March 7th, 2184 – Tien Kwan
Colonial Overseer Eric Lergen watched in silent horror as the skies of the world he was responsible for turned dark. Dozens, hundreds of Automaton ships had arrived in orbit, blocking out the sun over the major population centers. Their combined firepower had annihilated the planet's anti-orbital defenses, and within hours of losing control of the orbital space, their mechanized legions had made planetfall in numbers greater than anything he could have imagined.
However unpatriotic the thought might be, Lergen knew that Tien Kwan couldn't hope to withstand such a vast onslaught. The planet's SEAF had been drained almost dry to support the war effort in the Xar Sector : nobody had believed that the Automatons could break through the frontline so quickly, and the soldiers had chaffed at being held back when their comrades were valiantly fighting the robots. The Ministry of Truth had assured everyone that the Automatons' advance would be stopped at Draupnir, before the inevitable righteous counterattack which would see the martyr world of Malevelon Creek liberated in turn, followed by the eradication of the communist menace entire.
But that wasn't what had happened, and now Lergen had to deal with the fact that the planet whose management he'd been entrusted with by the voting algorithm and the Ministry of Expansion was at war – and losing, badly.
The remaining SEAF units on the planet had deployed to face the invaders, and been cut to pieces almost immediately. Against the might of an army powerful enough to give the great Helldivers pause, the diminished forces left on Tien Kwan had stood no chance, but they had still gone out to fight and die in the name of Liberty. Lergen only wished they had done so with a better commander than him.
"Are any of the Exosuits ready for deployment ?" he asked.
Tien Kwan had been selected by the Ministry as the ideal location for the new factories of Morgunson Arsenal, which were to build the EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit for the use of the Helldivers Corps in their war to protect Freedom from the fascist Terminids and communist Automatons. That they might be forced to resort to using these mighty warmachines instead of the heroes for whose use they had been reserved was a dark day indeed.
"The first prototypes were finished earlier today and were on their way to the testing grounds when the enemy fleet arrived in orbit", replied one of his assistants. "But that's only a dozen of them, Overseer Lergen. The rest are still on the assembly line."
"Liberty help us," Lergen muttered under his breath. He had known the answer would disappoint him, but part of him had still held onto the hope of a miracle.
That wasn't enough – it wasn't even close to enough. Given the number of Automaton warships in orbit, and the reports he'd received from the carnage at Malevelon Creek and elsewhere, they would need thousands of the Exosuits to have any hope of holding back the metallic menaces.
There was no choice. He had to give the order he'd known in his heart of hearts that he'd have to give from the moment he'd seen the number of Automaton contacts on the scanners. If anything, he had waited too long, and he could only hope that his hesitation wouldn't end up costing the people of Tien Kwan everything.
"Begin the evacuation," he ordered. "Send the colonists off-world by Citizenship Level, starting with those at Level A as well as the scientists who worked on the Exosuits. Bring all the data from the prior tests as well, but leave the Exosuits themselves behind."
One of the officers stood up, mouth open to protest, but Lergen shut him up with the best glare he could muster, and the man stopped in his tracks, suddenly pale. Lergen realized that his hand had moved to the pistol holstered at his hip without him realizing it, and the would-be dissident was looking directly at the weapon.
"Now !" Lergen all but shouted, and the rest of the room finally burst into action. Relieved that he wasn't going to have to shoot someone to get the rest to act, the Colonial Overseer nearly collapsed into his chair.
Liberty forgive me, he thought.
***
"Heart! Steel! We! Kill! Iron! Will! Onto War!"
Heart! Steel! We! Kill! Get! Up! Unto Dawn!
Cyberstan! Can't Keep her down! We count down! The new dawn!
Diver scum! Can't keep us down! Legion go! Onto War!"
Automaton transmission, intercepted by SEAF units stationed on Tien Kwan, March 7th, 2184 (tentative phonetic rendering). The administrative worker who performed the transcription and submitted it to the Ministry of Defense was arrested on suspicious on anti-Democratic subversive tendencies by order of the Ministry of Unity three hours after disembarking from the evacuation crafts on Castor.
