Chapter Text
Major Vic Blackwell moved about his command center, weaving his way between the familiar control panels to the little nook where his kettle and tea collection sat. With a flick of a switch, he set the kettle to boiling water while he poured loose leaf tea into a heart-shaped infuser.
The tea was grown locally, here on Charybdis. The high humidity and sweltering weather was apparently perfect for growing this particular strain of tea. Technically speaking, growing unapproved species of plants was forbidden on the planet, but the lab techs had a little patch of dirt they’d been using to grow a variety of things they weren’t supposed to. Vic could have cracked down on them for it, but he was just as happy to let it go so long as they gave him a small portion of their crop.
He enjoyed the tea and the lab techs enjoyed a variety of fresh fruits, aromatic herbs, and a few ‘medicinal’ plants. Vic only ever indulged in the tea. He had never partaken of drugs before and had no plans to ever do so.
The kettle clicked and Vic poured the water, dropping in the infuser so his tea could steep. He set a timer and did another loop of his command center. It was a relatively small room with a single massive chair in the middle. He liked to think of it as his throne. It was old and well worn, but it was his, perfectly shaped to his body after thousands of hours of use. A console of controls, displays, and monitors circled around the chair, giving him a constant feed of the local conditions, the sensor arrays in orbit, and the current status of the base itself.
The entire room was surrounded on all sides by windows, giving Vic a sweeping view of the base and the dense jungle beyond. The base, codenamed the Castle, was an eight sided behemoth of black metal alloy. It was the biggest, and admittedly only, research base Vic had ever seen. With entire segments dedicated to specific fields of research, the Castle was an important outpost. Bleeding edge weapons, experimental vehicles, and even augmented soldiers were all developed right here. And Vic was the one in charge of it all.
Mostly. Kind of. Not really.
Technically, Colonel Nightmare—Vic was 90% sure that wasn’t his real name but he’d yet to find evidence to the contrary—was the one in charge of the Castle. He had spent most of his career rubbing elbows with OCNI senior leadership and so they’d given him directorship over the entire base. However, the colonel also disliked doing anything other than giving orders or looming menacingly over people, so Vic ran most of the day to day stuff. Currently, the colonel was on the other side of the planet, checking into some disturbances at the Dungeon, another OCNI site settled deep into the crust of Charybdis.
Here in the high tower, it was Vic’s duty to observe the goings on of the entire facility. His personal quarters were just below the command center and any supplies he needed could be sent up via the automated delivery systems built into the entire facility. In a way, he was trapped here. Not that he minded of course, someone needed to stay in the tower. His job was important. He was the one responsible for keeping an eye on the Castle’s critical systems and making sure the automated defenses were ready in case of an attack.
Between his work, and the thousands of hours of media stored in his personal drives, it wasn’t like Vic was bored. He had plenty to keep himself occupied.
Was he lonely? Only if he stopped to think about it for too long.
Between his work and his media, Vic didn’t have to think about the outside world much at all. He could just stay in his high tower, read his stories, watch his shows, and enjoy his tea in peace. Speaking of, an alarm started to go off.
He turned back to his tea only to find that the time still showed a minute remaining.
So what was beeping?
Feeling a sudden wave of panic, Vic threw himself into his chair and spun around, pulling up the main displays on the command console. The orbital sensors were spitting out warning after warning and the proximity alert started blaring.
A behemoth of a ship had just entered orbit. Nearly a hundred clicks long, the ship would be visible from the ground. As soon as he quieted the alarms, the ship sent out a general broadcast.
“Hello cuties~ This is the Echinacea . We’re here to-”
Vic shunted the broadcast into a back channel to be recorded and analyzed for any cognitohazards. It wasn’t like he needed to hear the actual message. He’d heard it before in recordings and training videos from command. The affini were here and they were going to enslave the entire planet.
Vic grabbed a mic and hit the intercom button. “This is Major Blackwell. The affini have arrived, all hands to battle stations! I repeat, the affini have arrived, all hands to battle stations!”
Another button set a klaxon sounding throughout the entire base and warning lights flashing. Then, just to be safe, Vic added, “This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.”
Below, he could see various people scrambling about. Some ran into bunkers and designated areas. Soldiers scrambled towards the armory, grabbing weapons and reporting to their commanding officers. Smaller vehicles were cleared from the landing pads and warbirds were hauled out of hangers, lined up next to the launch assist magrails.
