Chapter 9

  Starborn Mountains, Continent of Kauvis

  Starfire Valley

  Sapphiria wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she'd actually missed eating. She didn't need to do it, and it since it had meant inane social affairs for the last few months of her life she'd gotten quite annoyed at having it as an obligation, but she actually liked it. Maybe it was a dormant part of her simulated neural matrix, or perhaps it was due to the fact that her mother had been an insane AI hivemind that had incorporated billions of humans.

  Either way, she didn't begrudge the squishies sharing their meal with her, though she'd insisted on only eating a small bit, saying her other artifices fulfilled her needs. Which, for what it was worth, was true.

  She was starting to seriously worry about their situation. Despite the vital nature of their expedition, their rations seemed lean for combat personnel, at least given the number of calories soldiers burned on a daily basis, and if their most crucial endeavor had such subpar nourishment...

  Famine was utterly unknown in the Federation. Arcadia had wiped it out in the late twenty-first century with cheap, mass produceable orbital agriculture platforms, and though some colonies that had chosen to remain independent from the Federation had experienced it from time to time due to some unforeseen cataclysm, they were usually rescued before things took a turn for the worse. The only worlds were that could be a common occurrence and not a cataclysm were luddite worlds, due to their low technology levels. That wasn't even mentionning most of them steadfastly refused any intervention from the 'evil' Artificial Intelligences and their Federation.

  At which point things started going sideways.

  The Federation and its AIs were tolerant of people wishing to live however they wanted, but starving infants was beyond tolerance. There was a point were the Federation would help, whether you wanted to or not. There was one rule in the galaxy: take care of your people. Stars help you if you refused to let AIs protect squishies from starvation or certain death, because no deity in the universe could shield you from the response. The Federation didn't bring the hammer down often but when it did no force in existence could stop it. The Theocracy certainly hadn't been able to.

  "So...Sapphiria, you don't seem to be carrying camping equipment. I assume you hadn't expected to exit the mountains on this expedition?" Asked Kalia.

  "I indeed hadn't." Said the AI as she swallowed the bit of ham, mentally shrugging away the chemical analysis of the food. Who had thought giving an ambassador's tongue poison detection and chemical sampling capabilities was a good idea? Probably her mother, knowing her. It was surprisingly tasty, though its accompaniements, a black bread with nuts and some kind of dried out goat cheese, left a lot to be desired. The bread, especially, tasted and felt like eating wet gravel. "I had hoped to find the source of the undead, or at least some clues."

  Her primary objectives had been finding the surface and people, but those were fulfilled now.

  "Same as us then, in a way." Kalia shrugged as Sapphiria rose an eyebrow. "Chances are, the tunnel they used to get in is beyond their blockade."

  "It'll be guarded."

  "The entire underground is guarded."

  "Yeah, but holding the mouth of a tunnel isn't hard. Are you sure going through it rather than the blockade is a good idea?"

  Kalia laughed, quickly joined by the others.

  "Sapphiria, they outnumber us ten to one. The only reason they haven't crushed us is because we still have some good mages, firearms, and they probably only have one commander who has other problems to deal with and wouldn't be able to coordinate this many undead anyway."

  "Right. That 'Hand of Dominion', correct?"

  "Yep. Most call them Hands for short. Used to be the Eternal Throne's will made manifest. Officials sent across the empire to settle disputes, get things moving...a knife, to cut the red tape."

  Sapphiria nodded. The Federation had much the same. Once your nation got past a certain size, especially in terms of communication loop, you needed people that could bypass it and take decisions on the ground. The Federation was heavily decentralized in a lot of ways, so that usually only applied to the Navy, but there were roaming flotillas that served the same purpose for civilian endeavors.

  "I see. And now they're back."

  "They are. And they've kept their intelligence, as well as their ability to command it seems. Even with only one though, assaulting a fortified position with what we have is impossible."

  "Until now." Said Sapphiria, before thinking, and everyone stared at her.

