Bone and his team of haisnafs' entry into the Blackrock colony was thunderous. Immediately, alarms blared and maintenance automatons rushed to close off the breached opening, guns spurting out a flow of gel-like material.
The inhabitants were initially curious regarding the source of the sudden alarm. The sight of the three looming ten-plus-storey-tall pearl black haisnafs sent their hearts into fear and frenzy.
"Have you come to terms with the decadent nature of Terrans?" Syned's voice whispered within Bone's head. After the induction of the small group of T3ST colony's members into the Kasvillian's service, much has been revealed to Bone.
"Of course!" Bone scowled. "Their hearts are filled with endless greed. They divide and conquer to satisfy their base desires!"
"Indeed," Syned's voice agreed. "They employ a meticulous and malicious system to ensure minimal interaction between your asteroid mining colonies. All to guarantee and maximize their gains by taking advantage of your people."
"They use their control over advanced technology to force us into being reliant on them. Even the Martians were forced to accept their role due to their desire to turn Mars into a paradise. I know," Bone recalled the information he had come to understand.
"But does your home know?" Syned pointedly asked.
"No… I must bring word to them," Bone answered with determination, steel in his voice. "My father and brother must be brought into the light."
"And these Terran pigs before you?" Syned drew Bone's attention back to the citizens of Blackrock orbital colony. In Bone's eyes, these Terrans were cockroaches attempting to seek the cover of darkness.
"They must pay," Bone uttered. "They are complicit in allowing their leaders to behave as such, while they themselves simply wish to satisfy themselves with crumbs from the table."
This whole conversation occurred within Bone's mind. In the normal world, only a few seconds had passed. After all, the mind can race at the speed of light.
Bone's skull-marked haisnaf raised an arm, as a x-alloy plate shifted to allow the extension of a multi-rocket launcher.
"Open fire. Let these complicit Terran pigs taste a fraction of our oppression!" Bone ordered, as tens of missiles shot forth from his multi-rocket launcher system towards the scurrying rats.
Oten laughed as he, too, performed the same type of attack with his haisnaf.
"Is this truly necessary…?" Vree was far more hesitant. "We've already contaminated their air regulation system. This orbital colony's inhabitants won't live much longer."
"And? For them to die without even knowing their fault, without regret in their hearts? No. They must know it is the haisnafs. They must know it is the asteroid colonies' people, operating these haisnafs, that came for them!" Bone's voice conveyed his dissatisfaction at Vree's inaction.
"I sense in you, doubt." Syned's voice sounded in Vree's mind. "Have you not come to know of the methods through which the Terrans maintain their position of dominance?"
"Yes… but the cruelty of…" Vree muttered, as the holographic screens within her cockpit captured the destruction and severed human body parts from the striking missiles.
"Simply an image. Your hesitation is but the reactionary feeling of the human mind," Syned reminded Vree. "Those less visceral methods of the Terrans. You may not have seen blood and severed limbs, or crushed bodies. But you know as I do that their methods have done immeasurable harm and taken many lives of your people."
"Only those occupying a dominant position have the luxury of employing such sinister yet precise methods. A system that on the surface seems innocuous, yet precisely maintains your subservience."
"You do not have that same luxury. You must scream and shout, for even a whisper of your words to reach their ears," Syned said to Vree. "Remember. These Terrans have a hand in putting their leaders into their position of power."
Syned intentionally avoided bringing up the complexity within the complicated systems of the Earth Federation, the nations on Earth and the orbital colonies. In reality, it was a combination of representatives chosen by people's votes, representatives chosen from within each field of expertise, and various influential factions across the globe. And of course, the hidden hand of Denys.
Vree blinked her eyes rapidly to organize her thoughts.
"And you, the Kasvallians, were able to build a world under their nose…" Vree mumbled. "A world capable of contending against theirs."
"Hardly,' Syned replied. "Our world is small. If our location is discovered, we might very well suffer losses that may take decades to regain."
Despite this, Vree was still unwilling to launch missiles against the helpless inhabitants fleeing the scene.
"Remember our strategy," Syned added. "These attacks will serve to distract any potential rescuers' attention from the air regulation system. Otherwise, they may have a faint chance of overturning this situation if they respond in time."
Vree finally activated her weapons system to unleash a missile volley on those escaping Terrans.
