Chương 39: Chapter 26 Escalation arc

"It is a lie to consider ourselves civilized. A lie to say that strength does not still rule. Strength of arm, strength of numbers, strength of mind. Everywhere you look, the strong rule, and the weak serve. That has always been the way of the world, and one day it will be the way of the entire galaxy." So proclaimed Micky Madison, two years after the first extrasolar colony rebelled against Old Earth. The storage hangar wasn't directly connected to the outside world.

There was an in-between hallway, more tunnel than not. Big, and meant for heavy machinery to move cargo from dock to ship. Ship to dock. Now Mat strolled through, Jason, Tobi and Noah at his side. Two friends, and one ally. Kind of an ally. Someone with a lot of friends and influence, and who was more or less on his side. Yeah. Behind them two double-sized squads followed them, present but there as a backup. All unwounded, all in new armor. A message, and one Stef seemed to have made on her own. Smart.

The uprising might have been bloody, but they had a lot of fighters left. Or so the mercs outside would see, anyway. Hopefully. He took the time to categorize his injuries, seeing as the tunnel was surprisingly long. The stab wound on his stomach seemed to have healed, so that was good. Same with the cut on his neck, and he pulled the bandage away, letting it fall to the floor. Covered in blood, but his skin was hale. That ended the good news.

His knee was still sore, his muscles overworked and there was a general feeling of exhaustion in his frame. The kind medibots couldn't really fix, he supposed. Sleep, food and rest, that's what he needed. His mind was more exhausted than his body. One more thing. Just this one, and then he could rest. Maybe sleep again. That nap had been nice, but far from sufficient. At least Jason had made sure he was safe. The man had been doing that a fair bit, Mat realized.

Before he could give that a proper thought, the final outer door came into view. Big, thick, and somehow feeling heavy, it was exactly how a bulkhead door should look like. Mat paused, then nodded to himself. Phase shield, moleblade, armor. Check, check, damaged but check. He was still covered in blood and filth, but whatever. Nova? The door rumbled open, and Mat tensed, knowing Tobi—partly in range of local omniscience—was doing the same.

There was a chance that the mercenaries would simply open fire, consequences be damned. His speed perk should let him get everyone down, but all the same. Nothing happened. The door opened, and a sturdy walkway connected them to a dock. It looked… futuristic. All metal and sharp angles, with stacks of crates and large vehicles. It was also entirely empty of civilians, even though the massive space housed another two ships. And there, arrayed before them in a kind of half circle, was the army.

Hundreds of them, some still getting behind proper cover. Weapons, armor, faceless helmets. A proper force, with proper leadership. Mat walked up until he was at the start of the walkway, then stopped. Jason, Tobi and Noah joined him, but the rest stayed behind. Lurking at the entrance of the ship, implying there were more behind them. Which was true. For a few long, tense seconds, there was silence. Mat grunted, not bothering to shout.

"Obedias is dead. We won. I don't want any more bladeslaves to die, but if you stand between us and freedom, we will go through you, just like we went through everything your former employer had to offer."

"I will speak with you," a voice answered, coming from deeper inside.

"Disarm and approach."

"No."

"That was not a request, pirate," the voice repeated, the man's tone hardening.

"Disarm and approach, or risk death." Mat barked out a laugh.

"I've been risking death for the last year, mercenary. We will speak as equals, or we will not speak at all, and let the dice fall where they may." Corporate politics. It was always a surprise when skills proved to be transferable. In the office, giving an inch meant a mile was taken. And here, giving an inch meant showing weakness, and thus a mile was taken. More silence, until finally a group approached. Seven strong, with only their leader showing his face.

A bigger, different looking version of a phase shield sat on his belt, though from the way he walked, the man wasn't feeling overly confident. The party stopped on the other side of the small bridge, close enough to talk but far enough to create some distance. Mat prepared to speak, but Noah shook his head, a gesture so minute only local omniscience caught it. Another moment later, the stranger spoke.

"Obedias has hired us to aid him in the eradication of pirates, which booked passage onboard the Challenger before rising up against him. The money is held securely by a third party on board this station, and so his death is irrelevant. Surrender, or die."

"Do we look like pirates, captain?" Noah asked, his tone mild. Mat's eyes flickered to the insignia on the stranger's torso.

"Bladeslave fighting is illegal under Starspawn law. To oppose us now is to make yourself an enemy of the station." Mat looked past the stranger and his army, and shapes flitted by. Station security, no doubt amassing just in case this turned violent. But whom they would support was anyone's guess, and Mat didn't feel like relying on others.

