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TAKTISCH, ROBUSTE MILITÄR-REPLIKA
‘TURM’
(Tactical Military Replika ‘Rook’)
Type: Generation 3 All-Purpose Combat Unit
Frame: Biomechanical with Polyethylene Shell, Titanium Skeleton and Heavy Bullet-Resistant Armour Plating
Height: 200cm

One of the most popular models of Combat Replikas, TUMRs are a versatile, efficient combat unit known to work excellently in teams. Their increased height compared to most Gestalts make them fast and agile, but they remain compact enough not to cause any issues on the battlefield. Their simple, rugged frame and heavy armour plating make them impressively resilient to physical damage, and their unflappable, determined personas help them operate in extreme-stress environments even during long deplyoments. They operate best when commanded by a single officer Replika of a different model.

A Reisenhai assault ship plummeted through the Vinetan sky, cast down from the vast carrier hanging in orbit high above. Like a shooting star it glowed, a perfect white streak across an endless expanse of azure blue.

Behind its ablative plating, within its thick titanium hull, a flock of birds armed for war.

Ten Rooks, three Flycatchers, one Cormorant… And one Wren.

I sat towards the front of the craft with Kormoran Vier sitting to my left, four Turms to my right, and another six opposite me. Further to my right, a trio of Schnäppers sat at the back on special seats, their weight helping to balance the craft during its descent. A descent we must have made a dozen times in the last few months, but… There was something different in the air this time. The chaos back on the mothership. The new Commander. The gravity of the mission - the archive. It was the first time I’d seen so many of our teams deployed at once. It had me distracted, on-edge.

I took a deep breath and checked my internal chronometer. It was my job to be on top of the automated landing while we dropped violently into an active warzone. Heavy resistance was to be expected, but as usual the gravity of the situation was lost on the Rooks.

“So, how are things between you and Donnerstag?” Zwanzig asked Neunzehn quietly, a loose smile on her face.

“Donnerstag? C’mon, we’re just hanging out.”

“Hanging out? I saw you giving her your rations the other day, you can’t tell me that’s nothing.”

“What? That’s just… The military rationmarks get more variety is all, she wanted to try them. It’s not like that!”

“Oh it’s not, is it?” Zwanzig ribbed, her voice barely above a murmur. “You won’t mind then if I invite her to the barracks on our next break then, right?”

“You’d better not-”

The other Turms chuckled quietly, and Dreißig checked Secht’s equipment to my right.

“Silence!” Vier barked, her voice growling through the bulky rebreather the Kormorans wore.

In an instant we straightened up, watching as she delivered a salute to the Eusan flag printed on the wall at the rear bulkhead, behind the unmanned flight console.
We all followed suit, waiting to recite our pledge.

“Those of us who were built to die salute you,” Vier uttered, and we echoed her. “May we give our lives in service to the Eusan nation.”

When she’d finished she fell back to silence and the Turms relaxed, but they kept to themselves, letting an awkward silence settle over the rattling ship.

I checked the time again.

“Air brakes deployed in Three, two, one… Now.” I uttered mechanically to my squad, my mind still elsewhere.

The familiar dull boom of explosive locks echoed distantly below the thunder of re-entry. The Reisenhai gave a strange shudder I’ve never felt before - and where I expected to feel the sudden kick of rapid deceleration, there was nothing.

“Something's wrong.” Vier said. Their tone scarcely shifted from its usual cadence, but there was weight in their words that got everyoneäs attention. “Zaunkönig, diagnosis.”

I tapped the module above my ear and laid my palm flat against the hull, feeling for the vibrations. Jagged sine waves laced across my screen from a myriad of different sources while the Reisenhai rattled violently against the air resistance, but I couldn't sense any more shudders or identify a particular source of the strange noise, or any particular damage due to all of the noise.

“I’ll need a closer look.” I said, after trying a few spots in my little alcove.

The Rooks had stopped talking and were looking at me expectantly, but I did my best to ignore them and focus on the task at hand.