  Kalia smiled, softly.

  "I appreciate the offer, milady. But there is only so much a single person can do. Not to impugn on your power, but even the mightiest Hero can get overwhelmed."

  "I'm-" Not just a single chassis, but she couldn't say that. "-more resourceful than you think."

  "That's beyond doubt." Kalia sighed, as she gazed at the crackling fire. The rain had calmed down, but it was still drizzling. Lighting it hadn't been a problem, and Sapphiria had at least the good sense not to use the plasma gun and instead use her laser pistol, dialed back down. "Anyway, back to the matter of the camping equipment. It wouldn't do to leave you in the rain. We might have to squeeze a bit but I can share my tent with you. I don't mind, uh..."

  Kalia trailed off as she saw Sapphiria's expression.

  The AI cleared her throat, uncomfortably aware that she was blushing.

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  "That...that won't be necessary, thank you." She said in a slightly strangled tone. As an AI, sharing a human's bed was, well...as explicit as it got, since she didn't need a bed for anything else. And though she differed in many other ways...she was her mother's daughter, and Arcadia was the most...enthusiastic AI in that respect. Her 'aunt' after all had been Arcadia's lover before being absorbed into her hivemind. Among many...many other people. And Sapphiria had been a worthy inheritor in that regard, developing something of a reputation at the naval academy. "The armor...is very comfortable, and it will provide all the protection I require."

  "Of course." Said the mage-magistrate with almost indecent haste, clearly still a bit confused, while one of the shield bearers elbowed another and snickered.

  "Good. I'll...stand guard." Sapphiria put her helmet back on, and stood up. "Thank you for the meal." She added hastily, before leaving.

  "You're welcome!" Said Kalia as she left.

  *****

  "Status update." Said Sapphiria as she finished settling in.

  The advantage of having had such drastic restrictions on her pod's mass and volume was that her ambassador and armor didn't take that much room. At least not compared to the chassis she was used to having.

  She'd ascended a tree into a good overwatch position, and then simply jammed herself in between a few branches, providing concealment while allowing her to free herself in a hurry if necessary. She'd tested the wood, just in case, to make sure it wasn't 'magical' or enchanted and she could rip right through, and it had behaved as expected. Which meant it shattered into splinters when she'd closed her hand around it with her armor's full might.

  "Production is moving apace. We have outpaced the capacity of the construction drone to carry materials home however." Said Cia in her ears. "I have taken the liberty of starting the construction of a dedicated hauler bot, but it will require a loading system."

  "So, robotic arm, which means a hell of a lot of cable. Started production?"

  "Affirmative. I...have read your notes. Yes."

  Sapphiria's attention pricked up. Cia had access to everything, but she hadn't expected her to have that much initiative. She could restrict access, but...

  "Good job. Though please do ping me for permission next time. Not necessarily for stuff like this where we had finished the fabricator schedule, but...if any major things come through or it pushes back a major objective or something I ordered made, do ask, alright?"

  "Yes ma'am! Understood."

  "Good girl. Now, security wise. We blew through a major concentration and while I'm guessing the humans will get the blame...well, I did blast a lot of undead in the tunnel that ultimately leads to us."

  "Expand security measures?"

  "Something like that. If the skeletons we've had down there until now were stragglers whose leash system failed, then that 'Hand of Dominion' can certainly flood the underground if it has to. And if it does we're screwed. That means..." Sapphiria closed her eyes. "That means keeping their attention up top."

  "Ma'am?"

  "We're going to have to dissuade our newfound squishies from probing what's down there too hard, and start probing up top. Which they neither have the forces, nor the will, for. But that's a medium term goal. For now we have to expect at least some kind of probing we need to be able to deal with. Cheapest option is wire some explosives into the second sensor layer, and push comes to shove just bring the tunnels down." Sapphiria winced. "And build some supports for our chamber while we're at it, because I don't know how much it can take."