***
March 8th, 2184 – Automaton Flagship Ghost of Cyberstan, Tien Kwan orbit
"Already ?" I asked, dumbfounded, as I stared at the map of the latest world to fall to the Automaton Legion.
"It would appear so," replied JOEL, speaking through the many speakers of the bridge. "From our updated strategic analysis, it seems that the Federation High Command focused its assets on the attempt to defend Malevelon Creek rather than fortify in-depth. Because Draupnir was used as a forward base of operation for their fleets, its defenses were considerable, but Tien Kwan was left virtually undefended. Given that our forces were able to break through Draupnir's defenses …"
They trailed off, letting me finish the chain of reasoning in a suprisingly good imitation of what a human would do. JOEL had become a lot better at it since the start of the Reclamation, probably because they had access to a lot more of human-to-human communication they could learn from – although given the average education level of the Federation's population, I was hoping they wouldn't assimilate too many of their mannerisms.
"I see," I said, still stunned. Then I shook my head and changed the display from the planetary map to the galactic one, trying to make sense of it all.
The galactic map we were using was the same as the one used by the Federation. It showed only the systems inside the so-called Galactic Frontier, with Super Earth at the center, despite the obvious fact that the planet was located nowhere near the actual center of the galaxy.
Every Automaton deployed in the war effort used the same map in their internal computations, so that if their databanks were captured, no information about our holdings beyond the region of space Super Earth claimed as its own would fall into enemy hands. Even I had only the slightest inkling of their coordinates (not that a human brain could really contain the complex equations and datapoints required to navigate from one star system to another), and communication with the Automaton strongholds was done only in short bursts, using specialized equipment packed with enough self-destruct measures that it would take a miracle to extract any usable intelligence from them.
Following our victory on Malevelon Creek and the withdrawal of the Helldivers from orbit, we had struck Draupnir, and from there entered the region of space known to the Federation as the Theseus Sector. The first planet on our path, following the complex web of warp links that connected the galaxy's stars to each other in ways the FTL engines of both the Federation and the Automatons used, was Tien Kwan.
Why the Federation had decided to colonize a world like this in the first place, I could only guess. Tien Kwan was a cold, miserable hellhole, covered in ice and the bones of the great animals that had dwelled here in ages past before going extinct – probably due to the ice age that currently held the planet in its freezing grasp, though there was little available data on the subject, given what passed for scientific rigor in this era. Only a few hardy breeds of moss and weird, crystal-like flowers endured in this environment, and the crops feeding the colonists were all grown in some kind of advanced greenhouse which was standard across every Federation world I had seen.
Of course, these conditions hardly affected the Automatons themselves. If anything, the cooler temperatures meant less risk of their laser weapons overheating in combat.
As for the reason why we cared about the place ourselves, our intelligence gathering efforts had revealed the existence of a program to equip the Helldivers Corps with Exosuits – basically small mechs, with the corresponding firepower. We weren't sure just how effective those Exosuits would actually be in the field : from what I remembered, superweapons built during wartime by fascist dictatorships tended to be over-engineered, expensive paperweights who somehow passed every test before either never reaching the battlefield or mysteriously turn out to be much less effective once removed from a testing environment where the jobs of everyone present depended on them performing well.
Still, I had decided to err on the side of caution, and strike pre-emptively to ensure the Exosuits never reached the Helldivers in the first place. But I hadn't expected the invasion to succeed so quickly. Given how important the factories seemed to be to the war effort, I had thought our advance was going be met with fierce resistance, but while Draupnir had been hard-fought, Tien Kwan had collapsed virtually overnight.
The problem was, I had planned to use the initial fighting as cover to make sure the Exosuit factories were comprehensively destroyed. Sure, we now had free rein of the place, but according to our intelligence, these factories were widespread across the planet. It would take days to make sure we had gotten them all, and soon, we would face a counterattack far greater than the local defenses. In a somewhat ridiculous fashion, the speed at which Tien Kwan had fallen might actually end up hurting my strategy in the long-term.
