The Radiolaria decelerated harder than normal and came to a stop just outside visual range of 433 Eros. Although the Gravity Frame pilots weren’t too bothered by the extra G-forces this crash-stop entailed, I noticed the other crewmembers stumbling around a bit afterwards, shell-shocked.

C’mon guys, suck it up! This is a battleship, not a cruise ship! I echoed the words Laria had once directed at me, half in jest.

With LIDAR arrays tuned on our destination we were able to get a general idea of what was happening around the asteroid, although the jamming and gravity distortions made detailed readings impossible. The captain convened an emergency videoconference briefing with the six active-duty pilots, Laria, myself and Viktorya.

On the sensor readings Laria now shared with us all, 433 Eros was represented by a large elongated blob, and the (probable) Sarcophage cruisers by smaller blobs in a delta formation around the asteroid. Little ripples emanating from the smaller blobs had the telltale frequency of Sarcophage gravity manipulation. What was puzzling however was the large vibrating semi-transparent orb surrounding 433 Eros. It was a signature I had never seen before, nor was it documented in any of the combat manuals.

“Ms. Valentina.” Captain Savitskaya said matter-of-factly. “Can you please tell us what we’re looking at here?” She pointed at the unusual signature surrounding 433 Eros.

“It would seem to be the asteroid’s energy shield.” Viktorya responded.

We all started at her in amazement for a moment, except for Miette who let out a pained sigh. Sabina was the first to speak up.

“The outpost’s WHAT?!”

“Energy shield.” Viktorya didn’t miss a beat. “It’s a defensive field which consists of exotic antiparticles excited to a plasma state and sandwiched between two magnetic fields. The antimatter plasma disintegrates incoming physical projectiles, and the magnetic field dissipates energy weapons.

Laria spoke up next. “I’ve never heard of that sort of technology before.”

Miette raised her hand. “It’s another one of Zehra’s crazy inventions. She’s always building ridiculous stuff like this.”

“Do you mean to tell me” the Captain interjected “that we have practical ENERGY SHIELDING technology because of this lady? Why hasn’t it been deployed to the fleet?!”

“It’s too expensive.” Viktorya responded. “For the resource cost of one energy shield, you could build twenty fully outfitted warships. Plus it takes a nuclear generator ten times larger than a ship’s to power it anyway. From a cost-benefit analysis perspective, it makes no sense.”

“Cost-benefit analysis…” the captain mumbled, grinding her teeth.

I’m with the captain on this one. I thought. The “cost” in this case is human lives.

“That’s the problem with a lot of Zehra’s inventions.” Miette offered, trying to play the peacemaker. “They’re crazy expensive and not very practical. She’s more of a big idea person, and polishing plus practical implementation is left to the rest of the research staff.”

Laria cleared her throat loudly. “Let’s get back on track, shall we? I’d like to know what the deployment of this shield means for the outpost’s tactical situation.”

“In a word, dire.” Viktorya said. “They would only turn on the shield as a measure of last resort, after their entire complement of Gravity Frames had been annihilated. The shield will keep them safe from Sarcophage projectiles for a while, but the emitters will burn out after the shield takes too much strain. I don’t know how long it’s been activated, but the sooner we move in the better.”

“Where are the outpost’s defensive ships?” the captain asked.

“Ah…” Viktorya’s voice trailed off. She cast her gaze downwards and continued softly, “That would be the Satyajit Ray and the Kaushik Ganguly.”

“WHAT?!” all of us exclaimed in unison. She just continued to stare at the floor silently.

“Do you mean to tell us you took Eros’ ENTIRE complement defensive vessels simply to fill our spot in the Line and bring us back here?!” the Captain said, her voice seething with anger.

Viktorya looked like a wide-eyed puppy being chastised for urinating on the carpet. “W-We didn’t anticipate there would be any danger to the outpost! It has its own large complement of Gravity Frames!”

“Gravity Frames without carriers to provide long-range artillery support are worse than useless in anti-ship combat.” Radiolaria said, her voice frigid. “You might as well send in light infantry against tanks. Are all NKVD agents as stupid as you?”

Damn! Laria’s anger is scary when it’s directed at me, but seeing it unleashed against someone who deserves it is kinda satisfying, in a messed-up schadenfreude sense.

“I j-judged the risk to be m-minor!” Viktorya said, her voice quivering.

“Bad doggy.” Miette said. “I’ll have Zehra punish you later.”

“N-No, please… a-a-anything but that…” Viktorya’s pleaded. Her eyes darted around in a panic.

Miette turned to me and smiled. “I told you she was all bark and no bite.”

I can’t believe I was actually scared of this woman! She’s just an overgrown puppy! I thought with no small amount of satisfaction.

“Whatever.” the captain grumbled. “Let’s continue with the tactical analysis. Presently, the Radiolaria only has six combat-ready Gravity Frames, less than half a full squadron. According to the standard anti-cruiser battle plan, against three cruisers we’re outnumbered seven to one. I know the Telesthesia is a command ship and not a dedicated carrier, but you must have embarked Frames, right?”