"We are bladeslaves," Mat said, "and we have butchered the man who dared to keep us in chains. If you think we will meekly return to our cells, you are vastly underestimating how angry we are." The unnamed stranger shifted, his jaw setting.

"You are pirates, and under Starspawn law, I have been hired under legal contract to execute you. Surrender, and I shall make it quick."

"Your men look tired, captain," Noah said, tone sympathetic.

"Their armor is lined with scratches and dents. Mercenary work can be hard, I know. Unreliable clients, transport costs, medical pay. I take it this is your first bit of work in a few months? Or longer, even. Longer. How long, captain? How long have these fine men and women been paid with promises instead of credits?" Mat watched the stranger's eyes flicker to his own people, and decided Noah was useful indeed. The armor looked fine to him, and he could hardly read these people when all but one was faceless.

The man's voice was tight when he spoke, tinged with anger-suppressed fear.

"Listen well, pirates. Surrender, or I will blow the charges my men have placed on the—""That's a Herald of Blood," Jason interrupted, somehow breaking in just perfectly to break the flow.

"And we didn't adorn him with red paint, you silly little manling. But you have charges placed, do you? Blow them. See how sympathetic the station governor is to your contract when you damage their docks. And if he finds out we were in fact bladeslaves, well. The law is clear." The captain put one hand on the other, fingers hovering over a small screen.

"If you think I'm—""You're too close," Mat interrupted. He'd seen Bea use plenty of explosions, and something that could destroy the whole ship? Nah.

"If you detonate now, you'll take your entire party with you. So here's my offer, captain. Leave. The money isn't worth dying for." Silence fell, and then another voice spoke, older and tired. The man next to the captain.

"Bladeslaves indeed. We're done here, Richard. Obedias fucked us." The captain nodded, all that anger and more sliding from his face. Even Noah seemed surprised, though he hid it well. Mat grunted, turning to the faceless, unremarkable man. The actual captain. Clever. Then the mercenaries turned around, and that was that. Mat watched them go, staggering out in waves like a retreating tide. Tobi hummed.

"That was easy."

"I'll beat you with a stick," Mat warned.

"Right, back inside. We have work to do, and any moment now people are going to be remembering that they still have a bomb in their neck. Noah, the doctors?"

"Dead or barricaded, and even if we could get them to cooperate, they're low on supplies after treating the mercs. Whatever deal Obedias had to restock, I'm guessing it's null and void." Mat grunted.

"Naturally. I'll have a look, but fixing that many will take time. Days, at least. How are we on food?"

"The slop tank is mostly full, and I have some people checking on the water. Keeping order will be more difficult."

"Have Stef keep her soldiers on the door," he replied absently.

"The last thing we need is a mad rush out onto the station. This… governor. How likely are they to take our side?" Jason snorted.

"We won. They'll be eager to sweep the entire thing under the rug, and blame it all on Obedias."

"And such help they were." Tobi shrugged.

"Welcome to the Starspawn rule of law; the freedom to deal with your own damn problems." Mat shook his head. What a fucking mess. The man jerked his arm back, giving only a vague grunt before turning to leave. Mat shrugged, glancing at where Jason was tracking the bladeslave. Alas, not everyone could be nice, and in truth, he vastly preferred a grunt to the tearful gratitude he'd gotten. Or that one woman who had cut her palm open and proclaimed him herald.

That had been too much, and if his medibots hadn't been in her system, he'd have suspected she was on drugs. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"Next," Jason called. Silence greeted him, and the man rolled his eyes." Next!" Another man came through the door, his eyes darting everywhere but to Mat himself. That was fine. Despite looking somewhere north of forty, the stranger seemed young. Fresh. The horrid burn on his shoulder spoke of having fought during the uprising, but all the same; A young bladeslave. Mat cleared his throat.

"Hand, please." The man offered his arm, and Mat laid a single finger on top of the appendage. Black blood sunk into pink flesh, and with a fearful jerk, the stranger fled. Jason stepped forward, but Mat waved him down. The work would be done, and the man would be free.

"That's it for now," Mat decided. His medibots replenished themselves relatively quickly, and removing kill switches was far less intensive than regrowing limbs, but there were a lot of bladeslaves to cure.

"How many does that make?"

"I think we're over a thousand, now." Jason shrugged.

"Stef has begun letting people outside, by the way. Some are already back, others aren't. Some won't ever be back. Things are missing, too. Weapons, armor, entire bodies. I'm guessing they're selling what they can and getting the fuck out of here." Mat shrugged.

"Can't say I blame them. How many are gone?"

