“Not entirely sure I need to,” Evan said. Five enemy warriors had fallen in moments, their smouldering wreckage filling the elevator. “It’s strange, these are the same as the ones on the Trojan. The armed Children Kurrax fought. I would have expected automated troops like we have.”

  The thought of killing sentient beings, even if they were machines, made Evan's stomach twist. It was always a possibility, and it wasn't the first time his orders had resulted in this. He held onto the feeling, it meant he was still human, that he still cared about the lives changed by the war. Losing that would mean Evan had lost a part of himself.

  “I’ll put the other ATV near the first elevator. Are Kurrax’s marines in there yet?” Evan had been focused on the ATV as it had fought the Children. Five warriors couldn’t be the extent of the station’s defenders.

  “Not yet, they’re just getting in now.”

  “Ok, that's fine. If they're getting in the enemy aren't coming out. I think we're safe to start on the second base for now.”

  “Way ahead of you,” Byeol said. “Forward base is going down now.”

  “The teamwork on display here is impressive.” Tolax had kept quiet so far, watching the battle unfold. He hadn't wanted to distract the humans as they worked. Behind him, Nira was leaning against the command chamber wall and acting like she was oblivious to what was happening before her.

  “Thanks,” Evan said. “It isn’t over yet though.”

  ***

  Hirox was furious. A handful of his warriors had gone on ahead of the main force, revealing their presence to the enemy and being destroyed in the process. More than ten per cent of his warrior chassis gone in moments The Hegemony had killed them with startling efficiency, though in part it was the warriors’ fault, stepping out into waiting guns. The rest of Hirox’s army was gathering in the main supply elevator, a much larger system designed to move the vast quantity of minerals harvested by the barges to the surface of the station. It would take a little longer to reach the enemy base, but they would arrive in force.

  The base. Its presence was infuriating. The enemy hadn't just invaded the nursery, they were dismantling it and using its minerals to build factories and structures. Automated units were being built directly on the station itself. It was interesting technology, an adaptation of the systems used to build fleets. The Children had never needed anything like it. Conquering worlds was slow and ponderous work. It was simply easier to annihilate their opponents from orbit. On the rare occasion that fighting on the ground was needed, the Children had large numbers of warrior chassis amongst their number they could call on. The large amount of tellaxite that nurseries needed meant that the Children had no real interest in controlling planets, their entire culture existing in stations and starships.

  “I want every single Child in this station armed. Those Kirrans are going somewhere, and I want them stopped. Everyone fights, I will have no dishonour today!” Hirox’s volume was as high as it went, the speakers projecting the sound from behind his faceplate reverberating. “Place portable shields at every junction we can.”

  “Ah, well, the number of shields we have is limited, and our warriors took them with them when they headed to the surface. In fact, three of them appear to have been in the possession of the warriors who attacked early…” The adjunct was hesitant, they knew what was coming next.

  “Of course! Idiots!” Hirox's bellow caused the adjuncts faceplate to rattle. “Let me be clear, this nursery will not fall. If I have to get out there myself and show you all how it's done. What is the enemy fleet doing?”

  “It’s just holding position beyond our range, Builder.”

  Hirox leant back in his seat, his fingers placed together. The enemy wasn’t stupid, they knew that he wouldn’t fire upon his own station. They were content to wait on the outcome of their assault before moving in. Something was different about this Hegemony commander, Hirox could feel it. They had already bested Silox. The older Child had been given a role in the invasion as deference to his years of experience. No normal Hegemony force could have defeated him.

  “Open a channel to the enemy command ship. I wish to speak with the commander of the enemy fleet,” Hirox said. “I think we should look our adversary in the eye.”

  “Yes, Builder.”

  There was an infuriating wait as the Hegemony commander accepted the message. Their face appeared on the screen, the familiar pale blue skin and jet black eyes of a Kirran. It was a reflection of the visage carved into Hirox’s own head.

