War Core Wednesday. War Core 4, Chapter 41.

Well folks, we've finally reached the end of the War Core series. I hope you've enjoyed the ride and are excited for what's next. On Friday, I'll announce my newest project, and post the first chapter. It's something different and a first in the LitRPG world. Thank you everyone for supporting me and I hope you continue to enjoy the stories I create.


Chapter 41.

His command channel was empty, none of the other officers, none of his troops were still around to speak with. Hugh wondered if any of them would survive the battle after his avatar fell. There had been no mention of casualty rate enhancements back when he first entered the battle pits, only a vague warning that his people would suffer the consequences of his failure. If only one of his team survived, maybe they could make another attempt at this? With some prior knowledge and solid allies, like the Yaelar, humanity might still be able to shut down the GCA. He would face his death hopeful that he had been able to at least contribute in some way to humanity’s survival.

The lift reached its destination, another underground arena. This one was darker, but not because the lighting was part of the challenge. The ceiling had partially collapsed at one point, leaving the floor covered in rubble and likely damaging the power system to the lights. There was enough for Hugh to see, so he dragged his avatar off the lift and onto the arena floor.

A current member of the GCA will now form an avatar to challenge your forces.

Hugh checked his cannon; it was still operational despite being a bit scuffed and battered. He was able to prop himself up against a nearby rock, giving Hugh a clear field of fire over most of the arena. He waited for his opponent to reveal themselves, were they some kind of stealth unit that was even now creeping up behind Hugh? Wait, the announcement said a current member of the GCA, but there weren’t any current members. Would he face an AI-controlled mech, that would be preferable, but Hugh didn’t think he had much of a chance to beat even that in his current state.

Please standby.

Another glitch? Hugh waited for something to happen.

Request resent, no response from the warrior caste of any member species. A standard avatar will be formed, and an operator chosen at random from among the population.

Hugh watched as a large spherical mech moved from a dark corner and into the center of the arena. It looked like a giant chrome ball covered in weapons. Some of the devices Hugh couldn’t identify, but many of them were familiar beam weapons or cannons. The mech had about as much mass as a heavy mech but was somehow able to hover in space without making a sound.

The battle begins!

At that announcement, Hugh started firing on the mech, his 20mm cannon feeling puny as its shells splashed harmlessly against the GCA mech’s shields. Hugh waited for return fire to obliterate him, but seconds, and then minutes passed without a reply from his opponent. Restraining an overpowered foe for a time would be in line with the GCA’s methods of trying to make a fight interesting, maybe that was what was happening.

Was the mech not even controlled by an AI? It appeared that was the case as the minutes dragged on without a response from the mech in front of him. Eventually, the shield around the mech failed under Hugh’s constant pummeling. Rounds scorched the surface of the mech sphere, but its armor was on another level than any mech had fought before. Nearly an hour passed before he finally punched through the armor and began to tear at the insides of the mech.

The lights began to dim in the arena as whatever powered them finally failed. Hugh sat there in the dark, only the muzzle flash of his cannon giving him a brief glimpse of the foe. The constant pain still fought for control over his mind, but Hugh kept on the task, losing all track of time as he worked over the final guardian mech.

Congratulations! You have defeated the final guardian. Humanity has been accepted as a full member of the GCA. Your core will now be integrated into the main system. Please standby.

Hugh briefly heard his target crash to the floor of the arena before feeling his consciousness leave the avatar. The mech had never activated, and the GCA had been stuck in an endless loop to seek a living operator that no longer existed while Hugh slowly picked apart the final guardian. The pain ended as Hugh left his avatar. He waited for the normal feeling of flying in space, but this was different.

Instead of his consciousness flying through space, he felt his mind expand and grow as it connected to the immense network that was the GCA. For a moment, he was confused and frightened, but then a tutorial instantly downloaded in his mind, allowing Hugh to navigate the system with merely a thought. He could feel the GCA’s reach across the universe, and despite its vast control, Hugh was surprised to see that there was a limit to what it controlled. In the grand scheme of things, the GCA controlled only a tiny fraction of what was out there.