"Intensify our efforts to locate the Exosuit factories," I ordered, trusting JOEL to take the overly general statement and turn it into a detailed plan of action for the forces on the ground. As the Nephilim Commander of the Automaton Legion, I was good at battlefield tactics and providing overall strategic direction, but the minutiae of running the billions of individual Automaton systems was well beyond my abilities. "Take resources away from trying to fortify this planet against reclamation efforts : we don't need to hold this world, just make sure what makes it valuable is gone by the time the Federation takes it back."
"Are you sure, Commander ?" asked Visha, cocking her head to the side quizzically. "Shouldn't we hold onto this planet as long as we can ?"
The immense majority of Automatons wouldn't have questioned my orders, but my personal assistant was a rare case among the Automatons of a fully-fledged singular sentient intelligence. It had taken me a while to understand just what the Automaton Legion was, using the sci-fi films and books of my old world as reference.
While the common combat models deployed against the Federation weren't any more sentient than a roomba, merely following their programming in a way I could most closely compare to the AIs of video games of my past life, the overall command networks which directed them were as sentient and sapient as any human being, albeit in a distinctly alien manner. From what I'd been able to make of the lessons prepared for the subjects of Project Nephilim which I'd received in my childhood, true mechanical consciousness was an emergent property of the Automaton network, something which manifested only past a certain threshold of processing power for the AI algorithms designed by the Cyborgs' top scientists.
On the planets controlled by the Automatons, great processing centers were build, reinforced complexes housing banks of supercomputers which managed all Automatons on the planet. These localized networks were able to develop sentience eventually, although they were still subordinate and part of JOEL, the greater Automaton command network.
By contrast, Visha's processing core was a single unit located aboard the Ghost of Cyberstan. Out of curiosity, I'd checked her specifications a few years ago, and found out that an entire deck of the flagship was reserved to the rows of supercomputers required to run the closest emulation of a human personality the Cyborgs had been able to create.
But emulation was still different from the real thing. No matter how advanced, the AIs still operated on a set of directives, rather than the confused mess of instincts, habits, prejudices and ideals that made up the human mind. That meant they couldn't really understand human psychology, at least not well enough to use it in warfare – which was one of the reasons why the Cyborgs had created Project Nephilim in the first place.
"Remember what our overarching objective is," I told her. With a mental command, the display zoomed out from the Tzar Sector and returned to the galactic map. I gestured to the Galactic West, where several sectors were colored red to mark our control. "Our goal isn't to push all the way to Super Earth from the systems we currently hold, but to bleed the Federation's resources in preparation for the next step of our plan. Territory is valuable only so far as it helps us accomplish this goal : it has no inherent value."
For all the immense resources available to the Automaton Legion after a century of expansion beyond the Galactic Frontier, the Federation still had far more at hand, and treated its soldiers as just as disposable as we did individual Automaton combat models. With proper consolidation and logistics, we might be able to eventually win a war of attrition, especially with Super Earth's focus being split between us and the Terminids in the Galactic East, but even I balked at the number of casualties that would create.
Fortunately, a slow grind toward Super Earth wasn't the plan, no matter what we worked to make sure the Helldivers believed.
"And from that perspective, ensuring the destruction of the Exosuit factories brings more benefits than making Tien Kwan harder to reclaim, since we can fall back to Malevelon Creek, which is being fortified as we speak," Visha nodded in understanding. "Thank you for explaining, Commander."
Briefly, I reflected that I should probably feel bad about teaching an artificial intelligence more effective ways to wage war against Humanity. But I refused to accept that Super Earth represented Mankind in the current age, even if the vast majority of humans currently lived under its regime.
I tried to imagine how the Federation would react to such a humiliating defeat. Based on what I had already seen of Super Earth's propaganda, I could assume that they wouldn't take the loss of Tien Kwan laying down. In all likelihood, the Helldivers would be sent in large numbers, spearheading the Federation's efforts to reclaim the planet.
