Angel doesn't normally have cause to fire on full automatic. Just because he doesn't normally use it doesn't mean he doesn't know how to use it. It's unfair, really. Unsporting.
Angel empties his mag and clears the room. The smoke pouring from the drone carcasses is almost matched by the smoke trailing from Angel's silencer.
Jonno looks up at Luis, affording a sly grin. "Nope. We're good. Let's crack that security." Luis nods and stalks back into the wilds of the Imperial Palace's security network.
Luis is falling, spinning, finally twisting and catching himself on dart-wings. He and Jonnoperest take it low to the ground, diving into the tunnels between security nodes. The Imperial security techs slam razor-sharp blast doors; Luis makes it through but the doors snip off a few of Jonno's utility tentacles on his way through. Another blast door - too slow! Luis crashes into it and frantically begins cutting his way through. Toothed maws snake out from the walls and try to hold the two hackers down, but Jonno manages to fight them off. Luis vanquishes the blast door and they're back in the dark, meandering warrens. He sees their prey up ahead - three golden figures that polymorph into bladed war-gods as Luis and Jonno approach at speed. Luis misdirects, lets fly a hidden spike that impales one of the techs. Locked out, the war-form flashes away. The other two both pounce on Jonno, knocking him to the virtual ground and burying sharp hooks into his arms. They're trying to pull his access away, to castrate his Cortex access.
---
"Yes, our ancestors were taken by the Masters," the Emperor tells Davis. "Ours were chosen; yours were discarded. You claim to know our technology? One moment."
The glyphs on the Cortex doors flip back to blue. They start grinding open again, but only for a moment as Swims pours a burst into the access panel and starts ripping wires. The doors remain shut. He shrugs at Luis as if to say "good enough for me".
The avian's green eyes look... perturbed for a brief moment.
"Even the greatest of us encounter setbacks," it says, amused (or feigning amusement). "Let us return to our talk of freedom. You seek to 'free' our Imperium? Have you asked the Imperium if it wants to be free? If it wants to splinter into warring tribes? If it wishes to lie in the dark, cold void all alone? Have you asked it about the dark times before the First? You are right, Garrett. We are all the same here, all human, but the Other lies creeping in the dark just outside the firelight. To free the Imperium is to destroy its unity, and to do that is to destroy its people."
"There's a middle ground between complete control and total anarchy," Davis says. "Some degree of control is necessary to prevent chaos, sure, but it can come from a common consensus just as easily as it can from a dictator. Any reasonable person knows that we still need rules and laws if we are to survive as a society, we don't want anarchy. As for asking the Imperium if it wants to be free, how do you know it doesn't want to be free? Have you asked? Or have you just assumed that it's comfortable under your boot heel?"
"Freedom doesn't mean irrationality. If your goals for the Imperium really are for the good of all, why would you need to impose them on your people? Wouldn't your people, if they were informed of the problems they face, choose the course of action that protects them the best? Why would they, if given their freedom, choose suicide?"
Davis pauses. "I know why you're so resistant to the idea of even a little freedom for your people. I know a little about the First, about the infighting that almost destroyed you all. Each world was only looking out for itself, and no one wanted to work together for the greater good, so the first Emperor united them through violence. Those were dark times, and the animosity between the worlds was too much for people to just look past their different needs and work together. But now? After hundreds of years, people don't think of themselves as citizens of their individual worlds, they see themselves as citizens of the Imperium. They will be willing to work together for the benefit of all worlds, not just their own, if given the chance."
"I get that you don't trust people to make their own decisions, don't think that the average person will make the decision that's best for everyone, just for themselves, that the people as a whole are too easily convinced of one thing or another. Our nation's government and others on Narsai believe this too, that's why the people choose individuals to represent them and their interests, and together these elected people decide what is best for everyone. And you know what? Those nations are the strongest nations on Narsai, far more so than the dictatorships where one man has all the power. I'd love to show you it, I think you'd find it interesting. You get your control and your wise decisions, and the people get their freedom and the ability to determine their own destiny. Everyone wins. Sure, it's not a perfect government, but it's seen our nations through some dark times, and each trial only makes us stronger."