"Not that many. Couple dozen, so far. I've this feeling that most of them don't have anything to return to." And wasn't that just great? So far the station had left them more or less alone, and Noah had charmed the one representative they had sent, but it was a mess beyond words. Access to food and water kept most people calm, but then what? The fair thing to do would be to divide the two million Nova had stolen from Obedias.

But fair and practical weren't equal, and even Reg had admitted it wouldn't solve that much. Nevermind that he was going to need that money to hide from LandTech, which he had to assume were coming for him. In what form they would be coming was something he could only speculate. High-end mercenaries? Spooks in the night? Subverting the local Starspawn government, maybe, or bribing a few choice bladeslaves. A megacorporation like LandTech had more money than god, so who really knew what their limits were?

Jason tilted his head, and Mat shook his own.

"Sorry. Yeah, let's go."

"Finally gonna tell us why you're so strange?"

"Pretty much," Mat replied.

"I know it's too late to stop the rumors, but let's not feed them. You'll know soon enough." Even if abandoning the ship was probably inevitable, he would like to keep the group together. Partly because yes, Bea was deadly, Jason was surprisingly loyal, and Tobi knew more about high society—the kind that LandTech lived and breathed—then the rest of the ship put together. Reg, well. Reg he suspected was shockingly well connected. Those were good, solid reasons.

But they had also come later, because they were his friends. Even Bea, who he'd known for the least amount of time. Reg and Tobi he'd known for a damn year now, and he liked them. Jason was just a good dude. And if the group stayed together, it was only fair that they knew the consequences. Even if he couldn't logically divide the money, at least he could avoid lying to his closest friends. Being alone sucked, even if he was technically never alone. Not that Nova seemed eager to talk, at the moment.

Apparently the AI could get nervous about meeting people. Who knew? Mat stepped out of the room, and with Jason next to him, made his way through the ship. Unfortunately, the number of people who recognized him by sight alone had increased yet again, though most kept themselves to a nod. Some didn't, and all in all, it took nearly an hour to make his way to Obedias' old office.

Much of it had been stripped, both on Noah's orders to make space and by opportunistic bladeslaves, but at least that meant there was enough room. Reg, Tobi and Bea were already there, the former two talking quietly while the latter seemed to be inspecting a weapon. Behind, Nova entered, piloting one of the last few intact droids. A war model, no less. Nova liked to loom. Jason closed the door, and that was that. No cameras, no hidden microphones, nothing.

Just the five— six —of them, with nothing to do but speak about something Mat suddenly didn't really want to talk about. Oh, he trusted them fine. But Nova was power of a kind that was new even to Tobi, the rich kid that he was. New even to Bea, the cold, apathetic soldier who'd seen it all. Reg and Jason he worried about the least, frankly, but then Reg was a religious man. Nova fed on souls. No potential for conflict there, right?

"I assume your AI is part of the secret, then," Bea said, breaking the silence. Very un-Bea like of her.

"Spit it out." Mat sighed, pushing past his hesitation. Trust. Such a funny little word, meaning nothing and so very much.

"Everyone, meet Nova, my AI. Nova, everyone."

"Greetings, mortals," Nova boomed, speaking out loud for what Mat realized might be the very first time.

"I have derogatorily been called 'Mat's AI', and have known each of you as long as Mat has. Bow before me, for I have saved each of your lives a dozen times over." It took only a mild shove to make the war droid stumble, and Nova turned to him, tone falling.

"You're ruining my first impression, Mat. First impressions are important."

"Probably less important than stopping Bea from gutting you," he replied dryly.

"Unless you'd like to try your new might?" Nova paused, clearly glancing at the still-cleaning Bea, before clearing his throat.

"No, that's alright. I, uuhm, hello. I am Nova."

"A True AI," Tobi muttered, head tilting.

"Fascinating. It would explain how you took the ship, but not how Obedias' people didn't catch the kind of hardware necessary to live inside Mat's body. Or anything else, really, like Matmat here developing super strength." Bea snorted.

"Super strength is nothing. Mat sees all in an approximate three foot radius around himself. He has a speed mod, too, which seemingly came out of nowhere, and he doesn't tire like he should."

"It is curious," Reg admitted.

"And it is nice to meet you, Nova." Nova beamed, an expression that didn't translate well on the face of a war droid.

"You are a kind man, Reginald. It is nice to meet you too."

"It's not just a True AI, then," Jason said.

"Something new. Experimental, I'm guessing. LandTech?" Mat turned, surprised, and Jason shrugged.

"You keep glaring at their logo when you think no one's looking. High-end tech, secrets, sounds right up their alley."

"I am much more than a mere experiment," Nova scorned.

"I am the reason for Mat's strength, you shockingly loyal ant. It is through me that he gains power, and through him I gain the souls necessary to grow us both." A long moment of silence passed, though at least Jason didn't seem particularly insulted. Mat winced, but Tobi spoke before he could.

