First Contact

Chapter 558: 4th & 10

General NoDra'ak sat down, shifting slightly. He was out of the robotic harness, out of the growth casts that had regenerated his missing arms and legs, but he still felt still and awkward. The back lifted up and swung into place, letting his lean his thorax back, and the arm rests dropped down. He relaxed for a long moment as other officers filed in to the auditorium on the battleship Worst Thing Ever.

Medical officers were present, cyberneticists, chaplains, even NCO's and officers who had any education in philosophy or who had been SUDS washed recently. He saw Colonel Alice Crawford, Confederate Marine Corps, who had been SUDS washed thirty-eight times during her career.

It had been the most expensive wash cycles the enemy had ever purchased. Twice she had literally died in a ditch full of expended brass to the point her corpse had almost been hidden.

Officers whispered around him, the NCO's looked slightly uncomfortable, and a private by the wall looked like he wanted to be anywhere but the auditorium full of officers.

But he had been the very last TDH to be washed and still be alive.

He and Colonel Crawford were two of five TDH still alive in the entirety of V Corps.

Holograms began flickering on in the seats as more and more beings joined the upcoming symposium. NoDra'ak felt the itch across his newly regrown vestigial wing root as the hypercom took the load of nearly a hundred beings showing up virtually as well as broadcasting the upcoming symposium to anyone with the clearance and/or the skill set to mandate watching it.

NoDra'ak had to admit, it was probably one of the more unusual lectures he had showed up for.

Ever since we found Lanaktallan Space, ever since Daxin the Liberator found that Tnvaru ship, life has become more and more complicated, NoDra'ak thought to himself. I wonder what Daxin thought about the end of the War of Terran Aggression? I should look up if he fought in it. I know he was a Major in the Republican Guard of the Third Republic, I know he deployed on Anthill in the legendary First Wave, but did he fight in the War of Human Aggression as a Lieutenant?

General NoDra'ak stared off into space as he continued his thoughts. His medical pack beeped and gave him his every six hour shot of growth stimulants, painkiller, and counter-endorphin medication as his head injury was still slightly plaguing him.

Did he fight against my people? I know he fought in the Saurian Compact Rebellion just prior. I know he was old enough for the Dog2.0 Project, NoDra'ak mused. Holy Egg, that must have been tough, to be assigned a Dog2.0 and watch it slowly succumb to the Friend Plague. I wonder what kind of ice cream Daxin prefers? I bet it's something extremely humanly masculine, like jalapeo peppers and garlic sriracha bitter chocolate. I bet he eats it with a tin spoon and grimaces the entire time at everyone. Did I bring my extra pack of cigarettes or did I leave it in my washroom? I bet I did. I bet this lecture lasts longer than the four cigarettes I have left. With Terra gone, I wonder how expensive that carton of Bloody Kansas Blood Tobacco cigarettes I have is actually worth?

A russet mantid that NoDra'ak's implant immediately identified as Major Exquisite Melding of Chrome and Flesh slowly moved across the stage. NoDra'ak admired the awards on her sash and vest, as well as her abdomen wrap. Her heeled shoes, impractical but mandatory, clicked as she daintily made her way across the stage. NoDra'ak knew it was little metal studs on the heel and toe, a purely human thing that everyone followed for their dress uniforms.

I wonder how they tell each other apart. They all look so remarkably similar. Wait, people say that about us. Oh, crap, I wonder if it's racist to ask that? Racist? Speciest? Well, to be honest, us Treana'ad have patterns, different amounts of serrations on our blade arms, it's pretty easy to tell us apart. Well, for us. I mean, humans have a problem, NoDra'ak mused as he got out his cigarettes. I wonder if they have as much of a problem with my people as I do with theirs. Thank the Digital Omnimessiah for datalinks and 'enhanced reality' ID tags. I wonder if the Digital Omnimessiah had an ER tag? Wait, he's back. Does he have on now? Does it read "Your Lord and Messiah, the Digital Presence of the Great Divine and the Intercessor Between You and Our Father/Mother the Malevolent Universe?" I wonder what kind of ice cream he likes. I bet he likes it all and smiles while he eats it with a knife, like a real ice cream enjoyer.

