19: Tantive IV

terminal 0

unfinished

[S'pht translator active] Your friend Mara Harrison is failing to give you sufficient information about your mission. We think it's more likely ignorance than obfuscation, but in any event it would be dangerous and reckless to approach this so-called "Renegade" [?problem] with an incomplete story The A'khr are ruthless in their desire for what they call "reconciliation." They believe when we S'pht'Kr [?flew] from K'lia we damned our kin to the Pfhor forever in order to spare our own clan. Perhaps they believe the annihilation of our clan will be an equal payment for the lives lost to the slavers, and to this end they would fight and destroy anyone who stops them.

In their fury they took to this distant world and use it as a platform to mount their counteroffensive against the universe that wronged them: the S'pht that abandoned them to their fate, and the Pfhor that brought it to them. But the A'khr have trapped themselves on this planet. Ancient S'pht technology for faster-than-light travel required a mineral that was only present on Lh'owon, though in great quantities. They have been isolated on this planet until just recently, when your Atreides ship crashed on the planet. They think that they can escape and begin their conquest thereafter. This must not succeed! The slavers likely don't know about this; they attack the A'khr out of a lust for conquest. We believe you ought to aid them.

This human ship landed on the cusp of the shield wall surrounding the A'khr citadel complex, the capital city of the A'khr dominion. The Pfhor want to mount an offensive against them, but if the shield wall remains undisturbed they will never succeed. Mara Harrison has left this message for you to this end: As a science vessel, the Atreides was meant to be destroyed if it fell into enemy hands. Naturally, it fell into enemy hands, and naturally, it wasn't destroyed. The ship itself was designed in such a way that individual sections of the ship would be jettisoned and detonated at a safe distance to save as much of the crew and technology as possible. But since the Atreides remains snugly compacted between several mountains, this section of the ship wouldn't go anywhere if the self-destruct sequence was activated. It would just fire some thrusters, and then explode.

There are four points on this deck where security chips must be inserted. Once all four are placed, I can enter in the self-destruct codes. There should be one insertion on the east end of the deck, one on the west end, and two on the south end. Most of the cards should be geographically near the insertion points, but these keycard hunts are never that simple, so don't be afraid to explore. Once all four keycards are put into place, look for teleportation pods and I will warp you out, and then detonate the ship. The resulting explosion should wipe out the rest of the Atreides, the remaining Pfhor and Renegade troops hovering around here, and punch a hole into the shield wall protecting the Renegade citadel. The Pfhor will thank you for that eventually.

The UESC Atreides is an awkwardly laid-out ship without a coherent design. The best I can tell you is that there is a recharge station slightly southwest of this position, at the north end of some hall. Other than that I can't help you.

terminal 1

unfinished

[S'pht translator active] The A'khr are unlike the majority of the S'pht clans in that they are not builders, but [?ironically] take after the Pfhor: they conquer enemies and then integrate the enemy technology into their own. In this way, the A'khr are vastly superior to the Pfhor. In a thousand years of enslavement, the insects were never able to comprehend our technology. However, in their lust for revenge, the A'khr foolishly chose this planet. What you call "Artemis" is a distant, lonely world, too poor in materials to found the basis of a galactic empire. Thus the A'khr are limited in strength. Their remarkable biosynthesis technology is capable of forming Pfhor armies, but cannot replicate our own technology; their insect army is formidable, and can conquer the Pfhor on a one-to-one basis, but it limited by only one planet's supplies, whereas the slaver army is seemingly endless and has hundreds of worlds to siphon materials from. The A'khr may eventually be defeated by the Pfhor, but it will be a ruinous victory for the slavers, worse even than what they suffered the first time they dared fight us.

terminal 2

unfinished

This terminal is suffering a catastrophic physical sytem error. Please contact your system administrator. If you had a query related to research of any kind, please contact Phoenix through the nearest functional terminal.

