"Ancient War" by Sergei Tarmashev, summary Automatic translate

This science fiction novel was published in 2009. It’s a sprawling space opera in which surviving humans are forced to confront alien civilizations in a struggle for the right to life in the universe. The author emphasizes the militaristic element, detailing the tactics of orbital battles, the maneuvers of ion interceptors, and the structure of the armed forces of the future.

This work is part of the literary series "Ancient." It is the third book in the cycle, continuing the story begun in the novels "Ancient. Catastrophe" and "Ancient. Corporation."

The balance of power in the galaxy

Events unfold against the backdrop of a protracted galactic war. The fledgling Commonwealth of Humans acts as a staunch ally of the Delphi race. Together, they confront the aggressive Insectorate — a civilization of enormous, intelligent arachnid creatures led by the Keepers. The Ins have allied themselves with the pragmatic blue-skinned Vaarsi traders. The powerful Vuzei race is playing a hidden game. The Vuzei’s greatest lizards secretly help the spiders overcome their technological gap. Dragon-like monsters periodically unleash the invincible mechanical race of Merhn against the allied worlds. Humanity faces the threat of total annihilation due to its growing military might and incredible adaptability to extreme combat conditions.

Allied covert operations

The commander of the human forces, an Ancient warrior named Thirteenth, and his companion, Alisa, successfully destroy enemy fleets on the cruiser "Russky." They are constantly assisted by the intelligent bat Cheburashka. The furry creature is capable of emitting destructive ultrasonic waves and spitting caustic acid, piercing enemy chitin. Delphi and the humans conduct a joint stealth raid on a secret Insectorate spy base. The base is discovered in the system of a lifeless brown dwarf, reliably camouflaged from long-range sensors. Human special forces assault teams penetrate through cut-out bulkheads. The marines are armed with plasma knives and emitters. They overcome fierce resistance from combat spiders and seize valuable spy equipment. It turns out that the advanced communications interception technology was provided to the Insectorate by the Wuzei civilization.

Tests for young pilots

At the Alpha Centauri orbital base, new recruits undergo rigorous training. A young pilot, Lani Katt, from an orphanage, struggles with the simulators. The automated systems repeatedly shut down her training module due to excessive G-forces of thirteen units. Squadron Commander Rill Vols doesn’t trust blind numbers and sends the data to military experts. Variable Alisa personally tests the maneuver and confirms the feasibility of such a complex aerobatic maneuver. Lani is given the "Whip" heavy short-range space interceptor and the right to participate in real space combat. She is secretly in love with her cold-blooded commander and strives to prove her supreme skill in the thick of orbital battles.

The fading of genius

The Council of Heads coordinates the actions of the young state from the underground bunker of Ros. The biological body of the young, brilliant scientist Andrei Serebryakov is rapidly deteriorating. The cells of his artificially grown brain are being rejected by his body after the long-awaited transfer of consciousness from electronic storage. The advanced medicine of the two allied races is powerless to stop the tissue decay. Serebryakov continues to stubbornly oversee the development of new types of energy protection. His new armor harnesses the energy of enemy plasma blasts to enhance the ship’s own force shield. Meanwhile, on Earth, large-scale efforts are underway to cleanse the atmosphere and biosphere of radiation using a unique phage bacteria. Scientists discover an ancient cryogenic gene bank in the deep ruins of the Siberian Akademgorodok and prepare to restore extinct terrestrial species.

Betrayal and kidnapping

Former underground activist Kiml Rumm miraculously survives a brutal spider attack on a mining station in the neutral zone of the Procyon system. It is soon discovered that Rumm’s guise is long-standing covert cover for a fugitive officer from the old dictatorship, Jonn Smid. He voluntarily enters into a criminal conspiracy with the leader of the Vaarsi race, Va. In exchange for the promise of absolute power over the remnants of humanity, he agrees to kidnap the dying Serebryakov. The traitor zombifies several colleagues at a major military plant using a prohibited device. The conspirators treacherously attack the scientist during a government inspection, paralyze his nervous system, and secretly deliver him aboard a civilian pleasure yacht.

