Chapter 19: Chapter 18 – Bugs (5)

Parthen was watching the feed on his own projection, looking seriously at one, small dot. It was Omega, in the Suit of Ares, shooting out from the hangar with a speed that overshadowed any of their own vehicles. In front of them, a swarm of bugs were approaching, looking like oversized mantises. They were a specially bred subspecies of the Gynkwhon. Not smart enough to be considered their own but they made up for that with their size and strength. They were capable of traversing the void, albeit not for long. If they did not burrow themselves into their prey in the next 20 minutes, they would die in the vacuum of space. Their sizes were half to that of the Suit of Ares, which was now heading towards them, without any fear.

 

“Activate the vibroblade.” Omega thought. Even though Xanthe replied with a warning, on his right hand the armor plating quickly folded, changing its shape. It was turning into a blade, glowing in a golden hue. 

 

“The left hand’s mechanism is stuck. I won’t be able to do it. I need proper maintenance.” Xanthe answered, now much more clearer, especially seeing the arriving swarm. Xanthe was refocusing its sensors every second to keep up with Omega’s actions. Surprisingly, if the machine could feel surprise, it went smoothly and easily. Much more so than it first expected. Omega was already in a swing, twisting his body with a thought, going through the bugs without a scratch and also cutting four of them in half. 

 

“No problem, I know.” Omega replied, already turning backwards, fending off with his left hand an incoming pair of mantis-blades of the attacking bug. The sharp arms spew sparks everywhere yet it left no visible mark on the Suit of Ares. Xanthe’s right arm also moved as its pilot thought, slashing another two bugs apart diagonally. “Focus on protecting our waist, it is still not at 100%. Our turning angles are off by 1.8 degrees from what I want!”

 

“Acknowledged. Sorry.”

 

“Not your fault. You slept for a long time.” He smiled, making mincemeat out of the first wave of swarming bugs. 

 

What everyone else saw from afar was a golden light, flashing periodically and cutting the enemy apart like nothing. They, the bugs, should be fast… capable of keeping up with small fighter planes, latching onto them and tearing their frame apart. A monster like that could open up the shuttle that Rururin used, as if it was just a can of herrings, served up for a quick dinner. What they did not know was that Omega did this with his eyes closed. Literally. He was sitting, unmoving, his eyes shut tight. Around him it was complete darkness, only his bracelet was shimmering periodically. For a pilot, melded with his suit, everything looked differently. He was turning into the machine itself. When he looked forward he did so through Xanthe’s eyes and as he moved his body, the suit did exactly as he wished. They were one entity at that moment.

 

“The first wave of the enemy has been… eliminated.” Rururin said, now on the bridge, sitting next to the Major General. “It took him… 1 minute and 29 seconds.” She gulped.

 

“...” Parthen said nothing, as this was only the warm up if anything. These small bugs would be ineffective against the Veil’s shields anyway. They would simply drive through them and watch them being squashed against their shields. Like bugs. 

 

“He is now heading straight forward!” Rururin added, making most of them shift their places in their seats nervously, even Parthen flinched. On their screen, they saw the 40, elongated, asteroid-like ships, floating as a haphazardly woven net. Some were burning their biomass, heading forward to engage in battle and board the juicy looking vessel before them. Omega was heading straight for the nearest one, closing in on it rapidly.

 

The Gynkwhon’s bridge was like a flashy, moldy room. Nobody could tell where the floor ended and where the walls started. The door was a small, circular hole that if someone approached, expanded, letting them through. The one, who was guiding the vessel was in the middle of the room, half-melted into the floor, connecting to it with its flesh. Its horseshoe-shaped head was salivating, giving out clicking and churning sounds, as its orders were spoken in their native tongue. They were already tasting the flesh of those on that black ship, heading towards them. To the Gynkwhon’s ‘words’ , different clicks and slurps were the answer, as other bugs, all being part of their ‘furniture’ answered him. Their projectors were also organic, being part of another subspecies of theirs. They had only two, largened, fly-like eyes at the top of their horseshoe heads. Four of them were part of the ship’s wall and they projected the image of what was happening in the outside world before the captain. What they saw was a 20 meters tall figure, heading towards their ship at full speed. It was thousands of years since they last met with one such thing and none of them remembered what that meant. 

 

“It seems they are not afraid.” Xanthe commented suddenly. “They are still on a collision course.”

 

“Biological evolution is an interesting thing… they may be intelligent but their memories still last just as long as a bug’s.” Omega smirked, for the first time ever, looking at the long, brown ship, growing bigger and bigger before him. “And their ships still look like a piece of shit!”

 

With a thought, Xanthe picked up speed again, immediately doubling the rate of their approach. The Gynkwhon were aiming and shooting at the approaching enemy yet the acceleration Xanthe showcased made all of their ‘projectiles’ miss. They were like small, maggot-like, biological torpedos. If they hit onto the surface of a ship, they would start to release a kind of an acidic fluid or simply blow themselves up, melting most of the metals known in the Galaxy. Omega was already at their ship’s front, flying alongside it. His eyes quickly identified where the control “bridge” must be on the rugged, uneven surface of this biological vessel. With the buzzing, vibrating blade on his right arm, he just flew past it, swinging it only once, opening its insides to the vacuum of space. Their species had nothing like a shield that most other species utilized. They were relying on their ships' natural regeneration in battles. Yet now, the long, big opening on the surface of their ship was not closing in, not even starting to grow back together. It was concerning but still not truly dangerous. The bugs in the control center were part of the ship’s construct so they were not sucked into space and were capable of surviving the sudden change of their environment. Omega also knew that this was not a serious damage. What he was betting on was Parthen.

