Chapter 7: Chapter Seven Overwhelmed Part One

POV Science Drone SD-SSB-02311:

2311 floated a meter off the deck, as it surveyed the site. It, along with a number of other drones, had entered the hull of a Neku battleship through a breach in the hull. Behind it, several drones were using their manipulation tendrils to install an emergency air shield over the breach. Ahead of it, a flickering emergency shield was blocking entry into the vessel.

2311 studied the energy barrier with its scanners and quickly determined that the barrier was failing. Its basic AI realized that if it merely waited the barrier would collapse, but that could take a while. Not to mention the drones behind it had nearly finished installing the new shield. It turned its sensors to the frame looking for any control circuits it could interface with. Control circuits that the drone was able to easily locate.

The drone approached the barrier while communicating its actions to the others around it. Drones that quickly acknowledged, and approved the chosen course of action. As soon as 2311 was in position it shot out a single manipulation tendril that punched through some primitive protective casing, and into the control circuits, it was targeting. From there it was easy to interface with the local security system and override the forcefield. The primitives were, however, smart enough to isolate these control circuits from the rest of the system. It was unable to access any systems outside the local section.

That was enough though. The field dropped about a second after the other drones activated their replacement field. One programmed to allow drones like 2311 to pass through. Unlike the more primitive field, they had replaced. A field they might have been able to pass through, but it would require adapting their shields. Doing so might have also caused it to collapse given its failing nature. That was why they had been ordered to replace it, and deactivate the original one.

The path clear, 2311 proceeded into the ship, alone. The other drones remained behind to set up a perimeter and bring supplies aboard. 2311 had been assigned scouting duties. The primary objective was to secure a route to a cargo bay five decks down from their position. That room was large and would make a good location to set up the gate matrix and portable energy matrix to power it, and a few isolation fields. Perfect for processing specimens, and transporting them back to ship for interrogation and study. A task 2311 was perfectly suited too, unlike the repurposed security drones behind it. They had been given a quick refit and a new module upload. However, they were still security drones.

As 2311 floated around a corner, it detected a specimen moving on its sensors. The drone quickly isolated its position and using its forming map plotted an intercept. 2311 increased its speed, and passed several rooms, and turned a couple of corners before coming up on the target.

It had come upon the target from behind. A cursory scan revealed it to be female, attired in a damaged uniform, and carrying a toolkit. She had no weapons, and would not represent a threat. The female specimen did have a communication device and could alert actual defenders to their presence. Not much of a threat, but an annoyance the drone did not want to deal with quite yet. The specimen itself was in good overall condition and appears to have recently been the subject of laser regeneration therapy. Something that could be done with a device small enough to fit in a first aid kit. There were a few small bits of metal in her though, but none of it would present an immediate threat to her health.

The female had not noticed it and knelt down near an access panel. 2311 merely locked its weapon on her and fired. A glowing blue bolt struck her squarely in the back, and she collapsed stunned. The stun beam had successfully incapacitated the specimen.

2311 approached the specimen, and a manipulation tendril shot forward. The tendril punctured her flesh with precision and stopped just millimeters from the base of her spine. A tag was injected and quickly attached itself to the spine. 2311 proceeded to then remove the shrapnel in her body and then extracted it’s manipulation tendril. The only sign the girl had been tagged was a small red circle on her back. A mark that would disappear in about an hour.

2311 left her there to be collected later. Now that she was tagged, all drones would be able to track her position at all times. The tag could also be used to render her docile if needed. That was after it finished integrating with her in about ten minutes. By which points tendrils would have spread from the tag throughout her nervous system, and up into the brain. The tag would also send back a great deal of useful biodata on the specimen in question. Biometric tags were designed to monitor every aspect of a specimen’s biology, track it, and pacify it if needed, making them very useful devices.

The drone went back to scouting. Keeping a constant look out for more specimens. Like the first, they would be promptly incapacitated, tagged, and then assessed for any threats to their health. 2311 was perfectly equipped to correct most health problems it might find. Healthy specimens were more useful for study, and it had been given no directives otherwise. The basic AI of the drone would therefore follow its core program, and repair any specimen it tagged if needed.

It found an access hatch not far from the first specimen. A hatch that led to the ship’s crawlways. There was an access panel to the side, but the hatch also had manual controls to allow it to be opened even if power to the section had been lost. The drone took only a few seconds to scan the hatch and determine that something had fried the local controls. It was not an issue. 2311 merely extended several manipulation tendrils and proceeded to disengage the latches. Before promptly pulling open the hatch. It swung open without issue, and the drone proceeded into the crawlway.

Not far down, it found a ladderway that led to the deck below. A blown bulkhead prevented it from going down more than one deck, and the drone exited the crawlway into the corridor looking for an alternate route. Where it soon came across its next specimen. Actually, it was three. It found two of them just ten meters down the corridor from where it had left the crawlway. One female, the other male. The two of them were crouched in front of an open panel working on a blown plasma conduit. Likely a main lead from the reactor. As for the third specimen, the drone could detect that they were about twenty meters away and moving further away.