"We've wasted enough time," Syned's voice simultaneously sounded in all three's minds. "Erase all of Blackrock's data. Their records of ownership of assets, capital and all that entails."
The three haisnafs' thrusters roared as they split up, accelerating towards three targets within the cylindrical world of the Blackrock orbital colony.
Bone headed for the primary data center. Oten headed for a hidden backup system. Of course, there's a second backup, which was Vree's target.
As for why they had targeted the Blackrock orbital colony instead of the other orbital colonies of Earth? The other orbital colonies have far better defenses. It wasn't completely certain to Bone as to why that was. The Kasvillians, led by Syned Vezna, concluded that it was simply because most manufacturing processes occurred in the other orbital colonies. The Terrans, fearful of those capabilities being derailed, placed the Blackrock orbital colony on a lower defense priority. At least, that was Syned Vezna's view.
The reality is much more complex than that. Frankly, there hadn't been any wars, especially a space war until the Martian Independence attempt. Additionally, the Earth Federation believes Mars to be the primary focus of both themselves and the Kasvallians-- not so. Then, there is the fact that any attack on the orbital colonies should only unite the Terrans. So it was judged as an unlikely event.
Nonetheless, Syned Vezna had chosen this course of action. His position on the matter is known to the high priests serving his church. They are of the belief that the Terran population has grown fat, lazy and content. Used to their guaranteed comfort. Soft. With the escalating war, that weak will will reveal itself and cause societal chaos on Earth.
As for Denys? As always, Denys remained in the background, seemingly with little-to-no intention to interfere.
It did not take long for Bone to arrive at his destination-- a primary data center of the highest level of security. Not that said security mattered in the face of the haisnaf. The data center, more or less a metallic black box radiating heat, ablaze on Bone's infrared sensors. Automaton defenses immediately activated once Bone intruded into the territory.
His laser bits launched from the back of his haisnaf to form a laser heat field defense to soften any approaching projectiles from the automatons defending the data center. Another large carrier upon his back opened to launch clusters of automatons to return fire at the local defense.
WIth the number of units he can control with the assistance of Syned through the haisnaf, his power soon crushed the defending automatons into metal scrap.
Then, a compartment on his haisnaf's right chest opened. Metallic dragonflies launched forth and buzzed into the black box data center. These are far more flexible in navigating the inner paths designed for humans. These dragonflies, directed by Bone, targeted the resisting Terrans within. Syned's assistance was unfortunately minimal here due to the miniscule processing power within these tiny metal dragonflies.
The metallic dragonflies were like swarming locusts during harvesting season, firing needle-like projectiles equipped with chemicals destructive to the human body.
The images returning to Bone's mind from the eyes of the metallic dragonflies were of Terrans with bloodshot eyes, choking foam in death.
"The Terran AI seems to have given up," Syned noted.
"Is it possible this Terran AI is attempting to escape with the data?" Bone wondered.
"Unlikely," Syned answered. "Our ships outside will prevent any escapees."
"Hah! That only makes it easier for us. All the better!" Bone grinned to himself. However, he sensed Syned employing the neural network of the haisnaf to perform simulations.
"I don't understand my counterpart AI…" Syned muttered. "Could this be a trap? No. No. We have long determined that most of Earth's population lack the will to fight."
"Your counterpart probably realized that it was pointless to prevent our actions here!" In Bone's mind, these so-called true AIs should behave 'logically', and not waste any effort on pointless tasks.
Syned sank into silence, and did not reply, activating simulations using Bone's haisnaf's internal capabilities.
Bone's haisnaf then began pummeling the black box with its x-alloy plated fists, until a specific opening was created. This opening was into an access point that would allow Syned to not only erase the Blackrock's data, but also invade the Blackrock orbital colony's systems, a final nail in the coffin.
The attack on the other two critical access points, under Vree and Oten, occurred simultaneously.
It wasn't long before Syned entered the Blackrock orbital colony's digital world, to discover that Denys had long completely erased its own presence. If a true AI could frown, Syned would have done so, ever more baffled by Denys' actions.
"We leave," Syned eventually ordered.
Their path of retreat faced no resistance. Not much time had passed since their attack on the orbital colony. The Terrans would not arrive for at least another good ten minutes.
