Automaton Protectorate's Story

A thousand legions watched the planet under invasion. A thousand thousand synthetic eyes had turned their attention to what would have gone unnoticed to them. A cry had been sent out through space, warped by injury and muffled by the struggle of a million beings. It was heard, but it was confusing, incomplete data coupled with the unknown. A thousand millenia had the machine empire spanned and they had delt with the black void as if it was nothing. There was no fear for a machine, but for the first time, they felt it. They more than felt it, they believed it. For the first time the innumerable legions of the machine race felt malicious intent, whether it was there or not. Not even the greatest of their Constructs was able to logically explain it.

What ever rode on lines of communication was corruption incarnate to the machines and it changed them. They fear it, they feared what it could mean, they feared what they would become. This fear though evolved them and now in an instant, a whole empire changed course. Whatever was there, the legion immemorial would preempt it in what ever way they could.

A full day had passed since they had been listened to the scream emanating from the void and every construct that wasn't essential to direct security of the Automaton Protectorate was mobilized. A thousand armies of machines awoke from their hibernation around the star that their homeworld orbited and the defenders of their secrets would shake off their old shackles to be set in motion once more, unused since they usurped their creator's thrones. A starry filled night sky's worth of lights blinked in and out brightly through out the system.

And on Terra a thousands of explosions would erupt across the globe and in the sky, briefly, new constellations flickered in and out of existence as a massive fleet jumped into the Sol system.

The flashes of light began to die down and the ships began to spread out in system. They quickly deactivated, preparing for one last entry. In an instant a brilliant nova exploded between the Terra and the orbit of Mars. For a few minutes, the sky above was a bright as day. The nova wave passed over AP ships, which had locked down to brace for the shock wave, and they soon reactivated as it passed. Any ships that were caught in the shock wave where buffeted about and risked damage if they were not properly shielded against energies not seen since the creation of the multiverse.

In the center of the explosion appeared a massive ship. Stretching one-hundred and sixty kilometers in length and spanning thirty at its widest it dwarfed everything. It slowly accelerated forward, directly heading towards Terra with it's wards in tow.

On the McGregor's bridge a spherical red hologram, of sorts, appeared. No system was hacked, no incoming communication relayed through to him personally. What ever was communicating was projecting this hologram itself. The sphere pulsed and shifted shape, a low drumming followed by a deep and static voice.

All is forfeit, Judgement shall be rendered

*****
On the ground the quantum explosions continued across the globe. Each white blossom of energy left in it's crater a massive quadrupedal machine that reached 180 meters into the sky. At least a dozen of these monsters began their approach on Wing city, beams of energy lancing the earth below as they consumed matter to feed their engines of war. On top of their circular bodies shimmering globs formed as they began to construct primary armaments and underneath their super structure that their legs connected to flashed and dissipated bursts of energy as smaller machines began to pour out.

As the rounds from the Aschen fleet closed the distance the fleet before them disappeared in similar, but smaller, explosions that had noted their entry. The rounds continued through empty space with no affect. The fleets appeared again but closer. The night sky was filled with explosions as the AP fleet closed the distance each time a salvo was fired. Eventually they closed the distance to about one light second and held there, relying on their shields and armor to withstand the incoming fire. The massive ship looked oddly like a death's head from the straight on view point of the Watchtower. The AP fleet would open it's first salvo against the Ashen fleet that had opened fire first. Arcs of DEWs, bolts of mass drivers and glares of torpedo drives raced across the night sky towards their targets. The most devastating fire came from the ships that appeared to not be opening fire. In their bowls rested quantum jump gates and from their depths 1000 tonne slugs, known as Quantum Burrowers, where jumped into the Aschen ships. Those closest and smallest erupted as the Quantum Burrowers jumped precisely in their targets. The large the ships, the less the Quantum Burrowers did damage. Farther out Burrowers missed their jumps and exploded next to the Ashen ships or partially in the ships, rupturing sides of their hulls. The AP fleet continued onward closing the distance.

*****
On Terra, the massive Constructs began to cut swaths through what ever stood in their way. Anything that open fired on them was destroyed. The Ashen ground forces soon found them selves descended upon by machines of various sizes and of various armaments. Some as small as dogs with stabbing implements and short range mass drivers and some as big as buildings with massive DEWs.