Which meant that, if I wanted to maintain the image I had painstakingly built in JOEL's all-seeing eye, I would need to go down to the surface and fight the brainwashed thugs of the Federation in person once again. Great. While there was a small part of me who enjoyed hamming it up for my omniscient audience, it was dwarfed by my self-preservation instincts – to say nothing of the fact that I didn't enjoy slaughtering hundreds of men and women whose sole crime had been to be born in a fascist dystopia whose propaganda apparatus would make George Orwell blush.
"Prepare my wargear for deployment," I ordered. "Once the counterattack arrives, I will join the fray planetside."
"I expected as much," replied JOEL, confirming that my deception was still holding. "However, given your importance to the cause of the Reclamation, I insist that you take the special units I have prepared for the task along with you."
I blinked. "Special units ? What special units ?"
Without my prompting, the holographic display changed again, showing a list of Automaton models I didn't recognize, along with their specifications. I raised an eyebrow at the numbers on display : those were far, far more advanced than the mass-produced combat models we'd deployed so far in our war against the Federation, and all of them were equipped with a jump-pack.
"I call them the Jet Brigade," said JOEL, their artificial voice sounding smug. "Designed and programmed to follow you into the most dangerous battle zones, and ensure both your victory and survival."
Huh. That was … well, that was nice of the artificial intelligence, even if it was merely the result of them coldly calculating the impact of my ongoing survival on the war effort. And I wasn't taken aback that they had been able to organize this without my knowledge : for all my cybernetic enhancements, I was only human, after all, and couldn't possibly keep up with the galaxy-spanning logistics involved in fighting a war on that scale.
Then I saw the name of one of them, and suppressed a wince. One thing the Automatons had definitely inherited from the Cyborgs was their appalling naming sense. Really, 'Weaponized Entity of Immense Skill and Strength' ? The acronym didn't even mean anything. Well, no, I supposed it did come out as a name that actual people had used, but how exactly JOEL had arrived to it remained a mystery to me.
The rest of the advanced models had equally inane names, but their specs were top-of-the-line, and I felt a lot more confident about my chances of coming back from the battlefield alive with them to watch my back while I played the part of the ruthless warlord the Automatons expected of me.
Of course, I couldn't let JOEL know the real reason for my enjoyment, but even the cold-blooded, fanatical killer I was portraying would rejoice at being granted additional support in her ruthless crusade to crush Super Earth under her armored boot in the name of Cyberstan.
"Thank you, JOEL", I said. "I'm sure they will perform more than adequately."
***
"Freedom's greetings, I'm your host Coretta Kelly, with breaking news.
The unprovoked invasion of the Automatons continues in the Galactic West. Their mechanized bloodlust still unsatisfied after the barbarous slaughter of Malevelon Creek, the bots have pushed past the borders of the Severin Sector, cutting a bloody path into the Xzar Sector before launching a full-fledged invasion of Tien Kwan.
According to our sources in the Ministry of Intelligence, the fall of Tien Kwan was the result of communist sympathizers within the local population. These traitors not only warned the Automatons that the planet was being used as a center of industry to produce new armaments for the Helldivers which surely would have turned the tide against the metallic tide, they also sabotaged the planet's defence ahead of the Automatons' arrival, heartlessly condemning thousands of their fellow colonists.
The President has released a statement, saying :
'This insult to Managed Democracy shall not go unanswered. The fallen of Tien Kwan and Malevelon Creek will be avenged : soon, the Automatons will learn the superiority of Super Earth's steel over their soulless iron. As for the traitors, they shall be found, and faced with the full extent of Liberty's wrath.'
Reports from the Ministry of Defense confirm that, even as Operation Valiant Enclosure continues to unfold against the Terminids in the Galactic East, a massive armada of Helldivers is gathering to push the Automatons out of the Theseus Sector and liberate Tien Kwan. Meanwhile, across the Federation, able-bodied Citizens of all Citizenship Levels are flocking to the recruitment centers, eager to do their part and join the battle to protect Democracy and Freedom from the Automaton menace.