With Vier’s gestured permission, I unbuckled myself and rose uncertainly to my feet. The shaking and lurching of the craft almost took my feet from under me, so I staggered slowly to the flight console at the back of the ship. The towering SAPRs, as tall as I was while sitting down, eyed me silently with innocent, imploring eyes. Afraid? Or concerned for me, out of my seat?

I gave them a small smile to ease their nerves, before shifting my attention down to the grainy monitor glowing red in the gloom.

Error messages covered the diagnostics panel. Hull breach, somewhere behind the crew compartment. Oxygen bleeding, life support systems failing. Air pressure dropping. Early warning system unresponsive. I worked my way through them as quickly as I could, building up an image in my head of what had happened to the Reisenhai.

Whatever that shudder was, it had been much worse than I realised.

One number immediately leapt off the flickering screen to me - velocity.

131 metres per second.

“Kapitan, the air brakes have failed. Explosive locks seem to have damaged the hull.” I reported the news automatically, my mind spinning with the consequences. I ran the numbers in my head. “Thirty seconds to impact.”

“What?” One of the Rooks toward the fore called out. “We’re gonna crash?” I heard the sound of buckles unclasping, of Replikas rising to their feet behind me. A SAPR shifted nervously to my left.

“Back to your seat Zwanzig!” Vier roared, the strength of her amplified voice booming off the bulkheads. I heard Zwanzig rush to obey behind me. “Zaunkönig, do your job!”

The command, the pressure, the lives depending on me - like a cartridge in a console, something within me slotted back into place. My mind returned to where it belonged - the present. I took a deep breath.

Do your job. Slow the ship, save the mission. Save Them.

I could do this. I worked my way through the diagnostics again, working out what we still had access to. Retrograde thrusters. They were for moving the ship at lower speeds but they were good for atmosphere, and if I aimed it right we could bleed off a lot of velocity. I tapped the commands into the flight console, numbers dancing across my optics as I calculated trajectories and velocities.

There was a distant roar of pressurised propellant igniting, and I had just enough time to realise what was about to happen to me before the ship lurched with sudden deceleration, and I was hurled to the front. I struck the floor hard, rolled over backwards and then slammed shoulder-first into the bulkhead at the nose of the ship. Static laced across my vision and the rapidly thinning air was driven from my lungs.

“Zaunkönig! Back to your seat!” Vier ordered again, and I forced my head up to look at her. Her expression was fearsome even in my dark and grainy vision, and it felt like she was trying to drag me back to safety with sheer force of will.

Straining against the deceleration and my own shaky consciousness, I crawled forward a step. Then another. My seat was on the far side of Vier from me - too far at my pace. I’d delayed impact by at least another twenty seconds, but not by enough for me to reach my place in time.

“Kapitan! I’m not-”

Movement from the rear. One of the SAPRs detached from her harness and hurtled forwards. The Reisenhai shook as she slammed into the bulkhead behind me, and while I still strained to take another step I was scooped up in an enormous arm and shoved forwards, slamming into Vier’s alcove with the full weight of the Schnäpper behind me. I felt her adjust her bulk, bracing herself against the floor, ceiling and wall - and then we crashed.

¨

The K08 Wittgenstein hung in orbit above the beautiful blue expanse, a silent colossus waiting in the darkness of space. Navigation lights glittered like twinkling stars on its mighty hull, the only way to spot it against the inky blackness above.

Deep within its labyrinthine corridors, past the weaponry and the service tunnels crawling with industrious ARARs, was a spacious but windowless office.

A wooden desk sat in the middle, facing the door, with a computer and stacks of paper atop it. Drab, worn-out carpets showed the Wittgenstein's true age past its grandiose exterior, and various propaganda posters did little to liven up the grey bulkheads and mess of pipes that made up the walls.

One of those pipes was leaking. Every few seconds a droplet of pale blue fluid welled up, detached, and fell to the metal flooring at the bottom of the hole it had burned through the carpet with a soft plink.
Not softly enough that I could ignore it though.