"Freedom can mean more than just the freedom to do whatever you want. It's the freedom to decide to work together, to cooperate for the greater good. Sure, some of that involves giving up a little of that freedom so you can all work together and be safe from one another, but it works just as well as your complete control, and the people are better off for it."
Luis sprays a cloud of ink at the two Imperial war-forms hacking into Jonnoperest. It startles them enough for Jonno to crawl away on mangled pseudopods. The Imperials come out of the obscuring cloud and see Jonnoperest in the other's place.
Their hooks and blades fly, ripping and tearing into each other. The last Imperial security tech, torn half to ribbons, is easily curbstomped.
Luis now has a direct line to the Imperial Palace's security systems. A multifaceted wall looms above him containing views from all over the immense compound. About a dozen more attack drones are specifically waiting to swarm in through the Cortex doors. Luis can see Turai preparing some sort of charge to blow the doors open.
One thing he does note is that he does not control the neutron drones. He only has the views piped in from a handful of the deadly machines, and even these wink out quickly. At least it looked like there weren't many of them.
Luis is momentarily stunned by the depth of information they have available to them. However, people are counting on them, so he takes it all in, then bfocuses down to the specifics. Current job: secure security system. "Jono, let the others know about that door, then see what you can do to lock down the security system for us. I want to do something really quick." Those guys at the door are looking like they need a wake-up call, and he wants to try the other end of some of those drones.
"Well, obviously this isn't something that we'd ask the Imperium to do without thinking about it first, and I'd prefer you to have a chance to see how democracy works on Narsai, or at least have a more complete understanding of it, but yes. The people on Narsai have a long and proud history of resisting and overthrowing foreign oppression, and I doubt that we'd allow domination by a government we don't have a say in. It still wouldn't be an easy sell, but we would be much more willing to join if we participated in the decision making."
"I wouldn't ask you to do it for Narsai's sake, but for the sake of all the people in the Imperium. If there's some way you could come with us, meet up with us later, I would take you with us back to Narsai so you can see it in person and really understand how it all works for us. It'd all be completely confidential and you'd be anonymous, no one aside from myself would know who you are. If not, then some Cortex location where I can send you any information you'd want on our democracies would work."
Davis pauses. "Why listen to me? You obviously know who I am, and more importantly, what I'm doing here. I want to assure you that we're not here to destroy, wipe or otherwise damage the Cortex itself, but you still know that I haven't exactly been invited here. Why listen to me at all?"
Jonno looks up and around at the real world, at his teammates. "We've got security locked down. They're working on blowing that door, but Luis has got somethin' for 'em."
---
"Because you are but the third of your kind we have spoken to. We would know our enemy... for your deeds, if not your words, have marked you as such. What is your plan for our Cortex? Petty banditry?"
---
Luis taps out a few commands. The view of the Repository vault closest to the Cortex doors shows a full Quad of Turai, supported by two Jade Caretakers, spread out and ready to assault the Cortex. A dozen drones for a dozen Imperials. Luis watches the feeds paint the Imperial soldiers as "hostile". A few of them are attentive; they notice the drones just blinked off their IFFs. It doesn't matter.
Four Turai are shredded to pieces in the opening salvos. The tornado of metal blinds Luis' visuals for a moment. You can hear a horrid skreeeeee outside the doors. Men screaming, beamer shots aimed wildly. Three drones wink out, destroyed by their victims. Another two are damaged. The Turai are frantic, diving over cogitators for cover. The Jade Caretakers seek refuge in the central kiosk even as they are peppered with hypervelocity needles. Something that was once ornate and beautiful falls from the vaulted ceiling and bursts into flame.
Three more Turai fall amidst debris. The air fills with red mist and smoke. The screaming twin-linked stingers begin to drown out the human sounds in the Repository vault. The defenders have rallied, their armor protecting them long enough to take cover, hunker down, and return fire en masse. One of the Caretakers airbursts a spear-bomb and stabbing white light bursts across Luis' feeds. Only three drones are still responding when the video returns. Two of these take their toll, ripping and tearing a bloody path through two Turai before falling to beamers. The last drone manages to slay one of the wounded Caretakers before it is silenced as well.