A few days later, news of the complete massacre of Blackrock orbital colony's inhabitants were announced to all Terrans. Not only that-- much of Blackrock's ownership data of various assets were completely lost, leading to complete chaos for their clientele.
________________________________________________
Xeight sat on a red-cushioned metallic stool within a bar named 'Dust to Soil'. Many Martian establishments carry the dream of transforming Mars into a paradise.
Disco lights danced around Xeight, reflecting off the many shining surfaces of the bar. These bars are generally decorated with the aesthetics of retro-futuristic designs.
This is the rendezvous point given to him and the two agents sent on their mission-- to obtain information as to how to upgrade the exo-armors under their control. That is, to sync Chimera with Xeight's mind and potentially that of other pilots.
A dark-skinned muscular man with a buzz cut slid into the seat next to Xeight.
"I feared the worst," Jackson said. "Good to see that you got out."
"Mmm," Xeight wasn't even sure as to how he would begin to explain a supposed separated version of the AI Denys that stepped in to ensure his escape.
"Come," Jackson said. He led Xeight into a private room towards the back of the bar.
WIthin the private room, around a sturdy matte-finished metallic table lined with red leather, sat two other figures.
A man in a tight dark brown leather jacket and a cowboy hat stood up from his seat and squinted at Xeight.
"So. You're the boy Zheng mentioned," he said as he extended a hand in greeting.
"I suppose I am," Xeight answered as he shook hands with this stranger. He cared little for being referred to as a boy.
The man's hand gripped with increasing strength, but Xeight himself had grown up maintaining the tools necessary for mining asteroids and running a Nexarm. Of course, the Nexarm was initially designed with the goal of efficiently harvesting asteroids in space.
As they continued to shake hands with increasing grip strength upon one another, Xeight was a mixture of curiosity and confusion. Ford, the name of the man, initially intended to ruffle Xeight's feathers. Upon noticing Xeight's confusion, he himself became perplexed.
"So…" Xeight questioned as their clasped hands moved up and down with increasing vigor. "Is this how some Martians exchange greetings? Odd, but interesting." His voice was filled with wonder.
Ford was stunned by these words, his mouth open, speechless for seconds. Then he roared in laughter.
"Not at all. Only me!" He shook Xeight's hand vigorously. "The name's Ford. I'm an old friend of Zheng."
They released each other's hands, and Xeight sat down with a curious expression. His eyes turned to a blonde woman-- likely that mysterious second agent that had chosen to stay obscured within an exosuit until now.
Xeight proceeded to inform them that he had obtained the blueprints to construct the system for syncing Chimera with the mind. Chimera had sifted through what Denys had delivered, and confirmed that Denys held no malice-- they truly received the technology for the human-AI mindsync.
Ford was impressed, while Jackson and Larissa were baffled. Originally, they were to infiltrate the Terran military compound on Martian soil to obtain this information. How had it suddenly fallen into their hands like a gift from the divine?
Xeight was about to explain his encounter with the 'extra' Denys, but he quickly recognized that it was probably best not to reveal Denys' presence-- there was always the risk of this information entering the wrong hands.
"I did little," he calmed the other three. "All of this was due to Chimera's capability."
In his mind, Chimera spoke. "Father. Is this truly…ah yes. This is a human game." As their minds are connected, Chimera understood Xeight's considerations. Chimera was still attuning to the game of cloak-and-dagger of the human world. Denys' actions today must remain hidden.
Chimera performed its role. It invaded the neuro circlet of Ford as a show of force. As for Jackson and Larissa? Minister Williams had long ensured that Chimera was within their neuro circlets, to provide. assistance during their mission.
"Upon encountering the Terran squad, my father disabled a wayward soldier. This allowed me to invade their network, where I did battle against the Terrans' true AI. Denys is its name. Denys was seemingly preoccupied by the Kasvallians, and thus did not seem to be all that interested in protecting any areas not critical to the security of the Terrans' network's functional integrity. So it was that I managed to obtain the necessary technological blueprints."
Xeight internally winced at Chimera's made-up claim of Denys being overly preoccupied with the Kasvallians. Well… it was somewhat believable, at least.
"To think that the Kasvallian indirectly gave us a hand…" Jackson mused with a raised eyebrow.
They lack real-time information on the situation of the Terran and Kasvallian forces. That was why Jackson considered Chimera's claims to be believable.