  "We could reduce the avenues of approach by collapsing all the tunnels except useful ones." Offered Cia. "Reduce defensive solutions to only one approach vector and chokepoint with the tunnel leading to the surface. Pre-emptively destroying the other tunnels also allows us to set charges far further away."

  "Those are...excellent points. It all comes down to risk versus reward, doesn't it? How much do we block for exploration and exploitation and how much do we leave open?"

  "What risk ma'am? We have the technology of the Federation, we can dig around or through the collapsed cave-ins if necessary. Furthermore, your ambassador seems like it will be occupied for the foreseeable future liaising with the new contacts."

  Sapphiria chuckled. Underestimating the simulacrum indeed. Maybe...maybe she should dial the simulacrum's mannerisms back up.

  She was a naval officer after all. Engineering or not, ground based tactics and defensive approaches were not her forte.

  "Once more, excellent points. Very well, let's make it happen."

  "Problem."

  "Yes?"

  "Fabrication of explosives will require chemical reaction chamber."

  "Right. Put it on the schedule. We can fuel it with what we have now, right?"

  "Carbon and water contents of current resources...suboptimal, but yes."

  Sapphiria grimaced.

  "I'll see about bringing some things down." She looked at the trees around her. "A backpack of wood shouldn't be too much to ask. I can trade for it if necessary. Might also get me some leeway."

  She'd experienced firsthand that many humans didn't believe in simple benevolence. At least not from AIs, and certainly not from the Federation. They always sought to know what the other side's angle was, what they got from it. It was why during her little tour deploying space elevators she'd been ordered to be as explicit as possible in the Federation's intent to hook and reel in the various worlds back into its orbit and, especially, trade network. The latter part wasn't very true -those worlds didn't have much to trade, and all of them combined were insignificant compared to even a luddite Core World- but it stroked some egoes and gave them a 'baser' motive they could all understand: greed and making money. Having her ask for some resources she wouldn't be able to get underground might alleviate some suspicions towards why she was helping in the first place.

  Besides, a mutually beneficial relationship was a lot more solid and easy to believe in. A mysterious benefactor could withdraw at a moment's notice, a trade partner or formal ally was a whole other story.

  Uh...formal ally...

  "Some surface materials would be helpful." Said the simulacrum, and Sapphiria nodded.

  "No doubt, but say...we do have some robot chassis, correct? Bipedal and vaguely humanoid?"

  "Yes? Though anything beyond the standard service robots is outside of our means currently, ma'am."

  "That's alright. I just had a thought. They have a problem with the undead up top, and allying with them might not only get us a lot of trust and less suspicion, but I'm sure we could swing some conditions, like them recognizing the mountains as ours and leaving them alone. Prevents them poking the hornet's nest and gives us some additional secrecy."

  "You are an admiral of the Federation. All binding diplomatic agreements must be ratified by fleet command and the President. Leeways for emergency operations-"

  "And if I activate case Epsilon?"

  The simulacrum paused for a few seconds, before speaking...almost cautiously.

  "Then you have declared an emergency in the name of humanity. The current situation, as has been presented...qualifies without question and meets numerous challenges. In which case you would become planetary governor and this world a Federation Protectorate by default. Martial law would be declared and emergency powers maintained until case Epsilon is no longer applicable. Do you...wish to activate case Epsilon?"

  "Not yet. But soon, most likely." If only so the simulacrum didn't constantly badger her about protocol and legalities. But if she did activate it...

  Well, it meant she was more or less declaring her intention to take over the whole planet to save it.

  It almost terrified her that she wasn't against it. But...there were some situations beyond tolerance. And if she didn't help the squishies, then who would?

  "Very well ma'am. Preliminary results of the bone analysis should be available shortly. I will forward them to you once they are ready."

  "Roger that, thank you." Sapphiria looked around, and adjusted her android a bit to be more comfortable. "Now let's make some industrial expansion plans, since we have some time."