Ch61: Unexpected Assistance

Unknown location, Underwater in the Pacific Ocean.

President Mitsui's expression was dark as he confronted the many representatives of various regions and those of the orbital colonies. They had chosen to arrange this secretive assembly in this high security location due to the ongoing war, as well as the increasing number of riots globally.

"Explain. Why is it that we are unable to replace the low cost products of the Kasvallian Group? Surely, if they can do it, then we can as well. Do not say it's impossible-- I know the lot of you and your… affluent friends must be pocketing the change!" Mitsui was growing frustrated.

So far, the military had managed to prevent news of the majority of casualties on Mars being women from leaking out. Well-- it is the Kasvallians who were more happy to focus target female squads. On the other hand, they have not been able to remove the risk of the widespread and lower cost Kasvallian goods already in circulation globally. The local resistances made this task difficult.

Luckily, it seemed as if there was no presence of Syned within the systems of these Kasvallian goods. However, the potential risk simply cannot be ignored.

No, Mitsui corrected his own trail of thought. If Syned had injected himself into these devices, Denys should have detected the Kasvallian Group's intentions long ago. Most likely, Syned has a method to infiltrate Earth through the Kasvallian products still in circulation. As to how, that is the question-- especially since Denys himself is within the whole global network and all that is connected to it.

"But sir… it's simply impossible!" The black-suited man representing the BlackRock orbital colony exclaimed.

"And why is that?! Tell me! I've given you all ample time!" Mitsui spat. "And Branson. All the assets under your control…"

"Look, Mitsui. We've crunched the numbers. The reality is that as a society, we are simply less efficient. Bloated compared to the Kasvallians," Branson bristled. "The Kasvallians are ruled and wholly controlled by the singular entity known as Syned. That means in their hidden society, they have no need to…"

Branson calmed himself as he sighed.

"They have no need to, for example, hire and pay judges, lawyers, fund elections, hold major policy debates or well, much of anything really," Branson continued in a much calmer tone. "Essentially, their society is run by Syned, based on what we have gathered."

"And?" Mitsui grumbled. "Most production is automated these days. Human labor costs are mostly on creative tasks."

"It's… well it's a chain effect. Why historically, economies can death spiral downwards. Their ruling body does not need as much upkeep. Thus they have significantly less need to tax the economy. Thus production companies can maintain their margins without raising their prices. Thus their citizens can be paid less and still maintain a strong purchasing power and standard of living."

Well. That and the fact that a rather authoritative government can easily clamp down on bad actors. Sometimes unfairly and perhaps corrupt. Branson wasn't about to suggest that the Earth Feds should be given the power to bring the hammer down on his or any of the orbital colonies. Plus, his words carried the gist of truth. Obviously the economy isn't all that straightforwardly understood, but it seemed to be applicable in this case.

Quite a few heads swiveled to take a quick glance at the rep from China, as well as the CBA orbital colony. One a man, another a woman, both seemingly of Chinese descent. To trained eyes, they would be able to spot that the man representing the CBA orbital colony had more Southern Chinese features, in contrast to the woman with more northern features.

As to why all could not resist observing these two? The history of their 'motherland', of course.

To put it simply, China remains a single party state. For some time, many thought that a revolution was inevitable. Yet the country soon developed an army of drones that could perform massive swarm attacks, backed by solid logistics and production lines. Then they became one of the earlier nations to successfully build an orbital factory and send robots to the belt to harvest asteroids.

Luckily, despite their position, the nation never initiated war against neighbors even if there were a few inconsequential conflicts upon the sea. They relied on economic pressure and occasional intimidation to gain marginal advantages.

As to why? It is believed that said single party feared its own citizens the most. In those ancient times, the Chinese population had become well-travelled and connected. And unlike certain other small nations, it was basically impossible to completely block external news-- not when the nation had so many economic ties and also desired to be on the world stage.

