The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets – Part II
Passive Observation
The Citadel region – Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system – Planet VI – Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery system
6 June YC 127
“These two datacores,” Immuri said, “will be of great help but I also need up-to-date information on the corrupted drones. We managed to contain them in the deadspace pocket. One of my colleagues is monitoring the situation there but I haven’t heard from her. I talked to my superiors and was told that outbound communications were tightly controlled by our security forces in that pocket. I need you to be my eyes in the field. Fly over there and report your observations to me.”
“Um… Won’t your security forces try to ‘control’ me when they see an outsider pop up on their overviews?”
“Well, you are not in the line of command, so they have no authority over you.”
“Sometimes, a target lock is all authority you need,” I replied grimly.
“It won’t come to that. The last thing the Navy wants is antagonise capsuleers. In turn, you shouldn’t interfere with their containment efforts – neither assisting, no obstructing – just observing. Am I clear?”
“Aye-aye, sir!” I saluted to the agent and went to the docks.
The Citadel region – Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system – Mission location
When we arrived to the deadspace pocket, I nearly choked on the pod goo.
“Holy Void!” I croaked looking at a monstrous construction floating in the distance.
“They’ve been busy,” Aura noted in a flat voice.
Drone Hive
For a few minutes I just stared at the humongous hive surrounded by a swarm of bustling drones. Then my mind latched on Aura’s comment.
“Wait, whom do you mean – ‘they’?” I asked.
Aura shrugged, “Drones, of course.”
I gave her a sceptical look, “Mining drones?”
“Well,” Aura shifted uncertainly, “they are corrupted mining drones.”
“When people talked about ‘corruption’, I assumed it was some kind of a virus. But it can’t be just software. Look, even from here we can see the flashes of welding arcs. There is no way you can simply reprogram a mining laser to act as a welding machine.”
Aura thought for a few seconds and nodded, “I think you are right – there must be a physical modification…”
“…which implies physical presence of a corrupting agent and physical control of the drone being corrupted,” I interjected, “but I don’t see how this can be done. Have you ever tried to drag a hostile drone into a cargo hold?”
“Ah, but that’s where the virus comes in!” Aura exclaimed triumphantly. “First, you subdue the drone by injecting the virus and making it docile, then you grab the poor bugger and do whatever you want with it.”
“Hmm… Possible,” I admitted, “but it doesn’t explain this,” I pointed my finger at the image of the drone hive. “There are hundreds, if not thousands, of drones. I don’t believe all of them came from Hyasyoda’s experimental lot. It’s not economical to produce them in such quantities just for testing.”
“They must be self-replicating.”
“Replication requires machines and materials. High-tech materials, for that matter. Where do they come from? While it is possible to organise production from scratch using ‘civilisation-restart’ blueprints, it takes time. Besides, however impressive this structure looks, it doesn’t seem to have ore processing plants, or even ore delivery terminals.”
Aura smiles enigmatically at me and said, “One can produce materials from scratch or… obtain them from scrap.”
The time slowed down. I felt how several pieces of the puzzle started moving in my mind with increasing speed toward each other, and clicked, or rather banged, together forming a complete picture.
“The Damsel,” I exhaled.
Of course, the easiest way to get high-tech components was to salvage them from a wreck. Admittedly, The Damsel incident happened light years away, but it doesn’t mean that it was the only one of the sort. Besides, it was easier to scavenge various abandoned outposts and old ship wrecks to start the production. And when you run out of existing scraps, you can make new ones by attacking the ships. I turned that idea in mind and marvelled at its logic and coherence. It was beautiful but also scary, if one remembered that the ships in question were dreadnoughts.
Finally, I said, “Let’s hold this thought. It gives us a good lead but it does not confirm the identity of the attacker. We need Immuri to finish his analysis of the datacores and corrupted drones, talking of which, we have to complete his mission. Let’s take a closer look at these structures.”
“Be careful,” Aura warned me. “Most of them look like workers but there is a bunch of good old Infester Alvis which are armed with more than welding machines and mining lasers.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I can easily deal with them,” I replied confidently.
“Except that Immuri explicitly told you not to,” said Aura pointedly.
“Oh, ■■■■! I forgot about that request. Thanks for the reminder.”
Drone Bunker
I willed Kaukokärki into the gentle acceleration which would bring us closer to the hive and other curious constructions surrounding it. The drones of combat and other persuasions didn’t express any interest in our sneaking around. That could not be said about organic life forms which I completely forgot about.
“This is CNV Tsunjaku calling destroyer Kaukokärki,” a precise military voice announced in the local channel. “Captain, you have entered a security exclusion zone established by Hyasyoda Defence Command. You must leave the area immediately.”
“Or what?” I grumbled to myself and for the first time looked at the blue icons on my overview.
Caldari Navy Vessel Tsunjaku
There were six Caldari Navy Battleships located at cardinal points of a sphere centred on the hive. I looked at the hive populated by a massive swarm of drones, then I looked back at the battleships. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Holy Void,” I muttered. “Aura we must urgently get back to Immuri.”
“What? What did you see?” Aura asked, alarmed.
“It’s what I didn’t see that concerns me,” I replied aligning the ship to the station.
“Um… OK,” Aura said hesitantly, and added, “Warp drive active, Captain.”
The Citadel region – Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system – Planet VI – Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery system
Immuri Asaka
Having returned to the agent’s office, I told him what I saw in the deadspace pocket. To my surprise, Immuri visibly relaxed.
“Good to know that the situation is under control. Without any comms from my colleague, I started imagining the worst-case scenario.”
“Under control?” I repeated incredulously. “Your fleet has zero control there, don’t you see? The only reason those battleships are still alive is the fact that the drones have a stockpile of materials for their hive. It won’t last long since, as you said, you limited their movements to the deadspace pocket. What do you think they’ll do to your battleships when they run out of stuff?”
The agent snorted, “What can a drone do to a battleship?”
“Immuri, you weren’t listening. I told you that there were hundreds of drones. Have you ever heard of such a thing as a frigate blob?”
All colour drained from Immuri’s face. He stared at me for a few seconds, digesting the idea, then jumped out of his chair and cried out, “I need to see my supervisor!”