terminal 3

unfinished

[S'pht translator active] Renegade technology is limited mostly to planetary construction. This planet you call Artemis is almost entirely devoid of the materials required for effective space flight or [?intergalactic translator note: transgalactic, not intergalactic] teleportation, and what materials remain on the planet apparently are mostly devoted to the security and strength of their citadel and the shield wall surrounding it. The A'khr must never know that we are nearby. They almost certainly know the humans are in flight around their planet, but while they are entangled with you and the Pfhor, they must consider it a tertiary threat. But if they discover their mortal enemies are present in the system, they will likely do anything it takes to assail your ship. And they will destroy it. This cannot happen; you are the only thing that can stop their gambit in time, and without the Istanbul you will lack the support necessary to make the final push. This is why we aren't fighting with you now.

terminal 4

unfinished

[S'pht translator active] The A'khr artificial intelligence they call Karma was technology dredged from the wreckage of this ship when it was brought down. They do not understand this technology; to the credit of humanity, your understanding of artificial intelligence far exceeds that of ours, the A'khr, or the Pfhor. Karma is structurally unstable and conceptually flawed. The Renegade Clan's reliance on Karma's intelligence to manage the war against the slavers, and lately your kind as well, is the tactical weakness that is allowing your success. The Atreides is a breach of their shield wall; they should have removed it, but they let the Pfhor capture it instead and now it's too late. They don't seem to expect the pending destruction of the ship and its effects. Karma is the representation of the A'khr's biggest weakness: they lack the strength or intelligence to truly form their own dominion the way we did so many years ago. Exploit that.

terminal 5

unfinished

[S'pht translator active] The slavers have built an empire over many millennia of bloody, single-minded warfare. As their empire grows it becomes less and less feasible for any species to resist their strength forever; our stand on Lh'owon was the most successful the Pfhor had seen in centuries until they encountered you and the Durandal. But the Pfhor have grown more powerful still; it is impossible for the slavers to lose an extended war. The slavers bank on their seemingly endless reserves to win any offensive, and to that end they will continue to fight the A'khr as well as humanity until they win, regardless of the cost. Would humanity ever hope to survive, they would need to strike the Pfhor at their own homeworld. Witness their war against the Renegade Clan as a testament to their strength; A'khr warriors, though biosynthetic clones from Pfhor technology and flesh, are far superior to their originals.

And yet, in the end, the A'khr seem unable to win any battles against them. The Renegades entrench themselves in their garrisons, hide under their shields which prevent any airborne assaults. Yet they can't keep the Pfhor away forever, and once they lose an objective, they never seem able to reclaim it. Pfhor reserves are endless and they are capable enough of repelling the limited A'khr counterattacks. If humanity survives this engagement against the Renegades, they will need to contend with the slavers in a similar fashion. One can only hope your kind can realize that.

terminal 6

unfinished

This is the teleport chamber. But you haven't placed all four of the security chips into the receptacles, so I haven't enabled the teleporters. It's not like you have any reason to leave yet, after all.

success

Excellent work. Now I can prime the self-destruct sequence for this deck. I'll teleport you out of here, blow up the ship, cripple their shield barrier, and hopefully leave the Renegades vulnerable and confused. With that opening, I might be able to get you, if no one else, inside their shield wall. Then it will be up to you to find and destroy Phoenix. Go ahead and take either teleporter. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can.

terminal 7

unfinished

Log Entry #302.133:11.42 Header: Product Research: Energy Katar Entry by: Tate Ivian, Weapons Research It's finished! And damn, I feel smart! Study on foraged energy weapons have manufactured a cutting phase attack similar to S'pht'Kr technology, as far as we've been able to simulate. Unfortunately, I didn't get it to coalesce into a projectile, but it still works as a sort of melee weapon. Behold, the Energy Katar! The future of the UESC Marine Corps combat knife is here! We even were able to implement a full repulsor shield generator, in an attempt to replicate the S'pht'Kr shield technology, but that didn't work as well. Nonetheless, it resembles certain biobus chip enhancements and is powered by standard issue Fusion Batteries. If portable shielding reaches the point to fully repel projectiles, the UESC will be begging for my Katar manufacture! In the meantime, I'll keep one here and vault one on the Red Monaco. Piter will look after it, I know he's a good man.