Species beyond counting fell under the GCA’s umbrella as their great game of war raged across the stars. As Hugh melded with the GCA, it shaped itself to his will, the system hungry for direction after being unattended for so long. The power was intoxicating, and with a thought, Hugh could wipe a planet from the galaxy, or grow and modify one. He could control this; he would be the administrator over the system and usher the galaxy into a new age of prosperity.

A sharp pain entered Hugh’s head as he started to work. Something was wrong. He analyzed the system, seeing the cascade of failures increasing with each passing moment. Hugh tried to stem the tide, repairing and rewriting what was necessary, but even with his efforts, it wasn’t enough. The system was rotten, and despite Hugh’s integration into it, the system no longer could sustain itself. He could help keep things running for a while and buy the GCA another thousand or so years, but even with the system’s help, Hugh’s one mind was not enough to completely control it, let alone fix the damage that had been inflicted through untold centuries of neglect.

He thought of other options, and considered bringing all of humanity into the system, but were they ready for it? No, humanity was not ready for this kind of power. Too much hate, too much greed, and too much evil existed in the minds of humanity to grant them this level of power. Perhaps another species was better prepared to run things. Hugh’s search told him the answer was no, all those currently living under the hand of the GCA were in a similar state as humanity. The hate and desire for gain would corrupt them all, and through their greed and selfishness, untold suffering would be unleashed on the universe.

Humanity and the current inhabitants that the GCA ruled over were unworthy of the power the system offered them. Hugh searched the system for the prior members of the GCA, but there was no information on what had happened to them, no answer to the great mystery of where they had gone. The system only recorded fewer and fewer minds connected to it until there were none to give direction and only the automated programming remained. Hugh saw no other choice, he would shut the GCA down, as originally intended.

Do you wish to complete the total system shutdown? Please be advised that this decision is irreversible.

Hugh did a bit more investigating before shutting things down. From his search of all the existing species, Hugh had an idea of how far along they had progressed technologically before the GCA inducted them into the system. Most were in about the same place as humanity, only a few were far past that, but even the most advanced were centuries away from developing the ability to travel at faster-than-light speed.

Confident that there would be no species that would expand quickly to conquer all of the known space once the GCA was gone, Hugh did a few final tweaks. He set the casualty rate for the last battle at zero. After thinking, he did the same for his enemies. They would never see each other again, but perhaps this action, this mercy, might be reciprocated at some point down the road. He also canceled all current conflicts, setting casualty rates to zero and ordering the war cores to have new bodies created for their operators and to free them from the hellish prison those machines had become.

For his own body, Hugh thought about making some tweaks. With what he knew now, he could create a body for himself that would live for centuries. Pondering it for time, Hugh decided against it, he would return to the body he had left. The temptation was too strong to push for a bit more for himself. If he started down that path, he didn’t think he would be able to stop, so things would be as they were.

His final tweak was to the planet Mars. The planet was now home to the Krixnas and the terraforming that the GCA had done wasn’t complete, he made sure it would finish and transform the planet into one that would sustain Krixnas life indefinitely. Earth had new neighbors and there were now actual Martians living on mars. Despite what Hollywood movies said, Hugh was hopeful that humans and Krixnas could live together peacefully in the same solar system. They had both fought for and sacrificed for each other, and that was a bond that would hold their two species together in friendship.

With all he wanted to achieve complete, and before he could no longer resist the call of the power offered to him, Hugh killed the system. He watched over things as they shut down, making sure nothing had gone sideways while he still could somewhat control it. The last thing left was for his body to be rebuilt, the war core housing him was the last to be deactivated. Hugh felt his mind contract as it left the GCA systems, condensing once again into its original form as his consciousness was hurled across the universe for the last time.

Hugh felt the cold slab of metal under his body as the war core finished building his new form. He was in darkness, but light appeared as the shelf in the side of the machine slid out, bringing Hugh back home. The room was normally brightly lit, and a hive of activity. Now it was dark, with only a few maintenance lights left on for him to see by. Clothes had been left out for him and Hugh quickly dressed into his uniform.