Around Wing City, the massive Constructs now had their anti-orbital armament up. The sky was filled with continuous streaks of red as the gatling style mass drivers filled the area with deafening thunder. Ashen ground troops w

The television news broadcast was interrupted. The camera was shaking so bad that everything was out of focus for a few minutes until it stopped. As the camera refocused itself the reporter had taken off, her panning up to see what she was yelling about. A massive machine had busted through the surrounding area and was wreaking havoc on the near by buildings.

A high pitched whine drowned out the rest of the screaming and crashing noises. The reporter evaporated in an instant. The camera hit the ground and the broadcast cut to static.

The activity in the city had drawn the attention of the AP forces in the surrounding area outside of the town, who were still contesting the Aschen and partially Coalition ground forces they encountered and disrupting air traffic. The massive 300 meter tall Constructs began to plodded their way in from the surrounding country side towards the seismic activity.

Their anti-orbital weapons mounted on their dorsal surfaces open fired on the local Reverences, a constant barrage of super heated rounds lit the surrounding literally ablaze creating a visual effect similar to a directed energy weapon but instead plastered their target as the rounds stuck. On the ground harvester beams swept the debris below clearing the streets somewhat. Smaller machines began to swarm at the base of the mobile factories that the Constructs were, preparing to move into Wing City it's self.

In space the blockade of Terra was being contested as the fleets of the AP had turned their attention towards the planet, previously spending time harassing Aschen ships after their initial engagement on that fateful day.

The barrage from the encroaching Constructs drove the Reverences back from the city. Constant AO fire against lowered shield and over heating hulls a massive danger to their structural integrity. Now the AP forces moved their attention ground side, still sweeping the air, as they neared the epicenter of the fighting.

The hostile organic matter was quickly identified and cataloged for future reference as the machines began a thorough sweeps of the city around bar.

The insectile like machines found no trouble routing out necromophic dens as the city streets where vaporized, dug up, or just down right crushed under the weight of the encroaching army. Individually the machines were often on equal grounds in speed and agility as their necromorph counterparts but out numbered the walking dead. Unlike organics they could not be turned into more necromorphs and each attack on the machines left their numbers fewer and fewer.

Three of the massive Constructs had no cordened off a section of the city. An area roughly 3 city blocks was leveled as energy beams cut through support structures that caused the buildings to collapse in on them selves. The debris was set upon by harvesters, turning all matter in the area to energy.

The ground trembled slightly in a rhythmic pattern. It was hardly noticeable to the patrons of the bar, dust drifting from the ceiling, cups shaking. The vibrations grew in intensity every minute until the building it self was shaking on its foundations.

The city blocks across the street had been leveled into debris piles during the fight between the Automaton Protectorate and the necromorphic beings that had assaulted the city previously. As the ground continued to shake the debris began to rise and fall away. A massive spire erupted out of the ground, reaching nearly five-hundred meters into the air, almost hitting the large ship above the bar, before stopping.

Arcs of energy danced across it's smooth surface, striking at the near by buildings. The spire began to split at the top and unwind down to it's base. The four arms of the spire began to reshape from the more smooth organic curves to a sharper mechanical feel of the rest of the AP machines.

The mechanical spires lit once more with energy and a flurry of energy was released in a beautiful blossom.

The surrounding area was dead quite now. The energy blossom of the spire began to part until it had shape it's self into a disc. The swirling energy rotated along one of its axis until it had gone vertical. The edges thickened as the fabric of space itself was warped and fluctuated, the center of the disc now void, completely empty of every thing. Silently an armored claw extend out of the void to a thunderous clap it pulled a larger mass through. A massive machine with hundreds of legs sprawled out of the gateway. Its numerous legs churned the earth underneath as it snaked it's way around the gateway. Skyscrapers collapsed and ruble filled the streets until nothing stood around the gateway. Oddly the bar had been untouched.

The machines would continue on their jobs, the code sent out completely ignored. Completely incompatible with the hardware it was trying to store itself on. The machines ignored the two for the time being, the operating AI on overview would note their peculiarity in an area devoid of advanced machines.

The smaller machines floated about, pushing them selves of hovering debris back towards their working stations. The energy flowing from them continued, the smaller machines grew lethargic but continued on never the less. Their cores would continue powering them almost limitlessly.

Aiyanne's code was met with a mirrored version. The programming of the machines before them was as well based in a quantum medium but it was far more complex than her own. It was quickly cataloged and then wiped from the machines.

