Berserker (Messenger Book 2) Page 29

  “Your enthusiasm is admirable,” Regina said. “But that destructive power must be channeled more productively. Our goal is not to wipe out all life on this world.”

  Janice lowered her staff and gave a disappointed sigh.

  “We have the perfect outlet for all that energy.” Wizard manipulated the console, and a point of light flashed on Chalice's northern hemisphere. “One of our agents inside the Concord has informed us as to the location of Demir's secret bunker.”

  That perked Janice up. “That's what I like to hear,” she said. “That son of a bitch and his inner circle are the ones responsible for turning my life into such a shit pile. I'll be more than happy to relieve this world of their miserable lives.”

  “We wouldn't object to that, but it's not our primary concern.” Wizard manipulated the console again, bringing up an image of a snowcapped mountain surrounded by pine forest.

  “Demir's bunker is situated underneath this mountain,” Regina explained. “He calls it Tigerhöhle—the Tiger's Den. This is where he and his inner circle fled to escape Spacy's wrath. But the bunker serves another purpose as well, namely bioweapons research. Building on the Xenowave research conducted by the Union, they have developed Messenger spores, seeds capable of emitting repil radiation. Essentially, Messenger syndrome in particulate form. The spores are stored in a silo inside this bunker.”

  Janice asked, “If they've got a working bioweapon, why haven't they used it against Spacy?”

  “No effective method for dispersal.” Wizard returned the display to the globe of Chalice and zoomed in on another location near the equator. An image of an enormous conical structure surrounded by towers, nestled within a ring of lakes and forests, appeared next to the globe.

  Regina gestured to the picture. “This is the Halispont atmospheric processor, one of the major plants responsible for converting Chalice's atmosphere. It was destroyed in the SLIC raid that unleashed silence particles across the surface of Chalice—a raid led by the same Pierson Cutter who now commands the First Knights,” she added.

  “Is this an old image, then?” Janice asked. “It doesn't look destroyed here.”

  “No, this picture was taken recently,” Regina replied. “The Colonial Administration had begun a secret project to repair the processor. After the Insurrection, the Concord continued the restoration project. The processor has been returned to functional status, but it was captured by Spacy and is now guarded by a battalion of Union marines.”

  “The Halispont processor is of enormous strategic value,” Wizard said. “Whoever controls it commands the ability to unleash any particulate they desire across all of Chalice.”

  “So you see,” Regina concluded, “the Concord has all the bioweapons, while the Union controls the means of dispersal. But if someone were to gain control of both the Concord's supply of Messenger spores and the Halispont processor...”

  Janice cocked an eyebrow. “If you flooded the atmosphere with Messenger spores, then there would be no escaping the pandemic. Everyone on Chalice would get Messenger syndrome.”

  “That's right,” Regina confirmed.

  Janice's confusion deepened. “I thought you said you wanted to save humanity. This sounds more like a guaranteed way to kill everyone on Chalice.”

  “If that's what we wanted to do, yes,” Wizard said. “But our agents inside the Concord smuggled us the design for the Messenger spores. Thanks to the fruits of our Xenowave research, we have devised a way to alter the design of the spores from their original purpose.”

  “And that is...?”

  “We can modify them to spread a variation of Messenger syndrome,” Regina said. “We call it the Servitor complex. It lacks any lethal side effects, and it also renders the subject immune to true Messenger syndrome.”

  “You can immunize the entire population against Messenger syndrome?” Janice found such a boon—at least, that's how she would have thought of it until recently—difficult to fathom. “What's the catch?”

  “There is no catch,” Wizard replied. “The effects are entirely beneficial. The recipients become highly susceptible to suggestions from true Messengers. Not only would this save the people of Chalice from the Messenger pandemic, it would immediately establish Perfect Messengers as the leaders of humanity.”

  “And since Perfect Messengers answer to the omniscient and benevolent Voice of the Xenowave,” Regina added, “all of Chalice would be placed under the domain of a perfect ruler. The result would be eternal peace and prosperity.”

