Mag-log inThe town hall of Aethelgard was packed.Eva, Clara, Elias, and Commander Vance were seated around the big oak table, looking serious. Siera was at the head, her combat gear back in place, with her jade pendant giving off a soft glow on her chest. Julian leaned against the window, arms folded, looking concerned."A nested simulation," Clara repeated, rubbing her temples. "We are inside a simulation inside a simulation?"That's what the author says," Siera said. And my system backs it up. We saved a planet called Server Twelve, which is actually Earth. But the real world is out there somewhere else.Elias brought up a map of the solar system on a hologram. They had actually gone to Mars. They saw the real stars up close and felt what it's like to be in space."Code can copy anything," Siera said. The people in charge here are The Consortium. But who's behind them? It's The Board. And who's behind The Board? That's The Author. It's like a big chain - one thing leads to another, and it ju
Now was the time for silence in the world.Until the fall of the Consortium, Siera gave herself three months to hope that it was all a mistake. On the mountain she constructed a log cabin with a garden of real flowers and a wide porch and a large stone fireplace.She donned her armor and hung it up. She gave her kinetic rifle for a gardening trowel. Even stopped wearing her jade pendant, she put it in a wooden box on her nightstand.It was a perfect and peaceful life.Until the time the sky opened up.While Siera was sitting on the porch eating a bowl of spicy beef noodles, the sky above the northern mountains turned an unusual purple color. There was a lot of static electricity in the air. The hens in the yard went silent, crouching in fear and fearing.Julian came onto deck, looking out at the horizon. "Siera... look."The purple illumination merged into a huge holographic display that spread throughout the clouds. It wasn't a ship. But it was not a satellite. It was a face.A face
The journey back to the Earth was surprisingly silent.The Liberation Fleet sailed in formation, the Reclamation dreadnoughts on either side of the captured Consortium ring station like guards escorting a prisoner. Within the station the remaining Boarders were kept in their own cells, with the help of Eva's elite troops.Siera was standing on the observation deck on the Retribution, gazing out at the black emptiness of space. The excitement of the battle had left, and there was a lot of tiredness. She was holding a cup of instant noodles, and the steam from the cup was rising and fogging the glass in front of her.Julian walked up to her, "You're brooding.Julian approached her, "You're brooding. He had two cups of coffee and gave her one of them.Siera accepted it, and set her noodles aside for a while. "I'm thinking.""About what?"What happens next, Siera said, "about what happens next. "The Board is removed, the Consortium is dissolved, the simulations are down and the real world
Inside the hangar bay, a whirl of kinetic blasts and plasma fire.Siera was like a ghost in the middle of the mess, her kinetic rifle clicking out sharp rhythmic bursts. The Consortium soldiers were expecting an attack, but the boarding party was far too aggressive. Eva and her team were a well-oiled machine, in and around the opposition and downing their defence.Julian fought by Siera's side, his moves deadly, exact. He shielded her flank, putting down an excessive shot bearer before he could turn his weapon."Clear!" “Over the comms,” Eva shouted. “Hangars are safe, we have a way to the central lift."Move!" Siera ordered.They ran through the flames of the enemy fighters and stepped into the large glass-sided elevator which led to the command deck of the station.The elevator zoomed up to the ring station while looking out at the station, Siera noticed the ring. It was an engineering marvel, a city in space. It was dead, sterile and cold, though. There were no parks, no homes, no
The Aegis space station had undergone changes.It had been the stronghold of oppression, but now it was the headquarters of the Terran Liberation Fleet. Modernized fighters, Reclamation dreadnoughts and heavily armed dropships filled the huge hangars.Siera was on the bridge of the flagship, Retribution. Below her, the earth turned, a healing bruised marble. In front of him, was the blackness of space, cold and endless.They were ready for the jump, Elias said from the navigation console, "Queen Siera.Have the coordinates been fixed? Siera asked."Locked," Elias confirmed. It is the data chip of the Admiral, and it will take us directly to the hidden slipstream corridor, to the Consortium Board's stronghold in the Outer Rim.Siera looked at High Admiral Vance who was standing in the corner of the bridge. He was wearing a new uniform, one that was a dark blue to indicate that he was a tactical adviser and not a commander.Are there any sudden changes I need to be aware of? Siera asked
The result of the London server farm was a logistical nightmare, only a manageable one.The Reclamation Fleet's cargo haulers carried the newly awakened survivors to Aethelgard. They were provided with hot showers, clean clothes and an abundance of real food. The young doctor's name was Maya and she had already offered to work at the hospital in the city. Former security chief Dorian was being interviewed by Eva for the militia.The moment had arrived, and Siera was sitting in her office, enjoying a moment of quiet, when the heavy blast doors to her suite opened.Elias was standing in the doorway, his cybernetic eye glowing dimly in the light. Two Alliance guards, with guns in hand, stood behind him with a man in a white uniform in pristine condition.High Admiral Vance.The Admiral was no longer bound. He was permitted to shave and his face was now covered in light scars from the burns. He appeared very calm for someone that's been under its ice for a year.“Queen Siera,” Elias said,







