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The New Era 34
🕑 Added 2025-03-28 13:03:16 +0000 UTCChapter 34
Subject: Overdrone S655L894T131
Species: Unknown
Species Description: Humanoid
Ship: Grand Vessel of the Universal Omni-Union
Location: Grand Shipyard of the Universal Omni-Union
Once the machines were dealt with, we approached the force that we'd been sent to help. Fourteen marines peeked out of their cover, and five of them came to greet us. I nearly did a double-take, because they were holding the security force's direct-energy weapons.
"Greetings, Staff Sergeant," Lieutenant Oskar said. "How's the fight going on your end?"
I looked back and forth between the aliens, wondering how they could tell each other apart. Neither of their faces were visible, and their armors looked the exact same to me. The only real difference between the two was that Oskar was shorter.
"It's certainly going, sir," the staff sergeant's voice made me freeze.
Naza and Forty, who had been acting as my second-in-commands, looked at me with alarmed expressions. It seemed that all three of us recognized that voice. There were many, many millions of 'marines' aboard the Grand Vessel, though.
Come to think of it, it's entirely possible that they number in the trillions. I wondered at the odds of both of us being taken by the same marines. Then my mind boggled as I wondered what the odds were of running into those marines again during this massive assault.
"I'm glad things are moving along, at least," Oskar chuckled. "We're here to provide support until your main force arrives. Then we're off to parts unknown to blow up some more bots and save some more aliens once you're on the other side of that gate."
"Yes, sir."
"Anything you can tell me about the enemy that I don't already know?"
"Not much, sir. Only new thing we've learned is that their weapons are pump-action fired."
"Pump-action... Fired?" Oskar tilted his head.
"Yes, sir. The laser rifles lack a trigger, and you need to pump the fore-grip to fire them."
"Pump the fore-grip? The same way you'd cycle a shotgun?" Oskar asked, to which the staff sergeant nodded. "How... Novel. Well, that's certainly information that might become useful if we run out of ammunition. Were you aware of this, Overdrone?"
"N-no," I stammered, not expecting to be included in the conversation. "Interacting with weaponry without being specifically assigned to do so is, or was, considered a crime punishable by life imprisonment or death. Usually death."
"Wait a minute... You look familiar," one of the other large marines with a familiar voice said. "Aren't you one of the ones we nabbed?"
The rest of the marines looked at the one who spoke. Without seeing their faces it was difficult to tell what they were trying to express, but it seemed like a mixture of disbelief and exasperation. Oskar chuckled to himself as he stared at me for a moment.
"OD Sierra Six, did you get got by the ol' catch and release?" the lieutenant asked, still chuckling.
"I'm unfamiliar with that phrase, but I am fairly certain this team of marines abducted me," I replied. "If that's what you're asking."
"Why did they grab you?"
"They wanted to get in touch with the rebellion's leadership," I said.
"Well, well, well," Oskar laughed. "Isn't this delightfully awkward."
"Pretty sure we grabbed those two, as well," the staff sergeant added.
I glanced at Naza and Forty, who were nearly in shock at the confirmation. Oskar's laughter snapped them out of it, though. Forty's shocked expression turned to anger, but Naza's went back to neutral.
"So you grabbed the Overdrone to get in touch with the rebel leaders, but why did you nab those two?" Oskar asked. "They seem to be friends of Sierra Six, but other than that..."
"They weren't our intended target," the staff sergeant explained. "We wanted information about the antigravity generators, and Omega found one near a hole. Unfortunately, it was malfunctioning and these two were there to repair it. They saw us. We needed intel and couldn't leave behind any bodies, so we grabbed them."
"Hold on there. We've got antigrav tech now?"
"No, sir."
"We weren't able to provide detailed schematics for the antigravity generators," Naza said. "We don't know much more than how to maintain them."
"They wanted security codes, mostly," Forty replied. "Even threatened to torture me for them."
"Did they say torture?" one of the large marines asked.
"They said 'advanced interrogation', but they were very clear that it meant torture."
"Ah, they meant it then," the marine let out a low whistle. "If they say torture, it's a bluff. When they're careful to say 'advanced interrogation', it means they're going to have to have it on record. Must have been some pretty important codes."
Before anyone could respond to that revelation, the warp gate behind us made a crackling noise. Two shuttles had come through the gate and had begun their landing procedures. Some marines aimed their tubes towards the shuttles.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE," Lieutenant Oskar shouted. "Pretty sure we're gonna need those shuttles. Get into cover and hold fire until you have a clear shot at whatever comes out. If it's robots, fire at will. Otherwise, wait for a determination."
Without another word, marines both large and extra large took their combat positions. More 'deployable covers' were placed and hidden behind, with rifles peeking out over and around them. I gave orders to my own men to have them take position behind the well-armored aliens and provide support.