  “We call this plan the Ascension Project,” Wizard said.

  “Huh.” Janice looked between her fellow Regents with a disdainful gaze. “So in other words, you want to turn everyone on Chalice into zombie slaves with yourselves as their overlords. Got it.”

  Regina bristled. “We do not have such vile intentions. We work for the salvation of mankind.”

  “Yeah, sure, whatever,” Janice said. “I don't really care what you do with everyone else, as long as I get to be a monster like you two. But if you can do all this, why not just take the atmospheric processor first and save yourselves some time?”

  “Unfortunately, we lack the facilities to produce the necessary materials from scratch,” Wizard explained. “But modifying existing Messenger spores is within our capabilities. Thus the three stage plan: acquire the Concord's supply of Messenger spores, modify them to spread the Servitor complex, and finally capture Halispont so we can disperse them across Chalice.”

  “OK,” Janice said. “And where do I come in?”

  Regina came around the table and placed a hand affectionately on Janice's shoulder. “It's quite simple,” she said. “You're a force multiplier. Despite years of gathering recruits and building our resources, our military strength is still inferior to those who seek to dominate Chalice for their own ends. When the Concord was in power, we lacked the strength to seize Tigerhöhle. Now their defenses are severely weakened by the necessity of remaining hidden from Spacy's warships, but the same applies to us. If we attacked with a large force, we might attract the fleet's attention. That would jeopardize our entire plan.”

  “So we must infiltrate the bunker with a small force,” Wizard said. “Every member of the team needs to be extremely capable.”

  “You are essentially the Messengers' war variant,” Regina said. “With your ability to channel the wrath of the Xenowave, I imagine that you're as deadly as an entire squadron of Union augments.”

  “So I'm your attack dog.” Janice brushed Regina's hand away, then tapped her staff against her shoulder as she considered the Regents' explanation.

  “Well,” she said after a pause, “that suits me just fine. In fact, that's exactly why I agreed to become a Syneger. You just need me to wreck Demir's base so you can get the Messenger spores inside, right? No problem.”

  “Excellent.” Wizard deactivated the projector.

  Regina said, “Military operations are not our area of expertise, so we will defer to the commander of the Harvesters for planning the assault. When all is ready, he will brief you on the particulars of the operation. In the meantime, we'll give you a primer so you can acquaint yourself more deeply with our organization.”

  Janice rolled her eyes. “I can't wait.”

  With the briefing concluded, Janice left the conference chamber, harboring mixed feelings. Fundamentally, she had no interest in the Xenolists or their plans for controlling Chalice. Being used as a pawn on their chessboard was a disappointing development after her transformation into a Messenger. On the other hand, they were providing her with the resources to wreak havoc on her hated enemies. And no matter what transpired, she had left her humanity behind forever. There was infinite value in that.

  Twenty-fifth Escalation

  Unfurling wings coarsened

  Despite the Regents' complaints about the Xenolists' militarily weak position, it seemed to Janice that the they possessed some highly sophisticated weapons and equipment. When she pressed them on this point,
they admitted that they had the financial support of a wealthy plutocrat and an agreement with a black market arms dealer who had access to armaments manufactured by major military contractors, although they would not give any names.

  Among the Xenolists' armaments was a long range heavy cargo plane with stealth and VTOL capability, which they called the Gigant. Their possession of this transport was fortunate, since Tigerhöhle was located in the far northern reaches of Chalice's eastern continent, far from any Xenolist installations. The Gigant was their only transport with the range and stealth necessary to reach Demir's bunker undetected.

  This placed severe limitations on the size of the attack force. As compensation, their spies in the Concord had provided them with comprehensive intel on Tigerhöhle's defenses. During the peak of the Concord's power, the bunker would have been unassailable by anything short of a small army. Under the watchful eye of the Spacy fleet, however, the regiment defending the bunker had dispersed so as to avoid betraying its location. Now the bunker was protected by an outer ring of mines, several pop-up turrets concealed under the mountainside, an elite infantry company, and a hangar containing a smattering of aerial drones, exosuits, and armored vehicles. Most of the defenders remained inside the bunker in order to avoid detection.