Moving quickly, Vic activated the Castle’s automated defense systems and sent out a general broadcast to every OCNI facility on the planet: The affini are here, prepare yourselves.
Automated defense cannons powered up, aiming their muzzles high into the sky. A pair of reinforced struts extended out from the center of the Castle, one on either side of Vic’s high tower, and long tubes rose up through them. Experimental rail guns designed to shoot targets in low orbit.
Checking the display again, Vic saw a dozen shuttles leaving the behemoth warship. As the shuttles began their descent, a computer algorithm calculated their likely destinations. Several were heading for the Dungeon while others split off, heading towards a handful of targets across the planet. Only one was heading towards the Castle. That was good. They could fend off a single affini warbird. Right?
Vic highlighted the single shuttle for the automated defense system then checked his console again. Flashing lights warned him that several people were trying to call him all at once. Vic ignored them and grabbed the mic again.
“Enemy is inbound, prepare to engage.”
A moment later, anti-air defense missiles launched from various SAM sites surrounding the Castle. They streaked through the sky, up and away so quickly Vic could only watch them on the monitors. He chewed his nails, waiting for the outbound ordinance to intercept the shuttle.
More lights flashed on his console as more people tried to call him. He dimmed them all with another flick of a switch. They would have to wait. He had more important things to do than argue with a bunch of scientists and spec ops soldiers panicking about something they had no control over.
The anti-air missiles hit the affini ship. The sensors went white as several kilotons of explosives detonated. He felt the tower shake as the shockwave rolled back over the Castle. When the explosion cleared and the sensors could see again, Vic swore. The shuttle hadn’t even altered course, let alone slow down.
Running out of options, and out of time, Vic activated the rail guns. They moved automatically, lining up shots on the inbound shuttle. A low thrum reverberated through the Castle’s foundations as the railguns tapped into pre-charged capacitors.
“Vic!” A voice crackled through his speakers. Shit, one of the science directors had managed to patch a line straight into Vic’s command center. “Vic, what the fuck is happening?”
Finding the active line, Vic switched his intercom over. “I’m a little busy, Barb,” Vic said, keeping an eye on the railgun targeting system. With the affini shuttle taking such a direct course, it had no problem lining up two good shots.
Director Barnett, AKA Burning Barb, was the soldier turned scientist in charge of the special weapons division of the Castle. She’d been brought on board due to her history with flammable ordinance, with the specific goal of making anti-affini weaponry.
“No shit!” Barb yelled, her voice crackling as the mic peaked. “Do not fire those railguns! They’re not calibrated correctly.”
“I don’t have a choice!” Vic yelled back. He hated being yelled at. Just another reason to stay in his tower.
“If you fire those, you’ll cook everyone outside.”
“They shouldn’t be outside!”
There was a loud ‘clunk’ as the railguns were loaded. A warning flashed on his console. The railguns were ready to fire. Vic looked for a button to confirm before realizing that the whole process was automated. There was nothing he could do if he wanted to. Over the line, he heard Barb start to swear.
“At least close your shutters, you fucking moron!”
“What?”
Before she could say anything, the railguns fired. The Castle shook and twin pillars of fire erupted through the sky. Burning light flared through the windows surrounding Vic and he ducked down behind his console, the light itself heating his skin. Two bright lines were burned into his retinas as the console made a happy pinging sound. Two direct hits.
After rubbing his eyes furiously, Vic squinted at the display. Lights danced in his vision, making it difficult to see. Slowly but surely, his vision returned, showing that the affini shuttle was still on course, not a single scratch on the stars damned thing.
Shit. What was he going to do? They had thrown everything they had at the fucking shuttle and it hadn’t so much as tried to dodge. Vic frantically looked around the command center.
Barb’s voice crackled over the comms again. “You still alive up there?”
Vic didn’t respond right away. He bent forward and grabbed a large dusty folder out from underneath his chair. It was old and it was worn, but it was exactly what he needed. He cracked it open and started flipping through the pages.
“Vic?” Barb asked again, her voice softer this time.
Slapping the comms button, Vic said, “Yeah, I’m here. Rattled but still alive.”
“You have the luck of the gods, kid.”
“What?” Vic looked up and did a double take. The windows around his command center were blackened and warped. Shit, she was right, he should have closed the shutters. Oh well, no time to worry about that. Flipping through the binder, Vic finally found what he was looking for. Switching back to the general comms, Vic started reading from the script.
