Using Lux's extraordinary set of skills and capabilities, we quickly built ourselves a holographic model of the Collector's control spire. Unlike the planets it was creating out in its artificial stellar nursery, the spire itself was almost completely unprotected by diffusion and dampening fields so Lux was able to make relatively thorough scans of the planet-sized structure.
Which, in itself, troubled me. Why hide the terraforming efforts on its fledgling worlds but not the very throne of power it used to make those worlds and everything in this Collectorverse? Was the Collector so confident in its ability to stop whatever plan we were formulating that it left its most precious possession virtually unguarded? Or were there safeguards in place that even Lux's advanced Demdagon technology couldn't detect?
Having met the Collector via its avatar up nice and close, I was leaning towards the first possibility. That bastard was cocky as hell. We were the ants and, as far as that motherfucker was concerned, it was the boot.
That being said, I couldn't dismiss the second possibility out of hand. We thought we had the Collector and its first avatar dead to rights in the wreck of the downed terraformer. So much so we began building our pulse tower thinking we had bought ourselves some space destroying that avatar. Only to have it come out of nowhere and crush not only the pulse tower and the Pathfinders that were defending it, but our entire foothold as well. We had underestimated its power and had paid a dear price for that oversight. I had the memories of being torn limb from limb as proof.
Turning away from the model of the spire, I called up what we knew about the Collector's tech out of my internal database and started scanning it. Maybe we needed a scouting mission first, a recon to give us some idea of what we'd be facing when we assaulted the spire.
- You have broken away from the planning session, Master Two, - Lux's voice suddenly spoke into my head. - Is there something I can help you with? -
I grimaced before sighing. Of course there was something the powerful AI could help me with. I should've frickin' asked it to do so right off the hop.
- As a matter of fact there is, Lux, - I replied, staying with the mental voice. With the entities, Hannibal, and Naveaia feverishly trying to hammer together an attack plan for their excursion onto the spire, I didn't want to disturb them with my musings about the possibility of the spire being one huge Collector-fueled trap.
- I suspect the spire isn't as unprotected as it appears. So I'm thinking a recon mission may be in order to avoid our extraction team getting wiped out when they attempt to pull the remaining entities out of the spire's containment. -
There was a slight pause as the AI seemed to be considering my words. Then:
- A wise precaution, Master Two, - it conceded, its mental voice thoughtful. - The Demdagon found the T'sang had a fondness for traps during the war. They lost millions of assets to them. But how do we run a reconnoitre without triggering those traps? My scans are revealing nothing. -
I found myself nodding in agreement. It was a conundrum to which I was afraid we didn't have an easy answer to. If only we had access to the campaign fleet's scanning arrays, they may be seeing something that we weren't.
Hold on. Maybe we could access those.
- Lux, can you access the fleet our people have engaging the Collector's gatherers on the edge of the universe's space? -
Again there was a slight pause, which I suspected was to allow Lux to actually test to see if its advanced capabilities could reach that far.
- Affirmative, - it said after those few seconds. - I can access both their current sensor array and their database. Are we looking to see if they have detected something that I have not? -
- Good guess, my light-bound friend, - I said, frowning as I looked at a list of tech Max and the original incursion into Collectorspace had detected on their way in. - I suspect the Collector is using the old adage of hiding in plain sight with whatever countermeasures it has in place to stop anybody attempting an attack on the spire. -
- Using more mundane methods of hiding those traps so that we would overlook them in our assumption that it would use tech to hide them, - Lux said, its voice both thoughtful and understanding. - Well done, master. You have seen what the powers of the Demdagon have not. -
I smiled wryly at the compliment before wiping it from my face.
- While I appreciate you saying so, Lux, let's not get to the congratulations quite yet. At least, not until we actually look at the sensor data to see if I'm right. -
- Of course, master. Accessing the fleet's sensor logs and databases now, - the AI indicated before going silent. It wasn't silent long.