Before either noticed its presence, the drone fired twice in rapid succession. A blue bolt splashed against each specimen and they crumpled on the spot. The drone quickly approached and scanned them. The female was in perfect health, but the male had bruised genitals. The drone filed that away and quickly tagged them both. Before taking a closer look at the bruised genitals. The damage was actually fairly severe, he should have been unable to function from the pain, and yet he was working as if nothing was wrong. A quick check of the tag confirmed that his pain receptors were lit up, all of them. 2311 proceeded to repair the injury but quickly came to the conclusion that it was no accident that caused it. All of this info was beamed back to the mothership for analysis. Her more sophisticated AI could make theories on this. 2311 had another specimen to catch.

It pursued and caught up with the specimen after they had entered a small room. 2311 studied the door blocking its route and found it was locked. The access panel, however, was fully operational. A manipulation tendril shot out and punctured the panel casing. Creating a connection between the drone, and the door controls. It took only a second to override the locking mechanism. The door slid open revealing a closet just barely big enough for the toilet and sink inside. The specimen it was after was female and in the middle of emptying her bladder. She barely had time to react before a blue bolt splashed over her flesh.

She crumpled, but the urine stream kept flowing. At least until she ran out. The drone used several tendrils to move her and lay her out flat on her belly. The young female specimen was then quickly tagged and scanned. It found no injuries to treat, but it did find that she was pregnant. The drone did a quick scan of her unborn babies to make sure no harm had come to them. Their less developed systems might have been harmed by the stun blast, but thankfully they were not. That didn’t stop the drone from taking extra precautions just in case. A quick procedure to strengthen them just in case there was an issue it missed. After that, 2311 left her there tagged and sprawled with her pants still around her ankles. The drone was never programmed to understand or to even consider modesty.

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POV Neku Security chief: N.I.S Blade of Xenthu:

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She did not know what to think about her job. Here she was monitoring the internal sensors, while the rest of the crew was scrambling to restore the sublight engines. Well there were a few working on getting main power back online as well. The wreck had mauled them thoroughly, and while it seemed obvious that the Erali planned to board she had not gotten any alerts so far. Not a single one, and it had been a little over an hour since that energy beam had cut through the hull. Not that they knew what was going on out there, the external sensor were down, and several decks no longer had functioning internal sensors.

Suddenly something caught her eye, it was only there for a moment, but that was enough. She quickly reversed the footage and then paused it. Frozen on her screen was something she had never seen before, but the startled exclamation behind her suggested the junior officer with her did know what it was.

The object in question was a glowing blue sphere, a perfect glowing sphere floating about a meter off the floor. It was maybe a meter in diameter itself, making it about the size of an Erali. Hanging around it like a skirt were dozens of thin glowing tendrils. She turned to the junior who as she recalled had transferred over from the science division. The young lady was quite smart but got bored with the work. Not that this was any better. The junior in question did not fit in here much better.

“I take it you have seen one of these before?”

“No, but I can identify it. Never seen a blue one before, but red versions have been seen near ancient ruins believed to have belonged to the precursors. That is a precursor drone, very little is known about it. They are equipped with some kind of energy weapon, a personal shield, and can float. That is all I know about them.”

The chief turned to comm. “That is enough, I’ll put out an alert that precursor drones have been seen aboard the ship.”

“Tell them that if they see a drone, go the other way. I don’t think our ship-board weapons can penetrate its shields.”

She didn’t think so either, but that rubbed her the wrong way. The chief put out the alert and then contacted the bridge.

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POV Science Drone SD-SSB-02311:

2311 was fiddling with the controls of a broken tram-lift when a klaxon sounded. Evidently, the crew was now aware they had been boarded. That was an intruder alert, and apparently, they were able to identify them as precursor drones. It mattered little to 2311, but it did mean that it should expect increased resistance from this point forward.

2311 transmitted a report on its scouted route so far. It received a return, informing it that four squads had been dispatched with the gate matrix behind it. It acknowledged before turning back to the controls.

The drone had no plans to use the lift, but it needed the doors open. The empty shaft behind it would lead straight to its objective. After a moment, a few sparks and a loud screech was its reward when it successfully bypassed the damaged control circuits and opened the door. Revealing a dark passage deeper into the ship, and the drone conducted another quick scan.

There was damage to some of the mechanisms, but the shaft itself was usable for the drone’s purposes. 2311 proceeded into the shaft and made its way down the remaining few decks to its target.

The exit was sealed, and there were no controls on this side. That was not a problem though. It scanned the walls, and quickly found the control circuits. The drone’s tendril shot forward and punched through the wall. Penetrating into the casing, and stopping the instant it came in contact with the circuits. Interfacing the drone quickly overrode the controls and opened the door. Where it came sensor to face with two armed Neku, both male.

Surprised neither specimen reacted before taking a blue bolt to the chest. They crumbled to the ground, and were promptly examined, and tagged. 2311 never bothered to disarm them. Their primitive rifles and pistols were not capable of penetrating its shields. As a result there was no need to disarm them. Not to mention the tags would ensure an easy collection later.

2311 turned left and headed for the cargo bay they wanted to reach. Its objectives were already being updated as it moved. It was to secure the bay, and then wait for the other drones to arrive with the gate matrix. After that, it was to standby for further orders.

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