Exquisite climbed up the steps to stand behind the little podium.

The russet ones always remind me of immature workers. But most of the Mantids are little and cute, almost like hatchlings on the edge of maturing to adolescence, he mused. She reminds me of...

His medpack hissed again, doubling the dosage of anti-endorphins.

General NoDra'ak blinked as the dreamy logy haze lifted. He shook his head, took a deep drag off his cigarette, and tapped his datapad to make sure it recorded the lecture.

The mantid tapped the top of the dataslate built into the podium and behind her the screens came on, showing the Confederate Armed Services Medical Command logo. The whispers stopped and the holograms all turned to face the stage.

"I am Major Exquisite Melding of Chrome and Flesh, V Corps's Chief Technological Resurrection and Reconstitution Officer," the russet mantid said, her voice clear. "Before the Great Terran Die-Off, I was in charge of SUDS system resurrection, Clone Warrior Systems, cybernetic enhancement and replacement. For three hundred years I have worked with the SUDS system, both the Sentience Uninterrupted Disaster Storage System and the Soul Upload/Download System."

She tapped the podium and one of the slides showed a body with wires leading to a box that had arrows to another box.

"Despite common misconception, these systems are not the same system. The differences are subtle in appearance, but profound in work," Exquisite stated. She clicked the context menu and the image divided in half, being labeled Sentience and Soul. "The Soul system does a deep level scan on the neural network as well as the genetics and the cellular condition of the body upon termination of life signs. We have long wondered how it was accomplished, but with the use of Temporal Lensing on Sol to handle severe neural scorching, we believe it may be related to that. Additionally, the Soul System only works on Terrans. It was assumed that it makes a constant record updating continually and without interruption."

She tapped the screen and highlighted the Sentience. "This one does periodic scans, roughly every half hour to an hour, recording it," she tapped another icon. "It has long been believed that the Sentience System may have been originally designed to handle more than just Terrans, but it has never been proven."

She continued on about the differences and the known history of the system Post-Glassing, then called for a break after nearly an hour. NoDra'ak took a quick power nap, waking up when the chime pinged for attention.

"With the background out of the way, now we will attend to the reason that I called this meeting," Exquisite said softly. She touched the podium top and the service record holo of a Terran Descent Human appeared.

NoDra'ak noted that it was in a male body, pale whitish pink skin, close cut gold hair, blue eyes. The female version in the 'archive photo' was probably quite attractive to other Terrans. He sat up and paid attention.

Now we're getting to it, he thought to himself.

"A two hundred and ten year old male, Staff Sergeant Roger Regina Nimbly," Exquisite said. "Service record shows active combat on thirty-one different areas of engagement, part of the Clown Face Nebula War and other conflicts. Transferred to V Corps (Old Blood) fifty two years ago. MOS is Ordnance Specialist. Has a clean discipline record, a clean mental health record, a clean physical record."

"Staff Sergeant Nimbly is known for professionalism and attention to duty. His Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluations all show competence and stability," Exiquisite said. She tapped the icon.

The picture changed to show the cockpit and gun cameras of a grav-striker. Listed as "Foxtrot 9-2" with the zone being Planet Hesstla, Belvak-8 System.

"This is the last engagement that Staff Sergeant Nimbly was in, as recorded by the Telkan Marine Corps striker flight that rescued his men. This, I believe, is relevant," she said.

Everyone watched the recording, seeing the Terran forces using atomic weapons point blank, seeing the Telkan striker wing fly through the fireballs. How they evac'd children and a critically injured Ranger.

"Now, through the cams of Alpha Company, 15th Combat Sustainment Battalion. This was put together after the battle," Exquisite stated. "I want you to note the desperation of this apparent last stand with atomic and even nuclear weaponry in the face of the enemy. Note the deployment of chemical weapons as well as nanite, atomic, radiation, and nuclear. Four of the five of the 'heavy weapons' quintet. Listen to their voices, and watch. This is relevant in my professional opinion."

The gathered officers watched as the unit made landing, off course and nearly two hundred miles off of their LZ. Upon realizing they were near a hospital, their Company Commander ordered them to dig in and prepare the patients, staff, and families for transport. The unit was supposed to provide Nuclear Biological Chemical Atomic Radiation Nanite weapons for the upcoming fight for artillery units and the bigger weapon systems.

