Nova Wars

Nova Wars - Chapter 25x5 - Targeting

- Meditations on the Barrier War, Lancer First Class Drali'imna Lovefell, Free Telkan Press, 25 Post-Terran Emergence

“The greatest asset of any interstellar polity is the ability to act in a unified fashion. With unity, the riches and resources of dozens if not hundreds of worlds can be applied to solve any problem from the scientific to the military. Unity is the strength of the state.

It is known.

The greatest weakness of any interstellar polity is a fracturing of consensus. Disagreements can be resolved but a serious split can paralyze a stellar nation at a time of crisis. Worse, elements of the nation may commit it to a course of action the whole is unwilling to fully back, at least not until it is too late. A fractured state is a doomed state.

It is known.

These rules are proven over time to be mostly correct most of the time. But a general rule should never be mistaken for an inviolable law. There are always exceptions. Always special cases. Always variables that cloud the grand political calculus.

It is not always remembered, but it is known.

Behold: humanity. A species comprised of three parts rage to one part stubborn intransigence. That they made it to the stars without destroying themselves is a small miracle. That they did so without destroying everyone else is a far larger one.

It is seldom appreciated, but it is known.

When regarding human action on the grand galactic stage it is a mistake to view them as one might other stellar polities. The might of their unified action is awe inspiring, but the sway that small determined groups or even lone individuals can hold over the course of history is nothing short of terrifying. Fortunately for the most of us, human passions are wild and untamed and diffuse. In ordinary times the results are ‘merely’ one of the most fantastically advanced civilizations the galaxy has ever seen.

It is a happy coincidence, and it is known.

The most potent of these passions is rage. It is, some might argue, the natural human state. It takes a myriad of forms but every so often it is crystallized by a singular event and into an almost viral form that spreads from individual to group to nation. Woe betide those who in their miscalculation make themselves the object of such, for in the face of humanity’s rage considerations like unity or disunity are meaningless. A single human, given enough reason, can end an empire.

You have forgotten this but…

It is known.” - Po'ondu'urmo'o, Lanaktallan Galpolitical Theorist, upon speaking to the Greatest of Great Lanaktallan Togetherness Grandly Assembled Great Meetup of Great Minds and Great Wisdom Together for Greatness, 2 months Post Terran-Re-Emergence

The Structure of Warsteel

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

- Advanced Metallurgy Theory and Sciences Class, Great University of Great Grand Most High Education for Great Students with Great Minds and Great Intellects Most Grand, Lanaktallan Free Herd Space

The trip had lasted only a few hours before the ship dropped from hyperspace, the rest of the small flotilla following. Message torpedoes had been launched as soon as had emerged from his Fairy-Day Cage.

Now the flotilla just floated between the stars, at silent running but not max stealth.

Speech and normal movement was allowed, just all emissions were locked down.

For five days now Imna had practiced in the gym, the indoor firing range, and the eVR practice field.

Freshly showered, Imna hustled down the corridor toward the mess hall. She had spent 2 hours working out, taken an hour nap, and now felt like she was literally starving to death.

The lights were bright in the central line mess hall when Imna came in. She saw Wrexit sitting at the table, ripping open a package as she moved over to the nutriforge. Going through the emergency rations, she saw a new one was now Telkan rated and ordered it.

Countess Crey Adult Marine Minichunks in Tasti-Glue Gravy.

She sat down across from Wrexit, who was busy pushing bright chrome pointed studs with discs on one side into a waxy nutri-bar before pouring the thick sauce on it. Wrexit popped it in his mouth and chewed a few times, sighing and closing his eyes in pleasure.

Imna hadn't been impressed by the Thumbtacks, Crayons, & Glue ration, but this was the third time she'd seen Wrexit eating it with a blissful smile on his face.

"Hey," Wrexit said, once he swallowed the mouthful. He took one of the 'crayons' and began jamming thumbtacks into it without even removing the wrapper.

"Hey," Imna said, stirring her minichunks to mix in the gravy just right.

"Noticed something about since the Captain put his fist into the wall?" Wrexit asked, then crammed the crayon into his mouth.

"No, what?" Imna asked. She took a bite and chewed.

They tasted soooo good. She closed her eyes and sighed happily through her nose.

Wrexit swallowed. "He's been really quiet," Wrexit said.

"It is because I may plan to kill him, and all of you, but I know when to avoid attention," voice hissed from nearby.

Imna jumped and squeaked in fear.

"I may be maddened. I may be a Screaming One, but I still know that Captain Decken is a human," ' voice hissed, slowly moving around behind her to her left ear. It felt like a cold invisible hand traces along the back of her neck.

He was using the ambient nanites in the air.

"I know to cease my screams lest an angry predator grab me and rip me apart in its jaws," slowly moved across the table, whispering from behind Wrexit.

Imna could see two kaleidoscope eyes made of shattered stained glass behind Wrexit.

Wrexit just jammed another crayon stuck with thumbtacks and smeared with glue into his mouth.