The two shuttles landed and, to no one's surprise, security robots began pouring out of them. The marines to their flanks fired immediately, but the marines to the front only took careful, well aimed shots. My drones simply handed out ammunition and such.
Earlier, we had been given a glimpse of what 'professional war-fighters' are capable of. But that was a full-blown assault with very little need for precision. The marines had been acting like a demolition spike, but now they were performing a role more akin to that of a precision melder.
I looked on in awe, wondering how they avoided aiming for the same targets. They must be equipped with some sort of readout-type assistance program within their helmets. Or they're able to read each other's minds. Come to think of it, either explanation also explains how they know each other's ranks.
Once the last of the security robots had bullet holes in it, the shuttles began spooling up for take-off. Before they could get into the air, two small groups of marines rushed toward the shuttles and entered them. There was a brief exchange of lasers and gunfire, but a moment later the marines tossed some more robots out of the shuttles.
I walked around, making sure that all of my drones were healthy and accounted for. Then Lieutenant Oskar caught my eyes and waved me over. He was once again standing in front of the marines who had captured me, and I quickly rushed to join him.
"So, fellas," Oskar said. "I was told to protect you until the main force arrived. Just to check, you're not here on your own, right? Where's your chaperon?"
"They're right behind us, sir," the staff sergeant said. "Just a few mikes now."
"We've had a whole-ass battle and a skirmish. What's taking them so long?"
"From what I understood, most of the vics wouldn't fit on the shuttles. So the majority of the main force is on foot. They're also setting up fobs, so they've got to carry everything."
"And here I was hoping for a quick smash-and-grab," Oskar sighed. "Hard to tell how many days it's even been. Sierra Six, don't they ever turn the lights off around here? When do you sleep?"
It wasn't the first time the lieutenant had used that informal designation for me, but it still caught me off guard. Drones would frequently give each other such designations, but doing so for an overdrone was considered disrespectful to the hierarchy. On the other hand, rebellion is too.
"We sleep when we recharge," I replied. "The light levels in charging bays are lower than the main corridors, but the lights are never completely off. Why would they be?"
"To mimic a day-night cycle..." Oskar trailed off. "Holy shit, you guys don't have a sun. You don't even get light and dark!"
"Of course we get light and dark."
"That's not what I said, Sierra Six. I said... Wait, you don't even have WORDS for dark and light?"
"I'm sorry, lieutenant, but you're confusing me," I replied.
"The translator is auto-filling the word I'm saying for one that you have that's a pretty close approximation. I am using a word that describes the period of time in which a sun shines upon a planets surface, as well as a word that describes the opposite."
"Oh... Well, we don't have a planet."
"Right..."
"How do you tell time?" one of the large marines asked.
"We have periods of rest and periods of work. We cycle between these two periods, so we the period of time including one of each a 'cycle'," I explained. "The Minds have a system of measuring time, and they schedule everything for us. Recharging, travel, work, eating, our readout tells us when we should be doing all of these things."
"But what about time sensitive maintenance? Like, you have to hold a thing on another thing for a certain amount of time before it does anything?"
"We would simply wait for the thing to do what it is supposed to do. Or we would use counts. For example, electron detectors require being held to a casing for a minimum of a three-count before the reading can be considered accurate. A five-count is preferred, though, or you risk electrocution."
The marines looked at each other, and then back to me.
"That's crazy," one of them said.
"I mean, my dad's an electrician, and that's pretty much how they do things. It's not like they carry a clock around with them."
"But they literally do, though? Do they leave their comms in the truck or something? They don't wear a watch?"
"Maybe some do, but my dad doesn't because it can snag on wires when he's grabbin' shit. Plus sometimes you need both hands, so you can't watch the watch."
"What sort of shit does an electrician need precision timing for anyway?"
"He JUST said-"
"I mean one of OUR electricians, shit-head! Plus he was probably talking about a fission or fusion technician!"
The marines argued back and forth for a little while, vehemently discussing the merits of accurate time-keeping. Lieutenant Oskar, the staff-sergeant, and I just watched silently. Eventually, the marines realized that they were having their discussion in front of their commanders and went silent.
"Sorry I asked," Oskar said with more than a little annoyance in his voice. "Anyway, you boys are relieved. We'll take over guarding the gate until the main force gets here. Get some chow, ammo, and rest. Or continue arguing about electricians and clocks."
"Aye, sir."
"Dismissed."
The large marines walked off, and I was left alone with Lieutenant Oskar. He sighed, and we began walking back toward our combined forces.
"Won't be long now," he said. "Are you looking forward to being liberated?"
"Yes," I replied. "Yes I am."
Comments
Aerowarrier
I’m a little bit concerned the higher ups might decide detonating the outer layers of the GV is a better course of action than allowing this to continue. Omega can’t keep it all a secret forever, eventually someone is going to spot something they shouldn’t have
Aerowarrier
I can just imagine Naza and Forty waving with both their left hands when the marine said they think they snatched those two as well xD