  “I am Hirox, Builder of this nursery. You have stepped foot on sacred ground, your forces defiling a holy place. I am not surprised to see your fleet cowering out in the darkness, instead of being bold enough to engage us.”

  “Oh, I’m not sure that would be the wisest thing for us to do,” Tolax said. When the incoming message request had come in Evan had sent it to the Kirran’s disc. The presence of the humans aboard a Hegemony ship was a secret, one that everyone was keen to keep. “We seem to be doing ok at the moment.”

  “You’ve killed but a fraction of my force. When the rest of my warriors fall upon your pathetic buildings your desperate attempt to take my station will be over.”

  “That remains to be seen. Personally, I think you’re worried about us taking this place. After all, if we can take this station, we can take all the other stations you’ve got across Hegemony space. It’s rather easy to determine where they are from your raiding fleets’ flightpaths.” Tolax had come to this conclusion himself, the basics of strategic thinking beginning to rub off on him. “The mistake you’ve made here is assuming that your assets were safe this far from the frontlines. This is Hegemony space. You can’t just simply move in.”

  “And yet, we have. The Hegemony has simply retreated, leaving the space free for us to claim.”

  “I think it's not all of our space you want. Just the tellaxite rich systems to build more Children, correct?”

  Hirox was stunned. Somehow the enemy had discovered the purpose of the nursery. That put not just the invasion, but the entire future of the Children at risk. Without the nurseries and the tellaxite, there would be no future generations.

  “Cut the channel,” Hirox barked at his nearest adjunct. The holographic image of Tolax vanished. “What's the status of our forces? I want these Hegemony fools wiped out. Focus on their base first, the other group of Kirrans should be no match for our remaining warriors once that is dealt with.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Children marched across the hillside, their arms held out ready, weaponry springing from their wrists. They were all eager to cross the gentle terrain and engage the enemy. They were the Children, warriors of honour and skill. The Hegemony were cowards, cretins that had abandoned their nascent society to the ravages of the Ash’vanar. Scouring them from the nursery would be a joy, a sacred cleansing. Each warrior was acutely aware that the station was vital, a key part in the propagation of their species.

  There was forty-five of them total, part of their number too eager to engage the Hegemony and easily gunned down as they had stepped out of the elevator. Each understood why the fallen had done it. They were bearers of a warrior chassis, the chosen protectors of the Children. Every Child would fight if needed, but those given a warrior chassis were more aggressive than most of their kin. It was part of the function of the nursery, to detect the personality forming inside the crystalline mind as it grew and building it the appropriate body. This system meant that the Children followed a strict caste system, warriors, commanders, scientists, industrialists, and dozens more specific body types. Progression was only ever within a caste; no warrior could rise to command a fleet. The Children accepted this as the way of things, the strict society suited a race of machines, each understanding implicitly that they were a part of a great whole.

  Receiving the location of the enemy directly into their minds, the warriors pushed onwards. From the barked orders they could tell Hirox was on edge. The command chassis bearing Child was well known amongst his subordinates for being volatile, and the warriors were glad they weren’t in the immediate presence of the Builder. Being shot at by the Hegemony felt a lot safer.

  Swarming down the hills, the warriors had broken into small squads, moving in clusters as they advanced. It was standard tactics, splitting into five Child fireteams so they could outflank the enemy. At their heels, each squad was followed by a boarding drone, the scything blades that acted as legs sinking into the dirt. The machines weren't designed to operate on the surface of a planet, even an artificial one, and were struggling to keep up. Three of the squads were carrying portable shields, the others wasted by the warriors who had moved early. There was a distinct lack of cover on the surface, and the shields would be vital.

  The lead squad came to a stop, transmitting the command to hold position to the others. Something had appeared over the crest of a nearby hill. It was a vehicle, one that rested on four thick wheels, the front two resting at the end of long struts. Dirt was caked over it where it had raced across the countryside. At its top was two fearsome looking guns.