Hugh wasn’t sure what to expect, time had passed while he had done all that he had wanted to do, eight years actually, but he was still surprised to see the place empty. He supposed there was no reason to man an undersea base that no longer served any purpose. The war core was self-powered, so it wasn’t like the base could shut it down. Maybe there was a maintenance team somewhere on base that could let people know he was back, not that he had any family. Hugh could hear a door open in the distance and the lights began to come back on, causing Hugh to squint from the brightness.

“Welcome home, Hugh,” Maddison said. Hugh was shocked to see her. She was no longer a teenager and had grown into a young woman. Hugh knew that eight years had passed, but it was still a shock to see things had moved on while he had been gone.

“Why are you here, what happened to this place?” Hugh asked. Before Maddison could answer, they both turned as the war core’s power source stopped humming and the lights on it went dark.

“Is that it?” Maddison asked.

“Yes, with that, the last piece of the GCA is done,” Hugh said.

“The scientists are going to be happy to finally get their hands on that thing, it was all Admiral Nix could do to keep them from trying to hack the war core open to study it after you didn’t return for so long,” Maddison said.

“Ha, I wish them luck, everything that made it a war core is gone. The nanobots gutted the insides of it before they destroyed themselves. It’s all gone, there is no more GCA tech left,” Hugh said.

“What happened here while I was gone?” Hugh asked. He had been so engrossed in his work, and his mind had been so different that he hadn’t even considered looking in on his former home.

“There was a whole lot of celebration once we all exited our pods to find that there were zero casualties. With the GCA gone, there wasn’t much use for this place, but I requested it to be my office so I could keep an eye on you. There’s a small staff that still works here, but we’re focused on relations with the Krixnas, not fighting other aliens,” Maddison said.

“Do we have communication with them?” Hugh asked.

“Yeah, it’s not exactly instantaneous, but we’ve both got satellites and transmitters going. The plan is to share tech and hopefully find a better way to travel between the two planets. They’re kind of freaky looking, but everyone seems to love the Krixnas after they helped save our butts in the Ssath invasion. Speaking of Ssath, what did you do to them?” Maddison asked.

“Nothing, I sent them home,” Hugh said, a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility he had recently held.

“Even that Hssim guy?” Maddison asked.

“Even him, it just didn’t seem right to kill him, even after all he did. Maybe things will change if we ever run into them again in a million years or so. If not, we’ll deal with them like we always have,” Hugh said.

“Won’t they show up and attack, do they have more tech than us?” Maddison asked.

“No, none of the species are that much more advanced than anyone else. It’s about as clean a slate as you can hope for in the universe. Hopefully, we’ve all learned a few lessons and can live in peace by the time we all start developing interstellar travel,” Hugh said.

“I doubt it, but if anyone does get out of hand, we’ll be ready for them,” Maddison said.

“That we will, Maddison, that we will. Now, what does a guy have to do to get a cheeseburger around here? I haven’t had one in years,” Hugh said, smiling as the fact he had a new life finally hit him.

“I can arrange that, there should be a helicopter here in a few, I gave the word send one over to pick us up. You’re going to have some serious parties to attend, and a ton of boring meetings, but I think we can escape for a bite before you get corralled by the bigwigs,” Maddison said. Hugh told her the information on his favorite hole-in-the-wall burger place, happy to hear it was still around.

“Dealing with headquarters and politicians isn’t something I’m looking forward to, but I guess it can’t be avoided,” Hugh sighed.

“Nah, it won’t be too bad. I’m sure you’ll do the dog and pony show for a bit, then you’ll be discharged to do what you want. Oh, and what I meant when I said I let the bigwigs know, I meant Admiral Nix. He’s going to get Cartwright, Tran, Zacharias, and even Marcum from intel to meet us before we turn you over for a debrief,” Maddison said. When they reached the elevator, Maddison reached over to hit the lights before Hugh stopped her.

“No, let me,” Hugh said, taking one last look before shutting the lights off on his war core for the final time.

“You know, I’ve been gone for years, do you think they’ll give me my back pay?” Hugh joked as the elevator closed and began to take them out of the darkened base and toward the bright California sunshine.