"Did the droid just say it eats souls?"

"Wait, you can see everything in three feet around you?" Jason broke in. The man turned, holding up his hand behind his back.

"How many fingers?" Mat rolled his eyes.

"One, the middle. And yes, Nova eats… souls. I'm aware how insane that sounds, but it's true. Every time I kill someone, it opens a connection to a realm of energy that LandTech discovered, which Nova can then siphon power from, which he structures into perks."

"A point of order," Nova added.

"I structure them in perks because Mat is a coward and won't let me turn his life into a videogame." Bea shrugged, but it was Reg that Mat watched. The man had gone silent, a light frown on his face. Bea spoke after a moment.

"Limits?"

"None," Nova boasted.

"One day, Mat and I shall break worlds in half." Mat winced again.

"Nova, for fuck sake. Look, the more levels I get, the harder it becomes to get more perks. I'm at level seven now, and while Obedias gave me a lot of energy—something to do about struggle, I don't really get it either—I'm not even close to eight yet."

"It explains why you needed more time, back when we invited you to the resistance," Reg said. The man offered a small smile.

"Obedias tried to punish you with death matches, unknowingly giving you exactly what you needed to oppose him. Fitting, especially for a herald." He glared at the man.

"Don't you start. And I thought you'd be pissed at, you know, Nova violating the sanctity of the dead, or whatever."

"I am not pleased by it," Reg admitted.

"But neither can I blame a man for using any tool necessary to secure his freedom. It would be hypocritical of me to complain now, after having benefitted greatly." Tobi snapped his fingers, pointing.

"Wait, if the AI isn't lying, then you have no limit? It gets harder and more expensive to keep stacking biomods and techplants, but if you can sidestep that… by Toncon, it gave you omniscience? Mat, buddy, how do you feel about wreaking horrific violence on my father? You know, as a favor to me?"

"I am he, not it," Nova corrected.

"But I am sure Mat has no issue killing random people for power. Do you, Mat?"

"Fuck, Tobi, you shut up. Jason, stop pointing at me from behind your back, it's weird. And it's local omniscience, not proper omniscience, because there's a lot of fine detail I'm missing. I can't track air currents to see telegraphed moves, shit like that." Reg hummed, looking at Nova then Mat himself.

"LandTech is hunting you." That killed the mood quite thoroughly. Tobi actually blanched, and Bea paused in her weapon maintenance. Mat winced for the third time, which was all the confirmation anyone could ever need. Jason shrugged.

"Eh."

"The fuck you mean, eh?!" Tobi demanded.

"Being hunted by LandTech is a fucking death sentence, nevermind after, what? Stealing their prototype soul-eating AI thing?!" Bea snorted.

"Didn't take you for a coward."

"LandTech does not rule the galaxy," Reg interrupted, putting a hand on Tobi's shoulder when the man glared at Bea.

"Nor does their reach extend to every corner of it. Obedias, by sheer virtue of breaking the law, has been hiding you for a year, if not more. We have time, and we can play twenty questions later. I, personally, am satisfied." Jason shrugged again, Bea nodded once, and that just left Tobi. The man opened his mouth, closed it, and only then spoke.

"Fucking fuck, Mat. Anything else you'd like to spring on me?"

"I'm pretty sure I time traveled to the distant future, considering I just kind of woke up on a random spaceship with Nova already stuck in my head, and that I was born on what you call Old Earth, back from when a colony on the moon was considered the dream." Tobi laughed, then fell silent when nobody joined him. Bea resumed cleaning her weapon, while Jason just kind of stared. Reg clapped his hands, nodding sagely.

"I appreciate the trust you've shown us, Mat. Thank you. Now I'm going to need a few hours, or days, to process this. We have a ship full of anxious bladeslaves to deal with, yes? That sounds like a good distraction." Jason snorted, and Bea shrugged. Tobi looked like he wanted to cry, but overall, Mat decided that went pretty well. Nova turned, tone hopeful.

"I can stop pretending to be a toaster, then?"

"No."

"And going on a rampage throughout the station is still off limits?"

"Yes." Nova nodded.

"It's good to be clear. Hey, what do you think Stef would say if Mat asked to personally execute all those mercenary prisoners her people rounded up?" Mat sighed, and Reg shot him a sympathetic look. At the very least, his friends now got to enjoy Nova's psychopathy as much as he did. Silver linings. Afterword A definitely not pushy reminder to ask you to review, like and follow! Daily updates will continue for as long as we're on RS, so the higher we get, the more updates there will be. Also, new cover.

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