“This is Major Vic Blackwell. Per standing orders from senior leadership, I am engaging Darkest Night protocol. All crew is to assemble at their designated shelter and prepare for combat. I repeat, I am engaging Darkest Night protocol, report to your commanding officers at your designated shelter and prepare for combat. Spiritus Invictus.”
He hadn’t meant to say the last part, but it was in the script.
Tossing the binder onto the console, Vic began punching in a sequence of codes to activate the failsafe protocols. They had initially been designed to secure the facility in case of revolution or rebellion by other terrans. They had never planned for it to be affini proof.
More alarms went off as the shuttle neared the compound. Anti-air cannons swiveled around to greet it with the heavy thump-thump-thump of hull piercing rounds. Vic didn’t hold out hope that the cannons would actually do anything. They were just a last ditch effort to slow down any invaders that got this close.
Entering the last code, Vic hit the enter key and waited. Lines of code flashed across all of his displays before going completely dark. The displays came back online a moment later, now displaying the words, Darkest Night - Spiritus Invictus .
The Castle began to shake around him. The sound of screeching metal filled the air as heavy plates of armor extended out of the ground and began to form a protective dome over the Castle. There was a heavy clunk and the entire Castle began to sink. Slowly, inch by inch, the Castle descended down into the ground.
Checking the radar, Vic saw the affini shuttle was still approaching. Peering out the mangled windows, he could see the armored plates climbing slowly up over the Castle. It was a race.
Rocking back and forth in his seat, Vic waited, watching the plates inch further and further upwards. The Castle had sunk enough that, even from his high tower, he could no longer see out of the valley. Darkness began to engulf the Castle as the plates began locking into place.
Tasting blood, Vic realized that he’d been chewing on his nails again. He switched to the other hand and kept chewing.
The radar beeped, warning him that the affini vessel had almost arrived. It would be here any second. The last row of plates were rising into place just as the Castle descended below the surface. They were officially underground now. Once the armored plates were in place, the Castle would continue to descend for several thousand feet, reinforced blast doors closing behind them as they went. Theoretically, the Castle could survive a planetary glassing while under Darkest Night protocol. He hoped it would be enough.
Overhead, the last slivers of light were fading, the planet’s orange-red star casting a few final tendrils onto the ramparts of the Castle. Before the final armored plates could lock into place, metal shutters descended around the command center. The slats all snapped into place, sealing Vic inside his command center and blocking it off from the outside world.
Well, better late than never.
Pulling up camera feeds, Vic caught a final glimpse of the sky. There was a flash of light and the last armored plate slid into place, sealing the Castle in darkness. He held his breath, waiting. Around him, the Castle kept vibrating as it sank lower and lower into the planet’s crust.
With a shaky hand, Vic pulled up the camera feed for the landing field. All lights in the Castle had been extinguished, plunging the entire base into darkness. The sole source of light came from a massive green ship taking up half of the landing field. Fractal patterns glowed gentle blue on its hull as landing struts extended outward. It touched down without a sound.
Vic had failed. He’d activated the protocol too late. The anti-air defenses had been useless and the experimental railguns had done little more than melt his windows and possibly give him a sunburn. Vic, and everyone inside the Castle, were now trapped underground with no means of escape. And the affini were trapped down here with them.
**********
[WardingWillow]: Status report?
[Carda-Mom]: The flight was a little rough, but we’ve reached the cutie’s base.
[FluffnPuff]: They gave us quite the warm welcome ;;}
[WardingWillow]: We saw. Were any of them hurt in the process?
[Carda-Mom]: We’re not sure. We barely made it into the facility before it was locked down.
[Carda-Mom]: We’ll need some time to properly evaluate the situation.
[WardingWillow]: Do you think you can open a hole up to the surface?
[Bullerosa]: I recommend against it at this time.
[Bullerosa]: Readings show the facility has become pressurized.
[Bullerosa]: We could easily fly the shuttle out through the dome but some of the sophonts inside might be injured by the sudden depressurization.
[Carda-Mom]: I’m accessing their systems now.
[Carda-Mom]: I’m going to try and get a map of the facility and reach out to some of the sophonts here.
[Carda-Mom]: I’ll report back when we have a better understanding of the situation.
[WardingWillow]: Let us know if you need any help. This is a sparsely populated planet.
[WardingWillow]: The Echinacea should have more than enough resources for full domestication operations.
[Carda-Mom]: Yes, Captain.