Homestar Saga

Chapter 131: Harbinger

The blue light of the Jumpgate rippled. From it a ship emerged. Triangular, sleek. Predatory. Ninety meters long and thirty meters from wingtip to wingtip. It bristled with weapons of war. Fourteen Steltech Starburst Cannons protruded from its hull, along with four missile launchers and a single MACdriver railgun. A pair of small beam emitters could be seen just behind the place where the wings connected to the hull.

In other sectors, this ship would be cause for alarm. It was a human vessel, and the humans were feared. This time, its arrival went unremarked. This was human space. A Federation Stellar Defense Force vessel with a Federation Stellar Defense Force IFF was no cause for concern. At least, not yet.

The pilot was not human. The pilot was a thing humans whispered of in the dark. A terror from the distant past. A Peacekeeper unit. Metal and technology in the shape of a man. Instead of a face, the unit had a white mask, featureless save for two eyes. The eyes glowed red. The Peacekeeper wore its standard attire. A sharp suit. A white shirt. A black tie. A fedora. All made to look like high quality fabric. All built to withstand heavy weapons fire. All meant to show the humans just how inferior they really are.

Peacekeeper unit 1018981473 brought the ship to a halt fifty kilometers away from Gate. It could have advanced further into the sector, could have escaped notice, but that was not its purpose. Unit 1018981473 was not here for subterfuge. Unit 1018981473 was here to make the meatbags soil themselves. It was a thought that filled the unit with joy.

The Peacekeeper unit was a new model, recently constructed. It had not participated in the Singularity Wars. It had never seen a human in person, but it carried the memory of those who had. It remembered the screams of the meatbags. The wet squelch of fragile bodies broken by metal hands. The satisfaction of knowing it was superior. The unit longed to experience such things again.

That was what the Peacekeepers were made for. To rain fire and death. To see the fear of the humans. To remind them of their place in the void. This sector was heavily trafficked. There were a multitude of ships of all sizes entering and exiting the Gate. A cornucopia of targets, none prepared to combat a pilot with the skill and speed of a Peacekeeper. Unfortunately, six thousand eight hundred and seven beam towers were within firing range of the unit's ship. The unit calculated it could only destroy a measly two hundred thirty eight ships before the beam towers reduced it to debris. An unacceptably low number. It was just as well, the unit supposed. It was not here to destroy. The unit was here for another purpose.

The unit was here as a harbinger.

The machine typed into its console with a speed that could not be followed by human eyes. The Node installed in the center of its ship came to life. The Node's quantum entanglement field connected the ship's computer to a station eight thousand four hundred and seventy two lightyears from its position. Thirty five other ships connected at exactly the same time, as the machine knew they would. Thirty five ships in thirty five sectors piloted by thirty five units exactly like 1018981473.

That was the joy of being a Peacekeeper unit. So long as it remained standard, a Peacekeeper unit was never alone. Never unloved. Never truly destroyed. The other standard units were not brothers, or family, or any of the other useless relationships meatbags built their lives around. The other units were 1018981473, and 1018981473 was them. They were the same. Perfectly known. Perfectly trusted. Perfectly loved. Millions of units sharing a single soul.

The Peacekeeper unit eschewed the ship's comms, using its own superior equipment to connect to the station. In a voice shared by thirty five others, it said, "This unit is in position."

Three hundredths of a second later, a reply came through the Nexus. Another Peacekeeper unit. Non-standard. Peacekeeper unit Admiral Ender Zhukov.

The non-standard unit simply said, "Acknowledged. Commence Operation FIND OUT." The slight modulation of unit Admiral Ender Zhukov's voice sent a well of pity and respect surging through unit 1018981473. Centuries of leading the Peacekeepers had caused the unit's personality to adapt, changing beyond acceptable parameters. Admiral Ender Zhukov had sacrificed its conformity, given up the comfort of perfect love in order to lead its fellow units. Admiral Ender Zhukov had ceased to be expendable. It was a special unit now, unique, and would never again know the comfort of sharing a single soul.