  The ATV opened fire at the nearest squad, bolts of brilliant shimmering energy flying from the two cannons as their barrels span. Two warriors fell as the squad struggled to deploy their shield in time, the energy field spreading out slowly from the deployed device. The Children attempted to return fire, but the ATV had slid back behind the safety of the hill, hiding behind its crest.

  It remerged a few moments later, attacking from a different angle at a different squad. Messages were being flung between the warrior squads as they tried to formulate a plan. Three more of them feel as they rushed to the existing shield, their few devices deployed to form a defensive circle. Shots bounced of the glowing energy screens as the ATV switched targets, the warriors safe from its barrage for the moment. A second ATV peaked over the hill, adding its firepower to the assault.

  ***

  Evan couldn’t help but smile despite the destruction he was raining down on the Children. A huge group of warriors had walked into the sensor range of the ATV he had sent to scout and had paid the price for it. Now they had dropped the portable shields they were carrying in a circle, pinning themselves in place. He had switched the ATV, along with a second unit he had sent to reinforce it, to attacking the shields. The longer the enemy cowered in place the better.

  The second base was up and running now, the additional minerals enough to fund the third and fourth vehicle constructors, both in the process of being printed. The sixth ATV was about to finish, and Evan had to admit he was feeling confident. The warriors' retaliation had done a little damage to the first ATV, but it was still a considerable threat to them. There was still a lot of Children, around forty by Evan's count, but if they were going to stay hunkered down like they were they would lose for certain. Once the shields failed, they would be easily destroyed, their defences penning them in.

  “You did well, Tolax,” Evan said. His gaze was still locked on the viewing screen, his focus on the ATV. “Pretending to be the ship’s commander. You properly got under that Hirox’s skin. Well, if he had skin, anyway.”

  Tolax bowed slightly. “Thank you. Though I don't quite understand the idiom.”

  “He means you annoyed them,” Sandeep said. He had been busy focusing on the fleet whilst Byeol and Evan laid siege to the station. The enemy forces were still holding position beneath the guns of the station. A familiar blue light had begun to glow on the structure, the tell-tale sign of a construction bay working. Not eager to fall behind Sandeep had begun gathering up what scraps of minerals he could, along with collecting some of the valuable tellaxite. The green number on the resource display was slowly increasing. They didn’t have anything that needed it yet but grabbing a stockpile whilst they could struck Sandeep as a good idea. It should have been obvious that the station could build ships, including the technology in anything large enough was a smart move.

  “Like getting into his eye sacs,” Nira said. She was smiling, a rarity for her. “You really rankled that machine. Where has this Tolax been all this time?”

  “Well, when I have some spare time, rare as that is as the moment, I do like to partake in some acting. I’ve been in a few small productions over the years.”

  “Really?” Evan couldn't contain himself. The stuffy scientist hardly seemed to type to take to the stage. “I would like to see that.” Evan turned briefly to look at the Kirran. Behind Tolax he could see Nira frantically shaking her head. She was miming something silently, but without the sound, the nanomachines left it untranslated. From the look in her eyes, Evan could guess what it was.

  “Oh, I’d be very happy to put on a performance. I'm particularly adept at Kirran opera. I'm sure the crew would like a show, after all this stress.”

  Nira let out a long pained groan.

  “Evan, we should press our advantage, look for a place to set up a third base. It might be an idea to build our relays away from the bases so we can spread the range of our sensor data,” Byeol said. It was something she would have done herself, but her words were more to focus her comrade than anything else.

  “Good plan, got an idea for a third location?” Evan turned his attention back to the viewing hologram, not aware of the horror he had unleashed.

  “There’s another cluster of those columns between us and the enemy. Seems like a decent enough place.”

  “Go for it. I’m going to bring our ATVs forward to apply more pressure. I think it’s safe to assume this has to be the bulk of the Childrens’ combat units.” Evan couldn’t believe how well it was going. He had expected far stiffer resistance than this. “If we can hold them long enough for Kurrax to do her job, we can push in with the fleet. You need to be ready to move as soon as possible, Sandeep.”

