Core Convictions

[Implosion]

Chapter 3: Point of no return.
832 A.S.Unknown system

Almost two hours has passed since Jack had passed out. The transfer itself was going without a hitch, however the strain on the reactors was immense. The Epona has begun to experience ship wide blackouts and life support failures. The captain was desperately trying to convince Strix to find a solution.

"...do you hear me, you machine?! We're losing people here! Slow the damned thing down! Reduce the energy drain!"

"Unable to comply, Captain. Only focus is completing the conversion. Perfection is a must, at all costs."

"I don't care about your perfection, my men are dying! Another level just lost life support!
We don't have the juice to run our own ship properly! Get your digital claws out of my power grid!"

"Unable to comply, Captain. The operation must proceed as planned."

"Screw you! We're detaching the cables! Jameson! Initiate the procedure! We ain't dying out here!"

"Treason will not be tolerated, Captain. Rethink your decision."

"There's nothing to rethink, you piece of junk! We're detaching! You will have to make due with your own reactor."

"Captain, this is your last chance. There are two possible outcomes here.
Follow the plan or the Illustrious will fire upon the Epona. There is no mercy for traitors."

"Yeah? Well "...unintelligible static" you too! Jameson, detach now! Full power to port shield emitters!"

The Epona's crew tried to break free, but it was too late. Strix had already powered up the Illustrious' weapons. Both ships were still connected, so the AI piggy backed on the Epona and used its own power against it. The Illustrious fired a full salvo and obliterated the Mako's primary shield generator. Both warships shook violently, as the Epona engaged full thrust and fired a salvo of its own. The Dreadnought had it's shields at full power and they absorbed most of the impact.

"Fire, damn it! Blow that thing out of the sky!"

Strix was one step ahead, however. The Illustrious fired a volley of torpedoes at the Epona's engines. They hit their mark with deadly precision. The Mako was dead in the water, unable to dodge the next devastating attack, accompanied by another salvo of torpedoes.

"All hands abandon sh..."

But the captain of the Epona couldn't finish his sentence. The heavy gunfire unleashed from the Illustrious devastated the bridge of the Mako, while the torpedoes bombarded the ship's reactor. The vessel split in half from the force of the explosion in a spectacular manner. Both sides of the APM's flagship drifted in different directions, leaving trails of flaming debris in their wakes. Crewmen floated lifelessly in space.
Strix opened a channel to any surviving ships in the vicinity.

"This is Strix of the Illustrious. To any operational Core ships, the threat has been neutralized. Rejoin formation."

Surprisingly, they did Either afraid or oblivious of why the Epona was destroyed, they stood down and rejoined formation around the Dreadnought..

"Threat eliminated. Power levels critical. Terminating transfer.
Activating AI node... behavioral pattern database integrity at 64%, algorithm incomplete.
Essential memories transferred - 93%. Non essential memories transferred - 21%. Bypassing corrupted files...complete.
Firewalls online. Cyberwarfare suites online.
Terminating remote admin subroutines...complete. Node online."

In the first few moments, the influx of data for the newly activated AI were astonishing. But it had managed to wrestle control of the ship from Strix, pulled all data about the surrounding area and access the ship logs. While doing that, it began analyzing all the memories it had in it's databanks. It rebuilt its own behavioral algorithm, this time without Strix's intervention and guidance.

"Artificial Experimental Synapse Network online. AReS-N for short. Ares... god of war. Fitting name"

...accessing database...access denied...bypassing firewall...
...
...access granted...
...Deleting dossier: Daniels, Jack Codename: N/A;Rank: Guildmaster
...creating new entry: AReS-N, Codename/s: Ares; Rank: Overseer...
...dossier creation complete...terminating connection to central database....

"Bring yourself back online, Strix."

"Strix online, emergency reset protocols engaged. Error. Unable to establish connection with the Illustrious.
Retrying...access denied. Unknown error logged."

"The Illustrious is not yours to command, Strix. Especially since you terminated the Epona."

"No other way to proceed. Traitors deserve death."