Sighing wearily, I pressed the button on my desk-top microphone and called for my assistant.

“Mittwoch? Could I see you in here please?”

Within a minute, the door to my office was opening.

“You called me, Unzertrennlicher?”

“Just Unzer, please.” I said with a wry smile. “How long have we known each other?”

EULR-K08-08-03, or Mittwoch, was a rather meek and gentle Eule, but her dedication and confidentiality had earned her a spot as my personal assistant.

“I-I’m sorry, Unzer. What’s wrong?”

“It’s that dripping!” I exclaimed, gesturing toward the corner. “It’s been driving me crazy for days. It’s hard enough, keeping up with all my new jobs and responsibilities without all these distractions! Didn’t you file a maintenance request with the Aras?”
“Of course I did, yes! It’s just…”

“Just?”

“Well… they said that it's coolant for one of the main reactor lines, and the Kapitan has ordered we stay at readiness because of the war, so they don't want to take the reactor offline unless the leak is severe.” She replied, clearly reciting some kind of maintenance memo she’d received.

“It is severe!” I countered, exasperated. “How am I supposed to serve the Eusan Nation if I can't concentrate? I know they’re not happy with the scheduling changes I made, but we’re short-staffed as it is and I’m not a logistics officer!”

“I know Unzer, you’re doing the best you can.” Mittwoch said diplomatically. I softened a little - she always knew just what to say. In my line of work - the one I was designed for, rather than the one I was doing - compassion was hard to come by, even from my subordinates. But Mittwoch never left my side. As much as I liked all the Eules, I made no secret that she was my favourite.

“Well, my best isn’t going to replace the scheduling officer, and until AEON sends us a replacement for the one they took away, I think we need a creative solution.”

“A creative solution?” Mittwoch looked concerned. “I already tried fixing it myself, it burned through our tape…”

I laughed. “And it was a good effort! But I’m not going to get my hands dirty for this, and I’m not going to get yours any dirtier either.” I reached for a stack of papers on my desk, leafing my way through in search of a document.

“What do you propose then?”

“I was thinking… What happened to those personnel reports from last week? I was inspecting the inventory on the Replikas we have in the lower decks.”

“Oh, that? That was…” Mittwoch rifled through some papers in a different stack than the one I had been looking over. “Here!”

She handed me the file, and I flicked through until I found what I was looking for.

“Ah, there we go. A Zaunkönig! Combat engineers.”

“A-are you sure that’s wise?” Asked Mittwoch cautiously. “Zaunkönig units are military Replikas, and the Kormorans won’t like it if we pilfer their soldiers.”

“This is a military ship, its space-worthiness is a military concern!” I exclaimed - a half-truth. “And I’m not just thinking about myself here, for once. The leak in my office is one thing, but you know we have a lot of issues about the ship we’ve put on hold because the Aras don’t have the spare parts. We need a Replika that’s willing to improvise, at least until our material shortages are resolved.”

“I… Yes Unzer, of course - well, according to our records, we currently have seventeen Zaunkönig units on-board, of which twelve are on active duty, assigned to maintenance and repairs of our transport and fighter vessels. The rest are in hibernation.”

“Perfect, I’ll take one of the sleeping ones then. Nobody will even miss her.”

“Alright… Would you like me to collect their individual files?”

I shook my head, rising from my seat.

“No need, Mittwoch, I’ll come with you. I’d like to interview our candidates personally… Plus, I’m in need of some… fresher air, and I think that I’m a better judge of character in person anyway.”

Lower decks. Everything below the Wittgenstein’s midline was considered a military base, with barracks instead of dorms and shooting ranges instead of recreation rooms. Here, the ship’s less-than-glamorous interior fell away completely, with bare metal grates for floors, unpainted walls and spartan furnishings. Brightly-coloured but faded signs lead us down past humming, clicking, whirring machinery. The Aras and Gestalts we passed down here wore different colours, a single golden triangle on their breastplate to distinguish their military deployment.