The Repository is littered with the dead and dying. The three surviving Turai leave crimson trails on cogitators, seats, and floor as they painfully regroup at the kiosk. One tosses away an inoperative kauka with disgust.
Luis runs a wide search, looking for assets he can hijack on their unconventional way out of the Palace.
The Halls of Tranquility are a big dark zone. Luis only has three drones in that area simply because they were being retasked from other parts of the palace. It's an immense torus filled with huge pillars. Each pillar represents a world in the Imperium, and is inscribed with the deeds and history of that world. The central court's entrance is flanked by the pillar for Napai as well as a blank pillar that represents Narsai.
Art history lesson aside, Luis' drones can count at least six neutron drones floating up high in the Halls. The drones also can spot four Jade Caretakers guarding the entrance to the central Court of Heavenly Purity.
Inside the court, the Caretakers handle the security. It's a closed system, with no drones linked to the Cortex that Luis can hijack.
The good news is that they are definitely not expecting you to escape that way. Luis has a good overview of the rest of the palace and the bulk of the Turai are spread thin covering the exits out of your local area (not to mention the soldiers pulled off here to assist Boranai). It seems like they might see this as a diversion within a diversion, so Luis has only got maybe 20 free-floating attack drones out of their sconces.
Most of the Keepers and their scholar staff have been evacuated outside the Repository. Luis can see that they are being moved further back now that someone's hijacked their security. The Cyllans have moved from their aquaria into... well, somewhere else. Presumably some sort of habitat away from the gunfire. A few of them have donned encounter suits and are floating alongside their Keeper comrades. The Keepers who have the cerebral implants have their own drones in full alert mode.
---
Far away from Luis and the Cortex's physical location, on the other side of the palace, the Imperial techs in the CIC for the outer palace manage to kill their surveillance drones before Luis thinks to wipe out his competition. The canny techs know there are workarounds to their predicament, but it involves time, precision work, and takes place elsewhere. Elsewhere is not an option at this point.
They cannot attempt to regain access to the drones, but they can try to muffle Luis. Stanhill's handheld flashes him a warning just as Jonno starts to say the same thing. The Imperials have backtraced their equipment and are trying to scramble their gear!
---
Gunfire breaks out all over the Palace. The Imperium's attack drones are useful - one might say vital - elements in their battle strategy. They provide recon, fire control, and valuable close support, but most importantly they are expendable. Not trusting their security teams to succeed where they've already failed, the Turai, warned by their brethern in the Repository, open fire on every drone they can find.
"As I said before, we will be keeping nothing we take for ourselves. Rest assured, we will not be causing any permanent damage, won't be altering any entries. Anything beyond that would be revealing too much, too soon. You understand."
"Our actions might be violent, but I'm sure neither of us want a war. We are acting purely out of self-defense for ourselves and for our allies, and if you were to ensure that we were to be welcomed into an Imperium that is not a hostile dictatorship, we would stop resisting. I'm still hoping that this will be remembered as the end of a...spirited and brief debate that convinced you to give freedoms and rights to your people and turn over at least some of the reins of government to them, instead of the beginning of a long and brutal war. When I offered you a chance to see our democracies first-hand and guaranteed your anonymity and safety, I meant it. I am a man of my word, Emperor."
"Your data bandits ran a search in the brief moment before our subjects refocused your attention. Surely that which you are seek is worth sparing human lives? Surely your presence here, in the Cortex, and not in our palace's security nexus, belies some objective beyond the wanton slaughter of loyal Turai?"
The glass eagle begins folding in upon itself, like a fractal tree in reverse. It coalesces into a crystalline humanoid, identical in shape to the golden Avatars.
"As for your offer of anonymity, well... as you can see, we must respectfully decline. Can you promise safety without anonymity, I wonder?"