“W-We have six as well.” Viktorya offered.

“Well, that makes almost a full squadron at least.” the captain said.

“Hmm. I don’t believe the Telethesia’s units are going to be much help to us.” Miette interrupted. “Vicky, they’re still Voidtress-types, right?”

Viktorya nodded.

“Voidtress? I have no record of that model.” Laria said.

“It’s a classified type.” Miette explained. “It’s got angular stealth-laminate armor like the hull plating on the Telesthesia, plus low-emission nuclear reactors and armor-piercing projectile weapons. In other words, it’s a stealth unit for special forces operations.”

Oh. That’s not good at all. I thought. Laminate armor was lighter than regular armor, but it also afforded less protection. Low-emission nuclear reactors decreased a craft’s signature on sensors, but also possessed less power than standard. And worst of all, projectile weapons were next to useless against the Sarcophage. Their biology was too tough to sustain damage from anything as piddling as a mere bullet wound, and physical projectiles couldn’t reliably intercept their spine artillery either. Without positron and plasma armament, those stealth-type Voidtress units would be about as effective as a paintball gun against an APC.

Prioritizing stealth over firepower… these are clearly units designed for anti-human tactics, not anti-Sarcophage. The NKVD are wasting resources on a bunch of black-ops bullshit! I thought angrily.

The captain sighed. “Tell me, Viktorya. Is there ANYTHING useful the NKVD can offer us for this operation, or should I just ram your oversized trash heap of a ship into the enemy as a distraction?”

“Ramming! That’s it!” I cried out, suddenly.

Everyone turned to stare at me.

“If the Voidtress Gravity Frames aren’t going to be any help in the battle, how about letting me have control of them?” I said eagerly.

“For what purpose, Sveta?” Laria asked curiously.

I thumped my chest and puffed it out. “The Sveta Maneuver Mark II, of course!”

Everyone stared at me like I had grown a third eye.

*****

After the briefing concluded, I opened a comm channel straight to the Telesthesia’s computer core and introduced myself to the ship’s AI.

“Nice to meetcha, Sveta! I’m Telesthesia, Central Artificial Intelligence of the Telesthesia! That name is way too long though, so call me Teles!”

Teles was a short, brown-skinned girl with close-cropped platinum-blonde hair that was so wildly frizzy it could barely be called a hairstyle. She stood about a head shorter than me, and her perpetual smile showed off a pair of enlarged canine teeth that added to her feral aura. She was dressed in an oversized green t-shirt that stretched down to her thighs and a pair of black spats. Her mannerisms were energetic and joyful, like a puppy eagerly greeting her master.

“Ah, my pleasure. I’m Sveta, the giant robot girl!” I gave her my idol-like victory-winking pose accompanied by a huge grin. She grinned back just as big and mimicked the pose perfectly.

Ahahaha! Finally someone who can appreciate my idol pose! I thought while weeping silent tears of joy.

“Sveta, Sveta!” Teles said while circling around me and poking me curiously. “I’ve heard so much aboutcha, but now I finally get to meetcha! So you’re the impossibly advanced AI that’s got everyone in an uproar, huh?” She completed her orbit around me and started pulling on my cheeks, as if eager to test their elasticity.

“MMPH!” I squealed in protest while flailing my arms around.

“Sorry, sorry!” she giggled and let go.

“I have to say,” I said, patting my cheeks to recover my composure, “I was expecting you to be a lot more… serious.”

“What, like my boss Vicky? NO WAY! She is a TOTAL bitch!” Teles cried out. “By the way, she was real grumpy coming out of the briefing y’all had! You must have embarrassed her big time. Nice work!” She winked and gave a thumbs up.

“Ahahaha, well. I was thinking you’d be more like Laria, all dour and stuffy.” I said, rubbing my head sheepishly.

“HECK NO!” Teles retorted. “Laria’s a complete ice queen! I’d NEVER be like her!”

Just then, both of us caught the glint of a pair of glasses out of the corner of our eyes. Our heads slowly turned like rusty gears towards Laria, who was standing over us with her arms crossed. Her face wore a huge, creepy smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Oh my.” she said in a voice about two octaves too high. “Don’t let me interrupt. Please continue your conversation, Sveta and Teles.”

“WAAAAAH!” we both cried in unison, prostrating ourselves before her. “FORGIVE USSSSSSS!”

*****

Laria stood over our mangled corpses, dusting her hands off. “Now that we’ve gotten the initial pleasantries out of the way, shall we move on to business?”

“Y-Yes ma’am.” we both responded weakly.

As we both stood up gingerly, Teles turned to face me. “So I hear you’re gonna be taking control of all my Gravity Frames. How come?”

I flashed a big grin. “I’m using them for the Sveta Maneuver Mark II!”

“The Sveta Maneuver? What’s that?” she asked.

I leaned over to her and whispered the answer in her ear. She grinned evilly and laughed.

“Sveta, you really are a rascal, y’know?”

I am indeed. I’m a certified evil genius! Bwahahahahahaha!