"You think am the dangerous one," 's voice was a sibilant thing, more like a serpent reptillian talking than a being made of pure code. "You think am the one that threatens you and your people," the voice slid under the table, which made Imna cross her legs instinctively.

"No, we are trapped inside a spaceship with a hyperviolent omnivore who does not care if a sentient creature expresses discomfort, pain, and fear as they are eaten alive by that omnivore," whispered. "Who finds the silence of the dead to be peaceful. Who finds screams of agony to be dismissive petty things easily ignored. Who finds pleas for mercy to be amusing."

eyes appeared in a dim patch by the corner, staring at her, even as the voice moved to behind her again.

"We are trapped in here, in between the stars," whispered.

There was a pause.

The Digital Sentience's voice receded as he spoke again.

"Where nobody will even know we screamed as he kills us."

There was silence.

"Well, he's in rare form today," Wrexit said, shrugging.

"Doesn't he bother you?" Imna asked.

Wrexit shook his head. "No. I'm used to threats," he began pushing tacks into another crayon. "I'll worry when he stops making threats and hides from us. That's when he'll be dangerous."

"How do you know?" Imna asks.

Wrexit shrugged. "It isn't the guy screaming he's going to kill you you have to worry about. It's the Telk who just stares at you silently and then walks away. He's going to get a smoke wagon or a shiv or maybe friends with shivs, then he's coming back and killing you," Wrexit said. "The loud guys? They might kill you if they're trying to impress a crowd, but a quick shiv into the gut will convince him to fuck off."

Wrexit lifted up the glue smeared bar.

"The quiet guy? He'll wait and wait. You might have even forgotten he ever existed. Then he kills you," Wrexit shoved the crayon into his mouth and started chewing.

Reminding herself that Wrexit grew up on the streets to push her instinctive denial that people weren't like that, Imna chewed on her own mouthful. When she swallowed she looked at Wrexit.

"Want to see something?" she asked.

He gave her a lewd look and grin and she shook her head. "Don't be perverse."

Wrexit nodded, pushing more thumbtacks in. "Sure."

Imna took a bite and then summoned up the table's hologram. She tabbed through the menus until she found the camera feed she wanted. She tapped it and the image appeared.

The Captain was in the gym, wearing heavy boots, clamps around his calves and thighs, blue shorts with gold edging, a blue shirt with "Space Force" on it, bracers on his forearms and biceps, a headband and a collar. At the side of the image was "Primary Ship's Gym", "5 Gravity", and the time.

The Captain was striking a large dull gold bag with his bare fists, throwing hard punches rapid fire. Different combinations and constantly moving around the bag, which swung slightly.

"I asked. The bag is full of basically sand inside a warsteel and gold alloy woven container," Imna said. "Not only is he doing this in five gravities, which would make us collapse, break our bones due to our weight, and suffocate us, those bands add more weight to his limbs, making them heavier."

Wrexit nodded. "He has me doing the same thing. Only in 1.5 Gee though," he shook his head. "By the time I'm done I want to ask one of the robots to carry me back to my bunk."

"Does it really enable you to throw stronger punches faster?" Imna asked.

Wrexit nodded, chewing.

"He also does it in that heavy power armor for like three hours every other day," Imna said.

Wrexit just nodded, closing his eyes and smiling as he chewed.

's baleful eyes appeared. "He blames himself, and so he works out to bleed away the anger he feels at himself and the Confederacy."

"For what?" Imna asked, taking another bite.

"For missing what he believes is the true enemy," said, a slight bit of scorn in his voice. "As if an unintelligent, non-sentient beetle is the true enemy, capable of building starships, Hellspike nova-sparks, space stations, robots, and everything else," blinked his eyes. "No. The true enemy is one of the things we discovered and slew in Hellspace aboard that space station," he paused for a second. "The Captain is mistaken."

"How can he blame himself. He was asleep, he wasn't around during the Mar-gite Wars," Wrexit said, picking up another roll of tacks and opening them, popping what looked like crinkly brown paper into his mouth and chewing.

You could eat every part of the emergency rations, even the wrappers.

"He blames himself he was asleep," whispered. "Where I couldn't reach him to kill him. He blames the rest of humanity, the rest of the species of the Confederacy, for not realizing non-sentient beetles are the real threat."

"I don't understand. How can he believe a simple beetle is the true threat?" Imna asked.

blinked. "Perhaps he believes there is a hive mind. Maybe even a planetary hive mind, which each beetle making up a neuron or synapse of the hive mind," scoffed. "Those beetles, individually, put out less phasic energy than TerraSol insects. They are brainless and merely dumb insects."

In the image, the Captain finished his workout, moving out of view of the camera.

"No. The Captain is wrong," teeth, shards of broken stained glass, appeared in a smile. "And for that, he will know why I am killing him."

Imna just shook her head.

She felt like everyone at the table wasn't seeing something the Captain was seeing.

But what?