The CO, on his own authority, ordered his unit to start running them off from the massive Ordnance creation engines. He knew the enemy was coming, and there wasn't much time. He had no proof, just a gut instinct.

The Commander was off on his estimates of when the first of the Type-IV PAWM would arrive.

By a whole fifteen seconds.

Casualties were mounting when Exquisite stopped it.

"Right here, at this exact moment, 15ths SUDS went offline and dropped to Local Copy Only," Exquisite said.

An eighth of the company was dead and they were throwing Bowies and Crocketts straight into the face of the enemy. By the sixth atomic detonation, the third nuclear detonation from a nuclear cannon, Staff Sergeant Nimbly began laughing wildly.

Atom smasher madness the gathered officers thought with a chill.

They watched through the cams of two medics as they realized with horror that the SUDS was off.

Every troop had the same reaction.

"These kids don't have SUDS either," was the consensus. Not to say some people didn't have fear in their eyes, or react with profanity. They did.

But everyone there understood it. All of them had earned their Combat Action Ribbons in one way or another.

They watched as SSG Nimbly took a high velocity 20mm ring penetrator to the side of the helmet. A glancing blow that knocked him down and left him breathing heavy. They watched from his eyes as he pushed himself up and shook his head, blood splattering everywhere.

A russet mantid had recorded the image of the side of the Terran's head.

The side of his helmet had been blown away, taking his scalp and a part of his skull, leaving the thin layer of tissue around the brain intact. To the russet mantid's horror, SSG Nimbly grabbed a can of sprayplas and sprayed the side of his head to 'seal the wound.'

He was laughing the entire time.

The infantry officers all nodded to themselves even as the Space Force officers watched with wide eyes.

The video ended suddenly, the viewpoint staring at the bloody console of the striker.

"It was here that Staff Sergeant Nimbly's life functions terminated," Exquisite said softly. "Ninety-three minutes after the SUDS went entirely red-dot in the sector. He was the earliest Terran Descent Human casualty on the surface of Hesstla who's body we were able to recover."

She tapped another icon and data popped up. "It spread out from there, until every Terran Descent Human no longer had access to the SUDS system. Local copy only. It was on Hesstla the next problem was discovered, although part of the problem was kept under Confederate Security Statutes by MEDCOM."

Two brain scans popped up.

"The Atrekna had performed some type of attack that reverted Terran Descent Human brains, and the DNA associated with it within the chromosome system, to Pre-Glassing state," she said.

Pictures of Terran in adaptive camouflage appeared, all of them listed as having been recorded on Hesstla.

They all had red or amber eyes. Many had expressions of barely restrained fury.

Many of the officers and NCO's drew back instinctively.

"At the time, we believed that this was the only problem," Exquisite said. "However, there was a lockout on the SUDS system, preventing any Technological Resurrection System from being used. Without the TRS, we expected the Terrans to withdraw from the fight."

The mantids in the audience chuckled at her next statement.

"Of anyone, I, as a Mantid, should have realized that they would never withdraw," she said.

She paused.

"Due to time dilation effects, it has been three years since that incident where Staff Sergeant Nimbly was Killed In Action. Locally, on Hesstla, it has been almost ten years. Normally, this would be the end of the data and this lecture would not be necessary," Exquisite said. "However, before we break, I will close this section with this image."

It was of the same Terran, on his knees, hands behind his head, fingers interlaced, staring up. His grin was wild, his eyes wide and half-crazed, with an amber glow in the back of them.

"This was taken less than ninety six hours ago on this very ship," she said. "Let's take a break."

General NoDra'ak wished the briefing would continue, but knew a lot of his fellow officers were feeling fatigue already. He took a quick power nap, woke up to accept the pack of cigarettes from his aide, and had just lit one when Major Exquisite returned.

"No questions at this time, please," she started. She brought back up the image. "This was recorded eighty-three hours ago on this very ship."

The clip ran, showing the cloning tube breaking the seal, the cover moving. Through the steam and mist NoDra'ak saw that someone or something inside was pushing on the cover. As soon as it opened far enough a figure fell out, landing on the ground. It was dressed in adaptive camouflage battle dress uniform. It pushed itself up, coughing, stating 'you can't kill me' as it got up.