  This reduced force still outnumbered what the Xenolists could deploy with the Gigant. The elements of the assault team had therefore been selected for maximum effectiveness. They would have two aerial escorts in the form of Pierson and Aksinya in their Asuras, outfitted with stealth shrouds and refueling from the Gigant as necessary. The ground force would consist of a cargo hauler for the Messenger spores escorted by a platoon of heavily armed Harvester Dragoons with the support of several battle drones, plus a pack of Nullities.

  And, as the trump card, Janice.

  The Nullities were of the greatest interest to Janice. The officer giving the briefing described them to her as semi-intelligent bioweapons engineered by Xenolist research through a process of controlled xeno-adaptation mutations. They were programmed to obey the orders of their Xenolist handlers, and would mercilessly slaughter anything else that got in their way.

  Fellow monsters, she thought. She looked forward to seeing them firsthand.

  *

  Soon Janice, Pierson, and Aksinya were prepared for transfer to the Garden, the Harvesters' headquarters and hub of the Xenolists' military forces. The knights once again had to undergo sedation, but Janice's new Regency status gave her the privilege of remaining conscious for the journey. Departure from the Temple was a two stage process that first entailed boarding a small submarine, then an aircraft which launched from the submarine's deck upon surfacing. At first Janice had been surprised by the true nature of the Temple, but upon reflection, she decided it was the most natural location in the world for the Xenolists' nerve center.

  The Garden, by contrast, was as mundane as she would have expected: nothing but a subterranean bunker located deep within one of Chalice's less developed zones. While she waited for preparations to commence, she took advantage of her exalted status to ask Pierson for a tour of the Garden. She was surprised to find a cavernous training ground filled with a legion of Xenolist soldiers drilling, as well as a massive storage chamber packed with row upon row of inert battle drones.

  “Where did you get all this?” she said in wonder.

  “The Xenolists have been secretly gathering recruits for years from the ranks of the dispossessed and disenfranchised,” Pierson explained. “They are the Milites, reserves to be called upon for defense and guerrilla warfare. The best and most dedicated among them are promoted into the Harvesters, our special ops division. The drones are old P.S.A. surplus purchased off the black market. Not exactly cutting edge, but cheap and plentiful.”

  “And this is supposed to be weakness?” Janice said.

  “A formidable force, to be sure,” Pierson replied. “But misleading. Remember that this is our center of military operations. The vast majority of our forces are concentrated here. Compared to the standing armies of Spacy or the Concord, this is nothing. Our real problem is a lack of force projection. Despite our large reserves of Milites, we can only muster small teams for rapid, long range deployment.”

  With the tour concluded, Pierson and Janice went to the main hangar to prepare for the assault on Tigerhöhle, where Pierson and Aksinya readied their exosuits while the Gigant and the First Harvester Dragoons prepared for launch. Janice saw the Nullities being held in reinforced cages in the corner of the hangar and moved in for a closer look.

  They were enormous beasts, covered in dark scales, with powerful haunches and spindly forearms that ended in claws shaped like powerful human hands. Prehensile tails with wicked barbs extended from their lower backs, waving through the air. Their sinewy bodies terminated in eyeless faces topped by curved horns, with porcine snouts filled with long needles for teeth. Janice saw in them the finest killing traits of Thera's best predators combined into a single creature and given an alien twist.

  “Well, you're quite a pack of uglies, aren't you,” she said approvingly.

  Attracted by the cold emanations of Janice's Xenowave infestation, the nearest Nullity came to the edge of the cage and pawed at the bars. Janice reached inside and stroked the side of the monster's face.

  “My lady, be careful,” a nearby technician exclaimed. “Those creatures are extremely dangerous.”

