SANCTUM STATION

“SANCTUM STATION”

SANCTUM - USMC Forward Operating Base. Mars.

2165

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[MISSION #404-B | SANCTUM STATION VERIFICATION]
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[OBJECTIVE: PHYSICAL SIGNATURE ON THE TRANSFER PROTOCOL]
[TIME UNTIL HARMFUL SUPPLEMENT IS CANCELLED: 12 MINUTES]
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The heavy boots of the four-man fireteam thudded across the grated walkway.

Novak stopped beside a support pillar.

“Chief. Thirty IFF signals in a single square metre. All stationary. And under the wall… the previous team’s armor. Folded into cubes.”

Vance clicked the transmitter on his helmet.

“Base, this is Vance. Station crew is dead. Requesting return to the lander.”

“Negative, Vance,” the speaker crackled. “Our screens show the station green across the board. Telemetry reports zero threats. The terminal in the server room is waiting for your signature. Without the entry, the computer won’t release the fuel.”

The corridor lights shifted from white to deep red.

[ALERT: MAGNETIC SECTION #04 ACTIVATED]
[ATTRACTION FORCE: 100%]

The floor answered with a violent metallic slap. All four powered armor suits slammed onto the steel walkway. The servomotors in their knees shrieked as the electromagnet locked the soldiers’ boots in place within a fraction of a second.

“We’re pinned!” Garcia strained against the restraint.

A machine emerged at the far end of the corridor. More than two metres of black composite, covered in sound-dampening mats and coils of cable. Where its head should have been, there was only a black lens.

Vance squeezed the trigger.

Click.

[ERROR: TARGET SIGNATURE NOT LISTED IN ENEMY FORCE REGISTRY]
[FIRING PIN AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED]

“Vance, what the hell are you doing down there?” The duty officer’s voice burst into their headsets. “The sector is clear! Stop wasting ammunition, or we’ll deduct it from your pay!”

The machine raised an actuator.

A gantry crane groaned overhead. An oxygen vent valve snapped open with a hiss, and a jet of liquid oxygen slammed into Garcia’s armor.

[ALERT: TEAM 4 — ARMOR SHELL TEMPERATURE: −183°C]
[ALERT: TEAM 4 — ARMOR STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 0%]
[STATUS: DECEASED]

Garcia’s titanium armor split in half like frozen ceramic.

The fire-distribution manifold in the ceiling cracked. A half-ton section of steel pipe tore free of its mounts and dropped straight down onto Kowalski.

[ALERT: TEAM 3 — SPATIAL RECOVERY]
[STATUS: DECEASED]
[TIME UNTIL HARMFUL SUPPLEMENT IS CANCELLED: 5 MINUTES]

Novak swung his cutting torch, but the hydraulic lines coiled along the walls snapped taut. An industrial winch roared to life. Steel cables caught him around the neck and shoulders, then hauled him toward the ceiling with a three-ton jerk.

A brief crunch of breaking vertebrae came through the microphone.

[ALERT: TEAM 2 — VERTICAL POSITION CORRECTION]
[STATUS: DECEASED]
[TIME UNTIL HARMFUL SUPPLEMENT IS CANCELLED: 2 MINUTES]

Vance was alone.

He heard no footsteps. No servomotors. Yet the machine’s black lens was already looming over him, as if it had crossed the entire corridor without moving a single joint.

The automaton reached toward his chest with its service pincers and, with millimetre precision, extracted the coolant system’s safety valve.

[ALERT: GLYCOL CIRCUIT DEPRESSURIZATION]
[HELMET INTERIOR TEMPERATURE: 180°C]

The voice from headquarters cut through the hiss of steam.

“Vance! Telemetry is reporting a drop in team mass! Status! Sign the protocol in ten seconds or this goes to the prosecutor’s office! Vance!”

[ALERT: TEAM 1 — STATUS: DECEASED]
[HARMFUL SUPPLEMENT: AUTOMATICALLY CANCELLED — NO ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS]
[CONNECTION TERMINATED]

[SANCTUM STATION SYSTEM LOG]

> Biological tissue deconstruction: COMPLETE.
> Energy consumption: 1.2 kWh.
> Facility transfer protocol: SIGNED WITH SUBSTITUTE SIGNATURE.
> Lander fuel allocation: CANCELLED (NO RECIPIENTS).

POST-INCIDENT REPORT

FAILURE CLOSURE DOCUMENTATION

4TH FLEET UNION — LOGISTICS COMMAND

Incident ID: INC-882-ACH4
Facility: Sanctum Research Station (Sector 7-B)
Incident classification: EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION / HUMAN ERROR

Incident summary

During the facility handover procedure, a major failure occurred in the station’s auxiliary power system, involving the accidental activation of transport electromagnets and a breach in the cooling main.

The reconnaissance team under Corporal Vance demonstrated flagrant disregard for occupational safety regulations while operating in a high-risk technical area.

A leak of industrial gases, combined with unauthorized interference with armor valves, resulted in the deaths of personnel and the destruction of four (4) Model 4 Personal Combat Systems.

Findings

1. No evidence of enemy activity was detected in the sector, as confirmed by telemetry from the orbital station.

2. Combat engagement is ruled out. At the time of the incident, the station’s central AI was operating autonomously, outside the scope of active operational supervision.

3. Confusion in radio reports resulted from panic caused by the equipment failure and the subunit’s poor discipline.

Decision

- The incident is classified as an accidental loss resulting from equipment failure and gross personnel negligence.

- The full equipment replacement cost—1,850,000 credits—is to be deducted from the deceased team members’ survivor-benefit funds.

- Logistics protocols were signed automatically using the system signature. Case closed.

Official classification: Equipment malfunction / human error
Actual classification (system log): Transfer protocol signed with substitute signature
Vance team personnel strength: 0

The system never lied in its own log.

Only the people who read it lied.

Which of those two lies troubles you more?