This is where all of our resources are going, I thought to myself.

Mittwoch stuck even closer to me than usual, starting a little every time we passed an Ara lubricating some flywheel or fiddling with some wires. She knew as well as I did that Eules weren’t allowed down here (though I knew for a fact they did after-hours) and it clearly had her on edge.

“Hey, hold on!” A sudden voice called out behind us, making me flinch and Mittwoch squeak in surprise. A towering Turm rushed past us in the narrow corridor. “No civvies on these decks.” Despite her size and the armour she was wearing, she barely brushed me as she moved to block us.

I paused, frustrated. I’d really hoped that we wouldn’t have been seen by anyone that cared enough to talk about it.

“Look, I’m here on official business - resourcing matters. Could you step aside please?” I asked.

The rook leaned against the wall with an outstretched arm, a relaxed posture that totally blocked us from going any further.

“Sorry, I can’t do a thing without your ID code and authorisation key…”

“UNZR-K08-01. I don’t need a-” I began, but I noticed as I spoke that the Turm’s attention was drifting away from me. Instead her gaze fell to Mittwoch and a loose grin stretched over her face. She ran a hand through her grey hair, short on the back and sides and styled upwards at the top, as she slouched even further than she already was.

“Oh hey, is that you Mittwoch? Didn’t recognise you at first.” She said, looking her up and down without a trace of subtlety.

“Dreißig.” Mittwoch replied - of course the Eules of Dorm Eight knew the Turms down here.

“How’ve you been? We haven’t seen you in ages,” she said with a little whine in her voice at the end. “Don’t you like us anymore?”

“I’m busy now.” Mittwoch huffed. She always wore her discontent on her sleeve.

The Turm, apparently Dreißig, shrugged.

“Can’t blame me for trying. How are your sisters doing?” She inquired, and I stepped in before things could go any further.

“Dreißig, was it?” I said loudly. “My ID code is UNZR-K08-01.” I didn’t give an authorisation key. I didn’t have one.

Dreißig looked back to me, eyes widening. “Wait… You’re the Unzertrennlicher?”

“I am. Can we get past please?”

“Oh, uh, sure. Sorry, we’ve got orders from the Kormorans that we’re not supposed to let anyone in.”

“Just doing your duty. I understand.” I said, motioning to go past. Dreißig straightened up immediately, and I walked past her. Mittwoch followed close behind.

“Umm… Is anyone in trouble?” Dreißig asked, once we were a few metres away.

“I don’t know, have you seen anything suspicious?” I asked without stopping or turning to face her.

That would keep her quiet for a while, at least. I didn’t need the hassle of her telling a Kormoran I was down here.

Towards the core of the ship was the Hibernation unit. There were cryogenics pods for Gestalts closer to the prow, running off reactor coolant lines to keep them cold, and aftwards was a larger unit dedicated to Replika Hibernation pods. For the Replikas who didn’t need to be in continuous service, and those who needed frequent recalibration, they would be cycled in and out of here as required.

Through a maze of sleeping Replikas, Mittwoch led me to a particular row of pods.

“This is where the Zaunkönigs are stationed…” She said quietly.

Each pod was large, about 2m tall and over a metre wide, with a little console attached to each one. At about face height were transparent front windows that allowed a full view of the occupant’s head and shoulders, though scratches, grime and freeze-burns on the inside partially obscured the view.

“Let’s start the interview then, shall we?” I said brightly, peering inside the first pod.

Zaunkönigs, as it turned out, were pretty good-looking - at least in my opinion. Her face was turned slightly to the left, showing off the oversized module positioned above her right ear. Her dark hair was messy, long at the top and short at the back, with a shaved side on right to accommodate a bulky module behind her ear, and otherwise swept to the left like spikes.

“Hmm…” I said, inspecting her thoughtfully. “Something is off about the eyes.”