Many believe that the single party feared any major conflict could lead to revolution. Unless the population of the nation at the time truly believes a conflict to be necessary, said single party would not dare to initiate a war, in fear of internal backlash.

Given the long history of governments being overthrown in the region, that was not an unreasonable conclusion. The Chinese population themselves understood the concept of remaining in the shadows, and striking like lightning when a critical opportunity arose. As such, said single party feared its own citizens the most-- a repeated conclusion.

That, of course, led to questions on the psyche of the nation's population. Due to the nation's history, most of her citizens despised foreign influence trying to take control, take advantage and profit off their own people.

Most also believed that unity was critical-- as long as citizens had decent living standards or were at least improving towards and eventually matching other major powers under said ruling party. That belief in unity stemmed from a long history of internal conflict. People's lives were generally much more prosperous in times of regional unity.

Some wondered why corruption did not lead to their downfall. A proposed reason was that fear of revolution kept corruption in check. Many western nations, however, believe that the Chinese simply exported said corruption. Well. The rebuttal from the Chinese was that western companies that essentially control western politics were more than happy to take advantage of 'lesser' and desperate nations for profits, which could be said to be a sort of corruption and blackmail. Some even exaggeratedly compared it to being a mafia. Those were… confusing times, to say the least.

Eventually, that single party began to imitate the European Union. To be accurate, a significantly more centralized EU. The single party effectively functioned in the position of the European's political elites, and provided economic benefits of various degrees to countries based on their willingness to adopt certain cooperative policies. Circles of membership, so to speak.

Those who shared their worldview would be welcome to become a member of said singular ruling party. Not unlike how the European elites held certain views and would use public opinion to murder any European politician who dared to disagree with the status quo, so said single party claimed in the UN.

Though there was much skepticism at first. Soon, a rather desperate nation opted to give it a go, and once said nation found itself treated rather fairly and performing significantly better, the floodgates opened. A rather concerning moment in history, from the anglo-saxon perspective.

This brief history ran through the heads of all present. The primary reason for this wasn't related to their own personal feelings regarding said history, but the very fact that for many years, China was able to maintain low production costs.

Of course, there are many more reasons proposed, even claims of 'rigging' by competitors, but one could not deny their single party authoritative government demonstrated an incomparable effectiveness. For example, there exists ancient footage of the Chinese building an emergency hospital, a railway station in a single day. Impossible unless it was under a united authority. And certainly, impossible to 'rig'.

Not that any of this history really mattered much once the cyber war began. That war completely overturned the world, in the end.

Regardless, all present are, of course, drawing parallels to the Kasvallian Group. Well, there is a major difference-- the Kasvallian Group is under a single powerful authoritarian AI that is Syned. One could say, even more 'united' than a single party, who may occasionally have internal disagreements.

No more words needed to be further said by the black-suited Branson to explain the situation.

Mitsui internally complained about Denys' stance. Denys remained staunch regarding the position of staying in the shadows. Additionally, if Denys' presence became obvious, the Earth Feds' message of combating the influence of Syned would be significantly less effective, and their army's morale would drop.

Evermore, Mitsui wished to create his own true AI. If he could 'meld' with one, similar to Syned Vezna….

"We have no choice but to crush these resistance pockets, optics be damned," Admiral Petrov concluded. "In time, the people will adjust to their lower standard of living. They still remain far better off than even our ancestors prior to the cyber war."

The many reps from various nations looked grim, but they could only agree to marshal their forces. After all, the historical pact between the nations and the Earth Feds remain intact. Most ground forces are from the nations, while the Earth Feds conduct their activities away from Earth's surface and air-- space.

___________________________________________________________

Back on Mars.

Xeight, Jackson, and the other mysterious agent assigned to this mission froze in a panic, deer in headlights. Already, they could hear the sound of many echoing footsteps in the underground waterways.

"We must retreat," the mysterious agent urgently whispered. Yet when they turned around, many boats with blinding headlights had already begun combing the shoreline. 