  “Not to me, they aren't.” Janice scratched the top of the Nullity's head, and it emitted a wet gurgle like a cat's purr. “Monsters are loyal to their own kind, after all. Unlike people.”

  She withdrew her hand and turned at the sound of footsteps. Pierson and Aksinya were approaching in their pilot suits.

  Janice smirked at Aksinya. “How about you, Red?” she said. “Would you like to pet a Nullity? They're friendly little critters.”

  Aksinya's expression remained neutral. “I'm afraid their favor is reserved for those with the blessing of the Xenowave, my lady.”

  “That's a shame, isn't it?” Janice said. “Keep me covered out there, and I promise not to sic my little pets on you.”

  “That is my duty.”

  This was too rich. “Your duty and your privilege, right?” Janice corrected her.

  Aksinya said nothing.

  “And here I thought we could get along now that I've received the favor of your beloved Xenowave.” Janice gave a sad shrug and shake of her head. “Well, all you need to do is follow my orders. I guess we don't have to be bosom buddies for that relationship to work out, huh?”

  “My lady,” Pierson broke in with a bow. “Of course, we are your loyal servants in all things. But now, it is almost time. If you would change into your combat gear...”

  “Sure,” Janice said. “I'd be the last one to hold up our chance to give Demir his due.”

  “Don't forget,” Pierson said as she turned to leave, “our primary objective is the recovery of their bioweapon stores—”

  “That's your job,” Janice shot back. “As for me, I'm going to take this chance to go a little wild. Try not to get in my way.”

  Janice headed to the locker room and changed into the black fatigues and body armor that she had been issued. She hefted her MIND staff and reflected that such protection was almost redundant in light of her new powers. She returned to the hangar and found that Pierson and Aksinya had already boarded their exosuits while the cargo hauler, battle drones, and Nullities were being loaded into the Gigant's cavernous cargo compartment. Once they were loaded, the soldiers of the First Harvester Dragoons climbed up the ramp. Janice came last, sat down at the end of the bench, and set her staff down beside her.

  With the troops and equipment secured, the ramp closed with a clang. The Gigant revved up its engines and took off with a roar. Pierson and Aksinya launched after it and took up escort positions to either side. The Gigant's cloaking system and the stealth shrouds equipped on the Asuras activated, causing the aircraft to vanish from all common bands of the electromag
netic spectrum as they flew off into the night sky.

  *

  The flight from the Garden to Tigerhöhle lasted several hours, necessitating that the Asuras perform an aerial refueling from the Gigant's external tanks. They reached the alpine country of their destination without incident, the pristine mountains illuminated only by faint starlight and the azure glow of Saris. The Gigant set down just outside the detection range of Tigerhöhle's sensors while the Asuras maintained a holding pattern at high altitude, waiting for the chance to provide air support.

  The ground forces disembarked from the Gigant and the Nullities were released from their cages. The cargo hauler remained behind, waiting until the area was secured before it would move in to load the Messenger spores. Using simple verbal commands, the Nullities' handlers ordered them to scout ahead. The soldiers and battle drones followed the monsters into the woods, steering clear of mines as the Nullities sniffed them out and indicated their positions.

  The attackers had drawn near the base of the mountain when an explosion ripped through their ranks, killing one Harvester and crippling two others. The troops scrambled for cover and momentary confusion reigned as they wondered whether they had inadvertently tripped a mine. Another explosion erupted nearby, disabling one of the battle drones and killing another soldier. One of the scouts shouted and pointed at the mountainside, where several hidden turrets had emerged and trained their guns on the Xenolist platoon. Somehow, they had tripped an alarm.

  The ground force pulled back in an effort to escape the turrets' withering barrage while the cloaked exosuits went on a strafing run, unleashing volleys of scarlet plasma pellets across the mountainside. Several turrets were consumed in fiery plumes and fell silent. A pair of anti-air batteries popped up and began filling the sky with flak. The explosive shells detonated close to Aksinya's position, forcing her into evasive maneuvers while Pierson dove in to eliminate one of the cannons.