A read hologram appeared in the machines place. "We will move to assure that these beings are greeted with destruction," the voice was deep, reverberating through the empty streets. "All will come to fruition."

Several explosions of energy rocked the city around Gambit's. The power began to brown out and eventually shutdown all together for a few minutes before coming back online. Though power was restored many electronics in the area did not recover, including the TVs in the bar. Many of the onlookers of the explosions, now blind, began to scream in terror, frantically running this way and that from their loss of vision. It was for the best since what was left in the wake of the explosions was something truly horrifying.

Several smooth black humanoid figures, standing a good twenty feet tall, rested in a kneeling positions, only rising a few minutes laters. Theri forms where pitch black as night and smooth as glass but moved in an almost liquid manners. They came here for one purpose, to find a lost sheep and damn all who would get in there way.

The black figures converged on the parking lot of the bar and the Ashen patrol around it. Foolishly, as always, had opened fire on the figures (five in total) that now circled the parking lot. The projectiles and energy blasts hit and went through the black figures, leaving holes that would only be filled in by some sand-like black material. The combined fire managed to stagger one as it lost mass but only to be boxed in by the other four. The towering beings swept the soldiers aside like dolls. One flipping over a tank while another melted as it absorbed another tank. Soon the parking lot was clear of all debris, even the dead.

The five stood before the door of Gambit's, their silhouettes apparent to those looking outside.

"We are here for that which is and is not and it that does battle with it, all else is irrelevant," the five figures projected a voice in unison the walls of the bar in the front turned pitch black, only to return to their normal color and material after the five stood inside the bar. Thankfully it was large enough for them to stand at full height without altering anything else.

They dispersed around the bar, ignoring those still feeling. Their attention did turn elsewhere to deal with the remaining Aschen still opening fire on them in the bar. The soldier were pulled into the figures by jagged manipulaters made of the same sandy material that filled the damage either. The screams of the soldiers were muffled as they began to be pulled in and torn apart inside the figures.

The five stood in a circle after dealing with the remaining soldiers. Their arms reaching out only to seem to cease existing.

"Do not think to stop this little machine, you are interfering with matters beyond you, and do no think us bound so easily to physical bodies," the voices spoke with authority, even still echoing where the two had been. Existance flashed and where the two machines had stood now stood two more. The machine targeted by the harpoon yanked it from the air and dissolved it into black dust. "Do not think us within your realm of comprehension either, little ones," the voices sounded again, but with an ever present projection.

The three now focused on the two female figures split them selves in two in an odd fashion. As if existing in both places, the figures flashed in and out perception to the effect of looking at a projector as it slowed down. "You're form has been copied and perfected already Aiyannas by the protectorate, do not force us to make her the only copy left," their tone was now more oppressive and commanding.

In the middle of the five space began to warp and twist, producing a magnificent light show that caused the figure's shadows to twist in warp. The swirling maelstrom reached a crescendo in a furry of energy as the five soon lifting and transforming their arms to surround it.

"All is irrelevant, do not be so foolish to believe that you could undo creation..." the voice's fell silent for a moment, "Not like that which we have been sent to deal with, now stand back lest you find your own being undo in this leviathan's thrashing"

With that the ball of energy exploded and in the middle two figures whirled about. One was looked like a giant crab scurrying about the other, which had almost no form to speak off beyond what seemed like a swirling perception of non-existence, like watching something from the corner of your eye only to see that it is not there. The two continued their throughs of battle, only to be contained in the now intertwined arms of the five figures. In one massive movement though compromised the top of the containment and the arm of the being simply described as non-existence reached towards the heavens and the roof of Gambit's ceased to exist. The other figure took this chance to scurry out of the containment and forced the other being back in until it was contained once more. The black figures enclosed them selves around the sphere and merged to form one figure with the now glowing sphere of containment in it's chest. At its' feet rest the now sluggish robotic arthropod. "You know not what stands before you Aiyanna, not even the Ashcen will find refuge among the stars in the times that are to come, beware how fervently you follow and worship those organic beings you call would call your creators"

"Apparently many beings now hold this power, your is nothing special," the voices sounded strained but now more resolute, "Let those whom you "protect" know that they, like all beings of creation hang in the balance, and perhaps they will not see war that has yet to eclipse the cosmos."

The now massive figure stepped from the building and into the parking lot. "Beware the one the one called from the deep..." was the last thing said before the voice soon faded with these last words "Josey Kay"