"No way back," Jackson barked. "We spread and hope for the best. You're on your own now. Best of luck!"

Those two agents immediately sped off. It wasn't that they did not care for Xeight-- they were tasked with protecting and assisting Xeight as per Minister Williams' order. However, remaining as a single group meant that they would all be apprehended in a single stroke. By splitting off into three, there is the possibility that the two agents could lead the pursuers off Xeight's trail.

Xeight sighed. A pity that it would not be easy. Luckily, Chimera is with him. With only the exosuit's limited processing power, Chimera is not able to employ its full strength. However, it is still capable of many tasks.

Xeight immediately began searching for a doorway into the network of the City of Romulus. He opened a complete map of the waterways on the visor of his exosuit. Minister Williams had spent much time in the City of Romulus in her political career, and naturally gained access to much of this information.

He quickly identified the closest terminal that could be of use to him. A route appeared on his visor, pointing out to him the correct path.

Chimera did not need Xeight to request assistance. Their minds were oddly in sync, a state that Xeight was somewhat perturbed about, but accepted.

"Father," Chimera said. Another 'title' that Xeight had yet to feel comfortable with being called. "I have analyzed the footsteps through echolocation and estimated their position and path. We have been rerouted."

Xeight began jogging on this new route, the boots of his exosuit activating noise suppression as a camouflage cloak wrapped around his body, mostly melding him into the background of the waterway walls. Thermal shielding was also activated.

Normally, the exosuit would be capable of activating the mechanical functions of the boots to decrease the muscular stress on Xeight's leg muscles, but doing so would create noise. Naturally, that was to be avoided in the current situation.

"Are you providing assistance to Jackson and… the other agent?" Xeight asked. That other agent had opted to not introduce himself. Or herself? Honestly, not easy to tell with the exosuits on.

"Yes, father," Chimera replied through the neuro circlet. "They, however, have expressed their desire to act as decoys."

Xeight sighed. He was honestly struggling to understand the devotion of these people to their cause.

"Likelihood of us three all surviving?"

"Zero percent chance, father. The enemy's numbers vastly outnumber ours. Our technological level is similar and the Terran forces should have a true AI guiding them as well. The only opportunity exists if those two are to act as decoys."

That was the unfortunate reality of their situation, causing Xeight to sink into silence.

"I am no longer able to echolocate our pursuers. It is possible that they initially created a noise pattern to bait us onto certain routes. I will be rerouting us, father."

The route on Xeight's visor changed, and he could see that Chimera had chosen a farther terminal. As he silently switched directions, he couldn't resist looking at the grey concrete and partially rusty metal bridges and railings of the waterway. The ceiling of the waterway is basically a semi-circle of concrete surface. To most, this would be a dour sight, but Xeight naturally had never seen such a structure, and he found it rather grand for these expansive systems to exist underneath a supposedly vast city.

Perhaps luck was on his side, but Xeight reached said terminal without bumping into any pursuers.

"Two lifeforms detected! Termination mode activated!" Chimera suddenly had a joyous and excited outburst. Xeight wondered if Chimera was truly born from his mind creating patterns in a Nexarm frame. He surely does not have this outburst within himself… Strangely, he recalled how he had chosen to 'execute' that Martian pilot simply to test the alliance between the Martian forces and the T3ST colony…

Xeight was obviously not against killing-- he simply did not wish to be a tool in any conflict.

As such, with his form camouflaged, he easily sliced through the throats of two men dressed in engineering tracksuits. As these two were intently observing a number of large monitors, they were none the wiser. Once they realized what had happened, they gurgled blood as their eyes rapidly lost their light.

"Good luck, Chimera," Xeight said as he opened a compartment on his suit that exposed a number of cords. He plugged his exosuit into the terminal, and could only hope that Chimera would not be discovered by the supposed Terran's true AI.