The kidnapped man’s father, a two-meter-tall landing veteran named Fourth, and Security General Savelyev quickly identify the enemy spy. The military sets up an ambush en route to the Vaarsi reconnaissance ship on the deserted outskirts of the system. Special forces board the Alien vessel in a brief and bloody battle. Fourth breaks into the reactor compartment and captures the leader of the runts. Serebryakov’s body is quickly delivered to the intensive care unit of a highly secure underground bunker. The alien control device is carefully removed by surgeons, but the severe brain injury is irreversible. The young genius has only a few hours left of his fading life.

Massive invasion

The enraged Vuzei openly side with the Insectorate and declare their firm intention to erase rebellious humanity from the fabric of the universe. A massive combined fleet of lizards and spiders unceremoniously invades the peaceful Alpha Centauri system. Passenger ships begin an emergency evacuation of refugees from the picturesque tropical planet Rainbow. Humans are forced to abandon their fortified positions in orbit, concentrating all their combat efforts on protecting the departing defenseless convoys. High Command prepares a cunning resonance trap. Abandoned military stations accumulate a colossal energy charge, ready to instantly fry the electronics of enemy cruisers and trigger a chain self-destruct.

Rill Vols’s squadron desperately covers the transports’ retreat. Lani’s interceptor suffers fatal damage from a beam weapon. The girl makes an emergency crash-landing on an abandoned military base. Rill lands after her to retrieve his beloved. The bases activate a powerful resonance field, completely immobilizing a large portion of the enemy fleet. The Vusei threaten to fire on the station and all survivors unless the deadly trap is deactivated. Rill heroically dies under a direct beam strike from the vengeful lizards. Grief-stricken, Lani manually triggers the final self-destruct mechanism, turning silent space into a blazing inferno and destroying dozens of the cruel enemy’s ships.

The Path to Another Galaxy

Thirteen and Alisa doggedly pursue the fast, maneuverable Merkhn ships after one of their repelled attacks. During a high-speed engagement, the heavy cruiser "Russkiy" plunges into a spatial rift along with the retreating machines of an unknown race. The humans suddenly find themselves in a completely alien galaxy. Millions of unimaginable mechanical ships drift peacefully around perfect artificial suns and giant factory planets. The mechanoids completely ignore the earthlings’ matte gray cruiser. Thirteen guesses that the Merkhn are an artificial army, once created by the forgotten Viki civilization to protect weaker races.

The cruiser makes direct contact with the local translucent gaseous beings of Illiua. The terrified natives meekly call the humans the True Descendants of the omnipotent creators. They readily provide the spatial coordinates of the ancient Broadcaster station. The "Russian" cautiously approaches the mysterious structure, securely concealed by an absolute protective barrier. Thirteen engages in a long, complex dialogue with an ancient information mechanism shaped like a giant sphinx. It turns out that only one race that meets stringent requirements can attain the unattainable status of control center operator. The Vuzei have been searching fruitlessly for this secret for millions of years, mercilessly eliminating all potential candidates.

The outcome of the battle

Thirteen and Alice trick the Vuzei into creating a direct intergalactic portal to the burning Solar System. They boldly break through enemy defenses and seize sole control of the ancient central station, "Trace." Thirteen seamlessly connects to the telepathic control interface. The ancient center’s power is truly limitless. With the power of his own thoughts, the warrior permanently disables the aggressors’ weapons in the Solar System, restores the destroyed orbital rings, and restores the dying Serebryakov to full life. Thirteen forever locks the arrogant Vuzei civilization within their home star system, preventing them from reaching deep space. The vast center submits to humans because they meet the single most important criterion of their omnipotent creators — an inexhaustible capacity for genuine love.