- Your suspicions were right, master, - it reported, a tint of alarm in its mental voice. - The fleet's sensors have detected several layers of passive protective countermeasures in place. They effectively blanket the spire in its entirety. If I'm reading these correctly, the countermeasures are somnolent until they are physically triggered. A moment while I reason out ... -
Again the Demdagon AI fell silent as it worked its way through the database and the sensor logs in an effort to see just how the passive countermeasure net worked. When it spoke again nearly a minute later, its mental voice was significantly more alarmed.
- Now that we can see the countermeasure network and deduce its function, I have come to the conclusion that it's much more dangerous that I first surmised, - it said with dismay. - Some of the countermeasures are obviously aimed at the mortal species from your universe, designed to either incinerate, melt, or dissect with extreme prejudice even the more powerful of the reanimated members of the Risen. -
Incinerate, melt, or dissect? What the actual fuck?? Then I was pulled back out of my astonishment by Lux going on.
- Interestingly enough, there are also countermeasures against mechas, such as the one you call Naveaia, hard shells such as yourself and the one called Hannibal, and something aimed more at what appears to be what you would call an insect, albeit significantly larger than the examples I see in your personal database. -
Insect? Could the Collector be protecting itself from the K'ethik?? It was the only insect-like species I knew that had a legitimate chance against the mad god with their swarm clouds, bio-mechanical bodies and surge tactics. But how would the Collector even know about the K'ethik??
I resisted the sudden impulse to smack my forehead as I suddenly realized how.
With the rapid expansion the K'ethik elders were making into the galaxy, and the size of the swarm clouds they were using, it was just a matter of time before one of the Collector's gatherers ran across them. A gatherer must've either consumed a planet infested by k'ethik insect forms, or one of their clouds. One internalized wormhole-fed transfer later and the K'ethik were here, live and in person.
Oddly enough I had to fight the impulse to snort as I considered just how surprised the mad god would've been at suddenly finding its space being invaded by millions of larval form k'ethik getting ready to eat anything in sight. One monstrous omni-phage against another. That would've been one helluva tilt. Serves you right, Collector, for gobbling up everything in sight. Must've sucked to suddenly be facing a species that could, and happily would gobble it up!
'Karma's a bitch, ain't it,' I thought darkly.
Then something abruptly occurred to me.
- What about light-based constructs such as yourself, Lux? - I asked, turning to look at the AI where it stood between Hannibal and Korisahnt as they worked on the extraction plan. - Is there anything in the passive net that something light-based would set off? -
- An excellent question, master. Allow me to quickly shift my parameters. -
Yet another pause, this one a bit longer than the other previous ones were combined, went past before:
- Negative, master. There is nothing in the passive network designed or implemented to ensnare a construct made primarily of light, - was Lux's hopeful-sounding report.
- Then we have our recon method, Lux, - I replied. - Can you create a smaller version of yourself with a full set of scanning capabilities? -
- I can, Master Two. -
- Then prepare to do so. We're going to take a look around at the spire before we jump our extraction team in, - I said, walking towards Hannibal, Korisahnt and the AI. - Accurate intel reduces casualties! -
Hannibal looked up at my return, a look of curiosity on his face.
"By the look on your face, Two, you've discovered something," he said, his words enough to bring Korisahnt's head up as well.
"I have, sir. Lux, paint the model with the data on the passive countermeasure network the fleet detected around the spire."
"At once, master," the AI replied even as Korisahnt frowned in confusion.
"Passive countermeasure network?" she repeated and I nodded even as gridworks of multi-colored lines began appeared all over the spire's surface.
"I suspected that the Collector was far too smart to leave the spire as undefended as Lux's initial scans led us to believe, Lady Entity," I began before turning towards the model. "At the same time I also suspected that it didn't want us to necessarily see what countermeasures it put into place so we would blindly rush in and get caught unawares."
"A trap!" Hannibal declared, no little dismay now in his voice as he leaned forward, eyes narrowed to study the gridwork that was appearing over the spire's surface.
I nodded.