If Chimera could keep his exosuit free under a counterattack, he should have enough time to disconnect and isolate their system.

None of that came to pass. Chimera infiltrated Romulus' network with ease.

"Location of Nexarm facilities have been identified. We must reach it in order to obtain the necessary upgrades." Chimera was back to a much more 'professional' state.

A new route was plotted on Xeight's visor.

Xeight began jogging along this route again. However, most concerning was the fact that there were no sounds, no tracks of the enemy!

"Freeze!" Chimera exclaimed out of nowhere.

Xeight froze on the spot and focused his senses.

He finally noticed something off. Once he steadied his form, it became far easier for Chimera to employ the exosuit's systems to analyze their surroundings.

There is no such thing as perfect camouflage, after all. Soon, Chimera picked up a squad of trackers rounding a corner on the opposite side of the water channel, their forms occasionally exposing a sort of refracted sheen of rainbow edge. Xeight's heart palpitation in anxiety. If he could see them, then they might be able to see his position if they came to a stop as well!

The ten trackers were in a hurry, and jogged in search of intruders. Just when Xeight thought himself safe as these trackers went past him on the opposite side of the water channel, a drop of water fell from the ceiling and struck the top of his exosuit.

Xeight swore.

"Zoom mode, activated," Chimera announced.

The sprint-support mechanism in the exosuit's boots activated, and Xeight sprang forward.

"There! Fire!" Assault rifles pointed at Xeight and a bullet hell was unleashed. His exosuit did its job to protect him against the few rounds that struck.

"After him!"

Xeight knew that he was in trouble. His exosuit was standard gear for the Terran forces housed in the city of Romulus. As such, he had no advantage. As for launching neuro gadgets-- that was a waste of time, outnumbered as he was. Neither side had activated their neuro gadgets, choosing to remain camouflaged. If Xeight launched any, the other side would launch theirs as well. It was far better to simply run.

"I apologize. That was careless, father," Chimera apologized. "I should have noticed the drop of water from above." To make use of the exosuit and its functions in different environments-- Chimera is still a newborn of sorts.

"Focus and find us routes to confuse the pursuers." Xeight wasn't about to waste words on the past.

________________________

Up on the Martian surface, on the tallest tower within Romulus, Zero's eyes gleamed as he observed a monitor alongside holographic projections.

"That's him! Analysis of his body movement, build, carry similarities to the man known as Xeight! All units. Head towards MW-5, towards Squad Five! Poison, don't get too out of control."

_________________________

Terran soldiers remained hot on Xeight's tail. There was no shaking them off!

"Father…" Chimera suddenly announced. "I am receiving communication from an entity named Denys. He states that he is Earth's true AI."

"What? Why?" Xeight was completely baffled as he continued sprinting, taking as many turns as possible in a bid to shake off his pursuers.

As he curved around a corner, a few neuro gadgets were launched, firing upon the Terran soldiers rounding the corner. Those neuro gadgets were quickly shot down with overwhelming firepower. At least they served to somewhat slow down their pursuers.

"He has expressed that he does not desire for us to be caught and wishes to be of assistance," Chimera informed Xeight.

Many possible explanations flitted through Xeight's mind, while the pursuers remained only a hundred meters behind. Occasionally, a bullet would clip his suit and further damage its camouflage ability.

He rounded another corner then had to switch direction to cross a rusting bridge due to the way being blocked by another Terran squad!

"Ahahaha! Found you!" An excited girlish voice squealed in excitement. Two bazookas unveiled themselves on that exosuit's two shoulders. It wasn't just Xeight who was shocked by this development. Every single Terran soldier's eyes similarly widened behind their visors.

Xeight threw himself forward with an explosive jump as those two bazookas fired.

An explosive force was ignited in the waterway, throwing Xeight forward sprawling and clutching at air. Luckily, he wasn't directly struck and the x-alloy of the exosuit absorbed the remnant impact and heat.