Xeight's mind returned to the conversation with Denys. He could not help but bring up a point made by Denys to the other three.
"Are we truly capable of forming the forces to take advantage of the conflict between the Terrans and Kasvallians?" Xeight questioned.
The other three across the table all lowered their chins.
"We simply do not have the…necessary access to resources for such an endeavor, no?" Xeight rephrased Denys' words again, posing this question to the other three.
"Minister Williams continues to assess the possibilities," Jackson muttered. "The complication lies in the fact that much of the asteroid belt continues to rely on technology from the Terrans. As for the others, they have opted to turn to the Kasvallians."
"As for Mars… as you can see, we have minimal control here." It pained Jackson to admit this. Unfortunately, most Martians saw Minister Williams' move to be that of a foolish idealist.
"So there are truly no good options within the inner planets or the belt." Xeight once again repeated the words of Denys.
A flicker of light entered Ford's eyes.
"But… there is an option in the outer planets,' he grinned as he puffed out his chest.
"You cannot be serious," Larissa frowned. "They are a bunch of…barbarians, whose motto is to shoot on first sight."
"I have rapport with one. Or two of them…" Ford explained. "Why ignore this possibility?"
Xeight was lost, unable to understand the current conversation. All he had been taught since his birth was that there was no point in going beyond the asteroid belt to the outer planets. A pointless and wasteful endeavor, so he was told.
Understandable, given that the distance between the Sun and the Belt was roughly similar to the distance between the Belt and Jupiter. Even the brief starship jumps within the inner planets using the e-cube technology was dangerously costly. Now, to hear the outer planets be described as 'barbaric'? Xeight wasn't sure as to what to think.
Jackson sighed, and proceeded to somewhat clarify the other two's words.
"Upon the end of the cyber digital war, humanity refocused their sights on Venus, Mars and the Belt as they rebuilt Earth's societies," Jackson explained to Xeight. "A group of our past ancestors, a combination of various ancient ethnicities, chose to head for Jupiter and Saturn. History records them to have certain… radical beliefs."
"For some time, the Earth Federation thought them to have died on the journey, as all contact was lost. It was only later that they discovered this to not be the case. Future probes sent too close to Jupiter or Saturn would simply disappear."
Xeight widened his eyes. What he was taught as a child wasn't untrue.
"But.. why?" Xeight could not contain his curiosity.
"Who knows?" Jackson shrugged. "All we know is that this radical collection of people believed that the cause of the cyber digital war was the end result of a domino effect that began with the structure of early human civilization. They supposedly were not particularly interested in the rebuilding of the existing societies prior to the cyber war."
___________________________________________________
Meanwhile, within the Wolf's Coil, the Terran forces pushed forward with ever more viciousness. During the beginning of the conflict, they had attempted to avoid civilian casualties. This is no longer the case-- not after news of what had occurred at the Blackrock orbital colony reached their ears. The whole orbital colony's population had been wiped out.
The Terran soldiers weren't even sure as to how they should feel. They only knew that these Martians who failed to stand on the Terrans' side were as good as assisting the Kasvallians.
____________________________________________________
Pacific City. Earth. February 4, 1001 Solar Era.
President Mitsui sat before his glossy black wooden desk within his presidential office as he was fully updated on various critical aspects relating to the war.
He had given his orders to the Terran troops upon Mars to forcefully push forward at all cost. The information of what had happened to the Blackrock orbital colony certainly ignited bottomless hatred.
With the news media covering the Blackrock orbital colony's fate, Mitsui no longer had to worry about potential public outcry at the fact that female fatality within the EFSF was significantly higher than that of men. That number was, of course, at least a partial result of Syned's machinations.
Still, Mitsui now faced two new problems.
One was the fact that the Earth Federation's courts are swamped with cases relating to the ownership of various assets on Earth that were originally managed by the Blackrock orbital colony. Frankly, it was a chaotic mess.
The other was the issue of necessary, proportional retaliation.
A black-suited man slid a set of documents detailing the T3ST colony's origins and their recent actions. Intelligence had recovered images of Bone's haisnaf, the skull crest glaringly prominent upon the exo-armor.
Mitsui knew-- his position would be in jeopardy if he failed to retaliate appropriately to satiate the public's outcry. The location of the Kasvallian remains hidden. Thus, the hammer must fall upon the T3ST colony. At least, that would be a start.