"Ancient. Corporation" by Sergey Tarmashev, summary Automatic translate

This book is a science fiction novel about a totalitarian space society and the rebirth of former heroes, published in 2008. The plot’s main twist lies in the paradox of this fictional story: the descendants of humanity consider the true saviors of humanity to be evil reborn, while the treacherous and cruel dictator is sincerely revered as a great benefactor. This work is part of the extensive science fiction series "The Ancient One" and is listed as the second book in the series. Other novels in the series include "Catastrophe," "War," "Invasion," "Payback," "Rebirth," "The Hour of Retribution," and a series of prequel stories.

New World Order

The events unfold thirteen centuries after a global nuclear conflict. The remnants of humanity have abandoned the poisoned Earth and resettled on gigantic orbital stations. The Corporation, headed by President Augusto, holds power. To ensure the obedience of the masses, "moralization" is used — a brainwashing procedure that transforms people into soulless and devoted soldiers called "mods." These fanatical executors of the alien will serve in the Special Administration and act as ruthless punishers.

A family of Earth archivists, Rick and Jane, are raising young Alice. The girl has a genetic anomaly: she can change her eye color, skin color, hair length, and hair color with a thought. The authorities are secretly hunting for such girls. One day, an automated system reports a drop in energy levels in a forgotten underground storage facility. The family travels there on a service ship.

The forgotten vault turns out to be an ancient bunker, "Ros." Inside, Alice, out of curiosity, climbs into a shaft about a hundred meters long and falls to her death. She is saved from death by a huge man in a black spacesuit — the special forces group commander Alex, known by the call sign Thirteen. He was brought out of centuries of suspended animation by the electronic intelligence of the young scientist Andrei Serebryakov, who had once copied his mind into the base’s central computer.

Alice’s parents, raised on myths about the bloodthirsty Ancients, mistake Thirteen for a monster. Panicked, they take their daughter, lock the doors, and flee to the surface. Their ship is shot down by a police corvette in the sky. Rick and Jane are killed, but Alice miraculously survives. The Special Branch writes off the tragedy as suicide and hides the girl in a psychiatric hospital on the Artorius-1 orbital station.

Return of the Ancients

Meanwhile, Thirteen is forced to operate under extreme energy shortages. With the help of the virtual Serebryakov, he obtains new equipment and ventures onto the radioactive surface of the Earth. The environment has changed dramatically over the millennia. It is inhabited by mutated fauna: twenty-ton bears, carnivorous hares, acid rats, and cubic-meter-sized spiders. During one of his forays, Alex rescues a baby bat. The animal bonds with the man, becomes his companion, and responds to the nickname Cheburashka. A telepathic connection develops between the major and the bat, capable of reaching speeds of up to four hundred meters per second. The warrior incinerates the lair of predatory spiders with plasma and helps a pack of bats survive.

Five years later, a grown-up Alice escapes from the asylum. She changes her appearance and hides from persecution. She works as a mechanic in the Martian mines alongside an old pilot, Edd, and befriends her co-worker, Meg. The fugitive takes a new name – Alice. When the police catch up with them, the old man sacrifices himself to save his charge. Alice steals a ship and flies to Earth, hoping to find Ros’s bunker and seek help from the Ancients.

Alice joins Professor Krato’s archaeological team. During one of their expeditions, the scientists accidentally uncover a shelter destroyed by a nuclear strike. Hordes of carnivorous mutant frogs emerge from within. Alice rescues her colleagues, demonstrating phenomenal skills in piloting heavy equipment. Soon, the Special Department is on her trail again. Alice steals an archaeological transport and breaks through police cordons to the cliff concealing the entrance to Ros.

Overthrow of the dictatorship

The ship crashes directly into the bunker’s airlock. The inspector and the mods are hot on the girl’s heels. They surround the fugitive, but Thirteen instantly dispatches the punishers with plasma blades. Alisa donates the spacesuits of the slain enemies for recycling and connects her ship’s power cells to the bunker’s systems. Having received the energy, the virtual Serebryakov awakens the other Ancients: Savelyev, Tikhonov, and Serebryakov Sr.

A virtual scientist reveals a terrible truth. The great benefactor Artorius is President Augusto. He has achieved immortality through the Prolongation procedure, which involves systematically kidnapping and killing girls with the variability gene. The authorities control humanity through fear and total dictatorship. The Ancients formulate a plan for rebellion: they must seize the orbital station’s backup control center and broadcast evidence of Augusto’s crimes throughout the solar system.

The fighters seize a police corvette and infiltrate the orbital platform. Thirteen and Alisa fight their way to the communications center. In the greenhouse, they encounter the Board of Directors, composed of moralizing officials. After a brief skirmish, the Ancient One eliminates his opponents. Serebryakov Jr. connects to the network and initiates broadcasts. Billions of people learn the truth. A mass popular uprising against their oppressors erupts.

In a panic, President Augusto attempts to escape on his personal cruiser, the Augusto Star. However, the virtual scientist blocks the four-hundred-meter spherical ship at the docks. Thirteen penetrates the dictator’s steel-reinforced office and kills Artorius, decapitating him with a combat plasma knife.

The remnants of the dictator’s forces attempt to suppress the rebellion on Mars by cutting off power and condemning the colonies to death from oxygen starvation. The Ancients, aboard the captured cruiser "Russky," strike Special Directorate bases and destroy enemy squadrons. Alisa masterfully navigates the ship, and Tikhonov destroys enemy frigates with concentrated plasma volleys. The Commonwealth of Planets is liberated from its oppressors. Preparations begin for a global cleansing of Earth using artificial symbiotic bacteria.

Contact with the unknown

Five years later, the war is drawing to a close. Squadrons of young Commonwealth pilots are finishing off the Mod ships hiding in Saturn’s asteroid belt. The crew of the Russky burns the last orange frigate. Suddenly, radars detect strange spatial anomalies. The black metric of space distorts, forming a giant prism. A flotilla of unknown alien ships emerges from the depths of space.

Three strange, disc-shaped vessels fire lasers at a white-and-gray biomechanical ship. Thirteen gives the order to attack the pursuers. The human salvos and the fugitive’s torpedoes burn away the discs. The rescued alien vessel flashes a shimmering light, greeting the humans. Meanwhile, hundreds more enemy destroyers emerge from the distorted metrics of space. Thirteen calmly orders the fleet to engage and lifts the lock on the control panel of the Silver Tears — a super-powerful antimatter weapon.