When Xeight recovered to his feet, part of the waterway had been shattered and concrete lumps were scattered all over, some obstructing the water channel.

"Fuck it," Xeight saw no way out of their predicament. "No choice but to trust this entity known as Denys." He really was running out of options. It seems that other squads had been alerted to his presence here!

"Denys has informed me of hidden routes," Chimera announced.

Xeight began following this new route. He turned a corner, momentarily falling out of the Terran soldiers' sight. His eyes then blinked repeatedly, for the route suddenly bent and led him into a wall!

He chose to bet on the route and half-rammed his shoulder into the concrete wall, only to find zero resistance as he stumbled through an incredibly realistic holographic projection of a wall.

He continued and began to pass through a number of fake walls, and the sounds of the Terran soldiers gradually faded!

____________________________________

"Where did he go?!" Zero sprang to his feet, alarmed. They should have the target cornered by now. "Poison!"

"We turned a corner and he was gone, brother!" Poison complained through the comms, whining as if a toy had been destroyed by a pet dog. "Why won't he stay and play?!"

Zero was observing through the visors of the soldiers connected to his command center. Poison's words offered nothing.

"Thorsson!"

"Nothing on my end. I've combed the shoreline and we've discovered how they entered the waterways. However, that is all."

_____________________________________

Xeight's visor smashed into a very real concrete wall. This one wasn't a holographic wall despite the route pointing through it.

He narrowed his eyes as the concrete-looking wall smoothly and soundlessly slid open through an unknown contraption. He then descended down a spiral staircase. He passed through a pair of metal doors at the bottom that opened up into a lovely garden with flowers of every single possible color. Naturally, Xeight knew little of flower species and could not identify them.

This garden, along with various greenery of grass and trees, surrounded a gleaming white dome in the middle.

A crab automation with a height close to Xeight's waist scuttled before him, and the top of its shell opened to project a hologram of a prepubescent teen.

"Welcome, Xeight and Chimera. I am Denys. It is a pleasure to welcome you to my home."

"What is your intention?" Xeight might have accepted Denys' offer due to his desperate situation, but he remained highly suspicious of Denys.

"Hah!" Denys chittered. "If I truly wished to do you harm, I would not have assisted you. And I would have arranged for troops to capture you long before your arrival here."

Xeight had to admit that Denys was correct. He had allowed his suspicions to cloud his assessment.

"Come." The crab automation leisurely scuttled towards the dome.

"Why?" Xeight had to ask as they walked.

"Hmm…" Denys muttered. "Hard to explain even with all the words available to me. Where to begin…? You see… I gained access to Martian records of your behaviour during the Martian Independence war, and I must say that I saw an ally."

________________________________________________

Meanwhile, outside the BlackRock Orbital Colony, an A-rank starship jumped in, its body hidden in the darkness of space.

The starship's hangar opened as three Haisnafs floated out. The leading Haisnaf carried the symbol of a skull!

"Bone. You should not have to do this. Is this not too extreme?" Yfour's voice begged through the comms.

"Syned Vezna appreciates our talents, Yfour," Bone replied as his Haisnaf floated towards the BlackRock orbital colony. "That is why he has given us this monumental task where success must be guaranteed."

"But…"

"This is a new age of humanity, and the Kasvallians will give us a home. A real home! We will have a heroes' welcome and live prosperous lives! Already, forty of us are pursuing new lives in the Kasvallian world!" Though none could see Bone within his cockpit, he still raised a fist of joy and hope.

"Yes boss!" Oten replied. "Those Terran fools still think we give a crap about Mars!"

They had left Mars long ago, easily escaping detection due to the lack of Terran surveillance in the Martian Sphere.

"Silence, Oten! There is always a risk of someone listening in. Comms are to remain silent. With me, brothers!" Bone accelerated towards the BlackRock orbital colony, with two black pearl Haisnafs behind, one controlled by Oten, another by a woman named Vree.