 

“Let me see your talents, Major General.” He thought and a small smile formed on his lips, already breaking off, heading towards the second ship. He didn’t even look back when the blue beam arrived, penetrating the opening on the ship behind him.

 

On the bridge of the Veil, everyone was closely watching what he was doing. Parthen, remembering his words about how a Suit of Ares fought, what their tactics were, he was ready and did not miss.

 

“Tilt the ship 25 degrees up! Fire the lower ion cannons at the bottom then immediately start dipping the ship’s nose and get ready for the second target with the upper ones! Follow that suit and blast through these wretched abominations!” He ordered, his eyes watching the image on the big screen, without blinking.

 

When the Veil’s bottom lit up, the particle beams converged at a single point, sending a blue beam forward, perfectly hitting the opened up ship of the bugs. It tore through it with ease, activating a chain reaction as the whole ship was blown to pieces. They simply flew through the wreckage, their shields flickering as it pushed their debris to the sides, following Omega’s path. 

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As the second ship was also damaged, opened, their usually quick regeneration was stopped by the vibroblade’s effects. The Veil was following close by, firing its weapons again, blowing up another vessel, finally making the bugs react. The rest of the ships also were coming forward, trying to close in on them like a net, surrounding the Veil. 

 

“Idiots.” Omega thought, seeing their strategy. 

 

“A lower ranked species. This is only natural. They can’t stand up to the Hegemony. When peace is not an option, death is the only way.” Xanthe answered without emotions and not because it was a computer. 

 

Omega did not answer at all, but deep down his thoughts aligned with what Xanthe said. When peace was not an option and they were a danger to the Hegemony, to Humans, they had to be exterminated.

 

“There.” Xanthe’s sensors brought up before Omega a virtual path, outlined before him as to where they could easily break through, jogging him back to reality. 

 

“Looks good.” He nodded, flying forward, aiming for the next ship in their path. 

 

“Warning!” Xanthe ‘shouted’ as its sensors were lagging behind. He noticed way too late the incoming maggot-like projectiles, that were aimed perfectly, to catch them en route. 

 

“Hmf!” Omega snorted, now moving his fingers for real, sitting in the pilot’s seat. Xanthe followed suit, also flicking its fingers on both hands, as if quickly flicking the strings of a harp by reflex. 

 

What nobody saw was multiple, invisible threads appearing from Omega’s real fingers, connecting to the organic projectiles. He changed their biological compositions in an instant. When they landed on the armor of Xanthe, they were harmless, splattering away like bloated water-balloons, blowing up into a greenish smudge. 

 

“Sorry.” Xanthe said, not questioning what even happened. “I found 3054 bugs in the sensory subroutines. I’m starting to compensate for them.”

 

“Leave it, it's not important! I can adjust to that! You were left alone for too long, you need a good scrubbing!” He laughed inside his head. 

 

“Agreed.”

 

It was not just they who saw the chance before them, but Parthen too. The bugs were not masters of the battlefield or war tactics. Their method was simple. Throw enough numbers at the problem and it is going to solve it. If not, run. Then come back with double the numbers. Rinse and repeat. The moment they drew their lines too thin, to surround the Veil and show some kind of… tactic, Omega and Xanthe singled out the weakest link, cutting through it easily. The Veil was now giving its all, its ion cannons bombarding its target from top and bottom, while its own shields were constantly flashing, warding off the maggot-like projectiles, coming from all directions. 

 

“Shields at 44%!” Parthen’s officer reported as another volley of maggots were burnt away by their shields. 

 

“We can make it!” Rururin said quietly. Watching the Suit of Ares roll and twirl in the vacuum of space, dodging the bugs' projectiles, was filling her with confidence. It was like watching a dancer perform, while also opening up the ships for the Veil’s weapons. Every time it flew past one of the Gynkwhon’s vessels, it was left wide open for a precise strike, destroying them in one shot. 

 

“I hope we do.” Parthen replied, his eyes watching the scrolling feeds on his own projection, swiping at it. “We are being pursued…” He whispered.

 

Bringing it up on the main screen’s right side, everyone could see a flashing point, representing the veil. It was slowly being surrounded by the Gynkwhon’s ships as they were breaking through. The worrying part was the huge, wave-like swarm of points, creeping in from the side of the screen. All of them represented one ship. Looking at it, they were in the thousands, all heading towards them at their maximum speed. They all knew the plan. Rile them up and let them follow through the Astropath, so when they exit, the aliens on the other end won’t have enough time to focus on the Veil. Yet none of them expected that they were going to bring a tide with them. This could very easily mean that the bugs are going to own a new system very soon…

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