Coming up next : is your toaster an Automaton spy ? Stay tuned to find out."
Strohmann News broadcast, March 9th, 2184 (approved by the Ministry of Truth).
***
"For failure to perform the duties to which he was democratically elected as Colonial Overseer of Tien Kwan, and upon the lack of evidence showing deliberate sabotage or collaboration with the enemies of Super Earth, Citizen Eric Lergen is demoted from Class B to Class E.
Upon his voluntary conscription into the ranks of Super Earth's Armed Forces, Citizen Eric Lergen's Citizenship Level is increased from Class E to Class C. According do the results of Citizen Eric Lergen's evaluation, he has been granted the rank of Colonel, and assigned to the SEAF task force mustering for the counterattack against the Automatons."
Decree of the Ministry of Unity, March 11th, 2184.
***
March 13th, 2184 – Tien Kwan
When he'd left this planet (as part of the last wave of evacuees, despite his rank : it really was the least he could have done under the circumstances), Lergen hadn't thought he would ever return. Yet here was, disembarking from the SEAF dropship alongside a hundred enthusiastic young men and women, eager to lay waste to Freedom's enemies.
The former Colonial Overseer had fully expected to be summarily executed following his debrief after the evacuation, and his name stricken from the Halls of Remembrance. After all, despite having been elected to the august rank of Tien Kwan's Overseer by the Voting Algorithm, he had failed to fulfil his task, and lost one of the many jewels in the Federation's glimmering crown.
But the Ministry of Unity's investigators had been merciful. After a thorough investigation that, due to his previous rank, had lasted all of two hours, he had been stripped of his position and Citizenship Level, before being given a chance to atone for his failure by joining the very military force which would reclaim the planet he had lost.
What choice did he have but to volunteer then ? Especially since the alternative would have been execution as a dissident.
He'd been given a crash-course in using military-grade firearms (like every Citizen of the Federation, Lergen had learned to use weapons early in his life, and had spent many hours practicing with the Constitution rifle he'd received upon his sixteenth birthday) before being sent to one of the mustering grounds for the SEAF. There, he had received his new uniform, including the rank insignia marking him as a Colonel, and ordered to take command of the fresh recruits which had been earmarked for his command.
It had all happened very quickly, the wheels of Super Earth's bureaucracy turning swiftly in order to crush the enemies of Freedom beneath their rampaging advance. At least his administrative experience was proving useful in managing the deployment of the tens of thousands of SEAF troops under his command.
The fleet of Super Destroyers had punched a hole through the Automaton blockade, allowing for the landing of millions of SEAF soldiers – including Lergen's regiment. At the moment, they were securing the site of a former Exosuit factory, which had been reduced to little more than a blasted ruin by the Automatons before the Helldivers had liberated it.
The administrator in Lergen winced at the cost it would take to repair the factory and return it to working order. Realistically, it seemed to him Super Earth would be better served by rebuilding the EXO-45 program elsewhere –
Lergen shook his head and took a deep breath. He had forgotten himself. Such things were no longer his concern, not since his egregious failure of fulfilling his duty to the Federation. All he needed to think about was winning the war for Tien Kwan.
As he returned to the job of ensuring his unit's position was as well-defended as possible with the resources and tools available, he overheard an exchange between two soldiers nearby :
"Have you heard ?" said one of them, who was carrying a box full of yellow boxes of ammunition. "General Brasch is being deployed here !"
"Seriously ?!" replied the other, holding a red canister full of fuel. "Sweet Liberty ! Then our victory is guaranteed !"
***
"TIME SINCE THE START OF THE TIEN KWAN LIBERATION CAMPAIGN : 17H 24M 28S
PROGRESS : 37.02810%
HELLDIVERS CASUALTIES : 1,583,927
AUTOMATON CASUALTIES : 12,342,521
SEAF CASUALTIES : 43,134,832
KILL TO DEATH RATIO : ACCEPTABLE"
Ministry of Defense's status report, March 13th, 2184.