Into the Abyss

[arvg]

The emergency session of the Politburo had convened. Notably with several members of the Military High Command missing. There was a palpable hush in the circular room in the Kremlin Dome on Volgograd as the Premier entered the room flanked by his ever present shadow, Commissar Mendel. The Premier's Director of Communications, and chief policy enforcer.

The two new seats for the Virulian Enclave were filled by the official representatives of the newest faction of the Coalition, and the Premier spared a moment to nod to them both, as he took his place at the round table.

He didn't sit, the aging Premier seemed full of life since his return after the fall of the Volkhan, the false Ikon.

The cult of personality that had grown up around the simple factory worker from Denver had catapulted him to the Premiership, but it was his level headed, and prosperous policies that kept him there. The Coalition was growing stronger each passing day, as Katz steered it towards destiny.

Of course there were always bad days.

"I have unconfirmed reports that our entire computer network has been infiltrated by TALOS," Katz said, resting his fingers on the report that lay on the table. "Every single EV-0 converted Storm seems to be experiencing computer failures, our new XKR fighters seem similarly affected. Leaving us completely dependent upon our secondary fleet, and the KSD fighters for our primary defense."

There was a murmur around the room of shock.

"Zhukovsky and Mykolaiv Stations both went dark under my orders a few minutes ago. I have ordered them to shut down all computer control systems, in an effort to stop our installations from becoming infected as well."

"Excuse me Premier," Ping, the Deputy Premier chimed up. "But what about the stabilizers that keep them in orbit, they are computer controlled..."

"The Premier is quite bloody aware of that point," Mendel snapped, slamming down his portfolio on the table. "But given the choice between having our own guns turned on our own ships, and watching the stations burn up in the atmosphere, I don't think he has much of a bloody choice, now does he? Perhaps if the damn military hadn't have insisted that they needed the bloody TALOS project in the first place, we wouldn't be coming up with a contingency plan that involves scraping our damn stations up off of the surfaces of the planets with a spatula!"

Katz raised a hand, silencing Mendel's outburst.

"There is about forty-eight hours, until we are going to have to reactivate the stations computers, to attempt orbital adjustments. That buys our strike team some time to get in and get the job done." He looked quietly confident. "Unlike some, I have faith in Commandante Ling and his fighter corps."

Mendel snorted loudly. "I'll get on writing the obituaries for the men and women on those stations then."

"Excuse me, Premier," Comrade Yolande of Santiago looked up from her notes. "Does Doctor XiaoBei have a plan for how to deal with this?"

Katz inclined his head, "the good Doctor is already working on disabling the affected computer systems..."

"Yes, but..." Yolande looked confused. "Why aren't the older Storms affected by this virus?"

"Simple," Katz responded. "Our older Storms run off of antiquated computer system designs. They are off the neural net system, and most older Storms are flown manually without a fly-by-wire system, the computer systems are simply too basic for TALOS to affect drastically. It is the same system that keeps the Lane Hackers from adversely affecting our ships in combat... however our Typhoon line is vulnerable. I am ordering all Typhoons to find a quiet place and take their comm systems off line before they are taken down."

"What of the Havana and the Karl Marx?" Former Commandante Ares, representative for the Corsair defectees inquired.

"The Order computers installed on the Havana after her recent Order refit, and the Karl Marx's updates make both of them resiliant to the TALOS attacks, but it is only a matter of time until TALOS can override their primary firewalls and start affecting their systems. Our best bet is for General Rhade and Admiral Broch to get their ships away and clear of the system." Katz looked down at his notes.

"For now that is all I have for you, naturally Admiral Straitov and Commandante Ling have their hands full, and I recommend that you go through Commissar Mendel for all future communication updates..."

Mendel looked up, "which means if any of you decide to bother me with questions, I'll go to your house, find your nearest relative, skin them alive, and then use their flayed skin as a sleeping bag for the refugees. Clear?"

Katz nodded, closing his portfolio and returning to his office and his work.

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