"Precisely, sir. It seemed so convenient that there wasn't the same amount of protection Lux was finding on the reborn worlds that it just set off alarms in my head. Which, I think, was precisely what the Collector was relying on. It wanted us to charge in, thinking we wouldn't be detected, so it could capture us at its leisure." I pointed at the grids. "There are passive systems set up for flesh and bone creatures, mechas, neo-shells, you name it. It was checking off all the boxes. Hell, we even found a system set up to catch k'ethik."
Hannibal shook his head in astonishment before looking up at me.
"I shouldn't be surprised that our bio-metal friends have somehow gotten the Collector's attention," he grimly noted. "I can only imagine how they managed to find this place." He looked over at an equally grim Korisahnt, who had obviously come to realize just what we were talking about. "We should prepare for the possibility of encountering them here, my lady."
"Agreed, General," Korisahnt replied before looking at me. "Have you a plan for dealing with these passive networks, Two?"
I nodded.
"As I indicated earlier, pulling data from the fleet was how we were able to get a rough idea of how extensive the networks are. Now we need to scout that network to see if there's a pathway through them. A pathway that may only be open to certain elements of our remaining assets."
Again Hannibal nodded, the veteran soldier quickly picking up what I was suggesting.
"Like sending neo-shells or thar'kura through a network designed to stop flesh and blood," he said, his terse explanation sending a look of comprehension across the Collectorverse entity's face, which replaced what had been a new look of growing confusion with what I had been saying. "Well done, Two. You may have saved the extraction team from a nasty end," the venerable ghost went on to say. "Can I assume that you've also come up with a recon plan?"
"Yes, sir." I gestured towards Lux. "There aren't any networks set up to detect light-based constructs." I let my hand drop. "So Lux will create a small version of itself and we'll send it through the extra space gate in a transit pod made out of HSE as a probe. The probe will then do a recon of the spire enough to give us a safe corridor to an optimal extraction point, passing the information back to Lux as it does so. Once we have the data we need, we'll disperse the probe and move in with the extraction team."
"Hesitating again, clone?" Naveaia asked as she stepped up behind me. She made a dismissive gesture when I began to explain.
"Fear not. I overheard enough of what you had discovered to agree with Hannibal and the world entity that this 'recon' is necessary." She stepped around me to join the Carthaginian and the world entity, turning to face me. "Despite my own boldness, I am in no hurry to sacrifice myself needlessly. If this recon will prevent that, I support it."
I swallowed the rather tart words I almost said and nodded. Then I looked back over at Lux.
"Prepare the probe," I directed. "I will construct the HSE transit pod. When both are ready, I will open the extra space portal and send the probe through."
Now that I knew how to create HSE, I was able to assemble the basketball-sized transit pod, a relatively simple orb with shielding, magnetic impulse thrusters, and a stripped-down navigational array, in short order. With that ready, Lux budded off a small portion of itself, a baseball-sized ball of light, which we then slipped into the pod's heart.
Once Lux confirmed a datalink with its budded off probe was established, I stepped to the stealth gate. Time to warm this baby up!
A wave over the thickest part of the curve made a holographic interface appear. A subsequent dance of my fingers over that interface pulled up the available extra space pathways that I had downloaded from Lux's scan. Activating the portal's power, a well-shielded zero-point generator, I then opened the portal.
A tracery of golden light washed over the glossy black, almost ebony material of the gate before the two ends of the crescent moon-like structure began to glow with that same golden light. Then, like molten stone leaking from an overflowing volcanic vent, light ran down from the top point along the crescent's edge towards the middle. At the same time in apparent denial of gravity, light ran up from the bottom point towards the middle.
As the two lines of light met there a feedback flash going back in both directions to the points. Then a half-circle of light matching the ebony crescent swung out into space. As soon as it was directly opposite the crescent, the space within the now fully formed circle shifted uneasily before falling inward to create what appeared to be a window looking into a realm of twisting lines and light.
"Portal to extra space now open," Lux reported. "Stealth field is stabilized. We are still undetected."
I looked over at Hannibal, who quickly nodded. Nodding myself in acknowledgment, I then looked back into the twisting space beyond the portal's threshold.
"Launch the probe!"