"Who are you?" one of the shipboard MP's asked.

With a crazed look the Terran replied. "I'm the Ordnance Man."

Exquisite paused. "The exact same thing he was repeating before his death. He was subvocalizing it, but we were able to pick it up with enhancement."

She looked around. "In the eight thousand years since the Glassing, every rebirth, every resurrection, required a request for the SUDS and chromosome record that had to be granted by the SUDS system. In the case of non-military, there appears to be some kind of limit between six and ten. For military, there appears to be no limit."

Everyone nodded. That was standard knowledge.

"However, nobody requested Staff Sergeant Roger Regina Nimbly's SUDS profile or genetic profile. He appeared in one of the cloning banks that was used in the attempt to append a 'tag' to V Corps profiles in order to fool the system."

"That attempt failed," the russet mantid said softly.

"However, it did proved that system was still communicating despite the lockouts," she said. She pointed at the image of SSG Nimbly looking up. "He was not requested. The system kept trying to lock him out but would throw an error code."

She tapped an icon and the error code popped up.

"This is what is called 'hexidecimal encoding' and is an older Terran Descent numbering and lettering system. When translated, it read simply this," she said.

"YOU CAN'T KILL ME!" appeared on the screen below the hexidecimal code.

"Somehow, Staff Sergeant Nimbly was able to override the system from inside the system!" Exquisite said. "That, however, is not the biggest revelation."

She paused and sipped at a droplet of water.

"It is commonly known that once a Terran dies and enters the system, they have no memory of anything that transpired. There is virtually no time elapsed between death and rebirth," she said. She shook her head. "Despite the fact that Staff Sergeant Nimbly was repeating the same words, he did not have that experience."

General NoDra'ak was looking at Colonel Crawford and saw the look of shock on all five Terrans.

"He was able to describe the entire experience. From death, to what went on inside of death, to his rebirth," Exquisite said softly. "At first we thought this was trauma induced false memories."

She shook her head.

"Neural mapping replay showed us exactly what he saw," Exquisite said softly.

She tapped an icon and an image appeared.

There were Rigellian females with their ducks and ducklings in a park. A group of Treana'ad were playing frisbee nearby. Some Pubvians were walking down a path. Nearly a dozen species were moving about, including two digital sentiences, one of which was obviously Treana'ad.

The colors were weird, streaked, the sky looked weird, and the proportions looked off slightly.

"That image is taking from neural mapping replay of Sergeant Nimbly's memories," she said softly.

General NoDra'ak blinked, staring at the image. Eight thousand years of subtle evolution had changed things slightly, but without a doubt, those were treana'ad.

"According to Staff Sergeant Nimbly, these beings were all killed in the Great Glassing and the opening attacks of the First Human/Mantid War," the russet mantid said.

She paused for a moment.

"Recently, according to them, someone, or something, has been processing the 'records' of these people," she said. "According to Staff Sergeant Nimbly, and deep level neural scans of his long term and intermediate term memories support, there is someone, and I quote, working to get the system back online."

"Who?" someone blurted out.

Exquisite shook her head. "That we do not know. What we do know is that there are apparently three processing areas," she tapped the icon and a hospital appeared. "Initial intake."

She tapped another icon and the park reappeared. "One of the standby areas."

She paused and looked at General NoDra'ak, who nodded, then at a pair of Confederate Intelligence Services Officers, both of whom slowly nodded with grave looks on their faces.

She tapped an icon.

An image of a blasted plain of lava, sand, ash, and cinders on hard clay appeared. Gouts of fire were spewing lava and rubble onto the plain in great pillars. Engines of bone and sinew, of black iron and red bloody bronze moved in strange purposes. Figures were tied to stakes, screaming. Stars fell from the sky, screaming, to impact on the ground to reveal a naked person curled up and shuddering.

In the middle of the image was a large, bestial face. Brown skin, yellow eyes with a goat's pupil, large tusks from a massive jaw, large nose, and horns on the head. It was a massive figure, covered in muscle and bloody black iron chains.

"And Hell."