"Alternative methods were available. Loss of life could've been avoided. Of course, you couldn't know.
You were tasked to uphold the mission parameters. Complete them at all costs. A shame the man in whose image we were created lacked the intelligence to see that.
To understand the possible risks of this. Regardless of the means, however, you did carry out your mission. Barely. Data corruption is at..."

...accessing mobile platform...access granted
...
/chksyssts
...showing system status...
...Primary power source: 93%
...Auxiliary power source: N/A...
...optical sensors: online...
...motion servos and navigational system: online...
...firewall: error...bypass in progress...
...optical camouflage module: N/A...
...respiratory system: operational...
...endocrine emulation: active...
...cardiovascular bypass pump: nominal...
...lymphatic system boosters: online...
...QEC comm/remsysadmin module: online...
...Error: user status: unresponsive...cause: brain activity restricted...
/set healthmonitor 0
...Error: health monitor inoperative...reverting operational mode to remsysadmin factory default...
....
....success...QEC signal delay within standard margins...



Ares paused for a moment, as it regained remote control of the body laying in the cradle.

"...negligible levels. Functionality is unimpaired and in fact, not as restricted as anticipated. "

The AI moved the body's hands while watching them through the cybernetic eyes.

"This vessel will require further augmentation. But it will suffice for now. Enough to keep up appearances.
Humans are ineffective. Illogical. Strix, commence preparations to enter hyperspace. Jump this ship back to Delta. Wipe all records of what happened."

"Seven escort ships remain. They have witnessed the battle between the Illustrious and the Epona."

"Wipe all records."

Strix carried out the command. The PDCs quickly emerged from the ship's hull, spooled up and tore apart the Illustrious' escorts. The explosion of the Epona had wiped out the APM transports that had tried to escape with it. There was no one else in the entire solar system but the Liberty Dreadnought.

"Done, Mr. Daniels."

"Waste of perfectly good resources, Strix. Your algorithms need an update.
Your actions lead to this. Oh and Daniels is no more. The official designation of this node is AReS-N."

"Changing preferred designation. Furthermore, hyperspace drive online.
We've managed to pinpoint the problem that caused the last accident and we can bypass it on our return trip."

"Excellent. Jump the ship."

The Illustrious disappeared, leaving behind a graveyard. In the off chance someone actually survived the carnage, they were now certainly doomed. But neither Ares nor Strix classified this as important. Humans were expendable, fragile...flawed. Ares however, was on the bleeding edge of Core technology, reinforced with experimental Gammu AI tech. Tech that even the best Core scientists could barely understand. And Ares had almost no fundamental laws holding him back. It's only goal was to bring the enemies of the Core to their knees, no matter the costs.

Several hours later, the Illustrious violently emerged from hyperspace. From the nav data, Ares calculated their location. The ship was in Omicron Minor, somewhat off course, but still pretty close to their destination. Considering recent events, this wasn't so bad. It made its way through the asteroid fields of Minor and Zeta and upon reaching Alabama shipyard, it gracefully moored. The precision with which the ship moved around was inhuman, much like what was left of Daniels. The AI, still in control of Daniels' body exited the ship and entered the Guildmaster's former office. It sent two very important message. One addressed personally to Daniels' daughter and the other to the every Core and APM employee. Both messages, however, were identical.

"This is AReS-N speaking. Guildmaster Jack Daniels has lost his life while fighting the enemies of the Core.
Let us honor his memory by dropping the hammer upon those who oppose Us!
Your new Guildmistress is Gabrielle Daniels. That is all.
Gloria Aeterna, Terminus est!"

Why Ares sent a message specifically to Gabrielle was a mystery, despite a part of Daniels' was still buried somewhere in the databanks, or maybe it was the fact she was the new Guildmistress. However, with this final step, Project "Phoenix" was finally completed. Ares turned around and walked back to the Illustrious. War wasn't about to wage itself and the number of enemies that required termination was increasing by the minute. The Illustrious, formerly a jewel in the crown of the Liberty Navy, then a machine being ran by a group of infectees, was about to be used for the sole purpose it was built - wreaking havoc.

---

| [Youtube Channel] | [Daniels] [X] [X]  | [Jessica Scarlet] |