"We come here merely for information, nothing more, nothing less. The death of all these men, women and Wherren is an unfortunate necessity if we're to leave here alive. If we were guaranteed safe passage to the Black Gate after our job is done here, then there would be no need for further bloodshed."
"As for you, well, you could go under the cover of one of your own Avatars. This wouldn't guarantee your safety as much as being disguised as one of your Turai or Keepers would, but it would be much safer than announcing that the Jade Emperor himself is walking through the halls. If I could make it clear that you were there on a purely diplomatic basis, I could assemble the guards and security necessary to ensure your safety. I would need the assurance that it really is you, and not one of your Avatars, though. This is something that you need to experience first-hand."
Davis has been keeping a tab on what's going on. "One second, Emperor," he says, and clicks his voice mic off. "Jonno, move the drones into a defensive posture, we need a show of good will right now. If this falls through, send them to sweep the Court of neutron drones and Caretakers, then forget about them and shut the doors for our escape route. We gotta stop screwing around, get our escape route ready, get the job done and get the fuck out of here."
Luis' drones begin evasive maneuvers, trying to keep out of the deadly energies blasting around them. Only two drones are destroyed; a vast improvement compared to the higher casualty rates they sustain when taking a more aggressive protocol.
The Turai fail their reenactment of the "mad minute" scene from Predator, but the Imperials have more luck in the virtual Cortex world. The security officers appear to have played Luis' game before. They're deep in the team's handhelds now, trying to crack the firewalls with sun-hot virtual plasma torches. They're not quite halfway through to the juicy Cortex protocols.
Angel perks up. He can just barely make out some movement on the other side of the Cortex doors. If he had to bet on worst case scenario, he'd say those Turai that survived the initial drone onslaught are probably resetting those demo charges. Ngawai must hear it too; she moves cautiously closer.
---
"'I', 'me', 'my'... these are concepts we have not used for ourselves in a long time. They are no longer entirely accurate. What we see, wherever we are, we experience firsthand. One Avatar would be sufficient presence to experience your offer. As for safe passage, we shall grant no boon until we know what this 'job' is."
With the drones evading (sort of), Luis and Jonno can turn their full attentions to the security tech's ongoing assaults. It's going to be a tough fight, but it's the only option they have.
Luis and Jonnoperest spare a glance at the archives of data storage within walking distance, then dive back into their virtual battlefield. They're putting out fires, constantly distracted from their primary objective, and every second they spend NOT broadcasting a free Cortex gives the Imperium a chance to gather more momentum.
Still, if they don't protect their access, their mission will be for naught. Luis fires a subroutine that turns the firewall the Imperials are trying to breach into a sticky trap. The enemy techs are taken off guard; their welding limbs are quenched in the suddenly cold liquid. Luis quickly reforms the firewall while Jonno splits off a handful of decoys. By the time the Imperials cut their limbs free, they're faced with a confusing array of potential traps.
With both of their attention fully focused on the fight, Jonno and Luis turn the tide of the virtual slugfest back in their favor. However, they're not out of the woods yet. Luis nods to Jonno, and they go in for the kill.
Davis smiles. "Well, you're going to know what we're doing anyway, so honesty is probably the best policy here. Think of what we're doing here as a demonstration in one of our most important freedoms. We're here to take a copy of your Cortex with us and distribute it to whoever wants it. I know that this might be taken as a serious threat, but if your Imperial rule is as beneficial and well-accepted as you think it is, you should have nothing to worry about. Our nation's government on Narsai has had it's worst secrets laid bare more than once before, including outright criminal acts that harmed the public, and we have come out of it stronger than ever before."
"That aside, this is very likely to be the very last time you hear an offer of diplomacy and mutual cooperation from Narsai. My people view you as an uncaring tyrant who will issue wholesale slaughter before even considering a diplomatic solution. I know better, I know that you are concerned with the survival and happiness of your people first and foremost, and I can convince them of this, but if my team and I die here, any hope of avoiding a long and bloody war dies with us."