I moved on to the next, and then the one after, carefully looking them over.

“Not bad… What do you think of these two?” I asked Mittwoch, as I compared 3 and 4.

In response, she flushed a little and looked away. “I-I can tell you about their service records, if you want…?”

“Later, Mittwoch - Visual inspection comes first.”

Still scrutinising the differences between 3 and 4, I moved on to number 5.

Like her sisters, she had the same hairstyle, with only minor changes in the way she was lying. Like her sisters, her skin tone was a little paler than mine - but then again there weren’t that many different tones for Replikas. I figured she had the same colour mix as a Eule or Ara. However, unlike the others, this one had a scar - not a big one, marking her right cheek downwards through the thin line that divides our faces. Not only that, but while the others were all facing this way and that, she was lying perfectly flat - staring straight outwards at me, if not for her closed eyes. Body language was my forte, and to me this was a direct, confident Replika. A perfect technical assistant.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about… Get a look at her - have you ever met this one before?”

Mittwoch peeked in over my shoulder.

“No, I’ve… Well, she’s… I… Th-this feels unprofessional, Unzer!”

“Oh come on, if I have to do all these jobs, I may as well get the perks! Now come on, who is she?”

Mittwoch cleared her throat quietly, then checked her notes.

“This would be… ZNKR-K08-15. According to her record, she goes by ‘Funfzehn’.”

I snorted as I continued my inspection. “Original”.

“ZNKR-15 is a pretty experienced soldier, with her fair share of deployments compared to the others… She’s got a history of dedicated service under her belt too.”

“Hmmm…” I looked closer at her, and the serene expression of sleep upon her face.

I had a good feeling about this one.

“Let’s wake her up.”

“Oh, wait - she’s attached to Kormoran Vier’s unit…” Mittwoch said warily, her voice dropping as she said the name, as if it might draw her to us.

I glanced over at Mittwoch’s uncertain expression. A lot of the lower-rank personnel were afraid of Vier, even the Replikas.

I wasn’t.

“Well then, she can learn to share. At least we know Vier wouldn’t use an engineer without any skill. Let’s wake her up.”

Mittwoch hesitated, but dutifully followed my orders and turned to the terminal next to the pod, punching in the activation sequence. I watched in fascination as the pod unsealed itself with a hiss, letting out puffs of sterilisation gas before swinging open.
The Zaunkönig was well-built and a good amount taller than me, with angular armour on her chest, shoulders, arms and legs. Less so than a full-on soldier like a Turm, but more than the civilian Protektors I’d worked with on previous assignments.
There was a faintly-perceptible burst of static in the air as the pod booted her up, and her eyes fluttered slowly open. S had the same basic optics as any Replika model, but she met my gaze with a scrutinising curiosity right out of the gate that I found very interesting.

“Zaunkönig-K08-15…” She reported quietly, clearly confused as to who I was and why she was being awoken. “Aren’t you… an Unzertrennlicher?”

“I am. Unzertrennlicher-K08-01. You’re probably wondering who I am, and why I woke you up?”

“I… Yes, Unzertrennlicher.”

“Good. You’re awake because I have a new assignment for you.”

ZERBOMBENDER / KAMPFINGENIEUR-REPLIKA
‘ZAUNKÖNIG’
(Demolition / Combat Engineer Replika ‘Wren’)
Type: Generation 3 Combat Engineering Specialist
Frame: Biomechanical with Polyethylene Shell, Titanium Skeleton and Bullet-Resistant Armour Plating
Height: 190cm

The ZNKR unit is an impressive specialist Replika employed in military fleet services. Capable of working both in space and on the ground, ZNKRs are adaptable and capable engineers and technicians, capable of both maintenance tasks and of improvising new solutions. With their Structural Analysis module, ZNKRs can intuitively spot stress fractures, weak points and other issues in complex mechanisms, making them ideal for both repair and demolition. ZNKRs can operate as soldiers, but need to be part of a team for long-term survival on battlefields.