  “Already on it. I’m trying to add what I can to our fleet, that station is building something. We don’t want to lose our advantage.” Sandeep couldn’t help but grin. For once he was ahead of Evan. “We don’t have time for something bigger so I’m just adding more bombers. We already know ten bombers can destroy a picket in one volley.”

  “And be destroyed in return, it’s not an effective use of minerals.”

  “I mean we don’t know exactly when the fleet will need to attack. It seemed like the right choice.”

  “No, no, you're right. Keep doing what you're doing. The fleet is under your command, Sandeep. You make the choices. I trust you to do the right thing.”

  ***

  Blasts of energy seared the wall behind her as Kurrax pushed forward. The Children were defending valiantly, but the machines she had encountered weren’t like the ones that had protected the Trojan. Their armour was lighter, their weapons clutched in robotic hands rather than built into arms. They were falling before her marines as Kurrax lead them through the corridors of the station, almost throwing themselves into waiting guns in an attempt to slow down the Kirrans.

  The elevator ride had been a long one, the reactor level near the bottom of hundreds of different options. The doors had opened into a long corridor with several doorways on the side. The Children kept barging through, weapons in hand. It had made traversing the corridor take a lot longer than Kurrax would have liked.

  “We need to keep moving!” Kurrax fired another shot, the bolt punching clear through the robot rushing her. They fell to the ground, smoke pouring out from the wound, circuits singed and melted by the heat of the blast. Kurrax kicked the body aside. She wasn’t sure if she believed the machines counted as being alive, but it didn’t matter anyway. Getting to the reactor was more important than any niceties.

  The corridor ended in a set of large double doors, sized for the Children. The sheer size of the station was staggering. Even if the fleet could move in and take it, removing the Children from its corridors would take a long time. Even inexperienced as she was, Kurrax could tell that trying to shift an entrenched opponent from somewhere they knew better was going to be difficult.

  She ran her armoured hand over the control hologram, only to be met with a flashing red error. The doors had been sealed. Kurrax gripped the edge of the leftmost door and tried to pull. It didn’t move, she would need more strength.

  “Ok, everybody up here, we need to get these doors opened. Gurgan, you watch our backs.”

  “Yes, Major.” Gurgan went into a crouch, holding their particle rifle as steady as he could. Now he was at the far end of the corridor, any Children who wanted to attack would need to walk into his sights.

  “You lot grab that side.” Kurrax shifted herself lower, allow her marines to place their hands above hers. Four of them did the same at the opposite side. “Ok, pull.”

  As one the power armour groaned as they fought against the doors. They creaked open slowly, the combined strength of the machines winning out against a doorway never designed to act as a defence. Energy blasts flew through the gap, the defenders beyond firing on the opening.

  “Gurgan, never mind the corridor, give us some covering fire as we open this.” The sound of her suit straining was ringing in Kurrax’s ears.

  Gurgan span about on the spot, keeping his crouch. He opened fire was the doorway, his shots not aimed at anything in particular. A glow had begun to creep through, something in the chamber beyond washing everything in a pale blue light. As the doors slid slowly open it became obvious that the light was pouring from a massive column that dominated the space beyond.

  “Get through, marines! Go, go!” Kurrax led the wave, charging through the gap and into enemy fire, bolts bouncing off her power armour. The doorways led immediately onto a gantry that ran around the outside of a massive circular chamber. The reactor filled the centre, plunging into the depths of the station. Kurrax could make out dozens more similar walkways following the reactor downwards.

  She snapped off a shot, dropping one of the defenders taking up positions on the other side of the walkway. The thin barriers at the edge were poor cover, Kurrax’s fire punching cleanly through them. The other marines joined her one by one, pushing back the defenders on the other side. In moments the top gantry was controlled by the marines, though they could see more of the Children running across the ones below.

 

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