"You speak some intriging ideas, Garrett. Ideas that might benefit our Imperium. We will consider your words. Now consider ours."
---
Four drones are shot down during Luis' counterattack against the Imperial techs. In one ill-fated drone's video feed, Luis glimpses a golden Avatar speaking with a Rav-Samal while the officer's men pour blast after blast down the corridor. Other drones are cordoned off by Turai manually activating blast doors. Still others jink their way so far out of position that they can't possibly help the team.
In the Cortex, specifically in the dataspace representing Luis' handheld, the Imperial techs are trapped again after trying to slice their way through a booby-trapped firewall. Luis isn't taking prisoners. Jonnoperest's blinds the techs with well-placed datamines and Luis crushes them between the firewalls they were so desperately trying to breach. Their hack attempt thwarted, the Imperials melt away in rivulets of glyphs. Luis checks his meatspace feeds - even with losses from combat and Imperial cunning, he still has 11 drones in position.
---
The Emperor continues. "You know full well the loss of life that would result from releasing an unfiltered Cortex onto our Imperium. You intend to strip the security no matter what else we might agree upon. It is your objective, is it not? Therefore, those men and women are already dead."
---
There's a deafening BOOM! from outside the Cortex doors. A shower of stinging fragments sprays across the narthex. Ngawai's knocked to the floor.
The doors hold. They're cracked, battered, and probably look far worse on the outside, but they hold.
---
"We will... make adjustments to our Imperium. We agree to meet with your leaders. You and your team will pass through the Black Gate. It will be enlightening to meet you in person, Garrett Davis."
"We decree that all information in the Repository of Benevolent Spirits and its Cortex will hereby be declassified." It says this to noone, its green eyes unfocused.
The crystal humanoid standing before Davis' Cortex ghost steps back, the massive firewall shuddering under violet lightning.
"You're releasing the entire Cortex?" Davis asks.
"Yes." The voice is deeper, more monotone.
"The whole thing? All of it?"
"Yes." Inhuman now, hardly a voice at all.
"End of line." Its final words are low, deep, and mechanical - lead sliding across marble.
The humanoid grows, unfolds, reconfigures into the glass eagle once more. It flaps its wings and razor-sharp feathers swarm out of the bubble. They leave frost in their wake and trails of tiny bubbles, remnants of access controls and authentication programs. The dark water around Davis begins to churn and rise.
---
The dust is settling in the narthex when Angel hears a rising hum. He figures it's his ears shaking off the explosion pressure when he manages to pinpoint it from the Cortex archives. Like an onrushing wave, every storage unit begins lighting up. The Master-level reactors actually begin making noise. A soft whine fills the space, rising and falling through aisle after aisle.
"Did you do that?" Jonno asks Luis. "Is that bad?"
"Urgh..." Arketta groans. She gets to her feet, brushing off debris. "This is the Cortex? What's going on? Why are we even in here?"
---
The Cortex update is a tidal wave three miles high. The very top curls over and the foam forms into the Imperial akwhela. Davis, Luis, and Jonno feel the rushing current suck them up. They're in the water now, part of the update, their old calcified access, authorization, and codes stripped away.
The tidal wave sweeps across the Cortex, never fully breaking, never crashing down on some virtual coastline. After a few moments in the maelstrom, all sense of direction is lost. The tsunami passes, and all is ocean. Everything flows together. Everything is connected.
Davis disconnects from the Cortex and looks over to Jonno and Luis, still somewhat in shock about what just happened. "Get the word out to our teams, tell them to copy everything before people catch on and start erasing things to cover their asses," he says, amazement on his voice.
He stands up from his seat at the narthex and runs over to Angel, Arektta, Ngawai and Swims. "We're getting out of here, they're giving us passage to the Black Gate. Everyone okay?" He helps Ngawai to her feet. "Ngawai, you good?" He then raises his face shield and runs over to Arketta. "Arketta, how are you doing? Do you know who I am? That neutron drone got you good, and I've seen what the kauka can do to radiation wounds."
Admiral Duck Sauce
