property of the State.

Done, he stared at the blinking cursor for the last command.

INITIATE AUTO-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE sat silently.

He looked at the Terran woman in the black business suit.

"May the Digital Omnimessiah forgive me," he said.

He pressed the button.

-----

Panting, Nakteti lowered her sword, pushing the tip into the earth and leaning against the guard. Her shoulders burned and the muscles down her spine ached, but she had grown used to that after training to use the sword in her hands.

It was hyperalloy, normally created in high tech foundries using plasma smelters with temperatures approaching that of a star. Shaped and sharpened by high technology bringing to bear graviton forces that would warp endosteel.

She had watched as the blade had been forged on an anvil with a hammer from base elements.

There was a slash of ectoplasm at her feet and she reached out with her booted toes to smear it into the dirt. She was panting, offsetting the rise in body temperature from heavy exertion, able to feel the heat she was exhaling.

"Any news of how it's going in Namtotun's area?" Nakteti asked.

The sorceress Serscee nodded, using a decorated hand fan to cool her exposed breasts, which were covered with sweat from her high energy activities. "He is pushing the shades out of the cities through force of arms and disciplined forces."

"Destroying the ansible, needlecaster, and the hypercom wave receiver within minutes of the first attack probably saved millions," Nakteti said, shaking her head. "Say what you like about him, but when he makes a decision, he acts on it."

"The mark of a true leader," Magnus said. He lifted up a wineskin and squirted liquid into his mouth. He wiped his mouth and handed the wineskin to Nakteti.

It was whiskey with a heavy citrus bite, blood warm but still good as she swished her mouth with it and spit out the first squirt, then gulped down a couple drinks before handing it to Serscee, who accepted it with a grave nod.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right," Nakteti said. "For all of his faults, the man can lead. Even I was surprised to see him in light unpowered riot armor, leading his forces to push the shades out of the housing blocks."

Nakteti looked around carefully, squinting slightly. The salve smeared under her eyes enabled her to see shades clearly, even in the sunlight, but she saw nothing but gently waving knee high grass.

"Did we get whatever they were using to propagate in this area?" she asked. She tilted her head to scratch the side of her cheek against the bronze shoulder pauldron. She could feel the heat off of it, but could also feel that it was rapidly cooling.

"A Tri-Vee left on a room of dead people," Serscee said. "Your soldiers smashed it."

Nakteti nodded, even though the reminder that she had been forced by circumstances to raise a military force in the early hours of the shade invasion made her conscience twinge.

"I still can't believe that Namtotun had the space ports destroyed," Nakteti said. She shook her head. "He's cut us off from the rest of the galaxy."

"He has stated it is better to be an island in a dark sea than a graveyard," Magnus said, sheathing his sword.

"I'm not saying he was wrong in what he did, I'm just saying I can't believe he did it," Nakteti said.

"What good is it to rule the world if you have nobody to lord it over?" Serscee asked. She closed the fan with a snap, tucking it into her belt, even as her top lifted back up and relaced itself.

While it looked like magic it was actually nanite-driven "sorcery".

Although Nakteti had grown to appreciate it over the last three days. While the shades might have been immune to the nanites themselves, often disrupting or suppressing the nanites they came into contact with, a skillful user such as Lady Serscee was able to create effects with the nanites that did harm the shades.

One of the Tnvaru that had joined Nakteti's 'army' jogged up, panting even though the distance had only been a little over a hundred meter. The Tnvaru bent over for a moment in his armor, panting, then straightened after a few seconds.

"Phasic sweep says the area is clear now," he panted.

"Excellent," Nakteti said. She could see another Tnvaru approaching and could tell by the armor and the markings that it was one of her 'generals'.

The newcomer straightened up, banging his red chestpiece as the 'general' stopped a respectful arm's length from Nakteti.

"Lady Nakteti, we have a distress signal from a nearby settlement," the general said.

"Then we best be enroute," Nakteti said, standing up straight and pulling the tip of her sword out of the ground. She sheathed it across her back, long practice making it a smooth motion.

"I would prefer, Lady Nakteti, if you withdrew. The troops can handle this without you or your personal guard," the general said.

Nakteti shook her head. "Everyone knows that plotter and schemer Namtotun is personally leading his troops. I can do no less, for he has forced my hand," she said gravely.

'Archaic' and formal modes of speaking now came naturally to her.

"But..." the general began to say.

"The Lord Captain has spoken," Magnus said, idly adjusting the buckler he had strapped to his left arm.

The general looked up at Magnus and nodded jerkily, gulping in nervousness.

He'd seen the heavily muscled human fight a dozen shades at once, that sword flashing and his buckler gleaming, and come out without a scratch or a touch on his bare skin.

"There are people who need us," Nakteti said. She began walking toward the draft animal pulled wagons. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"Five hours," the general said.

"Then we best be off," Nakteti said.

Behind her, her retinue of humans followed as she continued to speak.

"The dead do not wait for the living."

-----

The shouts of the socio-police and the law-sec guards filled the hab-block, mingling with the enraged shrieks of the shades that hammered at red painted walls, tried to push past salt barriered doors, tried to claw through iron-oxide sprayed glass.

Kenteri was a Tnvaru of little means. She worked in one of the fabric production shops, using a needle and thread to attach the left upper sleeve to shirts she then passed on to the next person. Her position was too low for a robot to do, robots did important things like make luxury vehicles and tend to luxury green houses.

She was huddled in the middle of the laundryroom, underneath a red colored mylar emergency 'blanket' that she had barely managed to pull out of her pocket when the shades had rushed in, screaming.

Near her were two still forms of Tnvaru who lived in the same hab-block as she did.

Neither had been able to hide under the emergency blankets. One hadn't gotten it out, the other hadn't managed to unfold it.

Shades swirled around her, whispering, cajoling, trying to get her to give up, move the blanket, telling her that nobody was coming for her, that nobody cared enough about her.

The door of the laundry room burst open, driven by a boot heel.

Light unpowered armor clad socio-police and law-sec moved into the room, short cutting blades of iron in one hand, red painted shields in the other. The rear ranks banged their blades against their shields and gave primal, primitive shouts of raw aggression.

Kenteri huddled tighter.

"FAITH IS YOUR REWARD!" the lead figure yelled out in a hoarse voice, sweeping aside one shade and hacking another apart.

In moments the shades were gone, hacked into ectoplasm.

The lead figure knelt down, letting the blade attach to their hip via a magnetic system built into their belt.

"You are safe now, citizen," they said, their voice rough.

But familiar.

Kenteri peeked out from under her blanket, looking into the visor of the unpowered light armor.

With a shock she recognized who had rescued her. Who was holding one hand out to her and helping her to her feet before two socio-police wrapped her thin mylar blanket around her.

"Lets get you somewhere safe, citizen," Planetary Director For Life Namtotun said.

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